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Executive Interviews: Interview with Kashi R Balachandran on Management Guru
November 2010
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By Dr. Nagendra V Chowdary
Kashi R Balachandran Kashi R Balachandran
Professor of
Accounting and Operations
Management New York University
Stern School of Business 
'The Thinkers 50' list, produced
by Suntop Media in association with
Skillsoft, is supposed to be a
definitive guide to who is the most
influential living management
thinker. And this list changes every
year. What do the changing names
mean for the world of business - that
the old thinkers' ideas have become
irrelevant or that new breed of
management thinkers have emerged?
To make it to the list, one has to be
eloquent in enumerating one's ideas
in addition to being practical,
showing proof that the ideas do
work and have an international
appeal. Naturally new stars
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come
every now and then and since the
list includes only 50 prominent
personalities, someone has to be left
out. It is not that the ideas of the 'left
out' gurus are no longer relevant.
Rather, other ideas are more
newsworthy in making a splash.
We may also realize, with additional
focus on the emerging countries, that
what is sometimes very applicable to
the developed Western world is not
so applicable to the rest of the world.
A thinker who has thought more
about the rest of the world has a
better chance of getting into the list.
In my opinion, they are all great
thinkers and gurus. Just shifting
focus to rest of the world outside the
West may make recent thinkers
appear more relevant.
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Who according to you is a
management guru? What specific
qualities and contributions set them
apart from the rest of management
fraternity?
A guru is one who propounds new
ideas on management, who can
differentiate between regions,
changing world economies, cultures,
practices, incentives and politics in
various countries to ascertain where
certain theories may be applicable
and where they may not be. In
addition, a guru should be eloquent
as to enunciate his or her ideas to
command the respect and the ears of
all in management, both academics
and practitioners.
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Are "Thought Leaders" and
"Management Thinkers" same as
"Management Gurus" or is there any
difference between these titles?
I differentiate them this way.
Thought leaders propound new
ideas, sometimes speculative, and ask
why not. They try to explain why
such ideas may be valid for the
practice of management. They may
typically be industry leaders who
have been successful in trying out
new ideas in their own company. A
management thinker can analyze a
specific theory or practice of
management cogently and analyze
where it can be applied and where it
may not be applicable. A guru, on the
other hand, is a complete
management specialist, who
propounds new ideas, thinks of their
applicability in various
environments, thinks of the
limitations of the propounded
theories and eloquently describes
them through lucid writings and
lectures to other educators, students
and top industry management
practitioners. Thus, to be called a
guru is a significant achievement.
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Who, according to you, have been
some of the global management gurus
who have redefined the discipline
and practice of management?
Peter Drucker, Michael Porter, CK
Prahalad grab my first attention.
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At times, even CEOs get voted as
the world's best management gurus.
For instance, in 'The Thinkers 50'
2007 list, produced by Suntop Media
in association with Skillsoft, Bill
Gates, Alan Greenspan, Thomas J
Peters, Jack Welch, Richard Branson
were in the top ten list. The others
(Michael E Porter, Gary Hamel, Jim
Collins) were typical academicians
who, with their research and
writings, had profound effect on the
way companies managed their giant
enterprises? Noticeably amongst the
career executives, Jack Welch, Tom
Peters continued to have influence
even after a few years of their
reckoning. Micahel E Porter who was
No. 1 in the list in 2004 has slipped to
No.4 in 2007 list. What therefore
explains the enduring power of a
management guru?
Some of the people - the industry
leaders, you have mentioned are
thinkers and not necessarily long
standing gurus. That does not make
them any lesser important. After all,
they have been extremely successful
as industry builders and have
displayed top level management
prowess. But general theory building
is different. It is invariably academic.
It is not that only people from
academics can fill the role. People
from industry with their wide and indepth
and hands-on experience can build generalized theories as well.
The enduring power of a guru lies in
his/her ability to build theories that
can withstand changing
environment, that are applicable to
various cultures, business practices
etc. One theory will not fit all,
obviously. If the guru can clearly
enunciate where which theory can be
applied and why it can be applied
and what happens if the business
environment changes, as it has
recently been with the emerging
economies of BRIC, then there is
enduring power. Yet, theories are
bound to be adjusted with changing
times and that is why we have new
gurus replacing others in the top 50
list.
1.
Management Guru Case Study
2. ICMR
Case Collection
3.
Case Study Volumes
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