TWI Attends World Economic Forum Event

TWI was pleased to attend the Annual Meeting of the New Champions, hosted by the World Economic Forum.

Held from 11-13 September in Dalian, China, this event provided an opportunity for global leaders, chief executive officers, and key decision-makers from multiple industries to share strategies and solutions on global issues and risks. The event brought together more than 1,500 participants from over 90 countries.

As a highlight this year, TWI’s CEO participated as a panelist in a discussion titled “The Local Multinational.” This public session explored the issues related to how multinational organizations balance global ambitions with local responsibility. Key points of the discussion were:

Multinationals, like all companies, should focus on creating value for customers. Shareholder benefit will follow.
Multinationals must be sensitive to local interests, tastes and concerns, while remaining true to core corporate culture and values.
Organizational culture is critical to fostering entrepreneurship and innovation.

“Organizational culture is critical to fostering innovation and entrepreneurship,” stressed TWI CEO Patrick Malcor. While each organization needs its own culture, there are three fundamental elements, according to Malcor. First, culture must actually be meaningful to people’s lives. Second, culture must be arrived at and propagated through inclusive dialog, not simply dictated from above. And third, “culture must manifest itself in behavior and actions that actually advance the culture’s values.”

TWI CEO Patrick Malcor discusses the importance and impact of culture for multinational organizations at the World Economic Forum – Annual Meeting of the New Champions on September13, 2013.

Other panelists included:

• Paul A. Laudicina, Partner and Chairman Emeritus, A.T. Kearney, USA
• Lord Nat Wei, Member of the House of Lords, United Kingdom
• Andrea Illy, Chairman and CEO, illycaffè, Italy
• Yoshiteru Uramoto, Regional Director, Asia-Pacific, International Labor Organization (ILO), Bangkok

For more information on this event, including video of the discussion, please click here.

About TWI

Founded in 1844, Theodor Wille Intertrade (TWI) provides premier end-to-end supply chain solutions to Government & Industrial sector customers worldwide. With offices in the US, Germany, Switzerland, UAE, Turkey, Iraq, and Kazakhstan, we provide services and expertise across all segments of the supply chain, including logistics and distribution, procurement, program management, information technology, and customer service.