Mai Chen: How to get more Asians on board

Augen Software Group director Mitchell Pham stresses the importance of partnering with Asian entrepreneurs. Photo / Dean Purcell

Doing business with Eastern countries can be effective only if there is cultural understanding.

For a major party to win the general election on September 20, it will need, with its support parties, to secure about half of all the votes cast. More of those votes will now be Asian given its ethnic groups have doubled in size since 2001 and made up 12 per cent of the population in the 2013 census.

Demography may start having an impact on our democracy through elections, but that impact is yet to be felt on the boards of New Zealand's top companies.

An EY report, conducted in partnership with NZ Asian Leaders (NZAL), has found that of the top 100 NZX companies, 17 per cent of firms have Asians as directors or senior executives, 13 per cent have Asians in their executive teams, and only 5 per cent have Asians on their boards.

I have never supported quotas for women on boards, or in senior management, and I don't support quotas for Asians or other ethnicities either. Quotas become as much of a ceiling as well as a floor beneath a certain number of that gender or race, and they create a cloud of suspected incompetency around those groups.

"Were they looking for women/Maori/Asian directors?" - A question no one wants to be asked when appointed to a board or senior role.

Rather, a session run by NZAL this week came up with the following case on why boards need more Asians.

Ultimately it is about getting the best talent around the board table in a competitive and rapidly changing world. As Dame Rosanne Meo said, governance is a profession, and you are there to contribute to the company and its shareholders, and not for your personal growth or personal advantage.

So we need competent people with the right skill sets. Independent director Adrienne Young-Cooper also stressed the importance of getting a diversity of views to make a strong, talented team. But Asian New Zealanders who are experienced directors and understand the New Zealand culture and speak English well may also speak an Asian language and understand the culture, values, politics, religion and government structures helpful in doing business in that part of Asia. One size does not fit all, however. The Taiwanese approach is different to the Korean, Chinese, Indian or Malaysian approach.

Asian business people need to feel they can do business with New Zealand business. And having Asian New Zealanders on boards is sometimes the best way to bridge the cultural gulf."

Mai Chen

Doing businesses in Asia is tough, and knowing who are ethical and trustworthy people to work with and who are not, as well as understanding the opportunities in that Asian country, is the difference between winning and losing business.

Thomas Song, managing director of Earnslaw One and chief executive of Oregon Group, talked about how his understanding of the Chinese Government's building policies resulted in the establishment of what is now one of NZ's biggest forestry companies, Earnslaw One, exporting to China. Thomas has lived here for the past 23 years, and is Malaysian Chinese.

New Zealand Asians used to standing between east and west may best bridge the gap by explaining how New Zealand law views directors' duties differently.

Mai Chen

Aucklander Vino Ramayah, the chief executive of Medtech Global, said business was not just about money, but also emotions. Asian business people need to feel they can do business with New Zealand business. And having Asian New Zealanders on boards is sometimes the best way to bridge the cultural gulf.

This was reinforced by Ateed's Dr Xiaoying Fu, who explained the cultural gulf between New Zealanders' understanding of their role as independent directors and that of the Asian businesses who appoint them. New Zealand Asians used to standing between east and west may best bridge the gap by explaining how New Zealand law views directors' duties differently.

Tarun Kanji, former chairman of the Bank of India (NZ), spoke of the importance of familiarity with the local Asian community given that Asians are now a significant customer group here.

Mitchell Pham, director of Augen Software Group, stressed partnering with the many Asian entrepreneurs here, and connecting with ethnic business entrepreneur networks, as well as mentoring them to make a contribution on boards.

In closing, Dr Sharad Paul, skin surgeon and novelist, said he was born in England, grew up in India and has lived here for almost a quarter of a century. Rudyard Kipling, conversely, was born in India, went to England and ended up as a great chronicler of the British Empire. Kipling once said: "Asia is not going to be civilised after the methods of the West. There is too much Asia and she is too old."

The same can be said of Asian business and politics, which is why we need more leaders here who speak, look, and think Asia. This isn't a strategy based on hope, but sense. That said, I agree with Dame Rosanne Meo that we can have confidence, tapping into New Zealand's immigrant background, that business here can assimilate our best talent to help businesses better succeed. But as Ranjna Patel, founder and director of East Tamaki Healthcare, said, Asian New Zealanders had to be prepared to be available and ready for boards.

Mai Chen is a partner in Chen Palmer Lawyers and chair of NZ Asian Leaders.