FEER(5/31): Career Review - Replacing PCCW's Richard Li
Updated: Wednesday, May 23, 2001 06:16 PM ET
COULD YOU LOSE $886 MILLION in 12 months? Did you leave college without graduating? If so, you can apply to be the next CEO of Pacific Century CyberWorks. The company's in the market for one. But applicants beware: It may not be a job you want.
Richard Li, PCCW's current chief executive, said last week that he might hand over the post next year, a comment which has since been amplified by the company. "Richard Li is not stepping down from his current role as executive chairman," PCCW spokeswoman Joan Wagner told the REVIEW. "But he would consider appointing a CEO to run the company on a day-to-day basis after annual results are reported next year."
Top telecoms headhunters and analysts based in Hong Kong say that this will be no ordinary headhunt. For a start, none of the company's four deputy chairmen, nor the chief operating officer or chief financial officer, is thought likely to be anointed as Li's successor. "Richard Li is not a very hands-on manager," says Agnes Ho, Merrill Lynch's telecoms analyst in Hong Kong. "So the management team has all been equally discredited already. The company needs some new blood."
More like a miracle worker, says Andrew Tsui, managing director of international executive-search firm Korn/Ferry in Hong Kong. "Whoever it is will have to be like Moses leading the faithful out of the desert," he says, with "a clear vision of where PCCW is going, but at the same time be a hands-on operator, capable of running the company smoothly." What PCCW needs is not just a Canning Fok, who manages the day-to-day business operations of Richard's father, Li Ka-shing, but a visionary as well. Someone who can come up with a strategic blueprint for the floundering company.
What's more, potential candidates would have to jump through more than the usual number of hoops to land the job. They would have to be able to gain the confidence of not only the company's board and shareholders but also 14,000 employees and creditors, who are owed $4.7 billion. Then there are the government regulators and the Hong Kong public itself, which views the company as a public utility. "Almost everyone in Hong Kong is a stakeholder in PCCW," says Tsui. "And they will all look to the next CEO to turn the company around."
And, of course, there's Richard. As the founder and the largest shareholder of the company, he will continue to be deeply involved with PCCW no matter what his title is. "Richard Li's role can make or break this search," says Peter Bennett, managing director of Bennett Associates. "The candidate's chemistry with Richard will be absolutely crucial. And many talented executives may be turned off by his overwhelming presence in the company." Especially if they're not from the region, which is quite likely to be the case.
The company is believed to have hired headhunters in London to find its next CEO. Hong Kong industry sources say that a global search would indeed make sense. "Everybody in the telecoms industry has a hyper-global perspective these days," says Paul Chau, a headhunter at search specialists Russell Reynolds. "Anyone who comes into PCCW will have to have the international experience to face off against the likes of SingTel and Optus, as well as Vodafone."
For Tsui, the fact that Li is even considering standing down is in itself a significant step for PCCW, as well as for corporate governance in the region, where family-run companies are the norm.
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