Institut Teknologi Bandung

This symposium aims to disseminate knowledge regarding decision-making, making it more prominent as a discipline, especially in the level of strategic decision-making.

Chairman of the Event, Meditya Wasesa, Ph.D., and the Senate Chairman of SBM ITB, Henndy Ginting, S.Psi., M.Si., Psychologist formally began the event with a speech.

This event was then divided into two sessions, keynote and panel session. The keynote session invited various experts in the fields of academics, business, and government. Those including, Prof. Kijima from Tokyo Institute of Technology, Prof. Eric van Heck from the Information and Market Management from Rotterdam School of Management Erasmus University, Director of Operations and Digital Services of PT Pos Indonesia, Hariadi M.Sc, and Head of Data and Information Center for Development Planning of the Ministry of National Development Planning Dr. Agung Indrajit.

In the first keynote session, Prof. Kijima was presented as an expert in the field of system science and system modeling. During his presentation, he further explained the decision-making process which is currently becoming more complex as it contains 3 important aspects, one of them being the multi-attribute, which is the most uncertain condition that involves many stakeholders.

Not only that, Prof. Kijima also explained his vision on the role of information technology in the decision-making process. According to him, this may not only make us more rational with an analytical or mathematical approach but also more creative due to the deep search methods.

In the second session, the Director of Operations and Digital Services of PT Pos Indonesia, Hariadi, explained about decision-making based on practitioners' points of view, especially within large corporations. He discussed the decision-making process at Pos Indonesia which is currently facing the VUCA (Volatility, Uncertainly, Complexity, and Ambiguity) era.

This era can be described as a condition that changes so rapidly and is influenced by various factors that are difficult to predict and control.

He also said that as a leader, one needs to be equipped with decision-making competencies so they are able to face multidimensional challenges both globally and locally.

On the other hand, Prof. Eric van Heck stated that most companies maximize profits through research and teaching. In fact, when viewed through the "purpose and objective triangle", they also need to focus on human well-being as well as environmental compatibility.

"Likewise, with the government, they tends to over maximize gross domestic product, and they do not pay attention to the environment and human well-being. This is called a gap and as a decision maker, the gap needs to be minimized," he said.

He also wished to rebalance our goals and objectives through the 3Ps (equality between people, planet, and profit) as measured by the Genuine Progress Indicator (GPI).

Furthermore, Dr. Agung Indrajit said that decision-making cannot be done only by parties involved with the data, because they are not qualified to do so.

"Therefore, the collaboration between several parties such as data scientists, data engineers, data analysts, and decision-makers themselves are needed," he said.

In addition to that, Dr. Agung Indrajit also shared his philosophy of strategic decision-making, which possesses the ability to scan the environment for new phenomena and drivers of change and apply it appropriately to anticipate the evolution of change and uncertainty in the future.

At the end of the event, various panelists were also presented in a discussion. The panelists were academicians, practitioners, and government representatives. In the field of academics, attending panelists include Professor of Decision Making of SBM ITB Prof. Dr. Ir. Utomo Sarjono Putro, M.Eng., Professor of Operations and Supply Chain Management of SBM ITB Prof. Ir. Togar Mangihut Simatupang, M.Tech., Ph.D., as well as Professor of Agribusiness Universitas Padjajaran Prof. Dr. Tomy Perdana, SP., MM., CPLM., CSCM.

Simultaneously, practitioners from the business sector include CEO of MDI Ventures Singapore, Dr. Sandhy Widyasthana, PMP., CERG., and CEO of PT Mostrans Global Digilog, Dr. Berty Argiyatari. The governmental representative, namely the Head of the Governance Section of the Regional Secretariat of West Java Province, Purnomo Yustianto, is regarded by the Head of the West Java Organization Bureau Teten Ali Mulku Engkun, Ph.D.

The symposium wrapped up with a question and answer session with reference to the urgency of strategic decision-making associations in Indonesia. Through this symposium, an aspiration was formed, which helped pave the way for more collaboration in the future, in the hope that the impact can increase awareness of the importance of strategic decision-making science for the country’s development in various sectors: governmental, industrial, business, and education.

Reporter: Anggun Nindita
Translator: Kezia Hosana
Editor: Ayesha Lativa Mafaza (Postharvest Technology, 2021)