All recent articles

‘Homesourcing’ A Domestic Alternative

Aug 1, 2006

Article originally published in Insurance Networking News. There are three main reasons why it’s cheaper to outsource work to WillowCSN Inc. than to do it…

India Tightens Security

Aug 1, 2006

Article originally published in Insurance Networking News. Late spring 2005, the world learned that a crime ring that included call center employees of an Indian…

Bridging the Chinese Skills Gap

Jun 26, 2006

Originally published in Computerworld. Hankscraft Inc. has been making industrial motors and mechanized pumps for more than 50 years in Reedsburg, Wis. The company came…

Language Barriers

Jun 26, 2006

Originally published in Computerworld. Among the various sourcing peculiarities and problems specific to China is regionalism, says Pieter Tsiknas, director of SearchBank’s Beijing office. Read…

Weak legislation hindering China’s securitization market

Jun 26, 2006

The number of Chinese securitization projects has almost doubled this spring. The sudden burst of activity brought the total number of securities industry securitization projects…

Blogging for Alpha

Jun 26, 2006

The more crowded and competitive the hedge fund industry gets, the more difficult it is for fund managers to set themselves apart from competitors. The…

Saving face in China

May 1, 2006

Originally published in Computerworld. In the West, companies want to put on a good face for customers, even if it means having to admit mistakes.…

Automation in China

Apr 1, 2006

While some companies are outsourcing to China to cash in on labor savings, others are there for the long haul, and they have made automation…

China’s cabinet industry maturing in 2006

Apr 1, 2006

This article originally appeared in FDM. Larger firms offer higher quality as domestic demand grows and consolidation is likely. Cabinet products from Jianpan Cabinet Co.…

Supply Chain Challenges

Mar 14, 2006

About two dozen supply chain executives from around the world gathered here earlier this month to discuss the business-technology challenges of managing their dispersed and…

Back to the Future

Jan 6, 2006

This article originally appeared in CMO (Chief Marketing Officer), an IDG magazine (which has since ceased publication). Jim Murphy learned about marketing to Chinese customers…

RFID in China

Jan 1, 2006

While Chinese manufacturers and the Chinese government must come to terms on standards, this burgeoning industry is poised for growth Haier Group, China’s leading home-appliance…

Standard Chartered claims first “true” loan securitization

Dec 19, 2005

The China Construction Bank privatization project, recently approved by the Chinese government, may become the first true loan securitization in China. As the sole advisor,…

CSFB helps move securitization forward in China

Dec 19, 2005

In the spring of 2004, China’s largest commercial bank struck a deal with Credit Suisse First Boston, CITIC Securities and China Credit Trust to securitize…

CITIC named Special Purpose Trust in ground-breaking project

Dec 19, 2005

This fall, one of the two big bank securitization projects in progress is the MBS project of China Construction Bank. The Special Purpose Trust that…

China opens up to new deal structures, new participants

Dec 19, 2005

China’s securitization market finally reached a new maturity level this fall, with new participants and new deal structures. The watershed moment was September’s listing of…

Brokerage pioneer in China’s securitization space

Dec 19, 2005

While other brokerage firms have tried – but so far failed – to get securitization projects off the ground, the Beijing-based China International Capital Corp.…

Foreign Companies Driving China Supply Chain Infrastructure

Dec 6, 2005

China’s transportation network, distribution systems, regulations and even locally trade-restriction laws slow the development of industry in the heartland. But Western countries are making things…

China’s Weak Logistics

Dec 6, 2005

Electrolux China, a group that manufactures kitchen, cleaning and outdoor appliances for consumers and business users, set up its supply chain system in 2002, after…

Supply Chain Infrastructure

Dec 6, 2005

The Chinese economy has been growing rapidly despite an underdeveloped  supply  chain network. Most Chinese manufacturing companies do not yet rely on supply chain systems,…

Biometrics Comes To the Heartland

Nov 6, 2005

A couple years ago, good security meant a good firewall at the periphery of a bank’s network. Today, given the range of internal and external…

Chinese Legal System Hinders IP Protection Efforts

Oct 24, 2005

If finding a software pirate is as simple as walking down the street and looking around for wheelbarrows, why is China–home of the largest authoritarian…

Cost for Windows falls–to 50 cents–in China

Oct 20, 2005

Despite three years of attention by lawmaking committees and a steadily increasing roster of laws protecting intellectual property, China is a shopper’s paradise for all…

Open Source – China’s Bet on Linux

Oct 15, 2005

As China prepares to become a full member of the World Trade Organization, the Beijing government is trying to prove to the West that it…

Network Security: An Arkansas Bank Protects Communications Inside-out

Oct 3, 2005

A couple of years ago, good security meant a good firewall at the periphery of your network. Today, given the wide range of threats that…

Chinese Companies Pick Linux to Boost Their Own Skills

Sep 30, 2005

Cost counts for a lot, but being able to grow their own developers and adapt technology to their own needs, rather than the other way…

Open-Source May Help China Curb Software Piracy

Sep 27, 2005

“Free” might not really mean free, but an operating system that doesn’t require user licenses makes it a lot easier to avoid piracy, in accordance…

Chinese Companies Plan Massive Linux Deployments

Sep 27, 2005

Major Chinese banks are moving their core infrastructure to Linux, partly in accordance with a government’s advocacy of Linux for its cost, stability, and as…

Microsoft Fights Piracy In China, Linux Wins

Sep 6, 2005

As proprietary software vendors crack down on piracy, China looks to Linux as an alternative. On virtually any street in Shanghai or Beijing, you can…

Outsourcing: Russia and Eastern Europe

Sep 15, 2004

Compared with some of the big-league outsourcing players, Russia is a rookie. The country’s current revenue from IT outsourcing is $150 million to $200 million…