ROBIN MUKHERJEE

Who Blunders and How? by Robin Banerjee ; Published 

by Sage ; Pages 263 ;Price Rs.550/-

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Robin Banerjee is the Managing Director of Caprihans India Ltd.He has been nominated as the best CFO of India by the Business Today magazine.He received The Ethical Business Award from Rotary International. He is the author of three books on indirect tax.

The book under review begins by drawing a comparison between the famous airlines – Kingfisher and Indigo. Started around the same time, while Kingfisher shut shop due to heavy losses, the latter survived to raise tonnes of money.

Today when businesses operate in a world of cut-throat competition, innovation and adaptability to change is extremely important. Mistakes are inevitable; every business is tested for endurance.

The book is divided into 11 business lessons. Each lesson is further divided into subheads dominated by case studies of renowned brands.

Banerjee has tried to pen down the underlying reasons that lead companies into falling on the right or wrong side of business prosperity.

From quality compromise, family feuds and PR blunders to merger and acquisition crisis, debt traps and mangled business models, Banerjee delves into every facet of a business that determines its success and failure. Many big companies—famous brands, once loved and revered—often disappear into oblivion mainly due to their own follies. The chapters not only highlight the various mistakes made by big brands but also propose solutions and suggestions to every problem statement as a tailpiece.

The author focuses on the case of Kodak to highlight the classic mistake of ‘lack of innovation’ done by most corporates. In the fear of losing out on its lucrative ‘film based’ business model, Kodak failed to recognise the opportunities emerging in the digital photography space in 1975. Despite having the resources and the technology, the company did not prepare itself for a digital onslaught and called for its own downfall.

The heroes of this book are giants of the business world such as Samsung, Heinz, Pepsi, Flipkart, Kelloggs, Alibaba – Banerjee has picked real-world examples from every industry to expose the readers to different business models and allow them to understand the market upheavals holistically. The author is able to keep the reader spell bound as he explains simply the nuances of different business concepts and theories. Why do companies collapse is explained with great simplicity and garnished with practical examples. Banerjee achieves with ease his aim of enabling the readers to absorb the fundamentals of leadership and keep at a good distance the traps that result in business blunders.

Many big companies—famous brands, once loved and revered—often disappear into oblivion mainly due to their own follies. Look at the once seemingly unfailing Premier Padmini cars. In the unforgiving world of modern business they failed to adapt and perished.

Every business is tested for endurance and accomplishment but only a few extract strength and wisdom from their trying experiences. Even the infallible Nokia, BlackBerry, Woolworths and Lehman Brothers buckled. Companies such as Bethlehem Steel, Atari, Xerox, NCR and Mafatlal once considered as the great ones to emulate, all failed to live up to their repute.

There are a number of reasons for business blunders . To name a few causes--- compromising quality to cut costs, lack of professionalism in management, botched up mergers and acquisitions, customers being taken for granted, bad leadership, family squabbles, corporate fraud, unmanageable debts and numerous others.

Many famous, frequent and common mistakes are committed by businesses over time. The lessons learnt from this book should enable one to run his business with lesser hiccups and maximize returns.

The book is ideally suited for new founders just starting up a company as well as senior leaders who lead others. The author tells us how to convert failure into success. It can be a reference for those who conduct business and development training.

Robin Banerjee’s strong point is that he brings out clearly both sides of an issue, then seeks a synthesis on the issue.

This book is well-researched and backed up by a lot of examples. It was a real page-turner and quite an interesting read!

Rather than providing tools and tricks to manage your time just slightly better than you usually can, the book seeks to actively transform your perspective about what success and time management are entirely.

The book is a perfect blend that gives an insight into the factors that drive the success and failure of a business. An extensively researched book, it is an essential read for anyone who envisions leading the corporate world.

The singular praise worthy quality of this book is that it is conversational anecdotal and provocative and is guaranteed to make one introspective and emerges as a treasure to all connected to business—however tiny or big it is.

P.P.Ramachandran.

01/03/2020.