Centralisation, technology and strategic partnerships a key impetus for creating a competitive advan

Wednesday, 8 April 2015 00:27 - - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}

The panel discussion with industry experts ‘Creating a Competitive Edge through Centralisation, Technology and Partnership,’ a symposium with the participation of subject experts from the bank, Larry Campbell, Group Chief Knowledge Officer at HSBC and Jason Tan, Head of Client Management for Global Payments and Cash Management Asia Pacific, was held recently for corporate customers. Attending the forum as panelists were industry experts Dr. Arul Sivagananathan, Manag

ing Director Hayleys Power and Energy sector and Director Hayleys BPO and Shared Services, Jehan Mutaliph – CIO MAS Group and Kavinda Wanniarachchi – Aitken Spence Corporate Finance (CEO Financial Shared Services) together with Campbell and Tan. Chamira Wijetilleke, Head of Corporate Banking HSBC, said, “We take many initiatives to support our customers from the inception, in guiding and making them knowledgeable about the various options available when making significant business changes; be it technological, propositions, etc. We trust that this session would have served as a platform to understand centralisation from an industry and business perspective, and look forward to organizing many more value generating sessions for customers in the future.” The key theme being “Creating a competitive edge through Centralisation, Technology and Partnership” Jason Tan went on to explain how centralisation works for companies and how to leverage payments convergence, digitalisation and consumer protection to drive success. Next to take the stage was Dr. Arul Sivagananathan. He presented industry specific examples, theoretical insights such as Ten-I, and case studies of how companies can craft their competitive edge through centralisation and the role of strategic partnerships in reaping benefits to ensure success. In summary he explained the importance of technology in terms supplier/partner integration, value creation in the process of transformation, crucial factors in making centralisation become successful in companies. Speaking on the event, Dr. Arul Sivagananathan said: “The top three factors for successful centralisation would be one, top management support and sponsorship, two, optimised use of technology and three, strategic business partners.” The next topic of discussion was ‘The role of technology in centralization,’ where a panel of reputed individuals took their seats. The session explored a broader spectrum of questions pertaining to centralization and technology. Each of the panellists contributed with examples and management principles that were specific to their organistaion. How to convince leadership about change management, how to create a competitive edge, how much of this enhanced technology could be used in Sri Lanka productively, how to garner employee support and minimize resistance, return on investment on technology and the role of a bank in partnering this process were a few amongst many others questions raised during the panel discussion. They also went on to discuss how technology and enterprise resource planning platforms could be used as enablers for innovation and productivity enhancements to manage account receivables, account payables and other functions across multiple subsidiaries in creating a competitive edge. Having deliberated on multiple aspects, the forum concluded with a few key take-aways – standardisation, customization, simplification, automation and having a competent able business partner and streamlining were the main words which echoed throughout the session.