Who is a better manager an Expat or a Filipino?

[autogenerated]

If you are working in a multi-national company, and one manager leaves due to promotion, resignation, or terminaton...

Who do you want to replace? A foreigner or a Filipino?

Is it true that Filipinos are good followers but not effective leaders/ managers?

Is it true that when two or more Filipinos vie on a single post or a promotion, they will do what it takes to destroy their competitor's credibility?

[team slick]

It really depends on what type of manager you are looking for but for the most part what i notice about filipino managers is that they have a tendency of being maniana habit (Again might be only the filipino managers i dealt with). I guess in the philippines, politics plays a big part inside corporations and normally you also need to play the same game when you want to move up. Like the saying goes, "its not what you know but who you know". Expat managers can bring a different view meaning that they dont really get involved with the politics but are more goal and result oriented. They dont care how you achieve your deadlines as long as you achieve them. This is also a double edge sword since if you're not delivering, then they will easily find out and of course maybe cause for your termination.

[floreno]

An Expat Manager is better of a Pinoy. Trust me. Most Pinoy Managers have a "Talanka" mentality.

[bafana]

^^^^Not only "talangka" mentality, they also tend to watch over you like an Orwellian 'big brother'. An expat manager would tell you what he needs to be done and leaves you for the most part to accomplish the goal. A Pinoy manager would be there keeping an eye on you to see whether you're doing it his way.

A Pinoy manager also has authoritarian tendencies. At gusto lagi mo siyang sini-Sir. I call my expat bosses by their first names and I have my respect for them intact.

[ajoeroooo]

depende parin, pero i still prefer an expat, mas relaxed, pag filipino, maciadong demanding, kala mo naman pagkadami-daming tinuturo... ni ayaw ka ngang turuan :)

[Dunedain]

Most Pinoy managers loved to be called "Sir" and/or "Boss". And if possible, "God". Call an expat "Sir", you'll see that they cringe with fear of the title, look at you as if you've said something inappropriate (probably even insulting), and they get goosebumps. :glee:

[Kolmogorov]

I work in a multinational hitech company and fortunately di uso ang tawagan ng sir o maam ke pinoy o expat ang mga managers. Though ang tendency pag medyo may edad na yung manager (or kahit rank and file basta mukhang may edad na) eh kinakabitan ng Sir o Miss sa pangalan pero di naman nila ni-rerequire yun. Nakasanayan lang talaga.

In my experience, Pinoy managers tend to be highly administrative though di ko naman sila masisisi, while some expat managers are more technical. It's either di na updated yung skill set nila relevant to their areas and puro management skills na lang yung focus nila. Pero ayoko rin naman ng sobrang technical.

[Blue Zoo]

I agree that an expat is generally more effective as a manager in the Phils. I hate seeing it but I believe employees simply listen more to foreigners than a local boss. Perhaps it's because not many Filipinos know what to expect from a foreign boss so they behave more.

Just in my experience alone, I constantly hear stories about how they (employees) want to leave early or skip a day because their kid has a party, they gotta pick someone up from the airport, their mom is in town, etc. The funny thing is, the non-Filipino manager (who is my equal) doesn't hear half the stories I do. I guess employees figure that, as a Filipino, I would understand their desire to skip out of work.

But I guess it works both ways because, when I manage a foreign team, they seem not to know what to make of me either.

[drei221]

i also work in a multinational company and i prefer expat managers. yung mga
pinoy kasi pataasan ng ihi, tapos akala mo magaling pretending din naman. in my experience, expat managers are more relaxed and has no biase among their subbordinates. walang bata-bata, ipo-promote yung deserving hindi yung may kapit sa taas.

[joshua69]

Para sa akin, depende...me mga Filipino managers na rin naman na effective na sa *****......i would say before kc, walang masyadong books and seminars on how to effectively lead/manage people......

let's wait some years pa...not sure kung ilan pa....pero we are improving rin naman......ang kalaban kc natin dito eh kultura......mahirap baguhin ang kultura.....pero pwede pa rin...

why dont we think on how are we going to emulate *** mga good traits ng expats instead i down pa natin lalo *** mga filipino managers/leaders...

without knowing....utak talangka rin tong ginagawa natin....*** thread hindi maganda...masyadong negative...

baguhin na lang natin.....

How to develop the leaders within you?...he he he...parang libro yata to ha!!
hmmm..forgot the name of the author....maxwell yata he he

[povi_23]

para sa akin it depends, but with my current boss right now, who happens to be pinoy, ugh! puhleaze!!! he is like a death wish waiting to happen...i hate him to the very core of the word!!!i really despise him!!!

[wirehead]

umm...depende. there are things that expat bosses will never understand. there are a lot of terrible things that pinoy bosses are infamous for like yung crab mentality and the totally dirty politics but SOMETIMES expats have a tendency to behave or live like colonial masters. di naman abusive or anything pero it's something i feel sometimes. minsan din nababalitaan ko yung pagwawaldas nila ng pera ng kumpanya.

minsan din dahil clueless sila sa mga ugali ng mga pinoy may possibility na madili silang mauto.

of course, generally mabait sila and okay talaga pagdating sa work. baka hindi lang sila masyadong namumulitika because of the cultural/language barrier o baka di lang natin alam kung ano nangyayari between their fellow expats.

regarding the use of titles, last year pa naimplement formally yung paggamit namin ng first names when addressing each other. before nito, mga pinoys na vp level up lang ang sini-sir/mam namin pero kahit nagpapatawag na sila by their given/nickname, di ko pa rin maatim na hindi mag-mam/sir sa mga execs na talagang ginagalang ko. kahit kailangan namin magbigay ng piso tuwing magmam-mam/sir kami. ewan ko, pero yung mga expat kahit kelan parang di bagay i-sir/mam.

[circa]

An Expat Manager is better of a Pinoy. Trust me. Most Pinoy Managers have a "Talanka" mentality.

Not all but many, most of the time kasi you get promoted by who you know rather than what you know & can do. if many co. do this it may sum up why our country going you know where...

An expat kasi hindi ka na mag sir or mam you can call them by first name.
some pinoys din pero very few. many are engrossed by their ego & position.

a good expat supported by budget allocation will provide your work related needs & will not question the length of your vacation as it is your fundamental right.

[Assassin_Mage]

whether a flip or a foreigner, it is all the same..

there are good flip managers.. and there are good foreign managers..
there are bad flip managers and there are bad foreign managers...

I guess it really depends on the context.
sometime foreigners just seem good cause most of the times, since they are here in the philippines, they really dont know much about the culture and always have to watch their toes.

case in view..
I have worked with filipino managers who were deemed to be bad managers by their filipino staff.. but when transferred abroad, was well loved by his foreign staff.

I have also worked with foreign managers hated by their countrymates but were well loved here in the philippines.

so there are contexts to the argument really

[Assassin_Mage]

whether a flip or a foreigner, it is all the same..

there are good flip managers.. and there are good foreign managers..
there are bad flip managers and there are bad foreign managers...

I guess it really depends on the context.
sometime foreigners just seem good cause most of the times, since they are here in the philippines, they really dont know much about the culture and always have to watch their toes.

case in view..
I have worked with filipino managers who were deemed to be bad managers by their filipino staff.. but when transferred abroad, was well loved by his foreign staff.

I have also worked with foreign managers hated by their countrymates but were well loved here in the philippines.

so there are contexts to the argument really

[autogenerated]

hmmm.........

[SUX2BÜ]

People need more compassionate bosses -- expat bosses, hands down.

:)

[autogenerated]

If you could read the Dell Call center case, expat bosses made an excellent job in addressing all employee issues. And guess what, their primary source of information is PinoyExchange. They are reading the posts in English while the tagalog posts were translated by a trusted Filipino staff.

[cashwriters]

Your question is quite broad. There's no one absolute answer--it might depend on the industry, the labor pool mix, how big the company is, etc etc. I can only share observations based on my own company's experience. I am Filipino-American and own my own BPO company here in Metro Manila. Given the fact that we've grown over 50 times in such a short period of time, I would think that Pinoys perform as well under a fellow Pinoy (although I grew up in the US) as under a European/Japanese/American expat. It helps tremendously that I am fluent in Tagalog and can relate well with my employees/suppliers. I am also a very flexible employer. Regardless, I expect results and my people deliver. I couldn't care less if people called me "Sir" or not, I only care that they hit production/quality targets consistently. Nothing pleases me more than when I pay my employees a lot extra when they hit "bonus" production targets. So far, this method of management has paid off well.

Bottomline, when it comes to business, a good manager, regardless of race, should be able to reach his employees and figure out what are the proper incentives to let them do their best. In my opinion, its not strict structures or being called "Sir" or having your butt kissed or having lame office power structure rituals but paying them extra (on a tier level) for hitting certain production/quality goals. This element is the deciding factor whether the company makes money or goes "lugi". For the most part, I've noticed that Pinoys react better to incentives than just being trapped in a hierarchical low wage structure as evidenced by my employees' stories to me about how glad they are that I offer extra cash for relatively easy to reach production goals. I also allow people to dress casually. No need for slacks or collared shirts. Definitely no suits or barongs (lol!). I believe in one thing: If you work hard, I employ you. If you work harder, better, smarter, and faster, I pay you MUCH MUCH MORE. It's all about adding value! If an employee adds REAL VALUE to the company consistently, the employer would be STUPID not to pay that employee more or promote that person. That's how I think. Other companies probably differ. I can live with that.

[aussiepugo]

Like the saying goes, "its not what you know but who you know". .

Naalala ko tuloy yung isa kong lecturer sa AGSM. He's a Scotsman. Sa kanila daw "it's not what you know. It's not who you know either. It's what you know about who you know" :rotflmao: :rotflmao: :rotflmao:

[aussiepugo]

Like the saying goes, "its not what you know but who you know". .

Naalala ko tuloy yung isa kong lecturer sa AGSM. He's a Scotsman. Sa kanila daw "it's not what you know. It's not who you know either. It's what you know about who you know" :rotflmao: :rotflmao: :rotflmao:

[XTRANS]

expat na kabisado nya ang filipino at asian business culture......magaling. kung 'manager' talaga siya, alam nya paano paikutin ang negosyo, makilaro sa mga tao, mamulitika, etc.
expat na walang alam sa filipino business culture..... naku.... puro problema abutin nya sa negosyo at mga tauhan nya. The practice in his country of origin would not be the same as the practice in the Philippines.
Filipino managers? They're good and competent as well but mostly our kapwa pilipino would tend to prefer expat managers. Rason? Colonial mentality na walang kamatayan.

[Kent_210]

Micromanagement is the forte of most of Filipino Managers.

[urge23]

Not all expats... American gives higher yearly salary increase compared to a Filipino. Nag increase nga yong salary ko dahil sa American na manager... was back to a Filipino so expect that the increase is not really an increase... di naman sa kanila yong pera but I wonder why they don't want it to share to their employees... Best pa rin yong American ang boss mo...

Was under a Filipino, American then now Spanish and same lang na company.
Yong Spanish, ayaw ng overtime, di daw common sa Spain ang overtime so have to render OT now but OfferTime.

[kc5169]

i'm taking it that the expats win this question.

[kc5169]

In the US, I have encountered all the different types of managers. But my favorite kinds are the ones that let you do your own job without breathing down your neck. Those are the ones i perform bettr under. Cause they let me be myself, put less stress on me. The micro managers seem to just make me mad, but i learn to work with them, but try to avoid them.

[floreno]

Not all expats... American gives higher yearly salary increase compared to a Filipino. Nag increase nga yong salary ko dahil sa American na manager... was back to a Filipino so expect that the increase is not really an increase... di naman sa kanila yong pera but I wonder why they don't want it to share to their employees... Best pa rin yong American ang boss mo...

Was under a Filipino, American then now Spanish and same lang na company.
Yong Spanish, ayaw ng overtime, di daw common sa Spain ang overtime so have to render OT now but OfferTime.

This just to show that your Filipino Bosses ay "Nagpapaimpress" lang sa mga Expat Bosses ninyo....Syempre pag less expenses lang ang nairereport ng Filipino boss mo sa Expat boss nyo...syempre mas mabango....although me budget na nakalaan...

Ganito sa office namin ngayon....be budget pero tinitipid pa rin.. :bop: