1415T2g1 South Korea/Participant Information/Hosanna Petra Harsono

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About Hosanna

SMU email: hpharsono.2012@sis.smu.edu.sg
Academic Year: 3
Degree: Information Systems Management
2nd Major: Operations Management
Interests: Playing games, drawing, writing, technology, watching J-drama & K-drama, fashion & makeup
Other skills: Photoshop, Multilingual (Indonesian - native, English - fluent, Japanese - basic proficiency & currently learning, Korean - currently learning)
CCAs & other experience:
InnovateIT'14 Organizing Committee - Logistics and Events Director, InnovateIT'13 Sub-committee - Marketing Executive, IS101 (Seminar on Information Systems Management) Teaching Assistant 2013, WhiteHat Society - Member, Woori Sayi - Member, Japanese Cultural Club - Sub-committee (2013-now) & Executive Committee - Marketing Director (2012-2013)
Internship experience:
Systems Intern at Essilor AMERA (Apr-Aug 2014), B2C Marketing & Relations Intern at Universum (Sept 2014 - Now)
Find me:

Why TSM South Korea?

What motivates you to join TSM?

"I hear and I forget. I see and I remember. I do and I understand."-Confucius

Although learning inside the seminar rooms/classrooms can be quite interesting, there is nothing more enriching than learning from the best people in the industries who really know about the real working world. I believe that TSM will allow me to experience the true meaning of learning outside the class and understanding from experience, knowing which solutions work best for the companies. It would be a great opportunity to broaden my perspective and give deep insight about Technopreneurship as well.

Also, with the rising number of start-ups in South Korea, I would like to see how the companies differentiate themselves. I would like to meet with the members of the companies and understand the challenges and difficulties they face and how innovation and development in technology can actually solve the problems.

Why pick South Korea?

South Korea is one of the driving forces in technology development in Asia. I have been using many applications developed by South Korean companies: I use Samsung smartphone, play games developed by Gamevil and Com2uS, use Line and Kakaotalk to chat, and browse using Naver. So far I have been fascinated by the great technology they have developed. I would like to see the country which has nurtured so many successful individuals, how different they are from us in Singapore and what I can learn from them and definitely to know what is their "X-factor".

On top of technology, I am also caught in Hallyu (Korean Wave) and have been learning the languages and the cultures. I have been learning how to apply makeup like Korean stars by following tutorials in the Internet which are done by popular ulzzang (a slang in Korean, which basically means "good-looking") and have been enjoying my experience so far. I have been in love with Japan for a long time and have visited the country before, but I have never been able to go to South Korea. I want to go and see the country which has been promoted with so many K-pop Stars and TV shows by myself and it definitely would be a rewarding and memorable experience :)

Internship Opportunities

What types of internship opportunities interest you?

I am quite open with working with any kind of company. On my previous internships, I worked with well-established companies and had great learning experience from there. However, it would be great if I can try working with new start-ups since I am thinking to eventually start a company. Either way, I would be able to learn more from them and contribute to the company with the knowledge I have.

As for the position, I would like to have IT-related position like Business Analyst, Back-end Developer, etc. It would be a good additional point if the position can also allow me to elevate the knowledge I have in Operations Management.

Any ideal firms (based in South Korea) that you wishes to join?

The logo of the South Korean companies I am interested in

For the IT-related companies, Samsung and Kakao are in my top list. Each of them have been successful in different ways. I have been a loyal Samsung smartphone users and the SmartTV also caught my attention. The company has been developing and innovating mobile technology and it would be a great privilege to be able to learn from them. KakaoTalk is widely used in South Korea and world-wide although the company is only founded in 2010. It would be interesting to see and learn how they enter the market and differentiate themselves from similar apps, like Whatsapp and Viber.

There is also a customer product company that interest me although their main focus is not technology, that is Amore Pacific. Amore Pacific's brands include Laneige, Etude House, and Innisfree (the later two are the brands I usually use). They have just launched the websites for online shopping for both Etude and Innisfree and I am surprised to see that their websites are really intuitive and well-developed. I would like to see and understand how they come out with such websites with great details and real-time updates.

Starting a Business

What types of business interest you?

• Technology-related (Software Development, Consulting, etc)
• Online shopping
• Gaming
• Arts & Literature
• Fashion & Make-up

What plan do you have in starting a business?

Currently, I don't have any business yet, but I have been thinking of starting one, probably in the area of providing technological solution to solve real-life, everyday problem. Some of the ideas that my friends and/or I have been thinking are listed below:

• RPG games to motivate people to exercise
  • This idea comes from my FYP team when we are trying to find a way to make people wanting to have a healthy lifestyle, but this idea was rejected because the scope is too big for FYP. Inspired by HabitRPG, we want to build a RPG game where leveling ups and rare items can only be acquired through exercising. There will be missions and daily challenges which the users have to complete to get extra points. Also, we think that it would be great if the character loses their agility and strength (visually, the character will become fatter) if the user doesn't exercise enough.
• Writing & Illustrations platform
  • I have accounts in FictionPress and FanFiction.net for my writings and DeviantArt and Pixiv for my drawings, but I find it difficult to have a platform where I can post both in the same websites. I have to post my drawing and link it to my writing accounts, which means I have to be moving back and forth between several sites. I have been thinking to provide a platform for people to come together to have collaborations between those who are good in writing and others who are good in drawing to create great stories with amazing illustrations.
• Dating sims games tailored to Singapore culture
  • Ever since a long time, my friends and I have been thinking to create a life simulation game which takes Singapore as the setting in the game. The idea comes about since we see a lot of Japanese and Korean dating sims and of course, the names, clothes, cultures, and everything else are based on their own country. We want to create a simple beta game which simulates the dating sims game in Singapore context to promote the culture of the country.

Although the ideas are there, I have not managed to make them come to life because I am unsure about how to start a business based on this idea. I hope to learn from TSM about how to start a company and how to differentiate ourselves from others.

Past Experience

Describe your past experience (entrepreneurship, or works in start ups etc)

I don't have much experience working in start ups, but since my parents started their own business in Indonesia, I have seen how they run their companies and learn how the manage their business. As a young child, under the guidance from my parents and in collaboration with my sister, I had also attempted to sell small items like gel pens, invisible inks, etc. which were popular in my primary school. Also, in my current internship, I was informed about how the founder started the company, which is to provide solutions for problems he observed while he was in college. The simple solution which he started small eventually became the core of his main business and the company improved it further with the aid of technology to transform data into useful information. For me, it is a learning point which inspires me to find a job in a start-up company for my upcoming summer break where I can learn well about starting a business and making my ideas into reality.

Credits

This page is largely inspired by Mohamed Safiullah's wiki page. Credits to the same person for the Facebook and LinkedIn logos.