MIS Communications Strategy Plan Essay

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Mehsana Urban Institute of Sciences

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PRUDENTIAL SINGAPORE: SUBSIDIARY CEO SUCCESSION - TRICK OR TREAT October 31, 2016. Wilfred Blackburn had just taken up his new appointment as Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Prudential Assurance Company Singapore (PACS). It was Halloween - the date in England for remembering saints (hallows), martyrs, and all the faithful who had departed. Blackburn was unsure of the extent to which this English custom had been adopted in Singapore, but he knew that that evening, in his hometown in England, children would be out trick-or-treating. Given the challenges he foresaw with the PACS business, Blackburn wondered about the experiences ahead. In the context of his career, was this appointment going to turn out to be a trick or a treat? Prudential plc, a U.K. domiciled life insurance multinational (MNC) headquartered in London, had a long history in Singapore. PACS was established in Singapore in 1931, a century after the city had become the capital of the British Straits Settlements. PACS had served and prospered over the decades to become the largest life insurance provider in the country. However, in 2015, after a succession of five CEOs over the past ten years, PACS had lost its coveted number one market position. PACS had been the powerhouse of the Prudential Corporation Asia (PCA), an autonomous division established within Prudential plc in 1994. PCA, with its head office in Hong Kong, was responsible for overseeing the performance of Prudential’s fourteen country business units in Asia, including PACS. The recent lacklustre performance of PACS was of serious concern to PCA as well as to Prudential Plc. During his career, Blackburn had gained a reputation as a transformational leader. However, all his CEO appointments since the year 2000 were in emerging markets like the Philippines, Thailand, China, and Vietnam, where his task had been to oversee a high growth business within high growth emerging markets. Singapore, on the other hand, was a developed and quite sophisticated market. Blackburn knew that it was common for an incoming CEO to rapidly assess the situation and devise a new strategy within the first one hundred days, as his four predecessors had probably done. But, he wondered about the impact of all these leadership changes, as well as the drop off in the market positioning, on an organisation that had enjoyed success for most of its 85 years. The results of a recent culture survey conducted in the organisation were not encouraging either. As the incoming CEO of a troubled first world business, what approach could he take to turn around the organisation? Moreover, how quickly would he need to do it? This case was written by Professor Gordon Perchthold and Lipika Bhattacharya of the Singapore Management University. Special thanks to Jenny Sutton, Senior Associate at LIC, for her advisory support to the case. The case was prepared solely to provide material for class discussion. The authors do not intend to illustrate either effective or ineffective handling of a managerial situation. The authors may have disguised certain names and other identifying information to protect confidentiality. Copyright © 2019, Singapore Management University Version: 2019-02-22 Prudential Singapore: CEO Succession – Trick or Treat Life Insurance in Asia Asia was among the most attractive regions in the world for insurance MNCs. 1 American International Group Inc. (AIG), leveraging a strong agency distribution channel, dominated the life and general insurance markets across the region. Established by an American entrepreneur in Shanghai in 1919, AIG had never wavered on its commitment to Asia, even after World War II when its peer MNC competitors had retreated to their home markets. From the mid-1980s onwards, with the growth in gross domestic product (GDP) led by Japan and the Asian tiger economies, once again Western insurance MNCs began to recognise the Asian opportunity with its huge populations, declining protectionism, increasing per capita income, and an underinsured populace exposed to general, health and life risks. Many well-known insurance brands, including Sun Life and Manulife from Canada; Aetna, Mass Mutual, MetLife, New York Life, and Prudential Financial from the US (Prudential Financial had no relationship to Prudential plc); Norwich Union (which after a merger with Commercial General became Aviva in 2002) and Prudential plc from the UK; Colonial and National Mutual from Australia; Allianz from Germany; AXA Insurance and Cardiff from France; Generali from Italy; ING Group from the Netherlands and Zurich Insurance from Switzerland, began to establish their presence throughout Asia. This wave of new entrants contributed to a highly competitive environment throughout Asia, competing first with each other for licences to operate, and then with other new entrants and entrenched local insurance companies for agents and customers. The tailwind of rising per capita income meant that most insurance companies experienced very attractive, often double-digit, growth rates that far exceeded the growth rates in Western countries (refer to Exhibit 1 for the Growth of Insurance in Advanced and Emerging Markets). Over centuries, agency distribution had been the dominant distribution channel for insurance in Western countries. The same was true in Asia. However, just before the turn of the 21st century, with changes in the regulatory environment, a new distribution channel emerged in Asia – bancassurance. Banks in Asia had historically been the custodians of the population’s financial assets. Citibank, HSBC and Standard Chartered Bank were significant MNC banks operating across Asia for a century or more. DBS, headquartered in Singapore, was the most prominent of the Southeast Asia banks expanding across multiple countries in Asia. In 2005, PCA grabbed an opportunity to establish a 10-year pan-Asia relationship with Standard Chartered Bank (SCB). This relationship was renewed in 2014: a 15-year exclusive agreement for an access fee to SCB of US$1.25 billion (for further details, refer to Exhibit 2 for large Bancassurance deals in Asia). At the same time, local banks in each country in Asia were also tying up with one or more foreign and local insurance companies as insurers competed to secure distribution agreements with remaining unattached banks. Swiss Re, a global reinsurance company, based in Zurich, had estimated in 2015 that despite the perceived success of many insurance companies in Asia, the mortality protection gap in Asia was continuing to rise and exceeded US$58 trillion.2 Asia was a market that had yet to be fully penetrated by the insurance sector, possibly because the focus of insurance MNCs had always been on the wealthier segments of the population in the region. However, with changing demographics, the attention was increasingly being redirected to target the burgeoning middle-class population. By 1 Swiss Re, 3/2016 Sigma World Insurance in 2015, http://media.swissre.com/documents/sigma_3_2016_en.pdf, accessed November 2017 2 Swiss Re, Asia Pacific 2015 Mortality Protection Gap, http://www.swissre.com/publications/Mortality_Protection_Gap_Report AsiaPacific_2015.html, accessed November 2017 2/12 Prudential Singapore: CEO Succession – Trick or Treat 2030, Asia was projected to account for 66 per cent of all middle-class insurance consumers’ worldwide, totalling approximately 3.2 billion people.3 Changes after the Global Financial Crisis After the 2008 Global Financial Crisis, disruption in the business environment due to regulatory changes as well as technology innovations forced the insurance industry, which until then operated more or less traditionally, to diverge from the past and begin to adapt to some of these changes slowly but gradually. Market fundamentals, such as on-going low-interest rates as well as moderate economic growth rates, were challenges that traditional life insurance companies had historically faced. But the advancement of technology not only empowered consumers but also enabled new business models, driven by the explosion of accessible information, data analytics (powered by lowcost virtual servers) and mobile platforms. InsurTech platforms and technologies leveraging evolving technologies created by technology giants and start-ups started to emerge. 4 Hong Kong and Singapore, city-states that had traditionally competed to attract foreign direct investments (FDI) of Western MNCs, were now competing to foster ecosystems of digital innovation in banking and insurance sectors by establishing Fintech hubs. The Asian middle-class population was driving an exponential trend towards mass digital adoption. The insurance industry in the region and worldwide had been slow to utilise some of the innovations that digital technology offered. Customer centricity, much talked about in strategic plans and leadership meetings within the insurance sector, had not yet become an internalised commitment within the organisational cultures and operational processes of the life insurance industry. In fact, in many companies, the debate still raged as to whether the “customer” of an insurance company was the agent or the actual buyer of insurance. A “one size fits all” product, and focus on agents rather than customers, continued to be the reigning norm. Prudential plc In 2016, on an asset basis, Prudential plc was ranked as the largest life insurance company in the UK, and seventh worldwide. Established in London in 1848, it had been a leader in the insurance sector for decades and had a history of serving the working-class population with its agents (affectionately referred to as the “Man from the Pru”) going door-to-door to collect premiums. Prudential plc had begun to expand outside the UK in the 1920s, initially following the trade routes to British Commonwealth countries, aiming to provide continuing service to expatriates working overseas. The company established its operations in Singapore, a major port in the East, in 1931. After the devastation that followed World War II, Prudential rebuilt its operations in Malaysia and Singapore, but not elsewhere. In 1964, almost by chance, the business plan and resources initially intended for Dubai were diverted to Hong Kong, and Prudential Hong Kong was launched. Prudential plc’s dominant market position in the UK caused it to become a target not only for other competitors but also for increasingly active regulators. By the early 1990s, Prudential plc’s management recognised that overexposure to its home market could subject its shareholders to unexpected volatility in its earnings. The Global CEO at the time made it a strategic imperative to 3 OECD, An emerging Middle Class 2012, http://oecdobserver.org/news/fullstory.php/aid/3681/An_emerging_middle_class.html, accessed November 2017 4 InsureTech, British Insurance Broker’s association, https://www.biba.org.uk/current-issues/insuretech/, accessed Nov 2017. 3/12 Prudential Singapore: CEO Succession – Trick or Treat build operations in the U.S. and emerging markets in Asia with the objective that each region would become equal in weight to the existing UK business. In particular, he did not want to be remembered as the CEO who missed the opportunity in China, a country that was in the process of opening up to foreign direct investment. In what was considered to be a highly unusual move for an Anglo-Saxon MNC, Prudential sold its businesses in Australia, Canada and South Africa in order to focus on Asia. In 1994, Mark Tucker, at that time Chief of Staff to Prudential’s Group CEO, was relocated to Hong Kong and tasked with building the business across the Asian markets, and Prudential Corporation Asia (PCA) was established as a separate business unit with its headquarters located in Hong Kong. A few years later in 1999, to emphasise the strategic imperative of the tri-regional strategy, the regional CEOs of Asia, the UK and the U.S. were appointed as Executive Directors to the corporate board of Prudential plc. Over the next decade, PCA extended its footprint from three to twelve countries in Asia. Premium revenue grew rapidly through aggressive agency distribution and a unit-linked product platform coupled with an insurance rider which was less capital intense than traditional insurance products. PCA gained market share and soon became the top ranking insurance company in most markets in Asia, challenging American International Assurance Company Limited (AIA)’s reign as the number one pan-Asia life insurance MNC.5 Singapore, Hong Kong and Indonesia, in that order, became the largest contributors to PCA premiums. By 2008, PCA was responsible for over half of Prudential plc’s global revenues. Prudential Assurance Company Singapore (PACS) PACS was considered the jewel in the crown of PCA’s business. From its ongoing community investment initiatives, to winning Asia Insurance Review’s Life Insurance Company of the Year award and to forming a 12-year bancassurance relationship in 2010 with United Overseas Bank (one of Singapore’s the top three banks), the company demonstrated how far it had come since it first began selling insurance policies in Singapore during the pre-World War II era. In the early 2000s, the morale of employees in the company was at an all-time high. PACS’ agency distribution channel and key strategic bancassurance relationships formed a wide moat. 6 Prudential, AIA, and Great Eastern Life led the rankings among the life insurance companies in the market.7 Suddenly, however, PACS performance in the market started to waiver. Era of Confusion PACS had always been a performance-driven organisation. But warning signs of the downturn had been visible. In 2015, the company lost two key bancassurance partnerships. PAC’s annual new business premiums dropped by US$ 82.7 million, and its market share slipped by almost five percentage points.8 PACS lost its coveted position as the top life insurance company in Singapore (refer to Exhibit 3 for Weighted Premium 10-year Trend in Singapore). 5 In December 2009, AIG had formed AIA and continued to operate in Asia under the name over the years. A wide economic moat is a type of sustainable competitive advantage possessed by a business that makes it difficult for rivals to wear down its market share. Will Kenton, Wide Economic Moat, Investopedia, https://www.investopedia.com/terms/w/wide-economicmoat.asp, accessed February, 2018. 7 Claire Huang, “When Bigger is Better in Life Insurance”, Business Times, Dec 12, 2016, http://www.businesstimes.com.sg/companies-markets/when-bigger-is-better-in-life-insurance-amended, accessed Nov 2017. 6 8 S$1 = 0.74 US$, https://www.xe.com/currencyconverter/, conversion rate as of 05 April, 2019.. 4/12 Prudential Singapore: CEO Succession – Trick or Treat The following year, the company lost a long-standing high performing agency to a competitor. By 2016, staff across the organisation began to feel the pinch of the declining performance. Although reports and presentations circulating within and outside the organisation continued to promote the achievements of the company, employee bonuses were at rock bottom for a second consecutive year. More than the loss of top-ranked status, the sustained decline in bonuses felt like personal retribution to the staff for the company’s underperformance (refer to Exhibit 4 for Weighted Market Share by New Business Premium 2016). Continued lower employee bonuses due to missed business performance target was indeed a wakeup call for most, explained Tara Ban, a senior executive in Operations. But it was not just comparatively lower performance that was plaguing the organisation. With Blackburn’s appointment, Ban, who joined the organisation in June 2009, was now working with her fifth CEO in her seven years with the company. Frequent CEO changes Each CEO had his own unique, quite contrasting style of leadership, and this quick succession of changes yielded different business strategies, with many not seen through their full completion. Back in September 2006, Justin Lim had become CEO after a long career within Prudential Singapore, where he had begun in 1978 as an agent. Ban explained, Justin was highly personable. He remembered the birthdays of employees and was much liked by employees. His style of leadership was non-confrontational. He preferred to keep status quo and draw on relationships to build business results. In January 2010, Justin became PCA’s Regional Chief Agency Officer, and Thomas Contri took over the reigns as CEO in Singapore. An American, Contri had worked in the general insurance sector in the US for a dozen years before joining AIA in Malaysia, where he had been for four years. In 2000, he was recruited by PCA as a Regional Agency Director, and then relocated to Indonesia where he held the CEO role for seven years prior to taking on the Singapore CEO role. Ban added, Generally, Justin and Contri focussed on steering the ship and focusing on strategies that worked to make sure we accomplished financial numbers. In January 2013, Lee Johnson was appointed as the CEO of PACS. Also, an American, Lee had worked with a number of general insurance companies in the U.S. before relocating to China to assume a position with AIG for four years. He joined PCA in 2008 to take on regional roles in marketing and distribution. Lee assumed the role of CMO during Contri’s leadership before taking over as CEO. Samuel Gen, a senior executive in Human Resources, recollected, Lee’s style of leadership was pretty autocratic. He thought my way was the right way. He was very demanding, and his style of leadership was very granular. He personally took on too many tasks. Netta Maple, Finance Director at PACS, added, Lee wanted to make this a successful business, but he didn’t have the levers or mandate to do what needed to be done. He did not have the support of the rest of his management team. He was 5/12 Prudential Singapore: CEO Succession – Trick or Treat very detail-oriented and tended to take too much on his own plate. That essentially meant we were trying to run the business on the back of one man’s ideas. Lee’s autocratic style was not conducive to PACS’ relationships with either its bancassurance partners or its agency force. Prudential lost a few major bancassurance bids, and an existing longstanding bancassurance partner declined to renew their relationship. This was a huge blow to what had been a stable business. Major agency relationships were also under pressure. In October 2015, Justin Lim was hastily reassigned from his position as Malaysia CEO to assume, once again, the CEO role of PACS. Maple explained, Justin was brought in to stabilise, and he did exactly that. We were stable and static. We needed to proactively start to invest in the future, and that, unfortunately, didn’t happen. Ban added, Justin had seen through the ups and downs in business. In Malaysia, where he went through a sales crisis, he reacted with composure and calmness. When the company lost a big agency in Singapore, again he was not ruffled. Although the top management team was directly impacted by the continual change in leadership styles and direction, employees working further down in the hierarchy operated as they had always done. They were still happy working for the top-ranked insurance company in Singapore. That was until bonuses were impacted. Ban further explained, If we looked at our employee performance bonus, it was at the bottom of the abyss. We had never seen such low points before. When it hit the pocket, people started to realise things were not all that rosy and morale was affected. . Too Many Walls Gen had observed the rising frustration among staff across the organisation. There was discord between departments, and each unit preferred to work in its own silo. He recalled that when employees were asked to interact with other departments within the organisation, there was a sense of fear and discomfort amidst them. He added, Teams would try to protect their own people. Performance was sales driven, and the overall attitude was very defensive. Targets set were not aligned to expectations, and hierarchy was pervasive. Many teams were not paying attention to the right issues and were busy trying to untangle themselves from the fire-fighting mode. Maple recollected, There was zero tolerance for failure in terms of employee performance. So, there was absolute fear in staff, and hence most major issues that needed discussion and resolution were never delved into. We were busy trying to project the numbers that made us look good, instead of focussing on the real situation. We had lost deals, but we were still in a denial mode. Even though some staff felt strongly that things needed to change, the hierarchical culture was a real bottleneck. We had been a top performer in the market, and the entire focus then was to try and keep projecting ourselves as a top performer, rather than invest time and energy into gaping issues that needed attention. 6/12 Prudential Singapore: CEO Succession – Trick or Treat Cracks in the Fortress PACS had always done well relative to other PCA operations in the region. Management in PACS were used to dealing with their day-to-day problems themselves with minimal interference from the PCA regional office in Hong Kong. Maple, who had worked at PCA before she was transferred to the Singapore subsidiary, recalled, Prudential Singapore was always this fortress that was difficult to penetrate. They hardly relied on the regional office, and since their performance had always been more or less stellar, the regional office had not interfered much in the organisation’s day to day affairs. However, there was undoubtedly little trust between the regional office and Singapore office, primarily because there was little interaction, and as a result, little warmth shared between the staff of the two offices. Reflecting sentiments built over a number of years, in mid-2016, a highly productive team of agents from PACS’ largest agency unit resigned and joined a rival insurer, leaving a gaping hole in sales production. PCA realised that they had to fix multiple aspects of the business to regain and maintain PACS’ performance in the Singapore market. To begin with, they had to demolish the walls of the fortress itself. But they also had to transform the business to cope with technology disruption and changes in the market that were not just impacting Singapore but the broader insurance industry as a whole. They needed an experienced change agent. The Next CEO of PACS Wilf Blackburn had begun his career in the UK in an actuarial consultancy and then worked in distribution for several years. His initial years in Asia were at Singapore within the Asia regional office of Allianz, global life and general insurance MNC. His career as a CEO had begun in the Philippines at the age of 35. He recollected, My first experience working as a CEO was for a joint venture of an insurance company, a fiftyyear-old family business in the Philippines. I was the fourth CEO in five years in the company, and I quickly realised the pitfalls of a joint venture. Next, I got the role of CEO in Thailand. They were looking for a transformation agent; the role helped me develop my expertise as a change leader. I also got to work in China for a while where I got to handle transformation, innovation and customer centricity which required me to bring in new people with new ideas. I was experimenting with hiring a lot of people from different places. Some industries had way better training for their employees than financial services. Employees from these industries were able to understand the value of new ideas, so we brought in people with different mind-sets. It is hard to copy success without the DNA of the right mind-set. But it is also hard to maintain intellectual potential as people constantly move to different organisations in this competitive world. But again, the benefit in this is if people did not move, new people with fresh ideas could not be brought in, so there are two sides of the coin. Blackburn was not new to organisational transformation. His multiple postings had made him quite aware of the broader pressures being placed on the industry. He believed that the best decisions arose when there were opposing perspectives, and therefore, staff diversity was a prerequisite to change. Blackburn also believed in collaboration, an open mind-set, and a willingness to change and adapt for the better. His years of experience had taught him to observe, listen, understand, and coach staff to make their own decisions, thereby embracing the accountability they had been entrusted with. PCA was known to hire talent whenever they noticed it, rather than searching under pressure for talent when a vacancy occurred. It developed its senior hires by exposing them to various regional 7/12 Prudential Singapore: CEO Succession – Trick or Treat projects and country operations. It was under this programme that Blackburn had joined PCA in 2012. His first assignment was to oversee the launch of PCA's subsidiary in Cambodia and the opening of PCA's representative offices in Myanmar and Laos. In 2014, Blackburn was appointed as CEO of Prudential Vietnam and entrusted with the task of catalysing organisational change. As a symbolic action, as the Vietnam office was restructuring its office space, he insisted on a shared, open space plan situated amongst his employees. It was unheard of for a CEO to share workspace with other employees in a large organisation, particularly in Vietnam, never mind in most of Asia. While PCA would have liked to transfer Blackburn earlier to Singapore, he first had to bring to closure what he started in Vietnam. What next? When Blackburn took over as CEO of PACS in October 2016, many employees were at a crossroads. The results of a recently conducted Barrett organisational culture survey (refer to Exhibit 5 for 2016 Barrett Study) indicated a level of cultural entropy reflecting ‘significant problems requiring immediate attention.’ There was a significant mismatch between the actual organisational culture at PACS and the culture desired by the employees and management. The organisation was characterised as bureaucratic, controlling and focused on short-term results. Competitors were keen to attract some of the talents of what had been the top-ranked insurance company for so many years. PACS had traditionally been a proud and confident organisation. It had experienced year upon year of success over a succession of CEOs. Yet, defections in the market along with a decline in market share and reductions in staff bonuses clearly indicated that change was necessary. Ban recalled, People were expecting a change in leadership when Wilf came. But we were sceptical and unsure. We did not know what to expect. We hoped the new CEO would be able to turn the business around, improve the work environment and invest in the future. Notably, there was also a huge desire amongst some of the senior staff to change for the better, and evolve and adapt ourselves to the rapidly changing business environment. But we were deep-rooted in many ways as an organisation, so we had no idea on what would be the strategy for the change, how fast that change would happen, or would it happen at all! Everyone wondered, how PACS could transform as an organisation? What would Blackburn do now? How quickly would he act? 8/12 Prudential Singapore: CEO Succession – Trick or Treat EXHIBIT 1: GROWTH OF INSURANCE IN ADVANCED AND EMERGING MARKETS Life Non-Life Source: Sigma Report, Swiss Re Economic Research & Consulting, World Insurance in 2014: back to life, https://www.tsb.org.tr/images/Documents/Raporlama/2015/sigma4_2015_en.pdf, accessed May 2018. EXHIBIT 2: REGIONAL BANCASSURANCE AGREEMENTS IN ASIA Year Est. 2012 2013 Regional Regional Bank Life Insurer HSBC Allianz Citibank AIA 2014 SCB 2015 DBS Prudential Plc. Manulife Countries Covered in Partnership AU, CN (ex HK), ID, LK, MY, TW AU, CN, HK, ID, IN, KR, MY, PH, SG, TH, VN CN, HK, ID, IN, KR, MY, PH, SG, TH, TW, VN as well as countries in Africa CN, HK, ID, SG Source: Company Data 9/12 Upfront Year Fee ($M) Until 100 2022 1,000 2028 1,250 2029 1,200 2030 Prudential Singapore: CEO Succession – Trick or Treat EXHIBIT 3: WEIGHTED PREMIUM 10 YEAR TREND (SINGAPORE) Source: Monetary Authority of Singapore, “Statistics”, accessed December 2018. 10/12 Prudential Singapore: CEO Succession – Trick or Treat EXHIBIT 4: LIFE INSURANCE COMPANIES - WEIGHTED MARKET SHARE BY NEW BUSINESS PREMIUM (SINGAPORE 2015) Weighted Premium Name of Insurer Market Share by Weighted Premium Market Rank by Weighted Premium AIA Singapore Private Limited 684,114,215 18.72% 1 Prudential Assurance Co. Singapore (Pte) Ltd 649,074,565 17.76% 2 The Great Eastern Life Assurance Company Limited 470,764,075 12.88% 3 Aviva Ltd 422,575,207 11.56% 4 NTUC Income Insurance Co-Operative Limited 304,193,790 8.32% 5 The Overseas Assurance Corporation Limited 247,566,576 6.77% 6 Manulife (Singapore) Pte. Ltd. 194,855,336 5.33% 7 AXA Insurance Pte Ltd 140,672,376 3.85% 8 Tokio Marine Life Insurance Singapore Ltd 123,761,371 3.39% 9 HSBC Insurance (Singapore) Pte. Limited 90,709,836 2.48% 10 Transamerica Life (Bermuda) Ltd. (Singapore Branch) 77,970,343 2.13% 11 Zurich International Life Limited (Singapore Branch) 54,211,509 1.48% 12 Etiqa Insurance Pte. Ltd. 46,739,494 1.28% 13 Swiss Life (Singapore) Pte. Ltd. 39,596,462 1.08% 14 Friends Provident International Ltd (Singapore Branch) 29,270,830 0.80% 15 Old Mutual Intl Isle of Man Limited Singapore Branch 27,972,607 0.77% 16 Raffles Health Insurance Pte. Ltd. 25,736,913 0.70% 17 Generali Worldwide Insurance Company Ltd, Spore Branch 9,971,881 0.27% 18 Zurich Life Insurance (Singapore) Pte Ltd 8,749,764 0.24% 19 St. James's Place International Plc (Singapore Branch) 5,122,513 0.14% 20 Life Insurance Corporation (Singapore) Pte. Ltd. 379,800 0.01% 21 China Life Insurance (Singapore) Pte. Ltd. 112,400 0.00% 22 Source: Monetary Authority of Singapore, “Statistics”, accessed December 2018. 11/12 Prudential Singapore: CEO Succession – Trick or Treat EXHIBIT 5: PRUDENTIAL SINGAPORE (SUMMARY OF 2016 BARRETT STUDY) The Cultural Entropy score as described by the Barrett Values Centre ‘reveals the degree of dysfunction (friction and frustration) in an organisation or any human group structure (community or nation) that is generated by the self-serving, fear-based actions of the leaders. As the Cultural Entropy score increases, the level of trust and internal cohesion decreases. ’ PACS Cultural Entropy Score Source: Company Data 12/12 1 Running head: PRUDENTIAL SINGAPORE COMMUNICATIONS PLAN Prudential Singapore Communications Plan Foundation Yuanyuan Fang Northeastern University 2 PRUDENTIAL SINGAPORE COMMUNICATIONS PLAN Prudential Singapore: Communications Plan Prudential Assurance Company Singapore (PACS) was established in Singapore in 1931. Over the decades, PACS has become the largest life insurance provider in Singapore and the strong powerhouse of Prudential Corporation Asia (PCA). PCA is an autonomous division within Prudential plc ( a U.K. domiciled life insurance multinational) However, in 2015, PACS faced a serious problem of losing its number one market position in the insurance industry in Singapore along with the problem of constant CEO succession. (Perchthold & Bhattacharya, 2019) Part 1: Situation Analysis (SWOT) Strengths • The new CEO – Wilfred Blackburn has the Weaknesses • reputation as a transformational leader, he prefers to have collaboration and bond with customers. • keep open perspectives with employees. • • Long experience in communication Cultural differences among employees, top management and customers. • Little trust and communication with because of the 85 years success. regional headquarter in Hong Kong (PCA), Strong external communication based on management were used to dealing with the established relationship and day to day problems themselves. partnership with top leading banks and • agencies. • Lack of customer centricity, the external Have experience year upon year of Employees have fear and discomfort to communicate with top management. • success over a succession of CEOs. Continual change in leadership style and direction, employees and top management team are impacted. • Mismatch between actual organizational culture and culture desired by employees and management. • Discord between departments and each unit preferred to work alone and only care about themselves. Employees are 3 PRUDENTIAL SINGAPORE COMMUNICATIONS PLAN reluctant to interact with other departments. • Hierarchical culture in PACS, 0 tolerance for employee performance failure. Opportunities • Aiming middle-class insurance Threats • Facing competitors such as American consumers. International Group Inc. (AIG) and • Finding partnership with more banks. bancassurance. • Increasing engagement with technology • Increasingly active regulators. platform. • Some of the partnerships went to join • technology. • rival insurer. Utilize innovations offered by digital • Technology disruption and changes in the market. Focus on customer centricity. • Decline in market share and the possibility of employee job hopping. Strengths Having the experience of 85 years of success helped Prudential Assurance Company Singapore (PACS) to gain an enormous reputation and became the number one leading insurance company in Singapore before 2015. In the aspect of the communication network, the long experience that PACS had from teaming up with employees, top leading banks and agencies has formed a strong communication base both internally and externally. There are success stories that worth reference for building PACS new communication strategy in the future. For example, the leadership style that Justin Lim (CEO in the year 2006) had is very important on building an effective vertical communication because he preferred building a personal relationship with employees and keeping a frequent and relaxed communication with each other. The established relationships with the world/region top leading banks such as the 10-year pan Asia relationship with Standard Chartered Bank (SCB) and the 12 year bancassurance relationship with United Overseas Bank helped PACS to have a strong external communication channels. PRUDENTIAL SINGAPORE COMMUNICATIONS PLAN 4 Weaknesses With the frequent CEO changes in PACS over the years and both of the employees and management team are confused by the different leadership styles in the company, there is a problem that everyone don’t know the appropriate way to reach out and communicate with each other. Therefore, there are deficiencies in the company’s vertical communication (both upwards and downwards). According to our textbook, “the top leader’s role is indispensable in forming, shaping, and sustaining the People Channel.” (Matha & Boehm, 2008, p. 167). The fact that PACS has lost two key bancassurance partnerships in 2015 and a high performing agency in 2016 illustrates that the company’s external communication strength is declining. Because PACS is a performance driven organization that focuses on hierarchy culture, employees would feel discomfort and have fears to talk with each other, other department as well as the top management team. “Direction can get confusing fast if people have multiple reporting relationships in an organization.” (Matha & Boehm, 2008). There have been increasing staff frustration based on the low employee bonuses. Every department and unit in PACS are reluctant to exchange information and communicate with each other, the problem of discord between departments has occurred. Opportunities “By 2030, Asia was projected to account for 66 percent of all middle-class insurance consumers’ worldwide, totaling approximately 3.2 billion people.” (Perchthold & Bhattacharya, 2019, p. 3) Therefore, PACS needs to start switching the company’s demographic focus to middle-class insurance consumers and figuring out what’s the new generation needs and expectations. With the world turns to more digital technology oriented, PACS should develop their areas in technology to replace the traditional life insurance and adapt new market changes gradually. PACS will have potentials on developing or partnering with Insurance technology platforms. In communication perspective, PACS leaders also have the opportunity to develop a Conversation Platform where “it simplifies concepts and the information will be easily remembered and articulated by top leaders, managers, supervisors and employees alike.” (Matha & Boehm, 2008, p. 114). The communication Platform allows the top management to pass down the essence of the organization in a short communication. Threats Threats of incoming technology disruption replacing the traditional insurance platform and the changes in the market (including regulatory environment) impacted PACS as a whole. Even though PACS is located in Asia where it is the largest market for insurance, the company is still facing intense competitors from 5 PRUDENTIAL SINGAPORE COMMUNICATIONS PLAN worldwide such as the American International Group Inc. (AIG) and other global leading insurance companies. Bancassurance from banks also threaten PACS overall sales and the risk of fighting partnership over other competitors. Employees frustration inside PACS cause work inefficiency and the risk of reducing employee turnover. Part 2: Stakeholder Analysis Key Internal Stakeholders Stakeholder s External Stakeholders Attributes* What we know: What we need to find out: Know: ● Blackburn is from CEO-Wilfred Blackburn Concerns/Expectations (What’s on their minds?) ● Worried about the Desire impact on: Communication Attitudes, preferences** knowledge, behaviors ● Use shared and ● Help PACS to focus impact caused from open space with both on short-term England and he is previous company employees to and long term currently in his leadership changes. exchange ideas in results. middle age. ● Social Technographic is more likely to be a Joiner or Spectator. According to the ● Supporting the value of new ideas and different mind sets. ● He expects staff diversity. person. ● Mix with formal and ● Influence organization’s informal culture and retain communication. loyal and talented ● Phone calls. Forrester’s European ● E-mails. Technographics ● Meetings. employees. ● Successfully transform PACS to PRUDENTIAL SINGAPORE COMMUNICATIONS PLAN 6 Benchmark Survey regain the position on Groundswell, of being number European customers one leader in the from the country of insurance industry United Kingdom, in the country. Joiners and Spectators make up the highest percentage of 50% and 55% among online adults. ● Had experiences of working in various countries such as Philippines, Thailand, UK, China and etc. ● Hold reputation as a transformational leader. ● Singapore is a sophisticated market to him. ● Believe in collaboration and open mind set. ● Joined PCA in 2012. ● High paid. Need to find out: ● What would he do to change the situation of PACS? 7 PRUDENTIAL SINGAPORE COMMUNICATIONS PLAN ● How long does he need to transform the organization? Know: ● Because their large population and ● They are reluctant to interact with other technographic is a departments inside the mix of creators, organization. ● Less hierarchy ● Regain their trust to focused PACS and have a communication. clear understanding ● Open in person conversation. ● E-mails. organization’s culture. ● Increasing frustration. joiners, spectators ● They become defensive less frustration. and inactives. after the company’s ● More cooperation Everyone has poor performance. ● They are in a ● They want changes in the company. ● Meetings. of the critics, collectors, media preferences. Employees performance bonus. diversity, their social different social PACS ● They expect high ● Positive morale and with other departments and maintain a frequent communication performance driven with the region organization, and in office in Hong Kong. early 2000s, their morale was at the highest. ● Happy working for top-ranked insurance company. ● They have good pay and bonus rate, their age ranges from 20 40. ● Experienced continuous changes of organizational leadership style and business strategies. 8 PRUDENTIAL SINGAPORE COMMUNICATIONS PLAN ● Little warmth shared with PCA regional office staff. Need to find out: ● Are there any other factors (besides bonus) drive employee work performance and morale? Know: ● Social Technographic Senior executive in Operation – Tara Ban ● She expects the new leader to make ● In person communication. ● Assist Blackburn on communicating is a mix of Joiners necessary changes to ● Meetings. with employees and Spectators. She the organization by ● Phone calls. and gathering likes to maintain her improving the work ● Workshops. thoughts from profile on social environment, investing ● E-mails. other management media and read in the future and turning ● Travel visiting. leaders to social contents such PACS business around. as blogs and videos. ● She has worries to stand transform PACS together. According to up because of the Groundswell, Joiners hierocracy culture in the insights on assisting and Spectators make organization. Blackburn on the up the highest percentage among age from 35 to 54. ● She is currently working with her 5th CEO in her seven years with PACS. ● Ban has her knowledge and experience about all the past CEOs. ● Provide positive new strategy. 9 PRUDENTIAL SINGAPORE COMMUNICATIONS PLAN ● Female leader in her middle age. ● High paid. Need to find out: ● What’s the biggest weakness she think PACS need to address first? ● What is her thought and suggestion on the new strategy? Know: ● Social Technographic ● They expect both high ● Meetings. ● Provide support to performance of the ● Phone calls. Blackburn and is a mix of Inactives, company and ● E-mails. increase Joiners and employees. ● Formal collaboration with Spectators. They like to collect information online ● Focus on leading PACS conversation. every management to a top performer. leader and the ● They expect the new communication for research and CEO to make new with the Hong Kong knowledge, changes and efficiently region office. however, there is a address PACS’ current possibility that they issues. ● Build stronger bond with PCA and get PACS Board don’t have interests assistance to help of Directors in participating transform PACS. social media due to their older age. ● Generation X and baby boomers. ● High paid. ● Located in Singapore. ● Zero tolerance for failure in terms of employee performance. PRUDENTIAL SINGAPORE COMMUNICATIONS PLAN 10 ● Hierarchical culture of PACS. ● Minimal interference with PCA regional office in Hong Kong. ● Little trust with regional office. Need to find out: ● What is their desired organizational culture? Know: ● Social Technographics is a mix of Creators, worthy insurance brand and product. ● They expect the ● In person communication. ● Appointment. ● E-mails. ● Increase loyalty and satisfaction to PACS. ● Increase Conversationalists, insurance company to ● Text. engagement with Critics, Collectors, actually care about their ● Newspaper. PACS platforms. Joiners, Spectators needs and voice. ● Website pages. and Inactivies. Because their age PACS Clients ● They expect a trustful ● They expect high quality after sales service. ● Phone calls. ● Social Medias. ● Increase perception to PACS value. ● Increase volume of differences, and men sales and and women’s social customers. technographics could vary even among the same age group. For example, according to Groundswell article, “Young men are more active Creaters and Critics than young women, but PRUDENTIAL SINGAPORE COMMUNICATIONS PLAN 11 young women are more likely to be Conversationalists.” (Li & Bernoff, 2011, p. 8) However, it is clear that customers in Asian countries can move aggressively and they are more likely to stay active in social media as the trend is moving to the digital platform even in the Insurance industry according to Prudential case study. ● Demographic slowly changes from wealthier segments of the population to middle-class population. ● By 2030, 66% of all middle-class insurance customers would come from Asia. ● Include both female and male, different age group, income level is middle to high income. PRUDENTIAL SINGAPORE COMMUNICATIONS PLAN 12 ● Family, working people, elder people and children in school. ● Increasing trend of adopting digital insurance platforms. Need to find out: What do they like about PACS the most? How do they differentiate PACS from other competitors? Objectives Business Objective(s) Strengthen PACS leadership and team cooperation in order to recapture the number one market position. Primary audience (1) CEO-Wilfred Blackburn Influencers: PACS executives, PCA management, Prudential plc management, PACS employees, Asia region customers. PRUDENTIAL SINGAPORE COMMUNICATIONS PLAN 13 Communications Objective: Successfully transform PACS into a company where both the company’s culture and leadership style are desired by the employees and increase the awareness and practice of team working among employees and every department inside the company. Primary audience (2) PACS Employees Influencers: PACS executives, PCA management, Prudential plc management, Asia region customers, CEO – Blackburn. Communications Objective: Have less frustration and higher morale by 70% in the next 6 months. Primary audience (3) Senior executive in Operation – Tara Ban Influencers: PACS executives, PCA management, Prudential plc management, PACS employees, Asia region customers, CEO – Blackburn. Communications Objective: Provide consistent assistance to CEO – Blackburn and a communication bridge that connects employees to top management. Primary audience (4) PACS Board of directors Influencers: PCA management, Prudential plc management, PACS employees, CEO – Blackburn Communications Objective: Strong personal bond among PACS executives and maintain an effective communication with Hong Kong region office. PRUDENTIAL SINGAPORE COMMUNICATIONS PLAN 14 Primary audience (5) PACS Clients Influencers: PACS executives, PCA management, Prudential plc management, PACS employees. Communications Objective: Increase clients’ awareness of PACS brand integrity by 50% as well as creating a meaningful experience to differentiate itself from other competitors in the next 6 months. References Matha, B., Boehm, M. (2008). Beyond the Babble: Leadership Communication That Drives Results. Jossey-Bass. Perchthold, G., Bhattacharya, L. (2019). Prudential Singapore: Subsidiary CEO Succession - Trick or Treat. Harvard Business Publishing. Messages Cause: The frequent changes of leadership styles and the lost partnerships with top leading banks and agencies to competitors. PACS wants to regain the position of being number 1 in Singapore insurance industry while enhancing team corporation and employee morale. DO 1: Work together with colleagues and other departments on exchanging information and maintaining a consistent flow of communication. Always keep a sense of teamwork. • KNOW 1: There is a succession of five CEOs over the past ten years and each CEO had his unique style of leadership and different business strategies. • KNOW 2: “There was mismatch between the actual organizational culture at PACS and the culture desired by the employees and management.” (Perchthold & Bhattacharya, 2019, p. 8) • FEEL 1: Employees have frustrations because of the low performance and are confused by which kind of leadership to follow. They like the kind version of leadership in 2006 by PRUDENTIAL SINGAPORE COMMUNICATIONS PLAN 15 Justin Lin but not prefer the autocratic leadership by the company CEO Lee Johnson in 2013. Employees need to feel the emotional connection with their leaders and are willing to put more beliefs in the company’s new strategy. • FEEL 2: Employees and management team have the perspective that the organization is being bureaucratic and only focuses on short-term results. They expect changes and solutions to address the company problems. It is important for PACS to hear employee’s voices and their feedbacks on previous actions and the company’s new strategy. DO 2: Understand cultural diversity and respect other people’s perspective. Have the courage to reach out, listen, identify the good differences and make improvements on yourself. • KNOW 1: There is rising frustration among staff across the company and they don’t like to interact with each other and other departments. • KNOW 2: There is discord and inconsistency between departments and each unit only cares about their own team and prefers to work on their own. • FEEL 1: Employees have fears such as the worries of layoff, and decreasing confidence because of the company declining performances that they felt like personal retribution. Lower employee bonuses also contributed to lower morale and work motivation. Employees should get more encouragements from PACS leaders and more projects focusing on team collaboration. • FEEL 2: Teams preferred to protect their own people and had an overall defensive attitude. Because the company is a sales driven organization, every department cares a lot about keeping the good financial numbers instead of focusing on the right issues. Employees should understand the disvantages of their actions and picture all departments in the company as a whole to assist each other along the journey in the future. DO 3: Reach out to HR department if you have any communication concerns or discomfort. It is important to speak up and ask for help. Employees could submit feedback letters anonymously. PRUDENTIAL SINGAPORE COMMUNICATIONS PLAN 16 KNOW 1: The regional office in Hong Kong (PCA) had not interacted that much in PACS day to day affairs. • KNOW 2: There is little trust between PCA and PACS because of the little interaction and information sharing. • FEEL 1: Both employees and management team are not familiar with the headquarters procedure hence having a strained relationship with PCA staffing. Therefore, PCA would not know PACS situation as well as providing the accurate assistance. Employees in each department from two sides should contact and give each other an information update at least once a week either by e-mail, phone calls or meetings. • FEEL 2: Staffing in PACS felt discomfort to interact with PCA staffing and because of the hierarchy culture that they felt uncomfortable to speak up and share frequent update with each other. When employees have communication concerns, they should go to talk to the person in charge in the company to assist their issues and find an appropriate channel and communication style to communicate with each other. PACS should take employees communication issues seriously and promote the idea of team collaboration to employees and build a communication platform considering cultural diversity. DO 4: Enhance external communication with agencies, banks and direct customers. Find out what’s their communication preference, market desire and changes that they want PACS to make. Reflect these feedbacks back to the company along with personal suggestions. Do further research on digital insurance platform. • KNOW 1: PACS has lost two key bancassurance partnerships in 2015. • KNOW 2: Customer centricity had not yet become an internalized commitment within the organization culture. • FEEL 1: Company staffing doesn’t know which party to focus. (Customer? Agency? Or the bank.) Since the market is moving to the middle-class and pursuing digital platform, PACS employees and agents need to readjust their communication method and explore the current market’s communication preference. It is important to not only focus on one party. PRUDENTIAL SINGAPORE COMMUNICATIONS PLAN 17 • FEEL 2: Company staffing felt worried and threatened by the lost partnerships to their competitors because their decreasing bonuses and the fact that PACS has lost the number 1 insurance company positon in Singapore. Employee’s morale is decreasing and there is a higher chance of job hopping. Employees should put their belief in the company based on the previous success and positively assist the company to move forward making new changes. Reference Perchthold, G., Bhattacharya, L. (2019). Prudential Singapore: Subsidiary CEO Succession - Trick or Treat. Harvard Business Publishing. Communications Tactics Vertical Communications Network Strategy CEO Wilfred Blackburn passes down clear and streamlined messages and direction to all executives and then engage to every employee as well as actively pulling back feedbacks from the bottom to the top of the company. - Tactic 1 Media and General Description. Wilfred Blackburn will redefine PACS organization culture to focus both on short term and long term goals. He will stabilize the company leadership style that is desired by the employees and pass down specific direction and instructions on how to help the organization to achieve these short term and long term goals to every executives and employees. Management team could reference the strategy of the short and five-point story mentioned in our textbook which the company could use one point to explain the cause and four other themes of what employees need to do to achieve the cause. PACS executives will develop a digital survey platform where employees could join and provide their suggestions and feedbacks on the company’s strategy and project. PACS executives themselves could also participate in the survey and and make a bi-weekly report in the form of meetings (could be virtual or in person) to Blackburn to reflect any problems and propose new changes. Blackburn will carefully review these reports and discuss with other board of directors either by group phone calls or meetings. Blackburn and all other company’s leaders will receive in person training by workshops about communication strategy and how they can PRUDENTIAL SINGAPORE COMMUNICATIONS PLAN 18 effectively communicate to employees. Schedule. At the beginning of next month. Location. Singapore office & Virtual Online Indicators of success. We will know after 6 months that the communication tactic is working by monitoring the following: • Employees communication satisfaction improves by 80%. • More than 60% of PACS staff know what to achieve and their value in the organization. - Tactic 2 Media and General Description. PACS will create an online portal for both employees and top management to communicate with each other. Employees could use this portal to ask questions and make decisions about their work. Top management has to make sure that they are delivering a consistent message to all employees as well as interchanging their knowledge and personal motivation. According to our textbook, an effective channel can “provide tools to help engage leaders and employees in an ongoing conversation about strategy, so people have an opportunity to increase their understanding of strategy and offer their ideas and perspectives on how to improve it and execute better.” (Matha & Boehm, 2008, p. 54) On this online portal, employees could also have the access to view their short term and long term incentives/benefits plan to motivate participation. Further research such as the employees’ social technographics profiles will be done to understand employee’s social preference and what additional features they would like to use on the portal. Schedule. At the beginning of next month. Location. Singapore Office & Virtual Online PRUDENTIAL SINGAPORE COMMUNICATIONS PLAN 19 Indicators of success. We will know after 6 months that the communication tactic is working by monitoring the following: • Employees’ participation on the online portal achieves to 80%. • Top management’s participation on the online portal achieves to 90%. - Tactic 3 Media and General Description. PACS’ CEO and management team will host workshops outside workplace that featuring mentor and mentee program. This program will assign each employee a mentor who could be their direct supervisor, department manager or leaders from other departments for them to enhance relationship. During the program, leaders could partner with the employees to finish certain project together. The program provides both the company’s top management team and employees a platform to have conversation with each other, ask questions and clarify issues. According to our textbook, “leaders can be informed through means that don’t require long production times or expense such as phone calls and memos.” (Matha & Boehm, 2008) It is also important for the leader to understand their mentee’s needs and social technographics profiles if he or she wants to reach out to that employee outside workplace. For example, if the mentee is a Critics, the leader could use online forum or a section where the employee can write rating comments to collect feedbacks. Schedule. At the beginning of next month. Location. Singapore Office & Outside workplace Indicators of success. We will know after 6 months that the communication tactic is working by monitoring the following: • Employees’ frustration is reduced by 70% in the organization. • Employees’ career confidence and morale increase by 50%. PRUDENTIAL SINGAPORE COMMUNICATIONS PLAN 20 Horizontal Communications Network Strategy PACS encourages the collaboration and consistency among departments as well as with the Hong Kong regional office. Employees have more chances to work with each other and develop positive friendship and teamwork to beat the competition. - Tactic 4 Media and General Description. PACS’ CEO and management team will host events in the office or outside workplace every three month to gather all employees among all departments to build personal bond and connections. For example, the company can host a barbecue lunch event during summer where employees could have an opportunity to cook and eat with each other. Employees could also bring their food or drinks that represent their daily life and culture for the understanding of cultural diversity. To engage all the employees, managers will pas down the sense and importance of team to employees. During these events, managers will discuss with each other and come up with games that are good for facilitating employee’s entertainment while developing teamwork skills. Schedule. At the beginning of next month. Location. Outside office. Indicators of success. We will know after 6 months that the communication tactic is working by monitoring the following: • Cooperation between PACS units increases by 50% - Tactic 5 Media and General Description. PACS will develop a cost effective plan to distribute budget on investing staff traveling. Board of directors will have more chances to visit Hong Kong regional office (at least 4 times a year) and talk to Hong Kong PRUDENTIAL SINGAPORE COMMUNICATIONS PLAN 21 management in person to discuss issues, update information and build personal connection. For every two weeks, there should be one video conference call between the Singapore office and Hong Kong region office to keep the consistent information and communication flow. According to Groundswell article, “the fundamental emotions that drive people is the desire to connect, to create, to stay in touch and to help each other.” (Li & Bernoff, 2011, p. 11) Therefore, it is important for everyone in PACS to keep this knowledge in mind when communicate with each other. Schedule. At the beginning of next month. Location. Singapore, Hong Kong & Virtual Online. Indicators of success. We will know after 6 months that the communication tactic is working by monitoring the following: • Communication between PACS and PCA improves by 80% - Tactic 6 Media and General Description. PACS will develop a digital platform where employees can exchange ideas and communicate with each other. On the digital platform, employees can have the access to their department group chat, send text, voice messages or even video calls in the case of emergency. PACS management team will also provide employees training on cultural diversity and establish good communicator examples within the organization. The company will encourage employees to share their goals and information frequently and provide an opportunity to see how each team is working together align with the company’s goals for reference. Teams with best cooperation performance will be announced every month and share their success stories and tricks on the company’s public board. Schedule. At the beginning of next month. PRUDENTIAL SINGAPORE COMMUNICATIONS PLAN 22 Location. Virtual Online & Outside office workshops. Indicators of success. We will know after 6 months that the communication tactic is working by monitoring the following: • Communication among employees improves by 70%. References Matha, B., Boehm, M. (2008). Beyond the Babble: Leadership Communication That Drives Results. Jossey-Bass. Perchthold, G., Bhattacharya, L. (2019). Prudential Singapore: Subsidiary CEO Succession - Trick or Treat. Harvard Business Publishing. Li, C., Bernoff, J. (2011). The Social Technographics Profile: Applying Social Media Demographics to your Business Strategy. Harvard Business Publishing.
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Explanation & Answer

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Running head: SINGAPORE COMMUNICATIONS PLAN FOUNDATION

Prudential Singapore Communications Plan Foundation
Student’s Name
Institutional Affiliation

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PRUDENTIAL SINGAPORE COMMUNICATIONS PLAN FOUNDATION

2

Prudential Singapore: Communications Plan
In 2016, Prudential Company was categorized as the biggest company in the industry
of life insurance of the UK, and the seventh in the world. It was founded in 1848 in London
in the industry of insurance. It led in this industry for years and has a reputation of reaching
out to the working class through the sales team that goes house to house collect premiums
(Perchthold & Bhattacharya, 2019). Prudential established a subsidiary known as Prudential
Assurance Company Singapore (PACS) in 1931. As new entrants in the industry started to
flood the market, the performance of PACS began to decline. The company is under the
leadership of a new CEO called Wilfred Blackburn. (Perchthold & Bhattacharya, 2019). The
purpose of the following discussion is to assess the communication networks for the company
and a communication campaign for generating conversation with PACS employees.

Part 1: Situation Analysis
SWOT Analysis
Strengths













‘85 years’ of success,1931-2016,
establishment of Singapore
branch.
Attained a new successful
‘transformational’ leader W.Blackburn.
Main office (Prudential plc)
provides a history of success in
the insurance field since 1848.
Offices established across Asia.
Asia Insurance Review’s Life
Insurance Company of the Year
in 2010. (Perchthold &
Bhattacharya, 2019,Pg4)
PACS is a performance-driven
organization
Streamlined communication
It has wide distribution channels
and strategic bancassurance
relationships

Weakness













Lack of cooperation and
communication between
Singapore and regional
offices.
Loss of business, business,
and 5 percentage points of
market share in Singapore.
Starting in 2016, employees
begin to feel stress.
Rapid turnover of CEO
position.
Employee skepticism on
Blackburn’s impact.
Mismatch between actual
organizational culture and
culture desired by employees
and management.
Discord between departments
and each unit preferred to work
alone and only care about
themselves. Employees are
reluctant to interact with other
departments.
Hierarchical culture in PACS, 0
tolerance for employee
performance failure.

PRUDENTIAL SINGAPORE COMMUNICATIONS PLAN FOUNDATION
Opportunities


Blackburn’s experience and
reputation as a transformational
leader.



Aiming middle-class insurance
consumers.
Finding partnership with more
banks.
Increasing engagement with
technology platform.
Utilize innovations offered by
digital technology.
Focus on customer centricity.








Higher collaboration between
the regional and Singapore
offices.

3

Threats









Employees “feel the pinch of
the declining
performance.”(Perchthold &
Bhattacharya, 2019,pg5)
Employees become anxious
and demoralized.
Negative signs of ‘rockbottom’ bonuses, loss of
leadership in market share.
A feel of ‘personal
retribution’ to the employees
from the decline in bonuses
due to the underperformance
of the company.
Frequent leadership styles
and business styles are
circulated with the change in
CEO.

Strengths
PACS is a branch office that mainly operates in a mature financial structure that “was
a developed and quite sophisticated market” (Perchthold & Bhattacharya, 2019,Pg1). The
regional office of PACS is PCA. Their offices along with every other branch in Asia is
owned by Prudential plc, and were established in 1931. This history and developed reputation
within the Asian region benefits Prudential as their name is widely known not only among
other businesses, but also among consumers. Prudential had developed a reputable career as
an insurance sector leader across the globe since 1848. Due not only to Prudential’s long
history of success, but also as being one of the pioneers in the industry within the markets in
Asia, PACS had developed as a leader in life insurance winning awards such as the ‘Asia
Insurance Review’s Life Insurance Company of the Year” in 2010 (Perchthold &
Bhattacharya, 2019,pg4).
Seeing the opportunity in the emerging markets in Asia, Prudential liquidized their
broaches in Australia, Canada, and South Africa to focus on developing their leadership with
a ‘tri-regional strategy’ between USA, UK, and Asian offices. Placing much financial
investment and risk, it had established a foothold of the ‘emerging’ markets in Asia, where it
is projected to have more than “66% of middle-class insurance consumers…approx. 3.2
billion people” by 2030 (Perchthold & Bhattacharya, 2019, pg3). This can be seen as a
strength to Prudential’s long-term success. Despite its current situation of loosing its
leadership position, Prudential is still one of the leading organizations within the industry.

PRUDENTIAL SINGAPORE COMMUNICATIONS PLAN FOUNDATION

4

With effective corporate restructuring and the appointment of the new CEO, PACS will be
able to regain their foothold.
In the end of 2016, Wilfred Blackburn had become the new CEO of PACS and had
attempted to not only analyze current internal disposition among stakeholders, but tried to
implement positive change with an employee culture analysis. (Perchthold & Bhattacharya,
2019) Having a transformative leadership style, Blackburn has shown interest with the
organization’s current culture and takes into account the recently administered employee
survey. The appointment of Blackburn shows an optimistic feel towards PACS’ organization
of not only their culture, but also their business strategy.
Weaknesses
Before Blackburn became CEO, there were several previous CEO leadership. This had
not only created a vacuum of proper top-down communication, but also left a doubt among
employees about the competency of their leaders. As previously mentioned, PACS has held a
long-standing reputation as a leader within the developed market in Singapore. Although this
long-term success is a good thing for Prudential, it created this unnecessary need for
cooperation and communication between PACS and PCA. This dysfunction has not only
contributed to the long-term problems of PACS, but has also created a complex situation for
upcoming CEO, W.Blackburn, to untangle and implement positive change. It is understandable
for employees that have a long history working with PACS to be doubtful of the change this
new CEO can implement.
Having had multiple CEO’s coming in and out of PACS, evident disorientation among
employees shows in PACS’ recent business stagger. This diminishing morale among
employees, hinders productivity and essentially profitability. Causing further decreased in
employee bonuses and morale. Additionaly, because PACS is a performance driven organization
that focuses on hierarchy culture, employees would feel discomfort and have fears to talk with each
other, other department as well as the top management team. “Direction can get confusing fast if people
have multiple reporting relationships in an organization.” (Matha & Boehm, 2008). There have been
increasing staff frustration based on the low employee bonuses. Every department and unit in PACS
are reluctant to exchange information and communicate with each other, the problem of discord between
departments has occurred.

Opportunities
PACS has a few opportunities to build upon. These opportunities mainly revolve
around the introduction of Blackburn as the new CEO. However, we can also see long-term
opportunities in the strategic positioning of Prudential’s international offices. Much of the
decision making in selecting Blackburn as the new CEO for PACS was based on his previous
success as CEO not only for Prudential Vietnam, but also for multiple smaller countries in
south east Asia. Blackburn’s favor toward transformational leadership was not the only
aspect that attracted him to the CEO position at PACS. His participation in PCA’s leadership
programs in 2012 allowed him to show his worth in leading small operations in Cambodia,

5

PRUDENTIAL SINGAPORE COMMUNICATIONS PLAN FOUNDATION
Laos, and Myanmar. Eventually, he was tested in being the CEO of Vietnam in 2014 and
eventually is appointed to lead the Singapore branch in 2016.

“By 2030, Asia was projected to account for 66 percent of all middle-class insurance consumers’
worldwide, totaling approximately 3.2 billion people.” (Perchthold & Bhattacharya, 2019, p. 3)
Therefore, PACS needs to start switching the company’s demographic focus to middle-class insurance
consumers and figuring out what’s the new generation needs and expectations. With the world turns
to more digital technology oriented, PACS should develop their areas in technology to replace the
traditional life insurance and adapt new market changes gradually. PACS will have potentials on
developing or partnering with Insurance technology platforms. In communication perspective, PACS
leaders also have the opportunity to develop a Conversation Platform where “it simplifies concepts
and the information will be easily remembered and articulated by top leaders, managers, supervisors
and employees alike.” (Matha & Boehm, 2008, p. 114). The communication Platform allows the top
management to pass down the essence of the organization in a short communication.

Threats
Much of the threats facing PACS revolves around the dissatisfaction parted on the
employees by upper management. As mentioned earlier, a weakness of PACS is the frequent
CEO turnover, this can also be seen as a threat to PACS because it has created a skeptical
attitude toward the introduction of Blackburn as their new CEO. There are difficulties in
discerning the current organization culture with the “culture desired by the employees and
management” (Perchthold & Bhattacharya, 2019, pg8).
In addition to this skeptical perception to PACS leadership, business performance is
shown to have greatly impacted employee performance. A spiraling pitfall is created when
signs of decreased employee bonuses, company profitability, and market share, causes
employees to have discouraging thoughts and therefore performing with less productivity
from the lack of proper business direction by top management. If Blackburn does not
implement the proper action to positively in...


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