Business as usual will no longer suffice for businesses sustainable success
To find the best sources of innovation and maintain competitive advantage, it makes sense to include 'a look 'beyond your own boundaries that exist within a 'business as usual' framework. This is open innovation, as defined by a University of California-Berkeley professor, Henry Chesbrough. Companies are increasingly seeking out previously untapped knowledge, finding it in hidden corners of their own business whilst actively pursuing the best ideas from outside their four walls. This inflow and outflow of innovation speeds up product time to market, allows access to the most cutting-edge technologies and provides costeffective access to additional competencies. (www.cgma.com).
'Business as unusual: the innovator's agenda', the CIMA Management Accounting Conference 2013, will focus on mindsets, technology, performance management methodologies, implementation tools and competitive strategies that strive to equip organisations to innovate in an informed and integrated manner. The topics will address how the 'right' innovation and information needed by today's businesses are derived amidst contemporary local and global challenges.
Eranga Jayewardene, Director, Sourcing and Supply Chain for MAS Intimates will enlighten the audience on 'Innovative entrepreneurship best practices' in the Silicon Valley. His presentation will cover aspects that are required to foster innovation from a product, cost, process, technology, as well as business model perspectives. Eranga holds a Master of Science Degree in Electrical Engineering from Stanford University, USA, where he was awarded the Bill & Melinda Gates Fellowship. He also possesses a Bachelor of Science Degree in Electrical Engineering from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, Troy, NY, USA. He worked at Apple Inc. as a Senior Manager (Planning and Procurement) and at Cisco Systems as a Demand Planning Manager (DPM). He was employed by the US Department of Commerce (NIST) as a Consultant.
Ramesh Shanmuganathan, Executive Vice President/Group CIO, John Keells Holdings PLC, will present a futuristic view focusing on 'Imperative for Agile Enterprise of 2020, prescribing actionable analytics and insights that drive organisations to 'walk the talk' in terms of being effectively agile.
Ramesh is a member of the Group Management Committee for the Information Technology industry group and has over 19 years of experience in the ICT industry both in Sri Lanka and the USA, with the last 12 years in C-Level management. Prior to his current role, he has served in the Group's IT sector as the CEO of Keells Business Systems Limited since 2001 as well as Head of Strategy/New Business Initiatives of John Keells Computer Services Ltd since 2004 until he assumed duties as the Group's CIO in January 2006.
Ramesh is a Hayes-Fulbright Scholar and holds to his credit a MSc (Information Technology & Computer Science) with Phi Kappa Phi Honours from Rochester Institute of Technology, a MBA (General) from the Postgraduate Institute of Management, University of Sri Jayewardenepura, and a BSc. in Engineering (Electronics & Telecommunications) with First class honors from the University of Moratuwa. He is at present reading for his Doctor of Business Administration (DBA) at International School of Management, Paris.
SGIT, the IT unit of John Keells Holdings PLC is the Platinum partner for the event whilst, Wijeya Newspapers (Pvt.) Ltd. is the exclusive print media partner. ETV is the electronic media partner and the exclusive digital media partner for the conference is LBO and LBR.
Book your place now for the CIMA Management Accounting conference 2013, and partake of your organisations transition to one that could thrive in the information age, engaging in 'business as unusual'. For more information on this event and to find out how you can be a part of it, please contact Jennifer Gnaniah on 0112503880 or email tlevents@cimaglobal.com.