R S Gurubhakti

Group 2

Case Facts

RSG has turned around PILCA in three years RSG and SR started the company GPL in 1985 Company had a rapid growth and in 1995, it was in top 40 in revenue and top 10 in profits

Case Facts

GPL went public in 1994 and was treated in same breath as infosys IDMA Excellence award in 1995 One of the first pharmaceutical to get certified in ISO 9002 Taken over in 1997 by second largest Indian pharmaceutical company

1.

Functional Competence and passion for quality of top management are the necessary and sufficient condition for market success. Comment
Not a necessary & sufficient condition

Building an ethical organization is also important. Satyam an example of unethical conduct by top management. TATA beacon of ethical behavior with competence. Ignored unethical behavior of employees can bring problems to corporation as it was in the case of GPL. Customers do not view organization with respect.

Pitfall of not focusing on ethical behavior of organization.

2.

Reality matters not perception, in the context of leadership style. Comment Yes, reality matters Perception is short term, but reality prevails in long term You may lose short term by perceptual error, but character building happens in long term Example is given of RSG

3.

Strong personal ethics of company promoters automatically gets translated into strong organisational ethics. Comment Yes, ethics flow from top to bottom Leader set examples of ethical behavior and build organization culture of ethics Ethics compliance by senior management is noticed by employees and followed Example of Infosys (N R Narayanan Murthy)

4.

Companies with homogeneous ethnic representations are better and faster in ethical decision making Dont agree Ethical decision making is independent of ethnic orientation and diversity Defined business code of conduct and organizational values Group think might lead to biased and unethical decisions

5.

Contrasting personal styles of company founders provide the perfect complement in running the business. Comment Yes, contrasting style complements in running business Provides different perspective in complex situations RSG was good in marketing and people management. SR was good in functional skills However, MIS system was not developed in GPL as both were not operationally efficient

6.

Ego is the helper, ego is the bar. Comment

Ego serves only itself and that makes us self absorbed and self-centered The ego is dependent of exterior matters: other people, objects, situations. And that results almost always in bad feelings at one point or another. Ego makes people more & more unmanageable Ego is bad, because when not fulfilled it makes people counterproductive

7. Strong company growth buoyed by strong

managerial compensation together ensure the sustenance of a companys competitive strength. Comment
In

Short term may be Aids in retaining talent Motivation to perform in short term In long term You are caught in perennial compensation game.
Sustaining

competitive advantage requires: Human development Robust systems Intrinsic rewards

8. Forgiveness is a great virtue and speaks of shrewd business sense. Comment

Yes, Forgiveness is a virtue of strong Mahatama Gandhi The weak can never forgive. Forgiveness is the attribute of the strong Ramdhari Singh Dinkar Kshama shobhti us bhujang ko Jiske paas garal hai, Uska kya jo dantheen Vishrahit vineet saral hai Translation (Forgiveness is becoming of The serpent that's got venom, None cares for the toothless, Poisonless, kind, gentle one) Business Sense, Yes Taking on the rumour mongers would have fuelled more rumours of something fishy. Punishing corporate espionage would have been a scandal hurting both the companies and industry. Sends a signal that business is not perturbed by these events. Also sends a signal of strength.

9. To maintain speedy growth, one needs to be flexible in values and ethics. - Comment

Ethical benchmarks for the company has to be non negotiable

Short term

Rapid growth Immediate Employee and shareholder benefits Once wrong practices are ingrained in culture then it is difficult to change Ex: Current financial crisis, Satyam

Long term

For company growth

RSG could have opted for slow and steady growth Could have adopted better capital management Should have had a ethics policy in company

10.

The demise of GPL was primarily because of the mind- boggling rate of growth and the quantum of investments needed. Comment High growth rates set higher expectations of pay increments among managers difficult to manage The processes and systems at GPL couldnt scale up in line with the companys growth The promoters were not enthusiastic about running GPL anymore own pursuits Further investments needed to compete in a liberalized economy seemed daunting for the promoters

11.

How do you see the strengths and weaknesses of RSG and SR in perspective.

RSG Good in dealing with people and marketing skills Extremely hard working Diplomatic in times (compromises in ethics) SR Quick decision maker Strong functional skills Not collaborative; Doesnt keep senior management in loop