Synopsis: Communication For Productivity Letters written to some 7500 Workers / Managers / Union Leaders, following a period of strike / Go slow / Murders (1979 - 1987), at Mumbai factory of Larsen & Toubro Ltd. This direct / open / honest communication led to a remarkable atmosphere of trust between Workers and Management, which, in turn, increased productivity at 3% per year (ave).

5 July 1984

To:

Dear Colleague

The Secrets of Success

The  following  article  by Jayant  Dubashi   (India Today  -30/6/84)  is based on  a book  - "In  Search of  Excellence -Lessons  from America's  best  run companies".   The book  is currently on the 'Best-seller' list.

When  Dr.   D.F.  Pereira  (DGM-HRD)  made   an  audio-visual presentation about this  book to a small group  of managers a few  months back,  I immediately  resolved that  I  must read this  book.   And  as  if  to  tempt  my  resolve,  a  friend returning from U.S.A. gifted a copy to me.

But I am  not one to be  so easily tempted! I prompty  "lent" it to one  of our Vice-Presidents  - who  saw it on  my table and must have felt  tempted.  I know he has a better  resolve than mine.

But when  I heard about this article  in Indian Today,  I not only managed to borrow a copy,  I spent a few minutes reading it and some more minutes thinking  about its relevance to L&T to-day.

The  article   speaks  about  eight  basic   practices  which characterise   the    successfully   managed    companies (apparently  "reading books on management"  does not  seem to be one of them!) - in U.S.A.

Are these universal characteristics? and if so, are  these to be found in the best managed Indian companies?

In the absence  of an Indian study, we do not  know for sure. And although,  Mr. Dubashi has  raised many questions  about the   Indian  companies   (L&T  included),  these   are  left unanswered.

I do not think we, at L&T, need to wait for an  Indian study, I don't think we even need to conduct an in-company study.

But  I  do  think  we  need  a  lot  of  soul-searching.   We certainly need to examine our ways of doing things.

My personal belief is that:

All the  problems of  the world  are known  - almost  all the solutions are  also known.   Only unknown  (undiscovered) are the persons  capable, willing  and motivated  to try  out the known solutions.

Can we, within each one of us discover that person?

H.C. PAREKH