Entrepreneurship is a ‘change mechanism’ to create sustainability, says expert

Pro f e s s o r A l i s t a i r R. Anderson, a distinguished professor of entrepreneurship, said that it is 'a change mechanism' that is appropriate and well suited to creating sustainability.

The professor was the keynote speaker at the Peradeniya University International Management Re s e a r ch Sessions, maiden international conference of the university.

Professor Anderson said the concept of sustainability needs to be better explained so that it could be better understood.

As an example, he said US President Trump bought land in Scotland to create the best golf course in the world, but he did not realise that people with aggressive ideas were living there.

A farmer who lived on this land said to the President that he didn't want his money. He said that his mother named their house Paradise for 'a good reason.'

President Trump responded with "Your place is a pigsty, it is worthless. I am offering you a great job."

The farmer turned down the offer and President Trump lost two million pounds last year.

Professor Anderson said Trump's view was limited to a golf course. He did not consider the value of the resources available on this land, or the way they were consumed.

"On the other hand, Zhang Yin, one of the richest women in China, became very wealthy from other people's rubbish. She recognised the value of waster paper, and figured out how to reuse it," said the professor.

This contrasts with President Trump's narrow production view of resources. Zhang Yin's view combined consumption with production.

Professor Anderson said context matters for sustainability and for competitiveness. He said that presenting ' competition ' as an economic battlefield with only winners and losers is wrong. Instead, he said, one should consider it as a production field, where values are recognised and virtue is rewarded.

The professor said that in the case of President Trump, he ignored local factors, the environment, the culture and the contest, and held an 'American ' point of view.

Chief Guest, Professor Upul B. Dissanayake, said that the youngest faculty of the university had been graded an ' A', like the Faculty of Medicine.

He added that the Faculty of Management was aggressively heading towards progress. He was happy that they recahed a ' Grade A ' status in a short time.

The Dean of the Faculty Professor M. Alfred addressed the participants as well.