COMPLEX ISSUES MANAGEMENT: STRATEGIES AND TACTICS
By Ranjan Das with Kajari Mukherjee
Tata McGraw-Hill
Pp: 397
Price: Rs 450
Any manager who has ever tried selling anything globally willreadily agree that the world markets today are much more complex thanwhat they were earlier. We also know the reasons behind it: Thanks toglobalisation, countries and markets are deeply integrated; thanks tothe internet and satellite television, consumer behaviours andaspirations are changing in unpredictable ways; domestic politicalissues tend to snowball into global issues; and regulations aregetting far more complicated. The field of management education has aname for this emerging phenomenon: It's called a complex system. AndRanjan Das, Professor of Strategic and International Management atIIM Calcutta, argues that complexity is here to stay. So whatmanagers need to do is to learn how to approach complex issues inorder to make sound decisions.
But first, what are the characteristics of a complex system?Typically, a complex system has many moving parts, each with a mindof its own. What makes the system so unpredictable is the fact thatthese "interactions can move the system towards stabilisation andorderliness, as well as push (it) towards disequilibrium, where thereis a danger of the system degenerating into chaos", say the authors.That is, complex systems are one where order and chaos are forever inuneasy balance, and it is far easy for the system to tip over intochaos than to maintain its balance. To be able to manage a complexsystem, Das and Mukherjee argue, the manager must have a mindset that"encourages new ideas, is comfortable with improvisations, can takeleaps of faith even with incomplete information...".
The authors illustrate the theory with a case study on Delhi'sswitchover from diesel to CNG for buses. The problems of doing so areseen through the eyes of Indraprastha Gas Ltd, a company set up byGAIL, BPCL and the Delhi government to supply clean fuel CNG in thecity. Arguably, there are far more complex issues that the authorscould have taken up, but "given the uniqueness of the research topicand also that complexity theory is still a growing field, the authorsfelt it necessary to use a single case, since the objective is to do'theory building'". The authors' effort is laudable. Usually, Indianwriters on management resort to well-known international case studiesto buttress their theories. However, Das and Mukherjee have not justchosen to take on a budding field of complexity theory, but researcha uniquely Indian case in the context. No doubt, more such work willadd tremendously to sparse management literature on local issues.
OPTIMIZING THE ORGANIZATION
By Subhash Khare
Tata McGraw-Hill
Pp: 194
Price: Rs 395
Perhaps one should stop complaining about a lack of publishedmanagement research in India. Khare's Optimizing the Organization isbased on Wipro's own struggle at striking a balance between immediategoals and future targets. Therefore, as Chairman Azim Premji pointsout in his foreword to the book, "the 'mezzanine' or 1,000 feet viewthat his book takes will be even more helpful than a look at thisbattle from the cockpit of a plane at 30,000 feet". The book isstructured very simply, with Khare, Head of Staffing and CentralProductivity at the IT giant, beginning with an explanation ofoptimisation, followed by more detailed how-to's on improvingefficiency and productivity. As is evident, Khare takes a "process-view" of the organisation. Therefore, companies that are caught in astruggle to optimise their resources will find Khare's book useful.The author doesn't pretend to offer yet another methodology foroptimisation, but only outlines some key approaches based on his ownexperiences at Wipro.
That also means the book is relevant for all types oforganisations, and not just IT companies.
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