Sunday, September 28, 2008

Puristic Capitalism !

The bail out plan for the faltering economy is passed in US. There is a hue and cry that this is against the spirit of Capitalism as it ensures Oxygen for failed species in business world.
While China and Russia dropped their socialistic/communism philosophies to have a flavor of capitalism then everyone was happy. It is an enough proof that Capitalism is the only economic model that will survive long term said a lot. India was blamed for years for taking a middle path and the real economic engine kicked off when it opened up competition a real indicator of Capitalistic philosophies. Sure there is enough proof that Capitalism stretches performance and non performers perish. But that is if Politics and country administration does not exist.
Real world is different. Language passion, belief that their own culture is different and unique (in most cases better than several other) etc drives people to make short term compromises in philosophies to tide over a short term crisis. Is this bad? Not so much as projected to be. Man takes extra effort to preserve species which are becoming extinct (while some are due to activities of man but some are not...these species have not efficient enough to survive if we look at philosophy of puristic evolution). They are protected for some years it the population becomes good enough and then they pass the natural survival path. For sure to compare the present bail out to this is a sin. As the crisis is not due to inefficiency of environment but greed of few who acted responsibly only to short term gains(personal) and blinded others into believing the future is rosy. This bail out sends a signal to such foolish risk takers to continue with their blind run risking a lot of sincere entrepreneurs.
However coming back to the point-Is a pure form of any philosophy possible in economy? My answer is no. Philosophy takes bends when confronted with practicality and it still survives in a new form. China, Russia, India, Brazil are some successful examples. Don't confuse human rights to capitalism as some tend to do. World is more complex than it was. Maybe it is time to allow this evolution than dissecting the philosophy breaches. For sure the blind runners should be treated with fire as these species spoils lives of so many across the world...why have mercy on them? Bush has started a bush fire now and sure it will be a forest fire for the next incumbent. But in the process if US becomes a lesser power isn't good for the whole world? Time for new cycle of power/politics.

Tuesday, September 16, 2008

Logically illogical!

Smart Students are known to win arguments using logic. This is true for brightest brains in Management schools who show their prowess in case discussions. The conviction with which the argument is presented and the contextual references with communication style will totally convince everyone that this is the argument of the day. With collars up the (covering the seemingly projecting brain from back of the head) day ends with reflection on how the whole class was directed by the statements for the young brain. This fuels more such interventions which the others tolerate accepting a Logical dominance to this brainy organism.
Coming out of the school the success rate of such specimens is not that impressive. Reason being sense of belief " I know everything" with an inbuilt arrogance "I can manage any situation with my supreme brain" creates a fantastic poison for disaster. Who is to blame for the failure-fellow classmates, professors or the system? Not really. Knowledge seeker should be worthy to seek Knowledge-else he fills the brain with emptiness which fills his ego but does not open the keys of success automatically. Pride is the first sign of Hollowness. Talking too much is the second sign. Shooting from hip is the third sign. Artificial attitude (talking from mouth not heart) is the fourth sign. Self trumpet is the fifth sign. If you see this five symptoms in someone you can safely conclude you have met the star who will be mistaken for Sun in interviews-later found as a sin of the interviewers by company. However the inherent survival instincts of Darwin do apply for these people as they jump from company to company with promotions as they indeed shine in interviews.
It is logically illogical to recommend this. Displaying high energy for a long time is deception. This only shows that a person is trying to be Super human. Therefore in interviews if someone masks their weakness as an implied strength to the job they seek... just ignore them. You will avoid a sin from being committed as usually it takes a year to find that the person you choose was worthless.

Saturday, September 6, 2008

Management Styles matching to Business Cycle!

Situational Management has always been a favorite topic of a lot of successful Management people. What Situational Management tells in simple terms is " Do what the best given the situation" which makes it so open ended to commoners who feel this is as good as " Survive with your own wits" with no guidelines.
I personally believe that Management becomes an art with Situational stuff. As we know people can be categorized from different parameters in different ways (recent count says 3100 ways...maybe more) making it a complex subject. How can Management whose success is governed by people can be made simplistic...then people coined Situational Management trying to make sense to the few who can leaving others to grope interpretations in dark.
Politics in organizations, maturity of the organization, culture, networking and most importantly risk propensity will govern how right or wrong a person can be perceived. I have attended some meetings which starts quite well and then personal conflicts between two people shape the direction of discussions moving away from professional to personal situations quoting past experiences etc. Such meetings are a real waste of time. If your company culture allows you should walk out of such meetings so that there is some change in the destructive practices...if not your behaviour will be viewed as destructive practice (situational).
Now the Business Cycle is clearly turning and it is clear we can expect cost cuts, urgent actions to protect bottomlines, freeze of recruitments etc. Global economy offers fantastic opportunity to manage different phases of business cycle at the same time. Asia,East Europe, Latin America is growing with US in recession for sometime now. Western Europe is slowing down now.
For growth markets we require managers who are aggressive and have a passion to take the challenges the growth markets provide. The Management style needs to be young and bold. With high turnover issues and constant search for talents the leader should be able to manage a controlled chaos in a systematic way. Loud communicators and strong execution focussed personalities fit the bill well. To manage a recession is a different ball game. Especially when it is a continuity from growth to recession. It requires a lot of maturity to apply brakes at right places without giving an appearance of panic. Several leaders communicate with urgency but also communicate panic with a lot of employees getting stressed out. The energy lost by this will be felt for a long time as employees who got the signal of panic usually loose motivation though they still retain a lot of knowledge. They become liabilities later and the leader had played an active role in creating this though not very knowingly. Clearly Maturity differentiates leaders from Managers in a change of cycle. Let us see how many such Mature leaders exist as surely there will be some who will emerge from the fire soon in this business cycle too.

About Me

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Gothenburg, Sweden
Still finding introspecting to find who am I? Waiting for a Guru!