The University of
the Philippines in
st
the 21 Century:
Helping the Philippines Become
Globally Competitive Through
Strategic and Operational Excellence*
(Copyright © 2015 by Maria Victoria A. Grageda-Smith & Steven S. Smith)
By Steven S. Smith and Maria Victoria A. Grageda-Smith
Introduction:
Presentation structure
• What are the key factors that will increase the
Philippines’ global competitiveness?
• World Economic Forum (WEF) Global Competitive
Index (GCI)
• How can U.P. help the Philippines become more
globally competitive?
• Strategic excellence
• Operational excellence
• Examine some highlights of U.P.’s current program
of action.
What is Global
“Competitiveness”?
• the set of institutions, policies, and factors that determine the
level of productivity of a country*
• level of productivity, in turn, sets the level of prosperity
that can be reached by an economy
• productivity level also determines the rates of return
obtained by investments in an economy, which in turn are
the fundamental drivers of its growth rates**
• World Economic Forum measures global competiveness
through a Global Competitive Index based on 12 pillars.
Sustainable Development &
Sustainable Competitiveness
• Sustainable development: development that meets the
needs of the present without compromising the
ability of future generations to meet their own needs.
• definition captures dimensions of development that go
beyond the usual boundaries of economic growth in
order to include both the tangible & intangible
necessities of life.
• Sustainable competitiveness: places more emphasis
on the importance of productivity as a driver of
prosperity and long-term growth
Measuring global competitiveness :
The 12 pillars of the World Economic Forum
(WEF) global competitive index (GCI)
1. Institutions
7. Labor market efficiency
2. Infrastructure
8. Financial market
development
3. Macroeconomic
environment
4. Health and primary
education
5. Higher education and
training
6. Goods market efficiency
9. Technological readiness
10. Market size
11. Business sophistication
12. Innovation
WEF’s GCI Framework
Subindex Weights & Income
Thresholds for stages of
development
Philippines’ Key Indicators
Countries’ Stages of
Development
Philippines' 2014-2015 GCI
Report Card
Philippines’ GCI Analysis &
Summary 1
• Up seven places, the Philippines (52nd) continues its upward trend.
The country’s gain of 33 places since 2010 is the largest over that period
among all countries studied.
• The results suggest that the reforms of the past four years have bolstered
the country’s economic fundamentals. The trends across most of the 12
pillars are positive, and in some cases truly remarkable.
• In the institutions pillar (67th), the Philippines has leapfrogged some
50 places since 2010. In particular, there are signs that the efforts made
against corruption have started bearing fruit: in terms of ethics and
corruption, the country has moved from 135th in 2010 to 81st this year.
• The recent success of the government in tackling some of the most
pressing structural issues provides evidence that bold reforms can yield
positive results relatively quickly. A similar pattern is observed in terms
of government efficiency (69th) and the protection of property rights
(63rd).
Philippines’ GCI Analysis &
Summary 2
• Finally, the Philippines has made significant strides in terms of
technological adoption (69th, up eight). The country is one of
the best digitally connected developing Asian nations, close
behind Malaysia (60th) and Thailand (65th).
• The same cannot be said of infrastructure, however, which
remains poor (91st), especially with respect to airport (108th) and
seaport (101st) infrastructure. The situation is just as worrisome in
the labor market, which suffers from rigidities and
inefficiencies: the Philippines ranks a mediocre 91st in this
dimension and almost no progress has been made since 2010.
• Finally, security remains an issue (89th), in particular in terms of
costs that the threat of terrorism imposes on businesses (110th).
Philippines’ Greatest
Problems for Doing Business
Philippines’ GCI
Requirements
Fifth pillar: Higher
education and training
• Quantity of education
• Quality of education
• On-the-job training
Sixth pillar: Goods market
efficiency
• intensity of domestic and foreign
competition
• quality of demand conditions
Seventh pillar: Labor
market efficiency
• labor market efficiency and
flexibility
• meritocracy
• gender parity in the workplace
• efficient use of talent
Eighth pillar: Financial
market development
Financial and banking system must have:
• efficiency
• stability
• trustworthiness
Ninth pillar: Technological
readiness
• measures the agility with which an economy
adopts existing technologies to enhance the
productivity of its industries
• specific emphasis on fully leveraging
information and communication
technologies (ICTs) in daily activities and
production processes for increased efficiency
and enabling innovation for competitiveness.
Tenth pillar: Market size
• Domestic market size
• Foreign market size
A “globally competitive”
Philippines
• Higher
education
and
training
• Goods
market
efficiency
• Labor
market
efficiency
• Financial
market
dev’t
• Tech
readiness
• Market
size
Leadership
Integrity +
Political will!
a “great” University for a
globally competitive Philippines.
AGILE*:
• Approach:
multi/interdis
cip-linary
• Global
expertise
network
• Innovative
process &
technology
• Leadership &
Political Will
• Efficient use
& dev’t of
extensive
knowledge
base
SE
Strategic Excellence
OP
Operational Excellence
Dual Elements of Excellence
Strategic Excellence
Operational Excellence
• Alignment of U.P.’s
core competencies
with Philippine’s GCI
needs
• Efficiency Tools
Strategic Excellence: Philippines’
GCI Requirements*
Higher
education
&
training
Goods
market
efficiency
Labor
market
efficiency
Technological
readiness
Financial
market
dev’t
Market
size
U.P.’s core competencies
Education
R & D*
Leadership &
Public
Service
Alignment of
U.P.’s core competencies with
Philippines’ GCI requirements
U.P.’s
core
competencies
Global
Competitiveness
R.P.’s
key GCI
requirements
U.P.’s Vision for Strategic and
Operational Excellence
h2 realize u.P.’s vision
• H2 make U.P. “a great university,
taking a leadership role in the
development of a globally competitive
Philippines”?
• U.P. as a “think-tank” for Philippine
governance & public policy development
and implementation to fulfill key factors
to transition Philippines to greater global
competitiveness
Strategic excellence: U.P.
Charter as Mission statement
Strategic Excellence: U.P. as
Philippines’ Leadership
“Think-Tank”
Define U.P.’s area of influence and control in affecting
Philippine national goals & policies:
• Assess U.P. Charter goals vis-a-vis Philippine
national goals
• Assess & develop partnership with Philippine
government:
• create opportunities to inform & affect
Philippine government policy &implementation
• Assess & develop collaborations with private sector
investors and entrepreneurs
Strategic Excellence: Educating
Philippine’s largest & most crucial
resource—Filipinos!
• EE vs. ER mentality*
• Educating for the next level**
• The problem of “brain-drain”***
• Global positioning of Philippine
talent****
• The role of language: Filipino vs.
English*****
Strategic Excellence:
Democratizing Student
Population 1
Strategic Excellence:
Democratizing Student
Population 2
Strategic Excellence:
Democratizing Student
Population 3
• Need to substantially address poverty issues: Democratizing
student population goes hand-in-hand with democratizing
economic opportunities for all Filipinos
• H2 bridge gap between extreme wealth and extreme poverty by
building a bigger and stronger middle class
• U.P. School of Economics & U.P. Law Center: H2 translate
research and knowledge into effective Philippine economic
policy, legislation & implementation *
Achieving Operational
Excellence
Technology
Technology
Efficiency “Tools”
Organizational
Efficiency
Span of
Control
RACI
Process
Efficiency
Brown Paper
Gantt Chart
Leaky Pipes
Technology
Technology Efficiency
Technology Stack
Workflow
Rules Engine
Brown Paper: Documenting
the Process
Who
Activity 1
Activity 2
Who
Decision
Yes
Activity 3
Activity 4
No
Who
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
Follow the “paper”
Attach actual forms or web site pages
Don’t enter into computer
Identify activity duration (range & mode)
Identify process duration (range & mode)
Quantify “Leaky Pipes”
Activity 5
Activity 6
“Recent” Technology & Implications
for Process Conformity
Who
Activity 1
Activity 2
Who
Decision
Ye
s
Activity 3
Activity 4
N
o
Who
Activity 5
Activity 6
Workflow ensures
conforming to a process
with zero tolerance for
exceptions.
Rules Engine ensures quick
& consistent decisions with
explanation.
RACI: Roles & Responsibilities
Activity 1
Activity 2
Decision 1
Activity 3
Activity 4
Activity 5
Activity 6
RACI: Vertical &
Horizontal Review
1. Exactly 1
“Accountable”
2. At least 1
“Responsible”
1. Too many “Accountable?”
2. Too many “Responsible?”
3. If someone is only
“Consult” or “Inform”
for all activities, are they
really necessary for this
process?
Too many squares filled?
• How to change
“Responsible” to “Consult”?
• How to change “Consult” to
“Inform”?
• How to eliminate “Inform”?
Greatest challenges in effecting
transformative change
• Transcending tradition
• Political will of top leadership
• Communication
• Overcoming “group think” of subsidiary
leaders and groups
Conclusion & Summary
• Strategic excellence: focus on U.P.’s core
competencies that contribute most to
fulfilling Philippines’ GCI requirements
to catapult Philippines to next stage of
global competiveness
• Operational excellence: practice vital
change management & efficiency tools