Conference Speaker highlights

“Good Governance and great business is a match made in heaven” – Professor Charles M. Elson, Director of Corporate Governance, University of Delaware. This is the perspective shared by Professor Elson at the CCGC 2019. Professor Elson was the keynote speaker and highlighted the need for a collaborative and inclusive approach with stakeholders on the basis of good governance practices. He added that Boards must be independent of the management team in order to be objective. Professor Elson stressed that good governance is a requirement for improvement in capital formation, keeping stakeholders happy and making an impact in the community. Professor Elson explained the link between good governance and capital formation as well as the critical role it plays in shareholder and stakeholder relations. Professor Elson was followed by Professor Gerry C. Brooks, Chairman, Dispute Resolution Foundation, who spoke on the ABC’s of Great Boards.

Professor Charles M. Elson

Professor Brooks shared the view that Corporate Governance is the bedrock of capital markets and urged attendees to think and act both globally and locally. He stressed that great boards are enablers: architects of the future. This requires self-evaluation and development, talent centered leadership and a critical need for understanding the business. Great boards must also seek out and appreciate the perspective of outsiders, be innovative and strategic and ensure that management works towards the benchmark of industry standards. Professor Brooks added that Board balance and diversification are enablers of confidence, innovation and transformation and must seek out disruptive competitiveness. It was noted that the average GDP rate across the region is less than two percent. Professor Brooks encouraged corporate and state company boards to commit to a higher purpose and drive local growth in influencing and impacting Environmental, Social and Corporate governance (ESG) regionally specifically quoting examples of companies that have contributed to financial meltdowns and other impacts of poor governance.

Professor Gerry C. Brooks

UWI-ALJGSB’s Director of the Center for Corporate Social Responsibility, Dr. Ron Sookram spoke on the ESG Disclosure among companies in Trinidad and Tobago. He noted that higher value is being placed on governance related issues amongst most companies. The Level of disclosure is trending towards international practice and stressed that there is great room for improvement on board evaluations. Taking this point further were Carol Anne Joseph and Brigette Hyacinth who spoke primarily on self-leadership.

Dr. Ron Sookram

Carol Anne Joseph, Managing Director of CAnneJ Training & Consultancy, spoke on the critical need for self-governance as a foundation in leadership and development. Brigette Hyacinth, Global Speaker, Bestselling Author and Thought Leader on Leadership, HR and Artificial Intelligence, explained the critical need for leaders to understand their role and influence in instilling hope and engaging employees towards a collaborative and purpose-driven culture. Ms. Hyacinth discussed Artificial Intelligence and how it is driving performance and efficiency such that human soft skills are becoming more important. She urged attendees to consider what legacy they wish to leave behind.

   

            Carol Anne Joseph                                                Brigette Hyacinth

One of the highlights of the Conference was an interactive panel discussion featuring,  Dr. Ron Sookram, Dr. Vindel Kerr – Corporate Governance Coach, Diana Weekes-Marshall – Vice-Chair of the Barbados Chapter of the ACCA and Stephanie Pemberton – Founder/CEO of Bad Granny Media. The discussion focused on whether there was a need for a Governance Code for SME’s. The general view was that SMEs require support systems for advice, training and development where monitoring and statistical information can be collected to influence strategic development.

 

Dr. Annette Raheal teaches the art of family run businesses. She spoke on the establishment and managing of a Family Forum and Family Council. Dr. Rahael added that family business issues are highly emotional and, therefore, employment, compensation, reporting lines, confidential and other information sharing as well as lines of ownership and succession planning must be strategic and clearly outlined. With a clear strategy for systems, policies and procedures in place, advantages such as the transfer of tacit knowledge, embedding family values and greater commitment can outweigh disadvantages such as feelings of entitlement and poor work ethic.

Dr. Annette Rahael

Teocah Dove, Social Development and Communications Strategist, encouraged companies to reconsider their perspective on the inclusion of Millennials on Boards.  Dove outlined that there are five generations are working side by side (traditionalists, boomers, gen x, millennials, gen 2020). She stressed the need for a collaborative work environment and flexibility in communication and strategy. Generational Intelligence, GQ, is a critical tool to leverage as consumer trends are driven by millennials, a fast-paced demographic, who can add a unique and fresh perspective and ideas.

Teocah Dove

Ian John, CEO of Massy Technology InfoCom and Ricardo Fraser, Auditor, Data Scientist and Enterprise Risk Management Advisor, teamed up to discuss how IT can be leveraged in Corporate Governance in a segment entitled, Protech Your Business. In a devil’s advocate presentation style, both explored how mass labour has been disrupted by the computer age. They highlighted the critical need for governance of the nation and for evolution in the education system as digital technology is removing barriers. Both were advocates for companies becoming relevant to the global digital marketplace.

Ian John and Ricardo Fraser

Good Governance is the foundation of great business. The Caribbean Corporate Governance Conference (CCGC) 2019 took place at the Hyatt Regency Trinidad on Wednesday 30th October. This conference was hosted by AEGIS Business Solutions in collaboration with the ANSA McAL Group, Guardian Media Limited, Guardian Group, Prestige Holdings, Unilever, Scotiabank, Shell, Unicomer, Assuria, Republic Bank, Kapok, NCB Global Finance, Media 21, Southern Sales Car Rentals, American Airlines, Dwellings, HADCO and Yeller Direct.

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