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For BUS699M #9: Courage in Fighting with COVID-19

Of all the guest speakers in our CEO Series class, the most popular question that asked by the class is how the CEO or Management team lead the people to eliminate the risk. Some CEOs shared even before COVID-19,  they were preparing to lead in a future marked by change. Their actions were proactive and disciplined – simplifying and modernizing work; integrating teams, processes and value chains across business units and geographies; elevating leadership capabilities; advancing digital solutions; and empowering their workforce to make decisions quickly, safely and with greater accountability.

Some CEOs leveraged their strengths to design a better company for the long term – one that can act deliberately, seize opportunity and generate stronger returns. And they remained true to the values, prepared to succeed in any environment, and adaptive in a dynamic world where disruption is routine no matter the policy that implemented to tackle with Covid 19 is direct or indirect.

Generally speaking, for the good of all, many people volunteered for medical trials. Scientists and doctors from around the world shared knowledge. Vaccines were developed at a speed no one thought possible. Just imagine what humanity might achieve if it could direct such public-spirited co-operation towards other challenges, like poverty, or climate change.

“If the pandemic revealed humanity’s collective strength, it also showed the resilience of the company”. I remember one of the CEO shared, the strength and clarity of the company strategy will enable it to succeed as a business. We will continue to power progress by generating value for shareholders and investing in projects to help meet demand. In turn, this will support supply chains and boost local economies.

When COVID-19 struck, and lockdowns spread in the country until now, the people rose to the challenge. Many companies continued to produce and deliver vital supplies, to keep homes lit and to maintain essential businesses. For instance, in DLSU, to implement “Leaning shall never stop”, it is one of the schools first to conduct the online teaching and learning in the country. Everyone worked as a team showed ingenuity as well as resilience.

Looking ahead, we are coming out of a year like none other: a global pandemic; a historic lockdown of economic activity; and unprecedented disruption in markets. Yet the greatest challenges can call forth the greatest responses. Through the power of innovation, markets and partnership, scientists developed multiple COVID-19 vaccines in record time. The tide is beginning to turn, and the pandemic will eventually recede. On this foundation of hope, optimism and confidence, we can work together to achieve an even brighter future. Let’s help to build this future.

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For BUS699M #8 Have You Ever Feel Regretful for your decision?

For tonight, our guest speaker is Doc Anna Maria Tan-Delfin, DVM, MPVM, CEO of The Bookmark, Inc.

I really like her sharing especially in such a storytelling way, specifically, I can feel the same sentiments with her when she made the decision that she chose to continue to go UP Diliman to further her studies in veterinary medicines, giving up her dream to become a doctor to support her father for the family business, and to now be the company president the bookmark, instead of going to Europe for training and competition, given the certain facts that her UP application form even signed by her brother and she is not that good at mathematics.

Her experience deeply throwed me back to two years ago, when I just was dispatched to the Philippines, struggling with the new working environment while I determined to take MBA in DLSU in parallel, the most challenging for me at that time was the travel from Clark to Manila because I shall two or three times per week in the evening time regardless of the traffic and terrible weather. There are many times during my most stressed moment at work, or like every 2:00am or even 3:00am I can arrive at home after a long night’s bus trip from school, but thinking of the mentoring provided by the professors, every laughters during our class discussion, case analysis and presentation. It is all worthwhile.  

So I remember that I asked her that, "Is there a moment that you ever feel regretful of the outcome caused by different life paths you chose to stick to. If there is a chance now for you can go back, will you still make the same decision for your life path? "

"'Life was like a box of chocolates. You never know what you're gonna get " she answered me with a smile, filled with confidence and courage. She kept iterating that she doesn't understand any business, or how to make the so-called strategic decision, although strategic decision making is one of those abstract, yet insanely important aspects of the business that every CEO needs to take into account. But through the discussion with her, I see the abstractness of the term comes from the fact that different leaders perceive strategic decisions differently, much like different businesses have different business strategies.

Like the Bookmark, a Filipino corporation established in November 1945. It actively publishes textbooks and a variety of trade books dealing with Philippine topics and themes. And now she is taking the CEO position of the company, according to her, instead of saying she is the boss, she would rather call her a "manager" in this fairly small-scaled organization because she cares the employees and their family members same amount to hers own. That is why from the outbreak of the pandemic till now, there is zero affected employee in her company due to well-organized protocols.

But back gain, is not she implementing the strategic decision management for her company? Because it is an ongoing process that involves crafting strategies to achieve goals and altering strategies based on reviewed outcomes, she already done it quite well. I think the answer is definitely a NO. She also mentioned that "Learn from the mistakes of others. You can never live long enough to make them all yourself". This is by far the best thing that you can do as a smart CEO, who understands the risks and the weight of decisions that you take, and how they impact the future of your organization. Trust your people. Don't be tricked into thinking that just because you are the CEO, you know more about every topic. If you have hired well, your team members will be much smarter than you in their area of expertise, so their decisions will be better shaped around certain topics.

She also shared the spirit of “learn to let it go”, probably it is one of the hardest and also important parts of leadership and strategic decision making is understanding when you need to eliminate something for the sake of the greater good. It could be a program you will need to stop or an investment you might need to take out and reinvest in another country or outsource a part of the business, which means losing some employees. Those decisions are the ones that are very often overlooked because it's so hard to give them a proper evaluation, she added, but considering if you already tried you 100% shown to your employees, they will understand what you have think of them. 

 I might feel regretful for the decision that I made chose to be transferred to Asia Pacific, but choosing DLSU to further my academic development, I will definitely be proud to say YES to all till the end of this journey, it is one of the strategic decisions that I never ever made I would say. 

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For BUS699M #7 Importance of Education

Today, our guest speaker of the elective class- CEO Series, Mr Ramon del Rosario, he shared a lot of insights during the webinar, but I remembered the most one is he continually emphasize on the importance of education and what the role everyone should be act for its development.  

He shared starting from his father, belief that Filipino entrepreneurs and managers can mobilize capital, implement significant projects, and manage these projects as well as or even better than the foreign management teams that were dominant in the Philippines at that time, Ramon del Rosario Snr, together with fellow businessmen Filemon Rodriguez and Ernesto Escaler, founded the first Filipino management firm in the country, the Philippine Investment Management and Consultants, Inc (PHINMA) in 1956.

“PHINMA was set up 58 years ago. That means it was still in the aftermath of the World War II, while Filipinos were trying to build the economy. Dad formed PHINMA without much capital but with people he believed had talent,” With an initial foray in the cement industry, PHINMA’s portfolio now includes interests in education, energy, hotels, housing, steel products, and strategic consulting. When del Rosario Snr passed away in 2008, the Manila Jaycees, the oldest leadership development organization in the Philippines and Asia, which he established in 1947, wanted to honour him by instituting an award recognising individuals who exemplify outstanding corporate citizenship and passion for nation-building.

Education is the Future for Better Lives

He reiterates that we all want an education system that helps every Filipino to succeed in the 21st century. I believe that we can achieve high-quality education by improving teacher training and certification, encouraging industry-academe partnerships, decentralizing education delivery, and participating in international testing.

so there is a must of developing better teachers by improving the teacher qualification and screening process. Teachers in the Philippines need much help.

To engage industry in education. Philippines were second to the last among middle-income countries in industry-academe links in World Bank Study. There have been efforts to address this, but the response should be institutional and sustainable. If the goal is to ensure curricular relevance for job-readiness and entrepreneurship, then the private sector needs to be an equal partner. We also must look into decentralizing education. The sheer size of the system and the Philippines’ archipelagic nature make education delivery prone to inefficiencies and wastage. Lat but not least, to invest in accountability measures to help us know whether we are on the right track in terms of student learning and postgraduation outcomes.

Given the pandemic in this trying time, the country still has made great strides in increasing resources for education. This has led to more children going to and staying in school. But it all means nothing if the youth continue to earn diplomas and little else to show for their success. We therefore need to improve teacher development, encourage industry-academe partnerships, explore decentralizing education delivery, and invest in accountability metrics. Together, I believe a high-quality educational system for all Filipinos is just around the corner, because education that does not lead to better lives is no education at all.

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For BUS699M #6 Reflection on The CEO Can not Afford to Panic

Our elective class had its first case study “The CEO can’t afford to panic”.  The analysis is not just about coming up with the best course of action from a business perspective but also considering the ethical implications of one’s decisions. It explores that area of social responsibility. Now the CEO of Kaspa Finance Services is having a dilemma. While presiding over the usual Tuesday meeting of the company, a bomb exploded at a nearby train station causing confusion, uncertainty and even fatalities in the area. Given this circumstance, the city requested whether Kaspa Financial Services is willing to help the community by providing its space to become a triage center and a temporary morgue. Standpoints of the members of the management team also exist at this point with some agreeing to the city’s request and others arguing against it.

 At the same time, Ms Pia also emphasized the crisis management and communication too. Base on the professor, a crisis is any situation that threatens the integrity or reputation of your company, usually brought on by adverse or negative media attention. Whatever it is, it’s highly likely that some kind of crisis is going to hit your company sometime in the next couple of years. Everyone have to be well prepared before a crisis.  To put mechanisms into place to provide decision-makers with much quicker access to reliable information, adopt contingency planning, forge relationships and develop networks before a crisis strikes, update and organize communication channels.

During a Crisis, everyone have to be responsive, to satisfy primary needs for information, such as answer basic questions: 1) who's safe and who's not, 2) what action is being taken and where to go for safety, 3) who are the contacts for help and information, and 4) how can help be provided to those who need it and within four hours make a public announcement.

The Kaspa Gerald Smarten, CEO of Kaspa Financial Services (Kaspa) is having a dilemma. While presiding over the usual Tuesday meeting of the company, a bomb exploded at nearby train station causing confusion, uncertainty, and even fatalities on the area. Given this circumstance, the city requested whether Kaspa is willing to help to the community by providing its space to become a triage center and a temporary morgue. Standpoints of the members of the management team also exists at this point with some agreeing to the city’s request and others arguing against it. Smarten as the CEO has to make an important decision in a short period.

Through our discussion,  we recommended for Smarten to offer the company’s lobby and cafeteria to the city to help the victims of the subway bombing incident.

We believe that going beyond the boundaries of the ordinary course of business, as traditionally set by society, is the best action to take.  This is because in the realm of ethics, moral conscience and civic responsibilities are expected to be exercised and mere compliance with regulations and a good achievement of one’s financial performance are outweighed by different things affecting society.

The business arena is getting more and more competitive and managers, especially CEOs must be in the forefront of making an effort in differentiating their organizations from the rest. I believe that going beyond the boundaries of the ordinary course of business, as traditionally set by society, is the best action to take. This is because in the realm of ethics, moral conscience and civic responsibilities are expected to be exercised and mere compliance with regulations and a good achievement of one's financial performance are outweighed by different things affecting society. 

Meanwhile, I also learned the  important role of the CEO in an organization. The decision related to crisis, problem and major opportunities that must be overseen and integrated by the CEO. A great CEO has the ability to turn threats into opportunities and crisis into solutions in a very humane and ethical way. 

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For BUS699M #5 Reflection on Non-Profit Org and Passion to Drive Your Work

For tonight, our guest speaker, actually I really like his story. He  was on his way to becoming an investment banker when a class on International Agencies at American University perked his curiosity about how organizations behave, grow, and change social structures and relationships. He shifted courses and found himself holding a graduate degree in Applied Sociology. Forget about investment banking; he wanted to change the world. The degree, and his experience in nonprofit work for three decades now, equipped him to look at data, history, social dynamics, and emerging trends to create strategies for sustainable growth, scale, and long-lasting impact. He has been at the forefront of health, education and community development work that benefit children, families, and marginalized populations: from building school-based health centers in the mid-90s to philanthropic and program work in under-served neighborhoods at present. He has done grassroots outreach, program development and design, policy development and advocacy, led organizations to grow and scale, and raised millions of dollars to initiate, evaluate, and sustain children and family-centered initiatives and systems-change work. The test of a community’s grit and generosity lies in how it treats its children and vulnerable populations. He believes that, in the most powerful country in the world, the institutions that shape and hone the ideas and potential of the next generation of great people - whether these are schools, museums or learning centers - should be the best institutions we can build. And how we treat the marginalized is the path we pave on what our future holds for us.

So out of his most sharing, I really appreciate what he spent of most of the time shared, the non-profit organization, how it is different from a typical business and how it will be sustainable under this difficult time.  Base on him, it is mainly coming from its name, it doesn’t operate to create a profit, it merely functions to support their chosen charities. It is very critical for non-profit organizations to plan where to get their donations because it is where they will get their fund to support their causes. Their company exist to support their mission which also means they are they help resolve other people’s problem. Because they are the one looking for ways on how those chosen organization can be helped through fund raising and donations.

Everyone, not just CEOs have to value their time and keep their priorities straight. Every one of us is given the gift of time however it is up to us to decide on where do we want to spend it. Some of us waste it mostly to leisure and spare a small amount of time doing more valuable things. I was guilty of this before since we all know that its always fun to do leisurely activities however, if we want to have a better future ahead of us, we need to define our goals and do things that could actually help us achieve them.

I also remember how he emphasize again and again to work for job you have passionate about. Because it is always about how your passion drive your career decisions. To be able to do work that you are proud of and which stimulates you to develop more. As Ms Pia introduced in the beginning, the guest speaker had gone through supporting himself by working and studying all at the same time, I also heard some MBA mates asked before if he or she can be the same kind of CEO as he is today if he or she go through the same struggles he had experienced. I understand that CEOs are honed to be the type of leader that they are through their life’s experiences. the hardships they went through contribute the type of person they are today.

I also believe in the same thing he did, a person is defined by how he handled the situations that is thrown to one’s persons way. I think those people who had a lot of issues in their lives and were able to resolve are the strongest people because no amount of storm can put them down.

This is what we need from a leader, relating to one of the first cases we had entitled CEO’s can’t afford to panic, a leader should know how to react on occasions where he/she needs to respond quickly. We all know that being a CEO plays a major part in the organization. A single decision can change the direction of the whole organization.

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For BUS699M #4  The trends of the World Today

Today, it is the third guest speaker for our elective class, the guest speaker is a BPO and internet entrepreneur, a book author, and a writer on political economy. In his sharing, he reiterated again that the main trends in the world today, is still the demographic decline, technological disruption and the US-China rivalry.   I am personally more into the technology, so I will reflect on what the impact that the technological disruption occurred. I believe that technological disruption is accelerating and will affect almost all industries and touch every aspect of daily life not only here in the Philippines, but also across the world. Disruption will be severe because even established companies employing thousands of workers will see their business models disappear. GM and Ford, for example, like the speaker shared in the class, will have to find a new business model other than selling cars if self-driving electric vehicles make it more attractive for commuters to just book rides rather than own cars. Those who make a living out of driving, such as truck drivers and delivery men, will find themselves useless to employers. No industry is safe. Blockchain technology, for example, will disrupt and reorder the banking and insurance industry. Artificial intelligence will challenge the financial consultancy industry. Logistics, hotels and restaurants, retail, transportation, and telecommunications, to name a few, will be disrupted. Acemoglu and Restrepo only looked at industrial automation. Imagine what will happen when new, disruptive technologies like self-driving vehicles, artificial intelligence, and Internet of Things (IoT) are applied beyond factories to society at large. Or, imagine what will happen if artificial intelligence takes away even white collar jobs like those of financial advisers, lawyers, and accountants.(Cited from his speech) As a result of growing mass anxiety, we are already seeing that populism and autocrats offering simplistic solutions are on the rise. Disruptive politics is bound to strengthen and challenge the existing order. so what is the recommendations and solution for the future business leaders, I bet except you will have to update yourself with the technologies, for the coaching mentality, you should be coach as the best manager from the people management perspective. I guess winning attitude is a must. You have to be ambitious to the new technology and new things, be sensitive with it. To formalize strategies to field the right timing, I think that is apart from the business itself, we can do something about it.  

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For BUS699M #3 Reflection on Brand Sustainability.

For this week, We are very honored that Ms Pia invited Mr Dean Aragon as our guest speaker, he is the CEO of Shell Brands International AG. He's a highly respected global marketer who spent nearly two decades at Unilever where he served in a number of high ranking marketing positions. He has spent 30 years in marketing and is leading one of the largest brands. 

My question to him during the class is: I read from your medio releases that Shell recently signs an agreement for its onshore upstream interests in Egypt with Cheiron Petroleum Corporation and Cairn Energy PLC. How do you manage that brand in so many different places and touchpoint, how do you manage the differences in local cultures to the global direction of the brand sustainability? I understand many of us still struggle with it but how do you manage the balance between setting a global purpose direction for your brand and managing to make it relevant and interesting to the extension? For example, like Scooter licensing under this digital marketing dominated trend?  

below is the the general summary from his answer, there is no other way other than to make sure that every unit within shell equally embraces that purpose and makes it personal makes it part of their success strategy, because you can't really provide templates or cookie cutters, so that's why the first thing I say is they're first. They have to get it then they have to actually love it , and if they do that then they will live it,  and that's why I've been working very closely with a number of units across Shell to make sure that they are they're really going through that journey if I get it I love it I'll and embed it in their strategies and their plans in the way they populate the funnel of growth initiatives, it needs to be filtered primarily by our sense of purpose. 

It's not even freedom that for me to give Shell employee that they have the autonomy, the responsibility, especially the PNL to make sure that is the success strategy, and the good news is that it wasn't a hard sell, I was really pushing not only an open door but it was something that we're not surprised, you know in in this industry we're not surprised that when you give people meaning to what they're doing, that's the best way to engage them. it's been said by many experts opinion the left brain may conclude shows a very technical company full of engineers and economists and mathematicians, but the right brain decides and I've been a I don't know who coined that phrase but I'm a big believer in it, because I've seen it work there's a famous English neuroscientist who I think first said and I remember. I also say that I often get confronted sometimes when people say well don't you realize that some of these things are commodities, I said it's a commodity if you see it that way, but you know as a marketer I've I never see anything as a commodity, and then my counter question is do you want to be preferred like do you want your business and your offering to be preferred? do you want our brand to be preferred the answer? of course it is always yes and then my next response to that is well it's intellectually impossible to be preferred if you're not differentiated.

I am also thinking on how he unites the Team, how he can ensure that the ‘picture of success’ is a group photo and not a passport photo unless you’ll form a team that can succeed with a shared vision of success. I agree with when the picture of success has a wide embrace, everyone can see the merit in joining in despite the struggles along the way. 

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For BUS699M #2 Reflection on Competitive Relationship in Business.

When I was young, I saw from the TV series that the competitive relationship in a biological community includes the plant and animal species within the ecosystem that compete over food and territories. Competition occurs in virtually every ecosystem in nature. This relationship develops when more than one organism in an environment has the same need for resources as another to survive.

How about in schooling and business? I purely thought I can’t share anything to my rival/competitor when I was in middle school because I always want to stayed in the top place. If ever I shared my study notes or something relevant to them, they might catch up and surpass on me, this is same to the business world I thought in my young age until my middle high school, as the assignment from teachers are more and more intensive, gradually most classmates were forming a small study group for checking the lecture points and assisting each other. But as self-ego high I was, still perused to study alone, unsurprisingly, I was ranked at 10th in the final exam.

   Having realized the importance of teamwork, your competitors could be your collaborators. During the last week in Ms. Pia’s elective class, one of my classmates asked the guest speaker, ‘how do you see your company’s competitiveness in relation to customer satisfaction and product quality?’ The guest speaker answered that they may be your competitor most of the time, but some of the time they will be your collaborator, sometimes they may be your customer, and sometimes you may be their customer. We are not always the best option to help serve our customers needs. Sometimes, we need to “partner” with a competitor to service a customer. By having good relationships with competitors, we have been able to grow our business in new areas, both geographically and in market segments.

I agree that it only makes sense to be close to other BSCs and share ideas and solutions with people within the industry that has similar experiences. When you share a market segment, you are not only sharing customers, you also share the same difficulties, same laws and regulations, same labor issues such as turnover and unionization, supply price increases, weather conditions, etc.  

I remember when I was first invited to join a trade association, I feared that my competitors would find out about and steal my customers. I wanted no part of that! While I encountered a few rival companies, most were in different markets. I developed relationships and long-term friendships with other business owners and learned from their experience. As our trust grew, we were able to work together to produce improved cleaning methods. I found that sharing only helps raise the level of professionalism for everyone. I learned and passed on to others many organizational skills, processes, forms, procedures, regulatory information, and more. The value of information to be gleaned from friendly competitors far outweighs the risks; in that years I have never lost a customer to one.

A company can form a cooperative relationship with suppliers, customers, government organizations, educational and research institutions and even with other companies in the same segment. In these relationships, companies have control over their resources; however, they decide to use them in conjunction with other organizations. In addition, the cooperative relationships are connected to the sharing of information between companies, for joint actions and the intensity of interpersonal relations.

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For BUS699M #1 Love and Integrity in Business

Writing in the beginning. Times flies, I even cant recall the last stressed but fruitful term and now it is already in the 2nd to the last term of my M.B.A journey. It is always nice to make some notes along the study path.

In today’s volatile, uncertain, complex and ambiguous world the best boards are developing their leadership potential so they not only deliver the performance expected by shareholders but also inspire and encourage everyone in the business to put shared purpose and values into action. In this way the business delivers its promises to employees, customers, suppliers and the wider community. 

But I keep wondering that every single human-made disaster - this Covid pandemic, climate change, forest fires, corruption, global financial financial crises, business failure, industry disruption, volatility, uncertainty, unhappiness, -- name it, every single one was inadvertently caused wittingly or not. Had leaders done their homework, many of these manmade disasters could have been avoided or perils mitigated.

so why is love and integrity important in leadership? Having honesty and integrity in the workplace is one of the most important qualities of great leadership in business. First of all, integrity in business and how it translates to success? Whenever our company hold a strategic planning session, the first value that all the executives agree on is integrity. Leaders know that honesty and integrity are the foundations of leadership. Leaders stand up for what they believe in. There are no moral shortcuts in the game of business or life, there are, basically, three kinds of people, the unsuccessful, the temporarily successful, and those who become and remain successful. The difference is character.

Then, great leaders never compromise their honesty and integrity by cheating. There are many examples of temporary winners who won by cheating. For a number of years, Enron was cited as one of America’s most innovating and daring companies. The CEO of the company knew the most important people in the country, including the President of the United States. Except that Enron’s success was built on lies, and the “winners” who headed the company are case studies in lack of integrity. Meanwhile, leaders with integrity aren’t afraid of the truth. Leaders with integrity is not afraid to face the truth. This is called the reality principle, or “seeing the world as it really is, not as you wish it to be.” It is perhaps the most important principle of leadership and dependent on integrity because it demands truthfulness and honesty. Many companies and organizations fail because they don��t follow the reality principle.

Because Integrity means telling the truth even if the truth is ugly. Better to be honest than to delude others, because then you are probably deluding yourself, too. Leaders need to be courageous, but they also need to be open to the idea that they could be wrong. There are many leaders who eventually fail because they refuse to question their own assumptions or conclusions.

Maybe you are not wrong, but just opening yourself to to that possibility is going to make you a more effective leader because it will open your mind to new ideas or new thinking. There should be no exceptions to honesty and integrity. Integrity is a state of mind and is not situational. If you compromise your integrity in small situations with little consequence, then it becomes very easy to compromise on the small situations.

As the future business leader, let’s remember that leaders with integrity always err on the side of fairness, especially when other people are unfair. As a matter of fact, the true mark of leadership is how fair you can be when other people are treating you unfairly.

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For CSR#13 Reflection in Service Learning

For the last reflection for this subject, I am thinking of the self-service learning that currently I am doing. I would say reflection is a key component of service-learning; in fact, reflection is the link between the service and the learning. Reflection is the intentional consideration of an experience in light of particular learning objectives. The presumption is that community service does not necessarily, in and of itself, produce learning. Reflection activities provide the bridge between the community service activities and the academic content of the course. Reflection activities direct the student’s attention to new interpretations of events and provide a means through which the community service can be studied and interpreted, much as a text is read and studied for deeper understanding.

When should reflection take place? Reflection activities can be incorporated before, during, and after the service experience. Reflection activities prior to service can focus on helping students anticipate what their service experience will be like and what assumptions they are bringing into the situation. Reflection during and after the service experience help students understand the actual outcome of their experience in relation to the course content.

How should reflection sessions be structured? For reflection to be effective, outcomes should be specified explicitly and precisely. If outcomes are too broad, it may be difficult to devise appropriate reflection activities and to develop appropriate assessment techniques. Reflection questions can direct the students towards understanding themselves, the population they are serving, the social issue driving their service activity, and the relationship between the service and the academic content of the course.

Issue-focused questions:

Why is there a need for your service?

What do you perceive as the underlying issue, and why does it exist?

What social, economic, political, and educational systems are maintaining and perpetuating the situation?

What can you do with the knowledge you gained from this experience to promote change?

Client-focused reflection questions:

What similarities do you perceive between you and the people you are serving?

How are you perceived by the people you are serving?

What do you think a typical day is like for the people you serve? What pressures to they confront?

Self-focused reflection questions:

What personal qualities (e.g. leadership, communication skills, empathy etc.) have you developed through service-learning?

What contribution can you make to public understanding of this issue based on your service-learning experience?

In what ways are you finding your involvement with service-learning difficulty? What have you found that is helping you follow through despite the difficulties you encounter?

Course-focused reflection questions:

How does the service experience relate to the course material?

Did the experience contradict or reinforce course material?

How did the course material help you overcome obstacles or dilemmas in the service-experience?

What aspects of your learning may have been due to your service-experience?

To sum up,  reflection on this self-service journey is really a productive tool for me reflect anytime for further self doubting, self-critique and self-motivation above all.   

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For Sustainable Business #13  Reflection on IKEA

Corporate culture is implanted in every company’s goals, structure as well as the company’s approach to their employees, clients and their local community.

Thus, it is a necessary factor in any company that determines the organisation’s success or failure.

Corporate culture reflects on the behaviour of the company as a whole. In other words, their culture and values are how they want the world to see them as. These types of culture could be fun loving, creatively driven or family-community oriented; just like IKEA.

IKEA was founded in Sweden in 1943 by Ingvar Kamprad, who was listed as one of the world’s richest people in 2013. Ingvar Kamprad started his business around the age of just 17-years old. His earliest venture was buying matches in bulk in Stockholm and reselling them locally. He went on to sell fish, Christmas decorations and seeds before eventually settling on furnishing industry.

At current, the flat-pack furniture chain has 361 stores in over 40 countries employing more than 164,000 workers, according to its website. The latest edition of its catalogue has a print-run of 217 million, in 33 languages for 47 countries, and the digital catalogue has had 45 million visits.

IKEA’s mission is to provide a better everyday life for people and keeping the mission alive are their everyday employees. The team at IKEA share the same principle that many should be able to create the home they want and dream of.

It is also part of their business idea to offer a wide range of well designed, functional home furnishing products at prices so low that as many people as possible will be able to afford them.

Not only focusing on being successful, IKEA also focuses in being long lasting. They believe that IKEA’s culture is the glue in a growing company and at the same time, the fuel that keeps everyone going by challenging each other with a strong foundation in working together as colleagues.

The team at IKEA believe that value only comes from one place, which is the heart. Småland, in South Sweden, was where the company’s founder was born and raised. It can be easily recognised as the source of IKEA shared values. Their shared values, which are all apparent in the lifestyle, attitudes and customs of the place where it all began. Their values include:

Togetherness

Cost-conscious

Respect

Simplicity

As a DLSU business students, remember that the corporate culture determines the way the company moves; whether in a positive aspect or otherwise. So it is not only the exciting and engaging IKEA’s culture that brings the team together, but their culture really helps them have a community feeling in the company.

As stated on their website; the IKEA culture is hard to describe, however it is easy to embrace. It is a culture of enthusiasm, togetherness and willpower, born from their roots in southern Sweden and inspired by the IKEA founder, Ingvar Kamprad.

It is clear that corporate culture plays a pivotal role in every company. How you define your culture is how employee’s beliefs and attitudes will be towards their job; from their task at work to how they treat their colleagues. However, it not only influences the attitudes of employees towards their working environment, but affects everyday decision-making on elements.

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For Sustainable Business #12 Reflection on CDA

The company I chose to have my action research is a company close to me, Curran Daly + Associates Corporation. It is an executive search firm based in Makati that provides a world-class recruitment solution to their multinational clients based locally, and it is one of the most main HR suppliers for chevron here in the Philippines, too. I checked how the company went strong from being a small company to one which is now distributing its products and services in the Philippines. As years went by, I saw the coming in and out of employees. I know that the employees have been doing their responsibilities well yet I believe there is more to be done. With the growth of its market, the company became busy with more orders coming in as customers grow. With this, stress can be seen from each employee which needs to be considered to avoid demotivation and unproductivity.

There are a lot of differences between recruiters and headhunters as recruiters work slightly differently.

(1) Recruiters posts job ads via job boards and wait to be contacted by potential candidates, while headhunters approach selects few candidates, but they are the ones who is qualified for the role. They are more focused in the quality of the candidate rather than submitting quantity.

(2) Recruiters typically assist both candidates and clients equally, while headhunters are just interested in fulfilling the client’s brief.

(3) Recruiters aggressively match their active candidates in the database to the company’s vacancy and from time to time regardless of the talent requirements, while headhunters would focus on the role first the scout for the right candidate for the client’s vacancy.

The main responsibility of the company’s internal stakeholder – recruitment consultant’s, is to make sure of the 100% satisfaction of its clients.

Working in an executive search firm is one of the most stressful opportunities as it needs to deal with its stakeholders from time-to-time and provide the service that their company needs. With this type of environment, there is a high chance of increase in attrition rate if the management cannot think of ways to deal with their consultants’ stress. There are common things that are carried out in the company in motivating employees and managing this at work. No matter how big is the organization and they do have poor strategies and ideas on how to handle their employees well, the attrition rate will stay high. In a corporate world, employee attrition refers to the loss of its employees through a natural process, such as resignation, retirement, redundancy, health problems, or other reasons. 

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For CSR #12 Reflection on Marcopper

The Marcropper mining incident in Martinique for is really one of the worst foreign investments our country had. It’s true that foreign businesses can really create many job opportunities for our countrymen, a good example could be mining. But its effects to our environment can be very bad, and worst part is it can last a lifetime. 

On March 24, 1996, the drainage tunnels of Marcopper Mining Corporation’s open pit ruptured and spilled millions of tons of mine waste that smothered the Boac River in Marinduque, inundating villages and killing marine life. The incident saw 2 to 3 million tons of mine waste spilling into the Boac River. It caused flash floods that buried villages. About a third or 20 out of 60 villages had to be evacuated with approximately 20,000 people affected. As the agricultural and marine life got severely affected, the government declared Boac River dead. Nearby villages lost one of their major sources of livelihood. What is even worse with Marcropper is they are too selfish to take responsibility for what happened. During the time when the Marinduque incident happened, Marcopper released a statement stating that the spill was an act of nature and it was not their fault. Seeing this kind of statement just sounded like an excuse for me, mainly due to two reasons: 

1. The spill came from dumped mining waste, wastes that came from their own operations. 

2. Also it was a requirement for mining companies to have their tunnels be earthquake proof. So why did they have a tunnel that want to blame nature for its own failure. Coming from the two reasons above, I don’t understand where Marcopper got the guts to use that reason to wash themselves of the responsibility.

Because of Marcopper’s negligence, Marinduque is still being haunted by the ghost from the past. Accroding to Rappler News, “There were  (Rappler News, 2017).  Moving forward, the government should be strict in dealing with these kinds of folks who just mine to get resources of our country without the slightest care for the environment or the people who live in that place. 

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For Sustainable Business #11 Reflection on IKEA

IKEA have undertaken a limited assurance engagement on selected carbon emissions information in the INGKA Holding B.V.  Based on the procedures it has performed, the evidence we have obtained and with due consideration of the limitation as described in our paragraph Limitations in our scope, nothing has come to its attention that causes it to believe that the Carbon emissions statement in the INGKA Holding B.V. 

Its responsibility is to plan and perform the limited assurance engagement in a manner that allows us to obtain sufficient and appropriate assurance evidence for our conclusion. The procedures performed in a limited assurance engagement are aimed to determine the plausibility of information and vary in nature and timing from, and are less in extent, than for a reasonable assurance engagement. The level of assurance obtained in a limited assurance engagement is therefore substantially less than the assurance obtained in a reasonable assurance engagement. Misstatements can arise from fraud or errors and are considered material if, individually or in the aggregate, they could reasonably be expected to influence the decisions of users taken on the basis of the Carbon emissions statement as included in the INGKA Holding B.V. Sustainability Summary Report. The materiality affects the nature, timing and extent of our procedures and the evaluation of the effect of identified misstatements on our conclusion. We apply the ‘Nadere voorschriften kwaliteitssystemen’ (Regulations for Quality management systems) and accordingly maintain a comprehensive system of quality control including documented policies and procedures regarding compliance with ethical requirements, professional standards and other applicable legal and regulatory requirements. We have exercised professional judgement and have maintained professional skepticism throughout our limited assurance engagement, in accordance with the Dutch Standard 3410, ethical requirements and independence requirements. IKEA main procedures consisted of: 

  Evaluating the appropriateness of the reporting criteria used, their consistent application and related disclosures in the Carbon emissions statement, including the reasonableness of estimates made  by management; 

 Obtaining an understanding of the reporting processes for the Carbon emissions statement, including obtaining a general understanding of internal control relevant to our assurance engagement. 

 Identifying areas of the Carbon emissions statement where material misstatements, whether due to fraud or error, are likely to arise, and performing further procedures aimed at determining the plausibility of the Carbon emissions statement responsive to this risk analysis.

 These procedures consisted amongst others of: 

 –  Performing analytical reviews of the data and  trend explanations;

  –  Reconciling the data with underlying data systems; 

 –  Reviewing relevant internal and external documentation, on a limited test basis, in  order to determine the reliability of the carbon emissions data; 

 –  Site visits to assess the completeness of emissions sources, review the data collection methods, source data and relevant assumptions applicable to the sites by interviewing relevant staff responsible for providing the data for consolidation in the Carbon emissions statement.

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For CSR#11 Reflection on Human Rights

Human rights, as I understand them, are the most fundamental requirements for a fully human life. Only the language of human rights can adequately convey what is at stake when essentials of human life, such as dignity and freedom, are challenged. Torture or denial of access to food are so clearly in violation of what is vital to human integrity and well being that any other language—even that of constitutional rights—seems inadequate to capture the seriousness of the offense. Because the language locates these rights in what is essentially human rather than particular laws or customs, it also conveys the fact that the problem so described transcends a particular culture and society and is of universal importance and concern.

Yet increasingly, the term “human rights” is being challenged. A common criticism is that the term has been applied so often to so many problems that its impact has been lost. Because human rights are concerned only with what is essential and fundamental, the language sounds jarringly inappropriate—even ludicrous—when applied to issues that do not rise to this level, such as an increase in taxes or Internet pornography. However, in the United States, and perhaps in most countries, it can hardly be argued that human rights language is used too widely. A more likely explanation for both its relative lack of application and its limited power when used is that, as the human rights effort has moved from a cause to a professional career, it has increasingly employed an exclusive, legalistic language that fails to resonate with people’s lives and daily struggles. Its link to what is human and universal has been diminished, if not lost, and correspondingly, so has its power and appeal.

I have growing doubts about whether the human rights language we now use can be successful in capturing the imagination of a broad cross-section of people. In my experience, the increasingly legalistic approach to human rights has overshadowed a moral approach, which for me is what resonated early on. In the 1970s, when I had the good fortune to be a part of Amnesty International before it was a very wide network, questions of right and wrong formed the dominant discourse. I was not a lawyer. It was not a question of whether something violated Article X of this covenant or that covenant. It was that torture is wrong. Starvation is wrong. It was a language of morality, and it captured people’s imagination and made the human rights movement grow. Once human rights started to become a specialist language that only certain people who had been to school could access and only the experts could interpret correctly, it lost the ability to mobilize the vast majority of people.

Another equally formidable obstacle to achieving broad-based support is the operational structure of the human rights movement. Born in a colonial and neo-colonial world, the human rights movement has not kept pace with the rapidly and dramatically changing political environment. While opposing colonial structures and relationships substantively, operationally the movement initially both mirrored and made use of them. The human rights groups that sought to work internationally in the 1970s were based in the North, although they primarily focused their efforts on documenting human rights abuses in the South (and the East) to the exclusion of violations in their own regions. A few national organizations and many courageous individuals provided the raw material from the South for these Northern organizations. The Northern groups packaged this material into reports and press releases, which were then owned by the Northern groups and fed through the media or international mechanisms (also largely based in the North) to the governments of the South and only occasionally to their citizens. What is most striking about this model is how natural it seemed and how little critical notice was taken of it except by repressive governments. Perhaps this is because, given the political realities, it was hard to imagine an alternative.

Today, however, we are in a different situation. Where once there were scores of national human rights groups around the world, now there are thousands operating in every region and in almost every country. The implications for promoting human rights are profound and positive. National and local groups are far better placed to understand the social and political context in which violations are occurring and to devise appropriate strategies. They have a legitimacy that external actors lack. Particularly when they are rooted in local communities, domestic groups are in a position to mobilize social forces to ensure that human rights laws and policies are put not only in place but also into practice.

None of this means that there is no longer a need for international work. For myriad reasons, external pressure to uphold international norms is still vital and in some cases can be even more powerful than pressure from within. Moreover, because external actors are usually removed from partisan domestic battles, they can have a legitimacy and an authority of their own. Groups in the North, of course, also retain access to other powerful external forces that can be an important part of an overall strategy, such as wealthy governments, multinational institutions, and citizen action groups that can effectively organize boycotts and other forms of consumer pressure. Most important of all, international work upholds the notion that human rights are a matter of human and universal, not national and particular, concern, thus reaffirming in practice precisely what gives human rights norms their power.

The problem is that, although there is now for the first time the possibility of developing human rights strategies that take into account both international and national work, the basic overall structure of the human rights movement does not appear to have significantly changed. International work is still for the most part the domain of groups located in the North. Groups in the South are still seen largely as domestic partners or as “human rights defenders” who are protected by those doing international work. The possibility for groups outside Western Europe and the United States either to set the international agenda for human rights or even to influence, as equal partners, the strategies set by international groups for their countries is still very limited. To change this would take a much deeper commitment than currently exists on the part of either donors or NGOs to invest in travel, discussions, and the alteration of old patterns.

Nevertheless, there are some hopeful signs. New global movements—around such issues as globalization, land mines, and women’s rights—are successfully addressing barriers associated with colonial legacies and the excessive professionalization of human rights. More Southern groups are developing institutional mechanisms that will amplify their voices and increase their capacity to provide leadership on international strategies and agendas. Certainly there is greater awareness than ever before that these problems must be addressed. The best way to start is to recognize how far we have to go and begin to move actively toward the kind of genuinely popular and international human rights movement that is now possible and as desperately needed as ever.

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For Sustainable Business#10 Reflection on BMW

Developing positive impacts on the economy and society

From the case, we understand that BMW as a global company, it acknowledges its responsibility to contribute to economic prosperity in the countries where we are active. For this reason, our mission is not only to aspire to sustained profitable growth for the  company, but also to make specific contributions towards  economic development and quality of life at our locations. The growth of the BMW Group not only facilitates a reasonable return for investors, but also attractive salaries for employees, as well as our contribution to society through the taxes we pay on earnings and profits. These are direct  economic effects which are quantified by calculating the  net value added. The BMW Group’s net value added (€ 22,189 million) is at a consistently high level (2018 1: € 24,542 million). The largest share of our net value added benefits our employees  (2019: 56.1 %; 2018 1: 50.8 %). The proportion accruing to lenders increased over the previous year, rising to 11.1 % (2018: 9.2 %). Meanwhile, the equivalent number for the public sector (including deferred tax expense) was 10.1 % (2018: 11.2 %). The proportion of net value added flowing  to shareholders, at 7.4 %, was lower than in the previous year (2018: 9.4 %). The BMW Group currently employs 133,778 staff (2018: 134,682) and is providing training to 4,801 young people at its locations around the world (2018: 4,964). In addition, a large number of jobs and training positions are being created in retail and sales. Our purchase of intermediate products also secures jobs worldwide in our supply chains. Since we source the components for vehicle production locally whenever possible, our business activities create jobs and increase prosperity in the areas where our facilities are located. By paying our own taxes on earnings and profits, and indirectly through the tax payments of our employees and suppliers, we boost the tax revenues of the regions where we and our suppliers operate. Taxes on earnings and profits  for the BMW Group amounted to around € 2,140 million in 2019 (2018 1: € 2,530 million). In addition, we help to fund public budgets by paying tariffs and import duties.

Aanalyzing local effects 

An impact assessment study by the University of South Carolina in 2018 shows that the BMW Group made an appreciable economic impact on the prosperity of the US state of South Carolina.The overall contribution to economic output by the BMW Group and its suppliers was estimated at US$ 21 billion, which was achieved by the generation of jobs, contributions to local household incomes and the impact on the gross domestic product of the state. As a result, the BMW Group creates considerable economic multiplier effects in South Carolina. A similar study in San Luis Potosí,  Mexico, also yielded positive results.

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For CSR #10 Reflection on Wal-Mart

Wal-Mart has successfully organized operations across America. The store is in a position to challenge the misdemeanors of managers and accordingly levy the control function to speak against prejudices and stereotypes. This should be enforced in the store with immediate effect. New policies which adhere and protect the ethical code of conduct mentioned on the website should be formulated and implemented.

Wal-Mart needs to ensure that women are hired in top managerial and management positions across the country.This will help in solving consistent issues with sex discrimination. The case study reveals that the retail giant has a substantially low level of female workers in managerial positions as compared with its competitors. Another recommendation for the firm is to ensure that equal and fair wages are paid to both men and women in the firm. The firm has previously discriminated by paying lesser wages to women as compared with men for the same tasks. The control function has to be exercised to ensure that supervisors do not conduct discriminatory practices on the basis of wages. This may be conducted by having a centralized human resource department which would be accountable to ensure that men and women are paid equal wages for similar work. The department should further work towards providing equal opportunities for training, career growth and development of employees in Wal-Mart. Human resource experts should conduct surprise visits to Wal-Mart stores interact with the employees, find out issues and resolve them. 

Also the organization staffing plan has to be modified to include both men and women to work together. The store should ensure that there are no men-centric and women-centric departments in the stores. The human resource department should ensure that the concerns of female employees are duly considered while transferring them from one store to another and the relocation policy should not favor discriminatory practices against female employees. 

The toll free number levied to voice the concerns of employees should not be used to harass personnel. The human resource department has to ensure that such calls accusing the company of discrimination against women should be strictly managed and accordingly arrangement should be carried out to ensure that women are not discriminated in the workplace. On the other hand, the human resource team can take suggestions from workers and suggest areas of improvement for employees in the store. This will help in the class of workers to be satisfied, engaged and motivated to perform.