CEO's focus is on health, technology and future

Shanghai Magnolia Award winner Andy Ho, CEO of Philips China, says the honor is a recognition "not only for me as an individual, but also for Philips as a company.”

Appointed to his current role in 2015, Canadian-Chinese Ho, 57, has held a wide range of sales, technology and senior management roles in China, Canada and the United States in a career spanning over 30 years. Before joining Philips, he was general manager for north China at IBM.

“Philips has consolidated its businesses to focus more on health technology ... we are no longer a product-only company known for things like television sets, shavers or lamps, but a firm closer with customers, trying to offer tailored health care services that create value,” Ho says.

The company used to be a world leader in light bulb production. It is also the inventor of X-ray scanners, one ancient model of which was looked upon as a treasure by China’s last emperor Pu Yi (1908-1912) and stored at the Forbidden City. More recently, Philips was one of the three key firms to develop NFC technology (near field communication), which facilitates data transfer without actual connection of two devices.

In China, the change of business focus has brought positive results. Driven by health technology, Philips has seen its sustainable performance improve ment between 2015 and 2017 in terms of revenue in China, making the country Philips’ second-largest market.

Ho has been an important contributor during the process thanks to his expertise in both health and technology. The boundary between the two industries has blurred at a significant level, he says.

“Industries are rapidly integrating. When I was in the IT industry, we used to say how technology can help health care; now, what I am thinking of is how to better use technologies like the Internet of Things, big data and artificial intelligence in our business."

The solution, he says, is continuous innovation, and such innovation should be meaningful. For Philips, its strength is based in its solid foundation in China — derived from strong commitment over several decades, during which it has collected a lot of useful data.

“That’s what I call our resources for a more intimate relationship with our consumers,” Ho says. “Philips should go beyond merely making products, but create a health-related ecosystem.”

Young people are another important resource, he adds.

“I learn from young people. They tell me what is the trend and what defines the future.”

Ho believes a simple rule of leadership is to be a role model.

“People don’t follow what you say, they follow what you do,” Ho said.

At Philips, Ho is an example of healthy living.

He loves sports. As a lover of healthy food, he is very strict with his daily intake. 

For example, he hasn't eaten mooncakes, which are high in fat, for years because he says “up to 80 percent of obesity is caused by unhealthy eating habits.”

Under his leadership, Philips has been an active participant in many charity programs to help those in need, either in natural disasters or long-term corporate social responsibility programs. Partnered with the Red Cross in Shanghai, Philips has donated AED equipment (automated external defibrillator) and spread the know-how of saving people’s lives in an emergency.

Love for Shanghai

Ho finds Shanghai an open city with the special charm of cultural diversification and integration.

“In Shanghai, you can expect restaurants of western food to thrive along with a wide variety of food of different origins. It is not the case in many other cities,” Ho said.

“Shanghai is really the business center of China. People here are warm-hearted, very diligent, and the officials are not that bureaucratic,” he said.