In summary...

A lot of politicians are getting it wrong, not because the policies are completely useless but because they are not being thought out properly or being implemented efficiently. That’s when I realised that MPs are too concerned with politics and forgetting that they require management skills too if they are to be a constituency’s leader. Good leaders and policies need good management practice.

Whilst I have a good understanding of government and politics, I also have a background in management and marketing which I know is what will set me apart from the other MPs and give me the skills I need to be Gravesham’s leader and MP. Management is a theory that can only be improved upon in practice. I have management experience in many fields, all differing in their nature, yet they adopt the same principals.

A well as a degree in management, for the last 5 years, I have assisted in running my parents business of renting out flats in Gravesham. I also spent two years at Sheffield University’s Officer Training Corps (OTC), developing the skills and qualities needed in order to become an officer in the British Army, including personal discipline, directing a team and leading 8 people into section attacks. 

(to find out more about my credentials to become the next MP please see the section ‘Am I Qualified ’ on the page ‘The Big Questions’)

Further reading...

The following are examples of the similarities between companies launching and managing a new product/service to an MP creating policies for their constituency...

      When you are launching a new product/service, you would not go into it head first without initially conducting market research to find out beforehand a bit about your potential customer, their needs and if they would use the product/service in mind. This should be applied to politics – there is no point implementing changes or creating policies without first asking the public (aka the customer) what they want! For this reason, I have already started distributing questionnaires to the Gravesham community. (Feel free to request one to complete)

     Companies and brands also know that things don’t last forever, and today’s attitudes, needs, wants and thinking may not be the same next year. Thus they constantly seek to improve the quality of what they have to offer. Politicians seem to fail in this constant innovation, stuck in the time they were elected, and not moving forward with today and tomorrow. I know due to my experience in travelling, and being half the age of the average MP, I am in touch with modern thinking and the people of Gravesham. Furthermore, regular focus groups and think tanks will assist in my constant advancement.

      After the product has been made, companies often call in a small group of consumers and ask for feedback, both good and bad. In this way any negative aspects of the product/service can be rectified and put right. Why do our MPs not do this? Why do they not ever ask us if the policies are working for us, as at the end of the day, it is us who will use and be affected by the policies the most.

Whilst it is obvious that a great understanding of politics is needed to be an MP, it is also important that there is also a high standard of management practice included too. People do not want to just hear about potential policies, we want to see plans in place to achieve them, the potential problems with them and how they will be averted, and regular updates and inclusion to see how everything is operating. Good leaders and managers keep in touch with their customers, and as MP I propose to follow this principal.    

The reasoning behind my thinking...

I will use top management theory and guru’s expertise to assist us in improving Gravesham. The following information explains how I got to my conclusions about adopting a more managerial approach to politics and how it can benefit us. It is a little weighty so I won’t be offended if you want to skip this and go on the to the next section, but it is here just in case you fancy a bit of bedtime reading!   

Kaizen

      is a Japanese word adopted into English referring to a philosophy or practice focusing on continuous improvement. This can be applies to general life or business.  It refers to activities that continually improve all functions of a business from manufacturing to management and from the Chief Executive Officer, to the assembly line workers. If we apply this to an MP and their constituency, Kaizen suggests therefore making continuous improvements from policy making (manufacturing) to organization (management) with the involvement of everyone, from the MP (CEO) to the constituents (assembly line workers)

The five main elements of kaizen

Management	Translated to Politics
Teamwork	Different parts of the community working together
Personal discipline	Everyone realising they play a part in shaping politics and their constituency
Improved morale	If people had more input into the policies affecting them, then there would be a greater interest and confidence and loyalty in politics
Quality circles	A way for the people to keep a check on the MP that they are fulfilling their promise and not abusing their position
Suggestions for improvement	Constituent’s suggestions for improvements

Total Quality Management (TQM)

TQM is not specific to one type of enterprise, it is a philosophy applied anywhere quality is required. TQM is a management philosophy that seeks to integrate all organizational functions (marketing, finance, design, engineering, and production, customer service) to focus on meeting customer needs and organizational objectives. When applied to politics, we should aim to integrate the functions of our constituency and the budgets that we have to stick to. Nothing is isolated; social, economical and financial issues are somehow all linked. So for example, if we spent a little more on the roads being maintained and pot holes filled, money would be saved on the NHS when members of the public (such as my dad!) fall into these pot holes.

TQM empowers the whole organization, from the employee (constituent) to the CEO (the MP). Again, when applied to politics, it is clear that for total quality in Gravesham, we need to incorporate everyone who has some kind of stake within the policy, be it that they are the cause or the affect of the policy in question.

Principals of TQM

Management	Translated to Politics
Continual quality improvement (CQI)	Includes forms of assessment in all areas and encourages group (think tanks and focus groups)  involvement and input
Total customer satisfaction	Giving the constituents what they really want
Total employee involvement	Bottom up input from the constituents. Involving everyone from top executives to employees in Gravesham, from police officers to youth offenders
Integrated process management	We identify constituent’s (customer) needs and together decide on control strategies and means to assess and improve the system.

William Edwards Deming

was an American statistician, professor, author, lecturer, and consultant. From 1950 onwards he taught top management how to improve design (and thus service), product quality, testing and sales.

Input and wise words of Deming...

“The worker is not the problem. The problem is at the top! Management!”

        When applied to politics, we can see that politicians are often commenting on the ‘problems of society and the economy’ however, never stop to think that maybe they are one the main ingredients to the ‘problem’.  With a bit of better supervision from the top, then maybe there would be less problems for the public. After all, it is management’s job to direct the efforts of all mechanisms toward the aim of the system.

“There is no substitute for knowledge.”

       This statement emphasizes the need to know more, about everything in the system, a small amount of knowledge could save many hours of hard work and money. Its relevance to politics is that the more firsthand experience we know surrounding an issue, the more efficient that policy will be and thus long term effort and cost will be saved.

As you can now probably see there are many theories and ways management can be used to improve politics and the governing of Gravesham.