MMP Individual Assignment 1

As a 51-year-old man holding a relatively high position in a Multi National Company (MNC), Mr. Vincent Ong sure doesn’t show his age. With heavy responsibilities that includes providing IT Services to a US$400 million business his department supports in Asia Pacific, it’s a miracle that he looks as young as he does. With less than a handful of telltale grey strands on his full head as he runs his fingers through them.

This man single-handedly manages an IT department with a departmental budget of US$4 million and oversees every IT Project his team executes on a daily basis. He has been with his company for more than 10 years now and has been through many rounds of economic downtowns, but one could not see any sign of despair in him. On the contrary, you'd se a confidence in him as he speaks about his job, and about his team and company with high regards and respect.

He works for a company that strongly believes in two core values:constant respective for people and uncompromising integrity in everything they do. This takes years to instill and has become like second nature to Mr. Ong. He respects his team members and is a fair manager.

“I practice a carrot-and-stick approach,” he says frankly, “When a team member performs well, he or she will be rewarded accordingly. For those who do not do well, help will be provided for them to improve. However in extreme cases, dismissal may follow. This is fair to those who work hard and perform well.”

There are no airs to it. Should an employee fall short of expectations, action is taken to deal with him or her. He follows the administrative management approach, where the use of an organizational hierarchy or bureaucracy would enable an organization to produce at its highest level.

“A good manager is one who treats others fairly with respect and is able to provide leadership in most aspects” he shares wisely.

Life isn’t as peachy as it sounds though. With the current economic downturn, there is more expectation to “do-more-with less” as he so aptly phrased it. Resources are limited while expectations get higher and higher in the competitive business environment.

“In a time like this, I must work with business senior management to prioritize projects for the year, executing more crucial or critical projects first and so on. This is called Portfolio management” he says with a sigh. Known as Resource Management, they assign people with the right skills to the right projects.

“By applying these two methodologies, we are able to keep the business satisfied and the team members motivated!” He says passionately.

What an inspiration!