Mr Randy Effendi, Executive Vice-Chairman and CEO of Samudera Shipping Line, is convinced of one thing: that the September 11th attack on America last year did not signal the death knell of globalisation and the world market.

He believes the inexorable progress of globalisation will continue. "Globalisation has made it more cost-effective for countries like Indonesia to import products such as sugar from places like India, Brazil and Cuba instead of producing them domestically.

Similarly, Indonesia exports resources of its own to other countries.And he points out that world markets are now much closer to each other than ever before.

And that is largely down to the efficiency of the world's transportation network.

Without transhipment hubs such as Singapore and Hong Kong and shipping lines like Samudera, the wheels of globalisation would grind to a halt," Pak Randy states matter-of-factly.

So despite the current global economic slowdown, Singapore-listed Samudera aims to sail through the current storm into the next wave of global growth.

A PEOPLE-CENTRIC COMPANY

An accountant by training, Pak Randy started his career as a public accountant and consultant in an accounting firm. He joined Samudera Indonesia in 1981 as special assistant to Mr Soedarpo Sastrosatomo, Chairman of Samudera Shipping Line and his mentor.

When asked what made him join the company, Pak Randy remarks that Samudera Indonesia was, "a local company that was prepared to transform itself into a modern company implementing leading management practices."

He was not only instrumental in charting their transformation strategy, but also selected and groomed the young talent that powered this change.

According to Pak Randy, Samudera's people have been and continue to be the most important resource in the organisation. "Regardless of whether we are in a technology- or capital-intensive company," he opines, "people determine your success. They help you select the best technology to apply, shortlist the best markets, and attract the best customers. They also possess innovative ideas that can raise your productivity."

Since joining Samudera, Pak Randy prides himself in having personally recruited more than 500 of their staff. One of his recruits - Mr Herman Sembiri, who manages the company's conventional port and terminal - has even become a senior-ranking colleague in the company.


CRITICAL TO SUCCESS

Besides harnessing Samudera's human talents, Pak Randy is also a strong advocate of technology and IT in maintaining a competitive edge. "After several meetings with PSA and visiting their facilities, I am convinced we found a good IT provider in PSA. PSA is very serious about IT. Their future relies heavily on it."

Samudera enjoys smoother and more systematic operations as a result of PSA's latest IT applications such as EZship and COPLANS. "To manage our assets better, we are using GEMS , an internet-based technology developed by PSA."

He adds: "PSA gives us the opportunity to use their facilities for transhipment and their technology to manage our operations, while we help PSA reduce the cost of IT production and provide them with the opportunity to develop their technology further. It's a relationship that benefits both parties."

The mutual goal of both Samudera and PSA Corp is to work even closer together on IT applications in partnership.

CHAMPION OF PRUDENCE AND TRANSPARENCY

Pak Randy also advocates prudence in business transactions. He said: "In making investments,one must not simply focus on the immediate opportunity. Like a coin, there are two sides to an investment: one is opportunity, the other is obligation. Many Asian companies in the past over-committed, expanding beyond their capabilities and strengths. They took on debt-equity ratios of forty-to-one, even fifty-to-one, borrowing up to fifty times their equity, a ridiculously large amount! If companies had made decisions with more prudence, the crisis in Asia would not have happened."

This prudence is also reflected in Samudera's strategy for keeping their load factors at optimal capacity. This is achieved through operational efficiency, and the streamlining of fleet capacity when necessary. Samudera has been able to do so because most of their ships are chartered in.

Pak Randy notes that, "the drastic drop in global cargo volume took everyone in the shipping industry by surprise. Everybody expected cargo volumes to grow. They built bigger ships, purchased more equipment in anticipation."

However, in the last two years Samudera has consciously avoided increasing the capacity of their feeder lines. Pak Randy feels that this strategy of maintaining a flexible fleet size has been prudent as the drop in cargo volumes impacted everyone. "It may be more economical to operate one's own fleet of ships, but with a flexible fleet, we can release the smaller ships and charter the bigger ships when the cargo is growing, or release the bigger ships, and charter the smaller ships when cargo size thins," he said.

Pak Randy is also a firm believer in business corporate accountability. "One of our key objectives in becoming a public company was to manage the company with transparency," he shares.

Rather than seeing it as a hindrance, being accountable to the public has made the company more acutely aware of their actions, and allowed them to arrive at more effective decisions. Indeed, prudence and transparency have enabled Samudera to grow far beyond their beginnings as Indonesia's main shipping line in the 1950s.

Building on their strong base, Samudera expanded their services to other ASEAN countries like Malaysia and Thailand. They then ventured into the Indian sub-continent with services to Indian ports, as well as Pakistan. The company has recently also established services in the Middle East and China.


LEADERSHIP IN ADVERSITY

In these volatile times, Pak Randy draws inspiration from the lessons of the past to chart the way for the future. He cites his mentor Mr Soedarpo Sastrosatomo, Chairman of Samudera Shipping Line, and Dr Sumitro Djojohadikusumo, former Economics Minister of Indonesia, as two people who offer invaluable lessons in fortitude and judgment.

Pak Randy notes that both had the courage and resourcefulness to overcome great adversity. "These moments define the man," he concludes.

By staying true to his ideals, Pak Randy may soon find his place among the men who not only share those moments , but come to define them.