CII Communique July 2011

tributeRemembering Eli...Chandrajit Banerjee,Director General, CII,recalls CII’s long andfruitful relationship withthe Management GuruIn November 1999, CII’s Quality Summit presented theTheory of Constraints to Indian Industry by inviting Dr EliGoldratt to India. His hour-long address in New Delhi waspowerful, loud and clear. Eli Goldratt and his Theory ofConstraints gradually gained popularity after that.We had met Eli in his home in the Netherlands threemonths earlier, to invite him to address the Summit, as hewas particularly insistent that if we needed him in India,we would need to convince him ‘why’ we needed him.That meeting lasted five hours, followed by an eveningmeal. Selling India to him was easy.. the next step wasselling TOC to India ...Eli invested in India based on his faith and belief in theIndian corporate sector. He believed that Indian CEOshave a high degree of commitment based on a longterm vision and are willing to work very hard for atleast two to three years to transform their companiesthrough TOC.The TOC is a new way of thinking, consistent with TotalQuality Management. Indian Industry, which was alreadypracticing TQM, found it relatively easier to adopt thisconcept. Eli worked with some of our large membercompanies and made a big impact. These companiesbelieve that turning to TOC made a huge difference! Eliwas motivated to spend even more time in India.He spent good quality time in India to develop capacity:publishing and releasing books, selling videos, creatingnet-based services leading to successful companiesand TOC champions... He also conducted publicseminars and worked with companies to help in thecontextualization of TOC for India. He appreciated andrespected Indian values and culture and evolved solutionsthat would work for India. Under Eli’s guidance, someof the world’s best TOC experts also worked in India tocreate ‘TOC learning and practicing companies.’A decade later, in 2009, Narayan Sethuramon, ManagingDirector, WS Industries, brought CII and Eli together fora three day seminar ‘Now and in the Future’ in NewDelhi. CII partnered with Goldratt Consulting for theseminar, and with the Tata Management Training Centrefor promoting TOC training programmes and events.Each of his seminars became a book launch event, ashe wrote everything that he experienced, and felt thatwould help people get better insights into solving theirproblems.In the last few years, there was urgency in him. Consciousof the fact that most people in his family did not survivebeyond the age of 60, once he reached that age, hestarted preparing for the end. Even when he was dying,every conscious moment was spent at his computer,working on his two books. He called people whom hewanted to teach whatever he had not been able to do, tohis death bed. Eli refused to take chemotherapy, becausehe wanted his mind to be focused and clear. He did notstop smoking his pipe, although he was battling lungcancer, to keep his mind functional and focused till theend – so that he could continue to share his ideas!CII salutes Eli, the teacher, and believes that thespark he lit will continue to glow…Our President, MrMuthuraman, and President Designate, Mr Adi Godrej,had approached Eli to seek some of his time and helpto set up a new initiative, the ‘TOC Club India,’ to helpspread TOC to the non-corporate sector – schools,entrepreneurs. The CII Institute of Quality intends totake this idea forward in the days to come.Communiqué July 2011 | 19