Loyola Schools Bulletin Volume 2, Issue #4 & #5 - Ateneo de Manila ...

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6 loyolaschoolsbulletinVolume II, Number 5Piyestang Pinoy ideaJaime Mendejar, IV BS LMPhotos courtesy of Jaime Mendejarwins HSBC plumCOURTESY OF JGSOMAnton Bautista, Charles Chua, Darwin Yu, PhD (Coach), Ryan Chua, Andrea Co, SallyAng, Mark Velasquez, Ricky Pilar (Coach)Ateneo places 2 nd in financecompetitionCharles Chua IV BS MGT-HBonds, stocks, derivatives,mortgages…these are words thatAteneans in the School ofManagement dread to hear infinance and accounting class. Yet,for almost a year, it is what ourteam had to train for. Countlessself-study sessions with thereviewer, in-school trainingsessions and mock quiz bowls wereheld in pursuit of one goal: to winat least 3 rd place in the 8 th Inter-Collegiate Finance Competition(ICFC) hosted by the FinancialExecutives Institute of thePhilippines (FINEX).The ICFC is a finance quiz bowlinvolving over 70 schoolsnationwide. The topics involvedare those that are taken up in theLevel 1 Chartered FinancialAnalyst (CFA) exams. Thisincludes Accounting, CorporateFinance, Equity, Debt, Derivatives,Economics and others. The goalof the competition is to raise thebar of financial managementeducation in the Philippines.Yet considering that I only had onefinance class in my whole collegelife, it was obvious that to be ableto compete against Finance andAccounting majors from otherschools, I had to learn a lot ofother things. Together with myteammates Ryan Chua (IV BSME), Mark Velasquez (IV BS ME),Sally Ang (IV BS MGT-H), AntonBautista (III BS ME) and nextyear’s team member Andrea Co(III BS ME), we trained almosteveryday. Since it was impossibleto know all the topics, the team’sstrategy was that each memberwould specialize on a topic. Ineffect, he or she would be the “goto” guy whenever a question withhis topic comes out.Training became more intense asthe competition drew near. Themock quiz bowls (which werealways a fun way to train) gotprogressively harder. We also hadto take mock CPA board examswhich for me were the mostdifficult exams since Ateneans arenot trained to be accountants. Itwas then we realized thataccounting would be our Achillesheel.September 15, 2006 arrived and theElimination Round was held at theMeralco Theater. Since thecompetition was nationwide,simultaneous elimination roundswere also held in Bacolod, Cebu,and Davao City. Only the top twoteams of each group would qualifyfor the championship phase to beheld in Escaler Hall in Ateneo onSeptember 26. It was just our luckthat we were bracketed with thestrongest teams of the wholecompetition. Ateneo de Manilawas with FEU, Ateneo de Naga,DLSU-Dasmarinas and CentralState Luzon University. All werequalifiers in the final round ofprevious competitions.I was very nervous during the firstround. It was my first time in abig competition. I made mistakesthat I knew I shouldn’t have made.Coupled with the easy round timelimit of only 30 seconds, the teamfielded during the first roundscored 9 out of 20 questions. Thisput us somewhere in the middleof our bracket, and in danger ofbeing eliminated.We had to regroup fast. For themoderate round, I was fieldedtogether with Ryan and Mark. Wecaught up. Ryan and Mark wereamazing in Quantitative Methodsand Economics which enabled usto be on the top of our group bythe end of the round. This teamcombination produced the bestfrom us – Ryan’s and my intensitywere tempered by Mark’s calmness,and this enabled us to solve theproblems methodically.What’s interesting was that we wereonly a few questions behind UP-Diliman, the perennial championof the competition. Whatmotivated us was that aside fromqualifying, whoever topped theregional eliminations would getfree CFA review sessions at theAsian Institute of Management.For the third and difficult round,we finally caught up with UP-Diliman and surpassed their scoreby 5 points, the lowest marginpossible. Aside from beingcrowned regional champion, wealso had the highest scorenationally among all the regions.Suddenly we had the belief thatwinning everything during thefinals was possible.On September 26, the day of thechampionship phase, Escaler Hallquickly filled up with the differentschools and their supporters. Wewere feeling a bit confident fromProudly wearing our nationalcostumes, we presented ourwinning business idea for theHSBC Regional YoungEntrepreneur Awards, held lastJune 12, 2006 at HSBC’sheadquarters in Hong Kong.The official Ateneo delegationincluded myself (Jaime MendejarBS LM ‘06) and my otherteammates (Angeli Ko BS MGT’06 and Marc Cu BS LM ’06), Mr.Ricardo Sacramento of theFinance and AccountingDepartment and of course,JGSOM Dean, Mr. Rodolfo Ang.We arrived on June 10 to beginfinal rehearsals and preparations,knowing fully well that the otherGold Award winners from HongKong, Malaysia and Thailandwere very competitive.Our business idea, calledPiyestang Pinoy, is a full servicetour operator that provides livedfiesta experiences to domesticand foreign tourists. Think of itthis way: instead of going to theAti-atihan and seeing it from thesidewalks, we will teach you howto dance to their beat, paint youblack, give you your own costumeand actually dance with an awardwinningdance group down thestreets of Kalibo. How’s that forelevating the fiesta experience?But despite our valiant effortsand long hours of preparationour win during the eliminations.True enough, we led UP-Dilimanfor the first two rounds.Accounting questions were fewand far between. But even as weled, we knew that UP-Diliman wasbound to catch up. They equalizedwith us on the third round with abarrage of accounting questions.Going into the final round, weknew it was going to be verydifficult. But at the start of thefinal round, we suddenly foundourselves leading UP-Diliman by3 questions. The Ateneo crowdin Escaler Hall was going wild. Atthat time, we felt that thechampionship was within ourgrasp. But fate can be very cruel.Another barrage of accountingquestions came and the lead wasMarc Cu, Jaime Mendejar, Angeli Ko, Ricardo Sacramento, Rodolfo Ang(we were still practicing at 2AMduring the day of thecompetition), we were not able tobag the Best of the Best awardthat evening. Nevertheless, it wasstill a great privilege to representnot only Ateneo in thatcompetition, but the Philippinesas well. Carrying the name ofyour country really gives you anindescribable feeling of pride.So regardless of the outcome, theAteneans still had a victory dinnerafter the competition. Besides,there is every reason to celebratefor Ateneo. JGSOM has beenwinning First Place in the nationallevel of this business writingcompetition ever since HSBCstarted it three years ago!Furthermore, the prizes we havealready received were enoughreason to celebrate. During thenational finals, we were awardedwith Php 200K—for seedreduced to one. The turning pointof the competition was when thejudges changed their mind on aquestion that UP protested. Weshould have been awarded thepoint on that question. But instead,the judges awarded the point to UPwhich drew us level again. And soit was all tied with UP-Dilimanuntil the final question.And to our dismay, the finalquestion was a vague accountingone. As the buzzer sounded, welooked at UP-Diliman and FEU’sanswer because they were trainedaccountants. They had the sameanswer which was different fromours. At that point, even beforethe judges raised the correctanswer, I knew it was over. All thefunding, a six-month scholarshipto AIM”s Venture intoEntrepreneurship Program, thetrip to Hong Kong, and an allexpensepaid educational andcultural trip to UC Berkeley.During our stay in Hong Kong,we managed to become verygood friends with other delegates.We even did our midnightshopping with some of them.Other highlights of the trip inHong Kong included a full dayat Disneyland and a study tour ofHong Kong PolytechnicUniversity.The trip to the United States waseven more intense. We tookclasses in entrepreneurship,management and leadershipunder some of UC Berkeley’sbest professors, visited thecompany headquarters of Intel,GAP and Google, touredStanford University, strolleddowntown San Francisco, andmanaged to take home literallythousands of photos!Piyestang Pinoy is all about sellingthat once-in-a-lifetime fiestaexperience, and interestinglyenough, winning the HSBCYoung Entrepreneur Awards is aunique experience as well. Butlooking back, we did winsomething for the Philippines. Ina Malaysian newspaper, we werenamed “the friendliest” team. Atleast that’s still something weFilipinos are still famous for.hard work, training and dedicationwe poured were not enough tobring home the championship.Yet looking back at what we havegone through, I can say that wedid not really lose. Rather, we wona hard fought second place. Goingagainst the best finance andaccounting majors nationwide andbeing beaten by the BusinessAdministration and Accountingmajors of UP-Diliman by just onequestion shows that the AteneoFINEX team has indeed come along way. With lessons learnedthis year, I can boldly predict thatafter passing the baton to Andrea,next year’s team will bring thechampionship back to Ateneo.
October 2006we build community we nurture hope7JGSOM goes to ChinaThe 2006 China Business Study TourKeeping itthe familyall inFamily businesses get a boost from the Family BusinessDevelopment CenterCOURTESY OF JGSOMThis was not your typicalsummer class. Sixteen studentsfrom the John Gokongwei Schoolof Management trekked to Chinawith chaperones Rodolfo P. Ang,JGSOM Dean and Atty. JosephSedfrey S. Santiago of theDepartment of Marketing andLaw for the 2006 China BusinessStudy Tour from April 17 to May14 for what turned out to be anexcellent adventure.With the bulk of the tour situatedin Beijing, the studentsparticipated in lectures andeducational field trips which gavethem a first hand perspective ofhow business is done in China.Excursions and sightseeing toursgave the students a chance tocatch their breath and explorehistorical, cultural, and of course,shopping sites in all of the tourlegs. Stops in Shenzhen andCOURTESY OF JGSOMHong Kong rounded off themonth-long tour, which managedto beautifully balance learningwith fun.The John Gokongwei School ofManagement’s Family BusinessDevelopment Center is a fledglingoffice conceptualized only in April2006. It was the result, however, ofa natural progression within firstthe Management Department, thenthe JGSOM, of a focus on familybusiness. Ricardo “Ricky” H.Mercado of the Department ofLeadership and Strategy recalls thateven then, he was already doingteam teaching on family businessand conducting seminars withother Management facultymembers.Following a Business LeadershipForum event in 2004 whichattracted around 500 participants,Ricky and his team realized thatthere was indeed a need for a centerthat would answer the manyquestions put to them by familybusiness owners. The FamilyBusiness Development Center isnow staffed by Ricky together withMa. Teresa “Terry” L. Galura, alsoof the Department of Leadershipand Strategy, and Jefferson “Jeff ”A. Sy, BS COMMTECH 2006.Apart from the very popularBusiness Leadership Forums, theCenter also organizes smaller butequally popular BreakfastRoundtables which attract 40participants at a time. Ricky, Terry,and Jeff also make themselvesavailable to service the needs theindividual businesses with familyissues. They mention that they haveassisted the Isaganis of Budget-Rent-A-Car in crafting a familyFamily matters: Jefferson Sy, Ma. Teresa Galura, Rodolfo Ang, Ricardo Mercadoconstitution, but decline to nameother clients who are presumablyamong some of the largest familyrunbusinesses in the countryBehind the high demand for theCenter’s services is the growingrealization among familybusinesses that their unique issuesand problems can be resolved in aprofessional manner. Populartopics include crafting a familyconstitution, succession planning,ownership and inheritance issues,estate planning, strategic planning,formation of family councils,franchising, globalization, and eveninitial public offerings. Enlightenedfamily business managementshould help minimize attrition ratesamong family businesses which,according to Terry, are mostcommonly caused by breakdownsin family relations and the inabilityto plan strategically.Asked about feedback from familybusinesses they have assisted, theygive two words: amazement andgratitude. Terry says, “they’reamazed that their issues can beaddressed.” “The other reaction issobrang pasasalamat,” Terrycontinues. The clarity andobjectivity brought by sessions withthe Center obviously improve notonly relations within families, butbusiness outcomes as well.In the works are more of thesame—forums, round tablediscussions, and consulting. Otherplans include beefing up research,curriculum development, anddeveloping linkages withassociations and other institutionsspecializing in family businesses.Ricky, Terry, and Jeff, all productsof family businesses themselves,definitely have something goinghere. By helping businesses keepfamily matters under control, theyhelp keep business all in the family.JOANNA RUIZJGSOM Student Entrepreneurship Center welcomes first tenantsCOURTESY OF JGSOM2006 CHINA BUSINESS STUDY TOUR PARTICIPANTSCarlo Iñigo AyoJemmie Lynn BelmonteCatherine BringinoKimberly ChuaZyrelle de JesusDavid del RosarioRuby Criselda DomingoSoleil FloresArlene Janet LeeChris David PalarcaAlys Andrea SerdeniaJose Franco SoberanoJose Mikhail V. YapRamon Miguel YuloMark Steven KingZheng (Ty) Yan Mei (Chelo)This second semester, the JGSOM Student Entrepreneurship Center (JSEC) opens for business,with an exciting roster of tenants which includes:The Big BoxThe Big Box is positioned as thecampus value store for school supplies.It will carry a wide range of items atprices lower than those of NationalBook Store. Items include ballpens,markers, notebooks, cut-size paper,cartolina, illustration boards, staplers,and scissors. The store will also be avenue where LS 126/127 groups canshowcase their products. Partners inthis venture are Justin Caballeros,Barbara Caballeros, Charles Chua,Kelvin Gaisano, Ian Arne Lee, JoniOng, and Shermaine Mina.Timki Co.If you’re tired ofthe usual pastriessold in thecafeteria, thenfruititontop! is the thing for you.fruititontop! is hot-from-the-ovenspecial bread topped with cream andcold fruits. The range of fruit toppingsinclude apple-cinnamon, cherrybananamix, peaches, pineapple, lycheebits, and fruit mix. Timki Co. iscomposed of Carlo Alojado, DianaBello, Francisco Calanoc, Willy Chiu,Cecil Mahilum, and Grace Ganaden.HealthySwitchBy selling healthy snack foods, thegroup aims to provide healthieralternatives to ubiquitous snackoptions such as french fries, hotdogs,and squid balls. It promotes healthorientedcuisine that is flavorsome,affordable, and easily available. Mainproducts are buffalo milk yogurt inmango, strawberry, blueberry, andpineapple flavors, buffalo milk yogurtdrink, and tofu fries in plain, cheese,and barbecue variants, with variousdip, and tofu lumpiang shanghai.Other items are ice cream, dried fruits,sandwiches, chips, desserts, and Iñuherbal iced tea.Matcha Green Tea CaféMatcha Green Tea Café is named afterMatcha, a traditionalJapanese tea used inthe tea ceremony. Itis unique amongteas in that the tealeaf itself is drunk.Sophomore Management studentRicardo Y. Lim III wanted to establisha café selling relaxing drinks, and thisbecame the concept behind Matcha.Primary products are Matcha Frappeand Matcha Fruit Frappes. Fresh fruitsare incorporated into the traditionalMatcha tea, which increases the list ofhealth benefits already present in thetea. Café Matcha is the café’s newestdrink which brings coffee and greentea together in one cup. It is intendedto help coffee drinkers transition fromcoffee to tea.The Picky Eaters GroupTheir CHOMPstall will sellburgers with atwist. Customersget to choose thesauces, spreads, and toppings to dressup their burgers, which also come witha side dish and drink. Senior BMstudents Ed Araga, Polo Bustamante,Josh de Jesus, Ray Español, ChrisPalarca, JR Santos, and Rex Ybardolazaconceptualized the business duringtheir LS126 class. They plan tointroduce more items as they get thefeel of their market.
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