Building a Sustainable Competitive Advantage
Guest Lecture Session by Jacky Mussry, Ph.D
On Saturday, 14 January 2023, the BINUS Business School MM Executive program held a guest lecture on Building a Sustainable Competitive Advantage with Mr. Jacky Mussry, Ph.D. as its sole speaker. Mr. Jacky started his speech by sharing his experience in MarkPlus, one of Indonesia’s internationally recognized leading marketing consultant companies. During the lecture, Mr. Jacky discussed the difference between corporate and startup culture in terms of organizational structure, management, and SOPs (Standard of procedures). Even before the era of startups, the company has always shown a balance between the “entrepreneurial” and “professionalism” spirit. He takes pride in “growing” with the company instead of merely “working” for the company with Mr. Hermawan Kartajaya – the founder.
Next, Mr. Jacky mentioned the formation process of the company’s vision and culture. Its vision is to become a world-class partner for business ecosystems originating in Indonesia and to become the best-integrated omni-solution provider for organizations and marketing specialists in 2025. Its core values are Experience, Professionalism, and Ethics. These values reflect the reasoning behind the company office name, “MarkPlus Campus,” signifying a place where everyone should learn something new daily.
One of the problems faced by Mr. Hermawan during the early days is reversing its business model from “product-based” to “solution-based” offers for its customers. As Mr. Jacky started discussing the best solutions for consumers, he also emphasized why empathy is necessary to secure long-term client loyalty. Another challenge mentioned by Mr. Hermawan is finding a way to “sustain” the business model instead of making it a “one-man show.” Currently, MarkPlus consists of three different business units, such as Consulting, Institute, and Insights. To conclude his speech, Mr. Jacky shared with us the essential skills and aspects of being an entrepreneur and how crucial they are to MarkPlus’ success in the business ecosystem.
Recommended Additional Concepts & Reading:
– “What is Strategy?” by Michael Porter Harvard Business Review (1996)
– Strategy: Deciding What To Do & What Not To Do.
– Entrepreneurial Marketing by Philip Kotler (Launched March 2023)
– Pyramid:
- Financial Perspective (Top of the pyramid)
Non-Financial KPIs (bottom of the pyramid) :
- Customer Perspective
- Internal perspective
- Learning & Growth
Contributors: Harold Adhitjan & Floriane Marguerite
