If you take Indonesia, with 200 million people, they have more than 35% overcapacity in generation, where 100 million people are still not connected. This is both a challenge for the industry and it's a challenge for the world. We have entered into joint ventures in China successfully and will continue to do so. We have 13 joint-venture (JV) facilities in China that focus solely on power products. One of those is the single largest transformer factory in the world, to give you one example. That JV has been in operation since 1992.

When China was going from a closed market to a little bit more open market, it was very clear, the Chinese wanted leading technology companies [in the] world to come to China and to enter joint ventures with Chinese companies. This is the venue to transfer technology to the Chinese and to increase the knowledge within our joint-venture companies. We constantly face the issue of what needs to be done locally and what can be done elsewhere. We locate staff at our joint-venture facilities so that we can support the Chinese to be successful. Of course, we would like to find an equation or a formula where both parties feel good about the deal and both parties feel that this is a win-win position. Otherwise, one party will feel that this is not an interesting deal. That is not only in China. China is an example. We have seen the same trends in India and in South Africa.

Guillemot: Our industry is a world of diversity. It's a world of diversity on the offering side because we have 16 different businesses to meet customer needs. It's a world of diversity on the customer side because each customer has different ways of operating their businesses. So, we need to find different ways to add value for our clients. That's the reason for our organization today. There is an integration function within our sales and service organization to make sure that we tell our customers how our various businesses interact. In each of our 16 businesses, we have a dedicated expert sales and marketing force that routinely assists our regional sales force.

Let me share how we address diversity in our customer base. Our Chinese customers buy our products, but they don't like to buy turnkey projects. In the Middle East, our utility customers buy turnkey projects. They want us to do everything from A to Z. The way we interface with these two sets of customers is quite different. We must address customer demands that vary by region. We continue to adapt our working relationship with our customers depending on how they operate their businesses.

In our organization, service is a very specific, distinct organization. So we work to provide diverse solutions. But at the same time, we recognize the need for worldwide standards. Customers put so much pressure on us to deliver solutions faster and at lower prices. At the same time, customers are more likely to give us their own requirements that would require us to adapt our worldwide standards. Again, we sell reliability and the whole industry is embarking on vast quality-assurance programs. Activity in the United States can be summarized very simply: it's a vast quality-assurance initiative.

T&D World: Of course, we couldn't end this conversation without discussing the need for a trained, diverse talent pool, both within the vendor community and within the utilities.

Guillemot: First, as you have noticed, we are a worldwide business and we need a very diverse talent pool. So, we look to tap into the strengths of every nationality, each of which comes with diverse skills. Second, we need people who like technology, because at the end of the day what we sell is technology. Third, as we are in a fast-moving industry, we need people who can act as entrepreneurs and promote new ideas and innovative projects. And last, but not least, we need people who can stick to very clear values and ways of doing business.

Jucker: What are the challenges we face as a company? We have a shortage of power engineers, particularly in the United States. We must address this challenge if we are to provide know-how to the utilities and assist them in setting up reliable solutions. We collaborate with 70 universities today. In some ways, utilities also work with the universities. We not only exchange experiences, but also take a future look to prepare talent in the next generation, either in our organization or within the utilities.

Editor's Note: In addition to special features, the editors of T&D World will continue to track changes in our global marketplace each month in our Business Developments department.

BERNHARD JUCKER TALKS ABOUT ABB UNIVERSITY

ABB University describes ABB's training programs. These can be technical programs to training for management skills. What are we doing with a university? We are trying to share our knowledge, to share our values, to share our latest innovations with our colleagues. We invite our own people to attend the university, but we also are inviting our customers to come and get training with us. At the end of the day, when our customers say they better understand our technology, it is a win-win position.

But when you do this, your knowledge is no longer contained solely in Sweden or Germany or Switzerland, so when that talent leaves to a new loaction, you still have access to talent in other locations. We also have individuals from India and China come over to work in mature markets to understand the needs in Europe and the United States. Then, when they go back, they have an understanding of these markets, which will prove valuable when these countries export products.