He was named Management Man of the Year for his achievements as a corporate titan, but Erramon Aboitiz made sure to share the credit with the 30,000 “team members” of the conglomerate he runs.
On Monday, the Management Association of the Philippines (MAP) conferred its coveted award to the president and CEO of Aboitiz Equity Ventures and Aboitiz Power Corp. for “being a model of management excellence and dedication in the transformation of a regional business group into a geographically and technologically diversified conglomerate with operations in power, banking, food, transportation, property development and construction.”
Quoting from the book of Starbucks founder Howard Schultz, “Montxu” (as he is known to his friends) said that much of the reward of success he gets in business comes from reaching goals together with his “partners” in the Cebu-based conglomerate.
“You want to be surrounded not just by cheering onlookers, but by a crowd of winners celebrating as one,” he said, adding that “victory is much more meaningful when it comes not just through the efforts of one person, but from the joint achievements of many.”
In naming him to the MAP’s hallowed roster of awardees, the group cited the Aboitiz conglomerate’s contributions to national development notably in efficient power generation, job creation and income generation, along with its corporate social responsibility initiatives in education, healthcare, enterprise development and environment which help in “uplifting quality of life in many communities, true to the group mission of ‘helping people help themselves.’”
Aboitiz was also recognized for his role in the formulation and implementation of professional management practices in the context of a family-owned enterprise, showing an example for other families and entrepreneurs; and for “serving as an exemplary practitioner of good corporate governance, characterized by integrity, honesty, fairness, transparency, and accountability in his management career.”
The “MAP Management Man of the Year” is an award that MAP bestows on individuals in the business community or government for attaining “unquestioned distinction” in the practice of management and for contributing to the country’s progress.
In his acceptance speech at the Manila Peninsula Hotel on Monday, Aboitiz said that his guiding principle as a manager is to always do for the firm what is best for its stakeholders.
For example, he noted that the Aboitiz Group had to divest itself of its transport business recently—despite having been involved in it for over a century—because it was in the best interests of stakeholders to do so.
At the same time, he stressed that corporate decisions are made with the end goal of benefiting all those involved, including society at large.
“The euphoria is lasting when all the participants win, not just for themselves, but for one another,” he said, quoting Starbucks’ Schultz. “Success is sweetest when it is shared.”
The distinction of “MAP Management Man of the Year” has only been conferred on 35 persons in the 44-year history of the award.
The roster of MAP Management Man of the Year awardees includes: Washington Z. SyCip (1967), Geronimo Z. Velasco (1977), Henry A. Brimo (1978), Jose M. Soriano (1979), Cesar E.A. Virata (1981), Jaime V. Ongpin and Vicente T. Paterno (1982), Dante G. Santos (1983), Cesar A. Buenaventura and Roberto T. Villanueva (1985);
Jaime Zobel de Ayala (1987), Ramon V. del Rosario Sr. (1988), Jose B. Fernandez Jr. (1989), Raul T. Concepcion (1990), Oscar J. Hilado (1991), Alfonso T. Yuchengco (1992), Juan B. Santos (1994), David M. Consunji and Rizalino S. Navarro (1996), Gabriel C. Singson (1998), Delfin L. Lazaro and Henry Sy, Sr. (1999);
Oscar M. Lopez (2000), Tony Tan Caktiong (2002), Jesus P. Tambunting (2003), Rafael B. Buenaventura (2004), Manuel V. Pangilinan (2005), George S. K. Ty and Jaime Augusto Zobel de Ayala (2006), Jose L. Cuisia Jr. (2007), Antonino T. Aquino and Jesus P. Estanislao (2009), and Lilia B. de Lima and Ramon R. del Rosario, Jr. (2010).