REENGINEERING THE REENGINEERS

Does anyone doubt that reengineering businesses by outsourcing and offshoring is key to greater efficiencies and returns, in the 21st century? Once a 1990s business buzzword, the 2008 version represents an evolution. But to remain competitive in a global economy beset by crisis and inflation - increasing real productivity annually, the reengineers need constant reengineering.

Plug & Play Evolution

1990s reengineering established flatter hierarchies and special business units that could cross inter-departmental boundaries. 21st century reengineering differs with spun-off processes that service not only inter-departmental customers, but also external clients. They are empowered with decision rights, and meant to generate revenues based on specialized core competences.

The processes themselves have changed. Harvard business analysts conceptualized the Service Oriented Architecture (SOA) - customizable “plug and play” (P&P) processes, that simplify implementation, even across external networks. In the US, Motorola standardized, and shared across division, its proprietary customer – service call centers processes, saving millions in yearly operating costs. Locally, a certain BPO firm enabled its HR division to perform executive searches for other firms, thus generating extra revenue.

Modern reengineering thus creates a leaner organization eminently geared to maximizing – and reaping - Globalization's benefit.

Entreprenomists - Social Reengineers

But reengineering is more than just profits or outsourcing processes arbitrarily. Necessary is a deep business' design analysis, based on challenges and goals, echoing entreprenomists' habit of constantly finding ways to improve their businesses. Which brings us to how entreprenomists – themselves perpetual reengineers - are a valuable, conscientious resource.

For the new entreprenomist, a sort of reengineered reengineer, is the social entrepreneur, who “combines a business school brain with a social worker's heart.” This allows him to view the country as a huge corporation, identifying reengineering possibilities to develop doable solutions.

Reengineering the Countryside

Like offering rural labor a chance to earn more than subsistence level income, as what two Harvard graduates did in 2001, in Cambodia. They “reengineered” rural workers in Phnom Penh by training them to encode (transcribe) paper documents into digital data. Encoders were paid USD75 monthly, over double the Cambodian average annual income of USD400. By 2005, with 170 employees and three offices, the company, Digital Divide Data, was providing services for a Harvard newspaper, and US Non Government Offices.

We could easily duplicate this, capitalizing on our manpower, and the developed countries' large demand for digitizing.

There are proverbially “1,001” US-based Fil-Am associations. In California alone, my tiny province of Aklan has 17 active, representing each of Aklan's towns. (It isn't being “crustacean;” it is rather about the child in the Filipino – observe, our Sto. Nino fixation – seeking actualization through local societal appreciation...from relatives, townsfolk, major provincial politicians, and elite.)

Can the League of Local Government Executives, thus, with its social entrepreneurs, tap their local US government counties, offering digital encoding services for their paper documents; done in our rural areas? Imagine the impact to the rural worker, used to an erratic daily income of under USD1.00, suddenly finding himself regularly earning USD80.00, monthly! Organizing integrators can earn a spread over the monthly rate; the entirety becoming a viable, dollar generating activity.

If “plugged and played” across rural Philippines, it could reengineer the countryside, breaking the poverty cycle, providing labor with higher skills, and promoting rural tourist destinations.

Work and Play

Which brings us to another point: reengineering our tourist areas to broaden her foreign appeal. Instead of a “sun and sand” Asian destination, how about a “work and play” destination? Simply establishing conference facilities near tourist spots – like in Caticlan - will create added value, and give foreign visitors another reason to return.

Or, renting out (“loss leader principle”) to the global Internet market, underutilized private and government convention facilities like the Development Authority of the Philippines (DAP), or the Technical Education and Skills Development Authority's (TESDA) Quezon City building, to Russians, Koreans and other foreigners for English Literature seminars. Or other topics: bamboo cooking, a mythical “hilot ni Lola,” or a new “Yoga ni Maria Clara,” - stretching exercises for the demure - for women, Arnis for men; anything that draws foreign tourists here.

Low rents attract tourists, and the program becomes an avenue for spending their disposable vacation income in those areas, their money spent here.

These illustrate how reengineered solutions can contribute to GDP, stimulating the various Keynesian function elements (apologies to non-Keynesians): Consumer Spending, Investments, Government Expenditures and Net Exports (here, analogous to tourist dollar inflows).

We need to reengineer our businesses rapidly, before rampant global inflation saps our economy's gains. Because the common man's only tool to combat inflation is income. And the more and sooner he has it, the less he will feel inflation's growing pain.

Perhaps the bible puts it best: “Let all things be done decently and in order” - 1 Corinthians 14:40

 

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