REDtone philosophy of Excellent Management

"Management excellence is what we should pursue. Excellence does not come by saying it like a mantra, but excellence requires regular and consistent efforts to build core competencies that allow us to achieve excellence, to be able to benchmarks and move towards being number one…”

Mr Wei Chuan Beng’s profile

Wei is Chairman and Managing Director, REDtone International Bhd. Wei has a Bachelor’s Degree in Electrical Engineering from University Technology Malaysia (1989); Diploma in Management (Gold Medalist Award Winner) from Malaysia Institute of Management (1995).

He established TQC Consultants Sdn Bhd, a software development and system integration company, in 1996. One of the founding members of REDtone International Bhd in 1996, he is responsible for the management of the group’s overall business and financial matters. Wei is also Council Member and Chairperson for Communication Special Interest Group for Persatuan Industri Komputer dan Multimedia Malaysia (PIKOM) and Vice President for the Kuala Lumpur/Selangor Darul Ehsan Telecommunication Association.



Wei’s REDtone Story

Mr Wei Chuan Beng, The founder of REDtone. When he first started his business, Wei had adopted this same philosophy on excellence, Wei feels that being a generalist is not enough as one knows only a little of everything, whereas being specialized crucially differentiates oneself from the being specialized crucially differentiates oneself from the others who find such in-depth knowledge difficult to reach.

Wei's parent were in business, but they encouraged him to go beyond what they did, knowing that with higher education their son could surpass them. Moreover, Wei himself had also wanted to do something which involved more intellectual challenges and greater automation, and to be a pioneer.

Previously, Wei had worked for Hewlett-Packard and he considers the founder of HP a great role model - the latter had graduated from Stanford and with a small capital, grew the company into multibillion dollar business. "Hewlett Packard literally built Silicon Valley as they spawned of the latent might of a company", Wei opines.


“Sometimes we tend to think that honesty and integrity are something we can naturally expect from others. Unfortunately, in the world this is not true,” Wei laments. During the past few years, Wei had come across low standards of business ethics, which included very blatant and corrupt practices in certain parts of community. "So the lesson I learnt is we must not assume that the other party we are dealing with would have the same standard of moral principles that we abide by," he clarifies.




REDtone’s Excellent Management theory

1. Specialised versus Mediocre Knowledge

Being a specialist is an important aspect of excellence. This is because specialization to gives one great in-depth insight from which one can attain excellence, I knew how vital it was to get into the depth of the market and the depth of an issue, for it is only by doing so that one can get the solution. This differentiates you from those who process only mediocre knowledge.


2. No Shortcuts, No boundaries, No end.

There is no substitute to acquiring wisdom and deep insight regularly; there is no shortcuts to excellence. Excellence has no boundary. It is not a destination; it is a stage. And at each stage, further refinement is required - there is no end to our journey for excellence.


3. Continuous sharpening

The level-headed, sharp thinking Wei observes, "There always someone who can overtake you if you stop. So you must continuously interact with people and the environment- be it the political or social environment - and must continuous sharpen yourself from there."


4. Mental Strength

Substantial physical challenges are not merely physical, but require judgment, thinking and prompt decision making, and similarly, leadership in real life involves facing challenges while being on the move. When one is physically taxed, one must process great mental strength to direct an already exhausted body.

5. Mentors

Companies need to have a system in place to ensure that there are continual checks and balances. In addition, companies need to ensure continuity, which is not necessarily by family members; just as one is advised not to mix family life with business life.

6. Lessons and hopes

Management excellence is what we should pursue. Excellence does not come by saying it like a mantra, but excellence requires regular and consistent efforts to build core competencies that allow us to achieve excellence, to be able to benchmarks and move towards being number one. We can achieve the state of excellent to be an example to others. It is my hope that Malaysia will see more companies and entrepreneurs that shine and bring multitude of benefits to the country. We can and must continue to do even better.

- adapted from MANAGEMENT magazine - Vol.41 No.3 Jul-Sep 2006, on leadership development programee - Malaysia Institute of Managemet.