In the words of management guru Jim Collins, "The vast majority of companies never become great, precisely because the vast majority become quite good - and that is their main problem."
This year's Top Companies award winners have gone for greatness. They have consistently performed, often have low public profiles, focus in a disciplined way on what they do best and aren't afraid to embrace change. In the gatefold between pages 16 and 17 we detail the achievements of the 20 award winners.
All the companies set a strategic focus and pursued it with vigour, refusing to be content with merely being good. Top-placed Impala Platinum's dedication to low-cost operating has won it respect. At the same time it has built capacity for its smelting operations in the past few years, not through expensive new projects as was the industry norm, but by forming joint ventures with project operators. Sasol has slowly transformed itself into a global petrochemicals giant, taking European chemicals giant Condea on board and arriving in style on the New York Stock Exchange. And MTN's risky ventures in Africa are paying off, confounding the sceptics.
Being great is about being brutally honest. These are not the type of company that complains about poor market conditions or the impact of legislation. Implats recognised the empowerment imperative seven years ago when it formed a relationship with the Royal Bafokeng Nation (RBN). That is now reaching the final stage of maturity, says CEO Keith Rumble, with the RBN close to taking a major equity stake in the business. Harmony Gold has achieved that too with empowerment partner ARMgold through a R6,9bn merger.
And in the marketplace, African Bank Investments (Abil) anticipated the crisis in the microlending industry and shifted its business model. Fishing group Oceana embraced empowerment early and switched to fish processing, rather than relying exclusively on politically uncertain fishing rights.
Consider, too, who is not on this list. That African Bank is the only financial services company is somewhat unusual - but that's because it chose an unusual market direction. The big banks certainly are good - even very good. But none has stepped out of the comfort zone, abandoning the safety of traditional banking business. The same applies to insurance companies, which have battled against poor equity performance and a marketplace that is being invaded by other companies with direct access to potential customers.
Industrials like Sappi and Sasol have grown through acquisition, and thrown everything at making them work. But others have languished, enjoying the windfalls of a weak rand.
Some companies don't make it onto the list simply because they don't yet have a long enough corporate history. Two in particular, Aspen Pharmacare and Mvelaphanda Resources, seem destined to be winners. Aspen's aggressive investment in pharmaceutical manufacturing capacity is paying off in anticipation of demand for generic Aids drugs. Mvela has wisely invested in some small but strong mines and is now diversifying for the future; witness its R4bn acquisition of 15% of Gold Fields.
We will be watching the winners in the next year to track their performance.
