Up close and personal with Stuart Dean - GE Asian CEO

Published: Saturday August 24, 2013 MYT 12:00:00 AM
Updated: Saturday August 24, 2013 MYT 9:56:06 AM
Up close and personal with Stuart Dean

BY EUGENE MAHALINGAM
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Stuart Dean, who is chief executive officer of General Electric (GE) for Asean, may be a thousands miles away from home but having spent more than half of his working career within the region, he looks quite at home here.

“I love Asia. I’ve been here for more than 20 years. It’s hard to believe that more than two-thirds of my career has been with GE in the region. Time has flown really quickly,” US-born Dean tells StarBizWeek.

“It’s an exciting place to work in as there’s a lot of growth here,” Dean adds.

Dean graduated from Duke University in 1975 with a BA in economics and political science. Following a two-year stint with the US Government, he obtained an MBA from Harvard in 1979.

He then joined GE as a sales representative for major appliance and TV products. Following a series of sales management and marketing roles, Dean was appointed product general manager – laundry/dishwasher in 1985.

From 1988 to 1990, he was general manager for services marketing and then general manager for service operations.

In August 1991, he was appointed business development manager for GE International, based in Singapore, with responsibilities for South-East Asia and Australia. In 1993, Dean was made president of GE Capital, South-East Asia.

In February 1995, he became president for GE Indonesia. Dean is currently responsible for all of Asean and resides in Kuala Lumpur, where he is also governor of the Malaysian American Chamber of Commerce.

Working is Asia, Dean admits that the challenges are different compared with working in the West.

“GE is a 130-year-old company with deep American roots. In faster moving markets like Asia, the roles are broader and the challenges are bigger,” he says.

The American conglomerate specialises in appliances, aviation, consumer electronics, electrical distribution, electric motors, energy, finance, gas, healthcare and lighting, among others.

GE has been in Asean for over a century and it is present in Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam. The company employs over 6,000 people in Asean alone, with revenues hitting US$3bil (RM9.6bil) in 2011.

On the local front, GE employs over 1,000 Malaysians and caters to all of the company’s significant infrastructure businesses, namely energy, oil and gas, aviation, healthcare, lighting and transportation.

According to Dean, investments into Malaysia currently exceed RM1bil, adding that the company is working closely with local infrastructure providers, supplying equipment and services to Petroliam Nasional Bhd (Petronas), Tenaga Nasional Bhd, KTM Bhd and local water authorities.

“We have been investing significantly in the country, especially in the aviation and engineering sectors.

“The last five years in Malaysia has been fantastic for us. We have 50 key non-US accounts, with two of the prominent ones being Petronas and AirAsia Bhd. Both of these companies are doing very well and our focus is on what their needs are,” he says.

With its Malaysian headquarters located at KL Sentral, GE manages an aircraft maintenance, repair and overhaul centre of excellence in Subang, serving Malaysia Airlines, AirAsia and more than 30 other Asian airlines.

GE’s healthcare division supplies private and public hospitals with some of the latest diagnostic imaging equipment and healthcare information systems, while the company’s lighting division supports key stadiums and ports.

Common challenge

One challenge that is prevalent for the company, regardless of where its operations are, is the ability to recruit good talents, says Dean.

“Everywhere around the world, attracting the best talents is a key issue. For us, it is about finding the right people for our work culture - which is essentially employees that show meritocracy and are performance-orientated.

“It’s also about making sure that the people that we get do their work with focus and fulfil our shareholders’ and customers’ needs. It’s about doing better work every time,” he says, adding that 90% of GE Malaysia’s talents comprise locals.

Getting the right talent is just half the challenge – there is the need to ensure that they also stay with the company, says Dean.

“Retaining talents is a challenge,” he says, adding that it’s “a good problem to have.”

“We’re doing a really good job nurturing our talents that they’re in demand! However, we always ensure that our people are passionate about the work that they do.”

Dealing with a large number of people, one can’t help but wonder about Dean’s approach in managing his employees. More specifically, is he a strict boss?

Dean laughs at the thought: “If you have great people with equally great ideas – and if you can trust them to do their jobs well, then there’s no need to be strict with anyone.

“I’ve never been a director-type manager, but rather, more of a facilitator. I believe it’s about listening to your employees. You need to communicate with them and only then decisions can be rightfully made.”

Dean reiterates that this is where finding the right talents is important for the company.

“Finding the right talents is about making sure they have the right values and contributing to the success of the company and having positive impact. If we can find that, then my job is easy.

“But I’m a foreigner here. So leading the team is different. The key for me is building trust across the cultural barriers.”

Keeping healthy

When not focusing on work, the self-confessed workaholic likes to keep healthy by working out in the gym and playing tennis.

“I’m in the office on the weekends as well,” he says, adding that one of the many perks of the job is that he is able to enjoy his passion for travelling.

“Working with GE, I get to travel all over the world.”

Recently, Dean was instrumental in helping to select the last few finalists for reality television show, The Apprentice Asia.

“I was on episode nine of the show, interviewing the last four finalists. My job was to actually stress them out, but I think the whole experience ended being more stressful for me!”

Dean, together with AirAsia CEO Aireen Omar and Westports Malaysia chief executive officer Ruben Gnanalingam were the guest interviewers on the show.

“We debated the final four candidates and it was a great experience.”

Dean enthuses that the show even helped him “reconnect” with people he had not seen in years.

“I learnt the power of television by appearing on the show. I was contacted by two people whom I’ve not heard from in 10 years,” he says with a laugh.

Dean also serves as chairman of the Vietnam-US committee of the US-Asean Business Council and on the boards of the US-Indonesia Society and the Fulbright Commission in Malaysia, as well as the board of advisers for the Global GE Volunteer Foundation.

He is also an active GE Community volunteer and was recognised by Habitat for Humanity for having led house-building projects in Aceh following the tsunami. He received GE’s 2011 Corinne Johnson Leadership Award in recognition of his volunteer effort.

In July, GE and AirAsia collaborated with EPIC Homes (an initiative that focuses on providing homes for underprivileged Malaysian communities) to build a home for an orang asli family in Batang Kali, Selangor.

Thirty employee volunteers, including Dean, and Aireen, were also on site to help build one of the homes.

“I like volunteering. GE is a big company and it can be intimidating when reading about us and the businesses that we’re in.

“So, volunteering is a great way to communicate the heart of GE. We’re out practically every weekend, doing something,” says Dean.


Factfile

Born: March 26, 1953

Personal: Father of two grown children with three grandchildren

Highest Qualification: MBA from Harvard, but a Duke Blue Devil to the core

Career: Worked with the US Government for two years before joining GE in 1979 and has been with the company for the past 34 years

Favourite Food: Thai tom yong gung, chicken green curry and mango and sticky rice

Favourite Place: Bali

Hobby: Travelling, tennis, going to the gym, diving

Values: Honesty, integrity, listening, empowering and facilitating those around to reach their potential, respecting and recognising the value of a diversity of opinions

Inspiration: My mom who taught me value of hard work and cooperation, GE who taught me the importance of doing the right thing and making tough decisions