Tuesday, January 20, 2009 | ||
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| (Continued from last week) Some national leaders of developed and fast developing countries are afraid that big cuts in the greenhouse gases’ emission would cause reduction in their respective countries’ gross domestic product (GDP ) due to reduced production and the high-cost of acquiring green technology. This is expected to lead to reduction in the quality of life of their citizens. Developing countries contend that the developed countries should curtail their greenhouse emissions because they have contributed much more to the global warming phenomenon over the years. Some developed countries, particularly the US, would like high-growth countries, such as China and India, to also make commitments because their emission levels at the present time are simply high. This is where the problem lies in getting an agreement to which everybody commits. During the last US presidential elections, the issues of climate change and the use of alternative energy were debated on by the two presidential candidates, Barack Obama and John McCain, highlighting their primacy and importance. A man who made his wealth from the oil business, T. Boone Pickens came up with what is known as the Pickens Plan on how America will reduce its dependency on oil coming from the Middle East. While the presidential campaign was going on, he bought TV time to promote the Pickens Plan. Part of his plan is to maximize the use of wind power, which we can also adopt in this country more aggressively. Power is generated using wind mills/turbines without the emission of greenhouse gases. A 2005 Stanford University study showed that there is enough wind power worldwide to satisfy global demand 7 times over—even if only 20% of wind power is captured. Recently, RICOH, a company that has a big advertising board in Times Square in New York City, installed a wind turbine that supplies the power of the said advertising board. Along the highway southeast of San Francisco in California, there are several giant wind mills. In the Philippines, there is already a wind farm in the Ilocos region and several other areas in the different islands where the wind is abundant and strong for a long period in a year, are being considered as possible sites. Geothermal power is another way the Philippines can generate power without producing greenhouse gases. Of the “smaller” and developing countries, Iceland leads in the use of geothermal power at 5,603 gigawatt-hours-a-year (GWh/yr) as of 2000 (compared with the Philippines’ 7 GWh/yr). We also lagged behind Indonesia, which has 12 GWh/yr. With the presence of volcanoes and hot springs in our country as a plus factor, and the availability of competent technical people, geothermal is definitely an option which can still be expanded. We can contribute in combating climate change in our own small way by doing energy conservation practices. When we use power unnecessarily, the power generating companies burn more fuel resulting in the production of more greenhouse gases. We should encourage people to take the mass-transport system rather than use their vehicles especially if they take the trip alone. There is thus a challenge for the government to speed up building the light and regular railway systems, particularly in Metro Manila, which has slowed down of late. Use of car pools, use of bicycles in some areas (which may be encouraged by building bicycle lanes especially in Metro Manila) and use of air-con units judiciously are other things we can personally implement. The government should also provide incentives to companies that are willing to invest in the generation of clean power, such as wind power. In the end, the Lord’s admonition for man to have dominion of the earth also has the corresponding responsibility for man to be accountable for its growth and sustainability. |
Sunday, February 1, 2009
The urgent need to combat climate change (part 2)
Education: The great equalizer
MANAGING FOR SOCIETY
By Evelio G. Echavez
Education: The great equalizer
Being in the academe for more than 2 years now has given me the opportunity to interview college students. Whenever possible, I would ask them what they consider as the major problems of the youth today. Many of them would answer that it is the difficulty of getting a good education because of financial problems. I cannot avoid remembering the words of our national hero, Dr. Jose Rizal, who said that “the youth is the fair hope of the Fatherland.” His words are relevant today as they were during his time. If the Philippines have to find progress and prosperity and ensure a bright future for her citizens, she has to make sure that her young people are taken care of in terms of their education and well-being.
The National Artist for Literature Francisco Sionil Jose in a paper he read for the clients of a banking institution said: “some 15 years ago a survey showed that half of all grade school pupils dropped out after grade 5 because they had no money.” They are now our young adults who would have difficulty in finding appropriate jobs. We used to have one of the highest literacy rates in the world. That has changed now. And because many of our young adults cannot find jobs and raise their families properly, the vicious cycle is repeated in the generations of their children and grandchildren . . . unless the present generation is able to do something to arrest it.
While elementary and high school education is free in public schools, college education is a different story. Even in state- and local government-run universities and colleges, students have to pay tuition and other fees. And even if it involves only a few thousand pesos, if one has no money at all, it becomes insurmountable. The financial aid coming from government is simply not enough. It would be good for government agencies involved in the education of our youth to review their programs and find out how they can provide appropriate assistance to a greater number of deserving students.
I have met many successful executives, some of them presidents of big corporations, who came originally from poor families. And yet because of hard work and their having the needed education, they have been able to attain success. Education indeed is the great equalizer. Individuals, businesses and other organizations can help our deserving young people by providing scholarships and other material support for the schools’ operations.
Many years ago, one of my sons suggested that we sponsor the college education of a neighbor’s son whose father wanted him to quit schooling to help the father in raising garden plants for sale. After 5 years of engineering studies in a state university, he first worked as an apprentice abroad then returned to the country and landed a supervisory position in a prestigious company. Now, he works with a large telecommunication company abroad and is helping the family financially and in sending his sibling to college.
Another student was about to stop schooling since the family could no longer afford to support her in her last year of engineering studies because the father fell ill. Now, she is gainfully employed and has been helping her parents financially and in sending her siblings to school.
Both are just two cases of competent students who were given the opportunity to continue their studies through benefactor-provided scholarships. After obtaining their degrees, they are now paying forward their good fortune by helping their families financially and assisting their siblings get proper education as well.
This is one area where the private sector can invest in social responsibility programs which is certain to create a virtuous cycle since proper education is almost always empowering and liberating.
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Evelio G. Echavez is a student in the Doctor of Business Administration program of the Ramon V. Del Rosario Sr. Graduate School of Business of De La Salle University- Manila and is the Dean of the College of Business Administration and Accountancy of the Baliuag University in Baliuag, Bulacan. He accepts comments at egechavez@yahoo.com.
The urgent need to combat climate change (Part 1)
Tuesday, January 13, 2009 | ||
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Global warming resulting in climate change, has caused havoc in many places in the world. Among others, hurricanes in the south of the US and neighboring countries have become more frequent and powerful. Some areas in the world are experiencing more rains while others are becoming drier. Global warming has caused the glaciers in some mountains and icebergs to melt, which has caused floods in some places and an increase in sea level. The Philippines is highly vulnerable to the rise of the sea level, being a country of islands. As the summit of the Creator’s work, man who was created in God’s own image, was endowed with the unique power of reason and will. In the first pages of the first book of the Bible, Genesis, we find that God gave this instruction to mankind: “Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth and subdue it” and to “have dominion . . . over all the earth.” Being the only specie on Earth given this mandate, mankind has the unique responsibility to make sure that the Earth will be in proper order. But as we know, over the years, this has not been so. During the last two centuries with the advent of the Industrial Revolution (which entailed the use of various conventional fuels) and the race to attain economic prosperity, the amount of greenhouse gases (mainly carbon dioxide and methane) in the atmosphere increased and the ecology of Planet Earth had greatly suffered. At the forefront of fighting climate change is the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, which recently concluded a two-week meeting in Poznan, Poland that was intended to launch formal negotiations on a treaty to succeed the Kyoto Protocol. The convention also intends to make progress in helping developing countries, such as the Philippines, cope with the effects of climate change. While the US has stayed away from ratifying the Kyoto Protocol, the European Union has led the way by agreeing among its 27 member countries to cut carbon emissions by 20 percent come 2020. Australia, which ratified the Kyoto Protocol only last year, is eyeing a reduction of 5 percent to 15 percent for the country by 2020. While the US federal government took a non-participating stand, some of the states like California took an active role in setting targets of reducing greenhouse emissions. Recently, the Iowa Climate Change Advisory Council released a report that a goal of reducing state greenhouse gas emissions by 22 percent come 2020 is achievable. US President-elect Barack Obama has indicated that his administration will play an active role in future negotiations concerning climate change. (To be continued in next issue) |
Management development program (part 2)
Tuesday, April 29, 2008 | ||
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Coaching is a very effective management development technique. It consists of day-to-day feedback, instruction, and advice provided by the employee’s supervisor. In fact, many companies in the US have replaced manager titles with coach titles. Job rotation helps a manager learn and do the work of a manager who handles another function. During my time as an executive in a local cement group, we cross-posted managers to train them to handle other positions and prepare them for greater responsibilities. This was especially true of managers assigned to a specialized field, such as production. We found out that after the cross-posting, the managers were more well-rounded, more willing to cooperate with each other, and more effective in their jobs because they had acquired the knowledge and experience of other functions. Some multinational companies cross-post their managers and executives to their overseas offices to expose them to other cultures and to allow for faster development. Another technique is to create a position for an individual for training purposes, such as assistant to a vice president. In this position, trainees are allowed access to the different sections and activities of a specific unit, but follow a schedule of what knowledge or competencies they have to learn for a given period. Employees can also be assigned to a task force or committee where they are expected to participate actively and increase their knowledge about work and the company. This method may involve grooming employees to become managers or executives who will be assigned to a task force or committee that is tasked to solve a cross-functional problem or launch a new product. Mentoring is another method of training managers and executives, and is used more frequently at higher levels of management. In mentoring, an executive who is usually older, has more experience and occupies a higher position takes under his or her wing a younger, less experienced manager or executive. Ask successful CEOs or executives and more often than not, they will tell you that they had mentors who helped them become who they are today. One of the off-the-job methods is sending managers to outside seminars and school-based management development programs. In the cement group I previously worked for, we sent practically all our managers and superintendents to management development programs conducted regularly by a leading school of management in the country. The group also sent its senior executives to advanced executive programs in the US Promising young engineers and managers took graduate studies here and abroad. Management development programs enhance the knowledge and competencies of the company’s human resources. In this day and age of computers and technology, human capital is still widely acknowledged as being the best asset of any firm. |
Management development program (part 1)
Tuesday, April 22, 2008 |
| MANAGING FOR SOCIETY, THE MANILA TIMES |
| Management development program |
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Jeffrey Pfeffer, the author of the book, Competitive Advantage through People, and one of our professors in the Stanford Executive Program, said that the companies that had the five best performing stocks during a 20-year period relied on how they manage their workforce and not on technology, patents, or strategic position, which used to be major sources of competitive advantage. Jim Collins, in his book, Good to Great, labeled as Level 5 Leaders CEOs who took over companies that had suffered from declining profits for 15 years and yet had made a remarkable turnaround, with their stocks growing at least three times the growth of the stock market. Without exception, the Level 5 CEOs were able to develop and select CEOs to replace them after they left the scene. The new CEOs were able to sustain the success started by their former bosses. From the foregoing, it is clear that in today’s competitive world, effective management leadership and a competent and highly motivated workforce have become necessary for companies to survive, grow and become profitable. This is why progressive companies are spending a lot of money in developing their manpower resources. One of the areas that they pay attention to is their manpower development program, where people who have been identified to have potential go through a combination of the following processes: coaching, job rotation, posting in a staff position for training and development, and assignment to committees and task forces. If the immediate supervisor is willing to spend time with his or her people, coaching is a very effective manpower development technique. Job rotation helps a manager learn and do the work of a manager who handles another function. It helps them understand the peculiarities of other jobs and appreciate other managers more. A third process is to create a position, such as a staff assistant of a manager or vice president, to give the trainee access to the different sections and activities of the unit but following a planned training schedule. The manager can also be assigned to a task force or committee where he or she can participate actively and expand his or her knowledge about work and the company. (Continued next week) |
The importance of effective leadership
Tuesday, August 12, 2008 | ||
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And the reason for their progress was the quality of leadership that they enjoyed. Both Singapore and Malaysia, for example attributed their progress to the effective leadership of their former prime ministers, Lee Kuan Yew and Mahathir bin Mohamad, respectively. Both leaders were credited for engineering the rapid growth and modernization of their respective countries. They had great visions for their respective countries. They focused their attention and energies in leading their government and people to realize their visions. In the business world, Jack Welch, the former chairman and CEO of General Electric and who is considered as the one of the greatest business leaders of modern times comes to mind. Welch, who was at the helm of GE for 20 years, was mainly attributed towards increasing the market value of GE by 40 times. When he took over the reins of GE, he told the executives of the 350 businesses under GE that if they were not number 1 or 2 in the industry, then they should sell or close the business. He also made the Work-out Program popular. This is a practice where the workers are cloistered together for a couple of days in order for them to think of problems in their workplaces and their suggestions/solutions for the purpose of systematically harnessing the creativity, knowledge and cooperation of the workforce. Lee Iacocca, the former CEO of Chrysler Corporation, is another successful business leader who was credited in saving Chrysler from going under. In order to put the company in the black, he sacrificed a lot even to the extent of reducing his salary to $1 a year. When he was the CEO of Ford, Iacocca was very vocal in his opposition to government’s involvement in business. But at the time he was in Chrysler, which was then facing bankruptcy, he decided to go to government to seek for help. There are basic differences between what a manager/executive and a leader does. Managers are focused on making sure that the systems and procedures, budgets and schedules, structures and controls, and the basic management functions are followed. Management produces predictability, consistency, and control. It focuses on restraining, maintaining, or conforming activities. Leadership, on the other hand, involves creating a compelling vision that brings the people and the organization to a higher level of performance and development. This entails inspiring and empowering the people to do greater things and questioning the status quo for the purpose of further improving performance. Nowadays it is important for managers/executives to not just be doing management functions well but to become effective leaders as well. It is a challenge for institutions of higher learning to help business and organization leaders improve their leadership abilities. Beyond gaining knowledge and competencies in the traditional functional areas of management, effective leadership, mentoring, coaching and counseling, visioning and execution, character and ethics are some critical areas of competencies that leaders should possess. |
Climate change: How we can help abate it
Tuesday, January 22, 2008 | ||
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The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), in its Fourth Assessment Report (released in 2007) concludes that the “warming of the climate system is unequivocal, as is now evident from observations of increases in global average air and ocean temperatures, widespread melting of snow and ice, and rising global average sea level.” It further reports that the temperature change at the turn of this century is projected to increase by 1.1-6.4 C with a rise in sea level of 18-59 centimeters relative to 1980-1999 levels. As previously mentioned, this is caused by the accumulation of greenhouse gases (GHG) in the Earth’s atmosphere that is causing sunlight, that is reflected by the Earth’s surface, to be reflected back to Earth causing global warming. The major source of GHG is carbon dioxide from the burning of fossil fuels. Because of global warming, the glaciers and ice sheets in the coldest parts of the world are melting, causing the sea levels to rise. The temperature increase also heats the ocean waters contributing to the increase in sea levels and the incidence of more powerful typhoons and hurricanes. The global warming also has caused heat waves, droughts in some areas of the world while other parts of the world are experiencing severe rains and floods. The Philippines is exposed to the effects of super typhoons, which are expected to become even more powerful in the coming years as a result of the warmer ocean water. The increase in sea levels will endanger the inhabitants of coastal towns causing massive dislocation, migration, loss of livelihood, reduction in agricultural and fisheries outputs, and health problems. What measures should we take? We have to do our share in reducing carbon dioxide emissions by “cleaning-up” our factories and transportation system. The smoke-belching campaign of government has not been found effective with many vehicles still plying our streets emitting a lot of black smoke. We also have to adopt power-generation technologies that do not add to GHG accumulation like solar, wind, hydropower and geothermal. We may have to require owners or designers of new buildings and factories to use self-generated power that does not use fossil fuels, like solar panels and wind turbines as part of their total power requirement. Owners of old buildings and factories may have to retrofit their electrical and power systems so that said systems become more power-efficient. We have to make efficient use of power and energy in our homes, offices and everywhere. We should encourage people to use our mass-transit system or have carpools and to use fuel-efficient vehicles. We need to protect our remaining forests that help in absorbing part of the carbon dioxide in the atmosphere. CO2 has an estimated atmospheric lifetime of 50 to 200 years. We should also mobilize people to plant trees to create additional capacities for CO2 absorption. We should also control population growth. A bigger population will require more houses, buildings, food, power usage, etc. which directly contribute to GHG accumulation. As an educator, I suggest that climate change, its consequences and mitigation and adaptation measures be taught at the college level as a separate subject. Higher education institutions should also be encouraged to promote environmental protection practices as their community extension programs to further help in the fight against global warming. |
Global warming: Its significance to us
Tuesday, January 15, 2008 | ||
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The urgency and importance of the issue of global warming is seen in the selection of the prestigious Nobel Peace Prize for 2007 which was shared by former US vice-president Al Gore, for sounding the alarm over global warming and spreading awareness on how to counteract it, with IPCC which, through its scientific reports, built up knowledge about the connection between human activities and global warming. From December 3 to 14, 2007, diplomats, government ministers and scientists gathered in Bali, Indonesia for the United Nations Framework Conference on Climate Change (UNFCCC) Summit to hammer out a roadmap that will become the basis of a treaty to succeed the Kyoto Protocol. The Kyoto Protocol, which is to expire in 2012, has done little to halt rising temperatures and the rise in apparently climate-related natural calamities. The task of UNFCCC has not been easy as shown by the differing views from the participants. The US, which is the only developed country that has not signed the Kyoto Protocol, is at odds with the European Union, which wants that CO2 emission cuts be made more aggressively at 25-40% of current levels by 2020. The US will agree to emission cuts only if China and India will commit to some targets too. Global warming is closely associated to the accumulation of greenhouse gas (GHG), like water vapor, carbon dioxide (CO2), and methane in the atmosphere. The largest contributing source of GHG is the burning of fossil fuels (petroleum products and coal) leading to the emission of carbon dioxide. Greenhouse gases in the atmosphere act like a mirror that reflect back to Earth a part of the heat radiation, which would otherwise be lost in space. The higher the concentration of GHG in the atmosphere, the more heat energy is reflected back to Earth. With temperatures going up, the large masses of ice and ice sheets in the Earth’s coldest areas are gradually melting causing sea levels to rise. Moreover, the high temperature also makes the ocean water expand making the sea levels to further rise. It is feared that 30 percent of the Earth’s species could disappear if temperatures rise 4.5 degrees Fahrenheit – and up to 70% if they rise 6.3 degrees. For the Philippines with its 7,100 islands, with half of its municipalities located near the coastline, a rise in sea level will put majority of our people in danger, causing massive dislocation and economic difficulty. The Albay Declaration on Climate Change Adaptation, which came out recently in some of the daily papers, contains an action plan that our policy-makers should seriously look into and act on. Time is not in our favor. The time for action is now. (To be continued next week) |
TQM in higher education
Monday, July 23, 2007 | |
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Nonetheless, the initiative of adopting TQM in higher education has been met with skep-ticism and resistance. Academics have given the following reasons for such reactions: (1) difficulty in identifying the appropriate management structure that encourages quality improvement without inhibiting the university’s diversity and creativity; (2) the belief of most members in the HEI organization that universities are already efficient; and (3) the emphasis of TQM on team effort, which runs counter to the culture of most universities, which reward individual accomplishments (i.e. faculty members advance in rank by earning advanced degrees and doing research). Due to these barriers to TQM implementation, prog-ress has been mostly in administrative areas, such as canteen operations, plant facilities planning and admission and enrollment processes. TQM is not used to address the critical problems facing universities today, which, among others, are curriculum design, allocation of faculty time and research output. While working as an executive for many years in industry, I led some organizations in successfully implementing TQM. In the academe, I continue to propagate continuous improvement by conducting TQM seminars for faculty and business people; actively collaborating with business; improving curriculum design; directing research efforts to relevant business topics; helping students focus their energies on important endeavors; and conducting planning sessions where faculty and staff are encouraged to suggest and plan how they can improve the delivery of services. Accreditation given to HEIs by bodies such as the Philippine Association of College and Universities Commission on Accreditation (PACUCOA) helps improve the quality of education. Other schools have certified their quality management system using the ISO 9000 standard. In both cases, however, the school may have the accreditation or certification and yet may not be able to deliver the desired quality of service because of lack of internalization among the school’s faculty and employees. Faculty members can improve the quality of their teaching by discussing, at the start of the term, their syllabi as well as their and their students’ expectations (in one class, I used a cause-and-effect diagram to identify the causes of effective learning process); thoroughly preparing for each class; getting regular feedback from students about what helped them in class and what should be changed or added; encouraging active participation in class discussion; and being open for consultation. |
A tribute to a great man
Monday, June 25, 2007 | |
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In the early 1970s, I was the pulp mill superintendent of PHINMA’s United Pulp and Paper Company’s plant located in Calumpit, Bulacan. Ambassador del Rosario (RVR to most of us) was the company president at that time. When he visited the plant, we made sure that the plant was totally clean even if we kept the plant usually clean anyway at all times because we did not know when he or some of the executives would come to visit, with the plant being just an hour away from Manila. Even when the General Housekeeping Program or 5S, which was popularized by the Japanese, was still not in style, we already practiced that at PHINMA in the 1970s. I kept that practice in all my other assignments. RVR was known for his thoroughness and knack for details. Whenever we had our planning and budget conferences, we made sure that we covered all the bases because he and the other executives had a way of knowing whether we had considered all important aspects in our plans. I was continually amazed at his wisdom, creativeness and foresight because in all our major conferences I went home with some new ideas to consider. One time when we were told that RVR was going to visit the Davao plant I was involved in as senior vice president in the 1990s, my counterpart in marketing told me that he usually made sure he knew all the infrastructure projects in the Visayas and Mindanao, whether in-progress or being planned, because surely RVR would ask him about them. He was interested to know what the plants were doing to help the community. Our community outreach program (Comrel) started even before corporate social responsibility became a popular buzzword. He had the gift of remembering the names of people. My wife regaled in telling me that RVR remembered her name when we attended company socials or activities. During one Christmas party we had at our Davao plant, I wanted top management to encourage our employees to support the Total Quality Management (TQM) Program we were implementing. In his message, Ambassador del Rosario talked about TQM like an expert. We got a quote from his speech, which we placed in conspicuous areas around the plant. It was, “Hindi na pwede ang pwede na.” What I remember most of RVR was that he was our number one motivator and cheerleader. At the end of our semiannual planning and budget conferences, we looked forward to listening to the closing words of our top officials. RVR was good at using the right words and illustrations; and in encouraging all of us to do our best. He was eloquent like no other. Nobody could beat him in delivering a speech for any occasion. |
The importance of industry-academe linkage
Monday, May 14, 2007 | |
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| Oftentimes, the problem is caused by the students obtaining knowledge and competencies that are not what the industry needs. And this can be attributed to the outdated books, teaching methodologies, curricula and technology being used in the schools of higher learning; and the absence of or inadequate on-the-job training exposure given the students. Recent surveys among employers show that they need college graduates with the following skills: oral and written communication skills, computer skills, conceptual and analytical ability, interpersonal skills, and for some companies, specific technical skills such as those in information technology and engineering industry. This problem has been recognized by the Higher Education Institution (HEI) sector in recent years, with many conferences being held by various academic organizations to address the importance of having a strong and vibrant industry-academe linkage. The collaboration between industry and academe should also be a concern of industry because it will help provide them with properly trained employees, and it saves them valuable time and resources in making a fresh graduate productive. With a good industry-academe linkage, the new recruits hit the ground running. The collaboration can be in the form of a combination of the following: involvement of executives and managers from industry in designing the curricula of existing and new programs, and the design or revision of course syllabi; industry managers or specialists serving as speakers on new trends and specialized topics; industry partners accepting faculty members to have hands-on training and even jobs for short periods in their facility to provide the faculty with industry experience; and companies allowing their managers/supervisors to serve as faculty in the HEI. What is common today is the requirement of senior college students to go through an on-the-job-training (OJT) program in the facility of a company to provide the students with a school-to-work transition experience. Both parties have to make sure that the quality of training that is being provided in the internship program is acceptable. Other collaborative activities include the use of laboratories of industry partners for research work being done by faculty and students; joint use of research facilities by the HEI and industry partners, and the lecture by an academic specialist on certain topics that are needed by the industry partners. Universities and colleges benefit from the collaboration by being able to improve the quality of training that they provide their students and thus, the quality of their graduates. On the other hand, industry benefits from this by being able to have a hand in training future employees; reducing their new employees’ cost of training; aside from having the satisfaction of being able to help the students and society, in general. |
Corporate citizenship: top managements' responsibility
Monday, April 16, 2007 | |
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| I have personally known companies or industrial plants which for a long time have been doing acts of responsible corporate citizenship. One such plant was Davao Union Cement Corp. (DUCC), which is now known as Holcim Philippines—Davao Plant. Long before the Adopt-a-School Program of the Department of Education was implemented, DUCC was already assisting public schools within its area of operation. It helped some public schools in the repair of classrooms and buildings; construction of perimeter fence, pathways, and additional facilities; supply of potable water system and sanitary facilities. It also donated equipment and materials to upgrade a public high school’s chemistry laboratory. Moreover, it trained about 2,000 out-of-school youths in vocational courses, such as automotive mechanic and dressmaking. The company also assisted members of the community in developing and operating their own livelihood projects such as rope, paper bag and hollow block-making. Additionally, with an initial fund of half a million pesos coming from its mother company’s foundation, it initiated a micro-lending project to assist the small entrepreneurs in the area in accessing low-cost capital. This freed them from the hold of the 5-6 loan sharks, and allowed them to eventually manage their own micro-lending cooperatives. The company provided its employees and families medical and hospitalization benefits that were considered one of the best in the region. Also, the plant had one of the lowest accident rates in the cement industry as a result of the emphasis given to occupational health and safety. From time to time, the company shared part of its profits with its employees through the grant of bonuses and incentives. For its exemplary performance in this area, the company was given recognition as one of the best employers in the region by the local chapter of the Personnel Management Association of the Philippines (PMAP). The company also acted proactively in lowering its dust emission to a level many times better than the prevailing government standard and in implementing an international Environmental Management System known as ISO 14001. Moreover, it planted more than 630,000 seedlings covering a total of more than 330 hectares of deforested and barren land. As a result of all these activities, the company was awarded the Platinum Achievement Award of the Presidential Mining Industry Environment Award in 1998, the first cement plant ever to receive such recognition up to that time. Corporate citizenship is not an accident. It is a product of the internalization and actualization of the philosophy and values of the corporation, particularly the collective judgment and decision of top management, with the active support of the rest of the workforce. I know this to be true. I was part of the management team that made DUCC truly a responsible corporate citizen. |
When corporate downsizing is inevitable
Tuesday, January 23, 2007 | |
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| In the aftermath of the Asian crisis in the late 1990s and the increasing pressures to be competitive, some companies in our country adopted the practice of manpower retrenchment, or what is more known as downsizing. Recently, businessmen have warned that legislated minimum wage increases could lead to layoff. One of the areas of CSR that is often neglected by business organizations is the process of separating their employees, such as in the case of corporate downsizing. It will be good for companies to review whether the process they are employing is ethical or not. An employee hired by a company, in return for his faithful service, expects the company to practice fair play, provide safe working conditions and job security. An employee is also concerned with the personal and emotional bonds between him/her and the employer. Violation of these obligations, such as the separation of an employee during an organizational restructuring or downsizing, can have some effects on the psychological and physiological well-being and the financial condition of a separated employee. That is why it is important for companies to handle the dismissal process ethically to ensure the emotional, psychological, physiological and personal well-being of an employee. It is clear that long-term human resource planning is needed to avoid or minimize layoffs. Some companies employ one or more of the following alternatives to avoid downsizing: freeze-hiring and allowing attrition to draw down excess employees; redeploying current employees to other units; curtailing subcontracted work; sharing the economic loss through work sharing; offering early retirement and pay cuts. There have been recent examples in the US of some labor unions agreeing to have pay-and-benefit cuts of the workforce to avoid the filing of bankruptcy or massive layoffs by management. However if layoffs cannot at all be avoided, companies are expected to treat employees to be separated with dignity, respect and fairness. Some studies have shown that employees prefer that they be given advance notice of the impending separation and that a responsible person in the organization communicate with them directly about the matter rather than them hearing about it from others. Many companies, in anticipation of having to implement downsizing, provide their employees with training in skills of the latter’s choice to help them get employment elsewhere. Some companies provide outplacement services to their to-be-separated employees. Others allow separated employees to take over some of the services or functions being presently outsourced. Some even extend counseling to help affected employees cope with the emotional and psychological impact of separation. Whatever the approach, the challenge is to make the separation as humane as possible. |
What drvies companies to go green
Tuesday, May 30, 2006 | ||
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In their article “Why companies go green: a model of ecological responsiveness” published in the Academy of Management Journal, authors P. Bansal and K. Roth say that prior research has identified four drivers of corporate ecological response, namely: legislation, stakeholder pressures, economic opportunities and ethical motives. Legislation on environmental protection is considered adequate in this country. Laws on environmental protection include the Clean Air Act, the Clean Water Act and the Mining Act of 1995. The Mining Act of 1995, for example, requires mining companies to obtain an Environmental Compliance Certificate that certifies that the project under consideration will not create an unacceptable environmental impact. Stakeholders are also known to exert pressures on companies in regard to ecological responsiveness. These pressures come from customers, local communities, the press and environmental interest NGOs. The stand of some groups for a total mining ban in the country closes all forms of dialogue and shows the lack of appreciation of some parties on the importance and necessity of the mining industry to our civilization and our economy. As humans, we need metals for varied purposes: construction of buildings, bridges and other infrastructures; and for making machines, tools and equipment. It is important that there will be a two-way, give-and-take communication and interaction between the companies and the concerned stakeholders. A third driver is economic opportunities. By intensifying or altering production processes, maximizing recycling, minimizing waste, firms reduce their environmental impacts while at the same time lowering the costs of inputs and waste disposal. Many companies have found out that by improving their environmental performance through the reduction of all kinds of material waste (reduction of pollution) they also have been able to lower their costs. In the same article, the authors mentioned that ethically motivated companies respond because it is the “right thing to do.” Ethical motives depend on the corporate values the company espouses; particularly on the values of the company’s leadership. Let me cite an example of a group of companies that was involved in cement production and sales. In the early 1990s, the cement industry experienced significant growth. The government emission standard for cement dry-process plants was 150 milligrams per normal cubic meter (mg/Ncum) maximum. In 1990 the chairman and CEO of Phinma, Mr. Oscar J. Hilado, issued a directive that in five years’ time all kilns in the Phinma Group must have an emission level of 100 mg/Ncum (maximum). Phinma at that time managed and operated six cement plants. Four years after Hilado issued the order, some of the cement kilns including an old wet-process kiln (that had an emission standard of maximum 500 mg/Ncum) whose clinker dust collecting/trapping equipment were either new or upgraded, attained dust emission levels of 50 to 100 mg/Ncum. This was a clear example of how ethically motivated executives can provide the needed leadership toward corporate ecological responsiveness. |
The benefits of an environmental management system
Tuesday, July 25, 2006 |
| MANAGING FOR SOCIETY, THE MANILA TIMES |
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In the Philippines, ISO 14001 is the standard that many companies have implemented with 144 companies registered (certified by a third party) to the said standard as of the year 2004 based on The Philippines Directory 2004 published by ISOPhils. The number of companies that have implemented an EMS patterned after ISO 14001 or other standards but have opted not to be certified by a third party is unknown. The implementation of an EMS provides several benefits to the company. First, it shows good-faith effort to comply with regulations. This means that companies with existing EMS show the willingness to comply with all laws related to environment protection. Many countries are more receptive to standards such as ISO 14001, as an alternative to prescriptive command and control requirements because it is voluntary and focuses on management. As a result of implementing such standards, regulatory compliance is enhanced and reduction of environmental impacts is achieved. In some countries, regulatory agencies are known to go easy on companies with certified EMS or to reduce inspection visits to their facilities. Second, it assures customers of the company's commitment to environmental management. Some companies that are registered to ISO 14001 like Ford, IBM, Xerox, Toyota and others, have been requiring their suppliers to also register to the standard. Green consumers, who patronize products of companies that adopt environmentally safe practices in their operations, are starting to have their presence felt; and having an EMS would certainly show that a company is environmentally pro-active. Third, it provides economic benefits resulting from the reduction of wasted input materials and energy, and waste disposal and treatment cost. The improvement in process control and the prevention of pollution result in improved efficiency that ultimately causes the reduction of cost through the production of a higher output for the same input. Since profits commonly represent 5 percent to 10 percent of sales, even small increases in the bottom-line are always welcome. Fourth, the resultant reduction in environmental impacts improves the company's image with its publics, particularly its immediate community. Companies that have successfully eliminated or reduced the impact of its operations on the environment usually find the community and other stakeholders more responsive partners in its programs including the application and renewal of permits and authorization. Fifth, a properly functioning EMS reduces the potential for environmental incidents and associated liabilities or payment due to damages or violations. This in turn results in lower insurance premium and preferential treatment by bankers who provide access to capital. Some banking institutions now require the attainment of specific requirements of environmental protection before any request loan request is processed. Moreover, environmental accidents such as those that happened in Bhopal, India and in Marinduque could have been prevented, or its extent at least minimized, with an EMS effectively in place. ISO 14001, for example, clearly requires the company to have emergency preparedness and response procedures that prepare a company for any conceivable emergency or disaster, thus minimizing the extent of environmental damage if an accident occurs. |
