2014 Categories

Please note that as always, the expert panel of MSA judges have the right to move a participant from one category to another if the judges believe that a different category is more appropriate / applicable.  For more information on the Judges of MSA 2014, please see the Judges panel.

The Award Categories for MSA 2014 were:

1. MSA Innovation Pioneer
   We were excited to introduce the Innovation Pioneer segment to this edition of the MSA.  This interactive segment featured a series of short presentations which focused specifically on answering the teaser “How do you encourage a culture of innovation in your organization?”.

    

2. Best Business Sustainability by a Multinational Company (MNC)

    

   A multinational company (MNC) who has shown exemplary practices on business sustainability by managing the triple bottom line – managing their economic, social, and environmental risks, obligations, and opportunities.  Requires firms to adhere to the principles of sustainable development.

    

3. Best Business Sustainability by a Small to Medium Enterprise (SME)

    

   A Small to Medium Enterprise (SME) who has shown exemplary practices on business sustainability by managing the triple bottom line – managing their economic, social, and environmental risks, obligations, and opportunities.  Requires firms to adhere to the principles of sustainable development.

The last segment of MSA ’14, the Jaffar Indot Award on Corporate Governance, was created to honor all of the works and efforts of the previous MDBC Chairman – the late Dato’ Jaffar Indot – put into corporate governance and the MDBC.  

Dato’ Jaffar was committed to raising professionalism among corporate directors with integrity and sustainability.  He was recognized as a main driver of sound corporate governance in Malaysia.  This award served to highlight and incentivize the importance of better corporate governance practices and standards through professional recognition.

Datuk Mizanur Rahman Ghani (2nd from right) accepting his award from Datin Patricia Indot, Johan Indot, Remco Koster, Zainul Rahim, and H.E. Ambassador Harry Molenaar.

These shortlisted companies for MSA 2014 were invited to present their projects during the MSA 2014 Day Program (which was open to the general public) for a Q&A session and final judging.

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Please note: Shortlisted nominees are listed in alphabetical order; the order is NOT indicative of any ranking.

The shortlisted nominees and projects in the ‘Best Business Sustainability by an SME‘ category were:

* Asian Perlite Industries – Increasing production of flowers and vegetables per square meter in Cameron Highlands.

* AQ Malaysia – AQ’s Rhythm in Action program is an ongoing cycle of continuous improvement in frontline performance through measurement, coaching, continuous communication and rewards.

* Lariche Community – Assisting companies to design and put into place sustainable community programs in line with their corporate strategy.

The shortlisted nominees and projects in the ‘Best Business Sustainability by an MNC‘ category were:

* Dutch Lady Milk Industries – Participation in the Program Susu 1Malaysia (PS1M) program providing milk twice a week to 232,498 children attending 769 primary schools in Kelantan and Terengganu during school terms in 2013.

* Mega Fortris – Reusing 98% of their generated plastic waste (runners) in their recycling / reusing process to lessen the manufacturing impact on the environment.  

* Unilever Malaysia – The Unilever Sustainable Living Plan (USLP) features more than 50 time bound KPIs (independently audited by PWC on an annual basis) providing a blueprint for sustainable business growth.

The shortlisted nominees and projects in the ‘Innovation Pioneer’ segment were:

* Besi APAC – They’ve invested in improvement programs (such as Lean Sigma Green and Black Belt, Management Review, and Strategy Meetings) based on a top down approach, and bottom up approach with things such as Small Group Activities based on DMAIC methodology.

* ISC Innovators – Always looks at marketing solutions that have not been tried before – to be different in approach, thinking, and application.  They follow a 5 point formula for success.

* MaxGrip – Provides “value add” to their clients through innovative software, technical know how, and expertise of services.  This, coupled with their core asset, their people, provides an effective and efficient formula.

* MegaFortris – Innovation is one of 8 core values and they have an annual allocation of funds for continuous product development and evolution activities.  The company puts great emphasis on training and regularly sending their staff for workshops to equip them with knowledge on the latest technologies.

* &samhoud – Leadership provides constant mentoring and coaching to all employees, ensuring they are motivated and that innovations are aligned with the purpose of the company.  They also encourage a diverse workforce, believing diversity in people breeds innovation in an organic way.

* Shell – Shell ensures innovative solutions by using a stage gate approach with 4 development phases: Discover, Demonstrate, Develop, and Deploy.  New ideas are tested, de – risked, and carried through to commercial deployment by maturing through this 4D process.

All MSA entries were judged by highly regarded, independent, expert individuals led by the Chief Judge – H.E. Harry Molenaar (Ambassador, Embassy of the Kingdom of The Netherlands).

After shortlisting entries to the top 3 in each category, judges do one final round of assessment during the MSA Day Program where each shortlisted nominee gives a presentation on their submission.  Judges and audience members alike are allowed to ask questions of each nominee before category judges meet privately to confer and tally up the points.

Winners in each category are announced immediately after the Day Program at the MSA Awards Ceremony and Dinner.  This announcement is inclusive of a Judges Report on the winner’s submission highlighting the underlying core concept of the MDBC Awards Program – the sharing of best practices which leads to an elevation in the understanding in the subject matter.

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CHIEF JUDGE – H.E. Harry Molenaar
Ambassador, Embassy of the Kingdom of The Netherlands

Having started his career at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in 1980, H.E. Harry Molenaar was posted to a range of locations including, but not limited to, Bangkok, Harare, Athens, Iraq, and the Ministry in the Hague, and in Malaysia.

BEST BUSINESS SUSTAINABILITY BY AN MNC:

JUDGE A – Viji Samuel
Principal, ENVIRON

Vijayalakshmi Samuel has more than 17 years of experience in environmental, health, and safety (EHS) consulting specializing in environmental impact assessments (EIAs), environmental management systems, compliance to Equator Principles, and International Finance Corp (IFC) guidelines, and EHS due diligence involving a wide range of industries, including petrochemical, and chemical, oil and gas, manufacturing and electronics.  She serves on the technical committee of the Prime Minister’s Hibiscus Award for Environmental Excellence and is a member of the Malaysian Association of Research Scientists.

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JUDGE B – Mathew George
Director – Finance, Admin & Human Resources, InvestKL

Mathew George has over 25 years of International and local experiences in various industries such as oil & gas, and services.  Mathew has also worked in the Seychelles and Dubai.  In Malaysia, he was formerly attached to KTA – Tenaga and various public listed companies such as Antah Group, Ho Hup Group, and Asiana Group of Companies.  Mathew graduated with a bachelor’s degree in Accountancy.

BEST BUSINESS SUSTAINABILITY BY AN SME:

JUDGE A – Leong Lai Yen
CFO, Philips

Prior to her appointment as CFO in early 2014, Lai Yen was the Financial Controller of the Consumer Lifestyle division, a role she holds til today.  Lai Yen has been an integral part of the Philips family for more than 14 years, with various positions in the country organization as well as at the regional and global levels.  Lai Yen is a certified Six Sigma Black Belt and as part of the company’s leadership, leads and drives innovation as core to Philips culture, identity, and heritage.

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JUDGE B – Linda Archibald
Senior Writer, The Malaysian Reserve

Linda started out as a journalist in 1994 at The Sun and went on to work in various capacities in the media circles, before a two year stint with the DANIDA project Malaysian Environmental NGOs to plan the inaugural and second Sustainability Malaysia Conferences (2005 and 2007).  She now manages the fortnightly Green Growth section on Friday in The Malaysian Reserve (a strategic partner of the International New York Times), engaging and educating Malaysian C – Suites on sustainability matters.

INNOVATION PIONEER:

JUDGE A – Susan Van Boxtel
Science & Technology Advisor, Embassy of the Kingdom of the Netherlands in Singapore and Malaysia

Sustan van Boxtel has been the Technical Science Advisor since February 2012.  Before that, she worked for ten years in a variety of pharmaceutical companies (Solvay, Organon, Schering – Plough and Merck, Sharp & Dohme) as a scientist in the field of pharmacology and translational biomarker research.  Susan conducted pre – clinical research within the therapeutic areas of fertility, immunology, and oncology.  Susan studied Biomedical Laboratory (BSc) at the University of Utrecht and Biology (MSc) at the Radboud University in Nijmegen.  

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JUDGE B – Irwan Abdul Rahman
Vice President of Social Innovation, Agensi Inovasi Malaysia

Irwan Abdul Rahman is Vice President of Social Innovation at Agensi Inovasi Malaysia (AIM).  Prior to that, he spent 17 years in advertising, writing, design, the media, and strategic corporate communications in addition to dabbling in cartoons, caricatures, and satire writing.

 

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JUDGE C – Thyaga Rajan
Technical Director, Basis Bay

Thyaga Rajan has more than 20 years of experience in consultancy in the areas of mechanical as well as electrical engineering and has a wealth of experience in building Sustainable Data Centers.  He has also been appointed as the Vice Chairman of the Malaysian Data Centre Alliance (MDCA).  Having graduated with a degree in Science, majoring in Electrical & Electronic Engineering from the University of Bridgeport, he is also a certified CDCP and CDCS professional as well as a member of the Malaysian Board of Engineers.

JAFFAR INDOT AWARD:

JUDGE A – Remco Koster
Managing Director, WoodWing Asia Pacific & MDBC Vice Chairman

Remco Koster joined WoodWing in 2005 to start developing and maintaining sales channels for the company.  Before joining WoodWing, Remco set up a Newspaper Direct re – printing and distribution franchise in Indonesia, distributing more than 280 same – day newspapers from around the world.  Prior to setting up this company, he has worked for major suppliers in the publishing software industry, first as a consultant, later as project manager.  Remco has been on the MDBC Board since 2008.  Prior to becoming Vice Chairman, he was the Honorary Treasurer.

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JUDGE B – Brian Lariche
Founder, Lariche Community

Brian Lariche is the Founder and Chief Community Strategist of Lariche Community.  Brian has vast experience in the area of community development both in Malaysia and internationally.  He was Project Advisor for UNDP Malaysia in the area of HIV, focusing on leadership and capacity identification and development in Malaysia and West Africa.  He is also a trainer facilitator for numerous local and international youth and community leadership engagement programs.

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JUDGE C – Johan Indot
Executive Director, InOilCo Safety Consultant

Possessing over 25 years of experience in business and investments in the oil and gas industry, Johan is responsible for the corporate activities of the InOilCo Group.  His other interests include involvement in a biotech company, Bioeven which is involved in developing cancer vaccines.

MDBC: MSA 2014 – Highlights Video