STANDING AT CROSSROADS*

Mr Wang , Vice President Asia Pac sat down with a resigned air, looking at the paper in
front of him...yet another resignation from the India office ...but this time he was almost
panicking, a foreign feeling he did not usually get. He turned the paper and read the short
letter again..

“Dear Sir,
Due to personal and professional reasons, I hereby wish to resign from the company. I
shall serve my notice period of a month if desired by the management. I thank the
organization for the tenure that i worked here.I will be happy if I am relieved immediately.”

Mr Wang had mixed emotions as he read the letter..even though he knew that Bay & Lens
was going through a bad time he had not predicted the resignation of the India head. India
was one of the few countries that was doing well. The share of the sales were 65-80% in
the Asia Pac regional market for vision care. The current scenario was not good though...
he know there was de growth, there was global trouble anyway, and there had actually
been a recall of one of their eye care products,viz. VeNu.

This had compromised the consumers who were extremely angry and hurt that a the
company they trusted had failed them. It was also a trigger point for the negative spiral of
poor sales, loss of profitability and cash flows.Not only were the sales falling, but
customers were panicking. This put pressure on the employees to sell, so the vicious cycle
began...consumer anger, low sales, unhappy shareholders, pressure to sell, compromises
on the value system of the company.

Mr Wang sat back and reminisced a little to revisit the situation. At the end of 2006, the eye
care company had 3 verticals viz. ‘Vcare’ which included contact lens, cleaning fluid etc.,
‘Surgical Equipments’ which included the machines for surgical and cataract removal and
‘Lasik’ technology.

1* Acknowledgements to Vyaktitava and Mr Venkatesh Iyer for the opportuntiy to work with them 
in a consulting assignment which further opened the door for getting data, most of which forms the 
base of this case.
1

In Ocotober 2007, Bay and Lens became a privately held company, following acquisition
by Warburg Pincus and its assests were approximately $20 billion. B&L had become WP's
largest healthcare acquisition. The overall outlook was quite bleak, the outstanding was
200 days vs. a norm of 120, sales were de growing and customer confidence was as its
lowest.

Mr Wang had a feeling that the current India head was ready to leave because of these
and many other reasons. He tended to agree..the picture was not very promising!

He sighed, it was time to search again..he was getting a little tired of 'finding the right
man’. This time the challenge to get the right man was even more...he did not have any
scope for a wrong choice, as in he would not get any time to rectify a wrong choice. The
company was at a fork, if the right man was found to put the company together then a
successful though currently disturbed company could be quickly brought into track. If there
was slip at this juncture then the downward spiral could be very fast and uncontrollable.

He called up the latest head hunter company that Bay and Lens was using and talked to
the senior partner by the name of Patel there. Mr. Patel had worked with him when he was
working in Indonesia, through Patel's Asian office. Wang was very happy with the
researched work that this organization did and till now most of the top leaders that
Transpack Headhunters had placed in various organizations had only been doing well but
had also been fairly stable.10 out of the 12 Vice President level people that Patel had
placed were still working in the organizations that they had been placed and had shown
more growth than their predecessors.

He called Mr. Patel after asking his secretary to dig out his Indian number..Patel had been
working in India since 2006, another good factor. This way he would have a good idea of
the Asian and Indian markets and the senior people who worked in both.

Patel was pleasantly surprised to hear from Mr Wang. He had always liked his direct style
of talking and clear mandates. Another aspect of Mr. Wang that Patel appreciated was the

1
2* Acknowledgements to Vyaktitava and Mr Venkatesh Iyer for the opportuntiy to work with them 
in a consulting assignment which further opened the door for getting data, most of which forms the 
base of this case.
fact that he did not take too long to make decisions. Mr Wang always called himself a 'gut
man” which matched Patel's own views about making decisions based on intuition and gut
after looking at the facts in provided on paper...In his own organization Patel was known
for his famous 'chemistry matching' between the new incumbent and the hiring
organization. He was very clear...no chemistry match between the two, no hire.

“So Mr Wang, what is it, or rather who is it that you are looking for this time!”
It was a long time after which Patel put the phone down.
Patel was glad he had the 40 minutes that the phone call had required. Normally he would
have sent his researcher to talk to the person to get all the details before he entered the
picture..but this was logistically not possible; in any case Patel realized that this was
slightly more tricky that the other cases.

After the conversation he sat down with his folder and started writing...he was still more
comfortable with the pen for his initial jottings. He was very proud of the fact that he had
become computer savvy so fast..even at 55 he was better than a lot of young researchers
in his office, and for this he had B&L to thank for.However his initial jottings were still with
pen and paper.
After 90 minutes he looked at what he wrote down-he had made 2 lists, one for the
nd
problems currently being faced by B&L and 2 the wish list of skills that the new CEO
should have.

Patel sighed..he had a tough job on hand....to find a leader who could lead this company
out of the mess it found itself in. He rang up his best researcher, a young girl who had
recently joined them..too quiet for his liking but a great ability to be meticulous! Just as she
came in his phone rang...

When he put the phone down, he gave Madhavi the mandate..but in his heart of hearts he
knew he had found his man! Talk of coincidence, or destiny!

In a fortnight he put up 3 candidates for Mr Wang, knowing fully well whom he will put his
finger on....
It was just as he had predicted..Mr Wang chose and finalized Mr Suresh Rajan . Suresh
3* Acknowledgements to Vyaktitava and Mr Venkatesh Iyer for the opportuntiy to work with them 
in a consulting assignment which further opened the door for getting data, most of which forms the 
base of this case.
had worked in the Philippines and was a post graduate from a premier management
Institute viz. IIM-Ahmedabad. He had 17 years experience, mostly in Surgical equipments
and Pharmaceuticals and had been working for a medical device company in the
Philippines as Vice President. He had a good track record of increasing sales and overall
effectiveness of the company plus he had earned a nickname of the 'turnaround' man!

Mr Rajan took up the offer to join B&L, one reason being that he was looking for a entry
to come back to India, and this seemed a challenging assignment.It made coming back to
India worth his while.Of course it took him very little time to realize the huge mess the
organization was in. Alongside, he was also dealing with the challenges of the day to day
hassles of living in Gurgaon after living abroad.

He sat down and decided to do what any sensible person would do - call in the old timers
and get a true picture of this troubled organization badly in need of a facelift and a
turnaround.

He called the HR head Mr Dutta and asked him to give the names of the people who had
been in the company for more than 6 years. To his surprise and dismay he found only 6
people in the whole organization who had more than 6 years of service.
He decided to chat with each one of them....

The first person he called in was Mr Kapoor.Mr Kapoor had been in the organization for the
last 8 years and had been in Vcare throughpout. He had started as a sales executive and
was now a assistant manager.He had been in this post for the last 5years. He was not
looking very happy as he walked in. With a lot of small talk and making him comfotable,
Suresh started a conversation on the professional front.

Suresh: You 've been in the organization for longer than most, that must be giving a feeling
of comfort and satisfaction!
Kapoor: Yes, I have been here quite long,my wife keeps joking about my laziness!
Suresh: So, do you feel you have been lazy?
Kapoor: No! No! by laziness, she meant looking around for greener pastures.
suresh: Ah, That's what I thought. So, what do you think..do you agree with your wife?
Kapoor: Well, I like it here, I am fairly stable guy and dont like to change jobs without good

4* Acknowledgements to Vyaktitava and Mr Venkatesh Iyer for the opportuntiy to work with them 
in a consulting assignment which further opened the door for getting data, most of which forms the 
base of this case.
reason.
Suresh: So, then is it your boss that makes you want to look around, or your colleagues?
Kapoor: No No! My boss is very good, he knows his job and he gets his team to work quite
hard.....I dont hink I have major problems with my colleagues either...
suresh: So then....what is it?
Kapoor:No nothing really......
Hraish: Well something is bothering you, what is it.You can be honest....I need to know the
problems so I address them.
Kapoor: Well, my boss is good and even asks me for advice. I actually tell him what to do
many times and he listens. He has picked up a lot in the brief time he has been here.he is
doing a good job and I think he will stay in this position for at least 3 years!So I dont really
much to complain.I really dont have much to say.....

Just then Suresh got an important phone call from Hong Kong and had to abort the
interview.

The next person was from the regional office and had been in the surgical department.He
was an old timer who believed in the cultural drivers that B&L espoused (see annexure 7)
He was ethical and followed the rules of the game set by B&L worlwide. Mr Ahuja was
dissappointed in the new crop of people.They were aggressive and hungry, good aspects
for salespeople and did very well. But he was sure they were compromising.When they
failed to get an order 7 times out of 10, the reason for the failure was never the self, 8
times out of 10, the subordinate was quoted as the reason.
He seemed very ill at ease with what was happening and began to to open up to Suresh.

Suresh was getting more and more disheartened himself...the list seemed to keep growing
.It was already 7 pm and he had to travel to Mumbai and Chennai to visit these offices and
in the process also talk to a couple of old timers there.He was definitely not looking forward
to it....keeping the present scenario in mind. He asked on last question, thanked Mr Ahuja
and then prepared to leave.

Suresh reached Chennai in the middle of the afternoon and had lunch with the Head
there.Co-incidently, the head was Mr. Swamy, a veteran himself, with whom he had
planned to talk with anyway. Before he could even start talking, Mr Swamy started his own
5* Acknowledgements to Vyaktitava and Mr Venkatesh Iyer for the opportuntiy to work with them 
in a consulting assignment which further opened the door for getting data, most of which forms the 
base of this case.
tirade...'Look Mr.Rajan, many people are leaving and I have to quickly recruit more
people.I have recruited 5 more people in various levels in the organization.These new
incumbents are good and seem to be following the systematic way that has been set by
the international office.They have been achievers and are doing reasonably well.But the
new assistant manager in the visioncare department yesterday had a long talk with
me..though he is happy with his job, he feels he is not being able to achieve what he is
capapable of, with his experienced team members who have been there for much longer
than he has been.

Suresh left for Mumbai on the early morning flight hoping to to be able to finish by the
weekend..He was already feeling tired and slightly overwhlemed by the task in front of him.
Surprisingly, the Mumbai meeting was slightly better.Mr Murli was heading the office for the
time being till a new person was recrutied. Murli looked very comfortable and happy to wait
for the new person, and seemed at ease with the fact that he did not have to lead the
office..initially this looked positive and Suresh was relieved. He also wondered why Mr
Swamy was so unambitious.
Suresh entered mr Murli's room and saw that he was still using his old desk top.His office
looked slightly run down and Suresh was curious..he know that there were no cash flow
problems.Murli had some hard copies of literature of products lying on his table -Suresh
was surprised since according to his knowledge , all latest info had been sent via the net.

Suresh asked fo the latest sales figures and Murli called in one of his sales executives to
explain the figures.Suresh could see that this was a smart SR, but was surprised to see a
Sales rep in office on a Wednesady morning!
While Suresh sat in Murli's office, he realized this was a good way to observe the workings
of this region.While sitting there he realized that Murli was a well liked and respected man.
He was about to get up when the phone rang.Thinking it may be for him, suresh sat
down.It was catually Murli's assistant who was asking if he could meet Murli.At this, he
sensed that Murli was feeling very uncomfortable.When Suresh asked him why he said”
Your know Mr Rajan, this fellow is not performing well and keeps making excuses for his
lapses..can you tell him to straighten up? It is good that you are here. Suresh was once
again surprised!

Suresh had one more interview to go through.He thanked God it was in Delhi.At least he

6* Acknowledgements to Vyaktitava and Mr Venkatesh Iyer for the opportuntiy to work with them 
in a consulting assignment which further opened the door for getting data, most of which forms the 
base of this case.
could be back with his family whom he had barely seen since they had moved back to
India.On monday morning, Suresh felt much better..he felt rested and refreshed and was
ready to listen to more.

After going through the files and statements that usuallly kept coming in till lunch time, he
told his secretary to send in Mr Chugh who had come in from the Kolkatta office, the lone
oldie from there.
Mr Chugh was a middle aged man and initially reminded Suresh of Murli of the Mumbai
office. He seemed happy to be at B&L and did not look as if he had any problems being
the manager at the Kolkata office, in the surgical division.

Suresh: Good afternoon, Mr Chugh, I hope you had a good floght from Kolkata...its a long
flight.
Chugh: Oh the flight was fine, on time and comfortable;it was after I reached the airport
that everything became chaotic.The traffic was terrible, and it took me 2 hours to reach the
office , even though its not very far. I am glad I dont stay in Delhi.

Suresh:That's true, Gurgaon can be very chaotic, at any time of the day...you should see it
at 7 pm! Anyway, how is everything at the Kolkata office.How are sales?

Chugh: Oh Surgicals is doing very well! The bengalis read a lot ..I am sure thats why we
are doing quite well! Ha ha! Sales have increased since the last year and cataract
machines have been doing very well. My team is happy with their progress and
achievements.

Suresh: How is Vcare doing there? I believe there is a slight problem there?

Chugh: Oh I dont know about them much.We hardly see each them.Actually , Surgical
team meets every fornight in informal way and we chat and discuss our numbers.

Suresh: Well, how is Mr Sharan, he is heading VCare right?

Chugh: yes, he is , but I am sorry, I actually dont see him much. Their team goes off on
offsite meetings, they meet the HR guys, sometime.

7* Acknowledgements to Vyaktitava and Mr Venkatesh Iyer for the opportuntiy to work with them 
in a consulting assignment which further opened the door for getting data, most of which forms the 
base of this case.
suresh: Oh, How is the HR department, They seem to be doing a good job of keeping you
all informed of everthing that is happening.

Chugh: Well, I think thats all they do.I dont see them much..mostly the 4 of them sit
together and work and I dont recollect having too many conversations with them. But they
are better than the finance/ accounts department.

Suresh: why , whats wrong with accounts?

Chugh: Thay are very rude and behave as if the company's money is their's. We just get
messages from them and they take a lot of time in anything they do.To get the order
cleared from them takes at least 4 days, and by this time the customer is getting really
impatient. Sometimes customers even threaten to cancel the order.

Suresh: have to tried to talk to them. Organized a meeting or just met them informally?
Chugh: No, I dont know them that well to meet them informally, in any case they sit in a
different floor so we only see them when we have to go for some work.

Suresh: Why dont you think of some solutions to this problem and when I come there next
week, lets see what we can do.Do you have any thing to check with me?

Suresh decided to call a meeting with his HR department. He had got a picture of the
canvass .But he needed to enlarge it and start finding some kind of starting point to
problem solving.

8* Acknowledgements to Vyaktitava and Mr Venkatesh Iyer for the opportuntiy to work with them 
in a consulting assignment which further opened the door for getting data, most of which forms the 
base of this case.