Lawrence Pintak

Religion, Conflict & the Media

Important Links

The Edward R. Murrow College of Communication

Washington State University

Dean's blog

@lpintak

2010 Murrow Symposium

Recent broadcast appearances

AL JAZEERA ENGLISH

The Riz Khan Show

Al Jazeera English

Inside Story (Internet freedoms)

BBC World Television

BBC World Service

America Abroad Media/NPR

Communications Breakdown: Losing the War of Ideas

WBAI New York 99.5fm

Equal Time for Free Thought

Islam & Global Power

Streaming at Equal Time for Free Thought

al jazeera english

David Frost's Frost over the World

(begins at 06:30 on stream)

al jazeera english

Listening Post (streaming)

Chronicle of Higher education

Podcast

kalw San Francisco

Media Roundtable [06.01.07]

kqed san francisco

Forum

bbc World (TV)

Interview segment

al jazeera english

Listening Post (streaming video)

nile tv int'l

Frontline

VOA

NPR

All Things Considered

kalw San Francisco

Media Roundtable

radio adelaide

Backstory

ABC Radio Australia

al jazeera mubasher

bbc world service

The World Today

Resonance FM 104 London

WBAI New York

Equal Time for Free Thought

CNN

International Correspondents

(transcript)

PBS NewsHour

(transcript and streaming audio/video)

NPR's On the Media

(transcript and streaming audio)

Public Radio San Francisco

(streaming audio)

KPFK Public Radio Los Angeles

(stream or download)

bbc world service

Analysis

al jazeera

One-on-One

npr

On the Media

(stream or download)

 

Recently Quoted In

Associated Press

The National (Abu Dhabi)

Los Angeles Times

BBC News online

Foreign Policy

Christian Science Monitor

Washington Post

Time Magazine

International Herald Tribune

American Journalism Review

Kansas city star

Toronto Star

The Australian

Washington Post

Council on Foreign Relations

Ekdin (India)

The Nation (Bangladesh)

Berlingske Tidende (Sweden)

Osservatorio ilaria alpi (Italy)

Przekroj (Poland)

Wprost (Poland)

Trouw (Netherlands)

Associated Press

The Guardian

Bloomberg News

Europa (Italy)

Egypt Today

The Kuwait Times

The Stanford Daily

The Peninsula (Qatar)

 

Listen to recent talk

USC Public Diplomacy Center (audio & ppt)

Other recent talks

NYU Abu Dhabi

NewsXchange

School of Oriental & African Studies

Jeddah Chamber of Commerce & Industry

Arab Broadcast Forum

Oxford University

Westminster University

Monaco Media Forum

Int'l Council, Museum of Television & Radio

Aspen Institute

Stanford Univ.

U.S. Naval Academy

U.S. State Dept.

UC Berkeley

UC-Davis

Univ. of Michigan

Univ of the Pacific

George Washington Univ.

 US-Indonesia Society

2nd Aljazeera Forum

 

Historic & Obscure Pintak Links

The village of Pintak Transylvania

Pintak Gompa (monastery) from "the Lost Years of Jesus"

Transylvanian Saxons

  General Motors Advertorial


Building Cars & Jobs

At least $150 million in contracts. That's what General Motors' Indonesian operation has been worth to Indonesian firms since the company established its joint venture in 1993.

Helping Indonesian suppliers make money is part of the American automaker's basic philosophy. That's not philanthropy, it's good business sense.

"As an American company trying to establish ourselves in Asia, simple geography says that to compete in this market we have to develop a strong local supplier base," says Dr. Michael J. Orris, who oversees purchasing for PT General Motors Buana Indonesia (GMBI), a 60.40 joint venture.

"The Koreans and Japanese can afford to make a lot more of their parts at home and ship them in for assembly," he explains. "We have a six week pipeline and burdensome transportation costs."

That pragmatic strategy has meant money in the bank -- and business growth -- for almost 2,000 Indonesian suppliers.

Indonesian companies, many of them startups, are providing everything from vehicle parts to machinery on an assembly line employing 800 Indonesian workers to produce the world's first right-hand-drive Blazers, as well as Opel sedans.

GMBI's travel agency alone booked $1.3 million in business with the company in the first half of 1996.

But the numbers only tell part of the story. While GM contracts are important to many suppliers, the company's commitment to technology transfer is even more critical for the long-term development of Indonesia's auto industry.

"You hear stories about the national car," Mr. Orris adds, referring to the controversial Timor project with the Koreans, "how it is needed because other manufacturers haven't fostered the industry. Well, it's our plan to do those things not because of the Timor, but as a survival strategy."

Evaluation, training and the fostering of international partnerships are just some of the ways GMBI is working to build the local infrastructure which will allow it to complete in the Indonesian marketplace and enable Indonesian firms to compete on the world stage.

The ultimate goal is to bring local suppliers up to the standards that will allow them to bid on GM contracts around the world.

"Once a supplier qualifies and makes our master bidder's list, they are qualified to bid on every one of the international contracts, and that's big bucks," says Orris, who is also responsible for sourcing parts for GM operations elsewhere in the world.

One key to GMBI's strategy is the QS 9000, the auto industry's enhanced version of the well-known ISO 9000. GM experts have conducted more than 60 QS 9000 assessments, and the company is setting up a system of QS 9000 accreditation for Indonesian suppliers. By 1997, all suppliers for America's "Big Three" auto makers will be required to have certification.

Such evaluations, says Orris, help Indonesian companies "clearly know how they stack up against the world standards, and help up know where to focus our training."

Intensive on-site training sessions (more than 600 at last count), assistance to new companies entering the auto parts industry, have all yielded impressive results.

By the middle of 1996, defects per million on parts provided by Indonesian suppliers had dropped to just ten per cent of what they were six months before.

That's an impressive statement on both the potential of Indonesian suppliers and the results that can be achieved through a serious commitment to technology transfer and training.

 

 

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