e panorama 11

In this Issue:Page

Development of Future Executives. 2When Best become Worst. 6Waqt Nahi.. 7Slow Down.. 8Why English is so Difficult ? 9

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Set a shining example The world around you will follow the example that you set. The shortcomingsin others that frustrate you the most, are able to do so because they resonatewith similar shortcomings in your own life. Make improvements in your ownattitude and behavior, and you'll see corresponding improvements in thosearound you. Focus your own thoughts on the positive possibilities, and otherswill pick up on and emulate that focus.

Stop searching for blame and start mending what's broken. Stop seeking tojudge and start putting your values into positive, productive action. Yourinfluence is far greater than you now realize. Use that influence wisely, to build,to grow, and to improve everything with which you are connected. Everyachievement, every injustice, every inspiration, every frustration that you noticehas something to teach you about yourself. Learn the lessons well, apply themwith true commitment, and you'll change your world as well as yourself.

Set a shining example with the way you live each day. For life is watching and busily following along with your every move.

Ralph Marston

e-Panorama 21st Feb 07. Year2,Vol.11Newsletter of Bharuch District Management Association

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Development of Future Executives A survey was done at TATA Group by R. Gopalakrishnan, Executive Directorof Tata Sons, and member of the Group Executive Office, who, is alsoresponsible for the HR to assess the needs of companies and managers.

With large nos. of Industries in this belt are aging, this shall be quite usefulreading. The findings that emerged were:

Mobility for growthCompetitive remuneration;Performance measurement system;Potential assessment system;Group training inputsGroup resourcing

There shall be critical shortage of middle and top leaders in the next fiveyears. A significant number of companies - especially large, olderorganizations - will see 40 - 50 % of their senior executives leave in the next 5years - and there are not enough people prepared to replace them. Retirementshave depleted the once deep pool of middle managers traditionally nurtured toproduce the next generation of senior executives.

The result: Competition for key executives will become fierce, affecting companies andindustries new and old. And the rate of movement of qualified leaders will be frenzied. Thetime for corporate action is now - before leaders make a stampede toward retirement.

A company manages its business through two kinds of work managerial work, done bypeople with clear authority and accountability, and with influence over resource allocation;the second is supervisory work, done by skilled people who implement assigned tasks and


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report to managers. Traditionally, we look at the organisation as a pyramid with the ChiefExecutive and senior management at the top and others at different levels of the pyramid.

Career development is largely about spotting good people, giving them job mobility,rotation and progression up the organisation structure. When individuals doessame work routinely Day-in and Day-out for years, their professional acumendecreases and vision remain stagnant at the stage of functional competence. Toremain Safe in Comfort Zone, they are not interested in taking diverse functions toget broader views of other functions required in taking up future responsibilities.Slowly insecurity creeps in and situation come to such a stage that their postbecomes the basis of their identity & self-esteem. Today we have a situation in thecompany where people just change designations. There is no creativity, innovationor change in work style needed for changing scenario. Years passes, and as aconsequence organisation dithers for Efficient Leadership.

WHAT IS SOLUTION THAN..?

Organisations like to have managers who are motivated to produce the highestquality of work, so that organisation remains in fore front of the sector. Thereare some functions like HR, Finance, Marketing, Purchase, Liaison, Stores orAdministration which do not have a sector bias and, thus, can be freely rotated across.Others like Production, Design, Projects, Maintenance and Technical Service aresector-specific functions, which, while have limited scope for rotation acrossdepartments can nevertheless be used in different functions to develop their generalmanagement. A truly professional leader is required to develop six characteristicsthrough his career. The more senior the leader, the more of these qualities they arerequired to exemplify. The characteristics are:

By bringing increasing levels of objectivity and order into the entire exercise, all managers inthe group will be continuously evaluated on the basis of a matrix that maps their"Energy"(emotional intelligence) with their "Experience" (intuition) gained over the years.

Typical leaders are those with multi-functional experience and have very highlevels of energy. You can spot them by observation around you, they look andconduct themselves as highly energetic people. The analysis provided by such amatrix allows the group to keep track of the potential leaders in the middle management andharness their abilities for the organisations progress.


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The company is the unit where potential and performance of the manager is assessedand this is the foundation of the system. Those meeting certain criteria will come intothe radar screen, but the position is not assured for all times. There is acute need toundertake this exercise, which will also help in identifying high performers and thereby alsoavoid many unprofessional practices.

Build a Competency Model : If there is an impending leadership shortage, the next step is todefine the executive competencies needed in those who will be called in to fill the void. Thisset of competencies will be the yardstick for identifying and developing future leaders.

Discover Hidden Potential: When searching for future leadership talent, organizationsshould be very inclusive and consider personnel from every division. Often, there is moreprospective talent in the ranks than a first glance might indicate.

Develop competencies through on-the-job experiences. A valuable exercise is to ask topexecutives which experiences they believe an up-and-comer should have before ascending toa top-level position, and what experiences will develop targeted competencies. These listsoften include: managing two different divisions of the organisation; a foreign countryassignment; a major staff position, such as human resources; a marketing assignment;involvement in a major research and development effort; and leadership of a reorganisationtask force.

Make "fast trackers" feel special to encourage their rotation and development.

Let high-potential individuals know how important they are in the organisation's future plans.This does not mean that second-tier candidates should be ignored. Although on a slower andless intense development path than "fast-trackers," changes in organisational needs and anindividual's capacity to develop can alter the status of these managers.

Facilitate feedback on development progress. Promote self-insight and the individual'sacceptance of the need for further development. Specific tactics include the periodic use ofmulti-rater instruments, such as 360-degree surveys, and opportunities for candidates to testthemselves against peers in training programs and conferences.


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No Time to Waste: Companies need Chief Executives and managers skilled in runningcomplex enterprises. Companies need to cast their net wider for managerial talent and havemeaningful processes for grooming potential Top Executives.

They also need to do a better job of drilling down into the organisation to spotand nurture future leaders early in their careers and develop a system ofsuccession planning on a continuing basis.

Like all good human resource solutions, succession managementrequires a systemic, long-term approach. The key is to start now.Executive Assessment, Development and Rotation Programs can helpdelay the looming leadership crisis, but there are no quick fixes.

(Source: Interview at Tata Sons and Society for Human Resource Management, USA )

Where the vision is one year, cultivate flowers.Where the vision is ten years, cultivate trees.Where the vision is eternity, cultivate people.

(Cartoon courtesy : Ms. Sheela Mistry, Insight Associates)


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When best becomes worst

How can organisations prevent best practices from impeding their progress duringinteresting times?

The current thrust of organisational business and performance managementinitiatives focus on archiving best practices so other employees can access themlater. Archival and the subsequent referral of information are believed to facilitateefficient problem solving and prevent unnecessary allocation of resources toinefficient search processes. Incidentally, in due course, the archived best practicestend to define the company way. Business solutions characterised by memorisationof best practices might define the assumptions that are embedded not only ininformation databases, but also in the organisations strategy, reward systems andresource allocation systems. Within a changing business environment, suchorganisations may be doing more of the same better, but with diminishing marginalreturns. Just like the boiling frog who is unable to sense the gradual change intemperature and ultimately boils to death, the cycle of doing more of the same tendsto result in locked-in behaviour patterns causing an organisational death spiral.

Yesterdays core capabilities embedded in best practices, could become tomorrowscore rigidities. Institutionalisation of best practices by embedding them in informationrepositories might facilitate efficient handling of routine, linear or predictablesituations during stable or incrementally changing environments. However, whenchange is radical and discontinuous, there is a persistent need for continual renewalof the basic premises underlying best practices. Organisations in such environmentsneed imaginative suggestions more than they do best practices. One possible optionfor getting out of the status quo often implied by best practices might be to view thefollowing processes as necessary and relevant and occurring in a parallel state.(Most current thinking based on theory and practice suggests anoversimplification of what is necessary for sustained competence.)

Consider these as parallel processes:. programming and deprogramming. reinforcement and exploration. learning and unlearning. efficiency and effectiveness. construction and deconstruction.

The basic intent is to set up a realtime feedback-and-feed forward loop of activelyscanning the unstructured reality for emerging patterns that suggest the emergenceof something new. Meanwhile, you must ensure there is a mechanism for testingperceived patterns and implementing the resultant lessons learned into the extantlogic of the processes. The greatest challenge is being able to do the former in theabove list, while striving for the latter. In other words, it is challenging to implementefficiency while unravelling the underlying logic to strive for effectiveness. Similarly, itis challenging to implement learning while unravelling the underlying assumptions tostrive for unlearning, and so forth.

(Compiled by:Mr. Nayan Bhatt,GNFC Ltd.)


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WAQT NAHI

Har khushi hai logon ke daman mein, Par ek hansi ke liye waqt nahi. Din raat daudti duniya mein, Zindagi ke liye hi waqt nahi.

Maa ki loree ka ehsaas to hai, Par maa ko Maa kehne ka waqt nahi. Saare rishton ko to hum maar chuke, Ab unhe dafnane ka bhi waqt nahi.

Saare naam mobile mein hain, Par dosti ke liye waqt nahi. Gairon ki kya baat karen, Jab apno ke liye hi waqt nahi.

Aankhon me hai neend badee, Par sone ka waqt nahi. Dil hai ghamon se bhara hua, Par rone ka bhi waqt nahi.

Paison ki daud me aise daude, Ki thakne ka bhi waqt nahi. Paraye ehsason ki kya kadr karein, Jab apane sapno ke liye hi waqt nahi.

Tu hi bata E zindagi, Iss zindagi ka kya hoga,

Ki har pal marne walon ko, Jeene ke liye bhi waqt nahi.......


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Slow Down Culture Globalize processes have caused in us (all over the world) a general sense of searching forimmediate results. Therefore, we have come to posses a need to see immediate results. Thiscontrasts greatly with the slow movements of the Swedish. They, on the other hand, debate,debate, debate, hold x quantity of meetings and work with a slowdown scheme. At the end,this always yields better results. Said in another words: 1. Sweden is about the size of San Pablo, a state in Brazil. 2. Sweden has 2 million inhabitants. (Equal to Baroda city) 3. Stockholm, has 500,000 people. 4. Volvo, Escania, Ericsson, Electrolux, Nokia are some of its renowned companies. Volvo supplies the NASA.

The first time I was in Sweden, one of my colleagues picked me up at the hotel everymorning. It was September, bit cold and snowy. We would arrive early at the company andhe would park far away from the entrance (2000 employees drive their car to work). The firstday, I didn't say anything, either the second or third. One morning I asked, "Do you have afixed parking space? I've noticed we park far from the entrance even when there are no othercars in the lot." To which he replied, "Since we're here early we'll have time to walk, andwhoever gets in late will be late and need a place closer to the door. Don't you think? Imaginemy face. Nowadays, there's a movement in Europe name Slow Food. This movementestablishes that people should eat and drink slowly, with enough time to taste their food,spend time with the family, friends, without rushing. Basically, the movement questions thesense of "hurry" and "craziness" generated by globalization, fuelled by the desire of "havingin quantity" (life status) versus "having with quality", "life quality" or the "quality of being".French people, even though they work 35 hours per week, are more productive thanAmericans or British. Germans have established 28.8 hour workweeks and have seen theirproductivity been driven up by 20%. This slow attitude has brought forth the US's attention,pupils of the fast and the "do it now!".

This no-rush attitude doesn't represent doing less or having a lower productivity. It meansworking and doing things with greater quality, productivity, perfection, with attention todetail and less stress. It means re-establishing family values, friends, free and leisure time.Taking the "now", present and concrete, versus the "global", undefined and anonymous. Itmeans taking humans' essential values, the simplicity of living. It stands for a less coercivework environment, more happy, lighter and more productive where humans enjoy doing whatthey know best how to do. It's time to stop and think on how companies need to developserious quality with no-rush that will increase productivity and the quality of products andservices, without losing the essence of spirit.

Many of us live our lives running behind time, but we only reach it when we die of a heartattack or in a car accident rushing to be on time. Others are so anxious of living the futurethat they forget to live the present, which is the only time that truly exists. We all have equaltime throughout the world. No one has more or less. The difference lies in how each one of usdoes with our time. We need to live each moment. As John Lennon said,

"Life is what happens to you while you're busy making other plans".

(inputs from Mrs. J M Kavina, GNFC Ltd.)


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Why English Is So Difficult We'll begin with a box, and the plural is boxes; but the plural of ox became oxen not oxes.One fowl is a goose, but two are called geese, yet the plural of moose should never bemeese. You may find a lone mouse or a nest full of mice; yet the plural of house is houses,not hice. If the plural of man is always called men, why shouldn't the plural of pan be calledpen? If I spoke of my foot and show you my feet, and I give you a boot, would a pair becalled beet? If one is a tooth and a whole set are teeth, why shouldn't the plural of booth becalled beeth? Then one may be that, and three would be those, yet hat in the plural wouldnever be hose, and the plural of cat is cats, not cose. We speak of a brother and also ofbrethren, but though we say mother we never say methren. Then the masculine pronouns arehe, his and him, but imagine the feminine, she, shis and shim.

Some reasons to be grateful if you grew up speaking English; 1) The bandage was wound around the wound. 2) The farm was used to produce produce. 3) The dump was so full that it had to refuse more refuse. 4) We must polish the Polish furniture. 5) He could lead if he would get the lead out. 6) The soldier decided to desert his dessert in the desert. 7) There is no time like the present, he said it was time to present the present. 8) At the Army base, a bass was painted on the head of a bass drum. 9) When shot at, the dove dove into the bushes. 10) I did not object to the object. 11) The insurance was invalid for the invalid. 12) There was a row among the oarsmen about how to row. 13) They were too close to the door to close it. 14) The buck does funny things when the does are present. 15) A seamstress and a sewer fell down into a sewer line. 16) To help with planting, the farmer taught his sow to sow. 17) The wind was too strong to wind the sail. 18) After a number of Novocain injections, my jaw got number. 19) Upon seeing the tear in the painting I shed a tear. 20) I had to subject the subject to a series of tests. 21) How can I intimate this to my most intimate friend? 22) I spent last evening evening out a pile of dirt.

Let's face it - English is a crazy language.

There is no egg in eggplant nor ham in hamburger; neither apple nor pine In pineapple.English muffins weren't invented in England. We take English for granted. But if we exploreits paradoxes, we find that quicksand can work slowly, boxing rings are square and a guineapig is neither from Guinea nor is it a pig. And why is it that writers write but fingers don'tfing, grocers don't groce and hammers don't ham? Doesn't it seem crazy that you can makeamends but not one amend? If you have a bunch of odds and ends and get rid of all but oneof them, what do you call it? If teachers taught, why didn't preachers praught?


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If a vegetarian eats vegetables, what does a humanitarian eat?

In what language do people recite at a play and play at a recital?

Ship by truck and send cargo by ship?

Have noses that run and feet that smell?

How can a slim chance and a fat chance be the same, while a wise man and a wise guy areopposites?

You have to marvel at the unique lunacy of a language in which your house can burn up asit burns down, in which you fill in a form by filling it out and in which an alarm goes off bygoing on.

If Dad is Pop, how come! Mom isn't Mop? GO FIGURE! That's American English.

It's a phonic (and phony) world out there. We have megaphones and microphones.Megaphones magnify our voice, so why doesn't a microphone miniaturize it? We havephonograms but they are not the opposite of gramophones.

Human languages, like humans, are never too logical. Homophones have nothing to do withhomo sapiens. The former prefix is from Greek homo meaning "same" while the other isfrom Latin homo meaning "man".

Unlike Sanskrit, english made its own rules of pronounciation & Grammar in a differentway based on the words derivated from example CH is pronounced as ka wen the word isderived from greek example character = karakter CH is pronounced as sha wen the word isfrom french ex champagne, chateau similarly with singulars & plurals.

(inputs from Mr. Jiten Bhuta, Jay Process,Mumbai.)================================================================

Give God what's right, not what's left. A lot of kneeling will keep you in good standing. He who kneels before God can stand before anyone. In the sentence of life, the devil maybe a comma, but never let him be the period. Are you wrinkled with burden? Come to the GOD for a face lift. When praying, don't give instructions to God, just report for duty. We don't change God's message, His message changes us.


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We find our greatest happiness in the open field of possibility, yet search endlessly for the shelter of certainty.

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::Editorial Committee::

ChairmanMr. Jayen Mehta, GNFC Ltd.

MembersMr. Mukesh Mehta, Heubach Colour, Ms. Sheela Mistry, Insight Associates,

Mr. G.M. Patel, GNFC Ltd. Dr. M.S. Patel, GNFC Ltd. ePanorama Advisory committee

Mr. R P Vyas -President, Mr.Kamlesh Udani -Past President, Mr.Ashok Panjwani -Vice President,

Mr.K A Shah -Vice President Bharuch District Management Association

601/602 Vaikunth Township, Opp: Polytechnic College

Bharuch - 392 002 Gujarat - IndiaPhone: +91 2642 228190

Fax: +91 2642 226619 To send your feedback, suggestions and articles

e-mail: [email protected]


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