“Management Wisdom under the Starlight”
Event #4 – 21 April 2009
While most people are finding the current business environment difficult, yet your Institute also sees that quite a number of enterprises strive on well and keep growing steadily, albeit at a lower pace. They either have found some Blue Ocean market spaces that others are not yet aware of, or are taking advantage of the quantum growth in China
Mainland's internal consumption market and the CIPA platform available to them, or are successful in transforming themselves from an OEM into an ODM, or even
OBM.
To rekindle the legendary function
"Management Wisdom under the Starlight" that has been successfully run three times last year, your Institute had the honour of inviting Dr. Dominic Wong, GBS, OBE, JP, our Hon. President, and former Secretary for Housing of the HKSAR Government, to be the host/anchor of the event.
Organized jointly with the Hong Kong Chamber of Small & Medium Business Ltd. just as before, the event attracted close to thirty to the grand venue, Victoria Room of Regal Hong Kong Hotel, situated right in the centre of Causeway Bay. Guests invited to share their experiences and wisdom were Mr. Paul W.K. So, Chairman of SWEDA Group and Mr. Simon K.W. Wong, Group Chairman & Managing Director of Greendotdot Company Limited, both of which were winners of the
Chamber's 2008 SME Award Competition.
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Guest
speaker Simon Wong chatting with Felix Chan (middle) and
Simon Yung (left). |
Dr.
Joseph Tsui exchanging views with guest speaker Simon Wong
before dinner. |
As before, those who came earlier, or on time for the reception/registration part, earned
'bonus' by being able to directly raise queries or bounce ideas to our guest speakers and thereby learned from their wisdom. The informal free mingling lasted from 6:45 to 7:15 pm, allowing time for other busier members and guests to gradually arrive. By the originally scheduled commencement time of the presentation proper, almost all (with the exception of one only) were present.
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A
(partial) panoramic view of the grand gathering in
Victoria Room of the 5-Star Regal Hong Kong Hotel.
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A bit unlike the previous three sessions in the Series, a slightly structured interview preceded the free exchange. The reason for this change was to facilitate the subsequent production of short video clips on
IIM's website. Our two guests were each presented four questions exploring into the stimulant(s) that sparked off their business ideas; the critical success factors of their business model; the lessons that they have learned from the ups and downs; and their advice for opening up the Mainland market.
Simon Wong first responded by relating to his experience from first being a coffee & tea importer and supplier and then started the famous brand
"Dai Pai Dong 大牌檔" of tea bags and
"three-in-one" coffee and tea pre-mix packs, to running its chain of cafes, and ultimately stretching into Mainland China. He concluded that leadership who sets the direction for the business is the single most important factor for business success.
Paul So then shared his personal experience and remarked that important lessons were learned through repeated failures. He held that people talent (人才), the
'software' of the business, is the key factor determining the success or failure of a business.
In the pursuing discussion Simon Wong shared with the attendants how his insight led him acquire the Organic Garden (慈康農圃) and how his perseverance in sticking to the organic food business led him to the current success in Green Dot Dot.
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Simon
Wong's strategy for exploiting the Mainland market was to
quickly set up a "critical mass" of strategic
operating points there, leaving aside the rate of return
in the meantime.
Paul
So on the other hand offered his recipe for coping with
the serious copying of design and infringement of
intellectual properties in China as: keep suing the
violators; continuing to push new models and designs to
the market; and not to repeat production of sold out
designs.
Lastly
Paul So reiterated to the audience that branded consumer
goods like his design watches have cycles – ups and
downs. A brand is built on the products, and that
brands can come and go.
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A
lady participant at the invitation of Paul So showed her
O.D.M. wrist watch and informed the audience why she liked
and bought it.
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The party engaged in enthusiastic dialogue well passing the scheduled ending time until the convenor, Dr. Dominic Wong, pressed the brake pedal and proceeded to the acknowledgement ritual. Dr. Wong, representing IIM, and Dr. Kevin Lau, President of the Hong Kong Chamber of Small and Medium Business, performed the simple but yet respectful ceremony
- presenting a certificate of appreciation to each of the guest speakers.
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Host
Dr. Dominic Wong (representing IIM) and Dr. Kevin Lau
(representing HKCSMB) jointly presented a certificate of
appreciation to Guest Speaker Paul So of O.D.M.
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Hon.
President Dr. Wong and President Kevin Lau presented a
certificate of appreciation to Guest Speaker Simon Wong of
Green Dot Dot.
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Having performed this the audience gradually dispersed. Some keen participants and the participant-helpers were still eager to extend their informal dialogue with the two speakers. And to mark the excitement, as usual, they took a group photo as below.
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Ceremonial
Finale: Group Photo Taking (just showing part of the attendants
of the evening).
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["Management Wisdom under the
Starlight" series is supported by the IIM Foundation (IIMF). In fulfillment of the
Foundation's goal of promoting and enhancing the professionalism of management (especially cross-border,
cross-cultural, international management), funds are being expended in video shooting and subsequent production of video clips to be posted on
IIM's website for easy access by members and the public. Further announcement will be made when the
'Management Wisdom' series excerpts are ready for viewing on the web. Members and visitors interested in seeing glimpses of the
evening's function may access them from the Photo Gallery section of
IIM's website.]
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