Organizational Development and Change Management Cavestany, Lester G.

October 8, 2011 Professor Alfredo Diaz, Jr.

Master in Public Management - Ateneo School of Government Essay: Change Management Application Business One Stop Shop in Cainta 1. Introduction: Nature of Change Initiative: Entry Point for Change Kayo ang boss ko! This was the Presidents declaration and promise to the Filipino people when he took office in 2010. Seen from fiscal perspectives, this roughly translates to the saying, Taxpayer is King! And most, if not all, of our taxes come from the business sector. And so in logical terms, it would be safe to assume that our government greatly values the contribution of businesses and private enterprises. However, according to the World Bank survey Doing Business 2011, the Philippines placed 148th out of 183 countries, in the global ranking of economies in the ease of doing business. Singapore ranked first, not just in the Southeast Asian region, but among all the countries surveyed. The Philippines, on the other hand, was the second worst country in Southeast Asia. The ten indicators measured in the survey included the following: dealing with construction permits; registering property; getting credit; protecting investors; paying taxes; trading across borders; enforcing contracts; closing a business; and ease in starting a business. A related survey was done in 2010 by the Political and Economic Risk Consultancy, which measured the efficiency of the bureaucracy of twelve key countries in Asia, and we were the third worst country because of the entrenched red tape in the government. But we dont need outside surveys to tell us the realities of red tape in our government, especially when it comes to business permits and licenses. We encourage our people to become more enterprising and when they would like to start their own business, we ask them to go through complex procedures and unreasonable costs before they become registered. While it is understood that certain steps are required and a few fees have to be paid, it is hoped that a careful review of these steps and fees can perhaps lead to a more efficient way of becoming a legitimate business. National agencies, such as the DILG and the DTI, are also trying to spur the local governments to become more business-friendly provinces, cities, municipalities, and barangays. A crucial part of

this effort is the streamlining of business permits and licensing processes at the local level through the implementation of the Business One-Stop Shop (BOSS), a simplified system that will facilitate a more effective and efficient way for business entities and entrepreneurs who would like to secure or renew their permits and licenses. 2. Organizational assessment results Registering or renewing a business with the government is not easy. Business owners have to jump through complex procedural hoops and turn over cartloads of requirements to obtain the official permits and become a legal business entity. The whole process takes about 38 days from the time you register the business name to the final step of registering with Social Security and Philhealth. Its so time consuming and inconvenient that its no surprise that people are dismayed with the process and would rather operate illegally than be hassled and stressed by the bureaucratic red tape. The Municipality of Cainta has had a few attempts to implement a Business One-Stop Shop during the months of January to March, which are the peak months for renewal of business permits and licenses. However, due to certain logistical and technical limitations, the efforts have not been successful. It is hoped that with the process of change management discussed in this essay, business owners would have an easier way to secure their business permits and licenses from the local government of Cainta. Improving the business permit and licensing process in Cainta should include the following components: 1) streamlining the procedures; 2) lessening the time; 3) minimizing the costs; and 4) 4) simplifying the requirements. 3. Proposed change management team Similar to other local government units, change is best implemented by ensuring that the local chief executive is on board. The mayors approval will help drive the reforms necessary to make the strategy succeed primarily because key legislative and administrative officials will follow his lead and also join in on the plans.

The creation of an ad-hoc committee or a project team should be part of the initial steps undertaken to carefully plan the change management strategy. All offices involved in the business permit and licensing process should be well represented in the project team, and they should have decision making powers so that plans can be discussed and finalized more effectively. A World Bank study entitled, Simplification of Business Regulations at the Sub-National Level, identified the following skill sets that should be present in the team: 1) political expertise; 2) legal expertise; 3) operational expertise; 4) technology expertise; 5) information and record-keeping expertise; and 6) communications expertise. It is important that the members of the project team have a good understanding of the current municipal process, the departments and functions, and the specific problems or issues associated with the current process. The output of the project team would be a coherent and comprehensive strategic plan to streamline the business permit and licensing process according to the needs of the municipality. The strategic plan must involve a careful review and a legal and procedural analysis of the steps in the process to identify which parts can be eliminated and which are essential. Consultations with the Cainta Business Chamber should also be conducted so we can get their views and insights on business registration. 4. Proposed sponsorship model and stakeholder assessments Although the business permit and licensing process is primarily an administrative matter, the involvement of the Sangguniang Bayan or the local council should be sought early on. In fact, a study on the pilot project for BPLO streamlining in Iloilo recommended the buy-in not only from the local chief executive, but also the vice mayor and the councilors who comprise the local council. The Sangguniang Bayans help in creating a resolution that will define the duties and responsibilities of the project team and its members would create clear guidelines for everyone concerned. In addition, a project OIC should be appointed so that the coordination and planning will have a focal person. The team will consist of key personnel from the various offices involved in the BPLO process and if

necessary, additional consultants can be asked to join in on the review of the current process. International development organizations such as the World Bank and GTZ, who are known for providing technical support to such initiatives, can also be contacted. Two main areas should be carefully reviewed by the project team: 1) New Business Permit Applications; and 2) Business Permit Renewals. After the review period, the project team should finalize their recommendations in the form of a revised process for these two areas. It is at this point where local stakeholders and members of the business community should be invited to a consultative meeting. Feedback mechanisms and Focus group discussions can be used to properly identify the strengths and weaknesses of the proposed changes. The selling point of the streamlined process would be the One Stop Shop. The venue for the One Stop Shop should be large enough to accommodate all the offices involved in the process. Also, it should have a taxpayers lounge so clients are comfortable while they wait for their papers to be processed, for their names to be called for payments and for receiving of their business permits. This arrangement would reduce the interaction with unscrupulous civil servants who might ask for some grease money from clients to grant their approvals. Should there be any permits or clearances that would need more time, the clients would be allowed to start operations and they would be given a lead time of two to three months to complete the other requirements. Two factors for the success of the One Stop Shop should also be considered by the project team and the concerned offices. The first one deals with the use of information and communications technologies that will allow faster processing of documents and allow interconnectivity among concerned offices. This factor should help improve the outputs of the BPLO. Secondly, the frontliners should have proper customer service orientations and capacity development training so that they can deal with the clients more effectively. This factor would greatly help in the customer satisfaction component of the evaluation. 5. Implementation Risks and/or Pitfalls and Recommendations For Special Tactics

The buy-in of the powers that be in the person of the local chief executive and local council, was identified earlier as a crucial first move in the change management strategy. This would formalize the reform initiative and it would put pressure on all stakeholders and concerned offices and personnel to cooperate with the project team. The imprimatur of the elected officials would also make the members of the project team proud of their involvements and contributions. Having said this, it is to be expected that work demands from the project teams respective offices would have some impacts on the progress of the project. This should be minimal, but in case it gets out of hand, a tactic of asking the mayor to attend the meetings, even for a short while, would greatly boost the attendance and contributions of the members of the project team. Measuring success is something that reform initiatives sometimes fail to do. Thats why during the planning and implementation of the changes, the evaluation phase should also be included. The use of a Balanced Scorecard system can play a role in measuring the effectiveness of the new process. Outputs of processed permits and the outcome of customer satisfaction should be included in the scorecard. This post-initiative evaluation should be compared with the data from the preinitiative assessment that would include number of days of processing time, steps, forms, clearances, and costs. And should the One Stop Shop succeed, the next challenge for the LGU would be to institutionalize it, not just for the first quarter, but all throughout the year. For the municipality of Cainta, this would be logistically impossible due to the lack of a facility that would house the One Stop Shop year-round. Plans should be readied to provide a permanent facility for the BOSS. Once the people have had a taste of how things should be and ought to be, they cant help but ask for more. In closing, I hope that this essay has shown the possibility of implementing a better way to register or renew the business permits and licenses of the business owners in Cainta. Should it be implemented, the author believes that the Business One Stop Shop will create ripples of change that would make business owners Juan and Juana feel that they are truly the governments bosses.