McKinsey to establish management unit for major reform

The Government is planning to hire global management consultancy firm McKinsey & Company at a cost of $ 2.3 million to set up a Central Program Management Unit that will underpin ambitious plans to drive economic restructuring and development.   

Cabinet on Tuesday approved a proposal by Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe in his capacity as National Policies and Economic Affairs to hire McKinsey to set up the Central Program Management Unit (CPMU). 

The CPMU will essentially be the monitoring arm of projects that will be fast-tracked under a wide ranging new Development (Special Provisions) Bill to be presented in Parliament soon by the Government. 

The fresh legislation will have sweeping powers to accelerate economic development across the country and restructure the economy to deliver growth, Wickremesinghe said in the Cabinet paper. 

“Institutional mechanisms to enable and facilitate such an accelerated economic development are needed. Having reviewed the capabilities and proven experience in setting up of similar CPMUs in transforming economies including Malaysia, it was considered to request McKinsey to submit a proposal to set up a suitable unit in Sri Lanka,” the Cabinet paper said.        

McKinsey support will include building capabilities of key CPMU officers, reviewing existing initiatives for impact, institutionalising performance monitoring and establishing delivery labs. 

One of the key segments indentified by the Cabinet paper was an intense problem solving and priority intervention module that would include weekly progress reports on bottlenecks and how to resolve them within three months along with monthly ‘Delivery Taskforce’ presentations to be directly made to the Prime Minister on selected priorities, outline progress and flag problems for resolution. 

Delivery labs will be tasked with summarising data and existing research and finding “big ideas for quick wins.” 

During the three months of engagement, McKinsey will assist to establish an operating structure that will build cooperation between the National Policies and Development Strategies and International Trade headed by Minister Malik Samarawickrama, who is also a close confidante of the Prime Minister. 

Four core leaders sourced from various McKinsey offices worldwide will be working fulltime with a Sri Lankan tea company during the duration of the project, the Cabinet paper added. (UJ)