Writer’sBlock
Subramanian Ramadorai begins the author’s note of his book, The TCS Story… and Beyond, with a confession: I am an “unlikely candidate for writing a book”. That is Ramadorai for you, the humble former CEO and managing director of Tata Consultancy Services. The TCS Story… is a straight-from-the-heart account of the corporate doyen whose career and life are inextricably woven with the beginning years, growth, consolidation and expansion of TCS. The book starts with a light-hearted account of his early life, student days in Delhi and at UCLA, his marriage with Mala (Mahalakshmi) and return to India to take up a job as an assistant systems programmer and analyst in 1972.
Then the story shifts to TCS — the shy corporate which turned into an assertive giant. Ramadorai writes about TCS’ audacity to think big, its first IPO in 2004, and the ability of the organisation in keeping its head together and above the waters of uncertainty and global recession, with a sense of joie de vivre and comic quips. Subtle humour, in fact, is a part of Ramadorai’s narrative and runs across the book. This, and the neat classification of events in a chronological flow and the honesty in revealing his persona makes The TCS Story… an engaging read.
Ramadorai talks to Ram Kumar Ramaswamy about TSC, his vision for tomorrow’s India and more.
QHow do you view the impatient young generation of today? There are a lot of jumps in the professional realm, and the refusal to wait has become the hallmark of most youngsters. Loyalty is regarded old-fashioned.
Well, let me put it in a different way. If you are a youngster, a simple set of questions to ask yourself is: Am I learning? Am I applying myself? Am I making a difference to those who truly matter in the industry? If you can ask these questions continuously and find positive answers, you can very well grow inside your organisation itself.QThere is always peer comparison. Everybody knows what everybody around does, every minute.
You cannot wish away peer comparison because of increased connectivity, which comes with social networking. However, the critical dimension is how you process such an onslaught of information. You may consult a lot of people for everything, but ultimately, you are responsible for what you do. The decisions completely rest on you.QTell us about F.C. Kohli’s mentorship during your younger years. (F.C Kohli, known as the “father of the Indian software industry”, was the first general manager of TCS.)
He had a tremendous intellect. When you are young, impatient and willing to learn, a mentor is what you need, someone who can guide you on a continuous basis. F.C. Kohli was such a mentor to me. I absorbed his words, as a sponge absorbs water. Apart from work, we used to travel together a lot, share good books, magazines and journals.QLakhs of young professionals out there are still debating whether an MBA is a fix or a fad. Can management be taught?
First of all, soundness comes from your domain expertise, like engineering, medicine or anything else. The MBA experience, which I saw for myself when I went for a management course at MIT Sloan School of Management, is that I was exposed to a lot of people from dissimilar backgrounds and that gave birth to new ideas, opened up new ways of finding solutions to problems. Case studies will solidify your understanding by analysing why certain decisions are made. But, above all, applying your learning is crucial. The best way to learn anything is by doing it!QWhat do you think about the word, “recession”?
I think ups and downs are going to be a way of life for everybody. The recent sub-prime crisis was something completely unforeseeable. But then, you cannot get flustered by these challenges and think things will end. For us, we expanded geographically to newer countries and built our business on newer verticals. To avoid setbacks such as recession, the key lies in innovation. Innovation of the highest order in all realms is vital.QWhat are the qualities that you admire in N.R. Narayana Murthy and Azim Premji?
They are great institution builders. Narayana Murthy excelled in visible governance, while Premji had a solid engineering mindset. These are just the visible dimensions in them; there is much more to them.QHow effective are the much-spoken-about green initiatives of corporates? How do you do it?
For any business, economic viability should always go hand in hand with ecological sustainability. We have to be concerned about the depleting resources around us. We should not think that all these don’t affect me. As for us, we have considerably cut travel expenses by video-conferencing, and by other in-house initiatives to reduce our carbon footprint.QSome books you would like to recommend to youngsters?
Be passionate about reading and absorbing. Read either in depth or explore as much as possible. At the end of the day, the habit of reading should be loved and encouraged. Even if you don’t read a book completely, every part teaches you a new dimension.
