SCC Seminar: Subsidiary in China – Key to Success for the Headquarter

In collaboration with:

Among the internal challenges that Swiss subsidiaries in China face, 38% state that lack of understanding from headquarter is an issue making it one of the top three internal challenges to a successful operation *.

The Swiss Centers China and the St. Gallen Institute of Management in Asia (SGI-HSG) join forces to offer a one-and-a-half-day seminar dedicated to the Swiss companies who have or who plan to set up subsidiaries in China, and who wish to improve cross-border management methods between Switzerland and China.

On the basis of our practical expertise with 100 subsidiaries in China and combined with our research, we have developed a program to equip each participant with a comprehensive view and practical approach on how subsidiaries in China function. The program is composed of multiple points of view from Chinese society and management practices, to ensure that participants understand both the social and business environment that affect foreign-invested businesses in China.

The program also includes a practical workshop session where the participants have the opportunities to present concrete cases and questions, and to practice working out answers and implementable guidelines with the support of the experts giving the seminar.

Date	14th – 15th September, 2017	Location	Neuchatel
	1.5 day seminar including casual networking and brainstorming dinner and overnight stay
	14th September	09h00 to 18h00	Lecture and interactive discussion
		19h00 to 22h00	Dinner, networking and brainstorming
	15th September	09h00 to 13h30	Workshop on practical case
Price	880.- CHF
	Including: seminar and class material, lunches day 1 and 2, coffee breaks, aperitif and dinner day 1, overnight in single room hotel*** with breakfast, VAT 8%.

 

Lectures

 

China’s Environment

Speaker: Mr. Zhen Xiao, Managing Director of the Swiss Centers China

• History, Geography and Culture: similarities and differences
• Political system: influence on the economy and development of business opportunities

 

Business Environment: 1.5 Bio consumers or Niche Markets?

Speaker: Mr. Nicolas Musy, Founder and Delegate of the Board of the Swiss Centers China

                Dr. iur. Clarisse von Wunschheim, Partner, Hartmann Dreyer

• Market: what is different from the rest of the world
• The Legal System: how it works and how it does not work
• The Human Resources: education system and motivation of employees

 

Managing Subsidiaries in China: the HQ and the subsidiary view – a conflict?

Speaker: Mr. Lukas Studer, Executive Director, St.Gallen Institute of Management in Asia, University of St. Gallen 

• The various stages of engagement
• Challenges for the subsidiary:Managing people: recruiting, communication, motivation; Dealing with officials
• Challenges for the HQ:How to ensure transparency on the business; Changes in operational and strategic aspects

 

Workshop and Practical Cases

Moderators: Mr. Zhen Xiao, Mr. Nicolas Musy, Mr. Lukas Studer

• Participants are encouraged to bring a case with concrete questions and challenges via a 5-minute presentation.
• During the workshop, participants work on the concrete cases by group and form viable solutions and practical guidelines based on the seminar’s learnings

 

Speakers

 

   Mr. Zhen Xiao, Managing Director of the Swiss Centers China

 

Zhen Xiao is the Managing Director of Swiss Centers China. Mr. Xiao obtained his engineering education from Nanyang Technological University, Singapore. He then worked in Singapore and in Switzerland for more than 15 years as an engineer, researcher, and manager. He has been working with the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology, Lausanne since 2005 as China Relation Coordinator. Over the past 6 years, he has supported and advised many Swiss companies in business development in China, and successfully expanded the Swiss Center cluster with new facilities and services.

 

  Mr. Nicolas Musy, Founder and Delegate of the Board of the Swiss Centers China

 

Nicolas Musy holds a MSc. in Physics Engineering from the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology, Lausanne (www.epfl.ch). He has won his university’s first Special Alumni Award for demonstrating outstanding innovative and entrepreneurial spirit. He has been responsible to establish EPFL’s presence in China and his Alma Mater cooperation with Chinese top universities and the Chinese Academy of Science. In addition, he developed and ran the 2-week China Module of the EPFL EMBA in entrepreneurship.

 

Exclusively involved in China trade, investment, research, strategy and project management, he has resided in the Shanghai area since 1988. He founded the Swiss Center in China (www.swisscenters.org), co-founded the first Swiss industrial SME in China, Suzhou 2-ply Co. Ltd (www.2-ply.com) and is the co-owner of LX Precision (www.LXprecision.com). Founding Partner of China Integrated (Shanghai) Co. ltd. (www.ch-ina.com), Nicolas has successfully supported a number of multinationals and hundreds of mid-sized companies on market entry, operations management, acquisition and restructuring in the past 7 years.

 

  Dr. iur. Clarisse von Wunschheim

 

Clarisse von Wunschheim is a Partner at Hartmann Dreyer in Fribourg, Switzerland and an Of Counsel at Asiallians in Beijing, PRC. She specializes in cross-border and cross-cultural dispute resolution, in particular international arbitration, with a focus on the European and Chinese market.

Clarisse spent nine years in China, where she worked as a lawyer advising and representing foreign (primarily European) and Chinese companies in cross-border arbitrations and litigations in the fields of general contract law, joint ventures, sales disputes, agency and distribution, and other FDI projects. Clarisse was also the Secretary General of the Swiss-Chinese Chamber of Commerce in Beijing. She is author and co-author of several publications on arbitration and contract law, including her PhD thesis on “Enforcement of Arbitral Awards in China”.

 

   Mr. Lukas Studer, Executive Director, St.Gallen Institute of Management in Asia, University of St. Gallen

 

Lukas Studer is in charge of Executive Education at the St.Gallen institute of Management in Asia and has for example developed and implemented the “Asia Executive Certificate Program” (ACP-HSG), a certificate of advanced studies coaching senior executives in their challenges in or with Asian markets. He worked for various industrial companies and obtained a strong executive track record in international management and organizational development. He held CEO positions in both Europe and Asia for about 15 years and has lived and worked in various countries, including about ten years in Asia.

 

*Extract from Swiss Centers China business confidence survey 2017

How to Register

For registration, please kindly send an email to aline.ballaman@swisscenters.org including the following information:

Company name and address: Full name: Phone number (direct): Position:

The seminar will be confirmed upon reception of the payment.

For additional information, please do not hesitate to contact Ms. Aline Ballaman +41 79 772 63 15.

Full amount of registration fees will be refunded in the event that the seminar does not take place eventually.

 

This event has taken place on 14-15 September, 2017 in Neuchâtel.

The Swiss Centers Shanghai sincerely thanks the participants for actively contributing to the dynamic and the quality of the seminar as well as the canton of Neuchâtel for its logistic support.