EMMANUEL BONHOMME
Embrace Trust, Act Fast and be Open Minded!
Emmanuel Bonhomme: Vice President Strategic Capabilities and ASP, Mentor & Acclarent Franchises at Johnson & Johnson Medical EMEA. Originally from France
How long have you been living in China?
22 years, four years in Hong Kong and 18 years in Shanghai…
Can you describe briefly your company and what is your job?
I came to China for a pharmacy company. During the first five years, my job was for a pharmaceutical distribution company, responsible for the operational business, supply-chain management, financial control. Then I moved on to different roles.
Who are your customers?
We have a network of distributors, they are our first customers. Our final customers are hospitals, doctors, surgeons who are using our products.
How would you describe your typical work day?
I work in three functions, I’m responsible for North Asia, which covers Korea, Taiwan and Hong Kong. I am responsible for training our sales force. I am traveling within the three countries to meet with different managers and leaders. I present the new products and new technology we are doing, our research. We discuss about what we can improve. I usually travel with my professional education team when they do professional education activities, and they train doctors and surgeons in different places of the world. We set up the courses, we are discussing our strategies, where we should focus on, where we should educate the surgeons, how much investment we should be doing, then we roll out the programs.
What changed most according to you in China?
China is growing, you can see it with the new buildings in Shanghai and Beijing, and in any kind of cities in China, but you can see the change also in the people’s mind. For me, it’s even more important. It has become easier to do business in China. It’s easier because you can find more qualified people, you have more diversified people than before, more experienced people. But very talented people are still hard to find. However, for foreigners, the Chinese government has put a lot of pressure to slow down importations. They want more localization, they want more local players, so they want to develop their own economy, and raise the level of Chinese innovation and management.
How do you adapt your business specifically for China?
That’s a very good question. It’s very difficult to understand the culture. Most of the time, the failure in business management is because of the lack of understanding of each other.
So how do you bridge this gap? It’s not easy. The first thing to be aware when bridging the gap, is to understand the other person, to truly understand and truly listen. It’s not easy to listen, it takes time and effort. When somebody is talking, unconsciously you are judging. Because you are reflecting from your own mindset. For you, it’s very mix, because you are American-French-Chinese and etc. So you are very diverse, which is great. You know different nationalities, different cultures very well. But imagine somebody who grew up in France, imagine somebody grew up in America. America is a very colorful country. Sometimes, it’s easy to be self-centered. People don’t understand different cultures, why people react this way and they are judging, not just listening. So understanding the culture is most important.
What is most challenging for you when working with a Chinese team?
I believe, like in any country, trust is the most important thing. And it takes time to build trust in China. Relationship is something that is very critical and important. To build up the relationship and to build up the network with people, in China it takes a long time. But when people trust you, you can achieve a lot. China is not always transparent, now it’s getting more regulated, but before what you could do and not do was not very clear.
My advice for companies is that the focus should be on strategy AND execution. Execution is not easy, because of the lack of transparency. So it is key to have a great execution plan.
What would be the most difficult thing to do when negotiating with Chinese companies?
I think the parties need to have aligned objectives. In the West, we often talk about win-win situations, right? But sometimes in China, a party does not mind if their negotiating partner loses. Therefore, it is important to clarify the objectives and make sure they are aligned with your partner.
What is the biggest difference between doing business in China and doing business in the western world, like in America?
I think it is transparency: getting the right information, the right feedback.
The transparency level in my industry, the statistic reports that we are getting from Europe or the US are reliable. When you can get information, then you can segment your market, you know your target in your marketing strategy. But in China, it’s not like that. You don’t have access to such kind of information. That is to me the main problem in China.
The other issue is recruiting talents here in China, people are moving very quickly, the turnover of the talents is very high. In the west, there are not so many opportunities, so people stick to a company and they do not move companies too often. These are for me the key differences.
In the west, if you look at Switzerland, or even Indonesia, people are investing much more time in analyzing the business, discussing decisions, options, strategies, auguing. In China, people are more action-oriented, so they are less strategy-oriented, they move quicker. For me, this is the biggest difference.
According to you, what are the 3 golden rules when doing business here?
The three golden rules… I think it can become very generic because not all the businesses are same in China.
I think the number one is, I would say, do not judge people too quickly, very difficult not to do it, do not put too much western features to China, think locally. The companies have big slogans like ‘Think globally, Act locally’. I do agree but I think it’s the ‘thinking locally’ that counts the most in China. People are thinking differently here.
Be mindful that people are different, and two Chinese could be very different from each other. So I would say do not judge people too quickly.
The second golden rule to me is that strategy is important but the bigger focus should be on the implementation, the execution.The only way to be successful in China is when a strategy is well implemented and executed.
For the 3rd rule, I think that you have manage China as profitable place. Managers who come here sometimes think they need to invest and expect no return. But China is a very profitable market.
What are the biggest mistakes you made?
China is like an onion… You can judge China from the first layer, then you peal it in several layers, after 22 years in China, I could be in the middle of the onion, I just know half of it.
One of the mistakes is I didn’t know which layer I was in the onion, so I still don’t know another half about China, and sometimes it can be frustrating.
One of the mistakes I made for example is that I have been too slow. In China you have to be very fast, thinking fast and reacting fast. You have to know to trust people early on in the process.
When I first arrived in 1995, it took me some time to trust people
What advice would you give to someone coming to do business in China?
I would say, first of all, embrace the culture, go and discover China, be open-minded, very very open-minded! Talk to people, be yourself, and try to discover China.
How do you manage to build a successful business in China?
Well, it’s with people, with talented teams.
Execution strategy is critical to reach an objective.
You have to find the right team. Sometimes, the talents here are very different from the US or Europe.When you look for someone, it is best to find someone with an entrepreneurial mindset.
So one last question, as a teenager just finishing high school, what advice can you give me in doing business in China?
Well, I think the first thing is making sure that you get the right idea, make sure you find out what you want to do and what is needed in China, what is unique in this market, and the business you want to set up. Then find the right connection, find the right people who can help you. It’s all about people! These people are the ones who can open doors for you. Even if you think your business is over, people can still find solutions for you. That’s critical.
