 |
||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 |
||||||
_ FIRST WORD FROM ME |
||||||
Welcome to the August/September Cliftons.Communication - I hope you enjoy the stories and industry news. We are always keen to hear from you so please send me an email with your news and views to share in our next edition. We have a number of events coming up over the next few months (see Upcoming Events) we hope to see you there. If you have an event you would like to publicise – let us know. While some people have enjoyed a relaxing summer vacation, the Cliftons Senior Management Team have been on a world tour visiting our global network of facility providers. At each location they ensured we are offering the highest possible standard of venue and service. We can now offer you the choice of more than 60 first class venues in cities around the world. Our Regional Facility Manager can co-ordinate your training logistics requirements from South America to Paris, Guangzhou to Mumbai, so you can concentrate on your business and event content. Click on this link for further information. We look forward to seeing you at one of our venues soon – in the meantime enjoy the rest of the summer. |
AGSM Hong Kong recently ran a “lifelong learning” event at Cliftons Central Training Facility. A lively discussion with the audience was moderated by Professor Timothy Devinney whose distinguished panel of speakers included Sir CK Chow (CEO of MTR Corporation), Peter Sullivan (CEO of Standard Chartered) and Bill Henderson (of Egon Zehnder and Economist Group). |
 |
||||
Sir CK Chow discussed Hong Kong infrastructure and the changes ten years on from handover. Despite many prophecies of doom and dramatic change, Hong Kong has remained a competitive world city. To ensure this competitive edge remains, Sir CK advised a focus on transportation links with China and maintaining a skilled workforce. Hong Kong must also join China’s high speed rail system to remain competitive in the region. The high speed rail should also link the three airports in the Hong Kong / PRD vicinity. Questions were raised from the audience on infrastructure and transportation links with China … very topical, as shortly after it was announced the KCR would link with China’s high speed rail system. Great news for Hong Kong’s competitive future! Peter Sullivan described Hong Kong as a solid and stable financial hub sharing similarities with other established international cities, the key elements being location and geography. Along with other world cities, Hong Kong shares a working harbour and established trade routes. Hong Kong’s financial infrastructure is robust, offering fair trade, an attractive tax system and rule of law with little corruption. This creates an ideal gateway for foreign funds into China and in the future, for funds out of China. Bill Henderson discussed the hot topic of talent management and the need for Hong Kong to be aggressively welcoming to foreign talent. To ensure Hong Kong remains competitive, Bill suggested there needs to be an improvement in education levels, English speaking standards and a more global mind set. To be successful in the international market today employees need to demonstrate flexibility and mental agility. |
||||||
Vanessa Griffiths-Green General Manager, Asia |
||||||
The discussion turned to the core qualities of leadership and Sir CK offered some insightful anecdotes on the geographical boundaries of leadership. Drawing on his experiences in Japan, Hong Kong and the international community, he outlined the type of leadership required by a family run business in Hong Kong compared to that required by an international organisation in Hong Kong or a multinational in Japan. It will be interesting to see how the increasing influence of China on the Asia and global markets, and the changing transportation infrastructures in the region, effect Hong Kong’s positioning as a competitive world city. No doubt we will also continue to see changes to leadership styles and talent management in the region as we grow and change. |
 |
|||||
Creating a comfortable learning environment is vital whether your participants are colleagues or strangers. Ice breakers are a fantastic way to get the group acquainted and at ease with the environment and the group. “Talking Animals” is a favorite of mine! |
||||||
 |
||||||
Top: (left to right) Peter Sullivan (CEO of Standard Chartered), Professor Timothy Devinney (AGSM Professorial Research Fellow), Sir CK Chow (CEO of MTR Corporation), Bill Henderson (Managing Partner of Egon Zehnder International) |
||||||
PREPARATION: |
||||||
Write the name of an animal that makes an obvious noise on a piece of paper. Depending on the size of your group, create 3 – 4 slips for each animal. |
||||||
Contributed by
Philip Wah MBA MAcc BMath CFA AICPA Program Director, FQ Coaching Limited |
||||||
ACTIVITY: |
||||||
Hand these out to the group … the aim of the game is for participants playing the same animal to find each other using only the sound the animal makes (no talking!). They must move around the room until they have found all of their kind. This is a great game to get everyone moving, awake and ready to learn! |
||||||
This is a question that everyone is interested in but many people don’t have a clear answer. Yet, when you tell your boss that you have an idea that can improve the company’s profitability, your boss (or even your boss’s bosses) will listen. Before we go into more details, why don’t we start with the question - “what is profitability?” To make it simple, let me show you an example: Company A: Profit $100 million; Amount Invested $500 million In this case we can say Company B has more profit and Company A has higher profitability. Are “profit” and “profitability” the same? Definitely not! Why is it important to increase a company’s profitability? To grow, to dominate and to survive! Let’s look at the two companies three years from now: |
||||||
 |
||||||
 |
||||||
Manfred Lau |
||||||
 |
||||||
* Assume Year 2 and Year 3 return on capital is the same as Year 1. Company A will outgrow Company B starting year 3. Which company would you prefer to own? To increase a company’s profitability, the company must use its resources more efficiently and capital is one of the most valuable resources. If you are really interested in improving your company’s profitability, focus on improving your company’s return on capital to start with. |
||||||
Manfred Lau is Cliftons Head of Business Development. He can be reached on 2159 9907. |
||||||
| The last book I read was ... | ||||||
“Leading at a Higher Level” by Ken Blanchard |
||||||
_ ABOUNT FQ COACHING |
||||||
| The last movie I saw was ... | FQ Coaching specialises in high value-added financial and investment training. Their expert instructors have trained thousands of professionals from such prestigious institutions as Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley, UBS, Merrill Lynch, JP Morgan, ABN Amro, JF Asset Management, Deutsche Bank, Citibank, HSBC, Bank of America, Hang Seng Bank, BOC and Standard Chartered Bank. Mr. Wah is Program Director of FQ Coaching and a professional investor. He believes that |
 |
||||
Rush Hour 3 (I just can't stop laughing!) |
||||||
| My favourite CD at the moment is ... | ||||||
Anna de Hollanda - Acoustic Brazil (so relaxing!) |
||||||
| When friends visit Hong Kong, I like to take them to ... | ||||||
Eat good food |
||||||
| The person I admire most is ... | ||||||
Dale Carnegie - “If you believe in what you are doing, then let nothing hold you up in your work. Much of the best work of the world has been done against seeming impossibilities. The thing is to get the work done.” |
||||||
| every organisation’s Management must think like an investor in order to create more shareholder values and advance their career as a result. | ||||||
For further information on FQ Coaching, please visit www.fqcoaching.com |
||||||
I can't live without ... |
||||||
Dreams |
||||||
_ UPCOMING EVENTS |
 |
|||||
Wine Tasting CIO Forum Asia 2007 (Hong Kong) CIO Forum Asia 2007 (Singapore) HKIHRM Annual Conference Job Market's Education Fair |
||||||
 |
||||||
This email was sent by: Cliftons Training Facilities Level 33, 9 Queen's Road Central HONG KONG T: 2159 9999 |
||||||