DBS ranked among top 10 most transformative firms

Singapore bank joins the likes of Amazon, Microsoft and Alibaba on Harvard Business Review list

The study found that the top 20 most transformative firms had certain ingrained behaviours. "These included creating a higher-purpose mission, seizing the digital opportunity via new platforms and business models, and ensuring that innovation was not
The study found that the top 20 most transformative firms had certain ingrained behaviours. "These included creating a higher-purpose mission, seizing the digital opportunity via new platforms and business models, and ensuring that innovation was not isolated to a department but was a strategic capability," said DBS in a press statement yesterday. ST FILE PHOTO

DBS Bank has been ranked by Harvard Business Review as among the top 10 companies in the world to have made successful strategic transformations in the past decade.

The study, conducted by strategy consulting firm Innosight, involved the screening of all companies in the S&P 500 and Global 2000 using three lenses: new growth, repositioning the core and financials.

With this, DBS joins the likes of Netflix, Amazon, Microsoft, Tencent and Alibaba, which were similarly recognised, the bank said in a press statement yesterday.

The Innosight study found that the top 20 most transformative companies had certain ingrained behaviours.

"These included creating a higher-purpose mission, seizing the digital opportunity via new platforms and business models, and ensuring that innovation was not isolated to a department but was a strategic capability," said DBS.

In the press statement, DBS chief executive Piyush Gupta said a "start-up culture" has infused the entire organisation.

"Conventional wisdom is that it is difficult for a legacy company to transform at scale," he said.

"Our own journey has shown otherwise, and what has worked for us is attacking the core; making transformation mainstream by changing culture companywide."

In a report by the Singapore Exchange (SGX) this week, DBS was ranked the best performer among Singapore investment company Temasek's Singapore-listed investments over the past three years.

As of Sept 20, DBS had registered a total three-year return of 88.5 per cent.

Temasek's portfolio includes at least 25 listings in Singapore - 15 companies and 10 trusts with a combined market capitalisation of more than $260 billion, said the SGX.

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A version of this article appeared in the print edition of The Straits Times on September 28, 2019, with the headline DBS ranked among top 10 most transformative firms. Subscribe