Raymond Siew's Interview with Joseph P. Cool, President of Cool & Associates, Inc

By Raymond Siew, Southeast Asian Bureau Chief;        Raymond's Bio        Email article to a friend

While working to build the SEA Bureau, I was introduced to Joseph P. Cool of Cool & Associates out of Waterford, Michigan. One might ask why a guy from Malaysia who is supposed to report on networking in Southeast Asia is doing talking with a professional from Michigan, USA. Simple…Joe has lived and worked in 54 countries and is the resident multi-cultural advisor to the Relationship Networking Industry Association (RNIA). Since Joe has had extensive experience in my part of the world, he would be a great person with whom to speak. The following is our interview:

 

Raymond: I am honored that you have agreed to this interview. You are a globe-trotter with tremendous experience in doing business and networking in this region. There is tremendous trade between us and the US, and Malaysia is the 10th largest trading partner with the US. With the new initiatives online, do you see the possibility of new opportunities via the WWW?

Joseph: I want to sincerely thank you for this opportunity to provide some of my thoughts and experiences regarding the World Wide Web to my colleagues in SE Asia. When I first heard that you are from Malaysia, it took me back to my work with ESSO Malaysia in the early 1980s on a Telecommunications project. I spent a considerable amount of time working with the Engineering Department of ESSO Malaysia in Kuala Lumpur which resulted in the successful implementation of the on-shore to off-shore communication system.

At that time, it was apparent to me that close and personal contact was required for successful completion of projects with the Malaysians. Of course, at that time we only had telephone and teletype (TTY) and it became readily apparent that this would not work for the ESSO Malaysia system. As my career developed, which consisted of working in many other countries in SE Asia, I came to realize that this eyeball-to-eyeball contact was a requirement for success.

Now to the WWW and the Internet. During the 1990s when the Internet was developed, I was a Consultant in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and there was little availability of the new technology due to many information constraints. When I returned to the US and began the process of "understanding" the Internet, I was in complete amazement - information and access at the touch of the keyboard. While there are many detrimental activities and issues regarding international usage of the Internet, for example the Nigerian 419 Scams – I strongly feel that the positives of international Internet usage far outweigh the negatives.

R: For those who want to take advantage of the Internet's "positives" to develop their businesses and business communication/networking on the WWW... what's a good approach to take/your advice to them?

J: Of course, one must be careful in not only the evaluation of the received data from the Internet but also the amount/type of personal information placed on the Internet. I have found that developing credibility is the very first (and most important) step in developing business on the Internet. We are in the global marketplace and while we cannot be everyplace all the time, we can communicate throughout the world once the credibility has been established. This is the reason that many Internet Groups have been established and I am a member of many of them.

I strongly believe that RNIA with the concept of developing Internet standards for communication and networking is at the forefront of the various Internet Forums. Once the standards are developed and credibility established, there is no doubt in my mind that we all can be very successful in the global marketplace while not being face-to-face. I believe this will enable the SE Asians to expand and do business without the need for physical traveling.

R: America is very much an online country and a huge amount of business is carried on via the web. Can you tell me if you think SEA is ready to embrace this new culture? What do you think will be the challenges we have to embrace before the WWW will be the new next medium for trade?

J: As I mentioned previously, I strongly feel that SE Asians will very rapidly embrace the Internet technology once standards and credibility are in place. I am a member of the Council of Asian Pacific Americans located in the Detroit, Michigan area and the Council uses the Internet extensively in the conduct of their business. I was honored to be permitted to join due to my many projects in SE Asia during my career. We are in the process of developing syndicated-Internet presentations for broadcast to many of the member’s homelands. This just goes to say that the technology is very useful when utilized with a set of standards with credibility of the members.

Another area that is gaining popularity is membership/networking groups which require a paid subscription. There are many on the Internet with various criteria and fee schedules which appeal to a variety of users. I am a member of two International registries of Executives and Professionals which provide me access to other members for chat and/or business. I did a quick search and found there are five members in Malaysia and I am certainly going to contact them regarding the TNNW and your good-self. Just think about it – using the Internet to develop home country contacts for social and/or business activities. I believe this in itself will assist the SE Asians to develop usage and confidence in usage of the WWW and the Internet.

R: Can you tell me more about RNIA and your role in it?

J: I must say that I am relatively new to RNIA and in actuality I initially heard of the organization by happenstance. I regularly "tune in" to many Tele-seminars weekly to "glean" what I call "Golden Nuggets" from the Presenters. On one such call, the TNNW was favorably mentioned so the next day, I visited the website and signed up for the weekly newsletter. After reading the newsletter for a few months, one subject "caught my eye" so I sent an enquiry to the owner/founder, Mr. Adam Kovitz. We started speaking to each other and found out that we are both "Engineers by Trade" and immediately the connection was made.

Adam told me about RNIA and I visited the site and spent a considerable amount of time reading, and the area in which I was especially interested was his concept of the CBOK – Common Body of Knowledge. I then sent Adam some personal/professional background information including my membership in several cultural organizations here in Michigan. We both immediately "visualized" the synergy between our goals and objectives in the global marketplace.

Currently, I am on the Advisory Board of RNIA and also a member (co-Moderator) of the Practices Group which is involved in developing the Relationship Networking standards throughout the many cultures in the global marketplace. Having worked in virtually every culture in the global marketplace during my career, I have seen many of the positives (and negatives) of doing business and through the RNIA, it is felt that I can be of assistance in formulating practices and standards that will be very beneficial for all members of the organization.

Raymond, once again my sincere thanks for giving me the opportunity of being interviewed by you. I have access to many data bases of companies/individuals throughout the global marketplace and I would be honored to work with you and your organization eMasters to develop and expand on international projects that will be win-win for all concerned. As a note, I have subscribed to your in-the-loop Ezine and I have no doubt, I will "see" something that will be the basis of developing business opportunities. Once again, many thanks for this opportunity and I look forward to "connecting" to the many Malaysians and SE Asians in general that want to be a part of the WWW.

R: Joe, thank you very much for this interview. I think you've put it in a nutshell. I find that issues of ethics are a major concern to Asians who would like to venture online. And with so many scare stories it's an uphill challenge to convince people here to invest serious time and resources towards an online business. I believe both your work as well as Adam's in RNIA and TNNW can do much to encourage greater participation from Asians on the WWW.


I have included an article on what a Marketing Website is about at: www.emasters.info/faq-im.html -- I believe with more successful marketing websites from Asia, there will be greater reasons for Asians to join the WWW community. This is the strategy pursued by the SEA Bureau of TNNW and I think this will be a exciting journey. Thank you for including us.

 

Contact Raymond at RaymondS@TheNationalnetworker.com or via TNNW Blog.
 

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