The future of the global balisong through scenario building / Michael Angelo M. Baral

Year : 2014

Number of Pages : 55 leaves

Adviser : Prof. Glen A. Imbang

Executive Summary

Despite its being considered a deadly weapon, the balisong industry is thriving with a considerable number of its fan base living abroad. A shop in Batangas sells 4000 pieces of this hand-made masterpiece at prices ranging from 180 to 9,000 pesos (sometimes even more). What more if this humble product turns mainstream, or even global? Some say, that with a lot of today's artisans already aging without transferring their skills to the young generation, the balisong is a dying craft with only a decade or so remaining in its life. This is just one of the possibilities for the future of the balisong that this study has uncovered with the use of scenario building-an exercise that tries to foresee what the future holds for a product or a technology. This paper provides three different scenarios for the future of the balisong, each having unique strategic implications. The different variables involved in each scenario is discussed, providing details on how each variable will affect other variables to come up with the particular scenario. Results of an environmental scan performed as part of the scenario building exercise provides details on social, technological, economic, environmental and political forces that can have an impact on the growth of the balisong as a product and as an industry. The technology part of the environmental scan results contain stark comparison of the balisong with its foreign very successful foreign counterparts such as Gerber, Leatherman, Boker Knives, Spyderco, Benchmade, and of course, the famous Swiss Army Knives.