Words of Wisdom

Updated on: Wednesday, November 23, 2011

XLRI School of Business & Human Resources, one of the premier B Schools in India, recently held its 20th JRD Tata Oration on Business Ethics. The oration was held at the Tata Auditorium.

Laxman Narasimhan, director, McKinsey and Company, delivered the oration theme – ‘Values in a Turbulent World’.
XLRI School of Business and Human Resources in association with some of the Tata Companies established the JRD Tata Foundation in Business Ethics in 1991 to mark their long-standing commitment and contribution to business ethics in India.

The Foundation seeks to address itself by publicly affirming the urgent need for ethics in business and the need to bring about an appropriate culture in which it can thrive. Since an increasing number of organisations are realising the importance of ethics in business in today’s world, Corporate Social Responsibility is the need of the hour.

H M Nerurkar, MD, Tata Steel & chairman, XLRI Board of Governors said, “In a time of increasing ethical ambivalence, JRD Tata’s business ethics is particularly illuminating. He held the leadership of the Tata Group of companies for 52 long years and upheld his high ethical business standards even under business exigencies.”

Delivering his oration Laxman Narasimhan, director, McKinsey and Company said, “It is a privilege to be able to speak to you at a platform that recognises JRD Tata’s distinctive contributions in shaping an ethical approach to business.”

In his speech, he emphasised on three key messages:

    Global forces are transforming the world, making companies and some institutions more global and the world smaller and more connected
    These changes will challenge companies and institutions to consistently operate with a commitment to ethics and values, with significant downside potential, if managed poorly, and real upside potential
    At a personal level, leaders require an entirely new level of consistency, sensitivity and speed in their judgments, actions and responses in the “grey” of the multiple operating environments that they will find themselves in around the globe

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