1.

Introduction

PROTON, a very well-known brand in Malaysia; is one of the countrys car manufacturer, that has manage to bring Malaysia in the eyes of the world, proving Malaysias capability in the automobile industry worldwide. Unleashing its first manufactured car Proton Saga in 1985 and now the brand has grown into success with the production of Malaysias first homegrown MPV Exora. Its main business includes vehicle engineering, research and development, manufacturing, distribution, sales and after-sales service (PROTON 2009 Annual Report, 2009, p. 18).

According to Todd (1989), PROTON, the name derives from Perusahaan Otomobil Nasional, which means National Automobile Enterprise. PROTON started out in 1983 under the directions of Malaysias former Prime Minister, Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad. By then, Malaysia was dreaming of jumping into the big league of industrial nations, by producing its own home-grown car Proton Saga. Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamed believes that Malaysia will be able to progress drastically, if the nations in South-east Asia, could buy into a series of industrial project. Therefore, he introduced PROTON, as the major steps to promote Malaysia into an industrialize nation. When the project was being announced, many critiques were laughing at the idea of producing a home-grown car. But, today, PROTON has proven its capabilities by successfully producing many home-grown cars such as Saga, Iswara, Wira, Satria, Perdana, Putra, Satria, Perdana, Satria GTi, Juara, Waja, Arena, Gen2, Savvy, Satria Neo, Persona and its newly launched MPV- Exora; PROTON is also well-known as the only full-fledged car manufacturer in Malaysia (PROTON 2009 Annual Report, 2009, p. 1). As stated in Protons Annual Report 2011 (2011, p. 4), the companys mission is to strive towards excellence in all aspects of Protons operations. The strategies that are used to achieve this, is mainly incorporated by the idea of promoting and protecting the health and safety of Proton employees and also to ensure that the environment is unharmed. In ensuring the long-term success, Proton develop a groups shared values as a foundation to work and conduct business, in which every Proton employees has to operate under and rely on as a guidance to their behaviour among each other, and also the working customers. The groups shared values are divided into 2, which are: (i) core ideology; and, (ii) core values.

The core ideology includes: (i) Audacious Goal

Driving Malaysias transformation into a leader in technology and quality. Vivid Description We deliver innovative and superior quality products and services. Our brands inspire confidence and pride. Purpose We are a passionate group of people working together, creating exhilarating products and services for global markets, synonymous with great styling, innovation and leading technology.

Core Values
Quality We make products that work the first time, every time. Customer Focus Customers are the source of our income. We deliver on our promises to our customers satisfaction. Innovation We challenge convention, always seeking new and better ways of doing things. We view change as opportunity. Teamwork We trust, respect and share knowledge to foster teamwork at the workplace. Speed We have a can-do attitude and will not rest until the problem is solved. We have an inherent sense of urgency in everything we do. Caring As a responsible corporate citizen, we invest in safety, health and the environment. Honesty We nurture ethically-minded organisations through personal discipline, values, self-control and policies that reinforce ethical behavior.

PROTON was incorporated on 7th May 1983, with 3 objectives that associates with the national policy; which are: (i) to spearhead the automotive industrialisation process and manufacturing industries; (ii) to acquire/upgrade technology and industrial skills within the automotive manufacturing industry; and, (iii) to strengthen the international competitiveness of Malaysias industrial capability (PROTON 2011 Annual Report, 2011, p. 14). The technology and expertise of PROTONs car manufacturing first came from Mitsubishi, where all PROTON s local parts were assembled by Mitsubishi. The aforementioned Japanese company had provided 70% of the capital in the form of Japaneses Yen loans. However, in turn, Mitsubishi took 30% over the equity. As experience growth and skills were

gained, PROTON is no more depending on Mitsubishi in assembling local parts although by then, most of PROTON cars were still following Mitsubishis model (Todd, 1989).

According to Todd (1989), Proton Saga was first launched in 1985; it was the first model of PROTON. During that era, Proton Saga was also called as Proton Harga, which means the cut-price Proton. This is because by then, PROTON car was at least cheaper by RM 1,000 as compared to many other cars in Malaysia. In the 80s, RM 1,000 is a lot of money. Thus, being cheaper at least RM 1,000 had gave PROTON a rapid hold on the market; and overtaken all other automobile by dominating until 73% of the car market by 1988.

In 1996, PROTON had managed to purchase Lotus technologies from ACBN Holdings, due to the successful sale of PROTON cars, not only in Malaysia but internationally too. This in turn gave proton a chance to expand its engineering and automotive expertise, which had led to the launching of Proton Ultimate in 2001 (Proton, n.d.).

In 2009, PROTON had launched its first home-grown MPV, Exora. According to Tan (2010), recently, in August 2010, PROTON had revealed its plan, looking forward to produce new car Proton EMAS, which is a three-door hatchback, hybrid with range extender of Lotus Omnivore. Proton EMAS will come with a turbocharged small engine of around 1.2 liters or lower of capacity, which is fuel efficient. Physically, Proton EMAS will look like a MINI EV or electric SMART, which looks practical and youthful.

The image of the Proton EMAS (First image of Lotus-badged EMAS global small car, 2010).

PROTON currently had managed to make its presence not only in the domestic market but also internationally. For example, ASEAN; China: Indian Subcontinent; Middle East to North Africa; United Kingdom to Western Europe; Australia; and South Africa.