| Danial Norjidi |
BRUNEI’S very first CEO Summit 2017 was held yesterday under the theme ‘Leading Brunei’s Future: The Innovation Economy’.
Organised by CONFEX, the CEO Summit was held at the International Convention Centre in Berakas, bringing together 50 heads of business organisations, business owners, executives and international speakers in one setting.
Partnered with Regus and Zalora Malaysia, the summit featured local and international keynote speakers discussing topics such as strategy, being a market player, technology investment, innovation, productivity and change management.
DARe (Darussalam Enterprise) CEO Javed Ahmad attended the opening ceremony as the guest of honour.
Hafriz Musa, the General Manager of CONFEX said in his address, “Innovation is now the name of the game.
“I’d like to dispel a myth on innovation, which is that it is all about new products. That’s not necessarily so. New products are, of course, important but not the entire picture. When innovation is at the centre of a company’s way of doing things, it finds ways to innovate not just in products, but also in functions, logistics, business models and processes.
“Now imagine a business that has very little creativity to offer. Let’s assume that it is in a culture of innovation and think about this: if you can’t constantly create new value for your organisation, how do you expect to gain new customers, let alone retain existing ones?”
He highlighted that innovation creates customers by attracting new users and building stronger loyalty among current ones.
DARe CEO Javed Ahmad and CONFEX General Manager Hafriz Musa launching the B2B Book
Speakers and participants in a group photo. – PHOTOS: DANIAL NORJIDI
“By putting innovation at the centre of your business, from top to bottom, you can improve the numbers; and at the same time you will discover a much more humanly rewarding way of doing things: more productive, more responsive, more inclusive and more fun.
“To succeed, companies need to see innovation not as something special that only a few people can do, but as something that can become a routine, taking advantage of the capabilities of your entire workforce.
“It is easy to put it off because you’re rewarded for today’s result. It is easy to put it off because you don’t know where to find ideas, or because innovation is risky, or because it is not easily measured. But these are excuses, not reasons. In fact, it is more manageable and predictable than most people think.”
Hafriz affirmed that innovation is a social process in real life ideas.
“The instant someone develops a solution, its journey to the market is a matter of making connections, time and time again. Managing these interactions is the heart of building an innovative culture.
“To put it in another way, anyone can innovate, but practically no one can innovate alone. When we as leaders understand this, we can map, we can systemise, manage, measure and improve this social process to produce a steady stream of innovation and the occasional blockbuster.
“Innovation is not a mystical act. It is a journey that can be plotted. It takes time and steady leadership, and can require changing everything from budget and strategy to capital allocation and promotions,” he added.
The CEO Summit featured seven keynote speakers representing international brands and services such as iFlix, Regus, EasyParcel, MyRepublic, Zalora and UCSI Consulting Group.
Azran Osman-Rani, the CEO of iFlix discussed ‘The iFlix strategy of constant innovation’, in which he talked about the journey to creating iFlix as a game changer from the ground up; transforming the way Southeast Asian customers access entertainment content; and continuing to innovate in a rapidly changing world.
A keynote on ‘Stepping up the underdog’s game to a legitimate market player’ was delivered by Lawrence Chan, the Vice President of MyRepublic, Singapore’s fourth and newest Internet services provider.
Meanwhile, Clarence Leong, the CEO of EasyParcel Sdn Bhd, spoke on the importance of customer experience in his presentation titled ‘Mapping customers’ experience through technology investment’.
Kiriat Argenio, the Head of Marketing for Zalora Malaysia, spoke on ‘Localisation of international products through e-commerce’, providing insights on the key performance indicators for purchasing, customer services, operational teams and implementation.
In another keynote, a framework used by the UCSI Consulting Group called ‘Strannovation’ was presented by the group’s CEO, Raj Kumar. This proactive approach puts leaders as the ultimate drivers of strategy and innovation, to achieve breakthrough results by disrupting the market and reconstructing its boundaries.
In addition, Kumar spoke about leading an organisation to growth, through strategic innovation.
Vijayakumar Tangarasan, the Country Manager of Regus, presented ‘How to keep productivity in a changing economy’, in which he described how Regus is revolutionising the workplace by creating flexibility in terms of hours and locations to achieve maximum productivity.
Tim Wade, a certified training coach, award-winning motivational speaker and multi-industry awardee on corporate leadership, spoke on ‘Change Management: Making organisation changes happen actively’.
There was also a panel discussion, moderated by Allen Shim, on how businesses should be proactive and forward-looking, in order to create the basis for a sustainable economy.
Yesterday’s event also witnessed the launching of the B2B coffee table book published by CONFEX in partnership with DARr, showcasing the range of products and services available in Brunei, while aiming to inspire more people to venture into entrepreneurship.
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