Lessons Learned from Satyam

The media is overflowing with news on the Satyam fraud. How B Ramalinga Raju planned, controlled and innovated his managerial processes will go down as a classic case study on How to Fail in Business. Brand India has suffered. What is ironic is that Satyam was started by entrepreneurs who served as role models. The [...]

Volatile Times : Call for Agile Measures

If oil went from $ 65 to $ 145 and back to $ 40 in one year, similar changes happened in the prices of palm oil, iron ore, steel, etc. The threat of volatility is here to stay.  Volatility can be managed only with agility. Agility is primarily driven by a moving target, namely, changing [...]

Beyond Pink Slips and Yellow Cards – Intelligent Cost Reduction

I read in the morning newspaper that the pink slip is now a yellow card – the yellow card manifesting itself primarily as across-the-board salary cuts and accelerated consumption of leave. These measures will only delay the inevitable, if not supported by recession-proof actions. 2009 is going to be a challenge for the

Treat Your Workers With Dignity – The RATAN TATA Way

One of the first lessons I learnt from Dr JM Juran, in 1987, was “Treat your workers with dignity.” This management practice facilitates quality business results. In all the recent Singur turmoil, what struck me most was Mr Ratan Tata’s consistent and persistent concern for the safety of his Tata Motor workforce. Ultimately, when matters [...]

Beyond Megawatts – NTPC harnesses People Power

Glancing through the previous posts in this blog, I couldn’t help noticing that all organizations featured so far have one thing in common – they have broken norms, exceeded set standards and in short, made the impossible possible. Not surprising, really, in a blog dedicated to the best practices of world-class organizations. So, our protagonist [...]

Knowledge Organizations – Innovating for the Workforce

Have knowledge organizations changed the landscape of today’s workforce? And have they brought in an unprecedented change in the workforce order? Let’s examine this closer – walk into the hallways of any knowledge organization, and you are likely to find yourself in the midst of a very diverse pool comprising of people from all parts [...]

Healthcare with a Vision – Aravind Eye Hospital

This is the story of a Rs. 50-crore organization that provides free services to around 70 percent of its customers. The non-profit organization does not depend on donations, but manages to operate on 40 percent margins. It has been cited by management gurus as the perfect example of an organization that successfully redefined markets and [...]

The Balanced Scorecard – Beyond Performance Measurement

Management without measurement is, needless to say, one of the biggest strategic mistakes an organization could commit. But what about measurement without management? Too often, one comes across references to the Balanced Scorecard as a performance measurement framework. In my opinion, that is akin to calling Six Sigma “a defect control device”. A better description [...]

A Knowledge Enterprise’s Learning and Development Initiatives

Are Learning Organizations born or made? I mean, is learning a capability inherent in the structure, or business context, or people profile of certain organizations? In other words, can an organization learn to learn? Satyam Computers is a winner of the MAKE (Most Admired Knowledge Enterprise) Award for the best Asian knowledge organizations. The IT [...]

The Strategy of Strategizing – Reliance Hazira’s Game Plan for Competitive Excellence

When every organization worth its name considers itself a strategic entity, what differentiates a good strategy from one destined for failure? Granted, things are seldom so “black and white” in today’s competitive landscape. But I am one for finding method in madness, and I feel that the success of an organization’s strategy ultimately boils down [...]