Resource Sharing

As we embrace the coming year, our plan is to further enhance the concept of resource sharing.

In the 21^st century, with more information being produced in the digital format, rather than the conventional media, storage and retrieval system, it has fundamentally changed the characteristic of the information landscape. It sparked a paradigm-shift from the ownership of information to access of resources.

Concept of Resource Sharing 

There are a lot of resources and components surrounding FingerTec hardware and software.  Instead of merely a product supplier, we should consider ourselves an information provider. And digital technology and the Internet gives us the value-added enhancement to deliver adequate information more efficiently to our resellers and customers.

How can an organization survive and flourish in an increasingly customer-oriented, distributed environment? How can we re-engineer our networked global resource sharing strategy? I believe if we can build an Information Highway without “roadblocks”, we will be able to market knowledge-based products more successfully than competitors.

But how do we efficiently share our resources with resellers? Our plan is to try to integrate our partners’ websites into ours. It is the most logical way, in the end, as they already share most of our resources and links to serve their local purpose.  If resellers must have their own websites still, instead of redesigning by copying our graphics and text, they can simply embed some of our icons to link directly to our product and support pages.

We encourage our partners to reflect our website in theirs by requesting us to include some of the local elements. We urge them to share their local activities, news and stories to enrich our monthly newsletters, and after that they can share and circulate the same consolidated newsletter to strengthen their local presence and brand awareness. For some even more localized components such as a shopping cart, we deploy Internet technology to limit the option to only viewers of their country.

Sharing the same platform

Sharing the same platform, with the local elements always taken care of is the best strategy to improve the brand value, in our opinon. Input of any local requirements, technically or culturally would help to enhance the platform with domestic care.

As for social media engine, we had once encouraged our partners to set up their own Facebook and Twitter page for the purpose of social networking. But yet as time went by, we observed very little activity and updates, their social media tools being left idle. For better resource sharing, we are now adopting a different approach: Instead of setting up their own, we will just make them one of the contributors or help them tweet and post about their local activities. And on top of that, we are even able to promote their post in our Facebook to their local market only.

We have the resources. We have the social platforms. We have expertise on social media networking, video editing, graphic designing, web designing, copywriting, web programming and technical expertise at our disposal. So why not share it with our clients?

In this new age, with cloud computing and a variety of services flying over our heads, a lot of companies no longer store their data physically in their offices; it is most probably stored out of the country into no particular fixed location, that even the CEOs have lost track of the exact location. To accommodate to this change, it needs a little tweaking of the current mindset. In the end, if you have the right to access, you already virtually own the information.

by Teh Hon Seng, CEO, FingerTec HQ

Walking Green

I walked 10 km last Saturday, 24^th November. A fraction of the total 300km Green Walk from Kuantan to Kuala Lumpur, a part of the anti-Lynas campaign against the setting up of the rare-earth processing plant in Kuantan, of which the by-product Thorium is harmful to the people and the environment.

Walking by the road

Walking past bridges 

I joined them at Hutan Rimba, the second last gathering point before they reached the final destination. They started the long march since 13th November; they had been on the road for a long 11 days. The oldest participant was 71 years old. She told her companion earlier, “If I died in the middle of the road, please carry my body with you to the Parliament.” And the Parliament was the final destination where they delivered the memorandum to the authority.

The rain fell, the road was wet but the steps roared. Just like in the movie Forrest Gump, when Gump left his home to run, he was alone, and later some passerby joined him. Soon after, he gathered a larger crowd unexpectedly with him. It was the same with the ascetic leader Mr. Wong Tack; he started with a small group of 40 people. When I joined from Hutan Rimba, I strode along with a crowd of two thousand people wearing green t-shirts. Placards and banners cried out the declarations. Cars in passing honked to show their support. A few miles long, there were we, like a green snake slithering the road.

When the march arrived at Kuala Lumpur the second day, people joined in from everywhere, swamping the group with a mass of twenty thousand when they finally reached Dataran Merdeka (Independence Square).

Walking in the city

Arriving at their destination, 14 days later

The only difference between Forrest Gump and Wong Tack is, Forrest Gump started with confusion, ended with tiredness; Wong Tack began with enlightenment, ended up with a firm battle.

Social media tools like Facebook and Twitter are playing a pivotal role in every campaign nowadays including this 14-day long march.  Once again, we saw photographs, texts and poems shared and spread fast, flooding Facebook with myriad of discussions and awakening thousands of Malaysians. The social media tools have been proven to be a potent weapon for the majority powerless individuals. History was made when social media brought about the rise of the people against the governments in North Africa and the Middle East countries in 2011. 

We condemn Lynas and the Malaysian government for their haste decision and the negligence of public interest, but to majority business organizations, corporate social responsibility just stops at the company level, or is only a formality to present to customers their concern about the society, or lasts until the Certification of Environmental Compliance (CEC) for their products as proof. Wealthy companies can put up a good show, but not many of them actually pour their heart into it. I definitely applaud those who do.

The Green Walk campaign changed their initial plan afterward; they refused to hand over the Memorandum to the Prime Minister, instead they demanded the premier to receive it by coming to the Independence Square on 26^th November. What an excellent decision, in my opinion. The people are the boss. The Prime Minister is indeed the chief servant serving the country. As for corporations, if you have a heart, show it by going to your customers, not the reverse; and also show your heart of concern for the society by walking the talk. 

by Teh Hon Seng, CEO, FingerTec HQ