24 June, 2007

process to empathy ratio

Knowledge@Wharton: Would you explain the concept of the process to empathy ratio?

Bagchi: Yes. This is actually not a scientific explanation. I, like any MBA, would talk about P/E ratios [price-equity ratios]. You talk about one of the indicators of the financial health of an organization through P/E ratios. When I was raising MindTree, one day it occurred to me that we were putting too much of an emphasis on process and building of process and process as an enabler. I found that the Human Resources folks -- we actually call them People Function folks in MindTree -- were becoming more process-centric, and process does not solve all problems. Process works only when it is given life through empathy. I didn't know how to drive home the point, and then it occurred to me that we could have a different take on the P/E ratio concept. I called those folks and said that we need to balance every process with empathy. Think of it as a new way of looking at the P/E ratio. Deal with every situation partly by looking at process and partly by looking at empathy.

Subroto Bagchi
http://knowledge.wharton.upenn.edu/india/article.cfm?articleid=4188

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