MAPping the Future

I have been a practicing entrepreneur since I was young.  I started my own food company after my father passed away when I was 23.  I founded a computer software company when I was 27 back in 1993.  So far, I have started and still currently manage over 10 companies.  I have done joint ventures with American, Chinese, Japanese and Filipino businessmen.

 

I think the important thing I have learned is that there is no one correct way to manage different companies.

 

All these different experiences pointed out that it is a learning experience, and you have to be open minded.  Some practices that work for a startup will not work for a mid-size company.  Some things that you do successfully with a technology company won’t work with your logistics partners.  Some practices we feel is very important for our Japanese joint venture plain won’t click with our American partners.  Even for the same company, what practices you do on your first year, may not be the same successful strategy you can do on its 10th year.  In short, we are always mindful of the quote, “What got you here won’t get you there.”

 

One of the memorable experiences I had was when our BPO joint venture with the Japanese was given an opportunity to participate in the Japan software expo back in 2006.  We were excited at the Japanese market.  BPO was on its infancy, and we were making great inroads to the American market.  And the reason we felt we had an edge was very simple — we grew up speaking English, and watching NBA and Hollywood movies and songs, and we were the best people to converse with Americans and give them support.  And we were a hit. When BPO became a big industry, dozens of countries resolve to learn English and compete with us.  So far, the statistics indicate we are winning – almost 2 million people employed earning over $35 billion in 2025. We were a strong second to India in outsourcing, and at least 5 times bigger than the third or fourth placers when it comes to call centers.

 

So when we participated, we thought the most obvious thing the Japanese wanted to work with us, is because we can speak English, and therefore we can communicate more easily and even served them in their various international branches.  So we were in the Philippine booth together with other players and we were able to get a sizable presence in the Tokyo expo 2006.  And our slogan was “we are the Philippines and we speak English”.  Right across our booth was the Vietnam booth.  Obviously, their English could not be as good as ours, but they wanted also the Japanese market, and the only way for them is to learn Japanese, as obviously they don’t expect the Japanese to learn their language.  So their slogan was something like” We are Vietnam and we speak Japanese”.

 

12 years later, in 2018, we went back to the Japanese expo to promote the Philippines again together with the Philippine Software Association.  There were now 10 Philippine companies with us, and our booth was slightly bigger.   But when we got there, we saw the Vietnam booth. It was across us, and it was already more than 10 times bigger than the one they had 12 years ago.  The conclusion was obvious – they were willing to learn Japanese, and the Japanese companies preferred to work with people who speak their language.

 

Over the last 20 years, I have been to Japan dozens of times. I meet Koreans and Chinese, and many of them are in Japan to work.  Many of them speak good Japanese, because they take pains to learn it because they need it to get the job. Many speak good Japanese even if they were still there for a year or two.  In contrast, I meet a Filipino expat there. He has been in Japan for 8 years.  He was sent to Japan because they needed somebody who can speak English.  He was understandably proud of his English, but there was just a thing – after 8 years, his Japanese was still terrible.

 

In this case, we don’t argue with success, and we have been the overwhelming choice for American companies.  However, I think our strategy to get Japanese business needed a different strategy – most Japanese companies would be easier to work with if you go out of your way to learn Japanese business practice, culture and language.

 

We believe that the Philippines is on the verge of being one of the strongest economy performers in the next 30 years simply because of one thing – which economists call our demographic dividend.  We could not control our population explosion.  In 1980, I recall roughly the Philippines had about 48 million people, as did Thailand.  Fast forward 45 years, and we have 110 million people to Thailand’s 71 million.  They did a better job in controlling their population and we did not.  But that works well with us as China, Japan and South Korea are obviously also faced with aging and declining population.  The average age of Philippines is 24, while for China is already 40, and for Japan is almost 50. However, an advantage is only good if we can seize it for our favor.  How we can utilize this will be a challenge.

 

(This article reflects the personal opinion of the author and does not reflect the official stand of the Management Association of the Philippines or MAP. The author is a member of the MAP. He is President and CEO of Ng Khai Development Corporation, an ICT systems integrator in the southern Philippines. He also heads various companies in BPO providing service to Japanese and American companies, network cabling, logistics and cold storage warehousing. Feedback at <map@map.org.ph> and <wilson@ngkhai.com>).