Sunday, June 17, 2001		Life Ties

VIDHUR was a topper from IIT-Kanpur and a gold medalist from IIM-Ahmedabad. With impeccable academic credentials and brimming with ideas, knew he was a cut above the rest. With an arresting personality, a sharp intuitive mind and impressive communication skills, he was ready to scale the heights of success and glory.

He picked up a job with a leading company as its vice president. He was the mysterious blue-eyed boy of the chairman and the perks given to him were unprecedented. A special swanky cabin was created for him and he was given the best car, house, privilege cards to the snootiest clubs and the dedicated services of Ranaji, an old timer who was the prized secretary of the chairman. A slight frown had creased Vidhur’s well-sculpted forehead when he had heard of Ranaji’s posting but he had forced a smile and handshake when he came to report to him.

Vidhur was clearly the chosen one. The grapevine in the office was that he was being groomed to take over the company. Some even smelt a nexus somewhere; why else would there be a sudden planting of a kid in the hurly burly of corporate politics? However well qualified he may be, he was an inexperienced green horn who was yet to unravel the mystical ways of lobbying, networking and power playing.

However, Vidhur took confident charge of his portfolio. The first thing he did was to hire an efficient executive assistant who not only looked glamorous in his office but was also adept at handling the techno gadgets for his multi-media presentations. He tried transferring Ranaji to another department but found the chairman resisting this move. He felt that the senior gentleman had strengths which would surface as Vidhur worked closely with him. With reluctance Vidhur relented and gave him inconsequential work.

Vidhur was quick at decision-making. He had his finger on the pulse of the market and was ambitious. He was also impatient with non-performers. It wasn’t easy getting the senior lot to fall in line. There were voices of protest at his radical new ideas. There were heated debates over how the new IT-savvy breed was short-sighted, trivialising what the brick and mortar guys had painstakingly achieved. They feared redundancy. Insecurities of the ‘old war horses’, who had seen the company grow from a fledgling one-man office into a sprawling Rs 400-crore business empire, were growing and many had quit.

Vidhur was undeterred. He spearheaded an organisational restructuring exercise. He was convinced that he could hire excellent professionals at attractive salaries and upgrade the company profile. Appraisal systems were set in place. Deserving workers were offered stock options. Everything was getting linked to performance, productivity and bottom lines. Ranaji, who had earlier been privy to all important decisions, found himself marginalised. He watched from the sidelines as the company grew at a phenomenally rapid pace. Though he he felt happy, he had a queasy feeling too. All the promises made on behalf of the company to clients seemed awesome but could they achieve the targets and quality standards? Was it an illusion, a mirage, a dream or reality? He was not too sure if they were ready to take on such huge orders at internationally competitive prices. There were internal factors which needed urgent sorting out before embarking on an ambitious growth plan. He knew that lower down at the assembly line level there was a lot of resentment. There was a strong union. Tempers were always high and it required a tight ropewalk to ensure that deadlines were met. All the collaborations and joint ventures which were being signed had got them visibility, pushing up their share prices but could they sustain the euphoria?

The few times he had tried to graciously intervene on matters which he thought needed more serious handling, he had found himself being rudely brushed aside. The message was clear, "Stay away from core issues. Be grateful you are here at all. We know what we are doing." Well-wishers told him to turn a blind eye and ignore whatever was happening around him. Wasn’t he getting his salary? So why lose sleep? If Vidhur and his coterie were way off the mark and blundering along, they would end up digging their own graves. Let them make mistakes, expose their foolhardiness and be shunted out for good. Ranaji tried implementing this advice but found himself unable to develop a non-chalant attitude. He had joined the company as a young 20-year-old hopeful. His entire sense of self-worth and identity were linked to this organisation which was more than family to him. Its well being was his primary concern. It hurt to see its stature diminished or threatened. No, he couldn’t let things which were detrimental to its welfare go on right under his nose. Even if it amounted to humiliation or loss of job, he would do what his instinct and inner voice guided him to do.

The orders that Vidhur had notched up ran into crores of rupees. There were celebrations and jubilation across all levels. Huge Diwali bonuses had been granted, elaborate renovations undertaken and expense accounts of top executives pushed up. Vidhur was completely drunk on the trappings accompanying success and he had no idea of the trouble that was brewing at the lower levels. Workers were planning to go on a strike. They were anticipating more work and were planning to hold the company to ransom with a huge list of demands. Ranaji had a sense of foreboding. He knew things would soon get out of hand with production coming come to a standstill. This would prove to be the death-knell for the company. If they could not meet targets they were doomed. Liquid cash was already depleting, thanks to the indiscriminate spending in recent months and an adverse reputation in the market was the last thing they needed. He knew that Vidhur’s close aides, raw and unfamiliar with the terrain, were more focussed on themselves. They were ill-equipped to handle crises.

Ranaji did a thorough recee. Through his reliable network, he procured details of the major strike that was being planned. There were external factors also involved. Rival companies were using the union to stall work. The meteoric rise of this small firm hadn’t been digested by the bigger players. There was no way they were going to let them thrive on their laurels. Ranaji used his experience of 30 years to unravel the game plan. It was only after he had the entire situation mapped out on a chart with complete details, did he seek an appointment with Vidhur. In a closed-door meeting, he held forth with the confidence and sincerity of a dedicated old- timer. Seeing Vidhur getting paranoid, Ranaji told him to be calm. They had to diplomatically handle the situation. If their competitors could use their union to go against them, they too should devise a strategy to outdo them with the same cunning. They would find a way out.

For the first time Vidhur realised that all his youthful exuberance and dynamism could not match the maturity and understanding of this older man. He realised that he had made a grave error of judgement by sidelining a person like Ranaji. In fact, by doing so he had cast aside his most valuable resource. No doubt, his firm needed him to give it a new profile and strengthen operations but it also needed people like Ranaji who were its backbone and soul.