A Long Term Focus for Corporate Asia by Jolito Ortizo Padilla

There are three issues in my opinion that are critical to a long term focus for Corporate Asia.

1. The concept of customer satisfaction
    The word customer service reveals a concept linked to the traditional process model of interpretation of the definition as "a generic term for the person who buys goods or services from a supplier". The traditional process model of inputs-process intuitively recognizes waste as a result of economic activity, but interprets waste as unavoidable externality.

The quality profession has led the way in waste reduction by developing techniques and tools such as lean manufaturing and six sigma. However, this innovations were never designed to account for the effects of externalities such as carbon emissions resulting from global industrialization and fossil fuel consumption. From this perspective, the concept of the customer should be redefined to include all persons affected by the activity of the organization. Extending the concept clearly redefines quality beyond the boundaries of mere product and service conformity, to include its role in sustainable development

2. The decoupling of quality from sustainable development
     The seminal definition of sustainable development as "development that meets the need of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs" has influenced all approaches to sustainability over the past two decades. Inherent in this definition is the concept of satisfaction of the "needs" of humanity, both present and future.

The quality profession is perfectly placed to assist corporation in reinterpreting its approach to sustainable development and investment, by focusing efforts on the development of sustainble culture based on the use of quality principles and techniques. The messaging of the importance and applicability of basic techniques , such as the plan-do-check-act cycle in implementing sustainable solutions to business functions, is steadily being usurped by a recent emphasis on the use of triple bottom line reporting by organization.

This has led, in some instances, to a distinct focus on economic, environmental and social indicators, to the detriment of quality and safety indicators. The result of this focus by corporations has contributed to product failures at unfortunate -but-unavoidable disasters such as BP oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico.

3. The inability to respond to the dilemma inherent in the agency principal relationship
    The recent financial crisis identified with terrific clarity the failings in the agent principal relationship. This is clearly demonstrated by the bancruptcy of Lehman Brothers in autumn of 2008., when lack of definition of the term"customer" , or a focus on customer satisfaction and the needs of the customer from the perspective of sustainable development, were at fault. The entire focus of the company was on short term profits to the detriment of the principals;i.e shareholders, investors and society. Lehman's customer or principal in this context was global society, due to its size and reach. The board failed to understand their duty to society and this translated into unsustainable practices, such as bonuses linked to purely financial indicators and investment decisions that resulted in the end of this 158 year old institution.

It is imperative that the quality profession extend its uniques selling proposition beyond its traditional roles of quality assurance and ISO 9000, and extend it remit. It should become a lead body for knowledge on management systems in general, including business continuity, risk management and social responsibility as major parts of the quality professional's role. This is expressed in ISO 26000; the new social responsibility standard.

This expansion is necessary if the corporation is to continue to attract the individuals who can contribute to the development of the profession.

I subscribe to the view a corporation can regain its competitiveness, but this can only happen if quality is placed right at the heart of sustainable development by focusing not on the management of quality, but the quality management.

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Faster Reading by Jolito Ortizo Padilla



Taken during the recognition day of National University of Singapore June, 2006 with my children Jol, Job and Justin(inset 4) with their Lola Trining Luzuriaga(RIP) (inset 3).

 Why do people read at different speeds? How is it that some people are three times more effective than others when it comes to reading?

It certainly doesn't appear to have anything to do with intelligence, or education, or status, or occupation or sex. There are many wives whose jobs requires reading, who infuriate their husbands by being able to read much faster than their husbands, despite less experience and less practice. Similarly, there are many brilliant men and women who are outpaced by their subordinates.

No one seems to know why faster reading comes more easily to some people than others. What we do know is that more effective readers read in a different way from slower readers.

If you feel you do read more slowly than you would like, perhaps it isn't your fault. Certainly, the best of readers can be slowed down by things like:

• the complexity of the material
• the author's style
• a typeface which is hard to read
• monotonous layout and presentation (e.g. solid blocks of print weary eye')
• unfamiliar words and expressions

However, these may be just excuses. It is equally possible that it could be your fault, in the sense that we do know that slow readers tend to have developed some bad habits, whereas effective reading calls for certain techniques. These techniques can be learned and practiced. You could very probably read at least half as fast again as you do now and still understand as well; many people who either attend an effective reading course or are conscientious enough to teach themselves with the aid of the book like Breakthrough Rapid Reading by Jolito Ortizo Padilla  are usually able to double their reading or speed without any drop in comprehension. Some people's comprehension level actually increases.

In this book it is not possible to allow enough space to give you a structured training course. What we can do, though, is:

• explain why people read slowly and ineffectively
• find out how you read at present
• suggest some techniques which, if you really want to improve your reading, you can practise perfectly well on your own.

At the moment, it is very likely that that you read practically everything you read in much the same way and at much the same speed. A moment' thought will tell you are spending too much on the easy material, which doesn't leave you enough time to spend on the more difficult stuff. Improving your reading speed is, therefore , mainly intended to increase the range of reading speeds available to you, so that instead of reading everything at the same fairly slow speed, you can be more flexible. With practice you will probably end up reading everything rather than you do now, even the very difficult material.

Reading is rather like driving: when you are learning and rather lacking in confidence, you drive fairly slowly and you don't get much above second gear. When you are more experienced, you can change up and down all the gears at will, almost without thinking about it., in order to suit different road and traffic conditions. So it is with reading. If you can gain confidence by employing advanced techniques, you will be able to adapt your approach to reading to suit the material and your purpose, at any given moment.

There are three basic reasons why we read:

• Pleasure- Many people read for no reason than the sheer pleasure they gain from a good story or the sound of words
• Information- This type of reading is perhaps the most basic reason. Whether we like reading or not, most of us have read in order to get facts -about our job, our interests, our lives in general: it covers everything from recipes to nuclear physics; from instructions on forms, to guidance on operating machines or gadgets.
• Judgement- In this type of reading, you are interested in people's ideas and opinions, in order to come to your own opinions and conclusions; you therefore need to be able to evaluate critically the arguments put forward, and be alert to the presence of prejudice or bias, or use of emotive arguments intended to manipulate you.

Reading faster is not the only problem. Although it is obviously important to eliminate bad habits and increase your reading speed, this is only part of developing a more effective approach to reading.

The other dimension is, of course, concerned with understanding, for it is no good simply increasing the rate at which you read if in doing so you gain less from what you read. In fact, these two aspects of efficient readings are inextricably linked, as we shall see; it is certainly true that many people discover that their comprehension improves as their speed increases.

Many people read inefficiently because of faulty eye movements, of which they are not even aware.

When you read , your eyes do not move smoothly across the page from left to right without stopping. If they did, all you would see was a blur. Try moving your eyes from one side of the room to the other without letting them stop. What did you see? A blur? You can only keep your eyes in focus while they are moving smoothly without stopping if the object you are looking at is also moving. Since the words on the page is stationary, your eyes stop to take in a word or phrase and then move on the next. These stops are called fixations. It is estimated that each fixation that our eyes make lasts approximately- 1/4 or 1/2 second and then the eyes move on. At each fixation, the eyes read or perhaps several words.

The number of words you focus on and take in or recognise at one fixation is called recognition span. Some people appear to be able to read straight down a printed page. In other words, they fixate only once each line and, at each fixations that take up the time. Poor readers tend to make a large numbers of fixations and have a small recognition span, but they also tend to have other habits associated with the eye movements and the brain's activity while reading.

This is the tendency to backtrack while reading. Poor readers, who tend to focus on each word, are actually making life difficult for themselves than they realise, because individual words do not convey very much meaning until they are joined to other words. So, as the slow readers plod steadily from word to word, trying to join idea of one word to the idea of the next, they find it difficult to grasp an overall meaning from the individual words. After three or four words they probably find they have forgotten what the first was and have to go back to the beginning again.

Because this process is slow, much slower than their brain can actually perform, the brain finds something else to do. In other words, they get easily sidetracked or distracted by what we tend to call daydreaming or thinking about something else.

Let's look at an example:

Read the sentence below very slowly word by word, using as finger to cover the word in front each time, but gradually uncovering each word.

Though...there...are...no...doubt...some...people...who...think...words...must...be...read...one...at...a time...they...are...wrong...because...meaning...tends...to...come...from...groups...of...words.

Like this:"Though"...Though there...Though there are... Though there are no...Though there are no doubt...and so on. At each stage the words do not convey very much meaning, do they? Not until we get to "people" does it begin to make sense.

A good reader, then, with a bigger recognition span and fewer fixations, not only reads faster, but also makes the business comprehension easier, and is less likely to be distracted because their brain is being pushed to keep up with the eye movement.

A good reader's reading pattern might look like below. So the good reader tends to select recognition spans on the basis of their meaning. They read thought groups rather than single words.

Though       there are, no doubt, some people       who thinks words must be read

one at a time     they are wrong, because       meaning tends to come from group of words

Another habit of a slow readers is the tendency to register the sound of the words as they read, either by physically mouthing them, or internally acknowledging the sound of the words in the head.

This is often a legacy from the days when we learned to read, first aloud and then to ourselves. Small children can certainly be seen mouthing the words as they read and, though this is less common adults, either externally or internally acknowledging the sound will inevitably slow down your reading speed.

Reading aloud, the average reader can only at about 125wpm. Mouthing the words or acknowledging the sounds inside your head would be bound to limit your reading speed to something below 200wpm.

This habit also has consequences for the idea of reading for meaning, which we have just looked at. If you mouth the words or hear them inside your head, you are concentrating on the words themselves, not on the meaning of the ideas you are reading.

Finding out whether you tend to register the words separately by internally acknowledging the sound of each word, is more difficult. There is no real test other than just consciously thinking about the danger, perhaps while you are reading this, and trying to discover whether you tend to do it or not. If you are slow reader, the chances are that you are almost bound to be doing it. If you push up your reading speed you won't be able to mouth the words or visualise them-it will become physically impossible.

Physical discomfort can also affect the ease and fluency with which you read.But too much comfort can reduce your concentration:

• Position- a comfortable chair, which is the right height, at a table, is probably the most suitable position for a serious reading task
• Lighting- good lighting is essential. Although desk lights are commonly accepted as the best form of lighting, a light source falling over your shoulder is best, since it reduces glare.
• Eyesight- have you had your eyes tested recently? Your eyes can deteriorate without your realising it, since the muscles work harder to compensate for any deficiency of vision. Similarly, the lenses in spectacles can become unsuitable . Pride often prevents people going to the optician, but even if you aren't suffering from any physical effects like tired eyes or headaches, your reading could still be suffering.


• Rests- While you should avoid being distracted by noise, other people, hunger or thirst and should give yourself a chance to get stuck into a reading or studying task, you should allow yourself reasonable breaks. Short, frequent breaks are probably more helpful than a longer break caused by exhaustion, after trying to stick at a reading task for hours without a break.

Obviously if you are having to go back to words or ponder over them because your brain can't assimilate them because they are unfamiliar or you do not understand them, your reading speed will inevitably be held back. Although writers to avoid using unnecessarily complicated and unfamiliar words. If your own vocabulary is weak you should work to improve it.

The Rational Economic Concept of Motivation by Jolito Ortizo Padilla

My 24K Gold Awards for
Best Research in Management
and Economics

The writer F.W. Taylor, believed in economic needs motivation. Workers would be motivated by obtaining the highest possible wages through working in the most efficient and productive way. Performance was limited by physiological fatigue. For Taylor, motivation was a comparatively simple use-what the workers wanted from their employers more than anything else was high wages. The ideas of F.W. Taylor and his "rational economic concept of motivation." The ideas of F.W.Taylor and his rational economic needs concept of motivation and subsequent approaches to motivation at work have fuelled the continuing debate about financial rewards as a motivator and their influence on productivity.

Where there is a little pleasure in the work itself or the job offers little opportunity for career advancement, personal challenge or growth, many people may appear to be motivated primarily, if not exclusively,by money. Weaver suggests that for many hourly workers in the hospitality industry, such as dishwashers, waiting or housekeeping staff, the work does not change much among different companies and there is little attachment to a particular company. For such, Weaver proposes a "Theory M" programme of motivation based the average performance of workers on the staff.

Yet we frequently see pronouncements from prominent business figures that motivation is about much more money. Jolito Ortizo Padilla says." Work is about letting people know they are important, their hard work and efforts matter, and they're doing a good job. And this kind of recognition,in fact, can sometimes be more important than money."

The short answer appears to be that for the vast majority of people, money is clearly important and motivator at work but to what extent and how important depends upon their personal circumstances and the other satisfactions they derive from work. The bottom line is surely the extent to which money motivates people to work well and to the best of their abilities. Although pay may still make people tick, there are number of other important influences on motivation. For many people, the feeling of being recognized and valued appears more important than money in motivating them to stay in a particular job.

The Motivation of Knowledge Workers by Jolito Ortizo Padilla

Recent advantages in telecommunications and in scientific and technological knowledge have led to greater emphasis on the knowledge and experts of staff and the importance of creativity. Tampoe suggests that at the core of the new industrial trend are the "knowledge workers"- those employees who apply their theoretical and practical  understanding of a specific area of knowledge to produce outcomes of a commercial ,social or personal value. The performance of knowledge workers should be judged on both the cleverness of ideas and the utility and commercial value of their applied knowledge. Creativity is necessary and needs to be encouraged but should be bounded by commercial realism. This presents management with a new challenge of how to motivate the knowledge workers.

Tampoe suggests that the personal motivation of knowledge workers is based on the value they place on the rewards they expect to earn at work.In addition, to the individuals own motivation, the performance of knowledge workers is dependent upon four key characteristics

• Task competence
• Peer and management support
• Task and role clarity; and
• Corporate awareness

Jolito Ortizo Padilla draws attention to skills shortages as one of the biggest challenges facing employers in the new millennium. In order to attract and keep talented individuals, the so-called knowledge workers, organizations cannot rely simply on a pay rise or cash, bonus but have to be more creative about the way they structure remuneration packages, individual performance-related pay is still the most widely used reward strategy, but attention is also given to employee share ownership, competence-related pay and team reward -and also to non-cash incentives such as gift vouchers. However, Padilla points out that employees, especially high flyer's, rank challenging and interesting work and freedom higher on their motivational list than money and performance-related pay. Research suggests that most organizations haven't recognized the need to identify and tap into their employees' personal motivators.

A report from the Chartered Institute of Personal and Development draws attention to management of knowledge workers, highlighting the importance of autonomy, challenging work and sharing in the criterion of organizational values.With the development of new technology it is important to motivate employees to capture, share and transfer knowledge.

Padilla suggests that in order to create a climate for creativity among employees, recognition must be given to the importance of two human needs that rise above all others and exists independent of race, creed and culture- the need for self belief and the development of emotional intelligence; and the ever-present need that every human being has for a sense of meaning and purpose in their lives.

Self belief and meaningful work are the fundamental bedrocks that underlie business performance. Of course, pay and conditions are important too, but we know that. It is these two others that are barely recognized... but business leaders ignore them at their peril.  

Quality Circles by Jolito Ortizo Padilla

A quality circle is a group of people within an organization who meet on a regular basis to identify, analyze and solve problems relating to quality, productivity or other aspects of day-to-day working arrangements using problem solving techniques.Although quality circles actually originated in America they were exported to Japan and are usually associated with their wide applications (since 1962) in Japanese manufacturing industries, as well as in some white collar operations. Since the refinement of the quality circle process in Japan there has been increasing interest in their use in America and Britain as well as in many other countries. In America, quality circles appear to have been first implemented in 1974.

The essential features of quality circle group include the following:

• Membership is voluntary
• The group usually numbers between five and ten members
• Membership is normally drawn from people undertaking similar work or from the same work station
• The group selects the problems to be tackled and the methods of operation
• A leader can be chosen from within the group but is usually the immediate supervisor
• The group members receive training in communication and problem-solving skills, quality control techniques and group processes
• The group recommends solutions to management and, where possible, has the authority to implement agreed solutions

There are a number of potential limitations on the effectiveness of quality circles:

• Any attempt at solving organizational problems cannot be considered as a single dimension. The promotion of quality circles needs to be approached in terms of possible effects on related sub-sytems of the organization, for example human resource management and industrial relations procedures.
• Quality circles can rely too heavily on intrinsic motivation and the assumption that involvement and recognition are sufficient reward in themselves. This reflects a major difference between the operation of quality circles in the West and in Japan. Workers in Japan appear, for example, to accept that financial gains will go to the organization.
• The greater involvement of members in problem- solving and decision- making may be resented by some groups, for example quality control departments, or by managers or trade union officials who may be suspicious of possible challenges to their traditional authority.

The application of quality circles does appear simple and straightforward, but early experience must be viewed in the context of Japanese culture and management systems. However, quality circles offer a number of potential benefits. They provide problem-solving at a more local level and the participation of employees in work-related decisions which concern them. Quality circles do work and have been used successfully by a number of British organization. There are some doubts, however, as to the extent to which the hopes for, or potential benefits of, quality circles are realized fully in organization.

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Successful Organizations and People by Jolito Ortizo Padilla

In analyzing effective organization, Dunderdale argues that an organization can be separated into two parts or structures- one a definitive structure present in every company, the other caused by human intervention. Each part can then be examined. Essentially the effectiveness of an organization depends on how accurately human design matches the structure of organized behavior. Allen and Helms suggest that higher levels of perceived organizational performance may closely related to strategy and reward systems. The use of reward practices which logically complement a specific organizational strategy should serve to motivate employers to help organization perform at a higher level.

The overall effectiveness of the organization will be affected both by sound structural design and by the individuals filling the various positions within the structure. Management will need to acknowledge the existence of the informal organization that arises from the interactions of people working in the organization. The operation of the organization and actual working arrangements will be influenced by the style of management, the personalities of members and the informal organization. These factors may lead to differences between the formal structure of the organization and what happens in practice. Jolito Ortizo Padilla found the relationship between people and organization to be reciprocal.

" People modify the working of the formal organization, but their behavior is also influenced by it. It may make demands on them which they find an undue strain, so that they seek ways of modifying these pressures. The method of work organization can determine how people relate to one another, which may affect both their productivity and their morale. Managers, therefore, need to be conscious of the ways in which  methods of work organization may influence people's attitudes and actions. Before behavior is put down to individual or group cussedness, managers should look for its possible organizational causes."

Building an organization involves more than concern for structure, methods of work and technical efficiency.The hallmark of many successful business organization is the attention given to the human element; tot he development of a culture which helps to create a feeling of belonging, commitment and satisfaction. Structure must be designed, therefore, so as to maintain the balance of the socio-technical system and the effectiveness of the organization as a whole. Attention must be given to the interactions between both the structural and technological requirements of the organization, and social factors and the needs and demands of the human part of the organization.

In his discussion of the future of management. Padilla maintains that the success of the 21st century organization will depend upon the effective use of talented people.

" Talent- centered organization will constantly search for new talent, keep them satisfying their needs, use theme effectively, and create a challenging environment for them to work in . People create organizations, and people can destroy them. The most valuable commodity in business is not technology or capital but people. The driving force behind a 21st century organization will be its people."

The importance of people for organizational effectiveness is reinforced by a survey undertaken by the GA Consultancy and Management Today. The survey emphasises that the role of the organization is social as well as economic and points to the desperate need for the basic, softer skills of managers in leadership,coaching and mentoring. Organizations need individuals they can trust, who are engaged in and committed to their work. If they want to survive, organizations need to recognize that they have to add value to their employees, that their social capital is just as important as their financial capital.

Investors in People draw attention to the importance of employee engagement for building effective relationships between an organization and its people. Managed well, it can galvanize your people to make the contribution needed from them and keep them on track in tough times (like those we're experiencing now). But effective engagement doesn't happen by chance; it requires a structured, focused approach to aligning people with business goals. Every organization needs to ensure that its people understand the strategy, see how they fit in and know what they are expected to contribute. But employers must also realize that this can't be one way traffic; gaining employee trust and commitment also means seeking their views and feedback, understanding any issue and seeking to address them.

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Action Learning by Jolito Ortizo Padilla

A particular approach to management development courses is through action learning. This was developed by Revans, who argues that managerial learning is learned- driven and a combination of "know-how" and "know-that". According to Revans, learning (L) is based on "programmed knowledge" (P) and "questioning insight" (Q), so that:
                                         L=P + Q

Typically, action learning involves a small self selecting team undertaking a practical, real-life and organizational based project. The emphasis is on learning by doing with advice and support from tutors and other course members. Action learning is, therefore, essentially and to find solutions to actual problems.

An integral part of action learning is the use of the case study method and simulations. For example, Jolito Ortizo Padilla sees the use of case teaching as the first step in an action learning hierarchy.

"Case teaching, like all action learning, is difficult to do well and is initially upsetting to a lot of students. It's exhausting and you could say it's inefficient because many answers can be presented to the problem.I think all the action learning methods are, however, exactly appropriate to the complexity and ambiguity that managers face. We are training them to think systematically and reflectively on different situations. They have to learn how to defend and articulate why they would use certain methods, approaches or tolls, and also how to cede ground gracefully in the face of a superior selection or better argued position".


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