05. July 2010
One-to-one: Managing Directors Tom Gerigk (l.) and Andreas Melchhart in discussion.
After the headquarters in Fürth, the Hong Kong offices are the Simba Dickie Group’s main control center, from which its network stretches out over the entire planet. At the beginning of the year, Simba Toys HK Managing Director Andreas Schmitt returned to Germany. He was succeeded by Andreas Melchhart, supported by his colleague Tom Gerigk of Dickie Toys. We interview two men who have a lot to say. Not least, to one another.
Andreas Schmitt (39) directed the Hong Kong business for four years. As part of the Simba Dickie Group’s strategy of enlarging its senior management, he was recalled to the Fürth headquarters as managing director of the German firm Simba Toys GmbH & Co. KG. His operational role in Hong Kong passed to Andreas Melchhart (33). Melchhart is new to China, but has the support and advice of an old fox – Tom Gerigk, MD of Dickie Toys HK Ltd., who has now lived in Hong Kong for eleven years.
Mr Melchhart, how do you like this new life?
Melchhart: I like it a lot, but I still feel like a greenhorn.
In what sense?
Melchhart: In every sense. The Simba Dickie Group is a big company, you can’t learn all the ropes overnight. And the clocks work differently in Hong Kong.
What do you mean by that?
The working day is very long: meetings with customers often happen in the evening.
Did you know that, Mr Gerigk?
Yes, of course, long evenings with customers are a normal part of business life in China. Andreas will soon get used to it, and you can learn a lot from it.
Such as?
If you want to succeed in Hong Kong, you have to be open-minded and keen to learn, be a taster in fact. I mean that literally. For example, to show respect to your host you have to accept anything that’s offered to you in a restaurant.
Mr Melchhart, do you feel welcome in Hong Kong?
Absolutely. I’m in close contact with Andreas Schmitt and my other colleagues are always there for me: there’s a really good working atmosphere. Although I’m now working for a big multinational, I still feel like it’s a family firm.
Andreas Melchhart, 33, Managing Director simba Toys HK. Born in Munich, skilled as a merchant banker. Melchhart spent the months from May to August 2009 checking out every department of the firm’s Fürth headquarters. Soon after that, he packed and moved to Hong Kong.
Where does that show itself?
The short decision-making channels. You can call the boss any time if you want to discuss something.
What do you do when you get a free evening?
Melchhart: I try to do some sport at least two or three times a week, particularly mountain biking, going to the gym, or playing football.
Gerigk: I roped him into our football team straight away. We have an amateur football league, the Hong Kong Crowd, that plays multicultural international matches at weekends. It’s an important network too.
Melchhart: If there isn’t an international on at the weekend, I go off and explore. I love getting to know the culture. In my lunch break I like to visit a food market, even if I often seem to be the only Westerner doing so.
Is there something you really miss?
Melchhart: You have to look hard to find German food. I started off in a small flat, meanwhile I moved to a larger one and inherited Andreas Schmitt’s bread-making machine. Now I’ve got to catch up on my baking.
Mr Gerigk, how do you manage to get your favorite foods?
Gerigk: You can get anything you want in Hong Kong. My kids have Nutella and muesli for breakfast, but my wife cooks Chinese food.
Tom Gerigk, 39, Managing Director, Dickie Toys HK. Born in Lower Saxony, he worked since seven years for Simba Dickie. With a degree in sociology and political economy, he lives with his chinese wife and kids about fifteen miles away from the office.
You don’t live right in the city, do you?
Gerigk: No, it takes me anything from 25 minutes to an hour to get to work, depending on the traffic. It’s nicer for the kids where we live – almost countrylike, lots of green. My life isn’t all that different from what it is in Europe. In the evenings I play with the kids, we often invite some Asian friends, do a barbecue, take a hike. It wouldn’t work like that in the city.
Melchhart: I had to get used to the crowds, the unending traffic chaos, the crush in the subway, the polluted air. And the humid, tropical climate is challenging. We all keep a change of clothes at the office.
That reminds me – how big is your team?
Melchhart: We have fifty-nine Chinese staff and one German. Our Chinese colleagues all adopted English forenames years ago, and I know them all now.
What about your team, Mr. Gerigk?
Gerigk: I have forty-nine staff.
What are the most important first steps for a new MD?
Melchhart: Get to know the product range! There are about 1.500 items. And of course I have to get to know the workflows for purchase, controlling, customer service, etc. Sales-wise I’m responsible for the US and South American markets, and for Canada and Australia.
It all sounds pretty complicated …
Melchhart: Well it is, but I get a lot of enjoyment out of it. It’s all coming together now, everything I’ve ever learned and everything I’ve ever done. But I hope that with my experience I can be a bit of a fresh breeze blowing through the firm as well.
Gerigk: I think he’ll do that. I find it fascinating here the way things get done here: we’re all very open to new ideas. And Hong Kong people act fast. You decide you want to do it today, and by tomorrow it’s done.
What’s the best piece of advice you can give your new colleague as he starts out?
Get involved. Keep your eyes open, and to begin with, listen more than you talk. Don’t throw your weight about. It isn’t as hard to get on with Asians as some people think. Always observe family festivals and public holidays: they count for far more here than in Europe. Never laugh at rituals; accept them. And another thing that’s very important: Take ideas and advice from members of staff seriously, because they’ve been here a long time, they know how it all works, and they have a lot of expertise in the toy business. Oh, and I’ll be there to help him whenever I can.
Old home for one, new home for the other: Hong Kong city.
