(I had signed up to write 52 fortnightly pieces for the Financial Chronicle. Ernest Hemingway wrote a memoir about his life as a struggling writer in Paris. These memoirs were published as a book with the title “A Moveable Feast” inspired by a letter he wrote to a friend: “If you are lucky enough to…
Business
PwC Merger and Operation Shatranj
In 1998 the public accounting world was shaken by the news of a merger of two global firms Price Waterhouse and Coopers & Lybrand. The firms were of similar size. Price Waterhouse had more blue chip clients and a larger global consulting practice but their global footprints were similar. Whenever there is a merger between…
The Philosopher King of Bengal who stumbled
Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee became the Chief Minister of West Bengal on 6th November 2000 when Jyoti Basu stepped down. The transition was well- orchestrated. The younger party leaders were worried that Jyoti Basu was not only saddled with the problems of incumbency, there were also allegations of nepotism. Because strikes and flight of capital, the industrial…
Warren Allen: my long-distance partner in a life-transforming project
In 1986, I was selected to represent the country as a paper-writer at the XIII World Congress of Accountants to be held in Tokyo in 1987. The World Congress of Accountants is held every 4 years and is organised by the International Federation of Accountants (IFAC) My co-paper writer was Warren Allen, a partner of…
Chief Minister Jyoti Basu-a tactical communist
In 1994, Shishir Bajoria became the President of the Indian Chamber of Commerce. Shishir’s brother Mahendra was my classmate in school and their father Late B P Bajoria had a particular fondness for me. The winds of liberalization, which began with the dismantling of the license raj on 24th July 1991, was gaining gale force…
A PSU CEO who dreamt big and dared to act bold
In the January/February issue of 2013, the Harvard Business Review ranked Subir Raha #13 among the 100 Best Performing CEOs of the world. Subir, unfortunately, could not rejoice in this remarkable achievement. He had passed away on February 1, 2010 at the age of 61. Subir Raha was a paradox. He was a daring entrepreneur…
A tall man from the Pakistani public accounting profession
At a dinner in Dhaka in 1986, I first met Ebrahim Dahodwala. He was the then the President of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Pakistan. In fact, he was the first President of the Institute from the profession, a position always held previously by the Secretaries to the Federal Government of Pakistan. He was…
Ray’s World
Every global consulting company today has digital studios swarming with creative people in outlandish dresses, strange hairstyles and non-conformist thinking. In 2015, I visited the studio of Übermind, Inc which was acquired by Deloitte Consulting and rechristened Deloitte Digital. The CEO of the company was Shehryar Khan who did his schooling in Lahore, Pakistan. Their…
Russi Mody: A man of steel and larger than life.
I had met Russi Mody at social occasions before but I did not know him well. In 1992, I was in my office in Price Waterhouse, when I received a call from him directly. He said, “Mr. Roy, I would like to discuss with you the Tata-Korf accounts, can I come and see you?” This…
The PwC Culture and Values: Anecdotes from past Leaders
The culture and values of an organization pass on from one generation to another. Neither brick and mortar endure nor people remain forever. But institutions which are built on solid values with a sustainable purpose, last a long time. The culture and value fabric of an organization are woven by anecdotes, stories, important events, inflexion…