Articles

July 8, 2016

Sustaining the chutzpah of an innovative fmcg start-up

8th July 2016, BUSINESS STANDARD

Bill Gross, the founder of many start-ups and the incubator of many others, delivered a TED talk in June 2015. While he is passionate that start-ups are the biggest drivers in any economy, he was also curious about why some start-ups succeed and other fail;

June 12, 2016

Prodromal signals do provoke deep thought

12th Jun 2016, ECONOMIC TIMES

By R Gopalakrishnan Financial crises of nations and companies produce prodromal signals, which means advance warnings. The challenge is around how you interpret and respond to those prodromal signals.

June 10, 2016

Thought leadership is the ancestor of innovation

10th June 2016, BUSINESS STANDARD

(Humans are the only species--among 8.7 million created--that think, reflect, act, discover and learn in a cycle of incessant learning). The ancestor of innovation is thought; without thought, there could be no innovation. In management while innovation attracts profound commentary, analysis, awe and cynicism, all at once, thought attracts less commentary.

June 5, 2016

In future, more manufacturing may deliver less jobs

5th Jun 2016, ECONOMIC TIMES

By R Gopalakrishnan Make in India (MiI) was announced on 25th September, 2014 in the hope that more manufacturing means more jobs. Make in China 2025 (MiC25) was announced on 20th May, 2015 in the hope that more manufacturing can be done with less jobs! Silicon Valley’s controversial Marc Andreesen says, “Manufacturing is a government-subsidised jobs programme.”

May 13, 2016

Start-ups must learn corporate ayurveda from grown-ups

13th May 2016, BUSINESS STANDARD

We need a national framework to address agricultural problems. On a recent visit to China, I noticed that Premier Le Keqiang wants ‘mass entrepreneurship’.

April 24, 2016

Effective leaders need moral as well as legal authority

24th April 2016, ECONOMIC TIMES

An effective legal system can function if it is built on a strong moral foundation in society. The civil engineering principle is relevant—poor foundation, wobbly skyscraper!

April 12, 2016

Boundary spanning and silo busting

12th April 2016, BUSINESS STANDARD

In the previous column, I described a successful collaboration between academia and industry; I emphasized the need for managers skilled in boundary because they are invaluable.

March 27, 2016

Under-delivery kills private goods as well as public services

27th March 2016, ECONOMIC TIMES

General expectations from public services is low. Hence poor service delivery can pass muster by meeting the low expectations.

March 4, 2016

A case study of government-industry innovation

4th March 2016, BUSINESS STANDARD

After my February Innocolumn, I received two comments: first, could I write from my personal knowledge about an example of synergy between academia-industry? Second, what exactly is a ‘boundary-spanning manager’? I hope to address the first question in this article and the second one in my April article.