Sustaining excellence in spirit-led organization: Diwa-kapwa ethos in transition
To excel in the personal care business, a company must take care of its people first. Spurred by this belief, Splash Corporation grew and emerged as a global distributor of personal care products. In 2021, Wipro Splash Corporation was chosen Employer of the Year by the People Management Association of the Philippines (PMAP), noting: “Since its inception three decades past, the company made a conscious decision to include in its vision a People First philosophy, targeting 100 percent of employees from top-to-bottom and across the board, to be engaged not only in areas affecting themselves and the enterprise community but equally, the business of the company.”
Decades ago, I had the opportunity to facilitate a strategic planning and teambuilding workshop for Splash Corporation and witnessed first-hand the dynamism and dedication of its people to their business, customers, and families.
My colleague Edgardo ‘Ed’ Soriano has delved into what drives the management and people of Splash Corporation, given its genesis and evolution from a backyard enterprise in 1985 into a multinational enterprise now helmed by an India-based conglomerate.
Splash Corporation carries leading brands in skin whitening, exfoliants, specialized hair solutions, hair coloring and anti-bacterial categories like Skinwhite, Maxi-peel, Vitress, Kolours and Hygienix. These products are used in over 30 countries through its distributors and local exporters, including Australia, Bahrain, Brunei, Canada, Hong Kong, Japan, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Myanmar, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Singapore, Taiwan, United Arab Emirates, United Kingdom and the United States.
Dr. Rolando B. Hortaleza founded and shepherded Splash’s phenomenal growth. Their family business, Hortaleza Vaciador, was in the business of sharpening nippers, scissors and the like, while selling beauty products to small beauty parlors and manicurists rendering house-to-house service. After finishing medical residency, he opted to go into business full-time by setting up Splash Cosmetics, joined by his wife Rosalinda Ang.
Learning-by-doing and relying on customer feedback were the twin pathways that he treaded. Ed Soriano relates:
“In 1989 he introduced Maxipeel, that together with another brand, Skin White, enabled him to hit gold and make his first billion. What followed is now history. He renamed the company Splash Manufacturing Corporation in 1991 and put in the necessary management infrastructure to run the operations professionally.
“In 2019, he received an irresistible offer from a global consumer care company with operations in 19 countries and product distributorships in 60 countries. While Splash was already marketing its products in SEA, RBH felt that selling out was the best for the company and its employees. Being an entrepreneur at heart, it was not so difficult for him to let go, knowing that the company has reached a level of maturity that would enable it to survive a new chapter. Wipro Consumer Care acquired 100 percent of the company’s shares but made a firm commitment to perpetuate the company’s People First philosophy.”
Interviewed by Business Mirror, Dr. Hortaleza explained why he decided to relinquish ownership and control of Splash: “I needed a break. I wanted to focus on my health and wellness. I did a lot of sports and trekked to different sites in the Philippines with…friends. I also tried Pilates, worked out five times a week, and went to pursue a healthy lifestyle.” Evidently, he was in quest of an alternative lifestyle, a gentler and kinder pace.
As chronicled by Ed Soriano, Dr. Hortaleza’s business philosophy at Splash was firmly anchored on core values: Spirituality, Community, and Excellence: “(Splash) is one of the few companies to declare faith in the Almighty (in) recognition of the inherent religiosity of the Filipino. The intention is not to promote religion per se but to highlight that deep faith and a sense of spirituality can serve as inspiration for employees to find deeper meaning in their lives and to live their purpose with integrity and goodness. This is the inspiration behind the Spirit of Wipro. It is what gives the company direction and a clear sense of purpose.”
Wipro Splash Corporation’s recognition as Employer of the Year was achieved barely two years after the Hortaleza divestment.
Ed Soriano reflects on the transitional challenges facing Wipro Splash:
“In a conversation with Arun Giridhar, Splash country COO, about what could potentially be the best Philippine export to the other Wipro countries, he spontaneously replied in a most confident and self-assured tone - “spirituality”. Not a deeply religious person, but a firm believer of spirituality, Arun is impressed by the Filipino employees’ deep belief in the Almighty. He acknowledges that the culture of respect, cooperation, collaboration in seeking solutions and opportunities are stronger in spirit-led organizations.
“Despite the pandemic, Wipro Splash Corporation exceeded its revenue targets in 2021 and continues to produce banner results. This is a testament to how the Diwa-kapwa ethos manifested in the culture of malasakit is inspiring employees to close ranks as a community to pursue the company’s profitability goals with candor and to assure all stakeholders a happy reward for their spiritual capital investment.”
“The experience of Splash Corporation as a Diwa-kapwa company is a testament that an organization can be successful in pursuing a sustainable run both as a business and a social enterprise. Profit and social responsibility are not incongruent, they are complementary. Wipro in recent years, in fact, has put more emphasis on its social commitment in the belief that the returns would be much more than if the company only pursued profit relentlessly. The convergence of support or display of malasakit by the community of passionate stakeholders in good or bad times is the fuel that fires the company’s operating engine.
“On a higher plane, the beacon that drives the Spirit of Wipro is the deep sense of spirituality, a faith in a Higher Being who is responsible for making all things possible. The belief is given wider application that is not limited to aspects of religion; it encompasses matters pertaining to the tenets of spirituality (i.e., meaning, value, transcendence, connecting & becoming) alongside the virtues of respect, caring & sharing and gratefulness in both intentions and actual deeds. The concepts of Diwa and Kapwa are ethos that are inherently Filipino and readily accessible to companies willing to contribute to enriching their value in actual practice.”