Building and sustaining learning organization

Every generation needs a revolution - an entrepreneurial revolution

Rizal Philippines
January 22, 2017

This post, entrepreneur, business executive has long implemented learning as one of its values (beliefs) in the organization that he has founded for more than 30 years.  He has believed that its all about getting better.

Thus he was not surprised when Peter Senge came out with the book From Slideshare - Fifth Discipline PPt  What is the fifth discipline?  Shared learning.   It is a process by which an organization encourages its members to learn, so that the organization continuously transforms itself.   Learning is defined as the steps by which an organization acquires new skills and knowledge to innovate and compete and catch with the times. Stability and administration of a on going business is yielding to change and innovation.  What is new gets old,  the present becomes the past

The Fifth Discipline by Peter Senge

What have done so far to encourage our people in the organization:

1.  Performance evaluation to require staff to :   submit 1 book report a month, 3 blog comments a month on its community blog (so that the staff know what is going on);  to require everyone to have a have a learning log (and to have at least 60 entries a quarter)

2.  To require all staff to undergo orientation and pass the exams .  No additional allowance shall be given unless this is fulfilled.

3.  To promote staff via merit for following:  with following steps

     1.  40 book reports   1 step

     2.  MBA  2 steps

    3. PRC license     1 step

   4.  Creating a manual, a software program  - 1 step

We can learn a lot.  WE cant be crazy. by learning    Right now we are using only 7%  of our brain power.  When we were growing up that was at 30%.  We can memorize the Bible or encyclopedia if we dedicate our passion and efforts to do so.  Our brain has 1 trillion neurons that can store bits of information and that can be interconnected in an infinite number of ways  more than quadrillion possibilities.  That is why humans have invented so many things to improve upgrade our standard of living.

Somebody said can we learn while working.  Kaya nga sinabi, the secret of success is hard work.  We cant improve in our work we cant improve ourselves if we do not additional inputs from the world:   internet, books seminars.

There was story about two brothers who were being chased by a flash flood.  One said run, the other said run.  The elder said:   Ok let us pray while we run.  We can learn while we work.

Those who lead read

This brings us back to the story about an exec, a senior exec at a major drug company who asked his subordinates as to what is the primary responsibility of a subordinate?  Some say it is meeting the required targets and outputs;  some say its about following the rules and regulations of the company; some say its about being loyal to the boss.

To which he said they are all ok but not quite.

THE PRIMARY RESPONSIBILITY OF AN EMPLOYEE IS TO IMPROVE HIMSELF.  How can he do that?  By learning new skills and knowledge to develop himself and his skills in his job so that he will grow.

We can only improve our production and output if we improve ourselves and learn new things.   If we keep on doing old things expecting different results, it is INSANITY  (Albert Einstein)

The learning organization presentation from rosinmary

Cost Reduction - The Cost of Doing nothing

Every generation needs a revolution - an entrepreneurial revolution

Rizal Philippines
December 30, 2016

Today marks the death of national hero.  What could mean the death of companies?   High costs and expenses.  Remember that the basic formula for business is

           Sales
          -Cost
          = Gross Profit

Thus you try your best to pour resources and key activities into sales while at the same time
 Reducing your op ex, cap ex and other expenditures.

And yet none could be worse than expenses for doing nothing.

1.  In lean system, in the acronym for waste (MUDA) TIMWOOD, several of these refer to not doing anything:

        I -  nventories -  machinery raw mat, finished goods that are lying idle in the warehouse consume a lot of space and cost of money

        W aiting  for someone to finish the job, for someone to sign check payments, sign PO

        D elay  like waiting can consume a lot of time (which is an expensive resource.  In US you pay this by the hour.  That is why in Japan, they have JIT (Kanban system) of material usage and the rapid change over of tools in production.  They reduced this from weeks to single digit number of minutes. Delay in the production line costs money

 2. Shipping companies are aware of this   That is why ships: especially the large ones:

   1. Use container to speed up loading and unloading.  They have loading and unloading plan to speed up operations, thus, last in first out in loading containers for containers to be offloaded in the next port of calls. Thus a large PANAMAX container ship must load unload in major ports like HK or Singapore in 24 hours or less.  The cost of doing nothing involve the huge depreciation of the ship (plus the interest expense on its financing), the huge labor costs of the crew, fees from the cost of port call excluding demurrage, berthing fees which accumulate on a daily basis;

  2. Thus for the next port of call, its pays that custom duties are processed before the ship actual docking at the port.  Many customs provide this advanced payment system

Thus we have to improve our own operations to counter the cost of doing nothing:

1.  POs that are left unsigned for the past six months.  The POs concern:

     repairs of equipment
     materials needed for a new business

2.  Projects like road development being unattended to by Engineers.  Some crucial steps are not being attended to.  In the meantime, although we have funds for the project, for which we pay P300,000 a quarter (P1,200,000 a year) our Engineer does not care and must be spanked or banged in the head.  Equally responsible are accounting staff and other members of general management

3.  Accomplishments of people who went on overtime must be scrutinized. Currently they are not.

Accomplishments of every one must be demanded.  Work plan and work achievements are needed. What with very expensive starting salary.  Otherwise, what we taunt as our people are our assets, means that if they are dead weight, they bring down the company with their high cost of doing
nothing

A lot of education is needed at this area of financial management operations (lean system)

Adversities in the Life of an Entrepreneur - Power and Credit Grab

Every generation needs a revolution - an entrepreneurial revolution

Rizal Philippines
December 30, 2016

Today we commemorate the nth death anniversary of who is considered the national hero - Dr. Jose Rizal. His death by firing squad is the greatest adversity a person can meet in his life.

This makes me recall the adversities in the life of a business leader/entrepreneur.  They are the major ones but there are more.

1.  A business partner tells of the sons and daughter of his siblings (whose parents his brods and sis have died) Since they are taking over the shares of his siblings, the different breed have tried to oust him out of the picture.  As of now he represents the corporation in the joint project agreement.   I said that is most unwelcome, since we formed this joint project;  the children had nothing to do with the project.  All they have now are rights of the heirs and their actions are destructive to the unity of their group.

2.  A friend who has a successful party needs business (he has a venue, chairs and tables rental, party packages) put up  burger business. He gave this to his children.   He is making suggestions on how to improve the business.  And he being senior is being set aside.

3. In the companies which I set up so that my brods and sis will not be poor just like the rest of our clan, I was ousted under  Sec. 28 of the CC,  after implementing a bequeath of the estate (equal sharing) the younger ones voted together to remove me from the company which I established. I have not gotten a single cent yet from those companies including a crematorium where I invested wholly my savings.

Thus the seminars and courses of this school on managing conflicts and family business are flourishing.   In a major food company which sells billions, the family feud is intense as I facilitated the presentations of departmental strategies.

There is a group that facilitates formation of family council at a fantastic rate of only $2,000 per day.  That is a great rate if we consider the problem and the friction that it tries to remove from the operations of the family business

The Family feud, Dallas, Falcon Crest are all about this intrigues, power grabs, conflicts in family business