Leaders @ MISB Bocconi - I

K Ramkumar, Executive Director, ICICI Bank

Friday, August 31, 2012.

We, at MISB, had the opportunity to interact with Mr. K. Ramkumar, Executive Director, ICICI Bank, as a part of Leaders @ MISB Bocconi series. He shared his valuable insights into strategy formulation and what it takes to manage an organization as huge as ICICI. Mr. Ramkumar, a die-hard sports fan, also explained how closed boardroom strategy makers in companies can take cues from Real Madrid and Manchester United team playing strategies.

We would like to present some thoughts shared by our esteemed guest :

• Taking the example of ICICI having to make a decision to chase market share vs profitability after 2008, he explained how strategy is always a tradeoff between the perceived goal and achievable target.
• Resource allocation is a very important factor for the successful execution of a strategy.
• Organizational and HR changes take time to percolate through the organization, normally 3-5 years, but common goal is what drives the organization forward.
• Citing several examples from history of Napoleon, Alexander to the soccer teams, he said there is always a choice of deployment of resources in a right way. 

We gained several insights into the art of strategy making straight from the man himself who have executed several organizational restructures throughout ICICI.

We look forward to attending such lectures ahead in our course.

Anurag Singhal
Student, 2012-2014
MISB Bocconi