Company Profile
Our company named Hong Kong Youth Arts Foundation (HKYAF) is a non-profit charity organization established in 1993. The mission of HKYAF is to generate funding by increasing donation from the public in order to provide high quality, non-competitive arts experiences for all young people aged from 5 to 25. HKYAF organizes inclusive and inspirational projects that reach out to young people of all cultures, backgrounds, language and abilities, and actively creates opportunities for disadvantaged and underprivileged young people.
Aims for Collaboration
The aims for requesting for collaboration with third party are:
1. To Increase the Awareness from the Public and Reputation
HKYAF is not a very well-known non- profit charity organization in Hong Kong where compare with Tung Wah Group and The Community Chest Of Hong Kong. As a non-profit charity organization, it is very important to let public know who we are. Hence, the first thing we aim at is to focus on the awareness enhancement.
2. To Increase the Funding
Like other non-profit charity organizations, HKYAF aims at increasing the funding for several uses like providing high quality arts experiences to youngsters who need and maintain the daily operation expenses of our organization.
3. To Achieve What the Youngsters Want
In Hong Kong, art is not a very prevailing subject or occupation and the resource being put in this aspect for development by government is limited. Even though potential youngsters are very interested in art design, they would have consideration about resources allocation. Hence, one of the main aims for collaboration is that we can help those potential youngsters to implement what they think and want like making a figure out based on their design. In other words, let the dreams come true for those potential youngsters.
Organizations Collaboration
The company we collaborate with is a toy company named HOW2WORK which is a toy company that focuses on producing toys with artistic design and has been established since 2001.
Reasons for choosing HOW2WORK
1. Same Mission
HOW2WORK is not only a toy manufacturing company, but also a company that very concern with artistic and local design as they always generate creative ideas from the public. With the same mission of promoting local design, HKYAF believe that we can have synergy effect with such the collaboration amongst two different industries.
2. Positive Image / Creditability
HOW2WORK is well-known toy company with very positive image with high concern on corporate social responsibility and high creditability. According to most of the feedback from its customers including personal and corporate customers, HOW2WORK can produce the required toys on time with requesting standard.
Business Model
Channel: set up an e-portal (by both sides’ expertise)
In order to ease the collaboration process, both HKYAF and HOW2WORK join together to develop an e-portal. The burdens are shared by both parties that both sides provide IT experts and knowledge expertise during the portal development process including the design of the portal, portal development, user assessment test (UAT) and portal implementation to ensure the portal is user friendly and works smoothly.
Business Operation Model
- Implement a public portal which provides a platform for us to deliver the message about the collaboration campaign to the public and discussion board in order to increase the awareness of the public.
- Provide introduction of 2 organization (HKYAF and HOW2WORK), publish regular update of any previous/coming events to the public in the portal
- Discussion board that allow the public and potential customers who like or interested in design to share opinions and ideas.
- HKYAF youngsters based on the ideas discussed in discussion board to design the toy.
- For those people who are interested in the designed toys can make the order through the e-portal established.
- Based on the order from the customers, HOW2WORK then estimates the total cost and let customer know the actual price of the toy. The actual price that includes the production cost and donation values or funding for HKYAF .
- Customer performs the payment process via the e-portal.
- HOW2WORK then manufacture the designed toy and deliver to the customers directly.
- HOW2WORK gets back the production cost and the rest will pass to HKYAF for donation.
Advantages of Using DreamHost.com / e-portal
1. High Accessibility
Allow the public to access and perform any action anytime anywhere. As we all know, technology has been well developed in Hong Kong. It is not very difficult for people to access internet as well as the e-portal we developed. Internet using can be found and used anytime and anywhere like using smart phone and computers in public libraries or café. In other words, people or target customers can reach or access to our platform from time to time with no time limit and no matter where they are. Since the discussion board is opened for public in order to generate more valuable opinions to sparkle the design ideas for HKYAF youngsters. The less the limit on time, the more the opinions from the public we can generate.
2. Knowledge Sharing
The knowledge sharing can be divided in to different levels including Business to Business, Business to Customers and Customers to Customers.
a) Business to Business (B to B)
Through the use of the portal, information generated can be saved and stored in a centralized platform that both HKYAF and HOW2WORK can access and review those information in anytime anywhere which can be as the knowledge for both parties. As it’s a share platform, both HKYAF and HOW2WORK have the access right to get those information, hence, it can also be known as a fair platform.
b) Business to Customers (B to C)
By using e-portal, both HKYAF and HOW2WORK can publish what else that favorable for both parties like their company profile and daily operation with the purpose of increasing the reputation and awareness of both parties. On the other hand, it can also help in delivering the message of what’s new and happened on the collaboration campaigns like the aims of collaboration and how the profit being generated would be used in order to encourage the public to join and express their opinions on the discussion board or even to become our customer. Besides, the internet offers exciting ways of reaching new markets that could only be dreamed of in the past. There are methods of promoting products online that allow us to precisely target the customers whether they are in your town or on the other side of the world.
c) Customers to Customers (C to C)
By using e-portal especially the discussion board, the public as well as our target customers can share their opinions and ideas for further use as mentioned based on the business model. Apart from this, by being as a topic for discussion, it helps a lot in creating the public awareness on the collaboration campaign and about HKYAF and HOW2WORK as well.
3. Cost Saving
As HKYAF and HOW2WORK both are existing company, we both have an economical concern on developing a new business. Hence, e-portal should be the best channel for both parties as it’s no doubt that using e-portal is one of the most costs saving as well as low risking on investment channels for new business establishment and development. The reasons are :
a) No additional land and physical resources in investment are required
By using the e-portal, the information sharing, campaign promotion and transaction process can all be done via the e-portal. It means that no physical office (land) or actual shops are required to be rent or established which is the core expenditure for running a business.
b) Less capital investment is required
Besides, both the knowledge and intellectual assets burdens are shared by HKYAF and HOW2WORK as both parties have different expertise in handling different matters. It can save much consultation cost from outsider in order to have synergy effect. Hence, less capital investment is required comparing with normal business development.
c) Less cost in advertising and Marketing are required
Online advertising and marketing is one of the core expenditure for running a new business in order to create the public awareness. By using e-portal, all promotion or marketing activities can be done on the web which is not only more efficient, but it is often less expensive than traditional advertising.
4. Systematic (easy to count visitors)
By setting the e-portal, all the data can be calculated automatically and systematically through the program preset like number of site visitors and the total numbers of transactions have been done. It helps a lot in saving time in analyzing data. Also, the system preset workflow that all the data or processes to be done are under the single preset workflow systematically that easier for us to manage. Besides, e-portal can streamline the Ordering Process by taking orders online that implementing an online ordering system allows us to eliminate manual paper work or telephone order taking. It also offers the possibility of integrating the sales order system with order fulfillment and delivery so customers can be up to speed on the progress of their orders at all times.
Conflict and Solution
As HKYAF and HOW2WORK come from different industries, where HKYAF is non-profit charity organization in which HOW2WORK is a toy company focusing on generating profit in our usual practice; therefore, the perspectives for this collaboration for both parties are quite different and hence the occurrence of conflicts arises during the process of collaboration which aims at generating funding for HKYAF this time. The major conflicts during collaboration can be categorized as follows:
1. Research and Design (R&D) and Manufacturing
Conflict: Who is the final decision maker on final designed toys?
There is a conflict related to research and development that who is the final decision maker on final designed toys being produced as both concern of HKYAF and HOW2WORK is quite different. What HKYAF concerns is to make use of the originally ideas from the public and the creativities of HKYAF youngster in the design part. It may directly aim at maintaining and increasing the enthusiasm of HKYAF youngster in art. However, what HOW2WORK concerns is whether the designed toys can be produced in the reality. It may possibly relate to the time cost and materials of production.
Solution: Devise and implement a common method for resolving conflict
This conflict can be solved by offering a clear, step-by-step process for parties to follow. During the negotiation process, both HKYAF and HOW2WORK hold our role in order to achieve what we want. However, HKYAF doesn’t have an expertise on R&D regarding to toy manufacturing where HOW2WORK has. After HOW2WORK explained a step-by-step process in providing a clear picture about the R&D budgets, HKYAF did agree with cost for toy’s production. However, HKYAF made concessions on it that HOW2WORK has to produce the toys which fulfill the design of the HKYAF youngster, but agree with using different materials being chosen by HOW2WORK in order to meet the R&D budgets. In other words, HKYAF holds a role in designing where HOW2WORK holds a role in sourcing materials. Hence, HOW2WORK can be seen as a final decision maker on final designed toys.
2. Sales
Conflict: How to spin-off the cost and profit amongst HKYAF and HOW2WORK?
It’s no doubt that one of the most important problems / conflicts for collaborating two companies in two industries is that how to allocate the cost burdens and profit sharing amongst two parties. In the first beginning, two parties want to generate as much profit and less cost as they can. From the perspective of HKYAF, we want to shift the cost burdens to HOW2WORK as we can and generate most of the profit as our donation. From the perspective of HOW2WORK, they want HKYAF to share 20% of the production cost as they know that what they are working with is a charity organization and have to take part of the profit generated. The different perspectives lead to the occurrence of the conflict.
Solution: Provide people with criteria for making trade-off
This conflict can be solved by offering numerous combinations of burden and profit sharing. During the negotiation process, HKYAF and HOW2WORK offer many packages in relating to burden and profit sharing ratio. After long and winding negotiation process, we finally deal with the result that both of us are acceptable which is that HOW2WORK bear the entire cost burden and the rest of the profit will tend to be the donation for HKYAF after deducting the production cost (R&D, Manufacturing and Operation) of toy to HOW2WORK.
References:
1. N. Venkatraman, John C. Henderson, Real Strategies for Virtual Organizing
2. Jeff Weiss and Jonathan Hughes, Accept - And Actively Manage - Conflict
3. Lauren Keller Johson, Peter Gwynne, Does E-mail Escalate Conflict?
4. Golnaz Sadri and John Condia, Managing the Virtual World
16. Bazerman,M.H,& Neale, M.A. (1992). Negotiating rationally. New York: Free Pres.
17. Leigh L. Thompson (2009), The Mind and Heart of the Negotiation
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