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The Administration and Finance Department handles the organizational, administrative, financial, personnel, and public relations functions. It is also responsible for the annual WSM and Governing Body Meeting. It coordinates the APO’s participation in international conferences and meetings. Public relations activities have a two-fold purpose: 1) broadening the network and scope of cooperation with organizations within and outside the APO membership, and 2) disseminating information on the APO and productivity through the print media and Internet.
PRINT MEDIAThe APO has a modest publishing program. There are four main types of publications: report format titles, priced publications, e-books, and general publications. All are in English. Report Format Titles The report format titles are reports of the proceedings of selected projects. More than 400 volumes in this format have been published since the APO’s founding in 1961. They are distributed to NPOs, university libraries, research institutes, government agencies, private-sector corporations, university faculty members, researchers, APO resource persons, and senior corporate executives. Some new titles published recently were:
Priced Publications Priced publications are mainly translations of Japanese titles on subjects related to productivity. Among our bestsellers were:
Please click here to view all the available titles. General Publications The APO publishes a monthly English newsletter, the APO News. It offers reports on APO activities, synopses of productivity issues, regular columns by international productivity experts, and coverage of NPO activities and other special events. The newsletter is distributed to NPOs, APO project participants, other international organizations, government agencies, NGOs, educational institutions, and individuals. It is also available on the APO Web site.
INTERNETThe APO is committed to optimizing the use of IT in general and the Internet in particular for furthering the cause of the productivity movement in Asia and the Pacific. The IT program of the Secretariat currently has five components: the APO Web site, APO intranet, APOnet, APO e-Forum, and APO e-Learning Activities. APO e-Learning Activities In 2005, the APO expedited integrating e-learning sessions in its regular APO projects to reach a large pool of productivity practitioners in a very cost-effective manner. In general, the APO organizes e-learning projects on two platforms, the APO e-Learning Portal and e-learning facilities of other organizations. APO e-Learning Portal The APO has set up an e-Learning Portal on its Web site to host a variety of e-learning projects, including projects that are entirely based on the e-Learning Portal without any face-to-face component, e-learning sessions in face-to-face regular projects, e-learning as predeparture preparation for regular face-to-face projects, and self-learning e-courses. e-Learning Facilities of Partner Organizations In addition to its own e-Learning Portal, the APO also collaborates with other organizations to deliver e-learning courses utilizing their distance learning/videoconferencing facilities. The Tokyo Development Learning Center of the World Bank, Japan JICA-Net, and Association for Overseas Technical Scholarship (Japan) are some of our partners. Eleven APO member countries have World Bank Development Learning Centers. The APO also collaborates with academic/training institutes that develop and provide e-learning courses. With these collaborations, the majority of member countries can be linked in a virtual network.
INTERNATIONAL COOPERATION
The APO is constantly seeking opportunities to expand and collaborate with its network of international organizations and national agencies and institutions in countries outside the APO membership to fulfill its mission and goals. This International Cooperation Program is important to the organization for enlarging the knowledge base of subject areas relevant to member countries through information exchange and opportunities to study firsthand the application of the latest practices in management techniques, environmental protection, and technology in non-APO member countries. It also provides a growing pool of experts for the APO to tap for deputation to member countries under the TES Program, as well as resource persons for various APO projects. The synergy derived from this collaboration program has been beneficial to the APO and our partners. Over the last three years, the APO has collaborated with the following organizations in various capacities and activities: the ADB, ASEAN, Asian Institute of Technology, Association for International Cooperation of Agriculture and Forestry (Japan), Colombo Plan Secretariat, Department of Business, Economic Development and Tourism, Hawaii (USA), FAO, Göteborg University (Sweden), ILO, International Rice Research Institute, JICA (Japan), OECD, UNDP, UNEP, and World Bank/Tokyo Development Learning Center African Program
In 2006, the APO took an important step forward in what we hope will be a key contribution to the global productivity movement. There has been a worldwide surge in interest in productivity in recent years. After more than four decades of driving productivity, APO member countries in Asia and the Pacific have amassed a wealth of knowledge of and experience in productivity promotion, improvement, and measurement which other regions are keen to tap. Realizing this and the potential benefits to member countries, the APO launched its African Program with special funding from Japan. The first activity was the Roundtable Conference for the Promotion of the Productivity Movement in Africa held in Sandton, South Africa, in August last year. Over 80 participants and observers from seven African countries in the Pan African Productivity Association (PAPA), comprising Botswana, Kenya, Mauritius, Nigeria, South Africa, Tanzania, and Zambia, attended the conference. A high point of the meeting was a cameo appearance in a video message by former South African President Nelson Mandela. The conference helped participating countries and PAPA to develop productivity master plans. The APO also sponsored the attendance of eight participants from four African countries in the Development of Productivity Specialists Program hosted by the Philippines. An individual-country mission from Zambia to Tokyo and Kuala Lumpur was hosted by the APO and the Malaysian National Productivity Corporation. The Secretariat also received visits from two multicountry study missions from Africa to Japan sponsored by the JPC-SED. Future activities include basic and advanced programs on the development of productivity practitioners.
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APO professional staff members
Visitors from Andean countries at the APO Secretariat
Roundtable conference participants, Sandton, South Africa