By Francis Kamara
The Institute of Public Administration and Management (IPAM)- University of Sierra Leone is set to hold its first-ever Executive Change Management seminar for post-graduate students on Friday 13th May, 2022 at the Bintumani Conference Hall in Freetown.
This laudable event that is organized by the Faculty of Business Administration and Entrepreneurship with the theme: ‘Business Sustainability in Crisis (COVID-19) through change management’ was very successful.
It was noted that companies have only partly addressed the weaknesses in global supply change exposed by the Coronavirus pandemic. In the face of new challenges, finishing the job is even more urgent.
According to Mr. Ibrahim Kebe a lecturer in the Faculty of Business Administration and Entrepreneurship, he affirmed that the birth of COVID-19 saw most parts of the world gripped in the first wave of the COVID-19 lockdowns, shelter-in-place orders, and travel restrictions were disrupting activities in every part of the economy. Effective change management is increasingly important at board level, but it has taken an even greater prominence with the advent of the COVID-19 pandemic. The virus has disrupted companies’ due diligence and put pressure on the resiliency of businesses’ supply chains. He went on to say that the reason for organizing such a seminar is to help managers at different institutions on how to manage such an unprecedented change that has disrupted a large part of the world’s economy and Sierra Leone to be specific.
He added that the focus is on Masters students to deliver knowledge to dignitaries because they are decision makers of our society and most of them are in the middle level of different organizations and top institutions in the country – which made the seminar more important as it is aimed at them understanding more on how they can apply the knowledge gained to bring positive change to their work places.
Mr. Ibrahim Kebe affirmed that they invited top dignitaries from different institutions to serve as guest speakers and give knowledge on chain management processes. The five guest speakers were; the Managing Director of Rokel Commercial Bank, Managing Director of UBA, Deputy Commissioner General of NRA, Dean of Faculty for Accounting and Finance (IPAM) Dr. Lakkoh, and former Senior Assistant at the White House (USA) Seibatu Mansaray.
He maintained that the targeted audience are Masters students (MBA). He concluded that the primary motive behind the seminar is to get industry leaders that are decision makers of top institutions to share their experiences and challenges in the age of the COVID-19 pandemic; and how their institutions were able to manage the crisis.
The change management has gained prominence on most boards’ risk registers over the past decade. Companies are increasingly checking whether the entities they do business with are acting illegally or unethically. This due diligence goes beyond the obvious need to monitor whether institutions can do the work or deliver the goods/services they’re being commissioned for.
The lengthy lockdowns caused by the COVID-19 pandemic have shown how precarious such oversight is in practice. Business interruption has caused trusted and approved suppliers to go bust, while an inability to source goods and materials quickly has forced some companies to switch contractors without conducting the usual levels of due diligence or without conducting site visits due to travel restrictions and health and safety concerns.
