Sunday, September 14, 2003		Books

Success and its secrets
Chandra Mohan

Winning Minds
Ros Jay. Capstone. Pages 215. Rs 800 (paperback).

EVEN though entrepreneurship is one of the most intensely researched management topics, it still remains elusive. No one has been able to fathom what make some entrepreneurs successful. They come in every shape, size and colour and have begun their journeys at different ages. Education, social background or gender seem to be of no consequence. Ros Jay attempts a new route to the study of enterpreneurship. He tries to draw conclusions by researching the talents, motivations and business approaches of 50 of the greatest entrepreneurs of the industrial age. These people became global names and left permanent imprints on human life.

Some had buckets of charisma: Sam Walton of Wal-Mart, a retailing company which is the largest company in the world today; Akio Morita, who founded Sony and even shifted to the USA to understand the psyche of the American customer and imbibe US management practices; Herb Kelleher, who created South-West Airlines which made sustained profits in the dog-eat-dog airline business; Jack Welch of GE, today's management icon. Jay also talks about people who were self-effacing. Steve Case of AOL; Harold Geneen of ITT was eternally busy pouring over the financial reports of the global empire of 350 diverse companies clobbered together by him; Rockfeller, the first billionaire of the world who retired at 58 when his Standard Oil Trust was broken up by the Ohio State. He lived for another 40 years as the greatest philanthropist the world has ever known. His aloofness did not stop Standard Oil's growth. Two of entrepreneurs who form Jay’s study even stammered.

Many have been thrown out of school: Woodruff of Coke and also Edison. Land of Polaroid, Dell of computer fame and Bill Gates were college dropouts. Intuition and foresight are again not universal traits among successful entrepreneurs. Henry Ford could foresee a mass market awaiting a cheap affordable car. Marcus could foresee a future in one-stop-shop for construction material when he set up Home Depot. Bill Gates predicted a computer on every desk. But then, on the flip side, Ray Kroc bought McDonald's when he was 50 only after slogging it out selling soda-mixing machines for 17 years.

Self-confidence, willpower and perseverance are clearly universal. All of the above did what they believed in. They stuck their necks out and swam in the opposite direction. They also persevered through their long journeys undeterred by difficulty, ridicule and even failure.

All school and college students should read this book. It could transform their lives.