Towards Ethical Banking

This ethical approach to banking, has been an inspiration for many of the European social banks which have gradually developed over the last few decades.

Notwithstanding cultural differences, variety in size, accents (social, environmental), products and services, and stage of development, all of them have ethical and sustainable development elements at the core of their mission, ambitions and practices. All of them are making a good case for human and social development while offering both generally and specifically designed products and services to their respective markets. Whilst a few have failed, most of them have found their way of continuity, with different models of functioning, whilst being in conformity with general banking regulations. An overview of those successful institutions that have a banking statute are:

• ShoreBank, (1973), USA

• GLS Bank, (1974), Germany

• Triodos Bank, (1980), The Netherlands with branches in Belgium, United

• Kingdom, Spain and Germany

• Freie Gemeinschaftsbank in der Schweiz, (1984), Switzerland

• Merkur Bank, (1985), Denmark

• Wainwright Bank and Trust Cy, (1987), USA

• Alternative Bank Schweiz, (1990), Switzerland

• Cultura Sparebank, (1997), Norway

• Ekobanken, (1998), Sweden

• Banca Popolare Etica, (1998), Italy

• Charity Bank, (2002), United Kingdom.


Some social banks have been constituted by trade unions and have developed based on social and ethical criteria:

• ASN Bank (1960), The Netherlands

• Caisse d´Economie solidaire Desjardins (1971), Canada

• Unity Trust Bank (1984), United Kingdom.


Other social banks are focusing on some specific market segments:

• Health and social economy – Bank für Sozialwirtschaft, created in 1923 on behalf of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees and originally serving as the central administration for UN funding in Germany

• Environment – Umweltbank (1995) in Germany, and the New Resource Bank (2006) in the USA

These banks are quite different as to the volume of their operations – balance sheet totals vary from EUR 30 million to several billions, and their financing capacity from EUR 50,000 to EUR 25 million per project. All together they are currently financing tens of thousands of projects with added social value mobilising the savings of more than one million people and institutions. Being still relatively small, these banking on values institutions, have substantial growth rates, are professionalising and consider themselves to be catalysts for social change. With these banks also succeeding in applying outstanding internal organisation and staffing practices, and in developing specific methodologies to properly deal with the ethical aspects of this type, they have a potential for further qualitative development.

Trueventus will be organising this event in October. To download the brochure, please go to:


http://www.trueventusmalaysia.com/bank/EBD.pdf


For more information, please email to DillonY@trueventus.com

Trueventus organising Petroleum Economics

Investment decisions in the upstream oil and gas industry are complicated by the very nature of the business: Projects have long lead times before creating revenue, funding requirements are often in the tens of billions dollar range. Technical complexities and uncertainties add to the risk the investor has to address. As with other resource projects, there is no choice of location as nature dictates where the operation will be based. Lastly, vast fluctuations of oil and gas price complicate any economic projection over the long project life times. This course will elucidate how petroleum economic evaluations cope with often conflicting requirements, risks and uncertainties to enable a consistent and appropriate decision process.
To download this brochure, please go to: http://www.trueventusmalaysia.com/oil/PED.pdf

For more information, please email DillonY@trueventus.com

Trueventus to organise Tendering and Bidding Masterclass

Tendering, bidding and procuring require extreme precision in contract building and formation to ensure that specifi cations, work schedules, liability and obligations are clearly defined. People who are involved in the procurement, tendering or bidding evaluation exercise can thus mitigate anticipated problems, reduce performance disputes and receive payment for work performed timely.

Anticipating the market and price fl uctuation instantaneously to stay competitive in the current market are essentials to cost, proposal and contract evaluation teams. The ideal way to learn how to achieve crucial tendering and bidding techniques or skills to ensure all documents or processes are critically evaluated.

Both new and experienced practitioners will benefit from this valuable and practical course as Jim Williams will roll out the principle activities and processes that will be required to execute high quality tenders and/or bid management process for compelling documentation and in-depth evaluations.


To download the brochure, please go to: http://www.trueventusmalaysia.com/general/T&BD.pdf

For more information, please email DillonY@trueventus.com

Negotiation and Influence for Women in Management

According to an article in the Washington Post, Weekly Edition, July 20-26, 2009 by Katty Kay and Claire Shipman, companies that employ more women in upper level management are more profi table than those that rely heavily on male “talent” to run their businesses. “...And it’s not only one study, but at least half a dozen, from a broad spectrum of organizations such as Columbia University, McKinsey & Co., Goldman Sachs and Pepperdine University, that document a clear relationship between women in senior management and corporate financial success. By all measures, more women in your company means better performance.”

Prejudices and stereotypical beliefs about the role of women in society often limit their chances of reaching top leadership positions. Over the last 10 years, women in developing countries across Asia ( the globe) have been making impressive progress and now can been seen in senior management of corporations and holding key positions in government.


While such changes are cause for celebration, the corporate world still misses out on much of women’s potential leadership contribution. They still face constraints and challenges to progress in a highly male dominated business environment. Until now, most conferences have just focused on giving corporate business women insights on WHAT they need to move up the male dominated corporate ladder.

This gathering will seek to off er the attendees with essential ingredients and HOW to on your way up the ladder in a supportive environment with other female managers who are facing similar issues. Challenging the status quo and overcome the “glass ceiling” is more than just lip service, it is a skill. We will be focusing on how to ensure the delegates to become more assertive and equipped with negotiation tactics to improve communication and infl uence whilst commanding respect from their male counterparts. It aims to assist women’s progress to high-ranking positions to permit more balanced gender participation in the economy, while also promoting national competitiveness and higher levels of wellbeing for the society.

To download the brochure of this event, please go to http://www.trueventusmalaysia.com/general/NFWD.pdf
 
For more information, please email DillonY@trueventus.com

3 Day MBA for Maritime Professionals

The work of a professional within the trade, transport and logistics industries is multifaceted requiring up-to-date knowledge of such disparate fields as port management, financial and accounting practice and of regulatory or governance compliance.


Opportunities for interaction, practical application of theory and learning from case studies have been key factors underpinning the design of this course. Numerous educational studies... have shown the value of practical application of theory in developing key understandings.

This course promises the delegate both theoretical knowledge and applied practice in key fields.


To download the brochure, please go to: http://www.trueventusmalaysia.com/MARITIME/MBAD.pdf


For more information, please email to DillonY@trueventus.com

Integrated Asset Maximisation

"According to Standish Chaos Reports only 20% of IT projects fi nish on time and/or within budget. Based on FMI’s Construction Report, it says only 30% of construction projects finish on time and/or within budget."

Regardless of which industries you are in, one of the key factors that contribute to project running over on cost and time is the ability to allocate the right assets to the right projects. Asset in this context entails machinery & equipment, intellectual asset, fi nance resources, human capital, skilled labour, company’s goodwill, etc…

Misallocating assets to projects increases project risks which may lead to:

• Company safety record may be negatively impacted by having limited resources working on too many projects

• Burnt out staff may lead to high turnover hence cause skilled labour shortage

• Having WRONG people assigned to the projects may end up having unhappy client, poor profit margins, extensive claims from contractors and subcontractors

• Projects running late and/or over budget

All of these consequences will adversely affect the company’s revenue maximization opportunities and bottom line.

Trueventus will be organising this event in Parkroyal Hotel, Kuala Lumpur. To download the brochure, please go to: http://www.trueventusmalaysia.com/engineering/IAMD.pdf

For more information, please email DillonY@trueventus.com

Towards Ethical Banking

2009 research study by National Business Ethics Survey( NBES) examined the link between a company’s ethics management system and its impact on employee engagement found considerable evidence to show that a leadership commitment to managing the ethical dimension of business is good for business.


The key message is that the new era of transparency has created new challenges and accountabilities that everyone is being asked to step up. This programme is designed to prepare organisational leaders for tomorrow’s success formula. All modules are designed to provide a variety of workshop mechanisms to engage and stimulate participation and durability of learning. This approach is designed to maximize participant engagement and to challenge participants to address three fundamental workplace challenges:

1. How do you ensure your organization is fit for future?

2. On what do you base your ethical standards and will they meet external demands for higher ethical standards post the GFC?

3. How can you be assured your people will know the right thing to do when put to the test?

Trueventus will be organising this event in October. To download the brochure, please go to:
http://www.trueventusmalaysia.com/bank/EBD.pdf
 
For more information, please email to DillonY@trueventus.com

Supply Chain Senate

Andrea Thomas

“Wal-Mart achieved $150 million in Supply Chain related savings and we think that’s just the tip of the iceberg” said SVP of Private Brands, Andrea Thomas. Supply Chains are core to business success and in order to effectively compete in the global market, businesses require efficient and sustainable supply chains to meet the complex needs of their operations.

An organisation is only as strong as its Supply Chain. Thus, Supply Chain management is a critical and influential component of your overall strategy, typically impacting 75% of operating results. Yet this integral part of operations remains one of the most underrated in terms of its value to the organisation. The Supply Chain Senate is an event not to be missed as it addresses crucial issues ranging from demand responsiveness, interdepartmental visibility and collaboration, suppliers’ relationship management, procurement intelligence, as well as new concepts of supply chain and procurement. Supply Chain Senate will be held in Berjaya Times Square Hotel, Kuala Lumpur from 27 to 28 October 2010.

To download the brochure please go to:
http://www.trueventusmalaysia.com/LOGS/SCSD.pdf


For more information, please email DillonY@trueventus.com



Ariba Inc to support Supply Chain Senate as Gold Sponsor

Ariba Inc, the leading provider of collaborative business commerce solutions is supporting Trueventus' Supply Chain Senate event as Gold Sponsor.  (Ariba enables more efficient and effective buying, selling, and cash management by combining industry-leading software as a service (SaaS) commerce technology with the world's largest web-based global trading community and expert capabilities and services to augment internal resources and skills—all as a flexible, cloud-based service.)


8 organisations has also confirmed their participation as Supporting Partners namely Asosiasi Logistik Indonesia (ALI), Hongkong Association of Freight Forwarding and Logistics Limited (HAFFA), Hong Kong Logistics Association (HKLA), The Institute of Purchasing & Supply of Hong Kong (IPSHK), Japan Institute of Logistics Systems (JILS), The Procurement and Sourcing Institute of Asia (PASIA), Thai National Shippers’ Council (TNSC) and Logistics Insight Asia.