Asia CEO Awards: Businesses need to beef up innovation strategy to sustain market leadership

MANILA, PHILIPPINES—In today’s world where technology-led disruptions have become the new normal, the need for companies to innovate in all aspects of the business has never been more pronounced.

“If you’re not innovating, then you’re not growing in a lot of regards,” states Scott Stavretis, CEO of global Business Process Outsourcing (BPO) leader Acquire, whose subsidiary Shore Solutions, Inc. is a key sponsor of this year’s Asia CEO Awards. “From my perspective, today it’s really all about growth—and in business, if you’re not growing and you’re just staying still, then it means you’re going backwards,” he avers.

In today’s highly competitive business arena where companies aggressively pursue different avenues to achieve better efficiencies to bolster revenues, Stavretis emphasizes that growth begins with innovation. “Markets are changing a lot quicker than they ever have before, and it’s going to continue that way. You have to be nimble and constantly think of what you can do to be one step ahead of your competitors in finding new ways to break through the market,” he says.

It’s this very philosophy that pervades throughout Acquire’s 7,000-strong global ecosystem, which now counts last year’s acquisitions Shore Solutions, Inc. and Animation1 in its portfolio. According to Stavretis, the company’s acquisition of Shore Solutions is consistent with Acquire’s inorganic growth model and innovation strategy. “We’ve been seeing the Shore brand for a while and we’ve kind of head-to-head competed in the marketplace on a few deals. We find that Shore has quite a unique approach to business—they don’t just offer the typical contact center products, and this acquisition has led to more innovation for our company in the way of products, design, and how we engage with our clients’ needs,” Stavretis says.

ASIA HEALTH SUMMIT 2015: Next Generation Preventive Health

Without immediate and drastic change, Filipinos face an epidemic of misery and early death from so-called Lifestyle Diseases. International studies conclusively state that 60% of deaths are now caused by ailments such as heart disease, stroke and diabetes – a colossal increase from just a generation ago.

Rates of such diseases in emerging countries across the world are on track to dramatically over-shoot those of the most unhealthy countries of the west. Philippines is thought by many to be leading the way in Asia because of a fast growing middle-class and strong western cultural influences.

The World Health Organization believes Philippines faces a “double burden” because it is still fighting malnutrition and high rates of infectious diseases. The “new pandemic” of Lifestyle Diseases will overwhelm health services of the nation unless rates of increase can be stopped – but, if anything, they continue to increase.

Asia CEO Awards: Leadership development crucial to sustain PH economic growth

MANILA, PHILIPPINES—“There is an urgent need for companies in the Philippines to plan for succession,” asserts distinguished economist Dr. Bernie Villegas.

Dr. Bernie Villegas - Economist

A member of the esteemed Board of Judges of the Asia CEO Awards, Dr. Villegas has remained consistent in his bold economic forecasts for the Philippines, even stating in numerous occasions that “regardless of who will occupy the highest seat in the land come 2016, the country’s growth trajectory will continue on for the next 10 years.”

The Philippines’ engines of growth, Villegas says, has nothing to do with politics. “We have the more than 10 million Filipinos sending $28 billion a year, which increases at three to five percent annually, as well as the high earnings of the BPO sector that’s now at $18 billion and growing annually at 18 percent—that’s the amount of purchasing power you have in the hands of Filipinos today, and these are all independent of politics,” he states.

It is precisely because the Philippines is now one of the fastest growing economies in Asia that the country is facing the urgent need to develop more leaders within business organizations—across all levels. “If we’re growing, we have to make sure we have the right leaders in our corporations,” Dr. Villegas says.

As the pace of business quickens, there is a common tendency for organizations to focus on immediate business concerns and pay less attention to such systemic issues as leadership development that ultimately drive long-term success. According to Dr. Villegas, this is exactly what is happening in most businesses in the Philippines. “A lot of companies do not really plan for succession. I’m concerned that some corporations keep on recycling executives who are already in their 70s—it’s evident that management development isn’t being given a lot of priority,” he says.

Revolutionizing HR in the Philippines

MANILA, PHILIPPINES—For a country that’s home to a pool of highly competent, English-proficient workforce, much still needs to be done to elevate the state of Human Capital Management (HCM) in the country.

A distinguished thought leader in HCM, Darcy Mark Lalonde tells the HR professionals who gathered at the recent Asia HR Summit organized by the Asia CEO Forum that “HR specifically in the Philippines still has a long way to go. There’s still a lot of things we can do.”

Lalonde, however, is quite keen on pointing out that internationally, “HR is the most revolutionary side of the C-Suite. The good news is that we’re seeing, internationally, this new term, CHRO (Chief HR Officer). It used to be that in corporate boardrooms, you don’t invite the HR guy until you’re ready to downsize and cut a bunch of people, but now, with the right tools and the right culture and mindset, enterprises are realizing more that they can actually have HR drive the business. It may be a different process with start-ups versus large enterprises, but at the end of the day, we all say that people are the most important company asset.”

Asia CEO Forum: Breakfast Forum with Chris Fossick, Managing Director, Jones Lang Lasalle

Chris Fossick, Managing Director- Southeast Asia, of JLL, Asia’s largest real estate advisory firm, tells the future of the sector at Asia CEO Forum. Considered the most senior commercial real estate leader in Southeast Asia, Chris Fossick will demonstrate the irrefutable trends impacting the key sector that is critical to economic growth in Philippines and the ASEAN region.

The issues and concerns facing real estate seem overwhelming and contradictory:
 + Does anybody really think BPO can continue to drive growth in office, retail and condo construction?
 + Is tourism development finally becoming an engine of growth or will it always be just another lost opportunity?
 + At what point will infrastructure deficiencies crush Metro Manila and halt economic growth for the entire nation?
 + Is it true that Philippines is actually considered a real estate powerhouse in Asia?
 + Will the ASEAN free market be more bad than good for Philippines?
 + Isn’t Metro Manila already saturated with shopping malls and condo towers?
 + Do the negatives of the casino industry outweigh the positives of tourism development?

Chris oversees operations in Singapore, Thailand, Philippines, Indonesia, Malaysia and Vietnam. Chris also sits on the Asia Pacific Executive Committee. Jones Lang LaSalle Asia Pacific employs 20,800 employees in 77 offices in 13 countries across the region.

To register to this event please click here