After the second world war, many companies found that the key to success is a collaboration with various companies/distributors /channels/agents globally to see more sales and profit. Companies started expanding globally taking their products/ services from one continent to the other. Obviously, the companies required people with a different mindset to work in their organization, especially their team leaders and senior management personnel. It was proved with the performances seen in global companies that the more versatile a leader was in terms of understanding the company’s culture and was good in his chosen expertise could deliver better by virtue of a global mindset and also being a good motivator and with skills in planning, coordinating, collaborating, communicating etc. across boundaries and cultures. In various companies and organizations, the management plans for the next level of leaders who may be likely to take over the positions the existing leadership. In many companies, this is done by virtue of adopting good recruitment process to enable the right teams to be formed after recruitment. Companies that plan for leadership succession, substation, promotion, etc. are always better prepared to manage leadership crisis. Companies that are efficient with lesser employees and have lesser chances for leadership vacuum to be filled must either show a high level of commitment by employees who are subordinates to perform tasks and activities w\even when the leader is absent. This also implies companies that adopt certain processes that are responsible to help the management in the absence of leadership will not suffer. In the companies surveyed it was evident the companies will be able to manage the operations even if the leaders in the various department are not present as these are manufacturing companies and work in shifts and with well-designed workflow management techniques and less supervision can produce great results.
Companies always depended on technology and research from various companies and teams including insights from experts to improve their profitability. Correspondingly all aspects of manufacturing, finance, controls, etc. were subjected to smart work and ease of job/activity completion. The more Humans were in control of operations were a burden to the growth of the organization. The use of systems approaches whereby the computational skills and programmed approaches in technology led to a paradigm shift in the way companies could be monitored and controlled. With the balance sheet tallied by computers faster than by the finance team was the way to expand company operations based on the availability of data and for decision making. Teams that were bonded emotionally and through work processes were now replaced by systems and objective based job completion. The team leaders also had to be competent as the younger generation reporting to them were quicker in their understanding of technology and systems approach. A new world is seen in the companies today- where at each step and activity there are more than a dozen checks and balances to ensure nothing goes wrong in the business.
Companies which have grown over the years in terms of value, volume, increased product portfolio and geographically would have valued the importance of training their employees including those in leadership positions. Training has been found to leverage skills across employees and delivers performances in a uniform manner. Such instances can be seen in Banking, airlines, hospital, etc. sectors where the organizations must face clients in various ways daily and using their employees. These executive-client interactions cannot be creative but need to be systematic and the same across all places for similar experiences by clients for the same problem solved by the organization. Great emphasis is placed by companies on training their loyal and committed personnel and leaders to ensure future growth and for them to manage bigger divisions and the company itself in the future. The training and a promise of future increased responsibility and rewards always motivate the employees.
The role of the superior was defined well in the organization that was measured. When we look at the wider scenario as predominant across industries the company management always inclines towards monitoring various aspects or divisions in the company with the set or placed out objectives and metrics. The turnover targets are set aspiringly also want a defined percentage of profit to be achieved before and after tax. In this scenario companies may plan based on previous year achievements or if fresh, may start with some target in mind. When targets are set or defined, the company may or may not have the systems and methods to carry out activities professionally. While many company’s turnovers in India in the private sector are still hidden, those in the public domain and being watched by investors and media have better control of operations for success. The organizational effectiveness is seen more in companies that have a systems approach and are under scrutiny.
The public sector companies in India were created with the intent of maximizing control of the nation’s resources through government control and policies. It also helped assure a minimum growth rate for the company providing meaningful, dependable and long-term employment for its citizens. While most of these aspects were achieved the competition amongst these companies and those in the private sector of similar industry category proved the efficiencies and productivity in private companies were much higher. The reasons were attributed towards a higher pay scale in the private sector and coupled with ‘hire and fire policy” which made the success story in the private sector faster to achieve. The decision-making abilities in the private sector helped it in forging ahead with new technology, production processes, new frameworks for Human resources, etc. At best the keyword for success in the private sector was Innovation or adopting changes quickly. The public sector lacked this ability of speed more due to the decision-making process which was tardy or avoided or delayed. This made many public sectors in India to become white elephants and docile behemoth draining huge funds from the government. Of late the government in its quest for efficiency in the public sector has disinvested them or privatized many and for some given them special status. The onus of survival and keeping these companies ahead is put on the top management and they see innovation as a key ingredient to be a factor for growth.
