Skilled Management Edge By SARINA CHAN 

MALAYSIA has undergone enormous change over the last 40 years.
Intrinsic in the change is the way enterprises have been managed
and how managers have been developed. These concerns are the
business of MIM.

From his vantage position as a driving force in the institute,
Dr Tarcisius Chin, Fellow of MIM, shares his philosophy and
insights on the subject of management, the making of the
Malaysian manager, and on the lessons that can be learned.

Throughout his career Dr Chin, also former Chairman and CEO of
MIM, has been advocating management as a holistic discipline. He
still contributes his thoughts in his writings and contributions
to MIM and other organisations.

Understanding Management

“Management is about deciding what has to be done and getting it
done with and through others. It therefore deals with creating
the future and mobilising human resources to fulfil it.

“Creating the future is described as visioning, strategising and
planning while fulfilling it is described as execution and
implementation.

“For example, the 9th Malaysia Plan is the strategy to create
the future, but its success depends very much on our competence
in delivering it over the next five years,” Dr Chin asserts.

“Unlike other professions, which tend to specialise with
seniority, the work of the manager broadens to embrace a wider
field of human knowledge. The general medical practitioner, for
example, becomes the surgeon, but the sales manager becomes the
general manager. The CEO of an organisation will need to be
knowledgeable not only about his industry, but also the
industry’s environment and its sensitivity to economic,
technological, political, social and cultural influences and
change,” says Dr Chin.

Then and Now

Forty years ago, the Malaysian economy was largely based on
agriculture and commodities, sustained by the twin economic
pillars of rubber and tin. The degree of management required was
to the extent of managing plantations and mines, some trading
companies and an emerging import-substitution oriented
manufacturing community.

“Change was minimal and planning could be long term. Managers
were recruited from the rank and file and standard operating
procedures helped them manage a department or enterprise. A
distinctive feature was that most managers then were street
smart.

“Today, the economic and managerial scenario is very different.
We have moved up the economic chain and manufacturing and
services dominate the economy. With very rapid and turbulent
change, businesses have to respond to the short term and be
agile and flexible to seize opportunities.

“Managers have therefore to be nimble, innovative and
entrepreneurial in order to create value. Increasingly, they
have to be both book smart and street smart,” says Dr Chin.

Management Education

Dr Chin notes a mismatch between jobs and candidates, stressing,
“Increasingly, management education has to be holistic. A degree
in business cannot just cover the functional areas of a
business, but must recognise change, globalisation, technology
and a flattened world.

“Indeed, it is opportune for graduates in business and
management to be exposed to the humanities and the liberal arts
as well as to the sciences and technology.

“A mastery of international languages would certainly contribute
to the competency of managers.”

He laments Malaysians’ poor reading habits, saying: “Acquiring a
degree seems to suggest to many that learning comes to an end.
But because of change, knowledge becomes obsolete so fast that a
graduate who does not acquire new knowledge will be left behind.

Developing Managers

“There is a trinity of human dimensions that identify and
personalise an individual, viz. IQ, EQ and SQ. The manager needs
all three quotients, intellectual, emotional and spiritual, to
perform effectively. He needs intelligence so that he can vision
the future, discriminate between options, recognise and exploit
opportunities to create value, and leverage on resources.

“He also needs emotional intelligence so that he can manage
himself, relate with others and get work done through them. And,
more importantly, he needs to be spiritually conscious and hold
on to universal values that distinguish him as a manager of
substance capable of trust, honesty and caring for the interests
of all stakeholders.

“If management is to be treated as a profession, it has to
include personal professional behaviour as a basic requirement,”
Dr Chin elucidates.

Preparing the New Generation

There is a common perception that businessmen and managers are
not to be trusted, that they are out for a quick buck and that
joining the corporate world is a good career path to riches.

Such a perception has been reinforced by corporate scandals,
shoddy customer service and managerial failures. These
happenings can be traced to an abuse of management as a
professional discipline.

“It will not be easy to correct these perceptions. It may take a
generational change to restore the good image of what management
is all about. That is why it is important for those wishing to
consider corporate life to be well prepared for the journey.

“To be a competent manager, the young person should learn about
the key functions of business and learn how to manage them, such
as accounting and finance, IT, production and operations, sales
and marketing, and human resource.

“To be an effective manager he has also to learn about how to
deal with people and acquire people skills, including
leadership, motivation and communication.

“To be a great manager he has to earn the respect of all and be
an inspiration and role model for others,” advises Dr Chin.
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