Maniolas

Many people are employed, but not engaged. There is a huge difference between employees who are merely present from those who are engaged and truly dedicated.  If you look back in business history, engagement was not necessary during the period of industrialized economy. It was optional during the time of knowledge economy. But today in our creative economy, it is the main game. The challenge with engagement is that it’s a gift, not an exercise of control. Nobody could be inspired to become more engaged in their jobs by memorandum. A leading poll firm in the United States of America claims that only 20 percent of local workers are fully engaged. This means tremendous losses in the work place. Many HR practitioners want more engagement in their work environment and would often turn to persons capable of motivating their employees. But then, this makes me think. What causes the low rate of engagement? Business ( Article MRec ), pagematch: 1, sectionmatch: 1 Is it the amount of work? No, I don’t think so. Some people might say it is because of poor work environment. No, not necessarily. I have been to companies that showcase very beautiful, modern work facilities yet their attrition rate is still very high. Now, not many people are willing to admit this for fear of losing clients. But if a consultant’s motive is to help the clients improve, then the truth must be spoken no matter how politically incorrect it may sound. One of the top Read More …

MANILA, Philippines – London-based Fitch Ratings has affirmed the credit ratings of rivals dominant carrier Philippine Long Distance Telephone Co. (PLDT) and Ayala-led Globe Telecom Inc. According to Fitch, it has affirmed PLDT’s Long-Term Foreign-Currency Issuer Default Rating (IDR) and senior unsecured rating at BBB. Likewise, the agency affirmed the Long-Term Local-Currency IDR and National Long-Term Rating at A- and AAA(phl), respectively, while outlook remained stable on all the issuer ratings. Fitch cited PLDT’s solid market position of a 57 percent revenue market share in mobile and broadband, and a 70 percent subscriber market share in fixed-line. Fitch expects PLDT’s operating EBITDAR margin to be 47 percent next year from 48 percent in 2013, higher than most regional peers thanks to the duopoly market structure and relatively benign competition and regulatory risks in the industry.  “We expect operating EBITDAR margin to decline gradually by 100 basis points to 150 basis points each year over 2014-17 as lower-margin data services replace higher-margin traditional voice/text and long distance services,” the agency added. Business ( Article MRec ), pagematch: 1, sectionmatch: 1 According to Fitch, competition is intense in the data segment because PLDT and Globe continue to provide handset subsidies and are only gradually migrating to volume-based tariffs from unlimited tariffs.  “We forecast that PLDT will continue to lose 100bp of market share annually to Globe, which increased its mobile revenue market share to 43 percent from 34 percent during 2010-13,” it said. Fitch expects PLDT’s leverage to rise due to its Read More …

MANILA, Philippines – Budget airline Cebu Air Inc. (Cebu Pacific) is set to beef up its flights to Hong Kong after the successful conclusion of air talks between the Philippines and Hong Kong. This developed as low cost carrier giant AirAsia Berhad returned to the Clark International Airport in Pampanga through the launch of flights to Kuala Lumpur. Jorenz Tañada, vice president for corporate affairs of Cebu Pacific, said the budget airline has filed an application for additional seat entitlements to Hong Kong before the Civil Aeronautics Board (CAB). “Cebu Pacific will request for additional seat entitlements to allow us to upgrade and increase our existing daily Airbus A320 services to Hong Kong. The increase in air rights will allow Cebu Pacific to add flights to Hong Kong, in support of the Department of Tourism’s Visit Philippines program in 2015,” he said. Cebu Pacific currently operates seven flights daily to Hong Kong from Manila, Cebu, Clark, and Iloilo. On Wednesday, CAB executive director Carmelo Arcilla accounced that Philippines and Hong Kong inked a new air service agreement doubling the seating capacity to 30,000 per week from the current level of 15,000 per week to accommodate higher air traffic. Business ( Article MRec ), pagematch: 1, sectionmatch: 1  “The last air talks were held in 2008. It is hoped that the new agreement will usher in a new era of growth in the bilateral aviation relationship between the Philippines and Hong Kong, especially that the irritants that stood in the way Read More …

I have travelled to many cities locally and even to cities outside our country. Wherever I go, I find that our customer service is always superb. The good nature, natural warmth and friendliness of our people make us excellent in the field of service. Maybe it’s because our customer training programs are better compared to others. And now that the world has become smaller and foreign companies can come freely and compete with us as next-door neighbors, we need to continuously upgrade our level of customer service. Is customer service important? You bet it is. Customer service is the lifeline of a business. But customer service goes beyond the typical “good morning” greeting, the eye contact and the smile. Let me tell you a story. One afternoon, a waiter served a bowl of chicken soup to an elderly gentleman.  When he turned away to return to the kitchen, the customer stopped him, “waiter!” WAITER: “Yes, sir, is there something wrong?” Business ( Article MRec ), pagematch: 1, sectionmatch: 1 CUSTOMER: “The soup.  Taste it.” WAITER: “I beg your pardon, Sir?” CUSTOMER: “Taste it.” WAITER: “But, Sir, I can assure you that this soup is excellent.” CUSTOMER: “Taste it.” WAITER: “Sir, the soup was made from the finest ingredients.” CUSTOMER: “Taste it!” WAITER: exasperated, “All right, Sir, I’ll taste it.” Then he asked, “Where is the spoon?” To which the customer replied triumphantly, “Ah ha!” The quality of products and services, the availability of stocks, and the moment the customer wants Read More …

MANILA, Philippines – The Wing Lung Bank-International Institute for Business Development (IIBD), an 18 member consortium of global universities seeking to facilitate growth and development in international business education, is holding the finals of the HKBU International Business Case Competition next month in the Philippines. The competition highlights strategic challenges, the latest commercial issues, corporate dilemmas and growth prospects facing global business leaders. The comprehensive and strategic competition puts student teams to work in real work environments. They have to manage time-critical deadlines, incomplete information, as well as financial activities in formulating workable and action-oriented recommendations to a panel of professional judges consisting of academicians and business executives. On its ninth year, the 2014 contest finals will be jointly hosted by Hong Kong Baptist University (HKBU) and the Ateneo de Manila University. Six finalists from 20 universities in eight countries were chosen last Sept. 20 and invited to Ateneo de Manila University to compete for awards and the final round of the competition on Nov. 21. It will be held at the auditorium of the Ateneo Graduate School of Business, Rockwell Center, Makati. This year’s finalists are: Assumption University, Thailand; Ateneo de Manila University, The Philippines; Bowling Green State University, USA; Hong Kong Baptist University, Hong Kong; Petra Christian University, Indonesia; and The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Hong Kong. Ateneo de Manila University’s performance over the past nine years has been admirable. The school brought home the bronze award in 2006 and 2008, the silver in 2010 and 2013, and Read More …