Karachi,
March 8 - Speakers at the three-day 10th
Management Convention being organized by the Management
Association of Pakistan (MAP) have emphasized on
the need for better strategic planning by the political
and corporate leadership for the effective growth
of knowledge-based economy and proliferation of
transparency in the wake of globalization.
The convention based on the
theme of "Leadership, Innovation, Entrepreneurship",
was inaugurated by Mohammed Mian Soomro, Chairman
Senate on Monday, 6 March, and featured some of
the leading statesmen, business thinkers and management
strategists in many keynote addresses, presentations,
and panel discussions such as Anwer Ibrahim, former
deputy prime minister of Malaysia, Dr Abdul Hafeez
Shaikh, Federal Minister for Privatization and Investment,
Dr Walter Keummerle, Professor at Harvard Business
School; Nicole Piasecki, Executive Vice President;
Boeing; Lalita Gupte, Joint Managing Director, ICICI
Bank, India; Dr Terry Reilly, Director, KPMG, Singapore;
Samina Rizwan, Regional Director, Oracle; Dr Shamsh
Kassim Lakha, President Aga Khan University; Mahboob
Mahmood, Adjunct Professor INSEAD and CEO, Knowledge
Platform; Dr Madan Kataria, Founder Laughter Yoga;
Hilmy Cader, CEO MTI Consulting; Samina Rizwan,
Regional Director, Oracle.
Hilmy Cader, CEO, MTI Consulting
in his presentation on “Strategizing and Marketing
a Country”, here on Wednesday, said that the
world is looking towards Asia for manufacturing,
ITES, and raw materials and to thrive in such an
environment it is crucial for the governments to
strategize and plan accordingly and continuously
improve the quality of life of internal customers
(local population) and provide value to external
customers (global market) in a sustainable manner.
Cader quoted Phillip Yeo,
chairman, Economic Development Board, Singapore
who said that “We market Singapore as a product,
to stay ahead of the competition we have to constantly
innovate and enhance the Singapore product”
and said that Pakistan’s competitiveness lies
in its immense natural and intellectual resources
and the role of the government should be to encourage
development of Pakistani brands. He also suggested
a Pakistan-specific dashboard of economy health
indicators and global pulse indicators.
He informed that out of top
100 brands in the world, 58 belong to USA, nine
to Germany, seven each to Japan and France, five
each to UK and Switzerland, four to Netherlands,
two to Italy, and one each to Finland, South Korea
and Sweden.
Mahboob Mahmood, Adjunct Professor
INSEAD and CEO, Knowledge Platform, Singapore highlighted
the role of government in the development of industries
and entrepreneurship and eliminate barriers in their
way. His presentation on “Galvanizing Entrepreneurship”
carried an interesting comparison among the developed
and developing countries in terms of the time taken
in the processing of issuing licenses and permits
for business. He informed that in many poor countries
of the world such a procedure takes a minimum of
three years to get a single permit or license.
Mahmood was of the view that
if we stop thinking about the poor as victims or
as a burden and start recognizing them as resilient
and creative entrepreneurs and value-conscious consumers,
a whole new world of opportunity will open up.
Speaking on the topic of “International
Entrepreneurship”, Dr Walter Keummerle, Professor
at Harvard Business School stressed on strategy
mapping to determine specific challenges of a country
context to support the pursuit of entrepreneurial
opportunities. He described entrepreneurship as
an opportunity driven behaviour cognizant of the
resources required to pursue the opportunity.
Lalita Gupte, Joint Managing
Director, ICICI Bank, India in her presentation
on “From Local to International - Marketing
Innovative Products” said that banking is
not only about financing, it is more about opening
up franchising. She shared her experiences on direct
banking and cross border remittances with the delegates.
Others speakers on the last
day of the convention included Dr Madan Kataria,
Founder, Laughter Yoga; Naveed Saeed, General Manager
Sales and Marketing, Warid Telecom; Zafar A. Osmani,
Senior Executive Vice President, Habib Bank; Dr
Terry Reilly, Director KPMG Business Advisory, Singapore;
Samina Rizwan, Regional Director, Oracle; Salvy
Zakaria, Vice President, Zaqsoft; and Hassan Sohaib
Murad, Rector, University of Management & Technology,
Lahore.
It is also to be mentioned
that Octara—a Pakistan and UAE based event
management company—is organizing the 10th
Management Convention. CNN, Time Magazine and Oman
Economic Review are the International Media Sponsors
for the Convention and ARY Digital Network is the
Official Media Partner. The sponsors for the event
include Boeing Commercial Airplanes, USA; English
Biscuit Manufacturers; Warid Telecom; Pakistan International
Airline; and Pakistan State Oil. TCS is the official
courier while the supporting sponsors include Jehangir
Siddiqui Group, Lawrencepur, Pakistan; GlaxoSmithkline;
Alfalah GHP; AKD Securities; Samsung Electronics;
KSB Pumps Company Limited; Money Magazine; and Dot
Panacea.
