PRODUCTIVITY IS MEASURED BY GOVERNMENTS and companies, but it is only part of the picture. A return on payroll, or ROP, is what leaders should be delivering to their constituents and shareholders, respectively. So says Dr. Michael Hewitt-Gleeson, founder of the ‘School of Thinking‘ and prolific author on creative and lateral thinking. In this Insight,&hellip

JACK WELCH USED X10 THINKING. It was one tool that allowed him to multiply both his own productivity, and that of his company, from a  13 billion dollar business to one valued at over 300 billion, only 10 years later. This ‘x10 Thinking’ originated from business coach, Dr Michael Hewitt-Gleeson, founder of the School of&hellip

SOCIETY IS CHANGING. Once there was a clear divide between what was deemed public and what was private. The government would supply public amenities, such as roads, hospitals and police, and citizens would build private wealth, in the form of home ownership, cars and art works. But that clear distinction is changing. So says Dr&hellip

ENGLISH IS A GLOBAL LANGUAGE, and consequently forms of English have developed. This is the challenge of a great interpreter; being able to incorporate local slang and accents to ensure an accurate translation. Professor Charles Qin, founder of Chin Communications, highlights cases where poor quality interpreters have led to inaccurate and embarrassing situations at the highest&hellip

TODAY’S WORKPLACE RELIES HEAVILY ON EMAIL COMMUNICATION. Too much, says Julia Gong of the Confucius Institute, especially when communicating with Chinese. Julia highlights the habit of Chinese habit of using other social tools, including Weibo and Weixin (WeChat) to communicate, event in formal environments. Julia is the Director of the Confucius Institute at the University of&hellip

NEGOTIATING IN CHINA IS CHALLENGING particularly when channels of authority and responsibility are vague. For this reason Kevin Louey says it’s best to start at the highest level. Kevin is a councillor for the City of Melbourne. He is the chair of the Economic Development portfolio and is Deputy Chair of the Knowledge City portfolio.&hellip

ASIANS LOVE TO HAGGLE. For many Western business professionals this to-and-fro verbal dance feels both frustrating and time consuming. Fixed prices are preferred and matter-of-fact discussions favoured, in order to efficiently move forward. So why is so much time wasted in Asian negotiations and is it all necessary? Rachael Mah, Managing Partner and Principal Trainer at&hellip

DOING BUSINESS IN ASIA is made all the more difficult by the amount of ‘grey’ in business dealings. So says Rachael Mah, Managing Partner and Principal Trainer at AusAsia Training Institute in Melbourne, Australia. Born in Malaysia, and having spent half of her life in Australia, Rachael highlights a common difference when doing business with Asian business&hellip

BUSINESS IS MADE ALL THE MORE DIFFICULT when communication is hampered by a lack of understanding. Translation services are therefore not a luxury, but a necessity. So says Nigel Blair, founder and director of Envest Group. After working between Australia and China for the past 8 years Nigel has had his share of successful and unsuccessful&hellip

PROVIDING PRAISE AND POSITIVE FEEDBACK isn’t a universal approach. Many in China have grown up with more ‘stick’ and less ‘carrot’ that what is experienced in the West. Weather it’s parents to their children, teachers to their students, or managers to their subordinates, the use of positive language is less pronounced than in countries such as&hellip