“Man is made by his belief. As he believes, so he is”
- The Bhagavat Gita

It is with a deep sense of humility I write these lines.
MMA is 51 years old with a rich and colourful history. To be elected President of such an esteemed institution is, to me, a great honour and privilege. Great persons have occupied the post of President. They have taken MMA to great heights. Past Presidents have set exceptionally high standards, in terms of quality, content, and the variety of programmes organised by MMA. I believe, the bar is considerably raised. However, with the support of a great Committee and a committed Secretariat, MMA is well poised to excel on this great legacy and high benchmarks.

We have many plans for MMA to scale greater heights. I see this as an opportunity to share my thoughts with you through this column.

We have identified a few areas of focus for the current year.

a. Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) are the backbone of our industrial economy. SMEs in India are faced with the backlash of sub-optimal scale of operation and technological obsolescence. Global competition post liberalisation and new and evolving manufacturing strategy (process re-engineering?) coupled with a turbulent and uncertain market scenario further challenge the economic outlook of these organisations.
MMA’s approach in this regard:
Identify key areas of concern for SMEs;
Organise workshops, seminars, lectures etc to address them. Identify and mobilise the support of organised industry in areas of mutual benefit.
I request you to share your thoughts and ideas on how MMA can make the SME focus a successful one.

b. India is emerging as a global powerhouse. It is imperative to focus on building new skill sets and competitive strengths. MMA would identify areas of managerial excellence required to achieve the above objective and organise high quality seminars, workshops, talks etc. to share knowledge.

c. Expanding MMA beyond Chennai is another focus area for this Committee. Mr. CK Ranganathan had started this initiative with MMA Salem Chapter. This has started functioning. We are receiving good feedback from Salem Chapter members on how beneficial and useful they are finding it. We have now gained good experience in the formation and functioning of Chapters. We will shortly open Chapters in Hosur and Cuddalore. Chapters in other towns in Tamil Nadu will follow.

d. We plan to strengthen our association with other local management associations in the South i.e. Bangalore, Cochin, Coimbatore, Hyderabad, Kerala etc., to propagate managerial excellence in this part of the country. We will run more joint programmes with these associations.

e. MMA functions in close collaboration with AIMA. We will bring high quality programmes in association with AIMA to Chennai. We made a head-start in this direction by bringing world-renowned management guru Prof Jagdish Sheth’s workshop on “Creating Global Mindset” to Chennai in July.

f. The next major event is the 6th Management Students Convention scheduled on 21 and 22 September 2007 at Image Auditorium, MRC Nagar. The theme is very topical and powerful ‘Strategies for the Bottom of the Pyramid’. We will have speakers of national and international repute. We expect participation at an all India level for the Students Convention.

g. The monthly programmes of “Leaders Speak” and “Success Stories” have been a remarkable success. It will be our endeavour to continue these popular talks. We started this year with a talk by internationally renowned management thinker Mr. Subroto Bagchi, COO, Mind Tree Consulting. This is just the beginning.

h. Another area of focus during the year will be to introduce high quality management education programmes in collaboration with leading management institutions in the country. In this direction we have already commenced a 10-week Certificate Course in Retail Management with LIBA on 7th July 2007. We have had record number of participants and have received very good feedback on the course.

MMA has also been nominated as a Nodal Centre at Chennai to conduct the AIMA Postgraduate Diploma in Management Programme (PGDM) which will ensure “MMA House” bubbles with lots of activities.

We will continue to do relevant topical and need-based training programmes and workshops.
MMA is a great institution. The active support and vibrant participation of its members has been a catalyst in the success of MMA

On behalf of the Managing Committee, I request your continued support and participation to take MMA to new heights.

Your feedback and suggestions are invaluable for improving the quality and effectiveness of our programs. I request you to help make this Association a world class one with your suggestions, inputs and participation.

Thank you and best wishes.

S Gopal
President, MMA