Observations from current mandates and from the Europe-China interface. Posts mostly run in parallel on LinkedIn.
Shenzhen 2006: A Tsingtao, bottled 36 hours earlier, brewed a few kilometres from the bar. Meanwhile, at Nokia in Beijing, four weeks of finished goods were sitting in my consignment warehouse. How a label triggered a lean overhaul - and the worried question Nokia's Finnish buyer asked at the end.
Read more ›China looks calm - but calm is not neutral. Geopolitics is no longer theory; it sits in the production plan. With link to China Hot Pod episode 179.
Read more ›The lessons were learned in Zhongnanhai. Calm and decisive risk reduction is not free in the short term - but being blackmailed is much more costly.
Read more ›Demographics in China are no longer a social topic but a factor in productivity, innovation and plant planning. Three consequences for Operations plus reference to the current MERICS report.
Read more ›Notes from the Shanghai launch of the European Chamber's annual confidence survey - and why both sides are losing if the dialogue stalls. Room remains for win-win between China and Europe.
Read more ›A personal note on the passing of Premier Li Keqiang - with photo from the meeting in the Great Hall of the People in November 2013.
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