| Business |
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Disinterested
sales personnel The theory that the customer is king - sacrosanct when starting a business many years ago - is just on paper. For instance a number of TV advertisements offering banking services show counter staff and managers greeting customers with a pleasant smile. But is that the real scenario? Counter clerks generally look glum and are often impatient. The customer pleads for service and also pays for it! The Sunday Times Business invites short and brief comments from readers on customer service. Write to The Business Editor, 8, Hunupitiya Cross Road, Colombo 2 or email: btimes@wijeya.lk Desiccated
coconut millers demand national policy "The government should formulate a national policy for the coconut industry to ensure a level playing field for all stakeholders," said Saman Gunasekera, president, Sri Lanka Desiccated Coconut Millers' Association. The DC industry is in a crisis with all 65 mills closed because of a shortage of coconuts and high nut prices, he said. Exports have been disrupted and the industry was in danger of losing lucrative markets to competitors such as the Philippines, he added. A national policy will ensure uniformity in decision-making that will help DC millers to make shipments throughout the year and eliminate the problem of ad hoc changes that disrupt exports, he said. Ad hoc policies or import duty changes made by successive governments to appease political interests or in response to lobbying by interest groups had pushed the DC industry into a crisis, he said. "At the moment we can't produce because of the shortage and high price of nuts," Gunasekera said. "We're not competitive in the world markets. Although our DC is much sweeter than that of other origins, they sell DC for $200 a tonne less than our DC." DC exporters have already lost the European market and are in danger of losing the Middle Eastern market as well, he said. The lagged effects of the prolonged drought has reduced the crop by about 25 percent with some estates saying their shortfall is as much as 40 percent compared with previous crops. With seasonal crops coming in by end-May DC millers are hoping the nut shortage will ease, allowing them to resume production. Millers are in financial difficulties with their mills closed but having to pay an idle workforce of around 15,000 people, Gunasekera said. "By end-May
we hope we'll be able to work 3-4 days a week till August,"
he said. "By end August the lean period starts and we may have
to close our mills again." Imports of copra, approved by the government in response to lobbying by millers, are held up by quarantine problems, he said. Millers are also asking for low cost loans from banks to overcome liquidity problems. But banks are insisting on guarantees from the Treasury, he said. ITI
scientist appointed chairman of the Post Harvest Institute This is the first time a senior scientist of the ITI has been so honoured, an ITI statement said. The Post Harvest Institute is situated in Anuradhapura with a head office in Colombo. The Institute comes under the purview of the Ministry of Agriculture and was set up in 2000 to cater to the growing needs of growers, processors, traders and exporters of agricultural produce such as rice and other cereals and perishable horticultural commodities. The Institute carries out applied research programmes, training and extension and technology transfer to meet their demands. Dr. Wilson graduated from the University of London with a B.Sc. Hons degree in Microbiology, and then went on to read for her doctorate at the University of Cambridge. She obtained her PhD in 1981 in the field of plant pathology and post harvest biology. She joined the then CISIR in 1983 where she worked in the field of post harvest technology. She was responsible for setting up the first post harvest technology laboratory dedicated to serving the fresh fruit and vegetable industry in Sri Lanka, within the Agro and Food Technology Division of the ITI. She was appointed the Manager of this Group in 1993. Dr. Wilson has wide exposure in the field both locally and internationally having visited the best laboratories in the area of post harvest activities in the UK, Netherlands, California, Hawaii, Israel, Malaysia, Thailand and Australia. She has been able to make use of this exposure by initiating several training programmes locally for growers, traders and exporters and for governmental and non-governmental organisations The Post Harvest Technology Group of the ITI carries out several research projects dealing with post harvest physiological and pathological problems of crops such as pineapple, banana, okra, rambutan, papaya, chillies, limes and other commodities The group also maintains close links with the growers of agricultural produce as well as the private and public sector dealing with the fruit and vegetable trade. Dr. Wilson has held many posts as an expert in the field. She has chaired the SLS Working group on Fruits and Vegetables and acted as the co-coordinator of the presidential task force on "Integrated Research and Development Programmes in Science and Technology," Sub-Committee on Post Harvest Technology. She has identified research areas of immediate importance and relevance to the fresh fruit and vegetable industry. Managing
1/2 a bln at 24 As financial controller of Ayojana Fund Management (Pvt), a venture capital company, the 24-year-old Mahendra manages a cash pile worth half a billion rupees invested mainly in treasury instruments. The Fund is a joint venture between National Development Bank and Aureos Capital of the UK. Mahendra says he wants to use the recognition that comes with the award to "create a bit of awareness of how people are successful doing CIMA (Chartered Institute of Management Accountants, UK)." "I'm very happy with what I've achieved," he says, beaming with pride at having won the special award. He had wanted to get into business from the days of his youth and saw the CIMA qualification as a stepping stone into the corporate world. Today he is a member of CIMA and ACCA (Association of Chartered Certified Accountants, UK). His job at Ayojana makes him responsible for financial reporting to shareholders and management, taking part in investment appraisals, maintaining controls and systems of the organisation and general administration. That's a big workload for a young man? "Very much so," he smiles. "It's quite challenging." How did he manage to rise so high, so fast? "I've always been hard-working," he replies. "I've been committed to what I was doing and been bold enough to rise and speak when the need arose." Taking part
in a Toastmasters' programme and lecturing has helped. "Lecturing
has helped me gain a lot of confidence." As a teacher, he says, he is always impressing on young people the need for professionalism. "I believe I've been able to inspire a few people," Mahendra says. Increasingly, he says, in today's business world professionalism tends to be neglected with people focused on making money. The spectacular collapse of American energy company, Enron, followed by the indictment against its auditors Arthur Andersen, has highlighted the need to maintain high professional and ethical standards, Mahendra says. The issue needs to be cleared soon or else it can give the accounting profession a bad name. "A lot depends on individuals maintaining professionalism," he says. "Sometimes people compromise on professional values to get a quick return either from their own companies or clients." Many people today are under pressure to achieve wealth or material position as fast as possible. That creates a lot of pressure to compromise, he says. Mahendra believes the corporate world in Sri Lanka should create more opportunities for young people and enable them to play leadership roles. That would help accelerate economic growth with young people today achieving more than that achieved by the youth of yesteryear. The island's corporate sector is still dominated by a small, closely-connected elite, he says. "Most organisations are run by older professionals," he says. "Increasingly, it is foreign firms that give opportunities to young people." Young people, Mahendra says, should work hard, stick to their principles and be bold enough to rise and speak when the time comes. "If they do that success would be very easy for them," he says. |
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