The Tea-Master's Column

Since time immemorial, the 'Ides of March' has been an ominous symbol of destruction and rightly immortalised by Shakespeare through the assassination of the greatest Roman emperor, Julius Caesar. I have usually been bit superstitious of this and believe that one requires being very careful during that time. Power games have always been an integral part of high positions. It’s very lonely at the top and requires cognizance, vigilance and a sixth sense. It’s hard to trust but nothing gets done without trust. But when trust fails, disloyalty reigns – your closest friend becomes your dearest enemy, another Brutus led by the conniving Cassius. Beware o noble soul - your spirit, reputation may succumb to death leaving a corpse to be digested by vultures!! Mark Anthony’s widely acclaimed persuasive speech to avenge Caesar’s death has been my favourite since I first read it. Here Mark Anthony was speaking after Brutus spoke on the need to kill Caesar. Brutus and Cassius were...

Today, politicians are discussing of opening up the retail sector and the possibility US retail major Wal-Mart opening stores in India. But I had never heard of Wal-Mart till I made my first visit to US in 2003. Even then, I could have never imagined a retail store could be as big, could have as many items, as many varieties and be almost like a warehouse. The first thing that stuck me after entering this giant store is “Everyday low prices”. I really did not understand the meaning of the statement till I asked a few friends. One gets the best and cheapest items at this place. And as I traveled around America, I saw Wal-Mart stores in every city. It triggered a lot of interest in me and this concept of such large scale retailing. So, when I chanced upon the autobiography of Sam Walton, “Made in America”, the founder of Wal-Mart, I knew I had to read it. Sam Walton was born in the year 1918 in the United States of America. Early on, he was very hard-working, passionate and would exce...

Secondary data from Roy Morgan Marketing Research firm done in 2006iii provides some interesting results on customer reactions to petrol price hike: 76% Australians would drive the same in spite of the petrol price rise1 41% Australians are willing to spending less on other items to make-up for the increased cost of fueliii35% said that they will drive less than usual if the petrol price reached AUD 1.50- AUD 1.59 but 16% won't cut back on the amount of driving regardless of the price of fueliii Hence, we may infer that Australians give preference to convenience of driving to higher petrol prices and willing to sacrifice on other costs to do so. The following data from Annual Reports of Woolworths, Caltex, Shell and Coles seem to indicate that people prefer using the convenience store at a petrol station: Petrol retailer, Caltex has a network of 470 stores jointly branded with supermarket retailer Woolworths. Total average convenience store sales in 2005 were 4.6% higher than in 20...

The following essay was published in HTDM newsletter Hi-Touch in Jul-06. 7th of July, 1981 – a landmark event in the history of our country India, the day Infosys was born through the minds of seven great leaders – the story as we all know of visionary leadership transforming India and the society at large. Leadership is the key to transformation of society. Self-confident individuals and leaders are the buildings blocks for a caring and effective society. From Sam Walton to Michael Dell, from Swami Vivekananda to Dr Abdul Kalam – are stories of people who have demonstrated personal leadership, taken charge of their lives against all odds to generate wealth, shown direction and taken people along to orbits not thought of earlier. 21-Sep-2000 was just another day in my life but a chance meeting at Food Court at Bangalore changed my life and many others in Infosys. That was the day when Infosys Toastmasters Club(http://toastmasters.org) was born. Along with four other friends, we spearhe...

I had read about Dell long before I went to US. To me the image of this company is that of an entity that one can trust. So when I made my first on-line purchase, I could rely only on Dell. Again when I had to buy a computer in just about a week's time, they helped me assemble as per my requirements, budget and deliver at the right time. So, when I got a chance to read up on the man who did it all, I readily took it up. "Direct from Dell" is an exemplary work on operations, marketing, strategy and human resources. As I read, I felt extremely charged with the philosophies of Mr Micahel Dell and find so many of those matching my own thoughts on how a good organization should be. So, I took time to note down some beautiful anecdotes from his book: On recruitment: I said the biggest threat to Dell wouldnt come from a competitor. It would come from our people.- enterpreneur, energy, be part of something greater than themselves Its not even enough to hire on the basis of ones ...

The latest play I saw was the play "Antigone" - that shows the conflict of love for brother that defies rationality. Review of one of the plays that I saw at Bangalore's Rangashankara: The play "Perchance to Dream" was by Folksbarn Travelling Theatre from France. They play started off with "Romeo and Julliet" with Julliet calling out from her verandah for Romeo. Then it was "Hamlet" talking to his father's ghost. Next came a very humorous part with the actors deciding on how to cast the pay "King Lear". Then came "Hail the Thane of Cawdor"- Macbeth. After the interval, we come to the Romeo's banishment and Julliet's taking the sleeping pill. Hamlet soliloquies on "To be or Not to be" - and then tormenting his mother for her guilt. The cast then very humorously played out "King Lear" with a cake to show the division of his kingdom to his three daughters. Then the muder of Duncan and Banquo....

The dates have been getting postponed every week since the last one month. After all it is not easy having all 29 of us working in various projects, having different deadlines decide on a common date. A surprise meeting on a Tuesday afternoon and as we all huddled together in the conference room ruling out possibilities – and then the beans were spilled – Fisherman’s cove at The Taj. What about the costs – well of course the long list of pending treats can get cleared at one go!! March 16th, 2006, 8.00 AM: The excitement was visible. People hustled to finish up their tasks in the first half of the day. No more coffee breaks, no chatting in the cubes. “Yes, we will finish before we leave”, was unequivocally communicated to all anxious onsite coordinators. So on a sunny Chennai afternoon, some promising to come back and work – the Texans at Infosys went to chill out together. A twenty minute drive and we were all at the venue, all 28 of us. As we made our way to the open thatched huts ca...