Borobudur at Sunrise (Yogyakarta)

Jakarta: Focus on Infastructure

The eajor problem with development in Indonesia is infrastructure. The country cannot even ensure clean water for its citizens. Decentralization is another issue as far as governments are concerned. After democratic rule took over in 1998, the government became decentralized. Before this shift, Suharto (and his “cronies”) held all the power in the central government. To give an example, let’s turn to the topic of bribes. Bribery isn’t uncommon in Indonesia. In fact, an economist (Dr. Basri) explained bribery in terms of efficiency. His studies suggest that there as an efficient amount of bribery, in so far that it can save time and energy. For example, let’s say a cop pulls you over for making an illegal U-turn. Whether or not it actually was illegal may be a different story, but that is beside the point. If a policeman pulls you over, you basically have the option to pay him off, or pay a lesser fine and have to deal with standing in lines at the police station and going to court. So, morals aside, paying off the cop may render both parties better off, economically speaking. The driver pays a premium to resolve the issue without wasting additional time dealing with bureaucracy, and the policeman makes money.  

Similar situations are said to occur in business. The problem with decentralization is that the terms and conditions of bribery are unclear. As one businessman said, before [with Suharto] you knew exactly how much to pay, whom to pay, and what that would get you. Now things are much less efficient. Local and regional governments vie for a piece of the pie and outcomes are unclear.

Driving in Jakarta is borderline terrifying. Rarely do drivers follow traffic rules in Jakarta, i.e. motorcycles weave in and out of the ‘buses only’ lane. In fact every time I rode in a bus or taxi, I felt like I had at least one near death experience. Our bus nearly sideswiped motorbikes, bicycles, or pushcarts. Yet surprisingly, I did not witness one accident. The ultimate Jakarta driving experience took place in a taxi. Riding with Lisa, Laura, and Aaron from the hotel to PT Lautan Luas, our cab driver did not speak English or even know where we were going. He stopped three times to ask locals for directions, abandoning us in the lane with the flashers on and doors unlocked. I was convinced we were either going to get crushed by incoming traffic or hijacked by one of many looming shady characters. When our taxi driver stopped and showed a shopkeeper the address on a busy highway, he realized he has overshot the left hand turn by about 300 meters. Now they drive on the opposite side of the road in Indonesia (as they do in Singapore and Hong Kong), and the way this highway was constructed, plus traffic, meant it would have taken up to an additional 20-30 minutes to turn around. This did not cross my mind however, when he decided to turn on his flashers and just back up in the lane into oncoming traffic. I couldn’t bear to look, but Lisa and Laura screamed and shouted about watching out for an old man on a bicycle, not to mention trucks and motos. Not like the taxi driver explained any of this to us, he just smiled and kindly collected the fare once we safely reached PT Lautan Luas for the company visit (15 minutes after the other taxis dropped off our peers).

Traffic in Jakarta

Aaron in the front-seat of our abandoned Taxi. 

Jakarta: Out of the frying pan and into the fire

Monday, June 6

Gone is the swift, secure infrastructure of Singapore. Upon landing in Jakarta, we immediately headed to Sundakulapa, a traditional port and its surrounding slums. The experience was very eye opening, to say the least. They say a picture is worth a thousand words, and so I am going to let these photos speak for themselves. 

Internet in Jakarta is indicative of Indonesia's infastructure

Hi! Sorry it has been so long, everyone.  Internet here is pretty slow, and so I haven't been able to upload pics.  Having an incredible experience in Jakarta, and hopefully I will be able to post more when we get to Vietnam next week.  Will share more asap.

Tuesday- P&G

We had an INCREDIBLE presentation from P&G Asia in Singapore where they showed us their brand-new BI system.  Extensive data is currently collected 12 out of the 15 countries of the region.  It was beyond impressive! For example, they showed us from their Asia headquarters in Singapore they can drill to the level of a single distributor's figures for a single brand in rural China.  Using TIBCO Spotfire software, David Dickman (Director of BI for P&G Asia) demoed this drill down by clicking on portions of charts and infographics. One of the coolest infographics showed vertically integrated value and volume share.  The software also has predictive modeling capabilities, but he could not show us that information. The most amazing takeaway from this presentation was that Mr. Dickman shared that just one year ago, all of this information was shared in paper reports.  He credits P&G Asia's ability to do implement this massive project as a combination of the right technology finally becoming available as well as Global CEO Bob McDonald's vision to "digitize the organization from end to end."  The rest of P&G's global operations' data remains separate, and this project was paid for using regional funds.  It was also interesting that corporate in Cincinnati has limited access to the data, as the BI director said they did not want them to get bogged down in a certain level of detail that is reserved for analysts.  The intricacies of Business Intelligence at work!

Since my group has focused on P&G since January for our project, this was an incredible opportunity to also meet with members of the marketing team.  We looked at trends for Asia, which P&G coins "Older, Urben, Richer, Smaller."  The product portfolio and distribution strategy will change significantly moving forward. The BI capabilities I mentioned above are critical to remaining competitive.  It's all about data!

Recapping a busy week- Monday

The week has flown by, and I cannot believe it is already Friday.  I've had classes taught by NUS faculty (National University of Singapore) from about 9am-2pm everyday, followed by corporate visits in the afternoon.


Monday we visited an HP plant that manufactures 3,000 computers 6-7 days a week.  The floor manager ran us through the major processes that take place at this particular facility, from sourcing parts and receiving orders to QA (which they break down into "pre-test" and "run") and shipping.  It was very interesting to see that their process still depends on paper scanning and is very reliant on human labor. Unfortunately, no pictures were permitted inside.

HP Plant, Singapore

After HP, we visited the Marina Barrage, which was more and educational experience than a corporate visit.  It was fascinating nonetheless.  Marina Barrage is a prime example of how Singapore's government actively innovates.  Singapore is a tiny island-  only about 700 square kilometers- smaller than most American cities, with very little natural water.  Singapore receives a lot of rainfall, however, and flooding can be a serious problem.  Marina Barrage serves three functional purposes.  The first is that it captures fresh water that can be treated and used by Singaporean citizens.  Secondly, it prevents flooding by opening gates during low tide and by pumping out water during high tide.  Finally,  it serves as a tourist attraction-  a place for local Singaporeans to relax on the grass above the building and learn about sustainability in the gallery inside.  Kite flying is also a popular past time at the Marina Barrage.  Below are some images of the Marina Barrage and the educational gallery inside.