With Covid-19, Management Professionals have the Major Challenge of Charting the Way Forward

“Covid-19 has drastically altered the landscape of human activity. There is a term heard quite often these days – ‘The new normal.’ For us individually, ‘the new normal’ means social distancing, wearing face masks and following stringent rules laid down by the health authorities. It also means a major disruption of the life as we knew it.” This was stated by the newly elected President Kaushal Rajapaksa, at the 19th annual general meeting of the Chartered Management Institute of UK – Sri Lanka Branch.

Kaushal Rajapaksa is a Fellow of the Plastics and Rubber Institute of Sri Lanka and the Chartered Management Institute of UK – Sri Lanka, and holds an MBA from India. He is also the President of the Plastics and Rubber Institute of Sri Lanka. Since 2007 Kaushal is running his own business of recycling and exporting industrial and post-consumer waste. He is also in the leisure boat chartering and building industry serving as a director of the Sail Lanka Yachting Group. Kaushal is also the chairman of the Industrial Association of Minuwangoda, a management committee member of the National Exporters’ Association and an exco member of the Singapore, Pakistan and China Business Councils.

Quoting Emeritus Professor of Business Administration at Harvard University, Rajapaksa said, “The challenge during times of uncharted uncertainty is to find a pragmatic middle ground between acting thoughtlessly and not acting at all. These are times that none of us have seen before. Amid the radical uncertainty of the coronavirus pandemic, fear has reared its ugly head economically, financially and socially. We all would love to know when life will return to “normal” even if it is a different normal than what we have previously experienced. As we begin to consider the effects of Covid-19, management professionals have the major challenge of charting the way forward. Management professionals should understand how complicated the problem is and resist the temptation to panic,” he said.

The AGM conducted online via ZOOM was chaired by outgoing president Murali Prakash from Australia while chief guest David Jones, Managing Director, APAC, CMI UK, joined in from Malaysia. There were also several others joining in from various countries.

The new Executive Committee for the Administrative Year 2020/2021 consists of President Kaushal Rajapaksa, Immediate Past President Murali Prakash,  Vice President Sajith De Silva,  Vice President Rohitha Amarapala, Secretary Kamaya Perera, Treasurer Chaminda Ediriwickrama, Assistant Secretary Prof. Ajantha Dharmasiri, Assistant Treasurer Ramesh Dassanayake and committee members M.M.S. Quvylidh, Niranjali Weerasekera, Chaminda De Silva, Nirmalan Nagendra, Rishantha Mendis, Chaya Ranaweera and Ninesh Amirthiah Daniel.

Addressing the meeting, Murali Prakash said that during the past year, the CMI Sri Lanka UK Branch kept governance and compliance at the forefront. “Future management structures globally and especially locally, need to have a clear and distinct notion of ethics and governance and if not, the proliferation of social technology-based advancements could create polarised and highly toxic societies.”

Explaining CMI’s role in management, Managing Director, APAC, CMI UK, David Jones said, “CMI exists as a not-for-profit body and its vision that inspires us is a world where we see better led and better managed organisations. CMI has played a prominent role as the professional body for management and leadership for over 65 years and we certainly value the support and effort the Sri Lanka members are giving us.”

Rajapaksa said, “Professor Stevenson cautions us that on an individual basis there are also things we should not do, and those that we should do to mitigate the volatility in our current environment, thus making our lives and those of others as orderly as possible. The first imperative is ‘to resist the temptation, which radical uncertainty exacerbates, to panic. The second imperative is ‘not to overestimate your knowledge. Factor the possibility of the unknownables into your decision-making but do not wait for perfect information to make decisions. We have to make choices every day. Freezing is as bad as over-confidence.”

Outlining the plans of the new management team at CMI Sri Lanka, Rajapaksa said, “We will continue the programs that strengthen our professionalism through education, training and resources with vigor.  We will also retain our commitment to ensuring that our members have more opportunities to develop their skills and professionalism so that all of us are able to perform our critical roles in the respective work places. We will also continue our usual knowledge sharing sessions, management excellence awards and quiz programs.”

Kaushal Rajapaksa concluded referring to the challenges posed by the pandemic. “For each of us the situation is unique. Each of us will have to find our own answers.”

PHOTO:

1. Murali-Prakash

Murali Prakash: “Future management structures globally and especially locally, need to have a clear and distinct notion of ethics and governance.”

 

2. David-Jones

David Jones: “CMI exists as a not-for-profit body and its vision that inspires us is a world where we see better led and better managed organisations.

 

3. Kaushal-Rajapaksa

Kaushal Rajapaksa: “We will retain our commitment to ensuring that our members have more opportunities to develop their skills and professionalism.”

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