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Tech wreck

B. S. Raghavan

A NOVEL kind of conference held at Aspen, Colarado (US) took note of the hollowness typical of the hardsell of tool-kits, both for better corporate governance and smoother computer performance. The theme chosen for the conference was succinctly and succu lently titled `Tech Wreck'. It was a gathering of those who had been in the grip of a state of alarm for some time over their being taken for a ride by untested `solutions' for various real or supposed problems arising in executive suites in managing cor porates or in SOHOs (small office home offices) grappling with the misbehaviour of computers.

In their eagerness to be at the cutting edge of new knowledge and technology, senior managers of an average company fell for 10 of the most hyped 25 tools in 2000, only to be overtaken by a terrible sense of let down. Gateway, well-known for its computer products, put its blind faith in the hyperbole surrounding programmes such as market disruption analysis, corporate venturing and customer relationship management, only to find all its forecasts going awry and its stock price falling to $15 from $50, co mpelling it to fire its CEO and layoff 3000 workers.

An enquiry into the practical worth of each of the management tools used by Gateway showed that corporate venturing was abandoned by 45 per cent of those who plumped for it, the defection rate of market disruption analysis came close to it, with the much trumpeted customer relationship management having the third lowest satisfaction score.

It is not that those peddling them were deliberately lying or cheating, but that, in their anxiety to beat competition or their greed for a fast buck, they packaged their ``solutions'' as the last word, while in reality they were formulae hastily and imp ulsively put together hoping for the best. What was all the more galling in this disturbing scenario was that the kits, flaunted with fancy claims, carried incredibly heavy price tags. That was what made the subsequent frustrations with the ``solutions'' unbearable for the users.

The reasons behind so many solutions turning out to be flops were two-fold. One, their developers were unversed in the handling of real life management situations or inadequately familiar with the temperamental nature of computers. They normally dressed up old aphorisms in new jargon. (`Scenario planning' for `Look before you leap'!) The other, even in advanced countries, there is as yet no infallible guide, like the Consumer Reports for manufactured products, to evaluate the toolkits and ``solutions'' and advise managers on the costs, benefits and risks.

In their absence, one has to go by opinion surveys. For instance, the Bain's Management Tools and Techniques survey conducted with the participation of over 5,600 experienced executives round the world, comes to the startling conclusion that 81 per cent of them were in no mood to put their trust in any of the new-fangled stuff.

The position is similar in regard to the various downloads by the dozen that various portals are offering often for free. They promise with abandon to instal, tone up or set right all manner of things. It is high time an agency such as Nasscom made it it s business to separate the chaff from grain.