Published on May 30, 2005

The government’s fickle management culture is hampering progress

After more than four years in office, Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra is still searching for a management structure that will allow his government to round up the most suitable economic policies of the day and then implement them. But with the economy facing a number of challenges, the need to get the mix of right policies in place has become more pressing. Regarding himself as Thailand’s chief executive officer, the premier has reached down into the ranks to make provincial governors start behaving like CEOs as well, which greatly expands their managerial purview by allowing them to take initiatives and basically get involved in whatever is happening in their home provinces.

They are expected to become more forward looking and play a more pro-active role.

A great deal of money, time and effort has gone into training these CEO governors, and the results have been mixed. Simply put, some governors have it, some do not.

The idea behind the scheme is a sound one, but its implementation has been lacking. The government is spending too much time trying to change the governors as people and not enough to change the system, or people who work under the newly empowered governors.

Also in the name of managerial innovation, the prime minister has attempted to change the format of the Cabinet meetings, but here again the effect has been wanting. In order to avoid having the Cabinet spend too much working on the details of the items on its agenda, new initiatives are now spelled out in advance, leaving it up to the Cabinet to simply approve them or reject them.

But here again, it’s a case of a good idea not quite delivering. The planning meetings designed to screen proposals for the Cabinet are far from properly organised, sacrificing whatever efficiency might have been gained.

And now Thaksin has another bright idea. He wants to start holding meetings ever Saturday to follow up on policies and measures and brainstorm new ideas.

And just last week he ordered the Cabinet to shift their focus from managing the bureaucracy to spending more time managing strategies.

This gives the impression that the prime minister is simply trying out management styles, without ever waiting to see how they work out over the longer term. There seems to be lack of permanency in the implementation of policies. We have seen a torrent of policies and strategies, but no follow up to see whether they work.

There is a lack of consensus on policy both within the public and the Cabinet, and bureaucrats continue to exert control as the top-down approach dominates.

Thaksin is not the first former businessman to have entered politics and found it frustrating. But after four years in office, he needs to re-tune. It could be his lack of patience and the absence of systematic thought on public policy management that are causing the disparity what looks good on paper and implementation.

He might consider the following adjustments:

l Don’t excessively distrust bureaucrats. After all, they are the ones who implement policy.

l Give capable bureaucrats room to move. They should be allowed to speak their minds when formulating policy and to weigh in on how best to carry them out.

l Be careful of surrounding yourself with “yes men” and women because they do you no favours when they don’t speak their minds.

l It takes patience to build consensus. If the Cabinet is to have short meetings, planning meetings by policy screening committees, chaired by at least a deputy prime minister, must be organised. There are no short cuts. Few policies work without the benefit of rigorous study.

l Bring back what worked before, such as the Joint Public/Private Sector Consultative Committee of former prime minister General Prem Tinsulanonda, which had the legal authority to pass measures. Under this arrangement the private-sector side acted on behalf of a network of business people to address policy shortcomings. This kind of shared responsibility is the best means of managing public policy in today’s complex world.

Faced with times such as these, the country needs a proper and systematic approach to policy management.

The premier should not feel that his leadership is being challenged just because more people are involved and interact by speaking their minds even if he does not agree with them. Too often, we see good policies go astray because they were not properly thought out or are yoked to political needs.

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