Papua New Guinea technology services company Datec is developing a ‘winning’ culture, according to Chief Executive Stanley Ng Plyler. He tells Business Advantage PNG that the company is looking to achieve both tangible and intangible improvements.

Datec’s Stanley Ng Plyler. Source: Datec

Plyler says the focus will be on innovation, productivity, and caring for the staff.

‘Last year we started a cultural change. We instituted what I call a “winning culture”.

‘What I did is get together all my leadership team for a retreat. We brainstormed what a winning culture is and decided on things such as teamwork, focus, caring for our people, results, process and so forth.

‘We looked at our vision, mission and values. Last of all, we articulated what our culture is all about. Because without a culture we cannot demonstrate our identity and our soul.

‘We will recognise your effort and your results and that is why there is a lot of energy and passion in this company.’

‘[If] You have no purpose, you don’t know where you are going.’

Performance and Culture

Plyler says despite a very challenging year of a soft economy, foreign exchange availability issues and an extended quiet period of the national elections in 2017, Datec team rallied and the company has met its latest annual operating plan. He says that the message to the staff is ‘We will recognise your effort and your results and that is why there is a lot of energy and passion in this company.’

Datec operations. Source: Datec

He says the human resources strategy is based on creating a single internal culture.

‘Successful innovation, Plyler says, does not come just from providing new products but also the way the company serves its customers.’

‘The national staff come from different tribes. There are more than 800 different tribes speaking different languages.

‘Outside the organisation our national staff have their different cultures, but inside we are all one Datec family.’

Innovation

Successful innovation, Plyler says, does not come just from providing new products but also the way the company serves its customers. That, in turn, reflects the ‘way we treat our staff.’

He says the company has a continuous improvement plan in place. ‘I call it the 1 per cent improvement plan.

‘The proposed submarine cable from Sydney to Port Moresby will be ‘great for the whole country’.’

‘Think about it. If you get a 1 per cent improvement every month, then after 12 months you get a compounded improvement of 13 per cent. And after five years and nine months you can actually improve 100 per cent.’

Cable

Plyler says the proposed submarine cable from Sydney to Port Moresby will be ‘great for the whole country’.

‘It is not just that prices will come down, the reliability will be there because right now we don’t have that. And we need higher speeds to process 4G and future advanced applications like the Internet of Things (IOT).’

Plyler says the company is strategically positioning for the new cable. ‘We have to be adaptive.

Datec operations Source: Datec

‘In ICT, things change very quickly. It will benefit many businesses, communities and transform lives. That is why I am here, to make a difference.’

‘A number of innovations are in prospect and Datec is excited to deliver innovative solutions and valued services to PNG’s businesses and communities.

‘The company structure is very flat. It has that private mentality and way of doing things.’ Plyler believes that competition within PNG is not just the focus.

‘We are a total-solution provider, not just a provider of products—a one-stop shop, end-to-end ICT product, services and training company.

‘It is important not to be complacent. Not just aspire to be the best in PNG, but also to benchmark ourselves with the Hewlett Packards and Ciscos of the world.’

Plyler, who has been in the position for less than a year, has lived and worked in seven countries in technology, telecommunications, education and healthcare industries in private, public and non-for-profit sectors in the Asia-Pacific region.