Tag: The View From Taft
Basura ko, sagot ko
The Philippines sits on the typhoon belt in the Pacific and experiences an annual average of 20 typhoons, which cause deaths and agricultural and infrastructure damages.
A strategic framework for start-ups
When I started my small business seven years ago, I didn’t use any of the tools I teach in my Strategic Management class. It’s not that I went into it without much study because I did a lot of the usual trading area surveys, site feasibilities, and financial analyses. Maybe it was because the business is a franchise, or because the decision to start it was more tactical in nature. Regardless, I found the traditional strategy tools more suited for larger companies.
ESports Management: An Emerging Industry in the Philippines
Only eighteen teams remain. The champions of The International 2018, the 8th annual edition of the world’s most prestigious Dota tournament, stand to share more than P500 million among themselves and with their organization. Even the poorest-performing team will bring home more than P3 million. This is the opportunity that two Philippine-based teams and other Filipino players playing for teams based in other countries have qualified for.
Humanistic management sucks less and is better for your health
How are you doing? How well did you sleep last night?
Can we move towards sufficiency-driven consumption and business models?
“Greed, for lack of a better word, is good.” -- Gordon Gekko, from the movie Wall Street
Designing Better Meetings
All of us have attended meetings in which the agenda seemed endless to the point of becoming pointless. And some of us have conducted meetings during which participants looked listlessly at their phones. Sadly, meetings have become both boon and bane in the workplace.
Are you a dignity-enhancing manager?
I was recently in New York to meet colleagues in the International Humanistic Management Association (IHMA). Over the three-day meeting hosted by Michael Pirson at Fordham University, we planned how to accelerate progress towards our vision in IHMA: “We envision a society and an economy that works for all. Such a society promotes organizing practices that honors the inherent value of all life and protects human dignity. Management practices in such an economy promote human well-being and focuses on flourishing of all life.”
Women empowerment in the Philippine workplace
If you had a choice, would you rather have been born a man or a woman?
Discovering and growing tourism’s potential
In my recent travels, I have seen how tourism can generate income and wealth for people. Tourism refers to all travel-related activities undertaken by a resident to another place for purposes other than work and permanent residence. Tourism offers product bundles composed of “experiences” involving the active participation of the tourist. The tourism product is the complete experience from departure from home to return.
Advertise responsibly
The Ad Standards Council (ASC) is the advertising industry body in the Philippines tasked with screening and regulating content of advertising materials across all...
Stretching ourselves into our ‘yikes zones’ the TED way
On April 20, I attended the 3rd National Research and Development Conference held at the Philippine International Convention Center. The conference was organized by...
Humanistic management and competitiveness
Following tradition, President Duterte released an Executive Order on Labor Day to somehow address the expressed needs of the country’s workers. As expected, most...
Four lessons on funding social enterprises
On April 18, I was fortunate to attend a plenary session of the Asian Forum on Enterprise for Society.
The topic was “Money for dreamers...
An Open Letter from the De La Salle Brothers
In an open letter dated April 19, 2018, Br. Jose Mari Jimenez FSC, Auxiliary Visitor for the Philippines and de facto head of the...
The business of privacy
Our data in this age of social media have never been so ubiquitous. Our personal information is readily available on sites such as Facebook,...
Getting Ahead in a Technology-Driven Workplace
In today’s highly competitive job market, what skills do young professionals need to get their dream jobs? And what will ensure that when they...
We need good retail jobs
Last week, a Facebook post with several pictures of the terrible conditions in the employee locker and rest rooms at a well-known Makati City...
Water, water everywhere and not a drop to drink
When you ask people why the area from the Pampanga River basin to Manila Bay is often flooded, most of them will cite poor...
Woman, you have the power
I was bullied when I was in grade school. I was fat and had acne. In contrast, some of my female classmates had waists...
Why do consumers buy?
I love rock and roll. As Mick Jagger and Keith Richards of the Rolling Stones wrote, “I can’t get no satisfaction, I can’t get...
Getting constitutional governance right
Our legislators are busy discussing changing the Constitution -- again. Our lawmakers, often with prodding from Malacañang and special interest groups, think that the...
Developing the next generation of ‘Filipinnovators’
Based on a recent study by Shikhar Ghosh of the Harvard Business School, “75% of all start-ups fail” because launching a new enterprise has...
Love lessons from social enterprises
As the Filipino rock band Rivermaya sang, “Panahon na naman ng pag-ibig (It’s the season of love again).” For couples, the coolness of the...
A solid law
Almost 18 years have gone by now since Congress passed Republic Act No. 9003, known as the Ecological Solid Waste Management Act. The law...
Serendipity in dragon boating
With the strong urging of my strategic management professor, Dina Bernardo, I decided to try dragon boating one Sunday morning and brought my wife...
The Merits of Index Fund Investing
Whenever friends or students ask for advice about investing in the stock market, I always point to pooled funds as the preferred entry strategy...
Chinese universities through a Filipino educator’s lens
Educational networking and study tours enhance liaison, cooperation, and possible partnerships among participating universities. I organized one such tour in Central China in November...
Enjoying the TRAIN ride
The New Year immediately ushered in the much anticipated and talked about Christmas present of the current administration. On Dec. 19, 2017, President Rodrigo...
Corporate governance and productive conflict
When an online newspaper article declared that “Sereno violated SC collegiality,” I took some time to view the YouTube videos of the House Justice...
Jose Rizal, hero outside the battlefield
About a month ago, we observed National Heroes Day, a day reserved for Filipinos who have consistently demonstrated in a very public way exemplary...
Noche buena
Three days from now, we will once again prepare for our noche buena, which, for Filipinos, is one of the highlights of the Christmas...
And rock and roll
In late November, a sociology student from the University of the Philippines talked about her experiences of sexual misconduct in the local indie music...
Lessons from millennial corporate leaders
In 2013, Time magazine called the millennials the “Me-Me-Me” generation and its cover declared that “millennials are lazy, entitled narcissists.” Not surprisingly, the age...
Making choices: The essence of democracy
Civilized societies create time to remember and honor their heroes. As several others and I have said, celebrating anniversaries or milestones in a person’s,...
Towards responsible management and sustainable business practices
The theme of the recently concluded 5th National Business Management Conference (NBMC) is “Grassroots: Towards Responsible Management and Sustainable Business Practices,” which is both...
Reflections on humanistic management
Humanistic management advocates often challenge how we define ourselves in relation to management and business. On one end, they would define a person as...
The anatomy of sexual harassment
Sexual harassment is hard to talk about because it is a socially, emotionally, and gender-charged topic. My earliest exposure to the issue was during...
My Academy of Management experience
In August, I attended the 77th Annual Meeting of the Academy of Management (AOM) in Atlanta, Georgia. This is the premier conference for students,...
Finding our purpose in faith, service, and communion
Younger people are often told to find their life’s purpose. We’re encouraged to uphold purpose over profit, or to combine purpose with profit. We’re...
(Financial) Fitness first
Last Friday, I defended my dissertation proposal for my Doctor of Business Administration degree. As a financial management major and a registered financial planner,...
The miracle work of teachers
My early encounters with high school math were horrible. Try as I could, I couldn’t make sense of it. Everything seemed strangely different from...
Developing the next generation of sustainability leaders
“What do we need to change in order to develop a new generation of business leaders who connect profits with purpose, who see in...
Human rights and martial law
Any discussion on human rights and the controversy generated by the slashing by the House of Representatives of the proposed budget of the Commission...
How often do you experience decision fatigue?
Every time I am invited to grab a quick bite, this question usually follows, “Where would you like to eat?” Unless I had particular...