"When virtue is lost, benevolence appears, when benevolence is lost, right conduct appears, when right conduct is lost, expedience appears. Expediency is the mere shadow of right and truth; it is the beginning of disorder. ”

- Lao Tzu

Amidst the enormity of information and the need to process them to achieve multifarious tasks/outputs, the use of technology and its endless evolution represent the reality of the work place. I summarize below three recalls of situations to highlight this reality.

Situation 1

Five decades ago, taking the licensure examinations for certified public accountants required the use of fountain pen and computations were done “long hand” without the use of calculators for they were unheard of. The examinations had queries requiring written narratives as answers. It took almost a year before the results of the examinations were officially known.

Fast forward 25 years later, the licensure examinations were “fully computerized” meaning, all the questions were in multiple choice format - there was no need for presenting computations and there were no questions requiring explanations or presenting narrative replies. The examinees’ answers to the questions were registered by using a ball pen to identify the chosen letter corresponding to the answer. The official results of the examinations were released a couple of days or so after the last examination day.

Situation 2

Before the ‘80s, the usual “fast written communication” was thru telegrams, for the domestic transmittals coursed thru the post office, while for international, were thru cable. Everything was in paper.

In the ‘80s, the World Wide Web came into being. It was only in the mid ‘90s that the internet had significant global impact in culture, business and technology. Thus, emails came about. Subsequent developments led to other configurations like instant messaging and social networking.

Now, everything is a click away and real time.

Situation 3

In 1987, the Dunbar Armored Robbery happened in Los Angeles, California, USA. The largest cash robbery to have ever occurred in the US registered at US$18.9 million happened to be an inside job. The mastermind was a regional safety inspector for Dunbar who recruited five of his childhood friends to ambush the guards at a stocked cash drop vault on a Friday night. Once they gained access to the loot, they loaded up a U-Haul and escaped, nearly getting away with the whole thing until one of the perpetrators got sloppy and eventually confessed. However, more than half of the money has remained unaccounted for.

Fast forward, 29 years later, the much talked about Bangladeshi Central Bank heist happened. A Bangladeshi central bank’s system was attacked to make payments via SWIFT. The crime perpetrators sent fraudulent messages, ostensibly from the central bank in Dhaka, on the SWIFT system, to the New York Federal Reserve seeking to transfer nearly $1 billion from Bangladesh Bank's account there. Most of the transfers were blocked but about $81 million had been sent to a bank in the Philippines. It was moved to casinos and casino agents and much of it has been missing (adopted from press releases).

In the three situations cited above, the efficient use of resources and expedient completion of tasks were achieved thru the use of technology. As the good applications of expediency provide competitive edge, its misuse can have devastating consequences.

The distinct differences of the now and then would make the present day students of business wonder how “Jurassic” life was not too long ago. How could things be 25 years hence?

Published in BusinessMirror on July 18, 2017. URL: https://businessmirror.com.ph/now-and-then-a-contrast/

Dr. Conchita L. Manabat is the President of the Development Center for Finance and a Trustee-Treasurer of Children’s Hour Foundation. A past Chair of the International Association of Financial Executives Institutes (IAFEI), she now serves as the Chairperson of the Advisory Council of the said organization. She is also a member of the Consultative Advisory Groups of the International Auditing & Assurance Standards Board and the International Ethics Standards Board for Accountants. She can be reached at clm@clmanabat.com