Many years ago, I had admired Ramu, who had rapidly moved from the position of salesman to marketing director with a large transnational in Mumbai. He had achieved the pinnacle at just 34. It was a time when the chief executive officer (CEO) was always an expatriate and, therefore, the appointment as marketing director was a high point for an Indian executive.
Ramu moved into a large three-bedroom apartment on the hill, he rode in a chauffeur-driven imported car, and enjoyed all the privileges that went with his position in the company. His lifestyle changed and he was the envy of all his peers.
Ramu’s big dream came to a grinding halt, two years after he was promoted. The CEO had the bad habit of swinging the cabin door open without knocking, to enter the offices of his senior executives. Early one afternoon, he went to Ramu’s office down the corridor, and entered in the usual way—to find Ramu with his secretary on his lap, in a position not entirely in consonance with business protocol. Norbert, the CEO, did not say a word. He did not even betray surprise. He walked back to his room, and phoned Ramu to come and see him.
Immediately Ramu tried to give an explanation. Norbert raised a hand. No explanations were needed. Very coldly, very deliberately, Norbert asked Ramu not to attend office from the next day. His accounts would be settled before he went home that evening!
Mel was the marketing director of a large multinational. He had earlier worked in another company as marketing manager for consumer products, and had now moved to this prize assignment with this new company which had set up shop in India. The money and the perks were very good – and now Mel was earning nearly double what he was getting earlier. But the start-up job was tough, while the earlier assignment, in an established company with well-known brand names, was a ‘cakewalk’.
Two years later, Mel was still struggling to hold on to the job. He had returned from one of his visits to the Delhi branch of the company, when a week later by coincidence, Sam, the Delhi branch manager, visited the company head quarter (HQ) in Bangalore. When Sam went to see the managing director (MD), Lall, he chided Sam for not having treated the marketing director hospitably during his recent visit to Delhi.
Sam asked him why he said that.
“Well,” said Lall, “The least I would expect was that you keep the company car at the disposal of the marketing director or any other senior managers when they visit the branch. This hospitality was not extended to Mel.”
Sam insisted that the car and driver were at Mel’s service all the four days he had spent in Delhi.
Lall had just signed Mel’s travel expense statement where he had charged for taxi hire for the four days. Mel got caught. There was no need for proof or confrontation. Lall quietly asked Mel to resign. A minor inadequacy on the job could be tolerated, but a lack of integrity - never. It was just a matter of Rs5,000 but Mel paid a heavy price for it.
Shantu told me that when he joined a large conglomerate controlled by an orthodox family, he gave up drinking alcohol and smoking cigarettes. He also became a vegetarian. When he said this, my first reaction was that Shantu was overreacting to the job change. A manager is expected to deliver, to give value for money, and to make a contribution to the corporation. What he did in his private life was his own business. He could drink and smoke and it would not be of any concern to the employer.
Such was my view, until I met Kuldip, the marketing director of a large corporate in India, and with whom I was scheduled to meet a prospective collaborator in the US, to see how we could work together. The meeting was at a high-end hotel in New York. Kuldip arrived with a few already under his belt, at 6.30pm. We decided we three would sit at a secluded corner of the bar, off the lounge.
Unsteady, Kuldip drew a chair and, as he sat down, he fell backwards along with the chair. There was a pregnant silence as everyone around watched. There was great embarrassment for all of us until Paul (the prospective collaborator) turned on the humour and remarked, “I think Kuldip got the chair with the three legs. It’s not really his fault.”
Four weeks later, I learnt that the collaboration did not come through. Kuldip had projected the image of the company in a completely uncomplimentary way – an image of drunken stupor!
Jay was the chairman and MD (CMD) of a large family conglomerate. He was doing well and signing up one collaboration after another. The conglomerate had grown five times in eight years, since Jay had taken over.
This was when Jay sought a meeting with the chairman of the development bank, to make a case for a large financial aid package for a big project which was very important in the conglomerate’s scheme of affairs.
Jay went with Joe, the finance director. The meeting began on a very cordial note. Jay had known Suren well, over many years. The conversation and discussions somehow got limited to a dialogue between the two of them. Over a period of time, Joe’s mind began wandering. Unconsciously, he began rocking his chair with a vague look on his face. Suren tried to ignore this unacceptable behaviour for some time. Then, he lost his patience.
“It would seem that you are bored with what is going on, Mr Joe,” he said. The bite in the tone was not lost. The discussions went on for a while longer.
One month later, Jay received a letter from the bank where they turned down the request. Jay wondered whether Joe was indirectly responsible for the bad news!
Indiscretions can be costly in the world of business… Perhaps, even more so in public life. It can be illicit liaisons, genuine love that transcends hierarchies; money; addiction to alcohol; or just lack of etiquette because one did not know better. In whatever form it comes, there is a heavy price to be paid.
(Abstracts from the book - Manager to CEO by Walter Vieira - Sage Publications)
(Walter Vieira is a Fellow of the Institute of Management Consultants of India- FIMC. He was a successful corporate executive for 14 years and then pioneered marketing consulting in India in 1975. As a consultant, he has worked across four continents. He was the first Asian elected Chairman of ICMCI, the world apex body of 45 countries. He is the author of 16 books, a business columnist and has been visiting professor in Marketing in the US, Europe, and Asia for over 40 years. His latest books are ‘Marketing in a Digital/Data World’ with Brian Almeida and ‘Customer Value Starvation Can Kill’ with Gautam Mahajan. He now spends most of his time on NGO work and is presently Chairman, Consumer Education and Research Society, India)
