The anatomy of an APAC CEO
Male, approximately 56 years old, and a CEO for the first time in his life — these are some of the insights that emerge from a new interactive application QlikView Business Discovery platform from Qlik, a player in user-driven Business Intelligence (BI). The application Where Do APAC CEOs Come From presents the anatomy of a typical Chief Executive Officer based in Asia Pacific.
Looking at the top 250 Asia Pacific based companies, listed in the 2013 Forbes Global 2000 ranking, the application pulled together information collected about the CEOs from various organisations including gender, age, universities, industries, and previous positions.
“What this QlikView application provides is a holistic view of what it takes to be a CEO in Asia Pacific. It is a fun way to gain insights into the ‘key ingredients’ that go into a making of a CEO. At the same time, it helps us drill deeper and ask important questions. For example, where are we in terms of gender diversity in the boardroom and where should one pursue an education to stand a fighting chance of becoming a CEO,” commented Terry Smagh, Vice President for Qlik Asia Pacific.
Gender, education and career experience – key findings
Globally, women represent around 10 per cent of all board level positions worldwide even though they make up over 40 per cent of the global work force. The QlikView application reveals a starker statistic: only 3.2 per cent of the 250 CEOs measured are female. India leads the pack with four female CEOs, while Japan and Hong Kong recorded none. Despite efforts to increase gender diversity in the boardroom, change is slow.
A typical CEO in Asia Pacific is also more likely to have graduated from a local university (61.5 per cent) than from an overseas institution (38.5 per cent). Among overseas universities, Harvard was the top choice followed by Stanford and INSEAD. Economics, business and law were the most popular subjects, and only 23 per cent of CEOs took an MBA.
Majority of CEOs in Asia Pacific were either Managing Directors, Directors, or Vice Presidents in their previous jobs – only 8.8 per cent were previously CEOs. They are also likely to hail from the finance (42 CEOs), manufacturing (40 CEOs), and energy (35 CEOs) industries.
Quick View: Anatomy of a CEO in Singapore
• 75% of CEOs in Singapore graduated from an overseas university.
• 35% of CEOs in Singapore attended university in the United States.
• 75% of CEOs in Singapore of have less than 10 years of experience as CEOs.
• 36% of CEOs in Singapore have an MBA.
• The most studied discipline is Business (40% of CEOs in Singapore).
• 95% of CEOs in Singapore are male.
• The average age of a CEO in Singapore is 55.
• 20% of CEOs in Singapore are from the property industry. This is followed closely by consumer goods, finance, and business services at 15% respectively
