Local companies need humanistic management
Local companies need humanistic management
JAKARTA (JP): Indonesian companies have to practice forward-
looking management with humanistic and realistic orientations, a
management expert said yesterday.
Management has to develop its hard side and human side in
harmony, said Japan's Peace, Happiness and Prosperity Institute
Inc. (PHP) executive director Robert J.J Wargo.
"Managers have to improve their human resources as well as
other resources," Wargo told The Jakarta Post during a break at a
seminar discussing the Matsushita Leadership concept at the Le
Meridien Hotel.
Many companies in Indonesia were still practicing old style
management, which was not forward-looking and sometimes did not
fit the current situation, he said.
A company could encourage employees to improve their talents
and give them due recognition, he said.
The seminar was organized by the Productivity and Quality
Management Consultants (PQM) to introduce the management
philosophy of Konosuke Matsushita, a Japanese entrepreneur, who
founded Matsushita Electric.
The giant electronic company grew from a three-person company
into a multinational firm with over 200,000 employees worldwide.
Matsushita founded the PHP Institute in 1946 to find a way to
draw on the collective wisdom of all mankind and attain peace,
happiness and prosperity.
His philosophy said management must be both rational and
humanistic to be successful in the long run.
Wargo singled out PT National Gobel among Indonesian companies
that use Matsushita's principles of open management and paying
attention to its employees.
Gobel, an electronics manufacturer, has been highly profitable
using this philosophy, he said.
"It is rare because a lot of managers are only concerned about
their own welfare and not their workers," he said.
Wargo said people were becoming more aware of the importance
of good management.
"Indonesian managers from many companies are interested in
making their corporations more efficient, so they can make better
contributions to society," he said.
PQM's managing partner, Sonny Irawan, said most successful
companies have practiced leadership with humanistic elements.
"It depends on the top management to improve their employees'
talent," he said.
Wargo said nepotism practices, common among Indonesian
corporations, would lead to friction and inefficiency.
PQM Consultants, founded in 1987, is a consultant in
productivity management and quality management.
About 82 people attended the seminar, represented by private
and state-owned companies. (08)