Ricky’s Online Business Blog

The problem is, who to trust and what to entrust them with? This comes with experience. My observation in business is that, we should be shrewd as snakes (know the workings of the devil), but be innocent as doves (be like angel believing the world can get better)

No doubt we are living in a distrustful world. There are some people who just can’t be trusted. But I guess most people are innocent like you and me, basically good people but just hesitate to trust others.

I suppose the world maintains itself based on trust, without which it will just break down. We trust our engineers have done good job that our roof won’t fall down to hit our head. We trust our banker with our money that it won’t get lost.

Managing people needs trust. We must trust our employees for certain things, or we will end up doing all the job ourselves.  Expanding business network needs trust. We must trust our partners that they will do their part, or we will end up being lone ranger in business.

There is a Chinese saying that if we use the service of people, trust them. Otherwise, do not hire him (用人不疑，疑人不用). Especially true in managing people who work for us.

Correct me if I’m wrong, the world needs more trust.  As we extend our trust to people more, good and innocent people like you and me will reciprocate their trust to us.

Between trusting people and distrusting people, I would rather choose to trust than distrust. The world needs more trust and we can do our part to make it a better world. Not only for the world, but for the advantage of ours and people around us too.

The problem is, who to trust and what to entrust them with? This comes with experience. My observation in business is that, we should be shrewd as snakes (know the workings of the devil), but be innocent as doves (be like angel believing the world can get better)

I have recently been interviewed by two local authors for their upcoming book on MBA in Malaysia.  Here are my original replies to their questions.

5. Which subject so far do you like best?

I like all subjects that I have taken so far.  But some subjects has been an eye-opener to me.  Though I am more inclined towards marketing-related subjects, I have found new interest in subjects I thought I would not be interested in. These subjects include Accounting for Decision Making, Financial Management and Business Law. But if I must choose a subject based on interest, then it must be Marketing Management.

6. Having gone through in the program so much, would you choose the same program again if you have the chance?

Given by my budget, I still consider UPM-GSM the best in the market that I could afford.  I admire its teaching approach such as problem-based learning (PBL), as opposed to just being lectured in class.  Yes I would choose the same program again if given the chance.

7. What do you like least about the program?

While I like the program, its syllabus and the school, the level of the students is quite varied.  They can be managers in their 40s with vast experience in business and management, but can also be fresh graduates with virtually no working experience.

However, an MBA program does require certain level of understanding and appreciation in the business world.  With an MBA class consisting of students from various levels of experience, it is said that the experienced ones can get frustrated for the lack of learning experience and challenge from peers, while the inexperienced ones can get unnecessarily confused for the difficulties in understanding the course content and producing works of comparable quality.

8. Which subject is the hardest?

I have experienced some challenges in studying Financial Management for my lack of knowledge in this area.  But the hardest subject so far for me has got to be Business Law.  While it is very interesting and practical in business application, I have found it hard to remember the statute laws and case laws.  It is an unfamiliar territory to me.

9. In what ways do you think the MBA can be improved?

The MBA has been quite successful in its student-centered teaching approach.  But perhaps the school could look into the problem highlighted above for the variety of student quality.  By the way,  it might be too easy to get A in the program.  Getting grade A might not mean one reaches the required understanding and appreciation of the subject matter, but rather he or she knows how to study.

I have recently been interviewed by two local authors for their upcoming book on MBA in Malaysia.  Here are my original replies to their questions.

1. Briefly describe your career to date.

I graduated from the University of Malaya in 2002 with a bachelor degree in computer science. While I have been working as a administrative assistant, computer technician and computer programmer, my experience working for people has not been substantial.  Most of my working life has been spent on building my own business, which I started while I was still a university student.

Currently, I am an Internet business developer, building and managing a few online businesses of my own.  My main business is an IT company focusing on providing domain name, web and email hosting services at http://bizpartner.com.my.  I also operate a blog at RickySoo.com.

2. What makes you want to do an MBA?

I came from a technical background and have been working in my business as a “technician”, as opposed to being an “entrepreneur” or “manager”, according to the three business personalities popularized by E-Myth.  As I found the need to cross over from being a technician to become more of an entrepreneur, I needed to develop myself in terms of knowledge, skills, experience and network.

MBA is one major part of my self-development programme in pursuit of my career objective to succeed in business. I have always kept reminding myself of my purposes in doing an MBA, as summarized in the acronym called LDNE (Learning, Development, Networking and Experience).  I have much to learn about all aspects of a business, develop myself in business and soft skills, network with like-minded people and experience school life again after years of working!

3. Which school are you attending? Why that one?

I am attending the Graduate School of Management in Universiti Putra Malaysia (UPM-GSM) as at http://gsm.upm.edu.my.  Besides reasons such as budget and convenience of its location, I chose the school because of its student-centered and problem-based learning approach, and also for its high ranking in the country and the region.

4. Which other school was you interested in? Why?

If my budget and time allowed for it, I would consider doing MBA overseas.  Schools like Harvard maybe too far-fetched. But I’m definitely interested in schools nearer such as Nanyang Business School in Singapore, and McGill MBA in Japan.