DR. RANJAN DAS
Professor of Strategic & International Management
Indian Institute of Management Calcutta

Dear Readers,

In its endeavor to create a superlative strategic management journal, The Economic Times General Management Review continues to bring to you articles and papers that deal with contemporary management issues. In this latest issue too, we carry on with our objective of creating and disseminating knowledge in the areas of strategic and general management with special emphasis on problems and challenges of managing in big emerging markets such as India.
“The Question of Reputation”, written by Adam Jolly is a discussion on the growing importance of corporate reputation. According to the author, there exists a direct correlation between good corporate reputation and crucial business issues like the share-price, regulatory approval, labor relations, community support, retailer preference and consumer support. Interesting subject to dwell on, in times when more and more business scandals are surfacing.
The article “Customer-Connected Strategies”, condensed from Customer Connections written by Robert E Wayland and Paul M Cole describes the importance of customer relationships. The paper argues that profitable growth is a factor of sound customer relationships. The authors suggest that customer-connecting strategies are based on a demand-side framework that addresses issues such as selecting the right customers, enhancing the value of the customer relationships, and sharing of such created value by the buyer and seller.
“Churning out Nectar from the Net” is condensed from The Bright Stuff written by Arnoud De Meyer, Soumitra Dutta and Sandeep Srivastava. The core idea here is that innovation is critical for survival and success. Using examples of companies such as Amazon.com, Charles Schwab, Merrill Lynch and Wal-Mart, the authors show how incumbent leaders are using the Internet backbone to innovate newer business processes that help them gain the edge over in the marketplace.
Condensed from a book written by Daniel Goleman, Richard Boyatzis and Annie Mckee, “The New Leaders” points out the new and emerging styles of leadership. The authors tell us that as business reinvents itself, old assumptions, old modes, no longer hold. To manage the new challenges, what we require are emotionally intelligent leaders. The authors also suggest ways to develop such leadership styles in your organization.
In “Vital Linkages,” K Ramakrishnan of GMR Research Team takes us through the importance of linkages between organizational resources, its competences and capabilities. He defines organizational resources as the tangible and intangible assets of a firm, which can be drawn upon by the firm when required to achieve its objectives.
This issue also contains an interview with Mr. Ashwin Dani, Vice-Chairman of Asian Paints (India) Limited in which he lays stress on innovation as the key to success. He also brings out the importance of managing customer relationships; identifying, managing and developing talent and encouraging research and development.
In “Virtuous Leadership” Jittu Singh from TISCO pays a mock tribute to corporate leaders who have bungled up. The writer critically examines the prevalent process of identifying and selecting corporate leaders and advocates a leadership pyramid that is intended to serve as a guide for picking first-class leaders.
In addition to the above, this issue also carries our other regular sections such as the case study and review of books and articles. The case study on “De-merger of Jindal Stainless” should provide interesting insights on issues pertaining to planning and implementation of a large-scale de-merger.
As usual, the articles, papers and the case study are designed to upgrade you in your knowledge as you manage your day-to-day corporate affairs. I hope you will find the content professionally stimulating.
Your comments and suggestions for improvement are most welcome.
Best Regards,

With best regards, Dr. Rajan Das Guest Editor General Management Review.