Per Borgvall: Keeping things simple during headwind

Andrea Tejokusumo ,  The Jakarta Post ,  Jakarta   |  Wed, 06/17/2009 1:22 PM  |  Management

Perhaps no one is better suited to lead a security solutions' company than Swedish-born Per Borgvall, who took up his new post as president and CEO of Gunnebo Security Group only in March this year.

Not only has Borgvall been involved in the industrial and manufacturing sector for more than 30 years, his full name can altogether be transliterated as "a solid rock castle wall".

But Borgvall is certainly no CEO on a pedestal. He believes that businesses benefit best when adopting a commonsensical view of the world where everybody gets to step back and think about the right decisions to make and the right things to do. This is why he prefers to see for himself what is going on in Gunnebo's 25 markets around the world.

"You can't sit in a headquarters in Sweden and believe you're running a business. You have to travel, meet people, encourage and motivate, understand their needs and how to support them," he said.

"At the same time, you develop your share of local knowledge - it is important to understand that global businesses are, essentially, local."

Heading a group with a vast product portfolio and clearly defined business lines, Borgvall feels no need to integrate all operations together: "After all, we have so many differences in culture, language and history that no market can be considered the same."

Moreover, he realizes that today's marketing warfare has very much to do with owning the relationship with the end customer. This is the significance behind the carving out of Gunnebo's distinct business lines and focused customer areas - bank, retail, site protection, secure storage, after-sales - which had started back in 2006.

"It's a different set of customers when you talk to banks, retailers, airports and ministries. You may sell the same products, but different customers have different needs. By carving out our end market sectors into business lines, we know exactly in which fields we operate in," he explained.

Another crucial part of the marketing strategy is having a reliable after-sales service, which at Gunnebo is defined as its own business line with a function to serve customers from all other business lines.

"We want to be available to customers during the long lifespan of our products. To give that sense of importance and urgency, we have 24-hour call centers in specific countries including Indonesia," said Borgvall.

Gunnebo's involvement in Indonesia - via PT Indolok Bakti Utama - has been a long one encompassing a tradition of strong performance platform and large market shares specifically from the bank, secure storage and after-sales lines.

"Indonesia is also a country which from the logistics point of view is quite complicated because of all the islands. We still have room for environment in terms of covering the entire region specific market sectors where we could be stronger," Borgvall said.

With regard to his new CEO position, Borgvall admitted that at this stage he is still grasping what makes the business tick during times of headwind like what the world is currently in.

"Our first measurement is to focus strongly on cash flow, to sell and finalize as much operations as possible by being proactive when it comes to depth profile, assessing our quality of customers, how they pay us and how much inventory we have," he stated.

Yet he has strong optimism when talking about the state of things to come: "Things in life always go up and down. Though there is a strong headwind at the moment, you shouldn't miss the fact that there are still opportunities. People want to go forward and there is money around, so we try shifting our focus and going for new customers and markets."

Asked about the challenges in managing a listed company, Borgvall noted the only difference was that one would need to spend more time making everything public and being crystal clear in following the rules.

"Management time should also be allocated for talking with the financial market, analysts, investors, shareholders and the media," he said.

It is a great relief for him, then, that after all his far-flung business trips, he can always return to his cozy ranch home in western Sweden to enjoy a round of golf and spend time with his daughters.

"We have a tendency to make simple things complex so that we lose our ground; the same like in managing a business," said Borgvall. Having said that, he reckons it is normal for ambitions to be bigger than resources. "It's when you have the opposite that you have a problem," he chuckled.

Borgvall believes that businesses need to pay more attention to the environment they operate in: "You may call this a *Swedish' character, but it's important to know what's right and wrong and do what is best for our future generation."

And he was not just talking about preservation of the environment but also of human rights and freedom: "Social responsibilities like health, safety and respecting the individual are just as crucial. If you use commonsense, CSR should come naturally."

So, with its long tradition of Swedish CEOs and a conspicuously "green" approach, can Gunnebo essentially be considered a Swedish company?

"That is an interesting question seeing that we only have about 5 percent of sales turnover in Sweden, yet we are a public company listed on the Stockholm Stock Exchange and the majority of our shareholders are Swedish," answered Borgvall.

He pointed out that although it is true that Gunnebo's CEOs have traditionally been Swedish - himself included - the group follows an international management style under a team composed of different nationalities. "The art is in getting the right blend," he said.

BACKGROUND
Name: Per Borgvall
Place/date of birth: Herrljunga, 1958
Status: Married

Education
1982 : Master of Science Civil Engineering, Chalmers University of Technology

Experience
2009 : President and CEO, Gunnebo AB
2004 : President and CEO, AB Fagerhult
2000 : Head of Indoor Climate division, British industrial group IMI Plc.

Copyright © 2008 The Jakarta Post - PT Bina Media Tenggara. All Rights Reserved.