The second O2P-BPA/P breakfast briefing -- On the Road to Going Public: A Forum for Corporate Executives Considering Equity Funding -- takes place September 18. Details are here. The pre-briefing survey has been closed -- a record number of respondents participated -- and the preliminary results will be announced the third week of August. Detailed results will be presented by O2P CEO Frank Holz during the briefing.

The link above provides delegate registration and sponsorship information in addition to an overview of the briefing.

Posted on 7/26/2008 8:20:48 PM | Comments(0) | Add yours

In a statement, Genpact said the 2008 Black Book of Outsourcing has named the company the best global busines process outsourcing provider this year. Genpact has two facilities in suburban Alabang in the Philippines. The complete 2008 rankings are available here. Genpact is ranked number 8 among 4,500 vendors, up from 46 last year.

HP was ranked number 1, up from number 8 last year, with the Black Book noting that it closed this year's rankings the day before HP announced its acquisition of EDS.

Posted on 6/27/2008 10:53:48 AM | Comments(2) | Add yours

A survey commissioned by the Promoting English Proficiency Project initiated by the American Chamber of Commerce in the Philippines and the Makati Business Club revealed that efforts to improve English proficiency in the Philippines appear to be having an impact. AmCham executive director Rob Sears wrote to members yesterday announcing the results of the Social Weather Stations survey, saying the results are, "welcome news for all of us seeking improvements in the competitiveness among the local workforce."

The private sector has stepped up in other ways to address the English proficiency issue and to meet demand in the offshoring and outsourcing industry for English-speaking personnel. ExcelAsia is one example.

Posted on 6/25/2008 10:59:16 AM | Comments(1) | Add yours

Outsource2Philippines and the Business Processing Association of the Philippines (BPA/P) are organizing the second in a series of breakfast briefings. The September 18 meeting, tentatively entitled "On the Road to Going Public: A Forum for Corporate Executives Considering Equity Funding," will focus on alternatives for leveraging equity funding to support growth. It will feature a one-hour panel discussion primarily involving local BPO and other executives whose companies have or are close to raising equity funding.

The meeting is not just for local firms. Multinational firms can consider listing on the Philippines Stock Exchange in order to facilitate stock option plans for local employees. The briefing will also feature venture capital, investment banking, and other expert speakers. O2P and BPA/P will also conduct a pre-briefing survey to guage interest in equity funding within the industry.

Posted on 6/18/2008 4:47:39 PM | Comments(1) | Add yours

InformationWeek said over the weekend that its recent BPO survey shows that over 70 percent of respondent companies will maintain or increase the level of processes they outsource. Over 80 percent of respondents outsource either tactical or strategic processes, or both. My summary of the results is available here.

Posted on 6/18/2008 4:38:47 PM | Comments(0) | Add yours

My former colleague at the Asian Insitute of Management, Teresa S. Abesamis, wrote eloquently this morning of the "incivility" displayed in a Senate hearing last week towards foreign investors. She called the "senatorial theatrics a pathetic show of pesudo patriotism." Earlier, Philippine Daily Inquirer's Amando Doronilla said that "Super Patriots" in the Senate were sending the wrong signals to investors, and Senator Panfilo Lacson criticized his colleagues and their ill treatment of representatives of the Joint Foreign Chambers of Commerce in the Philippines. BusinessMirror columnist Raul Valino wrote that foreign investors have a legitimate interest in power rates and legislation affecting them.

Ironically, the thrashing investors received in the Senate took place the same day that three of the Philippines most influential management associations issued a joint statement lobbying for strengthening the rule of law so that national and local government meddling doesn't continue to put off investors. My take on these developments appeared in the Manila Bulletin today and here.

Observers have pointed out repeatedly that the whipping investors received was delivered by administration senators. You have to wonder what the administration is thinking. It should move quickly to reassure investors that they are both welcome, and appreciated. And the administration should also make clear to the one million Filipino voters who have found high-paying jobs in firms set up by foreign investors, that it will do everything it can to protect their jobs. And the millions of indirect jobs generated by investment as well.

Posted on 6/11/2008 11:28:43 AM | Comments(0) | Add yours

Senators Dick Gordon and Loren Legarda were scheduled to helicopter into the Bataan Economic Investment Zone this morning to meet with investors. However, the investors were left waiting in the administration building when the senators' helicopter was apparently diverted to a pep rally organized by the local government.

The original group of investors raced to the venue, but were unable to speak with the senators. The rally was in support of House Bill 1425 and the Senate version Senate Bill 2118, which will place the Bataan zone under the authority of the provincial government, removing the regulatory authority of the Philippine Economic Zone Authority (PEZA).

According to one of the investors present, both senators expressed support for the conversion, which will render existing investor contracts with PEZA meaningless.

Posted on 6/6/2008 2:32:14 PM | Comments(0) | Add yours