Fourth commandment: ‘No Work, No Pay’
DOING business with family and friends can be very rewarding. It can also be very complicated and difficult. Anyway, doing business with loved ones has never been a neutral topic. It always involves an even more stringent standard of etiquette than usual, but if appropriate measures and...
Gokongweis’ Commandment No. 3: No Conflict of Interest
“To set aside one’s prejudices, one’s present needs, and one’s own self interest in making a decision as a director for a company is an intellectual exercise that takes constant practice. In short, intellectual honesty is a journey and not a destination.” - Mervyn King
Soriano: 10 Commandments of the Gokongweis in Family Business
“THE difference between law and in-law is you can justify yourself before law but never before in-laws.”
No in-laws!
This is the first of 10 unwritten commandments which John Gokongwei, founder of the Gokongwei group of companies, followed in running the family business “the...
Soriano: The new competitive edge: spirituality in business
SOCIETY is becoming more individually oriented. More and more single occupancy homes are being sold. People are marrying less and later in life. They are also divorcing more. Single parent families are on the rise while birth rates are on the decline. Some couples opt not to have children. There...
Guiding Family Businesses through the Succession Process
FAMILY business succession is an important process that must be carefully managed. With their outside-the-family objectivity and financial expertise, CPAs and business consultants can play a valuable role. But more important than expertise, they are the professionals most trusted by business...
Filipino couple makes it big in the pizza fastfood industry
"I HAVE always found that my view of success has been iconoclastic: success to me is not about money or status or fame, it's about finding a livelihood that brings me joy and self-sufficiency and a sense of contributing to the world."
Anita Roddick, founder of The Body Shop
...Famous and Fascinating Filipina: The Julie’s Bakeshop Story
“THE most difficult thing is the decision to act, the rest is merely tenacity. The fears are paper tigers. You can do anything you decide to do. You can act to change and control your life; and the procedure, the process is its own reward.” Amelia Earhart, aviator
Famous women who made it...
The Chinese Way
“THE only people you can trust are family -- and a business enterprise is created as a familial life raft.” – John Cao, Harvard Business Review
“KUNG Hei Fat Choi!” to our Chinese friends and clients in the Philippines and elsewhere in the world.
Facing the Giants - The Phoenix Petroleum Way
THE legendary David is back. He is back in the Philippines, battling the giants in the petroleum industry.
Slowly but surely, he is creating a niche in an industry dominated by multinational oil companies.
Our modern David goes by the name of Dennis Uy, founder and president of...
Soriano: The 4th Richest Filipino
BUSINESS tycoons in a way rule the world. In Asia, we refer to them as Taipans.
Many Taipans from Asia are now emerging in the map of the world's richest people. Western economies have collectively acknowledged Asia as the next growth corridor with India and China pacing the pack and...
Soriano: Family business trends
MODERN family-owned businesses are no longer fitly described by the old "Mom and Pop" colloquialism. The economic landscape of most nations remains dominated by family firms; therefore, it is fitting that the academe has to recognize the importance of family business studies.
In a recent...
Soriano: Why family businesses are special
WE ALL have opinions and sometimes we hold very divergent views, as you would imagine when you bring together a group of people who are active within different industry spheres and in different geographical locations.
