“THAILAND’S AEROSPACE SECTOR IS OPEN FOR BUSINESS”…BUT DON’T FORGET THE SOFT SKILLS!!
The aerospace industry in Thailand is gearing up for take-off and the savviest of businessmen, entrepreneurs, and investors should give critical thought to their entry into this market by not only being concerned with the hard skills surrounding aerospace, but should give just as much attention and consideration to the “softer” side of aerospace: the people.
Recently, on 15 February 2017, Thailand’s BUILD [BOI (Board of Investment) Unit for Industrial Linkage Development] hosted a seminar entitled, “Opportunity Seminar Thailand” where the first topic discussed by the BOI was “Aerospace: Gearing up for real opportunities”. Speakers were invited from an array of fields that support the aerospace industry here in Thailand. A representative from a local university’s aerospace engineering department attended, a global supplier of aircraft engines sent a representation, and a representative from a global leader in maintenance, repair and overhaul (MRO) provided a speech.
THE GOVERNMENT’S PLAN
Within the ASEAN region, Thailand is known as the hub for manufacturing motor vehicles and components. In fact, the automotive industry accounted for over 40 percent of Thailand’s FDI from 2009 to 2013 (1). What has led the likes of Toyota, Mitsubishi, Nissan, Honda, Ford, BMW, and others to Thailand? Answer: the support the Royal Thai Government (RTG) gives to these kinds of investments, along with a relatively low-cost, but skilled workforce. So, to compliment the auto industry, can Thailand add to its portfolio of strategic investments by developing the aerospace industry? If so, what do you need to know and do in order to be one step ahead of the game?
Under a new initiative called the “New S-Curve,” the RTG’s BOI announced that ten industries will make up what will be known as its “New Engines of Growth”. Under this RTG backed initiative, the program will incorporate economic policy reforms, investment incentives, and promotional packages. Aerospace fits prominently in that plan.
One initiative is the Aerospace Industrial Estate Development Plan (2016-2045), which will take place at U-Tapao-Pattaya international Airport and is currently being executed in three phases: (1.) Aerospace Industrial Estate being developed; (2.) Original Equipment Manufacturers being invited to build facilitates; and the development of a (3.) Maintenance Repair and Overhaul sector.
STRATEGIC THINKING REQUIRES STRATEGIC PLANNING & STRATEGIC EXECUTION
A key question is, can Thailand develop the aerospace industry as they did with the auto industry and what can they (entrants) learn from the experiences of the auto manufacturers? Whether thinking of Porter’s “Five Forces,” Jay Galbreth’s Star Model (TM), McKinsey’s 7S or conducting SWOT/SOAR analyses, PESTEL analysis, entrants into the aerospace industry have a unique and important factor to consider when establishing operations.
So what should potential investors/operators do in order to reduce their risk and build a foundation that could lead them to decades of superior performance as has happened in the auto industry.
THE SOFT STUFF MATTERS!
The auto industry proved that a systematic approach to organization development (OD) could be embraced with particular emphasis given to the softer side of operations; the soft-skills or people aspects fitting into the design of their processes.
In the aerospace industry, organizational health is paramount and is repeatedly borne out by leaders’ testimonies. Larry Bossidy, former chairman and CEO of Honeywell and Allied Signal, comments that, “The soft stuff—people’s beliefs and behaviors—is at least as important as the hard stuff. Making changes in strategy or structure by itself takes a company only so far.” Former chairman and CEO of PepsiCo, Roger Enrico, succinctly put it, “The soft stuff is always harder than the hard stuff.”
Why is this important? Organizations operating in the aerospace/aviation industry are categorized as High-Reliability Organizations (HROs). HROs are organizations that if (when) incidents occur their negative effects are catastrophic = people die. Examples of other HROs are offshore oil rig operations, nuclear power plant operations, hospitals/healthcare just to name a few. A key element towards designing and operating an HRO is giving critical thought to the reduction of non-technical or human error/human factors failures.
After incidents such as the Tenerife airport crash, the Space Shuttle Challenger explosion, and the Deep Water Horizon drilling rig explosion, an analysis of these events suggested failures in leadership, poor team coordination, communications breakdowns, a lack of assertiveness, inattention, inadequate decision-making and personal limitations were to blame for these incidents occurring (2).
MORE “TLC” IS NEEDED
Yes, more tender loving care is needed when dealing with humans. However, there is another form of TLC that is just necessary and is totally applicable for organizations: Teamwork, Leadership, and Communications. The reason for embracing this form of TLC is to influence behavior in support of operational excellence (OE). This is especially important in Thailand.
Incoming organizations should give extra consideration to embracing OE programs that focus on talent development. Programs with a systematic focus centered on mentoring-coaching-training that influences organizational culture shift changes through the use of continuous process improvement of core non-technical skills (NTS) should be considered.
Developing such systems and processes will help to raise the awareness of important NTSs and human performance (human factors) of local workers at all levels of the organization. By institutionalizing such systems and processes this will highlight and raise situational awareness, concentration on problem solving and decision making, but above all it is congruent to and invaluable for developing robust and sustainable OE programs, middle managers, and organizational leaders.
Building a corporate culture that is centered on efficiency and effectiveness is vital for the aerospace/aviation community. But what is corporate or organizational culture? At its very core, organizational culture is about the beliefs and behavior of an organization. However, it also takes into account the organization’s climate, its rites and rituals, espoused values, group norms, and much more.
PRACTICAL ADVICE FOR WORKING IN THAILAND
For some of you who are reading this you may be asking yourself, “Can this actually be done here in Thailand?” The short answer is YES! It can be done through proper planning and execution. Here are some practical “HOW TO” inputs.
First and foremost, learn, understand, embrace, and utilize your cross-cultural knowledge. If you have a dearth of knowledge and experience working in Asia, either educate yourself or hire a cross-cultural expert. S/he will be able to assist you with what could be significant peaks and valleys if you are unaware of the local culture, norms, and language.
For instance, Thailand is one of the most “high-context” countries in the world, whereas Americans are the lowest-context cultures in the world (3). Context here means the number of words necessary to explain a task or outcome. The concept of “Tell them what you are going to tell them, then tell them, then tell them what you’ve told them” is certainly applicable to low-context countries, but inadvisable for high-context countries.
Most people have probably heard of “Management by Walking Around” (MBWA). But have you heard of “Zoo Leadership”? This is the antithesis of MBWA. This is where leaders stay in their offices and peer through their windows out to the masses they are leading, similar to visiting a zoo. Let’s take it once again from a cultural, American-Thai, perspective as related to TRUST (task-based vs. relationship-based trust). Americans build trust through showing their ability, whereas Thais, as a culture, sit on the other end of the spectrum and base trust on building a relationship. Leaders build trust by being seen and acting as leaders.
Lastly, from a systems approach, it is highly recommended to embrace and build a debrief-culture. This technique has proved invaluable in Thailand. Debriefing is a form of communication that takes place after an activity. One of the last things people want to do after a shift or completing a task is to spend time discussing their performance. However, it is important that senior management and team leaders encourage debriefing. Debriefings are just as valuable as briefings or pre-job meetings. While this is not unique to Thailand, it is one of the most effect ways to produce performance efficiency in “high-context” cultures and paramount for HROs.
Debriefings occur after the completion of a shift or procedure and provide a structured platform for performance feedback, thereby promoting constant learning and improvement. Organizations can improve individual and team performance by approximately 20% to 25% by using properly conducted debriefs (4).
CONCLUSION
It’s all about giving emphasis to both the hard- and soft-skill related tasks in aerospace. Additionally, it’s about allowing the systems, processes, procedures, structure, and much more to support your organization in pursuit of operational excellence.
In the old days, there was a simple phrase that is still applicable today, “Take care of your people and they will take care of you!”
True, but what is not mentioned in that phrase is the “HOW” to do this, and specifically the “HOW” to do it here in Thailand. This article not only provided you with the WHY behind the importance of being a people oriented organization, but it also has given you some insight into the “HOW” in order to begin your journey on becoming one of Thailand’s most efficient, effective, safe, and prosperous aerospace entities the Kingdom has ever seen.
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Al Valentine is a certified master coach, master practitioner of OD, and Ph.D. candidate with expertise in leadership, strategy, cross-cultural communications, and more. He can be reached at al@mjjenterprises.org.
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FOOTNOTES:
- “McKinsey Understanding ASEAN: The manufacturing opportunity,” McKinsey Productivity Sciences Center, October 2014.
- R. Flin, Safety at the sharp end: a guide to non-technical skills, 2008.
- E. Meyer, The culture map, 2014.
- S. Tannenbaum, White Paper, “Do team and individual debriefs enhance performance?”