People Matters

Enabling a network of high performers

By Valerie Hausman, Assistant Dean, Global Executive Education, Duke University's Fuqua School of Business

Apr 2nd 2012

As the global business environment has become more complex and unpredictable, organizations are looking for leaders who can adapt well to change, understand interdependencies and know how to scan the horizon and anticipate challenges. It is no longer acceptable to simply have strong functional skills in a particular area or industry. Organizations want their senior leaders to understand how social, environmental, regulatory and cultural dynamics impact their industry and markets.Our programs a... Read more »

Lead through tactical execution

By Samuel B. Bacharach, McKelvey-Grant Professor, Cornell University and Co-founder of the Bacharach Leadership Group

Apr 2nd 2012

The challenge facing most organizations today is that of a leadership. On the surface, this may seem to be an overarching statement. Simply put, we need to demystify leadership and break it down into specific, trainable skills that will allow the key actors in the organization to move agendas. Organizations simply get stuck because leaders either process things to death or move too quickly. Throughout the organization, we need to make sure that individuals are trained in a core set of skills t... Read more »

Technology changing the landscape

By Vijay Kohli, Executive Senior Vice President, NIS Sparta

Apr 2nd 2012

Globalization has had a fair bit of impact on the Indian market and the related dynamics. More aware and demanding customers, cost and price competitiveness, reduced product lifecycles, evolving technologies and resultant processes and competition from Indian as well as global players, are just some of the factors that impact each member of the workforce today. The biggest impact is felt by the people in the middle and higher management cadre, who are expected to define the strategy or execute... Read more »

Blended learning gaining populace

By Vivek Chachra, Director - Corporate Learning (India & Middle East), Harvard Business Publishing

Apr 2nd 2012

I see two key trends in the business environment that are driving changes in Executive Education. The downturn over the last 3 years and the prevailing global economic uncertainty is driving organizations to be clearer around strategy and business priorities than ever before. This, in turn, is driving Executive Education to embed itself more into the business needs of companies by providing flexible and customized curriculums in comparison to more traditional off-the-shelf programs.The second... Read more »

A Little Help

By Jai Prakash Sunda

Apr 3rd 2012

After graduating from a premier engineering institute, Rakesh had just joined Yay Inc., but he did not seem to be very interested in the work. The manager and HR sensed that Rakesh was a shy guy, and so did not try to explore what was actually bothering him. More than a year in the company, while most of his other colleagues moved on to different teams and got promoted, Rakesh was still "stuck" with his "shyness". His manager perhaps might give him the lowest rating; in tha... Read more »

FM: Meets Expectations

By Adil Malia, Group President – HR, Essar Group

Apr 2nd 2012

A government grounded in political bickering for its survival, whilst frantically attempting to energize and fuel a growing economy, has conjured a deficit budget, anchored to global economic pulls, local market pressures and a fractured political mandate.The buzz as always was - so how is the budget? (a meaningless banter just like wishing all and sundry a 'happy new year' on January 1). Everybody, knowledgeable and not so knowledgeable, imitates economic sounding terms picked up from panel d... Read more »

Measuring the immeasurable

By Dr. Ariff Kachra, Strategy Professor and Managing Director – India at Richard Ivey School of Business

Apr 2nd 2012

When I was growing up, my parents were persistently subtle about their expectations regarding my education. They wanted me to be a medical doctor. Recently I spoke to my father and asked him if he was disappointed that I never became a doctor. He quickly replied, “Well, you are a doctor, just not the kind I thought you would be – and frankly, I am glad.”I was a bit shocked when he added ‘and frankly I am glad’. How can the key buyer of my education be glad that th... Read more »

Spin it Right: A Great Place to Work® Institute Series

Apr 2nd 2012

Dipali Goenka, MD, Welspun Global Brands shares with Basuri Dutta the essence of people in its journey from being a family-owned business to becoming a global leaderHow has the role of HR evolved in the journey of Welspun?Welspun began as a compact family-owned business where people would stay with the organization for a long time. Gradually, as the organization grew and got publicly listed, there was a need to gravitate towards ‘professionalism’, and getting the right kind of peop... Read more »

Book Review: Reverse Innovation: Create Far From Home, Win Everywhere

Apr 2nd 2012

Reverse Innovation by Vijay Govindarajan and Chris Trimble, offers a framework for leaders to innovate and extract opportunities in today’s emerging marketsReverse Innovation – Create Far From Home, Win Everywhere’, puts forward the fact that one needs to innovate in order to tap the humungous growth opportunities existing in the developing markets. The stakes in these economies are global and ignoring these glaring opportunities would result in a formidable competition in th... Read more »

Have you invested in YOU?

By Elango R.

Apr 2nd 2012

My favorite question to folks I was interviewing both internally and externally was - “How much time have you invested in yourself in the last 2 months?”Most of the time, I received blank looks. Some brave ones ventured with a “oh! Yes I took Christmas and New Year to be with the family” and the smart alecs piped in saying “every day is an investment…!”The real answer after some posturing is; most hadn’t even attended a day’s training, lea... Read more »