AAT holds first international conference

By Dinali Goonewardene

Post Graduate Institute of Management Director Professor Uditha Liyanage on Tuesday advised that when businesses get complex management approaches must not become complex.

“In the last 20 years management has seen new paradigms such as Business Process Re engineering and the Balanced Score Card. Are there any primary concepts which have stood the test of time,” he queried during his presentation at the inauguration of the International Conference of the Association of Accounting Technicians (AAT). The first international conference themed “Confronting the New Economic Landscape” concluded yesterday.

Prof. Liyanage shared some fundamental principles with the audience: Jim Collins looked at Good to Great Companies.

“You should see to the big picture and your place in it. Starting with the Profit and Loss Account where you get the top line of revenue, the middle line of expenses and the bottom line of profits.  You have to see the relationship between these lines to measure outcome. There is a fourth line which is someone outside the organisation — the customer,” Prof. Liyanage added.

He drew attention to four principles: You get what you hire, How do we see it in reference to things we do in an organisation, You get what you see in relation to ability versus capability and what psychologist call the rate of capability. In describing the rate of capability Dr. Liyanage said that until 1954 no one could run a mile in less than four minutes; in 1959 this record was broken and today at the Olympics if you don’t run a mile in less than four minutes you don’t qualify.

Quoting famous boxer Mohamed Ali he said “I hate the work out but love the idea of being a champion.”

Secretary to the Ministry of Higher Education Dr Sunil Jayantha Nawaratne who was the chief guest at the inauguration ceremony said AAT was doing a marvellous job of producing human capital and that it was time to think out of the box.

“It is high time to consider the appropriateness of theories and look beyond profit as an ultimate goal,” he said. “The organisation's ultimate goal is doing something for someone, social well being, Dr. Nawaratne added.

AAT which holds exams twice a year in Sinhala, English and Tamil, currently has 3200 members.