English report

SCHOOL OF ARCHITECTURE, BUILDING AND DESIGN
FOUNDATION IN NATURAL BUILD ENVIRONMENT
PRESENTATION TITLE:
GROUP MEMBERS:
Names Presentation Roles
ENGLISH 2 (ELG 30605)
LECTURER: CASSANDRA WIJESURIA
SUBMISSION & PRESENTATION DATE:

CONTENT
1. RESEARCH PROPOSAL
1.1. INTRODUCTION
2. KEY SUMMARY
2.1. LOCATION
2.2. THE GROUP
2.3. THE TOPIC
2.4. RESEARCH QUESTION
2.5. METHODOLOGY
3. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE BUSINESSES
3.1. HERBAL INDUSTRY
3.2. ZHONG HUA HERBAL SHOP
3.3. BAO JIAN HERBAL SHOP
4. TRANSCRIPT
4.2. KH HERBAL SHOP
5. RECOMMENDATIONS
5.2. KH HERBAL SHOP
6. COMPARATIVE ANALYSIS
6.1. COMPARATIVE ESSAY
6.2. COMPARATIVE TABLE
7. APPENDICES
7.1. MEETING MINUTES
7.2. SHOP DETAILS
8. BIBLIOGRAPHY
9. REFERENCES

INTRODUCTION
The report we will study, compare and analysis 2 businesses of the same industry
but located in different regions of Malaysia.
The industry chosen for this research is herbal industry. We chose this industry of
all possible option because we as human found ourselves have to be concern of our health
in order to have subsequent achievement in our life. We eventually limited our research
to 2 herbal shop in Malaysia, first is the Zhong Hua Shop which is located at Taman Ros,
Teluk Intan, while the other one is Bao Jian herbal shop which located at OUG, Kuala
Lumpur. Going through the 2 businesses, we found that the shop that is run at Teluk Intan
is more stable than the other shop in Kuala Lumpur, most probably because of its worker
attitude and technique in running the business.

KEY SUMMARY
2.1 Location
We carry out our research at 2 different states. The first research was carried out in Teluk
Intan. This state consist of many industry such as food, palm oil industry etc. But the
food industry is probably by far the most famous industry here but the herbal industry
stood strong in Teluk Intan through centuries as it focuses on customers’ needs. The 2nd
research was carry out in Klang valley. OUG, Kuala Lumpur is the home for most of us
and it is highly populated by the Chinese.
2.2 The Group
Our group consists of seven members
- Eng Shi Yi
- Tan Jo Lynn
- Tan Yincy
- Tan Wei Zhen
- Lai Tze Xiuan
- Khairul Jefri
- Ruben Hoo
2.3 The Topic
The 2 businesses that we decided to do comparison on are the Zhong Hua herbal shop in
Teluk Intan and Bao Jian herbal shop in Kuala Lumpur. This 2 shop have been in the
herbal industry for more than 20 years. But they both are very different in term of the
employee attitude and services, advertisement method, etc.

2.4 Research Questions
1. What is your name?
2. Who is the founder of this business?
3. When did you start you business?
4. What inspire you to start the business / what is your history of your business?
5. What are the main products being sold here?
6. How many branches do you have?
7. How many workers do you have?
8. What is estimation number of customer that visited your shop daily?
9. What is the obstacles phase when you first started your business?
10. How did you overcome those obstacles?
11. What is the strength of your business?
12. What is the weakness of your business (if any)?
13. What are you biggest trait or competition?
14. What strategy do you use to compete with your competitor?
15. Who is your main target market?
16. Where do you see your business in ten years?
17. Do you wish to extend your business maybe to the international market?
18. What are you hope for this business?

2.5 Methodology
2.5.1 The Interview
The interview was carried out during our trip to Teluk Intan. We were given time to carry
out our time interview for 2 days 1 night staying there. We visited the Zhong Hua Herbal
shop at Taman Ros, Teluk Intan and met the owner, Mr. Phoon Kam Yao. We started off
by asking him general question about the shop while taping the interview. He then gave
us a tour and introduced us variety of herb and briefly description of his shop. He also
gave us his name card. The second interview was carried out during the next day. We
went to Bao Jian herbal shop in OUG, Kuala Lumpur. The employee at the shop was not
friendly and did not seem to welcome us. Thus, we were not allowed to take picture and
interview the founder of the shop.
2.5.2 References
Beside on site interview, we also look up on the Internet for references. Both the herbal
shops do not have proper website. Hence, we had to get information from residence
around the area.
2.5.3 Meetings
We have conducted a few meeting before going for interviews. This is to ensure that all
task were distributed fairly to all group members. We also kept in touch through
Whatapps, Facebook and face-to-face meeting to make sure everyone was on track.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE INDUSTRY
3.1 Description of the herbal industry
In the herbal industry of Malaysia, herbs are usually traded through entre port but
Malaysia also involves in the supply of herbal raw materials or herbal product businesses.
For the herbal entre port trade, the herbal raw materials or herbal products that are
imported from other countries are repacked into new products for sale in local or in third
world countries. There are many local suppliers of herbal raw materials or herbal
products export their merchandise on order. Malaysia has an estimate of about 1300 plant
species that can be used in medicine, there are about 200 plant species are used as herbal
remedies and about 50 plant species are mostly used in traditional medicine preparations.
Malaysia usually supplies its’ herbal products to some countries such as, the United
States, Europe, Japan, China and the Middle East countries. There are low-cost suppliers
such as China and India pose serious problem of profitability to the Malaysian herbal
traders when trading internationally due to competitive pricing. Most Europe countries
constitute a large segment of the herbal industry market while Japan and the United
States are trailing behind the Europe countries. Eastern Europe countries and China may
influence the supply demand of herbal materials in the industry market due to their
pursuit for hard currency.

3.1 Zhong Hua Herbal and Medicine
Zhong Hua Herbal and Medicine was founded by Mr. Phoon Kam Yao in year
1986. The business is about twenty-eight years until today and it is located at Teluk Intan,
Perak. The main income of the business is by selling herbs and giving health
consultancies. The current owner of the business is still Mr. Phoon Kam Yao, he was
graduated as a medical practitioner and he was interested in the herbs and medicines,
therefore he planned to start an herbal business. According to Mr. Phoon, there are two
other herbal shops nearby which are the biggest competitors for his business.
Mr. Phoon was inspired by the interest towards the herbs and medicine. He began
with a plan of locating his store at a row of shop lots in front of a housing area; this is to
provide a convenient environment to the residences and eventually increases his rate of
customers. The business currently only has a store and the owner does not plan to open
branches and extend the business to other countries as he is still searching for a suitable
employee to inherit his business.

3.2 Bao Jian Herbal Shop
Bao Jian Herbal Shop was founded by Mr. Liu Shi Rong in year 1984. It is
located at the Overseas Union Garden (OUG), Kuala Lumpur. The business was started
thirty years ago and it is still operating and giving services to the customers today. The
business earned its highest income by selling the herbs and groceries. Mr. Liu is a
businessman, so he planned to start this business only for business purpose. There are few
herbal shops together with a new herbal shop might be the potential competitors for Bao
Jian Herbal shop.
Mr. Liu began the business all by himself and today the business had evolved and
he had employed few employees to look after the shop. The shop is located in a row of
shop lots opposite a food court due to the activity of the crowd near the food court that
acts as an advertisement for his store. The business also has few branches around the
peninsular Malaysia but Mr. Liu does not plan to extend his business to other countries.

TRANSCRIPT
4.1 Zhong Hua Herbal and Medicine Shop
1. What’s your name?
Phoon Kam Yau
I am the founder of this shop.
3. When did you start the business?
I started off this business around 22 years ago. Either 1986 or 1987, I can’t really
remember.
4. What inspired you to start the business?
I am interested in Chinese traditional medical since young age. Thus, I started this
business after graduation. And of course, I didn’t have enough money at that time,
my parents help me financially.
5. What are the main products or services being sold here?
We selling Chinese medicines, Chinese herbs and also my medical skill.
I don’t have any other branches.
2 workers
8. What is the estimation number of customers that visit your shop daily?
I am not very sure, but I think around 100.
9. What is the obstacle phase when you first started your business?
When I first started my business, I do not have enough confident, low self-esteem.
The main obstacle is I do not have regular customers.
10. How did you overcome these obstacles?
I treated my customer with honesty. I don’t lie to my customers. It takes time to
let your customers trust you too.
My medical skill.

No
13. What is your biggest trait or competitor?
Other Chinese medicine shops in this district.
14. What strategy do you use to compete with your competitors?
Don’t have any special strategy. As long as your pricing is reasonable, but most
important you have to treat you customers with honesty, do not lie to them.
Everyone
I hope that my children willing to overtake my business, and extend the business.
17. Do you wish to extend your business to the international market?
It is very hard to do so in Malaysia.
18. What you hope for this business?
I hope that all my patients who visited could feel better and recover as soon as
possible and the feeling of satisfy.

4.2 KH Herbal Shop
1. What’s your name?
-
My employer, Liu Shi Rong
3. When did he start the business?
He started off his business around 20 years ago.
4. What inspired him to start the business?
The main purpose of starting off a business is to earn money, so if the business is
profitable, then it is good.
5. What are the main products or services being sold here?
The main products are all the medicines and herbs.
No, but other partners have their own shops and branches.
10 workers
8. What is the estimation number of customers that visit your shop daily?
I am not very sure, but I think around 100.
9. What is the obstacle phase when you first started your business?
Customer. Customer is the biggest problem.
10. How did you overcome these obstacles?
Promotion.
Nothing special, but maybe our service is better.
No
13. What is your biggest trait or competitor?
Chinese medicine shop, for example Hua Lian and Bao Jian.

14. What strategy do you use to compete with your competitors?
Good service, reasonable pricing and provide a wider range of product.
Housewives.
He doesn’t have any plan.
17. Do you wish to extend your business to the international market?
No.
18. What is his hope for this business?
To extend his business.

RECOMMENDATIONS
Based on the analysis of the interview we have conducted previously, we conclude that
Zhong Hua herbal shop has a higher amount of customers compared to xxx herbal shop.
Although xxx herbal shop is located in a more populated area and had a reputable rating
among the residence nearby, the amount of their customers are constrained due to the
limited amount of space in their shop to enable the customers to move around. Besides
that, their workers’ attitudes also degraded their quality of customer services. Therefore,
below are some recommendations for both the herbal shops to improve their business.

5.1 Zhong Hua Herbal Shop
Still standing strong at 50 years old, Zhong Hua herbal shop had braced itself against
modern medical competitors and stand strong among them. To further enhance the
business, Zhong Hua should consider strengthening their brand. Tactics should include
advertise through face-to-face communication around Teluk Intan. This is to allow locals
and tourists to be aware of then significance of their herbal shop. Furthermore, they
should also improve and market the advantages of their varieties of herbals. The next step
is to consider opening their second and third branch on the southern side of the state and
slowly across Malaysia.
5.2 KH Herbal Shop
As KH herbal shop is located in the heart of population spot, they should seize the
opportunity to market xxx herbal shop as a trustworthy and reliable traditional herbal
shop in Kuala Lumpur. But first and foremost, they should improve the attitudes of the
workers in the shop. They did not seem to be passionate about their work and they do not
show appreciation to the customers. As a visitor to the shop, I felt unwelcomed by them
and I definitely would not like to visit the shop again due to their manners. Beside that,
they should improve the arrangement of the units in the shop. There is a very limited
amount of space to allow the customers to move around.

COMPARAITVE ANALYSIS
6.1 Comparative Analysis of The Two Businesses
As already been said, my group members and I interviewed two businesses
from different locations of Malaysia. The first businesses, which had already been
here for 22 years, is the Zhong Hua herbal shop in Taman Ros, Teluk Intan and our
interviewee was Phoon Kam Yau, who was the founder of Zhong Hua herbal shop.
The second businesses, which started 20 years ago, is xxxx herbal shop in Overseas
Union Garden (OUG), Kuala Lumpur and our interviewee was a employee of the
shop. He did not want to tell us his name but we knew that the founder of this shop
is Mr. Liu Shi Rong. Studying these two businesses, similarities as well as differences
were observed.
Both businesses main products are medicine, treat patient and herbal.
However, their main targets of consumers are different. The main targets of Zhong
Hua herbal shop is people from all ages while the main targets of xxx herbal shop
father and daughter. This is the reason why there are differences in numbers of
consumers between these 2 businesses. More than 100 consumers visited Zhong
Hua herbal shop daily while there are only 50 to100 consumers visited xxxx herbal
shops daily.
The two businesses started for different purpose. For the Zhong Hua herbal
shop the business was started to apply his study and treat people away from
disease. According to Mr. Phoon, he travels a lot of place to help people in trouble
and give them treatment after he finished his education. He began his businesses
with a intention of helping others and wish them live healthily. On the other hand
the owner of the xxx herbal shop are realistic. He started this business just want to
earn money.

Like any other businesses, these two also faced some challenging obstacles
that prevent that from being on the required track. However it is not as bad for
Zhong hua herbal shop in Taman Ros, Teluk Intan. Zhong Hua herbal shop has some
difficulties of having regular customer. This causes the owner to lose confident of his
business. Even though there are difficulties, the owner himself believes that this is a
part of the success. So he decided to take it slowly and treat every consumer
honestly and friendly. He just hopes there is someone to take over the business. On
the other hand, xxx herbal shop in Overseas Union Garden (OUG), Kuala Lumpur
also having difficulties but mainly is because of the consumers. Consumers do not
like the attitude of the employee even though they gave attentive and quick service.
The employee does not smile and treat the consumers’ friendly, and this cause all
the consumers does not want to come again.
Along with the challenges come the competitors, Zhong Hua herbal shop has
one main competitor, which is the Ren An herbal shop. Ren An herbal shop have
been around for 20-30 years and the owner himself knew a lot of people around
that district. On the onther hand, xxx herbal shop is located in business area, so
there are a lot of competitors. The main competitors are Hua Lian herbal shop and
Bao Jian herbal shop. Both of the shop are way bigger than xxx herbal shop so it
hard to get business.
To conclude based on our observation of the two businesses, Zhong Hua
herbal shop at Teluk Intan is more commercially stable than the xxx herbal shop
that is located in Overseas Union Garden (OUG), Kuala Lumpur. Mostly because they
have provide better quality of services and people attract to it. Unlikely xxx herbal
shop, they are more realistic. All they care is profit not the consumers

6.2 Comparative Table
ITEM ZHONG HUA HERBAL
SHOP
BAO JIAN HERBAL SHOP
NUMBER OF
COMPETITORS
There is one main competitor,
who is Ren An herbal shop.
There are two main
competitors, who are Hua
Lian herbal shop and Bao Jian
herbal shop.
BRIEF DESCRIPTIONS OF
COMPETITORS
Ren An herbal shop
- Another traditional herbal
shop around the same area
- Sell almost same variety
of herbal
- Also sell other daily need
product
Hua Lian herbal shop
- Another traditional herbal
shop around the same area
- Sell almost same variety
of herbal
STRATEGIES TO
COMPETE WITH
COMPETITORS
Pricing
Reasonable and affordable Reasonable and affordable
Advertisement
Face-to-face Communication Face-to-face Communication
Quality of service
Friendly and attentive, always
serving with smiles.
Attentive and quick service
but the attitude of the
employee to the customer is
terrible
Atmosphere
Good ventilation and space is
not limited.
Crowded, hot and humid due
to limited space and poor
ventilation
WHAT ARE THE
OBSTACLES FACED BY
NEW BUSINESS?
One of the obstacles faced by the new business that wishes to
enter the markets today is human resources. As for now, it is
hard for a new business to build up a string human resource
management in a short phase, as a lengthy time is needed to
train the new workers. Besides that, the current market is quite
subjugated, as there is quite an amount of similar business in
the society. Thus, make it more challenging to start off a new
business in this industry. Nevertheless, these difficulties can be

overcome if the newcomers are willing to work hard and think
innovatively.
NATURE OF MARKET Both herbal shops are in Perfectly Competitive market.
- The shops are selling same products, which is variety of
herbal, both has relatively small market share that could not set
any significant changes in the market price and that consumers
could not get a exact data about the product and prices offered
by the workers as all data are considered business secret.

ZHONG HUA HERBAL
SHOP
SIMILARITIES HERBAL SHOP
Herbal and chinese medicine Main products sold Herbal and chinese medicine
Local Workers Local
No intention to expand to
international market
Future plan No intention to expand to
international market
Provide services with
honesty
Strategy Provide services

Zhong Hua Herbal Shop Differences Bao Jian Herbal Shop
Mr. Phoon Kam Yau
established Zhong Hua in the
year of 1986. He started off
this business 22 years ago
supported by his parents.
Founder and history Established in the year of 1984
by Mr. Liu Shi Rong. He
started off this business just
wanted to earn money.
Zhong Hua herbal shop is
located in a double storey
building at Taman Ros,Teluk
Intan right next to the oldest
shop,Seng Huat.
Location Is located at Overseas Union
Garden (OUG), Kuala
Lumpur.
Only one main branch Number of branches 5 around Kuala Lumpur
Medicine, treatment, and
groceries
Types of product sold Medicine and herbal
9AM -8.30PM Business hour 9AM-10.30PM
Handle by the owner himself
only, hoping for someone to
take over the business
Business operation Handle by the owner himself
and other employee.
Around 100 customers daily Number of customer Around 50 to 100 customers
daily
People from all ages Targeted market Father and daughter

APPENDICES
Appendix 1: Minutes Meeting
Date: 14th November 2014 Time: 1300hr-1500hr Venue: Taylor’s Lakeside Campus
MEETING CALLED BY: Eng Shi Yi
NOTE TAKER: Tan Wei Zhen
TIMEKEEPER: Lai Tze Xiuan
ATTENDANCE:
Eng Shi Yi, Tan Wei Zhen, Lai Tze Xiuan,
Tan Jo Lynn, Khairul Jefri, Tan Yincy
2-HOUR CHOICE OF BUSINESS
Discussion:
1. Discussed about the types of business that we would like to do research on.
2. Searched the Internet to find more about the business, which has been operating for
10 to 15 years in Klang Valley and out of Klang Valley.
Conclussions:
1. Traditional herbal shops were chosen because both areas, Teluk Intan and Kuala
Lumpur, are highly populated with Chinese people who usually head for herbal shops
when they feel uncomfortable or feel sick.

Date: 21st November 2014 Time: 1300hr-1400hr Venue: Taylor’s Lakeside Campus
MEETING CALLED BY: Tan Jo Lynn
NOTE TAKEN: Khairul Jefri
TIMEKEEPER: Tan Yincy
ATTENDANCE:
Tan Jo Lynn, Khairul Jefri, Tan Yincy,
Eng Shi Yi, Tan Wei Zhen, Lai Tze Xiuan
1-HOUR DISCUSSION OF QUESTIONAIRES
Discussion:
1. Discussed about the interview questions about the business in Teluk Intan and
Klang Valley.
Conclusion:
1. Questions on history, founder, marketing strategies, branches of business,
challenges of business, scale of business and future plans of the shops.
2. Based on the sample questions provided by Miss Cassie, we further developed a
few more questions in order to have a more holistic approach about the business.

Date: 25th November 2014 Time: 1200hr-1500hr Venue: Taylor’s Lakeside Campus
MEETING CALED BY: Eng Shi Yi
NOTE TAKEN: Tan Wei Zhen
TIMEKEEPER: Khairul Jefri
ATTENDANCE:
Eng Shi Yi, Tan Wei Zhen, Khairul Jefri,
Tan Jo Lynn, Lai Tze Xiuan, Tan Yincy,
Ruben Hoo
2-HOURS DISTRIBUTION OF TASKS AND COMPILATION
Discussion:
1. Sort, analyze and interpret all the information, videos, photos and notes.
2. Distribute the teaks among members and compile the works via email after
completion of individual work.
Conclusion:
1. Tasks are divided equally to each member and compiled the report.

REFERENCES:
Globinmed. Malaysian Herbal Export Market Overview. Retrieved 2nd December 2014
from,
http://www.globinmed.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=81081:ma
laysian-herbal-export-market-overview&catid=45&Itemid=137

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