Foreign advisors and consultants as catalysts<\/p>\n
By Donna K. Woodward<\/p>\n
MEDAN, North Sumatra (JP): Indonesian government ministries,
\nnon government organizations, and private corporations are awash
\nwith expatriate advisors, consultants, and technical experts
\nengaged to supplement local expertise in problem-solving and
\nnational development.<\/p>\n
Expatriates might no longer dominate the consulting field in
\nnumbers, but they likely still do so in terms of remuneration
\ngiven and the status accorded them. Why, then, is there sometimes
\nan ambivalence, not to say hypocrisy, about the role of foreign
\nadvisors in Indonesian organizations? Is there any connection
\nbetween this ambivalence and the failure of reform?<\/p>\n
Fundamental to the hiring of foreigners is the postulate that
\nthere are too few Indonesians with required expertise in certain
\nareas. Expatriates are permitted to work here because of certain
\nneeded skills; we should not be here otherwise. Yet once the
\nforeigners are at work, see what can happen.<\/p>\n
Particularly in areas such as corruption and reform, where
\naccusations of cultural insensitivity or foreign domination are
\nfeared, expatriates become reticent.<\/p>\n
Becoming veritable Uriah Heeps (some), they disclaim the
\nprerogative -- and likewise the responsibility -- to use the
\nfaculties of intellect and competence that are an integral part
\nof the reason they were hired.<\/p>\n
Recently this writer inquired of the expatriate head of one
\ninternational organization about their plans in the area of
\ncorruption control.<\/p>\n
The respondent answered (in part), \"... we can't have a case
\nof the foreigners telling Indonesians how to [do things] ... For
\nthis to work it must come from Indonesian society and
\nbusinesses ...\" This writer has no argument with the statement
\nthat foreigners do not have a de facto right to dictate to
\nIndonesians how to do things.<\/p>\n
Nor with the fact that for a solution to work, those it will
\naffect must internalize it. However, to say unambiguously \"To
\naccomplish the goal you've set, here is the action I recommend,\"
\nor \"Corrupt practices are inconsistent with the stated goals,\" is
\nnot at all the same as saying, \"We'll do it my way.\"<\/p>\n
An Indonesian organization that employs a consultant remains
\nin control of the use made of the consultant's work. If for some
\nreason the organization rejects the consultant's advice, so be
\nit.<\/p>\n
But if the expatriate expert declines to give his\/her best
\nadvice out of fear that it will be misconstrued as domineering,
\nisn't this an abdication of one's job responsibility? When
\nforeign experts hesitate to \"push the envelope\" out of a belief
\nthat Indonesian hosts won't like tough advice, the result is that
\nIndonesia pays high-octane prices for low-octane solutions.<\/p>\n
Should expatriate advisors be reluctant to express views on
\nsensitive issues like corruption, or to propose new and
\nunfamiliar solutions?<\/p>\n
Suppose ASPAC hired Michael Jordan at a salary of hundreds of
\nmillions of rupiah more than the local players were paid and then
\non arrival he said, \"I don't think Indonesians actually want me
\nto tell them how to play to win; they have their own ways. I'll
\nonly go in for every third lay-up and let someone else take the
\nrebounds. I don't want to dominate the team.\"<\/p>\n
If Jordan did this, would the ASPAC owners be happy? Do
\nforeigners think Indonesian colleagues want us to refrain from
\ntendering our best performance because of a worry that the
\nIndonesians will be intimidated or offended? The supposition is
\ninsulting.<\/p>\n
The impetus to mute the voices of foreign professionals often
\ncomes more from the foreign side than from the Indonesian side.
\n(There are, however, some Indonesians who know that the fastest
\nway to kill an expatriate's unwelcome recommendation -- one that
\nmight upset the comfortable status quo -- is to hint that the
\nexpatriate is culturally insensitive or that national pride is
\nthreatened, even when these are not at issue at all.)<\/p>\n
We western expatriates in particular have such an ugly
\nreputation for imperiousness that guilt and the legitimate wish
\nnot to usurp the role of Indonesian colleagues sometimes produce
\na counterproductive, false tractability.<\/p>\n
Some expatriates hesitate to advance reformist ideas
\nzealously, to avoid the appearance of imposing foreign solutions.
\nBut anti-corruption views are not un-Indonesian.<\/p>\n
In fact Indonesian reformers might welcome more outspoken
\nsupport from Indonesia's international experts. Wasn't it the
\nreluctance of international experts to speak truthfully to
\nSoeharto about his regime's oppressiveness and corruption that
\nfacilitated the crisis in the first place? Are today's experts
\nsimilarly reluctant to proffer the necessary truths?<\/p>\n
To propose a more openly activist role for foreign consultants
\nis not to advocate expatriates' domination of host organizations.
\nIt is not to excuse arrogance or cultural insensitivity or
\nminimize the repercussions of ignorance and incivility. It is not
\nto deny that at times a consultant's proposal is the wrong
\nsolution for a problem.<\/p>\n
It is to ask for an end to the hypocrisy that prevails when
\nexpatriate advisors come here as \"experts,\" accept expert-level
\nsalaries and perks, then assume a demeanor of unworthiness to
\nadvise. It is to appeal to consultants not to demur from
\nadvocating new or even extremely new ideas and programs,
\nparticularly relating to anticorruption efforts.<\/p>\n
It is to affirm that as consultants we are not mindless,
\namoral technical experts. Michael Jordan wouldn't forego his
\nopportunity to be a catalyst for progress out of a misguided
\nobsequiousness. Why should a consultant?<\/p>\n
The writer, an attorney and former American diplomat at the
\nU.S. Consulate General in Medan, is a consultant.<\/p>",
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"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
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