The Sunday Tribune

Short takes
Get rich by hook or crook
Randeep Wadehra

How to get Seriously Rich while Failing in Business
by Philip Sadler. Rupa, N. Delhi. Pages 96. Rs 195.

While reading this handbook you may grin, giggle, or guffaw but do remember that when one begins at the bottom of the corporate ladder, becoming seriously rich is no laughing matter. Shenanigans comprising stratagems and sycophancy become essential tools for realising the cherished dream of acquiring wealth without actually becoming a successful entrepreneur. In order to make an auspicious beginning it is imperative that one outwits one’s peers. Marry the boss’s daughter. But this may not be always possible, as the boss may not have a daughter. What then? Fear not, Sadler has come up with a well-researched set of solutions to the problem in this unputdownable, humorous primer.

He reminds you that it is better to be the one who makes things happen rather than the one who watches things happen or, worse, asks "what happened?" Develop social skills like, among other things, losing a round of golf to the right person at the right time, complimenting the chairman’s secretary and being respectfully attentive to his – chairman’s that is – wife.

Master the jargon, pretend to be knowledgeable and hire a PR agent to spruce up your image. Never forget Rouchefoucauld’s remark in Maximes, "To succeed in the world, we do everything we can to appear successful." Be absolutely, utterly self-centered even when you make your colleagues and underlings feel that you are actually doing them a lot of good. Keeping your shareholders, creditors and other vital components of the corporate realm favorably disposed towards you is an art that you can learn courtesy Sadler’s manual. You can also take some inspiration from these words in the French satirist Jean de La Bruyere’s Les Caract`E8res, "The shortest and best way to make your fortune is to let people see clearly that it is in their interests to promote yours."

Sadler reminds you that it is better that people ask you why you are not chief executive than they ask why you are. In order to learn the nitty-gritty of the process of becoming seriously rich even while you fail in business, this book is indispensable. Do I hear a chuckle?

Good English in Business
by Grenville Kleiser. APH, N. Delhi. Pages 153. Rs 395.

It is an undeniable fact that English has become the global language. Almost the entire global interaction — be it commercial, social, political or cultural — is conducted in this language. Therefore, it is imperative that one becomes fluent in written as well as spoken English. Another fact of life is that in order to master this language it is essential to have good education. In other words English medium schools are necessary for the purpose.

The author has not only underlined the importance of mastering the language but also provided handy information on how to do so. He then goes on to highlight the usefulness of communication in English. One must know how to put forth one’s ideas in clear terms. In business one must also be aware of the expressions that add to one’s image as a refined, cultured and well-informed person. One can learn of all this and much else from this book.

The Customer-Centered Enterprise
by Harvey Thompson. Tata McGraw-Hill, N. Delhi. Pages xv+147. Price not mentioned.

The Customer-Centered Enterprise This is the age of competition — fierce, innovative and absolutely hardheaded. This is all the more true in the corporate world where monopolies have more or less disappeared and the marketplace has become a battleground for competing brand names. Look around yourselves. There was a time when a Bajaj scooter or an Ambassador car was the only choice one had, and sellers had a take-it-or-leave-it attitude towards customers. Now there is a plethora of two-wheelers and four-wheelers offering a mind-boggling range of choice in terms of consumer-comfort, brand and hi-tech add-ons. And new innovations hit the market world regularly. Now sellers have to try harder than before to get the consumers to sample their goods.

Customers have begun to rule supreme as various corporate houses are spending their time, effort and money to come up with ways and means to not merely please them but to earn their patronage on a long-term basis. Quite a tall order that. But, clearly the tycoons are not disheartened. A research by IBM revealed that today CEOs are all for a customer-oriented culture and business vision. Says Thompson, "no matter what the industry or geographic locale, managing customer relationships (attracting, developing and retaining customers) is the single most powerful issue for businesses today, and it is expected to be the biggest issue tomorrow." The Internet is only going to add new dimension to this issue.

Readers in general and management students in particular will find chapters like Customer Value Management: Achieving the Vision; Visioning: Customer as Design Point for Business Engineering; Focus: The Top of the CVM Pyramid: Whose View Counts? and Design: Envisioning "Ideal" Customer-Defined Business Capabilities both thought provoking and informative.