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Putri Kuswisnu Wardani: Always be creative to meet changing consumer demands
(Courtesy Of PT Mustika Ratu)PT Mustika Ratu has established itself as a strong brand in traditional cosmetics, with its products well recognized not only at home but also overseas
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(Courtesy Of PT Mustika Ratu) (Courtesy Of PT Mustika Ratu)
(Courtesy Of PT Mustika Ratu)
PT Mustika Ratu has established itself as a strong brand in traditional cosmetics, with its products well recognized not only at home but also overseas. Since 2003, the company has been led by Putri Kuswisnu Wardani, the second daughter of Mooryati Soedibyo, the initiator and founder of the family-run business that is now a publicly listed company.
With her 10 years of experience as CEO, Putri has learned the approaches to maintaining the great name of the company and also to developing the business.
'Engaging management of all lines is inevitable to meet the speed of response in the field. Therefore, building a solid team and continuing to develop in accordance with today's demands constitutes my biggest task that never ends,' she said.
'In essence, we should never stop thinking creatively.'
Here are excerpts of an e-mail interview with Putri, who turns 54 on Sept. 20.
Question: As CEO, how do you maintain the great name of the company
Answer: By sharpening the positioning of [Mustika Ratu] in the increasingly crowded market, especially since the ASEAN Free Trade (AFTA) came into effect 2.5 years ago. Product branding has to be maintained and strengthened, with Mustika Ratu products' typical features and superiority in utilizing an empirically-tested formulation and combined with modified technological advancement.
Q. Do you adopt a management style similar to that adopted by your mother? As a CEO that represents the younger generation, what management style do you apply?
A. In the initial years of the company's operation, my mother as founder, definitely did it all by herself, from A to Z. As in other family-run businesses, ideas mostly came from the founder as the center of ideas. As the company became bigger in size, and the management became bigger, with tighter competition, not only dominated by locally-made but also imported products and even illegal products, a new approach and strategy, different from 10 years ago, was needed.
Engaging management of all lines is inevitable to meet the speed of response in the field. Therefore, building a solid team and continuing to develop in accordance with today's demands constitutes my biggest task that never ends.
Q. How does your mother give support to you as CEO?
A. My mother gives her support proportionally. She gives input that serves in complementing a different standpoint when necesary, but also provides her full trust for strategic decisions. I think this is the best support.
Q. Could you say why you were appointed a CEO, not somebody else?
A. All of my brothers and sisters had experience working in the family-run business. Some worked for a short time, another worked there on a temporary basis, there is another who until now still sits on the commission (my younger brother), and there is one who operates two spa outlets in Canada (my youngest sister).
However, I am the only one that started a career from the beginner level as a management trainee. Certainly, I am the longest working at Mustika Ratu and eventually after 18 years at the company, I was appointed CEO in 2003, accompanying my mother who now holds the position of president director because of her increased activity on the Regional Representatives Council (DPD) of the House of Representatives, and lately deputy head of the People's Consultative Assembly.
Q. What are the interesting aspects of being CEO ?
A. Being the female CEO of a herbal and cosmetics firm is, certainly, different from that of other sectors. On the one hand, having an opportunity to be part of the birth of new beauty products is very enjoyable. I have also gained easy access to various cosmetics products. On the other hand, people have higher expectations regarding women executives in a herbal and cosmetics company with regard to a good and attractive appearance even though we are very busy, leaving us little time to be made-up professionally. To be honest, it is not easy to fulfill this expectation, but like it or not, this is part of the profession.
Q. What thoughts do you have for the firm's continued development?
A. I demand my team move with the support of data. Therefore, I made an investment in a management information system seven years ago which required huge funds. This assists managers in making them familiar with analyzing and making decisions based on facts/ data. That's why all managers are equipped with a laptop as part of their working tools.
Q. As CEO, what are the phenomenal decisions you and your management team have taken and will take in the future for the development?
A. I cannot say that the decisions that I have taken are phenomenal. However, all constitute a collection of creative ideas that are implemented. In the middle of my journey at Mustika Ratu, I created a new brand and category in the industry for teenage girls under the name Mustika Puteri, which did not exist inthe past. Now Puteri splash cologne has become a market leader in the sector.
The most recent creation is making use of 10 hectares of idle land in Bekasi, which was originally intended for the construction of added production capacity, now I will begin construction of shop houses, a warehouse and middle-class apartments. The reasons are, first, the amount of production capacity provided by manufacturing contract companies in the area of toiletries and cosmetics.
Second, due to the increasingly tight labor regulations and rapidly rising minimum regional wages which have led labor-intensive companies to seek alternative routes. Third, the increasing need for shop houses, warehouses and adequate housing for the middle and upper class people working in industries in West Bekasi where our idle land is located.
In essence, we should never stop thinking creatively. In our organization, we are now making an overhaul on a large scale to anticipate changes that take place on the ground. Also, we are now working on branding projects. These kinds of things will continue to take place in the future. We'll never stop making improvements and creations. It's a job that never recognizes a finish line.
Q. What challenges are you facing in maintaining and developing the firm and how do you deal with them?
A. Apart from the increasing competition from time to time resulting from the free market, my greatest challenge is building a strong and unified team. In my view, human resources are the most valuable asset in any company. And yet, human resources that are not right can become an obstacle to corporate development. Without the support of a strong team, ideas and creativities that come up cannot be materialized.
Meanwhile, it is not easy to find the right personnel to fit into the organizational structure. Data on workers in Indonesia in 2010 at the Ministry of Education showed that the number of elementary school graduates stands at 50.14 percent, the number of graduates of senior high school is recorded only at 8.2 percent and the number of graduates of universities or S1 stands at 4.8 percent. Certainly, this explains why building management in Indonesia remains difficult. The hunt for capable personnel in the job market is intense. Certainly, a comfortable working environment and creating different appeal is always a management challenge.
Q. What values did your parents instill that have had a positive impact on your self-development, including your career in the company?
A. Having open and modern thoughts without limitation, not losing one's identity, trying to be persistent and consistent with what we desire to achieve by believing in the role that God plays in every result.
Q. In your view what important aspects make Mustika Ratu cosmetic products the primary choice for consumers in the long-term?
A. Sharpening what gives Mustika Ratu a competitive advantage as a producer of culture-based traditional products by creativity in all aspects, including developing products, packaging, promotion and strategy, in addition to building a strong team that can anticipate changes.
Q. What activities do you enjoy most with your family?
A. Clichéd and simple activities like dining together, seeing a movie, vacationing together, depending on the length of time available.
Putri Kuswisnu Wardani
Place/date of birth: Jakarta, Sept. 20, 1959
Experience:
Holds position of CEO of publicly listed traditional cosmetics maker PT Mustika Ratu from 2003 to present. Also holds strategic position outside the company, including head of the Indonesian Employers Association (APINDO) creative economy division (2013-2018), Deputy head of the Indonesian Chamber of Commerce and Industry's (KADIN) culture-based traditional industry (2013-2015), head of the Indonesian association for cosmetics (2010-2014), and head of the small-and-medium sized enterprises (SMEs) trade and industry and cooperatives of the joint herbal medicines firms (2011-2015).
Education:
Master of Business Administration (Sept 1988 ' March 1990). National University, Inglewood, California, USA.
