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CSR is everyone's business
Michael Alan Hamlin
Becoming strategically relevant
Two weeks from today the League of Corporate Foundations (LCF) will launch its 2008 annual conference. The theme of this year’s conference is “CSR Is Everyone’s Business,” suggesting that the practice of corporate social responsibility is more than a public relations exercise for multinationals. Instead, “every company must take CSR seriously if it wants to survive in these times of intense competition and unpredictable challenges,” according to LCF president Pacita U. Juan.
Juan - or Chit as everyone I know calls her - is the highly-respected CEO of Figaro Coffee Company, Inc. Named Entrepreneur of the Year for 2004, Juan founded Figaro with seven friends who shared a passion for coffee in 1993. A decade later, the chain boasted 30 stores, including one in China. Today the upscale Figaro chain numbers more than 60 thriving retail outlets.
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Posted
7/2/2008 12:40:29 PM | |
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ExcelAsia: Addressing a threat
Michael Alan Hamlin
And recognizing opportunity...
Philippine business faces a number of threats and hurdles to development. Consider the semiconductor industry, which with electronics accounts for about two thirds of all Philippine exports. The semiconductor and electronics industries are struggling to address: 1) High energy costs; 2) High labor costs relative to countries competing for investment, such as Vietnam; and, 3) Prospects for reduced investment incentives, limiting expansion options.
The leisure and business tourism industry suffers from poor infrastructure, limited hotel and convention capacity, and a negative image as well as recent increases in the cost of traveling associated with the dramatic rise in energy costs. And as I discussed last week, the business process outsourcing (BPO) industry is threatened by an inadequate supply of qualified applicants to man contact centers, shared services facilities, and software development laboratories.
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Posted
6/25/2008 10:44:37 AM | |
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BPO Outlook: Most US Companies Pursue Outsourcing
Michael Alan Hamlin
For service providers, the future is domain expertise
A recent survey conducted by InformationWeek showed that more than 70 percent of US companies polled are pursuing business process outsourcing (BPO) initiatives, and only seven percent are cutting back on outsourcing. Released over the weekend, the survey showed that 36 percent of respondent companies plan to maintain their current level of BPO, and 28 percent will increase their use of BPO services.
The seven percent of respondents that are decreasing their use of BPO will continue to use some level of outsourcing services, providing 71% of respondents who will increase, maintain, or decrease but continue to use BPO. Another eight percent will consider using BPO if they get the right offer. Of all respondents, only 19 percent said they have no intention of outsourcing business processes.
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Posted
6/18/2008 4:27:37 PM | |
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Driving investors out
Michael Alan Hamlin
Asia's least competitive nation tells investors to take a hike...
About a month ago, I wrote that, “according to the IMD World Competitiveness Report (Subscription required.), the Philippines ranks a distant last in FDI (foreign direct investment) inflows to Asia Pacific nations. In Southeast Asia, only Cambodia, Laos, and Burma attract less investment.” Just so we’re clear, the Philippines not only attracts less investment, it attracts substantially - and embarrassingly - less investment than its neighbors.
I won’t repeat those sad statistics now. I will, however, allow myself to perversely marvel that national and local government leaders in the Philippines seem determined to keep the Philippines in or near last place in the increasingly intense competition for foreign investment. To understand why, consider a joint statement issued by the Philippines’ most respected management and financial associations last week.
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Posted
6/11/2008 10:49:27 AM | |
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Two Philippine software startups show how to go global
Michael Alan Hamlin
And keep talent at home
Last week, two local software startups made major announcements demonstrating the impact they are having globally on the software industry - and on software engineering talent here in the Philippines.
On May 26, Gurango Software announced that it had exceeded first-quarter revenue goals by 10%, recording global revenues of over P36 million. The next day, Morph Labs announced in Manila that it has launched a new infrastructure service that allows developers to create applications for the popular Facebook social network in just five minutes.
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Posted
6/4/2008 10:49:23 AM | |
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Changing the rules
Michael Alan Hamlin
No way to attract investors...
When the Philippines' Supreme Court struck down a presidential proclamation granting investors in the Clark Special Economic Zone investment incentives in 2005, foreign investors, chambers of commerce, and business leaders were horrified. The Bureau of Internal Revenue quickly announced it would collect back taxes from locators causing further dismay and generating considerable negative publicity for the Philippines.
It was not until March 2007 that Congress passed and President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo signed into law legislation creating the Clark Freeport Zone and restoring incentives. The new law also granted amnesty to investors registered with the Board of Investment (BOI) or Philippine Economic Zone Authority (PEZA), assuring investors that the terms under which they made their original investments would be honored.
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Posted
5/28/2008 3:31:46 PM | |
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Improving competitiveness?
Michael Alan Hamlin
The Philippines is accountable for its success... or failure
Late last week, the Institute for Management Development (IMD) announced the latest update to its annual World Competitiveness Scoreboard (subscription required). The Scoreboard ranks the competitiveness of 55 countries. Although the Philippines ranks in the bottom third of the ranking, it moved up five places from 45 to 40. Its improved competitiveness was attributed to record economic growth and an improved image, according to reports.
While it is important to celebrate victories, even little ones, it’s also important to examine them dispassionately. This is particularly true in the case of the latest IMD results. For one thing, the Philippines has, realistically, moved back up to the starting line, not past it. After all, it also ranked 40 in 2005, a year in which “Hello Garci” ringtone downloads reached a fever pitch, President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo launched a movement to overhaul the constitution, and Forbes named Ms. Arroyo the fourth most powerful woman in the world nevertheless. And in that year, the Philippines received less than P2 billion in foreign investment, less than all its Southeast Asian neighbors.
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Posted
5/21/2008 12:47:52 PM | |
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