How to initiate a corporate strategy for reputational reform

As PwC Australia’s first independent chair, John M Green is at the helm of an organisation he says is in the throes of reinvention.

When recruiters approached John M Green FAICD to test his interest in becoming PwC Australia’s first independent governance board chair, three things went through his mind.

“This was no ordinary board role and no ordinary corporate crisis,” the former deputy chair of QBE Insurance tells Company Director. “Because a firm like PwC is so critical to our economic and business ecosystem, I felt it was important that it not only survive, but flourish. Secondly, I needed to know if they were serious about change. If I was satisfied of that, I felt it would be a privilege to play a role with PwC.”

This went to the heart of PwC’s journey to reinvent itself following a period of intense public scrutiny over past failings, which involved the sharing of confidential government information.

The 2023 tax matter prompted a number of investigations, including by the Australian Federal Police, and an inquiry into the consulting sector by the Senate Standing Committees on Finance and Public Administration. In June last year, it issued 12 recommendations, including a review of legislation governing partnerships and parliamentary examination of consultants and professional bodies.

Separately, a report by the Parliamentary Joint Committee on Corporations and Financial Services recommended sweeping changes such as enhancing penalties and expanding ASIC’s oversight and enforcement powers.

An independent review by former Telstra CEO and experienced director Dr. Ziggy Switkowski AO identified key shortcomings — a lack of independent and external voices around the governance board, a business model that had become decentralised and segmented and, critically, an overly collegiate culture that inhibited constructive challenge.

“I’d read Dr Switkowski’s independent review when it was released the prior year, as well as PwC’s roadmap outlined in its Commitments to Change,” says Green. “I needed to know that these commitments weren’t just words on a page. I eyeballed a lot of people. Not only did I learn they were dead serious about change, but at the very heart of the plan was something I’m very passionate about — a focus on building a leading culture.”

The firm’s “Commitments to Change” were underpinned by 47 actions, including a major governance reform package that included independent non-executive directors being appointed to the firm’s board, including, for the first time, an independent non-executive chair. This is where Green came in.

“The third piece was bringing my own experiences to the PwC board table,” he says. “I’d lived through numerous corporate crises, either as an adviser to boards back in my executive days, or as a director. I also had a good feel for the differences between corporates and professional firms, through both my law and investment banking careers. And I’ve always had a strong focus on good governance.”

From 2008–15, Green wrote a monthly column on that topic for Company Director, and he’s been an active member of the AICD’s Corporate Governance Committee and its APRA Forum.

“So I said yes. They had a clear plan they were committed to. They had exceptional people to deliver it and I wanted to be a part of it.” 

Curiosity, challenge, collaboration

In March last year, months before Green came on board, PwC outlined its new corporate strategy, with clients and culture the central focus. It describes three key focus behaviours known inside the firm as the “three Cs” — unbounded curiosity, respectful challenge and collaboration.

“When I first saw this, I actually got excited,” says Green. “The three Cs elegantly encapsulated the hallmarks of a good culture — both organisationally as well as inside the board room — but I’d never simplified it in that way. Now, as a board, we try to role model the Three Cs. We start every board meeting and every committee meeting with what we call a ‘values and three Cs moment’ — where one or more of the directors will raise where they’ve observed a positive or a negative example of the three Cs. We’re encouraging people to do likewise throughout the firm. PwC is full of highly talented, capable people and we need to know what they think.”

Green tells staff and partners that it’s not just their right to challenge and be curious, it’s their responsibility. He also notes that, in August 2023, the firm formed a Client Committee to consider risk, reputational, ethics and governance issues when taking on specific client engagements. He says PwC has so far considered 180 different client engagements, weighing up the opportunity and risk posed at an enterprise level. Some engagements have been turned down as a result.

Governing partnerships

As part of its Commitments to Change, PwC undertook to follow the ASX Corporate Governance Principles where relevant. But Green stresses there is a significant difference between corporate boards and partnerships. “In a corporate, the shareholders are on the outside. In a partnership, they are on the inside. That difference gives partnerships a significant potential advantage. If you can mobilise your shareholders — in other words, the partners — in the right way, you have an unstoppable force for good.”

Green acknowledges that the firm didn’t get it right in the past, but says the commitment he is seeing from partners and people to lean into the new strategy and embrace change is leading to a cultural evolution that is broadening the definition of “high performance”.

Another Switkowski finding was that the firm had a disproportionate focus in its remuneration structure on revenue. “So,” says Green, “PwC brought in a balanced scorecard. We want to protect what made this firm great — and that includes a high-performance culture, with strong financial performance and outcomes. They are still important, but they’re now balanced against behaviours. In other words, the ‘how’ is as important as the ‘what’. This takes commitment from all levels of the business. We are seeing that buy-in and willingness to move to a more sustainable model.”

Rebuilding relationships

Green says the firm is progressing well against its Commitments to Change program, with independent monitor, Webb Henderson, together with former NSW Chief Justice Tom Bathurst KC, completing their independent review late last month. Green says this was a critical step, but it won’t be the last.

“The firm appointed an independent monitor to review and verify progress, knowing it couldn’t be seen to be marking its own homework. The final report is a testament to the intensity and breadth of the change program. But the work doesn’t stop here. This is where our culture program takes over — embedding the change and constantly refining it as we progress and grow. This is not a job done, but a job ongoing, and we will continue to make the changes required to become a better firm.”

Meanwhile the firm has also announced the appointment of its fourth independent director, Wendy Stops GAICD. Stops is currently a non-executive director of Coles and was previously on the CommBank board and a member of the AICD’s Governance of Innovation and Technology Panel. 

“Having a diverse range of voices around the governance board table has provided challenge and prompted curiosity,” says Green. “As we welcome Wendy, we are further enriching this diversity, allowing for different perspectives to continue shaping and strengthening our governance model.”

Along with his role at PwC and non-executive director roles at Challenger Ltd, the Cyber Security Cooperative Research Centre and UOW Global Enterprises, Green is also a thriller writer with six published novels.

“I don’t see this as the end of PwC’s reinvention story, I see it as the start of the next chapter,” he says. “Our board is committed to helping make that [chapter] as exciting and positive as possible for our partners, our people and our clients.”

This article first appeared under the headline 'Getting the Green light' in the June 2025 issue of Company Director magazine.