SME Speaker Series promotes business ethics in Luzon

MANILA, Philippines - Plantersbank, the country’s lead bank for SMEs, gave the entrepreneurs of Luzon another afternoon of valuable learning through its continuing advocacy program, the Plantersbank SME Speaker Series.

With this year’s theme “SME Ethics: Adding Values to your Business,” Plantersbank has brought renowned motivational speakers Francis J. Kong to Taytay, Rizal, and Anthony N. Pangilinan to Metro Manila, to talk about the importance of instilling values in one’s business and help entrepreneurs discover how their own conceptual framework of ethical behavior can help improve not only their personal affairs but also the organization’s overall performance.

Speaking before a crowd of SMEs at Hotel InterContinental in Makati City, Pangilinan outlined key steps in the creation of ethical behavior in life and in the workplace. He stressed the importance of knowing one’s standpoint and how it must be aligned with both the organization and the community. Moreover, he pointed out how everyone influences one another, which should further impel everyone, whether in business or not, to take the matter of accountability seriously.

Kong echoes this insight, stressing that business owners set the tone for ethical requirements in the workplace. Speaking at Club Manila East in Rizal, the management guru emphasized the value of personal relationships. Business, Kong said, is “all about cultivating relationship — being fair with vendors and the people you work with.” Values and ethics cannot be compartmentalized. As such, it is vital to truly understand the internal and external forces that help shape the entrepreneur’s ethical atmosphere.

As the world moves into a knowledge-oriented economy, both Pangilinan and Kong emphasized personal values and how these can impact the organization’s ethical climate and cultivate good governance. The new government, both said, should further arouse the Filipino entrepreneurial spirit.

Already in its third year, the Plantersbank SME Speaker Series has been advocating SME empowerment by conducting talks on cutting-edge ideas in management and entrepreneurship to help SMEs achieve greater productivity and financial gains. The Metro Manila leg was presented in partnership with Bayan Business.