Cross functionality in business

Institute of Cost and Management Accountants of Bangladesh's (ICMAB) Dhaka Branch Council (DBC) held the Cross Functional Summit on December 19, 2015. Partnered with the Bangladesh Society for Human Resources Management (BSHRM) and Bangladesh Brand Forum the summit was attended by professionals in Finance and Accounts, Human Resource and Marketing/Branding.

This year's theme was cross functional collaboration for sustainable growth. We talked to S. M. Zahid Uddin Haider FCMA, Chairman of DBC, about the event.

What was the main objective of the summit?

The main objective was to strengthen relations and understanding among the three main organisational functions, as this can ultimately expedite the process of achieving organisational goals.

Why sustainable growth?

Despite our focus on professionals in organisation, we also kept the national objective in mind. Bangladesh achieved the status of lower middle income country and we are in the process of achieving the status of middle income country. We do not yet know what the parameters for that are. But we feel that organisational productivity occupies a place in the process of acquiring middle income status. We believe that the summit put emphasis on this area.

How do you feel such a summit is useful?

As you know that each organisation has its own goals. Employees and sponsors always endeavour to accomplish that goal. But we have frequently observed inter-functional conflicts, which can easily be avoided through awareness, relation-building and proper interaction. We intended to bring the three major functions into a common dialogue, which will ultimately help to perform better in the organisation.

What do you think are the reasons of conflict in an organisation?

Each group has its own way of working, academic orientation, seasoning processes and set of job-specific norms. There are gaps among the groups because of lack of sharing and unorganised interaction. Therefore, conflict arises.

Do you think the summit will help remove conflicts among the functions?

While a single summit cannot remove conflicts completely, it gave some ideas to the participants about interaction between the functions. Finance is strict on compliance and HR on policies, whereas Marketing is always focused on sales. Although business should get the highest priority, compliance and policies are in no way less important. At the same time, Finance and HR should focus more on the business.

What do you expect the participants to take away from the summit?

Not every participant will have the same take away from the conference. There were some very knowledge-rich panels. A single tip or a statement may change or reshape the attitude and career of an individual. Therefore, I would like to convey the message "Let's understand others, let's interact positively and let's strive for higher productivity."