A Summary on the Things I have Learned in my Lasallian Business Leadership Class

         The past 13 weeks have gone so fast without realizing that my 1^st term as an MBA student is almost coming to an end. My Lasallian Business Leadership Class has been a truly memorable one where life and business lessons were both learned. I believed that I have learned and grew over the last 13 weeks of taking up the course.

            LBL started with learning and studying the life of St. John Baptist de Lasalle and will be concluded on the presentation of our CSR activity. All throughout the course, I have learned more about work life balance, financial planning, family code, business ethics and corporate social responsibility. I have become more aware on what is happening around me and became sensitive to others.

            In concluding everything I learned this term, I would like to start by thanking my dear Professor Ms. Marissa Marasigan, for her guidance to us all throughout the course. I would also like to thank my dear classmates whom have shared their insights on every case analysis.

            Reflecting on my overall journey in my LBL course, I can humbly say that I have acquired several skills which will help me become a better Lasallian Business Leader in the future. I also believe that I have acquired the necessary learning outcomes and have met the Expected Lasallian Graduate Attribute which is to be a critical and creative thinker, to be an effective communicator and to become a reflective lifelong learner.

            I truly believe that I would be able to bring everything I have learned in this course and apply it my personal life and hopefully in my own business in the future. 

On Sustainable Development and Marcopper Mining Corporation

           In today’s discussion, we discussed the importance of sustainable development and why companies should aim to promote this. Also, in today’s case analysis, we discussed Marcopper Mining Corporation’s environmental devastation in the island of Marinduque. Throughout the course, we discussed several ethical frameworks that affect a business. Today, I would like to link my blog reflection on sustainable development with Marcopper’s case.

            It was quite evident that Marcopper was only after profits and did not care for the environment despite being the largest employer in the island of Marinduque. It is also a fact that Marcopper generates a large portion of their revenues through the island. However, Marcopper failed to realize that if they neglect to care for the environment; the negative effects would soon come back haunting them. I have made my research and found out that Marcopper Mining Corporation went bankrupt in the 90’s because it failed to secure an environmental certificate of compliance from the government after with what has happened in the Tapian River.

            Thinking about what happened with Marcopper, I can say that it is truly worthwhile to be an ethical company. As discussed in class, companies should aim to promote the 3P’s which are Profit, People and Planet which consist of the framework to sustainable development. If all companies would aim to be environmentally sustainable, I believe that the community would be a better place to live in.

On Human Rights and the Rights of Each Individual

Today’s discussion deals with Human Rights and the rights of each individual. We started with a case analysis on Royal Dutch Shell’s persisting issue in Nigeria on environmental devastation which includes gas flaring and oil spills. Related to our case analysis is the topic on human rights. We have discussed the different rights of individuals starting when we were young, in the workplace and until the time we grow old.

Despite the different laws being enacted to protect human rights and the different movement of groups throughout the country, can we truly say that each of us enjoy our rights? Looking at the situation in the impoverished areas of the countries, it is hard to say that we all enjoy our rights of being human. This brings me to my next question which is “who dictates the rights of every individual?”. Thinking about it, each country has their own way to measure and define human rights. Take the Muslim countries for example where males and females are not treated equally and where slavery is legal.

As I reflect through our discussion, I realized that each one of us has the responsibility to protect and to promote human rights. We need not join protests or to be in the power to enact laws against human rights but we have the power to respect the rights of other individuals and help promote their rights in the way we can.

To end my blog for today, I would like to take the example of Royal Dutch Shell in Nigeria which we can consider a violation of the human rights. Having said that, Shell as a large and ethical company should take a proactive approach in its oil production in Nigeria by setting up a fund for the rehabilitation of the environment where it extracts oil along with taking proactive measures in addressing risk related to the business such as oil spills and gas flaring. Also, Shell should partner with the government and local regulatory bodies to help local communities especially where their oil business is concentrated.

           We, as Lasallian Business Leaders, should promote and respect the right of every individual and also protect to keep this right freely available to everyone. I urge each and every one of us to strive to become better business leaders in the future and lead companies where individual rights are regarded as the most important thing of all.

Why Should Corporations be Socially Responsible?

            Let me start this journal with my own definition of Corporate Social Responsibility. Corporate Social Responsibility, for me, is the way how companies can give back to the community. In our today’s session, we discussed how Mr. Cecilio Pedro Kwok, the founder of Lamoiyan Corporation, employed hearing impaired individuals and gave them the equal opportunity to work in his company as part of his CSR campaign.

            Corporate Social Responsibility is increasingly becoming popular among large corporations. We have seen several large companies implementing different CSR projects to help the community however, it also raises a question among many individuals and that is “Does the company do this to help sincerely or does they have a hidden agenda in implementing all these CSR campaigns” and thus brings me to my topic of the day which is “Why Should Corporations be Socially Responsible?”

            In today’s discussion on the introduction to CSR, we have discussed several reasons why companies should be socially responsible. Taking the example of our case analysis today, Mr. Pedro, the owner of Lamoiyan Corporation, took the risk of engaging in a CSR for his company and that is to hire hearing impaired individuals and make them part of the company. It is well stated in the case that there are a lot of adjustments that have to be made in order to accommodate the hearing impaired workers but it is not impossible. By doing this, Lamoiyan’s CSR has been well regarded by the community and even brought fame to Lamoiyan Corporation. The question now is does its CSR implementation affect the overall business of the company? In a nutshell, yes, I believe it has affected the image of the company but when we look at it thoroughly, it is not the business that is being changed by its CSR implementations rather its leaders and its stakeholders.

            By taking on CSR initiatives, business leaders are inspired to be better in order to serve more people which then lead to the business looking beyond profits rather looking more on how it can help the community. Reflecting on our today’s discussion, I realized that Corporate Social Responsibility should not only be for corporations rather it should be implemented even by ordinary individuals like us. We should not wait until we are business leaders before we start to implement large projects rather we should start looking at something we can do for the community. Reason is that if we act socially responsible today, it would change us to be socially responsible business leaders in the future.

On the Philippine Constitution and Gap’s Labor Problems

In our today’s class, we have discussed the Philippine Constitution and analyzed the case on Gap’s Labor Problems. Gap as we all know, is one of the largest brand in the clothing industry however, Gap was not free of any labor problems. Gap, an international company, was found to be having factories with poor working conditions and minors being employed. Gap immediately answered the problem and cleared its image and reputation stating that its third party contractor was the one who were responsible for the issues.

Having stated the above, this brings me to my current blog topic today which is on the Philippine Constitution however I would particularly like to dwell on two things to relate to our case analysis which is the labor situation in the country and the continuous rise of outsourcing.

The Philippine constitution has some concrete laws written on labor and outsourcing but I would like to highlight both the benefits and disadvantages of outsourcing labor. It is true that countries such as ours are the main target of foreign companies to outsource their services especially given that we are an English speaking county and that labor is cheap compared to developed countries. However, we must also protect our fellow Filipinos so that what happened in Gap would not be experienced by our own country as well.

It is good to note that Gap, being an ethically responsible company, had took measures to address the problem however, if the above was not the case, then the poor labourers would be left hanging with nothing to fight for. Outsourcing is good for both the company and the country where it outsources it services but we should not discount the fact that companies should provide fair and equal opportunities wherever they are situated.

Why Businesses should be Ethical?

Today, I will continue on with the second part of my blog topic on business ethics. My goal toward the end of this journal is to answer the question why businesses should be ethical? As mentioned in my previous blog post, it pays a business well when it acts ethically. Throughout history, we have seen the rise and fall of several huge companies who have gone unethical. Again, take Enron or WorldCom and more recently Lehman Brothers in 2008. As I continue to study and learn about business ethics, I realize that ethics is the one that sets a long and lasting company from those that don’t. Take our case study for today which is the Ford and Firestone controversy. The case is very close to my heart as I drive my own automobile and it is very alarming to know that there can be conspiracies or connivance behind manufacturing companies which can be hazardous to the consumers.

            Ford and Firestone were both aware of the flaw in the suspension system of the Ford Explorers but they did nothing to address this rather when the accidents happen, both companies started blaming each other and ended up in the breaking the long lasting relationship of both companies.

            When companies act unethically, it does not only hurt the business but it also has an impact on all its stakeholders. As the saying goes, there is nothing in the world that can be left hidden forever. I hope that business leaders take this principle in their day to day decision making and to start looking beyond profits rather look on how their decision can have an impact to all its stakeholders.

            After our class, I reflected on the things I have learned and realized that being ethical should not start in the business rather it should start on every individual. Also, I have realized that being ethical should be a lifelong principle that each of us should practice every day. Thinking about it, all these corporations who collapsed due to ethical reasons are led by individuals with good scholastic records, with MBA degrees or even PHD’s however, one unethical act led to the fall of their large and powerful organizations and some of them even going to jail.

            I would like to end this post with my simple reflection and that is ethics is not only good for business but it is good for the whole world as well. If each and every one of us would act ethically, this world will be a better place to live in for us and for the future generations.