Page 48 - ICE BUSINESS TIMES December 2019
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I prefer to be the person              How would you define your      maintain a work-life balance.                         (the knowledge) with the private   for them.                                                                                   One of the concerns we have    which were not there when we
              who reaches out, instead                leadership style?              Consequently, I have been trying                      sector. But often, that is not possible   We have to prepare our workforce for                                                 about unemployment             were coming up as entrepreneurs.
                 of dictating, I prioritize           I prefer to be the person who   to unlearn and relearn; unlearn                      due to bureaucratic complications.   the fourth industrial revolution and                                                      problem is lack of investment   At that time, there were very few
               on becoming part of the                reaches out, instead of dictating, I   some obsolete ideas and re-learn              There are also questions about   develop the necessary skill set to                                                            and developing new             opportunities to formally fund
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                          enterprises. Do you believe
                                                                                     what I should have learned in a
                                                                                                                                                                            keep up with the changing world. A
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                         your business through investors.
              journey — training them                 prioritize on becoming part of the   different way, in terms of                      intellectual property rights, which   few days back, at Hamad                                                                  we have favorable climate      Over the years’ numerous
                                                                                                                                           solely belongs to the government.
              to achieve goals that the               journey — training them to     execution and management                              But I believe the inventor should be   International Airport in Qatar, I                                                       for foreign investment?        organizations have invested
                  company desires from                achieve goals that the company   styles.                                             rewarded through financial benefits   noticed, most employees were                                                             Absolutely not! Over the five   heavily in developing student
                          them. Instead of            desires from them. Instead of   With time, customer perception                       from the rights even though he was   Nepalese. From lounge to security,                                                        decades since independence, the   entrepreneurs. I am thrilled to see
                                                      micromanaging, I prefer to
               micromanaging, I prefer                establish a set of goals that we   and habits have changed and we                    working under the government when   everywhere you look, there was an                                                          private sector has been the major   so many initiatory steps are taken
                     to establish a set of            want them to achieve. We also   are trying to understand the                         he made the breakthrough. It will   overwhelming number of Nepali                                                              driver of our economy. If the   to develop them (entrepreneurs).
              goals that we want them                 expect them to learn about the   transformation and get ahead of                     encourage more innovations and   nationals employed there. It was also                                                         private sector is not comfortable   However, we have to simplify the
                                  to achieve.         culture and vision that we     the curve.                                            some of the most innovative      very surprising to see so many                                                                with the current environment, how   processes of business licensing,
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                         registration and taxation to see a
                                                                                                                                                                            Nepalese women employed in
                                                      ourselves have acquired from our   What do you believe is the                        countries practice that.                                                                                                       can you expect foreign companies
                                                      company. Until an employee     catalyst for this change in                           The government could have benefited   blue-collar jobs there, whereas,                                                         to invest in our country? We have   robust improvement in the
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                         start-up scene.
                                                                                                                                                                            women migrant workers from
                                                      empathizes with the core values   customer motivation?                               a lot more by licensing out the rights                                                                                         a long way to go in ensuring a
                                                      of the organization, genuine                                                         to use the technology in the private   Bangladesh generally work as a                                                          standard business environment.   What is your take on the
                                                                                                                                                                            house help. Conversely, the
                                                      respect for the values will not   If I talk about the jute industry in               sector. That’s how the most                                                                                                    Our development will not be    future of fintech in
                                                      develop. Irrespective of individual   particular, unfortunately, there               developed countries have gone so far   workforce we are producing at the                                                       sustainable if we fail to improve   Bangladesh?               boundaries of our country. I try to
                                                                                                                                                                            moment will not be interested in low
                                                      performance, everyone needs to   hasn't been enough                                  ahead in innovation, they are                                                                                                  our business environment at a                                 bring something back from every
                        following teachings that he left   grasp the real purpose of this   developments. The biggest reason               encouraging it (innovation) by   skilled labor such as house help or                                                           pace faster than the rate of our   As a company, we are also keeping
 manager who had been an   He also wanted us to   am today. Everybody has   for us 1400 years ago. From a   organization. A company cannot   behind this is the lack of R&D. In   allowing to share the proceeds of the   night guard, therefore, they might              development. Our growth rate of   a close eye on the sector, as we   travel.
 executive and that   experience management   potential, but to turn that   religious and family perspective, I   sustain solely on financial   terms of policy perspective, we   usage rights among stakeholders in   find it difficult to land blue-collar              8% did not happen overnight: it is   also have a number of financial   Can you please share one
                                                                                                                                                                            jobs in the future if those are already
 augmented our   styles of different cultures   into something meaningful,   am heavily influenced by my   aspirations. I read somewhere   have actually failed to protect   the innovation process.                                                                      the result of a lot of hard work.   institutions. I believe, we are a   such learning moment?
 acceptability. Besides, we   and assimilate them into   someone has to provide   father, and so is the case for the   that “Profit is the only logical   this industry. To some extent, we   It also encourages the entities in the   occupied by other nationals.   we do that, bringing people is not   We now have the opportunity to   little behind, not only as a
                                                                                                                                                                            Therefore, managing our greatest
 were allowed to work in   our company. The   that opportunity, and that's   rest of my family members. More   thing to follow in business”, it is   have politicized this sector and   private sector to invest in innovative   going to provide us an advantage.        grow exponentially if we can   company but also as a country.   It is difficult to point out one
 sectors which we were   combination of academic   true for everyone.  than a leader, he has been an   also crucial to understand why we   as a result, this sector has   programs as the money is going to   asset is our biggest concern.  At Anwar Group, we have a few   remove the barriers to doing   The financial institutions are   particular moment. For example, I
 interested in. As I had a   learning and practical   You seem to be hugely   incredible family member. The   need to make that profit. It   remained neglected. It is   the different research institutions   Do you believe the   foreign employees who have            business. Bangladesh is far behind   trying to jump on that bandwagon,   just mentioned about something
 knack for cars from a very   experience gives the actions   influenced by your father's   way he nurtured us had immense  enables them to explore more   extremely regrettable because   and universities. Unfortunately,   industry-academia gap is   contractual obligations to groom a   in Cost of Doing Business and   there have been discussions on   that I witnessed in Doha Airport, I
 young age, I was given the   a lot more value.  philosophy and vision. Are   implications on our lives. None of   avenues and perform more   this is the only product whose   initiatives like these are non-existent   responsible for the lack of   particular number of local   Ease of Doing Business index.   bringing blockchain and also how   usually share this information with
 responsibility to put oil in   there any differences   us in the family can match his   efficiently. We practice the culture   entire process, from raw jute to   in our country.                           managers within a certain period                             This year we have progressed   companies like us can implement   my counterparts who are involved
 Was there any   the car and calculate the   Do you believe you   between his and your   leadership capacity and   of enabling each other and grow.  finished product is generated in   skill set development?                                                            eight steps on the Ease of Doing   them in our operations. However,   in the sector and ask them about
 defining moment   mileage when I was in class   would have been a   leadership styles?  foresightedness.  Additionally, it’s extremely   Bangladesh. That means we have   Where do you believe the   Absolutely! Our educational   of time. Foreign employees are        Business Index on the other hand   as I have stated previously, I am   why we (Bangladesh) are missing
 while you grow up   six. I was also given the   different person, had   Every human being has a   important for us to create a sense   the opportunity to make a 100%   reluctance to innovate or   institutions are preparing the youth   more driven than the locals   Pakistan has improved 28 steps.   yet to find a CTO who can guide   out on these jobs. From a company
 when you decided to   responsibility of   there been no family   leadership figure whom he   Has it ever occurred that   of belonging among the   value addition in this sector.   share knowledge amongst us   for the present rather than the   because they have certain sets of   In the cost of doing business, we   me through the implementation   perspective, we joined a learning
 become an   maintaining the roster of   legacy?  follows throughout his life.   he is in a way eclipsing   employees, and make sure they   Unfortunately, until now, we are   stem from?  future. We are not paying any   targets to achieve to earn contract            are only making our processes   process.                      session where they discussed how
 entrepreneur?  commercial vehicles.  I never thought of it that   From a religious   you to bloom?  treat this entity like their own   stuck in its rudimentary uses in   It stems from a mix of several   attention to future needs and that's   renewal.               more complicated--according to                                a CEO can actually become a
 When you are born in a   After that, I joined the head   way; maybe it would have   perspective, our Prophet   My father’s management style   family. Even when people part   the micro and cottage industry   negative mindsets that exist in our   true even in the private sector. I   How do we change this   proposed regulations companies   How can we reduce overall   bottleneck in terms of the
 family where virtually   office at stationary   been different; I might not   Hazrat Muhammad   was very different. The day we   ways with Anwar Group, they   scale.   society in general. Ignorance,   cannot find Bangladeshi CTOs (Chief   mindset amongst ourselves   will now have to file tax returns of   corruption in our country?  company’s growth and what needs
 everyone is a business   purchase before moving to   have been blessed with so   Sallallahu Alihiwasallam is   stepped in, he left the company.   always feel part of the family.   I have been very excited about   arrogance, general lack of knowledge   Technology Officer) who can guide   of taking things for   their employees.  How can they   Digitalization is definitely the   to be done to avoid this scenario.
 person, you are well aware   raw material procurement.   many opportunities   the greatest leader this   Unless we reached out to him, he   Most importantly, we have a very   “Sonali Bag” and I have   on how to capitalize on such things   me to modernize our office and   granted at work?  expect me to file tax returns of   most important tool against   After coming back, I implemented
 of your destiny. The   By the time I graduated, I   otherwise. I executed the   world has ever seen. We are   never interfered in our work. My   open culture at our offices;   personally talked to Dr. Mubarak   and bureaucratic mindset have   industry for future compatibility.   14,000 of my employees? Instead   corruption. By reducing the   that knowledge in our company.
 knowledge of the business   had more than ten years of   opportunities and scopes I   father was a self-educated person,   everyone is encouraged to share   Ahmad Khan about its   deterred us from the path of   They are good for the current   I believe, it has a lot to do with   of making things easier, they   number of human interactions.
 was embedded in our   experience of working in   was given to be the man I   the kind of corporate   their ideas. I know about 80% of   commercial availability. As of   innovation.  perspective but do lack the vision for   our own managerial skill-set.             (bureaucrats) are walking      We can ensure there are fewer   Can you simplify in a few
 upbringing; my siblings and   our company, so I never   foresightedness and compatibility   my employees by their names   now, the product is not ready for                the future.                      Often, we fail to establish                                  backward.                      chances of corruption. More and   lines about how a CEO
 I were involved with work   faced any cultural shock.   that he possessed with so limited   which is still less than my father   commercial production but even   Now coming back to                        accountability in our institutions.                                                         more bureaucratic complications   becomes a bottleneck in a
 back when we were in class   Additionally, throughout   educational background is almost   as he knew every employee   if he manages to make it   Bangladesh’s economy. What   How can we solve this        We also fail to empathize with the                           What is your take on the       will end up making the business   company?
 six. Our father did not want   my higher studies in   unimaginable.   personally.   available, I am skeptical whether                     do you believe is the biggest    problem?                         importance of carrying out a task                            startup scene of our           processes more vulnerable to   Everybody has a set of knowledge
 us to join our company as   abroad, I worked in   He has given us the complete      we will be able to utilize the                        challenge for Bangladesh’s       Unfortunately, we have to import   responsibly in our institutions. It                        country? Are we doing          corruption and eventually to   and a certain bandwidth, if you
 bosses right after   different organizations as   opportunity to execute what we   Can you share with us a   benefits.                    economy right now?               skilled workforce in our country, who   is extremely important to make                        enough to develop              failure. Most importantly, the   have a challenge that is bigger
 graduation, rather he   my father had the policy   wanted to as long as our Board of   challenging moment in                                                               can train and educate our local   employees feel that they are part                           entrepreneurs?                 citizens need to be aware of their   than you, to solve that problem,
 wanted us to become   that you must have three   Directors were convinced. It is a   your career?  How eager do you believe               One of our biggest assets that we   employees. But if we bring in   of the institution and that's the                          Alhamdulillah! I believe we have   rights.                    you actually have to move up
 colleagues of our   years of prior work   common practice within the                is the government to share                            keep talking about is our        somebody who will take up his role   responsibility of managers. You                          done quite well. The initiatives                              towards it. Until and unless you
 employees. Experienced   experience before joining   organization that any business   I am actually going through one   the knowledge with the   demographic dividend. More than   and not train others, that will be   must have very good managers                     started from the private sector   You travel a lot, has that   have that knowledge, you won't be
 executives of respective   the company. So, instead of   proposal must get the consent of   right now. Our economy is   private sector of the   65% of our population is 25 or   detrimental. Currently, the transfer of   because, at the end of the day,               and now the government is, well,   changed you as a business   able to reach there and solve it, the
 departments mentored us.   wasting time, I earned my   the Board of Directors to go ahead   currently going through a lot of   breakthroughs made in the   younger, a significant number of   knowledge is missing, we are   everybody has differing potential           on board. Bangladesh Investment   person?                     same thing happens in a company.
 Consequently, by the time   stipulated work experience   with. If unanimously there is a   transformations; it is a challenge   jute industry?  them are already in the workforce.   bringing in people but not allowing   and capacity; we have to help                 Development Authority (BIDA)   I try to learn from each and every   To resolve the bottleneck, you have
 we graduated, we had been   while I was doing my   disagreement, that means I have   to assimilate to so many changes.   Our Prime Minister has already   We have to ask ourselves whether we   them to grow into their shoes. Until   them to grow to their full        and ICT division have undertaken   trip that I make, whether its   to surpass yourself by evolving
 mentored by a General A   higher studies.  failed to present my case.  I am also finding it difficult to   stated informally to share them   are creating enough high-skilled jobs                          potential.                                                   some commendable programs      international or within the    through learning and adaptation.

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