Courtney N. Blackman, Contributor
Sir Courtney Blackman, K.A., Ph.D, former central bank governor of Barbados and ambassador to the United Nations. - CONTRIBUTED
IT IS a sobering thought that in 1960 the economic prospects of the British West Indies were more promising than those of the so-called 'East Asian Tigers': Hong Kong, Singapore, South Korea and Taiwan. Hong Kong and Taiwan had suffered crushing colonial exploitation at the hands of Britain and Japan respectively, and brutal occupation by the Japanese during World War II; while South Korea and Singapore were actually theatres of war.
The Caribbean was much
better endowed in natural resources, e.g., bauxite, oil and sun and sand, with greater access to both U.S. and European markets. Whereas the Tigers have routinely grown between 6-10 per cent per annum, many of us have struggled to grow at all, and none of us have 'taken off' in the drive to maturity.
Moreover, the region has been the recipient of considerable foreign capital inflows. Indeed, the fact that 14 of 15 Caribbean countries are currently ranked in the top 30 of the world's highly indebted emerging markets is an indication that a lot of foreign capital has passed through our economy.
That we have so little to show for it, and in some cases, nothing at all, suggests that we have been incompetent stewards of our
talents. I suggest that we take our eyes off the ideological, political and ethnic themes we find so enthralling, and focus instead on management.
Very little attention is paid by Caribbean economists to the relationship between management and economic development. No wonder then that our intelligentsia, in politics, the public service, and even in the corporate world not to speak of the man-in-the-street place so little store in management.
An economist will tell you that economic growth
depends on investment, but he is only dimly conscious of human decisions, skills and actions that the term "investment" encompasses. He forgets to warn that economic growth will only take place if investment projects are successfully carried out. Successful completion of the project requires careful planning of a myriad of activities, organisation of numerous individuals with a variety of skills, the motivation of staff towards accomplishment of the tasks assigned to them, and control of their performance throughout the investment phase.
Planning, Organisation, Motivation, and Controlling are the four textbook elements of the Management process. Superior management, much more often than not, results in profitable returns to investment for the entrepreneur, and to economic development. Inferior management leads to loss of capital, and economic decline.. I have no doubt that our poor economic performance is attributable to the inadequate management of many of our large corporations, small businesses, NGOs, and especially of our Public Sector. To sum up, we lack a 'culture of management'.
In the United States, the world's most highly developed country, the management culture is pervasive in the society. This first struck me when I taught management at Hofstra University. A first year student asked my approval of an assignment describing how he and another student had set up a company that paved driveways in Long Island. Another student attributed late completion of his assignment to time spent on his business, which was making huge profits. As a US resident, I have also been deeply impressed by the efficiency with which my condominium and home owners' associations are run.
The evolution of the American 'culture of management' is not accidental. Major corporations endow business schools with billions of dollars so that their students can study the theory and practice of management, while newspapers and television stations employ large numbers of expert staff to review the performance of corporations. Most important of all, legislation regulating the management of public corporations is the most stringent in the world, reflecting a deep awareness of the critical contribution of management to economic prosperity, and as exemplified by fierce prosecution of top executives following the recent outbreak of corporate malfeasance in that country. By contrast, the public across the Caribbean is most tolerant of poor quality service from businesses, and the electorate quite indifferent to the most scandalous management failures of governmental institutions, which hold press attention for only a few days.
The above is excerpted from an address by Sir Courtney, former Governor of the Central Bank of Barbados, to the Best Care Foundation annual dinner in Kingston earlier this year .
Taken from the Financial Gleaner, Friday, October 21, 2005
