SHANGHAI SOUTH CHINA ALL CHINA - AHKs

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Kammerstammtisch Kick-off 27 th February 2010 | Tianjin Drei Kronen 1308 Bierhaus TIANJIN AROUND TOWN www.china.ahk.de 2010 April - May 43
CHAMBER NEWS <strong>SHANGHAI</strong> PAGES GCC BOARD <strong>SHANGHAI</strong> 44 April - May 2010 Lufthansa German Airlines Managing Director Greater China Mr. Arved von zur Mühlen * Chairman Vossloh Fastening Systems (China) Co. Ltd. CEO Mr. Thomas Dorn Treasurer German Chamber Shanghai Executive Director Delegation of German Industry & Commerce Shanghai Delegate & Chief Representative Mr. Manfred Rothgänger* Squire, Sanders & Dempsey L.L.P. Partner, Head of German Desk Mr. Rainer Burkardt Analogic Corporation CEO Dr. Rolf Hupke POLYMAX (Shanghai) Trading Co. Ltd. Chairman of the Board Mr. Ulrich Mäder Management Engineers China Ltd. Managing Director Ms. Brigitte Wolff * All-China Board member Speaker Dr. Werner Breuers with Mr. Arved von zur Mühlen Mr. Daniel Heusser (virtuarch) In Times of Crisis: Chamber Meeting February Leaping forward through innovation, especially in difficult economic times, was the timely theme of the first Chamber Meeting in the Year of the Tiger. 160 members and guests of the GCC l Shanghai attended the evening to get prepped on the topic and find out what an innovative German specialty chemicals producer is doing to stay ahead of the competitive game. Before diving into innovation, the audience was updated on an equally sustainable issue – education. Architect Daniel Heusser of virtuarch reported on the current status of the Taicang Roundtable’s School rebuilding project that will be completed by the end of April. While classes have already started in the new earthquake-ready building, the dormitory is still undergoing final works. Special thanks were extended to the German Chamber Shanghai as the Lead Sponsor of the project. Opening his presentation, Lanxess Board Member Dr. Werner Breuers referred to the luxury brand Shanghai Tang as a rare Chinese trade name that has accomplished innovation by combining tradition with contemporary. The idea of second guessing the familiar is a key concept of innovation that is too often neglected in education. Schools and universities are preaching to stand by accepted facts and avoid errors. It is exactly these ‘mistakes’ however that can lay the foundation for innovative achievements, such as the classic example of 3M’s ‘Post-it notes’. Initially perceived as a failed result of a new adhesive, the unique feature of the removable and re-attachable sticky notes made them a global bestseller. The Post-it story is therefore exemplary for the speaker’s belief and company’s mission: To become a global player, a company must be innovative in order to remain a ‘future player’. Lanxess, the world’s largest public listed specialty chemicals producer and former Bayer spin-off, is therefore following a clear innovation path. Especially in an industry where innovativeness reigns over pricing decisions and profit margins, it is key to offer premium products that the competition cannot produce. This is the best recipe for weathering a crisis. Quoting Amazon founder Jeff Bezos, Dr. Breuer followed “There’s no bad time to innovate. You should be doing it when times are good and when times are tough”. Many companies often forget this core belief and rather focus on stabilising liquidity by freezing R&D spending. A recent study by Booz&Co however proved the opposite. Creativity and innovation are important especially in hard times. A company’s innovativeness is only marginally correlated to its research spending; however, a result of many factors will ultimately foster a culture of innovation. Creating such a fostering corporate environment is a dedicated mission of Lanxess. Accepting failures – the unavoidable and necessary side-products of any research – and defining standards while continuously scrutinising them, are just some of the measures taken. Yet these efforts must not be confined to the R&D function, but rather span the whole organisational culture. Adopting a corporate structure that allows fast decisions and transparent processes is helpful, but needs to go with the understanding that creativity cannot be ordered from above. Lanxess tried to establish a climate of innova-
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