Ayala Technochief outlines
"New games new rules"

By Rodel G. Offemaria
Editor

Global competitive forces are breaking down old regulated business paradigms and ushering "new games with new rules".  Understanding and adapting to change-driven business models is the key to keep in step or ahead of the competition, Integrated Microelectronics Inc. president and chief executive officer Arthur Tan said.

Arthur Tan

Tan outlined the change forces in a keynote speech during the recent16th anniversary festivity of the Advanced Science and Technology Institute, a research agency under the Department of Science and Technology based in Diliman, Quezon City.

ASTI launched the second version of Bayanihan Linux and another big-ticket project called Philippine Research, Education and Government Information Network. 

BL is an open source desktop software developed for use of local government units, state universities, and small-and-medium-scale enterprises that costs far less than commercial counterparts.  PREGINET is a nationwide broadband network that links 54 academic, research, and government institutions so far through three exchange points and 17 regional access points. 

Merger and acquisition are emerging "musts" to survive in open and globalized environment.  This is a radical shift away from the era of "regulatory regimes" that shielded virtual monopolies from open competition, Tan said.

The model for business leaders today will be more on pursuit of collaborative arrangements, relentless innovation, creative thinking, and global outlook in order to benefit from equally widening opportunities.

Such business demands are a result of technology-driven developments in many industries.  The furious cycle of technological development and replacement in industries like "automotive, consumer electronics, and semiconductors created" pressures to attain global standards in "quality, cost or cycle time", he said.

The pressures led firms and industries to rethink and take inventive steps in process reengineering, knowledge management, and six-sigma quality system to remain competitive.

In a broader sense, all these change and technoblurbs are actually brought by two forces sweeping the world today.  These are globalization and e-learning, says Dr. Roger Posadas, a professor at University of the Philippines Technology Management Center in Diliman.

Essentially, information and communication technology has spurred borderless trade and education characterized by speed, efficiency, and cost-effectiveness.

Tan also sees two sets of leadership attributes that enterprises of the future would require. 

The first set is made up of "constant" qualities such as "communicating vision, demonstrating integrity, respect, experience, emotional strength, discipline, hard work, and people skills".

Future leaders, however, must possess such traits as global mindset, appreciation of cultural diversity, technological savvy, and leadership influence.

That's because "enterprises will need to see themselves as citizens of the world" while leaders are expected to work across multiple countries and virtual networks. 

They are also anticipated to be familiar with trade, legal, and cultural practices including social and motivational peculiarities in every specific locations where they may establish business partnerships.

Tan added that managing new technology could also ease "barriers to global business that seemed insurmountable in the past".  He warned of the futility of "local thinking and hands-on micro-management" that could drag an organization that wants to be competitive.

On the other hand, technological savvy means intelligent use of new technology, building a pool of knowledge workers, managing investments in new technology, and becoming a leader in the use of new technology.

In short, the leader of the future has to influence and nurture an organizational culture that embraces innovation and openness to change.  That's because a "company loses ground when the pace of change outside is greater than the pace of change within", Tan said.

IMI is a subsidiary of Ayala Corporation established in 1980 and started in the assembly and packaging of integrated circuits.  It has since grown into a leading Filipino controlled electronic manufacturing services provider based in Laguna Technopark 30 minutes south of Manila.

IMI currently serves leading Japanese multinational corporations in the hard disk drive and optical disk drive industries and has extensive partnership experience with global companies in the telecommunications, industrial, automotive and other electronics segments. The company produces printed circuit board assembly, head and gimbal assembly, head stack assembly, DVD-ROM, and CDR-RW.

  

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