20 April 2017 | Report

Philippine Business coalition analysis

Summary

The report maps the corporate governance network of the Philippines top 100 companies, and explores how the interconnected nature of this network presents opportunities for creating a ripple effect for change across the country’s largest companies and industries. In particular, the report considers how the members of the Philippine Business Coalition for Women’s Empowerment could utilise their corporate governance networks to influence the wider Philippine business community and drive change on issues of women’s economic empowerment beyond coalition members.

Highlights

The Philippine Business Coalition for Women’s Empowerment (PBCWE) is composed of seven organisations representing a range of industries:

  • Accenture (professional services)
  • Ayala Corporation (diversified financials)
  • Convergys (software & services)
  • Magsaysay Group of Companies (transportation)
  • Natasha (direct selling)
  • SGV & Co (professional services)
  • SSI Group Inc (retailing)

On the whole, the members represent some of the largest industries driving the country’s economy. However, only Ayala Corporation and the SSI Group are among the largest companies in the country (ranked according to 2015 market capitalisation). Ayala Corporation is the largest diversified financials company in the Philippines, and ranked sixth in terms of market capitalisation. The SSI Group is the largest non-food and staples retailer in the country, and ranked 97th in terms of market capitalisation.

While SSI Group’s board has no links to any of the clusters in the country’s corporate governance network. However, as the largest retailing company of its kind in the Philippines, there is scope to tap into the company’s business relationships with the largest real estate companies in the country. The membership of Ayala Corporation in the coalition presents important opportunities, given that the company has an influential position in the largest sub-cluster in the Philippines’ corporate governance network (composed of 90% of the largest companies in the country).

However, the report also finds that many corporate governance connections are created along family or personal ties, and that this may in fact limit change initiatives to companies owned only by particular families. It’s therefore critical therefore to identify independent directors within corporate boards, who function as ‘connectors’ between different family-based corporate clusters or non family-based companies.

The presence of professional services firm SGV & Co as a coalition member is of particular importance, with a significant number of their accounting and auditing professionals sitting as independent directors on boards of the largest corporations in the Philippines. Therefore, the reach and reputation of the SGV & Co can potentially extend the current and future sphere of influence of the initiatives of the Philippine Business Coalition for Women’s Empowerment.

 

Contents

 

  • Characteristics
  • Challenges and Opportunities

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