General Management
Have you replaced your car with a helicopter?
If not, its time you did so. Lets find out why.
Har office ki Kahani
Someone forwarded the following mail to me which was supposedly sent by Narayan Murthy to all Infosys staff.
Our obsession – Achieving high growth rate
Businesses all over the world are obsessed with achieving market leadership, building scale to achieve economies of scale and last but not the least, consistently clocking high growth rate. However, the obsession of businesses with the above objectives invariably lands them in trouble. Why? Primarily because they have not only misunderstood the concepts behind these objectives but they have also misunderstood as to how these objectives should be achieved. As such, I feel that there is a strong need to clarify what our obsessions mean so that we can avoid the pitfalls and run our businesses successfully. Today, I will discuss the last of our obsession, that is, achieving high growth rate.
Our obsession – building scale
Businesses all over the world are obsessed with achieving market leadership, building scale to achieve economies of scale and last but not the least, consistently clocking high growth rate. However, the obsession of businesses with the above objectives invariably lands them in trouble. Why? Primarily because they have not only misunderstood the concepts behind these objectives but have also misunderstood how these objectives should be achieved. As such, I feel that there is a strong need to clarify what our obsessions mean so that we can avoid the pitfalls and run our businesses successfully. Today, I will discuss our obsession with building scale.
New issue of Management Talk
Guys I am happy to inform you that the 2nd issue of my management magazine Management Talk titled “Theory of PipelIne-Achieving Consistent Higher Sales” has been released today. It contains the following articles:
Our obsession – Market leadership
Businesses all over the world are obsessed with achieving market leadership, building scale to achieve economies of scale and last but not the least, consistently clocking high growth rate. However, the obsession of businesses with the above objectives invariably lands them in trouble. Why? Primarily because they have not only misunderstood the concepts behind these objectives but also how these objectives should be achieved. As such, I feel that there is a strong need to clarify what our obsessions mean so that we can avoid the pitfalls and run our businesses successfully. I will discuss each of the obsessions one by one. First, let us deal with our obsession of achieving market leadership.
Core competence concept-Ideal for small businesses
One of my strong beliefs is that practically all management concepts can be applied in small as well as large businesses. Usually, it so happens that while introducing new concepts, management gurus think of large businesses only. For instance, CK Prahalad’s book on his concept of Core Competence is complex and not easy to understand. I am not ashamed of admitting that I also had a difficult time understanding the concept and I am not sure that I have understood all that CK Prahalad had to say. Even a journalist working with the leading business daily in India, Economic Times, was not clear as to what Core Competence meant.
Enhance your understanding of management concepts
I have some good news to tell you guys.
Its a shame that company executives do not listen to customer’s free advice
In my book titled Customer Icebergs, I had suggested that customers are the greatest source of free innovation ideas which a company can use to establish its competitive advantage and I have given numerous examples of companies which have benefited from customer’s suggestions.
Sully proves that “professionalism” pays
I think, by now, the whole world has heard of Chesley B “Sully” Sullenberger III, the pilot of the plane that landed on the Hudson river. Difficult to describe his actions in words. So I will just say – GREAT JOB!






