An Interview with Barry Stowe, Chief Executive of Prudential Corporation Asia
Interview by Ethisphere Magazine
Barry Stowe is the Chief Executive of Prudential Corporation Asia (PCA), a subsidiary of London-based Prudential plc and one of the largest insurance and asset management firms in Asia. It has over 400,000 agents and 18,000 employees across 14 Asian countries. PCA is a large organization, and is one of the most commercially successful businesses in Asia, generating profits of nearly £1 billion last year. But the company has also been hugely successful in producing extraordinary results of a different kind: It is an industry leader in ethical practices and sets a standard for Corporate Social Responsibility that is the envy of the region.
How has Prudential created a culture that enables it to be a paragon of ethical best practice?
For answers, we visited with Mr Stowe. Here are some of his insights.
As a London-based multinational company, you and your employees and agents are subject to very strict anti-corruption laws. How do you, as CEO, set a tone at the top that ensures compliance in Asia given the diversity in values, culture and regulatory developments across the region?
B: It’s important to lead by example and set the tone at the very top. As a large multinational company, we have very clear anti-corruption and compliance guidelines that are strictly enforced across our franchise. Every new employee we hire understands and signs a standard code of conduct that applies across our business units. We conduct mandatory training sessions annually to refresh employees’ awareness and understanding of these guidelines. We also have clear processes in place to facilitate reporting of gifts received or given, and a confidential hotline to encourage whistleblowers to inform us of any malpractices from the ground up. The training is important…but embedding the idea of fairness and openness and straight-dealing in the culture of the organization is what is most impactful.
Did the new and very tough, British Anti-Bribery Law, create any new issues?
B: The new laws have not created any new issues for us as we already hold ourselves to a standard that goes well beyond any legislation. Perhaps the only operational effect has been the result of the legislations reporting requirements…but it doesn’t impact our behavior.
Not only has your company been a model of ethical compliance, but you have also been a model of corporate social responsibility. For example, your literacy campaign has been very effective in increasing the level of understanding about the importance of financial planning for consumers across the region. Can you describe your company’s use of CSR as a strategy and why this has worked so well for you?
B: We don’t see CSR as a strategy. While clearly there are benefits that the organization enjoys for being seen to be engaged in giving back to the communities in which it operates, it is important that the entire organization see CSR not as a business strategy but as a responsibility. Most of us were taught as children that those with great means also bear increased responsibility to give back to society, it is similarly the responsibility of successful organizations to give back to the communities in which they do business. If you look at most of our CSR programmes in financial literacy, education and disaster preparedness, they are a natural outgrowth of the work we do every day – helping people build financially secure futures, and protecting them from potential misfortunes.
We sometimes think, as westerners, that we are the best models of virtue but our own track record in recent years leaves much to be desired. What can we learn from Asians about ethics and ethical practices?
B: Some in the West do tend to believe that we have many of the answers to the world’s problems. But, having lived in Asia for 15 years, I can assure you there is a lot to learn from the way Asians do business and the way Asian society works. One need only look at the rates of violent crime in the west and compare that to the statistics in Asia and you’ll quickly see that we can learn a great deal about harmony from Asian culture.
What advice about ethics leadership could you give others who lead large organizations in markets where compliance standards have traditionally been lower?
B: It is crucial to lead by example, and to hold oneself up to the highest standards of ethics. It is also important to reinforce the message about good ethics and CSR to employees at every opportunity. Making good behavior a cultural imperative is very powerful…I believe it both protects the company and propels it forward. Our business in Asia is purpose-driven…we constantly talk about our company as one that is “doing well by doing good.” We always remind our senior management members of our mission and of this ethos, who in turn lead by example in their markets. In all our business interactions – whether with customers, business partners, regulators, shareholders or employees – we demonstrate respect and fairness with every constituency. We create a standard that applies to everything we do, and we are relentless about meeting and exceeding that standard. This ultimately provides leadership for the markets in which we operate and helps to raise the bar for local ethical practices.
