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> Danny Armstrong
Danny Armstrong
- What is your current role?
My current role is General Manager, China Banking (Country Head China) for the National Australia Bank.
- What has been your experience working in the Asian region?
I have been working in Asia for just over five years. Four and a half years as General Director, Vietnam (Country Head Vietnam) for the Commonwealth Bank and six months in China with NAB.
- In your role, what are the highlights of working with different cultures?
There are a number of aspects of working with different cultures that I enjoy.
First is the opportunity to learn different ways of thinking, doing things and understanding different approaches to solving problems than those we would traditionally use in Australia. In that context, I also very much enjoy developing diverse teams of people who have very different backgrounds, culture, education and understanding of our industry, our bank and our business. A major highlight is the opportunity to leverage my local team's experience and expertise in the China market.
- How do you manage the cultural differences?
Fundamentally, in my experience, there are a lot of similarities to what people are looking for from their employment relationship, regardless of their nationality, background or culture. At its heart, aside from remuneration, people want opportunities to learn and develop, to enjoy a collegiate work environment, to create a future career path and to provide a better life for their families and loved ones. In these aspects we have similar objectives. To manage cultural differences we first need to be respectful of the different ways of doing things and decision making processes of our local team members. Its also necessary to recongise the importance of their heritage and traditions and be open to the opportunities that those differences present.
- What do you enjoy most about living in Shanghai?
Shanghai is an amazing mix of history, tradition and the contemporary all rolled into one. It has a population of over 23 million - around two million more than Australia! One of the things I enjoy most about living here is the speed at which things move. For example in business - changes to the law and the general economy present enormous new opportunities every day. Aside from that, there are so many things to see and do and a fantastic array of global food and entertainment to enjoy.
- How can Australia make a stronger contribution towards building positive relations with the Asian region?
As a generalisation, I think Australians need to open their eyes more to the opportunities in Asia. As a nation, we have enormous advantages of close proximity to Asia and our strength of relationships with China and many other Asian nations. The people and investment flows between Australia and Asia and the burgeoning trade relationships are also great assets. Australia has skills and expertise that are transportable and relevant to many Asian markets, so I think the starting point to making a stronger contribution and building more positive relations is to 'have a go'.
