Thursday Nov 13, 2025
Thursday Nov 13, 2025
Friday, 20 December 2013 00:01 - - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}
In a competitive market, the importance of being customer centric has been properly identified by the private sector and they are attracting more and more customers day-by-day. They have a framework which was built upon a proper understanding of the purpose of the organisation and a strong appreciation of how its service impacts the individual. The art is that the entire organisation supports and identifies with the high level of performance required and they become more productive.
The private sector has earned the reputation of having a quicker response time and it strengthens the retention rate of customers which is highly important for any organisation to avoid loss of customers and revenue. The key to generating loyal customers is to provide them with efficient service by the required timeframe.
With the rapid development in technology, online mediums, such as email and website tools, allow customers to make requests digitally and in written format. This is an effective way of documenting service requests and generating a paper trail for correspondences. Customers expect timely responses to such requests. So, it is the time to move away from paper documents and wasting time having to go through each paper file when a customer expecting a quick response. Poor response time, especially if done repeatedly, results in loss of customers and revenue and most public sector organisations suffer from the after-effect of that and de-accelerate sales.
Do you remember a time you went to a public bank to open an account and had to wait for more than half a day in a queue? Did you ever have that experience in a private bank? The answer is simple. Having said that, there are more public banks aiming very high to achieve a quick response time and realigning their policies and procedures. So, the world will be a better place very soon.
Lower delivery cycle time
Most private sector organisations have a very low delivery cycle time. Reducing the lead time required to deliver products and services is a powerful source of competitive advantage for private organisations.
They are able to deliver products promptly and that is unquestionably contributing to increase in sales and to sales volume and also, to be the preferred supplier over their competitors. So, the lower delivery time plays a key role in any sector including the public sector and they have to understand the importance of that.
Higher professionalism
The most valuable ingredient for the long-term success of a business is by practicing higher professionalism. It is recognised that the private sector has an urge to maintain and develop the professional behaviour as it is necessary for the organisation to ensure that company goals and objectives are met.
A professional work place attitude and appearance allow employees to take pride in their work and improve worker performance. High performers increase productivity and contribute towards a sustainable economic growth. It is surprising how other sectors treat their customers when they expect a service from them. The front desk staff has no desire to give a sweet smile to the customer nor do they want to greet the customer although that’s the main function of their role.
Value added services
One size won’t fit all… we have long moved away from expecting basic needs from a company, as there are so many of them who can offer the same products and services. The private sector is the creator of the masterpiece ‘value added services’ and showed the world how it’s done.
Value added services provide advantages for both the customers and the organisation. Customers have the opportunity to receive something above and beyond their basic needs. Providers benefit from an increased rapport with the client, which could translate into more revenue. These additional custom services often cost the company little extra but have the potential to significantly enhance the growth and the reputation of the company.
Going the extra distance
Who wouldn’t like to receive a perfect service... does that mean the provider should be doing something special to meet that requirement? Sometimes, you have to bend over backwards if you really care about the individual you serve. The experience you receive from a private sector is either perfect or almost closer to the perfection. It’s time to think what’s the magic of this wonder… is it that other sectors don’t really care about the client or they don’t realise the importance of going that extra mile which doesn’t take a long time neither high cost.
Exports revenue earnings
It is amazing how entrepreneurs shared a greater responsibility in developing the economy. As a result of moving economy to open or free economy private sector helped to uplift the lifestyle of Sri Lankan citizens.
The involvement of private sector organisation in generating exports revenue earnings in Sri Lanka is record high and without them it’s impossible to maintain a sustainable economic growth. The quality of each product and service, quick response time, higher professionalism and going the extra mile add up to achieving this and compete against the most competitive markets in the world.
We don’t sacrifice the quality or ethics by recruiting child labour, using low quality materials and poor service standards. Therefore, the reputation of our products has earned the respect from the world and there’s lot to learn from the private sector who initiate all this and keep on growing and tapping on new business sectors which could have a huge potential in helping the national growth.
Vision for ICT
Branding Sri Lanka for its adoption of ICTs in ensuring an efficient public and private sector and producing best of breed ICT solutions for niche global markets, establishing itself as a destination of choice for business process outsourcing and thus stimulating socioeconomic growth and job creation.
Strategies
1. Promoting growth of the local private sector by providing ICT solutions and services to government.
2. Empowering the local industry and consequently the general population, to reap the dividends of using ICT in business and commerce more widely.
3. Promotion of local ICT products and services to the global market.
4. Branding Sri Lanka as an attractive location for global Multi-National Corporations to set-up operations (Foreign Direct Investment).
5. The creation of Centres of Excellence for emerging technologies, and increase the opportunities for local entrepreneurs to play a key part in global markets.
With a Vision such as this, there is a lot of opportunity to grow the technology and the software to be a global hub exporting services world-wide. The Nordic countries alone have over 200,000 ICT jobs to be outsourced to countries/persons. How much of this is Sri Lanka tapping into?
Find out what really matters... is it all about profit generation? Or, should we consider supporting the society too? The Government has the strength of the private sector helping the community which has a greater impact of the national growth. Reducing poverty is one of the main contributions these organisations make. Many channels such as rising productivity, increasing job opportunities and competition for workers drives up wages support the poverty reduction of the country.
There are many instances where private firms have offered creative solutions to challenging delivery needs.
In Namibia, for example, a public-private partnership between the Ministry of Health and Social Services and the United Africa Group, a private company, has allowed for efficient, timely, and regular delivery of state pensions, disability allowances, and child maintenance grants to almost all beneficiaries in rural areas. The company teams are equipped with portable automatic teller machines to disburse payments, smart cards to identify payment recipients, and small teams traveling by truck to manage the monthly delivery systems (ILO 2003).
SL Government’s interventions needed to support private
sector growth
1. Initiatives to achieve economic growth through non-Governmental channels.
2. Streamlining the Government’s institutional framework to better respond to private sector needs and private sector involvement in the formal sectors of the economy, in planning and policy-making (PRSP and PSD development).
3. Develop infrastructure services and provide a level playing field for private sector contribution to growth and employment. To facilitate the above, assist in capacity development of the courts so as to reduce the processing time. Assistance in more market-based asset valuation as a basis for compensation would help a long way, and at the same time reduce the number of compensation court cases and the volume of out-of-court settlements between large corporations and small land-owners.
4. Redesigning of the business support and business development service providers so that they can effectively serve the needs of individual SMEs. SMEs should be given high priority in a productivity enhancing, poverty reduction focused development framework.
5. Offer continued support to private sector associations and chambers of commerce provincially with respect to their contribution to an improved enabling environment and a level playing field, directly through services offered to their members and indirectly through focusing on productive growth in their advice to Government. Professional associations have a potential to play a more important role in expanding the concept of corporate governance thereby contributing to improved investment climate in the country. Support in the area of accounting and auditing could be looked into.
6. In infrastructure development, where private investors may be interested in energy supplies and exports (electrification and natural gas exports), telecommunication, transportation including roads, waterways, railways, air traffic and port services, and the handling of fish products for exports.
At this critical juncture where Sri Lanka is on its way to becoming a Singapore in the Indian Ocean, we face several challenges. These have been formulated showing that Private Sector Development (PSD) is granted a crucial role, with priority given to the following sectors: tea, garments, tourism, gems, ceramics, rubber/plastics, spices, and IT services.
It is very much in response to such strategic analysis and thinking that the prospects for Sri Lanka have emerged.
[Dr. Nalin Jayasuriya (DBA, California, USA) is a much sought-after business and management consultant. He is also a management trainer of international repute. Dr. Nalin was a visiting lecturer to the Marketing Institute of Singapore, addressed the Indian Chamber of Commerce, Selangor on three occasions, addressed the CEO Forum in Brisbane, Australia and has presented management papers in the USA, UK, Greece, Poland, South Korea, Hong Kong, Philippines, Malaysia, Thailand, Vietnam, Singapore, Indonesia, India, Kenya, Dubai and Pakistan. Dr. Nalin has trained over 5,000 senior managers in over 15 countries since 1988. He has been a consultant to Airport and Aviation Services, Ceylon Electricity Board, SriLankan Airlines, SLTPB – Ministry of Tourism and to several multinational and blue-chip companies in Sri Lanka. He was co-consultant to set up the Public Utilities Commission of Sri Lanka (PUCSL), the first multi-sector regulatory agency in Asia. Dr. Jayasuriya has led consultancy assignments for the World Bank, Asian Development Bank, UNDP, Institute of World Problems (USA) and PricewaterhouseCoopers.]
