I had the honour to document the story of a Mechanical Engineer who heads the Indian arm of a multinational company. His upbringing; his professional life—first with steam production equipment, then with mechanical bearings and seals; and finally his stand for values; made me realise what a wonderful case study we have. Here is the story of Shishir Joshipura, MD of SKF India Ltd.

While sharing his experiences he spoke of a question his Chairperson from his former company posed to him and a group of senior managers: “What will happen to our business if we agree to do everything by strictest standards of ethics and say no to any transaction that does not pass this test?” This question changed the entire ethos of the company.

In another narration of his experiences, he said, “I have come from a school of thought that we must care for our people first. Employees are an important part of a company’s growth and future.”

These and other such sharing constitute the story of a remarkable man who has shown by example that it is possible to run a competitive, sustainable business while still remaining ethical and mindful of all stakeholders.

We are also happy to carry an extract of some very precious nuggets of wisdom by the former Director of Tata Sons Ltd., R. Gopalakrishnan. In his book, “A Comma in a Sentence” he shares of ‘extraordinary change in an ordinary family over six generations’. I have taken an extract from his chapter on “Lessons from Experience”.

A few key traits can be noticed which make up the common thread in these stories. I leave it to you to identify them.

It is our hope that just as much as we have enjoyed producing this magazine for you, you too would enjoy reading it.

For complete magazine, continue reading >>> CIB eSPIRIT – Vol. 3, Issue 2