| Citi-Kenan Executive Program in Finance: Financial Skills Capability Building for SMEs |
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Citi Thailand and the Kenan Institute Asia (K.I.Asia) have been working together to promote sound SME financial management and financial literacy since 2006, when they came together to discuss the best means of providing sustainable opportunities for the economically disadvantaged. During these discussions, and in a departure from traditional pro-poor financial CSR programming, a decision was made to focus on strengthening SMEs financial capabilities by providing training in sound financial practices. Often overlooked when it comes to CSR programming, SMEs are actually the backbone of Thailand’s economy, are the largest employment sector in the country, and are most likely to hire from within their own communities and provide opportunities to the poor. By early 2007, Citi Thailand and K.I.Asia had developed a pilot project designed to build SME financial management skills. With funding support from Citi Foundation, and combining the financial expertise of Citi volunteers with the SME expertise of K.I.Asia staff, a unique program design was implemented that included an SME needs assessment, curriculum development, and targeted financial management capacity building for SME owners and managers. Working closely with the Thai Office of Small and Medium Enterprises Promotion, the Thai Chamber of Commerce, and prominent universities in Thailand, the project implementation team surveyed over 100 SMEs and analyzed data relating to their financial training needs. The result was a targeted training program serving the real needs of SMEs in Thailand, offering training based upon the level of financial knowledge of SME participants – basic and advanced. In order to bring real world experience to the training, prominent speakers from both business and academia were recruited to present their experiences and share their expertise. For example, Ms. Kannikar Chinprasithchai, a senior executive of Black Canyon Coffee shared her knowledge of cost management. Training participants were highly interested in her expertise, as Black Canyon’s story is well know, growing from an SME into a large business with over 160 locations in Thailand and 20 branches in other Asian countries. Other important program features included a requirement that SME managers pay a small fee to participate in the program – a requirement that challenged the general assumption that SMEs in Thailand would not pay for this type of training and proved it wrong (as demonstrated by the fact that the target number of 80 trainees was quickly recruited and exceeded), and business networking opportunities.
By the end of the pilot, 110 participants received training, almost all of them top SME managers and owners. Sixty-three percent of the participants were involved in the production industry, while thirty-three percent were in the services business, with the rest are involved in other business areas. Forty-nine participants were women, though the ratio of women in the advanced class was almost 50/50. Survey results showed the training was a resounding success, with 82% satisfaction rate with the instructors. One of the participants asserted that she was very pleased with the training, as it “has enhanced her ability in acquiring a deep understanding in business contents, as well as building a relationship with other business vendors.” Meanwhile, other participants were also pleased by the experts’ insights and frank disclosures of their business experiences; both failures and successes. Many participants have asked for additional training course in areas such as working capital management, capital structure management, and inventory management. Recently, Citi Foundation happroved a second phase of the project, where these elements will be incorporated into the curriculum.
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