ScandAsia China - December 2014

DEC 2014

China

Season’s Greetings ScandAsia.dk

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Shanghai German Christmas market 2014

Your FREE ScandAsia Magazine in China ScandAsia is the only magazine that covers all the Danish, Finnish, Norwegian, and Swedish residents in China.

We also publish a ScandAsia magazine in Thailand, Singapore and the rest of South East Asia.

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Photo: Shanghai Christmas Market When: Date Sat 29 Nov-Wed 24 Dec, 1 pm - 9 pm Where: Xuhui Riverside Public Open Space, Dongan Lu, near Longteng Avenue, Xuhui district Admission: 30RMB/60RMB This December a new German Christmas market takes over the Xuhui Riverside Public Space with wooden huts bearing Gluwhein, Bratwurst, ginger bread and Zotter chocolate as well as handcrafted products and food stands from around the world.

There will also be a children’s play area, Christmas carols, the opportunity to bake cookies, take pictures with Santa, ride the carousel and play in the bouncy castles making it a family friendly event.

Other entertainment will include musicians, carolers, dance performances, concerts and magic shows.

For more information Phone: 6456 0365 Email: hello@bestmoreexpo.com Web: www.shanghaichristmasmarket.com

Winter holiday in Beijing Photo by Michael Davis-Burchat / Creative Commons

Editor-in-Chief : Gregers A.W. Møller gregers@scandmedia.com Managing Editor: Thana Poopat thana@scandmedia.com Advertising : Finn Balslev finn@scandmedia.com Piyanan Kalikanon piyanan@scandmedia.com Nattapat Maesang nattapat@scandmedia.com Graphic Designer : Peerapol Meesuwan Peerapol@scandmedia.com Distribution : Wanvisa Rattanaburi wanvisa@scandmedia.com Printing : Advanced Printing Services Co., Ltd.

Daily news and features here: www.scandasia.com

When: Throughout December Where: Beijing area Obviously this is not the idea of a perfect Christmas/ New Year holiday that first comes to mind. But think of attractive transport and hotel deals and absence of tourist crowding.

December is the second month of winter for Beijing area. The weather is usually very cold (below freezing point) and dry with frequent sunny days.

Ice skating is very popular at the lakes in Beijing’s parks.

Visit ski resorts, several of which are located near sections of the Great Wall around Beijing area that stay open to visitors during the wintertime.

Shijinglong Ski Resor t, Address: Zhongyangfang Villlage, Yanqing County.

Tel:010--69191613/14/15/17 Nanshan Ski Resort Address: Shengshuitou Village, Henanzhuai Town, Miyun County Tel: 010-89091909 Snow World Ski Resort Address: Xiaogongmen. Shisanling Town, Changping District Tel: 010-89761886 Badaling Ski Resort Address: Badaling Town, Yanqing County Tel: 010-65010335

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News Brief

Volvo starts manufacturing its bestselling XC60 in China

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olvo Cars has started production of their XC60 crossover at its plant in Chengdu, expanding its production in China after an increase in sales.

Adding the XC60 to the Chengdu production line means that the plant will be adding 500 new manufacturing jobs, bringing the total headcount in the plant to around 2,650 employees. A new working time system will secure the required increase in output.

The XC60 is the best-selling Volvo model globally and in China. Globally, XC60 sales have

increased 20.4 per cent to 98,309 cars in the first nine months of 2014, while sales in China are up 32.3 per cent to 24,940 cars over the same period. Earlier this year, the XC60 passed the 500,000 cars sold mark since it was launched in 2008.

“The start of XC60 production in Chengdu is the latest milestone in Volvo Cars’ transformation,” said Håkan Samuelsson, President and CEO of Volvo Cars in a press release from Volvo.

“It will be instrumental in boosting Volvo’s overall growth in what is now our largest market.”

The Chengdu plant is located in the Chengdu Economic and Technological Development Zone in central China. Annual production capacity of the plant is 120,000 cars. Volvo Cars also has a plant in Daqing, northeast China, where assembly has started of the Volvo XC Classic, a locally-built variant of the first-generation Volvo XC90 for the Chinese market. Furthermore,Volvo Cars operates an engine plant in Zhangjiakou, northwest of Beijing, which has been operational since the autumn of 2013 and supplies engines to Chengdu and Daqing.

China, Sweden establish greentech cooperation platform

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hina and Sweden established a green technology cooperation platform on Tuesday in Stockholm, aiming for closer mutual cooperation in the green technology industries.

The Sino-Swedish Green-Coop Platform was signed by Chen Yuming, Chinese ambassador to Sweden and Thomas Lagerqvist, chairman of the Sweden-China Trade Council (SCTC), on Tuesday afternoon at the World Trade Centre in Stockholm.

The establishment of the platform “shows our commitment to work together, to share knowledge and innovation for our small and medium-sized enterprises,” Oscar Stenstrom, the state secretary for the Swedish ministry of enterprises, told Xinhua.

Danish expertise to plug China’s water supply leakages

Photo: People’s Daily

Danish exports to China nearly double in four years

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xports to China increased by nearly 100 percent from 2008 to 2012, while the German expor t market decreased during the same period.

Although Germany remains the country’s largest export market, markets outside Europe are now showing the largest degree of growth. The new figures from Danmarks Statistik reveal a change in Danish export patterns.

Export markets outside the EU now account for the largest increase in Danish exports abroad. China jumped from being Denmark’s 12th biggest trading partner in 2008 to being the sixth largest export market for Danish companies in 2012.

4 ScandAsia.China • December 2014

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acked by their abundant experience on the domestic front, a number of Danish enterprises have set their sights on the huge market potential for water-supply efficiency projects in China, in lieu of the nation’s grave water shortage problem.

China is now one of 13 nations worldwide described as having the scarcest water resources, with its per capita amount of water resources reaching only 2,100 cubic meters a year, one fourth of the global average.The problem is especially serious for metropolises, as per capita water resources in Beijing, reach under 100 cubic meters a year, less than one twentieth of the national average, Chinese-language China Economic Weekly reported.

A recent case in point is the “China-Denmark Water-Supply Efficiency and Sustainable Development Seminar,” held in Wuxi, Jiangsu province on Oct. 16, which attracted many Danish entrepreneurs.

Some Danish businesses are ready to offer their expertise in helping Chinese cities cope with the leakage problems in their water supply networks. Due to outdated pipes, mostly installed in 1980s, 16% of the water supplies in China’s 675 cities was lost during the transmission process in 2011, amounting to total of 6.68 billion cubic meters lost, with the problem especially serious in the central region, including Beijing, Henan province, and Hunan province, whose average leakage rate exceeded 16%.

News Brief

Chinese company considers oil exploration in Norway

Denmark, China explore cooperation in media industries

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CTV welcomed a special visitor to its new headquarters in late October in Beijing. Danish culture minister Marianne Jelved met with CCTV’s top officials, and was given a tour of the management and operations by CCTV’s Deputy Editor-in-Chief Zhang Ning.

The Danish minister proposed to expand cooperation between the two countries’ media industries.

This visit+352 is likely43 to be beginning a larger of cultural Call 88the77 77 to offind out plan more aboutcoour operation between Denmark and China.

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pparently oil is more important than who gets the Nobel prize and official visits by Dalai Lama. At least for State owned Cnooc that, according to Bloomberg, has ignored diplomatic tensions and contacted the Norwegian Petrolium Directorate to buy seismic data in the Barents Sea. The part of the Barents Sea Cnooc have been interested is an area where licenses will be awarded in 2016. Bloomberg has their information from an e-mail sent to the Norwegian Petroleum Dictorate and according to them it is not the first time Chinese companies have ignored the cold political relatinship between Norway and China. Just last year Cnooc became a partner in Norway’s state owned Petoro A/S in an exploration service license off Iceland’s shores.

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Making it possible Nordea Bank S.A, Singapore Branch is part of Nordea Group, the leading financial services group in the Nordic and Baltic Sea regions. Some products and services may, due to local regulations, not be available to individuals resident in certain countries and their availability may depend, among other things, on the investment risk profile of persons in receipt of this publication or on any legislation to which they are subject. Nothing in this publication should be construed as an offer, or the solicitation of an offer, to purchase, subscribe to or sell any investment or product, or to engage in any other transaction or provide any kind of financial or banking service in any jurisdiction where Nordea Bank S.A., Singapore Branch or any of its affiliates do not have the necessary licence. Published by Nordea Bank S.A., R.C.S. Luxembourg No. B 14.157 on behalf of Nordea Bank S.A., Singapore Branch, 3 Anson Rd #20-01, Springleaf Tower, Singapore 079909. www.nordeaprivatebanking.com subject to the supervision of the Monetary Authority of Singapore (www.mas.gov.sg).

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December 2014 • ScandAsia.China 5

News Brief

Vestas launches new China strategy

Carlsberg completed acquisition of 8 Chinese breweries

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anish brewer Carlsberg now posses 100 percent of the Chinese Chongqing Beer Group Assets Mangement Co. Ltd that owns eight breweries in three Chinese provinces.

The acquisition of Chongqing Beer Group was announced to be DKK 1,4 billion December last year. The eight breweries have a total capacity of 1.2 billion liters and are located in Jiangsu, Anhui and Zheijang according to foedevarewatch.dk.

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estas announced on October 21 that it will introduce its most technologically advanced 2 MW variant turbines and new flexible service offerings to the Chinese wind market.

Reinvigorating its long-standing commitment to China, Vestas announced today a new strategy to secure profitable growth in the world’s largest wind energy market. The Chinese wind market is making a fundamental shift away from prioritising low upfront capital costs toward a focus on life-time cost of energy considerations. Coupled with an additional shift toward low-wind sites, Vestas is well-positioned to succeed.

Speaking in Beijing, Vestas CEO Anders Runevad says, “These changes in the China market play to Vestas’ core strengths in technology leadership and service innovation. They create new opportunities for Vestas to lower the cost of energy and increase business case certainty for our customers.” He continues, “As world market leaders, we are well-positioned and equipped to support these developments.”

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6 ScandAsia.China • December 2014

China’s Bluestar acquires REC Solar

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HINA National Bluestar has agreed to buy solar panel maker REC Solar for 4.34 billion Norwegian crowns (US$640 million), planning to combine it with another Norwegian asset it picked up in 2011.

Bluestar said on November 24 it would pay a 15.9 percent premium to the stock’s last close in a deal unanimously recommended by REC Solar’s board of directors and would combine it with its solar grade silicon maker Elkem.

The deal comes nearly a year and a half after REC spun off its solar panel arm, moving its headquarters to Singapore from Norway and effectively putting the company up for sale.

Struggling with high costs and cut price competition from China, REC Solar moved its production from Norway, one of the most expensive countries in the world, and set up its operating headquarters in Singapore.

News Brief

China to learn from Finland how to nurture innovation

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hina is willing to learn experiences from Finland and other countries in supporting innovation, as well as to actively foster international cooperation, Chinese Vice Premier Wang Yang said in Helsinki on November 18.

Addressing the opening ceremony of “Slush 2014 in Helsinki, Wang Yang said that China is a “new continent for star tups and innovations,” sprouting up Alibaba, Baidu, Tencent and many other successful “Chinese stories.”

“We need to implement the consensus reached by the two presidents, to comprehensively deepen the pragmatic cooperation be-

tween China and Finland, and to push the bilateral economic and trade cooperation forward to a larger, wider and higher level,” he said.

IKEA in China plans to expand with 3 stores every year

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t the moment IKEA has 16 stores, but their ambitious expansion plan will make this number grow with 3 stores every year, Danish national broadcaster DR reports.

IKEA entered the Chinese market in 1998 with a store in Shanghai followed by a store in Beijing in 1999. The company has been expanding and now have stores in 13 different Chinese cities.

Finland all out to woo Chinese tourists

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ISIT Finland is courting the Chinese market with its new Meaningful Encounters campaign launched this year, the first time the NTO is investing in an image campaign for China.

This three-year, one million euro (US$1.2 million) campaign leverages the unique winter attractions found in the northern European country.

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December 2014 • ScandAsia.China 7

Danish superstar

in the business guru league Martin Roll swapped a thriving career in the Copenhagen advertising industry with an entirely new life in 2000, without a safety net on the other side of the world. Read this interview by Kim Berckentin about what it really takes to elevate yourself and become one of the most outstanding individuals. This is a story about shifting from a local to global trajectory.

By Kim Berckentin Translated by Gregers Moller 8 ScandAsia.China • December 2014

It was his curiosity about why Asian brands had little success globally, that sent him off on a journey to the East after his graduation from INSEAD in 1999. This was at a time when Samsung was almost non-existent.

“T

he Swedes love Volvo, however in Denmark we have a hard time with Maersk.

The Swedes are much more sympathetic to the American corporate spirit than we are in Denmark, where the American approach and culture is often met with skepticism,” says Martin Roll.

“For the Danes, the small-is-beautiful culture makes sense. There is a limit to how big it seems wise to be, when the nation only 150 years ago and due to collective self-delusion lost a third of its territory and 40 percent of its citizens.

Consequently, risk appetite may very well have a different meaning to the average Dane than to anyone else in the world. Although we daily convince ourselves that we have done away with the “Jantelov” (a group behavior “law” that makes Scandinavians negatively por tray and criticize individual success and achievement as being unworthy and inappropriate), it has for generations rubbed off on our business environment. There is always a “Varnæs against a Skjern”, Martin adds, referring to the two main business characters in a popular historical TV drama which provides an excellent insight into the souls of Danish people.

Talking to Martin Roll for just a minute takes you far and wide. He pieces together facts, trends and perspectives at an impressively fast pace that gives food for thought. After all, he is not just anyone. As an international management consultant and C-level advisor, he is used to talking to and socializing with top management teams, boards of Fortune 500 companies and leading companies in Asia that include a number of family-owned businesses. He is among the (very) small group of Danes who is in global demand and is therefore able to collect international top league fees for his lectures, management consulting and business coaching - a fact one cannot completely avoid thinking about while interviewing him. Fortunately, Martin is one of the most pleasant persons to talk to. He is good company and when he speaks it is with a sense of authority that implies that he is not a man to be interrupted - you may say he is unstoppable.

As an expatriate Dane for the last 15 years and a resident of Singapore, Martin has got Denmark at a distance. He has a global mindset owing to his MBA from INSEAD in France - as well as an excellent English vocabulary that he uses spontaneously and vigorously. His life journey gives him a different perspective on the world than most Danes - yet without losing his “Danish-ness”.

One of the most impor tant parameters that he analyzes when evaluating a new client,

is whether there is an emerging “arrogance and complacency in the organization”.

It is the indolence and lack of foresight, which struck companies like Esprit in the 90s, gave Adidas major challenges before they again found their tone and with which Tesco are struggling today.

Just when everything is going well, arrogance and complacency may hit the organization, weaken the power of leadership, fade your brand and you may lose the whole market. Then it may quickly go downhill - a direction that is hard to turn around. This “victory” disease is one of the things the Danish mindset is sensitive to: Danes smell hubris from afar. So when describing Martin Roll, and why he is successful, his Danish mindset is integral, along with his curiosity and global vision. It was his curiosity about why Asian brands had little success globally, that sent him off on a journey to the East after his graduation from INSEAD in 1999. This was at a time when Samsung was almost non-existent.

Martin settled down in Singapore as a management advisor in 2001 and established the Martin Roll Company. He began working for his clients on the big questions: How to build an Asian brand that can succeed globally? What dogma must be overcome? How do you become “global” in the first place, and what management mindset does it take? The answers to these pivotal questions became his trade. Asia in 2001 was characterized by local companies: South Korean Hyundai, Japanese Shiseido and Chinese Huawei. None of them were anywhere near to where these brands are today. Clients across the region were skeptical of Martin’s approach - but they were curious to meet the tall Dane who had come to talk to them about growth and a global approach to running their businesses. He advised them that the road to global success was to build their own brands and not primarily compete on cost production and low price, something Asia had done that far. By following this path, they could increase the value of their businesses.

Martin had his theoretical ballast and toolbox in order. Actually, he would have liked to become a journalist, but instead he worked his way up in the global advertising industry. At Ted Bates (later Bates), he was given responsibility for the Ericsson Mobile Phones and the Ericsson corporate brand worldwide accounts. He discussed 3G and 4G with them already in the early 90s. In 1995, Martin moved to DDB Needham (later DDB) and for the next four years he was the lead for McDonald’s in Denmark. The American fast food chain expanded during this period from 23 to 140 restaurants and in the process Martin learned ev-

erything about commercial strategy the American way. “Learning today, leading tomorrow” was the mantra from the Hamburger Marketing University in Chicago. Martin was given the responsibility to design the strategy that leveraged the tremendous expansion. According to him the four years with DDB Needham was one of the best places he worked. DDB had a unique spirit and culture.

Professionally, Martin was sent to attend the Young Managers Summer Programme at INSEAD in Fontainebleau in 1998 and he became so fascinated by the international environment and the high level of professionalism that he in 1999 pursued an MBA at the same business school.

His time here became a “life changer” as Martin describes it, a crucial point in his career. The towering level of international professionalism and the social aspect of going international opened up new roads and it was clear that his agency life back home in Copenhagen had come to an end. Martin decided to change and moved into deep waters, where he could test himself.

After the first years in Singapore, the conclusions from his learning journey were clear and he moved on to materialize his ideas. His first book Asian Brand Strategy was published in 2005. The book was like a recipe - 10 guidelines for Asia’s big challenge in management, strategy, branding and internationalization. After the usual few months of vacuum, while the book found its way out to its audience through the distribution channels, Martin started his marathon. He went on a 15-month long road show, where he delivered hundreds of lectures in Asia, US and Europe. He lectured for a variety of management audiences in 40 countries. Often there were two lectures per day, and on top of that, interviews with all relevant media. This required great stamina.

Back then there was no social media to drive hype. So Martin combined his hard work with hiring an international PR agent in London and New York respectively. And it worked: CNN called him up, so did CNBC, Bloomberg, BBC - and Martin flew in and gave interviews with them all. Martin found himself in the center of gravity of a global media campaign, and the book won international recognition. The American marketing professor Kevin Lane Keller from Tuck School of Business, the world’s leading brand expert in academia, wrote: “Martin Roll’s Asian Brand Strategy provides superb motivation and substance into Asian brands and branding. It offers invaluable inspiration and guidance into one of the hottest areas of marketing.”

In addition to hitting the global bestseller lists, the book was also voted “Best Management Book” December 2014 • ScandAsia.China 9

Today, his work has three distinct components - an international keynote speaker, an external adviser to companies, and a facilitator for management meetings, board meetings and family councils.

in 2006 by the renowned Strategy+Business Magazine, published by PwC Strategy&. Finally, one of the world’s most respected top management advisors, Dominic Barton (worldwide managing director for McKinsey & Company) wrote: “Building successful global brands is - and will be - critical for the rapidly increasing number of Asian champions on the global stage. Martin Roll provides a compelling and practical road-map on how to do this based on his extensive experience advising Asian corporations”.

The success of the book provided Martin with the legitimacy to work world-wide. Business owners, wealthy family dynasties, business schools, organizations and governments reached out to Martin to tap into his knowledge, insights and recommendations about expansion strategy and branding. Before he knew it, he gave the main keynote speech at a conference in Seoul where the President of South Korea attended along with 3500 people in the audience.

So what is it that Martin is capable of? Basically he seeks always to inspire his clients to be the “most admired” - they must be in a class by themselves, rather than necessarily being the largest. It involves a number of parameters that are rarely put into use because of the usual short-term, one-sided focus on increased volume.

This is where Martin challenges his clients. One of his key questions is: What’s your purpose? He challenges his clients to think about what they deeply believe they are best at, what values they stand for and what they actually provide to their customers - and more broadly what they provide to the world around them. He helps them with the compass called “purpose”. If you are driven by a strong purpose, and actually meet expectations 10 ScandAsia.China • December 2014

all the time, then you have a strong chance to become an “admired” company. But it is not a position that comes easily. It requires full attention and hard work over a long time period of time and attention to every detail. LEGO’s turnaround is a good example.

If your company would close down tomorrow, what would happen then? Would the world be any different?

The Danish company LEGO has got this purpose. Most children and parents would be sad if LEGO closed tomorrow! If that is the case, a company and a brand have all the opportunities at its disposal. Think of Apple, BMW, Estee Lauder, Singapore Airlines and many other brands - they are strongly positioned in people’s minds.

“Powerful brands enable people to do what they could not do otherwise,” as branding exper t Peter Fisk has said. Unfortunately, there are many companies that never really reached the goal of their purpose.

One senses that Martin has an underlying question that could be formulated as: “Where are you going?” Whether it is the customer, company, brand, writer and it is the many possible answers that fascinates and drives him - that is exactly what he challenges all the times. He stubbornly insists that the ultimate goal has to be the best.

Otherwise he refuses to accept the answer! This approach has a clear international, tough appeal to global businesses - something which is not often the case in Denmark. Martin mentions CEO Lars Rebien Sørensen as one of those that come very close with his statement that Novo Nordisk MAYBE one day could become the world’s most valuable pharmaceutical company. Bernard Arnault, who is the principal owner, chairman and

CEO of the French luxury group LVMH, has built one of the world’s most impressive companies by - with steely determination - redefining what luxury stands for now and in the future.

It also becomes clear that Martin enjoys motivating and inspiring others to bring out the best in them. But not as a traditional coach, more like a top manager of an elite sport. As a close ally, a business coach, which is a well-known concept in global business where being a top-level decisionmaker, is very demanding and often a lonely journey.This is where Martin Roll enters and becomes a close ally of his clients, and becomes one of their closest confidants. At the same time he is one of their harshest critics - with a constructive approach to the role of a business coach. He says that he thrives watching others having success, and that is probably largely due to his own milestones in life - “be an architect of your own life”.

He is a pronounced ENFP profile for those who are familiar with the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator: Creative, inspiring and with high impact. He uses his skills to help others to develop their untapped potential.

During his childhood, he was preoccupied with playing school theater and to be a communicator, but today he no longer has the need to be in the limelight and to take credit for the results. Martin orchestrates in the background the handling of large complex problems and becomes a very trusted sparring par tner for global decision makers. He serves the role of the director - and sometimes also the producer. In his youth he devoted himself to his great passion for photography – he even lived off it for some years. Martin still today views the world through a photographer’s lens, and is often annoyed when

his camera is not within reach. Instinctively, he has always seen things that are about to happen, he says - and a good photographer presses the shutter a split second before!

It’s all about daring to press the button before the other; to do so, even if it is wild. Daring to be different, he says.

The moment the power levers are pushed forward in the cockpit, the aircraft is in take-off mode. While it accelerates on the runway, the aircraft reaches the phase of “velocity 1” – the moment when it is no longer possible to stop the aircraft on the runway length that is available. Pilots know that. Only option is to increase speed to “velocity 2”, where the nose begins to raise from the ground - now there is no way back, the plane must BE in the air to avoid a disaster.

Bringing the plane through these critical phases until it reaches a safe flying altitude and later full cruising altitude, requires high professionalism and lots of power - the same goes for entrepreneurs and business owners who try to lift their brand.

They have to understand that they must make a choice - will they take off: Yes or no?

Often it is a long haul, even before you are ready to touch the levers. Everything must be in place. The patience for this is not always in place in a country like Denmark. We like solutions to be ready for anything in half the time. But in Asia, they need to see that you have a long term perspective. It fits poorly with the impatient Danish management statement: “When I am presented with a three-year plan, I always ask how we can do it in one year.” Execution and efficiency do not always go hand in hand. The linear development that we cherish in the West will not work in Asia. You cannot enforce unnecessarily in Asia. In Chinese, the phenomenon is called “Guanxi”, and in all places in the region, they have a phrase for it: Trust through relationships. This means that a Dane will have to slow down a bit, and wait. When the relationship is developed, the reward will follow - for nowhere else in the world can things move as fast as in Asia. The Chinese handset maker Xiaomi is a good example of this paradigm: They are now the world’s fifth largest mobile brand and move extremely fast - they came almost out of nowhere. The products are well designed, can only be purchased online, and Xiaomi do not do marketing in the traditional way. In turn, Xiaomi’s brand is driven by viral marketing and social media. It is the linear curve vs. the exponential - and in Asia you can employ both when it suits you. We must be careful in the West to underestimate the latter - because time is money.

The example above from aviation was not picked out of the blue. From his base in Singapore, Mar tin flies annually over 350,000 miles - preferably with the top of the class company Singapore Airlines. They are the “most admirable”. He has a PPS Club Membership (highest membership for a narrow circle of highflyers) with a permanent seating at the front of the plane by the window. Martin Roll, who has since 2001 helped companies in both Asia and countless other places globally to reach new heights, is by far the closest we get to a genuine Danish superstar in the business guru segment. His success is impressive. Originally, he advised within the domains of branding and marketing only. But today it is much broader general management.

The diversity of his clients is impressive and broad: Governments, industry manufacturers, retail chains, airlines, fashion companies, cosmetic brands, and business schools from around the world.

You only reach Martin’s level by constantly monitoring what is happening around you and with your clients. Slackness is no-go.

When HSBC launches a concept like YUMMY, you must know what it is - and whether it is relevant to your customers when held up against a study that finds that 55% of luxury purchases in China is carried out by men against only 40% worldwide. You must have knowledge to analyze things critically.

Mar tin’s hallmar k is deep knowledge combined with a horizontal view, where you can walk across professional fields and global issues of all kinds. It covers a top class specialization that ties it all together into a powerful strategy.

You must have solid knowledge in a broad field so that you can always engage with C-level in the Forbes 500. The bar must constantly be raised.

But according to Martin that is not a problem if you have the will to be professional and the desire to be the best. It also makes it easy to imagine his office in Singapore - a pure research lab from where the whole world is monitored and where he also spends his time reflecting on behalf of his clients on what will happen next in management - characterized by “Newness occurs in the margins”. His intuition has only become more astute with the years, he says - and it takes clarity to cut through the clutter. It also reflects on the extremely dynamic job where the toolbox is constantly changing and where one should always be two steps ahead. You are only as good as your last meeting and your last advisory project with a client. And as long as it is fun, he keeps on doing what he is doing. “Remember, I have created the job myself,” he laughs. He knows he is able to contribute. “Put a dent in the universe” as Steve Jobs put it.

The advice from Martin to young people, who really want a successful career, is to create some platforms, where one has deep knowledge and at the same time a horizontal vision - the degree of specialization to be established in the early years, and the horizontal visibility will naturally follow when the basics are in place, and the career develops. For Martin, it took a period in his life where he worked seven days a week.

Nothing comes from nothing.

Today, his work has three distinct components - an international keynote speaker, an external adviser to companies, and a facilitator for management meetings, board meetings and family councils.There is a duality in his work, as a lecturer and through books, ar ticles and his own site martinroll.com everything is retrievable – unlike when he is working as an adviser, when everything is behind double-closed doors. Discretion is paramount and an important part of his global signature. His clients know it and appreciate it thus he becomes involved as closely as he does with both owners and management.There can be no doubt about his integrity.

Increasingly, he is hired by owners of businesses as a mentor for the next generation. He starts by challenging them with the question: What would you like your legacy to be? It is important to understand how these “sons and daughters”

look at what lies ahead of them. It is Martin’s task to form and shape the heirs, creating a balance between the old and the new. All of this is done with momentum as the overarching theme.

He believes in creating change and consistency at the same time.

The day when the transition occurs, the track must be laid well into the future. It is the same combination of knowledge and new ideas, which also needs to lift Denmark forward. If one looks at the big picture, there are definitely skilled, knowledge-intensive companies in Denmark.

Novo, Maersk, Danfoss, Grundfos, Ramboll and COWI are examples, which Martin highlights with enthusiasm. But otherwise the Danish business world, with too many small and medium-sized enterprises, needs a more ambitious focus on wanting to be the best. We need crystal clear answers to “what’s your purpose?” Without large enterprises, Danish businesses cannot be present where growth takes place. But small businesses can grow and can become the “most admired”. It is all about having the right mind-set.

So we arrive at what Martin does every day preparing his clients for growth. Martin’s primary focus areas are innovation and differentiation, which of course require capital. Unfortunately, in Denmark the investments are too little and too late. There are too many companies where time is running out. There is little margin between calculated risk and rashness. The risk acceptance is simply too small in the Danish venture capital environment, and that means that many sustainable ideas do not reach through velocity 2. Business angels in the US would rather distribute 1 billion among 20 start-up companies with the aim of finding the ONE company that once calculated - would have a 100 % probability for success. The mindset is the difference. Finally Danish investors and entrepreneurs may not be skilled enough to convince each other that we could indeed become the best.

Mar tin is, however, optimistic about the trend he sees globally and in Denmark. In family businesses, the 3rd generations are in several cases replacing the 1st and 2nd generations. They are active in the field with a more globalized approach, and they often have international experience from large international companies and consulting firms like McKinsey & Company.

They are very well trained. They are far more connected with tomorrow. And they are daring to press the button to create a new reality in companies. Martin welcomes it. Change is good!

--Follow Martin and his company Martin Roll Company on his website www.martinroll.com - and keep an eye on him towards 2016, with five releases: “Chief Marketing Officer - A New Boardroom Role”, “Next in Global Marketing - 25 Perspectives from The Leading Global Marketing Professors”, “Family Business Transition - A Guideline”, “Brand Leadership - The Role of the Boardroom” and a revised version of Asian Brand Strategy (May 2015).

--The interview first appeared in Danish here: http://berckentin.dk/index.php/martin-roll

December 2014 • ScandAsia.China 11

Tsunami survivor Leif Steensen survived the tsunami by clinging to a concrete pillar, a man he was trying to rescue died in his arms and he helped identifying corpses in Khao Lak. The disaster is something he wants to forget, but it won’t go away, The nightmares are gone and the way he talks about it has changed.

A

t Christmas 2004 Leif Steensen had just moved in to his new 3rd floor apartment with his girlfriend.

The 25th December there was a big Danish Christmas lunch, so when he woke up on the 26th Leif was a bit hung-over. As a smoker first thing in the morning was a cigarette on the balcony, this day was not an exception. Leif was standing back against Patong Beach and the ocean while lighting up a cigarette. The sky was clear and blue when the wind wound up and shook the palm trees.

“It just said, splash, and then the wave hit me. I didn’t see it coming and the only thing I had time for was grabbing the pillar, the wave smashed the windows to the apar tment and suddenly it was gone again.”

Leif clung to a concrete pillar on his balcony while the wave blasted by. Barely woken and feeling the aftereffects from yesterday’s drinking, he did not know what was going on, so he ran down the stairs to beach-level to see what had happened.

12 ScandAsia.China • December 2014

By Lasse Henriksen

“A British man came running, screaming: ‘get the fuck out of here a new one is coming’ –a new what? ‘-a new wave you idiot’, then I realized what had happened. I ran up to my girlfriend who was still in our bedroom, she had not even woken up, so I shook her up and forced some clothes on her,” Leif says.

Lucky for the couple they lived at a steep hillside and Leif ’s motorcycle was parked high enough to avoid being flushed away.

Escaping the sea Leif and his girlfriend drove like hell to a hilltop hotel, where people were gathering. At the hill a few people were badly injured. Being trained in first aid, Leif wanted to help, and was quickly directed to a young man who sat in a tuktuk covered by a blanket. Leif got him out of the vehicle and removed the blanket.

The young man had been smashed into some rocks and was ripped open from collarbone to navel. He was losing a lot of blood.

One of his lungs was hanging out and a stone

had pierced one of his legs. Leif ’s training as a diving instructor and from his time in the military serving the Royal Danish Life Guards kicked in.

“You never know how you react in a situation like this, but here 10 years later it is comforting to know that I won’t freeze in this kind of situation,” Leif says.

He removed the rock, stopped the bleeding from the leg and put the man on his collapsed lung to prevent blood from running into the healthy one.

“I am no doctor, but I could see that I couldn’t do much, just keep him warm and hope he didn’t go into shock,“ Leif says, “Just as we could hear the ambulance coming, he started shaking and then he died in my arms. I knew it was bad, and I knew he would die if he didn’t get treatment quickly. I can’t remember what I thought right there, maybe I didn’t think much, or maybe you just forget things like that.”

Waiting for another wave At the hilltop Leif and his girlfriend met a Dan-

10 years later

There was a young girl pierced through her stomach by a bended street sign.

I thought I saw her arm move so I stopped the motorbike and went over to check on her, meanwhile my girlfriend was screaming like a harmed animal.

By Lasse Henriksen

ish honeymoon couple who had a satellite phone. Since the cellular network was down, this phone became their only contact to the world.

Through the phone they kept hearing that CNN reported a new wave was coming, so they kept waiting even though Leif really wanted to collect the plastic cards and valuables he had left in the apartment.

When it was about to get dark and there were still no signs of another wave, Leif and his girlfriend decided to go to the apartment.

When they came down from the hill the streets were empty and it looked like a bomb had hit Patong Beach.

“Cars were on their on their roofs. People had been running like they were crazy, and they still thought a new wave was coming.There were only few people from the police and military,” Leif says.

After a quick visit to the apar tment, the couple drove towards the Danish guesthouse were they had their Christmas lunch the night before. The place was located a little further off the beach and the place was constructed solid as a Viking castle. The road to the guesthouse was full of grim sights but one is more vivid than the others.

“There was a young girl pierced through her stomach by a bended street sign. I thought I saw her arm move so I stopped the motorbike and went over to check on her, meanwhile my girlfriend was screaming like a harmed animal, but I had to see if she was alive. Of course she wasn’t, the wind or maybe some water had made it look like she was moving, or maybe I was just seeing things,” Leif says.

Several times in the years after the tsunami Leif has woken up, bathed in sweat after dreaming of this girl, even though the dreams are gone now, obviously, this is not something he will ever forget.

As the number of casualties grew and as the Danes got news of entire villages being swallowed by the ocean, they began to realize just how big of a disaster this was. While heavy drinking can seem like a rather brute way to react to a catastrophe, a psychologist send to Phuket from Denmark later told Leif that drinking and especially talking it all out, like the group did, was probably one of the best things they could have done from a psychological perspective.

Drunk but alive

Leif was not the only one that needed to get away. His girlfriend was feeling a mental pressure too. Just few days after the tsunami, their apartment was ready to move into again. Everyone living on the floors below them had perished.

“I took my girlfriend back to the apartment, but she was shaking. She was afraid of the spirits of everyone that had died in that house,” Leif says.

From the apartment they could see bodies wash up on the beach. First they went back to the Danish guesthouse and later when Leif was about to return to work, his girlfriend went to stay her family for a while.

At the Danish guesthouse and restaurant 30-40 Danish expats had gathered. Everybody went up there because it seemed like a secure place and the obvious meeting point. People were talking and drinking, trying to figure out if everyone was okay and telling their tsunami stories, some had felt the earthquake and most of them had escaped serious injuries.

At this time the Danes had no information on what happened, they just knew a wave had hit and had not really grasped the severity of the situation yet. The drinking got intense and the humor turned morbid. Few weeks in advance a group had sent a box of t-shirts they had made for a festive trip to Phuket. The shirts were black with white letters and read “Vi er stive , men vi er i live” which is a Danish pun that roughly translates into “We are drunk, but we are alive”. The original meaning of feeling alive because you are drunk suddenly changed with the horrid context.

Trying to help The day after the disaster Leif went to the beach to offer his help. He got turned down. At this point it was only corpses, and Leif ’s CPR would not be a help. A few days later Red Cross was seeking interpreters at Khao Lak in Phang Na, the Thai region with the most tsunami victims.

Leif went up there, ignoring his doctor’s recommendation and the risk of exposing himself to a long range of diseases.

“It was all dead people. There were a lot more casualties up there, than in Patong. My job was to identify people, so I had to look at dead persons all day and the worst was this little Swedish girl who had lost both of her parents.

She was immediately drawn towards me, probably because I could speak a language similar to hers. It was hard because she was sweet and miserable and cried, and followed me around while I had to identify corpses. I was there two days, and then I couldn’t take it anymore,” Leif says.

For Leif the work of identifying corpses was hard, it was too late to save anyone. Not at all like the hilltop, where he clicked into another mental mode trying to save the man with the collapsed lung. The work in Khao Lak was mentally tiring and just very nauseating. After this, Leif went for a 3 day trip to Singapore to get away from the disaster area.

House full of spirits

Back to normal Leif was impressed with how fast the Thai’s rebuild Patong Beach and got over the tsunami.

Already before he left 5th January, it just looked like a construction site with green nets everywhere. When he came back from his work trip, December 2014 • ScandAsia.China 13

The worst was this little Swedish girl who had lost both of her parents. It was hard because she was sweet and miserable and cried and followed me around while I had to identify corpses. I was there two days, and then I couldn’t take it anymore

he had to look for traces of the tsunami.

“It almost looked like itself, there were still a few construction sites, but the life and everything else was like 3 months earlier before the Tsunami,” Leif says.

None of the Danish expats considered leaving some of them talked about the risk of a new tsunami, but knew it was microscopic. Leif never considered leaving Phuket. Patong had become his first real hometown in many years.

“When you live away from Denmark you gradually lose all of your acquaintances, so I only had my sister and a few friends back there, all my close friends and girlfriend were in Thailand,” Leif says.

Since his girlfriend was worried about the spirits in the apartment, Leif knew he had to find a new home, if he wanted to keep her. Leif himself did not mind that people had died in the building, because people die everywhere.

“It was impossible to argue with her. She saw the spirits and talked with them, and when I asked her why I could not see the spirits, she told me that I could not see them because I’m farang,” Leif says.

The new house is located a little higher up than the old apartment. But this was not crucial for the decision to move there, even though Leif considered that it would make his girlfriend feel a little safer, he mainly chose it because he liked it.

door and window and he was trapped until the third wave came and sucked everything out of the room. He came in butt naked and said ‘I can’t pay, but I promise to send some money when I get home’,” Leif says.

Absurd stories

Not the sort of thing you forget

Now when Leif meets with the other expats that witnessed the tsunami, they rarely talk a lot about the disaster. But when asked to retell his story he can’t help getting emotional. According to him this is probably one of the reasons why he and his friends avoid talking about it.

When Leif and his friends talk about the tsunami, the subjects have changed over the years.

While they started out discussing the horrible scenes they witnessed, now they can have a laugh of some of the absurdities that came with the wave. Like when a naked man came walking in to the Danish Guesthouse on the evening of the disaster.

“We were sitting and drinking when a completely naked man arrived at the bar. He woke up when his window broke and water crashed into his hotel room, furniture was blocking the

Leif have been to some of the memorials. For instance he went to one at the stadium in Phuket City. Even though he did not understand the monks, the mood and the lanterns made it a beautiful experience. Leif mainly goes to memorials, to honor the Thais and the victims.

“I think that it is mostly expats with Thai spouses that go to the events, to show their respect to the local community. The ones that are here alone seems to be more likely to mark the day with candlelight in private,” Leif says.

Leif believes that his life was spared due to a row of coincidences before and on that fatal December morning in 2004.

“I have never been religious, after so many years in Thailand I feel more like a Buddhist, and I just think I was lucky. It wasn’t my turn; my number wasn’t drawn that day. ”

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14 ScandAsia.China • December 2014

Rice Porridge (Risengrød)

By Gregers Moller

R

isengrød. It is simply not Christmas without it! I serve it for all our employees in ScandMedia at our year end party every year and they have come to expect it - although not really like it, I suspect. What they do like, though, is the hidden almond in the porridge and the gift that comes with finding it in your portion!

Ingredients: • 1 liter milk • ½ tsp salt • 110 gram rice (1 1/4 dl) (round grains preferrably) Cinnamon sugar mix: • Mix 4 tablespoons of sugar with 2 teaspoons of cinnamon powder.

Almond: • Raw almond with brown shell on (or raw, white cashew nut).

I usually boil up the rice in plain water as the problem is that the milk may easily burn. When the water has boiled a few minutes, I pour in the milk and let it boil while stirring. Then I take it off the burner and pack it in my bed with a few blankets around it and leave it there for a few hours. At the same time I put an unpeeled almond in hot water.

Before serving it, I bring it back on the stove and heat it up while stirring constantly. If it is too thick, I add extra milk. This is when you put in the white almond - the shell will by now be so weak that you can rub it off with your fingers - or one year I used a white, un-roasted cashew nut.

It is served in noodle bowls. Sprinkle it on top with the cinnamon sugar.

Some like a lump of butter in the middle. Whoever finds the almond in their portion wins a gift, that you must have prepared in advance.

December 2014 • ScandAsia.China 15

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