HOW ANIL NAIK BUILT L&T'S REMARKABLE GROWTH TRAJECTORY

by R. Gopalakrishnan (Pallavi Mody)

How is a ‘Shaper’ different from a manager and a business leader? A Shaper operates with a longterm
vision and successfully changes the trajectory of the company to make it future ready, in the
way Anil Naik shaped the future of Larsen & Toubro (L&T).
The narrative traces the spectacular five-decade-long journey of Anil Naik as a junior engineer
from the shop floor to the position of MD, CEO and chairman. The story traverses through the
parallel life journeys of L&T and Naik and witnesses their trials and tribulations.
Naik built the growth trajectory of L&T on the foundation of ‘value creation’ and transformed
the company into an agile and competitive business conglomerate. Based on a series of personal
interviews with Naik and his team, the book explores Naik’s mindset and actions that transformed
L&T into a leading Indian MNC with a global footprint in fields as diverse as defence, nuclear
power and aerospace to financial services, IT and engineering services.
How Anil Naik Built L&T’s Remarkable Growth Trajectory is the second book in the series, Shapers of
Business Institutions. The book reveals ‘The Naik Way’—new theories of leadership and management
as a catalyst to growth.

Genres: Biography, India, Business

158 pages, Hardcover

Published January 20, 2020

About the author

R. Gopalakrishnan has been a professional manager for forty years. He has a wealth of practical managerial experience, initially in Unilever and more recently in the Tata Group. He has lived and worked in India, the UK and Saudi Arabia, and has travelled extensively all over the world. He began his career in 1967 as a computer analyst with Hindustan Lever after studying physics at Kolkata and electronics engineering at IIT, Kharagpur. He worked in the marketing function before moving to general management. During his years with Unilever, he was based in Jeddah as CEO of the Arabia unit; later, he was managing director of Brooke Bond Lipton India and then vice-chairman with Hindustan Lever. He has been president of the All India Management Association. Currently, he is the executive director of Tata Sons based in Mumbai. He also serves on the boards of other companies.

Reviews

[Khushie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Good read on Mr AM Naik of L&T. Quick and to the point. Loved how quickly I finished it and how simply it was written making it easy for those with little to no business know-how.

[Sainath Sunil · Rating 4 out of 5]

Must read to understand how this magnificent company grew to become what it is. Very nicely written.

[Umesh Chandra · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good book, though it creates god out of AM Naik

Framework is good: 5/5
Evaluation on the framework seem to be inconsistent.
If the book is about AM Naik, one would expect how he was shaped and how circumstances that influenced decisions.
Results generally lag the action: how Naik used it would have been of interest.

Primary sore point of the book is "godification"

[Aneesh Durg · Rating 3 out of 5]

I don't think I'm the target audience for this book. Some interesting takeaways include acknowledging how Nair/L&T's readiness to pivot and adapt, coupled with the determination to see a new direction through was integral to their lasting success.

[Harsh Thaker · Rating 4 out of 5]

Short and simple write up on history of the company

[Tirath · Rating 1 out of 5]

Lazy fluffy writing.
A Wikipedia article might have more information.

[Hiren Sakhiya · Rating 5 out of 5]

*****