Entry 2: Be A Manager

Marshall of Singapore: The Extraordinary Life & Times of David Saul Marshall (1908-1995)

Promenade, Level 10, National Library Building

12 December 2008 - 20 February 2009

10 am - 9pm daily

Objective

A joint effort by the National Library of Singapore and the Institute of Southeast Asian Studies, the purpose of this exhibition is to celebrate the life of one of the leading figures of Singapore's history. Also, it aims to better educate the general public and make them aware of this extraordinary figure in Singapore's history.

Target Audience

The main group of people that would be drawn to this exhibit would most probably consist of the general public and school students having history or social studies class.

Publicity

There is little publicity on this small event. Other than a small paragraph on the National Library website, there is little publicity for this event.

Media Coverage

There is no media coverage for this event.

One possible reason is that the exhibition is a small one and hence, it would not be news worthy enough. Also, unless there is a famous VIP gracing the opening of the exhibit, library exhibits tend not to attract the attention of the media.

I think one way to attract the media would be to have a relative of David Marshall appear and talk about the life of his relative or give his or her views on how David has impacted Singapore.

Evaluation of Success

Basing on the crowd that has been generated by this exhibition, I would have to conclude that the exhibit is a failure in its purpose in educating the general public as not much of the general public is present.

One way in which i would improve the exhibit is to create more points of interaction between the visitor and the information. Instead of having the traditional musuem exhibit process where information is read off the walls, I would try to add a video clip or a compilation of video clips during the life of David Marshall. Also, I would introduce a form of conducted tour around the exhibit beginning with a video montage of David Marshall and proceeding on the early beginnings and ending off with his death.

Just For Laughs

David also enjoyed picking his nose from time to time as seen below.

Entry 1: The Manager

Sorry for the late post Ms. Chuah as i was sick yesterday, Friday the 28th.

The Name: Yuri See
Age: 47
Designation(s):
- Treasury senior manager
- Customer financing programme, Asia pacific - Japan

Company: Dell Singapore

Can I have a brief description of your managerial responsibilities?
I am in charge of payments solutions. For example, these come in the forms of bank drafts, financing and letters of credit. In summary, non-cash payment solutions in the Asia pacific regions.

What is your management style?
I am achievement oriented which means that goals are the first thing that come to mind when a new objective is specified. As such, I try to disseminate the information as fast as possible to my subordinates and allocate them a portion of the job that each of them can produce the best results in. To simply put, if person A can produce better results than Person B for a certain job, then I would allocate that particular portion of the job to person A rather than B.

(This is the subsection of management effectiveness from the “Modern Approaches to Management” school of management.)

What are some difficulties you face as a manager?
One of the biggest challenges I face is reaching targets in big projects. Because many people are on the team, the final ‘product’ so to speak is made up of the product of the end results of the workers. Hence, if many of the workers do a shabby job or fail to achieve the targets given to them, these will affect the big picture and may cause it to fail.

How do you overcome these difficulties?
I believe that if the people on my team see the big picture that even a small amount of work goes a big way to helping the entire project, they will try to achieve their targets. It’s like trying to play a team game such as basketball or soccer. If the goalkeeper and strikers do their part but the defenders are slacking, then the team will still lose because they let in more goals than that is being scored. In other words, teamwork from different levels of management is very important. The middle managers cannot just throw the work down the levels and hope that it gets done. Instead, they should work together with the first-line managers as well as the operatives to ensure a successful project or job.

In your opinion, what makes a good manager?
Firstly, someone who understands the goals and objectives of the organisation. We can’t have a middle manager or even a first-line manager that does not agree with the policies or the goals of the company. As such, the managers should have the same vision as the company so that the end result will be what was being conceived by the upper management. Secondly, the person must be willing to lead. No point having a resentful manager that doesn’t take pride in his work just because he would rather hold a smaller position if it means less expectations. Lastly, a good manager should be someone that is willing to take ownership of deliverables. In other words, the manager in question should take full responsibility for any project, even if it is not up to standard.

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