THE MANAGEMENT'S ROLE IN THE CURRENT CRISIS IN MALAYSIA

by Dr. Ng Yan Goh,Ph.D.

Introduction 
The current crisis has caught many by surprise and is expected to be very different from the last economic recession. Most Asian countries are badly affected and the global economy may suffer from the chain reaction. 

I have the privilege of communicating with a number of CEO's recently and the feedbacks varies: 

• the downturn is the best time to build up the people for the upturn which is the most profitable period of the business cycle 
• I have no prior experience in managing an economic downturn so I cannot help all of you much
• my managers have not much work to do so maybe they need not come to work everyday 
• the economy is expected to turnaround in six to nine months' time so we do not have to worry 
• we are going to cut costs wherever possible and retrench whenever necessary 

Leadership 
A very obvious problem faced by the management is the issue of leadership. It is important to motivate the workforce so that they can work willingly to explore new strategies, products and processes. 

If everybody can be educated on the personal leadership and power, the inter-personal communication and commitment are expected to improve. For those who are weak in leadership, they will understand what the leaders are wanting to achieve together with them. For those who have the leadership qualities they can take charge and influence the others to synergise and create a high performance organisation. 

The management must create a positive and motivating environment for those who are loyal and committed during this trying time. It is necessary to allocate time to communicate with the people to keep them posted on the business direction and give them the opportunities to participate in coming up with ways to sustain and even grow the business. 

Managing Stress & Conflicts
As friends and associates are being retrenched elsewhere and news of down-sizing and retrenchment are on the rise, so it is unavoidable that the stress level will go up. It has to be managed effectively for the people to be productive. I have come across cases where the management has been stressed out and the sub-ordinates suffer as a result. However, it must be recognised that it is impossible to have no stress at all since an optimum amount will ensure high performance. 

Another major contribution to stress in the workplace is due to conflicts. These can be due to miscommunication, unclear performance measurements, poor communication, don't care attitude, politicking, lack of commitment to the job, lack of accountability and responsibility, reluctance to improve or change and many other factors. 

Process Simplification 
It is a good time to simplify processes so that all non-value-adding activities can be eliminated. The simplification can definitely reduce the costs of products making them more competitive locally as well as globally. This can be done by allocating some time out of the office hours, or the slack times which may available due to downturn, so that the people can be kept busy with process improvement activities. 

Agile Market Penetration 
During the boom time the salesmen were having easy time taking sales orders without much selling efforts for a lot of products and services. Many of these people are likely to have difficulties in keeping the job if they do not upgrade their skills. 

When the traditional marketing has failed to sustain the business anymore, the techniques of agile marketing penetration can be applied in order to bring in more sales. It is crucial for as many people as possible to be involved in marketing so that the ability to penetrate the market will be improved. One of the most effective approach is to set up cross-functional teams to address the revised marketing strategies. This can be applicable to local as well as the export market. 

Agile marketing penetration also involves the establishment of strategic partnerships with others, including possibly the competitors, by synergising on the core competencies of the partners. This allow for the enlarged market base and the opportunities for introducing new products and services.

Innovation & Creativity 
It may be time for us to tap into the creative minds of the people in the organisation to come up with new ideas, products and services. This may be difficult for those who have not empowered the people to solve problems on their own through effective cross-functional teaming. A little bit of education and training will be able to gear the people to work in teams. 

Innovation can be attained more easily if the people are creative and willing to look at improving things as a challenge to the mental capabilities. Japan, Taiwan, and Korea become Asian tigers due largely to their innovative power. 

New Product Development (NPD) 
The "concept-to-cash" business strategy has seen many success stories for enterprises which are able to come up with high quality new products and market them fast enough so that competitors need time to catch up. NPD is expected to be a key competitive advantage for companies to create new business opportunities during the turbulent economy. Although there is a lack of NPD in Malaysia it is probably an opportune time for the management to incorporate NPD as an additional business strategy. 

Education & Training
The boom time has created situations of "I have no time" syndrome due mainly to the pre-occupation of firefighting and the seemingly perpetual crisis mode. Now that the business activities have been reduced, it may be time to relook at the education and training for the people. 

The people have to be educated and trained on the new ways of organisation development, operations management, leadership and management, as well as personal development. 

The Way Ahead 
The management has to remain positive and explore all avenues of sustainability or turn-around and lead the people to remain committed.

It is healthy to network with other professionals by sharing knowledge and experiences so that innovation and creativity can be cultivated in the process. The principle of "action and reaction" has been widely published and centres around the fact that if you carry out a good deed or action you will receive good deed or reaction in return. 

The CEOs and the management have to expose themselves to new management thinking and practices to enhance the leadership and management know-how. The biggest obstacle to learning is our own ego.