Singapore Art Museum, 8Q-Rate: School

a. What is the objective of this event? Give a brief background to this event.

The objective of this event is to allow the older generation remember their schooling days. It is for the students to see attending school from 8 different and unique point of views.

8Q-Rate: School features 8 young Singaporean artists: Donna Ong, Tan Kai Syng, Jason Wee, :Phunk Studio, Jahan Loh, Grace Tan, Ahmad Abu Bakar and Chong Li-Chuan. 8 curators worked with 8 artists, and they explored on the theme of "school" in response to the site and location of 8Q, which used to be Catholic High School. The artists each created dynamic, creative and sometimes unconventional new works for the exhibition including installations, new media, sound works, and street-inspired art.


b. Who is the target audience?

I feel that for this event there are 2 different target audience. One set of target audience is the people who have graduated from school. Adults from the age of 21 to 45. These adults are most probably working therefore this exhibition will allow them to remember their schooling days.

The other set of target audience is the students between the ages of 15 to 20. This art exhibition can give these students different perspectives and point-of-views of schooling from local artists. These students are also more receptive towards modern art therefore they will probably greatly appreciate and like this art exhibition.


c. How is the event publicized? (In other words, how does the target audience
get to know about the event?

• Magazine and newspaper advertisements
• Internet/ Their official website
• Press release
• Brochures

d. Is the event reported in the media? If yes, how widely is it reported? (Do a
quick analysis of the reports, in terms of the angles that the media take,
the importance of the coverage, and your opinion of the impact of the
coverage). If no, why do you think the media did not cover the event?
What do you think could be done to attract media coverage?

I think this art exhibition was not covered by the media because this was not a huge event. Not many people actually knew of this event as not much publicising of it was done. Another reason why this event was not covered by the media is probably because the artists that exhibited their work were not famous artists. They were local young artists. I am not saying that their exhibition was not good, however without any 'WOW' factor, the media would not cover this event.

Hence, to attract media coverage, I feel that they could have tied this exhibition with another exhibition, of someone more famous. Or maybe they could have roped in a foreign artist with another different perspective. On top of that, more hype could have been created to attract more interest in this exhibition.


e. Assume you are the manager overseeing this project. Evaluate the success
/ failure of this event. How would you do it differently for greater success?

Overall, I think the event was well-organised. However, in terms of where the exhibits were placed, there were some problems as they did not have enough signs to guide people around properly. On top of that, there was not many people there viewing the exhibition, the place was rather quiet. Hence, I would have to say this event was not much of a success.

They could have handed out pamphlets and brochures to students to perk their interests and get them to visit the exhibition. More publicising should have been done to attract more people's attention.

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Presenting the interview with MR. ANDY LEE.

Name: Andy Lee
Age: 47
Designation: Commercial Manager
Company: Ocean Master Engineering Private Limited

Describe your job responsibilities as a Manager.

• Manage and supervise 5 stuff
• Do quotations and tendering for projects
• Control costs
• Monitoring creditors and debtors
• Negotiation with customers, suppliers and sub-contractors
• Set guidelines for staff
  

What is your management style?

• More on dedication of job and allowing workers to do it independently
• Do checks on them regularly- oversee their work
• Supervise and instruct staff
• Dialogues with them to find out about their problems
• Have regular informal meetings with staff
• Will talk and chat with them
• If staff commit a mistake, I will highlight to them instead of scolding them
• Dedicate work and tell them areas to take note of

Mr. Lee uses Theory Z. He talks to his employees to find out about their problems and at the same time asserts his authority by dedicating work to them. This shows that although Mr. Lee and his subordinates are friends, there is still a certain boundary that they must not cross. However, after office hours, they have a more friendly and less professional relationship with Mr. Lee.

What are the difficulties you face as a Manager?

• Hard to motivate staff
• Difficult to recruit correct staff for the correct job because of experience
• Unreasonable and demanding customers
• Balancing between customer's needs and company's interest

Based on Mr. Lee's answer, I can see that he uses another of the management style. It is Scientific Management- he selects the right employee for the right positions and also trains and develops the workforce. Out of the 4 principles in Scientific Management, Mr. Lee is able to make use of 2. Principle 2- Scientific selection, training and development of first-class workers. Principle 3- Co-operate with workers to ensure that all work is done in accordance with the principles of the science that has been developed.

How do you overcome these difficulties?

• If I am unable to recruit the correct staff, I will try to train up in-house staff
• If I really cannot give in to the customers, then I will try my best to explain to them why I am unable to help them. If I can give in, I will give in
• However, I have to always look out for the company's interest first because that is my main priority.
• However, if the customer is an important client that brings in a lot of deals for the company, then I will have no choice but to give in to them.
• Therefore, it all depends on the situation, company's interests and the customer.
  

From his answer to this question, I know that he is very experienced and practical. Because he mentioned that the company's interest is his main priority and depending on the customer, he will decide whether to give in to the client or not. In the working industry, the boss will only look at how much money and value you can bring to the company. Hence, I suppose what Mr. Lee is trying to say is that if keeping the customer happy will help bring in money to the company then he will go all out to keep the customer happy. However, the same concept applies the other way. If keeping the customer happy will cause the company to lose a huge sum of money, then i guess, they just have to let the customer go.

In your opinion, what makes a good Manager?

• Someone who always sets good examples for staff to follow
• Someone who is committed and dedicated to their work
• Someone who is able to take care of their subordinates welfare

I agree with this answer too. But, I think that a Manager should also be responsible and respectful to all employees and subordinates. :)