Thesis (Master in Management) -- University of the Philippines Mindanao, June 2017

Mindanao is home to 15 tribes of indigenous people. At present, Mindanao Lumads account for 2.1 million out of the total 6.5 million indigenous people nationally (1993 Cencus, NCCA 2015). Each tribe has its own distinct culture, tradition, and crafts that separates them from other tribes. The municipality of Upi is home to one of such tribes ? the Tedurays. As the only indigenous tribes in Maguindanao, they have developed their own unique crafts. In Upi, the Upi Women?s Federation, a non-stock, non-profit organization, helps uplift the living conditions of marginalized women, Teduray women included, by creating opportunities and providing livelihood assistance. Various on-going projects are mostly funded by the Local Government of Upi. These include egg-layering, Cut-flower propagation, backyard gardening, rubber production, handicraft making, etc. this study focused on the handicraft making project of the Federation as most of the programs identified by the Local Development Council of Upi were geared towards assisting the Federation in this particular endeavor. Majority of the residents of the town are indigenous people of Central Mindanao. The integration of cultural tourism in promoting the town and attracting investors have shifted the concerns of the local planners to preserve the culture and traditions, and at the same time stir the economic activity, increase sustainability thereby making a self-reliant community. The challenge now is for the Federation to provide the production requirements for high quality products and the suitable marketing channels for indigenous crafts. Meetings were conducted and focus group discussions were among the methods undertaken. Personal interviews were also conducted. Primary data collection came from treasurer?s record books, notebooks, minutes of meeting, logbook, etc. these records were reconstructed to be able to picture out the most possible historical data. Secondary data came from the website of government offices and previous studies on handicraft business. Upon careful analysis of the Federation?s ongoing practices and internal environment, a thorough discussion of the organization?s strength and weaknesses are presented in this paper. It was observed that people skills and natural talent are attributes that should be looked into to effectively implement the interventions suggested here. Drastic changes should be implemented, starting from organizational strengthening to human resource development, to product development, and to marketing strategies suitable for their products. The organization will not survive sans the help of outside source i.e. the Local Government of Upi. Hence, the researcher has come up with the proposed changes to improve the operations, organization, and marketing strategies of the Federation.