Rahul Gandhi on India Inc - Praises skill to thrive in complexity but wants a better system for working with government
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Volume 10 | Issue 5 | May 2013
Rahul Gandhi
on India Inc.
Praises skill to thrive in
complexity but wants a
better system for working
with government
Making Learning Simple Gen. Ray on Vinita Bali on Mantras for Successful
Krishna Kumar of Sushil Mantri Employer Brands Expat Career
Simplilearn
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ORGANISED BY PROMOTED BY MEDIA PARTNERS PREVIOUS SPONSORS, SUPPORTERS & EXHIBITORS
Content
CoverStory 5
Volume 10 - Issue 5 | May 2013
Mission: To enable engaging conversations 16
through fresh insights and perspectives
Product Brands and
Employer Brands
Editor
Benedict Paramanand
are Alike
Publisher 17
Romi Malhotra
Product Manager vs.
Contributing Editor Entrepreneur
Sharmila Chand, Delhi
Editor - Sustainability 18
Sangeeta Mansur Team Leaders’ Aide
Assistant Editor Rahul Gandhi @ CII
Suchitra Jayaprabhu
Contributing Writer
Complexity is India’s Spirituality 19
Suhruda Kulkarni, Pune Strength
Support
Sanjeev Kumar, Delhi
Trends 7
Illustrator
Neetu Singh Market Myopia: Blame the
SWOT!
by Verne Harnish
Editorial Advisors
Ramesh Ramanathan, Founder, Janaagraha
DeanTalk 9
Harish Bijoor, CEO, Harish Bijoor Consults
Rishikesha T. Krishnan, Faculty, IIM, Bengaluru The Making of a Good What Pournami Can
Rajeev Gowda, Faculty, IIM, Bangalore Executive Do to You
Jessie Paul, MD, Paul Writer by Dr. Sanjay Mode by Sadguru
Advisor 10 20
Ranganath Iyengar,
GameChangers AuthorSpeak
Partner, Strategic Interventions Making Mantras for
Ravi Shankar, Learning Successful
Media Consultant Simple Expat Career
Krishna Kumar Stefano Pelle
Letters and Article Submission
benedict@managementnext.com
TechTalk 12
Advertising BookShelf 21
www.managementnext.com/advertise Social CRM – Unplugged and
+91 80 4171 4161 People Centric!
by Ranganath Iyengar
Design
www.efilos.com
CEOSpeak 13 23
Entrepreneur + Leader = OffBeat
Information in this publication is drawn from a variety of sources,
including published reports, interviews with practicing managers, Good Businessman Boman Irani:
academia and consultants. While doing so utmost importance is
given to authenticity. ‘An Actor
Printed, published and owned ManagamentNext Media &
SustainabilityTalk 14
Has to Feel
Publications LLP and printed at Rukmini Prakashana & Mudarana,
38, Behind Modi Hospital, Nagapur, Bangalore - 560 086 and
The Tata Chemicals’ Recipe Unfulfilled’
published at Bangalore. Editor - Benedict Paramanand, #2,
for Creating Sustainable
Bilden Park, G.M. Palya, Bangalore - 560 075.
Value
www.managementnext.com Dr. Aarti Sharma Events 25
4
© ManagamentNext Media & Publication LLP ManagementNext | May 2013
CoverStory
Rahul Gandhi @ CII
Complexity is India’s Strength
Rahul Gandhi’s speech at the CII Summit on 04 April, 2013 in Delhi was akin to that of a CEO-in-
waiting addressing his executives. Unfortunately, the media focused on two imageries – ‘one man on a
horse cannot solve India’s problems’ and ‘honeycomb’ and ignored the other more relevant stuff in his
session. ManagementNext looks at Mr. Gandhi’s Q & A session to draw a few insights which have the
potential of accelerating India’s transformation.
M
r. Gandhi may not be much of b. A sound structure for industry-
“If you can thrive an orator but he made it up with government dialogue
some interesting insights on the c. How India’s ‘complexity’ could become
here and build current political and systemic challenges its biggest asset
facing India. His analysis was refreshing
here like all of you and were backed by action plans. The The emergence of third factor in
talk’s larger purpose appeared to offer Indian politics
have done, I am not the Indian industry a new boost of self- To an observation on how dissonance
worried. You can confidence. He addressed three themes: in the centre-state relationship is
hurting business, Mr. Gandhi said: “The
do it on the moon.” a. Why the political system is clogged and legislative engine in India is basically run
a possible solution by 5,000 people – over 4,000 MLAs,
ManagementNext | May 2013 5
600-700 MPs. How many people do corruption.” You open this thing out,
you think choose these legislators? In large numbers of your problems will be He said people
the whole country including the BJP, the fixed far faraway by lower level people,”
Congress, and others would be between he emphasized. on the developed
200 and 300 ‘party ‘leaders’. So how can
you talk about a state- center relation, Industry voice in government markets such as US
if only 200 people are defining Vidhan Mr. Gandhi felt the industry bodies in
Sabhas and Lok Sabhas?” Mr. Gandhi India are yet to build deep partnership
and Europe have
said he is working on institutionalizing with the government. “We have not built been trained to
a system similar to the primaries in the the systems that actually integrate voice.
United States – that elect leaders within Tell me something, is there a systematic keep things simple.
the party who then go and seek mass way for the voice of business to come
mandate. This system, he believes, will into government. Not just I am a friend In India nothing is
give more voice to the new and powerful of Montek (Montek Singh Aluwalia,
third structure. Chairman, Planning Commission) or I
simple. “I will tell
know Montek, but a systematic structural you who will win,
He said current dysfunctionality is way for you to say, this is what we think,
because the system is clogged. Senior this is what should happen. Is there such you will win!”
leaders shouldn’t be dealing with most a system? In the political machine, in
of the issues they do now. He said a the government machine, does such a
strong third force has emerged in the system exist?”
country – of village heads – and they are have done, I am not worried, you can do it
demanding decision-making powers. Embrace complexity on the moon.”
Because this is not happening, and “We are actually much more powerful
senior leaders and MPs are expected to than we think we are. The West looks “So that is the strength of India, it is a
take small decisions, the system has got at us and says give us simple answers. completely different system than the
clogged. “If you open out the value chain Boss, our environment is not simple; American or Chinese. It is a decentralized
most of your problems will be solved,” we cannot give you simple answers.” system and its power is soft, unheard,
he said. The clash of interest at all levels As the world is getting complex, India is unseen, but it’s there. Embrace the
is imposing huge costs and “we call it ready because we are very well trained complexity of this country.”
to handle it. “This is what I see as our
strength.” Mr. Gandhi gave beehive as Mr. Gandhi offered to interact more
an analogy for India and not that of an with the industry to build partnership
“So that is the elephant. He told business leaders: with business, which did receive some
“What is happening is all of you are applause. If openness is the credo
strength of India, masters of complexity; you understand Mr. Gandhi is promoting, then future
complexity and you are entering a interactions should be more open, not
it is a completely century of complexity. Simple answers in stage-managed like this one.
a connected world will not work.”
different system
than the American He said people on the developed http://www.youtube.com/
markets such as US and Europe have watch?v=kLNGqk4SfUM
or Chinese. It is been trained to keep things simple. In
India nothing is simple. “I will tell you who
a decentralized will win, you will win!”
Read
system and its Mr. Gandhi said he was under no illusion
power is soft, that things have to improve a lot in India
especially infrastructure. “A lot of the times
unheard, unseen, we get worked up and say you know why
this thing is not working. There are a lot of India’s First
but it’s there. things that we need to fix, structural things, eMagazine on
highways, things are slow. We need to
Embrace the speed them up. It’s not good enough to Sustainability
complexity of this say if its complex we can’t do anything,
no, you have to push the envelope. There
country.” is no better training than this, and if you
sustainabilitynext.in
can thrive here and build here like all of you
6 ManagementNext | May 2013
Trends
Market Myopia: Blame the SWOT!
by Verne Harnish
W
e’ve observed for decades focus, the SWOT isn’t the right tool to The strategic planning process comprises
how market-leading firms spot the trends from other industries and two distinct activities: strategic thinking
eventually fall behind startups distant markets that CEOs need to factor and execution planning. Strategic thinking
because they just couldn’t see the future, into their plans. is coming up with a few big-picture ideas.
in what Harvard Business School Professor Execution planning is figuring out how to
Clayton Christenson labeled the innovator’s I don’t want to throw the SWOT away. It make them happen.
dilemma. still has its place in the strategic planning
process. It’s an excellent tool for gathering The traditional SWOT is a great tool for
So why do leaders miss seeing sweeping ideas and input from middle managers execution planning - the focus of middle
global trends that are about to broadside who are more internally focused and management - resulting in a laundry list
them? I put a big part of the blame on the closer to the day to day operations of an of accolades for successful endeavors
standard SWOT analysis used in strategic organization. and planned fixes. However, for the senior
planning - the age old tool used to identify team, the SWOT can be a trap. It tends
an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, SWT Instead to pull executives down into operational
Opportunities and Threats. It’s time to issues, distracting them from the much
update this methodology.
For senior leaders I propose bigger forces around the globe that can
replacing the SWOT with the take the company by surprise if they are
“Inside/Industry Myopia” SWT - an updated approach not prepared.
Almost by definition, the SWOT process
that identifies inherent
drives leaders to look inward at both Inherent Strengths and Weaknesses
their company and industry challenges, Strengths and Weaknesses To do the right kind of strategic thinking,
creating what I term “inside/industry within the firm while exploring the senior leadership team needs to use
myopia.” While helping executives see broader external Trends the SWT. What’s different about it? In the
the forest and the trees, it tends to SWT, senior leaders do a deeper dive - and
lead them to forget that there’s a world beyond their own industry or face the brutal facts of their reality, as Jim
outside the forest. With this introspective geography. Collins puts it so well. They need to call out
ManagementNext | May 2013 7
inherent weaknesses that will likely never process is less about changing them school for the future. One question we’re
change -- so they can say no to situations and more about playing the hand considering: How is robotics changing
that would require the organization to be the firm was dealt. the very nature of work? And how will that
strong in those areas. affect our students?
Trends
For instance, I’m leading the five-year Instead of sizing up a company’s Mining All Levels
strategic planning process for Ben immediate opportunities and threats, as To feed the strategic planning process
Franklin International School, which my they typically do in a SWOT, the senior properly, the key is using different
children attend. It will always lack a large team should rise above this and look at techniques to mine ideas from all levels of
corporate or government base from the major trends - significant changes the organization. From frontline employees,
which to draw funds and students, given in technology, distribution, product ask one simple question: “What should the
its location in Barcelona rather innovation, markets, consumers, and organization start, stop, and keep doing?”
than Madrid. society around the world that might From middle management, require a
shake up not only the business but the standard SWOT.
At the same time, leaders need to be entire industry.
crystal clear on the inherent strengths or And demand that the senior team to
core competencies of the organization that Forget about the competitor down the go deeper and broader using the SWT.
have been the source of its success. In the street. Is there a company on the other Knowing what trends are going to shake
school’s case, its fashionable location has side of the globe that’s going to put you up your industry - and having a plan for
continually driven enrollment from Silicon out of business? Is there a new technology dealing with them - will help you stay
Valley entrepreneurs, helping it thrive during coming onto the startup scene that could ahead of the competition - and sniff out
one of the worst economic periods in change the way all companies must do new rivals who want to take over your turf
Spain’s history. business overnight? while you can still do something about it.
An organization has the same strengths Since some of the students at our school
and weaknesses as an individual’s, which won’t be in the workforce for more than a
tend to be baked in by age five. So the decade, we’re looking at positioning the https://www.gazelles.com
Relead is a unique week-long international
leadership program being organized in
collaboration with IIM Bangalore.
www.re-lead.org
Conceptualized by The Blue Ribbon Movement, a social enterprise
29 May – 5 June 2013 based out of Mumbai. The Program aims to develop skills for ‘new
Bangalore, India. leadership for a new world’ - through a combination of expert
workshops, simulations, inspirational interactions and visits.
Relead is open to everyone from any background in the age group
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Applications are now open.
Dates: 29th May 2013 – 5th June 2013
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School
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Initiated by Knowledge Partner Outreach Partners
8 ManagementNext | May 2013
DeanTalk
The Making of a Good executive
Dr. Sanjay Mode, Senior Dean, Lovely Professional University, on best practices during the build up
to a successful career and after
R
ecruiters are known to seek business school is just the beginning. The Post MBA learning crucial
good management graduates for first steps are taken during teenage years Once a student has graduated
various positions. That explains the when basic skills in management such as education does not end. Students
popularity of management programs in the effective communication, analytical and have to remain in a learning mode –
last few decades. managerial aptitude are honed. Time and learning every day from daily
people management skills too are shaped experiences. It is equally essential to
The big question is whether an MBA early on. ensure that one does not lose touch
degree or an equivalent academic program with formal learning and keeps oneself
is a sure gate pass to a successful and Admission to a good MBA institute updated with new developments.
bright career ahead? If you see across helps. Business school with good Participation in management programs,
the sea of management graduates and placements capability helps too. But attending seminars/conclaves and
postgraduates passing out from various good placements are a result and not the enrolment to EDPs (Executive Development
Universities, the answer is an emphatic cause of all the good that is associated Programs) certainly give a management
NO. Just getting a management degree is with a superior institution. What makes professional an edge.
not enough; what matters is from where; a good business school is its high
what exposure you received to the industry class faculty and robust and modern Learning is a continuous process
and who mentored you. infrastructure. Besides, it is worth and the same applies to a manager.
mentioning that the campus culture of Make good use of time, exhibit an
Importance of good practices the business school has a lot of bearing eagerness to learn new things
in school on the quality of talent enhancement. and develop an appetite to improvise
The foundations of a promising career in What’s also critical is a learning culture yourself. All this will ensure that you will
management are laid very early during in the campus and exposure through be a front runner in any position – a junior
childhood. Admission to a reputed conclaves, seminars and guest lectures. executive or a CEO.
ManagementNext | May 2013 9
GameChangers
Making Learning Simple
In India, a skill certificate today
from a credible agency is
more valuable than a degree
certificate from a university
for a lot of people. It is also
a passport to good jobs and
global opportunities and
promises a premium salary.
Ease of learning, ease of paying
and credibility of certificate
issuers are crucial differentiators
between a few players in
the market. Simplilearn, a
new entrant in this market,
is disrupting the way online
education is delivered.
Simplilearn won the TiE Lumis
Excellence award in 2012.
Currently, it is training 3,000
people and plans to take this
number to 7,000 to 8,000
professionals a month by
March 2014. Krishna Kumar,
founder of Simplilearn, shares
his experience and the future
challenges in conversation with
Benedict Paramanand, Editor
of ManagementNext
I s your certification for professionals
or is it like a finishing school?
Anyone who has two or three years of
The courses are flexible - either you
can do online, 1-2-3 months
subscription or you can do a mix of
What is your USP?
Is it convenience, price, credibility
or all of them?
experience can use our service. We online and classroom. We call Before we came into picture three
focus on project management, HR, sales, them blended courses. There are years back, professional training
customer service, IT security, finance, multiple options available depending upon used to take place primarily in a
quality, among others. your learning ability, speed or classroom. There was no concept of
time available. courseware as such. It was based more
We are focusing on skills which are global on the trainer - I am a great trainer,
in nature. Once you acquire them you can Who gives these certificates? so you attend my course - types. We
use it in global markets anywhere. You get For different courses there are different brought in the concept of courseware
the same credentials whether you do it in bodies. They are both Indian and and at the same time, it is in line with
India or in the US. internationally well-known bodies. users’ schedule.
10 ManagementNext | May 2013Is good faculty a challenge? Yes. All the courses are owned by us,
We are changing this paradigm. If you
look at our website nowhere we talk about What’s unique? created by us, the certification body lays
out the syllabus and they have a guide
faculty, yet, we train maximum number of which talks about how the topic needs to
participants in the country. We say - here’s • High quality, be approached; the entire courseware is
a course, you can look at our sample done by us. That takes time; it takes us six
courseware, get free access to it for some updated online months to do a decent courseware.
time, try our tests to see how well prepared courseware
you are, get your doubts clarified whenever When you say we are better what do
you want. In a way, we are saying that
faculty is not important.
• Ease of use you mean?
Education is a very subjective area. Look
Interesting model! Do you use largely
• Certification at the competitors, if they do training,
the kind of courseware they talk about
legacy content or live video-based process simple is a book, but there is no audio video
classes? content to support that, there are no
We don’t do video, we create courses • Skills for global online practice tests, there is no analysis.
for online delivery, we design the course The moment users subscribe to us, their
ourselves so that it can be delivered market learning process starts. The moment
online. Suppose some concept has to be they swipe their credit card, they get
taught, we create courseware on how to • Good spread of access to courseware. The courses are
introduce the concept. We are focused on
professional certification. Our focus is on
offering also designed keeping no prerequisites
in mind.
people who have a job.
• Courseware on What’s your pricing strategy?
We are looking at porting these courses on mobile We are not cheap. We could be only 10
mobile. We are looking at Android and IOS percent cheaper than our competitors.
systems. • Money-back People are not so bothered about price;
first they want to get convinced about the
How expensive? guarantee quality.
There isn’t much of a difference in pricing,
perhaps we could be cheaper by 10 What does moving up the value chain
percent compared with conventional create a system to test that. This will help mean for you?
course providers. We are not selling it on in the certification process fine tuned to the To continuously improve our courseware.
price, it’s more of an integrated model, Indian context. The Indian industry should If our customers take even one course
classroom is the starting point and then help in setting a basic skill standard. from us, we treat them as our partner for
you complete the entire training online. life. We will increase our course catalogue
There is a relationship angle to it; there is Give me the big picture, what’s exponentially.
a commitment that we will support in all exciting?
possible ways with the objective that the We are already quite big in India in terms of How deep is the learning here for your
candidate clears the exam. We also offer number of users. We are going after even candidates? Is it just enough to do the
100 per cent money back guarantee. So bigger players like Skillsoft. They are quite work or is it also closer to knowledge
far hardly anyone has asked for it. old, sitting on legacy data, courses and management?
dated technology. We are looking at all the It’s more practical as it is offered by
What are the new areas that you will course offering from a fresh perspective. professional bodies. It is more on learning
be focusing on? Our ability to design a better product the tricks of the trade, knowing the best
We started cloud computing recently. It’s compared is quite high. Interestingly, we practices and what to do in a particular
popular now. were not the first ones to provide these scenario.
courses, yet, we offer a better experience
Certification challenges in India and several value adds. How do you get your courseware?
Currently, we are affiliated with not-for-profit We have a framework for developing
bodies. Most of them are US or UK based. What are the challenges for your a course; we take raw content in a
So when they define their skill requirement growth? particular form so that we can work on
it is more aligned to their geography and We have to expand beyond India, it further. We rely on global sourcing for
their local market needs. especially to the US market. Being relevant content. Creating a good course takes
to that market will be a challenge. time; I think that’s our differentiator. Most
In India we need the government to set up other courses just put out PPT and call it
a body that can clearly identify competency You don’t have IP on any of your online course. We write the entire
standards needed for a particular job and content? story board.
ManagementNext | May 2013 11TechTalk
Social CRM – Unplugged
and People Centric!
By Ranganath Iyengar
C
RM had humble beginnings with Social CRM manages the data within the In simple terms, brands today are
activities like database marketing company ecosystem and the external more about trust and value and
for tracking sales transactions to environment seamlessly and empowers a lot of that comes from how customers
customers. CRM then evolved into serving people within and customers outside. Most are engaged and memorable
needs of Marketing and Customer Service important it is extremely cost effective to experiences created.
teams as it provided a range of data for engage with customer volumes in a scaled
marketers and customer service managers up business. Way forward
in the form of trends, patterns for product/ Social media transactions are estimated
service usage, consumer behavior etc. Social CRM players at a couple of billion every 24 hours.
As per Gartner, players like Jive, Lithium Social media is often controversial and
The recent focus on Sales, Social media, and Salesforce are viewed as leaders, provocative – however, it has brought
Analytics and Big data has brought back Bazaarvoice and Oracle as Challengers, in a sense of responsibility and
a lot of focus on how CRM systems are Attensity and Telligent as visionaries accountability to customers in general
being used more actively. Social CRM sits and niche players like Kana, Artisan, and people in particular.
at the convergence of such technologies. Questback, Demand media, Visible
technologies, Get Satisfaction and Visible Some of the interesting aspects to watch
What is Social CRM? Technologies complete the picture. are how brands use these for advocacy,
As Social media started getting used rewarding customers, giving marketing
more extensively, it was often difficult Social CRM today is all about getting to activities a facelift, promoting innovation,
to assimilate data related to different know people, markets and companies; helping sales people connect with
tools and platforms and use it efficiently. collaborating with them; engaging and customers in new ways, better customer
Social CRM evolved to help manage monitoring social media; gathering social engagement and bringing down negative
social media interactions around and usage analytics which give pointers to brand sentiments– in essence improve any
products, customers and people as it behaviors, enabling sales teams; feedback activity that calls for people engagement
provided a process oriented and efficient management; content management etc. – some of the companies who have
way to engage people. Social CRM benefitted are Hyundai India, Starbucks,
combines collaborative/analytical tools, Contrarian thinking MTS India, Vodafone India, Flipkart, Airtel,
social networking/media and customer To really leverage Social CRM, thinking ICICI Bank, Argos, eBay etc.
engagement/feedback software. contrarian is about using Social CRM in the
office for employee engagement, creating
Why do we need it? policies that allow the company to be more Ranga is a Senior Industry Advisor,
Since a lot of product / service AND transparent, creating the bandwidth to Entrepreneur, Business Coach, Mentor,
customer experiences are managed online, seriously engage with customers beyond Researcher and Sustainability expert
the entire continuum of marketing activity the sale, creating channels for capturing with 26+ years of industry experience.
resulting into sale and further into customer voice of customer and using feedback from He engages with mid to large corporates
engagement across the life cycle of the multiple channels into better products, across select industry vertical.
product is effectively bridged by Social CRM. services and experience. ranga@strategicin.in.
12 ManagementNext | May 2013CEOSpeak
achieve that goal. If there is a single factor
responsible for Indus Bangalore being the
SUSHIL MANTRI
number one school in the country and for
the other two schools in Hyderabad and
Circa 2006. Mantri Developers
is the cynosure of all eyes after
BIG BETS, BIG REWARDS
Pune doing so well in so short a span of
Morgan Stanley’s 300 crore
investment in the firm and billion
Unusual Business time, it valuation.
dollar is because of the autonomy he
Lessons from My Journey
gives us. And autonomy to people who are
Circa 2012. Mantri Developers is
Written With
Benedict Paramanand capable,
numbered who top
among India’s don’t
real have to look over their
shoulders and say
estate firms famous for its delivery,
quality of work and ethics in a
what do we do now?
A primer for budding entrepreneurs
and all those who seek to capitalize
on the India growth story. It’s a great trait of
market where real estate firms are
viewed with much suspicion.
a 21st Century leader.
K V Kamath, Chairman ICICI Bank
and Chairman Infosys Ltd
The third is his ability to operate
What is the Mantri story? How
does a man from Pune start from
through uncertainty and chaos. I think
scratch in Bangalore and build
in real estate, it’s all about the ability to
a billion-dollar firm braving
customer cynicism, government
operate through ambiguity, uncertainty
hostility and financial ups and
downs? Find out about all this
and chaos. This is where I find Mr.
and more....
Lt. General Arjun Ray (retired) is
Mantri displaying these tremendous
any hardcore army man with a
competencies. He is very comfortable
big heart. In his last assignment,
with ambiguity; he thrives in chaos;
he commanded the newly raised
his ability to turn disadvantage into
14 Corps in Ladakh. His success
advantage, in other words, looking for
I
in forestalling insurgency in the
n my eyes, Sushil Mantri (one of the opportunity when things go wrong.
region by winning over alienated
four promoters of Indus Trust and MD
communities into the nation's
of Mantri Developers) is a man who Sushil Mantri’s journey from 20,000
mainstream has been nationally
combines leadership and entrepreneurship dollars to 1 billion dollars in just about 14
and internationally acclaimed.
well. This is like two sides of the same coin years is a story of a man who has walked
which is generally a very rare attribute. down the road armed with nothing but
In recognition of his services in
Reading this very lucidly written book, ‘Big his vision. Against impossible odds it’s a
nation-building, he was awarded
Bets, Big Rewards,’ two things stand out. story of risk taking, of vision, of creativity,
the Param Vashist Seva Medal,
of courage and I think the narrative which
the highest award in the armed
Sushil Mantri is endowed with three this book is all about is an inspiration for
forces for distinguished service.
competencies that are essential for a new- all of us.
His success story in change
age leader. In the Industrial Age thinking,
leadership has been selected as
people of ideas and people who executed I would strongly recommend this book. I
a case study for business and
these ideas were different. In the 21st have learnt a lot personally from this book,
management schools in India.
Century, we have to be an idea man and very simple ideas, very practical ideas
an action man rolled into one. You have about business and you don’t have to be
As CEO of the Indus Trust, he
to have the ability to come with ideas and a businessman to be able to understand
provides the vision and strategic
you got to have the power of execution to and implement his ideas. There are a lot
direction to Indus International
execute them yourself and I think that is of lessons for business and there are a
School in Bangalore, Hyderabad
where Sushil Mantri’s strength lies. lot of lessons for leadership, both are two
and Pune.
sides of the same coin. You can’t have
The second characteristic is that he is a big successful business; you can’t have ethical
His book ‘Peace is Everybody’s
picture man and he practices a directive business unless you are a great leader and
Business – Strategy for Conflict
style of leadership. My experience working a smart entrepreneur.
Prevention (Sage 2012) has been
with him is that he is very clear about his
well received.
mission, his goals and more than that, he Excerpts from Gen. Ray’s talk at the launch of
gives a lot of autonomy, and freedom to SUSHIL MANTRI - Big Bets, Big Rewards
ManagementNext | May 2013 13SustainabilityTalk
Tata Chemicals’ Recipe for
Creating Sustainable Value
Business innovation that has significant social impact and is
profitable at the same time is a dream blend very few companies
are able to achieve. There are some exceptional companies that
even do it repeatedly as if it is a habit. Tata Chemicals is one of
them.
The list is long. It began with iodized salt to address iodine
deficiency. It recently introduced fortified iron in Tata Salt to reduce
anaemia. Tata Chemicals also invented a nano-technology-driven
water purifier, an affordable and EPA-certified safe drinking water.
The once dry, barren, and poverty stricken Mithapur village in
Gujarat where the company started its operations, is now a vibrant
ecosystem with the company’s strategic business interventions.
Dr. Aarti Sharma caught up with Dr. Arup Basu, president of
Tata Chemicals’ new businesses and innovation centre, to further
understand how the company’s innovation culture has been built
around social issues. Dr. Basu said Tata Chemicals’ sustainability
consciousness towards communities has led to its dynamic
innovation culture.
Today, Tata Chemicals is the world’s second largest producer
Dr. Arup Basu
of soda ash with manufacturing facilities in Asia, Europe, North President of Tata Chemicals’ new business
America and Africa, with a turnover of Rs 13,800 crores. and innovation centre
Please tell us about the Tata the intersection of physics and chemistry. requirement is far lower and yet the
Chemicals’ Innovation Centre The second, biotechnology, is at the corresponding properties are far superior?
The Innovation Centre was set up during intersection of chemistry and biology. This doing more with less stems from the
the 2005-2006 period acknowledging reality that natural resources are scarce,
that the future would require us to focus How is nanotechnology adding value not abundant.
on sustainability, and use resources in a to your sustainability theme?
calibrated manner. We have to address We view nanotechnology as a platform Are concerns around resource
resource scarcity as more and more people to magnify and sometimes even modify constraints driving your sustainable
move up the prosperity curve. So, we set product attributes. We want to use it business innovation model?
up the innovation centre based on themes to improve product attributes such that Well, our choices are driven by this view.
of sustainability and green chemistry. one can do more with less. For example, When you look at Mithapur, we have
We recognized business potential in two how can we use smaller sized Titanium created a chemical complex which does
domains -first on the natural resources Dioxide or Zinc Oxide particles in industrial not create stress on fresh water which is
side, it was nanotechnology that lies at formulations such that the material scarce there. We don’t use ground water.
14 ManagementNext | May 2013We want our
community to use
fresh water to
meet their needs
rather than for our
industrial use. We
have introduced
rainwater
harvesting in the
community.
Is Tata Chemicals investing in
such practices to attain higher
reputation?
We don’t chase reputation. We chase what
we believe is the right and proper thing to
do. If we have a good reputation, that’s a
happy by-product. For us, it is about value.
What do we stand for? When a consumer
is buying something from us, it’s important
that the consumer knows what we stand
We want our community to use fresh When did sustainability for. So, if you will take our salt, you will
water to meet their needs rather than for consciousness arise within Tata have no issue with our Iodine content. Our
our industrial use. We have introduced Chemicals? product value proposition is linked to our
rainwater harvesting in the community. And It existed since inception. We intuitively company value proposition and what we
to meet our business needs, we take sea understand sustainability. We have a stand for. This relationship has to endure
water, reuse and recycle it, and reduce cement plant whose raw material is a for any business to be sustainable.
its usage. That way, we earn the right to solid waste of our soda ash process. We
co-exist. are not a cement company, but we run
the cement plant. We take a holistic, life
cycle view of operations and products,
and work towards zero waste. Our first
We don’t chase instinct is to evaluate potential of any
by-product as a raw material for another
reputation. We product.
chase what we But why invest corporate resources
on a waste? Why diversify in an area
believe is the right which is not the core focus of your
business?
and proper thing Many people looked at our strategy and
said you should not be in cement when
to do. If we have a you are a chemical company. After all,
we are known as Tata Chemicals! It’s
good reputation, perfectly fair thinking from a blinkered Dr. Aarti Sharma is an international
strategy perspective. However, on corporate sustainability and sustainable
that’s a happy adopting a sustainability lens, a different development strategist. She is the
view emerges. For us, the cement plant founder of Sustainable Value Alliance
by-product. is a vehicle to run a cleaner ship and so sustainablevaluealliance.org
it matters. aarti@sustainablevaluealliance.org
ManagementNext | May 2013 15Product Brands and
infectious, in a very favorable manner
or that energy can be tedious and tiring
in another manner. I do believe that in
survey after survey when you look at great
Employer Brands brands, when you look at great individuals
and great companies there is one thing
that distinguishes them and that is the
are Alike
pursuit of excellence in what they choose
to do. And if you have employees buy into
that whole concept, whole philosophy
that entire belief of excellence this simply
means that I will do better than what my
peer group is doing every day. I am going
to bring to my work that positive energy
that distinguishes me, differentiates me,
and makes me distinctive amongst other
options that people have to choose from.
Employee democracy
I do believe that we live in a way in a
consumer democracy and certainly in
an employee democracy when it comes
to employer brands. So what do I mean
by that? In a democracy each one of
us can choose to be where you want
to be. None of us is forced to be in a
position where we don’t want to be.
And products are successful because
they have consumers who buy them
Vinita Bali, MD, Britannia Industries
every time they want to experience
that category and they buy them in
Excerpts from her keynote at Randstad Award Ceremony preference to any other alternatives
that are available. Equally employer
M
y background is in marketing as people interacting with our peers, brands are successful when consumers
and so I always think in terms managers, as people in whom other choose to be part of your company as
of brands and markets and people in the organization look up to, compared with other alternatives. And
target audience. In a way there is very what becomes absolutely clear is that as we know that employer brands are
little difference between product brands the employer brand is nothing but the not necessarily those companies that
and employer brand. There’s also a very sum total of experiences all of us have play the balance.
big point of contrast. As the employer about our company each day . When
brand our target audience, which is our those experiences add up to something There are some people who are
employees, actually experiences us every that is worthwhile, something which is motivated primarily by money and
day and experiences us repeatedly. They enriching, and when those experiences they want to make money very fast
experience us in many multi-faceted culminate in each one of us in building and each of us as employers have to
ways. All of us represent some part of the our own brand equity, we give out our determine whether those are the types
employer brand. best. At the end of the day the company of people we want in our company or do
performance is nothing but the sum total we want to create an environment that
One of the things that we say in of the performance of people who work in attracts good, smart people, that attracts
Britannia is, at the end of the day that company. people who have a vested interest in
people are responsible for people, creating success in the company in
HR is not responsible for people. Each of us brings certain energy to what which they work but also that has people
I think if we internalize that as managers, we do, that energy can be positive, who work with the heart. That has people
16 ManagementNext | May 2013who bring to their place of work not all periods of time is successful. Any have people who believe in the purpose
just their mind or intellect but also their successful company has seen an equally of the company, who bring their best to
compassion, their understanding, their aggressive competitor, has seen hard work every day, create an environment
heart. Their belief that each one of us times, has seen the rough with the where people do their best work. Of
individually cannot do what all of us can smooth but what distinguishes successful course we are dealing with a situation
do together. companies is that at times of stress the where people have different demands,
values of the company are not sacrificed, some of us want to be in an organization
All of us have responsibility because many behaviors of leadership are not sacrificed where we want to learn, grow and
people in our companies are looking to and the positivity and the positive energy contribute. Others want to come in make
us for inspiration, motivation. I think it is that is required to turn a company around as much money as they can as quickly
our responsibility to demonstrate through is never sacrificed. as possible and go out and do something
our behavior consistently the values of the else. There is no value judgment. The
employer brand we represent. None of us can guarantee any of important thing is to recognize as the
our employees a smooth ride. But employer what kind of employee that you
Employees touch everything a company I think all of us can guarantee want to attract.
touches. If you are a happy employee no fairness, equity that we bring to the
matter who you are, a receptionist or the company, values that we live by and At the end of the day, a brand is nothing
CEO, a marketing head, supply chain head most important the character of the but a sum total of images, but most of all
it does not matter – you are representing employer brand we want to create. its experiences that are communicated
the values and behaviors of the employer At the end of the day, people are attracted by that brand whether that brand is a
brand. Those then get communicated to people of character, authenticity, people company, product, service, government,
very loudly and clearly not just to other who are genuine, who in the midst of every entity that we deal with is a brand
employees but also to all the stakeholders, uncertainty, tough economic environments and every brand has a reputation, history
vendors, suppliers and competitors. that they are going through have belief in and a future that it is going to create. It’s
people. important to understand the brand you
In times of stress… represent, the brand all of us represent and
I don’t know of any company that at Companies are successful because they the brand you want to create.
Product Manager vs. Entrepreneur
P
roduct Management has many spend more time internal to the company
definitions but most experts will compared to an entrepreneur who might
agree that it’s essentially the be completely customer/market focused.
art and science of delivering delightful Funded start-ups have boards to answer to
solutions to real market problems and but time investments are lower.
doing it rather predictably.
Plumber vs. Oil Digger: As a PM you
A product manager (PM) is supposed to have potentially lots of resources that one
get customer insights; validate a proposed needs to be aware of and know how to
solution; develop a business/monetization leverage (existing customers, brand, sales
model; develop specifications/requirements force, budgets etc.). So the key thing
for teams to build a delighting solution here is to ‘connect’ the right pipes in the
and help launch and figure out the go-to- organization so oil falls in your bucket as
market strategy. opposed to dig for oil (find early adopters,
investors etc.)
So, how is PM different from an
entrepreneur? Here is my take on how Risk Appetite: Emotionally a PM might be
Prof. Rahul Abhyankar, PMs need slightly different skills than start- less attached to the business as personal
up entrepreneurs. wealth is not at stake (reputation is on the
director at ICPM Programs line though!). A good PM should have the
at the Institute of Product Leadership Skills: Conflict management, right passion for the product and a good
Leadership, offers insights stakeholder management, influence entrepreneur knows when to quit and pivot
to this year’s graduating building. PMs have to influence multiple based on market feedback.
stakeholders for decision making and
class on the theme ‘Product leadership skills are more critical. While there are differences in skill sets, the
Management - Is it more of a end goal for both seems to be aligned on
mindset than a skill set?.’ Internal vs. External: PMs have to delivering value.
ManagementNext | May 2013 17ProducThinking
Team Leaders’ Aide
By Ravi Venkatesam, MD, OnTrac
O
ne of the biggest challenges in the Sri Lanka, etc. Through our certification activities on a daily basis. It provides them
BPO industry is the performance programs, we have upskilled over 50,000 with objective performance information to
of team leaders (also known as team leaders. conduct deep and meaningful operations
supervisors). Every BPO company employs reviews with their team leaders. It captures
team leaders with the expectation that they Using our insights and expertise in the information about team leaders’ critical
perform certain managerial activities. But industry, we have created Starworks, which operational activities, quantifies them,
this is easier said than done because of is an innovative Supervisor Management and makes them visible to all managers,
two reasons. Software that helps BPO team leaders stay through a visual dashboard. This means
organized in their work. It helps them plan operations leaders can proactively prevent
a. Team leaders have numerous tasks and track their managerial activities through performance problems by detecting areas
that they need to get done. Therefore, a visual dashboard, so that they are able to where team leaders need help.
it is imperative that they stay organized. get all their tasks done on time.
However, team leaders find it very With a combination of these functionalities,
challenging to stay organized because Starworks also helps operations leaders Starworks provides BPO companies with
of a lack of experience in handling track and monitor their team leaders’ powerful tools to manage operations by
multiple tasks. Also, they are usually ensuring that their team leaders are doing
not provided with sufficient tools for this the right things at the right time.
purpose. Starworks can
Starworks can work for other fields as well.
b. Managers and process heads do not work for other However, it has been contextualized to the
have visibility into the team leaders' BPO industry. In the future we could launch
activities. Without any data relating
fields as well. other versions for other industries.
to their activities, it is very difficult for However, it has
managers to help team leaders get We offer a Saas model. We charge based
their jobs done. Considering the above been contextualized on the number of team leaders using the
challenges, we created Starworks. to the BPO industry. software. Patenting of software products,
especially in the Saas environment where
Our company, OnTrac, is a leading global In the future changes can be made almost on a daily
provider of consulting services, training basis, is very challenging. At present, one
we could launch
and software in the area of BPO operations can only have a copyright on products,
management for mission critical roles in other versions but when changes are made frequently, it
the BPO industry. We have worked with becomes difficult to maintain the copyright.
over 100 companies in 8 countries such
for other industries Therefore, we have decided to keep the
as China, Canada, Philippines, Malaysia, software proprietary for the present time.
18 ManagementNext | May 2013Spirituality
What Pournami Can Do to You
by Sadguru
O
n a Pournami some 2500 years Gautama has left an unchangeable
ago, something very tremendous impression on the world. In his own silent
happened after which the world way, he changed the world forever. He
has never remained the same. After almost brought about a change in the world on
eight years of intense meditation, Gautama the spiritual path. He brought about a energy to go into a natural upsurge
Siddhartha had become very weak. His different quality in the whole aspect of of upward movement. Within you, the
body was destroyed almost to a point of man’s aspiration to seek something higher. blood and the prana – the fundamental
death. At this time, he came to the river That man’s flowering on that full moon day life energies, flow in a different way
Niranjana, which was actually just a large 2500 years ago has made a significant because the vibrations have changed.
stream with knee-high water flowing swiftly. change for every spiritual seeker all over So just as the tides rise more on that
He tried to cross the river, but halfway the world, whoever they are. t. A person night because the gravitational pull of
across, he was sowas so physically weak who grows on the spiritual path cannot the moon is working on the water more
that he could not take one more step. But ignore Gautama. than on other nights, your blood is
he was not the kind to give up so he just also being pulled and the circulation of
held on to a dead branch that was there See more of you blood increases to your brain.
and just stood. Pournami is significant because there
is a certain aesthetic quality about it. When this upward movement happens,
It is said that he stood for many hours. Anything that you look at, if it is whatever is your quality can get enhanced.
We do not know whether he actually beautiful, your receptivity to that You may have heard that people who are
stood for many hours or a few moments object suddenly becomes a little a little off their mental balance will become
which seemed like hours in that state of more, isn’t it? Anything that you more imbalanced on those days because
weakness. But at that moment, he realized consider as ugly, the moment you look the upsurge in energy enhances whatever
that what he was seeking was after all at it, your receptivity to that just comes is your quality. If you are little imbalanced,
within himself, so why this entire struggle? down. So one thing is it has a certain it will make you more imbalanced. It is also
“All that is needed is absolute willingness, aesthetic quality about it, which doing the same to the other qualities in
and it is right here. Why am I searching definitely improves your receptivity. you, but most people may not be sensitive
around the world?” When he realized this, enough to notice it. If you are meditative,
he had that little extra ounce of energy to Another thing is, the planet has it makes you more meditative. If you are in
take that step, walk across the river and moved into a certain position with the love, it heightens it more. If you are in fear,
sit down under the now famous Bodhi moon. The vibration and the feel of it makes it more. Whatever is your quality, it
tree. He sat down with the determination the moon are very different when it enhances that.
that, “Unless the ultimate happens to is full than when it is in other states.
me, I will not move. Either I will get up as And the pull is also different. The So people on the spiritual path, if they
an Enlightened Being or I will die in this pull of the moon is working upon the are on the meditative path especially, it
posture.” And in a moment he was there, surface of the planet which is exposed is more conducive to meditate on those
because that is all it takes. All it takes is to the moon. When there is a natural nights because without an upsurge of
that it should become the only priority. pull like this, because your spine is energy, without a heightened sense
Then it is just one moment. vertical, there is a tendency for the of energy, there is no question of
awareness. What you call as awareness
will come naturally to you when you
have a heightened sense of energy in
your system. So make use of that night,
of that natural phenomenon which is
occurring. On this day it is like you have a
free ride of energy and awareness.
Sadhguru is a yogi, mystic and visionary,
and a prominent spiritual leader. An
author, poet, and internationally-renowned
speaker, Sadhguru’s wit and piercing logic
provoke and widen our perception of life.
www.ishafoundation.org
ManagementNext | May 2013 19AuthorSpeak
Mantras for Successful receiving frequent visits from close friends
from the home country and sharing with
them the peculiarities of the place where
Expat Career one lives and works.
It helps to decide on the final settling down
or “retirement” destination and building or
buying of a house in such place. However,
if the wish to end the expatriate life is
strong, it may become counterproductive
to remain in such status. Then, it becomes
necessary to agree with the employer or
at least state for oneself a definite date
when one would eventually go back to his
home country. Such a return may even be
a phased one, when for instance the family
moves back progressively and is followed
by the main earner only at a later stage.
Stay only till you feel
that you are still enjoying
the lifestyle and the
opportunities
How would you describe a typical
Stefano Pelle is a rare expat executive with rich experience across Indian expat – the funny side if
continents. He is an avid student of Economics, Political Science possible?
and Management with degrees from Insead and London School of Somebody with a box of curry and masalas
always in his suitcase! We know that
Economics. He teaches International Business in Rome and has
Indians are very particular about food and
authored two books – Understanding Emerging Markets: BRIC cannot do without the same. Whenever I
by Brick and his recent book When not in Rome don’t do as the used to visit Italy with Indian colleagues for
Romans do. Pelle chats with ManagementNext on various things more than two days they would go to have
dinner at least once in an Indian restaurant!
that interest expats
Jokes apart, Indian expats are usually
very versatile, adaptable and capable of
W hat’s your motivation for writing
the book When Not in Rome …..
My motivation to write is to share my
experiment, “culturally intelligent” and never
take anything for granted.
networking (particularly with their own
communities).
experience with others. I like the idea that Three suggestions to make expats You have successfully meshed
what I learn through my work and travel enjoy their job… between executive and teaching roles,
for many years and to several countries The great thing about the expatriate life is what’s the secret?
could be useful to somebody else. This the chance to learning continuously from I love my job but I also love to learn and
book is an intercultural trip across almost the environment around you. However, share. The interaction with the academic
two decades and dozens of countries. moving around often may, in the long term, world enriches me and provides a good
The message I try to leave to the reader is create the need of going back to one’s break from the business world. Dealing
that of the immense learning one can have origins or at least decide when and where with students forces me to be up to date
while working in many countries, more so the final settling down will happen. To and ready to be questioned without much
if these are emerging and fast changing those who start feeling the weight of such hesitation or reservation. I find that mixing
ones. an experience I would suggest they stay business with academics is a win-win for
only till they feel that they are still enjoying my work as well as for the students, since
Five suggestions for budding Indian the lifestyle and the opportunities. Ways very often traditional academic professors
expatriates? to mitigate such unusual living are more are too much of theory and much less of
Be open minded, curious, willing to frequent returns to the country of origin; practical reality.
20 ManagementNext | May 2013You can also read
