MRCA CEO Get-together

Hosted by Fusionex, its Founder and Group CEO Dato’ Seri Ivan Teh shared his thoughts on how businesses can cope and survive with the rapidly expanding digital economic frontier.

he amount of data that T the world is consuming is growing exponentially every second, he said. “Data is growing because people are searching for products online, uploading videos, consuming livestreams, and this is something that we in Malaysia have a great opportunity,” he said at the event which was attended by about 70 CEOs of companies who are members of MRCA. The event was held at the Fusionex office in Petaling Jaya recently.

He pointed out that there is a big pool of talent in Malaysia. “A lot of things at Silicon Valley, for example, are not done in Silicon Valley. In reality, Malaysians deliver a lot of these products branded at Silicon Valley, just as how American producers have branded their goods in Europe.

The global landscape, Dato’ Seri Ivan pointed out, is disorientating as there is an eruption of disruptive technologies and change that incumbents cannot deal with. “There’s a lot of fluidity and uncertainty businesses have to strategise today... and no one can assume that traditional bases of competitive advantages will remain competitive. Constant change is the new norm.”

Dato’ Seri Ivan cited the McKinsey report that in 1964, S&P500 companies had an average lifespan – how long a company would last before it gets acquired or disappears – of 33 years. In 2016, this lifespan reduced to 24 years. In 2027, it is estimated to be only 12 years. “This is intimidating information. If companies don’t evolve, they will cease to be relevant.”

He also drew references to Jeff Bezos, Jack Ma, Richard Branson, Steve Jobs and Elon Musk. “They’ve disrupted different types of businesses and revolutionised how things really happen. Think about Honda, GM, Toyota... these are all good brands, yet Tesla is more valuable…because innovation has made it such.”

He quoted Steve Jobs who said that when his customers asked him to give the “what they want” he replied that his job was to “figure out what they’re going to do before they do it”. “We need to read

Fusionex Group CEO Dato’ Seri Ivan Teh.

Fusionex MD of New Technologies Jacob Isaac.

Fusionex Senior Director of Solutions Development Nicholas Tan.

Fusionex Programme Director James Martin.

Fusionex Senior Manager Tan Sean Khong.

things not yet on the page and that’s something that we have to discuss. I think we have that great creativity in ourselves – to brainstorm and do amazing things,” said Dato’ Seri Ivan.

He added that apart from operational efficiencies and tangible return on investment, it is important to develop a flexible, agile solution because things will change along the way. “We have to be prepared for that change and be fast in identifying the neglected opportunities with a clear overall strategy. Think big with a vision, start small, and scale really fast. We could build something for when a crisis strikes,” he stated adding that Fusionex

MRCA President Ms. Shirley Tay.

is privileged to have MRCA as friends.

“Fusionex can play the role as MRCA’s friendly and supportive partner. We are happy to help not just in words, in strength and in spirit, but also in effort, in kind and in funding.”

Earlier, organising chairman Dato’ Liew Bin who is also MRCA Deputy President, thanked the participants for their support in attending the event which was sold out within a week of its announcement.

“The opportunity to network is one of the reasons we join MRCA as it brings together the top bosses from the franchising, branding, and retail industries providing everyone

Dato’Liew Bin.

an opportunity to mingle, share and exchange ideas.”

He also encouraged everyone to participate in MRCA President Shirley Tay’s charity event, “Love Touches Heart” by donating towards helping single mothers.

President Shirley Tay shared with the audience that she started the “single mother project” after reading a report by theEdge which stated that close to 40% of the people losing their jobs due to the Covid-19 pandemic were single mothers.

“Fifty per cent of them have no money or access to social protection at all. The Secretariat team, my committee members, and I have visited a lot of

homes. It was very heart-breaking to see that many of the single mothers not only had to care for their families, but were also the breadwinners for their families.”

She also appealed to the members to donate generously to the charity cause. The target is RM100,000 and to date, they have raised RM50,000. The funds will be distributed to six single mothers’ charity organisations.

Shirley Tay also shared her sixpoint action plans and said that the newly-created Women’s Division, led by Dato’ Winnie Lim, has received many registrations and encouraged all women entrepreneurs to join. The F&B Chapter helmed by Datuk Seri Garry Chua, will seek to voice out for those in the fraternity.

With regards to Assist in Recoveries, she said that she had spoken with some members who had recently listed their company but were unable to attain the results desired due to the pandemic. “I hope that we continue to stay patient, positive and motivated.”

On the Secretariat being an effective information and communication hub, she said the Secretariat and Council are

working more closely together to ensure its members will be the first to receive pertinent information.

Later, there was also an exchange of mementoes between MRCA and Fusionex and a cheque presentation of RM10,000 by Fusionex as its contribution towards the “Love Touches Heart” charity project.

There was also a sharing session by four Fusionex International staff. Jacob Isaac, Managing Director of New Technologies, gave an insight into Fusionex’s operations, performance

Interesting facts shared by Dato’ Seri Ivan Teh

•200 years ago, 90% of the world’s population worked in agriculture. Today, about 2 % work in agriculture. • Radio took 38 years to reach 50 million users. TV, 13 years, the Internet, 4 years and iPod, 4 years while Facebook took only 9 months to reach 100 million users. • The world’s population today is about 7 billion, and we have close to 10 billion connected devices. By 2028, we will have more than 100 billion connected devices. • The supercomputer that helped land Apollo 11 on the moon in 1969 was only 6 megabytes – smaller than the Pokemon app. The iPhone had 40,000 times more processing power and storage compared to that supercomputer. • McKinsey reports that in 1964 S&P500 companies have an average lifespan of 33 years. In 2016 it is reduced to 24 years and in 2027 it is about 12 years.

and how they can help transform from “What If” to What’s Next” for every business use; James Martin, Program Director, spoke on Post Covid-19 eCommerce Forecast and AI-powered Personalised Digital Marketing, while Nicholas Tan, Senior Director, Solution Development, shared on “To Digitalise or Not to Digitalise and Tan Sean Kong, Senior Manager, on “Grant and Training”.

The event ended with cocktails and drinks with everyone mingling and networking with one another.