THE Asian Institute of Management (AIM) said Filipino small and medium enterprises (SMEs) must strengthen their collaborations and seek various expertise to be able to compete well under an integrated Asean.
AIM Prof. Maoi Arroyo said SMEs need to collaborate to move forward.
“SMEs must be working together, having business alliances, solidifying supplier network. Collaboration does not mean consolidation or acquisition. It means working together to attack the SME opportunity and become solid as a company,” she said at the sidelines of the Accelerate, a two-day business competition at AIM campus.
“Accelerate is about building enough speed to launch the business and grow the business,” Arroyo said.
Six teams of students from business schools in the Philippines, India, Mexico, Malaysia and Singapore compete for the best business model study, to be judged by leaders of industry.
Some of the students made short-, medium- and long-term strategies for their chosen SMEs. “They practice the things they learn in classroom. They had mentorship with business-school professors and experts in the industry,” she said.
“SMEs have to collaborate. It’s important to get different kinds of expertise, talk to people in the industry and partner with each other. If there are many Davids working together, you can be the Goliath…it’s cooperating to compete,” Arroyo told the BusinessMirror.
“By collaborating, you can move forward. You tailor your business model. The different industries need to cope or take advantage of the Asean opportunities,” she added.
Accelerate project leader Tin Kempeneers said issues raised by SMEs were about money and resources, and how to grow an integrated Asean.
Kempeneers said industries presented were in construction, sports apparel, advertising, and marketing and technology.
“One SME said they were very happy working with the participants. They got to talk to mentors and have access to great minds for free. They got insights which blew their mind,” Kempeneers said.
She added that it was up to the SMEs whether to implement the business model.
Accelerate marketing head RJ Paguyo said there was no solid business model as the integration process depends on the nature of the company.
“SMEs should consider dynamism, flexibility and adaptability [under the coming] Asean integration because of the many changes,” Paguyo said.
“Whatever industry it is, [they] learn to adapt to the coming changes because in the Asean integration, many companies are coming which might affect the market and the number of competitors will increase,” he said.
The 24 student-participants came from Nanyang Technological University, Indian School of Business, National University of Singapore, IPADE Business School, Putra Business School and AIM.
The winner will receive $2,000.