Learning from Samson H Chowdhury's life
Monday, 9 January 2012
Although Samson H Chowdhury breathed his last at the reasonably ripe age of 86, his departure from the corporate world of this land has left a void hardly to be fulfilled. His was a most successful story of entrepreneurship, more so because of the humble beginning and the iconic transformation he had undergone within his lifetime. And to cap his phenomenal achievements, his stellar character drew sustenance from honesty and dedication to work ethics unlike many who opted for the short-cuts. There indeed lies the man's greatness as an industrialist and corporate boss of a conglomerate. As a pioneer of the country's pharmaceutical industry, his endeavour is priceless indeed in opening not just one industrial front but many such windows of opportunity for others to follow in his footsteps.
A combination of a visionary and a workaholic, late Chowdhury proved his managerial skills by remaining at the helm of affairs until he fell ill last month. Hopefully, his last journey to the other world will not affect the management because his life is a study in work, more works and with sincerity. He was strongly committed to upholding the ideals and principles of good corporate governance. Thoroughly honest, he was an earnest believer in transparency and accountability. A man of probity and integrity, he was one of the few among the country's businesses who used to contribute the most as an individual taxpayer to the public exchequer, without concealing or hiding income. He set a unique example of corporate social responsibility (CSR) and led his business enterprises to demonstrate, in practical terms, what good corporate citizenship means. This paper would like to acknowledge here in particular his contributions, by way of guidance and advice, to the promotion of CSR in this country as a member of an independent jury board for the Standard Chartered-Financial Express CSR Awards.
His entrepreneurial legacy is a precious asset for industrialists and business tycoons in Bangladesh to draw inspiration from. It is only natural that his co-travellers are in mourning now but a man who has taught by examples of his life the value of singular dedication to a purpose -- the purpose of catapulting the country with its narrow industrial base to a higher plane where it can produce pharmaceutical and other products of international standard -- mourning alone cannot be the way of paying respect to him.
Tributes paid to the memory of the exceptional builder of the conglomerate, the 'Square Group' will, thus, not be enough until entrepreneurs learn the lessons from his life left as an open book by dint of his enviable work and corporate culture. His Midas touch turned everything gold because he did not have anything unattainable on his wish-list and this is despite the fact that he did never compromise on the question of work ethics, quality of products. His work talks for himself. A gentleman of exceptional suavity, he thus never lost his touch with the soil of his country.
A combination of a visionary and a workaholic, late Chowdhury proved his managerial skills by remaining at the helm of affairs until he fell ill last month. Hopefully, his last journey to the other world will not affect the management because his life is a study in work, more works and with sincerity. He was strongly committed to upholding the ideals and principles of good corporate governance. Thoroughly honest, he was an earnest believer in transparency and accountability. A man of probity and integrity, he was one of the few among the country's businesses who used to contribute the most as an individual taxpayer to the public exchequer, without concealing or hiding income. He set a unique example of corporate social responsibility (CSR) and led his business enterprises to demonstrate, in practical terms, what good corporate citizenship means. This paper would like to acknowledge here in particular his contributions, by way of guidance and advice, to the promotion of CSR in this country as a member of an independent jury board for the Standard Chartered-Financial Express CSR Awards.
His entrepreneurial legacy is a precious asset for industrialists and business tycoons in Bangladesh to draw inspiration from. It is only natural that his co-travellers are in mourning now but a man who has taught by examples of his life the value of singular dedication to a purpose -- the purpose of catapulting the country with its narrow industrial base to a higher plane where it can produce pharmaceutical and other products of international standard -- mourning alone cannot be the way of paying respect to him.
Tributes paid to the memory of the exceptional builder of the conglomerate, the 'Square Group' will, thus, not be enough until entrepreneurs learn the lessons from his life left as an open book by dint of his enviable work and corporate culture. His Midas touch turned everything gold because he did not have anything unattainable on his wish-list and this is despite the fact that he did never compromise on the question of work ethics, quality of products. His work talks for himself. A gentleman of exceptional suavity, he thus never lost his touch with the soil of his country.