an unforgettable journey a story of corp

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An unforgettable journey: a story

of corporate-social transformation

of Huntsman Tioxide (Malaysia)

Nik Maheran Nik Muhammad, Marhaini Hassan, Suryani Awang and Anidzan Ariffin

The capacity for recognizing our own feelings and those of others, for motivating ourselves, for

managing emotions well in ourselves and in our relationships (Daniel Goleman).

Chance? Luck? These two common, yet powerful words are NOT a guarantee to success.

Most people of greatness have gained their success by making the decision to become the

personthey dream of becoming and notbecause of mere luck. These great peoplechoose to

become the person they want to be simply because of their own belief – a belief of having theability to be better and to be able to obtain what they have been aiming for, and having a

strong determination to succeed. In order to be successful and to project the image of

greatness, one needs to start sowing the seeds of beliefs into becoming great. Of course,

there are dozens of obstacles on the journey to success, but fear no more as onesinner voice

is telling one to get rid of the self-doubt and the insecurities. So, with these life philosophiesin

mind, Tuan Haji Rozano Saad, one of the leading men of Huntsman Tioxide, sighing with

gratification, smiling withself-satisfaction and quickly turning on the ignition of his AlfaRomeo,

slowly stepping on the accelerator pedal, moving on into Teluk Kalong, Kemaman,

Terengganu. To him, there are no more second thoughts. He has finally decided to stop

wasting mental energy on things which he did not manage to do, but decided to settle on his

action plans and rectify the deplorable conditions of Huntsman Tioxide. Furthermore, he

sensed that there has been a unique calling in achieving these goals. Rozano, a man of

unremitting triumphs believed he could enhance his own performances while at the sametime raising the living standards of people around him. This was true enough, for at the end of

the day, he hasmade a significant contribution, and Huntsman Tioxide is nowproudly moving

forward.

Huntsman Tioxide Malaysia (HTMAS) – the new beginning

Many years ago, there was a well-known chemical company commonly called, Huntsman

Tioxide, on the verge of management deterioration and announcing its major expansion in

Asia (see Figure 1 for the chronology of HTMAS). It’s Board of Directors, mainly consisting of

expatriates,votedfor Teluk Kalong, Kemaman, Terengganuto be their newest‘‘depot.’’ It was

the ‘‘chosen’’ one mainlybecause of its‘ ‘heavenly’’ and picturesque views.Furthermore, as it

was seen as having potential for economic growth, the government decided to inject a boost

in the development such as allocating a portion of the yearly budget into this area.

Though such a story of a poorly managed company had never been revealed, Huntsman

Tioxide continued making initiatives such as upgrading and expanding the company’s

manufacturing facilities and the like, not realizing that this had become an added advantage

to the locals. As soon as Tioxide plant had been set up, developments one after another

overtook the once barren land of Teluk Kalong. Nevertheless, the output of the company was

not impressive, although billions of dollars had been invested in the project. Hence, an idea

was formulated; Huntsman needed a new figure with strong leadership ability to steer the

DOI 10.1108/20450621111187362 VOL. 1 NO. 4 2011, pp. 1-24, Q Emerald Group Publishing Limited, ISSN 2045-0621 j EMERALD EMERGING MARKETS CASE STUDIES j PAGE 1

Nik Maheran Nik

Muhammad is an Associate

Professor and

Marhaini Hassan,

Suryani Awang, and

Anidzan Ariffinare all Senior

Lecturers at the Universiti

Teknologi Mara, Kelantan,

Malaysia.

Disclaimer. This case is writtensolely for educational purposesand is not intended to representsuccessful or unsuccessfulmanagerial decision making.The author/s may havedisguised names; financial andother recognizable informationto protect confidentiality.



company’s direction back onto the right ‘‘path.’’ This new idea would tally with the fact thatleadership has to change in order to change the direction of an organization.

So, who would be the right figure to rebuild and restructure this giant, foreign company? Haji

Rozano Saad just happened to be there at the right time and at the right place.

Cross-examined by the local management team, Rozano, with his unique characteristics,

was the perfect candidate. The management team sensed people would benefit from

Rozano’s unique personality and was convinced that no one could contribute as much as

Rozano. Moreover, Rozano was seen as an influential type of a person. This quality was

crucial in order to navigate people into participating rather than just being the onlookers,

waiting patiently by the side line.

The ‘‘mat salleh’’[1] co-workers teasingly observed Rozano’s actions. He aware that they

were not convinced of his capability and were unsure of his ability to bring fortha new order in

the company. They were dismayed by the fact that he was a local. What could a local Malayman possibly do in operating a western-dominated, large company like Huntsman Tioxide?

The company which was once controlled by them (so to speak), unfortunately suffered great

losses, and did not show any improvement. These predecessors were simply too proud to

admit that they did not manage to perform to the level that had been expected of them. They

could only be best described as ‘‘cakap tak serupa bikin’’[2].

Obviouslythese‘ ‘so-called superior matsalleh’’ did notknow what theman they were teasing

could do. They lacked the most needed character to bring change to the community of

Kemaman: the humble Malay roots that could win the hearts of the kampong people and

would eventually raise their standards of living. Obviously these ‘‘superiors’’ would not want

to visit the villagers in their huts and befriend them. Would they become comfortable to

‘‘duduk bersila’’[3], use hands to eat, instead of forks and spoons and join the meal served in

a big tray shared by everyone? Would they give up golf and go fishing and cycling in order to

befriend and join the men in the village? Needless to say, it was humble Rozano who fulfilledthose ‘‘pre requisites’’ before the greater task was undertaken.

Rozano was a man with no superhuman abilities, but he was filled with a strong will,

imagination and a readiness to explore the new world of Tioxide, consequently ignoring the

warning that it was a ‘‘mission impossible.’’ He firmly believed that he would be able to

contend with the deeply rooted prejudice of his predecessors, create a new life for the

company and make it a reality even though others might just laugh in his face and tell him to

forget about it.

Figure 1 The chronology of events: HTMAS

• 4 Aug 1982 - TAPL Malaysia was incorporated

• 18 July 1989 – TAPL Malaysia was renamedto Tioxide Malaysia Sdn Bhd. (TMAS)

• 28 July 1989 – Tioxide board sanctioned the

construction of 50,000 tes TiO2 factory in

Teluk Kalung

• 11 November 1989 landfill site was completed.

• 21 October 1990 first steel was erected on site• 21 April 1990 - initial intake of 42 professionals

were sent to Burnie and Grimsby for their

basic training in TiO2 manufacturing for about

8 months

• 11 December 1990 – Cookson Group sold all

their shares in Tioxide to ICI

• 23July 1992 - first tonne of pigment packed

• 29 June 1999 – Tioxide was taken over by

Huntsman and renamed Huntsman Tioxide

•

•

20 October 2000 – Capacity uprating project

was approved to increase name plate

capacity to 56,000 tes

31 Dec 2000 – Production packed 51,108 tes

PAGE 2 jEMERALD EMERGING MARKETS CASE STUDIES j VOL. 1 NO. 4 2011



He was determined to move forward. Indeed, Rozano wanted to prove that he was not an

ordinary Melayu[4] but a Melayu with potential and a readiness to execute his greater power.

He was never hesitant in moving forward and had not had the slightest idea of not fitting to the

industry’s standard. He did not stop because to him all these pessimistic ideas would

definitely kill off his missions.

His ICI engineering background was a blessing. Rozano’s engineering norms gave him the

skills to be a commander, a pacesetting leader, which gave him ways to devise awareness of

responsibilities and standards among his subordinates. To him, standard should never be

compromised. Giving attention to details, being precise and believing that small things domatter were all his secrets to success. Rozano was then able to direct his ‘‘people’’ in a new

direction and dimension.

Teluk Kalong Tioxide plant history down the memory lane

Back in 1985, a decision was made by then Tioxide group from the UK to invest in a titanium

dioxide plant in the ASEAN Region. Three countries were chosen and a survey was

conducted. Sufficient infrastructure coupled with the stable political and socio-economical

factors, gave Malaysia theedge.The Tioxide Group decided to build theplantin Teluk Kalong

Industrial Area, in Terengganu, Malaysia. An Environmental Impact Assessment was

conducted and the plant was successfully erected in 1991.

Huntsman International took over the equity of Tioxide Malaysia Sdn Bhd in July 1999 and theentity has been called HTMAS since then. Huntsman Tioxide, is a company in one of the

largest producers of titanium dioxide pigments. It employs over 3,000 people worldwide and

has factories in seven countries with a total nameplate production capacity of over 550

thousand tons per year. Its product, titanium dioxide pigment provides whiteness and opacity

to a vast range of everyday products from coatings and plastics, to paper, inks and even

cosmetics and food.

The Teluk Kalong plant, being the most modern sulphate route titanium dioxide plant in the

world, was constructed with the capability to fully neutralize wastes, to meet the strictest

Environmental, Health and Safety Standards. Indeed, the latest proven pollution-control

equipment is installed to ensure that no environmental degradation will result from its

activities. On-going operation of pollution-control equipment represents nearly 20 percent of

production costs.

Achievements

The Teluk Kalong plant which is situated in an industrial area of Terengganu on the east coast

of Malaysia currently has over 200 employees (Figure 2).

The plant has a production capacity of titanium dioxide of 550,000 tons per annum (Figure 3).

Approximately, 80 percent of its production goes to export markets in the Asia Pacific region.

Huntsman Corporation NYSE: HUNTSMAN is one of the world’s largest chemical companies

(Figures 4-6).

The average profit of Huntsman was approximately MYR 48 million from 1992 until 2007

(Figure 4) and it reached MYR 110 million in 2005, the highest achievement during that

period. For the first six years of its commissions, Tioxide Malaysia faced losses but this had

changed by 1999 when localstook over the company. This is a great success for Rozano andhis team as the profit kept increasing from then on.

With Rozano’s influences and newly introduced visions for the company, Huntsman Tioxide

gradually showed improvement in profits. Nevertheless, Rozano never sat back and relaxed.

There was more to be learned and explored and the ‘‘metamorphosis’’ would not take place

over night. This stresses the fact that in order for a company to be successful it takes years of

perseverance and self-discipline. This is Rozano’s ‘‘bed rock’’ of life and he made this known

to everyone under his leadership.

VOL. 1 NO. 4 2011 jEMERALD EMERGING MARKETS CASE STUDIES j PAGE 3



Figure 2 Number of employees

Source: Huntsman Malaysia (2009)

265267 271 268

243

222

208 209 210

204

200

210

220

230

240

250

260

270

280

1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008

Figure 3 Yearly production from 1992 to 2007

Source: Huntsman Malaysia (2009)

2.50

44.22

51.11

61.43

44.17 44.42 46.79 47.00

41.49

35.31 36.61

22.85

60.49 56.8660.62

54.65

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007

K t e s

Figure 4 Huntsman’s yearly profit 1992 -2007

Source: Huntsman (2009)

8

–33 –30

–20

–44

–30

20

38

95

62

53

73

89

110

99

48

–60

–50

–40

–30

–20

–10

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

90

100

110

120

130

140

R M m

i l l i o n

1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007




Then, to make things work, Rozano invited his team of managers to gather information and

share ideas. This is to say that there should be a two-way communication and a ‘‘give and

take’’ technique to make the organization stronger.

Rozano, as the chief commander continued to steer the wheel in the right direction. With

patience and determination, he was able to avoid the reefs in the wide ocean and emerged

Figure 5 Cost, production, productivity, quality

0

20

40

60

80

100

120

140

160

180

93 94 95 96 97 98 99 00 01 02 03 04 05

0

20

40

60

80

100

120

COST SAFETY

PRODUCTIVITY PRODUCTION

QUALITY

Figure 6 Production and quality

TK PRODUCTION & QUALITY

0

20

40

60

80

100

120

140

160

180

93 94 95 96 97 98 99 00 01 02 03 04 05

T E / D A Y

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

90

% P R




with outstanding results. This is shown from all the recognitions received by the company

during his reign (Figure 7).

The social setting

The above recognition and awardsare all the evidence of Huntsman’s success story. Thus, to

many of the Teluk Kalong breed, they would have no choice but to agree to the fact that

Huntsman has done wonders to the environment and social setting of their village. Since the

existence of the company, Kemaman has been taken over by stormover the fact that it is fast

developed. It is no longer a common scene to see the Kemaman dwellers, sitting on thebroken benches by the beach munching on the spongy keropok lekor[5] claimed to have

originated from Losong, a popular keropok lekor spot in Terengganu. And Rozano, once an

unknown Malay man has brought tremendous changes into the lives of the villagers and has

become an inspiration to many of the Teluk Kalong kampong[6] folks. This one, particular

orang luar[7] hasbrought miracles to this once a deserted, unheard of site. This once remote,

‘‘quiet’’ town is now very advanced, busy and rewarded with lots of job opportunities. Most of

the local youngsters would make it their dream to be part of the Huntsman family. However,

there is a story behindthis new, modern life for people of Teluk Kalong. Yes,a painful story, yet

meaningful enough to be treasured. And Rozano can vividly remember this.

It was early morning, Rozano looked up just to witness the bright sunny day. He felt the cold,

fresh breezefromthe sea on his way to work. Feeling alienated in this new place, Rozano was

not sure ofwhere tostopfor a quick breakfast.However, the sight ofa small coffeeshopwith a

few menhaving roti canai[8] wasattractive enoughto him, so he pulledover. Upon findingtheright seat, he requestedfor roti kosong[9] with teh tarik[10]. He thought he was loud but polite

enough to the coffee shop owner, so he waited patiently. But then he realized it was taking too

long for a simple roti canai to arrive. Assuming they did not hear him the first time, he asked

once again. Then he added, ‘‘nak kena cepat’’[11]. He thought that could justify his request

Figure 7 Rozano holding a Prime Minister Quality Award 2004

2002/2003 AWARDS

TIOXIDE GROUP SAFETY CUP WINNERTIOXIDE GROUP SAFETY SHIELD WINNER

TIOXIDE GROUP QUALITY GOLD STAR WINNER

TIOXIDE GROUP QUALITY SHIELD WINNER

CICM RESPONSIBLE CARE PROGRAMME AWARD

MITI INDUSTRY EXCELLENCE AWARD

PMQA SPECIAL AWARD

TRENGGANU BEST FACTORY AWARD – DYMM SULTAN

TRENGGANU

•

•

•

•

•

•

•

•

2004 AWARDS

• CICM RESPONSIBLE CARE PROGRAMME AWARD

ACCA ENVIRONMENTAL REPORTING

• TIOXIDE GROUP EHS & PRODUCT STEWARDSHIP

PRIME MINISTER QUALITY AWARD (PMQA) 2004

•

•

2005 AWARDS

CICM Responsible Care Awards 2004 - Code: Pollution Prevention ~

Gold Award

CICM Responsible Care Awards 2004 - Code: Community Awareness &

Emergency Response ~ Merit Award

TIOXIDE GROUP SAFETY CUP WINNER

TIOXIDE GROUP SAFETY SHIELD WINNER

•

•

•

•

2008 AWARDS

• TIOXIDE GROUP QUALITY WINNER

Rozanoholdinga Prime Minister Quality

Award 2004




for a quick order. This time the coffee owner responded, but the answer was beyond his

expectation. He was asked to go to another coffee shop if he wanted it quick.

To some, such an ‘‘incident’’ might make them reconsider their decisions to join the people in

Kemaman. Why was their language so ‘‘unpolished’’? Was that part of their ‘‘culture’’?

However, being Rozano, despite all these questions, he was wise enough to realize that

retaliating towards them for trivia such as that, could only hinder him from attaining his goals.

After all, what choice did he have? He left the coffee shop with feelings of disappointment,

which made everyone noticed this ‘‘out-of-place man.’’

Should he answer back, making a sarcastic remark to the old, helpless coffee shop owner? Ifhe did, would not that only portray a childish, immature behavior? Or was it a mistake for him

to be composed and patient enough even though the coffee owner’s response was

unacceptable and impudent? The roti canai incident was just an unimportant matter which

could be easilysweptunder thecarpet andbe forgotten. Thefeelingsof dissatisfactionon not

getting the right treatment portrayed Rozano’s personality.

At work, Rozano did not want to be viewed as a coward. He was not the type of person who

was unnecessarily too patient and was aware that doing so would land him into venturing

beyond the safe zone; the choice he was expected to make to ensure his vision could be

realized. Surely, there was always a soft voice that kept whispering into his ears that by

venturing beyond the safe zone, would lead him to failure. Aiming to reach the stars, Rozano,

never allowed any negative thoughts to sabotage his mind. He continued to stay firm with his

tenacity that unwise actions would lead to failures. He believed that an ability to handle any

hiccups would simply mean an added wisdom. Certainly, there would be other more seriousincidents which would test his patience.

Definitely, making mistakes while climbing up theladder to success is common, for it is part of

the learning process. He firmly believed that ‘‘Winners never quit and quitters never win’’ and

he would not repeat the same mistake the next time.

His belief and stance towards the world which is different from others has given him an

advantage when he was confronted by hurdles in his early stage of complying with his own

promises that he would createa betterquality of life, especially for thepeople of Teluk Kalong.

This same belief and stance prepared him for unexpected events, and allowed him to always

keep things under control.

First, the locals which consisted of a fishing community bombarded Rozano with the fact that

he was poisoning the sea life. The sea life was their main source of income and they were not

happy that their incomewas affected by the existence of this foreign company. Yet,he did not

despair buthoped that oneday these people would accept itsexistence.Rozano understood

their dissatisfactionwell.Therefore, he workedeven harder to prove to thelocals that theplant

was giving no danger to the community at all. As a start, Rozano encouraged his co-workers

to buy loads of fish from these fishermen so as to show that they were not in great threat.

Second, when there was another complaint coming from the durian planters of Kijal,a nearby

town that their durians were no longer in high demand due to the fear of intoxicated durians,

Rozano and his team bought gunnies of durians from them and even put up a feast. They

invited the locals and ate pulut durian[12] together with them. These persistent efforts finally

earned him the trust of the locals of Teluk Kalong. This reminded him of the saying, ‘‘Where

there is a will, there is a way.’’

These positive outcomes,however, were never viewed by Rozano as a result of himalone. He

also gave credit to other people whose contributionto the company should never be taken forgranted. Aziz Zabidi, his second man, is one of those who deserved the credit. To Rozano, it

wasa blessing when hisviews on many matters were alwaysshared by Aziz. Their similar way

of thinking has greatly helped them to smoothly manage the company in numerous ways.

For one, Rozano and Aziz Zabidi, were firm believers that the community’s perceptions

towards the company were of utmost importance, thus, any misconceptions or

misinterpretations must be corrected from the start. For that reason, they needed to know

how the company was perceived by the people of Teluk Kalong. So, a survey was carried out




and the results revealed that majority had the wrong ideas of the company’s activities merely

because of the company’s name which contains the word ‘‘toxic.’’ Taking this seriously, they

both knew this incorrect perception could not continue.

First, they ensured that the company’s ambassadors (Figure 8) played their roles well. These

ambassadors would have to identify negative comments and ‘‘diffuse’’ them right away.

Unlikesome other companieswhichwouldusually go to press andmediato make statements

or corrections, the management of Huntsman believed that good rapport with the people of

Teluk Kalong hadits own far reaching effects. As such, they continued doing communitywork

such as gotong-royong[13] which made people realize the true facts about Huntsman.Similarly, a diving session was organized every year with the fishermen and school children

and many others were invited to join. They took video cameras under the sea and shared the

footage with the village folks who later realized that nothing was to be worried about. No

damage was made to the sea, thus, there was no reason to accuse this chemical plant of

threatening the environment.

After having the programs repeated many times, Rozano and Aziz could see how the

people’s perception was improved over time. The event helped to dispel all sorts of negative

thoughts thatthe plantwas contaminatingthe environment. To prove their concern in the issue,

the company engaged a consultant from the UK to carry out a study on the ecology of the

species in the area. Having the study conducted every year, they had no objections to reveal

thefindings to thepublic. In theend, this costlyeffort started to show itspositiveresults.There

was no more fear among the people. Since then, Huntsman has gone through a new phase in

its life. The people now welcome the company with open arms.

The dual purpose

Production and social responsibility

Now that the company was accepted by the people of Teluk Kalong, the company could give

more focus to itsoperations and aims to achieve itsvision. From its inception in 2000, HTMAS

had two purposes – production of materials and social responsibility to the community,

particularly on environmental issues. These two aspects had become so important to the

company that Rozano was once quoted as saying:

Figure 8 The Ambassadors




Stakeholders’ expectations are a driving force in Huntsman Tioxide’s approach to environmental

management [. . .] We believe society has made its expectations quite clear and it expects

business to play a leading role in ensuring sustainable development. We are playing our part in

developing practical ways to clarify and manage these issues (Tuan Haji Rozano Saad, Site

Director – Operations).

The above statement has clearly indicated that the company’s responsibility for the

stakeholders and society has been the main concern of HTMAS’s management. The

company’s progress,therefore, must go together with HTMAS’s Vision and Mission Statement

which aims to ‘‘be a valued member of the community.’’

No doubt, the fundamental change in the economy of the district of Kemaman, Terengganu

has affected the people and hence the community. These changes affect the economic,

social and physical environment, which later could develop into socio-economic imbalance.

In addition to this, thefatalistic philosophy and a traditionof noblesse obligeof thecommunity

slow the process of development. Therefore, the development of PEOPLE is necessary.

The objective of economic development should be the development of the people. This is the

process of getting people to progress from dependent to a stage where they are socially and

economically self-reliant.

As such, HTMAS Community Action Team (CAT) has chosen the ‘‘people development

approach’’ as the means of ‘‘assisting the community’’ for the following reasons:

B ‘‘PEOPLE’’ are the most important resource in achieving progress and development. They

are the key and the agent of development.

B The objective of development ultimately lies with the development of people.

B A project or programmed does not fail, people do.

B The problems of unemployment, dependence, poverty and others are people-generated

problems.

B To harness the potential energies, talents and creativity of the village folk.

To achieve the above aims, community empowerment programs were implemented with the

help of other formal organizations such as the Welfare Department, Education Department,

etc. while, CAT plays its roles in assisting the planning of the projects, as well as organizing

and implementing them.

What is aimed at and planned by HTMAS for the people of Teluk Kalong is based on an old

Chinese proverb, turned into a philosophy by HTMAS:GIVEA MAN A FISHANDYOUFEED HIM FOR A DAY, TEACH HIM HOW TOFISH AND YOU FEED

HIM FOR A LIFETIME.

Apart from the above, in order to realize the company’s vision which is ‘‘being open and

working together as a valued member of the community,’’ the programs undertaken by

HTAMS include the following:

Education . Being a multi-national company located in Terengganu, the company is

responsible in providing knowledge and training to the locals. In 2003, the company

absorbed 32 practical trainees from various private and public institutions of higher learning

and attached them to the various departments of their respective disciplines. During their

training, their lecturers visited and received feedback from their supervisors on their

progress.Upon completion of their practical training, these students resumed their studies in

the various institutions of higher learning they come from (Figure 9).In addition to that, some practical trainees who have graduated and are still unemployed

might be absorbed as ‘‘Tesdec’’ trainees on a duration agreed by the company. Therefore,

while applying for a permanent job they cangain as much knowledge as possible to enhance

their chances of getting a better career elsewhere.

In 2003, co-organizedwith Sekolah Seri Kemaman, thecompany held a motivationalprogram

for thestudentsof this school. With thesupport of theschool’s headmaster andthe assistance

of the teachers, the program was such a success that a year six student from the said school




emerged as the best student in Malaysia in the Ujian Penilaian Sekolah Rendah (UPSR)

examination that year.

Public . In line with the company’s belief that good rapportcan bring wonders, gotong-royong

is no doubt a common community activity (Plates 1 and 2). All staff in the company have to

perform at least one mandatory day of community service in a calendar year. They can

choose to participate in any program of their choice and liking.

Gotong-royong activities in 2003 included building houses at PasirGajah, clearing graveyard

areas at Bukit Kuang, Teluk Kalong and at turtle hatchery bay at Pantai Teluk Dedap, as well

as the building of surau[14] at Geliga and Pasir Gajah.

In addition to the above, there were also gotong-royong to provide security services, free

tuition and motivational classes which were conducted by Tuan Hj Abdullah Karim, the HR

Manager at that time and the chairman of the Lot 144, Housing Community. Recently, a string

of activities have been carried out and planned for the residents of the said area.

Figure 9 Social corporate responsibility to schools

Plate 1 Community work (gotong royong)




To ensure that the objectives of conducting gotong-royong were achieved, ‘ ‘company

ambassadors’’ were assigned to communities surrounding the location. The monthly and

yearly activities towards a planned scheduled were released much earlier for

acknowledgement and that helped the ambassadors to carry out their tasks. In 2003,

RM40,000 was spent on CAT activities for community work.

Environment, health, safety and quality . To prove its concern for the environment, a yearly

community program, Tiger Bay Awareness Program is co-organized by Akademi

Pembangunan Islam and Kemaman Supply Base. This project is considered important

since it is at Tiger Baywhere thefinal water from theplantis discharged. Theearlierprocesses

that take place before water is discharged include recycling and neutralizing it fully with

limestone andlimeslurrybefore discharging it to thesea. In some cases,the discharged water

is converted into other useful co-products.

Thetreated wastewater is collected andmonitored in thesettlement andmonitoring ponds on

site. Professional divers are appointed to collect underwater living organisms to confirm that

the discharged water from the plant is safe. The results were revealed to the public and

invitations to witness the event were extended to the Department of Environment (DOE),college students, fishermen, local community from Teluk Kalong, Kijal and Kemaman and the

staff of Huntsman (Plate 3).

Plate 2 Community work (gotong royong)

Plate 3 Fishing competition




In October 2003, the DOE Terengganu selected HTMAS to be the venue for launching of a

public seminar on Chukai River Awareness. A paper presentation was conducted by the

DOE, Department of Street and Drainage and DOE of Health.

In 2002 and 2004, the company held its Open Day to the public mainly for the community of

Teluk Kalong, Kijal and Kemaman. There were exhibitions, stalls, bicycle racing competition

(Figure 10), etc. Those who attended were mostly school children who were interested in

pursuing careers in the private sector.

Benchmarking practices

Low profile as defined to some does not reflect that the company remains in a nutshell and

does not share its success and philosophy with others. Surprisingly, the company has

received so many requests for official visits and sharing of benchmarking practices that

occasionally it had to reschedule the visits due to heavy plant and office activities.

HTMAS’s expertise on motivation and their continuous improvements, initiatives and strength

in managing people especially locals in the east coast has resulted in excellent production.

With their achievements being recognized by others, managers of Huntsman were invited to

become speakers at internationalconference to share on a topic which hasbecome a culture

to HTMAS but remains grey to some. Hj Mahmood Azmy, Mr Dilip Morje, Hj Aziz Zabidi Abdul

Kadir and Hj Abdullah Karim, to name a few, presented their paper at various international

and local conferences.

Tuan Hj Rozano Saad, aside from hiscapacityas Site Director of the company till today sits as

advisor for INTAN Wilayah Timur. Recently, Zamani Ahmad, Black End Manager has been

appointed as a committee in the KUSZA Bachelor’s Module Preparation. Zamani himself, a

graduate from KUSZA has climbed up the career ladder through sheer hard work and

determination, thus proving to others that studying part-time does not hinder one’s work

performance.

Corporate – social transformation

Years have passed by, and this small town of Kemamang as what most Terengganu born

would say in their strong Terengganu twang, is no longer desolate, ‘‘haunted’’ and unknown.

Many individuals, especially young people, would no longer be embarrassed to introduce

themselves as the Kemaman breed. The once abandoned, ghostly town, with a few hut-like

coffee shops, some half-built, wooden, single-storey buildings which could not actually

be called buildings, but rather shelters that acted as refuges from the monsoon rain has

undergone a massive facelift. The town is now full of ‘‘Mat Salleh,’’ some in their skimpy

Figure 10 Cycling competition




Bermuda shorts, browsing lazily from one row of shops to another. There are also a few

elite-looking Malays walking briskly through the crowd, carrying bags with ‘‘Huntsman

Tioxide’’ written on them. Maybe one can still picture Kemaman, with scanty coffee shops

occupied by men wearing torn, faded pants draped over with batik sarongs[15] and

bandana-like materials wrapped around their heads.

Tokens of appreciations have been given to Haji Rozano, for, without his inspirational and

quick-witted ideas, the ‘‘township’’ of Kemaman would just remain alienated from the rest of

the world. Moreover, with the existence of one of the world’s largest chemical companies,

Kemaman is now visible in the eyes of many of the corporations of the world.

Based on what has been done, surely it would not be too much to regard Rozano as an agent

of change. As we can see, before he started his journey and embarked on his mission, he

made hisvision clear enoughto everyone.First, he started with hisfamily. Thefirst time he was

assigned to Kemaman, Rozano waspersistent enough to persuade hisloved ones to move to

this ‘‘unexpected’’ remoteplace. Whowould want to leave a comfy nest and a city of paradise

such as Shah Alam to a place where only the ‘‘rural individuals’’ would live? To many,

Kemaman was like a different planet in a different galaxy. What was there in store for the city

people? What was the schooling system like? Where would they go for shopping? How could

they spend their leisure time? Was there any life at all to be enjoyed? Despite these questions

with unattainable answers, Rozano with his unstoppable spirit, marched ahead and

convinced the people he loved that together they could give a fresh start to Kemaman.

He initially had made a solemn vow that when he became the ‘‘commander of the ship,’’ he

would improve the conditions and upgrade the productivity of Huntsman Tioxide and to him,there wasno turning back or time to lose. However, he knew it would never be a smoothsailing

journey as there would be a lot of obstacles.

First and foremost, the town was in dire need of wondrous transformations. The ‘‘kampong’’

school would have to be of a different facade with a different persona. He did not want all his

‘‘babies’’ to go through rough times getting education in a second-classschool. Trueenough,

after a few years of perseverance and commitment, the Kemaman folks can now put their

heads up and startto show off to the outsiders that their school which was once a ‘‘tease’’ has

turned into an ‘‘elite’’ school. Obviously, the school would not be of the same standard as any

of the so-called elite schools in Kuala Lumpur or Shah Alam, but it can proudly be said that it

has now become one of the top schools, and has also been pronounced as the third best

school in Malaysia for UPSR (a major exam for year six students).

Again, the same question pops up. Who is this mysterious Rozano Saad? Who is he to be

idolized by so many? Is he a political leader? Is he comparable to the newly elected US

president, Barack Obama? Is he a famous Hollywood star who is worshipped by many

diehard fans? Unfortunately, Rozano Saad fits none of those scenarios. He is just an ordinary

man who comes from a working – class background, but who is a highly educated,

high-spirited, city person and willing to do the ‘‘impossible’’ in a ‘‘foreign’’ land. Though

Terengganu is one of the states in Malaysia, it is common to assume that many of those from

the west coast of peninsular Malaysia would be dragging their feet if they ever had to make a

living in a slow-paced state on the east coast. Nevertheless, Rozano Saad is a man of

principles. What is considered as impossible to the others would be a challenge to him.

He affirms that he has the criteria for being a champion, and thus, immediately starts to plan

and is ready to commit to excellence in every task.

Building emotionally intelligent organizationsOnce the green light was granted by his family, he moved forward in his own way to realize his

vision. As expected, he was the first one to be tested on his persistence and endurance.

Nevertheless, Rozano Saad is a man with a charming personality. One would be touched to

see him of a higher authority lowering himself down to the level of others in order to gain

confidence, loyalty and cooperation among hisco-workers.Also,oftentimes, Rozanoand his

team would never be too occupied to discuss matters pertaining to the betterment of the

company with leaders of different organizations. In fact, they were regarded as mentors,




hence monitoring and speaking upon Rozano and team’s actions in the organization. In other

words, he could be portrayed as the real leader in the organization who has a liberated

personality but a professional outlook. Why is this so? Or perhaps, How could that be?

Huntsman Tioxide is not his. On top of that, he is a Malay man whose position as a Site

Manager was passed down by an expat boss. Well Rozano has the leadership quality and

has followers. From the very beginning of his ‘‘reign,’’ he developed a ‘‘special’’ kind of

relationship with his fellow workers. The relationship he created led him to having more and

more followers. Having followers who listen to your ideas and suggestions would make a

company stronger while at the same time, laying the company’s principles into a more

concrete foundation. This, of course, would depict the leader as great and successful.Furthermore, Rozano’s ability in making sound decisions and putting what was best for the

community, namely the Teluk Kalong community and his workers ahead of his personal

agenda led to the earning of respect by them. Once respect was gained, support would be

easy to grab.

Rozano’s leadership style, however, was not easily accepted by his subordinates who jolted

him not long after he was promoted to general manager of operations. Being an engineer by

training, his style tended to be commanding and pace-setting. He was meticulous in many

aspects, thus, was also called by his co-workers as very cerewet[16] and analytical.

Nevertheless, he refused to change those styles which were the norm in the engineering

culture in which he had operated for the past 20 years.

This time, being a manager, there was another aspect he needed to focus on: the company’s

long-term goals. For him to achieve those goals, he needed to draw on a wider repertoire.Thus, Rozano used his new awareness about his leadership to set learning goals toward

building visionary and coaching leadership styles. His larger aim was to dramatically improve

the organizational climate, particularly, when it came to people’s clarity about their

responsibilities and the standards expected of them. He also knew that self-awareness was

not one of his strengths, and that became one of his personal learning goals.

To ensure that his aims would be achieved, Rozano did not only make his personal learning

goals known among his staff but also made them become part of his learning laboratory, to

borrow the term from Goleman et al. (2008). At the same time, he also brought his whole

management team to go through the same leadership development program which he

experienced. His only intentions for doing this was to make his members of management

team speak the same language as a way to reinforce their new learning agenda as well as to

make them work together. His own learning agenda, for instance, has forced him to inform his

staff in the plants at every meeting of the company’s newly identified vision of excellence.

Rozano’ unique management style has attracted others to learn more about him. One of them

is Goleman et al. (2008). In his book, Goleman highlighted Rozano’s approach whereby

different teams among the managers were formed before they identified a ‘‘monthly plan

personal contact’’ (their phrase for internal coaches). Apparently, this approach allowed

each leader to get support and monitor progress on his or her learning plan.

More about Rozano and his management was reported by Goleman et al. (2008) as follows:

In the monthly management staff meeting, discussions addressed management style,

organizational climate, and learning plans as well as the usual topics of performance and

safety. They also formed special reference groups that met monthly and within which they could

discuss their own personal learning plans, review progress, and get ongoing feedback.

Just two years later, Rozano and his managers were so encouraged by the changes that they

openedtheir plants for tours and site visits by other executives. The whole environment shifted aswell. At the beginning of this process, if you’d asked someone on the shop floor about their

personal objectives, you’d have heard somethingvaguein response, such as ‘‘to produce 50,000

tons of pigment.’’ Nowif you askthe same question, youcan hear the focus will be on quality over

quantity:‘‘I have to ensurethatsamples aretakenevery four hours,and analyzed according to the

right standards. And if there’s any deviation from the acceptable parameters, I’ll have to

troubleshoot to reach the confirmed level ASAP through [. . .].’’

What’s more, the company began showing a strong upward trend in profits, as well as improved

productivity benchmarks. Regular climate surveys to monitor progress showed jumps of nearly




200 percent when assessed by all the managers in the company (close to 300 percent as seen in

Rozano’s direct reports) – particularly in the dimensions of clarity, flexibility, standards, and team

commitment.

In the third year after the change effort, the conglomerate’s CEO reported that Huntsman

Tioxide-Malaysia wasone of thehighestperforming companies in thegroup, breakingproductivity

targets with record profits.

What had happened? The same people were here; personnel hadn’t changed much during that

time. What had changed was how they worked together: The climate became one that

encouraged everyone to increase their use of emotional intelligence and to build their leadership

talent. Each manager had the opportunity to articulate his dreams and aspirations (the firstdiscovery), to see himself as others saw him through 360-degree feedback and identification of

strengths and gaps (the second discovery), to develop a personal learning agenda (the third

discovery), and to experiment and practice new habits of leadership at work (the fourth

discovery). The managers did this work with each other (the fifth discovery) and created a new

climate of leadership. They developed emotionalresonance about their mission and development

as leaders.

Organizational development

Being part of the management team trained in Rozano’s way, Aziz Zabidi, can now smile in

gratification. As he recalled his experience with the company, he could not agree more with

what had been said by Rozano: ‘‘It’s a journey.’’

Yes,that wastrue enoughfor he wasthereto witness theground clearing of Teluk Kalong, wayback in 1989. In the company, people come and go but he remained there witnessing

everything that has happened in Huntsman Tioxide. Yes, it was a journey, he agreed [.. .] but

he would add more to it. ‘‘[. . .] a haphazard journey.’’

When they first started, the people of Teluk Kalong saw Huntsman as nothing but

contaminating their place. Many had the wrong ideas about what they were doing and

Huntsman knew that this must be corrected. Aziz knew that he should not let Rozano bear the

load all by himself because at the end of the day, the fruits would be harvested, shared and

tasted by all.

Realizing that there were areas that Rozano had given enough emphasis to and was good at,

Aziz cleared his direction and focused on other areas that he was responsible for as the Site

Material Venture Director. From the beginning, Aziz already knew that their different

characters made them a perfect pair for they complemented each other in many aspects.

And they both knew, without either one of them, the venture would never have succeeded.

Aziz’s most important responsibility is the production of the titanium dioxide pigments in the

plant which was never expected to be a smooth sailing process. When the plant started its

operation, there were 40 stages of product processing to be handled which looked fine on

paper but not in practice. With many problems that could occur as early as in the first stage,

Aziz Zabidi knew that only 20 percent of the plant’s capacity was utilized. This became

another problem area for him to work on.

When problemsoccurredin theplant, there wasno bureaucracy to be adhered to.A manager

like Aziz would immediately become a technician and he would work hand-in-hand with his

subordinates. In short, everybody became equal and they learned from each other and

together, they moved forward. The spirit of togetherness has always been part of the people

at Huntsman. Apparently, Rozano’s emphasis on human capital has left many positive

impacts on his staff, both in working and personal lives. They were taught about the value offriendship.

Aziz for one, has proven that true friends would always want the best for us. Therefore, when

Rozano consulted him on whether or not he should move to shell, Aziz was sincere enough to

tellhim that ifit had been him,he would have acceptedthe offer. Ensuring Rozano that he had

done enough for the company, Aziz told him that the move should be viewed for the

betterment of his life. As a human being, Rozano’s life was not limited to work, but his family

deserved an equal attention from this charismatic man as well. No doubt, Rozano, the man




behind the Huntsman Tioxide’s success, was needed everywhere and in every part of hislife;

his former company needed him, his wife, children and mother wanted him even more, and

even a giant company like shell wanted him to join them. To Aziz, Rozano, deserved to take

the offer from shell.

With or without Rozano, Aziz continued with what had been planned. To him, at the end of the

day, it was always the company’s direction that mattered. With the company’s vision to be a

leading producer of titanium dioxide pigments in the region while fulfilling shareholder’s

expectations on his mind, Aziz moved forward to ensure that the vision was achieved. He

started by making sure that everybody understood the company well and this was not limitedto the workers, but also the people of Teluk Kalong.

In carrying out his responsibilities in Huntsman, Aziz ensured that safety became his priority.

To him, this was extremely important as most of his work was related to the plant production.

To him, ‘‘safety is a journeynot a destination.’’ Instilling this notion in the minds of others, it has

been uniquely Aziz Zabidiwho is seen by many as theman whoemphasized safety. If Rozano

wasknown for not compromising quality and standard,Aziz would never jeopardize anything

at theexpense of the workers’safety. Thefact that they were dealing with hazardouschemical

waste had made him put safety as a priority. In fact, production would be stopped

immediately should there were any signs of uncertainty with regard to safety.

Aziz’s concern did not stop once the pigments were produced. To be competitive, he

converted waste into usableproductsthat would make revenue for the company. Hisstrategy

was proven effective. The company used to spend about 20 percent on waste managementbut the amount has now been reduced significantly.

Now that Aziz has proven his capabilities which exceeded expectations in most cases, his

contribution was well recognized that he was supposed to replace Rozano when he decided

to leave Huntsman.But as a human being,he could notstop thingsthat happened beyondhis

control. The acquisition of ICI Toxide by Huntsman has changed everything, making all the

arrangements and plans meaningless. Worst still, Aziz was left alone with no one to back him

up when he raised the matter.

Nevertheless, Aziz was wise enough to accept the fact that a change in company structure

also meant a change in the position of staff and he knew that could happen to any companies

in any part of the world. Was he sad? Well, that was the feeling that he could not avoid, but

being a man with determination, Aziz knew from the beginning that life must go on. He should

not regret when he was ‘‘moved backwards’’ from his earlier position. He knew it had been

fated for him and with no regrets, he accepted it.

Talking to his boss on this matter brought him nowhere. Ironically, he was highlighted on the

fact that perhaps he had been there for too long. Perhaps, he should move to other places

which might offer him a brighter future. All of the sudden, he remembered his comrade,

Rozano, theman whotaught himso much about life. When Rozanowas leaving Huntsman,he

was the one who assured him that the move was for his own good. Yes, he was the one who

had given the assurance to Rozano. However, when someone told him exactly the same, he

never thought it wasthe right thing for himto do.Why? Still groping in darkness,Azizcouldnot

see the light at the end of the tunnel. Many questions were left unanswered. Perhaps, he

should just follow in Rozano’s footsteps. He had done enough for Huntsman that he should

have let others to ‘‘try’’ managing the company. Or perhaps, this was just part of countless

challenges that he had to ‘‘taste’’ as an individual who ‘‘grew up’’ with Huntsman. Everythingseemed blurred to him.

Nevertheless, it was not too long for him to finally discover the answer he had needed most.

Not letting othersmaneuverhis life direction, Aziz stayedfirm with hisown principles. For one,

he was not Rozano and they both had different values and beliefs towards life. Unlike him,

Rozano had his own valid reason to go. He never wished to leave Huntsman, but he was

sought after by others. More importantly, his move had made many souls happy; his wife,

children, mother and the new company.




Aziz’s story wasdifferent. Teluk Kalonghas alwaysbeen very close to hisheart. Andtherewas

one reason for this. He is Terengganu born and Rozano is not. Certainly, no words can

describe the kind of satisfaction he felt serving his own hometown.

Deep down hisheart,he also believed that if he wasloyalto the organization, the organization

would look after him. Nothing would change this. Definitely, his loyalty to the company would

be rewarded sooner or later. With that on mind, he would wait for that moment for he knew that

his decision was right.

Company’s operation

While Aziz managed the production of titanium dioxide pigments, Rozano had all the job

processes documented in his ‘‘green book’’ (Figure 11). Again, this is an evidence of his

emphasis on quality and standard. Apparently, the use of the book indirectly trained the staff

to document important matters that they encountered so that it would be easy for others to

make reference when the same problems recur. In short, the book is about problem solving

and trouble shooting.

Properly keeping the green book, however, was just a tiny part of his unique way in bringing

success to the plant. If anybody would ever askhim of what thelargest contributor to success

was, his certain answer would be ‘‘human capital.’’ To him, without people, technology would

be meaningless, and it was for this reason that he always won the hearts of his men. At times,

they deserved praises but simultaneously, they were ‘‘pushed’’ to move forward.

Usually, his way was subtle enough that no one would feel offended. Throughout the journey,

he made them felt that their presence was important to the growth and development of the

company. They were also made to be fully aware that he would not be there to guide and be

with them forever. Indeed, eventually, they were left on their own feet.

The MMPI program

Apart from using the ‘‘green book,’’ the company also held the Managing Motivation for

Performance Improvement (MMPI) which was launched in 1997, with the belief that a healthy

organizational climate positively impacts the bottom line (Figure 12). Under this assumption,

the management of HTMAS embarked on introducing the four circle model which forms the

basis for theMMPI program. Theoverall objectiveis to understand howthesefour variables –

Figure 11 The ‘‘Green book’’




individual competencies, job requirements, managerial style, and organizational climate –

work together for effective performance, as stated in HTMAS Social Responsibility Program

(2006).

a. Organizational climate . Organizational climate is the individual’s perception of those

aspects of the organization that directly affect how well a person can do his or her job. Of the

four key variables, organizational climate has the greatest impact on individual and

organizational performance. Hay Group research has identified six critical climate

dimensions:

1. Clarity: everyone in the organization knows what is expected of him/her.

2. Standards: challenging, but attainable goals are set.

3. Responsibility: employees are given the authority to accomplish tasks.

4. Flexibility: there are no unnecessary rules, policies, procedures.

5. Rewards: employees are recognized and rewarded for good performance.

6. Team commitment: people are proud to belong to the organization.

Numerous research studies have found a direct link between an organization’s climate and

its performance. Organizational climate is the closest thing to a P & L statement in terms of

indicating how well a company manages its human-resource assets. The more positively

employees perceive their climate to be, the greater the discretionary effort they put into their

jobs. The greater the discretionary effort is, the higher their commitment is to produce quality

output and customer satisfaction. So, what determines the organizational climate?

b. Managerial style . Managerial style refers to the pattern of behavior an individual manager

uses across the full range of management situations. Hay Group research has found that

managerial style is the variable with the greatest impact on organizational climate. The

breadth of a manager’s repertoire of styles determines his or her effectiveness. Managers

prefer to use styles that feel ‘‘natural’’ to them and, therefore, may limit themselves to using

only those styles that come naturally. What feels ‘‘natural’’ is largely determined by a

manager’s individual competencies. So, what are competencies?

Figure 12 The MMPIs

Managing Motivation For Performance Improvement

The Four-Circle Model

Job RequirementsIndividual

Competencies

Personal

Characteristics,

Skills & motives.

Those critical managerial

tasks and activities that

must be performed in a

fashion for a person to beregarded as superior

performance

Managerial Styles Organisational Climate

Performance

(Desired Result)

Patterns the manager

adopts to plan,

organize,

Motivate and control.

Perception of how it

feels to work in a

particular

environment




c. Individual competencies . Competencies include the skills, knowledge, self-image, values,

and motives a manager brings to the job. A competency is any personal characteristic that

differentiates performance in a given job, role, organization, or culture. Each competency is

measured in terms of key behaviors that illustrate lower-to-higher levels of impact on job

results.

The strongest underlying characteristic that affects an individual’s behavior is his or her

motive disposition. Understanding why they are naturally inclined to behave in a certain way

allows managers to predict, monitor, and manage their behavior. They can then choose

effective behavior or management styles for dealing with each management situation theyencounter.

The conscious ability to choose the appropriate style will improve a manager’s leadership

capability and enhance the organization’s climate and performance. However, since each job

is different, the competency requirements of the job are yet another variable to be

considered.

d. Competency requirements . To develop effectivemanagement practices, an analysis of the

objective requirements of the job is just as important as the assessment of individual’s styles

and competencies. Understanding the difference between job requirements and what

people find naturally satisfying explains why they may perform well in some aspects of their

jobwhilefinding some jobs or parts of a jobfrustrating. Jobcompetency requirementsreferto

the specific levels of competency required for consistently superior performance.

Competencies generate behaviors that get better results more consistently, across abroad range of managerial situations.

e. The key . The key to organizational effectiveness is, therefore, the manager or rather the

leadership that a manager brings to his job. Whatever the business, whatever the strategy or

whatever the objective is, the chances of success is greatly enhanced when you have

managers at every level ready to lead. This philosophy has been the basis used by Rozano in

breaking new frontiers for organization.

Since then, most efforts in HTMAS have started with people, the perceptions they hold and

how theseperceptions influence their behavior. The styles that the managers and supervisors

held are strategically tailored towards creating higher productivity through enhancing

organizational climate. The employees are encouraged to sow the seeds of a healthy

organizational climate. The desired culture emerged (Figure 13; HRTMAS, 2006).

Figure 13 The desired culture of Huntman Tioxide Malaysia

Hierarchy

Blames

External Motivation

Protective barriers

Fear of Change

Satisfying boss syndrome

Secrecy and censorship

Pressure of work

Short term fire fighting

reactions

Support

Honest evaluation

Self motivation

Building team

Change is a norm and welcome

Pleasing the customers

Openness and honesty

Challenging of work

Longer term strategic planning

The Desired Culture

BEFORE MMPI AFTER




Since 1997, more than seven organizational climate surveys involving top and middle

management have been conducted to identify the areaswhere the organizations can improve

and benefit in the pursuit of quality, cost and people excellence. The top management

commitment and involvement in spearheading the cultural change towards developing and

maintaining an environment for quality excellence are continuously monitored and

synchronized against the vision and mission of the organization.

With the above concepts and notions on his mind, Rozano first created the so-called

‘‘Organizational Climate.’’ The existence of this ‘‘climate,’’ according to Rozano allowed

people to give their best and provided opportunities for his men to acquire skillsand improvetheir efficiency rather than being kicked out for not meeting expectations, as some other

management would do. This way, he believed, would push his men to their maximum

potentials and turned them into a ‘‘world champion.’’

For what he has done, there is one term to describe Rozano: a strategic thinker. Starting from

hisbelief that everything starts with the right mindset, he strategized hisdirections by viewing

his tasks globally. As he moved forward, his strategies included identifying any existing gaps

that needed to be worked on, checking on reliability where necessary, managing people’s

emotional intelligence and encouraging his subordinates to think outside the box. At the

same time, he ensured that work progressed in accordance with the stated KPI. When this

was done, he admitted the results were impressive.

Rozano’s management has undoubtedly created a new culture in Huntsman. The difference

of these cultures from the early years until today is illustrated in Table I.The above is not all about Rozano’s unique leadership style. His other significant contribution

was his concept of ambassadorship. Appointed based on the right characteristics, his

ambassadors were responsible in managing the company-community relationship.

Representing the company, the ambassadors gained the trust from the community by

tackling any problems or misunderstanding towards the company that occurred among them.

To do this, the ambassadors needed to find ways to make them ‘‘close’’ enough with the

community by getting involved in activities such as painting their homes andjoining their small

feast called ‘ ‘kenduri.’’

In addition to the above, the ‘‘I See I Act’’ campaign was also introduced where people at

Huntsman were encouraged to make complaints or lodge reports on matters that they felt

need attention (Figures 14 and 15).

Among other approaches to build positive culture in Huntsman were:

B Managerial style inventory.

B Coaching team (Figure 16).

B Putting it into practice.

B Effective communication.

B 3 RAS (Figure 17).

Table I New culture in Huntsman

From (1990/1997) 1998/2004 To (2005 and Beyond)

Hierarchy and bureaucracy SupportiveBlaming others Encourage more self-awareness

External motivation Self motivation

Protective Building team and removing barriers

Fear of change Mixture of both culture Change is a norm and is easily accepted

Satisfying boss syndrome Pleasing the customers

Secrecy and censorship Openness and honesty

Feeling pressure at work Challenging of work

Short term fire fighting Long term and forward looking




The future

The right organization climate means improved productivity and bottom line figures, as

employees are enabled and motivated to perform to their utmost ability. As we can see, this

philosophy has been the basis used by Rozano Saad in breaking new frontiers for

organization. In short, he is the manbehind the success story of Huntsman.However, as what

he would admit, this was never a one man show. Without his second man, Rozano might not

have done it. It has always been Aziz Zabidi who complemented everything that Rozano waslacking. While Rozano spent time on dealing with the people of Teluk Kalong, it was Aziz who

would stay back at the plant to ensure that productions ran smoothly. When Rozano wasbusy

creating organizational climate for thecompany, it wasAziz whoensured that no one’s life was

put at stake while chemical waste was being disposed off. Definitely, Rozano and Aziz

complemented each other well.

At theend, allthe effortsare internationallyrecognized as an empiricalevidenceof a visionary

leadership that moves towards an ‘‘emotionally intelligent’’ organization. The success story of

Figure 14 I see I act campaign

Figure 15 Number of reports in December 2007

0

20

40

60

80

0

20

40

60

80

100

120

> 10 rpts 8 4 16 43 76 58 12 16

< 5 rpts 0 1 7 7 5 3 0 7

Zero 0 7 3 10 55 0 3

6 - 9 rpts 0 2 5 7 75 3 1

EHSQ HSSC PSM S.ENG BE WE PIP TECH




Huntsman waseven cited in thebook authored by the‘ ‘guru’’ of emotionalintelligence, Daniel

Goleman (author of the New York Times Bestseller Emotional Intelligence ) in his book Primal

Leadership: Realizing the Power of Emotional Intelligence .

The success of HTMAS leadership was also mentioned in other books and publications suchas Make Common Sense, Common Practice a book by Roone Moore (USA), and an article in

Utusan Malaysia: Cara pengurusan diiktiraf antarabangsa .

As we can see, significant improvements, massive developments and positive transformation

have taken place in Huntsman. It first started with the people and the culture but the final

benefits that led to the increased productivity and profitabilitywere impressive. However, this

is not the end of the story. As Rozano Saad puts it: ‘‘It’s a journey.’’

Figure 16 Coaching team approach

Figure 17 The 3 RAS

Knowledge (Beras)

Skill (keras)Will (Waras)

(The focus)




Questions

Evaluating leadership strategy and system thinking:

1. Does the quality of a good leader exist in Rozano? Is his leading role in planning and

implementation an ‘‘add on’’ to his leadership style?

2. What is your assessment of the present leadership strategy and system thinking of

Rozano? What are the outstanding threats and opportunities do you see?

3. What should the leader’s agenda be with regard to the corporate planning and change?

Is the leader’s long-term strategy vision for this company appropriate or does it need tobe modified? What can the leader do to add value to the firm’s business portfolio and

make it more attractive?

Corporate-social responsibility:

4. Has the business plant been assimilated and integrated with the rest of the people in the

community?

5. Did they really make sense of their social responsibility or were they the results of

happenstance and opportunism?

6. Has the corporate-social responsibility been well thought out and well executed?

Organizational culture:

7. Is the corporate culture in tune with strategy? Are the organization’s values, norms,

attitudes and ingrained behaviors supportive of strategy?8. Does top management have a ‘‘hands-on-feel’’ of how well strategy implementation is

progressing? Do they know what problems are being encountered? Are communication

channels up and down the organization working well? Are controls and reporting

systems adequate?

Exerting strategic leadership:

9. Has the top management worked to create a climate in which the needs of strategy are

aligned with the corporate culture? Does the organization’s attitude and temperament fit

the strategy? Are needed changes being made?

10. To what extent is the management proactively trying to mold the organization’s habits,

mindsets, and cultural variables to match strategy?

11. Is top management visible enough? Have the key executives been attentive to build

folklore and set images on which to promote organizational change?

12. Are the top management leadership styles and internal political skills adequate for the

situation? Do key managers appear to have right temperament and personalities to

implement the strategy successfully?

General issues:

13. What is your comment on the‘ ‘change’’ made by thecompany on thesurroundings of the

fishery village?

14. Do you think that such ‘‘crisis conditions’’ prevail on the rapid changes on the

community?

15. Has the mixed-culture strategy implemented by the company ruined the ‘‘Malay

tradition’’ of the community?

Notes

1. Mat Salleh – a westerner.

2. ‘‘cakap tak serupa bikin ’’ – you do not do the things you have said you would.

3. duduk bersila – sit on the floor with legs crossed.

4. Melayu-malay man.




5. keropok lekor – chips made of fish.

6. kampong – village.

7. orang luar-outsider.

8. roti canai – malay pancake.

9. roti kosong – plain malay pancake-no fillings.

10. teh tarik – specially prepared tea.

11. nak kena cepat – in a hurry.

12. pulut durian – cooked glutinous rice eaten with durian fruit.

13. gotong royong – work together hand-in-hand –, i.e. in the cleaning up of kampong.

14. surau – a small building built for praying purposes – similar to a mosque.

15. sarong-pareo – like material worn by man.

16. cerewet – fussy.

Keywords:

Leadership,

Decision making,

Transformation,

Huntsman Tioxide,

Malaysia

References

Huntsman Tioxide Malaysia (2009), Annual Reports , Huntsman Tioxide, Selangor.

Goleman, D., Boyatzis, R.E. and Goleman, A.M. (2008), Primal Leadership: Realizing the Power of

Emotional Intelligence , Harvard Business Press, Boston, MA.

Further reading

Aziz Zabidi (2009), ‘‘In-depth interview’’.

Huntsman Tioxide Malaysia (2008), Total Quality Management Report , Huntsman Tioxide Malaysia,

Selangor.

Rozano Saad (2009), ‘‘In-depth interview’’.

Corresponding author

Nik Maheran Nik Muhammad can be contacted at: [email protected]

j j

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