Acer CEO says Indonesia must find its own competence

By Zatni Arbi

JAKARTA (JP): Hong Kong has its Cyberport project. Malaysia has its Multimedia Super Corridor program. Singapore has its plan for an intelligent island. What about Indonesia?

"I think Indonesia should never try to compete," said Stan Shih, chairman and CEO of Acer Computer. He was here last weekend to officially announce the establishment of PT Acer Indonesia, a wholly owned subsidiary of Acer Computer.

Along with a couple of other journalists, I was quite lucky to be invited for an interview with him in his suite at the Shangri- La hotel. As he is also on the advisory board of the Multimedia Super Corridor, the first question I asked him was what advice he would give us as a country that has been left so far behind in the IT industry. And that was the beginning of his comments.

"I think Indonesia should identify its own opportunities," Shih said. "I believe that, for Indonesia, the need to improve education is very fundamental. Although it may take 10, 15 or 20 years to see the real result, you should make a decision quickly and then make the right move to build up the quality of your education, especially in software competence. Just go ahead, and you'll never go wrong.

"On the other hand, if with such a limited budget you still decide to join the crowd, build a techno-park and try to attract multinational companies as well as other foreign investors, you may have a hard time because there is already so much competition out there in the industry."

Shih's emphasis on education should not come as a surprise. This 53-year-old man who reads very fast (he spends most of his air travel time reading) has long had an obsession for education. Back home in Taiwan, based on his idea, Acer established an Aspire Academy, an executive education institution where executives can learn the experience of Acer as it faces and overcomes challenges in its 23 years of existence. At the institution, senior as well as middle-level managers can learn how to "enhance their leadership and organizational effectiveness".

And his advice that Indonesia should not try to compete on the same turf with its neighbors could not be more consistent with his own principles, which he put in writing in a book he wrote a couple of years ago: Me-too is not my style. In fact, the other item on his agenda for Jakarta last weekend was to launch the Indonesian version of the book, which is published by Gramedia in cooperation with MarkPlus Publication.

I commented to Shih that the title Me-too is not my style hit the nail right on the head. Here in Indonesia so many entrepreneurs quickly copycat other people's successful business endeavors in the hope of repeating the success or sharing the pie.

Take, for instance, the speed at which kafe tenda (streetside cafes) mushroomed all over Jakarta after the crisis started. And look also at the number of online news sites that are trying to replicate the tremendous success of Detik.com. Sometimes replication can still work, but more often it does not because the market cannot absorb too many of the same offerings.

As fresh, original ideas are very rare, a book like this one will help challenge our minds and inspire us to work harder to invent them rather than simply repeat what earlier entrepreneurs did.

"The message of the book," Shih said, "is that you have to find your own ways, because the time is different, the environment is different, the condition is different and even the people's styles are also different."

Shih sees a lot of opportunities in the Internet application software and service industries. "In the future software and Internet services will have to be local and culture-related," he said. It follows that it will create a huge opportunity if we have trained our next generation properly and equipped them with the right set of skills and knowledge.

"Take educational appliances, for instance. These are information appliances that run educational software. They'll have to be developed locally. I think this will be a good opportunity to develop some of the local IT industry," he explained.

What about investing in Indonesia?

"I don't see any possibility for Acer to build another hardware manufacturing plant in Indonesia now or in the future. Hardware is already oversupplied, and Acer already has many manufacturing facilities in Malaysia, the Philippines, Taiwan and China. But I'll be glad to explore the possibility of setting up a software venture in this country. Software development and education are the two areas for the future."

He foresees Acer's shift from a mostly hardware company today into a company with two thirds of revenues coming from its software arms in 20 years.

Twenty years? That long? Yes, because, as he admits, he always takes a long-term view in his approach to business decisions.

"Think long term, but you have to set yourself an intermediate milestones so that from time to time you can check whether you are still on the right track," he explained.

Before I went to last Friday's interview, I had browsed the Internet to find some background information about this longest serving CEO in the computer industry today. Several articles described him as a visionary who is subtle in his way of expressing his views and opinion.

As they said about him on the Internet, when I met him personally I found this man -- who last month became the first Asian CEO to be inducted in the CRN Industry Hall of Fame -- to be simple and modest, particularly if one considers the fact that he was the founder of the third biggest PC manufacturer in the world today.

Shih is looking forward to his retirement in five years, as afterwards he thinks he'll have more time to "do things for others". Given his commitment to education, that will certainly include teaching at various business schools around the region. As for the evening of Dec. 31, he plans to invite a couple of friends and have a small party.