Andy Penn’s Tips for Doing Business in Asia

1. Be patient.
2. Focus on building relationships.
3. Get the right people and invest in them.
4. Have a high level of cultural sensitivity and awareness.
5. Diversify across Asian markets as the risks are higher.
6. Build a regional model with a distinct platform that can handle all different tax and regulatory environments.

Common Mistakes when Doing Business in Asia

1. Barriers to entry are very high, so don’t overestimate how long it will take to reach objectives.
2. Don’t underestimate the importance of relationships. Early discussions probably won’t focus on business but on areas such as family and interests.
3. Don’t underestimate cultural differences and how they can lead to a situation of being exploited or causing exploitation.
4. The rest of the world is not blind to the opportunities Asia represents. Competition is fierce and there is a higher risk of failure. Don’t go unprepared.

From BRW, April 14- 20, 2011, pp. 30-31   Biographical Information on Andy Penn

CEO Q&A: Ned Montarello

What is your number one tip for managing people?

Honest and open dialogue, synergise personal and company goals, position these around a framework to measure success, then let them get on with it.

What is your number one tip for managing business?

Recognise your strengths and weakness then surround yourself with key people whose skill sets will compensate for those weaknesses. Trust your judgement, be prepared to take the advice and watch the cash flow.

What is the best piece of advice you’ve ever received?

Find the right work-life balance and keep your sense of humor.

From BRW, April 14- 20, 2011, p. 12.

Speaking about Paul Feyerabend

This semester Lex Donaldson is teaching the Intellectual Foundation of Social Science class alone. But he asked me to come in and speak a bit about Feyerabend’s philosophy and my encounter with him when I took his undergraduate class on Ancient Philosophy at Berkekely.

The Conglomerate Discount in USA is 9%

Breaking up big companies is back in vogue. In Australia, the Fosters group is spinning out its Wine business because the expectation is that the parts individually are worth more than valuation of whole company. Read the full story in on Economist.com and why emerging markets don’t have this conglomerate discount.

Great Animation: The Credid Crisis Explained in Simple Terms (11 Minutes)

AGSM: Strategic Management 4. Transforming Businesses. EMBA course.

Nokia Announces its Turnaround strategy:  Ally with Microsoft for High-end Smartphones

You can read the full story behind this graph on Economist.com/

Regional Institutions, Ownership Transformation, And Migration of Industrial Leadership In China

Entry on “Richard R. Nelson” Palgrave Encyclopedia of Strategic Management

What Knowledge Is Transferred From Incumbent Firms To Successful New Ventures: ANZAM Proceedings

Global Health and Wealth over the past 200 years

Scaffolding in Economics, Management, and the Design of Technologies

Review of DuPont’s Dyes Business: Three Decades of Innovation, 1950-1980

Scaffolding in Economics, Management, and the Design of Technologies

Review of DuPont’s Dyes Business: Three Decades of Innovation, 1950-1980

Joseph Innarone and John Tackray are two former members of the DuPont dye business that experienced its golden age after World War II and was sold off in 1979, marking the visible onset of the decline of the U.S. synthetic dye industry. The authors are not research chemists. For the entire period covered by the book, they both held different jobs in the dye business, spanning technical service, sales, and business management. In course of their various assignments that started for both of them as trainees in the Technical Laboratory, the authors acquired substantial knowledge of dye innovations and the business of selling dyes. Rather than attempting a scholarly history (only five sources are cited), the authors offer their own personal history of Du Pont’s dye business. Their story is valuable for anyone who wants to gain a deeper understanding how DuPont became an innovator in the synthetic dye industry yet in the 1970s could no longer compete successfully with foreign rivals. Du Pont exited the industry in 1979 as later did all other U.S. headquartered firms.  Download full Review in AMBIX, Vol. 57 No. 3, November, 2010.

DuPont’s Dyes Business: Three Decades of Innovation, 1950-1980, By Joseph J. Iannarone, Jr., and John S. Thackray, pp: xi + 261, illus. J & J Publishing, Lancaster, PA
2008, $29.00, ISBN: 978-0-615-24927-8, Order Information.