Volume 13, Number 4 Article by N R Narayana Murthy December, 2001
Shaping India’s Destiny: The Role of Young Managers and Leaders :
Globalisation has brought increasing pressure on governments worldwide to improve their quality of services. In India too there is an urgent need to improve the quality of governance. Today, we have political freedom but we still do not have freedom from hunger, illiteracy and disease; and educated engineers, managers and scientists are deserting India in a hurry. The primary reasons for this sorry state are the lack of a political leadership that can create a vision, that can raise the aspirations of people, that is honest, that can dream world-class, and that understands how the world is moving; and the administrative, rather than management-oriented mindset, of our bureaucracy. N R Narayana Murthy, the legendary founder and Chairman-CEO of Infosys Technologies, talks about what ails the country, and what needs to be done about it.
The need of the hour, he says, is to have leaders who can dream big and raise the aspirations of people; and managers who are bright, confident and hardworking. Management, as opposed to administration, is about clearly defining objectives, communicating these objectives to all the members of the team and transforming an objective into a set of deliverables resulting in the completion of a mega task with specified targets for time, cost and quality. In the new environment that is dawning in India, we must stay abreast of international developments in order to compete effectively. Quality, cost, performance-driven models of business, leveraging of the latest technologies, effective corporate governance and social responsibility, as well as profitability, will be important differentiators. In order to succeed in this new environment, it is important that we realise the need to inculcate managerial and leadership talent in the government. Leadership is about making people believe in themselves, enabling them to become confident and positive-minded and, thereby going on to achieve the impossible. It is important for public sector organisations and the government to offer MBAs and other young professionals an exciting career. These people can play an important role as managers and leaders in shaping the destiny of India in the years to come.
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