Early in my career, I had a routine that I valued deeply. Whenever our schedules allowed, I would ask Dr. Ned Roberto—the legendary marketing research guru who at one time served as our Vice Chair at Mansmith and Fielders—to sit in the back of my seminar. My request was simple: Audit my logic, find the cracks, and give me a […]
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The Philippines remains Asia’s Catholic heartland, yet the number of people attending Sunday Mass has plummeted from 64% in 1991 to just 38% today. I call this the “Barabbas Moment.“ In the biblical narrative, the crowd was given a choice between the radical, transformative Truth and the immediate, violent “fix” of the insurrectionist Barabbas. They chose the tactic over the transformation. Today, […]
I have a confession: My most profound lessons in strategy no longer come from the frameworks of elite business schools or the high-stakes intensity of a corporate war room. They are being refined in the quiet, clinical stillness of my mother’s bedside. In business, we are trained to chase “the next big thing.” We map customer journeys, invest in AI, […]
In an earlier piece (From Sari-Sari Stores to Global Systems: Why Trust Matters, Inquirer.net, April 17, 2026), I argued that trust is the original infrastructure of commerce, and that organizations most likely to endure are those that treat it as a governance system rather than a values statement. But there is a dimension worth pressing further: if trust is the […]
Thirty years ago, I had the rare opportunity to share my start-up experience and teach a full-semester, 3-unit course on network marketing, also known as multilevel marketing (MLM), at the Ateneo de Manila University. At the time, this subject had never been formally taught at the university level. I remain grateful to Rudy Ang, then chair of the management department, […]
In an era of peak consumer skepticism, the gap between a brand’s public image and its internal reality has never been more scrutinized. For a household giant like NutriAsia, maintaining leadership with icons like Silver Swan, Datu Puti, and UFC requires more than market share—it requires a self-sustaining Trust Flywheel: Humility, Cultural Literacy, Empathy, Transparency, Authenticity, Consistency, and Accountability. While […]
The other day, I bought a liter of my favorite Jasmine tea at Opus Mall. It cost me ₱290. I paid for it, enjoyed it, and didn’t feel even slightly offended by the price. It made me think about how I feel the same way at a café, where a venti latte costs over ₱200 for just half a liter. […]
We tend to explain today’s instability in geopolitical terms—conflict zones, trade routes, shifting alliances. But beneath all of that runs a deeper strain: trust. When trust breaks at the level of nations and institutions, the consequences don’t stay abstract. They show up in higher fuel costs, tighter margins, and consumers whose purchasing power steadily erodes. We are, in many ways, […]
The world feels smaller today. Supply chains are under pressure, energy markets remain volatile, and uncertainty has become part of the operating environment. In times like these, the natural instinct of many leaders is to turn to dashboards—to track prices, monitor buffers, and revisit assumptions. These are necessary. But they are not sufficient. Because while systems help us respond, it […]
In business strategy, we often obsess over price elasticity—the mathematical relationship between cost and demand. But as we navigate the complexities of 2026, the marketplace is being reshaped by a far more volatile force: The Psychology of Uncertainty. Uncertainty is often more damaging than an actual price increase. While a price hike is a known variable one can budget for, […]