On the morning of Wednesday, May 21, 2025, the GHRM536 Organizational Design and Digital Transformation class, led by Professor Chieh Lee from the GHRM MBA and IBMBA programs at NSYSU, had the honor of inviting Asst. Prof. Kavin Asavanant, Chulalongkorn University, Thailand, to deliver a lecture. The topic of the lecture was "Thai Conglomerates Hierarchy Syndrome." Kavin has extensive experience, having worked in numerous large corporations, including Apple and Microsoft.

In the session, Kavin discussed the case of digital transformation at Siam Cement Group, Southeast Asia’s leading industrial conglomerate established in 1913, with a market capitalization of USD 18 billion and over 50,000 employees. With its long history, leading such a legacy company through digital transformation presents significant challenges.

He emphasized that the opinions of frontline employees are extremely important and should be valued by top management. Leaders should not assume they are always right simply because of their position. Times are constantly changing, and the ideas of younger employees can sometimes bring unexpected value.

When it came to the topic of convincing upper management to retain young talent, Kavin mentioned: “Use your own money to buy equity. Provide rational reasons to persuade top managers. Have some skin in the game.”

From this transformation case, Kavin also shared a few key lessons he learned:

1. Incentive and compensation structures are very tricky – particularly when balancing equity, shareholding, and salary.
2. Corporate employees and entrepreneurs have totally different mindsets, and companies may be searching for talent in the wrong places.
3. Related diversification vs. unrelated diversification must be carefully considered.
4. Long-term investments may raise concerns during annual general meetings of public companies.

The session was highly engaging and thought-provoking. It provided students with valuable insights into organizational behavior, strategic decision-making, and leadership in the context of large Asian conglomerates.

We sincerely thank Kavin for sharing his expertise and real-world experience. His lecture reminded students of the importance of both bottom-up innovation and top-down support in shaping the future of modern businesses.

-- Written by TA 林禹丞 /   Edited by GHRM MBA office