The Bengal Chamber of Commerce and Industry in association with Ex-IIM Consultants very recently organized a management development programme on “Building a Strategy Focused Organization” on 13th and 14th November 2015 at Park Hotel, Kolkata.

The programme was meant for CEOs, Board Members and senior managers of companies who were involved with strategic decision making. The objective was to expose them to the concepts, tools, and live examples from leading organizations.

Guest faculty members of this workshop were Prof. Ranjan Das (Guest faculty of Strategic Management Group of IIM, Calcutta), Prof. Sougata Ray (Professor of Strategic Management at IIM, Calcutta) and Prof. P.K Sett (Former Professor of Human Resource Management Group of IIM, Calcutta). Some of the participants were Mr. Amitabh Roy (CEO – Team Taurus Realty & Infrastructure Pvt. Ltd), Mr. Sourabh Bhaumik (MD & CEO – Ultimate Digital Solutions Pvt. Ltd.), Mr. P.K Biswas (Manager IR Distribution – CESC Limited), Mr. Conrad Dennis (Head Process Development & Strategy – Amalgamated Plantations Pvt. Ltd.) and many more.

Prof. Ranjan Das explained how an organization without a strategy is like a rudderless ship drifting in open sea. However he also explained how any strategy is as good as its execution. Effective implementation of a strategy needs alignment of all types of organizational resources – financial, physical and human – to the strategic purpose and goals.

Other professors explained how strategy focus did not happen automatically as immediate and pressing operational needs tended to get precedence and hence distracted the organization from its strategic imperatives. Hence they suggested that the decision maker of an organization must have knowledge, skills and tools to navigate the organization through the turbulence of its operational environment into its cherished destination.