In Your Industry, Is Business in Asia Different?

 

The overarching theme of this series -- managing in Asia -- is often addressed directly during the course of each weekly interview. Executives representing a range of industries and nationalities were asked if there is any difference between doing business in Asia and the rest of the world. No matter where our subjects stood on the matter, the factor raised most often was the rapid pace of change in doing business here. Here are some highlights on the issue from the past year.

WSJ: In the reinsurance industry, is there a difference between Asia and the rest of the world?

The difference is fast disappearing. Given that reinsurance is international in nature, practices world-wide follow the same basic principles. Differences, if any, will be in the culture and value judgments that influence corporate governance.
-- Hwang Soo Jin, chairman emeritus and senior adviser at Singapore Reinsurance Corp., May 26

WSJ: In the technology industry is there a difference between Asia and the rest of the world?

Katharine Bostick
People in Asia embrace technology with a passion and energy that seems to outpace any other region in the world, whether it's in the use of the Internet, mobile-phone technologies or any other technology. Over one billion people use the Internet today and half a billion of them are in Asia.
The phenomenal Internet growth in Asia over the past few years has had a positive impact, but at the same time this has led to growth in crimes ranging from online fraud, phishing attacks and online, commercial sexual exploitation of children with the common denominator focused on money -- billions of dollars.
-- Katharine Bostick, Microsoft Corp.'s senior director of legal and corporate affairs in Asia Pacific, April 21

WSJ: Is there a difference between managing a stock exchange in Asia compared with, say, in New York?

Atsushi Saito
There is quite a different sense of corporate governance between the U.S. and Japan [regarding takeover-defense measures]. Japanese companies are often criticized by foreign investors for this, but which side is right? I think it depends on the nature of the company, whether it is in the public utilities sector for example.
I'm not insisting that our sense of value or criteria is absolutely right or better than theirs. I think in the end, we have to compromise. We share some values with them, but both sides will have to take time to find the real value of corporate governance.
-- Atsushi Saito, president of the Tokyo Stock Exchange, Oct. 20

WSJ: Are the rich in Asia different from the rich in Europe. And how do you deal with the differences?

If you are going to generalize, the wealth in Europe is a few hundred years old, whereas the wealth in Asia has just been established in the last 30 or 40 years.
Many of the wealthy in Asia built their businesses as entrepreneurs and so they take a more active role in the management of their portfolio. They like to trade -- goods, ideas, services, stocks and securities. It is a different culture and businesses must adapt.
This goes back to our philosophy of understanding our clients. You need to understand what his background, his fears, passions, likes, and dislikes are. Only then can you understand how he functions,
-- Hanspeter Brunner, chief executive of The Royal Bank of Scotland's RBS Coutts International, Dec. 15

WSJ: In your job as a manager, is there a difference in functioning out of the U.S. and out of Asia?

It's a very different job. For 25 years I led a first-rate global economics team and spent a lot of my time in Asia. But I am now looking at the broader business with a totally different perspective. Asia itself is a different culture, a different talent-set, the countries are different. It's very exciting, but it's also very challenging.
-- Stephen S. Roach, Morgan Stanley's Hong Kong-based chairman for Asia, Nov. 24

WSJ: Is there a difference between managing in Asia and elsewhere?

Asians are a little more formal than Westerners. They like to be managed in a very structured way. That's not my style; my managers have just had to get used to the way I work. I think that's done them some good. I'd also say that Asians can be friendly and open; they are not as cynical as some Westerners have become. They want to learn and develop.
-- Robert Senior, executive chairman, Euromonitor International, Sept. 29

WSJ: In the sports marketing industry, is there a difference between Asia and the rest of the world?

Yes, in fact, there is a vast difference. The sports industry across Asia is emerging very quickly, moving from youth to adolescence, particularly in those markets with burgeoning economies, deregulation of media and large consumer bases with a rising middle class. In North America and Europe, the industry is already mature. U.S. and European sports and professional leagues, as well as global brands and multinational corporations, are all looking toward Asia to build wider consumer and fan bases, which, in turn, impact their bottom lines.
-- Seamus O'Brien, chairman and chief executive of Singapore-based sports-marketing firm WSG, Sept. 22

WSJ: In your industry, is there a difference between Asia and the rest of the world?

Tan Hee Teck
Although the Asian markets have come a long way since the 1980s, they are still very much emerging markets in capital-markets terms. There are challenges, such as the talent pool in Asia is still relatively small, and that is just because we had a late start. At companies, corporate governance is still evolving, so you meet different types of challenges. Also, people move jobs very quickly in Asia. Not only is the talent pool small, but it is also extremely mobile.
The other challenge is that in emerging markets, the regulatory environment is changing very quickly, so you've got to constantly tweak your strategies. To be honest, I think that is more exciting.
-- Tan Hee Teck, chief executive of Resorts World at Sentosa, Genting Bhd. 5 May

WSJ: In the e-commerce business, is there a difference between Asia and the rest of the world?
E-commerce is a niche market in the Western countries, where it's supplementary to the advanced traditional market. But in Asia, e-commerce can be a real mainstream solution for businesses.
-- David Wei, chief executive officer of Alibaba.com Ltd., the Hong Kong-based business-to-business platform of Alibaba Group, Sept. 15

WSJ: In your industry, is there a difference between Asia and the rest of the world?

There are subtle differences, but in general the trends in the communications and entertainment space that we operate in are relatively consistent around the world. The type of content and entertainment vary, but the basic drivers of the business remain the same: to be customer-centric, marketing-led and financially driven.
-- Mike Reynolds, StarHub President, March 17

WSJ: In the wildlife and conservation industry, is there a difference between Asia and the rest of the world?

Fanny Lai
Our region's natural wealth is under severe threat. The Asean region [Malaysia, Indonesia, the Philippines, Brunei, Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam], though covering only 3% of the Earth's surface, is the natural habitat for up to 40% of the world's plant and animal species. Of the 64,800 known species in the region, 1,312 are endangered. Sadly, our biodiversity is facing a threat from mankind's activities and from the wrath of nature itself.
Asean also has the highest relative rate of deforestation of any major tropical region; we could lose three-quarters of our rainforest and a quarter of rainforest species by 2100. On top of deforestation, Asians are the largest consumers of exotic wildlife.
Asia also boasts three out of four of the world's most populous countries, China, India and Indonesia, and they are still spiraling upward. The competition for space between humans and nature is an ongoing battle, and one where winning leads to a much greater loss of our natural resources, biodiversity and quality of life. There is a strong opportunity for us to work together toward saving wildlife, and conservation.
-- Fanny Lai, group chief executive of Wildlife Reserves Singapore, operator of Jurong BirdPark, Night Safari and Singapore Zoo, June 16

WSJ: In the shipping and delivery industry, is there a difference between Asia and the rest of the world?

Businesses all over the world are motivated primarily by similar objectives. However, in Asia the process of getting to these objectives may differ because of each country's unique culture. Asia is more diverse compared with Europe, hence we're very dependent on using local people. We think globally but manage locally.
-- Kenneth A. Torok, former president of United Parcel Service Inc Asian-Pacific operations, retired, March 31

WSJ: The perception -- at least here in the Philippines -- is that a girl in a Chinese family takes a back seat when it comes to the family business. Was that the case with you?

It's more of a perception. In reality, the girl is usually the one in charge of the expenses and finances in a Chinese family business. But I'm not the type who likes accounting and finance, and left the numbers to my dad.
But I think it's a myth that the girls in a Chinese family are more demure and coy and shy. When I went to China in the '80s I found a lot of feisty Chinese girls. And the girls develop much faster in business.
Meanwhile, in many of the Chinese-oriented families [in the Philippines] the wives are usually in the background and might appear to be very quiet. But they are actually the ones who push for things to be done. Some are very much involved in the family business. ...Today, I sometimes feel I'm more vocal and not very Chinese in the way I do things. Maybe that's because of the influence of the media and Western reading materials. I'm a cross-culture person and am comfortable with both Eastern and Western ways of doing things. That makes it easy for me to adapt to new ideas.
-- Teresita Sy-Coson, co-vice chairman of SM Investments Corp., Jan. 21

Posted : Feb 15,2009