Tuesday, April 22, 2014

NSTP CEO UNDER SIEGE, WILL HE STEP DOWN TOMORROW?

NSTP CEO Azlan Abdullah came under attack today in an "open (poison pen) letter", a day before NSTP's parent company, Media Prima, holds its AGM.

The letter which was emailed to almost every staff at Balai Berita calls on the directors of Media Prima to remove Azlan before the company is doomed.

This is the contents of the letter which was written in Malay.

"
Subject: Surat Terbuka Kepada Lembaga Pengarah NSTP


Saya seorang karyawan NSTP yang telah cukup lama berkhidmat sebagai wartawan dan pemerhati. Selama tempoh NSTP di bawah pemerhatian saya, banyak pengalaman telah ditimba. Yang pahit dan yang manis, yang merunsingkan serta yang menggembirakan, dari zaman pengerusi NSTP naik helikopter untuk hadir ke majlis, sehingga zaman NSTP hutang tinggi menggunung. Semuanya saya terima dengan hati terbuka. Namun sampai bila perasaan ini perlu terus diuji?


NSTP telah mengumumkan keputusan bagi prestasi kewangannya bagi tahun 2013. Jika dibandingkan dengan tahun 2012, apakah analisis yang dapat dilakukan?


Hasil Pendapatan merosot hampir rm20 juta ke rm713 juta, Kos Pengedaran naik sebanyak rm2.6 juta ke rm9 juta, Kos Pentadbiran naik sebanyak rm7 juta ke rm216 juta, Keuntungan dari Operasi jatuh hampir rm20 juta ke rm64 juta. Keputusan akhir? Keuntungan selepas Cukai sebanyak rm56 juta. Kita gagal mencapai KPI kita. Saya masih ingat pada tahun 2010, keuntungan selepas cukai NSTP pernah mencapai jumlah sebanyak rm77 juta dengan pendapatan hanya setakat rm670 juta. Memang tidak dinafikan yang kos perniagaan semakin hari semakin meningkat tetapi bukankah kita juga sepatutnya semakin hari semakin bijak menguruskan perniagaan yang hampir 169 tahun ini? Dengar khabar dari rakan sekerja di Circulation, jumlah bagi suratkhabar tidak terjual telah melebihi rm48 juta bagi tahun 2013. Bila disoal lebih lanjut, rupanya jumlah ini telah meningkat hampir rm9 juta sejak 2 tahun yang lepas. Kenapa boleh meningkat sebegitu rupa? Penipuan? Tak kan lah sampai rm9 juta baru nak sedar? Apa yang CEO kita buat selama dua tahun ni? Rupanya bukan setakat roti canai saja yang boleh banjir, pasaran suratkhabar pun boleh ikut sama dibanjiri. Dimanakah logiknya kalau bekalan ditambah apabila permintaan sudah tiada? Kalau saya cuma boleh makan roti canai sekeping, apa guna mamak tu buatkan sampai lima keping melainkan dia nak makan sendiri. Mamak yang bukan akauntan pun pandai guna otak.


Apa lagi punca kos kita naik melambung? Harian Metro, terbitan terulung kita. Sehari hampir 390 ribu salinan kita jual. Memang hebat. Tapi dari jumlah itu, di Sabah dan Sarawak saja kita jual hampir 27 ribu salinan sehari pada harga rm1.80 senaskah. Cukup ke nak cover kos kertas, cetak dan edar? Ada ke pendapatan pengiklanan dari Sabah dan Sarawak yang boleh bantu menampung kos pengeluaran ni? Macamana pula dengan jumlah suratkhabar tidak terjual di sana? Janganlah salahkan kos tinggi kalau kita sendiri tak pandai nak mengurus operasi kita. 


Sudah 2 tahun saya memerhati prestasi CEO kita, mula-mulanya saya teruja juga bila melihat pada tahun 2012 keuntungan syarikat naik sebanyak rm3 juta ke rm67 juta berbanding dengan tahun 2011. Tapi bila saya tengok balik dengan lebih teliti, ada pulak satu perkara yang dipanggil Share of Results of Associates sebanyak rm8 juta, naik sebanyak RM4.8 juta berbanding tahun sebelumnya (2011 hanya rm3.1 juta). Apa menatang Share of Results of Associates ni? Bila ditengok balik, rupanya dia ni hasil pelaburan NSTP di MNI, sebuah syarikat pengeluar kertas di Temerloh. Dalam erti kata yang lain, ini hasil yang bukan dari operasi harian kita di mana kalau kita duduk goyang kaki pun duit tu akan masuk sebab mak ayah kita laburkan masa dulu-dulu untuk masa depan kita ni. Jadi kalau tidak diambil kira jumlah ini, pendapatan syarikat bagi tahun 2012 hanyalah rm59 juta berbanding tahun 2011 yang sebanyak rm61juta. Dan jika digunakan sekali lagi perumpamaan itu, bagi tahun 2013, keuntungan syarikat kita ni cumalah rm46.9 juta sebab pulangan pelaburan MNI tu rm9.2 juta. Untuk kita yang masih bebal dan tak faham jugak, kurangkan makan mempedal kerana maknanya adalah sejak CEO kita mula mengambil alih, prestasi kita sebenarnya menurun selama 2 tahun berturut-turut. Syarikat kita tak lagi mampu menjanakan pendapatan yang berterusan melalui operasi kerana kita cuma mengharapkan pulangan dari MNI untuk memupukkan pendapatan kita. Cuba kita fikirkan apa yang akan berlaku pada MNI bila permintaan untuk suratkhabar di zaman digital ini jatuh dan pembelian kertas menurun? Masa tu mungkin NSTP akan mula jual semua hartanah yang ada hanya untuk menunjukkan keputusan yang cantik dipandang mata dan untuk membayar bonus kita semua.


Cakap pasal bonus, terima kasih pada Media Prima sebab agaknya kalau tak kerana Media Prima, kita semua tak kan merasa satu sen pun. Ye la, KPI pun tak capai nak cakap banyak apa lagi. Apabila kita timbulkan rasa tidak puas hati tentang isu bonus, kita diberitahu yang keadaan pasaran dan industri suratkhabar sedang mengalami kekusutan. Banyak powerpoint yang canggih dan berkelip-kelip ditunjukkan bagi menyakinkan kita yang memang kita tidak mampu melawan arus industri yang ganas melanda. Namun, secara objektifnya, kekusutan pasaran suratkhabar bukanlah fenomena yang baru. Dari sebelum zaman cap ayam pun dah ada tapi kenapa kita mampu mencapai prestasi tertinggi masa tu? Walhal, warga kerja yang ada sekarang pun 98% masih orang-orang yang sama. Yang ketara berubah, hanya strategi. Tapi apakah makna strategi kita kalau hanya mengharap kepada tragedi Sosilawati, MH370 dan keuntungan dari MNI sahaja?


Kuasa untuk membawa perubahan telah diamanahkan kepada Lembaga Pengarah. Peluang pertama telah diberi pada 2012 dan yang keduanya pada 2013. Kedua-dua tahun, prestasi kita merosot. Bagi peluang ketiga pula? Kita semua menjadi saksi kepada tindakan seterusnya oleh Lembaga Pengarah. Malah saya rasakan, pesaing-pesaing NSTP juga menanti dengan penuh debaran kerana kejayaan berterusan mereka bergantung kepada kegagalan kita mengubahkan status quo kini. Kalau kita sanggup menghentikan perkhidmatan seorang CEO hanya selepas 2 tahun beliau berkhidmat meskipun banyak membawa perubahan positif kepada prestasi syarikat, apakah patut kita lakukan dengan seorang CEO yang membawa syarikat ke arah kebinasaan? Lembaga Pengarah perlu berhati-hati tentang mesej yang cuba disampaikan kepada warga kerja NSTP, dunia korporat Malaysia serta Putrajaya kerana ia akan membawa tanda tanya samada NSTP mengamalkan meritokrasi atau kasihani-krasi. Saya dan rakan kerja yang lain hanya mampu berdoa semoga Lembaga Pengarah dicelikkan mata dan melihat sendiri betapa CEO kita sekarang ini tidak mampu memimpin kita semua. Bagilah apa strategi ilmu perang bomoh agung macam mana pun, kalau tak mampu tu, tak mampu je lah. Bukan salah beliau kerana gagal menjalankan tugas yang nyata di luar kemampuannya tetapi salah Lembaga Pengarah sendiri jika terus mengharapkan satu keajaiban dari individu ini. Orang lain semua guna kuda racing tapi kita sendiri gunakan keldai dan harapkan keldai tu daya bersaing. Kasihanlah keldai yang tidak bersalah itu.


Sebelum saya mengakhiri luahan saya ini, saya mohon maaf jika ada yang terguris hati dengan apa yang saya nyatakan, namun bak kata pepatah Inggeris "The Numbers Never Lies". Kita lihatlah sendiri apa akan jadi pada keputusan suku pertama 2014 ini. Kalau nak ikut sejarah 2 tahun lepas, rasanya kita akan terus menjunam. Janganlah tunggu sampai kita tersungkur baru nak bergegas membuat perubahan.


Setiap yang baik semua daripada Allah, yang buruk semua daripada saya.


Pemerhati Prihatin.

Nasihat : Ayam Brand dan Liverpool kedua-duanya dimulakan pada tahun
1892 dan menggunakan sejenis burung di dalam logo masing-masing. Jadi
berhati-hatilah bila panggil orang cap ayam, takut terkena kat team
sendiri...haha."


Well, now the board will have to decide whether they want to stand by Azlan or abandon him.

According to little birds on Jalan Liku, the staff are unhappy with last year's bonus which they felt was rather low compared to previous years'.

And that could be the reason behind the poison pen letter which was distributed and timed just 24 hours before the Media Prima AGM.

Now the question is "will Azlan remain the CEO" after tomorrow?

If Azlan goes, what about other members of the management team? They are also partly responsible for the dire situation at the NSTP which is seeing its circulation figures falling like dead flies including Harian Metro.

What happens next will be interesting. While the staff are baying for Azlan's blood, those in the management will certainly tread the matter carefully.

The axe should not fall on Azlan's alone. It has to be on all the non-performers including the editors running the papers.

10 comments:

  1. these people must go before NST goes to the dog.

    1. Jawhar hassan
    2. azlan
    3. amrin awaluddin, ceo media prima
    4. ahmad talib
    5. jalil hamid
    6. mahfar ali
    7. mustafa omar

    take responsbility please

    ReplyDelete
  2. There are many unproductive people in the company. Slash those unproductive ones and the company can save a lot.

    ReplyDelete
  3. jalil and his bunch of clowns must be kicked out.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Jeanie leong must go first before CEO,because she's suppose to get the advertisement revenue for the company

    ReplyDelete
  5. Pity azlan...around him semua yg pandai ckp tapi bodoh pasal kerja... Yg pandai kerja semua sudah dia tendang tepi....ayam brand betul

    ReplyDelete
  6. I think its a bit unfair to put 100% blame to Azlan as CEO. But I agree some decision that he has made was questionable. Let me stress out my point from my own personal perspective.

    1. Circulation is the main factor where NSTP loss its revenue.
    2. In market now, people dont really read newspaper anymore. We have o accept the fact that people is now more into digital reading. So circulation must think of new ways to sell papers.
    3. After Eddie Hng ( Circulation Director ) left, circulation started to have problem when the department was given to Azrai, appointed as GM Circulation. Poor him, he is a logistic person and was given a huge responsibility.
    4. Azrai, having more than 10 years experience in logistic made things worst when he started to practise cronyism in Circulation. He has ignored few talented people such as Katrina (GM Sales) and has appointed his friends to lead few post in the department.
    5. Katrina whom has introduced few methods to tie up circulation sales with corporate and new modern trade was then resigned as she was really ruled out by Azrai and his weird team.
    6. KL Circulation team was worst when Azrai appointed a guy named Fazlee as Manager. He has no qualification, no solid track record except being a good friend of Azrai. The whole problem in KL started.
    7. Circulation was then ran by a group of crony.
    8. This crony issue was addressed by Azlan as CEO and he has taken few steps to ensure circulation moved to new phases but still stuck with this people.
    9. Azlan has made 3 mistakes with regards to Circulation which I believe he would not have done if he was advised correctly by his advisors.
    10. First mistake was he listened too much to newspaper vendors and did not trust his own staff.
    11. He employed a talk only guy by the name of Suhairi from Pos Malaysia to replace Katrina.
    12. He re-employed 2 old circulation head, Tasman and Naga which also he would not have done if he was advised accordingly.

    In conclusion, if Circulation department was handled accordingly and rightfully, there will not be much wastage or pilferage in the company. We have to go with trend, NSTP cannot depend on vendors anymore. Try sell papers in modern ways, to corporate and companies, tap into big event etc. All this was explained and we have done it during Katrina's time. If NSTP depends on vendor, it will be exactly like in the letter, nak makan roti canai sekeping tapi buat 5 keping.

    I will not put 100% blame to Azlan and I supported him in some decision he made, even at one time he wanted to throw his phone to me. :)

    Regards,

    Abdul Azri

    ReplyDelete
  7. I think its a bit unfair to put 100% blame to Azlan as CEO. But I agree some decision that he has made was questionable. Let me stress out my point from my own personal perspective.

    1. Circulation is the main factor where NSTP loss its revenue.
    2. In market now, people dont really read newspaper anymore. We have o accept the fact that people is now more into digital reading. So circulation must think of new ways to sell papers.
    3. After Eddie Hng ( Circulation Director ) left, circulation started to have problem when the department was given to Azrai, appointed as GM Circulation. Poor him, he is a logistic person and was given a huge responsibility.
    4. Azrai, having more than 10 years experience in logistic made things worst when he started to practise cronyism in Circulation. He has ignored few talented people such as Katrina (GM Sales) and has appointed his friends to lead few post in the department.
    5. Katrina whom has introduced few methods to tie up circulation sales with corporate and new modern trade was then resigned as she was really ruled out by Azrai and his weird team.
    6. KL Circulation team was worst when Azrai appointed a guy named Fazlee as Manager. He has no qualification, no solid track record except being a good friend of Azrai. The whole problem in KL started.
    7. Circulation was then ran by a group of crony.
    8. This crony issue was addressed by Azlan as CEO and he has taken few steps to ensure circulation moved to new phases but still stuck with this people.
    9. Azlan has made 3 mistakes with regards to Circulation which I believe he would not have done if he was advised correctly by his advisors.
    10. First mistake was he listened too much to newspaper vendors and did not trust his own staff.
    11. He employed a talk only guy by the name of Suhairi from Pos Malaysia to replace Katrina.
    12. He re-employed 2 old circulation head, Tasman and Naga which also he would not have done if he was advised accordingly.

    In conclusion, if Circulation department was handled accordingly and rightfully, there will not be much wastage or pilferage in the company. We have to go with trend, NSTP cannot depend on vendors anymore. Try sell papers in modern ways, to corporate and companies, tap into big event etc. All this was explained and we have done it during Katrina's time. If NSTP depends on vendor, it will be exactly like in the letter, nak makan roti canai sekeping tapi buat 5 keping.

    I will not put 100% blame to Azlan and I supported him in some decision he made, even at one time he wanted to throw his phone to me. :)

    Regards,

    Abdul Azri

    ReplyDelete
  8. see how nstp top executives spend their money..morons!

    http://sazynes.blogspot.com/?/nstp_shoppingspree

    ReplyDelete
  9. This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.

    ReplyDelete
  10. If you see it objectively, it all boils down to the manner human resource is managed within the MPB Group. HR is preposterously lax, no framework, no guidelines, no system to control favouritism. You disagree with yr boss, you can be out by the end of the month. I really hope they dont win any more HR Excellence awards because they simply dont deserve them!

    ReplyDelete