On growing up

Just a simple acknowledgement could give a 'pillar' of strength to a wearisome 'bright boy'. But too bad, the boy is not getting it from the company who enticed him to do stuffs for them. After he performed his part of the deal, all his communications are now falling from deaf ears. He doesn't know who's to blame. He doesn't know if the company is unprofessional or the people there? Anyway, they represent each other just the same. Lessons learned. Thus, never deal with a subsidiary whose parent company is being accused of bribery and corruption. They may be a different juridical entity from each other yet the core values are still the same. What the leader does, the people do as well by voluntary or by force. Sometimes, it is better to be rude than rue your kindness. The bright boy now is a grown-up man.

Let’s ‘Dudefy’ the Corporate World

"It is not the strongest of the species that survives, nor the most intelligent that survives. It is the one that is the most adaptable to change."  

— Charles Darwin

The corporate world is rapidly changing. The acceleration of all things—as we enter the realm of intelligent infrastructure, mobile technology, and smart automation—offers tremendous pressure for companies to change the way they do business. Thanks to some great dudes for making it happen.

The once mighty hierarchical organizational structure is being run to the ground. The market is being pounded by constant product and service innovation. The hyper-innovative industry is getting smarter and smarter. Virtual office set-up, fast fashion craze, instant business model implementation, and the increasing reliance on multitasking ability are just among the new realities for business. Only those who have the ability to align themselves to high-velocity future trends can survive the new corporate rat race.

Multiple careers

Expect today’s workforce to be completely different in terms of how they view careers. According to Rudolf Melik, author of "The Rise of the Project Workforce: Managing People and Projects in a Flat World", a book that provides a comprehensive reference for enterprises that are making the shift to a service-based and project-based structure, “[The younger generation of workforce] fully expect a career path that will allow for multiple different jobs and careers throughout their lifetime, simply to avoid the boredom and tedium that comes with routine. They want to be provided with a regular stream of new projects and varied assignments and responsibilities.”

This paradigm shift is easy to understand because these are the generation who've seen their parents right-sized, outsourced, re-engineered, and transformed, said Melik in his book. “[These younger generation of workforce] come to embrace the reality that there are no guarantees, nothing is long term, and that much of their success will come from their ability to constantly reinvent themselves,” added Melik. According to trends and innovation expert Jim Carroll in his write-up “Don’t Mess with My Powder, Dude!”, his surveys showed that more than 50 percent of American kids now believe that self-employment is more secure than a full-time job.

In addition, Melik views today’s employees as “fiercely collaborative and extremely team oriented.” These ultramodern employees define themselves by what they like to do, not by what they do for a living. Melik points out that these employees don’t subscribe to the concept of a corporate work philosophy that says you have to come to a certain location every day to do things.

Virtual office

“The concept of nine-to-five will have just absolutely disappeared. It doesn’t mean that we’re going to become a nation of home offices, but I think there will be a lot more choices that people will be making as to where and how and when they’re going to be doing the work and what constitutes the organization,” according to Gyle Konotopetz in his write-up the “Futurist eyes next-generation work trends” published online in Business Edge.

Today’s generation of workers prefer to work on a per project or contract basis, rather than full time. They don’t give a damn whether they have an office or not (although, the concept of SOHO or small office, home office, and hoteling are designed specifically for them). They’ve got their smart phones, tablets, or laptops to communicate and do stuffs. They have their webcams and are always online; thus, they can work anywhere and can collaborate with anybody around the globe.  

“I think they’re just going to shake up the concept of the workplace to a huge degree. The reason that hasn’t happened is because of simple boomer resistance to change,” Gyle said. In addition, Gyle has predicted that broad changes can be seen in the corporate structure 10 to 15 years from now as the baby boomers, who have been very resistant to change, will eventually be out of the workplace. 

           

Flat organization

           

For some time now, the predominant workplace trend has been to go flat—giving rank-and-file workers direct access to top management and even the company president. It is an organizational structure in which middle-management functions have been eliminated. It shortens the time to achieve decisions, and at the same time, brings the decision makers close to the “dudes” and innovators.

           

In the book “The Art of Possibility”, the conductor Benjamin Zander describes the flat organizational structure as “leading from any chair”. According to Zander, the system has produced many of the most innovative products and services that people use these days. There is a problem, however, of leadership gap—the traditional route to leadership has been shortened. Also, there are chances of loose control because there are too many subordinates under one manager.

In the web article of Scott McDowell “Why Flat Organizations Don't Create Great Leaders (& What To Do About It)”, he proposed that effective management can be achieved by cultivating leadership in the flat organization, i.e., hiring someone with a strong drive and execution, rewarding leadership, institutionalizing mentorship, among others. By encouraging autonomy and self-direction, a flat organizational structure strives to tap into employees’ creative talents and to solve problems by collaboration.

            

Less aggressive companies opt to establish communication hubs—like the so-called brown bag and town hall meetings—that would serve as a venue for top executives to reach out and talk to rank-and-file employees.

Smart casual

Smart casual is a loosely defined dress code that is casual, yet smart. It is a multi-purpose outfit that is acceptable for formal occasions, dating, or casual social gatherings. Oxford Dictionaries define it as "neat, conventional, yet relatively informal in style, especially as worn to conform to a particular dress code.”

Global men's fashion business Topman emphasizes the flexibility of smart casual by stating that an individual's personality and comfort level of clothing choice defines the dress code. On the other hand, women’s magazine Fashion Central defines a woman's smart casual from an employment perspective by emphasizing the importance of understanding the workplace's environment and culture.

Smart casual outfit can include a mixture of jeans, chinos, blazers, sweaters, dress shirts, or a pair of decent sneakers or leather shoes.

In Japan, the Cool Biz dress code, which is part of the austerity campaign launched by the Ministry of the Environment (MOE) in the summer of 2005 as a means to help reduce the use of air conditioning to save on electricity consumption, advises workers to wear trousers made from materials that breathe and absorb moisture. Additionally, workers are encouraged to wear short-sleeved shirts without suits or neckties.

Speaking of suit and tie, Virgin Group founder Richard Branson regarded the suit and the necktie as having no place in today’s corporate world. In an interview published in a column at leading business magazine Entrepreneur, Branson believes that suit and necktie don't serve any practical purpose and office workers have been complaining about how uncomfortable they are for generations. The workers feel like they’re putting nooses around their necks every day. Branson further said that the suit and tie is an anachronism; there is no viable argument why gentlemen should wear ties. For Branson, a sweater and corduroy trousers are his standard business attire.

Aside from Branson, U.S. president Barrack Obama, U.K. prime minister Tony Blair, Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg, Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban, among others, are frequently appearing in public without necktie.

            

The author of “The Smart Creative's Guide to Dressing for Work” Dr. Christian Jarrett said in his article that clothes affect people’s mindset and alter how they feel about themselves. Dr. Jarrett cited a US research published in 2007 by saying that employees described themselves as feeling more productive, trustworthy, and authoritative when they wore a business suit at work, but more friendly when wearing casual clothes. Voila! If that is the case, then wearing smart casual could bring the best of both worlds in smart dressing.

Flexible schedule

           

The Boston College Center for Work & Family conducted a two-year research in collaboration with six large U.S. companies: Amway Corporation, Bristol-Myers Squibb Company, Honeywell, Kraft Foods, Lucent Technologies, and Motorola Inc. The research project is aimed at assessing the impact of workplace flexibility.  Results from this study of 1,353 employees and 151 managers suggest that, in most cases, greater workplace flexibility is a win-win situation for both companies and the individuals they employ.

           

Accordingly, workers who are given opportunities to do their job more flexibly are more dedicated and productive, are more satisfied with their jobs, and are better able to manage their lives outside of work. On the other hand, companies that allow flexibility in the workplace (e.g., flextime schedule, telecommute arrangement, on-call basis, etc.) are finding that their commitment is paying off as manifested by increased in productivity, better quality of work, and lower employee turn over rate.

Employees using daily flextime are more likely to say that this flexibility has a positive impact on their productivity, quality of work, and their plans to stay with the company. For individuals, the findings are equally exciting. Employees working flexibly are more satisfied with their jobs, more satisfied with their lives, and experience better work-life balance.

Way forward

More and more corporate executives are coming to realize that it’s time to throw out the old ways and try some things that are new. Those who are slow to react will be having a hard time to catch up in the new corporate rat race. Those who are unwilling to take good and calculated risks will be facing more uncertainties. Those who are afraid to embrace changes in the workplace and marketplace will just be expediting its corporate extinction.

They have learned that the way forward is not by relying upon their company's solid foundation and traditional way of doing business. They have realized that to deal with the high-velocity future, they must do away with their unyielding, slow-to-respond corporate norms, but instead introduce some new policies to make their companies attuned to the times.  

Running one’s business in this fast-paced world is as important as managing the affairs of today's “agile” workforce, who is sometimes temporary, always transient, part-time in nature, tech-savvy, and multi-skilled in background. The increasing specialization of knowledge, rapid career evolution, relentless market and business change, and globalization have led to an ever-growing reliance on project-based “workforce for hire.”

In the keynote speech made by global management guru and leading futurist Jim Carroll for the Monster Government Solutions Human Capital Management Conference in 2010 in Washington, D.C., he mentioned the shift from continuity to flexibility and the importance of attraction, not retention in the workplace. Carroll said that the depth of the baby boomer skills exodus is of such a degree that there's a need for a lot of flexible work policies in order to retain them, but at the same time, there is a need to play into the unique career attitudes of the younger generation. He further believes that lifestyle, not loyalty is what made workers happy and contented at work.  

           

Welcome to the era of corporate dudes.

REFERENCES:

Branson, R. (2012). Richard Branson on Office Ties and the Company Dress Code. Retrieved from http://www.entrepreneur.com/article/223670#ixzz2W3Xi25Aq

Carroll. J. (2012). Trending in 2012: What’s to Come in the Year to Come? Retrieved from http://www.jimcarroll.com/2012/12/trending-in-2013-whats-to-come-in-the-year-to-come/#.UbkfzpyeQa8

Jarrett, C. (n.d.) The Smart Creative's Guide To Dressing for Work. Retrieved from http://99u.com/articles/14510/the-smart-creatives-guide-to-dressing-for-work

Konotopetz, G. (2006). Futurist eyes next-generation work trends. Retrieved from http://www.businessedge.ca/archives/article.cfm/futurist-eyes-next-generation-work-trends-13793

Melik, R. (2007). The Rise of the Project Workforce: Managing People and Projects in a Flat World. Retrieved from http://www.amazon.com/Rise-Project-Workforce-Managing-Projects/dp/047012430X

Coursera - Writing II: Rhetorical Composing

Ohio State University

Assignment X: Revising Rhetorically

By Ludwig Ritchel A. Kalambacal

23 June 2013

The Corporate Dude

"I do defy old-fashioned business norms. I do defy worn out company conventions. I dudefy the corporate world."

“My life has no purpose, no direction, no aim, no meaning, and yet I’m happy. I can’t figure it out. What am I doing right?” — Snoopy (Charlie Brown's dog)

To "dudefy" is "to transform into a modern day dude", as defined in the UrbanDictionary.com.

Originally, its root word "dude" was used to describe a "fancy-dressed city folk who went out west on vacation". In this usage it first appears in the 1870s, according to TheFreeDictionary.com.

After more than a century, in the late 1990s, the infamous comedy film "The Big Lebowski", whose main character nicknamed "The Dude", became a classic cult. As a result, the word "dude" got a negative connotation—as a "lazy person" or an "unemployed slacker".

But thanks to the "Dell Dude" commercial advertisement in the early 2000s for it somewhat gave the "dude" a facelift. The ad campaign was a huge success and not only helped bring prominence to Dell computers, but to the self-proclaimed dudes of that time as well.

The phenomenal "Dell Dude" ad paved the way for dudes to penetrate the corporate world. "Dude" became an office buzzword, an everyday expression of strong feeling, and a fashion statement.

Today's dude is no longer bound by a set of stereotypes from past generations. He is now becoming more self-aware in learning new and better ways in a rapidly changing world. Today's dude is all about blazing new trails, trying new methods, and challenging the old school.

Coursera - Writing II: Rhetorical Composing

Ohio State University

Assignment 3: Making Visual Argument

By Ludwig Ritchel A. Kalambacal

18 May 2013

The Accidental Writer

I never thought that I would be a full-fledged English writer. I don't even dream of becoming one.

Like some of my fellow coursemates in Coursera's Writing II: Rhetorical Composing, writing was just an outlet and a hobby. But through the years of my struggle both in life and my career, writing became a constant companion. It's now became a big part of me. It gives me joy and comfort as well as provides me a sense of fulfillment and, yes, even money.

I remembered when I was in primary school, my favorite subjects were science and math. I already memorized the multiplication table at a tender age of nine, and had a good grasp of the periodic table of elements at the age of 10. In high school, I always had my good grades in Physics and Algebra.

No wonder, my parents were expecting me to take up medicine or engineering course in college. Out of filial piety, I would just simply nodded whenever my parents would ask me to take this course or take that course when I graduate. But the truth is, I wasn't sure where I was heading after high school. Like fellow Coursera coursemate Tukura John Daniel, the thought of becoming a soldier had became a childhood wish. Thanks partly to my favorite superheroes, Superman and Iron Man, for they somewhat instilled in me some sense of patriotism.   

But my lack of direction in life had contributed much to my dilemma. After high school graduation, I eventually ended up enrolling in a course meant for "undecided students", i.e., Bachelor of Arts. I took AB in the oldest school in Asia, the University of Santo Tomas. In this course, I was introduced a great deal in those fields that were entirely not my interest. Those subjects that, for me, were too boring, like Literature, History, Philosophy, Economics, and Theology.

Whenever I'm attending those subjects, I always felt that the "Law of Relativity" was catching up with me, i.e., an hour of lecture session seemed like a few minutes whenever I was attending my favorite advanced Algebra and Physics subjects, but an hour of lecture seemed like forever whenever I was in my boring subjects.

Hence, I couldn't help myself but to admire the sense of direction of another fellow coursemate Maewest Dias. The moment she stepped into the university, she already knew where she was heading. No wonder this lovely writer, who hails from a remote railway town of Bhuwasal in India, is now an accomplished professor of World Literature in the United States.

After a semester of whiling away my time, I discontinued studying in the AB course. I transferred to another college and shifted course from AB to BSBA, major in Computer Management. No, I've never chosen the course because I've already made up my mind. I just chose it because computer technology was the trend then way back in the 90's.

Like most trends, my interest in the course had faded fast. After barely two years, I saw myself again in the same situation—transferring to another college, this time to a business school, and shifting to another course, this time, I took up business management.

The learner-centered teaching methodology of the De La Salle University - College of Saint Benilde, a reputable business school in the Philippines, made me decide to stay in the course. I could say that the teaching methodology was so effective for it made me appreciate those "boring subjects" that I used to despise before.

Moreso, I learned to explore new fields. In this situation, I can't help myself but to relate my experience with fellow coursemate Alex Owen-Hill. In one of his course write-ups entitled "A Fresh Pair of Eyes", he confessed, "I’m addicted to the process of learning. There are only a few times in my life that I can bring to mind, when I haven’t been enthusiastically engaged in learning some new skill or other." Like Alex, I'm also addicted to learn new things. My quest for more knowledge had led me to attend a seminar-workshop on creative writing.

The Palanca Creative Writing Workshop became instrumental in discovering and shaping the writer in me. In this workshop, I produced my very first "technical" poetry. I considered it technical because it was composed with meters vis-a-vis rhymes—very much different from those monotonous rhyming poems I wrote during my elementary and secondary English classes. In fact, the said poem was published in the literary folio Shades of Gray under the title "The Old Temple".

It was quite a fulfilling experience to see your own composition on print. Nevertheless, I didn't consider myself a writer yet. I merely considered my perennial feat as an opportune accomplishment.

After college graduation, I worked for some reputable companies handling various positions of responsibility. As for writing, "it was nothing more than escapism", to quote coursemate Tukura John Daniel.

In 2000, another publication ensued. This time my sonnet "Beggars and Cars" was published by the International Library of Poetry in the coffee table book "Ballads of Our Lives". 

  

Writing, indeed, became my outlet to express my emotions. I used to keep a Moleskine a la Ernest Hemingway to record my spur-of-the-moment ideas, positive reflections, personal notes, business agenda, doodles and sketches, among others. Like Tukura, "writing was something I did either for fun or to lighten up my heart when burdened. The notion of becoming a writer at that stage of my life appeared far fetched and bluntly impossible."

I'm thankful, however, that my talent in writing is giving me an edge in my management career. I was able to make my business proposals more enticing, and my internal correspondences more compelling.

In spite of my stable career, there seems to be a missing factor. It feels like my life would not be complete without this—and this is the joy of writing. My feeling toward writing is best described by coursemate Alex Owen-Hill: "Writing has been a continuous force throughout. It has provided me an outlet, both to organize my disparate daily thoughts and to create brand new connections between whichever area of knowledge I’m currently interested in and those which have come before."

Again like Alex, "I can’t remember specifically how my writing started, it’s been a sort of continuously layered process for as long as I can remember."

Due to my ability to write vis-a-vis my eclectic knowledge in various industries, I was able to penetrate the advertising world by sheer conviction. I was in a real estate conference when I met this advertiser, who happened to read my industry write-ups. He asked me if I could write a copy for his firm. Without hesitation, I said "yes" eventhough deep inside I was taken aback for my swift response.

But risk-taking is sometimes needed to level up in one's career. This copywriting engagement had opened the door for me to work on several more projects until I bagged the editorial position in Archikonst—the Philippines' longest-running architecture and construction magazine. 

Until today, I'm still enjoying my post as the chief editor of the said magazine, yet my quest for knowledge never stops there because I know, in the words of fellow coursemate Maewest Dias, "something bigger still awaits me." 

Coursera - Writing II: Rhetorical Composing

The Ohio State University

Assignment 1: Getting to Know One Another

By Ludwig Ritchel A. Kalambacal

12 May 2013

Follow this link to read the draft and original manuscript: http://padlet.com/wall/wexmooc_levelup

My Marriage to English Writing

I had an unrequited love to English writing before. I loved writing, but writing seemed never love me. Countless of times my compositions were given a "fair", if not "below satisfactory", grade by my English teachers way back during my elementary and high school days.

But such misfortune didn't get in my way to woo English writing. 

Instead of watching cartoons on TV and reading comics, I shifted my interest into reading more serious articles and books and watching non-fiction films on a variety of subjects, like history, literature, business, economics, current events, among others. Moreover, I attended some free seminars and workshops about creative writing and journalism.

It was a long and tedious process, indeed. I could say that making myself become an effective English writer was more arduous than courting a girl. I had to stay awake most of the time, writing and reading and reading and writing, to maintain the momentum going and keep my train of thought flowing.

Those hardships paid off as I've seen the progress of my romance with English writing improved a lot. I finally made the upper hand when I entered my sophomore years in college. I remembered the first time that I attained a grade equivalent to "very good"—and that was so motivating and a euphoric experience. I felt that I wanted to do more. My creative juice was overflowing, filled to the brim. The next good thing that had happened to me was that I was accepted as a member of the literary staff in our college's school organ, The Benildean.

After my graduation from the De La Salle University - College of Saint Benilde with a degree in business administration, I had an opportunity working with several big and reputable companies, performing various capacities in management. My writing skills were honed all the more—composing business correspondences everyday, preparing reports and press releases, and contributing write-ups to the company's newsletter.

My biggest break in commercial writing, however, came when I tried my luck flirting into copywriting. That was a perplexing experience to me since I didn't have any formal study in advertising. I just learned the field through osmosis. 

Armed with a stock of knowledge and determination to succeed, this bold move to do copywriting for an industry advertiser had opened the door for me to enter the realm of publishing. I became a regular contributor of a real estate magazine Space+ and at the same time contributing write-ups as freelance writer to some other industry magazines. Then, an opportunity to level up went my way. I became the editor of an architecture magazine—the same position which I'm still holding presently.

Being the editor Archikonst is daunting but quite fulfilling for me. It came to me as a surprise; thus, I considered myself as an "accidental editor" of the Philippines' longest-running architecture and construction magazine. I was able to bag the highest position in the said publication for being at the right place and at the right time.

Yet this won't stop me from learning more to master the craft of writing. For me, the quest for knowledge must be never-ending. Like an app, a writer must always "upgrade to the latest version" to enhance his or her performance and "fix the bugs".

Writing for more than seven years now, my perseverance and patience have made the waiting all the more worthwhile. I've no regrets pursuing to master English writing. In fact, I feel like I'm tying the knot with it for writing occupies most of my regular and spare times. And this is the only marriage that requires never-ending courtship for I need to always please and entertain my audience. Much more that it is the only marriage that allows "flirtation" and "extracurricular affairs" for I can still do some work stuffs with no conflict at all.   

As a writer/editor, I've already flirted with so many subjects and toyed with a lot of topics. Until now, I'm still entertaining the thoughts of having an unusual, or should I say "kinky", and out-of-the-box compositions. I would always get a natural high whenever I would finish a good composition.

Moreover, I've been together with writing through thick and thin. I write for a living. I write as a hobby or past time. I use to write my happy moments as well as my sad experiences. Or simply, I write to while away my time. 

When I'm very angry, I will resort to writing as my outlet to express my anger. After a while, I would feel my anger subside. Writing, in a way, controls my emotion. It is my punching bag, my shock absorber, and my cushion.

Hence, my love for writing will never dissipate. That's why I consider my affinity to writing as a perfect union. This is a kind of marriage that can never be divorced or put asunder. This magical affinity will stay with me forever... till kingdom come. 

Coursera - Writing II: Rhetorical Composing

The Ohio State University

Assignment 1: Getting to Know You

By Ludwig Ritchel A. Kalambacal

25 April 2013

Follow this link to read the draft and original manuscript: http://www.daln.osu.edu/handle/2374.DALN/4051

The Parable of the Seed

This is just another Internet hit that are being passed from one e-mail to another. The first time I received this e-mail, I simply ignored it after scanning its contents. Ditto on the second time. But on the third time, it just so happened that I was whiling my time away and this e-mail was the first one that popped up in my Yahoo! messages. So, I read it and found out that it's worth reading for.

Here, I'm sharing with you "the seed".

A successful business man was growing old and knew it was time to choose a successor to take over the business. Instead of choosing one of his directors or his children, he decided to do something different.

He called all the young executives in his company together. "It is time for me to step down and choose the next CEO," he said. "I have decided to choose one of you."

The young executives were shocked, but the boss continued. "I am going to give each one of you a seed today - a very special seed. I want you to plant the seed, water it, and come back here one year from today with what you have grown from the seed I have given you. I will then judge the plants that you bring, and the one I choose will be the next CEO."

One man, named Jim, was there that day and he, like the others, received a seed. He went home and excitedly, told his wife the story. She helped him get a pot, soil and compost and he planted the seed.

Every day, he would water it and watch to see if it had grown. After about three weeks, some of the other executives began to talk about their seeds and the plants that were beginning to grow. Jim kept checking his seed, but nothing ever grew.

Three weeks, four weeks, five weeks went by, still nothing. By now, others were walking about their plants, but Jim didn't have a plant and he felt like a failure.

Six months went by - still nothing in Jim's pot. He just knew he had killed his seed. Everyone else had trees and tall plants, but he had nothing. Jim didn't say anything to his colleagues, however. He just kept watering and fertilizing the soil - he so wanted the seed to grow.

A year finally went by and all the young executives of the company brought their plants to the CEO for inspection. Jim told his wife that he wasn't going to take an empty pot. But she asked him to be honest about what happened.

Jim felt sick at his stomach. It was going to be the most embarrassing moment of his life, but he knew his wife was right. He took his empty pot to the board room. When Jim arrived, he was amazed at the variety of plants grown by the other executives. They were beautiful - in all shapes and sizes. Jim put his empty pot on the floor and many of his colleagues laughed. A few felt sorry for him!

When the CEO arrived, he surveyed the room and greeted his young executives. Jim just tried to hide in the back. "My, what great plants, trees, and flowers you have grown," said the CEO. "Today one of you will be appointed the next CEO!"

All of a sudden, the CEO spotted Jim at the back of the room with his empty pot. He ordered the financial director to bring him to the front. Jim was terrified. He thought, "The CEO knows I'm a failure! Maybe he will have me fired!"

When Jim got to the front, the CEO asked him what had happened to his seed. Jim told him the story. The CEO asked everyone to sit down except Jim. He looked at Jim, and then announced to the young executives, "Here is your next Chief Executive! His name is Jim!"

Jim couldn't believe it. Jim couldn't even grow his seed. How could he be the new CEO the others said? Then the CEO said, "One year ago today, I gave everyone in this room a seed. I told you to take the seed, plant it, water it, and bring it back to me today. But I gave you all boiled seeds; they were dead - it was not possible for them to grow. All of you, except Jim, have brought me trees and plants and flowers."

The CEO proceeded, "When you found that the seed would not grow, you substituted another seed for the one I gave you. Jim was the only one with the courage and honesty to bring me a pot with my seed in it. Therefore, he is the one who will be the new Chief Executive!"

Moral of the story:

If you plant honesty, you will reap trust. If you plant goodness, you will reap friends. If you plant humility, you will reap greatness. If you plant perseverance, you will reap contentment. If you plant consideration, you will reap perspective. If you plant hard work, you will reap success. If you plant forgiveness, you will reap reconciliation. So, be careful what you plant now; it will determine what you will reap later.

My personal thoughts:

Indeed, honesty is the best policy. But if I am a CEO, I could rather pick the one, who has "grown" his/her seeds to become the most bountiful, i.e., flowery or fruitful plants, to be the next CEO. Why? Because of his/her resourcefulness, innovativeness, out-of-the-box thinking, result-oriented demeanor, and entrepreneurial spirit. Companies nowadays are looking for "magician" leaders who could make something out of nothing.

Future workplace trends

A premier outplacement consulting firm in the United States, Challenger, Gray & Christmas, have looked into the future to forecast what you can expect from the corporate world in the years to come. Some forward-looking and relatively new notions have been enumerated here. Curious? Read on to find out how and where you work today may be different than tomorrow.

1. Four-Day Workweeks

The rising costs of fuel and other commodities are driving some companies to allow their employees the opportunity to perform all their tasks in a fewer days (well,that would mean more weekends, yahoo!). As per observation by the outplacement firm, about 23% of companies are now offering a condensed workweek, typically consisting of four 10-hour days. With the latest productivity-enhancing tools, this scheme would work well as some employees are able to get their work done in a shorter period.

2. Shape Up or Pay Up

As more and more people are becoming health-conscious, the likely trend in the future is that expect employers to take serious interest in their employees health and well-being though mandatory corporate wellness programs. As the outplacement firm predicts, office equipment such as Steelcase's WalkStations, which allow workers to walk on treadmills while at their computers, will catch on worldwide. Moreso, expect health-oriented company policies to be introduced that will penalized unhealthy behaviors of employees. In fact, few companies in the United States have adopted such policies that requires employees who allow health risks, such as tobacco use, obesity or high cholesterol, to go unchecked will pay more for their company health insurance.

3. Company-Sponsored Degree Program

The outplacement firm believes that large corporations will begin to create their own degree programs with precise coursework centered around their company culture and goals, eliminating the need for extensive on-the-job training, and saving both the company and the employees thousands of dollars.

4. Worldwide Recruitment

The expansion of the global economy will likely lead to a global talent pool where companies will aggressively pursue the best available workers, regardless of where they reside. In fact, corporations in Europe and Asia have already increased their efforts to recruit foreign talent. (Yet another reason to keep your passport current.)

5. Borderless Office

In order to maximize employee interaction and teamwork, many companies will eliminate the isolating cubicle and redesign their workspace to feature common areas, conference rooms, and tables, as opposed to individual desks. With the wireless technology, this concept would gain ground as employees can now work in different locations in the office with their laptops. Such would increase opportunities for telecommuting.

6. Working Offsite

The image of a hulking headquarters building will fade as fast as old newspapers in the years to come, according to the outplacement firm. In an effort to cut real-estate costs, become more eco-friendly, and attract the growing number of employees who want increased work-life balance, more and more companies will adopt a "work wherever you want, whenever you want" policy. Some companies are already embracing this forward-thinking notion, including AT&T, Best Buy, and Sun Microsystems, the latter of which estimates that it saved US$400-million in real estate costs over a six-year period. (But such concept have long been practiced in some marketing companies, investment houses and brokerage firms in the Philippines.)

7. Free Agency

The move to hiring temporary and contractual employees, freelancers and consultants is beneficial for both companies and workers, as stated by the outplacement firm. Companies will save money (e.i., overtimes, de minimis benefits, insurance premiums, retirement pays, etc.) and can add support on an as-needed basis, while free agents will enjoy flexibility in terms of time management and project assignment and higher earning potential. According to market research firm EPIC-MRA, about one-third of the United States workforce will be comprised of free agents by 2012. (This free agency concept has been a long-time practiced in the sporting world, but now expect white-collar workers to follow such lead.)

DLS-CSB is hiring a Coordinator for the Deaf Life Skills Development Program

The De La Salle - College of Saint Benilde's (DLS-CSB) Office for Deaf Esteem and Formation (O-DEAF) of the School of Deaf Education and Applied Studies (SDEAS) is looking for interested and qualified applicants for the position of Coordinator for the Deaf Life Skills Development Program (DLSDP Coordinator).

The DLSDP Coordinator takes charge of a team that creates opportunities for students' intrapersonal and interpersonal development through involvement in various activities inside and outside of the College (i.e., seminars, workshops, group discussions)and by creating similar opportunities specifically for the Deaf population. The Coordinator is also expected to conduct consultation sessions with students as an aid in their personal growth and development and coordinate with the academic program to ensure that intrapersonal and interpersonal formation of students is included in the curriculum. Mentoring of the DLSDP Formators and providing programs for the families of the Deaf students of the College is also expected.

The ability to communicate in sign language is required.

Application letters and resumés may be sent to SDEAS O-DEAF (DLS-CSB Taft Campus) or sent by email to perezmv@dls- csb.edu.ph on or before October 1, 2008.

Interested DLS-CSB faculty members and personnel are requested to inform their respective department heads and deans of their application.

DLS-CSB is in need of Guidance Counselors

The De La Salle-College of Saint Benilde's Center for Counseling Services (CCS) is in need of three (3) counselors.

Under the supervision of the CCS Director, the counselors perform individual/group counseling and interviews, and conduct/facilitate group activities that help in the development of well-integrated and responsible individuals.

Applicants must be:

• A Master's degree holder in Guidance & Counseling and/or School Counseling;

• At least three to five years of directly related work experience; and

• Covered by the grandfather clause (Section 14 - Registration without Examination) of R.A. 9258 (Guidance and Counseling Act of 2004); or qualified to take the Licensure Examination for Guidance Counselors

Interested applicants may send via e-mail their application letter and curriculum vitae to: valeram@dls-csb.edu.ph .

Deadline for submission is on August 15, 2008.

The Performance Appraisal of the 12 Apostles

Here is an interesting blog published in Funnybone.com that caught my attention as I was browsing the Web during the Holy Week break. It is about the performance rating of Christ's 12 Apostles.

So, how do you think the 12 Apostles would fare under a modern management method of rating performances?

Read the article below and find out for yourself.

The article was written in a business letter form addressed to Jesus by a fictional Jerusalem-based consulting firm Palestinian Management Consultants Ltd. I just picked the what I deemed as the main part of the letter.

In a nutshell, the performance appraisal was done by the said consulting firm for Jesus, free of charge. The Messiah submitted the resumés of all His 12 Apostles to the consulting firm for evaluation as the He is in quandary on who to choose among them to assume management roles in His new organization.

And here are the findings . . .

Feel free to comment and air your views and comments to this blog site.

Happy Easter to all!!!

Qualities of an Investment Banker

This is based from the article, Modern Investment Banker, written by Gary P. Cheng, President & CEO of Amalgamated Investment Bancorporation. The article was published in the Business World on January 22, 2008.

He views investment bankers as not just middlemen or intermediaries – brokers, dealers, arrangers, negotiators – but also advisors and consultants. Nonetheless, being intermediaries, investment bankers are necessarily agents, not principal. Their role is to advise clients, then clients decide; and jointly, clients and investment bankers execute decisions. They are, thus, professional intermediaries who help clients choose and realize the strategies that will best increase the clients' value. They are in the business of providing decision-making options to corporate and individual clients ranging from basic strategies to highly-sophisticated schemes, where sometimes none seems to exist.

In the article, three types of advice investment bankers normally provide were mentioned.

In determining where the company is and where it optimally might be in the value chain, the investment banker is said to be providing his industry perspective. In the example made by the writer for a telecommunication firm he cited several options that the firm could adopt for its operations, i.e., remain wireless or get wired or both, consider reselling or improve end-customer focus, bring value-added services, among others.

One recent example of a strategy that was executed using this perspective was that of San Miguel Corporation (SMC). The biggest food conglomerate in Asia decided to divest some of its food assets and forgo its focus on beer manufacturing, instead it trains its sight into a more lucrative and promising business in the heavy industries, which include power generation and mining.

In strategic perspective, the investment banker is providing growth options for the company either by expanding geographical reach or through business combinations, which may include forward, backward, horizontal, vertical, or diagonal business integrations via mergers, acquisitions, consolidations, joint ventures, commercial partnerships, and consortia.

In the Philippine banking sector, mergers and acquisitions are prevalent. Just last year, Banco De Oro completed its acquisition of Equitable-PCI Bank, while Union Bank acquired International Exchange Bank. In the power sector, the game industry players play in bidding for government power assets is consortium building because of the industry's capital-intensive nature. In fact, investment bankers themselves, a few of them, are actually members of the consortium.

The third type, financial advice, is normally what investment bankers provide to clients. However, other than advising on plain vanilla equity or debt, most investment bankers nowadays are giving more varied and complex investment and financing strategies.

According to Cheng:

“There are now sophisticated instruments proliferating in the mezzanine layers of the capital structure, which could be securitized or otherwise, with bells-and-whistles that may include warrants, convertibility and redeemability features, with prices or coupons possibly indexed to some tradeable item (e.g., bandwidth prices).”

As you will notice, the options are virtually endless, yet it is still the client or the company who will decide on what they want and ought to do.

In the ever-complicating dynamics of the market, “it is almost impossible for an investment banker to be successful nowadays simply by being a generalist advisor or a professional broker of deals”, as revealed by the writer. Cheng outlined his list of requisite qualities for a modern investment banker.

1. Investment bankers are industry specialists.
2. Investment bankers are product specialists.
3. Investment bankers are generalists in having the intellectual capability to understand other sectors and products.
4. Investment bankers are generalists in having the ability to step back and see the bigger picture.
5. Investment bankers are analysts with a solid grounding in quantitative methods required to address any client problem.
6. Investment bankers are analysts in being able to qualitatively interpret the results of their quantitative analyses.
7. Investment bankers are psychologists with a good grasp of human motivation and behavior.
8. Investment bankers are diplomats and politicians with the sensitivities to maneuver through complex situations.
9. Investment bankers speak and write well.
10. Investment bankers are philosophers in knowing that they need to know more.
11. Investment bankers exhibit the traditional values of integrity, client focus, hard work, diversity, and passion for excellence.
12. Investment bankers rarely lose their sense of humor.
13. Investment bankers strive to be physically healthy.

Not one investment banker embodies all of these qualities to the same degree. That is why to become successful, investment bankers should inspire group dynamics and embrace diversity to acquire synergy.

*Source: Gary P. Cheng, "Modern Investment Banker", Business World, p. S1/5.