Competitive instinct

Instinctively we know what winning teams look like and what losing teams do. But when it comes to economic development is our thought process fuzzy – because of our parochial instinct? Thus are unwittingly creating oligarchy? And then seek refuge . . . in our supposed protectors (e.g., Marcos, Estrada and Arroyo) like a vicious circle – because history is only repeated but never learned? (And why Gorbachev is critical of Russia?)

And so we don’t talk of the imperative of pursuing a competitive edge in economic development? For example, in a globalized economy, competition starts with competitive capital generation. We can’t simply generate capital – we must be competitive size-wise? For instance, to raise our gross investments to 25% and start to compete with our neighbors, we need $20 B; while the JFC or Joint Foreign Chambers are looking at $75 B – clearly a competitive edge, like fighting with a WMD in our arsenal?

Global competition demands competitive products. How many export-promotion initiatives have we pursued over decades – and our exports still lag those of our neighbors? We can’t simply market indigenous products – we must market competitive and compelling indigenous products? Global competition demands world-class product development practices. We simply don’t have a product-development heritage – and thus must acquire the skill-set in order to elevate our export revenues?

Global competition demands world-class marketing. Our industry can’t simply be focused on the local market lest it be a self-fulfilling prophecy – they must invest in developing world-class marketing? Global competition demands world-class efficiency and productivity – to enhance margins for reinvestment and growth, and to develop competitive-building skill-sets. But our infrastructure at the macro and micro levels are inadequate? And corruption multiplies this competitive disadvantage – because it breeds a culture of inefficiency? And we can’t simply give ourselves false hopes by comparing our liabilities with others instead of our net worth?

Global competition demands world-class technology and expertise to attain and sustain competitive advantage. And global players – MNCs and expatriates – are the source of technology and expertise. But we’ve had a conflicted relationship with them – still, we can’t simply carry a chip on our shoulder?

The writer’s Eastern European friends have learned many of the nuances and dynamics of the above elements but seven plus years weren’t enough to make them second-nature. (Indeed we have a lofty mountain to scale?) Yet they’ve learned, for example, that while local resources were easy to tap – i.e., equipment could be fabricated, e.g., the jeepney? – they may not be globally competitive. It took beyond number-crunching before they realized the mantra: it is not costs; it is margins, i.e., technology and efficiency more than offset cost. And they acquired a state-of-the-art technology from the West. The outcome: they’re dominant in this piece of business generating far greater margins – thus the funds and compelling products to compete in the West; where before they were fixated on low-pricing as a strategy! And adding a feather to their cap, Western financial institutions have become fans – thus encouraging them to pursue growth and acquisition.

All the above are commonsensical – none is rocket science – but our parochial instinct has screened us from reality: the simple formula our neighbors have adopted, i.e., to partner with foreign investors and global players? That we do it in fits and starts as transactional and tactical initiatives – like the growing (neighborhood cottage) industries established by foreigners turned residents, among others – is in fact counterproductive: (a) SMEs are good but they must be geared for global competition; and (b) we’ve lost focus on the big bang like what the JFC or Joint Foreign Chambers were proposing? Or we seem to forget the 80-20 rule or the genius of the Great Commandments?

It is not about destiny; it is about the choices we make? And it is the same life-lesson that we teach our children? That they ought not to be like kids in a candy store – they should share what they have in abundance so that others would share what they have in abundance too? And that’s the gut of a global competitive edge? Sounds like the multiplication of the loaves and fishes?