I am often asked, "what is management?" My glib answer is always, "getting things done." A corollary to this, "what is good management?", gets an equally glib response, "that which gets the results." If I were to extend this approach, the message of Ravi Venkatesan's new, extremely readable (and quite original) book would be that chaos can be banished if you "get a good leader".
The devil, as they say, is in the details. The specifics of the situation, such as what is to be done, where and why, are relevant qualifiers of getting things done. Similarly, good leaders work in specific environments and are charged with specified responsibilities.
The rationale for the glib responses is that managing an organisation is not accomplished by following a one-size-fits-all approach, any more than a doctor can treat a patient irrespective of the person's case history through a how-to manual.
Yet generalise we must, even if we stumble in the process. That would actually make us better informed and prepared to apply logic within the context of the situation at hand. That is why good managers and doctors are trained through case studies that greatly complement their book learning.
The renowned physician Dr Farokh Udwadia writes in his luminous book, The Forgotten Art of Healing and Other Essays, that he places the greatest possible emphasis on the doctors immersing themselves into patients' histories, without which even those with the most formidable knowledge could fail. Mr Venkatesan obviously subscribes to this view as a manager. He, after all, has an MBA degree from the mecca of the case method, the Harvard Business School.
To put it simply, Mr Venkatesan's thesis is that "winning in India requires a very different business leader - an entrepreneurial general manager ... with the ability to make important operating decisions without enormous negotiations and persuasion". The parent company must cede sufficient autonomy to its India operations, treating it as a geographic profit centre to escape what he terms "the midway trap," which is a slump following initial growth, caused by excessive caution and straitjacket processes of the home office imposed on local operations.
Mr Venkatesan was voted the most influential multinational CEO in 2011 in the Economic Times rankings. He returned to India soon after liberalisation, in 1996, to head the operations of the diesel engine manufacturer Cummins. As the firm's chairman for eight years, he led it to become India's premier manufacturer. He spent the next seven years as chairman of Microsoft India. He says Microsoft initially focused on the enterprise segment, "the Australia at the top of India" in Steve Ballmer's words, and grew rapidly, but now needs to change strategies to escape the midway trap. Since Mr Venkatesan has worked on both sides of the trap, he brings considerable authority to bear on the subject.
Mr Venkatesan's own experience may have been the starting point of his introspection, but as a sound thinker, he realised that he needed to validate his views by testing them across a wider spectrum of experiences. He spent nearly two years interacting with the leaders of virtually the entire multinational population as well as other stars of the Indian corporate firmament, including Mukesh Ambani, Anand Mahindra and Nandan Nilekani.
The book is all the richer for these exertions. He highlights the case of GE in India. He compliments GE Chairman Jeffrey Immelt for realising that India was different and needed to be treated as another vertical, becoming "local" in every sense of the word, including P&L responsibilities. That is the exact opposite of the divisionalised model at the home office.
The advantages of localised India operations for the parent firm are potentially huge. For one, they provide a viable template to adopt elsewhere, especially in Asia and Africa. India becomes an innovations laboratory for cost-effective sourcing. It provides unique insights into the psyche of consumers with limited purchasing power and suggests novel ways of tapping into it - the sachet approach to packaging shampoo is an enormous success. And it is an ideal ground for training personnel. A manager with experience in field-testing in India has a virtual passport to success elsewhere.
However, I must admit to a niggling question: what does India gain from its welcome to multinationals? New technology? Better and cheaper products? Better distribution? After two decades of liberalisation, the jury is still out on many of these issues. As recent reports suggest, the imminent multinational acquisition of the enormously successful Balaji of Rajkot, a leading manufacturer of substantially cheaper snack food, would almost inevitably push up prices. That is not good news for Indian consumers!
But that is quibbling. This extremely well-researched and lucid book is an invaluable GPS for the intrepid corporate citizens - global or Indian - who are contemplating investment in India in these perilous times.
Disclosure: I have never met Ravi Venkatesan, but have been a family friend of long standing of his wife, Sonali Kulkarni
CONQUERING THE CHAOS
Win in India, Win Everywhere Else
Ravi Venkatesan
Harvard Business Review Press
232 pages; Rs 895
