 |
Courtesy
of DSV
Kurt Larsen, CEO of DSV A/S |
When International research analysts ranked 600
European Companies they chose the Danish transport
giant, DSV, as the second best company in Europe.
DSV operates under the name of DFDS Transport, which
has three divisions: ground transportation, air
and sea freight, and the solutions division. The
group has offices in 50 countries worldwide and
offers services in more than 100 countries.
DSV is a true success story. What began in 1976
with ten independent haulers and a yearly revenue
of about 3 million dollars has become a transport
empire with 19,000 employees and an annual turnover
of more than 5 billion dollars.
Behind every great company is a great leader, I
soon learned however, that DSV CEO Kurt Larsen would
never take the credit for the corporation’s
enormous growth. "It is DSV’s team that
has built the business to what it is today. Don’t
credit me, give recognition to the managers, they
are the true leaders," said Larsen. In any
case, since Larsen has been steering, DSV has grown
more than ten times its size and has, for years,
been the best performing share on the Danish stock
exchange.
KURT LARSEN
While he has had no formal education, he began in
transport when he was 16 years old. "Honestly,
I just have this office because I was the first
one here. In fact, if I were to apply for a job
now, I would never get an interview. But work experience
is a valuable educator," said Larsen.
Mr. Larsen’s experiences have taught him transport,
business, and management enough to build DSV into
one of the world’s biggest transportation companies.
"When I started here, I had no idea how large
DSV could become," said Larsen. "We began
as a small Danish company and now we are global."
When asked about his success strategy, he answered
quickly, "the only rule in business is don’t
lose." But how is the game played? I tried
to get Kurt to reveal his cards. This proved to
be a tough task, while Mr. Larsen says exactly what
he feels, he avoids talking about himself. "At
DSV we have principals which we stand by… loyalty,
organization, and hard work. My personal road to
success, as you put it, is to surround myself with
people who know mo5re than me," Larsen said
with a smile.
"Take Moeller, our USA CEO, he is a genius.
The company grew 30 percent in the U.S. last year
even with a weak dollar and high gas prices."
DSV’s global achievement comes from delivering
a product that customers can trust. "You can
never go wrong with quality," explained Larsen,
"too many companies nowadays are making cheap
products at a cheap cost. At the end of the day,
the customer saves money but comes home with garbage,"
he said as he poured me a cup of tea and offered
me Danish almond cookies. He shifted the talk from
him, which he had tried to do a few times without
my approval to discuss his daughters; one a journalist
and the other the owner of an art gallery. "They
are twins," he explained. At that point, I
put down my journalistic pen and gave up on trying
to uncover the secret of Mr. Larsen’s triumphs
in business. I sat and enjoyed the company, ate
the cookies, and delighted in our conversation.
After a few minutes, Mr. Larsen’s secretary
popped in explaining that his next meeting was in
15 min and that the phone, which had been ringing
relentlessly, was an emergency call. He apologized
to me, picked up the call, listened to a manager,
told them to sign immediately, told them to drop
the other deal and smiled the entire time he spoke.
In the end, he complimented the work of the manager,
and returned to our tête-à-tête.
At this point, he confessed that the deal he rejected
of was a "big one," the company was acting
funny, "but that is the game," he said,
"if you don’t trust the company you can’t
work with them, you have to go with your instincts."
It was at this moment that Mr. Larsen revealed
his cards: he says what he feels, acts on instinct,
is loyal to his employees, and values quality. Mr.
Larsen was not going to answer my questions on the
secret to his success, he hides in modesty. But
in the game of business, Kurt Larsen is a winner.
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DENMARK
