The first formal session of SDSB’s CEOs at LUMS (CAL) Forum was conducted on Friday, Feb 23, 2018 from 1500hrs to 1900hrs at SDSB LUMS. SDSB has created CEOs at LUMS as a Think Tank to engage industry and academia through networking and trust building while also bringing the policy platforms in the loop to align various sides of the socio-economic development entities to help improve our national competitiveness.
CAL session started with the welcome address by Prof. Dr. Jawad Syed, Dean SDSB LUMS which was followed by ‘Introduction of the CAL Core Team’ by Dr. Anjum Fayyaz, Associate Dean External Relations. Dr. Anjum discussed the background, objectives, and mission of the CAL initiative at SDSB, LUMS. He also spoke about the passion, commitment and the willingness of SDSB management and faculty towards bridging the gap between industry and academia through networking and trust building at both ends.
Next, the Members of the Lahore Woven Garments Consortium (LGC) shared their story of networking and trust building with the participants through a ‘Live Case Study’. LGC was represented by – Mr. Mubashar Butt, CEO Bodymedia; Mr. Sajid Saleem Minhas, CEO Delta Garments; Mr. Waseem Ahmad, CEO Cotton Web; Mr. Iqbal Bhatti, Director Stylers Int’l, Mr. Jawwad Chaudhry, Director Musterhaft & Mr. Hamid Sharif, CEO Stich n’ Style. The Q&A session for the Case Study was moderated by Dr. Anjum Fayyaz & Dr. Ghufran Ahmad. As this session draw to a close, the event broke for a ‘Networking Tea Break’. This Networking Session was organised to bring together our guests – Industry officials – to discuss industry specific problems and issues. SDSB faculty members facilitated the discussion while each discussion table was moderated by MBA students.
After the networking break, an exclusive interactive session with Syed Babar Ali, Pro-Chancellor, LUMS was held. Where Syed Babar Ali took questions from the executives concerning the crucial issues, elements and solutions of the business world. The evening continued with the last activity on the agenda: Panel Discussion by Industry Experts. Here, 5 senior faculty members and 6 CEOs and high officials from the Industry discussed topics related to Food Retail and Textile Retail Industry. Some of the business challenges faced by the CEOs included human resource development, unethical competition, non-conducive government policies, lack of trust and adaptability, challenges linked to technology upgradation and lack of cutting-edge knowledge, lack of creative ideas and poor attitude to explore new avenues, lack of long-term vision, lack of business diversification locally and internationally, and lack of adaptability to the changing market trends and needs. The participants highlighted the role of CAL as a forum in facilitating the policy formulation not only for the business but also for the academia through the engagement of both sides through case writing, consultancy and dissemination of knowledge, as well as general dialogue.
High-profile industry representation comprised of organisations such as:
- Akhuwat
- AKIDA Process Consulting
- Behtreen Leather
- Body Media International (Pvt) Ltd
- Cakes and Bakes
- CCBPL
- Corporate General Solutions
- CPPA, Government of Pakistan
- DEC
- DICPK
- DWP Group
- Dysin Automobiles Limited
- Entrepreneur Council Pakistan
- Excellence Delivered ExD Pvt Ltd
- EY Ford Rhodes
- Fatima Group
- Fauji Fresh n Freeze
- General Electric Co
- Helium Private Limited
- ICI Pakistan Limited
- Imperium Hospitality
- Infrastructure Project Development Facility (IPDF) Ministry of Finance
- Jaffer Brothers (Private) Limited
- Lahore Chamber of Commerce and Industry
- MAN Diesel and Turbo Pakistan
- Meezan Bank
- Meinhardt Pak (Pvt) Ltd
- Nayatel
- PepsiCo
- Pronto Promo
- PSHRM
- Punjab Board of Investment and Trade (PBIT)
- Radtac Asia Limited
- Sahar Atif
- SECP, Govt. of Pakistan
- Sefam (Pvt) Limited
- Shaukat Khanum Memorial Cancer Hospital and Research Centre
- SPEL Group
- Stitch N Style
- Synthetic Products Enterprises Ltd. (SPEL)
- Training Impact
- Tripkar
- USAID
- Vroozi Labs
- WILSHIRE LABS (PVT) LTD
- WILSHIRE LABS (PVT) LTD
- Zeigler Logistics Ltd.
Background:
The mission statement and the objectives of the CEOs at LUMS (CAL) is to engage Chief Executive Officers (CEOs), Vice Presidents (VPs), Unit Heads and the Senior Executives of the corporate sector to add higher value to this fraternity through networking and trust building, using the platform of SDSB LUMS. This is going to be a self-sustainable forum with high value to the participants in terms of networking, benchmarking, sharing best practices and bridging the gap between industry and academia. A strategic group was formed representing industry and academia for long-term sustainability of the Forum. Chief Executive Officers (CEOs) at LUMS (CAL) Forum conducted its first Focus Group Discussion (FGD) in November 2017 to facilitate and promote the role of CEOs, Senior Executives, and the SDSB faculty to add a more meaningful value to the country’s economic, social, and cultural advancement through the exchange of ideas, experiences, and industry-academia linkages.
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