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The Asia Business Leader of the Year award, organized by CNBC, the world's leading business news television network, recognizes the most outstanding business leaders in the region. The chief executive honored by the prestigious award represents the best at providing customer service, motivating staff, growing profitability and achieving their business vision. The award also looks at an individual’s innovation, social responsibility and drive to make the business a success. How a CEO handles global trends and issues is also a factor.
The Chicago GSB plays an important role in the awards process as the competition’s “knowledge partner.” This year, the judging panel of world-respected management strategists, academics, and business people from across the Asia-Pacific region was headed by Mark E. Zmijewski, Leon Carroll Marshall Professor of Accounting and deputy dean of for Part-Time MBA Programs, and William W. Kooser, Adjunct Assistant Professor of Management; Associate Dean of Executive MBA Programs . Commenting on ABLA 2005, lead judge Zmijewski said, “These outstanding business leaders know the value of keeping abreast of the latest innovations in business management to create and execute new business models that adjust to the ever-changing business environment.”
The judging process takes a year, has three phases, and involves reviewing close to 6,500 companies across Asia. In phase one, a dedicated team from the GSB is responsible for short-listing semi-finalists. The full panel narrows the field to the final 10 in the last phase. Local winners are then added, and it is from this group that the winners are selected.
Finals for the 2005 ABLA were held in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. The Business Leader of the Year was Chen Feng, president of Hainan Airlines Company in China. Other awards included Innovator of the Year and Corporate Citizen of the Year. All the winners “have successfully steered their companies on the path to success by inspiring their employees to confront today's business challenges and by preparing them to identify and capture the opportunities that await them in this era of globalization,” said Zmijewski.