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Goh Choon Phong - The man who is destroying SIA

aurvandil

Alfrescian
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By now, we have all probably read about the shameful way SIA was caught lying about overflying Ukraine airspace. It is now time to meet the person who is destroying SIA. Since he took over in 2010, SIA has been lurching from crisis to crisis. SIA's ranking have sunk and SIA's share price has declined by almost 40%.

http://mothership.sg/2013/10/bet-20-spore-airlines-ceos-googling/

Goh-Choon-Phong-615x434.jpg




8 factors explaining why a culture of obscurity is dealing major blows to the most prominent airline in the world.

By Belmont Lay

Touch your heart and ask yourself this: As a Singaporean, can you even name Singapore Airlines’ Chief Executive Officer?

You know who Richard Branson is. You obviously have heard of Steve Jobs. And you’d have even heard of Sim Wong Hoo. Or Olivia Lum.

But the CEO of Singapore Airlines, one of the most raved about airlines in the world?

If you’re clueless, it’s really not your fault.

And not knowing the CEO’s name is also probably the least of SIA’s worries.

Everything that is wrong with SIA now — from how locals cannot afford to buy its tickets, to its dwindling service standards, to Singaporeans’ inability to embrace it even though it is a national asset — is helpfully explained and dissected in this insightful and highly-critical article.

It is written by Emmanuel Daniel, a highly-regarded Singapore-based entrepreneur, belletrist and speaker on the international circuit on topics relating to the financial services industry.

So, here are the eight factors that led to the current situation at SIA:

1. Singapore’s way of running a business is to make it appear as if decision-makers were faceless.

“The Singapore government is at fault because the idea that many things about Singapore was built by faceless committees has a nice touch to it. But Singapore itself is an example that nothing worth building was ever built by a committee. It was built by a few men who had a sense of ownership over what they built with that rare combination of guts, vision and execution skills.”

2. It is the board of SIA who chose a colourless personality as CEO.

“In the same way, we have to ask, why did the board of Singapore Airlines choose such a colourless personality to lead what is in effect the pride of a country’s asset – it’s national airline? Someone whose first media interview as CEO involved his press manager sitting next to him and virtually coaxing the replies out of him, when a core skill of any leader was to tell the story. Any number of worldly wise executives could have handled the press naturally as part of his job as chief executive. A crew member on board a flight on his own airline could not describe the CEO beyond saying that he “walked from his seat to the toilet and back” the entire flight. ”

3. Scholars are not the answers to running corporate Singapore well.

“Not identifying the fact that this airline was born out of one man’s genius [J.Y. Pillay] was a big mistake. Because it gave subsequent generations of pen-pushing senior managers armed with first class degrees that have no bearing on the job the right to brag about their indispensability. Until Ryan Air and Air Asia came about to show that executives without university qualifications can do just as good a job and fill their planes to the brim every single day, we were all fooled to think that corporate Singapore could only be run by scholars.”

The current CEO has three degrees and holds a Master of Science degree, all from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

J.Y.Pillay was the Chairman of Singapore Airlines (1972 – 1996). He is currently the Chairman of the Council of Presidential Advisers. He is the Acting President when President Tony Tan is away.

4. The core SIA business has been diluted profoundly.

“The people at Temasek, the state-owned asset management company that controls Singapore Airlines, like to constantly say how they don’t control Singapore Airlines.”

“But the fact that the management team at Singapore Airlines today has to contend managing four different assets: Singapore Airlines, SilkAir, Tiger Airways and now Scoot, is an interference in a more profound way.”

5. The SIA board is more accountable and responsible than the CEO.

“So it is, that the reason Singapore Airlines has such a weak and uninspiring chief executive is not because he is a good worker, or that he has great integrity, all of which I am sure he has in abundance. But because that it is all he will be required to be. The board has taken on itself all the leadership roles of making the strategic decisions for the company.”

6. Obscurity provides a shield of protection.

“But the fact that not a single Singapore Airlines management staff, least of all the chief executive, can explain convincingly to any investor or even a customer as to why they need to manage four different assets, is an indication of just how dangerous it is. It is an even more dangerous experiment because if it fails, it will be nobody’s fault.”


7. It is the media’s fault for not putting the spotlight on the CEO.

“The fact that both Chew and Cheong were able to sail through their years shamelessly without scrutiny is also directly the result of the lack of rigorous scrutiny of the media. The cosy relationship that corporate Singapore enjoys with its local media. Very senior industry editors do nothing more than behave like rookie reporters.”

Chew and Cheong refers to Chew Choong Seng and Cheong Choong Kong, ex-CEOs of SIA.


8. Where the customer is not king

“The guys who price tickets are going nuts treating premium ticket passengers like budget airline bums – shorter validity, high penalty fees and so on. This is the only airline that is capable of making a full fare paying first class passenger cry because she had to pay a US$300 penalty for missing her flight at the gate, with boarding pass in hand. On top of that, it chided the ground handling company for trying to restore some dignity to the situation.”
 
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laksaboy

Alfrescian (Inf)
Asset
The best SIA employees have been chased out of the country.

The ones who remain are only yes-men and brown-nosers. How to improve?


e0EF729EC_Untitled7.jpg
 

lee6100

Alfrescian
Loyal
SQ is a microcosm of how Singapore is run. They care only about the elites - Elite Gold, Elite Silver, PPS, Business Class, Suites. They don't know what is happening in the grassroots - the economy class, where equipment is run down - tray tables that are stuck, etc. Please add on.

There is no need to get involved with Tiger Air or start Scoot. Just drop the prices of economy tickets and passengers will return. The mentality of taking everything up front and leaving you the bones continues. They have been taking for so long that they have lost the ability to give.
 

laksaboy

Alfrescian (Inf)
Asset
SQ is a microcosm of how Singapore is run. They care only about the elites - Elite Gold, Elite Silver, PPS, Business Class, Suites. They don't know what is happening in the grassroots - the economy class, where equipment is run down - tray tables that are stuck, etc. Please add on.

There is no need to get involved with Tiger Air or start Scoot. Just drop the prices of economy tickets and passengers will return. The mentality of taking everything up front and leaving you the bones continues. They have been taking for so long that they have lost the ability to give.

When the Budget Terminal was set up, AirAsia was denied the rights to land there and shortly after, Tiger Air (formerly Tiger Airways) was set up.

Now Scoot is set up to take on JetStar Asia.
 

jw5

Moderator
Moderator
Loyal
They should just get Mark Andrew Yeo Kah Ch$ng (internet moniker: Scroobal) to run this airline.

Then it will just chug along slowly, make no progress or inroads, but also good at articulating and that will influence the more naive and impressionable sinkies.

SQ is a microcosm of how Singapore is run. They care only about the elites - Elite Gold, Elite Silver, PPS, Business Class, Suites. They don't know what is happening in the grassroots - the economy class, where equipment is run down - tray tables that are stuck, etc. Please add on.

There is no need to get involved with Tiger Air or start Scoot. Just drop the prices of economy tickets and passengers will return. The mentality of taking everything up front and leaving you the bones continues. They have been taking for so long that they have lost the ability to give.
 

Thick Face Black Heart

Alfrescian (InfP)
Generous Asset
Good article and the same themes as you will notice run through most of the government linked corporations as well. Especially the points about scholars not necessarily being the best people for the top posts and the culture of obscurity and lack of accountability
 

lee6100

Alfrescian
Loyal
When the Budget Terminal was set up, AirAsia was denied the rights to land there and shortly after, Tiger Air (formerly Tiger Airways) was set up.

Now Scoot is set up to take on JetStar Asia.


Fernandes once recounted when he approached Singapore in his early years they dissed him off. He can do a better job with SQ than Goh anytime.
 

laksaboy

Alfrescian (Inf)
Asset
I doubt this Goh chap could even win in the video game Aerobiz.

It is a simulation game where you own an airline business and buy planes, negotiate for extra flight routes, do promotions etc while you fend off competition from your rivals to be the number one airline in the world. :cool:

Play them online on your browser. Needs Flash.

http://www.ssega.com/?s=aerobiz

Aerobiz.jpg
aerobizsupersonic.jpg
 

aurvandil

Alfrescian
Loyal
Despite the poor performance over an extended period, he was paid an estimated US$3.7 mil in salary, bonuses and stock options.

http://investing.businessweek.com/research/stocks/people/person.asp?personId=8461674&ticker=SIAL

Annual Compensation*
Salary $1,094,000
Bonus $1,014,472
Total Annual Compensation $2,108,472
Stock Options*
Restricted Stock Awards $1,537,898
All Other Compensation $134,165
Total Number of Options 189,600
Total Compensation*
Total Annual Cash Compensation $2,242,637
Total Short Term Compensation $2,108,472
Other Long Term Compensation $1,672,063
Total Calculated Compensation $3,780,535
 

frenchbriefs

Alfrescian (Inf)
Asset
SIA is a microcosm of how Singapore is run,when u have a country thats dominated by government protected state monopolies,u do not have to give a shit about quality,service or price competitiveness and complete lack of innovation.....

one example would be singapore stock brokers......shittiest software and ridiculous price models......its like in this country we are paying out the wazoo and rewarding incompetency.

however when a singaporean company is exposed to even the slightest bit of competition....it goes down faster than Flight MH17 can go mayday mayday!!!!
 

AlamakQueen

Alfrescian
Loyal
When the Budget Terminal was set up, AirAsia was denied the rights to land there and shortly after, Tiger Air (formerly Tiger Airways) was set up.

Now Scoot is set up to take on JetStar Asia.

Scoot looks like a dead duck with all its lan jiao route. Destined to be dead :biggrin:
 

Charlie99

Alfrescian (Inf)
Asset
[[ “The guys who price tickets are going nuts treating premium ticket passengers like budget airline bums – shorter validity, high penalty fees and so on. This is the only airline that is capable of making a full fare paying first class passenger cry because she had to pay a US$300 penalty for missing her flight at the gate, with boarding pass in hand. On top of that, it chided the ground handling company for trying to restore some dignity to the situation.” ]]

That is a shame, no regard for a passenger and perhaps, some unforeseen circumstances.
With respect, I believe that SIA needs to find another individual to be the CEO.
 

Spock

Alfrescian
Loyal
The short answer is misplaced passion.

The passion now is all about getting rich and retiring to a comfy position as an MP. I believe many of the scholars started out with plenty of idealism and passion to take on the world. But as the years roll by, it became obvious that the fewer mistakes you make and the less you try to change the status quo, the further you are likely to advance in your career. The whole scholarship system itself is an emphasis on not making mistakes, otherwise there will not be any need for a scholarship system.

We all know what happens to people who never try to challenge the status quo or make mistakes, they all end up living a life of mediocrity. That is the direction SG is heading.
 

lee6100

Alfrescian
Loyal
The short answer is misplaced passion.

The passion now is all about getting rich and retiring to a comfy position as an MP. I believe many of the scholars started out with plenty of idealism and passion to take on the world. But as the years roll by, it became obvious that the fewer mistakes you make and the less you try to change the status quo, the further you are likely to advance in your career. The whole scholarship system itself is an emphasis on not making mistakes, otherwise there will not be any need for a scholarship system.

We all know what happens to people who never try to challenge the status quo or make mistakes, they all end up living a life of mediocrity. That is the direction SG is heading.

True. When we pay these people too well, they get cushy and are unable to perform outside of their comfort zone.
 
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