Kaleidoscope @2011

As I promised in the last post, here's the Kaleidoscope of 2011. According to what I wrote in the last year's Kaleidoscope, so it's been 3 years and more now I am with my blog and you, my friends from all over the world. :')

2011. Year of momentum. Time of change. When the decisions were made. And some actions were taken. It's still the same life I'm living in, yet with sooooo many new lesson learned.

Jan.

I joined Sha's 30 photo challenge early this year, and it was such a pleasure and fun being one of the participants, cause I could share photos of my own to see by others and then found these nice persons on the blogging world as friends. Hello sisters! :) And too, my girls and I had a road tripping to Bayah, it's my world record, I drove almost 9 hours non-stop, passing by 3 provinces, from DKI Jakarta, West Java, and Banten (where Bayah is located)!

Feb.

I planned to propose my resignation from my work, but my manager at the office prohibited to do so since we had some projects to be commissioned soon while they didn't have anyone available at that time.  I was so fed up so to heal I took a leave before the project begun. Sooo then there was I went to Kudus, Central Java province, to see my cousin sister and her boys.

Mar.

The project where I involved in took us to Balikpapan (East Kalimantan), it was the first time I visited Borneo! I Believe, March was where the work at office getting hectic to the fullest.

Apr.

I went to Bali again with the colleagues from office, we had a research meeting there, it was fun actually, but still felt so different from the one I did with another team on May 2011. I know, because in Bali trip 2011, I was assigned as the event coordinator team, so it somehow had successfully made me almost crazy, coordinating a group of adults, while.. uhmm I am not adult enough at that time. Whaaat does this meaan? Haha, my colleagues would bully me for writing this statement, I guess! :P

May.

Quarter life crisis syndrome? Passion, career, love life. They were all coming to me and brought significances I learned a lot! Thank you my dear friend, for finally willing to tell me how to face it all.. It was so much easier when I knew I never walk alone...

Jun.

How does it feel to have friends that are still willing to stay with you, no matter how imperfect you are, giving you the warmest encouragement in heart to support you to be a better person? to whom you could always back to, every time you want, every time you need. Blessed. Alhamdulillah :) (I copied June 2010's lines, btw. Cause it still feels the way it did last year.) Anyhow, Jun is where the project was finally done, mission accomplished. Yet my manager still asked me to keep joining the team. Sooo?

Jul.

I decided to go back to school. Took the test on early week of July and alhamdulillah three weeks later, the university said that I passed on the test and I could begin my graduate study in the next semester. My dear friend's daddy was not in so good condition, here I learned a lot about the meaning of a family, about sacrifice, about significance shared. I am relieved that finally he was not too late to get good medication. I've learned many things from a life of a person.

Aug.

Nothing much I can say, as long as I remember, I was busy preparing myself for school. And oh ya, August was when I converted my health insurance and bank accounts to islamic banking type (Syar'i). I am so proud to have a friend who has advance knowledge about islamic finance, so I can learn a lot by then. :D

Sep.

The school started! I was sooo much occupied by all these things to adapt. One of my best friend held her wedding and I attended it with my best friend and the dearest too. Too bad, cause I don't really like my night gown, it made me feel so grand! Hehehe

Oct.

I am still in the same company I joined once I graduated from university, so it's officially three years I have been working here, it's an honor and a pleasure for me to be able to stay with both the amusing senior co-workers and the newcomers. They give me a place that I can call my second home, thank you guys, for supporting me to carry on with my carrier here with you all together with my errands for postgraduate study. And the most of all, thank you for giving a very ever-helpful and being soo enthusiastic about my love life. Hahaha. You and especially you, I owe you so much for the patience to hear all of the pieces of my story multiple times. Hihi

Nov.

I am turning 25! Alhamdulillah ya Allah, you've given me a blessed life. I am happy, I have my family completely happy, my besties around, my fantastic dearest friend I have never dreamed of before, to be here beside me. Thank you all, for the encouragement, support and friendship. Thank you Allah for sending them to fulfill my life. :)

Dec.

My family finally decided to move, we think it's now the time to find another smaller house than the one we have been dwelling for these more than five years, because my older brother will move in to his soon-to-be-wife's house at the other municipal, soo then it will just be the three of us living together (me, my mother and my younger brother). 2012 will be much more interesting, I think? What about you? :)

Get & Go

It's almost end of the year, friends!

Actually, no need to wait till it ends to contemplate and rethink all that happened and passed by in life or to only list down new wish list for the next year. To me, refreshing our spirit, being ready to enter another milestones, getting previous things done and having another challenges to be beaten down, those that matter.

Gonna make 2011 nice kaleidoscope, soon! :)

the story of a root

Be the root that keeps on seeking the water, breaks through solid soil only for the sake of a tree. When the tree is growing leafy, flowering beautifully and producing fruits... showing its beauty to the world, the root wont be jealous. He will remain in hiding far down the earth. That is the truest meaning of a sincerity; let us straighten our intention for God.

There will be somebody who struggles to be a strong root for every single of you, angel :)

Strategic Management in the Design and Construction Value Chain

A review on Strategic Management in the Design and Construction Value Chain, a course taught by John D. Macomber at Civil and Environmental Engineering, Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

In this course we learned about the initial idea and key concepts in strategic management in the construction, real estate and architecture industries. Market segmentation, vertical integration, competitive advantage, and industry transformation were several topics that also included here. It gave more understanding about business dynamics of real estate and construction, and practices the core planning tools as well.

In the very first place, we need to take notice and learn about strategy itself. Why strategy? It is because in the market world today, strategy is all about how businesses compete and how to earn above average returns. Besides, we would also expand our understanding about the selection of industries, selection of segments, choice of tactics and how to implement the strategies. As a graduate student, we are suggested to have the knowledge about strategy since the value and implementation will be needed in the professional environment we may involve. In business activity, strategic planning is a crucial activity in a concept phase of a business or a project. Some points that should be decided to do are what kind of markets, what services will be provided, where to dedicate our time, what kind of people needed, etc. Some of tools that will be needed in strategy planning are linear conversation, lots of information, organizing thinking, lay-outing assumptions, and planning action to be carried on.

The key concepts in strategic planning are the steps in planning, market segmentation, attractiveness which includes five important forces, generic strategies, and the firm value chain. Starting from the steps of planning there are eight critical steps to be taken, they are formulate the mission, external scan, internal scrutiny strategic analysis, estimating budget, doing it!, measurement, and the last revise and re-iterate. The question that must be answered firstly in the strategic level is what problems are we trying to solve? In the real estate and construction industry, we define the characteristics of this industry and the traditional implications of the business. There are some issues in real estate, design, and construction that must be determined as well, such as fragmentation, low barriers to entry, low economies of scale, single projects, hard to find the incentives to adopt new technologies that rely on many companies sharing information.

Two central questions underlie the choice of competitive strategy are the attractiveness of industries (and segments) for long term profitability and the determinants of relative competitive position. So then we can move on to select a segment in which to compete, based on how profitable the structure should be in the long term. We can also plan the strategy about how to compete, based on industry structure and the resources we have, and then we can shape our business so that we can execute on this strategy with deliberation and efficiency. Competitive advantage is widely known as the strategic advantage one business entity has over its competitor entities within its competitive industry. Achieving competitive advantage strengthens and positions a business better within the business environment. In this strategy, there is a matrix that can be arranged in so many ways that after the trial and error, the reduced final matrix is hopefully useful in helping us to think and explain about the industry and market planning. When mapping the segments, they may have varied attractiveness and in some way should be based on a combination of size, growth rate, competition, and the situation. Another points we should aware in taking this competitive advantage strategy are to consider buyer and seller channels in setting up the segmentation matrix and indicating competitor positions, growth rates, or changes in firm positioning on the matrix. Attractiveness of an industry or of a segment is a function of five forces model by M.Porter, and it can be the indicators of segment profitability as well.

The collective strength of the five competitive forces determines the ability of firms in an industry to earn high rates of return on their invested capital. The strength of the five forces varies from industry to industry, and can change over time. The five forces model can be applied to an entire industry, or to segments of an industry. The five forces determine the industry profitability because they influence the prices, costs, and required investment of firms in an industry – the elements of return on investment.

The value chain, is a concept from business management that was first described and popularized by Michael Porter in his 1985 best-seller,Competitive Advantage: Creating and Sustaining Superior Performance. It is a chain of activities for a firm operating in a specific industry. The business unit is the appropriate level for construction of a value chain, not the divisional level or corporate level. Products pass through all activities of the chain in order, and at each activity the product gains some value. The chain of activities gives the products more added value than the sum of the independent activity's value. It is important not to mix the concept of the value chain with the costs occurring throughout the activities. With the firm value chain (within the firm), there are some actions we can do such as identifying key elements in the firm value chain for our situation, selecting which elements we should focus on as we concentrate our efforts. In using this tool, the resource allocation among cells is the key, and in particular over time based on the market strategy we want to pursue. We can use this tool to illustrate the changes in what we do internally.

-------

ps.1: Look, how lovely management when it is engaged with construction industry. :)
ps.2: No, I am not an MIT student btw, but my lecturers said that knowledge should be stolen and grabbed! Don't waste time waiting till somebody else told you first.

lecture note's source

Epic

Have mentioned about this friend hundred times here, but seems like it's never enough. The story of you will remain as life passes me through day by day. And until now, I can't stop thanking Allah for lying across the most beautiful sunny day of you and me in a simultaneous time and space. In a morning of our early age where He sent me a friend coming with truest heart, willing to save me. From the first time we met.

In the meantime, along with all the laughter, every single tear drop, and lessons learned, we grew up together. Even though there were these times I thought I am not though enough to fight everything with you, it  was always you who convinced me back that things will be just going better as long as we're focus working on it together. I don't know how you did it almost only by nothing yet it makes me cry at the consideration of how Generous Allah to me is, for entrusting me a friend who is patient. Alhamdulillah :')

You said our life is a rare one; a single emergence among other unlimited outwards of human being, so that you don't want to be just another human coming in and going out of this world, traceless. You said too I should stick cause I'll complete that dream. So I stay, not after your asking or for making those dreams come true, but I can feel that there's nothing best but this place I should lean to, a place of beauty I could only had once.

25

Alhamdulillah, now I am officially 25 :)
So happy that I could hang around people I love and laugh a lot together, still. Like we're only 18. Hehe

And look what they had for me!.. a Chinese food recipe book and a pink headphone! Unpredictable yet lovely :) thank you! You, you, you and the rest of you my girls! :p