cabinet evaluation

Idris Jala

Ref Batch
ZB
Focus Area(s)
Ref Batch Number
1
Country of Reform
Interviewers
Deepa Iyer
Name
Idris Jala
Interviewee's Position
CEO
Interviewee's Organization
Performance Management and Delivery Unit, Malaysia
Language
English
Nationality of Interviewee
Malaysian
Town/City
Kuala Lumpur
Country
Date of Interview
Reform Profile
No
Abstract

Idris Jala discusses his role as a member of the Malaysian cabinet and as the CEO of its Performance Management and Delivery Unit, PEMANDU. Recruited by the Prime Minister after his success in leading Malaysia Airlines, Jala sought to bring the type of transformative overhaul typically limited to the private sector to the public sector. He details his six-step approach in achieving such overhaul: setting high goals, anchoring activity to key performance indicators, discipline of action, situational leadership, winning coalition and public support and “divine intervention.” Jala places particular emphasis on the importance of soliciting the opinions, suggestions and support of the public, particularly in town hall-style meetings, in order to ensure the relevance of policies as well as to encourage government accountability through these more transparent processes.  He also stresses the importance of a sort of internal transparency through government problem-solving meetings, in which the problems and roadblocks officials face are openly addressed and tackled.    

Case Study:  Tying Performance Management to Service Delivery: Public Sector Reform in Malaysia, 2009-2011

Profile

At the time of this interview, Idris Jala was the CEO of PEMANDU, the Performance Management and Delivery Unit of Malaysia. He worked with Shell for nearly 23 years in a number of capacities, including a human resources director, managing director of Shell Malaysia and vice president of its business development consultancy. In 2005, he was selected to lead Malaysia Airlines out of near-bankruptcy. As its CEO from 2005 to 2009, he was able to transform the company in just one year, and earn it record profits in just two. His success led to his appointment as a minister without portfolio in 2009 by Prime Minister Najib Razak in an effort to introduce similarly massive overhaul in the public sector, specifically in the areas addressing crime, corruption, rural infrastructure, urban transport and education. 

Full Audio File Size
37 MB
Full Audio Title
Idris Jala Interview

Tying Performance Management to Service Delivery: Public Sector Reform in Malaysia, 2009-2011

Author
Deepa Iyer
Country of Reform
Internal Notes
Added COG as focus area. Let's go back and check out critical tasks at some point! (LB, 3/12/13)
Abstract
In 2008 Malaysia’s voters expressed deep discontent with government services by handing the ruling coalition, Barisan Nasional, its worst election performance since independence in 1957. Poor service delivery reflected gaps in accountability, disparities in policy planning, and inadequate coordination across public agencies, especially at the ministerial level. After assuming office in 2009, Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak appointed Idris Jala, a politically unaffiliated corporate executive, as a cabinet minister to head the newly created Performance Management and Delivery Unit, known by the acronym Pemandu, which also means “the driver” in Malay. Najib assigned the new agency the job of monitoring and improving the performance of ministries. Idris facilitated policy planning by issuing a roadmap for change, developed by civil servants in eight six-week “lab” sessions held in October and November of 2009. Leveraging his role as an unaffiliated cabinet minister, Idris and his team at Pemandu then set about implementing the roadmap, building a service delivery chain that linked the cabinet minister to the citizenry via the civil service and implementing agencies. Under Idris, Pemandu implemented the Government Transformation Program (GTP), a system that focused ministries on six key results areas, involving measurable service delivery targets against which ministers and inter-ministerial initiatives would be assessed. 
 
Deepa Iyer drafted this case on the basis of interviews conducted in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, in March 2011. Case published July 2011.
 
Associated Interview(s):  Idris Jala