Casting her net into the global market
Suppamas Sawatyanon, who will join the MBA Class of '11 in the fall, has a plan: to take the business her great-grandfather started and make it a leader in the global market. Her plan got a jump start as a result of her receiving a scholarship from the Peter and Alice von Loesecke Scholarship Foundation.The Peter and Alice von Loesecke Scholarship is awarded to a candidate who desires to return to their home country immediately after graduation to build a business or to continue operating a family business in their country of citizenship.
Forty years ago, her great-grandfather, a Chinese immigrant to Thailand, formed Siam Brothers Group, the first manufacturer of polyethylene rope in that country. He tore out the filaments from used ropes discarded after World War II, and manually made stronger ropes to sell.
Fishing nets, Siam Brothers Group main product, are being manufactured today using out-of-date technology that requires the support of a large workforce. Sawatyanon's business plan is to improve organizational management and employee training, expand target market, and relocate production.
Sawatyanon says "My business plan is not only to maintain my family company's survival but to lead it to be one of the leaders in global market."
Having heard the stories of how her father and grandfather struggled without a college education to maintain the company, Sawatyanon looks forward to using what she's learns at W&M Mason School of Business to create her own legacy.
For more information on the The Peter and Alice von Loesecke Scholarship Foundation, visit http://thembatour.com/common/scholarship.shtml.
