Some firms, such as Best Buy, an electronics retailer, recognise this and try hard to evaluate staff solely on performance.

ECONOMIST: People who work from home are less likely to be promoted

In March Compass won a contract with Philips, a Dutch electronics group, to feed, eventually, all 265, 000 staff in 60 countries.

ECONOMIST: Contract catering

Vanguard's supermarket in Shenzhen has 350 staff, and 500 other people promoting not just expensive electronics, but also cheap items like toothpaste and shampoo.

ECONOMIST: Retailing in China

The staff was notoriously bad at locking this case, and it turned out the visually impaired customer was stealing electronics.

FORBES: Connect

Most Japanese electronics firms remain highly focused on engineering and products, which are for the most part conceived in Japan by headquarters staff and sent to the regions to be distributed.

FORBES: Panasonic Steps Up Its Solutions Game