http://www.teamasia.com/feeds/commentary.aspx Latest Commentaries http://www.teamasia.com/newsroom/read-commentary.aspx?id=292:greening-csr Advocates say corporate social responsibility (CSR) is central to how businesses operate and stay competitive. If so, like other business processes, CSR initiatives should be professionally managed to generate efficiency, productivity, and high return on investment. Wed, 16 May 2012 00:00:00 GMT http://www.teamasia.com/newsroom/read-commentary.aspx?id=285:critical-thinking “I know how education can transform lives,” industry-changing engineer, successful venture capitalist and noted philanthropist Diosdado Banatao told a reporter recently, “because it transformed mine.” The story of the boy from Iguig Village in Cagayan who walked to school barefoot while his father toiled as an overseas worker is by now well-known, and well-documented. Mon, 07 May 2012 00:00:00 GMT http://www.teamasia.com/newsroom/read-commentary.aspx?id=283:after-posting-record-growth-it-bpo-execs-turn-their-attention-to-the-cost-of-doing-business-in-the-philippines The Mindanao Power Summit last month brought the cost of power back to the headlines and to the forefront of political debate. For decades, Mindanao has enjoyed highly subsidized rates for electricity. The result was not just cheap energy. Maintenance of hydroelectric and other generating facilities was neglected, and planning and development of new generating capacity was ignored. Neither made financial sense, from a disastrously myopic perspective. Thu, 26 Apr 2012 00:00:00 GMT http://www.teamasia.com/newsroom/read-commentary.aspx?id=280:the-philippines-first-carbon-neutral-city-leverages-eco-tourism-for-development “Seven years ago,” Puerto Princesa mayor Edward Hagedorn said over the weekend, “when we began promoting eco-tourism there were two flights a day to Puerto Princesa. Today, there are 22.” The increase in flights to Puerto Princesa is the result of expanding demand. From a trickle of domestic and international tourists when the mayor kicked off the campaign, the sprawling city attracted more than half a million tourists last year. Thu, 19 Apr 2012 00:00:00 GMT http://www.teamasia.com/newsroom/read-commentary.aspx?id=277:bpap-work-abroad-live-here Speaking to IT-BPO industry executives, government officials, and industry suppliers in a recent briefing, Business Processing Association of the Philippines (BPAP) president and CEO Benedict Hernandez said the industry will hire approximately 120,000 Filipinos this year in a variety of increasingly value-driven segments such as healthcare, engineering, animation, and accounting. Wed, 04 Apr 2012 00:00:00 GMT http://www.teamasia.com/newsroom/read-commentary.aspx?id=274:a-perfect-storm-boosts-philippine-it-bpo A perfect storm of opportunity can propel the Philippines’ IT-BPO industry to US$33 billion in revenues by 2016, dramatically exceeding the best-case scenario forecast in the IT-BPO Road Map 2011-2016, according to Alejandro P. Melchor III. Other ICT opportunities can generate an additional $17 billion, boosting total IT-BPO industry revenues to an eye-popping $50 billion, Mr. Melchor predicts. Wed, 04 Apr 2012 00:00:00 GMT http://www.teamasia.com/newsroom/read-commentary.aspx?id=271:philippines-a-leader-in-social-struggles-with-online-retail The Philippines is the eighth-largest market in the world for Facebook—and the second largest in Asia after Indonesia—with almost 28 million regular users according to socialbakers, which measures activity on social networks. Unfortunately for the country’s entrepreneurial online retailers, however, Filipinos’ enthusiasm for social networks doesn’t translate into a significant level of online shopping activity. Thu, 29 Mar 2012 00:00:00 GMT http://www.teamasia.com/newsroom/read-commentary.aspx?id=270:philippine-it-bpo-in-the-year-of-the-dragon The Philippine IT-BPO industry may be on a roll—expanding 24% last year to more than $11 billion in revenue and 640,000 full-time employees (FTEs)—but industry leaders aren’t breaking out the cigars and brandy or sitting back to enjoy their success. Instead, a recent survey revealed seven areas IT-BPO executives believe must be urgently addressed to ensure that the industry continues to benefit from growing demand internationally for outsourced services. Thu, 22 Mar 2012 00:00:00 GMT http://www.teamasia.com/newsroom/read-commentary.aspx?id=265:what-does-it-mean-to-be-filipino-an-american-takes-a-stab-while-awaiting-his-pinoy-citizenship Filipinos feel a sense of national pride whenever Manny Pacquiao fights before an international audience, someone with even a minimal number of ethnic Filipino genes - or seems to have - is a contestant on American Idol, or a Filipino-American wins a local mayoral or city council election in the United States. Patriotism is provoked by the conviction that Filipinos are world class. At least until they become an obstacle to someone else’s job, or dreams. Mon, 19 Mar 2012 00:00:00 GMT http://www.teamasia.com/newsroom/read-commentary.aspx?id=264:which-will-it-be-engines-of-growth-or-vows-of-poverty The office of Bishop Pedro D. Arigo, bishop of the Apostolic Vicariate of Puerto Princesa, is humble in the extreme. He looks frail sitting behind a small, cluttered desk in a narrow room slightly wider than a broom closet. Like many aging men, his shoulders slump forward as he sits, and he uses his arms to prop himself up in a gracious gesture of informality. Bishop Arigo speaks with a soft voice that belies a steely determination. Fri, 16 Mar 2012 00:00:00 GMT http://www.teamasia.com/newsroom/read-commentary.aspx?id=259:philippines-public-and-private-sectors-up-the-it-bpo-ante Last week, Business Processing Association of the Philippines (BPAP) president and CEO Benedict Hernandez announced that the IT-BPO industry grew 24% to US$11 billion in revenues in 2011, maintaining its eight percent share of the global market despite the emergence of more than 100 competing centers worldwide in recent years. Perhaps reflecting a gradual shift to non-voice, complex services, employment grew slightly slower at 22%. Thu, 08 Mar 2012 00:00:00 GMT http://www.teamasia.com/newsroom/read-commentary.aspx?id=258:a-noble-but-sadly-unrealized-idea About a half a century ago, a group of Filipino executives led by the much admired, near-legendary business icon Washington SyCip decided the Philippines—at the time a center for world-class education in Asia—needed a business school that would produce top managers with an Asian perspective of doing business. The Ayala Corporation donated land for the project on Paseo de Roxas in Makati, and the Eugenio Lopez Foundation donated the buildings. Fri, 02 Mar 2012 00:00:00 GMT http://www.teamasia.com/newsroom/read-commentary.aspx?id=254:branded-events-boost-tourism-in-asia Speaking last week at the inauguration of a 35-meter high, 8,500 square meter hanger designed and built to provide maintenance services for the world’s largest commercial airliner, the Airbus A380, Philippine President Benigno S. Aquino III spoke of a vision for his country. “Perhaps in the future, a great Philippine nation can have those A380s not only for maintenance, but to fly in tourists, investors and balikbayans, contributing to the creation of a society where working hard and following the rules get you to your most treasured goals,” he said. Sat, 18 Feb 2012 00:00:00 GMT http://www.teamasia.com/newsroom/read-commentary.aspx?id=249:thailand-and-the-philippines-a-dismaying-study-in-contrasts In 1985, per capita gross domestic product (GDP) for Thailand and the Philippines was just under US$1,000. Growth in Thailand was set to take off, and it did, primarily fueled by foreign direct investment (FDI) in manufacturing. Growth in the Philippines, in contrast, was set to stagnate, with the economy limping along thanks to heavy reliance on the export of people, who send home billions of dollars annually. Thu, 09 Feb 2012 00:00:00 GMT http://www.teamasia.com/newsroom/read-commentary.aspx?id=248:sustainable-development-requires-productive-populations I spent much of last week in Puerto Princesa, which with a population of about 210,000, is the Philippines most sparsely populated of 38 independent cities not controlled by the province—Palawan in this case—where they are located. Politics explains the independent classification. Puerto Princesa residents don’t vote for the governor to ensure that the interests of rural residents are fairly represented, and not overshadowed by those of the urban community. Thu, 02 Feb 2012 00:00:00 GMT