AUTHORS: R. GOPALAKRISHNAN, DR. TULSI JAYAKUMAR
PUBLISHER: RUPA PUBLICATIONS INDIA
Corporate failures are not uncommon and have occurred on numerous occasions. While lack of adequate skills and governance regulations may be contributing factors to such an outcome, social aspects and ill behaviour in boardrooms also play a major role.
Inside the Boardroom: How Behaviour Trumps Rationality is a business handbook that highlights behavioural intricacies that, at times, outperform rationality, resulting in corporate failures.
The book presents magical mantras for CEOs and persons in positions of authority in order to promote reasonable behaviour in boardrooms and avoid company downfalls caused by misgovernance. Inside the Boardroom meticulously exposes the warning signals and acts that lead to such a disaster while investigating a profusion of examples of company downfalls. Moreover, the book includes the writers’ personal experiences with boardroom behaviour. The examples provided in the book also include that of the failure of India’s largest private airline owing to bankruptcy, as well as that of the bank which was not able to say no to its clients who defaulted on large loans.
The writers boldly assert that corporate directors’ activities are not always as reasonable as is often believed or expected. They are tinted with subjective feelings and behavioural biases as they are humans in the midst of many demands and forces of power, passion, and authority.
Inside the Boardroom is thus a must-read for anybody seeking a thorough understanding of the modern business world, particularly its governance. Furthermore, the writers’ bold and ‘no holds barred’ attitude has loaded the book with interesting experiences and unvarnished statements, making it a riveting read.
Over the past 35 years, R. Gopalakrishnan has served on more than twenty-five company boards in various capacities such as CEO, executive director, non-executive director, chairman of the board, and independent director in India and around the world.
His extensive board experience has enabled him to observe the evolution of corporate governance, from its initial stirrings in the 1990s to its more comprehensive form today. Moreover, Inside the Boardroom is Gopal’s eighteenth book.
Dr. Tulsi Jayakumar is a Professor of Finance and Economics at Bhavan’s S.P. Jain Institute of Management & Research (SPJIMR) in Mumbai and the Executive Director of the Institute’s Centre for Family Business & Entrepreneurship. Her research interests are diverse, with a particular emphasis on behavioural economics and family business. She has vast experience working with family businesses and is a member of various industrial bodies. She is also a thought leader who frequently contributes to the media. Inside the Boardroom is her third book
