AmCham Shanghai Science and Technology Committee Event
Best Practice:
Co-funded Corporate-Government
R&D centers
Dr Ya Cai
Director
Unilever Research China
ya.cai@unilever.com
ResearChina
中 国 研 究 所
Unilever (联合利华)
- Home & Personal Care and Foods
- Sales $48.3 billion
- 70th (Fortune 2004)
- 400 brands
- 150 countries
和路雪
Unilever Global R&D Network
- R&D is an integrated part of Global Business
- Annual budget - 2.5% of NPS, totaling $1.25 billion (2004)
- 6,500 staff
- 6 Global R&D Labs (UK x2, USA, NL, India, China)
- Global / Regional Technology Centres (category based)
- Local Product Development Centres (category based)
R&D Roles and Business Impact
- New Materials
- New Processing
- Formulations
- Packaging
Business
Impact
Large
Global
R & D Laboratories
- New Products
Global
Technology Centre
- Adaption
- Launch
Medium
Regional
Technology Centre
Local
Development
1
Small
2
3
4
5
Time - Years
6
7
8
Unilever in China
1923
- Soap factory in Shanghai
1986
- Returned 1st JV
1996
- 14 JVs
1999
- 3 Acquisitions
2001
- 4 Business units, 100% owned
2005
- Reorganised
3 Stages of R&D Evolution in China
Stage 1
- Basic formulation skills
- Support manufacturing
Stage 2
- Product Development
- Gain competitiveness
Stage 3
- R&D Capabilities
- Drive new business opportunities
We Must Succeed in China
- One of the largest consumer markets
- Economy is growing fast
- Market size is enlarging rapidly
- Purchasing power is rising
- 2nd largest economy by 2015
We Must Grow Faster
Bigger Volume
Higher Margin
Brand differentiated
Product differentiated
Benefit differentiated
Technology differentiated
Successful Business Model in China
Outstanding
Branding
+
Breakthrough
Innovation
=
Fast
Sustainable
Growth
700 Multinational Companies Have Set up R&D in China
An Incomplete List of Multinational Companies
ABB, Accenture, Ajinomoto, Amway, Alcatel, AVL List GmbH, BASF, BEA Systems,
Bearingpoint Inc, Calsonic Kansei, Cisco, Coca-cole, Danone, Degussa, Dell, Delphi Corp,
Dow International, DSM, DuPont, eBay, Ericsson, Firmenich, France Telecom, GE,
GlaxoSmithKline, Hitachi, Honda, Honeywell, HP, Hyundai, IBM, Intel, Kao, Keihin
Corporation, Kodak, LG, L’Oreal, Lucent, Matsushita, Microsoft, Motorola, NEC, Nestle,
Nifco Inc, Nissan Motor, Nissin Kogyo, Nokia, Nortel Networks, Novo Nordisk, Novozymes,
Oracle, Panasonic, Pepsi, Philips, Procter & Gamble, Roche, Rohm and Haas, Samsung,
SAP, Schindler, Shell, Siemens, Sony, Synopsys, Teling Manufacturing, Tetrapak, Toray,
Toyo Ink, Trelleborg AB, Unilever, Valeo Group, Volkswagen
GE
- A global lab of 2,000 FTEs opened in Shanghai
Philips
- A global R&D Campus planned in Shanghai
Do World Class R&D in China
We Must
- Most competitive market
- Fast changing life style
- Unique culture and social value
- Huge variations across the country
- A technology - oriented society
- Competitors apply the best innovations
We Can
- Good tradition of education / Esteem of science
- Governments strong support and commitment
- Abundant R&D resources
- 590 universities
- 300 institutes
- 3 million undergraduates
- 0.5 million postgraduates
- 150k overseas well-trained scientists
- Well established academia
- Leading capabilities in a wide range of science fields
- Excellent infrastructure
- Strong manufacturing and supplying
Our Vision
- Best Materials Research Lab in the World
- Traditional Medicine and Natural Actives
- Nano Technologies
- Synthetic Materials
- Most Competitive Innovation Centre
- Develop and deliver big, bold innovations
with quality, speed and cost efficiency
4 Keys to Successful Innovations
- Governmental support
- People
- Organization
- External Resources
Key 1 - Governmental support
-
Commitment
-
Policies
-
Incentives
-
Joint R&D Efforts
Key 2 - People
- Selection
- Appraisal
- Career path
- Development
- Retention
Our Goal - The World Class Team
- Young and enthusiastic
- Persistent
- Diligent and dedicated
- Entrepreneurial
- Confident and proactive
- Creative
- Genuine teaming spirit
- ‘Internationalised’
- Open, trusted partner
Selection
- Comptency and skills
- A wide range of sources
- General and specific targets
- Comprehensive assessment
- Overseas experience
Appraisal
- Personal target - ‘SAMRT’
- 3600 feedback
- Overall ranking
- Bottom tier move-out
Career Path
- Career most important
- Managerial vs. expert
- Define as early as possible
- Wider range of experience
- Create larger space
- Regularly review promotion
Development - Focus on competency
- Training course
- On-job training
- Overseas secondment
- Coaching
Retention
Not a problem !
Key 3 - Organization
- A culture of delivery
- A highly motivating environment
- Harmonised teams
- Open and transparent
- Fair, just and trusted
- Diverse and individual value
- Proactive engagement
- Risk taking
- Feel like at home
An Efficient Innovation Process
- Professional project management
- Integrated project team of multi-functions
- Highly flexible and pragmatic
- Action-oriented
- Simple
- Capability-driven vs. Project-driven
Key 4 - External Resources
- Right partners
- IPR Management
- Keep on track
- Joint R&D fund
Three Steps towards Success
A Break-through
MAKER
Excellence in Globe
An Indispensable
THINKER
Created in China
A contracted
Labourer
Made in China
We will be most competitive
- Noveler
- Better
- Speedier
- Cheaper
Thank You
Dr Ya Cai
ya.cai@unilever.com