SBACC Aug-Sep 2015 Newsletter

PMC NNECT S B ACC ’s N e ws l e t t e r

Issue 2015 August - September | www.sbacc.org.sg

staying relevant – the key to success

MANAGEMENT MESSAGE

Aug - Sep

CONTENTS 03

BEING A PRACTIsING MANAGEMENT CONSULTANT IN SINGAPORE

06

NEED TO KNOW Chalk up your CPD Hours – more options now available Human Resources Domain applications now open

07

PMC SAYS Creating an innovationcentric culture for continuous organisational Improvement

10

SME STORY Speaking the same language …..with the perfect consultant!

12

UPCOMING EVENT: IP Week @SG IP Course: Intellectual property law to support an organisation

Sin g apore Bus i ness Advi s o rs a n d Con sultants Co u nc i l 2 Bukit Merah Central #18-03 , Singapore 159835 Tel: +65 6272 3238 Fax: +65 6273 3023

Professionalising Management Consultancy M a n y ye a rs ag o, when a company engaged a management consultant, it was largely a “hit or miss” affair.

They could chance on a really good consultant who could help them on their way to progress, or it could be someone who made promises but could not deliver because of lack of expertise or experience or commitment.

Today, the PMCs certified by SBACC are recognized for their hard work and perseverance in their pursuit of establishing themselves as true professionals in their specialized fields of management consultancy. They make the commitment to stay relevant and up to date.

They travel widely and have indeed made significant and impactful transformations for businesses at national, regional and global levels.

As we celebrate Singapore’s 50th birthday, we reflect on how far Singapore has come, and how the truly professional management consultant can excel in this environment, and how important it is to keep on being open to new learning and new ideas, to cultivate an innovative climate that will help keep us competitive.

Let us celebrate SG50 together!

Lau Chuen Wei (MISs) Executive Director

www.sbacc.org.sg | secretariat@sbacc.org.sg | marketing@sbacc.org.sg | www.facebook.com/sbaccsg

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F E AT U R E

Being a

Practising Management Consultant

in Singapore

A

s we celebrate Singapore’s Jubilee, we take pride in who we are, what we have achieved and where we stand in the global arena. And that applies to our certified Practising Management Consultants (PMCs) too. SBACC’s certified PMCs are defined by their integrity, professionalism and most of all, their commitment to their jobs at hand - they are indeed professionals who stay true to their trade.

So how are they able to engage on the international stage? How do they keep themselves relevant? How do they see the future for management consultants in Singapore?

PMConnect speaks to PMC Susan See (SS); PMC, PMC Bilingual Chinese & English, Luke Lim (LL) and PMC, PMC-Bilingual Chinese & English, Patrick Chan (PC) to find out more.

Connect: Tell us a little bit about what you do on a daily basis as a Practising Management Consultant.

SS: I begin the day by reading the dailies and surfing news channels to keep abreast with the latest news in industry, on technologies and any new regulatory or policy changes. Meetings with clients are critical as they help me understand their operations and requirements

before I can draft recommendations for them and work with my team on implementation planning.

LL : Every day is different, but most days include meeting clients as well as professional experts from various fields. I also work closely with my internal teams to engage in problem solving sessions.

Through all this, we end up learning a lot and at the same time value adding to each other.

Keeping abreast of technological and global paradigm shift is very important as it can help us help our clients break through from their current mindsets to a journey of innovative creativity within their organisations.

- Susan See.

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F E AT U R E

Connect: So, is learning and keeping abreast important?

How do you ensure that you remain relevant and current?

SS: Keeping abreast of technological and global paradigm shift is very important as it can help us help our clients break through from their current mindsets to a journey of innovative creativity within their organisations.

LL: Life is changing faster than anyone ever imagined and we, as consultants, must learn to embrace change in a dynamic world. Technology, especially the disruptive kind, continues to alter various aspects of life, upsetting the status quo. Globalisation has also brought about significant changes to our economy through international trade and foreign investments. These present opportunities for local companies to improve their competitive position, while gradually going global. And local players are indeed seeking expansion beyond their home markets while multinational companies are seeking more presence in Singapore. These days, we focus a lot on digital strategies and competency

there is great value in partnering with other consultants, complementing each other with their respective strengths and leveraging each other’s networks and teams.

leveraging each other’s networks and teams. Regular business networking and participation in industry events, both local and regional/international, as well as keeping abreast through news updates from government agencies and industry associations like SBF, SCCCI and SBACC help tremendously.

LL : With technological advancement, resource and knowledge exchange has gone global and consultants are presented with opportunities to build and maintain global teams with diverse skills. In Singapore, we are very fortunate that with government initiatives such as SkillsFuture, opportunities to upgrade one’s skillset through various courses become bountiful. Acquiring deeper skills relevant to one’s job and developing skills and mastery, will not only help us individually in our respective careers, but will also take the economy to the next level. More importantly, it helps us chart our own journeys in life and gain fulfilment at work.

Connect : You mentioned that Singapore is in an enviable position where foreign businesses are seeking to enter the market while local companies are seeking a foothold outside of Singapore. You also said that Singapore’s landscape provides great opportunities for PMCs to upskill themselves. What strengths then, do you think the Singapore management

consultant can bring to the table?

SS : Singapore is a natural melting pot with companies from many other countries setting up their operations and HQs in this city. We work with both local enterprises and MNCs and this gives us better understanding, knowledge and experience in best practices across companies, cultures, backgrounds and processes.

LL : Being a regional hub, the Singapore management consultant has the strong advantage of understanding multi and diversified cultures. Having also gone through the rigorous certification process of SBACC, the SBACC-certified management consultant has been tested to be able to deliver critical and analytical thinking.

PC : An SBACC certified PMC is not only competent, but reliable, and serves as a leader in his own field, playing instrumental roles in assisting local and overseas companies, government agencies and regional institutions.

Many of us were also previously senior executives in business, industry or government, bringing with us experiences from leading MNCs and government institutions.

Connect : Do you see growing opportunities for Singapore management consultants?

SS : There are definitely growing opportunities for Singapore management consultants as we continue to stay as a city with companies that want to remain competitive in the global

- Patrick Chan.

for our clients. We must understand the dynamics of globalisation to be relevant.

PC : I believe in continuous learning and upgrading. For example, I am currently undergoing ACTA training to be a qualified adult trainer. I also believe that there is great value in partnering with other consultants, complementing each other with their respective strengths and AUG- SEP 2015 | 04

F E AT U R E

landscape by focusing on growing productivity levels. Our dream of becoming the world’s first Smart Nation in integrating intelligent data to help companies compete better and serve the community will also enhance the value proposition of Singapore’s management consultants.

LL : The potential for Singapore’s management consultants to grow is tremendous. The Singapore system creates an open and efficient business environment contrasted against a backdrop of Asian values and heritage. Our cosmopolitan

Singapore’s probusiness environment is bolstered by a robust financial sector.

- Luke Lim.

talent pool, diversified business landscape and trusted legal and political framework make it a great base for professional services firms to create innovative solutions for future business needs.

PC : Growth areas in Singapore range from the rising megatrend of sustainability and technology like IoT, to the emergence of regional and international markets such as Central Asia as well as the economic integration of ASEAN.

Connect: As we celebrate SG50, and reflect on the progress that Singapore has made, please tell us how, in your opinion,

has the Singapore system helped you to excel in the management consultancy industry?

LL : Singapore’s pro-business environment is bolstered by a robust financial sector. Our sophisticated base of MNCs creates high valueadd activities such as IP, brand equity management and even M&A, creating a strong demand for professional services. Not only are we able to boast a well-educated and highly skilled population, we are also able to tap on the global pool of highend professionals. Because of our multicultural society and diversity in industries, we offer a good test-bed for innovative business solutions tailored to Asian needs. The large presence of MNCs headquartered here also allows Singapore to be a launch pad for many of these innovations.

PC : The bilingual training in Singapore has been immensely beneficial for me to become a PMC-Bilingual consultant serving the Chinese-speaking towkays (business owners) and companies targeting the Greater China markets or those from these markets looking at entering Singapore and the region.

SS : Singapore has a very efficient and mature e-government infrastructure and most local enterprises have easy access to the available government support schemes to help them upgrade their operations and enhance their capabilities. There are also ample training programmes for the workforce to help them stay relevant.

Connect : Thank you so much for your time and being so generous in sharing your thoughts.

Do you have any last words for our readers?

SS : Continue to stay relevant. Deepen your skillsets and make learning part of our lifelong journey.

LL : Agility, Learning and Mastery of our craft in the fields we specialise in.

PC : A good management consultant needs to not only meet, but surpass the expectations of clients and all stakeholders, delivering outstanding results while managing limited time, resources and budget.

SUSAN SEE

Director of Digital Connect Pte Ltd

She has been working closely with clients to meet their goals and set them apart in the constantly evolving consumer and digital landscapes. Her vast experience of over 15 years from providing management consultancy to clients and overseeing the deployment of solutions have helped clients and partners in delivering efficient and innovative technology solutions across platforms. She travels twice to three times a week to see her clients around the region.

LUKE LIM

Chief Executive Officer of A. S. Louken Group Pte Ltd.

In 2000, he embarked on what was a personal mission to help enterprises in Asia become market-leading brands. For the past 15 years, the Louken Group has serviced over 1,000 clients in more than 10 countries.

With an integrated network of firms, they have helped MNCs, Asian enterprises and local SMEs across all verticals in their brand growth through a holistic growth model.

Presently he has a team of 80 working across the group’s offices and overseas branches.

Patrick Chan

Co-founder and Managing Director of VisionEdge Technologies and GAC Ventures

Patrick is currently assisting Asian Development Bank (ADB) in the design and roll out of a low carbon technology marketplace for Asia Pacific, and National Environment Agency in its Environment Champions (EC) training programs for corporates, NGOs and schools. GAC Ventures runs Growth Acceleration Centres (GAC) for both early and growth stage companies in cleantech, energy, environment and infocomm sectors. Patrick is also co-founder of Cleantech Marketplace Forum which is connecting clean technologies with projects, markets and investment/financing. As a PMC, he specializes in green and sustainability consultancy, as well as productivity, SME & entrepreneurship, and Chinese markets.

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NEED TO KNOW

Chalk up your CPD hours - more options now available

P

MCs can now look forward to accumulating their Continuing Professional Development (CPD) hours through additional avenues and under new guidelines!

As a criterion, PMCs have to build up their consulting and CPD hours to get re-certified and stay credible in the industry. SBACC understands that under the current structure, some PMCs might feel that they are limited by the type of activities that would count towards their CPD hours.

SBACC has therefore modified the structure and PMCs will stand

to benefit in accumulating their CPD hours more easily - by attending seminars, networking sessions, even study trips … PMCs can now make all those hours count.

Whenever SBACC sends out event announcements, the number of CPD hours, if applicable, will be clearly indicated. Information such as whether the activities come under “Core” or “Non-Core”, “Structured” or “Non-Structured” will also be shown.

Please see a recent example below.

SBACC is confident that these additional avenues will keep PMCs motivated and will encouraged to build on their industry knowledge.

Human Resources Domain Applications Now Open SBACC is offering a Domain Discount of S$700 for PMCs who sign up by 30 October 2015.

For enquiries, please email secretariat@sbacc.org.sg or call Marketing Department at tel: 6272 3238 to find out more.

Awards Presentation Ceremony Tickets available soon, block your calendar today.

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P M C S AYS

PMC Says

Creating an Innovation-Centric Culture for Continuous Organisational Improvement

Delane Lim Zi Xuan

ceo@agapegroupholdings.com

I THE ‘DARE TO DO’ SPIRIT TOGETHER WITH THE RIGHT COMPETENCIES WILL LEAd TO THE CREATION OF MANY INNOVATIVE IDEAS AND PROCESSES.

n recent years, companies have been strongly encouraged to innovate in order to remain competitive. However, while studies and research papers have highlighted how important innovation is to organisations around the world, it has not picked up sufficient momentum at midmanagement levels and in the trenches.

One reason for this could be that unlike many other business functions or processes that have well-defined and documented methodologies, innovation has very little or no accepted protocol in many organisations.

As such, most companies make up their processes as they work on new innovations, and rarely use the same process twice.

However, if not thought through and planned systematically, innovation can be adhoc, haphazard and subject to deeper failures or higher successes than other processes. As innovation carries with it such high risks, establishing some defining processes and metrics will help manage the swings in the outcomes. So what might be some of these metrics?

Aggregate Learning In times of uncertainty, it is only natural that employees will look for definitive guidance: i) What are the established paths? ii) What experts should they turn to? iii) Who has been down this road before and where are their maps?

Thus, aggregate learning should be documented and converted into methodologies for innovation in conjunction with business processes that support such innovation.

Attitudes The ‘dare to do’ spirit together with the right competencies will lead to the creation of many innovative ideas and processes. The organisation will have to: i) develop the appropriate competencies; ii) manage and change the mind-set of staff; iii) attract staff with the right skills and competencies; iv) create a corporate culture that supports change and innovation; v) remove ‘red­tape’ or bureaucracy within and across departments.

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P M C S AYS

The employees will have to collectively get together to pool ideas and define an innovation methodology and business process that could be systemically shared across all departments and sectors.

Management and employees must work together to:

A Create an Innovation and Enterprise (I&E)

Climate in which • staff, managers and stakeholders are given the motivation and opportunity to engage actively in innovation; • risk taking is objectively and carefully calculated as a normal part of innovation and where failure may be a necessary element in making progress.

• skills and ideas can be rapidly transferred within and between departments of the organisation and beyond.

b Promote an innovative work environment leveraging staff’s core talents, abilities and infrastructure, creating opportunities to bring about a change in mind-sets.

c Build the capacity for innovation in each staff, ensuring that individuals are equipped with the appropriate tools and skills.

D Support the cultivation and

experimentation of new and creative ideas across core revenue and non-­core revenue levels through systemic processes that recognize, promote and provide opportunity for idea generation.

The ability to innovate is a function of capability and motivation. This innovation philosophy is centered on the will of an organisation to create the changes necessary to be innovative, and possibly even sacrifice short term gains for long-term successes.

Improvement vs Innovation Integral to the success of any organisation is the drive for constant and continuing improvement in everything it does. This means identifying and leveraging tried and tested practices and improving on them.

However, there is the ever present need to be aware of the fact that in this ever evolving global landscape, new approaches, processes or technologies are emerging to subsequently replace existing ones. Organisations must therefore think ‘out­- of­-the-­box’ to find new approaches that will bring about exponential positive change. Success in any organisation integrates the power of continuous improvement with the power of innovation.

The underlying principles to an Innovation Philosophy are as follows: • At management level, we play an essential role in shaping an employee’s mind-set to be innovative, to succeed at work and life in general.

• Management needs to be role models in nurturing innovation and enterprise.

• In a knowledge based economy, we need to be creative and be willing to explore new approaches to boost productivity.

• As education systems and processes grow in complexity, the impact any single strategy can have will be limited. New approaches and ideas are constantly needed.

• Innovation is essential to meet the changing and challenging circumstances of a globally competitive economy.

• Everyone has the inherent ability to innovate and be creative.

• To nurture an environment that fosters I & E, organisations and individuals must be open to ideas and be willing to tolerate uncertainty and failure across all hierarchical levels.

• We need to build on our passion for our work for I & E to flourish.

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P M C S AYS

one another, and are willing to try alternative approaches and/or ideas.

3 External stakeholder partnership: There is the need to capitalise on ideas from within the organisation as well as tap on external influences. Strengthening partnerships with external stakeholders (i.e., strategic partners, consultants, suppliers, and even competitors) provide new sources of innovation that leverages our competitive advantage.

The above can be summed up in seven ‘Innovation Success Factors’: Management and Staff Empowerment is the key to encouraging staff engagement in innovation. It is not about providing resources and leaving them to do what they want. It is about giving them guidance and support to do what they are capable of and also being receptive to their ideas and suggestions. Such a culture will help harness and develop existing talent in the staff, including areas that they may not have been tasked to get involved in previously.

Empowerment is the key to encouraging staff engagement in innovation.

To cultivate a climate of Innovation, Creativity and Enterprise, I have identified three pillars that will support a sustained spirit of Innovation in an organisation:

1 A shared vision and strategy: Open and constant communication to staff that innovation is a key activity that needs to be integrated into the organisation’s productivity framework and the need for the organisation to focus on becoming an “innovation-­centric” organization.

2 Creating a secure environment that

promotes ideas: Organisation leaders need to create a secure environment where staff are encouraged to express their views, challenge

• CULTURE Staff who embraces innovation passionately in all aspects of his or her work and personal life.

• ALIGNMENT The intent and purpose of innovation initiatives are aligned with that of the organisation and its various departments’ strategic goals and processes.

• TEAMWORK A climate of mutual commitment and participation that fosters positive interpersonal relationships in a conducive collaborative work environment.

• IDEATION Idea generation, Experimentation, and Out­- of­-the­-Box exploratory thinking.

• RISK ACCEPTANCE An understanding that occasional mistakes and failures are the basis for future successes.

• ALLIANCES Creating strategic partnerships and alliances with external partners, organisations, community bodies and even industry competitors.

• CUSTOMER FOCUS Focus on stakeholders comprising customers and markets.

As we move alongside Singapore into the next 50 years, being “innovation-centric” has never been more critical. Be it at enterprise or individual level – it is imperative to generate and push our ideas with foresight.

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SME Stories

Speaking the same language… with the perfect consultant!

M

RI G HT Group photo with Elite Translations Asia’s team.

Left to right: Mr Chang Keen Weng, SPMC; Ms Lim Rui Ying, Operation Executive; Ms Kathy Xia Zihan, Operation Manager; Ms Carol Hong Yin Yin, Managing Director.

s Hong Yin Yin, Managing Director of Elite Translations Asia first met Senior Practising Management Consultant (SPMC) Mr Chang Keen Weng during a SNEF business leaders’ productivity seminar where Mr Chang was one of the speakers. It was apparent to Ms Hong that Mr Chang’s forte was in providing consultancy services for quality and productivity enhancement projects. This came at just the right time for Elite Translations Asia because, being a language service provider, quality and consistency is crucial in meeting deliverables for their customers.

It wanted to focus on this, as well as to provide assurance and enhance customer satisfaction through continuous improvement of its systems, applications and processes.

Mr Chang recommended that Elite Translations Asia concentrates on getting the ISO9001 certification using the Innovation and Capability Vouchers (ICV) available through SPRING Singapore.

To get certified, the company needed to document its processes to show its ability to consistently provide products and/or services that met not only customers’ needs, but also applicable statutory and regulatory requirements.

By going through the ISO project with Mr. Chang, staff at Elite Translations Asia were able to organize and fine-tune their

work processes in a structured document that included a quality manual with quality procedures and work instructions clearly outlined. This in turn ensured that the staff were able to work efficiently, correctly and consistently, resulting in fewer quality issues arising from inconsistency and non-conformance. The whole exercise from kick starting the process right up to attaining the ISO certification took close to eight months. Elite Translations Asia were so happy with the outcome that Ms Hong decided to embark on another ISO certification project for another one of the company’s services.

Having worked with Mr. Chang and being extremely thrilled with the success of their collaboration, Elite Translations Asia decided to engage Mr Chang for their annual staff training/teambuilding exercise this year and a series of industry specific and staff-centric training sessions were customized for the organization. Mr Chang and his team guided the participants through various quality and productivity training modules including the 5S theory which is a workplace organization method that uses a list of five Japanese words – sort, set in order, shine, standardize and sustain - to outline its processes, It is a methodology for organizing, cleaning, developing, and

THIS IS THE KIND OF EXEMPLARY CLIENT-CONSULTANT RELATIONSHIP THAT CAN BE ESTABLISHED WITH A CERTIFIED AND PROFESSIONAL PRACTISING MANAGEMENT CONSULTANT, ONE WHO CAN TAKE A CLIENT’S VISION AND GOALS TO NEW HEIGHTS.

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SME Stories

sustaining a productive work environment.

The staff found Mr Chang to be a patient and an engaging trainer who offered great advice during his training sessions. Ms Hong was impressed with the sessions and found Mr Chang to be truly an inspirational speaker and professional consultant whose knowledge and experience came across to his audience clearly and easily. He had a speaking and teaching style that was engaging and creative while being informative.

To ensure currency and applicability, Elite Translations Asia’ last session for the year with Mr Chang will be conducted after identifying gaps and planning for seven improvement projects. The average length of the projects is six months and the reviews will be done by three parties - the management, the consultant and the project teams. Trained systematic problem solving skills and various analytical tools and techniques make it possible to address various issues within an area quickly, keep the momentum of the change going, and the team is confident of producing results.

Ms Hong is confident that with Mr Chang’s professional consultation, Elite Translations Asia will meet its business goals. Ms Hong is extremely thrilled with the achievements that the company has secured so far with Mr Chang’s professional consultancy and guidance and Ms Hong looks forward to a continued working relationship with Mr Chang and his team with plans to setup a Singapore Quality Class (SQC) framework for business excellence in 2016.

This is the kind of exemplary clientconsultant relationship that can be established with a certified and professional Practising Management Consultant, one who can take a client’s vision and goals to new heights.

ABOVE Management project meeting at Elite Translations Asia office meeting room.

M IDD L E Company off-site training sessions at Mövenpick Heritage Sentosa.

BELOW Team Building off-site workshop.

Call i n g a l l PM C s !

We encourage and welcome PMCs to contribute articles on management consultancy and SME success stories. Each article should be about 800 words and SBACC reserves the right to select and edit the articles. By contributing these articles, free of charge to SBACC, the author agrees to give SBACC the right to use, archive or reproduce them in any way and in any medium.

For the time and effort put into these articles, your contribution will be accorded 5 Continuing Professional Development (CPD) Hours.

E-mail us at marketing@sbacc.org.sg.

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UPCOMING EVENTS

Training Course

16, 19, 21, 23 Oct 2015

Apply basic knowledge of IP Law to Support an Organisation In today’s highly competitive global economy, it is indispensable for business leaders and managers to be able to understand and effectively leverage their organisation’s intellectual assets/property. This will help them gain and sustain a competitive edge in the marketplace.

This course seeks to equip participants with a basic understanding of how the various aspects of intellectual property law, namely Patent, Registered Designs, Copyright and Trade Mark, can be applied to support and drive businesses in achieving their business strategies and objectives.

A course subsidy of up to $722 is exclusively available for PMCs who attain their PMC-IPM certification by 30 Sep 2015.

Do not miss out on this informative course that will give you the insight to understanding intellectual property.

Limited seats available – sign up now!

Please click here to find out more.

IP Week @ SG

S

ingapore’s annual premier intellectual property conference, IP Week @ SG, will take place from 24th – 28th August 2015.

Themed “IP Fiesta @ SG – A Celebration of IP in Singapore and Beyond”, the week-long international event brings together an array of exciting IP-related activities from thought-provoking and informative conferences, seminars and public talks to interactive IP exhibits. In conjunction with our nation’s 50th birthday, there will also be a showcase of Singapore’s IP heritage.

The opening anchor event, the 5th Global Forum on Intellectual Property 2015, will witness the gathering of IP thought leaders, academia, legal and business powerhouses to share insights and strategies on the latest trends and issues in the highly-evolving global IP and economic landscapes.

Venue

IP Academy Time

9am – 530pm Full Course Fee

$2,161.40 per person (Inclusive of 7% GST).

Contact Person

Ms. Gabriel Wong Tel: +65 6272 3238 (DID) Fax: +65 6273 3023 Email: gabrielwong@sbacc.org.sg

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