Ayala Corporation as a diversified firm: Sustainability through the practices of a learning visionary company

• Main Authors: Agcaoili, Roxanne Grace S., Carunungan, Mark Xavier T., Collantes, Marie Catherine T., Lui, Jan Michael R., Mercado, Ace Le Art A.
• Format: text
• Language: English
• Published: Animo Repository 2010
• Subjects: Leadership; Industrial management; Strategic planning; Technological innovations > Management; Organizational change; Success in business; Entrepreneurship
• Online Access: https://animorepository.dlsu.edu.ph/etd_bachelors/14519
• Institution: De La Salle University

This thesis is a descriptive case study that discusses how being a learning visionary company like Ayala Corporation, the Philippines' oldest conglomerate with various businesses in retail, real estate, banking, telecommunications, electronics, information technology, water infrastructure, management, and business process outsourcing industries, helped it to become profitable and sustainable. In this paper, business diversification refers to the company's usage of existing and new combinations of resources to widen or expand the firm's business activities into industries or ventures that are related to its competence and opportunity sets (Burgelman, 1983). On the other hand, sustainability is measured by the number of years it has been in operation while profitability is measured by the firm's ability to generate profit from its operations. As derived from the studies may be De Geus, Collins, and Porras, a learning visionary company is one that has: the ability to preserve its core identity, principles, and values the ability to adapt to the changes in its environment and innovate and the ability to practice conservative financing. Qualitative and quantitative data gathered from 1990-2009, in the form of corporate milestones or events, interviews, and financial records were used to illustrate how the contribution of its subsidiaries and the three major subsidiaries of Ayala Corporation's helped the company become profitable and sustainable. The three major subsidiaries of Ayala Corporation used as examples are Ayala Land, Inc., Globe Telecom, Inc., and Bank of the Philippine Islands. Furthermore, the paper tackled about how Ayala's competitive advantage is not only driven by its diversification strategy but also with its ability to preserve its core, ability to practice conservative financing, and its ability to initiate innovation.