Ernest Cu brings out baton to lead Globe

Ernest Cu

LIKE AN orchestra where musicians play the same significant role as its conductor.

This, in essence, is how Globe Telecom president and chief executive Ernest Cu described the operations of the telecommunications firm—a strategy that has helped propel the company to its position now, and one that is expected to help it play a crucial role in achieving the government’s goal of building inclusive economies.

“A telco, much like the other companies, is like an orchestra. Everything has to work together for that music to come out right—from the people who ensure the reliability of the network, the marketing team who understands the consumers and crafts products, to the IT people who build the product and the sales teams who sell your products to the customers. If they all work hand in hand, then it’s beautiful music that you would create and that’s what we are getting today as evidenced by the good results,” Cu explains.

Seeing himself as a conductor who works on the side, Cu notes his task is to listen to the music and make sure that the whole team remains in tune. Cu must be fortunate enough to have been blessed with ears that could appreciate good music, given the significant successes that Globe continues to reap.

“I don’t think it’s my management style alone that brought us to where we are. I don’t attribute Globe’s success to my skills alone, but rather to the culture of every person who works for this company. I believe that there is not one individual who can turn the company around. We have a team that I think works very well together and that is why we have been able to move quickly, achieve our goals, and fulfill our strategy,” he claims.

Different track

Cu, who joined the company at the end of 2008, admits being with Globe wasn’t part of his original plan, as he was pursuing a different track after his stint at SPi Technologies. Cu says it took him some time to decide whether or not to accept the post, but admits the lure of heading a telecommunications company seems too hard to resist.

“I wasn’t supposed to be a part of Globe. I was actually planning to raise a private investment fund but it didn’t work as the Wall Street issues started to come up. So I junked that plan and that was when Ayala Corporation approached me and asked if I wanted to help them with Globe and so I did,” Cu recalls.

“We’ve been in discussion for almost two years before I finally accepted the offer. I really didn’t want to go back to becoming a CEO. You know how it is when you run a company for 11 years. I was tired and I really didn’t want to run a company in the way a CEO would have to be involved but I guess that’s history,” he says.

Fast forward to today, Cu is glad he didn’t pass on the opportunity to lead Globe Telecom, a company which he says allows him not only to showcase his management and leadership skills but also to pursue his passion and love for technology and gadgets.

“It was a great industry that I thought I would be very interested in and have fun working on. At that point in my life, I was really looking for something that I really truly enjoy doing rather than just having to do it. I believe that work should be fun because if it’s just something that you do to earn a wage then you will lose the drive, the interest,” Cu says.

A self-confessed geek who never outgrew his passion for the latest gadgets, Cu understands full well the challenges and intricacies of running a company as big as Globe Telecom.

With a complete grasp and appreciation of the ins and outs of the business, he managed to help the company hurdle every challenge that came its way, helping propel the company to its current top position.

“Heading a telco company could be very exciting and at the same time scary. Exciting, because we are at the forefront of a new technology and new habits of Filipinos. When you’re involved with the latest in everything, the latest app companies, the latest trend, whether it be in taxi reservation all the way to social media to mobile advertising, it’s very exciting. But it’s scary as well in the sense that our space keeps shifting,” he says.

“We partner with different companies, but they’re also the ones disrupting our revenue streams. So it can be exhilarating that at times, it can keep you awake at night thinking about how you are going to take care of that slide in revenue that is about to happen,” Cu says.

Challenges

Cu shares one of the biggest challenges that Globe is facing so far is managing the shift to the smartphone. People, he explains, are changing their habits on how to use these devices, whereas seven years ago, Globe was just dealing with the “unli-calls.”

Now, it’s all about data, apps and content, prompting the company to fine-tune and change the network to suit the consumer demand.

Adding to that challenge is the “negative form of advertising” being used by competitors to hit Globe, he says.

“They were hitting us for a reason, because our brand has become number one, but we stuck to our values, to what we were doing. We continued with our mission, which is to provide the very best products and services to our consumers because we believe that by doing that, consumers will continue to support and stay with us and that’s precisely what happened. We even gained market share and it was gratifying to see that staying the course, believing in one’s values, and not engaging in negative advertising against your competition have put the company in good stead,” Cu says.

With the market becoming even more demanding and competition becoming even more vicious, aggressive and intense, Globe continues to work on providing innovative products, enabling the company to better deal with present-day challenges.

“I think our intense focus on our consumer and the wonderful culture that’s been built by the people of Globe allowed us to turn the company to its current position. In 2009, we stated that while we were turning the company around, we would focus on the consumer and we were able to do that because of the culture that we at Globe follow, which is to always put the customer first,” he shared.

Business opportunities

Globe has meanwhile committed anew to be a better enabler and economic driver by delivering products and services that would further enhance trade and business operations in the country. By providing robust telecommunication infrastructure and connecting people to the Internet, Globe has helped open more doors for better business opportunities.

“We don’t have all the necessary infrastructure, but we will continue to build to enable more connectivity. We are constantly going to refine our services and if we see a gap in the market that’s not being satisfied, then we will build something,” he says.

As the orchestra’s conductor, Cu knows full well when to pull the stick and when to throw the carrot, thus allowing him to continuously and effectively lead the hundreds of employees who work day in and day out to ensure the company will remain on top of the game and ahead of the pack.

“Here at Globe, we give employees a goal and we reward them handsomely. I think the people here have been very happy with the rewards in the last four years or five years. But the stick should also come out when they don’t perform, or worst when they don’t follow the Globe culture. We believe that the Globe culture is the company’s distinct competitive advantage and anything that’s done to hurt that, we will address quickly,” Cu says.