Tony Egan, BA MBA
Chief Executive Officer Of AFFCO

Achievements past and present

BA from Victoria University
MBA from Massey University
Managing Director of Greenlea Premier Meats Ltd
Council Member of Meat Industry Association
Managing Director of AFFCO
Chief Executive Officer of AFFCO

Summary of the interview
During the interview with Mr Egan we dealt with many issues that AFFCO currently faces. This involved international exports, growing global competition, environmental impacts, and the importance of maintaining a healthy work/life balance.

Egan believes the meat industry is essential in further developing New Zealand’s export portfolio from the current 5% of export receipts earnt in New Zealand. Mr Egan identified several key limitations to growth such as the expanding South American competition and the possibility of an outbreak of mad cow disease.

AFFCO is committed to achieving long term environmental sustainability, however the company has been prosecuted multiple times in the recent past. AFFCO have incurred over $18,000 in fines and is an issue Egan is determined to address.

Another aspect Egan talked about was the requirement for a healthy balance between work and life. Whilst Egan also believes in developing strong working relationships, he commented on the importance of not becoming too close to colleagues as to cloud his professional judgement.

Students view of the interview
We found Mr Egan to be an extremely honest speaker when dealing with the strengths and weaknesses of the AFFCO Company. This was reinforced by the open manner in which he discussed his company’s recent prosecutions in the Environmental Court.

It was interesting to note Mr Egan’s views on the usefulness of formal qualifications, endorsing that a broad base of education is preferable to specialising in one specific discipline such as accounting. Specialist skills can be acquired with industry experience and not all skills required to succeed in business can be found in a textbook.

Mr Egan holds somewhat unorthodox views of climbing the corporate ladder. He explains that learning from the ground floor up can provide greater understanding of the manufacturing processes, dealing with employees and identifying cost cutting initiatives.

Quotes
“The BA taught me how to think, the MBA was my meal ticket”

“Any education is good education”
Contributed by: Gabriel Bradly, Daniel Rae, Mary Davies-Colley, Simon Belworthy and Te Wairnarie Kapea