indian management personalities

8/3/2019 Indian Management Personalities

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Indian Management Personalities - A

Synopsis

They say the pen is mightier than the sword. The power of words is so intense it can cutthrough systems, strategies, operations and perception of masses. Thats the force of verbal

expression. When words are expressed with clarity, vision and profound perceptions they evolveinto management thoughts and principles. People with this gift then become what we have

phrased Management Gurus. Internationally there are renowned personalities known for their

management concepts and practices. The likes of such management celebrities are Tom Peters,Edward DeBono, Philip Kotler, Peter Senge, Bob Watermann, Stephen Covey and many more.

Micro-scoping on India, we too have prominent Management Gurus, from legends to

contemporary trend setters. But before we delve into our journey on their works, a noticeable

fact is that these business thinkers have studied, travelled, worked, operated, managed and made

their presence felt in many parts of the globe.

1. C.K Prahlad

2. Gita Piramal

3. Sumantra Ghoushal

4. Ram Charan

5. Arindam Chaudhuri

6. Promod Batra

7. Shiv Khera

click here for a list of other authors

(1) C.K. Prahalad

If you wish to refer to one of the greatest Indian business thinkers, C.K. Prahalad should be on

the top of your list. He needs no introduction; every management student in India andinternationally knows the name C.K. Prahalad. He is known not only for his prolific works also

for his management perceptions and strategies.

CK Prahalad is a professor, researcher, speaker, author and prominent consultant. Business Week

has called him a brilliant teacher at the University of Michigan and also described him asmaybe the most influential thinker on business strategy today.

In addition to serving as the Harvey C. Freuhauf Professor of Business Administration at the

University Of Michigan Business School, Prahalad specializes in corporate strategy and the role

of top management in large, diversified, multinational corporations.

In 1994 he co-authored the bestseller, Competing for the Future, with Gary Hamel. Translated

into 14 languages, it was named the Best Selling Business Book of the Year in 1994. Prahalad is

particularly well known for the work he has conducted with fellow strategy expert Gary Hamel.
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This includes the articles The Core Competence of the Corporation (Harvard Business Review,

May-June, 1990), Competing in the New Economy: Managing Out of Bounds (Strategic

Management Journal, Vol. 17, No. 3, March, 1996) as well as the bestselling book Competingfor the Future: Breakthrough Strategies for Seizing Control of Your Industry and Creating the

Markets of Tomorrow (1994).

He has won numerous awards. The most recent include the McKinsey Prize three times, the

SMR-PWC award, and the ANBAR Electronic Citation of Excellence.

A prominent world-class guru, Professor Prahalad has consulted with the world's foremost

companies, such as Ahlstrom, AT&T, Cargill, Citicorp, Eastman Chemical, Kodak, Oracle,

Philips, Quantum, Revlon, Steelcase, and Unilever. In addition, he serves on the Board of

Directors of NCR Corporation, Hindustan Lever Limited and the World Resources Institute andservices on the Board of Directors of NCR Corporation, Hindustan Lever Limited and the World

Resources Institute.

His latest book, The Fortune at the Bottom of the Pyramid: Eradicating Poverty ThroughProfits, proves that the future will develop from serving the poor, because the innovations that

are developed are superior-- top quality, low price, high volume and world-scale. Only the best

innovations will work for both sides of the equation, those in poverty and those in the

developed countries.

Books by C.K. Prahalad

The fortune at the bottom of the Pyramid (August 25, 2004)

Competing for the future (Co-authored with Gary Hamel)

The Future of Competition: Co-Creating Unique Value with Customers (2004 - co-

authored with Venkat Ramaswamy) In search of excellence

Multinational Mission: Balancing Local Demands and Global Vision (1987)

C.K. Prahalad is also the author of numerous award-winning articles.Harvard Business Reviewawarded the McKinsey Prize to him three times for the following articles:-

"The End of Corporate Imperialism", co-authored with Kenneth Lieberthal (1998)

"The Core Competence of the Corporation", co-authored with Gary Hamel (1990)

"Strategic Intent", also co-authored with Gary Hamel (1989)

"The New Frontier of Experience Innovation" published in Sloan Management Review

won the SMR-PWC award for the best paper published in 2003 "Weak Signals vs. Strong Paradigms", published in the Journal of Marketing Research

(1995) was awarded the 1997 ANBAR Electronic Citation of Excellence

"The Dominant Logic: A New Linkage between Diversity and Performance" (1986), co-authored with Richard Bettis, was selected the Best Article published in the Strategic

Management Journal for the period 1980-88
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"The Role of Core Competencies in the Corporation" (1993) received the 1994 MauriceHolland Award as the Best Paper published in Research Technology Management in

1993

"A Strategy for Growth: The Role of Core Competence in the Corporation" won the

European Foundation for Management Award in 1993

(2) Gita Piramal

More often than not, a journalists viewpoint is considered to be critical, biased and dynamic.But a journalist with a PhD in business history is a potentially intense combination. This profile

describes, Gita Piramal an author who has written for many years on the corporate sector for

leading Indian and international publications such as the Financial Times and the Economic

Times, and is a consulting editor of the World Executives Digest. She also has been involved inthe making of television programmes on Indian business for the BBC and Plus Channel. In 1986,

she co-authored Indias Industrialists, and in 1991 contributed to Business and Politics in India

A historical perspective, published by the Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad. She

divides her time between London and Mumbai.

Through her works, she describes the Indian corporate sector with Indian historical and political

references as the foundation. How earlier systems have an influence on contemporary operations

and radical changes or Business Mantras required to keep abreast in this dynamic environment.

Gita Piramal is one of Indias foremost business writers. She is now the managing editor ofThe

Smart Manager, Indias first world-class management magazine.

Books by Gita Piramal

World Class in India: A Casebook of Companies in Transformation(4/15/2002) Business Legends(4/1/1999)

Managing Radical Change(co-authored with Sumantra Ghoshal).

Business Mantras

Business Maharajas

(3) Sumantra Ghoushal

If you attempt to visualize a mentor, an author and a consultant in one being you are sure to find

one personality, Sumantra Ghoushal. Born in India, educated in the US and currently living in

Europe, he is a teacher, author and consultant in the field of international management. He is also

founding dean of the Indian School of Business in Hyderabad, a new venture jointly sponsoredby Northwestern University and the London Business School.

He has published eight books, over forty-five articles and several award-winning case studies.

The book Managing across Borders: The Transnational Solution, co-authored withChristopher A. Bartlett, has been listed as one of the fifty most influential management books

and they have become one of the world's most respected business thinkers.


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His most recent work focuses on the need to develop strategy which encompasses people. He has

been critical of the current fad for knowledge management.

Books by Sumantra Ghoushal

A Bias for Action: How Effective Managers Harness Their Willpower, Achieve Results,and Stop Wasting Timepublished on 7/1/2004

World Class in India: A Casebook of Companies in Transformationpublished on4/15/2002

Managing Across Borders : The Transnational Solution (1988)*

Transnational Management (1990)*

Organization Theory and the Multinational Corporation (1993)*

The Individualized Corporation (1997)*

World Class in India: A Casebook of Companies in Transformation

Managing Radical Change(co-authored with Gita Piramal)

* (co-authored with Christopher A. Bartlett)

(4) Ram Charan

If you want to know how to strip down a concept to its core meaning and then put it into action,you should consider the works of Ram Charan. He is a highly acclaimed business advisor,

speaker, and author. Ram has coached some of the world's most successful CEOs. For 35 years,

he has worked behind the scenes at companies like GE, KLM, Bank of America, DuPont,Novartis, EMC, Home Depot and Verizon.

Ram is a favourite among executive educators. He won the Bell Ringer (best teacher) award at

GE's famous Crotonville Institute. He won similar awards at Wharton and Northwestern. He wasamong Business Week's top ten resources for in-house executive development programs.

Apart from authoring fine books, he also tailors his books for specific client companies such as

Gateway, Ford, and EDS. His articles have been published in Harvard Business Review, Fortune,

Time, Information Week, Leader to Leader, Director's Monthly, Directorship, The Corporate

Board and USA Today. Ram is a director of Austin Industries and The Six Sigma Academy.

He was elected a Fellow of the National Academy of Human Resources. He serves as a co-host

for the Fortune Forum on Corporate Governance and also serves on the National Association of

Corporate Directors' Blue Ribbon Commission on Corporate Governance.

He is known for his practical, real world perspective. His expertise entails areas of business like:Profitable Growth, Business Acumen, Leadership, Execution: Discipline of Getting Things

Done, Tools for Changing a Social System, Global Matrix Organization, Innovation, Corporate

Governance, Succession & Leadership Pipeline, Building Top Management Teams.

Books by Ram Charan
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Confronting Reality (October 2004)

Execution: The Discipline of Getting Things Done. Execution reached number one on the

Wall Street Journal list, and has been on the New York Time's best seller list for more

than fifty weeks.

What the CEO Wants You to Know

Boards at Work Every Business Is a Growth Business and Profitable Growth.

Profitable growth is everyones business

(5) Arindham Chaudhuri

Speaking of contemporary business thinkers, another fine entrepreneur, educator, author and

enterprising personality is Arindham Chaudhuri.

Professor Chaudhuri is the Dean, Centre for Economic Research & Advanced Studies at IIPM

(The Indian Institute of Planning & Management, New Delhi). In the year 1996 he founded

Planman Consulting which is now one of the fastest growing Indian Management ConsultingFirms. After being associated with the production and marketing of two Bengali movies, in the

year 2001 he formally launched Planman Life: A fully dedicated production and communications

venture.

His latest book Count Your Chickens Before They Hatch for which he got an unprecedentedseven figure record advance has created a new benchmark in India by selling more than 80,000

copies in just 8 months! It has been in all national best seller lists from the first week of

inception, till date.

As a management consultant he specializes in the areas of Strategic Vision, Leadership, Social

Sector Consulting, Comparative Management Techniques and Global Opportunities & ThreatAnalysis.

His contribution to the field of management studies in India can be found in the iconoclastic

Theory i Management which he has developed for India Inc. Theory i Management isabout India centric management ideas. For the last few years he has been conducting workshops

on Leadership and Strategic Vision exclusively for CEOs, MDs, Directors and Presidents from

the corporate sector. From the Managing Director of Hero Motors to the President of TataChemicals, from the Executive President of A.V. Birla Group to the CEO of Ernst & Young

have all taken leadership training workshops from him. As a celebrated speaker he is regularly

invited to speak at various annual conferences and national conventions. He also happens to be

highest paid speaker in the country.

An economist by passion and education, during Bill Clintons historic visit to India he launched

his Great Indian Dream -: India can beat America, a series of seminars for every Indian. Held in

all the metros of India, these seminars had thousands of people pouring in from all walks of life.In these seminars he not only highlights the inherent strengths of the Indian culture but also

talks about an alternative resource mobilization and allocation package for an Indian turnaround.
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To facilitate social activities based on this he has started the Great Indian Dream Foundation in

memory of his brother Aurobindo Chaudhuri.

He was recently rated as one of the 50 leading thinkers in South Asia by Wilton Park (anorganisation supported by the European Commission and British foreign office).

Further, he was awarded the Academic Gold Medal while completing the Post Graduate Diploma

in Planning and Management from IIPM. Prof. Chaudhuri was awarded Management Guru

2000 Award by Chennai based Om Venkatesa Society which annually honours managementexperts.

Books by Arindham Chaudhuri

Count your chickens before they hatch

The Great Indian Dream

(6) Promod Batra

Have you ever been in a situation when your need a trigger to propel those business thoughts?The answer lies in a think tank that provides distilled wisdom of finest minds, Management

Thoughts. This book was written by Promod Batra, which was a new concept in 1991 and the

first of its kind in the world. It is a collection of simple management thoughts, supplementedwith full page illustrations by Mickey Patel, a cartoonist of repute. It has sold over 2,00,000

copies in India and abroad a record by itself.

Promod Batra got his professional training with General Mills Inc., Minneapolis , Minnesota,

and the Soyabean Council of America. On return to India he joined Escorts Limited in 1963, and

retired as Chief General Manager in 1996. His tenure with the Escorts Group included hisassignment as Chief Administrator at Escorts Heart Institute & Research Centre for six years. He

is now devoting full time to writing, publishing and selling books on Management of Self,Family Employees and Customers, and conducting Attitudinal Seminars based on his books

A co-author with Promod Batra is Vijay Batra, the first non-Japanese to join Kankaku Securities

as a lifetime employee. In 1994, he was promoted to Vice President of the New York branch.

During his tenure with Kankaku Securities, he was directly involved with various Japanese andAmerican companies. From 1997 to 1998, he returned to India for a one year period to study the

Indian situation with the objective to create seminar and training programmes suitable for Indian

professionals. Vijay Batra has succeeded in creating a relationship with PHP, a think tank

affiliated with Matsushita Electric Industry. The relationship with PHP will allow Think Inc. tointroduce fundamentals of Japanese management to Indian professionals.

Books by Promod Batra

Management Thoughts

Born to be Happy

Born to Win


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Cows Dont Give Milk

The Family

Management Articles

Management Ides in Action

Management Think Tank

Management Wisdom Pearls of Wisdom for Managers

Pearls of Wisdom for Happy Living

Selling is a Noble Profession

Simple ways to manage stress

When the customer has a problem

Simple ways to make your boss succeed

Management Thought Starters (co-authored with Vijay Batra)

Profitable Passion discovers the spy (co-authored with Vijay Batra)

(7) Shiv Khera

In this dog-eat-dog business world, if you are not self motivated, self confident and unique, you

WILL be trampled over. At such times look into the works of the distinguished managementguru and motivator, Shiv Khera.

His gospel:- "Winners dont do different things, they do things differently

Shiv Khera is the founder of Qualified Learning Systems Inc. An educator, business consultant, a

much sought after speaker and a successful entrepreneur. He has taken his dynamic personal

message around the world. Shiv has been recognized as a "Louis Marchesi Fellow" by the RoundTable Foundation. His client list includes the whos who of the corporate world.

He has authored three bestsellers, amongst other books. His first book You Can Win, which

came out in 1998, has sold over a million copies worldwide. His second book Living WithHonour hit the stands in August 2003, becoming an instant bestseller. Then within a span of six

months in February 2004, his third book Freedom Is Not Free was released, also to become a

bestseller.

His first two books are on an individualistic level, where he defines the winning edge asachieving excellence rather than perfection, as excellence paves the way for progress. He also

conveys that it is better to be honourable than to be honoured. His work offers direction for

living with pride in a cluttered environment. His latest book concentrates on society. Here he

firmly believes that a progressive society is the basis for individual progress of its people.

Transforming his years of experience as a motivator into a practical tool, he has developed a core

program/workshop known as the Blueprint for Success (BPS). This program motivates people to

recognize their true potential and gain success - personally and professionally.

Books by Shiv Khera


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You Can Win (1998)

Living With Honour (August 2003)

Freedom Is Not Free (February 2004)

Attitude Determines Altitude

Attitude the key to success

Discipline your way to freedom Ethics of Values

Winners Edge

Winning Strategies

Apart from the prominent business thinkers mentioned above, India also presents othermanagement thinkers who have a substantial influence on business minds and operations. To

name a few:-

(8) Venkatram Ramaswamy

Co-opting Customer Competence (co-authored with C.K. Prahalad)

(9) Vijay Vishwanath

The Art of Developing Leaders at Kraft

(10) Partha Bose

Alexander the Greats Art of Strategy

(11) Rita Bhimani

Corporate Peacock

Face Up!

(12) Jeetendra Jain

Sack the CEO!

(13) Ashwath Damodaran

Corporate Finance

Damodaran on Valuation

Investment Valuation

The phrase Management Guru describes a person who is intellectual, experienced, ingenious

and a person who develops business perspectives that provide beneficial outlooks and practices.


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