INDIA’S BEST STRATEGISTS – PART I
Have a dream, and make a plan on how to live it and
realise it. If you eventually get there by being consistent and unwavering in
that objective, overcoming uncertainty and obstacles along the way, best
utilising the (often limited) resources at your disposal, and translating that
foresight into a product or service that is unique and difficult to replicate,
you will have emerged a successful strategist — a person with a single-minded
objective who doesn’t get distracted from his goal by his rivals, setbacks and
detractors. Here are the dreamers who
have made significant progress in translating their insight into reality— from
the corporate world (CEOs as well as honchos who have made a big difference to
their organisations), bureaucracy, academia, law, the social sector,
healthcare, films and sport. :: Team ET Magazine
1. Rajiv Bajaj, 46
MD, BAJAJ AUTO
MASTER, AND POWER, OF ONE
Ask Rajiv Bajaj what is strategy and he sums it up in a word: specialisation. And that relentless focus on what you do best calls for “sacrifice” — of what self-styled experts and rivals, and even what daddy (Rahul Bajaj), thinks is best. In business terms, it meant exiting scooters — a segment many believe still has steam for growth — and narrowing the vision to motorcycles.
“You can play 10 games and be the best in Pune or concentrate on one and be the best in the globe,” explains Bajaj. “It [the strategy] is the alignment of the front end with the back end. It is more about what you choose not to do rather than what you choose to do.”
Strategy also means being unwavering in what you think is right, without your ego coming in the way. So out goes the ambition to be No. 1 in market or revenue share; being a leader in profit share is the end game. And Bajaj Auto is numero uno on this front, with operating margins of 20.4% in the quarter ended June 2013, after adjusting for mark-to-market loss.
So how do three-wheelers — and the much-talked about quadricycle — fit into this strategy of specialisation? Well, there’s no dichotomy there, insists Bajaj, and it fits in with his thrust on profitability. “We specialise in motorcycles and make good money from them, but we make a hell of a lot more in three-wheelers,” says Bajaj using the analogy of McDonald’s which makes more money from fries than burgers. If you’re wondering about his allusions to consumer brands it’s simple: “We are now less of an engineering company and more a marketing one.”
Ask Rajiv Bajaj what is strategy and he sums it up in a word: specialisation. And that relentless focus on what you do best calls for “sacrifice” — of what self-styled experts and rivals, and even what daddy (Rahul Bajaj), thinks is best. In business terms, it meant exiting scooters — a segment many believe still has steam for growth — and narrowing the vision to motorcycles.
“You can play 10 games and be the best in Pune or concentrate on one and be the best in the globe,” explains Bajaj. “It [the strategy] is the alignment of the front end with the back end. It is more about what you choose not to do rather than what you choose to do.”
Strategy also means being unwavering in what you think is right, without your ego coming in the way. So out goes the ambition to be No. 1 in market or revenue share; being a leader in profit share is the end game. And Bajaj Auto is numero uno on this front, with operating margins of 20.4% in the quarter ended June 2013, after adjusting for mark-to-market loss.
So how do three-wheelers — and the much-talked about quadricycle — fit into this strategy of specialisation? Well, there’s no dichotomy there, insists Bajaj, and it fits in with his thrust on profitability. “We specialise in motorcycles and make good money from them, but we make a hell of a lot more in three-wheelers,” says Bajaj using the analogy of McDonald’s which makes more money from fries than burgers. If you’re wondering about his allusions to consumer brands it’s simple: “We are now less of an engineering company and more a marketing one.”
— Malini Goyal
PEER-SPEAK:
“He’s very good at managing alliances with global firms [like KTM and Kawasaki]”
Shinji Aoyama, Operating officer, Honda Motor Co
PEER-SPEAK:
“He’s very good at managing alliances with global firms [like KTM and Kawasaki]”
Shinji Aoyama, Operating officer, Honda Motor Co
2.Pulok Chatterji, 62
PRINCIPAL SECRETARY TO PM PMO PLAN MAN
He is the virtual hotline between Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Congress president Sonia Gandhi. Arguably India’s most powerful bureaucrat and South Block’s master strategist, Chatterji calls the shots in key appointments of bureaucrats, coordination with ministries and fast-tracking of big infrastructure projects. And in each big move, he reportedly keeps 10 Janpath in the loop. As he sets the big agenda for the PMO, he has an edge — he is in the know of Sonia Gandhi’s views on each big issue; and that helps him avoid crafting a policy that could end up on a collision course.
Chatterji’s ability to see the big picture also helps in ring-fencing the PMO from the ripples of controversy. For instance, the PMO was considering the appointment of India’s envoy to China S Jaishankar as India’s foreign secretary. This would have meant the supersession of the seniormost IFS officer Sujatha Singh. However, Chatterji anticipated that such a move would have lead to the resignation of senior diplomats and triggered off a row the PMO least needed; Singh duly got the nod.
His detractors maintain that Chatterji is good only for a “post office” job, an informal term used to describe an IAS officer’s term as a minister’s private secretary. But his colleagues find him hard-working, highly disciplined, well-networked, yet low key — and the best tactician the PMO could have.
PRINCIPAL SECRETARY TO PM PMO PLAN MAN
He is the virtual hotline between Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Congress president Sonia Gandhi. Arguably India’s most powerful bureaucrat and South Block’s master strategist, Chatterji calls the shots in key appointments of bureaucrats, coordination with ministries and fast-tracking of big infrastructure projects. And in each big move, he reportedly keeps 10 Janpath in the loop. As he sets the big agenda for the PMO, he has an edge — he is in the know of Sonia Gandhi’s views on each big issue; and that helps him avoid crafting a policy that could end up on a collision course.
Chatterji’s ability to see the big picture also helps in ring-fencing the PMO from the ripples of controversy. For instance, the PMO was considering the appointment of India’s envoy to China S Jaishankar as India’s foreign secretary. This would have meant the supersession of the seniormost IFS officer Sujatha Singh. However, Chatterji anticipated that such a move would have lead to the resignation of senior diplomats and triggered off a row the PMO least needed; Singh duly got the nod.
His detractors maintain that Chatterji is good only for a “post office” job, an informal term used to describe an IAS officer’s term as a minister’s private secretary. But his colleagues find him hard-working, highly disciplined, well-networked, yet low key — and the best tactician the PMO could have.
— Shantanu Nandan Sharma
PEER-SPEAK:
“Pulok is good in coordination. But he is even better in following up matters”
K Mohandas Former shipping secretary & Chatterji’s IAS batch-mate
PEER-SPEAK:
“Pulok is good in coordination. But he is even better in following up matters”
K Mohandas Former shipping secretary & Chatterji’s IAS batch-mate
3.Jean Drèze, 54
DEVELOPMENT
ECONOMIST SOCIAL JUSTICE CRUSADER
Known for his spartan lifestyle and soft-spoken ways, this naturalised Indian of Belgian origin had been, without doubt, the intellectual driving force behind the Congress president Sonia Gandhi-led National Advisory Council (NAC) whose social spending drive helped the Congress party retain an edge in the 2009 general election.
Son of legendary economist Jacques Drèze, he has been living in India since the late 1970s, working on various subjects such as inequality, hunger, poverty, malnutrition and child education. His work, The Public Report on Basic Education (PROBE), is seen as a seminal work in the area. He is widely regarded as the architect of the first draft of the National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (now called Mahatma Gandhi NREGA), the flagship programme of the UPA enacted as legislation in 2005. Though Drèze stepped down from the NAC in 2011 citing differences of opinion, this visiting professor at the GB Pant Social Institute, Allahabad, continued to work in the country’s poorest villages.
He has also co-authored several books on hunger and inequality along with Nobel Prize-winning economist Amartya Sen. The latest book from the duo is An Uncertain Glory, India and Its Contradictions. “Ultimately, the main concern of the book is with the failures and how they can be addressed through democratic practice,” says Drèze, who has consistently and laudably taken part in India’s public discourse on the poor.
Known for his spartan lifestyle and soft-spoken ways, this naturalised Indian of Belgian origin had been, without doubt, the intellectual driving force behind the Congress president Sonia Gandhi-led National Advisory Council (NAC) whose social spending drive helped the Congress party retain an edge in the 2009 general election.
Son of legendary economist Jacques Drèze, he has been living in India since the late 1970s, working on various subjects such as inequality, hunger, poverty, malnutrition and child education. His work, The Public Report on Basic Education (PROBE), is seen as a seminal work in the area. He is widely regarded as the architect of the first draft of the National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (now called Mahatma Gandhi NREGA), the flagship programme of the UPA enacted as legislation in 2005. Though Drèze stepped down from the NAC in 2011 citing differences of opinion, this visiting professor at the GB Pant Social Institute, Allahabad, continued to work in the country’s poorest villages.
He has also co-authored several books on hunger and inequality along with Nobel Prize-winning economist Amartya Sen. The latest book from the duo is An Uncertain Glory, India and Its Contradictions. “Ultimately, the main concern of the book is with the failures and how they can be addressed through democratic practice,” says Drèze, who has consistently and laudably taken part in India’s public discourse on the poor.
— Ullekh NP
PEER-SPEAK: “He is the best poverty economist of his generation”
Rajesh Raj SN, Economist at the Centre for Multi-Disciplinary Development Research, Dharwad
PEER-SPEAK: “He is the best poverty economist of his generation”
Rajesh Raj SN, Economist at the Centre for Multi-Disciplinary Development Research, Dharwad
4.Francisco D’Souza, 45
CEO, COGNIZANT OUTSOURCING MAVERICK
In 2007 when he took over the reins of Cognizant Technology Solutions, Francisco D’Souza, then 38, was the youngest among his peers in the industry. Just as the 2008-09 financial crisis set in and the world economy slumped, Cognizant was racing at breakneck pace and hasn’t looked back since as the growth leader in the outsourcing industry. Credit for that goes to D’Souza, a high-energy executive who not only has the remarkable ability to put himself in clients’ shoes, but can get Cognizant to adapt and respond to market changes swiftly.
Son of an Indian care e r d i p l o m a t , D’Souza’s global upbringing and his early introduction to technology made him irreverent enough to tinker with the older ways of doing things, to which some of Cognizant’s competitors are still wedded. Under him, Cognizant has boldly acquired companies, entered new markets or addressed new opportunities presented by the changing market realities.
Aggressively building Cognizant’s brand and keeping customers sharply in focus helped open the right doors for Cognizant, but it is D’Souza’s ability to discern the direction of change and steer the ship well in time that is keeping the company ahead of competition. After putting Cogniz ant on a steady growth course , D’Souza has taken a stand-back role where his focus is on charting out the “next horizon” for the company. In that role he works on not only seeing the future but also in preparing Cognizant to thrive in that future.
— Lison Joseph
EXPERT-SPEAK:
“Francisco understands that shelf life of technology is short and he is constantly seeking ways to position Cognizant”
Ram Charan, Business adviser to CEOs
CEO, COGNIZANT OUTSOURCING MAVERICK
In 2007 when he took over the reins of Cognizant Technology Solutions, Francisco D’Souza, then 38, was the youngest among his peers in the industry. Just as the 2008-09 financial crisis set in and the world economy slumped, Cognizant was racing at breakneck pace and hasn’t looked back since as the growth leader in the outsourcing industry. Credit for that goes to D’Souza, a high-energy executive who not only has the remarkable ability to put himself in clients’ shoes, but can get Cognizant to adapt and respond to market changes swiftly.
Son of an Indian care e r d i p l o m a t , D’Souza’s global upbringing and his early introduction to technology made him irreverent enough to tinker with the older ways of doing things, to which some of Cognizant’s competitors are still wedded. Under him, Cognizant has boldly acquired companies, entered new markets or addressed new opportunities presented by the changing market realities.
Aggressively building Cognizant’s brand and keeping customers sharply in focus helped open the right doors for Cognizant, but it is D’Souza’s ability to discern the direction of change and steer the ship well in time that is keeping the company ahead of competition. After putting Cogniz ant on a steady growth course , D’Souza has taken a stand-back role where his focus is on charting out the “next horizon” for the company. In that role he works on not only seeing the future but also in preparing Cognizant to thrive in that future.
— Lison Joseph
EXPERT-SPEAK:
“Francisco understands that shelf life of technology is short and he is constantly seeking ways to position Cognizant”
Ram Charan, Business adviser to CEOs
5.Rakesh Gangwal, 60,
CO-FOUNDER,
INDIGO PILOTING FROM THE BACKROOM
Every airline in India is struggling while many have keeled over — all except one. How on earth did little IndiGo muscle out Jet Airways, the big daddy of Indian skies, to emerge as India’s biggest airline? How is IndiGo profitable for the past five years when the industry lost nearly $9 billion? For answers, you will have to turn to the starring role Rakesh Gangwal has played at the low-cost (but far from low-fare) airline.
In the run-up to IndiGo’s launch in 2005, Gangwal, a veteran of 33 years in aviation, laid down the parameters on how the airline should function. Sure, a good part of IndiGo’s profits is due to the sale and leaseback of planes that Gangwal mastered when he was associated with Air France, United Airlines and US Airways, where he was CEO and president. But IndiGo has also focused on costs and service, including ontime performance and reliability, as a springboard to success. If every airline in India aspires to be in Indi-Go’s shoes today, it is because of Gangwal’s indelible stamp on the airline. The airline is possibly pushing competitors to follow its model — a low-cost airline thanks to its brand invincibility can afford to charge more than a full-service airline. Gangwal is the visionary at IndiGo, guiding the airline at the macro level and offering competitors a key lesson: it helps to have a person who knows aviation inside out at the helm.
— Binoy Prabhakar
EXPERT-SPEAK:
“Gangwal’s ability to take risks was reflected in IndiGo’s first 100 aircraft order which proved game-changing”
Kapil Kaul, CEO South Asia, CAPA
Every airline in India is struggling while many have keeled over — all except one. How on earth did little IndiGo muscle out Jet Airways, the big daddy of Indian skies, to emerge as India’s biggest airline? How is IndiGo profitable for the past five years when the industry lost nearly $9 billion? For answers, you will have to turn to the starring role Rakesh Gangwal has played at the low-cost (but far from low-fare) airline.
In the run-up to IndiGo’s launch in 2005, Gangwal, a veteran of 33 years in aviation, laid down the parameters on how the airline should function. Sure, a good part of IndiGo’s profits is due to the sale and leaseback of planes that Gangwal mastered when he was associated with Air France, United Airlines and US Airways, where he was CEO and president. But IndiGo has also focused on costs and service, including ontime performance and reliability, as a springboard to success. If every airline in India aspires to be in Indi-Go’s shoes today, it is because of Gangwal’s indelible stamp on the airline. The airline is possibly pushing competitors to follow its model — a low-cost airline thanks to its brand invincibility can afford to charge more than a full-service airline. Gangwal is the visionary at IndiGo, guiding the airline at the macro level and offering competitors a key lesson: it helps to have a person who knows aviation inside out at the helm.
— Binoy Prabhakar
EXPERT-SPEAK:
“Gangwal’s ability to take risks was reflected in IndiGo’s first 100 aircraft order which proved game-changing”
Kapil Kaul, CEO South Asia, CAPA
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