Strategic Management of Public Enterprises in Developing Countrie

Public Enterprises (PEs) continue to play an important role in the social and economic progress of developing countries. While there is a serious debate on the strategy and implementability of privatization, there is hardly any disagreement on the need for effective ways of improving PEs’ performance, which is the focus of this book. Sometimes within a similar environment, some PEs succeed while others fail. What determines the performance of these enterprises? How does effective government-PE interface–agreement on clear objectives, support and control, and level of autonomy of operations–emerge in certain cases? How do top managements respond to the challenges of assimilation, upgradation of technology, development of new products to meet the changing needs of the consumers and being competitive at the national and international levels? How do top managers transcend the conventional roles of arbitrating conflicts or dealing with day-to-day pressures, to increasingly play the role of strategist, leader, organizational innovator, and institution builder? This book presents the experiences and insights of leading academicians and practitioners on these issues. The first section discusses issues relating to global trends, macroeconomic environment, turnaround of PEs, effective PE management, and notions to performance contracts, privatization etc. The second section presents the first person accounts of successful CEOs on their philosophies and actions. The final section includes comprehensive strategic management cases of PEs from India, Kenya, Malaysia, Malta, Sri Lanka and Zimbabwe. Cases in sections II and III provide instances of real-life situations, events, and dilemmas of PE managers, and can serve as excellent learning aids for initiating discussion on strategic management issues in management development programmes. Thus, the book brings together research, practice and perspectives on strategic change PEs.