L&T : FIVE DECADES OF ORGANISATIONAL WATERSHEDS AND BEYOND

EVER-EXPANDING HORIZONS

In its short history of half a century, L&T has acquired a multi-faceted corporate personality of its own. Modern and professional. Vibrant and forward-looking, sound and steady. The inherent and persistent process of "perestroika" has always kept the forces of stagnation at bay. The metamorphosis of L&T has radically transformed it in its size and structure, while consolidating its cultural and professional roots. Over the years, its family of people has grown overwhelmingly, in number and skills.

with growth and expansion ensued the logical decentralisation and organizational restructuring. The need for long range planning became increasingly pertinent with fast changing dynamics of the environment around. "Liberalisation" has now already become the "in-word" of the GoI' s industrial policy and with that the private corporate sector's implicit need for defining its moves - quickly but cautiously.

The L&T conglomerate keeps itself resuscitating as the new opportunities emerge. But opportunities also bring along threats. Sellers' markets are growingly becoming buyers'. Many a traditional line of businesses are busy reviewing their strengths, while the name of the game is "diversification". This will obviously necessitate re-evaluating and strengthening our organisational, financial, managerial, marketing, and planning logistics.

The organisational/structural transformation of L&T, over 50 years, will come into focus as we begin to think about our strategies on the shape of things to come. How has this metamorphosis broadly charted?

At this juncture of its history, L&T is well on the throes of further exploding its universe of multi­dimensionality. Needless to: say, such multiplicity offers L&T a unique place on India’s corporate map. L&T’s exploding universe would envisage: 

This universe of L&T would increasingly cater to many more spheres of human life - in terms of goods and services. It would encompass as many sectors of economy as discussed in latter- chapters.

with this exploding universe we would now need to equip ourselves adequately and efficiently to lay foundation for an "innovation-oriented" management structure to create the "most diversified Indian company" of the twenty first century. Let us have a glance at the edifice of various major organisational developments that took place till now from L&T's inception.

The foundation-to-new foundation tower* records the organisation watersheds that should initiate our march towards the goal.

While facing the challenges of time and becoming the time-shapers rather than time-watchers, we shall need to define our corporate mission to broadly guide our future moves.