Investing in equipping business leaders

The business and philanthropy icon, after whom the school is named, shared some insight into his life and ambitions.

“I felt that it was time for me to make a contribution to my country…”

“I am one of those who did not have tertiary education; I would have wanted persons to assist me in my time. Although it can be argued that hard work and persistence can create the desirable business success, it is always good to have that knowledge and background at an early age.”

Born in Trinidad, Arthur Lok Jack had his schooling, both elementary and secondary, in Trinidad. At the age of 18 or 19, he left College and started his first job at the Neal & Massy Group where he stayed for approximately a year and a half. The young Lok Jack then went on to work at Barclays Bank for two years following which, he joined an American multinational that was in T&T manufacturing pharmaceutical goods.

Ambitious, driven by passion and determined to succeed, the young man never stopped working. He is now highly accomplished and is known for his tremendous contribution to business. It is therefore no surprise that years later, Arthur Lok Jack was conferred with an honorary doctorate from the University of the West Indies (UWI) in recognition of his influence on Caribbean economic development. The business and philanthropy icon, after whom the school is named, shared some insight into his life and ambitions in this recent interview that is worth reading.

Since you are one the country’s leading entrepreneurs, could you please describe your entrepreneurial career?

At the age of 27, I got involved in the business which is now the business I run, Associated Brand Investments. The first business was one in which I started a chocolate factory and then it expanded to a wide range of food products manufacturing snacks such as potato chips, biscuits, breakfast cereals and other chocolate products.

I also invested overseas in the island of Malta, in the Mediterranean. There we have a biscuit plant and a snack food operation; both of which are the leaders in that country’s market. We have been fairly successful in exporting our products from T&T throughout the region; similarly in Malta we sell a lot of our products, especially the biscuits, to Europe and to the Gulf States such as Saudi Arabia, Qatar and also to North Africa. From T&T we do a bit of business with the Dominican Republic, Puerto Rico, Panama and Colombia. We are now entering the Costa Rican market. We own chocolate factories in France and Malaysia. We have divested those companies in France and Malaysia.

I am also involved in a number of other ventures. My first non-manufacturing venture was an investment in the ownership of an upscale housing development, which was quite successful. In addition, I was also involved in the building of the first shopping mall in the country and in the formation of the Tru Value Supermarket. I have already sold those investments and I am no longer involved with those. I got a lot of other things in between. Then I invested into the Guardian Holdings Limited, one of the largest insurance companies in the region. Guardian itself also had quite a large stake in the largest bank in the region, RBTT. I no longer have anything to do with RBTT but I remain the largest shareholder at Guardian Holdings. In addition to this, I also did a lot of public service being the Chairman of a task force to develop a strategic plan for the country in order to make T&T a developed country by 2020. Not long after that I became the Chairman of Caribbean Airlines. I was involved with the State Airline called BWIA, and I transformed it in a new entity called Caribbean Airlines. My tenure there ended in 2010.

How long have you been associated with the School and in which capacity?

I have been associated with the school since its inception; always as a Director and also with donations.

What motivated you to get involved with the School?

When the idea of the School came around, I was invited to attend the discussions. I thought it was a very good idea in those years in T&T to start to groom executives for the future. Most of the executives were Trinidadians and many didn’t have the means to go abroad to be educated, especially business education. At that time, UWI offered some Business courses in its curricula, but never really anything to the extent to MBA classes. I am one of those who did not have tertiary education; I would have wanted persons to assist me in my time. Although it can be argued that hard work and persistence can create the desirable business success, it is always good to have that knowledge and background at an early age.

Have you ever felt disadvantaged as a result of this lack of formal business education?

No, I love business. It’s my hobby. I once read every single business magazine, every business book. Now there are too many business books, but in those years, I read as much (about business) as I could. I was more self-taught. Working as an entrepreneur in my own businesses was teaching me also. I was a practitioner; not just a student of business.

So, why do you advise people to study MBA programmes if you have done so well without one?

That’s an excellent question! I think it offers a chance to a lot of people to get an MBA because it affords them a choice. You can choose what you want to. Choices are something everybody can make whenever they want to make them. In order for you to have choices within a field you want to be in, it is always good to have some knowledge of the field that you are going into. It has become a very competitive world. You either decide that you are an entrepreneur or you become a practitioner in business by educating yourself and grow in that business from your particular role in that enterprise. Also, pursuing an academic programme does not prevent you from doing something on your own. In my case, I think I was lucky because a friend of mine, who is a great entrepreneur in this country, had the idea to start the chocolate factory but for particular reasons, he decided to migrate from the country. I got involved in the company and I took it over. I would say I was fairly lucky.

What motivated you to give such a generous endowment to the School?

The school was expanding and was doing quite well. However, it had many constraints. It was struggling to find a home. The facilities did not reflect the image of the quality service that it was providing. It was already a success story, if you measure success by the number of persons who attended the School, and also by the fact that the school was more or less sustaining itself. It has a good relationship with UWI. In addition, the private sector representatives on the Board of Directors were able to give advice and counsel from a commercial perspective distinct of a learning perspective. That combination is what in my view encouraged a lot of young people to want to come to the School. I was therefore strongly motivated to contribute to lifting the school’s image and enhancing its output by contributing to its physical relocation and upgrade.

Why invest in education if you had the chance to invest in many other more profitable sectors?

Profit was not my focus. All of the money that the school makes goes back to its development and upkeep. My view was to fulfil a need that we saw at that time: the facilities of the school needed to be enhanced. I am also a first generation in T&T. My father is from China and my mother is from a very small family. Her mother migrated from India and her father from Barbados. I felt that it was time for me to make a contribution to my country; contributing to business education was considered an ideal way to do this. Some members of the Board of directors also encouraged me to do this. I discussed it with my family and we all decided to do it. We were all happy with this so I went on and did it.

Were those personal funds?

Yes. In addition to that I also encouraged other corporations to invest, and they did. In total we gifted the school with approximately US$5 million, 30 million plus TT dollars. The Government supplied the land for the campus.

What has been the school’s main contribution to T&T?

I would say that the school contributes to T&T’s general development. I can’t identify any single or particular aspect or event. Generally speaking, I would say overall that the school’s contribution is supplying skilled, intelligent, competent and passionate graduates to the community. They play a significant role in private and public sector development in T&T.

How does it feel to have a school named after you?

I am honoured. It gives me great pride. The Board of Directors decided that they wanted to do that. One reason why they decided to do that was to encourage other persons in the community to come forward to do things of this nature. It happens a lot in the USA and Europe; not only in education but in other areas where the society needs developmental assistance. It would be good to see more of this happening in T&T and throughout the Caribbean.

What is your vision of the school in the short-term and the mid-term?

The school is doing well and we want it to continue to do well. It is time for the school to expand, we have to send students overseas and also receive students from abroad. Professor Carrillo is championing a new strategic plan for the school. It is certainly a growing need to expand and for the graduates to continue to do very well in their own careers. I am confident that attending the business school has helped in their career development.

Does this expansion mean the Caribbean or any other region?

It means the Caribbean in the first instance. We are pursuing the opportunities and demands for our courses in Guyana.

How does it feel to have a school named after you?

What is your vision of the school in the short-term and the mid-term?

Does this expansion mean the Caribbean or any other region?

It means the Caribbean in the first instance. We are pursuing the opportunities and demands for our courses in Guyana.

Which would be your comments on the teaching curricula? Is there a good blend between theory and practice?

Yes, to a large extent, the persons coming to the school already have business experience; they have a lot of practical experience and therefore come to the school to learn the theoretical aspects. The school provides a good blend of the theory and practice and dovetails this to their experiences. A good part of the learning experience also revolves around having them work in teams. These experiences will put them in good stead to perform similar exercises in the real business world.

To what extent, in your opinion, is the school contributing to the development of entrepreneurship in T&T?

This word “entrepreneurship” sometimes bothers me because there are persons who become executives of corporations who, in their own right, use their knowledge and expertise to grow those companies that they are involved in. That, in itself, is great entrepreneurship. We once used the expression “entrepreneurship” only when a person starts a business; that excludes executives who are working in an already existing company using their entrepreneurial skills to grow those companies by forming other businesses. They have the ideas, the skills, the expertise and the knowledge to form new businesses that will enable the company to expand. This is entrepreneurship. The difference I think is that the person who goes into an existing organisation to work is part of a team so the risk factor to that person is less because he has already a base to start from. When there is no basis at all, it is totally different. Anyway, the graduates from the school are exposed to new ideas and concepts that enhance their entrepreneurial skills and provide added shareholder value.

Do you think the School has already impacted the non-English speaking Caribbean?

Not yet. Professor Carrillo is looking for a number of ways to expand the school throughout the region.

In your opinion, is the governance structure of the school, the Board of Directors, one of the school’s strengths

I think so. The school has a good mix of the private sector persons and university teachers and administrators. I think the University has played an enormous role in the school’s achievements; it has bought quality control to the table. This alignment with UWI has been very good for the school in terms of reputation. It has also made significant contributions by setting the curricula and making this business of education happen. The Board of Directors is always looking at the relevance of the programmes.

What would be your suggestions for improving the school?

Look at our faculty members and see how we can improve. The teachers are like the software of the school. We must continue to attract and retain excellent teachers; full-time teachers who understand the business environment and its evolution. It’s not so easy to cross over various cultures and environments. We need to meet the evolving needs of good executives.