Businessman, retired generals open business intelligence firm
Businessman, retired generals open business intelligence firm
JAKARTA (JP): Noted businessman Iman Taufik, along with four
retired military and police generals, officially opened a
business intelligence firm on Thursday with an aim to boost
Indonesian companies' competitiveness abroad.
"Business is identical to war," Taufik, who is president
commissioner of the new company called PT Dinamika Indera Nusa
Perdana (DINA), said at the launching.
"Since you cannot win a war without the assistance of
intelligence services, you cannot do business without the same,"
he said in his introductory remarks.
Taufik, founder and president of PT Tri Patra Engineering and
PT Guna Nusa Fabricators, is vice chairman of the Indonesian
Chamber of Commerce and Industry and chairman of the Australia
Indonesia Development Area representing the private sector.
The four generals joining all have impeccable records in
military intelligence, strategy and operations.
Sutjipno is a retired police major general who served as a
police chief in South Sumatra and West Java and was governor of
the Police Staff College (PTIK). Yusuf Effendi was a Navy rear
admiral who headed the Western Armada and was once responsible
for strategic planning at the Ministry of Defense and Security.
Bekkar S is a retired major general who spent most of his Army
years in strategic planning at the Ministry of Defense and
Security. Emon Rivai Arganata, a retired police major general,
designed the National Police's intelligence system.
Sutjipno, Yusuf and Bekkar sit on the board of commissioners
and Emon, who wrote the book Intelijen Bisnis (Business
Intelligence), is the president director of DINA.
Taufik said the idea of the company came from Emon's book.
Citing the yearbook of International Management of
Switzerland, Taufik said Indonesia ranked the second lowest after
Russia in competitiveness among 47 countries' major contributors
on the international market.
With the advent of global competition, Indonesian companies
would not be able to survive in their own country if they
maintained current management and business approaches, he said.
Some companies made business decisions without considering
market demands and competitors, and as a consequence, lost on
their investment and were unable to pay loans, he said, citing
the property sector as an example.
DINA would provide actual and accurate information to help
companies make strategic and operational decisions, Sutjipno
said.
Business intelligence was not identical to industrial
espionage, which often involved illegal and immoral practices,
including stealing classified corporate information, he said.
DINA's operation would be governed by business ethics and use
publicly available information, he said.
Emon said DINA was ready to provide assistance and training
services for firms wishing to develop their own intelligence
units.
Given the military background of some of the founders, the
company would also have access to information about the political
and security situation in the country, and this would be
available to foreign investors, Emon said. (02)