Hyflux Limited and Water Sustainability – Treading Blue Oceans By Wee Beng Geok & Ivy Buche with Mark Kroll & Timothy Chua

Publisher Ref No:	ABCC-2009-003	Pub/Rev Date:	2009
Industry:	Energy & Utilities	Case Length:	34 pages
Teaching Note Ref:	ABCC-2009-003(TN)	Teaching Note:	7 pages
Organisation:	Hyflux Limited	Period Covered:	1990 - 2009
Country:	China, Asia, Singapore	Level:	Undergraduate/ Postgraduate

Publisher:

The Asian Business Case Centre, Nanyang Technological University

Abstract

In 2009, Hyflux Ltd (Hyflux) was one of Asia's leading environmental water treatment companies with operations in Singapore, China, the Middle East, North Africa and India. Specialising in membrane technologies, Hyflux provided integrated solutions for municipal water treatment, industrial manufacturing processes, recycling of spent oils and solvents, as well as production of bio–based specialty materials.

The brainchild of entrepreneur Olivia Lum, who in 1989 left a comfortable job with a multinational pharmaceutical company in Singapore to start a business in water treatment systems, Hyflux was an early mover in the early 1990s into China's nascent industrial water treatment market. After it moved into the municipal water treatment market, sales revenue jumped from S$17.7 million in 2000 to S$554 million in 2008.

The 2008 global recession affected Hyflux's revenue from the industrial segment but the municipal business remained strong, as the company succeeded in securing large–scale high value projects in North Africa. The challenge for Hyflux was to rapidly grow its human capital and organisational capabilities to match its aggressive market penetration strategies. In the past, Hyflux had leveraged on innovative technological development and entrepreneurial drive to grow its business. In 2009, as a player in the global water treatment business, Hyflux had to prove that it had what it took to execute these greenfield municipal projects and that it could compete with other global water treatment companies in these new markets.

Issues: Capability building; Business development; Strategic growth in new markets; Entrepreneurship

About the Authors