When written in Chinese, the word 'crisis' is composed of two characters. One represents danger and the other represents opportunity." - John F. Kennedy
For an organization, business or even an individual, a situation of crisis could inevitably spring up anytime during its life time. At these critical junctures, it is the Crisis and Turnaround managers who could transform organizational difficulties into opportunities for organizational restructuring and growth.
Baby Sam Samuel, based in the Sultanate of Oman is one such Business executive and Entrepreneur who ventured into Business Consulting & Turnaround Management, armed with 17 plus years of senior management experience, cemented by his expertise in Business Mentoring & Strategic Management.
At present, he is the General Manager & Business Designer for InterTech LLC– an IT solutions company based in Muscat, a role through which he has helped the organization successfully evade huge losses and bring about stability and growth.
InterTech LLC,since its inception in 1994, had grown and established itself as one of the top IT solutions companies in the Sultanate. The legacy enjoyed by the brand InterTech for more than a decade, however, came into question when the organization fell into financial and organizational troubles beginning in 2012. Add to it the abrupt exit of the then CEO, the company’s very existence became uncertain and threatened. By mid-2013, it incurred significant losses and was near liquidation. It was then that the shareholders recognized the need for immediate action and implemented top management change by roping in Samuel at the helm of Intertech, to handle the crisis, salvage the company and bring about a turn around.
Samuel began by carrying out a preliminary review of the organization and the crises situation. Subsequently, he implemented an emergency action plan with a prime focus on arresting the financial bleed, based on a complete, impartial audit of organizational processes, operations and finances. Simultaneously, Samuel also effected several short term and long term operational and financial changes through all of which, he was able to achieve a steep turn around of InterTech by the end of 2014. By 2016, the company has not only returned to a state of normalcy but also has attained sustainable growth. He has transformed the organization from a people oriented one into a process oriented one and underlined this by implementing ISO 9001:2008 certification of InterTech.
Marking his name in the Industry, Samuel has won many awards and recognition, few of which include: recognition by Oman Observer - a government entity and national publication, as one of the top 46 leaders in the nation as featured in "Top Business Leaders – a tribute to HM’s Leadership”; the Golden Achievement Award for 'Business Consulting Services' in recognition of “exceptional leadership and dedicated service” – received in 2016 from Global Media in association with Kerala chamber of Commerce and Gold award at Oman Technology Awards 2016.
On his role as an external Turn around Manager, Samuel explains, “an external strategist can bring in a fresh eye and complete objectivity to the decision-making process while existing management usually would be crippled with emotional baggage and bias.”
Never the less, it is not just for distressed companies that Samuel offers turn around services. Samuel explicates that while it is indeed true that time and again see the biggest brands and organizations stumble and in need of transformation, it is, how ever, a myth that crisis and turnaround management strategies apply only to companies with financial distress.
Any organization whether corporate or even non-profit that requires review or change in direction, operations and growth can make use of the strategies that form the basis of turn around management.
“An external strategist could bring in a fresh eye and complete objectivity to the decision-making process while existing management usually would be crippled with emotional baggage and bias.”
It is in this light that Samuel offers strategic management consultancy and business mentoring to established businesses, start-ups and SMEs. He is the Business Designer and Organization Mentor for the Design House in Oman, Adventz and has led Adventz to being recognized as the best Design Agency in Oman. The enterprise won the Best Agency award in 2016 at the Oman Technology awards 2016 where numerous portfolios of Adventz too won Gold & Silver awards.
He is an ardent believer in the power of SMEs and Entrepreneurs in strengthening and diversifying Oman’s economy, which has been disproportionally dependent on oil revenue.
“The consultancy and mentorship for start-ups and small enterprises is a conscious decision on my part, to promote entrepreneurship within the region. The challenges in this area have been widely studied by government and semi-governmental and private agencies and there is now renewed efforts from government too towards promotion of small scale industries and start-ups which further strengthens my efforts in this line.”
As a staunch promoter of entrepreneurship, Baby Sam Samuel has tie-ups with various organizations in the GCC that facilitate the growth and development of entrepreneurship in the Gulf region and is one of the few mentors on Social Entrepreneurship in the region. He is involved with Knowledge Oman (www.knowledgeoman.com), Oman’s award winning volunteer and knowledge sharing organization as its Director in charge of Branding & Enterprise, offering services to KO Core Management in a mentoring & advisory capacity and over seeing the Social Entrepreneurship unit of Knowledge Oman which aims at creating & developing social entrepreneurs in Oman.
The initiative works from scratch by creating awareness on the need and importance of social enterprises and then goes on to provide hands-on guidance to any passionate entrepreneur who registers with Knowledge Oman with a potential idea for bringing about a positive societal change.
Baby Sam Samuel has managed to combine two of his biggest passions –strategic management & social empowerment, reflecting this in his business decisions as well, since a major emphasis of his work as Business Consultant and Business Mentor is in supporting and promoting small enterprises, particularly those with potential for community impact, such as social enterprises.
In India, he offers his expertise and support to Anjappam, an economy restaurant and a social enterprise project. Anjappam is a food aid project that aims to be an agent of change in Kerala and benefit the economically backward and often forgotten section of Kerala’s society. The Anjappam project is envisioned as a chain of economical restaurants where fresh, whole some, healthy food and clean water is made accessible at low cost. In his role as the President of Anjappam Charitable Trust, he has helped bring to life, the first Anjappam outlet which has recently been opened in Pathanamthitta, Kerala.
A multifaceted personality, he’s also involved in academic betterment and has been an elected member of Board of Directors, Indian Schools in Oman since past year, in charge of the functioning of four Indian Schools and the Center for Special Education (CSE).
All around us, there are numerous examples of successful leaders whose definition of success always redefines them: “Before you are a leader, success is all about growing yourself. When you become a leader, success is all about growing others” once said Jack Welch. Baby Sam Samuel is on this path, growing and empowering the enterprises around him.