The position of CEO at Standard Group has become such a hot seat that very few people would be willing to take it up. The company has recorded the highest turnover of CEOs than any other media house in Kenya, and arguably even among its listed peers at the Nairobi Securities Exchange, over the past two decades.
As Standard Group Board of Directors on 5th August officially welcomed Ms Marion Gathoga-Mwangi, the newly appointed CEO, the mood at the company was as gloomy as the cloudy weather outside, perhaps signalling what she is up against.
Facing a financial crisis, the company is pushing out 300 employees, hoping this will save it money to keep it going. Profitability has remained elusive here at Standard Centre for years, and signs of an even bigger problem are all over – recently it closed KTN News, sending home nearly all its staff and there is speculation that the financial hole could be deeper.
The assignment Ms Gathoga-Mwangi has is clearly cut out: pulling out Standard Group from its current crisis. The task is stuff for legend and if, indeed, Standard Group recovers under her reign, she will have a strong legacy in the media industry and corporate Kenya at large.
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Ms Gathoga-Mwangi is taking over from Joe Munene, the insider who has been running the company in acting capacity since July 2023. He has had his share of the bumpy sail and now leaves behind a company on the brink of collapsing if not tenderly handled.
Ms Gathoga-Mwangi is an accomplished senior executive with over 26 years of local and international experience in commercial operations excellence and general management across multiple sectors. She holds a Bachelor of Science (Honors) degree in International Business Administration from the United States International University (USIU).
Before her appointment to the Group, she held executive roles with the Linde Group PLC companies, African Oxygen Pty (AFROX), and BOC Kenya PLC, serving as Healthcare Director leading access to medical gases in Africa, Business Unit Director of the Bulk and Onsite Manufacturing Business in South Africa, and Managing Director, respectively.
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While lacking media experience, she has the professional and academic qualifications for the job, which she will have to summon in a big way to steer Standard Group to safe landing. The company is heavy with losses, revenues are falling constantly while debt is piling.
Even then she will be working under a jittery board and anxious employees ready to bolt at the slightest smell of opportunity. So her main job, before even beginning to crunch the numbers, is to calm frayed nerves of employees, some of whom are worried of losing their jobs while others are more concerned about their salary arrears running into several months and where they will get the next meal.
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