|
| MMA Annual General Meeting |
| N Sankar speaks on managerial excellence |
|
|
| Sanmar Group Chairman N Sankar was the chief
guest at the 47th Annual General Meeting of the Madras Management
Association on 27 June 2003. The occasion also marked the valedictory
function of the MMA Awards for Managerial Excellence. |
| Sankar gave away the awards for managerial
excellence to Hyundai Motor India Limited, Cognizant Technology
Solutions India, and MOP Vaishnav College, represented by G
S Ramesh, S N Lakshminarayanan and Nirmala Prasad respectively.
Other award winners were the MBA toppers of Anna University
and Madras University. |
|
| Some highlights of Sankar’s presidential lecture
on ‘The makeup of Management Excellence’ are given below. “I pick
three components of the management process that I believe are especially
crucial in today’s context to achieving managerial excellence. This
belief is based on my personal experience. |
| The three are : |
| 1. |
The critical need for a relevant
Organization culture/ Performance culture. |
| 2. |
The phenomenon of variable returns
to all stakeholders. |
| 3. |
Business Ethics and Corporate Governance. |
| “Linked to a structured system of planning and execution,
there is a need to spread the message of performance right across
the organization. ‘Hunger for performance’ needs to be an integral
part of the organization’s DNA. A culture where plan targets are routinely
missed is no longer acceptable.” |
| “Variable pay for employees, both blue collar and
managerial, is becoming the order of the day. With regard to the people
on the manufacturing floor, productivity linked wages and bonuses
are getting increasingly popular and more important, accepted by the
worker.” |
| “But even more dramatic has been the concept of
variable pay for management, particularly senior management. In the
90’s, with the relaxation of ceilings, there was a manifold increase
in rupee terms of managerial pay scales. These increased payouts were
well supported by the boom years of the mid-90’s. However, the down
turn since then has forced serious rethinking, and today there is
increasing emphasis on linking pay to performance.” |
| “Ethics and corporate governance, which go hand
in hand, have in the last couple of years achieved tremendous importance.
It is becoming increasingly important for organizations to set clear
ethical standards, and make them understood and appreciated by each
and every employee. The standards should cover areas like : Transparency;
Equal opportunity; Staying within the law; Integrity of records, and
Intellectual honesty.” |
| “These ethical standards should be widely disseminated.
We in Sanmar have recently taken the help of the Ethical Business
Practice of KPMG to publish our own policies in this regard.” |
| “If senior management believes that they should
focus on the bigger issues and leave implementation to the foot-soldiers,
they are living in a dream world. Leaders have to be involved in execution.
Big thoughts have to be translated into concrete steps or action,
and then implemented through constant communication and follow up.” |
| I believe : |
| “Execution is a discipline, and integral to strategy |
| Execution must be a core element of an organization’s
culture. |
| Execution is the major job of the business leader”
|
 |
 |
|
