I thank each member of the CICMC for spotlighting and celebrating the added value which Caribbean consultants bring to the sustainable development of the region and to the value proposition of our Institute. This celebration was the centre piece of the recently concluded CICMC Conference 2015 that was held in Nassau, the Bahamas in October 2015. We had a record number of participants and we were able to review, contemplate and discuss new ways for Caribbean Management Consultants to forge ahead as industry leaders in the professional services sector.

This year’s theme for the Conference was ‘Partnerships-Performance-Profits: Keys to Business Successes’. As the theme suggests, the CICMC renewed its focus on the forging of partnerships and strategic alliances as a very important value added proposition to our clients, while at the same time increasing opportunities for our Caribbean consultants to leverage their knowledge assets. Conference sessions helped to improve awareness, shape attitudes, and identify strategies to compete in a changing economic environment.

This year also saw a record number of members being certified as CMCs. There were eleven (11) candidates who were certified, nine (9) of whom were from Saint Lucia; the other two (2) candidates were from The Bahamas. This year’s certification cycle was particularly important to the Institute: the new CMCs from Saint Lucia were all sponsored by the Saint Lucia Coalition of Service Industries. This underscores and reflect the importance of further strengthening of strategic alliances between the CICMC and the Coalition of Services in the individual jurisdictions and through the Caribbean Network of coalitions. Secondly, we received much appreciated support from six (6) Canadian CMCs, without whose assistance we would not have been able to complete all of the CMC (certification) oral assessments for the candidates who were pinned in the Bahamas. There is no doubt that this relationship will be further strengthened as the CICMC seeks to become the premier association for Management Consultants in the Caribbean.

The Bahamas Conference has left us even more convinced that CICMC needs to follow a “Big Tent” policy. While there are some members of the Institute who will proceed to become CMCs there are the other professional members who would not wish to become certified. There is room for both types of members, i.e., professional and certified consultants, and we will undertake to ensure that our training and other services are available to all members, to help them build and grow their practices. To this end, we are now looking into designing new training products and establishing an electronic platform for training, so that all members can be exposed to the practices and principles of management consulting and such like.

To initiate the “Big Tent” policy, the Institute signed a MOU with the Arthur Lok jack School of Business (Trinidad). This alliance will provide CICMC the opportunity to work with an academic institution to further one of (primary) aims and objectives of growing the management consulting industry in the Caribbean. We have now initiated discussion with the Cave Hill School of Management studies (Barbados). These discussions are being facilitated by Dr. Betty Jane Punnet who is the 2015 ICMCCI Academic Fellow from CICMC.

The Organogram for the CICMC was presented and ratified at the AGM. This chart is reproduced below.

A work Plan for 2016 was also presented. The comments received during the AGM are presently being incorporated into the Work Plan, the final version of which will be circulated to all members very shortly. The members who were present at the AGM have also requested that a 3 year Strategic Plan be prepared for presentation at the next AGM.
An important event at the AGM was the presentation of the lifetime membership award to Dennis Strong who is the Founding President of the CICMC . Dr. Betty Jane Punnet also received her certificate from the ICMCI as the 2015 Academic Fellow.The Planning Committees for the 2016 Conference has already been established and have begun working. The CICMC Conference 2016 will be held in Saint Lucia from September 7 to 9 2016. Members will be provided with regular updates of all arrangements. One of the Conference panels next year will be made up of panelists resulting from a Call for Papers.

In addition to planning and preparing for Conference 2016 there is still so much more work to be undertaken. We need all hands on deck to complete this work and I hope that you will share your skills and competencies, as we seek to build the CICMC brand as the most strong and relevant association of consultants in the region.

Thank you, very warm regards and Best Wishes for this Season of Joy and Giving.

connycimc
Author: connycimc