The Hindu Business Line : In search of the common good

The Great Indian Election 2009 is over and the vox populi has delivered a substantive mandate for development, inclusive growth and stability. As soon as the election was over, we were all treated to a wonderful circus when till-then-puffed-up chests shrank dramatically and those holding forth on pre-conditions for their support offered servile unconditional support.

The talking heads on the TV channels crowed if they had been successful in forecasting the results or enunciated complex theses on why they were off the mark. Then came the feeding frenzy for Cabinet positions and brinkmanship from some parts of the allies of the ruling dispensation. After a week or so of intense speculation, force-fed oxygen by the usual high-profile and hyper news anchors, the Cabinet portfolio allocations were made and the circus rolls on!

Coalitions inevitable

We are likely to be regaled further as the pressures of competitive politics and populism battle with the big picture and rational economics.

When organisations are formed, coalitions are an inevitable by-product. The founders, while being driven by a common goal or even a shared vision, also bring with them their own personalities, experiences and expectations, stated and un-stated.

Pretty soon you have other professionals joining the system with their own historical baggage and expectations. Matters get even more complex when you add to the mix other stakeholders such as the venture capital/ private equity investors, customers and, in a post-IPO scenario, large numbers of public investors.

When reality confronts idealism and passion, these expectations come out into the open, much like a developing photo film exposes the picture in a processing laboratory. In successful companies, the mismatch in expectations and operational styles are usually addressed collectively and a consensus emerges that may be at variance with the initially stated stances.

It is not to say that everyone is happy or completely convinced, but the power of common interest sees a compromise emerge that holds the ship steady. This is something that should be built into the DNA of the system so that consensus for the highest common good becomes the key word.

Coalitions have always existed in organisations and they will continue to do so. What may, perhaps, alter the contours of coalition building in today’s organisations is the way they are being transformed into systems that have a virtual component residing on top of the core of a real organisation; where culture, geography and conflicts, present or potential, of different parts of the same system add immense complexity.

The inclusive stance

The sagacity and nerves of the board and the senior management team will be tested to the extreme by the pulls and counter-pulls that this complexity introduces into the decision-making process. The word that perhaps best describes the need of the hour is the lyrical sounding Loya Jirga, a Pashto phrase meaning “grand council”, which reached common consciousness when efforts at rebuilding Afghanistan were being made after the defeat of the Taliban a few years ago. Literally, a big tent was put up and everyone was accommodated physically inside the same tent.

Clearly, corporate Loya Jirgas will need to be formed to address the organisational complexities of today and to address the even more complex needs of tomorrow.

The business culture and ethos of the developing nations will introduce changes that will substantially alter the contours of the current model that is predominantly rooted in the Anglo-Saxon mould, with some variants being brought in by the Japanese and Korean models in the last few decades.

A political Loya Jirga is meant to accommodate many aspirations and will consider it a victory if some level of compromise is arrived at yielding the LCF (Lowest Common Factor) of mutually acceptable ideas. In contrast, a corporate Loya Jirga has to make sense of the various expectations with a view to charting a singularity of purpose in achieving the HCM (Highest Common Multiple) of gains for all concerned.

Democracy has to be practised, but at the end of the day, results have to be achieved. Best results will probably be achieved if guided democracy is practised. All voices are heard but those authorised to take decisions are driven by all the right reasons and motives and go by the principle of guided democracy “which is a two-way process, where after I hear you, I will speak and you will listen and act!!” Anything less will lead to bedlam and dysfunctional organisations.

(The writer is a director of Manipal Education and Medical Group and 3i Infotech and advisor to IDPC PE.)