The zero-sum game is no longer valid in the world of business. Companies must learn to collaborate with all the stakeholders in the society and earn returns through the trust they build with them
Anand Mahindra heads the $6.3 billion Mahindra Group, a conglomerate that specialises in automotive products, information technology and infrastructure. Mahindra graduated from Harvard College and then completed his MBA from Harvard Business School.
Under his leadership the Mahindra Group has strengthened its position in almost all the business in the group’s portfolio. Mahindra speaks eloquently and is a frequent contributor to debates on business issues and government policy. He was chosen by CNBC TV18 as the Outstanding Business Leader for 2009.
There is an evolutionary argument for such a role modification. Commerce was begun when the world was a much more hostile place, and societies still functioned much like their ‘hunter-gatherer’ precursors. In his book Conflict Resolution, James A. Schellenberg says that “…socio-biologists believe that human nature has been profoundly shaped by the competitive conditions under which it emerged as the present species. They don’t all see this as producing a general human instinct for aggression; but they do see mankind as faced with a wide range of conditions for which aggression may be a very natural response.” I suppose this would account for why phrases such as “killer instinct,” and “take no prisoners” form part of the corporate world’s core vocabulary.
(This story appears in the 04 June, 2010 issue of Forbes India. To visit our Archives, click here.)