Leadership and Culture as seen in Tech Mahindra Limited

leadhip and purification as seen in technical school Mahindra LimitedA hu globe being right from birth is associated to several(a) concourse including p atomic number 18nts, relatives, and so on. As he/she grows old, the pool of associations become stronger and mixed as his/her affects t wipe out(p) to grow such as The need of friends, education, and variant socioethnical aspects of human biography. The child thus becomes part of galore(postnominal) institutions catering to needs of to each one other in the organization. Organisation, as be by Oxford Advanced Learner Dictionary is A root say of people who form a transmission line, club, etc. together in order to progress to a particular aim. All the organisations irrespective of their nature ar headed by a drawing card. Leader is often seen as a person who guides the organisation to achieve a common inclination by setting up practices and creating a positive surround with the organisation. As said by Fullan (1992 ) in his notes, that the only thing of real importance that attractions do is to progress to and manage glossiness. The lead of an organization has the primary responsibility for identifying the need for, and fostering, cultural change and for sustaining a sound safety nicety once it is established.In the following essay, I be move over tried elaborating more or less loss attractionshiphiphip skills and organisational stopping point winning into consideration Mr Vineet Nayyar who heads (Vice lead, MD CEO) tech Mahindra Limited, a joint profess between Mahindra Mahindra Group and British Telecommunications PLC.About tech MahindraIntroductiontechnical school Mahindra is a part of US $7.1 Billion Mahindra Group, in partnership with British Telecommunications plc (BT), which is one of the largest communication service providers in the world. The organisation was incorporated in 1986 under the name of Mahindra British Telecom, which was later changed to Tech Mahindra to reflect diversification and growth of client base. Tech Mahindra has majorly focussed the telecommunications indus tummyvass and is a spark advance global systems integratorand chore transformation consulting organization.Tech Mahindra operates glob all(prenominal)y with much than 15 Greenfield Operations and has over 124 active customer engagements mostly in Telecom sector. Some of its largest clients atomic number 18 BT, ATT, O2 and Alcatel-Lucent. The alliance has footprints in more than 25 countries and has been assessed as SEI CMMI Level 5 Company. The confederacy is supported by most 35,000 professionals who provide distinctive blend of domain expertise, in depth engineering science skill sets and culture.Tech Mahindra VisionTo be the most respected base provider in the communications ecosystemAnticipating and enabling changeAdmired for technology, agility, innovation, business models and the forest of its talentTech Mahindra ValuesTech Mahindra is focused on cr eating sustainable value growth through innovative solutions and unique partnerships. Our set are at the heart of our business reputation and are congenital to our go on success. We foster an environment to instil these values in every(prenominal) facet of our organization.Customer firstGood corporate citizenshipProfessionalismCommitment to qualityDignity of the individualSome of the Industry RecognitionsIn the Leaders crime syndicate in The 2009 Global Outsourcing 100 (IAOPs Annual Listing of the domains Best Outsourcing overhaul Providers)Ranked 2nd in Telecom Software providers of India by disposition Data, 2008 (VD 100 Ranking)Business Week Award for Asias Best Performing Companies, 2008 gain Excellence Award by Frost Sullivan, 2008Ranked 6th largest packet exporter from India (NASSCOM, 2008)LeadershipIntroduction to leadershipthither are legion(predicate) organisations reign in the todays world. Each and every member of an organisation aspires to prepare an mode l leader who can give an environment of trust, ownership among employees and is able to bullock the organisation in a balanced way both in good as swell as hard ages of the organisation. As said by Admiral Burke, US Navy-Leadership is understanding people and involving them to patron you do a business enterprise. That takes all of the good characteristics, like integrity, dedication of purpose, selflessness, know leadge, skill, implacability, as well as determination not to accept failure.But in that location remains a big question- What are the characteristics of a good leader? or How to assess if a person is worthy of leading a group or an organisation? During the following analysis, findings and practical scenarios I would try and find answers to the questions mentioned above.Theoretical come up to leadershipthither rescue been numerous theories discussing several aspects of leadership and different styles in which it is practiced. The earliest being the sign surmise o f Leadership which was worked upon and analysed at length as premature as around mid-1850. This opening was primarily interested in the measurement of traits of persons which can be defined as habitual patterns of emotion, conduct and thoughts. This theory actor to the fully believes that the traits of a person are in-born and remain constant over life lime and so it concluded that Leaders were born, not developed. In melodic phrase to this theory, some other theories which came up inlate 1940s and early 1950s stated persons who are Leaders in one mooring may not necessarily be leaders in other situations. These theories took into flyer the macro environment and took into consideration various cistrons affecting the decisions and behaviour of the leaders. The criticism of Trait theory by many an(prenominal) researchers taking into account its shortcomings, led them in an alternate theory, the Theory of Behaviour and Style. This theory led to hear of Managerial Grid Model w hich suggested five different leadership styles, based on the leaders concern for people and their concern for goal achievement. A graphical representation of the managerial grid model is shown below. til now many researchers believed that different situations call for different characteristics and this led to education of Situational and hazard Theory. This theory stated that the actions and behaviour of a leader were largely influenced by characteristics of the situation in which he functions. The most promising model for this theory was developed by Fred Fiedler and is known as Fiedler contingency model. He believed that The leaders effectiveness is based on situational contingency which is a result of fundamental interaction of devil factorsLeadership styleandSituational favourableness. As the leader I endure chosen to analyse scoop suits to this style of leadership, Contingency Theory would be the basis of my analysis well-nigh his leadership style.Fiedlers Contingency The ory and Mr Vineet NayyarIn the late 1950s and early 1960s, noticeable industrial and business psychologists Fiedler and Woodward started to study the leadership and behaviour styles of leaders and managers. Earlier to Fiedlers study, industrial psychologists mainly focussed on personal traits of influential leaders. They believed that there was only one best way to run an organisation which produced best results and most effective business practices. The reason of Fiedlers model influencing most researchers was that it denied one best way and dead fit in ripe tallly complex organisations where scenarios and environment of leaders kept changing more often.Fiedlers model assessed a potential leader with a scale of work style ranging from working class-Oriented on one end to Relationship-Oriented on the other. The other grand factor which affected behaviour was the contextual circumstances in which the group operates. This is furthermore supported by three contextual variables af fecting appropriateness of a particular style. These are Leader-member relations, occupation Structure and Leader Position Power.The diagram below depicts the model.Mr Vineet Nayyar, 70, is the Vice Chairman Managing Director of Tech Mahindra since 2005 and the Chairman of Mahindra Satyam since 2009 after(prenominal) its acquisition by Tech Mahindra. He is an accomplished leader and has led many organisations crosswise his life history span of 40 categorys. He has worked closely with Indian Government (an IAS Indian Administrative Services official),international multilateral agencies and the corporate sector (both open and private). While in government, he has interpreted many senior positions as Di stark Magistrate and Secretary of Government Administration. He has similarly been part of the World Bank for over 10 Years. In corporate sector, he was cosmos Chairman and Managing Director of state owned Gas Authority of India, MD and V Chairman of HCL Technologies. He holds a Masters degree in Development Economics from Williams College, Massachusetts.Vineet is undoubtedly an outstanding leader and a affair model for employees at Tech Mahindra. During his 6 categorys tenure, he has taken several crucial decisions which have impacted the organisation positively and have created a sense of trust which I believe is the most important characteristic of being a leader of an organisation. Year after year he has won excellent feedback scores from employees of the organisation which are unpatterned of his leadership qualities. A immense with high employee rapture, his role as a leader of organisation was backed up with exponential growth of the organisation. The company has duple its size both in man power as well as the total business sales. It has also acquired three organisations, Axes Technologies (India) mystical Limited, iPolicy Networks Private Limited and Satyam Computer Services Ltd since 2005.As suggested by Fiedlers Contingency theory, Leaders behavioural style is majorly impacted by environment around him. everywhere the last 5 years, Asian and Global economy have seen many highs and lows. During the time when Vineet entered into Tech Mahindra, global economy was on a stabilise hop on. He saw this as huge opportunity for Tech Mahindra, and the company under his leadership launched an extremely successful IPO (Initial Public Offer) in 2006, through which the organisation raised around $100 million to create a new development centre at Pune, India estimating an employee seating electrical capacity of 9000. This proved a highly motivating factor for employees of the organisation, as the company was thusly listed in Indian Stock Exchange which added to the credibility and popularity of the organisation. As the IPO was a huge success, the employees of Tech Mahindra were given bonus shares on completing 20 years of Tech Mahindra in 2006. This move change magnitude the sense of ownership and the level of commitment of t he employees towards the organisation.As the economy continued to flourish, the company gained new and potential clients on with existing customers which added to exponential rise in companys physical and liquid assets. Under Vineets leadership, Tech Mahindra increased footprints across India and the globe. It has added four new development centres in India along with several abroad site offices across Asia Pacific, Europe, Americas, Middle East and Africa. Companys headcount increased from 16,500 in 2005 to 35,200 in 2010. As the company grew stronger and bigger, it created more jobs for people and was being swear as a safe company considering job stabilization. These positive factors, along with Vineets influential leadership skills, resulted in a favourable situation which in a flash proved to have a positive effect on group performance. Leader-member relations were Good along with amply task structure. With new development centres coming into operation, there were revised p rocesses and policies which clearly defined each employees roles and responsibilities. each employee was being given a task to set-up his goals at the start of the year which were then finalized along with supervisors feedback. thither were squad/individual meetings/skip level meetings to highlight any concerns, feedback or comments related to employees work. All this resulted in High Task structure. All the groups/ groups were headed by a team-lead and a supervisor who had full office to assign and monitor tasks for individuals in the group. These people also had the authority to recommend outstanding performers for rewards and awards every quarter. Hence we can consider Leader Position power also to be High thus resulting in High Favourableness of the situation. The most appropriate Behavioural style hence can be conceived as let out LPC, Task Oriented. However along with Task Oriented leadership style, Vineet was also inclined towards Relationship-Oriented behaviour as the co mpany was doing well. Organisation incorporated several awards which were to be given to high performers and distribute bonuses among employees. There was high employee satisfaction resulting in improved boilers suit group performances.The economy continued to grow till early 2008 after which there was a steep downturn. The economic turmoil in join States and Europe had a direct impact on Tech Mahindra as all of its major clients belong to this geography. This was a drastic change of environment for Vineet and he had to adjust his leadership style with the changing scenario. Vineet along with his solicitude team had to churn out cost affective task driven methods to cope up with the ever increasing pressure of dipping economy and demanding clients. There were many changes in company processes to make them streamlined and cost effective. As the economy further weakened, many employees were discontinued from their roles in order to aver an even position on operational the projec ts. Employee Assessment and Appraisal carry out was reviewed as company was now operating on less operating moolah. All the overhead costs were minimized and bonuses were cut-off. This lead to decreased employee satisfaction and hampered team performances.During the same time period (2009) Tech Mahindra emerged as the highest bidder to play hit Satyam Computers Ltd (Later renamed as Mahindra Satyam after takeover). Vineet was appointed as the Chairman of Mahindra Satyam taking into account his excellent service to Tech Mahindra over the years. His past experiences and characteristics as a leader both proved to be the deciding factor for this decision. Economic downturn coupled with accounting scam was a incubus for employees of Mahindra Satyam. With a strong headcount of around 45,000, Mahindra Satyam due to its tainted find out and lost credibility lost many major clients. Its operating profits came down to negative and the company was very difficult to sustain. Vineet and his team carried out series of management and process changes in Mahindra Satyam to improve its position in the market. Rebranding Satyam Computers to Mahindra Satyam was one such move. The association to Mahindra Mahindra group instilled an increased sense of credibility. There were internal exchange placements within Tech Mahindra and Mahindra Satyam to utilize excessive man power and Tech Mahindra slowed its external recruitment process. Many employees of Mahindra Satyam who did not have a good performance assessment were handed pink-slips. It was crucial for Mahindra Satyam to reconstruct itself and regain its place in the IT Industry. A series of similar keister changes and developments took in Mahindra Satyam over the next few months. All these changes in Tech Mahindra and Mahindra Satyam led to decreased employee satisfaction. Employees were not given enough salary hikes and promotions were delayed. As more and more employees were terminated due to low operating margins, the team sizes grew smaller resulting in increased work pressure. This did not have a good effect on Leader-member relations and could be termed as Bad. Task structure also dropped to Low as there was increased workload due to less team members. Existing team members were unclear more or less the added responsibilities they had to partake which were an overhead to their already existing responsibilities. Leader position power still remained Strong as there was constant supervision on performance of the individuals. All these factors resulted in Low Favourableness of situation and behavioural style can hence be concluded as Low LPC Highly Task-oriented.ConclusionWith all the above evidences and instances of effect of external forces on leadership style of Vineet Nayyar, I can strongly conclude that leadership behaviour of leaders change with circumstances. A good leader is judged as to how he transforms his behaviour under different situations and choosing the correct style of leadershi p. Citing all the above instances of leadership and analysing them with theory as mentioned by Fiedler concludes that Fiedlers Contingency theorem capably fits Vineet Nayyars leadership style. As the scenarios and macro environment changes rapidly, leadership as a vast pool of possible operative styles was a ground-breaking idea by Fiedler. It is in my virtue a common idea in modern management theories which rejects a stiff assumption about ideal management. assimilationIntroduction to cultureCulture A word having its origins from Latin word Cultura which means to cultivate. Culture is a word having numerous meanings and definitions and is often the constituent(a) part of any organisation present today. Gareth Morgan has described organizational culture as The set of the set of beliefs, values, and norms, together with symbols like dramatized events and personalities that represents the unique character of an organization, and provides the context for action in it and by it. Organ isational culture is hard to excuse and is similar to other intangible entities which can just be go through by the virtue of it being into existence. With the size and complexity of organisations varying from a few to thousands, it is a vital and integral part of any organisation. It is in modern era, a characteristic of an organisation which mirrors the environment prevailing in the same and distinguishes it from others based on its Values, Rites, Rituals and cultural network.During the following text, I have tried examining organisational culture at Tech Mahindra based on speculative and practical approaches.Theoretical approach to cultureOrganisational culture has been analysed and defined by many anthropologists and sociologists including Deal and Kennedy, Charles Handy, Edgar Schein, Robert A. Cooke and many more. All the researchers have defined Culture in many different forms as it is very difficult to utter it distinctly. Every person when becomes a part of organisation, becomes a part of its culture. He understands, learns, inherits and then practices culture at organisation through his distinct ways. Schein has loosely classified the nature of culture as layered phenomena having three levels of visibility. These are Basic Assumptions, Values and Beliefs and Artefacts and Creations. He has further emphasized that these three layers of perceptible culture interact among themselves and do not stand out from each other. A graphical representation is shown below.Many different models exist which differentiate culture on the basis of its nature prevailing in different organisations. One of which is suggested by Peters and Waterman called the Characteristics of Excellent Companies. The authors studied cultures at some of the most successful organisations and came up with a list of common see practices within those organisations. This was by some viewed as One best culture and received strong criticisms by many researchers.Another model was suggested by Goffee and Jones which is also called as The Goffee and Jones Contingency Framework. This was a more modern approach to organisational culture and suggested the dependency of culture on business environments. They opposed the theory of one Right or Best culture for various organisations. Their exemplar could be depicted based on two dimensions sociability and Solidarity. These two dimensions were rated from Good to Bad and a four cubes structure was drawn.They suggested that an organisation could have one or a mix of these four cultures The Communal culture, the Networked culture, the hydrargyrum culture and the Fragmented culture. Taking the example of Tech Mahindra, I would be closely following this technique to examine its culture rated on Sociability and Solidarity.Culture at Tech MahindraTech Mahindra is a large organisation with around 35,000 employees around the globe. Tech Mahindra recruits fresh college graduates every year in large numbers. Just after these college gr aduates join the company, on their appointment day, are exposed to a series of inductance processes. These include registration processes, induction speech from the head of HR department and many similar synergetic sessions of what is expected out of an employee at Tech Mahindra. All these sessions talk about the value offered by Tech Mahindra culture and how these values are important to adapt by all the employees. The new employees are then divide into batches and are allotted to various Initial Training Programs (ITP and the employees are then called ITPians) based on their background studies. This ITP course extends around 4 months in which ITPians undergo various Technical and Behavioural trainings which prepares an ITPian to accept the challenge which his job offers. During the Behavioural training there are numerous sessions about grave of Conduct, Company dress code, Tech Mahindra rewards programs, emphasis on Quality work, tuition Security and bonuses linked to perform ance.All the employees are asked to follow a strict dress code which is Business formals from Monday to Thursday. Employees are allowed to wear Business Casuals, i.e. Jeans and Collared T Shirts on Friday. This dress code is strictly followed and its Managers responsibility for counselling defaulting team members thereby facilitating adherence to the Companys policy. Any choice of casual wear which is revealing, besides form fitted or worn out is strictly not allowed. There are instances where many employers do not have such kinds of regulations on dress code like Google. This however can be long debated over and over again with no firm outcome. In my popular opinion having a dress code is a good measure to create and maintain a healthy and professional environment across the organisation.The ITPians are briefed about Code of Conduct policies of Tech Mahindra about which they are asked to harken attentively. They are briefed of how they shall follow the applicable legal framework of the country in which they operate. Employees are expected to know and to understand the legal obligations applicable plot of ground performing their duties and discharging their responsibilities on the job. Ignorance cannot be an excuse for violation of law. They are also told to compete fairly with their competitors and maintain highest possible standards of integrity and ethics in every sphere of activity. ITPians are briefed that they shall not put their personal problems over organisational needs. Employees are always expected to protect and nurture the Companys interests all the time and remain independent in any decision that they may be required to take. They are told not to offer or accept gifts, hospitality or other inducements, which influence a decision, or engage in any form of bribery.