http://www.fastcompany.com/3040112/superlatives-week/the-10-best-business-lessons-of-2014

These lessons in leadership aren't just worn-out self help advice: They're experiences lived by people who've wrestled with those questions and more, and are often still grappling with what works and what doesn't. Creative, conscious leadership often doesn't arrive at neat solutions, but keeps moving forward anyway.

1. TREAT HUMANS LIKE PEOPLE

From: "Netflix's Major HR Innovation: Treating Humans Like People"

A recurring theme this year was the balance of social good with successful entrepreneurship—two ideas that seem to sometimes be on opposing sides. Before tackling world peace, companies would fare well to simply treat their own employees kindly. Netflix’s HR practices—including welcoming recruiters instead of banning them—are a guide for any business looking for ways to treat their people as, well, people.

2. LET YOURSELF BE STUPID

From: "Spotify's Design Lead On Why Side Projects Should Be Stupid"

Could "let yourself be stupid" be the new "move fast and break things" mantra of 2015?Tobias van Schneider, Spotify’s design lead, believes in side hustles to take would-be entrepreneurs from cogs in someone else's machine to innovators in their own rights—but only if that step makes sense to them. "All of these doubts kick in, overcomplicate things, and kill projects that could have become something," says van Schneider. "When you’re focused on just taking that first step, or that next right step to keep things in motion, you won’t ask yourself all these questions."

COULD "LET YOURSELF BE STUPID" BE THE NEW "MOVE FAST AND BREAK THINGS" MANTRA OF 2015?

3. PROVE EVERYONE WRONG

From: "Meet The Woman Who Is Trying To Change The Credit Card Industry"

Another common thread this year: Women in leadership. Suneera Madhani’s founding of Fattmerchant embodies the spirit of strong leadership: When her ideas were ignored, she took matters into her own hands. "The owners of my last company—both male—told me it was a stupid idea; they did not want to support it," she said. "I went and did it on my own, and I'm 100% sure they regret that decision now."

4. FAMILY AND CAREER CAN PLAY NICE

From: "The Tech Company With The Radical Idea That Having A Baby Shouldn't Derail Your Career"

We’ve discussed family and career frequently this year: Is it possible to "have it all," or should one or the other take priority? At Palo Alto Software, CEO Sabrina Parsons lets those worlds intermingle. When the messiness of family life affects the buttoned-down office, it’s time to rethink policy. "I tell people, ‘Don’t give employees burritos, foosball, and kegs. You need to think about the real things that will matter to employees and give you access to talent you’re losing," she says.

5.THE BIG FISH ISN'T ALWAYS THE BEST FISH

From: "Why I Turned Down Apple For A Startup"

If Apple called you today with a job offer, how quickly would you clear your desk and book a flight to Cupertino? Joseph Pigato made a choice that seems crazy on the outside: He picked a small startup over the tech giant. Give what you’re doing everything you’ve got, before jumping to greener pastures, he advises. "When ‘work doesn’t seem like work,’ quality of life soars."

6.KEEP THE MESSAGE SIMPLE

From: "Facebook's Head Of Tech Communications Shares The Best PR Advice You've Never Heard"

Public relations can be a complicated, hectic industry. Caryn Marooney, head oftechnology communications for Facebook (and former PR agency cofounder), pares down branding and outreach rules into simple ideas. "If your message isn’t unbelievably simple, you’re missing the point," she says. Her look behind the scenes at Facebook culture is worth studying, as well.

7. SOLVE PROBLEMS CREATIVELY

From: "Pixar President Ed Catmull On How To Run A Creative Business"

Between the brainstorming sessions filled with laughter and "brain trusts" of perfectly assembled teams, Pixar’s an example of how to run an efficient, highly creative company—without losing the charm that started it. But it’s not achieved by magic. "All that anyone sees is the final product and there’s almost a romantic illusion about how you got there," Catmull says. "When we first put up something—these stories suck."

8. STAY CURIOUS, AND TRUE TO YOURSELF

From: "How Patagonia's New CEO Is Increasing Profits While Trying To Save The World"

Rose Marcario left a career in private equity to join Patagonia as CFO, and became CEO five years later, in 2013. She was drawn to the company when she realized something was missing from her career, an industry which had a "very one-sided view" on success: profit. "I don't think you can solve problems unless you're curious about them," Marcario says. "To me that's a natural quality that you’ve got to have—about business, your colleagues, challenges—it helps you be a better leader."

9. DON'T IGNORE THE EMOTIONAL SIDE

From: "Why Emotional Intelligence Is More Important To Hiring Than You Think"

At work, we tend to ignore the tough details of life outside of our roles. Emotions are hard to manage, in ourselves and especially in others. But if you’re planning to do any hiring this year, paying attention to emotional intelligence could save you from a turbulent year ahead.

10. ATTACK OPPORTUNITIES TO LEARN

From: "Lessons In Hyper Growth From The Man Who Scaled Engineering At Dropbox And Facebook"

Ideally, your company is taking off like you've never dreamed—or you're dreaming that it will some day. At some point, you'll have to scale, and assemble a larger team. Either way, engineer Aditya Agarwal has advice for you: Give people the opportunity to learn and jump into the business at the start, and they’ll become experts at their roles.

Fourth ASEAN Chief Justices’ Roundtable opens
 The fourth ASEAN Chief Justices’ Roundtable on the role of the judiciary in environmental protection opened on December 13^th in Hanoi by the Supreme People’s Court of Vietnam with the support of the Asian Development Bank (ADB).
This regional multilateral forum of ASEAN Chief Justices aims to confirm the role and the vision of judiciary in an effort of protecting environment. At this forum, chief justices and magistrates will share their experience, national and international laws on environmental protection and discuss effective measures to control challenges towards the environment.
Coast Guard Region 2 receives third-class Fatherland Defence Order
The Coast Guard Region2 on December 12^th held a ceremony in Nui Thanh district of Quang Na
m province to receive the third-class Fatherland Defence Orderanddecision to rename the region the Command of Coast Guard Region 2.
Special TV program “Glorious Uncle Ho’s Soldiers” aired
A special interactive TV program themed “Glorious Uncle Ho’s soldiers” was aired on December 12^th connecting 5 localities of Cao Bang, Hanoi, Quang Binh, Dong Nai and Ho Chi Minh City. As one of the activities to celebrate the 70^th founding anniversary of the Vietnam People’s Army (December 22^nd 1944 – December 22^nd2014) and the 25^th whole people’s national defense day (December 22^nd1989 – December 22^nd2014), the program deeply depicted the glorious missions of the heroic Vietnam People’s Army over the past 70 years.
PM demonstrates strong resolve to improve business environment
Viet Nam can absolutely improve its business environment by reforming administrative procedures, said PM Nguyen Tan Dung during his meeting with voters in Hai Phong.
In Vietnam, upstream forests chopped down as authorities deliberately deny responsibility
Special forests in a sanctuary in the central Vietnamese province of Quang Nam are home to gold mining and logging, but the local forest management unit denies responsibility for letting these activities run rampant.

A temple in Emperor Tu Duc’s Tomb complex. Photo: Bui Ngoc Long

Authorities in the central province of Thua Thien-Hue have approved a US$4.92-million project to renovate Emperor Tu Duc’s Tomb.

The five-year project will aim to renovate the temples, tombs and lakes in the tomb complex, according to the government website chinhphu.vn.

Funding for the project will come from the state budget and other “legal sources,” according to the local government.

The 19th century tomb of Emperor Tu Duc is situated in a narrow valley in Thuong Ba Village, Thuy Xuan Commune. It is one of the many historic spots that made the town of Hue and its citadel, palaces and tombs a UNESCO World Cultural Heritage Site in 1993.

Emperor Tu Duc reigned from 1848 to 1883 and had hundreds of wives, but no children.

Scientists now believe that a case of small pox left had rendered him sterile.

It took three years (1864-1867) to build his tomb, which is divided into a Temple Area and a Tomb Area, including a few small lakes.

Construction of the tomb demanded so much labor and extra taxation that the workers rebelled against in 1866.

Many died during the construction and rebellion, which was eventually put down.

Tu Duc later apologized for the pain his project caused and decreed that all 50 structures’ names feature the word Khiem (moderate or modest) as a reminder.

Although the monument is spectacular, it did not become Tu Duc’s final resting place, which remains unknown.

Several hundred workers who built Emperor Tu Duc’s real tomb were killed to prevent them from disclosing its whereabouts.

Since 1945, the tomb has been renovated several times, but several main features of the campus have fallen into disrepair.

Tham is likely to be named the second dollar billionaire in Vietnam

Tham is one of the top 10 richest people on Vietnam's stock market. After six years of establishment, Ocean Group has chartered capital of VND3 trillion, an increase of 300 times. A series of mergers and acquisitions have helped the Ocean Group to rapidly emerge as a leading conglomerate.

Tham is also Chairman of the Ocean Bank, Chairman of Ocean Hospitality, Chairman of Ocean Retail, a former member of the Board of Directors of the Vietnam Dairy Products Joint Stock Company (Vinamilk) and the VS Industry Vietnam.

Currently, the Ocean Group operates in various fields, from real estate to hospitality, finance and communications. In particular, real estate has been identified as the group’s strategic business with huge projects in Hanoi, Ho Chi Minh City, Nha Trang, Da Nang, Vinh, and Quang Ninh. Some well-known projects are VNT Tower Nguyen Trai, StarCity Le Van Luong, and StarCity Center.

In the field of hotel business, the group has Ocean Hospitality (with chartered capital of VND1 trillion), which owns the hotel and resort chain StarCity, and Sunrise of 4- and 5-star standard.

In the financial sector, the group has Ocean Securities with a charter capital of VND300 billion, and the Ocean Bank. In the media sector, it has the Ocean Media.

Currently, Ocean Group holds 20% stake in Ocean Bank, 75% of the shares of Ocean Hospitality, 75% stake of Ocean Securities and 50% stake of Ocean Media.

Ocean Hospitality owns 96.92% stake in Saigon Givral, 74% of the shares of IOC, 62% stake in Tan Viet JSC, 83% shares of Suoi Mo Tourism JSC. It and owns the most famous ice cream brand in Vietnam - Trang Tien.

( vietnam business times - people )

Contributing capital with software is a new method for Vietnamese enterprises. When applying this method, enterprises need to notice matters concerning the objects and subjects of capital contribution, procedures to contribute capital, etc., to avoid fines.

According to provisions of law, a software or computer program is a genre of work entitled to copyright protection, which may be used as an asset to contribute capital to a business or as a means of payment for shares purchased by enterprises.

Subjects of capital contribution

Organizations and individuals may use software or computer program to contribute capital to an enterprise from the early preparation stage for establishment or during its operation process if they satisfy the following conditions:

(i)    Organizations and individuals are not prohibited by law from contributing capital;

(ii)    Only individuals or organizations being the copyright owners of the software or computer program have the right to use those as assets for capital contribution. Copyright owner of the software or computer program may be the direct author; co-authors; organizations or individuals assigning or entering into contracts with the author; an assignee of copyright; or an heir. The determination of the copyright owners may be approved via Certificate of Copyright Registration or not.

Valuation of assets contributed as capital

As prescribed by law, during the establishment of an enterprise, assets contributed as capital, which are neither Vietnam Dong nor freely convertible foreign currency nor gold, must be evaluated by the enterprise’s members or founding shareholders following the principle of consensus or by a professional valuation organization.

If the assets contributed as capital are valued as higher than their actual value at the time of contribution, the members or founding shareholders will jointly be liable for debts and other asset obligations of the enterprise equivalent to the difference between the valuated and actual values of the contributed assets at the end of valuation.

The assets contributed as capital during the operation process will be valued based on the agreement between the enterprise and capital contributor or valued by a professional valuation organization. In case a professional valuation organization carries out the valuation, the value of the assets contributed as capital must be approved by the capital contributor and the enterprise. 

If the contributed assets are valued to be higher than their actual value at the time of contribution, the capital contributor or the valuation organization and the enterprise’s legal representative will jointly be liable for the debts and other asset obligations of the enterprise equivalent to the difference between the valuated and actual values of the contribute assets at the end of valuation.

Enterprises intentionally incorrectly valuating assets contributed as capital from their actual value shall be fined with VND25 million to VND30 million.

Procedures for capital contribution

According to the regulations of Law on Enterprise, organizations and individuals when contributing capital to an enterprise by software must also transfer the ownership of assets to such enterprise. Specifically, in the event where the software has been certified for protection registration, capital contributor must carry out the procedures to transfer the ownership of such asset to the enterprise at competent authorities.

In the case of software with non-registered copyright, capital contributions must be made by the delivery and receipt of contributed assets endorsed by a written record. The record on such delivery and receipt must consist of the following contents: information of the two parties, type and number of units of assets contributed as capital, the total value of contributed assets, and percentage of the total value of such assets in the charter capital of the enterprise, date of delivery and receipt, and signatures of the two parties.

Capital contributor must contribute capital or pay for the shares registered for purchase fully and punctually by the type of assets as committed. When full contribution of capital is made or when the number of shares registered for purchase is sufficiently paid for, enterprises must issue a certificate for contributed capital or shares or write the capital contributor’s name into the registration book of shareholders.

Enterprises fail to issue certificates for contributed capital or fail to properly make a registration book of shareholders as prescribed by law will be fined from 10 million to 15 million Vietnam dong and required to issue a certificate of contributed capital for members or to make a registration book of shareholders in accordance with law.

Furthermore, it is important to know that even after receiving the transferred ownership of software or computer program, enterprises are only the owner of asset rights (the rights to reproduce, distribute, or lease, etc.) and the right to publish or permit others to publish the software or computer program. However, enterprises are not entitled to name or to be the real owner of the software or computer program.

PLF – LAW FIRM

( vietnam business times ) Users Office applications in the future can manage and share files via the online storage service Dropbox, besides the traditional option OneDrive.