1. Custom Competit
ers or

2. Leaders Strategy Success
hip
Competencies
Mastering Business in Asia: Strategy for Success in Asia
Avant toutes choses, on va aller du plus général au plus
précis, quand on mentionnera par exemple « Creativity », çà
ne sera que dans les étapes suivantes que par exemple on
mentionnera des termes précis tel que « col asymétrique »
par exemple, ou même les noms des types de couture
qu’on devra employer.
Excuses, j'ai beau relire, je ne comprends vraiment pas
cette première phrase.
Dans le livre il explique que :
“A full version would expand each item, adding details of
how it will be implemented and achieved, thus providing
adequate guidance for the development of functional
strategies.”
1.Customers
“What value can we create for our Customers?”

3. Belgium
Price ≥ Quality & Service > Design
What do you mean by ≥?
Keyword = Price & Tailored
Tailored Suits at totally affordable price.
Affordable for whom?
Targets will feel good to get their measurement taken, and
to get this unknown tailor atmosphere (don't forget we don't
have a shop, so the “atmosphere” of being at a tailor will
not be totally complete-IMPORTANT: will we go to the
customers place or will they come to ours?) by customers
who usually buy their suits at ready to wear clothing lines
shops; strategy is to make them understand that suits for
men absolutely NEEDS to be tailored and that it will not cost
them more than Zara & Massimo Duti. (to be determined, I
really doubt this is possible!)
We would need a marketing strategy to make people
understand/desire tailored costumes instead of ready to
wear (RTW).
Targeting:
1.European Commission (classy office style suits) (check out
the rest of my notes), Brussels isn’t that much of a
business nor of a fashion city  aiming expats.
This remains to be proven! What makes you think this?
Expats are not necessarily fashionable, I know 15 people at
the commission!Are we only going to cover Brussels, or
other Belgian cities (Antwerp etc)?
2.…
Not targeting:
1.Students, jobless, low disposable incomes (except
metrosexuals, see lexicon)
2.Older than 45
3.People who change weight often! Very important to
avoid them! You take their mesurements and 1 month
later, they changed! Bad investment for them.

4. 4.Overweight people (I just CANNOT make something
look good on them)
Kuala Lumpur
You want to sell there as well? Is the profit margin
interesting enough???
Design ≥ Price > Quality & Service
I don't understand this
Keyword = Market European Suit Design
Malls
Small city everybody is wearing old fashioned suits, with many
folds on the pant’s front side.
I would need to see pictures of this to fully understand.
Make them understand the new fashion by presenting the
pants rather than the whole suit.
Why the pants? To make them understand is not the same
as to make them want our product!
“Made in France” = advantageous positions towards the
clients.
But we will not make in France!
Targetting:
Hard for me to structure but the target (or is it better to call
it strategy) would be to target the small but high fashion
niche, means the no-folds-on-pants market (I really don't get
this pants story), concretely:
1.Business men: I explain in the competencies section.
2.Locals: Unaware about the European fashion, curious features caracteristics
(I don't understand this sentence) marketing strategy to make
them understand it.
“Fashion through business”.
(I don't understand this sentence)
3.Expats: no need to explain the European fashion, just make them know we
are here.

5. Not targeting:
1.Fashionista people
Why not????
Bangkok
Quality & Service ≥ Design > Price
Keyword = Quality & Service of the suit, the tailor to
customer contact.
People more elegant than in KL, more aware about fashion,
fashion TV is largely well represented in BKK.
I would need to see pictures of this to fully understand.
Offer a more fancy European atmosphere (like Nawal
exposition’s in Mons) I never did an exposition in Mons, but
in Tournai. And it was avant-garde streetwear, which has
very little to do with our subject)and keeping the “Made-in-
France” ticket. This is not true! Designed in Belgium; made
in Malaysia!
People more fancy, a huge business network.
Targeting:
2.Expats  business
3.Locals  fancy Develop what you mean by fancy
1.Competitors
“… recognizes the threat of actual or potential competition and
dictates how a firm will avoid, eliminate, or overcome this
competition.”
I am going to make a trend analysis, which means research
what is fashionable in mens suits, made-to measure
especially. It will take in account what already exists on the
market in this regard, the competition, in other words. You
should get the results within 2 weeks.
“The main options for dealing with increased competition
are:
•Aim for the industry’s lowest costs, so as to compete
on price.

6. •Differentiate products and services to increase value for
customers that they are willing to pay for.
I will compile a portfolio of styles that I would like to
develop, by collecting existing designs. Then we can
see together how to differentiate our product following
our target consumer.
The best outcome with increased competition:
•Ensure that costs fall faster than prices.
Why would costs fall? Why would prices fall? What
costs and which prices?
•If possible, prices should rise faster than costs.”
(I don't understand this concept)
 This is why I came to the idea of having a business here in
Asia at the same time than in Brussels. So that we can
control our textile supply for our productions, and control
better our costs and quality range, we will also have a better
control on our profit margins, and we can make it fluctuate
as soon as we see the prices of our competitors go
up/down. 11 south east Asian countries are now part of
ASEAN (Association of South-East Asians Nations) and we
can benefit from AFTA (ASEAN Free Trade Area) and from
ACFTA (ASEAN-China Free Trade Area). It’s better than to
count only on our futures tailors that have their own fabrics.
Why is this crossed out?
(We’ve got to study the Asian textile supply market before
taking this kind of conclusion, I ordered 2 suits, and the tailor
tells me he gets his supply from Italy)
Really???? How come? Don't they have suppliers in asia???
Brussels :
•Tailors ?
 Nawal ?
 Trésor ?

7. Price - Quality & Service - Design ?
Trésor, lets arrange a meeting asap to check
shops and tailors!
•Ready-to-wear
Massimo Duti, Zara, etc price ?
Incruster ce que j’ai écrit sur papier
T'as oublié de l'incruster ;-)
Kuala Lumpur
•Low fashion High quality tailored suits in a nice
wooden old-fashioned atmosphere.
Local tailors have the trust of clients (they
mostly offer a credible service but do not
posses the modern “fashion” awareness).
I would need to see pictures of this to fully
understand.
i.In Malls: good location (easy to catch clients, low
marketing efforts) >< expensive rents
ii.In the streets (very warm): bad locations (hard to
catch the high middle class) >< cheap rents
•Ready-to-wear: Zara, Massimo Duti, etc
They have Zara etc in KL??? I would need to know
what other european menswear brands they have
there!
Bangkok
•Old-fashioned very low-looking-like-shit-inside
(how???) but still trying to look high fashion by doing
horrible fancy suits tailors

8. I would need to see pictures of this to fully
understand.
Bargaining with the clients from the streets
for them to come inside their shitty looking
shop (they are all next to each other, and
looking like the shitty same).
I would need to see pictures of this to fully
understand.
All shops are in the street, didn’t had time
to check out the tailors in the malls.
•Ready-to-wear
Nothing?
1.Competencies
≈ adidas superstar customization: offer a limited range of
choice so that the client doesn’t get lost.
I don't understand what you are talking about.
The following mostly concern Nawal:
“Competencies are a combination of resources, routines,
skills, and knowledge that allow the firms to perform critical
operations that create value for customers.”
“… firms have to identify what they can do well – their core
competencies – and then focus on these competencies to
ensure that they remain valuable and provide lasting
competitive advantage. These competencies represent the
basic means that a firm uses to satisfy its customers more
effectively than its competitors. Competencies must
therefore be central to the strategy of a firm.”
What I do well is streetwear, you must already know this. I
feel as good in menswear as in womenwear, as I tend to
hate “frou-frou”, cute, overly feminine and “madame
prout-ma-chère” styles. My menswear will therefore have
an “urban edge”, a little bit like Kris Van Assche, but
probably more innovative.
I will compile a list of fashion designs to illustrate this.
Also, I am a very organized and perfectionist person (without
becoming obsessive), which makes me come over as a real
professionnal (or a bitch ;-)

9. “Firms need to develop an understanding of their
competencies and must base their strategies on exploiting
these competencies for customer satisfaction and
competitive advantage.”
This is where you guys come in, as I really do not know your
competencies. I would need a CV from both of you, with
explanations.
“At the same time, leaders must evaluate the competencies
needed in the future, so that investments are made in time
to develop the skills, knowledge, resources, and routines
that will drive future competencies.”
Hey, who is the leader, here? We have to determine our
respective postions, decision-making abilities in this project.
“The value of competencies comes from their rarity,
sustainability, and the difficulty that competitors face in imitating them.”
Yeah! I never care if someone tries to copy, because I will
design something better, and I never run short of ideas! And
no one can imitate us, since we will be “underground”, no
shops, no pictures on the net, no collections presented
months in advance, very short production delays, etc etc
 This is one of the reasons why I want Nawal to come over,
because she’s basically emailing me what she can do, and
I’m telling her what we could get supplied from here with
my own words, but she needs to come here and check out
our suppliers to be sure that we will be unique on each
market (with a different strategy on each market).
I can analyse the Belgian market with Trésor, but you should
check the BKK and KL markets as well. Please take
pictures! I will come when your part of the research is
completed, and the business plan well advanced. Trésor
should come also with us. We have to know whether the
tailors can make our product before spending money to go
to KL. Let's discuss this on skype!
“Diversifying into areas in which firms lack competencies
will expose them to customers they may not understand
and cannot satisfy, and to specialist competitors who are
more competent than they are.”
Focus ≠ just the suits

10. Focus = suits + service given during the measurement &
style proposal
Brussels
•Organized, consistent top-quality service.
We really have to determine what we mean by top-
quality! Don't forget, we have no shop, no staff, no
fancy showroom, I don't have a car, etc!
•Ability to deliver high quality tailor made suits at lowest
cost.
Must be determined: how high the quality, how low the
cost?!
•Ability to provide unique suit models by a combination
of proposed details on catalog.
Kuala Lumpur
•My network, which is getting everyday wider, gives us
a comparative advantage that other local tailors do not
have. I already have a list of potential high-class clients
working in the elite sectors of KL society. The other
tailors do not seem to go get their clients any further
than the ones stepping in their shops. Who is “the
ones”? I was already explaining our suit projects
during some business cocktail drinks, during which,
everybody was dressed with old-fashioned suits; I got
good feedback.
•Nawal is our key factor, she provides our unique brand
& name by giving the European touch to our product,
which is the key factor that will make us different from
any other tailors, and therefore, will make it hard to
imitate us.
Bangkok
I’ve got to be humble considering my knowledge of this
market: I only went during one we. But few things I still
noticed:

11. •Providing quality material and make it noticed by each
clients makes us take a good competitive position.
•Name building, the awareness that Nawal is a high
fashion designer from Europe, and making this
information knowledgeable by our potential clients will
carry us straightly to the top of the local tailor made
suit market.
But we won't be as cheap as them if we wan't to make
significant profit! Will we gain anything after exchanging our
profits in local currency to euros? Do they have strong
currencies? Is it an advantage to produce and sell in Asia,
while changing profits to euros?
1.The Environment
“The environment comprises all factors external to the firm,
other than customers and competitors, which influence its
success. The key elements of the environment can be
summarized as the “PESTs”: political, economic, socio-
cultural, and technological factors.”
Yes, it is still economic crisis! We might find a great
opportunity because, as I learned about economics, coming
out of crisis boosts consumers confidence in new
products... Is this correct? Can you explain to me where we
are in the crisis, now?
“These factors clearly represent threats and challenges to
the success of all firms, but importantly, they are also source
of opportunities for future success.”
Encadré page 25.
Quel encadré?
“Some leaders view strategy as less important in rapidly
changing environments, believing that external change will
rapidly make any strategy obsolete.”
Interesting.... So they just: go with the flow???? How do they
organize and protect their business, then? Is it a little like
gambling?
“A well-developed strategy will recognize the fact of
environmental change, and will incorporate sufficient

12. flexibility to enable the firm to withstand, react to, or exploit
such change.”
Very tough to get this well-balanced. To be developed!
“A strategy is a coherent guide for a firm to use in dealing
with change. The failure to develop strategy will leave a firm
and its managers open to reacting to changes they do not
understand and are unprepared for, in ways that are not
consistent with their intent and long-tern interests.”
Totally agree with this!!!
Brussels
•Unfashioned & fuckin greedy mother fuckers
That is not justified! I need a proper analysis, not
personal impressions.
•… u guys
What about us?
Kuala Lumpur
•Open minded high class, could potentially be
convinced that they dress like shit.
LOL, lots of people everywhere SHOULD be convinced
they dress like shit, if you ask me.....
•People are already trying to develop the fashion
market, but I think there are failing because they are
not in contact with the people wearing suits, the
business class.
To be developed! I need a proper analysis!
Bangkok
1.Strategy
“The strategy should be documented in a detailed easily
understood, and readily communicated statement of how
the firm will use its competencies to satisfy its customers
more effectively than its competitors in the context of its
environment, in order to achieve its strategic intent.”

13. Please correct this sentence.
(….in order to achieve its strategic intent? You mean making
cash without being bored to death? ;-)
“The strategy should have a firm-level focus, a long-term
orientation, and must address the complex set of internal and
external factors that influence success. This requires that the
strategy is comprehensive and detailed, not a general
statement of organizational platitudes. The strategy should
be specific to the organization and its environment, not a
generic set of statements that is broadly applicable to most
firms in an industry.”
Totally agree with this!
“Main elements of a strategy
The strategy should guide the firm on the following:
•Core competencies and resources the firm has and
will develop.
First of all, we all need to develop a CV style DETAILED
document stating EXACTLY what we each are capable
of, whether job-related, hobby related, practical,
cultural etc. Also our weak points! Then we can
determine what we are worth as a group.
•Customer needs to know the firm will satisfy them,,
and how it will do so.
This mostly depends on the
trustworthiness/professionalism of the contractors
•Key opportunities it will target and exploit
You mean potential clients? Or cheap labour?
•Products and markets in which it will compete
•How the firm will achieve competitive advantage
•Price, quality, speed, or other means the firm will use
for differentiation from competitors
•Geographic boundaries of markets and the locations
of key operations
•Its technology and innovation emphasis
•Its general approach to inter-firm cooperation and
vertical integration

14. I don't understand this
•Marketing, logistics, finance, and other functional
emphases
Also investments. Also distribution of
tasks/responsabilities and relative earnings.
•How it will deal with major PESTs trends and changes
•The economic logic of the firm’s strategy and
operations“
This is already included in the points above, I find.
“A full version would expand each item, adding details of
how it will be implemented and achieved, thus providing
adequate guidance for the development of functional
strategies.”
“The resulting strategy is relatively easy to communicate to
managers and to internal and external stakeholders.”
Do you have the intention to have stakeholders, or
investors?
“Main elements of a strategy
The strategy should guide the firm on the following:
I find it a bit confusing that you wrote this twice.
•Core competencies and resources the firm has and
will develop.
oGeneral
High Fashion competencies
Comparative cost advantages  good pricing
A new product respectively in each of our markets
A modern image: Algerians born in the US and living all
their life in Europe is kind of unique, and makes people
curious, specially in a modern muslim country.
Trésor is not algerian, huh...;-)
oBrussels

15. High Fashion competencies
Services
oKuala Lumpur
European touch
oBangkok
I don't find this detail necessary at this point. The
general says it all. We could add the European touch to
the general, actually. Even mention the Belgian touch.
•Customer needs to know the firm will satisfy them,
and how it will do so.
oBrussels
oKuala Lumpur
oBangkok
•Key opportunities it will target and exploit
oBrussels
oKuala Lumpur
Lack of knowledge and unaware of modern European
fashion
Yes, but is it already attractive to them, or are they
satisfied with their offer?
Mind openness towards such new waves
To which extent? How do you know this?
oBangkok
Untrustable local tailor who
…...who what?
•Products and markets in which it will compete
oBrussels
High class ready to wear suits market
Expensive local tailors
Totally agree with this!

16. People bored with products on the market=“fashionistas”
oKuala Lumpur
High class ready to wear suits market
Old fashioned local tailors
oBangkok
High class ready to wear suits market
Untrustable local tailor who.......????? ;-)
•How the firm will achieve competitive advantage
oBrussels
oKuala Lumpur
oBangkok
•Price, quality, speed, or other means the firm will use
for differentiation from competitors
oBrussels
oKuala Lumpur
oBangkok
•Geographic boundaries of markets and the locations
of key operations
oBrussels
oKuala Lumpur
oBangkok
•Its technology and innovation emphasis
oBrussels
oKuala Lumpur
oBangkok

17. •Its general approach to inter-firm cooperation and
vertical integration
oBrussels
oKuala Lumpur
oBangkok
•Marketing, logistics, finance, and other functional
emphases
oBrussels
oKuala Lumpur
oBangkok
•How it will deal with major PESTs trends and changes
oBrussels
oKuala Lumpur
oBangkok
•The economic logic of the firm’s strategy and
operations
oBrussels
oKuala Lumpur
oBangkok “
1.D
2.G
3.R
Juste pour info:

18. D’apres mon document chez MIDA, toute formation
supplementaire est deductable des impots ou autres
Si jamais moi  formation supplementaire Finance ou meme
cours de fashion business ou autres
Nawal  formation supplementaire costume homme ou
meme cours de fashion Businees ou autres
Envoie les infos là dessus!
Tresor  fashion marketing, fashion business ou autre