BUSINESS FINANCE FOR NON FINANCIAL PROFESSIONALS In this Uncertain, Volatile, Complex and Ambiguous business world, there is not only a need to understand financial information, but also to be able to read beyond its facts and figures. As companies strive to sustain its business, sound and appropriate decisions need constantly and consistently to be made to that effect. To play the game well, every player needs to know exactly how to score for their companies. By equipping themselves with the appropriate financial know how, intelligence, participants are in better position to manage their businesses’ operation in terms of revenues, costs, profits and cash. They, therefore, are empowered to make more effective and wise business decisions. This workshop will provide basic financial principles and cover generic financial management tools necessary for decision making. Learning is achieved via case studies, brainstorming and stimulation, to reinforce the theory taught. Participants will also undergo a highly interactive exercises and real life situation which will assist them to experience how transactions are affect the financial statements and what are the key drivers that will lead them to succeed. They will also be taught prepare periodic financial statements via exercise. Financial statements • Understand the key components of a financial statements ; • Familiarise with the business Finance & Accounting terms ; • Apprehend the key underlying accounting concepts used in the preparation of financial statements; • Aware the limitations of Financial Statements; • Quick eye-bird view through 9 pointers; Business Analysis • Know how to interpret financial statements ; and • Analyse the business relationship using the appropriate financial ratios; • What financial statements tell us and what they wouldn’t; • Apply Strategic Thinking to Enhance Business Performance Cash Operating Cycle • Understand the cash operating cycle and what affects a company’s cash flow ; • Monitor and Manage the cash operating cycle Costing • Know the different categories of costs which exist and their implications on costing ; • Understand costing concepts, and apply them in making business decisions Profit versus Cash • Understand the difference of the impact of the transaction on profit and cash ; • Be clear why cash is king! Warning Signals • Discover and appreciate what some of the clear warning signals found in financial statements

OFFICIAL CORPORATE ANNOUNCEMENT

official announcement Grace to everyone, Pleased to announce that my joint venture with the renown training provider, Quantum Leap is still in existence despite being diagnosed with the big C.. and undergoing treatment for it. For more information on this joint venture, please click on the link below: http://www.quantumleap-seminar.com/?s=James+Oh My grateful thanks and appreciation to Mr. TK Chan for giving me an opportunity to promote my enterprise through this platform. This also signals the start of a long lasting business relationship and I am indeed privileged to have Mr. Chan as one of my collaborators. I am indeed blessed to be able to focus on developing new courses to cater for the needs and demands of potential customers. As such, I am seeking more collaborators to help market these training programs. This is a much needed income as I need to generate income to support my family especially my two kids who are currently pursuing tertiary courses. Grateful if anyone can contact me should there be any interest in my programs. Cheers and look forward to hearing from you, With unconditional love, James Oh

MY HEARTFELT THANKS TO TRANSMILE

My heartfelt thanks to Transmile

Hi everyone,

Heartfelt thanks to Transmile for giving me an opportunity to attend the IATA courses as a reward for my sterling performance in the co where I managed to deliver several milestones. Attached below are the certs I have collected from my overseas courses.

The overseas exposure was awesome as I was not only able to enhance my knowledge and know how, but also gain confidence especially when different viewpoints on a given case study surfaced and we could discuss and deal with it very professionally and amicably.

On one occasion I was given a chance to deliver my viewpoints which contradicted with the viewpoints of another senior finance executive from another overseas airline. Surprisingly my group members gave me a wholehearted support and agreed with my viewpoints. .Hmm!! I may have some hidden potential and talents after all. I began to gain more and more confidence and was not afraid to accept more and more challenges. I was able to tackle any tasks albeit those with differing or controversial ideas. My outlook and perspectives broadened correspondingly.

I believe this is one of the best and healthy practices if one wants to progress. Perhaps our education system should be more holistic and the students should be taught to think out of the box. They should not be spoon fed. This is now reflected in our examinations which focus on high order thinking skills (HOTS) questions. In this way, our society and country can progress further.

My hope and vision for the future are that no one should be denied an education because of poverty or other irrelevant reasons. Education should be accessible to all. This is practised by some overseas universities.

Secondly, I hope as our nation progresses the people’s mind would as be opened to accept views which are different and access things from different perspectives.

Please share your views. I would love to hear them.

With unconditional love,

James Oh

TRANSMILE WAS MAKING THE WRONG SHIFT THAT LED TO ITS DEMISE

Transmile was making the wrong shift that led to its demise.

Happy day, everyone.

Transmile is the company that I served the longest. It offered me a platform where I was initially given a free hand to put into practice the concept of lean finance which I have learnt from one of the previous companies which I have served and had implemented the 3S successfully.

My past experience with the other companies I served helped me to navigate the lean finance indicators to constantly improve the company performance. I was very fortunate to be able to master these skills through fine tuning my approach and know how from time to time.

However, this approach was set aside after I was removed from the financial division. I was tasked by the top management to focus and lead the internal audit and risk management unit. I was able to craft the charter for the unit which was approved by them but was never utilised for reasons best known to themselves. As a result, this unit was unable to function as it lacked support from the management.

Prior to my removal from the finance unit, I had achieved many amazing milestones. When I joined the company, it was given a debenture holder to a bank. I also managed to get another bank not only to take over the loan but also to offer it on clean facilities (without collateral securities) with much better rates and conditions.

To achieve this I have to think outside the box to create feasible term loans from the bankers' perspectives in order that they are comfortable enough to grant us facilities on a clean basis.

On top of that, I also took the initiatives to explore cross-border leasing but it could not proceed further as the loan sum was too small.

Other initiatives I adopted was natural hedging where we matched our foreign income with our payments to minimise our forex exposure risk.

Since we are an aviation company, fuel costs can be quite daunting and measures should be taken to ensure its consumption was used efficiently. Naturally, it will be wiser for us to embark on fuel hedging to lock in our profit especially for our fixed term contracts.

I hope I have provided you some insights into the tasks of a financial controller and certain financial tools. I hope that all these will be useful to you all. At the height of my career we also managed to access the Llyold market directly to obtain unbelievable rates for our fleet. I was initially proud to be one of the pioneers of the company. I had put my heart and soul into turning many adversaries into blessings.

On the operations side, my ongoing implementation of certain practices has helped to improve our efficiency by close monitoring and attention to details. The daily collection, cash flow, daily fuel consumption and loading report were always on my radar system.

I have also introduced and implemented short-term strategies, apart from profit rationale exercise, to address the ASEAN financial crisis and reposition our aircraft globally to achieve sustainable business growth and profitability during my term as financial controller cum internal audit head.

I was ever ready to learn and implement anything that was worthwhile and benefited the company. It was also for my own pride, fulfillment as well as my satisfaction. This was the company I prided myself to be in and I was willing to put in all my foresight and business acumen to make it a reputable and well-established venture.

However, it was not meant to be like that. The top management has a different vision from mine. They were unscrupulous and mismanaged the company which led them to go against the law and some of them are now battling criminal charges.

I am so thankful that I am not one of them who were blinded by greed. Thank God for leading me to the right path.

Hope you find this post interesting and useful. Stay tuned for more stories about my experience.

With unconditional love,

James Oh

TRANSMILE - TURNING POINT OF MY CAREER

TRANSMILE - TURNING POINT OF MY CAREER

Turning point of my career

Greetings from Malaysia,

In my preceding post, I mentioned that I was successful in making a claim from the insurance company. As a result, I was given more and more responsibilities. However, this proved detrimental to me. As I demonstrated my capabilities I attracted competitions and backstabbing from some of my cohorts who are possessed with crab mentality. My abilities and flexibility to handle tough situations led to my downfall. I was not appreciated as the top management considered me a threat.

I was then assigned the unenviable task of investigating the practices of the top management’s relatives. I found some malpractices and some which infringed the law but was not given a free hand to handle them. Then I suggested to let the relevant authorities to investigate my findings. The top management turned a deaf ear and refused to take any actions. I was at a loss as to what to do.

My hands were tied and I could not do anything. I was so frustrated but could not leave the company as I was the sole breadwinner.

I then decided to take a firm stand and decided not to pursue further. They then decided to remove me from the internal audit to yet another unit. This time I was to work together with those I was asked to investigate earlier. I was very very miserable and was pushed into a corner and isolated.

Thankfully not long after that the authorities came and discovered that they had fraudulently inflated and overstated their revenues. This eventually led to the demise of the company.

However, rumours were being circulated outside in the business world about the company. The human resource manager had no choice but to force every staff to execute a non-disclosure agreement to cover up all unhealthy practices. However, it is impossible to cover the raging flame with a piece of paper. This shocking news spread like wildfire throughout the media and several top management were charged for falsified accounts.

Thank you, Lord, for sustaining me and guided me not to give in and collaborated with them. I am grateful to Him for giving me the wisdom and the strength to repeal the oppression from the top management of the company. After the turbulence, I have emerged a much stronger person and are able to take up any challenges.

Stay tuned for more exciting insider stories,

With unconditional love,

James Oh

PREDICTION VS CONTROL SITUATION

'The test of a first-rate intelligence is the ability to hold two opposed ideas in mind at the same time and still retain the ability to function.' F. Scott Fitzgerald 

THINKING & INNOVATION - ENHANCE YOUR MENTAL INTELLIGENCE AND CAPABILITIES

COURSE OUTLINE

Icebreaker

MODULE: 1

Introductions and Expectations

The Scary Situation of Statistics findings

Bloom Taxonomy’s Thinking Skills

What is Innovation?

How to cultivate thinking and Innovation?

What are the tools and techniques?

Direct, drive and deliver Value creation through 5Rs

What are 5Rs?

How those 5Rs are being employed through Innovation Implementation?

MODULE: 2

Higher Think Skills

How to develop 5Cs

What are they?

Critical thinking skill

Creative

Collaborative

Communication &

Character

Useful Tips through 5Bs

What are the 5 Bs

-       Strengthening Belief

-       Overcoming Barriers

-       Pushing over Borders

-       Crossing the Boundaries

-       To Be

MODULE: 3

Adapting Growth Mindsets

How they are different from Fixed Mindset

Prof. Carol Dwech’s findings

How to adapt Growth Mindset

Why it is important in today’s business landscape?

MODULE: 4

How to make access to Higher Faculty

What are the Higher Faculties?

Reasoning, Intuition, Will & Imagination

How they work?

Why this is important in today’s environment

Games/Activities

Day II

MODULE: 5

Essential Soft skills

Effective Communication

Analytical and Evaluation Skills

Problem Solving Skills

How to effectively employ the new strategic tools and technique? 

Games/ Activities

Sum up / Q & A / Discussion

MODULE: 6

Stay Focus on the Main Purpose

Setting the appropriate priorities to cope with the dynamic situation

Proper alignment to the main purpose

Pursuit of Perfection (concept and uses)

Through 5 Vs

What are they?

Vision, Values, Virtues, Voices + Versatile

How they work

Video + Discussion

MODULE: 7

Key Opportunities, Challenges & Priorities

What are the Key challenges and opportunities in this Uncertain, Volatile, Complex and Ambiguous situation.

How to Master, depart and making transformation?

How to redefine your thinking process to accelerate growth?
Challenge Mastery and to have breakthrough results

Creative imagination

What are the key drivers?

What need to be done in this;

Change is certain & how to embrace change mind-set? Discussion

Why and how to focus on new opportunities & priorities
How to learn, Unlearn and relearn

MODULE: 8

A Plan to Take Home

This session will challenge the participants to think about Roadblocks & Pitfalls to implementation

Redefine your destination

Shape your character

How to bring these learned lessons into the organization

Sum Up/ Q & A

Key take-back messages

END OF DAY 2

CRITICAL THINKING SKILL

TIMELY COURSE COME INTO RESCUE - LOOKING BEYOND FINANCIAL STATEMENTS - BREAKTHROUGH

Dear all,

Keep moving..... tough times never last but tough people do. Turn adversity into opportunity. Focus on our goals and not obstacle. The timely breakthrough course is coming soon and your voice is being heard. We know that you are not alone and we are here to work with you. Sign up this course as it is designed to seek breakthrough by looking beyond your financial statements. 

Contact the event organizer directly and we are looking forward to seeing you then, 

MINDSET

“Men are not prisoners of fate, but prisoners of their own minds.” - Franklin Delano Roosevelt. Discuss.

It seems that not many people aware of this fact, and no wonder they are subject to manipulation by other who use this opportunity for their own favour.

Profile of James Oh - Feb 2017

James Oh is a financial, wealth and mindset specialist, thinker, leader and intensive researcher with nearly 30 years of professional working experiences in various industries such as trading, construction, aviation, movies investment and distribution. He is richly exposed in both local and international levels particularly in negotiating with the world leading aviation financiers, insurance and reinsurance brokers. 

From very humble beginning, James Oh has been gaining momentum till today. His track record includes employing his mental faculty to overcome his physical illness such as being born underweight, became a chess champion and represented his school in MPPP Chess competition under 12 in 1973; thereafter he unknowingly, use lean thinking skill to cope with his education through part time work at his age of 14; helped the founder of the company he worked with to list his company in KLSE and turning the company around when it was badly hit by the Asian Financial Crisis in 1996-7.

James has been featured in media multiple times such as the top investment magazine i.e. Smart Investor Magazine, Financial First, Money Compass, FlyMe360, Property Insight, Entrepreneur Insight, Corporate Voice Journal (MAICSA), Malaysian Institute of Insurance, Journal of Wealth Planning and Management. His articles also have been republished in Property Insight, Corporate Voice Journal (MAICSA) and Malaysian Institute Of Insurance. So far, he has published eight Ebooks, specializes in value creation.  4 out of 8 books have been upgraded to second edition and beyond. 

Moving Beyond The Horizon is the mind skill course he has conducted for in-house program with the Non-Profit Organization. He had also worked in the World Health Organization under supervision of late Prof Dr. Yap Han Heng and Worldfish. He also serves as an Associate Trainer with Kaplan Institute, Singapore and IABT Advanced in Business Training Sdn. Bhd. He has developed more than 10 training courses and conducted the courses through Institutions, Corporate and several training Providers. These courses comprise of Financial Interpretation and Management, Lean Finance, Value Investment, Lean Management, Financial Ratios – Pointers for Profitability, Progress and Prosperity, Looking Beyond Financial Statements – An Investor’s Perspective, Entrepreneurs’ Thinking, Event Management & Cost Effective, Thinking & Innovation.

His recognition had spread quickly and he was invited to be one of the speakers at the Secretarial Conference in Kuala Lumpur on Dec 2 & 3 2015, a conference event organized by Camfori Training Provider that featured comprehensive secretarial and financial strategies and solutions featuring 10+ thought leaders and speakers. 

One of his recent article has been selected to be included as a collection of the investment supplement published by MIRA. It comprised numerous renowned authors. His limited printed copies of books were distributed to more than 300 invited members and guests in conjunction with their IR Annual Award for 2016.

James graduated with a Bachelor’s degree in Accountancy from the National University of Malaysia, and Laws degree from the London of University (UK). He is a Chartered Accountant with the Malaysian Institute of Accountant, Certified Professional Trainer with IPMA (UK) & PSMB Certified Trainer and Competent Communicator with Toastmaster International.

James Oh currently is CEO cum Value Creation Specialist with Western Academy Sdn. Bhd., and HRDF Training Provider. He can be reached at jamesoh2003@yahoo.co.uk

ENTREPRENEUR THINKING SKILL

"The best way to predict the future is to invent it." Alan Curtis Kay.  

Discuss by commenting on the column provided below.

BUSINESS PRACTICE

"We cannot copy and apply our own existing, ready-made business practices," Wang Jianlin on global expansion. 

Please discuss on the comment provided below. Thank you in advance for your kind participation.

YOU SURELY GET WHAT YOU LASER FOCUS

You Surely Get What You Laser Focus On

In fact, we are so blessed with a powerful mind that once connected to the Universe our ability to bring out any manifestation into reality is unlimited. This is because all things happen just by way you intended them to be. Sounds simple but not easy to master this skill where your energy will flow to the way you intended to. Hence, practice to stay focus on your goal and the result will eventually turn out exactly from your manifestation. Deliberate practice will make permanent progress. Practice! Practice! Practice that is.

Energy Flow Freely and Naturally. 

Our body function just as a conduit harnesses electricity which naturally flow in a particular-direction no matter what. Similarly, our thoughts once harnessed and directed by our ability to stay focus,  will results in our mind being  "tuned in", “rewired “or “reprogrammed” .

Once we are focused on any event, feeling, or phenomenon in our lives; our success is a surety. The more frequent and longer we focused on that particular sensation, the stronger the feeling we receive from it. Does it make sense to you now? Hence, we always said energy flows where attention/ intention goes. Wherever we focus our attention/intention, energy automatically follow and result will eventually show with action. I must affirm to the accurate effect in my entire life journey so far and it is not luck, as some friends thought.

Therefore, it is crucially important to have sufficient, uninterrupted rest and sleep to recharge your mind appropriately. Once you find your body truly relaxed and recharged, you will be ready to undertake the direction to change for the better. Everything will unfold by itself, and connections to the appropriate people, places or things will take place with ease. In short it is effortless as the energy flows naturally, freely as the way we manifested. That's being "tuned in" or whatever label you normally used.

Attention flows where energy goes. 

Your attention will then be directed / drawn to where the energy was flowing. The energy could easily be like a bright light shining in your eyes naturally. All these energies have affected the senses and its impact will be very much dependent on the intensity, and concentration on our focus point. The more concentrated and intensified our attention, the greater effects on your body and/or behavior. You, too, may have probably experience such effects by your own influence of energy on your environment. Please be more mindful and share with us your experience, if any.

Energy flows where Intention goes. 

Now you see that it boils down to your intention in the first place as it will then direct your energy accordingly. Your source must be right and clear in the first place. Once the source is in place, the rest will follow suit smoothly and easily. Your intention will serve as your GPS and let your GPS be your Captain to direct all your energies. Be comfortable with this weird situation through practice.

Result Shows Where Intention Goes

By synergizing your focus and intention, all energies both from internal and external sources will cooperate in a very harmonious manner to make things happen in the way you directed. It is so harmonious and peaceful that it does not cause any struggle at all. Everything you wished for will naturally and eventually turn out effortlessly, just like the butterfly transformed from the cocoon. Sounds too good to be true? This is because our natural minds probably played the old trick so that you not believe in this simple truth. If it is so, then tame your mind to this effect as our mind naturally want to stay in control and calm to protect us. Follow the natural flow, is against the way we conditioned our mind from the environment we are brought up and more inclined to be intuitive in nature.

Everything is Energy. 

Why I said so?Probably by now, you may have read many books which advocate the same common thing at the end of the day. Those books were written and advocated to one common thing that we can create anything if we can conceive in our mind and truly believe in it. This is because once you have formed the clear image/picture through visualization; energy will flow where your intention directs it to. The movement of the energy is so important for your conscious self to make things crystallize to reality. That’s simple. Momentum will be gathered like the snowball gaining momentum.
By doing so, you basically create your reality by following your energy patterns, and through laser focus and intent that manifest either what you want or what you don't want in your life. The energy is neutral. It goes where you direct it, hence you "get what you exactly focus on." Keep asking yourself as what would you intend to bring into your world today until you find one and make it happen?

ADD VALUE

INNOVATIVE SOLUTIONS - LEAN FINANCE

Lean finance if done properly will create strong united teams that will lead team members to do what they are supposed to do. This is part of the cultural change, and the ongoing improvement that comes from lean.

People are then getting more comfortable with an execution-oriented culture and a can-do attitude. That drives them to be impatient for change. They are saying “Why can’t I do it now?”

As such, Lean is something more than just cost reduction. It’s reducing time-to-market, it’s improving service quality, it’s reducing risk exposure, it’s increasing employees’ quality of life. It’s also cost reduction, but the point is to obtain all these other benefits simultaneously.

If you agree and want to reap the benefits lean has promised; look out for our Lean Finance courses. 

 James Oh 

Value Creation Specialist 

FINANCE MAVERICK, SPEAKER AND AUTHOR  http://jamesoh2003.blogspot.com

WISDOM FROM JAMES OH

CREATIVE VISUALIZATION

Hi everyone,

I have  great news for you. The great news is to help you to realize 

your potential to achieve utmost best version of you.

As some of you may be  well aware that Creative Visualization is a 

far more than just a secret prescribed by extraordinary achievers. It’s

the simplest proven recipe for you to reprogram your subconscious, 

so you experience more success in almost any area of your life. If 

you think our mind is powerful, our subconscious mind is 9 times 

more powerful than our mind. Now, you can imagine how much 

power you can harness, should you master this skill. Here, we intend

to train people to master the form and flow with the formless.

 It doesn’t matter if you want to drive a newer car, take a 5-star family vacation, find a way to get a pay raise, or even if you want to totally transform your life. Creative Visualization is the key. 

What are you waiting for? Come and join us and look out for our 

courses which we will announce from time to time.

Cheers and look forward to seeing you,

James Oh 

Chief Value Creation Specialist 

FINANCE MAVERICK, SPEAKER AND AUTHOR  

http://jamesoh2003.blogspot.com

THE GROWTH OF SHARE MATRIX

The Original Matrix

“A company should have a portfolio of products with different growth rates and different market shares. The portfolio composition is a function of the balance between cash flows.… Margins and cash generated are a function of market share.”

—Bruce Henderson,
“The Product Portfolio,” 1970

OUR COLLABORATOR - CINDY TEH

Dear Readers,

We are pleased to announce that Money Tells Stories has agreed to form an Alliance with Cindy Teh with the objectives of providing a more effective and efficient quality of our services by combining our forces in terms of resources and expertise to serve our clients better.

Cindy Teh's profile

Cindy Teh is an MBA from University of Portsmouth [UK], majoring in Marketing. She has been in the education industry since 2004 until now. Her core focus is Introduction to Marketing, Marketing Management, Strategic Marketing, Service Marketing and Global Marketing.

She is co-author with North American award winner, Fred Stawitz on the article “ Institutions of higher education that support staff and faculty graduate more students”. Also, one of the top contributors at Harvard Business Review [HBR], member of Maven Global Consulting Group and HRDF certified trainer.

Her student projects include Logos Hope, Khoo Kongsi, Cheong Fatt Tze Mansion, E & O Hotel, Yahong Art Centre, China House, Hin Bus Depot Art Centre etc.

Prior to education industry, she was in the corporate world for 10 years. Her job scope includes sales and marketing, public relations and customer service.

You are always welcome to forward us the plan of collaboration should you have any.

Working toward our greater success,

James Oh

Value Creation Specialist 

FINANCE MAVERICK, SPEAKER AND AUTHOR  

http://jamesoh2003.blogspot.com

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