NaviAsia Consulting group was listed as one of the top China advisory firms in the online exclusive article, “Your Own Little Red Book” by Crain's Chicago Business on June 26.

The NaviAsia Consulting Group was also mentioned in Crain's Chicago June 26 print edition titled Enter the Dragon: Doing Business in China.

In the article Made in China? NaviAsia's work with local manufacturer Standard Rubber Products was highlighted as an example of a successful China entry by a Chicago manufacturer.

“…[The Executive] was cautious. ‘It was a move into the unknown'. He turned to Evanston-based NaviAsia Consulting Group Inc., and signed a lease this spring at a factory in Zhuhai in Guangdong Province .”

 Presented by:

Date

October 15, 2008

8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m

• The current state of manufacturing in China
• Benefits of sourcing products from China
• The proper way of sourcing - methodology
• Case studies

Dates
September 22-25, 2008 

NaviAsia VP, Bill Liu spoke on "Doing Business in China" at the Chicagoland Asia Business Exchange (CASE) held at Motorola's Innovation Center.

 Motorola Innovation Center, Schaumburg, IL, July 10, 2008

Liu addressed issues of quality control to an audience that included Chicagoland SME executives, a Chinese delegation of SME executives, and Motorolla Executives. The Chinese delegation on average have more than 15 years of business experience, are Small and Medium Enterprises (SME) gearing for growth and have recently finished their Executive MBA at Cheung Kong Graduate School of Business (CKGSB). One main objective of the day was to facilitate exchange between Chicagoland and Chinese executives on relevant topics such as innovation, talent management, and quality control.

Kellogg School of Management, Northwestern University, Evanston, Illinois, May 29, 2008

Bill Liu, Vice President of NaviAsia, was the featured speaker at the upcoming series of "Doing Business in China "on SuncasTV. SuncasTV is a subsidiary of the Suncast Network, Inc. headquartered in Arlington Heights, IL.

SuncasTV produced a four-part series interviewing Mr. Liu. The four topics include: Why China?,  Manufacturing in China, Sourcing from China, and Set up Operation in China. The program was completed April, 2008.

Kellogg School of Management, Northwestern University, Evanston, Illinois, April 19, 2008

China offers manufacturing acquisition opportunities for midsized businesses

NaviAsia VP, John Tomaszewski, was featured in RSM McGladrey’s online resources. He stressed that the opportunity in China is real and, in fact, may be greater than many U.S. companies realize, but so too are the challenges.

“U.S. companies are typically reactive, looking at acquisition as opportunities arise. In China, you have to be more proactive in order to identify good acquisition opportunities.”

Tomaszewski also warned “with all of the interest in China these days, it seems like anyone who speaks the language or went to school in China or has a relative living there considers himself an expert. Steer clear of one-man ships and newly proclaimed experts. You want to work with firms that have a real and substantial presence on the ground in China.”

To read more on the obstacles and common pitfalls facing U.S. companies searching for acquisition opportunities, go to http://www.rsmmcgladrey.com/RSM-Resources/Articles/Advantage/Strategy/China-offers-manufacturing-acquisition-opportunities-for-midsize/

Plastic News China, May, 2007

Alumni Awards honor service, talent and dedication

Club leader finds his net's worth:

NaviAsia executive helps keep Kellogg alumni network strong through service, teaching

By Romi Herron

Most would consider John Tomaszewski '98 well connected.

He is co-founder of Chicago-based NaviAsia Consulting Group, which provides strategic sourcing and supply chain management to small- and medium-sized companies intending to utilize China as a base. Navigating the business challenges there, the firm aims to "bridge time zones, distance, cultures and languages to create an integrated supply chain across the Pacific," according to its Web site.

And Tomaszewski is at the helm.

His success, he says, has come in part because of a network of industry contacts he established through a prior international business development role with BP/Amoco that took him to China, Mexico, Poland and Romania. Now, he draws on his expertise in consumer products, technology, automotive and energy industries to enable others to grow their businesses with international strategies.

But the Kellogg alum, lauding the relationships he began cultivating within the school's community in 2001, says that reconnecting has been equally vital to his career endeavors.

"When I graduated from The Managers' Program in 1998, I was part of Kellogg Corps that summer," recalls Tomaszewski, referencing the student-run organization that sends teams of MBA graduates on 4- to 6-week projects with nonprofits in developing countries. He then began working as a consultant at A.T. Kearney.

"I really didn't have time to re-engage with the school then," he says. "But as I was working toward creating my own business three years later, Dean Emeritus Don Jacobs asked me to become president of the Kellogg Alumni Club of Chicago." Tomaszewski was honored to accept. "Almost immediately I realized the friendships I was developing were refreshing and motivating."

One of four Kellogg Alumni Service Award winners this year, he says support from the Kellogg administration during the founding years of his business has been "tremendous." He's garnered new ideas and exposure to faculty with whom he had not studied during his Kellogg experience.

Increasingly, his involvement in alumni service has afforded others to learn from his insights too. A frequent guest lecturer in the Kellogg Executive MBA Program, he also is an adviser for the school's annual Global Initiatives in Management excursions to Asia. In April, Tomaszewski addressed an audience of Kellogg faculty and alumni at the Asian Business Conference in Evanston, highlighting Chinese sales and marketing transformations and emphasizing key differences between Western and Eastern approaches to sales, marketing, distribution and sourcing.  

Currently, he is helping create a new leadership framework for the Kellogg Alumni Club of Chicago, convinced that the president's role needs to evolve.

"This past year we've been in transition. I've recognized that we needed to create a steering committee to oversee the entire club, because the president's responsibilities are exceedingly challenging to align with one person's schedule," says Tomaszewski, whose own schedule includes responsibilities as a member of the World Trade Center of Chicago China Committee. "So now I'm in an advisory role with the intent of passing on the leadership to three new alumni."

As the club's immediate past president, he is eager to continue developing his Kellogg relationships through other programs offered by the school's alumni community.

"The alumni club has been a valuable opportunity for me to reconnect with the school and its values," he says, noting one benefit has been his acquaintance with David M. Messick, the Morris and Alice Kaplan Professor of Ethics and Decision in Management. Messick and Tomaszewski confer on global issues — an opportunity that pleases the alum.

"I had not had the opportunity to learn from David while I was at Kellogg, and now that I'm outside my traditional learning experience, I am grateful to benefit from our interactions. My experiences with the alumni club have reinforced in me the importance of lifelong education."

  http://www.kellogg.northwestern.edu/kwo/sum06/indepth/tomaszewski.htm