Creating An Entrepreneurial Culture in Your Organisation

Why should you invest in creating an entrepreneurial culture for your organisation? Quite simply, you will create a team of people who push the boundaries, look for hidden opportunities and understand profitable growth.
Once you’ve developed a workplace that breeds innovative thinking, you won’t accept talent into your business that doesn’t have that spirit about them. New staff will immediately see a culture where challenging and pushing the boundaries is encouraged and rewarded.
Every workplace is unique however there are some core values you can introduce into your business to begin developing a culture of entrepreneurship.

Make creativity a cornerstone of your business
Make sure everyone knows that creativity is highly valued. When an employee presents a unique solution to a problem, acknowledge the achievement and celebrate with the entire team.
It is also important to incorporate creativity into everyday practices of the business. Creative incentives such as an annual allowance for staff to engage in creative or cultural pursuits, or fun team outings, can break the routine and provide inspiration to your employees.

Encourage and support risk taking
Taking measured risks is part of every day for an entrepreneur. So if you truly want to create a team of entrepreneurs, you have to support risk taking. Failure is also part of entrepreneurship, so when it inevitably does happen, have an open conversation about how it came about, what the lessons were, and how to avoid it again in the future. Scar tissue of failure makes you stronger in that place in the future, so never look at it as a negative.

Provide training opportunities
Training can take many forms, which is why it’s important to think about the outcomes you want to achieve when deciding what training will best develop creativity relevant to your organisation. Entrepreneurs thrive on learning, growing, opening their mind to new ideas and concepts. Generic training may not be enough to foster new ways of thinking, whereas industry-specific training may be more beneficial.
The method you choose to deliver training will also impact the results. For example, online training provides greater flexibility, whereas time away from the office may be seen as inconvenient. Alternatively, employees may feel more inspired by off-site training such as attending industry events and rubbing shoulders with their peers. Otherwise consider the possibility of designing your own training in-house – this will help you set organisation-specific goals to focus on achieving.

Mentoring
Finally, it’s important for senior team members in the business to act as mentors to more junior employees. It is up to you whether you provide mentoring to the entire team or whether you select a few high-achieving individuals. Mentoring will allow you to help people reach their potential and to align the process to your business goals.
An example of a mentoring approach could involve monthly communication sessions where staff catch up with their managers to talk specifically about their personal growth and goals. There needs to be structure, commitment and energy from both sides for this approach to be successful.

Training geared at inspiring innovation
The ability to think creatively often improves with practice, so give your staff opportunities to flex their creative muscle in new ways that are distinct from everyday tasks. Regular business plan competitions to find business solutions are a great way to encourage structured creativity.
For example, Pulse Marketing introduced an eight-week creative thinking course called Pulse Ideas School. The course involved a weekly session where the Creative Director discussed how to develop great ideas for real advertising challenges. At the end of each session, the group was given a creative brief to solve and present back the following week. The true test was that this was company-wide, so the Finance Manager was tackling a creative brief, which would not happen otherwise. Immediately they had a greater appreciation for our offering, and for the work that the team produces every day.

Treating the team as business owners
When employees are treated as an integral part of the business, they are more likely to take on more responsibility and proactively engage in creative thinking.
Make sure your team understands the broader business goals and involve them in the business discussions that matter. For example, all staff should be informed of new business wins and be given relevant information about the new clients as well as about the vision for the business.
Just as a business owner should know every development in their business, every employee should be aware of what’s going on. Part of that information flow should include keeping staff in the loop with any changes that may affect them and consulting them when possible.
For example, if you are planning an office relocation for the business, discuss possible office locations with staff to make them feel more involved in the decision. This will promote a culture of openness and trust, and will make sure that staff happy with their new weekday home.

Recruitment based on talent and passion, not skills
You’ll increase your chances of cultivating innovation and entrepreneurship in your organisation by hiring people who have an entrepreneurial spirit.
Be very mindful of the culture you aspire to create during your recruitment process. When it comes to choosing between the right skills and the right mentality, skills shouldn’t necessarily come first.
Skills can be learned; a way of thinking is more difficult to change. Understand what qualities matter to your organisation culture most, and hire based on passion and personal attributes first, followed by skill.
There is a multitude of ways you can begin to create an entrepreneurial culture in your business. While you may have to work hard to implement change, always remember that the outcomes will be worth your efforts. People and processes will churn as you work through the implementation, which can feel like a setback, however it’s the long-term gain that holds the greatest value.
A collaborative team of people who can think creatively and develop solutions, will automatically give your organisation a competitive edge and make it a company people want to be part of.

How to Built and Maintain an Entrepreneurial Culture

Lifecycle of an Entrepreneurial Company
 
Birth. Many companies begin their lifespan with a strong entrepreneurial culture. The organisation is led by the vision and values of the initial team members involved in organising the company.

Adolescence. This is a critical phase where new directions and processes are typically introduced. Rules and boundaries are established throughout the company based on the leaders' trial-and-error experiences. As the organisation grows, expert leaders are brought in to assist in the company's growth - experts who may not have the same vision and values of the company founders. During this phase, the company culture becomes more corporate and mature.

Adulthood. Experts are pushed into leadership roles without the necessary training and development to motivate and inspire through the company's vision. Outside leaders are recruited who may not understand the industry or the existing culture. New leaders begin establishing standardisation throughout the organisation using cumbersome forms and templates or unnecessary policies and procedures. Ineffective leaders are unaware that too much standardisation and micromanagement can chase away the entrepreneurial spirit.

How to Develop an Effective Leader
Effective leaders are the key to maintaining a culture driven by the entrepreneurial spirit. It can be challenging to develop effective leaders that embrace the vision of the company, so how can you cultivate your functional experts to become more effective leaders?

Establish Clear Vision and Expectations. The vision of your company is the cornerstone for all other goals, policies, strategies, and actions. The vision should be clear enough so that it can be easily woven through all other company goals.

Teach Leaders to Create the Vision. Coaching your leaders to uphold your company's vision is the most effective way to keep the entrepreneurial spirit alive. It's more than just teaching the vision -- the words have to align with the behaviour and culture. An effective leader will be relentless when it comes to ensuring that the vision pervades all aspects of the company's culture and behaviour.

Evaluate Potential Hires and Develop Leaders. Use an assessment tool like Hudson RPO's 5 + 1 Competency Model® or The Career Fit Indicator^© to evaluate your potential hires and develop your employees into high quality leaders.

Creating An Entrepreneurial Culture

Culture is a hot buzzword among corporate and entrepreneurial companies alike. It's what everyone is striving for, what brings on the loyalty, what attracts and keeps the really awesome employees.
If done right, it seems so simple. Good corporate culture, in its purest sense, and at its most successful, has the look and feel of something organic and uncontrived, something that just exists. But alas, there's the rub, and at once the wonderful twist: Corporate culture cannot, does not and never will exist "just because." Culture is a balancing act between many elements of a company and requires careful execution at each level.
This is especially true for entrepreneurial companies, where what's going on is the building of a business as well as a culture. Corporate culture must be led, nurtured, constantly monitored and adjusted. Much like a "culture" in a petri dish, it requires that you combine the right ingredients, in the right way, to ensure that what you grow is not an aberration of your intentions.

Laying the Groundwork

When I founded Net Daemons, my computer consulting company, I had very definite ideas of what I wanted to provide for our future employees, a safe and comfortable environment, which enabled people to learn, grow and, at the same time, focus on their day-to-day work.
From early on, I felt it was important to treat every employee with trust and respect. That meant assuming automatically that each was an honest, hard-working, reliable and dependable individual. Rather than requiring all employees show up at nine and leave at five, for example, I expected each person to do the job assigned, and to apply the right amount of time and quality of skills toward the accomplishment of each task.
While I wasn't aware, back then, that I was creating what is now considered "corporate culture," I knew I was looking to create a place of employment where employees were at once valued for who they were and what they brought to the table. This was critical for our business, which sold knowledge and a system of collaboration between some 45 engineers providing network-administration and internet-development solutions. If a team isn't in sync, you can't sell a team approach, and you're no better than the single consultant.

What Makes a Culture Entrepreneurial?

As one of our engineers once put it, in an entrepreneurial culture, work is more than a job, it's a lifestyle. Employees are more like a team than in most companies, and in some cases, we're even like a family.
What also evolved was a set of rules for creating and maintaining NDA's petri dish. In creating your own, consider these rules:

• Treat people with respect. This is a very simple premise, which threads through each and every complicated issue that can arise within a company. Respect and trust provide the necessary base for a vibrant and sustainable corporate culture.
• Help employees stay healthy. When employees get sick, they miss work, so it makes sense to offer health insurance as a benefit. We covered 100% of employee health plans. I never want an employee to experience a catastrophic illness and not be covered by insurance. We also offered unlimited sick time. While I had seen this type of policy backfire elsewhere, it nonetheless allowed people to be sick when they really were sick, and not feel obligated to gobble up each "allotted" sick day. You may also want to add a wellness allowance for health-club membership.
• Open doors to communication. Create an environment where people can interact with each other, support each other and recognize each other's efforts and achievements. Provide positive rewards for positive behavior. Share information, so that employees are aware of the direction of the company and are involved in it. Use all-hands meetings for financial and operational information, team-building and social events. Offer incentive programs to reward effort and improve quality of life.
• Build camaraderie. Make time for people to get to know each other and the company. We held an annual off-site meeting to build team spirit and discuss where the company was going. At such events you can also distribute and share your business plan and discuss issues and ideas raised by your strategies.

Maintaining Entrepreneurial Culture

Once you have healthy, trusted and informed employees, don't let the culture that's evolving just be. It needs to be watched so that it grows as you intended. The trick is standing back, but not too far back. In maintaining your culture, consider these rules.

• Let the team build itself. Within that safe, comfortable, open environment, let employees grow together without being made to.
• Participate without controlling. Let the culture thrive, without your either meddling with it or ignoring it.
• Don't forget the little things. Culture is made up of many small actions that, when put together, create something larger than the sum of the parts. There are many things a CEO can do to make employees feel a part of the company. Some are just common courtesies: hallway conversations, saying "hello" in the morning, opening doors, asking after people's families and partners. Others are little extras, such as flowers to say thank you and happy-birthday e-mail messages. Eating lunch with employees, helping spouses find jobs and participating in team events show that you, the CEO, are involved with your employees.

Treating employees with respect helps enable them to do their jobs to the best of their abilities. If you challenge people to raise their bars, provide fun activities, keep people informed and humanize your management, you get culture. From these basics, you will grow in your petri dish a strong, healthy culture that will allow you, your company and your employees to flourish.

Helen Read ( Pengarah Ms Read Sdn Bhd )

Helen Read 

Ms Read Sdn Bhd 

 

 

 

Helen Read adalah jenama pakaian wanita. Ia juga adalah nama pengasas Ms Read Sdn. Bhd, syarikat yang mengendali rakaian butik pakaian untuk golongan wanita bertubuh besar. Kini terdapat sembilan buah butik dan kaunter Ms Read di beberapa pusat membeli belah di Kuala Lumpur. Antaranya di One Utama Shopping Center, Midvalley Megamall, Alamanda Putrajaya, Subang Prade, Sogo, Lot 10, Ampang Point, Isetan KLCC dan Maju Junction. Butik Ms Read juga terdapat di Pulau Pinang dan Johor Bahru.

Helen Read yang dilahirkan di England adalah berdarah campuran Cina dan Inggeris. Bapa beliau berasal dari Ipoh, Perak. Helen adalah bekas eksekutif di Hotel Merlin, Kuala Lumpur berkelulusan dalam bidang pengurusan hotel di Loughborough Collage, England. Beliau mengambil keputusan berhenti kerja selepas mendapat anak pertama. Ketika anak sulungnya, Benjamin Yong berusia dua tahun, seorang kawan mengajak Helen berkongsi niaga dalam bisnes membuat pakaian, Helen bersetuju dengan tawaran itu, bagaimanapun beliau hanya melibatkan diri secara sambilan. Kilang mereka membekal pakaian wanita ke pusat-pusat membeli belah seperti Isetan, Metrojaya dan jaya Jusco.

Pada tahun 1982 rakan kongsi Helen mengikut suaminya berpindah ke negeri lain. Sejak itu Helen mengambil alih pengurusan kilang sepenuhnya. Pada tahun 1996 Helen didatangani pihak Jaya Jusco yang memintanya membuat pakaian untuk segmen wanita mereka. Helen menolak tawaran itu kerana pada waktu itu kilangnya sedang beroperasi dengan kapaasiti penuh. Sebaliknya Helen meminta kepada pihak Jusco menyewakan sebuah lot kedai kepadanya untuk dibuat butik. Permintaan itu dipersetujui pihak Jusco. Helen membuka butik pertamanya yang diberi nama Ms Read di One Utama Shopping Center pada bulan Mac 1997. Beliau berkongsi modal dengan suaminya mengubah suai buti itu sebanyak RM100,000 dan menyediakan stok pakaian bernilai RM60,000.

Ketika berlaku kegawatan ekonomi pada akhir tahun 1997, operasi di kilang Helen terjejas teruk kerana permintaan merosot. Mujur butiknya dapat menyelamatkan keadaan gawat itu. Apabila ekonomi pulih semula, bisnes Helen terus berkembang. Butik beliau menyediakan pelbagai jenis pakaian yang sesuai digayakan ke pejabat, untuk tujuan kasual, sukan, majlis dan juga koleksi busana muslimah. Konsep plus-size yang menjadi identiti butik Helen terbit daripada ilham pihak Isetan yang mahu membuka segmen itu untuk wanita bertubuh besar.

Ketika berkerjasama dengan pihak isetan, Hetan terlibat dalam penyelidikan dan pembangunan ke atas saiz pakaian wanita di Eropah yang di sesuaikan dengan wanita Asia bersaiz 12 hingga 24. Melalui kajian itu, terhasil label Total Woan. Helen menggunakan konsep serupa untuk butiknya sendiri. Bagi Helen wanita bertubuh besar layak bergaya dan kelihatan cantik. Beliau mengambil kira cadangan dan maklum balas yang diterima daripada peminat-peminat butiknya. Selain pelanggan dewasa, beliau menyediakan pakaian plus size untuk generasi muda. Butik Ms Read kini memiliki francais pertama di Brunei.

 

Lisa Fong ( Pengarah Syarikat OSCAR Footwear Marketing Sdn Bhd )

Lisa Fong

Syarikat OSCAR Footwear Marketing Sdn Bhd

Lisa Fong, adalah pengarah urusan OSCAR Footwear Marketing Sdn Bhd. Sejak di bangku sekolah lagi, beliau selalu membantu bapanya di kedai kasut untuk mendapat sedikit wang saku. Pengalaman tersebut telah mempengaruhi beliau untuk menceburi industri yang didominasi lelaki.

Tetapi beliau tidak maju ke hadapan dengan menghasilkan kasut lelaki, sebaliknya beliau beralih kepada bidang pembuatan kasut keselamatan (safety  footware).

Pada hari ini, pelanggan syarikat beliau adalah termasuk nama-nama besar seperti Petroliam Nasional Bhd, Top Glove Bhd, Fraser & Neave Holdings Bhd, The Federal Land Development Authority, Seagate Industries (M) Sdn Bhd dan The Royal Malaysian Police. Produk syarikat juga dieksport ke Thailand, Singapura, Vietnam, Kanada dan Fiji. Oscar Footwear Marketing adalah No 1 syarikat safety  footware di Malaysia.

Dilahirkan dan dibesarkan di Seri Kembangan di Selangor, Beliau pergi ke London untuk melanjutkan pelajaran dalam bidang pembuatan kasut. Semasa di London, beliau berkerja di kedai kasut Bata untuk mendapatkan banyak lagi pengalaman dalam industri pembuatan kasut.

Kemudian beliau dan abangnya telah mengambil alih syarikat bapanyapada tahun 1980-an. Pada ketika itu, syarikat tersebut bergantung sepenuhnya kepada tenaga kerja menghasilkan kasut. Disebabkan itu, beliau telah manaik taraf proses pembuatan dengan membeli jentera berteknologi tinggi untuk meningkatkan lagi produktiviti dan kerumitan yang dihadapi oleh syarikat .

Perniagaan yang pertama kali bermula di sebuah rumah kedai telah berkembang kepada pembukaan kilang yang lebih besar dan mampu menghasilkan 1000 hingga 1200 pasang kasut setiap hari berbanding dengan 500 hingga 700 pasang kasut sehari sebelum ini.

Matlamat Beliau ialah menjadikan Syarikat OSCAR Footwear Marketing Sdn Bhd sebagai salah satu syarikat yang disenaraikan di Bursa Malaysia dalam tempoh masa lima tahun.

Tan Sri Dato' Seri Dr.Jeffrey Cheah ( Ketua Pegawai Eksekutif Kumpulan Sunway)

Tan Sri Dato' Seri Jeffrey Cheah merupakan Ketua Pegawai Eksekutif Kumpulan Sunway

 

Latar Belakang

Tan Sri Dato' Seri Jeffrey Cheah dilahirkan di Pusing, Perak. Beliau mempunyai 6 orang adik beradik. Beliau menerima pendidikan tinggi di Footscray Institute of Technology yang kini dikenali sebagai Victoria University of Technology, Australia. Beliau memulakan kerjayanya sebagai akauntan di kilang pemasangan motor selepas tamat pengajiannya.

Kejayaan

Kumpulan Sunway telah berjaya menempuh 3 kemelesetan ekonomi dengan jayanya. Beliau telah memulakan syarikat perlombongan bijih timah (Syarikat Sungei Way) dengan modal berbayar sebanyak RM100,000. Kemelesetan ekonomi melanda pada tahun 1977 namun syarikat masih dapat bertahan. Bagi tahun-tahun berikutnya, bijih timah telah habis dilombong dan beliau telah menukarkan lombong bijih timah kepada lombong kuari dan pasir. Syarikatnya yang berprestasi memberangsangkan telah menjadikannya berjaya disenaraikan dalam papan utama Bursa Saham Kuala Lumpur pada tahun 1984 sebagai Sunway Holdings Berhad.

Cabaran Yang Dihadapi

Malaysia dilanda kemelesetan ekonomi pada tahun 1985. Kesan yang dirasai pada tahun itu adalah lebih ketara. Menjelang tahun 1987, Sunway Holdings Berhad mencatatkan kerugian yang hampir melenyapkan dana pemegang sahamnya. Akan tetapi, mereka masih dapat bertahan.

Pelbagaikan Perniagaan

Selepas kemelesetan ekonomi berakhir, Tan Sri Dato' Seri Jeffrey Cehah mula mengambil kangkah untuk mempelbagaikan perniagaannya supaya risiko syarikat dapat disebarkan. Sunway Holdings Berhad mula melibatkan diri dalam sektor pembangunan hartanah, pelaburan hartanah, pembuatan dan perniagaan yang berkaitan dengan hiburan. Selepas itu, beliau telah menyenaraikan 3 buah syarikat lagi iaitu :
(i) Sunway City Berhad
(ii) Sunway Construction Berhad
(iii) Sunway Building Technology Berhad

Kegawatan Ekonomi

Krisis ekonomi Asia melanda pada tahun 1997 , beliau telah mengambil langkah untuk menunjukkan akaun syarikat kepada semua pekerja Sunway Holdings berhad dan memastikan syarikat akan membayar gaji tepat pada waktunya. Perbuatan beliau telah mendapat sokongan penuh semua pekerjanya. Serentak dengan itu, beliau memulakan langkah mengurangkan kos dengan menjual jentera yang tidak diperlukan dan menutupkan perniagaan yang tidak mendatangkan hasil.

Sejarah Bandar Sunway

Khalayak Ramai yang tidak yakin dengan kemampuan beliau dalam menjayakan projek perumahan di atas bekas lombong, Namun, kini lombong bijih timah yang telah ditebus guna adalah Bandar Sunway.Namun, ini tidak melemahkan semangatnya malah mendorongkan beliau untuk meneruskan niatnya dan kini Bandar Sunway yang bernilai RM3 bilion adalah salah satu kawasan perumahan yang terunggul di Lembah Klang.

Anugerah

Beliau telah mendapat beberapa anugerah, antaranya ialah:
(i) Tokoh hartanah tahun 1993/94
(ii) CEO terbaik Malaysia 1996
Sunway Holdings Berhad juga dinamakan sebagai syarikat terbaik yang diuruskan oleh majalah Asia Money. Tan Sri Dato' Seri Jeffrey Cheah juga pernah dianugerahkan 8 doktor kehormat oleh beberapa universiti antarabangsa.

Perkembangan di peringkat antarabangsa

Beliau juga banyak mencari peluang di luar negara seperti Taiwan, India dan Australia. Beliau turut mengadakan perkongsian bijak dan usaha sama dengan beberapa pihak seperti Syarikat Pelaburan Kerajaan Singapura. Beliau juga adalah Pengasas Institut Strategi dan Kepimpinan Asia (ASLI) iaitu Institut yang ditubuhkan bagi menggalakkan perdagangan dan pelaburan antarabangsa melalui dialog di peringkat tinggi.

Sumbangan

Tan Sri Dato' Seri Jeffrey Cheah yang berasal dari Perak juga merupakan seorang dermawan. Beliau melibatkan diri dalam beberapa Persatuan Kebajikan. Antaranya :
(i) Yayasan Buah Pinggang Malaysia
(ii) Yayasan Hati Malaysia
(iii) Persatuan Hakka Malaysia

Rahsia Kejayaan

Beliau merupakan seorang yang suka belajar dari kesilapan. Selain bergantung pada fakta, beliau juga tidak memanfaatkan gerak hati dan menggunakannya dalam membuat keputusan. Beliau juga seseorang yang tidak membiarkan emosi menguasai dirinya. Beliau adalah seorang yang membuat keputusan berdasarkan akan tetapi bukan emosi. Beliau juga seorang yang berani mengambil risiko.

Tan Sri Azman Hashim

Tan Sri Azman Hashim (Pengerusi Kumpulan AmBank)

Latar Belakang

Beliau dilahirkan pada bulan Julai 1939 di Kampung Baru, Kuala Lumpur. Ibubapa beliau adalah guru. Beliau merupakan seorang akauntan berkanun yang terlatih dan memulakan kerjayanya sebagai akauntan berkanun pada 1955 di Messrs. OL Haines & C0., Australia.

Kerjaya Dalam Bidang Perbankan

Beliau yang berpengalaman luas dalam industra perbankan telah bermula terlibat dalam sektor perbankan sejak tahun 1960 selepas beliau kembali dari Australia sebagai akautan berkanun. Bank Negara Malaysia merupakan tempat di mana beliau memulakan kerjayanya dalam sektor perbankan.

Selepas berkerja di Bank Negara Malaysia beberapa tahun , Beliau meletakkan jawatan pada tahun 1964 dan beringin untuk memulakan firma perakaunan sendiri yang bernama Azman, Wong , Salleh & Co. Beliau telah menjadi Pengarah Malayan Banking Berhad atau Maybank selepas two tahun. Beliau turut dilantik sebagai Pengarah Eksekutif Maybank dari tahun 1971 hingga 1980.

Seterusnya, Beliau dilantik sebagai Pengerusi Eksekutif Kwong Yik Bank yang kini dikenali sebagai RHB Bank Berhad selama 2 tahun iaitu dari tahun 1980 hingga tahun 1982. Pada tahun 1982, beliau telah membeli Arab-Malaysian Merchant Bank yang kini dinamakan AmBank daripada usahawan Arab iaitu Hussain Najadi. Hussain menubuhkan bank itu pada tahun 1975 supaya dapat membawa kemasukan pelaburan dari negara-negara Arab ke Malaysia. Selepas pembelian maka Tan Sri Azman turut dilantik sebagai Pengerusi.

Kepentingan Syarikat Lain

Selain daripada memegang 42% kepentingan dalam syarikat induk Kumpulan AmBank iaitu Arab-Malaysian Corporation Berhad (AMC) , beliau juga mengawal syarikat AMMB Holdings Berhad atau AHB , Arab Malaysian Finance Berhad yang kini dikenali sebagai AmFinance, Arab Malaysian Development Berhad, South Peninsular Industries Berhad, Redifussion Berhad, Hotel Equatorial dengan 30% kepentingan dan anak syarikat Johnson&Johnson di Malaysia dengan 30% kepentingan.

Kejayaan

Selepas krisis ekonomi Asia 1997/1998 , Tan Sri Azman bukan sahaja berjaya mengekalkan kedudukannya dalam Kumpulan Perbankan AmBank, malah berjaya memperluaskan penguasaannya dalam industri perbankan dengan penggabungan MBF Finance dengan anak syarikat Kumpulan Perbankan AmBank- Arab-Malaysian Finance Berhad.

Pengiktirafan

Terdapat banyak jawatan lain yang pernah dan sedang dipegang oleh Tan Sri Azman. Antaranya ialah Ahli Lenbaga Pengarah Sistem Penerbangan Malaysia Berhad (MAS) , Pengerusi Institut Sistem Mikroelektronik Malaysia Berhad (MIMOS) , Pengerusi Persatuan Bank Saudagar di Malaysia dan Pengerusi Perbadanan Produktiviti Nasional/

Malahan, Pengerusi Perbadanan Kerjasama Selatan-Selatan Malaysia, Pengerusi Persatuan Ekonomi Malaysia-Jepun, Pengerusi Majlis Ekonomi Pacific Basin (PBEC) Malaysia , Pengerusi Persatuan Selatan-Selatan Malaysia, pengerusi Majlis Sukan Air Kebangsaan , Pengerusi Yayasan Persatuan Perubatan Malaysia, Bendahari Kumpulan Perundingan Sektor Swasta Malaysia-US, Ketua Mesyuarat Perniagaan ASEAN-Jepun (Jawatankuasa Malaysia, Keizai Doyuki) , Ahli Majlis Perundingan Ekonomi Negara II (MAPEN II) .

Tambahan pula, Ahli Majlis Penasihat Perniagaan APEC ("ABAC), Ahli Suruhanjaya Tiga Penjuru (Kumpulan Asia Pacific), Ahli Majlis perniagaan Malaysia-British, Ahli Majlis Hal Ehwal Agama Kebangsaan, Ahli Yayasan Pelaporan Kewangan, Fellow Institut Akauntan Berkanun Australia, Fellow Institut Setiausaha  dan Pentadbir Berkanun.

Beliau merupakan warganegara Malaysia pertama yang dilantik sebagai pengerusi. Institut itu masih baru dan tidak mempunyai wang yang secukupnya bagi membeli bangunan sendiri apabila masa beliau dilantik sebagai pengerusi. Disebabkan demikian, kebanyakan mesyuarat diadakan di firma perakaunan Tan Sri Azman, iaitu Azman, Wong , Salleh & Co. Fellow Institut Bank-bank Malaysia adalah Pemegang Amanah Yayasan Hati Malaysia dan Naib Pengerusi Majlis Perniagaan Malaysia.

Anugerah

Beliau pernah menerima anugerah yang banyak. Antaranya, beliau telah diberi anugerah Doktor Kehormat oleh Universiti Utara Malaysia(UUM) pada tahun 1990. Beliau juga dinamakan sebagai Pengurus Terbaik Asia oleh majalah Asian Finance pada tahun 1985.

Beliau dinamakan sebagai Usahawan ASEAN tahun 1993 oleh Forum Perniagaan ASEAN. Beliau turut dinamakan sebagai Pengurus Terbaik Tahun 1995 oleh Kelab Alumni Harvard Business School.

Sumbangan

Tan Sri Azman yang sebagai Pengerusi Perbadanan Produktiviti Nasional memainkan peranan penting dalan menggalakkan produktiviti di Malaysia dan menjadikannya sebagai komponen yang relevan dan turut menyumbang dalam proses pembangunan negara.

Kejayaann dalam membangunkan produktiviti telah dicapaikan melalui keyakinan beliau. Perbadanan Produktiviti Nasional berjaya membangunkan metodologi pengukuran produktiviti di peringkat kebangsaan dan subsektor di bawah pimpinan beliau.

Perbadanan Produktiviti Nasional telah menerbitkan laporan tahunan produktiviti yang menganalisis prestasi produktiviti pada peringkat kebangsaan dan subsektor sejak tahun 1994. Laporan tahunan ini dapat diakses melalui Pangkalan Data Rangkaian Tanda Aras Dalam Talian NPC ataupun BOND. Tan Sri Azman banyak menyumbang kepada pergerakan produktivit di rantau Asia dan Pasifik melalui Perbadanan Produktiviti Nasional.