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| Tuesday, 30 March 2004 |
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The stuff that economic success stories are made of By Chandani Jayatilleke Prof B. Mahadevan of the Indian Institute of Management in Bangalore (IIMB) is known as a person who delivers theory into practice. In his current position as a professor in Production and Operations Management, Prof Mahadevan has earned accolades and often travels around India and South Asia to share his vast knowledge with many senior managers and professionals in the continent. Since his first visit to Sri Lanka in 1996, he's been here many times, conducted workshops for the professionals in the island.
During these visits, Prof Mahadevan has noted the developments and grey areas in Sri Lanka's economy and the management system. Prof. Mahadevan was in Colombo recently to conduct fellowship lectures on management on an invitation by the CIMA Sri Lanka division. His intention here was to tell the professionals why management accounting has to change and why firms are investing efforts in changing their management accounting systems. In this interview he shares some of his experiences as a professor while outlining some suggestions for the betterment of the local management system, taking examples from the Indian experience. Developing 'niche packages' Sri Lanka needs to develop 'niche market packages' like India's software industry to make a mark in the world market. This theory can be well applied in the island's garment manufacturing industry as Sri Lanka has already established a resource base and a strong human workforce in this industry. However, the move has to be a total commitment from all stakeholders and the State should consider policy changes and also provide concessions to industrialists. Likewise the industry and the private sector have to play a major role and so is the educational system. Certainly there should be changes in the thinking and strategy to move about with the industry too - basically, everything has to be in place in these packages. Look at India's software industry which has grown in leaps and bounds within a short span. The whole world knows us as a software giant. Prior to this People knew India as a country of snake charmers and elephants. Therefore, the development of the software industry is a remarkable achievement for us. To record this kind of achievement, India even didn't have a Minister in-charge of the IT industry till the year before last. What needs more than a dedicated Ministry or a Minister is the commitment, he said. India's Government did and is doing a great deal for the development of the software industry since the late Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi created an awareness on the subject in 1985. Since then the Government has given tax waivers, lower import tariffs and other relevant concessions to industry stakeholders. Business Process Outsourcing (BPO) is the latest in the Indian economy. This industry is being supported in a significant way and it is booming. "I was told that the entire payroll of the Shell company is done in a hut behind a petrol shed in Madras." he said. Building bridges Prof. Mahadevan in a way has been in a mission of building bridges in the management education between India and Sri Lanka. In addition to attending the seminars/workshops organised by the CIMA Sri Lanka division for its management accountants, he has also delivered lectures to senior managers at the island's top corporate institutions such as John Keells and Linea Clothing. "Besides, we have interacted with the Postgraduate Institute of Management in Sri Lanka (PIM)." Since his first visit in 1996, Prof. Mahadevan did not get any chance to come back here till 2000. However, from 2001, he's been visiting the country on a regular basis. "I have had very professional and cordial interaction with the Sri Lanka managers during the workshops I conducted and have been seen many changes in the system over this period which I did not see when I first came here. The top management is seriously thinking about changes and catching up with challenges ahead of them," he said. Through these fruitful interactions with Sri Lankan professionals, Prof. Mahadevan has identified management practices that are common and different to both countries; the common areas including history, culture, and mindset of our people. However, there are many differences as well; business opportunities in India are vast. The Indian businessmen are more aggressive and their management strategies are excellent. "I think it could be due to the difference in our education systems. Indian management schools are of world class. For instance, the IIMB is the only business school in the Asia-Pacific region to be included in the World Street Journal's guide to the top 100 business schools in July 2003." Sharing educational expertise Sri Lanka should put a great emphasis to step up its management education system, perhaps get more support from India and organise exchange programs etc. There should be lot of improvement in management education. "Our institution has done this in India. We have organised many workshops for bureaucrats in India. It should happen here too," he said. Prof. Mahadevan, who holds Ph.D. and M. Tech from the Industrial Engineering and Management Division of the prestigious Indian Institute of Technology, Madras has also designed several executive education programs for private and public companies in India and abroad. |
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