Böcker av Vijay Menon

Beyond jugaad, that great Indian tradition of short-term fixes, what does innovation mean in Indian business? That is the question this book addresses through a collection of stand-alone stories that describe sustained innovation at a cross-section of companies that include conglomerates, MNCs, large and midsized companies, and start-ups. Based on extensive research and one-to-one conversations, what sets this book apart are first-person accounts by some of India's finest business leaders on the innovation journey in their companies. Filled with anecdotes and real-life examples, the book would be of interest to anyone interested in Indian business. It would also be an ideal gift to showcase India to customers, trade delegations, investors, and other stakeholders. The Organizations and Stalwarts Featured are Conglomerates: Ratan Tata, Adi Godrej, Suresh Krishna (TVS) MNCs: Munesh Makhija (GE India Technology Center), Suresh Narayanan (Nestle India), Dilip Khandelwal (SAP Labs India) Large companies: A M Naik (L&T), Aditya Puri (HDFC Bank), N R Narayanamurthy (Infosys), K B S Anand (Asian Paints), G V Prasad (Dr Reddy's Laboratories), Bhaskar Bhat (Titan) Midsized companies: Harsh Mariwala (Marico), Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw (Biocon), P R S 'Biki' Oberoi (Oberoi Hotels), Meraj Manal (Himalaya), Dr Devi Shetty (Narayana Health), William Bissell (Fabindia), Kiran Khalap (chlorophyll) Startups: Vijay Shekhar Sharma (Paytm), Raghav Bahl (Quintillion Media), Team Indus

A Brown Man in Russia describes the fantastical travels of a young, colored American traveler as he backpacks across Russia in the middle of winter via the Trans-Siberian. The book is a hybrid between the curmudgeonly travelogues of Paul Theroux and the philosophical works of Robert Pirsig. Styled in the vein of Hofstadter, the author lays out a series of absurd, but true stories followed by a deeper rumination on what they mean and why they matter. Each chapter presents a vivid anecdote from the perspective of the fumbling traveler and concludes with a deeper lesson to be gleaned. For those who recognize the discordant nature of our world in a time ripe for demagoguery and for those who want to make it better, the book is an all too welcome antidote. It explores the current global climate of despair over differences and outputs a very different message - one of hope and shared understanding. At times surreal, at times inappropriate, at times hilarious, and at times deeply human, A Brown Man in Russia is a reminder to those who feel marginalized, hopeless, or endlessly divided that harmony is achievable even in the most unlikely of places.