[ERROR] BUILD ERROR
[INFO] ------------------------------------------------------------------------
[INFO] Error executing ant tasks

Embedded error: The following error occurred while executing this line:
/opt/teamcity/buildAgent/work/de6840cb3f907ec9/ear/src/main/scripts/ant/build.xml:59: Could not create task or type of type: sshexec.

No pom eu havia declarado a dependência ant-jsch e portanto não deveria dar este erro:

<plugin>
    <groupId>org.apache.maven.plugins</groupId>
    <artifactId>maven-antrun-plugin</artifactId>
    <executions>
        <execution>
            <id>package</id>
            <phase>verify</phase>
            <inherited>false</inherited>
            <configuration>
                <tasks>
                    <ant antfile="src/main/scripts/ant/build.xml">
                        <target name="update_remote"/>
                    </ant>
                </tasks>
            </configuration>
            <goals>
                <goal>run</goal>
            </goals>
        </execution>
    </executions>
    <dependencies>
        <dependency>
            <groupId>org.apache.ant</groupId>
            <artifactId>ant-jsch</artifactId>
            <version>1.7.0</version>
        </dependency>
    </dependencies>
</plugin>

Solução: Quando eu declarei a versão do maven-antrun-plugin como 1.2 o erro sumiu (a versão que apresentava o erro era a 1.1):

<plugin>
    <groupId>org.apache.maven.plugins</groupId>
    <artifactId>maven-antrun-plugin</artifactId>
    <version>1.2</version>
    <executions>
    ...

Waggoner describes four predeparture expatriates trainings the extent of which dependent on
a variety of variables: previous overseas experience (if applicable), time until departure, and novelty
of the new country. These are:

Cross-cultural training is appropriate for some-one who has been on an expatriate assignment before or someone familiar with the host country training, at least, inform the expatriate about the new country, and at the best, it would immerse the expatriate into the new culture.


Low-interaction training, usually appropriate for someone who has been on an expatriate assignment before or someone familiar with the host country, includes general area studies and a company operational overview. Unfortunately, this is often the only training received by most
expatriates whether they have previous experience or not.


Medium-intensity training takes the intercultural experience workshop approach, offering cultural simulations, role plays, and case studies.


High-intensity training, most necessary for inexperienced expatriates entering a very different culture, provides sensitivity training and includes communication workshops and field exercises that focus on self awareness, listening skills, open-mindedness, and communication skills.

Applying these basic concepts to Global Steel Philippines, most expats here lack the skills characteristic of successful expatriates.

GSPI expats believe that their culture [work-ethic] is superior. Even the style of management promotes ethocentrism: their way of doing things is the ONLY way of doing things. If a local manager proposed something that work successfully during NSC era, they usually counter this with the oft-repeated phrase: “NSC went bankrupt, so why do those things as before? Ours is far more better than NSC's!” [Has anybody seen nonjudgmental disposition here?] This Ethnocentrism--the belief that one's culture is superior--indicates that none of them understood the cross-cultural training which all of them attended during their first few months at GSPI.

Most of the GSPI expats do not even have a clue on the company operations. Even the simple operational process flow [slabs to HRCs to CRCs] have to be repeated and reiterated time and again, and local managers have grown tired of repeating the same for their benefit. This is indicative that the expats sent here have not undergone a low-interaction training of at least the basic NSC operational overview. I distinctly remembered, one friendly expat during a guided tour around the plant in 2004, who remarked, “Oh my, NSC is a big steel plant . .. I wonder how would my colleagues handle all these equipment!”

Thus, there are no perceived reasons to delve if any of them underwent a high-intensity predeparture training. Most of them lack the even the basic job skills, one of them even lacked the skill to use the loo. Ethnocentric expatriates, cautioned Waggoner, are likely to have problems adjusting to a new culture. Even the key skill of communication is evidently lacking. The usual greeting one would hear from them during formal introductions: “I'm Mr. ________, I'm an expert in ________. Thus, the local people are likely to perceive them negatively.

Expatriates are very expensive, Waggoner concluded, and GSPI's expats are not an exception. Most probably, for most of them, NSC is their first expatriate assignment?

Notes:

Waggoner, Dena (2007), “Expatriates” Encyclopedia of Management 2007. back to text

[caption id="attachment_293" align="aligncenter" width="600" caption="Figure 27: HRC Fitted Regression Line Plot (Data: NSC, Graph: Minitab 14)"][/caption]

Using Minitab with data tabulated in Appendix N, Figure 27 shows the relationship for HRCs:

Quantity = 31082 - 41.5 x Price (eq. 8)

The scatter plot, Figure 27, shows that the data-pairs are sporadically distributed whereby a smaller Pearson coefficient was generated for these data-stream compared to that of slabs'. A simple explanation would be that NSC was predisposed to order higher quantities of HRCs, rather than slabs, during it last year in 1999 prior to its eventual liquidation. NSC managerial executives pointed out that if slab conversion cost will result to negative cost of production (COP) or margin, HRC ordering is preferred, if its conversion to CRC COP is positive.

Using this regressed demand curve (eq. 8), the elasticity coefficient was computed by (eq. 4) which yielded an average of -0.50, very price inelastic, meaning a small decrease in HRC prices might only lead to a smaller increase in the HRC quantity ordered or demanded by NSC.

Generally, the demand for steel in the long-run is very price inelastic—between -0.2 and -0.3 (Barnett and Crandall, 2002). The results of price elasticity for NSC's slabs at -0.12, and NSC's HRCs at -0.50, although accounted for in a short-run, i.e., 1995 to 1999, are consistent with the range of long-run price elasticity of demand for steel.

NSC flat carbon steel crude production shows a strong correlation to the following factors: Philippine import volume of cold-rolled coils, hot-rolled coils, hot-rolled plates, and tinplates. It exhibited, however, a weak correlation to the Philippine and ASEAN Semi-Finished and Finished (SF&F) steel imports .

Notes:

Minitab, Inc., (2003). MINITAB Statistical Software, Release 14 for Windows, State College, Pennsylvania. 2003. back to text

Hatch Associates Ltd. (1996), “National Steel Corporation—Philippines: Benchmarking, Optimization, and Overview of Materials Management Policies,” Final Report PR 64624.001, 14 June 1996, p. 15-16. back to text

Barnett, Donald F, & Robert W. Crandall (2002), Industry Studies Steel: Decline and Renewal. USA: M.E. Sharpe, 2002. Duetsch, Larry L. (ed), p. 129. back to text

From 1994 to 1999, about 15 steel manufacturers supplied NSC with slabs from countries such as China, South Korea, Brazil, Australia, Mexico and Russia through several traders or direct company sales representatives.

The raw data used in the computation of price elasticity for slabs and hot-rolled coils is included in the Appendix N.

[caption id="attachment_292" align="aligncenter" width="600" caption="Figure 26: Slabs Fitted Regression Line Plot (Data: NSC, Graph: Minitab 14)"][/caption]

Using the confirmed purchase orders for quarterly deliveries to NSC, refer to Appendix N, a fitted regression line through software, Minitab, Figure 26, shows the relationship for slab:

Quantity = 21190 - 10.16 x Price (eq. 7)

Using this demand curve (eq. 7), the elasticity coefficient was computed using (eq. 4), which yielded an average of -0.12, very price inelastic.

Generally, the demand for steel in the long-run is very price inelastic—between -0.2 and -0.3 (Barnett and Crandall, 2002). The results of price elasticity for NSC's slabs at -0.12, and NSC's HRCs at -0.50, although accounted for in a short-run, i.e., 1995 to 1999, are consistent with the range of long-run price elasticity of demand for steel.

NSC flat carbon steel crude production shows a strong correlation to the following factors: Philippine import volume of cold-rolled coils, hot-rolled coils, hot-rolled plates, and tinplates. It exhibited, however, a weak correlation to the Philippine and ASEAN Semi-Finished and Finished (SF&F) steel imports .

Notes:

Minitab, Inc., (2003). MINITAB Statistical Software, Release 14 for Windows, State College, Pennsylvania. 2003. back to text

Barnett, Donald F, & Robert W. Crandall (2002), Industry Studies Steel: Decline and Renewal. USA: M.E. Sharpe, 2002. Duetsch, Larry L. (ed), p. 129. back to text

Table 10: World/ASEAN Exports of Semi-Finished & Finished Steel, 1994-2000

[caption id="attachment_266" align="aligncenter" width="580" caption="Table 10: World/ASEAN Exports of Semi-Finished & Finished Steel, 1994-2000"][/caption]

Shown above is the tabulation of semi-finished and finished steel exports of ASEAN countries plus other countries in Asia compared to the world (refer to Appendix G Table 19, for the table of raw data used to generate Figure 19).

[caption id="attachment_267" align="aligncenter" width="600" caption="Figure 19: Exports as a Percentage of Global Finished Steel Production (Data: IISI, SEAISI)"][/caption]

Figure 19: Exports as a Percentage of Global Finished Steel Production
(Data: IISI, SEAISI)

In Figure 19, except for the slowdown of exports as percentage of world steel production between 1995 and 1997, it has regained momentum started in 1990.

APEC Study Centre (2003) reported, “. . . recovery from the crisis was generally slow in 1998 due to the slower than expected growth in exports but picked up remarkably in 1999, largely due to a number of internal as well as external factors.” This phenomenon is also reflected in the global steel industry.

Referring again to Figure 19, global exports grew from a mere 25.2% of global steel production in 1990 and doubled in 2000. After the Asian Financial Crises, although global production slightly dipped in 1999, however, the percentage of global steel exports continued its rise.

Table 11: World/ASEAN Imports of Semi-Finished & Finished Steel, 1994-2000

[caption id="attachment_268" align="aligncenter" width="580" caption="Table 11: World/ASEAN Imports of Semi-Finished & Finished Steel, 1994-2000"][/caption]

Shown above is the tabulation of semi-finished and finished steel imports of ASEAN countries plus other countries in Asia compared to the world (refer to Appendix G Table 18, for the table of raw data used to generate Figure 20-22).

Moitti and Sachwald (2006) emphasized that among 36 classifications under the industrial sector worldwide, the growth of iron and steel industry increased most steeply between 1990s and 2000s.

Dachin (2006) noticed that structural changes of international trade flows indicate modifications in competitiveness of developing countries, including the Philippines, in terms of production, technological upgrading and exports under the pressure of globalization.

Notes:

World Trade Organization (WTO, 2005). Understanding the WTO, New York: WTO, October, 2005. pp. 1-10. back to text

APEC Study Centre (2003). “Asian Financial Crisis: Causes and Development,” China: Hong Kong Institute of Economics and Business Strategy, 2003. p. 48. back to text

Moitti, Luis and Frédérique Sachwald (2006), “The ‘Old Economy’ in the New Globalization Phase.” Paris, France: Institut Françsais des Relations Internationales, 2006, p. 16. back to text

Dachin, Anca (2006), Structural changes of international trade flows under the impact of globalization, Economie teoreticã si aplicatã, ECTAP, 18 August 2006. pp. 47-52. back to text

The eleven characteritics of smart companies, not meant as an exhaustive list but as a selection, highlighted the following:

1. They Communicate a Compelling Big Picture -
   

   Lee's Key Words: Vision and Mission, Employees' Roles and Responsibilities.
   
   Global's Style: Confidential vision, mission and organizational structure.
   
   Perceived Effect: Personnel are at a loss as to what valuable contributions they could do to for the company without knowing where it is aiming to go.

2. They Provide The Informational “Grist” for the “Idea Mill” -
   

   Lee's Key Words: Innovation through detailed information
   
   Global's Style: Minute details are deemed minute, and for the expats' eyes only
   
   Perceived Effect: Diminished improvements because of lack of information.

3. They Give Employees Control Over Their Jobs -
   

   Lee's Key Words: Lack of control bred learned helplessness.
   
   Global's Style: Multitasking and time management. Resources are scarce.
   
   Perceived Effect: Supervisors becomes McGyver-incarnate.

4. They Provide an Environment Which Fosters Trust -
   

   Lee's Key Words: Downsizing leads to dumbsizing.
   
   Global's Style: Expats as overseers to locals in steel manufacturing.
   
   Perceived Effect: Local personnel hoard important knowledge, as a personal edge or bargaining chips.

5. They Reward Managers For Coaching, Not For Having All the Answers -
   

   Lee's Key Words: Thinking outside the box. “Know-It-All” bosses tended to cultivate “Know Nothing” subordinates.
   
   Global's Style: Expats are the experts with no performance goals. Compensation structure is off-limits to non-managers.
   
   Perceived Effect: Everything is Priority Number 1. Local suggestions are ignored because expats' ideas are seemingly extensions of king's orders.

6. They Make Capturing and Sharing Knowledge Fun -
   

   Lee's Key Words: Encourage idea and best practices sharing.
   
   Global's Style: Quantity of ideas shared are more important than mere quality.
   
   Perceived Effect: Decisions are made by a minority, irrespective of what the corporate consequences are.

7. They Reward Knowledge Sharing And Knowledge Using -
   

   Lee's Key Words: “What gets rewarded gets repeated”
   
   Global's Style: Rewards scheme for a few, unreachable and unsustainable.
   
   Perceived Effect: Attempts are nipped in the bud.

8. They Communicate and Celebrate The Joy of Knowledge Sharing -
   

   Lee's Key Words: Sharing benefits everyone!
   
   Global's Style: Highlight success only when finances permit, otherwise ignore.
   
   Perceived Effect: Improvements backslide to old ways.

9. They Focus On People, Not On Technology -
   

   Lee's Key Words: Technology aids Humanity.
   
   Global's Style: Apply the old discarded technology from our mother company. Limit access to information technology for a select few.
   
   Perceived Effect: Antiquated equipment inhibits innovation. Increasing personnel attrition.

10. They Build In Reflection and Capture Time -
    

    Lee's Key Words: Reflection is central to knowledge creation.
    
    Global's Style: Rush from project to project. Management by “buzz words”
    
    Perceived Effect: Things are done reactively. Multiple focus at once losses attention to details.

11. They Know How to Create a Positive Emotional Climate -
    

    Lee's Key Words: Inspiration = Pride = Value
    
    Global's Style: Violent reactions now, ask forgiveness later.
    
    Perceived Effect: Analytical capabilities lost because of emotional pain.

Notes:

^[1] Lee, David (1998). “Intellectual Capital: If You Don’t Appreciate It, You Will Depreciate It,” Executive Excellence: September, 1998 back to text

Asian Currency Crisis

Tomita (2000) observed that the 1990s experienced a series of severe international financial crises in places such as Mexico, dubbed as the Mexican tequila, in December 1994; then Thailand, popularly known as the Asian flu in July 1997; and finally hit Russia, the so-called Russian virus, in August 1998. These crises, all occurred in emerging markets, involved a sharp fall in the exchange rate, a rise in interest rates, a sharp contraction in economic activity, a domestic financial crisis and an adjustment to the current account.

Bustelo (2000) argued that, despite some similarities, financial crises in the 1990s have featured substantial differences between them . . . the Mexican crisis of 1994-95 was associated to private overconsumption; and the East Asian crises of 1997-99 were basically the result of private overinvestment.

Majid and Yusoff's study (2004) examined the determinants of currency crises in Malaysia, Thailand, Indonesia and the Philippines in the period between 1987 and 1997, and found that reserve inadequacy, deteriorating trade balance, increases of bank's claims on private sector and misalignment of real exchange rate increase the probability of a speculative attack. Bustelo surveyed (1998) the crisis then highlighted (2004) its similarities and differences to the Argentina's crisis of 2001-02.

Wong (2004) contended that the Asian Financial Crises was not spread through common risk factors, nor the flight of foreign capital be blamed as the major cause of the crisis. The study traced the root of the crisis to several economic policies and conditions of the countries involved like Thailand, Malaysia, and Indonesia prior to its outbreak.

Japan (Shiraishi, 2005) was instrumental in dealing with the Asian economic crises in 1997-98 by suggesting several measures to tackle the problem in the ASEAN. In 1997, Japan called for the establishment of the Asian Monetary Fund. It suggested the new Miyazawa initiative in 1998 to stimulate economies hit by the crisis. It promoted in 2000 the Chiengmai Initiative (Eichengreen, 2002) as a mechanism to create a zone of currency stability; the conclusion of the Japan Singapore Economic Partnership Agreement in 2001. Last but not the least measures was the proposal of Japan's Prime Minister Koizumi made in Singapore in 2001 for the Japan-ASEAN economic partnership as the first step to build an East Asian community.

Radelet and Sachs (1998) argued that Southeast Asia should devalue their currencies in order to recover from the economic turmoil plaguing the region in the late 1990s. Ahearn (2002) later debunked this claim but instead found that only the Philippines and Malaysia would benefit from devaluation, while Singapore and Korea were more sensitive to short term and long-term policy decisions.

In his speech before the University of the Philippines economists, Salceda (2004) discussed a roadmap to fiscal rehabilitation after detailing the economic issues confronting the Philippines from 1996 to 2003. Noland (2000), however, wondered why the Philippines, with its reputation for weakness, fared better in the crisis than other countries in the region.

Next: Steel Industry

Notes:

Tomita, Toshiki (2000), The Mechanisms of "21st-Century-Type" International Financial Crises, Research Paper. NRI Papers No. 10, Japan: Nomura Research Institute, 01 August 2000. pp. 1-17. back to text

Bustelo, Pablo (2000), Novelties of Financial Crises in the 1990s and the Search for New Indicators. Emerging Markets Review, Vol 1, No. 3. pp. 1-32, August 2000. back to text

Muhd Zulkhibri Abdul Majid and Mohammed B. Yusoff (2004), “Sources of Asian Currency Crisis.” Malaysia: Monetary and Financial Policy Department, Central Bank of Malaysia, May 2004, p. 14. back to text

Bustelo, Pablo (1998), “The East Asian Financial Crises: An Analytical Survey,” ICEI Working Papers, Num. 10, Madrid: Universidad Complutense de Madrid, 1998. back to text

Bustelo, Pablo (2004). “Capital Flows and Financial Crises: A Comparative Analysis of East Asia (1997-98) and Argentina (2001-02),” Madrid: Department of Applied Economics, Complutense University of Madrid, Working Paper No. 2004-17. October 2004, p. 1-29. back to text

Wong, Marie (2004) “The Asian Financial Crisis and the Integration of Regional Stock Markets.” Masteral Thesis. Middlesex University Business School, 2004, pp. 1-34. back to text

Shiraishi, Takashi (2005) “The Asian Crisis Reconsidered” Discussion Paper. Kyoto, Japan: Center for Southeast Asian Studies, Kyoto University, 2005. RIETI Discussion Paper Series 05-E-014. back to text

Eichengreen, Barry (2002), What to Do with the Chiang Mai Initiative. Proceedings of the Asian Economic Panel Meeting, Tokyo: Asian Economic Panel, May 2002. back to text

Radelet, Steven and Jeffrey Sachs, (1998) “The Onset of the East Asian Financial Crisis,” Research Paper. Cambridge: National Bureau of Economic Research, August, 1998. p. 41. back to text

Ahearn, James, (2002). Should Southeast Asia Devalue? Issues in Political Economy, Vol. 11, Elon University, pp. 14-15. back to text

Salceda, Joey Sarte (2004), “Dimensions of the Philippine Fiscal Crisis: A Roadmap to Fiscal Rehabilitation”, Manila: Economic Affairs, House of Representatives, 17 September 2004 back to text

Noland, Marcus (2000) “How the Sick Man Avoided Pneumonia: The Philippines in the Asian Financial Crisis.” Institute for International Economics, Working Paper 00-5. back to text

The Philippine Industry and Manufacturing

The Philippine Industrial Policy in the 1990s can be summarized in two key words: economic reform and liberalization.

In the 1980s, the Philippines initiated trade policy reforms and opened the economy to imports to promote competition in the local market. Furthermore, deregulation in the 1990s demolished barriers to entry in regulated key industries, and government-owned and controlled corporations (GOCCs), such as iron and steel, fertilizers, telecommunications and banking, were privatized (Clarete, 2005).

Luken (1999) noted that from the mid-1970's to 1996 the Philippine manufacturing sector showed low rates of growth, roughly comparable to those of overall economic growth and to growth rates in the industrial sector as a whole.

In 1992, the Philippines signed up for the ASEAN Free Trade Agreement, which aimed for 0 to 4% regional tariff reduction, over a 15-year period, through the Common Effective Preferential Tariff scheme. Orbeta (2003) wrote that the Philippines underwent its third Tariff Reform Program four years later. The first and second were in 1981 and 1991, respectively. The tariff liberalization for some items, e.g., iron and steel, petrochemicals, garments and textiles, and motor vehicles, however, were slowed down from 1998-2001 due to the Asian financial crisis (UNDP, 2003) .

From 1995 to 1999, the iron and steel industry's Gross Value Added in constant 1985 prices showed a declining trend, in contrast to a rising trend for the entire steel-based group of industries. Two sectors, particularly the basic metal products and electrical machinery, comprised at least 50% of Gross Value-Added attributable to steel-based industries (NSCB, 2004).

Sauer, Gawande, and Li (2003) performed general tests of the big push industrialization hypothesis of Murphy, Shleifer, and Vishny (1989) for selected industries, including iron and steel, in a set of eight emerging countries, including the Philippines, and preliminary results supported the theory that a role for activist government policy in the industrialization process is necessary.

Cook and Uchida's study (2003) suggested that the deficiency in appropriate governmental reforms might be the cause for a negative relationship between privatization and economic growth. Later, Filipovic's theoretical analysis of privatization (2005) suggested that to create economic growth incentives, such as improvement of economic efficiency, increase in investments, and adoption of new technologies, privatization should be coupled with government commitment to legal and regulatory reforms.

Under the First Pillar: Achieving Macroeconomic Stability, Bulan (2004) urged “the sale of all government holdings in the . . . business sector,” identifying National Steel Corporation, justifying that it posed conflicts of interest with the government's objective.

Next: Asian Currency Crisis

Notes:

Clarete, Ramon L. (2005) “What Freer Trade Meant for the Philippines” School of Economics, University of the Philippines, 2005. back to text

Luken, Ralph A. (1999), “Industrial Policy and the Environment in the Philippines,” Manila: United Nations Industrial Development Organization, NC/PHI/97/020, July 1999. back to text

Orbeta, Aniceto C. Jr., (2002) “Globalization and Employment: The Impact of Trade on Employment Level and Structure in the Philippines.” Discussion Paper. Manila: Philippine Institute for Development Studies, Series 2002-04, February 2002, p. 13. back to text

United Nations Development Program (2003) “Philippine Progress Report on the Millennium Development Goals,” Manila: United Nations Development Program, 2003. p. 51. back to text

National Statistical Coordination Board (NSCB) (2004). 2003 Philippine Statistical Yearbook. Manila: NSCB, 2004. back to text

Sauer, Christine, Kishore Gawande, and Geng Li (2003). Big Push Industrialization: Some Empirical Evidence for East Asia and Eastern Europe, Economics Bulletin, Vol. 15, No. 9 pp. 1-7 back to text

Cook, Paul and Yuichiro Uchida (2003) Privatization and Economic Growth in Developing Countries. The Journal of Development Studies, Vol.39, No. 6, August 2003. pp. 121-154. back to text

Filipovic, Adnan (2005). Impact of Privatization on Economic Growth Issues in Political Economy, Vol. 14, August 2005: 17 back to text

Bulan, Ma. Susana T. (2004) “An Economic and Social Development Framework: Five Pillars of Growth,” Manila: SEPO, 2004. pp. 7-10. back to text

Most of the published researches presented only the facts of these three events and their repercussions to the national economy, but neither to steel production, in particular, nor any other manufacturing sector, in general. Examples, Amponsah and Boadu (2002) tackled the crisis in the U.S. textile and apparel industry then asked whether it was caused by Trade Agreements and Asian Currency meltdowns, while Carpio (1998) and Bond and Miller (1999) both addressed the Asian banking and financial sectors. Meanwhile, the case study of Basilio and Cabasan (2004) focused on the impact of the closure of NSC to the local governance and challenges of economic distress in Iligan City, particularly one that altered population pattern and welfare of the city.

Drapeau (2004) itemized four primary causes of business failure and subsequent bankruptcy: economic, financial, corporate fraud, and disaster. Ruling out the last three as insignificant to this particular research as insinuated in the limitations, of particular interest in Drapeau's study is its consideration of economic factors to include industry weakness and poor location. NSC has been considered a pioneer steel plant in the ASEAN region, thus poor location can be safely tossed out of the equation, leaving industry weakness as an important beacon to consider.

Notes:

Amponsah, William A. and Victor Ofori Boadu (2002), “Crisis in the U.S. Textile and Apparel Industry: Is It Caused by Trade Agreements and Asian Currency Meltdowns?” NC, USA: International Trade Center, Department of Agribusiness, Applied Economics and Agriscience Education, May, 2002. pp. 1-14. back to text

Caprio, Gerard Jr. (1998). “Banking on Crises: Expensive Lessons from Recent Financial Crises, ” Development Research Group, The World Bank, Working Paper F1979, June, 1998, p. 3. back to text

Bond, Timothy J. and Marcus Miller (1999), “Financial Bailouts and Financial Crises.” Masteral Thesis. January 1998, Revised January 1999. back to text

Basilio, Leilanie, and Jeremiah Cabasan (2004), “Local Governance and the Challenges of Economic Distress: The Case of Iligan City,” Discussion Paper. Manila: Philippine Institute for Development Studies, Series 2004-45, December 2004, p. 2-3. back to text

Drapeau, Richard (2004). “Bankruptcy Prediction Model Using Discriminant Analysis on Financial Ratios Derived from Corporate Balance Sheets.” Doctoral Dissertation. Australia: Lamar University. back to text

Human will never apprieciate until they lost it.

Maintenance

Exposition: The objective of maintenance is to keep the production system in good working condition at minimal cost. Maintenance decisions typically reflect a trade-off between preventive maintenance, which seeks to reduce the incidence of breakdowns and failures through a periodic program of lubrication, adjustment, cleaning, inspection, replacement to avoid the associated costs, and breakdown maintenance, which seeks to reduce the impact of breakdowns when they do occur. Although other maintenance programs exist, such as corrective, predictive, adaptive, and productive maintenance, these are but improvements on the preventive aspect. With no preventive maintenance, breakdown and repair costs would be tremendous. However, beyond a certain point--the optimum point--preventive maintenance activities are wasteful. Thus: strike a balance between prevention costs and breakdown costs.

“Indianeering”: As most Indian expats at GSPI always say: “Money is no object”, thus equipment maintenance are planned more on the breakdown side. Although there is a semblance of a preventive maintenance program being followed, the maintenance work schedule seemed on an endless loop--activities scheduled for this week, usually are re-scheduled in the next. With intermittent production runs, sometimes occurring after a month-long lull, opportunity arises to do preventive maintenance activities, but these are few in number. Most of the work done during opportunity maintenance is repairing what should have been repaired prior to the production run. When equipment failure occur during operations, if the failing component could be disabled yet the line could still run, then so be it: disable the component! If the failing component could be replaced by a makeshift contraption a la McGyver, then temporarily cease operation, then replace the component with the contraption. As there are no insurance spares on stock or backup equipment available, when the failing component or equipment--essential to the continued operations--eventually fails, then the production run stops! Frequently, if a component is available from a related equipment of another production line, the failing component is replaced by that component from the other production line. When equipment breakdown do occur, most of the expat biggies will cluster in that location, and everybody is endlessly asking “Why?”, as though the question could miraculously revived the failed component back to operative state! When nonchalantly answered, every expat in attendance would scramble to report that iota of information to whoever is the expat's boss, then would follow-up with another “Why?”

Conclusion: Pareto phenomenon tends to agree to the fact that breakdown programs are most effective when they take into account the degree of importance a piece of equipment has in the production system and the ability of the system to do without it for a period of time. GSPI wrongly cater to the idea of the Pareto extremes: equipment that is the focal point of a production system; and equipment that is seldom used. Every seldom-used equipment becomes the source of spares for the focal-point equipment.

Decision Making

Exposition: Decision Making is a fundamental process of management. Most decisions follow the process: identification of the problem, specification of objectives and decision criteria, development of alternatives, analysis and comparison of alternatives, selection of the best alternative, implementation of the chosen alternative, and monitoring of the results. Failures in decision making are traced to come from a combination of reasons: mistakes made in the decision process, bounded rationality, or suboptimization. Skipping a step or distraction to jump a step causes mistakes in the decision process; bounded rationality limits are imposed on decision making because of costs, human abilities, time, technology and the information available; while suboptimization occurs as a result of different departments each attempting to reach a solution that is optimum for that department. Operations decision making involves the use of quantitative models, a system approach, and sensitivity analysis of solutions.

“Indianeering”: GSPI's expats are prone to the use of “I'm the boss here, so just follow my decision!” Unfortunately, being Indian, excessive arguments could be heard among expats, but they are only addressing the doughnut, and not the hole. The best alternative for these expats is usually selected through majority rule, or who has the biggest voice, or who is truly the boss. Never mind if the chosen alternative is flawed at the start because of wrong specification of the objectives and decision criteria. Furthermore, decision making is bounded by high costs: if the solution--even though proves to be effective--but would entail some costs, it could be summarily rejected. Time is of no essence, though, as arguments would tend to be lengthy without a resolution made at the end, then asking: “What was the problem, by the way?” Oftentimes, when decisions are made, every decision has a priority one status! When departments are discussing a decision, if the decision is optimum for one department, then all others are made to suffer. Example: “Stop this line, take its component, install it on that line then operate that line!” Thus, the problem was not solved but rather only relocated. Neither are constraints taken into consideration, example: “Oh, there are no forklifts to transfer these materials? Then, find a way to borrow one!” or “I want that report submitted to me this afternoon. Oh, [after realizing the fact] there are no available computer for you to use, just submit it today!”

Conclusion: When time-pressured, decisions made are hasty; luckily they have expats to answer too; thus wrong decisions have no dire consequences. They could just make up excuses, and those excuses are usually the locals.

Notes:

1 Stevenson, William J. (1990). Production/Operations Management 3rd ed. New York: Richard D. Irwin/Toppan, 1990. p. v. back to text

Et en passant comme tel est le slogan de Pomcast: Une pomme un jour, une pomme toujours ! ;-)

Inventory Management

Exposition: Good inventory is essential to the successful operation of most organization. Inventory is a stock of goods. A major distinction in inventory management is whether demand for items in inventory is independent or dependent. Dependent Demand items are typically subassemblies or component parts used in the production of a final or finished product. Independent Demand items are the finished goods, where demand includes elements of randomness. To be effective, inventory management must have the following: a tracking system; a reliable forecast of demand; knowledge of lead time; estimates of inventory costs; and a classification system for inventory items. The A-B-C approach is usually used to classify inventory items according to importance. The economic order quantity model is often employed to determine how much to order.

“Indianeering”: Inventory items are usually classified as order-when-needed. An extreme application of “just-in-time”, nothing at GSPI is ordered unless the production line is on the verge of a scheduled production run. Operating spares, e.g., rolling oil, carbon brushes, and even the cheapest working gloves, are purchased only when they would cause the production line some considerable delay. The economic order quantity model is never applied, and even the A-B-C approach is only taken seriously when the pressure to run the mills is great. By then, every item for purchase are priority number one. But in the event that the mill could not run due to equipment trouble at start-up; every purchase requisitions are put on hold. If some unfortunate event, for example, the spare needs a lengthy lead time, then all other purchase requisitions are canceled.

Conclusion: Production runs are scarce, especially when critical spares do not arrive when needed. Thus, most of the times, dependent items have zero stocks, as money is tight.

Manufacturing Resources Planning [MRP II]

Exposition: MRP II is a computer-based information system designed to handle planning and scheduling the resources (e.g., raw materials, component parts) of manufacturing firms. A production plan for a specified number of finished products is translated into requirements for component parts (raw materials, etc.) working backward, using lead time information to determine when and how much to order. The MRP inputs include the (a) Master Schedule, which identify what items are to be produced, when they are needed, and what quantities are needed; (b) Bill of Materials containing a list of parts and raw materials needed to produce one unit of finished product; and (c) Inventory Records which detail the status of each item by time period. The MRP outputs are primary and secondary reports. Primary reports include a schedule of planned orders, order releases, changes to planned orders; while secondary reports concern with reports on performance control, planning and exceptions. Capacity Requirements Planning, one of the most important feature of MRP, determines short-range capacity planning.

“Indianeering”: There is no centralized information system using MRP at GSPI, but rather an antiquated COBOL-based GSPI Management Information Console [GMIC] is relied upon. A General Production Plan [GPP], issued by Production Planning and Inventory Control [PPIC] department, is substituted for the schedule of planned orders and order releases. A revised GPP is issued when changes are made, especially when orders are canceled. No Master Schedule for the whole campaign is released. The materials, especially operating spares and parts, needed to produce the finished products are almost always triggered by Operations, with frequent follow-ups to the Purchasing department. Performance Control used to assess cost performance is done by Finance and Cost Accounting, another department. Line run scheduling, and sometimes capacity planning, is delegated to the Operations division, especially so that the expat head of PPIC equivocally claimed that his department does not deal with capacity requirements planning.

Conclusion: Frequent clashes between Operations, PPIC and Purchasing are a norm. Nobody is to blame, as there is no central body to keep everything in place. A Nerve Center--overseeing production scheduling, capacity planning, purchasing the resources--might be the answer. Rolling Mills and processing lines are sometimes under or overloaded due to poor capacity planning. Line runs are intermittent because of poor production planning or inefficient resources replenishment process. All these results to delayed orders, thus shipping demurrage.

Notes:

1 Stevenson, William J. (1990). Production/Operations Management 3rd ed. New York: Richard D. Irwin/Toppan, 1990. p. v. back to text

NSC’s former employees and customers. When NSC retrenched almost 1,400 employees in 1999, several suggestions have been offered by these individuals counteracting NSC’s one-sentence explanation of tight financial situation and some reassurance of a probability of recovery after a year. NSC’s former customers were also dumbfounded when news of NSC’s liquidation hit the headlines. The findings of this study could alternatively explain the various propositions and insinuations and a common stance and understanding might be adopted. Examples of these false notions: a consortium was taking over Hottick’s mother company, Renong, including Hottick’s stake at NSC (Kwek, 2000) . Another one was that the Malaysian management pocketed all the revenues somewhere out of the Philippines, thus it could not afford to pursue the ISM project, or even operate NSC on a daily basis (Arroyo, 2005) . Worse, from a flyer distributed sometime in 1999, when NSC was undergoing exit clearance after retrenchment, was that NSC management knowingly ran NSC to bankruptcy so that it could be liquidated and they could recoup whatever they invested?

Iligan City local government and local populace. Iligan City also suffered economically when NSC closed in 1999. To paraphrase an age-old adage: when NSC sneezes, Iligan City catches the cold. This study is significant to the local government of Iligan City, the direct beneficiary of NSC’s presence, because for several years from 1974 until its closure, NSC offered decent and relatively high-paying employment, both direct and indirect, aside from income taxes to the local coffers, and tangible contributions to local communities through NSC’s social responsibility projects, among others. Thus, the findings of this research could provide an insight on the importance of NSC’s presence to the growth and development of the locality.

The Philippine government, in particular, and the Philippines, in general. This study is significant to the Philippine government in assessing the perceived effects of privatization of a vital component of the industry. Lessons learned from NSC’s plight might offer new insights to the privatization of other GOCCs, which are forthcoming this decade. Furthermore, the legislators and political leaders might now tread more carefully in dealing with privatization and similar acts of deregulation on primer industries, such as manufacturing. For the country as a whole, this study is important to the national economic planning based on the premise that industrial production is a factor of GDP, and steel production is a leading indicator in the country’s growth and development.

The current dispensation, Global Steel Philippines (SPV-AMC), Inc., or other potential investors. The implications of this research to the current dispensation, particularly Global Steelworks Philippines, Inc. (GSPI), which acquired controlling interests on all the assets of the resurrected NSC, through the Special Purpose Vehicle (SPV) law under the Asset Management Corporation (AMC) provisions in 2004, would be beneficial inputs to whatever corporate strategy the latter opts to adopt. Consequently, pitfalls faced by NSC then can be avoided by GSPI now. With the advent of global mergers and acquisition, GSPI stands to gain some understanding on the state of the Philippine steel industry, in general, and the sphere of influence of NSC, now GSPI, in particular, to the domestic and regional steel market, as well as the global steel market. Furthermore, potential investors to augment GSPI’s quest to resuscitate NSC’s facilities to commercial operations would be able to see the NSC’s viability and profitability.

The ASEAN member-countries. The budding steel industry of respective ASEAN member-countries, particularly Malaysia, Indonesia, Thailand, Cambodia, Vietnam and Laos, would also gain from this research through an understanding of the difficulties faced by NSC during the Asian financial crises and thus could attempt to avert similar government actions that would endanger their own fragile steel industry. Of the ASEAN member-countries excluding the Philippines, only Malaysia, Indonesia, and Thailand have their respective hot rolling mills. Thus, with the closure of NSC in 1999, the other members relied more on hot-rolled coils, and even cold-rolled coils, supplied by Far East countries (particularly Japan, Korea and Taiwan) and even from Commonwealth of Independent States (Russia, Kazakhstan, and Ukraine). Furthermore, with the boom of construction specifically in Cambodia and Vietnam, this study could also provide an impetus among the ASEAN member-countries to safeguard the regional steel industry as an economic cooperative rather than as a loose aggregation of individual steel industries, such as the Southeast Asia Iron and Steel Institute (SEAISI).

Other researchers. Indisputably, the boom-and-bust experience by NSC is a very interesting and enlightening topic. Unfortunately, aside from the case study conducted by Basilio and Cabasan (2004) entitled, “Local Governance and Economic Challenges of Economic Distress: The Case of Iligan City” with special focus on the impact of the closure of the National Steel Corporation to Iligan City, no other formal research was and is being done, and publicly disclosed since 1999. NSC’s historical records of production data, among other things from as far as back in 1974 to 1999, face the threat of being lost to oblivion due to the degradation of paper-based or computer-based media, or the haphazard attempt to clear the NSC grounds of its recorded past. Although a NSC Museum do exist, it only has space for memorabilia, mementos and other museum pieces but not historical production data and the like. Thus, this research might induce special attention to the expeditiousness of at least saving NSC’s recorded past for use in similar studies by other researchers.

Notes:

Kwek, Kim (2000). “A Rebuttal of Danaharta’s lies.” Kuala Lumpur: The Sun, 22 September 2000. back to text

Arroyo, Joker P. (2005), “Journal of the First Special Session, Thirteenth Congress,” Manila: Senate of the Philippines, January 5-7, 2005 back to text

Basilio, Leilanie, and Jeremiah Cabasan (2004), “Local Governance and the Challenges of Economic Distress: The Case of Iligan City,” Discussion Paper. Manila: Philippine Institute for Development Studies, Series 2004-45, December 2004, p. 2-3. back to text

Table 1: NSC Flat Carbon Steel Production, 1994 -2000
[caption id="attachment_129" align="aligncenter" width="377" caption="(Data Source: NSC)"][/caption]

Table 1 shows a yearly summary of NSC production for the three flat carbon steel, namely hot-rolled coils/plates, cold-rolled coils, and tin-milled black plates. Moreover, with reference to Figure 4 above in page 43, only hot-rolled and cold-rolled steel are considered at NSC as crude steel. Hot-rolled coils used imported slabs as raw materials and subsequently hot-rolled coils are the input for cold-rolled coils. Tin-milled black-plates, or TMBPs, although physically flat in form, fall in the sub-category of coated steel under the finished steel classification.

The Minitab’s Anderson-Darlington normality test was used (refer to Appendix F for CRC and HRC). The p-value is 0.024 for CRC and 0.013 for HRC. P-values exhibited less than the predetermined 0.05 significance level, thus both the gathered data do not follow a normal distribution.

NSC monthly production shown in Figure 5 illustrates the dependency of cold-rolled coils volume to that of hot-rolled coils production at NSC’s Hot Strip Mill No. 2. Whenever HSM No. 2 HRC production from slabs is insufficient, NSC resorted to purchasing additional HRC from its regular suppliers from China, Russia, Mexico, Australia, South Korea and Brazil. This scenario for NSC is a simple example of Koda’s (1995) theorem on self-support ratio between capacity expansion and steel demand.

Panganiban, Analyst of Philippine Iron and Steel Institute [PISI], claimed that based on her previous studies, historical NSC production is not cyclical in tendency on a monthly- or quarterly-basis, thus she suggested that this study would suffice with a year-end summaries for production volumes (Interview, 2007) .

[caption id="attachment_131" align="aligncenter" width="300" caption="Figure 6: NSC Quarterly Flats (CRC) Production, 1995 – 2000 (Data: NSC)"][/caption]

On a quarterly-basis, flats production, particularly cold rolled coils, see Figure 6, at NSC also peaked in the third quarter of 1997. NSC’s production was severely affected by the accidental fire sustained at its Five-Stand Continuous Mill in March 1998 that cold-rolled production considerably declined thereafter and never regained its pre-Asian Financial Crises level until its liquidation in 1999 allegedly, according to industry observers, due to Hottick mismanagement.

There is apparent trend of per cent quarter-on-quarter (% qtr-on-qtr) as shown in Figure 6, but disregarding the fire between 1997Q4 and 1998Q1, the quarterly increase during Q3 each year would virtually exist except for the peak in 1995Q2.

Several managers explained this Q3 peak as NSC’s attempt to stock finished goods prior to the holidays in Q4. From inception, they clarified; NSC adopted the manufacturing policy of production-to-inventory, especially for identified fast-moving CRC gauges.

Notes:

Koda’s (1995) Koda, S., Kaihara, T. and Dobashi M. (1995), “Steel Demand Projection in Asia,” Tokyo: Kawasaki Steel, 03 August 1995. pp. 1-5. back to text

Interview with Teresita Panganiban, Analyst, Philippine Iron and Steel Institute, Makati City. 16 and 17 April 2007. back to text

I have prepped the pineapple without much comment, poured the POM Juice without lecture and laid out the socks with minimal anecdotes. I murmured sympathetically at S's painful breasts and said nary a word about it being a "good sign" when she whimpered in pain in the shower. I rubbed her aching back, removed the towel that she swore "smelled weird", though freshly laundered, all without insisting that "this is it". In a feat of Herculean strength I said a simple I am sorry honey, how uncomfortable, when she couldn't zip her pants this morning. When she finally realized I wasn't proclaiming a victory and questioned her symptoms, I simply said, Prometrium will do that to you.

I am trying so hard to avoid putting any pressure on her. I am trying so very hard to stay sane and normal. I am breathing in and out and not allowing myself to spiral into the TWW insanity. Deep down though, I know there is a huge ball of fear just waiting for the right time to appear. Calm on the outside, but aching on the inside.

We are Mothers without children and it hurts.

On the day of the grand opening, complete with a visitors' registration desk, balloons and banners, GSPI Vice-President Sangram Mohanty announced that the company wanted to export to Vietnam, Korea, Indonesia and India before the year ends.

A week prior to that, GSPI hired about ten janitorial personnel to prepare the GSPI grounds for the event. These preparations included cutting of grass and dead branches in Road A, running parallel to the National Highway; transplanting green bermuda grass to the Administration Building 2 facade, and re-illuminating, retouching of wall paint, and rolling out the literal red carpet in the Admin 2 Lobby, where the ceremonies were to be held. It looked like Imelda Marcos were covering the slums and makeshift shanties along EDSA with whitewashed walls whenever foreign dignitaries were to visit the Philippines in the 70s.

From 2004 to present, frenzied rush to clean the surroundings is usually tackled a week before such ceremonies: a bankers' visit, Pramod Mittal's walk or foreign auditors' plant tour.

For all other days for the past four years, however, the grass in most of the GSPI grounds is allowed to run its growth, the trees allowed to rot its branches sometimes falling over the road, the falling leaves are left where they have fallen only to be washed away to the rain gutters whenever heavy downpour came--at least the roadway is cleared of debris then, and the Admin 2 lobby flood and ceiling lights transferred to other locations.

Inside the plant site, mountains of scraps on separate locations are competing to reach for the roof; high-bay lights, some already nearing bust-life, are sparingly or strategically placed whereby one expat fell into a manhole once, broke his leg, and blamed the absence of lights; the tattered mill roofs, sidewalls and gutters are falling piece-by-piece from the naked sky; and finished coils, scraps for disposal, and empty rolling oil drums are seemingly jumbled in disharmony in some places.

During the last visit of the TPM auditor, a carefully studied path for the Jemba walk was planned out so that the mountains of scrap was out of sight. One expat did a wonderful job, even boasted about this personal feat, of at least flattening the scrap mountain to make it a valley of scraps. Neither was the tattered mills roofs nor the flickering lights were visible.

When Pramod Mittal recently visited, a horde of expats in tow--all wanting to kiss his feet, and smell their chief benefactor--provided cover for all these things. If I were him, I would not be led where I should go: being the supposedly owner of the plant, I would seek the nooks for even a speck of dust. But just, if I were him.

The Clean and Green campaign was designed to make use of steelworkers awaiting for the availability of raw materials. When there are no steel processing in the mills, where most of the steel workers are still on duty, they do the janitorial job of cleaning their surroundings -- building and grounds. The management's argument: people cost money, and doing nothing is costlier. Thus, instead of hiring additional personnel to do the cleaning, why not employ the same steelworkers awaiting for raw materials long in coming to do the job? That's f***ing genius!

Shouldn't the steelworkers focus on making quality steel products, instead of wielding scythes and bolos to cut grass and clear fallen trees? Maybe, NSC pampered these steelworkers into thinking that during the good ole days, when the whole plant site had manicured lawns, flowering plants lined along the roadways, sufficiently lighted mill bays, a whole department to tackle Building and Grounds maintenance, a separate section under the operations department to transport mill-generated scrap to be melted in the Billet Steelmaking Plant; a more welcoming Admin2 Lobby; an ISOnized procedures on dealing with primes, scraps and empty drums; and a seemingly endless Production Schedule of making steel!

Lesson: Don't judge a plant by its facade!

Todo transcurría normal en la mañana del martes 15 de julio, era un día de jubilo ya que por fin había dinero de nuevo y todo parecía marchar de maravilla, o por lo menos eso creí, después de una deliciosa comida (ya era justo, después de comer gansitos y maruchans para sobrevivir, este día pude darme el lujo de comer carne) mi panza comenzó a hacer digestión razón por la cual tuve que ir al baño, OH dios, mala idea.

Llegue al trono imperial de porcelana barata y decidí disfrutar un poco de lectura ligera, mientras mi intestino grueso expulsaba con furia todo aquello que ya estuviera procesado, encontré un articulo bastante entretenido en el almanaque sociológico titulado las chambeadoras que había en el baño, ah la vida era buena conmigo, salio una popo de campeonato, de esas perfectas con las que limpiarte el cutis es mero compromiso, porque quedas limpiecito, me disponía a lavarme las manos cuando sucedió el atentado, todo estaba en calma cuando de pronto escucho como la puerta del baño de mujeres se cierra, aquí se arma un paréntesis, les explico, el baño de mujeres y el de hombres esta separada por una triste pared súper delgada, razón por la cual se escucha todo, grave problema, se cierra paréntesis.

Nos quedamos en que se había cerrado la puerta del baño de mujeres, yo me encontraba lavándome las manos con jabón Rosavenus cuando de repente que se deja caer la balacera… Traka Traka Traka Traka Traka Pom Pom!!!, Traka Traka Traka Traka Traka Pom Pom!!! Yo me asuste!! Madres, a quien están baleando!!, cuando de pronto se escucha otra descarga, traka traka traka traka traka pom pom, Traka Traka Traka Traka Traka Pom Pom!!!, una pinché metralla de gases provenientes del baño de mujeres hizo que me aventara pecho tierra, no lo podía creer, esa descarga la creería de un macho que se respeta de mas de 100 kilos y que comió por lo menos kilo y medio de frijoles, habas, lentejas y demás legumbre causante de hedores, pero no de una dama, yo hacia esfuerzos por contener la risa cuando de nuevo, otro ataque se escucho, pero ahora con mas fuerza y tremenda velocidad, Traka Traka Traka Traka Traka Pom Pom!!!!, Traka Traka Traka Traka Traka Pom Pom!!! pinché estruendo cabron!!!, me cae que ni el escape de un volcho madreado o el motor de una moto de cartero hacen tanto pinche ruido, pa pronto.

Yo tenia que saber quien era la causante de ese ataque, no lo podía creer, estaba literalmente cagandome de la risa (lo bueno es que estaba en el baño) cuando de pronto un estupido haitiano toca la puerta del baño de hombres, no me quedo otra que salir de mi guarida y perderme la oportunidad de ver quien se estaba descosiendo con tal magnitud.

Lo curioso de esta historia es que el haitiano me contó que la responsable era una chava a la cual llamaremos Mandy Metrallas, chaparrita, en verdad chiquita, pero con un poder de destrucción masivo acumulado en las asentaderas, si no me creen pregúntenle a la pobre taza de porcelana, que si pudiera hablar, segurito nos contaría que sintió exactamente lo mismo que sintieron Hiroshima y Nagasaki al momento de ser bombardeados en la segunda guerra mundial, moraleja, no importa el tamaño del arma, sino lo grueso del calibre, aguas cuando coman alubias, puede ser que el vecino de al lado se de cuenta cuando descarguen su furia en la cámara de gases.

Mi historia conmovió tanto a las masas que decidieron crear un documental con todo y soundtrack incluido, se los dejo abajito, puchenle play.

S is a wreck. She is appeared crying and trembling at my side an hour ago. This really is our last shot for who knows how long. We have bled ourselves dry for this cycle. We just dropped a thousand dollars on sperm... a thousand dollars we could hardly part with. We did it though, hearts in our throat we ordered from the new bank. Poor S will subject herself to another vag cam viewing tomorrow and together we will subject ourselves to the much  disliked Dr. M.

If someone asked why we do all this, I would say for love. For the love of a child not yet conceived and because we have so much of it to give.

Pardon the TMI, but I think I might throw up. My mind plays on a loop all the F-ups of dear Dr.M the past 6 months. What if what if what if what if???????? I cannot stop the what ifs. I can't sleep, I am actually ill.

I am trying so hard to cover every base this cycle it's absurd. Injectables, trigger, monitoring, green tea until ovulation, aspirin, POM juice, pineapple after IUI, warm feet in the TWW, red warming foods, eggs,prayer, positive thinking,visualization, new bank and sperm and finally, a picture of a Native American fertility charm taped above our bed.

Nothing ventured, nothing gained, right?

Please bring us some wonderful news and a cooperative, understanding Dr. M tomorrow. Please bring us our miracle. PLEASE.

"And the day came when the risk it took to remain tight inside the bud was more painful than the risk it took to blossom."

One former quality inspector in the Middle East was hired as a manager in one of the production department. His job is so crucial that what he does is just roam around the plant and report those that are sleeping on the job. He did only find three out of almost two thousand personnel. He once admonished another supervisor, hired by the Liquidator [meaning another company], to report to the expat's boss after the supervisor displayed a news clipping for the benefit of the supervisor's crew. The expat claimed that it is forbidden to display such news clipping on the plant premises due to its confidential nature!

Another was hired to resuscitate the Plate Mill operations. After four years of roaming around, conversing with people, browsing and chatting on the internet, emailing three teary-eyed goodbye letters to most Lotus users, went home to India a millionaire.

One department head, this one still on the rolls, apparently enjoys being here! His job is very peculiar: testing the resolution of the weighing scale every morning for the last two years! Also, he walks around the plant sporting a sock-with-slippers! He was also assigned to do a revision in one of the mills' equipment but after delays in actual filed measurements, ocular inspection of the equipment for revision, insisting on quality maintenance activity . . . nothing came of this plan. So, he reverted to what he does best: weighing scale third-party calibration [by his own weight]!

One supply officer, who when he came in . . . his first official order: "make me a requisition for my very own laptop and printer." Spoke Hindi to his subordinates, then ask "You didn't understand me?" His job: surf the Internet for porn, which infected my computer which he used about twice a week before he got the requisitioned laptop, with various adware, spyware, pop-ups and popunders and took me three days to clean and exterminate! He also posted a classified ad in one of the website advertising that the company is selling plant equipment and rolls rather than coils, strips or scrap.

One system engineer, an expert he claimed to be, his job: secretly smoked Malboro lights in the hidden parts of the plant, roamed around the plant for five hours each day [sitting and smoking for most of the four hours], instructed a line supervisor to make a design on the transfer of the pinhole detector to another location [which is basically the system engineer's job], asked a list of critical spares but did nothing with it.

Another system engineer, an expert in PLC he claimed, took a stint in one of the production lines. He insisted on doing experiments on the processes and controls, burned one equipment beyond repair but without repercussions, yet received a commendation for a job not entirely his own doing [he was the one who drafted the recommendation]. When a supervisor asked for help in a training on programming for the line's process computer, he delivered a rather too-simplistic introductory lecture on the parts and their function; and held no lecture on programming, which he claimed that it was reserved for  the likes of him: system engineers; that any change of programming was to be course through ONLY to him.

One manager, who insisted that he was the boss, but did not prove he was one; insisted on buying low quality spares then blame it on the operational crew when the purchased spares when installed did not do as good operationally; insisted on using a out-of-specifications catalyst which nearly blew the gas generator up to the clouds. He couldn't even pronounce correctly "dump truck" which he corrected others that it was rightfully called "drum truck"

One maintenance planner when asked for operational spares, would instruct the shift-in-charge to just withdraw the spares from the shop [which is officially part of his duties and responsibilities]; repeatedly scheduled maintenance jobs while no purchased spares were on hand; issued the same maintenance work schedule [MWS] while only revising the date of implementation, for the whole of four years. When one supervisor pointed out that MWS usually rotate the maintenance activities for each week, he became agitated, and started nosing around on operational activities which were the official duties of the supervisor while neglecting his very own job. He complained to his own boss once that he feeling useless as he was not getting special assignments which he insisted that he is capable of doing. His boss answered: "Do your job first!"

One shift-supervisor, who insisted on making his own shifting schedule then not sticking to it; his main job was to look for missing coils around the plant to reconcile with those on the production monitoring program. He was also has the habit of only selecting good materials for processing then boasted that the shift production yield was higher than that of his colleagues!

One adviser was hired but apparently doesn't even know the different types of works-in-process in the plant. He once asked a supervisor what one production line was processing: "Is it soft or hard?" meaning annealed or fullhard. Then insisted that the line processed some coils which was impractically impossible due to corrections were needed but heat was necessary. He once boasted that in India they have several annealing bases on continuous annealing. I thought continuous annealing was a processing line rather than the modular base and furnace-bell types!

One production planning manager was hired who claimed that it was not the Production Planning job to know which coils are planned to be processed in one processing line, when one line supervisor complained that  Production  Planning should know this and charged delays due to poor planning . The manager rather insisted that this was not the milieu of Production Planning as he planning is not part of his job!  When his attention was called regarding the rising trend of no materials to process, he immediately blamed Marketing for the poor marketing! When one supervisor suggested that Production Planning should at least devise a weekly schedule on that days the production lines were to operate subject to available works-in-process, he claimed this was not what he was hired to do.

On the first day of his job, one expat called a meeting which even included the Division Head and all Department Heads. After a few minutes, the Division Head sensed that the meeting was nothing but perfunctory "getting-to-know-you" and adjourned the meeting. The Division Head would later find out that the expat who called the meeting was to report directly to him! He was a laborer in the Middle East, claimed one of his co-workers there, then was hired for a local managerial post.

One management initiative executive became too enamored with management, after being sent to Bulgaria. He vigorously defended management on the lack of spares to pursue the TPM activities, castigated personnel on not putting their hearts out to management and helping management pursue autonomous maintenance amidst lack of materials and supply. A month latter he was hired to become the TPM head of another local company.

============================

Well, all of them came and went. Some resigned after a few years, saying goodbyes to Filipino colleagues and asking forgiveness from others whom they caused pain. Yet, in retrospect, most of these expats were hired at current rates in 2004: about $50,000 or more per month. Thus, in the four years stint of "relaxing" job, they could easily have amassed $2.4 million doing their expert-type of management! In return, what did the company got from them: NOTHING!

Then came Microsoft® Windows. Remember their 1990s ad campaign: “Where do you want to go today?” This was a result of people wanting to just finish simultaneous jobs so that they could have the freedom to pursue other things. Even with the usual occurrence of the Blue Screen of Death, popularly known as BSOD, people thought they could emulate this particular operating system and adapt it as a personal mantra: multitasking to be free.

Business management was not far behind. Heard of matrix organizations, where one subordinate could be reporting to two different bosses? This arrangement is ideal to project management, whereby a subordinate could be responsible for several tasks, and these tasks were tackled by different project managers.

Then came “Indianeering”: it upped the ante by applying multitasking to steel manufacturing. Here's a typical scenario: a shift supervisor who manages the shift resources -- man, machine, methods -- within a eight-hour shift, is also assigned to be a Total Productive Maintenance implementor, aside from being a part-time Six-Sigma greenbelt [GB]- or Black Belt [BB]-candidate plus the pressure of the company undergoing ISO 9001:2000 certification.

Handling of shift resources alone takes most of the eight-hour shift. Equipment problems do crop up due to the dearth of spare parts as well as the lackluster maintenance program. Added to this scenario: personnel are crying out for their delayed salaries, unpaid overtime, personal problems, among other things humans are supposed to interact. Systems and methods sometimes become an issue, especially in the field of Information Technology, which has a great deal to be desired. Typical complaints could range from un-encoded or missing works-in-process, non-conforming products beyond their holding time, unaccounted equipment delays and even to an automated personnel scheduling which takes at most two hours to do.

Being an implementor of TPM, moreover, the same supervisor is also a member of several TPM Pillars--Easy Kaizen [EK], Jishu Hozen [JH], Planned Maintenance [PM], Initial Flow Control-Product [IFC-P], Initial Flow Control-Equipment [IFC-E], Quality Management [QM], Education and Training [ET], Office Management [OM], and Safety, Health and Environment [SHE]-- each holds regular monthly meetings with deadlines to meet. Each supervisor could be a member of three, at most five, TPM pillars. Even with Jishu Hozen alone, the supervisor is assigned to handle at least two, at most four, teams of five to ten rank-and-file members. A few of the supervisors are also assigned as Office Management auditors, the audits are done every three months.

With Six-Sigma, which McManus (1999)^[2] concludes that Six Sigma is just an add-on project management tool in comparison with TQM, the same supervisor is required by the job's Key Result Area [KRA] to do an Six-Sigma project with a deadline of three months. The project involves data gathering as well as applying statistical analyses to come up with process improvement. All these to be done which needs computer power, but the latter is nowhere on site. Hendry (2005) ^[3] found that part-time BB advantages are (a) integration with day-to-day work, (b) authority on projects as they are undertaken in their area of responsibility, (c) co-operation and (d) lower costs; but cautioned on its disadvantages, such as (a) high workload, (b) less motivation and less satisfaction, (c) delayed projects and (d) limited scope of project due to time constraints. Furthermore, the study found that using a part-time BB appears to be a more realistic option for small firms. In contrast, Global steel is NOT a small firm! Although the advantages are great for the Global Steel's BBs, the disadvantages outwitted these thus the company embarked on fast-tracking most of the first-batch projects in 2005 and dubbed them as “turbo”. The result, the improvements were not sustained, but rather backslid because of management unacknowledgement of the projects' impact and the provision of resources to sustain the improvements failed to materialize.

By 2006, the company embarked on an ambitious project: ISO 9001:2000 certification by the year end of 2008. Luckily, during NSC era, three of its division have been ISO-certified prior to the plant shutdown. Employing “Indianeering” again: just replace the NSC documents with the Global Steel logo, and management believed that “we could safely sail the certification process with flying colors, like we did with TPM,“ one expat-expert was heard saying. Most of the gap analysis between ISO versions 1994 vis-a-vis 2000, documentation, and review were done by local employees, the bulk of which were shift supervisors.

Thus, the shift supervisors having been required to attend a four-hour seminar on Time Management, turned to multitasking--hoping that everything would fall into place. Probably everything is being done, but nothing is really accomplished, that is, properly! At least computers have screensaver mode.

Notes:

^[1] Kirn, Walter (2007). “The Autumn of the Multitaskers,” Atlantic Monthly: November 2007 back to text

^[2] McManus, K. (1999) “Is quality dead?” IIE Solution. 31 (7) 32-36. back to text

^[3] Hendry, Linda (2005), “Exploring the Six Sigma phenomenon using multiple case study evidence,” Lancaster University Management School: Working Paper 2005/056 back to text