Government Structure and Classification: The Philippines is a republic with a presidential form of government wherein power is equally divided among its three branches: executive, legislative, and judicial.
The Philippines is the twelfth largest country in the world by population (more than 102 million) and is the fourth-largest English-speaking country. Trade is significant for the Philippine’s economy; the combined value of exports and imports equals 65 percent of GDP.Core Cultural Values: Power Distance, Individualism, Masculinity, Uncertainty Avoidance, Long Term Orientation, Indulgence Primary Business Protocols: Personal appearance is extremely important for Filipinos and great care should be taken to be as well groomed and smart as possible at all times whether it is in a business or social situation.
The more senior the person you are going to meet the more likely it is that the meeting start time will start late. It is still important to arrive punctually in order to show the right amount of respect.Other Communication Protocols with Relevance to the Workplace: The business language of the country is English but it is important to respect those who may find it difficult to speak fluently.
Filipino body language may become misleading it is important to know when it is appropriate to proceed.Other Noteworthy Items with Relevance to the Workplace: Women are accepted in business circles but are not expected to act in a domineering way with male colleagues.
Hazel Balajonda MGMT 3000 – 001 May 2, 2018Section One: In the Philippines, business matters are best dealt during face-to-face situation in a friendly and pleasant atmosphere.
Many west business persons believe that time is gold and like to get to the point immediately, Filipinos like to be indirect. They start off by having small talk about schools they attend to, mutual friends, what they did last week and family commonalities. After establishing a hospitable atmosphere is when people will start to negotiate. To a FIlipino, establishing a valuable contact and personal connections helps move the business along. The way Filipinos’ does business is an infusion from the East and West. Philippines management style tends to focus on paternalistic because it is the most popular in hierarchical culture like the Filipinos. Managers need to be aware of certain strong Filipino characteristics when it comes to dealing with employees such as being extremely careful to ensure that others do not suffer from embarrassment or sense of shame as a result of their actions or inability to meet the company’s expectations. Publicly criticizing others is an example of bad behavior which can lead to loss of self esteem and personal dignity. Therefore, managers are expected to treat employees with respect at the same time, maintaining the dignity of the position of a boss. Managers give instructions clearly and precisely and employees are expected to follow those instructions with little to no discussion. This is an example of a Manager Led leadership style, where the manager’s responsibility is to define goals, methods and functionings of teams and the team is responsible for carrying out those assigned tasks exactly.
It is important for Filipinos to be in a Cohesion team. This is when members of teams develop strong emotional bonds to other members of their team and to the team itself because it will make sure that everyone is loyal to one another which is very important to the Filipino culture. Using Geert Hofstede’s framework, Power distance is the highest dimension that applies to this country. The Philippines is a hierarchical society. This means that people accept a hierarchical order in which everyone has a place and which needs no further justification. People often refer to higher-ups as “Sir” or “Ma’am”, instead of being on first name basis. Hierarchy in an organization is portrayed as reflecting inherent inequalities ,centralization is popular and people expect to be told what to do and ideally a higher position always in charge. Despite the power distance, managers or bosses are still expected to have level of cordiality in their jobs. Because Filipinos value interpersonal relationships, they will respond well to positive whether verbally, benefits, or a raise.
Managers who are socially detached to his or her team may find it difficult to get in full cooperation. Philippines has a masculine culture according to Hofstede. This indicates that the society will be driven by competition, achievement and success being defined by the best in the field, This is a system that not only applies to the business industry bust starts in school and continues throughout organizational life. In a masculine country like the Philippines, it is an expectation that managers are decisive and assertive while while ensuring equality, competition and performance. If ever there were conflicts, it had to be resolved by fighting it out. Uncertainty Avoidance Filipinos are risk takers as the Philippines has a low preference in avoiding uncertainty. This means that Philippines maintain a more relaxed attitude which practices counts more than principles and deviance from the norm is more easily tolerated. Filipinos believe there should be no more rules that are necessary and if they do not work they should be abandoned or changed. Filipinos like their schedules to be flexible and choose smart work over hard work, It is obvious that precision and punctuality does not come naturally. The Philippines is considered a collectivist society. This is obvious in a close long term commitment to the people in the group. This is noticeable as Filipinos frequently say “We” instead of “I”. Loyalty in a collectivist culture is predominant and exceeds other rules and regulations, it requires to look after the welfare of each other in the group. In a collectivist society, offence leads to shame, employee/employer relationships are like a family link, hiring/promotion decisions takes account of all people that are part of the group. The Philippine culture is more normative than pragmatic. Normative society like the Philippines prefer to maintain time-honoured traditions and norms.
They would rather choose to preserve their traditions from the past than to take efforts in modern education as a way to prepare for the future. Many asian countries are very similar to the Philippines when it comes to Long Term Orientation. Filipinos have a strong focus in achieving fast results. In the Indulgence aspect, the people of the Philippines has good control of their desires and impulses. The negative side could be the tendency of cynicism and pessimism, but Filipinos have a optimistic outlook in life. Restrained societies do not put emphasis on leisure time and control the gratification of their desires. Section Two: To the person who is getting transferred to a medium sized corporation in the Philippines, it is important to know the business structures that are the most popular in this country. Most large Filipino companies are controlled by members of small families and with most family run businesses structures tend to be extremely hierarchical with power residing in the hands of senior manager. The influence of Western business practices can be seen by the presence of well educated and trained managers who are responsible for applying the decisions of the senior management.
This is why it is important to develop connections at various levels within the organization. Since most of the decisions are made at the upper level, it is imperative have good contacts at this level. It it also important to maintain a good relationship with middle management level who eventually will work with you on a daily basis. You may think that communication in the Philippines will come easy for Western business people because the business language of the country is English. However it is very disrespectful to assume that because many people, not just business persons speak seemingly fluent English. The Filipino communication style is very much influence with a whole lot of English but a lot of it still come from its asian roots and the use of coded language can be somewhat difficult to understand. Also, keep in mind that Filipinos speak many different dialects you never know who you will encounter. In conjunction to the coded-language, Filipino body language can also be misleading to other country visitors. The smile should not be translated as agreement or pleasure in what had been discussed. A smile could simply mean something as simply as hiding embarrassment. Annoyance or even disagreement. It is very misleading so be careful when you hear ‘yes!’ and see smiles the whole time because it may not be what you are expecting. It is best to wait for particular signals such as contracts or detailed requests and only then be confident about proceeding. Another important aspect to expect in a Filipino working environment is your personal appearance.
How you look and present yourself is important for Filipinos, not just first impressions but for all the days to come. Your worthiness could be judged based on appearance. In business circles, men conservatively with suit and tie. Women should also dress conservatively and modestly. If invited out in any event, it is helpful to check in advance on the dress code. Many high end places in the Philippines expect formal evening wear. At the end of the day, it is great to keep in mind that Filipinos are very social. You will be able to find better business relationships built on trust if you show your genuine interest in the company, business partners, colleagues or employees. When relocating to the Philippines, one of the major concerns for a new comer would be housing options and place of residence. For someone who is moving alone, it is a good idea to consider renting a condominium unit. You must consider the proximity of your residence to the business district where you are most likely going to work. This is imperative because traffic in the city is known to be unpredictable and almost always terrible. Being late is another aspect that people could judge you for in the business industry and saying you were stuck on traffic is not even an option.
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