EPPM2033: INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS

SEMESTER 1 SESSION 2022/2023

PREPARED BY:

NAME MATRIC NUMBER

NUR AIN ANIQAH BINTI MAZLIM A185671

RUSYAIDI SHAHMI BIN ROSLAN A186065

NUR AZZAH ASHIKIN MOHD NOOR A190099

BINTI MOHD NOOR

MUHAMMAD ARIF HUSAINI BIN A190166

AHMAD SABRI

ADAM SALIHIN BIN ISMAIL FAHMI A185364

CHEE WAI CHONG A187217

PREPARED FOR:

ASSOCIATE PROFESSOR DR. ZIZAH CHE SENIK

FACULTY OF ECONOMICS AND MANAGEMENT

THE NATIONAL UNIVERSITY OF MALAYSIA (UKM)

 Assoc. Prof. Dr Zizah Che Senik
EPPM2033: INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS

TABLE OF CONTENT

NO DESCRIPTION PAGES

1.0 Introduction 2

2.0 Project Profiles 3

3.0 Findings 4
3.1 International Business Operation (Internationalization)
4-5
3.2 Impacts Of Covid-19 Pandemic
6-7
3.3 Problems Of Covid-19
8-9

4.0 Discussion On Findings 10-11

5.0 References 12

6.0 Appendix 13

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 Assoc. Prof. Dr Zizah Che Senik
EPPM2033: INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS

1.0 INTRODUCTION

WAU Animation is a CG animation studio formed on 18th March 2013 by a group of

creative talents possessing up to 14 years of experience in producing multiple award-winning CG
animated series and feature films. This homegrown team is known for its script-to-screen
creation of Ejen Ali, an IP that was first introduced in 2016 through a TV Series and has since
grown into a household name, airing in over 50 countries globally, garnering multiple local and
international accolades.
Aside from creating IP, WAU provides 3D Animation servicing to local and international
clientele as well as collaborating with other studios and institutions of higher education on
projects that are exciting and engaging. Aside from production, WAU also takes up consultation
services in providing content through strong story-telling properties and creative consultation.

MISSION:

1. To continuously exceed its current success and continuously elevate the standard of
animation in Malaysia. Accused as “market spoiler” through its excellent animation,
peers within the industry applaud the team for continuously reaching the superior
standard of animation in Malaysia.
2. Building Malaysia’s best creative workplace. A haven where employees would love to
be, and are given the opportunity to foster creative collaboration and to grow both
personally and professionally.

VISION:

1. At the heart of WAU Animation, is the desire to create animations that would move the
audience. The founders aspire to tell amazing stories that are entertaining, yet meaningful
and inspiring, at the same time fused with local essence, as they strongly believe in
putting forth our unique Malaysian identity

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EPPM2033: INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS

2.0 PROJECT PROFILES

COMPANY DETAILS:

Name WAU Animation Sdn Bhd

Location Unit 4812-1-53A, Block 4812, Jalan PErdana CBD 2, 63000, Cyberjaya,
Selangor Darul Ehsan

Manpower 91 (as of January 2023)

Contact Azi Shafian – azi@wau.my / +6017 355 9821

Website http://www.wau.my

RESPONDENT’S PROFILE:

Name Nor Azyyati Bt. Abu Safian

Gender Female

Age 39 Years Old

Position in Finance Manager and Business Development

the company

Period of Since the incorporation of the company- 2013

employment
with the
company

Period of 16 Years
work
experience

Email and azi@wau.my/ 0173559821

contact

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EPPM2033: INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS

3.0 FINDINGS
3.1 INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS OPERATION (INTERNATIONALIZATION)

Internationalization is a process of making something international, which means

bringing products out from the origin country. In this project, we chose Wau Animation Sdn Bhd
who created Ejen Ali The Movie. Ejen Ali is one of the most successful animations from
Malaysia with almost 1.7 million views in its first two weeks of release, producing RM20
million, exceeding its goal. The joint effort of Primeworks Studios and WAU Animation, which
debuted on November 28, was first recognized as a "local breakthrough" movie when it led the
box office for two weeks in a row.

Ejen Ali has entered the international industry in India. Primeworks Studio was the one
that dealt with agents from India. Even so, Primeworks Studio needs approval from WAU
Animation before making a deal. To clarify, Primeworks Studio is under Media Prima Berhad
which is the biggest television station in Malaysia. They have been in the industry many years,
so they know agents from other countries and they know who they can trust. At first Primeworks
Studio sold Ejen Ali season 1 and season 2 to the agent to be showcased in India but the agent
offered to also sell the masterpiece in Africa. It was dubbed into many languages such as
Mandarin, Russian, Arabic and Indie. In the middle east, they changed ‘Ejen Ali’ to ‘Al-Rakhan'
because they wanted to avoid Syi’ah but still Ejen Ali could get through their industry.

Indonesia was the first country WAU Animation first approached because from the past
observation, most Malaysian animations were successful there. Indonesian enjoyed Malaysian
animation. For season 2, WAU Animation made sure that Indonesia, Singapore and Brunei also
get the latest episode with Malaysia. The business model that they used is when they release the
new episode on TV3, they immediately release it on their official account on Youtube, so that
they get exposure from the international content consumer. When a lot of people liked it, the
broadcasters started enquiring about Ejen Ali. Overall, WAU Animation and Primework Studio
collaborates and cooperates very well in identifying trusted agents and expanding Ejen Ali
worldwide. They considered all agents from any country as partners in the industry.

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EPPM2033: INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS

The company was established in 2013 and at the beginning of 2016, they already made
sales. Sales for content, licensing and merchandise are different things. If a new season is
released, they make more money through licensing. Licensing means giving the approval to use
Ejen Ali as an ambassador. The respondent wanted to focus on content sales. For content, it was
probably like 60% and the total was not specified by the respondent because different years make
different incomes. In general, WAU Animation's income mainly comes from Ejen Ali but there is
an increase in sales in every season released, starting from Ejen Ali season 1 until Ejen Ali The
Movie. WAU Animation just released season 3 and they brought Disney+ Hotstar as their
cooperator for the next two years. After their exclusive contract has ended with Disney+ Hotstar,
Ejen Ali season 3 can start traveling around the world. For now Ejen Ali season 3 just can be
released on Disney only. In addition, Ejen Ali season 1 is making a lot of money right now
because they can start selling it everywhere, it is available in most countries and people want to
renew the licensing of Ejen Ali.

In a nutshell, we can say that Ejen Ali was such a great success of WAU Animation. Until
now, Ejen Ali has already reached over 50 countries in the world. In the year 2021, Ejen Ali
won the Best Animated Film and Box Office Awards at The 31st Malaysian Film Festival. Next,
Ejen Ali Misi: Juang was crowned as the winner of the Best 3D Animated Children's TV
Program, Content Asia Awards 2021 in Singapore. Because of the achievement, they close 2022
in style and its popularity also spread throughout the Southeast Asian region.

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EPPM2033: INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS

3.2 IMPACTS OF COVID-19 PANDEMIC

Most companies in the world are affected by the Covid-19 pandemic whether they
operate domestically or internationally. All industries are affected but some industries are really
affected such as tourism, sports, creative industries and manufacturing. It is because during the
pandemic most countries are implementing movement control orders and closing country borders
so businesses can’t be operated. There are a lot of impacts of Covid-19 such as decreasing sales,
factory can’t operate, difficulty to do import and exporting, having to fire employees and more.
Surely, all companies have had good and bad experiences during Covid-19. For example, Wau
Animation company also had a new experience during the pandemic which is they do not get
their money on time. At the end of 2019, Wau Animation produced Ejen Ali The Movie: Misi
Neo in cinemas in Malaysia and foreign countries such as Indonesia, Singapore, and Brunei.
Unfortunately, Covid-19 has spread around the world by February 2020 so in March 2020
Malaysian government implemented Movement Control Order (MCO). Because of that all
cinemas in Malaysia are closed and cannot operate. Then, the screening of Ejen Ali The Movie:
Misi Neo ends in February and usually, the cinema company will pay money to the production
company of the movie.. However, because of Covid-19 most cinemas can’t pay back the money
on time because they need to use that money to cover their cost.

During the pandemic, the problem that most companies face is decreasing in sales and
assets. It is because during the pandemic many companies can’t operate or open their shop so
they don’t have a source of income. At the same time, some companies had to sell their assets to
maintain their employees and pay any costs. Surely that all companies had differences in sales
before and after the covid pandemic. Same as Wau Animation they also definitely affected the
sales. Fortunately, the selling of Ejen Ali cartoon series merchandise is going well because
people like to shop online at that time on Shopee, Lazada, and other online platforms. But, they
also had a problem which is that all the merchandise is at the office or studio so to solve this
problem whoever is staying near the studio needed to get the merchandise in the office. Then, the
staff who are going to take the merchandise also needed to do some extra work such as wrapping
and going to send the merchandise to the courier center. During the pandemic, Wau Animation

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EPPM2033: INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS

company still earned income because of sales from the content and entertainment on television or
online platforms such as youtube. It's still going on because the series doesn’t stop on the screen.

In addition, surely business operations were very impacted due to the Covid-19 pandemic
either local operations or international operations. It is because during the pandemic most
countries are closing their borders so businesses face difficulty in importing and exporting
products to other countries. At the same time, some companies also stop their operations in a
foreign country. Furthermore, hospitality and travel business operations are really very affected
due to Covid-19. It is because hotel companies need to be closed during the lockdown and travel
agencies also can’t operate because they cannot go overseas or to another country. Then, based
on the interviewer's information, Wau Animation is from the creative industry so during MCO
everyone needs to work from home and it’s so hard early, especially for the creative industry. It is
because, in the creative industry, they need to always connect with each other and brainstorm
together for new ideas. For example, during the early pandemic, they had difficulty making an
online meeting through google meet. So, they can’t really operate as usual like before the
pandemic. Wau Animation is focusing on selling the Ejen Ali animation to foreign countries
around the world so even in lockdown the animation is still playing and getting demand on
television. So, they had an advantage when compared to manufacturing companies.

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EPPM2033: INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS

3.3 PROBLEMS OF COVID-19

There are a lot of problems that most business companies need to face during the
Covid-19 pandemic. For example, they can't open a shop, can’t operate in the factory to produce
products and also cannot go work in the office. According to the Movement Control
Order(MCO), all the staff of Wau Animation studio need to work from home. So, some staff are
no longer in Cyberjaya which is the place where the company office is located and some of them
are staying in their hometowns in Seremban, Alor Setar and other places. However, even though
Malaysia has not implemented MCO anymore but until now some staff still stay in their town
because right now the studio only can fulfill 20 to 25 staff only and unfortunately the company
had almost 92 staff. So, according to safety and less places, so some staff had to still work from
home. Otherwise, Wau Animation company also had a problem maintaining the staff because
sources of income are decreasing but the company's commitment to pay a salary and operation
costs are maintained or increasing. Therefore, to appreciate the very good job staff in producing
Ejen Ali the movie, they are deciding to make a loan from the bank to maintain the employee.
From the information the interviewer said that another studio in Malaysia fired their staff or
decreased their salary by almost 40%.

During the pandemic, all the companies around the world surely had a problem dealing
with or handling the problems of a pandemic. It is because any situation that happens during this
pandemic is a new experience for all business companies. For example, to make sure every staff
duty or job is done Wau Animation studio separates them into a few groups and each group is led
by a leader. Then, a leader of a group needs to monitor their team members and they also have
been given a dateline for each task or job they need to complete. So, even everyone is working
from home but with an efficient system so the company can make sure all the work is smooth
and done on time. Next, as we know Wau Animation has also been affected according to income
or sales. It is because before the pandemic the company did a lot of services such as
collaborating with other companies and giving licenses to use the Ejen Ali character to promote
their business. Unfortunately, all the agreements that were dealt with before the pandemic were
canceled. It is because before the pandemic they can invite the mascot of Ejen Ali's character to

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EPPM2033: INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS

come to their event but during the pandemic anything is online so maybe it’s not really effective
for them. At the same time, the company also accepts an invitation to small events to make sure
the company still has a source of income to survive. Because of the pandemic, some companies
had to change their plan and implement what was best for the company at that time. For
example, after a successful achievement in the first Ejen Ali movie, Wau Animation planned to
produce the second movie. Unfortunately, Wau Animation had to change its plan because
producing a movie needs all staff to be at the office. Then, at that time Disney wanted to launch
their channel Asia which is Disney+ Hotstar. So, Wau Animation looks like it was a big
opportunity to collaborate with Disney and the result is Disney wants to be a co-producer for
making the Ejen Ali series season 3.

Last but not least, surely every business company has a plan for the long and short term.
Maybe some companies plan to diversify their product, expand their office or factory and more.
As we know that Wau Animation studio is known or famous for the Ejen Ali cartoon series but
the company is diversifying. For the latest update which right now has 3 main ideas still in
discussion and planning but according to Puan Azi Safian the genres and further information
can’t be exposed yet.

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 Assoc. Prof. Dr Zizah Che Senik
EPPM2033: INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS

4.0 DISCUSSION ON FINDINGS

Wau Animation's reputation on its series called ‘Ejen Ali’ makes them create a movie
with Primework Studio based on their famous series. This is a big step for Wau Animation as it
becomes a company with internationalization operations. Primework Studios' decision to buy
Wau Animation is a nice strategy as Primework Studio is known to be the biggest television
company in Malaysia. As their result in this investment led through a successful achievement,
the movie they produced led the box office for two weeks with 1.7 million views producing RM
20 million. Malaysian animation studios were shocked by this result as they overtake 2
animation movies which were released earlier.

Primework connections with other countries were trusted as Prime Work experience in
this industry was long back in time. As past work shows, Indonesia was the first country they
approached as Indonesians are very fond of Malaysia animations. Singapore and Brunei are also
countries they approach. After their marketing in these countries were successful, Ejen Ali
entered the international industry in India which was successful in their works and they even
offered their masterpiece in Africa which then the movie was dubbed into many languages. Even
so, they slightly have a problem regarding religion issues in the middle east with the movie name
but it was solved within a short period of time. This quality of work shows the professionalism of
both companies in expanding their project.

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 Assoc. Prof. Dr Zizah Che Senik
EPPM2033: INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS

Their establishment in 2013 didn’t stop their pace on becoming a big company. Variety of
sales have been made through content, licensing and merchandising. As the main character
shows a very good influence to kids, this was an opportunity for Wau Animation to make more
money through licensing which made Ejen Ali an ambassador for most things. As for content,
selling throughout the years was different but it was not specified. The animated series has
increased in sales every new season. So far it has 3 seasons and a movie. For now, Ejen Ali is
promoted worldwide and the other two seasons were kept by their cooperator which is Disney+
Hotstar. After the contract ends, Ejen Ali’s season can be promoted worldwide. Wau Animation’s
product also received many awards and has reached 20% of the world. This made their 2022 year
end in happiness.

As we know when Covid-19 affected the whole world, all of the industries went down in
sales such as tourism, sports, and many more. It is because most countries are implementing the
movement and closed country borders. Wau Animation was also affected. Their money was not
paid on time due to the international operation and needed the money to cover their own cost.
Fortunately, online shopping was a thing back then. They used this opportunity to sell their
merchandise although the time and work was increased.

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 Assoc. Prof. Dr Zizah Che Senik
EPPM2033: INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS

5.0 REFERENCE

1. Aula, Wafa (2021). Di Sebalik Kejayaan Ejen Ali sebagai Program Tv Kanak-Kanak
Terbaik Asia.
Retrieved Sept 8, 202, from
https://www.getaran.my/artikel/filem-tv/10943/di-sebalik-kejayaan-ejen-ali-sebagai-progr
am-tv-kanak-kanak-terbaik-asia
2. kre8tif express.com. 14 April 2016.
Retrieved 30 November 2017
.http://kr8tifexpress.com/article/365

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EPPM2033: INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS

6.0 APPENDIX

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