AIM2009_Q4 by AIM Alumni Publication

T he A lumni Maga zine of t he Asian Insitute of Management

Four t h Qua r ter 2 0 0 9 Vol. 4 Issue 4

Doing Business in Thailand A RT U RO M ACA PAGA L

A Man of Many Firsts

AIMâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Young

LEADERS Never Heard of Social Media? It Could Be Helping Your Company Right Now

EDITORIAL TEAM Greg Atienza EDITOR-IN-CHIEF

Susan Africa-Manikan ASSOCIATE EDITOR

FOURTH QUARTER

VOLUME 4 ISSUE 4

Sherbet Katigbak-Manalili MANAGING EDITOR

Haji Zulkifly Baharom SENIOR OVERSEAS CORRESPONDENT

Kriska Mallari EDITORIAL ASSISTANT

Maritess Aniago-Espiritu Khristine Revilla Voltaire Masangkay Amy Nerona ALUMNI RELATIONS OFFICE STAFF

Jerry Quibilan Ernesto de Guzman Li Dan Fahim Saleem Regnard Raquedan Rommel Orbigo Laurice Alaan Clarence Lim Rose Cheryl Orbigo Pramoul Nurach Jennee Rubrico Nonette Climaco Monina Montepiedra

AIM Young

Leaders

CONTRIBUTORS

Chili Dogs DESIGN & ART DIRECTION

Jovel Lorenzo Jopet Puno PHOTOGRAPHERS

Rommel Joson Mark Deutsch ILLUSTRATORS

Lexmedia Digital PRINTING

EDITORIAL ADVISORY BOARD Edilberto de Jesús PRESIDENT OF THE INSTITUTE

Victoria Licuanan DEAN OF THE INSTITUTE

Datuk Ir. Mohd Annas Hj. Mohd Nor.

CHAIRMAN, FEDERATION OF AIM ALUMNI ASSOCIATION, INC.

Ofelia Odilao-Bisnar 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 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . INSIGHTS Industrialization for Development . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Angels at AIM . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Never Heard of Social Media? It Could Be Helping Your Company Right Now . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Saving Lives Never Sounded So Good . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . COVER STORY AIM’s Young Leaders . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . The International Student Exchange Program . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . My Life at HEC France as an Exchange MBA Student . . . . . . . . . . . . FEATURE AIP in Thailand and Malaysia: Learning Adventures Beyond the Case Rooms . . . . . . . . . . . . . . The 2nd AIP in China . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . SHOWCASE Travel: Doing Business in Thailand . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Bookshelf: A Better India, A Better World . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . SPOTLIGHT Teerachai Chemnasari, MBM 1973: Leading With Encouragement and Enthusiasm . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Arturo Macapagal, MBM 1971: A Man of Many Firsts . . . . . . . . . Dato’ Seri Ahmad Husni Hanadzlah, MDP 1982: For the Love of His Country . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . CLASS NOTES . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . C OV E R : J O P E T P U N O

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Leader P R E S I D E N T ’ S

M E S S A G E

THE YEAR 2009 ENDED WITH A FLURRY OF ACTIVITIES, UNDERTAKEN WHILE AIM continued to run its regular degree and executive programs. The Center for Corporate Governance launched in October a monograph that described the extent to which the biggest listed companies in the country applied what were considered “best” governance practices. In the same month, AIM hosted the launch of the Asian Development Bank’s updated assessment of the 2009 economic outlook. It also participated in a conference hosted by Vietnam and the Asian Development Bank to discuss the impact of the global financial crisis on the alleviation programs of Asia Pacific countries. At an international conference in November on Life-Long Learning convened by the Government of Vietnam and the Ministry of Education of Denmark in Nha Chang, AIM and Vietnam’s Ministry of Education and Training signed a Memorandum of Agreement for a collaborative education program. The MOA recognized AIM as an official partner institution of Vietnam to whose education programs it could send students on government funding. State-owned enterprises (SOEs) continue to play an important role in the developing countries of Asia. With support from the Konrad Adenauer Stiftung, the AIM Policy Center invited distinguished leaders of innovative SOEs in the region for a forum that focused on how such institutions can develop into world-class competitors. AIM’s Ramon V. del Rosario Sr. Center for Corporate Social Responsibility convened the 8th Asian Forum on Corporate Social Responsibility (AFCSR) on November 19-20. The AFCSR recognized five companies from India, Pakistan, Philippines, and Singapore for their outstanding CSR programs and projects. The alumni association in India (AIMAAI) conceived The initiatives IDEA XCHANGE as a platform for debating critical implemented towards management issues. On December 5, it organized the first forum in Mumbai, inviting policy-makers and business leaders the close of the year identified areas for to address the question “Are Bubbles All Bad?” Encouraged further research and by the response to the forum, AIMAAI hopes to make IDEA strengthened the XCHANGE a regular alumni project. network of partners The week before Christmas, the Advisory Committee who could collaborate of the Asia Europe Education Hub (AEH), the Asia Europe in their exploration. Foundation’s initiative in higher education, met in Dublin. A major part of the agenda covered the AEH plan to explore policy issues in education in a series of workshops in 2010. AIM will host in March the first workshop, which will focus on the Impact of the Financial Crisis on Education. The initiatives implemented towards the close of the year identified areas for further research and strengthened the network of partners who could collaborate in their exploration. The events completed within 2009 planted seeds whose fruits would come in 2010 and beyond. In recalling the projects completed within the year, we recognize, with gratitude, the dedicated work of faculty and staff and the support of the Board and the alumni that made their successful completion possible. We hope that the collaboration among AIM stakeholders will continue in this new year and yield an even more bountiful harvest.

Edilberto de Jesús PRESIDENT, ASIAN INSTITUTE OF MANAGEMENT

F R O M

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THE SURFEIT OF NEW FACES HAS BEEN A RECENT REALITY AT AIM. WITH THE incredible dedication and efforts of the Institutional Marketing and Student Services team, the case rooms and the Zen garden are now populated with many nationalities that abound at the campus. AIMLeader goes closer to meet these interesting alumni and examine their persona, trepidations, and aspirations—the scholars, the ISEP, and of course, our future alumni. Curiously, and without deliberateness, our alumni featured in the Spotlight section provide a minute spectrum of nationalities that make up the graduate population—Teerachai Chemnasiri (MBM 1973), our Triple A winner from Thailand, Dato’ Seri Ahmad Husni Hanadzlah (MDP 1982) from Malaysia, who was recently feted with an AIM Distinguished Alumnus medal by KELAB AIM Malaysia, and of course, Art Macapagal (MBM 1972), also a Triple A awardee and the first chairman of the Alumni Association of AIM-Philippine Chapter. All these embrace the fact that the AIM is an international community, and that graduating from this institute provides one with the distinction of being part of a global network— a reason why all alumni should stay connected to the school. And speaking of connectedness, the Annual AIM Alumni Homecoming is but a few breathes away. Save the date for February 26, 2010, as the Lead Host Class for this year, MBM 1990, are already making preparations to celebrate the institute’s 42nd Anniversary, and hearten graduates to come home to AIM. The Alumni Relations Office was also fortunate to have been given the chance to visit the alumni personally in their respective countries and provinces. Through our alliance with the AAAIM, we have been able to meet our graduates in Bataan, Davao and Camarines Norte, as part of their chapter development program. WSGSB has also provided us the welcomed opportunity to visit friends once more in Thailand, Beijing and Shanghai, who have provided their wholehearted and much appreciated support for the AIM is an international community, and that graduating Asian Immersion Program. We also laud the AIM from this institute provides one Alumni Association India (AIMAAI) through the with the distinction of being part dynamic and indefatigable leadership of our dear of a global network—a reason friend MP Singh, who recently mounted with much why all alumni should stay success the AIMAAI Idea xchange, bringing connected to the school. the AIM brand closer to the consciousness of the prestigious Indian business community. And of course, our dear friends in KELAB AIM Malaysia, who, through their Annual Dinner, have made sure that our Institute has an audience no less than the country’s most eminent political leaders. The year 2009 has been kind in providing many breakthroughs and opportunities to nurture friendships and build lasting relationships with our dear alumni community whom we are dedicated to serve. Allow me a chance to extend my deep personal gratitude and appreciation for your never-ending support for the Alumni Relations Office, for the AIMLeader, for your fellow alumni, and for your Institute whom we all love and are proud of. 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.

ERRATA: AIMLeader 3rd Quarter 2009, page 13: Dr. Rizalito (Chito) L. Gregorio, finished his MBA in 1987 and completed his Doctorate in Business Administration (DBA) in 1996. Page 36: Last sentence should have included: DevPro was initiated by DevSource, with Henry Grageda as Executive Managing Director, and was co-organized by ARO, IMDM and BIDA.

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AIM Contributes 144 More Leaders to the World ON DECEMBER 13, 2009, the Asian Institute of Management, Asia’s premiere graduate school of business and management, conferred 107 Master in Business Administration (MBA), 35 Executive MBA (EMBA), and two Master in Entrepreneurship (ME) degrees to the graduating class of 2009. In a message to the graduates, AIM President Edilberto de Jesús said that “the world changed during the months that you were here.” Nevertheless, he was optimistic that “regardless of how the industries that the graduates will eventually join have changed, the lessons and rigor they learned from AIM will help the graduates cope with change.” Here are some of the messages

from MBA Cohort 3 Graduates: “There is mixed feeling about graduation. On the one hand, I will miss AIM classes and AIM life, but on the other hand, there is also excitement to take on the real unfair world and apply what we learned. “In general, in the last 16 months, MBA has honed my analytical abilities. My thinking is quite a lot more structured and logical, and thanks to CP day in and day out, I can now express my thoughts in a logical, succinct and brief manner. “I will miss most the CP everyday—the absolute freedom to critique the best companies of the world and their leaders.” - Sumukh Guruprasad, India

“I felt that all the hard work we did in the first two terms all paid off, and it’s like a dream come true. For the learning part, I would say I learned ‘A LOT’ since AIM taught us real cases—it actually is, applicable directly to what we will do at work. Recently, I went for a job interview and they actually asked me a real case and I had to cite my answer in just a few minutes. With the case study learning from AIM, where it went well for me, it helped me a lot.

“I will miss most the CP everyday—the absolute freedom to critique the best companies of the world and their leaders.” -Sumukh Guruprasad, India

“I will miss reading cases, the poolside party, CAN group discussions—I will miss every single thing that has happened for the last 16 months.” - Shirleen Iskandar, Indonesia

“I feel an immense amount of satisfaction having accomplished the rigorous 16-month MBA program. I feel good about myself on being able to surmount the mental, physical and emotional challenges that are inherent with the MBA program. “I learned that I cannot accomplish much on my own. If I want to achieve much in both my professional and personal life, I have to also

AIM Leader Magazine | Four th Quar ter 2009

rely on the talents, skills and friendships of others. I cannot learn everything through classroom discussions. There are things that I will only learn through everyday interaction with fellow alumni, professors, AIM staff and others. “I will miss most the daily interaction with my close friends since most of us will now take different professional directions and some will be based in other cities or countries. Our friendship is strong and unique having been together with the toughest four months yet, and it would be an adjustment not interacting with them on a daily basis.” - Enrique Jose V. Mendoza, Philippines

“I am speechless to tell you the truth. On one end, I am happy to be finally graduating after 16 months of hard work. On the other end, I find it difficult to accept that I have to move on and once again face the realities that the world has to shower upon me. I, however, do thank AIM for preparing me for all of the harsh realities in life and am sure that I am leaving the institute a more confident and strong person than when I got in. “At initial thought it was the class participation that I was going to miss, but as I have learned from my internship and experience outside of campus, it’s the CP that translates to good discussion points in corporate meetings. So eventually, what I’m going to miss would be the friends I’ve made here and also the frequent and uncalled for discussions that we have during our poolside endeavors!” - Kumaran Mahendran, India

MBA 2009 Cohort 2 Graduation AS COHORT 2 OF AIM’S MBA Batch 2009 officially and formally received their degrees on September 25, 2009 at the AIM Conference Center Manila, the clear message during the graduation ceremonies was that

the graduates were now ready to face the harsh realities outside AIM. Class President Franco Ongkiko considered their batch as survivors, having passed through AIM’s rigor. Ongkiko was proud of his batch of 33 students from India, Indonesia, Philippines and the USA, who made true their commitment that “nobody will be left behind,” even though three have yet to complete requirements. Prabhanjan Kulkarni, on the other hand, shared some of his greatest lessons from AIM: the ability to accept failures and to learn from mistakes; the ability to take calculated risks; and the art of making new friends who can be partners in the future. AIM President Edilberto de Jesús encouraged the graduates to count their blessings—they have crossed the finished line and had the chance to live in a foreign country or interact with foreigners. With all the complaints about the global downturn, this batch of AIM graduates is leaving the campus when the economy is recovering. President de Jesús was glad to hear that this batch committed to each other that “nobody will be left behind.” He said that organizations depend on teamwork and organizations succeed because of the loyalty of team members. Some comments from the graduates:

“It feels lika a roller coaster ride with its own highs and lows, successes and failures. All in all, I would say that I have spent one of the best days of my life at AIM with all my friends.” - Himanshu Drolia, India

“The best experience I’ve had so far. The most challenging situations were thrown at us during this period and we all flew with the brightest colors.”

- Prabhanjan Raghavendra Kulkarni, India

“It’s an exhilarating feeling to finally graduate. As very well realized by all my friends, AIM MBA has taught me to pull through the entire thick and thins. It’s a ‘must have’ rehearsal for all of us before getting into the real word.” - Moncy Varghese, India

New BMP Graduates! The 40 participants from the latest AIM EXCELL’s 135th Basic Management Program (BMP) capped their class sessions with a big celebration. This was captured by a video presentation that showed their bonding moments in between their grueling class discussions. During their closing ceremonies, Ms. Corazon Tecson Jimenez, MDM 2002, President of the International Movement of Development Managers (IMDM) ushered them into the AIM alumni circle. The new BMP graduates include AIM’s very own Ronald M. Solano, Marilyn M. Sambo and Roberto Q. Manaois. BMP Program Director Marte Dizon imparted the message “AIM always has an open door for you, connect and bring the lessons back home.”

“It feels great to become an AIM alumnus finally! The program has taught us to become more analytical and more appreciative of life’s challenges.” - Keneth Reyes-Lao, Philippines

“It’s an unbelievable feeling to be finally a graduate.” - Jacob Tharian, India

“I feel like being a graduate now has brought more responsibilities. I just hope I can live up to the high expectations.” - Sumantha B. Srinivas, India

MBA Cohort 3 Launches Yearbook In a small gathering held by the poolside on November 25, 2009, MBA 2009 Cohort 3 presented their much-anticipated yearbook days before their graduation. Flipping and reading through the pages of the yearbook will always bring them back to the entire caseroom experience—where class participation occurred, arguments took place, questions were answered, views were thrown in, and most importantly, analytical thinking was sharpened, and learnings happened—and friendships were found, built, and nourished within the four corners of the campus.

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Alumni Newsmakers AIM Distinguished Alumna is the First Lady of Malaysia by Haji Zulkifly Baharom. MM 1989 ship positions is one way to solve these problems. Of course as the wife of the Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak, our alumna Datin Seri Rosmah would be in the position to counsel and advise her husband and thus help shape the country. It is a definite boon to Malaysia that we have a Prime Ministerial couple who are eloquent and intelligent, with the drive to do the best for the nation. They are perfect partners who complement each other so well, and that makes their life together even more joyous. However, admittedly, life in the political arena has its ups and downs, and it is not difficult to understand her situation because she is not an ordinary woman. And it would be remiss of us to ignore that! One thing that the First Lady picked up from the learning at AIM’s diverse Asian culture was collaboration and listening to different perspectives to a problem and solutions in the case room. “Building a golden bridge” as she recalled, “is the concept taught during AIM case discussions. To make the others feel understood, we should focus on listening; paraphrase what we have heard in a positive, non-threatening way, and question clearly to help the other side clarify their points.” While her management style may be described as leadership in slant, she feels participation and ideas from all are equally important. As such, even though she is articulate, tenacious, fast, competitive, meticulous and demanding for excellence, she also believes in empowerment. Having a passion for early childhood development has led Datin Seri Rosmah to be a regular visitor to early childhood centers in different countries when she gets the chance, particularly when she is on a state visit with Datuk Seri Najib. As such, it is no surprise that she is the real brainpower as Chair of PERMATA (a national early childhood care and education program). As the First Lady, Datin As the First Lady, Seri Rosmah also has an im- Datin Seri Rosmah also portant role to play in bring- has an important role ing about the Prime Minister’s to play in bringing about the Prime Minister’s HERE IS TRUTH IN THE OLD ADAGE—THOUGH One-1 Malaysia Concept: Peo“One-1 Malaysia Concept: with a twist: Behind every successful wife is always ple First, Performance Now” People First, Performance a loving husband. This rounded view of the lives of into reality. Kelab AIM fully Now” into reality. model alumna, Datin Paduka Seri Rosmah Mansor, supports this concept, which BMP ’82 leads us to believe that women are better we find timely, as the engine of growth for Malaysia to become a high-income economy. Evidently, on the social-economic front, at maintaining a work-life balance, blending love we are seeing real progress made in the inculcation of acceptance, with pragmatism, consider personal and family growth as two sides of the same coin and combining management with values for mutual respect and trust amongst all Malaysians. It is definitely a great credit to AIM and very refreshing for stability. These attributes are valuable to people across gender, age, our alumni at large that its dynamic Distinguished Alumna is the geography and professions. They are also essential ingredients for First Lady of Malaysia who has the alma mater’s interest close modern leadership. If many of today’s problems stem from lack of good leadership, encouraging more brilliant women to reach leader- at her heart. We salute Datin Seri Rosmah!

AIM Leader Magazine | Four th Quar ter 2009

From left: Lucille Ferraren, MBM 1985, Chelo David, Antonio David, MBM 1973 and Patrick Ferraren, MBM 1985

David, MBM ’73, Receives 2009 Dakila (Noble Filipino) Award In Washington DC ANTONIO “BONG” DAVID, MBM Class of 1973, was the recipient of the 2009 Dakila Award for Business Leadership presented by the US-based Philippine American Foundation of Charities, Inc. (PAFC) last September 27, 2009. In a well-attended ceremony at the Mandarin Oriental Hotel in Washington, DC, Mr. David was chosen for his sterling record of leadership and continued service to the community. PAFC is a non-profit organization that supports charitable projects in the Philippines and USA. To help raise funds for the public charity’s causes, in 2002, Mr. David chaired the Philippine Festival, an annual activity that rallies the Maryland, Virginia, and Washington, DC FilipinoAmerican communities. He also served as president of the World Bank-IMF Filipino association, revitalizing the group’s dedication to charitable pursuits for the public good. Since then, his unwavering support to local organizations that have international impact, particularly the Philippines, has been influential.

MM Alumna, One of Outstanding Filipinos in Singapore IN PARTNERSHIP WITH the Philippine Alumni Association (Singapore), the Philippine Independence Day Celebration 2009 Committee honored five Singapore-based Filipinos for their success in their chosen careers. Ma. Rhodora PalomarFresnedi, MM 1993 was awarded for being “the first and most senior Asian woman in an established multinational company apart from being at the forefront of women empowerment, fund-raising and community building.”

In accepting the award, Mr. David, with his wife Chelo at his side, recounted his experiences from his youth as he tried to aid SOURCE: OFW PINOY STAR the cause of economic and social development. From constructing a small dam to irrigate rice paddies at the Culion Leper Colony; to planting vegetables in Sapang Palay, Bulacan for consumption by squatters; to becoming an accomplished developmentoriented investment banker, his contribution to society has been tangible, and his leadership by example truly inspiring. Bong David’s last post before retirement was as Portfolio Manager for Southern Europe and Central Asia at the International Finance Corporation, the private Alumna from the sector affiliate of the World Bank. Maldives presented Mr. David was surrounded by with a National Award family and friends as he received of Recognition the prestigious award. Among his supporters were Patrick and LuMS. SALMA FIKRY, MDM cille Ferraren, also AIM alumni, 2004, former deputy executive from MBM Class of 1985. director of Transparency Maldives, and education consultant at Bandos Island Resort was ...Mr. David recounted his recognized with a National Award experiences from his youth... of Recognition last November From constructing a small 11, 2009 on the occasion of the dam to irrigate rice paddies country’s Republic Day. Maldives at the Culion Leper Colony... to becoming an accomplished President Mohamed Nasheed development-oriented presented the honor in recogniinvestment banker, his contion of Fikry’s contribution to good tribution to society has been governance. It is the first time tangible, and his leadership by example truly inspiring. that an award in this category has

been conferred. “I am happy that my work towards decentralization and local governance is recognized, and I am proud that this first award in the Maldives went to a woman,” shares Fikry. Ms. Fikry who now works as a freelance consultant had previously served as director of Community Development in the Ministry of Atolls Development. She left the government in 2007 to join Transparency Maldives, the national contact of Transparency International. In addition to her freelance work, Ms. Fikry volunteers her time to the NGO sector in the Maldives and still continues her advocacy work for local governance and decentralization in the Maldives. Having had years of experience with development projects, Ms. Fikry saw that the centralized approach to governance and development seriously disempowered rural communities in her country. Thereby, she and her colleagues had launched a strong campaign advocating for decentralization. She was instrumental in formulating a first draft Act on Decentralized Governance in the Maldives.

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Dr. Uriarte hopes to get a more definitive assessment on the impact of the various work done on poverty alleviation in the national income of countries. While it is true that a lot of anecdotal stories are being said about the benefits of NGOs, the question remains as to how much are their projects contributing to overall gross domestic product, in terms of the improvement in the lives of the communities they serve. These questions hope to find some answer in the AIM-AF partnership that counts among its output (1) case studies on private sector poverty alleviation initiatives; (2) e-book publication of the case studies; (3) presentation of findings in two ADB RETA regional conferences (2009 and 2010); and (4) presentation of project themes and objectives at the AIM Asian Forum on Corporate Social Responsibility (November 2009). gies toward this end. As a result, The ASEAN Foundation, groups working on poverty based in Jakarta, Indonesia, alleviation do so in a less than was established by the ASEAN optimally informed environment. leaders in December 1997 to help President de Jesús emphasized bring about shared prosperity the importance of amassing and and a sustainable future to all sharing existing information as ASEAN-member countries. The a means toward attaining the foundation hopes to promote goal of improving the quality of greater awareness of ASEAN, life in the region. It is, therefore, and greater interaction among the objective of the new AIM-AF the peoples of ASEAN as well partnership to mainstream and as their wider participation in improve poverty alleviation ASEAN’s activities through initiatives through the sharing human resources development. of knowledge in development Moreover, the foundation hopes interventions. The project will to contribute to the evolution of a be implemented by AIM’s Center development cooperation strategy for Development Management up that promotes mutual assistance, to December 2011. equitable economic development, At the end of the project, and the alleviation of poverty.

AIM and ASEAN Foundation Team Up to Fight Poverty THE ASIAN INSTITUTE of Management (AIM) and the ASEAN Foundation (AF)signed an agreement for a project aimed at synchronizing poverty alleviation efforts among member countries of the ASEAN, or the Association of South East Asian Nations. Technically referred to as “Mainstreaming Poverty Alleviation Initiatives among ASEANmember Countries”, the project was designed in collaboration with the Asian Development Bank Regional Technical Assistance (ADB RETA) on Regional Knowledge and Partnership Networks on Poverty Reduction and Inclusive Growth. Its objective is to mainstream and improve

poverty alleviation initiatives through the sharing of knowledge in development interventions. Present during the September 1, 2009 signing ceremony held at AIM were AIM President Edilberto de Jesús and ASEAN Foundation Executive Director Dr. Filemon Uriarte, Jr., who both signed the agreement on behalf of their organizations. President de Jesús noted that while governments of ASEAN-member countries have implemented structural reforms and placed poverty alleviation as a priority agenda in their government programs, there have been little inter-agency and crosscountry comparisons of strate-

AIM and LINC-EG for Cities Competitiveness A CEREMONIAL SIGNING WAS held on September 24, 2009 at the Lopez Room, AIM Campus for a partnership between AIM Scientific Research Foundation through the AIM Policy Center, and the Local Implementation of National Competitiveness for Economic Growth (LINC-EG) for the 2009 Philippine Cities Competitiveness Ranking Project (PCCRP). PCCRP is a flagship research project of the AIM Policy Center. This round, the study will rank and assess the competitiveness of the country’s 30 major and emerging urban cities to

promote healthy competition among them. The result seeks to benefit its key stakeholders particularly local executives, planners and policy makers in designing and improving their development plans. AIM President Dr. Edilberto de Jesús represented AIM and LINC-EG Chief of Party Atty. Daniel Joseph Fitzpatrick signed in behalf of LINC-EG. The signing ceremony was witnessed by other officials including Mr. Tyler Holt (economic adviser for USAID) and John Avila (CTRO, USAID), Mr. Alid Camara (deputy chief of party of

LINC-EG), Prof. Ma. Lourdes A. Sereno (executive director of AIM Policy Center), and Ms. Joanne delos Santos (project manager of PCCRP). LINC-EG is a USAID-supported project for economic growth and reform, managed by the Nathan Associates Inc. It promotes local and national economic competitiveness to improve prospects for economic growth and fiscal sustainability. For more details about PCCRP, please contact Ms. Joanne delos Santos at 892-4011 loc. 2109 or email to policy@aim.edu.

AIM Leader Magazine | Four th Quar ter 2009

AIM and Vietnam Education Ministry Sign Agreement

THE ASIAN INSTITUTE of Management (AIM) and Vietnam’s Ministry of Education and Training (MOET) recently signed a memorandum of agreement for a collaborative education program. The cooperation program aims to foster advancement in teaching, education, research, and cultural understanding as

well as strengthen the international reputation of both institutions through 1. Sponsorship of participants to AIM’s degree and nondegree programs 2. Design and delivery of training programs 3. Facilitating cooperative arrangements with other educational institutions, and

4. Exchange and development of teaching materials, research programs, and other educational exchanges that both institutions will agree to. Under the agreement, AIM is recognized as an official partner institution in the Vietnamese government’s overseas training projects. MOET will identify and nominate applicants to AIM’s degree and non-degree programs, and provide or facilitate the availability of scholarships to individuals who qualify to AIM’s training programs. MOET will likewise promote and facilitate more contacts between AIM and other educational institutions in Vietnam, and help facilitate the conduct of research and the development of teaching materials in Vietnam. AIM, meanwhile, will promote its degree and non-

degree programs to MOET for the Ministry’s consideration, and process the applications of MOET nominees to the Institute’s programs. AIM will assist MOET in identifying the appropriate training program for the Ministryís nominees and expand the conduct of research and teaching materials development in Vietnam. AIM will also pursue partnerships with other Vietnamese educational institutions, government agencies, and business organizations for the design and delivery of training programs, research, teaching materials development, and student and faculty exchanges. Mr. Edilberto C. de Jesús, AIM president, and Mr. Tran Ba Viet Dzung, director general of MOET’s International Cooperation Department, signed the agreement in Vietnam.

JBF Center Organizes Islamic Banking and Finance Seminar THE AIM GOV. JOSE B. FERNANDEZ, Jr. Center for Banking and Finance organized Islamic Banking and Finance Seminar on October 26, 2009. The event, co-presented by the Association of Development Financing Institutions in Asia and the Pacific (ADFIAP) and MNY Consulting Sdn. Bhd. was held at the Dusit Thani Hotel in Makati. The Islamic finance industry has rapidly expanded beyond Muslim countries. As of 2008, more than

300 Islamic finance institutions are currently operating in 75 countries and managing assets estimated at US$900 billion. This is projected to reach US$2 trillion in 2010 with an annual growth of 15% to 20%. In the Philippines, the monetary authorities are already preparing for the establishment of an Islamic banking system to enable banks and financial institutions to take advantage of these opportunities. The seminar topics included:

History and Development of Islamic Banking and Finance; Understanding the Requirement of Shariah Laws; Roles and Functions of the Central Bank/Legal and Regulatory Framework; Roles and Responsibilities of Shariah Advisors; The Basic Difference Between Conventional and Islamic Banking System; Islamic Banking Products; Financing Models; Introduction to Islamic Money Market and Capital Market; Introduction to Islamic Insurance (Takaful); and Op-

erational Issues in Islamic Banking: Accounting Treatment, Risk Management and Audit. Mr. Ahmad Nazir Che Yen, senior vice president of CIMB Islamic Bank Berhad, was the seminar’s resource person. He has more than 20 years of experience in conventional and Islamic banking and lectures at the Islamic Banking and Finance Institute of Malaysia and Bank Negara Malaysia. He obtained his MBA in Islamic Banking and Finance from UIA Malaysia.

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AIM Alumni Association India stages IDEA XCHANGE 2009

N DECEMBER 5, 2009, AIM Alumni Association India, for the first time successfully hosted a stimulating, provocative and unique financial debate in India—IDEA XCHANGE 2009. The event, held at the Trident Hotel, Mumbai, was covered

by leading national television channels like CNBC, ET NOW and Zee Business, and brought about leading financial giants, corporate bigwigs, CEOs and CFOS to debate on a hot button topic—“Are Bubbles All Bad?’ This topic has gained relevance, especially in emerging markets, where prudent policies (this time around)

have prevented a collapse of the financial system of the country as a whole. The speakers were a unique mix of policy makers and highly successful market practitioners—Mani Shankar Aiyer, member of the Indian National Congress party, Ashok Soota, chairman and managing director, MindTree Ltd., Anantha Nageswaran, chief economist, and chief investment officer for Bank Julius Baer, Brian Brown, Head of Bluestream India Advisors Pvt. Ltd. and Dr. Edilberto C. de Jesús, AIM president. The event was well moderated by Shankar Sharma, First Global Stock Broking vice-chairman and joint managing director, who infused elements to create the proper ambience and intellectual vibrancy in the forum. After the preliminary press conference, Shankar kicked off the event by introducing the eminent speakers and the topic of discussion. The speeches were extremely well prepared, well delivered and most importantly well received by the high profile audience. Each speaker

for that event had his opinions on whether economic bubbles are bad. The debate ended with a panel discussion where eminent professionals from various industries threw questions which sparked a provocative and engrossing discussion which thrilled the audience. The event was the brainchild of the Programs Committee Chairman Manish Panchal. Supporting Manish were other members of the event Core Group Committee: M.P. Singh, president of AIM AAI; Shankar Sharma, chairman of the Core Group Committee; Ranjeet Nambiar, joint secretary; Sandeep Ghate, treasurer; Sushant Panda, chairman for International Relationships AIM AAI; Anup Das, chairman of the Placement Committee; Segi Idicula, EC member; Manoj Thakur, EC member; Ramesh Gelli, EC advisor; Nilesh Modi, chairman of the membership Development Committee; Rahul Saigal, Aloke Panikar, and Ravi Valecha, members of the Communications Sub-committee); Sumeet Rajani,

member of the Sponsorship Management sub-committee); and Ashmita Amin, Sachin Satpute and Sukanya Sarkar, coordinators for the event. All other executive committee members were closely involved in supporting the event. The Idea Xchange forum is planned as an annual event to be held on the first Saturday of every December. The Fellowship and Programs Committee of AIM AAI has been set up to establish a strong mutual bonding among the AIM AAI members and collectively enhance the reputation of AIM, as a premier business school. Idea Xchange was a successful event as a prelude to making this vision come true. The goals of this committee are to organize networking events with value added preposition, enhance representation and participation level in regular events, provide continuous learning opportunities, provide opportunities for bright young talent to network with senior members and the most precious—to form the AIM AAI community as one family. If you are interested in associating yourself with this committee, please get in touch with Manish Panchal at manager-ar@aimalumniindia.com.

AIM Leader Magazine | Four th Quar ter 2009

Venture Capital Firms Look to Asia by Nonette Climaco

ADB Outlook Update 2009 THE ASIAN DEVELOPMENT Bank selected the Asian Institute of Management as partner in launching the Update of its Asian Development Outlook (ADO) 2009. Almost a hundred people gathered at the Yulo Caseroom on September 23, 2009 to witness the event. The audience benefitted from the presentations of ADB officials that included

Joseph Zveglich (assistant chief economist), Neeraj Jain (country director, Philippine Country Office), Shikha Jha and Donghyun Park (senior economists). Valuable insights were contributed by AIM Professors Federico Macaranas and Francisco Roman and Philamlife EVP & Chief Investment Officer Omar Cruz, former national treasurer. In

highlighting the Philippine case, Joseph Zveglich Jr., ADB assistant chief economist was optimistic in his report that economic recovery is underway and will likely strengthen in 2010. Nevertheless, the stronger potential to grow is not being realized due to a slowdown in consumption, exports, and private infrastructure.

IN INTRODUCING HIS LECTURE TOPIC, AIM visiting professor Dr. William “Bill” Scheela, highlighted the increasing number of Venture Capital firms in Asia. In 2007, there were around 1,800 VC firms managing almost US$189 billion funds, even though these firms continue to face some challenges in Asia that include lack of fully-developed institutions and the lack of professional managers in family businesses. Addressing a late afternoon crowd of guests, professors, and students at AIM last October 5, 2009, Dr. Scheela likewise solicited the expert views of the panelists that included William Valtos, Senior Managing Director, ICCP; Gladys Enhaynes, Associate Director, ICCP; and Martin Lichauco, Managing Partner, G2VC. The three panelists agreed that the businesses they invest in should be “scalable” and not just limited to a small market like the Philippines. They veer away from those that are in the business plan stage, those in the “nice to have” and not in the “must have” industries, and those in the gambling industry. Mr. Lichauco specifically looks for “disruptive” companies—those which change the game parameters of an industry, the likes of youtube ventures. Mr. Valtos, on the other hand, said that firms needing angel investors should realize investors are studying proposals from different countries. These firms, thus, have to present a convincing executive summary of their business plan. It also helps that firms have contacts inside the VC. Mr. Lichauco also emphasized the need for a clear exit strategy for the VC. The lecture was organized by AIM’s W. SyCip Graduate School of Business and the Gov. Jose B. Fernandez, Jr. Center for Banking and Finance as part of their thrust to provide a venue for an exchange of ideas redounding to improved financial systems and services in the region. A professor of Business Administration at Bemidji State University, Minnesota State University System, Dr. Scheela, as an AIM visiting professor, taught an elective on New Venture Creation at the WSGSB until midNovember 2009. In addition to teaching, Dr. Scheela worked on expanding his on-going research projects, including analyzing practices and trends in private equity investing in the Philippines and Southeast Asia (primarily Vietnam). He is no stranger to the Philippines, having been involved with a Philippine project on Angel Investors for several years now. Dr. Scheela earned his PhD from the University of Minnesota, Carlson School of Management.

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AAAIM Supports Go Negosyo in Bataan AS PART OF THEIR projects for continuing education, the Alumni Association of AAAIM- Philippine Chapter has tied up with the Philippine Center for Entrepreneurship (PCE) to hold lectures on private enterprise. Called the Go Negosyo program, the educational and empowering seminar was held in Bataan last November 6, 2009 at the Bataan People’s Center. Go Negosyo champions, mentors and agrees to support significant AIM inientrepreneurs shared valuable tiatives such as enrollment and placeknowledge and information ment support, AIM brand building, AIM from the forums, seminars and events, and the Alumni Fundraising campaign for scholarships, infrastruc- exhibits during the caravan. PCE is headed by Jose Ma. A. Concepture, research and development, and cion III as founding trustee. faculty development. AAAIM directors present Dr. Edilberto de Jesús, AIM president and Mr. Greg Atienza, executive during the event include Ofelia managing director for the AIM Alumni Odilao-Bisnar, MBM 1988,

AAAIM Signs MOA with AIM IN SIMPLE BUT MEMORABLE ceremonies, the Alumni Association of AIM, Inc. (AAAIM), the Philippine chapter of the Federation of AIM alumni associations worldwide signed a historic Memorandum of Agreement with AIM last October 22, 2009 at the MBM ’73 Room. In the spirit of true interdependence and shared organization missions, the agreement seeks to rationalize the secretariat operations of AAAIM, with the Alumni Relations Office (ARO) providing this service to the alumni association. As both organizations have a common mission of building a harmonious AIM alumni community through responsive leadership, the AAAIM sought to streamline these shared activities and work more closely with the Institute through ARO. AIM, through the Alumni Relations Office, will provide assistance to AAAIM in the areas of enhancing a lifelong relationship with the alumni through activities and services, continuous education, communication, international networking, fundraising and marketing of its programs. AAAIM

chairperson; Lito Yabut, MBM 1979, vice chairman, and Prof. Mayo Lopez, MBM 1970, Coratec Jimenez, MDM 2002, and Manny Gaerlan, MM 2002, directors. AAAIM Director, Pax Lapid, ME 2003, dean of Entrepreneurs School of Asia shared his expertise in a forum on spotting and seizing business opportunities and finding the right business for the right market. A mini-reunion for AIM alumni in Bataan was held right after the seminar at the Crown Royale Hotel. Present were Evelyn Datu, NEGO 2009, Rosario Banzon, CSBM 2006, and Ramon de la Fuente, MBM 1976. SMART Communications Inc. is the major sponsor of AAAIM for 2009.

Relations Office were present to sign the agreement. The AAAIM was represented by its chairperson, Ms. Ofelia Odilao-Bisnar, MBM 1988 and corporate secretary, Ms. Corazon Tecson Jimenez, MDM 2002. Witnessing the event were Mr. Eligio Santos, executive managing director (EMD) for Institutional Marketing and Relationship Management (IMRM), Mr. Rey de los Reyes, EMD for Student Services, Admissions and Registrar, and Ms. Dina Paterno, EMD for Development. In gratitude for the services to be rendered by ARO, AAAIM agreed to provide an annual donation specifically for the use of ARO as financial assistance in consideration for the secretariat support that will be AAAIM directors pose with Jose Ma. A. Concepcion III, PCE founding trustee, during the Go Negosyo in Bataan. extended to the AAAIM.

Chinese Students Join Celebration of PROC Foundation Day ON SEPTEMBER 25, 2009, THE Embassy of the People’s Republic of China in the Philippines held a celebration party at the Manila Hotel for the 60th Founding Anniversary of the People’s Republic of China. Representatives from the Chinese Embassy, Filipino-Chinese Commerce and Industry Chamber, corporations, overseas students, and social workers came together and had a great gathering. In China, they have celebrated

the day with the following activities: 1. September 30 : The State Council held a Grand National Day reception at the Great Hall. 2. The morning of October 1: An assembly was held in Beijing Tiananmen Square (the capital of all walks of life) to celebrate the 60th anniversary of the People’s Republic of China. CPC Central Committee General Secretary and State President and CMC Chairman Hu Jintao delivered a speech

by Li Dan, MBA 2009

followed by a grand military and mass parade. 3. The evening of October 1: A celebration was held in Beijing’s Tiananmen Square and other designated areas with the theme “Praise of the motherland, Acura era, inspiring”. There were fireworks display and singing and dancing with the spectacular cultural performances. State leaders together with representatives from all sectors were present.

AIM Leader Magazine | Four th Quar ter 2009

AAAIM Davao Chapter Hosts Alumni Reunion TEEING OFF:

AIM’s Bangalore Alumni Chapter

THE DAVAO CHAPTER OF the Alumni Association of AIMDavao City headed by Nicolas Dy, MBM 1973 co-hosted an alumni reunion with the AAAIM last December 4, 2009 at the Krua Thai Restaurant, Torres St., Davao City. Over 16 alumni from different programs attended the event.

calendar of AAAIM and invited all to attend the homecoming on February 26, 2010. The AAAIM directors present also extended their gratitude to Dy for organizing the event. Earlier in the day, AAAIM participated in the Go Negosyo sa Davao project in line with their

Dy briefed the alumni on the past activities of the chapter and encouraged more graduates to attend future gatherings. AAAIM was represented by its chairperson, Ofel Odilao-Bisnar, MBM 1988, who welcomed the alumni and discussed the projects of the Philippine Chapter of AIM alumni associations. She also updated the participants on the

partnership with the Philippine Center for Entrepreneurship (PCE), with Pax Lapid, ME 2003, Virgilio Espeleta, MBM 1991, and Prof. Mayo Lopez, MBM 1970, as resource speakers and moderators. The chapter development projects of AAAIM are made possible with support from Smart Communications.

by Fahim Saleem, MBA 2008 BANGALORE’S WEATHER was at her glorious best, the lights were on and the stage was set for a round of “teeing off” at the Karnataka Golf Association club in Bangalore on September 5, 2009. “tee-off” they did and in a spectacular fashion! Forty-five of Bangalore’s brightest (and smartest may we add) consultants, managers, directors, vps, presidents and entrepreneurs were assembled for the launch of AIM Alumni Association of India’s (AIM AAI) “Bangalore Chapter”. The “tee-off” started at 7.30 pm with the arrival of the chief guest, Mr. M.P. Singh, president of AIM AAI, who had been kind enough to fly in especially for this event. After the initial round of pleasantries the bar counter was opened. With AIMers at their usual best, the party started in full earnest. With new friends in tow and drinks in hand, the house was called to order for a bit of managerial work. The task at hand for each individual was to list what she/he expected from the Bangalore Alumni Chapter and how she/he would contribute. Groups were also organized as per the seating plan to ensure that “table-mates” worked at “Learning Teams” to bounce ideas off each other. Each group then came up with a specific plan of action and an agenda for the local chapter. To add “CP” to the fire, each “LT” then had to present their ideas. It

must be said that a few months away from the “Caserooms” are enough to mellow the souls of AIM’s sleep deprived students. For what we expected was nothing short of fireworks, instead what we got were gentle nods of appreciation for the points brought out by each “LT”. Also on the agenda was the installation of a committee to oversee the running of the Bangalore chapter. The motion was put on the floor, and the elected representatives are as follows: Chairman: Mr. Anand Padi (MBM 1980)Vice-Chariman: Mr. Sanjiv Sarin (MM 1984) Secretary: Mr. Fahim Saleem (MBA 2008) Executive Committee: Mr. Analabha Dutta (MM 2008), Mr. Raghu Iyer (MM 2007), Mr. Thomas John (MBA Dec 2008). Some of the finer points of discussion were polished off over a lavish spread. All in all, the event was a big success as it was probably the single largest gathering of AIM Alumni that South India has ever witnessed. New age tools and social marketing techniques certainly helped, but the real vote of thanks goes to the dedicated team that came together to make this day happen. My sincere thanks to my fellow members of the organizing committee that worked behind the scenes to make this happen: Anand Padi (MBM 1980), Analabha Dutta (MM 2008), Raghu Iyer (MM 2008), and Sanjiv Sarin (MM 1984).

AIM students celebrating the Indian DIWALI festival.

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Celebrating Classes Gather in Mini-Reunion

MBM

1970

1975

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1990

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MBA

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2000

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2005

2010

IN PREPARATION FOR this year’s annual alumni homecoming, the AIM Alumni Relations Office hosted a minireunion of celebrating batches on October 16, 2009 at the SGV Room, AIM campus. The joint party was organized for the following classes: 1970 (40th year, Ruby Celebrants), 1975 (35th year, Emerald Celebrants), 1980 (30th year, Pearl Jubilarians), 1985 (25th year, Silver Jubilarians), 1990 (20th year, Lead Host Class), 2000, 2005 and 2010 (Host Classes). The pioneer class of AIM, the MBM class of 1970 was well represented with its class president, Alex Gaston leading his classmates to attend the function in preparation for their 40th anniversary as graduates of AIM. AIM President Dr. Edilberto de Jesús welcomed the alumni back to AIM. He updated the graduates on the latest developments at the Institute, and encouraged more gatherings for a chance to renew ties and sustain batch camaraderie. “Alumni play an important role in any school,” de Jesús said. “A committed core of alumni is always behind any school’s success.” The chairperson of the Alumni Association of AIM (AAAIM), Ms. Ofelia OdilaoBisnar, MBM ‘88 was also present to greet her fellow alumni and to share her experiences in organizing her batch’s homecoming in 2008. She also confirmed the AAAIM’s support for Homecoming 2010 and assured the lead host class that fellow graduates would help in ensuring a successful grand reunion this year. The AIM Annual Alumni Homecoming will be celebrated on February 26, 2010 as part of AIM’s 42nd Anniversary. All alumni are invited to attend the most anticipated annual networking event.

AIM Leader Magazine | Four th Quar ter 2009

JP Morgan Looks to AIM for Recruits BEING AN AIM ALUMNA herself, Diane Luna, MBM 1989, knows the stuff that AIM graduates are made of. With this belief, Diane led a team of four JP Morgan officers who came to AIM on September 11, 2009 to interview graduating students for placement in their Manila, Mumbai, and Bangalore offices. While JP Morgan currently employs AIM graduates, they were recruited via other means. The company’s recent visit to AIM to do marathon interviews of students was the first undertaking of this kind. AIM is grateful for Diane’s initiative. Diane is the executive director and site lead of JP Morgan’s Treasury and Securities Services that serves their global service centers in India and Philippines. Before the interviews, Diane gave a company presentation to the students and impressed upon

them the advantages of working for one of the oldest financial services firms in the world. In more than 100 countries, JP Morgan today is a leader in asset management, investment banking, private banking, treasury and securities services, and commercial banking. JP Morgan offers world-class training and development as an integral part of maximizing all aspects of employees’ professional career. Diane’s team included Lou Ureta (assistant vice president, recruitment, TSS), Patricia Carlos (manager, Recruitment, TSS), and Laarni Arellano (assistant vice president, Training, TSS). Among them, they interviewed a total of 30 students, majority belonging to Cohort 2 who graduated on September 25. Before making the final selection, the team also arranged interview schedules with other students who were not around for the day’s interviews.

Student Officers Take Oath

ON OCTOBER 7, 2009, A NEW SET OF STUDENT ASSOCIATION OFFICERS was inducted for the S.Y. 2009-2010. The event was held at SGV Rooms 1 and 2, where AIM President Edilberto de Jesús served as the inducting officer. “SA will extend all help to the clubs and will act as a platform to voice opinions and discuss issues of the students.“ These are the words from the newly-elected S.A. Chairman Chaitanya Boddupalli (MBA Cohort 4). He also added that the association officers will “aim to exceed, and no student shall be left behind,” which shall be the association’s motto. On behalf of the outgoing officers, Vice Chairman Rohan Khera (MBA Cohort 3) represented the 2008-2009 Student Association. In his message, Rohan said that time management has been the greatest challenge and lesson learned as an SA officer. SA OFFICERS, SY 2009 - 2010 S.A. CHAIRMAN: Mr. Chaitanya Boddupalli (MBA B4) S.A. VICE CHAIRMAN: Mr. Anton Estrada (MBA B4) S.A. OVERSEAS PRESIDENT: Mr. Deep Prakash (MBA B5) CLASS OFFICERS MM 2010 President: Dionardo Carlos Vice-President: Pradeep Sahay Secretary: Venky Ganesan Auditor: Pam Hernandez Class Representatives: Dennis Siervo, Cesar Edwin Jayme, Julius Espiritu MBA Cohort 4 President: Preeti Jain Vice-President: Emile Dela Cerna Secretary: Devesh K. Das Co-Secretary: Catherine Gacer Treasurer: Avinash Mahajan

MBA Cohort 5 Section A President: Jay Obnial Vice-President: Eunice Cajucom Secretary: Hari Kuna Treasurer: Philip Bengson Section B President: Mansoor Ali Khan Vice-President: Katrina E. Lalisan Secretary: Neevash Khanna Treasurer: Anjan Viswanath CLUBS AIM-ADB Alumni Club Consulting Club Cricket Club Finance Club IMSA (Int’l. Muslim Students Assoc.) Marketing Club Movie “Popcorn” Club PACTS (Philanthropic Society) Placement Club Sports Club The Uncorp (Entrepreneurial Club)

New Musallah Inaugurated IN SPITE OF TYPHOON PEPENG ON OCTOBER 2, 2009, THE AIM COMMUNITY celebrated the inauguration of the new Musallah (Muslim Prayer Room), which was led by the International Muslim Students Association (IMSA). Colonel Muhamad Nur Usman, First Secretary of the Embassy of the Republic of Indonesia, Mr. Nor Adiong, Deputy Executive Director and Assistant Secretary of the Office on Muslim Affairs, and other dignitaries from several embassies graced the occasion. Professor Gaston Ortigas, Professor Mary Chua, and former AIM Professor Bert Ladores were also present during the event. Professor Horacio Borromeo Jr., IMSA Adviser, gave the welcome remarks. AIM President Edilberto de Jesús congratulated the office bearers of IMSA and shared that AIM intends to include Islamic Management courses in its curriculum. IMSA members are grateful to their mentor, Professor Borromeo for his support in all of its activities as well as initiatives. Professors Frankie Roman and Horacio Borromeo sponsored the event.

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Industrialization for Development by Prof. Ernesto A. Guzman, MM 1991

Prof. Ernesto A. Guzman, MM 1991 is currently the General Manager of ERGUZ Development & Supply and is an Associate Professor at the UST Graduate School teaching Production, Strategic and Supply Chain Management. He is also a Senior Consultant of Link Asia, Inc. and AlKhodari Construction based in Al Khobar, Saudi Arabia.

F WE WERE TO CHECK THE WEBSITES FOR DEFInitions of industrialization, chances are you will end up puzzled and confused on what it means. Even before you can define the term you shall have received a litany on why a nation cannot attain or earn industrialization. This is of course, not without reason. Industrialization is an economic process for all countries in whatever political and social system. It alone defines what will be the measure of a country’s economic status, either as a developed, developing or underdeveloped country. As has happened, the web definitions give more of a synthesis of a country’s economy, GNP ratings, sociology, geography, even capitalism, and will only give an indication of the countries’ prevailing status on each of these issues without defining how a country can be industrialized or has industrialized. Easily, one can see how political, economic and other demographic orders are mixed to lead to a superficial definition of industrialization. Attempts for those to learn about industrialization will end up at a complete loss not knowing with what and where to begin. Without industrialization, a country can never grow economically, and will for all time be a developing or underdeveloped country. The compelling reason to study it is by and large it is a nation’s road map to ameliorate its economic status and provide for its people. However, on the onset we found that not only do industries spin the economy but also that capitalism controls and manages it towards global consumers, and ideology guides it to oligopoly and military power to cartel. These have made industrialization a complex process and objective for 60% of the world’s nations, mostly the developing and underdeveloped. Studying Industrialization In the study of industries taken up in the master’s degree, we were overwhelmed with a gamut of industry cases to analyze, discuss and resolve. After the study rigor, one is transformed to be a professional manager in different industries—from a single industry expert he started, to cite a recent MM graduated. Indeed it is a study worth furthering. A look at the industrialization process will tell a researcher why it dictates a country’s economic status. The process will give us a step by step understanding of technical and strategic development, and the progress that goes with it. The best way to understand this is to have a product chain framework of the main industries (see Figure), to identify the basic industries from where the rawest of raw materials or the primary products of each industry shall have originated. The transformations of these

rawest of raw materials from its natural elements to the finished products shall draw up and illustrate its product chains. The finished products can be the general consumer products we see and use daily on top of our office desk, cupboards, cabinets in our houses, hospitals, institutions, factories and other places of work, leisure and living. There are four basic industries where the rawest of raw materials can be naturally sourced. These are the oil and gas industry, the forest industry, mining industry, and the agriculture industry. A fifth industry is included to give this one industry its proper perspective to industrialization; this is the utility industry which may be comprised of the power and energy, water and hydraulics, transport and communication industry. This last industry is also basic as it is a primer of the four basic industries and gives service in all phases of the product development up until the general consumers product stage. They each also produce only one and the same commodity, not transforming it into another product like how the different products of the four basic industries are transformed. They neither depend nor rely on other products after their equipment set up and fuel or generated energy provisions. The basic industries comprise the first column of the product chain framework. The rawest of raw materials at the very start of their product chain are either planted, raised and harvested like livestock, crops and sea products of the agriculture industry and timber, logs, pulp and rubber trees of the forestry industry. Or quarried, extracted and hauled like the mine ores and minerals of the mining industry, and the crude oil and natural gas of the oil and gas industry. The rawest of raw materials in the product chain in its most natural elements we shall call the primary industrial product, the stage 1 and the Industrialization alone second column of the product defines what will be the chain framework. measure of a country’s economic status, either as From these raw materia developed, developing or als it can be discerned that underdeveloped country. the mining industry is the most principal for industrialization; its iron ores and coke are used for steel products of which about 40% are flown back after their refining process and used by all other basic industries as materials for their tools, machineries and equipment. Also the steel product chain is very similar to copper, bauxite (aluminum) and other metal products which are also principal products. The second most used are chemical products which come from the oil and gas industry i.e. polymers, and another chemical source are the mining industry minerals or non-metal extracts. Chemical products consume 26% of its own output—the rest are used to make a wide variety of consumer goods as well as a thousand inputs to agriculture, manufacturing, construction, life science and services. While both are major items of industrialization, we shall use the metal industry or more specifically steel, to illustrate the subsequent flow of products as steel products go through all four columns or the full length of the products chain until they reach the consumer product stage. Illustrations by Rommel Joson

AIM Leader Magazine | Four th Quar ter 2009

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The next processing stage is the secondary industrial product. The raw material is cleansed of dirt and other impurities by threshing, segregation, filtering, washing, heating and other methods depending on the nature of the product. In the steel product chain, the iron ore raw material is cleansed by smelting in the blast furnaces to increase its metal content to produce pig iron, a vital step in the steel production process. This process includes cleaning and purifying the iron ore of impurities and contaminants at very high temperatures. Because of the huge equipment and energy requirements, this may be a single manufacturing process. There are small scale versions however, which are sometimes integrated with the next stage of processing. The third stage is the tertiary industrial product. Only those in the metal and chemical industries pass thru this stage before they are turned into supply material for manufacturing. The smelted metal is a mixture of two or more semi processed raw materials such as alloy, to make a new single product; an example is iron and carbon (coke) mixed together to produce the basic steel product. This is also called the refining process, and because of the enormity of the product volume and intricacy of the process, it is a separate process integrated with smelting. Varying the amount and the process of alloying elements produce the essential properties of steel, such as the material hardness, ductility, and tensile strength. Other alloy materials used for these properties are manganese, chromium, vanadium, and tungsten. All are mining products. Copper, aluminum and other metal products have the same fundamental process but with their own specific equipments. This heterogeneity of the different metal products is a cause of technical rigidities and hence, of exclusive control. From this point, the new product enters the manufacturing product stage. All products are finished and made ready for direct use as consumables for the consumer market. Food, lumber, paper, textile, and cement are examples of finished and ready products. Likewise, in the steel industry, this is the finishing mill stage. The semi- finished steel from the ordinary grade and to stainless steel grade are solidified and bundled for further processing into rolled, drawn, cast, and extruded sheet, rod, bar, beams, tubing, roll, pipe, wire, strip as finish produce, or in blocks as unfinished products to be re-processed with molds and dies into engines blocks and other casted machine parts. This point will explain how important the steel product, nay industry is to industrialization. Without this technology, there can be nothing to draw out from to supply the industry and have materials for use to prime start the other basic industries. The same is true with the chemical industry which comes from the oil and gas industryâ&#x20AC;&#x201D; for polymers and plastic, and from the mineral or nonmetal mining products such as silicon, chlorine and sodium. After this phase, the product chain spreads out to as many product items as can be manufactured out of it in the last product stage,

AIM Leader Magazine | Four th Quar ter 2009

TYPICAL PRODUCT CHAIN FRAMEWORK Basic Industries

Primary Industrial Product

Crude Oil Oil and gas

Forest products

Methane/Naphtha Gasoline Diesel and Kerosene Lubricating Oil Grease and Sealants Coke and Asphalt

Manufacturing Products

General Consumer Product

Plastic/ Urethane/Polymers/ Polystyrene/ Polypropylene/ Polyethylene/Polyvinyl Chlorine

Containers/Packaging/ Appliances/Wares/ Furnitures/Pipes/Clothing

Petroleum/Lubricant/ Oil(POL) Tar and Asphalt Oxy/Acetylene/ Industrial Gas and Fuel/LPG

Log, Timber and Wood

Raw Timber Industrial Timber

Construction Lumber/ Furniture Lumber/ Processed Wood

Houses/Condominiums/ Office and University Bldgs. Furnitures/Others

Pulp Tree

Pulp Fiber

Newsprints/ Coarse Paper/Industrial Packaging/Carton

Pocket/Hardcover Books/Newspaper/ magazines/Textbook/ Stationeries

Cooking Gas/Fuel

Paper Board

Boxes/Boards

Conveyors/Insulation/ Tools/Mat/Sheet/Ware

Pneumatic and Rubber Tires/Tires/Bands/Mats/ Belts/Shoes/Sandals

Equipment/Machines/ Steel and Plates/ Sheets and Bars/Tool Beams/ Pipes/Jewelries/Poles/ Wires/Others

Buildings/Infrastructures/ Tools/Ships/Planes/Equipment Communications/Automobiles Trains and Rails/Appliances/ Computers/Hardwires Instruments/Electrical/Cables/ Wires/Watches/Cutleries/Others

Pharmaceutical/ Diagnostics/Agricultural and Crop Chem/Electro Chem/Industrial Chemicals/Explosives Chemicals/Others

Clothing’s/Fertilizers/ Paint/Sealants/Detergents/ Cosmetics/Drugs/Vitamins/ Textile/Toys/Dyes/Glasses/ Armaments/Electronic Chips/Commercial Chemicals

Gypsum/Cement Materials/ Marble/ Stones/Ceramics/Clays

Cement/Plasters/ Marbles/Tiles/ Ceramics

Roads/Expressways/ Buildings/Houses/ Plants/Industrial Bldgs.

Livestock

Cattle/Hogs/ Poultry/Others

Slaughter/Raw Meat/ Processed Meat/Leather

Food/Supplements/ Wear/ Attires/Shoes

Crops and Fruits

Rice/Corn/Sugar/Fruits/ Vegetables/Coconut/ Tobacco/Coffee/Cacao/

Drinks/Food?Feeds/ Pharmaceutical Products/ Medical and Health Product Supplements/Jewelry

Sea Products

Fish/Crustaceans/ Weeds/Mollusks/Pearls/

Processed Food/ Beverage/Medical/ Pharmaceutical/Cooking Oil/Cigarette

Plant Fiber/Threads

Yams/Threads

Clothing Sheets/Canvass/ Tarpaulins/Sacks

Clothes/Attires/Bags/ Shoes/Accessories

Rubber Tree

Rubber Latex (Poly-isoprene)

Metal

Carbon/Iron/ Aluminum/Chrome/ Manganese/Silver/ Gold Ores/Others

Carbon Steel/Stainless Steel Cast and Wrought Iron/ Refine Copper/ Gold/Silver/Processed Chrome Aluminum/ Others

Coal/Peat

Industrial Fuel

Silicon/Ethylene/Lime/ Ammonia/Phospates/ Chlorine/Sodium/ Sulfur/Others

Propylene/Benzene/ Methanol/Potash/Resin/ Ethylene/Phospate/ Ammonia Nylon/Others

BASIC UTILITIES

Power and Energy

Transmissions

Light/Electricity

Water and Hydraulics

Purifications

Curred Potable Water

Transport

Land, Air and See Travel and Freight

Logistics/Agencies/ Carriers

Telecom/IT

Communication/ Media

Radio/TV Stations/ Internets/GPS

the general consumer product. The finished steel products from manufacturers are used as supply materials to produce major components in ships, trains, airplanes, heavy equipment, automobiles, motors, pumps, machines, tools, and appliances. Also for buildings, infrastructure, bridges, roads and civic works, as well as for communication structures and devises, electronic and computer hardwares, and small products such as laptops, tables and beds, instruments and watches, medical devices, and even for ballpen points. These steel finished products are also used for the manufacture of military hardware and armaments. Other products such as paper become books and newspapers, lumber to buildings and cement to roads. The same product development goes in all the other three basic industries, starting with cleansing, decontamination and refining of the raw materials. Products which are grown and harvested however, go through simpler and less equipment intensive processes to get to the general consumer product stage. Each column demands

General Consumer

BASIC UTILITIES Electricity/Power/ Transport Fuel/Equipment and Machine/Fuel and Lube

Processed Gas

Non-Metal/Mineral

BASIC UTILITIES Utilities

Tertiary Industrial Product

Gas

Mine Products

Agriculture Products

Secondary Industrial Product

Residential/ Condominiums/ Education/ Universities/Medical Hospitals/Media/ Communications/ Commercials/ Trade/Automotive/ Trucking/Shipping/ Air Commerce/ Government Offices/ Others

a different level of technical expertise and equipment, hence of monetary, economic and political configurations and requisites to develop, purchase and operate. Agricultural products after harvesting may go directly to the general consumers needing uncomplicated equipment for their processing such as for rice husking and drying. Post harvest equipments are readily available for meat and seafoods as they too are simpler and inexpensive equipment. Meat canning and preservation are the last stage of food processing from the agriculture industry, and are also technically readily available to all countries. Forest products such as pulp and paper are also available, as well as rubber, timber and wood industries equipment. Products from these industries need to go through only two stages to reach the manufacturing and general consumer market. “Industrialization...” continued on page 56 >>

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Angels by Susan Africa-Manikan, MAP 2002

AT AIM

When tragedy strikes, the human spirit inevitably rises to triumph. Such is the unspoken mission of humanity, whose capacity for selflessness can be intermittently gauged, albeit ironically, in the midst of misfortune. It may also be with a deep sense of gratitude from those who have been spared, to provide uncommon generosity in these cynical times. Curiosity perhaps—for foreigners in Asia, but more importantly, the venerable and universal value of compassion.

RECENTLY IN THE WAKE OF THE notorious rage of Ondoy, many unspoken heroes stood up, spread their wings of goodwill, and shared with others the little or the many that they had at hand. Simon George is a 26-year-old AIM-ISEP student from the University of Cologne, Germany. As an economist with a corporate finance major and banking experience with the Deutsche Investitions-und Entwicklungsgesellschaft (DEG) that provides financial support for developing countries, it was but natural for Simon to choose Asia to learn about the emerging markets for himself. Having visited almost all European countries with working experiences in Latin America and Australia, the Philippines and AIM came to his mind as a new opportunity to improve his financial skills, broaden his mind, and as a bonus, sharpen his English language skills as well. But his first visit to Asia, particularly the Philippines, proved to be more than a case room experience at AIM for Simon. On September 26, 2009, the deluge of Typhoon Ondoy unleashed a month’s worth of rainfall in a matter of a few hours, inundating the metropolis in floods of epic proportions. It was, for Simon, the chance to witness firsthand the effects of nature’s fury, and a chance to be of service to people he had never met in his lifetime. “I come from a country in which one’s help is never really needed because several organizations, government institutions and the military will take care of the people,” Simon narrates. “I realized that aid from private individuals is essential in the Philippines and I was happy to help. I really felt that my assistance was welcomed and my efforts helped a lot of people to reduce their sufferings.” Simon and his classmates from AIM’s International Student Exchange Program (ISEP) started with a thousand sandwiches which they prepared and distributed in Marikina. Then they started helping Simon’s friend from Tanay, whose family had been badly affected by waters from the nearby river. Pretty soon, the efforts grew as Simon and his friends started bringing canned goods, noodles, chocolate bars, soap and milk for infants. “We packed the goods and distributed them ourselves with a car we borrowed for more than two weeks.” He adds, “After a few days we cooperated with the ‘Angel Brigade’ in Fort Bonifacio, who helped us buy goods directly from suppliers. We were able to distribute goods in Pasig, Tanay, Taytay, Marikina and Montalban. At the end when food was not needed that much, we decided to distribute school supplies and slippers to local school kids.”

AIM Leader Magazine | Four th Quar ter 2009

Simon and his ISEP friends were not alone. The Philanthropic Activities Society of AIM (PACTS) called on volunteers from the AIM community to help alongside the Ateneo volunteer center. A box was placed at the AIM lobby for donors to provide anything which they felt would be of help to the Ondoy victims. The AIM alumni community in India and Taiwan also pitched in to lend a hand through the Philippine chapter of alumni associations. And there are also many quiet heroes in the academic community whose efforts are known only to those whom they have helped. The difficult part of the whole operation, Simon shares, is to organize people, pack the goods properly and distribute these without being mobbed. “People were quite desperate then and unfortunately, we couldn’t help everybody,” he says. “We always needed local support, which worked out pretty well.” The Filipinos’ propensity to smile in spite of suffering struck a chord in Simon’s sensibilities. “Everyday when I was out there distributing the goods, I saw hundreds of smiling faces. I came to places I would never have reached on my own, and I came in very close contact with local people. This made me understand the Filipino mentality much better. For me every day during those times was a happy day.”

“I was happy to help. I really felt that my help was welcomed, and my efforts helped a lot of people reduce their sufferings.” Exhausted and with little sleep, Simon soon fell ill. “It was just very exhausting and I rarely slept during the first week. I always went to the most devastated parts of the areas to take photos,” he shares. These he used to send back home to appeal for more donations from his countrymen. “Probably my health system was not used to the new bacteria I was encountering here, so I got sick—but nothing serious,” he smiles.

Another quality that struck Simon was the simplicity of the Filipinos. “The simpler they are, the more impressed I am at how they still help other people. Even if they own very little, they still try to help each other as much as possible.” Other than the lack of support of government entities, it was more of the willingness to help and the fulfillment it provided that kept Simon going on. “I was happy to help. I really felt that my help was welcomed, and my efforts helped a lot of people reduce their sufferings.” His experience had added many facets to his AIM training. “Teamwork, intercultural

communication and the strong will to do well.” These have been his most significant lessons. “In all my group works I had very nice people with me and working with them had always been a pleasure.” Simon will indeed be bringing home with him many memorable vignettes on his short stay in the Philippines. It is just as well that he, and many others, will also have a place in the hearts of all those who have received an act of kindness, a token of compassion, and a glimmer of gentility amidst the murkiness that will be forever etched in the minds of many.

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Never Heard of Social Media? It Could Be Helping Your Company Right Now by Regnard Raquedan, MBA 2008

Illustration by Mark Deutsch

AIM Leader Magazine | Four th Quar ter 2009

N 2008, INTUIT, INC. WAS stumped with a problem: Their customers needed extra support for the company’s then latest release of TurboTax, their flagship tax-accounting software. By the end of the year, their problem of manpower shortage to support their customers was solved by not by someone from the company, but by their customers themselves. How was Intuit able to do it? They launched a website called “Intuit Community” where their customers could post questions about their TurboTax software and customers with more experience on the software could chime in and answer the questions. And if there were questions that customers couldn’t answer, Intuit employees would come to the rescue. This type of customer interaction and way of doing business was made possible by Social Media. What is Social Media? Social Media is the set of media, tools, and platforms (more often on the Web) that enable democratized creation and publishing of content. Content is not limited to articles, but it also includes photos, videos, discussions, and ratings. With Social Media, the public is a participant in the production of content along with the platform (or website) owners. To illustrate the nature of Social Media, it’s best to look at the early years of the World Wide Web. Before, website owners played a role very similar to the publishers of books—they were the primary producers of content. Conversely, the public were just consumers of whatever content the website owners came out with. Now, website users can create, contribute, and rate content on the web. Examples of websites that adopt this paradigm are YouTube (http://www.youtube.com), Wikipedia (http://www.wikipedia.org), Facebook (http://www.facebook.com), and Twitter (http://www.twitter.com). Social Media is distinguished from traditional media (such as print, radio,

and television) by its recency and nonpermanence. Content in Social Media is virtually instantaneous as the time lag to get them published is very small. Moreover, unlike traditional media, content in social media can be edited and altered after it has been published. This makes Social Media ideal to publish stories or content focused on live events in real time. Benefits to Businesses What do companies like HSBC, Lenovo, Southwest Airlines, Starbucks, and Toyota all have in common? They are all companies that have made investments

“Social Media ‘will become so common— a way to do business that we won’t talk about it anymore.’” in Social Media to reach their customers and innovate on how they conduct their businesses. Here’s an overview of how these companies leveraged Social Media: • HSBC developed the “HSBC Business Network” to connect entrepreneurs via blogs, videos and forums. • Lenovo, a major sponsor of the 2008 Beijing Olympics, created a website called “Voices of the Olympics Games” that featured contributions from the athletes competing in the games. • Starbucks created a site called “My Starbucks Idea” where they solicit ideas from their customers and integrate these ideas into their corporate strategy and new products. • Southwest Airlines has its employees share stories and reach out to customers directly in a corporate blog called “Nuts About Southwest”. • Toyota built an interactive virtual world, “Toyota Metapolis,” as a marketing vehicle for its products in Japan. The examples above show where the strengths of Social Media lie—It is in stakeholder engagement, reaching “Never Heard...” continued on page 39 >>

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Saving Lives Never Sounded So Good

PACTS of AIM Calls on the Community to Raise Awareness for Blood Donation by Laurice Cortes Alaan, MBA 2009

ON FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 6, 2008 PACTS of AIM (the Philanthropic Activities Society of AIM) teamed up with PLDT to bring a unique blood donation awareness campaign to the AIM campus, benefitting the Philippine National Red Cross. The event, aptly deemed BLOOD FOR THOUGHT, was a call to the socially conscious youth of the Philippines to take action by participating in simple, lifesaving acts like regular blood donation. A daylong blood donation center and health education and vendor fair led up to an evening outdoor benefit concert, featuring up-and-coming bands from the Manila music scene. BLOOD FOR THOUGHT was a departure from the student organization’s semi-annual blood drive, this time seeking wider magnitude and making its appeal to a broader and younger audience. With figures supporting that nine out of ten Filipinos will need blood sometime in their lives, increasing demand

approach and the involvement of multiple stakeholders to maximize the impact of its message. As a result, promotion of the event went to television, radiowaves and the blogosphere, and the execution involved participation from corporate sponsors, students, faculty and community members alike. Blood donors were treated to free pints of ice cream, magazines and refreshments in the Donor Recovery Suite, sponsored by Selecta and Management Systems Asia, and their admission to the evening concert was free. The event was a resounding success, bringing out many firsttime donors and a record-setting 82 approved donors for AIM. The dedicated team from the Philippine National Red Cross—Quezon during the rainy season, and a City willingly stayed well into short shelf life of 35 days, the the evening to accommodate the call to action was compelling. last-minute rush of donors. Later in Acknowledging the relatively the evening, guests were rewarded low level of awareness and the with a night of feelgood sounds hesitance in the Philippines to donate blood, PACTS of AIM took beneath the lights of the Sunken Garden, as bands Lady I, Dreada two-pronged approach to the knot Used, The Moonflowers and campaign—the event required Mobster Manila took to the stage. a different communications Ultimately, BLOOD FOR THOUGHT, as all PACTS initiaBLOOD FOR THOUGHT was a departure from the tives, was a wonderful example to the students of the good that can student organization’s semi-annual blood drive, be achieved through the resources this time seeking wider of the AIM community. Generous magnitude and making its support from alumni Chaye Cabal appeal to a broader and Furigay (MBM 2000, First VP of younger audience. Finance of PLDT) and Thomas “Beau” Agana (EMBA 2003, President and CEO of Pharex Pharmaceuticals), as well as the student community and administration made this event possible. For this, PACTS of AIM extends our many thanks and looks forward to the continued enthusiasm for our future initiatives as we support AIM in its mission of developing socially responsible managers for Asia.

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AIM Leader Magazine | Four th Quar ter 2009

Words by Rose Cheryl Orbigo, BMP 2005 Photographs by Jovel Lorenzo

Young

AIM’s

In a complex world mired in stiff competition, one needs to relentlessly find ways to stand out. A university degree nowadays does not seem to hold much. For those seeking to open doors via the path of higher education, decisions on what graduate course to take and which institution to enter are crucial, as they are the springboard to that coveted higher place in organizations or societies. The decision to pursue graduate studies is the extra mile that sets apart bachelor’s and master’s degree holders. And many enter the road through a degree program at AIM. // At the AIM campus in Makati City, many young hopefuls from all corners of the globe glow with the promise of a brighter future, showering pieces of their minds, views, and culture along the road towards management excellence. They are our future leaders from business, government, and civil society. Prepped to acquire the right management tools and skills to make organizations work, they are being trained to create better societies and become leaders for change. // These are the stories of the luckier ones—the scholars blessed by generous donors who wish to leave a legacy of excellence through an AIM education—and the stories of why our friends from the West chose to study at AIM.

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Washington SyCip GSB Scholar

Marian Isabelle Reyes, MBA 2010

Leaders

AIM Leader Magazine | Four th Quar ter 2009

Fulgencio “Jojo” Estrella, MBA 2010 Perpetuo “Boy” de Claro, MBM ‘73 Scholar Alumni Fund for Scholarships

Chen-Yung Memorial Foundation Scholar

Tran Cong Bang, MDM 2010

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AIM Leader Magazine | Four th Quar ter 2009

Chen-Yung Memorial Foundation Scholar

Dao Le Tram Anh, MBA 2010

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Gervasius Patar H. Samosir, MBA 2010 Hyun Oh Cho, MBM â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;85 Scholar / Alumni Fund for Scholarships

AIM Leader Magazine | Four th Quar ter 2009

Chen-Yung Memorial Foundation Scholar

Tran Bich Thuy, MDM 2010

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Chen-Yung Memorial Foundation Scholar

Nguyen Uyen Thi Phuong, MBA 2010

AIM Leader Magazine | Four th Quar ter 2009

The W. SyCip GSB Scholar MARIAN ISABELLE REYES, MBA 2010

ARIAN ISABELLE REYES, MBA 2010, HAS LIVED in Forbes Park, Makati since she was born. One would naturally wonder: How did a resident of one of the Philippines’ most expensive addresses wind up being a W. SyCip Graduate School of Business scholar? Marian’s mother has been working for a rich family in Forbes Park since age 17. “I’m proud of my mom,” declared Marian. “She worked there initially as a nanny, and then she became the majordoma. She manages the household. My dad, on the other hand, was the family driver. He used to work there, and then he transferred to Dasmariñas [Village] as a sort of personal assistant for another family. He studied tailoring at a vocational school; he applied it for about a year. But since the pay was low in the province, he had to work in Manila...So I guess if you ask how I got the scholarship, it’s because I really need it.” Because Marian’s mother has been loyal to her boss for the past 40 years, she has been considered family. In turn, Marian and her two younger sisters have been treated like the employers’ grandchildren. “We live in a house within the compound of my mom’s employer,” described Marian. “In a way, we’re privileged and lucky in that my mom’s loyalty paid off...Everything’s open to us. We can use the car; we have free board and lodging.” Throughout her schooling, Marian has not incurred major expenses. She first attended a public elementary school in Makati from which she emerged valedictorian. She then moved to the Manila Science High School, where she was bestowed the Silver Medal for Academic Excellence. In 2006, she graduated cum laude with a BS Business Administration degree from the University of the Philippines (UP), Quezon City. Because she was an officer of the barangay’s Sangguniang Kabataan (local Youth Council) from 2002 to 2007, she was entitled to free tuition at a state university. Her parents needed only to mind her daily expenses. In mid-2006, Marian began working as a project development assistant at Ayala Land. She was involved in several high-profile real estate projects from planning to handing over the building to tenants. At the same time, she paid for her sisters’ tuition fees. One was able to finish Nursing, and the other is still taking up law at UP. All this time, however, at the back of Marian’s mind was the plan to enroll in MBA part-time so as to keep her stable income. “When I brought it up with my boss, who is an AIM graduate, he said, ‘No. Go to AIM.’ Okay. He allowed me to take a study leave with the approval of the senior vice president,” Marian narrated. “The senior division manager, also an AIM graduate, was very supportive of my decision to take graduate studies here. Actually, they were the ones encouraging me to come here. They said, ‘It’s easy for you with your exposure. You’ll do well there. It’s a better experience altogether.’” Her family received news of her AIM scholarship with much joy. “They didn’t have to think about the tuition fees. The scholarship has a stipend to cover the daily expenses,” said Marian. “And my dorm rent is free.” At the beginning, Marian found AIM “quite intimidating.” Never before had she been immersed in an environment with such diversity in culture. “It’s my first time to interact with people of other nationalities. It’s also impressive in the sense that you see people always studying and always up with their game.” As for the MBA program, “it is really fast. For example, we took up the

LOB (Language of Business) in college for a year. Here it’s two weeks. I guess that’s the only constraint here. You don’t have enough time. “So far, I think I’m doing well with the written aspect. But with class participation (CP), it’s hard to keep up,” she admitted. “It’s kind of a culture shock to see how aggressive your classmates are. In the first two to three weeks of class, you’re still warming up, trying to identify the teaching style of the professors, but your classmates are already aggressive in CP. So you really have to catch up and contribute to the class discussion.” AIM professors, the class facilitators, are nothing but impressive to Marian. “You really see their quality in their broad knowledge of the topics, how they give real-life examples, how they make the most complex thing easy to understand at a level that would make you say, this is really a graduate school,” she observed. “It’s not superficial analysis; it’s really a combination of theory and practice. Sometimes you question the theory itself. You become more analytical and critical of what you’re learning. It makes the learning more in-depth and value-adding. You’re not just reading the text; you’re also getting insights on how you look at things and how it affects your own thought process.” The most important lesson she has learned so far at AIM is the need for discipline. “There are a lot of distractions around. If you don’t know how to discipline yourself, how to manage your time, you’ll really be left out because work comes in full load every week, and there’s no time to rest. Just one day that you didn’t study is a day lost...You won’t be able to understand anything if you don’t prepare the day before.”

“Work here is a team effort...It’s the only way that you can get more time out of the 16 months.” Which is why Marian has not watched TV and movies in a long time. “When I’m home, I do my laundry because if I don’t, I’ll just watch TV the whole day. I have no time for hobbies, but I want to be remembered here as a fun person...I have to be grade-conscious because of the scholarship, but in college, I wasn’t that grade-conscious. There’s pressure to maintain the scholarship. That’s why I have to keep track of my performance all the time. “Work here is a team effort,” she continued. “You can’t work alone because if you do, then you’ll be taking on so much. So you need to allocate your tasks and trust that the other members are doing their share. It’s the only way that you can get more time out of the 16 months.” Marian herself tends to be an individual worker. “But I also know how to work in teams,” she noted. “Because my job entailed much coordination, I also know how to adapt to other people in terms of getting things done and directing the work.” For constant inspiration and life direction, Marian looks to her mother. “She reached second year high school, but she’s very intelligent. She’s really a hard worker, very honest and loyal. I got from her my work ethic and my way of relating to people...I love challenges. How you deal with them defines you. I yearn to do more, achieve more, and make an impact on other lives.”

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The Accountant

FULGENCIO “JOJO” ESTRELLA, MBA 2010

A NATIVE OF LUCENA CITY in Northern Philippines, Fulgencio “Jojo” Estrella is the youngest of three children. His father was a state employee with the Philippine National Railways, while his mother was a domestic helper in Hong Kong for almost 15 years. Jojo studied in Quezon Province until high school and moved to Manila to take up Bachelor in Accountancy at the Polytechnic University of the Philippines (PUP) out of an ambition to work for a bank. “I’ve always been amazed by banks,” he said. In 1993, he got his first job as a current account bookkeeper at the Metrobank headquarters in Makati City. “When I started working, I asked my mother to retire from work in Hong Kong, which she did,” Jojo recounted. To be nearer to his family, Jojo transferred the following year to a rural bank in Quezon, occupying the post of loan bookkeeper and credit investigator. Four years later, he relocated to Metro Manila to become a senior settlement specialist at Digitel, a telecommunications company. While practicing accounting at Digitel’s business division, Jojo completed a Post Baccalaureate in Computer Technology also from PUP. Then, in 2004, Jojo joined the thousands of Filipino workers in Saudi Arabia as an accountant for Saudi Consolidated Engineering Company. In 2007, he moved to Arab Petroleum Investments Corp. as a treasury assistant. In 2008, he mulled over taking the Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) exam. “But then I realized that having an MBA has an advantage,” he noted. “I researched schools, and [found] AIM [to be] the best. AIM also gives you the chance to be a scholar, unlike other universities here that don’t give scholarships.” Jojo therefore returned to the Philippines specifically to take an MBA at “It’s better AIM. His risk paid off, as he was selected to have both to receive Mr. de Claro’s scholarship. “I took the Pre-MBA. From there, oh integrity and my God,” he sighed. “It’s tough. Anyway, education.” it’s all a matter of perseverance if you want to achieve something and you believe in yourself.” Jojo was also pleasantly surprised to discover that he is the eldest in the MBA class. “I have to adapt fast to the environment because my classmates are younger. I have a different perspective,” he explained. “It’s a very diversified class… I guess the only thing we have to do is [to] respect each other’s opinion. We have to move not as individuals but as whole teams, not as Section A or Section B but as a cohort. We are not yet there, but we are getting there. There has been interaction between Section A and Section B since the PreMBA, when we were not yet classified into sections.

“I’m still in adjustment mode, but I guess I’m coping and doing well in some subjects. I’m trying to do my best,” he added. “I like LOB and Economics. I was having a hard time with Economics in PreMBA, but now I appreciate it.” As of this writing, Jojo has met with Mr. de Claro and is pondering how to pay forward the benefits he gained through his scholarship. “Before starting the MBA, my plan was to teach in Saudi or in any other country. But I’m also thinking of going back home because I am happier serving the community,” he stated. This career path to the academe may have been prompted by Jojo’s guiding principle. “I’ve always believed that having integrity is more than just having good education,” he said. “But it’s better to have both integrity and education.”

The Scientist

TRAN CONG BANG, MDM 2010 ROM EARLY ON in life, Tran Cong Bang already had a sense of what conflict management entailed. Bang’s family was originally from Haiphong, a port city in northern Vietnam. But because the city was strategic to winning the war, Bang’s family fled to the rural area. “If the Americans held control over Haiphong, they could control the supply of goods from the Soviet Union and China,” he recalled. “We hid for years from the bombing of the USA, from 1964 to 1969.” Despite the war, Bang was able to attend school. He became familiar with farming life. His parents had to change jobs many times because the regime kept changing from the French colonizers to the Japanese and so forth. “My mother ran small businesses. My father worked for a Vietnamese secret organization against the French,” he revealed. Bang was the ninth out of 10 children. Despite the bombing and their family’s poverty, all 10 graduated from college. Bang himself has three degrees so far. A fan of scientists such as Einstein, Bang studied Cybernetics at the Military Technical Institute. “Cybernetics is applied mathematics using computer

and programming as tools,” he explained. He next learned English by taking a Bachelor of Arts course at the Hanoi Foreign Language Teacher Training College. “For a time my country was under embargo. But I thought, sooner or later, my country had to open to the world. So I prepared myself,” he said. Finally, he armed himself with a Master of Science from the Natural Science University, studying informatics. From 1999 to 2009, Bang worked as a database expert for the Vietnamese Belgian Credit Project, a microfinance organization that lends to 45,000 women in 17 provinces in Vietnam. Bang was responsible for the database management of banking and microfinance systems. He joined and presented at a three-month

AIM Leader Magazine | Four th Quar ter 2009

distance-learning course on microfinance conducted by the World Bank and the Asian Development Bank. His prior work experience covered programming, military operations, and IT management. However, Bang is as much into the arts as he is into algorithm. In his spare time, he listens to classical music, composes poetry, and reads novels, poems, and management articles. These days Bang seeks to complete the AIM MDM program. “I first learned about the MDM from a friend who’s from the 20th MDM batch. He graduated last year,” Bang narrated. “He said AIM follows the Harvard case method… I know many people who graduated from here. They said AIM is very hard.” Nonetheless, Bang first set foot at AIM in 2006, when he stayed at the AIM Conference Center while on a study tour with a Laguna-based rural bank. “I never thought that one day I would study here. What first impressed me was the international environment. I liked it.” That diversity is manifest in Bang’s MDM class, where participants come from 15 countries. “Because the MDM students have a lot of experience and they are mature, I feel respect towards my classmates. I feel that my knowledge is very little compared to my classmates’ because they come from many fields,” he said. “The professors are very experienced. Besides having academic knowledge, they work for a lot of organizations, such as the World Bank and UNDP, and they act as international consultants. It’s a very good approach,” he added. “In my country, I think the teachers should also have real-world practice before becoming professors.” Bang’s family background and experiences have a hand in his choosing the MDM. “My heart belongs to the poor because my family’s poor and, during the war, I lived in the rural area,” he explained. “I studied and worked to escape from poverty, but I will never forget those times.” Because he worked for a nationwide project, Bang has set foot in various locations in Vietnam and

has gone overseas for study tours. These encounters opened his eyes to the imprints of suffering left by the wars and to his country’s progress vis-à-vis other nations. “The Vietnamese people of my generation and the next generations must live and work so that somehow the blood of the previous generations that struggled for our independence will not be wasted… My country often faces problems, although it has a lot of achievements in terms of development. I want to help improve my country. That’s why I am in MDM.” Thus far, Bang finds the MDM program “a little difficult in terms of reading cases because we have to read a lot—about 100 pages per day. It’s not easy for students from countries where English is not the primary language.” Still, Bang participates in almost all classes and prepares for exams diligently. The subject he finds most interesting is Systems Thinking.

The Urban Planner DAO LE TRAM ANH, MBA 2010

DAO LE TRAM ANH WAS ONE OF a handful of professionals practicing environmental urban planning in Ho Chi Minh City. Born and raised in that city, she holds a Bachelor in Environmental Sciences from the University of Natural Science of Ho Chi Minh. “My major was about reforming the environmental impact assessment for urban planning,” she explained. In 2006, Tram Anh joined the Urban Planning Institute under the city government. Her own parents were government employees. As one of three environmental officers, she was responsible for environmental impact assessments and plans for urban projects. She was involved in large-scale projects such as the master plan for Ho Chi Minh and the urban plan for 24 of its districts. She was likewise active in social and community development efforts. Then, in 2009, through the alumni network of the Asian Institute of Technology, Tram Anh found information on the Chen-Yung Memorial Foundation scholarship. Upon getting the grant and with little time to spare, she and fellow scholar Nguyen Uyen Thi Phuong set a meeting with two AIM alumni in Ho Chi Minh—one MBA with Distinction and one MDM. “They showed me many pictures of AIM. Before coming here, I had images of the pool, the Zen Garden, etc.,” she recounted. “The guy who took the MBA is very intelligent. He said, ‘You must try hard because the MBA is very tough, especially for women.’ So there’s pressure. And you know, when I came here, it’s more than what he said. The schedule is so heavy.” Before leaving for the MBA program, Tram Anh and Uyen also accepted an invitation to a party from the Foundation representative and his wife. “At the party, they talked about their hope that we would study well in AIM. They were warm,” she observed. “We gave them a souvenir and a handwritten letter to thank them. Also, we promised that we would inform them of our situation at AIM.” In the Pre-MBA and the first weeks of MBA, Tram Anh Upon graduating, Bang sees found her situation “very difficult.” “For example, Macroeconomics himself as a program officer and Accounting are very, very tough,” she cited. “We had so many for official development assistproblems with the language. Sometimes we could not catch what ance projects and, afterwards, the teacher was saying. Also, our Indian classmates speak so fast, a development consultant. But and their accent is different. But I think, after these six weeks, his long-term goal is to bridge the it’s better.” fields of applied mathematics, IT, Tram Anh learned English as a subject in secondary school, and development management and then she was awarded a six-month scholarship for studying through the design of management only English at an Australian university in Vietnam. That period of information systems for developstudy markedly improved her English skills, but reading cases at ment projects. AIM is still another matter. “Can you imagine that if the Filipinos “I’m happy I am studying here,” he declared, adding that he is looking and Indians spend just one to one-and-a-half hours to read a case, it for an opportunity to meet and thank takes me more than three hours?” she said. “I still need a dictionary.” Tram Anh is the lone Vietnamese in her section, something that his sponsor, Dr. Chen. “I am grateful affected her confidence while in class and CAN group discussion. to him. He changed my life.”

“I never thought that one day I would study here. What first impressed me was the international environment. I liked it.”

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“But my CAN group is very nice,” she noted. “They understand my situation, and they help me so much, even in class participation. I try to participate in class, but I’m afraid I’ll take the time of my teachers and classmates because when I try to describe something, I speak slowly.” Fortunately, other guiding hands have appeared, such as those of Prof. Jun Borromeo, their MBA program director who interviewed Tram Anh as an applicant. “In the Pre-MBA, we had an exam in Accounting, and I failed,” she confessed. “I think 30 persons in the whole class failed. So he called us to a meeting. He asked, ‘What is your trouble? What is your study plan? How can I help you? Do you have trouble with your classmates?’ I appreciate (the gesture).” Until today, Tram Anh talks with the professor often outside of class. Through adjustment and a new perspective, Tram Anh herself started to like Accounting. “Gradually I’m understanding the language… I like Marketing because I feel confident there and I can raise my hand!” she added with a laugh. She has also learned to set aside time for personal activities. “Every weekend, I swim and go out for coffee.” Upon completing the MBA, Tram Anh sees herself teaching either at a newly opened international university in Ho Chi Minh or at the Urban Planning Institute, which is seeking from the city committee a permit to teach and to hire teaching staff.

“Dedication to one’s job is more important than just earning money.” Tram Anh realized just two years ago that she wanted to enter the academe. “It’s easier to dedicate my background to developing the younger generation,” she said, adding that she hopes to be like Prof. Borromeo. “He’s a tough professor, but he’s still close to the students.” Another option she is considering is working for a non-profit organization. “I would like to work for an environmental project,” she revealed. “Working for a non-profit in Vietnam is very stressful because we don’t have many organizations into urban planning... Most NGO projects are in the remote provinces because the people there are still very poor. We have a water project that’s just for poor people in remote areas. It’s very tough and requires strong help. But I’m young, so I should try. “For me, just working and earning money is boring,” she stated. “I want to have a job to which I can be dedicated. Dedication to one’s job is more important than just earning money.”

The Bank Officer

GERVASIUS PATAR H. SAMOSIR, MBA 2010

N MID-2009, GERVASIUS Patar H. Samosir, a business development officer, attended an economics seminar given by his company, PT Bank Danamon, one of Indonesia’s five largest banks. “One speaker was an AIM MBA graduate; he’s very good at economics,” described Patar. “He explained well the economic condition of Indonesia and the prospect of the banking sector.” Impressed, he researched about AIM. “I found out it’s one of the best business schools in Asia. I contacted the AIM Representative Office. They said enrollment would close in the next two months. I thought, oh my God… They told me about the scholarship program and to try the AIMAT (AIM Admissions Test).” A cum laude graduate from President University, Jakarta, Patar was a full scholar while taking up BS in Economics (S.E.) Finance. Still, he was unsure whether he would pass the test; he studied for three weeks, taking one week off from work. “I was more than happy when I got accepted.” A dilemma surfaced, however. Patar’s mother, who had been diagnosed with ovarian cancer, just underwent her first surgery. Her entire ovary was removed. To complicate matters, his elder sister got sick as well. “She is not working; she cannot do strenuous activity because the disease affects her back. She plans to have an operation next year,” revealed Patar, who is the only male in the family and the second of three children. “My family relies on my father’s income,” he added. “I worked in Jakarta, but my family lives in Bandung, about 150 km away from Jakarta. My father has worked for about 25 years for a state-owned company, PT Telkom, which is

headquartered in Bandung. My mother is a housewife. We’re a middle-class family.” Patar weighed the idea of continuing at his job and simply dropping the opportunity to take the MBA. “My parents needed funds. They needed me to contribute something.” What swept away the clouds in his mind were his supervisor’s total support and the good news that he got a scholarship. “My boss told me to just go,” said Patar. Moreover, his father remarked, “This is a fine opportunity for you to have a good MBA at a young age. Not many people are given that opportunity. So just take it.” Taking the leap, Patar’s life “suddenly changed.” First, he is the lone Indonesian in his batch and one of the youngest at age 23. “Luckily, I got several friends—five Indonesian seniors. They’re the older MBA students and the ones in the MDM... They support me a lot about everything—about the books, about how to survive in the first term. This has helped me improve my capability.” Second, Patar found AIM’s case method and emphasis on class participation (CP) very different. “In my undergrad, CP was not really important; it’s just five percent of the mark,” he recalled. “I was amazed by the teaching method. I read, on average, three case studies every day. I come to class and see more than 50 different ideas about each case. It helps me a lot in understanding the real working life, the real problems faced by managers in companies or in business. “My CAN group is more than amazing because I can share my ideas with them and get feedback before I present the ideas in class,” he added. “My CAN group also supports me in difficult subjects, like LOB (Language of Business).”

AIM Leader Magazine | Four th Quar ter 2009

That was quite an admission for someone who had majored in Economics and Finance. “In my undergrad, if I studied one book, it lasted two semesters. But here, one book is used for one week or two weeks only. Man!” he uttered. “It’s a big adjustment for me. Luckily, I have some background. I can imagine what it’s like for others with a different background.” Naturally, Patar’s favorite subject is his undergraduate concentration, Economics. “Prof. Macaranas is one of the best Economics lecturers I’ve ever met,” he declared. “During my undergrad, I learned just the theoretical [aspect]; no implementation. Prof. Macaranas bridges theory and the real world. “I like LOB; I like numbers. I should pay more attention to LOB because it affects almost all aspects of business,” he continued. “The other subject I like is Management Communication… For the first speech in class, each one should speak for about five minutes on a topic given one week before. So I did some research about my topic. That experience improved my confidence, my ability to speak in front of class. After that, I forced myself to do more CP. “AIM professors are great,” noted Patar. “They are good facilitators. They are good in bridging one idea to another idea and then coming up with the conclusive solution about the topic.” Just one month into the >> “Never Heard...” continued from page 25 potential customers, and having a conversation with customers with authentic feedback. It also present a new shift in how corporate communications is done. Apart from the inherent benefits, Social Media has gained traction because of its relatively low cost compared to traditional media. A lot of platforms available are free (such as YouTube, Facebook, and Twitter) and the cost of marketing the services could be as low as one US dollar a day. A Facebook ad campaign by Big Lakers Fan (http://www.biglakersfan.net) was able to generate 2 million impressions for under $70.

“I was amazed by the teaching method... I come to class and see more than 50 different ideas about each case.” MBA, on his birthday, Patar already had an unforgettable AIM experience. “My classmates took me to the swimming pool and then pushed me into it!” he laughed. “My classmates are very kind… It’s one of the best birthday experiences I’ve ever had!” In more serious matters, Patar is being pushed as well. “The Indians study a lot… That kind of environment pushes me to study harder.” Funding-wise, Patar’s worries eased further when his superior at Bank Danamon volunteered to send him monthly allowance for expenses not covered by the scholarship. “It made me happy,” he said. “We shared a lot of joy working together… One Caveats and Making it Work But Social Media is by no means a magic bullet to solve all corporate communications and customer engagement deficiencies. Moreover, Social Media even presents potential issues to companies who empower their customers. A common problem is the lack of control on what the customers post. Ordinary people can write negative comments about the companies and even make blog posts that put the business on a very bad light. Imagine a disgruntled customer telling his friends in Facebook about his bad experience with a product and even uploading a YouTube video of his bad experience.

thing I learned from him is, being rich is not everything. The most important thing is to help people and have a good family. That’s the good life. He really inspired me to do my best in Bank Danamon.” Patar envisions, after the MBA, a job in investment banking, given his experience in banking and securities. “It’s a good work opportunity in Indonesia. Not many companies are listed on the public capital markets. More than 40 companies are going public.” Another option is to return to Bank Danamon. “My boss said they’d be more than happy to accept me again in order to develop the small and medium enterprises segment because it’s been profitable in the last three years in the bank.” For his life-transforming experiences and bright career prospects, Patar has conveyed his gratitude to his sponsor, Hyun Oh Cho. “I contacted him by email to greet him Happy Birthday. Like, me, his birthday is in October,” Patar noted. “He said he’s very happy that his contribution is helping me. He emphasized the passing on of tradition at AIM… I’m doing my best so I can pass the MBA with good marks, find a good job, and, when I have enough means, contribute also to AIM. I will pass on the tradition so others can study at AIM. I think that’s one of the best things I can do to make him happy.” This type of negative “word of mouth” is what keeps business leaders apprehensive about Social Media. In order to make Social Media work for businesses, companies should configure themselves to institutionalize Social Media and activities surrounding it. This could mean creating roles in the organization to handle and manage customer engagement in the Social Media space, developing guidelines and processes on how to engage with third party Social Media consultants, and implementing protocols on management of negative user generated content. Of course, success in Social Media still involves solid efforts in marketing, public relations, and

By Alumni for Future Alumni IN MARCH 2006, AT THE END OF Perpetuo “Boy” de Claro’s speech as recipient of the Alumni Achievement Award (Triple A), he pledged Php1 million to AIM’s Alumni Fund for Scholarships.“It was a knee-jerk reaction, but I was moved by the events that evening,” recalled Mr. de Claro of MBM ‘73. “As AIM alumni, we need to have a heart for this institution…It was my little way of helping the institution, of giving back.” Giving back was also the motive behind the donation of USD24,000 by Mr. Hyun Oh Cho (MBM ‘85). He was a full scholar when he attended AIM, and he thought it fit to return the amount in the form of full MBA program tuition. He hoped the recipient of the scholarship would “succeed in life and give the money back to the school. It’s just passing it on... Everyone would like to see AIM become better and better in the world arena.”

The Chen-Yung Memorial Foundation Scholars IN JUNE 2009, THE ASIAN INSTITUTE of Management (AIM) established the Chen-Yung Memorial Foundation Scholarship Fund following the generous commitment of Dr. Ching Chih Chen to fund qualified applicants to the Master in Business Administration (MBA), Master in Management, and Master in Development Management (MDM) programs. Dr. Chen, a former member of the AIM Board of Governors, is the chairman of the Chen-Yung Memorial Foundation. Named in honor of his father, the Fund aims to support people who will participate in furthering the human resource development of Vietnam in the field of management. The annual donation of USD60,000 shall provide students with full scholarships, support their living expenses, and fund the airfare to and from Vietnam.

customer support from the company. Conclusion Social Media can help companies in engaging with customers and having authentic conversations with them. These interactions will definitely go a long way in getting honest feedback from customers, increasing customer satisfaction, and even connecting with new customers. Big corporations are gradually seeing the trend that this may be the way businesses talk to customers. Says Forrester consultant Josh Bernoff, using Social Media “will become so common— a way to do business that we won’t talk about it anymore.”

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The Women’s Advocate TRAN BICH THUY, MDM 2010

RAN BICH THUY WAS BORN TO A POOR RURAL family in Vietnam. In grade school, she and her brother had to help take care of the family’s farm and animals. “This was the period just after the war, and Vietnam was still facing boycott from the West. So from the time I was born until I went to college, having enough food to eat was always a major problem for us,” she recounted. Having decided that education would be her key to break the cycle of poverty, Thuy took an exam and received a scholarship at the most prestigious high school in their province. To support herself, Thuy sold goods at the local market on weekends. In 1988, through another examination, she landed a scholarship at the Hanoi Foreign Language Teachers’ Training University. While taking up BA in Teaching Foreign Languages (specializing in Russian language and studies), she studied English and became an English tutor to fund her expenses. “I feel that, coming from such a background, I am more appreciative of what I have and have a more considerate understanding of the poor,” she said. Thuy channeled her compassion for the poor towards the advancement of Vietnam’s women and elderly from 1995 to 2009. As national project coordinator and international cooperation officer for the Vietnam Women’s Union (VWU) and HelpAge International (a UKbased NGO), she managed project execution by implementing partners, provided donor and program guidance to project staff, evaluated projects, and contributed to national policy processes, among others. “I was closely involved in formulating proposals targeting poor and disadvantaged people, managing and implementing internationally funded development projects through the formation of community-based self-help groups and provision of microcredit loans,” explained Thuy. The projects cost USD1.2 million and cover 67 communities in four provinces. Founded in 1930, VWU has more than 10,000 offices, 30,000 full-time staff, 14 million members, and hundreds of development projects, making it by far the country’s largest mass organization and the second biggest women’s organization in Asia. Although most of its budget comes from the government, it has other funding sources, such as international donors and small membership fees. “We also have businesses, like we have our own publishing house. We produce 10 publications… We have a women’s training school,” described Thuy. “Women’s issues are a priority of the government. Through women, we can reach all the family members... And if the families benefit, the whole community and society benefit.” VWU is one of the main organizations implementing the government’s poverty reduction program. About 40 percent of the fund of the government’s Social Policy Bank, whose mandate is to help the poor access loans without collateral, is coursed to VWU. “We have done a lot to improve women’s lives,” she continued. “When I joined the Women’s Union about 15 years ago, we were more concerned about poverty reduction. That means poverty was the big issue then. But now our supporting activities are more diverse.

We have gone one step up to business or economic development. We promote women entrepreneurs so that they can help the poor escape from poverty by providing employment… We’re also concerned about many other things, like reproductive healthcare, nutrition, antitrafficking in women and children, education for women, HIV/AIDS prevention, and capacity building.” For her excellent performance, Thuy was honored in 2006 with a Certificate of Merit for Outstanding Accomplishment in Development from the Prime Minister. The following year, she presented a successful project at the Regional Asia Pacific AIDS Conference in Colombo. She also received certificates from two Dutch educational institutions. Because Thuy liked her job and wished to “become an effective and able leader in VWU,” she had long wanted to pursue graduate studies. In 2003, she was awarded a scholarship to Holland. But her

“We learned from our professors to help one another. Do not just pay attention on your score. The objective of our class is everybody will graduate. So we help one another.” second child was only three years old. “When I told my husband, he didn’t say anything at all. I knew the answer,” she narrated. “We didn’t have anyone to stay with us. How could I leave two kids with him? I knew he’s right. At the time, I gave priority to my family… Some years passed. I shared with my husband my wish for a master’s degree. Before I sent the application to AIM, I consulted him. He said, ‘Now that the kids are grown, you can go.’ He helped me review for the AIMAT.” Three MDM alumni at VWU introduced Thuy to AIM. Her supervisor, Ms. Pham Moai Giang, graduated in the mid-’90s and recommended the program to other staff. In the ensuing years, two other staff members joined the MDM on scholarship. “All of them talked highly of the program and advised me to apply because of its depth, innovativeness, and practitioner orientation,” Thuy said. “More importantly, I noticed that what they learned has concretely improved their work and enabled them to become more effective policymakers and leaders… My supervisor said, ‘AIM’s program would be good for us in VWU.’ I myself looked at the website and studied the structure and content. I found most of the subjects here very useful for me. Going to other countries may have its advantages, but which one is the best for me? I think it’s this one. “I hope that the MDM program will enable me to have more strategic and effective management knowledge and skills in development so that I can support VWU more effectively to meet the changing development situation of the country,” Thuy wrote in her application essay. For five years, Thuy practiced cost cutting to save money for any expenses that would not be shouldered by a scholarship. What is it like living her dream?

AIM Leader Magazine | Four th Quar ter 2009

“The first thing I like here is the methodology—very applicable, very practical, not just lectures but sharing experiences with one another,” she shared. “At the beginning, it’s really a shock for most of us. In our MDM class, the average age is 36. We have not been in school for so many years. It is very, very intensive—four to five subjects in a day. The second one is the language barrier. It took me some weeks to get used to the different accents. You have to follow the flow... But now it ‘s much better… I really like the cases and the way the professors deliver the sessions. They travel a lot, and they know very well each country’s situation. They are also very friendly.” The adjustment phase did take its toll though. “When I arrived, no one was there in my dorm room. I was the first; I had no one to talk to. I got homesick,” Thuy disclosed. “I sent an email to my supervisor: ‘Maybe I shouldn’t be here. I’m 39 already. This is for young guys, not for me.’ But it turned out I have a 54-year-old classmate. I wrote in the email that it’s very tough. But then she said, ‘No, you cannot look back. You have to move forward. And then, after 11 months, you will appreciate the time spent there. Others have done it. Why can’t you?’ She said that, based on my performance, I would do well.” Thuy has also been spurred on by her classmates’ support. “I’m very happy with my classmates. One week after I came here, a Filipino classmate took us on a city tour,” she recalled. “After another week, somebody else familiarized us with the surroundings, where to buy things. We learned from our professors to help one another. Do not just pay attention on your score. The objective of our class is everybody will graduate. So we help one another.” Thuy’s learning team, meanwhile, is composed of seven students from different countries. “I learn a lot from them because we have different ways of looking at things, and we have different backgrounds.” Thuy is committed to “doing good things for people, helping others overcome their difficulties, and bringing them hope.” She is deeply grateful that the Chen-Yung Memorial Foundation scholarship has brought her much closer to leaving her own legacy. “Many of my classmates are self-funded, so I feel very privileged to have a scholarship,” she stated. “We scholars really appreciate it.”

nance services product group specialist at Asia Commercial Bank. Her last assignment was building the market for American Express travelers’ checks in Vietnam. “But after working for five years, I wanted to improve my knowledge and skills,” she noted. “I wanted to study the MBA for a long time. “My objective is to be a brand consultant (someday),” she continued. “Martin Roll is an expert in marketing and branding in Asia.

He’s very famous. I learned a lot from him. I met him and worked with him for a few days when I was with an advertising company. I admire him, and like him I want to be an expert in branding.” The opportunity to take the MBA came when a friend of Uyen’s older brother informed them of the Chen-Yung scholarship. “At the same time I got the Chen-Yung scholarship, I got a Fulbright scholarship in my country. They have a program for Vietnamese. I chose AIM because English is important in globalization, and my English is not good,” she confessed. “I NGUYEN UYEN THI PHUONG, MBA 2010 wanted to improve both my English and my knowledge. I think my English is better now. I know how how to know the customers,” NGUYEN UYEN THI PHUONG to speak more slowly. Here, I must she said. has always been interested in the understand others, and others This newfound career path commercial side of business. The must understand me. led to a rich work experience in desire to be a businessperson “The problem for the Vietnamsomeday was her reason for taking marketing, brand identity, website ese [students] is English,” she construction and management, BA in Economics at the University added. “I studied English by just of Economics of Ho Chi Minh, where social development, and market research. Uyen became a branding reading the newspaper and the dicher father is an employee. “But after finishing university, I became consultant at an advertising com- tionary. I hear a sound, and I repeat it. Sometimes my pronunciation pany. For two years, she enjoyed interested in marketing—how to her job as fund mobilization and fi- is not good. I learned English in promote and sell products, and

The Marketing Professional

secondary school, but that’s just a few hours per week.” Uyen thus finds reading cases and class participation at AIM a challenge. “Sometimes I cannot catch up,” she admitted. “I study every time I can. I learn a lot from reading cases. I average four hours a day of sleep. In the first week, I could not adjust, but after that, everything was okay… I swim once per week. I don’t have time to go out. Everything changed when I came here… No other place can train you to live under pressure. Now I know how to live under pressure.” Uyen has high regard for AIM professors. “I like the way they teach us,” she noted. “They understand our difficulty. They speak slowly enough... Sometimes they are very humorous. “We Vietnamese students are very proud to make it to AIM,” she stated, adding that she wished AIM would do more marketing activities in their country and that she had written a letter of gratitude to the Chen-Yung Foundation for giving them the AIM experience. Along with another scholar, Tram Anh, she gave the letter and a gift to the head of the Foundation. “I will give them another gift, but I will add my grades in the first term.” Uyen is determined to show good standing. Uyen, who can read and write French, is guided by the French saying “Vouloir c’est pouvoir,” which means “If you want, you can.” “Sometimes we have a great aim, and we must have the determination to attain it,” she said. “My great aim is to finish the AIM program with a high grade.”

“Sometimes we have a great aim, and we must have the determination to attain it. My great aim is to finish the AIM program with a high grade.”

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Story diploma thesis research on the Philippines. “I wanted to come back as my first exchange semester at AIM was a fantastic experience, and I wanted to finish my studies with such an experience,” she said. Like Yvonne, many, if not all, ISEP students discovered and felt how truly exceptional Philippine hospitality is. Her first time in the Philippines, Astrid Hoefer from the Management Center Innsbruck, Austria

“AIM’s teaching method is very stimulating. It brings many new insights and ideas while discussing the cases in class.”

THE INTERNATIONAL STUDENT EXCHANGE PROGRAM by Sherbet Katigbak-Manalili, BMP 2005

HEY SAID SHE’LL FALL IN LOVE with AIM and the Philippines. And she did. That’s why after two years, Yvonne Larcher from the Vienna University of Economics and Business, Austria is back in campus. Yvonne entered the three-month International Student Exchange Program (ISEP) in October 2007. “I read field reports from former Austrian exchange students, and they definitely encouraged me to go to AIM. What was

shared, “The friendliness of the whole AIM staff and student colleagues is really impressive. I felt at home from the very beginning.” Simon George from the University of Cologne, Germany similarly said that the Philippines’ “1,000 smiles all over” would be one of his fondest memories of the exchange program. The case method at AIM represents the most demanding and engaging way to learn in becoming critical thinkers and decision makers. ISEP students who are used to the lecture mode of learning found the case method grueling yet valuable. “I am used to mainly lectures and a structured approach. AIM’s teaching method is very stimulating. It brings many new insights and ideas while discussing

funny was that all of them said that you never want to leave the Philippines after being there...The students I talked to were right—you’ll fall in love with the people at AIM and the country...,” Yvonne shared in her article entitled “An Exchange Semester at AIM: A Retrospective” which was published in the third quarter 2008 issue of the AIM Alumni Leadership Magazine. On her second coming, she joins the ISEP 2008-2009 batch to complete her

AIM Partner Schools North America Anderson School, UCLA (CA, USA) Jerome Chazen School, Columbia University (NY, USA) McGill University, Montreal (Quebec, Canada) George Graziado School of Business, Pepperdine University (CA, USA) Richard Ivey School of Business, University of Western Ontario (Ontario, Canada) Kenan-Flagler School of Business, University of North Carolina (NC, USA) Weatherhead School of Business, Case Western (OH, USA) Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania (PA, USA) Shulich School of Business, York University, Toronto (Ontario, Canada)

South America Instituto de Estudios Superiores de Administracion (Venezuela) Instituto Panamericano de Alta Direccion de Empresa (Mexico) Europe Audencia Nantes (France) Copenhagen Business School (Denmark) EDHEC (France) HEC (France) Universita Commerciale Luigi Bocconi (Italy) Universite Catholique de Louvain (Belgium) University of Cologne (Germany) University of Mannheim (Germany) University of St. Gallen (Switzerland) Vienna University of Economics & Business (Austria) Warsaw School of Economics (Poland)

Asia & the Pacific Indian Institute of Management - Ahmedabad (India) Indian Institute of Management - Bangalore (India) Indian Institute of Management - Calcutta (India) Keio University (Japan) Korea University Business School (Korea) KAIST (Korea) Nanyang Technological University MBA (Singapore) National University of Singapore MBA (Singapore) Sun Yat Sen, Guangzhou (China) Universiti Kabangsaan Malaysia (Malaysia) University of Sydney (Australia) Victoria University of Wellington (New Zealand) Xavier Labour Relations Institute (India) Thamassat University (Thailand) Asian Institute of Technology (Thailand)

AIM Leader Magazine | Four th Quar ter 2009

My Life at HEC France as an Exchange MBA Student by Clarence Lim, MBA 2009

the cases in class,” said Astrid Hoefer. Anna Nikulina from the Norwegian School of Economics and Business Administration (NHH), Norway shared, “Class participation is extremely important at AIM; on the contrary, it’s not typical for a European to speak out during lectures. I think that AIM values individual effort more; whereas, NHH values team work. Professors here [at AIM] try to ensure personal growth of every student. They motivate students to think very independently. This is the most valuable skill I learned at AIM.” “AIM is very different from my university—it’s a welcomed difference from my lecture studies,” Simon George added. AIM’s environment with its diverse student body is also a learning platform for the ISEP students. At AIM, students learn a “The International Student Exhange Program” cont. on page 49 >> 16%

Asia

AIM ISEP Inbound Students

Americas

75%

Europe

By Region & Country

Australia Austria Belgium Canada China Denmark France Germany India Italy Korea Mexico Netherlands Norway Poland Spain Sweden Switzerland Thailand USA

35 30 25 20 15 10 5 0

EUROPE HAS ALWAYS BEEN A DREAM. Never did it occur to me that AIM would help me get there much sooner than I expected. The first time I saw the Eiffel Tower, I was in awe—I just couldn’t take my eyes off it. Same with the second time. And the third. I remember the snowy night I bid goodbye to it, I was standing on the beautifully built Pont Alexandre III as the sun set, just coming from Musee Rodin and Invalides, with the Eiffel Tower and the Seine River in view, and just a few steps away from the Christmas market on Champs-Élysées and the Arc de Triomphe. I looked around me, taking everything all in. I was amazed how in three months, these sights have become regular to me. Experiencing MBA in AIM has been a great adventure already, and now this! I actually still find it hard to believe, and I’m really thankful for the opportunity. A life change in three months? Possible. It happened to me. Arriving Paris past midnight because of an almost 7-hour flight delay—without a ride, unsure of where to go and how to get there. A sprained ankle treated with my first ever week-long cast. A lost dorm key that cost me a very painful 125 Euros. A trip to my dream destination—Santorini, Greece—all on my own. Exploring Paris by myself, with my Frommer’s travel book on hand. These have taught me courage and independence. Interacting, working and building friendships with people from all over the world. Experiencing Parisian life as a citizen, not a tourist. Learning about doing business in France; the French culture; different European countries and the European Union; winemak-

ing and tasting, and so much more. Traveling to Budapest, Hungary; Barcelona and Madrid, Spain; Lisbon, Portugal; and Rome, Italy—all with AIM batchmate and friend Kerry Lau, who also went to HEC, some with AIM friends also on ISEP Abhishek Kumar and Juan Patag, as well as newly met friends Mel Wong (Kerry’s friend from Australia) and Emily Chen (an HEC friend on exchange from Taiwan). All these have widened my perspective. Before, many countries were just like names on the map to me. It was through ISEP that I actually got to put faces on these, and to my delight, friends too. Now, the other side of the world does not seem so far away, and I realize that people, no matter what their culture is, are not so different after all. On the more trivial but quite practical aspects...I learned to figure out maps and the metro, walk the whole day for consecutive days, and regularly climb up and go down dozens of steps (entailed to reach HEC from the train station and vice versa). I’m happy to say that I think my stamina has improved!

As for academic matters, HEC’s teaching style is more lecture based. Though this has its merits and we still learned a lot, I missed the unpredictability, energy and insights brought about by our case method. Kerry and I realized that AIM has trained us to think and work a certain way, with our AIM professors’ prodding in the case room and our rigorous workload, which helped us in our HEC class discussions and projects. Working with our AIM can group mates and classmates have also prepared us for working with diverse people. More than three months and 180 baguettes later, I left Paris with a better sense of and trust in myself, a broader outlook of the world, a fondness for Europe and France, a belief that nothing is really impossible, an assurance that God is faithful to take care of me anywhere life takes me, newfound friends, a greater appreciation of my roots (the Philippines, AIM, my friends and family back home) and so many wonderful, priceless memories. True indeed is HEC’s tagline, which says, “The more you know, the more you dare.”

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AIP IN THAILAND AND MALAYSIA

by Susan Africa-Manikan, MAP 2002

Learning Adventures Beyond the Case Rooms “The true voyage of discovery consists not in seeking new landscapes but in having new eyes.”—Marcel Proust. IT IS AN UNDENIABLE FACT THAT when one sees beyond his own boundaries, his eyes open to even greater opportunities for learning. This is the concept behind the Washington SyCip Graduate School of Business’s elective course, the Asian Industry Program (AIP), which broadens the students’ view of their worlds to experience first hand the culture and business of neighboring countries. Commenced in November 2008 in Shanghai and Beijing, the AIP took one step ahead and included two countries in its latest foray last September 5-13, 2009. The learning experience took the young MBAs to the steps of the Doi Suthep Temple in Chiangmai, the Assumption University, Office of the Board of Investment, OTOP Tourism Village in Samut Sakhon in Bangkok, and the Institute of Islamic Understanding Malaysia, Permodalan Nasional Berhad , Palm Oil Board and Rubber Industry Smallholders Development Authority (RISDA) in Kuala Lumpur. Not to be missed were the cultural opportunities of witnessing the breath taking stage production of Siam Niramit, watching the elephant show in Elephant Park, mar-

veling at the local products in the Thai silk, gems and umbrella factories, and touring the truly Asian landmarks of Genting, Putrajaya, Petrona Twin Towers, King’s Palace, Beryls Chocolate Kingdom, and Merdeka Cricket Ground among many others in Malaysia. The unique experience also gave the future alumni the rare opportunity of meeting the AIM community of graduates in Thailand and Malaysia, seeing for themselves the value

The unique experience also gave the future alumni the rare opportunity of meeting the AIM community of graduates in Thailand and Malaysia, seeing for themselves the value of networking, gratified with their support and warm hospitality. of networking, gratified with the support and warm hospitality of Brother Asst. Prof. Dr. Vinai Viriyavidhayavongs and Pramoul Nurach in Thailand, and AIM Governors YABhg Tun Dato’ Seri Dr. Ahmad Sarji Abdul Hamid and Tan Sri Dr. Lin See-Yan in Malaysia, along with Triple A winner Tan Sri Dr.Hadenan Bin A. Jalil. Most certainly, the tour in Malaysia had been organized with excellence by KELAB AIM Malaysia Vice President Haji

The delegation with AIM Board of Governor YABhg Tun Dato’ Seri Dr. Ahmad Sarji Abdul Hamid (middle)

From L: Mr. Greg Atienza, Mr. Haji Zulkifly Baharom and Dr. Ahmad Sarji

Networking dinner with alumni at the Royal Lake Club KL

Zulkifly Baharom. The alumni networking evening at the Royal Lake Club KL, was graced by Triple A Awardees YBhg Tan Sri Dr. Hadenan Abdul Jalil, YBhg Dato’ Syed Ahmad Idid, and Madam Effie Goh as well as guests of honor H.E. Philippine Ambassador Victoriano Lecaros and Lady Melissa Lecaros. Of course, the indefatigable members of the alumni association in Malaysia were present led by YBhg Datuk Ir.(Dr) Mohd. Annas, President, Haji Zul, Vice President, Ms. Yin San, Hon. Secretary, Mr. Ching Lai Huat, Hon. Treasurer, and Dr. Ahmad Zaki, Director. There were many key takeaways from the educational tour, which enabled the students to personally experience the cultural, political and social differences of doing business in Thailand and Malaysia, as gleaned from the erudite speakers and interaction with the students of Institut Kefahaman Islam Malaysia (IKIM). The participants also learned of the different financial systems, business operations, industry trends, the importance of personal relationships in both countries, plus business etiquette and protocol. Overall, the AIP proved to be more than an educational journey beyond the AIM case rooms, as it provided colorful memories that will undoubtedly be part of the students’ lifelong AIM experience. PHOTOGRAPHS BY LAURICE ALAAN, MBA 2009

Laurice Alaan and Mia Banzon at the Petronas Twin Towers

AIM Leader Magazine | Four th Quar ter 2009

Ryan Gudani learning about Thai silk

Office of the Board of Investment Thailand at Chatuchak, Bangkok

Ronald Acedillo, Ryan Francis Gudani, Mia Banzon, Laurice Alaan, and Toda Meneses at the foot of the dragon stairs at Chang Mai

Fresh Thai silk

Maesa Elephant Camp

At Siam Niramit cultural show

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The 2nd AIP in

CHINA

by Sherbet Katigbak-Manalili, BMP 2005 WITH CHINA’S ECONOMIC GROWTH accelerating at full speed, our alumni in Beijing and Shanghai are surely living in the fast lane. Schedules inexorably hectic, traveling locally and abroad, juggling career and family life—so getting into their busy calendar would be a challenge. But when AIM sends out a call for their support, they will always find time to accommodate their alma mater. So for the second time, our alumni in Beijing and Shanghai have again displayed their generosity and unwavering commitment to AIM by taking part in the one-week Asian Immersion Program (AIP) last November 29 to December 5, 2009.

Our alumni in Beijing and Shanghai have again displayed their generosity and unwavering commitment to AIM by taking part in the one-week Asian Immersion Program (AIP). AIM alumni were resource speakers during company visits and forums where alumni shared their knowledge on doing business in China. Like in the 2008 AIP forums, our alumni stressed the importance of guangxi or relationship, a special feature of doing business in China. Relationships built on mutual trust and benefit with the government, investors, partners and even staff is imperative in doing business in the country. Alumni who graciously participated in the program were Mr. Jack Niu, MM 1998, service operations director of Honeywell Building Solutions (HBS) North Asia; Ms. Lanying Zhang, MDM 1998, country director of Actionaid; Mr. Ko-Tsang “Rock” Hsiung, MM 1993, president and general manager of Roled Opto Electronics (Shanghai) Co., Ltd.; Mr. Vikas Jalan, MBM 2008, senior financial analyst GM Asia Pacific; Mr. Peide Jiang, MM 1995, partner at Bellwether Consulting; Ms. Catherine Chen, MBM 1998, chief representative of Chemoil Energy, Ltd.; Mr. Gil Dolon, BMP 2002, technical consultant for Paint Technology, Hempel A/S; and Ms. Vivien Haiyan Zheng, MM 1999, associate with China International Capital Corporation, Ltd. Mr. Rock Hsiung once more generously hosted the Shanghai alumni networking dinner at The Lake Restaurant. To our alumni in China, a big (thank you)! PHOTOGRAPHS BY SHERBET MANALILI, BMP 2005

Not for those with fear of heights, the outdoor observation deck features a glass floor for a unique panoramic view of Shanghai.

Mr. Jack Niu receives a gift from the AIMLeader’s Editor-in-Chief Mr. Greg Atienza at Honeywell

Dr. Tea in Beijing

Alumni networking dinner at The Lake Restaurant, where Mr. Rock Hsiung hosted the expensive and sumptuous dinner.

AIM Leader Magazine | Four th Quar ter 2009

At Shanghai Baosteel

Prof. Mau Bolante and Mr. Greg Atienza at Beijing’s Wangfujing Street

Beijing Planning Exhibition Hall

Jade factory

Mr. Spike Millington (fourth from left) of the EU-China Biodiversity Program

Beijing’s Wangfujing Street‘s bizarre street food Tiananmen Square, currently the largest city square in the world, is located in the center of Beijing. The city square has great cultural significance, a site of many important events in Chinese history.

Inside the Forbidden City

At Shanghai Baosteel

The Beijing National Stadium or the Bird’s Nest

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Doing Business in Thailand Pramoul Nurach, MBM 1986, Southeast Asia Consulting Service Manager of Microsoft SEA shared with the MBA student participants of the AIP in Thailand a few guidelines on doing business in his country. Here are a few of his tips. Thailand Overview KNOWN AS THE LAND OF smiles, Thailand is a country of natural beauty, tropical climate and hospitable people. Previously called Siam, Thailand is the only Southeast Asian county never to have been taken over by a European power. Thai people are very proud of this and it is reflected in their culture. However, foreign colonial power in the countries surrounding Thailand has resulted in a large external influence, especially in Bangkok, offering a good balance between foreign and Thai culture. With a sense of humour and a welcoming attitude, Thais are pleasant people who value the Buddhist tradition. Doing business successfully with Thai people requires understanding the values and beliefs of Thai society.

should always be accepted as these are used as a means of getting to know each other before doing business together. Informal conversations before or after a meeting are common. Thais may ask you personal questions about your age, marital status and educational background, to help them understand your place in the social hierarchy and how to build familiarity with you.

Building good relationships is an important part of business and the negotiation process. Thais place great importance in “liking” their business partners.

Business Practice Thais are generally not confident decision makers and often need to consult with Thai Culture— several people before making Key Concepts and Values a decision, leading to a lengthy process. However, impatience Family: As the cornerstone should be avoided as it will be of Thai society, the family is seen as a sign of weakness. given great value and imporThe traditional common form tance. Thai families are close of greeting is the “wai” when and several generations may hands are raised with palms tolive in the same house, with the gether, fingers pointing upwards oldest male being the head of the PHOTO: MUPPAPHONE/FLICKR and with a bowed head. Younger household. The power structure what they might have. Service is equal rights and protection as and lower-ranking people are of the family is mirrored in the highly valued and given with a men, although some inequalities supposed to offer the wai first to organizational environment. remain in the law. An increasing their senior counterparts. The Advice from elders is expected to sense of modesty. number of women hold profession- higher one’s hands are placed, be followed without question alal positions and women’s access the more respect is shown. though this is becoming less true Structure and Hierarchy to higher education has grown, in Thai Companies In Thai business, first names with time and modernization. with more than half of university are generally used, preceded by Thai business reflects a sociIndirect Communication: ety in which hierarchy and respect graduates being women. the honorific title “Khun”, used Being subtle and indirect is a for seniors are very important. both for men and women. Note valued characteristic in Thai Working Relationships that Thais will tend to use first culture. Thai people avoid direct Understanding social status of people and the vertical structure in Thailand names as opposed to last names confrontations and criticism. of a company is essential for doing Building good relationships even when using Mr and Miss. Hospitality: One trait of business with the Thais. is an important part of business A high quality business card the Thai people’s nature— Traditionally, women were and the negotiation process. is an important asset in Thailand hospitality —is visible in both social and professional contexts. underrepresented in the business Thais place great importance in and should be exchanged when Thai people will welcome guests world and especially in manage- “liking” their business partners. initiated by the host. Cards Invitations to social activities should be offered to the most into their houses and show their rial positions. However, this has changed and now women have from your Thai counterparts senior person first and it is generosity by offering anything

AIM Leader Magazine | Four th Quar ter 2009

>> “The International imperative that cards are given and received with the right hand. Student Exchange Program” continued from page 43

Do’s and Don’ts DO wear business suits for meetings with trousers, a longsleeved shirt and tie. Women should normally wear skirt and blouses, covering the shoulders and upper legs. Do be on time for the first meeting. Do compromise and be flexible in the meeting. Do update and/or walk through the documents personally before the formal meeting to avoid the confrontation. DO take off your shoes when invited into your Thai business colleague’s home. DON’T plan any meetings at the beginning and end of the day, these should be avoided due to difficulties with transport to the work place. DON’T joke about or criticize the Thai King or Queen as these are to be treated with respect and it is illegal to say or write anything offensive to royalty. DON’T touch your Thai colleague’s head as it is considered sacred according to Buddhist tradition.

great deal from their interactions with colleagues from various racial, cultural, socioeconomic, linguistic, religious and professional backgrounds. “The diversity of nationalities experienced here is probably what I enjoyed the most, since the student body at my school back home is not as diverse. Something I learnt from this experience is being open-minded to different cultures and opinions,” said Iracema Rodarte from IPADE Business School, Mexico. “I also learnt that people from different cultural backgrounds have different work styles. This helped me practice my abilities in adapting myself in order to work with them in teams.” “AIM was the perfect place to meet people from different countries. The most important thing for me was that I did not only learn something about the Philippine culture, but also about Indian, Chinese and other Asian cultures,” Yvonne Larcher said. Ms. Maria Victoria P. Tibon, Program Manager of the Washington SyCip Graduate School of Business, says that participants can expect to broaden and deepen their perspectives through the program. “An appreciation of and respect for culture different from their own through interaction with students of other nationalities is likewise expected.” AIM started its International Student

Exchange Program in 1994. Enabling students to widen their horizons, AIM currently has active academic exchange partnerships with 37 premier universities worldwide. Under the program, the top 40% of AIM MBA students are given the

“The program aims to provide students with an enriching experience from a diverse selection of foreign schools around the world.” opportunity to spend a semester abroad and experience the learning and research environment of AIM’s partner institutions. In return, the Institute welcomes an average of 30-40 students of its partner schools yearly. For January-March 2010, 13 AIM students will be leaving for Canada, Denmark, India, France, Singapore, Sweden, and the USA. “The program aims to provide students with an enriching experience from a diverse selection of foreign schools around the world. It seeks to promote diversity among the student

population. It serves to establish and maintain ties with world class institutions for future research, joint degrees and conferences,” explains Ms. Tibon. “Above all, it is an invaluable medium to promote the Institute and showcase the excellence, quality and unique process of its educational system to the world.” More than 200 students from Asia and the Pacific, the Americas, and Europe have passed through the halls of AIM since 1994. Since SY 2006-2007, the number of inbound students have increased. SY 20072008 saw the largest number of ISEP students with 54 students coming from 14 countries, mostly from Europe. Of AIM’s partner schools, Copenhagen Business School (Denmark) has sent the most number of students to AIM, followed by Luigi Bocconi University (Italy), EDHEC (France) and the University of Cologne (Germany). AIM is a member of the Program in International Management (PIM), a consortium of the finest management schools in the world. AIM is its first member-school from Asia. AIM is continuously adding top-ranked international partners to its ISEP list. Fond memories, good friends and valuable learning—these are the things that AIM’s ISEP students are sure to bring home. Quoting Anna Nikulina: “Philippines turned out to be an experience of a lifetime. There will be a bunch of memories that will remain forever.”

A Better India:

A BETTER WORLD

WITH ONE OF THE HIGHEST GDP GROWTH RATES IN THE WORLD AND AN array of recent achievements in technology, industry and entrepreneurship, India strides confidently towards the future. But, in the world’s largest democracy, not everyone is equally fortunate. More than 300 million Indians are still prey to hunger, illiteracy and disease, and 51 per cent of India’s children are still undernourished. What will it take for India to bridge this great divide? When will the fruits of development reach the poorest of the poor, and wipe the tears from the eyes of every man, woman and child, as Mahatma Gandhi had dreamt? And how should this, our greatest challenge ever, be negotiated? In this extraordinarily inspiring and visionary book, N.R. Narayana Murthy, who pioneered, designed and executed the Global Delivery Model that has become the cornerstone of India’s success in information technology services outsourcing, shows us that a society working for the greatest welfare of the greatest number—samasta jananam sukhino bhavantu—must focus on two simple things: values and good leadership. Drawing on the remarkable Infosys story and the lessons learnt from the two decades of post-reform India, Narayana Murthy lays down the ground rules that must be followed if future generations are to inherit a truly progressive nation. Built on Narayana Murthy’s lectures delivered around the world, A Better India: A Better World is a manifesto for the youth, the architects of the future, and a compelling argument for why a better India holds the key to a better world.

N.R. Narayana Murthy is the Founder-Chairman of Infosys Technologies Ltd. He is a member of the Asian Institute of Management’s Board of Governors.

Spotlight T R I PL E A AWA R DEE

“You have to equally balance the three rings of life— work, family, and society...It is the reality of life that you have to manage these three obligations and manage them well. These three social rings must join together like the Olympic rings and cannot be separated.”

AIM Leader Magazine | Four th Quar ter 2009

TEERACHAI CHEMNASARI, MBM 1973

Leading with Encouragement and Enthusiasm Teerachai Chemnasari, Asian Institute of Management (AIM) Master of Business Management alumnus and AIM Alumni Achievement (Triple A) Awardee, is a busy man. The 63-year-old businessman/consultant/manager currently juggles no less than eight different job positions in the areas of consultancy and education. AS PARTNER OF AMERICAN FIRM Grid International, Inc—a post he has held for almost 20 years—he has led more than 1,200 Grid seminars in Asia. He is the managing director of Grid Teamwork Limited, a company that has provided management workshops on cultural change for 45,000 top Thai and foreign executives from various industries, state enterprises, and government offices over the past 20 years. As managing director of SRI Consultant Ltd, he provides part-time HR consulting services to Thai energy company Banpu Public Company Ltd, the Islamic Bank, Singer, Siam Makro, the Aeronautical Radio of Thailand, and PTT Chemicals, among others. He is also a councilor at the Chiang Mai University and Srinagarindra Wiroj University Councils, and a member of the Efficiency Improvement Sub-committee of the Office of the Civil Service Commission. His other hats: advisor to the Sub-Committee on Financial Institutions of the Senate; qualified specialist to be Board Member of the State Enterprises at the Ministry of Finance; and Executive Board member of Thailand Institute for Scientific and Technological Research. On top of all these, he is a family man and an active AIM alumnus. While his professional planner is undoubtedly full, Mr. Teerachai nevertheless stresses the importance of keeping equilibrium in all aspects of his life. “You have to equally balance the three rings of life—work, family, and society,” he says. “It is the reality of life that you have to manage these three obligations and manage them well. These three social rings must join together like the Olympic rings and cannot be separated.” To do this, he says, one must start by

establishing trust and respect, followed by effectively communicating with the family. “Make your family members understand what your career demands and personal needs are and allow them to participate and be involved in some activities so that they will also commit. Always use the formula P + I = C (Participation + Involvement = Commitment) and you can manage the balance well,” is his advice. Keeping communication lines with family members open is all the more paramount, he adds, with the advent of communication tools which allow everyone to be accessible anytime. A product of Chulalongkorn University, Mr. Teerachai received his degree in Public Finance in 1969. He worked with a local management consultant firm for two years “to qualify myself for the MBA program and, at the same time, search for a good school”. In 1971, he decided to take the entrance test at the AIM upon the advice of his boss, who was at that time the president of the Thailand Management Association and who gave high recommendations for the institute. “He said it was the Harvard Blueprint in Asia and I would gain an excellent network in most of the Asian countries,” he says. On the same year, he became part of the batch of AIM students taking the two-year Master in Business Management course, and became the only Thai student on campus. Graduating from AIM in 1973, he was later conferred an honorary doctorate in Business Administration by Chiang Mai University. Mr. Teerachai’s stint at AIM entailed major adjustments. He recalls that his introduction to the case study method was not a smooth one. “The method was new to me be-

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cause we did not use this system in Thailand. The first session I had was Environmental Analysis and I was called by Prof. Francisco Roman to start the case. But I did not know what he was talking about. ‘What case? Where is the case? Why me, what I am supposed to do?’ He was so mad at me,” he says. “It took me sometime to familiarize myself with the education system employed in AIM and I am glad I passed all the requirements,” he adds. He also had to contend with a heavy workload—without the convenience offered by modern tools. “We had to work hard every night since the first day—from Sunday to Friday to prepare for three cases for class discussion the next day; plus the sleepless nights on Friday when you were expected to submit the Written Analysis of Cases (WAC) before 6:00 sharp on Saturday morning,” he says. “This was the most difficult task since you had to read the case well and analyze well and finally type well by yourself under the very strict typing format. At that time, there was no notebook and calculator and you had to buy a portable typewriter and liquid papers to be used every Friday night for one whole year. It was really tough but it gave me strength to survive.” The demands of AIM, he says, prepared him for real life challenges. “Two years with three cases a day, six days a week—all together over 1,000 cases—had given me the greatest learning experiences that had adapted me in real work life situations.” The experience helped him in his stint with multinational companies like Shell, joint ventures like Italian-Thai, and local Thai businesses like Siam Cement Group, where he rose up the executive ranks until he was made the Regional Sales Manager for the Western Region of the Siam Cement Group in 1984. “This was the peak of my career before I resigned in 1985 to run for the Vice Governor of Bangkok but lost in the election,” he says. AIM has also prepared him to “witness the growth and sustain all businesses under “Leading with Encouragement...” continued on page 57 >>

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52 ARTURO MACAPAGAL, MBM 1971

A Man of Many Firsts As the first Chairman of the Alumni Association of AIM, Alumni Achievement Awardee Arturo Macapagal, MBM 1971 shares the history of AAAIM, the first AIM alumni homecoming, and the first Triple A scholarship. Art, as friends call him, was the first president of the student association. He narrates, “Our class of 1971 started the student association—the first one to represent the students. Following the success of the student organization, when we graduated, it was easy to see that an alumni association had to be formed. Thus, our class initiated the Alumni Association of AIM (AAAIM).

“T

HE FIRST THREE letters—Triple A— stood for quality, denotes first class, implies excellence. That’s what we wanted to project.” Such was the basis for the most coveted of alumni awards: the Triple A awards given out to oustanding AIM alumni annually. For his pioneering project as the first chairman of the AAAIM, Art led the preparations for the first ever alumni homecoming. “We asked (then) Dean Gaby Mendoza whom to invite as guest of honor. He pulled out Fortune magazine and on the cover was Ubno Sutoa, the president of Pertamina, an Indonesian oil company. Fortunately, one of our classmates was with Caltex Indonesia and we secured the invite within three days.” Talk about working fast and producing excellent results. Mr. Sutoa’s invitation was auspiciously relevant, as an oil crisis was pervading the Asian region during that time. With the homecoming’s good attendance record at the Rockwell Depot in Makati, “We successfully started an institution,” Art declares. Back then, the goals of the association were simple. They just wanted to set up a mechanism for AIM graduates to continue to communicate with each other after AIM. “We wanted to serve as a link between the alumni and the Institute and to recognize outstanding alumni. Maybe it was not evident then, but we foresaw that we would have to play a continuing role in the success of the Institute by supporting it and its programs,” he says. How prophetic, indeed. Art was extremely active in supporting the new Triple A scholarship project, particularly with re-

cent graduate Ariel de la Cruz (MBA 2008). “It was a pilot program, but a very successful one if I may say. We believe we made a significant contribution,” Art says. Although the association has not yet actively sought a successor scholar to Ariel, “We continue to help out similar outstanding persons. The funds are there, it’s just a matter of finding the right person.” And just how did Art find himself at AIM? According to the eldest son of the late President Diosdado Macapagal and a half brother of President Gloria Arroyo, a friend visited him during the time he was managing a printing press. “He asked a lot of questions related to business policy and although I graduated with a degree in business management, there were a lot of things I did not know. AIM was advertising its new MBM program, so I took advantage of the opportunity,” he recounts. This San Beda alumnus (BS Business Management, 1968, cum laude) had good memories of his years in the Institute. “On the academic side, it was gratifying that I acquired a lot of skills in business. As to the functional areas, it was most important to apply these skills. It became evident in the many cases presented to us. Financial control, human behavior—the many functional areas in those cases allowed us to apply theories. We were really not being spoon fed, we learned how to apply our learnings.” After graduation, Art joined Delta Motors, the first distributor of Toyota cars in the country, as a staff. He received recognition because of the management theories, which he introduced to the organization. He slowly rose through the ranks. Barely eight years after graduating, the association that he founded recognized him as well. Art received the venerable Triple A

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award that very year. “I was cited for my contributions in professionalizing the management of Delta Motors in 1979. I felt honored and privileged to be chosen to receive a prestigious award since it was in recognition of my work as a professional manager,” he shares. In 1992, the opportunity to become an entrepreneur presented itself. So Art made that proverbial leap from employee to entrepreneur. “The constraints that I had as a professional manager—the decisions are not entirely yours—you can just recommend. As an entrepreneur, you can apply what you believe are the appropriate tools,” he says. As the chairman (since 2007) and president (since 2002) of Toyota Pasong Tamo Inc., Art has made various learnings. He is glad to share these. “The most important is putting together a good team. This is very challenging; you have the make sure the person you appoint really fits. “Second: As an entrepreneur, you set the directions and policies. Third: You step aside and allow the team to proceed according to directions. It is gratifying when I see them moving forward and succeeding and running the company very well.” Art credits the continued success of his Toyota franchise to what he calls an “open door policy.” He narrates, “I try to make everyone very comfortable with me and me with them. I schedule interviews with them on a quarterly basis. I also visit the homes of each individual. As to which one, I ask HR to choose. It can be a manager or a rank and file employee. We also have lunch every month with the birthday celebrators of that month. Every week, at least five members get to chat with me.” “A Man of Many Firsts cont. on page 57 >>

P H O T O G R A P H BY J O P E T P U N O

Spotlight T R I PL E A AWA R DEE

“It is important for alumni to [continue to] be involved with the Institute...if he can trace his success in his career from what he has learned from the Institute, then he must repay somehow, either by being active or contributing to fund the Institute’s programs.”

Spotlight

“When I attended the MDP in 1982, I had no expectations or hope of holding such a high office. AIM had been instrumental in preparing me for this position. The time that I spent at AIM opened up my mind, widened it and I saw a bigger world for me to explore...I have every confidence that AIM will continue this proud tradition in the ability to produce leaders for Asia’s future.”

AIM Leader Magazine | Four th Quar ter 2009

DATO’ SERI AHMAD HUSNI HANADZLAH, MDP 1982

For the Love of His Country

HAT BETTER WAY OF CAPPING an illustrious, high-profile, riskrewarding career at one of Malaysia’s leading Bumiputra Merchant Bankers and State Islamic Economic Corporation than doing ‘a lot more than national service’? This is precisely the case with Dato’ Seri Ahmad Husni Hanadzlah, who after having contributed 20 years of his life as professional manager, culminating in the post of General Manager, has taken over a cabinet post as Second Finance Minister of Malaysia in April 2009. Ahmad Husni,55, Member of Parliament for Tambun served as Deputy Minister of International Trade and Industry Malaysia from 2004-2008 prior to his appointment as Deputy Finance Minister in April 2008 and one year later as Second Finance Minister reporting to the Prime Minister and Finance Minister, Datuk Seri Mohd. Najib Tun Razak. In politics, he is the Treasurer of United Malay National Organisation (UMNO) and concurrently the Treasurer of the ruling party in power, Barisan National (BN). “I did not enter politics to fulfill any particular ambition. I entered politics to serve. I will continue to serve for as long as I can. In politics you’re never irrelevant,” says the man who had the distinction of being an alumnus of AIM. Ahmad Husni graduated from University of Malaya with a Bachelor in Economics (Hons.) degree in 1976. Upon being appointed as General Manager of Perak State Islamic Economics Corporation, he was sent to AIM Manila in May 1982 to pursue a 3 months Management Development Program (MDP). Whilst serving as Deputy Minister of International Trade and Industry in 2007 he attended the Leaders in Development Program at Kennedy School of Government, Harvard University in the US. In exercising the provision of Rule 4.1 of the Constitution of Kelab AIM Malaysia, the Board of Management has unanimously voted to honor the admission of AIM alumnus Ahmad Husni to the grade of Honorary Life Member. The recognition was presented to him by a member of the AIM Board of Governors, Tun Dr. Ahmad Sarji Abdul Hamid at a special ceremony in conjunction with the 33rd Anniversary Dinner of the Kelab on November 18, 2009 at the Tamingsari Ballroom in the Royale Chulan Kuala Lumpur. As a tradition, an Honorary Life Member should be a distinguished alumnus of acknowledged eminence whom the Kelab desires to honor for services rendered to the practice of management. During the 33rd Anniversary Dinner, AIM Board of Trustee member, Ms. Nadzalina Lim presented Ahmad Husni with its AIM Distinguished Alumnus medal. In his acceptance speech, Ahmad Husni humbly said, “When I attended the MDP in 1982, I had no expectations or hope of holding such a high office. I am privileged to be in my current seat. AIM had been instrumental in preparing me for this position. The time that

WOR D S BY H A J I Z U L K I F LY BA H A ROM , M M 19 8 9

I spent at AIM opened up my mind, widened it and I saw a bigger world for me to explore. Since then, I have been honored to serve as a Parliamentarian and a Deputy Minister, both at the Ministry of International Trade and Industry and Ministry of Finance and now, the Minister of Finance II. I have every confidence that AIM will continue this proud tradition in the ability to produce leaders for Asia’s future.” It is still fresh in the mind of Ahmad Husni that his MDP at AIM in 1982 was extremely competitive. He could recall “when you get to speak, you will only have about a minute or two before other people will try to interrupt you with their viewpoints. At least 40 hands will be raised as soon as people think they can attack your point or when they think they have a better point (if you are simply a boring speaker) or even when you are still in the middle of your speech. Whatever point you make, you must also be prepared to think on your feet. I have had classes when a student had to go on the defensive against the professor and 59 other students! Yes, you must be able to articulate and defend your views intelligently and succinctly at AIM. I believed if students are not articulate when they enter AIM, they will be when they graduate.” Ahmad Husni, in thanking AIM and Kelab, went on to score his point. “As I stand here this evening, I am proud to say that as a member of this Government, I am given the opportunity to influence the course of development of this country. For this, I thank the Prime Minister for his trust and confidence in me to bear this responsibility. In this regard, I ask for your support and friendship which will be invaluable in the days to come. I would also like to acknowledge the fact that I will not be standing here if not for the comfort and support of my wife, Fauziah, my four sons and grandson, all of whom have been the source of my strength and inspiration. It is to them, our children and grandchildren, yours and mine, that I dedicate my service to. With Allah’s grace, InsyaAllah, I bear this responsibility well.” Talking about the business challenges, Ahmad Husni reaffirmed that the fundamentals in Malaysia are strong and recovery from the global economic crises, steady. The country’s economic and socialeconomic positions are now poised to move forward into a new era of its evolution. Under the leadership of Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib, a new economic model would be introduced to transform Malaysia into a high income economy. On the social-economic front, since the introduction of 1 Malaysia Concept, evidences of progress are now being seen clearly in the inculcation of acceptance, mutual respect and trust amongst all Malaysian. “It is in this regard,” Ahmad Husni stressed, “that our management skills will need to be further developed beyond the confines of the corporate environment. We are already seeing what was essentially a private sector management tool, KPIs and KRAs, being adopted and adapted for our public sector. The corporate sector’s lines of responsibility will blur over time. There will be greater “For the Love...” cont. on page 57 >>

PHO T O COU RT E SY OF DATO’ SER I A H M A D H USN I H A NA DZL A H , M DP 1982

56 >> â&#x20AC;&#x153;Industrialization...â&#x20AC;? continued from page 21 Technology and Industrialization Technology for each basic product varies widely. Those for Forestry and Agriculture are the most common. Equipment for agricultural products may also be used for construction projects by only adding or changing implements and attachments. Specialized equipment like harvesters and dryers for agriculture products, and shedder and pulp mill for the paper industry are not specialized technology and can be acquired at moderate cost. Oil and gas is a pull industry, and there are almost no investment restrictions for technology. Demand is world wide and constant. Entrant barrier of this industry is dictated by the availability of raw material reservoir. Governments will invest for their equipment and refinery plants if crude oil and natural gas can be discovered in their country. This industry also gives us polymers and plastics products as by products of oil refineries and another important and much restricted industry. This leaves the mining industry, both metal and non-metal products as requiring sophisticated technology and highly scientific processes. This industry alone generates and produces what will be needed not only by the three other basic industries, but also for its own industry as materials for mills, plants, equipment and machineries. These items are essential and sought by countries who want to be industrialized, making it the core industry for economic development and technically the most vital of all the basic industries, except the oil and gas industry. It alone can spawn industrialization of a whole nation. It is one industry which can jumpstart economic development, as it contains the essential materials to build resources and machineries needed to prime start the industrialization process. The equipment for the mining and extraction of ores, whether by open pit or underground are basically standard equipment and are not highly sophisticated and complicated. Mining, extraction and hauling technology at this first phase or the primary product column is common and availability is non-exclusive. The secondary industrial product stage of metal smelting purifies ores from 45% metal content to 90% and solidifies into ingots, cathodes and slugs thru extremely high temperatures with furnaces needing a considerable huge amount of energy, approximately 15,000KwH per ton. The new technology of the ore upgrading technique before processing them to pig iron has been lately introduced. There are three types of smelting processes. The blast furnace most used and becoming obsolete, the reverberatory furnace and the most recent and expensive, the electric furnace. The tertiary stage or the refineries

processes for steel produce the different materials such as stainless steel, high tensile steel, and other high grade steel products as castable steel. By varying the amount of alloying elements and form of their presence in the steel controls properties such as the hardness, ductility, and tensile strength of the resulting steel. The production involves thermal treatment by tempering, quenching and annealing. Similar processes go for chemical products which are processed by mixtures and fusions to produce a new chemical supply material. In the fourth stage, called the manufacturing stage, steel is made into wires, strips, sheets, plates, pipes, tubings, rods and bars. These products are materials for the manufacture of cars, ship, trucks, trains, plane bodies and parts, as well as construction materials for buildings, infrastructures and for small items as appliances and kitchen wares. Equipment for smelting and refining are usually located in developed countries far from the source of raw materials. These are highly specialized and exclusive technology and equipment systems. Due to their huge demand for energy, these two processes are located where large energy supply concentrations are available. They may be separated but integrated operations. While the stage 1 mining extraction equipment and technology are available to developing and underdeveloped countries, the stage 2 and 3 equipment and technology are not readily available, even if they have, like African nations huge deposits of raw mining materials. If ever, what they have can only produce wrought iron low quality steel culled from scrap steel. The manufacturing or stage 4 equipment and technology are partially available in the global market. Their size and capacities are relative to the volume of the demand and country market. Mostly large manufacturing estates are found in developed countries where they have a developed base market. Small economy countries have their share of production of these items in a very limited scale. Most Southeast Asia countries for instance still do not have their own automotive and heavy equipment industries in spite of its importance to the country. Casted high thermal engine, transmission and axle parts and steel body pressed parts are expensive and exclusive technology. Investments and Industrialization For the forest industry, such as a large integrated pulp and paper mill, investment is about $1 billion. For agriculture, the cost is even less depending on land area. Financing for these other industries with lesser technology are available from their respective countries and governments. The capital and investment cost for the mining industry, stage 2 to 4 are not

only huge but technology and equipment are also unavailable to just any country. An underdeveloped country with huge deposits of iron ores will need $10,000/ ton for a steel mill with a 10 million ton mine capacity. The cost is much less if the mill is established in the US, approx. $4,800/ton only for the same steel mill capacity. Refining cost of the steel product up to stage 3 will need an additional $4,000/ton. There are also monopolistic charges for technology and science to third world investors. The four most in-demand mining metal products are iron ore, copper, bauxite for aluminum, and uranium, and these are controlled by only seven countries from US, Europe, Canada and Japan. All are vertically integrated from ore extraction to metal fabrication. Between them they control 50% of extraction, 70% of smelting, 66% of refining as well as the global marketing network. Availing of monetary and financial resources is a barrier for industrialization of developing and underdeveloped countries. Bank credits are granted on condition that profitability of their investments for stage 2, 3 and 4 must be guaranteed by the large mining extraction or first stage investors of countries from the west such as US, UK and France, or from Japan. Loans for funds for technology and equipment are so very stringent and needs direct involvement of western companies in the project development level. There are three levels of operators in the mining industry. First level is composed of existing big mining and industrial companies with exclusive technology, mostly from US, Europe and Japan. Second level is composed of big western banks and financial institutions. And the third are composed of the governments of developed capitalist countries. These countries guarantee the first and second operators. These are safe procedures guarded by the big league of capitalist nations, for their own security of economic and political dominance of the rest of the world. Great effort is taken to coordinate their interventions, activity by activity, nation by nation. Non-metal or the chemical industry is not far different. From extraction, separation, purification and mixture, technology and equipment are likewise exclusive, expensive and unavailable. In this situation, industrialization becomes an exclusive club of developed countries who control the technology and equipment of mining products, and can dictate who can have them and use them, hence have the opportunity to be industrialized. Patent, Standards and other Barriers When the monopoly of patented technology and equipment weakens or ends, the exclusive control of the patented technology, equipment and ultimately, the process and manufacturing

product output standards and techniques will be required from the new entrants in the mining industry. This is further exacerbated by the demand of industrial users for stringent published product standards in the market. Steel and other metals have ASTM, JIS and BS specifications and quality restrictions from the US, Japan and UK as market standards. Research and development, training and education are specialized and done by scientist and industry experts. Lack of education and training for these disciplines will be additional barriers to industrialize. Moreover, new production techniques are introduced intermittently, which in due time will render old equipment obsolete and sub-standard, their produce expensive and with long lead time to manufacture. Taxes and duties of product importation are exorbitant. The rate of protectionism increases according to the degree of product finish status. From stage 2 to 4 or from refined to semi-finished to finished, the tax and duties increase, according to the quality and grade of the product. Selling the product to developed countries will be difficult and a high risk of rejection looms due to very strict technical specification demand. Specifications are as have been said, like ASTM, etc. Outside of these published standards, products are considered unrated and with questionable qualities. Newly Industrialized Countries The industrialization of South Korea and other so called Asian Tigers is part of a geopolitical strategy to build a contention belt of capitalist countries around China and other communist countries in Asia. Incentives to export to the three ruling groups are granted to these countries. China and Russia attained their status, with still sub-standard products due to their close door policy period under communist governments. Even with shear volume, they however have to sell at a cheap price to penetrate the market. No industrial machineries and equipment however, have ever yet been exported by China, except at best, some low energy coal fired power plants. Russia has lost its Eastern Europe market and is struggling to export its lackluster industrial products. Industrialization therefore is a limited endeavor, not because of technology, science, ideology and monetary elements but by the control imposed on it. Countries in Latin America, Asia and Africa can be industrialized if they cooperate and pull themselves together to overcome oligopoly of the industrial market. Industrialization to conclude is technically feasible, while its being over bearing and cumbersome is all encompassing. Also, wide-reaching technology for raw materials has been shared. Industrial products from the mining industry whether from metal i.e. steel, copper, aluminum, uranium or non metal i.e. chemical products, have however become oligopolistic products.

AIM Leader Magazine | Four th Quar ter 2009

>> “Leading with Encouragement” cont. from page 51 the highly unpredictable economy and unstable politics,” he says. And beyond the professional gains are the social benefits—such as friendships forged at the institute, Mr. Teerachai says. “My fondest memory is the hospitality of Filipino friends and the trust and respect and the relationships that we have forged since then, that have made MBM ‘73 a truly outstanding class,” he reminisces. The bond he shares with his classmates holds until now. Only three years ago, Mr. Teerachai hosted the first-ever AIM class reunion outside the Philippines at the Rose Garden in Thailand. “I invited 44 classmates and families all over Asia to be my guests free of charges, and we had a real good time together,” he shares. Leading Corporate Culture Change In 1984, Mr. Teerachai was conferred the Triple A Award, the highest recognition given by the AIM to its outstanding alumni. The honor is bestowed on a chosen few—since 1970, only 113 AIM alumni out of over 37,000 graduates have been given the Triple A award. At the awarding ceremony held in Jakarta, Mr. Teerachai was recognized “for his untiring commitment to and profound advocacy of the causes and concerns of AIM and its alumni”. “I am not sure about the selection criteria at that time; perhaps they valued my contribution to the school as President of the AIM Alumni Association of Thailand for several terms and chairman of the Federation of the AIM Alumni Associations in 1985. I was also appointed AIM representative in Thailand recruiting potential candidates for AIM and member of the AIM Scientific Research Foundation (AIM-SRF),” he says of his recognition. Not one to rest on his laurels, however, Mr. Teerachai went on to establish four companies that are heavily engaged in training, development, and consultancy work. “I’m proud to say that we are now the leader especially in the corporate culture change,” he said. Also in the offing is a new airline that will initially fly to Korea daily and to Europe four times a week. Like many Asian businessmen, Mr. Teerachai describes his managing style as paternalistic. “As a single owner of the companies and head of the family at the same time, I expect others to follow my lead and extend positive appreciation to those who support my effort,” he says. “I do permit others to express their ideas so I can understand their views and help them see my perspective. Although I seek the final say in decisions, I take time to listen to what others have to say. This allows

me to maintain loyalty while providing the benefit of my experience,” he adds. He also maintains that motivating himself and others with “positive encouragement and enthusiasm” has been key to ensuring the success of his businesses—and the stability of his family life. He admits that people management poses a challenge. “To overcome individual differences, we have to understand that each individual has his or her own attitude, value, belief, and working style. The environment is also important because it can influence the individual easily and can be very dangerous to the organization if you have bad norms leading to poor culture,” he states. Mr. Teerachai’s management style stems from his admiration of the King of Thailand, His Majesty Bhumipol Adulyadej. “He has always been my ideal manager/leader in all aspects,” he says. The King of Thailand, Mr. Teerachai says, exerts “vigorous effort and encourages others to join in to assure superior results are achieved by maintaining strong relationships and high standards”. He does this by sharing authority based on common assumptions and personal accountability; involving those responsible for implementation in setting goals and objectives; objectively confronting conflict to reveal and resolve underlying causes; practicing ongoing critique based on shared assumptions and criteria; and establishing standards of excellence based on shared commitment and fully utilized resources, Mr. Teerachai enumerates. From his string of accolades, successes and long experience, Mr. Teerachai lists three significant learnings: work on your competencies and never give up when faced with failure; work hard and work smart; and, pool resources together and work as a team. And his advice to AIM graduates? “First identify your core competency and then choose the playing field to suit your core competency. Always remember that working on your strengths will not only get you noticed but will also create opportunities for growth and advancement. He also says he wants to see AIM “prepare men and women to become the Asian managers” who are “able to answer the needs of the rapid changes of global business” as well as to supply the world with “capable Asian managers”. “Design a unique personality of AIM graduates and equip them with the world-class managerial tools to survive in the business arena and lead the world in the future,” he adds. As for the AIM alumni, Mr. Teerachai said that among their responsibilities is to “fly the AIM flag wherever you are and be proud that you are the finest product of the Asian Institute of Management and behave as such”.

>> “A Man of Many Firsts” cont. from page 52 Considering that they have about 350 employees, it will take Art about 2-3 years to have a complete cycle and be able to have a personal connection with each and every staff member and executive. But for him, the effort and time involved are all worth it. “The response has been very helpful in establishing rapport and teamwork. It’s very easy to communicate, to emphasize the value of customers to our organization,” he says. So how exactly does he find time to manage the business and enhance personal relations with his staff? “It’s all about time management,” he says. “I allot time for attending the day-to-day needs of the organization. I allot time for leisure, particularly golf, for my physical well-being. I also continue to help the Philippine shooting association, of which I am president, since I am also an Olympian.” Oh, and by the way, that could be another first for the Institute: the first Olympian alumnus. Art donned the Philippine tricolors as a Target shooting athlete in the 1972 Munich Olympics and the 1976 Montreal Games. According to him, the rigors of being an Olympic athlete have benefited his status as a businessman as well. “I applied some of the skills learned as an Olympian, particularly goal setting and planning. It was a great honor and privilege to go and compete with the best athletes in the world.” The meticulous goal setting and planning extend to the Toyota Pasong Tamo organization as well. “Every year, we set goals. We keep on moving. We make sure we’re moving forward in accordance with these goals.” And what could his advice be to the current crop of AIM students who have their own goals? “First, you have to be very firm about your career goals. Accept that achieving the career goal takes a lot of work. Every opportunity that one has which will bring him closer to that goal should be taken seriously so these opportunities are not wasted. “You don’t really have to begin at the top. You can start anywhere provided you know you’re moving forward,” he continues. And if one intends to move forward, it is also important to look back once in a while. For Art, it is important for alumni to be involved with the Institute. “The basis is, if he can trace his success in his career from what he has learned from the Institute, then he must repay somehow, either by being active or contributing to fund the Institute’s programs,” he opines. When asked about a controversial issue, if he is given the opportunity to tweak the current AIM curriculum, Art nevertheless gave his opinion: “I am not familiar with today’s curriculum, but dur-

ing my time, considering what happened with my career, it was good enough. If there had been changes which made the Institute depart from where it was, maybe it should be revisited. At that time, the focus was on the MBM program. Now, the Institute is attending to many other programs; there’s diversification. I ask: Has the MBA program been strengthened or weakened by diversification? “I still believe the main product is the MBM/MBA graduate. The reputation of AIM will depend on the success or quality of graduates,” he strongly suggests. 2010 is now officially here and 2011 is fast approaching, the year when his class of 1971 will be celebrating their Ruby year. Art shares that of their class numbering about 70, 30 are regularly in touch. As the months go on, perhaps their meetings and preparations for their ruby celebration will go into high gear. Nevertheless, “I continue to keep in touch with my friends. There’s no problem continuing relations. I want to see those we have not seen for many years,” he declares. As this writer’s interview with the first chairman of the alumni association was about to end, he couldn’t resist asking a question and thereby gain his rightful place in the annals of AIM alumni. Could he and his son Alex (MBA 1994) be the one of the first father and son team to graduate from the Institute? A check of the Institute’s alumni roll is definitely in order. >> “For the Love of His Country” cont. from page 55 demands on the private sector to accept greater responsibility in the development of the communities they operate in. Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) will cease to be a programme that is managed by and budgeted from Corporate Communications. CSR will be an integral component of our policy and decision-making processes. I would also expect there will be higher levels of self-regulation across many industries. Our biggest challenge of all would be the development and management of human capital. Demand for talent will exceed supply. “All these would mean that our management skills would be truly tried and tested. The tools that we have been employing may be obsolete. These factors would not only impact the private sector but also increasingly the public sector. There will be a greater need for higher levels of transparency and correct governance. The delivery of public goods and services would need to be comparable to those of the OECD countries. If we are truly to be a high-income economy, this is not an option.” And, quite possibly, AIM and the Kelab may want to get ahead and stay ahead with its icon Alumnus Dato’ Seri Ahmad Husni!

NE WS

INSIGHTS

F E AT U R E

MBA/MBA

Sarita Bahety MBA 2006 Hello sa lahat mula sa, Switzerland! Sana magkita tayo muli! (Hello to all from Switzerland. Meet/See you soon!) Bonjour from the land of Alps! I am writing this piece from Geneva, Switzerland. I am an exchange student at The Graduate Institute in Geneva, as a part of a semester abroad program of my Master in Public Policy course (at the National University of Singapore). It’s a wonderful opportunity to be an ambassador from an Asian city state to this beautiful European country. What do I remember most about AIM? The rigorous curriculum, the General Management classes and the Filipino hospitality When I look back at the two years that I had spent at AIM during my MBA, I can easily say that yes the rigor was worth it! That phase of my academic life was full of challenges with each day bringing in a new set of case studies that we were supposed to digest and reflect on, in and outside the classroom. The way the classes were conducted taught me how to get out of my comfort zone and still survive amidst so much diversity (in terms of students from different countries, cultures, academic and work background and of course the subject matter discussed in class). At AIM, I enjoyed my classes on General Management the most, because it required us to think with different thinking hats: at one instance you could be a financial manager of the company and at another point you might be fighting for the budget for the marketing campaign! So, as a General Manager one has to strike a balance and ensure that the organization grows as a synergy of different disciplines and not at the expense of one another. An extension

SHOWC ASE

class notes

of the general management concepts has been helpful in the understanding of how to strike a balance between professional and personal lives. Definitely, apart from reading the reams of case studies, participating in the engaging class discussions, reaching a solution to differences in opinion with the CAN group, life in Manila was quite an experience in its own way. This is especially true for someone like me, who did not have an opportunity to live in this side of the world before studying at AIM. The Filipino hospitality and warmth has left an indelible impression in my heart—no matter how tough the classes were, how difficult it was to negotiate the group assignments, but the locals were always ready to help the ‘foreigners’ out, and this made me feel at home. Right from Singapore to Switzerland, I have dearly missed the Filipino KY Chow, MM 1976, featured in NY Daily News hospitality. Maraming salamat! shift gears from thinking about accountthe dorm who taught me to say ‘Hindi How has AIM helped me in my ing to marketing to finance to donning akkhoo muroon mag Tagalog. Poi de professional life? a role of an entrepreneur! However, this English’ (Roughly translates into, I canexperience of shifting gears has proven not speak in Tagalog, could you please very helpful in my professional life speak in English?) to make my navigawherein I have to think from both private tion easier in Manila while doing my MRR and public sector point of view as I keep (management research report). switching between these two roles. Today, when I travel for my work or It will not be an exaggeration to leisure, this cultural sensitivity really say that AIM literally opened my eyes helps me to forge bonds with locals and to the world (because for me it was to see the intricacies of different culmy first ever stay outside my home tures from a nuanced lens. This “gLocal” country). Before coming to AIM, I could approach comes in very handy in apprenot distinguish between different Asian ciating and assimilating diversity—becultures: If someone did not look like a cause every culture has its uniqueness South Asian, I would club that individual and offers an opportunity to learn. in one generic category of Orientals! AIM Dear professors and fellow classAIM has fostered this feeling that helped me to realize the fine distincmates, it has been wonderful to have the world is your oyster—one can tions between cultures and taught me met you all, professionally and personachieve what one wants provided one how to respect them, since the student ally settled in your lives and adding new continuously looks for opportunities body is comprised of representatives achievements to your portfolios. I still and works to realize one’s dreams. It remember our AIM days very much and has prepared me to learn to accept new belonging to different nationalities. We celebrated Diwali and Christmas with miss you all. Thank you for making my challenges and to push myself out of equal zeal. stay at AIM academically and personally comfort zone. I still cannot forget the kindness an enriching one. I wish each one of you, At AIM, I used to often wonder, that every success in your life. in such little time, how am I supposed to of one of my Filipina roommates at

Networking with Fellow AIM Alumni HI! HOW’S LIFE? WHAT’S KEEPING you busy? Brief greetings and punctuated sentences like these sent via text or email and even if said during phone conversations will somehow get brief responses. This is according to well-

known author Thomas Friedman in his best selling book, the ‘The World is Flat’. It is, however, entirely different in a faceto-face situation. Seeing relatives, friends and fellow AIM alumni and discussing and breaking

bread with them is always a memorable experience. It is with this view, that everytime Linda and I go on business and/or pleasure trips, I make sure that in addition to meeting with clients and business partners, we also try to meet relatives, friends and fellow AIM alumni. During our last business trips in June to Cebu and Davao cities, we not only met with clients and some relatives, but we also sat with and had breakfast at Casino Espanol with Nonoy Espeleta, MBM 1991, Cebu City Chapter Head of the AAAIM. There was also cocktails at Cebu Country Club with Boy Tiukinhoy, MBM 1976, President of Philippine Meat Producers Association and President of Virginia Farms. We were also able to have coffee at Tata Benito with Nic Dy, MBM

1973, Davao City Chapter Head of AAAIM. In the USA, while in the East Coast to discuss with business partners, we also found the chance to have dinner at Peking Duck House in New York’s East Side with Mark Sanchez, MBM 1998 and Jocelyn Bernal, MM 2001, Chapter Head and Secretary of USA East Coast AAAIM, respectively, and Martin Araulo, an MDM alumnus. Also in New York, we lunched at East Manor in Elmhurst with KY Chow, MBM 1976, President, Grand Meridian Printing, Inc. Indeed, these meetings were fulfilling, satisfying and further strengthened the camaraderie amongst us. To be sure, they were also stomach filling. by Jerry A. Quibilan, MM 1976

AIM Leader Magazine | Four th Quar ter 2009

MDM

ABMP-PNB

Buddhi Ram “Dhital” Dhital

Renato “Rene” Estrada

MDP 1987

ABMP-PNB 1990

Buddhi Ram “Dhital” Dhital is now the Chief Tax Officer of Inland Revenue Office in Bharatpur, Chitawan, Narayani Zone, Nepal. Dhital writes: “I remember the professors who were excellent in their subject matter and their techniques were very friendly. Professor Gallegos’ patterns of business and Leonardo Silos’ management of people in organizations have proved to be very useful. Jose M. Faustino used to refresh his marketing management classes with some job related jokes. I also remember strategy formulation with Meliton V. Salazar. Mr. Tonny (Antonio B. Dimano, from Iltogon-Suyoc Mines PH), our class president, was of a dashing personality and his leadership skills applied to our class were really commendable. Mr. Manny (Manuel M. Gamboa from San Miguel Corporation PH) always had a smiling face and his face was like the face of our prime minister of that time, and I sometimes used to call him “Premier”. Mr. Jun (Emilio T. Bruan from San Miguel Corporation) was always outright. The rest of the friends: Martha, Helen, Nenette, Henry, Vivi, Ronnie, Lothar, Sonny, Noe were all outstanding and friendly. Vito (Tomas R. Carag of Benguet Corporation PH) was my table tennis partner.

OBI T UA RY

D E C 21 , 2 0 0 9

Bagus Tjahyanto, MBM 1997 D E C E M B E R 16 , 2 0 0 9

Christine Rizardo Omar, MBM 1988

“AIM was significant and is still memorable to me. The Management Development training program, which I participated in AIM, was my first training experience abroad related to management. The theories and managerial techniques that were taught and practiced have been of immense value to me and have helped me a lot in my administrative and managerial career. A new manager can learn a lot from AIM and I am thankful to AIM for the valuable training provided to me and that has supported me in my every endeavor towards my managerial workings. “To all professors and classmates, I send my high regards and NAMASTE. I hope to see you all soon and request all to contact me and try to visit my beautiful country NEPAL.”

Renato, who remembers most the Bank’s President’s game where they got a Champion Trophy, writes: “AIM helped me much in my career life as a dedicated worker, supervisor and as a leader. Although I already retired from PNB’s service, I am contemplating of pursuing my review for the bar examinations. This attitude of not surrendering to the various tests in life is the best attitude I got from AIM. “To my classmates and professors, thank you for sharing with me your thoughts, knowledge and learning with joy and laughter in this particular undertaking.”

PPDM

Miftahul Hussain PPDM 1998 Mifthaul who received Superior Performance Award for the 7th PPDM in 1998 now resides in Huwahati Assam, India. Miftahul writes: “I remember most Professor Tan in his lecture on Project Management. Though my association with AIM has been for a limited time, I still feel the warmth that I experienced during my stay.”

FAMCOR

Joselito “Joji” Du FAMCOR 2007 Joselito “Joji” Du is now the Managing Director for JAD Family Business Consulting in Cebu City. Joselito writes: “What I remember most in AIM is how the professors shared their knowledge regarding the subjects.This knowledge has made me what I am today, and has increased my know how on the subject which I am trying to focus. Thank you AIM for improving my skills. “Leadership for me is the ability to influence somebody else either in business or not. He should have the skills and knowledge, courage, honesty, and commitment and most of all practice good governance. He is not abusive nor corrupt and should give due regard on the rules of law. “To my classmates and professors, thanks for sharing with me all your experiences that produces good wisdom.”

Back to AIM after 19 years On behalf of my family, I would like to thank ARO for receiving and taking us around AIM campus last November 27, 2009. The trip was indeed very important for me as it was my first visit to the campus after I attended the 11th Program for Development Managers (PDM) back in November 1990—when I was still single! Although my family was busy enjoying the visit to shopping malls in Manila, I made it a point to take my kids to AIM as to show them the location of this prestigious graduate school which has been producing high-caliber graduates. Hopefully, they’ve learned something about this Institution. I was one of the participants in the 11th PDM which was coordinated by Prof. Victor Lim. I was in a class which included participants from Pakistan, Nepal, India, Thailand, Indonesia, Bhutan, Canada, Malaysia, Papua New Guinea and local Filipinos. Among the professors that taught us were Prof. Mario Lopez and Prof. Ruth Callanta. Since I returned to Malaysia, I have been involved in the AIM Club, Malaysia (Sabah Chapter). I was Secretary of the Chapter for about 10 years, and we’re quite active in promoting AIM in Malaysia. Besides the development management taught in PDM, I also had training in political science and business administration. “...I made it a point to After the PDM, I pursued my MBA with Ohio take my kids to AIM as to University, Athens, USA where I met the show them the location of late Prof. Stephen Fuller, who taught us this prestigious graduate about HRM. Now I am expanding into more school which has been technical disciplines like environmental, producing high-caliber safety and health, quality management graduates. Hopefully, and “business sustainability”. they’ve learned something For me, management is a very complex about this Institution.” thing and, therefore, we need to be multidisciplinary in order to be effective in problem solving. Talking about environment and sustainability, I was very happy to see that AIM’s Environmental Management System has been audited and duly certified under the ISO14001: 2004 standard. Indeed this is an effort in the right direction. Currently, I am more like a CAT (consultant, auditor and trainer), where I advise organizations on how to balance between profitability, and the need to take care of the welfare of people as well as taking care of the surrounding physical environment. Thank you and best regards! ALLAN GUIM DUMBONG, PDM 1990 Sabah, Malaysia adumbong@yahoo.com

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For the benefit of the AIM Alumni Student Loan Fund

Celebrating Classes: 1970, 1975, 1980, 1985, 1990, 1995, 2000, and 2005

February 26, 2010, 6pm, AIM Campus

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For inquiries, call 892.4011 loc. 541, 451 or 340 or email aimalumni@aim.edu