Case Study

Handling stress: A survivors tale

When things in your life seem almost too much to handle, When 24 hours in a day are not
enough Remember the mayonnaise jar and 2 cups of coffee. Being a renowned entrepreneur
personality in the textile industry sector Mohammad Ali khokon holds the position of Managing
director of Maksons Group, President of BTMA (Bangladesh Textile Mills Association),
Director of Asia Insurance limited, Governing Body member of NITER (National Institute of
Textile Engineering & Research). Some entrepreneurs reach a position where they are more
successful than they ever expected, however they’re working 80-hour weeks. To go on with
scaling while working less, a number of entrepreneurs turn to automation as a solution (Lung,
2018).

In Bangladesh most of the industries especially the textile industries do not take power from the
grid rather they produce their own power by most cases gas generator. This power is called
captive power ("Feasibility & Comparison of available alternatives of gas as captive power
generation source for Textile Industries", 2010). Recently gas price increased 157% up to now
and if LNG added with national grid line, the price will be doubled. This Price hike increases
Maksons Group’s manufacturing cost. As Maksons Group produces 11 Megawatt captive power
per year. It recently has faced a fund crisis due to 12 core excess gas bill. Which causes a
negative cash to the company’s balance sheet.

This gives Mr. Mohammad Ali khokon a real hard time. If there's one general lesson to be
learned from the diverse experiences of these successful entrepreneurs, it’s that there will at all
times be obstacles to conquer. No one goes from nothing to conqueror without breaking a sweat
or feeling that all anticipation is vanished (Lung, 2018). Under this circumstance He came up
with a new plan. He decided to request government to make a plan for a price adjustment.

“We have requested the government to make a plan for a price adjustment. Maybe it can be 5
years plan and government can declare we will increase the price at 10% or 20% in current year
and next year some 20% and so on. Thus we also can adjust our manufacturing cost.” ("Our
government should impose anti-dumping law to protect our local spinning industry…", 2018)
Mr. Mohammad Ali khokon doesn’t like to use the word “Malik” as the owner of his business.
He thinks everything belongs to the Almighty Allah. Only Almighty Allah owns the title
“Malik”. He also believes that Rizq comes from Allah. This thought actually helps him a lot even
in the most stressful situation to calm down and take the right decision.

Case Study 2

Strategy of Managing Stress: How to ditch & win

National Institute of Textile Engineering and Research (NITER) is the first education institute
running as a Public-Private-Partnership (PPP) organization under the Ministry of Textiles & Jute,
GoB. It is located in its own campus at Nayarhat, Savar, Dhaka adjacent to the Dhaka-Aricha
highway and enjoys excellent communication facilities connecting among important cities of the
country ("National Institute of Textile Engineering &Research", 2018).

Mohammad Ali khokon is the governing Body member of NITER (National Institute of Textile
Engineering & Research). At the very beginning of this year NITER came into a conflict with
the Kohinoor Spinning Mill owner Shahidul Haq Jamal. Mr. Jamal owns 32 acres of land at
Saver near NITER. He claimed that he owned land where NITER is situated. As the President of
BTMA (Bangladesh Textile Mills Association) Mohammad Ali khokon was assigned to rescue
the property of NITER. He was under intense pressure while handling this issue.

As stress is inevitable, it's essential to find out how to control and treaty with it in a well,
dynamic way. The toughest part of functioning under stress is coping with the insight of stress
(Mestre, 2018). In order to solving that issue Mohammad Ali khokon’s strategy was to focus on
one aspect of the task at a time, instead of looking at it in its totality. He made a list of every
step. At first he consulted with his personal lawyer. Furthermore he also consulted with a Justice
and Attorney General Friend. At this point Shahidul Haq Jamal came to Mohammad Ali khokon
with his lawyer and got into an argument about the property. Finally he successfully explained
his ownership of the property to Mr. Jamal and rescued the property. Before going to the
argument he analyzed all the papers and figured out that Mr. Jamal had no legal right to the
property.
The tools he found useful to manage this stressful situation was knowing how to think and
resolve problems resourcefully. Being determined and purpose oriented (Lung, 2018).

References

Feasibility & Comparison of available alternatives of gas as captive power generation source for
Textile Industries. (2010). Retrieved from https://www.textiletoday.com.bd/feasibility-
comparison-of-available-alternatives-of-gas-as-captive-power-generation-source-for-textile-
industries/

Lung, H. (2018). Entrepreneur Stories of Struggle and Success: 7 Founders Tell All. Retrieved
from https://www.entrepreneur.com/article/299214

National Institute of Textile Engineering & Research. (2018). Retrieved from

http://www.niter.edu.bd/index.php/12-page?start=8

Our government should impose anti-dumping law to protect our local spinning industry….
(2018). Retrieved from https://www.textiletoday.com.bd/government-impose-anti-dumping-law-
protect-local-spinning-industry/