If we are to be competitive in the global market, we need to start raising the bar at home – and reinforce meritocracy. Well traveled as we are, we have a sense of our comparative efficiency standing? Are we unwittingly tolerating inefficiency because of our “compassionate heart”? At its worst, are we unknowingly reinforcing a culture of corruption – given that: (a) we can’t say no to a relative, a friend or an “elder”, and (b) we value, believe or bet that hierarchy and aristocracy is what can move us forward or simply get things done? Not surprisingly, seeking public office or buying influence (“being a kingmaker”) is not uncommon?
Are we scared to be labeled a snob (“suplado”) if we don’t demonstrate an accommodating persona? We’re not alone: in Eastern Europe they openly exhibit a high social need. One story that sticks to an Eastern European friend who spent a school year in Georgia (USA) is the strangeness of making an appointment to visit with a friend. Because like in the Philippines, they could simply drop by for an impromptu get together.
When the writer first came to Eastern Europe, the first exercise he did (with his clients) was anathema to their “impromptu culture”: to review the businesses they were in. Their revenues (after 8 years of learning the ropes) were growing yet they were unprofitable: they employed aggressive pricing to fight the big guys from the West, very similar to the way we do it in the Philippines. “How do we take the business to the next level”, was their question to the writer.
And thus began the mantra of focus and discipline. “We will be in these businesses, but not in these – because we will be only in businesses where we are competitive. That means we will exit these businesses but we will aggressively grow this category! And given your vision and desire to be a major regional player, we will define new businesses we will enter yet satisfy our competitive yardstick.” (The imperative of a vision and desire to be a major regional or global player and be competitive must not be lost to the Philippines. And our concern if we can be competitive in manufacturing is misplaced – because capital, market, technology and expertise can be gained via global partnership if not procured and acquired. Globalization is concrete, not abstract or esoteric!)
“Why are we in this business? If you truly believe in this business, you must demonstrate that we can develop the next-generation product that consumers will perceive as truly of higher value than the competition.” This rigor and discipline (which included endless classroom and field work; and being shown how to sell cross-border in the information and communication age, as opposed to traditional or relationship selling) paved the expansion of their market across the region in less than 7 years. And so from “critic” (“suplado”), the writer is today their biggest cheerleader. And banks and proponents would present new investment and acquisition options – yet they would always recite who they are: focused and disciplined . . . in consumer products manufacturing and marketing, with 3 developed business units and moving into the fourth.
But does this approach work for countries? The writer quotes John Gokongwei anew: “In the last 54 years, Korea worked hard to rebuild itself after a world war and a civil war destroyed it. From an agricultural economy in 1945, it shifted to light industry, consumer products, and heavy industry in the ’80s. At the turn of the 21st century, the Korean government focused on making Korea the world’s leading IT nation. It did this by grabbing market share in key sectors like semiconductors, robotics, and biotechnology.
“When Singapore was asked to leave the Malaysian Federation of States in 1965, Lee Kuan Yew developed strategies that he executed with single-mindedness despite their being unpopular. He and his cabinet started to build a nation by establishing the basics: building infrastructure, establishing an army, weeding out corruption, providing mass housing, building a financial center.”
Problem-solving is not dissertation-writing – it is internalizing the genius of the Great Commandments!
Are we scared to be labeled a snob (“suplado”) if we don’t demonstrate an accommodating persona? We’re not alone: in Eastern Europe they openly exhibit a high social need. One story that sticks to an Eastern European friend who spent a school year in Georgia (USA) is the strangeness of making an appointment to visit with a friend. Because like in the Philippines, they could simply drop by for an impromptu get together.
When the writer first came to Eastern Europe, the first exercise he did (with his clients) was anathema to their “impromptu culture”: to review the businesses they were in. Their revenues (after 8 years of learning the ropes) were growing yet they were unprofitable: they employed aggressive pricing to fight the big guys from the West, very similar to the way we do it in the Philippines. “How do we take the business to the next level”, was their question to the writer.
And thus began the mantra of focus and discipline. “We will be in these businesses, but not in these – because we will be only in businesses where we are competitive. That means we will exit these businesses but we will aggressively grow this category! And given your vision and desire to be a major regional player, we will define new businesses we will enter yet satisfy our competitive yardstick.” (The imperative of a vision and desire to be a major regional or global player and be competitive must not be lost to the Philippines. And our concern if we can be competitive in manufacturing is misplaced – because capital, market, technology and expertise can be gained via global partnership if not procured and acquired. Globalization is concrete, not abstract or esoteric!)
“Why are we in this business? If you truly believe in this business, you must demonstrate that we can develop the next-generation product that consumers will perceive as truly of higher value than the competition.” This rigor and discipline (which included endless classroom and field work; and being shown how to sell cross-border in the information and communication age, as opposed to traditional or relationship selling) paved the expansion of their market across the region in less than 7 years. And so from “critic” (“suplado”), the writer is today their biggest cheerleader. And banks and proponents would present new investment and acquisition options – yet they would always recite who they are: focused and disciplined . . . in consumer products manufacturing and marketing, with 3 developed business units and moving into the fourth.
But does this approach work for countries? The writer quotes John Gokongwei anew: “In the last 54 years, Korea worked hard to rebuild itself after a world war and a civil war destroyed it. From an agricultural economy in 1945, it shifted to light industry, consumer products, and heavy industry in the ’80s. At the turn of the 21st century, the Korean government focused on making Korea the world’s leading IT nation. It did this by grabbing market share in key sectors like semiconductors, robotics, and biotechnology.
“When Singapore was asked to leave the Malaysian Federation of States in 1965, Lee Kuan Yew developed strategies that he executed with single-mindedness despite their being unpopular. He and his cabinet started to build a nation by establishing the basics: building infrastructure, establishing an army, weeding out corruption, providing mass housing, building a financial center.”
Problem-solving is not dissertation-writing – it is internalizing the genius of the Great Commandments!
I think the economy is focused too much in remittances and sending people abroad. It will be a challenge for the Philippines to have entrepeneurs like Sy or Gowkngwei when there is hardly any support for them.
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