Harvard Business Review literature
and studies stand at the pinnacle of management thought in the world – at least
if you consider the popular realm. While there are many other institutions that
are competing with Harvard in terms of Research, at least in India Harvard
stands all alone in the popular imagination. This is clearly in evidence if you
take a look at Indian Book Stores, which routinely sport its HBR series of
books on management thought. This is the 2nd HBR I am reviewing; and
in this I will attempt a different style, anaylsing each article in short
points, as well as underscoring the
crying need for quality research in India…
The
saddest aspect of this review is that try as I might, I cannot find even one
single book – easily accessible - on
Indian Management Thought from Indian Universities, attuned to Indian Realities
and Examples, while book stalls are chock full of books from Foreign
Universities loaded with theories and examples from an alien market, an alien
ground reality and requiring significant local inputs and alterations : some of
which are plain inapplicable to Indian Realities. So much so that one of the largest
economies in the world, a nation that prides itself on its higher education has
not been able to pen many books that are in common acceptance on Management
Practice and Thought. That speaks more about the attitudes of the professionals
in Management than it does about our Management Colleges. But more of that
later on my blog; a book review is not the place for such analysis!
The book in question has a series of
articles on the art and science of decision making, attempting to understand
the concepts and practices behind decisions, and helping the practicing manager
make the optimal decisions :
1) WHO HAS THE D?
a.
This
article focuses on Decision Making within Organisations, understanding the
process and emphasizing a much-needed cautionary tone and balance in Decision
Making, powerfully underscoring the point that Decisions are situational, and
one should not be too adamant on one a defined path. The primary focus is localization
versus centralization, and clarity of roles and responsibilities
b.
However, in my considered view, the
above article is applicable only to situations that require or enable objective
decisions or are based on objective criteria with easy and extensive data
availability and less uncertainty; this is not applicable to Marketing, where
decision making can be far more complex than the simplistic model enumerated
above
2) EVIDENCE-BASED MANAGEMENT
a.
This
is an article that emphasizes Management based on Evidence with just the right
amount of instinct thrown in, and a process-based approach towards Management :
the need of the hour.
b.
It is
replete with practical and real-world examples from a variety of situations
which make the article one of the best to come from the realm of theory :
Universities. Recommended Reading for ALL practicing Managers
3) STOP MAKING PLANS : START MAKING
DECISIONS
a.
Most
middle managers, lower management and perhaps even some senior managers are
leery of the term “Strategic Planning” – that is a reality, a truism which I
can readily relate to. This article looks at the concept of Strategic Planning –
and its practical applicability in all aspects of Business. Another top-notch
article, and a highly recommended read.
b.
It
makes several powerful points : Strategic Planning is a continuous Process; The
need for regular reviewing of Business Factors and External Environmental
factors more than just meetings and numbers / selling oneself; Emphasising on
the need for proper reviews that actually review the scenario rather than point
blame; and more
c.
However, the entire focus is on
corporate level decisions, whereas it is the local level tactical decisions that make or break a brand in the
market, repeated across the organisation – for example, how you respond to a
new and better competitor {compete? ask for inputs from the top? give feedback
of internal problems or keep silent? ignore? take short-cuts? Cut price through
trade discounts rather than give feedback of superior competition?} Secondly,
the straight link between profits and strategic decisions is debatable, as a
strategic decision means much more
4) DECISIONS WITHOUT BLINDERS
a.
This
article, in effect, carries on where the previous one left off : and looks at
the concept of decision making with relevant data, and trying to beat “Bounded
Awareness” – a situation where cognitive blinders prevent a person from seeing
the obvious, as it were. A pretty common occurrence as we all well know!
b.
A
superb and very practical article, this looks at how Managers ignore the
obvious threats that are emerging in the political, regulatory, or market
environment; and why this happens. In many ways this is a deep article
requiring quiet contemplation, as it touches upon many divisive and harmful
habit of the practicing manager – like ethical transgression, focusing on self
over the organization, not sharing information, and their combined harmful
impact.
c.
The only this is that while the
article is needed and useful, and very powerful – the reality is that Top
Management ignore real decisions and regular transgressions, which pile up over
time to create a Frankenstein!
5) COMPETING ON ANALYTICS
a.
This
is an article that attempts to introduce the relatively new field of Analytics,
but, in my opinion, falls slightly short of its chosen task. As it stands, it
can be understood by current practitioners-
but to most, it will be Greek and Latin, so to speak. It makes some good
points; excellent points even – but overall, it needed a far more practical approach
and far more detail
b.
Apart
from being vague, it also lacks a functional focus, taking a top-level
approach. The need is the reverse : the people who collate data, create
information, and make tactical decisions are the ones who need convincing as
much as, if not more than the top people. And such an approach may convince the
top people, but the middle manager is left with far more questions than
answers. It also does not explain analytics, and makes no attempt to
differentiate Analytics from prevalent practices
c.
It
rightly makes the point that it is the Top Level who has the clout to carry out
deep changes; but if you do not convince the middle guy in language he can
understand – he or she goes to the top without having an understanding of the
concepts of the future. In effect, you are re-inforcing the learning that to
survive, do things the way they are done. You need to catch them young!
6) DECISIONS AND DESIRE
a.
The piece-de-resistance
: an article that focuses on the Brain processes behind decision making – as well as going deep into the instinct, or
gut decisions, as well as the connect between Emotions, Experience and
Decisions. A must read for everyone in
the corporate world!
7) CONQUERING A CULTURE OF INDECISION
a.
An
article that looks at breaking indecisiveness through the use of intellectual
honesty; using social paradigms within an organization : meetings, reviews, etc
– engendering honest dialogue; rigorous feedback and follow-through.
b.
It
raises several questions in your mind : decisive organizations require candor,
openness, informality, closure : but how do these come about in an organization?
What are the processes that are conducive to these? How will this change? How
to overcome number-focus, internal competition etc?
c.
The problem identification is
accurate; so is the framework suggested : but the solution is impractical;
lasting and sustainable change is not achieved if you compel a person – the change has to be from within.
8) THE HIDDEN TRAPS IN DECISION MAKING
a.
A
thought provoking and largely theoretical article on how a manager is mislead
due to some psychological traps in his or her mind the focus of this excellent
article.That it is theoretical does not mean it does not have incisive
learnings : it does.
b.
The
traps – which instinctively make sense – provoke deep thought, and leave a
lasting learning in your mind; we are talking about giving weightage to the
first information, status-quo, sunk-costs wherein past mistakes are repeated as
you try to justify past choices rather than learning from them, seeking
information that confirms your opinions as opposed to being open, misstating a
problem to reflect past decisions steps or opinions or indeed just lacking
neutrality, overestimating accuracy of forecasts, being over-cautious, and
giving undue weight to recent events.
CONCLUSION
In conclusion, it can be said that
this book or set of articles is a valuable value addition to the practicing
manager, requiring deep contemplation and thought, leaving a lasting impression
– its lack of Indian Examples notwithstanding. The book also underscores the
need for Management Research to go much
deeper into the problem, and not have a top-level focus – without that, the chances of reaching a wider audience than it
currently has is close to zero in my opinion. Pity; had it had an
India-focus, the learning would have been deeper, more pertinent, as well as
having the added impact of making the entire book far more interesting, easy to
read and absorb- and it would be certain to appeal to a much larger target
market, a much larger potential audience…
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