December 8, 2014

Case Review
HOW the best indian companies drive performance by investing in people

Leadership Practices vary across cultures. This case study from the Harvard Business Review highlights the ways leaders of high performing Indian companies focus their time and energies. The findings are based on interviews of 105 leaders from 98 of the largest Indian-based companies across various fields. The finding of the study are very stark and intriguing. Unlike the CEOs of Western companies, who often claim that cleverness at the top coupled with skills in financial markets, mergers or dealing making is a key determinant of success, Indian leaders point to the motivation of their people, their biggest assets. The Indian managers/CEOs invest in their employees and give importance to their quality, skill improvements, retention etc. The Leadership style of Indian CEOs find echo in the words of Mr. S. Ramdorai, the former head of Tata Consultancy Services, when he said of his company’s success,“It’s all about human capital at the end of the day.”.
The authors of the case also find that Indian business leaders emphasize upon the social mission of their work. According to them Indian business leaders regard Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) as a key part of social mission and employee motivation. Achieving CSR targets is monitored regularly by 40% of Indian companies while only 17% of US companies report regularly paying attention to this goal. Most of the western CEOs single-mindedly pursue shareholder value while ignoring social concerns.
CEOs like Vineet Nayar (CEO of HCL Technologies), Ratan Tata ( Chairman of TATA Group), Azim Premji (Chairman of Wipro Ltd.) are the shinning example of Indian CEOs who are Transformational Leaders and take a long-term, internally focused view. Mr Vineet Nayar, for instance, invited employees to evaluate their