live life simple

Wisely simple, simply wise

MIM SpeaksBy Barbara Tey 7/5/06

AN experienced business leader once advised that we should learn from the experiences of others, simply because we don’t live long enough to learn on our own.
In this, an excellent resource is the Malaysian Institute of Management (MIM) whose 40-year history has been carved by unsung heroes who have dared to trail blaze against the odds to enhance managerial knowledge, standards and practice to build the nation.
One such torchbearer is Tan Sri Ahmad Sarji Abdul Hamid, a Fellow member of MIM who is currently chairman of Permodalan Nasional Berhad. It is well known that he is a simple man, and his simplicity belies the wisdom he has amassed over 35 years holding key positions in various Government departments and Government-linked companies (GLCs).
From Ahmad Sarji’s perspectives of his experiences, we infer five key points that would offer a better understanding of management, especially to the young and upcoming generation of managers.
Management – then and now
“In the early 1960s, management, or rather administration as it was then known, was not as complex as it is now,” he says.
“In those days, the main concern of the civil service was on the delivery system, i.e. to ensure proper management of the local authority through town boards. At the district level, management was concerned mainly with revenue collection, managing land schemes as well as the administration of rural development programmes.”
Having also been involved in the civil service at the Federal level, Tan Sri Ahmad attests, “The 1960s and 1970s were most challenging in terms of establishing infrastructure, a task which included the setting up of rules and regulations, as well as the determination of an appropriate code of ethics.”
KEY POINT 1: Management EvolutionManagement focus evolves with the needs of the time, people and
“Now with a rapidly expanding private sector within the context of globalisation, things have changed tremendously. Today’s clientele is very different. Organisations nowadays have to grapple with global players. As such, the public sector has to deal with a very demanding private sector. This is an especially significant scenario since the private sector is the nation’s main engine of growth,” says Ahmad Sarji.
From the management of physical resources to human resources, inevitable change has taken place.
“The management of physical resources has expanded tremendously. For instance, companies today possess a multitude of assets, including global assets, all of which have to be managed efficiently.
KEY POINT 2: Impact of globalisationGlobalisation changes many things – clientele, competitors, company assets, and the way these are managed.
“Even from the perspective of human resources, there are now many different forms of specialisation, each requiring a different set of management principles!” Tan Sri Ahmad further observes.
In meeting societal needs at the national level, the concept of Malaysia Inc. (MI) was introduced by former Prime Minister, Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad, in 1981.
“The MI concept was mainly concerned with facilitating support for the private sector through speedier approval of licenses, de-brokering of public services, reduction of red tape, etc.
“As such, the Government produced books on dealing with the Malaysian civil service. We outlined in a compendium form, for instance, the route, rules and regulations for the private sector in acquiring a licence or other facilities from the Government,” Tan Sri Ahmad explains.
“Only from there were we able to identify which steps had to be obviated and which could be retained. We had to understand all the existing processes first before we knew how to rationalise them, helping to reduce the private sector’s cost in getting permits. But knowing the processes intimately is in itself a great challenge.”
Moral challenges
Contributing to the complexity of the management landscape today are moral challenges.
“The underlying reason behind such moral challenges is that there are people who are prone to corruption, especially as the pernicious lure of materialism creeps in,” says Ahmad Sarji.
“If you tell people that wealth is money, then people are going to be persuaded by this kind of impulse. But if you impart in people the fear of God and teach that wealth is not merely material but spiritual as well, then the people who have been imbued with these values won’t forget them. It isn’t that we should not pursue material wealth, but we must not be involved in corrupt malfeasance.
“The true index of one’s success is not based on the number of big cars, houses and other evidence of opulence, but rather by the wealth of knowledge one possesses.
“To me, my health is my wealth. Happiness is my wealth. The ability to think properly is wealth. Education is important, as what we are now is the mirror image of not only our background but also our education.”
KEY POINT 3: Management EfficiencyUnderstand all existing processes before you rationalise them to achieve efficiency
A keen reader, Ahmad Sarji advocates reading to “try to reduce intellectual poverty. We need to read books about the subject that we are given charge over.”
KEY POINT 4: Overcoming Moral ChallengesTrue wealth is not the accumulation of material gains but the enhancement of our spirituality through the fear of God.
And he practises what he preaches, a striking case being the fervour in which he learned about lawn bowling when he was elected president of the Malaysian Lawn Bowls Federation in 1997. In a few short years, he was able to raise the standard of the game that was previously almost unknown in the country. He even authored a book titled Lawn Bowls in Malaysia: The President’s Memoir last year.
Ahmad Sarji was charged with the responsibility of implementing the “Look East” policy while reporting directly to then Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad. In that time, he ensured the inculcation of work ethics by introducing the Clients’ Charter and applying techniques such as Quality Control circles, and organising a campaign against unproductive practices as well of clearance of arrears of work in the civil service.
A God-fearing man, Ahmad Sarji believes that unproductiveness or low productivity stems from a lack of godliness.
“Today, although management has become a complex thing in the private sector, the government has resolutely introduced best practices in corporate governance, including the requirement of quarterly reports, appropriate filling up of directorship and introduction of key performance indicators (KPIs).
“KPIs constitute useful tools to measure productivity; they represent landmarks in the evolution of management practice in the GLCs, which are needed to evaluate performance and sustain the best practice in management.”
And KPIs, he stresses, must be carefully monitored.
“Reward and punishment is a useful mechanism. If a manager does not perform, action needs to be taken on him. Bonuses should be disbursed in relation to profitability – a policy that must be honoured. There should be no mystique in running a company but rather, transparency and accountability.”
KEY POINT 5 : Performance EvaluationTransparency and accountability are crucial, with no compromises.
Ahmad Sarji who attributes his leadership and management principles to the valuable lessons he learned from his parents, grandparents and teachers, says, “I do not have any lofty or pristine principles, but merely simple principles which my elders have passed on to me.”
In this increasingly complex world, simplicity in wisdom and wisdom in simplicity might be the right moral antidote.

p/s I am an ordinary member of MIM. Live life simple enjoy its richness