XN000022-1983-09-24 — Page 4

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LOCAL PARCEL SERVICE

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SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 24, 1983

MANAGEMENT SKILL VITAL TO HK'S SUCCESS

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PEOPLE WITH MANAGEMENT SKILLS HAD BEEN VITAL INGREDIENTS IN HONG KONG'S SUCCESS STORY, THE DIRECTOR OF EDUCATION, MR COLVYN HAYE, SAID TODAY (SATURDAY).

THE OTHER MAJOR FACTORS IN HONG KONG'S SUCCESS WERE CONSISTENT ECONOMIC POLICIES OF FREE ENTERPRISE AND TRADE, ITS INDUSTRIOUS WORKFORCE, ITS SOPHISTICATED COMMERCIAL AND INDUSTRIAL INFRASTRUCTURE AND ITS MODERN EFFICIENT SEAPORT AND EXCELLENT WORLDWIDE COMMUNICATION NETWORK, MR HAYE SAID.

+ INTERWOVEN WITH ALL OF THESE IS THE VITALITY, DYNAMISM AND SKILLS OF HONG KONG'S MANAGERS, HE SAID AT THE GRADUATION CEREMONY OF THE DIPLOMA COURSE IN MANAGEMENT FOR EXECUTIVE DEVELOPMENT ORGANISED BY THE CHINESE UNIVERSITY OF HONG KONG.

+AFTER ALL, WITHOUT THE MANAGER THE RESOURCES OF PRODUCTION REMAIN RESOURCES AND NEVER BECOME PRODUCTION.

+THE SURVIVAL AND SUCCESS OF A BUSINESS IN A COMPETITIVE ECONOMY SUCH AS HONG KONG'S IS INEVITABLY DETERMINED BY THE QUALITY AND PERFORMANCE OF ITS MANAGERS, MR HAYE NOTED.

NOTING THAT IT HAD NEVER BEEN EASY TO DEFINE WHAT A MANAGER IS, OR WHAT HE DOES, MR HAYE SAID +MOST DEFINITIONS OF THE MANAGER OR THE ROLE OF THE MANAGER TEND TO BE SO BROAD AS TO BE MEANINGLESS. A MANAGER, OF COURSE, DOES NOT JUST TAKE DECISIONS'.+

+IN SIMPLE TERMS, MANAGEMENT IS A PROCESS OF WORKING THROUGH PEOPLE TOWARDS A COMMON END, USING INFORMATION, WHICH IS SELDOM COMPLETE OR EVEN ADEQUATE, AND OPERATING IN AN ENVIRONMENT WHICH MAY VARIOUSLY BE HELPFUL, OR NEUTRAL OR HOSTILE AND OVER WHICH THE MANAGER CAN EXERCISE ONLY LIMITED INFLUENCE, HE SAID.

MR HAYE DESCRIBED DELEGATION AS AN IMPORTANT PART OF JOB DESIGN.

+TRUE DELEGATION IS DELEGATION WITH TRUST. IT LEAVES THE MANAGER FREE TO DO OTHER THINGS, IT BREEDS RESPONSIBILITY AND TRUST, AND LESSENS THE NEED FOR CONTROL.

+NEVERTHELESS, TRUST IS RISKY, CAN BE MISPLACED OR ABUSED, AND THE MANAGER IS ACCOUNTABLE,+ HE SAID.

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