First written in December 2017 (Prasantada is a fictional character I have created in Bengali. He studied in a Moffusil town in a missionary school and when there was a big exodus from Bengal he went to study in the UK. Economics of course and now teaches at Nebraska University bang in the middle of…
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The Adventurer from Lamington Road with Jumbo Dreams
The “Made in Japan” CEO: Akio Morita who created Sony
In the fall of 1987, I had the privilege of meeting Akio Morita who was then the CEO of Sony Corporation, Japan. I had been invited by the International Federation of Accountants (IFAC) to co-write and present a paper at the XIII World Congress of Accountants which was held in Tokyo in October 1987. Morita-san…
Yunus’s Nobel Prize acceptance speech
Muhammad Yunus’s Nobel Prize Acceptance Speech The concept of social business Nobel Lecture Nobel Lecture, Oslo, December 10, 2006. Your Majesties, Your Royal Highnesses, Honorable Members of the Norwegian Nobel Committee, Excellencies, Ladies and Gentlemen, Grameen Bank and I are deeply honoured to receive this most prestigious of awards. We are thrilled and overwhelmed by…
Work life balance
Work/Life balance Enough fish to feed the family An investment banker was on the pier of a small coastal village when a small boat with just one fisherman docked. His boat was full of beautiful yellow tuna. The banker complimented the fisherman on his catch, asking how long it took to catch. The fisherman…
While we wait for Godot!
While we wait for Godot! Roopen Roy (Views are personal) An Indian CEO once told me, “You will never find statues of committees in parks. All great deeds and misdeeds are done by heroes and fallen angels.” Are we prone to exaggerating the role of individuals in shaping history? Samuel Beckett wrote…
Where there is a will
A CHINESE proverb says, “One picture is worth a thousand words.” The latest picture of Bo Xilai —the disgraced angel — said it all. No narrative was necessary. The photograph hit the wires. The media transmitted it all over the world. Handcuffed, shamed and flanked by two even taller policemen told us the story: how…
Well performing PSU an oxymoron?
Well-performing PSU-an oxymoron? Well-performing PSU –is it an oxymoron? Roopen Roy (The author is the Managing Director of Deloitte & Touche Consulting (P) Ltd. The views expressed in this article are his own) In India, we call them PSUs. In China, they are called State-Owned Enterprises (SOEs). In Singapore they are Government-Linked Companies (GLCs)….
Under promise over deliver
Under-promise Over-Deliver Public Sector Reforms: Under-promise, over-deliver Our Finance Minister was widely criticized for squandering an opportunity to paint a bold reform agenda in this year’s Budget speech. But let us be realists. This is an inopportune time to contend that aggressive PSU reforms and privatization constitute the panacea to all our economic…
Tone at the top
Tone at the top Written to commemorate /February 16 2007 Every time the story of an audacious fraud makes its way to the media –the law –makers think of new legislation, regulators scramble to toughen rules and Boards evaluate the state of their governance. Enron, Worldcom, Tyco and a series of corporate…