NATIONAL10 (Spotlight Weelky)]

Professionalism Plea

The national convention of the Management Association of Nepal declares Manoj Gowel best manager of 2001

By A CORRESSPONDENT

The 21st National Convention and Annual General Meeting of the Management Association of Nepal (MAN) discussed several important issues as part of its organizational quest to promote sound leadership and greater efficiency. As a major contribution to this effort, the association declared Manoj Gowel, Chief Executive Officer of Bank of Kathmandu, as the best manager of 2001.

Nationla Convention of MAN : How to manage the poverty?

Annually, MAN selects a person as the best manager of the year on the basis of his or her overall managerial performance and skills in enhancing the overall capability of his or her organization. Gowel was chosen for his contributions to improving the overall performance of the Bank of Kathmandu. Born in Dhulabari of Jhapa district, Gowel and Dr. Thakur Nath Panta took over the management of Bank of Kathmandu, which was on the brink of collapse, and turned it around.

Professionalism is one of the integral parts of an efficient and result-oriented management system. Whether in implementing poverty alleviation programs or in running industries and corporations, the future largely depends on the strength and effectiveness of the management's leadership.

At a time when Nepal's development partners have been expressing concern over weak leadership in terms of project implementation, MAN has taken the initiative to evaluate managerial lapses in the area of poverty alleviation.

Inaugurated by Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba, the MAN conference discussed various issues related to the advancement of managerial skills and efficiency in the handling of projects. "Good managerial skill can play a very important role in overall project implementation and operation," the prime minister said in his inaugural speech. "The government is preparing a long-term strategy to eliminate poverty."

Regardless of the commitments Prime Minister Deuba and his predecessors have made, the tendency in officialdom to appoint managers on the basis of political affiliation continues unabated. Following the restoration of democracy, the country has seen the collapse of a large number of government-owned industries and corporations that were making profits during the Panchayat system.

This state of affairs has led more and more experts to stress the importance of managerial independence. "The time has come to show that we want to be professional managers not a part of politics," said Yub Raj Khatiwada, president of MAN. "Many government-owned corporations and industries are on the verge of collapse because of politicization in the process of selecting the managers. In some companies and corporations, there is a new manager every two months."

As pointed out by Khatiwada, many government corporations and industries are also victims of uncertain government policies on privatization. "Many corporations and industries are in a sick condition today because of the government's dilemma over whether it wants to privatize them or to keep them," said Khatiwada.

Other experts echoed similar sentiments. "We have seen rampant corruption, inefficiency and frequent political intervention in the management of public-sector organizations," Purushottam Ghimire, general secretary of the association. "The government must come up with long-term programs and planning," he said.

Economist Dr. Narayan Khadka presented a theme paper on Managing Resources for Poverty Reduction. Former minister Dr. Harka Gurung and member of the National Planning Commission Dr. Jagadish Chandra Pokharel commented on the paper. Lal Krishna K.C and Rabi Sainju presented the Management Development Scenario-2001.

As the country is passing through a very critical phase, MAN's deliberations on the need to promote managerial efficacy in the area of project planning and implementation provide the basis for purposeful action. Much, of course, will depend on how the concerned authorities take the association's recommendations.