Army Commander shares key insights at PIM forum

Friday, 24 January 2014 06:40 - - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}

A few weeks ago, addressing an audience of business leaders at the Postgraduate Institute of Management the Army Commander Lt. Gen. Daya Ratnayake spoke of the military strategy which helped the armed forces to destroy one of the most brutal terrorist organisations the world has ever seen. The occasion was the award of certificates to business leaders who had followed a three-month course on Public Policy organised by the PIM. Strategy is a word borrowed from the military, which is now being used in designing business plans and formulating government development policies. Quoting the Chinese Philosopher and military strategist Sun Tzu, the Army Commander outlined the main elements of strategy which held lessons for business planning as well. Sun Tzu had said that, primarily, the focus should be on the enemy’s strategy, his weakest positions, bringing to attention the need for a clear

vision of what is to be achieved. This reminded the audience generally of the main elements of the well known SWOT analysis approach, which they are familiar with. The Commander said that in the Army they started by getting the organisational structure right. This was followed by the recruitment of the right kind of people; that is, those who possessed the 4 C’s as he called them- Character, Competency, Courage and Comradeship. He emphasised thereafter the imperative of imparting knowledge to bring forth a soldier not only with competency but also with the right attitudes, capacity to think with a high endowment of spiritual qualities. These are the very qualities which business leaders pursue through modern human resource management systems. The Army Commander spoke as the Chief Guest on this occasion which saw the conclusion of a unique program of learning which some business leaders enjoyed. In the words of Angelo Patrick, a prominent business leader, “This was the first in depth exposure we had to the practices and principles of policy formulation in the public sector. We have in our day to day life dealt with public officials either through the Chambers or on behalf of our respective companies. Naturally when we have such interactions we are biased towards our own company interests or that of the business sector that we are engaged in”. He added: “There is no sharing of knowledge or understanding the aspirations of each other. It is a mere one off resolution of an issue without an integrated understanding of each other’s complexities.” While the business leaders who participated in the program found the course content very useful they also found the course delivery method not only appropriate but also very effective, particularly in view of their busy schedules and maturity. There were no lectures. The program was delivered through a web based distribution of course material prepared by eminent thought leaders who also participated with several others in stimulating and guiding group discussions which tried to relate theory to contemporary practice. Thought leaders such as Dr. Saman Kelegama, Dr. Indrajit Coomaraswamy, W.A. Wijewardena, Dr. Nimal Sanderatne, Dr. Lloyd Fernando, Prof. Uditha Liyanage, Indrajit Aponsu, Dr. Rohan Perera and Dr. Richard Vokes said that there was mutual gain as the discussions enabled a two way process of knowledge sharing. Responding to a request by some of the participants the PIM is now planning to launch in February a similar program of knowledge sharing focused on international business practices.