The Privilege of Leadership: Anthony S. Nieves
Asked to define leadership, Anthony Nieves doesn't hesitate. "Leadership is not about you," he says. "It's the privilege and opportunity to direct the actions of others."
As the senior vice president of supply management for Hilton Hotels Corp., Tony Nieves manages an annual spend of more than $1 billion. He oversees supply management of goods and services for all the properties in Hilton's family of brands as well as the formulation and implementation of corporate procurement policies and procedures.
But don't try to peg him too hastily. "I'm in the hotel business, not the supply management business," says Nieves. It's a "business first" mind-set that he urges others to adopt. He sees many supply chain managers staying within the discipline when they change jobs or industries—to the detriment of other skills they could acquire. Nieves explains: "To move up in an organization, you've got to have the business acumen to really understand how supply management delivers value to your company's customers."
That's the clue to Nieves' success over his 22 years with Hilton. He started out as an assistant purchasing agent at Miami's 250-room Fontainebleau Hilton Resort & Towers. His business-oriented approach was quickly rewarded with a promotion to purchasing agent at the Hilton Palm Beach Airport. Soon after came a step up to purchasing coordinator at what was then the Atlantic City Hilton. Nieves later headed Hilton's Southwest Regional Purchasing Office. Prior to his current role, he was Hilton Hotels' purchasing vice president and general manager of Hilton Equipment Corp.
The term "humble warrior" seems a curious descriptor for a business leader of Nieves' stature, but it was used by his martial arts instructor to describe the mind-set necessary for success in many endeavors. Emphasizing patience, training, and character, it describes Nieves perfectly. Hilton's top supply management executive has always been easy-going; as a child, he often became friends with kids who disliked each other. That trait has served him well in incendiary business situations. "Always play well with other children," he jokes with his staff—only half in jest, of course.
Collaborative Capabilities
His emphasis on strong relationships and his quiet but evident passion for the job have certainly helped Nieves make his mark at Hilton. Over the years, he found that he had a natural ability to identify staff members who have good leadership qualities, a clear value-added mentality, and plenty of drive. "It was a matter of me setting the standards and creating the environment that would allow them to succeed," says Nieves. And soon after assuming the top supply management job, he successfully integrated the function companywide, bringing several outsourced contracts in-house so that the organization could leverage resources better and address sourcing issues with "one voice."
His most notable achievement, though, has been his role in integrating Hilton's 1999 acquisition of Promus Hotel Corp. Promus was a huge buy; it catapulted the company from 50 owned and operated hotels to more than 200 that the company operates and hundreds more run by franchisees for well-known brands such as Doubletree and Hampton. The integration of two quite different supply chain models was a highly complex and sensitive challenge that tested Nieves' collaborative leadership skills. Franchisees, whether they were individual operators or multihotel corporations, could not simply be told what to buy or where to source.
Nieves points out that even though Hilton's owned-asset operations were decentralized, its hotel managers largely complied with central sourcing guidelines. But the supply management group knew they could not expect the same of the independently minded managers at Promus properties unless they modified their approach. This is where Nieves' "customer first" philosophy paid off. A brand-relations team was set up to act as a liaison between the corporate supply chain operations and the brand managers at Doubletree, Embassy Suites, and other Promus units; the idea was to win the trust of the new internal customers—the franchise managers.
A good case in point was the rejuvenation of the Hampton brand. Part of that initiative was a new offering for the mid-range hotel chain: a complimentary breakfast. The Hampton brand advisory council included supply management representatives who counseled on breakfast "product development," product selection, and sourcing. Those efforts led to new sourcing contracts and renegotiations on existing contracts. Along with many other parallel efforts across the expanded organization, they yielded synergies that saved $160 million between 2000 and 2004.
Nieves' and his teams' customer focus doesn't end with the internal customer. They have worked aggressively to add value for the end customers: the hotel guests. Not long ago, Nieves and his team locked in supplies of high-quality towels as poor crop yields started to crimp availability of high-grade cotton. The team knew it was necessary to maintain Hilton's brand image—even in guests' bathrooms. The primary benefit was that Hilton gained a competitive edge as rival chains scrambled for supplies and compromised on towel quality. A secondary result: Hilton's towel costs stayed flat as market costs soared.
Nieves gives the context for such initiatives: "How do you achieve differentiation so that a customer wants to stay at a Hilton? The consumer is becoming savvier and more price-conscious, expecting greater value," he explains. His organization still must contain costs, but it can create greater marketplace value by helping devise new products for each Hilton brand. That way, the brand teams turn to supply management to get competitive solutions.
Far-reaching Impact
Outside of his work at Hilton, Nieves has taken a leadership role in the profession and in the hospitality industry. He chairs The Conference Board's Purchasing and Supply Leadership Council, a group of about three dozen chief procurement officers who meet regularly to share best practices. He has also served as a board trustee for the Center for Advanced Purchasing Studies. But it is the Institute for Supply Management (ISM) with which he has been most involved, recently as ISM's chairman. Nieves is pleased that the organization (formerly known as the National Association of Purchasing Management) has become, as he puts it, a crucial advocate when supply chain managers have needed a powerful collective voice. To cite one example, ISM has spoken out against knee-jerk criticism of offshore outsourcing.
Nieves is particularly proud of ISM's initiative on social responsibility outreach. (See "Why Social Responsibility Matters," Supply Chain Management Review, September 2004) In 2002, ISM's leadership gave a special taskforce the job of developing the first set of social responsibility principles and practices for supply chain professionals. In April 2004, the ISM published its baseline study grounded in seven core principles identified by the task force.
To stay ahead of macro trends in the hospitality industry, Nieves is constantly learning. Now he's studying the implications of future demand—factors such as site selection, financing, and construction, which are crucial to Hilton's future market share in fast-developing markets such as China. But it's the fundamentals that will demand most of his attention in the next five years—facilitating and managing procurement and distribution for Hilton's many hotel brands.
As he faces the supply management challenges ahead, Nieves is confident that the collaborative leadership skills he has honed over the past 22 years will continue to guide him going forward. And leadership, as always, will remain a privilege and an opportunity.
John Kerr is a business writer specializing in supply chain management.
18-Jan-2006