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 From
three years in the US Army to three decades with GE, Jim Payne
tells Sudipta Dev about his varied career experiences and
the new challenges of his present assignment in Asia
It
took Jim Payne just a weekend to join Iomega following his 29 years
of association with GE. Evidently a man of quick decisions (which
invariably also turn out correct), today, one and a half years later,
Payne has no regrets about leaving a behemoth organisation like
GE and joining a relatively smaller entity. And why? “My present
job is to run Asia, with GE I only ran a region in the US,”
comes the answer promptly. He however adds that both companies have
a similar philosophy—to be the number one in the chosen area
of operation. For Payne it is not just the stimulation of a very
challenging assignment, but the fact that he loves the sights and
sounds of Asia. It was an interest that developed during his assignment
as the general manager for GE’s Asia Pacific sales and market
development in Hong Kong. “For three years I was in Asia and
did not want to go back. The market in Asia is very entrepreneurial
and varied, where one cannot do a cookie cutter course but has to
make extra efforts to localise and specialise,” he admits.
A
Bachelor of Science from Pennsylvania State University, Payne majored
in marketing. Drafted into the US Army, he served there for three
years, including a year in Vietnam, which he wants to forget. He
joined GE as a sales representative in Florida and did various regional
sales jobs apart from his stint in Asia. Payne also held the position
of general manager for two of GE’s service businesses during
his almost three decade long stint with the company. Based at Seattle,
USA, Payne was heading GE Appliance’s sales operations in the
Northwest region when he took the decision to join Iomega.
A
global leader in providing personal and professional storage solutions,
the Asia Pacific headquarters of Iomega Corporation is located in
Singapore. Presently looking after the markets of South East Asia,
India, Hong Kong, Taiwan, China, Korea, Japan, Australia and New
Zealand, it is Payne’s responsibility to establish the Iomega
brand name in the region.
Payne
reminds that following the downturn, the company has gone through
a lot of restructuring in recent times and has changed its business
model completely. Stringent moves have been taken world-wide with
reduction in unnecessary infrastructure costs. The company’s
headquarters in San Diego has also been completely restructured.
The move paid off and the quarterly profits are a pointer enough.
“The
plan is not just growth but stabilised growth. A historically profitable
company, we anticipate this year to be a great year. The new CEO
is very global oriented and is committed to support the growth in
Asia Pacific region. India and China are the two large markets here
with strong potential,” says Payne, adding that of the two,
the company believes that they can do a lot better in India because
of its strong software industry and tech-savvy people.
The
company has no physical office in India but operates through its
network of distributors in the country, which has been earmarked
as a major market. “Our business is growing in India. Our effort
is to constantly provide after sales support to our distributors,”
says he, adding that apart from training the sales people they work
closely with the resellers—educate them that data is critical
and run programmes for them. Payne himself recently attended a distributors’
conference in Goa, which turned out to be a great success and also
outlined the company’s business plans and introduction of new
products.
At
56, Payne believes that life has come a full circle—from the
freedom of running virtually his own enterprise in Asia to the contentment
of having a very happy family life.
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PEOPLE
