Thesis (Master in Management) -- University of the Philippines Mindanao, July 2021

Matsuko Industrial Development Inc. (Matsuko) is one of the home-grown companies in Davao City under R.A. Hao Group of Companies (RAHGOC) commonly known as Southern Maligaya Taxi, Inc. (SMTI). Matsuko was established to originally support the repairs, maintenance, and machinery works of SMTI. The growth and development of other taxi companies in the city had urged Matsuko to make its products and services available to the market. As well as from an auto repair shop, Matsuko became a rubber products manufacturer. Matsuko is being challenged by the management to be financially independent of its mother company, SMTI, as it was the very purpose of introducing its products and services to the market. SMTI is Matsuko?s safety net in circumstances like when its cash is not enough to pay operating costs and expenses. Matsuko is a separate business entity and not just another department of SMTI. In this case, Matsuko should improve on its liquidity performance so it can operate with ease and be able to allocate the money it acquires from repairing and maintaining SMTI?s taxi units to growth projects. There is also a need to correct wrong procedures in the declaration of income and sales, and financial reports. The management finds internal control in accounting and finance challenging, this is one of the major causes of Matsuko's stunted growth. It is difficult for the management to decide if it will invest on business growth projects because reports are unreliable. Matsuko is yet to improve its operations in both service and manufacturing, steady its market leadership particularly in Mindanao, execute strategic ways in facing competition, and update its business processes and manufacturing operations and technologies. In order to compete, it needs to improve its cost, cash flow, and internal controls. In coming up with the best strategy for Matsuko, this paper adapted the strategic management model of Fred R. David (2007) as its primary roadmap. Fred David?s strategic management model presents a three-stage process which includes Strategy Formulation, Strategy Implementation, and Strategy Evaluation. David?s model also includes business ethics/social responsibility and global/international issues. However, for this paper, those were not included because the company is presently focusing on strategies that will improve internal operations. Presently, Matsuko is correcting all previous errors in the financial aspect of the business, the entity believes that it needs to make internal matters in order first before it can consider business ethics and social responsibility in its strategies. It is the same with global/international issues, for the three to five years? plan, the country is focused more on strengthening the business internally and reducing internal weaknesses. The techniques used in gathering data includes asking the approval of the management to use the company's existing data such as the audited financial statements, production monitoring reports, and inventory reports. The author and her colleagues in the sales/marketing department conducted a market survey to get the feedback of Matsuko's customers and clients based on criteria which include price, product/service quality, value, purchase experience, after purchase service, and delivery speed, timeliness, and satisfaction. A focused group discussion (FGD) was also conducted which allows for the identification of the company's external and internal factors. Representatives from manufacturing/auto repair operations, accounting/finance, and sales/marketing were invited to the said FGD. The different strategic options identified in Chapter 5 were evaluated for relative attractiveness base on the previously identified external and internal factors. This was done objectively through a strategic tool called Quantitative Strategic Planning Matrix (QSPM). Based on the WSPM, systems and process updating was found to the best strategy that can help Matsuko address its weaknesses and prepare the company to face threats among its competitors and other external factors. A well-structured organization should have a seamless processes and systems that are cascaded to the rest of the company and observe from top to bottom. Every process or system improvement would require investment and smooth transition. A well-planned implementation of any change should not disrupt the operation and should gain adoption and acceptance in all levels of the organization. Top management should champion the change and ensure that changes supports the company's growth and protect its competitive advantage over emerging business trends.