branch
advanced my knowledge of business practices in South-East Asia.
In the past nine months I have built upon this base of understanding
by becoming a member of Oracle's Asia-Pacific management team
and directing several pan-Asian projects.
My responsibilities include the development of a flagship educational
program for our "Business Alliance Partners", companies
who use Oracle technology to build specialized software products.
Our partners are as diverse as Indian conglomerates, Korean
Chaebol (e.g., Hyundai), and one-person software development
shops in Bali.
A strong technical educational program is a cornerstone of
Oracle's strategy in Asia-Pacific. As publicly available sales
figures indicate, we are the largest software company in Asia,
well ahead of our nearest competitor, Microsoft. However, we
realize that Microsoft poses a serious threat and are taking
steps to counter their advances.
Our partner training program is one such countermeasure. By
teaching more partners how to build products using our technology,
a wider range of quality Oracle-based solutions becomes available.
With the strongest set of offerings under our umbrella, we are
the best prepared to meet the broad needs of the Asian market.
Over the past nine months, my team and I have rapidly executed
this education strategy. We have built a mature education program
with regularly scheduled classes, promotions, course catalogs,
training road maps, and distance learning offerings. We have
propagated the program across the Asia-Pacific region and have
translated our course materials into several languages. The
results are an upturn in course attendance and quality, as well
as a rise in partner competence and loyalty.
Several issues have continued to impede our progress, such
as how to establish trust across wide cultural barriers, form
an effective multinational team, and influence companies' direction
without having direct authority over them. These obstacles are
magnified by our region's conglomeration of thirteen countries,
fifteen indigenous languages, twenty-five offices, eight time
zones, and inconsistent telecommunications infrastructures.
These factors are also exacerbated by our business' revenue
growth rate of 200% per annum, a pace that consumes human and
financial resources to the point where little is left to implement
new programs.
To meet these challenges, I temper an American management style
with sensitivity toward local practices. I have steadily built
relationships with country management by reliably delivering
value to them and acknowledging the issues they face in growing
their business. As a result, they are more receptive to programs
I introduce. I study Mandarin Chinese, Indonesian, and Malay,
allowing me to forge strong ties where those languages are spoken.
I continually stay in touch with each member of my widely dispersed
team, no matter which country I find myself in.
Managing projects across the Pacific Rim has taught me much.
Disruptions in travel schedules and project plans have made
me more adaptable. Numerous cultural, linguistic, and infrastructural
barriers have raised my patience and resilience. Being thrust
into an unfamiliar country on a weekly basis has trained me
to quickly grasp the mode of operation of a particular office.
These skills, simple yet essential, enable me to successfully
drive projects throughout the Far East.
Asia has presented me many opportunities to assist developing
nations and I am excited that my work has directly helped raise
living standards in the Far East. One such occasion was when
I conducted a seminar on database architecture to Dr. Wikarno
Bergian and his programmers at PT Dinamika. Based in Jakarta,
Dinamika is the leading provider of software applications for
Indonesia's health care industry. With knowledge acquired through
my course, Dr. Bergian and his team upgraded software systems
at Krakatoa Steel Hospital, allowing doctors and staff to work
more effectively and provide better medical care to the people
of Jakarta.
Considering how much Asia has taught me, it is very gratifying
to have done something in return. However, I want to play a
much greater role in the development of the Pacific Rim. I intend
to step into that role by launching businesses that leverage
information technology to create valuable services within a
pan-Asian economy. What I need is the expertise to realize this
vision – and that is why I am applying to Anderson.
