Boateng's Wining Formula
James Boateng has a mark of appreciating the returns of the enterprises he dabbles in.

He made significant contributions to the business results of British American Tobacco (BAT) and Coca Cola Ghana limited, companies he worked with in the past; and as Cadbury celebrates its 100th year operating in Ghana, Boateng’s winning ways have become evident. The company has sold out its capacity and has tripled its profits; between 2006 and 2008 they grew revenue more than 60 percent. “The first 50 of the 100 years were glorious; [the next] 25 years not so glorious and the last bit has been our best achievement,” James Boateng, Managing Director of Cadbury Ghana sums up the century of the business operation in Ghana. Cadbury Ghana produces brands like Bournvita, Richoco, Tom Tom and Ahomka Ginger amongst others for the local market, while processing a substantial amount of cocoa to semi finished product for use by Cadbury global for its chocolate and other cocoa based products.

Boateng took over as the Managing Director of Cadbury Ghana when the company was in decline; there were rumors of closure of the Ghanaian operation and general loss of trust in the organization. And what was Boateng’s formula for engineering the ‘best achievement’ of Cadbury in Ghana? “It was not rocket science,” Boateng says of his turn around plan. “We had to go to the basics and add inclusiveness,” he elaborates on his plan. “My biggest strength is leadership; managing and turning minds around,”

According to Boateng three pillars underpinned the turn around – reengineering the business strategy; people management and putting in place processes and systems.
The first step of the transformation process entailed getting the entirety of the company to fashion and work toward achieving the vision, mission and objectives of the company. There was absolute transparency running the company; there were monthly town hall meeting in which the health of the company was discussed by all the staff, Boateng recalls that period. In one of those meeting, one of the junior staff pointed out that Boateng had been coming to work late for the last 10 days. Although Boateng had justifiable reasons, “It was a demonstration of minds that were free,” said Boateng of that incident.
On processes and systems, they looked through processes and systems of Cadbury global and picked what they perceived would work for Cadbury Ghana while performance management systems and mid-year appraisals linked with rewards were also put in place.

But according to Boateng, a major implementation that was defining for the company was the implementation of a sales and operational planning system. This Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) system, made them optimize production; they knew the market demand before they went ahead to produce.
His successes in two previous companies he had worked with—British American Tobacco and Coca Cola were largely based on what he calls ‘practical innovation.’

“I believe in innovation, but it has to be practical,” he says.

In Coca cola as the Commercial Director, he was instrumental in incorporating the price of the beverage in the tickets of football’s premier; retailing at churches and street food sellers (check check). While in the regional team in BAT, played a part in the merger of BAT and Rothmans in Nigeria. So which business school gave Boateng the tools to successfully implement change? Apart from some 50 odd courses and workshops he has attended in his 25 year corporate life; he simply had a BA in business management with an accounting option at the University of Ghana, Legon.

But Boateng speaks of an episode at BAT that shaped his professional life; he was selected as one of the 14 individuals from all over the world to form a global think-tank for BAT’s global training programmes.

“I was blessed I got picked,” he speaks of the experience.

Although the BAT think-tank was influential in shaping his outlook; it was rather his formative years living on a cocoa farm in the Brong Ahafo region of Ghana. It was the enterprising nature of their parents that made the most impression; they engaged in all manner of small enterprises to make his family have an education. The impression made on him in the Brong Ahafo was so strong that he plans to go back on retirement; to mentor and impact youths living in the area. “They live the childhood life I lived,” he says of the youth in the area.

“I feel a natural and spiritual connection to the place,” Boateng speaks of the place of his birth.