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The Rayong Resort: A hidden paradise
Polittles at work by Richard Townsend, Corporate Learning Consultant Politics, if you don’t like it, or can’t handle it... best become self-employed! Many employees complain that politics seems to play a greater role in career success than does competence to do the job. Research shows that successful managers (those promoted) spend almost half of their work time networking while effective (do a ‘good’ job) managers spend only about 10%. When we add in time spent communicating, effective managers spend a little over half of their time in what we may call human relations activities while successful managers spend a little over three quarters of their time. It is without doubt as managers our role is to get things done through other people, so whether we seek effectiveness or success we must become human relations’ experts and I suggest, be our own best ‘spin doctors’. Wherever people are together politics will always play a part in group relations and in the interactions between individuals as each member attempts to satisfy their own needs and wants. We are all selfish after all. So if we must all ‘play the politics’ how do we become more astute at ‘the game’? Firstly we must publicise our successes. Learning how to show off without appearing to do so can be a great asset. Try this... next time you have a win smile, whistle and dance around, show some enthusiasm... people will want to know why you are so happy and elated... well I’ve had a great day... I won this deal or I’ve cracked this problem or whatever, tell your story (but don’t rave on, short is sweet). Secondly, look like a winner. View those around you that are at the top of your organisation and learn from their style. Don’t hang around with the ‘grumble group’, find out whether your company culture appreciates risk takers or avoiders, rule followers or breakers and live within these constraints. Learn the difference between form and substance, how something looks is often more important than how things really are. This even applies to dress and presentation. If the top wears dark blue suits, white shirts, red ties and clean-shaven faces you do the same. But I’ve always had a beard, my wife likes it... go work for your wife then. Thirdly, why not make yourself indispensable. No one can do that you might say; however, back to form and substance... you can APPEAR to be. If the management believe that you can provide a service that is hard to replace you will gain a great political advantage. Example, if you have a strong relationship with a key customer’s senior personnel spend time to keep them more than just satisfied. If you are in close contact with regulatory or government departments such as customs, tax, labour or industry, look after your contact (bearing in mind the ethics of your company). Again, if you are an astute computer operator in the IT department fix the senior exec’s problems yourself, don’t delegate. All senior executives are far too busy with the big picture to be experts in each field of the company’s operation. So if you pick a critical field that you also have a reasonable level of competence in, make yourself the expert in that field. Provide information on developments in your area and get the information to those that control your future... the bosses. Some more political thoughts next issue! To contact Ric mailto: [email protected]
New phrases for the next century BLAMESTORMING: Sitting around in a group, discussing why a deadline was missed or a project failed, and who was responsible. SEAGULL MANAGER: A manager who flies in, makes a lot of noise, craps on everything, and then leaves. CUBE FARM: An office filled with cubicles. IDEA HAMSTERS: People who always seem to have their idea generators running. MOUSE POTATO: The on-line, wired generation’s answer to the couch potato. SITCOMs: (Single Income, Two Children, Oppressive Mortgage) What Yuppies turn into when they have children and one of them stops working to stay home with the kids. SALMON DAY: The experience of spending an entire day swimming upstream only to get screwed and die in the end. STARTER MARRIAGE: A short-lived first marriage that ends in divorce with no kids, no property, and no regrets. STRESS PUPPY: A person who seems to thrive on being stressed out and whiny. SWIPED OUT: An ATM or credit card that has been rendered useless because the magnetic strip is worn away from extensive use. ALPHA GEEK: The most knowledgeable, technically proficient person in an office or work group. ASSMOSIS: The process by which some people seem to absorb success and advancement by kissing up to the boss rather than working hard. CHIPS & SALSA: Chips = hardware, Salsa = software. “Well, first we gotta figure out if the problem’s in your chips or your salsa.” FLIGHT RISK: Used to describe employees who are suspected of planning to leave a company or department soon. GOOD JOB: A “Get-Out-Of-Debt” Job. A well-paying job people take in order to pay off their debts, one that they will quit as soon as they are solvent again. IRRITAINMENT: Entertainment and media spectacles that are annoying but you find yourself unable to stop watching them. The O.J. trials were a prime example. Bill Clinton’s shameful video Grand Jury testimony is another. PERCUSSIVE MAINTENANCE: The fine art of whacking the heck out of an electronic device to get it to work again. UNINSTALLED: Euphemism for being fired. Heard on the voice-mail of a vice president at a downsizing computer firm: “You have reached the number of an Uninstalled Vice President. Please dial our main number and ask the operator for assistance.” *(Syn: decruitment.) VULCAN NERVE PINCH: The taxing hand position required to reach all the appropriate keys for certain commands. For instance, the re-boot for a Mac II computer involves simultaneously pressing the Control key, the Command Key, the Return Key, and the Power On key. YUPPIE FOOD STAMPS: The ubiquitous $20 bills spewed out of ATMs everywhere. Often used when trying to split the bill after a meal, “We each owe $8, but all anybody’s got are yuppie food stamps.” CLM (Career Limiting Move): Used among microserfs to describe ill-advised activity. Trashing your boss while he or she is within earshot is a serious CLM. ADMINISPHERE: The rarefied organizational layers beginning just above the rank and file. Decisions that fall from the adminisphere are often profoundly inappropriate or irrelevant to the problems they were designed to solve. DILBERTED: To be exploited and oppressed by your boss. Derived from the experiences of Dilbert, the geek-in-hell comic strip character. “I’ve been Dilberted again. The old man revised the specs for the fourth time this week.” 404: Someone who’s clueless. From the World Wide Web error message “404 Not Found,” meaning that the requested document could not be located. “Don’t bother asking him . . . he’s 404, man.” GENERICA: Features of the American landscape that are exactly the same no matter where one is, such as fast food joints, strip malls, subdivisions. Used as in “We were so lost in generica that I forgot what city we were in.” OHNOSECOND: That minuscule fraction of time in which you realize that you’ve just made a BIG mistake. UMFRIEND: A sexual relation of dubious standing or a concealed intimate relationship, as in “This is Dyan, my... um... friend.”
Rayong’s annual fruit festival coming soon June 3-10 at Rayong’s Central Market Rayong Governor Surant Thongniramol announced that the “Annual Fruit and Good Things Festival in Rayong” is scheduled for June 3-10 and will be located at Rayong’s Central Market area on Sukhumvit Road. Rayong’s Annual Fruit Festival is a popular tourist attraction at this time of year when a number of different exotic fruits are available. The durian, mango, rambutan, mangosteen, pineapple and other fruits are displayed in the market along with a large selection of seafood. The activities include a festival of beautiful floats decorated with various fruits and flowers and a beauty contest selecting the “Festival Princess”.
Another activity hosted by Rayong each year is “Sunthornphu Day” in recognition of the famous poet and honoring his many literary achievements. The day’s activities will take place at the Sunthornphu Monument in Rayong’s Kram Sub-District on June 26. The “Sunthornphu Day” activities include a ritual ceremony calling out to the spirit of Sunthornphu and a narration on the noted poet’s achievements. A contest selecting the “Sunthornphu Butterfly Maiden” and a parade of floats depicting his work will follow the ceremony with readings of his songs and poems by people competing for the best rendition. Other contestants will compete against each other by playing Sunthornphu’s music on flutes. The main attraction will be a show written by the poet titled “Pao Pee Phra Aphai”.
Mixed feeling in the German Thai Chamber The German Thai Chamber of Commerce had another of their Pub nights (Stammtisch) at the Moon River Pub. While the German industrial community can let their hair down as well as anyone, not everybody was in a buoyant mood. Undoubtedly the economy in Thailand has improved and German investment in the region is continuing. In fact, Axel Foellmer, the Managing Director of Bayer in Thailand and the Senior Representative of the entire Bayer Group in Germany, spoke with pride of his company’s investments here. He said, “Bayer is proud that it is the biggest asset investment company in Thailand, investing more than 500 million US dollars in the past four years. This is the biggest investment in Asia and Bayer is the biggest German company in Thailand.” Mr. Foellmer sees Thailand as the hub of Southeast Asia and 70% of all their products are for export to markets in China, Japan, Australia and other Asian countries. He also said that he believes that favourable BOI privileges and the investment climate for German companies in Thailand is just right.
However, the garden is not all that rosy, according to the Chairman of the German Thai Chamber, Dr. Paul Strunk. In a blistering address on the Pattaya Mail Channel TV, he slated the difficulties experienced by the German investors with the bureaucracy and red tape that can be involved with setting up and continuing to do business in this country. In his address he said, “Germany has always been a close friend of Thailand and is in the forefront of business in Thailand. We see clearly the indications are that the Eastern Seaboard will be the centre of industry in Thailand with Pattaya as the capital. Bangkok is too crowded. The Eastern Seaboard is the right place. But I am very unhappy to say there are too many discrepancies and shortcomings to convince German companies to come to Thailand. There is a lot of competition from Malaysia, Korea and China because they are moving fast. Thailand is very slow. They are moving in the right direction, but very, very slowly. We must accept reality, in the last 20 years things are improving here, but not fast enough.
“I find the Bayer Thai Polymers project in Rayong a very exciting and positive step. Here is where the Thais can see how business is done in Germany. Clean, proper and the environment are of the biggest concern. It costs a lot of money, but this money has to be spent. We cannot go the cheap way. “It has been a rule in Thailand to go the cheap way. You tend to forget the environment, the people and that in my view isn’t correct. Companies must take a bigger responsibility for the workers, their health and their social environment. Not only to cut costs and go cheap. “Thailand must open its doors to economic competition. Germans will go where they see profits, because they are business people. They also appreciate the cost effectiveness of manufacturing in Thailand. “Thailand must create an open border policy for imports and exports, and apply and adhere to the rules of the world trade organizations and the requirements of AFTA. “This is the best pre-condition for bringing Germans here and when they are here they can make a big contribution together for the development of the Thai economy and the development of Thai German relations.” Whilst we do not have to ‘kow tow’ to foreign investors, we should always remember, as Dr. Strunk has said, that there are other nations in ASEAN who would prefer to see the investment on their soil. The next Eastern Seaboard Stammtisch will be held in two months at the Moon River Pub.
Copyright 2000 Pattaya Mail Publishing Co.Ltd. |
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GM
Pichai relaxing at the Admiral’s Club
The
idyllic private beach of the hotel.
Overlooking
the pool and the sea from the rooms.
Sarote
(left) and Surachai (right) enjoying dinner at the Cape Grill.
Ms.
Margrith Schaerli
Rayong’s
Annual Fruit Festival Parade, with floats beautifully decorated in different
fruits and flowers, will be held June 3-10 at the Tapong Market.
Axel
Foellmer, the Managing Director of Bayer in Thailand and the Senior
Representative of the entire Bayer Group in Germany
Chairman
of the German Thai Chamber, Dr. Paul Strunk