Kimberly-Clark’s UK&I MD: Consistently great businesses ‘have the knack of knowing when to transform’
Timing, as the saying goes, is everything – and for Kimberly-Clark UK&I MD Dan Howell this principle is central to the art of business transformation.
In Howell’s view, the companies that exceed the standards of good performance to make it into the ranks of the great, and stay there, are those that “have this knack of knowing when to transform”.
A so far two decade-long career working at CGP behemoths including AB InBev and Müller has also taught Howell a lot about the challenges that can stifle growth and innovation in large companies. “As organisations, we tend to still typically operate to annual targets and quarterly shareholder reports, and quite often that can limit your appetite to take risks…And so in my experience, the thing that tends to really hold businesses back…is that appetite for risk and the willingness to really push boundaries when innovating.”
Getting ahead of the curve on transformation, and overcoming this kind of risk aversion, are two of the ways in which Howell is seeking to drive Kimberly-Clark’s business forward this year. The third, on the face of it, might seem counterintuitive: “We’re starting to put some real tangible actions into place to get us to sort of operate below our maximum capacity.”
But for Howell, it’s precisely this that will be key to maintaining a competitive advantage. “We think the way we’re going to win and solve the problems our consumers have and innovate…is by being more creative than our competition. And I think the only way we’re going to be more creative is if we give ourselves more space to think.”
This episode was recorded in January 2025.
Credits:
Presenter: Antonia Garrett Peel
Producer: Inga Marsden
Artwork: David Robinson
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