Management, Bangladesh-style
Tuesday, 11 August 2009
Shamsher Chowdhury
When I say management, I mean management of the country, establishments, organizations large and small, industrial enterprises, retailers of consumables or otherwise and the way they carry on with their daily business.
For years and years this country continues to operate in a predetermined (stereotyped) style and method... Each time in comes a government, the very first thing it indulges in is creating a stunt and keep the people guessing, until it falls into a pattern all too well known to the public at large. For example without any exception the high point of its slogan is that it is here to look after the interests of the common man. Then comes indulgence in carefully choreographed propaganda how the past government has ruined everything from economy to law and order, to industry, our cultural heritage you name it.
In this country, it is almost a sin to openly criticize the head of the state. Even if you wish to do so, your well wishers including media gurus would tell you to go slow and hide the name by some tricks and technique. It has been a standard method of operation for any head of government to choose his or her cabinet consisting of a set of party cadres or stalwarts who would always say "yes" to him or her any time and every time. The other hallmark has been to outsmart the opposition and befool the public through pointless demagoguery and statements that are not only misleading but highly deceptive.
Governments in this country have been fiercely self-preserving and self-protective. With utmost humility I would like to say that vendetta and vindictiveness have also been a tradition with nearly all our governments, a weapon often used freely, mainly to subdue and even terrorize opponents. The other characteristic is to work out ways and means of buying (at the costs of the state funds) and set up offices for its lawmakers and its cabinet befitting that of a lord or a kingship.
It is interesting to note here that in neighboring India most of its government ministers and law makers even to this day use regularly the good old President made in India, a most ordinary looking car even by Indian standards. Everyday here on the streets of the capital you would routinely come across a Toyota Prado or a Toyota Lexus that belongs to a lawmaker or a minster often costing the price of a two a two bedroom apartment in today's going market These vehicles also work as symbols of power and authority for the powerful and the mighty of any government.
I do not know what to make of all this. All this becomes magnified when you find the welfare of the common man being sidelined and ignored by government after government. Of late, I often come across still photographs in the print media and video footages in the electronic media where it is routinely shown collection of funds for rehabilitation of the victims of cyclone Aila, so late in the day? Calamities and disasters are nothing new to Bangladesh as much as it is nothing new not to be accountable for the funds received and funds expended. Governments have come and gone, the scenario is yet to change.
Well, it is but little different in management of organizations and establishments. First and foremost you (an employee) have but little communication between the CEO and what they call higher authorities. The establishment or the organization private or government maintains a pet set of go-betweens who work out knotty issues to the satisfaction of the parties, the aggrieved staff and the problems faced by the CEO of the concerned organization.
In many industrial and labor intensive enterprises it is no different from running organizations and establishments. They continually lament over the fact that they are running at a loss. But when you take a closer look, you find that these outfits are running just fine at least that is how it appears when you look at the life styles of the executives and the CEOs of the concerned enterprises. I fail to understand as to what is this all about. The truth of it all is; in all forms of our administration related ambiguity is a predominant factor.
Come to the small-time entrepreneurs the shopkeepers and the retailers. I have stopped going to market places particularly from where one buys essential items of daily consumables. Here the constant factor has been one of harassment and frustration, no matter who is in charge of the government. Despite government's tall claims of such markets being people-friendly and everything being under control, it is dominated by greed and profiteering. Indeed business is business Yet, it should also have recognizable ethical parameters take for example, over the past several years I have observed when I go to buy something in one of city's kitchen markets I find it disgusting when the seller, selling an item at an exorbitant price, would smilingly tell me, "Sir, why not buy, these are bad days and we are running at a loss". Interestingly enough the guy has been "playing the same tune" over and over again for nearly a decade. Last time I visited his shop to buy some potatoes and onions I told him to look for some other avenues of earnings since his has been a continuous loosing enterprise. He merely looked at me and gave a broad smile.
At the end I have this to say; Bangladesh is a nation of resilient people. Its common man is one of the best one can come across. Given the due commitment and the right focus, our lot can be bettered any time. As I said in the foregoing the real problem lies with the state of our governance and management practices at all levels. We must refrain from self- deception. I strongly believe that our problem is internal and not external. May God help us and for that we must help ourselves.
The writer can be reached at e-mail: chowdhury.shamsher@yahoo.com
When I say management, I mean management of the country, establishments, organizations large and small, industrial enterprises, retailers of consumables or otherwise and the way they carry on with their daily business.
For years and years this country continues to operate in a predetermined (stereotyped) style and method... Each time in comes a government, the very first thing it indulges in is creating a stunt and keep the people guessing, until it falls into a pattern all too well known to the public at large. For example without any exception the high point of its slogan is that it is here to look after the interests of the common man. Then comes indulgence in carefully choreographed propaganda how the past government has ruined everything from economy to law and order, to industry, our cultural heritage you name it.
In this country, it is almost a sin to openly criticize the head of the state. Even if you wish to do so, your well wishers including media gurus would tell you to go slow and hide the name by some tricks and technique. It has been a standard method of operation for any head of government to choose his or her cabinet consisting of a set of party cadres or stalwarts who would always say "yes" to him or her any time and every time. The other hallmark has been to outsmart the opposition and befool the public through pointless demagoguery and statements that are not only misleading but highly deceptive.
Governments in this country have been fiercely self-preserving and self-protective. With utmost humility I would like to say that vendetta and vindictiveness have also been a tradition with nearly all our governments, a weapon often used freely, mainly to subdue and even terrorize opponents. The other characteristic is to work out ways and means of buying (at the costs of the state funds) and set up offices for its lawmakers and its cabinet befitting that of a lord or a kingship.
It is interesting to note here that in neighboring India most of its government ministers and law makers even to this day use regularly the good old President made in India, a most ordinary looking car even by Indian standards. Everyday here on the streets of the capital you would routinely come across a Toyota Prado or a Toyota Lexus that belongs to a lawmaker or a minster often costing the price of a two a two bedroom apartment in today's going market These vehicles also work as symbols of power and authority for the powerful and the mighty of any government.
I do not know what to make of all this. All this becomes magnified when you find the welfare of the common man being sidelined and ignored by government after government. Of late, I often come across still photographs in the print media and video footages in the electronic media where it is routinely shown collection of funds for rehabilitation of the victims of cyclone Aila, so late in the day? Calamities and disasters are nothing new to Bangladesh as much as it is nothing new not to be accountable for the funds received and funds expended. Governments have come and gone, the scenario is yet to change.
Well, it is but little different in management of organizations and establishments. First and foremost you (an employee) have but little communication between the CEO and what they call higher authorities. The establishment or the organization private or government maintains a pet set of go-betweens who work out knotty issues to the satisfaction of the parties, the aggrieved staff and the problems faced by the CEO of the concerned organization.
In many industrial and labor intensive enterprises it is no different from running organizations and establishments. They continually lament over the fact that they are running at a loss. But when you take a closer look, you find that these outfits are running just fine at least that is how it appears when you look at the life styles of the executives and the CEOs of the concerned enterprises. I fail to understand as to what is this all about. The truth of it all is; in all forms of our administration related ambiguity is a predominant factor.
Come to the small-time entrepreneurs the shopkeepers and the retailers. I have stopped going to market places particularly from where one buys essential items of daily consumables. Here the constant factor has been one of harassment and frustration, no matter who is in charge of the government. Despite government's tall claims of such markets being people-friendly and everything being under control, it is dominated by greed and profiteering. Indeed business is business Yet, it should also have recognizable ethical parameters take for example, over the past several years I have observed when I go to buy something in one of city's kitchen markets I find it disgusting when the seller, selling an item at an exorbitant price, would smilingly tell me, "Sir, why not buy, these are bad days and we are running at a loss". Interestingly enough the guy has been "playing the same tune" over and over again for nearly a decade. Last time I visited his shop to buy some potatoes and onions I told him to look for some other avenues of earnings since his has been a continuous loosing enterprise. He merely looked at me and gave a broad smile.
At the end I have this to say; Bangladesh is a nation of resilient people. Its common man is one of the best one can come across. Given the due commitment and the right focus, our lot can be bettered any time. As I said in the foregoing the real problem lies with the state of our governance and management practices at all levels. We must refrain from self- deception. I strongly believe that our problem is internal and not external. May God help us and for that we must help ourselves.
The writer can be reached at e-mail: chowdhury.shamsher@yahoo.com