The Made-In-India Manager

Who are Made-in-India managers? What do they do differently?

Over the last fifty years, several Indians have occupied top positions in multinationals across the globe. Shantanu Narayen at Adobe, Satya Nadella at Microsoft, Padmasree Warrier at NIO and Sundar Pichai at Google—there are, today, innumerable instances of CEOs born and bred in India, helming S&P 500 companies. What accounts for such a prominent presence of Indian professionals across the world today?
In The Made-in-India Manager, two stalwarts of Indian business and academics examine this little-studied phenomenon and present a compelling argument: that a unique combination of factors has led Indian management thought and practices to become a ‘soft power’ with the potential to decisively impact global managers of tomorrow.
Drawing on their long and varied experience among corporates, the authors explore:
• the deep cultural influences that engender a sharp competitive instinct and an astute business perspective;
• the circumstances that inspire a high degree of resourcefulness in challenging situations;
• the ability to ‘think in English and act in Indian’, which enables flexible functioning in multicultural work environments;
• and, importantly, how today’s young managers can build on these advantages and bring to the table their own generational learning, attitudes and capabilities to ensure future success.
Thought-provoking and provocative, this fascinating treatise takes a long view of the Indian professional’s path to definitive career success, and makes for compulsory reading for every management practitioner.