This issue of The Smart Manager features Gautam Hari Singhania, Chairman and Managing Director, Raymond Group who talks about the future path of the company. We have Lynda Gratton and Andrew Scott, London Business School talking about a three-staged life and its implications, while Ken Rutsky, author of Launching to Leading gives us insights on how to lead. Morgen Witzel, Exeter Business School, shows the way for companies to expand internationally. This issue also features The Akshay Patra Foundation, an organisation dedicated to serving wholesome meals to school children. Vip Vyas, Distinctive Performance and Stuart Doughty, an executive consultant share their views on how we can create new worlds of possibilities, while Nicholas Ind, Oslo School of Management tells us how brands can nurture a desire for themselves among customers. We have featured Liri Andersson and Ludo Van der Hayden, INSEAD who talk about what companies must do to survive in today’s digital world. Anees Haidary, Sasken elaborates on harnessing the potential of cross-cultural diversity in companies. In our regular section Robin Speculand busts myths regarding why many fail at executing strategies. Hardik Harsora, Effex, writes about the importance of business modeling. Howard H Yu, Knut Haanaes, and Jayanth Narayanan, IMD, share their views on the indispensible role of innovation in the progress of companies. Rahul Shah, DDI gives advice on transforming from ‘mindfull’ to ‘mindful’, while under First Serve we are featuring the best customer service practices of Grofers.
The Smart Manager, India's first world-class management magazine, was founded in 2002 by eminent business historian Dr Gita Piramal with Harvard Business School Dean, Prof. Nitin Nohria with the mission of updating managers and business practitioners in India with the latest thought-provoking strategic ideas from experienced, world-class managers, academics and consultants from across the globe. Over the years, the magazine has carried articles authored by illustrious management gurus such as the late CK Prahalad and Sumantra Ghoshal, Jack Trout, Ram Charan, Gary Hamel, Gay Haskins, Jagdish Seth and Lynda Gratton. We believe that "managers are the best teachers of managers" and most of our articles are written in the first person by top-tier CEOs such as Kumaramangalam Birla, Sunil Mittal, Aditya Birla, KV Kamath, Santrupt Mitra, Rajeev Dubey and S Ramadorai. We also have relationships with a number of B-schools around the world, apart from most top-level schools in India. The Smart Manager hosts the Tata Consultancy Services Smart Manager Case Contest, the most prestigious competition of its kind in the Indian print media. The contest, with a cash prize of INR50,000 per issue, sees wide participation from national and international business managers and students. The 'Smart" in The Smart Manager is an acronym for Strategy, Marketing, Analysis, Resources and Technology. Truly useful knowledge when you need it 24 x 365, year after year.