Michael Porter’s theory – Made Simpler.

The so-called "Modern Steak"

Looking at the picture above, anyone who lives in Jakarta would find it worth-the-money if such food are priced around Rp 40.000,- (roughly 4USD). It comes with a chicken steak, beef “modern” steak, vegetables, baked corn, rice, and a glass of lemonade. Since this blog is not a food review blog -and I am not a foodie- I am going to see it from business point of view. The picture above is a perfect explanation of Michael Porter’s theory of how companies stay competitive using either of the three strategies: Make it cheap, make it different, or aim to the niche market.

According to my observation, there were quite a long queue in front of the food stall (Senayan City food court, Jakarta, Indonesia). Thus, I think it is safe to assume that they are pretty successful with their strategy -which I pointed out that their strategy is to make it different, and hence making full use of the value-added to the food.

First of all, the food they’re selling is not something special, nor something that is super-high quality, nor something that’s unique, nor something that is very expensive. By breaking it down: the chicken is not exactly a “steak” because I am sure it doesn’t fit the standard of chicken steak I’ve found in proper restaurants. Chicken steak is usually made of breast-part of the chicken and not thigh-fillet like the one they use for this “chicken steak”. It is cheaper, less healthy, but who cares? It tastes better. The so-called “modern beef” too, is just a big minced-meatball. Once again, minced meat is the cheapest kind of meat you can find in the supermarket. But who cares? It tastes better.

Secondly, it’s the pricing strategy that is very interesting. Compared to the food stall beside it -specializing in steak- they are actually selling the so-called “modern steak” more expensive than the proper steak. Why? They want to convince their potential buyer that “Our product is more superior/better than our competitor”, and shown by a slightly more premium price charged by them. But they are actually selling something that’s supposedly cheaper!

By writing this blog post, it doesn’t mean that I try to discourage people from buying this “modern steak” once you see similar picture in the menu book. Honestly, it’s somewhat worth-the-money; from a customer point of view. I just find it so amazing how they engineered the food and the whole marketing strategy to make it successful and earn more profit in a very competitive food industry.

-Delayed Post-

Sons of Devils.

 

Most people in my country consider studying abroad as something negative. When I tell them that I am studying abroad, their first reactions would be “waste of money”, “sons of devils”, etc. It is true that mass media (such as TV, magazine, etc.) have changed the western culture’s perception in my surroundings as examples of moral degradation; but I find them narrow-minded. Not only their opinion is failed to be supported with a properly-researched premises, but they gave the opinion without even experiencing the so-called “Studying abroad”.

They say, “No parental guidance during early mental development is equivalent to assassination of morality.” My reply would be, “Parents are there to support us, but they are not the ones determining who we really are.” Yes, you may find students who are away from their parents and ended up wasting their time; forgetting the main purpose of them studying. Yes, these people might be better off with the presence of their parents -their lives would be more controlled. However, it doesn’t mean everyone needs to be under parents’ supervision in order to fully develop their own potentials and to be “successful”.

Guess what? I think my life remains balanced even without the presence of my parents here, beside me, right now. My parents are the ones laying my foundation, forging my principles to be as strong and as tough as possible. Their foundations have allowed me to go against the perceived “satanic” lifestyle that I encounter abroad. But even without them, I think I can manage myself pretty well. In fact, I have never been in this level of satisfaction with myself, more than ever before, more than the period of me spending my life with my parents in Indonesia.

Furthermore, studying abroad is a real-life application (and experimentation) of “survival of the fittest”, which is necessary in strengthening and speeding up our mental development. Living with nobody, knowing nobody (in the beginning), and facing problem without anybody helping me, is believed to have made me a better, stronger, and less vulnerable person to the dynamics of the society nowadays.

All in all, those negative perception on studying abroad simply don’t hold up. It has been proven too, by me and many others who have tasted the fruits of our suffering of living by ourselves. Thus, tell your parents that studying abroad aren’t as bad as they perceived, and start planning!