Entry 2: Be A Manager

Event: Celebrate Christmas in Singapore is a community event organized by Celebrate Christmas in Singapore Ltd (CCIS Ltd), a registered charitable organization incorporated in 2004. The event is held from 19 December 2008-25 December 2008

The objective of this event is to share the true meaning of Christmas to Singaporeans as well as to attract more tourists to spend their Christmases in Singapore. It is to make Foreigners as well as Singaporeans feel at home by enjoying the spirit of Christmas at orchard road. Strolling along Wisma Atria and Ngee Ann City, visitors to Orchard road would discover how Christmas is celebrated in different cultures in Singapore.

This event is to attract people to stick around and bask in the joyous atmosphere of Christmas at Orchard Road. There will be a series of nightly performances and other mini events such as the Floats parade and many staged cultural and new age performances featuring dances, magic shows, musicals and more at venues like Tong Building, Paragon, Tangs and outside Wisma Atria.

The target audiences for this event are Singaporeans as well as Tourists.

Publicity
To publicise this event, the organizers CCIS Ltd set up their own website. They also publicized this event on the Singapore Tourism Board official website. Big posters featuring the event have been placed outside the main entrances of the shopping malls along Orchard Road as a form of advertisement in the days leading up to the event launch. The same posters were also posted up on the official website of CCIS event. The schedule of all the different programs and performances going on during the CCIS event are printed onto CCIS program booklets. All these program booklets are given out all along orchard road by volunteers.

Media Coverage
This event is reported in the media. I focused on two articles covering this event.
Celebrate Christmas in Singapore
By: ALBERT SIM, The New Paper (News Watch) 19/12/2008 event.
I’m dreaming of a warm Christmas
The Straits Times (Home) 27/12/08
I chose to focus on these two articles as they cover the preparation of the event and the event as a whole respectively.

The first article takes the angle of the preparation of the event. The article mainly talks about how the volunteers got ready to launch the float parade to mark the start of the Celebrate Christmas in Singapore event. It also informs readers that the celebration launch will be held at Plaza Singapura at 7pm. The article also briefly described the 8 floats cruising along orchard road, marking the start of the event.

The second article has a wider perspective. It takes the angle of spending a warm Christmas in Singapore, and how the Celebrate Christmas in Singapore event allows Singaporeans as well as tourists to do just that. What are included in this article are brief descriptions of the many cultural and new age performances along orchard road. This article also focuses on the grand Christmas concert along orchard road and talks about the performers and the performances staged.

Event Evaluation
I personally think that the media coverage was quite impactful. There was quite little media coverage in proportion to the scale of the event, considering that the event lasted for a week and it was a large scale event spanning the whole of orchard road. (Orchard road was even closed for more than 8 hours on Christmas day itself for the grand concert and float procession to take place.) Although there was not a lot of media coverage, it was sufficient as the message got across and people were well informed of the event. Stories covering the event was also detailed enough to provide useful information to the readers who did not attend the event.

As the manager overseeing this project, I would say that overall, it is a very successful event. Firstly, everything went according to plan. The financials, marketing and human resources are aspects of the event which are well managed.

Members of the public were well informed of the closure of orchard road and when it was going to take place. This is vital in reducing the inconvenience faced by the members of the public during the event. Members of the public were also well informed of the event. The posters placed outside the shopping malls along orchard road would inform as many people as possible about the event as people are always rushing to do their Christmas shopping in the days leading up to the event.

Overall, the event was well marketed and well publicized. By advertising on the Singapore tourism board, tourists visiting the site to find out about activities they can participate in during their stay in Singapore would then know about the event and attend it. By printing the program booklets and handing them out all along orchard road, the audience would know what to expect from the event and are even able to choose the performances they would want to attend. Also the event was big enough to be successful in attracting media coverage. In this way the event would gain more publicity and even those who did not attend it would know what it is all about.

I also feel that this is a very meaningful event which was successful in reaching out to a lot of people, both tourists and locals. For the tourists, this event was able to expose them to the unique experience of celebrating Christmas in Singapore through the nightly cultural performances. As for the locals this event managed to provide great entertainment as well as spread the warmth of the festive season.

The finances for this event was well managed, all donations collected were well spent on the decorations and equipment essential for the performances and the event as a whole. The human resource involved in this event were all well managed, enough people were designated to each job. Talents scouted for the event were also well selected.



To achieve greater success, I would publicize the event more widely. I would probably choose to advertise on buses and taxis so that people who don’t visit Orchard road often would also be informed of the event. I would also either change the location of one of the performance venues which is outside tong building.

Performances held there were not as successful due to the poor lighting and positioning of the stage. The majority of the audience was not able to get a good view. The crowd which formed along the walkway outside Tong building also obstructed human traffic. A better venue would be outside Ngee Ann city, where there is a lot of space and people gathering to watch the performances would not obstruct traffic. In this case I felt with better management of resources, and by sourcing better venues to hold the performance, the event would be of a greater success.

Also, as the manager of this event I would also go down on several night to lend my support to the performers as well as the main crew making the event possible. As most of the people involved in this event are volunteers, I feel that support and encouragement are very important. This way I am also able to play the role of a leader, not just a manager, to inspire by staff by displaying my passion and interest for what I am doing. By going down to interact with my staff, I am also able to apply aspects of theory Z, whereby interpersonal relationships between worker and managers are stressed.

The Hawthorne effect: the impact of management attention on employee productivity can also be very powerful. If possible, I would also give them small treats, for example buying them drinks or snacks to reward and motivate my staff. By applying more of such principles and theories to real situations, I believe that the event can be of a greater success.

Entry 1: The Manager

Seated comfortably in her leather arm chair, stirring her cup of earl grey tea, Miss Low Siew Ngim, 53, the Director of Nursing of the Singapore National Eye Center (SNEC) is a visage of wizened experience and quiet success.

Her contagious laughter and friendly demeanor would suggest that she is not only a task driven boss but also one who is caring and supportive of her subordinates.

Nevertheless, it would have been extremely challenging to be in her shoes for a day. As the Nursing Director, Miss Low has to oversee surgeries going on in the operating theater, make sure the staff complies with the company’s codes and handle the administration of the Eye Center.

She is required to attend overseas conferences with the surgeons of the SNEC and source for new equipment to facilitate new surgical procedures learnt and practiced during the trip thereafter.

Every manager has his/her own management styles. In this case Miss Low’s style of management is veered towards Human Relations.

Her beliefs can be linked to the Hawthorne studies, whereby productivity is affected by the human aspects of work and not the physical conditions.

“My style of management is not autocratic. I believe in the open door concept. My staff is encouraged to clarify and bring up issues they are unhappy with. I also believe in the empowerment of my staff.” Miss Low explains.

Her management style also incorporates Theory Z. Miss Low relates, “I believe employee participation is important to organizational growth. I am always open to suggestions and make it a point to get my staff involved in certain decision making processes.”

Ms Low also practices management effectiveness by identifying goals for each individual area of responsibility and shares these goals and expectations with each unit and employee.

Every manager would have faced his or her fair share of difficulties and obstacles. For Miss Low, it is the resistance to change.

“50% of the company’s staff has been in the company for more than 10 years. Since they do not have any work experience outside of the center, they tend to be too conservative. Hence they often resist change, saying that they cannot do it when a new system or idea is being implemented.” She recounted.

Also, according to Miss Low, the younger generation is also harder to manage. They do not just listen to you or take instructions, they also want to have a say.
Miss Low manages these problems by not only making it a point to sit down and address questions like “why?’ or “can’t we do it another way?” but also listening to suggestions that her staff has to offer.

Indeed there are always two sides of a coin. Miss Low believes that one cannot be biased. She gets herself involved with what her staff is doing to understand their difficulties.

“By being more open and by working together with them, you’ll be able to understand the situation better when they come to you with complains.” She explains.

In Miss Low’s opinion, a good manager has to be a role model. “You have to walk the talk and be able to practice what you preach. You have to understand your staff’s needs and work with them. Only then can you be a good manager.”

Seeing the drive and clear direction Miss Low possesses, one would be convinced that she does have what it takes to not only be a manager, but also a leader.

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