THERE was a time when businesses in the West were given a run                                                                                         
for their money by the Japanese. Chief executive officers,                                                                                            
business schools and management experts began to think of ways                                                                                        
and means to face this challenge.                                                                                                                     
                                                                                                                                                      
Japanese methods and practices were studied and applied. In                                                                                           
most cases these ended up with ridiculous results. Imagine                                                                                            
workers on the factory floor in Dallas getting out to exercise                                                                                        
every 10 minutes or so, which is a common sight at most                                                                                               
Japanese-run factories.                                                                                                                               
                                                                                                                                                      
They later created their own versions. These led to a                                                                                                 
mushrooming of new ideas and theories on almost everything                                                                                            
connected with management.                                                                                                                            
                                                                                                                                                      
Thus was born the cult of management gurus in the West.                                                                                               
Business schools, universities and corporations began to                                                                                              
recruit them. Students were easily drawn to them. The process                                                                                         
also spawned a great number of new books on their theories and                                                                                        
ideas.                                                                                                                                                
                                                                                                                                                      
On top of this, governments all over the world began to employ                                                                                        
them in a big way. Catchy titles like In Search of Excellence,                                                                                        
Dealing with Chaos, Age of Paradox, Swim with the Sharks,                                                                                             
Reinventing the Government and Re-engineering the Corporation                                                                                         
and, most recently, Transformation, became the new management                                                                                         
buzzwords.                                                                                                                                            
                                                                                                                                                      
In Malaysia, we were also quick to get into the act. But it                                                                                           
must be mentioned that the process was helped by the Malaysia                                                                                         
Incorporated exercise that became policy in 1983.                                                                                                     
                                                                                                                                                      
Management luminaries like Peter Drucker, Tom Peters, Edward                                                                                          
deBono, Toffler and Naisbitt were the crowd-pullers at                                                                                                
seminars and workshops.                                                                                                                               
                                                                                                                                                      
Even the Government joined in. Foreign consultants were hired                                                                                         
to advise the Government on many of its long-term planning.                                                                                           
The civil service took up reinventing very seriously. It                                                                                              
recommended as and atoryreading David Osborne and Ted                                                                                                 
Gaebler's Reinventing Government: How the Entrepreneurial                                                                                             
Spirit is Transforming the Public Sector (1992) to officers                                                                                           
about to be promoted.                                                                                                                                 
                                                                                                                                                      
Most recently, the book Re-engineering the Corporation by                                                                                             
Michael Hammer and James K. Champy (1993) was added to the                                                                                            
list of required reading. But as rightly observed by the                                                                                              
Economist in one of its recent issues, these developments that                                                                                        
have taken place worldwide have come with a very heavy price                                                                                          
tag indeed.                                                                                                                                           
                                                                                                                                                      
What is not realised, according to the Economist is that some                                                                                         
of the fashionable ideas - downsizing, TQM and                                                                                                        
re-engineering may be not just awkward partners but mutually                                                                                          
contradictory.                                                                                                                                        
                                                                                                                                                      
Downsizing supposes that workers are expendable, and TQM that                                                                                         
they are an invaluable resource. Re-engineering depends on                                                                                            
ripping up the organisation and starting again, while TQM is a                                                                                        
doctrine of continuous incremental improvement.                                                                                                       
                                                                                                                                                      
There is no better example than the experience of Perwira                                                                                             
Affin Bank which carried out a recent reorganisation of its                                                                                           
operations.  The move was bitterly opposed by the general                                                                                             
employees. Here was a case of re-engineering that has not                                                                                             
worked. Michael Hammer himself admitted in a new book that he                                                                                         
co authored entitled The Re-engineering Revolution that                                                                                               
re-englneering could not succeed if it were not practised                                                                                             
correctly.                                                                                                                                            
                                                                                                                                                      
He was quoted as saying that "the failure is caused by people                                                                                    
who do not know what they are doing and who do not pursue                                                                                             
Re-engineering in the right way."                                                                                                                
                                                                                                                                                      
The above is not the only case that has come to light. The                                                                                            
most cited example has been the one connected with the bookby                                                                                         
Tom Peters and Bob Waterman called In Search Of ExceUence                                                                                             
which detail the successes of over 70 American companies.                                                                                             
                                                                                                                                                      
The tragedy is that so few of thesecompanies have survived                                                                                            
today.  This has given proof to the observation that not all                                                                                          
theories can hold water.                                                                                                                              
                                                                                                                                                      
We are also reminded that these gurus and their tbeories are                                                                                          
only true for that particular time and subject, and are not                                                                                           
suitable for all times                                                                                                                                
                                                                                                                                                      
Taken away from their original envirenment their imperfections                                                                                        
would become visible and their inapplicability would begin to                                                                                         
Appear.-In other words before the idea could take shape, it                                                                                           
must surely have been tried out or observed as in tha~se of                                                                                           
the book mentioned.                                                                                                                                   
                                                                                                                                                      
Once published, the idea began to lose of its brilliance. This                                                                                        
has be a greatest problem with some bf the theories put                                                                                               
forward by these management gurus that have come out of the                                                                                           
West. To keep up with the development, they had to continue to                                                                                        
keep on writing and revising their works. Or else they would                                                                                          
create a new theory to replace the old one.  For instance,                                                                                            
Peter Drucker Torn Peters, John Naisbitt and even Charies                                                                                             
Handy are among those that tolk up writing and more writing to                                                                                        
be popular. In fact, they are actually following what the                                                                                             
writer Charles Land had stated as the basic law of human                                                                                              
nature, which is GROW OR DIE.                                                                                                                         
                                                                                                                                                      
It becomes.clear that if we would like to progress further we                                                                                         
would have to rely ort our own theories. The need has become                                                                                          
urgent, seeing flat we would soon be entering the new century                                                                                         
and we have already been given an agenda by the Government on                                                                                         
the way to get to Vision 2020. 1t                                                                                                                     
                                                                                                                                                      
The experiences fff our historyy couldbenefit us if only we                                                                                           
could flesh out the contribution by individuals and groups                                                                                            
over the years in terms of their management ideas and                                                                                                 
theories.                                                                                                                                             
                                                                                                                                                      
The time has come for the Government and business to seriously                                                                                        
think about identifying Malaysians who can be recognised as                                                                                           
our very own management gurus.                                                                                                                        
                                                                                                                                                      
This should not be regarded as another award of state or                                                                                              
something to duplicate existing awards Neither should it                                                                                              
become the equiv alent of the Nobel Prize, the Mag saysay                                                                                             
Award or even the Tun Abdul Kazal Awaru needs to be worked                                                                                            
out.                                                                                                                                                  
                                                                                                                                                      
The following conditions will have to be met:                                                                                                         
                                                                                                                                                      
HE or she must have the qualities of a guru, be it in the                                                                                             
Western or Eastern traditions.                                                                                                                        
                                                                                                                                                      
THERE must be a body of original literature.                                                                                                          
                                                                                                                                                      
THE idea or theory must have been tried; applied or satisfy                                                                                           
national or international standards.                                                                                                                  
                                                                                                                                                      
MUST pass the test of time.                                                                                                                           
                                                                                                                                                      
MUST be recognised beyone the borders.                                                                                                                
                                                                                                                                                      
THE pershn need not be a living person;:te or she could                                                                                               
be-recognised posthumously.                                                                                                                           
	                                                                                                                                                     
The ideal institution to begin such work on behalf of the                                                                                             
Government should be the Malaysian Insti tute of Management.                                                                                          
To start witb a special team could be convene to suggest a                                                                                            
list of potential people This list can then be refined by rei                                                                                         
erence to criteria also to be set i the initial stages.                                                                                               
                                                                                                                                                      
A number of areas could be looked into as possible source from                                                                                        
which names could be found including the Red Book for Rural                                                                                           
Development, the National Opera tions Room, the rukun negara                                                                                          
the New Economic Policy and the national car. We need only to                                                                                         
match such a eas with a Malaysian who has contributed                                                                                                 
significantly to it. For instance, we could link the rural                                                                                            
development programmes in Malaysia to the late Tun Abdul                                                                                              
Razak. His ideas and practices associated with the Red Book                                                                                           
and the National rations Room have become mosels for other                                                                                            
developing country. Others that can be included a pioneers of                                                                                         
the various ideas in management sense would includ The Sri                                                                                            
Ghazalie Shafie with the Rukunegara, Tan Sri B.C. Sekhx with                                                                                          
rubber, Tan Sri Augustin Ong with palm oil, Royal Aziz with                                                                                           
rural economic even Tun Daim Zainuddin will development                                                                                               
economics.                                                                                                                                            
                                                                                                                                                      
These people in their own right should all be recognised as                                                                                           
management gurus.