Editorial

Gross national happiness as Bhutan development philosophy presents a challenge to the country in translating it into practical usage. A very noble concept, threatened to oblivion without practical purposes. And dZinchong Rigphel like in its first publication allows this philosophy to be once again revisited through D S Kharka’s Revisiting the Bhutanese Development Philosophy through the Conventional Development Models. His paper provides an interesting account of development economics with the “gross national happiness” perspective, also offering a review of our past development initiatives and future “middle-path” challenges.

This familiar theme of development is being resounded in the next paper as well, Gross National Happiness (GNH): Practicing the Philosophy by Norbu Wangchuk. Based on his research project titled Privatization in Bhutan, Theory and Practice, which is unpublished is both a review and an assessment of economic development approaches of Bhutan based on the GNH philosophy. Their papers although written on the same topic are a must read for our contemporary economists and development gurus.

Coming down to the ground realities from the GNH discussion is the Repositioning the Baeyul (Lost Kingdom): A Local Governance Perspective by Phuntsho Namgay. With the revitalization of decentralization and people’s participation developments such as the recent nation-wide election of Gups based on adult franchise and the revised DYT and GYT Chathrims, the author offers some of the vital managerial and operational frameworks that are necessary for this new local governance system to thrive.

At the organizational level, Making People Management a Strategic Organizational Purpose from dZinchong Rigphel’s Editor offers some strategic insights into human resource management. The paper hinges on the importance of creating a “strategic fit” between your HR function and organizational purpose or mission, which in Bhutanese setting according to the author is rarely attempted.

Tired of Apple Polishing your Boss? Try something new by Norbu Wangchuk is another interesting paper on human behavior in organizations. Based on one of HBR papers, Managing your Boss by Gabarro and Kotter (1993), Norbu provides guidance for those who wish to apple-polish their boss but short on techniques of doing it. His review on how to “establish healthy relationships with the boss” is worth reading. Both subordinates and boss must read this whatever their ends might be for.

Phuntsho’s second paper, Management of Change: (If it ain’t Broke. Still Fix it) is in summary about managing change in any organizations. The statement on extinct dinosaurs and existing mammals is definitely an apt metaphor for this important management topic. To go by the author’s emphasis, organizations must know how to embrace change and survive; otherwise it might become ‘dinosaur organizations’. There is certainly something for our change agents and leaders in this article.

Pema Wangdhee
Editor