Interview with Mr. Nirdosh Reddy

Nirdosh Reddy
is the founder of Anaar, a consulting firm dedicated to improving and
sustaining competitiveness of organizations including business,
government and academic enterprises. Founded in 1989, Anaar has clients
in seven countries including the USA, India, Mexico, Ireland, Taiwan,
Australia and Oman.

Prior to founding Anaar,
he was an engineering manager at Ford Motor Company. He conducted
numerous seminars for senior managers of organizations in North
America, Europe, and Asia on process improvement methodology. Prior to
joining Ford, he was an Engineering Manager at Bendix Corporation.He
has published several technical papers for presentation at SAE, ASQ,
CIEC and other organizations.

He was the keynote
speaker at the CEO conference on “Policy management”, organized by the
American Supplier Institute. He was a speaker at the first Quality
Summit organized by CII, and the Advantage India conference organized
by the Kellogg Business School of the Northwestern University.

ITVidya : When and how did you start your consulting practice?

Mr. Reddy : Anaar consulting started in 1989.In 1988, the
American Supplier Institute invited me to deliver the keynote address
at their CEO Conference on "Policy Management (Hoshan Kanri, the
Japanese business planning method)". The address I gave aroused a keen
interest in several CEOs. They invited me to share my insights with
their organizations. What then started as a hobby grew into a
full-fledged consulting organization.

ITVidya : What about your expansion beyond USA, how did that happen?

Mr. Reddy : In 1989, a delegation of top management
personnel from India visited the USA on a study mission organized by
CII(then known asa CEI). I had the opportunity to present my
observations on "Policy Management" to the group. After the study group
returned to India, CII invted me to visit India and conduct 2-day
seminars for top management personnel of several companies. That let
Godrej and Boyce inviitng me to visit them every quarter. Sunsequesntly
Thermax and other companies invited us to conduct similar programs.

Those who have attended our programs have been our ambassador. When
they left organizations for better futures elsewhere, they were kind
enough to invite us to their new organizations. That's how we went to
Ireland, Mexico, Oman and Australia.

ITVidya : What are the striking differences you find between businesses operating in different countries?

Mr. Reddy : The most important aspect in running a
business is the style of management. There are more similarities than
differences in the styles of management across the countries. When the
style is addressed, numerous less important differences fade away.

ITVidya : What about the people culture across industries and countries?

Mr. Reddy : While different countries have different
social cultures, the organizational cultures are essentially similar
and are fashioned along the lines of what is taught in business schools
worldwide.
There is not much variation in MBA courses; the differences are
primarily from the qualifications and experiences of the teachers and
their style of teaching.

ITVidya : You have had great success consulting several
companies in several industries in several countries. What is the
mantra behind your own global success?

Mr. Reddy : Being lucky!The observations I have been
sharing on improving competitiveness of organizations are applicable to
all types of organizations, in all types of industries. That, I
believe, is the reason why we have had clients in several different
industries.

ITVidya : How often do you visit India and Pune in particular?

Mr. Reddy : I have been visiting India every quarter since 1990. When I come to India, I visit Pune.

ITVidya : Why are companies finding difficult to create and adhere to processes?

Mr. Reddy : It is really not difficult to create and
follow processes. Many companies do not do it primarily because they
are not exposed to the methodology. Therefore, it is due to a lack of
exposure. In our clients, focusing on processes is a natural thing.
They do not find it difficult to define and improve processes.
Commitment from the top management is required to get the ball rolling.
After a while focusing on processes becomes a way of life.

ITVidya : You often speak about new mindsets, can you expand on that and how companies can apply?

Mr. Reddy : Everything that happens in an organization is
covered by three dimensions – customer focus, process focus and people
focus. What people do on these three dimensions determines the results
an organization gets. How well they perform on these dimensions is
influenced by the guiding principles of the organization. The guiding
principles Anaar advocates are:
· Salaries are paid by satisfied customers· Results come from processes
(systems)· We must continually improve the processes· Manage with
facts, not opinions· Management must establish priorities· Involve
everyone through teamwork

ITVidya : Mr. Godrej had a special mention about you in his auto-biography?

Mr. Reddy : What was the magical transformation you
brought to get accolades from Mr. Godrej?We had the pleasure of working
with Mr. J.N. Godrej. He invited us to work with him and his company to
bring about a transformation in the work culture from the old
bureaucratic style. The Anaar Roadmap philosophy and methodology helped
bring about a more customer focused, people and process oriented
culture.

ITVidya : What remedies do you propose to deal with the attrition problem faced by Indian Companies, specially in IT and ITES?

Mr. Reddy : Attrition is a major problem in IT and ITES.
People leave organizations for several reasons, only one of which is
higher salaries. If the underlying culture of an organization is
changed by adopting the new mindsets that were discussed earlier,
employees would think twice before putting in their papers. The
emotional bond that develops from allowing people to take 'ownership'
of their processes would tend to keep them with the organization.

ITVidya : What are the few things you would recommend to globally ambitious companies in the IT Sector?

Mr. Reddy : Globalization of marketplace is a reality. In
addition to the latest technology, the competitive edge depends on how
robust your systems are processes are. By involving your people in
making your processes world class, you can sustain your competitive
advantage. An area where a lot of energy (and hence resources) is
wasted is in fighting inter-departmental barriers. Optimize your
organization, not departments. Institutionalize internal customer
focus.

ITVidya : Can you share some of your experience while being associated with Dr. Deming?

Mr. Reddy : Dr. W. Edwards Deming is my guru. I had the
privilege of working with him. His 14 points for management are very
profound and have changed my way of thinking. For example, before I met
him, I thought that if my people did what I told them to do, there
would be no problems in my department. After absorbing his teachings I
realized that if my people did what I told them to do, only 6% of the
problems faced in my department would be avoided. I realized that in
order to address the remaining 94% of the problems, I needed to involve
my people in improving the systems and processes of my department.

ITVidya : Can you share some of your successful case studies like Geometric software.

Mr. Reddy : I met Mr. Manu Parpia of Geometric Software
at a Godrej and Boyce top management 3-day offsite. Having gone through
the Anaar Strategy Integration Process, he invited me to visit
Geometric Software and present an overview of the Anaar Roadmap to its
top management so that they can decide whether it would be applicable
to their situation. After this was done, they decided to follow the
program (at that time called 'Becoming Globally Competitive' program).
Subsequently, Mr. Parpia introduced us to the then Chief Minister of
Andhra Pradesh, Mr. Chandra Babu Naidu. Our presentations to the Chief
Minister and his staff resulted in our being engaged by the AP
government to help improve systems and processes of the Twin Cities.