'We must capitalise on our cultural strengths'
Dr. Ramachandran
The Economic Times
June 17, 1999
Title: 'We must capitalise on our cultural strengths'
Author: Dr. Ramachandran
Publication: The Economic Times
Date: June 17, 1999
With 31 years of management behind him, Dr Ramachandran, at 55, is
still a man in great demand. After a fruitful career in sales and
marketing positions with companies like DCM, Amul, Ranbaxy, Procter &
Gamble, Emami and Dabur, he is today a consultant to 18 companies,
visiting faculty member to the Faculty of Management Studies (FMS),
Delhi, and the vice-chairman of the Sri Sringeri Sharada Institute of
Management, Delhi. He is also the past president of the Delhi
Management Association (DMA), chairman of All India Management
Association (AIMA) and a fellow of the Indian Management Association
(IMA). Dr Ramachandran spoke to Shalini Singh of line Economic Times
about some new management concepts that he has evolved, inspired by
the perceived need for greater value-based management systems for
Indian companies.
Q: Are you saying that western management theory is not value based?
Or not enough for the Indian context?
A: Not at all. Of course western management theory is value-based,
but I feel we must capitalise on our cultural strengths - not shy away
from it - which I have tried to do with these new theories which I
call 'Sparsh' management and 'Stretch' management.
By 'sparsh' I mean that people have to be physically present hi the
marketplace. Long-distance contact with the marketplace can never
work in a country as culturally diverse as India. This is a country
where personal contact works wonders - talk to the man in his own
dialect, drink a cup of tea with him hi his village shop. All this
personal contact, including touch comprises Sparsh. Sparsh management
should be an integral part of marketing management. Fax, entail and
other forms of long-distance communication can be additions to but not
substitutes for sparsh management.
My concept of 'Stretch' management is a modified form of time
management. The only difference is that hi time management there is a
finite time period and fixed duties to manage. By 'Stretch' I mean
generating extra time or stretching the time available. It means that
attitudinally one has to look beyond the time that you have and take
on more than you feel you can manage. It's surprising, but everything
actually gets done more efficiently when one does that.
Q: Was there any particular incident or Assignment that inspired these
ideas?
A: I have mainly handled consumer products like medicine, food,
cosmetics and toiletries. And repeatedly over the years I have found
that there have been severe problems generated by a failure in
communication with dealers in remote areas. In one particular
regional sales conference the regional stockists were so dissatisfied
that they started shouting. A very minor issue got magnified out of
context because of the absence of the sparsh factor.
Q: How is Sparsh unique to India? The general perception among
Indians is that it is the westerners who are more open to physical
contact.
On the contrary, the western world is very formal. Those formal
recipes won't work hi a place like India where everyone becomes
'bhai', 'dada' (elder brother), and 'didi' in the first meeting.
Q: How are you going to introduce and test these theories?
A: I could have written a book - like my earlier book titled 'Field
Sales Management Principles and Practices' - but I don't want to go
through that route this time. I plan to present these ideas at the
various management fora that I represent, the firms that I consult
for, the sales training programmes and workshops that I conduct for
firms as well as at the academic institutions where I teach.
Q: Do you feel this Indianised management theory will be well
received?
A: Why not, when it originated from here? Basically, whatever wisdom
there is in the world today is not new to us. For instance,
Kautilya's Arthashastra talked about consumer rights so many hundred
years ago feel there is no point hi shying away from or ignoring our
basic strengths. For instance, I like to call value-based management
'Vivek' management instead -management through wisdom.
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