Keynote Speaker

Ng Pock Too

The keynote speaker for the conference is Mr. Ng Pock Too, the former Political Secretary to Singapore Prime Minister Lee Kuan Yew and also the former President of Hamilton Sundstrand Asia Pacific. Born and raised in Singapore, Mr. Ng was awarded the Colombo Plan Scholarship to complete an undergraduate degree at the University of New Brunswick in Fredericton. He graduated in 1968 with a B. Sc Division One Degree in Mechanical Engineering and was awarded the Lieutenant Governor General Silver Medal. He returned to Singapore to work with the Singapore Economic Development Board as a projects officer in charge of industrial development planning and attracting foreign investments into Singapore. He became the Deputy Director of the Economic Development Board in 1979. In 1976, he was sent by EDB to attend Harvard Business School’s Program for Management Development in the US.

Mr. Ng enjoyed a very successful career making significant contributions to business and society. When he retired from Hamilton Sundstrand in 2007 he established his own consulting company called New Board Technology Pte Ltd (previously known as New Board Aerospace & Technology). He also serves as independent director on the Boards of Kikkoman Singapore and Del Monte Asia (both subsidiaries of Kikkoman Corporation of Japan) and as a key member of the Advisory Board of Huisman Equipment BV (a leading oil and gas engineering company) based in Holland.

In 1993 UNB awarded Mr. Ng with an Honorary Doctor of Law in recognition of his contribution to Singapore’s successful economic development. In 1996, he was awarded the Meritorious Service Award and again 2005, the Distinguished Service Award for his leadership at NTUC Income. Both of these are national awards, bestowed for outstanding contribution to Singapore’s national development.

In June 2008, Mr. Ng was appointed the Adjunct Professor by the National University of Singapore - Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy. The School has been involved in providing leadership training for senior government officials from China (Governors, Mayors and Party Secretaries from various Provinces and Cities) who come to Singapore to undergo sponsored training in economic planning and national leadership programs.

Keynote Topic: The Role of B-School Teachers in Preparing Students to be Future Ready

All of us, who have finished B-Schools at some point in time, have always wondered whether what they teach us in B-Schools are still relevant in the context of today’s fast changing corporate world. This is especially true for me. What I had learned in HBS some 40 years ago in 1976 while useful, did not really go far enough to help prepare me for the corporate world I have to face today. My comments today will touch on the important role of the B-School teachers and how they can equip our students to be future ready and future relevant. I will deliver my talk in 4 parts:

  1. The essential basic tools of modern day management
  2. The case study method that brings real life situations in to the class for collective learning through class interactions
  3. The need to appreciate the sensitivity of managing across different cultures as the corporate world manages on an international basis
  4. Useful management tools that successful companies such as United Technologies and GE have used to achieve competitive excellence. These are still not yet taught in the B-Schools and remain an active management development program internal only to these companies.

It is my wish to help UNB help inject these inputs into the B-School and to help our students to be more future ready and future relevant.