SUMMER 2006 BoardIndiaHIGHLIGHTS OF THE CONFERENCE BOARD’S ACTIVITIES IN INDIA Developing Global Business Leaders Nandan M. Nilekani, CEO and President, Infosys Technologies, and Trustee of The Conference Board, addressing participants at the 2006 Global Leadership Conference in Mumbai. peed, flexibility and adaptability to Director, Mahindra & Mahindra Ltd; and Conference Board survey of CEOs world- change will be the key drivers of Adi Godrej, Chairman, Godrej Industries. wide, which clearly indicated that “sustained Sbusiness leadership and CEO and steady top-line growth” is the top challenges, both in the India region and Poonam Barua, Regional Director - India, business priority for chief executives worldwide, as companies begin to take set the tone by recognising that business globally. Analysis by region, however, full advantage of the global business leadership is not a “static concept.” uncovers some differences. In India, CEOs opportunities and find new ways to create Leadership will need to be redefined in rank the following as their top concerns: wealth and value-addition as they grow response to changes in the growth of the • Consistent execution of strategy their businesses. economy, demographics of the workplace, • Stimulating innovation cost-structure components, geopolitics • Corporate reputation At this year’s annual conference on Global of the marketplace, and aspirations for • Expansion in India Leadership, which took place in Mumbai the future. This will in turn have an impact • Speed, flexibility and adaptability on 6-7 April, CEOs and top management on the role of HR and talent engagement, to change shared their vision and experience of corporate governance, board directors, operating successfully in a fast-changing corporate cultures, enterprise risk- Ms Reno observed that India is on a rapid global marketplace. Leading the discus- management, and most of all, the role of growth trajectory, aided by a huge labour sion was a distinguished panel of the Chief Executive Officer. It will be pool and increasing investment from chief executives comprising Nandan critical to develop a global mind-set for abroad. Yet Indian companies also need M. Nilekani, CEO and President, Infosys benchmarking with the best. to keep raising the bar and creating Technologies; Sajjan Jindal, Vice Chairman space for that growth to happen. Balancing and Managing Director, JSW Group; Barbara Reno, VP & Managing Director – long-term objectives with short-term Ramalinga Raju, Chairman Satyam Europe and India, The Conference Board, goals is the key to meeting and sustaining Computers; Arun Nanda, Executive presented the results of the latest annual growth operations. ( Continued on page 2 ➢ ) 1 ( ➢ 1) Barbara Reno, Vice President & Managing Director – Europe and India, in conversation with Sajjan Jindal, Vice Chairman and Managing Director, JSW Group. CEO panel CEO Viewpoints made it necessary to overcome the environment that encourages empower- Ramalinga Raju, CEO of Satyam hurdles of a lack of transport and energy ment.” He spoke of the critical need for Computers, one of India’s three largest infrastructure and place more emphasis visualising company goals and business IT companies, was most pragmatic in on value-added industry. Sajjan Jindal, strategy, creating the space and capacity for recognising that India is growing at a the company’s Vice Chairman and growth and establishing the internal phenomenal rate, and that value- Managing Director, observed that processes to execute the scalability. creation and innovation will be centre- today’s mix of priorities for Indian stage. Markets are becoming the companies is shareholder-driven. Corporate presentations on successful global dominant drivers for talent and growth, “They require you to have consistent business leadership models were made by and the value-creators will be the growth, quarter to quarter. This can leading companies including Ranbaxy, Indian only happen if you have customer Hotels, NIKE, Sarnoff Technologies and Wipro. loyalty and innovation, because – the The conference also addressed the important way the world is moving – it’s becoming components for “Managing Talent Globally” imperative for everyone to stay on their with diverse corporate learnings from toes and keep on changing.” Jeff Fuller from Mercer Consulting, S. Padmanabhan from Tata Consultancy For Adi B. Godrej, Chairman of the Godrej Services, and Pradeep Mukherjee from Group, top-line growth is paramount Citibank. Ed Cohen from the Satyam School among the list of highest concerns. of Leadership presented highlights from The other priorities are “all inter-related Conference Board research on “Developing and support this top priority.” Business Leaders for 2010.” He spoke about the importance of Speakers agreed that tomorrow’s leaders “leading change, not business as usual,” need to be master strategists, able to Ramalinga Raju, Chairman, Adi Godrej, Chairman, and agreed with business guru Michael manage change, relationships/networks Satyam Computers. Godrej Industries. Hammer’s observation that the biggest and develop talent. There will be no room challenge in bringing about change is for personal arrogance, overriding personal organisations and the individuals the human dimension. “Organisations style, reluctance to deal with difficult people themselves. The difference between don’t change. People do. If employees issues or an inability to address cultural strategy and operations is diminishing. do not trust their leadership, do not biases and diversity. Success will depend on the distribution share the organisational vision on offer, of leadership; it is no longer relevant to don’t buy into the rationale for change have a few elite managers at the centre. and are not included in the planning – “You need to create an eco-system of there will be no successful change, what the customer expects from you.” regardless of how brilliant the strategy.” At JSW Steel, internal challenges have “All CEO bottlenecks are at the top forced people to think big, benchmark of leadership mentoring,” observed with the best globally, and bring the Nandan Nilekani, CEO and President, best of technology and management Infosys Technologies. “We need to processes to India. External challenges create a generation of leaders and an Interviews with Sajjan Jindal, Vice Chairman and Managing Director, JSW Group, and Adi B. Godrej, Chairman of the Godrej Group, are included in “CEO Challenge 2006, Perspectives and Analysis” soon to be published by The Conference Board. Highlights from the Global Leadership 2006 conference in Mumbai will soon be available in an Executive Action report. For more information, contact Poonam Barua, Regional Director - India: [email protected]. 2 Making valuable contacts. Council News Council on Corporate Governance & Risk Management – India Mumbai, 24 March From left: Shailesh Haribhakti, Managing Partner & CEO, Haribhakti & From left: Donald Nordberg, Senior Advisor to The Conference Board; Co.; Poonam Barua, Regional Director - India, The Conference Board; Deepak Kinger, ICICI Prudential Insurance; Jyotin Mehta, ICICI Bank. Sammy Medora, Chairman, Audit Committee Institute, KPMG. Larsen & Toubro, Grasim Industries, Reality in Corporate Boardrooms” and “From ICICI Bank, Pricewater houseCoopers, KPMG, Risk-Management to Risk- Strategy.” The dis- and Reliance Industries. cussion generated a very productive debate on the fiduciary responsibilities of independ- Integrating corporate governance with risk ent non-executive directors on company management was the opening topic. Donald boards; the role of board committees on Nordberg, Senior Advisor to The Conference audit, remuneration and nominations; and Board, explained the potential benefits of the extent to which compliance and regula- turning risk management from a function tions can set the stage for good governance. of compliance to one that helps inform corporate strategy. He also showed how The meeting featured an interactive Webcast J.C. Bham, Company Secretary, and Rekha companies are balancing the agenda for on relationships between senior managers Seal, Ethics Counsellor, both from Tata Iron effective governance by building reporting and the board of directors, with Ellen Hexter, & Steel. relationships between boards, CEOs, CFOs Programme Director – Risk Management, and top management. The Conference Board. This session explored different governance models and discussed Business leaders in India are reviewing global Jyotin Mehta, Company Secretary, ICICI the level of involvement of board members in best practices and norms in corporate Bank Ltd, provided an industry perspective decision-making. governance and risk management to fit from one of the best managed companies the demands of a rapidly changing and in India, with a professional board that dynamic market. At the inaugural meeting of leads and closely monitors business per- the Council on Corporate Governance formance. Abhijit Gajendragadkar, Chief and Risk Management – India, in Mumbai Internal Auditor, Tata Motors, shared on 24 March, participants discussed key practical experiences on Enterprise Risk issues of enterprise risk management, Management at his company. This was building relationships between board followed by a PricewaterhouseCoopers directors and top management, and audit presentation on how to get the best out of committee best practices. Attending the your audit committee. meeting were high-level Council members including the Managing Director