Family Above All

Family comes first-​ -coming from a Filipino family, I’m sure we heard this phrase multiple times in

our lives, especially from our aunts, uncles, and parents. Strong family ties are a big part of Filipino

culture, and I would like to reiterate the point of Mendoza (2001); Filipino society emphasizes the

centrality of the family. Furthermore, the sense of community in the Philippines ends with the family.

Under the third resource for integration while working abroad, Philippe Pierre’s “asset of family”

mentioned that international managers highlight the flexibility of their family unit in relation to the model of

expatriation in choosing whether they will leave unaccompanied or with their spouse, or with or without

the children. It can be implied that the family really matters and plays a huge role in international

managers’ decisions in their careers. In line with this, I would like to focus my discussion on how families

affect the performance and decisions of Filipino International Managers or Filipino expatriates.

According to Selmer & De Leon (2014), it can be observed how Filipinos are family-centered

which is even visible in the workplace or business setting. This applies to all workplaces regardless of the

location as long as there are Filipino employees. Claver and Amponstira (2020) conducted a study

regarding the career satisfaction of Filipino self-initiated expatriates (SIEs) in Thailand. They found that

economic factors, professional considerations, occupational, and family considerations can greatly

influence the career satisfaction of Filipino SIEs in Thailand. Moreover, they also found that family

relationships, lifestyle, and individuals’ basic values and not only career-related aspects influence the life

event of a Filipino SIE (Cao, Hirschi, & Deller, 2012).

Another study was conducted by Panganiban and Villareal (2017) which focused on the work-life

balance on the well-being of Filipino expatriates in the Kingdom of Bahrain. It was implied in the literature

that for Filipino expatriates in Bahrain, the work-life balance is a dominant issue that negatively affects the

well-being, as both family and work are the most important elements in all of the Filipinos or even in

everyone’s life and it is very difficult to balance both at the same time especially for expatriates.

Moreover, another example is from my personal experience. I have an aunt who is working in an

insurance company in the United States. Before she made her decision in pursuing her career there, she

had several factors to consider and the major one was her family. It’s a good thing that her family went

with her to the United States and they have finally settled in the US and she is still pursuing her career. It

Platero, Ella Jane D. | 2015-12627 | BA 158 WFR PAPER NO. 3

can be observed in this example that the first question that came to her mind was “How about my family?”

This reaction is expected from an expatriate, a Filipino expatriate.

Based on these examples and several studies conducted in different countries involving Filipino

workers or expatriates, it can be implied that regardless of a Filipino’s location all over the world, his or

her strong family tie really plays an important role and influences major decisions in his or her career or in

life in general. Family can really play an important role for international managers especially for Filipino

international managers since strong family ties are on top of our culture.

References:

● Claver, V., & Amponstira, F. (2020). ​View of Career Satisfaction of Filipino Professional

Self-Initiated Expatriates in Thailand.​ https://rb.gy/vpl85c

● Mendoza, M. L. (2001, September). The crisis of management culture in the Philippines: Neither

East Asian nor Western. In ​3rd EUROSEAS Conference in London, IK and the 4th European

Philippine Studies Conference in Alcoba, Spain on September​.

● Panganiban, C., & Villareal, I. (2016). The impact of work-life balance on the wellbeing offilipino

expatriates. ​International Journal of Advanced Research in Management and Social Sciences​,

5(​ 7), 1–9.

● Selmer, J., & De Leon, C. (2002). ​Management and culture in the Philippines​. Hong Kong:

Business Research Centre, School of Business, Hong Kong Baptist University

Platero, Ella Jane D. | 2015-12627 | BA 158 WFR PAPER NO. 3