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ACADEMIC SAYS CRISIS WILL BE HARBINGER OF CHANGES IN BUSINESS WORLD

The academic will be the keynote speaker at the annual conference of the Institute of Directors tomorrow.

The event will also bring together CEOlevel executives from Siam Paragon, Mitr Phol Group, Shin Corp, PTT, Sansiri, Toyota Motor Thailand, Minor Group, Siam Commercial Bank, Siam Cement, Government Pension Fund, the Board of Trade, and Stock Exchange of Thailand at three separate panel discussions.

The topics for discussion are: money and the capital market, managing corporates during economic downturn, and change and innovation.

According to Prof Hames, there are limits to growth as the current way of life is not sustainable.

He foresees that during the coming decades many venerable institutions and iconic companies will hit the wall.

"They will go out of business as we transit to a society based upon cooperation rather than competition, business models revolutionised by new technologies, and an economy founded upon renewable energy rather than on toxic petrochemicals."

Many people still do not comprehend the profound changes that are occurring as a result of living in a globalised world. Some do understand but prefer to ignore the longterm consequences while they focus on meeting shortterm goals. For others, like Citigroup, General Motors and Lehman Brothers, it is already a matter of survival, he added.

Prof Hames said company directors need to reinvent what they do and how they do it to make their businesses sustainable in the future. The viable future corporation must focus on two domains: strategic leadership and strategic management.

The event at Paragon Hall, Siam Paragon, will be attended by about 500 business leaders. It is being cohosted by the Institute of Directors, Thailand Management Association, and sponsored by SCG, Siam Commercial Bank, DTAC, PTT, Toyota and Durakij Pundit University in cooperation with The Nation and Paragon Hall.

For more information, please call (02) 264 0870, extension 400.