For many people, hearing or reading about the Ateneo de Manila University conjures up images associated with any or all of the following: men’s basketball, getting son or grandson into the Ateneo Grade School, ensuring that high school students get into Loyola Schools. I would not be surprised if only very few would associate Ateneo de Manila with its professional schools. Yes, the Ateneo Professional Schools, or APS, exist and are active and robust members of the university community. (More)
A recent Harvard Business School survey of deans, executives, and recruiters that examines not only the value of MBA programs but also the mismatches between the skills learning of the MBA students vis-a-vis the realities of their workplaces has sparked fresh debate on the added value of MBA programs here and abroad. The HBS finding is also being echoed by local business executives, business school deans, and recruiters who see the need to introduce some solid changes into the MBA content and delivery in order to make them more effective. (More)
MAGIS: Managing for Growth, Innovation and Sustainability Program
MAGIS is a Jesuit phrase that means "the more". It is taken from one of our core values, Ad majorem Dei gloriam, a Latin phrase meaning "for the greater glory of God". Magis refers to the philosophy of doing more, for Christ, and therefore for others. It is an expression of an aspiration and inspiration.
MAGIS is also the name we have given our competency development programs here at the AGSB. MAGIS stands for Managing for Growth, Innovation and Sustainability. It is a program that capitalizes on our institution’s core competence and resources.
The AGSB MAGIS Program is realized through 2 main tracks.
1. MAGIS in the Classroom: We have always maintained that the classroom remains to be the primary staging area in making real our value proposition. This first track brings into the classroom real – life and real – time situations faced by our partner organizations and converts them into projects and cases to be worked on by our students in class. For instance, a Finance Class is currently working on addressing the finance and accounting issues of certain member organizations of the Export Development Council. The Human Resource Class of ADB is working on the organization and human resource development needs of selected NGOs of Hands on Manila. STRAMA students also have the choice of doing their papers on SMEs from EBESE and CFIF.
2. MAGIS Workshops: The MAGIS Workshops are designed to respond to a specific organizational need that cuts across NGOs and SMEs. We begin by conducting an organizational needs assessment across member organizations. We then develop a program that addresses a common and pressing requirement across them.
For 2008, we successfully ran Strategic Organizational and Human Resource Development for member organizations of Hands on Manila.
Participants
Participant received certificate from AGSB Dean Buenviaje and Prof. Consunji
“Care of the environment affects the quality of our relationships with God, with other human beings, and with creation itself. It touches the core of our faith in and love for God.” (GC 35: With Renewed Vigor and Zeal Decree 3: Challenges to our Mission Today: Sent to the Frontiers)"
During the recently concluded General Congregation 35 of the Society of Jesus, care for the environment was one of the frontiers that demanded attention from “all Jesuits and all partners engaged in the same mission”.
The document notes that “the drive to access and exploit sources of energy and other natural resources is very rapidly widening the damage to earth, air, water, and our whole environment, to the point that the future of our planet is threatened” and urges “us to move beyond doubts and indifference and to take responsibility for our home, the earth”.
In response to this call, and in line with our value proposition “Our country is Our Business”, the Ateneo Graduate School of Business is launching Cura Kalikasan: Our Way to a Blue Earth. Through this initiative, we hope to instill among our community a deeper concern for creation and generate concrete action steps towards environmental protection.
Cura Kalikasan will be launched on 22 November, 2008 at Ipo Dam*, Norzagaray, Bulacan. The main activities for the day will include a tree planting team activity and a brainstorming workshop on how we can contribute to a Blue Earth.
The future of our children and their children are at stake. Evidence worldwide indicates that time is not a luxury. This challenge will entail a change in how we view the environment, and demand a change in our individual and collective lifestyles.
The stakes are high, and we proclaim as the AGSB community to take up the challenge.
*Ipo Dam is one of the three raw water systems, (the two others are the Angat and La Mesa Dams) that is currently the major source of water for Metro Manila.
The Ateneo Graduate School Family planted trees last November 22 at IPO Dam in Norzagaray, Bulacan. The project is a part of a series of activities for Cura Kalikasan under the AGSB’s Office of Mission and Identity.
Getting there.
Getting to Norzagaray was quick. A short cut took us from Katipunan to Novaliches in less than 15 minutes. On a regular day, that trip would have taken us about an hour.
I was not quite sure what to expect since this was my first time to IPO Dam.
Getting on the boat.
The planting site was another 15-minute boat ride from our stop at IPO Dam. I was not prepared for a change in weather. The days prior to this had been extremely hot and sunny. So why should this Saturday be any different?
Mother nature had something else planned. When we boarded the bancas, rain started to pour - a blessing in disguise perhaps. Had we planted during high noon, it would have been hot, much to bear and the soil difficult to till.
Getting past looking good and staying clean
The planting site was muddy and slippery because of the rain. The thing with soil, is that it really looks…dirty. And so, we were sure to get… dirty. But when you get past the “looking good and staying clean,” things start to be fun and purposeful.
I started counting the seedlings at first. But after my first five seedlings, my perspective changed. It wasn’t about numbers anymore.
It was about:
• being with others
• dutiful care for the environment
• water that I was drinking and yes, perhaps wasting at home
• paper we are using and yes, perhaps wasting just the same
• atonement for transgressing Mother Nature
• exercise (yes!)
• being grateful that my calling was not to till the soil
• thankful for the wonderful nature I had all around but had little time to notice
• embracing the soil that would welcome me when I die
Getting cleaned up.
The experience was difficult. The terrain was totally inclined. It was not easy to navigate and stay balanced on both feet. So I crawled, slipped, cut myself until the end of the tree-planting activity.
At one point I kept slipping, almost hurting myself and others (I held on to things and people; at 200 pounds, I took everything down with me every time I fell or slipped).
Going home.
I head home humbled by nature. I was made more aware about what goes into the water I drink, the paper I consume among other things. Although I planted more or less 30 seedlings, what I did will not change the world. My hands are too feeble to cause global warming to stop.
However, if we all had opportunities for such activities, our feeble hands can combine and make a difference in this world.
I have a greater respect for the soil now. On this day, the soil provided me with personal nourishment and growth.
Although I went home dirty and soiled, there was nothing water could not wash away.
Except, perhaps, the memories and lessons from this trip.
The 3rd AGSB Student Leadership Conference
by Prof. Hilda Teodoro
Last October 6-7 2007 was the occasion of the 3rd AGSB Student Leadership Conference at the MMLDC in Antipolo. Class presidents from all the AGSB classes were invited to what is one of the most enriching school events in the AGSB calendar. Arrangements and transportation were overseen by the very professional Angie Cruz and her staff.
Getting Started
The conference started out with morning prayers and welcome remarks by Dr. Cesar Mansibang, who gave the students a brief perspective on the AGSB.
After Dr. Mansibang’s rousing welcome, Professors Ric Palo and Rachel Consunji introduced some ice breakers that had everyone laughing while providing the group with a prelude to the subsequent activities. Students were then broken up into groups to allow them to get to know each other better through an activity that had them sharing dimensions of the tapestry of their lives.
The Talks
This activity was followed by a series of talks – the meat of the Student Leadership Conference.
Professor Lino Rivera, the Human Resources Cluster Head introduced the group to the topic of leadership. He defined it as the art of mobilizing others to want to struggle for shared aspirations. He explained the difference between being a manager and being a leader, the essence behind heroic leadership and provided us with concrete points for self-reflection.
From the ADMU President: The ADMU Story
When I introduced Father Ben Nebres, President of Ateneo de Manila, I said that even though I had heard him speak several times before, I have always gotten something new each time. His talks never fail to inspire and enlighten me. This time was no different. Father Nebres talked about the First Companions - this group of classmates from the University of Paris in the 1520’s who started out as friends, and eventually became the First Jesuits who joined Christ in entering, serving and laboring in the world. Through Father Nebres’ wise words, we got a deeper understanding of St. Ignatius, ex-military man and Jesuit visionary, Francis Xavier, whose passion for helping the most deprived helped spread the Jesuit mission as far as China and Peter Faber, whose caring spirit built the Jesuit community.
Father Nebres helped us understand what Atenean Leadership means. The Ateneo de Manila envisions forming leaders in the areas of character, knowledge and skills
• Who can lead and manage effectively in the new world of greater complexity and interactivity
• Who are committed and can achieve effective results in both the areas of greater competitiveness for the Philippines with its neighbors and of closing the gap between lower and upper social classes in the country
• Who understand and are committed to the longer-term goals of community and sustainability for the country
By explaining Ateneo’s part in Philippine history he showed us that the Ateneo has played a role in the important events in our country. He then posed us with a challenge:
“Given this new world where adult working professionals are a central group for education, and are central for the human resource needs of a country or a business or an industry, places the Ateneo Graduate School of Business at the core of national development, of educational challenge and of Ateneo’s mission today.”
Our challenge is how the core values of the Jesuit education (Magis, Ad Majorem Dei Gloriam and Cura Personalis) can be lived out in leadership formation in the Ateneo Graduate School of Business?
From the AGSB Dean Emeritus: The AGSB Story
Dr. Alran Bengzon, Dean Emiritus of the AGSB enlightened us on the AGSB Story.
We learned about AGSB’s :
• Preparatory Years (1960-1966)
• Foundation and Beginning Years (1966-1981)
• Turbulent Years (1981-1985)
• Survive and Maintain Years (1985-1993)
• Revitalization Years (1993 – 2006)
I have often compared Dr. Bengzon to St. Ignatius because of his vision for the AGSB. Listening to him that afternoon though as he talked passionately about the AGSB: our Value Proposition: Business is not just for profits but also for nation building, while proclaiming our celebratory theme: Our Country is Our Business, I thought more of St. Francis Xavier. For Dr. Bengzon, these are not just empty words that sound good. His words resonate within us because he has lived his life believing and acting on those beliefs. In many ways, the AGSB Story is Dr. Bengzon’s story: a story about long preparation and hard work, turbulence and survival that have ended in triumph.
From the AGSB Dean: Building the AGSB Culture
I like saying that Dean Albert Buenviaje is AGSB’s Blessed Peter Faber because of his true caring for everyone in the AGSB community. He is that unique soul that has been able to build a true community that is bound in spirit, mission, and friendship. Dean Buenviaje discussed the Mulat Diwa Bar of Excellence.
He traced the beginnings of Mulat Diwa as an opening of our consciousness about our country’s social realities, to integrating our value proposition in the AGSB curriculum, to the end in view of creating a Mulat Diwa culture. Finally he presented us what the role of the student is in all this: to be torch-bearers, the main channels of distribution, the most important players in the learning process.
Fun and Fellowship
The evening ended with a fellowship event led by Nicole Fornacier and Det Ibuyan. These two ladies did such an excellent job of getting everybody involved and making sure we all had so much fun. Noy Herrera, outgoing Student Council President came to lend his support, his voice and his guitar. Jensen Chow did a special Brazilian martial arts performance that had us all agog in amazement, in fact we requested for a repeat performance the next day. So many talented and bright students in the AGSB, I thought to myself.
Election of the officers of the Student Council took place Sunday morning. Before elections started Dean Buenviaje requested that we would all support and get behind whoever was elected. The results of the elections were as follows:
The elections were very close. Sometimes a single vote separated the elected officer from the other nominees. I am happy that everyone took Dean Buenviaje’s words to heart as seen by the enthusiasm and participation of so many class presidents in Council activities. That is the Ateneo Way.
Commissioning
The conference ended with an inspiring Mass celebrated by Fr. Mario Francisco, SJ. Dra. Marife Yap, the conference’s original designer prepared a touching commissioning ritual for each one’s Atenean leadership journey.
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