Archive for September, 2012
I want to follow up on what I said yesterday. I noted that 3M encourages wandering around, and I can add they even have walkways just for that. However, today I want to add that they also rotate people from one project to another every 4 to 6 years. This cross pollinating is another part […]
Continue Reading →In his book, Imagine: How Creativity Works, Jonah Lehrer tells how 3M created a great inventive company. 1. They encourage people to take breaks and do whatever during the work day. The even have one hour to work on whatever each day which Google later copied. Breakthroughs more often come when people can relax or […]
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Top leaders naturally have more achievement and more experience to list, and our company has a mittful that are good leaders as well, but the tendency is for leaders to drift away from building their teamwork ability. They are individual contributors of merit. They compete, well the younger people compete too, but they are not […]
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OK, that is a big topic. I provide little analysis today, but give some data points for thought. Chinese recent college graduates write in Chinese that they are good team players, sanguine and optimistic, and can diligently eat bitterness. Not all do but it is an epidemic of these entries in Chinese language resumes. Do […]
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Some companies have a clear indigenization policy. Diversity is never on the table. One high level manager in such a company said within hearing of my assistant, “Play along with the (Expat ) GM. Don’t worry, he will be gone soon enough” One Fortune 100 company I know of had an honest high […]
Continue Reading →Everyone managing down and the lonely leader at the top of many silos is so common. Procurement Leaders mentioned how commodity risk is important, and few companies face it well. They say, While treasury looks after currency and interest-rate risks, raw materials are more often the responsibility of procurement – but the skills required to […]
Continue Reading →Dan Harris effectively asked, “Why bother to start a factory in China to replace your supplier?” See his Post here. His answer is: “Of course not.” That needs a little explanation. I agree that if you just want to take a supplier in house and that is your whole vision for China, then do not […]
Continue Reading →Posted in: China, Decision Making, Leadership, Market Entry
Leave a Comment (0) →The Procurement Leaders Blog put up a post called One more rule for leaders: Be empathetic Do we place ourselves in our suppliers shoes? Do we imagine the worker’s family income stress? When they suffer, do we feel, should we feel, pain? I think you kmow I would vote yes. You can make people run […]
Continue Reading →The China Law Blog put up a blog recently that deserves a look. It is a great blog on key China mistakes. Check it out here. I want to talk about one point he made a little here. Take a look at this quote Take the trust factor out. All actions must be confirmed with […]
Continue Reading →Posted in: China, Market Entry, Motivating Workers
Leave a Comment (0) →Do not provide cash, your technology, high technology equipment and they provide, land, buidings, people, old equipment. Be ever so careful of joint venturing with some Chinese owned company that has excellent local contacts. Those very contacts will likely be your undoing. Possession and having home field advantage are considerable advantages. I have seen companies […]
Continue Reading →Posted in: China, Chinese Culture, Market Entry, Negotiating
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