www.cimaglobal.com/Documents/Hand in hand Sustainability Initiative-Application_V2.docx

Panel discussion was led by Dharshan Cooray, seated from left Dr Arul Sivagananathan,Vipula Gunatileke,

Ghanshyam Das Khandelwal, Fayaz Hudah,Hariharan Padmanaban, Omar Fatherally and Madu Rathnayake

Unlearn: Learn – adapting best practices in family businesses

Family businesses are a vital part of the global economy and a cornerstone of the economic systems in

most countries. Recognizing this, CIMA Sri Lanka conducted an event on 29 October 2014 at Kingsbury

Hotel led by the gurus in the world of family business. The forum enabled the audience to learn how

family businesses remain true to the family culture and vision, while adopting best management practices

the corporate world has to offer in terms of business and growth strategies, professionalism, talent

management, and financing, among others.

Bradley Emerson, Regional Director of Middle East, South Asia and North Africa, CIMA delivered the

opening remarks emphasizing on the importance of entrepreneurships and family businesses and how

conducting informative and knowledge sharing events of this sort also complements CIMA’s mission of

helping people and businesses succeed be it taking these family-run businesses to the next level or

mentoring talented individuals with emerging business opportunities.

R. Gopalakrishnan, Director of Tata Group in his Keynote Address

shared the significance of running a business with family members and

the unparalleled possession of an inborn competitive edge no other

company can match, in these businesses. He also pointed out the value

of creating an adaptive, collaborative and tolerant eco-system. He

concluded his speech saying; “don’t be the Himalayan Musk Deer,

looking for something elsewhere, unaware of the fact that it has all along

been within you, instead learn from the internal environment, then solve

problems, introduce products, a nd re-engineer processes by seeing the

world in a new light while acting accordingly.”

Husein Esufally, Chairman at Hemas Holdings PLC discussed Hemas

story of its transition from a family run business to obtaining a stock

exchange listing, sharing with the gathering he also stated the firsthand

experiences of managing challenges of a family business in the quest to

professionalise and create value, which ultimately boils down to leaving a

legacy in place to steer the purpose of the organisation.

Prakash Schaffter, Managing Director of Janashakthi Insurance PLC highlighted the indisputable defining

quality of family businesses, making references to to Janashakthi Insurance at its early stages, he talked

about how individuals report to one another, confide in one another, and grow the company together with

a sibling or a parent, because they know what inspires, what threatens, what elicits compromise. He also

said; the best family businesses turn that understanding into an efficiency that breeds speedier

management and growth.

To deepen the understanding of brand power and value, Malik

J.Fernando, Director Operations of MJF Holdings & Dilmah Tea provided

valuable insights about Dilmah’s journey of humble beginnings to

experiencing growth at rapid pace while combating unprecedented

change, achieving sustainable growth, investment, and success.

The forum also featured a panel discussion on “how Sri Lanka's family businesses can sustain, transform

and run better in ever-changing economies”, moderated by Dr. Arul Sivagananathan, Managing Director,

Hayleys Industrial Solutions (pvt) Ltd. & Hayleys BPO. Also present in the panel were Mr.Renuke

Wijayawardhane, Chief Operating Officer of the Colombo Stock Exchange and Mr. Ranil Pathirana,

Director of the Board of Hirdaramani Group of Companies along with the speakers of the event. The

panel discussion was indeed a session which brought the audience into the discussion with crackled

energy and elicitation of fresh ideas.

Colombo Stock Exchange (CSE) were the Principal Sponsors of the Unlearn: Learn – adapting best

practices in family businesses forum. Also lending their support to make this event possible were

Associate Sponsors ANC Education.

DIMO wins CIMA Business Case Award 2014

The most eminent annual business event of CIMA Sri Lanka, the CIMA Business Case Awards Night themed

‘ImpACT’ was held on 12 November 2014 at the Kings Court, Cinnamon Lakeside hotel. The Awards Night, was a

dazzling evening with prestigious awards presented for the year’s best achievements in the business world.

Diesel & Motor Engineering PLC (DIMO) was declared a winner at the Business Case Awards of 2014 organised by

the Chartered Institute of Management Accountants (CIMA). The awarding took place at a lavish ceremony held on

12 November at Cinnamon Lakeside Hotel.

DIMO faced intense competition amongst a host of distinguished companies to emerge victorious with their case

study titled ‘How focusing on their purpose served our purpose’.

This year’s participants from across the private and State sectors strived to identify and narrate specific real-life

occurrences in their own organisation through business cases. The positive ‘ImpACT’ of their meticulous planning,

eloquent execution and continuous improvement of their business strategies needed to be articulated on paper and

presented to a panel of distinguished judges. DIMO’s award winning business case study focused on the TATA

Commercial Vehicles’ incredible success story. It laid out their customer centric approach in sustaining the market

share that they had been able to achieve ever since the end of the war in 2009. Factual evidence was presented on

how DIMO was able to deliver customer centric services despite the challenges of intense competition and fluctuating

economic factors. Highlighted areas of the case were the customer segmentation approach and the customer reach

that the TATA team introduced to create the competitive edge that resulted in the firm establishment of their market

share leadership.

A cross-functional team that included Madurika Samarasekera, Prabodha Shawn Silva and Varuna Jayasinghe

prepared and presented the business case to CIMA. And invaluable contributions towards its success came from

Rakhita Gunasekera, Thushara Luvis and Shalika Lakmali. Speaking about the business case, DIMO Chairman and

Managing Director Ranjith Pandithage was quick to praise the diligence and commitment of the team that worked on

the case study, while highlighting the dedication of the management and the operational staff in delivering a total

solution to their customers.

“The unique case of TATA’s success in Sri Lanka is one that I am proud to say that DIMO helmed for more than half

a century. The TATA team that successfully executed the strategies detailed in the case study opted to be different

in-order to fulfil a customer’s individual needs. I wholeheartedly congratulate the outstanding efforts of the business

case team to showcase these achievements and its impact on our organisation to win this notable award.”

WNS Global Services and GlaxoSmithKline were honoured with merit awards, Unilever Sri Lanka were 2nd runners

up for their case study of a successful business partnering activity that restructured its Business Partner remuneration

model, Mobitel (Pvt) Ltd emerged the 1st runners up for their business case “journey of project management

excellence to share, care and deliver”

Unilever Sri Lanka

Mobitel (Pvt) Ltd

Dr B M S Batagoda

Sunjeevani

Kotakadeniya

Suresh Perera

Dr Anila D

Bandaranaike

Panel discussion lead by Vipula Gunatilleke, seated from left Suresh Perera,

Sunjeevani Kotakadeniya, Dr Anila D Bandaranaike, Dr B M S Batagoda