It is not hard to find executives who divide their time between Hong Kong and the mainland, but Jeff Lam - Silicon Graphics' (SGI) general manager for Hong Kong and South China - splits his weeks to do so. Mr Lam works in Hong Kong from Monday to Wednesday, then spends every Thursday and Friday in Guangzhou, taking his divided living arrangements in his stride. The only challenge is language, Mr Lam said. 'I have to speak Mandarin in Guangzhou as well as other places in South China.' SGI recently integrated its Hong Kong and Guangzhou operations to improve service to customers who run cross-border business. Mr Lam, who previously was SGI's Hong Kong manager, was appointed to oversee SGI's southern China operations as well - a task that effectively doubles his workload. After 12 years' IT sales and management experience, Mr Lam said teamwork was the key to success, and therefore his principle of management. Sales staff in Hong Kong and Guangzhou in the past competed for the same clients, chasing commission, said Mr Lam. 'It was a duplication, even triplication, of resources. It might also cause project delays,' he said. Working habits in the SAR and the mainland also differed, with Guangzhou employees requiring detailed guidelines while delegation was easier in Hong Kong. California-based SGI, best known for making powerful computer systems and servers, has been restructuring its global operations, closing its Cosmo Software division and spinning off the MIPS chip design business. Mr Lam expects half of SGI's regional business to be driven by the telecommunications industry, the company's new business focus, while continuing its efforts in education and entertainment. SGI also will extend its product range from visual computing to enterprise computing and into the commercial sector with its new Windows NT and data-warehousing products.
