EximBank - Mixed views by SOBA award judges on entries

PETALING JAYA: The panel of judges that had begun the initial judging of the submissions for the third round of Star Business Awards 2012 (SOBA) harboured mixed opinions when shortlisting the participating companies this year.

Source from (The Star Online): http://biz.thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2012/9/7/business/11981997&sec=business

Published: September 07, 2012
Panelist Federation of Malaysian Manufacturers council member Datuk Mizanur Rahman Ghani said the entries for this year's award showed improvement from the past years and believed that the awareness created by the awards had spilled over to the larger business community.

“I think the sharing of knowledge by last year's winners in the roadshow held must have been a great contributor to this year's better submissions,” he said after the initial judging session.

He believed that the knowledge-sharing, which was absent previously, has rubbed off companies that were not participants as well, thus raising the awareness for a balance between profiteering and giving back.

“Even companies who may not have participated would have learned. It is through the sharing that we have improved the standards of the business community as a whole,” he said.

From left: SME Association president Teh Kee Sin, Exim Bank Malaysia product development department assistant vice-president Zulkipli Md Yunos, Mizanur, Star Publications (M) Bhd chief financial officer Ragesh Rajendran and Bursa Malaysia head issuer for ACE Market Hanita Othman having a panel discussion to shortlist the participants for SOBA.

 

“If through this award, the business community can learn to manage and operate their businesses in a balanced manner, it would be a win-win situation for them as well as the community and nation.”
He added: “SOBA is not only contributing to the improvement of business practices and standard but also playing a meaningful and useful role in raising the level of balance between achieving business objectives and corporate social responsibility (CSR).”

Mizanur noted that while he would like to see more participants in the future, he said that “better quality submissions than the quantity”.

He also said that the increasing number of small and medium enterprises (SMEs) participating meant that these companies had achieved a certain level of maturity, acknowledging the pride in their work.

“That shows the consciousness among the SMEs, that they are proud of what they do and are stating it,” he said.
However, not every panel was entirely impressed with the entries they saw.

Another judge, Media Specialists Association president Ranganathan Somanathan, said he found many of the SME participants still too “focused on one P product while there are huge opportunities for them to ramp-up their efforts with the other three Ps pricing, promotions and placing”.

“This requires a mindset change among the SMEs to tackle market opportunities rather than operate at a very organic level to sustain current business,” he said.

For branding, Ranganathan said he noticed there were more up-and-coming companies putting in more effort in telling their brand stories. “The more established companies, on the other hand, have taken the easy road. Thus, their stories are not coming through that well,” he said.

He said there were also “inspiring stories” among the participants who had transformed their business from a fledging brand to a reasonably-sized brand and made use of technology to market themselves.
Ranganathan praised these participants for being single-minded and relentless in pursuing business for their companies.

Associated Chinese Chambers of Commerce and Industry of Malaysia national council member Koong Lin Loong said he had hoped to see more outstanding efforts from those participating, especially in the Best Employer category.
“The quality does not seem to have improved from the past two years. What the participants seemed to have done for their employees are the norm,” he said, adding that what the panel wanted to see was extraordinary efforts in being a “caring employer” rather than just installing facilities like gymnasiums.

“They say they have better remuneration and higher bonuses but these are ordinary. We want to see what they have done for the employees and their families besides the monetary rewards,” Koong said, noting that employees should work towards creating a familial sense of belonging at their workplace.

On the Best in CSR category, Koong noted that the quality of entries had improved though not as much as he had hoped for.

“We want to see more SOBA spirit in their CSR. We want to encourage the enterprises to do more than just donating to a home so that they can be a real winner that embodies the spirit of the award,” he said, adding that some entries had come in with only a cheque-presentation photo.

The 2012 SOBA promises to see some significant enhancements. For one, the awards are divided into two broad categories the top-of-the-class awards and outstanding achievement awards. There are eight sub-categories for the former and three for the latter.

Now in its third year, the awards will reward winners with almost RM1mil worth of advertising space and airtime.

Exim Bank is the presenter of the awards, supported by Bursa Malaysia. The Royale Chulan Kuala Lumpur is the official hotel partner. Red Tomato is the official Chinese newspaper, while the official radio stations are 988FM and RedFM. The awards auditor is BDO.