Alumni Story | LIU Hui: A Life Worth Living Needs Challenges

Senior member of the supply chain community, LIU Hui has been working in the field for more than 10 years. Yet majored in optoelectronics at university, he had taken on many challenges to find his true vocation.

He had served numerous sales-related internships, during which “supply chain” first came to his knowledge. He had performed well in his first job in logistics and refused a permanent contract so that he could attend Global Supply Chain Management Programme at KEDGE Business School in 2007.

Today, LIU Hui is working as Supply and Procurement Director at Decathlon China. When looking back on all these points of transition, he believes that to find the career one really wants to follow, they must meet the challenges and even look for them.

From optoelectronics to supply chain management

From an early age, LIU Hui excelled in science. And he was admitted to Paris XI (Now Université Paris-Saclay) where he studied optoelectronics engineering for his bachelor’s degree. However, for an extrovert, the weekly 10-hour stay in laboratory gave rise to concerns: does this life engaged in experiments and academic papers meet his expectations about his future career?

To look for a change, he used summer vacation and after-school time to do some sales-related internships at AELIA, Autogrill and McDonald’s. When he worked at Cartier, they sent him to the department in charge of warehouse logistics where he got his first knowledge about supply chain management. Though what he learned was quite basic, he was already impressed by what a good supply chain management could do in terms of cost reduction and competitiveness improvement. And that has lit up his passion for work.

As a result, he joined Hilti as Associate Logistics Manager after graduation. His working performance has rewarded him with a permanent contract (CDI: Contrat à Durée Indéterminée). In France, the value of a CDI is self-evident. To sign the contract or to pursue his study? LIU Hui chose the latter one: “the more you work in the supply chain industry, the more you understand how sophisticated, diverse and dynamic it could be. If you intend to achieve a long-term development, it is necessary to have a deeper learning about it and it will be best if you study at a school that occupies the leading position in this area”.

Without much hesitation, LIU Hui applied for the ISLI Global Supply Chain Management programme of KEDGE Business School. According to him, if you want to learn, you should choose the best place to do it. And the ISLI programme of KEDGE was, at that time, No.1 both in terms of ranking in France and research results. In addition, the city where the campus of this programme was located was also a plus. For LIU Hui, compared to Paris where he spent most of his time, Bordeaux, with its fine wines and unique culture and landscape, would help to achieve a better study life.

A future-oriented study contributing to improve work abilities

Speaking of his study at KEDGE, LIU Hui believes that the school has not only offered him the professional knowledge of supply chain management, but also helped him build his international career vision and improve his working potentials.

He still remembers the day when he was attending the opening ceremony when Dean of the department started his speech: “You are the future elites of France.” Hearing that, he was more assured that he had made the right choice: “the school has a clear vision for his students and the study here is future-oriented. From the first day, your expectations and sense of duty will support you to move forward”

It was at KEDGE that LIU Hui first came into contact with a great number of international students. By exchanging ideas and working together with them, he gradually learned about the cultural differences, positive and negative impacts generated by personal characters, key elements to effective communications, etc. Understanding brings tolerance. All the details throughout the learning experience made him more respectful of personalities and able to build on individual strengths. When he later became team head in the company, he knew better how to manage his team members, build internal trust and encourage them to be more autonomous and creative. Thereupon, he could achieve higher management efficiency and bring more value to the company.

Furthermore, the programme also built connections between students and enterprises, giving him the opportunity to apply what he had learned in class and to improve it repeatedly in practice. At that time, he was selected to participate in a project to reposition the logistics warehouse at Haier's France headquarter. Over the course of half a year, he and the project team members visited Haier frequently and discussed the project with Haier's leadership, who directly helped advance the project as mentors and sponsors.

“Although it was part of the study, its work intensity and teamwork would leave an impression that you were really doing a job in a company, especially when your work was finally applied into actual operation. Some of the students were even recruited by the company and started their career. This was a beneficial process that could help to improve one’s abilities and develop his or her working potentials.”

Career development at Decathlon and future planning

LIU Hui joined Decathlon in 2009 and has been in the company for more than a decade. He believes that his loyalty comes from three aspects. The first is his recognition of the company’s culture. The second are the learning and development opportunities that the company keeps providing to him. The last one is that he is willing to and is able to create new values to the company. 

"Decathlon is committed to make every consumer enjoy the sport activities, so the product price is usually very cost-effective. Such vision will motivate the employees to be more responsible. At the same time, Decathlon also attaches importance to the personalized development of employees with a set of standard procedures. Leaders regularly communicate with employees to set new goals and help them with proper advice and assistance, which greatly encourages their initiative and creativity.” According to LIU Hui, all these elements contribute to the success of Decathlon.

From his first position as regional logistics manager to his current title as Supply and Procurement Director in China, Decathlon has witnessed his growth. And his objective for the future is to bring new values to the company. Personally, he will enhance his knowledge in financial risks and digital technologies. As for other departments, he will use 30% of his time to provide professional guide to newcomers and advise other teams on their project management.

Referring to the impact caused by the pandemic, LIU Hui believes the market changes can also be new opportunities if the company assures a forward-looking and flexible strategy regarding its supply chain management. To tackle new challenges, leaders in Decathlon now are inclined to divide the group into small teams to proceed with different POC/POV (proof of concept and proof of value) tests. Compared to the previous method where the whole group works for the same plan, this adjustment will facilitate the company to find out the best solution as effectively as possible.

Advice to KEDGErs and KEDGErs-to-be

For KEDGErs-to-be, LIU Hui suggests that they keep a balance between study and social life. School is not only a place to learn professional knowledge, but also a community where you can practice your communication skills. At KEDGE, the international student composition will give you access to a better understanding of the cultural diversity and enable a better adaption to your future professional life.

“You are more than a student. Remember to pay more attention to each new acquaintance you make because for people who might play a key role in your career in the future, you may have already fixed your image in their eyes during the school days.”

Regarding KEDGErs preparing to start their career, LIU Hui suggests that they follow their passion but do not be too picky. If a job meets 1 to 2 out of 5 requests, they can try and take the offer. The reason is that the first years are mainly a learning process. Changing the area or the company you work for will not cost you much and you are more likely to find what you are really interested in. As KEDGErs, they can also make use of the global alumni network* of KEDGE Business School. They are encouraged to make new contacts, attend alumni gatherings and especially supply chain-related events to get more cutting-edge industry information and career advice.

*LIU Hui is member of the board committee of KaSH (KEDGE Alumni Association in Shanghai). He served as moderator for the alumni gathering event on May 9^th, 2019, welcoming KEDGE MBA participants from French Campus for their international business seminar on “Digital China”.

China Chine