The Indian way of working is more intuitive

Q. Please take us through your experience of working with two big conglomerates – Unilever and Tata Group. What is the difference in terms of their organizational DNA, culture and what the companies stand for? How does that impact the overall business and their approach to talent?
A. If you look at the history of both organizations, there are some commonalities. Both the founders – Jamsetji Tata and William Hesketh Lever – were fairly entrepreneurial. Around the 1870s, both managed to establish the basis of their future wealth. Lord Liverhulme learnt that if you put a piece of paper around a soap, you could retain its moisture and freshness and even add some fragrance to it. In the case of Jamsetji Tata, he learnt that textile manufacturing could be a lucrative business.
They both had a deep philosophical belief about the existence of their companies. Jamsetji Tata believed that the community was not just one of the stakeholders of the company but the reason why the company exists