As chief supervisor of the information management department of Shanghai Jahwa United Co Ltd (SJU), which represents China's oldest cosmetics manufacturer, 33-year-old Huang ambitiously allows full play to information technologies to better prepare his company for the increasingly tough market competition.

"A big wish for me now is to let such technologies become a driving force for Jahwa's future growth," Huang said.

Listed on the Shanghai Stock Exchange, JTU reported a profit volume of 72.98 million yuan (US$8.79 million) last year, compared with the previous year's 47.50 million yuan (US$5.72 million).

Huang's ambition is connected with an early addiction to computers when he was just a teenager. In 1984, when computer-related awareness was almost blank for most Chinese kids and youngsters, Huang, a Shanghai native, won first prize in a citywide computer programme design competition.

The honour later helped him, at the age of 16, enter the prestigious Fudan University without completing the nationwide college entrance examination, to major in computer science.

Horse in rein

Upon college graduation in 1989, Huang headed for Shanghai Johnson Ltd, a local joint venture of the US-based SC Johnson & Son Inc, and acted as chief director at the company's computer department.

However, the days at Shanghai Johnson turned out to be unexpectedly depressing for Huang.

"As the major department operation mode was merely a copy of the parent company, I found not much room there to give free rein to my professional knowledge and skill," he recalled.

Under those conditions, he preferred to choose a SOE, where a wider stage could be given for his career development, Huang said.

Such a motivation drove him to quit his well-paying job at Shanghai Johnson in 1993 and to enter SJU, daughter company of the century-old Shanghai Jahwa (Group) Co.

SOE challenge

Yet things at SJU did not proceed as expected at first.

"The first lesson I learnt at STU was that I have to first acquire the attention and support of top executives of the company in order to be able to perform my duties well, and that is quite different from the philosophy of a foreign-invested company," he said.

Another tough task is the sufficient and effective co-ordination of the company's various departments. "Sometimes I had to spent nearly half a day tackling such kinds of co-ordination," he said. Although such sideline work existed as a major issue that he had to cope with for quite a long time, Huang did not give up.

STU has initiated a 15 million yuan (US$1.8 million) project in order to guarantee more efficient and timely information flow among the company's more than 400 exclusive shops and outlets nationwide.

Its co-operation with the US-based SAP, a leading enterprise resource planning (ERP) solution provider, is also well under way.

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