Michael Zeng CEO Top Ranking Global Innovation, Research, and Business Leader and Paul Yen Managing Director Great-Idea Business Resources Co. Ltd.

This week, Stephen Ibaraki has an exclusive interview with Michael Zeng and Paul Yen.

Michael Zeng
Deputy Secretary-General of China Outsourcing Institute
President and CEO of Great-Idea Business Resources Co. Ltd.

Michael Zeng is Chief Editor of the Magazine of Global Outsourcing Resources, President and CEO of Great-Idea Business Resources Co. Ltd. (which is the professional outsourcing resources and consulting organization), and President and CEO of Great Idea Hong Kong International Business Resources Publishing Group Ltd. He is the partner and director of TZF International Group (a Nasdaq Public Corporation).

In addition, Michael Zeng acts as Deputy Secretary-General of China Outsourcing Institute of the Ministry of Commerce of the People's Republic of China, Chief Executive Director of Great Idea Research and Development Center of Wuhan University, and Outsourcing expert of Asia Pacific CEO association (APCEO). He is committee expert of Appraise Committee of "China International Software and Information Service Outsourcing Contribution Award", of the Ministry of Commerce (MOC) and the committee expert of International Outsourcing Center.

Since 2002, as one of the chief planners, Michael Zeng has organized a number of large-scale international outsourcing events in China. He successfully planned and organized the first "China-American International Outsourcing Business Development Summit" (OBD), in cooperation with the international well-known outsourcing professional Mr. Michael Corbett, Outsourcing World Summit (OWS) and 'FORTUNE' Magazine. Michael Zeng has organized numbers of effective and successful international outsourcing conferences, such as "China International Service Outsourcing Forum", "China International Software & Information Service Outsourcing Annual Conference" (CSIO), and "China International Motor Outsourcing Industry Forum". Michael Zeng was invited to be the consultant by the National Economic and Trade Committee, and to be project expert of "Build & Develop China Foreign Trade and Economic Cooperation Database" research project. He was also invited to be senior researcher and guest researcher by International Enterprise Research Institute of China Management Science Research Institute, and invited as the Member of Expert Committee of China Commerce Union.

In addition, Michael Zeng has provided outsourcing marketing and training services for HP, IBM, EDS, Fuji Xerox, Unisys, Avaya, IDC, A.T. Kearney, Lucent, neoIT, P&G, NTT Data and other world top 500 companies, as well as Lenovo, NEUSOFT, Dalian Software Park, ERP, SinoCom Software Group Limited, Kingdee, Wicressoft, Chint Group, Galanz, Flextronics and other famous IT, ODM and EMS. Michael Zeng first promoted international outsourcing management high-level training courses. He established cooperation relationships in outsourcing research and training programs with China Economic Research Center of Peking University, Economic and Management School of Wuhan University, continuing education school of Tsinghua University, Management School of Zhongshan University, etc.

Michael Zeng: michael-zeng@great-idea.com.cn 86-10-85863613

Paul Yen
Managing Director for Great-Idea Business Resources Co. Ltd.

His extensive background includes these roles:

Paul Yen – CV

Vice-President, General Manager, Northern China, CDP Group Ltd. "CDP is a professional HR Total Solution Provider with HR Outsourcing (HRO), Shared Services (SS) and Transformation Services (TS). CDP provides world class HR total solutions, including Payroll Outsourcing/Benefits Outsourcing/HR On-Demand services to Multi National Companies (MNCs) and Big Local Enterprises (BLEs) in China".

Chief Representative of Greater China, Certiport China. "Certiport is the world leader in standards-based certification solutions that enable personal and professional advancement through globally portable credentials. To this end, we provide certification and services to help individuals to achieve more, distinguish themselves, and advance in today's academic and professional environments."

Deputy General Manager, China Daily News. "Chinadaily.com.cn is the largest English portal in China, providing news, business information, BBS, learning materials."

Operations Director, Sales and Training Manager, Transamerican Insurance Company. "The companies of Transamerica offer a wide array of innovative financial services and products. The Transamerica companies are members of the AEGON Group, a multinational insurance organization headquartered in The Hague, Netherlands. AEGON is one of the world's leading life insurance and financial services organizations."

Paul Yen: paul-yen@great-idea.com.cn 86-10-59081631

To listen to the interview, click on this MP3 file link

Link to COMPLETE PODCAST TEXT  [Ed. Note: Quotes below are abstracts taken from the podcast text]

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DISCUSSION:

Interview Time Index (MM:SS) and Topic
:00:34:		Michael, you are invited to speak and organize many world conferences due to your globally recognized leadership. Tell us more about your remarkable history of success and pivotal lessons you wish to share. :00:45: "....In 2002, 95 percent of Chinese people didn't know what outsourcing was. We were the first to introduce service outsourcing as the operation strategy and service mode to China, and persuaded the authorities of China government using many channels....As of 2010, China Service Outsourcing Industry has become the key industry promoted by six State Ministries of China and has also become the one industry which got the most support from the central government in China. We are proud to say that we are pioneers, contributing our efforts to this industry to promote the development of the outsourcing business in China...."
:02:20:		Paul, can you profile your prior roles of success and key lessons you have learned from each of your prior roles? :02:28: Paul shares three stages of the past 30 years; being a salesman, business owner, and the cultural differences after he came back to China....Lessons learned include....Focus....Utilize the resources....Learn to accept the cultural differences...."
:05:04:		Please give the audience five macroeconomic environmental factors that encourage outsourcing development. :05:14: Michael Zeng: "....China's strong political support for outsourcing development....China's well-educated workforce....China's improved infrastructure....China's geographic and cultural idealism for clients in North Asia....China's large-scale manufacturing industry...."
:11:08:		What are the major challenges facing China in the human resources aspect of service outsourcing and what are the solutions to the challenges? :11:18: Paul Yen: "....Still an imbalance in supply and demand....In order to resolve the imbalance China is establishing cooperative relations with institutions of higher education, training institutions and professional organizations to improve training and induction of service outsourcing personnel...."
:16:30:		What are the major innovations and opportunities for the China Outsourcing Industry, and what actions can be taken to take advantage of these opportunities? :16:40: Michael Zeng: "....Offshore buying of non-core office operations from developed countries to developing countries with rich HR will be a key element of a new round of industrial transfer in the next one or two decades....A green industry....Human resources as the cornerstone....High value-added industry....Driving the growth of related industries and higher tax revenue....Innovation and technological buildup....R&D outsourcing and national competitiveness....Specific features of the outsourcing industry demand corresponding changes to strategic objectives, working modes, and means for investment promotion...."
:25:49:		Can you profile key added roles you have played in business, industry, governments, academia and with journals and what lessons you wish to share from each role? :26:00: "....Michael Zeng has acted as the Deputy Secretary-General of China Outsourcing Institute (COI) which is affiliated with the Ministry of Commerce of PRC. He has created Wuhan University Great Idea Service Outsourcing Industry Research Development Center which is the research agency co-operated by the Economic and Management School of Wuhan University and Great-Idea Business Resources Co. Ltd....Research direction is the offshore outsourcing mode, comparative and developing research, international competition research, the senior training course of service outsourcing industry....With the support of COI of the Ministry of Commerce, we plan to open the EMBA lecture of Trade in Service and International Outsourcing to cultivate more outsourcing management elite and leaders in order to push the development of China outsourcing business...."
:30:46:		What is the past 5 year development road of the China Service Outsourcing Industry? :30:53: Paul Yen: "....China's service outsourcing capacity grows stronger, both in company maturity and talent readiness....The brand of "ChinaSourcing" is emerging quickly and drawing attention from around the world....According to MOFCOM statistics, exports of offshore services from China have maintained rapid growth in 2008, despite the difficult international economic conditions....The IT Outsourcing segment dominates the offshore service outsourcing market....Meanwhile, onshore service outsourcing has stepped in, and is accelerating the rollout of domestic IT and business services....Rapid development of China's service outsourcing industry is based on a steady enhancement of service delivery capabilities...."
:34:00:		What are your predictions for the future of China Service Outsourcing Industry? :35:05: Paul Yen: "....The global offshore service demand will gradually recover in 2011....A continuously optimized business environment....Leveraged effects between 20 demo cities and other cities taking effect....The enterprises' international market target ability will increase greatly....Our industries structures have been upgrading and there will be a more attractive, huge domestic market...."
:36:36:		Choose the areas then can you provide your predictions of future trends and their implications/opportunities? :36:42: Michael Zeng: "....Promoting and consulting for the development of China's Software and Information Service Outsourcing Enterprises – different from the manufacturing industry, products of the software and information service outsourcing industry are hard to be duplicated. It has a high degree of customization and is difficult to maximize the profit through mass production and it highly depends on human resources....China Sourcing Public Service Platform – public service platforms and the industrial alliance are helpful to facilitate the integration of resources, for the formation of industrial chains, and to enhance the communication and information sharing between different enterprises. It can also help enterprises to establish a better understanding of the demands of customers so as to enhance their competitiveness through improved services...."
:42:33:		Which are your top recommended resources which could promote the global sourcing and why? :42:42: Paul Yen: "....Two recommended resources....We have 21 service outsourcing demo cities – in 2006, the MOFCOM launched the "Thousand'Hundred'Ten Project", an action plan to boost the service outsourcing industry in China. A number of prestigious service outsourcing companies have established their presence in the demo cities, particularly in Beijing, Shanghai, Dalian and Guangzhou....The domestic market is another resource we can recommend – China's steady economic growth and huge domestic market demand are attractive to multi-national companies and service providers in China's in depth understanding of the market, as well as their ability to provide rapid and effective means for multi-national companies to access China's market...."
:46:52:		Michael and Paul share some stories from their work.
:49:20:		If you were doing this interview, what questions would you ask and then what would be your answers? :49:28: "....How to learn more about China's outsourcing industry?....How to learn more about China's outsourcing policies?...."