Muses of Murari

Much of the content in this book is not radically new. It’s much been in ether of the current business environment. What it is interesting is, this book was first released in 90′s and one could easily appreciate the time and at when the bold concepts were explained.

The author explains the concept behind “Intellectual Capital” under three broad categories :

• Structural Capital
• Human Capital (Employees)
• Customer Capital

The categories’ titles give enough clues what they are all about. Structural Capital has scope of a company’s own effective knowledge utilization. The author mentions Customer capital is most important among the three and also says that it is least managed. And on Human capital, author gives a valid point that not all employees are equally important in aspects of adding value to the company’s output. Only the resources responsible for customers and the greater part of company’s output are valuable. Company has to make efforts as much as possible, to make many of its employees in the above mentioned scope. Well, that’s hard on certain section of employees, but looks like it is bitter truth.

Author gives various examples to explain his insights on Intellectual capital. Overall, it is Good to read book.

Now my rants -

Coming to the point about human capital and the current situation exist in most of the software companies in India. When a company thinks only a certain section adds value to the company’s output and many others are needed to support this elite section, then I think, there’s an issue. Imagine, what will be the attitude among executives if this is the case. The company will prosper, if the higher level employees do well. Employees do get their expected salaries. Top level employees get the recognition and the same run-of-the-mill story is repeated. What happens to the collective intelligence? Can management tap the crowd intelligence and make better output out of it and not just stick with fewer minds at the top of hierarchy?

The same thing is happening in many of Indian software companies. In giant Indian IT services companies, employees swamp in thousands everyday to their cubical farms and happy to earn their companies millions of dollars and yet not get significant fodder to their thinking minds. Companies are also happy. Because their needs are met. Safest way of making money without risking owning a product and bring smiles to their investors.  Worst part, in my view, is wasting away the brains in washing the sins of legacy products/solutions of foreign companies.

I remember, when I first joined an Indian IT giant as a fresher, I was told in a introductory speech by a training faculty that the company is least interested in owning products. Because, that person says, it is risky to develop products and sell them rather there’s an easy way out there to make money – to show the head counts!!

What about Indian IT product companies? It is lesser evil than its brethren….

I want to stop my rants here. By now, one could imagine why I wrote this little-add-on-value post.

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• “Mavericks @ work”
• Thoughts on “The Long Tail”
• “Around the world in eighty days”
• “Cosmos” – simply brilliant!