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Wallace Associates Inc. Singapore Executive Management Recruitment: PRINCIPAL CONSULTANT – IT/TELECOM

Shala Coble 8 years ago 0

PRINCIPAL CONSULTANT – IT/TELECOM

NORTHEAST US


The Company


Our client is an established well respected international consulting firm which provides the most comprehensive economic, financial, and political coverage of countries, regions, and industries available from any source. As one of the world’s leading economic information and consulting firms, it covers over 200 countries and spans more than 170 industries.


Wallace Associates Inc Singapore Executive Management Recruitment


The Job


  • Prepare proposals and presentations for sales purposes
  • Identify and develop business opportunities with IT and Telecom organizations
  • Assist practice managing director in developing new products and services to expand the market
  • Manage client accounts
  • Develop models, forecasts, analytical reports and presentations that examines market sizing and company sales
  • Work closely with various groups, including the company’s sales team, clients, and prospects

What it takes

The selected candidate will have:


  • Bachelor’s Degree in economics; 7+ years of working in the IT/Telecom industry, 7+ years of consulting - experience; previous experience in economic and demographic analysis
  • Familiarity with a range of industry-specific analytic techniques, including econometrics, forecasting, modeling, and statistics
  • Knowledge of IT/Telecom software to create effective proposals and sales presentations
  • Strong office and statistical software skills
  • Excellent written and verbal communication skills
  • Advanced Degree preferred

Most important

This is what really matters to us in a candidate:


  • Ability to build strong client and prospect relationships
  • Ability to make a strong connection between economic/demographic drivers and the strategic requirements of consumer-oriented companies
  • Thorough understanding of the analysis and needs of the IT/Telecom industry

Why apply

What we are about:


The company understands that their employees are their most valuable asset and that the quality of the company services depends on their employees’ knowledge, skill, and teamwork. This is a highly visible position in fastest growing division of the The company is committed to providing a work environment that encourages its employees to grow in capabilities, responsibility, and impact. This company is an equal opportunity employer.


Please email your resume along with a cover letter to positions@wallaceassoc.com

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Wallace Associates Inc. Singapore Executive Management Recruitment: PRINCIPAL CONSULTANT – IT/TELECOM

Oshima Taro 8 years ago 0

PRINCIPAL CONSULTANT – IT/TELECOM

NORTHEAST US


The Company


Our client is an established well respected international consulting firm which provides the most comprehensive economic, financial, and political coverage of countries, regions, and industries available from any source. As one of the world’s leading economic information and consulting firms, it covers over 200 countries and spans more than 170 industries.


Wallace Associates Inc Singapore Executive Management Recruitment


The Job


  • Prepare proposals and presentations for sales purposes
  • Identify and develop business opportunities with IT and Telecom organizations
  • Assist practice managing director in developing new products and services to expand the market
  • Manage client accounts
  • Develop models, forecasts, analytical reports and presentations that examines market sizing and company sales
  • Work closely with various groups, including the company’s sales team, clients, and prospects

What it takes

The selected candidate will have:


  • Bachelor’s Degree in economics; 7+ years of working in the IT/Telecom industry, 7+ years of consulting - experience; previous experience in economic and demographic analysis
  • Familiarity with a range of industry-specific analytic techniques, including econometrics, forecasting, modeling, and statistics
  • Knowledge of IT/Telecom software to create effective proposals and sales presentations
  • Strong office and statistical software skills
  • Excellent written and verbal communication skills
  • Advanced Degree preferred

Most important

This is what really matters to us in a candidate:


  • Ability to build strong client and prospect relationships
  • Ability to make a strong connection between economic/demographic drivers and the strategic requirements of consumer-oriented companies
  • Thorough understanding of the analysis and needs of the IT/Telecom industry

Why apply

What we are about:


The company understands that their employees are their most valuable asset and that the quality of the company services depends on their employees’ knowledge, skill, and teamwork. This is a highly visible position in fastest growing division of the The company is committed to providing a work environment that encourages its employees to grow in capabilities, responsibility, and impact. This company is an equal opportunity employer.


Please email your resume along with a cover letter to positions@wallaceassoc.com

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Wallace Associates Inc. Singapore Executive Management Recruitment: Director of Sales

Shala Coble 8 years ago updated 8 years ago 0

Director of Sales

San Francisco, CA or New York, NY


The Company


Our client helps the world’s media, information, and technology providers grow revenue, deliver superior solutions, optimize their clients’ performance, and thrive in a fast-changing global digital market. Our client advances the business of information as a company “that works” — for each other, their clients, their stakeholders, and their community.

The Job


Our client is looking for a proven top-producer, entrepreneurial-minded, highly motivated, results-driven candidate to drive new business within the company’s syndicated subscription services and manage a small sales team to deliver total sales results for the company. The company is looking for a strong player/coach who’s up for a challenge.


This key talent will drive sales of the company’s payment services by establishing and nurturing partnerships with various POS developers (ISVs).


The primary responsibility of this role is to engage with strategy, corporate development, and market intelligence executives in the information industry for the purpose of generating new sales for our Marketing Intelligence Service and develop leads for our custom research and consultancy services. You will manage the team that delivers renewals and sells new memberships and you will oversee sales production for the firm.


You will be responsible for developing a strong pipeline, representing the service, and closing new business in a predominately hunter role while providing forecast oversight for the firm and ensuring successful monthly performance overall. You are a hands-on individual contributor and team leader.


Key Responsibilities


  • Meet/exceed assigned new business targets within a defined territory comprising large non-client organizations in the information industry and assigned accounts. Oversee sales production
  • Generate sales through professional networking cold-call techniques, following up leads, and business development efforts
  • Proactively prospect and build new business with effective pipe management
  • Serve as a team leader for a field sales team member and two client services specialists focused on generating new business and client retention
  • Develop forecasts for finance, ensure forecast accuracy, and deliver sales targets and meet or exceed them individually and for the team
  • Develop sales plans for budget years and establish quotas and compensation plans
  • Hire, mentor, develop, retain, and coach individual contributors

What It Takes


The selected candidate will have:


  • Must have sales management experience
  • Bachelor’s Degree
  • 10+ years’ experience with business development selling to the information, software, or media industry preferred
  • Solution selling orientation with the ability to quickly build credibility with executive-level audiences
  • Powerful business development skills to repeatedly gain new clients
  • Ability to speak the business language of C-Suite, Heads of Strategy, and CMOs
  • Successful sales manager who has rolled up to a sales VP or has run a subset team and territory in a larger sales organization and is now looking for the next level up in a career move to run sales for an organization.
  • Demonstrated history with running and growing larger territories
  • Experience with Salesforce.com and hands-on use of it to develop and deliver necessary pipeline and forecast reports and sales performance
  • Strong business-to-business (B2B) sales experience
  • A strong sales record and familiarity with selling information and intelligence services or solutions to the information industry
  • Solution-based sales experience with an emphasis on service-oriented products and new business activity
  • Skills and confidence to call “high” and “across” organizations and to be part of growing the sales function as product execution ramps in the firm
  • Polished, professional, good communicator, accountable, follows through with colleagues, and can present and discuss business issues in a cogent and concise way
  • Comfortable in a fast-moving agile environment, can work across time zones, and communicate with individuals across many countries
  • Business development experience (such as licensing) is a plus

Why Apply


What the company is about:


Our client we believes that information and knowledge are fuel for the human spirit. They foster understanding, discovery, enjoyment, learning, and commerce around the globe. Our client believes in a world where people always have access to the information they need, advancing their lives so they can advance the lives of others.

Our client offers flexible work hours to help their employees maintain a schedule that works for them.


Please contact our search firm:


Wallace Associates

positions@wallaceassoc.com

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Wallace Associates Inc. Singapore Executive Management Recruitment: DIRECTOR OF SALES

Oshima Taro 8 years ago 0

Director of Sales

San Francisco, CA or New York, NY

The Company


Our client helps the world’s media, information, and technology providers grow revenue, deliver superior solutions, optimize their clients’ performance, and thrive in a fast-changing global digital market. Our client advances the business of information as a company “that works” — for each other, their clients, their stakeholders, and their community.

The Job


Our client is looking for a proven top-producer, entrepreneurial-minded, highly motivated, results-driven candidate to drive new business within the company’s syndicated subscription services and manage a small sales team to deliver total sales results for the company. The company is looking for a strong player/coach who’s up for a challenge.


This key talent will drive sales of the company’s payment services by establishing and nurturing partnerships with various POS developers (ISVs).


The primary responsibility of this role is to engage with strategy, corporate development, and market intelligence executives in the information industry for the purpose of generating new sales for our Marketing Intelligence Service and develop leads for our custom research and consultancy services. You will manage the team that delivers renewals and sells new memberships and you will oversee sales production for the firm.


You will be responsible for developing a strong pipeline, representing the service, and closing new business in a predominately hunter role while providing forecast oversight for the firm and ensuring successful monthly performance overall. You are a hands-on individual contributor and team leader.


Key Responsibilities


  • Meet/exceed assigned new business targets within a defined territory comprising large non-client organizations in the information industry and assigned accounts. Oversee sales production
  • Generate sales through professional networking cold-call techniques, following up leads, and business development efforts
  • Proactively prospect and build new business with effective pipe management
  • Serve as a team leader for a field sales team member and two client services specialists focused on generating new business and client retention
  • Develop forecasts for finance, ensure forecast accuracy, and deliver sales targets and meet or exceed them individually and for the team
  • Develop sales plans for budget years and establish quotas and compensation plans
  • Hire, mentor, develop, retain, and coach individual contributors

What It Takes

The selected candidate will have:


  • Must have sales management experience
  • Bachelor’s Degree
  • 10+ years’ experience with business development selling to the information, software, or media industry preferred
  • Solution selling orientation with the ability to quickly build credibility with executive-level audiences
  • Powerful business development skills to repeatedly gain new clients
  • Ability to speak the business language of C-Suite, Heads of Strategy, and CMOs
  • Successful sales manager who has rolled up to a sales VP or has run a subset team and territory in a larger sales organization and is now looking for the next level up in a career move to run sales for an organization.
  • Demonstrated history with running and growing larger territories
  • Experience with Salesforce.com and hands-on use of it to develop and deliver necessary pipeline and forecast reports and sales performance
  • Strong business-to-business (B2B) sales experience
  • A strong sales record and familiarity with selling information and intelligence services or solutions to the information industry
  • Solution-based sales experience with an emphasis on service-oriented products and new business activity
  • Skills and confidence to call “high” and “across” organizations and to be part of growing the sales function as product execution ramps in the firm
  • Polished, professional, good communicator, accountable, follows through with colleagues, and can present and discuss business issues in a cogent and concise way
  • Comfortable in a fast-moving agile environment, can work across time zones, and communicate with individuals across many countries
  • Business development experience (such as licensing) is a plus

Why Apply

What the company is about:


Our client we believes that information and knowledge are fuel for the human spirit. They foster understanding, discovery, enjoyment, learning, and commerce around the globe. Our client believes in a world where people always have access to the information they need, advancing their lives so they can advance the lives of others.


Our client offers flexible work hours to help their employees maintain a schedule that works for them.


Please contact our search firm:


Wallace Associates

positions@wallaceassoc.com

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SENIOR ANALYST: P and C AND LIFE INSURANCE

Will Fink 8 years ago 0

Wallace Associates Inc. Singapore Executive Management Recruitment


The Company


Our client is an independent research and advisory firm focused on business, technology, and regulatory issues and their impact on the financial services industry. With expertise in banking, payments, wealth management, capital markets, and insurance, the firm’s analysts deliver comprehensive, actionable advice to key market participants in financial services. Headquartered in Boston with a presence in Chicago, New York, San Francisco, London, and Milan, this organization works with its clients as a partner, advisor, and catalyst, challenging their basic assumptions and ensuring they remain at the forefront of industry trends


The Job


As a Senior Analyst within our insurance practice, you will strive to become a thought leader and a trusted advisor to insurance carriers and distributors, other financial institutions, and technology vendors. You will focus on providing actionable recommendations to our customers by producing research papers, interacting with clients, and leading consulting engagements.


Senior Analysts are expected to excel in the followings areas:


  • Producing high-quality research papers on a monthly basis;
  • Providing ongoing support to the financial institutions and technology vendors that subscribe to our research practice;
  • Supporting the sales team in expanding our client base for our research and consulting practices;
  • Securing speaking engagements on a regular basis at industry and client conferences and events; and
  • Becoming a source of reference for the trade and top-tier press in their domain of expertise.

What It Takes

The selected candidate will have:


  • At least 6-10 years experience in P&C and/or Life insurance at an insurer, leading technology vendor, industry analyst firm, or management consultancy
  • Proficiency in technology and business strategies
  • Proven written and oral communication skills
  • An ability to formulate original analyses and actionable recommendations
  • Proven quantitative analysis skills.
  • Candidates must be fluent in English.
  • Fluency in another language, such as French, German, Spanish, Mandarin or Japanese is a plus.
  • A bachelor’s degree from an accredited college or university is required. An MBA is a plus.

Why Apply


Our client believes their success depends on the human and professional qualities of its employees. They seek well-rounded, personable individuals that can work independently with minimal supervision and also excel in a team-oriented environment. The company welcomes inquiring minds and provocative thinkers who, in addition to closely following their own sector, keep current with domestic and global social, economic and political trends and issues.


This organization has high expectations for the individuals they attract, and is committed to offering these individuals a professional and rewarding environment. Compensation consists of a base salary along with a bonus, which is based on performance.


Applicants should contact our search firm:


Wallace Associates

positions@wallaceassoc.com

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SENIOR ANALYST: P and C AND LIFE INSURANCE | WALLACE ASSOCIATES

Shala Coble 8 years ago 0

Wallace Associates Inc. Singapore Executive Management Recruitment

The Company


Our client is an independent research and advisory firm focused on business, technology, and regulatory issues and their impact on the financial services industry. With expertise in banking, payments, wealth management, capital markets, and insurance, the firm’s analysts deliver comprehensive, actionable advice to key market participants in financial services. Headquartered in Boston with a presence in Chicago, New York, San Francisco, London, and Milan, this organization works with its clients as a partner, advisor, and catalyst, challenging their basic assumptions and ensuring they remain at the forefront of industry trends


The Job


As a Senior Analyst within our insurance practice, you will strive to become a thought leader and a trusted advisor to insurance carriers and distributors, other financial institutions, and technology vendors. You will focus on providing actionable recommendations to our customers by producing research papers, interacting with clients, and leading consulting engagements.


Senior Analysts are expected to excel in the followings areas:


  • Producing high-quality research papers on a monthly basis;
  • Providing ongoing support to the financial institutions and technology vendors that subscribe to our research practice;
  • Supporting the sales team in expanding our client base for our research and consulting practices;
  • Securing speaking engagements on a regular basis at industry and client conferences and events; and
  • Becoming a source of reference for the trade and top-tier press in their domain of expertise.

What It Takes

The selected candidate will have:


  • At least 6-10 years experience in P&C and/or Life insurance at an insurer, leading technology vendor, industry analyst firm, or management consultancy
  • Proficiency in technology and business strategies
  • Proven written and oral communication skills
  • An ability to formulate original analyses and actionable recommendations
  • Proven quantitative analysis skills.
  • Candidates must be fluent in English.
  • Fluency in another language, such as French, German, Spanish, Mandarin or Japanese is a plus.
  • A bachelor’s degree from an accredited college or university is required. An MBA is a plus.

Why Apply


Our client believes their success depends on the human and professional qualities of its employees. They seek well-rounded, personable individuals that can work independently with minimal supervision and also excel in a team-oriented environment. The company welcomes inquiring minds and provocative thinkers who, in addition to closely following their own sector, keep current with domestic and global social, economic and political trends and issues.


This organization has high expectations for the individuals they attract, and is committed to offering these individuals a professional and rewarding environment. Compensation consists of a base salary along with a bonus, which is based on performance.


Applicants should contact our search firm:


Wallace Associates

positions@wallaceassoc.com

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WALLACE ASSOCIATES - SENIOR ANALYST: WEALTH MANAGEMENT

Will Fink 8 years ago 0

The Company

Our client is an independent research and advisory firm focused on business, technology, and regulatory issues and their impact on the financial services industry. With expertise in banking, payments, wealth management, capital markets, and insurance, the firm’s analysts deliver comprehensive, actionable advice to key market participants in financial services. Headquartered in Boston with a presence in Chicago, New York, San Francisco, London, and Milan, this organization works with its clients as a partner, advisor, and catalyst, challenging their basic assumptions and ensuring they remain at the forefront of industry trends


The Job

As a Senior Analyst within our Wealth Management practice, you will strive to become a thought leader and a trusted advisor to financial institutions and technology vendors. You will focus on providing actionable recommendations to our customers by producing research papers, interacting with clients, and leading consulting engagements.


Senior Analysts are expected to excel in the followings areas:

  • Producing high-quality research papers on a monthly basis;
  • Providing ongoing support to the financial institutions and technology vendors that subscribe to our research practice;
  • Supporting the sales team in expanding our client base for our research and consulting practices;
  • Securing speaking engagements on a regular basis at industry and client conferences and events; and
  • Becoming a source of reference for the trade and top-tier press in their domain of expertise.

What It Takes

The selected candidate will have:


The ideal candidate brings a solid industry expertise (10+ years experience at a introducing broker/dealer firm or a service provider to this wealth management industry segment, e.g., correspondent clearing firm, asset management firm, management consulting firm, or leading technology vendor); proficiency in technology and business strategies; proven written and oral communication skills; an ability to formulate original analyses and actionable recommendations; and proven quantitative analysis skills.


Candidates must be fluent in English. Fluency in another language, such as Chinese, Japanese, French, German, or Spanish is a plus. A bachelor’s degree from an accredited college or university is required. An MBA is a plus.


Why Apply


Our client believes their success depends on the human and professional qualities of its employees. They seek well-rounded, personable individuals that can work independently with minimal supervision and also excel in a team-oriented environment. The company welcomes inquiring minds and provocative thinkers who, in addition to closely following their own sector, keep current with domestic and global social, economic and political trends and issues.

This organization has high expectations for the individuals they attract, and is committed to offering these individuals a professional and rewarding environment. Compensation consists of a base salary along with a bonus, which is based on performance.


Applicants should contact our search firm:


Wallace Associates

positions@wallaceassoc.com

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Wallace Associates Inc. Singapore Executive Management Recruitment - SENIOR ANALYST: WEALTH MANAGEMENT

Shala Coble 8 years ago 0

The Company


Our client is an independent research and advisory firm focused on business, technology, and regulatory issues and their impact on the financial services industry. With expertise in banking, payments, wealth management, capital markets, and insurance, the firm’s analysts deliver comprehensive, actionable advice to key market participants in financial services. Headquartered in Boston with a presence in Chicago, New York, San Francisco, London, and Milan, this organization works with its clients as a partner, advisor, and catalyst, challenging their basic assumptions and ensuring they remain at the forefront of industry trends


The Job


As a Senior Analyst within our Wealth Management practice, you will strive to become a thought leader and a trusted advisor to financial institutions and technology vendors. You will focus on providing actionable recommendations to our customers by producing research papers, interacting with clients, and leading consulting engagements.


Senior Analysts are expected to excel in the followings areas:


  • Producing high-quality research papers on a monthly basis;
  • Providing ongoing support to the financial institutions and technology vendors that subscribe to our research practice;
  • Supporting the sales team in expanding our client base for our research and consulting practices;
  • Securing speaking engagements on a regular basis at industry and client conferences and events; and
  • Becoming a source of reference for the trade and top-tier press in their domain of expertise.

What It Takes

The selected candidate will have:


The ideal candidate brings a solid industry expertise (10+ years experience at a introducing broker/dealer firm or a service provider to this wealth management industry segment, e.g., correspondent clearing firm, asset management firm, management consulting firm, or leading technology vendor); proficiency in technology and business strategies; proven written and oral communication skills; an ability to formulate original analyses and actionable recommendations; and proven quantitative analysis skills.


Candidates must be fluent in English. Fluency in another language, such as Chinese, Japanese, French, German, or Spanish is a plus. A bachelor’s degree from an accredited college or university is required. An MBA is a plus.


Why Apply


Our client believes their success depends on the human and professional qualities of its employees. They seek well-rounded, personable individuals that can work independently with minimal supervision and also excel in a team-oriented environment. The company welcomes inquiring minds and provocative thinkers who, in addition to closely following their own sector, keep current with domestic and global social, economic and political trends and issues.


This organization has high expectations for the individuals they attract, and is committed to offering these individuals a professional and rewarding environment. Compensation consists of a base salary along with a bonus, which is based on performance.


Applicants should contact our search firm:

Wallace Associates

positions@wallaceassoc.com

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The Nation: Sustainable 21st Century Business: An Asian Perspective by Human Capital Alliance

Billy Bass 8 years ago 0

Editor: In 2004, Edwin Sim established Human Capital Alliance, Thailand’s Premier Executive Search & Senior Advisory Firm. Between 1997-2003, Edwin Sim was Managing Partner of Korn Ferry Thailand. This article was first published by the Nation in April 2003.


K I Woo reviews comments made at a recent seminar by The Economist Intelligence Unit entitled “Sustainable 21st-Century Business.” Part one of a two-part series.


In Thailand, as elsewhere, businessmen are under constant pressure to ensure their business is sustainable in the 21st century. They are flooded daily with high-priced business solutions developed by numerous international companies.


Chavalit Tsao, the Chairman of IMC Pan Asia Alliance, a shipping company with global operations, including Thailand ’s Unithai Group, said his companies had tried almost every business solution coming down the line during his 25 years in business.


” ’In Search of Excellence’, ’Seven Habits of Effective People’ and now the ’Balanced Scorecard’ and ’Six-Sigma’ – you name it, we’ve looked at it and probably tried it,” he said.


A fourth-generation shipping tycoon, Chavalit took over the family business from his father a little more than a decade ago. Recognized across the global industry, Chavalit is currently Chairman of the London-based International Association of Dry Cargo Ship-owners.


At a recent seminar in Bangkok entitled “Sustainable 21st-Century Business” co-sponsored by The Economist Intelligence Unit and Korn Ferry Thailand, Chavalit acknowledged that although every successful company was compelled to try the latest management techniques, his experience still indicated that few solutions were capable of guaranteeing an organization would be sustainable throughout the 21st century.


Chavalit said that during the 1990s boom, business leaders faced an almost irresolvable dilemma. “No one was just doing business: they were only speculating. Anyone can throw a dart and hit an elephant,” he said.


That period, he said, led to tremendous cultural changes in Asia . People became much more materialistic, running around with three mobile phones, buying land and speculating on shares. “Leaders had to analyze how and where they were leading their people,” he said.


The social costs were tremendous. “Perception became more important than truth, legality became more important than justice, and actions that were bad suddenly became good,” he said.


To resolve his dilemma, Chavalit said, he decided to look closely at cultural issues. He endowed his East West Cultural Centre and began research on 3,000 years of management history in China .


“In both an Asian and a Western context, we wanted to see if we could draw something from the wisdom of the past,” he said.


Chavalit said that based on his study and interpretation of Chinese culture he would respond to the question of sustainability with the following formula: achieving sincerity, finding a holistic and interdependent dynamic balance, and the creation of harmony.


“This is the process, the means and an end,” he said.


Chavalit said that in his opinion, any actions that ultimately created harmony were sustainable. “Those are your key productivity-indicators,” he said.


Conversely, activities that do not create harmony are not sustainable.


“Business is inherently a social enterprise: it’s about serving human needs and receiving a return or reward, which is part of the system’s design,” he said.


With globalization, business has grown immensely and has a much more important role in shaping culture. Chavalit said that at the end of the day businesses, governments, and non-governmental organizations had to work together as three pillars of social development to ensure that markets and cultures were operating properly and delivering happiness to everyone.

“The business sector is the most powerful and most able to mobilize and deploy resources,” he added.


Modern businesses can also learn sustainability by following the ancient belief of cycles, he said.

“In the ’Yijing’ ’The Book of Changes’, a classic of Chinese philosophy, everything grows, matures, dies, and then renews,” he said.


At the same time, the “Yijing” emphasizes that if everybody plays his or her role, then everybody is rewarded, Chavalit said.


“Heaven and earth are all-giving,” he said.


As for the companies under his control, Chavalit said he wanted to develop a living organization, something that would grow and renew itself.


He said that to achieve sustainability, one must be guided by principle – exercise self-restraint if the market does not itself encourage restraint. Be financially motivated – because that is how the system is structured. Be commercially oriented and technically sound.


A living organization, Chavalit said, must look at more than just efficient key productivity-indicators. Company leaders must closely consider issues such as internal motivation, people orientation, process rationality, and leadership guidance.


“The whole thing must be built on the concept of growth, relationship and the concept of self,” he said.

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Financial Times: How Going Local Could Strangle Your Career - Human Capital Alliance

Billy Bass 8 years ago 0

In Thailand, as in other Asian countries, expatriate managers should be aware of the dangers of becoming too deeply rooted in the local working culture.


Hired for their “international skills,” foreign executives usually expect a spell in a country like Thailand simply to broaden their experience and add sparkle to their CVs.


What they do not imagine is that the host country might dull their ambition, alter their managing style, and even tie them down. Yet this happens regularly, and sometimes a promising international career is derailed.


Razor-keen MBAs soon find themselves questioning their own logic, checking aggressive instincts and opting for, in Thailand’s case, the softer local style.


The victim may not realize what is happening until it is too late. He or she likes the place and decides, to get beneath the skin of the culture. Time passes and he or she is no longer the bright newcomer bubbling with the latest ideas from abroad.


Soon they find themselves accepting a smaller expatriate package of benefits; then they discover they must compete for jobs with cheaper local talent who, ironically, easily trump their knowledge of the country.


“My strong advice is to be very careful about spending too long in a place like Thailand. You can be trapped,” says Edwin Sim, managing director of Human Capital Alliance, a Bangkok consultancy.


“It takes only two or three years for multinationals to set up a business platform in a country; after that local professionals can run it. In my last nine years recruiting in Thailand 99 per cent of my clients were looking for locals,” adds Mr.Sim.


Until the 1997 crash Thailand was a hot emerging market that regularly reported double-digit growth, so there were reasons for supposing that Thai-specific knowledge would be valued. Executives who have made that gamble may now wish they had opted to become experts in China, which is shaping up to be a global giant on all counts. Thailand is pleasant but its economy frightens no one.


Managers who succeed in Thailand are often those who have been able to adapt themselves to a complex culture where confrontation is frowned upon, where powerful vested interests must be carefully navigated and where a lack of boldness in employees must be overlooked. Yet these conscientious people may find, when they finally look up, that they have lost the will, or the ability, to engage in the rougher entrepreneurial environment of more important business centres.


“The career books are full of glib advice about moving around. The reality is different. Real people do click with a culture, do have ambition sucked out of them,” says George Morgan, former head of the foreign stockbrokers’ association in Thailand and now an independent analyst and investor.

“Companies all over the world also like to bring in young blood that is cheaper, hungrier and more willing. The consequences for the expat can be drastic. It may be more difficult to slide sideways in an alien environment,” he says.


Expats who have chosen to work in Thailand appear united in thinking nothing wrong with choosing a less glittering career path as the price of shunning international mobility.

“If working in completely different culture doesn’t change you then I’d say it was a complete waste of time coming,” says David Lyman, chairman of Tilleke & Gibbins, a large independent Thai law firm.


“If you stay long enough you find that when you go home everything seems duller. Your friends seem more provincial. Suddenly you miss your new home,” says this American citizen who has not worked in the US for four decades.


What everyone who has worked in Asia seems to agree upon is that even in a world of ever-increasing surface uniformity the region remains difficult to understand. Yet even executives who step outside the expat bubble to try to explore their territory will not be saved if their performance does not match their local knowledge.


Lots of foreign managers lost their jobs in Thailand last year, according to Anthony Ainsworth of headhunter Richard Glynn: “There are lots of manager out there on fat expat package riding on thin profit margins. They are very vulnerable when cost-cutting time comes around.”


Ultimately, every executive will be judged by results and any management style will be acceptable if it is in the company’s favour, says Mr. Ainsworth. An “international” career can be partially protected by not surrendering to destructive local ways. “Executives should fight like hell for their own values and standards. Different should not mean worse,” he says.


Age is a factor. Younger, less encumbered executives appear less prone to being trapped than middle-aged managers who have already tasted something of what the world has to offer and may be tempted to extend their stay. Location is also important. Executives in busy centres such as Hong Kong or Singapore are less likely to fear that their value in the job market is sliding.


But executives of any age will find themselves affected by an exotic new environment. American consultancy Revel Miller found that 40 per cent of repatriated managers left the parent company within three years because they struggled to reintegrate or were frustrated over a lack of recognition.


Individual managers can protect themselves by keeping good communications with their parent company.


To be on the safe side experts advise ambitious executives to restrain foreign work tours to two or three years at a time and keep a beady eye on their ultimate objective. If they expect to do their most important work in London then they should spend more time there or in similar centres rather than in Thailand.


Human Capital Alliance’s Mr. Sim said: “The secret is knowing where you want to be ultimately and to work backwards. Choosing a soft lifestyle with an Asian flavour is fine if this is really where you want to end up.”