Anggeren1’s Weblog

Who has ever guessed that a small start-up, as PT Nandya Karya Perkasa, can return to a huge and profitable company? No one has predicted it before. Yet, this was really happened. Being almost failed in its small business, made Mr Hadi Subroto, its founder, become more and more motivated to safe and develop his company. What he did at that time was only thinking about the way to keep the business run and keep his workers employed. He thought about what was market needed at that time, grabbing those opportunities he could, taking less risk, and making innovation with skill and low amount of fund he had (i.e. progressive dies system). Surprisingly, it has successfully saved the company and all his employees.

What Mr. Hadi did were what a bootstrapper does to reach entrepreneur success. “Bootstrapping” is the act of starting a business with little or no external funding. Bootstrappers don’t write lengthy business plans, chase deep-pocketed investors, or indulge in overly academic market research exercises. Instead, they focus all of their considerable energy, brainpower, determination and skills on creating a business that can actually succeed in the real world. The term comes from the German legend of Baron Münchhausen pulling himself out of the sea by pulling on his own bootstraps.

This is a really good lesson for us to think out of the box. It generates us to think about making money than borrowing it and making a value to our society. Bootstrapping is actually be contrary to our first mindset that successful business always starts from making a comprehensive in-depth business plan, taking it to the investors to secure a healthy initial round of funding, or taking a risk. After having a seminar from NKP, I know that that thing was not doubted again. Successful business is not either taking a risk or making profit as much as possible. But, it is about keeping winning through innovation and cash development.

That makes sense that many entrepreneurs who begun their career from bootstrapping, be successful businessman; even be more success than one who graduated from business school. When you Bootstrap a company, you’re far less likely to find yourself in situations where you have to make promises you can’t keep or where the temptations that go along with large sums of unearned cash present themselves. Instead, your entire focus is on creating value. You market, sell and serve your customers every day as if the business depended on it—because it does. And that commitment to achieving success by delivering value is really at the heart of entrepreneur.

Besides making we think out of the box, NKP also teach us to think socially through its entrepreneurial lesson. It makes us care about people surround us by creating a new field of work and also develop our national economic growth. It makes us aware that the economy of our country depends on the next generation of young people initiating the next generation of business start-ups. For that to happen, NKP let us know that starting a business is a worthwhile thing to do with our life.

“Economic success is a good thing. In particular, it enables us to offer work to those who need it: business is good for oneself, for others and for society at large. If everyone lived a monastic life and begged, the economy would collapse and we would all die of starvation! (LAUGHS) I am convinced Buddha would say “So now, all go out to work!” (LAUGHS) – The 14^th Dalai Lama

Hmm.. it’s so long I haven’t posted a new story. I had too many jobs make me have no time to do that. Now, I have a chance to write down something in my blog because I have nothing to do in the fifth day of my internship in PT Telekomunikasi Indonesia. Yeah, this is the first time I have internship here. I always dream of a nice place to work in, friendly company workers, and very challenging project to be handled. Unfortunately, none of them I found in the first day of my internship. I was quite disappointed. Fiuhh.. Anyway, it wasn’t over, guys..

            Three days ago I just got move around the office to introduce my self to all of the company workers. Then, I was given a desk with no computer on it. There was only a damage telephone on my desk. Oh my God! How could I do my work? Oh, finally the Telkom’s quality and change management manager lent me his notebook to be used to learn about structural organization of Telkom, ISO, SOA, MB, etc. Oh guys, could you imagine that I had to read hundred of pages article with many strange abbreviations. What a hard day it was.

            Two days ago, I came to office earlier. Nobody arrived in the office. It was extremely silent there. Then, I went to 9^th floor and had a seat there. I pulled down my memo and pencil from my bag; and started writing what I had being felt on this internship. I really enjoyed it till I looked my watch. It was 8 o’clock! I had to go back to the 10^th floor.. I walked hastily.. When arriving in my workroom, Mr. Endi (quality and change management manager of Telkom) came to my desk with two books entitled ISO on his hand. Guess, what he gonna do with those two books? He asked me to learn more about ISO by making summary about it.  Yeah, he wanted me to do an assessment on ISO application in PT Telekomunikasi Indonesia. Huh..it’s really hard coz this project was actually not expected by me. The scope was too wide to be analyzed in one month. Moreover, I’d have to handle it ALONE. Yeah, it’s better to have something to do than being idle. By the way, I could finish that summary on that day. Amazing!

            Go to the next day. After having been confused what should be done in the first three days of my internship, I could finally meet Mr. Joni, one who would give me a real business project. He was one of the senior managers of CISC. I was doubt that the project would be given to me, fitted on me. It might make me disappointed for the second time. I was getting surer and surer when I saw a board attached in the up of his workroom’s door. The board entitled finance. Oh my goodness. Did Mr. Wahyo forget that I’m the industrial Engineering student? If he still remembered me as an industrial engineering student, why did he bring me to meet Mr. Joni? To give me a financial project? To give me an internal audit assessment? Or to record all yearly Telkom’s financial transaction? Oh no..!

              Then, Mr. Wahyo and I entered Mr. Joni’s room. Wow, what a comfortable room it is. We had a seat and had a long conversation. Actually, my perception is wrong. He gave me a very challenging project. A project I dreamt of when I had an internship here. He asked me to make a standardized business process of one of Telkom’s product named SarPen (Support Facilities) according to ISO for all of the representatives’ office in Indonesia. I was so glad at that time. But, I also worried I could do it well alone. Fortunately, it didn’t disturb me for long time. I accepted that project.

            Today, I come to the office on time. I’m very enthusiast on this project. I come to meet Mr. Slamet, Mr. Endhi, and Mr. Ahan to do some interview on SarPen and ask for useful reading material to be read in successing this project. They are actually kind persons who will to share with others. But, it seems that they are so busy with their own work on their table. I become reluctant to disturb them longer. I just open a TELKOM’s website to read some document related to SarPen and ISO. I find an ambiguous thing here. Mr. Joni said to me that there haven’t ever been standardized business processes of SarPen. But, I found them in this website. So, what is going to be done? While everything has already done. I’m really confused. Finally, I know that it’s ‘old-fashioned’ business process that Mr Endi have ever made and it hasn’t been finished and approved. Yeah, I found my way back! Let’s work!

(Written June 20, 2008)

(to be continued)

Setelah sibuk ikut kompetisi ini itu (B-Champions, Business Game, n Kanban) n urusan tugas-tugas kuliah yang berjubel-jubel, akhirnya gw bisa juga posting blog lagi.. ^_^  Btw, cerita kuliah DSS gw kemaren unik kan?? Penasaran dengan kelanjutan ceritanya? Nih, gw ceritain lagi kelanjutannya gimana.

Kuliah gw berlanjut ke pembelajaran tentang ANP (Analytical Network Process) yang menurut sejarahnya juga diperkenalkan oleh Mr. Saaty. Menurut gw, ANP ini dua kali jauh lebih menarik dan lebih powerful daripada AHP kemarin walaupun pada dasarnya ia juga adalah AHP, tapi AHP yang dikembangkan lebih lanjut. Kenapa? Hal ini dikarenakan ANP memungkinkan kita untuk memprediksi sesuatu dan menunjukkan adanya suatu keberagaman kompetitor hanya dengan dugaan terhadap interaksi dan kelebihan elemen-elemen untuk mempunyai pengaruh dalam pembuatan keputusan, tanpa perlu menetapkan level seperti dalam hirarki. Disadari atau tidak, konsep ini adalah tepat; mengingat tidak hanya kepentingan kriteria yang menentukan kepentingan alternatif, seperti yang ada di dalam hirarki, tetapi juga kepentingan alternatif mempunyai pengaruh terhadap kepentingan kriteria.               

Sekedar tahu ANP saja tak akan menjadi suatu pembelajaran yang komprehensif. Oleh karenanya, kita ditugaskan untuk mencari jurnal yang terkait dengan pengambilan keputusan yang menggunakan ANP dan langsung memodelkannya menggunakan Software Super Decision. Waktu itu, jurnal gw adalah a fuzzy analytic network process (ANP) model to identify faulty behavior risk (FBR) in work system. Pengidentifikasian FBR untuk faktor manusia dan mesin, ini adalah penting mengingat faktor manusia dan mesin lah yang menentukan performa dan jalannya sistem kerja. oleh karenanya, diperlukan suatu evaluasi keadaan manajemen keselamatan secara kualitatif dan perkiraan probabilitas kejadian yang tak diharapkan demi keberlangsungan sistem kerja.

Untuk permodelan masalah ke dalam ANP pada software decision support, cukup tak ada banyak masalah mengingat software nya yang user-friendly. Pertama-tama, kita hanya tinggal membuat cluster-cluster yang dikehendaki; diikuti dengan pembuatan node untuk masing-masing cluster, membuat jaringan diantara cluster maupun nodenya, dan lakukan perbandingan berpasangan layaknya yang kita lakukan pada model AHP.

Buat 2 model keputusan dengan metode ANP adalah tugas gw berikutnya. Akhirnya gw buat model pengambilan keputusan akan distributor bagi P&G; dan pengambilan keputusan overtime dalam PPIC game. Rada gak nyangka juga sih tuh model bisa jadi n lumayan OK, padahal gw udah kalang kabut gitu bikinnya coz tugas2 gw lagi banyak n menggila, nuntut untuk dikerjakan. Belum lagi ada kanban competition. Huh..capeknya..

But, mahasiswa diuji oleh dosen dengan tugas ini itu adalah hal yang biasa. Akan tetapi, ujian ‘dadakan’ (?) dari dosen adalah hal yang super duper luar biasa. Nah itu lah yang gw n tmn2 seperjuangan kelas DSS alami di hari Selasa, 27 Mei 2008. What a SPECIAL day it is. Gw ujian dengan model AHP n ANP yang gw buat sendiri dalam waktu hanya sekian menit. Disini kita diminta untuk membuat satu alternatif baru dengan 3 subkriteria dimana bobot kriteria itu berkisar 30%. Trus, kita lihat deh, apakah hal itu mempengaruhi keputusan atau tidak. Waktu itu, gw sempat deg-degan coz sebelumnya gw punya 6 kriteria. Dengan 6 kriteria aja agak susah bikin 1 alternatif berbobot 30%, apalagi ditambah 1 lagi. tapi untungnya, gw berhasil (bobot kriterianya 32%). Thanks God!! Keputusannya sih tetap alias gak berubah. Kalau dipikir-pikir, perubahan keputusan ini juga tergantung pada bagaimana kita memboboti kriteria baru tersebut terhadap pilihan yang ada. Kalau kriteria ini diboboti lebih tinggi pada pilihan yang telah menang sebelumnya, dari yang lainnya; pilihan tersebut kemungkinan besar akan tetap menang. Dengan kata lain, ini tergantung pada subjektivitas pembobot. Ujian ini adalah akhir kuliah gw, ‘akhir kejutan-kejutan special’ di sem 6 gw yang gak gw dapat dari dosen lainnya, dan ni juga akhir cerita DSS ini. Thanks God the moment is mine!

            Di semester 6 kali ini, gw punya mata kuliah yang namanya DSS (Decision Support System). Hampir tiap kali pertemuan, gw selalu dapat tugas dari dosen gw (Ir. M Dachyar, M.Sc.) untuk mata kuliah satu itu. Capek sih but overall menyenangkan sekaligus menegangkan. Gw jadi banyak tahu tentang banyak hal n bahkan tentang ‘ilmu’ seleksi pacar yang gak bakal didapat di mata kuliah lainnya hehehe…Penasaran kan kita ngapain aja dimata kuliah ini?

Sekedar sharing tentang tugas kita, pertama-tama kita diminta untuk mencari jurnal yang berkaitan dengan decision. Waktu itu, gw dapat jurnal Managerial Decision-Making on Moral Issues and the Effects of Teaching Ethics. Jurnal ini menarik bagi gw. Ia memberi gambaran tentang bagaimana para manajer menghadapi permasalahan dan mengambil keputusan secara manajerial tanpa mengesampingkan aspek etika bisnis. Udah itu, kita diminta mencari informasi tentang metodologi pengambilan keputusan yang dipakai dalam jurnal yang sudah didapatkan pada tugas kemarin. Akhirnya gw ngebahas ANOVA sebagai metodologi perhitungan kuantitatif dalam pembuatan keputusan. Gara-gara tugas ini, gw jadi belajar ANOVA lagi deh.. tapi gak apa-apa sih, gw jadi gak malu-maluin waktu adik gw (mahasiswi FE UI’07) tanya-tanya tentang ANOVA =).

Berikutnya, kita kembali diminta mencari jurnal tentang pengambilan keputusan di bidang non-teknik dan berbau kualitatif. Jurnal gw (A qualitative analysis of how advanced practice nurses use clinical decision support systems) tentang tim medis yang bingung apakah akan mengunakan sistem keputusan klinis (clinical decision system) mengakses sistem informasi untuk meninjau kembali hasil peramalan keadaan pasien dan kemudian membandingkan informasi keadaan pasien yang baru diperoleh dengan keputusan semula mereka atau tidak. Menurut gw, keputusan ini penting karena menyangkut nyawa manusia dan efisiensi kerja tim medis, apalagi mengingat salah satu prinsip peramalan berbunyi peramalan pasti keliru.

Mencari apa itu AHP (Analysis Hierarchy Process) dan file expert choice adalah tugas keempat gw. Tugas kal ini benar-benar susah banget dapetinnya. Kalo menurut pribahasa, kayak cari jarum dalam tumpukan jerami hehehe.. Gw sampai nongkrong berjam-jam di Departemen buat cari file ini, malah jarang ada file expert choice yang free download lagi. Begitu dapetin file nya, wah perasaan gw langsung seperti menemukan belahan jiwa gw. Senangnya minta ampun.

Bagi yang belum tahu, expert choice adalah suatu software yang membantu pengguna dalam mengambil keputusan dengan metode AHP. AHP itu sendiri merupakan suatu metode yang digunakan dalam pembuatan keputusan dimana metode ini melibatkan penstrukturan pilihan-pilihan yang ada ke dalam susunan hirarki, memperkirakan tingkat kepentingan relatif kriteria-kriteria ini, membandingkan alternatif-alternatif untuk masing-masing kriteria, dan menentukan ranking dari semua alternatif. Setelah itu, dosen gw juga meminta definisi pembobotan. Dari sini gw jadi lebih ngerti tentang pembobotan dan apa yang mendasari pembobotan. Pembobotan (weighing) merupakan suatu proses penafsiran bobot terhadap masing-masing kriteria, berdasarkan kepentingannya dalam node dimana ia dikategorikan. Dan puncaknya yang paling seru, kita diminta membuat file expert choice sendiri dengan topik sendiri. Disini lah gw mencoba-coba mencari tahu supermarket mana yang terbaik di Jakarta Barat sebagai tempat belanja bulanan, dengan 6 kriteria (harga barang, lokasi supermarket, pelayanan, fasilitas, frekuensi promosi, dan tingkat kebersihan supermarket) dan 4 alternatif (Carrefour, Giant, Hypermart, dan Hero). Btw, bagi yang mau seleksi pasangan juga bisa pake software ini juga lho.. hehehe..