Short-sighted managers are shooting themselves in the foot
SOUTH AFRICA is way behind the rest of the world in the formation of export councils for the textile, clothing, chemical products, plastics, furniture and food product industries, said Sybil Rhomberg, manager of the Capital Equipment Export Council.
The only way to change this, she said, was to change the culture in the business sector.
She warns that if the industry does not come together, Government may be forced into a situation where it would have to set up councils without input from industry, she said.
Common barriers against companies joining the export councils were that many will not "buy in" to the concept due to ignorance, many companies wanted individualism, they had an inherent fear of change and an unco-operative culture, she said.
"In the past, the country's closed economy made it illegal for companies in certain sectors to collude. Government even took the step of introducing a competitions board to ensure power was dissipating. This led companies to acquire masses of over-capacity and an uncooperative nature," said Rhomberg.
Another factor slowing down the formation of export councils was that many companies were still thinking in terms of local markets, exporting only small percentages of their product.
"These don't see why they have to join export councils and as a result of this, many will never become world players," she said.
Most managers also had too small a vision and were therefore poorly resourced.
In many instances there are many sales representatives to service the local market but only one or two people for the export market.
"Most managers do not see export as an investment," she said.
Rhomberg quotes Spain as an example where its capital equipment export council has 680 members and has been running for 35 years. Its members export over 80% of their capacity.
There were export councils for each industry in Europe, she said.
Rhomberg said that companies which did not work with an export council would have difficulty in developing a sustainable international business.
By Anna Cox
Copyright Now Media (Pty) Ltd
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