Last Thursday 4 January, the ANSA McAL Group of Companies hosted over fifty (50) Wharton and Harvard MBA students who attended the 6th Annual Caribbean MBA Conference. The dinner was held at the Trinidad Union Club, Nicholas Tower, Independence Square and including Group executives and sector heads, as well as managing directors from across the Group’s subsidiaries.
This is the second year that Trinidad and Tobago hosted the event, which was co-organised by the Harvard Business School Caribbean Business Club and CARIBIZ-Wharton Caribbean Business Initiative Club. This year’s theme was entitled “Regionalization and Economic Diversification: Expanding Our Share of the Global Economy.”
Damy Gibbs, MBA student of the Harvard Business School recieves
five (5) copies of the ANSA McAL company book from A. Norman Sabga, Group Chairman and Chief Executive.
After a sumptious meal of East Indian cuisine, including curried shrimp, boneless chicken, beef with pumpkin, chataigne and bodi with delicious deserts of Mithai, Ras Gulla, Laddoo, Gulab Jamum, the formal part of the evening’s proceedings was chaired by CNC3’s anchor Ms. Shelly Dass. Group Chairman and Chief Executive A. Norman Sabga, addressed the conference delegates with an overview of the Caribbean’s largest conglomerate of over fifty companies across the Caribbean, North and South America. “We believe that our diversity is our strength., and we have mastered the aret of managing a very diversified Group.” He also stated that the Group is an equal opportunity company, with promotions based on performance with five (5) female CEOs in the Group.
Mr. Philip Marshall, Executive Director Group HR and IT engages two MBA candidates from Africa
Mr. Gerry C. Brooks, Group Chief Operating Officer who also addressed the delegates, challenged the MBA candidates to accept a leading role at country and regional level, while positively advancing and shaping national and regional values, policy objectives and direction. He posited – ” How can we jointly challenge the status quo, making a difference to regional capacity and nation building?”. He further challenged those MBA candidates with Caribbean roots to come back home with their ideas and passion for change and development of the region.
Mr. Gerry C. Brooks, Group Chief Operating Officer chats with the MBA candidates during dinner
The candidates were shown the ANSA McAL Corporate Video, which highlighted the group’s business operations in six industries. Paul Keens-Douglas, internationally renowned storyteller, thoroughly entertained the crowd for over forty five minutes with his motivational anecdotes about doing business in the Caribbean. Towards the end of the evening presentations of the Group’s business history documented were given to the two conference coordinators of Harvard and Wharton Business Schools as well as copies were given to each delegate.