Helping increase lifespan of cos

An organisation is not all balance sheets and numbers signifying revenues and profits. It is not lifeless and mathematically definable with formulae and equations.

It is an organism whose main purpose is to survive and grow. If its 'systems' do not work well or have problems with its working, it will die. Like an organism, an organisation is constantly changing or exposed to changes and hence it has to bring about some changes in the way it works.

"The disruptive dynamics in the business ecology were being seen as something disconnected from the organisational realities. The possibility of the system trying to restore equilibrium was not being considered. The natural inter-relatedness and inter-dependence of organisations amongst themselves and with the environment was absent," says Indraneel Mukerjee, CEO, iProdigy and an organisation consultant, mentor and facilitator.

Differences between the stakeholders of an organisation are often the biggest threat to the survival of an organisation. How do you deal with these? That is where an organisation like iProdigy helps.

Says Mukerjee: "Bring the differences and the potential threats to the survival of an organisation to the surface and then work to dissipate the threats. This ensures the long-term survival of an organisation. In the process some of the senior level managers may quit."

Long-surviving organisations don't manage (simply contain) change but respond to it by evolving.

"If we search deeply into some of the seemingly immortal organisations like GE, Wal-Mart and IBM we can detect a certain life force of evolution embedded in the very essence of their long life-expectancy. So also is the case of our very own Tatas," says Mukerjee.

iProdigy is not just into the business of helping organisations survive but also help them gain the most out of the resources they have. The latter is delivered by training programmes that cover not straightforward skills but personal effectiveness, visioning and purpose definition.

Emphasis on people and training is important as in a living organisation the employees drive the organisation. In a way the whole organisation is self-driven not driven top down. This is a feature of an evolving organisation.

Samiran Chatterjee, global head "" training and development, MphasiS said, "Such training as provided by iProdigy may help retain people longer." That leads to organisational longevity.

Mukerjee has been associated as an independent consultant with the likes of IVL India (Indian subsidiary of SAP AG), Phoenix Global, Lahari Media (India's first digital music service provider), Cyber India Online (India's first and largest IT portal) and Technology Media Group (promoters of India's first 24-hour technology television channel).