"It's been smooth and bumpy," says Tuan Haji Zakariah Ahmad of his 31-year stint with global tyre giant, Goodyear. "Goodyear has been very good to me. I was just this young kid starting out but I was willing to work hard. And, somehow, I got promoted from department to department. I can tell you, the thought of leaving has never occurred to me," he says.

The Managing Director for Goodyear Malaysia Berhad, Zakariah Ahmad manages 800-member local team, as well as those of Singapore and Brunei, the two other markets oversees. "Todayís business environment is so dynamic and it is actually the loyalty of Goodyearís staff that has helped contribute to its success," he states modestly. "It boils down to teamwork and the environment you create. The team is the one who makes it happen so I feel every company needs to create a conducive work environment. It ís vital as people nowadays spend more than half of their time at work, so it's nice to be able to create a sense of self-belonging. It builds loyalty and keeps the pace of a high-performing environment going."

Although Zakariah's attention is strictly focused on giving consumers a top-quality product, he admits that some of his best work memories have been the times when he, together with other Goodyear colleagues, have been able to give back to society. "Goodyear, as a company, is very into Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR). In fact, during the terrible Boxing Day tsunami that hit Indonesia and other parts of Asia in end-2004, we were one of the first companies to step forward," he recalls.