Lessons from Legends - Inspiring and Invaluable quotes taken from the excerpts of speeches made by various guests in Great Lakes Institute of Management. In this series, presenting Mr. A Vellayan : inspiring words from his speech at Great Lakes Institute of Management.

1. Great Lakes Institute of Management
Presents
LESSONS FROM LEGENDS
- Powerful quotes from visionaries
- Mr. A. Vellayan
Executive Chairman, Murugappa Corporate Board

2. LESSONS FROM LEGENDS
“These are invaluable quotes taken from the
excerpts of speeches made by various guests in
Great Lakes Institute of Management.”
These excerpts were taken from Mr. A. Vellayan’s talk at
Great Lakes Institute of Management on July 28, 2011
www.greatlakes.edu.in

3. Things that are making the
economy hobble today: High fiscal
deficit, high current account deficit,
investment slow-down, high core
inflation, poor skill availability,
restless labor, and crisis in
governance.
– Current challenges to business
www.greatlakes.edu.in

4. But, make no mistake. None of
these problems can take away the
core potential of India. The first
advantage that we have is the
demographic dividend. Linked
closely with this is the resurgent
middle class and the resultant
consumption boom - both in urban
and rural India.
–India’s core potential
www.greatlakes.edu.in

5. The proposed large investments
in infrastructure will be a shot in
the arm for all sectors across the
economy. The investments, both
public and private, in education
and healthcare will lead to
sustainable increases in human
potential.
– On the impact of investments
www.greatlakes.edu.in

6. To sum up the opportunities and
threats that a business has to
navigate, Boston Consulting
Group coined a new phrase: ‘A
two-speed world’. I would go a
step further and call it, ‘A multi-speed
world’.
–Business in a multi-speed world
www.greatlakes.edu.in

7. Today's business cycles are much
shorter than ever and they are
impacted by global factors well
outside our control. Added to that,
we now have black swan events that
have enormous impact halfway
across the world. Such turbulence is
here to stay.
– Turbulence in the global business
environment
www.greatlakes.edu.in

8. Businesses need to "think in new
boxes” - we need to build new
scenarios, new models that provide
alternative solutions to the growth
conundrum.
–Dealing with turbulence
www.greatlakes.edu.in

9. Another way for a business to
overcome turbulence is to
consciously build ‘adaptive
capacity’. One form of adaptive
capacity is the ability of an
organization to listen constantly to the
environment, read signals for change
and act on those signals.
– Adaptive capacity as a solution to
overcome turbulence
www.greatlakes.edu.in

10. Another adaptive capacity is
‘experimentation’. Companies need
to be able to generate a stream of
ideas, experiment quickly and
economically, scale up the successful
ideas and accelerate the time to
market.
– Experimentation as a form of
adaptive capacity
www.greatlakes.edu.in

11. Even more importantly, in times
of turbulence, it is essential that
the business and its key
leadership retain a ‘strategic
optimism’. Leaders must keep
the organization focused on
the opportunities as well as
ensure that the entire business
remains clear-eyed about the
challenges it faces.
– Leadership in a multi-speed
world
www.greatlakes.edu.in

12. Often, a crisis releases enormous
levels of pent-up energy,
innovation and fundamental
change. It is the role of the
leadership to harness this hidden
source of energy in the
company and unleash it
through constructive action.
This is why strategic optimism is
vital to the survival and growth
of the business.
– Harnessing opportunities
through strategic optimism www.greatlakes.edu.in

13. To strategic optimism I must add
one final factor - a deep and
abiding faith in the company's
core ‘values and beliefs’, the
single most important feature
that an organization needs to
inculcate to stay on its course in
rough weather.
– Values & beliefs as drivers of
successful business
www.greatlakes.edu.in

14. THANK YOU
www.greatlakes.edu.in