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Submitted by Manulal K Roll. No. 191032 FMG 19 A FORE School of Management Submitted to Dr. Anita T Lal On 06/02/2012

L. SLUBRAMANIAN R

Level 5 Leadership

Subramanian Ramadorai

Introduction
Subramaniam Ramadorai heads Tata Consultancy Services (TCS), the company that built the Indian IT industry. And Ram's been there through the three decade journey as the pilot who navigated the most crucial turns mid-air, as the steward who took care of all on board the TCS ship, as the explorer who set up beachheads for TCS round the globe, as a travelling salesman who brought back clients who paid in precious dollars. For the Tatas, Ram is the "master of the ship" and "captain of its soul". And yet, Ram has been on the sidelines, away from the arc lights for most part of his over-threedecade career at TCS. Through these years, he was instrumental in every aspect of TCS' growthbe it the numerous quality initiatives, be it the offshoring model, be it the measurement models for people and processes, be it the signing up of big ticket clients, or then forging alliances with global technology majors and institutions. Therefore, when he was given charge of running the company in 1996, there was little doubt within TCS and the board of Tata Sons that Ram was the appropriate choice. He had seen and done it all. Ram took the reins over from the legendary and formidable Dr Fakir Chand Kohli, the grandsire of the Indian technology industry. When Ram was under Dr Kohli's tutelage, till such time that Ram actually took over as the CEO, he was overshadowed by the latter. Vastly different from Dr Kohli in his management style and personality, Ram has been an "in the trenches" kind of a man, sporting a mild demeanor and a self-effacing attitude. Ram makes up for this with an elephantine determination and sense of purpose, a rigid discipline, a demonstrated ability to manage personal and professional relationships, and a healthy appetite for risks. He is, besides, gifted with a sharp intellect, insatiable curiosity, and wide-ranging interests. In the eight years that Ram has been leading TCS, he has grown the organization multi-fold to its current size of nearly a billion and half dollars. Equally Ram invested in managing the internal organization. Apart from some PSUs, the railways, and the defence, how many CEOs have to manage nearly 40,000 people spread across the globe? And still keep growing against global benchmarks? This clearly called for new measures to culturally integrate people, to measure their performance and productivity levels, design reward and appraisal processes. Further, business

Level 5 Leadership

Subramanian Ramadorai

processes needed to be fine-tuned to extract maximum productivity and efficiency. Through the use of technology and process measures, Ram and his team have been able to manage the organization scale-up in terms of people and revenues and profitability. In FY 2003-04, TCS delivered gross margins of 48%, one of the highest in the industry, despite sales and marketing expenses accounting for 20% of the revenues. Early Life and Education Born in Nagpur, Ram grew up in Delhi where his father worked in the Indian audits and accounts service department. In this characteristic middle class environment, Ram imbibed certain values early on-respect for the individual, the need to share with and care for fellow beings, conservation of resources, the importance of education, and the belief that the family should anchor one in whatever one sets out to do in life. From his mother and sisters, he gathered appreciation for music and art. He was encouraged to read widely and his voracious reading habits were formed early. At sixteen, Ram was told that the earlier he was able to take care of his destiny, the better. He chose to study physics at the University of Delhi, from where he headed south to Bangalore to study communication technology at the Indian Institute of Science. After his graduation in 1968, Ram briefly joined the Physical Research Lab at Ahmedabad but soon left to pursue higher studies at the University of California at Los Angeles (UCLA) where he got his masters in computer science. Ram then joined NCR, a notable and large computer company at that time. The US was in recession in the early seventies though for Indians who were educated there, remaining there was still an attractive option. Ram, though, was toying with the thought giving up his cushy job and coming back to India. Things materialized when his father told him that the Tata group was looking for people who could work on computers, and that he should try it out because the Tatas were a much-respected name in Indian business and getting in could prove to be the opportunity of a lifetime.

Level 5 Leadership

Subramanian Ramadorai

Tryst with TCS The Tata group had bought a mainframe for doing the data processing work for its group companies and had also started seeking external customers for time-sharing. The set-up required people who were trained in programming these machines as well as in keeping them running. The division, called Tata Consultancy Services, was headed by a reputed engineer of the time, PM Agarwala. But upon his death, a young power engineer by name Fakir Chand Kohli was made the general manager and he was given the mandate to expand the business operations. TCS at that time had nearly 40 people. In Nov 1971, Ram met AH Tobaccowala, president, Tata Inc., who was based in New York, and interviewed with him. One more meeting and Ram had made up his mind to go home to India. And on February 23, 1972, Ram joined TCS, and ascended up the Air India Building at Nariman Point, Bombay, for the first time. Work was pretty routine, writing code, compiling it, punching the cards and the like. Each one was allowed only three compilations; if in three trials one's code wasn't working, it meant that the programmer had to get back to the desk and rewrite large parts of the code. This was a way of measuring programmer productivity and efficiency then. And also a way of conserving precious computing resources. Two of Ram's colleagues at that time are still with him at TCS: S Mahalingam who is now executive vice president and CFO, and Jayant Pendharkar, vice president and head, global marketing. Little did this group of 40 people, captained by the astute FC Kohli, know that they were on the brink of carving out an entirely new industry. In 1974, things started really moving at TCS-Ram was asked to shift to the hardware side and sent to Montreal for getting trained on Burroughs, a noted hardware platform at that time. After coming back, Ram's job changed from being a programmer to a hardware maintenance engineer. He took up the change without qualms. He was then encouraged to sell some of the machines. He did that too, some of his earliest customers being State Bank of India, Jadavpur University, and Institute of Agricultural Research Statistics. And, of course, the service contracts also came

Level 5 Leadership

Subramanian Ramadorai

to TCS. And Ram thus acquired the skills of handling client relationships, managing service contracts, writing client proposals, handling business operations and the like. In 1978, the Tatas formed a joint venture with Burroughs to form Tata Burroughs Ltd (TBL), which was to later become Tata Unisys, currently Tata Infotech. Ram with his training and experience in Burroughs was naturally expected to join the team that left TCS to form TBL. This was the turning point in Ram's career and destiny. If he had taken the TBL route, he would not have got the chance to head TCS. But the trajectory of the computer industry was not then clear either: there was no software industry to speak of, and software was tied down to the hardware platform and the hardware vendor. Around that time, IBM was also sent away from India and the industry was heavily regulated. Machines had to be imported against duties of the order of 300%, and against each import there was an export obligation for which clients had to be sought. The machines that were imported reached a year or two later, by which time the model numbers invariably changed, and liaising with the customs officials took up the lion's share of the importer's time. Ram's intuition told him to stay on at TCS though TCS, for one, still had to shape its own destiny whereas the work was almost laid out ready at TBL. He chose the unpredictable over the predictable and elected to remain with TCS. Kohli then chose him to be sent to the US to handle the tough job of selling in the US, once an office was opened in New York. Persuading banking and finance companies there was a tall order for India was considered to be out in the boondocks, in those days, and many thought it a joke when an Indian called to say that he could handle computer-related jobs for them. Awards and Recognitions Ramadorai is a Fellow of the Indian National Academy of Engineering, Fellow of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE), Member of the National Council of the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII), President of the Indo-American Society, Member of the Corporate Advisory Board, Marshall School of Business (USC), and is also on the Advisory and Governing Boards of a number of reputed Indian academic institutions.

Level 5 Leadership

Subramanian Ramadorai

Ramadorai continues to maintain strong links with the world of academia. He is a member of the Corporate Advisory Board, Marshall School of Business (USC) as well as other Boards of reputed Indian academic institutions. Among his other distinctions, Ramadorai is a Fellow of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) and of the Indian National Academy of Engineering. In 2006, on India's Republic Day, he was awarded the Padma Bhushan, India's third highest civilian honour. In 2004, he won Business India's "Business Man of the Year" award. During 2003, Ramadorai received the Lifetime Achievement Award from the Indore Management Association, the Distinguished Achievement Award from the Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore, and a Fellowship of the Institute of Management Consultants of India. He has also been honoured with CNBC Asia Pacific's prestigious 'Asia Business Leader of the Year' Award in 2002, as well as the 'Management Man of the Year' award by the Bombay Management Association. He was named in June 2002, by Consulting Magazine (USA) as being among the Top 25 Most Influential Consultants in the world, the only Indian CEO on the list. He has been honoured with the position of 'IT Advisor to Qingdao City, People's Republic of China. Silicon.com has named him as an agenda setter (position 22) in 2006. On 28 April 2009, Ramadorai was awarded the Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE). On 31 January 2011, TCS Vice-Chairman, S. Ramadorai was appointed by the Indian Government as the advisor to Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh for the National Skill Development Council. In this role, Ramadorai will hold the rank of a Cabinet minister, the Prime Minister's Office (PMO) said in a release. The Council, which is headed by the Prime Minister, seeks to develop a strategy for skill development at the national level along with variations at the state level and formulate strategies to address the skill deficit.

Level 5 Leadership

Subramanian Ramadorai

Mr. Subramanian Ramadorai Analysis of Leadership

Level 5 : Level 5 Executive Level 4 : Effective Leader Level 3 : Competent Manager Level 2 : Contributing Team Member

Level 1 : Highly Capable Individual

1. Level 1 - Highly Capable Individual

A capable individual is the one who makes productive contributions through talent, knowledge, skills and good work habits.

Analysis

These are some of the characteristics that shows that Ramadorai is a highly capable individual. Elephantine Determination and Sense of Purpose Rigid Discipline
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Demonstrated Ability to Manage Personal and Professional Relationships Healthy Appetite for Risks Sharp Intellect Insatiable Curiosity Wide Range of Interests

2. Level 2 - Contributing Team Member

Also a team member, he contributes his individual capabilities to the achievement of the group objectives and works effectively with others in group settings.

Analysis

The instances given below shows that Ramadorai was a contributing team member.

a) Flexibility to Work in Various Departments

Mr. Ramadorai, who learnt mathematics at his fathers knee and earned degrees in physics, electronics and computer science, was not above picking up a screwdriver or pliers. At TCS, a colleague recalls, You had to work with your own hands. You had to bash metal before you could crunch code

b) High Initiatives in Solving Problems

One of Mr. Ramadorais colleagues, Jayant Pendharkar, now TCSs chief marketing officer, remembers the computer arriving in three truckloads, under government seal awaiting a customs inspection. The next morning, he was horrified to discover that an overenthusiastic employee had broken the seal and unpacked the computer before the inspectors arrived. Showing an admirable talent for improvisation, Mr Ramadorai salvaged the sealing wires from the bin, threaded them back into place and refastened them with a twist. The customs officials were none the wiser.

Level 5 Leadership

Subramanian Ramadorai

3. Level 3 - Competent Manager

A competent manager knows how to organize people and resources towards the effective and efficient pursuit of predetermined objectives.

Analysis

These given instance shows that Ramadorai was a competent manager.

a) Explored the Potential of the Young Talents

He always recruited the best people and explored their potential very well. These people played a key role in taking TCS from a good to great company

b) Transformation through innovation

Transformation through Innovation and Growth through innovation, are constant themes in the IT industry. Since the computers could not come to India due to unfavorable economic conditions, he took his people and their skills to where computers were to the U.S. Thus began TCSs tryst with overseas markets.

4. Level 4 - Effective Leader

Goes one step further and becomes an effective leader, he catalyses commitment to and a vigorous pursuit of a clear and compelling vision, stimulating higher performance standards.

Analysis

The below instance shows that Ramadorai has the qualities of an effective leader.

a) Clear and Compelling Vision

Ram has been able to spot new opportunities that drive TCS' growth.

Level 5 Leadership

Subramanian Ramadorai

For example, its "e-business practice" which started with a 10-man team in 1999, now generates over a third of the company's annual revenues and is clearly the growth driver for the company.

During the Y2K days, TCS pioneered the concept of the "software factory, wherein third party software developers could make use of automated software tools developed by TCS for Y2K conversion.

Ram was also the force behind the CMC acquisition and its integration into the TCS fold. While employee numbers swelled, the number of "points of presence" with offshore development centers, not only in India but also in various other geographies, grew to enhance the company's global footprint.

The company pioneered in crossing every new quality frontier, be it CMM Level 5 or PCMM or its own Tata Business Excellence Model (TBEM). The vision that Ram set for TCS is simple and unambiguous: "To be amongst the global Top 10 consulting organizations by 2010". Says Ram, "There are no two ways in which you can interpret this vision statement. It tells our people what is expected out of them. Drawing TCS out of the closet and confines of a privately-held company, Ram, with the help and consent of the Tata Sons, led TCS into being a publicly listed company. The listing in itself was a much-awaited landmark event, and it catapulted Ram to the full glare of the media and the investor community.

b) Relentless pursuit of excellence in quality

Under his leadership TCS was awarded the CII-Exim Bank Quality Award for 2006. In August 2004, TCS became the worlds first organization to achieve an Integrated Enterprise- wide Maturity Level 5 on both Capability Maturity model and People Capability Maturity model; these are frameworks conceptualized by the Software Engineering Institute at Carnegie Mellon University, to benchmark and appraise the software process and people management process of an organization.
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Level 5 Leadership

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c) Ensure the customer satisfaction and retain the trust of the Organization

TCS was always committed to customer satisfaction and high quality of deliverables. Also, through their excellent quality, they retained the trust of customers.

Is Mr. Subramanian Ramadorai is a level 5 leader ?

Its evident from the examples that Subramanian Ramadorai had level 4 leadership traits. Now, well look into the traits of Mr. Ramadorai as a level 5 leader 1. Unwavering Resolve to Win   Creates superb results, a clear catalyst in the transition from good to great Demonstrates an unwavering resolve to do whatever must be done to produce the best long-term results, no matter how difficult   Sets the standard of building an enduring great company; will settle for nothing less Looks in the mirror, not out the window, to apportion responsibility for poor results, never blaming other people, external factors, or bad luck Analysis Subramanian Ramadorai always had an unwavering resolve to win. He showed this quality throughout his career and as a pioneer in TCS. Through these years, he was instrumental in every aspect of TCS' growth-be it the numerous quality initiatives, be it the offshoring model, be it the measurement models for people and processes, be it the signing up of big ticket clients, or then forging alliances with global technology majors and institutions. 2. Compelling Modesty  Demonstrates a compelling modesty, shunning public adulation; never boastful

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Level 5 Leadership

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Acts with quiet, calm determination; relies principally on inspired standards, not inspiring charisma to motivate

Channels ambition into the company, not the self; sets up successors for even greater success in the next generation

Looks out the window, not in the mirror, to apportion credit for the success of the companyto other people, external factors, and good luck Analysis Subramanian Ramadorai was a very down to earth person and talks very less. He always respected the people down the line and was willing to share his ideas to bis co-workers. He always gave the credit of achievements to his predecessors and the employees. He never boasts of his achievements. Some of the examples are given below. When TCS made huge revenues during 2003, a news reporter asked about the secret. Ramadorai replied like this, "I consider myself fortunate that I had people like JRD, Nani Palkhivala, and Kohli who taught me to look far beyond the immediately visible

3. First Who Concept

In explaining the First Who Then What concept, Collins stresses the importance of having the right people in the right place. In developing the First Who concept, Collins details that some firms recruited the right individual before having a job description in place for their position. In many cases the job description was developed around the highly competent individual after hiring. Collins comments in this chapter that, Great vision without great people is irrelevant.

Analysis

Subramanian Ramadorai always kept the right people in the company because he believed that human resourses can make great transformation to the company.TCS is a highly competitive organization. Those who cannot perform or meet upto expectations

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have to find alternate ways and means. The quality of the people they retain is easily ascertainable form the facts that:

-TCS has the largest number of professional members to IEEE from this region. -Over 300 Certified Quality Analysts. -Three of TCSs development centers have SEI CMM Level 5 certification and more that 4000 professionals are part of this.

Subramanian Ramadorai was interested in the growth of the company rather than himself. He was willing to work in different departments during the initial period of his career. Even though he was a software professional, he was put into hardware department during some period . But he contributed well as a team member without any hesitation.

4. Stockdale Paradox
The Stockdale Paradox is named after admiral Jim Stockdale, who was a United States military officer held captive for eight years during the Vietnam War. Stockdale was tortured more than twenty times by his captors, and never had much reason to believe he would survive the prison camp and someday get to see his wife again. And yet, as Stockdale told Collins, he never lost faith during his ordeal:

I never doubted not only that I would get out, but also that I would prevail in the end and turn the experience into the defining event of my life, which, in retrospect, I would not trade.Stockdale approached adversity with a very different mindset. He accepted the reality of his situation. He knew he was in hell, but, rather than bury his head in the sand, he stepped up and did everything he could to lift the morale and prolong the lives of his fellow prisoners. He created a tapping code so they could communicate with each other. He developed a milestone system that helped them deal with torture. And he sent intelligence information to his wife, hidden in the seemingly innocent letters he wrote.

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Level 5 Leadership

Subramanian Ramadorai

Collins and his team observed a similar mindset in the good-to-great companies. They labeled it the Stockdale Paradox and described it like so: You must retain faith that you will prevail in the end, regardless of the difficulties. Also, you must confront the most brutal facts of your current reality, whatever they might be.

Analysis

Mr. Ramadorai believes dealing with adversity only makes companies stronger. If everything is peaceful, you dont push yourself, he says. He never lost his faith in his vision. One of the examples for this is TCSs domestic market concentration.

TCS Domestic Market Concentration

When its competitors were looking for huge revenues by looking for operations abroad, TCSs concentrated in domestic markets. Initially, it couldnt bring so much revenue generation. But Ramadorai knew that there is light at the end of the tunnel. His vision was true. During recession, when other companies failed TCS earned a huge profit. It also enables TCS to become the no.1 IT company in India.

5. The Hedgehog Concept The hedgehog concept states that there are two ways that a top-level leader can direct the company: as a hedgehog or as a fox. In this version, it is the fox that is in a hurry to get ahead. He rushes around, from one great idea to the next. He is always interested in the next big thing, something that might make his company a lot of money. The fox has something to prove, and he easily disregards the consequences; he is easily distracted and is constantly working out new schemes.

Analysis

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Level 5 Leadership

Subramanian Ramadorai

Subramanian Ramadorai always had a clear vision. He always concentrated on long term goals rather than short term gains. He was never worried of what the competitors were doing. Some of the examples are

E-Business Practice - " which started with a 10-man team in 1999, now generates over a third of the company's annual revenues and is clearly the growth driver for the company.

Software Factory - wherein third party software developers could make use of automated software tools developed by TCS for Y2K conversion. This enabled them to generate huge revenue during Y2K time.

TCSs Domestic Market Strategy- Explained in the previous example (Stockdale paradox)

6. A Culture of Discipline Analysis

Ramadorai firmly believes that learning is a continual process, which does not end with formal education. With this in mind, he continuously strives to make TCS a learning organisation, conducive to developing ones full potential. In fact, TCS spends 6 % of its annual turnover on training and development and has also invested in a worldclass training centre in Thiruvananthapuram. Additionally, every TCSer has the opportunity to undergo 20 days of training in a year to enhance their knowledge and upgrade their technical skills.

7. Technology Accelerators
Analysis

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Level 5 Leadership

Subramanian Ramadorai

Ramadorais vision is evident through the active role he played in establishing Offshore Development Centers (ODCs) in India to provide high-end quality solutions to major corporations.

With a view to remain abreast with changing technologies at all times, Ramadorai set up Technology Excellence Centers in India that have acquired knowledge, expertise and equipment in specialized technology areas. Ramadorai spearheaded TCS' quality initiatives, taking sixteen of its Development Centers to SEI's CMM Level 5, the highest and most prestigious performance assessment issued by the Software Engineering Institute.

8. TCS - Transformation from Good to Great Analysis

Ramadorai played an integral role in the international development of Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) -- he took over when TCS earned a mere $400 million and had 6000 employees. His efforts have helped make TCS one of the world's largest global software and services companies with more than 143,000 consultants working in 42 countries, operating out of over 151 offices worldwide, and with revenues over US$ 6.0 billion (FY 2008-09).

9. Setting Up Successors for Success- Natarajan Chandrasekharan Analysis

Natarajan Chandrasekaran (Chandra) is the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) and Managing Director of the company.

Responsible for formulating and executing the companys global strategy, Chandra has been at helm of several key strategic transitions at TCS since 2002 when he took over the role as head of global sales. In his previous role as Chief Operating Officer, he was the
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architect of the new organization structure unveiled in 2008, which created multiple agile business units focusing on domains and markets as well as built strategic business units in order to pursue new initiatives with the ability to invest, develop and mature new ideas.

Under his leadership, TCS pioneered the creation of its unique Global Network Delivery Model (GNDM) across five continents and ventured into new markets including Europe, China and Latin America. It added new business lines like BPO and infrastructure and assurance services. Chandra has also driven the domain diversification drive that has seen the company enter new verticals like media and information services as well as high-tech. All of these have matured into sizeable businesses under his mentorship and guidance.

Chandra personifies TCS commitment to customer satisfaction and high quality of deliverables. Through his experience in a variety of operating roles across TCS, he has built a reputation in the IT services industry for his exceptional ability to build and grow new businesses and nurture long-term relationships. He has also been a champion of software and business quality for the industry.

Its clear that Ramadorai has a very good successor who is able to lead TCS even in his absence.

Conclusion Its seen from all these examples that Mr. Subramanian Ramadorai has level 5 leadership traits. So, we can consider Mr. Subramanian Ramadorai as a level 5 leader.

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