Larsen and Toubro Ltd.

As we come to the end of the module one I write this blog. It will be sin if don’t thank Dr.Mandi if I don thank him at this moment. The reason behind me writing this blog is the inspiration and motivation given my Dr.Mandi. I hope I get a chance to attend many more classes handled my Dr.Mandi

Overview:

Larsen & Toubro Limited (L&T) is a technology, engineering, construction and manufacturing company. It is one of the largest and most respected companies in India's private sector.

 Larsen & Toubro is a  USD 12.8 billion technology, engineering, construction, manufacturing and financial services conglomerate, with global operations. It is one of the largest and most respected companies in India’s private sector. A strong, customer–focused approach and the constant quest for top-class quality have enabled L&T to attain and sustain leadership in its major lines of business over seven decades.

More than seven decades of a strong, customer-focused approach and the continuous quest for world-class quality have enabled it to attain and sustain leadership in all its major lines of business.L&T has an international presence, with a global spread of offices. A thrust on international business has seen overseas earnings grow significantly. It continues to grow its global footprint, with offices and manufacturing facilities in multiple countries. The company's businesses are supported by a wide marketing and distribution network, and have established a reputation for strong customer support.

L&T believes that progress must be achieved in harmony with the environment. A commitment to community welfare and environmental protection are an integral part of the corporate vision.

In response to changing market dynamics, L&T has gone through a phased process of redefining its organisation model that facilitates growth through greater levels of empowerment. The new structure is built around multiple businesses designated ‘Independent Companies’ or ‘ICs’.

Vision:

L & T’s vision clearly speaks about the fostering a caring culture among its stake holders.The company strives to build trust among the society and learning continuously from ambience.

CORE VALUES

1.       Performance Driven

2.       Innovation

3.       Integrity

4.       Excellence

5.       Customer Focus

6.       Mutual Respect 

L & T’s Culture

L&T employees share one common feeling - of being part of one big family and of a winning team. There is a sense of pride in belonging to a fine organisation - where professionalism is a way of life, where talent is encouraged and skills honed, where individual and organisational goals blend for mutual success.

L&T offers employees more than a job - it offers them a lifetime career with challenging opportunities for continuous development and growth in diverse fields of business.

The company recognises good performers. The leadership programmes like MLP (for management areas), ELP (for Execution related areas) and TLP (for technology areas). Top talent is given focused attention in terms of growth opportunities, compensation, challenging roles and assignments

Congruency between Vision, Mission and Core values:

There is clear accord & harmony among Vision, Mission & Core Values:

Let’s take Performance:  All 3 below focus on putting up performance, in one or the other way.

Core Value:  Performance Driven

Vision:  Attaining global benchmarks, co nstantly creating value, meeting expectations of employees, stakeholders and society, total customer satisfaction, enhancing shareholder value.

Mission:  To complete and grow, ambitious target setting for each sector, strategic planning.

Let’s  take Innovation  & Excellence:  All 3  reflect  company’s  ability to  be innovative & its excellence by diversifying & creating value.

Core Value:  Innovation & Excellence.

Vision:  Indian Multinational, professionally managed,  Entrepreneurial and empowered team, L&T-ites shall be innovative, shall foster a culture of caring,  continuous learning, high corporate governance standards & constantly creating value.

Mission:  Included are opportunities of diversification,  create long term value by setting new standards & through superior product structuring, capitalizing on our knowledge pool & consultation with leading international strategy consultant.

Let’s take Integrity: All 3 below shows company’s uprightness, wholeness & unity.

Core Value:  Integrity

Vision:  Entrepreneurial  and empowered team, professionally   managed and committed, foster a culture of caring, trust (shows uprightness & honesty as an important part for integrity).

Mission:  Capitalizing on our knowledge (this clearly shows company’s integrity and the knowledge  it has attained over the years).

Let’s  take  Customer Focus & Mutual Respect:  All 3 below shows company’s uprightness,

wholeness & unity.

Core Value:  Customer Focus & Mutual Respect

Vision:  Customer satisfaction, enhancing shareholder value, fostering a culture of caring, trust, meeting expectation of society, employees and shareholders (shows mutual respect and customer focus)

Mission:  Create long-term value for our customers through superior product structuring , partnering our customers by offering solutions, deep understanding of Indian sector and full range of financial products.

So L & T always strives for values which It believes in. I am very proud that I have been part of such a wonderful organisation.

Navrang Puzzle

Dr. Mandi gave the concept of Navarang Puzzle. It is one of the most amazing ways of demonstration that in an organization how employees having different expertise work towards common goal. The method used by Dr. Mandi brought forth some nice points. 


it

It consists of 27 small cubes of 9 different colors. Contrary to a Rubik’s cube which has 6 colours, Navrang has 9 colours. The cube is made of 27 coloured detachable cubes in sets of 3.


The first challenge was for two of us to volunteer and solve the cube - put it back into place with the given set of constraints - 

1. Each face of the cube must have all the 9 colors. Which also means obviously that none of the colors can be repeated on any face - since there are only 9 slots in each.

2. We only had 5 minutes in which to solve the cube in.Since our professor had 2 sets of the navrang in possession, he invited two groups of two students each to come to his desk and try their luck. The 27 smaller cubes were clustered randomly on the table, and it took the teams more than a minute to even segregate and arrange the smaller cubes in some order. Neither of them came close.

Management Lessons:

Attempt by Student (First time)	Attempt by Professor
A Trial Attempt without preparation	A planned attempt with early preparation
Random Format	Structured Format
Confusions, Uncertain, stressed,	Calm, Simple and Clear flow of ideas
Unrealistic goals set based on excitement	Realistic goals based on experience
Not done even upto 10 Mins	Done within 4 Minutes

• Each Problem can be solved by systematic thinking
• Each Block represents an entity (Labor, Machine etc.) in an organization and is to be assembled in a structured and hierarchical way like the above process, so efficiency is maximum
• Two blocks of the same color may represent people who don't gel well with each other. And hence while forming a team, a structured approach is necessary

Valley Crossing - Lessons in Management

Valley crossing is primarily a very interesting puzzle where three men holding a pole over their shoulders have to cross a valley.

This is interesting simply because the three men have to work with the highest amount of coordination and even a small amount of misjudgment could lead to disastrous results.

The Puzzle

The valley is so wide that one cannot cross it in a single step but it requires less than 2 steps.

As they say a picture is worth a thousand words. The above picture is the epitome of this saying. As descriptive a it can get, the predicament of the three men is quite obvious.

 

Below listed are 'My' learnings from being part of this wonderful activity.

1)Effective Communication:

Communication is the backbone without which the team will not stand. This is amply demonstrated by this activity. As Prof. Mandi aptly pointed out, it is absolutely essential to communicate effectively with all the team members, without which, nobody's safety is guaranteed.

2)Trust:

The trust factor is indispensable for any team that aspires to reach dizzy heights. As depicted by this activity, if you do not trust that the other member can carry your weight, you tend to fail.

3)Idea Generation:

It is important for any team to brain storm and get as many ideas as possible before getting down to planning or actually doing the activity. Idea generation will help in easy planning.

4)Planning:

"Failing to plan is planning to fail" .Nothing happens without first a plan. It is mandatory to plan the activity exactly as you want it to happen and then execute it.

5)Execution:

This step is the culmination of all your previous efforts. It has to be done with much care. Effort mst be put in, to adhere to the plans that were charted out. The communication within the team should be in pristine order. Proper execution will exude proper results.

6)Perseverance:

It is very important to persevere in your efforts. As Prof. Mandi rightly puts it, every time we fall, we should rise and every time we rise, we are wiser and stronger.

Indeed this puzzle in itself is a management lesson of the highest kind.

Excellence = effectiveness X efficiency

First thing I understood was a counter intuitive concept that excellence is not in exclusivity. We often think of excellence as something possessed or commanded by a few and is often at disposal of only a few. But actually excellence is in something thats accessible to the masses. Excellence enriches the society at large. examples of excellence are many like Google, Microsoft, Apple, Delhi metro, Bandra-Worli sea link, Xerox and nature itself! (etc..)

Efficiency as defined by Peter Drucker is "doing things right" and effectiveness is " doing the right things". Efficiency is basically output divided by input. Efficiency impinges on the techniques and methods followed. Efficiency depends on the way you choose to achieve your goals.

Effectiveness is, on the other hand, the decision of the destination itself. To decide on a particular sequence of operation in order to minimize throughput time can be called as effectiveness. If i have decided to carry on a punching operation before bending operation to maximize usage of the sheet of metal and minimize tool change time, i am making (or rather designing) an effective process.

 But my machines will still have to be efficient. They will still have to be maintained to prevent breakdown and to ensure that the produce minimum unacceptable parts. My machines have to achieve a production rate at minimum tool wear. Thus we can see how important it is for a shop floor to be designed effectively and to make sure individual machining units are efficient.

Its important to remember that excellence is not a destination but a journey. Nothing is 100% perfect right? so there is always scope for improvement. Its also important to remember that what is excellent today might or might not be excellent tomorrow. Ex. Re 1 call at the advent of this millennium was considered to be excellent but today its not.

Hence for an organization to be able to maintain a sustainable competitive edge its leaders have to strive to make its processes and people more effective and efficient. Thats the only way to ensure continued excellence.

I believe 'Toyota' is one of the most inspiring stories of excellence. It did not only revolutionize auto manufacturing, but almost all kind of manufacturing done all over the world. Even its competitors accept this as a fact and have a lot of respect for toyota and its production systems which have become a norm in the auto industry.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T5zcCk-uF3g

I hope you like this inspirational video. Please feel free to comment.