Why learning strategy and leadership is crucial for the future workplace
Skip to main content
  • Home
  • Economy
  • Stocks
  • Analysis
  • World+Biz
  • Sports
  • Splash
  • Features
  • Videos
  • Long Read
  • Games
  • Epaper
  • More
    • COVID-19
    • Bangladesh
    • Infograph
    • Interviews
    • Offbeat
    • Thoughts
    • Podcast
    • Quiz
    • Tech
    • Subscribe
    • Archive
    • Trial By Trivia
    • Magazine
    • Supplement
  • বাংলা
The Business Standard
THURSDAY, MAY 26, 2022
THURSDAY, MAY 26, 2022
  • Home
  • Economy
  • Stocks
  • Analysis
  • World+Biz
  • Sports
  • Splash
  • Features
  • Videos
  • Long Read
  • Games
  • Epaper
  • More
    • COVID-19
    • Bangladesh
    • Infograph
    • Interviews
    • Offbeat
    • Thoughts
    • Podcast
    • Quiz
    • Tech
    • Subscribe
    • Archive
    • Trial By Trivia
    • Magazine
    • Supplement
  • বাংলা
Why learning strategy and leadership is crucial for the future workplace

Pursuit

Nusrat Jahan Labonnayo
14 October, 2021, 12:00 pm
Last modified: 14 October, 2021, 02:03 pm

Related News

  • How to maintain a good relationship with colleagues
  • Edtech company Interactive Cares to hold Career Fair 2022
  • Never do these in a new job
  • Being a pharmacist in Bangladesh
  • Chicago Tribune: Leadership attributed to rise of Bangladesh

Why learning strategy and leadership is crucial for the future workplace

With the advent of the fifth industrial revolution, companies seek a coexistence of human labor along with machines at the workplace. This is where leadership and strategy can become crucial aspects of one’s skillset

Nusrat Jahan Labonnayo
14 October, 2021, 12:00 pm
Last modified: 14 October, 2021, 02:03 pm
Why learning strategy and leadership is crucial for the future workplace

With university admission tests looming around the corner, most candidates are thinking about their preferred career options. 

Should I pursue a degree in BBA or in BSc, or something else? Well, If I want to study business administration, which major should I choose?

While finance, marketing, management, or accounting may seem like the more mainstream and obvious choices for Dhaka University's C unit examinees, let me make the case for a nascent discipline and the latest addition to the Faculty of Business Studies (FBS) at the University of Dhaka - "Organisation Strategy and Leadership".

Photo: TBS
Photo: TBS

What is organisation strategy and leadership?

While the fourth industrial revolution oversaw the vast integration of automation in the production process, it undermined the role of human emotional intelligence in an organisation.

With the advent of the fifth industrial revolution, however, companies, understandably, seek the coexistence of human labor along with machines at the workplace. This is where leadership and strategy can become crucial aspects of one's skillset. 

To survive in progressive automated industries, potential job seekers cannot but groom themselves in a way that distinguishes them from the mediocre and renders them far superior than machines.

"To give today's kids confidence about their abilities, we need to teach them leadership, we need to teach them emotional intelligence and we need to teach them how strategy and leadership skills in each of the layers of any kind of job is very important," said Abdullah Hil Rakib, one of the directors at BGMEA.

Keeping that in mind, the University of Dhaka introduced an essential subject to the FBS called "Organization Strategy and Leadership" (OSL). 

The department was established in 2016. This is the ninth department in DU's FBS.

Nearly 60 students are admitted to this department every year, from the 1,250 young students primarily selected through one of the most competitive admission tests - C unit. Few students are selected through the D unit admission test as well.

The department's programs include critical components that are aimed to assist students in acquiring the skills and expertise needed to lead an organisation, from motivating individuals and organising teams to making strategic decisions, establishing and implementing short and long-term strategies.

In Bangladesh, this subject is still unknown to many. So far, there are no business schools that specifically focus on courses pertaining to strategic management, organisational leadership, emotional intelligence, design thinking, entrepreneurship development, and many other modern topics that are essential to groom a person as a strategic leader. 

Photo: TBS
Photo: TBS

Why would a company need strategy and leadership skills? 

Since this is a rather new subject, you might wonder; is there a demand for strategists in the job market?

Well, yes, there is.

As economies expand and become more liberalised, more people take the opportunities to launch new ventures in the same market. There is a sort of "bandwagon effect" where new firms keep entering a market previously deemed profitable. 

Now, to operate successfully in an increasingly competitive market, every firm needs to make decisions based on rigorous, scientific evidence and critical analysis. This is where strategy and subsequently, leadership comes in. 

When asked about the potential career of a graduate in strategy and leadership, acting dean of DU's FBS, Dr Muhammad Abdul Moyeen, said, "There is a lack of strategists in the market who understand the competitive environment. Without experienced strategists, firms often cannot understand the gap in their actions and invest resources rather wastefully in areas that do not need it." 

"You cannot implement a plan without well-thought out strategies. Strategy implementation also requires sound leadership to choose the appropriate strategy and to lead the employees towards executing it. This is where fresh graduates from OSL can make a difference," he added. 

Photo: TBS
Photo: TBS

What do the industry leaders say?

As the first batch of this department is graduating, we asked some of Bangladesh's industry leaders if they thought strategy and leadership courses had an important role to play in today's marketplace.

One of the prominent industry leaders in our country, Shovon Islam, managing director of Sparrow groups of industries, said, "Understanding Strategy and the ability to formulate and execute the strategy is key for any entrepreneur. The courses and subjects which are taught as part of business management degrees in Bangladeshi universities do not focus on modern elements that impact the organisation strategy in a formal way." 

He also added that the RMG sector has been transforming and the sector needs trained individuals who understand the importance of strategy and can execute and formulate strategy.

When asked about the role of strategy and leadership in a corporation, Rashed Mosarof, head of human resources and administration at Dabur Bangladesh, said, "Each company is unique, having its own set of employees, goals, and management style, and that is why it is vital to comprehend each type of leadership to make the mission and vision well aligned with strategy."

Also for head-of-department level, we will prefer people who have proper knowledge on strategic leadership to lead a time to the right direction. That is why strategy and leadership is very core for an organisation.  

"Students should be taught to be independent as well. If they want to change their mind in future and be an entrepreneur or start a business, they would need professional knowledge to understand the market and to gain profitability through their idea."
When asked about the role of strategy and leadership in start-ups and SMEs, Md Rashedur Rahman, associate professor of the department and executive director of the Innovation, Creativity and Entrepreneurship Center (ICE), a think tank based in University of Dhaka, said:

"The importance of strategic leaders equipped with entrepreneurial leadership ability, minds, and expertise is crucial in Bangladesh, with its overarching vision to become a developed nation by 2041, and strong emphasis on Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) realisation. I am confident that the graduates of OSL will make significant contributions to drive sustainable entrepreneurship in Bangladesh." 

What courses do they teach in OSL?

Strategic leadership or organisational leadership are taught in many renowned universities around the world. However, in Bangladesh, the gap existed due to lack of strategic understanding of business. 

So, what do they teach at this department?

When asked about the unique courses taught at the department, Dr Moyeen said, "The department offers eight foundational skills development (FSD) courses which differentiate OSL from any other department. Under these courses, our students get to learn different languages like English, Chinese, as well as different softwares like SPSS, which would allow them to excel in professional life."

When asked about courses being offered in the department, Mehnaz Sadeque, a final-year student DU's OSL department said: "As a student of the department, we were taught diverse courses like design thinking, business anthropology, business analytics, entrepreneurship development, alternative research paradigm, change management, negotiation, leadership fundamentals among others to groom us in becoming true strategists and leaders. In total, there were 40 courses like any other BBA subjects and eight non-credit courses for skills development."

With this array of courses, the department of OSL aims to sharpen the analytical, problem solving, and decision making skills of its graduates as well as develop their business acumen and foster a spirit of entrepreneurship, innovation and creative thinking amongst them. 

Moreover, the pedagogical course outline of OSL has led it to be ranked 85th in the Eduniversal best masters ranking.

Features / Top News

Career / leadership / OSL / DU

Comments

While most comments will be posted if they are on-topic and not abusive, moderation decisions are subjective. Published comments are readers’ own views and The Business Standard does not endorse any of the readers’ comments.

Top Stories

  • Wheat stock at 3-year low and that may not be good for rice
    Wheat stock at 3-year low and that may not be good for rice
  • Ousted Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan gestures as he travels on a vehicle to lead a protest march in Islamabad, Pakistan May 26, 2022. REUTERS/Akhtar Soomro
    Azadi March: Army deployed in Red Zone as Imran's caravan enters Islamabad
  • Photo: Collected
    Bangladesh among top 20 prospective solar farm capacity nations

MOST VIEWED

  • Illustration: TBS
    Ugly business: Politics in workplace
  • The open-browser-tabs question also tells an interviewer how much of an internet native the job applicant might be. Photo: Noor-a-Alam
    The best question to ask a job applicant
  • Success with the MBA degree does not equate to a successful manager. Photo: Saqlain Rizve
    The real reason MBA graduates make worse managers
  • Illustration: TBS
    How important are job titles?
  • Illustration: TBS
    Being a pharmacist in Bangladesh
  • “Kitty”, the robot Prapty Rahman developed with her team to grow logic capacity among children. Photo: Courtesy
    Ministry of Codes: A young woman’s mission to make STEM accessible to students

Related News

  • How to maintain a good relationship with colleagues
  • Edtech company Interactive Cares to hold Career Fair 2022
  • Never do these in a new job
  • Being a pharmacist in Bangladesh
  • Chicago Tribune: Leadership attributed to rise of Bangladesh

Features

Psycure has received various awards for their extraordinary contributions to promoting Sustainable Development Goals. Photo: Courtesy

Psycure: Meet the organisation serving the underserved university students (and beyond) with mental healthcare 

21h | Panorama
Underlying problems such as school dropouts need to be addressed first before taking a legal route to stop child labour. Photo: Reuters

‘Child labour in a country like Bangladesh is primarily a development issue, not so much of enforcement’

22h | Panorama
The balcony railings of the Boro Sardar Bari in Sonargaon. Made of cast iron, these railings feature vertical posts with intricate designs on top. Photo: Noor-A-Alam

The evolution of railing and grille designs

1d | Habitat
A Russian army service member fires a howitzer during drills at the Kuzminsky range in the southern Rostov region, Russia January 26, 2022. REUTERS/Sergey Pivovarov/File Photo

3 months of Ukraine war : Miscalculations, resistance and redirected focus

1d | Analysis

More Videos from TBS

Where the people have more weapons than military

Where the people have more weapons than military

10h | Videos
Govt plans to amnesty in the offing to bring back laundered money to meet dollar crises

Govt plans to amnesty in the offing to bring back laundered money to meet dollar crises

12h | Videos
Poet Nazrul Islam’s 123rd birth anniversary observed

Poet Nazrul Islam’s 123rd birth anniversary observed

12h | Videos
Soaring commodity prices put pressure on budget

Soaring commodity prices put pressure on budget

16h | Videos

Most Read

1
Tk100 for bike, Tk2,400 for bus to cross Padma Bridge
Bangladesh

Tk100 for bike, Tk2,400 for bus to cross Padma Bridge

2
Bangladesh at risk of losing ownership of Banglar Samriddhi
Bangladesh

Bangladesh at risk of losing ownership of Banglar Samriddhi

3
BSEC launches probe against Abul Khayer Hero and allies
Stocks

BSEC launches probe against Abul Khayer Hero and allies

4
Photo: Courtesy
Panorama

Misfit Technologies: A Singaporean startup rooted firmly in Bangladesh

5
Illustration: TBS
Banking

Let taka slide

6
Photo: Collected
Industry

Spanish recycled cotton producer opens new facility in Bangladesh

The Business Standard
Top
  • Home
  • Entertainment
  • Sports
  • About Us
  • Bangladesh
  • International
  • Privacy Policy
  • Comment Policy
  • Contact Us
  • Economy
  • Sitemap
  • RSS

Contact Us

The Business Standard

Main Office -4/A, Eskaton Garden, Dhaka- 1000

Phone: +8801847 416158 - 59

Send Opinion articles to - oped.tbs@gmail.com

For advertisement- sales@tbsnews.net

Copyright © 2022 THE BUSINESS STANDARD All rights reserved. Technical Partner: RSI Lab