What I found in my thought-experiment was very interesting, that I figured out that it would be easy for a middle class to rise from like bottom-middle to upper-middle class. To move further ahead to the upper class, however, was daunting. As a result, only those politically connected could actually get filthy rich in Indonesia.
Anyhow, I would like to add like a "special thanks" to people who contributed and sent me criticisms during the development of this piece: Hendry Jahja, Jo Irwan, Mario Irwan Tan, and Ong Wie Liong. This piece is not based on their experience, but they all significantly contributed to it.
One last thing. Due to the limit of the length of the article, some of the jokes were cut off from the final version. The original version could be found at the end of this article.
After that original version, the Google-English translation of Antonio Menna's Italian version can be found in the end.
--------------
Tough Going for an Indonesian Steve Jobs
Yohanes Sulaiman | October 12, 2011
Last week the world lost one of its greatest innovators in Steve Jobs. In Indonesia, where his creations were as sought after as they were anywhere in the world, his passing gives us the occasion to pose an interesting question: Had Jobs been born in Indonesia, would he have been able to create a company like Apple?
Let us assume that the Indonesian Jobs’s background is similar to that of his real counterpart. He comes from a middle-class family, finds he has a knack for technology and starts up a computer company with a friend. In order to raise capital, he sells his van and uses his family’s connections to raise enough money to manufacture a few innovative, skillfully-designed computers in his garage.
To sell his computers, our Jobs then hires or asks members of his family to help out. They start to visit stores, peddling the computers, and since they have great products, the computers sell like hotcakes. Soon Indonesian Apple computers are common sights in Glodok and other electronic outlets.
Our Jobs decides to expand his manufacturing capacity and build a factory. He checks the zoning laws and finds a good piece of property for the right price. Having bought the property, though, he finds that he needs to get permission from his neighbors, regardless of the fact that the property was zoned as “industrial.” But he finds that permission is not forthcoming unless he is prepared to spend some money “to help the community,” such as by building a house of worship and paving the local road. He also has to pledge to only hire local people as workers in his factory.
These permissions in hand, he then has to get permits from the local village and the district to get a license to run his business, which will need to be renewed annually. Since issuing permits takes time, he is advised discreetly to send gifts through connected people to speed up the process. Needless to say, the creaky wheel of bureaucracy suddenly turns once he does so.
All permits secured, our Jobs starts building his factory. During construction, local toughs “politely” ask him to buy materials from them at “slightly” higher prices than normal. There are also security fees to pay these toughs to ensure smooth running during construction.
The factory is halfway done when suddenly our innovator receives a court order to halt construction. Apparently the land is in dispute, and the seller was just one of several claimants to the land.
After quite some time and much money spent to settle the claims, the factory is finally done. Jobs goes to hire his workers, but to his dismay, the local workers are badly trained and unqualified to work in such a delicate sector as the tech industry. The search for better human resources, perhaps at distant universities, takes some time. And while many his college-graduated employees had great grades on paper, their real-life performance lags. After being taught under a rote system all their lives, they have difficulty trying to innovate and improve on the existing product. As a result, Jobs finds himself spending more and more time checking their work.
If he can deal with the labor problems, he will then find to his consternation that the electric supply is unreliable. The voltage is often below threshold, and power outages occur during working hours, damaging machinery and halting production.
Transportation is another issue. Floods and massive traffic jams add delays in shipping. He complains to the local government all the time, but to no avail.
And then there are the unwanted visitors. Fly-by-night NGOs protest capitalism’s exploitation of Indonesia’s poor. Local officials visit and find many made-up violations, threatening to shut down production. They leave after receiving “gifts.”
Thus, any “Indonesian Steve Jobs” faces many dilemmas: fuzzy law enforcement, troublesome bureaucracy, difficulty in satisfying local populations, daily shakedowns, shipment delays and unreliable electric supply. All of it increases the cost of production and stifles innovation.
A Steve Jobs might exist in Indonesia. But he has limited opportunity to create a world-class multinational company like today’s Apple due to the difficulties of innovation in Indonesia. Innovation can only occur when people have the ability and possibility to invent and innovate, rather than spending all their time working on basic matters of production.
Even though many multinational companies are interested in investing in Indonesia thanks to its economic growth potential — Panasonic, Sharp and Honda, to name a few — it’s worth pointing out that these many are merely low-technology manufacturing jobs.
To foster innovation, Indonesia must create a better atmosphere for any business to prosper. The government must guarantee the sanctity of law and enforce it, streamline the bureaucracy and improve the local infrastructure to stimulate further economic growth. Otherwise, companies that rely on innovation to grow — like Research In Motion, Google and Microsoft — will continue to make places like Malaysia their first choice for regional investment.
------
ORIGINAL VERSION:
The factory was halfway done when suddenly he received the court order to halt the
construction. Apparently the land was in dispute, that the seller was just one of several claimants to the land. It was the cousin of the brother-in-law of the already deceased original landowner, who demanded the injunction, declaring that it was the late landowner's wish that the entire land should have never been sold and must be donated as a common land to the local village. Mr. Jobs then had to settle every single claim to the land before he could proceed.
After quite some time and much money spent to settle the claims, the factory was finally done. Mr. Jobs then started hiring his workers. To his dismay, the quality of the local workers was low. They were badly trained and not that qualified to work in such a delicate sector like a computer industry. He settled this problem by hiring several local toughs as his security officers, whom he paid above minimum wage to ensure that there would be no trouble going on.
Having dealt with the labor problems, he then found to his consternation that the electric supply was not that reliable. The voltage was often below threshold. Worse, power outages happened during working hours, damaging machineries and causing production stoppage. Even when the power returned, it took a while to restart the production line, costing the factory precious hours in productions.
While he was dealing with production problems, he also had troubles with the quality of the software. While many of the college graduates that Mr. Jobs hired had great grades on paper, their real life performances were below what he expected. Having taught using rote system all their life, they had difficulties in trying to innovate, improving on the existing product. As a result, Mr. Jobs found himself spending more and more time checking his subordinates' works. Add to the mix, the need to ensure that nobody pirated his products.
He also had troubles with transporting his finished products. While in the beginning the street going to his factory was in great shape, the quality deteriorated soon afterwards and by the rainy season, it flooded daily, causing massive traffic jams and adding delays on the shipment. He complained to the local government all the time, without avails.
The final straw was he had to deal with unwanted visitors. Fly-by-night NGOs, calling themselves names such as "popular front for local betterment" did daily demonstration protesting the exploitation of capitalism on Indonesian poor. Local officials also did a daily visit, finding many made-up violations, threatening to shut down production. These visitors would usually leave after some coffees and "gifts."
Thus the dilemma for any Indonesian "Steve Jobs": fuzzy law enforcements, troublesome bureaucracy, difficult to satisfy local populations, and daily shakedowns, not to mention the shipment delays and unreliable electric supplies quickly increased the cost of production and stifled innovations as it took the wind out of any sail of any innovators.
---------
If Steve was born in the province of Naples
By Antonio Menna
Steve Jobs is raised in Mountain View, Santa Clara County, California. Here, with his friend Steve Wozniak founded Apple Computer, April 1, 1976. To borrow, Jobs sold his Volkswagen van and Wozniak his calculator. The first seat of the new company was the garage of the parents worked here their first computer, the Apple I. We sell someone on paper only on the basis of the idea, the Homebrew Computer Club members with a commitment to purchase, obtain credit from suppliers and assemble computers, delivering on time. Then bring the idea to the industry, Mike Markkula, who pays, without warranties, into the coffers of the company the sum of $ 250,000, in exchange for one third of Apple. With that money, Jobs and Wozniak launch the product. The sales touching one million dollars. Four years later, Apple goes public.
Let's say that Steve Jobs was born in the province of Naples. His name is Stephen's work. Do not go to college, is a geek. He has a friend named Stephen Vozzini. There are two technology enthusiasts, someone is calling them queer because they are always together. The two have an idea. An innovative computer. But I do not have the money to buy the pieces and assemble it. Put them in the garage and think about how to do. Stephen's work says, try to sell products without them again. With these orders we buy the pieces.
They put an ad, flyers attack, seek buyers. No one shows up. Knocking on companies "want to experience a new computer?". Anyone is interested: "bring it to me, I pay more than ninety days." "Really do not have one yet, we need your written order." The paper does not make an order on letterhead. You never know. With that order, they go to buy the pieces, I want to give them as collateral for credit. Retailers throw them out. "Without money you do not sing the harvest". What to do? Vendiamoci the motor. With that money, manage to assemble the first computer, make a single delivery, earn something. Make another one. The thing seems to go.
But we want to take off more capital. "We ask for a loan." They go to the bank. "Send me your parents, do not do credit to those who have nothing," says the branch manager. The two back in the garage. How do? While we think they are knocking at the door. They are the traffic cops. "They told us that here you are doing a business. We can see the documents? ". "What papers? We're just experimenting. " "We understand that you have sold the computers."
Firefighters were called to a shop which is opposite. The kids do not have documents, the garage is not up to standard, there is no electrical circuit breakers, there are no toilets, no VAT activity. The record is salty. But if they take out some money to bribe, it was felt all over. The gain and give the first apparatus.
But the next day comes the Finance. Finance must also appear. And then the Inspectorate of Labour. And the office hygiene. The initial nest egg flew away. They left early gains. Meanwhile, the idea is there. The first excited buyers call, the computer is great. We must make others at whatever cost. But where to get the money?
There are European funds, incentives all'autoimpresa. There is a accountant in Naples he can do very well these practices. "You're right, you have a wonderful idea. Sure we can have a forgivable loan of at least 100 thousand euros. " The boys think it is made. "But the money will arrive in accounting, you first have to bear the costs. Equipped laboratory, starting with the activities, and then you will get the refund. And then only to ask the question we have to open the VAT, record status by the notary, security positions open, open a practice by the accountant, the accounting books stamped by, a bank account, which you do not open, you owe it payable to your parent. Put him in company with you. Then something about the practice, my fee. And then it takes something money to oil the mechanism to the region. There is a friend to whom we must make a gift otherwise I'll forget the financing. " "But we do not we have this money." "Not even something for the practice? And where do you start? ".
The two boys decide to seek help from parents. They sell the other motor, a collection of comic books. They put something together. Make the documents have VAT, INPS, books, and bank account. They are a company. They have fixed costs. The accountant to pay. The head office is in the garage, not up to standard, if you come back the fighters, or finance, or INPS, or the Labour Inspectorate, or the technical department of the City, or health alert, have more money . Avoid putting the sign outside the door to look inconspicuous. Inside the garage working hard: assemble computers with pieces of luck, a little 'bought used a little' on credit. Makes ten new computers, they can sell them. This seems to go.
But one day knock on the garage. And 'the Camorra. We know that you are earning, you have to make a gift to children who are in jail. "What?". "Pay is better for you."
If they pay, the money and end up close. If you do not pay, make him blow up the garage. If you go to the police and get sued, they should just go because they ran out of living. If you do not get sued and they find it, go to jail, too.
Pagano. But they no longer have the money to continue operations. The funding does not come from the region, the books are expensive, must pay the taxes, pay taxes on what they sold, the accountant press, the pieces are finished, assemble computers in this way becomes impossible, the father of Stephen's work the taken aside and tells him "guagliò, free this garage, there fictitious parking spaces, which is better."
The two boys look and decide to abandon their dream. Become garage mechanics.
The Apple in the province of Naples would not be born, because we are hungry and mad as well, but if you are born in the wrong place, stay with hunger and insanity, and nothing more.
No comments:
Post a Comment