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A Project Assignment On
A Four Day Foreign Affair Week

In Partial Fulfillment Of The Requirements
For Quantitative Methods (MSC530M)

Submitted To:
Professor Dennis Berino

Submitted By:
Bruce Borres
Diane Grace Abueg Carumay
Earl Teodoro Escareal

November 4, 2014 I. COMPANY BACKGROUND AND THE CURRENT SITUATION

Company Background

• Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA)

The DFA is an executive department of the Philippine government tasked to contribute to the enhancement of national security and the protection of the territorial integrity and national sovereignty, participate in the national endeavor of sustaining development and enhancing the Philippines' competitive edge, protect the rights and promote the welfare of Filipinos overseas and mobilize them as partners in national development, project a positive image of the Philippines, as well as increase international understanding of Philippine culture for mutually beneficial relations with other countries.

The history of the Republic of the Philippines (RP) and that of the DFA are intertwined. The important events marking the passage of the years at the Department are also milestones in the rise of the Philippines as an independent nation.

Over one hundred years ago, the DFA had its auspicious beginnings when President Emilio Aguinaldo appointed Apolinario Mabini as the Republic's first Secretary of Foreign Affairs on 23 June 1898, eleven days after the declaration of Philippine independence at Kawit, Cavite. The DFA was among the first government departments created following the establishment of the First Philippine Republic. Realizing the need for international recognition of the new government, Aguinaldo assigned Mabini the difficult task of establishing diplomatic relations with friendly countries.

After the country regained independence from foreign rule and occupation, including full control of foreign affairs and diplomatic matters, on 4 July 1946, Commonwealth Act No. 732 was passed creating the Department of Foreign Affairs. Shortly thereafter, President Manuel Roxas issued on September 16 of that year Executive Order No. 18 providing for the organization and operation of the DFA and the Foreign Service. The main tasks of the DFA then were to assist in post-war rehabilitation, formulate policies for investment promotion, and establish diplomatic relations with other countries.

Realizing the importance of foreign relations, President Elpidio Quirino in June 1952 pushed for the passage of the Foreign Service Act of 1952, embodied in Republic Act No. 708. During the post-war period, the DFA focused on institution building, closer engagement with Asian neighbors, and increasing Philippine global linkages. In 1953, Secretary Raul S. Manglapus instituted the Foreign Affairs Officers examination (now Foreign Service Officers examination) to professionalize the Foreign Service and improve the recruitment and selection of new FSOs.

Throughout the 1970s, the DFA pursued the promotion of trade and investments, played an active role in hosting international meetings, and participated in the meetings of the Non-Aligned Movement. The Foreign Service Institute was created in 1976 to provide in-house training to Foreign Service personnel.

In 1991, President Aquino signed into law the new Foreign Service Act of 1991 (R.A. 7157), which reorganized the Department along geographic lines and strengthened the Foreign Service. It instituted a Career Minister Eligibility Examination as a requirement for promotion of senior FSOs to the rank of Career Ministers, thereby ensuring the professional selection of those who would eventually rise to the level of career ambassadors.

The Migrant Workers and Overseas Filipinos Act of 1995 (R.A. 8042) provided a framework for stronger protection of Filipino workers abroad, with the creation of the Legal Assistance Fund and the Assistance-to-Nationals Fund, and the designation in the DFA of a Legal Assistant for Migrant Workers' Affairs, with the rank of Undersecretary of Foreign Affairs.

To date - with a budget of Php 12.1 for 2014 (per the Department of Budget and Management or DBM) - the DFA provides various consular services such as issuance of passports, Visa and travel cards, as well as authentication and a consular records section. It provide the available services from Mondays through Fridays, from 8:00 AM to 5:00 PM. On certain occasions, even on holidays and weekends, depending on the requirement. Its main office is currently situated at 2330 Roxas Boulevard, Pasay City.

• Civil Service Commission (CSC)

Another government agency is the Civil Service Commission (CSC). It is a government agency which deals with civil service matters and conflict resolution, is tasked with the responsibility of overseeing the integrity of government actions and processes. The way it works is similar to that of a human resource (HR) department in corporations, except that it’s for government bodies.

It was formally established under Public Law No. 5 ("An Act for the Establishment and Maintenance of Our Efficient and Honest Civil Service in the Philippine Island") in 1900 by the Second Philippine Commission. A Civil Service Board was created composed of a Chairman, a Secretary and a Chief Examiner. The Board administered civil service examinations and set standards for appointment in government service. It was reorganized into a Bureau in 1905.

The 1935 Philippine Constitution firmly established the merit system as the basis for employment in government. In 1959, Republic Act 2260, otherwise known as the Civil Service Law, was enacted. This Act converted the Bureau of Civil Service into the Civil Service Commission with department status.

In 1975, Presidential Decree No. 807 (The Civil Service Decree of the Philippines) redefined the role of the Commission as the central personnel agency of government. Its present mandate is derived from Article IX-B of the 1987 Constitution which was given effect through Book V of Executive Order No. 292 (The 1987 Administrative Code). The Code essentially reiterates existing principles and policies in the administration of the bureaucracy and recognizes, for the first time, the right of government employees to self-organization and collective negotiations under the framework of the 1987 Constitution.

The Current Situation

As part of its function, the CSC had recently launched M.C. No. 22, s. 2014 or what is known as the adoption of a four (4) day work week in government agencies in Metro Manila. The 4 day work week will allow participating government bodies to shorten the number of days worked from 5 to 4, but lengthening each work day by two (2) hours (ending the day at 7:00 PM) in order to ensure that at least forty (40) hours of work per week is still rendered. Though voluntary, a government body must meet the following requirements before adopting such an option:

• Its front line services may be accessed by the public on line • Has a one stop shop • Has a functional communications center • Has baseline data on the agencies overall performance

All of the above, the DFA has. However, due to the nature of its work, the said schedule may not be suitable. Hence, questions come to mind such as (but not limited to):

• Should the DFA adopt such a change to their work week schedule? • What is the outlook of the company on the matter? • What potential negative effects may such changes have on it? • Is there any advantage to the DFA adopting a 4 day work week?

II. INITIAL ANALYSIS AND DETERMINATION OF REQUIRED INFORMATION

Initial Analysis

To gain further understanding of this study, an analysis of the following will be done:

• A Trend Analysis of the processing and issuances of passports

The objective is to show how much passports are processed and issued at a given time, being one of the DFA’s primary services, as well as create a reasonable estimate utilizing an applicable and valid forecasting method. It should show the probable number of passport processing and issuance which may be affected should the 4 day work week schedule is implemented by next year (2015).

To do the forecast, the following information will be required:

- Number of passports processed anywhere from a month to a year - A set of years wherein passports have been processed and issued

• An Executive Opinion of the viability of the 4 day work week

The objective is to see if the new work schedule of the 4 day is applicable on the operations of the DFA as a whole, not just on the processing and issuance of passports. Using the information garnered from a more or less reliable or sound forecast may be made.

To do the forecast, the following information will be required:

- A survey to garner input - Inputs from various department heads within the organization

• A SWOT Analysis of the 4 day work week

The objective is to establish the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats in having such a work week schedule. Therefore, assisting further in making a conclusion.

III. DATA COLLECTION

With the data gathering complete, the results are as follows for the passports processed and issued for five (5) consecutive years:

Reporting Year: Passports (in millions):

2010 2.4 2011 2.6 2012 2.8 2013 2.7 2014 2.7

As for the executive opinions of each of the department heads, the following results have been garnered:

List of organizational departments and their respective responses:

Office of the Secretary (OSEC) - No Office of the Undersecretary for Administration (OUA) - No Office of the Undersecretary for International Economic Relations (OUIER) - Yes Office of the Undersecretary for Migrant Workers Affairs (OUMWA) - No Office of the Undersecretary for Policy (OUP) - No Office of the Undersecretary for Civilian Security and Consular Concerns (OUSCC) - No

IV. ANALYSIS AND INTERPRETATION OF DATA UTILIZING QUANTITATIVE AND QUALITATIVE METHODS

Utilizing the data gathered, the following analysis has been made (for better understanding of both the Trend Analysis and Executive Opinion, see the Appendix):

• Trend Analysis

It can be assumed that, by using a Trend Analysis, about 2.85 million passports can be expected to be processed and issued by the year 2015. As the resulting trend suggests, the amount of passports will increase as the years go by. The estimated increase that can be expected every year is, more or less, two percent (2%) of the prior. Using the said interpretation of the regression line, by the year 2020, about 3.2 million passports can be expected to be processed and issued.

Since the amount of passports to be processed and issued will be increasing for the years to come, it can be concluded that the 4 day work week will not apply, as more time and effort will be required by the DFA to accommodate such.

• Executive Opinion

Five (5) out of six (6) offices responded “No.” Hence, it can also be concluded that most of the processes done by the DFA, as well as its employees will be negatively affected by the change. Only one (1) agreed to the 4 day work week to be applicable since they regularly finish late, mostly undergoing overtime, so having an extra day off would be beneficial.

• SWOT Analysis

- Strengths

Having a 4 day work week, the DFA can expect to lower costs, in terms of utilities, meals and/or transportation. In addition, a change in the schedule of work will also allow for a better redistribution of work between its employees and departments they are with. With a longer weekend, an employee’s performance, engagement and morale will improve, allowing them to have a better work-life balance. Such are the strengths that can be expected from such a move.

- Weaknesses

But it is not without weakness. As the work hours become longer, the employee’s performance, engagement and morale can suffer and degrade, as the stress of working straight long hours takes its toll, most especially when meeting deadlines. It can also significantly reduce the compensation and benefits of the employee since there are only 4 days to work on, hence one absence would result in a significant reduction in pay. The same can be said for saving in costs, as the organization will still work on a 40 hour per week basis. Considering the cumulative negative effects on the employee, the costs can even increase significantly, as opposed to being reduced.

- Opportunities

Yet there are various opportunities which may arise with it. A 4 day work week may contribute to lessening the volume of traffic within the country or, more specifically, Metro Manila. Also, with the DFA being able to reduce costs within its organization means that a reduction in the yearly budget may be made, therefore potentially lowering the country’s spending and help in improving the value of the peso. Another would be the promotion of work life balance outside the organization and set an example for brethren countries within Asia. Last, but not the least, improvements in technology may also make work flow smoother and easier to finish, further strengthening its implementation as costs are even more likely to go down because of such.

- Threats

However, different clients (namely the local and foreign masses) have different needs, as well as schedule adherences and may not agree with the 4 day work week. Also, being a tropical country within the planet’s belt of fire, the environment may not be so forgiving ass storms may come and go, as well as earthquakes and volcanic eruptions. Accidents, health and criminal can also increase further negative impacts. These are just some of the direct threats which can make a 4 day work week inefficient.

V. ETHICAL CONSIDERATIONS

Though the 4 day work week has its benefits, there also are significant ethical considerations that should be addressed before its implementation. These are (but not limited to):

• New schedule scheme affects the whole Filipino population and their businesses, therefore may reduce bank and other partner transactions during non - working day which in effect will decrease cash flow in the market.

• New scheme is contrary to international labor laws, one of which mainly requires that the normal working hours shall not be more than 8 hours to protect the employee.

• If it will be implemented, it may pave way for private sectors to adopt the same system where it could be abused by employers to cut on labor costs. Although the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) earlier announced that work-arrangement could also be voluntarily enforced by companies in the private sector, but on the condition they should seek government permission before its implementation.

VI. LIMITATIONS AND CONCLUSION

Limitations

Much of the data used in the analysis of the processing and issuance of passports are historical in nature, hence do not represent an assurance of the behavior of the future. As for the method used, only one (1) was utilized - Trend Analysis – and other methods may yield different results. Furthermore, the number of passports to be processed and issued in 2014 is not yet final and that the 2.7 million amount is the estimate by the end of the year. In fact, to support this limitation, the DFA’s estimate for 2015 is at 3.2 million passports.

In reference to the Executive Opinion, the data was mostly based on the inputs and estimates of each department executives and their employees. Hence, leading to the possibility that part of the data gathered may be subjective, instead of being objective in nature. Add to the fact that there is no historical data available for any and/or all government bodies in the Philippines being ever able to put a 4 day work week into effect for a significant period of time.

Conclusion

The proposed 4 day work week is not applicable to the DFA. Considering its relations with other countries and the amount of other work it does in addition to the processing and issuance of passports, shortening the week may not allow it to function efficiently. Even on holidays and weekends, the organization is pushed to work on finishing up remaining tasks such as left over passports, foreign mediation and representation, as well as other consular duties. Not to mention seasonal spikes and drops in tourism and other factors affecting the entry and exit of individuals in the Philippines.

VII. APPENDIX

For the determination of the trend, the following guide can be used as a reference:

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In addition, further insights upon garnering the opinion of each of the DFA’s department executive were also given (thus helping with forming the conclusion):

• Majority of line offices deals with the public and diplomats daily • Many employees live far from the DFA (e.g. Cavite, Quezon City and Laguna) • Staff would still likely report office on Monday or Friday as their officers will still do so and require such as well, considering that there are deadlines and other tasks to be met • Many employees feel that they don’t have anything to do on the spare day • Some employees are enrolled in schools, seminars and trainings that usually starts at night (e.g. a 6-9:00 PM schedule)

VIII. REFERENCES

ABS CBN News Channel (https://anc.yahoo.com/)
Civil Service Commission (http://web.csc.gov.ph/cscsite2/)
Department of Budget and Management (http://www.dbm.gov.ph/)
Department Of Foreign Affairs (http://www.dfa.gov.ph/)
GMA News Network (http://www.gmanetwork.comm/news/)
Manila Bulletin (http://www.mb.com.ph/)
Manila Times (http://www.manilatimes.net/)
Philippine Daily Inquirer (http://www.inquirer.net/)
Philippine Star (http://www.philstar.com/)
Wikipedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Main_Page)