strategic analysis and thoughts

Thirukkural on Emotional Intelligence - Part 2

2012-01-10T17:14:00.000+08:00

Couplet 486

அதிகாரம் : காலமறிதல்
குறள் : 486
ஊக்க முடையான் ஒடுக்கம் பொருதகர்
தாக்கற்குப் பேருந் தகைத்து.

Translation: The self-restraint of the energetic (while waiting for a suitable opportunity), is like the drawing back of a fighting-ram in order to butt.

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Couplet 487

அதிகாரம் : காலமறிதல்
குறள் : 487
பொள்ளென ஆங்கே புறம்வேரார் காலம்பார்த்து
உள்வேர்ப்பர் ஒள்ளி யவர்.

Translation: The wise will not immediately and hastily shew out their anger; they will watch their time, and restrain it within.

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Couplet 490

அதிகாரம் : காலமறிதல்
குறள் : 490
கொக்கொக்க கூம்பும் பருவத்து மற்றதன்
குத்தொக்க சீர்த்த இடத்து.

Translation: At the time when one should use self-control, let him restrain himself like a heron; and, let him like it, strike, when there is a favorable opportunity.

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Couplet 621

அதிகாரம் : இடுக்கணழியாமை
குறள் : 621
இடுக்கண் வருங்கால் நகுக அதனை
அடுத்தூர்வது அஃதொப்ப தில்.

Translation: If troubles come, laugh; there is nothing like that, to press upon and drive away sorrow.

In my own words: Laughter the best medicine suits this well !! We should laugh away our problems and sorrow. I guess easier said than done but hey, being down or crying may not solve our sorrow anyway.

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Couplet 622

அதிகாரம் : இடுக்கணழியாமை
குறள் : 622
வெள்ளத் தனைய இடும்பை அறிவுடையான்
உள்ளத்தின் உள்ளக் கெடும்.

Translation: A flood of troubles will be overcome by the (courageous) thought which the minds of the wise will entertain, even in sorrow.

In my own words: We should be brave to face all of our troubles to resolve it.

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Couplet 623

அதிகாரம் : இடுக்கணழியாமை
குறள் : 623
இடும்பைக்கு இடும்பை படுப்பர் இடும்பைக்கு
இடும்பை படாஅ தவர்

In my own words: If we remain strong and face the problem we encounter (instead of complaining), we win over the problem and sorrow.

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Couplet 624

அதிகாரம் : இடுக்கணழியாமை
குறள் : 624
மடுத்தவா யெல்லாம் பகடன்னான் உற்ற
இடுக்கண் இடர்ப்பாடு உடைத்து

Translation: Troubles will vanish before the man who (struggles against difficulties) as a buffalo (drawing a cart) through deep mire.

In my own words: When the going gets tough, we (the tough :-)), should get going !!

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Harvard Study on Meditation

2011-12-27T10:59:00.002+08:00

I am been practicing casual meditation for a while now after learning the techniques from a Sahaja Yoga instructor near my place. Meditation creates relaxation & self-awareness. On the days that I meditate, I can feel I am more relaxed, better energized and have a good feeling. And each day I learn more about myself. If I am doing some thing wrong like being angry over something, I can sense it faster and react accordingly. It is somehow helping me to be more emotionally intelligent and coping with every day stress.

This is a study from Harvard: http://news.harvard.edu/gazette/story/2011/01/eight-weeks-to-a-better-brain/

What is Yoga?

2011-12-05T14:46:00.003+08:00

A note on what is Yoga from my reading of an article on Linga Purana.

Yoga has eight components. These are known as yama, niyama, asana, pranayama, pratyahara, dharana, dhyana and samadhi.

Yama is preparatory to meditation, it has to be backed up by the practice of non-voilence. Niyama means certain rules that have to be followed. These include truthfulness, celibacy and lack of jealousy. The rules also encompass cleanliness, the donation of alms and fasting at appointed times. Pranayama signifies the control of the breath of life. This must always be attempted in a proper asana (posture). Pratyahara implies the withdrawal of the mind from addiction to sensual and material pursuits. An image has to be decided on for purposes of meditation. When this image is fixed in one’s mind, that is known as dharana, and the actual process of meditation is called dhyana. Samadhi is the final stage of meditation, when the union between the paramatman and the atman is realized

Yoga must always be practiced in an appropriate place. One must not be close to a fire, nor must the place chosen be a cremation-ground or a location frequented by wild beasts. There must not be any noise or insects that are likely to distract one’s attention. For example, a cave is a very good place to practice yoga in.

Do not imagine for a moment that yoga is easy. There are numerous distractions and disturbances that make one deviate from the right path. One has to fight laziness and sloth. As one progresses, there are illusions that one hallucinates from. Demons are seen . There are powers that one attains and these also cause distractions. But if somehow one manages to conquer these, true bliss can be attained.

Thirukkural Discourse by Thangavelu

2011-01-22T13:00:00.003+08:00

Here is a sample youtube video of Thirukkural explanation by Sree Thangavelu .. simply fantastic !! easy to understand with lots of examples ...

To get a list of other kurals by him, simple go to youtube.com and key in "Discourse by Thangavelu" in the search box and search for it !!

Scientific Religion

2011-01-22T10:29:00.006+08:00

I stumbled upon this videos this morning .. very interesting

Part 1 : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NcuM7SD26J4&feature=related

Part 2 : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kV-bIMse_fk&NR=1

Part 3 : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YjpyyV7Gfm0&feature=related

SharePoint 2010, the way moving forward ?

2010-07-09T14:04:00.002+08:00

Until a few years ago, the demand for SharePoint 2003 developers and engineers in Malaysia was very low. But the demand picked up for developers and engineers knowledgeable in Microsoft Office SharePoint Server 2007 or better known as MOSS 2007. And recently, Microsoft announced a new product called SharePoint 2010. It is the new version of MOSS 2007 and I guess SharePoint 2010 will have more followers in Malaysia.

Seems like Microsoft is betting their future in SharePoint and related technologies. More and more features or stand-alone products has been nicely integrated with SharePoint 2007. The same goes for SharePoint 2010 as well. I guess this trend will continue for future versions of SharePoint.

As in most new software products, SharePoint needs more power. Check out the requirements here.

Other technologies tightly integrated with SharePoint are MS-SQL 2005/2008, .NET 3 / 3.5 , IE 7 and Windows 2003/2008.

So, for those Microsoft technology enthusiasts, SharePoint is the way to go !!

Enterprise 2.0, the way forward

2009-11-14T06:12:00.004+08:00

Enterprise 2.0 are the new phenomenon in the business and social world. Basically it means organizations that enables and encourages true collaboration between employees as well between a organization with its key stakeholders such the customers and suppliers.

There are many motivations for organizations to embrace the Enterprise 2.0 culture. Highly distributed employees, more educated and demanding customers, and suppliers who are hard pressed to continuously improve product (& services) quality while at the time reduce cost and price of their offering. Only a truly collaborative environment can ensure the success of an organization in this competitive environment. The demand for social computing tools will also come from the younger generation of employees who will have a Facebook or Twitter account way before they join the workforce.

In the very near term, organizations must incorporate becoming an Enterprise 2.0 organization as part of the corporate strategy. The actions to be come an Enterprise 2.0 must come from the CEO and no one else. IT must given support to introduce tools that integrates seamlessly into employees' workflow. HR must come up with process and incentives to encourage employees to share and collaborate. Business groups must include knowledge capture using social computing tools as part of their day job. Finance must be able to capture the business value of true collaboration. and above all, the CEO must play an active role to make all these work!

Sustainable Building - Canadian student's project

2009-09-08T16:58:00.003+08:00

Check this out .. college students from Flemming College in Canada, building a sustainable building (Camp Kawartha Environment Centre) with these great features

Geothermal heating and cooling
Radiant floors
Living roof seeded with local plants
Solar hot water
Grid-tied solar panel PV power
Net-zero energy design supplying evenly back to the grid at peak demand hours
Pre-fabricated and built-on-site straw bale walls
Rain water collection to supply all building water use
Indoor constructed wetland water purification system
Passive solar design
Super insulative straw bale, hempcrete and rammed earth construction
Only thatch roof in Ontario, locally harvested grasses
Cordwood benches

I hope other colleges and universities especially in Malaysia will encourage similar research and projects to find a sustainable building suitable for the local climate. It will also be a great way to instill the importance of living sustainably.

SCORE - Sarawak Corridor of Renewable Energy

2009-09-07T13:27:00.004+08:00

You may have heard thousands of time about the famous MSC (Multimedia Super Corridor) but have you have ever heard of SCORE - Sarawak Corridor of Renewable Energy ??

When I first heard about SCORE, I imagined clean energy .. I imagined some kind of research being done around the areas of clean and sustainable/renewable energy such as heat/light from the sun or wind power or hidro/wave power on the sea etc, so I told myself to do some research to understand this effort more ....

BUT to my dismay this is not the case ... actually it is a very misleading term being used the relevant parties .. really misleading and disappointing

It says it has a very large deposit (1.46 billion tonnes) of coal ? I guess the state or the players intend to fully extract and burn it to produce cheap electricity??? so much for my imagination on clean energy !!

Looking at their strategies and priority industries, quite soon Sarawak will also be choked with one of the greatest pollutions in this region and environmental disaster

Its funny .. the website says one of the benefits are increase in quality of life ? How can that be? I guess , whoever it may be, only considers income level as the yardstick for quality of life !!!

Sustainable Transport - a foldable scooter ?

2009-08-26T15:30:00.006+08:00

How about a fold-able scooter as your transport? Yeah, that was the great invention that made MIT students to win the Year 2009 BuckMinster Fuller Challenge. I was and am always fascinated by the ingenuity and creativity of people around the world in general.

This group of students actually invented/proposed more than just a fold-able electric scooter. Their invention was really about a "comprehensive system", whereby the scooter is just one part of it. But the scooter is what astonishes me the most :-) especially because you can fold it.

Actually it would be much better if we can fold it into a comfortable chair. That way, we can stop under a shelter during heavy rain and sit on this comfy chair while waiting for the rain to stop or subside before continuing our journey.

Read more about the invention here ..

Wazzup Toyota ??

2009-08-20T17:39:00.003+08:00

Looks like Toyota is kind of hesitant to move forward quickly on electric cars.

I wonder why?

The reasons they give does not really make any sense to me especially when Toyota is one of the most innovative and successful car makers around. I am sure Toyota can work around any obstacles especially the technical ones. Car makers should share and learn from each other about this new (I mean electric vehicle) technology. It makes more business and environment sense to come up with a good electric vehicle.

Read more on this here ..

The Atlas of the Real World

2009-08-20T09:11:00.003+08:00

I stumbled upon this cool atlas website this morning .. it depicts the nations of the world by their demographic importance on a range of subjects .. check it out here

Sustainable Transport - A2B Metro

2009-08-19T15:42:00.007+08:00

What happens when you combine electric and pedal power ? You get A2B Metro bicycle or two-wheeler. Unfortunately for us Malaysians, Ultra Motor don't sell any of its cool two-wheeler products here yet. This product ins only available in a few countries - US, UK, Germany and India.

Is it because there is no demand for it ??? I don't think so. According to this website article, the largest number of motorcycles per person is in Malaysia & Greece.

There are few more cool environment friendly two-wheeler products by Ultra Motor ... read more here

Or perhaps, we could develop our own electric-pedal power product ?? With Malaysians being more aware and concerned of being more environment friendly, I believe this will be a very fruitful venture. Of course, the quality must be good. I have came across few online articles on a electric bicycle product which is imported from China and sold in Malaysia but it didn't look very good.

Update on 21-08-2009.

Looks like i was about 1 year too late to stumble upon A2B .. thestar motoring article actually carried an story on this about a year ago. You knwo what they, better late than never to find out something useful or interesting :-)

Sustainable Transport - Busycle

2009-08-18T15:52:00.006+08:00

What a superb innovation !

Beside being a sustainable transport and reducing waste, this transportation also creates a great opportunity for teamwork among communities or colleagues. Probably organizations can use this as part of their team building efforts. Very large organization should start looking into pedal power as a mode of transportation between its nearby building/campuses.

The Busycle is a 15-person pedal-powered bus that travels in neighborhoods throughout the United States. The Busycle runs solely on the energy of its passengers. Anyone willing to pull their weight and pedal can be a Busycle passenger. The Busycle requires individuals to use their own will and physical strength to come together as a group to go from point A to point B .. read more here

Critical success factors to achieve sustainability

2009-08-12T17:31:00.015+08:00

Malaysian corporations are still in its infancy with regards to achieving a truly sustaining phase. There is still more to learn and do. It is a long journey to achieve the sustaining phase but the rewards are great.

There are a few critical success factors to achieve sustainability as listed below.

1. Integration of the local community and environment as key stakeholders of the corporation.

Corporations must include the local community and the environment as a key stakeholder with the highest priority. By doing so, the profit oriented corporation will be able to balance their profit orientation with their social responsibility which includes the betterment of society as well as the protection of the environment

2. Being very clear on WHAT exactly to achieve (to be spelled out as the mission & vision) and more importantly, HOW to achieve it from sustainability point of view. Check out at Interface's Mission Zero.

Currently many organizations have Corporate Social Responsibility policy or statements which seems more like a public relations activity. This has to change if the corporation is serious about being a sustaining organization. Sustainability must be the core of the corporate strategy.

3. Continuous and active involvement of employees.

It is critical that employees understand how they can contribute positively to help the organization to achieve the sustaining phase. It is also critical they are motivated to do so. Otherwise it will be just a greenwash. Having their performance related compensation is one way to achieve this. There will be also spillover effect whereby the employees will in turn educate their family members on sustainability.

4. Ensure both our products and process including raw materials incorporates people and environmental friendliness. For example, what's the point of using electricity that was generated by burning coal or utilizing nuclear technology !!! We should go for renewable energy instead.

Book Review: Leadership and the One Minute Manager

2009-08-07T09:47:00.000+08:00

This is not a latest book. In fact, it was it was written and published some 23 years ago. I just got the chance to read the book quite recently because it was kind of mentioned in my MBA text reading.

But it was a very good read. I like it very much because it was written in a dialog between experts in Situational Leadership and a curious person. I like it because it was written in a very simple and interesting language. It was like reading a story book !! I wish we can have more of similar format books.

And you know what, the concepts can be applied in our everyday life, be it at office or home. However, it may be a bit difficult at home because of sibling rivalry and jealously. You can't really treat kids differently unless they reach certain age to really understand what is happening.

One interesting quote from this book :

"Everyone is a potential high performer. Some people just need a little help along the way"

Made in India Electric Car !!

2009-07-28T18:32:00.005+08:00

India, the majestic country, continuously creates innovation. Famous for its IT talents working around the world, is poised to contribute even greater to safeguarding the environment.

Reva Electric Car company from India is working on improving and increasing its electric car manufacturing. It could be one of the cheapest electric cars around !! Check out its savings calculator. It can show how much you can save.

Challenges of electric cars

2009-07-28T17:59:00.006+08:00

Nissan's plug-free electric car !! Yeah, that's the latest revolution in automobile innovation. According to this Guardian article which was posted last week, Nissan has developed a wireless charging system.

I guess this is in response to a key concern of potential electric car users. According to their research, people are worried about the inconvenience of recharging their cars. A very valid concern indeed and a great way to respond !! Bravo to Nissan !!

But I guess there are few other concerns as well. First, the distance that a single charge could cover. Second, the amount of time to recharge. Third, probably the most critical one, getting replacement batteries. Can electric car manufacturers jointly develop a standard, generic, "can buy anywhere/any brand" batteries?

The above model by Nissan is suitable for short distance travel such as to work or shopping and a long interval (to recharge) between the travel back to home from office or shop.

But how about people traveling far continuously (> 100 miles / 160kms). For example, I can't even reach Ipoh from Penang :-( which is roughly around 180-200 kms. If the recharge is quick and similar to current amount of time to pump a full tank ( 5 minutes ???). Currently it takes 25 mins to recharge 80%. Otherwise we will end up having long queues in recharge stations/outlets.

So I guess, the challenge moving forward will be to find ways to increase mileage for each recharge, making recharge even quicker or better still if can recharge on-the-go by capitalising on kinetic, wind or heat energy to continuously recharge the car.

How to Identify STROKE

2009-07-23T10:22:00.003+08:00

I just received this forwarded mail on how to identify if a person is suffering from a stroke. Take a minute to read and share with all the people you know.

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STROKE IDENTIFICATION:

A neurologist says that if he can get to a stroke victim within 3 hours he can totally reverse the effects of a stroke..totally. He said the trick was getting a stroke recognized, diagnosed, and then getting the patient medically cared for within 3 hours, which is tough.

RECOGNIZING A STROKE

Sometimes symptoms of a stroke are difficult to identify. Unfortunately, the lack of awareness spells disaster. The stroke victim may suffer severe brain damage when people nearby fail to recognize the symptoms of a stroke.

Now doctors say a bystander can recognize a stroke by asking three simple questions:

S *Ask the individual to SMILE.
T *Ask the person to TALK and SPEAK A SIMPLE SENTENCE (Coherently)
(i.e. It is sunny out today.)
R *Ask him or her to RAISE BOTH ARMS.

If he or she has trouble with ANY ONE of these tasks, call emergency number immediately and describe the symptoms to the dispatcher.

New Sign of a Stroke -------- Stick out Your Tongue

NOTE: Another 'sign' of a stroke is this: Ask the person to 'stick' out his tongue. If the tongue is 'crooked', if it goes to one side or the other, that is also an indication of a stroke.

What Peter F.Drucker said on blogging ?

2009-07-16T09:12:00.004+08:00

Hmm.. no no he didn't say anything about blogging .. at least not that I am aware of ..

But he did say something on writing. In his article titled "Managing Oneself" published in 1999, he wrote that different types of people learn using different ways and guess what ?? SOME PEOPLE LEARN THROUGH WRITING

Yes !! some people learn by writing .. so I guess that includes bloggers as well .. so bloggers do learn something by blogging !! .. even if it not our original idea or article, i feel blogging reinforces what we have read or learned and it invites comments and that's more learning !!

So don't say or worry that blogging is wasting time or blogging is no use because people don't read your blog .. and I have also read somewhere that most blog posts are not read at all by another person . .. so what ??

I guess it doesn't matter (at least for me) if nobody reads my blog because I know that - in worst case scenario, I still learn something by posting an article and in the best case scenario, I made it possible for few others to learn with me as well .. after all sharing brings joy right??

I think blogging is also a form of risk taking .. you are sharing ideas and exposing yourself to criticism ...

You know what ?? Bosses can get their employees to blog about what they have learned in the internal and external trainings ... by this way you get the employees to pay attention and then you also can make sharing of the learning much easier and permanent .. kill two birds in one stone !!

Sustainability Analysis on Proton

2009-07-09T14:51:00.015+08:00

Introduction

Proton is a Malaysian GLC. It is the manufacturer of what are marketed as “national cars”. Malaysian government-linked companies (better known as GLCs) are companies that are owned (fully or partly) by the Malaysian government through its investment arm Khazanah Nasional Berhad. This is the list of companies being invested in by Khazanah.

The intent of this analysis is to understand what Proton is doing about sustainability, both from environment and local community stand-point and to critically evaluate whether those activities are truly sustainable activities or merely a greenwash. I have done a similar analysis on Petronas some time ago.

The analysis starts with stakeholder analysis to determine where Proton places the two most important stakeholders (environment & local community) along with other stakeholders in their stakeholder mapping. It will end with a few recommendations for Proton to work towards achieving sustainability.

Key Stakeholders

Proton’s key stakeholders are the Environment, the Malaysian government, the Malaysian public, car owners as well as its vendors and suppliers.

The Malaysia Government

The Malaysian government owns 52% of Proton shares through Khazanah, Petronas and ValueCap. ValueCap is a government investment arm. The government also heavily subsidizes the production of proton cars by giving grants and exemptions/tax credits. But despite that, Proton continues to make loses.

The Malaysian public

The public is the indirect shareholder through EPF (Employees Provident Fund), government unit trust funds Amanah Saham Bumiputera, Amanah Saham Malaysia) and Lembaga Tabung Haji. Together these funds hold around 20% of Proton shares. Additionally, it is the public that pays the tax, which then is used to provide grants and tax credits. Proton also involves in sponsorships in the area of education and sports as well as donations to the needy.

Customers / car owners

I can’t find the exact figures of active Protons cars currently being driven all over Malaysia but I would estimate the figure to be around 3 million (assuming no cars have been fully retired). The figure is justified since I can still see many first generation Proton Saga cars on the road.

Environment

There is also externality factor to be considered by having almost 3 million proton cars on our road (most of the cars produced are sold locally in Malaysia !!). Moreover, the earlier generations of Proton are nearing retirement and may need to be sent to scrap yard and contribute to our ever increasing waste disposal problem.

Vendors & Suppliers

More than 80 per cent of Proton components are currently produced or supplied by automotive component manufacturers and suppliers. Proton’s network of 287 vendors and approximately 3,000 sub-vendors currently supply more than 5,000 individual components and parts for its cars.

Impact on Strategy

Based on stakeholder salience model for Proton, the definite stakeholders for Proton is the Malaysian government. It has the power (by law and as a majority shareholder), legitimacy (as majority shareholder) and urgency (as spelled out in its objective - shown below as well as by its continuous support for Proton to ensure its survival).

Additionally to support Malaysian government goal of industrializing the nation, Proton has thus far encouraged the creation and existence of hundreds of components manufacturers (probably seen by Proton as the dependent stakeholder) especially in the automotive industry, directly meeting its first two objectives. According to a Proton’s press release (in 2005), more than 80 per cent of Proton components are currently produced or supplied by a network of 287 vendors and approximately 3,000 sub-vendors. Together they supply more than 5,000 individual components and parts for its cars. Proton went to the extreme of appointing too many vendors to the extent of impacting the quality of cars it produces.

About 60% of defects are blamed to be caused by its vendors. Proton’s press release also highlighted the fact that only about 10% of their vendors (local and foreign) achieved “Grade A” rating according to TUV audit. This would NOT have happened if Proton considered their customers as an important stakeholder. Seems like, Proton has thus far viewed its customers as the discretionary stakeholder (legitimate but no power and urgency). However, it is good to know that Proton have finally realized they have too many vendors and are working to reduce them to 180 in an effort to improve quality. Proton has also revised their strategies to be more market sensitive. Proton’s key strategy moving forward will be based on growth basically by “building the right model for the right market”. This strategy will be implemented by focusing on product planning to ensure it builds cars that meets customers’ requirements.

Based on Proton’s historical actions (or inactions) such as producing low quality cars, being complacent on its vendors (despite only 10% made the grade A of TUV audit) and continuously losing tax payers money, it can be argued that Proton does not care much about the Malaysian public and to a great extend the environment. Proton does give out sponsorships and donations but a bigger and much more expected outcome is good financial returns to its shareholders (read = the Malaysian public). This can only be done if Proton becomes truly profitable without any special assistance from the government. Additionally, the tax money that the Malaysian public pays should be used for other better purposes instead of continuously paying for poor performance. Proton must realize that the Malaysian public is actually the definite stakeholder given the fact the Malaysian public will have the power, legitimacy and urgency to pressure the Malaysian government to reduce and eventually stop “pampering” Proton as well as to further and truly liberalize the automotive industry in Malaysia. TUV’s key objective is “to work to validate the safety of products of all kinds to protect humans and the environment against hazards”. The fact that only about 10% of its vendors made Grade A, shows that the rest of them (about 90%) is continuously contributing to some form of human and environment hazard either in their products or process.

On a positive note, though, Proton has formed a strategic partnership with Detroit Electric to produce pure electric vehicles. This indicates that Proton has started to view the Environment as an important stakeholder. However, it is yet to be seen whether this is merely an attempt to greenwash the public and its potential customers. Additionally Proton has also introduced a discount program for existing proton car owners to switch to a new models. Since, newer models should be less polluting, this effort should be considered as contributing to environmental well being.

Conclusion

From the above discussions, we can conclude that Proton is not a sustainable organization / corporation. It must take comments, feedback & suggestions from the public seriously. Below are my recommendations to Proton.

Recommendations for Proton to achieve Sustaining phase

To start with, Proton must view and treat the Malaysian public including its potential & future cars owners as well as the Environment as its Definitive Stakeholder. Once Proton started to view them as definite stakeholders, everything else will fall into its place. Some of the actions that Proton can take are:-

i. Be independent.

Proton must realize that they cannot continue to expect protection from the government and financial support from tax payers. It must be proactive to plan and implement a program to reduce direct dependence on the government’s assistance and tax payer’s money for continuous existence. This effort will force Proton as a whole to work harder and smarter and get rid of the "why worry, the government will always protect us” mentality. Working harder and smarter is the only sustainable way forward for Proton.

ii. Quality and Safety First.

Dealing only with Grade A vendors. Proton should work closely with existing vendors to upgrade them to achieve Grade A status based on TUV standards. Proton must set a time frame for all of their vendors to achieve the status, failing which Proton should terminate their contract for good. As for new vendors. Proton should only hire Grade A vendors. This will ensure all proton parts are of higher quality and produced in a human and environmental friendly method or in other words, a more sustainable way.

iii. Take leadership to ensure success of pure electric car project.

There will be challenges such having sufficient charging facilities throughout the country,
employing qualified and sufficient mechanics well versed in this new technology at its service
centers and keeping overall costs low for the average Malaysian. Proton must be very sensitive to these challenges and start to work on addressing them. Just selling the electric cars and doing publicity stints won’t do. As the national car maker, Proton must take the leadership in those areas and don’t wait for government’s help. It should work closely with electricity suppliers to generate electricity in an environment friendly way for its cars. Otherwise, what is the point of having electric cars in the first place? It will be merely a greenwash project then !! The current management should be more open minded in hiring foreign talents to fill in whatever gaps that they have now to ensure the success of the electric car project. Proton should not repeat its mistake by taking the everybody especially customers for granted.

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Additional reference: Mitchell, R.K., Agle, B.R., Wood, D.J. (1997). Toward a theory of stakeholder identification and salience: Defining the Principle of Who or What Really Counts. Academy of Management Review, 22(4): 853-886.
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Penang Inshore Fishermen Welfare Association (PIFWA): The Heroes

2009-06-29T13:28:00.006+08:00

It has been almost 5 years since the Tsunami hit us .. hopefully we have learned something from it. Actually, what is more important is to implement and practice what we have learn, otherwise the learning and experience will be useless.

Here I take the pleasure to reproduce this short write-up from Sustainability in Penangite Accent on how the Penang Inshore Fishermen Welfare Association's foresight and hard work saved the day.

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The birth of Penang Inshore Fishermen Welfare Association (PIFWA), a community based nonprofit and independent organization, in 1994 was in response to the growing coastal development and resource depletion. PIFWA’s objective is to achieve solidarity among inshore fishermen and voice issues that affect their livelihoods. PIFWA promotes traditional and sustainable fishing practices and prudent management of the coastal environments, mangrove habitats, and river ecosystems.

In the late 1990s, PIFWA began a campaign to replant mangrove trees in Kuala Sg.Pinang, Nibong Tebal. Although many people shrugged it off and thought that it served no purpose, the fishermen continued planting the mangrove (Bernama, 2008). They replanted mangroves in many of the cleared coastal areas. With the assistance of SAM and CAP PIFWA shared their mangrove planting experience with other fishermen communities in Malaysia. In general their efforts were not appreciated by the local communities and the authorities. Sometime, they were treated as “trouble makers” when they raised the issue of the coastal management to the authorities.

The 26 December 2004 tsunami taught Malaysians the importance of conserving the natural environment and in turn changed PIWFA from trouble makers to heroes. The Indian Ocean tsunami hit Penang state causing casualties and destruction to many properties and facilities along the coastal area. Areas protected by the mangrove forest were undamaged or experienced less destruction. The PIFWA was praised for its foresight (Bernama, 2008). The Prime Minister announced a national plan to replant the mangrove forest along the Malaysian coast.

Many government departments, the private sector and non-governmental organisations (NGO) provided support to PIFWA to continue its effort. PIWFA was awarded more funding for mangrove planting from the international donors, local authorities, and private corporations.

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Have you heard about this statement ... "Only time will tell whether what we are doing is right or wrong" ? .. I guess it is a very true statement

Penang government's ban on plastic bags - a mere greenwash ?

2009-06-29T13:06:00.008+08:00

About a month ago (May 28, 2009), the Penang Chief Minister announced the state government's plan to reduce plastic bags usage in the state. A week later, more details were given as how we can reduce plastic bags usage. Seems like a very good effort by the state government to reduce pollution and safe guard our environment. And the 'feeling good' atmosphere continued with additional statement that the state has also banned the use of polystyrene boxes and plates at all of official state functions.

But, are we missing something ???

I am not sure what more is in store but I see lack of political will and shallowness in these actions to safeguard the most important stakeholders - the environment & the people.

Why no total ban on the plastic bag usage ? What are we waiting for to happen before we can have a total ban of plastics bags ? Why only on Mondays? Why only the hypermarkets?

Seems to me like a greenwash .. it clearly shows lack of political will on the part of state government to protect our environment.

Is the state government trying to protect plastic bag manufacturers ? Lets face it. Plastic bags are detriment to environment. So why do we want to protect an industry which is detriment to the environment ??? The state government must work closely with plastics manufacturers to phase out this industry. Provide incentives for plastic bag manufacturers to switch to something which is friendly. Based on CAT principles, the state government should outline its plan to totally phase out, not only plastic bag usage in Penang, but also plastic bag manufacturing. This effort must be extended to all kinds of plastic containers especially those who has very short usage life-span such as gift and snacks wrappers as well as plastics sheets which is usually used to pack food.

Anyway, plastic bags are just one of the cause of pollution in Penang . Let's not miss the big picture. The Penang government must start to implement actions to reduce sea and river pollutions caused by the industries (do you dare to swim in Penang beaches nowadays ??) well as the air pollution caused by automobiles.

We need sustainable industries and sustainable transport !!!

Thirukkural on Emotional Intelligence - Part 1

2009-06-27T17:14:00.004+08:00

While going through Thirukkural, one key message that I get is the importance of being emotionally intelligent similar to what being pointed out by Daniel Goleman in his "Emotional Intelligence - Why it can matter more than IQ" book. I thought of doing everybody a favour by listing the Kurals that I think talks about or touches on emotional intelligence.

It is actually interesting to note that Thiruvalluvar, who authored Thirukkural some 2000 years ago, gave quite considerable focus on the need for human-kind to be emotionally intelligent. He wrote about the importance of managing one's senses and emotions as well as the consequences that we must face for our failure to manage our emotions and senses.

I have listed down the Kurals with the translation (copied from either Acharya , Dinamalar and Trix Apps) and my own explanation. I referred to a few websites to better understand the meanings. They are Acharya , Dinamalar and Trix Apps. Trix Apps also provides a cool javascript widget that we can put on our blogs and websites. Check it out at the of my blog main page.

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Couplet 7

அதிகாரம் : கடவுள் வாழ்த்து
குறள் : 7
தனக்குவமை இல்லாதான் தாள்சேர்ந்தார்க் கல்லால்
மனக்கவலை மாற்றல் அரிது.

Translation: Anxiety of mind cannot be removed, except for those who are united to the feet of Him who is incomparable.

In my own words: In order to reduce our anxiety and worries, we should meditate or continuously think of or be with GOD. Meditation will help us to be calm and get rid of unnecessary worries.

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Couplet 27, 126, 174

அதிகாரம் : நீத்தார் பெருமை
குறள் : 27
சுவைஒளி ஊறுஓசை நாற்றமென ஐந்தின்
வகைதெரிவான் கட்டே உலகு.

Translation: The world is within the knowledge of him who knows the properties of taste, sight, touch, hearing and smell

In my own words: We need to be aware of ourselves and what is happening around us. Be always be sensitive or on alert to what is happening around us and know how to respond (or not to respond) to those events . In other words, be emotionally literate so that we are in control of ourselves , our emotions and our relationship with those around us.

அதிகாரம் : அடக்கமுடைமை
குறள் : 126
ஒருநம்யுள் ஆமைபோல் ஐந்தடக்கல் ஆற்றின்
எழுநம்யும் ஏமாப் புடைத்து.

Translation: Should one throughout a single birth, like a tortoise keep in his five senses, the fruit of it will prove a safe-guard to him throughout the seven-fold births.

In my own words: If we are able to control our five senses, basically how we act or react, we will have a smoother journey in life and our future. I guess this is similar to the message in couplet 27 above.

அதிகாரம் : வெஃகாமை
குறள் : 174
இலமென்று வெஃகுதல் செய்யார் புலம்வென்ற
புன்மையில் காட்சி யவர்.

Translation: The wise who have conquered their senses and are free from crime, will not covet (the things of others), with the thought “we are destitute.”

In my own words: If we are able to control our five senses, we will not take others' possessions even though we are really destitute or poor. Again there is some emphasis to control our five senses as mentioned in couplets 27 & 126.

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Couplet 29

அதிகாரம் : நீத்தார் பெருமை
குறள் : 29
குணமென்னும் குன்றேறி நின்றார் வெகுளி
கணமேயும் காத்தல் அரிது.

Translation: The anger of those who have ascended the mountain of good though it continue but for a moment, cannot be resisted

In my own words: Anger, can't be avoided altogether but it can be controlled and overcome. An emotionally intelligent person will be able to handle his or her anger properly. So can all of us. After all, emotional intelligence can be learned and practiced. As human, we can't run away from being angry. But we surely can learn to respond more appropriately.

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Couplet 121, 122, 123 & 124

அதிகாரம் : அடக்கமுடைமை
குறள் : 121
அடக்கம் அமரருள் உய்க்கும் அடங்காமை
ஆரிருள் உய்த்து விடும்.

Translation: Self-control will place (a man) among the Gods; the want of it will drive (him) into the thickest darkness (of hell)

அதிகாரம் : அடக்கமுடைமை
குறள் : 122
காக்க பொருளா அடக்கத்தை ஆக்கம்
அதனினூஉங் கில்லை உயிர்க்கு.

Translation: Let self-control be guarded as a treasure; there is no greater source of good for man than that.

அதிகாரம் : அடக்கமுடைமை
குறள் : 123
செறிவறிந்து சீர்மை பயக்கும் அறிவறிந்து
ஆற்றின் அடங்கப் பெறின்.

Translation: Knowing that self-control is knowledge, if a man should control himself, in the prescribed course, such self-control will bring him distinction among the wise.

அதிகாரம் : அடக்கமுடைமை
குறள் : 124
நிலையின் திரியாது அடங்கியான் தோற்றம்
மலையினும் மாணப் பெரிது.

Translation: More lofty than a mountain will be the greatness of that man who without swerving from his domestic state, controls himself.

In my own words: Self-control (the ability to decide how we want to act or react) will alleviate us to a higher status including and especially on moral terms. Without any self-control, we will face continuous difficulty in our life. Self-control is one of the greatest treasure (skill) that we must continuously be aware of and practice. In fact, self-control is actually a knowledge and will help us to be a person of high emotional intelligence. And guess what ?? People will l00vvveeee you !! And we continue in this path of practicing great self-control, we will be able reach even greater heights.

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Couplet 127, 128, & 129

அதிகாரம் : அடக்கமுடைமை
குறள் : 127
யாகாவா ராயினும் நாகாக்க காவாக்கால்
சோகாப்பர் சொல்லிழுக்குப் பட்டு.

Translation: Whatever besides you leave unguarded, guard your tongue; otherwise errors of speech and the consequent misery will ensue.

அதிகாரம் : அடக்கமுடைமை
குறள் : 128
ஒன்றானுந் தீச்சொல் பொருட்பயன் உண்டாயின்
நன்றாகா தாகி விடும்.

Translation: If a man’s speech be productive of a single evil, all the good by him will be turned into evil.

அதிகாரம் : அடக்கமுடைமை
குறள் : 129
தீயினாற் சுட்டபுண் உள்ளாறும் ஆறாதே
நாவினாற் சுட்ட வடு.

Translation: The wound which has been burnt in by fire may heal, but a wound burnt in by the tongue will never heal.

In my own words: If we are not able to control all of our five senses, then the least we should do is to control what we speak, otherwise we will face misery or bad consequences for saying bad things. It is simply because, if our message contains even a single 'bad' word, the whole message will be seen as bad thus giving bad impression to others. People who are hurt by our 'bad' word may remember it for a long time or will never forget it. Hmm.. sounds very familiar ??

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Couplet 130

அதிகாரம் : அடக்கமுடைமை
குறள் : 130
கதங்காத்துக் கற்றடங்கல் ஆற்றுவான் செவ்வி
அறம்பார்க்கும் ஆற்றின் நுழைந்து.

Translation: Virtue, seeking for an opportunity, will come into the path of that man who, possessed of learning and self-control, guards himself against anger.

In my own words: If we have a continuously learning attitude and at the same time able to control & manage our anger, we will be able to reach moral excellence. Sounds tough but do-able right ??

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Couplet 273

அதிகாரம் : கூடாவொழுக்கம்
குறள் : 273
வலியில் நிலைமையான் வல்லுருவம் பெற்றம்
புலியின்தோல் போர்த்துமேய்ந் தற்று.

Translation: The assumed appearance of power, by a man who has no power (to restrain his senses and perform austerity), is like a cow feeding on grass covered with a tiger’s skin.

In my own words: Although we try to portray our strengths and power, our inability to control our five senses or emotions will actually show/display our weaknesses. So for example, if we want to protect or guard ourselves from our enemy, we need to be emotionally strong (intelligent) as well apart from being physically strong or knowing martial arts !!

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Couplet 301, 302

அதிகாரம் : வெகுளாமை
குறள் : 301
செல்லிடத்துக் காப்பான் சினங்காப்பான் அல்லிடத்துக்
காக்கின்என் காவாக்கால் என்?

Translation: Anger against the weak is wrong; It is futile against the strong.

அதிகாரம் : வெகுளாமை
குறள் : 302
செல்லா இடத்துச் சினந்தீது செல்லிடத்தும்
இல்அதனின் தீய பிற.

Translation: Anger is bad, even when it cannot injure; when it can injure; there is no greater evil.

In my own words: Well, it is wrong to be angry over weaker people than us (we may make them afraid of or hate us) and it is plain stupid to show anger on those who are much stronger than us (we may invite their wrath and possible negative reaction on us). It is worst still, if our anger turned into endangering others. That is considered evil !! So what is the point of being angry or showing our anger at all. There is probably a better way to handle or manage our anger. If someone is making us angry, we need to face them and be assertive (talk about it to them in a calm manner) but not aggressive (show anger). This is easier said than done but we must try our best.

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Couplet 303, 304, 305

அதிகாரம் : வெகுளாமை
குறள் : 303
மறத்தல் வெகுளியை யார்மாட்டும் தீய
பிறத்தல் அதனான் வரும்.

Translation: Off with wrath with any one. It is the source of sin and pain.

அதிகாரம் : வெகுளாமை
குறள் : 304
நகையும் உவகையும் கொல்லும் சினத்தின்
பகையும் உளவோ பிற.

Translation: Is there a greater enemy than anger, which kills both laughter and joy ?

அதிகாரம் : வெகுளாமை
குறள் : 305
தன்னைத்தான் காக்கின் சினங்காக்க காவாக்கால்
தன்னையே கொல்லுஞ் சினம்.

Translation: If a man would guard himself, let him guard against anger; if he do not guard it, anger will kill him.

In my own words: There is no point of being angry because it is us who will suffer (by feeling the pain of being angry). It is us who are are going to be unhappy by being angry. Additionally, anger may turn us to be aggressive and harm others as well as us and invite more sufferings including getting us to risk our future or even loose our life literally. Therefore, it is very important to control and manage our anger.

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Couplet 306

அதிகாரம் : வெகுளாமை
குறள் : 306
சினமென்னும் சேர்ந்தாரைக் கொல்லி இனமென்னும்
ஏமப் புணையைச் சுடும்.

Translation: The fire of anger will burn up even the pleasant raft of friendship.

In my own words: Our anger will also make us loose our friends. How bad!!

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Couplet 307

அதிகாரம் : வெகுளாமை
குறள் : 307
சினத்தைப் பொருளென்று கொண்டவன் கேடு
நிலத்தறைந்தான் கைபிழையா தற்று.

Translation: Destruction will come upon him who regards anger as a good thing, as surely as the hand of him who strikes the ground will not fail.

In my own words: If we have the habit of being angry, we are going suffer and continuously feel the pain

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Couplet 308

அதிகாரம் : வெகுளாமை
குறள் : 308
இணர்எரி தோய்வன்ன இன்னா செயினும்
புணரின் வெகுளாமை நன்று.

Translation: Though one commit things against you as painful (to bear) as if a bundle of fire had been thrust upon you, it will be well, to refrain, if possible, from anger.

In my own words: It seems to be a wise move not to be angry over someone who have or are causing sufferings to us. Wow! this seems to be a really tough one to follow and practice but I guess the intent is to protect us from more sufferings due to our anger.

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Couplet 309

அதிகாரம் : வெகுளாமை
குறள் : 309
உள்ளிய தெல்லாம் உடனெய்தும் உள்ளத்தால்
உள்ளான் வெகுளி எனின்.

Translation: If a man never indulges anger in his heart, he will at once obtain whatever he has thought of.

In my own words: If we are able to refrain from being angry, we will be able to fully focus on our thoughts and energy to achieve what we originally planned or intended.

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Couplet 310

அதிகாரம் : வெகுளாமை
குறள் : 310
இறந்தார் இறந்தார் அனையர் சினத்தைத்
துறந்தார் துறந்தார் துணை.

Translation: Those, who give way to excessive anger, are no better than dead men; but those, who are freed from it, are equal to those who are freed (from death).

In my own words: If we are not able to manage our anger properly, we are as as good as dead !! . no use to anybody. And we are able to manage it properly, we will be free from sufferings and can be useful to others especially to ourselves.

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Couplet 360

அதிகாரம் : மெய்யுணர்தல்
குறள் : 360
காமம் வெகுளி மயக்கம் இவ்முன்றன்
நாமம் கெடக்கெடும் நோய்.

Translation: If the very names of these three things, desire, anger, and confusion of mind, be destroyed, then will also perish evils (which flow from them).

In my own words: If we are able to clear our mind from being confused and angry as well as able to delay gratification, then we will be free from sorrowand difficulties.

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I believe there are many more Kural on emotional intelligence. Will post a second part of this blog post later when I have the chance ...

Cool Thirukkural Musicals

2009-06-26T15:36:00.004+08:00

I came across these cool videos during my research on Thirukkural. Check them out ...

1. Thirukkural Maraimozhi

2. Thirukkural Remix

Haze In Penang, June 2009

2009-06-21T18:27:00.015+08:00

The picture on the left is taken a few days ago [June 20, 2009] from my apartment aiming at the Penang International Airport. I can't see any airplanes :-(.

In these past few weeks, there were many newspaper reports on the haze problem.

I wondered why we keep having this haze problem??

Well it is caused by open burning in Sumatra !! That is what almost everyone in Malaysia says especially politicians. Sounds like a very easy answer to escape from being responsible and accountable on this issue.

On the other hand, Indonesian officials says that is not true. It happens in Indonesian soil but culprits are not Indonesians!

" ... Indonesian Consul-General in Malaysia Moeni Soenanda told Malaysian reporters this month that "checks" revealed that "none of the companies" involved in open burning were Indonesian.

"The companies involved in illegal logging and open burning are all foreign," he said without naming any company.

Anyway, I don't remember facing haze some 10 or 15 years ago during my schooling days. Is open burning a new phenomenon ? I don't think so. I wondered why only now we are having this issue of haze due to open burning. This article has the answer

"In the past, open burning did not lead to haze since land clearing exercises were always timed with the seasonal changes. after the land clearing exercise, the rainy season would avail itself on time ..."

Oops !! looks like mother nature have stopped clearing up the mess we are creating. Just look at the many damages that we are doing to our beloved earth and expect mother earth to correct them. We have taken too many things for granted especially our environment.

Unfortunately, open burning does not happen in Sumatra alone. We have our fair share of open burning incidents.

The Selangor state government is taking some actions on this. But this is very short-term solution. It seems that open burning is a cheap way for farmers to clear their land. So they are going to continue with it. Can the government work closely with these farmers to avoid open burning? I guess that will ensure a sustainable solution and the key learning can be proliferated to other states of Malaysia as well as to our Indonesians government and farmers.

According to this blog post, Indonesian government is taking lots of actions too, unfortunately it does not seems to be effective.

Interestingly there is something called ASEAN Agreement on Transboundary Haze Pollution, an environmental agreement between all ASEAN nations signed in 2002 and became into force on November 25, 2003. Unfortunately Indonesia, despite being the main 'player' for the whole issue, has not ratified the agreement. I wonder why ??

I guess what is key now is not trying to understand how to solve it, probably many experts have provided the suggestions and recommendations, but rather executing them. All the countries must show strong will to address and resolve this issue, starting with getting Indonesia to ratify the ASEAN Agreement on Transboundary Haze Pollution as soon as possible.

An analysis on Malaysian Environmental Laws

2009-06-13T16:39:00.013+08:00

My focus will be to scan through a few key environmental laws that I think are important and try to find the weaknesses in them to understand why pollution and environmental degradation still happens despite Malaysia having many laws on Environment.

I will start with Environment Quality Act 1974, its no brainer right !!

Environment Quality Act 1974 (EQA 1974)

The "key" law is the Environment Quality Act 1974. Its purpose are the prevention, abatement, control of pollution and enhancement of the environment, and for purposes connected therewith.

Among others, this Act calls for the establishment of a Environmental Quality Council (established in 1977) to advise the Minister of Environment*. The council consists of representatives from various ministries* (1 representative each from Environment, International Trade, Domestic Trade & Consumer Affairs, Agricultural, Human Resources, Transport, Health) , 1 representatives from Sabah, Sarawak, representatives from various industries (1 representative each from petroleum, oil palm, rubber, manufacturing), 1 academician and 2 representatives from registered societies knowledgeable and having interests on environment.

Since each each of them have equal voting rights, the number stakeholders should be in balance too. The council settings seems to be concentrated with reps from industries, who, many will agree, are the culprit for most of the environment degradation and destruction in Malaysia. The council should have more places allocated for registered bodies/NGOs which has interests on protecting and preserving the environment. Guess what ?? Only in 1986 were 2 NGOs appointed into the council (The Sun). What about consumer groups ? We should have them in the council too. In short, we need a good check and balance mechanism in important councils like this Environmental Quality Council.

This Act also calls for the establishment of a Environmental Fund. The money will be used to cover the costs of cleaning up a pollution, prevention from further pollution, encourage conservation as well as for research purposes. It is expected that those producing, transporting or storing oil, environmentally hazardous or waste products to contribute to this fund. A good idea but definitely not sufficient with the rate of pollution we are encountering now.

I guess a portion of our income tax should also be channeled to this fund. In fact, the government should impose environment tax on all industries and this tax money should be channeled to this Environment Fund. This should be on top of the regular business tax that they are paying.

There were a total of 5 amendments to this act. However, most of them are centered around wordings and summon/fine value increments over the years. Nothing substantial.

There are many related regulations of this Act that has been enacted but first let's go back in time to touch on Waters Act 1920.

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Waters Act 1920 (Act 418)

Perhaps one of the oldest environmental law of modern Malaysia. Its purpose is to provide control of rivers and streams. Interestingly it only covers 6 states and 1 federal territory. How about other states ?? And there are differences between each state. Is this why we have a new Act [Water Services Industry Act 2006].

Since land and water comes under the purview of individual states, all powers resides on the state authority (State Secretary).

True to its purpose, this Act does not attempt to prevent pollution, rather just to control it. This is not good enough!!. There seems to be loop holes in this Act, whereby licensed pollution can still happen.

It is very unfortunate that we fail to see that rivers and streams are important if not critical water source for farming, animals and poor people. We fail to see that rivers and streams must be prevented from being polluted at any cost. Rivers and streams and its contents (living and not living) are important part of us and they should be protected.

We need stronger legislation that not only protects the environment but encourages everybody to work towards sustaining it.

Water Services Industry Act 2006

The purpose of this Act is to provide for and regulate water supply services and sewerage services.

Under this law, contaminating water is a serious issue. You will be punished with death or imprisonment up to 20 years with whipping if found guilty of contaminating the water supply system and causing death. Unfortunately the same seriousness is not shown in the Waters Act, whereby rivers polluters are only fined RM1000.00. Potential polluters can even buy license to pollute.

This Act calls for the establishment of a Water Industry Fund whereby the money is to be used basically to ensure sustainability and qualitative improvement of water supply.

--------------------------------------------------

Now, back to the Environment Quality Act regulations. Two of the regulations that I scanned through are:-

Environmental Quality (Clean Air) Regulations 1978 - P.U.(A) 280/78

Again (as noticed in the Waters Act 1920), the punishment for offense for air polluters is only a maximum of RM10,000 or 2 years imprisonment. I doubt this type of punishment will or can deter business especially big business from polluting our air. And you know what ?? All these offenses are compoundable, meaning that the culprit can just settle the case by paying the compound and don't have to go to court. It may be even cheaper for culprits to pay the compound then take efforts to reduce their pollution !!!

The legislators should actually make all these offences not compoundable !! Ever wondered why we have haze these days?? It is unheard of those days !! There is even a Wikipedia article on the haze situation in Malaysia. The problem is we are blaming Indonesian for it when we ourselves are not adequately protecting our environment.

The sources of pollution is well known according to DOE but the questions are what are they (DOE) doing about it and are they doing enough to stop the pollutions ?? Enacting laws is just the first step. Educating the polluters and working closely with them to reduce and eventually totally stop pollution is as important to have a holistic approach of protecting and nurturing our environment. I guess Malaysian authorities (federal & state governments) are still stuck with "ownership" issues as pointed in this report ..

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" The state governments have authority over matters relating to land use planning,
agriculture, forestry, fishery, water resources, but the federal government has authority
in regard to environmental affairs. While the collection, treatment and disposal of
municipal waste also come under local government administration (Global
Environmental Forum, 2000).

This division of powers and roles among the various layers of government in relation to
environmental protection and management makes the implementation of integrated
planning a real challenge. Often, this institutional weakness is cited as a hindrance to
adopting an integrated approach to environmental management and enforcement of
laws related to the environment (Ramakrishna, 2002). "

excerpt from Sustainability in Penangite Accent

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Environmental Quality (Scheduled Wastes) Regulations 2005

What stroke me is this part of the regulation, see below

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Regulation 7. Application for special management of scheduled wastes
(1) A waste generator may apply to the Director General in writing to have the scheduled wastes generated from their particular facility or process excluded from being treated, disposed of or recovered in premises or facilities other than at the prescribed premises or on-site treatment or recovery facilities.
(2) An application under subregulation (1) shall be submitted to the Director General in accordance with the guidelines for special management of scheduled wastes as prescribed by the Director General and shall be accompanied by fee of three hundred ringgit and shall not be refunded.
(3) If the Director General is satisfied with the application made under subregulation (1), the Director General may grant a written approval either with or without conditions.
--------------------------------------------------------------------

What does it tell us ? A potential polluter (waste generator) can even apply (under what circumstances is not specified) to dispose his/her dangerous and harmful waste without being treated. The risk is merely RM300.00 in the form of application fee. Another loophole !! Making the offence compundable also does not help to relay any concrete and serious message to offenders not to even think about polluting the environment.

National Forestry Policy 1978 (Revised 1993)

Now let's look at forest protection in Malaysia. Guess what? We have a very loose forest protection laws. Why? Economic development is of higher priority than environmental well being.

Forests in Malaysia is seen by the Federal and various state governments as one major source of income. So the law talks about how to sustainably manage the forest and not really on how to strictly protect it. May be not a bad idea.

In fact, few assessments done and reported by a UN body shows that there are continuous improvement on sustainable forest management in few states of Malaysia. However, a PhD research done by Kanta Kumari casts reasonable doubts on this.

I guess we must not take the forest for granted. Instead, we should start reducing our dependence on timber activities and eventually reduce destruction of the forests. There are also problems of illegal logging, reported here and here. These illegal must be addressed by the government with utmost urgency. I guess it must be lucrative enough for culprits to continue with these illegal activities. So the legislators must enact a much tougher law & improve enforcement while at the same educate and encourage the public to report these activities to the authorities.

Conclusion & recommendation

There must be strong will by the government of the day to phase out and close down all industries that are producing harmful wastes. We should start to think long term benefits health and environment and eventually economic benefit out of it of not having these industries and not short term economic benefit of having these industries
All the environmental laws and regulations must be scrutinized again and revised to eliminate its' loop holes. The Environment Ministries Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) should include the "improvement" made to environmental laws.
The enactment of environmental laws seems to exclude important stakeholders namely the public. The public must be consulted extensively by legislators.
Exceptions must be minimized. The absolute power given to Director-General to give exceptions must be revoked and given to a council instead. In the instance of exception being considered, locals and other dependents such as those farming along the river should be consulted.
In addition to point # 4 above, the membership of various councils should include representatives of the public including consumers associations and environmental interest groups.
Punishment (fines and jail terms) should commensurate the seriousness of the offense. Environment pollution must be seen as a serious offense because it affects not only present generation but many generations to come. We as humans must also realize that we are sharing this earth with others, flora & fauna. Environmental offenses should be made NOT compoundable.
All producers of waste must be made fully responsible to treat their waste sufficient in order not to harm the environment. There should be no exception given to anybody in whatsoever situation.
In addition along with point # 7 above, the government should be more proactive to help the small players to treat the wastes before being thrown out to sea, river or even land-fill.

Notes
* I intentionally did not use the exact names of the ministries as it have changed and can still change in future.

Learn Thirukkural and Tamil

2009-05-27T18:08:00.014+08:00

தமிழன் என்று சொல்லடா, தலை நிமிர்ந்து நில்லடா !!!

It has been a quite a while since I wanted to learn Thirukkural. My weakness in Tamil has been a delaying factor.

I came across a a very good site on Thirukkural recently. It has both the original text in Tamil and its translation in English. The site also allows you to subscribe to a daily dose on Kural for your reading pleasure.

So start today and don't procrastinate ..

நாளை என்ன நாளை, இன்றும் நல்ல நாள் தான் !!

Actually we can improve our Tamil along the way

The Tamil words was written using a cool online tamil editor called Quillpad Editor.

Check it out here

You just have to type in roman letters, and it will help you to translate the words into tamil. Really cool !!

தமிழை கற்போம், சமுதாயத்தை வலர்பொம்

Useful links to important statistics for analysis

2009-05-21T16:40:00.006+08:00

Here are a few cool links that may be handy when performing research or analysis

http://www.internetworldstats.com/stats.htm
http://www.geohive.com/earth/
http://unstats.un.org/unsd/default.htm
http://www.worldbank.org/data
http://earthtrends.wri.org/datatables/index.php?theme=5

Yahooooooooooooo !! Got through my MBA !!

2009-05-20T17:33:00.008+08:00

About an hour ago, my MBA course mate called me to inform that our Leadership Dynamics (LD) result is out !! Without any delay, I checked my results and thank GOD, I passed as with all my other 11 papers.

It was a great journey, a great learning experience, going through my MBA especially after about 10 years from my last qualification, a Masters in IT. The MBA program was offered locally at Institute of Training and Development (ITD Penang) by University of South Australia (UniSA). One of the greatest value that UniSA's MBA program offer is the diversity of its lecturers, bringing with them a very rich educational and real life experience. Some of them were actually practisioners in their respective fields. I have to thank my boss and employer for sponsoring me for this studies which costs quite a lot, RM33,800 to be exact.

Although we were exposed to many areas and topics, there are few subjects/topics that have caught my great interest for further studies & exploration. Emotional intelligence is definitely one of them. After reading an good article (a required study for our LD paper) by Daniel Goleman , I bought a book titled "Emotional Intelligence - Why it can matter more than IQ" by the same author. I have been half-way through it and its a very interesting and informative book. The author uses a lot of true stories and real world examples to explain his point and I find it very easy to understand his messages. Its kind of heavy but I think it will be useful now and in future. I strongly recommend for anyone interested to understand EQ more to read his book.

Sustainability Analysis on PETRONAS

2009-01-18T01:45:00.012+08:00

Executive Summary

PETRONAS is a fully-integrated oil and gas multinational corporation fully owned by the Malaysian Government. The nature of its business itself is causing sustainability issues because while oil is a key resource to generate power, it is also a great environment polluter and is not renewable natural resource. Although there are various stakeholders for PETRONAS, the Malaysian government and local governments where PETRONAS operates have the greatest impact on its strategies and actions. Whenever there is a conflict between governments and local community/environment, the viewpoints and expectation of the governments seem to be given priority, much to the detriment of the local community and environment. PETRONAS’s corporate social responsibility (CSR) activities such as in education and biofuel research are great but certainly not enough and sustainable. PETRONAS must take ownership of its direction to be a sustaining corporation. There are 4 main recommendations outlined for PETRONAS to help it be a “sustaining corporation”. First, PETRONAS must take environment stewardship by taking a three-pronged approach of “finding out where and how it damages the environment”, “mitigate and reduce the damage” and “reverse the damage”. Second, it must begin to sincerely respect human rights especially in places it has its operations. Third, it should work to find renewable and sustainable energy sources and technology; and economical way to them to consumers. Fourth, it should leverage its partnership with its education institutes to research, share and promote renewable energy technology and management processes. The key driver to all this change will be to place the Environment to where it really belongs – as a definite stakeholder in the Stakeholder Salience model of PETRONAS.

1 Introduction

PETRONAS (Petroliam Nasional Berhad) which is based in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia is a fully-integrated oil and gas corporation and is ranked among FORTUNE Global 500's largest corporations in the world with a workforce of more than 30,000 and operating in more than 30 countries the world over. It is wholly-owned by the Malaysian government and is vested with the entire ownership and control of the petroleum resources in Malaysia through the Petroleum Development Act 1974. PETRONAS is the largest single revenue contributor to Malaysian government. This report will delve into PETRONAS’s various stakeholders and their impact on its strategies; its corporate social responsibility programs; and the criticisms level against it to understand where it stands in terms of a sustaining corporation. This report will also recommend further actions for PETRONAS to take it closer to be a sustaining organization.

2 Stakeholder Analysis
2.1 Stakeholders
There are 5 major stakeholder groups for PETRONAS:-
i. Governments - comprises the Malaysian Government and the various local governments where PETRONAS has its operations.
ii. Customers – consists of retailers/dealers and end-users of its products and services.
iii. Employees
iv. Local community - people living in countries/places where PETRONAS runs its operations
v. Environment

2.2 Impact on Strategy

Each of the various stakeholders of PETRONAS has their own claims and different degree of impact on PETRONAS’s strategies.

Based on stakeholder salience model for PETRONAS, the definite stakeholders for PETRONAS are the Malaysian government which fully owns the corporation and the various local governments which grant PETRONAS rights to explore and extract oil and gas in their countries.

The strategies that can be linked specially to the Malaysian government are:-
i. Enhance shareholder’s value (in this case it’s the Malaysian Government)
ii. Ensure continued future supply of petroleum for Malaysia by seeking opportunities overseas to explore, secure and develop new reserves

These are in addition to its vision to be a good corporate citizen. These two stakeholders are the most important for PETRONAS and this can be seen in its strategies and actions that usually favor the governments, sometimes to the detriment of the local community or environment as described in the 2 sustainability issues that follow.

Human Rights Violations

PETRONAS was listed in the “Dirty List” in 2003. “Dirty List” is an effort by The Burma Campaign UK, a human rights organization, to expose companies whose operations are directly or indirectly helping to finance the military dictatorship in Myanmar (formerly known as Burma). PETRONAS has also been linked to human rights violations in Sudan.

Environment/Ecological Destruction

According to Culture Change (2008) (which compiled findings from “Rainforest Action Network”), pollution from offshore rigs causes ecological imbalances such health and reproductive problems for surrounding marine life, destroys kelp beds, reefs and coastal wetlands, and exposes the wildlife to threats of oil spills. Since PETRONAS’s key activities are off-shore oil exploration and drilling, its activities do contribute to those environmental issues.

The examples above clearly shows that, in the eyes of PETRONAS management, the local community and the environment may be seen just as the dependent stakeholders and are less important than governments. Although there are mentions (listed below) on the well-being of society and environment in its strategies, it seems to take a back stage especially when there is a conflict between Local community & environment versus Governments.

However, all is not bad for PETRONAS. There are many corporate social responsibility (CSR) programs actively run by PETRONAS. The key ones are:-

Biodiversity

PETRONAS supports, funds and work towards conserving “nature parks” in Malaysia and other countries where it operates. It also encourages its employees to volunteer for nature conservation works.

Community Programs

Over the years, PETRONAS has organized, sponsored or actively involved in community based activities such as sports, drug prevention, classical music appreciation, arts and science exhibitions, and environment conservation understanding. Most of them are in conjunction with
associations owned by or linked with the Malaysian government. In the international forefront, PETRONAS’s contribution are mostly centered around education and health programs such as sponsoring students, funding for vocational facilities, clean water supply and mobile clinic
operations.

Renewable energy research

PETRONAS is repositioning its research and development activities to identify alternative energy sources such as bio-fuel. It utilizes renewable feedstock such as palm oil, the high yielding vegetable oil available (Palm Oil Truth Foundation, 2006). Additionally, PETRONAS is
working with car manufacturers such as Proton to develop “green engines” such as E01 engine which runs on natural gas . In 2007, it signed an agreement with Battelle Memorial Institute of the US, Battelle-Japan Corp and Mitsubishi Corp to set up a renewable energy laboratory in Bangi, Malaysia (Daily Express, 2007) which also has an Engine Vehicle Testing (EVT) facility.

Customers can be considered as the dominant stakeholder for PETRONAS. Two key PETRONAS strategies are “customer focused” and “ensure the products it manufactures and services it provides are in accordance with appropriate industry standards and best practices”. Truly enough, its products and services can be considered satisfactory especially to Malaysian consumers.

From strategic point of view, employees are seen as a great asset by PETRONAS and one of its key strategies is to “enhance the capability of its employees”. One major program by PETRONAS is its education and human resources training and development. PETRONAS’s involvement in education and training began in 1978 as part of the corporate initiative to develop its workforce to meet its human resources needs especially in the petroleum sector.

Last year, PETRONAS Education Division, which was setup in 1998, won the 2007 Prime Minister’s CSR Award for the education category awarded by the Malaysian government (The Prime Minister’s CSR Awards, 2007).

3 Current Issues

Apart from the issues described in the preceding section, there are another two key sustainability issues facing PETRONAS. There are:-

3.1 Sustainability Reporting

In a 2006 annual survey titled “World’s Most Sustainable and Ethical Companies” conducted by Management & Excellence among 15 major oil companies, PETRONAS was ranked last. The annual survey, conducted by Management & Excellence (M&E), evaluates and compares the compliance of each company with over 280 internationally recognized standards in transparency, corporate governance, social responsibility and ethics. The survey concluded that PETRONAS is ranked the world’s least transparent corporation (Malaysiakini, 2006). However, over the years, there seems to be some improvement on the part of PETRONAS to be more transparent in its reporting (TheEdgeDaily.com, 2008).

3.2 Renewable Energy

Biofuel is renewable but may not sustainable according to a web article. Quote below from Suite101.com (2007) summarizes the sustainability issues of biofuel industry.

" Suleiman Jasir al-Herbish, Director-General of the OPEC Fund for International Development noted that: "...biofuels had negative side effects such as reducing food production, distorting food market prices and exacerbating water shortages..."(UN Press Release, May 10, 2007)"

In short, biofuel benefits may be offset by serious environmental issues such as water shortage and soil erosions and ecological problems because of rapid deforestation for plantation to produce ingredients for biofuel and increased food prices in general caused by the shortage. It is also considered an ethical issue to burn food for fueling cars. (CNN.com, 2008).

4 Recommendation to achieve Sustaining phase

From the discussion above, PETRONAS can be categorized to be in the COMPLIANCE-STRATEGIC PROACTIVITY phases of the Sustainability Phase Model. There is still great opportunity for PETRONAS to bring itself nearer to sustaining phase. Few recommendations to achieve it are as follows:-

4.1 Environment Stewardship

To reduce environmental destructions and ecological imbalances caused by its activities, PETRONAS must be proactive and transparent in dealing with these issues. Recommendations for PETRONAS to be a “Sustaining Corporation”:- First, it must conduct an Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) for all its current and future explorations and oil rigs. Second, it must conduct continuous audit on all its operations (off-shore and in-shore). Third, it should report out the findings (EIA and audit) to all interested stakeholders to get valuable feedback from them. Fourth, it is important for PETRONAS to continuously be innovative to find ways to mitigate and possibly reverse any environmental risks or damage caused by its activities. Better still, PETRONAS should also work closely with environmentalist experts to actively rehabilitate and nurture the many areas that have been damaged (“imbalanced”) by its operations. The benefits for PETRONAS is that its battered image can be improved in the eyes of the public especially environmentalists and governments. If successful, PETRONAS will have a competitive advantage over other oil and gas companies. It may also be a preferred company, especially in countries where there is high concern of environmentalism, to be offered exploration and drilling opportunities.

4.2 Respect Human Rights

Generally PETRONAS complies with the Malaysian government’s or whichever local governments’ (where it has its operations) rules and regulations in terms of social welfare including employee benefits or environmental concerns. However, in countries such as Myanmar, the human rights law itself is very low in standard, so complying with them may not be an issue at all for PETRONAS but certainly not sufficient from sustainable point of view. Recommendations for PETRONAS to be a “Sustaining Corporation”:- it should look beyond just
compliance to the governments’ rules and regulation. PETRONAS management should actively pursue social equity and human welfare issues while continue to be in operations in countries where the local government is condemned for human rights violations such as Myanmar. PETRONAS should use its influence to pressure the local governments to improve their human rights records. PETRONAS also must report out any improvements it has managed to bring out directly and indirectly. The benefits for PETRONAS are its corporate image will be tremendously improved and not be condemned by human rights groups while being able to continue operations in those countries. However, PETRONAS must also be prepared not to continue its business if it doesn’t succeed in improving human rights situation. Note: This may be difficult considering PETRONAS is fully owned by the Malaysian government and the Malaysian government’s position on Myanmar is to work with the present government in Myanmar to reduce its human rights violations and not to isolate it.

4.3 Promoting Renewable Energy

PETRONAS’s active research and development of renewable energy especially bio-fuel is important for its long term sustainability. It is worth to note here that biofuel (using palm oil) is in Malaysia’s “agenda” of renewable energy. Malaysian government is looking for alternate uses for its palm oil which is priced commodity and key revenue generator for the country. However, there are sustainability concerns as mentioned in section 3.3 above. Recommendations for PETRONAS to be a “Sustaining Corporation”:- it should look beyond just fuels (fossil-fuel or bio-fuel) as its revenue generator. PETRONAS should invest part of its research or fuel exploration budget into research of other more natural and sustainable energy sources and technology such as wind farms and solar. PETRONAS should form strategic partnerships with electricity producers in Malaysia and abroad to use PETRONAS’s new technology to generate electricity. The benefits for PETRONAS is by forming early partnerships with electricity producers and tie them with its technology, PETRONAS can ensure it has a great competitive advantage over other “energy sellers” and ensure it can continually be profitable while being a sustaining corporation.

4.4 Sharing of Expertise and Funding

PETRONAS’s involvement and contributions on education and human resource development are exemplary. PETRONAS, being a fully owned government entity, is actually expected by the Malaysian community in general, to contribute back to society. What is being done, however, is not enough. Recommendations for PETRONAS to be a “Sustaining Corporation”:- it should openly share its research findings on sustainable technology and best practices such as alternative energy sources and management & leadership techniques to promote sustainability with the institutes it is running which include Universiti Teknologi PETRONAS (UTP), Institut Teknologi Petroleum PETRONAS (INSTEP) and PETRONAS Management Training. It should also provide financial funding and expertise help for these institutions to conduct their own independent research on “alternative energy” technology. The benefits for PETRONAS (and Malaysia) is that this will help the institutions to achieve academic and research excellence and this will help the Malaysian government’s aspirations to make Malaysian an educational hub in this region. This will in turn help PETRONAS and its institution to attract world class talents into its fold.

5 Conclusion

In terms of Corporate Social Responsibility activities, PETRONAS is doing well. But it focuses more on non-direct activities. In order to become a sustaining corporation, PETRONAS should start practicing “real” corporate social responsibility by reducing and stopping environmental damage caused by its operations and actively seeks renewable and sustainable energy sources. In order to move into sustaining phase, PETRONAS must first treat the Environment as its definite stakeholder.

SWOT Analysis for AirAsia

2008-07-23T10:51:00.005+08:00

Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats Analysis for AirAsia

1.0 Strengths

Ø Air Asia has a very strong management team with strong links with governments and airline industry leaders. This is partly contributed by the diverse background of the executive management teams which consists of industry experts and ex-top government officials. For example, Shin Corp (formerly owned by the family of former Thai Prime Minister - Thaksin Shinawatra) holds a 50% stake in Thai AirAsia. This has helped AirAsia to open up and capture a sizeable market in Thailand. With their strong working relationship with Airbus, they managed to get big discount for aircraft purchase which is also more fuel efficient compared to Boeing 737 planes which is being used by many other airlines

Ø The management team is also very good in strategy formulation and execution. The strategy that they have formulated at the beginnings was a clever blend of proven strategies by other low cost airlines is US and Europe. They are Ryanair’s operational strategy (no frills, landing in secondary airport), Southwest’s people strategy (employee comes first) and Easyjet’s branding strategy (linking with other service providers like hotels, car rental).

Ø AirAsia’s brand name is well established in Asia Pacific. Besides the normal print media advertising & promotions, AirAsia’s top management also capitalised on promotions through news by being very “media friendly” and freely sharing the latest information on Air Asia as well as the airline industry. Their partnership with other service providers such as hotels and hostels, car rental firms, hospitals (medical tourism), Citibank (AirAsia Citibank card) has created a very unique image among travellers. Alliance with Galileo GDS (Global Distribution System) that enables travel agents from around the world to check flight details and make bookings have also contributed to their string brand name. Air Asia’s local presence in few countries such as Indonesia (Indonesia AirAsia) and Thailand (Thai AirAsia) have successfully “elevated” the brand to become a regional brand beyond just Malaysia. The links with Manchaster United (one of the world’s most famous football teams) and AT&T Williams Formula One team have further boosted their image to a greater extend beyond just the this region

Ø AirAsia is the low cost leader in Asia. With the help of AirAsia Academy, AirAsia has successfully created a “low-cost airline mentality” among their workforce. The workforce is very flexible and high committed and very critical in making AirAsia the lowest cost airline in Asia.

Ø The excellent utilization of IT have directly contributed to their promotional activities (email alerts and desktop widget which was jointly developed with Microsoft for new promotions), brand building exercise (with over 3 million hits per month and on the most widely surfed booking engines in the world) as well keep the cost low by enabling direct purchase of tickets by consumer thus saving on airline agent fees

2.0 Weaknesses

Ø Air Asia does not have its own maintenance, repair and overhaul (MRO) facility. It may be a good strategy when they first started with only Malaysia as the hub and few planes to maintain. But now, with few hubs (Malaysia, Thailand and Indonesia) and over 100 planes currently owned and about another 100 planes to be received in the next few years, AirAsia have to ensure proper and continuous maintenance of the planes which will also help to keep the overall costs low. It is a competitive disadvantage not to have its own MRO facility

Ø AirAsia receives a lot complaints from customers on their service. Examples of complaints are around flight delays, being charged for a lot of things and not able to change flight or get a refund if customers could not make it. Good customer service and management is critical especially when competition is getting intense.

3.0 Opportunities

Ø There are 2 major events that are taking place now or going to take place in less than 6 months from now. First, is the ever increasing oil price. Second, is the “ASEAN Open Skies” agreement that has been reached.

Ø The increasing oil price at the first glance may appear like a threat for AirAsia. But being a low cost leader, AirAsia an upper hand because its cost will be still the lowest among all the regional airlines. Thus, AirAsia has a great opportunity to capture some of the existing customers of full service and other low cost airline’s customers. However, there will be also some reduction in overall travel especially by casual or budget travellers.

Ø The “ASEAN Open Skies” allows unlimited flights among ASEAN’s regional air carriers beginning December 2008. This will definitely increase the competition among the regional airlines. However, with the “first mover” advantage as well as its strengths in management, strategy formulation, strategy execution, strong brand and “low-cost” culture among its workforce, this agreement can be seen as more of an opportunity.

Ø There is also some opportunity to partner with other low cost airlines as Virgin to tap into their existing strengths or competitive advantages such as brand name, landing rights and landing slots (time to land).

Ø The population of Asian middle class will be reaching almost 700 million by 2010. This creates a larger market and a huge opportunity for all low cost airlines in this region including AirAsia.

4.0 Threats

Ø Certain rates like airport departure, security charges and landing charges are beyond the control of airline operators and this is a threat to all airlines especially low cost airlines which tries to keep their cost as low as possible. For example, Changi airport in Singapore charges SGD21 for every person who departs from Singapore.

Ø AirAsia’s profit margin is about 30% and this has already attracted many competitors. Most of the full service airlines have or planning to create a low cost subsidiary to compete directly with AirAsia. For example, Singapore Airlines has created a low cost carrier Tiger Airways.

Ø Users’ perception that budget airlines may compromise safety to keep costs low.

Nucor Analysis

2008-07-23T07:39:00.004+08:00

Executive Summary

This report primarily discusses the challenges that Nucor is facing or going to face in the wake of steel industry evolution and general social and economic climate changes. Industry standard analysis tools and methods have been used to basically understand what is happening at the macro economy and industry level, where Nucor's strengths and weaknesses are, and how they can continue to strive in this challenging environment.

The financial analysis shows that Nucor has been doing very well in the past 5 years by developing the right strategy and executing them well. However, in the face of economic boom in emerging countries, globalization, scarcity of raw materials, increasing concerns for environmental well being and worsening energy crisis, Nucor is presented with new threats and opportunities. It should capitalize on its key strengths especially the people, manufacturing excellence and lean organizational structure to face these threats and capitalize on the opportunities.

Introduction

Nucor’s goal is to “Take Care of Our Customers.” - by being the safest, highest quality, lowest cost, most productive and most profitable steel and steel products company in the world while at the same time being cultural and environmental stewards in our communities where it exists.

External Analysis

PEST Analysis

Government(s) plays a very important role in steel industry by two ways. First, it imposes tariffs and trade barriers when local manufacturers need protection. However, with Free Trade Agreements signed, this role is reduced. Government(s) also provides tax breaks (and subsidies in some countries) to support industry growth. Second, it enforces international and local environmental laws to reduce pollution and protect the environment. 
High population or economic growth especially in India, China, Brazil and Russia has increased demand for new buildings, vehicles and other infrastructures which in turn increases the overall demand for steel and steel based products. 
Steel industries are intensive energy users and the ever increasing fuel price is pushing the manufacturers to keep on finding for and adopting a more efficient steel manufacturing technology and process. Technology is also used to produce higher quality steel products.
Mergers and acquisitions are taking place especially in the past few years as a growth strategy as well as to capitalize on economics of scale during purchasing and production thus becoming more cost competitive in this industry where there is not much differentiation and competition is basically based on price. 
Recycling plays an important part in this industry and with scrap metals prices increasing manufacturers are working on joint ventures to source for cheaper sources. 
Porter's Five Forces Analysis The bargaining power of buyers is high due to various factors. First, there is low level of product differentiation thus low switching cost for buyers. Competition is basically on price. Second, there are many manufacturers in the market thus buyers have many choices. Third, due to cyclical demand for steel, there tend to be (sometimes) oversupply and this gives additional bargaining power to buyers. Bargaining power of suppliers is also high due to scarcity of raw materials especially scrap metals whereby suppliers are raising the price. 
There are a number of substitutes for steel. Some buyers are sourcing for lighter materials to replace the “heavy” steel. This is due to, as an example, end-users demand to have a more fuel efficient automobiles and train wagons. One way is to build smaller and lighter automobiles. However, these substitutes are still costlier. So their threat can be considered medium for now. 
The threat of new entrant is low as it is capital intensive to start and run the business as well as environmental laws and enforcement are getting stricter. 
In summary, the rivalry is high in the steel industry. However, government(s) through its laws plays an important part in increasing or lowering the rivalry.

Internal Analysis
Value Chain Analysis
Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats (SWOT) AnalysisNucor’s key strength is our people. The lean organization structure has created strong leadership at all levels by being able to make quick decisions and be accountable for it as well as share their success and failures with each other. The egalitarian approach towards employee benefit and welfare, compensation based on group performance and production quality, training and job rotation to ensure all employees know all areas of work and an approachable management which practices open communication as well as top to bottom risk taking and innovative culture complemented each other to have created a highly motivated, productive, flexible and innovative workforce. Close relationship with major customers who have co-located with them results in lower shipping cost and lower price for customers. By practicing risk-taking and being innovative Nucor is able to provide superior quality products. Nucor’s superior financial performance is the best in the industry in United States. It is also North America’s largest recycler.
There are weaknesses as well. Almost all of Nucor’s plants are in US making it difficult to compete with Asian manufacturers with lower production costs. Production is energy intensive (20% of total cost). Nucor is dependent on scrap metal (getting scarce and costlier as well as volatile). No internal R&D performed makes it dependent on suppliers or partners to bring in new technology. Being a decentralized organization, there is no coordination between divisions during purchasing or sales which results in duplication of sales and marketing effort and not capitalizing on economies of scale for purchasing.
There are a lot of opportunities for Nucor to expand through mergers and acquisitions, to perform market research to understand existing customers’ product or business roadmaps, to perform R&D to find new steel products, better manufacturing technology and improved process as well as to capture and process waste energy & products into electricity or some useful product for another industry. There is also further opportunity to improve inbound and outbound logistics with the recent purchase of DJJ and also to export steel to emerging markets such as India, China, Brazil and Russia where the demand is growing. 
The major threats that Nucor are facing are increased competition due to globalization, scarcity & rising raw material and energy costs, tougher environmental laws and free trade agreements which allows foreign players who have cheaper labor force, reduced regulation and unfair subsidies to have the cost advantage, being bought over by larger competitor and cyclical demand for steel products. Additionally, substitutes which are lighter but stronger are slowly getting more prominence.

Strategy Formulation
TOWS Strategic Alternatives Matrix


Four Actions Framework of Blue Ocean Strategy
RecommendationThe following strategies are recommended in order to address challenges and to continue achieving high growth and profitability.
1. To continue with current human resource strategy of egalitarian, performance based compensation and risk-taking oriented culture building to maintain the strong leadership at all level and the highly motivated, productive, flexible and innovative workforce. This becomes more critical now with globalization and mergers & acquisitions which are making steel industry more competitive.
2. To continue with lean and decentralized organization but streamline/coordinate purchasing, sales and marketing activities. This is to reduce duplication of efforts, overall costs and benefit from economies of scale and be more consistent to customers.
3. To build long term relationship with customers by understanding their product and business roadmaps. This will help to :-
a. Reduce the impact of cyclical demand and reduce the chances of customers switching to other suppliers (manufacturers). 
b. Determine products to be eliminated from our offering.
c. Tailor our pre- and after sales services based on customers’ need and expectation
4. To start and grow internal research and development (R&D) capability in order to continuously :-
a. Streamline manufacturing technology and process to be more environmental friendly, productive and cost effective.
b. To find ways to turn waste or by-products into energy that can be re-used by Nucor or into something valuable that can be sold to other industries. This is to reduce energy costs or generate supplementary income for Nucor.
c. Identify new products (that matches customer future and current needs). Offering what customer wants at a cheaper cost, higher quality and timely manner will make them stay with Nucor. For example, pre-fabricated building and lighter automotive components. 
d. Identify alternative raw materials. This is to reduce dependability on scrap metal.
5. To expand internationally especially to emerging regions which includes India, China, Brazil and Russia through mergers & acquisitions and joint-ventures with local partners. This is to take advantage of low production cost and at the same time be closer to growing markets.
6. To fully utilize newly acquired inbound and outbound logistics capability (JCC) to further reduce shipping costs to customers.

Key Success FactorsThe key success factors for these strategies are:-
1. Successful proliferation and implementation of current human resource strategy (and policies) to newer plants especially those outside of US. Different regions have their own history, work culture and political agendas that may hinder the implementation exact Nucor’s human resource strategy. 
2. Sufficient allocation of financial and human resources for expansion and also for research and development activities. Formal R&D will bring Nucor’s existing risk-and innovation taking culture to a new level. Nucor must be willing to spend considerable amount of money and resources to make this effort successful. 
3. Involvement or willingness of customers to share their product or business roadmap with Nucor. Product or business roadmap may be a strategic advantage that customers will choose not to divulge to others. Nucor must convince our customers to share their roadmap to create a win-win situation for both parties.