Wired for Success

This is the reason why TCS has become the backbone of Pakistan’s logistics industry and it is a position that continues to be maintained because it is a tight ship. TCS’s success is based on concrete and proven experience that it has acquired over the years as it has navigated uncharted waters and devised the best possible methods to meet customer needs.

Khalid Awan has a deep connection with Pakistan. He comes across as principled and optimistic, but a person with a business acumen, discipline, self-deprecating humour, kindness and humility.

The fact that the saga of TCS has become a case study in the curriculum of the Harvard Business School is as much a testament to the novelty and the distinction of the firm as it is an apt recognition of Khalid Awan’s extraordinary capabilities. Few other Pakistani enterprises and few Pakistani corporate leaders have been similarly honoured. This makes Khalid’s fellow citizens doubly proud. Though the laudable success of the firm is specific to its sector, the principles applied, the process followed, the strategy evolved and adapted, become an ample reservoir for study and learning by those many who pursue MBA degrees or those who want to achieve progress in business against big odds.

Dividing his time between Toronto, Dubai and Karachi, Khalid Awan has not segmented his principles or his productivity. He has made a valuable contribution to the promotion of improved trade and cultural relations between Canada and Pakistan and between the UAE and his home country. His devotion to CSR activities, his care and concern for the under-privileged, his deep commitment to the cause of advancing education in Pakistan, his abiding interest in the country’s welfare and progress reflect a worthy and distinctive individual.

Khalid’s charming wife Sadia is clearly a major source of inspiration and well-being for him and the family. She too invests considerable voluntary time and effort in multiple aspects of public benefit. Through thick and thin, through better and through worse, Sadia is that proverbial woman one finds behind every great man. Her faith in her man has been explicit and she has backed him to the hilt. He has listened to her and she has shared with him words of caution when the bravado of the entrepreneur may have carried him away. He has relied on Sadia’s bedrock support and she has anchored his transition from secure and familiar waters, or skies in his case, to taking the plunge into uncharted territory. The couple shares a keen interest in art, culture and literature. Their aesthetic, subtly-toned home in Karachi mirrors elegance and refined taste. It is a pleasure to know them both.

Together they have brought into the world and raised three children, all now grown-ups and prospering. Taimur, the eldest, is the philosopher in the family and a published poet in his own right. Daughter Saira is a high-achieving global citizen who, having made a home for her husband and two children, now has an active role in TCS. She is a formidable executive who has assumed hands-on the reins of TCS as its Vice Chairperson. She is a corporate lawyer, having done her MA in Law from Cambridge University. She earlier did her Bachelors from Yale.

The third offspring, Qasim, is fully integrated into TCS as a Director and focuses on e-commerce and the dynamics of supply chain. The Awans consider TCS as their fourth child and say they are proud of the way it has turned out.

TCS was born in 1983 - 35 years ago. A fledgling organization with meagre working capital, it needed a breakthrough. Khalid recalls a very interesting opportunity in 1985 when the Banking Council of Pakistan (at that time the 5 major banks were nationalized and were under the Ministry of Finance) invited TCS and also all the other Pakistani courier companies to bid for a government courier contract.

At that time, the Pakistan Post Office manually delivered cheques to the national 6500 bank branch network but the problem was that on an average it took some three weeks to make that delivery. The Pakistan Post Office delivery system functioned very poorly in those days and, consequently, created a huge inefficiency in the banking system and was not conducive to the way in which business was conducted. The Ministry of Finance wanted to reduce the delivery time substantially by privatizing this service.

This was a big ask and the Ministry invited all the courier companies in Pakistan to bid for the contract. At the first high level meeting where all the banks were represented, the government tender terms were disclosed. The government was asking for a delivery time of 72 hours (reduced from 3 weeks), a meagre Rs. 8 per parcel delivery (the same as they were paying the Post Office) and one week to come up with the proposal. One could say that, in courier terms, it was a Mission Impossible! After the expiry of the week, the committee reconvened to consider the tenders and there was only one offer on the table - TCS.

This was a make or break contract and Khalid and his team made it into an outstanding success and a turning point for TCS. Khalid and his people’s ability to always look at the big picture and take up the biggest challenges propelled TCS into one of the most successful international private businesses of Pakistan.

Having come this far riding the crest, Khalid Awan is of the view that investments in Pakistan will reach an unprecedented level in the coming years with the progression of the China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) projects and it is now a challenge for the country to leverage this opportunity to the fullest.

Khalid Awan says Pakistan should have a measured response and link its advantages with other infrastructure development projects to bring more investment into the country. He is confident that the country’s logistics industry is fully capable of meeting challenging opportunities offered by CPEC projects. He reiterates that TCS is Pakistan’s largest courier and logistics company that offers a large infrastructure of its own, comprising sorting facilities, warehousing and an air hub at Lahore’s Allama Iqbal International Airport. The hub is served by TCS’s own fleet of vehicles, trucks and aircraft and is integrated with state-of-the-art information and control system serving over 120 million customers a year.

It reaches out to the grassroots of the country’s economy through its existing and newly developing e-commerce services which touch the lives of ordinary people and contribute to their productivity.

Khalid Awan says that TCS systems are also integrated not only with national customs but will soon be connected with global customs authorities through the newly introduced TIR system to which Pakistan has recently been admitted by the World Road Transport Organisation. He says TCS is a TIR licensee and would be utilizing TIR procedures for connecting international trucking from Pakistan to Iran and Turkey.

TCS has also entered into an agreement with UPS – a global brand that is recognized worldwide for its reliable document and parcel delivery services. This is an exciting new development for Pakistan since UPS is the world’s largest express carrier and package delivery company and TCS is Pakistan’s most recognized courier, logistics and e-commerce provider.

As a UPS Authorized Service Contractor, TCS now offers international Express services within Pakistan as well. This comes at a very opportune time as supply chain efficiencies in the country and around the world are becoming critical to global business,. Now Pakistan’s exporters can take advantage of effective and cost efficient international shipping and offer world class supply chain solutions developed by UPS for the manufacturing, retail and healthcare industries which are now available in Pakistan through TCS.

In its journey of over 3 decades, TCS has acquired the status of a pioneering platform that has moved forward with the ebb and flow of customer needs both at the individual and corporate level. This is in fact a rich experience that no other company in Pakistan has been able to achieve so far. Now it is Khalid Awan’s desire that other players too should join the group and become a part of the success of this proven business model. He, however, feels that any new player desiring to join TCS should bring in enough equity to share the platform.

The moving spirit behind the success of TCS is certainly Khalid Awan and he has many unmatchable qualities, like patience, honesty, empathy and business acumen and is always steadfast, which is evident in the way he sticks to his decisions and commitments. He is also very polite and upright and does not lose control even when he is angry. He has the fear of God deep in his heart. Besides being a good human being, he is also an ideal husband and a devoted father. He believes in teamwork and is always careful about others’ feelings.

As a true strategist, his planning skills help him stay well ahead of the game. He is still young at heart and wants to do the best but he is proud that his children have taken up important responsibilities in the company and are carrying the business forward. He is a man of good intentions and expects everyone to have a similar approach.

As a Pakistani, Khalid Awan has a deep connection with Pakistan. He comes across as principled and optimistic, but a person with a business acumen, discipline, self-deprecating humour, kindness and humility. The one thing that stands out is his ability to nurture relationships.

He has no ego and does not consider age or social status when he meets people; he is the first one to say hello and to extend his hand for a firm handshake. He is a thorough gentleman and a mentor for his friends. He is a person who is always open to sharing new ideas and strongly believes in total teamwork. His professional competence is absolutely unquestionable and he has demonstrated this very vividly time and again. He truly is a great corporate leader – the person who singly represents Pakistan’s courier and logistics sector.