COVID gave birth to new kind of collaborations, says author Nitin Rakesh

The recently-launched book, Transformation in Times of Crisis was co-authored by Nitin Rakesh, CEO of Mphasis  – an Information Technology solutions provider specialising in cloud and cognitive services — and Jerry Wind, Lauder Professor Emeritus and Professor of Marketing, Wharton School. 

​Published by Notion Press, the book carefully outlines the eight key principles for creating opportunities and value in the post-pandemic world.
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What led you to write the book?

The pandemic induced disruption came in as a tipping point for everyone in the ecosystem. The idea behind the conception of Transformation in Times of Crisis, was to share across some best practices, learnings, opinions and experiences in creating a learning mechanism. We wanted to architect a hand guide with practical concepts that would reach larger audiences and enable them to balance the view point in this era of disruption. Devised as a business management and leadership book specifically for these unprecedented times, the book offers an adaptive guide on capturing opportunity in the midst of crisis with eight key principles that add significant value.

Could you highlight yours and Jerry Wind’s contributions in the book?

Jerry and I have brought in our considerable combined expertise to create a practical guide for business leaders, organisations, and the entrepreneurs of tomorrow on how to create opportunities to transform in times of crisis. We have synthesised and put together a plethora of examples across sectors, sizes, maturity levels, as well as legacy firms and digital natives. The powerful combination of Jerry’s analytical insights as a seasonal academician and the holistic outlook I was able to develop over the years by servicing myriad Fortune 500 clients enabled us to devise a path for enterprises and individuals.

Tell us about your organisation and its strategies to survive the pandemic?

Mphasis applies technology to help enterprises transform businesses globally. Mphasis’ approach helps enterprises pivot towards being a customer focused agile organisations, with strong focus on experience, while carrying along the rest of the legacy organisation through the application of digital technologies, enabling businesses to stay ahead in a changing world. As the world comes to terms with the pandemic, we laid down a strategic framework to overcome the pandemic with utmost care for our clients as well as our workforce. In addition to complying with the various directives from local governments and public health authorities, we also extended our online collaboration capabilities to drive innovation on ground.

Tell us about digital transformation that the pandemic has brought forward.

As Lenin rightly quoted that, ‘There are decades where nothing happens and there are weeks where decades happen’, this pandemic spearheaded the explosion of innovations and digital transformation which were at the brim of the fore. Sectors be it e-commerce, telemedicine, contactless drone delivery, On-the-go education, underwent a tremendous shift and outperformed during the crisis. The pandemic is a major accelerant that disrupted the DNA of every traditional business model and gave birth to a new way of collaborations and innovations.

Powerful minds

The book brings forward powerful Jerry Wind’s analytical insights as a seasonal academician and my  holistic outlook of many years

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