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Bipin | Shariq | Marie | Ravi | Swati | Manotosh

JOHN MEREDITH – OF HUTCHISON PORT HOLDING

By: GROUP 3

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Meredith developed the most important skills of a leader during his childhood and the beginning of his life

Childhood

Traveling in South Africa at very young age because of the world war II

• He needed to adapt himself to a new culture and to become more open-minded before 9 years old.

Adaptation

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Going to the sea Going to the Sea

At 15 Meredith became a cadet at the naval academy

The long sea voyages were mentally and physically very difficult

Thanks to this education, Meredith learnt to be patient, calm under pressure and to have responsabilites

He ended the naval academy at 24

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.

Containerization :

Cargo is packed intolarge metal boxes of standard size that could be loaded onto ships

Meredith initially opposed to containerization but later saw the potential to revolutionize the shipping industry

He convinced HWD contacts to actually build port facilities for loading , unloading and storing containers

• Eventually, he was given a cargo container as an office

• Cost conscious operation

• Building container facilities

A pioneer in containerization

Containerization

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HONG KONG chapterHWD made it clear that shipbuilding and repair would remain the core

business

Prevailing attitude “Playing around with

boxes”

Container handling became HWD’s new focus

HWD moved to a larger area as business grew

Division renamed to Hong Kong International

Terminus

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Organizational structure and identity

• Small organizations had sense of identity, ownership and purpose

International staffing

• Difficult to find managers at international locations who were qualified and willing• Candidates from HK talent pool unwilling to go overseas• Young Candidates were willing: Risk due to less experience• Couldn’t develop globally minded executives

Securing the global supply chain

• Security was of utmost importance• Use of technology: RFID sensors, ERP systems, etc.

Challenges of international management

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Learned the fundamentals of leadership during his years as a navel cadet and officer

Sea fearing experience made him strong and decisive while respecting opinions of subordinates

Believed in Two extremes – too accommodating and too authoritative

Meredith’s style fell between these two

Well understood the value of honesty

Believed that distance between leader and the followers depended on the transparency level between them

Influenced by Li – to be focused and efficient to make decisions quickly

Leadership Style

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Loyal to workforce – learnt the value of supporting roles while doing menial work

Advocated for better working conditions for subordinates Fought for living arrangement for P&O crew at the cost of his own reputation Believed that managers should be directly responsible for their workers

Globalization: Ability to look out for the opportunity Growth of world trade; ports piggybacking the growth Two fold objective: 1) Find more customers in Hong Kong 2) Port development opportunities outside Hong Kong Influenced Li for approval; eventually became a front door for China’s

operations and trade enabler Eventually established HPH

Leadership style- workforce management“Sometimes you have to stand up for your people, even if you know it will be an unpopular idea at the higher levels ”

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Six Leadership styleshttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bv16yctXaFM

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Coercive Authoritative Affiliative

Leader’s modus operandi

Style in a phrase Come with me People Come first

Underlying emotional

intelligence competencies

Empathized the value of honesty in opinions

Advocated for better working conditions for all

his subordinates

EmpathizationBottom up approach for

acquired portsLoyalty, pride, spirit and

motivation

Style works best

New vision and strategy from just a ship manufacturer to containerization

Motivated people to think differently when they were facing market changes and

poaching

Overall impact on climate Most strongly positive Positive

Leadership styles of Meredith

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Democratic Pacesetting Coaching

Leader’s modus operandi

Participation- the best innovations come from

within the comapnyCrystal ball sessions

Global Leadership Development Program and Leaders Leading Leaders

Style in a phrase People Come first Try This

Underlying emotional

intelligence competencies

EmpathizationDeveloping mid level

managers to become future leaders and skill development

Style works bestMarket challenges and

poaching against innovations

Global expansion and offshore operations

Overall impact on climate Positive Positive

Leadership styles of Meredith

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Daniel Goleman emotional intelligence

Wh

o I

Am

Wh

at

I D

oPersonal Competency

Social Competency

Benefits:• Improving and

fulfilling Personal and Professional relationship

• Improving effectiveness as leader

Gaining better insights = better decisions = better outcomes

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John Meredith’s emotional intelligence fit

• Value of honesty -Distance between leader and followers

• Acknowledging Li’s style of leadership• Members of a small organization have a sense

of identity, ownership and purpose• Employees unwillingness to to go overseas• Challenges posed because of poaching

• Gathering information and opinion from others and then make a clear decision

• Loyalty towards workforce – Better working conditions for subordinates – living problem for P&O crew

• Influencing Li with the proposal for globalization• Ensuring the acquired ports retain their identity• Crystal ball sessions/ GLDP/L3 programs

• Learnt to be independent at an early stage• Performed menial jobs to keep him grounded

and humble• International Vision – Ability to see and seize the

opportunity of global expansion• Ability to foresee the slowdown in Hong Kong• Two business opportunities – Potential to

leverage container shipment data and LINE

• Aware that he had no security and stability• Admitted that he had lack of respect for his own

abilities/ determination to succeed• Aware that he had no education• Confident that he will succeed as a leader• Aware that his leadership helped establish HPH

as industry leader

Self Management

Social Skill

Self Awareness Social Awareness

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Big five personality factors of Meredith

Neuroticism : Low• Captain’s

qualification at 24, commanded large ships and hundreds of passengers

• Extensive experience

• Calm under pressure to keep things in perspective

Extraversion : Medium to high • Was good

at top down and bottom up approach –offshore sleeping case

• Innovations – consultation with employeescrystal ball session

Openness to experience : High• Travelling

in early age • Open to

diff. & independent experiences

• Change in companies vision from ship building & maintenance to containerization

Agreeableness : Medium• Accept

things from acquired ports’ employees for changing brand and logo

• Offshore sleeping case

• Managers should be responsible for their workers

Conscientious-ness : High• Influenced

by Li – focused and efficient approach

• Acted quickly on day-to-day management and decision making

• Response time 20 min

• Clear the desk by the end of day

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Situational leadership model

D 1Low

competence

High commitm

ent

D 2Low to some

competence

Low commitm

ent

D3Moderate to High

competence

variable commitm

ent

D4 High

competence

High commitm

ent

• Meredith’s style of leadership is an S2 style as he focuses communication on both achieving goals and meeting followers socio emotional needs

• But for long term he is looking to adapt an S3 style of leadership where he could give his followers control of day-to-day decisions but remains available to facilitate problem solving

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Declining Hong Kong while emerging countries growth• Recruiting and supporting managers for the operations

All things decline eventually

World’s state owned port operators

• Significant financial resources

• Lacked depth of mgmt. experiences

• Competition for the talent

POACHING

Retention of key people

Need of growth opportunities

Rewards system to encourage loyalty Business opportunity & Innovations transform the company in

futureEncouraged employee to think differentlyCrystal ball sessions with HPH employees

Container shipment data in Security screening process

• Collected vast amount of data and continued• Data for analysing supply chain tracking cargo in JIT

economy• Security purpose for government

Logistic Information Network Enterprise

• E-commerce boom : Bring shippers online to access shipment data

• Order services through a secure websites• Full service logistic business –technology based to

professional service• Big fish in small pond

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Developing the next generation

Technical approach• Industry is changing• Globalization is necessary• New skills and best practices are important

to learn

Human• Building relations and avoid poaching• Rewards for loyalty and other motivating

factors• Offshore activities are the biggest

opportunities

Conceptual• The fact of market changes & evolution with theinnovations and different business opportunities

• Currently faced problems• Vision & strategies for further growth of the

organization

• Identifying Mid-level managers around the world with high level potential

• Best practices across different verticals

Global Leadershi

p Developm

ent Program

• Senior managers and executives

• Exposure to same idea and concepts that in GLDP

Leaders Leading Leaders

• Negotiations skills• Providing necessary

resources

Skill Improvem

ent

“If you need wish to stay ahead of the competition, you need to nurture and lead your people”

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How HPH might foster similar skills amongst its global management team to ensure continued growth in the years to come?

• Develop more managers like Meredith himself by adopting coaching style of leadership

Would the Meredith’s style of leadership be applicable in future?

• His current style is a blend of authoritative and affiliative, however going forward

How could Meredith ensure his port mangers and other senior officer staff were ready to lead the company in the years head?

• Transition from pacesetting to coaching: Evaluate and skim off highly motivated individuals and coach them to improve performance and develop long term strengths

Challenges ahead - Hong Kong showing decline and emerging countries showing continuous growth

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Thank You!