An expert on leadership training from the IESE Business School, ranked by The Economist as Number One MBA School in the world, is coming to Manila on January 11-15, 2010. Dr. Pablo Cardona is the author of several best-sellers on leadership and organizational development. He will conduct seminars for leading Philippine companies such as Alaska Milk Corporation, Metro Investment Corporation, Petron, ZMG Ward Howell and DMCI.

Dr. Cardona, a Ph.D. in Management from the University of California in Los Angeles (UCLA), typifies the IESE professor whose teaching is solidly based on scientific research. Benefiting from a long tradition in the 50-year history of IESE in the area of people management, he has developed a new paradigm called Management by Missions. Let me briefly explain this novel way of motivating every employee to own the mission of an organization.

Many companies have at some time in their history conducted an in-depth review of their purpose: “what they are there for?”. The result very often is a mission statement, or values statement, or some such. The real challenge, however, is to get that mission and those values across to the company as a whole, so that they are espoused by all members of the organization. The problem is that, apart from a few aids such as communication plans, training courses or speeches to employees, there are hardly any management tool for building a “mission-focused organization”. At best the mission is implemented according to the intuition and good intentions of individual managers, with their unevenly developed communication and leadership skills.

The Management by Missions consistently pursues two lines of action:

(1) the deployment and implementation of the mission and values through specific management tools; and

(2) the development of mission-focused leadership.
It is precisely the combination of these two lines of action that generates extraordinary results.

Management by Objectives (MBO) has limitations that are not overcome simply by including non-financial objectives or by promoting a system of values imported from outside the management system. Management by Missions (MBM) rises above the limitations of MBO and, at the same time, takes into account other innovative proposals put forward in recent years such as Management by Competencies (MBC). MBM ensures that the corporate mission permeates all levels of the company, down to the particular mission of each individual. This is then made operational through objectives, which have no value in themselves, but only as a means to fulfil the mission. This new management philosophy is much richer and more effective in persuading staff to identify with the company they work for, thus ensuring superior performance at all levels of the organization.

Dr. Cardona has been invited by the University of Asia and the Pacific to conduct a seminar for CEOs and other executives to explain and illustrate with concrete examples Management by Missions. The session discusses how to implement a corporate mission at all levels of a company, providing a step-by-step guide. Starting with designing a mission (the “why” of a company, not to be confused with the company “position”) which is consistent with the company model and takes into account the needs of stakeholders, and a set of values (the “how”), or the criteria for being and acting. This is followed by deployment, using a “mission org chart,” which reveals the way different areas contribute to the achievement of the company’s mission (i.e., shared mission), and by ensuring the cohesion and progress of all aspects of the mission by aligning objectives with a set of measurable specific indicators.

With MBM, employees develop a strong sense of ownership that aligns them with the organization and fosters cooperation at different levels. A cultural change within the company happens. Empowerment happens as employees are not just assigned “tasks” but instead, meaningful objectives with which they can identify, allowing them to commit to the purpose and values of the company.

To summarize, the following are the benefits of MBM

• Helps managers to inspire their subordinates through a sense of mission;

• Guides strategy-making in the direction of the company’s mission;

• Ensures that corporate values are put into practice;

• Spurs the development of competencies;

• Promotes new ideas and improvements in the workplace.

The seminar to be conducted by Dr. Cardona will be on Wednesday, January 13, 2010 at 1:30 to 7:00 p.m. at the PLDT Hall, 4/F, APEC Communications Building, University of Asia and the Pacific, Ortigas Center, Pasig City. Those interested in attending may contact Mr. Sonny Raymundo at 637-0912 to 26 local 224 or email sraymundo@uap.edu.ph. For comments, my email is bvillegas@uap.edu.ph.