The India Way

The India Way

by Peter Cappelli, Harbir Singh, Jitendra Singh, Michael Useem
Released March 2010
Publisher(s): Harvard Business Review Press
ISBN: 9781422157848

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Book description

Exploding growth. Soaring investment. Incoming talent waves. India's top companies are scoring remarkable successes on these fronts - and more.

How? Instead of adopting management practices that dominate Western businesses, they're applying fresh practices of their ownin strategy, leadership, talent, and organizational culture.

In The India Way, the Wharton School India Team unveils these companies' secrets. Drawing on interviews with leaders of India's largest firms - including Mukesh Ambani of Reliance Industries, Narayana Murthy of Infosys Technologies, and Vineet Nayar of HCL Technologies - the authors identify what Indian managers do differently, including:

Looking beyond stockholders' interests to public mission and national purpose
Drawing on improvisation, adaptation, and resilience to overcome endless hurdles

Identifying products and services of compelling value to customers

Investing in talent and building a stirring culture

The authors explain how these innovations work within Indian companies, identifying those likely to remain indigenous and those that can be adapted to the Western context.

With its in-depth analysis and research, The India Way offers valuable insights for all managers seeking to strengthen their organization's performance.

Table of contents

  1. Title Page
  2. Copyright Page
  3. Table of Contents
  4. CHAPTER ONE - Indian Business Rising
    1. The India Way
    2. Why It Matters
    3. Who We Interviewed
    4. “We Think in English and Act in Indian”
    5. The Promise of the Book
  5. CHAPTER TWO - The Way to the India Way
    1. The Pre-1991 Business Context
    2. Stifling Regulation, Little Capital
    3. The Reforms of 1991
    4. At the Center of the Reforms
    5. Kindling Indian Entrepreneurship
    6. Government and Business, Not Government Versus Business
    7. Private Enterprise, Public Purpose
    8. Counterpoint
    9. The Indian Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism
  6. CHAPTER THREE - Managing People
    1. Engaging Employees at HCL
    2. Human Resource Priorities
    3. Building Employee Capabilities
    4. Culture and Commitment: We Are Family
    5. Empowering Employees
    6. Summing Up
  7. CHAPTER FOUR - Leading the Enterprise
    1. The Indian Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism
    2. Improvisation and Adaptability
    3. Broad Mission and Purpose
    4. Transformational Leadership
    5. Leading ICICI Bank
    6. Invented in India
  8. CHAPTER FIVE - Competitive Advantage
    1. Assigning Priorities
    2. Organizational Architecture and Culture
    3. Innovative Structure and Strategy
    4. Bharti Airtel: Reverse Outsourcing for Scale and for Speed
    5. Cognizant: Creative Value Propositions for New Customer Segments
    6. Hindustan Unilever: Architectural Innovation and Creative Value Propositions
    7. From Strategy and Structure to Competitive Advantage
  9. CHAPTER SIX - Company Governance
    1. Riding the Tiger
    2. Ownership and Governance
    3. Values-Based Governance
    4. Socially Responsible Governance
    5. The Ambivalence of Governance
    6. Recruiting Independent Nonexecutive Directors
    7. Convergence of East and West?
    8. Governance at Infosys Technologies
    9. The Distinctiveness of Indian Governance
  10. CHAPTER SEVEN - Learning from the India Way
    1. Contrast with the U.S. Model for Leadership
    2. Contrasting Stockholder-centric Management with Stakeholder Management
    3. Can the India Way Translate Elsewhere?
    4. The India Way As a Guide for Individual Leaders
    5. In Closing
  11. APPENDIX A - Growth of the India Way
  12. APPENDIX B - Indian Business Leader Interviews and Survey
  13. APPENDIX C - Cultural Roots of the India Way
  14. Notes
  15. Bibliography
  16. Acknowledgments
  17. Index
  18. About the Authors

Product information

  • Title: The India Way
  • Author(s): Peter Cappelli, Harbir Singh, Jitendra Singh, Michael Useem
  • Release date: March 2010
  • Publisher(s): Harvard Business Review Press
  • ISBN: 9781422157848