Managers told to be flexible ahead of region-led recovery
By Jessica Anne D. Hermosa, BusinessWorld | 12/20/2009 6:00 PM
MANILA, Philippines - Managers in Asia should be flexible and
“tech-savvy” to successfully steer firms ahead of a region-led economic
recovery and an increasingly globalized landscape, speakers at a
conference said yesterday.
“Companies are able to ‘out-compete’ [others] because of their
flexibility,” Benel P. Lagua, head of state-run Small Business
Guarantee and Finance Corp. or SB Corp., said during the fourth
international conference of the Asian Academy of Applied Business.
Changes are especially needed given the upheavals caused by the
downturn and expectations that the region will “play a major role” in
the global economy, he said.
Managers will also have to contend with changes wrought by growing
links among economies as well as technological advances, Mr. Lagua said.
Experts from the academe at one of the conference’s breakout
sessions similarly underlined the need for flexibility and urged
business leaders to craft new strategies for the region.
Firms, for instance, should take advantage of marketing
possibilities offered by new technologies such as mobile phones,
University of Kuala Lumpur professor Azahari Jamalundin said.
“Marketers have yet to fully adapt their brand strategies to the new digital-based technologies,” Mr. Jamalundin said.
Firms can sponsor mobile phone users’ requests for news or provide after-sales service through this medium, he said.
Ernest Cyril de Run, Universiti Malaysia-Sarawak deputy dean for
graduate studies, pointed out how Western promotional strategies that
emphasize individualism may not work in Asia.
The conference was organized by AAAB, University Malaysia Sabah, and the Asian Institute of Management.
By Jessica Anne D. Hermosa, BusinessWorld | 12/20/2009 6:00 PM