But statutory net profit for 2012 was $56.8 million after taking into account product recall costs of $101.3 million, which Roberts addresses later in this story. The company sold 10,802 Cochlear implant units in 2005. That number had risen to 23,087 units for the year to June 30, 2012.
Cochlear, with head office now based at Macquarie University in Sydney, is a global company and, according to Roberts, enjoys a market share of about 65%. He expects Cochlear will sell between 25,000 to 30,000 units in 2012/13.
“More people are born deaf or will go deaf in our addressable markets than receive an implant,” he says. “Our biggest competitor or biggest challenge is actually awareness, or the lack of awareness.
“A lot of people don’t know that this intervention is available to all ages. Some think it’s just for babies, experimental, or whatever. On the marketing front, we’re a small company when trying to educate the world.
“The market is so huge, there’s room for a number of players. It’s not just about market share, but how we and our competitors can grow the market together. There’s a huge unmet clinical need.”
Leadership
Roberts says good leaders are constantly curious and never lose their desire for success.
“I do a lot of travel; I get out and talk with our key customers and clinicians around the world,” Roberts says. “Because if you sit behind a desk and just read emails, you’ll become very disconnected.
“You have to determine what’s luck and what’s real because it’s very easy to overestimate your impact. I always try to keep my feet on the ground and guard against arrogance and hubris.”
In leading a company, Roberts says it’s vital that senior executives and managers understand and “buy off” on his and the board’s vision.
“It’s important that key customers and key surgeons around the world are connected to our company’s vision,” he says. “That the vision is not just something in my head – it has to be communicated and clearly understood. We need thousands of people around the world on the same page and heading in the right direction.”
He elaborates: “When people do something and you think, ‘Why on earth would they do it like that’, it’s not because they’re illogical, but rather their perceptions are very different – their experiences, background and understanding. So a leader has to spend enough time to make sure employees are sharing the same perceptions.”
Roberts believes leadership is about inspiring and motivating his workforce. “You create a mission and a passion that the work employees are doing is vitally important,” he says. “Employees must be engaged in the development process – not feel they’re just cheer leaders out in front.”
It’s important to ensure that employees are working efficiently and effectively, Roberts says, before drawing a distinction between the two.
“Effectiveness is doing the right thing and efficiency is doing it the right way,” he says. “You can be incredibly efficient, but spend all your time doing the wrong thing.”
