Road maps, not fads

Road maps are often the secret to success. But if the correct discipline is not used, much of the road map work done just becomes a fad.

I learned this in my eight years with Xerox Corp. at its New York, US national and global offices. When I returned to the Philippines and subsequently became a trade undersecretary, I brought this discipline when I helped introduce the ISO 9000 management system and effective industry road maps.

I had been asked to approve payment for the completed road maps of 11 sectors. We decided that payment should be withheld until the relevant private sector leaders agreed that these road maps would actually be used. Only three got this approval, with the rest having to redo their road maps over nine months. This highlights the importance of private sector participation and ownership if the road maps are to be useful.

Partly because investors knew there was road map direction for these industries, registered investments grew from P4 billion to more than P300 billion in four years. No broad road map initiatives were taken until 2010, when I led a team of three business leaders to formulate a standard road map outline. The Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) first gave it to McKinsey consultants, who made minimal changes and resubmitted it to the DTI for final approval.

There are two important features: (1) the private sector takes the lead while the government guides them; and (2) there is a public-private road map monitoring and implementation team. This way, the private sector feels ownership of the road map and works for its success. With this direction, for the nine years prior to the pandemic, industry growth averaged 6.8 percent compared to agriculture’s 1.6 percent.

Realizing this, on his first day of office on Aug. 8, 2015, Agriculture Secretary William Dar announced road maps as one of his eight priorities. The five-coalition Agrifisheries Alliance (AFA) submitted a basic road map outline and implementation plan that the DA was missing. Prior to this, there was no standard outline and no road map implementation plan.

Here are the eight essential elements of a road map:

1. Industry situationer. This must examine the status of the industry, its performance and its players. Unless we know the terrain, we cannot make the best decisions.

2. Supply and value chain analysis. Agriculture has too long concentrated on production, while only the first part of the supply chain. It has been shown that we have the largest difference between the farmgate and retail prices in Southeast Asia. All levels should be looked at to determine opportunities and risks in achieving profitability.

3. Benchmarking. This should be done both locally and globally. This will show achievable performance levels and best practices. Concrete examples will show how to best achieve excellence.

4. Competitive analysis. Once the benchmarks are known, analysis of the competition must be done. Comparative advantages and disadvantages should be determined for product differentiation and positioning. This again should be done both locally and globally.

5. Market trends and prospects. With markets being the prime factor in determining production, the factors in the different sectors must be identified. We must look for the future market trends so we can anticipate the production and logistics needs.

6. SWOT analysis. This is the popular method used in identifying internal strengths (S) and weaknesses (W), then matching these with the external opportunities (O) and threats (T). But these should be done with accurate date and competent analysis to come up with good directions.

7. Objectives and action plans. With the work done from 1-6, objectives should be agreed upon. What follows are the appropriate prioritized policies, strategies, plans and programs needed to achieve those objectives. This is where added concepts for implementation come into play, such as key result areas, key performance indicators and other management concepts. Where resources are scarce, the Pareto 20/80 principle should be applied: focus will be on the 20 percent of the work that will produce 80 percent of the results.

8. Implementation team. This is where many road maps fail. It is necessary to have a committed public-private team which will monitor and improve implementation. The road map will have modifications over time as a living document. Government and private stakeholders will feel both ownership and accountability needed for road map success.

With the above eight elements, the Department of Agriculture will have road maps that will not just be a fad, but a significant 2021 undertaking that will help propel our missing significant agriculture development.

The author is Agriwatch chair, former secretary of presidential programs and projects, and former undersecretary of DA and DTI. Contact is [email protected]