NEWS & INSIGHT
THE NEED TO STRENGTHEN
ASIAN-AUSTRALIAN
REPORTING ON CULTURE COUNTRY: UK SCHOOL: London Business School
BUSINESS OUTLOOK COUNTRY: Australia SCHOOL: University of Sydney Business School
A healthy and positive culture is important for staff, branding and cohesion within an organisation. Good cultures are often set from the top down, and specifically laid out by the board to reflect the organisation’s values. Although this is often seen to be best practice, is it reflected in the current business practice? Research carried out by the Chartered Institute of Internal Auditors, AuditBoard and the London Business School (LBS) Leadership Institute, for a report entitled Cultivating a healthy culture: Why internal audit and boards must take corporate culture more seriously in a post-Covid world , suggests that it is not. The research is based on a survey of 110 senior internal audit executives from different sectors in the UK and Ireland. Participants were asked for their opinions of what their profession is doing to support boards and audit committees in assessing corporate culture. The results found that 52% of senior audit executives have not been asked by a board or audit committee to provide reports on corporate culture, or on equality, diversity and inclusion initiatives. In addition, 23%, said that their board had not established and articulated what culture it wanted. Of the senior internal audit executives surveyed, 67% believed that the Financial Reporting Council should act by strengthening the UK Corporate Governance Code with regards to culture. ‘Boards of directors, executives and non-executives alike, are ultimately responsible for overseeing the development of healthy corporate cultures, and feigning a lack of understanding of how to do this is no longer acceptable. The insights, practices, case studies, success stories, and recommendations showcased in this research report will make it even more difficult for boards to say to stakeholders and regulators that they have no control or influence over the cultivation of culture in their organisations,’ said Vyla Rollins, Executive Director of the LBS Leadership Institute. The report recommends that internal audits should provide assurances for corporate culture so that change can be recommended to management if any issues are found. / EB
Australia’s business links with Asia are diversifying into new industries and expanding in new ways, says a report by the University of Sydney Business School and Commonwealth Bank of Australia (CBA). ‘A new generation of Asian-Australian entrepreneurs are looking for opportunities in their ancestral countries and pioneering transnational collaboration in areas such as manufacturing, digitalisation and e-commerce. The cliché of migrant entrepreneurs as outsiders with low formal qualifications and poor language skills has given way to generational change,’ said the report’s lead author Wei Li, a Lecturer at the University of Sydney Business School. People of Asian cultural background make up 17% of the Australian working population, according to 2015 figures from Diversity Council Australia. However, traditional Asian-Australian businesses are said to have been primarily community-based and engaged in simple import and export activities. The report’s sample of 72 Asian-Australian businesses (defined as those founded or owned by people of Asian heritage) highlights how much has changed. A total of 15% said their main activity was in professional, scientific, and technical services – the same proportion as those involved in wholesale trade. In terms of reach, 29% said they have international partnerships in research and development, and 24% have international sales. No matter the industry, digital payments were found to be central, with 65% already using e-commerce for buying and selling, and a further 11% intending to do so. The entrepreneurs at the helm of surveyed businesses were found to be young (29% are younger than 40 years), highly educated (all held at least one local or overseas tertiary qualification) and in possession of substantial professional experience prior to starting their own ventures. Co-author and Professor in Chinese Business and Management at the University of Sydney Business School, Hans Hendrischke, said that the report showcases, ‘the breadth of Asian-Australian business ecosystems that combine migrant and diaspora- based traditions with connectivity, digitalisation, and new modes of collaboration across opening regional borders.’ / TBD
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AMBITION | Be in Brilliant Company
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