Articles, essays, and talks of Rey Lugtu

(Speech delivered before the National Association of Independent Travel Agencies – Philippines, Inc. (NAITAS) General Membership Meeting, March 31, 2006)

(Interview with Prof. Reynaldo Lugtu, Jr, by Sam L. Marcelo, Special Features Writer, BusinessWorld for the Corporate Wireless Business Solutions supplement, March 2006) BW: In your article "TheEmerging Mobile Workforce", you said that "some employees may abuse the newfound freedom from mobility, and instead spend their time away from the workplace on personal matters." Isn't it that output of employees is more important than howmuch time they spend at the workplace? Used to be, the bundy clockplayed a role in paying employees-- with mobile/wi-fi technology (andflexible hours) how should performance be judged? Would you say thatas long as employees deliver, how much time they spend at theworkplace is irrelevant? Prof Rey Lugtu: Much of the mobile workforce right now are working as marketing and sales professionals, consultants, technical support, and other business executives that need to visit clients and business partners. Measuring the performace of such wo...

(Published in the Manila Standard Today under the Greenlight Column, March 13, 2006) Manny Pacquiao was pegged a 10-8 underdog in the Las Vegas sports book betting windows a week before his rematch fight against Erik Morales; and this after Pacquiao was pegged the 7-5 choice earlier. As the fight neared, the odds became even until more bettors placed their wager on Pacquiao on the day of the fight itself, making him a 10-9 favorite. True enough, more bettors got their winnings as Pacquiao kayoed Morales. Wise Crowds The collective wisdom of the bettors, despite the vacillating odds, turned out to predict the winner in the historic boxing fight. This crowd of diverse bettors, as James Surowiecki put it in his book “Wisdom of Crowds”, is “remarkably intelligent”, and is “often smarter than the smartest people in them” under the right circumstances. Surowiecki argues that “four conditions characterize wise crowds: diversity of opinion (each person should have some private information, ev...