Copying of my ideas for Training Courses

robertteh SG

I have emailed many MPs, Spring and the Singapore HR Institute on my proposal to provide training courses on "OSP Call-Centre Management".

My proposal was turned down on some technicality like the agency no longer handles management or training courses.

I also informed them to read my ideas at my personal blogs www.managefranchise.blogspot.com and www.ospforohsopolite.blogspot.com and http://www.sgforums.com/?action=thread_display&thread_id=89831

I got a shock today (11.10.2006) to receive an email inviting me to enrol HRI's training courses at Hotel Pheonix on 31.10.2006 for a training course on "Managing Call Centre" making it look like it was HRI's own idea. Just read for yourself the following announcement:-

Managing Call Centres

31 October 2006 - Hotel Phoenix

Introduction

Organisations in Singapore are increasingly turning to the setting up of call-centre as an important part of their total customer relationship management. With the use of technologies and better management, call-centre are seen as an efficient way of reaching out to customers.

This is a sizable industry, with more than 300 call-centre occupying about 10,000 seats. Smaller call-centre are in fact experiencing more dramatic growth. Approximately 50% of the industry players believe that the industry will expand further, consequently, requiring new skill-sets to meet the increasing demand for their services.

This 1-day workshop covers key considerations for the setting up and managing of a call-centre or its agent. It is also designed with the purpose of providing participants with the tools and skills to bring their call-centre to the next stage of development. Hence, it is imperative that call-centre managers and supervisors possess the relevant skills in order to steer their centre in the right direction.

Click here for Trainer

I wonder if HRI has the right to use my ideas to provide their own "Call Centre Management" courses.

I wonder if I will be compensated for such plagiarism of my ideas and intellectual property under the Intellectual Property Act and regulations.

FireIce SG

so u wanna claim credit lah?

ShutterBug SG

Well I think you, of all people, should know better than to air your ideas to them.

They make the rules, sure as hell they can bend or break them without any qualms or penalties on themselves.

Besides, they're known to be very efficient Xerox machines.

<Precious> SG

Who copy whose?
They copy yours or you copy theirs? They oso copy mine wor.... den how?

No evidence cannot anyhow say this kind of things. Kena sued for defamation oso u dunno. Next time, u wan to play safe hor, register a copyright lor.......... Laughing

robertteh SG

I feel that whoever on HRI or anyone else who instructed the HRI to start such training course who have received my presentations on Call-Centre Management should have the basic courtesy not to use my ideas to start the call centre management training course.

weiqimun SG

it's very hard to proof the idea is yours....
what makes u think they have not thot of it and your suggestion prick their senses? Or the party that replies u dun know it's being copied?
unless u can copyright it and proof the IP value of what u have, yr words is as good as anyones....tough luck!

av98m SG

x 2 Laughing

Some budding entrepreneurs learnt this lesson the hard way when they approached organisations like edb for funding. Unless they did their homework and secured their IP (which they don't usually do partly because of the expense), their proposals would be rejected but later copied by the crooks.

robertteh SG

If call centre management was known to Human Resource Institute because someone has presented to HRI, before I did about three months ago, I agree that I have nothing to say should HRI conduct the course with the same name and content.

If after my presentation to HRI they should turn down my request to conduct training course on call centre management and later contacted someone else to study through my blogs and presentations, then the ideas were not theirs or of that someone who was commissioned to start the course using my ideas and presentations.

I feel that it was morally wrong for HRI to reject my application and get someone quickly to do a course after seeing my ideas which make the call-centre management highly practical and implementable as a very useful practical tool for human resource or enterprise hands-on management.

I am shocked that someone is now able to take over my researches and ground work and put together a system which was not started by them in the first place.

ShutterBug SG

Well Rob.,

With large and powerful bodies like them, I don't think being morally on track ranked high in their priorities.

I mean, unless you or I have the political or financial clout to strike back for any infringements on their part, we shouldn't assume they hold acceptable ethics in practice. Being NOBODIES that we are, unless we can safeguard our 'ideas' by way of patent, forget risking loss of Intellectual Properties by way of trust.

ANyway, our gov NEVER trusted us...

Rolling Eyes

Atobe SG

If you read some of CSJ's books written in the 1990s, you will see some of it being copied in the 2005 policies implemented, and in the more recent 2006 policy changes.

Copying is an unacknowledged compliment.

Piracy is forced deprivation of livelihood.

You will have to decide where you stand in between these two extremes, and then feel indignant.

scabstermooch SG

I haven't read your blog and the workshop webpage and I wun coz I can't be bothered, but just so you know, the law of copyright protects expression, not ideas.

So no, there is no copyright infringement here unless of course, eg you produced a manual or something and they copied the manual.

Rock^Star SG

Well, just be careful the next time.

Come to think of it, what's new? Bosses stealing their manager's ideas, then manager's stealing their staff's ideas. The whole world does it.

Singapore was built from scratch by many old guard ministers but who gets the most credit? Fill in below.

---------------------------

Who started Creative and made it successful but was it solely due to him?

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NTUC has the one of the largest insurance market share here but who sat at the helm for 30 years and takes all credit for its success?

---------------------------

robertteh SG

I suppose you are right - society has changed. It is no longer a shame for a public body like HRI to make promises to work together and then after getting all the ideas revealed decided to offer their own training courses on call centre management. That is truly the compliment of flattery.

I am still at a loss why HRI has to resort to such high-handed method of conducting their own training courses on call centre management.

oxford mushroom SG

When you made your suggestions to various organizations, what was the basis of the disclosure? If you have published your ideas in blog pages, they are in the public domain. Anyone can use them as they see fit.

robertteh SG

I have reserved my intellectual property rights in those blogs by stating that interested parties need to use my system with a licence from the author.

In any event, the system was published in my book : "Objective-Steps Processing Management System" so it was a copyright protected under international conventions and the Copyright Act.

scabstermooch SG

You can say what you want but that doesn't mean squat. As I said, copyright law protects expression of ideas but not the ideas themselves.

robertteh SG

Correction: The training course “Call Centre Management” was provided by HR Singapore Pte Ltd which I have just come to understand was not part of Singapore Human Resource Institute. Inconvenience regretted.

oxford mushroom SG

Just hope they don't sue you for defamation.

robertteh SG

I have written to all relevant parties to make a correction and apologize for an error made in mistaking HR Singapore Pte Ltd for SHRI. So I hope they will understand that there is no intention to defame anyone.