Driving growth during the economic crisis

MANILA, Philippines - It is no secret that we are in the midst of an economic crisis! Everyday, we are bombarded with dire predictions concerning declining figures in terms of revenues and profitability across virtually all industries worldwide. News on industry leaders’ layoffs, retrenchments, restructuring and in extreme cases, bankruptcies have become daily fodder, dominating headlines in print, television and mobile media, painting a gloomy scenario for business and commerce overall globally.

Now is not the time for organizations and managers to be affected by the negatively charged atmosphere prevailing in the business sector brought about by the worsening global economic outlook for the immediate future. Basing business decisions and plans on a gloomy outlook will not help our economy recover, but may instead lead to more streamlining of personnel and redundancies of job positions which in turn will further drive the economic barometer further into decline. Rather, management must turn this situation into an opportunity! Growth drivers must be uncovered! Organizational efficiencies must be raised higher to new levels! Management must challenge itself to find areas and room for growth!

How does Bostik face this challenge in today’s trying times? For us to look forward, we must first look back at Bostik’s rich and diverse heritage in business. First founded in 1889 as the Boston Blacking Company in Chelsea, Massachussetts, specializing in the manufacture of sealants and adhesives, the company has grown and evolved over the years, perfecting best-practice operations currently in use today in all Bostik organizations worldwide. In 1990, Bostik was acquired by the Total Group. With headquarters located in Paris la Defence, France, and a presence in most countries worldwide, in 2008 Bostik registered a business turnover of close to 1.400B euros. Bostik today carries not only sealants and adhesives, but also specialty construction and repair products geared towards addressing the needs of the industrial, trade and consumer market segments.

The Bostik way

Boldness. Dare to think, decide and take action differently. In this time of crisis, we are showing our boldness by taking a “double our size” mentality in approaching business opportunities in various market segments locally.

Openness. Communicating and looking for every possible synergy and understanding. We have increased the frequency of holding business reviews with our key customers and partners. We uncover ways on jointly addressing the challenges and issues besetting the industry, in order to foster mutual growth and development during this time of economic uncertainty.

Sustainability. Plan for long term in all programs and actions, while enhancing respect for the environment. We aim to address this by being stringently efficient in the management of our financial portfolio, from credit terms, credit limits and accounts receivables, through proper and accurate business planning and forecasting together with our partners. We are also implementing a “Cut Complexity” Program, streamlining our product portfolio by ensuring that only products with a stable demand are prioritized in production and sales planning.

Team spirit. Fostering solidarity and sharing of responsibilities in all actions of the Bostik family. Our Human Resources spearheads this project, developing motivational and inspirational programs for our employees. We challenge our employees to work as a team, with the goal of achieving objectives and programs aligned with the Bostik Way.

Innovation. Focusing on creativity at all times through thinking out-of-the-box. We encourage our employees to challenge systems and programs in place with ways of improving further. We challenge our people to think “why not”? We motivate our employees to come up with practical solutions to answer the unmet needs of our customers. We have launched easy-use packs and smaller-sized variants of our best-selling products such as the No More Nails sachet, in an effort to address consumers’ demand for products with smaller out-of-pocket cost.

Knowledge. We seek to instill in the Bostik family a constant desire to increase know-how to improve job performance and service to customers. We motivate our employees to seek knowledge not only in their primary job function but in a secondary function as well. Trainings and development programs, including cross-posting projects, in which employees are tasked to be assigned to another department to familiarize themselves with other functions, have been developed by our Human Resources Department.

We at Bostik have always been mandated to “Think Global, Act Local”. We are encouraged to apply the Bostik Way and adapt it to our local environment.