R. GOPALAKRISHNAN is author, speaker and corporate advisor, with a career spanning over 50 years. He spent 31 years in Hindustan Unilever Limited, where he rose to be vice chairman, followed by 19 years in Tata Sons as a director. He now serves as non-executive chairman of Castrol India; an independent director of Hemas Holdings PLC, Sri Lanka; executive-in-residence of S.P. Jain Institute of Management and Research (SPJIMR), Mumbai and distinguished professor of IIT, Kharagpur. He has authored nine books so far, notably A Comma in a Sentence, Six Lenses and Doodles on Leadership. TULSI JAYAKUMAR is a professor of Economics and chairperson, Family Managed Business at the SPJIMR, Mumbai. She has to her credit globally acclaimed cases and academic articles, besides thought-provoking articles in the national business papers and magazines.
What makes some organizations long-lasting? How come some chart a new course which others like to follow? Does this characterize them as ?business institutions? rather than merely ?good companies?? How do two business leaders with radically different management styles embed values and practices into the sinews of a corporation through their thoughts and actions? These are some vital questions for India?s economic growth that find resonance in the incredible journey of India?s largest software exporter, Tata Consultancy Services (TCS). The narrative relives the highs and lows in the life of this multibillion-dollar enterprise, as seen through the eyes of its architects?Faqir Chand Kohli (96), the founder, and his successor, S. Ramadorai (75). Between them, they spent 40 years making TCS an admirable industry leader and a corporation with agility, innovation and scale. Based on interviews with Kohli and Ramadorai, the authors provide an insider?s account of their grand vision of igniting India?s IT revolution. From the evolution of the offshoring model to harnessing the enormous opportunity offered by the Y2K problem, they offer rare insights into a company that they built, brick by brick. How TCS Built an Industry for India is the first book in the series, Shapers of Business Institutions, and is a unique blend of a must-read business biography and a management classic.
