Be Ready For Change, SMEs Told

Danial Norjidi
Thursday, 31 May 2012

Bandar Seri Begawan – The Asia Inc Forum held a Seminar on Blue Ocean Strategy yesterday as a part of their Local Business Development Programme.

Themed “Creating Breakthrough Growth in Your Business”, the seminar brought together over 60 SMEs from various industries, including those of retail, food and beverage, oil and gas, real estate, ICT, logistics and consultancy.

The event saw a dialogue on “Overcoming the Challenges of Growth”, which was led by Mr Ti Eng Hui, the Deputy GM of Retail Banking at Baiduri Bank and Shirley Leong, Partner Manager from Microsoft (Brunei).

Mr Ti Eng Hui said, “We are proud to be able to participate in the development and continued growth of local SMEs through this programme.

As a bank with deep knowledge and understanding of the local environment, it is important that there is constant dialogue and discussion with the SME business community to understand each other better.”

The seminar was followed by the Blue Ocean Strategy Workshop, which was facilitated by Dr Peter Ting, Regional Vice President of Operations & Market Innovation and Raj Kumar, the Director of Strategy & Innovation at the UCSI Blue Ocean Strategy Regional Centre in Malaysia. Dr Ting is responsible for formulating the strategic blueprints and developing talents to pioneer the growth and expansion of the Blue Ocean Strategy consulting in the Asia-Pacific region. Raj has served in several listed multinational companies and his consulting experiences include the setting up of business operations, strategic planning and implementation to project management.

Speaking on the day’s proceedings, Delwin Keasberry, the Programme Manager of the Asia Inc Forum said, “SMEs must continually prepare for change. Today, with endless choices of resources and the knowledge that change happens, entrepreneurs should consider this: In 1900, the total amount of knowledge available to humankind was doubling about every 500 years.

“In 1990, it was doubling every two years. Today, the rate of change is doubling even higher,” he said. “Imagine the implications of that kind of increase in the rate of change and how an organisation can remain sustainable, significant and competitive.”

He said that the purpose of bringing the Blue Ocean Strategy into the picture for the seminar and workshop was to provide the opportunity for SMEs to assess and rethink their current business strategy.

“Blue Ocean Strategy looks at the big picture view, that is, the entire value chain of a business and the way of thinking, rather than sub system of the entire organisation,” he said.

—Courtesy of Borneo Bulletin

Source: http://www.brudirect.com/index.php/Local-News/be-ready-for-change-smes-told.html