It’s your company’s hard earned money. Why should you give back? And is it a must if you’re running a business? Joining us to speak about the importance of good corporate governance we have CEO of Honey Bun and Founder of the Honey Bun Foundation, Michelle Chong.
CEO of Honey Bun and Founder of the Honey Bun Foundation, Michelle Chong says collaboration is one of the most impactful ways Jamaican companies can give back to the country.
Speaking with Kalilah Reynolds during MoneyMovesJa, Chong said local companies should work together to enhance Jamaica’s global competitiveness.
“It’s very important that we understand the difference between competing and collaborating,” she said.
“We compete among each other; almost three million of us here in Jamaica (population wise). Why are we competing with each other? We need to collaborate and create a bigger and better product,” she added.
“Don’t compete with who we have here. Look at global standards, look at what competitors are doing in the global industry and work together as Jamaicans to beat them out,” she continued.
This, she said, would boost Jamaica’s viability on the international markets which would boost the country’s ability to export, which in turn leads to more economic growth.
“To export is like playing a game of cards. You have 52 cards in a deck and let’s say there are 10 of us and we each get five cards each. We need to add more cards to the deck and that comes from exports; we have to get foreign dollars,” she explained.
She continued: “When we import, we take cards out the deck and we no longer get five; we get four, three until we’re also in the negative”.
Chong said that collaboration is one of the founding principles of the Honey Bun Foundation.
“When we started the Honey Bun Foundation it was based on two things; one was leadership skills and the other was collaboration,” she said.
She added that companies can give back in many different ways.
“It could be by training, time or your talent, whatever talent you have, you can give it to somebody,” she noted. She said that with this in mind, Honey Bun changed its mission statement in 2017, to reflect the company’s change in mindset.
“So, it’s really to lead through innovation, achieve success for our stakeholders and serve the greater good of mankind,” she said adding “the serve part of it is the giving back”.
Meanwhile, the CEO said that a well established corporate governance structure is the foundation to sustainable growth for business.
“I would compare it to the foundation of a house. You can build a beautiful house but if the foundation isn’t right, it will not withstand the test of time,” she said.
“So, governance is putting certain practices in place on which you can build your business,” Chong said. She noted that it is important to have established rules about how the company should be governed to ensure continuity.
“Different people have different ideas about managing, so the important thing is that there are certain things about managing that don’t change,” she said.
According to Chong this is why advisory committees are essential to good corporate governance, especially for small and medium-sized enterprises.
She said that the committee can assist the business owner in formulating monthly action items, strategic plans and short term objectives among other goals. This is to ensure that the company will have sustainable growth for the long term.
