Book Review - It Happened in India by Kishore Biyani
In my earlier post: It happened in India , I mentioned that I shall re-read this book & post the reviews of selected topics as I read them.
Book Review : It Happened in India by Kishore Biyani with Dipayan Baishya.
After reading this book, a majority of readers would become Kishore Biyani Fans! or KB Fans for sure. Kishore Biyani is addressed as KB or KishoreJi within his organization & friends,
This book is a winner from the word Go.
True to his style & philosophy, Kishore Biyani has included all the people in the book who have made his happen. Not just by mentioning their names, but by interviewing more than hundred people, getting their thoughts in the form of ‘their stories & versions’, in each chapter of the book. Their narrative is appropriately placed within each chapter & their thoughts on that particular topic give a insight from the very people who were involved at that particular stage of the project.
To me, personally the most important part in the book were his views on Trust & Relationships.
These are from pages 192 to 197. I would request you to re-read these pages a couple of times & analyze as to how you or your organization correlates to this.
These pages are under the Chapter: Business @ the Speed of Thought, topic starting from number VII [7], in Kishore Biyani’s book: It Happened in India.
Here he emphasizes the important of a Win-Win situation between his organization, his business associates and his customers. He says, if you approach your business with this framework in mind, then you shall see benefit in all interactions.
However, this is not as easy as it sounds. To get to that level, every person’s aspirations & dreams have to be understood & more importantly, addressed appropriately. Therefore, to build great relationships, sacrifices will have to be made.
He goes on to say that “Most businessmen make the mistake of creating an environment wherein only then win. They see life only as a competitive arena & not a co-operative one. Relationships are built on principles, and not on the basis of power & position.”
Review to be continued…..
May 9th, 2007 at 5:47 pm
[…] Key to Success in Business Published by bhupinder May 9th, 2007 in Business and Books. iPrash reviews IT Happened in India by Kishore Biyani. He goes on to say that “Most businessmen make the mistake of creating an environment wherein only then win. They see life only as a competitive arena & not a co-operative one. Relationships are built on principles, and not on the basis of power & position.” Linked by bhupinder […]
July 3rd, 2007 at 6:38 am
ur real life story is really too inspireable……….. for a good human beinggggg
July 12th, 2007 at 1:59 am
d book will inspire the new generation to do things diffrently
.
July 29th, 2007 at 9:02 am
i read in one of the reviews for this book….”if u wanna read a book on entreprenuship..this shud b the 1st one”…..the nxt day i picked up a copy of this frm one of the BigB stores…..and i cudnt beleive tht i actually got so soaked up in reading tht book tht i completed it in 2 days ( well im not the kind to read much books ..and tht fast not at all)….
The best part of the book was whr old and new startegies were being compared and thr was “competition in old strategy and his new strategy..partnership”….tht was really challenging….i mean in the present scenario….thinking of making ur competitors ur partners, HATS OFF…..and thn the story of white shirts was whr i really went thinking like Mr. Biyani…
Thrs much more to this book thn just motivation, inspiration and business strategies.
waiting for one more book of this kind..can any1 suggest me one.
September 14th, 2007 at 9:51 am
magnificent, fabulous, gorgeous, sensational, terrific, awesome, marvellous, excellent, outstanding, extra-ordinary.
a must read for every entrepreneur
September 18th, 2007 at 2:16 am
which is the inspiration behind the Concept of Big bazaar?
Is it Sarvana store or Nilgiris or World famous Giant Wal-mart
Pls. reply
Best regards,
sohan
September 18th, 2007 at 3:31 am
@ Sohan
Hi Sohan,
From the official book ” It Happened in India “, Kishore Biyani says that he visited a store in South India, so was it “Saravana store” or “Sarvana store” ? [typo?] Regd, Wal-mart it’s easy to say that all the new recent retail formats have been in someway or the other inspired by it (WalMart)
I guess, you should know better, as your email ID says pantaloon.com
regards,
Prashant.
September 27th, 2007 at 4:50 am
Its always inspiring to hear from the great men who do things their way. Nevertheless the biographies, especially the autobiographies are rated as boring (even though they are enriching) especially to the restless readers… But this one is different. The think tank, the father of Modern Retailing in India is set out to magnetize the readership of the young and the not-so-young with the same paraphrase that he has spread around.
Kishore Biyani, with little help from Dipayan Baishya moves smoothly from his school-college days, his first entrepreneur endeavors to his stint in movie making and team building experience in his book, lets call it his autobiography (the book was intended to be the Pantaloons Story, but eventually it turned out to be his autobiography) and dishes out a motivating interest in his pursuits.
The plot of It happened in India moves around retail strategies of a baniya and his conviction in himself while most of his ideas were rubbished by the then retailers and his family too.
But the book has its share of weaknesses too. He has crammed the pages with testimonies from his business associates that initially provide for a refreshing change from the Gyan that he drops every now and then. The overdose of the testimony thwarted the flow and most of the times seemed to be made up.
Nevertheless the author repatriates to the Indian way of retailing and provides a hand book for the emerging entrepreneurs and dreamers.
September 27th, 2007 at 5:46 am
@ Charu,
thank you for your comments & views on the book.
regards,
Prashant.
November 28th, 2007 at 4:52 am
Sir your book was really fabulous…i truly say i am very much inspired by it….nd its my guarantee who ever will read it,he will definately find a new world around him….Thanx a lot for such a inspiring book….Waiting for the another edition soon!!!!
December 18th, 2007 at 12:49 pm
this book is really good for a young entrprennur.as they have given how they come into picture by after their hard endeavour to achieve their goal.it is good in point of view of layman. but the most absurd thing is that though it is autobiography still no. of author has written their view on behalf of kishore. which not sounds well to say autobiography.it is looking like the autobiography of PANTALOON itself not KISHORE BIYANI. the intresting thing in this book is “if u say that it is the brand ambassador of big bazar then it will not a laughablething” because the price of the book itself shows that”IS SE SASTA AUR ACHHA KAHIN NAHIN”.
January 19th, 2008 at 2:15 pm
I am an avid reader of biographies and can say , this is the fantastic one which i read so far. This is so inspiring, so simple and so good that I will recommend it to each and every person.Actually nobody has recommended this one to me, neither I read its review earlier anywhere, but two days back- I just saw it in a book store and grabbed it as I read a lot about kishorji , in business magzines in last two years. S I was actually curious to know his story. And I am so much moved by this that I would like to gift it to people who would love to read it in Hindi too. can anybody , please tell me if it is printed in hindi too?
This story of kishorji says that we Indians can grow without aping west too!
I finished this book just in 2 days. Once you will start it, you won’t be able to leave it in between, beleive me. Its having a magnetic potential. Good job done , mr Dipayan Baishya(The author)
February 2nd, 2008 at 12:36 am
yes this book is so interesting.
by reading this book i have learned so many things…
like how to face some hard situations
and how to maintain ourselves in such situations……
yaa definitly this book is quite interesting and we cant just leave it in the middle not until we complete it.
its even very easy to read that book because it will hardly take two or three days to complete it………
your reguards,
subhashini.
February 16th, 2008 at 4:17 am
a must read book for one who want to establish retail chain like bigb i must say that you need to implement KB’s ideas and sort out your ideas again and please do not compare it with kb’s because there is no comparison with you and kishore biyani signing of and saying a must read book thank you mr.Kishore.
February 28th, 2008 at 4:09 am
yes this book is so interesting.
by reading this book i have learned so many things…
like how to face some hard situations
and how to maintain ourselves in such situations……
yaa definitly this book is quite interesting and we cant just leave it in the middle not until we complete it.
its even very easy to read that book because it will hardly take two or three days to complete he is the king of retail market no one from whole world can’t beat him .he is my idol…………
March 4th, 2008 at 9:55 am
Dear sir
Your book is inspiration for us.
I would like to know more about the flexi time jobs section for women. since i could not get any of your email id i thought this is the right thing to ask about it. Please do the needful since it is a great opportunity for us.
April 7th, 2008 at 1:25 pm
Yes, this is a good book indeed for MBA Students
April 14th, 2008 at 8:14 am
Hi every body,
Can any give me the e-book of “It happened in India” I have to give a presentation on this topic. It will be great if any body can help me regarding this!!
Email ID : sobermehar@yahoo.com
April 16th, 2008 at 8:32 am
A great book by a great person! I am not so fond and used to reading books albeit articles only. I picked up this Book in CP in New Delhi from the round book store on Janpath while accompanying my friend who was buying a Novel. I picked this book although I had heard a bit about KB and the Big Bazaar etc. This book has come inmy lap at the time I am going through most distressful period of my career (where I was given an opportunity to lead an enterprise by an MNC and later withdrawn abruptly mid-way. I must say that I got glued to this book and kept wondering that how simple things can change the course ahead. KB - I am your fan from now for giving me such knowledge through your Book and expereince which hardly any CEO bothers or finds time to do amidst such a rising enterprise.
June 9th, 2008 at 8:03 am
Yes its a nice book….very inspiring…our young generation imagines all CEOs to be fancy looking. And every entreprenuer to be from IIM Ahemdabad. Kishore ji’s book dispels this myth like none other. All you have to do is beilieve in yourself. Life will have ups and downs but a go-getter still manages to come up after each down. Interestingly Kishore ji also points some really great books…he just goes on listing all good business books ever written. Makes you wonder if the man sleeps at night…He also mentions how inportant IT is for retail business and talks about IT Service Management…which is interesting part…!! Over all its a really good book. Just like Gandhi ji’s “The story of my experiments with truths” this book has also been priced at a very cheap price. To reach a wider audience….but just like it…its true gold!!
June 13th, 2008 at 5:51 am
awesome book to read especially for management students
July 2nd, 2008 at 6:07 am
Hi! Well their is only one word that describes this It happened in India book ” Awesome ” . Probably one of the best marketing books I have ever read. I would suggest everyone to have a go as this book is going to teach you so many things.
Best Regards
Abhishek Sircar