Welcome to the a-connect Newsletter
by Sascha Schmidt
Welcome to the November 2007 issue of the a-connect newsletter! As it is our fifth anniversary this year we want to take the opportunity to look forwards - not backwards, so we initiated a round table discussion with our founders Hanne de Mora and Nils Hagander about the future of a-connect. The first article "Key success factors for building a-connect" presents some interesting thoughts and perspectives.
Continuing our growth story (50% plus top line growth annually) we are happy to announce the opening of our sixth talent hub in Singapore and to welcome nine new colleagues to our team. Get to know them in the "a-connect Team Update" section.
In addition to our regular update on some of the most recent projects we have introduced the new newsletter section “IP pool update”. This provides a regular overview on recent additions to our global talent pool by presenting selected sample profiles. We also share key findings of a research study conducted with the European Business School on how top managers engage external advisors for strategic projects, and we are happy to present our new a-connect website.
Finally, we would like to say thank you to all clients and IPs who joined us at our fifth anniversary party this summer in Zurich. It was a memorable event.
Enjoy the reading!
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Key success factors for building a-connect
Round table discussion with a-connect founders
by Yvonne Lu
  As a-connect celebrated its fifth anniversary earlier this year, it’s a good moment to step back and think about what’s lying ahead. a-connect talent partners Yvonne Lu from Zurich and Sascha Schmidt from Dusseldorf sat down with the a-connect founders Hanne de Mora and Nils Hagander to get their perspective on the next five years. Here is the summary of this interesting round table discussion.
> full story
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a-connect opens Singapore talent hub
Singapore complements Hong Kong to serve fast-growing Asian markets
by Patricia Sharma-Inglin
a-connect is proud to announce the opening of its sixth and newest talent hub in Singapore. The new office - a-connect's second talent hub in Asia besides Hong Kong - is ideally positioned to serve Southeast Asia and its neighboring Asian countries at a time when Asian economies are seeing explosive growth.
With strong support from the Singapore government, the city state has been a magnet for MNCs setting up regional HQs in Asia - the focus is especially on banking, telecoms and biotechnology industries. Perceiving itself as the “Switzerland of Asia”, Singapore consistently ranks as one of the top cities in Asia to live and work and proves to be a highly attractive location for IP recruiting as well. The major consultancy firms and several top international business schools established there are providing strong local alumni networks to tap into.
Talent partner Michelle Crouse (fomer BCG, Lehman, The Gap), started up the new talent hub earlier this year. She has recently been joined by talent partner Patricia Sharma-Inglin (former Bain, StarHub, Standard Chartered Bank). Together with the colleagues in Hong Kong they will be responsible for growing a-connect’s business in Asia Pacific.
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Recent Projects
Three exciting projects we are currently working on
From global disease area strategies in the pharma industry to the growth strategy for a telecom client in Eastern Europe to a strategy workshop for a professional services firm in the US - a-connect continues to have impact in different industries around the globe. Find out more about three exciting projects we are currently working on.
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IP pool update
Get to know three IPs who recently joined the a-connect IP pool
What type of IPs are part of the a-connect pool? Can a-connect provide me with the skills I need for my latest project? How is the a-connect network growing? To give you a flavor of the quality, depth and breadth of our global IP pool, we have added this new section to our newsletter. Going forward, we will introduce three new a-connect IPs in every newsletter. In this edition, you will get to know our new IPs Ed from the US, George from Brazil and Dirk from Germany. Continue to read their profiles…
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a-connect Team Update
Nine new colleagues have joined the a-connect team
The a-connect team keeps growing at a very high pace. We are happy to introduce nine new colleagues who have joined the team around the world since our last newsletter in June: five in Europe, three in Asia Pacific and one in the US. Get to know them here...
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Research study with European Business School
Companies increasingly work with specialized advisors
We just received the results from an empirical research project we initiated with Prof. Ansgar Richter from the European Business School in Germany. This is the first study that delivers data on how top managers engage external advisors for strategic projects. Here is a snapshot of the results.
> full story
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New a-connect website and IP database
Revamped content and design to better address clients and IPs
We are happy to announce that we have upgraded our website to better address the needs of our two main target groups - clients and IPs. The newly designed website provides detailed information about the type of high-caliber profiles we have in our global IP pool as well as typical project work we are involved with and industries we serve. We invite you to have a look at it at www.a-connect.com - your feedback is appreciated.
In addition, we have enhanced our back-office functionality with a brand new powerful IP database. This allows us to find the perfect matching IP profile for each client project even faster in our constantly growing global pool of top talent. There are also a series of improvements for our IPs; thus making the entire process of applying to the network, keeping the profile updated, managing timesheet and expenses and staying in touch with a-connect a much more straightforward process.
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