Strategic tools for the practising manager

KIT

This week: The paint industry in India

The indian paint industry is estimated to be worth Rs 4,374 crore.

The industry is expected to grow by 14 per cent during 2006-07.

The global average per capita consumption of paint is 15 kg a year, compared to 0.5 kg a year in India.

On product lines, paints can be differentiated into decorative and industrial paints.

The industrial painTS segment accounts for 30 per cent of the paints market, while the decorative paints segment accounts for 70 per cent of paints sold in India.

Nearly 20 per cent of all decorative paints sold in India are distempers.

THE Demand for decorative paints is led by the household construction industry, which is expected to grow by 8 per cent over the next five years. Favourable factors for construction include favourable government policies, low interest rates, a growing population and changing demographic profiles.

NUGGETS
Selections from management journals

Business schools and others interested in management education and development have vigorously debated how best to teach strategy to future leaders. Some experts have questioned whether the topic should be taught at all "" or, at least, whether it should be taught to managers.

Often missing from the debate, however, has been any in-depth discussion of how individuals learn to think strategically in the first place. What specific experiences are important and how do they contribute? Moreover, what are the different ways in which people absorb those experiences to develop the ability to think strategically?

To answer these and other questions, the author conducted a study that identified executives who were considered the top strategic thinkers in their industry. The data showed that strategic thinking arises from 10 specific types of experiences "" for instance, spearheading a major growth initiative or dealing with a threat to organisational survival.

Moreover, executives appear to gain their expertise in strategic thinking through one of three developmental patterns. These findings help demystify the process by which strategic thinking is learned, offering important implications for management development and the practice of strategy.

Strategic thinking at the top
Ellen F Goldman
MIT Sloan Management Review, Summer 2007,
Vol. 48, No 4
Subscribe to this article at http://sloanreview.mit.edu/smr/issue/2007/summer/18/

Popular lore tells us that genius is born, not made. Scientific research, on the other hand, reveals that true expertise is mainly the product of years of intense practice and dedicated coaching. Ordinary practice is not enough: to reach elite levels of performance, you need to constantly push yourself beyond your abilities and comfort level.

Such discipline is the key to becoming an expert in all domains, including management and leadership. Those are the conclusions based on data on the behaviour of experts, gathered by more than 100 scientists.

What consistently distinguished elite surgeons, chess players, writers, athletes, pianists and other experts was the habit of engaging in "deliberate" practice "" a sustained focus on tasks that they couldn't do before. Experts continually analysed what they did wrong, adjusted their techniques and worked arduously to correct their errors.

Even such traits as charisma can be developed using this technique. Through deliberate practice, leaders can improve their ability to win over their employees, or their board of directors. The journey to elite performance takes at least a decade and requires the guidance of an expert teacher to provide tough, often painful feedback.

The making of an expert
By K Anders Ericsson, Michael J Prietula and Edward T Cokely
Harvard Business Review,
July-August 2007
Subscribe to this article at www.hbr.com

Vivek Paul, the former rain-making CEO and vice chairman of Wipro between 1999 and 2005, is a high-profile example of what some believe is a growing catalyst for the development of Indian business: non-resident Indians (NRIs) educated in the West "" often in the United States "" who participate in the overseas expansion of Indian companies or who help international firms expand their business in South Asia with a high degree of Indian "DNA."

Although NRIs have yet to show their true value in economic terms, experts from Wharton and Boston's Northeastern University argue that the skills they bring home are often subtle but important for growth.

At home and abroad, what value do non-resident Indians bring to multinational corporations?
India Knowledge@Wharton
http://knowledge.wharton.upenn.edu/india/