Breakthroughs MAY - JULY 2007


MAY - JULY 2007 • Vol. 1 - No. 1 • 16 Pages • FREE

BPO Roadmap Plots

Philippines Direction for 2010 By Dahl Bennett

The past five years have seen a steady and solid

growth in the country’s BPO industry and sub-sec-
tors (back-office operations, medical transcription,
software development, animation, contact centers,
etc.) enough to make potential investors take a sec-
ond look at the Philippines as a rising hub for BPO-
related services.
From 2001-2005, there was a With India as the benchmark—
dramatic 40-50 percent growth in as it has the largest slice of the
the industry with employment in- pie globally with 46 percent share
creasing by more than double from – BPA/P, with its 174 member firms
2004 (100,500) to 2006 (237,000). and four associations, in November
Such growth shows the Philippines last year collectively “hatched” the
is on its way to becoming one of need to be more united in their vi-
the major players in the global BPO sion for the industry.
industry that has an estimated ad- From this agreement the “road-
dressable market of $300 billion. map” was born with Sañez at the
helm. The roadmap—which is de-
Plotting the “roadmap” tailed in the BPA/P paper entitled
“There is something big here “Driving Breakthrough Growth in
for the Philippines in terms of par- BPO/IT-Services” -- is anchored
ticipation. So the BPA/P started on two core initiatives to be able to
getting more organized which is realize its potentials: (1) Develop
a better way of telling the whole “Roadmap 2010” to enable break-
world about our industry,” says Os- through growth; and (2) Build a
car Sañez, BPA/P Chief Executive
Officer. Turn to Page 2

Philippines Attracting More

BPOs as India’s Wages and
janisdeiabad2007
Infrastructure Costs Increase
Several companies from India have already made the trek to the

International ICT Awards Honor

Philippines, and others are expected to follow as they look outside
the well-established Makati and Ortigas enclaves to set up their tier-2
facilities for their call centers.

Top BPO Companies Low wages, one of the reasons why India has drawn in investors,
is becoming a thing of the past, as salaries of BPO employees are be-
coming higher and getting to be more competitive. As a result, BPO
It was an award meant to honor as several members won in Cebu Educational Development firms that refuse to be saddled by the increasing costs of scaling up
the outstanding accomplishments the following categories: BPO Foundation for Information are looking for less expensive alternatives. The Philippines, already
and major contributions of the major Company of the Year, Accenture Technology (CEDF-IT); Celeste recognized as a BPO center in Asia and a fast-rising player in the
playersandleadersoftheInformation Inc.; Best New BPO Locator of the Ilagan of the Board of Investments market, is becoming the destination of choice.
and Communications Technology Year, Dell Philppines; Best Mid- (BOI); Mitch Locsin of the Relocation is not only the prime reason. Some BPOs in India may
(ICT) industry. Organized by the Sized BPO Company of the Year, Business Processing Association retain their primary facilities in that country, but outsource the sup-
Canadian Chamber of Commerce, Leverage Systems Technologies; of the Philippines (BPA/P); port services to the Philippines.
it also intended to showcase that BPO Employer of the Year, Don Felbaum of the American Establishing a base in the archipelago is generally regarded as
businesses and people in the Convergys Philippines Services; Chamber of Commerce of the easier. Neither does scaling in the National Capital Region’s business
Philippines could compete in the Fastest Growing BPO Company Philippines; Henry Schumacher districts rack up the same huge costs as in the more populated Indian
larger global arena. of the Year, TeleTech; Most of the European Chamber of cities.
Thus, last March 1 at the Innovative BPO Company of the Commerce of the Philippines Some companies which have effected a transfer to the Philippines,
Renaissance Hotel in Makati City, Year, Transprocure Corporation; (ECCP); Sean Georget of the an acquisition, a partnership with a local firm, or the creation of a new
the International ICT Awards gave ICT Contributor of theYear Canadian Chamber of Commerce facility include Infosys BPO, HTMT, IBM Daksh, and GenPact.
recognition to firms, executives, (Public Sector) Department of of the Philippines; and Richard The Philippines is not the only competitor in town. Industry in-
workers, and groups that made Trade & Industry; (Private Sector) Mills of the International ICT siders have said that investors wanting to set up shop for their tier-2
a huge impact on the Philippine Bong Borja. Awards Committee for 2007 facilities are studying the advantages of doing so in China, Thailand,
business sector in 2006. The BPO The panel of judges were as and the Chairman of Chalré Vietnam, and Malaysia.
industry was well represented follows: Belen Bonifacio of the Associates.

WHAT’s INSIDE

Executive Profile: In the Spotlight: Company Profiles:

BPA/P CEO Oscar Sañez Back Office Outsourcing B&M Global Services and Shell
p. 12
www.bpap.org
p. 9 Shared Services pp.14-15
Business Processing Association PHILIPPINES
 MAY - JULY 2007
Company News Breakthroughs

BPO Roadmap Plots

Philippine Direction for 2010
Continuation from page 1 Gamble in Australia and New Zealand who
left the corporate world to do volunteer work,
“beefed up” BPA/P management team to Sañez was offered the CEO position at BPA/
implement “Roadmap 2010” and coordi- P only this year. “I wanted a job that had
nate with stakeholders. something to do with social development and
my work now fits the bill.”
“The idea we played around with is
The development of the roadmap, Sañez
‘What place should the Philippines be in estimates, would take around four to five
the whole industry?’” shares Sañez. months. “As we go along we’ll make changes
As early as 2005, the Philippines was and adjustments. We will be acting just like a
still behind countries like India, China, and business management team doing the whole
Malaysia in terms of its potential to make cycle of planning and executing, controlling
it big in the global BPO industry. and revitalizing the goal. For all we know by
But as of 2007, Sañez notes, Booz Al- next year we have higher goals depending on
len Hamilton consulting firm in their re- the opportunities we see.”

What’s In An Accent?
search of Fortune 500 companies in terms Describing the BPO industry as a sunrise
of outsourcing location preference placed industry, Sañez says that there’s no doubt,
the Philippines No. 2 against India particu- the Philippines can make it to where it wants
to be but stresses the importance of being
larly in sub-sectors of contact centers and
organized; otherwise, “we might miss the
back-office operations. boat and miss a lot of opportunities.” This is By Brandon Miller ([email protected])
where the crucial role of BPA/P comes in – as & Mark Thaler ([email protected]) of Edulynx Corp
Strengths and weaknesses an intervening body that will take care of the With contributions from Richard Mills and Moi Lee-Rodriguez
The Philippines’ fertile BPO/IT needs of industry that are above the levels of
environment is based on a number of concern of the BPO and IT companies. It is no secret that we are at an exciting crossroads in the Philippine
factors, the most important of which are BPO industry. We have all seen the articles for years heralding this sun-
cost competitiveness, quality of service, 2010 and beyond shine industry, but it now seems that there’s a shift in the news of the day
and sustainability of talent. Beyond 2010, Sañez is optimistic that
new businesses will evolve from what the to the evolution of training.
The Philippines is at par with the world’s
major BPO players in the aforementioned industry is now. “In the future, there can be
areas but there’s still a lot of room for a lot of real-time work like a marketing or Training is finally getting the attention that is due, with its biggest recognition to date
improvement. If the industry is determined design team in a conference in the States with coming from the government in the form of “Training for Work Scholarships”. Industry
a draftsman based in Manila, and a creative players agree that the HR pool surrounding BPO operations is close to exhaustion, and the
to meet its target goals by 2010, then the
team in Japan all working together, adding options to truly grow while not poaching other agents are somewhat limited. To continue
challenges must be addressed, says Sañez.
their inputs to the work in real-time. That’s to grow the industry, operations must decentralize their facilities or reach out and train a
Among the serious supply side
higher value for work because that’s real-time workforce to meet a minimum employable standard.
constraints cited in the BPA/P paper are:
decision-making enabled by technology and There is a lot of buzz as to what is the best way to train, and there are still many ques-
insufficient quantity of suitable and willing
leveraged by capabilities of different cultures tions that surround training and where the importance should lie. Previously an integral
talent to fuel growth, insufficient quantity
around the world. We can participate in that.”
of suitable space to achieve 2010 goals, portion of numerous training programs was Accent Training as opposed to today where
Sañez adds that what is happening right
and persistent perception of the Philippines Accent Neutralization seems to be at the forefront of training programs.
now is just a small part of what the industry
as a high-risk environment. According to Moi Lee-Rodriguez, training manager of PeopleSupport, “Call centers
can potentially become. “There are things
Sañez stresses the need for more quality essentially operate on the basis of ‘aiming to please’. Depending on the markets they serv-
beyond what we see right now. There’s going
and quantity of our workforce. “We may ice, local call centers may do some accent training to acquire British or American accents.
to be a lot more,” he assures.
produce a lot of graduates but it may not Training would depend on the needs of the client - if the client requires customer service
be the right skills. There’s a need to have
representatives to sound like native speakers.”
a good matching of supply and demand
here so the challenge for us is to be able PeopleSupport does Accent Neutralization over Accent Training with the objective to

Strengths,
to produce enough qualified candidates— reduce strong native accents.
those with the right IT skills and language Worked into any discussion on accents these days is the difference between the Indian
proficiency,” he says. accent and the Filipino accent. It is not secret that a lot of voice-related BPO services are
“What we need to do is have an
initiative in all the key industry areas that Weaknesses, packing up operations in India and moving them to the Philippines. A very good example
is Citibank which met a lot of resistance in their Australian operations due to the Indian ac-
will help solve those issues. If we don’t act cent. Citibank is by no means the only company looking to the Philippines as an exit from
as an industry body, we will not be able to
grow,” he warns. Challenges India due to accent-related issues. More have come and more will continue to follow.
The importance of accent training was initially important, but there has been a shift.
By the year 2010, the industry hopes Less attention is placed on purging the accent but training people’s conversational skills.
to increase its total global market share Manpower strengths: Call centers especially those engaged in outbound campaigns are looking more to people’s
from 4 percent to 10 percent and reach a confidence and clarity as opposed to their accent.
revenue target of $10-12 billion. In terms • High literacy rate (97 percent in the Additionally it is important to note that culturally there is less of a divide between
of manpower, it foresees hiring around National Capital Region, 89 percent in Filipinos and their Western neighbors. This can be attributed to the country’s history and to
150,000 annually. the rest of the country) their understanding of Western culture. Filipinos have worked around the world for years
and that fact alone has truly had an affect on their ability to adapt to customers from differ-
BPA/P and the government • Familiarity with Western culture ent areas of the globe.
hand in hand • Competent English-language skills For this industry to survive and more importantly thrive, there needs to be importance
Elaborating on the rationale of the placed on the training and more specifically English fluency, not just in the short-term but
roadmap, Sañez points out that more than • College education in the long-term educational makeup of this country.
just a destination or set of goals, it serves • Lower salaries compared to other off-
as a guide in showing the challenges, the
roadblocks, and potential bridges that may shore destinations
not be open to the industry for it to reach its
destination. The BPA/P, he adds, needs to
work with the different government arms Manpower weaknesses:
to address different areas of concern.
“Example, we do face challenges for
• Low hiring rate of 5 percent
qualified talents, so what do we need to • High attrition rate of 15 percent
do to increase recruiting yield? It may
require that we work with the Department
of Education or Commission on Higher Concerns that must be addressed:
Education in building a new curriculum
or raising standards of education. It may • Will the Philippines continue to attract
be initiatives that will require us to work investments?
with the Board of Investments or it may
just be about helping us change the image • Specific strategy to propel the industry up
of our country so we can attract more
investments,” he explains.
the knowledge intensity ladder
• Government support for rapid development
Getting down to business
At the moment, Sañez is in the thick of of infrastructure and personnel
recruiting around 12 people to make up the • Skills of workers must be matched with
team that will help develop and execute the
roadmap. the actual job requirements
“One thing different about this team is
that I will be hiring professionals who may [Source: An Analysis of the Philippine Business BPA/P Next General Membership Meeting
Process Outsourcing Industry, ERD Working
or may not be from this industry but who
Paper No. 3, written by Nedelyn Magtibay- When: June 25, 2007
are experts in fields like marketing, human
resources, or advertising.”
Ramos, Gemma Estrada, and Jesus Felipe.
The ERD Working Paper Series is a forum for
Sponsored by:
Sañez knows whereof he speaks as research and policy studies undertaken in or
he himself is not from the BPO industry. behalf of the Asian Development Bank.]
A former country manager for Procter &

Business Processing Association PHILIPPINES www.bpap.org

Breakthroughs MAY - JULY 2007


www.bpap.org Business Processing Association PHILIPPINES

 MAY - JULY 2007
Company News Breakthroughs

Fortune Magazine Names Convergys One of the US’ Most

Admired Companies for the 7th Consecutive Year
Convergys’ seventh-year winning Admired Companies annual list for the Jim Orr, chairman and chief executive Soundness, Innovation, and People
streak continues as Fortune Magazine Diversified Outsourcing category. officer of Convergys, said of the award, Management. These are important
cites it as one of “America’s Most Admired The list of Most Admired Companies “For seven consecutive years, Convergys’ corporate values proudly supported by
Companies,” a post it has held since 2000. was compiled by the Hay Group, position as one of America’s Most our 74,000 employees supporting clients
The international giant which Fortune’s survey partner, which asked Admired Companies has served as a in more than 70 countries around the
outsources customer care, human resources, industry leaders belonging to the highest tribute to the dedication of our employees world.”
and billing services won high marks for echelons to select the winners within and their intense focus on supporting Twenty-seven other firms in Fortune’s
Social Responsibility, Financial Soundness, their respective industries based on eight our clients every day. I am especially Top 50 Companies and seven in the
Innovation, and People Management. categories including investment value pleased that Convergys received high publication’s Top 20 Most Admired are
It was included among Fortune’s Most and social responsibility. ratings for Social Responsibility, Financial Convergys’ clients.

SPi #4 Top BPO Provider and #5 in Human Accenture

Capital Development, Says Global Survey Projects Greater
Growth for
In 2006, SPi was named no. 9 among top best-performing given by the industry. Some of the awards it has won include:
business providers and no. 10 in the development of human the top provider of Publishing & Strategic Content Outsourc-
capital, categories listed in a top 100 global list of the interna- ing Services, and top 10 provider of Document Process Out-
tional community’s most dynamic service providers. In March
of this year, it zoomed up its ranking to land no. 4 and no. 5
sourcing Services Black Book of Outsourcing, 2006; and top
ediscovery providers, Tech Survey of Top 200 US Law Firms,
American Lawyer Magazine, 2006.
Manila Center
in those categories.
The Global Services 100 list compiled their choices from a SPi’s President and CEO Ernesto Cu said of their leader- Accenture expects its Philippine
ship position in the Global 100 list: “This ranking is a rec- office to expand into becoming its third
roster of 150 companies which were then ranked according to
largest global delivery center by the mid-
feedback given them in a 250-data point system that graded ognition of our commitment to making SPi the Employer of
dle of 2007. The US-based outsourcing
them in four major categories such as operations, service of- Choice, Vendor of Choice, and Investment of Choice. Being company’s seven facilities in the country
ferings, client relationships, and human resource policies that ranked as a top-tier BPO provider is a testament to our capa- have a total of 10,000 contact center seats
spot leaders in all areas of business process outsourcing, IT out- bilities, scale, and expertise, and it reflects the high caliber of which are estimated to grow into 15,000
sourcing, engineering, and customer care. service we routinely offer our clients as well as our ongoing by August of this year.
SPi is a frequent contender in awards and recognitions investment in the development of our people.”
Chief Operating Officer Stephen Rohled-
er unveiled these plans during last April’s
IPVG’s Partnership With HK Company Brings $40M International Information and Communi-
cations Technology Awards where Accen-

Investment and 5,000 New Seats ture was awarded the Philippines’ Business
Processing (BPO) Company of the Year.
Information technology company branches in the region, makes its IP-Contact tions, hotel and leisure, and industry and Accenture’s Manila operations serv-
IPVG Corp. ties up with PCCW Teleservic- Center the sole provider servicing the English- finance industries, among others. ice its other branches in the United States,
es (Hongkong) Ltd., in a venture that will speaking requirements of clients of PCCW The first 1,000 seats of the projected the United Kingdom, Australia, Germa-
lead to a projected installation of 3,000 to Teleservices and IPVG. 3,000-5,000 will be set up this year. ny, and Asia with core competencies in
5,000 call center seats and an investment of IPVG’s call center operations is based in IPVG Chief Executive Enrique Gonzales application outsourcing, infrastructure
$40 million in the next three to four years. Makati’s RCBC Plaza. The company intends said that he expects the call center operations outsourcing, BPO, and contact center op-
IPVG’s exclusive licensing and manage- to establish another facility to manage the “to be a major contributor to the company’s erations. Its biggest facility is the 5,000-
ment agreement with PCCW, the biggest call requirements of future clients. Currently, revenues” with an expected 23 percent share seater Robinsons Cybergate Tower II in
IPVG is servicing the airline, customer rela- in 2007 and 35-40 percent from 2008-2009. Mandaluyong City.
center operator in Greater China which has 11

Business Processing Association PHILIPPINES www.bpap.org

Breakthroughs
Company News MAY - JULY 2007

CBRE Refines Business Processes
To Prepare For ISO Certification New Products
The Aspect Performance Management from
In preparation for its ISO 9001 certification, CB ECCI managing director N. Sreenivas, who will Aspect Software, Inc.: an application that uses
Richard Ellis (CBRE) Philippines will undergo a review serve as project manager for the initiative, says the dashboards, notifications, and workflows to help align con-
process will involve five stages over a period of six tact center operational performance with strategic corporate
and recommendation for enhancement of the business goals. It provides key performance indicators (KPIs) and
processes of its Assets Services Department, conducted months. “The first stage is ‘Discovery,’ where we try to a structured process environment to drive improvement in
by ECC International (ECCI). identify the current state of the company by talking to business results for customer service, collections, and sales
and telemarketing. Aspect Performance Management can
CBRE is the biggest real estate services company in the management and asking them where they would automatically pull data from call center systems and busi-
the world, and the CBRE Asset Services is its biggest like to see their company over a period of time in terms ness applications into a single platform for reporting and
of its business processes.” taking action. From this platform, it delivers personalized
department with its manpower and five business lines dashboards for everyone in the operation through a thin cli-
(property management, facilities management, asset “The second stage is called ‘Define,’ where we com- ent interface, as well as provides complete management re-
management, technical services and project manage- pare current processes vis-à-vis what they want to do. porting, alerting, and task automation.
ment). The consultancy firm ECCI specializes in man- After this, we go into the ‘Documentation’ phase where q q q
agement systems and process improvement. the process definitions are converted to documents. Planned WiMax Rollout in the Philippines: A
They could be a series of pictures or flowcharts.” $12M wireless broadband infrastructure, to be built by Pa-
“We want to refine and further enhance our busi- cific Internet Ltd. initially in the Greater Metro-Manila area.
ness processes. Our principal goal is seamless continu- Next, processes that have been defined will be The plan includes multiple wireless technologies to support
ity in our processes, even as people are promoted and deployed in the “Deployment” phase. “We expect its core business: leased lines, broadband Internet access,
and other IP-based services mainly for corporate custom-
replaced,” CBRE Philippines country officer Leighton about 50 percent of the old processes to remain, with ers. Pacific Internet Philippines has recently been assigned
Tsai explains. “We want the business intelligence to re- minor modifications, and the rest to be improved and the 15MHz spectrum in the 2.5-2.7 GHz band, suitable for
formalized.” Broadband Wireless Access for business customers and
side not only with the people, but also in our system.” professionals.
Asset Services director Nikki Gilladoga, who initiated In the final “Determination” phase, the processes q q q
the project, adds, “Our immediate objective is internal im- are benchmarked against ECCI’s internal standards to BPM Suite, solution offered by e-PLDT to-
provement of processes, which is part of our commitment to see if they are ready to be ISO-certified. “At this stage, a gether with Global 360: a powerful application that
third-party service provider will come in to take them provides organizations with the tool to consistently process
raising our standards. When these systems and procedures documents faster and, if necessary, allows participants to
are in place, then we can push for certification.” through the certification process,” said Sreenivas. work in collaboration. It provides the tool to allocate work
to the right people at the right time, and also helps organiza-
tions build an enterprise wide digital view of its documents.

TESDA Taps TeleDevelopment for the

The Global 360 BPM Suite application is comprised of three
components: the Filestore repository which provides image,
document, and content management capabilities, managing
any document type used by the system; the Casefolder, a

Second Straight Year

dynamic virtual folder that aggregates documents, tasks,
and subfolders relevant to a case, project or customer; and
the Casefolder Task Management which allows tasks and
deadlines to be assigned to case participants.

For the second consecutive year, the Technical The inauguration of e-TESDA is the second TESDA Partnerships and Acquisitions
Education and Skills Development Authority [TESDA] human resource development initiative for TDS. The Global CyberSoft Inc.-BayanTrade: Global Cy-
selected TeleDevelopment Services, Inc. (TDS) to help first was announced last year, wherein the Agency di- bersoft Inc., a company specialized in Software Sourcing
Services for different domains such as Factory Automation for
develop the Philippines’ BPO talent pool. The Agency, led rected TeleDevelopment to provide free English lan- Semiconductor, Embedded Systems for Mobile Devices, and
by Secretary Augusto Syjuco, TESDA’s Director General, guage skills assessments for the first 50,000 applicants Automobiles and ERP business application has established a
partnership with BayanTrade, the premier Knowledge Process
and Deputy Director General Milagros Hernandez, under a Presidential initiative to provide widespread Outsourcing service provider with domain expertise in Supply
tapped TDS to provide an innovative, blended learning training to aspiring agents. The assessments are provid- Chain Management in the Philippines. The partnership be-
solution accessed from TeleDevelopment.com as well as tween Global CyberSoft and BayanTrade will complement each
ed under exclusive license from ProSpeak, a division of other’s existing businesses and further boost the growth in their
the newly launched e-Tesda portal at e-Tesda.gov.ph. Harcourt Assessment’s Ordinate Corp. SAP businesses. Global CyberSoft will provide the needed
The online initiative supports TESDA’s commitment resources for implementation while BayanTrade will focus on
The project, known as the PGMA Training for Work consultancy. Moreover, Global CyberSoft will provide low-cost
to provide “…the Filipino workforce with world-class Scholarship Program, allows applicants to take the 7- technicians for BayanTrade’s BPO business.
competence and positive work value.” As e-TESDA ex- minute exam from any phone. This establishes selection q q q
tends call center education onto the Internet, it leverages for immediate call center placement, enrollment in the Call Center Academy’s (CCA) seventh fran-
TeleDevelopment’s sixteen years of human resource de- PGMA program for training, or employment recom- chise: Call Center Academy (CCA), the first and largest
velopment in the U.S., Canada, Europe, and Asia. TDS’ mendations in an alternate industry. Applicants thereby call center training school in the country with over 3,000
tenure in the Philippines spans seven years. graduates, recently awarded its seventh franchise to Kris-
understand their own capabilities though immediate telle Lyne Ong. The new CCA center is set to open in Cebu.
The 2007 program, announced in time for Labor Day, Aside from CCA Cebu, CCA now has six new training cent-
feedback while TESDA has a powerful way to reduce
includes online access to call center learning wherein job ers – CCA Pampanga (Angeles City), CCA Malolos, (Bula-
costs with a streamlined approach to identify trainable can), CCA Sta. Rosa (Laguna), CCA Shaw (Mandaluyong)
seekers can practice English skills before joining face-to- CCA Las Piñas and CCA Recto (Manila).
applicants.
face classes at TDS’ Ortigas facility.
According to Jon Kaplan, TDS’ President and q q q
The online portion of the course is supplied by TeleDe-
velopment’s alliance partner, neuroLanguage, a Canadian- Founder, “These tools help us provide innovative SPi acquires Springfield Service Corporation
human resource solutions in all facets of the career life- for $44 million: SPi, a leading global business process
based eLearning provider. With a computer-based train- outsourcing (BPO) company, announced that it has acquired,
ing complement to TDS’ call center education, students cycle. We recognize that the Philippines’ BPO industry through a wholly-owned US subsidiary, 100% of Springfield
can hone their communication proficiency from the con- continues to grow at a fantastic rate. Keeping pace with Service Corporation for an aggregate purchase price of
$44 million, with the potential for future earn out payments.
venience of their home, school, or the nearest Internet café expansion means that we must embrace technologies Springfield Service Corporation (SSC), the 10th largest player
before they enter a classroom setting. The courses focus that make us more accessible and efficient. We are proud in the medical billing and revenue cycle management market,
has 383 employees operating in 5 locations in the US and
on the English language learning required for non-na- that TESDA and the office of the President continue to provides billing and accounts receivable management services
tive English speakers and introduce the necessary skills include TeleDevelopment in their efforts to develop the for over $1.3 billion of physician charges annually.
to succeed in the call center industry. economy through workforce education.” q q q
New brand from SITEL and ClientLogic: The re-
cently merged ClientLogic and SITEL Corporation unveiled

BPO International, Inc.

a new brand to communicate its commitment to associates
and clients. As part of a new brand strategy, the company
announced it will adopt the name Sitel and bring to market
a new Sitel offering a broader range of opportunities for as-

Expands To Ortigas
sociates, clients, and customers.
q q q
US-based Synex Corporation announces plan
to acquire Link2Support: Link2Support Inc. (L2S),
BPO International, Inc. (BPOI), the largest local outsourcing provider a knowledge process outsourcing and contact center com-
pany, based in Manila, has signed a definitive agreement to
of payroll and accounting services in the Philippines, is opening another be acquired by SYNNEX Corporation (NYSE: SNX), a global
office at Robinsons Equitable information technology supply chain services provider based
Tower in Ortigas. This facility will in Fremont, California. This acquisition was a strategic move
to expand SYNNEX’s capabilities in rendering high value IT
house primarily BPOI‘s finance services such as multi-tiered technical support, knowledge
and accounting services and will process services, and software to hardware engineering
ranging from small-to-medium-to-enterprise applications.
also serve as a backup/disaster
recovery site. The head office of Movements
BPOI will remain at the SGV II BT’S new Managing Director, Southeast Asia
Bldg., Ayala Avenue, Makati City. operations, based in Singapore: Mr. Shiva Singh,
BT’s newly appointed Managing Director, will oversee all
Since the time BPO sales and operations, as well as the delivery of the BT strat-
International acquired the egy, and promote the company’s presence and services in
the region, including Bangladesh, Indonesia, Malaysia, Sin-
outsourcing practice of SGV gapore, Sri Lanka, Thailand, the Philippines, and Vietnam.
& Co., it has expanded its He will also manage relationships with in-country partners
market portfolio and is setting and hold responsibility for customer satisfaction at all levels.
its sights on the international q q q
New National Operations Manager for DHL:
market. BPOI’s services include DHL, the world’s leading express and logistics company, has
finance and accounting, HR announced the appointment of Gerardo Ricardo A. Martinez
(payroll processing), suppliers’ as National Operations Manager. Mr. Martinez possesses a
background in contract logistics operations and sales, sea
accreditation and internal audit. freight operations and planning, procurement, inventory
BPOI’s extensive outsourcing management, materials planning, and teaching. Prior to his
new post, Mr. Martinez was acting National Gateway Man-
experience helps companies ager for DHL Express Philippines where his responsibilities
focus on their core activities, thus included ensuring the earliest possible delivery times and
gaining competitive advantage. latest possible pick-up times, while keeping productivity at
the optimum level.
image courtesy of www.robinsonsproperties.com.

www.bpap.org Business Processing Association PHILIPPINES

 MAY - JULY 2007
BPA/P updates Breakthroughs

Accomplishment Report Research Power Team).

Aside from the twice-a-week meetings of the Power
Teams, this fiscal year has also proved to be a busy one for

June 2005 – June 2006

BPA/P given the following activities: Monthly General
Membership Assemblies; Board of Trustees & Executive
Committee Meetings; Golf Fund Raising Events; Trainings
(Black Belt Six Sigma Trainings, Green Belt Six Sigma
Training, PGMA Training for Work Certificates, etc..);
include: the lobbying for the strict implementation of Conference and Expos (eServices Philippines, CCAP
by albert mitchell L. locsin, English as a medium of teaching and language in all schools Conference and Expo, Software Innovation Philippines
BPA/P Executive director and universities in the Philippines, which has now been 2006, Cebu ICT Conference & Expo, Foreign Chambers
implemented; the BPA/P position paper with Senator Mar Trade & Job Fair, etc.); BPA/P Social Responsibility Program
The Business Processing Association of Roxas on the proposed Amendments in the Labor Law; the (Adopt a School Program with Innove, Nova Foundation,
creation of the Data Privacy & Security Law/Guidelines etc.); the BPA/P Social Events (Combined Christmas Party,
the Philippines (BPA/P) made significant in partnership with the Board of Investments, which is BPA/P Power Team Appreciation Night, etc.); and the
strides from June 2005 to June of the follow- now on its fourth reading in the Senate for adoption to completion of research projects with the Asian Institute of
the eCommerce Law; and continuing ventures with the Management and TeamAsia quarterly.
ing year, 2006. Membership has expanded, different sectoral associations and the different foreign The amendments in the constitution and by-laws have
important linkages with various industry chambers on the retention on incentives from PEZA and finally been completed, and our website www.bpap.org
associations have been established, and BOI. has been launched.
BPA/P also has worked closely with Secretary Arthur Meanwhile, BPA/P continues to consolidate its gains
BPA/P as the representative of the busi- Yap [currently Secretary of the Department of Agriculture and extend its reach through continual promotion and
ness processing sector has been making and the Presidential Adviser on Job Generation] on any marketing of the Philippine business process outsourcing
issues and problems regarding the Philippine BPO-ITES to potential investors and customers overseas.
its presence strongly felt overseas. Industry to insure the continued growth of the industry.
Partnerships with the private sector have also gained These marketing ventures include the following:
We are happy to report that BPA/P over the years has greater ground. BPA/P has formed solid relationships q Promotion of the Philippine BPO-ITES Industry
become the umbrella association for the Philippine BPO- with the different vendors associated with the Philippine aboard in the United States, UK, and India. Soon we
ITES Industry at home and abroad. Foreign investors have BPO-ITES Industry for sponsorship funding requirements shall be establishing relationships with the Australian
recognized us as the point person or association that can concerning our organization. We have also established and Canadian markets;
best help them in their requirements in putting up facilities linkages with the various sectoral industry associations q Links with the different international consulting and
in the Philippines. Technically, we are known as the source in the country such as HRCC [Human Resource Council research firms like A.T. Kerney, Everest Group, Frost
of information when it comes to the country’s BPO-ITES for Contact Center, SEIPI [Semiconductor and Electronic & Sullivan, Lehman Brothers, McKinsey & Co, neoIT,
industry. Industries], ITAP [Information Technology Association Hewitt, Tholons Inc., IDC, TPi/Monitor Group, and
We have also taken concrete steps in ensuring that the of the Philippines], ITFP [Information Technology others;
progress and development of the industry increase, and Foundation of the Philippines], PICS [Platform for Internet q Established relations with the different industry
not falter. Content Selection], PCS [Philippine Computer Society], associations around the world including NASSCOM,
Our partnership with the government is crucial to PETEF [Philippine Electronics and Telecommunications Outsourcing Malaysia, American Teleservices
that development. Hence, we have created linkages and Federations, Inc.], PCCI [the Philippine Chamber of Association, International Association Outsourcing
means of collaboration with all the different government Commerce, Inc.], the Makati Business Club [MBC], etc. Professionals, etc.
agencies involved in the Philippine BPO-ITES Industry Synergy with foreign and local chambers of commerce q Partnered with CITEM in international conferences
such as the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI), the such as the MBC, the PCCI, the American Chamber of and road shows, to create better value for our
Board of Investments (BOI), the Philippine Economic Commerce, and the Canadian Chamber of Commerce, etc. members and other delegates.
Zone Authority (PEZA), The Technical-Education Skills has led to collaborations in programs designed to help our As a result, BPA/P is now being recognized and
Development Administration (TESDA), the Department of industry like the English is Cool Advocacy Program, the invited to speak in the different international conferences,
Education (DepED), the Commission on Higher Education Promoting English Proficiency Program, and the Foreign conventions, and expos overseas.
(CHED), the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA), and Chambers Trade and Job Fair. Neither is the Philippines neglected. BPA/P has been
others. Internally, we have also experienced growth via the promoting the Philippine BPO-ITES Industry to the
In particular, we have worked hand-in-hand with following: a) 60 new members signed up, totaling our different provinces, cities, and municipalities of the country.
TESDA on the Presidential Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo entire membership to 140; and b) the set-up of committees Presentations had been made to industry representatives
(PGMA) Training for Work Certificates. which have clearly delineated functions (Membership in Cebu City, Iloilo City, Bacolod City, General Santos City,
BPA/P has also evolved into a lobbying force to the Power Team, the Government and Legal Power Team, Davao City, Naga & Legaspi City, Lipa City, Tacloban City,
government to ensure laws and policies are done for Marketing and Communications Power Team, Human Bulacan, Clark Pampanga, Quezon City, Taguig City, Makati
the continued growth of that the industry. These efforts Resource and Training Power Team Information and City, and others.

Business Processing Association PHILIPPINES www.bpap.org

Breakthroughs MAY - JULY 2007


www.bpap.org Business Processing Association PHILIPPINES

 MAY - JULY 2007
BPA/P updates Breakthroughs

The BPA/P FRED AYALA

Chairman, Trustee
DAN REYES
President, Trustee

Board Of Officers
Fred is the CEO of LiveIt Solutions, Inc., As its Country Manager, Dan has overall
Ayala Corporation’s holding company for business responsibility for ClientLogic’s
its investments in the BPO sector. LiveIt Philippines operation. He was most
seeks to invest in companies in the US, recently the Country Chairman of Salmat

And Trustees
India and the Philippines that provide Philippines, an IT outsourcing services
complex BPO services. company.

DAVID SUTTON ATTY. JOBET MAMURIC OSCAR SAÑEZ

Treasurer, Trustee Corporate Secretary Chief Executive Officer
David is the Centre Manager of HSBC Jobet is the Managing Partner of Nisce Oscar Sañez is the newly appointed CEO
Electronic Data Processing Philippines, Mamuric Guinto Rivera & Alcantara of the Business Processing Association
Inc. He has been with HSBC since 1974 Law Offices which he also founded. of the Philippines (BPA/P). In this full-time
when his career began in London as a He has counseled and represented role, Oscar is responsible for leading the
Foreign Staff Trainee. After two years, various corporate clients, domestic and development and execution of the strategic
he received his first overseas posting as multinational, and established the first plan of BPA/P and delivering its growth
a secondment to The British Bank of the BPO in the Philippines. targets.
Middle East in Abu Dhabi. David has
been President of HSBC Electronic Data
Processing Philippines, Inc. since 2004.

MITCH LOCSIN KAREN V. BATUNGBACAL RAINERIO “BONG” BORJA

Executive Director Trustee Trustee
Mitch’s field of expertise ranges from Karen, President of ICT Asia-Pacific, is Bong heads PeopleSupport’s worldwide
business management, information responsible for overseeing the Company’s operations as its President. Concurrently,
technology, to political affairs. Before being Philippines and Australian operations, as he is President of PeopleSupport
appointed as the new Executive Director of well as future expansion initiatives in other Philippines Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary
the Business Processing Association of the Asian countries. of PeopleSupport Inc., providing
Philippines, he worked as Consultant for outsourced services to US clients.
Political Affairs in the Office of Senator Mar
Roxas from July 2004 to May 2005.

GRACE DIMARANAN MICHAEL GARRISON ROSALIE MONTENEGRO

Trustee Trustee Trustee
Grace is President of the Animation As Country Manager for Dell Philippines, Rosalie is the President of the ePLDT
Council of the Philippines. She is the Michael is responsible for running Ventus, Inc., a 100% owned subsidiary
Managing and Creative Director for two existing customer support sites in of PLDT which focuses on Outsourcing,
Top Peg Animation & Creative Studio Makati and Pasay. Dell has had a strong principally for inbound and outbound
Inc. which produced the first all Filipino presence in the Philippines for several customer service and sales calls with
children’s animated series called years. data support for email and back-office
TUTUBI PATROL aired at ABC 5. processing.

MYLA ROSE MUNDO REYES MAULIK PAREKH FERMIN TARUC

Trustee Trustee Trustee
With over 12 years of industry As Vice-President and General Manager Fermin Taruc is no stranger to the field of
experience, Myla is currently managing of TeleTech in the Philippines, Maulik Information Technology (IT), having held
director of Total Transcription Solutions, various roles and responsibilities in the
Inc., handling both its MT production manages 11,000 employees in eight
industry for over a decade. Fermin was
and Training Center businesses. Myla large customer management centers elected President of the Philippine Software
is also the president of the Medical across the country. Industry Association (PSIA) in July 2005, a
Transcription Industry Association of position that he continues to hold.
the Philippines, Inc..

Power Team For Power Members

a unity in purpose and vision that will enjoin it to celebrate
what the newsletter title denotes as its “breakthroughs”.
There are still more to come in terms of plans and
ideas for the betterment of the membership. The dynamic
Membership Power Team is really one committee to reckon
with in terms of working hand in hand with the Association
to reach new heights.
[Wilma Miranda is the Business Development Director of
BPO International.]

The Editorial Advisory Board and Membership Power Team

From left to right 2nd row - Rona Quilban, Manny Guillermo, Mitch Locsin, Danilo Sebastian Reyes, Wilma
Miranda, Anand Chopra, Larcy Sta. Ana, Jun Banaria, Alex Cecilia, Nette Roselo, Zyra Rayos Del Sol.
industry in the Philippines and in helping the country (and
By Wilma Inventor miraNda the industry) achieve its Roadmap for 2010.
Hence, in the past year, the Membership Power Team
The Membership Power Team is becoming known developed the criteria for the acceptance of new members as
as a “workhorse” Committee at the Business Process well as defined situations/events in which membership can
be removed, established a code of conduct for the members,
Association of the Philippines (BPA/P). This is be- defined categories of membership, and redesigned the
cause of the untiring leadership of its energetic Chair- application form. The membership database was also
man Anand Chopra (President–Citigroup Business updated with a review of status of delinquent members.
Process Solutions Pte.Ltd.) and the Trustee-in-Charge, A key highlight of the process that was introduced to
Dan Reyes (President – Clientlogic). Call it social os- induct new members is to formally introduce and welcome
each new member on stage during the monthly General
mosis, but their enthusiasm is just so contagious Membership Assembly. This is followed by a formal pledge-
that members like me, Manny Guillermo (President – taking ceremony that is designed to instill a sense of pride
KSearch Asia Consulting, Inc.), Marian Hernandez (HR among the association’s members.
Operations Manager – Hewitt Associates), Larcy Sta. For this year too, the Power Team decided to screen
carefully the companies applying for membership in order
Ana (Country Manager – The Siemon Company), Alex to preserve the quality of the base. But even before they
Cecilia (Managing Consultant – Avanti People Patner- are interviewed, they have to undergo a background check.
ship International), Gloria Torres (National Customer The membership of BPA/P now stands at 174 companies
Service Manager - DHL Worldwide Express (Phil.) and four Association members. It is the goal of the Power
Corp.), Jun Banaria (Vice President - Siemens) and Team to help each member integrate into the Association
and have a fruitful and enjoyable time while within our
many others are always inspired to make the Power ranks.
Team’s projects a success. Mitch Locsin, Executive One of the projects of the Power Team is the launching
Director, is always there to lend support, too. of the BPA/P newsletter in the 2nd quarter of 2007. With
the help of Media Focus-Business Info, this maiden
One of the key objectives of the Membership Power issue now fulfills this dream. We hope that through this
Team is not just to sign-up new members but to enhance the newsletter, the membership will enjoy the following: further
overall quality of the membership base of the association. strengthening and bonding; a voice for advocacies; a vehicle
The Power Team believes that having a strong membership for professional development; a chance to benchmark and
base is very essential to the future success of the BPO be updated with the best industry practices; and most of all, Photos by Willie Bicera

Business Processing Association PHILIPPINES www.bpap.org

Breakthroughs
Executive Profile
Insights MAY - JULY 2007


His Second Wind

Oscar Sañez, Chief Executive Officer, BPA/P
by lynda c. corpuz
Photos by shiir manzo

He was supposed to retire early. Yet at 50, Oscar Sañez, the new
CEO of the Business Processing Association of the Philippines is
pretty accomplished in his almost three decades as topnotch ex-
ecutive for multinational Procter & Gamble (P&G) – the company he
first went to work for after he finished Business Administration from
the University of the Philippines-Diliman.
But after his 5-year post as P&G country that. We can be big here because this is not an
general manager and managing director for overnight phenomenon.”
Australia and New Zealand, as well as with
his previous management executive posts in Recruit the best people
Singapore, Japan, and the United States, this Mr. Sañez says he is just fortunate for
Filipino just, well, missed home. “I remember the chance to make a difference in the BPO
my Economics teacher saying, ‘You can take industry, and he is keen to get more people
the Filipino out of the Philippines but you can’t not just by building his staff, but tapping
take the Philippines out of the Filipino,’” he people like himself who had worked in private
says. corporations and been trained in leadership
With that, he availed of P&G’s early retire- and management. “And this industry needs a
ment plan, packed his suitcases, and came back lot of those people. But indirectly, I want more
here to initially devote himself to education and people to support the industry in whatever
youth advocacies. Last year, he got involved with capacity they can,” he says.
GILAS, a multisectoral initiative aiming to create
Internet-connected computer laboratories in all of Create the right vision
the country’s public high schools. He also taught “Leadership that is able to paint a good
at the business management schools of UP and picture for the industry, as well as to enjoin
De La Salle University. But the executive was up others, is now required from us. And that’s the
to another challenge in his career, this time, to challenge for me now,” Mr. Sañez says.
contribute significantly to the country’s booming
business process outsourcing (BPO) industry.
The creation of a BPA/P CEO position came
Tap all possible support
Allied industries such as real estate,
after a thorough study concluding that while
telecoms, financial institutions, retail, among
BPO companies’ officials volunteer their time,
others are now aware of the fruits the BPO in-
a full-time manager is required to account for
dustry is reaping for the country. “After almost
and deliver results for the industry. A search
two months, I think we’re getting close to 90 to
was set for a CEO – preferably an experienced,
95 percent in terms of commitment to our 2- to
senior manager from a multinational (as
3-year plans,” he says.
multinationals tend to provide a more global
outlook) and one from outside the industry
who would have a very neutral stance and Sustain the industry’s efforts
perhaps a different perspective. And Mr. Sañez Mr. Sañez admits that now, the BPO sector
fits the bill. “I [was] attracted to the offer, not so needs all the support to get the initiatives go-
much because of the package, but more of the ing. “But I don’t want to see this industry body
industry. So I said, ‘Yeah, I think I’m interested becoming dependent on sponsors,” he says.
in doing this. ‘Well, I’m happy they chose me And he is optimistic that after three years, the
because I think I can really contribute to this association would be self-sustaining, in terms
effort,” Mr. Sañez says. of their presence and leadership. “Sustainabil-
Coming from the corporate world that ity is possible because by then, we would be
spanned 29 years of his career, Mr. Sañez says different in position in terms of revenue size,
his main challenge as a CEO of a trade or- employee scale, and the government and other
ganization like BPA/P is to build the very new countries will notice us and would pour more
industry. And to do so, all systems must be in support for our initiatives,” he believes.
place. Here, he details what BPA/P, under his
helm, aims to do to reach its 2010 roadmap: Collaborate with fellow contributors
The way to benefit from a fast, ever-chang-
Market it well ing global industry is to work with significant
players in the field, Mr. Sañez says. He suggests
Mr. Sañez says as CEO, it is clear to him
that he has to market the industry, and get looking at India not directly as competitor but
a fair share of support and attention that it a country with assets that complement ours
deserves. “It’s part of my mission to sell the in- like knowledge process outsourcing and other
dustry and the country,” he says. And by doing high-value services. Also, the Philippines can
so, we can get part of the untapped $250 billion offer day services to Australia and Japan, given
worth of services yet to be outsourced and off the close time zones. “We can have a signifi-
shored by First World countries. The pie is so cant share of the global pie just by combining
huge, we should be able to grab a big chunk of strengths,” he stresses.

Far from retirement

There seems to be no slowing down
yet for this executive who believes that He’s into outdoor activities
retirement is just a shift in career. “No Whenever he has time, Mr. Sañez goes
one really retires. And for me, BPA/P is a on out-of-town trips and scuba dives as
second career. What I wanted to do now well, and cites that the marine resources
is to offer my service and talent to a field of the Philippines is more beautiful than
where I can contribute well,” he says. the Great Barrier Reef of Australia.

He’s active in advocacies He loves Australia

In all his advocacies, he supports Since he was posted there for five
education and believes that better access years – the longest of his foreign posts
to quality education and harnessing the – Mr. Sañez has learned to love the Aus-
new generation’s potential is the way tralian people for their warmth, friend-
out for the Philippines’ poverty issues. liness, and casualness. In Australia, he
Apart from GILAS and his previous also spent time in activities like surfing
teaching stints, Mr. Sañez and his fam- and running marathons. He also likes
ily (his three children are now studying the Australian fresh vegetables and
abroad) have been involved for years good deli just off the streets. He can’t
with a foundation dedicated to street speak with an Australian twang though.
children. His wife, Grace, 51, is also “The kids can speak with the twang, but
helping various government agencies not me,” Mr. Sañez laughs.
and certain hospitals.

www.bpap.org Business Processing Association PHILIPPINES

10 MAY - JULY 2007
Insights Breakthroughs

PEOPLE – Our So-Called

Most Important Asset
BOARD OF TRUSTEES

Fred Ayala
(But Unable to Make It Stick!)
Karen Batungbacal carry weight because it ultimately accepts or rejects the
By manuel r. guillermo graduates through the employment process.
Rainerio Borja Member, BPA/P Power Committee The bottom line is that business should work with
Grace Dimaranan educators to create positive and measurable changes
Michael Garrison The fundamental questions for business in the school system. Business, in fact, should be a
demanding partner.
Rosalie Montenegro organizations today will be whether manpower
Myla Rose Mundo-Reyes will continue to lag behind requirements Successful Employee Education and Training
or whether management will act to close Employee education and training have become
Maulik Parekh
increasing qualification gaps. the most important driving force to the success of
Dan Reyes many large companies in highly competitive markets.
David Sutton Root causes must be addressed. We can trace Global or national competition, a changing workforce,
current failures to two causes: the widely felt decline rapid shifts in technology, and defects in the basic
Fermin Taruc in the country’s education system, and the generally education system have all combined to make training an
insufficient executive attention to employee education imperative response in order to succeed in the respective
and training. industries.
OFFICERS Business executives are often skeptical about
This article focuses on three underlying issues: employee-training programs. They naturally want
Fred Ayala a return on their training investment. If the process
Dan Reyes 1. Basic education processes are not tailored to meet of training seems to be failing, the solution is not to
the requirements of business organizations. A impulsively increase the training budget alone. The
David Sutton common complaint of employers is that universities training department staff should be asked to define
no longer produce graduates who meet their the problems, offer solutions, and implement a plan of
Atty. Jobet Mamuric basic skills requirements. The basic challenge for action to fix the process of training.
Oscar SaÑez educators is, therefore, to re-align curriculum to Too many executives do not know the cost of their
meet the current and future skills requirements of employee training, nor do they spend enough time
Mitch Locsin the business sectors and to urgently raise the quality to review their training programs. Executives must
NETTE ROSELO of education.
know what their company must invest in training and
Since improving the education system is a long- the results expected from the training department.
term process, a long lag time must be expected. The Executives must look at their training budgets before
resulting challenge to business organizations will be looking at their capital budgets.
twofold: first, to quickly fill the qualification gaps Most organizations are now beginning to realize
in their incumbent employees and second, for new that their large budgets for training employees pay
hires to be trained to be effective and efficient on a for too many unstructured courses. Chances are they
sustained basis. will be shocked at how many those employees are who
2. There is a risk that business leaders must face. have not received the minimal training required for the
Business organizations have somewhat little choice company to meet its objectives. Others will be surprised
but to rely on the existing education system, even to find out how much money is being spent for “nice to
EDITORIAL ADVISORY BOARD though the graduates may not entirely meet know” instead of the “need to know” courses.
their requirements. However, most business
organizations tend to regard spending for employee
ANAND CHOPRA training as risky due to the fear of resignation soon The Time for Leadership and Commitment Is Now
MANUEL GUILLERMO after the training. Such “leakage” of the benefits A major breakthrough to this serious problem will
MARIAN SANTOS HERNANDEZ of training weakens the incentive to any firm to require enlightened leaders with the vision of how to
undertake it, unless the organization is fairly large or build a successful education system. First of all, they
WILMA MIRANDA without competitors for the skills for which it gives must be able to surmount the negativism that will
MITCH LOCSIN training. Except for the few large multinational confront them from skeptics, indeed from “education
companies and local conglomerates, there appears
to be a general lack of management commitment to experts” who will resist and will eloquently shout that
undertake employee training on the scale required. “You cannot change the system. It may not be a perfect
BUSINESS INFO INC. system, but this is how education is done. It is different
3. The overriding issue for business organizations, of from business. Measurements and performance systems
course, is to develop a competitive workforce, not
HEINZ BULOS only locally but also (and inevitably) globally. We cannot work.”
Managing Director must recognize the magnitude of the task since Leaders of change must have the experience and will
global skill requirements are well beyond the reach to succeed. The best leaders will have managed major
Cora llamas of most local businesses today. changes in their own business enterprises and will work
editor-in-Chief in close partnership with the more open-minded and
The Challenge progressive education leaders who themselves have
Dahl Bennett The global reach of these issues indicates that been advocating change for a number of years, but have
LYNDA CORPUZ solutions require the coordinated involvement of constantly been mere voices in the wilderness. These
EVA GOYENA government, businessmen, and educators. No single leaders must have a consuming sense of purpose.
MANNY GUILLERMO group can do it alone. The solutions will require a range Long-term commitment will be necessary. They
MARIcris orpiano of bold, decisive, and far-reaching approaches. must be able to deal persuasively with people who can
Wilma miraNda Businessmen should take the initiative. Their first help their programs and with those who can hinder
challenge is to bridge the qualification gaps of their their programs. They must be able to cut through non-
Contributing Writers own employees through company-sponsored training essential and weak excuses to reach the important
programs. Executive management should initiate
DONNA LARAGA or upgrade existing employee training programs. decisions essential for change. The people who manage
Employee education and training can be done in-house change must not only have vision; they must be able to
editorial Assistant
in large organizations or through independent training see the vision and, most importantly, to implement it.
centers which provide specific and specialized technical Clearly, there is a need to make education a higher
JANIS DEI ABAD and management development courses. Large business national priority.
Layout Artist organization and local conglomerates should intensify Business executives, government leaders, and
efforts to provide their promising staff career training so educators have been saying for years that “people are
ORICO MACATANGAY they can assume increasingly higher level positions. our most important asset”. Confronted by change in
Production Head Secondly, business executives can assist to establish the business environment, both the public and private
programs such as job training centers and adult literacy sectors continually face new challenges in establishing
SHIIR MANZO programs that move unqualified, unemployed, but
eligible workers from unemployment to become and maintaining a motivated, trained and competitive
WILLIE BICERA workforce. Pressures from steadily advancing
qualified workers.
Photographers Thirdly, business-initiated movement is needed technologies, constantly changing government
to improve existing education system. If a company regulations, and the globalization of markets now affect
ADVERTISING CONTACTS does not have an active program of collaboration with every aspect of human resource management.
universities or local school systems, it should investigate We can no longer just pay lip service to addressing
ARMIE DUARTE opportunities to engage in mutual consultations and this mounting problem; nor can we continue to possess
NETTE ROSELO cooperation. the temerity to keep on uttering that “people are our
Government can support post-school education most important asset” and not do something drastic
through financial incentives to businesses, possibly about it.
Business Processing Association including tax concessions, as a means of persuading
of the Philippines employers in priority industrial sub-sectors to undertake
7th Flr. Oakwood Premiere employee training programs.
Ayala Center, Makati City Educators must, in any case, have the greater share Manuel R. Guillermo is the President and Managing Director of
of responsibility in the development of real solutions to KSearch Asia Consulting, Inc., an eight-year old executive search
Tel. 755-8806
education problems. However, the magnitude of the task
Email: [email protected] calls for improved partnership between businessmen firm which assists in the executive and managerial requirements
and educators. Business executives can, for instance, of mostly multinational companies, including those in the BPO,
BUSINESS INFO INC. help define what a high-school graduate and a university KPO and other IT-Enabled Services sectors . Mr. Guillermo is
Rm. 17-O, Burgundy Corporate Tower graduate must know and be able to do after 12 to 17 years a retired partner of Andersen Consulting (now Accenture) and
252 Sen. Gil Puyat, Makati City in school. Generalizations such as “know the basics” SGV & Co. He attended the Harvard Business School Program
Telefax: 886-4407 / 889-7763 will no longer be sufficient. Specific skills and attributes for Management Development in 1971 (PMD-22). He can be
Email: [email protected] must be defined. Obviously, business should not be the reached at [email protected].
only contributor to this discussion, but its input will

Business Processing Association PHILIPPINES www.bpap.org

Breakthroughs MAY - JULY 2007
11
Looking Forward
By Oscar Sañez

The Race Is On
Information is power, as the digital age keeps on telling us.
Strategy is the conduit of that power. And organization is what
holds all that driving force together – a force to contend with, a
powerhouse that makes everyone sit up and notice. Eliminate
one, and everything can collapse like a house of cards.
The availability of information allows us to view the landscape of what we can
offer as a country and as an industry that will afford us the license to participate
and win the market share we deserve in this global contest. Strategy provides us the
blueprint or the roadmap that will define the “how” to achieve the goals we have set
for ourselves, what are the key strategic choices we are making, what resources are
we harnessing and how will we drive those resources. Finally, an organization needs
to be created based on the demands of the strategic plan and driven to focus on the
key priorities set by the roadmap. An organization that is empowered to lead these
initiatives and has clear ownership and accountability for the task and the results is
destined to win and surpass what it had aimed to achieve.
As an organization, the Business Processing Association of the Philippines has
embarked on a major effort to harness existing resources and opportunities, develop
a roadmap for success and create a committed management team that will own, lead
and be accountable to the delivery of the plans laid out in the strategy. In doing so,
we are making a clear declaration to the rest of the world that we as an association
and as an industry are ready and committed to becoming the “destination of choice”
for all outsourcing and off-shoring IT-enabled service opportunities.
We do need to get going as what we stand to gain is simply staggering. The
BPO world market carries a potential of $300 billion in revenues. By the year 2010,
we must be able to garner at least 10% of what’s potentially addressable which
amounts to about $12 billion. Our present workforce of 260,000 can well explode to
920,000. This industry will be the third most important leg for dollar revenues for
our economy after electronics and overseas remittance and will contribute 10-12%
to our GDP. We will be contributing to employment growth and will help to build
a stronger middle class. We will be assisting the growth of other industries like tel-
ecommunications, real property, hardware/software, transportation, and retail. We
will be a strong engine of growth for our economy.
The race is on, and the roadmap is pointing us towards a bright and rosy future.
But the time to prepare is now. Like any good racer, we have to check our gear, fire
up our motors, and make sure we have the required stamina, willpower, and capa-
bilities to win the race.

The BPO Blueprint

By Mitch Locsin

Breakthroughs!
It is with great pleasure, and an amount of pride, that the Busi-
ness Processing Association of the Philippines (BPA/P) presents
you the premiere issue of Breakthrough!, our official newsletter.
Much has happened to our industry since the early days of 2000. During a much
slower age, before the Internet revolutionized the way we did business, thrusting our
operations into a much broader global arena where responses can happen at the click
of a mouse, the business process outsourcing industry was just a blip on the map of
global trade.
Now it has powered up and spread to become a powerful wave. More important,
especially for us, the Philippines has become a major player in Asia. We have done
more than our fair share of supporting our national economy and infusing much
needed input and resources into the strengthening of our sectoral infrastructure and
the training of our people. For this, the industry, too, can be proud.
Breakthrough! is a testament to our accomplishments, yet similar to a community
gathering hall where we can keep abreast of what is happening within our ranks to
encourage us and motivate us to support each other, while maintaining the spirit of
healthy competition.
Breakthrough! is also a clarion call to spur us to reach greater heights. As one of
our main stories have made it clear, there is much more work to done, and much
more that needs to be accomplished.
Yes, we have emerged as a major player in the global market, one that is continu-
ing to capture the attention of present and potential customers in the United States,
Europe, and Asia Pacific, but the bigger landscape poses more challenges and is in-
habited by tougher competition.
Our headline story talks about those challenges, and the roadmap that we are
strongly encouraged to pursue for the next three years if we are to consolidate our
gains and expand to a greater market. Research from some esteemed associations
such as the McKinsey Group with its landmark reports and the Asian Development
Bank clearly indicate the revenues we are continuing to earn, the clients we attract,
the interest that our country and our association members draw, while at the same
time delineating the kinks in our collective armor that we have to repair and other
concerns that we are to address if we are not only to enjoy our status, but to grow
well beyond it.
But take heart. The awards that industry members in the recent International
Communications and Technology Awards show that we are on the right track. So is
the recent news item that a significant number of contact centers from neighboring
India are finding the Philippines a logical – and we might as well hope – a long-last-
ing alternative as that country is beset by inflation and rising wages.
These victories are ours – to share with each other and as a catalyst to spur one
another. Breakthrough! is not just a newsletter meant to disseminate information (al-
though there is a lot of that) – it is, ultimately, your voice, your standard, your imprint
on our industry. We would truly appreciate your active participation in future issues.
E-mail us your concerns, news items you would like published, issues that you may
wish to be addressed in feature articles.
Let us know what you think. Engagement, cooperation, unity – these are the es-
sential ingredients of breakthroughs which we hope will continue to erupt in the
years to come.

www.bpap.org Business Processing Association PHILIPPINES

12 MAY - JULY 2007
In the Spotlight Breakthroughs

Back Office Outsourcing

The BPO’s Dark Horse International Institute for Management Development
Research compiled by cora llamas has also pointed out that the Philippines enjoys crucial
advantages over 60 of its neighbors in the Asia-Pacific
region; we rank number one in terms of the quality
If the contact center agents are the so-called-frontliners of the BPO of the available skilled workers, number three when
industry, then the back office outsourcing employees are generally the it comes to available senior managers, and number
twelve when it comes to top-notch certified engineers.
unseen but stealthily effective soldiers who perform much of the nitty- What gives the Philippines this distinct edge is
the high literacy (95 percent) of our population and
gritty and address concerns of clients who are equally less visible yet the diversity of skills and knowledge offered by the
essential to their industries. approximately 400,000 college seniors who graduate
every year and enter the workforce.
It must be remembered that back office entails more
The back office outsourcing workforce comes from
a spectrum of industries, from the bean counters that INCREASING NUMBER than responding to overseas calls and competently
E-services Philippines lists down a few more addressing the concerns of foreign customers on real
specialize in numbers to the more frenzied creative
services (http://www.e-servicesphils.com/en/page. time within a specific number of minutes. Back office
sectors that are the drivers of modern entertainment.
php?page=bpo): claims processing – pre need industry, requires substantial experience and considerable
To enumerate a few: accountants, web designers,
cartoon animators, warehouse support, recruitment expense and revenue reporting, sales auditing, market knowledge in specialized fields like accounting, human
specialists, tax advisers, and marketing consultants. research and analysis, and intellectual property resources, computer animation, and web design.
The Business Processing Association of the management. Contact center agent positions do not depend on the
Philippines’ (BPA/P) own website, www.bpap.org, Additional industries that are increasingly degree of the college graduate or employee applying;
lists down the sectors that are classified as back office beginning to farm out their support services to offshore their main consideration in recruitment are English
outsourcing and/or shared services: facilities now include medical and legal transcription, communication skills, flexibility, quick thinking, and an
software development and testing, animation and attitude that puts the customer first.
q Accounting and bookkeeping graphics creation, engineering, and computer-aided In contrast, back office outsourcing that requires
q Account maintenance design tasks. support in database management would require no less
q Accounts receivable collection Like the customers of the booming contact center than IT graduates or working employees. The same is
q Accounts payable administration industry, clients who outsource their back office true for animation companies looking for trained and
q Payroll processing functions are also motivated to strengthen their bottom educated artists who can execute on film or comic strip
q Asset management line by cutting down on unnecessary costs, which particular designs they have in mind. Human resource
q Financial analysis and auditing administration that is outsourced needs workers who
incidentally also provide their manpower more time
q Inventory control and purchasing do not merely do recruitment but are equally versed
to focus on their core competencies, liberating them
q Expense and revenue reporting in payroll, benefits administration, and expatriate and
q Financial reporting from detailed work that is vital but not necessarily that
particular employee’s main strength. relocation services.
q Tax reporting This is where the Philippines business outsourcing
q Financial leasing In recent years, the Philippine business process
outsourcing industry has captured a significant share industry stands tall when it comes to responding to the
q Credit card administration
of this back office gold mine. need of back office clients. Our talent pool is plentiful
q Factoring and stock brokering
An international research study conducted by the with skills that are recognized and certified by the
q Revenue management
q Transaction processing META Group found Filipino accountants to be “among appropriate regulating bodies. To cite a few examples:
q Business data processing the best in the world.” in addition to this, In the
q Database management World Competitiveness Report published in 2001, the q Finance and Accounting:
q Business Intelligence Philippines ranked 16th of 49 countries, with India at – 80,000 to 100,000 fresh graduates of accounting and
q Network management No. 38 for International Business Experience. other business-related courses every year
q Disaster recovery – 2,500 to 3,000 new Certified Public Accountants
q Supply chain management [CPAs] who pass the board exams annually. These
q Sourcing and procurement THE PHILIPPINE POTENTIAL CPAs are adept in Generally Accepted Accounting
q Logistics Its accomplishments have certainly made the Principles (GAAP) and International Accounting
q Warehouse and inventory management international powers-that-be stand up and take notice.
Standards (IAS) for financial reporting, which are
q Transaction management The country is already ranked the number two global
used in Europe, the U.S. and Japan.
q Customer relationship management sourcing provider in the call center sector, according
q Human resources administration – 113,300 licensed accountants in the first three
to a study conducted by neoIT, a BPO offshore
q Sales and marketing months of 2005
consulting and management company. The Swiss Turn to Next Page

Business Processing Association PHILIPPINES www.bpap.org

Breakthroughs
In the Spotlight MAY - JULY 2007
13
Back Office Acquiring the American Accent For
Outsourcing Image Enhancement
Continuation from page 12
By teri burgos-gutierrez
q Academic and professional qualifications
of Filipino engineers included in the “The limits of my language are the limits of my world.”
APEC Engineer Registry -Ludwig Wittgenstein
q Philippines is number four in terms “What do you want to be when you grow up?” Each one is indeed an added feature in one’s image and corporate
of availability of knowledge workers, of us has responded to that question at one time or another agenda.
according to the global research firm Meta in our young lives. But I guess what we should really ask In my training sessions, there are twelve simple tips
Group. The Meta Group has also moved is, “Who do you want to be when you grow up?” Both that I give my seminar participants to help them acquire
our ICT ranking to C1 which means questions must be answered as we mature, but then again an American Accent and apply them in their day-to-day
a high evolutionary potential for our the answers will differ. “I want to be a businessman, to be communicating stint in the workplace:
international connectivity. like the senior officer in a bank or a multi-national firm.”
• Speak English all the time (if not most of the
Who do you want to be? How do see your image in the
time)
Currently, the Philippines BPO sector profession you have chosen?
• Listen to people who speak the language well
counts 24,500 full-time employees in the back Your executive image is your total persona. Mastering it is
• Read English books, articles, essays etc.
office industry which enjoyed a growth rate of like packaging a gift. Like gifts, each of us will be wrapped
• Watch English films or television shows
80 percent in 2005. Projected industry earnings differently from the next person. Expressing uniqueness
• Sing English songs
are $180 million. in your packaging is crucially important for today’s career
• Enunciate words and phrases
According to BPA/P, the key players in people, young and old alike, as well as up-and-coming
• Record yourself. Listen to yourself. Have
this sub-sector who have set up shop in the CEOs. Why? Because such expression communicates self-
someone listen to yourself too.
Philippines are: AIG Business Processing confidence, creativity, and leadership.
• Bring a pocket dictionary with you ALL the
Services, Inc., which performs check Each of us is an individual, possessing different
time
preparation, accounting and disbursement personalities, looks, physiques, and so on. In traditional
• Learn how to read the transcription symbols
services for member companies; Caltex businesses such as banking, law, and accounting, the
• Blend your words
Shared Service Center (CSSC), which atmosphere is conservative. The atmosphere is formal
• Familiarize yourself with American idioms.
provides accounting and financial services and protocol prevails; do’s and don’ts are black and white.
Know their meanings. Use them.
to Caltex business units in the U.S., UK, Those who choose to succeed in such professions, however,
• Practice! Practice! Practice!
Hong Kong, Singapore, and Thailand; will find that even they can project their individuality
Maersk Administrative Center Ltd., which within the confines of their formal environment. The key Remember, presenting a remarkable image is total
does general accounting documentation for to success is inviting uniqueness in yourself when you packaging, projecting something unique and appropriate
the company’s 11 branches; and Procter & communicate your expertise in your profession. The key for your chosen profession, and continuing your goal for
Gamble Asia Pte. Ltd., which performs a host to your credibility may be expressed in the manner by self- improvement.
of accounting and financial services for P&G which you project yourself as a speaker. The atmosphere in On your self-analysis sheet, write down your profession
affiliates in Southeast Asia, North America, your chosen profession may be informal, and the rules of or line of work, the environment where you work, your
Korea, India, Taiwan, Australia, Hong Kong, conduct may be looser, but protocol is still just as important position, and what you think could be the most appropriate
New Zealand, and Japan.” for the executive. image for you.
If the BPO industry is the sunshine sector, In the Age of Globalization where connecting to the Remember to include acquiring the American Accent
outside world can be done with a slight touch of a finger, as an added feather on your cap!
then the back office outsourcing sector is its
communicating with the American Accent may be of great
fast-growing child. It is one of the brightest
advantage. American English is still dominating the world [The author is a professional trainer and author of self-
rays with almost limitless reach and radiance.
as the international language, and will continue to be the development. This column was previously posted in her column,
As more services are channeled into our
mode of communication exchange all over the globe for “Skills Improvement,” in www.jobsdb.com.ph and is reprinted
part of the world, we believe we are just
a long, long time. Being able to speak and understand it with the editor’s permission.]
beginning to witness its initial sparks.

www.bpap.org Business Processing Association PHILIPPINES

14 MAY - JULY 2007
Company Profile Breakthroughs

B&M Global Services

KPO Is The Future By EVA GOYENA

Knowledge Process Outsourcing

(KPO): a specialized form of out-
sourcing work that entails more than
just encoding business documents
or conveying a memorized set of in-
formation to clients.
This new subset of the BPO service is what differenti-
ates B&M Global Services Manila from the traditional call
centers which offer transcriptions and other word-process-
ing services. KPO refers to the delegation of knowledge-
based, non-core operations of a firm to an offshore office
specializing in the management of that operation.
B&M Global Services Manila is a captive shared ser-
vice center of the global law firm Baker & McKenzie,
providing the latter with corporate backroom opera-
tions in human resource, finance and accounting as well
as support services like IT network and system manage-
ment, financial, and legal research and analysis. B&M
Global Services Manila also leverages its creative design
talent pool and handles Baker & McKenzie’s advertising
and promotional services.

A global back office

Baker & McKenzie is the largest global law
firm in terms of reach, with a roster of 4,000 law-
yers and over 7,000 administrative people world-
wide. It is also the biggest revenue earner among
law firms with $1.5 billion revenues in 2006.
“Our goal is to be able to serve all 70 offices of Baker &
McKenzie in 39 countries,” says B&M Global Services
Manila Executive Director Rafael Llave, “and currently ness Administration while some of them are lawyers. now that B&M Global Services Manila has proven its abil-
we are serving the Asia-Pacific region.” According to Mr. Llave, when a type of work does ity to deliver high-quality jobs on-time, they continue to
not require a professional’s presence in the request- outsource for reasons of service availability, quality of the
or’s country, the task is sourced from the Philippines. labor pool, and infrastructure.
He gives an example: “When we make Bak- Though the Philippines is increasingly being
er & McKenzie’s advertisement, we do the de- viewed as a compelling alternative to India within the
sign here and send it to them in soft copy, BPO market, Mr. Llave cautions that more work needs
and printing is done in the country where the to be done. Added government interventions are need-
request originates.” ed to prepare the country for expanding BPO markets
He adds that work is continuous with a manpower that are expected to swell in the following years. For
pool working around the clock. “Our global helpdesk example, he says, there should be more projects like
which handles Baker & McKenzie’s systems, like for the Department of Trade’s E-services program which
instance the Elite Global Accounting System, and our showcases the Philippines’ business outsourcing capa-
document-support center (both voiced-based and non- bilities to other countries and potential markets.
voiced based) operates 24/7, 3-shifts, no-holidays.” In the meantime, this billion-dollar-earning out-
sourcing provider is committed to supporting
Future expansion the country’s economic development by providing op-
B&M Global Services Manila handles the law firm’s portunities and employment to more graduates. B&M
critical systems and applications management spread out Global Services has also participated in community work
in different locations. The strong telecommunications in- through charity works with Fabella, an NGO focused on
frastructure ensures the proper and efficient maintenance street children, and Gawad Kalinga, which encourages
of a geographically complex system. This is indeed a good volunteers to literally build homes for the homeless.
tactical option, according to Mr. Llave, because should a Meanwhile, the KPO provider looks ahead to more
system is disrupted in one country, the data are re-routed expansive horizons. Its medium-term objective is the
to another location, thus leaving no room or margin for service of the entirety of Baker & McKenzie world-
operation outages. wide. For the long term, Mr. Llave says it is consider-
Initially, Baker & McKenzie considered off-shoring ing servicing more firms as it builds up its capabilities
services because of less competitive labor rates. However, and enlarges its presence.

Rafael “Harlie” Llave

B&M Global Services
Manila Executive Director

This offshore office started modestly in October 2000

with only five staff members trying to test the viabil-
ity of backroom operations. In August 4, 2004, it offi-
cially became B&M Global Services Manila and since
then has grown to what is now a group of 329 knowl-
edge-based professionals. One-third of them are IT
practitioners which include network engineers, appli-
cation developers and web/graphic designers; another
third are document processors and the rest are billing
Photo courtesy of BakerNet

coordinators composed of researchers and analysts.

This huge pool of professionals that make Baker &
McKenzie’s operations running is composed of rela-
tively young, adaptable members of the workforce from
ages 21 to 47 years old; the majority (61%) are female.
Another feather in the cap of this Manila team is that
seven percent of them hold Masters’ degrees in Busi-

Business Processing Association PHILIPPINES www.bpap.org

Breakthroughs
Company Profile MAY - JULY 2007
15

Shell Shared Services Center, Manila

A Vision Of Excellence
By MARIcris orpiano

Shell Philippines has always been

at the forefront of the country’s ros-
ter of business giants, operating
in the country since the late 1800s
with its products and core services
already deeply entrenched in every
Filipino household and corporate
set-up. Through the years, Shell has
built for itself a reputable name and
a badge of excellence that speaks so
much about its vision — meeting en-
ergy demands in economically, en-
vironmentally, and socially respon- SSSC Manila employees taking part in Shell’s Gawad Kalinga
sible ways.
bility and exceptional experience is a challenge to Manila’s General Manager says, “We make sure that
Meanwhile, the Global Finance function of Royal Shell’s local manpower handling the above-mentioned the standard of services do not suffer here. We ensure
Dutch Shell’s quest to become a world-class Finance activities. Previously managed and supervised by successful migration of these processes by putting in
function has determined that the creation of a network well-experienced, intelligent teams abroad, finance and place a stringent migration methodology and hir-
of shared services centres (SSCs) in strategic locations accounting work done here is far from being simple. ing people with meaningful skills, background, and
across the globe will be key in its efforts to deliver Doing foreign work in a local setting while matching experience; people who are accounting, business,
services at competitive costs and standards. While the constant exemplary standards and parameters economics, and engineering majors. (To further equip
cost is a factor in the determination of the SSC sites, it utilized abroad is a constant challenge. them), we also give them very thorough, very focused
certainly was not the primary and sole consideration. To answer this demand, SSSC Manila always goes trainings. And probably more importantly we have
These SSCs were envisioned to become Centers of the extra mile by delivering and performing expecta- embedded the needed controls consciousness in the
Excellence that will deliver activities targeting world- tions. As Noel Paraso, Shell Shared Services Center, organization that if not strictly enforced will negatively
class performance via operational excellence, process affect the company and nullify all the success that
improvements, operational efficiencies and leveraging we’ve achieved during the last two and half years.”
economies of scale. The operation of shared service According to Mr. Paraso, SSSC Manila is a proof
centres will also enable more cost-effective deployment that Filipinos can perform according to the same high
of standard systems and processes while maintaining standards given to and expected from foreign employ-
controls to a high standard with clear accountabilities. ees. One proof of this that Mr. Paraso points to is the
continued interest to transfer more work because trust
has already been established.
Global standards
SSSC-Manila, a wholly owned subsidiary of Royal
Dutch Shell plc and established in July 2004, shares the Community concerns
same vision of excellence and global competitiveness. Aside from global competitiveness, sensitivity to
It was the fourth center to be established by Shell and the needs of others is also one of SSSC-Manila’s corpo-
currently has close to 1,000 employees---the biggest in rate thrusts. Hence, corporate social responsibility lists
terms of manpower compared to the other SSCs (oth- as one of the company’s primary concerns. Several
ers are currently located in Glasgow, Guatemala, Kuala SSSC Manila employees have taken part in Shell’s Ga-
Lumpur and Krakow). SSSC Manila mainly performs wad Kalinga and Project Better World missions (coastal
back office accounting and finance work exclusively clean up, tree planting, etc.). It also supports the ac-
for Shell clients abroad. This includes Shell companies tivities of Pilipinas Shell Foundation, Inc. in programs
from the US, Europe (Denmark, Sweden, Norway, Po- like an industrial skills training program targeted for
land, the United Kingdom, and Netherlands), and Asia out-of-school-youth, an Integrated Farming Systems
(Malaysia, Thailand, Australia, and the Philippines). (IFS) program that imparts agricultural knowledge
The bulk of finance work that SSSC Manila does and technical know-how that are simple, relevant, and
for its Shell clients abroad include Hydrocarbon Ac- affordable to farmers.
counting (reconcilement of fuel movements); Accounts Seeing that a substantial number of the Center’s
Payable (or processing of vendor payments); Accounts employees are willing to devote their free time to civic-
Receivables (collections of receivables from both in- oriented causes and charitable work, the management
ternal and external customers); and General Account- is continuously brainstorming on other possible activi-
ing (financial reporting, fixed asset inventory, payroll ties that will focus on “giving back” to the community.
accounting, etc.). Other activities being serviced Noel Paraso SSSC Manila pledges to continuously develop itself
includes: Master Reference Data maintenance; Con- Shell Shared Services Center and provide better service for everyone. Excellence
tracting and Procurement (buying activity). Human in service for its Shell clients abroad and caring social
Resources Service Desk; and Customer Services. Manila’s General Manager service for the Filipino communities will always remain
Most of these jobs require above average capa- integral to its core vision.

SSSC-Manila Management Team

Front row: Stella Yulo, Noel Paraso, Cecil Remedio, Stephanie Santos, Anna Bunag, Dennis Miguel, Ricky de Luna, Art Ursua, Liza de
Guzman, Ted Capisino • Back row: Abe Sarmiento, Cora Castro, Carmela Sampaga, Bal Pacris, Jed Encarnacion, Eric Ronquillo, Tintin
Velasquez, Ed Moran, JP Dizon, Dan Natindim Photos courtesy of SHELL

www.bpap.org Business Processing Association PHILIPPINES

16 MAY - JULY 2007 Breakthroughs

Business Processing Association PHILIPPINES www.bpap.org