Coca-Cola has lived to 109 years in the Philippines because it subscribed to the mantra that to weather the inevitable crises, it must change with the times while remaining true to its core values. It did so once again amid the still-raging COVID-19 pandemic and it responded to the massive disruption by aggressively pursuing its…
Not even the COVID-19 pandemic could slow down the pace at which telecommunications giant Globe wants to roll out new products and services that address the everyday needs of its customers. The telecommunications arm of the Ayala group has always been proud to be an innovator, says Globe CEO Ernest Cu, guided by its vision…
McDonald’s Philippines has long been a formidable leader in the quick service restaurant sector, but even then, it was not spared from the ravages of the COVID-19 pandemic. But true to its character of resilience, McDonald’s Philippines was able to regain its bearings with its fundamentals intact and mission to recover from the pandemic sharpened.…
AC Energy Corp. (Acen) along with the Zabaleta group have divested their minority shareholdings in three biomass-fed power projects in the Visayas as part of moves by the Ayala group to concentrate on their core renewable energy projects—solar and wind. The three projects are the 20-megawatt San Carlos BioPower, 25 MW North Negros BioPower and…
The COVID-19 pandemic and the resulting lockdowns to contain it have devastated the country’s economy. But even then, there are reasons to be optimistic that the worst is over and that the Philippines can look forward to much better times ahead. To help Filipinos navigate through the crisis, the Philippine Daily Inquirer, the other members…
Last year we celebrated 100 years. You can’t be around that long without learning from mistakes and doing things better. One of the things Aboitiz did – over the course of five generations and a rapidly expanding workforce in an increasingly complex environment – was to simply remain focused. Two of the things we paid…
Filipinos are becoming increasingly comfortable with using so-called QR or “quick reaction” codes when paying for purchases or making money transfers from one person to another—a sign that the “cash heavy” local economy is well on its way to “cash light” one. In particular, Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) Governor Benjamin Diokno pointed to the…
The pandemic has undoubtedly accelerated digital transformations globally and across all sectors, prompting businesses and economies to make an abrupt pivot to ride this unprecedented wave of changes. Some businesses, however, are fortunately well-positioned to go digital even prior to the onset of the pandemic, enabling them to quickly adapt to the “new normal.” Union…
The necessary but painful quarantine restrictions put in place to contain the spread of COVID-19 have accelerated the pace of digital transformation of Filipino companies of all sizes, from microentrepreneurs to the large conglomerates. Entrepreneurs and corporate executives know only full well that if they do not embrace the digitalization trend, they run the risk…
(Editor’s note: We begin with this commentary a series on big ideas and bold moves that some of the country’s leading business leaders are ready to share and act on as the Philippines navigates through a changing business environment.) In my years as head of engineering for the SM malls, I had come to realize…