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BOOKS
Unusual
Suspects
Motives
for a new mind-set in corporate India
By
Jairam Ramesh
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Managing
Radical Change
By Sumantra Ghoshal, Gita Piramal, Christopher Bartlett
Penguin
Price: Rs 495
Pages: 400 |
Managing
Radical Change: What Indian Companies Must Do to Become World-Class
is a most lucidly written book. Occasionally it slips into management
jargon and theories that state the obvious in wordy management-speak.
But such instances are rare and this is a work that can be read and understood
by the lay person. Moreover, while most management books derive inspiration
from examples of companies like GE, ABB, Nokia, Motorola, Toyota and Canon,
this book draws on field research conducted in India on Indian companies
and Indian CEOs. This gives it a unique flavour.
The current
generation of corporate leaders in India, according to the trio of Sumantra
Ghoshal, Gita Piramal and Christopher Bartlett, are prisoners of the three-S
paradigm-crafting strategy, designing the structure to fit it, and locking
both in place with supporting systems.
This model
has no place for individual initiative or leadership. It stifles innovation
and discounts flexibility. After studying companies like Ranbaxy, Reliance,
Thermax, Wipro, Ispat International, Hindustan Lever, Bajaj Auto, Hero
Honda, HDFC, Wipro, HCL and Infosys, the authors advocate a three-P model
of management-purpose, process and people. They also believe that a commitment
to business excellence and the bottom line, must be accompanied by an
equally sustained and serious commitment to social welfare.
The examples
given by the authors, of successful companies and CEOs exemplify this
marriage. But there is a bit of an exaggeration here-not all the companies
and CEOs mentioned in the book are exemplars of "values" and
"ethics" and I am not sure what tangible value has been created
by some of these companies other than what is reflected in stock market
valuations. Nevertheless, the point that companies must always think of
their social legitimacy and credibility and give this as much priority
as improving performance is profound.
Ghoshal
and Bartlett are noted management gurus. Ghoshal is taking over as founding
dean of the Mckinsey-championed Indian School of Business at Hyderabad.
This will give him an opportunity to build on the work on which this book
is based and also in training a new cadre of management specialists to
look at Indian case material for both successes and failures.
Indeed,
there is much to learn from failure as well. Just four years ago, Arvind
Mills was being reckoned as a sure-shot winner, the Infosys of textiles
as it were. I wrote a piece in Business Today in mid-'95 in praise of
what Sanjay Lalbhai was attempting to do. But today it is struggling for
survival with not all of its travails being the outcome of the government's
anachronistic textile policy. There are other examples like Arvind. There
is also rich case material to be derived from our public sector where
we have had some outstanding successes, the elements of which can be taken
up by private companies as well.
The authors
also raise a larger issue. In an era of all-round institutional decay,
the business firm can show the way to regeneration by creating new value
for society.
Indian entrepreneurs
and managers must occupy pride of place in society and actively shape
the public agenda. But this can happen, say the authors, only if there
is a new mindset in corporate India.
The fact
that we have role models within the country should make this transformation
within the business community relatively easy. The more difficult part
is to apply the very same principles to the renewal of other public institutions
in the non-business arena.
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