The timeline of this case began in June of 2003, while Ms. Noni Sri Ayati Purnomo, Vice President of Business Development at the Blue Bird Group, was preparing her presentation for the company’s President Director. She had to make decision to improve the business process to comply with ANDAL – “aman, nyaman, mudah, and personalized” – translated to “safe, comfortable, accessible, and personalized”). Ended in 2004, the company developed and implemented the ERP system with several challenges, such as in maintenance process, inventory process, and also human resources.

One Sunday in 2005, while with her family in one of Jakarta’s popular shopping malls, Mrs. Martha Tilaar, the Chairman of PT. Sari Ayu Indonesia, accidentally overheard two women debating the pros and cons of receiving Botox injections[1]. The passing conversation brought back previous thoughts on how to harness Indonesia’s natural resources, and fashion these resources into products which would be as effective as foreign brands but with the advantage of using natural (and thus safer) ingredients.

In her years of working in the world of cosmetics, Mrs Tilaar had so far gained much from innovative improvement – whether these came from her Brand Department together with R&D Department, or from Mrs. Tilaar herself. She always managed to differentiate her products from those of other companies without discarding their most important ingredients. Nonetheless, the differentiation ensured that the marketed products were safe to both user and environment. For example, the latest product series, Biokos Botu-Like, was created to leverage the brand as high-end anti-ageing treatment, which was expected to compete with similar, foreign-manufactured products marketed by well-known international cosmetics brands.

Nevertheless, Mrs Tilaar wondered whether this continuously-explored innovation process was able to grasp what the market needed and wanted. Would it prove to be profitable to the company in the end? What breakthrough idea could be drawn up to gain more market expansion? There was a plethora of ideas – but how could one pick the most appropriate one to develop? Lastly, how sustainable would the products be?

Botox is a type of beauty treatment conducted by experienced, qualified and board certified doctor in order to reduce facial wrinkles.