LIBA – BEACON 2018-19 focused on Sustainable Business Practices for a Better Tomorrow
Chennai: BEACON – the annual Business Ethics Conference by Loyola Institute of Business Administration (LIBA) was inaugurated by Mr. Nixon Joseph, President & Chief Operating Officer, SBI Foundation in the presence of Fr. P. Christie, SJ, Director, LIBA, faculty and students of LIBA. This year, BEACON witnessed the launch of Dr Ajit Singhvi Micro Centre for Good Governance by Mr. Jochen Tewes, Founder, Inter-Mission Industrial Development Association under the aegis of Centre for Business Ethics and Corporate Governance, LIBA to promote research in the area of Good Governance.
The theme for the day-long conference was “Sustainable Business Practices for a Better Tomorrow” which focused on providing a platform for budding managers of LIBA to gain knowledge about the Sustainable Business Practices from industry leaders and also how it influences the triple bottom-line i.e. planet, people and profit.
The conference was spread across two sessions with various industry experts including Mr. Santhosh Jayaram, Partner and Head, Sustainability Advisory Services, KPMG India, Mr. Giresh Mohan, Regional Manager – South, Corporate Social Investment, ITC Limited, Mr. Hemantha Kumar Pamarthy, Independent International Advisor and Consultant for CSR, Mr. John Alex, EVP & Group Head-Social Initiatives, Equitas Small Finance Bank & Program Director, Equitas Development Initiatives Trust-Chennai, Ms. Vidya R, Founder, Skillsgurucool and Mr. M. Sivakumar, CEO, ICT Academy addressing various key aspects of the future the students are leaving for the next generation.
Addressing the students, Mr Nixon Joseph said, “I am honoured to be a part of this year’s BEACON and the theme is very relevant for the present and the generations to come. Business Ethics is a system of moral principles that dictates what legitimate behaviour is in business dealings. I would like to focus on ethics as corporate governance, sustainability and corporate social responsibility which are interlinked to ethics. Right ethics results in efficient corporate governance, effective sustainability and the right attitude for corporate social responsibility. In an organisation, individual competitiveness is to be downplayed and interdependence is to be focussed on to ensure future economical prosperity. My advice to the students entering the corporate world is to be humble and transparent in all your dealings, respect all, keep learning to not turn obsolete, challenge yourself in your profession and learn something new.”
Dr. Ajit Singhvi, management consultant living currently in London, comes from a philanthropic family in Jhodpur. He has held key managerial positions, such as financial controller, in various places such as Africa, UK and India. He is passionately involved, committed and interested to promote Good Governance. For him good governance is not just corporate governance in business but needs to be in terms of accountability, transparency and democracy in any organization. He had put forward the concept and methodology, titled PSR (Personal Social Responsibility) for a voluntary movement to raise some more resources for societal good by providing structure where middle and rich alike have an equal chance of receiving recognition and reward for sacrificing a small portion of their earnings during the ages (50 to 60 years).
Mr. Jochen Tewes, Founder, Inter-Mission Industrial Development Association Inaugurated Dr. Ajit Singhvi Micro Centre for Good Governance. Commenting on the occasion, Mr Jochen further added saying” I am very glad to be a part of this noble initiative of LIBA in inaugurating the Dr Ajit Singhvi Micro Centre for Good Governance. The three values of our organization are Integrity, Inspiration and Dedication. Our mission is to help the underprivileged and equip them lead a quality life.”
Fr. P. Christie, SJ, Director, LIBA said, “We are starting this Micro Centre as a part of Centre of Business Ethics of Corporate Governance. The Micro Centre will promote Good Governance through research, publications and conferences. I would like to thank Dr. Ajit Singhvi for his generous contribution to LIBA and we assure him to do our best and promote Good Governance.”