1.

What implications does the large number of Philippine languages have on management
values and practices in the country?

Even with almost 400 years of Spanish Colonization, the core Filipino values derived from its
indigenous roots never died down, values that emphasize social acceptance. We can see this
through the large number of languages that span across the archipelago that is the Philippines.
The keyword here is archipelago. With the country being small but widespread, our geography
played a vital role in the preservation of our cultures. The Spaniards and other colonizers of the
Philippines would find it difficult to have a centralized network of government with islands being
separated by waves or treacherous mountains, therefore colonizers could not fully impose their
cultures on the indigenous in a manner that would prove beneficial and justifiable to the cost of
resources needed in their endeavors. With this, local dialect still remained with foreign languages
such as Spanish and English being indigenized through their inclusion in the local vocabularies.

2. What implications does the fact that the Philippines is a Christian English-speaking Asian
democracy have on management values and practices in the country?

The Philippines is a melting pot of culture weaved together with its indigenous core values. The
Filipino dynamic, when it comes to management values and practices, garners a unique
perspective on the subject. For one, the Philippines is a highly westernized country built upon the
foundations of Christian core values from the Spanish colonizers. Along with that, Chinese
immigrants reinforced the family structure of the native society with their hierarchical
authoritarianism. The Filipino culture is more easily grasped if seen as the synthesis of four
diverse cultures ranging from the Indigenous Filipino, Chinese, Hispanic, to American.

With this, the Filipino has a collective identity, cultivated by the need for social acceptance.

Management practices could also be seen in most corporate cultures, from the indigenous core
values of kinship, influenced by the amalgamation of Christianity, American Liberalism,
contrasting ideals that somehow fit well when paired with Chinese mercantilism.
3. What makes the management practices in the Philippines identifiable as distinctively
Filipino?

Looking from the outside, some of the common practices in Filipino management can be
misconstrued. This is because the culture of Filipinos are derived from deep rooted indigenous
core values, focusing on kinship, family, and social acceptance, intertwined with ideologies from
Chinese mercantilism, American Westernization and Spanish Catholicism.
For example, faster recruitment for jobs when you are part of the family can be seen as nepotism,
Bribery can also be perceived when you give back to a person or express gratitude by giving gifts
or doing favors. The hierarchy of power sharing within a group of friends or compadres can be
seen as the negligence of qualifications when appointing ranks within a company or a business.
If you look at the Filipino managerial style and practice without first discerning its cultural roots,
you would probably see a negative annotation, but in the end, it’s just a Pinoy thing.

4. Explain the effects of history and foreign contact to Filipino management values and
practices. Focus on at least three periods in Philippine history.

With the introduction of Chinese culture through trading with our indigenous tribes, the
Philippines had a taste of mercantilism which was later solidified in our culture with the coming
of Chinese immigrants’ centuries after. Along with the core Filipinos values, mercantilism
evolved into a kinship based structure of management focusing on hierarchical authoritarianism.

As the Spanish colonized the country, The Filipino people were introduced to Catholicism, with
its main dynamic being social acceptance. The Filipino’s extended family was broadened into a
social network through “compadres” or the Godparenthood. This would prove beneficial, as
having a wide array of “ninongs and ninangs” would make job placements easier for the child in
the future, alongside other benefits such as extra gifts on birthdays and Christmas.

The American occupation was brief, yet influential. The ideals brought by the Americans caught
on quickly and was rapidly incorporated in the Filipino culture or societal norms. Free enterprise
and liberal education was adapted into the daily lives of Filipinos.
5. Comment on the economic background presented in the text.

The economic state of the Philippines was once flourishing, it had been one of the fastest
developing countries in Asia, second only to Japan, but because of the Marcos regime and its
blatant ultra-nationalistic policies, it shut down opportunities for economic growth in our country
by not opening up to foreign investors. That was changed however in the downfall of his
government, with the succeeding presidents having the opportunity to correct his economic
blunders. Aquino, Ramos, and Arroyo were all in favor of limiting and changing the economic
policies during Marcos’ term. This opened up the country to foreign investors, with Arroyo
pushing for the liberalization of the Economy, as well as aiming to reduce poverty through
investments in education and land reform.

The penetration of foreign investors in our country, to me at least, poses a threat though, if not
properly monitored. At the time, the Philippine Capital was not enough to finance both the export
economy and government projects. The country relied on foreign capital to compensate for the
lack of the domestic resources. This could lead to foreign bodies having an edge when it comes to
gaining shares of the resources our country has and is still prevalent even in today’s times.

6. Discuss 10 of the following core Filipino values and cultural concepts, and explain their
importance in the development of management practices in the country.

Amor Propio – A Spanish word meaning, self-love. It is a sense of self-esteem or self-respect

that prevents a person from the loss of social acceptance. The Filipinos are sensitive to attacks on
their own self-esteem and cultivate a sensitivity to the self-esteem of others as well. In Business,
even the slightest of actions that could unknowingly affect the self-esteem of a partner or
workmate would sometimes be considered as a personal attack, so anything that might hurt
another’s self-esteem is to be avoided or else one risks terminating the relationship.

Utang na Loob – Basically means giving back what you owe to a person. This is imperative in
the structures of management in Filipino culture because the cultural dynamic in which it is
derived from promulgates the ideals of socials acceptance through mutual reciprocity. A tit for
tat.
 Bayanihan , Pakikisama, Pagtutulungan – Are all synonymous with each other. Community,
Cooperation, and Togetherness are debatably the driving factors of the Filipino culture. When
you say Filipino values, Bayanihan would be the first thing that comes to mind. These are
important in management practices because it strengthens social networks through helping one
another. This then is complemented by “utang na loob” to further solidify ties within said
network.

Tayo vs Kami / Barkada – “Us with you” and “Us without you” is the result of being loyal to
one group and the dismissal of non-members. This group centeredness or factionalism is the
driving factor of conflicts or rivalries between “Barkadas” or ingroups. The presence of
factionalism emphasizes the importance of intragroup cooperation and intergroup conflict in
Filipino Organizations.

Swerte / Bahala na / Pasensiya and pagtitimpi– The Filipinos, with its deep rooted indigenous
values, are very superstitious, with a culture forged from an amalgamation of beliefs, one of
which is “Swerte” or luck. This is the Filipino’s sense of fatalism. Filipinos often times attribute
success or advancements in life as swerte. This leads to “Bahala na”, a value that underlies the
escapist tendencies of a Filipino. A person would leave everything to fate and destiny to account
for the various event that happens in that person’s life, be it positive or negative in nature. This
then leads to Pasensiya and pagtitimpi which refers to the resignation to and acceptance of
failures and shortcomings.

7. What are the four types of distinctive Filipino leadership styles? Explain each.

The four types of Filipino leadership are Pakiramdam, Takutan, Kulit, and Patsamba-tsamba.

Pakiramdam focuses on a passive style of leadership, with subordinates doing work that is not
too little or too much to play safe. This is because of the unassertive style of leadership that does
not provide workers with the necessary guidance required to give the workers a sense of
initiative. Instead the leader motivates through being friendly or “Feeling the other”, with the staff
by inferring the manager’s absolute expectations, regardless of the relevance to organizational
objectives.
 Takutan is a style of leadership that puts the responsibility on the manager who relies on
oppression, conceit, and hostility. This leadership is easily explained as a matter of
professionalism that requires social distance between themselves, which are the workers and the
“ranks” such as supervisors. The manager persuades subordinates to obey without complaints to
steer clear from threats and punishments. As to secure one’s acceptance within the work group, it
was preferred to avoid dispute with higher-ranks.

Another type of leadership is called Kulit which refers to a superior closely observes and controls
the work of their subordinates by checking every detail of the assignment that results to a lack of
freedom within the workplace. When a subordinate makes decisions without consulting, even if
the decisions are within the subordinate's level of authority, will exasperate the superior.
However, subordinates comply without resentment simply because the burden of efficiency is
relieved by the accountability of their superior.

Patsamba-tsamba is a style of management that has no goals, objectives, and direct instructions
yet relies on trial and error leaving success or failure to fate. Rather than making rational
decisions, the manager often prefers buoyant actions that creates disaster and disorder that
confuses subordinates resulting to inefficient organization on its operations.

8. Discuss the implications of compadrazo on corporate culture in the Philippines.

Compadrazo would be one of the many manifestations of what people from outside the Filipino
culture would call blatant bias. A system that was taken from the Catholic teachings of the
Spaniards that turned into a family’s strategy in this corporate game of chess, their keys, and their
ticket. Families setting up their children to marry into a specific family to further boost their
status, position, or gain favors. Just the mere fact that you have a “ninong” or a “ninang” with a
high rank in a company would offer an applicant an enormous advantage over others, or even to
the point where applications are just mere formalities.

That’s because, in the Philippines, Family holds a high value in society. Though it is true that
favoritism does exists in the form of compadrazo in the corporate culture in the Philippines, the
Filipino culture itself is an immense impact on that. The culture of the Philippines is based on
family values. Bayanihan, pakikisama, pagtutulungan, mixed together with different cultures
made the corporate scene in the Philippines what it is today.

When you have a cousin that needs work and you have a position in the company, it is so easy to
give a recommendation to your cousin. You may or may not like him, but often times the
subconscious Filipino value of “Utang na loob” kicks in because you remembered that your aunt
funded the entirety of your high school.