LAGAAN AND MANAGEMENT

An Entrepreneur is a person who organizes and manages a business undertaking, assuming the risk for the sake of the profit. He/she is a founder, opportunity seeker, the creator and initiator, the leader, problem solver and motivator, the strategizer and guardian of the mission, values and culture of the venture. Without this human energy, drive and vitality, the greatest ideas even when they are backed by an overabundance of resources will fail, grossly underperform or simply never get off the ground. The core difference lies in the intangibles : creativity, ingenuity, commitment, tenacity, determination, a passion to win and excel and leadership and team building skills. These are the skills that were exhibited by Bhuvan throughout the conquest of his dreams. When Bhuvan was challenged to a cricket match, it was observed that every other person was against the challenge and wanted to back off. Even after having Bhuvan accepted the challenge the villagers initially wanted to beseech the King to ensure withdrawal of the challenge. In this entire furor, only on person remained unruffled and that Bhuvan himself. He was a risk taker and could detect the opportunity in the challenge which was perceived as a problem by all. Bhuvan was guided by his intrinsic and extrinsic values that provided him the right direction and impetus in realizing his goals. Bhuvan is the epitome of determination and dedication and symbolizes effective opportunity identification and assessment. The following diagram represents the pursuit of opportunity by Bhuvan:-

Throughout the film Bhuvan had been applying the 14 principles of management enlisted by Henry Fayol directly or indirectly. Following table depicts the method in which Bhuvan applied the 14 principles : -

Principles of Management Division of Work

Detail

Bhuvan ensured that his team members specialized in certain aspects and continuously improved their skills in that aspect. For eg: - Goli was specialized in bowling. Authority Bhuvan had clear authority over others and played the key role in deciding his team members and structure of the team. For eg:- Bhuvan displayed his authority while deciding to recruit Kachra, in spite of opposition from other team members. Discipline Bhuvan provided good leadership and hence received complete allegiance and obedience from his team members. Bhuvan also inculcated discipline through vigorous training, which used to take place during night as well. Unity of Command All team members had just one supervisor and there was no conflict of command. Unanimously team members had accepted Bhuvan as their leader and concurred with his decisions. Unity of Direction Bhuvans team members had the same set of activities underlying a common objective. When Bhuvan felt that his team members were loosing sight of the objective, he reiterated that the objective was not to win or lose a game, but to win the battle against the Britishs tyranny. Subordination of Bhuvan inspired his team members to see that the goal of the community Individual Interest was paramount, which was reflected by his team members too. Never in his action did Bhuvan put himself before the dreams of the community. Remuneration Bhuvan explained his community clearly that should they be able to achieve their goal, they achieve a peaceful and blissful life for 3 years sans any tax. Centralization Bhuvan had to maintain a high level of Centralization in the team since he had realized that there was huge dependency on his competencies, but at the same time each member had equal rights to voice opinion. Scalar Chain Bhuvan maintained an authority over the team. However, he ensured that there was no loss of communication within the team and everyone felt equally responsible for the achievement of the goals. Order Bhuvan maintained order in the team by careful selection and training of his team members. On the exposure of Lakhas deceit he did well to bring order back in the team as well as in the village. Equity Bhuvan personified kindness and justice when he drafted Kachra to join the team purely on basis of his skills and potential. Stability of Tenure Bhuvan expressed stability and security to Lakha, which resulted in his of Personnel high performance during the fag end of the movie. Also, inspite of the weaknesses of other players like Ishwar and Bagha, he always encouraged and supported them. Initiative Bhuvan allowed Deva to showcase his skills even though it might have

Esprit de corps

diluted his own personal vanity. Thus, reflecting that he encouraged his team members to take initiative which showcased strength of the team. Bhuvan backed his team to the hilt, even when they made errors. He was willing to give Kachra a second chance despite the skepticism of others. He knew that Kachra can be a match-winner - and Kachra did eventually prove him right.

Lagaan is an epic epitomizing extraordinary feats by ordinary people who rise to the occasion and showcase the strength embedded in the concept of Team. There are myriad lessons that Lagaan enunciates, which can be imbibed in our professional as well as personal life. I strongly believe that broadly categorizing, Lagaan has the following lessons for each one of us : -

By :

NAME - ARPAN MALLIK ROLL NO. 026 MBA(FINANCIAL MARKETS)