17 edition

EDITOR’SNOTE

The year 2011 just passed with the blink of an eye and 2012, with all its specu-lations, has begun. Let us welcome it with new hope and especially with thestandpoint of economic growth and prosperity. Not only has this year broughta sense of excitement but it has also opened doors for new possibilities. And thebest way to plan for new year is to evaluate and research what worked and whatdidn’t work last year. The resolutions should be integrated with intention. Thecraft is to shelter new ideas without alienating yourself from them. But as theeconomic and political crisis of our country goes the best resolution could bethe establishment of the ideas that would help us burgeon as one.The 17th edition of Manager Today includes the interviews of Mr. Asad Umar,President Engro Corporation Ltd., he has played a vital role in the expansionand magnificent growth of business and revenues of his company. Mr.Muhammed Ali, Chairman, SECP, he has an extensive experience of financialand corporate markets, spread over 20 years in Asia, Europe and North Amer-ica., Dr. Nadeem Ul Haque, who is the Deputy Chairman, Planning Commissionof Pakistan, Isphanyar M. Bhandara, CEO, Muree Brewery and last but not theleast Major Ijaz, Chairman, Ali Akbar Group.Then we have our informative articles. We can’t say that the amazing tasksachieved by our forefathers would be lost in oblivion, rather posterity would stillbe able to retain them in their memory because of their high-impact legacy. Ka-maran Rizvi sheds some light on ‘Everlasting Leadership’. Whether it was ourfault or the unexpected turn of events that Pakistan floundered, Ahmed Kapadiahas an excellent piece of writing in store for you that would definitely shake thepatriotic spirit of all Pakistanis. Shivakumar explains how winning in emergingmarkets is essential to grow.Hussam K. Qasmi puts forward that attention to grow and develop people is asimportant as growing processes. Naseem Zafar Iqbal scrutinizes essentials ofleadership and the traits of a leader. Want to prepare beforehand for your firstjob after graduation, the article by Nahil Mahmood is extremely useful in thiscontext. Tazeen Nauman underscores the power and benefits that workingwomen in Pakistan can bring to their homes as well as their nation. And lastly,in this edition, we have roped in the section of poetry for the very first time. Apartfrom the moral and political questions raised about our nation, we can only thriveby taking into account the bright side. Amna Ali gives us a reason to take pridein what we have. Our nation should resonate our ideology, it is only because ofthe love and devotion to our country that we can make it through.

TOGETHERWECANMAKEADIFFERENCE

I love talkingaboutnothing,because this istheonly thing iknowanythingabout.

OscarWilde

IJAZ NISARFounder & President Manager [email protected]

INSPIRED? MOTIVATED? DID YOU LIKE WHAT YOU READ?

Ihave been to U.S.A for many years. When Ifirst saw Manager Today, I couldn’t stopcomparing it with Americanmagazines, devotedfor professional development. I am glad thatManager Today, being a Pakistani magazine,has attained a high standard of content, layoutand printing quality. Our country is full ofextremely talented people and I’m proud ofthem for being able to produce quality work intough social and economic conditions. Keep itup.

DR. ANEEQ AHMEDAssociate Professor Department of

PsychologyHenderson State University USA.

What an inspirational concept yourmagazine has brought to the world of

corporate journalism. And what a superb firstchoice it has become for the entrepreneurs, Ilook forward to every issue earnestly. Everyarticle reflects the true essence of ‘ManagerToday’.

M.SHAHID SIDDIQUECST ZTE Chinese Telecom

Iwould like to thank you for publishing thearticles on the subject of leadership. We livein a society where this issue is still not beingaddressed properly. The youth is not cared foron this front, but hats off to you for puttingforward some really great tips. We truly needmore leaders to make this world a better placeto live in. Without such endeavors, it would bereally easy for us to slip into anonymity.

TAIMOOR KHANLahore

I’m very much into reading the interviews ofgreat personalities. And every time I read onein your magazine, I cannot help but jump indelight. The last issue had the interviews ofSidra Iqbal and Javed Leghari, both areprominent and influential personalities. Ienjoyed reading their views and theseinterviews always leave an indelible impressionon my mind. I hope to find such inspiration allthrough your coming issues.

AHMED BILALLahore

Ihave always been reluctant to go by a goodreading material without adding it to mypersonal library. It has been a long time since Ihave subscribed to Manager Today magazine,and I must say that I have saved every issue,even the very first one. The magazine is soremarkable that it has made me more of ahoarder than a collector.

BEENISH RAHMANIslamabad

As much as I like Sidra, I was also quiteimpressed by her views on

entrepreneurship and success. How she hasmanaged to excel in her field and despite allodds, succeeded in her endeavors. Brimmingwith confidence, stories of these women whostart a business of their own and juggle manyresponsibilities would serve as a lesson for thewomen to overcome challenges and turn theirdreams into reality.

ALIYA AHMEDKarachi

If you findManagerToday inspirational for the personal and professional development, do inform us. You can also contribute yourarticles, suggestions and recommendations at: Email:[email protected], [email protected],Website:www.managertoday.pk Ph:04235792066, 03008838428, 03004521298, 03008167229Don’t forget to mention your full name, postal address and phone number on your letters.

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14 EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW

Transformational LeaderASAD UMARPresident, Engro Corporation Ltd.

20 LEADERSHIPEverlasting leadershipApathy can kill our ability to lead andmake a lasting positive difference. Pre-tense is our worst enemy. Not to seethe leadership capability within youas an enduring phenomenon is tomiss the point.

22 REFLECTIONSBelief & Betrayal: Where dowe stand today?


Professionalism PersonifiedMUHAMMAD ALIChairman, SECP

28 LEADERSHIP

Leadership Are you & yourteam on the same pageUndoubtedly the effective onboardingof new employees takes time and ef-fort, but it will pay big-time for boththe employer and the new hires in thelong run.

32 ORGANIZATIONALDEVELOPMENT

Organizational Development:an HRM’s perspectiveLearning can never be random, therehas to be a purpose to it. And the pur-pose is to modify behavior which, inturn, modifies processes. Organiza-tional development is not about devel-oping people only, its aboutdeveloping processes.

MANAGERTODAY

Editor-in-ChiefIJAZ NISAR

Associate EditorWali Zahid

Assistant EditorRABAIL ABBAS

DesignerSHAH JAHAN (SHANI)

Marketing & Sales ManagerHASEEB NISAR0300 816 7229

Marketing ManagerFAHAD IQBAL

0346 468 8536

Business Development ManagerM. SAQIB SHEHZAD

0300 883 84280300 844 5208

LEARNING & OD MANAGERSOMIA ISHAQ

ASST. LEARNING MANAGERKANWAL EJAZ

PhotographerKAMRAN

ContributorsPHILIP S. LALLATIF TUFAIL

BAKHTIAR KHAWAJHASALIM GHAURIKAMRAN RIZVI

ANDLEEB ABBASMASOOD ALI KHAN

Legal AdvisorMUHAMMAD ZULFIQAR ALI BUTAR

PublisherMANAGER TODAY

PrinterQASIM NAEEM ART PRESS

HEAD OFFICE MANAGER TODAYPL-11 SIDDIQUE TRADE CENTREMAIN BOULEVARD, GULBERG III

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Tel: 0423-579 2066Cell: 0300 452 1298

0300 816 72290300 844 5208

email: [email protected]@hotmail.com

website:www.managertoday.pkwww.leadingedge.com.pk

PCPB # 303-M OCT-NOV,2011


Pakistan’s Strategic PlannerDR. NADEEM UL HAQUEDeputy Chairman, PlanningCommission of Pakistan

38 CUSTOMER SERVICE

‘Winning in emergingmarkets’The emerging market consumer isyoung, has an affinity for brands andis technologically savvy.

40 CAREERDEVELOPMENT

8 Eight Steps To Excel InYour First Job After Gradua-tion

42WOMENEMPOWERMENTWorking women in PakistanIn Pakistani household, work is con-sidered to be a woman’s primary role.Due to the increase of economic pres-sures on families in the past fewdecades, the traditional restrictions onwomen have lessened and large num-bers of women have taken on paidemployment.


Visionary EntrepreneurMAJ. (R) IJAZ MUHAMMAD KHANChairman, Ali Akbar Group

52 ENTREPRENEUR

Enterprising EntrepreneurISPHANYARM. BHANDARACEO,Murree Brewery

is the founder ofwilderness basedleadershipdevelopmentconcept inPakistan. Hisresearch orientedIntegratedLeadershipDevelopmentInitiative involvesextensiveparticipantprofiling, thewilderness basedleadershipprogram, personaldevelopmentagenda through astatistical analysisbased competencyassessmentprogram and one-on-onecoaching.His workwith theorganizations as atrainer during thelast 15 years for thesenior and middlemanagement hashad a profoundimpact indevelopingleadershippipelines.

comes from a veryrespectablemiddle-classfamily. Hisgrandfather, ahomeopathicdoctor, migratedwith his family fromAbrahma, a smallvillage in IndianGujrat, in 1947(after partition) toKarachi, Pakistan.The family bought ahouse and settlednear Gurumander inthe heart of the city– Karachi. Ahmedgrew up in a homewhere the housewould be alwaysfull of visitingpatients who werethere to seektreatment from hisgrandfather.Sometimes anominal charge wastaken, but most ofthe time, thepatients were givenfree treatment. Thefamily and theirkindness becameso well-known thatthe house they livedin became alandmark andhence a tribute tothe family’scontributiontowards thebetterment ofhumanity.

MANAGERTODAY’S

AHMEDKAPADIA

NASEEMZAFAR

KAMRANRIZVIpioneered thepersonal-improvement and ODmovement inPakistan in 1991,after working forfourteen years inretail andcommercialbanking in theMiddle East andthe UK. He is theFounding Director,Trainer, ExecutiveCoach, Keynotespeaker andConsultant atNavitus, a leadingorganizationaldevelopment (OD)consulting andtraining firm in thecountry.He alsoserves on the boardof School ofLeadership (SoL) inPakistan, bestknown for itsflagship program,the Young Leaders’Conference (YLC).He has specializedin behavioral andorganizationalchange and is awell-knowninspirationalspeaker. Kamrancan be reached [email protected].

NAHILMAHMOODis a seasoned ITprofessional withover 14 years ofexperience ofworking in thetelecoms andbanking sectors inPakistan. He is afrequent speaker atthe leading ITconferences inPakistan and alsowrites regularly forleading magazines.His passion is todevelop and guideyoung graduatesand professionalsto reach their fullGod-given talents.

HUSSAM K.QASMIFollowing his MBAfrom the Universityof Wales &undergraduate fromCurtin BusinessSchool, Australia,Hussam hasstepped inhospitality industrywith Hotel One andis now working asManager HR there,looking after 9properties of it.

TAZEENNAUMANis an HR Expert.She holds aMasters Degree inInternationalRelations and is anMBA (HR), acertified HRprofessional,Trainer, Speakerand HRPractitioner. Shehas beenassociated with thefield of HR for thelast 10 years. Byprofession, she hasworked inmultinationalorganizations as theSenior HR Managerfor Pakistan.Presently, she isworking in arenownedgovernmentorganization asManagerPersonnel. She isassociated withsome non-profitorganizations andactivelyparticipates inenhancement ofpersonal andprofessional qualityof the volunteersand managementthrough designingand impartingtrainings, henceplaying pivotal rolein managinghuman capital andadministratingprojects.

D SHIVAKUMAR

is currently theManaging Directorand VP of Nokia,India. From January1, 2012, Shiv hasbeen handling India,Middle East andAfrica for Nokia asthe Senior VP, basedout of Dubai. Shiv isan Engineer and anMBA. He isessentially aMarketer and aGeneral Manager.He has run morethan 34 brands, overtwo decades, in hiscareer . Havinggrown every brandand business he hasbeen associatedwith, Shiv is a‘growth’ manager.He has a trackrecord of buildingbrands, developingpeople and bringingcreative andinnovative businessmodel solutions inthe categories andindustries that hehas worked in.

AMNAALIis a versatile writer,inclined to socialissues currently &seeking to engravepoetry on businessaspects inspired bymarket needs. Forher, craze of writingcould beinterpreted as aborn instinct.Writing is herstrength, weakness,thirst, hunger &everything. In otherwords perceivingan astonishingidea, playing withwords and carvingit on a sheetenlivens and growsher soul. Shebelieves writingcan mark immensedifference inmasses bychanging theircognitiveframework. She haswon numerouspoetrycompetitions heldby differentuniversities likeBritish News Letterand CFE. She is anhonorary graduatein EnglishLanguage &Literature. AmnaSays, “Dearcomrade! Let’s bidfarewell toanthropocentricland. We are better-off with ideologygrand”.

CONTRIBUTORS

EXCLUSIVEINTERVIEW14

14 | MANAGER TODAY | www.managertoday.pk

Transformational

ASAD UMAR President, Engro Corporation Ltd.

Starting oI as a simple fertilizers company,Engro Corp has firmly established itself as aleading business entity in a number of otherareas such as energy and FMCG, and is nowaspiring to be a truly global company in thetimes to come. This phenomenal success in awide variety of fields, in a short span of time,can rightly be attributed to its brilliant inno-vative techniques, futuristic vision, excellentmanagerial expertise and highly competitivespirit.Withmore than quarter of a century ofpractical professional experience, its currentPresident & CEO,Mr. Asad Umar has played apivotal role in its triumphant expansion,leading to itsmagnificent growth in terms ofbusiness ventures and revenue generation. Inthe following interviewwith the “ManagerToday” he has explained some of the factors,which have contributed to the resoundingsuccess of his company, hencemaking it arolemodel for others.

www.managertoday.pk | MANAGER TODAY | 15

Q:Would you like to throw light onthe process of Engro’s amazingtransformation from a mere chemicalscompany to its present massive setup,dealing with FMCG and other fields?

Engro Corp was initially associated withchemicals and fertilizers, in which it excelledandmade rapid progress. Encouraged by ourearly successes, we decided to embark uponother business ventures, most importantly,the FMCG business, of which we had ab-solutely no previous experience. As a matterof fact, we were ridiculed and considered tobe fanatical when we unveiled our new proj-ects to the general public. However, with con-sistent team efforts and determination, wetook up the challenge and have made signifi-cant headway in the FMCG business.We arenow making concerted efforts to become aglobal company, with our brands selling

across the country and in north America .This elaborate/ comprehensive agenda ofours may take some time for its full imple-mentation, but keeping in view our currentrate of growth and expansion, we are verymuch hopeful to achieve our set targets.

Q:You have just hinted at yourgoals for the distant future, whatare your plans for the next few years?During the next few years, we hope to com-

plete twomajor energy projects. One of themis related to power generation from Thar coaldeposits, which are the largest coal depositsin our country. Environmental, social andother forms of assessment have been com-pleted and now, we are only waiting for thegovernment to complete its work on infra-structure. The second project is the importof LNG as a short-term solution for overcom-ing the extreme shortage of gas in our coun-

IJAZ NISARWALI ZAHID


try. We are one of those very few companieswhich are in the advanced stage of thisprocess. Moreover, in the next few years, weintend to accelerate the pace of our expan-sion of the food portfolios, including ice cream,milk and rice. In this connection, the modelfarm built by us a few years ago has been ofconsiderable help.

Q:In what ways has your modelfarm been helpful to you?By bringing to this farm high quality im-

ported animals with high yield, we wished todemonstrate their potential benefits for ourcountry. Immediately after our successful ex-perience,many people following our footstepsimported high quality animals for their farms.Secondly, this farm has proved to be of im-mense value from the point of view of re-search. We have applied several newtechniques and methodologies for improvingthe yield of milk. We believe that by applyingthe learnings that we have obtained from ourwork on the farm, we will be able to producehigh quality milk at a competitive price and itwill help us in the long run.

Q:You have just pointed out thatyour company had no previous ex-perience of FMCG business. In spite ofthat, how were you able to achieve suchhigh levels of success?

Being fully aware of the fact that we wereunaware of the technicalities and complexitiesinvolved in this business, we hired the servicesof those who had extensive experience and ex-pertise of the FMCG sector. Our CEO for thisparticular venture had been the country headof Pepsi in Pakistan. Similarly, marketing andsales directors had previously been withrenowned FMCGs. After putting together thisteam of highly talented people, who knew thepros and cons of this business, we empow-ered them so that they could take decisionsindependently for the promotion of the busi-ness. Afterwards, we deliberately pursued ahighly aggressive business model, which re-sulted in heavy losses in the beginning, butgradually, we turned those losses into profitsand generated about thirty billion rupees ofrevenue in the first six years of operation. Thethird and perhaps the most striking ingredi-ent of our successful strategy was our em-phasis on innovative techniques in acompetitive spirit with world class companies.We attempted to do something different, newand innovative and the best example in thisconnection has been our tea brand, known asTarang, which has been a huge success, be-

cause it was innovative in its formulation, mar-keting and every other aspect.

Q:In these tough economic times,what recipe of success do youpropose for FMCG companies?In this highly competitive world and atmos-

phere of global economic recession anddownturn, only those companies can hope tobe crowned with success which are closer tothe consumers and aware of their needs andcome upwith some practicable strategies formeeting their needs better than others. Ifsome company is competent and capableenough to do that, it would be a win-win situa-tion for it. This is exactly what we are trying todo. In this age of soaring inflation, skyrocketingprices, massive job cuts and rising unemploy-ment, the main pre-occupation for most theconsumers is spending less money and get-ting better things. Realizing this all-important

need of our people, we endeavour to intro-duce such products which are not only rela-tively cheaper in price, but are still good inquality, health, nutrition and taste. The glori-ous success of this well-thought-out strategymanifested itself in the form of our tea brand,Tarang. As soon as it was introduced in themarket, it began to attract more and morepeople because it afforded them a wonderfulopportunity to buy a good quality tea at a rea-sonable price.

Q:What type of culture have youpromoted in Engro as an institu-tion?Self-centered and egotistical people have

done much harm to the institutions of ourcountry because they want their institutionsto revolve around them. But this is not thecase with Engro, whose strength mainly liesin its ability to flourish as an institution, in


which everyone has a clearly defined role, ac-companied by responsibility, authority and ac-countability. People don’t need to come tomefor each and every decision and in fact, I havenothing to do with some of the most impor-tant decisions because people in every sec-tion have been authorized to take their owndecisions in accordance with their responsi-bilities and roles. In this way, Engro continuesto march forward as an institution, even ifsomeone stays in it or leaves it.

Q:There are different dimension ofbusiness activity, such as finance,sales, marketing, manufacturing and HR,etc. Which of these do you like the most?

With my MBA degree, I started my profes-sional career from finance. Later on, I had awonderful time dealing with sales and mar-keting. Then, I got in touch with manufactur-ing, which is the most organized and most

structured component of business that offersmaximum scope for practical learning andtraining. I have never worked in the HR de-partment, but part of my job is identifying tal-ent, nurturing and developing it and holding itaccountable. Thus, directly or indirectly, I havebeen associated with almost all sectors ofbusiness, gaining valuable experience fromeach and every one of them.

Q:What strategies do you adopt forthe proper training of your staff?We have an elaborate programme for the

continuous training of our employees, fromthe lowest to the highest level. First of all,there is the functional training of employees,which is related to the nature of their jobs.Then, there is the leadership training, in whichpeople are taught leadership skills, team skillsand communication skills in the best possiblemanner. Managerial training, from the juniorto the higher level, is also an integral featureof our training module. For the polishing of allthe hidden talents of our employees and fortheir maximum exposure, we bring them in

touch with various forms of business activitiesand encourage them tomake presentation atthe highest level. But above all, we spend hugeamounts of money on the quality training ofour supervisors, because without a properlytrained, motivated and groomed supervisor,even the best appraisal system is bound tofail.

Q:Being the CEO of a large businessorganization, where men andwomen work together, what mechanismhave you evolved to control sexual ha-rassment?

Wehave a highly developedmechanism forthis purpose. It is a formal complaint system,which allows the people to register com-plaints even on anonymous bases. It is called‘Speak Out’ programme. If someone feels thathe or she has been sexually harassed, thereis a due process to look at the complaint, in-vestigate and take necessary actions. Suchacts are taken very seriously in the organiza-tion to ensure that it is a fair and a safe placeto work in. In addition to this, we encourage avery open and communicative culture in ourorganization, so that all the employees, maleas well as female, may display their talentswithout any fear or harassment.

Q:Who in your opinion is a goodmanager and what are the hall-marks of your management style?Instead of depending upon textbook defini-

tions, I believe that a good manager likes todo effectively and efficiently those thingswhich need to be done. A good leader, on theother hand, does those things which shouldbe done and which are not being done. Thus,a good leader always strives for change. Attimes, a great leadermay not be a goodman-ager and in the same way, a good managermay not always be a great leader. But theideal situation is when a leader possesesmanagerial qualities and a manager pos-

PROFILE:Asad Umar is the President of Engro Corporation Limited since January 2004, the Chairman of allEngro subsidiaries and joint ventures and CEO of Engro Fertilizers Limited. Hewas also the firstPresident of Engro Polymer & Chemicals Ltd. He started his career with HSBC Pakistan and joinedExxon Chemical Pakistan Limited, later Engro Chemical Pakistan Limited in 1985.Umar is the Chairman of Pakistan Chemical & Energy Sector Skill Development Company and amember on the Boards of Pakistan Business Council, Karachi Education Initiative, Pakistan Institute ofCorporate Governance, State Bank of Pakistan and Trustee of LUMS. He has previously served as theDirector of Oil & Gas Development Company Ltd., Karachi Stock Exchange, Pakistan Centre forPhilanthropy, Pakistan State Oil and Port QasimAuthority.


sesses leadership skills. My managementstyle is informal, based on high emotional en-gagement, which urges me to confront thesituation and to push for better results.

Q:During your interaction with thestudents at business institu-tions, what advice do you give them fortheir bright and prosperous career?

I frankly tell them that only the people withlimited potential like me should look for jobs,while the more talented ones must launch

their own businesses and try to become en-trepreneurs. The business of their choicemust also be their passion. Otherwise, if theyinitiate a profession which does not delightthem and is contrary to their tastes and in-terests, chances are that in the long run, theywill suffer. Furthermore, for the success oftheir business, they must understand theneeds of the consumers and come up with in-novative techniques formeeting those needs.

Q:Are you satisfied with the qualityof education being imparted tothe students of our business schools?Top business schools like LUMS and IBA are

surely producing excellent people capable ofoccupying top positions in the leading compa-nies of the country. But the problem is thatour business schools are mainly producingmanagers and executive officers, they are notproducing entrepreneurs and genuinely cre-ative leaders, capable of innovation and freethinking. Another major dilemma is that noemphasis is laid on promoting desirable ethi-cal, moral and social values, which are so vitalfor the long-term success of any business. Ageneral sense of despair and pessimism pre-vails in our country and we are made to be-lieve that only those can succeed in oursociety, who are corrupt and who haveshunned all moral values. But this is not thewhole story. I can still quote examples of thosewho have strictly adhered to the canons ofmorality and despite that, have been ex-tremely successful in business as well as pol-itics. We need to promote such people(though they may be few in number) as rolemodels among our youngsters, to removetheir sense of despair and to create in thema sense of firm belief and conviction.

Q:To what extent are you fulfillingyour corporate social responsibil-ity?Our CSR Program targets communities

around our areas of operation which are pre-dominantly rural Sindh and now includes Cen-tral Punjab. As an organization, we arecommitted to spend 1% profit before tax onsocial projects. Key thematic areas are edu-cation, livelihoods, health and infrastructureimprovements. Our social expenditure hasbeen complemented through funding fromUSAID and PPAF for special projects. Imple-mentation is done through Engro Foundation,where the Board of Trustees are Engro Com-panies’ CEOs. One of our key projects hasbeen the construction of a Model Village torehabilitate flood affected in Southern Punjab

which has facilities like, solar powered elec-tricity, dairy farming, livelihood programs, veg-etable gardens, education, health programs,sanitation and grey water harvesting. But Iam not somuch satisfied with our overall CSRperformance because we try tomeasure thelevel of our success by what we do, instead ofanalyzing the final outcome of our investment.In simpler terms, we can tell the number ofstudents financed by us, but we don’t botherto assess the impact of our effort on theirpersonalities, characters and their profes-sional career in the long run.

Q:Who in your view isa happy man?I believe that a really happy man is the one

who has learnt the art of deriving pleasurefrom small things in life. In other words, heknows how to enjoy every bit of the journeywhile never losing sight of the final destination.Perhaps, the best recipe for happiness andsuccess in life is that we should always keepour feet on the ground and our eyes on thestars. In simple terms, while cherishing highambitions, we should never forget to cele-brate small successes.

Q:What are the main sources of in-spiration for you in your life?My inspiration has always come from the

poetry of Iqbal and frommy reading of booksdealing with literature, history, sports andwars etc. My father, who was a student as-sistant of Quaid-e-Azam, has also been agreat source of inspiration.

Q:Would you like to recommend abook which our people must readfor success in life?The book that I wish to recommend for this

purpose is rather an unusual one. I stronglyrecommend that every citizen of Pakistanmust read the country’s constitution in orderto learn about the importance of rule of lawand his own rights and duties as a citizen.

Q:You have just talked about rule oflaw. Are all jobs in Engro providedon merit?All job applications, whether from a federal

minister or a security guard, are treated inexactly the same manner. All applicants aretold to appear in the test and interview for se-lection and all appointments are made onmerit. My elder brother’s eldest son, who hadgot 78 per cent marks from UET, applied fora job in Engro, but could not get it, as he did-not come up to our required standards. n

If some company iscompetent and capableenough to do that, itwould be awin-winsituation for it. This isexactly whatwe aretrying to do.

Our vision needs to encompass notonly the moment which is about tocome in the next few seconds andminutes, but it also needs to extend

much beyond our lifetime. All great thingswere achieved with attention to detail tothings in the immediate horizon as well as far-sightedness.David McCullough in his HBR article1

shares his hopeful thought that, “I sense agreat desire among people everywhere I goto get the country back on track, to improveeducation, improve performance in all fieldsand recover the old commitment to the com-mon good. The world has a vested interest in

how well we succeed in that; andmake no mistake: It will take a lot

of strong, enlightened leader-ship”. Such aspirations holdtrue when we embrace thegoals that exceed our limited

span of life on this planet.On one level (earthly), we are

mortal beings, yet at another, weare eternal beings i.e. we returnto where we came from. It is in thelatter dimension that we need toexcel in, to inspire and to achieveenduring and admirable outcomes.Everlasting leadershipmerits fur-

ther reflection. We are pre-occu-pied with our mortality. Yet as

human beings we are blessed with thecapacity to become immortal through

our deeds by continuing to live in the memo-

ries of coming generations, long after we aregone. Socrates, Plato, Aristotle and other leg-endary figures who we admire from our re-cent past and ancient history go on having apervasive impact on us to this day.The thought behind Everlasting Leadership

was inspired by a well known saying ofProphet Muhammad (p.b.u.h.) who says thatwhen we plan, we should plan as though wewill never die but when it comes to action, weneed to act, as though we may not get a sec-ond chance. Life is not only the time we havefrom birth to death. Life is more about howlong our legacy reverberates through time,once we are dead and buried.Back in 1987, in the City of London, I met a

colleague and friend ofmine, Shahid Doha. Hehad recently returned from his honeymoon inItaly. Not having visited the country till then, Iasked him to share some of the highlightsfrom his experience withme. He took his timedescribing the beauty of the different citiesthat he visited. But, when he said, “We spenthalf a day marveling at the grandeur of StMark’s Cathedral in Venice”, I was shocked.“Half a day??!! Staring at bricks andmortar?!You could just as easily have bought a few pic-ture postcards of the cathedral and drawndelight from them!” He replied, “If only youknew the history of this cathedral, you wouldnot have said this”. “What can be so unusualabout its past?”, I remarked.As the story goes, there was a man called

Mark, who, in around 1100 AD, when he was50 years old, dreamt of a magnificent cathe-dral that glorified God. When he woke fromhis dream, he felt compelled to share with hisbrethren the majesty of what he saw. He be-came obsessed and commenced meticu-lously working on drawings and plans forconstructing this beautiful structure, whichhe had seen in his mind’s eye. This processtook him five years. By now he was 55. Heshared his vision and plans with his family andfriends and tried to recruit asmany hands ashe could muster. According to Mark’s esti-

LEADERSHIP20

leadershipEverlasting

Apathy can kill our ability to leadandmake a lasting positivedi;erence. Pretense is ourworst enemy. Not to see theleadership capability within youas an enduring phenomenon isto miss the point


KAMRAN RIZVI


mate, it would take around 350 to 400 yearsto build the cathedral! He knew at the outset,that the task that lay before himwould go waybeyond his expected lifespan. Yet, despite theodds, he managed to inspire his newly as-sembled team to get the project started. Hepassed away a few years later, as the foun-dations were being laid. Despite this, throughseveral generations, his team of dedicatedand committed men continued working re-lentlessly, enrolling the next generations toshare and actively participate in convertinghis vision into reality. The job was finally ac-complished, and today, St Mark’s Cathedralstands tall in testimony of aman who dreamtbig. Imagine the faith he had in the people tosee this mega project through.Feel the quality of the commitment and be-

lief that each one of the thousands in thisstory must have displayed through succes-sive generations. Try and visualize the suc-cession process in which incumbents passedon what they knew to those who followed, andthat too, without any dilution! NowonderMarkwas labeled a saint. He thought of the possi-bility that existed way beyond his lifespan, inthe faith that a process once commenced, willendure through people touched with thesame everlasting spirit.Pakistan is just over sixty years old. Where

are the leaders who have a grand and ever-lasting vision for our nation and for the hu-manity at large? You don’t have to look far foran answer. You are the one! Be the changeyou want to see in this world. This saying fromGandhi has almost become a cliché. Whatstops you from living this creed?

History illustrates enduring leadership prin-ciples handed down through centuries by in-dividuals from a variety of cultures andtraditions. Courage, honesty, flexibility, vision,commitment and persistence are timelessnuggets, worth keeping inmind, in your reper-toire of leadership.Michael Anthony Jackson 2 brings to the

surface 21st century lessons that we canlearn from the prominent personalities of thepast. His book contains revealing short biog-raphies of five well-known individuals, namely,Alexander the Great; Changez Khan; Hanni-bal, Elizabeth I and William the Conqueror.These personalities died centuries ago, butare they really dead? Lives of those consid-ered dead long ago continue to guide us tothis day. Their endurance comes from theirhigh-impact legacy.Not entertaining eternity in your mind is to

steal the 'soul' from the vital act of leadershipthat we can and must demonstrate in allwalks life. Our souls are eternal. What Dr.Wayne Dyre says is paradigm shifting: "Weare not human beings having a spiritual expe-rience. We are spiritual beings having ahuman experience.”

Think about it. You admire people who facedgreat odds and challenged status quo wisely.They shared a daring and a beautiful dream,demonstrated courage and compassion andmade inspiring contributions to society. In anHBR interview 3, David McCullough pointingto the need for leaders suggests: "We needleaders in every field, in every institution, in allkinds of situations. We need to be educatingour young people to be leaders. And unfortu-nately, that's fallen out of fashion." He refersto leadership not being in fashion these days,particularly in the American context. I fear thistrend is more widespread than we would liketo believe.Apathy can kill our ability to lead and make

a lasting positive difference. Pretense is ourworst enemy. Not to see leadership capa-

bility within you as an enduring phenomenon isto miss the point. n

Our souls are eternal.What Dr.Wayne Dyresays is paradigmshifting: "We are nothuman beings having aspiritual experience.Weare spiritual beingshaving a humanexperience

KAMRAN RIZVI

is the Founding Director ofNavitus.He can be reachedat [email protected].

REFLECTIONS22

oday, there are a number of negativeand violent associations that can be

made with Pakistan. It is not just theworld which sees Pakistan through a

tainted lens, we Pakistanis also do the same.What is the image that Pakistan now por-trays? A terrorist harboring state, a countrybeing slowly destroyed by corrupt rulers, acountry where daily life is marred by powercuts and price hikes…All these images are a far cry from what

Pakistan wasmeant to stand for - the Land ofthe Pure. A separate identity in which we kepton believing until someone stepped forwardand made that dream a reality. A Superman- a Superman we called Quaid-e-Azam. Withhis team of superheroes, hemade the dreamof a separate identity a reality.And today, we honor their efforts with be-

trayal. A group of people became a team ofsuperheroes for our sake and today we an-swer their achievements by the carelessnessof our actions or rather non-actions. The sep-arate identity for which Pakistan was createddoes not exist anymore. Because we didn’tcreate it, we feel no need to take responsibil-ity for it.Since we didn’t bother to brand ourselves,

everybody else did!While Newsweek recently headlined us as

the “Most Dangerous Nation in the World”,other newspapers were printing headlinesabout the latest political crisis and economicproblems. News channels, on the other hand,conveyed breaking news about another bombblast. At the time when the whole worldwatched the devastation wreaked by thefloods, our mass communication was sayingentirely something else. They were describ-ing a carefree Utopia of songs and dance anddiscussing political non-issues with no solutionon the horizon. None of our advertisements,dramas or movies reflect the reality of ourcountry. Instead, our media messages havebeen shallow-promoting a ‘live-by-the-moment’ philosophy. It is high time that westop being indifferent to our situation andbreak out of this vicious cycle.In all the messages we have been putting

out there for the world, not once have wetried to understand how thosemessages arebeing interpreted and misused against us.


Belief&&Betrayal:Where do we stand today?Where do we stand today?

AHMED KAPADIA

While the world has been watching the crisisand turmoil in Pakistan, we have stayed quietand let them develop their own conclusions.Is it any wonder then that the conclusions theyhave drawn are so unfavorable? I don’t thinkthe world has made a mistake when it hastried and judged us as shallow people given tothe ignorance of our own best interests. Weourselves have promoted this view. Not onlyto the world but we have also somehowman-aged to convince ourselves that this is whatPakistan really is. We have led ourselves intooblivion to such an extent that we havestopped caring for what becomes of us as anation. Now, when we hear of a bomb blastwe are thankful to Allah because it could havebeen worse. The death toll could have beenhigher.We live for ourselves now! In the worstpossible way, we have betrayed our own be-lief and, in the process, our own existence.We have no separate identity now butanonymity. We have nothing but conflictingmessages to show for ourselves.We’re backto square one. Once again, we need a super-man to save us. Once again we need a su-perman to bring to us our ‘separate identity’.Two choices lie in front of us today - either

we could wait for a messiah or we can takeour destiny into our own hands, like we oncedid before 1947. It would have to be one of us.It would have to beme or you. I believed in Pak-istan. I betrayed Pakistan withmy silence. Andnow I will be superman for Pakistan. I will stop

complaining and start doing because after all,heroism begins with one person.Great brands have great stories to tell and

Pakistan is a great country.We need to startbelieving in our country and ourselves andnarrate our story instead of giving others theright to do that for us. Other countries havebeen proactive in branding themselves.Through tourism campaigns and rehabilita-tion efforts, they have a voice that we associ-ate with positivity. We didn’t know this voice,but they told us about it.Now, we need to find our voice.Wemay not

be able to speak against the negative voices,but we can be louder with the positive ones.There is much goodness in Pakistan to beshared with the rest of the world. We are anation of amazing people who have turnedtheir personal stories into brands that havebeen acclaimed by the world. The names likeAbdul Sattar Edhi, Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan andImran Khan are synonymous to success andachievement.We can’t change the way our cinemaworks

but we can surely create better cinema likeKhuda Kay Liye, a cinema that is talked aboutbecause it has a message to give and issomething different and heart touching thathas truth in it. Brands, leaders, intelligentsia,marketers, thinkers, journalists and all thosewho have the power to make a positive dif-ference need to come together and think of acommon message that needs to be sent out

of Pakistan. The kind of message our adver-tisements, our dramas and our cinemas needto carry about the good side of us and ourcountry.I cannot control the content of our market-

ing but I can create more relevant content.Content that has something to tell the worldabout everything wonderful that Pakistan is,content that needs to be marketed like it isand tells the brand story of Pakistan in a com-pelling way. We need to know what we standfor and what our country stands for and weneed to commit ourselves to promote it.What mustn’t be forgotten is the reason

one needs to be a Superman. Pakistan needsme, but I need Pakistan more. I am an individ-ual but my identity comes from Pakistan.That’s why it is my responsibility as well as theresponsibility of 187 million Pakistanis to en-vision a bright future for our country and takeownership of it. We all need to ensure todaythat our every action will take us closer to thevision of a better tomorrow. It is time for us allto become Supermen for Pakistan, for our-selves as well as for our next generation. n


AHMED KAPADIA

is a well known personality &media icon. He is also CEOSynergy.



Q:Would you like to share with ourreaders some of the details of yourexceptionally brilliant professionalcareer that led up to your presentposition as the youngest chairman ofthe SECP?After completing my MBA from the In-

stitute of Business Administration (IBA),University of Karachi, I startedmy careerwith Citibank andmoved on to Smith NewCourt Securities in London. In 1994, I fi-nalized a joint venture with Indosuez W.I.Carr Securities, which is the Asian bro-kerage arm of Credit Agricole Indosuezand also led Indosuez W. I. Carr Securi-ties, Pakistan for seven years. I also ledthe expansion of W.I. Carr’s business ac-tivities to Bangladesh and finalized thegroup’s strategy for Middle East andNorth African markets.At that time I changed my focus to pri-

vate equity investments and setting upnew businesses. My prime focus was onfinancial, real estate development, infor-

mation technology and digital contentmanagement sectors,not only in Pakistanbut also inthe Middle East and NorthAmerica.Q: Being the SECP Chairman, tell ussomething about the major areas ofits activity, the challenges and itsvision to enhance and regulate thebusiness affairs of the country.The role of SECP as a regulator is criti-

cal because a fine balance needs to bestruck between its vigilance and supervi-sory function and its role as a facilitatorto develop its administered areas of themarket, i.e. the corporate sector, capitalmarkets, non-banking financial sector andinsurance sector. This is especially im-portant since in Pakistan the banking andnon-banking financial sectors have failedto provide themuch needed range of sav-ing and investment products that wouldmeet the risk appetite of investors andthe funding needs of borrowers across allsegments of society. There is limited ac-

TheSecurities ExchangeCommissionofPakistan (SECP) is presently being ledbyMr.MuhammadAli, its youngest Chairman, amanwhohas risen to this level of success byvirtue of his exceptional talent, brilliant vision anddiversified experience.Under hissupervision, theSECP, as the statutory financial regulator for all sectors other thanbanks andDFIs, is striving to create the ideal circumstances for a strong, solid andvibrant corporate sector inPakistan. TheSECPaspires to ensure that throughproperregulation and theprovision of the requisite legal framework, the challenges andrequirements of thehighly competitive and commercializedworld canbemetby thecapitalmarkets, investment companies, insurance companies and corporationsgenerally, in linewith international benchmarks and standards.In an exclusive interviewwithManager Today,Mr.Ali highlighted the key areas of focusby theSECP.Brimmingwith confidenceandvibrantwithdynamic energy andvigor,Mr.Ali has a revolutionary agenda for putting thebusiness a.airs of the country on theright track& to copewith the contemporary demandsof the corporateworld.

PROFESSIONALISM

PERSONIFIEDMUHAMMADALIChairman, SECP

cess to finance in the private sector whichhas resulted in a large number of small andmedium size enterprises (SMEs) beingstarved of funding.Our capital market is presently going

through one of its toughest periods ever, asmarket capitalization has come down to$31.9 billion, which is less than half of what itwas three years ago. Turnover, in the backdrop of market closure in 2008 and imposi-tion of capital gain tax, is less than 10% ofwhat it was six years ago and new listingsfrom good quality corporate houses remainundersubscribed. There are less than200,000 registered investors in the capitalmarket, of whom a large number are inactive,and there are less than 150,000 unit holdersin the mutual fund industry. Insurance pene-tration, at 0.7% is one of the lowest in theworld. Private pension investors are less than2,000, while investment banking, housing fi-nance and leasing sectors are struggling forsurvival.In comparison with regional economies,

market capitalization as a percentage of GDPin Pakistan is only 20.34%, where it is 41% inSri Lanka, 44% in China, 84% in Thailand,94% in India and 185% in Malaysia.There are 59,417 companies incorporated

with SECP, out of which 20% are inactive. Ourfiscal structure is not conducive to corporati-zation since the income tax rates are higherfor companies in comparison with other busi-ness structures like partnerships or propri-etorships. This, coupled with a presumptivetax regime and various tax exemptions, dis-courages documentation and a general cul-ture of corporatization in the trading,industrial and agriculture sectors.These are the challenges which we are

faced with, and it is from this perspective thatthe SECP has developed its vision to providethe right legal framework for development of


PROFILE:Mr.MuhammadAliwasappointedby theFederal Governmentas theChairmanoftheSecurities andExchangeCommissionofPakistan (SECP)onDecember 24,2010.Hehasanextensive anddiversified corporate andfinancialmarketexperience, spreadover 20years inAsia, EuropeandNorthAmerica.AnMBA fromthe Institute ofBusinessAdministration (IBA),University ofKarachi,Mr.Ali is awell-knownprofessional andentrepreneur.He startedhis careerwithCitibankandmovedon toSmithNewCourt Securities in Londonandwasresponsible for selling Indian,Pakistani, Sri LankanandBangladeshi equities toUKandContinental European institutional investors.


the markets, simplification of corporatizationand making it an attractive medium of invest-ment, creating investor confidence andawareness and maintaining effective stan-dards of regulatory supervisionQ:How do you intend to streamline thecapital markets?A strong legal and regulatory framework is

critical for the development of financial mar-kets, as it provides the basic structure forproduct innovation andmarket integrity. Afteryears of hard work and numerous consulta-tive processes, today we have five draft lawswhich are at different stages of approval.These are:1. Stock Exchanges (Corporatization,

Demutualization and Integration) Bill2. SECP (Regulation and Enforcement) Bill3. Securities Bill4. Futures Trading Bill5. Corporate Rehabilitation BillThe first three which are under considera-

tion by the parliament will go a long way inbringing about structural reforms in our cap-ital markets, thereby boosting investor confi-dence and protection, strengthening theenforcement ability of the SECP in terms ofits mandate and improving the quality of in-termediaries operating in our financial mar-kets. The latter two draft laws are pendingwith the government and will be presented tothe parliament for approval. The Futures Trad-ing Bill will provide the necessary frameworkfor a vibrant futuresmarket, particularly in re-spect to commodities, and the importance ofthis law cannot be overemphasized for anagrarian economy like Pakistan. The Corpo-rate Rehabilitation Bill will provide the neces-sary framework to revive sick companiesthereby releasing capital and creating em-ployment opportunities.In order to bring our capital markets at par

with the international standards, the law ondemutualization is the most critical. Once thelaw is promulgated, it will effectively create adistinction between ownership rights andmanagement functions in a stock exchange.In light of international precedents of demu-tualization over the last 15 years, this processwill eventually aim at a more clearly definedregulatory role of frontline and apex regula-tors, along with segregation of commercialactivities and regulatory functions at the ex-change level.Q:What is the role of the NBFC sector inour country and how do you propose tostrengthen it?

Entrepreneurship has played a significantrole in the progressive economies as it is akey source of economic growth and dy-namism. Pakistan too has a large, inexpensiveand talented pool of labor available, which pro-vides a tremendous opportunity to our en-trepreneurs to compete in the globalmarkets, especially in today’s age of techno-logical advances. One factor that inhibits en-trepreneurial growth is the lack of access tofinance, especially at the SME level. The gapbetween human and financial capital discour-ages entrepreneurship. Rent seeking is en-couraged instead of actual business activity.No nation has achieved economic progressby investing their savings in the fixed incomeinstruments instead of businesses.The non-banking financial sector can play a

very important role in bridging this gap, byproviding a source of finance for the entre-preneurs and an investment vehicle for the in-vestors. Unfortunately, in Pakistan, this sectorpresents a bleak picture, not only in terms offinancial assets, but also with regard to theparticipation and outreach to the general pub-lic. Mid-size financial institutions are needed, inorder tomeet the financing needs of the SMEsector– be it in the shape of traditional modesof finance, such as working capital and proj-ect financing or in the form of modern fi-nancing such as private equity and venturecapital.Accordingly, the SECP is revisiting the reg-

ulatory regime for NBFC and the frameworkfor private equity and venture capital in con-sultation with the stakeholders. I firmly believethat with the right mix of fiscal incentives, thepotential of the SME sector can be unlocked.Q:What development strategies are youfollowing for the promotion of insurancesector in the country?The development of the insurance sector is

a high priority area for the SECP, since insur-ance penetration in Pakistan is one of the low-est in the world. There is untapped potentialin our insurance sector and a strong need ex-ists for innovative insurance products whichhave an impact on the grassroots levels. Inthis regard, we are working on a number ofareas in collaboration with theWorld Bank.As a starting point, the SECP insurance

team is being strengthened and work hasbeen initiated in micro-insurance, crop insur-ance, establishing a local reinsurance terror-ism pool, health insurance, Islamic insuranceetc. In the past, only dedicated takaful insur-ance companies were allowed to operate in

the country but soon, large conventional com-panies with greater outreach will also be al-lowed to offer this product.Q: You have just unveiled a veryambitious plan for overhauling all thefour sectors under your control. Do youhave the capacity to achieve all thetargets of your plan?Although granted, that it is an immense

challenge, I believe that our targets areachievable.We have an excellent team at theSECP which is comprised of competent, ded-icated and skilled workers at all managementlevels. They are keen on doing their best forthe attainment of our targets.We are also inthe process of hiring skilled professionalsfrom the market at the senior managementlevels. We also focus on constant develop-ment and improvement of our staff throughregular trainings and have taken the initiativeto invite foreign trainers to Pakistan for thispurpose.Every effective organization needs to have

clearly laid down roles and responsibilities ofits employees, and this requirement is morepronounced for a regulator since trans-parency in roles leads to accountability. Forthis purpose, the SECP conducted a three dayoff-site in April 2011, in which the seniorman-agement devised a strategic vision and di-rection for the SECP and organization-wideobjectives were set for the next three years,with yearly targets.Broadly speaking, these objectives are

based on five factors, i.e. developing marketsin line with best international practices, en-suring that regulated entities are self-sus-taining, refining processes to improve


turnaround time, developing the inherent po-tential of our people and acting responsiblywith regard to finances. The work responsi-bilities of all the employees of SECP are nowclearly defined and we are strengthening aculture of accountability. Human resourcepolicies are also being revisited to further pro-mote and encourage efficiency and perform-ance in the organization.Q:How stringent are you whileperforming your regulatory duties?Ideally, a regulator should be rigorous in the

enforcement of its administered laws, with-out being bureaucratic. Our primary objectiveis to protect the interest of the investing pub-lic and to restore investor confidence in ourcapital markets. Accordingly, we at the SECPstrive to ensure that strict action is taken forthe violations of various laws administered byus.We are also working on improving the req-uisite legal framework, in consultation withthe relevant stakeholders, as their develop-ment is also amajor factor contributing to theinvestor’s confidence.Measures are also being taken to revamp

the operations of the Institute of Capital Mar-kets, which was set up for the purpose of pro-viding certification requirements forindividuals and institutions engaged in provid-ing investment advice and services for finan-cial products, and is also responsible forproviding investor education. This will boost in-vestor confidence as a technically trained andwell-regulated workforce operating in the fi-nancial markets is better able to assess therisk appetite and match it with the appropri-ate products so that the expected or desiredreturn is achieved at a tolerable risk level.

Furthermore, proper documentation is apriority for us and we try to ensuremaximumtransparency in auditing and accounting stan-dards. SECP also maintains a close liaisonwith the international standard setting bodieslike International Organization of SecuritiesCommissions, International Organization ofPension Supervisors, International Associa-tion of Insurance Supervisors and Interna-tional Association of Insolvency Regulators tokeep abreast with international develop-ments.Q: For what reasons have we laggedbehind India in terms of economicgrowth? Are our regulatory policies toblame for our poor economy?In terms of regulatory policy, we do not lag

behind India. Economically, India is ahead of us,but that is on account of other factors, suchas political stability, greater outreach, en-couragement of private sector etc. In con-trast, because of the law and order situationand the political instability our markets aremore volatile, therefore resulting in low in-vestor confidence. Also, the outreach of ourstock exchanges is limited to a few majorcities and the capital market products are ac-cessible to a limited number of investors.Moreover, in Pakistan, banks control more

than 90% of the total financial assets, unlikeIndia where banks are focusing on purelybanking activities. In India, merchant bankshave been created, which are actively involvedin corporate financing and lending money tothe SMEs and capital markets. Therefore, ahealthy competition exists between the bank-ing sector and the non-banking financial com-panies, which provides ample scope for rapidand sustainable economic growth.On the contrary, in Pakistan, most people

like to invest their money in banks and savingcenters, as that fetches them a risk-free andfixed monthly profit at reasonably good inter-est rates. However, instead of promoting busi-ness activities and creating more jobopportunities, these investments only en-courage the concentration of wealth in a fewhands. Interest rates are not very high inIndia, which is why their investors are willing toface higher risk and invest in the stock mar-kets in the hope of higher profits.Q: Are you satisfied with the quality ofeducation being provided to the studentsin our educational institutions?Unfortunately, the required quality of edu-

cation is being provided only by a handful of in-stitutions, which the commonman in Pakistan

does not have access to. Despite the excel-lent educational standards that these insti-tutes have maintained as a benchmark,efforts need to bemade to develop curricula,train teachers and create institutions thatprovide affordable and market oriented edu-cation to Pakistani students.Q: Can you suggest some practical waysand means to overcome the widespreadunemployment in our country?Unemployment is a major problem in Pak-

istan and quality education is amust for its ef-fective eradication. There is no guidance oremployment advice regarding the currentemployment needs and trends of the country,especially with regard to the significance oftechnology in the modern world. Moreover,awareness needs to be created about em-ployment through provision of online services.We should take China and India as exampleswhere their people take full advantage of therapid growth of I.T. andmobile industries. I be-lieve that with the proper utilization of theavailable I.T. facilities, we can achieve in just 10years, what it took for theWest to achieve inthe last 30 years.Q: There are four important managementstyles, namely democratic, participative,autocratic and bureaucratic. What isyours?My management style is participative and

consultative. But I also believe in firmness inorder to maintain discipline. However, it doesnot mean that I am autocratic.Q: Are you in favour of gender equality?What is the ratio of female workers inyour organization?I am a strong proponent of gender equality

and i believe that, especially in this age of com-petition, gender discrimination will only serveto hamper the development and growth be-cause a large portion of our population wouldremain unutilized then. Therefore, thereshould be no gender discrimination especiallywith reference to the job opportunities. At theSECP, the overall ratio of employees is tiltedtowards men, but compare to the percent-age of women in the organization, their per-centage is higher in the senior managementas compared to lower and mid level manage-ment staff.Q:How do you define success?In my opinion, success is measured by con-

tentment and satisfaction. If success is notaccompanied by these two things, then nomatter how great it is, in reality it will consti-tute a failure. n

LEADERSHIP28


eadership is an inside-out process. In ourstudy of various leadership dimensions andhow to transform onesweaker dimensions

into strengths, personal leadershiphas a key importance. This research seeks toestablish a relationship between a leaders’own assessment of his/her personal leader-ship and how their teams assess them. Dothose who have rated themselves higher inpersonal leadership have a higher rating fromtheir teams as well, or is it the other wayaround. That is the question!At the same time we have also tried to as-

certain a possible relationship between as-sessment of personal leadership and otherdimensions of leadership. This article sug-gests the ways to improve self-awarenessand its impact on leadership effectiveness.Hypotheses –WhatWeWanted to FindOut About Individuals’ Leadership1. There is a correlation between how indi-

vidual team leaders assess themselves onvarious leadership dimensions and how theirteammembers assess them.2. Personal Leadership is about a sense of

responsibility and ownership both in leaders’actions and their personal development. Aleader’s self assessment of this dimension ishigher than that of other dimensions, and theself assessment of other dimensions also cor-related with their teams’ assessment ofthese other dimensions.3. There are possibly some leadership di-

mensions with regard to which there is ahigher correlation between leaders’ self as-sessment and their team’s assessment.4.Different management profiles may cor-

relate with different team leaders’ self as-sessments.The ResearchThe research is based on a total of 3meas-

urements for 2 groups. Duringmywildernessbased leadership development program,Group 1 from one company was measuredtwice, one by way of self assessment and sec-ond by Leadership Expedition team. Group 2,which was from another company and a dif-ferent industry, wasmeasured once, in termsof self assessment alone. The number of totalparticipants studied in this research was 41,of which Group 1 and Group 2 had 17 and 24participants respectively. The similarities anddifferences of these groups are summarizedbelow:1. Both groups were similar in their diver-

sity of education and technical areas of ex-pertise.2. Both the companies were from the in-

dustries where technical knowledge wasmore specialized and individuals in non-tech-nical jobs also required good technicalknowhow for effective performance of theirjobs.3. The age groups were fairly different.

Group 1 had an average age of 42 years.Group 2 was much younger, with an averageage of 34 years.4. Group 1 members were at the senior

management level but Group 2 comprised ofmiddle managers.DATA ANALYSISGroup 1: Senior ManagersIs there a gap on how team leaders assess

themselves and how their teams perceive

them?This study involving both self and team as-

sessment was conducted with Group 1 only,which was at the senior management level.In personal leadership ‘high’ self assess-

ments are contradicted by ‘much lower’ teamassessments. This contradiction is to such anextent that for 13 leaders, who had ratedthemselves ‘higher’, 2 were rated ‘low’ bytheir teams and 5 and 6 were rated ‘muchlower’ and ‘very much lower’ respectively..However, 'Moderate' self assessments tendto be supported by 'same’, or ‘lower' team as-sessments.In the ability to think through future, 'Mod-

erate' self assessments of 12 leaders tend tobe supported by a mix of 'higher, same orlower' team assessments. However, few 'VeryHigh' and high self assessments are contra-dicted by 'very much lower' team assess-ments.When it comes to judging people around

them, 'Very High' and ‘high’ self-assessmentsof 14 out of 15 leaders are contradicted by'lower, much lower, and very much lower'team assessments.In the area of fostering relationships, 9 lead-

ers with ‘high’ self assessments were con-tradicted by 'lower, much lower and 'very

Are you & your team on the same pageLEADERSHIP

NASEEM ZAFAR IQBAL


much lower' team assessments. 7 'Moder-ate' self assessments tend to be supportedby a mix of 'higher, same or lower' Team as-sessments.In bringing people together and managing

conflicts, ‘high’ self assessments of 13 lead-ers are contradicted by 'lower, much lowerand very much lower' team assessments.In the willingness to do whatever it takes to

achieve objectives, 12 leaders’ ‘high’ self-as-sessment are contradicted by 'lower, muchlower and very much lower' team assess-ments.'Moderate' self assessments tend to be

supported by mix of 'higher, same, or lower'Team assessments.Again 13 leaders ‘high’ self-assessments

are contradicted by 'lower, much lower & verymuch lower' team assessments in their com-fort tomanage complex situation in business.Similarly, 'moderate' self-assessment in this

area is supported by 'higher' team assess-ments.Is self assessment of leaders, in Personal

Leadership dimension, higher than other di-mensions? If so, is leaders’ self assessment inother dimensions also correlated with theirteams’ assessment on these other dimen-sions?This analysis was run for Group 1: Senior

Managers only. As mentioned earlier, Per-sonal Leadership is about taking ownership ofpersonal development and therefore takingstock of own strengths and weaknesses. Forbusiness leaders it is important to know, fortheir own development and effectiveness asleaders, how their teams assess them in var-ious dimensions. This also helps leaders un-derstand how their self assessment isdifferent from their team’s perception.This part of the study is an effort to estab-

lish relationship, if any, between the Personal

Leadership dimensions of the leaders and thedifference between their own perception andthat of their team’s perception about the lead-ers in other dimensions.Red line on the following chart 1 marks the

self assessment of leaders on Personal Lead-ership and the blue linemarks correlation be-tween how leaders and their teams haveassessed them on other dimensions. A spikeon the blue line e.g. for participant number 5shows that there is a very strong correlationbetween the self and team assessment ofparticipant number 5 on all dimensions. This,when compared with depression of red linefor the same participant, shows the low selfassessment of the participant on PersonalLeadership dimension.Chart - 1A relatively similar trend is visible for par-

ticipant numbering 2, 4 and 9. Similarly, a re-verse trend is seen in case of participantnumber 1, 3, 6, 14 and 16, where a sharp dipin blue line (correlation between perception ofteam and self) is matched by a relativelysharp rise in red line (self assessment of Per-sonal Leadership Dimension).This data reveals that those business lead-

ers who are conservative in their self as-sessments are supported by their team’s

A leader’s self assessment of this dimension is higher than thatof other dimensions, and the self assessment of other

dimensions also correlated with their teams’ assessment of theseother dimensions


assessments.Data Analysis of Group 2: MiddleManagersIs self assessment of leaders in Personal

Leadership dimension higher than other di-mensions?This study, involving only self assessment,

was conducted with Group 2 which was atthe middle management level to comparePersonal Leadership dimension with other di-mensions. 52% of the self assessments, onan average, were ratedmoderate by the par-ticipants. Only 5% rated themselves very highand 43% rated themselves high.These participants rated the Personal

Leadership as one of the lower dimensions ascompared to the other dimensions. Out of atotal of 24, 14 rated themselves moderateand 10 rated themselves high.In their ability to think through future 19

rated themselvesmoderate and only 5 ratedthem high with none at very high. This abilitycame out as one of the lowest in self percep-tion of the participants of this study.When it comes to judging people, 8 rated

themselves moderate whereas 13 and 3rated themselves high and very high respec-tively. This came out as the 2nd strongest di-mension of all.In area of fostering relationships, 16 rated

themselves as moderate and 8 rated them-selves as high. This came out as the 2nd low-est dimension.In bringing people together and managing

conflicts, only 7 rated themselves as moder-ate, compared to 14 and 3 rating themselveshigh and very high respectively. This came outas the strongest dimension in this group.In their ability to do whatever it takes to

achieve objectives, 14 rated them as moder-ate as compared to 13 and 1 rating them-selves as high and very high respectively.

Finally in the ability tomanage complex busi-ness situations 10 rated themselves asmod-erate and 13 and 1 rated themselves as highand very high respectively.Comparison Between The Two GroupsI also compared profile and self assess-

ments of Group 1 and 2 and identified simi-larities as well as the differences.1. Group 1 had a higher mean rank

score as compared to Group 2 in PersonalLeadership. This means that those at higherlevel of management have better scores onPersonal Leadership. They are more awareof their strengths andweaknesses and take agreater responsibility and ownership for con-tinuous self development and growth. Thiswas also visible during my one-on-one inter-action with the members of both groups inanother assignment.2. Group 1 also rated itself significantly

higher as compared to Group 2 in terms ofdemonstrating ability to develop vision and setclear plan for their teams. They also believethat they can handle complexity of situationwith ease. Therefore, they are betterequipped to handle senior management levelchallenges as compared to Group 2.3. At senior manager level individuals also

perceive to have demonstrated a higher de-gree of adaptability to change as comparedto the other group. They are flexible, innova-tive and demonstrate better problem solvingskills, using more creativity.4. As far as working with teams is con-

cerned, groups at both levels ofmanagementdemonstrate similar leadership behaviors.5. Group 1 assessment also establishes

that determination to do what needs to bedone for the organization also takes you upthe ladder.Conclusions - What Should Team LeadersDo To Improve Self Awareness

Firstly, team leaders must endeavor tofind out from their teammembers, peers anddirect manager, “How am I doing as a teamleader?” This will give insight into self as wellas perception of those we work with.Secondly, people at senior management

level have a better awareness of their ownleadership limitations than those in the mid-dle management.Thirdly, humility and assessing yourself

moderately tends to correlate with teammembers’ perception. Teammembers seemto sense your maturity. Having been ratedhigher by others than self helps in betterman-agement of expectations when it comes todelivering results.Fourthly, Personal Leadership has come

out as a single most significant dimensionwhich drives behaviors towards positive di-rection in other dimensions as well. There-fore, if leaders have a greater sense ofownership, they will demonstrate determina-tion and resilience to achieve results regard-less of circumstances. Towards this end,leaders will also assess themselves and con-tinue to improve their skills and work behav-iors.Finally, leaders, who keep track of their

own performance and effectiveness on thosethat they lead, are conscious of themselves interms of continuous improvement, learningand growth. They listen to others and en-deavor to take feedbacks seriously. Bottom-line; they take full control of their lives. As aresult they reduce perception and expecta-tion gaps of what they think of themselves,what others perceive about them and whatthey actually achieve for all.Acknowledgement1. To my mentor, Mr. Philip S. Lall for contin-

uously challengingmewith the right questionsand conductingmajor andmore complex partof statistical analysis.2. All those business leaders who partici-

pated in this research over a period of lasttwo yearsMy endeavor to learn more about leader-

ship continues. You may also participate inthis research as an organization. Please sendemail at [email protected]

NASEEM ZAFAR IQBAL

is the founder of wildernessbased leadership developmentconcept in Pakistan. He is alsoCEO of Training Impact

ORGANIZATIONALDEVELOPMENT32


he thought that has always come tomy mind is that we all did learning atschool, but why is it so important forwork? What difference does it make to

be a learning organization and what differencedoes it make for us as HR managers to leadthe learning? I still haven’t got the answers butthere are a few reasons that have actually con-vinced me that it is significant. Then my teamand I worked our way out on how the organi-zational development would be the right man-agement for change. The hospitality industryis growing complex day by day.With a growinginternational trend in becoming a hotelier, theconcept of soft skills are sometimes put be-hind. They would be great at accounting,human resource and sales & marketing. Butwould they be good at the most common jobdescription of having a broad range of man-agement skills and have the personality to lead,inspire and develop their team. Where mostof the universities focus on developing softskills now, the trend in Pakistan is still yet to beseen.We are trying to remember the formulafor calculating average daily room rate or tocalculate the weekly salesroom forecast. Westill lack in giving our individuals, at grassrootlevel, the education to manage conflicts andcustomer relationship skills, develop teammanagement skills and organizational strate-gies, change the team’s perception and the list

goes on. The only way to get ahead of today’sbusiness complexities is just to learn. Learningfrom business cases of other companies oreven in the course of day to day events. Let’ssay, if one department has done something re-ally well, they should be passing it on to otherdepartments. You do it so that other depart-ments don’t have to learn the hard way andthat’s learning. The scenario is opposite in ourculture. Our departments blame the HRDs,that they don’t teach us to innovate, and HRDsblame that other departments don’t innovateprocesses. Finally, it comes around that wedon’t have the right resources to innovate. Andthe question arises as to what the responsibil-ity of the Departmental Head, who is leadingthe department of 70 individuals, is? There arethree ways to learn: Leadership: All of us whohas to lead the change Process: As to do wehave the right processes Culture: Thirdly andthe most importantly do we have the right cul-ture.I was reading somewhere and I got to knowthat learning has two parts.Part 1: Knowing what to doPart 2: Doing what we knowThere is a saying about the corporate envi-ronment that I had heard from my GeneralManager and it goes like this; “If you don’t doanything about it, the urgent drives out the im-portant.”

Learning can never be random,there has to be a purpose to it. Andthe purpose is to modify behaviorwhich, in turn, modifies processes.Organizational development is notabout developing people only, itsabout developing processes.

HUSSAM K. QASMI

OrganizationalDevelopment:an HRM’s perspective


Urgent is what is at the top of the list. It’s thenumber one to-do item. But the problem isthat this is not the most important thing todo. Learning is to perform the most impor-tant things. For learning, one has to planahead. Learning is not just aboutmaking peo-ple sit in the classroom, you have to build it inprocesses, so that it happens by design.Moreover, you have to convince people thatthis will work.Most of the companies now distribute devel-opment results throughout the company,daily. It’s about the lessons learned, for thoseare the ones to which people say wow… itworks.I remember I was working for a telecom com-pany back in 2006. I was working as a Cus-tomer Relationship Officer there and theCustomer Relationship Department wasgoing through a change. The first agenda onthe change management was discussing re-sults with every employee of the department.I remember having a session every week inlocal 4-star hotel, where the director CRDused to discuss the results with the employ-ees.This also helped in promoting the culture ofchange. Everyone was looking forward to it.We all carried a mental model. At the begin-ning we were all convinced that the things wedo in a specific way will always be done in that

certain way. And it has been proved thatmostly, mental model changes because of thechanges in technology, public exposure or po-litical pressure.We need to change the men-tal model, and that’s what the Director CRDdid. He tried to promote different point ofviews and made people come together onconflicting of point of views.Learning can never be random, there has tobe a purpose to it. And the purpose is tomod-ify behavior which, in turn, modifies processes.Organizational development is not about de-veloping people only, its about developingprocesses. The previous FMCG I used to workfor had a whole period, where they used to re-view their processes. All the processes werefirst put into black and white and then dis-cussed with the departmental heads.

Processes were sought out afterwards tosee where the weakness lied so as to0makethe necessary corrections. As a leader, youshould be willing to change as well as willing tofacilitate. There is no point in sending individ-uals to classes just because it’s fun. The keypoint is that past is relevant to what we dotoday and tomorrow. Most organizations dothe opposite and sweep it under the rug. Vic-tories are made public, whereas failures areconcealed. But both of these are opportuni-ties to learn. Leaders should facilitate the sys-tem of criticism. There should be willingnessto criticize in the culture, nobody gets it rightthe first time ormay be even the second time.So at the end, its not just about the people, it’sabout every muscle that is making this or-ganization move forwards. If you only let thepeople grow and don’t develop or improveyour processes, it will never work. However, ifyou improve the processes and not your peo-ple, that won’t work too. Attention should bepaid to both sides. n

The key point is that past isrelevant to what we do todayand tomorrow. Mostorganizations do the oppositeand sweep it under the rug.Victories are made public,whereas failures are concealed.

HUSSAM K. QASMI

is working as Manager HR,looking after 9 properties ofHotel One.



Could you please tell us somethingabout your academic background andprofessional career as a leadingeconomic planner of our country?In grew up in Lahore at a time when edu-

cation was regarded as a valuable asset.After studying at Government College, Iwent to the London School of Economics forfurther studies. When I returned home witha degree, I looked for a teaching job, which Ifailed to find, as Punjab University was notwilling to accommodate me. I then joinedPakistan Institute of Development Econom-ics (PIDE) and worked there for three years,from 1976 to 1979. Later, I went to ChicagoUniversity and, under the supervision of anumber of Nobel Laureates, got my Ph.D.degree. Upon the completion of my studies,I got a reasonable job in the InternationalMonetary Fund. My friends back home

often urged me to return to Pakistan, but Iam glad I didn’t. However, I kept on comingto Pakistan from time to time, hoping to beof some use to my country. Since April,2010, I have been holding my present postof Chairman Planning Commission.In what perspective do you analyze ourcurrent problems and what is yourvision for the improvement of the wholesituation?I have a simple vision, based on facts,

learning, research, experience and obser-vation. History bears ample testimony tothe fact that countries always makeprogress by virtue of their intelligent and en-lightened brains, whereas we are only in-terested in financial capital. We are quiteunheedful of some other types of capitals,which are far more important and our coun-try direly lacks them. First of all, there is the

Dr. Nadeem Ul HaqueDeputy Chairman, PlanningCommission of Pakistan

PAKISTAN’S

STRATEGICPLANNER

In terms of human andmaterialresources, Pakistanmay rightly becounted among the richest coun-tries of theworld and yet, it is in-cluded in the list of the poorestandmost backward countries,heavily dependent on foreign aidand loans and confronted by allsorts of economic problems, suchas soaring inflation and cripplingenergy crisis. This dismal state ofa;airs is the inevitable outcome ofmismanagement, poor planningand an irrational vision. Bymeansof better planning, in linewith cur-rent trends and requirements, thePlanning Commission of Pakistanismaking untiring e;orts to im-prove the situation, under thechairmanship of Dr. Nadimul-Haq,who is a highly qualified, experi-enced and talentedman,withvast international exposure. In anexclusive interviewwith the “Man-ager Today”, he has highlightedsome of the root causes of ourproblems and suggested theirpractical remedies. If properly im-plemented, his vision can bringabout dramatic changes in ourold, outdated and stagnant sys-temand our country canmakeprogress by leaps and bounds.

IJAZ NISAR

intellectual capital, which produces creativ-ity, broadens the minds of the people,widens their vision and makes them re-search oriented. Then there is the organi-zational capital which enables the people toorganize, manage and plan things in a bet-ter way to tackle the problems. Like the in-tellectual capital, it is also a rare commodityin our country. As a result of it, in order tocontrol the traffic problems, we go on widen-ing our roads instead of properly organizingour traffic. Thirdly, there is the social capitalwhich assists the people to interact and co-operate with each other and listen to eachother with patience and tolerance. In the ab-sence of these three types of capital, wecan’t hope to solve our problems, whileother countries, with far fewer resourcesthan ours, have progressed by focusing onthese capitals.Does our educational systemcontribute to the development ofintellectual capital in our students?The Higher Education Commission has

spent millions of rupees over the past fewyears for the promotion of education, buteducation alone can’t produce intellectualcapital. We have several universities withhuge buildings and large campuses, but nei-ther the professors nor the students havegot the required intellectual capital, becausethey don’t have the creative ability and re-search-oriented minds. On the other hand,

Chicago University which is much smaller insize than the Punjab University has pro-duced many Nobel Laureates and leadingscholars of the world, because they empha-sised on the growth of minds, not on grandbuildings and other showy things.What are the key elements of yourreform and restructuring plan?First of all, we need to restructure our civil

services and especially the way in which ourcivil servants are paid. A large portion oftheir salaries is paid in a non-transparentmanner, in the form of houses, plots, carsand subsidized or free electricity, gas andtelephone facilities. Such special privilegescreate the desire to acquire the same luxu-ries by hook or by crook in other people.Therefore, it leads to the break down ofmoral standards, hence making the way forcorruption to prevail. When I was in the IMF,I only got the salary and nothing else and Iwas supposed to arrange my house, con-veyance and other things within that salary.We need to reconsider our approach of pay-ing higher salaries to the officials of somedepartments and lower salaries to those ofsome other departments. If secretaries canget huge salaries, why can’t the professorsget the same? Moreover, departmentsshould be headed by highly professional andskilled people, who may even be hired fromoutside. Besides, teleconferencing, e-mailand computers are still not being widely

used in our offices, instead handwrittennotes are still very common. Of course, weare in an urgent need of intellectual and or-ganizational capital to bring about radicalchanges in our old outdated and colonialtype of civil service structure.What strategy do you propose for thepromotion of business activities in ourcommercial markets and for thecreation of new jobs for reducing thehigh rate of unemployment in ourcountry?Business activities flourish only in an at-

mosphere of healthy competition. But in ourcountry, the government sector is still verystrong, with the government buying and im-porting wheat, sugar and other such com-modities. Stock exchanges are alsodominated by government sponsored com-panies or multi-national companies. Entre-preneurship does not exist in its true spiritin our country, whereas entrepreneurs aregiving a big boost to the economy all overthe world. Government control and inter-ference in the business sector has to be re-duced and privatization should be doneunder the supervision of strict regulatorybodies. But our regulatory bodies are notfunctioning properly because the regulatorsare mostly non-professional people, quiteunaware of the modern researches andcontemporary trends. The concept of shop-ping malls, so common in the developed


Dr. Nademul Haq has awide-ranging operational experience of over 24years at the IMF,where he led technical assistancemissions and policy andresearch teams andwas also a resident representative in twodeveloping

countries. He has a strong background in economic analysis and policy de-velopment, which is reflected in his numerous publications in academicand policy journals and conference participation. Dr. Nadeemhas an ex-tensive central banking andmonetary policy experience. As the IMFRep,he hasworked in 2 central banks, organizing amodernization e;ortwhichincluded improvements in themonetary framework and the policy formu-lation process. He initiated and successfully led a Central Bankmoderniza-

tion project in Sri Lanka.

PROFILE


world, is still unknown here. The opening ofmore shopping malls, departmental storesand chain stores will surely create more jobopportunities. There is a vast scope for thegrowth of entertainment and hospitality in-dustries in our country. If proper attentionis paid towards them, massive job opportu-nities can be created for our unemployedyouth.For our rapid economic growth, shouldwe focus on rural development orurbanization?For thousands of years, people had been

living in villages without any tangibleprogress. Real and rapid progress began inthe late eighteenth century with the growthof modern industrial cities. Large, mecha-nized and industrialized cities have becomethe hub of economic and commercial activ-ities. Forty top cities of the world produceseventy percent of the global output. Theper capita income in the urbanized coun-tries of the world is thirty percent higherthan the non-urbanized countries. Weshould, therefore, give up the myth that Pak-istan is an agricultural country and shouldconcentrate on urbanization, but withproper planning, effective management andnew approach.Would you like to explain that newapproach?

All the leading cities of the world are full oftall multi-storey buildings equipped with ele-vators, capable of accommodating a largenumber of people. Thus, in Dubai, Londonand New York, people are interested in buy-ing flats and living in them. But in our coun-try, we are always running after plots andare keen to live in large spacious houses.Such houses are quite incapable of copingwith the rapidly increasing urban population.Traffic congestion, which is one of the mostserious challenges confronted by our cities,is the direct outcome of the fact that we aredeliberately encouraging the people to usemore and more cars, which consumemoreenergy and create more pollution. In con-trast, cars have been thrown out of the bigcities in the developed countries, wheremore and more people like to travel on theirbicycles or use public transport. Our richpeople on the other hand, consider riding abicycle as something shameful and belowtheir dignity. With this huge influx of cars,there is hardly any walking space left for thepeople in our big cities. Widening of high-ways and construction of fly overs in athoughtless manner is only adding to ourproblems, because they are dividing thecities, instead of uniting them, excluding thepoor and the underprivileged people fromthe mainstream of life. In order to fully ben-efit from urbanization, we need to changeour life style and mind set and adopt a com-pletely new set of habits. Another dilemmain our cities is that they are becoming lesshospitable for our youngsters. According toa recent demographic survey, almost half ofour population is below the age of twenty.They are the real asset for our future, butthese millions of youngsters have no hopefor jobs and no hope for a better future. Inthe stinking and suffocating atmosphere ofour cities, there is hardly any breathingspace for them. There are no communitycentres or public places for them wherethey may get together and engage in posi-tive, constructive and productive activities.The education being provided to them, failsto produce any creativity or depth of vision inthem. Their energies are being wasted andconsumed in negative activities.To what extent can our government beblamed for the problems you arehinting at?Another wrong approach of ours is that

instead of fulfilling our own responsibilities

and duties, we are always blaming the gov-ernment for all our miseries and misfor-tunes. We regard the government assomething supernatural, having magicalpowers to solve all our problems. Govern-ment is not something remote from us oroutside our domain. Government is you andme. It is made up of people from within usand its resources consist of the taxes paidby us. While we are not ready to change ourattitudes and habits, we expect the govern-ment to take care of us as a mother takescare of her baby. While we are constantlyblaming the government for the currentload shedding of electricity and gas, we arenot ready to abandon the extravagant useof both these things. We are still buyingmore and more cars, without realizing thatmore cars need more energy. However, itdoes not mean that the entire responsibilitylies on the people. The government is alsodevoid of intellectual and organizational cap-itals. Its decisions and policies are onlyaimed at addressing the problems tem-porarily. Our top policy makers formulatetheir policies tentatively without researchand study. There is no concept of zero-based budgeting nor do we have perform-ance based management. There is noencouragement, respect, recognition andappreciation for those who are really doingexcellent work, while those who are corruptand good-for-nothing, are being promotedto the highest ranks. For decades, we havebeen receiving foreign aid and loans worthbillions of dollars and yet, we are impover-ished and backward, only due to the lack ofintellectual and organizational capitals.Everyone has his own concept ordefinition of success. How do you definesuccess?I believe that real success is linked to a

sense of satisfaction and achievement, onmaking a positive contribution to the world,so that others may feel the difference. Thiscontribution may not necessarily be mate-rial. It may also be creative or intellectual,which is of greater value in the present cir-cumstances. But unfortunately, this conceptof success is non-existent in our society,where cars of new model and huge houses,even if gained by illegal means, are regardedas the symbols of success. Our over all fail-ure as a nation and as a state is the naturalconsequence of this wrong concept of suc-cess. n

Emerging market economies are tobecome a dominant presence in theworld economy. Presently, theworld’s output comprises of a con-

siderable share of such economies. The rapidgrowth rate of these economies is the mainreason that has driven the global growth dur-ing the past decade. The process of global in-tegration has sped up after the strongertrade and financial linkages between ad-vanced economies and EMEs.However, in course of this discussion, I willcover what an emerging market is, why theworld is focused on it and how does one winin emergingmarkets via the key pillars of con-sumer understanding, people and organiza-tional philosophy.The expression ‘emerging markets’ was

started in 1970s by economists and aca-demics. They needed a classification for re-

sources and investmentsand they spilt devel-

oped countries

and less developed countries, which was fair.Later, in 1980s, Antoine Agtamel coined theexpression ‘emerging markets’ at the WorldBank. In 2001, Jim O ‘Neill of Goldman Sachscoined the expression BRIC and in 2003,Roopa Purushotaman published an impor-tant paper forecasting the rapid growth ofthe BRIC countries.There isn’t one definition of emerging mar-

kets. Each source is different. There are eightdifferent clusters of emerging markets, witha commonality that groups them together.One group argues that the classificationshould be growth markets that account formore than 1 % of global GDP. If we go withthat, wewill have a list of countries above 600billion as the cut-off. This list will be BRIC plusIndonesia, South Korea, Turkey and Mexico.Pakistan is in four lists as an emergingmar-

ket, namely Next 11, Dow Jones list, FTSE andEAGLEs.What is the focus on emerging markets

and what can the developed world learn fromthem? The growth inmost categories is com-ing from emerging markets. Emerging mar-kets start off poorer than the developed ones.Poor countries do not grow faster than richcountries on their own, they grow faster ifrule of law prevails, terms of trade are favor-able and inflation is under control, govern-ment largesse is curtailed and there aresmall, healthy and educated families.Emerging markets will account for the big

chunk of growth in the next decade. So, if thegrowth is in emerging markets, how doessomeone win in emerging markets?The emerging market consumer is young,

has an affinity for brands and is technologi-cally savvy. The average age in India is 25, inChina 34 and in Africa less than 23. In 2020,the average age in India will be 29, in China, in

MARKETING38


emerging‘WINNINGIN

MARKETS’The emergingmarket consumer isyoung,has ana!nity for brands andis technologically savvy.

D SHIVAKUMAR


USA37, in Europe 45 and in Japan 48. Tech-nology is a great boon for emergingmarkets.It ensures that emerging markets leapfrogone or two product cycles. Technology alsobrings the convergence of productivity andprosperity in emerging markets.While the consumer is young, he/she does-

n’t have toomuchmoney to play with. 80% ofIndia, 60 pc of Pakistan and 40 pc of Africalive under 2 $ a day. Inmany cases, these con-sumers have a cash flow problem and not acash problem. When consumers have as lit-tle as 2 $, then affordability and tailoring prod-ucts and the value chain to that affordableprice becomes the growth model. This hascreated a new segment of sachets, a newsegment of pre-paid consumers in telecom. Ithas created a snacking model in other cate-gories.

In emerging markets, I see three types ofconsumers, pay more, get more, that’s theemotional surplus part, worth the price anda pay less, get less.The drivers are three, namely, aspiration,

quality and price. The same three driverschange order in the rural markets. Rural con-sumers buy brands for security and weshould never forget that. History is full of halfproducts that have failed.The next big question is about people. One

should always hire for values and not forgrowth. Quite often candidates look great onthe paper with growth but cannot get theirpeople motivated to deliver more.In terms of the organization, keep costs low

and variable. Thanks to emerging markets,we have negative working capital biz modelsand a newmeasure which is return on capital

employed and not return on assets, since inemerging markets one must be asset-light.An area for tremendous innovation is busi-

nessmodels. Given the infrastructure and dig-ital consumer, one can rethink the biz model.A good example is airlines, the time sensitiveand price sensitive consumer. This combina-tion is a unique emerging market model.Emerging markets need a strong sponsor

at the right level.Without this senior level sup-port, emerging markets will not be a growthdriver.Emergingmarkets’ growth provides vitality.

However, onemust be clear that there is a lotof volatility, taxes, regulation, infrastructure,policies, protests etc. managing the regulatorand the government is an important aspect ofwinning in emerging markets.In summary:

1. There is no one definition of emergingmarkets.

2. Emerging markets, whichever way de-fined, will contribute 80 pc of the futuregrowth.

3. Winning in emergingmarkets is essentialto grow.

4. Winning in emerging markets requiressuperior understanding of a differenttypes of consumers.

5. Winning in emergingmarkets also needsa different type of manager and leader.

6. Winning in emerging markets requires amandate supported at a board level. n

D SHIVAKUMAR

is currently the ManagingDirector and VP of Nokia,India.

1 RelationshipWithYourBoss

The single most important personality who will influence yourcareer success is your immediate supervisor or boss. The ma-jority of students are well acquainted with authority and its di-mensions while at University. The Vice Chancellor or DepartmentHead is an administrative figure who holds authority. However, intheir first job, students enter for the first time a relationship withtheir boss and witness authority in amuchmore powerful and in-fluential form. This is the authority and ability the boss holds totransform the young graduate into either a success or a failure.It is important for the fresh graduate to understand and reflecton this critical relationship with the boss.A boss is verymuch like a parent. Parents want to see their chil-

dren develop good social skills and excel. Similarly, your bosswantsyou to perform well, so you can reach up to your potential thus,contributing to the success of the company. A parent encouragesand boosts the confidence of his/her children so that they excel,whereas a boss grooms and guides the young professionals, en-suring themsuccess and recognition. Hewill alsowant you toworkwell with others in the team so a congenial work environment canbe maintained. A boss will demand respect much like parents do.Finally, a boss does not want you to challenge his/her authority,much like a parent.On the contrary, a parent who suffers from personality or ha-

bitual shortcomings can be a strong destructive force in the life ofa child. Similarly, a boss who has been intimidated by a display oflack of respect by the young graduate can play havocwith the sub-ordinate to the extent of firing the individual from the company.Realizing that your boss has tremendous authority to either liftyour career or ruin it, you need to incorporate such habits in yourroutine that will bring out the best in your relationship.First of all, your demeanor should be one of respect and sub-

mission to authority. You should realize that the company investedin your boss the authority to hire you and it also invests in yourboss the authority to fire you or the next worst action – to sidelineyou. It is your responsibility to make the relationship work and tomaintain your allegiance and complete respect with your boss. Re-member – your boss is tremendously powerful to transfer hisknowledge and skills to you and to showcase you as a young, pro-fessional and dynamic success. However, this will only happen ifyou build a relationship with him based on trust and respect. How-ever, if you feel your boss is unduly influencing you to act in a man-ner which conflicts with your values and principles, this is a validconcern, and in that case you should either consider changing yourteam or your company.

ou have just completed your degree and after a series of inter-views, you have also landed your first job. This is an exciting timeas your educational pursuits have culminated in a promising job

witha reputablefirm.Butthequestionariseshereonhowwellpreparedyoureallyareforyour

first job. The university degree programs comprehensively cover theknowledge related to your field of study, but it is rare to find programsthat prepare students on how to survive and excel in a challenging andcompetitive real-world work environment. Since the educational envi-ronmentandtheworkplacearetwodiIerentworlds,success incomplet-ing an educational degree does not necessarily equate to success at theworkplace.The very first job is considered bymany experienced professionals as

being instrumental in setting the pace and quality of success you willachieve inthenextfewimportantyearsofyourcareer,andthisarticlewillsupply recent graduates with a knowledge of the challenges that awaitthem at theworkplace, what to expect, and how to survive and excel inyour first jobafter graduation.

88Eight Steps To Excel In YourFirst Job After Graduation


NAHIL MAHMOOD

is a seasoned IT professionalwith over 14 years of experi-ence of working in the tele-coms and banking sectors inPakistan.

CAREERMANAGEMENT40

NAHIL MAHMOOD


2 Relationship with Your Peers

The next important step is the relationshipwith your peers or co-workers. In University, weare predominantly expected to prove ourworth and knowledge at an individual level. Onthe contrary, at the workplace, your assign-ments will predominantly be team assign-ments, or the results of individual assignmentswill hinge heavily on your ability to work well withothers.Different organizations have different cul-

tures and values. In any case the culture of acompany, team or office floor is developed bythe people who are a part of that entity. Even ifyour organization lacks universal values ofshowing respect or being polite, you will be ex-pected to show these traits in your daily con-duct and interaction with other teammembers. Be assured that, resulting from yourinteraction with your teammates in the firstfew weeks of your first job, a perception will bedeveloped by them on what sort of person youare. Make sure your conduct is immaculate. In a

fair environment, this will lead to a positive feed-back and a positive perception about you, whichwill be to your credit. What you absolutely don’tneed is to help others build a perception (re-sulting from your own actions) that you cannotwork well with the team (this personality type isoften described as ‘solo flight’). Again, there aresome exceptions. If you have landed a jobwhere there is vicious and unfair politics, readon … there is still hope.

3 Build Credibility

Credibility refers to a trait demonstrating your trustworthiness. When your boss gives youa deadline to complete a report, are you able to meet the deadline? If you promise a co-worker you will send across the draft meeting minutes by lunch time, are you able to deliveron the promise? When other professionals working with us rate us, an important factor theytake into consideration is how trustworthy or credible we are. Only the credible are givenmore responsibility and the most challenging assignments. Building credibility with your bossand co-workers will be instrumental in ensuring you are going upwards on the corporate lad-der rather than in the opposite direction.

4 Understand Your Role andYour Assignment

Once you have settled in your first job, you mustmake efforts to understand your role, the role ofyour boss and your team. You must also under-stand your job description and “what constitutessuccess?” You must understand the KPIs for yourassignment. Are there any time constraints?What resources will be available at your disposalto help you complete the assignment? Does yourboss expect you to take guidelines only from himor her and to develop the knowledge through in-dependent study and research? Or will your man-ager send you to an internal training course tohelp you acquire the needed skills for the assign-ment? To summarize, it is crucial to understand“what constitutes success in your assignment”. Ifyou don’t know where the goal posts are, it ishighly unlikely for you to win.

5Avoid OHce Politics

Owing to the competitive nature of theworkplace, you will find different groupsor polarizations of people in your officewho hold similar objectives and are oftendaggers drawn at each other. The de-gree of office politics can vary from ahealthy competitive environment to adownright mess. The golden rule is to re-main loyal to your assignment and not toany particular group. Be fair to all peoplein the organization. This is how you canstay out of unwanted trouble. But if youface a challenge, consult with sensibleand wise individuals whom you trust. Ifyou feel that your organization is infestedwith office politics, consider changingyour job.

7 Honesty Is the Best Policy

Always remember the golden rule: Honestyis the best policy. We are all humans and noone is perfect. Your boss understands this verywell, as he or she has also made their share ofmistakes when they were new. When thingsdon’t seem to be going your way, just speak thetruth, apologize for any shortcomings andmove on. Remember that an important char-acteristic of successful professionals is the abil-ity to recover from setbacks. Take these asgood improvement opportunities and you willbe always be advancing to become a highly suc-cessful professional.

6 Work With DiligenceHaving overcome all the obstacles to this point, you will still need to demonstrate that you

can take on a challenging assignment and are willing to put in sheer hard work to earn suc-cess. There is no substitute for sheer hard work, and predominantly, fresh graduates haveto work even harder as they have to prove their worth. So be prepared to put in some extratime. If you need help or clarity, be sure to ask for it. Most seniors will appreciate that you havesought help prior to the due date of your assignment.

8 Be Religiously CommittedTo Building Your CompetenceThis brings me to the last and perhaps the most crucial point. In your first few years (first

three years) you should be religiously committed to building your knowledge, skill set and soundexperience. Many graduates start worrying about what they are being paid, a few monthsafter they are hired. This starts affecting their performance as they start assuming they areentitled to or deserve more. Such negative thoughts, unfortunately, move the fresh graduateaway from the real objective which is to build up strong knowledge and skills by working hard.Remember, in the first three years of your career, focus not on what you are earning, but whatyou are learning.

WOMENEMPOWERMENT42


he ratio of women labor forceparticipation is very low in Pakistan.According to the Labor Force Survey1999-2000, female participationrate was merely 14% of the total

labor force. (World Bank, 2002) In Pakistan, it has been observed that when

the family size increases by one, women are0.5% more likely to participate in the eco-nomic activities and an increase of monthlyexpenditure by one rupee increases the pos-sibility of involvement of women in economicactivities by 0.01%. In household residing inrural areas of Pakistan, women are 9.6%more likely to participate in economic activi-ties.

A few large cities of Pakistan are a variedmix of social classes and walks of life, andwomen can be found working in a broad as-sortment of professions. We can classifythem into three predominant socio-economiccategories i.e. a) lower economy class b) mid-dle economy class and c) high economy class.Marital status, education level, family size,household’s financial status and area of resi-dence are also main casual factors behindwomen making their own decisions about paidemployment. In Pakistani household, work is considered

to be a woman’s primary role. Due to the in-crease of economic pressures on families inthe past few decades, the traditional restric-tions on women have lessened and largenumbers of women have taken on paid em-ployment.

For better understanding, a sample of Pak-istani women was interviewed. These col-lected narratives create a picture of thecurrent status of working women of Pakistanand the turmoil they go through. Sampleswere divided into aforementioned three majorcategories by their occupations because ofthe extreme variations in socio-economic sta-

tus among them.Naseem (23 years), who works in different

houses as a maid, says: “I work in differenthouses and by the end of the day I get verytired, because at home I also have to takecare of the kids and house work. My husbandis suffering with a chronic disease and is un-able to do a job. We hardly make both endsmeet.”

Women in Pakistan, whether from moder-ately educated or religious backgrounds, areoften found working in traditional jobs liketeaching or offices/factories. Teaching givesthem an edge, where most of their contact iswith children and a gender-segregated envi-ronment is easily maintained. Women whoare less educated leave school early andenter the job market due to financial pres-sures. Even so, they are usually not career ori-ented. Most of these middle-class womenbecome teachers/receptionist or occupysimilar positions. Annum, a 32-year-old receptionist in a pri-

vate office, says: “By the virtue of my post, Ihave to spend long hours in the office some-times. I do job because my husband’s salary isnot sufficient for us. After marriage, my in-laws gave me the permission to enter the

WORKINGWOMEN

IN PAKISTANIn Pakistani household,work is considered to bea woman’s primary role.Due to the increase ofeconomic pressures onfamilies in the past fewdecades, the traditionalrestrictions on womenhave lessened and largenumbers of women havetaken on paidemployment.

TAZEEN NAUMAN


work market. As I have no specialized skill, Igot a job of receptionist only. I have to carrythis job for the sake of my kids, so that I cangive them a better standard of living.” In Pakistan, women from well-educated and

socially advanced families have fewer tradi-tional restrictions and like to compete withmen. They have the opportunity to pursuenon-traditional jobs and careers. They areworking in white-collar management, admin-istrative, creative and academic positions. 25year old Komal works as a Human ResourcesConsultant in Pakistan and is MBA (HR) froma private college.

“I am utilizing my education to reach thepeak of self-actualization. I do not work toaugment the family income, rather I workon my own conditions. Soon, I will start myown consultancy firm. I am learning sofast. I am satisfied with what I am.”

The major problem that Pakistaniworking women face is the societywhere the contact with males is sup-posed to be minimal. Many of themare subjugated and are compelled toconcentrate on low paid jobs, whichare comparatively less attractive to

men, poor conditioned and mo-notonous occupations acrossPakistan. A very strong factor

negatively influencing the par-ticipation of women in theworkforce is the practiceof seclusion. Sexual ha-rassment is the curb-ing factor, where it isemployer’s respon-sibility to provideassurance in thisregard.

Changing Social Opportunities not Prob-lems The pressure to conform to traditional fe-

male behavior in Pakistan, including submis-sion to household interests as dutiful wivesand daughters, has also changed. They havestarted entering jobs that were consideredto be exclusively for males a few years back,particularly in the category of higher mana-gerial level jobs. Nowadays, women havemuch more opportunities and prospects forassertion of their individuality and talents.With its comfortable environment, the serv-ices sector has increased the chances forwomen, where they can actively participateand excel, even from a distant place. It is prime duty of social sector organiza-

tions in Pakistan to create awareness inorder to safeguard their rights and privilegesand to put a check on practical aspects thatwomen are authorized to crop and cultivatetheir talent in order to pursue their careers.It is imperative to recognize the role ofwomen in the economic development of Pak-istan and Government should acknowledgeand encourage them by providing them withquality education opportunities and also fulfilltheir training needs. Women should be giventhe fundamental rights of justice. For further improvement in this area and

empowerment of working women at workplaces, Pakistani Government should take no-tice that there should be opportunities pro-vided in all sectors in terms of legal, social andcultural realms and to assure that they havefair share in all areas of economic develop-ment of the country. Equal employment op-portunities should not only be offered byemployer but should also be followed in itstrue sense. Hence, if the focus is right, work-ing women problems will definitely find its waytowards a positive solution.

REMEMBER!Like a marathon runner, you (women)

should keep going and believe in what you'redoing. You should not give up, as your partici-pation is most needed. n

TAZEEN NAUMAN

is Masters in InternationalRelations, MBA and a CertifiedHR Professional.


In this age of rapid industrializa-tion when most of the entrepre-neurs are keen to invest theirmoney in various modern in-dustries, there are some pru-dent businessmen who are fullyaware of the immense potentialand vast scope of progress in theagricultural sector of our country.

With this strong realization, theyhave focused their business ven-

tures on agriculture andhave tremen-

dously pro-gressed. AliAkbar Groupof Indus-tries is onesuch ex-a m p l ewhich, forthe lastse ve r a ly e a r s ,has beenc l o s e l y

linked to agro chemicals manufacturing andother agriculture related activities. Its ex-traordinary growth and achievements are aliving proof of its management’s unwaveringbelief that agro-based industries offer unlim-ited opportunities for the investors and en-trepreneurs. In an exclusive interview with the“Manager Today”, its Chairman, Major Ejazhas discussed in detail the factors responsi-ble for the amazing success of this group of in-dustries. His views regarding managementstyle, human resource development, training,corporate social responsibility, finance andother such key aspects of the contemporarybusiness world, can serve as a beacon of lightfor all those who wish to make their mark inthis field.

Q:First of all, we would like toknow something about your fam-ily, professional and academic back-ground.I belong to a middle class family of Narowal

and was born in a village, from where I got myearly education. Our group of industries hasbeen named after Ali Akbar, who was mygrandfather. He was an enlightened man andin 1896, he graduated from Allahabad Uni-versity and in fact, topped the university. Af-terwards, he joined the government serviceand retired as Deputy Commissioner beforethe partition of India. Coming back to my earlylife, as there was no college in that area, Imoved to Gujarkhan with my uncle and con-tinued my education there. After graduation,I joined the army in 1970 and fought at the La-hore Front in the 1971 war. After serving inthe army for a few years, I got early retire-

VISIONARYENTREPRENEUR

IJAZ NISAR

MAJ. (R) IJAZ MUHAMMAD KHANCHAIRMAN, ALI AKBAR GROUP



ment and in consultation with my family, de-voted all my attention to business. Two of mybrothers have been in active politics. EhsanIqbal, the prominent PMLN leader is one ofour cousins. Thus, members of our familyhave been related to politics, armed forces,business, agriculture and government serv-ice.

Q:Business is a complex phenome-non, involving several sectorssuch as management, finance, HR andmarketing, etc. Which of these are ofgreater importance in your opinion?Each of them has its own particular impor-

tance, but in my opinion, timely availability ofsufficient amount of finance is of utmost im-portance for the smooth running and suc-cess of any business. Financial security oftenresults in an above average growth, which isabout twenty to twenty-five per cent. HR isalso extremely important. If you have the rightpeople for the right job, they can be of im-mense help to you in the promotion of yourbusiness. Devoted, dedicated, committed,honest and skilled workers are the greatestasset for any business enterprise. Withoutthem, no businessman or industrialist canever succeed in implementing his vision andachieving his targets.

Q:Which qualities do you wish tosee in the top manager or headof a business organization?

During my stay in the army, I came to knowof the supreme significance of discipline forsuccess in life. I now believe that the managerand other top officials of a business organiza-tion may not possess the highest intellectuallevel, but they must be disciplined in all theiractivities. Then comes the need for devotion,dedication, passion and honesty. Moreover,they should exhibit patience, tolerance and farsightedness. Unfortunately, these days, thetop officials of many business organizationsseem to be in some needless hurry and arefound to be taking quick and shortsighted de-cisions, without contemplating on their long -term implications. This type of approach hasa negative impact on the youngsters and new-comers. When they observe their seniors tak-ing hasty decisions, they too develop a similarattitude. This rash and intolerant behaviourproves to be a major stumbling block in theirindividual progress as well as in the growth ofthe organization for which they work.

Q:In this age of rapid industrializa-tion, how much scope is therefor those entrepreneurs who are willingto invest in the agricultural sector, par-ticularly in the circumstances prevailingin our own country?I have a diverse experience of handling dif-

ferent types of businesses. In the light of myexperience, I firmly believe that, in our coun-try, agriculture is the only sector which hasthe maximum growth potential. We alreadyhave an excellent infrastructure in the formof vast land and plenty of manpower. By di-verting a little bit of care, attention, planningand resources towards agriculture, we canchange the destiny of our nation. Currently,like many other countries of the world, we arealso facing food shortages, resulting in everincreasing prices of food items. This problemis likely to become worse in the times tocome. With a little bit of effort, not only canwe meet our own food shortages, but we canalso export huge quantities of food items tothe rest of the world and can thus earn a con-siderable amount of the much needed foreignexchange. We do not require too much in-vestment in this sector, because the basic fa-cilities are already available. There is noshortage of resources in our country. Theonly thing we need is the proper managementand utilization of the available resources.There are vast tracts of land in our countrywhich are still uncultivated. By ensuring an ad-equate supply of water, we can reclaim theselands and make them arable. If all the avail-able agricultural land in the country becomesproductive, it will usher in a new age ofprogress and prosperity, without shortage offood and jobs. Majority of our people still live inrural areas and every year, there is a massmigration of villagers to the urban areas inthe hope of job opportunities. But many ofthem fail to acquire a job in the cities, whereasunemployment rate is already very high. Insuch circumstances, many frustrated peoplebecome involved in different types of criminalactivities, hence deteriorating the law andorder situation in the cities. All such problemscan be effectively tackled by the enhance-ment of agricultural output, which will gener-ate immense job opportunities for thevillagers, who will no longer be required toshift to the cities for their better future.

Q:Are you satisfied with our pres-ent educational system? Whatchanges do you suggest to make it moreeffective and useful?

Our educational system is, by and large,functioning along traditional lines, producingclerks and other non-technical persons, forwhom job opportunities are extremely limited.I believe that our emphasis should be on pro-ducing technically skilled people, who can eas-ily be accommodated in businesses andindustries. If they have enough resources, in-stead of working for others, such skillful peo-ple can start their own businesses. More andmore students should be encouraged tostudy agriculture as their profession. The rea-son is that agriculture is a very vast field, con-sisting of many sectors, each of which is full ofopportunities. Irrigation, animal husbandry,water storage, tunnel formation, food growth,mechanized farming, dairy farming and grainstorage, etc. are some of the several agricul-tural sectors which have a huge scope for thestudents as well as for those who are ambi-tious to invest their money in agriculture. De-spite this immense growth potential ofagriculture, we only have a handful of institu-tions in our country which provide quality ed-ucation and training to those who wish toadopt it as a profession.

Q:Being one of the topmost busi-ness personalities of this coun-try, you must be having someextraordinary management style andstrategy which has made you successful.Would you like to share it with our read-ers?

In our organization, there is no concept ofemployers and employees. Instead, we at-tempt to promote a pleasant and homely at-mosphere, where everyone feels himself tobe a part of the family and a part of the sys-tem. We make people believe that they areworking with us and not for us. With such feel-ings of familiarity and goodwill, people in mostcases, work whole heartedly and devotedly,for their own benefit as well as for the benefitof the organization. In addition to this, I assignsome particular responsibility to each andevery employee and then make him realizethat he is fully responsible for his specific job.At the same time, I provide him sufficient timeand opportunity to demonstrate his skills andaccomplish the given assignment. With thissense of responsibility and relief, everyoneworks to the best of his potential and showsexcellent results.

Q:What initiatives do you take forthe proper training of your man-agement and other employees?

46 MANAGER TODAY | April - May 2010

Business is not something static or theo-retical. It is a highly technical and purely prac-tical field, in which there is a constant influx ofnew tools, ideas, systems, styles, techniquesand strategies. Realizing this all-importantfact, we have regular training sessions fromthe highest to the lowest level in our organi-zation. Recently, we had a three-day trainingsession at G.M. level in Murree. Every year, wehave training sessions abroad. Frequent train-ing sessions are also arranged for the juniorworkers. Thus, training is a continuous and in-tegral feature of our organization and it hascontributed a lot to the rapid growth and ex-pansion of our business.

Q:Confronted by many challengesand problems of gigantic magni-tude, our country is passing through acritical phase of its history. What reme-dies would you like to suggest for over-coming these problems and challenges?

Our country has been blessed with enor-mous bounties and potentialities. We are thebasic manufacturers and not the serviceproviders. We have been endowed with allthose resources and facilities which areneeded for a vibrant and flourishing economy.We only need to be honest, focused, system-atic, pragmatic and patriotic. Instead of pass-ing the time and taking short-term decisions,our leadership must take long-term decisions,based on farsighted planning. By acting uponthe two golden principles of merit and ac-countability, we can overcome most of ourproblems and put our country on the road toprogress.

Q:You are running one of the mostsuccessful business organiza-tions of the country. In this capacity,how do you fulfil your corporate social re-sponsibilities?As a family, we have always had a strong

passion for education. I have already told youabout my grandfather Ali Akbar who gradu-ated from Allahabad University in 1896.Narowal and its adjoining rural areas havelagged far behind in quality education. Withthis fact in mind, we are providing money aswell as land for opening new schools and tech-nical colleges for boys as well as girls in thisarea. Moreover, in every hour of need, we pro-vide generous assistance to our countrymen.For instance, when there was widespreadflooding in Sindh and Punjab in 2010, wespent millions of rupees to provide food, cleandrinking water and other essential commodi-

ties to the flood affected people.

Q:Everyone has his or her own def-inition of success. How do youdefine it?

People generally relate success withmoney. Those who have more money are re-garded as successful, while others are con-sidered to be unsuccessful in life. This type offeeling often leads to depression, frustration,tension and stress. Personally, I do not believein calculations, figures and numbers to meas-ure the level of success and failure of a per-son. I consider a person to be successful who,by dint of his own good behaviour and nobleactions, earns a good reputation and respectamong his friends, colleagues and society asa whole.

Q:Being the head of a rapidly ex-panding business organization,you must be a very busy man. How doyou manage time in the hectic routine ofyour life?To be very honest, I have a lot of free time at

my disposal and I do not have any hectic rou-tine. The reason is that I have a good team forimplementing my plans and decisions. I onlyhave to attend some regular meetings andsupervise the work. I, therefore, get a lot ofspare time which I like to spend with my fam-ily and friends.

Q:Who are your rolemodels in history?

I am greatly inspired by the personalities ofSir Syed Ahmad Khan and Quaid-e-Azam. Un-fortunately, by not acting upon their principles

and policies, we have suffered much and arefacing all sorts of problems.

Q:Are you optimistic about the fu-ture of our country?

Undoubtedly, we are gripped by numerouscrises and dilemmas currently and a generalatmosphere of despair and pessimism pre-vails in the country. But I am an optimisticman and I firmly believe that a very bright,beautiful and prosperous future lies ahead forour country and its people. As darkness is al-ways followed by light, I am sure that sooneror later, our country will also pass through thisturbulent period and enter a new age ofpeace and progress. I may not be there atthat time to see those beautiful days, but mysons or grandsons will surely be there. Thingsare slowly moving in the right direction. Today,everyone is talking of change. I am also con-vinced that the long awaited and much antic-ipated change is, at last, knocking at ourdoors. This is a beautiful country and certainlyit has a beautiful future.

Q:What message do you have forour youngsters?

I always advise my sons and other young-sters to lead a target oriented life. Theyshould set targets for themselves carefullyand wisely. And once the targets have beenset, they must pursue them wholeheartedly.Half hearted measures are quite useless.Achievement of targets gives immense satis-faction and joy. Furthermore, people shouldwork with utmost devotion, dedication, pas-sion and honesty. n

CORPORATEEVENTS48


To remain successful inthese competitive times,all companies must con-stantly strive to makethe best use of all theirresources. This appliesparticularly to makingthe best use of the com-pany workforce. Thepace of change continu-ally impacts businessand requires companies

to ensure that the skillsof the workforce are de-veloped to meet thosechanges. It is thereforeimportant that HumanResource and TrainingDepartments contributeto the organization’soverall strategic goals bytraining and developingthe workforce effectively.This two-day extensive

training organized byManager Today & RaysTraining, with courseleader Mr. Ijaz Nisar,Founder & President ofManager Today Maga-zine. Participants reallyenjoyed and learned a lotfrom the training and itsmodules covered.

TRAINTHE

TRAINER

CORPORATEEVENTS50


Manager Today Magazinepresented a Tribute to SteveJobs on 23rd November,2011 at Royal Palm, Lahore,with almost 150 partici-pants. When it comes to innova-

tion, Steve Jobs (CEO ofApple Inc.) is legendary. Thecatchphrase of his company,"Think Different”, is not justa marketing tool, it's a wayof life --a powerful, positiveand game-changing ap-proach to innovation thatanyone can apply to anyfield. The concept behindthis interactive dialogue wasto discover exciting newways to unlock your creativepotential and to promote anenvironment that is not onlyconducive to innovation butalso allows it to flourish. Par-ticipants learned the vision-ary leadership and the waysto thrive in most challengingtimes.

A Tribute toSteve JobsBreakthroughCreativity &Innovation

Ibrahim Qureshi, Director, iraffels Kamran Rizvi, Director, Navitus

Naeem Zamindar, CEO, Wateen Nina Maria Fite, U.S Consul General, Lahore

Participants attending the session Participants attending the session

Participants attending the session Participants attending the session


Ijaz Nisar, Naeem Zaminadr, Nina Maria, Ibrahim & Kamran Rizvi sitting as Key Note Speakers

Dr. Ehsan Malik Participants attending the session Participants attending the session

Participants attending the session Participants attending the session Participants attending the session

Participants attending the session Participants attending the session Participants attending the session

IJAZ NISAR

ENTREPRENEUR52


ENTERPRISINGENTREPRENEUR

Q:Our readers would surely liketo know something about yourfamily, academic and professionalbackground and your current posi-tion as the CEO of Murree Brewery.

I was brought up in Pakistan in avery open and liberal atmosphere andhad a great desire to spend the max-imum time among my friends andfamily. But my father always insistedthat I must go abroad for higher edu-cation. Acting in accordance with hisdesires, I went to the United Statesand graduated from an Americanpublic school in Dallas, Texas. Butsoon afterwards, I returned homeand got Bachelors degree from SirSyed college. Later, I got my MBA de-gree from the School of Business andCommerce, Islamabad, where I

worked on a number of HR projectsduring my studies. As far as MurreeBrewery is concerned, it is our familybusiness. It was founded by theBritishers in 1860. It came into ourfamily in 1947, where my late grand-father was working as its Director.After his demise in 1961, the busi-ness was taken over by my father andwhen he passed away in 2008, I be-came the CEO of Murree Brewery,which has a Board of Directors with aseparate Chairman. Thus, this busi-ness has been in our family for threegenerations, but unlike other familybusinesses, in which the members ofthe same family hold almost all thekey posts, I am the only member ofmy family as a working member of itsGoverning Board, while my mother is

a non-executive member of theBoard.

Q:What are your major productson sale for the customers?

We have about two dozen alcoholicproducts and about a similar numberof non-alcoholic products. Our prod-ucts include fresh fruit juices, car-bonated soft drinks, liquor, gin andmineral water. We also make glassbottles by the name of MG. Pakistanhas about six or seven glass factoriesand ours is one of them.

Q:As the CEO of your company,what kind of challenges youhave to face while running yourjuice business?

Our biggest threat or challengecomes from the non-organized sec-tor, in which there are a large number

In the scorching heat of the long summer days, when temperatures rise sharply and load shedding is at its worst,everyone loves to refresh himself with delicious fresh fruit juices and other soft drinks. There are numerous compa-nies, registered as well as non-registered, which manufacture and supply these much needed refreshing and relish-ing drinks, in all seasons, especially in summer, to alleviate the horrors of the heat and to provide instant energy andfreshness to the people. One of the oldest among all such companies operating in Pakistan is Murree Brewery, whoseproducts are widely known and appreciated for their excellent quality . In an exclusive interview with the “ManagerToday”, Mr. Isphanyar M. Bhandara throws light on the factors responsible for the great success of his company andhas also hints at the root causes of the economic and political problems our country is faced with. His frank andforthright analysis of the government’s fiscal policies regarding the business sector, deserves to be studied with ut-most care and attention by our economic planners and policy makers.

Isphanyar M.Bhandara CEO, Murree Brewery


of people who are running the juice busi-ness in the form of a cottage industry instreets and Muhallas. They neither paytheir taxes, nor get themselves regis-tered. In the absence of strict copyrightlaws in our country, without any hesita-tion or difficulty, they use the bottles andlabels of other companies and promotetheir own products, which may not be ofa good quality, but are much cheaper inprice. During the past few years, the pur-chasing power of the common man hascollapsed and price has now become thepriority for the people instead of quality.With this realization countless non-regis-tered juice companies are successfully ex-panding their business, by selling lowquality products, at a much cheaper rate.Even in the organized sector, there aresome who don’t honestly pay their taxes

and utility bills and nor do they strictlyabide by the labour laws formulated bythe government. Such shortcuts andwrong doings produce an atmosphere ofunhealthy competition, which is damagingand challenging for us who don’t compro-mise on quality and like to follow the lawsin their letter and spirit.

Q:Apart from the challenges thatyour industry is facing, how do yousee the overall situation of businessesand industries in our country during

the next five years?

In this age of soaring inflation, acutefood shortages, massive corruption, over-population, mass illiteracy, crippling en-ergy crisis and moral bankruptcy, one canhardly be hopeful about the future. As adirect outcome of growing economicpressures, if workers are mentally upset,physically undernourished and constantlyworried about the basic needs of theirfamily, their performance is bound to beaffected adversely. If such problems arenot tackled effectively and timely, thewhole business and industrial sector ofthe country is likely to suffer in the comingyears. I feel no hesitation in saying that

Musharraf’s era was the golden periodfor business community. In fact, all seg-ments of society, including the rich, thepoor, middle class, religious minorities,women, media etc. were happy duringthat period. Only a small number of selfishpeople were discontented at that time.Unfortunately, our politicians are moreloyal to their own vested interests andparties than to their country. As a nation,we have a shallow mentality, with no intel-

PROFILEIsphanyar M. Bhandara, CEO, Muree Brewery, joined the familybusiness, Murree Brewery Co. Ltd., Rawalpindi - one of the oldestpublic limited companies of the sub-continent - in 1997 (part time).Worked at various departments/positions within the company andlater on joined Board of Directors of the company in 1998. BecameExecutive Director in June 2005 and later on appointed as ChiefExecutive of the Murree Brewery Group of Companies on the demiseof father in June 2008.

lectual maturity. We love to judge a per-son’s worth by his car, dress and bank bal-ance, etc. instead of his moral strength,technical skills, intellectual maturity orcharacter.

Q:How do you cope with such hugedifficulties and challenges?

I tell my staff that challenges and diffi-culties are there, but we have to marchforward. I will be wrong if I believe that oneday all problems and difficulties will disap-pear, because such a day might nevercome. In such a dismal situation, the onlything that we can do is to make the bestpossible utilization of all the availablehuman and material resources and thisis exactly what I try to do.

Q:Are you satisfied with the eco-nomic policies of the PPP Govern-ment?

Not at all. I believe that the PPP govern-ment is pursuing wrong fiscal policies,which are not expected to yield any posi-tive results. Whenever PPP comes topower, it deliberately attempts to incitethe workers against their employers.When the employers and the employeesare at loggerheads with each other, nobusiness organization or industry canever flourish. But this is exactly what thePPP has been doing ever since coming topower. An organization dies instantlywhen its workforce is politicized. We haveseen the devastating results of such poli-cies in the case of PIA, Pakistan Railwaysand Pakistan Steel Mills. Instead of at-tempting to balance the credit and debitline, the government urges the compa-nies to employ more workers, give themhigher salaries and make them perma-nent. Political appointments and interfer-ence in purely economic activitiesseriously undermine the process of eco-nomic growth. Instead of facilitating and

encouraging the owners of businessesand industries, the government is irritat-ing and discouraging them. I always getreally upset when politicians approach meand urge me to employ their people. Thereason is that in 95 percent of suchcases, who are appointed on politicalgrounds, prove to be inefficient and in-competent. Politicians and bureaucratsnever miss the opportunity of teasing andsqueezing the businessmen. They enjoycreating hurdles and obstacles in theirway and believe that every businessmanhas huge piles of wealth which must begrabbed by hook or by crook.

Q:How do you fulfil your corporatesocial responsibilities?

There are a number of ways in whichwe fulfill our corporate social responsibil-ities. First of all, we make every endeav-our to provide quality products to ourcustomers, so that they can have theworth of their money. Murree Brewerywas running an excellent school whichwas nationalized by Bhutto. But even now,we assist that school in repair and main-tenance. Also, Bhandara Foundationwhich is actively involved in various chari-table activities may be described as anarm of Murree Brewery. Many prominentpeople, like Nasira Iqbal, are associatedwith Bhandara Foundation which regularlyassists Shokat Khanam Hospital andother such humanitarian organizations.Besides, whenever someone comes tome with a request for financial assis-tance, I never say no to him and makesure that he should not go back emptyhanded.

Q:Would you like to tell our readersabout your management style?

I like to delegate powers to my staffmembers, but at the same time, I assignresponsibilities to each of them. I make


Fake or bogus degrees may help them getting ajob, but they can never create that deeperunderstanding, which must be the outcome ofgood education. Instead of looking for shortcutsto success in life, they should develop the habit ofhardwork, persistence and honesty.


sure that everyone is fully aware of his re-sponsibilities and makes his maximum,sincere and honest efforts to fulfill them.I tell them that despite their best efforts,they may fail at times, but even if they fail,they should fail with responsibility. This isexactly what my father taught me. I try tomake them realize that they are workingnot for me but for themselves and fortheir own benefit. A kind of homely andfamily atmosphere prevails in our organi-zation, where people love to live and workfor a long time. The number of workerswho leave our factory is one of the lowestin the country. We have such employeeswhose fathers and grandfathers had alsoworked with us in the same factory.

Q:Do you have an elaborateHR policy?

We are a small company, consisting offive groups of companies and the totalnumber of our employees is around 1100.We may not have an elaborate HR policy,but our policies have a preference for theworkers, because my late father was al-ways helpful and sympathetic towards thepoor and the needy. Whenever any of ourworkers retires, we like to replace himwith his son. However, at the senior man-agement level, whenever there is a vacantpost, we give the ad in the newspaper. Weprovide every possible facility to our work-ers, but at the same time, we keep ontelling them that they must never be un-

mindful of their duties and responsibilities.I regularly send my staff members totraining workshops and even to othercountries to learn new techniques ofbrewing. We have employed a coloneldoctor for the regular moral training ofour illiterate workers in a small class-room inside Murree Brewery. They aretaught basic values, to be useful to othersand to feel the collective responsibility.Moral degeneration is one of our worsttragedies and people deliberately violateall moral laws for success in life.

Q:How can we tackle the problem ofwidespread unemployment in ourcountry?

Unemployment can only be controlledby creating more job opportunities in theprivate sector. This can only happen if thegovernment stops interfering in the af-fairs of the business community. If busi-nessmen, entrepreneurs andindustrialists are provided a favourable,congenial and peaceful atmosphere thatis full of encouragement and incentives,they will surely expand their business ven-tures. And for each new enterprise, theywill have to employ new people. This ishow new jobs can be created. But in thepresent circumstances, far from openingnew businesses, even the existing onesare hard to manage. There is discour-agement at every step. Suppose some-one wishes to start a new business or

expand his existing business. In that case,he will have to pass through a long, tire-some, extremely complicated and com-plex process, during which he will berequired to grease the palm of the peoplelinked to all the concerned departments.

Q:Who has been the main source ofinspiration in your life?

Throughout my life, my late father hasbeen the main source of inspiration, train-ing and education. I was brought up underhis strict scrutiny and close observation.He strictly controlled my activities and be-fore doing anything, I had to seek his per-mission. It was he who taught me the artof business which now I am handling quitesuccessfully, by Allah’s grace.

Q:What is your definition of suc-cess?

I believe that success is linked to hard-work, moral and financial honesty, dili-gence and responsibility.

Q:Do you have some message for ouryoungsters?

The youngsters should concentrate ongetting good education and genuine de-grees and should not run after fake de-grees. Fake or bogus degrees may helpthem getting a job, but they can never cre-ate that deeper understanding, whichmust be the outcome of good education.Instead of looking for shortcuts to suc-cess in life, they should develop the habitof hardwork, persistence and honesty.n


Ijaz Nisar Wali Muhammad Azhar Iqbal MIR

Kamran Rizvi Shireen Naqvi Sohail Zindani

TRG LearnFest, Pakistan's pio-neering learning festival, is a con-glomeration of training providersand seekers. It hosted 100 di-verse 75-minute trainings by 80prominent trainers for 1000 pro-fessionals across Karachi & Is-lamabad. With the mission tostrengthen the learning & devel-opment industry, promote train-ing providers & cultivate aculture of learning as investmentrather an expense, TRG Learn-

Fest provided a platform to es-tablish and bud trainers (individu-als and firms) to connect totrainees from corporate, devel-opment and academic sectors. TRG LearnFest is Trainers Re-

source Group's (TRG) annualevent, organized in Serena Hotelin partnership with EmployersFederation of Pakistan, ManagerToday Magazine, ManagementAssociation of Pakistan, NutshellForum, Octara and Terrabiz. n

Participants attending the session

Participants attending the session Umair Jalliawalia Warda Zaman Wasif Mazhar

TRG LearnFest Islamabad

CORPORATEEVENTS56


Kamran Rizvi moderating the session Sohail Zindani moderating the session

Ijaz Nisar moderating the session Shireen Naqvi moderating the session

Umair Jalliawalia moderating the session Participants attending the session

Participants attending the session Guest, Kamran Rizvi, Ijaz Nisar, Tosheeba Sarwar, Sohail Zindani & Haseeb Nisar


Group photo with Mr. Kamran Rizvi & Mr. Ijaz Nisar

Ahmed Fuad, Kamran Rizvi, Kashif Javed, Umair Jaliawala, Sarmad Tariq,Fahad & Iftikhar

Mr. Wali Muhammad with a participant Participant

TRG team members TRG member

TRG team members

A group photo with Kamran Rizvi

Nadeem Chawhan & Ijaz Nisar Ijaz Nisar with a participant

Participants

CORPORATEEVENTS60


COMSATS Institute of Information Technology, M.AJinnah (Lahore) Campus organized a mega event, 3rdSAICON, an International Conference on Manage-ment, Business Ethics and Economics. This interna-tional conference was held on 28th and 29th of Dec,in PC Lahore. Chief Guest of the event was Deputy Di-rector Planning Commission of Pakistan Sir Nadeemul Haq. Besides Rector, Director, Dean, HOD and sen-ior Faculty Members of COMSATS University, Dr.David Sim (Lancaster University, England), PresidentLCCI, eminent industrialists, academicians, econo-mists and bankers were also present in this Interna-tional Conference. The main attraction of thisconference was the presence of more than 40 interna-tional participants along with 120 presenters from allover Pakistan. By arranging this International Confer-ence, CIIT, Lahore Campus was able to gather intellec-tual minds from USA, UK, Spain, Turkey and rest of thedeveloped countries. This conference provided aforum for local industrialists, bankers, professionals,management students and International researchersto sit together and discuss possible solutions for vari-ous issues and problems which Pakistan’s economy isfacing now-a-days. For this purpose various trainingsessions and panel discussions were arranged by theorganizers of 3rd SAICON. Therefore, by arranging3rd SAICON, COMSATS University was able to en-hance positive image of Pakistan internationally.

COMSATS 3rdSAICON 2011

POETRY62


My land was a land of brave and true peopleWearing no mask of dichotomy but were realLush with exuberant greenery and several mineralSoil was carrying grains that reflects light of CelestialFaith, Discipline and Unity prevailed in every nook and cornerThese were people garb which they wore with great honorThe sun showered the land with its golden jewelsThe bright moon and stars filled the sky with silver huesThe cataract flow with extreme joy of freedomIt splashed the water down with power and make noise seldomThe river, stream and air sing the songs of eternal peaceThe nature forgot pathetic fallacy and was at easeThe land carries hidden treasure in its heartSomeone prophesied so earlier in the pastBut the land has now become a shelter of coward peopleNot rebellious, courageous, vital but are feebleBarren land echoes the song of disharmonySoil become infertile due to the acts of BlasphemyPeople have disguised them in many shapes and formsNo one give importance to religion and its lawsThe sun feels shame rising on the imperfect landMoon bade stars with tearful voice of glandThe greenery have perished and made the soil heap of sandEliot in his book called such place a Waste LandThe grim, solitude dark nights have spread their veilAll the trials of sun to peep through bleak clouds are vainPeople no longer understand the language of heart and omensTheir hearts have become hard like stone that never softensThe bright horizon of people in the limitless blue skyHas turned into the chained bird who forgot how to flyThe iron cage have grilled the mind with obtrude senseThe obscene things have lowered the ethics that made us fellThe streets have mortal beings that are deadThe land is no more green but filled with blood redThe gigantic buildings are shallow with concrete foundationsThe system is corrupted and besmirched so is the nationThe materialistic pursuits have filed in the desires of heartMade it filthy, obnoxious and nasty martThe lusty feelings lighten up in every mind with no shameIt provokes them to do unabashed deeds for the sake of fameThe wreath around the corporeal frame of land has become paleIt no longer stands strong to bear the furious galeThe ray of hope is illuminating from no whereThe petrifying situation made us dead with fear

MyMy

AMNA ALI

17 edition

Documents

Transcript of 17 edition