Business partnership<\/p>\n
The basic principles and operational directives outlined by
\nPresident Soeharto for the National Business Partnership program
\nset up a strong foundation and provide economic viability for the
\ndevelopment of business ties between big companies and small
\nfirms on a sustainable level.<\/p>\n
The President asserted at the launching of the program on
\nWednesday that business partnerships should run on the basis of
\nmutual benefit and equality. That means the driving force of big
\ncompanies to develop business tie-ups with small firms or
\ncooperatives should not be compassion. The compelling factor
\nshould be the rationale that a broad-based economic growth is a
\nprerequisite for the political, social and economic
\nsustainability of conglomerates.<\/p>\n
Mutually-beneficial business partnerships also mean the ties
\nbetween big and small enterprises will not exact unreasonable
\ncosts on the partners. Otherwise the efficiency of the economy as
\na whole will be affected and whatever benefits accrued from such
\nrelations will be nullified.<\/p>\n
The President's directives convey a clear but sensible message
\nof caution to small firms and cooperatives that they should not
\nexpect preferential treatment from big companies, nor should they
\nexpect an immediate injection of easy money. Small firms will be
\ngiven assistance under the partnership program, but the aid is
\nnot in subsidies or grants but entrepreneurship and managerial
\ntraining through learning-by-doing business with big enterprises.
\nThey will learn how to do business the hard way.<\/p>\n
The message for big companies is that they should practice a
\nlot of patience in enhancing the skills and capacities of small
\nfirms. However, they are not expected to accept lower-quality
\nproducts from their small-business partners. Accepting less from
\nsmall firms than they would from other medium-scale or big
\nsuppliers would kill the spirit of entrepreneurship and business
\ncompetence. It would also instill an unrealistic sense of
\nacceptable business practices.<\/p>\n
Moreover, as the President warned, since the products to be
\nmade by the business partnerships will be sold to domestic and
\ninternational markets, the products should be competitive in
\nterms of both quality and price. Turning out inferior products
\nwill not only edge the businesses out of the market, but also
\nwill make the whole economy inefficient.<\/p>\n
The experiences of countries which have succeeded in
\ndeveloping a large base of reliable, competitive small
\nenterprises show that enhancing business ties with small firms
\nexacts a learning cost on big companies, although the eventual
\npayoff is quite big. Since the program involves training and
\nrequires a change in attitude on the part of the managements of
\nsmall businesses, big companies should think long term.<\/p>\n
However, to facilitate the smooth implementation of the
\nbusiness partnership program, the government needs to issue rules
\nto protect the interests and rights of small firms from abuses by
\nlarge companies and to ensure fair transactions between partners.<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/business-partnership-1447893297",
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"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
"sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com"
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