MEETINGS

Nowadays, employees in Indian companies spend a lot of time in the meeting rooms trying to discuss how to retain the customers . At the same time, outside of the Company meeting rooms, a lot of customers of the company are getting frustrated with the service rendered and are moving away. What a paradox!.

SUCCESSFUL COMPANIES

A Company should always ensure that it manufactures quality products. Quality sells by itself. The R & D must involve itself to find out how to better the features of the existing product or to introduce new products in the same field / product usage category, which shall be a giant leap towards improvement. Quality product comes out of quality workmanship. A beautiful sculpture or a beautiful painting is the result of the artists' total involvement and skill. A product made out of such an effort will be sought after by many. Just as each organ of the body does its function, various departments within an Organisation must do it's function. Each department must do its designated function without interfering with other functions. At the same time, it must co-ordinate well with all the other departments. This will reduce or eliminate conflicts and help the Organisation to function to its full efficiency. Such an organisation will be successful and in such an environment these Organisations must guide others and provide help wherever necessary.

The employees on their part must work with an attitude that they are serving the well being of the Country on the whole and not bicker on salary increments. They must understand they got what they deserved and put in sincere efforts so that they are recognised next time. The employers on their part must be non-partisan and should not have favorites within the staff. They should decide on increments purely on merit and performance and reward them suitably. There is a hierarchy within the Organisation and a person should act as a genuine guide to those under him and not an authoritative figure doling out mercies.

OUR WORKING LIFE

Every morning in Africa, a gazelle wakes up. It knows that it must run faster than the fastest lion or it will be killed. Every morning a lion wakes up. It knows that it must over-run the slowest gazelle or it will starve to death. It doesn't matter whether you are a lion or a gazelle: when the sun comes up, you would better be running. - A Corporate Growth Report.

ATTITUDE - KILL COMPETITION

Though this Blog is for Indian Companies the following passage is applicable to all the Companies worldwide.

Charles Darwin proposed the theory of 'survival of the fittest' to explain evolution. I do not know when and how it came to be applied to the Corporate world. The buzz of the corporate world seems to be the slogan 'kill competition'. In laws governing lives of human beings, any person who thinks of killing another is nothing less than a murderer. How then a Company, which is essentially a group of people, can be absolved from the interpretation of this law?. Instead the thought should be one of 'Live and Let Live'. This does not mean that one should relax and expect things to happen. Work, one must incessantly. The work so carried out should be for the common benefit of the society on the whole, without prejudice to a single individual. Such a work being carried out must be pure, selfless and above all there must be total quality in the work. Extrapolate this to a group called Corporate and there you have the makings of an ideal Company. After all we are all human beings who should support each other. That is why we are endowed with a sixth sense unlike animals. Any corporate philosophy centered on the principle of 'survival of the fittest' is only satisfying the greed of the individual or a group of them.

MANAGEMENT INDIAN STYLE

The best way to introduce a new product is to copy a competitor's product. R & D is so expensive nowadays.

If a customer wants a new product, best thing is to get into a foreign collaboration or technical tie-up with a manufacturer who is already making that product.

The rewards are not to be given. If some deserving employee wants them, let him ask for them.

In a team, an individual can blunder and get punished for it. But if an individual performs, the whole of this team should get the credit.

Appoint only MBAs to Management positions. Others do not have common-sense.

Never aim for a perfect service to a customer. Otherwise they will not know your value.

When a paper comes to you for action, do not keep it. Pass it to somebody immediately. You should not be caught acting on it.

Delegation is to simply pass the buck. Let somebody, your junior, break his head on the problem. Why bother?.

Do not try to impress your boss with your work or performance. Instead try to please him and you may get all you want.

INTRODUCTION

In recent times Indian Companies have made great strides. After being a socialistic democracy soon after the Independence till the 80s, Indian Companies have made rapid changes post-liberalisation and grown to admirable proportions. The TATAs, the Ambanis, the Mittals, the Birlas and other homegrown entrepreneurs have become International achievers. Many Multinationals have made entry into the Indian Market driven by dwindling economies in their own countries. Now the great Industrial Houses of India are rich enough to take over well-known foreign companies such as Tetley Tea,Arcelor and others. But these developments are far from perfect and there are also ills and dangers looming large. In subsequent articles I plan to pen down the achievements and threats for readers to think about.