ANDY GROVE
Richard S. Tedlow
Penguin Portfolio
Pp: 568
Price: Rs 695
In the late 1950s, there were thousands of penniless immigrantsstill pouring into the United States from Europe. Many of them alsomoved to the west coast, which was beginning to emerge as a centrefor computing technology. But only one man went on to become AndyGrove. He did not found Intel (Gordon Moore and Robert Noyce did),but went on to become its most famous employee (he offered to tagalong when Moore told him he was quitting Fairchild Semiconductor tostart a new company). The 'how' of it is what preoccupies RichardTedlow in his fascinating biography of Grove, who drove Intel todizzying success before stepping down as the CEO in May, 1998.
No doubt, there's plenty already written about Intel and Grove,but Tedlow, he says, did not set out to write a catch-all story ofthe man. The Harvard Business School professor, who is clearlysmitten by Grove, decided to attempt a page-turner instead, builtaround three key questions about the man: "I want to know how hethinks"; "I want to know how all these decisions really did getmade"; "I want to know all the stuff that he won't tell you about".Now, turning a biography into a page-turner is a tall order for anywriter, even if your subject is Grove, but Tedlow manages admirably.
Part of that is due to the rich detail he is able to provide aboutGrove and his times, starting with his family in Budapest, where hewas born in 1936, to his coming to America in 1957 and hisspectacular rise thereafter. The other part is, of course, due to thehappy trot at which Tedlow's narrative moves, and the ease with whichhe is able to dissect Grove's personality. Here's a sample: "Grove'simpact lies not only in the fact that he is both smart andrelentless. It also resides in a certain pattern that asserts itselfwhen you get into an argument with him. You can feel quite trapped.He not only argues, he seems to be able to control the terms of thedebate. You can feel yourself being manoeuvred into agreeing withthat he is right and you are wrong. Once that point is reached, hebecomes dismissive".
But as Intel's "floating point" disaster (only in terms of publicrelations and financial write-offs) of 1994 proved, even a brilliantCEO like Andy Grove has his blind spots. In this case, it was hisrefusal to acknowledge the inconsequential flaw in the Pentium chipas something that Intel's customers had a right to get worked upover. Intel today is under pressure and its market cap has dropped toabout $122 billion from historical highs four times higher, butGrove's reputation not just endures, it grows. And it is to Tedlow'scredit that he has been able to add richly to a understanding of aphenomenon called Andy Grove.
IT'S ONLY BUSINESS
By Meera Mitra
Oxford University Press
Pp: 192
Price: Rs 395
One of the things late management guru Peter Drucker said ofbusiness was that in the 21st century, profit-making would cease tobe the sole raison d'etre of private enterprises. Instead, the mostsuccessful corporations would be those that are seen as beingresponsible to the communities in which they operate. In a countrylike India, where the disparity between the rich and the poor isembarrassingly stark, corporations have a special responsibility toensure that some of their profits flow back directly to the society.Meera Mitra's book is, therefore, not just timely, but a valuableaddition to the growing body of work in this area. Mitra, adevelopment specialist and independent consultant (also wife ofFICCI's Secretary General, Amit Mitra), begins her book by outliningthe philosophical and political aspects of corporate socialresponsibility (CSR), goes into the historical origins of theconcept, moves to current trends, and finally wraps up with hersuggestions on how to embed CSR in India. Corporations, students andanyone else interested in CSR will find It's Only Business "avaluable handbook", to borrow the words of Infosys TechnologiesChairman, N.R. Narayana Murthy.
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