Soul Searching For Air India

Shradha Bhatia

This article considers the problem of establishing a brand's purpose - a statement that makes equal sense to customers, shareholders, present and future staff that answers a key question: 'why do we exist?'.

Soul Searching For Air India

Shradha Bhatia Landor

In their 1982 book, In Search of Excellence, Thomas Peters and Robert Waterman quote an anonymous company executive who told them: "Profit is like health. You need it, and the more the better. But it's not why you exist."

In the intervening 33 years, the single-minded company objective of 'maximising shareholder return' has come in for increasing scrutiny.

Bearing in mind that a public company has to set objectives that make sense to its owners, its staff, potential staff, financial analysts and commentators, what advice would you give to a chief...

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