He led the banking industry globally in moving executive long-term incentives (LTIs) away from purely financial performance, linking them for the first time to customer satisfaction.
This was later redesigned as Knight Companion in August 2009 as a result of the reinstatement of the appellations of "Sir" and "Dame" to the New Zealand Royal Honours System.
In his decade as CEO, ASB grew into a full-service, national bank and delivered top rankings for customer service each year.
[6] The bank also delivered organic market share growth,[7] Following September 11 and the collapse of its Australian subsidiary, Ansett Australia, Air New Zealand reported the country’s largest ever financial loss.
[8] As CEO, Sir Ralph returned the airline to profitability within 24 months and launched complete overhauls of the domestic and international products.
[12] Sir Ralph oversaw a rise in employee engagement to world’s best practice levels and a two third increase in the share price.