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Mustapha Kawam, GES: In the hot seat

Following his promotion  to president and CEO of Globe Express Services, Mustapha Kawam talks to Logistics News ME about management style and the road ahead for the international firm

In January 2016, c-suite executives at GES met to plan the firm’s business strategy for the year ahead.

It was the first time that Mustapha Kawam, a 20 year veteran of the company, attended the meeting in the capacity of his relatively new role of president and CEO, following his promotion to the top position in June 2015.
The meeting was attended by 34 GES executives and, in light of recent news announcements from the company (see box), they had much to plan.

Over recent months, GES has been presented with a platinum award from Maersk Line for the fifth consecutive year, opened new offices in Turkey and India and made more than one senior appointment.

What the rest of 2016 could have in store is anybody’s guess.

Kawam says the annual brainstorming session saw the establishment of a business plan “based on market demand that will effectively address the needs of regional and international customers in line with global standards”, through an agenda discussing talent, engagement, leadership, executive intelligence, and global strategy.

He continues: “It helped in the integration of the broad strategies of individual business units with support functions such as planning and budgeting.

“The meeting also revealed useful insights on how to drive business performance by unlocking workforce potential through transformational employee engagement and collaborating with senior-ranking employees to discover innovative and forward-thinking schemes to take GES to the next level,” he said.

And it is with this staunch focus on the people, rather than the systems, which run the company that Kawam’s management style comes into focus.

Rising through the ranks from the sales department to the corner office, such stories are still quite rare in management circles.

Kawam takes the helm of Globe Express Services after working for the company for 20 years.
In a statement announcing the promotion, GES said his top three immediate agendas are aimed at maximizing industry opportunities and sustaining GES’ global success. The top most priority is to raise employee engagement as according to him, without a talented, engaged and properly motivated workforce, achieving progress against any of the challenges is impossible.

He also believes, promoting a culture of integrity and trustworthiness throughout the organisation is one fundamental imperative.

He comments: “I am grateful to have enjoyed a steady and successful growth during my time with GES. The road for the past 20 years has not been easy, it has been paved with challenges and adversities, all of which have led me to where I am today.

“Dedication, perseverance and passion played crucial roles in the many milestones I have achieved over the years. However, I am thoroughly grateful for the commitment of my team as well as the culture within GES which has always embraced talented people and provided a conducive environment for people to thrive.”

That doesn’t mean to say the road was a smooth one.

Reflecting on the last two decades, he adds: “Throughout my colorful career expansion, the most challenging thing has been to not only maintain the same level of performance but also to go beyond and create new benchmarks of excellence.”

On the immediate to do list is the maintenance of customer satisfaction and the steady expansion of GES’ business to create new opportunities and establish a positive work environment for all employees.

These themes, prevalent in the annual strategy meeting, give a strong indication of the people-centric leadership style Kawam has adopted.

A man who is focused on “driving business performance by unlocking workforce potential through transformational employee engagement”, he explains: “A team will be dedicated to this task, and they will be responsible for managing and developing a business plan for GES that will emphasise employee ownership and initiative.”

And it isn’t just a determination to cultivate other team memebers within their current roles that defines Kawam’s focus, but the hope that many of those team members can be nurtured into senior roles themselves – providing they have what it takes.

“Passion is a key factor. Aspiring executives should thoroughly apply themselves towards everything that they do within a well-structured organisation as it would allow them to meet their respective goals and achieve the career that they desire.”

New horizons

Over recent months GES has opened new offices in Turkey and India, expanded its LAX warehouse facilities and strengthened releation with Swiss customs authorities to centralise in-house customs clearance capabilities, regardless of the Swiss border involved with the cargo transit.

The company has grown to currently operate from 56 offices established in 20 countries since the beginning of its operations in 1974 and today, in addition to Turkey and India, there are eyes on Africa and Latin America.
The opening of new branches is part of GES’s expansion strategy into new territories as a multinational organization to cater to the growing demand for logistics worldwide.

“We believe that Africa has strong potential as a lucrative market which we would like to explore in the coming years as part of our strategic expansion plans. We would also like to enhance our presence in Latin America which we have not developed yet as thoroughly as we would want to.”

In Turkey, which wasn’t traditionally touted as the “next big thing” in logistics circles, GES joins a growing number of global players coming to Turkey’s shores due to the country’s economic growth potential and strategic geographic location. In its bid to become a leading logistics hub in the world and one of the top 10 global economies by 2023, the country has been opening up rail and coastal freight and international highway corridors to support the movement of a greater volume of traffic between neighbouring countries.

According to an industry study, the local sector is expected to be worth between $108 and $140bn by 2017.

Kawam elaborates: “We have maintained good relations with Turkey for several years now and we have developed a strong base and following thanks to a solid human resources department and we had already opened an office in Istanbul in 2006. As part of our expansion plans and in order to accommodate our growing needs we also opened a branch in Mersin this year in line with our commitment to provide the same level of service to our customers.”

However, despite the economic promise, Turkey has and continues to, face issues with its security as a result of the war in Syria, with a string of tragic terror attacks over recent months and a new migrant deal with Greece, all adding pressure.

Kawam comments: “Turkey is a functioning market economy and its recent economic performance illustrates both the high potential and the continuing imbalances of the economy. Turkey has a strategic location, including on energy security, and plays an important regional role. Equally, the EU remains an important anchor for Turkey’s economic and political reforms.

“Our move to open a new office reflects our commitment to strengthen our ties with the business community in Turkey.”

In India, a new office opened in the capital Delhi, adding to the existing premises in Mumbai.

The move, which proves to be timely and strategic, falls in line with GES’ strategic plans and comes as a result of the company’s complementing industry forecasts that India’s logistics market will experience 12.17% CAGR by 2020 as a result of the boom in the manufacturing, retail, fast-moving consumer goods and e-commerce sectors.

On this, Kawam was quoted in a release from the company as saying: “The New Delhi branch will help integrate the country seamlessly into our international network. We are upbeat that it will drive in growth of the company while addressing the demand for specialised logistics service providers in the North India.”

Gaining ground

The achievements and future ambitions are set against a backdrop of growing trade and enhanced global connectivity driving business opportunities. But on the flip side, There has been a level of turbulence in the market recently.

So what is Kawam’s greatest short term concern?

“The freight industry has always been marked by its ever-evolving dynamics. As such, this requires ongoing progress and development to accommodate changing needs.”

As for the rest of 2016, when the year began predictions from the most prominent industry commentators indicated this would be a year driven by the disappearance of the “tech gap”, as omni-channel logistics remains a leading trend.

They predicted warehouse automation, AI – reaching as far as automated vehicles – and cloud computing would also redefine the boundaries.

The environment will move ever loser to centre stage as more than 50% of Global 1000 logistics organisations will be required to systematically report verified emissions and environmental data.

Gartner named environmental issues, risk and compliance, international flow optimisation and supply chain execution convergence as the key trends to 2020 and in Kawam’s opinion, the coming months will be dominated by technology and value-added services, as he predicts: “This will be evident in the emergence of new applications and programs that will help streamline the operations of companies within the industry.”

 

About Mustapha

Kawam joined Globe Express Services in 1995 and has held a wide range of leadership positions in the company. Since 2009, he has served as Managing Director – Gulf States at Globe Express Services.

Kawam takes the helm of Globe Express Services after working for the company for 20 years. Following his appointment, he has set his top three immediate agendas aimed at maximizing industry opportunities and sustaining GES’ global success. The top most priority is to raise employee engagement as according to him, without a talented, engaged and properly motivated workforce, achieving progress against any of the challenges is impossible.

He also believes, promoting a culture of integrity and trustworthiness throughout the organisation is one fundamental imperative.

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