RP firms urged to be globally competitive

Secretary Luis P. Lorenzo, Jr., Presidential Adviser for Job-Creation, called on corporate planners of the country’s top corporations to help fulfill not only their firms’ bottom line objectives but also the Philippines’ urgent need to be more globally competitive.

"Competition today is more intense, the amount of available resources is limited, and the demands of this difficult global environment are increasingly pressing on each one of us," noted Lorenzo in his speech before members and guests of the Corporate Planners’ Society of the Philippines.

The government’s top job-creation advocate shared lessons and insights drawn from his previous experience as a private businessman and, over the past year, as adviser to President Arroyo in her administration’s programs for spurring employment, agriculture growth, and rural development. Lorenzo pointed out that principles focused on global benchmarking and market orientation, which have proven to work effectively for globally competitive private companies, are similarly applicable to public institutions and other sectors.

"Industries today are market-driven; the market dictates the ability of the product or company to move forward," Lorenzo asserted. "Therefore, to be competitive, companies have to benchmark against the best in terms of cost, consistent quality, supply reliability, appropriate product innovation, and customer service." He added that it is essential to look at the entire supply chain – meaning, from the origin or production of the goods or services, all the way to delivery to the consumer or end-user – and determine which link in that chain one’s company would be best suited for and how it could maintain its edge over competitors within that same link.

Amid the current environment, wherein variables change quickly and flexibility as well as speed are even more crucial, Lorenzo reiterated the need to focus on the proven strengths of the Filipino: adaptability; excellent communication skills; case in establishing human relations; and close ties with many other cultures and markets abroad. He stated that these are among the strengths that make the Filipino better prepared than others to survive and even grow in spite of the difficulties in the global arena today.

"Just as business corporations need to build on these strengths, we as a nation must also project ourselves properly – competitive and able to supply what the market demands," Lorenzo stated. "We must benchmark our competencies against those ahead of us in the world; keep abreast of the technological improvements we need; do cost-benefit analysis to help us decide on which technology or investment would suit our requirements. You as corporate planners have a commitment to your stakeholders, and every positive act to assure the financial well-being of your companies hopefully goes farther towards helping to build a stronger nation."