Iloilo City ranks among world’s four top-performing organizations
IT was just last year when thousands of residents in this city found themselves on rooftops with a desperate cry for help after being ravaged by the worst flooding in its history. Now, Iloilo City has been earning accolades for its inspiring turnaround story.
Iloilo City was recently ranked one of the four top-performing organizations in the world by the Palladium Group, Inc., a global organization that helps organizations make better decisions through the adoption of the Balanced Scorecard (BSC) model developed in Harvard.
In addition to Iloilo City, also elevated to the Palladium Balanced Scorecard Hall of Fame for Executing Strategy™ were: Dongwha Enterprises (South Korea), Kiwibank (New Zealand), and the Korean Customs Service (South Korea). The Hall of Fame award honors “breakthrough business results” by organizations that have achieved business excellence through the use of the BSC, the world’s preeminent performance management system.
The Institute for Solidarity in Asia (ISA), an advocacy organization for good governance, partnered with Iloilo City in using the BSC to help improve public accountability and promote responsible citizenship and economic and social development. Since its adoption, citizen satisfaction has risen 15%, manufacturing capitalization has expanded fourfold, and National Achievement Test results in the City’s public schools were up 20%.
“The BSC has enabled us to clearly communicate strategy and align our workforce through a common language and shared objectives, measures, targets, and initiatives,” said Mayor Treñas who led Iloilo City officials in the induction ceremony at the 2009 Palladium Asia-Pacific (APAC) Summit in Jakarta, Indonesia. The Palladium Group announced the results in a press statement from Jakarta and Boston, Massachusetts on Oct. 5.
“The process has helped make our city vibrant, well-governed, and prosperous, establishing a roadmap for Iloilo to achieve even more as a Premier City by 2015,” the Mayor added.
Founded in 2000, the BSC Hall of Fame program today has a roster of 128 honorees that span the private and public sectors in more than 20 countries, including Hilton Hotels, Infosys Technologies, Motorola, Ricoh Corporation, and the Singapore Ministry of Manpower. Winners are selected based on the quality of their BSC implementation and the results they demonstrate over a period of at least two years.
In the Philippines, the Institute for Solidarity in Asia (ISA), founded by former Finance Secretary Jesus P. Estanislao, pioneered the adoption of the BSC in public governance. It uses the Performance Governance System (PGS), a strategic management tool that enables entire communities such as Iloilo City to channel their energies, abilities and knowledge to pursuing one path towards long-term development.
Apart from Iloilo City, other local organizations that follow the PGS are the City of San Fernando, Pampanga; Marikina City; Calbayog, Samar; Naga City; Municipality of Bani, Pangasinan; Balanga, Bataan; the Philippine Military Academy; and the nursing and accountancy professions.
