Various studies show that humans always want to help others. The means to help others do not always require money. What is most important is the willingness of time and desire. As long as these two things are present, any effort will proceed.
“As long as there is a desire to help, the program can continue. Many studies show that humans have the desire to help others,” said Dr. Rimawan Pradiptyo, a lecturer at the UGM Faculty of Economics and Business (FEB UGM), in a discussion at the Global Summer Camp (GSW) at FEB UGM on Wednesday (Jul. 17).
Dr. Pradiptyo shared his experience building various community groups in Yogyakarta through the WhatsApp messaging application to address social issues. He explained about the Sonjo community, which stands for Sambatan Jogja. Initially, Sonjo was a humanitarian movement to mitigate the impacts of COVID-19 in Yogyakarta.
The community has since grown and aims to help many people in Yogyakarta during difficult and critical times.
“Sonjo now has over 2300 members and 30 WhatsApp groups. Many people can help each other in health and economic matters without ever meeting in person,” he said.
Dr. Pradiptyo explained that Sonjo assisted with waste management issues around Yogyakarta in July 2023.
“How do we collaborate with people we’ve never met before?” he added.
The summer course program, a collaboration between Universitas Gadjah Mada, Nanyang University of Technology in Singapore, and the University of Groningen, also featured speakers like Dr. Jonathan from the University of Wollongong, who discussed “A Supply-Chain Lens of Social Problems” and Dr. Luluk Lusiantoro from the Management Department at FEB UGM, who presented “Internationalization for Social Enterprises.”
Dr. Lusiantoro explained the importance of internationalization in social enterprises. He detailed the necessary strategies, values, and benefits of products and what differentiates them from competitors’ products. According to him, these values can be discovered by solving social problems.
“The greater the benefits offered, the greater the value is,” he explained.
Dr. Lusiantoro noted that a company needs internationalization to find bigger opportunities and resources despite the larger risks that might be encountered. He stated that internationalization is not just about participating in exports but also about becoming part of the global supply chain network from the outset.
“All of this must be supported by fairness, asymmetric information, and the significant role of digitalization in internationalization,” Dr. Lusiantoro concluded.
Author: Leony
Editor: Gusti Grehenson