Nagkaisa as the 1st Super Coop. Frank H as the 1st Super GM

MANILA: Last month, when I came up with the idea of the Super Coops (see my "Super Coops of 2014," 30 October 2013, Nagkaisa, blogspot.com), that was a new chapter in my new & improved life as a crusader for coops that are designed to help the poor rise from poverty - and stay up there. That is through inclusive marketing, wherein the coop members enjoy all the values added in the entire farm value chain, which in fact begins with the seeds and ends, as may be the case, with the export of, say, a pinakbet (meat & vegetables) pack. The Super Coop is the marketer; all the members get richer as the coop gets richer.

The new logo of Nagkaisa was approved by the Board of Directors yesterday, 17 November 2013, as was my appointment as the General Manager. Surprise! GM, how do you like that? The GM of a young, ambitious, innovative, and level-headed 76-member multi-purpose coop (MPC). Never mind that the number of years in my age is almost equal to the number of members in my coop. If you ask me, age doesn't matter, if you know what matters. Along with Betty Friedan, I have discovered the Fountain of Age. (See my essay "Celebrating The Los Baños Esprit. Celebrating Life, Celebrating Age," 06 September 2013, The Los Baños Esprit, blogspot.com).

Truth to tell, I wasn't imagining being a GM of anything, only a Caped Crusader for Super Coops that operate on the concept of inclusive marketing, that includes the producers as middlemen themselves, and that includes export. My inclusive marketing has been inspired by inclusive market-oriented development (IMOD), a strategy invented by ICRISAT & Partners (see my latest essay on the subject, "Partnerships for Impact. ICRISAT's New Avatar of Inclusive Development," 12 November 2013, iCRiSAT Watch, blogspot.com). I want to thank again ICRISAT through its Director General William Dar, a Filipino from Ilocos Sur, for the concept of the IMOD, which is the very heart of a Super Coop.

That makes Nagkaisa the very first Super Coop by design. Even if we do not use the term "Super Coop" to refer to Nagkaisa, with the encouragement of Chair Roger Daranciang, Lito Sales and I we have just produced an 80-page volume of coop documents that comprise the Nagkaisa Business Plan, Manual of Instructions, Chart of Accounts, Credit Instruction Procedures, Grievance Committee Policies & Procedures, Election Guidelines, and Code of Ethics and Business Conduct. Much of it based on the personal experience of Lito, with sprinklings of information and inspiration coming from me. A compilation like that by the Vice Chair and the GM shows we mean business, serious business.

Indeed, we are thinking of 5 years ahead and dreaming of franchising our main coop and branch operations in Pangasinan and Metro Manila, among other markets. You cannot systematize your operations if you can't put down in writing your SOP.

Why do we believe sincerely that we will achieve our vision of Nagkaisa being the model of a multi-purpose coop (MPC) in Pangasinan in terms of especially helping the poor farmers rise from poverty - and lead improved and sustainable lives? Because we are determined to succeed and are not going to be detained by political maneuverings. The reality of politics rearing his (or her) ugly head is a given, but we don't operate on such givens, not a give & take like that. We know that when we meet obstacles along the way, if we are not able to dissolve them in peace, we will leave them to God and move on. We are going to work for the poor and not play politics, so help us God.

I learn that the GM is the CEO of the coop, and now from the By-Laws of Nagkaisa as an MPC, I'm reading intently each of the duties of the General Manager; here is the first and inclusive one:

Oversee the overall day-to-day business operations of the cooperative by providing general direction, supervision, management and administrative control over all the operating departments subject to such limitations as may be set forth by the BOD or the GA.

"General direction, supervision, management and administrative control," comprising 7 words, can simply be rewritten into just 1 word of 10 letters: Management. And having ghostwritten a book (first draft) on new & improved management, I have come to love what the Father of Modern Management Henri Fayol was advocating as the 6 functions of management as early as 1916 (mindtools.com):

(1) Forecasting 
(2) Planning
(3) Organizing
(4) Commanding
(5) Coordinating
(6) Controlling

But if you ask me now, even given those 6 functions pronounced by Fayol, I can further summarize management into a still shorter word: Sharing. The GM shares the load and the good.

"Subject to such limitations as may be set forth by the BOD or the GA" means the GM exercises power only as may be authorized by the Board of Directors (BOD) or by the General Assembly (GA). In other words, if he knows what's good for him and his coop, the GM knows he is the Servant Leader - he serves the people whom he leads.

The next listed duty of the GM is this:

Formulate and recommend in coordination with the operating departments under his/her supervision, the Cooperative’s Annual and Medium Term Development Plan, programs and projects, for approval of the BOD and ratification of the GA.

"Formulate ... the Cooperative's Annual and Medium Term Development Plan" – That means this new GM has his job cut out for him!

Since the GM is in fact the CEO of the cooperative, since we have conceptualized Nagkaisa to be an inclusive coop, the Philippines' first and probably the world's, that means I as CEO have to invent, initiate and implement a plan for the next 5 years, and then for the next 5.

We are determined to make Nagkaisa the first successful Super Coop in the country, even as we are counting on Senator Cynthia Villar to come up with the beginnings of a new law that will create 10,000 Super Coops all over the Philippine islands funded from the PhP 100 billion coco levy collection.

So, pardon me while I turn to forecasting, planning, organizing, commanding, coordinating, and controlling. It won't be easy. I doubt that the Asian Institute of Management teaches Fayol, so I'll just have to teach myself. And since I'm a certified teacher, that is nothing new to me. I have taught myself writing, editing, photography, publishing, and blogging. More to the point, I have studied management since I have had to ghostwrite the first draft of a new book on management, so I just know I will manage to learn to manage a Super Coop. I just have to remember that I am a Servant Leader.

Look at the image again. Can you see the birds? I saw the birds clearly; I see the future next.