In 1990, when I was a young journalist for a business magazine, I met the somber-looking Venu Srinivasan, managing director of TVS Motor Co (then TVS Suzuki), in his office. The company was in the middle of a deep and violent industrial dispute and things came to a head when a main company bus heading to the Hosur factory was torched and set alight by an armed mob of workers From the factory. In the bus behind was Captain NS Mohan Ram, chairman of the company, who had joined the company just a few months ago and was being fired upon by the armed mob.
The captain just managed to escape while the bus driver, alert, backed away quickly. The doctor gave me a photo of the burned bus and the magazine published the photo with my article on the labor unrest. From this quagmire, the captain led TVS to a turnaround, resolved labor disputes, chaired a VRS, cut costs, oversaw the launch of new products, especially its most popular mopeds and new motorcycles. sold, and put the company on the path to profitability.
Close encounters
This was my first “meeting” with the captain. The second was reading his recent book, where I saw again the image of the burning bus, reproduced in the chapter “A Day of Judgment”. A Captain in Corporate Wonderland East his autobiography on his stints in two major companies after his stint in the Indian Navy and later in a defense supply unit, Mazagon Docks. Capt Mohan Ram, a naval architect specializing in the esoteric field of warship design, left the industry to enter the corporate sector at the age of 48. His children were in school and college and the family savings were meager, but there was a safety net provided by his wife, a high-ranking IRS official.
Capt is a good storyteller as the book is full of captivating anecdotes and stories from his time with Mukand Steel and TVS, drawing on his experience in the Navy on many tricky situations he found himself in, whether either in automobile design or in the management of fiery unions. or in decision making.
While many autobiographies tend to portray the protagonists as men and women with infallible judgment and superior abilities, as he says, his experience was different because there were many occasions where he felt completely lost and wondered if he had bitten off more than he could. chew!
A compelling franchise
There is a refreshing frankness to his narrative that makes this book a compelling read. “A lack of awareness of the magnitude of the challenges and pitfalls could have worked to my advantage, allowing me to make quick and bold decisions,” he says!
Much of the book is dedicated to his days at TVS, given that Capt spent many years with the group. He delved in detail into the woes of the two-wheeler company, first torn apart by labor issues, then market conditions and the company’s turnaround and revival, creating a new factory in Mysore. The company adopted Japanese TQC early and won the Deming Prize, becoming the first motorcycle company to do so.
Either the Captain has an elephantine memory or he keeps a meticulous diary, for he has recalled many small incidents and comments and asides which embellish the book and add to its readability. As at the height of the social conflicts, an impetuous dissident told him that « it’s TVS and not the Navy and Captain-Shaptain doesn’t work here! » » To which the Capt responds in Tamil: “I am captain and I will continue to be so until my funeral pyre is lit. You will soon learn what the Captain means! » Or, when a prankster calls it President’s Rule, post the harsh measures the Capt put in place once the plant reopened after a long shutdown. The book is full of many anecdotes, some funny, and Capt even devotes a chapter to humor at work.
The book contains a chapter on recovery management, a good takeaway for any manager facing a crisis. He dwelt at length on the factors that can make a business sick as well as the turnaround dynamics and ingredients of a successful turnaround, given that Capt has been part of some successful comeback stories.
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About the book
Title: A Captain in Corporate Wonderland
Author: Captain NS Mohan Ram
