The India Way Paperback – January 1, 2011

A wonderful read that successfully challenges the common U.S. belief that the sole purpose of business is to create shareholder value.The India Way demonstrates that businesses can create value for employees, customers, shareholders, and society by having a purpose bigger than just profit. Purpose, meaning, high employee engagement, and customer centricity can create value for multiple stakeholders.Many of their findings are supported by academic research @ Stanford, Harvard, Michigan, and Darden/Virginia Business Schools that focuses on U.S. companies. As examples from my research, Sysco, Best Buy, Room & Board, Starbucks, Levy Restaurants, Southwest Airlines, Costco, Whole Foods, the Ritz Carlton chain, Outback Steakhouses, UPS, SAS, Synovous Financial, Chick-fil-A, and Patagonia all understand that execution excellence and compelling customer value propositions come from meaning, purpose, a highly engaged workforce, and leaders who are humble passionate operators. All are high performance businesses.The India Way adds much to the conversation that businesses as a member of society should create value for society as well as for shareholders.Ed Hess[ASIN:0231150504 Smart Growth: Building an Enduring Business by Managing the Risks of Growth (Columbia Business School Publishing)]]

The book is structured well. I took this book with me before I went on a trip to India and used it as a way to frame my thoughts and questions as I visited multiple multinational companies. The book provides many case studies, and gives a holistic representation of what it means to do business the India way.

India's economic boom in the past 20 years has left many other nations enviously eyeing it as a new, forceful competitor. With growth rates greater than those of most developed countries, India has become a world-class industrial player, and its business leaders have become the "rock stars" of its industrial development. How did a country with few natural resources, a vastly diverse population and stifling bureaucracy do so well in such a short time? And what lessons can India teach the rest of the business world? Wharton School professors Peter Cappelli, Harbir Singh, Jitendra Singh and Michael Useem explore the drivers of India's explosive growth. Their conclusions - after interviewing more than 100 senior executives from among the nation's 150 largest companies - are that several of India's success factors, despite being tempered in conditions specific to that country, can form the foundation of a new business model for the developed world. The authors offer compelling case studies and well-researched profiles of companies and entrepreneurs who are taking on the challenges of building their businesses and assuming leadership roles in India's political life. If you wonder how global businesses will adapt in the 21st century, getAbstract proposes that this book is vital to your understanding of a new way forward.

Overall view: The book is certainly a good read and it reflects changes in post-1991 Indian corporate culture. There is certainly a great amount to learn about contrasting business cultures between Indian and western businesses. What it does is try to paint a very encouraging view of how Indian businesses think and act; the reality isn't quite the same. Instead of presenting only the rosy ideas of executives, some cross-checking with the employees of the companies might have provided a more realistic picture of today's India Way. This book reminds me of Tom Friedman's "The World is Flat".Critique: It places too much emphasis on the idea that Indian businesses place societal goals at par, if not ahead, of profit maximization. While this may be true on paper, the reality is not quite the same. Cut-throat competition among businesses doesn't necessarily encourage societal consciousness. Concentrating on only big businesses while ignoring the many non-public companies is certainly not the right sample for studying Indian business. I understand not all aspects can be captured in a book, but the focus of the book is somewhat skewed. It certainly sounds cool to say "We care about society more than profits", but that's not what is happening. If that were to be the case, why drive indigenous forest-dwelling tribes out of their land to mine iron ore? Aren't they a part of society? If anything, their society is only slight broader than the shareholder community but that's about it.We need to hear from the other side (the company employees, small businesses and the people) to truly understand the India Way.

This was an amazing book in preparing for my first visit to India. I was fortunate to meet with several companies profiled in the book and it's insights to culture and leadership was so helpful. During my company meetings, I was able to confirm many of the differences between Indian and US CEO management styles and stakeholder theories. In particular, I found the staff of Mahindra Mahindra had the world of respect for their CEO because of his demonstrated commitment to their personal families, his strategic vision for the company, and the Mahindra Foundations commitment for educating young girls in India. The book will challenge you to think about US based management styles and current impacts on shareholder value.

One amazing fact I found about India's business leaders is the novel concept of putting your employees before your customers. Indian business leaders are creating new paradigms in management approaches and corporate governance. The role of Indian culture in management is simply fascinating. Fulfilling social responsibility, maintaing great corporate culture and setting long term strategy are bigger drivers than maximizing shareholder wealth for India's top management. Good financial results are merely the by-product of good governance...This is the underlying mantra and this is the India Way and it will shape the future of business in this century. Must read for everyone who is in management

Good read and informative

I am happy with the book's content but not the quality of the book's cover and its overall appearance. It was not been well-kept and looks second-hand. I am happy to read it but not eager to show it to others.

Enfin un style de management qui voit à long terme et prend en compte d'autres valeurs que celles de l'actionnaire et du profit à court terme.Certes nous savons qu'il existe de la corruption et que tout n'est pas parfait en Inde mais il serait temps ( ou peut être est il trop tard) de gérer autrement les hommes et le travail dansnos sociétés dites développées!A lire pour changer de regard et penser autrement

Sorry, but I have to say I was very disappointed with this book. Many of the management characteristics and practices described in the book as being `The India Way', and therefore innovative, are in fact common practices that have been or are being used currently throughout the world and for many centuries past too. I think the authors need a reality check they are `dressing up' something that really doesn't exist. I was hoping to discover something new in the book, I didn't find it; all I found was the usual management, leadership best practice mantras regurgitated. `Jugaad', which the authors seem to get so excited about, has been employed all over the world for centuries, it's what people do. Innovation, leadership, governance, employee engagement etc etc is nothing to do with `The India Way ' - some companies get it right and some don't no matter where they are in the world. This book just leads me to consider that actually there is no `India Way' - just the way of the world.