First of all, a picnic brings people together by making them share food, a basket and a blanket. The conversation springs up easily, due to the nice weather and the surrounding nature. This kind of outdoor activity makes us forget about daily routine and connect more with our friends.

Secondly, we have a great opportunity to breathe clean air and to rediscover the wonders of nature. It is very important for the modern people to reconnect with nature and to understand the strong relationship between humans and the earth. Being in the middle of nature is also a great way of recreation and a way to clear our heads of worries, while receiving a great deal of positive energy. After a picnic I feel fresh and happy – one of the things I love about this activity.

Therefore, it is necessary to emphasize the fact that picnics are great for our health, as well as for our social life. They bring people together, helping them bond. They also help us rediscover nature and enjoy outdoor activities, given the fact that we live in an era where technology combined with significant work load makes us spend most of the time indoors. I love going out for a picnic – gathering my friends and forgetting about mundane concerns.

I am happy to note that over the years, my love for the recliner in my room has passed on to my children. Though they had paid little attention to it when they were young kids, more eager to run and frolic than sit quietly, they have recently started to understand the value of having a recliner in one’s room. Now I often find my college-going son in my favorite piece of furniture with his computer in his lap, feverishly working on an assignment. When we are watching a movie together as a family, there is now a toss between my three children to figure out who gets to sit in the recliner. All these are good signs that when my children have homes of their own, each will definitely have a recliner in their own bedrooms and will probably consider it their favorite piece of furniture, just like their mom did when they were young kids.

I love books. I have a strong affinity and affection for all the books I own; I know every single one by title and author, and that means something. I love my personal diaries even more. They remind me of special moments, beginnings and ends, of joys and difficulties of the past and of how much I’ve grown. I learn from the things I’ve written over time. All my documented ideas, plans, hopes and dreams are my personal compass and a reminder of who I am and what I’m doing in this unpredictable journey called life.

Technology in this age is something else entirely from what it was back in the days. Thanks to advancements and progress made over the years, we have a system that is not only incredibly refined, but totally usable too. And that’s why I have an external hard drive, which stores all my documentation of important data. Photos with rare moments captured, songs that take me back to those moments and a chest of treasures here and there in the form of warm and inspiring movies, videos of seminars and TED talks, are also all safely tucked away in a cute 21st century gadget on my wardrobe, next to my handy bag for tucking away books when I’m travelling and in too much of a hurry to pack (and I want to take them along or to keep safe from dust).

Now, being the meticulous person that I am, life in my home is quite predictable. Everything has its place. I always know where everything is. And, call me weird, but this lifestyle works; especially in unpredictable events such as a fire.

If there ever is a fire in my home, and I’m fortunate enough to have some time to save some things, I’ll just head straight for my hard drive and my books, thereby saving the most important memories of my life and my life’s greatest pleasure.

There are many answers as to how we can make life easier for people with disabilities. It is definitely important to create the necessary infrastructure (elevators, special entrances). Ideally, every building should be accessible and convenient to use for everyone, no matter if he/she is walking or riding in a wheelchair. Financial assistance is also an important issue to discuss, as many disabled people cannot fully join the labour force. However, all these aspects look at the problem from a macro-level and do not really answer the question what we, regular citizens can do to make life of people who are less fortunate than us happier and at least a little less complicated.

Improvements do not start in the parliament, they are born inside the hearts of people. Helping a blind man to cross the street, inviting a neighbour in a wheelchair for a picnic or encouraging your kids to play with a disabled child is not going to change the world, but will surely make one person a little happier. Citing Neil Alden Armstrong, “That’s one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind.” No matter how many elevators the government builds, how many busses will be accessible for the disabled, it is up to us to help them integrate into the society and live a full life. So let us make this first small step, start with improving ourselves, and maybe then it will truly be easier for people with disabilities to live and enjoy life in full!

As an executive facing a budget crunch after the Asian Economic Crisis, I believe that I would develop a system to rate the projects that are critical to the success of LKF. With fewer dollars to spend, each supplier development activity needs to be worth the cost. Another way to implement this more constrained approach is to focus more on supplier development activities than on true reverse marketing activities as exemplified by the case of East-Ex. By offering more technical assistance rather than financial assistance, LKF can maximize its budget to develop suppliers.

        

Supplier development through reverse marketing can be quite expensive but can produce dramatic results. For example, LKF’s assistance to Three-San reaped a costs savings of “3.1 million on materials and reduced lead time by half a month”. Clearly, the supplier development is crucial to the success of the firm and should not be reduced in a declining economic environment. But to accomplish more with less requires a greater focus on the priorities of the corporation. A list of critical processes/products and the responsible suppliers should be drawn up. This list should be compared to the corporate goals and strategies and a final list should be drawn from process improvements that align to business goals. By doing this, LKF is assured that the few dollars that are spent on projects that produce the greatest benefit.

A second approach to containing supplier development costs would be to provide more technical assistance than actual financial assistance to suppliers. An example of this approach can be found in the East Ex Precision Case. East Ex had several technical and cultural issues to resolve. By providing the right technical support the supplier was able to improve its performance. The LKF engineer provided documentation support by issuing engineering change orders which consequently solved technical issues as well as the objections of the British workers. This second approach encompasses more supplier development initiatives rather than Reverse Marketing techniques. While there is always an expense to providing technical assistance, the expense is paltry compared to providing large financial assistance to underperforming companies.

In conclusion, the smaller supplier development budget in the Post Asian Economic crisis translates to getting more achieved for LKF’s money. By first prioritizing the dollars to the projects that are “key” to the success of the company, LKF assures itself that supplier development dollars are not wasted. To further maximize cost savings LKF should focus on using more technical assistance rather the full financial assistance when possible. The new direction for LKF would focus more on traditional supplier development activities and save reverse marketing dollars for only the most critical project.
What two learning points did you take away from this topic of supplier development and reverse marketing?

The first point that I learned is how effective reverse marketing can be both financially and in terms of productivity. I think Reverse Marketing the Asian Way has allowed many Asian countries, not just strictly Korea, to develop a competent domestic and international supplier base. I think many American corporations would be risk averse to expending so many resources upfront on their suppliers. Many “focus initiatives” mainly come at the expense of the suppliers in the U.S. In contrast, LKF took a leading position to truly develop their suppliers and make them partner and gave them a vested interest in the success of LKF. The second, lesson that I learned was the life cycle of a true reverse marketing approach. This list included incorporating the following approaches into supplier development: technical capability, financial support, training and education, and international expansion. Most of the supplier development activities in the U.S. focus on what can the supplier do for the Customer. The more comprehensive approach by LKF demonstrates a more complete approach that helps suppliers to actually develop on a long term and continuous basis. LKF’s approach produced greater results than in most U.S. supplier initiatives and that credit is owed to LKF’ long term outlook on developing its supply base.