Executives on Transformations
This transcript was automatically generated.
Charles Wong: Through this transformation, I think it's important that we surround ourselves with different talent to improve on some of our weaknesses and build on the strengths of others, leverage everyone within the organisation to drive a winning team
Kanaiya Parekh: Good afternoon. And Charles, thank you for taking the time to have this discussion. When we met, you talked about how you wanted to transform the company. A company that has been very successful, 30 years old since you and your brother started the business. Why did you feel that was the right time for transformation?
Charles Wong: The company has been running for the last 30 years by the three brothers, and we have always wanted to grow in terms of size and speed. But I feel there's a need for us to consolidate and rethink how we are going to run the business in the next 20 years.
We have many business units from Singapore operations to our franchise business, to our China business, e-commerce, and also the Western market. We have grown to this size based on a lot of key talents in the company. But I think we need to rethink: if we want to grow stronger, not faster, how do we do it better?
Kanaiya Parekh: So when we think about the journey we started, why was it important that we started with the customer value proposition?
Charles Wong: We decided to go into this project, customer value proposition, who our core customer is and how we should engage and then focus on them. We calibrated what are the important customers that we need to focus on.
Through that, I think we can gather our teams, in terms of merchandising, in terms of marketing, even our e-commerce operations, knows very clearly that these are the two target customer groups that we should focus on.
Kanaiya Parekh: What are some of the key initiatives and challenges that we worked together on that you feel have been very important for the future growth of Charles & Keith?
Charles Wong: The e-commerce business today is a high-growth business for us. In terms of how do we market to our customers, how do we ensure that our e-commerce business grows correctly? We embarked on hyper-personalisation, which is critical for different markets because every market customer is different.
Kanaiya Parekh: So Charles, if we look forward, what's next for Charles & Keith, and what excites you?
Charles Wong: The new operating model is critical. How are we going to operate our business to win. ‘How to win?’ is very important, faster to market, less is more in terms of product-wise, and how we engage our talent, how we build a winning culture with our core values. So I think it's very important that we align the whole company as a whole.
Kanaiya Parekh: What did you learn about yourself whilst going through this transformation?
Charles Wong: Like playing sports, you need to learn from the right coach in order to play well. You can spend all your time to play, but are you improving, or are you just playing for the sake of playing? Through this transformation, I think it's important that we surround ourselves with different talent to improve on some of our weaknesses and build on the strengths of others, leveraging everyone within the organisation to drive a winning team.
Business Transformations That Work
Business transformations are about continuously reshaping an organization. When they work, they enhance performance, increase efficiency, and create a competitive advantage.