Some company executives have a more difficult job than others. For example, as the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the Sugar Group Companies, Gunawan Jusuf may be seen as having a harder time than others in his position. You see, his company isn’t actually a single company, as much as it’s a collective of Indonesia-based companies, each of which grows and refines sugar that is used to manufacture a variety of sugar products, many of which are enormously popular throughout Indonesia.
In addition to a number of plantations and refineries throughout Indonesia, Sugar Group Companies and Gunawan Jusuf operate these companies from nearly a dozen offices located throughout Indonesia. That means he must make sure each company operates to the best of its ability, at the same time they work to meet the goals of the overall collective. In fact, when you look at Gunawan Jusuf’s record, it is likely his ability to make sure that every employee and supervisor at every subsidiary company is not only running the best it can, but that the company as a whole is doing well that is Gunawan Jusuf’s greatest accomplishment. It is certainly something most other large company CEOs don’t have to deal with.
There are other things to deal with, of course, not the least of which is the smart and sustainable use of natural resources. that is precisely why Gunawan Jusuf published a book last year, entitled “Blue Gold,” that includes a frank discussion about the relative scarcity and high value of water as our most important and precious commodity. It certainly is the key to growing sugar, which is what his company does.