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LESSONS TO BE LEARNT
FROM THE PRIVATE SECTOR
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GijimaAST CEO Jonas Bogoshi says the public sector
can learn a thing or two from the private sector.
 CEO
of GijimaAST, Jonas Bogoshi suggests that government can learn
something from the private sector's focus on efficiency and its
customers. He places customer-focus chief amongst these, which
for government means honing in on citizens.
"Some people believe that government cannot and should not be
compared to the private sector," said Bogoshi, speaking at
SITA's annual GovTech conference in Durban.
"So why compare government to the private sector? Well, we must
look at the company as a locus of economic activity and
acknowledge how the leadership of private companies address
their roles," he explained.
Bogoshi said that government is a provider of vital services
within the economy. He added that it has an impact on the
standard of living for its citizens. However, government does
not always focus on the citizen strongly enough.
"All over the world governments are grappling with differences
in productivity between the private and public sectors," said
Bogoshi.
"Of course the size of government in terms of numbers of
employees is different, but it is important to understand that
the success of any organisation comes down to its leadership,"
he continued.
"It is said that 'I would rather follow an army of sheep led by
a lion than an army of lions led by a sheep'," said Bogoshi.
"Sustainable business is determined by leadership practices."
Bogoshi defined the role of the private sector CEO as that of
providing insight and focus. This begins with defining the
meaningful 'outside' of the business in terms of dealing with
customers, shareholders and other elements of the business
environment. It is important that these people are kept happy in
order for the business to prosper.
Likewise, Bogoshi suggested that government should focus on the
citizen and treat them in the same way that a private company
would treat its customers.
"If you decide that citizens are clients, then the way you treat
them must be different. Everyone in the organisation must then
either be serving the client or serving someone who serves the
client," he said.
"Research by Accenture has shown that citizens are complaining
about service delivery and believe that current government
systems are inadequate. Clearly, this calls for change."
Bogoshi said that citizens should be consulted in developing
government services and systems, maintaining the correct focus.
Next, he turned to service delivery as a key undertaking in
serving citizens.
"Strategies without execution are a waste of time," opined
Bogoshi.
"Companies only realise about 60% of their potential because of
the gap between strategy and execution. The truth is that the
gap exists all over the world, but this gap is the difference
between winning and losing companies," he said.
"It's simplistic to say that public and private sector can be
compared. Obviously, there are complex differences, but some
things can be compared. Customer focus is one of these areas.
Driving efficiency and effectiveness is another. And, of course,
the focus on execution."
But, Bogoshi said, there are also things about the private
sector that should not be emulated.
"The obsession with just making a profit is something I do not
agree with in the private sector," he said.
If the core differences between government and private companies
are set aside, Bogoshi concluded that there is much to be
learned if government studies the success of the private sector
and its leadership, and understands how these can be applied to
the public sector.
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