Management

"Management in all business areas and human organization activity is the act of getting people together to accomplish desired goals and objectives" (source : Wiki).

But somewhere down the line the methodology of "getting people together to accomplish goals..." has been overlooked. Today, aggressive behaviour, unpleasant language, intimidation, patronising, lack of trust are all common in organisations. Reverence for people in the workplace is diminishing. This effects the employee motivation & job satisfaction.

Then motivation at the workplace is achieved through - the carrot (remuneration/bonus) & the stick (punishment) method. If I do "X", I will get "Y". Employees become blinkered. People become unenthusiastic & less passionate. This takes a toll on the employee's productivity & innovativeness.

Managers should know how to manage, motivate & enthuse people the right way. This is a huge challenge.

CK Prahlad in his classic article "The Resposible Manager" says - "managers must remember that they are the custodians of society's most powerful institutions. They must therefore hold themselves to a higher standard. Managers must strive to achieve success with resposnibility."

Sadly, only few uphold this.

Organisational Glut

Organisations today are using sophisticated technologies - in software (ERP, CRM), for communication etc. These have indeed given them immense competitive advantage to develop products that are innovative & value engineered; reach out to customers & retain them, communicate with employees & customers quickly & also become global to tap economies of scale.

But at the same time, the fact is that, they have also made organisations complex. They have loaded organsiations with - immense amount of data, analysis & even more analysis, emails, discussions, meetings, presentations & also many problems. This complexity actually drains energy & reduces productivity of organisation's biggest asset - people. In most of the cases, this phenomenon fails to get the attention of the management.

Simplification can definitely help increase productivity which will improve satisfaction levels & thus indeed make work & life better...

Health takes a backseat

The last few years witnessed tremendous economic activity globally. The pace of business was accelerating & growth was at unprecedented pace. This had put immense pressure on people. Longer working hours, with a zillion things to do… Projects had to be completed, deadlines had to be met, top line & bottom line targets were stretched & had to be achieved, market share had to be increased, new markets had to be conquered and new products had to be launched. The list is endless...

In this flurry of work-life, health & well being took a backseat. Headaches, common colds & bout of flu were not a problem at all. Had to take refuge in loads of paracetmol & antibiotics... Strong medicines had to be had. Work could not be missed or was not accepted.

For those who stayed awake, pondering about the deadlines & numbers, strong coffee is an antidote the following day for lack of sleep. Then there is the most dreaded & popular word - "stress". This villain of villains could help to bring in various types of strange & weird ailments. Our sedentary life style coupled with high calorie food & lack of exercise helped gain some weight. All these, imminently, brought along its set of health problems.

And now as the world economy goes into a free fall & businesses go on a parlous journey through uncertain & challenging times, people are set with a new set of demands which brings in a different kind of pressure. Fear, anxiety & uncertainty are gripping people. Stress levels are on the rise again. Once again health will be disregarded.

Irrespective of whether the economy is in a boom or gloom mode, health is taking a back seat. Hope people & organizations will pause for a moment & take conscious efforts to revive this negligence.

Customer Loyalty

Jack Welch in one of his articles in “Winning Ways of Management” talks on customer loyalty. He says that, in today’s increasingly competitive market place, customer loyalty has not disappeared, but has taken a new form.

In today’s fiercely competitive market environment, just offering best services, better products, competitive prices, discounts, rebates, lunch, holiday trips, goodies etc will not help retain customers. One has to help the customer to compete & be successful in their (customer’s) market place. This needs to be achieved by understanding the market (competition, products etc) & also your customer. And will require implementing a combination of actions to support the customer, incessantly.

An organisation which fails to understand this & react accordingly will face difficulties in retaining customers & will not have customer loyalty.

Satyam Asatyam

Satyam in many Indian languages stands for truth, honesty, rightful. But the recent accounting fraud at Satyam Computers is not befitting its name. It is a definitely a setback for the IT industry (which India is famous globally), for corporate India, for corporate governance and above all it has tarnished India’s image.

Satyam is (was ?) India’s 4th biggest IT company. It had won many accolades – Golden Peacock award for corporate governance; E&Y Entrepreneur of the year for Ramalinga Raju. Has World Bank & some Fortune 500 companies as customers (GE, Nestle); has operations globally; is listed on the NYSE; employs over 50,000 people.

It is indeed mind boggling as to – how a person (Ramalinga Raju) who is the founder and at the helm of the organisation could fudge assets & accounts for years & it went unnoticed. Is it so easy to show assets & margins worth crores? The board of directors which has many distinguished members & an international auditing firm too did not take notice of it. Or was it hand-in-hand?. The scale of the scam is also shocking. It was not a few, 10 or 15% but was a staggering 94% (7000 cr). Even the number of employees has been falsified (not 53,000 it is 40,000). Mind boggling indeed...

In his poetic resignation & confession letter (“... riding the tiger...”), he even advices future course of action for the company! Interesting...! How could one instill belief from some one who has lying for the past 5-6 years.

The investigations & restructuring are on the way at a frantic pace, but the future of the company & moreover the fate of the employees hangs on a balance. Whether it was greed or calculated gamble or stupidity that was behind this fraud, the trust & faith of the clients, stakeholders & employees are badly shaken.

As it is titled, Satyam is undoubtedly the ‘Enron of India’, the biggest financial scam of corporate India that will be forgotten not so quickly & easily. But eventually will be...