E-Paper
Films no fodder for IIM-L think-tanks
TRUTH ABOUT the corporate world can be shown successfully in films like Corporate, but, the big question that professors at IIM-Lucknow are asking ever since IIM-Indore decided to take up study of Hrithik Roshan-starrer ?Krrish? using it as a business model is can films show the way to the corporate world?
TRUTH ABOUT the corporate world can be shown successfully in films like Corporate, but, the big question that professors at IIM-Lucknow are asking ever since IIM-Indore decided to take up study of Hrithik Roshan-starrer ‘Krrish’ using it as a business model is can films show the way to the corporate world?
Asked whether the institute at Lucknow had any plans to take up any study on the lines of IIM-I, director of IIM-L Prof Devi Singh, laughed off the query.
“Neither have we any such plans nor do we feel any need for the same. I don’t think such studies can be any helpful.”
Prof Singh’s comments were echoed by IIM’s postgraduate programme (PGP) students too as they felt business models based on films were unviable. Earlier, IIM Indore had undertaken a similar study on the Aamir Khan-starrer Lagaan.
Interestingly, at IIM-L too, Prof Debashis Chatterjee had used Lagaan clips in his leadership class to highlight values of leadership as shown by the film’s hero ‘Bhuwan’ captaining his rustic side defeat the Englishmen.
Prof Chatterjee agrees that business models based on films may not help to transfer a success story from one place to another. But, he said in films like Krrish there were values that could be used to highlight certain aspects in the corporate world.
When informed that IIM-Indore had plans to study the stupendous success of Laxmi Niwas Mittal in taking over the Arcelor, the world’s largest steel producer in terms of turnover and second largest in steel output (turnover of 30.2 billion and shipments of 45 million metric tons of steel in 2004.), Prof Chatterjee said Mittal’s success story was based on a unique ownership model.
“I met Laxmi Niwas Mittal in London and tried to study his company. Mittal told me the reason Mittal Steel was successful was because every person felt and thought like he was a part of the company and had a stake in it. This sense of belonging is the key to Mittal Steel’s success. But, to transfer this success story to another organisation even after studying it in detail may not be easy for success depends on factors like time, context, etc,” Prof Chatterjee added.
What he said essentially was that each company had a unique ‘genetic code’ that may not be transferable. “Take Dabbawalas of Mumbai for instance. You know they are successful because of their adherence to quality and time. But, even if you transfer the same values fully into another organisation can you ensure it’s success? An organisation’s success would depend on several other factors,’ he added.
IIM-L students too said they felt that the study was “useless” and was a mere “publicity gimmick to attract attention.’ Whatever, IIM Indore professors are upbeat about the whole project. Obviously, they differ with IIM-L.
