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The result was traumatic on many employees who had no idea why the person was asked to go. Some, who knew the background, felt that we were being unduly harsh. Only over time did people realize that we meant what we said and values were things that we did not take lightly.

After learning about the importance of values over culture from Professors Laitamakki and Chandra, we were much more at ease. The job of management is to set the values and walk the talk - you do not want to worry about culture. If people live the values, the culture can take care of itself. However, for a newly created organization that attracts talent from a host of different entities, the challenge can be significant as people invariably bring their own baggage and creating a common or shared understanding of the values can be a long and arduous process. Leaders need to budget for both.

Storm Clouds on the Horizon...

January 2001. We were running full steam ahead with e-Business implementation work in the U.S. and India. Work was flowing in nicely. We were busy building infrastructure and channeling organizational value clarification. The company had exceeded its fiscal target handsomely and the thinking was clear that the next year we would double our numbers. It was also a time to rethink the offerings on the enterprise side of the house.

Being a pure play e-business company was not going to scale. On one hand, e-business was promising to become ubiquitous. On the other hand, as dot coms were fizzling out, large enterprise customers were asking for a basket of competencies and not just niche capabilities. We were seeing the need not only to expand our portfolio but also to prepare for the next round of growth and geographic expansion.

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Subroto Bagchi is co-founder and Chief Operating Officer for MindTree Consulting (P) Ltd. The "Making of the MindTree" is told in the first person by Subroto Bagchi. In condensed form, it was published by Business World, filmed by InfiniTV, and aired on CNBC, IT Hour. Websites: www.mindtree.com & www.mindtree.com/subrotobagchi