INSPIRED TO GO BEYOND: A JOURNEY TO SUCCESS.

Abstract

One of the key need for the economic and social development of a country is to fulfil its industrial and domestic power demand. Sri Lankan government anticipated the need at that time in 1970s and made plans to utilise hydroelectric power by implementing new projects. Sri Lanka mainlydepends on hydroelectric power since it is a country rich in water resources and rainfall. The main focus was on Mahaweli River and the government commenced feasibility studies to assess the yield. To expedite the work, they established a separate body called ‘Mahaweli authority’ to implement this massive development scheme planned to complete in a 30 years’ time. To supervise the work, the government established an organisation called ‘Central Engineering Consultancy Bureau’ (CECB) to work as the local partner to the consultant and the project manager to resettlement works. After a new government came into power in 1977, the new president of the country wanted to reduce the 30-year duration to six years. To facilitate this acceleration, he established a separate ministry and a separate minister to look after the total program and related works. Thereafter, CECB was given the power and authority to look after this accelerated program as the local partner consultant while shouldering the resettlement work related to the development work. To strengthen this newly formed organisation, the president appointed one of the eminent engineer, Dr A.N.S.Kulasinghe as the first Chairman of CECB. Chairman Kulasinghe managed to expand the resource base of CECB by recruiting engineers and other technical staff in various engineering disciplines to cater to this massive hydropower development scheme. Mahaweli development scheme consisted of four major reservoirs; Victoria, Kothmale, Randenigala and Rantembe. All the projects were handled by reputed international contractors and looked after by international consultants together with CECB as the local partner. By working in this massive scheme, CECB gained experience and also developed its capabilities and competencies to become a world-class consultancy firm. In the late 1980s almost all the major works had been completed leaving only people’s resettlement work and township improvements. Consequently, CECB faced with a great difficulty in retaining their competent and well-trained staff and moving forward as a viable organization. However, the leadership together with the senior management undertook the challenge of implementing a change program to overcome the issues.During its change program, the leadership was changed in two times, but all the leaders contributed to their maximum to drive the organization through a difficult change process. The most difficult task faced by the management was to change the mindset of employees and retain them in the organization. As an initial step, CECB changed its objectives and added many areas to its objects statement. This allowed them to carry out construction in addition to consultancy activities. Accordingly, they set up a separate construction unit and expanded to provincial level at a later stage. CECB was vigilant on market behaviour and was ready to grab opportunities which were relevant to their scope. They set up their own engineering laboratory to carry out investigations to facilitate their own design work. Later they hired their services on the commercial basis, creating an additional income to the organization. CECB was acting as a one-stop shop and it was capable of delivering fast-track solutions to many engineering problems. It undertook various activities including construction, geotechnical investigations, environmental studies, engineering surveys and also maintenance work. While going through the change process, CECB took a bold decision to go international. Pioneered by the Chairman Nihal Rupasinghe, CECB secured many contracts in the international arena, allowing its regular employees to go and work on those projects. During this period, CECB was entrusted with many projects including post-conflict development works in Northern Sri Lanka. While going through this massive development work by shouldering more responsibilities, CECB decided to set up its own subsidiary company. To fulfil this need, CESL- Central Engineering Services (Pvt) Ltd started its commercial operations in 2011 to assist CECB as its construction wing. CESL carried out many construction activities in different disciplines securing many rewards for its quality of work.It was the visionary leadership and the competent management who undertook the challenge of sailing the organization through troubled waters. Researchers have identified that many companies have failed in the first phase of their change process due to the main reason of underestimating how hard it can be to drive people out of their comfort zone. Theories explain that the personnel changes occur when change forces strengthened or restraint forces lessen or both occur simultaneously. Some of the driving forces were leadership changes, changes in organizational structure, changing attitude towards work, increased competition and internationalization. Personal restraint forces were the fear of failure, loss of status, and fear of unknown. CECB continuously communicated their changes and vision to employees and removed obstacles by changing the structure. They recognized the good work of employees and rewarded them for new improvements. Moreover, they implemented further changes by assisting their employees through training programs to match their skills and to gain knowledge relevant to the new system. As a state-owned organization, CECB gave a good example to the corporate sector about implementing an effective change process while being in a crisis situation. Their story is an eye-opener to the government-owned business organizations to track their competencies and compete with the corporate sector organizations. Further, it clearly shows that a change process needs the right decision at the right time. Implementing a change process is not that easy if the right order is not followed. This story clearly shows that the organization allocated a considerable time to convince the employees continuously about their vision and the milestones to be achieved. Communicating the vision is one of the key factors identified by a successful change process. The success story of the CECB identifies many effective leadership inputs to the change process. Throughout the process, many strategic decisions were taken to uplift the organization and to be in the competition. This story also identifies different leadership styles emerging in different situations to give different flavors to manage the change process. It further investigates the assistance rendered by the management as a guiding coalition to make the change process effective.