Mehmet Tütüncü
“Our goal is to lead the business world through responsible leadership and manage change.” Yıldız Holding Vice Chairman of the Board and CEO Mehmet Tütüncü, along with Yıldız Holding Board Member and Transformation and Technology Leader Yahya Ülker, spoke at the Uludağ Economy Summit this year, with the main theme of “Responsible and Sensitive Leadership,” organized by Capital and Ekonomist magazines.
During the panel titled “Leaders’ Vision for the Future: Innovative Approaches, Investments, and Goals for Tomorrow’s Company,” held on the second day of the Economic Summit, Mehmet Tütüncü shared with the participants Yıldız Holding‘s sustainable success strategy, which has been behind its 80 years of existence. In today’s world, where change is constant and inevitable, Tütüncü emphasized the importance of managing uncertainty as one of the most critical competencies for companies. He continued: “We often view uncertainty as a negative situation.
However, uncertainty contains not only risks but also opportunities. The crucial point here is to change our perspective and thinking system to see not only risks but also opportunities. As we navigate through this period, I believe we should act with ‘cautious optimism.’ In rapidly changing conditions, strategies must also be dynamic. In other words, we must generate fluid strategies.
As a Holding operating in two important sectors such as food and retail, with the awareness of our transformative role in the ecosystem, we aim for sustainable success with a corporate culture that fosters creative thinking, innovation, and efficiency, where all stakeholders operate in a trust environment. We aim to lead the business world as a company that not only is affected by change but also manages it. The future is not a destination but a process.
Therefore, to shape the future, we need to embrace change. And we must accomplish this together with our stakeholders, with the awareness of our responsibility in the ecosystem. Like we have been doing for 80 years, we will continue to create value for all our stakeholders, increase societal benefit under the light of our philosophy ‘Make Happy, Be Happy,’ and expand our positive impact by investing in new geographies.”
On the same day, speaking at the panel “Entrepreneurship: New Businesses, Trends, and Technologies,” Yıldız Holding Transformation and Technology Leader Yahya Ülker emphasized Yıldız Holding’s role in transforming the future of the food and retail sectors and said: “As we build the future of our main business sectors, food, and retail, we prioritize our responsibility to create value in the ecosystem. We support innovative ideas that create positive impact and inspire a sustainable future, and prioritize transforming the ecosystem together with our stakeholders.
By investing in responsible business models, we develop work models that will be meaningful not only for today but also for the future. We allocate more resources to innovation for a sustainable future and design purpose-driven product and business models. We aim to double our sustainability-focused innovation investments by 2030. On the other hand, in line with our ‘value creation goal,’ we continue to take significant steps to empower women entrepreneurship.
Since the establishment of Yıldız Ventures, we have provided financial support exceeding $5 million to more than 85 women entrepreneurs worldwide through Venture Capital Funds, making significant contributions.”