Culture Is Tricky Business:
Management Consulting/ Managing Across Cultures

Viewpoint by Andrew Scharf, Head of the WCW Group

Managing across cultures is tricky business. Questions of customs, behaviour, icons, and the like create a bag of false assumptions. If we take the world for granted we are headed for a hayride.

Take an assortment of name brands and see how this plays out. If you fly to Tokyo on Japan Airlines, the moment you sit down in your seat you have entered another cultural realm. Just think of the menu selection open to clients. Step into John Lobb, the shoemaker and you enter a tradition of English and French shoe making. There is craftsmanship and you can smell the heritage in the boot polish.

On a more mundane level, walk down the Champs-Elysees and you venture through the history and glory of one of the world’s most beautiful cities. Flanked on its sides are a multitude of stores whose brands one and all embody the culture of their origins. Think Cartier, Marks & Spencer, H&M, Monoprix, and even Abercrombie & Fitch.

Each of these brands has a vibrant culture of its’ own. In their place of origin they resonate with style indicators and encompass the virtues of their birthplace. Transported to another environment and they become by definition cultural ambassadors of their homelands intended or unconsciously.

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Kyoto Action Committee Targets 2012:
Global Affairs/ Sustainability

Viewpoint by Dennis Shibut, Head of the Kyoto Action Committee,
WCW Columnist

It always feels good to make a new start turning over a New Year. However, there’s another side to crossing over a date line besides the hope of what the near future may bring. It is also the relief of leaving behind what happened in the 2011, especially if that year was a troublesome one.

In 2011, the climate change wreaked havoc and misery across the world. People by the tens of millions suffered under record-breaking summer temperatures. Many saw their homes destroyed by biblical floods, super-tornadoes, hurricanes, and wildfires.

Others found their livelihoods dried up under their feet as severe drought spread across entire regions, forcing some to give up their farms. The worst hit was in the Horn of Africa where women and children by the tens of thousands, starved to death.

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The Luxury Experience Online:
Management Consulting/ Luxury Brand Management

Viewpoint by Andrew Scharf, Head of the WCW Group

If you are an existing luxury brand or a luxury brand in the making, you can ill afford to not harvest new media channels online. Recent social media management studies at WCW indicate that the average time per person per target group spends on average 5-6 hours online. Figures substantially rise when you take into consideration mobiles and tablets are rarely switched off.

What this implies is a drastic change in buyer behavioral patterns and consumer analysis.

Take for example what has become your classic luxury brand audience. They are young, well informed, highly educated and probably telling each other to met at one of Paris’ latest luxury boutiques on the Saint Honore, Moynat. Via Four Square, Facebook, Tumblr and the like, the word spreads like fire and voila, a “trend” is born.

If such is the case then shopping online has become a sine quo non. Now, is the ideal moment to reconsider your online branding, positioning, and ultimately your strategy. If your e-store is not up to speed you will not just be left behind. You will find your enterprise warped into outer cyberspace, i.e. no-where-ville.

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The Virtual Junkie:
Global Affairs/ Changes In Professional Behavior

Viewpoint by Emmanuel Kuehn, Founder of Wisepoint, WCW Columnist

Now, don’t get the wrong idea. I am not a Luddite nor do I advocate going back to a time before Edison or living with candlelight. What I do suggest is that we wake up and take stock of where we are going. I have entitled this article – Virtual Junkie – for a reason. You see, in the “old” days junkies were real. They lived their experiences in real time with real consequences. If you took the wrong drugs, you paid the piper. Just ask Thomas de Quincy.

Junkies were traditionally looked down upon by society as a whole. They were seen as escapists looking for a type of utopia stimulated by various plants or chemical agents.

In today’s world, there is not much talk about junkies. Drugs and various escapist paths of this type still exist but they are a minority taste. The “new” junkies I am referring to are “virtual”. Their addiction is to mobile handsets, iPods, iPads, and any other device, which allows them to stay wired 24/7. Hi-tech has revolutionised our universe. For those born into this era and coming of age to talk of another time is to speak through a time capsule.

People begin to question your sagacity: “What do you mean you do not have a mobile phone?”

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Kyoto Action Committee: Climate Disasters Report Card 2011:
Global Affairs/ Sustainability

Viewpoint by Dennis Shibut, Head of the Kyoto Action Committee,
WCW Columnist

The following is a shortlist of billion dollar extreme climate disasters reported in 2011.

(Sources: International reinsurance companies Munich RE and AON Benfield, U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), U.S. Energy Information Agency (EIA), Climate Progress, Weather Underground)
United States

• Throughout 2011 the mega-drought in the South and Southwest has caused the driest year in Texas on record. Estimated damage to crops, livestock, and timber (so far): $10 billion.

• Wildfires that accompanied the drought in the South were the largest on record, destroying over a million acres of forestland. Estimated damage: $1 billion.

• In April a “Super” tornado outbreak over the Midwest and the Southeast produced 343 tornadoes and became the largest and most damaging tornado outbreak in U.S. history. Death toll: 321 victims. Cost of damage: $10.2 billion.

• In May the largest flood on record occurred on the Lower Mississippi River. Estimated damage: $4 billion.

• In May another tornado outbreak tore across Central and Southern states; one of the 180 tornadoes virtually obliterated the town of Joplin, Missouri, making it the most expensive tornado in world history. Death toll: 177 victims. Estimated damage: $9.1 billion.

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Chinos The Icon Of Causal Chic
Fashionistas Style

Viewpoint by Andrew Scharf, Head of the WCW Group

Paris is experiencing the mildest winter on record. Indeed all the signs of sring are here: buds on Magnolias beginning to open, crocus shoots, and even tiny field flowers. With the January sales just about over, the mind of Fashionistas has already turned to spring. The happy few are already turning their heads to the cruise season.

Across the Seine, the cafes such as “Flore” and “Aux Deux Maggots” are packed out. These stalwarts remain every popular with Parisians and tourists alike for watching “tout Paris”. Everyone appears to be squabbling over, which are the best tables for lunch outdoors. Ralph’s in St. Germain is doing a brisk business in clam chowder, Cesar salad and grilled sea bass. Reservations to lunch in this beautiful garden restaurant demands planning in advance unless you are a celebrity.

Dressing for work still has its codes and practices, and dressing well casually still seems hard for many to master. What is it about spring weather that gets people to forget their dress sense?

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Symbiotic Relationships

Viewpoint by Dr. Andrew Thorn, President at Telios Corporation,
WCW Columnist

Several years ago I had the amazing opportunity to be Marshall Goldsmith’s personal coach. This was an incredible experience that lasted over 18 months. I say it was incredible, because at the time, Forbes Magazine ranked Marshall as the number one executive coach in the world.

My responsibility was to help one of the greatest become even greater. I enjoyed every minute of that challenge. Marshall’s levels of awareness are intensely high. Helping him, meant that I needed to finely tune my focus toward his needs. I learned very quickly that he was the expert on him and if I wanted to help him, I was going to have to get him to tell me what he wanted and how he wanted to be helped.

There was no room for my ego. I could not rely on my previous successes. To truly help him, I had to live each moment from the same intense level of awareness. I had to let go of me so that I could help him create a better him.

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The Mission Statement Lies At The Heart Of The Organisation:
Management Consulting

Viewpoint by Jorrian Gelink, Management Architect, WCW Columnist

“The mission says why you do what you do, not the means by which you do it.” – Peter Drucker

Every organization starts with a mission. Be it one individual with a dream, or a group deciding to put an idea forward into fruition; the mission starts with an idea and is engrained into the DNA of the modern business, school or government institution. The mission is the heart of the organization; a starting point that is the pulse of why everyone there does what they do.

Great organizations continuously follow their mission and rarely stray from it; as even a deviation can result in a flutter of ineffective activity and confusion. The starting point of an organization is getting down to the core of what the mission is.

A mission statement should be concise and to the point; but be broad enough to empower those in the organization to look at it and ask: “Am I contributing to our goal?” The mission needs to have an emotional attachment; it is the guiding light for everyone within the organization. The mission should resonate with everyone whether they just joined an organization, or have been there since the beginning.

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Overcoming The Pitfalls Of Social Networking:
Management Consulting/ Career Management

Viewpoint by Andrew Scharf, Head of the WCW Group

There are subtleties to relationship building and social networking. We may not have the power to choose our family, but we certainly have the authority to foster the “right” social links and friendships. Are you LinkedIn? What about your Facebook or Google + profiles?

Are you aware of Weibo, StumbleUpon, and Tumblr? Did you know that the last 3 are the “hottest” trends hitting the social networks and are the “professional’s” response to Facebook?

Is your iPhone streaming with Twitter? And finally, did you manage to update your profile on Viadeo?

Of all the relationships we have, our friends reveal what type of person we are. The same can be stated for the networks we foster and the groups to which we belong online and off-line in the real world.

If you really want to understand the character of someone before you hire then examine how the person in question spends his or her leisure time. Now you are in a better position to genuinely ascertain what someone values and where their priorities truly lie.

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The King of Tailors: Camps de Luca
Fashionistas Style

Viewpoint by Andrew Scharf, Head of the WCW Group

The weekend is a sacred time for R & R. One of my most enjoyed pleasures is breakfast. My ritual is to wake up to 2 steaming bowls of Illy espresso accompanied by toasted tartines lathered with butter from a small diary in Cotentin and homemade strawberry jam.

Don’t you just love the rich and sensual aroma of coffee on a wet gray morning?

It does wonders for the “little gray cells”. Bucked up like a bull, I am ready to tackle the day and trundle about town to investigate the tailors of Paris.

The hunt for a decent tailor these days needless to say is not one of those “volcanic” listings on Google trends. How could it be? We are not talking mass market here, but a secretive realm where genuine luxury is whispered into the ears of the cognoscente.

Although, there are numerous websites and chat groups featuring style , it can be quite confusing when confronted with diverse opinions. It is best to take to the streets and investigate for yourself. The proof as Jeeves might have said is “in the pudding”.

Now Paris has always been home to style icons and luxury. Certain tailors and designers have the uncanny ability to work alchemy and transform their clients into elegant figures who walk the boulevards with panache. These sort of clothes do not blast names or logos. Their luxury is in the cloth, cut, and styling. Best of all, nobody will know but you. Oh, yes, people will notice. Mark my words, because your clothes will actually fit.

Now it happens that the best tailor in Paris is not at street level. You need to know the address although no introductions are necessary once you find your way to their fabulous atelier and showroom. I am referring to one of those best-kept secrets, Camps de Luca.

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