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HAMLIN: Japan poised to hobble its economy
Michael Alan Hamlin
Japan just can't seem to get it right: My argument in today's column in the Washington Times.
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Posted
4/29/2010 11:28:11 AM |
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Last two minutes: Campaign 2010
Michael Alan Hamlin
Silly, desperate tactics?
In American football--a sport I grew up with in the Texas panhandle--an official timeout is called in the last two minutes of the game (There are actually two halves with two quarters each, as in basketball, so two such official timeouts.). In basketball--a sport I live with in the Philippines--the game clock stops in the last two minutes of the fourth period after a successful field goal.
In 1990, Filipino director Mike Relon Makiling gave us a movie titled “Last Two Minutes,” a basketball-centered comedy with a long list of stars, including Ruffa Gutierrez, Aiko Melendez, and Maricel Laxa. The movie has been largely forgotten, but “last two minutes” is a fixture of the business, social, and political landscape here as well as on oasis-like Texas football fields. The last two minutes refers to the last chance competitors have to win a hard-fought contract, a singing competition-or an election.
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Posted
4/27/2010 5:14:05 PM |
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Leadership & transition
Michael Alan Hamlin
The global economic downturn that began in 2008 and persists today-especially in the developed economies where it began and that were worst hit-accelerated the pace at which the business process outsourcing (BPO) industry is maturing. “There is more acceptance” among top managers, Vipin Suri, a program director for The Conference Board and a BPO authority, told a group of industry executives earlier this week, “and a bigger appetite for change.”
Suri spoke before member of the ICT Committee of the American Chamber of Commerce of the Philippines (AmCham) on “The Future of Outsourcing in an Increasingly Competitive World.” Although the committee chairmen who conceptualized the topic might have been thinking of competition for BPO investors or between BPOs themselves, Suri spoke of competition in a broader sense, and said that competition continues to drive development of the BPO industry.
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Posted
4/27/2010 10:53:59 AM |
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Tourism competitiveness
Michael Alan Hamlin
And the sad story of the Philippines
Sadly, the news is not good. Last year, Malaysia welcomed more than 22 million international visitors to its cities and resort areas. Thailand welcomed almost 15 million, and tiny Singapore more than nine million. In Southeast Asia’s largest country by population, Indonesia, arrivals declined slightly but the country still managed to attract more than five million visitors. Fast-emerging Vietnam was a destination for about 4.3 million foreign visitors.
That sounds like pretty good news, and it is-for those countries. The sad news is that the Philippines attracted a little more than 3.1 million international visitors in 2009, mostly balikbayans who spend little while here compared to the typical high-end tourism or business visitor. In Southeast Asia, only Cambodia attracted fewer international visitors than the Philippines, about 2.1 million.
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Posted
4/15/2010 5:04:23 PM |
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Back to Club Paradise
Michael Alan Hamlin
In January, I wrote about some good and bad tourist experiences in the Philippines’ premier “world-class” resort island, Boracay. On the positive side, the island has improved transportation links and the airport and the aircraft it services continue to improve. Many of the boutique hotels offer terrific value for money, and personalized service that keeps bringing guests-and friends of guests-back to the island.
On the other hand, tourists are hounded by scam artists throughout their visit, beginning at the Caticlan airport when “official” porters impose their services uninvited. The chaos of the airport, a bizarre registration requirement, and a variety of fees imposed on arrival are immediate turnoffs. Upon ferrying over to Boracay, tourists are greeted by a dirty beach overrun with poorly run and hideously decorated commercial establishments.
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Posted
4/8/2010 6:51:14 PM |
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The Philippine Internet by the numbers
Michael Alan Hamlin
The Philippines, Vietnam, and Indonesia will account for almost 90% of growth in online ad spend in Southeast Asia in the next five years according to research conducted by Media-Interactive, AC Nielsen, and Yahoo! The value of online advertising in the Philippines is expected to reach Php 1 billion this year as young and influential Filipinos increasingly look to the Internet for entertainment and to network with friends.
With a population dominated demographically with individuals of productive age-about 61% of the population is between 15 and 64 and about evenly divided among males and females-the Philippines is a nation of early adapters (Yes, adapters.), despite some awesome financial hurdles. For example, 80% of an estimated population of 98 million-equivalent to some 72 million individuals-use mobile phones.
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Posted
4/1/2010 10:50:16 AM |
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