Be a Manager

Event: "The Little Nonya" Road Show and Meet-the-Fans Session
Date: 27th December 2008
Venue: Compass Point Mall

a)"The Little Nonya" is a Chinese drama serial that debuted on the 25th of November 2008. It had gained an enormous fan base since then. The primary goal of this roadshow was, as is the goal of most roadshows, to gain publicity. Publicity for the television series would mean more viewers, and more viewers mean higher ratings. Also, another goal was probably to maintain popularity with the viewers. A meet the fans session is something of a goodwill act to the people who watch the show, and when the viewers feel that they are cared for by the people who make the shows, they would continue watching it and supporting it. Also, since the event was held in Sengkang, the targeted audience were pretty obviously people from the heartlands.

b) The target audience were the people who watch "The Little Nonya" television series on Channel 8. The majority of them would probably be housewives, as well as teenagers who are into television drama series. However, it is obvious from the thousands of people from all ages and demographic groups that gathered in the mall that the target audience was not restricted to merely housewives and teenage girls. Anyone who watched the show was included in the target audience.

c) The event was heavily promoted on channel 8, and since the show already had such a large fan base, word of the event passed around fairly quickly. How successful the event was publicized was directly related to how heavily promoted the show was, and The Little Nonya was promoted extensively, to the point where it was criticised for overpromotion.

d) The publicity generated from this event was immense, owing to the fact that over five thousand people turned up for an event in a relatively small building. While this in itself was reason enough for a fair amount of news coverage, it was what happened because there were so many people that generated the most publicity. Tiles in the shopping mall cracked under the pressure of s many people. The article can be found here: http://www.channelnewsasia.com/stories/singaporelocalnews/view/398796/1/.html

This was also covered on televised news broadcasts on Channels 5 and 8. What this meant was that further publicity was generated for free, albeit in a negative light.

e) Calling the event a "success" would be a slight understatement. Just look at these photos that were taken off the stomp website.

Yes, they are very blur and grainy, but they show just how staggeringly large the crowd that day was. The entire ground level was a sea of human heads, people lined up several ranks deep on every level, from the ground floor to the fifth floor, just so they could see the cast members and the performance by Olivia Ong (who sang the theme song for The Little Nonya). Shop keepers had to close their shutters to prevent people from going in.

Now, there is a problem that should have been addressed. The manager had obviously grossly underestimated the number of people that would arrive, which meant that the venue was insufficiently large to house the fans. This caused major problems like structural damage to the mall. Also, safety was a big issue. There was no effective emergency plan put in place in case a fire or any accident happened.

Recruitment ads

Position available

Broadcast Journalist

Company description
Media Biz Singapore is an up and coming new player to Singapore's media industry. We were established in 2002, and have since then become the second biggest media company in Singapore, with 2 free-to-air channels, a newspaper and a radio station. Our in-house productions have won several local television awards, including the coveted "Best New Drama Serial" for Days of Thunder. We are now expanding our production list to include a news program, and are now hiring Broadcast Journalists for the company.

Responsibilities

• Gather and report news stories on the field
• Conduct interviews in both English and a second language (Preferably Mandarin, Malay or Tamil)
  
• Interview guests that might appear on the show
• Write and edit stories for the newspaper
• Serve as an anchor or co-anchor on the news program

Requirements

• Diploma or higher qualification in either mass communications or journalism
• Excellent command of English
• Passable oral skills in a Mandarin, Malay or Tamil
  
• Must be able to maintain composure while on air
• Minimum of 2 years journalistic experience
• Outgoing and pro-active
• Must be Singaporean or PR

Applicants are to send an email with a detailed resume stating current and expected salary, as well as a recent photograph to robertpaulson@media-biz.com.sg

For more information, visit www.media-biz.com.sg

The Manager

Name: Goh Leng Peng
Age: 53
Designation: Chief, Corporate Planning
Company: JASO Group

Question 1: Briefly describe your job responsibilities as a manager.

Ok, here is a brief summary of what he said. First of all, he separates his job as a manager into five clear and distinct sections, managing the job, the staff or his subordinates, his bosses, the company's social standing and himself.

First, managing the job. What he has to do everyday is make sure that the specific objectives of the business group are met, and to ensure that profits are maximized, while costs are low. This is fairly straightforward.

Second, managing his staff. He has to distribute work for his subordinates, and if needed, teach them certain skills that might be needed for the task. "Delegate and Educate" he calls it. Merely giving out work to his staff and teaching them new skills every once in a while is not enough, obviously. He has to check and review performance of his team, and if anyone of his staff should lag behind, measures have to be taken.

Third, managing his bosses. He is a middle manager, and thus has to work with both higher ups and his subordinates regularly. With the information gathered by checks and reviews, he would have to report the what is happening in the company to the bosses.

Fourth, the company's social standing. It is vitally important that the public sees the company in a positive light. They are the shareholders after all. So, as a manager, he has to ensure the company upholds its social responsibilities. These include making sure the company does not engage in any activity that would harm the environment and making sure that safety measures are in place.

Last, but most definitely not least, managing himself. As a manager, he has to set a good example fo his staff. He has to be responsible, maintain a high level of creativity and obedience, and must always be loyal to the company.


Question 2: What is your management style?

He didnt really have think he had a fixed management style, but he did have something he calls "Management by Working". It is based on the Human Relations School of Management, but adds a little from Bureaucratic Management. He mentions that the well being of the workers is what's important, because, what's a head without a body to do the work? He finds that "if the physiological needs of the workers are not met, then there's no point, they won't work."

But he also finds that a specific hierarchy is very important. People work best when they know exactly what they need to do, and who they are working for.


Question 3: What are some difficulties you face as a manager?

"Difficulties? Managers don't have difficulties, we have challenges!"


Question 3 revised: What are some of the challenges you face as a manager?

"There are 2 main types of challenges; lack of experience, or lack of resources," he says.

Lack of experience is basically just that. If you have never done something before, and you are suddenly tasked with getting the job done, of course you will face a difficulty. Sorry, I mean challenge.

Lack of resources can be differentiated into lack of funds, manpower, knowledge or equipment. Lack of knowledge is different from lack of experience in that maybe you have had to do a certain job before, so you have the experience. Except this time you lack a certain piece of information that you need to finish the job.


Question 4: How do you overcome these challenges?

"First, you have to identify the challenge.Then you have to brainstorm and find a solution to the challenge. Work out the solution, and if it doesn't work, repeat the process till the desired outcome is achieved."

Question 5: In your opinion, what makes a good manager?

"Basically, the ability to do everything I just told you. And being able to handle stresses to lead a team. A good manager has to connect with both his subordinates and his staff, while not being to closely attached to anyone. This is important because there is no room for personal feelings in the working environment."