Universitas Gadjah Mada
Faculty of Economics and Business

The Master in Management Study Program, Faculty of Economics and Business, Universitas Gadjah Mada (MM FEB UGM), again held an Executive Series event with the theme "Leadership in Finance" on Friday, May 26, 2023. The event was held at the Sukadji Ranuwihardjo Auditorium MM FEB UGM and broadcast directly through the Youtube channel "MMUGM". This time, the source for the Executive Series is Batara Sianturi, CEO of Citi Bank Indonesia. The event began with remarks from the Head of the MM FEB UGM Study Program, Prof. Amin Wibowo, Ph.D.. Then it continued with the presentation of the resource person in the materials session.

Batara Sianturi explained the material into six topics. The first topic is "Leadership in Strategic Management". "A leader must have a vision, which includes where the (company) is now, where the (company) will go, and how (the company can) achieve it," said Batara. According to him, companies can use Poster's Five Forces and SWOT analysis in determining company strategy. In its application, CITI Indonesia uses SWOT analysis to determine competitive positioning by classifying several CITI products and client segmentations against competitors. CITI has three competitive advantages: integrated product offerings, good client relations, and a global network.

Next, Batara discussed the topic "Leadership in Relationship Management". For him, banking is a trust-based business. Therefore, relationships with customers and clients are essential. In its application, CITI prioritizes feedback on work assessments from clients with at least thirty matrices, such as service quality, relationship with managers, and innovative solutions provided by CITI. CITI also has programs supporting good client relations, such as Client Receptions & Engagement Events, One Citi Solution, Client Obsession Week, Operational Excellence, and Collaboration for ESG Financing.

In the third discussion, Batara conveyed the subject of "Leadership in Technology Management". At the start of the launch, it took Facebook three years to reach fifty million users. Meanwhile, ChatGPT only took five days to gather one million users. This phenomenon shows that technological disruption is enormous and has an immediate impact, one of which is on financial institutions. "A good company is (a company) that allocates a budget and reinvests profits earned for technology development," he explained. With the implementation of supporting AI, companies have great potential to grow.

The next topic is "Leadership in Enterprise Risk Management". Apart from paying attention to revenue and costs, Batara emphasized that companies must also manage risk. There are several layers in risk management: the first is run by business management and regional management, the second is run by independent compliance risk management & independent risk management, and the third is run by internal audit. After successfully rating several risk classifications, the Financial Services Authority (OJK) will assist the company in providing an assessment.

In the fifth discussion, Batara explained "Leadership in Sustainability Management". He says applying Environmental, Social, Governance (ESG) in business and companies is very important. ESG is a topic often discussed and used in today's business environment. In its implementation, CITI encourages energy transition mechanisms by issuing green bonds, green loans and social bonds to support MSMEs whose basis is female business people. In addition, CITI has a sustainable financial commitment of $1 trillion by 2030 to support the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) agenda.

The sixth and final topic is "Leadership in Talent Management". According to Batara, the compatibility between company culture and employees is crucial. Therefore, CITI, through the Talent Assessment program, aims to find employees under the company's vision and mission. Batara also said that CITI alums have succeeded in various fields, such as becoming leaders in financial technology, becoming government officials, and occupying strategic positions in various banks in Indonesia. The event ended with a question and answer session, which was greeted with great enthusiasm by all participants.

Reportage: Adella Wahyu Pradita
Watch the full video on https://youtu.be/NYSyFR8HQOM