Page 3 - R Gopalakrishnan

Is SHE enterprise an oxymoron?

History is replete with examples of when an enlightened business approach did not prevail, but even cynics agree it is worth striving for

Tono-Bungay enterprise

Today, as in the days of HG Wells, the dilemma that society faces is one of the need for aggressive entrepreneurs, but not entrepreneurs who undertake spiralling risks, unfettered by ethics or nous.

The idea of a board coach

To improve governance, can a coach help by holding a behavioral mirror to a board?

Timely response in governance

Commentary on misgovernance dwells on misdemeanour, but perpetrators often do not demonstrate malintent. There are plenty of smoke signals, however, before every episode

The power of 'obliquity'

Corporate leaders aggressively pursue shareholder wealth creation. But companies that put more emphasis on profit are, in fact, less profitable

The mercurial should not trump the methodical

Mercurial founders get disproportionate public exposure, but nothing pulls down leaders with extra-gravitational speed than front-page coverage in the media

Effective directors display the art of healthy scepticism

Independent directors add value to a company not only through their explicit knowledge and cognitive skills, but also through their experiential intuition and heuristic skills

How history remembers leaders

Leaders are judged in the short term by their rational accomplishments. What lingers are the qualities of heart

The real culture of stewardship

Authored jointly by a business leader, Chairman of IMC Pan Asia, Frederick Tsao, and an academic at Case Western University, Chris Laszlo, the book elegantly harmonises practice and theory

Bequeathing leaders' experiential wealth

The sharing of experiential assets requires one to upgrade that asset into a customer-friendly form

The new science of a lost art

Borrowing the term crux from mountaineering, Dr Rumelt argues that it represents the most critical challenge to the desired progress

Anthropology can help businesspeople

Applying the intellectual framework of anthropology could help a person see around corners, gain empathy for others, and derive fresh insights on problems

Are we really smarter than our peers?

We don't always know what we think we know

Creating a SHE company

The book is replete with examples of the twin benefits of humility of ignorance and curiosity from passion

In search of CEO excellence

The theme of this book follows in the genre of several books like the Lessons of Excellence by Tom Peters and Bob Waterman - both also, coincidentally, McKinsey consultants

Narcissus in the boardroom

Media encomiums and the feeling of self-importance are shimmering mirages in the desert of self-delusion

When the spiritual and the material combine

Godmen, like Russian oligarchs, have a cathartic effect on sound lending principles and sustainable enterprise building

Dimensions of leadership

The subject of leadership permits opposite conclusions to be drawn from the same observations and data

What it takes to love a corporation

There will be a debate among strategists and entrepreneurs about whether Tata Sons has been wise to acquire Air India

Companies need more neeti, less niyam

The key lies in training and aligning directors about the behavioural aspects of governance, not only about the laws