Continuous transformation as business strategy

EMBRACE THE FUTURE: The Soft Science of Business Transformation

Author: R Gopalakrishnan and Hrishi Bhattacharyya

Publisher: Bloomsbury

Pages: 240

Price: Rs 699

When the licence raj was dismantled overnight in 1991, Indian businesses faced a period of dramatic transformation. Liberalisation introduced an era of lowered tariffs and competition from overseas on the one hand and manifold new opportunities in sectors hitherto reserved for public sector enterprises and small enterprises on the other. Those at the helm of companies had to rethink their strategies, from operating in a protected and safe environment where new production capacity was not permitted to one that was constantly buffeted by global developments.
 

The authors of this elegant leadership handbook emphasise that business transformation now lies at the heart of boardroom agendas, given that change is not merely a one-time event but a continuous process. The collective wisdom of two seasoned and successful management strategists on restructuring businesses has been distilled into this wide-ranging volume that provides a range of good advice on converging “heart plus mind” for optimal outcomes.
 

Supplemented by anecdotes and experiences on what has worked and, equally, what has not, it starts with the premise that transformative adaptation requires constant focus and must assess the future independently rather than extrapolate past experiences and data. This might seem somewhat self-evident, but the book shows that those companies that have neglected to peer into the future have been relegated to the dustbins of history. No story could better illustrate this than that of Sears, a company that was founded on the mail order business, yet closed down the division just a year before Jeff Bezos founded Amazon.
 

Implementing the “heart plus mind” ethos, the two change experts have divided the volume into two parts, the first being the art, or the software, of transformation management and the second covering its science. R Gopalakrishnan, who honed his skills at Unilever and the Tata group, covers the differences between transactional and transformational leadership, while Hrishi Bhattacharyya, his former colleague at Unilever and later a teacher and management consultant, looks at the aspects of foresight, transformational strategies and how to think about the future.
 

Mr Gopalakrishnan’s section touches often upon the travails wrought by the liberalisation of the economy and how companies achieved winning success with leaders who empowered and engaged followers to ensure ownership of change processes. Leaders must have an open mind and a will to listen since transformation can be painful for employees. They must work to create a “collective legend” in the company that will show empathy for the needs of employees, a principle that cannot be doubted in the current volatile business ecosystem.
 

The risks of transformation highlighted in this section remain relevant for today’s management leaders. Mr Gopalakrishnan terms as “demyelination” the risk that comes from inefficient and slow transmission of signals, as happened during the passing of the three farm laws in 2017-18 which were later withdrawn. Another risk emanates from not paying heed to “subsonic” signals, those warnings that may exist under the radar. It is worthwhile to recognise that these and the other risks mentioned can derail the best of plans and a slow but methodical approach can actually hasten success in the future.
 

So what makes companies able to adapt to change and remain part of the business landscape for decades? A purpose statement, long term vision, adaptive ecosystem, sustainability aspiration, and conservative financing have been identified as “Brahma mantras”. It is also important to continuously shift orbits, learn from mistakes and converge interests of various stakeholders. Finally, stress is placed on honest business. The strategies deployed by companies such as Tata Steel and Hindustan Unilever Ltd (HUL) outlined in the section are real lessons that show how enlightened leadership can make a difference to the longevity of an entity.
 

Stories abound in the second section by Mr Bhattacharyya on the strategic dimension of transformation management. It begins by casting a look at the importance of hindsight as a starting point for assessing the future, and goes on to talk about the various tools such as industry analysis, benchmarking competition and war games, which are relatively ineffective in an uncertain future characterised by change in consumer habits, new technologies or business systems.
 

Mr Bhattacharyya reiterates the importance of listening to data and signals to get a handle on the future and understand the direction that current trends may take. He challenges the conventional wisdom of business strategy, noting that these are all rooted in the present. Leaders looking for transformation need to rework basic industry assumptions and shape the future proactively.
 

How companies have descended into business nadirs and then managed to bootstrap their way back to market dominance through transformation is exemplified by the black cab system of London, Lipton India and, most of all, Apple. While each of these cases can be a leadership and transformation management book by itself, the succinct delineation of what worked is a valuable addition to the book.
 

With global developments so unpredictable, even management gurus cannot foretell the contours of the next flashpoint and companies can only attempt to navigate the circumstances with backup plans made on the go. Drafted with clarity, the structure of the book makes it easy for readers to imbibe the concepts that can act as practical solutions on how to think about such plans, while also addressing the usual business change process. Transformation managers must go through the book to learn from these masters.
 

The writer is the author of several books on Indian business history purpose statement, long term vision, adaptive ecosystem, sustainability aspiration, and conservative financing have been identified as “Brahma mantras”. It is also important to continuously shift orbits, learn from mistakes and converge interests of various stakeholders. Finally, stress is placed on honest business. The strategies deployed by companies such as Tata Steel and Hindustan Unilever Ltd (HUL) outlined in the section are real lessons that show how enlightened leadership can make a difference to the longevity of an entity.
 

Stories abound in the second section by Mr Bhattacharyya on the strategic dimension of transformation management. It begins by casting a look at the importance of hindsight as a starting point for assessing the future, and goes on to talk about the various tools such as industry analysis, benchmarking competition and war games, which are relatively ineffective in an uncertain future characterised by change in consumer habits, new technologies or business systems.
 

Mr Bhattacharyya reiterates the importance of listening to data and signals to get a handle on the future and understand the direction that current trends may take. He challenges the conventional wisdom of business strategy, noting that these are all rooted in the present. Leaders looking for transformation need to rework basic industry assumptions and shape the future proactively.
 

How companies have descended into business nadirs and then managed to bootstrap their way back to market dominance through transformation is exemplified by the black cab system of London, Lipton India and, most of all, Apple. While each of these cases can be a leadership and transformation management book by itself, the succinct delineation of what worked is a valuable addition to the book.
 

With global developments so unpredictable, even management gurus cannot foretell the contours of the next flashpoint and companies can only attempt to navigate the circumstances with backup plans made on the go. Drafted with clarity, the structure of the book makes it easy for readers to imbibe the concepts that can act as practical solutions on how to think about such plans, while also addressing the usual business change process. Transformation managers must go through the book to learn from these masters.

The writer is the author of several books on Indian business history