JANUARY-MARCH 2008 | VOLUME 3 ISSUE 1
Looking Back
MOVING FORWARD
EDITORIAL TEAM
JA N UA RY- M A R C H
2008
VOLUME 3
ISSUE 1
Greg Atienza EDITOR-IN-CHIEF
Susan Africa-Manikan ASSOCIATE EDITOR
Sherbet Katigbak-Manalili MANAGING EDITOR
Haji Zulkifly Baharom SENIOR OVERSEAS CORRESPONDENT
Joana Marie Ozeña
aim
Looking
ADVERTISING SALES EXECUTIVE
Jesse Edep Rose Cheryl Orbigo CONTRIBUTORS
Chili Dogs DESIGN, ART DIRECTION & ILLUSTRATION
Jose Andres Puno PHOTOGRAPHER
Lexmedia Digital PRINTING
Maritess Aniago-Espiritu Khristine Revilla Voltaire Masangkay ALUMNI RELATIONS OFFICE STAFF
...No one who has read the Aeneid will ever forget the drama of that opening scene when Aeneas, an exile from burning Troy is silhouetted against the burning towers of Ilium and tells his followers that one day they will look back on these great events and smile. May the same be said one day of AIM. PAGE 18
Lourdes Co FAIM STAFF
EDITORIAL ADVISORY BOARD Francis Estrada PRESIDENT OF THE INSTITUTE
Victoria Licuanan DEAN OF THE INSTITUTE
Datuk Ir. Mohd Annas Hj. Mohd Nor. CHAIRMAN, FEDERATION OF AIM ALUMNI ASSOCIATION, INC.
Ramon De Vera CHAIRMAN, AIM ALUMNI ASSOCIATION – PHILIPPINE CHAPTER
Marvee Celi-Bonoan EXECUTIVE MANAGING DIRECTOR, SCIENTIFIC RESEARCH FOUNDATION
Greg Atienza EXECUTIVE MANAGING DIRECTOR, ALUMNI RELATIONS OFFICE
The AIM Alumni Leadership Magazine (AIM Leader) is a quarterly publication of the Asian Institute of Management with editorial office at the Alumni Relations Office, Asian Institute of Management, 123 Paseo de Roxas, Makati City, 1260 Philippines Telephone No.: 892.4011 locals 331, 540 and 533 Telefax: 893.7410 | Email: aimalumni@aim.edu Copyright 2007, AIM Alumni Leadership Magazine. All rights reserved. Reproduction in any manner in whole or in print, in English or other languages, without written permission is prohibited. ISSN 1908-1081
news
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KAIM Signs MOU with AIM and AAAIM Nobel Laureate for Economics Speaks at AIM Two Ambassadors Visit AIM KAIM Patron and AIM Governor Re-appointed to Head Sime Darby Bhd Robert V. Chandran, MBM 1974 Dies in a Helicopter Crash Euh Yoon Dae, MBM 1973 Receives Chinese Honorary Doctorate Degree AIM is Top Asia-Pacific School in Beyond Grey Pinstripes 2007 Survey New World Bank Country Head Visits AIM P.N. Singh Elected as President Emeritus of the ISTD AIM Celebrates 40th Anniversary with Important Appointments Cuisia Named 2007 Management Man of the Year On Its 40th Year, AIM Launches First TV Commercial
Remembering p12
Bob
spotlight
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Wading in the Blue Ocean: Gabino A. Mendoza The Journalist Turned Professor: Meliton V. Salazar Mr. MM: Victor A. Lim Turning Imagination into the Possible: Roberto H. Lim Standing Tall: Felipe B. Alfonso Musings from an Emeritus: Francisco P. Bernardo, Jr.
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alumnileadership alumni leadership P RES IDEN T’S
A
MESSAG E
s we celebrate the 40th year of the Asian Institute of Management, it is useful to reflect on what has been achieved by its founders, its faculty, its alumni and staff. We must, however, not end there. It is also important that we consider the current context and imperatives of the institution. The founding fathers sought to establish the premier graduate school of management in and for Asia. More importantly, they wanted to develop capable and socially responsible managers for the region. I believe that, despite many serious challenges and crises along the way, they achieved those objectives. In particular, I salute our senior faculty for having persevered and given so much of themselves to the cause. Not only did they teach the latest management tools, they shared with the students, the latest in contemporary management thinking. More importantly, they challenged the students to think for themselves and formulate solutions for a myriad of real-world challenges. The AIM student experience simulates the real world—it is designed not to permit the student to coast. The student is constantly required to exercise judgment, not only with respect to the cases he/she reads, but also in how to deal with that formidable adversary —time. This rigor is a hallmark of the AIM education we know. However, the test of the pudding is in the eating... AIM was a great idea. I ask you, my fellow alumni, to join After developing over 34,000 alumni (from over 70 countries), us in continuing the noble our Institute faces an even more challenging future. Globalization legacy that our “long march” has raised the academic bar; the world’s leading players have entered veterans have established for AIM’s traditional markets and its region has become the most our beloved Institute. dynamic and promising economic region in the world. Like you, I am proud to note that our alumni have acquitted themselves with distinction, in the face of these formidable challenges. AIM’s alumni have thrived in enterprise, government and even, non-government, not-for-profit institutions. The numerous partnerships with enterprises, public sector institutions. multilateral agencies, multinational companies and individuals throughout the region bear eloquent witness to the Institute’s success. AIM at 40 is however at a crossroad. Much is required if it is to retain a leadership role in our incredibly-dynamic and rapidly-integrating region. It is no longer sufficient to simply “be current”—everybody needs to be. Our AIM in the future must represent what it teaches. Among others, it must: • Understand important global trends, issues and management thinking. • Truly understand Asia best—its historical, cultural, religious, political circumstances, business practices and imperatives. Its graduates must be uniquely equipped to bridge the divides created by its rich diversity. • Be a thought leader on issues most relevant to the region, contributing actively to the articulation of an Asian perspective to these issues. • Establish strategic partnerships with quality institutions in the region that share similar values, aspirations and commitments. • Become, as an institution, the meritocracy it advocates. AIM has had a great run, in its first forty years. Much of its ability to successfully meet the challenges of the future lie in your, the alumni’s, hands. If the message resonates with you and results in active and positive engagement, I think we have an exciting opportunity to re-invent a cutting-edge and eminently-relevant AIM for the next forty years. AIM was a great idea. I ask you, my fellow alumni, to join us in continuing the noble legacy that our “long march” veterans have established for our beloved Institute. I hope for, and look forward to, your invaluable support. Happy 40th year!
Francis G. Estrada PRESIDENT, ASIAN INSTITUTE OF MANAGEMENT
FRO M
THE
EDITOR-IN-CHIEF
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The drama revealed in each page leading to the birth of a new school that is to be known as the Asian Institute of Management is gripping.
ith this issue we celebrate not only the 40th Anniversary of the founding of our beloved Institute but also the 2nd year of our AIM Alumni Leadership Magazine (“AIM Leader”). We excerpt from the precious pages of “25 Years of AIM,” an unpublished manuscript by Gabino Mendoza and the late Fr. James Donelan. The drama revealed in each page leading to the birth of a new school that is to be known as the Asian Institute of Management is gripping. We find ourselves cheering from the sidelines as the birth pains of the Institute are actively engineered into a historic moment by an eminent cast of leaders. We humbly acknowledge that our magazine’s abridged version falls way short of the original. One must savor the complete text to appreciate the motivations, the necessary rivalries and machinations, the details of conversations and meetings, the board resolutions and results, among a few. The Institute was born out of a good kind of conflict. Perhaps the conflicts of today presage another golden era up ahead as we travel the next 40 years! We are immensely grateful to Professor Emeritus, Gabino A. Mendoza for generously sharing his manuscript with the AIM Alumni Leadership Magazine. Without his munificence, many of the articles presented in this special 40th Anniversary issue would have been devoid of the proper context to fully appreciate them. I asked Prof. Mendoza why his manuscript was never published, although he wrote the “25 years of AIM” in 1993. He said that various AIM personalities differed with some parts of his narrative. In deference to them, Prof. Mendoza refrained from publishing the same. Our AIM Leader excerpt may thus find some disagreement among others in the AIM community—we welcome their inputs, which we believe will make for a richer historical account. We salute Prof. Mendoza for his meaningful gesture of support and look forward to the day when the Alumni Relations Office can assist him in finally making this invaluable manuscript available to the public—ideally updated to the 40 years of AIM! We also pay special attention to our professors who have played a significant role in AIM’s history, and in our lives in the classroom. Our Spotlight section honors our professor emeriti: Gabino A. Mendoza, Meliton V. Salazar, Francisco P. Bernardo, Jr., Felipe B. Alfonso, Victor A. Lim and Roberto H. Lim. Having been elevated to the status of Professor Emeritus, each outstanding individual recounts the roles they have played in AIM’s history, their styles and philosophy in teaching, the values they hope to have imparted to their students, as well as their plans for the future. Lastly, we pay tribute to an outstanding alumnus—Robert “Bob” Chandran, MBM’74 who passed away last January with still so much to do, so much to hope for, and at the top of his game. Bob will always be remembered for his generosity of spirit, his dedication to AIM, and more so, his love and compassion to his family. To all my fellow alumni, here’s to a meaningful 40th Anniversary to our school! Enjoy the issue. God bless.
Greg Atienza EDITOR-IN-CHIEF, AIM ALUMNI LEADERSHIP MAGAZINE EXECUTIVE MANAGING DIRECTOR, ALUMNI RELATIONS OFFICE SECRETARY GENERAL, FEDERATION OF AIM ALUMNI ASSOCIATIONS, INC.
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NEWS
KAIM signs MOU with AIM and AAAIM
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N THE SPIRIT OF REGIONAL integration, support and cooperation between AIM Alumni Associations, the Asian Institute of Management (AIM) signed three Memoranda of Understanding with Kelab AIM Malaysia (KAIM) and the Alumni Association of AIMPhilippine Chapter (AAAIM). The signing ceremonies were held at the AIM Conference Center Manila on November 22, 2007. The first Memorandum of Understanding was for AIM, KAIM, and AAAIM to take the first steps towards the establishment of an Islamic Management Center that will be housed in and administered by AIM, and to formulate the governance and organizational structure of the center. The MOU was signed by Francis G. Estrada, MBM ’73, president of AIM; Datuk Ir. (Dr.) Mohd Annas Hj. Mohd Nor, MM ’84, president of KAIM; and Ramon De Vera, MBM ’73, chairman of AAAIM.
The Center is being envisioned to eventually conduct, on a continuing basis, research on Islamic management and Islamic banking and finance, with emphasis on Islamic microfinance. The project will involve several other institutions such as the Institute for Islamic UnderstandThe agreements forged between AIM and its alumni associations is a testimony of the alumni’s commitment to continuously promote AIM as a leader in management education in the region. ing Malaysia (IKIM), Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia (UKM), International Islamic University of Malaysia (IIUM), Universiti Malaysia Sabah, and Universiti Teknologi Mara (UTM). The second MOU engages AIM KAIM, AAAIM, and the Asia HRD Congress Sdn Bhd (AHRDC) on case writing programs.
AHRDC is under the SMR Group of Companies in Malaysia. The primary objective of this MOU is to set up working relationships on case writing projects and related event management activities that are of mutual interest to all parties. The intended output is to produce up-to-date management case materials that will be used by the parties to conduct and facilitate leadership and management development programs. This MOU was signed by Dr. R. Palan, chairman and CEO of the SMR Group, President Estrada, Datuk Annas, and Mr. De Vera. The third MOU was for the staging of the 2nd Asian Business Conference in Kuala Lumpur in June 2008. AIM, AAAIM and KAIM shall be jointly organizing and conducting this regional forum on Asian business trends, management practices, regional integration, and insights on business and development management education.
KAIM envisions to replicate the success of the 1st Asian Business Conference held in Manila in March 2007, to promote AIM and its invigorated “New Asia” initiatives, and to strengthen networking among AIM alumni in the region. The special guest during the signing was H.E. Dato’ Ahmad Rashidi Hazizi, Ambassador of Malaysia to the Philippines. The Kelab AIM Malaysia seeks to continuously enhance and maintain the highest standard of management practices among alumni and associates in Malaysia. AAAIM aims to foster linkages among the alumni chapters and support AIM to move forward and attain its goals. The agreements forged between AIM and its alumni associations is a testimony of the alumni’s commitment to continuously promote AIM as a leader in management education in the region.
From L are AAAIM Former Chairman Ricardo Pascua, AAAIM Chairman Ramon De Vera, AIM President Francis Estrada, KAIM President Datuk Ir. (Dr.) Mohd Annas Hj. Mohd Nor and H.E. Dato’ Ahmad Rashidi Hazizi, Ambassador of Malaysia to the Philippines. Back from L: Greg Atienza, executive managing director of AIM’s Alumni Relations Office, Tuan Haji Zulkifly Baharom, honorary secretary of KAIM, and Gabriel Paredes, vice chairman of AAAIM
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A I M A LU M NI LEA D ERS HIP M AGAZIN E J an u ary to March 2008
NEWS
Nobel Laureate for Economics Speaks at AIM
THE MAIN DRIVING FORCE for economic growth is innovative activity and technological change, says Nobel Prize Winner Finn Kydland. Deficient economic development often comes in the way of lasting peace. As the key private-economy decisions leading to economic growth are very much forwardlooking (dynamic) in nature, it’s essential that a nation’s government provide an environment of stability in their economic policy. Thus said Professor Finn Erling Kydland, 2004 Nobel Laureate for Economics, at the forum of Bridges—Dialogues Towards a Culture of Peace held at the Asian Institute of Management (AIM) on February 6, 2008 in cooperation with the International Peace Foundation (IPF). Prof. Kydland spoke on the subject “Peace and Economic Development in the Age of Globalization.” One of Prof. Kydland’s two research papers that were cited by the Nobel Committee points to the reason for a subtle natural tendency even for a benign government to be inconsistent over
time. He provided examples of how some countries have tried in the past to overcome this problem, thus instilling greater long-run
“The main driving force for economic growth is innovative activity and technological change.” confidence and credibility. Prof. Kydland compared in some detail, as examples, the nations of Ireland and Argentina, one in which economic policy has created the conditions for doing well over the past 20 years, and one in which the opposite has happened. “The main driving force for economic growth is innovative activity and technological change,” notes Prof. Kydland. But besides these, incentives are needed for investments in new capital such as factories, machines, and office buildings. Government policy may be detrimental to such growth. Prof. Kydland ended his presentation with some general remarks about the kinds of economic policies that can bring poorer nations of the world closer, economically, to the well-to-do ones. * Focus on incentives for
productivity growth (innovation) and capital accumulation * Government policy has to be credible and forward-looking * Institutions geared to avoiding “time-inconsistency disease” Paraphrasing the conclusion of Parente and Prescott’s book on Barriers to Riches, Prof. Kydland said: “With good policy, there is potential in poor nations for, not 1 to 2 percent, but 1,000 to 2,000 percent income increase.” Reactors to Prof. Kydland’s speech were Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas Governor Amando Tetangco Jr. and Mr. Roberto F. de Ocampo, executive director of the AIM-Gov. Jose B. Fernandez Jr. Center for Banking and Finance and former Finance Secretary. Mr. de Ocampo delved into the Philippines’ own experience and policymaking, and its successes and failures over the years. AIM is one of the local partner institutions in the 1st ASEAN-wide event series Bridges—Dialogues Towards a Culture of Peace. Bridg-
participation of Nobel Laureates for Economics, Peace, Physics, Chemistry, and Medicine as well as former World Bank President James D. Wolfensohn, who will speak at AIM on March 5, 2:00 pm. The aim of Bridges is to facilitate and strengthen dialogue and communication between societies in Southeast Asia with their multiple cultures and faiths as well as with people in other parts of the world to promote understanding and trust. By enhancing science, technology, and education as a basis for peace and development, the events may lead to better cooperation for the advancement of peace, freedom, and security in the region with the active involvement of the young generation, ASEAN’s key to the future. In the Philippines, Bridges is chaired by Mr. Jaime Augusto Zobel de Ayala, Ayala Corporation chairman and CEO, and Mr. Washington SyCip, SGV Group founder and AIM chairman. “The dialogues aim at building bridges through Nobel Laureates with local universities and other institutions in Southeast Asia to establish long-term relationships which may result in common research programs and other forms of collaboration,” said Ayala.
Prof. Finn and Dr. Tonya Kydland (center) with (from left) AIM President Francis Estrada, Dean Victoria Licuanan, BSP Governor Tetangco, AIM Chairmen Washington SyCip and Jose Cuisia Jr., Mr. de Ocampo, and IPF Chairman Uwe Morawetz.
es is a series of discussions initiated and facilitated by the Vienna-based International Peace Foundation, under the mutual patronage of 21 Nobel Peace Prize Laureates. Bridges is being held in the Philippines and Thailand from November 2007 to April 2008. It involves the
“The Bridges events, especially the forum with Prof. Kydland, are very timely and relevant given the strides in technology and economic development and the continuing challenges to reduce poverty, particularly in Asia,” remarked AIM President Francis Estrada.
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NEWS
Two Ambassadors Visit AIM Ambassador of the Netherlands to the Philippines, H.E. Robert G. Brinks, and Ambassador of Israel to the Philippines, H.E. Zvi Vapni, paid a courtesy call to Mr. Francis G. Estrada, president of the Asian Institute of Management, to strengthen ties between AIM and the two countries.
AIM President Francis Estrada, H.E. Robert Brinks, and Ms. Marvee Celi-Bonoan
Estrada and H.E. Zvi Vapni
KAIM Patron and AIM Governor Re-appointed to head Sime Darby Bhd SYNERGY DRIVE BHD, THE merged entity of Sime Darby Bhd, Golden Hope Plantations Bhd and Kumpulan Guthrie Bhd, has been renamed Sime Darby Bhd. The new Sime Darby, which has been successfully relisted on November 30, 2007, strongly reflected the long-standing brand and equity market values as a conglomerate with multiple core businesses locally and internationally. Kelab AIM Malaysia (KAIM) patron, Tun (Dr.) Musa Hitam and AIM Governor Tan Sri (Dr.) Ahmad Sarji Abdul Hamid have been reappointed as the Chairman and Deputy Chairman of Sime Darby Bhd, respectively. The president and group chief executive is Datuk Seri Ahmad Zubir Murshid. 6
Shares of Sime Darby Bhd jumped 24 percent to RM11 (US$3.28) when they were relisted on Bursa Malaysia, as investors bet on the giant planter’s bright prospects under-pinned by strong palm oil prices. The value of the company at the end of trading day was at RM66 billion with 68.4 million shares changing hands. This means that Sime Darby has now displaced number one lender Malayan Banking Bhd (Maybank) as the country’s largest listed company. Chairman Tun Musa said, “The confidence that the market has in us is reflected in the share price. That’s significant and it’s now up to us to deliver. Sime Darby expected its revenue and profit to grow by at least 10 percent a year.”
A I M A LU M NI LEA D ERS HIP M AGAZIN E J an u ary to March 2008
Sime Darby, through the merger, has now become the world’s largest listed oil palm grower with 543,000 hectare of land. The integration of its plantations would generate more cash through cost efficiency and yield improvement. According to Datuk Seri Ahmad Zubir, Sime Darby was adopting the US-based Wal-Mart’s model in marketing strategy by re-strategizing, consolidating as well as offer better concept, products, design and branding in its core business namely property and plantations. Coincidently, KAIM did choose the AIM’s copyrighted case from Harvard on Wal-Mart for deliberations at the Islamic Management Roundtable held in collaboration with Institute of Islamic Understanding Malaysia (IKIM) on September 15, 2006. Tan Sri
Tun Musa Hitam
Ahmad Sarji who ably chaired the said Roundtable did close the case with a powerful observation: “Part of Wal-Mart’s expansion and increasing drive for profits was via its famous strategy of consolidation. In developing sustainable futures, Wal-Mart adopted and practiced value-driven, people oriented and caring leadership philosophy. Malaysian companies should emulate the success model of Wal-Mart.”
NEWS R O B E R T V. C H A N D R A N , M B M 1 9 74 D I E S I N A H E L I C O P T E R C R A S H ROBERT V. CHANDRAN, ONE of AIM’s most outstanding alumni and a member of the AIM Board of Governors, died in a helicopter crash on January 7, 2008 in Riau Province, Indonesia at the age of 57. Chandran, founder and CEO of Chemoil Corporation, obtained his MBA (then called Master in Business Management) from AIM in 1974 and had been a governor of the school since 1994. Bob, as he is fondly called by the AIM community, has been one of the most active leaders in giving back to the Institute. He was a generous donor to AIM, recruited graduates for Chemoil, and was a sought-after guest speaker
in the MBA sessions. In 2005, Mr. Chandran pledged a total of US$500,000 as venture capital to promising graduates of the AIM W. SyCip Graduate School of Business to give them better chances of success at business. He explained that this was one way of giving back to his alma mater, which helped him become successful over the years. “...Education always plays a major role in the prosperity of any business,” he said. Mr. Chandran’s Chemoil Corporation is the largest supplier of marine bunker fuels in the Americas. The company has physical operations in the largest bunkering ports in the United States, in particular
in Los Angeles, Houston, and New York. Since its founding in 1981 by Mr. Chandran, Chemoil has grown from a trader of bunker fuels to a major player in the worldwide fuel oil markets with diversified interests in both terminals and shipping. Chemoil was listed in Singapore in 2006 with annual revenue of US $ 4.4 billion. A naturalized American, Mr. Chandran eventually moved to Singapore and gained citizenship in 2007. He was ranked 14th on the Forbes 2007 list of the 40 richest people in Singapore. He was married with two children. AIM grieves the loss of an outstanding member of its Board of Governors and its alumni community.
Euh Yoon Dae, MBM 1973 Receives Chinese Honorary Doctorate Degree First Korean to be conferred national honorary title
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ORMER KOREA University president and AIM alumnus Euh Yoon Dae, MBM 1973 received the Chinese honorary doctorate degree in business administration. This was the first time a Korean was conferred the title. Renmin University of China President Ji Baocheng conferred the honorary doctorate degree in business administration to former President Euh Yoon Dae on October 30, 2007 after screening the ratification of the Academic Degree Committee of the Chinese Department of State, commemorating the university’s 70th anniversary of its foundation on November 1, 2007. The Academic Degree Committee of the Chinese Department of State explained that it evaluated with high regard former President Euh’s contribution, especially on the internationalization of Renmin University of China, by pursuing practical exchange and cooperation with Chinese universities through the “Global KU Project.” From 2003 to 2006, former President Euh had sent around 1,000 students to overseas universi-
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ties annually, and had actively recruited foreign students as well. The International Summer Campus, which opened in 2004, has delivered lectures completely in the English language, so the number of foreign students had increased tremendously. Around 1,200 students from 40 countries applied this year. Korea University became the 17th member of the Universitas 21(U21), an international union of the world’s top universities on November 29, 2004. It was the first Korean university to achieve this. For the “World University Presidents’ Forum” held on May 5, 2005 commemorating the centennial of the establishment of Korea University, presidents of 95 universities from 22 countries participated and it was a great success. In the inaugural general meeting of the Asia-Pacific Association for International Education (APAIE) led by Korea University on March 29, 2006, around 350 officials from 160 universities from 26 countries participated. As a result of various efforts, Korea University was ranked 150 in the world’s university evaluation of “The Times” in 2006. Korea University has been developing a solid partnership with Renmin University of China
A I M A LU M NI LEA D ERS HIP M AGAZIN E J an u ary to March 2008
through various exchange and cooperation, such as building the Korea Center inside the Renmin University campus, and co-establishing the China-Korea Business Enterprise Administration Research Center. Renmin University of China is a base university overseas, where Korea University has built a overseas campus along with the UBC of Canada, University of California in the USA, Green Peace
University of Australia, London University of the UK, and Waseda University of Japan. It is a distinguished university equipped with a few science and engineering departments centered around the humanities and social sciences,
and areas in economics, applied economics, judicial studies, journalism and broadcasting. An honorary doctorate degree in China is a national title conferred to outstanding personalities from overseas. It has been awarded to Nobel Prize winners, world-renowned scholars, and foreign heads of states. The Academic Degree Committee of the Department of State forms a separate evaluation committee and selects recipients every three months through rigid screening. It has ratified 165 honorary doctorate degrees to 165 foreigners from 1983 to the end of 2005. Leaders from the USA and Europe take the majority with 47 Americans, including former President George Bush, and 16 Germans, including former Prime Minister Schroder. Renmen University of China has conferred the title to around 10 overseas celebrities including the Nobel Economics Prize Winner Professor Robert Mendel of Columbia University of the USA, and the former Prime Minister of New Zealand Mike Moor who had worked for the Secretary General of the World Trade Organization. —Source: http://www.korea.edu/board/
NEWS
AIM is Top Asia-Pacific School in Beyond Grey Pinstripes 2007 Survey
New World Bank Country Head visits AIM New World Bank Philippines Country Head Bert Hofman paid a courtesy call to Mr. Jose L. Cuisia, Jr. President, Philamlife, Mr. Francis G. Estrada, President, Asian Institute of Management and
selected business and civil society leaders last January 15, 2008. (L-R) Sitting: Mr. Francis G. Estrada, Mr. Bert Hofman, Mr. Jose L. Cuisia, Jr., Mr. Alberto Lim. (L-R) Standing: Mr. Ding Navarro, Mr. Filomeno Sta. Ana, III, Mr. Steve Rood, Ms. Leonora Gonzales, and Mr. Andrew Parker.
2007-2008
Preparing MBAs for Social and Environmental Stewardship
THE ASIAN INSTITUTE OF Management ranked 42nd out of 111 schools in the Beyond Grey Pinstripes 2007 rankings released by the Aspen Institute Center for Business Education (CBE) on October 10. Beyond Grey Pinstripes is a biennial “research survey and alternative ranking of business schools that spotlights innovative full-time MBA programs leading the way in the integration of issues concerning social and environmental stewardship into the curriculum.” The Beyond Grey Pinstripes ranking is “the result of over 18 months of rigorous research... looking at how well MBA programs incorporate social and environmental issues into the training of future business leaders.” More than 40,000 pages of data were analyzed to come up with the 100 top MBA programs. The Aspen Institute surveyed 111 institutions—71 in the U.S. and 40 international schools— representing a total of 18 countries. The data were taken from the 2005-06 and 2006-07 academic years. In the ranking, AIM beat prestigious international schools such as INSEAD, IMD, HEC Paris, MIT Sloan, and IESE. The only other Asia-Pacific schools that made it to the Global 100 are NUS Business School at No. 88 and Curtin Business School at No. 91. SP Jain (India) and University of Auckland likewise participated in the survey.
P.N. Singh elected as President Emeritus of the ISTD
Prof. RSS Mani, Advisor to SIES Institute of Management, honoring P.N. Singh
The Indian Society for Training and Development (ISTD), New Delhi elected P.N. Singh, MM 1975 and Chairman of Grid Consultants Pvt. Ltd. as President Emeritus of the Society. ISTD is the largest association of Training and Development professionals in India. P.N. Singh was also honored with a Lifetime Achievement Award for Management by SIES Institute of Management Studies in Mumbai at a recent HR Convention. P.N. Singh’s 20th book “Backstabbers: How to Protect Yourself from These Two-headed Snakes”, was released on November 27, 2007 at a function organized by Bombay Management Association. Two past presidents of the association led the discussion on the book which was immensely praised and recommended. “If not for the AIM walkabout, I would not have become an author of 20 books,” P.N. Singh said.
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NEWS A I M C E L E B R AT E S 40TH ANNIVERSARY WITH I M P O R TA N T A P P O I N T M E N T S THE ASIAN INSTITUTE OF Management (AIM) made senior management and faculty appointments as follows: Mr. Joaquin Montenegro as Vice President and Chief Administrative Officer, Mr. Eligio Santos as Executive Managing Director for Enrollment Management and Placement, and Professor Gary B. Olivar as Core Faculty of the Washington SyCip Graduate School of Business. “Jake” Montenegro had been a long time senior insurance executive Montenegro with the Ayala Corporation Group of Companies. An AIM alumnus, Jake is a Master in Management graduate. He has a Bachelor’s Degree in Business Management from the Ateneo de Manila University. As Executive Managing Director for Enrollment Management and Placement, “Eli” Santos brings over 30 years of management experience in consumer, pharmaceutical and health care sales, marketing and distribution operations. He is an accomplished CEO, having led Marsman and Company, Inc. as
Santos
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well as Macondray Distribution Co, Inc. Santos also holds a Ph.D. in Organizational Development from the South East Asia Interdisciplinary Development Institute, a Masters in Business Administration from the De La Salle University and a Bachelor’s Degree in Management from the Ateneo de Manila University. On the faculty side, Mr. Gary B. Olivar has been appointed core faculty member of the Washington SyCip Graduate School of Business. Gary brings over 25 years executive experience in domestic and international banking, investments and telecommunications. He has extensive turnaround, Olivar investment and financial management experience. Prof. Olivar holds a Master’s in Business Administration from the Harvard Business School, an MA and a BA in Economics from the University of the Philippines. “We are delighted to welcome these outstanding individuals at AIM. We hope to have a number of additional exceptionally-qualified Asian faculty members to join the Institute in the not too distant future...” —AIM President Francis Estrada
“We are delighted to welcome these outstanding individuals at AIM. We hope to have a number of additional exceptionallyqualified Asian faculty members to join the Institute in the not too distant future. We see substantial potential in graduate management education in a dynamic, rapidly-integrating Asia—and are preparing for it,” Francis G. Estrada, AIM president, said.
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Cuisia named 2007 Management Man of the Year AIM CHAIRMAN JOSE Cuisia, Jr. was conferred the
2007 Man of the Year award by the Management Association of the Philippines (MAP). Cuisia is the 30th awardee in the fourdecade history of the association. The award is bestowed on individuals in the business community or government for “attaining unquestioned distinction in the practice of management and for contributing to the country’s progress.” Integrity, leadership and management qualities; contribution to nation building and values formation; and effective stewardship within the confines of the highest standard of business and management practice are the criteria for the award. MAP said Cuisia was chosen for his leading Philamlife in the firm’s successful efforts to remain the country’s leading life insurance provider; for his work in seeing to the growth and
development of the former Insular Bank of Asia and America; for steering Union Bank of the Philippines, newly created out of the remains of a financially troubled investment bank; for his work in policy reforms, most notably a more open and liberal foreign exchange environment, as chair of the Monetary Board and governor of the Central Bank; for his “exemplary guardianship and improvements in membership benefits as administrator of the Social Security System; his “keen and sincere sense” of corporate social responsibility through leadership in business organizations and corporate citizenship programs of the companies that he has headed; and having consistently maintained a proven track record of integrity, professional competence and strong leadership in both private and public sectors. —Source: www.inquirer.net
NEWS
On Its 40th Year, AIM Launches First TV Commercial
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“This TV campaign highOR THE FIRST TIME lights AIM’s greatest, most visible in 40 years of pioneerachievement and contribution to ing Asian management the growth of the Asian region— education, the Asian Institute of its graduates,” says Prof. Marirose Management (AIM) launches its Sison-Garcia, executive managing own commercial campaign on director for AIM Marketing. “It international cable television. was quite a task The series “This TV campaign to choose who of 30-second highlights AIM’s commercials greatest, most visible to feature in the commercials, bewas created by achievement and contribution to the cause everywhere the awardof the Asian winning Cam- growth region—its graduates.” we looked in the region, there paigns & Grey were just too many AIM alumni advertising agency. These will who’ve had a profound impact first air on BBC World in March 2008, coinciding with AIM’s 40th in their respective organizations. Over the past forty years, AIM has anniversary celebrations, and pioneered rigorous, Asian-oriented will feature some of the Instimanagement education, and has tute’s most outstanding alumni sharing a few personal reflections consistently produced some of the on what an AIM education did for world’s best and most influential Asian business leaders and develtheir careers. The commercials will be broadcast simultaneously opment managers.” Since 1968, AIM has been pothroughout the Asia-Pacific: the whole of Southeast Asia including sitioned as the premiere training ground for Asia’s strongest and Brunei, Singapore, Myanmar, most qualified business leaders. and the Greater Mekong area This was well before the region’s countries; South Korea, China, economic resurgence brought a Hong Kong, Mongolia, Taiwan, rush of Western universities eager and out to Australia, New Zeato establish their presence in its land, and Japan.
most promising countries. Recognized today as one of the leading graduate schools of business in Asia, AIM’s growing network of over 34,000 graduates spreads out to more than 70 countries worldwide. Alumni featured in the new TV commercials include the likes of Ashok Soota, founder and chairman of Mindtree Consulting in India; Marlon Young, CEO of Private Bank of the Americas and HSBC in New York; Napoleon Nazareno, president and
Securities in China. Sunita Rajan, VP Advertising Sales, BBC Global Channels, Asia Pacific, says, “AIM is a globallyrenowned institution of great repute, so we were delighted that it chose BBC World to launch its first ever international advertising campaign. BBC World’s discerning ‘internationalist’ audience includes business-focused professionals, and individuals from the worlds of academia, culture, science and government, and as
(From L) Cindy Tan, account director for advertising sales, BBC Global Channels, Asia Pacific; Prof. Marirose Sison-Garcia, executive managing director, AIM Marketing; BBC World Vice-President for Sales (Asia and Australasia) Sunita Rajan; and AIM President Estrada
CEO of Philippine Long Distance and Telephone Company (PLDT) and SMART Communications; and Catherine Chen of Daiwa
such is the perfect audience for AIM’s campaign. We look forward to developing the relationship with AIM further in the future.”
A I M A LU MN I L E A D E R SH I P MAGA Z I N E Ja n u a ry to Marc h 20 0 8
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FAREWELL
Remembering
Bob
Mr. Robert Chandran, a member of AIM’s Board of Governors and one of the Institute’s most successful alumni, perished in a helicopter accident in Indonesia on January 7, 2008. He was 57. Bob, as he was fondly called, was the founder, executive chairman and CEO of Chemoil Energy, Ltd. An MBM’74 graduate and a Triple A Awardee, he was specially proud and attached to AIM. A generous donor to the Institute, he hired AIM graduates and was a popular guest speaker in MBA classes. In 2005, he established the Robert V. Chandran Venture Capital Award, providing seed capital to promising and enterprising AIM students. The AIM Alumni Leadership Magazine pays tribute to a great alumnus, by sharing poignant words from his peers, classmates and professors.
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A I M A LU M NI LEA D ERS HIP M AGAZIN E J an u ary to March 2008
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E, WHO WORK FOR FRANKLIN BAKER Philippines, Franklin Baker USA, Andorra Investments, and Helios Ingredients have lost a great leader and a great man. I have lost a dear friend. Given everything that Bob—Bobby to his classmates at AIM—had accomplished in his short life, a Google search will easily provide you Bob’s biography given all that he had accomplished in life. I will not repeat what is publicly available. I will talk about the personal facet of Bob. I cannot recall the exact date, but can recall the exact moment, when Rose Quiambao ushered Bob to my room at the Asian Institute of Management and introduced Bob Chandran to me. Fil Alfonso had met him in Singapore, and had snared him into getting involved with AIM especially for Fil’s fund raising activities. Bob was intimidating to say the least. He stood a full foot over me, outweighed me by at least 50 pounds, and had a loud voice and self-confidence to match. I do recall that he asked many things about the inner workings of AIM. Being the “chismoso” that I am, I was happy to answer of Bob’s questions and add my own opinion how to make the Institute better. The conversation continued over lunch, as AIM’s inner workings was all very new to Bob. That first conversation continued each time Bob visited Manila. Over time, the relationship developed into friendship. The conversations were no longer about AIM, but about anything else that was of interest to us: family, politics, economy, and even chismis (gossip). Yes, he understood the meaning of the word. I wrote a case about Chemoil, which allowed me an inner glimpse into his business. Even during those early days, he already spoke about his dream of building a billion dollar business, and of leaving footprints in the sand of time. In hindsight, this case probably cemented our friendship because as I was writing the case, Chemoil had its Panama Canal crisis. This business disaster nearly killed the company. As Chemoil teetered on the brink of collapse, Bob said that maybe I should stop writing the case, because he and Chemoil were no longer good copy. He was a failure. I refused, of course, and went on to finish the case. As fate would have it, Bob and a healthy oil market soon turned Chemoil around, so well that the company recovered all its losses by the following year. The Chemoil case thus became a case about overcoming crisis and adversity, a case that Bob and I taught in two offerings of AIM’s Top Management Program. I had long suspected that my insistence on finishing the case cemented our relationship. I stood by him in his worst business crisis, and for Bob, loyalty is paramount. Not long after, in 1994, Bob invited me to join him to run Chemoil Asia, his Philippine company that was to rehabilitate and operate the Nonoc Marine (Oil) Terminal in Surigao City. Save for a brief period in 2003 and 2004, I have enjoyed a professional and personal relationship with Bob ever since. I quickly learned how Bob ran his businesses. In 1994, we met in San Francisco, we agreed on my employment terms, shook hands, and that was it. I have never been given, nor have I ever felt it necessary in almost fifteen years of working for the man to ask for an employment contract or even just an appointment paper. In fact, my first day in Chemoil Asia was surreal. I entered the small office in the Chemphil building, and without prior notice introduced myself to the staff, and said I was their new boss. Even in Franklin Baker or Andorra Investments today, I have nothing to show that Bob intended for me to run the company. Yes, we have board resolutions and secretary’s certificates, but these were issued on my say-so. Bob’s word was good enough. I quickly understood the extent of authority that
Bob gave his operating managers. When I expressed some concern about reporting to him and to a Japanese boss, Taniuchi-san of Itochu, and asked how decisions would be made, Bob’s simple reply was, “J.A., just do what you have to do. At the end of the day, we’re too far away to do anything except support you.” Armed with this statement, my first major management decision was to buy myself a company car, which gave Taniuchi-san the fits. But as Bob said, what could he do. Bob never said anything, but interestingly enough, that was also for me a quick lesson in the prudent exercise of authority. This was 15 years ago, and over the years he stuck to this philosophy. This philosophy was again highlighted as recently as December 10 last month in connection with a project that I was setting up for him. I sent him an email summarizing what I had negotiated on his behalf, and asked for his final approval. His reply was, and I quote, “WOW. You put a lot of pressure. Deal done…because you recommend…Not that I am happy.” Mind you, the project was no small deal. It involved an equity investment of half a billion pesos to set up a regional BPO business in Singapore, Malaysia, Vietnam and the Philippines. All this whole-hearted support for managers is not to say that Bob was an easy boss to work for. His stock greeting was any of the following: “Are you doing anything useful today?,” “Are you contemplating your navel?,” or “Are you making any money?”
Bob the business owner was passionate beyond description about everything he did...He lived his life pursuing his dreams. Although he very rarely issued a direct order, he would try to nag me into doing what he wanted. My antidote to this was to just say yes, yes, and yes, and do what I wanted. We both knew the game, but to his credit, Bob never forced his decisions on me. He was so good at numbers and getting to basics that a session with him was third degree mental torture. The managers of Franklin Baker who recently had the privilege of joining such a session know full well whereof I speak. Imagine a room of five AIM MBA graduates—including Bob— discussing what we ought to be doing. Nobody could come up with the numbers that Bob was asking. The pressure in these sessions could be so intense that my—our—ability to mentally calculate math would freeze up. This annoyed Bob to no end that he requested us to put a calculator in each room and on each table in the office. I will admit that I have more than once thought of resigning because he could make you feel so incompetent. Bob the business owner was passionate beyond description about everything he did. He expected the same of us. He lived his life pursuing his dreams. He thought nothing of flying 300,000 miles in a year for his business. It is ironic that he had to die in a helicopter crash. The man’s passion was in deal making and growing his businesses. The material reward was only a bonus. He would not have been happy doing anything else except making deals. He of course achieved success plus more—a whole lot more. Bob never did things in half-measure. For example, even as we were still negotiating with Kraft to buy Franklin Baker, we were already talking to two of Franklin Baker’s competitors about acquiring them, too. It was his vision to build a global food company with Franklin Baker as the foundation. Anything less than a global food company would be, in Bob’s terms, “putzing around.” In fact, one of Bob’s annoyances was that Filipino businessmen dream
small dreams that never go beyond our country’s borders. On that fateful week last week, my other meeting with Bob in Singapore would have been with the owner of a mainland Chinese and Singapore SESDAQ-listed food company. We were to discuss how to move forward in a proposed 50% equity investment by Bob’s investment company. Bob, the businessman, held himself to a strict set of moral values. He spoke about following the “True North”, of doing what is right regardless of the cost to the company. We closed Chemoil Asia’s operations in 2000 proud of the fact that we honored all our commitments and obligations to our employees, to the local government, and to national government agencies. In Franklin Baker, Bob more than once told us that we would never build his food business on the backs of his employees. We would give them what is due…and more. Thus, one of the few times he gave a direct order to me soon after our takeover was for Franklin Baker to increase the number of operating days from four to six per week, to allow our employees to earn more. Mind you, we did not know where to sell all the extra production, to the point that our warehouses were overflowing with unsold products. To move these products, we formed a trading company headquartered in London, but that is another story. Even though he was an excellent dealmaker and negotiator, he believed in leaving something on the table for the other party to take home. When we concluded a deal to lease out Nonoc Terminal for 35 months to one of the oil majors—a boon after two years of unabated losses—Bob called up his counterparty the following morning to ask him if he wanted to reconsider his decision or renegotiate the terms of the lease. Perhaps this philosophy is the reason why his favorite business partnership was an equal 50-50 ownership arrangement. I have a two-page, single space email in my computer that explained to him why having him and Itochu Corporation equally owning Chemoil would never work. Bob couldn’t be dissuaded. His simple philosophy was that both parties have no choice to be fair to each other if no one could impose his will on the other. Through all of his successes, Bob remained a close friend. So close that I could tell what his mood was by how he called me. “J.A.” meant that it was business. “Patag” meant that he was in a good mood. And “Professor” meant that he was in a playful mood and would soon start needling me. Most of all, if he greeted me in a soft, sincere voice with “How are you today?” it meant I had better watch out because there was bad news coming up shortly. I also knew Bob well enough to know when to call him if I wanted anything approved: between 10 and 11pm when awakened from his sleep. There are so many things that I could narrate today. However, our celebration of Bob’s life must move on. Life goes on. Bob, I will miss putzing around on your behalf. I will miss your advice that running inside a bus does not make it run any faster. I will miss the hours of talking about anything and everything under the sun. I will miss the friendship. We, your managers, will miss not only your guidance, but also the tough sessions with you. As you look down on us, we commit to pursue with the same passion your dream of building a global food company, and hope that in our own small, we too leave behind us footprints on the sand of time. I would like to end by quoting a stanza from Longfellow’s poem that contains Bob’s favorite saying: “Lives of great men all remind us We can make our lives sublime And, departing, leave behind us Footprints on the sands of time…” J.A. Patag, MBM’76
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I ADMIRED BOB. HE MADE US “NO-BODIES” FEEL LIKE “some-bodies” when we were with him. Many other “bigshots” would prefer to talk about themselves but Bob was different, he listened and he had this knack for remembering details and names, and although we only saw each maybe three or four times a year, we could easily pick up from where we left off. Yes, he knew the details about my “so-called lovelife” or what he would say, my lack of an interesting “love-life.” I won’t get into the boring details but he always believed that one should not waste time but fully embrace what life has to offer. He used to call me a 40 plus year-old kid. It was a treat talking to Bob as he was not one to judge but to give solid advice. He would laugh at my sometimes insane comments and actions and tell me faceto-face what he thought and how he felt. Bob called a spade a spade and would instantly know if I were pulling his leg. Bob valued friendship—I recall that in the late 90s, I was in San Francisco representing AIM in an MBA tour and didn’t contact Bob as I didn’t want to impose on him and his family time. I also thought that he would be too busy. When he found out that I was there and didn’t contact him, he was very upset with me and although I apologized profusely, he told me that sometimes, like his daughter would say—“Sorry just doesn’t cut it.” When I left AIM in June 2000, I was offered a job at Chemoil Corporation in San Francisco. When I asked what I would be doing there, he said we’d just figure that out when I got there as he said there were several areas where I could fit in. I chose at the time not to leave the Philippines and told Bob that if I did plan to relocate to the U.S., I would take him up on that offer. I always felt Bob was one of my “security blankets”—I felt I could go to him for work if I needed. It’s still so hard to believe he’s gone and that we will no longer benefit from having him with us but like the saying goes—the good die young. I will miss the dinners that Bob, JA and I had together when he could squeeze these in during his trips to Manila, and the unexpected longdistance calls Bob would make just to check up on me. Bob, I am a better person because of you and I will never forget you. Thank you for being my friend. Rose F. Quiambao, MDP’95
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FIRST MET BOB AT AIM IN 1972 THROUGH MY brother, Anton Estrada—then Dean of Students and External Affairs. He was then a typical young, strapping, smart—maybe even a bit “cocky”—MBA freshman who spent endless hours in these halls. Together with another, Indian classmate, Pramod Pandey, Bob (“Bobby” in those days) was one of the overseas students who Anton had taken under his wing. The fact that Anton’s wife, Janet was half Indian, made this even easier. Reflecting his professional regard for them, Anton retained Bob and Pramod as consultants in the design and Installation of the management information system of a retailing business he was overseeing. Bob became part of Anton’s family and, over dinner in Manila last year, he told me—for the first time—how deeply he had appreciated his Filipino “family” and how saddened he was at Anton’s passing. Bob lived, understood and was deeply drawn to the Philippines. After graduating from AIM, he found time to teach at Maryknoll College. It was there where he met Vivian, a student of his, who would capture his heart. Typically, as he later told my wife Cristina and me, in the presence of Vivian, he shocked her by telling her, on their first date, that he would marry her—as we all know, he did. Through the years, we would meet at AIM events and once in San Francisco, where he showed me Chemoil’s Long Beach facility. We were then discussing ways of financing the growth requirements of what was then a bunker fuel trader
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that was struggling to move into the big leagues. Then, as always, Bob was determined, passionate and absolutely convinced he would get the money he needed–he did. As with most of us, the early years were tough. Bob acquitted himself with distinction—understanding temporary setbacks for what they were—temporary challenges meant to stiffen our backbones, teach us humility and temper our youthful exuberance. Over the years, we saw the dramatic transformation of Bob, from a young “master of the universe”—as we tend to be in our youth, to a thoughtful, insightful visionary, competitor, entrepreneur and leader. More importantly, we saw a Bob Chandran who gave as generously as he had been given by life. For all his professional and personal success, Bob never forgot AIM. He, like many of us, never failed to acknowledge the contribution the Institute had in his formation. He was a
For all his professional and personal success, Bob never forgot AIM...never failed to acknowledge the contribution the Institute had in his formation. generous benefactor—seeking to encourage research, entrepreneurship, facilities—even offering to finance a new library. Twitting AIM’s bureaucratic processes, he would often joke that the reason why he loved making commitments to the Institute was that AIM would never collect. Even more important than his financial generosity, Bob gave the Institute, that most precious of commodities— his time. As an Alumnus, he served Chairman of the Federation of AIM Alumni Associations (“FAIM”) as alumni representative to the AIM Board of Governors and, as of last year, as a full-fledged Governor. Last year, in response to my request for him to share some of his insights as adjunct faculty member of INSEAD, Bob kindly joined a number of members of our faculty and me for a “brown bag” discussion at AIM. In response to our effort to intensify our regional efforts—in particular, in India—Bob generously asked two of his senior officers at CalSoft, his applications software company, to set up appointments and accompany me in visits to the ten leading Indian graduate schools of management. Bob strongly believed that AIM should establish a more formal presence in India, where it was highly regarded and which is one of the two new emerging regional powers. Well Bob, I hope you will be pleased at the initiatives we are undertaking in this regard. For all his many qualities, what I think Bob’s legacy is a shinning example of what the human spirit can do. It is also testament to growth—having established himself as a successful entrepreneur, Bob was constantly giving back remembering that the ultimate bottom line has little to do with your net worth. Bob’s motto was to “strive to leave footprints in the sands of time.” YOU most certainly have. Thank you for the legacy…and while you will be dearly missed at AIM, we are confident that other members of the family will pick up where you have left off. Godspeed, Bobby! Francis G. Estrada, MBM’73, AIM President
A I M A LU M NI LEA D ERS HIP M AGAZIN E J an u ary to March 2008
THE PAST FEW DAYS HAVE BEEN SPENT BY THE CLASS of ‘74 swapping stories and recounting incidents that marked our relationship with Bob. The following is a result of those few days and is largely based on Chito Corpus’ “Recalling Bob...” into which were woven other people’s stories and impressions. Bobby Chandran, we recall, was one of the younger members of our class. Tall, lean and lanky and enthusiastic. Forever bursting with vocal energy, always discussing and debating, as was the wont of many an Indian classmate. He was also available for assisting where assistance was needed. Joe Mac freely shares that Bobby helped him find his bearings in Production Management. Yet, for all that, Bobby was also fiercely competitive both in the caseroom and outside of the caseroom. Little did we know that these exact traits we saw then would lead him to where he got today. And so that young man we knew grew up to be Bob Chandran, the international business tycoon. From white or light colored executive shirts to dark executive suits—the student, classmate and friend became the entrepreneur, businessman, CEO, and to us, still a good friend. Bob also went on to become a husband, a father. We can cite all his achievements, his hard-earned wealth, his charity work, his generosity in giving back to AIM, and his international stature. But we will always remember him as a man who valued relationships with as much passion as he exploited opportunities. He continually expounded on his favorite saying and ultimate goal which was “to leave footprints in the sands of time” and he intended to accomplish this by creating a “federal express” in bunker oil trading. He envisioned storage terminals in major ports all over the world from which his bunker oil could be sourced. In 1993, Bob had a dream. Today, Bob’s dream has become a reality. He has left very big imprints which will stand the test of time. One cannot speak of Bob, however, without recognizing the tremendous emotional support that he received from (and, certainly, gave to) to his family. Distinct about his success and his accumulation of wealth was his fidelity to his family. Endless tributes and testimonies may be given about his unique talents and the blending of those talents— brinkmanship, people skills, business acumen, organizational talent, insight, risk taking—into an art form. But his family may be missed. We were never privy to his family life. But, one need not be a rocket scientist to figure out that a man, with all his successes and wealth, had such a strong family behind him. Vivian carried the joy of her family in her smile. She is bubbly and charming. Bob was energetic and forceful. She carries a zest for life. Bob brought a zeal to his endeavors. Both seemingly wove their lives around each other and their wonderful daughters. You could see it in the interaction between husband and wife, father and daughters, and mother and kids. Chito Corpus who got together with him in San Francisco, and Elsa Buenaventura who met up with him in Singapore, saw it all in the few office parties and lunches they were invited to in their homes and in the AIM events he and Chito put together. His was distinctively a success that lay within a strong family and marital life. He will be missed—as a founder, an entrepreneur, a CEO, a classmate, and a friend. In the current world where family seems to be breaking down, he will, most of all, be missed for what he stood for—professionalism, entrepreneurship, and, above all, family. When one passes away in such a fashion as he did at the height of his successes, one can only look to the poets for their insights, to philosophers for their reflections, and to the Great Beyond for His mysterious yet loving designs. May God carry his soul into His providential hands and bring strength to Vivian, Sharon, and Ashley in these difficult times.
And for all of us–family, friends, classmates, colleagues, we will continue to move forward accompanied by these thoughts… “The rainbow comes and goes And lovely is the rose The sunshine is a glorious birth But yet I know where’er I go That there has past away a glory from the earth. Though nothing can bring back the hour Of splendour in the grass, of glory in the flower, We will grieve not, rather find Strength in what remains behind.” -William Wordsworth, “Ode on Intimations of Immortality” Ramon L. Mayuga and the MBM‘74 Class BOB WAS A GOOD PERSON TO DISCUSS CRITICAL ISSUES with. His love for the Institute and for the MBM was deep. His passing reminds me how uncertain our lives are. In this connection, please allow me to repeat what our Muslim brothers and sisters say to one and all during the Eid’l fitri: Maaf lahir batin. I ask pardon for all my sins. I apologize to you for any and all hurts I have ever inflicted on you wittingly and unwittingly. And in Bob’s memory, let us give more to and for the Institution he loved so much, our AIM. Mayo Lopez, MBM’71 and AIM Professor
He said that in the process he had learned to be a master shopper of ladies clothes and accessories. I can go on with some more vignettes, but I’ll stop here for now. I wouldn’t really say Bob died a tragic death. A man who has lived a truly great life can never die tragically. As our Christian belief reminds us, death is simply a transition to life everlasting. Bob Chandran’s happy memory lives in all our hearts—and in the hearts of so many people whose lives he touched. Long live Bob Chandran! Sonny Coloma, MBM’78 and AIM Professor The challenge to us and to the next generation of AIM faculty and staff, is to develop the next Bob Chandrans, who will not only do AIM proud but also give something back to AIM and the AIM family. Bob dreamt of an AIM in India (Madras). I hope this dream won’t have died with him. Junbo Borromeo, MM’77, AIM Professor
I’D LIKE TO BEGIN BY QUOTING BERNARD SHAW, “YOU see things and say why, but I dream things that never were and say why not?” This saying was applied to Bob because it’s probably one of the main reasons for his success, driven by his supreme ability and enormous energy—he never took no for an answer and continually searched for new ways of doing things. Though he became very wealthy and successful, I JOIN THE ENTIRE AIM COMMUNITY IN MOURNING money was not his primary motivation, as he said in one the death of Robert “Bob” Chandran. Indeed, Bob stands of his speeches—“don’t become an entrepreneur to make tall in the roster of outstanding AIM alumni, not just on money but be one because you want something you enjoy account of his personal accomplishments. I believe he is an doing, that way you will ultimately make money; otherwise outstanding role model of the principle of “pay it forward.” it is going to be just a pain in the butt because this is a 24/7, He walked the talk. He gave financial support to the 365 days-a-year thing which you are going to do for two or Institute. He hired AIM graduates. He proudly acknowlthree decades of your life.” Now here I am he said, riding my edged what he learned from AIM. own business and enjoying every bit of it. I remember that in March 1993, he invited me to When he did make money he remained the same facilitate a team-building workshop in Chemoil San Franamiable and humble person. I recall the day when I first cisco. His invitation was reconnected with him so compelling—I missed my after he had graduated and daughter’s graduation from established his business; I grade school and celebrated was at an alumni meeting my 40th birthday away from in one of the hotels at the home. No, it wasn’t the proMarina in Singapore, I left fessional fee that compelled the room briefly and when me—it was the sheer force of I got back I was told that Bob Chandran’s personality. someone was looking for He was such a passionate me. He left his business and driven person. Anyone card. This was Bob who who knew him well enough One cannot speak of Bob, however, happened to be attending without recognizing the tremenwill attest how persuasive another conference on the and charismatic he could be. dous emotional support that he oil industry in another hotel received from (and, certainly, gave Yet, he remained a sim- to) to his family. Distinct about his at the Marina. I was able to ple and thoughtful person. I success and his accumulation of see him and reconnect with recall that, on one occasion, wealth was his fidelity to his family. him and have always joked he invited me to sleep at about him that life was his posh home in Hillsborough, that he shared with his wife never the same for him after that meeting and he said it Vivian (a Zamboanguena) and his two teenaged children. was also very expensive for him. He shared the story of his odyssey from India to AIM Manila Notwithstanding his success, Bob always remained and thence to California. Fresh from B-school, he brought humble. I first got him to spend a few days in AIM after we with him his pregnant wife and, with less than $200 in his had reconnected to give a series of talks to his classmates, pocket, began his adventure of a lifetime. He took pride in the Alumni, with the students, his friends and friends of being a topnotch real estate sales person before deciding AIM. I remember talking to him before his talk with the to embark on a business of his own—Chemoil USA. Alumni, he told me that he was very nervous and I asked He said he realized he was paying a steep price for him why, and he said “Because these guys were my attaining a reasonable level of success as an entrepreneur. classmates, do you think they will interested in my talk and (At that time, in the early nineties, Chemoil was one of the be interested in what I do or am going to say?” I reassured top 400 firms owned and managed by naturalized Amerihim that if he would just talked about his experience, his cans.) He rued being away from his family most of the time. business they will all enjoy listening to him. This started a
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journey, a journey of many years, many hours, in the sense that he continued to come back to AIM, he became a regular speaker, he also discovered that teaching was another passion, and as always he was ready and willing to help. When I asked why he was spending so much time on AIM, he said, “AIM is one reason why I am where I am today.” We will all miss Bob—more than the entrepreneur, more than the business tycoon, he was a real true friend. About two or three years ago he became a citizen of Singapore and shortly after that when the news came out that he was one of the richest men in Singapore and he was number 14, I sent him a text message, and he said, “It is a privilege to have known the 14th richest man in Singapore.” He replied back with the message, “Money you can earn, money you can lose, but friends are forever.” Felipe B. Alfonso, Vice-Chairman of the AIM Board of Trustees
Condolences from: Jaime A. Zobel de Ayala, AIM Governor Ashok Soota, MBM’73 David K.P. Li, AIM Governor Ramesh Gelli, MBM’73 Bud Sorenson, AIM Governor Blaise Costabir, MBM’92 Stan Shih, Former AIM Governor George S. Tahija, AIM Governor Boon Yoon Chiang, AIM Governor Emeterio Barcelon, S.J. Mark Fuller, AIM Governor Rey del Castillo, MBM’74 Shasank Kalyan, MBM’97 Shaikh Muhammed Ali, MBM’85 Datuk Annas, MM’84, KAIM President Gary Grey, MBM’74 Ed Castle, MBM’74 Reynaldo H. Castillo, MBM’74 R. Young, MBM’74 Ramon M. de Vera, MBM’73, AAAIM Chairman Jose M. Faustino, AIM Professor Roberto de Ocampo, AIM Trustee Frankie Roman, AIM Professor Berna Lomotan, MBM’74 Fil C. Zarraga, MBM’91 Jess San Mateo, MBM’89 Prasanna, MBM’80 Etsu Inaba, MBM’86 Jerry P. Co, MBM’93 Nguyen Thi Thuan, MDM’98 ,VNAA Chairman Hong-Soo Lee, MM’79, AIM Alumni Association-Korea President John Yang, MM’94, AIM Taiwan Alumni Association Janpie Siahaan, MBM’82 Jeffrey M. Nisnisan, MBM’94 Antoinette Wiranadewi Ludi, AIM Indonesia Rep. Office Vikram Razdan, MM’99 Fred Utanes, MBM’89 Wijayanti Yuwono, MBM’98 Jagdish Parikh, AIM Governor Rene Montemayor, MBM ‘74 Elsa Buenaventura, MBM ‘74 Allan Dumbong, PDM’90 Mohan M. Phadke, MM’80, AIM Alumni Association-India President Joseph Macmang, MBM’74 Juan F. Alfonso, Chemoil Energy Philippines, Inc.
COVER STORY
From "25 Years of AIM," an unpublished manuscript by Fr. James F. Donelan, S.J. and Prof. Gabino A. Mendoza. The article excerpts from Part I of the manuscript, "Why AIM Was Founded."
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STARTING A STORY HALFWAY THROUGH THE action is a familiar literary device, and goes back as far as Homer, Vergil and Milton. It is called “in medias res” or "in the middle of the action.” Thus, the Iliad, the Aeneid, and Paradise Lost all begin with the action well advanced. \\ It may seem pretentious of us to use this technique, for ours is no epic tale. But the technique serves to catch the attention of the reader by the immediacy of the action, and at the same time provides a simple overall structure. No one who has read the Aeneid will ever forget the drama of that opening scene when Aeneas, an exile from burning Troy is silhouetted against the burning towers of Ilium and tells his followers that one day they will look back on these great events and smile. May the same be said one day of AIM. \\ Our own choice of “medias res” to serve as a mise en scene for our story is not Homer's wine colored sea, but the Board Room of the Ateneo University on Loyola Heights. There, meeting en banc, at nine o'clock in the morning on February 17, 1968, the Board Members have been summoned to decide on a "great matter”— should Ateneo University join De La Salle University in setting up a semiautonomous full-time graduate school of business. >>
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COVER STORY
T
HE FACULTY SENate composed of thirty-five members has already voted overwhelmingly in favor of the merger. But since it is not just an academic matter, the ultimate approval lies with the Board of Trustees. To be valid, the merger has to be approved by 3/4 of the Ateneo Trustees. This in itself makes the matter significant for the meeting on February 17 is the first meeting of the genuine Board of Trustees that has taken place over the span of the last 109 years! Ateneo's Statutes were patterned after those of other Jesuit Universities, with little or no regard for the special character of its Philippine setting. In the new Statutes, this cultural oversight has been corrected, and for the first time, power has been invested in the Board of Trustees. One of the first major actions of the board was to consider the resolutions forwarded to it by the Faculty Senate, asking the Ateneo board to approve a merger with La Salle in which the two schools would form a single semi-autonomous graduate school of business. It would prove helpful for us to know something about the men who will decide whether or not the merger should take place. The schoolmen have a neat little phrase which is packed with meaning: agere sequitur esse, to do follows to be. Knowing the character of our Trustees will lead us to know what to expect. And the knowledge would be reassuring, for it would be extremely difficult if not impossible to find a board that could match the qualifications of that first board of Ateneo. We can cite only a few of the names but enough to indicate the overall excellence of the group. Knowing their case will be decided by men like these should bring great peace of mind to the contenders. First, Fr. Horacio de la Costa, SJ, a brilliant Washington SyCip, SGV Group founder; Ramon del Rosario Sr., PHINMA Group founder; and Stephen Fuller of the Harvard Business School (HBS), signify their interest in establishing a full-time MBA program.
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Ateneo de Manila, De La Salle College, and the Philippine Inter-University Consortium receive a five-year, US$ 1.2 million grant from the Ford Foundation for the development of a full-time MBA program.
scholar and assistant to the Jesuit general; Justice J.B.L. Reyes, one of the nation's leading jurists; Fr. Francisco Araneta, SJ, a respected economist and himself the founder of the Ateneo's first Graduate School of Economics and Business; and Mr. Washington Z. SyCip, founder of Asia's largest and most highly respected auditing and management consulting firm. Like the windhover, in Gerald Manley Hopkins' immortal poem, that rode "the rolling level underneath him steady air" and "rung upon the rein of a wimpling wing," the discussion that morning circled leisurely about and lightly touched on the fundamental issues that would challenge the Asian Institute of Management in its first quarter of century: what its mission would be, who would determine its character, what its basic directions and management policies would be. Near meeting's end, Fr. De la Costa summarized what had been decided. "There is a consensus on the board that we recognize that high-grade business education of this type is necessary in the Philippines. But we would like to have a thorough study made as to the kind of merger this would be—its structures, its statutes, the kind of control or effective influence we would have." Thus it was that the Ateneo took the first small official step toward the eventual founding of AIM. Power Shift: From Expats to Locals
In 1947, 17 young businessmen, ten of whom were Filipinos and seven Americans, met in order to establish the Philippine Jaycees. The
An SGV Foundation feasibility study of the proposed school is presented to Ateneo and De La Salle. Both schools approve the merger.
young Filipinos who set it up, namely Messrs. Ramon "Monching" V. del Rosario, Oscar Arellano, Rafael Estrada, Fred Benitez, Greg Feliciano, Oliverio Laperal, Jose Mayuga, Eugenio Puyat, Graciano Yupangco, and Artemio Vergel de Dios eventually became prominent industrialists and businessmen. The first board elected Mr. Ramon del Rosario as President. Jaycee was a civic club, like the Rotary or the Lions Club. But because it was designed for young businessmen and professionals, it
The Institute’s Board of Trustees is constituted. Washington SyCip is elected chairman. Stephen H. Fuller, then associate dean for external affairs at HBS, accepts the post as the first AIM president.
Don Eugenio Lopez Sr. pledges PhP 5 million for the construction of the building that will house AIM. Eventually, the donation would total PhP 6.5 million. Jaime Zobel de Ayala formalizes Ayala Corporation’s pledge of a one-hectare site in Makati.
1958
A I M A LU M NI LEA D ERS HIP M AGAZIN E J an u ary to March 2008
1960
1962
Groundbreaking of the new AIM campus in Makati. The Ford Foundation provides US$ 224,000 to fund operations. Classes begin at the Padre Faura Campus in Manila. AIM admits 94 first-year students in the Master in Business Management (MBM) program.
1964
had one significant distinguishing feature. It was designed to serve as a training ground for young executives and businessmen. From the very beginning, the Philippine Jaycees deliberately set out to train themselves for leadership. A group of the Jaycees, among them Messrs. Ramon del Rosario, Ernesto Escaler, Washington SyCip, and Bert Villanueva, founded a company called the Executive Training Institute of the Philippines (ETIOP). A good number of those who were involved in ETIOP, later on also became greatly involved in setting up AIM.
In 1954, Mr. Del Rosario, who was in the United States on a mission for President Ramon Magsaysay, visited Harvard Business School. A friend of his, Mr. Miguel Ortigas, who was connected with the Ayala Group of Companies, was at Harvard attending the Advanced Management Program (AMP). Mr. Ortigas was as greatly impressed with the AMP as his colleague, Mr. Joe Olbes, also with the Ayala Group, who had attended it the year before. He urged Mr. Del Rosario to take the same 13-week program. Mr. Del Rosario, however, though impressed with the program, took a different point of view. He decided that it would be a The United States Agency for International Development (USAID) and The Ford Foundation provide additional funding of US$ 300,000 and US$ 130,000, respectively, for faculty development, library facilities, and equipment.
1966
Classes begin at the new campus in Makati. Enrollment in the MBM surges to 235 students from Korea, Japan, Malaysia, Ceylon, Thailand, Pakistan, Indonesia, Vietnam, Taiwan, Philippines, and the United States.
1968
better idea to make the AMP available to more Filipino businessmen by importing it to the Philippines. He thought that it would greatly enhance the sophistication of the business community in the Philippines if the AMP could be offered to them. Typically a man of action, he promptly sought an appointment with Dean Donald K. David of the Harvard
Business School. He proposed to Dean David that Harvard offer the AMP in the Philippines. He argued that it would be easier for Harvard to send a few professors to the Philippines than to have hundreds of Filipinos come to the United States to take the program. ...the discussion that morning... touched on the fundamental issues that would challenge the Asian Institute of Management in its first quarter of century: what its mission would be, who would determine its character, what its basic directions and management policies would be. Dean David declined the invitation of Mr. Del Rosario. He pointed out, however, that it might be possible for the Filipinos to invite Harvard professors, in their individual capacities, to go and offer a similar program in the Philippines. He introduced Mr. Del Rosario to Prof. Harry Hansen who agreed to put together AIM’s International Board of Governors (BOG) representing Hong Kong, Indonesia, Japan, Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore, Republic of China, and Thailand holds its first meeting. The BOG would later expand to include Australia, Brunei, Canada, India, South Korea, United Kingdom, United States of America, and Vietnam.
1970
a team of Harvard professors and bring them to the Philippines to conduct an Advanced Management Program. To sponsor this program, Mr. Del Rosario used the ETIOP as organizer. Harvard's Missionary Era
ETIOP offered the first Advanced Management Program in the Philippines (AMP) in 1956, from June 25 to August 18. It was a two-month program. Among those who taught in it, in addition to Prof. Harry Hansen, were: Dr. Stephen "Steve" H. Fuller, Human Behaviour; Dr. Franklin Folts, Industrial Relations; Dr. Albert Smith, Business Policy; and Dr. Charles Williams, Financial Management. The program was so successful that for 14 summers thereafter, a team of senior professors recruited by Prof. Hansen from the Harvard Business School (HBS) went to Baguio to teach the AMP to Filipinos and other Asian businessmen. During the early years of the AMP, there were many discussions, in front of the fire-place in Pines Hotel in Baguio, between the AMP participants, the ETIOP leaders and the Harvard professors, about the possibility of putting up a full-time MBA program like that of the Harvard Business School. Dr. Stephen Fuller recalls a time when he was lunching with Washington SyCip in one of SGV's private dining rooms, that Mr. SyCip said, "Steve, we need a school that offers a full-time MBA. It can never be Harvard, but it ought to be as good as a Northwestern." Dr. Fuller also remembers a time in the early '60s, when the University President of Ateneo, Fr. Francisco Araneta, SJ came to see him about the same matter, and quotes Fr. Araneta's words: "To have a more just society, businessmen have to be more just. The Ateneo cannot just turn out lawyers and scholars. We've got to have an impact on what makes the society thrive." As the Philippine economy stabilized and became one of the economic leaders of South East Asia, talk became more serious and began to sound like plans rather than conjectures. The AIM Student Association is organized to foster fellowship among students.
AIM President Stephen H. Fuller completes his term. James Culliton, also from the Harvard Business School, is elected president.
1972
James Culliton completes his term. Sixto K. Roxas is elected Institute president. Gabino A. Mendoza is elected dean. Gaston Z. Ortigas Sr. is appointed associate dean for faculty.
The faculty responds to the worldwide recession by offering short-term executive development programs. The one-year Master in Management program is launched. President Ferdinand Marcos signs Presidential Decree 639 which formalizes the Institute’s international character.
1974
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COVER STORY In 1962, a group of businessmen from Bombay, in partnership with the Indian government, sought the help of the Harvard Business School to establish an Indian Institute of Management at Ahmedabad (IIMA). Funding was given by the Ford Foundation to HBS to help IIMA get started. When President John Kennedy, in 1961, launched the Alianza Para El Progreso (a program designed to help the nations of Latin America hasten their development), he asked his alma mater, Harvard University, to help found a graduate school of business in Central America. He instructed USAID to give a grant to the Harvard Business School for this purpose. Three years later, in 1964, INCAE was established in Managua, Nicaragua. These experiences were an eye-opener for the Harvard Business School. They found out that helping to set up business schools in developing countries could be lucrative. Dr. Fuller recounts that Dean George Baker, who, as Dean of the HBS was his boss, said to him, "Steve, our Ford grant in Ahmedabad for the Indian Institute of Management runs out next year and we need a replacement. That engagement is giving us a $150,000 to $200,000 a year as a contribution towards covering our HBS administrative costs." At that time, those numbers were quite substantial, even for the Harvard "B" school. He urged Dr. Fuller to look for a replacement for the IIMA grant from Ford because it was starting to run out. When Fr. Araneta spoke with Dr. Fuller about the idea of founding the full-time MBM program in Ateneo, Dr. Fuller approached Ford Foundation for funding assistance. The Ateneo-De La Salle Rivalry
Society looked on Ateneo as an excellent school for the Humanities, the Social Sciences and Law. Ateneo was considered the best in the country in these social disciplines. On the other hand, De La Salle was considered Sixto K. Roxas relinquishes the AIM presidency. Gabino A. Mendoza is elected president. Francisco P. Bernardo becomes associate dean for Students and Alumni. Mel Salazar is appointed associate dean for faculty.
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AIM launches the Rural Development Management Program (RDMP) with funding from The Ford Foundation.
The third floor of the main building, the second floor of the cafeteria, and the women’s dormitory are constructed with assistance from the Philippine, Korean, Indonesian, Malaysian, Taiwanese, Thai, and Japanese business communities.
pre-eminent in the teaching of Business and Engineering. It is most likely they would have gone along the paths that they had chosen, except that in 1959, the year of Ateneo's centennial, Fr. Francisco "Fritz" Araneta, SJ was named the president of Ateneo de Manila. Fr. Fritz was different from the many other presidents of Ateneo, all of whom were social scientists and scholars in the Humanities, believers in the trivium and quadrivium. Fr. Fritz, on the other hand, had his graduate degree in Economics. His vision for the Ateneo, encouraged by such alumni advisers, as Senator Raul Manglapuz, Victor A. Lim, and Arturo Tanco, Jr., was that the Ateneo should contribute to a new phase in Philippine development. Fr. Fritz, therefore, one year after his inauguration as president of Ateneo, set-up the Ateneo de Manila University's Graduate School of Economics and Business. At that time he also launched a part-time MBA program. Coincidentally, at that same time, De La Salle also launched their own part-time MBA program. One year later, the HBS case writing team, financed by Ford Foundation and headed by Prof. Hansen, came to the Philippines. They started writing cases based on companies in the Manila area. Many of these companies were headed by HBS Alumni who at the same time were part-time faculty members of Ateneo's and De La Salle's MBA programs. Sometime in 1963, Fr. Araneta got together with Dr. Stephen Fuller, one of the regular faculty members of the ETIOP-AMP. Together, they agreed that the Philippines AIM designs new programs and offers more of its regular programs overseas in Bangkok, Penang, Jakarta, Kuala Lumpur, Kota Kinabalu and Kuching.
1978
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needed a full time MBA program. Dr. Fuller tells us that when he was approached in 1963 by Fr. Araneta to join in the setting up a fulltime MBA at Ateneo, there were probably ten other groups doing the same with the other HBS professors. Suddenly the rush was on. The time of waiting was over. The tide was high, it was time to weigh anchor.
Fr. Araneta however had more ambitious goals, among them the founding of a Management Center for Southeast Asia, part of which would be a full-time graduate school program and another part an Agora, a marketplace for ideas, a forum where periodically businessmen from the region could come together to exchange ideas on the economic and social development of Southeast Asia. Fr. Araneta presented his plan to the American business com-
Gabino Mendoza resigns as dean of the Institute. Gaston Z. Ortigas Sr. is elected Institute president. The RDMP becomes the Development Management Program. The first of a series of the Top Development Management Program is launched with funding from the Australian International Development Assistance Bureau (AIDAB).
1980
1982
Jose B. Fernandez is elected vice-chairman of the Board of Trustees. Gaston Z. Ortigas Sr. is designated as CEO.
The Asian Development Bank (ADB)-Japan Scholarship Program, is created to sponsor degree program students for citizens of ADB’s developing member countries.
The Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA) grants CAD$ 2.3 million for research on the role of women in business, development and entrepreneurship.
1984
munity but found no support for it there. The Philippine economy had not yet shaken off the debris of war. So he put the Asian Center project on hold and devoted his attention to what was only one part of his original overall plan, albeit the most important part: the founding of a fulltime graduate program of management, called MBM to distinguish it from the part-time MBA which was already functioning at the Ateneo campus on Padre Faura, and at De La Salle and the University of the Philippines (U.P.). It was this full time MBM program which Fr. Araneta asked Dr. Steve Fuller to assist him in establishing. Ateneo launched their two-year full-time MBM
This plan, however, never got off the runway for De La Salle did not have the faculty necessary to man a full-time program. It is significant that the 1964 MBA program announced by De La Salle was planned as a one-year full-time program. Consortium of Business Schools
Dr. Fuller helped the Ateneo to present a proposal to the Ford Foundation for assistance to build an Ateneo Graduate School of Management which would offer the full-time MBM program. However, when Ford Foundation in the Philippines received the proposal from the Ateneo, Mr. Case of Ford Foundation called Dr. Fuller and said, "You can't do much on the $250,000 you are asking for, and what's more you may not know it, but we've also received a similar proposal from U.P."
He [Dr. Fuller] concluded that if the two schools merged they could really make a significant contribution to the Philippines.
(Master in Business Management) program in 1964. That same year, incited perhaps by the launching of the Ateneo full-time program, De La Salle announced that they too would put up a full-time MBA.
When De La Salle learned that Ateneo and U.P. had submitted requests for Ford funding, they also decided to put in their bid. Mr. Case urged Dr. Fuller to bring the three schools together so they could form a consortium, which would then make a proposal to Ford Foundation for funding. Dr. Fuller, wanting to go along with the idea of Ford that the local schools get together, brought De La Salle, Ateneo and U.P. together so that they could
AIM starts its International Student Exchange Program (ISEP).
Jose L. Cuisia Jr. is elected co-chairman of the Institute. With financial support from CIDA, the agship program of Development Management Program, Master in Development Management is offered.
The AIM Conference Center at Club John Hay, Baguio City is inaugurated.
Felipe B. Alfonso is elected Institute president, and Francisco P. Bernardo is elected dean. AIM launches the Asian Management Awards to honor outstanding Asian organizations for management excellence. The AIM campus is dedicated to the late Joseph R. McMicking.
1986
make a joint proposal. Both he and Mr. Case of Ford Foundation made sure that the proposal incorporated the idea of a cooperative effort. Two years after the start of Ateneo's fulltime MBM program, the Ford grant was approved. It was for $1.2 M for a five-year period from 1966 to 1971. Part of the grant was given to the Harvard Business School and part to the three Philippine schools. With the grant approved, Ateneo, De La Salle and U.P. started sending their people to the United States to take their advanced degrees. Among the first scholars sent by Ateneo were Messrs. Meliton V. Salazar, Florante Castillo, Eusebio Innocencio, Gaston Z. Ortigas, Quintin G. Tan. and Fr. Emeterio Barcelon, SJ Among those first sent by De La Salle were Anthony Paul Golamco, Rafael Maramba, Teodoro M. Pleno, Antonio G. Estrada, Sergio B. Salas, and Francisco P. Bernardo, Jr. In February 1967, Mr. Antonio "Tony" Fernandez, director of the part-time MBA program in La Salle, proposed a full-time graduate school program leading to the degree of Master of Science in Management Science. While they were discussing these possibilities, Mr. Fernandez was able to get a promise from Mr. Javier J. Nepomuceno that the Ayala Group would be willing to donate a 3,800 sq. m. piece of land in Makati for De La Salle's full-time program. On April 23, 1967, during De La Salle's Commencement Exercise, Bro. Gabriel H. Connon, F.S.C., president of De La Salle, announced that the school would soon be offering a full-time MBA program. There were many representatives not only of Ateneo and U.P. but also of the Harvard Advisory Group (HAG) and the Ford Foundation during the occasion because the College was at the same time conferring an honorary doctorate on Fr. James Meany, SJ Needless to say, this announcement of La Salle greatly surprised everyone. Perhaps the ones most greatly affected were the Harvard Advisory Group and Ford
1988
1990
The groundbreaking and the cornerstone-laying ceremonies for the AIM Conference Center are held. AIM and the Far East Bank and Trust Co. (FEBTC) jointly launch the Gov. Jose B. Fernandez Jr. Center for Banking and Finance at AIM.
1992
AIM is conferred the Ramon Magsaysay Award for International Understanding. Jesus G. Gallegos Jr. is elected dean of the Institute. The Development Management Program is renamed Center for Development Management (CDM) in recognition of the expanded involvement of AIM in the development work of the region.
1994
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COVER STORY Foundation. They had invested a lot of time and money trying to get the consortium of schools to work together. This announcement of De La Salle threatened their investment. It meant that the schools, instead of cooperating, would begin competing with one another for what the HAG and the Ford Foundation thought was a very limited market and even more limited faculty and financial resources.
O
n July 7, 1967, the Harvard Advisory Group sent a memorandum to Ateneo and De La Salle signed by Prof. Ralph Sorenson, proposing the possible merger of the full-time graduate business schools of Ateneo and De La Salle. Prof. Sorenson's paper listed the advantages of merging the two schools. He indicated that that the new merged school would provide powerful evidence that two of the country's leading academic institutions were willing to give more than lip service to the idea that the Philippines would make maximum use of scarce resources. Thus the school could serve as a path-finding example for other segments of business, government and the academic community to follow. On August 23, Dean Perfecto (Dr. Waldo S. Perfecto, De La Salle's academic dean) sounded out Mr. Cesar Virata, dean of the U.P. Business School, as to whether U.P. would be willing to participate in such a merger. Mr. Virata indicated that it would not be possible for U.P. to participate because of legal difficulties. On September 11, 1967, probably at the instigation of Prof. Bud Sorenson, Dr. Stephen Fuller arrived in Manila for one of his regular visitations to see how the consortium was corning along. Soon after his arrival, he met with Fr. James Donelan. At this meeting, Fr. Donelan asked for Dr. Fuller's advice. Dr. Fuller said to him, "I'm going to wear my Ateneo hat." He continued, "When I finish, if you say that's the The AIM-W. SyCip Policy Center is established.
AIM launches the Executive MBA (EMBA) in Malaysia
AIM is voted into the Program for International Management (PIM), an international association of the finest management schools in North America, Latin America and Europe. AIM is the first and only member-school from Asia.
AIM is selected by the United Nations Economic and Social commission for Asia and the Pacific (UNESCAP) as a Center for Excellence in human resource development research and training.
1996 24
end, that you do not think a merged school is a good idea, then neither I nor the Harvard Advisory Group will bring this subject up again." Dr. Fuller then pointed out that if the two schools merged and became an autonomous school, it would be able to gather resources which would be a lot more than the Ateneo could, singly. For example, Ateneo could not continue to subsidize overseas doctorates as they had been doing with Ford funds. Dr. Fuller also pointed out that De La Salle was not coming to the bargaining table with empty hands. He mentioned the fact that the Ayala Corporation had promised a donation of land for the merged school, on which they could build a separate campus. He concluded that if the two schools merged they could really make a significant contribution to the Philippines. At the dinner where Don Eugenio made his pledge, he turned to Mr. Jaime Zobel de Ayala and asked him whether the Ayala Corporation had come to any definite decision concerning the donation of land to AIM. Mr. Zobel de Ayala went to the next office and made a long distance call to his cousin, Mr. Enrique Zobel, the head of the Ayala Corporation, who was in Madrid, Spain. A few minutes later he returned with the announcement that the Ayala Corporation would definitely donate the land to AIM.
Fr. Donelan liked the idea of an autonomous school because he saw that many of his problems with Ateneo in Loyola with regard to the disparity in faculty salaries between the Liberal Arts professors and the Business School professors would be solved. Two days after his meeting with Fr. Donelan, on September 15, Dr. Fuller met with Bro. Gabriel together with Prof. Sorenson. He told Bro. Gabriel of Fr. Donelan's favorable reaction to the idea of the merger. On September 28, Bro. Gabriel and Fr. Donelan met and they agreed to ask SGV and Prof. Sorenson to do the study. Prof. Sorenson did a lot of work in trying
AIM celebrates its Pearl Anniversary. The Fidel V. Ramos Research Chair in Policy Studies is created through the support of the business community.
Inauguration of the AIM Conference Center
1997
A I M A LU M NI LEA D ERS HIP M AGAZIN E J an u ary to March 2008
Gathering the Resources for AIM
As has already been recounted, on February 17, 1968, the Board of Trustees of Ateneo met to consider the matter of the business school merger. It was a long drawn out meeting. Finally, the board adopted the recommendations of the University Senate and authorized the Steering Committee to make the necessary studies, particularly with regard to the conditions the Senate had for the merger to take place. On February 23, SGV submitted the final feasibility study again to the two schools. On that same day the Steering Committee transformed itself into a Finance Committee so that they could work at fulfilling the conditions that the Ateneo Board of Trustees had set.
Former Philippine Secretary of Finance, Roberto F. de Ocampo is elected president of AIM.
AIM becomes the first graduate school of management in the world to receive ISO 14001 certification.
AIM launches the Master in Entrepreneurship (ME) and the Ramon V. del Rosario Sr. Center for Corporate Responsibility with the support of The Ford Foundation and PHINMA.
Eduardo A. Morato Jr. is elected Institute dean.
The C. V. Starr Foundation funds an endowed Chair in Corporate Governance.
1998
to get Ateneo and De La Salle together. After sending off his initial memo, he worked behind the scenes. He suggested to Bro. Gabriel that a feasibility study should be made. Even prior to the meeting between Ateneo and De La Salle, he had already talked to Mr. Roberto "Bobby" V. Ongpin of SyCip Gorres and Velayo (SGV) about the possibility of SGV doing the study. Mr. Bobby Ongpin had graduated from the Harvard Business School and had been part of the case writing team that Prof. Harry Hansen had put together. Prof. Sorenson and Mr. Ongpin had gotten to know one another very well and were close friends. Mr. Ongpin agreed that he would get SGV to do the study for free. He also indicated that on the side of SGV, he would be willing to take the lead in preparing the study. Prof. Sorenson also discussed with Mr. Eugenio "Geny" Lopez, Jr., another HBS graduate, the possibility of getting a donation from Don Eugenio Lopez, one of the country's wealthiest men, for the buildings of the new school. Mr. Geny Lopez agreed to work on his father for such a donation. In general, Prof. Sorenson stayed behind the scenes but kept pushing Ateneo and De La Salle to get together on the merger.
1999
AIM institutionalizes a multi-school system. AIM receives the Beyond Grey Pinstripes 2001 Award for Business School Innovation in Social impact Management. The World Bank chooses AIM as its strategic partner with the establishment of the AIM-World Bank Global Distance Learning Center.
2000
2001
The Purpose and Objectives of the ASIAN INSTITUTE OF MANAGEMENT ******************************** INAUGURAL ADDRESS Stephen H. Fuller President, 1969-1971 IF THESE PROBLEMS ARE TO BE RESOLVED, MANAGERS THROUGHOUT the region need to abandon their amateur standing and put aside any prospect of relaxation. They need to recognize—as much of the industrialized world has already recognized—that the conduct of a successfully competitive enterprise is right now and will increasingly be an unbroken learning experience for those whose responsibility it is to make or approve the key decisions in the organization. Todayʼs increasingly complex management problems cannot be solved without devoting prepared talent to the task over long periods of time. This Institute with a well-trained Asian faculty, a carefully selected Asian student body, and an increasingly Asian curriculum seeks to develop men for the practice of business. The study of the common elements of administration constitute our central concern at this school. Management is the central process in the successful conduct of government and military organizations and at least an important element in educational and religious: institutions, hospitals, research laboratories, charitable organizations, even athletic teams. Just as the study of law turns out to be useful preparation for business and public life, so the study of management is useful to lawyers, doctors, clergymen, engineers, educators, civil servants, and military officers. This School then selects from all it might do the preparation of men for leadership of organized activity, principally but not exclusively in business. The Institute seeks to focus the broad outcomes of a liberal education upon the solution of certain classes of recurring practical problems that are not amenable to amateur, uninformed, irresponsible, or fortuitous solutions. Requiring that they work harder than they have ever worked before, we have asked our students to apply their powers to systematic analysis of business problems and to learn concepts which will serve them over a lifetime of learning from experience. The skills, attitudes and knowledge imparted through Requiring that they work harder than they have ever the schoolʼs curriculum contribute to both liberal and worked before, we have asked professional learning... The courses pursued emphasize our students to apply their such values as willingness to assume responsibility, powers to systematic analysis of business problems and energy in action, and reasoned judgment in decisionto learn concepts which will making. If the aim of liberal education is to enable serve them over a lifetime of an individual to live as a fully developed human learning from experience. being, the aim of professional management education is to empower him to act effectively and responsibly and to equip him to lead. We seek to graduate a manager who is capable of deciding what should be done and how it should be done, knowledgeable about the industries in which he chooses to work, broad-gauged in his perception of the relation of his goals to the goals of society and willing to undertake responsibility for resolving conflicts in points of view. It is the assumption of the school that it cannot, by courses of instruction alone, produce such a manager full-blown. It aims instead to prepare highly-qualified individuals to learn from subsequent experience faster and better than they otherwise would. We recognize from the outset that since we are in the business of education and the education of business, this Institute needs to keep closely related to the real world of men of affairs. Business and professional schools of management are necessary partners in the task of preparing present and future managers for their professional duties. Hence we turn to our business friends for the very cases or business problems which are the core of our
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COVER STORY On March 12, 1968, the Finance Committee met with Mr. Jaime Zobel de Ayala in order to confirm the offer of land in Makati. They indicated to Mr. Zobel de Ayala that according to the architect, the new school would need 2 1/2 hectares. Mr. Zobel de Ayala replied that there was no 2 1/2 hectare lot available in Makati. On April 24, Fr. Jim and Bro. Gabriel wrote to Mr. Enrique Zobel, following up the earlier discussions about the donation of land. They mentioned that while a 2.4 hectare campus would be ideal, Architect Gabby Formoso had agreed that the AIM project could be carried out on one hectare of land. While De La Salle was working at trying to get the donation of land nailed down, Prof. Sorenson worked on how they could finance the construction of the AIM buildings. Mr. Geny Lopez had earlier agreed to talk with his father about it. In order to strengthen the bid for a Lopez donation, Prof. Sorenson arranged with Dr. Fuller to invite Dean George P. Baker of the Harvard Business School to visit the Philippines to review the work of the consortium and to discuss the possibility of the founding of AIM. On April 1, 1968, Ateneo and De La Salle invited President Ferdinand E. Marcos to a dinner given to welcome Dean Baker. On this occasion, President Marcos was informed by the Finance Committee that the new school would need substantial scholarship and loan funds. President Marcos suggested that they tap the Social Security System (SSS) for the student loan fund. On April 3, 1968, Dean Baker encouraged Don Eugenio Lopez to support the new school and assured him that Harvard Business School would be willing to give continuing support to AIM, once the school had gained its charter. On April 23, the Steering Committee convened the first meeting of the Charter Members of AIM. There were four representatives of Ateneo in the Board of Charter Members: James F. Donelan, SJ, Fr. Federico Nieves R. Confesor is elected the first woman dean of the Institute. AIM names its graduate school of business in honor of its founder and co-chairman, Washington SyCip. Former Philippine President Corazon Aquino becomes the first woman member of the Board of Governors. The AIM-World Bank Development Resource Center is inaugurated.
2002 26
"Freddie" Escaler, SJ (now Bishop), Fr. John Doherty, SJ and businessman Mr. Sixto "Ting" K. Roxas. De La Salle on the other hand was represented by Bro. Gabriel H. Connon, FSC, Bro. Paul Hebert, FSC, Dean Waldo S. Perfecto, and Mr. Carlos "Charlie" J. Valdez, a busi-
For schoolyear 1970-1971, AIM began its classes on July 6, 197O, in its new campus on Paseo de Roxas Street, Legaspi Village, Makati, Rizal. The enrollment had risen from the previous year's of 142 to a total of 235.
nessman. They also invited Messrs. Eugenio Lopez, Jr., Jaime Zobel de Ayala, Washington SyCip, Ramon V. del Rosario, Jose "Jobo" Fernandez, Jr. and Aurelio Montinola, Jr. to represent the business community among the Charter Members. It is interesting to note that out of the eight businessmen on the Board of Charter Members, six were Jaycees. On April 25, Washington SyCip wrote SSS Chairman Gilberto "Bert" Teodoro, a good friend of his, a letter asking for an SSS loan. On May 21, the Steering Committee visited Mr. Teodoro in order to follow up Mr. SyCip's letter. On May 24, 1968, Mr. Teodoro informed the two presidents that the SSS Board had approved a P3 M loan for the AIM Student Loan Fund on May 16, 1968. On June 7, after Mr. Geny Lopez had indicated that Don Eugenio was ready to make a commitment for the building donation, a
AIM is awarded the European Quality Label, making it the first in ASEAN to receive this accreditation and become a member of the European Foundation for Management Development. The international Beyond Grey Pinstripes Survey recognizes AIM anew by granting the award Excellence in Integration in Core Curriculum. AIM launches the Asian Corporate Social Responsibility Awards. Hills Governance Program is established.
2003
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formal letter was sent to Don Eugenio asking for a donation of P5 Million. On June 18, Don Eugenio formally pledged a donation of P5 Million and gave a check for P200,000 as the first installment on his donation. At the dinner where Don Eugenio made his pledge, he turned to Mr. Jaime Zobel de Ayala and asked him whether the Ayala Corporation had come to any definite decision concerning the donation of land to AIM. Mr. Zobel de Ayala went to the next office and made a long distance call to his cousin, Mr. Enrique Zobel, the head of the Ayala Corporation, who was in Madrid, Spain. A few minutes later he returned with the announcement that the Ayala Corporation would definitely donate the land to AIM. Between February, when the Ateneo Board of Trustees set its conditions, and June, when Don Eugenio and Jaime Zobel de Ayala made their pledge of major donations to AIM, the Finance Committee had also been soliciting donations for faculty chairs, and they had gotten enough commitments and promises to assure themselves that there would be enough faculty chairs to satisfy the requirements of the new school. On June 29, 1968, therefore, the Steering Committee went to the Board of Trustees of the Ateneo to inform them that two of their conditions had been met. The necessary financial support had been obtained and the existence of a substantial student market had been established. Fr. Donelan also informed the board that the new statutes for AIM would soon be issued. The Statutes Committee, composed of the members of the Steering Committee which had given yeoman's service as also the Fund Raising Committee, were working over-time to get it done post-haste. The Board of Trustees indicated that they wanted the statutes of the new school to be submitted for their study before the next meeting. On August 3, Dr. James Culliton of the Harvard Advisory Group and Fr. John Doherty,
AIM is accredited by the Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business (AACSB), the first school in Southeast Asia to attain accreditation from the two major international accrediting institutions, AACSB and EFMD. The AIM-Mirant Center for Bridging Societal Divides is inaugurated. Nieves Confesor resigns as dean. Roberto de Ocampo is appointed interim dean.
2006
“Looking Back” cont. on page 49 >> The Board of Trustees appoints Victoria S. Licuanan as dean.
Roberto de Ocampo steps down as AIM president. Francis G. Estrada assumes presidency. He is the first AIM alumnus to become Institute president. AIM launches redesigned 16-month MBA.
In line with AIM’s multi-stakeholder thrust, three seats on the Board of Trustees are allocated to alumni.
AIM celebrates its Ruby year.
2007
2008
curriculum. We rely on business friends to furnish us the resources needed for accomplishment of the purpose. We ask the most distinguished leaders of the business community to advise and counsel us as our trustees. We seek business evaluation of our graduates whom they hire so that we may improve our contributions in the future. We recognize the need to relate the knowledge we offer to students directly and specifically to the “real world.” Instead of the stultifying process of memorizing endless disconnected facts, we at the Institute are substituting the dynamic concept of education as the “art of the utilization of knowledge.” In this Institute the “know-how” group, the men of affairs, and the “think about” group from the faculty have made the brotherhood of the “the mind and the manager” a reality. Education on the one hand and business on the other cannot accept uncritically an unreal separation of one from the other. To do so would be so accept what we ourselves condemn—narrow specialization, professionalism, snobbery, and the formation of cases. Without a common world, the educator and the man of business will each fi nd himself in a glass case along some dull museum corridor in the future. The place which the Institute has won in the Ateneo de Manila University and De La Salle Without a common world, College is of great importance to its development. the educator and the man of The idea of a university lends depth and university business will each find himself to the objectives of management education. Our university in a glass case along some dull colleagues can remind the practice-oriented element museum corridor in the future. of our faculty of the standards and stubborn integrity of true scholarship, of the uses of nonconformity and independence of thought, and of the need for long-range goals. Alliance with two great universities enables the Institute to command attention in its efforts to lead rather than to follow its professional clientele. In addition to maintaining the closest possible relations with our affiliated universities, the Institute pledges itself to cooperative in every way possible with all other schools of business and with businessmen throughout Asia. We consider, therefore, the internationalization of our activities in cooperation with educators and businessmen of neighboring countries an important objective for immediate implementation. Today throughout the world there are broadening defi nitions and rising standards of responsibility in the practice of business. Slowly, consideration of the public interest is becoming established in the decision making process of most fi rms; it is leading to more than grudging cooperation between government and business. It is being accompanied by more imaginative conceptions of the role business might play in the solution of the more important problems of our society. If these developments are not interrupted, they will be accompanied by rising expectations and by greater recognition of the social value of business leadership. It is the proper role of professional education in management to increase the concern of its students for the problems of society which organized corporate resources might ameliorate. It is proper for the Asian Institute of Management to clarify the social importance and opportunity for service that is implicit in the successful conduct of private business. Business leaders have a unique opportunity. The members of the older professions, law and medicine, by and large demonstrate their leadership in the preeminent individual achievement. The managerʼs special opportunity occurs in the leadership of organizations. His power goes far beyond his own strength. This School hopes to turn out a man of action who will have the capacity to mobilize specialized activities he himself cannot perform to serve clear purposes he must understand better than anyone else. The skillful practitioner of the oldest of the arts and the newest of the professions is entitled to pride of profession when his organization is worth the striving. The philosopher, Alfred North Whitehead, thought that a great society would be one in which businessmen thought “greatly of their function.” To the job of turning our managers who will think greatly of their function, this Institute enthusiastically commits itself. It is a job worth doing. It is a job worth doing well. —Manila, 29 August 1969
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COVER STORY
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Being at the helm of the Asian Institute of Management on its Ruby Anniversary is both a rare opportunity to lead the Institute to greater heights and an exciting privilege as AIM continues to make a stamp in the region by developing leaders and managers for Asia. Fittingly, AIM President Francis Estrada and Dean Victoria Licuanan have witnessed the Institute’s transformation when compared to its first decade. Both have happy memories of the past. President Estrada relished his time as a student in MBM’73, which gave him “the opportunity to meet and build such a wide array of friendships across backgrounds, nationalities, and ideological persuasion.” “Virtually all my classmates had work experience, and I had none,” he reveals. “So it was always a challenge playing catch-up and having insights that were seen to have value by classmates who have a much better feel for the real world. But the good news was that taught me how to listen.” Dean Licuanan, on the other hand, has been with AIM since 1978. She occupied several administrative positions before being appointed dean. She considers AIM “a great place for people and ideas.”
“I have fond memories of the research and programs that we ran, especially the one for SMBs and for women in development and women managers,” she says. “The programs ran in the capitals of the original five ASEAN countries, as well as in Kuching, and even as far away as Kathmandu, and resulted in two books of cases and materials on women managers. In terms of people, I cherish relationships I accumulated over the years with colleagues on the faculty and staff as well as the partners from donor agencies and other universities. Until now, outside of colleagues in AIM, I count good friends in CIDA (Canadian International Development Agency), KAF (Konrad Adenauer Foundation), and universities and research institutes all over Southeast Asia.”
by Rose Cheryl Orbigo, BMP 2005 A I M A LU MN I L E A D E R SH I P MAGA Z I N E Ja n u a ry to Marc h 20 0 8
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President Estrada and Dean Licuanan share with the AIM Alumni Leadership Magazine their views on AIM’s accomplishments and their vision for the Institute’s future. What are AIM’s most visible achievements in the last 40 years?
Victoria S. Licuanan (VSL): That would be training so many managers all these years—35,000 for both degree and nondegree programs. AIM alumni are all over the region, many in very senior positions. That’s the most notable achievement, along with pioneering in areas like CSR (corporate social responsibility), development management, women managers, and other development and management issues over the years. Francis G. Estrada (FGE): Among AIM’s most visible achievements are a wide array of productive partnerships it has established with various entities throughout the region and domestically, in both the private and public sectors, with multinational companies, multilateral agencies, enterprises, institutions, and individuals. That’s one series of very important accomplishments. Second, it is said that you evaluate an institution or organization by the quality of its output, which, in AIM’s case, is a result of its productive partnerships. To me, a very much under-recognized but undervalued accomplishment of AIM is its outstanding alumni throughout the region. A third visible achievement of AIM are some innovative programs that it has pioneered and developed, in areas covering development management and entrepreneurship. Where is AIM now?
FGE: AIM is at a crossroads, having taken in and looked at the domestic, regional, and international marketplace. The Institute has concluded that its original mission of developing outstanding leaders, managers, and entrepreneurs for Asia not only remains but has become even more important and relevant. However, in keeping with the chang30
ing demands of the marketplace, AIM must execute its strategy using updated, responsive, and appropriate pedagogical methods. It also means assuming a truly Asian perspective— one that looks at issues and imperatives most relevant to Asia. I do not mean that the perspectives be xenophobic, but they must be rooted in this very exciting region. What is AIM’s greatest strength, and how do you plan to use this strength for the school’s advancement?
FGE: Rather than greatest strength, I would
say greatest strengths. First are its commitment to rigorous learning and its practitioner orientation. At a time when knowledge is being created at unprecedented speed, and technology has evolved to a point where huge volumes of facts can be processed readily, the key element in the process is really how to learn, as opposed to what to learn. In other words, one is required to constantly learn and AIM will be much more international in terms of teaching, faculty, and student diversity. It will be at the forefront of new developments, unlearn new things. be they The ability to learn technological or social...In and unlearn is very AIM will critical. I think AIM’s short, continue to be rigor and practitioner a major player in educating orientation should managers for allow the Institute to the region. teach flexibility and to inculcate in its students the constant passion to find out what is relevant. We intend to use this for the school’s advancement by reenergizing the Institute’s domain expertise in the case method and all other suitable participative learning methods. VSL: The greatest strength is the faculty in AIM who are very entrepreneurial, willing to take risks, to break new ground, and who are
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outward-looking. AIM is the most internationally connected of all schools in the Philippines, and even among Asian schools. It’s these characteristics that will carry AIM in the future and allow AIM to continue to grow despite all the challenges and changes in the environment. How should AIM respond to challenges from within and from outside?
FGE: With humility, objectivity, and integrity. Do we see multiple campuses in the Asian region in the near future?
FGE: I’d rather call it “presences” than campuses. Depending on the circumstances, this may translate into physical campuses for the Institute or presences in partnerinstitution campuses. The overarching idea is less the brick and mortar but the presence— enabling AIM to provide broad and representative Asian insight, Asian knowledge, Asian research, and Asian faculty. What are AIM’s recent program changes and new program offerings?
VSL: One of the most recent major changes is in the MBA program, which went from 22 months to 16 months. We are also launching new electives, especially for the MBA major in Entrepreneurship, and new directions including innovation and entrepreneurship, family corporations, and programs using new pedagogy. We are also going strongly, or should I say, more publicly, into practitioner-oriented research, since AIM has always been practitioner-oriented but has not published as much as it might have. It is an exciting time in AIM. What are the biggest challenges in Asia, How can AIM addressing these challenges?
VSL: The biggest challenge for Asia is maintaining growth in the face of changing technology, of increasing globalization, of disruptions such as oil price hikes, as well as dealing with issues of greater interdependence, regional integration, and urbanization.
There are also issues of rising aspirations amidst uneven growth and the problems they pose for social cohesion. AIM will play an active role in documenting and learning management lessons as people in Asia cope with these issues, and in turn bringing them into the classroom for future managers. AIM is also actively increasing its footprint in the region and trying to make an impact in the face of competition. FGE: Among the biggest challenges in Asia are, first, the need to decouple from the U.S. economy and assume greater responsibility for driving global growth and innovation. The recent subprime crisis, the unauthorized trading losses in a major European bank, the governance breakdowns all leading to significant stresses in the global financial system, coupled with the enormous leverage that the U.S. household sector is carrying, both at the mortgage and consumer levels—all of these demonstrate the need and desirability for Asia to accelerate the development of its domestic markets, to broaden the distribution of benefits of economic growth, and to reduce poverty. In many ways, Asian cultural traditions, with their emphasis on social and community interests, would allow this refocus. A second challenge in Asia is to bridge very fundamental cultural, historical, and religious divides, whether it be among Japan, China, and Korea; the Bumiputra versus the non-Bumiputra; the Hindu versus the Muslim in the subcontinent; the Buddhist and the Islamic in southern Thailand; and the Christians and Muslims in southern Philippines. It is clear that much of our historical baggage must be dealt with. We also have divides of an economic nature. China’s rapid growth has created huge economic divides in the coastal areas/major cities versus the interior. The rural-urban divide is another major challenge. Challenges also abound in infrastructure and healthcare, and in the demographics of Japan and Korea, which have very low fertility
rates and an aging population of alarming proportion, i.e., 20-25 million. It would be presumptuous to think that AIM would have a solution for all these, but we must begin to address these challenges and divides. The first step obviously is to understand the context in which these problems have been created and, in that process, begin to look at solutions. AIM has more than 35,000 alumni. What roles do you envision the alumni to play?
VSL: Because AIM is approaching half a century, that also means its alumni are approaching half a century. So therefore we can expect them to take positions of increasing importance and scope, and play a bigger role
I see AIM as a nimble, modern, creative, and exciting regional institution. In this context, in the continuing I see it at the forefront development of the region, which is what of research, learning, and we have prepared teaching in a them for. whole range of areas, FGE: The Institute has recognized the great importance of its alumni, and this is reflected in the institution’s governance system. The intention is to have a majority of the Board of Trustees, the ultimate policymaking body in the Institute, composed of alumni, all in a multi-stakeholder context. Under this new paradigm, we’re making every effort to make alumni much more engaged in policymaking, in advising students, in placement of our graduates, in giving feedback on latest practitioner knowledge and technology, sometimes in actual teaching and mentoring, and, very importantly, in capital raising and in providing input to strategy. It would be my dream that we are able to
energize and create a dynamic relationship between our various alumni communities and the Institute across those different areas. On AIM’s 40th Anniversary, what is your message to alumni?
VSL: Embrace change. Rise to the challenge. Make AIM proud of you. FGE: In this 40th year, we are sounding a clarion call for support in every way, shape, or form possible, in the reengineering and re-launch of our beloved institution, having established a tradition as trailblazer and innovator. The alumni should hopefully take the lead in re-igniting this legacy. Despite a far more competitive environment, AIM, because of the contributions of its pioneers and those that came before us, has an exciting opportunity to reestablish, albeit in different form, its traditions of excellence, innovation, and discipline. I would like to ask all our alumni to join us in this journey. Where will AIM be in its 50th Anniversary 10 years from now?
FGE: I see AIM as a nimble, modern, creative, and exciting regional institution. In this context, I see it at the forefront of research, learning, and teaching in a whole range of areas, which will include (1) family organizations and enterprises; (2) public-private partnerships; (3) Islamic management; (4) sustainable growth models; (5) development, SME, and microfinance; and (6) Asian business systems. I also see AIM becoming an important learning platform for Europe, North Africa, and the Gulf to look into and understand Asia and vice versa. VSL: AIM will be much more international in terms of teaching, faculty, and student diversity. It will be at the forefront of new developments, be they technological or social, and the accompanying challenges to managers. In short, AIM will continue to be a major player in educating managers for the region.
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SPOTLIGHT
In recognition of their meritorious service and signiďŹ cant contributions to the Institute, Professors Gabino Mendoza, Victor Lim, Meliton Salazar, Felipe Alfonso, Roberto Lim and Francisco Bernardo, Jr. were awarded the Professor Emeritus status from the Institute in 2007. The AIMLeader pays tribute to our beloved professors, who have made a signiďŹ cant impact to all who have experienced their brilliance in the case rooms.
Photographs by Jose Andres Puno 32
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SPOTLIGHT
WADING IN THE BLUE OCEAN W O R D S
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ROF. GABINO MENDOZA’S STORY GOES AS FAR back to forty years ago during the first years of AIM, as the first member of the faculty and COO during AIM’s founding in 1968. He was president of the Institute from 1978-86, dean of the Institute from 1973-86 and dean of faculty from 196872. At present, he is a professor emeritus and has taught general management (strategy formulation and implementation), marketing and finance in the MBM, MM, and the Executive MBA programs and initiated development of enterprise. Forty Years of History
When asked to share the beginnings of AIM, Mendoza recounts, “In 1954, Monching del Rosario (Ramon del Rosario Sr.) went to Harvard and he found out that what they were teaching was something the Philippines needed. So he said that instead of sending loads of Filipinos to Harvard, why don’t we take Harvard professors and bring them over to the Philippines? And they invited Harvard professors to come here to teach a two-month course on management in Baguio.” Del Rosario was among a group of young businessmen who had established the Philippine Jaycees. Among the members, aside from Del Rosario were Ernesto Escaler, Washington SyCip, and Bert Villanueva. The group founded a company called the Executive Training Institute of the Philippines (ETIOP). It was through ETIOP that the first Advanced Management Program (AMP) in the Philippines was offered in 1956. Mendoza attended the AMP course in Baguio in 1960. “Then I got invited by Arturo ‘Bong’ Tanco, Jr. to take over his graduate school class in the Ateneo-MBA program. Fr.. Francisco Araneta, SJ, who was the president of Ateneo then, decided that the Ateneo should offer a full-time masters program a la Harvard, to be called MBM [to distinguish it from the part-time MBA]. Initially he hired Thomas ‘Tom’ Johnson, who had recently graduated from Harvard [with high distinction] to become the first director of the MBM program.” Even before Ateneo launched their two-year full-time MBM in 1964, Fr. Araneta decided to send Mendoza to HBS to study. “He said, ‘Gaby you gotta go and study—I will give you a scholarship 34
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in Harvard. And when you come back, you teach.’ So I went to Harvard in 1964 and came back in 1966.” At that time, Mendoza, a 1953 AB graduate (valedictorian) from the Ateneo had already been working for 12 years as a manager in charge of the technical and administrative staff of the Philippine Investment-Management Consultants, Inc. (PHINMA) and was also teaching at the Jose Rizal College. He also taught Human Behaviour in Organizations in Ateneo’s part-time MBA program. Fr. Araneta used Ateneo funds to subsidize Mendoza’s MBA studies at the Harvard Business School which Mendoza finished with Distinction. When Mendoza came back to Ateneo in 1966, Fr. Araneta’s term as president had ended and was succeeded by Fr. James “Jim” Donelan, SJ. With Aurelio “Aureling” Montinola as Dean of the Business School, the MBM program continued at the Padre Faura campus with Dr. Stephen “Steve” Fuller, a Harvard professor who had taught Human Behaviour at the AMP in Baguio. Fr. Araneta had earlier talked with Dr. Fuller about the idea of funding the full-time MBM program in Ateneo, and Dr Fuller had approached Ford Foundation for assistance. “Steve Fuller tried to get money with the Ford Foundation,” Mendoza recalls. “But Ford said we can’t give just to you. We are willing to put up a fund, but include Ateneo, La Salle and U.P. And so we kept it going. In 1966, the Harvard Advisory Group, which came here, suggested that we unite with different programs so that we can get a better pack“I don’t give lectures, age from their business. I ask questions. I probe into But then Fr. Araneta was what their answers mean. not longer rector. It was I probe into the meaning Fr. Donelan of Ateneo. of the meanings.” And Donelan had difficulties with us because we had people that had been sent with Ford Foundation money to the States to study and they came back. And in order to keep us, they had to pay us better than the professors in Loyola.” Mendoza insisted that the Filipinos who had been sent to Harvard should be paid the same rate as the American imports. In addition, Fr. Donelan was confronted by the Liberal Arts faculty as the MBA professors’ salaries were more than twice that which they were receiving. “Wading...” cont. on page 46 >>
Gabino Mendoza professor emer itus
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SPOTLIGHT
The Journalist Turned Professor W O R D S
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J E S S E
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URING HIS DAYS AT THE ATENEO de Manila University, Meliton V. Salazar had a brimming faith in journalism. He became the editor-in-chief of the campus newspapers—the “Hilites” in high school, and the “Guidon” in college. Salazar admits, “Writing, for me, was natural.” Apart from dealing with these school publications, he also wrote press releases about the Federation of Free Workers (FFW), which were used by the leading dailies, like the Manila Times and the Manila Chronicle. “I literally and figuratively got print all over myself,” says Salazar, who finished Bachelor of Arts in 1954. One such faith continued even after he completed his college. Until one day, while working for a defunct newspaper, he had a nightmarish experience that he knew would eventually change the landscape of his professional route. “One summer at the Daily Mirror, my editor made my life miserable,” he shares. “He had a dirty mouth, always cursing me in Spanish.” For Salazar, eschewing journalism was tough. But he was relieved when he joined the FFW as board member and union organizer in the Visayas and Mindanao. Later, Salazar became fazed with the labor movement, saying he wasn’t making any money and couldn’t get married. He decided to quit, and Bong Tanco, one of his closest friends, helped him get into the Del Rosario Brothers Marketing Corp. as personnel manager. Salazar eventually became one of the country’s leading personnel and industrial relations
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practitioners, being one of the founders of Personnel Consultants Inc. (PERCON) and the Personnel Managers Association of the Philippines (PMAP). Moving on to AIM
In the late 60’s, the first Dean of AIM, Gaby Mendoza, asked Salazar to teach at the newly opened Asian Institute of Management. Mendoza, who was ahead of Salazar at the Ateneo, enticed him a Masters in Business Administration degree at the Harvard Business School. “Perfect!” exclaims Salazar, who had three broods at that time. “It was completely irresistible.” At Harvard, he was supposed to specialize in human behavior but, instead, took general management. “Apart from not liking the professors in human behavior, I wanted to acquire a broader set of skills,” recounts the witty Salazar. Back in the Philippines, after he completed his MBA, he began teaching labor relations and personnel management at AIM. He later introduced a course on management of change. “This is what [U.S. presidentiable, Barack] Obama, is talking about all the time now,” he relates, saying he made it as one of his reports in Harvard. The concept of change management that Obama describes is a structured approach to transitions in individuals, teams, organizations and societies that moves the target from a current state to a desired state. Salazar says cheerfully, “It became a very popular subject. Most of my students would remember me when they remember the course. They also remember labor relations and personnel management but not as much as management of change,” the professor emeritus continues.
Meliton Salazar professor emer itus
When AIM started in 1968, the distinction Mendoza had been looking for from his pool of professors was experience. “He was hiring relatively young professors but with qualifications in some particular fields,” says Salazar, who has been the president of the Tamaraw Security Service Inc. since 1971.
“I just simply love teaching... I wouldn’t change it for anything.” His directorship positions extend to Northern Foods Corporation, Metro Pacific Corporation and Asia Business Consultants Inc., where he was installed by some of his friends from the Ateneo and the University of
the Philippines. Without reluctance, his post as chairman will end in 2008. His students, on the other hand, made his part at the listed Metro Pacific Investments Corp. possible. The 76-year-old professor says his enduring relationship with business ensued when he became a management-development consultant for PT Caltex Pacific in Indonesia, a local unit of Caltex which in October 2001 was renamed ChevronTaxaco Asia, Middle East, Africa Refining and Marketing. “It was much better than directorships in some companies in the Philippines because it paid much better,” adds Salazar, who worked with the firm from 1971 to 1987. “And, it was a very profitable business.”
The Professor
As his professional experiences became more eminent, Salazar was more than qualified to teach business policy and strategy formulation, which requires a three-times-per-week class setting. It serves as a capstone and integrative course, which focuses on how firms formulate, implement and evaluate strategies. For Salazar, he never acknowledged teaching as a challenge because it was exciting and pleasurable, although salaries weren’t such great deals. “I just simply love teaching,” he says. “The work itself, the immediate contacts I made, the people who “Th e Journalist...” cont. on page 47 >>
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SPOTLIGHT
Mr. MM W O R D S
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ROFESSOR VICTOR A. LIM IS THE FAR East Bank Professor of Business Management. He was conferred the status of professor emeritus as one of the founding faculty of the Institute. He has served on the core faculty of the Master in Management (MM) Program and his teaching expertise is in general management, mechanical engineering and manufacturing. Prof. Lim boasts about 40 years of uninterrupted teaching in the Asian Institute of Management (AIM), entirely as part-time faculty. The last thirty years were devoted to the design, launching and teaching the MM Program. He is thus a founding faculty of both AIM, itself, and the MM Program. He has extensive professional experience in general management and governance. He is vice-chairman of the PhilAm Fund Group of Mutual Funds, of which he was president for over 20 years. He was chairman of the Bases Conversion Development Authority, including all its subsidiary companies; such as FBDC, BHI, North Rail, CDC, Heritage Bank, etc. He was also CEO of Republic Glass Corporation, House of Investments, PASAR, the Plastic Group of Companies, Sterling Life Assurance Co., GASCOR, Radiowealth Marketing Corp., Manila Gas Corp. and Corporate Promotions, Inc. and its subsidiaries. He was a principal partner of Borromeo and Lim, management consultants. In the course of his career, Prof. Lim has pioneered in investment banking, government incentives in private enterprise, shrimp culture and export, and sub-contracting in appliance manufacturing. In the field of education, he introduced the use of the case method in graduate business schools at the University of the Philippines in 1952. In government, he developed complete staff study models, transparency techniques and privatization schemes. He planned and implemented the privatization of Fort Bonifacio, Camp John Hay and PASAR.
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Prof. Lim’s career in teaching engineering and business courses runs uninterrupted from 1948 to-date. Starting with his involvement in the Institute of Social Order in 1948, he has been affiliated with major universities and engineering colleges in Manila such as the University of the Philippines, Ateneo de Manila University, De La Salle University, Assumption College, National University, Adamson University, and FEATI Institute of Technology. He is considered one of the pioneers in the case method in the Philippines, having introduced it in the first post-war faculty of the University of the Philippines Graduate School in 1952, and later, at the Ateneo de Manila University and the Asian Institute of Management. He compiled and integrated ASIA 2020, a vision of Asian business by the year 2020 from surveys run in gratification of eight Asian countries, which “...the seeing my students was published by AIM in 1993. marching at graduation... That sense of fulfillment I feel from the thought The Early Days that I had contributed Prof. Lim holds a Mas- to instill that confidence enhance that dignity ter of Science in Mechanical and is unmatched by any Engineering from the Massa- other accomplishment business, community chusetts Institute of Technol- in work or travel.” ogy (1949) and attended MBA modules at the Harvard Business School. He received his Bachelor of Science in Mechanical Engineering (Cum Laude) from the University of the Philippines (1948); his secondary and high school education from the Ateneo de Manila University. “My records should start when I introduced the Harvard case method for graduate business education at the University of the Philippines in the early 1950s, with a group of Harvard Business School graduates such as Jobo Fernandez, Aureling Montinola, Pingoy Nakpil, and King Doromal,” recounts Prof. Lim. “These graduate degree programs were interrupted when the UP transferred to Diliman. Our part-time faculty could not follow them to Quezon City and the University itself did not have enough qualified professors to carry on. “The case method was eventually transferred to the Ateneo de Manila University when Fr. Fritz Araneta, Bong Tanco and I persuaded the administration to launch a full-time graduate business program, with the help of the Harvard Advisory Group, HBS professors at that time teaching summer programs for executives in Manila. We were joined at the Ateneo by the Ongpin brothers, Greg Romulo, Fil Alfonso and other new graduates from Harvard, includ“Mr. MM” cont. on page 47 >>
Victor Lim professor emer itus
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Roberto Lim professor emer itus
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SPOTLIGHT
Turning Imagination into the Possible W O R D S
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HEN ROBERTO H. LIM LOOKS AT THE PHILippines today, he sees a huge, fizzing cauldron of life, whose most noticeable characteristic is its vitality. “It’s full of dynamism,” quips the AIM professor emeritus, who, on the other hand, sees the Filipinos as ambivalent about the idea of their nation becoming a great place that would open a unique path in the history of the world. The search to turn imagination into the possible, as Lim puts it, is at the heart of his three-decade quest to be a factor in shaping the panorama of leaders and managers of the present and the future. From Aviation to AIM
In 1969, he left the aviation industry, which he served for 24 years, and shifted to the realm of teaching. In preparation, he had attended the 49th Harvard Business School’s Advanced Management Program—one of the school’s open enrolment programs—even before he gave up his post as the executive vice president at the Philippine Airlines (PAL). “The program nurtures new abilities to drive innovation and enhance synergies at all levels of the organization,” says Lim, who has handled management positions in operations, maintenance and marketing units of the country’s oldest air carrier. Apart from such formidable experiences, Lim has also participated and chaired several International Air Transport Association conferences. Likewise, he founded organizations, “It feels amazing to like the Airline Pilots Association of the mold students who have ideas, knowledge Philippines, the Orient Airline Associaand skills to produce tion, and the Air Safety Foundation of extraordinary the Philippines, among others. amounts of value.” Lim has been on the faculty rosters of the Master in Business Administration, the Master in Management, and the Master in Development programs. The latter, he says, is an “interesting course.” “Turning Imagination” cont. on page 48 >>
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SPOTLIGHT
STANDING TALL W O R D S
BY
S H E R B E T
K AT I G B A K- M A N A L I L I ,
To ourselves, we are great. Yet most of us live life without making a stand, contented to blend into the background of selfrendering nothingness, and when looking back feel contented at our mediocre accomplishments. Nobody remembers the person who conformed out of inadequacy. Nobody notices a patch of grass, they see the tree. —Wayne Burrow
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HE YEAR WAS 1990. FOR THE FIRST TIME IN AIM’s history, the first full-time president was elected. And for almost a decade under his leadership, AIM basked in the limelight and was brought to even greater heights. One of Felipe Alfonso’s major concerns during his presidency was the need for greater public recognition of AIM—a feat he successfully achieved. Alfonso recounts, “About this time, many business schools were being established in the region. Although we were ahead in developing the MBA program, these countries caught up quickly—there were business schools established in Thailand, Hong Kong, Singapore and so forth. There was a perceptible beginning of decrease in enrolment from overseas because they have their own business schools in their countries. “The challenge at that time was how to survive the competition and how to differentiate ourselves from the rest of the business schools. Our first area of differentiation was our heritage in the sense that we always said that we were established with the assistance of the Harvard Business School, that we were case-oriented and so forth. Some people called us the ‘Harvard of Asia’ during those days. “Another differentiation is that although we were located in the Philippines, we saw our market as the region. Our task was to develop regional managers who have a regional perspective.” So at the beginning of his term, AIM, together with the World Executive Digest, a regional management magazine, and Acer, Inc. as sponsor, launched the first Asian Management Awards in 1991. The Asian Management Awards, which recognized the region’s most excellent companies in six categories, were held in six different countries—Hong Kong, Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore and Thailand—and no less than the heads of states presented the awards. 42
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“One of the main avenues that we had for making sure that we were seen as a regional institution was the Asian Management Awards. For at least a week in one whole year, we were hugging the headlines in major newspapers in the region because they were all writing about the awards. It got our Governors involved. Heads of states attended the awards night. The nice thing about that was that it was done in partnership with the World Executive Digest and was sponsored by a number of different organizations so we were promoting AIM almost at no cost to AIM.” As a result of this endeavor, AIM maintained its enrolment and even succeeded in having three sections in the MBM—batches 1998 and 1999. Another successful initiative during Alfonso’s term was the setting up of the Centers. AIM and the Far East Bank and Trust Co. (FEBTC) jointly launched the Gov. Jose B. Fernandez Jr. Center for Banking and Finance in 1994. The AIM-W. SyCip Policy Center was established two years later and in 1999, the Ramon V. del Rosario Sr. Center for Corporate Responsibility followed with the support of The Ford Foundation and PHINMA. “Raising the profile of the Institute was one of the important things at that time, and we were successful in doing that.” The boldest, perhaps the most controversial, venture Alfonso undertook was the AIM Conference Center Manila (ACCM) in 1994. With the mandate from the Board, Alfonso almost single-handedly, with AIM Chairman Washington SyCip, raised the money for the construction of the ACCM. “Some faculty members didn’t want to touch it, some alumnus came back after were against it. But “‘An graduation and said that ‘I don’t in AIM anymore.’ I asked him leadership means believe why and he said, ‘All the things you taking risks. ACCM taught me are irrelevant.’ So again I ‘What do you do when you find has been worth- asked, that some of the things we discussed no longer relevant?’ He answers while,” he rejoins. were ‘I do what I think is relevant.’” The ACCM was inaugurated by President Fidel V. Ramos in 1997 with the generous assistance of the Philippine business community, ASEAN, American and European business groups, AIM Boards of Governors and Trustees and alumni. Within the same year, Alfonso initiated the “Standing Tall” cont. on page 50 >>
Felipe Alfonso professor emer itus
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Francisco Bernardo, Jr. professor emer itus
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SPOTLIGHT
Musings from an Emeritus W O R D S
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BY
F R A N C I S C O
rofessor Francisco P. Bernardo, Jr. is the Caltex Professor of Business Management. He joined the faculty of AIM in 1969 and was the dean of the Institute from 1990 to 1995. He was conferred the status of professor emeritus in 2007. Significant AIM Moments
The most memorable period of AIM for me would be the situation we encountered in mid-1970s after the first oil crisis. We were told in a faculty meeting that the institute might be out of funds in about three years time since no significant donation is forthcoming. The Faculty at that time said, ”We will not allow AIM to go bankrupt.” So we initiated the offering of more non-degree programs, especially targeting the “first-line managers” and came up with the Basic Management Program (BMP). Only some senior AIM faculty members, in their individual capacity as consultants were conducting similar in-house seminars in companies. We figured that companies then will be more willing to pay higher for the training of their managers than to give large donations to AIM. Not all the faculty members agreed to this solution since the BMP will be catering to the supervisors and front-line managers and will be lower in category than the students of the MBM degree program, and the participants of the Management Development Program (MDP) and the Top Management Program (TMP) which were conducted by the institute. Our justification then was to train the managers who will implement the mandates of higher management. We initially conducted the four-week BMP five full class sections per year in Makati and more than twice a year overseas in Asia. We have just conducted our 128th BMP. We are able to successfully arrest the institute’s finances then. The Board of Trustees commended the faculty for helping in the financial problem of the institute. This is memorable because the faculty did more than teach effectively; they helped in the financial survival of the institute. The next crisis came in the mid-1980s triggered by the assas-
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sination of Senator Benigno Aquino. Many prospective overseas students and participants were afraid to come to Manila because of the violent demonstrations in the streets. Consequently, we conducted more overseas programs. In a way, this contributed to having Asian participants in the management programs of AIM. Our Teaching Methods at AIM
AIM has been known for the extensive use of the case method of teaching patterned after Harvard in the development of analytical skills. We have modified this to be more suitable to the Asian culture. When we discuss best practices in management, we also cover analytical frameworks of various management concerns and issues. This is a unique teaching skill of the AIM faculty. I have taught Quantitative Analysis and later, Operations Management in the MBM program. I always appreciated the fact that when you teach the first-year MBM students and you run them through case after cases, they invariably asked, “What’s the answer? What actually happened to the company?” My answer is always “I don’t know and it does not matter what really happened after. Well, what is more important is what action you think should be undertaken.” Hopefully, the students develop their own method of learning. I also taught electives in the second-year MBM and if I gave what appears to be an answer to the issues in the case, the students will say, “That’s your opinion.” Here you can see the kind of reasoning the students developed over the span of one year. As a consequence, some are perceived to be cocky by their employers. The rigor the students are subjected to is also important. In the earlier MBM classes, the students prepare for three cases or a total of more than 1,000 cases over the two years. Individual studies start after 5:00 pm and small group discussion usually follows after dinner and reflections will likely keep the students awake past midnight. Classes start at 8:00 am and were considered “show times” to develop the students’ presentation and convincing skills. No talk, no credit for class participation, hence, no passing grade. It is not surprising that at work the graduates feels energetic at 4:00 pm when their co-workers are already preparing to leave. “Musings” cont. on page 48 >>
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>> “Wading...” cont. from page 34 “The professors in Loyola had doctorates, they were old men,” Mendoza continues. “They called us the ‘young punks’ in Padre Faura. We were young men, we had MBAs and some managerial experience. So Fr. Donelan decided ‘let’s get rid of these guys. We are paying them too much and they are causing too much trouble with the faculty.’ So when Bud Sorenson, head of the Harvard Advisory Group at the time, suggested a merger with La Salle, Fr. Donelan seized the opportunity as a solution to his problems. So really, AIM was put up so Ateneo could get rid of us,” Mendoza chortles. For Fr. Donelan, the concept of an autonomous school would solve many of his problems with regard to the disparity of faculty salaries between the Business School professors and the Liberal Arts professors, as well as the problems that the MBM founding had brought about. The details of Fr. Donelan’s conflict with the Ateneo faculty are documented in “25 Years of AIM” by Mendoza and Donelan: “Two days later, on January 22, 1968, four faculty members of the Ateneo MBM program submitted memoranda opposing the merger of the MBA program with the De La Salle. Fr. Robert A. Bomeisl, SJ, assistant dean, Prof. Victor “Vic” A. Lim, Prof. Gaston “Gasty” Z. Ortigas, and Prof. Gabino “Gaby” A. Mendoza each submitted memoranda opposing the merger and advocating that Ateneo continue with its present MBM program.” The succeeding recommendations of Mendoza were eventually endorsed by the University Senate and were presented to the Board of Trustees. The Senate proposed that the jointly sponsored graduate school should provide that: “a) adequate safeguards be built into the charter of the new school to insure that it will, in its policies and practices, embrace the objective of training academically superior and responsible Christian business leaders; b) sufficient financial support be generated in advance to provide reasonable assurance that a new school of the anticipated stature would be financially self supporting; c) additional field research provide adequate evidence that the forecast levels of student enrolment and placement are realistic; and d) final approval of the project should not take place until such time as the Board of Trustees has reasonable assurance that the foregoing conditions have been satisfactorily met.” “When Donelan went to the Ateneo faculty to try to get rid of us, we wrote memos to the faculty,” Mendoza now recalls with a smile. “When Jim Donelan found out that the Ateneo faculty would not move casting us away, he postponed the voting. Then he went to the ‘Loyola Hilton’ and talked with each Jesuit one by one to try to convince them to accept the idea of a La Salle-Ateneo merger for a full-time MBM. Then he came to us and said, ‘I want to make a deal with you guys. I will ask again for
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a vote from the faculty. If you win, I will support you guys. But if I win, you will have to support me.’ And that’s how, when he was able to cast the MBM program out, those of us who were against the formation of AIM, stayed with AIM.” Dr. Stephen Fuller had been invited to be the first Dean of AIM. However, he felt that the title of President would enable him to interact better with the business community and other schools in the region. During the board meeting on September 6, 1968, Dr. Fuller accepted the position of AIM President but indicated that he would be available in July of 1969. He nominated Mendoza to be the Dean of Faculty and COO. When Prof. Ralph “Bud” Sorenson approached Mendoza to take the position, Mendoza was surprised. After all, he had been one of those who had opposed the formation of AIM. But when Sorenson explained he had been nominated by Fuller, Mendoza accepted and formally assumed the position on November 1, 1968. “So Steve Fuller asked me if I would be dean to put AIM together until he could come here and so that’s how we started AIM,” Mendoza recalls with a smile. “I had also attracted to AIM Meliton “Mel” Salazar and Gaston “Gasty” Ortigas, Sr. Gasty was my successor as dean of faculty. When Gasty ran away from Marcos-he self-exiled in the U.S.I asked Mel . And that was how AIM started. We were castaways. We did pretty good. We got the AIM MBM and a middle management program and we started AIM.” As if to summarize the inexplicable irony of events, Mendoza ends the story with a laugh. “So how did AIM begin? With our being cast offs!” But the chronicle of the early years does not end there. During the late 60’s and early 70’s, there was a great demand for the “Filipinization” of the leadership of the universities in the country. As a result, Fr. Donelan resigned as Ateneo president to facilitate a Filipino Jesuit take over. When Fr. Donelan came back to the Philippines after a one-year sabbatical in Europe, Dr. Fuller invited him as AIM chaplain and a member of the AIM faculty. “The Filipino Jesuits were kicking out the American Jesuits. We had a chair of the humanities here at AIM. I think it was donated by the Zobels,” Mendoza recounts. “When they were trying to kick out Donelan, Steve Fuller and I said why don’t we get him. So we hired Jim Donelan to be chaplain here and at the same time teach in our programs. So it is providential that because he kicked us out, we got him in!” The Professor A mention that AIM will be celebrating its 40th founding anniversary this year brings a barely imperceptible silence that spans four decades of memories. “Forty years,” Mendoza muses. “It has been forty years that I have been teaching in the MBM, in the TMP, in middle management, basic management, in the MM. I taught in practically
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every program and school there is at AIM.” When asked about his method of teaching, Mendoza shares, “As a professor, I’m a case method professor. I use the classic way of teaching the case method where 90% of the talking in class is done by my students, and the 10%—I use up asking questions. If there’s anything I want to tell the students, I give them articles to read—I believe that the AIM students should know how to read.” Critical thinking is a major skill needed to be ingrained in all AIM students. “What I tried to teach the students is how to think critically, how to think managerially and by managerially I mean two things—one, to think from the point of view of the acted upon, and two, to answer the question what should the manager do. In this case, the object of the whole exercise is to make him think managerially. I also like to make sure that the student feels managerially. A manager is not only a brain. He is also an emotion and so his emotions go into the decisions that he makes and the actions that he takes. And so that is what I try to get them to think about.” Mendoza expounds more on his professorial style. “I don’t give lectures, I ask questions. I probe into what their answers mean. I probe into the meaning of the meanings. I think I force them to think and to be able to think logically. I think there are some people who are terrorized by this. They would much rather sit in a classroom and listen to the professor tell them what the current best practices are. I think this is nonsense because when they get out into the real world, the current best answers of today will not be the answers tomorrow because management changes. All you have to do is look at the development of theory in managerial strategy and general management and you will see—it’s just changed completely. “Recently, I’ve been teaching the Blue Ocean Strategy which says that trying to compete with others is not a very good idea. Management strategy today says avoid wading into a red ocean, an ocean of blood. Go instead into a blue ocean, an ocean where others are not there. Then you don’t have to compete. The authors of these articles point out that the companies that make the most money in today’s world are those that avoid competing with others, that go beyond competition.” The professor cites a well-known sample to elaborate. “One very familiar example is Starbucks. The coffee trail was a cheap drink. You could buy coffee for pennies. Starbucks decided they were going to offer a different kind of coffee drink. And what was this coffee drink? It had nothing to do with what was in the cup. It had to do with the atmosphere with which it was served. It had to do with the connotation about what you were, what kind of person you were if you were drinking Starbucks coffee. And they made a mint out of selling expensive coffee that you could get much cheaper. So it was the atmos-
phere that was the blue ocean.” Mendoza has only the best in mind for his students. “So you can see, when I teach the Blue Ocean Strategy today, I’m really teaching only something that will change in the future. And I know it will change. What I have to teach the student is how to look at problems and opportunities, how to think through them, how to be able to find out how to be able to take advantage of the opportunities. And the world will change. It is inevitable, and so we must prepare the students for the changing world and not for the world today.” Personal Reflections on AIM Mendoza played a substantial role in the Asianization of AIM. His passion continues to ripple to this day. “For 20 years AIM was the top business school in SEA—that was the first 20 years. I think a lot of mistakes were made during the last 20 years. And that’s why we lost ground. We used to be the leader of business schools in SEA. I set up the Asian Federation of Graduate Schools of Business. I was the first chairman, the second was Gasty Ortigas. Later on when the International Labour Organization (ILO) of the UN came, they decided to bring the business schools of the world together. We were invited to be one of the founding members, and this was being led by deans from the developing world and from the developed world. But later on, when we got people in charge of AIM who had worked in government...they were very colonial minded.” The AACSB and the EQUIS were members of the federation. Mendoza laments that instead of strengthening the federation of schools in Asia, the schools strove for recognition from the west. “I haven’t been an agreeable person. I have my own ideas, and I disagreed with faculty. On bowing to the Americans and the Europeans—you can quote me on that. I’m saying that AIM has been run by people who were not willing to stand on their own merit but had to get the recognition of the colonials and I disagreed completely. I think AIM became a great graduate school of management without them. We may have studied in western universities but when we came back we became Asian.” On Future Plans With all this history, influence, brilliance and knowledge behind him, one poses the inevitable question. “What are my future plans? To enjoy myself while I am alive! I am already 76 years old and my wife is 71 years old. I have eight children and twelve grandchildren. Very soon I will have great grandchildren. The future is very near, and as far as I’m concerned and while I’m here—I want to enjoy myself. I do not eat healthy food—not much anyway. I eat unhealthy food because they are the more enjoyable kinds of food. I have a short life left to live and I might as well enjoy myself!”
>> “The Journalist...” cont. from page 39 are working in the school—it’s a great career. In fact, I wouldn’t change it for anything.” Regarded by his students as an unsullied fatherly figure, Salazar was selectively demanding. That’s as long as they were not languid to flunk their subjects, he says. “Even if I wasn’t chasing after a particular student, he had to read the whole thing. If I caught him once and he didn’t read, then he placed himself into trouble,” explains the Richard Weatherhead Foundation Professor of Business Management. Teaching, after all, isn’t about sternness but the kind of strategies a professor espouses. With the amount of work the school does for the students, he says professors would probably revert to a much larger value outside. Salazar, who has been the core faculty of the Executive Education and Lifelong Learning Center, points out the need to teach business ethics. “We have to teach it because we’re swimming in a sea of unethical behavior. There’s very little integrity in our culture,” he says. >> “Mr. MM... cont. from page 38 ing two young Americans recruited with the assistance of Harvard. “The Harvard professors, which included Bud Sorensen, had become interested in our pioneering efforts and proposed an independent institute made up of faculties from the Ateneo, La Salle and UP. A feasibility study was commissioned under the leadership of Wash Sycip, Monching del Rosario and other business leaders of the time, under the direct supervision of Bobby Ongpin. The UP eventually dropped out because its government charter prevented it from participation. Thus AIM was born and started with a case method syllabus that had been developed in the UP days and improved in the Ateneo. It also established the case method as a preferred technique in Philippine graduate business education.” In 1968, Prof. Lim was invited to join AIM, together with the entire Ateneo program faculty, teaching in both the Ateneo and AIM in that first year. This was the period when the First Year AIM MBM was held at the Ateneo premises while the Makati complex was under construction, and the Second Year Ateneo MBM was finishing. “In 1974, I was assigned to the study group under Toby Canto which created the MM Program, to the core faculty that launched it, and have been in that core faculty since. Please note that in all those forty years with AIM and the slightly less than ten years at UP and Ateneo, I have always been in the core faculties, inspite of the fact that I have always been a part-time teacher. It can be inferred that at some periods of that service,
On AIM As AIM continues to produce movers and shakers in the business realm, Salazar is concerned of the institution’s rosters of faculty in the near term. “We’re struggling now in terms of professors,” he admits, believing that young promising faculty members are yet to flourish. Salazar says the disunited faculty is also a problem. He was referring to some professors who formed a labor union. AIM was run by its faculty prior to a recent conflict with the Board of Trustees. Likewise, the institute has to address the brooding challenge of competition. “When I started 40 years ago, there was no competition. AIM was probably the first Philippine school that went to Southeast Asia. We were so ahead of everybody else,” muses Salazar. Now, he says such an advantage has “sorta disappeared.” It made him recall a similar situation that the school had to confront before: buildings that were falling apart and employees’ salaries that were modest. Fresh in Salazar’s mind, the board of the institute told them, “Do what you have to do. Do what you can do.” With some monetary problems, AIM
embarked on short executive courses, like the Basic Management Program (BMP) and the Management Development Program (MDP). Salazar, along with Jun Bernardo and Fil Alfonso designed and taught in these programs which flourished in the early seventies, and is successful to this day. “It essentially keeps us alive until now,” he says. The bottom line, says Salazar, is to forge more programs. He argues that AIM is losing much in the foreign market—Indonesia, Malaysia and Singapore, in particular. Salazar sighs and indulges his memories at AIM. “It was all about learning how to teach,” he tells. “I enjoyed it very much, making sure that every experience will also be very fulfilling to my students.” “If we talk about my total relationship with the school, the number one fondest idea was my two-year experience in the U.S. That was practically the beginning of growing up,” he continues.
especially in heavily mentored MM, I delivered full-time services at part-time pay.”
and has earned campaign ribbons from the Philippine and U.S. Armies which he served in separate enlistments.
Service and Accolades In professional and civic organizations, Prof. Lim has generously shared his expertise with numerous groups. He was president of the Philippine Chamber of Commerce and Industry (PCCI), the Management Association of the Philippines (MAP), the National Economic Protectionism Association (NEPA), the Philippine Chamber of Industries (PCI), the Philippine Society of Mechanical Engineers (PSME), and the Sales Executives of the Philippines. He has served in various capacities and maintains memberships in major professional, civic, social and religious organizations in Manila, such as: Manila Rotary Club (RCM), Manila Polo Club (MPC), Knights of Columbus (KofC), Bishops-Businessmen Council (BBC), Manila Jaycees, Philippine Jaycee Senators, and the Executive Club of the Philippines. He is Vice-Chairman of the Galeria de Magallanes Condominium Association, having been a Director for the past twenty years. His efforts have not gone unnoticed. Prof. Lim’s personal awards include the Philippine Heritage Medal, the Third Order of Sacred Treasures from the Emperor of Japan, and a Certificate of Merit from the Government of Australia. He is a Doctor of Technology (Honoris Causa) from the Technological University of the Philippines and a Doctor of Industrial Education Management (Honoris Causa) from the EA Rodriguez Institute of Science and Technology. He has received equivalent outstanding service awards from the RCM, MAP, PSME, PCCI, and NMYC,
Blessed from Birth So much may be said about Salazar’s stay in Asia’s premier business school. But, he says age can be a wondrous thing if spent with something that lulls one’s soul. Instead of golf-
Keeping the Mind and Attitudes Young In a recent interview, Prof. Lim declared, “I continue to teach because it keeps my mind and attitudes young. The case system requires instructors to keep up with the students, especially today, when access to the Internet puts so much data and information available to students, especially the relatively older and more mature MM students. “It also provides the greatest satisfactions for work done among my various preoccupations over the years. For example, the gratification of seeing my students marching at graduation and comparing them to what they were the first time they walked into my class. That sense of fulfillment I feel from the thought that I had contributed to instill that confidence and enhance that dignity is unmatched by any other accomplishment in business, community work or travel.” As professor emeritus, Professor Lim will give way to younger faculty in teaching in the diploma programs. He has, instead, been assigned to mentor the younger faculty, develop new curricula and undertake research. He will also be available for any other projects recommended by the AIM President or Dean. Since this appointment is for life, he will continue to hold office at the Institute and to participate in faculty meetings and other activities. Prof. Lim will continue teaching MM classes until the end of school year 2007-08 because the teaching assignments had been given before the emeritus award was made.
ing, he prefers watching old movies and listening to classical songs during his downtime. “I don’t understand these new songs,” says the Frank Sinatra fan, who couldn’t miss a misunderstanding with his three children about what kind of songs to play while inside the car. “I’m a traditionalist. Things of and from the past give me more pleasure above anything else,” quips the Humphrey Bogart buff. Salazar, who is a grandfather of five, muses: “How much longer am I going to work? I don’t think I can work well beyond 80. How much longer do you expect to be active? Without being stuck at home, I guess 85.” The lines and wrinkles that crinkle his face tend to give him a stately appearance. With all his amazing tales, he says, “What do I plan to do with the remaining time I have? I’m going to answer that like how I did before: There’s nothing more that I can plan.” “I have lived life, and lived it well. This life has been such a good time for me. There is nothing else that I want to be. I have been blessed from my very birth,” says Salazar, while his left fingers fondle his chin. Then there’s silence. Shortly, he asks: “If I never gave up journalism, what kind of life would I have at the moment?” However, he has been asked to taper his teaching down towards the end of the year. Master in Management (MM) students, beginning next year, will no longer benefit from Prof. Vic’s rich experience on the factory floor, in the Executive Suite and inside the Board Room. In an email to AIM Dean Victoria Licuanan, Prof. Lim states, “After this last assignment with the MM, a program which I can almost call my own and which has in these last 32 years imposed itself deep into my affection, perhaps it is indeed time to give way to younger ideas, newer techniques and more modern culture. It is, therefore, with these sentiments that I accept your appointment.” However, his energy is steadfast and his dedication to the teaching profession unwavering. Prof. Lim has embarked on a new project to upgrade the MM Program and bring it into the Knowledge Era. He has chosen to introduce AIM President Francis G. Estrada’s New Directions to make AIM the school of choice for students preparing for Management in Asia. One phase of this project is to continue the evolution of the Leadership component of the Program. The other is to revive an old project that never got off the ground. The plan was to have MM alumni help in writing new cases on Management in Asia. There are about 1,500 MM alumni, there may be some who have the experience, time and inclination to write about management in their own companies or countries. Undoubtedly, Mr. MM, Victor A. Lim will continue to shape the development of many lives and careers, as he perseveres in bringing his own brand of excellence in whatever endeavor he aspires to fulfill.
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>> “Musings...” cont. from page 45 Memorable students The students that I remembered most are those whom I gave “distinction” grades to: Eduardo Morato, Jr. (former dean of AIM) and Benjamin Palma Gil. Both graduated with High Distinction honors. Bob Chandran was another. I remember him because he was not liked by his classmates. During classes, he tended to be more critical and abrasive. Three years after graduation at AIM, he went to the US and made it big in the oil trading business and was cited in the Fortune 500 for his achievement. He later donated prize-money to the MBM students who submitted the best Management Research Report (MRR). He encouraged people to be entrepreneurial. What makes it especially memorable is when he attended his class reunion. I recalled him addressing his classmates and saying, “I have changed. I am not abrasive anymore. Now, I am really a nice person.” On AIM’s 40th Anniversary The Institute has changed a lot in terms of the declining number of students in our degree programs, notably the MBA program. We have less students from Southeast Asia because of intense competition in the region. On the other hand, the executive programs continue to provide increases in total revenues. It appears that
>> “Turning...” cont. from page 41 “It feels amazing to mold students who have ideas, knowledge and skills to produce extraordinary amounts of value,” says Lim, a striking white-haired man whose thick black eyebrows are white at the tips like the wings of a bird. This piece of remark only means that he plays his role as an educator indispensably, giving definitions on how he funnels high performers in the business world into increasingly specialized individuals. “I was a tough professor,” he reveals, musing that he demanded his students to be logical enough in such like concerns. Lim says his military background made his personality taciturn. In 1937, Lim was a martial officer who was training at the Philippine Military Academy. Four years later, in 1942, he graduated at the U.S. Naval Academy and received pilot training in the U.S. Army Air Corps. Likewise, he flew B-29 missions to the Japanese Empire during World War II. Lim, who has always led an impecca-
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we are becoming more and more a professional management institute. A Passion for Teaching I enjoy teaching very much. I dread the day when I can no longer teach. I have learned to pace myself during classes. My passion for teaching goes back to college when I had difficulties understanding my brilliant professors. Because of my frustration I was challenged to explore better ways to facilitate the learning process. Given my experience now in teaching in the degree and non-degree programs at AIM, I have learned to be sensitive to the different capabilities of the participants. I am still challenged on how best to give a lecture, perhaps providing insights from best practices or deriving a conceptual framework. It is tempting to give an answer to a specific problem. I find it more meaningful to assist the students on the analytical process of addressing a problem, so that they can effectively tackle other situations. The caseroom is still the preferred workshop for the learning process because it provides a forum for verbal exchange of ideas and immediate feedback to students’ viewpoints. I am always conscious that I write on the board legibly so that the farthest student in class can read. If available, I use chalk of different bright colors to give emphasis to certain information. During subsequent
ble-looking life, adds: “My quality standards were set very high. I always made sure that my students follow instructions, and learn the lessons that they’re supposed to learn.” The SUPER Professor While starting at AIM, Lim introduced an elective course on Sources and Uses of Power (SUPER). The course, he says, came into place when he was looking after the Philippine Aerospace Development Corp.—a government-owned corporation engaged in the development of new advanced technology industries—that was then in trouble. In 1985, he retired from the presidency of the firm. As scandals ripple through the corporate world, the Dr. Utomo Josodirdjo Professor of Business Ethics maintains that his students are also capable of developing a virtuous, or reinforcing, cycle of leadership. “Schools bear some of the responsibility for the behavior of executives. If they’re making systematic errors in the world, you have to go back to the schools and ask, ‘What are you teaching?’” explains Lim, who
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discussions, when points written on the board are negated, I prefer to cross the word with single lines or place question marks (“?”) rather than erase them. I believe that the effective manager of class discussions should possess a talent for acting. His classroom dynamism can further be enhanced by applying artistic flare on his board work. On the Status of Emeritus We were the first group awarded the professor emeritus title by AIM. In practice, the title appears to make us teaching consultants. If needed, we are requested to teach in executive programs but not in degree programs, unless given an explicit permission. We can be asked to assist in enhancing the teaching capabilities of younger faculty members. The Emeritus title is prestigious. It is the first time I have received the honor and it is the first time the Institute had bestowed the award. I guess we are still in the process of defining what it entails, and I am willing to wait to find out. Message to Students and AIM Professors Younger degree students have more energy and flexibility. They should have more passion for greater achievement. They should welcome being stretched beyond their normal capabilities. They should not detest hard work. In our region, about 95% of business enterprises
is a father of nine. Lim taught AIM’s first graduates, belonging to Master in Business Management ’70 and Air Transportation Course ’69. His fondest memories, he tells blithely, are the times when his students “come back and indicate their gratefulness for what they have learned when they were my students.” “When I see what positions they hold, I’m really surprised of the traditions they hold and their improvements,” continues Lim. “After all, I had been impatient with my students,” he recalls. Such is a formulation of a man trying, understandably, to make himself simpler and more recognizable to the AIM community. He embodies something that no other professor possibly can: the radicalism innate to his pedigree. An AIM Family Tree To date, six out of Lim’s nine children have trooped to AIM to obtain academic programs. The two eldest—Adelaida (Top Management Program 1994) and Tomas (Management Development Program 1991)—
are family-owned, where the role of a professional manager is not as well defined compared to those in multi-national corporations. The pay may not be as high but the experience is more meaningful. To the mid-career degree students who have more business experience and contacts, explore the entrepreneurship option. Most executive program participants were company sponsored because they have considered promotables. Be open to new insights, best management practices and new trends in the environment. Take initiatives to be recognized in your respective organizations. It is too early to think about retirement. For AIM professors, your choice will be either to be academic or practitioneroriented. There is a big demand in our region for the practicum-oriented teacher. But should you decide to stay in the academe, then you have to take up some doctoral studies while being engaged in management consultancy practice. Future Plans I still like to continue teaching and still improve in the management of the learning process. I must consciously pace my movements to conserve energy. I should limit myself to teaching half-days (even five days a week). I will continue to be engaged in consultancy work and management development programs.
obtained short courses. Linda, Vidal and Nieves obtained their Master in Management degrees in 1983, 1988 and 1998, respectively. Noel, another son, pursued the Basic Management Program. While his family tree has been embossed with the AIM seal, it’s natural for Lim to say that the school is definitely his second home. What this means is that he cannot disregard the fact, as a witness to the increasing band of the school, that “with AIM’s success, it has created promise on how to continue succeeding.” He pauses and adds, “But because the future is not known to any of us, the school has to make a choice on how to be able to recruit and train faculty for the future. The future is going to be better than the present,” Lim continues. “We have to prepare to improve what we have now, because, at AIM, anything can happen that will really shake a student up and make him live.” Just like in the outside world, the supreme essence of life at AIM is vitality— vitality between professors, like Lim, and the students.
>> “Looking Back” cont. from page 26 academic vice-president of Ateneo, discussed with the trustees the provisions of the statutes. However, the board still was not satisfied and asked whether Ateneo's entry as a partner in AIM would conflict with the policies of the Jesuit Educational Association, of which the Ateneo was a member. Again the decision on AIM was postponed. On August 17, 1968, the Board of Trustees of Ateneo again met. Fr. Thomas "Tom" Fitzpatrick, SJ pointed out that the Jesuit Educational Association resolutions, rather than conflicting with the entry of Ateneo into AIM really were encouraging to the idea of such a thing as an AIM. After this clarification, the momentum shifted towards the board’s giving approval. Fr. Donelan, then, asked for a vote. The two principal oppositors to the idea of AIM, and who throughout the discussions had favored the continued strengthening of Ateneo's MBM program, were Fr. Francisco Araneta and Fr. Miguel Bernad. Fr. James Donelan started the vote with the members of the board whom he felt were in favor of the merger. By the time the voting got to Fr. Araneta and Fr. Bernad, it was clear that he would have a majority of the vote. Eventually, everyone on the board, including Fr. Araneta and Fr. Bernad, voted to approve the joint venture. All the 11 trustees voted for the approval of the project. It smacks somehow of Tammany Hall, but it was all very legal and proper. The Founding of AIM On August 29, 1968 the Board of Trustees of the Asian Institute of Management was constituted. The membership of the board was identical to the list of charter members. Mr. Washington Z. SyCip was elected chairman of the board. On December 2, the founding of AIM was formally announced at the Crystal Ballroom of the Sheraton Hotel, which was owned by the Lopezes. In early January, Bro. Gabriel and Fr. Donelan approached USAID for a donation. On January 24, 1969, the official groundbreaking at the Makati site was celebrated. Mr. Enrique Zobel, president of Ayala Corporation, gave the first impetus to the construction by shoveling a portion of ground with a bulldozer which he himself drove with great enthusiasm. In a subsequent speech, Mr. Zobel said that his firm's donation of the site was in line with the tradition of the Ayala family in its commitment to improve education in the Philippines. He recalled that his grandmother, Doña Margarita Roxas de Ayala, founded La Concordia College, one of the earliest schools for girls in the country. Five days before AIM's classes began in Padre Faura, Ford Foundation announced that it was donating $244,600 to AIM. The first classes of AIM began on Monday, July 7, 1969 at the Ateneo's Padre Faura campus.
The student population was 143 members. There were 94 first year students and 49 second year students. The second year students were those who had completed their first year as students of the Ateneo MBM. They were transferred to AIM for their second year. The first AIM faculty had 13 full-time members and three part-time members. Of these, 10 were from the Ateneo MBM program, four were returning professors of La Salle, and two were recruited on a parttime basis from the business community. On August 29, 1969, Dr. Stephen H. Fuller was installed as president of AIM. In addition to the AIM's Board of Trustees, administration, faculty, benefactors, many other dignitaries were invited. These included Dr. Narciso Albarracin, director of the Bureau of Private Schools, 38 presidents of colleges and universities, 16 heads of educational associations, and 28 representatives of learned societies, foundations, and professional and cultural organizations. The main speaker at the installation was President Ferdinand Marcos. On December 9, 1969, the partially completed buildings at the Makati campus were dedicated. During the ceremonies brief remarks were made by President Ferdinand Marcos, Don Eugenio Lopez, Dean George Baker of Harvard Business School, Mr. Washington SyCip, chairman of the Board of Trustees, Dr. Fuller and Bro. Gabriel Connon. The buildings were blessed by his excellency Monsignor Carmine Rocco, apostolic nuncio. During the dedication and laying of the cornerstone, the Eugenio Lopez commemorative cylinder was inserted into the stone. The original construction encompassed a two-story building for administration and instruction, a two-story library building, a two-story cafeteria building, a 6-story dormitory, and a swimming pool. Soon after this inauguration, USAID announced that it was donating $300,000, which would be used mostly for equipment for the building as well as to enable the school to start off with a good comprehensive library. On April 26, 1970, the first batch of AIM graduates had their graduation in the new campus. Of the 49 students who had begun the second year course in July, only 31 had the honor of being in the first graduating class. Three of the members of the class were granted degrees "with distinction," Mr. Conrad L. Cuesta, Mr. Jesus B. Galang and Mr. Alan V. Jazmines. The guest speaker during the graduation exercises was Mr. Sixto K. Roxas, who spoke on "An Ideology for Asian Management." For schoolyear 1970-1971, AIM began its classes on July 6, 197O, in its new campus on Paseo de Roxas Street, Legaspi Village, Makati, Rizal. The enrollment had risen from the previous year's of 142 to a total of 235. Of this number, 162 were in first year and 73 in second year.
>> “Standing...” cont. from page 42 International Student Exchange Program (ISEP), which enabled AIM students to visit schools in the US, Europe, Canada, Japan, and Australia. “We initiated the student exchange program to further internationalize the student body. Our students did extremely well when they went abroad. They were among the top 5% or 10% in their classes. That allowed us therefore to bring in more students because of the attraction of the student exchange program.” As a result of the collective efforts during Alfonso’s leadership, AIM was conferred the Ramon Magsaysay Award for International Understanding in 1995 and in 1996, AIM was voted into the Program for International Management (PIM), an international association of the finest management schools in North America, Latin America and Europe, as the first and only member-school from Asia. In 1995, AIM was number three in Asia Inc.’s top 25 business school rankings. “We were up there. At the end of my term, we were the only Asian business school cited in the Pinstripe Awards. This achievement was not because of me but the Institute as a whole,” Alfonso adds. Alfonso served the Institute as a senior faculty member since 1967. He was the Associate Dean for Research from 1982 to 1988 and the Associate Dean for Development from 1988 to 1990. In the late seventies, he led a team of faculty members to undertake the Institute’s first major research program on rural development management. Their pioneering efforts resulted in a four-week public program for development practitioners—the Program for Development Managers (PDM) that eventually led to a new degree program, the Master in Development Management (MDM). “The Rural Development Management Program, which eventually became the MDM, was an enlightening experience. We went to the remotest places to understand what was going on in the rural sector and to get the feeling of what was needed in those areas. Those were interesting times because we were creating a totally new program that nobody knew anything about since we were all trained in the business sector. AIM realized that unless it became relevant to the poorest and the agricultural sector then it would not be relevant to Asia as a whole because Asia at that time was very rural unlike now.” Holder of the William Soeryadjaya Chair in Business Management, Prof. Alfonso has been a core faculty of the Center for Development Management. He specializes in human behavior in organization for managers, general management, organizational development and corporate social
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responsibility. Alfonso shares, “One thing interesting is that the subject I taught was Human Behavior in Organization or HBO. When alumni come back to AIM they always tell me that ‘I should have paid more attention to your classes because human behavior is so important in management of an enterprise.’ I think the fact that they say that means they have been sensitized to the people issues of an organization.” Educated as a lawyer, Alfonso enjoys teaching and considers himself more as a facilitator. “I think I am a facilitator rather than a professor who lectures or gives insights. I am very good at enabling people to discuss ideas and their thoughts. I facilitate instead of telling people what to do or what not to do.” Asked what he thinks his students learned from him, he laughs, “You should ask them!” “I think those who remember me as a faculty member would probably remember the liveliness of my classes. I think I’m a very lively person in the classroom. I walk around a lot. I vary the pace of the discussion. I get people to talk to each other rather than talking to me,” he rebounds. One of the things that impresses Alfonso is the infinite capacity of AIM students have for hard work. “We put them in a mill, stretching them almost at a breakpoint. It’s admirable the work they put in. It is the people who put in the hard work that do well. “On their first year, they ask the professor for the answer. In second year, you give them the answer and they say they don’t agree. It’s a maturing process that they go through.” He further shares, “An alumnus came back after graduation and said that ‘I don’t believe in AIM anymore.’ I asked him why and he said, ‘All the things you taught me are irrelevant.’ So again I asked, ‘What do you do when you find that some of the things we discussed were no longer relevant?’ He answers , ‘I do what I think is relevant.’ “I then told him that he learned his lesson well because that’s exactly what we’re saying—there are no canned solutions for business issues that one is confronted with and you are not uncomfortable in terms of searching for solutions yourself.” Alfonso’s credentials are no less than sterling. He completed his Bachelor of Laws degree from the Ateneo de Manila University in 1962 and a Master in Business Administration from the New York University in 1967. He has over 30 years of collective experience in conducting management development programs for private and public entities in Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore and Thailand. Currently, he is the vice-chairman of the AIM Board of Trustees and the executive director of the Ramon
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V. del Rosario, Sr. Center for Corporate Responsibility. He is the vice-chairman of the Manila Electric Company, the Philippines’ largest power distribution firm. He is the chairman of the Board of Corporate Information Solution (CIS), e-Meralco Ventures, Inc. (EMVI), and STI Inc. He is a member of the board of directors Andorra Ventures Corporation, Bacnotan Consolidated Industries, Inc., Bauang Private Power Corporation, Benpres Holdings Corporation, First Private Power Corporation, Franklin Baker Company of the Philippines, INAEC Development Corporation, Jollibee Foods Corporation, Meralco Energy, Inc., Meralco Financial Services, Inc., Meralco Industrial Engineering Services Corp. and PHINMA, Inc. An active professional and civic leader, Alfonso is a member of BishopsBusinessmen’s Conference (BBC), Makati Business Club, Management Association of the Philippines and the Integrated Bar of the Philippines. He also works closely with a number of socio-civic organizations assisting poor and disadvantaged communities. He is a trustee of the Coca-Cola Foundation of the Philippines, East Asian Pastoral Institute, Knowledge Channel Foundation, Inc., Philippine Foundation for Global Concerns, Inc., and STI Foundation. He is also the president of the Lopez Group Foundation, Inc. The stature he has attained he credits to the hard work he has put in over the years. “I grew up in the province. I worked in Manila for a while then went to the States to study. When I came back and started to work, no one knew me and I didn’t know anybody. But because of the hard work I have put in, look where I am now.” His guiding principles in life? “Do the best you can. Anything worth doing is worth doing well. You will get your rewards some way or another. “And more importantly, work to serve others,” he continues. “When I went to the United Sates, I met a gentleman who became my foster father. He was a big-time consultant and a good friend of David Rockefeller. Before I came home, we had a conversation and he gave me pieces of advice. He said, ‘Whatever it is you do, don’t work for money. If you work for money, you get blinded, your values shattered. You become materialistic.’ That has been my guiding principle.” Alfonso highly recognizes his family’s support for his successes. “My family is so important to me. It’s my support system, my joy. I cannot think of a life without my wife and my children. “My wife, from the very beginning, even before we were married, has been very supportive. I’ve never made a career move without consulting my wife. When I came back from the States, I was getting a lot of offers—Citibank, a major law firm and a con-
sulting firm. Then I found these guys from the HBS who were in the process of setting up a school, AIM. I told my wife, my fiancé at that time, that the salary in teaching is very small compared to Citibank or the other firms. She asked me to decide. It’s been a happy decision because I enjoy teaching.” Alfonso has four children and two grandchildren. “My eldest is an art therapist in Virginia, and she has two master’s degrees and pursuing her PhD. My second is with Chemoil, and he worked very closely with Bob Chandran. He was supposed to go with Bob to Indonesia on that fateful day. My third is a sous chef and is married to an investment banker. My youngest is taking Art History in Sofia University. My two girls are very artistic, and I enjoy traveling a lot with them—a perk while they’re not yet married,” he proudly shares. Alfonso warmly welcomes idea of being professor emeritus. “I’m very happy. If this is the way of recognizing the contributions we’ve made to the Institute and we would like to thank the Institute for that. “I owe a lot to AIM. When I came back from he US, I didn’t know anyone in the city and it is through AIM that I developed the network, the friends, business associates... it’s amazing what you can do with that network because many outstanding people have come to AIM.” It has taken many years, hundreds of different types of people, thousands of students who passed through the portals of AIM. Alfonso explains that to make it an institution it is today, “an institution, like a person, has many different assets. The tangible assets—material things that can be earned, can be lost--are not as important as the intangible assets.” “This institute will continue to have the ability to attract the best students only when it is regarded as a top class institute. Therefore, one of the most precious possessions of this institute is its name and its heritage. You can lose everything you have but if you remain to have a good name, you will be able to get everything back. “The brand name is so important and all of us have the duty of safeguarding that name and to ensure that it continues to grow and that it is kept clean. Sometimes I think some of our colleagues tend to forget. That intangible asset more than anything else is so important particularly in an era where you have a lot of competition.” “Any success AIM has is because of the cooperative efforts of everybody. We will only be able to progress unless we work together as a team, a group that is proud of its heritage and believes in its future,” Alfonso concludes. AIM is indeed very privileged to have Felipe Alfonso, who, like a magnificent tree stands tall and stays deeply rooted while reaching for the sky.
ClassNotes M B M / M BA
Surendra Joglekar MBM 1973 is the group advisor for Universal Construction Machinery & Equipment Pvt. Ltd. with company address at “Universal House” Old Warje Naka, Near Kakade City, Pune 52. Suren writes: “After completing the MBM course at AIM (1973), I joined Kirloskar Group in the international marketing division and traveled almost all over the world. Before retirement in 2004, I spent the last six years as managing director of the group’s two companies in Africa. Today, I am working as a group advisor with Universal Construction Machinery & Equipment Pvt. Ltd. The group is involved in manufacturing of construction equipment, real estate, software, trading and construction activity.”
Komandur Srinivas MBM 1974 writes: “I represent a European company involved in the sale of power plants. I shall be interested in contacting like-minded parties. You can send an email to balaji_ chandraexports@rediffmail.com. “My son Vijay Srinivas is an MBM ‘97 graduate. He is currently the general manager for marketing and sales of Odyssey India Ltd.”
Julius Rommel Tiples MBM 1997 is now branch head of City Savings Bank with company address at GF, 722 Metropolis Towers, Lacson St., Mandalagan, Bacolod City.
Jinendra “Jinen” Subash Jain, MBA 2006 is now the senior manager for global sales & marketing for I-Flex Solutions Ltd, with company address at SJR I Park, GF, Tower 2, EPIP Zone, Whitefield, Bangalore 560 066. Jinen writes: “One of my key learnings from the AIM experience is to respect other people’s thoughts and views. AIM also helped me discover my strengths and weaknesses and how to leverage them by teamwork.” M M
orff and his wife, Uta, are in Australia again for their annual golfing holiday. I think this is the third time that he has been here. During the first time, he went to Tasmania to see Jean Dreaver who gave him my contact number. On his second trip, that was last year, I was pleasantly surprised to receive a call from him. We had a couple of good dinners together. On one occasion, my daughter, Su-Yin (means little musical note in Chinese) performed a couple of violin pieces for them. They have been here for about two weeks now touring the holiday strips of Sunshine Coast, of course, playing on some of the top 100 golf courses in Australia. Queensland, our state, has more than a hundred golf courses. They have now parked themselves in a beautiful apartment overlooking the beach of our famous Gold Coast. Just two nights ago, my family and I went to the G.C., 75 KM away, to have dinner with them. The succulent prime ribs with a bottle of red wine at the Hogs Breath went down very well. After that, we adjourned to the marina nearby for a few drinks of whiskey, beer, iced coffee and cappuccinos. We could only admire those million dollar yachts that were parked there. Knut remarked that the happiest moments of their owners were when they first bought the boat and when they sold it. I couldn’t disagree with him. Knut and Uta shall be here another two weeks. We shall
(From L) Mark, Jerry, Linda, KY and Jocelyn
USA East Coast. Dinner was at the Meson Sevilla, a quaint Spanish restaurant in the heart of NY’s Times Square. Joining the couple at dinner was AIM Alumni President Mark Sanchez and Secretary Jocelyn Bernal. KY Chow, another AIM alumnus from MBM’76 joined the group for dinner, but it was only that evening that he realized who he was meeting—classmates whom he had not seen for many years. It was a great evening to remember the days at AIM. Jerry and Linda ended the evening with an invitation to come back to Manila for the homecoming.
Soo Hua “Roland” Siew MM 1979
is managing director of G-Force Ventures Ltd in Singapore. Roland writes: ”Graduating from AIM about 30 years ago, I have acquired many good management skills and technical (From L) Knut, Uta, Su-Yin, Jin, Charlie, Celine know-how. The at the Mirage Marina, Gold Coast Philippines is on the verge of intensive development just like China and Vietnam. Opportunities are vast and many. I am dealing with several major financing. There are so many projects and so many good opportunities for good managers. AIM graduates will be in great demand.” have some more dinners before they continue their journey through the Far East.”
Y. Meng (Charlie) Chan MM 1976
Jerry and Linda Quibilan MM 1976
is now based in Sheldon, Brisbane, Qld., Australia. Charlie writes: “Knut Benkend-
NYC, Thursday, November 15, 2007. Jerry and Linda Quibilan in NYC with AIM Alumni
Ma. Lourdes De Guzman MM 1985 is now a lawyer with Frank Carroll Solicitor with company address at 290 Newnham Rd Wishart, Queensland, Australia. Lulu writes: “I graduated in MM degree in 1985, left the
Philippines in 1987, managed a travel agency, traveled around the world, studied law and I’m now practicing in family and criminal law for the past three years in Australia. “I have four children now out of my home and one grandchild named Allegra whom I adore. “There may have been bad days at AIM but who cares about them when the good days are better. “I would love to be able to see all my classmates again and revisit the good old days. I would love to go back to the classrooms and pick the brains of the emerging leaders. Finally, I would love to share my experiences with anyone who wants to share theirs.”
Gatot Sugiono MM 1998 is regional director of Bank Indonesia, the Central of Indonesia. Gatot writes: “I learned much about strategic thinking in all aspects in an organization during my AIM days. My favorite professors were Prof. Perez, Prof. Vic Lim, Prof. Mendoza, and Prof. Angtuaco. Every day was good for me—I learned everything about management including how to manage my personal and family life. Now, I’m working for the Central Bank of Indonesia as a regional director in a challenging province. I have to manage internal functions of my office using good management processes, as well as practice my leadership capabilities to provide central bank services in the province.”
J. Paul R. Tan MM 1998 is assistant vice-president for human resources for Philippine Associated Smelting and Refining (PASAR) Corp. with company address at Leyte Industrial Development Estate (L.I.D.E.), Municipality of Isabel, Province of Leyte. J. Paul writes: “While I was studying at AIM in 1997-98,
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ClassNotes A Salute to Mac
by Ricardo S. Pascua, MBM 1971
M
AC SOLIS PASSED AWAY ON JANUARY 15, 2008. On January 25, 2008, the class of MBM 1971 held a mass at the AIM campus to honor his memory. For sheer impish boyishness, no one in the MBM Class of 1971 could hold a candle to our friend, Mac Solis. Never mind that he already sported the title “Attorney” before his name when he joined our class in 1969. Never mind that he was probably 10 or more years older than many of us. Never mind that he had “been there, done that, and seen those” even before stepping into the old Padre Faura campus while many of us were still wet behind our ears, having just left cloistered college campuses in 1969. Never mind that he already boasted a well-configured beer belly in contrast to our skinny frames back then. He was still more impish, more boyish, and more playfully gleeful than many, even perhaps, all of us. I first met Mac when we dormed together in a boarding house on Maria Orosa Street, a block away from Ateneo Padre Faura in August of 1969. We were hopeful freshmen in the MBM class of the newly formed AIM. He struck me as a happy-go-lucky guy with an easy laugh complementing a friendly face. Only his beer belly betrayed his age, as by his manner and his face, certainly one would have thought him a kid just out of high school. It was always fun to be around him. And it was tough to be serious with him around. But by some Divine Providence, he, together with all of us, survived the two-year ordeal, realized the “Impossible Dream,” and attached the coveted Master of Business Management suffi x to his name to add to Attorney in 1971. How he did it remains a marvel and a mystery to me as I watched him struggle with numbers, with debits and credits, at the same time that he won the affection of and gallivanted with the prettiest co-boarder we had in the dorm. Studying certainly seemed second priority to him then! But graduate he did and deserved it to. I lost touch with Mac after graduation. I only met him once since then, in the early ‘90s when he asked me to back a fledgling recruitment venture he was organizing. I heard from him again twice after that, the last time in a letter he wrote me in June of 1996 telling me of the financial setbacks he had suffered, but displaying his indomitable and unconquered spirit. I would like to quote from it to prove my point: “It is sad to know that a friend has fallen into some misfortune especially at this late stage. But I am not throwing the towel in yet. I do believe that success or failure is never final until one writes 30. With God’s help and with the help and encouragement of friends and family, I am still hopeful I will survive and prevail over this crisis.” So Mac, I salute you as you wrote “finis” to your life. I pray that you are with the Lord, eliciting at least a smile, if not a belly laugh, from Him as you display to Him the gift of humor and playfulness that He had given you. I also pray that you finally understand the meaning of the suffering He had you endure in your life on earth. Amen. 54
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my wife gave birth in Cebu City to our third child and only girl, and she named her “Isabel” because she had good memories while we were here when I was working as a supervisor in PASAR for seven years prior to AIM (1990-1997). So imagine how happy my wife was when I was rehired in PASAR in 1999, just two years after I resigned to take up my AIM studies. I came back and was a senior manager at that, and that’s quite an accomplishment here. And now I’m a company officer, promoted to AVP for human resources and community relations in October 2002, less than five years after getting my MM degree from AIM. That’s what I call fast-tracking my career—the very reason why I resigned from PASAR and took up my MM degree at AIM in 1997. After graduation in May 1998, I had to contend with finding a job and making do with what I had, and those were difficult times. And thanks to Prof. Vic Lim, who helped me get a job in April 1999 by hiring me after almost a year searching for a job where I would fit in! “I want to share this email to all my MM’98 classmates and to the rest of AIM alumni! I am not bragging about my accomplishments, as there is still nothing to brag about as this is just the beginning of a lot of good things coming my way, if I will be able to measure up to it. All I can say is I am ready! I am just very grateful to all of those who have touched my life for the better, to Prof. Vic Lim, especially, who is my idol! To the rest of MM’98 classmates, thank you! You may not know this, but by being classmates for those 11+ months at AIM, you have indeed touched my life, too! To all my professors and my classmates, continue touching other people’s lives for the better, as you have touched mine.“
Bienvenido “Bobby” de Castro, MM 1980
organized a tourism related business, the VRB Travel Tours and Transport Corporation, which offers international/domestic tour packages by air and sea and coaster services to visiting tourists to selected destinations around the country. The business is expected to offer courier and logistics services in the future.” M D M
Gabrielito Garcia MDM 1994 is owner/manager of GMG Consulting & Services/MIJ Print & Promotions with company address at 812 Aylmer St. N. Peterborough, Ontario, Canada. Lito writes: “My professors (Ed Morato, Vic Lim, Sol Hernando, et al sharpened my critical analysis and strategic planning skills. Thanks!”
Huabin Hu MDM 1998 is professor/division director for research planning and foreign affairs of Xishuangbanna Tropical Botanical Garden, Chinese Academy of Sciences with address at Menglun, Mengla, Yunnan 666303, China. Huabin writes: “The term ‘vacation’, ‘holiday’ et al are meaningless after AIM. The life in AIM reminds me of the word ‘relax’ after so many miserable days and nights for case reading. “
Do Thi Thao MDM 2006 is now with the World Bank. Thao writes: “I just have got the news from WB that all of the personnel procedures have completed and I will start to work there on January 9, 2008. My direct boss will be Mrs. Fe Timonera. I hope that WB will be the best place for me in the coming years. “
is chairman and consultant for VRB Travel Tours and Transport Corporation with company address at Unit E, G/F Aaron Bldg., 479 Alabang-Zapote Road, Almanza Uno, Las Pinas From left: Suzette Cody (MDM 1990), Ning De Guzman (MBM 1973), City 1750. Bobby Phuong Paula (MDM 2007) and Gan Cheong Eng (MBM 1982) shares: “My significant learning experience, if it can Paula Phuong be summed up, is the value of ‘trade offs’ MDM 2007 (AIM Alumni and evaluation of ‘pay offs.’ My favorite Ho Chi Minh Chapter) professors at AIM were Vic Lim and Peter Garrucho. My days at AIM were pleasant Paula writes: “I met with alumni in Sinexcept when I lost for the position of class gapore and we had a very interesting talk president to Benjie Guilles (may he rest about what business we can do together. in peace) then. Last year, my family and I “We agreed that training courses are
NETWORKING OVER THE PAST THIRTY YEARS, MY wife and I have traveled almost every year to a lot of cities in the United States for business and a little rest and recreation along the way. We visited immediate members of the family in New York and New Jersey. Our last visit to the U.S. was in November 2007. This trip had a big difference. I embarked on a new personal mission— networking. This is a result of my desire to assist where I can to promote some programs of the Asian Institute of Management. And this is to interact and cooperate with people with divergent experiences, personalities and interests who, in more ways than one have done, and continue to do, in their own sphere of expertise and influence, a great job in promoting the Philippines and its institutions, and helping fellow Filipinos. We met two of these Filipinos who can help our alma mater in its efforts to promote their various degree and non-degree programs. We also met three fellow AIM alumni who are already sharing their resources in promoting the institute. In the morning of November 2, Linda and I had the privilege of meeting former supreme court chief justice and now permanent representative of the Republic of the Philippines to the United Nations in New York, U.S.A., H.E. Ambassador Hilario G. Davide, Jr. On behalf of AIM, we presented to the ambassador a copy of the June 2005/SY 2004-2005 issue of The Asian Manager (TAM) which features new dean, Dr. Victoria S. Licuanan, PhD and the recently organized AIM Alumni USA East Coast Chapter. We also gave him a copy of the April-June 2007 issue of the AIM Alumni Leadership Magazine which replaces TAM and the theme of which is Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR). “Social Conscience: The Beginnings of PBSP” traces the history of CSR in the Philippines. The book in the photo, entitled “Davide”, written by Dean Antonio R. Tupaz and the foreword penned by the late Max V. Soliven, was a gift to me by the author on which the ambassador gladly scribbled his dedication. We also had the occasion to lunch with one of the 100 Most Influential Filipino Women in the U.S. for the year 2007. Listed under the “Innovators and Thought Leaders” classification, she earned this distinction for
by Jerry A. Quibilan, MM‘76
winning nine International Awards for Writing and Communications. Carissa Villacorta, Community and Cultural Affairs Officer of the Philippine Consulate General of New York, and niece of Dr. Wilfrido V. Villacorta, PhD, advisor to AIM President Francis G. Estrada, MBA’73, writes a regular column, “Surreality” for the Philippine News. She compiled selected articles from her column into a book. “Surreality” was launched in Manila on September 12, 2006, in New York
This trip had a big difference. I embarked on a new personal mission—networking. This is a result of my desire to assist where I can to promote some programs of the Asian Institute of Management. on October 30, 2006, and in Washington DC on December 16, 2006. With her recognition, Carissa now belongs to the ranks of, among others, businesswoman Loida Nicolas Lewis, Broadway actress Lea Salonga, designers Josie Cruz Natori and Monique Lhuiller, economist Maria Luisa Mabilangan Haley, pianist Cecile Licad, broadcaster Leila Benitez McCollum, publisher Mona Lisa Yuchengco, golfer Jennifer Rosales, state senator Lorraine Rodeo Inouye, Yale professor of law Amy Chua and Velma Veloira, first Filipina in the continental United States to be elected to a state legislature. Carissa, a charming young lady who is still a few years away to celebrating her pearl anniversary, has already reached the glass ceiling. There is no doubt that she will reach higher achievements that her fellow Filipinos would be very proud of. Our scheduled November 15 dinner with the three AIM alumni pushed through despite the biting cold and all the nuisances that come with bad weather. The excellent dinner of authentic classic Spanish cuisine at Meson Sevilla, along West 46th Street on Madison Square, was jointly coordinated by Mark Sanchez, MBA’98 and Jocelyn Bernal, MM ’01, president and secretary, respectively, of the USA East Coast AIM Alumni Chapter. The interesting thing about these two alumni was while they both finished college in the United States but they chose to take up their masteral degrees at AIM. The other alumnus
is KY Chow, MBM’76, who we have not seen for more than two decades. The last time that we saw him was when we had dinner with him in Hong Kong in the ‘80s. I have extended my personal invitation for him to join his fellow graduates in the forthcoming 40th anniversary of the Asian Institute of Management. At this point, I would like to write about Jocelyn Bernal, BS’89, New York University Howard Stern School of Business. Presently, she is budget manager of Carat Fusion, a big advertising firm under the Aegis Group. She was one of the busiest in the preparations of the launching of the book “Democracy & Discipline: Fidel V. Ramos and His Philippine Presidency.” Written by Dr. W. Scott Thompson, PhD (visiting professor of the AIM and professor emeritus of International Politics, Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy) and Dr. Federico M. Macaranas, PhD (executive director of the AIM Policy Center), the book was launched on September 29 at the Philippine Mission in New York. Jocelyn, like Carissa, belongs to the 100 under “Behind JQ with Ambassador Davide
the Scenes Leader.” She was credited for her almost two decades of service to the FilipinoAmerican community in New York. Part of her civic and professional services was the setting up of the USA East Coast AIM Alumni Chapter. She and most, if not all of the 100 Most Influential Filipino Women in the U.S., were duly recognized during the 5th Annual Filipina Summit in Washington DC from October 25-28, 2007. I gave Joyce and Mark my list of AIM alumni working and/or living in the New York, New Jersey and Connecticut Tri-State area. The networking, a major goal of the Asian Institute of Management, continues for the good and interest of the Institute, the alumni, and all the Filipinos.
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ClassNotes Fond Memories of AIM by Shasank Kalyan, MBM 1997 AIM IS A BRILLIANT INSTITUTION FOR the development of entrepreneurial talent. I learned to analyze a case using a framework and discuss each issue separately. I learned to think slowly, carefully, deeply and not make knee-deep analysis. There were days I did not read all cases. There were days I did not read all pages in all cases. There were days in which I could just spot the main issue in the case. There were days in which I heard everyone’s case views and made summary points at the end by simply listening carefully. Who said good listening was a bad virtue? There were days I studied a particular case a lot but ignored two cases completely. Who said an executive should not love one portion of his work over the other? There were days I simply dressed up well, shaved well and sat through the affairs of the case-room like a dignified boardroom executive. Who said power dressing and complete silence sometimes was wrong? Overall, it was a highly thrilling but invigorating experience. It was serious but fun at the same time. My favorite professors at AIM were Professors Mel Salazar and Gaston Ortigas Jr. I liked professor Gaston Ortigas Jr. because he taught me the power of listening ‘til the end of the case discussion. I also enjoyed the discussions we generated in the case-room with Prof.essors Purba Rao, Gloria Chan, Jing De Guzman, Jun Borromeo and Bobby Lim. With Prof. Purba Rao, the results that came from the statistical analysis never matched the obvious results we concluded, and that would always surprise me very much. With Prof. Gloria Chan, she would always be very interested in learning something new from the international students and teaching something new to the international students at all times. She would always begin with learning the meaning of our unique Indian names and bring in concepts like DYAD teams, CAN group teams and such group and interactive cultural teams that facilitate cross-cultural learning. With Prof. Jing De Guzman, I saw genuine concern for human resources, their training and improvement of skills of people across the corporation. Prof. Jun Borromeo’s quote still rings in my ears ‘til today. He said something approximately similar to this: “You will not be called to become CEO or Principal Consultant as soon as you leave AIM. You still have to work 30 hard years to get there. What AIM gives you is the ability to think better, to work smarter.”
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I also enjoyed Prof. Bobby Lim’s Sources and Uses of Power (SUPER) course. I have used his techniques many times in my life after AIM. I had one very bad day at AIM. I had volunteered to do the financial analysis of a case for Prof. Felix Bustos’ case. I had worked through the night and was late for the case in the morning. I put up the slides on the projector and presented the cash flow statement. Immediately, my classmate Srini Kodali found some major mistake in my work and struck it down. Prof. Bustos, being a highly diplomatic man underplayed
“You will not be called to become CEO or Principal Consultant as soon as you leave AIM. You still have to work 30 hard years to get there. What AIM gives you is the ability to think better, to work smarter.” my mistake, spoke on my behalf, calmed aggressive Srini down and asked me to take my seat beside Srini. To date, I remember asking Srini why he did not love his neighbor a little more! My latest accomplishment is the establishment of a computer institute in addition to my consulting work (Sun Consulting). In the computer institute I will be teaching: (a) finance for non finance managers (without using computers), (b) finance for non finance managers (using computers) (c) basic computing (MS Word, Excel, PowerPoint), (d) basic computing (Sun Microsystems openoffice.org suite) (e) English using computers (like letter, essay, technical writing) It is a small start but in a country like India, there is immense scope for computer institutes. The finance courses will cover income statements, balance sheet, cash flow statements of corporations and also insurance mathematics which I learned during my Management Research Report at AIM. On the consulting front, I am still working only in the Six Sigma Space for Corporates, as usual. As you are well aware I am on my own with no partners except God. On the personal front, I have joined the Art of Living Foundation and have done three courses on yoga, meditation, stress relief and breathing exercises for better living. A number of Indian corporates have given their executives this training. More details on the courses can be had on the website www.artofliving.org.
A I M A LU M NI LEA D ERS HIP M AGAZIN E J an u ary to March 2008
possible because some of the alumni in Singapore are involved in education, and the Vietnamese are keen on studying. However, AIM Alumni Ho Chi Minh Chapter (HCMC) will be the group to handle everything with the helping hand of VCCI. I gave them some information about Vietnam Trade Laws and Practices; also offered help if anyone wants to do business in Vietnam. We were all happy to meet, and we look forward to do something together in the future.”
Norman L. Goss TMP 1985
is president of Norman Goss Training Services with company address at 3 F. Santos St., San Juan City, Philippines 1500. Norman is the first and only recipient of the prestigious Washington SyCip Award from SGV & Co. in Applied Training Technology because of his exceptional competence in conducting information technology and management development courses in major countries across Asia. He has over 28 years experience in designing and conducting corporate training courses to more than 850 leading business organizations in the Philippines, Taiwan, Malaysia, Indonesia, Vietnam, Kuwait, and China.
He is the premier behavior-based corporate trainer in the Philippines whose landmark research in Filipino-based belief modification has made his training courses achieve measurable performance increase in the workplace. He completed his Top Management Program from the Asian Institute of Management and has served as a faculty in various universities including the University of the Philippines and De La Salle University. In 1990, he served as the executive director of SGV-DDI, a firm associated with Development Dimensions International, Incorporated, the world’s leading provider of management leadership training solutions. He obtained his Trainer Certification for both the Interaction Management course and the Targeted Management course from SGV-DDI. He is a past president of the Philippine Society for Training and Development. Norman remembers a day as a student in AIM: “In 1985, me and other students were at the Baguio Country Club attending a TMP session by a visiting
German Professor. Suddenly, we felt a very strong earthquake and we run out of the session room. When we all came back to the session, the still visibly-shaken German professor stated: Boy…that was the most earth-shaking lecture I have ever given!”
Nicolas Salgado ELBA 2001
“Being a consultant for Shangri-la Mactan Resort & Spa was one great thing having to develop and run operation of the E Zone outlet which had a cafe, internet with gaming, XBox360, Timezone and two multifunction rooms which are used for functions and simple fun of karaoke experience. My thanks to all my professors especially to Dean Morato for sharpening me to be a fine leader. I sure did shed tears during my presentation in his class.”
Arch. Gerard Bautista FAMCOR 2001 and FSE 2002
is the chairman and president of the FRB Foundation. He writes: “I’d like to introduce the Fernando-Rosa Bautista Foundation to the alumni community. Fernando and Rosa, my grandparents, are the founders of the University of Baguio. The thrust of the foundation is to help those in need to further their education. I am seeking to network with the AIM and its alumni community to achieve the goals of the foundation. E-mail abs_bautista@yahoo.com.”
Nasir “Chanchal” Ahmed, ERM 2006
is the Finance Director for Coats Bangladesh Limited with company address at Novo Tower (4th floor), 270, Tejgaon Industrial Area, Dhaka 1208, Bangladesh. Chanchal writes: “One week in Manila to attend this 4th ERM is one of the most unforgettable memories in my life.”
Emmanuel de Vera Strategic Finance Program 2006
is the Finance Manager for East West Seed Co. Inc. with company address at Km. 54 Cagayan Valley Road, Barangay Sampalok, San Rafael, Bulacan, Philippines.
Karma Wangchuk PDM 2007
is OIC for Bhutan Telecom. Karma writes: “Beside the classroom lecture, my wonderful experience was going for a snorkeling. Prof. Bagadion was so kind enough to bring us to the sea for this unique experience despite his busy schedule in AIM.”
END NOTES
Greetings from Alumni to AIM
on its 40th Anniversary
The global scenario with reference to political, economical and social activities is changing fast. Let us prepare ourselves to reestablish leadership in the business community. Surendra Joglekar MBM 1973
your theme goes. You have given valuable contributions trough the knowledge you have shared, so keep it up. Congratulations and more power! Emmanuel de Vera SFP 2006
Congratulations! AIM is the best MBA school in the world!
AIM will continue to remain as one of the top business schools in the world, not only in Asia.
Gatot Sugiono MM 1998
Nasir Ahmed ERM 2006
Congratulations to the MDM faculty and the students on the auspicious occasion of AIM’s 40th Anniversary.
Continue to be a beacon of light, hope and innovation for Asian Managers here and throughout the globe.
Pradip Maharjan MDM 1999
Bienvenido de Castro MM 1980
To AIM on its 40th Anniversary, keep moving forward as
Congratulations for continuously and consistently providing
the highest quality education for business executives in Asia!
best quality managers and it will continue to uphold its reputation.
Norman L. Goss TMP 1985
Soo Hua Siew MM 1979
AIM is an institution who believes in people, process and participation!
AIM is a brilliant institution for the development of entrepreneurial talent.
Gabrielito Garcia MDM 1994
Forty years of success is a significant milestone in any organization. AIM has maintained a good record in developing the best managers in this region. The credit must go to all the professors, management and staff of AIM. History will repeat itself and there are more lessons to learn in the matrix of good managers. AIM is most comprehensive in its syllabus in producing the
Shasank Kalyan MBM 1997
If life begins at 40 then AIM certainly is just beginning to enter a milestone that is going to explode! Maria Lourdes De Guzman MM 1985
The journey has just begun for AIM, to take on its rightful place in the emergence of New Asia. Mohan Phadke MM 1980
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