Editorial Board
Chief Editor : Prof. Mohamed Golam Mostafa
Editor : Limi S. Mostafa
Advisory Editor : Romel S. Mostafa
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Treasurer : Shirin Jahan
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Business Strategy : Syed Ayaz Rabbi
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Bureau Chief, USA
Abu Hena Mostafa Kamal, Ph.D.
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Health Desk : Dr. Pavel Shahrior Mostafa
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Senior Columnists
Mohammad Tufael Chowdhury, Rodney Reed
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Regular Contributors
Ziaur Rahman, Mushfique Mahmud
Fajana Quader, Syed Sultan Uddin
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Marketing : 01911771037
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Photography : Motiur Rahman Tuku
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Cover, Graphic Design & Illustration :
Shahidul Islam
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Published by the Editor from 1/9,
Block A, Lalmatia, Mohammadpur,
Dhaka-1207 on behalf of
Liana Trade and Publications.
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Printed at M/s. Intergraphic,
113, Fakirapul, Dhaka-1000
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The Executive Times Regd. No. DA-52
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In Bangladesh, many an English periodical was born only to die a premature death, having been poorly fed throughout in terms of both language and content. Unlike most of those that have been in circulation on borrowed time, they had no industrialist or cartel to prop them up. Judged by this yardstick of survival success, The Executive Times (ET) is an English monthly that falls into the category of those that depend on quality for their life force. The magazine does not serve any political party neither does it receive money from any vested interests. We do not know of any other independent magazine in Bangladesh - 'independent' in the truest sense of the term -- that has come thus far with revenue solely generating from sales and advertisements. In a sense, therefore, ET has no competitors.
Rationale
About seven years back, Limi Sharmeen Mostafa came up with an idea for a business magazine of the type that would cater for all executives in Bangladesh. At that time she was working for a multinational company. She discussed her idea with Professor Mohamed Golam Mostafa and Romel Shahrukh Mostafa, following which a viability study was undertaken and the findings favoured the idea, especially given the expertise the three have between them in all the relevant fields. However, upon further deliberations, the strategy of limiting readership to business executives was changed to include all other educated people, hence the motto 'Business and Beyond'.
The rationale thus having been vindicated, an editorial board was set up with Professor Mohamed Golam Mostafa as Chief Advisory Editor, Limi Sharmeen Mostafa as Editor and Romel Shahrukh Mostafa as Advisory Editor.
In deciding to test-launch The Executive Times in June 2002, the editors had the following facts uppermost in their minds.
• Whether it is a business magazine or another kind, readers like varieties.
• Unlike a daily, a monthly is not something to read and put away which is why readers of monthlies appreciate incisive analysis of facts.
• The standard of English in whatever business magazines were available on the market at that time was low.
• Executives are discriminating readers.
• Companies and corporations are eager to place advertisements in good monthlies, and
• Readers in general are averse to skewed viewpoints.
Objectives
The inspiration to launch The Executive Times came from a sense of duty to serve the nation. Accordingly the following objectives were worked out:
• to uphold national interests in all circumstances
• to help create a very positive image of Bangladesh
• to help promote business in Bangladesh
• to ensure high standards of journalism
• to use standard English, accommodating both British and American variants
• to focus on business, while at the same time catering for interests in other areas like art, culture, health, sports and social welfare
• to provide in-depth analyses of all issues
• to help arrive at most rational conclusions
• to encourage innovative thinking
• to create a greater interest in reading English magazines
• to provide a platform for both established and new writers
• to produce original writing
• to promote market research
• to train new recruits on report writing
Implementation
Limi Sharmeen Mostafa invested all her savings on building the necessary infrastructure. Romel Shahrukh Mostafa, then a Ph.D candidate at Carnegie Mellon University, USA, contributed a significant portion of his scholarship while Professor Mohamed Golam Mostafa provided the rest of the money required for full implementation of the project.
Soon a website for the magazine was created and, to attract overseas readers, a US registered bureau office was established in California. Meanwhile, some young people were recruited as reporters and trained in line with ET's ideal. We do not mind these people's using ET as a launch pad since creating reporters is one of our objectives.
ET's subscribers, besides hundreds of individuals, include universities both at home and abroad, embassies, banks, corporations, both government and private organizations, libraries, leading five-star hotels, trade bodies and research institutes. What is of special significance to us is many undergraduate students have chosen ET for their research work.
Right from the beginning we were meticulously selective about which companies to approach for marketing, defiant of the financial implications and mindful of the fact that names of companies of dubious or murky nature might damage the prospects of ET's attaining exclusivity. Understandably, the first few issues went off on a low profile note in terms of advertisement but with time ET gained its market share.
We are not complacent, though. We are working constantly on bringing in a lot more stuff and strength. We seek God's blessing so that we can keep serving our nation.
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