The academics who spoke at the Karachi University Business School's first international conference on corporate sustainability painted a bleak picture of what lay in store for the planet.
The conference chief guest, Advisor to Sindh Chief Minister on law, environment, climate change, and coastal development department, Barrister Murtaza Wahab, said that the corporate sector's stability is essential for the country's development. He said the participation of foreign academics through the web would help students learn first-hand about the corporate sector's social responsibility.
Wahab said he had a special attachment to Karachi University as his parents studied here. In memory of his parents, he announced two scholarships. "I will bear the tuition fee of a male student of KUBS and a female student from Visual Studies Department.," he added.
The KU Vice-Chancellor Professor Dr. Khalid Mahmood Iraqi said timely decisions and sound planning are a must for stability. A country's economy thrives on exports and for this industries and production units need to perform. He observed that universities play a key role in identifying and solving social problems along with imparting higher education.
Acting Dean Faculty of Management and Administrative Science Professor Dr. Nasreen Aslam Shah said that due to the pandemic individuals as well as businesses were badly affected and facing unprecedented challenges. This is the time that academia should focus on ways to restore normal working conditions, he added
Chairman KUBS Dr. Muhammad Asim said that the stability of the corporate sector is a major challenge not only for industries but also for academia. He stressed the need to formulate effective and integrated policy.
Academics from other countries who participated through the web shared their experiences. They were Professor Dr. Abdul Halim, College of Business, University Utara Malaysia, Dr Athifah Najwani, Faculty Business and Management, University Teknologi MARA, Perlis, Malaysia, Dr. Perfecto G. Aquino, Researcher, and Senior Lecturer, Socio-Economics Research Institute, Duy Tan University, Vietnam, Richard Griffiths, Director 3Q London, Transpersonal and Clinical Psychologist, Bastianela Bente, Director 3Q Romania, Spiritual Development Specialist, and Hari C. Kamali, Associate Professor KMC, Tribhuvan, University of Nepal.
They said that the world is facing severe challenges because of Covid-19. Thousands of commercial outlets and industries have stopped operations and let go of most of their employees. In such a situation, academia, government, and private sector top management have to revise strategies and come up with a plan to ensure corporate sector sustainability. To achieve this all stakeholders have to rethink human resources practices and restructure policies.
They said that corporate sustainability is the new challenge people are dealing with due to the Covid-19 pandemic. They noted that this conference would provide a platform for intellectuals from various fields and disciplines in global business and social science to debate and discuss these issues worldwide.
Published in The Express Tribune, February 21st, 2021.
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