COFFEE BREAK WITH THE LEADERS
MARTIN PETRY
CIO, Hilti Corporation
IMD
Chemin de Bellerive 23
PO Box 915,
CH-1001 Lausanne
Switzerland
Tel: +41 21 618 01 11
Fax: +41 21 618 07 07
info@imd.ch
http://www.imd.ch
COFFEE BREAK WITH THE LEADERS I Martin Petry
Martin Petry
Company: Hilti Corporation
Position: CIO
Nationality: German
In a nutshell: Martin Petry holds a PhD in Applied Mathematics from Georg-August University in Göttingen, Germany.
He has worked for the Hilti Corporation since 1993 and was appointed CIO in 2005. In this role, he manages over 400
IT professionals in three strategic locations – Schaan, Liechtenstein; Tulsa, Oklahoma, United States; and Kuala
Lumpur, Malaysia. In addition, Dr Petry took responsibility for Business Excellence at Hilti in 2009.
What is your greatest skill?
The ability to implement "zero tolerance for mediocrity" throughout my organization. We have a culture of high
performance and of challenging each other, not on a personal basis, but from a content standpoint.
What is the best decision you ever made in your career?
Ten years ago I was part of the decision to implement global business processes, data structures and business
applications at Hilti. I then had the opportunity to lead this transformation. It was a huge undertaking, the largest
project in size that Hilti had ever run. It has completely changed the way we work today in all areas of Hilti.
What is the most difficult decision you ever had to make in business?
It is always difficult to part from long-term employees. It is typically because they have lost the ability and/or
willingness to change. This is never an easy process.
What is the best advice you ever received?
We should spend our energy shaping the future, not beautifying history. We always need to be looking forward, not
backward.
What is the best way to motivate your team?
Developing together a common vision and target and then implementing it successfully. We have a solid track record
here in implementing projects and initiatives successfully. This makes us strong. But we can’t rest on our laurels. We
must go forward and establish new goals and then reach those targets.
In your estimation, what is the most common mistake business leaders make today?
I believe that too many executives focus on the short-term. It is so dangerous to just focus on quarters or look at one
particular year. I think our transformation project that I described above exemplifies the value of thinking long-term.
This was a project that took five years to implement and we are still in the harvesting phase. It is only because we
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COFFEE BREAK WITH THE LEADERS I Martin Petry
followed the long-term path consistently over the years that we have been able to get where we are today with this
project. We are now building on what we have already achieved. It is never-ending.
In brief, what does innovation mean for you in your industry?
Hilti stands for “outperform and outlast”. We provide solutions with the best performance and highest reliability in the
market. At the same time we have set the standard for user health and safety as well as respect for our environment.
We do this every day by utilizing our 200,000 customer contacts. We try to understand the customer needs and then
use our expertise to translate them into industry-leading solutions.
What does collaboration mean at the Hilti Corporation?
I translate collaboration into teamwork, which is one of Hilti’s four values. This is not only internally, but also
externally. We partner with our customers and vendors. In the end, it is our customer’s success which enables Hilti to
flourish.
What three words would you use to describe IMD?
I would choose three nouns: leadership, transformation and breakthrough. Leadership is core to IMD – developing
executives’ ability to lead. I selected the word transformation because I have experienced this first-hand. I have been
able to see how Hilti has been able to lead change as the result of an IMD program. These were not incremental
changes, but a breakthrough.
Martin Petry will be one of the speakers at IMD’s CIO Roundtable, which will be held this April 12-13, 2010. He was
part of a Hilti team that enrolled in an IMD Partnership Program.
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