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opinion: nepotism in sri lanka
we accuse the govt of being nepotistic by appointing friends and relatives as high ranking officials. but i feel it's in our culture to do so.
out of loyalty and affection, parents would appoint their kids as ceos or other high ranking executive positions even when they are not ceo-qualified and lack the vision and leadership to be a ceo. over the years, i've seen businesses built by good businessmen and businesswomen being bankrupt by an incompetent and arrogant second or third generation.
if i own a business and appoint my son or daughter as ceo purely on relationship grounds, isn't that a form of nepotism? but if i want to be nepotistic and appoint my friends as relatives as high ranking company executives - that is my business; i have the right to do run my business as i choose. but the difference between is that the govt is handling public money.
is this the case all over the world? did bill gates appoint his son as his successor? bill gates' kids will enjoy gates' share in m$. but they don't automatically qualify to be leading executives in the company just because they are bill gates' kids.
so the next time we accuse the govt (or previous govts) of being nepotistic and favoring their friends and relatives, we might be hypocritical.
- shehal's blog
- 576 reads
Comments
how can you compare the government of sri-lanka as a business, unless you are talking about the rampant corruption that exists then you make a rather valid point. Sri Lanka has clearly shown that nepotism breeds autocracy, which has in turn, resulted in overexpenditure, inflation and all the economic downfalls associated with this farce of a bureaucracy.
The key to business is surely keeping costs low and unfortunately the rajapakse bank has failed astoundingly. Its quite funny really, but heartbreaking to know that its ultimately the heart of the population that are going to suffer as a consequence.
In the private sector of other countries, we do find families continuing to have power in a company in a lot of instances. As you pointed out, it's because they own shares. It may not be the case with Microsoft, or Apple. But there are a few companies in US where we do see that pattern .. somewhat .. Ford is one example. Wal-Mart is another. however this is because they own large shares of the company so they do have the right to sit on the board of directors. If you buy 20% of Ford, you too will get a seat on the board (if not, that you can probably raise hell).
Bill Gates doesn't have adult kids .. I think Steve Jobs does .. but you don't see them on the board of directors (although steve jobs doesn't even own much of Apple). I doubt they'd want that job anyway .. because they rather have some Harvard MBA manage the company while they go sailing or diving into their money pool or whatever it is rich people do.
Anyway you won't find systemic nepotism that goes beyond immediate family members in the private sector, because the company is interested in making money not giving a handout.
With public corporations .. there is no incentive for the management to run profitably .. and actually since public corporations by nature have a monopoly (sanctioned or not) .. there is no push to provide great customer service, efficiency, or growth. Therefore, one can appoint all their family members, friends, and party supporters (voters) .. because it's not your own money being wasted.
Anyway, one positive way of looking at the cultural nepotism issue is that it shows that sri lankans are loyal to friends and family.
Anyway, I am willing to bet that if taxpayer funded monopolistic public corporations go away .. so will the culture of nepotism.
If we are going to have public corporations, they at least shouldn't have monopoly status and private companies should be allowed to compete with them. Then the incentive for nepotism will go away .. although there is always pressure to give do-nothing jobs for votes (and appointing a do-nothing comittee to look into it won't help either).
I agree that different standards apply to private and public positions, and it the public one that requires scrutiny. If a politicial wishes to groom his son to politcal office, he has a better chance than one who comes in from the cold. There are numerous doors open, and an insiders view of the workings is also forthcoming, as well as the benefits of office.
It is the last word that is truly jarring.If it is primarily for public service that one is grooming ones progeny that is more acceptable, than when it is pecuniary gain. It is therefore for the elector to judge, and rules to be put in place for public servants so as not to get an unfair advantage.
I dont know how to enforce this in practice and all forms of nepotism occurs all over the world. We should not use other country examples when defining best practice, just what is morally correct in the public interest only being the standard to be set, and who is to be the moral arbiter will be the appointer or the elector who would be held responsible for the choice.
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