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“Selling books and good content is no longer enough to survive,” Ms Parnbua said. “You need to offer activities as part of the package for your printed products. And that package will make customers and advertisers choose your newspapers and magazines instead of others.”Considering her business acumen, one might suppose Ms Parnbua to be a graduate of a top business school. On the contrary, she received a master’s degree from the School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS), University of London, and was on her way to a PhD when asked to help take care of the family business, as her father had a health problem. Ms Parnbua had to give up her plan to become a scholar and stepped into the business world.Coming without aspirations to be an executive helped her in some ways. “The good thing was that I did not have the pressure,” she said. “I just rollwith the situations and solve problems as they come.”The pressing case now is how to stay afloat in the current economy as companies feel the pain of reduced consumer spending. Of course, Ms Parnbua did what other executives do in times of economic crisis; she drastically cut expenses where neces- sary and downgraded several projects. But the most challenging thing was how to remain bullish in a bearish economy.“There is a saying that we should lie low and not do much during an economic crisis. But I think this passive strategy might be counterpro- ductive; I believe we have to work even harder.”Good communication is vital in times of crisis, and Ms Parnbua makes sure the staff knows the company policy and has the same idea going forward. “Unity is very important. Forme, fewer people is not a big problem as long as all employees move in the same direction.”Matichon, she said, always moves cautiously. “We don’t gamble. Our company has been growing step by step and we will continue this strategy.”This does not mean the company has become static, safe in its comfort zone. The group, she said, constantly recruits young talent in order to take the 37-year-old company into the future.“One of the strongest assets of the company is that we support freedom of expression, which opens us to new ideas and challenges,” she said. “An argument at least give us some understanding, thus it is better than silence and submission.”Employees are allowed to express their creativity and ideas as long as they do not use impolite language or36 Elite+