Lesson # 38 : Are businessmen like footballers?

Imagine a football team. There's the goal keeper and then there's the line of defence, the mid fielders, the defenders and the strikers.

Now there's going to be a whole bunch of people on this team. There's going to be people who have a whole lot of skills that others don't posses. There are going to be some that a player himself doesn't have. And then there's going to be one of those star players whose in himself almost perfect. Probably someone like a Messi or a Pele.

Drawing a parallel and looking at the corporate sector as a whole. Imagine each and every businessman like a footballer.

There's going to be the goalkeeper whose the last line of defence. The guy on whom everyone's hope rests and whom everyone depends upon. When you look at the economy this guy is probably going to be the guy or gal running the banks. Be it private or government. Whether it's an SBI (State Bank of India) or an Axis or an ICICI. Like the goalkeepers these are the custodians of cash. 

Then there's a line of defence. Of businessmen who have been in a business for a very long time and like to play it safe. They have diversified over a period of time but they have never let go of their core business or have never really tried to go beyond their so called safe zone. These guys are the old war horses. Examples include Infosys's Nandan Nilekani and Narayan Murthy and Wipro's Azim Premji.

As the ball passes down from here it goes to the mid field. The midfielder controls a greater part of the way the game works and so the mid field is going to be a bunch of companies in the economy that are large. So large that a single malfunction can set the economy in turmoil. The midfielders in the economy are going to be Mukesh Ambani and Anil Ambani with their gems RIL and Reliance respectively. Coupled with Ratan Tata of the Tata group and Kumar Mangalam Birla of the Aditya Birla Group.

There's going to be the two wingers on either side who are going to be the guys who are forever reliable to launch an attack. These are the guys who will take a corner or a free kick. The guy or the company who does this has to have the same impact in the economy. An example would be that of Analjit Singh of Max and Malvinder and Shaivender Singh of Religare.

And finally there's the line of the Strikers. These guys are smart and magical both with their footwork and their technique. Often creating goal scoring opportunities out of nowhere and scoring goals out of not so brilliant balls. These guys are the star performers on the team. And as much as we would like to give it to a corporate. This award goes out to the Enterpreneur. The Big and the Small. He/she who dares to be different and who dares to make a difference. 

And finally there's the referee the decider of the wrong and the right. We'll give this to the RBI who takes all the major decisions and makes all the rules.

The playing stadium are the stock markets where each of these companies are listed.

The audience is the average consumer who must pick a brand. A side which he must remain loyal to.

So are businessmen like footballers? 

Perhaps yes.

- Doodle