Professor Bala V Balachandran (1937-2021) was the founder, chairman and dean emeritus of Great Lakes Institute of Management in Chennai, India
Following receiving his undergraduate and post graduate degrees in Maths and Statistics at Annamalai University in his birth State of Tamil Nadhu, a young Bala Balachandran followed the path of many bright young Indians in the 1960s and moved to the US where he had a very successful academic and management consulting career ending as Professor Emeritus of Accounting Information and Management at the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University (which was ranked the #3 US business school in 2025 ). However he always yearned to establish a business school in his home state of Tamil Nadhu which could offer management training courses (equivalent to an MBA in the US) . This wish became a reality when in 2004 he founded Great Lakes Institute of Management in Chennai whilst continuing his professorial role at Kellogg. Under his guidance, until he passed away at the age of 85 in 2021, the Institute has gone from strength to strength. Great Lakes has been accredited by the Association of MBAs in the UK. It is the youngest and 7th institute in India to get accreditation from this association. Great Lakes is also accredited by the South Asian Quality Assurance System and by the US based Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business which is one of the three bodies authorised to accredit business schools.My interview with Professor Bala is contained within my book, "Profiles in Enterprise - inspiring stories of Indian business leaders" published by Roli books in 2015 ((https://rolibooks.com/).Please note that these interviews took place some time ago - over 25 years ago in the case of the South East Asian life story book and around 10 to 15 years ago in the case of the two Indian life story books. However, their stories are correct to the time of the interviews and the objective is to demonstrate the entrepreneurial skills they exhibited at the time of the interviews in building their businesses.
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Alluri Venkata Sathyanarayana Raju (born 18 April 1937), commonly known as AVS Raju is the founder chairman of Hyderabad headquartered Nagarjuna Construction Company Ltd.
AVS Raju (born 1937) is certainly one of the most unique businessmen I have met. Not only is he obsessed with punctuality in a country where being on time is the exception rather than the rule but he is also a deeply spiritual man and a devout follower of the late His Holiness Bhagawan Sri Sathya Sai Baba who passed away at the age of 85 in 2011. So devout in fact that AVS has written over 17,000 short poems on this guru. When I interviewed AVS in 2007 his poems had been compiled to create a book over one meter high!My interview with AVS Raju is contained within my book, "Added Value - the life stories of Indian business leaders" published by Roli books in 2010 ((https://rolibooks.com/).Please note that these interviews took place some time ago - over 25 years ago in the case of the South East Asian life story book and around 10 to 15 years ago in the case of the two Indian life story books. However, their stories are correct to the time of the interviews and the objective is to demonstrate the entrepreneurial skills they exhibited at the time of the interviews in building their businesses.
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Narayana Murthy, born 1946, is one of the seven co-founders of Infosys, the leading global technology company
Nagavara Ramarao Narayana Murthy (born 20 August 1946) is an Indian businessman. He is one of the seven co-founders of the leading global technology company, Infosys and was at different times its chairman, chief executive officer, president, and chief mentor before retiring and becoming chairman emeritus.Murthy has been listed among the 12 greatest entrepreneurs of our time by Fortune magazine. He has been described as the "father of the Indian IT sector" by Time magazine and CNBC for his contribution to outsourcing in India. Murthy has been honoured with the Padma Vibhushan and Padma Shri awards. He is the father-in-law of Rishi Sunak, who was Prime Minister of the UK from 2022 to 2024.My interview with Professor Swaminathan is contained within my book, "Added Value - the life stories of Indian business leaders" published by Roli books in 2010 ((https://rolibooks.com/).Please note that these interviews took place some time ago - over 25 years ago in the case of the South East Asian life story book and around 10 to 15 years ago in the case of the two Indian life story books. However, their stories are correct to the time of the interviews and the objective is to demonstrate the entrepreneurial skills they exhibited at the time of the interviews in building their businesses.
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Professor MS Swaminathan (1925-2023) - the father of India's green revolution
Professor Swaminathan died at the age of 98 in 2023. He was an extraordinary man and it is said his skills in genetic engineering and his powers of persuasion made famine an unfamiliar word in Asia. There is a memorable story of his encounter with the formidable Prime Minister Indira Gandhi who initially refused to allow him to take up what for him was the role of a life time as Director General of the International Rice Research Institute in the Philippines. The few words of advice he gave me as I was leaving his apartment after the interview have had a deep and lasting impact on me.My interview with Professor Swaminathan is contained within my book, "Added Value - the life stories of Indian business leaders" published by Roli books in 2010 ((https://rolibooks.com/).Please note that these interviews took place some time ago - over 25 years ago in the case of the South East Asian life story book and around 10 to 15 years ago in the case of the two Indian life story books. However, their stories are correct to the time of the interviews and the objective is to demonstrate the entrepreneurial skills they exhibited at the time of the interviews in building their businesses.
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Sengkham Phinith (1940-2022), civil engineer and former Vice Minister of Construction of Lao PDR
Sengham Phinith was born on 2 December, 1940 near the Lao capital, Vientianne. He trained as a civil engineer rising to Vice Minister of Construction before being falsely accused, dismissed and exiled to a remote region for four years. The way he dealt with this cruel experience is inspirational. On his release in 1988 he founded a civil engineering consulting firm. He passed away on 31 January, 2022. This chapter appears in my book, Added Value -the life stories of leading South East Asian business people published by Murmeli in 1999.Please note that these interviews took place some time ago - over 25 years ago in the case of the South East Asian life story book and around 10 to 15 years ago in the case of the two Indian life story books. However, their stories are correct to the time of the interviews and the objective is to demonstrate the entrepreneurial skills they exhibited at the time of the interviews in building their businesses.
About Life stories of Indian and South East Asian business leaders
I have written two life story books on Indian business leaders and one on South East Asian business leaders. The first is Added Value - the life stories of leading South East Asian business people published in 1999 by Murmeli , the second is Added Value - the life stories of Indian business leaders published in 2010 by Roli Books (https://rolibooks.com/) and the third is Profiles in Enterprise - inspiring stories of Indian business leaders published in 2015 also by Roli Books. Many people these days like to listen to audio books, podcasts and interviews rather than, or in addition to, reading books, magazines or newspapers. There were so many inspiring and extraordinary stories told to me by the subjects of my books that I thought podcast fans might like to hear the best of them in this podcast - https://lifestoriesofindianandsoutheastasianbusinessleaders.buzzsprout.com.
Listen to Life stories of Indian and South East Asian business leaders, The Book Show and many other podcasts from around the world with the radio.net app
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