Winners of Stevie Awards in The 11th Annual International Business Awards, the world's top honors for achievement in the workplace, will be celebrated and presented their prizes during a glittering banquet on Friday, October 10 at the Westin Paris – Vendôme Hotel in France.  Close to 400 executives from over 30 nations will attend.

The event will sell out.  Only 50 tickets remain, and by this time next week they will be sold.  Purchase your tickets now by first logging into your IBA entry submission account.

Here is a list of the organizations that have already purchased their tickets for the October 10 banquet.

ABS-CBN Corporation Quezon City Philippines
ADCO
Agency for Defense Development
Akbati Shopping Mall Istanbul Turkey
American Medical Response
Anadolu Efes Istanbul Turkey
ASDA'A Burson-Marsteller Dubai United Arab Emirates
ASTRO MALAYSIA HOLDINGS BERHAD
Azercell Telecom LLC Baku Azerbaijan
boogy the event company
Çalik Enerji Ankara Turkey
Cathay Century Insurance
Cisco Systems Inc. San Jose CA U.S.A.
City Health Care Partnership CIC Hull United Kingdom
DenizBank A.S. Istanbul Turkey
Designated Editor Newport RI USA
DHL Express Egypt Cairo
Diamantis Masoutis S.A. Thessaloniki Greece
Doha Bank
Domino's Pizza Istanbul Turkey
Dubai Electricity and Water Authority Dubai United Arab Emirates
ECOPAINT ANGOLA LDA Angola
Egyptian Steel
Entrepreneurial Business School
Eriksen Translations Inc.
FeatureCraft (FC Bilisim Iletisim LTD) Istanbul Turkey
Flytxt Dubai United Arab Emirates
Foresight Corporate Communications Inc. Toronto ON Canada
Freelancer.com
Garanti Pension and Life Istanbul Turkey
GetResponse Wilmington DE USA
Good Relations London United Kingdom
Graebel Companies Inc.
Grupo Máquina PR São Paulo Brazil
GSD® United Kingdom
HANAROADCOM
Hanwoo Board
HAVELSAN INC. Ankara Turkey
HomeAway Inc; Austin TX USA
Hooper Consulting
HR.com Aurora Ontario Canada
HRsmart Paris France
Hyundai Steel
iFinance Canada Canada
inVNT
iPai Shanghai China
ITOPF Limited London England
Jo Su Hee Photo Exhibition
Josiethomson.com Brisbane Australia
Kanyon/Istanbul Turkey
KEPCO KDN
KEPCO Nuclear Fuel Company(KNF)
Kim Hung Ki Mentor Team
Korea Student Aid Foundation
Korea Energy Management Corporation
Korea Gas Safety Corporation
Kosovo Energy Distribution and Supply Company
Land Department of Dubai Dubai United Arab Emirates
Lotte Department Store
Maras Group Adelaide SA Australia
Market Edge Limited Dhaka Bangladesh
MetaMoJi Corporation Tokyo Japan
Millward Brown London United Kingdom
MindZet Kolding Denmark
Ministry of Interiors Dubai United Arab Emirates
Movitel, SA
NATEL EMS Los Angeles CA USA
NNG LLC. Budapest Hungary
Nongshim Communications
Nord Stream AG Zug Switzerland
NU SKIN KOREA
Octavian Security Nottingham United Kingdom
Odea Bank A.S. Istanbul Turkey
Office of the Police Attaché United Arab Emirates Embassy London United Kingdom
Oi Rio de Janeiro Rio de Janeiro Brazil
OMSAN Logistics Istanbul Turkey
Ooredoo Group Doha Qatar
Opet Petrolculuk Istanbul Turkey
other
Oxagile LLC New York NY USA
Oxford City Football Club Lake Worth FL USA
Pathways Community Interest Company Crewe United Kingdom
Pepsi-Cola Products Philippines Inc. Muntinlupa City Philippines
Portugal Telecom Lisbon Portugal
PS Communication Denmark ltd
PT. Telekomunikasi Indonesia Tbk Jakarta Indonesia
Quality Systems Inc. Irvine CA USA
Ryan LLC Dallas TX USA
sahibinden.com
Scale Focus AD Sofia Bulgaria
ShoreTel Australia
SK hynix
Soohyun
Strategic Public Relations Group Hong Kong
Synergy Hill+Knowlton Strategies Seoul Korea
TATA Consultancy Services Ltd
TELUS Communications Edmonton AB Canada
Teradata Corporation Dayton OH USA
Theresa Bradley-Banta Real Estate Consultancy Denver CO USA
Tmob Mobile Technology Istanbul Turkey
TRACCS
TranslateMedia London United Kingdom
TTNET Istanbul Turkey
Türkiye Garanti Bankasi A.S. Istanbul Turkey
Türkiye Is Bankasi A.S. Istanbul Turkey
Uijeongbu City
Unite Communications Ortakoy Istanbul
Velie Law Firm Norman OK USA
Viettel Group
Viettel Timor Leste Unipessoal
Vipnet Zagreb Croatia
Virtual Piggy Inc. Hermosa Beach CA USA
Virtusa Corporation Westborough MA USA
Vodafone Istanbul Turkey
Weber Shandwick

      Business Awards Program to Celebrate Excellence Worldwide at Paris Event

High-achieving organizations and executives around the world have been announced as Gold, Silver and Bronze Stevie® Award winners in The 11th Annual International Business Awards, the world's only international, all-encompassing business awards program.

Nicknamed the Stevies from the Greek word "crowned," the awards will be presented at a gala event on Friday, 10 October at the Westin Vendôme Hotel in Paris, France. Tickets for the event are on sale now at www.StevieAwards.com/IBA. 

Gold, Silver and Bronze Stevie winners were selected from more than 3,500 nominations received from organizations and individuals in more than 60 nations. All organizations worldwide are eligible to compete in The International Business Awards, and can submit entries in a wide range of categories, including management awards, company of the year awards, marketing awards, public relations awards, customer service awards, human resources awards, new product awards, IT awards, web site awards, and more.  

More than 250 executives worldwide participated in the judging process this year.

The top Gold Stevies winners this year are Weber Shandwick, worldwide, with eight, and Quality Systems, Inc. (USA) with seven. Accenture (USA), Akbank (Turkey), LLORENTE Y CUENCA (Spain), MSLGROUP worldwide, MWW Group (USA), and Plasenta Conversation Agency (Turkey) are winners of five Golds each. Winners of four Gold Stevies are AT&T (USA), CallidusCloud (USA), Jack Morton Worldwide, Maras Group (Australia), and Oxford City Football Club (USA). 

Among the winners of three Gold Stevie Awards are Advanced Bionics (USA), AECOM (USA), ASDA’A Burson-Marsteller (United Arab Emirates), DHL Express worldwide, Globe Telecom (Philippines), Kanyon (Turkey), Odea Bank (Turkey), PS Communication (Denmark), and StarHub Ltd (Singapore).

A complete list of all 2014 Gold, Silver and Bronze Stevie Award winners by category is available at www.StevieAwards.com/IBA.

 “The entries we received this year were some of the most noteworthy we have ever seen,” said Michael Gallagher, president and founder of the Stevie Awards.  “We congratulate all of the winners, and we look forward to recognizing them for their achievements at our gala event in Paris on 10 October.”

Next week the winners of the Best of the IBA Awards, five best-of-competition prizes, will be announced.

For high-resolution photos of the Stevie Award trophy or International Business Awards logo, visit http://www.stevieawards.com/pubs/iba/press/172_701_3120.cfm. Other information and resources for press are available at http://www.stevieawards.com/pubs/iba/press/172_701_3121.cfm

About the Stevie Awards

Stevie Awards are conferred in six programs: The American Business Awards, The International Business Awards, the Asia-Pacific Stevie Awards, the Stevie Awards for Women in Business, and the Stevie Awards for Sales & Customer Service. The sixth program, the new German Stevie Awards, will open for entries on 18 August.  Honoring organizations of all types and sizes and the people behind them, the Stevies recognize outstanding performances in the workplace worldwide. Learn more about the Stevie Awards at http://www.stevieawards.com and on Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, and YouTube.

The following professionals participated in preliminary judging of The 2014 International Business Awards, the worlds top business awards program, in May-July.  Their average scores determined the entries that were eligible to be included in final judging.  We thank them for their time, insights and support.

Dr. Mamdooh Abdelmottlep, Founding President, International Police Sciences Association, Sharjah, United Arab Emirates
Nicole Y. Adams, Translator & Consultant, NYA Communications, Brisbane, Australia
Hazem Adawie Senior Manager-Corporate Performance Management Dubai Electricity and Water Authority, Dubai, United Arab Emirates
Bora Aksoylu, Event Manager, NIKE Turkey, Istanbul, Turkey
Shadi Al Hroub, Creative Director, Freelance, Amman, Jordan
Ahmad Alhai, Drilling Services Automation Project Manager & RTOC Project Member, ADCO, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates
Mahmoud Alhayek, Quality Expert, Abu Dhabi Police, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates
Dr. Mohammed A. Alkhozai, Director, Bahrain Management Society, Manama, Bahrain
Amal Al-Najjar, HR Manager, Fluor Kuwait, Kuwait
Col. Mohammed Alreeh, Ministry of the Interior, Dubai, United Arab Emirates
Ani Atanasova, CEOPixelhunters, Dubai, United Arab Emirates
Dr. Christina Augustine, Global Strategic HR, Virtusa Corporation, Chennai, India
Heather Barton, Head of Human Resources, American Institute for Foreign Study (UK) Ltd, London, United Kingdom
Israel Bonequi, Creative Director, Birds Nest Foundation, Montreal, QC, Canada
Ted Bridgwater, President, Foresight Corporate Communications, Toronto, ON, Canada
Oana Bulexa, Managing Director, The Practice, Bucharest, Romania
Connie Bullock, Director, Marketing, NuCompass Mobility, Manassas, VA , USA
Mark Burton, CEO, International Armoring Corp., Centerville, UT, USA
Peter Bush, Doctor, Response Ambulance Services, Port Talbot, United Kingdom
Jorge Cachinero, Director Corporativo de Reputación e Innovación, Llorente y Cuenca, Madrid, Spain
Venkata Rajesh, Cheerla    Group Senior Manager - HR Strategy, Policies & Compliance, Etisalat Group, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates
Tore Claesson, Director, Tio Agency, New York, USA
Sally Clubley, Senior Consultant, IHRDC, Stourton, United Kingdom
Dorothy Crenshaw, CEO, Crenshaw Communications, New York, NY, USA
Kate Darcy Hohenthal, Founder, The Birthday Club, Manchester, CT , USA
Karla Davis, General Manager, Plantation Resort, Surfside Beach, SC, USA
Saraida De Marchena Kaluche, President and CEO, Markatel, Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic
Lelanie de Wet, Web Content & Social Media Manager, University of the Free State, Bloemfontein, Free State, South Africa
Teresa DeFelice, Account Executive, RCI, Orlando, FL, USA
Danielle Di-Masi, Managing Director, The Interactions Lab, Coogee, Australia
Richard Dixon, Owner/Administrator, Home Helpers and Direct Link of North Texas, Keller, TX, USA
Sheryl Dobson, Director of Customer Contact, J2 Global, Ottawa, ON, Canada
Michal Dunin, Managing Director, WebTalk, Warsaw, Poland
Stacey Edmonds, Founder and MD Lively, Lively Coogee, NSW, Australia
Rochelle Ekanayake, Managing Director UK/SRI LANKA, MrPierce Studios International Asia (PVT) Ltd, Colombo, Sri Lanka
Kristina Garcia, Managing Director, German State of Hessen U.S. Office for Economic Development, New York, NY, USA
Sergio García, Creative Director, Doctor Jekyll, Barcelona, Spain
Manoj Gautam, Om shiva, shakti herbal company pvt. Ltd, Kathmandu, Nepal
Constantinos Grivas, CEO and Founder, Swiss Nutraceuticals MIKE, Athens, Greece
Naresh Gupta, Associate Partner, IBM Global Business Services, Gurgaon, India
Danita Harn, VP of Operations, Harn & Associates Bookkeeping Firm, Woodstock, GA, USA
Robin Harris, Principal/Creative Director, Harris Design Inc., McLean, VA, USA
Aida Hernandez, New Business Development, Marco de Comunicación, Madrid, Spain
Jesse Hertstein, Senior CSR Specialist, Amway, Ada, MI, USA
Jamie K. Holt, MBA, President/CEO, JMK Notary And Services, Miami, FL, USA
Giles House, VP Marketing, CallidusCloud, Pleasanton, CA, USA
Yvonne Howie, CEO, NSW, The CEO Institute, Neutral Bay, NSW, Australia
Richard    Hu, Senior Editor, China Advertising, Beijing, China
Elif Ildeniz, Employer Branding Project Leader, TOFAS-FIAT, Istanbul, Turkey
Echo Ilott, Director, Boost Marketing, Bournemouth, United Kingdom
Leo Indarwahono, Public Health & Educational Executive, The Indonesian Business Coalition on AIDS (IBCA), Jakarta, Indonesia
Petr Jares, Member of the Board, Etnetera, Prague, Czech Republic
Parag Jaripatke, Senior Systems Administrator, AOL Inc., Dulles, VA, USA
Monika Jaslowska, Senior Head of Brand Public Relations Department, Polpharma Biuro Handlowe Sp. z o. o., Warsaw, Poland
Beverly Jensen, President/CEO, WomensMedicineBowl.com, Greeley, CO, USA
Özgür Karaçak, Managing Partner / Founder/ Creative Director, SesliHarfler Digital Advertising Agency, Istanbul, Turkey
Hakan Karamanli, IT Manager, GARANTI TEKNOLOJI, Istanbul, Turkey
Samitha Karunarathne, CEO, Aryans Engineering (Pvt) Ltd., Dehiwala-Mount Lavinia, Sri Lanka
Mazin Khoury, CEO, Middle East, AMEX (Middle East) B.S.C. (c), Manama, Bahrain
Elzbieta Krawczynska, Quality Specialist & Trainer, Bank Zachodni WBK S.A, Poznan, Poland
A.J.Lawrence, CEO, the JAR group, Brooklyn, NY, USA
Andreea Leonte, Senior PR Consultant, MCCANN PR, Bucharest, Romania
Chris Litherland, International Snr Director HR, Intermec by Honeywell Heinsberg, Germany
Ke Je Tony Liu, Greater China Partner, Creative Chairman, MC Saatchi aeiou, Shanghai,  China
Denis Looney, Vice President, Marriott Vacations Worldwide, Cork, Ireland
Anil Machado, Managing Director, Tnell, Sieradz, Poland
Morag Malloy, Managing Director, Fission Creative, Paisley, United Kingdom
Kristin Marcell, Vice President Public Relations, SmartMark Communications, Newtown, PA   USA
Wessam Massoud, Programme Delivery Manager, Abu Dhabi Systems & Information Center (ADSIC), Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates
Chris McConnell, Senior Manager, Accenture, Chicago, IL, USA
Colin McKillop, Chief Executive Officer, Butcher Enterprises, Windsor, ON, Canada
Jennifer, McQueen, Managing Partner, Ausnindo-Asia/Pacific, Croydon, VIC, Australia
Jeremy McWilliams, Managing Director, Bang TV, London, United Kingdom
Ronald Meske, President, Training Systems Design, Camarillo, CA, USA
Eric Mosely, CEO, Globoforce, Dublin, Ireland
Rajesh Kumar Mudiakal, SAP Project Manager, CMC Limited, Mumbai, India
Motomasa Murayama, Professor, Tokiwa University, Mito City, Japan
Rajiv Noronha, AVP, Location HR Leader & Head -Org., Effectiveness, Tata Consultancy Services, Bangalore, India
Charles Olsson, Managing Director, Stockfeed Purchasing Pty Ltd, Crestmead, Australia
Pierluigi Orati    Head of Country Analysis, SENEL SPA, Rome, Italy
Diego Otero Rodríguez, Creative Director, Suigeneris Communications SL (A Save Your Numbers Holding), Barcelona, Spain
Alper Afsin Özdemir, President, Krombera Digital Marketing Agency, Istanbul, Turkey
Cem Cabbar Özdemir, Creative Director, Project House, Istanbul, Turkey
Parveen Panwar, CEO, PMI 5, Media LLC, Los Altos, CA, USA
Anne Patterson, VP Client Delivery, FreeFlow, Kerry Ireland
Katarzyna Pawlikowska, Managing Partner, Garden of Words, Warsaw, Poland
Guy Perry, President, CEO & Founder, Salt Lake Running Company, Salt Lake City, UT, USA
Donald Pillai, International Marketing Executive, Bumbo (Pty) Ltd, Rosslyn, South Africa
Churchill Dass Prince, Founder & CEO, Sales Intellect Company, Chennai, India
Rammesh Rajagopal, Senior Manager IT, Cisco Systems Inc., Morrisville, NC, USA
Fanjarivo Rakotonirina, President, Tropical Items Madagascar, LLC, Boulder, CO, USA
V.S. Ramachandran, Senior VP, Emarat, Dubai, United Arab Emirates
Mohamed A. R. Rashed, Director of Strategic Planning, Ahlia University, Manama, Bahrain
Dennis Reno, Vice President, Customer Experience, New Relic, San Francisco, CA, USA
Pamela Robinson, CEO, Financial Voyages LLC, Atlanta, GA, USA
Linanne Sackett, Principal Investigator, Verizon Next Step Program, Albany, NY, USA
Prof. Dr. Mohamed Amr Sadik, VP - Curriculum Development, INTEX, Cairo, Egypt
Sasan Saeidi, Managing Director, FP7, Dubai, United Arab Emirates
Göktug Sahin, Lecturer, Gazi University, Ankara, Turkey
Hande Sarantopoulos, Corporate Communications and Public Affairs Director, Kale Group, Istanbul, Turkey
Gauri Sharma, Head of Business, Modest Inc, Chicago, IL, USA
Keira Shein, Partner, WilkinsonShein Communications, Stevenson, MD, USA
Pelle Sjöqvist, Creative Director, Dahlheim & Sjöqvist, Stockholm, Sweden
Asuncion Soriano, Vice President, INFORPRESS, Madrid, Spain
Leslie Stretch, President & CEO, CallidusCloud, Pleasanton, CA, USA
Julian Stubbs, Senior Lecturer, Marketing (retired), The University of Greenwich, London, United Kingdom
Begum Susar, Digital Marketing and Design Assistant, Vice President, ING Bank Turkey, Istanbul, Turkey
Andrzej Szczepaniak, Deputy Director, Bank Zachodni WBK S.A, Srem, Poland
Pinar Tuba, Temizkan, HR Senior Consultant and Co-Active Coach, Elemental-Value (official provider of The Coaches Training Institute-CTI), Istanbul   
Meera Tenguria, Founder & Director, Aarrohan Communications, Mumbai, India
Wailaya    Tiningsih Bravyanto, Corporate Relations, PT Unilever Indonesia, Tbk, Jakarta, Indonesia
Han Tjan, VP Corporate Communications, Daimler, New York, NY, USA
Aigerim Tulepbergenova, Business Analyst, Morgan Stanley, Eugene, OR, USA
Noel Unciano, Research Specialist, Industrial Technology Development Institute, Taguig City, Philippines
Aykut Ustun, Group Manager - HR and Management System, Opet Petrolculuk, Istanbul, Turkey
Rob Vandenberg, President & CEO Lingotek, Draper, UT, USA
Kirti Vashee, Vice President, Enterprise Translation, Asia Online, Santa Monica, CA , USA
Nicole Vaughn, Account Supervisor, Fleishman-Hillard, Inc., St. Louis, MO, USA
Vincent Verdi, Art Director, CUNY-TV, Staten Island, NY, USA
Robyn  Vogels, Founder, Managing Director, Personnel Relocations, Cheltenham, SA, Australia
Mike Voznick, National Business Consultant, Harn and Associates, Smyrna, GA, USA
Clara H.Y. Wang, Account Director, KAI Communications (China&UK), Beijing, China
Floor Wijburg, CEO, W & I Consultants, Rotterdam, Netherlands
Silvana Xhaferi, General Secretary, Albanian-British Chamber of Commerce and industry, Tirana, Albania
Mimi Young, Principal, Behavior Design, New York, NY, USA
David Zapata, President, Zapwater Communications, Chicago, USA                            
Joseph Zitzelberger, Director of Manufacturing Development, PACCAR Inc., Chillicothe, OH, USA                                                                                                                          

PT. Unilever Indonesia Tbk in Jakarta, Indonesia, won a Gold Stevie® Award for Corporate Social Responsibility Program of the Year (Asia, Australia & New Zealand) in the Company/Organization Awards categories of The 2013 International Business Awards.  Entries to the 2014 International Business Awards, the world’s premier business awards program, are now being accepted.  Get your entry kit here.

We talked with Sinta Kaniawati, General Manager of the Unilever Indonesia Foundation, about its Stevie® Award-winning program.

“The trash generated by city dwellers is set to increase significantly in the next two decades, especially in fast-growing cities in developing countries like Indonesia.” Sinta explained. “Poor waste management makes residential neighborhoods in cities more prone to health, environmental, and social problems.”

Waste pollution in tropical regions can result in malaria, typhoid, and dysentery. A lack of recycling programs has resulted in the burning of plastic waste, which has contributed to 5% of global greenhouse gas emissions, according to a World Bank Report in 2012.

To tackle this problem, Unilever Foundation Indonesia developed its “Community Waste Bank Program” to empower communities to take action to reduce waste while receiving economic benefits.

We asked Sinta what winning a Gold Stevie® Award for Corporate Social Responsibility Program of the Year had meant to the Foundation.

“Winning the Gold Stevie is an international recognition of what we are doing with our CSR program here in Indonesia, and it really does make a difference,” Sinta told us. “With its panel of reputable international judges, The International Business Awards provides recognition and confirmation that our program meets international standards—even though, at present, it is only implemented locally in Indonesia. We hope that, with the exposure our program has gained through the Stevie Awards, our Community Waste Bank program can also be replicated elsewhere.”

The Unilever Indonesia Foundation launched the first Community Waste Bank program in 2004 with just 20 Community Waste Banks in Surabaya, Indonesia’s second-largest city with a population of over 3 million.  By 2012, the program had grown to 499 banks, a 2000% increase in just 8 years. The program is now being carried out in the ten most populated cities in Indonesia, and reaches a combined population of more than 20 million people.

Helping Communities to Help Themselves

The Unilever Indonesia Foundation program assists communities in developing a system where they can collect inorganic waste and sell it based on its value. The money is saved at the Waste Bank and can be cashed over time. The system works like a regular bank, except that individuals deposit waste instead of money.

In 2012, 278 tons of waste was collected, generating 300 million Inodnesian Rupiah (approximately $26,000) of profits.  This was shared by more than 28,000 waste bank customers and directly impacted 140,000 beneficiaries. The profits have enabled low-income families to buy 3 kg of rice per month.

Areas with waste banks have reduced their waste by 80% and reported a considerable reduction in health problems.

The waste bank program aims to realize the Unilever Sustainable Living Plan target of “Reducing Environmental Impact” with the target of halving Indonesia’s waste by 2020.

In 2013, the Unilever Indonesia Foundation was on target to increase the number of waste banks to 700 while continuing to develop them into larger business units.  The Foundation’s unique approach has put the community at the center, while engaging governments, NGO partners, media, and its own corporate functions to support the program.

“Working with our NGO Partners, we trained the community to establish and manage the waste banks.” Sinta explained. “We support access to the market by establishing links with waste collectors as waste buyers. We also support the scaling-up of each waste bank to become larger business unit by approaching local banks to assist with soft loans for waste shredding machines.” Additionally, communities have been taught how to turn plastic waste into attractive recycled household items for sale; and organic waste is turned into compost.

In 2009, the Foundation’s Community Waste Bank program won the Stevie® Award for Environmental Responsibility Program of the Year for adding value to plastic waste. The program has influenced the Government of Indonesia to include waste banks in Indonesia’s “Adipura” Cities Performance Awards; and it was adopted as a Best Practice CSR Program in Waste Reduction by Indonesia’s Ministry of Environment in 2013.

Future Sustainability Programs

We asked Sinta where the Unilever Indonesia Foundation would be focusing its attention in 2014. “Over the coming year, the three main sustainability programs we will focus on are health, wellbeing, and nutrition; reducing environmental impact; and enhancing livelihood—especially for Indonesian smallholder farmers,” Sinta told us.

“Winning a Stevie Award has energized the whole team at Unilever Indonesia Foundation to keep doing what we are doing,” concluded Sinta.  “We look forward to creating more effective programs that will benefit the community throughout Indonesia.”

About Sinta Kaniawati

Sinta Kaniawati started her career in the corporate world in 1990 when she joined Unilever Indonesia as a management trainee. She built tremendous skills in market research, marketing for national and international brands, and customer development, and was assigned a senior position at Unilever Indonesia Foundation in 2007.  

Since 2009, Sinta has served as a Board Member of Indonesian Business Links and is a former executive team member of the Indonesian National Platform for Disaster Risk Reduction. She was named Secretary General of the Indonesian Global Compact Network in 2010, and again in 2014; and she is a member of The International Society of Sustainability Professionals.

Sinta Kaniawati was born in Bandung, Indonesia. She completed her degree at Bogor Agriculture Institute. Despite a busy professional career, Sinta has a wide range of interests.  She loves music and is active in a variety of social organizations such as Bina Antarbudaya (the Indonesian Foundation for Intercultural Learning), and Toastmasters International.  She is also an enthusiastic leadership and communications trainer. Sinta is a LEAD Indonesia Fellow (cohort 15) and has been a presenter at The Climate Reality Project.

She is married with a young son and daughter.

About Unilever Indonesia

PT. Unilever Indonesia Tbk is one of Indonesia’s leading Fast Moving Consumer Goods (FMCG) companies. Its portfolio of Home & Personal Care and Foods & Beverages products is distinguished by many of the world’s best known and most trusted brands, including Lifebuoy, Vaseline, Pepsodent, Lux, Pond’s, Sunlight, Rinso, Blue Band, Royco, Dove, Wall’s, Rexona, Clear, and others.

About Unilever Indonesia Foundation

Unilever Indonesia Foundation focuses on improving health, hygiene, and nutrition; reducing environmental impact; and improving livelihood through sustainable socio-economic programs with the community. The Foundation has been recognized nationally and internationally since 2007.  In addition to The International Business Awards, it has received an Energy Globe Award; the Indonesian MDG Award for Environment, Improving Maternal Health, Reducing Child Mortality, and Combating HIV/AIDS & Other Diseases; and the Indonesian CSR Award and AFCSR Award.

Stevie® Awards to Be Presented This Fall in Paris

The Stevie® Awards today issued the call for entries for The 11th Annual International Business Awards, the world’s premier business awards competition, which attracts nominations from organizations in more than 50 nations and territories each year.

All individuals and organizations worldwide – public and private, for-profit and non-profit, large and small – may submit nominations to The International Business Awards.  The entry deadline is 14 May.  Late entries will be accepted through 11 June, and results will be announced in mid-August.  Entry details are available at www.StevieAwards.com/IBA.  

Stevie Awards will be conferred at three levels of distinction: Gold, Silver and Bronze.  Several Grand Stevie Awards also will be conferred as best-of-competition prizes.  Stevie Award trophies, made by the company that makes the Oscar and other major international awards, are among the world’s most coveted prizes. Stevie Award winners will be selected by an international judging panel of more than 200 executives.

The International Business Awards recognize achievement in every facet of the workplace.  Categories include:

• Management Awards
• Company of the Year Awards
• Customer Service Awards
• Human Resources Awards
• Information Technology Awards
• Marketing Awards
• New Product Awards
• Public Relations Awards
• Web Site Awards, Smartphone and Tablet App, and other media awards

Because 2014 Stevie Award winners will be celebrated on Friday, 10 October at the Westin Vendôme Hotel in Paris, France, all organizations in France may submit an unlimited number of entries to the IBAs this year without having to pay the entry fees.  French organizations should use the promotion code “Paris” where indicated in the online entry process.

The 10th Annual International Business Awards were presented in October 2013 in Barcelona, Spain.  Top Stevie winners last year included Accenture (USA), Best Doctors, Inc. (USA), Burson-Marsteller (Australia and the UAE), Coca-Cola Turkey (Turkey), Finansbank A.S. (Turkey), Ignacio de las Cuevas S.A. (Spain), Jack Morton Worldwide (UK and the USA), KW Digital (Sweden), LLORENTE & CUENCA (Spain), Maras Group (Australia), Nu Skin Enterprises (China, Hong Kong, Taiwan), Reading Room (Singapore), RTR Rete Rinnovabile (Italy), and Weber Shandwick (Hong Kong and the UK). 2013 results are summarized here.

About The Stevie Awards

Stevie Awards are conferred in five programs: The American Business Awards, The International Business Awards, the Asia-Pacific Stevie Awards, the Stevie Awards for Women in Business, and the Stevie Awards for Sales & Customer Service.  A sixth program, the German Stevie Awards, will debut later this year.  Honoring organizations of all types and sizes and the people behind them, the Stevies recognize outstanding performances in the workplace worldwide.  Learn more about The Stevie Awards at www.StevieAwards.com, and follow the Stevie Awards on Twitter @TheStevieAwards. 

Globe Telecom in Manila, the Philippines won a Gold Stevie® Award for New Product or Service Introduction of the Year in the marketing awards categories of The 2013 International Business Awards, the world’s only international, all-encompassing business awards program. (Entries to The 2014 International Business Awards and the Asia-Pacific Stevie Awards are now being accepted.)

GCASH is a mobile money service of G-Xchange, Inc. a wholly owned subsidiary of Globe Telecom, one of the leading telecommunications companies in the Philippines. It allows subscribers to convert their money to GCASH (stored automatically in the subscriber’s “GCASH wallet”) and use this to purchase airtime load, send money, and pay their bills—all at the speed of a text message.

Operating as an innovative mobile money service in the Philippines, a traditional, third world nation, is very challenging. To illustrate, a good 80% of Filipinos transact in cash and only 20% actually venture into the convenience of credit and debit cards - for safety (less exposure to fraud), and because Filipinos shun the thought of being in debt.

We asked Paolo Baltao, president of G-Xchange, Inc., what he saw as the biggest challenges to online shopping in The Philippines in 2014.

“Only a small percentage of Filipinos own credit cards which can be used for online shopping,” said Baltao, “while those who do are hindered from shopping from foreign websites (i) because of the hassles and fees required when the package reaches Philippine grounds; and (ii) because not all foreign merchants ship internationally.”

Continued Baltao: “We developed GCASH American Express Virtual Pay to respond to the growing customer preference for online shopping and e-commerce, and to ensure that the product will guarantee security, convenience, and the promise of package delivery straight to the Philippine doorstep.”

Meeting the Challenge

“As GCASH goes deeper into the world of payments, it is constantly faced with the challenge of innovating to fit the consumer’s ever-changing lifestyle,” added Balata. “Winning the Stevie® Award in 2013 provided international recognition of GCASH as one of the world’s best when it comes to product and service innovation. It also strengthened the value proposition of GCASH as the leading mobile money service in the Philippines.”

“We are elated with the global recognition that winning the Stevie® Award has given the brand,” concluded Baltao. “Not only does it add value to our innovation: it also serves as an inspiration to continue to innovate.”

Asia-Pacific Stevie Awards

Baltao is exited by the prospect of the upcoming Asia-Pacific Stevie® Awards. “Given the growing number of excellent businesses in the Asia-Pacific region, the Asia-Pacific Stevie® Awards couldn’t have come at a better time,” he said. “These Awards will provide an opportunity for more Asia-Pacific players to gain recognition for superb business practices and innovative services.”

Innovation and Security

GCASH American Express® (GCASH Amex) Virtual Pay gives subscribers a virtual account linked to their GCASH wallets. The first of its kind, GCASH Amex Virtual Pay introduces a secure way of shopping from sites that accept American Express as a mode of payment. All subscribers are automatically assigned an American Express card bin linked to the subscriber’s GCASH wallet, and a security code, which they can change anytime for security. As an additional account safety measure, an SMS is sent for every successful transaction made using the service. This way, subscribers are alerted when someone tries to use their accounts.

End-to-End Shopping Experience

Having assured Filipinos that the service is secure, G-Xchange proceeded with developing an end-to-end shopping experience tailored for the Philippine market. A partnership with a reliable freight forwarding company was formed: My Shopping Box (MSB) issued personalized U.S. addresses to all subscribers, enabling Filipinos to have foreign packages delivered straight to their doorsteps at affordable rates.

The Filipino proclivity towards U.S. goods had been dampened somewhat by the extra steps (and fees) they needed to take in order to receive their foreign purchases. Now, MSB settles local duties and delivers the packages that could otherwise only have been acquired by waiting for big brown boxes packed lovingly by any of the 9.5 million overseas Filipino workers—or by purchasing it locally for three times its value.

Outstanding Performance

To date, GCASH Amex Virtual Pay has performed outstandingly and achieved the following results in the first year of its launch:

-        Grew its subscriber base over 200 times in the span of 6 months from 895 subscribers in October 2012, to 195,560 subscribers in April 2013;

-        Enjoyed a 180% increase in the subscriber’s average daily transaction count;

-        100% positive feedback on social networking sites—a first-ever for Globe Telecom in 2012;

-        Second highest ROI contributor to total Globe Telecom’s publicity efforts in 2012.

While still conducting its operations in a conservative local environment, GCASH Amex Virtual Pay is slowly gaining a bigger reach over its market because of the relevance of the service in addressing local concerns. It is, after all, a service built for Filipinos, by Filipinos. Through this, Globe Telecom is able to bridge another gap and connect its subscribers not only to each other, but also to the rest of the world.

Future Innovation

Concludes Baltao: “Seeing the Philippines adapt more and more to technological advancements, especially in the mobile money industry inspires me to constantly offer newer product and service innovations that will all work towards creating a wonderful world for our consumers.

About Paolo Baltao

Paolo Baltao is the President of G-Xchange, Inc. (GXI), a wholly owned subsidiary of Globe Telecom. GXI pioneered a cardless and cashless mobile commerce service called GCASH. Launched in the Philippines in October 2004, GCASH has over 1 million subscribers today.

Before he became President, Paolo held several positions in GXI, including International Remittance & Banking Business Development Head, Financial and Government Services Segment Head, and OFW & Money Remittance Segment Head. He was responsible for the formulation of the product strategy, management of product portfolio, creation and implementation of business strategies, and acquisition of international and domestic partners.

Prior to working for GXI, Paolo had 13 years of experience in product management and business development in the pharmaceutical, banking and remittance, and telecommunications industries.

About Globe Telecom

Globe Telecom is a leading full service telecommunications company in the Philippines, serving the needs of consumers and businesses across an entire suite of products and services including mobile, fixed, broadband, data connections, internet and managed services.  Its principals are Ayala Corporation and SingTel who are acknowledged industry leaders in the country and in the region. For more information, visit www.globe.com.ph.  Follow us on Twitter: http://twitter.com/talk2Globe and Facebook: http://facebook.com/GlobePH.

We've just published a new video entitled" How to Enter The 2014 International Business Awards.  Watch it here.

The International Business Awards are the world's premier business awards program.  Now in their 11th year, the IBAs typically receive nominations from organizations in more than 50 nations and territories. 

All individuals and organizations worldwide -- public and private, for-profit and non-profit, large and small -- may submit nominations to the IBAs, recognized as the world's top honors in business and the only completely international business awards competition.

The International Business Awards recognize achievement in every facet of the workplace. Stevie® Award trophies will be conferred upon top-scoring nominations in each category, to be determined by the ratings of more than 200 professionals around the world, acting as judges..

The IBAs feature a wide range of categories to recognize achievement in every aspect of the workplace, including

• Customer Service Awards
• Company/Organization Awards
• Creative Awards
• Human Resources Awards
• Information Technology Awards
• Management Awards
• Marketing Awards Categories
• New Product Awards
• Corporate Communications, IR, and PR Awards
• Support Awards 
• Web Site Awards, Smartphone and Tablet App, and other media awards

See the full list of International Business Awards categories.

In slightly more than four minutes the new video illustrates

• How to get the entry kit
• How to review and select categories
• How to prepare and submit entries through the IBA website

The early-bird entry deadline for The 2014 International Business Awards is April 16.  See the complete IBA calendar here.

The 2014 (11th Annual) International Business Awards, the world's premier business awards competition, is accepting entries.

Get your entry kit here.

All individuals and organizations worldwide -- public and private, for-profit and non-profit, large and small -- may submit nominations to the IBAs, recognized as the world's top honors in business and the only completely international business awards competition.

The International Business Awards recognize achievement in every facet of the workplace. Stevie® Award trophies will be conferred upon top-scoring nominations in each category, to be determined by the ratings of more than 200 professionals around the world, acting as judges..

The IBAs feature a wide range of categories to recognize achievement in every aspect of the workplace, including

• Customer Service Awards
• Company/Organization Awards
• Creative Awards
• Human Resources Awards
• Information Technology Awards
• Management Awards
• Marketing Awards Categories
• New Product Awards
• Corporate Communications, IR, and PR Awards
• Support Awards 
• Web Site Awards, Smartphone and Tablet App, and other media awards

See the full list of International Business Awards categories.

Nominations should cite achievements since 1 January 2013. There is no eligibility timeframe for app and web site entries - it does not matter when they were first published.

The early-bird entry deadline, with discounted entry fees, is 16 April. The entry deadline is 14 May, but late entries will be accepted through 11 June with payment of a late fee. Entry details are available at www.stevieawards.com/iba.

Results will be announced on 13 August and 2014 honorees will be celebrated at the 11th annual awards banquet in October in Paris, France.  

Do not hesitate to contact us with your questions about how to participate in The 2014 International Business Awards.

The Stevie Awards, the world's premier business awards programs, have just published a brochure about our 2014 sponsorship opportunities.

READ THE BROCHURE HERE

The brochure outlines the opportunities associated with our six awards programs in 2014, including two new programs - the Asia-Pacific Stevie Awards and the forthcoming German Stevie Awards.

Among the benefits that are available through Stevie Awards sponsorships are:

• The ability to submit an unlimited number of entries to the sponsored program without having to pay entry fees. This benefit can be extended to sponsors’ clients as well

• The right to name and confer one or more honorary Stevie Awards upon your customers

• A full-page ad in the official program of the event

• Up to 100,000 banner ad impressions on the sponsored program’s web site and in the weekly Stevie Awards Update e-newsletter

• Tickets for the sponsored awards banquet

• At least 10 minutes of stage time to present awards at the sponsored event

• Logo identification in all photographs and video clips of the sponsored event

• Hospitality and display privileges, before, during, and/or after the sponsored event

• Editorial coverage, in the form of an interview or profile, in the Stevie Awards blog and e-newsletter

We welcome the opportunity to customize sponsorship benefits to suit your needs.  Contact Stevie Awards president Michael Gallagher for details.

We've published the Gold Stevie Award-winning entries in The 2013 (10th Annual) International Business Awards, the world's premier business awards competition.

READ THEM HERE

Now you can read the full-text of the entries that nearly 300 judges around the world deemed to be the best in their categories.  They are a treasure trove of case studies about how organizations of all types around the world are innovating, growing, or operating at peak performance.  (If you plan to enter the IBAs in 2014 - entries open in late January, join the mailing list for the entry kit - they are great examples of entries that the judges scored highly.)

Here are some examples of the great stories of achievement you'll find among the 2013 IBA Gold Stevie Award winners:

• Finland's Rovio Entertainment, the people who addicted you to Angry Birds, the winners for Company of the Year in Media & Entertainment
  
  
• The impressive and innovative management team of Best Doctors, Inc., winners of a Gold Stevie for Management Team of the Year
  
  
• Globe Telecom of the Philippine's highly effective marketing campaign, a Gold Stevie winner in the marketing awards categories
  
  
• A groundbreaking technology by Spain's Jofemar, incorporated into their Gold Stevie-winning new product awards nomination
  
  
• The impressive entry in the HR awards categories by India's Hindustan Petroleum Corporation, a Gold Stevie winner for Human Resources Department of the Year
  
  
• The sparkling website of Korea's Hyundai Motor Company, Gold Stevie winner in the website awards categories.

What will you learn from reading Stevie Award winning entries?

1. You'll develop a sense of the types of entries that judges score highly

2. That Stevie Award-winning entries are compelling and well-written

3. That they aren't always about world-shaking or industry-changing innovations

4. If you win a Stevie Award you'll be in very prestigious company!

Join the mailing list now for The 2014 International Business Awards and you'll receive the entry kit by email as soon as it's issued in January.