V Ramakrishnan, Pennar Chemical Limited

Name – V Ramakrishnan

Company – Ms Pennar Chemical Ltd, 3rd Floor, Saptagiri Towers, Begumpet, Hyderabad 500 016

Tell us something about yourself?

– Graduate Chemical Engineer from Madras University (Coimbatore Institute of Technology). Passed out in 1977
– Started professional career as a Textile processing technician with Ms United Bleachers Ltd, Mettupalayam
– Started water treatment career with the world’s largest and the most reputed company called Nalco Chemicals, USA
– In water & environment management career for 30+ years

Tell us something about your company?

– Ms Pennar is a major industrial house in South India, with Rs 2000+ Cr Turnover a year
– They are in steel making, Pre Engineered Building Systems, IT and Specialty Chemicals for water treatment
– Promoted and managed by Mr Nrupendra Rao, a Post Graduate Metallurgical Engineer from IIT Kharagpur and also a Masters from Philadelphia University
– A highly ethical and respected First Gen Entrepreneur. About 65 years.

According to you, what is management all about?

– Managing emotions; managing contradictions; understanding people; assessing the strengths and limitations of individuals; helping to eliminate the limitations and improving the strengths; guiding, coaching, assisting and counseling team mates; constantly support them to enhance their individual performance; “Be a Leader than just a Manager”
– “Empathizing”

Your views on Corporate World?

– Contributing to the economic development of the country
– Setting in strong work ethos
– Generating employment and helping to develop individual self esteem
– An important ingredient and an essential factor in social development
– Not just an enterprise, but, a “responsible social citizen”

What is your philosophy towards work?

– Understand your job
– Imbibe your roles and responsibilities
– Learn to work in a team
– Empathize with your team mates
– Acquire and transmit knowledge
– Constantly attempt to excel yourself
– When you call it a day, people should say, “Oh no, here was a gem; we miss him” and not, “thank God, he went”

Tell us about the most fun you have had on the job?

You may know. Quoting and participating in Public Sector contracts (especially in India) is a painful process. The process is too elaborate, tedious and painstaking. The technical content would be mostly < 5%. But, the Commercial and Contractual conditions would be almost 95%. The tender document itself would be 50 + pages. You need to respond to each and every single clause/sub clause/condition, or, they either keep getting back to you with endless clarifications/confirmations; worst, they reject your bid summarily.

I had a major PS Client (a very large Fertilser Complex in South India). All the senior officers and Directors as also the Chairman were very good friends of mine. But, that wouldn’t give me an exclusivity to the contract and I still have to go through the process.

One such contract was of about Rs 400.0 + lakhs per year. I had a young team mate who was entrusted with that account and he was doing such a job for the first time. Every now and then, he used to come running to me on how to respond to what. For some time I kept telling him what to do where. A point came, when my patience ran out. I told him, “Yaar. Just say ‘accepted and confirmed’ against each clause, and that’s it”. He meekly agreed, prepared the Bid and submitted.

A week later, I had just come into my cabin, when the phone rang. The person on line was, the GM Contracts of that company. I told you they were all my thick friends!

He asked, “Ramki, since when you are completely off the rockers?”

I was baffled and asked what did he mean. He said, “Take your Bid. Go to page X, see Clause Y and sub Clause Z and see what your response is!!”

I called my team mate and asked for the file. When I saw the response, I froze.

The clause was, “The Bidder shall declare and confirm that he/they/company, have not committed any malafide act either directly or indirectly thro’ his/their/company’s representatives/associates, have not stood trial or convicted by a Court of Law during the past 5 years”

Know, my team mate’s response? “CONFIRMED BUT NOT ACCEPTED”

That was one of the crowning moments in my entire career, as I learnt the most important lesson. “NEVER BE IMPATIENT WITH YOUR YOUNG TEAM MATE!!!”

“Earning more and more” is the motive behind doing BMS? Is it justifiable?

–  Anything can be justified. It’s a matter of how convincing you can be. “Earning more and more” also is not a bad ambition, as long as the means and methods are ethical.

Is the Name of the Institute from where a student does his/her BMS important while entering into corporate world?

–  Not necessary at all.
– Corporate, nowadays, hire people more on their “potential to deliver” than by the name of the Institute they studied.
– For instance, I would any day, any time hire a person with the right mental attitude and aptitude to perform, than someone who is from some fancy Business Schools
– Corporate attitude today is “hire the best, wherever they are from; fire the husk, wherever they are from”.

If you are hiring a person for a job, what would you look for?

– If the person is a “fresher”, his/her aptitude; if the person is already a “tried hand”, his/her attitude.

Your feedback for BMS.co.in?

– Try to develop future leaders for corporate governance
– Inculcate a sense of belonging and ownership to the job/profession
– Prepare them to face challenges
– Prepare them to manage situations
– Instill “Leadership” quality than “Management” quality. Anyone can be a Manager, but, Leaders can only be few.