Get it right the first time

It will be three more than four decades, We joined the ranks of IBM, a successful multinational, at that time the most respected company in the world. Inside the isthmus eroded by the October Revolution where the military ran the country with the blessing of a corrupt oligarchy that praised the rise and fall of dictators in office, we ran a successful enterprise, without bribes or favoritism.

Simple, professional and accurate, IBM He was guided by a very simple doctrine that cemented his immense presence in the government bodies and private companies the highest hierarchy in the isthmus: “Quality is doing things right the first time!”.

We never competed on price, our offer was known to be more difficult than all other competitors in the industry. The difference was in the quality of the product and the enormous support of the finely polished organization to achieve its goals. Truly IBM Panama, Like his colleagues in more than 175 countries, he acted as a leader of excellence.

At the time, IBM held the title “The most valued company” in the world through a success formula based on a combination of strict selection of human resources and firm adherence manuals of standards and practices, corpulent booklets with detailed formulas for all aspects of their work that were common in their offices around the world.

We use this example as a guide. a beacon to what Panama is and could be. In the distance flickers the shadow of an unparalleled isthmus with an enviable potential to shine like Singapore of America. We are a rare diamond in the rough, you have no idea what kind of blessed grubs you have on hand.

In the absence of clear goals and quantitative goals, in the short, medium and long term we stutter from error to horror, in the absence of strong leaders and passion for excellence. We enjoy, for examplewith an enviable arrangement of skyscrapers, in fact the third highest continental hierarchy, surpassed only by New York and Chicago but with potholed streets, creepy cobwebs and crazy driving within a collective laissez faire.

Likewise, we manage our tourism, which has a wide potential, but lacks planning that would involve us in projects like Terminal 2 of the International Airport Tocumen and Congress Center Amadorinaugurated after its first spades, more than a decade ago, the first of which was a disorganized mess and the second a white elephant.

Not to mention Amador Cruise Port, A Lilliputian creature with only two access backwaters, no access road or minimal port infrastructure necessary for expeditious loading and unloading of passengers, in a strategic environment unmatched in the entire world that should define us as Phoenicians of the 21st century.

The astonishing figure of 2 million tourists per year does not go to the credit of the destination, when comparatively speaking, Cuba, with all and his anachronistic revolution, he gets more than double the city Buga in the Colombian Valle del Cauca, receives 3 million visitors a year modality of religious tourism to the Basilica of the Miraculous Christ.

One of the essential elements of success IBM conducts an annual opinion survey of all its clients. Detailed and detailed, it serves to evaluate the work of each individual associate, forming an important part of it. The result is also useful for taking immediate actions in areas of performance that can be optimized.

We would learn a lot by conducting public opinion polls visiting tourists, on their way to Tocumen and cruise ports not only to improve our offering, but also as a thermometer to measure performance regents of istmeño tourism. Obviously, these researches must be carried out by international companies dedicated to the field and their public results.

Taking these steps from the IBM script we would have knowledge of the facts that would allow us to create an enviable future in Isthmian tourism and move from a major failure to
passion for excellence, rapid quadrupling of the number of annual visitors, because without clear goals there are no results.