Business Chief Asia Magazine - April 2018

DAIMLER TRUCKS ASIA

WORKING TO DRIVE CONNECTIVITY

bringing collaborative space to Asia

April 2018 • ASIA EDITION

TO P 10

BIGGEST ASIAN COMPANIES by revenue S E T T I N G T H E S TA N D A R D F O R

MALAYSIA’S CONSTRUCTION

INDUSTRY

FOREWORD WELCOME TO THE latest Asia edition of Business Chief. This month we have enjoyed speaking to some top business leaders in Asia and around the world, to bring you their latest news, insights and leadership advice.

WeWork is a global company striving to offer flexible co-working space for

Meanwhile, looking into business sustainability is Armadillo CRM CEO James Ray, who has worked with big names like Disney and McDonald’s.

We asked him how CRM can help businesses maintain a loyal client base.

This month’s city focus takes a closer look at Manila, and we have also brought

communities of creators from startups to conglomerates. Olivia Minnock caught up with WeWork Asia’s Managing Director, Christian Lee, about how he has brought the company’s energy and success to Asia, and where we can expect to see WeWork next.

Turning to technology transformation, ServisBOT CEO Cathal McGloin offers insight from his years of experience in the AI space and explains why he thinks businesses shouldn’t be afraid of AI adoption – indeed, most are already using it without realising.

We have also gathered insight from Konfer, Shakespeare Martineau and York University on the mutual benefits of academia partnerships in business – how might a partnership help your company benefit from top talent and cutting-edge research?

you the Top 10 biggest companies in Asia, with easily digestible information on each one. Which will come out on top, and have any new brands appeared in the past year?

We have also brought you all the latest developments from big businesses in our company profiles, which this month include Daimler and Mitsubishi, Noah Wealth Management, DDB Worldwide, Malaysian Resourced Corporation Berhad, KFC and Singapore Life.

We sincerely hope you enjoy the issue, and as always, please tweet your feedback to @Business_Chief

Enjoy the issue! asia.businesschief.com www.bizclikmedia.com

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F E AT U R E S

WeWork

BRINGING COLLABORATIVE SPACE TO ASIA

10 L E A D E R S H I P & S T R AT E G Y

TECHNOLOGY

PEOPLE

28 42

TAKING THE FE AR OUT OF AI 4

April 2018

The mutual benefit of academia partnerships

S U S TA I N A B I L I T Y CITY FOCUS

MANILA The value of customer retention

54 74 TO P 10 BIGGEST COMPANIES IN ASIA

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C O M PA N Y P R O F I L ES

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Malaysian Resources Corporation Berhad CONSTRUCTION

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Daimler Trucks Asia / Mitsubishi Fuso Truck & Bus TECHNOLOGY

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Noah Wealth Management Co, Ltd. TECHNOLOGY

130

DDB Worldwide TECHNOLOGY

144 KFC FDF

154 Singapore Life FDF

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LEADERSHIP

WeWork

BRINGING COLLABORATIVE SPACE TO ASIA Collaborative space provider WeWork is expanding across Asia. With a vision to build a community of creators, how does Asia Managing Director Christian Lee plan to bring global energy on a local scale?

Written by OLIVIA MINNOCK

LEADERSHIP

India, Bengaluru - WeWork Galaxy Common Areas

IN 2010, ADAM Neumann and Miguel McKelvey set up WeWork in New York, with a vision for a more flexible, collaborative workplace. Now, WeWork has over 230 locations in 71 cities and 21 countries. More recently, the US start-up has expanded into Asia. It was announced last year that WeWork planned to spend $500mn expanding into Southeast Asia, and opened its first co-working space in Singapore in December.

In addition, it now has spaces in Hong Kong, mainland China, Korea, Japan and India. But whether in New York, London, or the beginning of its Southeast Asia empire, WeWork 12

April 2018

strives to offer its over 210,000 members something a little different and allows them to access global services from a local base.

Collaboration is the name of the game, for which WeWork members have physical and virtual platforms.

Members can obtain collaborative spaces for a team of any size, flexible to their needs, as well as access to events and an app that connects them across the globe.

This is all part of WeWork’s mission to “create a world where people work to make a life, not a living”.

“WeWork is really aiming to be a community of creators,” explains

LA, Culver City

WEWORK HAS 230 LOCATIONS IN 71 CITIES AND 21 COUNTRIES

Christian Lee, Managing Director, WeWork Asia. “It’s a place where people from all different types of businesses and backgrounds, from non-profits to start-ups, can work in a beautiful, highly functional and energetic space. But ultimately, they’re there to be part of something bigger.” Lee stresses that about 70% of WeWork’s members collaborate in some way, with 50% working directly with one another. In addition, WeWork makes setting up and coming to work easy. “Everything 13

LEADERSHIP just works,” Lee explains. “It’s a lot more than just space. It’s flexible, it’s easy. From WiFi to coffee, it’s all there from the day you walk in.”

Every aspect of a WeWork space is designed to engage people. “It’s exciting and fun to be here… People around you are also looking to be engaged in different ways, to help each other, learn and collaborate.”

A changing dynamic According to Lee, WeWork has come about from a change in the way we do business, as well as the demands of employees. “The first thing is flexibility: the real estate market traditionally forces people to sign as large a piece of property, and as long a lease, as they can afford. The notion that freelancers, startups, and now even the largest companies, know their needs over the next 10 years is outdated.” WeWork resolves this problem by providing a global platform that “allows your business to get anywhere and scale up or down”.

In addition, the way we work has changed incrementally in recent years. “The days of people sitting in a cube for eight hours are over; with mobile phones you’re connected all 14

April 2018

“The notion that freelancers, startups, and now even the largest companies, know their needs over the next 10 years is outdated” Christian Lee, Managing Director

Hong Kong, WeWork - Tower 535 Hot Desks

Paddington, London

the time. You need a different type of environment that’s engaging to you and highly functional. Increasingly, work comes in the form of meeting, collaborating and brainstorming, not just sitting at a computer. You need to be able to make phonecalls, have a private office and open space to sit with colleagues.” WeWork, therefore, provides a mix of spaces to be used by multiple people and businesses.

“You don’t need that phone booth or 100-person conference centre all 15

LEADERSHIP of the time. WeWork offers the type of space you need when you need it, bookable on your phone. You can decide how much you use.”

It’s not just companies, but their employees that want something different. “It’s wanting to be a part of something bigger,” Lee explains, adding: “If I’m walking in and it’s dreary or doesn’t feel good, I won’t bring my best self to work.

There are too many choices and opportunities, and this generation wants more than just being paid in money – they want companies to care about the environment, the employees’ health and wellbeing, the world and the ecosystem.”

Room for improvement Collaboration cannot be forced, but encouraging it is a must.

“We’re seeing in a number of large enterprises globally that they’re somewhat siloed,” Lee comments. “The idea of using space to bring people together is important, as well as all the research we do to help people have more ‘chance encounters’

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and ways of finding each other.”

In addition, this design can promote efficiency in the individual worker.

“There’s a lot of studies now that suggest they type of environment – energetic, bright, collaborative – can make you more productive.” Lee says getting this right gives rise to “a significant increase in employee morale and productivity”. This may be one of the reasons why, in addition to startups and freelancers, some of the biggest companies in the world like Microsoft and HSBC choose to utilise WeWork’s flexible offering.

Lee says the on-the-ground feedback WeWork is privy to enables them to get this right. “We spend huge amounts of time studying the way people interact in our buildings,” he explains, referring to the management teams who interact with hundreds of thousands of workers on a daily basis. “The difference for WeWork is that we’re seeing on a daily basis what works and what doesn’t, and we’re heading lots of feedback.”

Such feedback is implemented throughout WeWork’s end-to-end offering. “We have a full stack solution:

“This generation wants more than just being paid in money – they want companies to care about the environment, employees’ health and wellbeing, the world and the ecosystem” Christian Lee, Managing Director

Amsterdam, Metropool - By Brigitte Kroone 17

LEADERSHIP we find the real estate, design the buildings, fit them out and run them.

We see the full range of what works.

Nobody else has that data across 21 countries and 71 cities. We think about what will work, test it, put it into action and learn from it. Then we recycle it,” he adds, explaining that WeWork replicates its energy and culture throughout the world.

Moving into Asia Expansion across Asia, as well as adding to its footprint in existing locations, has brought up a multitude of challenges, but also opportunities for WeWork to make a difference, as the company remains unfailing in its efforts to provide localised services.

“It’s fascinating,” Lee enthuses.

“All the idiosyncratic differences we see… in Amsterdam, for example, everyone eats lunch at the same time and shares food – so you need spaces that can accommodate these very large rushes. In New York, they eat at their desk. In the US, we analysed our data and found very few meetings had more than three people – but in Asia, a lot of the time, the importance of a meeting is determined by the number of people, so you need capacity for 18

April 2018

WEWORK WAS FOUNDED IN 2010 50+ people in a room. Also, our events are different in every location, as they play out differently in different markets and are run by the local teams. Every market has its unique challenges, and likes to think it’s the most complicated in the world, but they’re all very manageable once you hire locally and use the global resources we have.”

Lee stresses that all WeWork locations have the same energy. “When you walk into a WeWork, whether in Shanghai, Singapore, Mexico City or London, the energy, buzz and collaboration are all the same. The core is that people want a better experience at work. A more human experience. They want to connect.”

Common Space - WeWork FiDi USA, Canada

Challenges and opportunities Lee comments that his role has changed a few times since joining WeWork, “as is the nature of working at an incredibly high-growth startup”.

But what part has he enjoyed the most in his three years at WeWork, from CFO in New York to Managing Director in Shanghai? “The most exciting part is the opportunity to impact people around the world,” says

Lee. “I’m lucky to get to be involved all the way from picking the buildings, to design, to seeing them open, and seeing WeWork transform a place that was otherwise going to be a boring cubicle farm into somewhere full of energy. I get to see people come in, and how excited they are to be there.”

And the biggest challenge of doing something that’s never been done before? “There’s no template,” 19

LEADERSHIP

Korea, Seou

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April 2018

ul - WeWork Euljiro Community Desk

explains Lee. “We’re constantly inventing new ways to do things, finding things nobody’s done before.

We have to be able to collaborate globally at all times – how do we localise? How do we make sure we’re getting the best of the global with a really localised product?

With the right team, he argues, it’s possible. “We spend a lot of time interviewing… it’s the single most important thing we do, making sure we have the right team. Especially on the community side: it’s about interaction.

We have the unique opportunity to interact with members on a daily basis, so we have to find people who care about helping others.”

Faith in the future Lee clearly has faith in the company, as do recent big name Asian investors like SoftBank. And the Managing Director thinks this might be for similar reasons. “You’d have to ask each investor individually of course, but my gut is they had the same reaction I did – walked into a WeWork and saw something very special, very different, was going on. Employees and users are passionate and engaged. When investors speak to Miguel, Adam and 21

LEADERSHIP

“When you walk into a WeWork, whether in Shanghai, Singapore, Mexico City or London, the energy, buzz and collaboration are all the same�

Christian Lee, Managing Director

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April 2018

Shanghai, China - Reception at WeWork Yunnan Lu

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LEADERSHIP some of the employees, they can see there’s a vision. It’s very clear where this company wants to go.”

Where is that? Put simply, says Lee, “lots of growth”. During WeWork’s two years in China, it has exceeded expectations of those who said it wasn’t the right market for collaborative business.

“We had conviction – but you have to actually open to prove that to landlords and investors.” How does it plan to build on this success?

“You start in a particular company

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WEWORK HAS OVER 210,000 MEMBERS

and go deeper, then expand,” Lee begins, explaining that WeWork will enter more Chinese cities while also opening more branches in Shanghai, Beijing and Hong Kong. “We’re now in Singapore and will expand into Southeast Asia as it’s an exciting market with great entrepreneurs, great companies and a lot of growth.”

Lee feels WeWork can also become essential to the expansion of other businesses. “From India, Europe and the US, a lot of people are entering these markers and we

can be the opening for them. It’s easy, flexible and highly functional,” Lee concludes. “We can take a company deep into a community. In China we have over 10,000 members growing exponentially, so we can help introduce you to that community and what consumers want in China.

This cross-fertilisation is one reason it’s important for us to go deeper into cities as well as broader. It’s an incredibly exciting time and an incredibly exciting opportunity.”

Berlin, Sony Center 25

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TECHNOLOGY

TAKING THE FEAR OUT OF AI Business Chief speaks to ServisBOT Founder and CEO Cathal McGloin about AI adoption and why businesses shouldn’t be afraid of it Writ ten by OLIVIA MINNOCK

TECHNOLOGY “NO TECHNOLOGY WINS because it’s a piece of technology: it wins because somebody figures out how to apply it to solve a particular business problem in a unique way.”

Cathal McGloin, CEO of artificial intelligence and automationbased customer service provider, ServisBOT, enthuses about the potential of AI, but warns businesses must apply it properly to their needs or risk being left in the dust.

McGloin, a self-confessed “software-addicted entrepreneur”, recently founded his fourth startup which utilises the latest in AI and automated technology to help businesses more easily manage their customer service needs. He’s passionate about making AI more accessible to a variety of businesses.

Certain elements of AI are nothing new, as McGloin is quick to clarify.

The idea for ServisBOT came about from experiences within the contact centre space, in which McGloin had co-founded Performix Technologies in 1998. “We created this idea of employee performance back in the late 1990s, with the rationale that if you give people a view of what their targets are and 30

April 2018

“AI will become table stakes in software going forward – anybody who doesn’t have it won’t even be in the race” Cathal McGloin, CEO, ServisBOT

how they are doing in real-time, they perform much better. We created, patented, and still own that, and every contact centre has employee performance software today.”

It’s clear our demands on technology are changing, and AI is key in both promoting and fulfilling that expectation.

“One of the big changes is we’ve moved away from a big screen onto mobile which is now a combination of touch and voice,” McGloin says. “My 16-year-old daughter will sometimes voice-text her friends, and won’t bother typing into Google… they can now just activate Siri, for example, to ask a question. The

interface is part of the conversation… that’s what’s interesting to me.

“One of the few areas that has not been impacted by digital transformation is customer service,” McGloin argues. “We’re still very much voice centric, waiting on hold. With live chat – which is 20 years old and has resurged in the past five years – you still have to have staffing, and 31

TECHNOLOGY so can only have your live chat work between, say, 8am and 8pm, often with a live chat agent handling several queries at once. That’s what gave rise to ServisBOT: the idea there had to be a better way of handling customer service with a conversational interface in a digital world that’s mobile-centric.”

The evolution of AI “AI has been around for 40 or 50 years now,” McGloin explains, “but a few things have changed. One is the abundance of data to create an AI system – because these are learning systems, you need large amounts of data for machines to know what to do. That’s fulfilled today by the data

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overload we have.” Another element, according to McGloin, is the major processing power required for AI. “You needed a lot of processing power to crunch that data and come up with the answers – the Android device we now carry in our pocket has more power than anything in the 1990s.”

In addition, open sourcing has made essential knowledge and skills available. “Amazon’s been using AI for 10 years for book preferences… they open sourced it and made it available,” he explains, saying that these tech giants are releasing APIs to carry out machine learning and as such making AI easier to use so that “ordinary developers are able

to get up to speed very quickly”.

These factors are set to make AI as much a part of life as the computer.

“As Andreessen Horowitz talks about, AI will become a feature of all software going forward. Software will have to have some self-learning capability, and some artificial intelligence. So, AI will become table stakes in software going forward – anybody who doesn’t have it won’t even be in the race.”

The application of AI McGloin is clear that “the difference between the winners and the losers is who knows how to apply AI. At ServisBOT, we’re trying to change the customer service experience

ServisBOT – changing the customer service conversation ServisBOT was founded in 2016 by brothers Cathal and Ray McGloin along with Chris Doyle. The company aims to transform customer service for businesses using technologies like AI and automation.

An army of “bots”, including Chat Bots and Service Bots, provide automated solutions giving customers “the service they want, any time they want”. In this way, the Massachusetts-based software company makes it easier and cheaper for businesses to implement AI.

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TECHNOLOGY

“The onus will be on application providers and vendors like ourselves to make it easy: we’ll build a solution that has an AI engine under the hood” Cathal McGloin CEO, ServisBOT

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by heeding trends. For example, millennials don’t like phone calls – they want to send off a text and hear back.

People are impatient and want instant answers. Applying AI and chat bots means we can respond immediately.

In addition, the way we’ve built it, a company can get this system up and running within hours and days.”

“Automation is key to what we’re trying to do,” McGloin emphasises.

“It’s not AI for AI’s sake… while chat bots can be used to hold a conversation, we then have service bots which perform a particular task. It could print your banking statement or help you manage a journey… and because we use serverless technology, you can scale up to millions of transactions in an instant. Service bots aren’t just about chatting, but about performing a task, and our platform allows a company to orchestrate

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TECHNOLOGY an army of service bots across different areas of their business.”

Why aren’t all businesses implementing AI? Recently, software giant Red Hat commissioned Vanson Bourne to survey IT decision-makers on the adoption of technologies like AI. Respondents expected to increase technology investment by 25% from 2017-18. However, only 24% stated they currently implement AI, with an additional 30% planning to implement the tech in 2018. What threats, real or perceived, have stopped businesses already adopting AI in a flash?

First, McGloin mentions fear of AI replacing jobs. “This was the same argument with computers in the 1980s, but you’re always going to need human involvement. For example, customer complaints can’t be handled

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by bots as they can’t empathise.

With certain transactions, people will always want to talk to someone, especially those to do with money.

What will happen is we’ll provide better service, automate mundane tasks, and take the repetition out for folks.”

He also argues that most businesses are already using AI even if they haven’t made a disruptive song and dance about it. “Even things like preference selection on websites, there’s AI technology behind it. I think there’s this fear: ‘I don’t have a data scientist, it’s hard to get these people, it’s too expensive for my budget, I can do without it…’ You’ve got the issue of barriers like skills, availability, costs and so on that are stopping people from trying it out. The onus will be on application providers and vendors like ourselves to make it easy: we’ll build a solution that has

an AI engine under the hood. As we make it more about the application and less about the technology, I think we’ll find it easier to embark on.”

So, is AI just the latest buzzword?

“It’s the bees and the honey: everyone swarms to the latest thing, but AI is just a piece of technology. If you don’t

apply it in a different way you don’t get anything out of it. Companies like ServisBOT are coming out and saying ‘don’t worry about the AI, we’ll solve that – this is about its application. Here are some easy tools to create a new work flow, or a new bot, to complete a new task… don’t worry what’s under the hood’. We’re selling it as a service.”

What’s next for AI? Customer service and AI, then, go hand in hand – but where else can businesses easily utilise the tech?

“Customer service is across all industries,” McGloin clarifies, “so it’s a horizontal layer. Where I see 37

TECHNOLOGY

“People are scared of AI, but if you just make it easy for them to embark on it, they will” Cathal McGloin, CEO, ServisBOT

AI going next is into back-office, becoming the new business process management and elevating back-end tasks. It’s a useful area to apply AI because it can learn about things as it goes, it can change and adapt…”

In terms of ServisBOT, McGloin adds: “We’re at a really exciting stage, the product-market fit phase. We think we’ve hit something really big. People are scared of AI, but if you just make it 38

April 2018

easy for them to embark on it, they will.

We see a huge opportunity in actually taking the fear out of it and making it easy and low-cost to get started.”

One can’t help but wonder whether the serial entrepreneur will stick with his business, but McGloin is focused on creating a solution that lasts. “The thing I am most proud of is the fact that every company I’ve been involved with on this whole journey, including

the first one, Performix, all the technology is still available and in use today for companies to benefit from.

What drives me is the idea of creating something new that has a purpose and is useful. That to me is success: regardless of how much revenue it’s generating, there’s somebody getting use out of it. It’s creating something out of nothing and having it live beyond when you’re involved.”

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PEOPLE

The mutual benefit of academia partnerships How can businesses and academic institutions work together to boost productivity? Business Chief investigates Edited by OLIVIA MINNOCK

PEOPLE

ACCESS TO TOP experts for R&D will benefit any company, and now more than ever recruiting bright minds is top priority for business. In addition, higher education institutes are constantly looking to offer their students and academics the chance to build relationships with top players in the business world. Business Chief gathered some insight on how these partnerships can be developed and who stands to benefit.

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Collaboration for a brighter future in the UK

Gary Davie, Partner and Head of Independent Providers at law firm Shakespeare Martineau, feels that in the UK, collaboration is the way forward to benefit those in education as well as potential employers. “Whilst competition may in many ways fuels creativity and innovation, for the education sector, closer collaboration between further education,

“ For employers, a more streamlined education sector could be vital in helping solve the UK’s productivity crisis” – Gary Davie, Head of Independent Providers, Shakespeare Martineau

higher education and private providers could be just what UK students and learners need. People looking to take up a place in education would be able to see a demonstrable path towards a job and career progression, and businesses would have access to a talent pool which is equipped across the full breadth of the skills gap.

“HE policy in recent years has centred on competition, but that approach is starting to be questioned. A recent

report by the Higher Education Commission, titled One Size Doesn’t Fit All, put the themes of collaboration and competition under the spotlight, suggesting that a culture within the education sector, which encourages both equally, would bring greater benefits for students and the wider business community.

“Learners navigating UK education are likely to encounter a variety of different providers; the linear model 45

PEOPLE “ There’s significant untapped potential for businesses to establish mutually beneficial partnerships with universities” – David Docherty, Chief Executive, National Centre for Universities and Business

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of traditional study is still popular, but by no means works for everyone. For those students whose educational outcomes are best delivered through different learning settings, for instance both vocational courses and academic qualifications, closer collaboration could be integral to their success.

“Educational institutions have been working together for a number of years in some form. For instance, colleges, universities and private providers have long collaborated to deliver foundation programmes, franchised or validated provision. However, there is the potential for much more.

“Greater collaboration would be beneficial in two main ways: access to courses offered by further education and private providers would increase, equipping learners with a more diverse skillset for the workplace; and universities would benefit from more streamlined progression to higher education and the more extensive talent pool it would bring.

“Particularly for those learners who may not have considered higher education as an option, this clear progression through a range of learning environments would be a confidence booster, with an end goal in sight from

the start. This could be a particular career or qualification, even up to Masters or PhD level.

“To achieve this, though, all providers must accept that they cannot do everything on their own and realise that working together while drawing on individual strengths is key.

“For employers, a more streamlined education sector could be vital in helping solve the UK’s productivity crisis. Jobseekers in the market currently tend to have a range of qualifications and with different roles requiring various accreditations, they may have to engage separately with a number of different providers. If a consortium model was set up which could support learners through the different stages of education or employment, the benefits to employers looking for candidates across the range of qualification levels would be great.

“As the world changes and Brexit looms on the horizon, students in the UK will no doubt be considering employment and education options overseas. With more educational institutions setting up foreign campuses and forging links with multinational companies, the options 47

PEOPLE are there for learners and facilitation within the industry to support outward mobility will certainly be beneficial.

“The solution to the productivity puzzle has collaborative education at its heart. If learners have better access to the courses and qualifications of their choice which will get them the right jobs, and if employers can tap into the best possible pool of talent, the benefits will be felt by all.”

Partnerships to foster innovation and success

Meanwhile, Professor Elena RodriguezFalcon, Provost Chief Academic Officer of new STEM-focussed university, NMiTE (New Model in Technology & Engineering), offers an academic perspective on this kind of collaboration.

She also has some advice on how we can make these important relationships work.

“Having partnerships between universities and businesses is not new; there is now a long and evolving history of collaboration and innovation.

“Whilst there has always been a keen interest in developing partnerships that enable universities to understand the challenges being faced by industry in order to inform the creation of knowledge, or from companies to 48

April 2018

identify the next generation of capable employees, in more recent times the trend is for businesses to increasingly become co-creators of knowledge. Businesses are increasingly active participants in the development and delivery of the student learning experience.

“This provides a huge win-win for businesses, students and academics, and the benefits such partnerships deliver to industry are now even more valuable in our age of tightening

“ The trend is for businesses to increasingly become co-creators of knowledge. Businesses are increasingly active participants in the development and delivery of the student learning experience” – Professor Elena Rodriguez-Falcon, New Model in Technology & Engineering R&D budgets and, seemingly, an everincreasing speed of innovation.

“For instance, a study by IBM in the US found that a majority of tech industry and academic leaders felt partnerships are essential to provide students with skills for these jobs. It noted that when comparing the past five years to the next, those involved expect such partnerships will help bring significant improvements in meeting industry demands and ensuring the employability of students.

“Certainly, I have seen from my own experience how having students work closely with businesses has had a positive and inspirational effect. One such example from Sheffield University, where I taught previously, a group of students started their own company Handy Fasteners after having input that included local manufacturing businesses such as Gripple and Kingkraft. In another, a collaboration with Crown and Sheffield Hallam University resulted in the development of easy-open packaging.

“Ensuring tomorrow’s graduates have the skills your business needs is one benefit from such partnerships.

Another, very sizeable one is that they enable companies to make breakthroughs through accessing the leading-edge research and analytical skills universities have and, of course, lots of bright and inquisitive minds.

“However, businesses and universities are very different beasts, and making such partnerships work so successfully is not always easy. I have been personally involved with very many, and from the start it’s important to create a joint vision that identifies clear purposes and goals for the collaboration.

It’s also important to mention the 49

PEOPLE importance of them being viewed as long-term at the highest level of all involved. Ultimately, there also needs to be a clear strategic “what is in it for me” for both parties if it is to survive competing calls on time and budget over the ensuing years.

“There are lots of basics that need to be in place early on: in particular, agreements regarding intellectual property must be agreed upon and transparent, without putting undue risk on either party. In my experience the partnerships that work the best do so because expectations from both parties are managed right from the start; this is because there is a clear benefit for all involved, but mainly because partners really want to make it work.

“My institution, NMiTE (the new engineering university being created in Hereford in the UK), is taking these principles up a level by boldly forgoing set textbooks, lectures and exams.

Instead we are focussing entirely on a curriculum based around teams of students solving practical challenges actually designed in association with engineering companies to reflect the technical and commercial challenges they currently face.

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“We are currently working with a range of engineering and manufacturing companies to help tackle the current shortage of suitable graduates that such businesses regularly report, and I am inviting all others that are interested to get involved.”

Academia for R&D — finding the perfect match

How might these businesses create the mutually beneficial partnerships they require in this day and age? One platform that’s helping them to do so is Konfer.

With a “trusted user group” that includes leading business groups and companies representing bioscience, commercial chemistry, cybersecurity, digital media, energy, food production, intelligent mobility and transport, land management, technology and textiles, Konfer aims to accelerate research partnerships with UK universities.

Founding members include Capgemini, National Tryst, and Unilever, and total members represent a collective turnover/income of over £48.6bn ($68.69bn). Konfer takes the form of a free online match-making tool, which connects businesses with research expertise and funding opportunities.

It is backed by 132 universities in the

“ The benefits partnerships deliver to industry are now even more valuable in our age of tightening R&D budgets and an ever-increasing speed of innovation” – Professor Elena Rodriguez-Falcon, New Model in Technology & Engineering UK and includes profiles of over 130,000 academics available for collaborative research.

As a not-for-profit resource, Konfer has been funded and developed by the National Centre for Universities and Business (NCUB), Higher Education Funding Council for England (HEFCE), Research Councils UK and Innovate UK. Since its beta launch in November 2017, Konfer has already helped big names like Jaguar Land Rover conduct vital R&D.

David Docherty, Chief Executive at NCUB, told Business Chief: “There’s significant untapped potential for businesses to establish mutually beneficial partnerships with universities… we were inspired by business leaders who said they would be better equipped to grow and exploit opportunities in the UK and internationally if they had better access and insight to academic research partners and innovation funding.”

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VISIT OUR WEBSITE

READ THE LATEST ISSUE

The value of customer retention Armadillo CRM helps major global brands manage customer relationships. We speak to CEO James Ray about the value of retaining customers and how technology like AI and machine learning can help Writ ten by STUART HODGE

S U S TA I N A B I L I T Y

S U S TA I N A B I L I T Y AS LEGENDARY MANAGEMENT theorist Peter Drucker once remarked: “The purpose of business is to create and keep a customer”. Indeed, the art of creating new customers, as per the maxim, has been welldocumented by many business publications, but the challenge of keeping customers is not always given quite as much mainstream attention.

Research from Econsultancy a few years ago demonstrated that seven out of 10 businesses reckon it easier to retain a customer than acquire one. If this is the case, why is more attention is not devoted to this topic?

In recent years, customer relationship marketing (CRM) has emerged as a key means by which businesses can tap into their existing customer base to generate easy profit. To find out a bit more about the potential benefits of CRM, Business Chief spoke to James Ray, CEO of Armadillo CRM, a big player in the space which underwent a management buyout earlier this year.

Ray was part of the three-man team responsible for the buy-out, and has been with the company since 1996, previously serving as Armadillo’s Client Services Director, 56

April 2018

Armadillo CEO James Ray

Chairman and MD prior to the buyout.

We asked him exactly how CRM works.

“Data is our raw material,” Ray explains. “In our case our clients tend to be businessto-consumer (B2C) brands so we are usually working with consumer data, purchases, clicks, logins, browsing and so on.

We mine the data for insights – analysing patterns, trends and signals. That insight feeds a strategy to engage, influence or change the customer’s behavior in line with our client’s objectives – usually with KPIs and a business case attached. Then we bring that strategy to life with the right mix of data, creativity and technology to change the customer

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S U S TA I N A B I L I T Y experience and deliver the behavior change our clients are seeking.

That might be to get the customer to spend more, become more loyal, or even to feel more positively toward the brand. To complete the loop, we analyze the resulting data and optimize the strategy.”

Armadillo, which is celebrating its 25th anniversary this year, lists McDonald’s, the BBC and Disney amongst its clients. The company claims to have run a number of CRM strategies as part of integrated

campaigns for clients which have driven double-digit uplifts in performance from the CRM channel alone. Impressive – but as companies embark on digital transformation and become more tech-aware, has CRM become more popular? “Yes,” says Ray. “The diversity of our client base points to this – digitally native brands like Hotels.com, where CRM is baked in to their DNA, as well as more traditional businesses like McDonald’s and Disney, where what started as a specialist channel is now core to their future plans.

“We often start working with businesses when they are consciously at a turning point in their approach to managing and using customer data.

We help them build the strategy for managing their customer relationships, which helps define the associated requirements for technology within the business. I think there’s a shift in client expectations going on, not only in CRM but in marketing services more generally, too. With the

“With the accessibility of powerful marketing technology and the empowerment it brings, clients’ needs are more fluid and varied than ever before” – James Ray, CEO of Armadillo CRM 58

April 2018

Armadillo CRM: data insight creative The launch of a new brand

accessibility of powerful marketing technology and the empowerment it brings, clients’ needs are more fluid and varied than ever before. Tailoring solutions and services to specific needs used to be a nice option to have – and a quirk of Armadillo – but now it’s an expectation.”

Armadillo is ambitious, and upon completion of the recent buyout, the new leadership announced the company now aims to double in size over the next five years. Integral to that is how it retains some of its

bigger clients, while ensuring it enables its clients do the same.

“We’ve been the retained CRM agency partner for McDonald’s in the UK since 2011, helping them develop a CRM capability, originally from a standing start, with a full service that includes analysis, strategy, data management, creative and campaign delivery,” says Ray. “We’ve been working with Hotels.com since 2015, supporting their in-house team on strategy, analysis and creative projects 59

“Where machines can automate and do tasks better than humans, it leaves more time for humans to do the creative and lateral things that create resilient and loyal connection between customers and brands” – James Ray, CEO of Armadillo CRM

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S U S TA I N A B I L I T Y that are tested in the North American market, and then rolled out globally.

And we’ve been working with The Walt Disney Company since 2007, currently helping them deliver eCRM campaigns across five key European markets.

“What I love about what we do is that every client is different.

For McDonald’s in the UK, who’ve had 48 quarters of consecutive growth, market share and sales are not a problem for them – the priority is building and sustaining customer affinity, so our approach is tailored to do that. That means eCRM programs that connect customers to new products and tastes according to their favorites and preferences, and driving them to use new convenience platforms like mobile ordering and delivery. For Hotels.com, who operate in a fiercely competitive and highly-commoditized market, it’s very different. Here, we work with the client to identify trends and patterns in customer behavior, and develop multi-channel CRM strategies to intervene with offers and messages in order to restore and

retain customer booking behavior.”

According to Ray, the key to Armadillo’s success has been “fundamentally about finding the right people” and the fact the team has an “obsession with service”. That, alongside the company’s capacity to change and evolve, has helped it navigate any choppy financial waters caused by major events such as the global financial crash.

The CEO recognizes that you always need to have an idea of where the next major disruption or industry innovation may be coming from, and Ray has already identified the key areas Armadillo will be keeping an eye on over the coming months and years.

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“We mine the data for insights – analysing patterns, trends and signals. That insight feeds a strategy, to engage, influence or change the customer’s behavior in line with our client’s objectives” – James Ray, CEO of Armadillo CRM

“For a while now, the big players in the marketing tech space have been sweeping all before them,” he adds. “We’re seeing quite a few frustrations on the client side as expectations have fallen a bit short.

Our tech teams are increasingly called on to develop additional tech to plug some of these gaps. I can see this growing: the creation of mini bits of bespoke tech as a service 62

April 2018

rather than an off-the-shelf product.

“As well as artificial intelligence and machine learning, in Europe there’s the new GDPR legislation. Brands need to re-permission some or all of their customers ahead of the May deadline. We’re helping brands to make a virtue out of the opportunity for customers to keep their investment in the data they give and what benefits they receive in return. Although it’s

S U S TA I N A B I L I T Y

been a long process for brands, it will also bring positive change in the long term, encouraging companies to talk to customers more openly about the value their data provides them.

“I think we’re still in the foothills of the potential for AI and machine learning, but it’s already changing the landscape. I think it’s a great opportunity not only for brands but for agencies like us – where machines

can automate and do tasks better than humans, it leaves more time for humans to do the creative and lateral things that create resilient and loyal connections between customers and brands.”

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MAN CITY FOCUS

Seque rest volorum aute velestio intem illibus es qui ut alit et, sita iuntur?

Writ ten by AUTHOR

NILA

THE CAPITAL OF THE PHILIPPINES IS AN ANCIENT, DENSELY POPULATED METROPOLIS, BUT WHAT AREAS ARE NOW CARRYING THE ECONOMY? Writ ten by SHANNON LEWIS

CITY FOCUS Manila: the facts Manila is the capital of the Philippines and its second largest city, as well as the most densely populated city in the world. Time sets its density at 46,000 people per square mile (which is nearly double that of New York, the second most densely populated city) and predicts that by the year 2025, the population will have increased by 3.29mn.

It is one of the 16 cities that make up Metro Manila. World Population Review reports the population of Metro Manila as 12.8mn (15mn during the daytime including commuters). Manila city accounts

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for 1.78mn, around 14% of the total.

Forbes places Manila’s Gross Domestic Product per capita at $9,200. The Manila Times projects that by 2020, most of the world’s megacities will be in Asia, with a population estimation for Metro Manila of 20mn by that same year.

Manila is home to several ancient institutions. According to Traveling East, it is the home of the world’s oldest Chinatown, which was founded in the Binondo district in the 16th century. It is also the location of the oldest university in Asia: The University of Santo Tomas, founded in Sampaloc in 1611. According to Traveling East, Santo Tomas is also the largest Catholic university in the world, by student population.

‘Manila is home of the world’s oldest Chinatown, which was dounded in the Binodo district in the 16th century’

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CITY FOCUS

The Manila economy According to Heritage, the Philippines has the 61st freest economy according to the 2018 index, ranking it 13th among the 43 countries in the Asia-Pacific area. Reuters reports that the Philippines has an economic growth target of 7-8% for 2018 (an increase from its aim of 6.5-7.5% in 2017). One area where the country has seen considerable improvement is in the export market. The value of Filipino exports grew by 8.3% from $54bn in 2012 to $56.3bn in 2016.

According to Hoppler, as of July 2016, the country was projected to attract foreign investors through its growth in nine main sectors: business process outsourcing (which accounts for 11% of the country’s GDP), retail, gaming, hospitality and leisure (with total earnings from tourism in 2014

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MANUFACTURING MAKES UP 55% OF GDP IN THE PHILIPPINES amounting to $4.84bn), real estate, manufacturing (which accounts for 55% of the country’s GDP), construction (which contributed to 40% of GDP growth in 2013), energy and automotive, and shipbuilding.

Primer confirms the role of construction in the Philippines’ development, pointing to a growth in the sector by 11% in the final quarter of 2016.

Furthermore, manufacturing is the country’s top source of economic growth, particularly regarding petroleum, food, beverages, and transport equipment.

In the Metro Manila area, the sectors with the highest rates of accession are wholesale and retail trade: repair of motorcycles and motor vehicles (17.2%), administration and support services (14.4%), accommodation and food services (13.1%), and construction (9%), according to the Entrepreneur.

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CITY FOCUS

Manila: centre of commerce Manila itself is the trade and finance centre of the Philippines. Not only is it the country’s first port of entry, meaning most imports and exports pass through it, but it is the headquarters for a variety of financial institutions: the Philippine 70

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National Bank, the Philippine Veterans Bank, the Development Bank of the Philippines, the Government Service Insurance System, and the Social Security System. Affordable Cebu’s Top 40 Earning Companies in the Philippines 2016 includes multiple Manila-based companies.

The third largest company by revenue is Philippine LongDistance Telephone Company (PLDT). With a revenue of $420mn, PLDT is the largest digital service and telecommunications company in the Philippines, according to the company website. It deals in both wireless networks, and landlines. www.pldt.com

The second largest is Banco de Oro (BDO) Unibank. With a name meaning Bank of Gold in Spanish, it is the largest bank in the Philippines, according to its company website. As part of SM Group of Companies, it operates a variety of subsidiaries as well, from leasing to private banking, insurance to investment. It has a revenue of $480mn. www.bdo.com.ph/personal

The largest company in Manila is SM Investments Corporation.

With a sales revenue of $770mn, it is a holding company with ties in retail, real estate, banking, tourism and the development and management of shopping malls. www.sminvestments.com/our-history

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CITY FOCUS

‘Manila is the most densely populated city in the world’

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A balanced view All being said, the Philippines does have certain economic shortcomings.

According to the Manila Standard, a study run by an Indian-based company found that 65% of Philippine college graduates did not have the right skillset or training to qualify for the jobs of their choosing, leaving only one out of three Filipinos employable. The same study found the employability rate for jobs in customer

service, sales, and information technology was below 25%.

Moreover, Manila is located on the Ring of Fire, an area in the Pacific Ocean rife with volcanic eruptions and earthquakes. A poll by international reinsurance company Swiss Re found that Metro Manila is the second riskiest urban area with regards to natural disasters, second only to TokyoYokohama, according the Inquirer.

SM INVESTMENTS CORPORATION, THE LARGEST COMPANY IN MANILA, HAS A REVENUE OF $770MN

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TOP 10

TO P 10 BIGGEST COMPANIES IN ASIA

What are the largest companies in Asia by turnover? Business Chief investigates Writ ten by SHAUN BOWIE

TOP 10

10 HONDA MOTOR COMPANY world.honda.com Japanese auto-manufacturer Honda achieved a revenue growth of 6.2% ($129,198bn) in 2017, as well as increasing profits by 98.3% in spite of recalling of 2.1mn Honda Accords due to battery fires (although this is expected to impact sales of the 2018 Honda Fit). Honda’s continued investment in the AI and robotics sector has contributed to their recent successes, with the 3E-D18 autonomous off-road vehicle being recently unveiled in Las Vegas.

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CHINA CONSTRUCTION BANK www.ccb.com Based in Beijing, China Construction Bank engages in both the corporate and personal banking and treasury business. It also has a hand in fund settlement and the emerging Chinese corporate e-banking market. Its personal banking services include personal wealth management products, gold trading, loans and credit card services. Despite an 8.7% drop in revenue and a 4% drop in profit, the company still records an overall revenue of $135.093bn.

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08 HON HAI PRECISION INDUSTRY www.foxconn.com Hon Hai Precision Industry trades commercially under the name Foxxcon Technology Group, with a focus on nanotechnology, wireless connectivity, heat transfers and green manufacturing processes. The company is based in New Taipei City, Taiwan, and recorded a 2017 revenue of $135.129bn, a change of -4.3% based on its performance in 2016. Its profits dropped by, an albeit small, -0.4% leaving them with $4.6038bn in profit. The company has been on the Fortune Global 500 for 13 years, entering at 371 in 2004 and quickly ascending to its ranking as a commercial enterprise.

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07 CHINA STATE CONSTRUCTION ENGINEERING english.cscec.com China State Construction Engineering was founded on 10 December 2007 and provides real estate investment and development, infrastructure construction, housing and international contracting. It is the largest construction corporation in the world by revenue, which sits at $144.505bn, a 3.1% rise. It was involved in a major scandal in 2009 when it was blacklisted for six years by the World Bank for collusion in the bidding process for the Philippines National Roads Improvement and Management Project. The company has been heavily involved in major infrastructure projects in Asia and Africa and is seeking to gain a greater foothold in the European and American markets.

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TOP 10

INDUSTRIAL & COMMERCIAL BANK OF CHINA www.icbc.com.cn The Industrial & Commercial Bank of China (ICBC), founded in Beijing in 1984, is organised into several segments: Personal Banking, Treasury Operations, Corporate Banking and Others. The Corporate Banking arm of the company is involved in corporate wealth management, corporate loans, trade financing and intermediary services. The Personal Banking wing offers many of the same services, but to private citizens rather than corporate entities. The Treasury Operations segment handles investment securities, foreign exchange transactions, money market transactions and the holding of derivative positions. The Others deals with the leasing services and all assets, incomes, expenses and liabilities that are not directly related to the other departments of the company, which posted a 2017 revenue of $147,675bn.

06

Part of

Held in Conjunction with

24 – 25 April 2018 Marina Bay Sands, Singapore

Digitalization & Disruption take centre-stage at TOC Asia Join Shippers, Logistics Providers, Shipping Lines, 3PLs, Port Authorities, Terminal Operators to learn, debate and network

Big Box Shipper Debate

Impact of Industry 4.0

Trade & Shipping Outlook

OBOR

Asia & Middle East Infrastructure

New Trade Dynamics

Speakers include

Find out more

www.tocevents-asia.com

TOP 10

SAMSUNG ELECTRONICS www.samsung.com The only company on this list based in South Korea, Samsung has seen a rise in profits of 16.8% and a revenue change of -2.0% leaving sales at $173.957bn. They were forced to issue a global recall on its Note 7 smartphone ‘phablets’ in 2016 due to a battery fault causing some to explode while charging. It sits at 15th in the Fortune Global 500 and has been on the Fortune Global 500 for 23 years; currently sitting at 15th. One of its most popular products is the Galaxy smartphone with the Galaxy S8 shipping over 20mn units.

05

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TOYOTA MOTOR CORPORATION www.toyota-global.com Toyota was founded by Kiichiro Toyoda in Toyota, Japan on 28 August 1937.

Primarily manufacturing and selling motor vehicles and parts, it operates in three distinct business segments: Automotive Operations, Financial Services, and All Other. Automotive Operations is responsible for the designing, manufacturing, assembling and selling passenger cars, trucks, minivans and vehicle parts. It is also involved in the company’s development of intelligent transport systems. The Financial Services segment deals with the purchase and lease financing provided to Toyota vehicle dealers and customers. Toyota enjoyed a 7.7% increase in revenue ($254,694bn) for 2017, although took a -12.3% drop in profits.

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03 CHINA NATIONAL PETROLEUM www.cnpc.com With over 1.5mn employees, the most of any company on this list, the state-owned China National Petroleum is the largest integrated energy company in China, operating as both an oil company and oilfield service provider, while involved in operations in the entire gas and oil industry value chain. One of the largest problems the company will face in the near future is the increasing marketability and availability of cheap renewable energy sources. This is reflected in its profits taking a -73.7% reduction, and a change in revenue of -12.3%. However, its revenue in 2017 was still an impressive $262.573bn, but will need to keep up with rising environmental protection standards and the growing demand for energy in China, especially as they emerge as leaders of the Paris Climate Accord.

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TOP 10

02 SINOPEC GROUP www.sinopecgroup.com Another Chinese state-owned company, this Sinopec Group is the third largest chemical producer in the world by sales since 2014; posting a 2017 revenue of $267,518bn. Sinopec engages in the manufacturing of chemical fiber and petrochemical products, with the company operating in five different segments: Polyester Chips, Staple Fiber & Hollow Fiber, Bottle-Grade Polyester Chips Filament and Purified Terepthatic Acid. The company has secured contracts with other countries in Asia, such as in Mongolia with the Mongolia Petro Matad and an EPC contract in Russia. Sinopec has not been scandal-free and its president from 2003-2014, Wang Tianpu, faced time in prison in January 2017 for accepting bribes and embezzling state-owned properties.

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TOP 10

01 STATE GRID www.sgcc.com.cn The Chinese State Grid – with just under a million employees – is the largest electric utility company in the world and holds a total monopoly in China. It was founded in 2002 as a byproduct of the country’s three-stage energy sector reforms that first began in 1986. The State Grid is responsible for constructing and operating power grids and currently owns and manages five regional power grid companies and 24 electric power companies. In June 2017 the company ran Qinghai province on 100% renewable energy for seven days as part of a trial into the rolling out of more robust renewable energy infrastructure. Although seeing a revenue drop of -4.4%, its overall revenue sits at $315.199bn.

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With the recently completed redevelopment of the Kuala Lumpar Sports City complex, Malaysian Resources Corporation Berhad sets the standard for the nation’s construction sector Written by Dale Benton Produced by Mike Sadr

ALAYSIAN RESOURCES CORPORATION Berhad (MRCB) stakes a worthy claim to be the pioneering force behind Malaysia’s construction industry. A key player in some of the largest transitoriented construction projects throughout Malaysia, including the first of its kind mini-city Kuala Lumpur Sentral CBD and the recently completed rejuvenation of KL Sports City, MRCB prides itself on its ability to provide more than just a project.

“A lot of the projects that we do, due to their size, have an economic multiplier and aid in the building initiatives across Malaysia,” says Amarjit Chhina, Chief Corporate Officer, MRCB. “Building transportation and mass rail infrastructure in the country also creates spill over economic value; it takes cars off the road, aids productivity and gets people from A to B much more efficiently.”

Predominantly an urban transit orientated developer, MRCB’s developments are planned at the onset with concepts and objectives that seek to promote and enable direct integration of all city-like needs in order to create an “enriched and self-sustaining development”.

It is a model that the organisation implements across all of its projects and developments, and Izza Salim, Chief Operating Officer, feels that it is this easily replicated model that defines MRCB as a construction company of choice.

“This model can be replicated and adapted anywhere as it allows the primary ideas and concepts to remain and drive the design and construction,” she says. “But it 90

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The public are able to use the complex at any given time

CONSTRUCTION

The national sports complex in Bukit Jalil, includes the national sports stadium, aquatic stadium, hockey stadium and the indoor Axiata Arena

The KL Sports City venues hosted the Southeast Asian Games in 2017

asia.businesschief.com

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WE ARE

S Y R A H R E S O U RC E S L I M I T E D

A SOLID FOUNDATION OF TURNING SMALL ACTIONS INTO BIG GAINS

Founded in 1996, we are a construction services company based in Malaysia with over 20 years of operating history and are principally engaged in provision of a wide range of construction services. The group was founded with a mission to pursue sustainable engineering models in a competitive resource-heavy sector.

BGMC stand today as a builder of good repute positioned to make our mark beyond Malaysian shores. On the back of a solid trajectory of growth, the Group listed on The Stock Exchange of Hong Kong Limited (HKEX) on 9 August, 2017. Our successful listing in Asia’s financial centre places us at an advantage to leverage the Belt and Road Initiative, paving the way into key Southeast Asian markets for accelerated growth.

Concession & Maintenance will be a priority in coming years to sustain long-term cash inflow. Meanwhile, we will be increasing our assets through acquisition of more advanced machinery and technology. We will also be strengthening our portfolio through collaboration, partnership agreements, or merger and acquisition. Ultimately, BGMC stands for a sustainable future where our people, clients, and surrounding communities can thrive for generations to come.

2.0

www.bgmc.asia

THERE ARE THOUSANDS OF WAYS TO BUILD WE ARE JUST GOOD AT FINDING SMARTER AND FASTER WAYS TO DO IT.

CONSTRUCTION

“ Building transportation and mass rail infrastructure in the country also creates spill over economic value; it takes cars off the road, aids productivity and gets people from A to B much more efficiently” The indoor Axiata Arena

– Amarjit Singh Chhina, Chief Corporate Officer, MRCB

The stadium blueprint can also provide enough flexibility to the project, Chhina believes it truly adapt to its surrounding needs, market represents MRCB’s status as a catchment and existing accessibility.” pioneer and a true example of that A shining example of MRCB’s “spill over” economic value. portfolio is the aforementioned “It’s attracted some major multiKL Sentral project. An example of national companies to have a footprint innovative design, planning and in Malaysia,” he says. “Google, PwC, execution, KL Sentral is an exclusive Shell, General Electric are but a few urban centre built around the largest who have set up shop here. This is transit hub in Malaysia. certainly something that has never Even with MRCB still developing been done before. asia.businesschief.com

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“ Google, PwC, Shell, General Electric are but a few who have set up shop here.

This is certainly something that has never been done before and I don’t think there will ever be a transitoriented development as comprehensive as this” – Amarjit Singh Chhina, Chief Corporate Officer, MRCB

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Another one of the company’s most significant, and most recent projects was the rejuvenation of the KL Sports City. Originally built for the Commonwealth Games in 1998 and selected to host the Southeast Asian Games in 2017, significant redevelopment was required in order to ensure this huge complex would not only comply with the more modern health and safety standards, but also modern sporting standards.

Following the successful bid for

CONSTRUCTION

tender, MRCB was given the task to redevelop the national sports complex in Bukit Jalil, including the national sports stadium, aquatic stadium, hockey stadium and in the indoor arena (known as the Axiata Arena) situated in the vicinity.

No easy task, and one that MRCB also took upon itself to go above and beyond delivering a simple rejuvenation.

“The upgrade also included an extensive revamp on the landscaping and public spaces,” says Salim.

“The overall idea was to integrate and link existing facilities, i.e. public transportation, amenities, parking, to cater for large masses of population at a single time.

“The main focus was to provide accessibility and convenience for the

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CONSTRUCTION

The Bukit Jalil National Stadium is a world-class venue public, enabling anyone and everyone to use the complex at any given time, not just for events but for daily use.”

That everyday use, going beyond being simply a sports venue for only major events, is crucial to the value that MRCB can bring not only to a project but to the wider Malaysian economy.

As a development, KL Sports City is much more integrated than what is typical of a development project like this.

One only has to look at developments in place for events such as the World Cup in South Africa, or the London 2012 Olympics to see the question raised; what is the legacy of these projects?

This is something that Chhina is all too aware of. ““One of the main objectives of the transformation was to create a self-sustaining development for the Government,” he says. “It incorporates corporate boxes, which it never had before, with the aim of generating more incremental revenue streams moving forward. This will only continue into the future, infusing more sport content, food and beverage content, training facilities, sports injury clinics, all as a means of increasing that value and asia.businesschief.com

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expanding the complex well beyond what it was before.”

For a project of this size and scope, a construction company is often given a timeframe close to 36 months to deliver.

For the KL Sports City complex, MRCB was given 18. At the time of completion in 2017, the company can proudly say that it was successfully delivered in just 15 months that allowed the country to host the South East Asia 2017 games.

But what is the secret to this success?

After all, MRCB was renovating a 20-year-old complex to cater for current and future needs based on international standards, all within a much shorter timeframe. And it did so with the pressure to remain on or under budget and the responsibility to develop a national project that would bring the eyes of Southeast Asia and the world down upon it.

In order to achieve this, MRCB called upon a number of specialist contractors and design specialists

TOMORROW’S PEOPLE FLOW, TODAY At KONE, our mission is to improve the flow of urban life. As a global leader in the elevator and escalator industry, KONE provides elevators, escalators and automatic building doors, as well as solutions for maintenance and modernization to add value to buildings throughout their life cycle. Through more effective People Flow®, we make people's journeys safe, convenient and reliable, in taller, smarter buildings.

kone.com

CONSTRUCTION

The complex has been created not just for events but for daily use from all over the world, including the global architecture and design firm Populous.

Populous, responsible for some of the largest sport complexes in the world including the Yankee Stadium and the London Olympic Stadium, played a crucial consultancy role in MRCB’s delivery of KL Sports City.

“Populous brought with them incredible experience from all over the world and that really helped us in terms of remaining within budget and avoiding pitfalls that could lead to long delays,” says Chhina.

“With this project we had hundreds of people working at once, consultants and contractors all under one umbrella and so our experience in working to this scale proved key, particularly in planning.”

Fast forward 15 months and in late August 2017, the 30th annual Southeast Asian Games drew to a close at the newly redeveloped Bukit Jalil Stadium.

Over the course of 11 days, KL Sports City saw thousands of attendees and performers pass through the whole complex, the success of the project highlighted for the world to see.

But the success didn’t just stop asia.businesschief.com

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“ Over the last 20 years we have been fine tuning and achieving greater standards and heights in terms of our development capabilities” – Amarjit Singh Chhina, Chief Corporate Officer, MRCB

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there as the complex was short-listed for the World Architectural Awards in Berlin. Selected amongst 17 shortlisted finalists, from thousands of global nominations, MRCB can be extremely proud of this recognition.

“We can say to ourselves that of course it’s a really good project,” says Chhina. “Others have seen it’s a real boost to our reputation. It shows that 102

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we are capable of delivering large scale projects like this on time and on budget. That’s what, as an organisation, we strive to achieve every single day.”

MRCB has a simple vision. “Setting the standard”, reads the company’s motto and through the development and successful delivery of projects such as the KL Sports City, as well as KL Sentral, it is a vision that the

CONSTRUCTION

The Stadium Bukat Jalil illuminated beautifully in the evening

The stadium now caters for corporate hospitality

S. Nalgunalingam on the modernisation and expansion of the stadium facilities company continues to strive to achieve, not just for today’s construction, but also tomorrow’s.

“At our core we are an engineering company,” says Chhina. “Everything we do, be it building a corporate HQ, transportation infrastructure or a stadium, we approach it as engineers.

We come up with solutions to problems.”

This is a sentiment echoed by Salim.

“Over the last 20 years we have been fine tuning and achieving greater standards and heights in terms of our development capabilities,” she says.

“We will continue to adapt and cater to the needs of the modern day and to the future.”

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Integrating data, boosting

connectivity Written by Catherine Sturman Produced by Kiron Chavda

Chief Information Officer Lutz Beck discusses how Daimler Trucks Asia is working to drive connectivity across the commercial vehicle industry and to transform it into a data driven organisation

H

ousing an envied and world-class reputation, Daimler Trucks Asia (DTA) has cemented its presence as a leader in manufacturing and transportation.

An integral subsidiary of manufacturer Daimler AG, the organisation has worked to transform its existing business model and diversify its portfolio, developing new products and services to sell to its customers in an ever-growing industry.

However, in order for this to happen, its core vision has remained clear – to drive connectivity.

“At DTA, we want to lead the commercial vehicle industry into the future and be number one in quality, innovation, customer satisfaction and places to work. We want to connect everything,” explains Chief Information Officer Lutz Beck.

“Our transformation is ongoing on an organisational level, but we are in the midst of a cultural change as well.”

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Lutz Beck

Chief Information Officer

Lutz Beck, currently CIO for Daimler Trucks Asia / Mitsubishi FUSO Truck & Bus, is a business savvy, and result driven Senior Executive with extensive international leadership experience and a can-do attitude. A problem solver, analytical thinker and pioneer able to manage critical and complex transformations with an innovative approach to get the job done. He has benchmarking experience working in large multinational companies in the automotive industry and led and motivated large global teams to achieve target outcomes. Beck is global and a leading key player having worked across multiple regions and cultures in the fields of digital strategy and transformation, business process re-engineering and improvement, project and program management, SAP template implementation, system landscape renewal and innovation technology management. A true expert on the international scene and digital forefront, motivating and a sensational leader pushing those around him to new heights.

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A DEEPER PERSPECTIVE.

For DTA to be able to achieve its vision of leading the commercial vehicle industry through the power of data, disruption is not only inevitable, it’s mandatory. “We need to use all the technologies and innovations available to redefine our business model,” DTA CIO Beck notes.

“We have to be a disruptor in the industry and disrupt our own company to prepare it for the future.”

The road less travelled.

Quality management steps into the spotlight.

80% of these recalls could have been detected in advance based on the historical data patterns.

That disruption began in an unlikely place, one that wasn’t well known for its innovation - quality management. Its department head Michael Moebius admits that what it lacked in futureforward thinking, it made up for in data. Data filters through quality management from over 150 countries, but its conventional analysis system was outdated and relied on siloed internal sources captured through traditional means.

As a result, quality and safety issue identification and investigation times were reactive, and focused on historical analysis after the problems had already matured. This long and sometimes inaccurate process yielded high warranty costs and delayed recalls.

Solidifying a futureforward foundation.

While the quality management department had access to a wealth of data, it didn’t necessarily know how to analyse it most efficiently. Beck confirms: “We were collecting data, but not using it in a way in which you could make decisions or create business models out of it.”

This gap in skills highlighted a key area of attention for Beck, who believes that the foundation for everything within a company is its people. It was this desire to lay the correct foundation for DTA’s digital transformation that led to the relationship with Deloitte. Ashwin Patil, Deloitte Consulting LLP Managing Director for Global Manufacturing Analytics, remembers: “We were able to gather folks from strategy, cloud, digital tech, data scientists—we brought key people to the table to help drive this.”

The power of collaboration First, Deloitte analysed all of the available data from 45 of the last major DTA recalls. This included structured data like metrics correlated with its vehicles to unstructured data, such as call centre records, warranty claims, dealer and technician comments and social media engagement. Based on this combined analysis, Deloitte discovered that

The opportunity to look even further into the future became possible with the introduction of live data through DTA’s launch of Fuso Super Great, its first connected truck and foray into the internet of things (IoT). As the truck is driving, geographical data and data from the vehicle’s system like oil pressure, coolant temperature and battery voltage is combined with the historical data, providing DTA with the insight to see the overall health situation of a truck. According to Moebius, this proprietary cognitive system, dubbed “proactive sensing”, enables DTA to implement “predictive intelligent maintenance and service planning, which ultimately helps us get ahead”.

The success of Daimler Trucks Asia and Deloitte’s proactive sensing project hinged on the teams’ desire to function as an innovative client relationship. They embraced the “flavor of a startup”, where constructive criticism flowed freely, enhanced by regular meetings at the staff and management levels to create an open environment for questions and ideas. Deloitte also took a second look at DTA’s internal resources and developed skill profiles to identify gaps in capabilities.

Smarter insights, stronger outcomes.

The proactive sensing project is expected to save DTA $8mn in warranty costs during the first 24 months and even more in recall costs. The system is also able to predict and prioritise quality issues 13 months ahead of its previous process, which helps keep customers on the road with less downtime.

“By doing this project, we were able to generate awareness for data at a management level,” Beck states. “The project helped us shape an overall business case for the big data topic. Now everyone wants to have it.

The whole company is pushing for it.”

The journey for DTA doesn’t stop here, however. The constant cycle of disruption continues, not only for the organisation and the industry, but also for the ever-changing world that is becoming increasingly reliant on connectivity, data and the internet of things.

avasudevan@tohmatsu.co.jp | Ajai Vasudevan,

Director Automotive, Deloitte Tohmatsu Consulting

DAIMLER AG

Connected X Driven by its senior leaders, DTA’s digital strategy, Connected X, has seen the organisation overhaul its outdated infrastructure and application landscape. By deconstructing its back-end and legacy systems, DTA has rebuilt its internal processes through the use of new technologies, enabling it to move into an increasingly digital world based on a new digital foundation.

“By transforming into a datadriven organisation, the key aspects will be how we work with data and how we understand the data,” observes Beck. “Integrating all data is also in accordance with our

overall Daimler Truck Asia strategy.

“We defined our Connected X strategy based on three pillars – product, process, people – in a bid to drive Daimler Trucks Asia towards a data driven organisation and connect everything by fully utilising the Internet of Things (IoT),” he continues. “We needed to work on core elements such as digital products and services, data driven and modern methods and skill sets.

(Right) Daimler’s new, smart E-FUSO Vision One model

“By transforming into a data-driven organisation, the key aspects will be how we work with data and how we understand the data” – Lutz Beck - Chief Information Officer

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“On the product side we are focusing on improving new as well as existing production sites and vehicles by digital enabling them.

On the process side, we work on efficiencies through automation and robotics. On the people side, we

Data-driven technologies The need to collect and enhance all data has been essential throughout DTA’s aim to enable the business units to perform data driven decision-making and innovations. The combination of Truck

VIDEO: Deloitte Client Spotlight Daimler Trucks Asia

started to train, renew and scale up the team, bringing a combination of traditional IT skills and new digital skills which are required to run such complex transformations.

“There are not many companies in our industry that are doing this in such a way, so we have become a frontrunner in terms of digitalisation.”

connectivity and analytics helped the organisation in quality management (QM) processes to unlock saving potentials and business value.

By collaborating with Microsoft and Deloitte, DTA has integrated its internal data, as well as its external data received from both its sites and connected trucks. The ability to gain

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By collaborating with Microsoft and Deloitte, DTA has integrated its internal data, as well as its external data received from both its sites and connected trucks

VIDEO: Cognitive Technology in the real world of Daimler Trucks Asia

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real-time data has therefore enabled the development of new solutions and delivered significant cost savings across the board.

“There is nothing which we are doing which is not giving us either internal benefits or new business opportunities,” adds Beck.

“I do not have cases where we do not have savings or additional revenue streams achieved by introducing new technology.”

One key example is the development of DTA’s proactive sensing analytics.

Built in partnership with Deloitte, the two companies analysed a large number of QM information surrounding the health of DTA’s trucks. Through this, the companies found a number of patterns in the high volume of data received, paving the way for a solution to be developed.

Through proactive sensing, DTA is now able to detect issues in advance, reducing downtime and increasing the safety of its vehicles through predictive intelligent maintenance.

“It doesn’t matter if you talk about big data, artificial intelligence, machine learning or deep learning, all these new ideas are helping us to be number one in quality, innovations and customer satisfaction while being more efficient and more cost-effective,” notes Beck.

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Mitsubishi Fuso has also developed and launched the all-electric light-duty truck eCanter which is in seriesproduction since last year, as well as the concept heavy-duty truck, E-FUSO Vision One. Developed from feedback received from customers, the E-FUSO brand will open doors to the development of further connected, electric-powered vehicles across DTA’s fleet, and will also work to reduce emissions whilst strengthening its position in the market.

Experimental technologies Although the organisation has worked to invest in new technologies and extend its areas of innovation, the need to mitigate potential risks within its IT operations has never been more important. Enhancing its cybersecurity has therefore become a key focus within DTA’s digital strategy, and a team has been established to proactively manage security patterns across its manufacturing operations.

Interestingly, the organisation is also looking at other ways to transform its production capabilities through the

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increased use of new technologies (such as robotics) and defined the concept of the Factory of the Future based on Industry 4.0 principles.

“If I look at the production, we can use much more automation and robotics in the manufacturing space. We are on the way to connect wherever possible our robots in order to collect real-time data, and based on that take real time decisions on predictive maintenance and other topics,” explains Beck.

“Secondly, when we are looking into our office environment, there is a lot of automation and efficiency gains which are made possible by using robotics. Therefore, we are looking at how we can gain further efficiency in the office environment through the use of robotics and are looking at automating processes which today are paper-based.”

DTA is therefore undertaking increased experimental research in using robots for specific topics. For instance, it is also utilising famous Japanese robot Pepper to look at ways in which it can boost efficiencies.

TECHNOLOGY

“We defined our Connected X strategy based on three pillars – product, process, people – in a bid to drive Daimler Trucks Asia towards a data driven organization and connect everything by fully utilising the Internet of Things (IoT)” – Lutz Beck - Chief Information Officer asia.businesschief.com

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“It doesn’t matter if you talk about bi artificial intelligence, machine learn deep learning, all these new ideas are us to be number one in quality, innov and customer satisfaction while b more efficient and more cost-effect – Lutz Beck - Chief Information Officer

ig data, ning or helping vations being tive�

CASE STUDY How Daimler Trucks Asia utilised data-driven insights to proactively change the course of the entire organisation

DAIMLER AG

The power of collaboration By collaborating with Microsoft and Deloitte, DTA has integrated its internal data, as well as its external data received from both its sites and connected trucks

Proactive sensing technology has enabled DTA to detect potential issues up to a year in advance

The E-FUSO brand will open doors to the development of further connected, electricpowered vehicles across DTA’s fleet

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Competitive edge Through blending traditional ways of working with new ideas and technologies, DTA’s working culture and subsequent development and training of employees, has consequently undergone significant change.

“We are continuing to upscale our existing people in new technologies. This is an ongoing task which we do internally and with external support,” notes Beck.

“We also looked at the skillset in the market and employed people who had the required skill sets and brought them into the company. We have now built up skills on analytics, artificial intelligence and virtual and mixed reality. We are also taking on new people for our connectivity platform and for our connectivity for our trucks.”

It is clear that DTA will continue to disrupt the commercial vehicle industry, where it will seek to develop increasingly connected, tech-driven products and services for its customers. However, speed will remain essential in such a competitive space.

“This is a challenge, but we want to take that challenge and see how we can move forward and combine these elements with the new technologies coming in for our customers and for our organisation,” concludes Beck.

“We will need to see how we can further use technology to transform the organisation, our business model and how it will enable us to create new business services in the future.”

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The digitisation of wealth management Written by Dale Benton Produced by James Pepper

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Through the creation of a Chief Digital Officer role, Noah Holdings embarks on an ambitious digital transformation strategy

“

The wealth management space is a pretty niche segment of the financial industry. Couple that with digital, which right now is one of the more popular areas of IT and technology, and what I’m doing with the company is going deeper and deeper into the cross-section between financial institutions, and technology,” says Ronald Fung, Chief Digital Officer at Noah Holdings.

Noah is currently undergoing a digital transformation, implementing new technology and innovation to better understand and ultimately better serve its customers.

Fung was brought into Noah in 2017 to oversee this transformational journey, bringing with him significant experience working in the financial technology space. It is this experience that provided Fung with a greater understanding of how technology

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and the role of digital has grown significantly over the last decade.

“In the past, the role of IT has always been more of a back office one, with a focus on process automation and making things cheaper, faster and more efficient,” he says. “Over the last 10 years, technology has actually moved right to the point in which it now reaches out to customers directly.

“Nowadays in the financial sector, you cannot split between whether technology is a supporting tool or the driver of the business itself.”

Historically, wealth management has been a predominantly very human, face to face-oriented industry. That human interaction has always come first, with data collection and technology coming second.

Fung’s role as Chief Digital Officer provides him with two core objectives for Noah.

TECHNOLOGY

Ronald Fung Chief Digital Officer

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The first objective, leveraging big data “It’s about looking to better understand our customers and our clients through data, learning about how we work with them and becoming better each and every time,” he says.

The second objective is a little broader, tasked with bringing in and developing innovative technologies into the wealth management space.

“Innovative technology in the past has never really been the core focus, because applying the so-called ‘fancy gadgets’ is usually

“Nowadays in the financial sector, you cannot split between whether technology is a suppor ting tool or the driver of the business itself ” – Ronald Fung Chief Digital Officer

something that wasn’t really seen in the wealth management space,” Fung says. “But this is something that is happening more and more across the financial industry.”

As technology and the role of IT continues to expand beyond the traditional mindset of it being more of a supporting tool, more and more companies are beginning to feel a sense of pressure to implement certain technologies in order to keep up with competitors.

This, Fung believes, is a fatal flaw as it is important to understand exactly what technology can

TECHNOLOGY

be applied and how it can actually better drive growth.

“At this point there are certain technologies that are just not applicable to the wealth management space, so it’s very important that I understand this and have a judgement of when the best time is to bring it into the business,” he says.

“In the financial industry, everything is number driven and so you have to be able to justify technology from a business case.”

Fung avoids implementing technology for technology’s sake by looking at it from a clear

perspective – the criticality.

When looking at the criticality of technology, Fung accepts that some technology is 100% critical and that not implementing it now will set the company far behind any competitors in the near future.

“You wouldn’t have a ticket to play in this game anymore,” he says.

One such example of critical technology is data and the leveraging of client information. Due to the very human nature of wealth management, this creates relationship managers that have a personal and clear understanding of clients and their

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NOAH HOLDINGS

“In terms of how we can apply these innovative technologies and how we leverage data to make our service better, make our product better and to have an ecosystem in making all things smooth, for all parties I’d say we are still at a very, very early stage” – Ronald Fung, Chief Digital Officer

THE WORLD’S LEADING

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marketing@xiaoi.net

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needs. This presents a situation where one could argue that there is no need for technology when the process is smoothly in place.

“The problem then becomes a matter of “you don’t know what you don’t know”, someone from the blind spot may be able to utilise big data or AI and creating a much clearer understanding of your clients,” says Fung. “Because they have such a deep understanding of your client, then they could completely take over your business and put you out of the game.”

As technology has continued to transform the industry, dictating the direction and strategic thinking or organisations such as Noah Holdings, how has the customer changed with it? With more and more technology advancements, providing more power to the customer, how has this changed the way in which Noah must respond to customers?

“Clients have been exposed to more and more technology in recent years and so they are now demanding more technology touch points and more convenient and

direct interaction with us,” says Fung.

“In fact, what this has done is enable the conversation surrounding technology to happen more frequently and to be more informed. Now, when we discuss technology, the expectation is much more realistic – we understand what technology can and cannot do in terms of supporting clients.

As those clients have changed, it’s definitely helped educate us as a business much quicker.”

Now in the second year of this digital strategy, Fung can already begin to look back on key successes achieved along the way. One of the biggest changes has been one of its strategy focus, in which Noah Holdings places greater emphasis on leveraging technology in delivering client impact. One such example is the role of Chief Digital Officer itself.

“We may be the only one in the industry to have a Chief Digital Officer,” he says. “and the key here is how Noah enables this role to introduce innovation like robo advisory and big data.”

In just one short year, Fung has

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already seen a huge shift in the business, looking to technology as a means of enabling far greater service and understanding for its clients. As he looks to the future growth of the company, he admits that there is still a long way to go.

“In terms of how we can apply these innovative technologies and how we leverage data to make our service better, make our product better and to have an ecosystem in making all things smooth for all parties, I’d say we are still at a very, very early stage,” he says.

“There is so much we can do as a business, for the business and, ultimately, for our clients.”

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Ronald at a company event

TECHNOLOGY

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INS PRO SER AT

SIDE IT AND OCUREMENT RVICES

Written by Catherine Sturman Produced by Kiron Chavda

DDB WORLDWIDE

Many companies are now exploring the advantages of utilising cloud technology. DDB’s Regional IT Director Wayne Moy saw its potential nearly a decade ago, and explains how the advertising firm continues to provide increased flexibility for its customers

E

stablished back in the 1940s, multinational corporation (MNC) DDB Worldwide has become one of the oldest (and largest) advertising holding companies worldwide. Its strong brand reputation and work with both international brands, such as McDonald’s, Volkswagen, Exxon Mobil and Unilever, and national brands across Asia has enabled the firm to deliver innovative, personalised products and services to its clients on a global scale.

Working in the TV industry for a decade, Regional IT Director Wayne Moy joined DDB with the aim to overhaul the company’s fragmented IT infrastructure. Whilst it remains essential for DDB to adapt

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to different working cultures as a global enterprise, its operations are also influenced by the emergence of new digital tools and solutions.

“Many companies are moving towards the cloud. A decade ago, people in IT were very hesitant. I was laughed at for putting email on the cloud eight years ago, because people were claiming this to be insecure, but nowadays, if you don’t put your email on the cloud, you will be laughed at,” explains Moy. “Another area of global focus is IT security. People are increasingly conscious because it’s becoming costly for businesses, if their data is breached. IT security may be expensive, but a company’s reputation

“Many companies are moving towards the cloud.

A decade ago, people in IT were very hesitant. I was laughed at for putting email on the cloud eight years ago, because people were claiming this to be insecure, but nowadays, if you don’t put your email on the cloud, you will be laughed at” Wayne Moy, Regional IT Director, DDB asia.businesschief.com

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www.veeam.com

Veeam® delivers Availability for the Always-On Enterprise™.

Veeam Availability Suite™ leverages virtualization, storage, and cloud technologies that enable the modern data center.

is priceless. It’s also very difficult space. With departments purchasing to hire people in this particular their own systems to undertake area, as it’s in high demand and similar functions, Moy worked to there is a significant skills gap. standardise DDB’s IT infrastructure “Additionally, there is an opportunity and procurement capabilities across in advertising for artificial intelligence its Asia operations with the support (AI) and machine learning,” continues of its parent company, Omnicom.

Moy. “Whilst AI solves “Standardisation has problems like humans, helped get us gain machine learning bigger discounts is understanding for procurement, ‘DDB has a pattern, as we’re one big partnered which we can global company with VEEAM apply to how when purchasing to support consumers equipment, its disaster consume services or recovery products or systems. We also strategy’ services. see what is going on “Lastly, there in the world in other are opportunities in offices,” comments Moy. big data, which is being “Our standardisation used by Google and Facebook. It has also helped our IT teams focus targets different types of advertising on technical skills. Members are depending on the consumer.” able to be trained faster, reducing issues with compatibility.”

Cloud implementation Having moved DDB’s email systems Upon joining DDB, Moy found that a into the cloud, Moy has also migrated number of its operations were siloed, its office apps and company data. particularly within the procurement “Migrating our global apps to

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the cloud has enabled global access,” he says. “We don’t have to be worried about owning equipment, as it’s in a local data centre. Also, cloud technology helps us with business continuity.

“We’re very flexible and fast to offer services. We have the technical skills because we are limited on standardisation and infrastructure to certain brands.”

Enhanced flexibility Throughout DDB’s cloud transformation, multiple cloud

Video: The Link ‘Guide Dog’ DDB Group Hong Kong

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platforms have been implemented to enable the business to utilise both public and private clouds, providing further choice and flexibility to its clients.

Whilst Hewlett Packard Enterprise (HPE) has been instrumental to DDB’s infrastructure overhaul, the use of Amazon Web Services (AWS), Microsoft’s Office 365, Office Suite, email, and Azure, as well as Adobe, has seen the company’s operations become strengthened throughout the region.

“Clients tend to inform us of the

cloud platform they prefer, which could be due to policy compliance or other preferential conditions where they need to use a particular cloud provider,” observes Moy. “If this is not the case, we will choose the platform which could be one where we have the most clients and have increased visibility.”

However, not all applications are placed in DDB’s cloud systems, as downloading large files would become increasingly timeconsuming. Large files are still archived to the cloud for backup.

Financial and client data is kept locally according to local compliance issues and for financial reporting, which needs to be generated at a rapid pace with minimal delay.

“Our Creative division completes artwork, photography or video. These files are over a gigabyte in size. This group therefore works with these files locally and they are housed locally.

It could take an hour to download such files from the cloud,” says Moy. However, the company’s latest project surrounds its disaster

‘DDB has worked with McDonald’s, Volkswagen, ExxonMobil, Wrigley, and Unilever in the Asia Pacific region’

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DDB WORLDWIDE

“We have some countries, China for example, where laws dictate that private data cannot be stored outside of the country. We are therefore required to look for internal Chinese providers which will keep the data in China�

Wayne Moy, Regional IT Director, DDB

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recovery and backup strategy.

Partnering with Veeam, DDB is harnessing its software when taking snapshots of virtual machines (VMs), which also filters into DDB’s business continuity solution.

“VM snapshots are stored locally and they are quickly recovered if needed. We also store a copy of those VMs in the cloud and Veeam supports us in doing that,” says Moy. “These snapshots can be spun up in the cloud during disaster recovery (DR). If there’s a disaster in the local office, we are able to spin up the VMs in the cloud, where our data is also backed up for quick recovery. The cloud is our DR site.

This saves costs in actually creating and maintaining a DR site.”

Complex privacy laws Whilst Moy remains heavily involved in all projects which require IT operations across DDB’s Asia Pacific division, he acknowledges that the company will face a number of challenges surrounding the increased need for digital security, in order for the

business to comply with various governmental privacy laws.

“IT helps the business with all the systems, applications, and infrastructure including the cloud services, and also helps the business units relating to digital services,” he says.

“We have some countries, China for example, where laws dictate that private data cannot be stored outside of the country. We are therefore required to look for internal Chinese providers which will keep the data in China.

“Having a provider within the country helps with the privacy law and also with the speed and robustness of the product that’s being marketed,” Moy continues.

“These are all new laws which were not in place 20 years ago – this is on a global scale. In May, the General Data Protection Regulations in the European Union are set to shift, and we have to keep catching up with different laws in different areas. Are we going to move the data out?

How are we going to handle this?

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“Machine learning is an opportunity that we should invest time in because advertising in the traditional sense is slowly declining” Wayne Moy, Regional IT Director, DDB

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It’s quite a challenge for us.”

Additionally, DDB works with a significant number of financial and insurance companies, which request that the DDB’s IT team complies with the individual internal company data security compliance policies which each company houses,” adding another layer of complexity.

Strong team Despite this, DDB’s operations are underpinned by an exceptional workforce. At senior level, weekly meetings with influential management figures from across the business enable the company to discuss key issues which will impact DDB’s operations, both nationally and internationally.

“Everyone’s involved, even finance and procurement. We handle issues and talk about projects that are global,” notes Moy. On the ground, Moy expresses immense pride in his team and observes that it is one of the main drivers behind his long-term tenure at DDB.

“I work with a very good regional team. They are very dedicated to their roles and their work ethic is impeccable. The global IT management team includes great people and it’s a pleasure to work with them,” he says.

“I think the most important thing is that we listen to each other.

Listening is not enough; we have to respond to what we listen to. This creates respect. We listen to all the

issues, we listen to all sides and then we respond. We talk about it.

We each give our recommendations on how to handle an issue and we respect each other’s comments or questions. It makes a very good team that collaborates well together.”

Future growth DDB is home to many clients and success stories and will continue to look at future areas of growth within

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Established in 1949, DDB is one of the oldest and largest advertisers in the world

the digital space. New technologies will reshape traditional business models, and DDB will need to further adapt the ways in which it supports clients in marketing products and services to remain one of the most prestigious MNC’s in the world.

“The internet of things and machine learning are really two areas that we should tap into,” comments Moy. “Machine learning is an opportunity that we should invest time in because advertising in the traditional sense is slowly declining.

Less people are watching traditional TV. They are watching online media. When they’re online we can capture data of what they like and dislike and their viewing habits.

“We can gear towards marketing towards specific people with specific marketing.

There are many advertising companies in the world but what differentiates us from the rest is the services or products that we can provide that others do not.”

Moy concludes: “These technologies are opportunities where we can provide services that others do not, and we will take this opportunity to develop new products and services to offer our clients. This differentiates us from the rest of the pack.”

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HOW FOR THE ASIAN QSR MARKET Written by Catherine Sturman Produced by Alistair West

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REGIONAL DIRECTOR OF OPERATIONS, DILIP ROUSSENALY, DISCUSSES HIS WORK TO ENSURE KFC REMAINS DISTINCTIVE AND RELEVANT ACROSS ITS ASIA DIVISION, INCLUDING ITS PLANS TO GROW ITS DELIVERY SERVICE

F

or over 70 years, KFC has captured the hearts (and appetites) of loyal customers.

A subsidiary of YUM! Brands, it has harnessed a number of growth drivers to ensure it remains a leading restaurant brand of choice for the future.

Opening up to seven new restaurants per day on average, KFC is presently the second-largest fast-food brand worldwide, and the first Western restaurant chain to enter the Chinese market.

Accepting the challenge of

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undertaking KFC’s aggressive growth strategy in Singapore, Regional Director of Operations Dilip Roussenaly has worked to build a strong brand which listens to the needs of its customers, whilst supporting franchisees under KFC’s Asia division. Roussenaly was previously at KFC France, where he joined from the consulting firm McKinsey & Company.

“We believe that our brands have a huge potential for growth globally.

As part of this, there is a significant opportunity for KFC in Asia,” he says.

FOOD AND DRINK

“ We should be able to interact with our customers seamlessly across all channels, particularly digital” DILIP ROUSSENALY Regional Director

By the end of 2018, YUM!’s goal is to become 98% franchised in a bid to increasingly boost efficiencies across its operations. With this in mind, Roussenaly has strived to implement best practices and equip franchisees with essential systems, knowledge and processes to lead the way within the food and beverage industry across Asia.

“We are becoming more focused, more efficient,” says Roussenaly, then detailing Yum!’s four pillars to drive growth.

“Firstly, by continually innovating, building distinctive, relevant and easy brands.

Secondly, by developing unmatched franchise operating capability, to deliver excellent customer experience”, he adds.

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Creating innovation together.

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FOOD AND DRINK

“Thirdly, driving bold restaurant development, consistently seeking to strengthen our franchisees’ business model. Ultimately, this is what will fuel their appetites for development. There are definitely opportunities to build more KFC stores in Asia,” notes Roussenaly.

“Lastly, growing our unrivalled culture and talent, housing first-rate people who drive great results.”

Increased accessibility Consumer demands for food that is quick, tasty and convenient has evolved rapidly. Attracting a

significant chunk of this market in Asia is something which KFC has maintained despite rampant competition, with an increased awareness that consumers are leading increasingly busy lifestyles, and are continually looking for new products and services which are accessible, high quality and cost-efficient.

However, the emergence of new digital tools has disrupted the way businesses interact with customers.

“We should be able to interact with our customers seamlessly across all channels, particularly VIDEO:

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KFC (YUM! BRANDS)

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digital. Convenience is really winning, even over the product itself, and has impacted the way customers are accessing services and products,” explains Roussenaly.

“Growing demand for home delivery is one of the biggest trends currently shaping the industry.”

Whilst delivery across the food and beverage industry has risen in prominence, KFC aims to retain a leading position in Asia.

VIDEO (Above left): The long wait

is over. Ladies and gentlemen, we are pleased to announce KFC’s First Filipino Colonel: Mr. Ronaldo Valdez!

“In Asia specifically, the healthy disposable income growth is fueled by continued low inflation and increases in minimum wage in many countries. We are really committed to growing our business together with our franchisee partners. In fact, in Asia we’re aiming at doubling our delivery business over the next few years,” he says.

Enhanced capabilities “Our three main initiatives to grow Delivery are straight-forward,” explains Roussenaly. “One is expanding our delivery store base, and of course, working closely with aggregators.

“Aggregators are disrupting the landscape. They provide the convenience of a one-stop shop to customers. From an industry standpoint, the disruption is more profound than what happened with Booking.com for example, as aggregators handle customers from order taking to actual delivery.

This is certainly an opportunity for us. In Asia, we will be offering

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KFC (YUM! BRANDS)

“ We share strong core values and have a great culture.

We have operators in each country who love the brands and, obviously, our customers love the brand as well” DILIP ROUSSENALY Regional Director

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April 2018 Photo credit: André Thoraval

FOOD AND DRINK

access to KFC though delivery in more and more areas,” he adds.

Noticeably, YUM! has recently entered a partnership with US online and mobile food ordering company Grubhub, which will guarantee further growth in sales across both YUM!’s KFC and Taco Bell restaurants. Through the deal, the business will also acquire $200mn of common stock at Grubhub, which will further YUM!’s online presence, enhance its ordering and delivery experience for its customers, and also drive profitable growth for its US franchisees.

“Number two is stepping up our own online capabilities, to provide the best ordering experience for customers as well as strong value,” says Roussenaly.

“Thirdly, we are upgrading our operational capabilities to deliver a frictionless experience for customers. For example, we are adopting delivery management systems to become more efficient in fleet management and deliver hot food faster to our customers.”

People focused culture “Since day 1, I’ve been amazed by the unique people-focused culture that YUM! Has,” Roussenaly continues.

“This culture is spread across all levels at YUM!, from exceptional training and development at store level, all the way to senior management level. Even our CEO is very involved into culture training all across the globe.”

Through its people-first culture and exceptional customer service, Roussenaly firmly believes this will continue to put YUM! on a growth trajectory.

“We have amazingly exceptional people in our ranks, both on the YUM! and franchisee side,” he concludes.

“We share strong core values and have a great culture. We have operators in each country who love the brands and, obviously, our customers love the brand as well. We have an authentic brand which sets us apart, and we have a great tasting product.”

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EMBRACING TECHNOLOGY TO REDEFINE THE SINGAPOREAN INSURANCE INDUSTRY Written by Dale Benton Produced by James Pepper

O

SINGAPORE LIFE

In less than one year of operating in the market, and having acquired Zurich Life Singapore’s expansive customer portfolio, Singapore Life continues to push the boundaries of technology in life insurance “Born in Singapore, we’re the next generation life insurance.”

So says the mission statement of Singapore Life, the new life insurance provider that everyone is talking about which promises to deliver a better experience to the customer through technology. Following the acquisition of Zurich Life’s Singapore arm in early 2018, the company is expanding its footprint aggressively and growing its customer base significantly.

In the ever-changing world of insurance, one that is being driven increasingly by technology, the promise to deliver value through technology is as important now as it has ever been.

According to Singapore Life CEO Walter de Oude, despite the

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rise of technology and artificial intelligence across the industry, particularly within Singapore, the old life insurance industry has not kept up with digital innovation.

Singapore Life, founded in 2014, and fully licensed in 2017 was built around such a window of opportunity.

“The insurance industry was fundamentally broken in my view,” says de Oude. “There were significant opportunities for customers to benefit from technology, opportunities that were not being explored.”

“And so that’s what we did. We set up Singapore Life to do just that, to explore the potential for what a new insurance company could do better, with all the power of today’s technological efficiency.”

Walter de Oude CEO Prior to establishing Singapore Life, Mr de Oude was CEO of HSBC Insurance Singapore from 2009 - 2014. Starting out as an actuary, there is very little that Mr de Oude does not know about insurance.

Carving his niche in the highnet worth insurance and wealth management space over the years, de Oude and the Singapore Life team is all set to bring Singapore Life to you – with a unique market proposition that sets the stage for the new age of insurance

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“At Singapore Life; we are focusing on where customers have not had the kind of experience they should have had and find ways of providing that through technology” Walter de Oude, CEO, Singapore Life Over the course of his career, de Oude has lived and breathed this changing financial landscape.

Having held executive roles in actuary and banking as well as asset management, de Oude developed an understanding of how larger organisations work and how they can do more for the customer.

“Most big organisations are not always 100% driven by what customers truly want,” he says.

“Of course, the customer is important, but many institutions tend to be more focused in serving the needs of the organisation first. If companies are able to find something in the best interest of the customer, then that’s a bonus.”

“At Singapore Life; we are focusing on where customers have not

had the kind of experience they should have had and find ways of providing that through technology.” de Oude believes that the financial customers have been underserviced, particularly when it comes to life insurance. Customers don’t really want to purchase life insurance, it’s a hassle and time consuming.

So, Singapore Life strives to make the process of getting and managing life insurance as simple as possible, using technology as a means of achieving that.

This, de Oude believes, will provide more measurable value for the customer.

“We take the efficiency of technology and we transfer it into better value for our customers,” he says. “It’s all about taking

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SINGAPORE LIFE

Video: Singapore Life welcomes Zurich Life Singapore

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out the hassle of traditional user journeys and providing easy access to the insurance product consumers need without the pain they would have previously experienced.�

Promising to provide ease of access, removing pain points and creating a seamless experience is one thing, but with technology comes its own unique challenges. As industries all around the world are transformed through digitisation, how has the life

insurance customer changed with it? de Oude believes that in this digital age, the customer is more time constrained than ever before and organisations need to be able to respond effectively in order to succeed.

“Providing an easily accessible service in a trustworthy and efficient way is actually what people value, possibly even more so than a good price,” he says. “Customers have

previously been put off life insurance because of traditional practices in the industry. At Singapore Life, we have taken steps to empower our clients with enabled artificial intelligence to create an environment of unified ease and transparency.” de Oude points to the traditional method of obtaining life insurance that required a medical check-up from a pre-assigned list of approved doctors in the first instance – a process that

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SINGAPORE LIFE

The Singapore Life team has now been replaced by interactive smart technology that can understand complex medical information.

This, he feels, is turning the tide for life insurance customers. Singapore Life is removing the pain points in order to encourage customers to take the initiative to purchase life insurance.

Singapore Life was registered first and foremost as a technology company, obtaining the necessary licences along the way in order to become a technology focused insurance provider. Now in sixth month of retail operations, de Oude has overseen this technological shift and is

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the first to admit that with digitisation comes with its share of challenges, especially in an industry that he described as “fundamentally broken”.

“With technology there are risks.

The difference in today’s market is that it’s much more bite-sized whereas before, it was mired in paperwork and red tape,” he says.

“With today’s technologies, you have to be nimble. You have to look at it as a continuous optimisation process, and there is always room for evolution and change. At Singapore Life, we are constantly enhancing and improving. It’s all

about implementing new user experiences as we need them.”

As technology continues to define the industry, trends begin to emerge from organisation to organisation.

Artificial intelligence, blockchain, big data and automation are just a few of the “buzzword” technologies that continue to dominate the fintech conversation. de Oude recognises that while these technologies are becoming more prominent, it is important to understand and recognise that a company must not fall into a trap of implementing technology for technology’s sake.

For him and Singapore Life, the organisation will always look at how technology can provide true value for the most important stakeholder in the acquisition funnel: The customer.

“While technologies like blockchain do have some really solid solutions for businesses, at the end of the day, the customer doesn’t always see it and it may not provide additional benefit to customer,” he says. “So, our view on technology has been and will always remain, focus on

“Having the Zurich portfolio has helped us to accelerate some of the development work we’ve needed to do, which in turn has put us in a better position for the future” Walter de Oude CEO, Singapore Life

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SINGAPORE LIFE

the technology that actually makes a customer’s life simpler. Be that removing filling out traditional brick-and-mortar paperwork, or simply adding in more technology enabled touchpoints.” Blockchain hasn’t yet reached a maturity for demonstrating customer value adding use-cases yet.

Following the successful acquisition of the business portfolio of Zurich Life Singapore, which has seen Singapore Life become responsible for all of Zurich Life Singapore’s customer policies, totalling SGD$6 billion of coverage for life, critical illness and disability benefits. Singapore Life is now clearly on the map. As a growing company, the opportunity to significantly cement its footprint in Singapore was one that the company could not pass on. de Oude views the transaction as a true meeting of minds between the two companies, providing Singapore Life with a leap frog opportunity, accelerating the company’s scalability.

From a technology standpoint, de Oude believes that the acquisition will play a key role in expanding Singapore Life’s positioning in the market.

“Having the Zurich portfolio has helped us to accelerate some of the development work we’ve needed to do, which in turn has put us in a better position for the future,” he says. “The way in which we’ve integrated Zurich’s portfolio seamlessly is a testament to how good our technology actually is.”

That statement is proof that the company has

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“The way in w integrated Zu seamlessly is good our tec Walter de Oude CEO, Singapore Life

which we’ve urich’s portfolio s a testament to how chnology actually is”

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SINGAPORE LIFE

the technology and capability to serve such an expansive portfolio of customers, and ultimately defining Singapore Life as an insurer of choice across the market. de Oude believes that an acquisition of this scale in such a highly regulated market represents a level of trust in the organisation that will allow it to “play in the big leagues”.

This, for a company in its first year of operation, is no small feat.

“To me it shows that we are viewed as a solid custodian for the

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customers,” de Oude says, “and with that comes trust and support from Zurich, from the regulators and from the insurance industry.

That trust places Singapore Life as a viable, reputable insurance company, with all of the added benefits of our impeccable technology supporting our services.”

For Singapore Life, it’s been a journey of growth and success.

Success, de Oude is keen to stress, defined by the better ways in which it provides insurance products to

its ever-growing customer base.

But at what point is Singapore Life at exactly along this growth journey? 2018 represents a year of consolidation as the company continues to bring onboard the Zurich Life customers and develop its product range, which de Oude feels will place Singapore Life in good stead moving well into 2019 and beyond.

What that future holds for Singapore Life, is potential growth opportunities beyond Singapore.

“Singapore Life is able to bring

innovation and technology from Singapore’s financial service sector to the globe in an efficient way.”

“We’re actually only less than a year old, but we are incredibly ambitious. Because our technology is expandable, there is no reason to suggest we can’t take our existing capabilities and expand that to other regions, so that customers in those markets can also benefit from the services that Singapore Life provides.”

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