When attending graduate school in the Philippines I had the opportunity to take several course on Philippines government and administration. One of the fundamental learning that I took ways from these course is that the Philippines as a government is trying to create the concept of unity, cohesion and oneness thought the nation. They are working towards this by moving functions and administrations to be the same in every district so that you can be anywhere and it will be operating under the same system as anywhere else with only minor local differences(such as the office location, key community members ect).
In concept is sounds like a great way to move the nation forward. In reality it is encountering many difficulties. Devising and implementing systems and procedures that are identical in the mega city of Manila and in the remote islands of Hundred Islands. Manila is a fast paced technologically advanced multi-media political, cultural and population center of the Philippines. Hundred Islands on the other hand is is a grouping of 100 plus islands that used to be a coral bed of which only 3 have been developed for visitors. On every level the Philippines is facing challenges. Should the Philippine government have computer systems to track tax collection, city plans, HR and so forth? Global best practices say YES. So the Philippines did just that, the created a comprehensive system with forms, procedures and software to put the ONE nation of the Philippines onto one system and dispersed these requirements and tools to local government offices and officials. This was a fantastic, a solid step to take a developing nation towards a new chapter in their history. Unfortunately some jurisdictions do not have reliable power supplies, let along functional computer and internet systems. This micro example to highlight the magnificent challenge faced by nations who were not historically one group but several moving into the 21st century united and working to become ONE.
On a national level I have seen the identical struggle in India, but the idea of being ONE is not exclusive to nations it is being experience and explored in other sectors. Working for the American Red Cross I am a participant in their move towards ONE. To the average person the American Red Cross has always been one organization but to those more intimately involved they will tell you how each chapter was one in itself, they set their priorities, standards and service areas. In order to deliver consistent quality service in a financially sound way the Red Cross has been undergoing some very challenging organizational shifts, creating a consistency across the entire United States. Of course minor local differences will remain (facility, staff, volunteers). Not surprisingly they are encountering some of the same challenges faced by diverse nation states undergoing this approach. The operation capacity in urban America (NYC, LA, Dallas) is vastly different from rural America (think McCook Nebraska). The core principles driving both nation states and large national organizations is to enhance capacity and performance. The challenges faced are reflective of the extreme diversity in the areas they cover. The opportunity for lessons learned is huge, the success and challenges faced by those in the process of unifying and standardizing can be shared across sectors. I hope following this unification best practices will be developed and shared to enhance the process and experience as other nations and organizations endeavor towards greater unification and standardization
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In concept is sounds like a great way to move the nation forward. In reality it is encountering many difficulties. Devising and implementing systems and procedures that are identical in the mega city of Manila and in the remote islands of Hundred Islands. Manila is a fast paced technologically advanced multi-media political, cultural and population center of the Philippines. Hundred Islands on the other hand is is a grouping of 100 plus islands that used to be a coral bed of which only 3 have been developed for visitors. On every level the Philippines is facing challenges. Should the Philippine government have computer systems to track tax collection, city plans, HR and so forth? Global best practices say YES. So the Philippines did just that, the created a comprehensive system with forms, procedures and software to put the ONE nation of the Philippines onto one system and dispersed these requirements and tools to local government offices and officials. This was a fantastic, a solid step to take a developing nation towards a new chapter in their history. Unfortunately some jurisdictions do not have reliable power supplies, let along functional computer and internet systems. This micro example to highlight the magnificent challenge faced by nations who were not historically one group but several moving into the 21st century united and working to become ONE.
On a national level I have seen the identical struggle in India, but the idea of being ONE is not exclusive to nations it is being experience and explored in other sectors. Working for the American Red Cross I am a participant in their move towards ONE. To the average person the American Red Cross has always been one organization but to those more intimately involved they will tell you how each chapter was one in itself, they set their priorities, standards and service areas. In order to deliver consistent quality service in a financially sound way the Red Cross has been undergoing some very challenging organizational shifts, creating a consistency across the entire United States. Of course minor local differences will remain (facility, staff, volunteers). Not surprisingly they are encountering some of the same challenges faced by diverse nation states undergoing this approach. The operation capacity in urban America (NYC, LA, Dallas) is vastly different from rural America (think McCook Nebraska). The core principles driving both nation states and large national organizations is to enhance capacity and performance. The challenges faced are reflective of the extreme diversity in the areas they cover. The opportunity for lessons learned is huge, the success and challenges faced by those in the process of unifying and standardizing can be shared across sectors. I hope following this unification best practices will be developed and shared to enhance the process and experience as other nations and organizations endeavor towards greater unification and standardization
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