Judul: The Implementation of Personal Initiative in Small Scale Coffee Industry: A Case Study in Central Aceh
Abstrak: Increasing global economic competition has had a huge impact on economic conditions in Indonesia. This also affects the province of Aceh as one of the producers of national agro-industry commodities. Conditions like this certainly pose a big challenge to entrepreneurs and business owners as a booster for the nation's economy. Those who are ready for these changes will certainly be able to face these conditions. With the character of personal initiative inherent in business owners, turning a difficult situation into a profitable opportunity is possible. This thesis presents a literature review on the personal initiatives of business actors in various worlds, especially developed countries. Through this literature review, the author succeeded in formulating and proposing a theoretical framework that describes the pattern of linkages between external factors and sustainable business through personal initiatives owned by businessmen. This theoretical framework was then tested by case studies on three coffee business owners from Central Aceh. With various educational backgrounds, interviews were conducted to obtain information that refers to the theoretical framework. The data collected is in the form of a description of each respondent. Therefore, textual analysis was carried out to interpret the data qualitatively. The results obtained are in accordance with the previously proposed theoretical framework. However, this concept cannot be generalized. So it would be very good if the design of this study was carried out quantitatively to strengthen the concept that had been made., Peningkatan persaingan ekonomi secara global telah memberikan dampak yang sangat besar bagi kondisi ekonomi di Indonesia. Hal ini juga mempengaruhi provinsi Aceh sebagai salah satu penghasil komoditas agroindustry nasional. Kondisi seperti ini tentunya memberikan tantangan besar kepada para pengusaha dan pemilik bisnis sebagai pendongkrak perekonomian bangsa. Mereka yang siap dengan perubahan-perubahan tersebut tentunya akan mampu menghadapi kondisi tersebut. Dengan karakter inisiatif pribadi yang terdapat dalam diri para pemilik bisnis, membalikkan keadaan sulit menjadi kesempatan yang menguntungkan menjadi hal yang mungkin. Tesis ini menyajikan kajian pustaka mengenai inisiatif pribadi pelaku usaha di berbagai dunia, khususnya negara-negara maju. Melalui kajian pustaka ini, penulis berhasil merumuskan dan mengusulkan sebuah kerangka teoritis yang menggambarkan pola keterkaitan antara faktor-faktor eskternal dengan bisnis yang berkelanjutan melalui inisiatif pribadi yang dimiliki oleh pelaku bisnis. Kerangka teoritis ini kemudian diuji dengan studi kasus pada tiga orang pemilik bisnis kopi yang berasal dari Aceh Tengah. Dengan berbagai macam latar belakang pendidikan, wawancara dilakukan untuk mendapatkan informasi yang mengacu pada kerangka teoritis tersebut. Data yang dikumpulkan berbentuk deskripsi dari masing-masing responden. Oleh karena itu, analisis tekstual dilakukan untuk menginterpretasi data secara kualitatif. Hasil yang diperoleh sesuai dengan kerangka teoritis yang sebelumnya diusulkan. Meskipun demikian, konsep ini tidak dapat digeneralisasikan. Sehingga akan sangat baik jika desain penelitian ini dilakukan secara kuantitatif untuk memperkuat konsep yang telah dibuat.
Keyword: personal initiative, self-starting, proactive, persistent, case study

Judul: Eksplorasi Strategi Kewirausahaan di Wilayah dengan Keterbatasan Sumber Daya: Studi Kasus Usaha Pengolahan Kakao di Aceh
Abstrak: Indonesia is the fourth-largest cocoa-producing country after Ivory Coast, Ghana, and Ecuador. Nevertheless, most of Indonesia’s cocoa production is exported to various countries in the world. Aceh Province is one of the cocoa-producing regions in western Indonesia. The government of Aceh includes a development plant for the cocoa plantation sector as one of the priorities. However, the resource-constrained condition of Aceh plays a role in inhibiting the emergence of entrepreneurship in Aceh. Located in depleted and penurious environments, one of the cocoa farmers urged to create a cocoa processing venture which still continuously growing and impacts the society and economy in Aceh positively. Socolatte is the only cocoa bean-to-bar business which established and actively operates in Aceh. This venture was initiated in 2003. The research aimed to explore the experiences and strategies taken by the entrepreneur in developing industry which located in a remote area with limited access for resources. The research applied qualitative research methodology, which used case study as the method. The data was collected using literature review, in-depth interview and semi-structured interview method. The results of the interview and literature study was then transcribed, analyzed and interpreted. The data was used to assist the situational analysis of the business venture which using PEST and porter 5’s forces as the frameworks. The PEST analysis shows that the political aspect support for the development of the business. The policies which encourage the existence of cocoa manufacturing plant is one of the examples of the support shown by the government. Nevertheless, most of the aspects in the PEST analysis, namely the economic, social and technological, show the hostility of the environment towards the development of the business. Regarding the competitive advantages, Socolatte acquires advantages in the threat of new entrants and rivalry of existing competitor. However, bargaining power of buyers, bargaining power of suppliers and threat of substitute can be assumed as the obstacle for the sustainability of the venture. In terms of resources, the entrepreneur mentioned that the physical resources, human resources and intangible resources in form of social network and knowledge play significant role as the important factors in the creation process and management of the venture. This research also found out that the owner of Socolatte has accidentally applied the bricolage and improvisation strategy during the creation and business management process. The application by the entrepreneur can be a reference for prospective entrepreneurs from regions such as Aceh.
Keyword: cocoa, resource-constrained, entrepreneurial strategy

Judul: Electrophoretic Coating of Apatite Compouds on Stainless Steel 316L.
Abstrak: Stainless steel (SS) 316L is a metal which is used to bone plate. However, this metal still has low biocompatibility in a human body. The metal is coated by HAp in order to increase its biocompatibility. HAp on SS 316L is coated by electrophoretic deposition (EPD) method. We used two variables in EPD process, such as voltage and coating time to obtain the best coating. The XRD difractogram showed that SS 316L has been coated by HAp. Physical observation used by microscope optics showed that the best coating is achieved on 120V during 2 minutes.
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