WHEN a new manager is appointed at the head of a business entity in the private sector, the owner or partners of the establishment expect him to solve a certain problem or problems in the company. They may also be expecting an increase in the company's productivity and a boost in the profits. There must have been enough reasons for the appointment of a new manager or the owner or the partners would have retained his predecessor. The new manager in the private sector is expected to provide the owner or the partners with his remarks and observations about the problems existing in the establishment. He will have to inform them about the modalities of solving the existing problems and shortcomings and the time frame needed to do this. It is only natural that the owners will closely follow up the execution of the plan formulated by the new manager and its viability in closing issues. The owners will evaluate the performance of the new manager in light of what he has achieved. If he fails to solve the problems he may be terminated. Such a step is only natural because the manager failed to achieve the objectives he was hired for. During the past few months, a number of top officials from the private sector were appointed as ministers. Citizens expect the new ministers will free the government sector from its incapacitating bureaucracy and will transfer the work environment found in the private sector to government departments. Citizens expect the new ministers to solve existing problems, promote services and make quick achievements. The question, however, remains: Will the new ministers follow the same modus operandi of the private sector? Will they take some time to carefully study all the problems, announce them publicly and define the solutions? Will they put a time frame for the solution of problems and inform us about the execution phases so we can evaluate their performance? Citizens are only concerned with finding solutions to their problems. They are not concerned with other details such as how close a minister is with his employees. Citizens have issues with the Ministry of Health. They also have issues with the ministries of education, commerce, housing and others. These issues not only remain unsolved but they are increasing. I think most of the newly-appointed ministers also suffered from these issues when they were regular citizens. Therefore, we hope that the new ministers will be transparent and run their ministries the same way they have managed their establishments in the private sector. They should clearly define the problems facing their ministries, the solutions and the time needed to implement the solutions. They should involve the citizen in all development taking place in their ministries so that he will know what the minister has done for him and what issues he has been able to settle.
