A BOOK REVIEW OF BREAK FREE

A BOOK REVIEW OF BREAK FREE
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Dear All,

Recently I was going through this book "BREAK FREE" by Debashis Chatterjee,the famous Organisational Behaviour professor at IIM-L.This is a must for any management student,business managers and management thinkers.The preface on Manjunath who lost his life fighting against the oil mafias brought tears into my eyes.

The first chapter talks about how the author learnt about leadership from a kolkata slum girl.Moral:-'Leaders liberate themselves and others from suffering'.

The statement of Edmund Hillary is used to explain the DNA of leadership lucidly.It goes like this,'Mount Everest has a real problem.It can't grow anymore,whereas I can'.This is what leadership is all about.True leaders exercise the choice to grow beyond the fear and hopelessness of their circumstances.

The second chapter talks about dating yourself and how original ideas paves your way to success.Third emphasing on 'a desire for success is not about making a career but about making a difference in the social arena'.

The fourth chapter is my favourate.It talks about how the sprit of team members can be rekindled at workplace/organisations as a whole."First simplify rules,Second amplify ownership and the third,multiply leaders to fill every role".

The fifth one talks about Chatterjee's three pronged formula of "Form,Focus and Flow".Each chapter encompasses each and every aspect of thought leadership,change management with examples which are personal,regional,national and global.

The Sanak Mishra case study about Rourkela Steel Plant is unique and a must read.Overall, a great book that I come across in recent times on leadership.

Definitely the knowledge acquired is enormous,enriching and gave an upthrust to my learning curve.

Warm regards,
Manas Nayak
Mr.Bay Leaf

The Great American Massacre or The massacre of the April month

Questions:-

1. 'Invent the future' is the tag line used by this university.Their students say that "We are the Hokies,We will prevail".Identify the University?


2. He hailed from Karatadipalayam of Gobichettipalayam Taluk in the southern Indian state of Tamil Nadu.He was an alumnus of PSG College of Technology ,Indian Institute of Technology Kanpur and Purdue University.A professor in the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering recently lost his life in a tragic shoot out in his university?Identify the person?


3. Identify the female in the picture?She had obtained an undergraduate degree from the Rizvi School of Architecture in her home state of Mumbai, India, and was pursuing a masters degree in architecture at Virginia Tech.
4. "On the first day of a British literature class last year,students went around and introduced themselves.When it was his turn,he didn't speak.On the sign-in sheet where everyone else had written their names,this person had written a question mark".In his hate letter he mentioned that"you caused me to do this".He was a quiet,sullen,loner but he was responsible for a recent bloodbath at Virginia tech Univ.Who is he?He was born in which nation?

Answers:-

1. Virginia University
2. G V Loganathan
3. Minal Panchal
4. Cho Seung-hui.He killed 32 people in Virginia tech university recently on 16th April,2007.He was born in South-Korea.

KWIZ PAKODAH- HIT IT OR HEAT IT

KWIZ PAKODAH- HIT IT OR HEAT IT

· This country refuses to fully pay its debts to the United Nations yet reserves its right to veto United Nations resolutions?

· This is the only G7 country to have voted against the creation of the International Criminal Court (ICC) in 1998?

· This is the only Western country which allows the death penalty to be applied to children?

· ---------------------Answer:-United States Of America-------------------------------------

· 8 out of the 10 golds that India secured at the 15th Asian Games, Doha, 2006 work for this organisation.

· This company has featured in the 2006 list of Fortune Global 500 companies at position 402.

· It contributes 77% of India's crude oil production and 81 % of India's natural gas production. It is the highest profit making corporation in India.

· ----------------------- Answer:-ONGC----------------------------------------------------

· Rated among the World's Best Big Companies, Asia's 'Fab 50' and the World's Most Reputable Companies by Forbes magazine, among India's Most Respected Companies by BusinessWorld and among India's Most Valuable Companies by Business Today, it ranks third in pre-tax profit among India's private sector corporations.

· Mangaldeep, Aim, VAX Lit wax matches, Expressions greeting card belong to this Indian company.

· Y C Deveswar is the chairman of this company.Well known for its E-Chaupal project.

· ----------------------------------Answer:-ITC--------------------------------------------

· A Harvard graduate politician who is an MP from Sivaganga constitution of Tamilnadu.

· He is also an eminent lawyer.He represented the bankrupt American energy gaint Enron, as a senior lawyer in India, and is again set to revive its Dhabol power project.
· Together with present Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Deputy Chairman of India’s Planning Commission, Montek Singh Ahluwalia is a part of what the Indian financial press calls India’s economic ‘dream team’.
-----------------------------------------------Answer:-P.Chidambaram-------------------

ARCELOR-MITTAL ISSUE

ARCELOR-MITTAL ISSUE

One of the most controversial business deals ever- the acquisition of Arcelor Steel by Mittal Steel led to the creation of Arcelor-Mittal, the largest steel maker in the world.

1. Background (before the deal)
Mittal Steel- the largest producer of steel in terms of volume. Despite the fact that Mittal steel is based in Netherlands, it is perceived that the company is non-European because its CEO Lakshmi Mittal is Indian.

Arcelor- Headquartered in Luxembourg, the merger of three steel companies- Aceralia, Arbed and Usinor led to the creation of Arcelor. In 2005, Arcelor had revenues of 32 billion Euros.

2. The original bid
In January 2006, Mittal Steel launched a $22.7 billion offer to Arcelor’s shareholders. The deal was split between Mittal Shares (75 percent) and cash (25 percent). Under the offer, Arcelor shareholders would have received 4 Mittal Steel shares and 35 euros for every 5 Arcelor shares they held. (Ultimately the power to buy or sell the shares rests with the shareholder and the company management can at best advice its shareholders whether to accept or reject the bid)

3. Consolidation in the steel industry- inevitable:
The steel industry is highly fragmented, the top 5 manufacturers in the steel industry account for less than 25 percent of the market (to put that in perspective, the corresponding figure for the automotive industry is 73 percent). LN Mittal believes that the consolidation will end with three of four major companies dominating the industry around 2010.

Bigger steel manufacturers have better bargaining powers against customers (such as as auto manufacturers) and against suppliers (iron ore).

Consolidation helps in comapnies improving their sourcing of raw materials; access to more markets, better utilization, more flexibility in production scheduling and better efficiency.

4. The Controversy
Arcelor Management: The management believed that Arcelor itself would have been doing the acquisitions and not the other way around. The management was extremely hostile to Mittal Steel’s bid from the beginning. Arcelor repeatedly played the patriotic card in order for shareholders to reject the bid. The CEO of Arcelor dismissed Mittal Steel as a “company of Indians” and unworthy of taking over a European company. (all this despite the fact that most industry analysts and investment banks pointing out that the deal was in Arcelor‘s best interests)

European Governments:
The French government (despite not being a shareholder) was against the deal because of worries over its 28000 Arcelor employees. Despite repeated assurances from Mittal that the deal would not lead to layoffs the government of France was never convinced. The government of Luxembourg (a stakeholder) was against the deal as well for a variety of reasons. The European Union approved of the Mittal-Arcelor deal.

5. Moves by Arcelor to counter the bid by Mittal:
Declaration of Dividend: On February 16, Arcelor declared a dividend of 1.2 Euros, which was 85 percent higher than the previous dividend in 2004. This was seen as an attempt by the company to convince shareholders that the situation under the current management was extremely positive. Many analysts accused the company of “creative” accounting.

The Russian Angle: In an attempt to thwart the offer from Mittal Steel, Arcelor released a 13 billion Euro merger plan with Severstal, a Russian company. This merger would have made the new Severstal-Arcelor entity too big for Mittal Steel to buy. Despite the merger plan being fraught with loopholes, the Arcelor management tried to convince shareholders that this was the best deal for them. The shareholders however rejected the merger with not one shareholder voting in favour of the merger.

6. Role of Guy Dolle (then CEO of Arcelor)
Mr. Dolle’s reaction to the Mittal bid led to widespread criticism of his actions. Analysts believe that Guy Dolle had issues with the personality of LN Mittal.
As the controversy panned out, Dolle raised several issues including the management of Mittal (Aditya Mittal, son of LN Mittal is on the board). Dolle also raised a number of issues about the safety record of Mittal and also repeatedly pointed out that Arcelor was absolute key to Europe’s economic health.
Guy Dolle is not a part of the new Arcelor-Mittal organization.

7)The stance of the Indian Government

Most Indians were of the opinion that the deal was not getting pushed through because of Lakshmi Mittal’s nationality.

The Indian government raised the issue at several forums especially through commerce minister Kamal Nath. It was also alleged that India had threatened not to ratify a taxation accord with Luxembourg due to the latter’s opposition to the deal.

The irony is that LN Mittal himself felt that there was no case of “racism” here as Mittal Steel was a European company and NOT an Indian one.

8. End Result
The deal was finally clinched when the shareholders of Arcelor agreed to Mittal Steel’s offer ending the transaction that had dragged on for months.
Mittal had to however considerably sweeten the initial offer. Under severe pressure to counteract the Arcelor- Severstal merger, Mittal had to raise its valuation of Arcelor to $32.9 billion. The Mittal family holds 43 percent of the combined group. The combined company holds 10 percent of the global market for steel. The consolidation phase is well and truly underway .

Regards,

Manas Nayak