"ADAPT - To Thrive, Not Just Survive" by Harit Nagpal (Book Review by R. Chandra Prakash)

Our generation has witnessed an unprecedented transformation around us during the past sixty years.  These transformations have been far beyond the predictions in Future Shock of Alvin Toffler or even his The Third Wave.And it would not be wrong if one considers them to be beyond Peter Drucker’s theory of Knowledge Society. The innovations and the corporations have seeded these transformations. The composition, coverage and operations of business have become complex and risky. Greater competition coupled with narrowing profit margins force business houses to treat the customer with due respect. 

Today’s customer is well informed due to information revolution, particularly through the social media networks. Their wants and  demands keep on shifting, sometimes abruptly.  Such consumer behavior  cause constant business disruptions. The western world, where modern business management got evolved, has thoroughly prepared itself to generate content to deal with business disruptions. Most of thiscontent is prepared by university faculty who also have practical experience in and knowledge of business operations. This is possible as there is a lot of interaction between academia and business institutions. 

Unfortunately, India lacks such environment. Very few business executives have produced content based on their field experiences. Authors like Gurucharan Das have produced some content, but they are more in the micro-economic domain. Therefore, the book Adapt, To Thrive, Not Just Survive, by Harit Nagpal is a very welcome business discourse.  Based on his four-decade long experience in Indian industries, he illustrates how and why business disruptions may occur and their possible solutions. This book has certain unique features.

Features

First, the author has adopted a unique methodology of Case Study, coupled with dramatization of a crucial business challenge in the form of interactions between the people playing different roles. This facilitates the involvement of the reader in understanding its nuances. Second, he has chosen only ten common business challenges like: Customer Segmentation; Customer Communication; Product Quality and Customer Relations, Brand Management, Market Share, Teamwork Culture, and Product Life Cycle Management. Third,location of each of these case studies has been in different countries. In Chapter 1 it is Dhaka, Bangladesh, in Chapter 2 it is Milan, in Chapter 3 it is Malaysia, in Chapter 4 it is Alaska, and then there is Ghana, Pakistan, New Zealand, England, and Thailand. Such a diverse geographical environment provides for understanding the cultural environment challenges in a business. 

Fourth, the products chosen for in each chapter varies. It is Instant Food, Printing and publishing, Television telecasting, Housing, and even manufacturing of watches! Such divergence in product facilitates understanding the market / product dynamics and business challenges. 

Fifth at the end of each of these ten chapters the author provides for ten statements that reader should honestly respond to the business that they are part of, may be as an owner, or a manager. The reader has to answer these statements only in Yes or No choices. This exercise helps in internalizing the crux of the challenge/s explained in the preceding narration. Sixth, following of above methodology provides the readers with an opportunity to analyze and understand ten different disruptive business stories and deal with hundred constructive business questions. 

The book, thus, helps in understanding the organizational structure and response, inter-departmental dynamics, market analysis, customer preferences, product packaging, role of advertising, market cultural environment and the supply-chain dynamics.  

 

Presentation

The book is very imaginatively designed and presented. The cover page jacket has a colorful picture of chameleon’s tail to represent its adaptability to the environment. This also happens to be the essence of the topic of the book namely, the adaptability of business to its environment. 

 

Further, the chapter headings are very intellectually crafted with a more meaningful sub-title. For example: Chapter 1 The Customers We Want, and Those We Don’t Want has a meaningful and attractive sub-title - Navigating targeted segments. Similarly, Chapter 2 Ears to the Ground has - Listening to the customer, Chapter 6 Touching Customers’ Hearts has - Creating a brand that connects, Chapter 7 A House for Everyone has  - Growing the industry and your share of it. The typesetting is also reader friendly. These subtle attention to the minute things makes this book highly readable.  

 

Addition of Page Index at the end of this book would have facilitated its back reference. 

 

Usefulness

The book can be a very useful Handbook for the Business Schools students. This can also be a good-tool for upgradation of decision-making skills of employees in any business organization. 

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Author

Nagpal is a Chemical Engineering graduate with an MBA Degree. The author’s professional career, spanning four decades with Lakme, Marico, Pepsi, Shoppers Stop, and Hutch/Vodafone, gives him the hand on experiences of various business challenges at different levels of managerial hierarchy.  Since 2010 he is with (Tata Sky)   Tata Play, and presently, its Managing Director/CEO.