Great Lakes Institute of Management

Presents

LESSONS FROM LEGENDS

- Powerful quotes from visionaries

- Mr. A. VellayanExecutive Chairman, Murugappa Corporate Board

“These are invaluable quotes taken from the

excerpts of speeches made by various guests in

Great Lakes Institute of Management.”

These excerpts were taken from Mr. A. Vellayan’s talk at

Great Lakes Institute of Management on July 28, 2011

LESSONS FROM LEGENDS

www.greatlakes.edu.in

www.greatlakes.edu.in

Things that are making the

economy hobble today: High fiscal

deficit, high current account deficit,

investment slow-down, high core

inflation, poor skill availability,

restless labor, and crisis in

governance.

– Current challenges to business

www.greatlakes.edu.in

But, make no mistake. None of

these problems can take away the

core potential of India. The first

advantage that we have is the

demographic dividend. Linked

closely with this is the resurgent

middle class and the resultant

consumption boom - both in urban and rural India.

–India’s core potential

The proposed large investments

in infrastructure will be a shot in

the arm for all sectors across the

economy. The investments, both

public and private, in education

and healthcare will lead to

sustainable increases in human

potential.

– On the impact of investments

www.greatlakes.edu.in

To sum up the opportunities and

threats that a business has to

navigate, Boston Consulting

Group coined a new phrase: ‘A

two-speed world’. I would go a

step further and call it, ‘A multi-

speed world’.

–Business in a multi-speed world

www.greatlakes.edu.in

Today's business cycles are much

shorter than ever and they are

impacted by global factors well

outside our control. Added to that,

we now have black swan events that

have enormous impact halfway

across the world. Such turbulence is

here to stay.

– Turbulence in the global business

environment

www.greatlakes.edu.in

Businesses need to "think in new

boxes” - we need to build new

scenarios, new models that provide

alternative solutions to the growth

conundrum.

–Dealing with turbulence

www.greatlakes.edu.in

Another way for a business to

overcome turbulence is to

consciously build ‘adaptive

capacity’. One form of adaptive

capacity is the ability of an

organization to listen constantly to the

environment, read signals for change

and act on those signals.

– Adaptive capacity as a solution to

overcome turbulence

www.greatlakes.edu.in

Another adaptive capacity is

‘experimentation’. Companies need

to be able to generate a stream of

ideas, experiment quickly and

economically, scale up the successful

ideas and accelerate the time to market.

– Experimentation as a form of

adaptive capacity

www.greatlakes.edu.in

Even more importantly, in times

of turbulence, it is essential that

the business and its key

leadership retain a ‘strategic

optimism’. Leaders must keep

the organization focused on

the opportunities as well as

ensure that the entire business

remains clear-eyed about the

challenges it faces.

– Leadership in a multi-speed

worldwww.greatlakes.edu.in

Often, a crisis releases enormous

levels of pent-up energy,

innovation and fundamental

change. It is the role of the

leadership to harness this hidden

source of energy in the

company and unleash it

through constructive action.

This is why strategic optimism is

vital to the survival and growth

of the business.

– Harnessing opportunities

through strategic optimism www.greatlakes.edu.in

To strategic optimism I must add

one final factor - a deep and

abiding faith in the company's

core ‘values and beliefs’, the

single most important feature

that an organization needs to

inculcate to stay on its course in rough weather.

– Values & beliefs as drivers of

successful business

www.greatlakes.edu.in

www.greatlakes.edu.in

THANK YOU