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| Sunday, 27 April 2003 |
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Kingsley Bernard: Management Consultant - Spurred on by the three Cs Commitment, confidence and conviction (the three Cs) and hard work are the pillars of success for Chairman Solution KITS Management Consultancy Kingsley Bernard, who has many feathers in his cap. Family Bernard was born as the elder brother to two younger sisters. His parents were teachers. "Our parents loved us very much, but were strict disciplinarians. I owe my success to them," he said. Education Bernard had his primary education at St Mary's College and Seethawaka Central College, Avissawella before moving on to St Benedict's College, Kotahena. He completed his education at Ananda College from where he entered university. One hundred and fifteen students including Bernard, were selected to follow Applied Sciences at the Katubedda University. However, as the necessary facilities were not available then, they were asked to wait for one year. The Jaffna University was started in October 1974 after much persuasion, initially with Science and Humanities Faculties. "There were 120 students and we received our student record books from the late Prime Minister Sirimavo Bandaranaike," he said. Bernard was elected as the first Student Council President of the university at its election. Incidentally, this was the only batch to complete the study course and receive their certificates from the Jaffna University. Career After completing his education, he joined Volanka Pvt Ltd, a Hayleys Group subsidiary, as a management trainee and worked there for two years before joining the Agricultural Development Authority (ADA) as Assistant Director Marketing. Turning point "The Chairman those days was the late Ranjan Wijeratne and the
Marketing Director was Upali Nanayakkara. ADA gave me a scholarship to
Colarado University to follow a Post Graduate Diploma in Marketing. This
is when I changed my field which was a turning point in my life," he
said. He had also received scholarships to further his knowledge in
computers from the National Institute of Business Management and CICC of
Japan. Bernard completed his Master in Business Administration from the University of Colombo during his tenure with the ADA and received a gold medal for Marketing Management in 1986. He decided that the time was right for a change in his career and moved to Lever Brothers as Senior Manager Marketing Research. He started lecturing at the Post Graduate Faculty where he also held the position of Course Director Marketing for several years. He continues to teach at the faculty. In 1991, Bernard moved to the Export Development Board (EDB) as Director Marketing. This was a trying period and attracting investments was difficult due to the war. "We had to adopt a different strategy to attract investors into the country. I was personally involved in holding the international exhibitions, Expo 92 and Expo 94, which were tremendous successes. We also set up overseas promotional centres in Maldives and introduced innovative promotional schemes for exporters to support their export promotional activities abroad. "During my tenure at the EDB, our focus was on developing Small and Medium Industries as they could not promote their products abroad by themselves." He left the EDB and served Walker and Greig as its Managing Director for a short stint before joining Dankotuwa Porcelain as its Chief Executive Officer. "This was a challenging offer as the company had a work force of about 1,500 and catered to over 15 markets. Believe me, I had never stepped inside a porcelain manufacturing plant before," he said. Bernard was able to improve the company's performance, obtain ISO 9002 and undertake new product developments while the company won the National Chamber of Exporters' Most Outstanding Exporter of the Year award on three consecutive years. The first dealer conference was also organised by him to felicitate their dealers island-wide. From there, Bernard moved onto Maharaja as a Group Director and was assigned as CEO of Ole Spring Bottlers Ltd and subsequently as Group Director Marketing Sales and Marketing Research. Own venture "I resigned from the Maharaja Group to set up my own venture, a management consultancy firm named Solution KITS Management Consultancy. I am now chairman of this company. "Last November, I took up the challenge of being the management consultant for the Sri Lanka Export Credit Insurance Corporation (SLECIC) which I enjoy a lot." Advice "The three Cs and hard work are the basic ingredients one should have to achieve the goals one has set in life." Future plans "I want to become a fully fledged consultant nationally and internationally and continue my social service projects as a member of the Lions Club of Avissawella." (SG) **** Fact file Name: Kingsley Bernard Schools Attended: St Mary's College Seethawaka Central College St Benedicts College Ananda College Present Positions: Chairman Solution KITS Management Consultancy Management Consultant SLECIC Senior Vice President NCE Children: One son and two daughters |
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