Sibi, Juli Ann Rosette M.

Comm 200
Optional Paper: UP Cebu Research Forum (Jan. 20, 2016)
A.

The Crowning of Thorns: of princes, lions, and foxes: An analysis on the diminution of
the efficacy of Machiavellianism in the Philippines by Atty. Francis Michael Abad

Atty. Abads qualitative textual analysis research is about mirroring the principles of
Machiavellianism to the behaviors, laws passed and vetoed, and other major actions of
Philippine presidents Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo and Benigno Aquino III. His study identified
the different internal and external factors of the presidencies of Arroyo and Aquino III that
may affect Machiavellian decisions made by either president, and took note on whether the
decisions increased or decreased in efficacy as the years passed.
Atty. Abad began his research presentation by discussing to the audience about the
principles of Machiavellianism. Power is the main concept discussed in Machiavellianism, and
how it is an end in itself, a value that is to be protected at all costs, no matter how it is
achieved. Niccolo Machiavelli, the proponent of Machiavellianism was very much known for
his book The Prince. The Prince, was defined in Abads research as one who is more feared
than lovedlike a lion, a man who is good and kind-hearted (mostly for show) but has the
ability to be cunning and calculating withinlike a fox, and is always prepared to call for war
when his/her power has been breached, a great power, that when not used properly, can be
a crown of thorns.
He proceeded with finding the closest template of Machiavellianism in the Philippine setting
and identified the Marcos regime as the closest one, because majority of Marcos decisions
took effect because of Martial Law and the dictator-status he was in.
Then, using newspaper articles, official government acts and publications, history books and
other publication material, Abad identified actions and powers of Arroyo and Aquino which
can be considered as Machiavellianare these actions done based on gaining and
sustaining power? He then started to study the environment for factors that could possibly
affect the Machiavellian decisions of Arroyo and Aquino III, and whether or not they have
taken effect in order to proceed with answering the research question: Has the emulation of
Machiavellianism led to the increase or decline of political power in the Philippines?
Abads major finding was that the efficacy of Machiavellianism has declined years after the
Marcos regime, which was defined as the penultimate point of Machiavellianism in Philippine
history due to:
(1) Constitutional-legal factors which have strengthened the check and balance of
governmental powers and effectively evening out the power of the legislative and
the executive through the judiciary (i.e. Presidents appointing powers can be
questioned by judiciary, questionable legislations can be discussed by judiciary,
etc.)
(2) Societal transformation and technological advancement which Abad defined as
the development of the Internet, text messaging, and social media, which allows
people more access to all sorts of information, more opportunities to express their
thoughts, allowing them more chances to contribute to the shaping of public
opinion and be more critical of government ineptness and supportive of positive
government work

B.

(3) Other factors such as the existence of numerous political dynasties which have
allowed a strong competition between political families therefore politicians have
to constantly outperform the other; Machiavellianism being taught in the school
setting therefore increasing awareness about The Prince and his powers and how
to identify whether a leader is manifesting characteristics of the Prince and
principles of Machiavellianism; and Weberian bureaucracy which has created
paper trails which can be used as evidence against corruption that could have
been created by Machiavellian decisions (i.e. Napoles bogus NGO scam, Binays
Makati parking building scam).
Influence of Demographic Variables on Customer Behavior in Cases of Service
Failures by Dr. Tiffany Adelaide Tan

Dr. Tans paper uses a quantitative approach in order to examine the influence of identified
demographic variables based on related research, on how customers behave when
restaurant service fails or is inadequate.
Her presentation begins with a situationer on the restaurant industry of the Philippines and
of the Metro Manila area. Her presentation showed an upward trend in the restaurant
industry, and a static trend with the number of studies done in restaurant customer service.
She proceeds to discuss why the study remains significanta study on customer service
would be the forefront of restaurateur necessities, and can contribute to a lacking Philippine
body of knowledge on whether demographic factors affect the propensity of a customer to
complain.
Onwards, she proceeded with discussing the hypothesis of her study: The propensity to
complain differs across the following variables: (1) gender, (2) age, (3) educational level, (4)
income, (5) social/civil status, (6) dining frequency (which was measured by Tan as the
number of times a person eats outside in a month), and (7) the behavioral intentions of a
customer (i.e. complainers are more likely to come back to a restaurant than those who do
not complain).
The primary research instrument utilized in this study was a survey questionnaire. The
survey questionnaire, aside from identifying the demographic variables in the above
hypothesis, covered questions that identified several types of service failures in a restaurant
(late service of food, spillage of food/drinks, mistakes in the order, forgotten orders etc.).
The questionnaire was distributed to over 500 graduate students, to which a greater
majority of 428 responded. This was convenient sampling done by Dr. Tan, as this was her
graduate study and had therefore more access to these graduate students. Since this was a
quantitative study, she used several tests to test the relationships of the major variables of
her studythe Test for Independence or the Chi square test, the Cramers V, and logistic
regression to identify the odds ratio of the variables.
(1) Test for Independence or the Chi square test: this test is intended to identify how
likely it is that observed or gathered data is mostly due to chance or not, and
helps identify the independence of the variables from the others
(2) Cramers V: generally used to measure the association of variables, and in this
study, was used to measure the association of behavioral intentions
(3) Logistic regression: normally used by researchers to more or less identify the
odds ratiohow likely an outcome when given (or denied) a particular exposure.

The findings of her study were that only 2 demographic variableseducational level and
dining frequencyout of 8 variables showed significant statistical support saying that these
variables affected the tendency of a customer to complain on the moment of service failure,
regardless of the type of service failure.
Tan discussed probable reasons as to why there was small statistical support for 6/8 of the
variables. She pointed out that the number of service failures occurring in a restaurant may
not directly affect a persons patronage in any particular restaurant because a restaurant is
what one would consider a hybrid producta combination of service quality, food quality,
ambience of the restaurant, location of the restaurant. She also said that the study neglects
to include the extent of which a person feels they have control over a particular service
failure. According to Tan, a persons locus of control can easily affect a persons likelihood to
voice out discontent. She has included the following reasons in her recommendations for
further studies.
C.

A study on the buying behavior of sari-sari storeowners in Metropolitan Cebu by Dr.

Tiffany Adelaide Tan

The second study presented by Dr. Tan was a more recent study conducted on the buying
behavior or sari-sari storeowners in Metro Cebu. She began her presentation by discussing
the prevalence of sari-sari stores in the Philippines, narrowing it down further to Metro Cebu.
She presented it as more than a microenterprise, but also as part of the Philippine culture.
She proceeds to discuss how knowing the buying behavior of sari-sari storeowners can help
bigger market chains develop better strategies to embrace this growing market of sari-sari
storeowners. The study can also be utilized by product researchers in identifying how
effective a certain product is, on the basis of whether a sari-sari storeowner would purchase
bulks of their product.
This research is quantitative and qualitative study. The data-gathering methodology used by
Dr. Tan is majorly interview-based in order to get in-depth discussions with 200 sari-sari
storeowners. She has created a semi-structured set of interview questions, with key points
so it may be used for quantitative analysis.
Her results show two major findings: (1) The top 3 determinants for owners/operators when
sourcing products are price, assortment of products and location; and (2) The
owners/operators decision on what goods to purchase then sell in their establishments is
mainly based on customer feedback (i.e. requests for certain products).
Tan then further concludes that the growing amount of sari-sari enterprises in Metro Cebu
and their significant role as a distribution channel should be enough reason for bigger
customer market chains and companies that produce specifically household products, not to
undermine the contribution of these small retail outlets to the revenues of fast-moving
consumer goods and its contribution to the market growth of any consumer product.
D.

The Influence of Organizational Justice on Job Satisfaction in a Hotel Setting by Dr.

Leahlizbeth Sia
with Dr. Tiffany Adelaide Tan

The third study presented by the Business Management Cluster is focused on the hotel setup, and how perceived organizational justice in the hotel set-up becomes a primary factor in
affecting job satisfaction and therefore high employee retention.

Dr. Sia, who presented the paper in behalf of both she and Dr. Tan, began the presentation
with the growing tourism industry in Cebu, which has increased the demand for more hotels,
and therefore increased the demand for employees and high employee retention in this
sector.
This therefore creates a demand for more studies on employee retention. Dr. Sias study is
geared towards employee retention by understanding and identifying the influence of
organizational justice on the satisfaction of employees, particularly of front-line employees
in a hotel setting. Front-line employees were the highlight of this study since it is also frontline employees that have first-hand impact on customers or guests of the hotel.
The framework of the study is based on three identified types of organizational justice(1)
Distributive justice (perceived fairness of the allocation of company resources); (2)
Procedural justice (perceived fairness of processes and procedures); and (3) Interactional
justice (interpersonal treatment of top management to front-line employees). From here, Dr.
Sias research question becomes as follows: Do the different types of justice affect job
performance positively?
300 Likert-scale survey questionnaires (similar to a rating-scale survey questionnaire) were
distributed to front-line employees coming from thirteen different departments of (Front
Office, Food & Beverage, Housekeeping, Sales & Marketing, Human Resources, Maintenance,
Kitchen, Finance, Butchery, Engineering, Administration, Security and the Executive Office)
of nine hotels in the Metro Cebu area, in coordination with the Human Resources department
of the hotels. The questionnaires were used to determine which type of organizational
justice significantly affects how satisfied front-line employees were with their jobsis it the
allocation of resources, the procedural or hierarchical processes, or the way they are being
treated by top management (i.e. favoritism, verbal abuse etc.)?
Sia used a test called Cronbachs alpha which is a measure of internal consistencya test to
determine on the reliability of the correlational results produced by the results of the study,
and whether the correlational results have achieved statistical significance or not.
The results of her study showed that there was statistically significant data that showed that
distributive and interactional justice have a positive correlation with the job satisfaction of
the job employees, while procedural justice does not have a statistically significant impact.
E.

Socio-cultural Appropriation of Sex-Sell Billboard Ads: A multi-modal study on the

Grammar of Sexually-Implicit Advertising Text and Images by Mr. Gregg Lloren

This qualitative study by Mr. Lloren focuses on the grammar of the visual language of sexsell billboard ads,
particularly Benchs 2011 Volcano Philippine Ruby Team undergarment ads, which
apparently offended the cultural sensibilities of majority of the Filipinos who were able to
view the ads in its 3-day life span on the billboards of Epifanio de los Santos Avenue (EDSA).
Mr. Lloren began his presentation with the ad itself, and discussed to the audience the
original intended message of the ad: Since rugby is not a popular sport in the Philippines,
the ads were used to advertise the countrys rugby team to develop a number of supporters.
However, because the undergarment ads were designed in a way to be sexually overt, as

mirrored to a Jockey ad, which appeared more conservative despite being an undergarment
ad as well, the giant billboard ads were taken down per the request of certain government
officials.
The goal of the study can be translated as follows: How much of the meaning-making for the
visual ad campaign came from the viewers, and how much of the meaning-making was
generated by the creators of the ad campaign.
The study utilized key informant interviews (KIIs) to conduct a rigorous study on the visual
ad campaign of Bench. Key informant interviews included advertising experts, those behind
the ad campaign, government agencies that control the distribution of such ads, and
members of the advertising board. The goal of the KIIs were to identify the intended
message of the ads (from those behind the ad campaign), and how advertising experts and
the advertising board viewed the ad, and how these agencies regulate or react to ads similar
as that.
Afterwards, focus group discussions (FGD) were used by Lloren to determine the level of
Filipino cultural sensibility by speaking to various sectors of peoplethe conservative sector
composed of nuns and the elderly, the more liberally inclined workers creative industries,
and the ingenuous youth which can swing either way or still be somewhere in the middle of
conservative or liberal.
With the data gathered, Mr. Lloren wanted to determine what aspects of the various modes
of the multimodal framework by Ganther Kress and Theo Van Leeuwen did the majorly-visual
ad campaign fail to deliver, therefore mismatching the intended message with the received
message, and therefore violating the general cultural sensibilities of the Filipinos. The three
levels of multimodal framework are as follows:
(1) Discourse level: print ads are merely viewed as they areads with no deeper
meaning or social impact
(2) Production/design strata: editing, layout, colors, of photos to achieve the intended
message
(3) Distribution strata: size/proxemics: not just geographical space but also intimate
space
M.A.K. Hallidays systemic functional linguistics which serves as a vocabulary for semiotics
(signs/symbols with possible meanings) to identify potential visual signs in the ads on a
particular mode in the Kress & Leeuwen framework, that may be interpreted as a violation of
the Filipino standard of values and cultural sensibility, which were set by the FGD.
Llorens findings were that both the creators of the ad and the viewers of the ad contributed
to creating a meaning that was generally seen as distasteful according to the cultural
sensibilities of the Filipinos.
The creators of the ad, according to Lloren, had intentionally designed the ad to be sexually
overt and had the intention of attracting the attention of people to the attractiveness of the
underwear-clad men on the ads, but unknowingly diverting their attention from the intended
message, which is advertising the Rugby team and the Bench line of underwear.
Meanwhile, Lloren also determined that the viewers of the ad, contributed to creating an
unintended message because of the current concepts or understandings of several cue signs

determined using M.A.K. Hallidays systemic functional linguistics in the visual adsextra
muscular men, sweating, wearing underwear, teasingly grasping their underwear, with a
dark backgroundalerted the viewers to perceive the ad as sexual in nature.

REACTIONS TO THE STUDIES PRESENTED

The studies were very well presented and researched, although it has helped me realize that
researches, especially those with limited time-frames, cannot cover all aspects of the
research topic. The way the researches were presented inspired me to use a more creative,
organized, simplistic yet holistic way of presenting a research. Many of the presentations
were very hard to understand, especially since majority of the researches are on topics that I
have yet to encounter.
The presentation of the studies reminded me of really establishing the importance of a
research and its possible impact. A research will seem shallow if its significance is not fully
established and its utilization in the future not fully determined. For example: On Atty.
Abads research on Machiavellianism and its diminution of efficacy in Philippine politics, I did
not really understand its complete significance and impact on the current political
atmosphere. I am aware that it is significant, but I could not pinpoint concrete instances in
which the data will prove to be useful Maybe the research presentation period served as a
hindrance for Atty. Abad to present the entire significance of his study or I may have simply
failed to grasp it while Atty. Abad may have explained such properlyeither way, it urged
me to focus on making readers of my future undergraduate thesis really understand the
impact of my study.
Another thing noted from the research presentations is the drastic difference of the data
coming from quantitative and qualitative researches. Quantitative data, although it can
easily be generalized is also different to prove as significant and certain formulas and
processes have to be used in order to prove that results are statistically significant. On the
other hand, qualitative data can only cover a very specific group of people, although its
significance is easy to prove because data is in-depth, explained, and is only for a narrow
audience. Although such is not strictly followed, it is what occurred based on the results of
the five studies summarized in this paper.
All throughout the quantitative research presentations, methodology often caught me at a
loss. I feel that as a Mass Communication student, we werent really taught statistics in
research, and this has encouraged us to focus more on qualitative researches instead. I feel
like this has really limited the options for Mass Communication research. Although there is
nothing wrong with qualitative research, but teaching Mass Communication students more
quantitative research methods will also allow us to explore more options, especially in the
development of technology wherein majority of the effectiveness of communication methods
is measured through statistics, especially online.
The research forum was indeed helpful in giving me tips on how to proceed with our
research, and has allowed me to grasp more what research presentations are going to be
like. It has even allowed me to pinpoint certain parts of the thesis proposal my partner and I
worked on that need improvementparticularly in the discussion of research design and
methodology.