Sunday, January 29, 2006

Why Corporate Social Responsibility

Corporate Social ResponsibilityTalked with Stefani today, she take thesis to take bachelor graduate in her college, and she focus in Corporate Social Responsibility.

I remember, last month I read SWA magazine at "It's Coffee Timoho", the magazine create full articles about CSR. I also read some of the articles from the internet then.

Corporate social responsibility (CSR) is an expression used to describe what some see as a company’s obligation to be sensitive to the needs of all of its stakeholders in its business operations. The principle is closely linked with the imperative of ensuring that these operations are "sustainable" i.e. that it is recognised that it is necessary to take account not only of the financial/economic dimension in decision making also the social and environmental consequences "Sustainable Development".

A company’s stakeholders are all those who are influenced by and/or can influence a company’s decisions and actions, both locally and globally. These include (but are not limited to): employees, customers, suppliers, community organizations, subsidiaries and affiliates, joint venture partners, local neighborhoods, investors, and shareholders (or a sole owner).

Seems great. I interested about apply a kind of metrics to Corporate Social Responsibility, so we can get the result value from CSR strategy, to improve "the life of company". I need more readings about CSR. Would someone help me to find more books or articles about this? :D

Friday, January 20, 2006

Point of Management: Know Yourself & Do for Others

Most of management and leadership teach us how to work with people and make them moving. Then I think that influence people is skill that must started from our self. We think, other people think, but in general all people have same thinking about everything general in life.

This is general rules that already given since 2000 years ago:
Therefore all things whatsoever ye would that men should do to you, do ye even so to them: for this is the law and the prophets.


If we want something from other people, we should aware that we should do something with them, and we can start it from our self, how we can manage our self and then after we can manage our self, we can start to manage other.

Thursday, January 12, 2006

Jonathan Limbong Parapak: Want to be a Boss? Be a Servant First

Dr. Jonathan Limbong Parapak, M.Eng.ScI'm interested read Mr. Jonathan Parapak profile after listen his speech few years ago in Christian Community in my campus. He is leader in national top company, and he talked about how to be a good leader and good servant. He said that leader should be the problem solver, not become part of the problem.

After read his biography I can see that from the begining of his life, his humble to give great service to others is the main key why he can reach the life like now. Dr. Radius Prawiro said in his book about Jonathan L Parapak that Mr. Parapak think as learner and servant, and then it become the key to achieve his goals.

Want to be a Boss? Be a Servant First...

Monday, January 9, 2006

Teamwork: Grimms Fairy Tales about The Mouse, the Bird, and the Sausage

Bird, Mouse & SausageI read about "Grimms Fairy Tales - The Mouse, the Bird, and the Sausage", it make me aware about how teamwork should be.

We talk about responsibility to our own job, and enjoy our own job, because the other jobs done by the other member in our team. Don't think that their job is easier than our job, and never think that someone in a team is useless. Like parts of body, the team work run and work together in their own responsibility. Every part in a team have its own talent. We should be in faith that with good team work, we can achieve everything.

Marketing and Customer Feedback

Customer FeedbackMarketing is the way to find new customers and keep old customers to be our lifetime and fanatic buyers. Jay Abraham wrote book "21 Power Principles of Business Builders Who Get Rich", and make one time customer into lifetime buyers is one of the principles.

We already try our marketing strategy and it's work. What we do then?

I usually called by customer service of some company I registered with their services, like telephone, cellular, internet, bank, and some other services. They asked me what I feel after join to their services, and what company have to do to improve their services. They also ask me why and what makes me join to the service. Of course I only join to a service when I need :D

Customer feedback is one of the way to get information to improve marketing strategy. We cannot measure quality of our company marketing techniques without customer feedback. We can make more sale, but what is value added after customer receive our product? And can we make sure that our old customer will back to us to add new order after they receive our first delivery?

Create a question list to your customer and ask them what we can do to them to improve our services. With doing it, you already start to receive customer feedback to improve marketing strategy and also company services.

And also remember that customer feedback not also limited to the answer list of questions we have asked, but also we should know how our product or services used by them after delivery. Customer can 'lie' that they satisfied with the product, but they tell the truth when they use it, about how they use the product.

What I think about customer feedback in marketing?

We can measure our marketing result with sales data, but we cannot measure our marketing future strategy without customer feedback

Tuesday, January 3, 2006

Effective and Accelerated Learning Methods

BrainSometimes I faced problem, that I can't learn well. With so lack of attention and concentration, it make me difficult to learn and remember materials. I read few articles and find out how to get effective learning and I got few simply steps.

Learning by doing
Learning by doing is one of effective ways to remember what we read or studying. With practice, we can learn how things happen and work. This kind of studying techniques applied in school, and they usually call it lab work, field work, or the synonyms. In real world learning by doing can be good start to apply it in our daily life.

Problem based learning
Problem based learning applied when we have materials or problem than must be solved. This is like challenge to students to solve the problem. This method used by some school or university to expand the practice sense, so the student's can know the real problem in their work field, and learn to solve the problem. This is good start to prepare our mind in to real work place.

Learning by teaching
Stephen Covey wrote article that we can get effective learning by teaching what we get to others. He called it "Accelerated Learning", and in his paper he said that "You will accelerated your learning and exponentially increase corporate learning when you teach what you learn to others". The advantages are:

  • You simply learn better when you teach.

  • When you teach something yoo feel good about, you increase the likelihood of living it.

  • When you teach what you learn, you promote bonding in relationship.

  • When you teach something that you are learning, you lubricates the change and growth process yourself.



The main key in learning by teaching is be proactive each others, so in knowledge sharing process everyone is teacher and everyone is student. Sometimes we speaking, and sometimes we listening.