Meeting with Maxime, KEDGE Alumnus living in Thaïlande

Hello Maxime.  To start off, would you tell us about your educational background?  What training did you have before, during, and after KEDGE?

I’m originally from Corsica, and I received my Bachelor’s degree in science in Ajaccio.  After, I wanted to move abroad. So I chose to go to a business school and get a double degree in a faraway country, and whose language and a culture is very different. I entered the CeseMed programme, now called the International BBA,in Marseille, that gave me the opportunity to go to either India or China.  I chose to go to China. I spent two years in Marseille, then two years in Shanghai, China.

My background was primarily in finance.  I had my end-of-studies internship in Finance in Shanghai with a German ZEISS group that specialises in optics.  Someone recommended that I go to Germany for a year, where I did a graduate programme. I had two assignments of 6 months each: the first in treasury management, and the second in financial control.

I told myself that I didn’t want to work in finance, in a big corporation headquartered in Germany. I wasn’t interested in doing that, even if I had been given the chance to stay. I looked for something that I wanted to do, and what really interested me was aeronautics, aircraft. I had always been attracted by that, and had had piloting lessons, etc. All at once, I told my self that my dream was to work at Airbus. So, I did a Master’s at ESCP-Europe Paris, in partnership with Airbus, where I spent two months training in aeronautics project management. We worked on case studies with people who fly on Airbus, 50% of whom worked there.  It was a qualification programme for them, and for a specialisation for us.

1 minute / 1 kedger : Maxime, graduate living in Thailande

 Published Kedge Business School Alumni on Thursday 31 May 2018

After that, I wanted to do an internship with them. I was persistant and I found one with STELIA Aerospace, a subsidy of Airbus, which produces airplane seats for airline companies. It has a different name because we equip Boeings as well as Airbus. For six months, from France, I helped the Bangkok-based Asia team on the calls for tenders from the different airline companies.

Then I obtained a VIE in Bangkok to work in commercial development in order to sell seats in the Asia-Pacific region: from India, passing through South Korea, to Fiji, New Zealand, the Maldives, and others. As this region is extremely large, there were three of us in Bangkok to manage the airline companies. We mainly worked on commercial development, project management, responding to calls for tenders, lots of market research, and client management with companies like Thai Airways, Asiana Airlines, and Singapore Airlines, which are our largest clients. We also had to liaise with our team in France to allow them to offer additional services: that of maintenance. It’s somewhat comprehensive; we not only sell seats, but also after-sales service.

 

 

Would you tell us about your decision to move to Bangkok, in Thailand?

During my two years in China, I had a real appetite for Asia, and to learn the its culture and the Asian languages, Chinese in particular. After my time in France and Germany, I wanted to move again. I chose Bangkok because it’s in Asia, and I could work with Chinese companies. A large part of my time was traveling to those companies in China, Singapore, and Indonesia, who had Chinese, or of Chinese origin, representatives so I could speak a bit of Chinese. It helps a lot when you tell them that you had studied in China, and that you are able hold a conversation, especially in if you are in sales.

I began to learn Thai, but I worked so little with the Thai, that I haven’t progressed very far. In Thailand, people speak English well enough, but no one speaks English in China. They speak nothing Chinese, which you have probably already seen during your tour of Asia.

 

How does your company conform with a CSR approach?

STELIA Aerospace makes and sells seats. A good part of the time, we sell seats on aircraft that are already being used, so we remove the existing ones, and install new ones. Most of the equipment will be reused - either sold to other airlines and reinstalled in other aircraft, or they will be recycled. 
As they are comprised of metal and plastic, the materials are reusable. We have an internal system that allows us to recycle worn parts and reuse them. Materials are very expensive, so we reuse as much as possible during the fabrication process, which is one manner in which we limit our impact on the environment. Additionally, something airline companies are doing voluntarily these days, is to have lighter planes to use less kerosene. We participate in that by developing and inventing materials that are lighter in order to reduces greenhouse gas emissions.

 

What differences ihave you noticed between the work culture of Thailand and that of France? 

In France, people are averse to change, and they let it be known. In Thailand, people at work are afraid of conflict. When there is a problem, you don’t talk about it. You don’t report it to management, instead you try to hide it and do it in a way such a way that it won’t be discovered.  Sometimes we find ourselves in situations where there was a big problem that was hidden, and that explodes. That cultural aspect is difficult, because when you are a European manager, and someone has hidden something from you for three months, you react badly. For the Thai, they look for harmony, and don’t oppose people. This is one of the rare countries were all religions are accepted.  There is very little religious terrorism.  There are Muslims, Christians, and Buddists, and people of all these faiths mix well, live, and work together. This is an aspect that makes Thailand a harmonious place.

 

 

 

At the cultural level, there are at work that Thai will never make decisions about.  At the company, if I ask, "does this price seem reasonable? What price do you think?", I'll never get an answer.  They don't want to take responsibility, They will divert the question in order to not have to respond. In Europe, workers are more direct, if you ask something, you'll be told yes or no.  Here it is different.   That becomes "maybe, we'll see, we'll try, I'm not sure".  Sometimes you feel as they are defiant in their gestures, the way they look at you, that they seem uncomfortable, and that might mean they want to say no.  When they are interested, they will ask questions, try to understand, and that's when you realise they are interested. You have to try to work with that. 

 

What are your plans for the future?  Where do you see yourself in five years?

My dream is to sell airplanes. In five years, I plan to have a position with Airbus or somewhere else, where I am in contact with airline companies with the goal of selling airplanes. Thailand isn’t necessarily a target country for the job I want to do.  But somewhere in Asia, yes. Particularly Singapore, Indonesia, etc.

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In what way did KEDGE help you develop your goals?

First of all, through KEDGE I was able to live in China for two years, something that not everyone gets. That gave me an open-minded view of the world. Also, working in a group with different nationalities when I was in Marseille. Through its courses KEDGE provides a real gateway to the world. 

The training provided by KEDGE gives you the foundations, the understanding, and knowledge of different subjects. When you are working, when you are in an internship, you have a better understanding and can revisit the basics in order to perfect yourself.

One thing I appreciated was Pro Act and the associations, which are an important element of the school. I was the partnership manager of the COBFI in 2011. I was 19 and I had to find sponsors. In that position, I had to my myself in the shoes of a professional and take my knocks. It was very good training for a future career in commercial business.

 

 

What were your fears before leaving for Thailand?

Thailand has a bad image in France and the world, especially in the business world. When you tell people that you work in Bangkok, they think that you spend your time on the beach, something that is not  necessarily true. I didn’t think that Bangkok was as developed as it is; it’s is an important megalopolis in Asia. Bangkok’s airport is the best served in Asia. There are flights to almost every city in the region because it’s a city that attracts a lot of business travelers to the area and tourists. I was very surprised to see that, in terms of modernity, there are few differences between Shanghai, Hong Kong , and Bangkok.

Before I came here, I didn’t think it got as hot as it does. You have to take this into account: when you live in Tokyo or Shanghai, you have four seasons. Here, you only have one: summer.  It’s lowest is about 22 and gets up to 30, or even 40, degrees. When you go back to France in the winter and it is -5, you are disoriented.

 

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What have you found in Thailand that you would never have found in France?

A better standard of leaving. This is generally the case in Southeast Asia, but particularly in Bangkok.  In general, the salaries let you live a nice life, housing is not expensive, life is not expensive, and it’s easy to leave for a holiday. The region has fantastic destinations for diving buffs like me. Thailand itself is equally a very nice place to live. The local cuisine is delicious, and the people are cheerful and warm. When you leave France to go somewhere else, it’s important to have a better standard of living and to feel comfortable, and you get that in Thailand.

 

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Interview conducted in Bangkok by the Kedge Asian Success team, made up of Romane Clerc, Cyril Colliot, Maud Ribaucourt.

 

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