We Repiar Other’s

Filipinos: Global Workforce

A T’mate from KSA provided the batch with this article in a local paper;

Imagine a World without Filipinos

“We have to remember that we are very much dependent on the Filipinos around us. We could die a slow death if they choose to leave us.”

• 1, 019,577 workers in Saudi Arabia
• 20% of the world seafarers - 1.2M Filipino sailors
• 23% of the world’s nurses

Not mention the millions of domestic helps!

Of course our fellowmen will not leave their jobs to go back, not until Philippines is in great shape. In fact, although they are not considered as a ‘domestic product/services’ for statistical purposes, the dollar remittances are keeping us afloat.

What made me think though is the corellation of our collaboration with the Middle East. Similar to the rice crisis the government was able to strike deals to major suppliers such as Vietnam and Cambodia because most of the top producers came to the Philippines to study how to grow rice - through IRRI. And now with the oil crisis, following the same leverage can’t we get bargain to middle eastern producers since we supply them of quality workforce.

Tit for Tat.

Moretone Bay (Phils) is looking for a Data Analyst

T’Mate Wheng, from Moreton Bay, is looking for a Data Analyst with the following qualification

• Candidate must possess at least have a Bachelor’s Degree preferably in Hotel & Restaurant Management or equivalent

• Proficient with various software application programs, especially Microsoft Excel

• Experience in Hotel food and beverage purchasing or equivalent would be an advantage

• well developed analytical skills

• Flexible, able to work on own initiative, can work under pressure and tight deadlines, and prioritize tasks accordingly

• Good verbal and written communication skills

They are embarking on a new product and is in need of someone to help them kick off the project. The initial engagement for this position is three months (contract) but with the possibility of a long term employment.

Please email your resume to whengkay[at]yahoo[dot]com for more details.

Philrice Training schedule for the second half of the year

A year ago we posted the list of training schedule from Philrice — http://tmdefinition.wordpress.com/2007/01/10/how-to-grow-the-rice-that-we-eat-philrice-training-courses/. After inquiries and a year later where we now experience shortage in supply, i got a reply from yet another TM ‘mate Glen Ilar, who’s in charge of the training portfolio. He’s a Senior Science Research Specialist at the Philippine Rice Research Institute or Philrice and was a classmate in KM class with ‘the father‘. Apparently with the crisis, Philrice was busy with the ‘rice-self-sufficiency’ program of the government and so trainings were streamlined.

• Specialists Training Course on PalayCheck System for EWs of the focus provinces. we have 2 batches: 1 batch which will be conducted here at PhilRice-CES on July 21 to October 22 and 1 batch which will be held at PhilRice-Midsayap in North Cotabato from July 14 to October 15, 2008.
• 3 batches of Training of Trainers in collaboration with IRRI. These will be held on August 11-22; Sept 1-12; and Sept 29 to October 10. Participants will be RSTC and TOT graduates.

You can reach Philrice through their site and at training[at]philrice[dot]gov[dot]ph

I’m suprised myself compared to a full blown training portfolio just over a year ago. But drastics steps needs to be done to resolve the rice supply crisis and Philrice is contributing whatever they can. We definitely can expect more when everything is settled.

And way back when we started dwinix tried his entrepreneur creativity by posting ways of selling varieties of cooked rice — http://tmdefinition.wordpress.com/2006/11/22/rice-preneurship/. You’ve got supply challenges now dwinix!

 

Enterprise and SME counterparts

I’ve connected with 2 of my colleaugues this semester (through the net), Gary and Rey, who share the same endevour writing about technology but in different areas. Gary for SME and Rey for the enterprise. You can find both of their pages following the ‘Meet!’ section where other TM’mates are linked. Gary’s Management of Innovation and Technology, currently developing for a project that would utilize free technologies (hostings, codes, templates, etc.) to help small entrepreneurs in the provinces. He’s still finishing MTM together with batchmates’ Kokok, Ricky, Dom and myself. While Rey was a former co-worker at Nokia Phils., Inc, He’s an account manager for Smart telecoms. Now is connected with the big blue. His Articles, essays, and talks, features a collection of his articles, essays, and research studies on business, management, and social issues and subjects published in the Philippines and international publications. It also includes selected speeches and talks to academic and professional audience. He’s a professor in the MBA Program of the Graduate School of Business at De LaSalle University.

Yet another fuel price increase. Here are some quick fix!

It’s a weekly habit! Fuel price increases every week — at least here in the Philippines. And the most affected are professional transport drivers, i.e. Jeepney and taxi drivers. They can’t afford to have the benefit of using a credit card (http://tmdefinition.wordpress.com/2008/06/28/on-banks-and-fuel-cost-savings/). Either the government is playing numb or they are in the process of implementing something big in the energy sector. Secretary Reyes hello!

Some quick remedy instead of starting off the monday with protests;

• jeepneney drivers to schedule shifting rounds among members. Not everytime jeepneys can fill their capacity. They can make a study on supply and demand and so  implement shifting schedule for route members. This way they can fill their passenger capacity at the same time save gas on empty trips. They can follow BPO schedule.
• order taxi service, instead of taxi roaming around the metro, implement an efficient ordering service with a small premium. Taxi driver can save on fuel finding customers. Besides mobile phone services are too common nowadays.
• the famous car pooling for private cars. need i explain more. I observed this scheme while in Indonesia, drivers will get a ticket if they are found travelling alone within a specific area and timeframe.
• promote motorcycle lane and its safety. This small ride can go a distance.

with these quick fixes, we not only address how to save on gas but ease traffic jam! I’m into pop culture and so riding mass transport everyday is not a problem.

TQM: Exploring a Paradox of Organizational Improvement

The case of Analog Devices, Inc. (ADI) implementing Total Quality Program (TQM) suggests that the connection between quality improvement and finacial results may be weak.  In 1987, ADI initiated a company wide TQM program led by its founder and CEO Ray Stata. This created a quality office with the same level as the head of traditional functions such as engineering and sales. Hiring Art Schneiderman, with his small team, introduced the ‘half-life’ system, a method for setting realistic quality targets and monitoring performance against them.  Trainings for the personnel were provide throghout the company. Quality improved within the manufacturing unit, but the positive result did not lead to profitability and growth. ADI underperfomed compared to the semiconductor industry.

ADI’s case is truly pardoxial, because the quality improvements did not equate to financial improvement. Here are few details worth noting;

• the severe recession in the semiconductor industry caused Analog’s profit and share price to fall, masking the benefits of TQM,
• majority of the personnel needed to see results before commiting themselves to the quality program. the quality team spent a lot of time on projects they thought would succeed early on. this resulted to rewarding the areas improving faster with the support they need while starving the slow improving areas of resources, further impending their progress,
• improvement came first and quickest in manufacturing and was slower in product development and other management function. Commitment to improvement in the product development area lags behind manufacturing, since results have not yet been observed and inadequate support leads to frustration
• Management focus was not consistent whenever there’s a need to address financial challenges.
• Half-Life application to units which are highly technical and organizationaly complex intrinsically takes longer to measure result, thus frustrating teams and having hard time to get support.

When Ray initiated the TQM program, it was meant to be deployed to the whole organization, apparently only the manufacturing unit was to benefit from its inception. Hewlett Packard (HP) considered ADI to be its number 1 supplier. The quality office is having hard time to convince the other business units to implement quality improvement such as product development. Research and Development (R&D) organization by charactiristics are autonomous, they tend to pride themselves as the source of value of the organization and so this will be a behavioral challenge to Art and his team. The sales organization on the otherhand may not stay in focus since the period was financially challenging and so other priorities are may be undertaken. The timely implementation of quality improvements did not shielded ADI from the recession. 

• change requires a solid leadership, Stata by starting the TQM program, should have institutionalize it to all functional units by nominating a champion in each unit.
• end to end performance result visibility and mitigation should be in place. to benefit from each of the units improvement it should be carried over through the value chain, i.e. product development to manufacturing to sales
• Different functional units requires different TQM approaches, half-life may prove useful to manufacturing but not to complex and highly technical organization

The question therefore; are non-financial metrics linked to financial metrics? 

Reference: “Unticipated Side Effects of Successful Quality Programs: Exploring a Paradox of Organizational Improvement” John Sterman, Fred Kofman, Nelson Repenning

Prof. Apin is looking for an Oracle Expert

Prof. Apin Talisayon is looking for an Oracle expert for developing an electronic payroll system. The opportunity is open for part time consulting engagement. Interested? Just leave a comment with your email and I’ll send Prof. Apin’s contact.

I consider Prof Apin as  my Knowledge Management (KM) mentor - Philippine’s father of KM!. He’s my professor at the University of the Philippines Technology Management Center’s KM course.

ZetroCity is looking for a FREELANCE WEB DESIGNER

Responsibilities:
• Creates functional and attractive websites
• Designs banners, logos, and other images for website use
• Develops ready-to-use website and email templates
• Works with clients during design consultation periods
• Creates attractive graphics, design and layout for online and print
materials
• Provides “look and feel” for web products and web sites
• Creates “branding” materials to establish company identity
• Provides templates to ensure that materials have consistent format
and appearance

Qualifications:
• Candidate must possess at least a Bachelor’s/College Degree in
Computer Science/Information Technology, Art/Design/Creative
Multimedia, Fine Arts or equivalent.
• Proficiency in HTML (preferably hand coded) and CSS
• Can use Adobe Photoshop and Macromedia Dreamweaver
• Excellent oral and written communication skills in English
• Deadline-oriented
• Must be able to work with minimal supervision
• Can work well with clients when the situation requires it
• Knowledge of Flash and DHTML is a plus
• Highly-disciplined, deeply-motivated, creative, and can work under
pressure.
• Required language(s): English.
• Have fast computer and internet connection

Interested applicants can send their resume to joannacortez@yahoo.com.
This is urgent hiring. Will be hired within the week or the next day when interviewed.

Thanks,
Joanna Cortez
http://www.zetrocity.com

Chowking and Christian Bautista

Q. What Chowking and Christian Bautista have in common?

A. Their products/services are both striving in Indonesia. Obviously Chowking for it’s pinoy-chinese meal or was it indo-chinese, and Christian’s good looks and voice.

When the first time i set foot in Jakarta, apart from looking for the nearest joint i can find movie titles in DVD ala “pirates of the sumatera“, like in any other destination i’m looking for something pinoy. From the same mall where the goodies are — Mal Ambasador, i found Chowking! Actually after a week of nasi goreng you tend to long for something different, like . . . fried chicken!?. Not that Chowking recipe is unique, initially i noticed that majority of the customers were Pinoys but most recently it’s a success in diversity. I find their halo-halo sweeter but it works for me, by the way it comes free when buying a combo meal.  The spicy sauces also comes in handy on the side, which is not available here. Truly Chowking has evolved into Indo’s local preference.

And Christian Bautista (CB), from a distant i thought i saw somebody familiar, not that we all look alike and came from the same ancestor — Malays, we drove past a billboard advertising his concert (not sure if this pushed through, since i heard there was a strom at the time when the concert was scheduled). Anyway, Pinoy Pop in Indo - why not? We look alike, we speak american english which they admire, and we sing like professionals (compared to the rest of the population) of course CB is a professional.

Convergence, after office with Pasky, Chowking for dinner and CB for background music. Pinoy na Pinoy with Indo flavor. Not that Indo’s cannot rip the music of CB and sell it at a bargain. Chowking can do ala Starbucks and sell original Pinoy music. Play it at the background. Nah, but that’s nothing compared to what Jollibee Corporation (Chowking’s parent cmpany) is selling hamburgers. Did i stop there?

Jollibee entered into entertainment business when starting Jolly Tv kids. With the influence of music on their restaurants here in Jakarta, they can start a promotion outfit to sell Pinoy talents. Indonesia and Malaysia are going goo-goo about Pinoy superstars anyway. One can only imagine the sheer population of this two countries. Jericho Rosales is also big in Malaysia by the way, thanks to telenovela. ABS-CBN or GMA will have a hard time setting this pace. But literally through the stomach of the millions, piped-in music can influence how the talents can become popular.

First toys now entertainment!

I heard that Jollibee tried to set up in Jarkata, but was not successful : ( Perhaps they tried the other entry strategy with the chinese community, thus Chowking. And let’s forgive CB about the national anthem scandal — shit happens.

P.S. when in Jakarta, i always take my dinner at Chowking’s Mal Ambasador branch.