"Economy of Sharing"
The Ancilla Story
By Tita D. Puangco
First of all, allow me to thank you for the opportunity to share my humble experience of ANCILLA ENTERPRISE DEVELOPMENT CONSULTING, an enterprise of the economy of sharing. Ancilla is a name that honors Mary, the Ancilla Domini, the handmaid of the Lord. We want our company
to be a helping hand, and effective support of enterprises.
I'm a Filipino, married and mother of 4. As a young person I felt strongly the need to change many things towards a greater justice in society. In 1972, after studying in an American university on a scholarship grant, I met the Focolare Movement. I understood then that change in society can only happen by changing myself and putting God at the very center of my life. Today I bear witness to what God has done through Chiara
Lubich to my personal and professional life inspiring me and my husband to found an enterprise for sharing.
After my studies, I worked in mass media, then with big corporations: first as a manager for organization development and then as vice
president of the Bank of Philippine Islands. The bank sent me on a scholarship to the Asian Institute of Management to complete my mas-ters
degree. After graduation, I felt God wanted me to leave my comfortable job in the bank and do something else, not for money, for stature, for power only to reflect my love for God and for all those around me in society. After all I had only one life, I want to live the rest
of it in his service through my work.
A. Economy of sharing call
It was at this time that Chiara Iubich launched the economy of sharing in Brazil. At once, I understood that I could set-up a management consultancy enterprise that would center and tap my core competencies. That evening I invited my husband Renato for a walk. We
have lived very comfortable lives enjoying God's limitless providence. I understood that God wanted us to "start building our mansion in heaven". I asked his permission to resign from my work in the bank and start a consultancy practice. It was a special grace, he agreed at once and we decided to build an office on top of our garage. He was to continue with his job since the family needed stable support--- I just gave birth to our fourth child and the 3 other children were still in school.
B. The Ancilla way
When we started we were only 2 in the company. After a short time from the office on top of our garage, we moved to the business district
because our business has grown rapidly. We also saw together that it was better for my husband to quit his job and join me. We also realized that we can only do our work with excellence if it was based on a culture of giving.
After 7 years of operation, Ancilla has become one of the most important consultancy firms in Southeast Asia. We feel that the secret of our success lies in our constant effort to love one another. This mutual love among us gives us the light to understand how to handle every project of our clients.
Now Ancilla has nearly 200 clients, many belong to the top 50 Philippine business corporations but also from abroad. People say that our growth is phenomenal but we are not surprised. The Gospel is true "Give and you shall receive." The Lord has rewarded our fidelity of giving part of our profits for the poor. With this money we were able to provide many poor families with their basic needs; food, clothing, repair of their houses previously made of hard card board which were changed with stronger materials for better protection against inclement weather and the possibility of sending many children to school.
Another part of the profits is given for the development of people to acquire a new mentality based on the Gospel, people to become "new men and women" who practice the "Culture of giving" The money has been a big help for the construction of essential structures for the formation of young people and adults in Tagaytay, in the Philippines and elsewhere.
At the center of our dealings is the human person. Ancilla shares its profits with its employees. All those who have worked for it for a year are awarded with shares of stock. In the recent economic crisis that swept Asia, we were still able to manage our company in a profitable manner. Impressed by the relationship with our employees, we have been chosen as partners for Asia-Pacific by some of the biggest companies worldwide. During the height of the crisis, these companies were faithful in paying their fees. And while many Philippine businesses retrenched employees, we opted not to expand but to increase their salaries to cushion the impact of the crisis on their families.
Since 70% of the Philippine population is comprised of young people. We thought of preparing qualified persons as future leaders in the business arena, equipped with character, competence and compassion. After 3 to 4 years training with us they are employed by our client
businesses often triple their salaries for they become capable of delivering quality work with ethical values.
As management consultants we always work as a team so as to help one another. We tried to love and serve every client or person we meet, so that even after a single meeting we become friends with a special rapport. We realize this in a special way, with the death of 3 of
our consultants in July last year. They were on their way to serve a mining client on the mountains in the north of the Philippines when the plane they were riding crashed. We were devastated because they were more than sisters and brother to us. But what consoled us were the hundred of clients who came to the wakes because they had this deep relationship with each one of them.
Being in management consultancy, we have to be up to date on global best practices. We have developed strategic alliances with 5 foreign consulting companies. Each one has its own story on how we were linked. For example an overseas company approached us and two other companies. After a month we received a letter notifying us that they have not chosen us. We told ourselves, how difficult it must have been for them to write that letter. So we wrote them back saying, "we noted your letter saying you have chosen another company as partner. But we thank you
anyway for even considering us. In God's time, who knows we may yet do business together." Imagine our surprise, when they called to tell us
they changed their minds. We became their strategic partner in the country.
Another California based company who gave us valuable technology and with whom we have shared the economy of sharing experience,
wrote us to say. "You no longer have financial obligations to us. We know you are building training center. Consider al our royalties as our
help and contribution."
Our work is very intellectually and physically exhausting on both consultants and associates who do support work. Through sharing and
helping each other we try to find ways to lighten the burden of everyone. We are also concerned for the health of people. Once a month,
our associates go out together and do recreational activities. Consultants are encouraged not to work on two consecutive weekends to find
time to be with their families. During our annual 3-day picnic, we encourage the families to come along.
We also organized our knowledge management system, putting in order electronically all our materials and references allowing us to do our work with more speed and efficiency. We have also designed a manner of reporting the day's results through the internet so that everyone is constantly updated on the business, even though we are in different locations and clients all the time. Once a week, all consultants and associates meet separately to schedule work, to evaluate customer feedback on work done, to share each other's experiences.
In one of these meetings, one consultant suggested we could write a column to educate the ordinary worker or employee. We thought it was a good idea. Shortly after the sister of a friend of mine who works at the Daily Inquirer Newspaper called me. She was asking me to be a contributor to the newspaper. So today, for the past 3 weeks and every Wednesday, you can find our "Dear ancilla" column that gives advice to people at work.
C. State of the business
The Gospel is true. "give and you shall receive." We have given and we have received. As I have mentioned, we have grown from 2 employees to 40 today. We started with 3 clients, we have close to 200 clients today. We started with an office on top of the garage. Today, we, have an office and an Ancilla business training center in the Business district of Manila, a training center in the City of Tarlac and in 2001 we hope to build the Ancilla Asia Leadership Center with some of our clients as investors in Tagaytay. Before, we had simply management training as a product.
Today we are into training solutions, leading change, strategy management, human resource systems, organization research and enterprise
management.
We always say that other con-sulting companies, may be equally competent, but our business partner, God, has been faithful to us. We experience much joy as every quarter we give a check for the poor for the economy of sharing.
In May, last year I was invited to speak in Rome on the World Congress of Charity sponsored by Cor Unum of the Pontifical Council. The archbishops of Haiti, Burma and Taiwan approached me to set-up something similar in their countries. I assured them that Ancilla will help put our knowledge management system at the service of similar consulting companies for a minimal fee that will go for the economy of sharing. But they have to find the right and competent people in their countries willing to take up the challenge.
Recently, we have been approached by a global consulting company offering a merger or an acquisition. We want to see this development under the principles of the economy of sharing. But what impressed us were their words. They said; "We have done our research. Of all the local consulting companies, you have the best reputation and a solid client base." We know this came about only because this culture of giving is aligned with our vision for our company, our country and society.
D. corporate challenges today
We work in the market place just like any other business enterprise. We are faced with a number of challenges.
The first challenge is the retention, development and growth of consultants. Our gospel based culture that brings about this culture of giving sometimes results in consultants and clients taking advantage of us. One consultant, when she came to us she needed a job very badly. Seeing her potential, we groomed and developed her. Then last year, she told us that she wanted all her income for herself and her family, so she was resigning and going on her own.
Another consultant was assigned to be the manager of a year long project with a multinational company. We discovered by accident that he had set-up his own enterprise and bid for this year's project at half our company price. So, these unethical practices happen. To these we respond with the Gospel teaching who tells us to "forgive 70 times 70".
A second challenge is handling competitor negative behaviors. Often in our business we come head to head with a global consulting company. We have a practice never to say anything negative about competitors. In one client account, we had projects on going when this company was asked to set-up technology systems. One day, the client suddenly terminated our contract. While we were very open sharing our know-how with the other team, they were, behind our backs discounting and minimizing our efforts. We embrace these difficulties and choose to move on. We have also learned to be "meek as lambs and as wise as serpents". We have sharpened consultant skills not just to do the project with excellence but also to understand power structures and actively influence decision-makers to appreciate our point of view.
The third challenge is the need for global consulting technologies. Our business is also subject to the rise and fall of the currency. Though, we have found partners who are open to our situation, we foresee that in the coming years, it would become more expensive for us to give the best to our clients at competitive rates.
The fourth, is to prepare for the internet future in terms of doing our business that will require substantial investments. We know that globalization
is in full motion and we have to anticipate its negative and positive impact on the business.
What is our attitude to all these challenges? We are sure that God will give us the insights to pursue the innovations we need to continue a quality service in our field.
Our experience may appear too good to be true. But a growing number of big organizations entrust to us their total quality and organization development programs. Perhaps it is because Ancilla has shown that the words of Jesus can be lived even in the business environment, hence it becomes a channel of Christian love.
Thank you for your kind attention.
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