The Interview
INSIGHTS FROM MICHAEL NAPHTALI AM.
SCAN OR CLICK TO WATCH TO THE INTERVIEW IN FULL
50 MINUTES
BY ROB LANGTON
Michael Naphtali is a partner at Rampersand and former CEO of Pratt Group. This is an exclusive one-on-one interview.
He studied in Chicago during one of its most volatile periods . “You saw a divide in society. Blacks lived here, whites lived there.” After spending his youth in Melbourne and completing a Bachelor of Economics at Monash University, Naphtali spent the years between 1970 and 1972 at the University of Chicago, studying an MBA. At the time, the city had a tense disposition. “It was the end of the Nixon era... the whole university closed down at the time of the primaries, because two years earlier there were the riots in Grant Park.” That said, he expresses an appreciation for what he learnt at the institution. Mainly, the importance of presentation. “Americans are all about marketing. Some say that’s gloss and spin. But it was really learning to present the positive. State your case. Be clear. That was one of the great lessons.” He had to write his own offer letter for Visy Industries. Naphtali was head-hunted by Richard Pratt to join Visy Industries in 1978, but was initially hesitant to join. “My late father could see going from an established bank to a smallish private company; that didn’t seem like a great career move in his view.”
But it wasn’t just the size and market share of the organisation that gave Naphtali pause. Part of his uncertainty stemmed from the lack of formality at the company. “I [wanted] a job offer... Visy had never written an offer letter to any employee before. I finished up writing my own, and taking it over to Richard’s place and getting him to sign it.” That was just the beginning of Michael’s work in formalising the structure of Visy Industries; a task that proved quite consuming. “There were no clear budgets... and when I tried to put in timetables and said, “You need to have the information in by whatever date”, the manager [would say], “And what if I don’t?” Creating a more ordered system of processes also involved getting his hands dirty, and being more stringent with receivables. Some of the company’s clients were lackadaisical with payments, and Naphtali had to sort that out. “I rang the CEOs of those companies... and I said, “Fair’s fair, but they’re the terms. You’ve got the price you want. You’ve got to pay.” And I had some success.” Getting his hands dirty was part of his responsibilities in the early days of his involvement in Visy Industries, and it’s part of the reason Naphtali became successful.
10 –July / August 2022
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