Kazybek Shaikh. Elements of project management as GR tools (government relations) / / The second international forum on "Project Management in Central Asia. The innovative technology. " May 3-5, 2012

Kazybek Shaikh. Elements of project management as GR tools (government relations) / / The second international forum on "Project Management in Central Asia. The innovative technology. " May 3-5, 2012

The need for effective, sustainable and minimally costly business development is the main reason for which companies and organizations build internal GR infrastructure.

In today's business realities of Kazakhstan transition from small to medium business is possible only if the business has skills, methods and practices of effective collaboration with government bodies and / or their representative persons.

The work of big business is mainly based on direct or indirect interaction with government agencies or entities that are directly related (technical or resource affiliation) from the government. For example: industrial self-regulating organizations, local governments, legislative bodies, etc.

Tools to stimulate business in this case are as follows:

• Participation of business in tenders, established by government agencies or government affiliated businesses.
• Development of equity instruments and derivatives thereof, arising in the process of initiating state programs and stimulating public policy in certain sectors and regions.
• Restructuring of business commitments, based on certain government programs, modes recognized by government authorities and conditions of governance.
• Development (complication or vice versa facilitation) of regulatory environment, administrative and tax burden on business, as well as the impact on the forecasts for the business or individual industries.
• Creation of an international climate for economic cooperation with other states and representatives of the business.
• Government regulation of the conditions, prices and delivery quotas on products of natural or mature monopolies.
• Government regulation of opportunities for attracting labor and investment.
• Protect your business from outside business intervention. For example, industries that face strong foreign competition, requested protection in the form of the state’s trade policy.
• Getting support from the state in the form of grants and getting the lowest price for land lease. For example, in the XX century in the economically developed and developing countries companies repeatedly received subsidies and low-cost lands from the state.
• Opportunities to obtain aid in various forms - from tax breaks to outright government dotation.
• Reduction of administrative burden on business.

A complex web of regulations set by the state determines many aspects of business activity. Each year the state issues new regulations on thousands of pages that often contain detailed guidance on what employers can do, and what they cannot.

Approaches to organizing activities to structure due to the Government

The possibilities offered by the GR activity, give rise to a continuous search for ways of its assimilation and application in the development and protection of the business.

In Kazakhstan, according to our observations, there are several approaches to the realization of GR opportunities:

• Spontaneous approach;
• Generic GR benchmarking or GR benchmarking of the social environment
• GR management as an integral part of project management
• The spontaneous approach is characterized by complete non-consistency. GR communications are not built safely, but only to solve a specific problem or for a specific tender.

Methods of relations are limited to "thanking", "rollback" or "barter" of the parties’ capacities.

This type of relationship is extremely reactive and does not allow solving problems that require high mutual efficiency by the parties in the long run. Also, this approach is usually implemented in violation of the law and poses a threat of negative sanctions from the government creating the vulnerability and volatility of the company or individual project.

Generic GR Benchmarking or GR benchmarking of the social environment

This method is based on a system of rules and traditions of interaction within families and between school friends and within small social groups.

This approach has a longer perspective and is usually very successful. The parties do not tend to just use each other; they develop and adhere to the mechanisms of stable relationships, caring for the welfare and opportunities to get as many dividends out of the cooperation by all its stakeholders. Sometimes the lack of purely material rewards is compensated by the strategic long-term results, expressed in gaining political influence, creating opportunities for large family or group of friends, development of new industries, new technologies and an increase in the total efficiency of the relations not only between the parties, but also of their relations with external economic, political and social environment.

The disadvantage of this approach is the narrowness of the channel bounded by kindred, fraternity, or another form of relations of small social groups. To fully master the possibilities of this approach one should be someone’s relative or belong to a certain small social group from the early age.

Another important factor is that the opportunities are limited by possibilities of a small social group in which the individual is at the moment. Other possibilities are not managed by the individual; and in the case of losing stability and strength by the small group the limitation of opportunities is spread to the entire group along the chain.

GR management as an integral part of project management

This project has all the properties of the previous approach, but does not have its flaws.

Business opportunities in this approach are not limited to kinship or other signs of belonging to a small social group.

In this approach, the business itself manages relationships and results that are brought by these relations.

The "negative" side of this approach is the fact that it requires a great deal of discipline and a certain level of professional training, which includes continuous self-cultivation, learning GR technologies and strict compliance with GR processes.

It is also important to note that this approach is in principle impossible to implement without a good understanding of the theory and practice of project management.

In conclusion, I want to say that the experience of our organization and my personal experience show that any investment into development of the GR structure in the company is not only returned, but they are crucial factors in the fight for separate tenders and entire markets.

In our club you can get the knowledge on GR management, get access to a database of professionals who already possess GR technologies and will greatly enhance your business.

Kazybek Shaikh. Elements of project management as GR tools (government relations) / / The second international forum on "Project Management in Central Asia. The innovative technology. " May 3-5, 2012

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