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Change, adapt, refocus
Booklet Authored for The Week, June, 26th, 1994
Many of us nurture a secret desire to launch a business of our own. Yet, few of us actually go on to convert this dream into reality. For those who have tasted success in their ventures, the satisfaction cannot be quantified or even described it has to be experienced to be really appreciated! For the majority who only dream, business is both intensely attractive and extremely daunting. While the desire to start on the journey borders on obsession, a certain diffidence always seems to inhibit the final decision to commence the adventure. Nothing can be more frustrating than to watch others embark on this journey while you are yourself dithering on the shore! But launching the business is only part of the story. It is just the beginning of a lifelong voyage of self-discovery. To ensure that your initial foray into business is transformed into a more permanent way of life, you need to do a lot of homework! Only then can you hope to enjoy the higher quality of life that you dreamed of when you started the business. Ultimately, the success of your venture depends on YOU - what kind of effort you put in, how open you are to learning new skills, knowledge and attitude, and how strong you are mentally. For us in India, global management practices and philosophy are particularly relevant now. This is because the economic reform process has dismantled the barriers to international competition. We are already witnessing the large scale arrival of foreign companies in search of the profits to be earned in our mega markets. It is therefore imperative that we adopt the latest in management to beat these companies at their own game! I will even go so far as to say that even to survive, we need to change, adapt and refocus. This booklet provides some insights into managing your business. Some of these are conventional wisdom while others reflect the state of the art in management thinking, worldwide. Yet others may be shockingly unconventional. The art and science of management is taught in dozens of business schools around the country. My intention is therefore not to detail specific tools and techniques. Rather, my attempt is to provide a new framework within which we must view business. Implicit in this framework are revolutionary attitudes towards employees and customers - the two groups of people on whom the entire edifice of any business rests. Some of the concepts and ideas may seem heretical when compared with the traditional assumptions and practices we have all been so accustomed to. But I firmly believe that the time has come for us to adopt a new path. What follows is an attempt to define the new path.
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