Surviving in the Corporate Jungle: A Backpacker’S Guide

By Ashok Kumar Bhatia

The corporate jungle is full of lion-like bosses whose roar could chill your nerves of steel from a distance. It is also inhabited by lionesses who might take you under their wings and protect you from many a catastrophe, much like they would protect a cub of theirs.

This book is a compilation of tactics you can use to not only survive but also do well in the corporate jungle. It is intended to amuse, entertain, and educate. It is a lighthearted take on the art and science of management, from the jaundiced perspective of someone who is still learning it!

It offers quite a few gems of wisdom meant for managers and entrepreneurs of all hues, sizes, and shapes. They could be the aspiring kind, the practicing and tired kind, or the retired kind.

Glum chief executive officers, hassled by the harsh slings and arrows of managing a business, might get motivated to look at the sunnier side of life upon leafing through some of its contents.

Nail-biting aspiring managers may understand how to successfully navigate their way through the corporate jungle. They might also get prompted to develop an inner compass based on personal values, leading to better levels of satisfaction, happiness and fulfillment.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Partridge Publishing India
• Release date: Mar 2, 2017
• ISBN: 9781482888492

Ashok Kumar Bhatia

Ashok Kumar Bhatia is a corporate generalist and a management counselor. He is passionate about sharing the wisdom acquired by him in his career spanning over four decades. A post-graduate in Physics and in Business Administration, he says he suffers from Professoritis and Wodehousitis. He lives in Pondicherry, India. His blog posts can be found at www.ashokbhatia.wordpress.com.

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Copyright © 2017 by Ashok Kumar Bhatia.

Illustrations by Upendra Ratra

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced by any means, graphic, electronic, or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, taping or by any information storage retrieval system without the written permission of the author except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.

Because of the dynamic nature of the Internet, any web addresses or links contained in this book may have changed since publication and may no longer be valid. The views expressed in this work are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the publisher, and the publisher hereby disclaims any responsibility for them.

www.partridgepublishing.com/india

THE BACKPACKER’S KIT

Book Endorsements

A Note Of Caution…….

Author’s Note

Advertising

Adjusting To Company Culture

Aggressiveness

Analysis Paralysis

Art Of Creative Dissatisfaction

Auditors

Being Accessible

Being An Ostrich

Being Unreasonable

Bell Curve And Performance Appraisals

Big Fish In Smaller Outfits

Blunders, Handling Of

Bosses– Meet Them Halfway Through

Brand Building

Burnouts

Business Schools

Calling Back Yourself

Cheating And Creativity

Circularity Leading To Sustainability

Compromises

Complacency

Conflicts, Resolving

Consultants

Corporate Strategy

Creative Accounting

Decision Making

Delegation

Designations

Detachment

Director, Being One

Discretion

Draupadi Syndrome (Facing A Multi-Boss Challenge)

Education

Ethics And Values

Environment

Excuses

Fat, Reduction Of

Favours

Fear And Courage

Female Power

Filing First Information Reports

Financial Markets

Fire In The Belly

Get-Togethers

Grapevines

Hiring And Firing

His Master’s Voice

Hr 2.0

Imovation

Intellectual Freedom

Interpersonal Relationships

Incentives

Job Labels

Jumping To Conclusions

Kiss Frequently

Leaders

Legal Eagles

Logic Vs. Emotion

Loneliness Blues

Managers

Management Lessons From India

Marketing

Meetings

Mediocrity Vs. Excellence Vs. Perfection

Micromanaging

Moral Compass

Networking

Organization Structures

Overstaying One’s Welcome

Packages

People

Performance Evaluation

Planning

Policies

Politicians

Promises

Promotions

Praise And Reprimand

Procrastination

Public Relations

Quality

Quantitative Approach

Questionnaire

Quotients

Responsibility Of Dissent

Retiring

Romantic Escapades

Secretaries

Seniority, Respect For

Shooting From The Hip

Stress

Succession Planning

Sustainability

Talent

Targets, Goals

Teams

Terror

Thanks!

Time, Managing

Underground Cable Connections

Vacations

‘Vice’ Presidents

Visibility

Weaknesses – Market Them!

Wealth – Creation Of

Whistleblowers

Work Life Balance

Working Hours

Xerox

X, Y, And Z

Yes-Men

Zombies

Zoo Organizations

Some Jungle Aphorisms (The Backpacker’s Kit: Summarized)

Some Brickbats And Bouquets

A Word About The Author

BOOK ENDORSEMENTS

There is no dearth of books on Management. However, Mr Bhatia’s book ‘Surviving in the Corporate Jungle’ soothes the frayed nerves of a manager with fresh insight in challenging situations. He communicates the serious messages with humour and wisdom. It is bound to leave you not only chuckling but also wiser and smarter.

Sandip Choudhury

Regional Finance Shared Service Lead (VP) North America, Mylan Inc.,Southpointe, PA, USA

Management is both a discipline of human knowledge and a practice with profound impact on our daily lives. We learn about it in classrooms but also in stories and little notes containing the wit, the humour and the salt and pepper that really make a difference at the end of the day. Ashok’s book makes one think, smile and reflect over our organisational lives taking us by the hand with delightful kindness into a realm of effectiveness but also of compassionate empathy by those who share our time and our space.

Jose Fonseca

Dean School of Business and Social Sciences of Universidade Europeia of Lisbon, Portugal

For those who worry too much about the managerial challenges in their careers, here is a ready reckoner which will not only provide a fresh perspective but also bring a smile to their frown. Highly insightful, amusing and at some points hilarious, such as the entry on Boss – Meet him halfway through"!

Paul Griffiths

Strategy and Knowledge Management expert; Director, Latin America at Lafferty Group; Partner, Corporate Edge, Chile

"It took me barely two days to read the Portuguese version of this book dedicated to an additional type of animals: organizations! In an entertaining way I could remember several situations where I have observed such behaviors inside organizations as an employee, an investor, a board member and a teamneurs.

I am especially pleased that the author has used the metaphor of jungle to share knowledge instead of using the violent metaphors which usually come from war references.

The flair of the season these days is entrepreneurship. It is a new religion in an era which appears to belong to Start Ups of all sizes and shapes. It also helps to reduce the burden of unemployment that our governments face. Whether for entrepreneurs or for career oriented managers, the book shows a fast 360º way to navigate the choppy waters in which Homo Organizationum operate."

Marco Paulo Abrunhosa Cardoso

A wisdom seeker, Kotka, Finland.

At CEO World, I get to handle diversities of various kinds - cultural, national, industrial, commercial, gender-related, age-related, and the like. This brilliant work helped me to understand how I can leverage the differences between giraffes and elephants, while building an harmonious jungle". It is impossible to not to finish the book in 1 or 2 days. Revisiting the book reminds us about simple principles that have a huge impact! All of this with a great humour!"

Miguel Dias

Founder & CEO, CEO World, Portugal

Having spent over three decades in the corporate, one can empathize with the professionals who have to tread their paths with much caution. Some stretches are sunlit, many others are deeply wooded, dark and ominous. This book captures not only the strategic thinking but also the tactical skills required to navigate one’s way to success, inner satisfaction, happiness and most importantly - peace. If the objective is to work and produce results in all situations, this unique compilation of witty aphorisms and concepts shows one how to do it.

C S Dwivedi

(Vice President – Manufacturing & Corporate Planning, HCL Infosystems Limited, India)

This book is

dedicated to

my late parents

who laid the foundation of my life and career.

A NOTE OF CAUTION…….

The corporate world is labelled as a jungle, for no one single species rule it. It is a world of its own, with immense variety of personalities, behaviours, systems, cultures and hues often resulting in a canvas which is so very kaleidoscopic, defying a clear definition. Experienced observers who have lived in the jungle, management students, researchers and professors, all