rédaction's blog

The Singapore Ministry of Trade and Industry (MTI) published yesterday it's growth previsions for the country in 2012. With an estimate between 1% and 3%, Growth is showing an impressive slow down compared to previous years: 14,5% last year (2010), and a prevision of 5% this year

The figure that was released is the worst since the 2008-2009 crisis (-0,8% in 2009). It could yet be revised if the global economic context continued to degrade, with the debt in the Euro zone, or in case of a global financial crisis.

Such a weak growth perspective should have a negative impact on the job market and lead to pressure to lower salaries. A situation that leads to no enthusiasm on the front of international mobility and concerning the opportunities for job seekers and potential new entrepreneurs.

Rémi Malachin is the creator of French Toast, a young singaporean company specialized in the teaching of French language. Rémi arrived in Singapore in 2008 to work as an architect. Since then, he has sucessfully converted himself in a new profession. Portrait of an entrepreneur full of ideas, engaged in promoting French and turning it's learning into a pleasure.

Rémi Malachin was in no way predestined to open a French learning school. When he arrived in Singapore, in January 2008, it was to work as an architect, a logical move after his studies in this field in Nancy. But in Singapore, his career path has switched rapidly: He met his wife, founded a family and eventually stepped back from a field of expertise where he didn't find enough perspectives. He once contemplated the idea of creating is own architect firm, but such a project was far from being family compatible. While realizing freelance missions as a designer, he started to give French private courses. He soon found it very attractive and his teacher schedule filled in rapidly. In 2010, he decided to make the big jump and created French Toast, a Training center exclusively dedicated to French Language.

The news had been released in a number of media, it is still only a project:  offering 10000 free tickets to Japan in order to encourage tourists to rediscover the country. Beneficiaries of those free tickets would as a counterpart publish a report on what they have seen and visited.

According to the Japan Tourism Agency, the project is currently non confirmed, pending budgetary approval. The Agency is otherwise warning the public not to be deceived by would be intermediaries for the program.

More information on this website, as soon as the program will have been officialized.

KPMG has recently released it’s survey 2011 on global assignment policies & practices. Herebelow is a summary of the findings.

1- International assignments are still on the rise

A large majority of companies are considering either to maintain or to increase their international assignments.

Future use of expatriates in next 5 years :

• About the same: EU:46%; Asia:40%; US:41%
• Somewhat more: EU:33%; Asia:21%; US:34%
• Considerably more: EU:12%; Asia:17%; US:8%

A game developer and a scientist, Jane McGonigal presents in a video her latest research findings on a project that may appear overambitious: "trying to make it as easy to save the world in real life, as it is to save the world in online games".

The NTUC, by the voice of Labour Chief Lim Swee, is reported to be advocating an economic policy that would still be enough foreigners friendly not to compromise the country's global competiveness but would provide Singaporean with privilege.

As Singapore growth paces down and the singaporean society gets more mature, there is a visible tension amongst Singaporeans who want more visible signs of what's for them in the development of their country. While the general economic model, based on facilitating Foreign capital investment, is not questioned, the increasing number of foreign workers is seen as having a double side impact on Singaporeans daily life. On one hand, they consider they are increasingly competing with foreign workers on the job market. On the other hand, they feel the pressure of speculation, linked to the rapid growth of the population, feeding inflation and Real Estate prices.

The French based outplacement cabinet NEXMOVE joins ARBORA GLOBAL CAREER PARTNERS, one of the most important outplacement network, with a presence in 29 countries in Europe, Asia-Pacific and America.

Extrapolation is often a useful way out from conventional frameworks. In this article, a video from Michael Porter talking about strategy in front of HEC students, back in 2002, and stigmatizing a model of competition where "everybody want to do the same", provides a grid that can as well be of interest for companies to rethink how they manage talent & diversity, and for individuals to envisage their career with a larger perspective.

Business competition and strategy

For Michael Porter, back in 2002, companies during the last 15 to 20 years have been intensively vying against each other, "using a wrong model of competition", "where everybody want to do the same", leading to "a downward spiral of destructive value". The reason for this situation, according to the Harvard Professor, are to be found in 5 trends that, although respectable to some extent, become wrong when systematized: all companies vying to dominate the market, pursuing altogether the best quality at the lowest cost, aiming at being the fastest to change, competing for the same critical resources and sharing the same passion for outsourcing. Equally misleading are the models of competition that have been borrowed to military warfare or to sports.

The French Distribution Giant Carrefour is to appoint Mr Shafie Shamsuddin, the first Asian director to be relocated to the company's Headquarters in France, as it's new global talent management and organization development executive director.

M Shafie Samsuddin, who joined Carrefour in 1996 after graduating from Nanyang University, is currently the CEO of Carrefour Indonesia. In his new position he will be in charge of revamping the company's global organization with a particular focus on attracting, retaining and developping talents. His appointment is a sure sign that carrefour, which runs more than 12000 supermarkets, hypermarkets and convenience stores in 29 countries and employs about 475000 employees, is investing on developping a global talent pool and increasing synergies throughout it's operations in Asia, Europe and Latin America, as a key tool to serve it's global ambitions.