| Special Reports 專 題 報 導 |C K ChowTakes the Reins周 松 崗 掌 舵A chemical engineer by training, C K Chow is an internationally respected business executive who has spent much<strong>of</strong> his career steering global corporations along the rails to success. In 2006 he took up the reins as CEO <strong>of</strong> theMTR, and is credited with ensuring that <strong>Hong</strong> <strong>Kong</strong> has one <strong>of</strong> the best and most pr<strong>of</strong>itable subway operations inthe world. He was appointed Chairman <strong>of</strong> the <strong>Hong</strong> <strong>Kong</strong> Exchange in April, and elected Chairman <strong>of</strong> the HKGCCat the <strong>Chamber</strong>’s AGM last month. <strong>The</strong> Bulletin Editor Malcolm Ainsworth spoke with C K about his career, <strong>Hong</strong><strong>Kong</strong>’s economic prospects, and the booming Mainland economy. Following are excerpts from that interview.出 身 化 學 工 程 界 的 周 松 崗 , 是 備 受 國 際 推 崇 的 商 業 行 政 人 員 , 在 他 的 職 業 生 涯 中 , 曾 帶 領 多 家 環 球 企 業 邁 向 成 功 軌 道 。2006 年 , 他 出 任 港 鐵 行 政總 裁 , 任 內 確 保 香 港 擁 有 全 球 最 佳 、 利 潤 最 高 的 地 鐵 系 統 之 一 。 今 年 4 月 , 他 獲 委 任 港 交 所 主 席 , 並 在 上 月 膺 選 香 港 總 商 會 主 席 。《 工 商 月 刊 》 編輯 麥 爾 康 專 訪 了 周 松 崗 , 傾 談 其 個 人 事 業 、 香 港 經 濟 前 景 , 以 及 內 地 經 濟 蓬 勃 發 展 。 以 下 乃 訪 問 的 節 錄 內 容 。Bulletin: Congratulations on being elected Chairman <strong>of</strong> theHKGCC, and also <strong>Hong</strong> <strong>Kong</strong> Exchanges & Clearing. How will yournew roles be different from when you were CEO <strong>of</strong> the MTR?C K Chow: First <strong>of</strong> all, I hope that I don’t have to take midnightcalls anymore! But seriously, as I have said before, I have alwaysbeen very lucky to have strong executive teams and very capableCEOs working in the organizations that I serve. I hope that byworking with other directors and colleagues we will all be ableto contribute something positive to lead those organizationsforward.B: You have led a number <strong>of</strong> companies that are householdnames around the world. How do you define leadership?C K: Leadership means different things to different people; thereare nearly a million definitions <strong>of</strong> leadership on Google. I preferto look at leadership in the sense <strong>of</strong> what does a manager doand what does a leader do? In today’s business world, you needto be a good manager and a good leader to be successful. Youcannot just have one without the other. When I was a youngMBA student, there was a thick book written by Peter Drucker.In the first section <strong>of</strong> the first paragraph <strong>of</strong> the first chapter hestarted by asking the question: ‘what is a manager?’ I thoughtgreat! I want to know the answer to that. He followed up with: ‘amanager is one who performs management tasks.’I thought that doesn’t really help me answer the question,but to be fair to Drucker, he went on to explain that what amanager performs is planning and budgeting, organizing andstaffing, and controlling. <strong>The</strong>se are as true today as when hewrote the book in the 1970s. You could argue that the speed<strong>of</strong> business is much faster, capital flows freely, and technologybecomes universal, so today we cannot manage by those standardsalone, leadership is needed.<strong>The</strong>n the question is: what do leaders do? Leaders createpurpose and vision for the institutions that they lead. <strong>The</strong>yalign constituencies, they need to resolve differences from variousstakeholders. Thirdly, they need to inspire and motivate.<strong>The</strong>se are very different skills from the manager, but in businesstoday, one needs both sets <strong>of</strong> skills to be successful.B: What do you feel is, or should be, the <strong>Chamber</strong>’s core work?C K: I think the <strong>Chamber</strong>’s contribution to <strong>Hong</strong> <strong>Kong</strong> as awhole plays a number <strong>of</strong> important roles, as well as to members.Firstly, we are the voice <strong>of</strong> business. <strong>The</strong>refore, wheneverthere are changes in society, with regards to the legislation andregulations, we have to step up to represent the business community<strong>of</strong> <strong>Hong</strong> <strong>Kong</strong> to discuss in a constructive way, withgovernment and various stakeholders, to ensure the views <strong>of</strong>business are heard and are given due attention.Secondly, we are a networking facilitator. We have some <strong>of</strong>the biggest companies in <strong>Hong</strong> <strong>Kong</strong> as our members, andsome smaller ones, so we are a very broad school <strong>of</strong> association.It is our responsibility to create the network that allowsour members to get to know each other and to facilitate theircooperation with each other.12 June 2012 <strong>The</strong> Bulletin 工 商 月 刊
<strong>The</strong> Bulletin 工 商 月 刊 June 2012 13
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