Having just read the book, HBR’s 10 Must-Reads on Strategy, that I ordered from Amazon India, I am once again reminded of how central brands are to strategy. Not merely product brand strategy, but to corporate strategy. It’s something I have been thinking about for the past couple of decades that I have been unemployed,… Continue reading When Brands Can Guide Strategy and Execution
Category: Culture
The 21st Century Corporation in the Rear-view Mirror
Some of you might have seen my posts on LinkedIn about a new book, The Corporation in the 21st Century by John Kay, that I bought and was reading recently. Actually, it was a review that I read in the Financial Times that prompted me to buy and read it. I must admit that I… Continue reading The 21st Century Corporation in the Rear-view Mirror
Protected: Making Sense of Our Conflicted World
Creating Abundance in a Year of Slowing Economic Output
It sounds paradoxical to imagine creating abundance in what is likely to be a year of slowing economic output and growth across the world. We might possibly even be looking at a few years of slowdown, what with the Trump tariffs and the uncertainty surrounding them. But even in the face of slowing economic growth,… Continue reading Creating Abundance in a Year of Slowing Economic Output
Is China’s Rebooting of Its Economy Working?
It’s been a year since I last wrote about the Chinese economy. And it was as part of the global economy, that I was writing then. There are several reasons to turn our attention to China again: to see how the domestic Chinese economy is faring since it had gone into a serious slowdown, to… Continue reading Is China’s Rebooting of Its Economy Working?
War-War, Jaw-Jaw Over the LoC
I don’t think anything else has featured in the news in the Indian media landscape these past few weeks other than the firing between India and Pakistan forces. The flaring up of tensions between the two countries was precipitated by the terror attack on 26 tourists in Pahalgam in Kashmir on April 22, 2025. I,… Continue reading War-War, Jaw-Jaw Over the LoC
Wielding the Pen on the Knife
Last month, I finished reading Salman Rushdie’s Knife, the book he wrote about the attack on his life in the US, having survived it. This book was sent through my younger sister, Bhavani, last year ostensibly for my aged father to read. Unprofessional PR agency idiot bosses have been meddling for decades now, with and… Continue reading Wielding the Pen on the Knife
Hardwiring Brands into Products and Services
Time to turn my attention to brands once again, after all the chaos and confusion that Trump’s tariffs have caused from the start of this year. I must say, though, that if companies have to raise prices of their goods in the US and elsewhere, it ought to be because of a superior dimension to… Continue reading Hardwiring Brands into Products and Services
Protected: Reading for Uncertain Times
How Not to Allow Vodafone Idea to Go the Air India Way
When I read about the latest tranche of Vodafone Idea equity stake that the government of India is going to have to acquire, as spectrum auction dues get converted to equity, the first thought that occurred to me is “Oh gosh! Soon it will become a PSU!” And we all know the fate of our… Continue reading How Not to Allow Vodafone Idea to Go the Air India Way










