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April 3, 2009 Volume 10, Issue 06
Who's quoted in this week's issue?
Jeff Bawol, Kristian Behrens, Marc Dubach, Cary Escow, Frank Leung, KP Tang, Simon Welch,
Roy Vallee, Paul Young |
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Dealing with the economic slowdown
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| K.P. Tang |
As seen in MIS Asia -- K.P. Tang serves as President of Avnet Technology Solutions, Asia Pacific, and is vice president of Avnet, Inc. He is responsible for the strategic direction and growth of Avnet’s computing business in the region, including overseeing day-to-day operations in Australia, China, Hong Kong, India and ASEAN. In this exclusive interview, he shares with MIS Asia portal's online editor Zafar Anjum how his company is dealing with the economic slowdown in the Asia Pacfic region.
What kind of impact do you see on Avnet's business due to the economic slowdown? How is it specifically playing out in Indian and the Asia Pacific region?
The current economic conditions are challenging for everyone, but at Avnet, the corporation continues to invest in our Asia Pacific operations. We acquired a company in India last year (Ontrack Solutions), and we launched our solutions distribution business in China in December and we are continuing to grow in the ASEAN region by expanding our solution practices i.e., we have commenced a networking and security division and have commenced a relationship with Huawei. The current impact on our business is that we are now more than ever working closely with our business partners and suppliers to ensure that we deliver value and solutions that address the needs of the current market.
The economic recession has impacted the global supply chains, including those of technology products. How is Avnet dealing with this challenge?
Being a global corporation allows us leverage and a deep and wide engagement with our supplier partners. We have the ability to work with our global suppliers to ensure that we are meeting the requirements of our customers and business partners.
How do you stay agile in a downturn?
At Avnet we are continually looking at innovative ways in which we can accelerate the success of our customers, suppliers and business partners, and to that end we have started to look at new models of doing business. For example, in Asia Pacific this year, we will be launching solution practices, where we will build expertise around virtualization, networking and security, server and storage solutions, mobility solutions and key vertical markets like health and government.
Full Story>>
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LEDs: Bright lights, big opportunities
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| Cary Escow |
As seen in Electronic Business -- The benefits of LEDs (light-emitting diodes) are undisputed: They are lightweight, power efficient, and extremely durable. But LED technology is still a long way from ubiquity and these little lights can present some big design challenges for would-be users.
“There is a large gap between the science of LED, the physics associated with it, and what we call the ‘art’ of lighting,” said Cary Eskow, director of LightSpeed, Avnet Electronics Marketing’s SSL (solid-state lighting) and LED unit. Designing LED into an end-product, he said, “is not a simple retrofit.”
Electronics distributors are in a unique position to fill that gap. The channel reaches a broad base of small to midsize customers that aren’t experienced in LED. These customers want to integrate LED into their products without a complete redesign, don’t garner the direct attention of LED suppliers, and have specific price/performance expectations. Market analysts believe companies targeting LED niche applications are poised for growth.
“LED suppliers are focused on mainstream applications such as backlighting for LCD displays,” said Jagdish Rebello, director and principal analyst, wireless communications, consumer electronics, and India research, iSuppli Corp. “As LED technology has improved, there are a lot of applications that will open up and these tend to be very niche. There’s a huge opportunity for so-called mass customization for these niche applications.”
Full Story >>
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Want engaged employees? Avnet CEO shares model
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Roy Vallee |
As seen in Circuits Assembly -- Avnet managers comb through thousands of anonymous survey questionnaires each year looking for ways to improve employee engagement. The annual exercise pays off for the Fortune 500 company in big ways, Avnet Chairman and CEO Roy Vallee said March 19 at Thunderbird School of Global Management.
“If you have engaged employees who are doing a good job, the probability is that they’re going to be delivering better customer experiences more consistently over a long period of time,” Vallee told an audience of about 100 Thunderbird students, faculty and staff at the graduate business school in Glendale, Ariz.
Vallee said better customer experiences drive customer satisfaction, which drives customer loyalty, which drives profitable growth. He said this “service value chain” receives careful attention at Avent, a technology marketing, distribution and services company based in Phoenix.
“If you keep the customers you’ve got, and you slowly but consistently add new ones, you’re going to accelerate the growth of your corporation,” Vallee said. “It’s always more profitable to serve existing customers than it is to go get new ones.”
Defining engagement
Vallee said employee engagement combines two things: Commitment and line of sight. Engaged employees want to perform well, and they know what they’re supposed to do. “The combination of those two things is engagement,” Vallee said.
He said engaged employees aren’t necessarily pampered employees. Perks such as on-site day care centers, flexible hours and company socials are nice but don’t always pay off in terms of profitable growth.
More often than not, Vallee said, engaged employees want a performance-based culture that rewards results. This can turn the service value chain into a virtuous cycle as engagement drives performance, and performance drives engagement.
“These things actually feed off each other to drive more engagement, which drives better performance,” Vallee said.
Full Story >>
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AVNET, the AV logo and any other Avnet trademarks are registered trademarks of Avnet, Inc. Avnet, Inc. disclaims any proprietary interest or right in trademarks, service marks, trade names, brands or logos other than its own. Copyright © 2009 Avnet, Inc. All Rights Reserved. |
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Latest News Coverage
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Avnet Technology Solutions
March 30, 2009
Forrester sees UC market continuing to grow
Forrester’s latest research on the unified communications (UC) market has affirmed suggestions that UC may be a nice little earner during the recession.
MicroScope, UK
March 26, 2009
Blade Education Center
Avnet Sp. z o.o, największy w Polsce dystrybutor rozwiązań IBM z wartością dodaną, we współpracy z IBM uruchomili projekt „Blade Education Center” dedykowany końcowym użytkownikom, kupującym za pośrednictwem Biznes Partnerów firmy Avnet serwery IBM typu blade.
Webwweb News, Poland
March 26, 2009
Avnet schärft bei IBM-Partnern den Blick für den IT-Bedarf der Kunden
Gewöhnlich bleibt ein IBM-Endkunde seinem Systemhauspartner jahre- und manchmal auch jahrzehntelang treu.
IT-Business, Germany
March 24, 2009
Geen arbeidstijdverkorting voor Avnet Nederland
Avnet Duitsland heeft arbeidstijdverkorting aangevraagd voor zijn personeel. In Nederland heeft de distributeur geen plannen in die richting.
CRN Netherlands
March 23, 2009
Avnet Execs Honored by Everything Channel's CRN
Rick Alvarez, senior vice president and general manager of its HP Solutions group, and Tony Vottima, vice president of its Solutions Marketing and Development group, have been named 2009 Channel Chiefs by Everything Channel's CRN.
Individual.com
March 20, 2009
Avnet values Sun acclaim
Avnet Technology Solutions has picked up a couple of accolades from Sun in the UK, including the channel development partner of the year award for the second year running.
Channel EMEA, UK
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Avnet Electronics Marketing
April 1, 2009
SOURCES: Distributors welcome upbeat mood at Embedded World
Relief is the dominant emotion at exhibitions these days. When the doors open on the first day of an event, and visitors and customers hstart to navigate the stands, faces visibly relax.
EDN Europe
March 31, 2009
Avnet, HKPC Team Up for Energy Efficient LED Lighting Initiative
Avnet Electronics Marketing and the Hong Kong Productivity Council (HKPC) have joined forces in an energy efficient lighting initiative, aimed at stimulating the design and development of a new generation of LED lighting products.
Nikkei Electronics Asia
March 19, 2009
Avnet Memec and WEDC extend franchise in Europe
The existing partnership will be expanded to the markets of Italy, France, Nordic, Germany, Switzerland and Turkey.
Embedded Control Europe
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Latest Press Releases
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Avnet, Inc.
Press Release:
April 1, 2009
Industry Veteran Steve Church to Lead Avnet's Operational Excellence Initiative
April 1, 2009
Avnet Promotes MaryAnn Miller to Chief Human Resources Officer
March 26, 2009
Avnet, Inc. Schedules Third Quarter Fiscal Year 2009 Earnings Announcement
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Avnet Electronics Marketing
Press Release:
March 30, 2009
Avnet Electronics Marketing Joins Forces with Hong Kong Productivity Council in Energy Efficient LED Lighting Initiative
March 26, 2009
Avnet Expert to Share Insight on Design and Performance of Latest Generation Microcontrollers at Embedded Systems Conference
March 23, 2009
Avnet Electronics Marketing Named Distributor of the Year for the Americas by Fairchild Semiconductor
March 19, 2009
Avnet Offers New On-Ramp Technical Session for Freescale Ultra-Integrated ColdFire Microcontroller
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Avnet Technology Solutions
Press Release:
March 18, 2009
Avnet's Rick Alvarez and Tony Vottima Recognized as 2009 Channel Chiefs by Everything Channel's CRN
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