Abhay Bhattad

Offlate, has 'strategy' just become a synonym for 'important'? Why use the word everywhere? Is strategy a ' strategic' concept? The last question from the above 3 is the best example to show the kind of abuse the word 'strategy' is going through. If there would have been an award for 'most abused word on the globe', it must go to this word. The top boss in the corner office uses it because he is planning to expand in 'strategic' locations such as China & India. At the same time, his assistant uses it because he is fetching coffee for him at a ' strategic' time and from the new coffee house which recently opened at a ' strategic' location near the old cafeteria! Heck, why only in office-settings, but in other places as well where you don't expect this word to be used at all....! Last summer, during a visit to India, I noticed that people were discussing a hot topic in the small town :- A nearby Kiraana Stor...

I was just reflecting on some of my experiences of working with people of different nationalities. In the past few years during my employment, I got a chance to work with various people from around the world. I must have worked closely with atleast 15 nationalities until now. And this has been a real eye opener to the kind of cross cultural team issues which might face an organization. Even in daily life, its just so exciting to see the reactions of people from different nationalities & cultures on the same issue..... You can be almost sure that in a case team of 6 people with 6 nationalities; you will get radically different reactions on the same issue being handled. That's when we realise that 'Diversity' is not just a buzzword; you have to experience it to know its power. If you want to be a global organization, you need to have a diverse and global workforce: It's as simple as that! Just compiling a brief summary of what I observed. Some of...

The title sounds strange enough, but when you are subjected to a long movie, you ought to think of strange things. 3 hours gone but an important analogy made: Between Benjamin Button & the process of creating operational plans from strategic plans in order to execute your strategy! The film shows Brad Pitt being born as an old man and living his life growing younger. He relates events which for him had already happened. Now imagine you, as an org anization, are standing at the end of a long time line - you have already achieved your strategy. Imagine, how did you do it? What actions did you take? What resources did you secure and how you deployed them? Which products/markets/segments did you serve? How did you secure finance? What was the reaction of the market & shareholders? And many such questions depending on the industry. Ask these questions in a stepwise fashion starting from the end. What was the last significant thing you had to do just before reaching the goal. Put ...