Focus Asia Business Leaders

Focus Asia Business Leaders – These television series, produced by JMSC and the School of Business Asia Case Research Centre, have aired on the BBC and ATV.  The half-hour episodes  profile the work of leading business executives in the region.

The Focus Asia Business Leaders series is directed and produced by veteran broadcaster and Emmy Award-winning producer Jim Laurie, formerly of ABC News.  Laurie teaches at the University and is Director of the Broadcasting Programme at the JMSC.

Series 2, aired on ATV in October 2009, featured:

India’s Biocon – Kiran Mazumdar Shaw is India’s wealthiest woman. Since 1978 she had headed Biocon Asia the nation’s largest biotechnology company. In this report we focus on Mrs. Mazumdar Shaw, her struggle to make it in Asia as a woman executive, her ambition to build a global enterprise of innovation, and her need, as she puts it to be both mercenary and missionary – to make a social commitment to the poor in developing India.

Taiwan’s HTC – HTC is the smart phone manufacturer you have never heard of. Struggling to compete against the mighty Apple, High Tech Computer Corporation is trying to develop a name for itself in the heavily competitive smart mobility market. The CEO of the $2.3 billion dollar business is Peter Chou – a Taiwan born, electronic engineering student with a fascination for computers (naturally) and perhaps surprisingly a fascination too for modern sculpture.

Taiwan’s ASUS – Since 1989 Taiwan ASUSTeK Computer Incorporated (ASUS) has been the mother of all motherboard companies: producing computer parts for all the big brands. Founded by a trio of computer engineers from Taiwan’s best known IT firm ACER, ASUS is now banking on a new line of branded computers for the common man – the EeePC. This program profiles the company and also tackles the difficult issue of recycling: what to do with the waste produced by the internet era and the proliferation of computers.

Singapore Zoo – It was a controversial appointment. A marketing director for McDonald Hamburgers admitting to no knowledge of wild animals, Fanny Lai became the chief executive of Wildlife Reserves Singapore, which oversees the Singapore Zoo and Night Safari, and Jurong Bird Park. What kind of business is zoo keeping? Singapore boasts the world largest animal collection with over 1,000 species. Faced with criticism over animal care and environmental habitat, Fanny Lai is determined to prove herself and make her zoo properties an internationally respected brand.

Series 1, aired on the BBC in July/August 2008, featured:

Vincent Lo of Shui On Group, followed by Viveca Chan of WE Worldwide Partners, Sir C.K. Chow of MTR Corporation Ltd, Liu Changle of Phoenix Satellite Television, Tong Zhicheng of Guangzhou’s Pearl River Piano Group, and Lawrence Fung of the Hong Kong Economic Times Group.