|
Back to
Business
(By Michael Alan
Hamlin
January 29, 2001
While the Philippines is far from
resolving many of its most pressing problems, the focus of enterprise
is once more on enterprise. This follows the assumption to office
of a new president, subsequent to the departure from the seat of
power of the former president (Likely the only incidence in world
history of democratic transfer of power sans election, resignation,
death, or conviction upon impeachment.).
For many, resumption of business will involve a re-look
at entrepreneurship, especially in technology sectors. Conditions
are once again — I’m not kidding — looking up for
this sector after a dreadful year for once high-flying New Economy
companies, which include everything from fiber-optic networks to
e-marketplaces. Consider first that U.S. Federal Reserve chairman
Alan Greenspan signaled his support in congressional testimony last
week for continued cuts in interest rates.
Mr. Greenspan’s remarks — including his surprising
support for a tax cut, one of President George W. Bush’s early
promises — suggest that both monetary and fiscal policies will
be aligned in support of resuscitating the economy. A return to
growth in the U.S. — Mr. Greenspan suggested that the economy
was in a zero growth mode at present — will boost both traditional
and non-traditional sectors in Asia as demand for the region’s
exports expands and interest in technology’s efficiency and
productivity enhancing potential grows as competition intensifies.
One regional New Economy dot-com startup that suffered
pretty horribly last year but stands to benefit from the expected
recovery is Hong Kong based techpacific.com. The company promotes
itself as "a unique combination of technology and financial
expertise that finds, finances, and builds technology businesses
in Asia." Its shares plummeted 70 percent last year after the
company’s IPO debut.
Co-founder and managing director Ilyas Khan —
a former investment banker — remains steadfast, and says "this
is the age of the underdog." The implication, of course, is
that underdogs like techpacific.com will fight back from the edge
of dot-bombed-ness and reassert themselves as organizations at the
forefront of economic growth. He’s not alone. A recent issue
of eCompany Now, argued that, "the Web will revolutionize your
company, just not the way you thought."
I’m inclined to agree. Here in the Philippines,
BayanTrade.com (a client) — an e-marketplace founded by six
major conglomerates last year — has rapidly grown all three
of its basic services: online auctions, e-procurement, and content
development. The number of online auctions will double in February
and participation has expanded outside the founding consortium.
e-procurement likewise is far ahead of its original
schedule for buyer integration and supplier adoption. Buyers and
sellers alike want to capitalize on the efficiencies of e-procurement,
and sellers are beginning to recognize the benefits of dramatic
expansion in market exposure that participation in the e-marketplace
provides with virtually no investment. And the company is becoming
a center for content development for Asia because of the large pool
of people in the Philippines as well as BayanTrade.com’s capacity
for rapid turnaround at competitive rates.
SAP Philippines (another client) grew its client base
25 percent last year, despite the miserable conditions here. And
70 percent of new contracts are for mySAP.com, the company’s
e-business platform, which includes key solutions jointly developed
with CommerceOne, another startup (Incidentally, BayanTrade.com’s
e-marketplace is also built on CommerceOne technology.). As conditions
improve here and internationally, both BayanTrade.com and SAP can
expect to grow even faster because the e-services and solutions
they offer are becoming basic requisites of competitiveness.
But what of new technology entrepreneurships? Mr. Khan
believes we are entering a new and sustainable era of dot-preneurship,
and that dot-preneurs are wiser and benefit from more business savvy
than in the past. And he’s determined to help them find the
capital they new to grow. Lack of capital access is one of the principal
resource constraints for entrepreneurs of all shapes and sizes.
Mr. Khan says in a recent issue of Marketing Insights,
"for too long, Asian entrepreneurs have been suffocated in
a system where the allocation of risk capital has been misappropriated
and misdirected. In the Old Economy, WHO you knew was more important
than WHAT you knew. This is clearly changing." Mr. Khan anchors
his argument on six factors, around which he has written a book
entitled Underdogs in Overdrive.
First, he points out that, "some of the greatest
companies in the world have been built by Asians." That’s
true, and sounds great, but Mr. Khan then notes that, "talent
has traditionally migrated to the U.S." So Asia still has to
work harder to keep the smart people it has, and to nurture more
of them. Fortunately, Mr. Khan says this is happening.
"The advent of the New Economy will mean that
more and more of this (Asian) talent will be able to take root in
Asia." The number of Chinese who studied in the U.S. and are
returning to China to establish entrepreneurships is the most obvious
indication that Mr. Khan’s argument is reasonable. Of course,
Mr. Khan himself is a re-import, having previously worked in London.
Unfortunately, in most other countries the movement is substantially
in the other direction.
Mr. Khan, however, feels that more people will not
just stay in Asia, but succeed in very grand ways. "There will
be dozens of businesses that will be built in the next decade that
will rival, in size and scope, the Cheung Kongs and Samsungs of
this world, not to mention that there are therefore dozens of Jerry
Yangs — Yahoo!’s chief Yahoo — out there waiting
to be discovered." Of course, Mr. Yang wasn’t in Asia
when he catapulted to instant fame and billionaire-ship when the
dot-com revolution began. Let’s hope the next one is in Asia,
and better yet, in the Philippines.
The bottom line for Mr. Khan is "it’s really
happening — you are either a spectator or a participant."
And the ideal participant, he says, is the one "who is too
smart to take himself too seriously, but who has confidence in his
own abilities." So as business goes back to focusing on business,
think about whether your focus should be fixed on entrepreneurship.
(Mr. Hamlin is managing director of the consultancy
TeamAsia and the author of two books on Asian economies and managing
in Asia. His latest book is The New Asian Corporation: Managing
for the Future in Post-Crisis Asia. His e-mail address is mahamlin@teamasia.com.ph.)
|
