jdean3 http://www.jdean3.com A Personal Walkabout by Joe Dean Sun, 06 May 2012 12:48:31 +0000 en hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.2 Suzhou, China – A Day in the gardens http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Jdean3/~3/y8vGe14btPg/ http://www.jdean3.com/2012/05/suzhou-china-a-day-in-the-gardens/#comments Sun, 06 May 2012 10:23:42 +0000 jdean3 http://www.jdean3.com/?p=1145 Suzhou, China 001 Suzhou, China 003 Suzhou, China 004 Suzhou, China 005 Suzhou, China 006 Suzhou, China 007 Suzhou, China 008 Suzhou, China 009 Suzhou, China 010 Suzhou, China 011 Suzhou, China 012 Suzhou, China 013 Suzhou, China 014 Suzhou, China 015 Suzhou, China 016 Suzhou, China 017 Suzhou, China 018 Suzhou, China 019 Suzhou, China 020 Suzhou, China 021 Suzhou, China 022 Suzhou, China 023 Suzhou, China 024 Suzhou, China 025 Suzhou, China 026 Suzhou, China 027 Suzhou, China 028 Suzhou, China 029 Suzhou, China 030 Suzhou, China 031 Suzhou, China 032 Suzhou, China 033 Suzhou, China 034 Suzhou, China 035 Suzhou, China 036 Suzhou, China 037 Suzhou, China 038 Suzhou, China 039 Suzhou, China 040 Suzhou, China 041 Suzhou, China 042 Suzhou, China 043 Suzhou, China 044 Suzhou, China 045 Suzhou, China 046 Suzhou, China 047 Suzhou, China 048 Suzhou, China 049 Suzhou, China 050 Suzhou, China 051 Suzhou, China 052 Suzhou, China 053 Suzhou, China 054 Suzhou, China 055 Suzhou, China 056 Suzhou, China 057 Suzhou, China 058 Suzhou, China 059 Suzhou, China 060 Suzhou, China 061 Suzhou, China 062 Suzhou, China 063 Suzhou, China 064 Suzhou, China 065 Suzhou, China 066 Suzhou, China 067 Suzhou, China 068 Suzhou, China 069 Suzhou, China 070 Suzhou, China 071 Suzhou, China 072 Suzhou, China 073 Suzhou, China 074 Suzhou, China 075 Suzhou, China 076 Suzhou, China 077 Suzhou, China 078 Suzhou, China 079 Suzhou, China 080 Suzhou, China 081 Suzhou, China 082 Suzhou, China 083 Suzhou, China 084 Suzhou, China 085 Suzhou, China 086 Suzhou, China 087 Suzhou, China 088 Suzhou, China 089 Suzhou, China 090 Suzhou, China 091 Suzhou, China 092 Suzhou, China 093 Suzhou, China 094 Suzhou, China 095 Suzhou, China 096 Suzhou, China 097 Suzhou, China 098 Suzhou, China 099 Suzhou, China 100 Suzhou, China 101 Suzhou, China 102 Suzhou, China 103 Suzhou, China 104 Suzhou, China 105 Suzhou, China 106 Suzhou, China 107 Suzhou, China 108 Suzhou, China 109 Suzhou, China 110 Suzhou, China 111 Suzhou, China 112 Suzhou, China 113 Suzhou, China 114 Suzhou, China 115 Suzhou, China 116 Suzhou, China 117 Suzhou, China 118 Suzhou, China 119 Suzhou, China 120 Suzhou, China 121

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]]> http://www.jdean3.com/2012/05/suzhou-china-a-day-in-the-gardens/feed/ 0 http://www.jdean3.com/2012/05/suzhou-china-a-day-in-the-gardens/ Discovering a Wonderful Hobby http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Jdean3/~3/R3tqba1Hwcw/ http://www.jdean3.com/2012/04/discovering-a-wonderful-hobby/#comments Sat, 21 Apr 2012 07:16:57 +0000 jdean3 http://www.jdean3.com/?p=1095 Shanghai Botanical Gardens - April 2012 024 Shanghai Botanical Gardens - April 2012 023 Shanghai Botanical Gardens - April 2012 043 Shanghai Botanical Gardens - April 2012 030 Shanghai Botanical Gardens - April 2012 040 Shanghai Botanical Gardens - April 2012 013 Shanghai Botanical Gardens - April 2012 011 Shanghai Botanical Gardens - April 2012 042 Shanghai Botanical Gardens - April 2012 022 Shanghai Botanical Gardens - April 2012 035 Shanghai Botanical Gardens - April 2012 034 Shanghai Botanical Gardens - April 2012 041 Shanghai Botanical Gardens - April 2012 046 Shanghai Botanical Gardens - April 2012 014 Shanghai Botanical Gardens - April 2012 005 Shanghai Botanical Gardens - April 2012 031 Shanghai Botanical Gardens - April 2012 018 Shanghai Botanical Gardens - April 2012 027 Shanghai Botanical Gardens - April 2012 033 Shanghai Botanical Gardens - April 2012 037 Shanghai Botanical Gardens - April 2012 039 Shanghai Botanical Gardens - April 2012 015 Shanghai Botanical Gardens - April 2012 010 Shanghai Botanical Gardens - April 2012 012 Shanghai Botanical Gardens - April 2012 007 Shanghai Botanical Gardens - April 2012 044 Shanghai Botanical Gardens - April 2012 028 Shanghai Botanical Gardens - April 2012 036 Shanghai Botanical Gardens - April 2012 021 Shanghai Botanical Gardens - April 2012 032 Shanghai Botanical Gardens - April 2012 006 Shanghai Botanical Gardens - April 2012 029 Shanghai Botanical Gardens - April 2012 005 Shanghai Botanical Gardens - April 2012 045 Shanghai Botanical Gardens - April 2012 020 Shanghai Botanical Gardens - April 2012 019 Shanghai Botanical Gardens - April 2012 008

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]]> http://www.jdean3.com/2012/04/discovering-a-wonderful-hobby/feed/ 0 http://www.jdean3.com/2012/04/discovering-a-wonderful-hobby/ No time to spare http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Jdean3/~3/FuOkXzq36-U/ http://www.jdean3.com/2011/12/no-time-to-spare/#comments Sun, 11 Dec 2011 11:54:27 +0000 jdean3 http://www.jdean3.com/?p=1084 Wow…time is going fast these days!  I am already planning my first trip home for Christmas and a little R&R.  I’ve done little to the apartment except enjoy it when I’ve been home.  It is a perfect location and I look forward to the spring & summer next year using the outside patio.  Last weekend and this weekend I installed the teak wood tiles I had made locally.  I’m not certain what took them 3 weeks longer than we had planned, but I am happy to finally have them upstairs and installed outside.

I still have a few squares to reset, but you get the idea.  It looked bigger before I laid down the tiles but I think it will look very nice once Becky has time to populate it with the outdoor furniture she is likely to acquire.  I am looking forward to putting the huge hammock out there.  I’m not sure how it will look in a few months (smog eventually settles into dirt) but I like the fact that I can take these with me when I leave.  They will be the new garage floor.

I will call this…PROJECT #1 in Shanghai.  I would say the moving twice, unpacking, shipping, finding groceries, meals & shopping locations…not to mention my way around town on my scooter as simply getting settled.  I have so much more to do, but I can see that it can be done.

Becky returns in February so that should keep me on schedule.

Happy Holidays….Merry Christmas!  I’ll be home on the 19th.

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]]> http://www.jdean3.com/2011/12/no-time-to-spare/feed/ 0 http://www.jdean3.com/2011/12/no-time-to-spare/ Shanghai Welcome http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Jdean3/~3/RKcxEp2TIgo/ http://www.jdean3.com/2011/10/shanghai-welcome/#comments Sat, 15 Oct 2011 09:27:44 +0000 jdean3 http://www.jdean3.com/?p=1047 Nearly six weeks experience living in Shanghai, albeit out of a suitcase in a temporary apartment, I am getting my wings.  This week I finally moved into the apartment we will call home (away from home) for the next few years.  Plenty of room for family and friends to begin a hopeful steady stream of visits!  To give you a flavor of the place I’ve included a number of initial photographs that I will augment once I purchase more personal items for all of the living spaces & outdoor patio’s but you should see that the starting point is quite nice.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Items I’ve completed in the first 6 weeks:

  • Chinese medical physical.  Required to get a residents visa.  Don’t forget to ask about this experience.
  • Work Visa
  • Residence Visa (note:  I spent 3 weeks without my passport waiting to have both visa processed!)
  • Apartment lease agreement
  • Opened a Banking account (however you can’t even add money to it without your passport…note — plan ahead)
  • Met my Driver (assigned by the Company but optional if you want to change…I like Mr. “Kae” Sun)
  • Purchased 2 personal phones & one Company phone all with SIM cards and fully operational
  • Installed Vonage & purchased a home phone set
  • Bought a new bike (two baskets, one bell)
  • Bought an outdoor rocking chair for the patio
  • Found a great dry cleaners & purchased a pre-paid discount card so my driver can handle all the laundry
  • Found all I would ever need for shopping stores (Carefours mall, Sams Club, Metro groceries, Kerry Center, etc)
  • Started Mandarin lessons

As you might expect, I don’t fill my time watching much TV with a new job that seems to be settling down to a more manageable “7am-7pm bring your lunch to work” days.  I’m pleased with the new assignment but obviously blessed to be joining an incredibly competent team already in place.  More on Ford’s progress in APA in future notes, but it should be a fascinating experience.

Next up:  I’ve got to get me one of those electric scooters!

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]]> http://www.jdean3.com/2011/10/shanghai-welcome/feed/ 1 http://www.jdean3.com/2011/10/shanghai-welcome/ One Good Idea http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Jdean3/~3/hBXBFcncJT0/ http://www.jdean3.com/2010/09/one-good-idea/#comments Sun, 26 Sep 2010 00:54:21 +0000 jdean3 http://www.jdean3.com/?p=1001

Why “One Ford” is One Good Idea

(and what others can learn from this vision):

There is no hiding the fact that after 100+ years Ford Motor Company became a huge collection of separate “chimney’s”, functions and area’s of expertise.  Even within a geographic region (ie Americas, Asia Pacific or Europe, etc) and individual functions there have been, and still are, obvious divisions of power, culture and prejudices.  It is inevitable that with continued success over the years, autonomy and decision making was pushed to those closest to each market.  Unfortunately, to sustain this autonomy, huge amounts of resources (particularly headcount and workload) have been required and core processes simply diverged over time.  It isn’t until we are forced to “remake ourselves” that we find the excuse and momentum to breakdown barriers that exists to transform our business model.  One of the best examples of a beneficial transformation in process is with Market Representation in the U.S.

Note:  Market Representation is the function of franchising dealerships to represent specific brands under specific terms.  A franchise transaction includes everything from Appointments, Approval of Buy-Sell Agreements (corporate or asset purchases), Ownership Amendments, Terminations, Resignations, Relocations, Additional Place of Business and a host of auxiliary contractual examples.

I was blessed to witness the partial dismantling of one of these legacy processes when I accepted the role of the Dealer Contracts Manager for Ford-Lincoln-Mercury in 2007 to lead the consolidation of Market Representation.  At that time, we were forced to radically reduce the headcount in the field.  Prior to this consolidation, all of the processing of every franchise transaction was locally developed, documented and presented to the general office by field personnel.  Unfortunately, this was not only cumbersome given the legal and historic precedence of each office, but it was inconsistent nationally as every market interpreted policy and requirements differently.  It is also true that the requirements of many transactions were redundant and needed to be re-engineered.  It wasn’t that any one region was incorrect (although disparity of quality between them was extreme), but it was simply impossible to streamline or automate dozens of variations of the same transaction.

After a deep dive into every possible transaction variation, we simply documented the best combination of processes and developed a step by step guide that would help streamline each transaction.  While there was considerable pushback and most of the players were resistant to change (I was one of them), the benefits of centralization slowly began to evolve.  As the expertise of those handling the transactions improved, the field became more efficient and better able to redeploy their valuable time with face to face interactions with our customers (dealers).  The field became less intimidated by the fact that their transactions would be processed by someone in a central office and they slowly adopted the modified process.  This became a huge WIN for the field and the Company because we truly consolidated a cumbersome process and eliminated hours of redundancy that ultimately elevated the field.  The manpower savings was enormous, but the real win was in the inevitable shift in mindsets that we really are one team.

Each of us want to believe our situation is unique and we justify the status quo for a variety of reasons.  When in reality we are better served as a member of a larger team with aligned goals.

This is less a reflection of a single project as it is an endorsement of the vision of having everyone on the SAME TEAM.  While there are benefits of parochial thinking, the freedom of dispersing the work and re-engineering our processes to include everyone on the team is greater.  I am confident the synergies we experienced in the US are only the tip of the iceberg as their are numerous activities within Marketing & Sales throughout the world that would benefit from ONE vision and a common process.

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