International Labour Relations/Management and Productivity Consultant Professor Charles Cambridge, Ph.D., will be one of the featured speakers at the thirteenth annual Bahamas Business Outlook scheduled for January 20 at the Radisson Cable Beach Resort.

Dr. Cambridge, who has worked extensively with a number of government corporations in The Bahamas, has a vast background in Labour Relations and Human Resource Development and Management, having worked for a number of international organisations, among them, the International Labour Organisation (I.L.O.) where he has served in numerous capacities.

The Professor of Management, College of Business at California State

University, Chico, Professor Cambridge served as a Consultant to the ILO's Regional Office for the Caribbean in Port of Spain, Trinidad, where he conceptualised and wrote a Comprehensive Project Document on Enterprise Based Labour Management Cooperation and Productivity Improvement.

The Project Document provided a basis for Labour/Management Cooperation within Caribbean Enterprises through the establishment of Systems for Conducting Productivity Audits, Labour Management Co-operations Needs Surveys and Productivity Action Planning among 10 countries in the English-speaking Caribbean.

He also facilitated a Tripartite Consultation for Private-Sector leaders,

Trade Unionists and Senior Government officials in Barbados that led to the development of a Strategy For Labour/Management Cooperation for Productivity Improvement as part of the World Bank's Structural Assistance Programme to that country. His work led to the establishment of Barbados' Productivity Council.

Professor Cambridge has published numerous articles, among them:  * The Impact of Globalisation On The Industrial Relations Systems In The CARICOM Region;

* The New Industrial Relations For Competitiveness; and,

* Practical Guidelines For Improving Productivity in Caribbean Business Organisations: Quality, Service and Profits.

His address: "Challenges of Industrial Relations For The Bahamas

Competitiveness", comes at a critical time in labour relations in The

Bahamas, particularly as it relates to the ongoing and sometimes volatile dispute between members of the Bahamas Hotel Catering and Allied Workers Union and the Bahamas Hotel Employers Association.

Joan Albury, President and Chief Executive Officer of conference hosts, The Counsellors Limited, said Professor Cambridge's address should be beneficial to both sides of the labour relations divide.

"We thought it would be good to find a speaker who has significant

experience in the area of industrial relations and productivity gains

because of the concern about the current labour issues and also the interest in improving productivity and ensuring that The Bahamas remains competitive while looking at these issues," said Albury.

"Dr. Cambridge not only has extensive international experience, but also has vast experience working in the Caribbean and The Bahamas, having served in numerous capacities with various government corporations and/or ministries."

Dr. Cambridge has served as a consultant/adviser to the Ministry of Public Personnel and the Public Service Commission. He was responsible for designing and implementing the Strategic Human Resource Training Programme for heads of the Human Resource Units in each ministry/department.

The S.H.R.T. Programme is considered the initial step in de-centralising the Human Resource function to the level of the ministry and includes organising a Training of Trainers Course in the area of Human Resource Management for a group of faculty at the College of The Bahamas who will continue with the training of all personnel assigned to the Human Resource Units; B) Advising the Government of The Bahamas on the establishment and implementation of the

appropriate Human Resource Systems, skills and staffing to make the Human Resource Units operational; C) Upgrading the Programmes and Activities of the Public Service Training Centre. The assignment is ongoing.

He has also served as a Consultant/Adviser to the Water and Sewerage Corporation. Among his tasks was the design and administration of a Work Attitudes Survey for all employees in order to gain empirical insights into the strengths and weaknesses of the work culture, employee development and management effectiveness, and the design of a Participative Structure, expected to foster labour/management cooperation and employee involvement in

the corporation.

He has served with the Bahamas Electricity Corporation where he developed a Code of Conduct for members of the Executive Committee; Designed and facilitated a Strategic Plan for the transformation of the corporation into a High Performance Workplace and completed a Work Attitudes Survey of corporation staff.

In 2002, he designed and facilitated an Assessment Centre on the

Administration of Discipline for all front-line supervisors at The Central Bank of The Bahamas.

Professor Cambridge has also worked in several countries the Caribbean and West Indies, including Jamaica, Barbados, St. Maarten, St. Vincent and the Grenadines, Guyana, Antigua and Barbuda, Dominica, Grenada, St. Lucia and Trinidad and Tobago, in addition to African countries such as Botswana, South Africa, Kenya, Mauritius, Swaziland, Zimbabwe, Ghana and Namibia, among others.

He has also served as the Chief Technical Adviser to the Jamaica Employers Federation under the ILO/DANIDA Project on Productivity Improvement that was funded by the Danish International Development Agency (DANIDA) and executed by the International Labour Organisation (ILO) and as a Consultant with the

Bahamas Employers Confederation.

The 2004 Bahamas Business Outlook will be held under the theme:  Looking Out For Global Opportunities. Speakers will include Minister of State for Finance, Senator James Smith; Central Bank Governor, Julian Francis; Director General of Tourism, Vincent Vanderpool-Wallace and Attorney Mrs. Willie A.M. Moss, President of the Grand Bahama Port Authority; Lennox McCartney, Director, National Insurance Board who will address the key topic: "Social Security At A Crossroads ; Sir Arthur Foulkes, former Bahamas Ambassador to Cuba and High Commissioner to London; Anthony McKinney, Chairman of the Bahamas Maritime Authority and Haldane Chase, Ministry of Education.

Caption: Professor Charles Cambridge

Posted: Tuesday January 13, 2004