Commentary

In international business, Hong Kong is a financial centre, bridging the East with the West. Still, in many transactions, etiquette can be misunderstood or overlooked, and a misstep can quickly damage relationships. Through my experience teaching Western etiquette to clients from a range of industries and backgrounds, I have provided three of the most commonly asked questions – or complaints – and how to best deal with these situations in Hong Kong’s business culture.

The big sell-off in gold and silver lately has been driven by the paper market. Falling prices triggered pre-set stop loss orders resulting in additional selling. As is typical in the commodity markets, selling begets more selling and the ultimate result is the commodity gets vastly oversold. It is the banksters “oversell” manipulation to suppress price so they can rig in as much gold in one helping as they can. Here’s a look into the golden lens…

Deploying the latest operating system in Hong Kong can help users prevent various virus and malicious software attacks. Industry analysts are all in agreement that now is the time to upgrade from the decade old software. Analyst from Frost & Sullivan comments that the advancing new technology in mobile computing and the sophistication of network security attacks will test the performance of existing OS when the support ceases.

Gaining broad exposure is vital to building a career in business, but it requires something more than on-the-job experience or working in different socio-cultural environments.

The quest for productivity is the main driver for the adoption of new mobile solutions. And in practice, there are quantifiable results: Intel has expanded its bring-your-own-device (BYOD) program, which has been a resounding success, providing around 5 million hours of annual productivity gains last year. Tablets and smartphones are set for a bright future, especially within organizations' mobile workforce (sales, support team, etc.). 

Company after company, executives in Hong Kong are happily promoting their company’s "good citizen" reputation. May it be in giving to charities, mobilizing staff to do voluntary services, partnership with nonprofit organizations in cause marketing campaigns and a lot more. But after browsing their websites, reviewing their press releases and other corporate communications materials that are publicly available, it is not difficult to conclude that quite a number of such good citizens do mostly or even solely on giving to charities or working with them on something. So my underlying question is: Has CSR got anything to do with charity? The Economist has recently held an online debate on “CSR has nothing to do with charity”. The motion is upheld with 75% of voters in agreement and 25% against. Although it may sound a bit unfair and incomplete, the reality is that there are still a portion of executives in town who believe CSR is equivalent to supporting charitable organizations. For sure, I am not excluding the importance and positive contribution of supporting charities; it is in fact full force CSR programmes go far beyond than just that. Corporate Social Responsibility should be a strategic thing rather than an operational consideration or even face-lifting exercise.

All indicators point to the fact that the exhibitions industry in Hong Kong will continue to grow in number over the next few years. According to the Hong Kong Exhibition and Convention Industry Association, the number of exhibitions in Hong Kong has increased approximately 20 percent since 2010. Total exhibition space available now exceeds 150,000 sq. m. and is still undergoing expansion.

Driven by the consumerization of IT, user-owned devices are increasingly used for business purposes, forcing significant changes in organisations. Local companies would be well advised to adopt bring-your-own-device (BYOD) policies. Such policies empower people to choose the device of their choice and encourage workplace mobility, but in a managed way that doesn't force the organisation to relinquish control over corporate data. In other words, businesses get the 'pros' without the 'cons'.

Just when you thought your Hong Kong website had every possible permutation covered from dot com to dot asia and beyond, the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (which mouthful we’ll refer to as ICANN from now on) has decided that April 2013 is as good a time as any to open the flood gates just a little wider, with the variety of available domain names zooming from twenty or so now to potentially fourteen hundred sometime this year. Most industry participants in Hong Kong tend to see the logic for the increase in choice of available domain name real estate. British readers will no doubt remember the adding of the “1” and “020” to telephone numbers in the UK, which was a headache at the time but paved the way for the 60 million or so cell phone numbers that were yet to be released. ICANN has received applications covering many generic names including “.shop” and “.buy” and more notoriously “.book” by Amazon. The Trade mark owners and their legal advisers couldn’t however help but notice the elephant in the room with a path paved for (at best) cyber squatting, and (at worst) the likelihood of cunningly named pretenders such as www.louisviutton.luxury. Thankfully ICANN has taken note, or at least the lobbying on this front has been very successful. Built in to the new domain name issuing program, is the Trademark Clearinghouse (TMCH). This service, which launched on 26th March, allows brand owners to submit their trademark data into one centralised database while the new names are introduced into the domain name system. The TMCH accepts registered word marks from any jurisdiction for registration. TMCH users are offered a two pronged service. The Sunrise Service gives trademark owners 30 days before a domain name is offered to the public to safeguard the name that matches their trademark. The Trademark Claims Service warns both domain name registrants as well as trademark holders of possible infringements when a new domain is being registered. This allows the owner to take any appropriate action if the infringer goes ahead and registers regardless. Of course, the service isn’t free and the one-year, three-year and five-year plans for registering trademarks on their database run at US$150 for one year, US$435 for three-years, and US$725 for the five-year plan, with discounts for higher volumes of trademark registrations. In view of the relatively inexpensive costs however and the potential time and costs savings offered by the TMCH it may well pay to take advantage now and protect your trademarks while you can.

The Personal Data (Privacy) Amendment Ordinance (“Amendment Ordinance”) was passed in October 2012, with the provisions relating to the use of personal data for direct marketing becoming effective as of 1 April 2013. The long-awaited data privacy reforms encapsulated in the Amendment Ordinance reflect years of public consultations and legislative deliberations. Interestingly, some of the new restrictions in the Amendment Ordinance are more onerous and stringent than those of its Western counterparts (e.g. in the UK).

If you are managing a small to medium size company, or getting ready to do business in Hong Kong, you have probably spent a lot of time defining your product or service for the local market, analyzing your target audience, setting your pricing strategy and scouting ideal locations. Having completed all of the above, you are probably thinking about how to communicate your amazing product/service/restaurant/club to the city's online audience.

In Hong Kong, Business Training is more important than ever. Our businesses increasingly need every employee to have the skills, knowledge and confidence to take the initiative in order to assess situations, solve problems, and seize opportunities. Not only to build richer relationships with existing customers and suppliers, but also to extend and expand market presence, and to innovate internal practices.

The H7N9 avian influenza had been restricted to Shanghai and neighbouring regions on the Eastern seaboard in China recently, up to 23 April, but still it has infected over a hundred people resulting in more than 20 deaths. Experts worry that the new development with mutation may see H7N9 quickly spread across large areas of China, and beyond.

A company is only as good as its people. That might seem common sense to most managers. However, it seems that many fail to ask themselves one important question: “How can I ensure the company does all it can to help our employees reach their full potential?”

Most Chinese companies in Hong Kong understand why their reputation is important. It's a bit like your health: if you don't have it, nothing else matters.

On the face of it, things don't look great for Hong Kong's economy this year. As I write this, I've just read that business bankruptcies in Hong Kong were up in March compared to February, and also year-on-year, blamed on weak demand in overseas markets. Unemployment, traditionally low in Hong Kong compared to elsewhere, has also increased slightly, and it looks like government policies to rein in the once-buoyant housing market are starting to take effect.