As I write this letter, Toronto is facing its first real blast of winter, about two months late. Ontario’s ski resorts and snowmobilers are suffering, but for anyone who has to shovel a sidewalk or wait for the TTC, the city’s extended fall has been like receiving an eight week reprieve from the inevitable Alberta clippers.

This issue of the Atticus newsletter has its own clipper of sorts. Ours is an Asian clipper, not unlike the old Pan American clippers that pioneered a path to China in the 1930s. And we turn to our own “old Asian hand,” Geraldine Pelletier, who has been working in China and South Asia for more than 20 years, and has just returned from India, China and Southeast Asia where she was handling client assignments.

First, Geraldine’s “clipper” takes us on a guided tour through a case study that explains how to do things right in China. She then turns south to Vietnam and looks at Hanoi joining the World Trade Organisation, a move that should strengthen the economic boom lifting the country. Finally, she ends our tour in India, which she notes has gone from an emerging economy to a world player in only a decade. She points out that India has become a net exporter of capital around the world, and considers what that can mean for Canadian companies that either face increasing competition from China or are looking for a buyer for a successful manufacturing business.

I want to congratulate Atticus principal Colin West. He was named interim Chief Financial Officer for GeneNews Limited, a Toronto Stock Exchange-listed company. In a short article, we explain why the company decided to make Colin interim CFO while it searches for a full-time replacement for a recently-departed executive.

Finally, I am asking for your help by providing feedback on our newsletter. We have created a new feedback form which will only take a moment to complete but will go a long way towards helping us ensure that our newsletter is vital to your organisation.

We hope your New Year is off to a great start and that you achieve all of your business and personal goals for 2007.

Regards,

Greg Petkovich
President
Atticus Interim Management

AN ATTICUS CASE STUDY: When learning and teaching go hand-in-hand, both partners gain.
By Geraldine Pelletier

The overworked phrase “doing business in China” carries with it visions of tremendous possibilities as well as potentially huge headaches. Just getting started can be difficult: Searching for the right joint venture partner and then concluding negotiations.

Read More .....

Vietnam joins the WTO – Will it be the next Asian "Hot Spot".
By Geraldine Pelletier

As recently as two or three years ago, few companies in Canada considered Vietnam for off-shore manufacturing or sourcing. Yet within the last 12 months, there is a new and growing interest among executives for information about the country and whether it makes sense to examine Vietnam as an alternative to China.

Read more .....

India: Another Asian Tiger Stalks The Earth.
In 2006, India became a net exporter of capital. It only took a decade for India to transform itself from an emerging economy to a global business force.
By Geraldine Pelletier

Many people remember news stories from not so many years ago about India’s stifling poverty, runaway population growth and severe problems feeding its hungry masses. While widespread poverty remains a stubborn problem that won’t go away, in only about a decade India has transformed itself from an emerging economy known mostly as a home to outsourced call centres into a major, world economic powerhouse.

Read more .....

Atticus Principal Named Interim CFO At GeneNews.

Following a growing trend among smart companies with a critical need, Atticus principal Colin West has been named interim Chief Financial Officer by GeneNews Limited. (TSX:GEN), a Toronto Stock Exchange-listed company.

It is expected that West, who joined Atticus in 2006, will remain in the post for three to six months while a formal search is conducted by the company for a permanent CFO. West is one of a number of Atticus principals who have taken over high-ranking positions in a company while the organisation conducts a search for a permanent employee.

“Mr. West’s extensive financial and management experience will be important for us in this interim period,” stated Dr. K. Wayne Marshall, GeneNews’ president and CEO. “He will be very useful as we work to build more robust accounting and management systems to support our commercialisation efforts.”

GeneNews develops blood-based diagnostic tests for early disease detection. Currently, its sentry line of tests based on the Sentinel Principle™ are being developed for cancer, cardiovascular diseases, arthritis, psychiatric disorders and diseases of the central nervous system.

“For a cutting edge company such as GeneNews to recognise the value of an interim manager while it conducts the CFO search,” said Greg Petkovich, president of Atticus, “is further testimony to the validity of the IM concept and its value to businesses of all types.”

A copy of the GeneNews media release announcing the West interim appointment is posted on our website.

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Atticus is a leading professional services firm dedicated to interim executive management.Interim management is a step above consulting, combining needs analysis with implemented solutions. When companies need immediate results but lack the time or in-house skills to get them, they turn to Atticus, whose team of interim executive managers achieve critical goals as much as twenty times faster than permanent senior managers.Contact us today to see how we can help you achieve key business goals faster.