CREATED BY

This blog had been created by us;

1. Syahirah Aqilah
2. Habiba Radhiah
3. Siti Zaharah
4. Zahirah
5. Siti Atikah
6. Rabiatul Adawiyah

and we are from Group K, conducted by Dr Azizi.

OBSERVANT

Tan Sri Dato’ Sri Dr. Tony Fernandes

Observant is one of the importance trait that needed to be a successful entrepreneur. According to Oxford Dictionary, the word “observant” can be define as the ability to predict or the action of predicting what will happen or be needed in future. In business perspective, an observant is the one of the key to success because the entrepreneurs should aware of the world around them, environment of business, their competitors and the risk will take before make any decision. Therefore, entrepreneurs can quickly identify the problems and find out the opportunities in business.

In Malaysia, the successful leader, Tan Sri Dato’ Sri Dr. Tony Fernandes as the founder of Air Asia is well-explained example for observant trait entrepreneur. Tan Sri Anthony Francis or Tony Fernandes was born on 30 April 1964 and he is the one who introduced the first budget no-frills airline, AirAsia, to Malaysians with the tagline "Now everyone can fly". He was educated at The Alice Smith School in Kuala Lumpur. Starting at age 12, from 1977 to 1983, he studied at Epsom College boarding school in England in Bachelor of Arts and Science and then matriculated to the London School of Economics. Thus, he was graduated with a degree in accounting.

This successful leader’s story began when he is the one who managed to turn a heavily indebted Air Asia to a profitable airline. Tony Fernandes paid RM 40 million to acquire the Air Asia’s debt only one year after he purchased the airline from the goverment (Teoh, 2014). Besides that, Tony Fernandes also observed the people who are unable to travel by air because of the price of flight ticket are so expensive. According to Interview with Tony Fernandes by CNN in 2007, Tony said that the cost of a flight ticket is almost someone’s one-month salary. Therefore he was launching the no-frills airline is to provide the low fare flight service to the Malaysian with the tagline "Now everyone can fly”.

OPEN RISK TAKER

Tan Sri Syed Mokhtar Al-Bukhary

This type of entrepreneur trait is referring to an individual who are willing to do something that will cause financial loss in order to achieve his objective or mission. For example, Tan Sri Syed Mokhtar Shah bin Syed Nor Al - Bukhary, businessman and the richest Malay entrepreneurs in Malaysia. According to the Utusan Malaysia, he had property worth RM10.44 billion in 2016, thus becoming the eighth richest man in Malaysia.

Tan Sri Syed Mokhtar Al-Bukhary was born in Alor Setar, Kedah in 1951 at middle class family. His family hailed from Hadhramaut, ‎Yemen. Before deciding to live in Kedah, his father traveled as far as Central Asia to ‎trade. Then, his father went to Thailand, before finally deciding to live in Alor Setar, ‎Kedah in the mid 1940’s. He has seven siblings and he is the third child.

This leader story in business began when he helps his parents in cattle business around 1960. Unfortunately, the outbreak of disease hit his parent’s cattle livestock. Hence, Tan Sri Syed Mokhtar Al-Bukhary took other initiative by applying for MARA’s assistance to start a lorry business in 1967s. He began to take the risk to start another business in order to improve his family income.

Furthermore, Bukhari Co.Ltd. is the first company founded by Tan Sri Syed Mokhtar Al-Bukhary. He develops the company in order to establish a contract for supply of rice, tea, powdered chocolate, powdered milk and ghee to the government. This shows he has a substantial financial capital and willing to take risks to carry on its business.

FAILURE IS AN OPTION

Tan Sri Lim Goh Tong

           Failure always is an option. When come to the world of business, the variability exists everywhere. So, the way of dealing is the key of success. What would you choose when failure is an option? As an entrepreneur, the spirit to be success is always higher than other people. It seems like success is the only way out for them.

           His full name is Lim Goh Tong. He was born in 1918 at An Xi, Fu Jian, China. He has six siblings. He is married to Lee Kee Hua and he has only one child namely Tan Sri Lim Kok Thay. He is the founder of Genting Highlands, Genting Groups and Star Cruises.

           The idea of a hill resort was chanced upon by late Tan Sri Lim Goh Tong amidst the crisp air of Cameron Highlands in 1964. Tan Sri Lim was then working on a hydro-electric power project at the popular hill resort, patronised mostly by British colonials seeking cool refuge from the tropical heat, when he foresaw a prosperous Malaysia of the future desiring a cool mountain holiday resort within the reach of all Malaysians. He face a lot of challenges during the construction of Genting Highlands. The situation putting his physical ability to the limit for managed both projects. However, it doesn’t direct the Genting Highlands project to the failure side. In the middle of the project, Lim Goh Tong faced financial troubles. He seeks the financial help from his friends, but again they suggested dropping the entire project and turning him down. The whole Genting Highlands project had been completed in the year 1971, even though all of these issues had blocked him towards the success path. The entrepreneur trait of failure is an option shown on how successful of the project by Lim Goh Tong.

PROACTIVE

Tan Sri Robert Kuok

Proactive is a person who gets things done before you make things happen, instead of waiting for them to happen to you. Proactive is creating or controlling a situation rather than just responding to it after it has happened (Oxford University Press, 2016). From the business view, proactive strategic approach is involves anticipating markets and competition changes in advance of their actual occurrence and making appropriate organizational shifts in response. Business operators need to take a proactive strategy to deal with the rapidly changing marketplace for their company's products. (Web Finance, 2016).

Proactive not only includes creativity, innovation and risk-taking, but also to plan, in order to manage the project's ability to achieve the objectives. The entrepreneur can supports individual’s specific skills and knowledge needed by contributing to social or commercial activity by being proactive. Proactive must come together with an awareness and high ethical value.

The best example of entrepreneurs that have proactive characteristic is Tan Sri Robert Kuok. Robert Kuok Hock Nien, a Malaysian businessman of Chinese origin, he is the richest man in Malaysia and also known as Asian Sugar King, Tan Sri Robert Kuok Hock Nien courage to seize opportunity at home and abroad, and used his excellent connections with government and industry to rapidly scale up his empire. Tan Sri Robert Kuok has the ability to identify opportunities on good timing. Everyone can find difficult opportunity if we use a thoughtful and deliberate approach, but he was able to find and seize an opportunity when they appear.

 The proactive action that takes by Tan Sri Robert Kuok is where he was the first people that engaged in the sugar business in Malaysia. One of the reasons he wants to start sugar industry because no one has been engaged in this business before. Tan Sri Robert Kuok can see that sugar was very important in the food sector. He takes this opportunity because he believed that sugar business was a simple business and cheapest raw sugar that can give benefit to him as an entrepreneur. Tan Sri Robert Kuok effort expands his internationally in the sugar business started in the late 1960s, he expanded his business in Indonesia, he buys cheap sugar from India before the prices soared.

TEAM ORIENTED

Howard Schultz

Team oriented is one of the entrepreneurial traits that needed by the entrepreneurs. Based on business dictionary team oriented is the process of working collaboratively with a group of people in order to achieve a goal. Teamwork is often a crucial part of a business, as it is often necessary for colleagues to work well together, trying their best in any circumstance. Teamwork means that people will try to cooperate, using their individual skills and providing constructive feedback, despite any personal conflict between individuals.  (Web Finance, 2016)

There are many benefits of a team-oriented approach. One of the benefits is competitive, working as a team can greater opportunity in the creation, strategy, research, and overall support. The larger the number of active participants, the greater the opportunities for generative interaction. A second benefit is about education, learning together has been found to increase critical thinking, foster the development of interpersonal relationships, and improve overall psychological health (Hendrix, 1999; Mills & Durden, 1992; Slavin, 1996). Cooperative learning promotes the development of interpersonal relationships and interpersonal skills because it exposes students to perspectives that are different than their own (Johnson & Johnson, & Smith, 1995).

Team oriented have been practiced by Howard Schultz. Howard Schultz is an American entrepreneur and the chairman, president and CEO of Starbucks Coffee Company, which is well-known as one of the largest coffee store chains of the world. Starbucks enjoys a reputation for its focus on people.

He practices team-oriented to his workers. Schultz promises to himself to respect if he ever gained a position of responsibility. When Starbucks became the first American corporation to offer stock options and other benefits to part-timers, the move initially drew poor shareholder reviews. But Schultz did not mind taking the heat. Schultz advises other would-be CEOs to lower employee attrition and create passion in the workplace.

OUTCOME ORIENTED

Irfan Khairi

Cole (1969) defines entrepreneurship as activities that bring benefits through the development of outcome-oriented business. Outcome oriented is the actions of mind focuses on result and impact. An entrepreneur will start a business to get maximum profit. In fact, an entrepreneur will strive to achieve a continuous manner to further develop businesses and will market their business abroad. In addition, entrepreneurs will strive to produce the new products.

In the business, an entrepreneur with outcome oriented analysis, labour productivity based on the number of tasks that had been set up within the prescribed and the quality of products or services provided by him. Employees are free to use a private process in order to achieve the targets set by the organisation. The main goal of outcome oriented individual or organisation is to meet the objectives and realise positive growth. The successful entrepreneurs are always looking forward regarding the opportunities might present themselves in the future and how to take advantage towards opportunities.

Moreover, the entrepreneurs are always looking for ways to do something with a lower cost and the period shorter time than usual. Plus, they are always concerned about the estimated costs and benefits of a renewal, amendment or an action and use the information business or management methods to improve the efficiency of self and businesses.

One of Malaysian’s young entrepreneurs who has this trait is Irfan Khairi. He received a title as The Young Millionaire at 28 years old. He was born in Perak but raised in Singapore and now resident in Seremban. He received a Bachelor of Multimedia Design from Staffordshire University, United Kingdom. After graduating, Irfan was offered work at one company The Birmingham IT, Netmedia (UK) Ltd. As the investors of multimedia systems and internet consultant, he was responsible for designing learning system currently, more than 5,000 schools in the United Kingdom use Learning Grid System.

Drawing upon the interests and deep knowledge towards the internet and business. He starts playing in this business as part-time work in the year 1999. He decided to quit from his job after concerned about the income increased by two fold and want to devote full attention of the business. Then, he began working full-time from home by using a laptop and internet. Only after three years of operation, one of the business’s net profit is RM 1 million without employees and advanced computer equipment. Now, Irfan is working full-time at home by using the internet as a source of income.

As the inspiration that has been shown, he was awarded Young Innovation Award 2006 from Oxford Association of Management, United Kingdom. It is awarded for his efforts in educating and inspiring as the new generation of Malaysia in the field of internet and success.

In a nutshell, Irfan Khairi shows that an entrepreneur is a person with outcome-oriented since he willing to quit from his job after gain a higher profit. 

OPEN CULTURE

Vivy Yusof

Open culture can be described as a person who willingly to accept other cultures. In the international business, an entrepreneur will faces a lot of challenges including culture challenges. By identifying and understanding other cultures of a society or country, an entrepreneur can expand the business to the international market. An entrepreneur should be aware towards any changes in the culture and able to make changes.

This characteristic is very important to overcome the misunderstanding of different custom or culture in the foreign country. An entrepreneur through the knowledge of foreign cultures, he can understand the similarities and differences of ethical values adopted by a society where this will help an organisation to develop and expand the business during the period.

An entrepreneur who has this trait is Vivy Yusof. She is an entrepreneur, celebrity and social icon on Instagram. Her followers in Instagram almost reach a half million. Vivy Yusof is actually the founder of e-commerce website FashionValet.com. Holds a Bachelor of Laws from the United Kingdom, Vivy Sofinas Yusof who is bloody cross female Chinese and Malay has stolen the fashion lover’s attention through FashionValet.

FashionValet is one of the e-commerce website that runs the leading online fashion business in Malaysia. FashionValet starting with only RM100, 000 and was successfully launched in November 2010 with only 10 local brands. Up to now this platform has more than 300 brands from all over Southeast Asia. A few years ago, Vivy has establish a blog called proudduck.com while he studied at the London School of Economics in the field of law at the age of 25 years. She likes to write to share their views and experiences studying abroad. Not long after that she has many loyal followers and readers abreast of blogs, especially young women who love the writing, style and appearance.

While in the UK, she found that the UK population really appreciate local designer. In addition, most of the population in the UK are shopping online as compared to Malaysia. Therefore, the process of shopping online is not new in the country at that time. Due to a deep interest in the field of fashion and do not want to miss it, she always take care of her appearance and always look feminine and fashionable.

After graduation, she returned to Malaysia and help his father in the real estate business. She longed to shop online because of busy with tasks in the office that caused it not have time to shop. Inspiration from the open culture of the UK population, she is aware that the development of information technology is growing rapidly opened up many opportunities.

Therefore, she decided to launch a shopping centre online named FashionValet.com in 2009 after extensive consultations with the approval of his father. She established FashionValet.com as a place for local fashion design. She started the business with her colleagues in the UK, Asma' Nasaruddin and Fadzarudin Anuar, who is now her husband. However, they are not expert in the fashion because their education stray far from the fashion world. They emulate their online businesses from UK namely ASOS. ASOS is the UK’s largest independent online fashion and beauty retailer which is offers over 60,000 branded and own label products across womenswear and menswear. Dresses, jeans, t-shirt, shirts, shoes, jewellery and others are under one roof.

In order to distinguish them from the other websites, Vivy plans to establish only the local brands. Until this day her own readers and fans who went looking to keep up Vivy mainly on her social media accounts such as blog and Instagram, where she uploaded the photos of her fashion and the latest information about her life, including the launch of the news FashionValet. Vivy has stated that she was overwhelmed with the support from her fans and said that she never imagined that little blog that could grow into a business until today.

The efforts from Vivy, Fadzarudin and her friend Asma Nasarudin cause FashionValet now has more than 30 employees and a stock of more than 300 brands from all over Southeast Asia. No wonder when Vivy Yusof also selected as a candidate for Bella Business Award through channel NTV7 and between 60 Women of Inspiration Nona TV3. Last month, she launched her products named, “duckscarves” at Singapore and Brunei.

Conclusion, Vivy Yusof shows that the importance of culture open to entrepreneurs. It should serve as a lesson, especially to young people who are interested in doing business online in the future.

Tan Sri Syed Mokhtar Al Bukhary is a Successful Entrepreneur

Biography

Tan Sri Syed Mokhtar Al Bukhary in completed this task because of he is the successful and richest Bumiputra corporate figure in Malaysia. He is not only richest in term of wealth but an entrepreneur who love and care about the community’s welfare.

Name:

Syed Mokhtar Al-Bukhary

Place of Birth:

Alor Setar, Kedah (1952)

Occupation:

Founder of Albukhary Foundation

Spouse:

Puan Sri Sharifah Zarah Al-Bukhary

Children:

Ilyas Muzaffar, Ilya Myasara, Iliya Melissa and Iffah Maryam

Education Level:

SPM

Set up Business:

Selling meat in small scale on 1970

Net wealth:

RM1,425 million

Business areas:

ü  Transportation and logistics

ü  Plantations

ü  Property development

ü  Defense and armory

ü  Engineering

ü  Power generation

Recognition: 

1) Panglima Setia Mahkota (P.S.M.) by Yang di-Pertuan Agong 

2) “Tokoh Ma'al Hijrah” by The Yang Di Pertuan Agong of Malaysia

VISIONARY

                                          Dato’ Aliff Shukri

Entrepreneurs who have the vision known as 'visionary'. These entrepreneurs have a vision and direction to achieve the objectives and goals outlined. Entrepreneurs who have the vision to know about all actions consistent with the objectives of vision 2020 drafted by the government. Entrepreneurs have a vision to plan not only for the short term, but also for a long time to achieve the goals and vision of the organization. Entrepreneurs who have the vision to make the best decision and consider the challenges, threats and opportunities that will be encountered.

Dato' Aliff Shukri Kamarzaman born on April 3, 1987 at Felda Kechau, Kuala Lipis, Pahang. He has moved and attended the Sekolah Kebangsaan Sg.Besar, Selangor then continued his studies at Sekolah Menengah Telok Gadong, Klang. After that he studied at the Sekolah Pondok Pasir Tumbuh Kelantan. After graduating in Sekolah Pondok Pasir Tumbuh Kelantan, he studied in Sekolah Integrasi as-Syakirin, Shah Alam until level 5 and continuing education to Taylor Collage.

Dato’ Aliff  Shukri can be seen as who had a vision. This can be demonstrated through the establishment D'herbs Healthy Marketing in September 2010 in which only operates on a lot of shops and have 4 main products foundation, slimming products, beverages and Lipstick Women's Health Care. He took a step forward by producing nearly 90 new product lines. It explains that Dato’ Aliff  Shukri an entrepreneur with a vision. He was able to develop his business trip to the goals to be achieved within the prescribed time. In addition, he wisely take appropriate action to ensure proper vision and he was able to be successfully achieved.

NETWORKED

Dato’ Seri Vida

Networked is one of the entrepreneurial traits that needed by the entrepreneurs. Building a network helps entrepreneurs get their product to market and get the right people in place (Heiman, Connecting Your Way to New Business, 2015). In business perspective, network can be defined as all relationships formed or exist and are maintained by an entrepreneur with humans around them for mutual benefit (Mahmood, 2010). There are three types of network, which are personal network, public network and business network. The entrepreneur’s personal network is informal network which only involved the direct relationship likes friends and family. Meanwhile, public network refer to public resources, for example internet and radio, where the entrepreneurs can use this resources to improve their knowledge and get more information. The business network also calls as formal network where the entrepreneurs build the relationship with outside parties’ likes government, bank, professional bodies and many others.

One of the entrepreneurs who use the features of this network is the founder of Vida Beauty, Dato Seri Dr. Hasmiza Othman and also known as Dato  Seri Dr.Vida. This entrepreneur was born in Kelantan and has made her name as one of the successful entrepreneurs in Malaysia. She is a graduate of Bachelor of Business majoring in Education at Universiti Sains Malaysia, Penang. Vida Beauty is a manufacturer of health and beauty products.

Dato Seri Vida also use a public network that is using newspapers, television and the Internet as her primary medium to create a public network. She promotes her product through this medium and now her product are well known among Malaysian and international level.