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THE global economy has had its fair share of a rollercoaster ride last year. The onset of the coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19) pandemic was swift and in a short span of time, economic projections took a turn for the worse. The effects of the Covid-19 pandemic left companies spinning in a downward spiral in an instant, all looking at a fast solution to keep operations up and running amid the imposition of health protocols and the necessity of employing remote transactions. The unforeseen impacts of the outbreak tested the resiliency of firms and their ability to adapt to changing situations.

DESPITE the onslaught of the coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19) pandemic, which affected global economies, Southeast Asia remains home to some of the growing economies expected to recover the fastest. The region is still considered to be a hotbed for foreign investments. Home to countries including Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia and the Philippines, economic experts and analysts see great potential for the region to become an economic powerhouse in Asia despite the setbacks brought by the health crisis.

A year earlier, at the onset of the coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19) pandemic, the overall picture for global financial markets looked grim. Economies were left reeling from the impacts of the pandemic, with various industries recording significant decline in revenues. Several disruptions in supply chain processes as well as the imperative to prioritize a new work setup only added salt to the wound already sustained by businesses which struggled to stay afloat during the new normal.

As we adopt a bird’s eye view of the current business landscape, it is easy to be led by the belief that businesses and organizations still have a lot to accomplish in attempting to close the gender gap in corporate management. In a sense, there is truth to this statement. The cutthroat accounting industry, for instance, remains a relatively male-dominated sector. In my industry experience, I can attest that the number of female leaders is still considerably less than male ones.

How do we define the needed skills, behaviors and attitudes to perform jobs effectively? How do we know if an individual qualifies for the job or not?

Occupational fraud happens more in private companies than their public counterparts. The Association of Certified Fraud Examiners’ 2020 Report to the Nations said that 44 percent of reported frauds occurred in private companies, 26 percent in public companies, 9 percent in nonprofits, and 21 percent in government or other entities. These numbers indicate that having a board of directors and management team that prioritize fighting fraud is crucial.

Insider threats may have been looming even before the start of the Covid-19 pandemic, but the crisis further put a corporation’s security in distress.

On Nov. 26, 2020, the Senate approved on third and final reading Senate Bill 1357, otherwise known as the Corporate Recovery and Tax Incentives for Enterprises (CREATE) bill, which seeks to reduce the corporate income tax rate and rationalize the current fiscal incentives by making them time-bound, targeted and performance-based. This was done in an attempt to revitalize the slowing economy, as it is predicted that the measure will bring in more foreign investments like never before.