Deloitte, LBS Sign Pact to Empower Business Leaders

By Obinna Chima

Deloitte and the Lagos Business School (LBS) at the weekend signed an agreement on an annual Business Insights programme.

The programme would focus on empowering business executives on trends in their industries so that they can remain competitive and be able to serve the clients better.

Speaking at the event, the Chief Operating Officer for West Africa and Risk Advisory Leader, Deloitte, Mr. Anthony Olukoju said both organisations came together to sign the memorandum of understanding (MoU) on what will be a mutually beneficial journey in the Nigeria business market.

“This partnership is very important to both organisations.  We are learning organisations and believe we have a lot of knowledge to share to and learn from the business community in order to impact positively on the Nigerian economy as a whole.

“Our objective for the Insights will also be about working together with key industry leaders to articulate the implications of leading trends in the economic landscape as well as with captains of industry and leading organisation,” Olukoju explained.

The discourse will take place annually and the topics of discussion would be jointly selected by both organisations. The audience will be C-Suite executives only, selected from all sectors of the economy.

Also, the Dean of the LBS, Dr. Enase Okonedo, said the whole idea of the programme was to bring together business leaders to discuss emerging trends in businesses and see how they impact the economy.

“I am delighted to partner Deloitte. I think both organisations have a lot in common. The first is that they desire impact on the society, which is one of the visions of the LBS. We see management as a means to impact society and not just a way by which managers and executives can make a living.

“One of the greatest problem we have in Africa is the dearth of managerial and leadership skills. We at the LBS are focused on developing managers across Africa,” she said

Furthermore, the West Africa Clients & Industries Leader, Deloitte, Marie-Therese Phido, revealed that this year’s theme would be “How new business is disrupting traditional business in Nigeria”.

According to her, disruptive innovation is a term introduced by Clayton Christensen, which has become the norm in describing innovative driven growth.

“The thrust of this year’s session will seek to establish how leading innovators within the Nigerian economy have applied the four levels of innovation practically in their organisations looking at: strategic alignment and approach;  structures and process – organisation; accumulation and use of knowledge – resources and competencies; and general conditions – metrics and incentives to achieve the positions they have attained in the economy as they contend with established traditional players,” she said.