A weekend in the hills for ONGC top brass
ONGC chairman Arun Singh has called for more collaboration and digitisation during a luxurious strategy meeting in Srinagar.
At least 60 participants, including ONGC directors and Boston Consulting Group (BCG) executives, attended the Sankalp 50 Strategy Meet from May 25-27 (2024) at the Radisson Hotel. Amid lush surroundings, directors and their families would have certainly enjoyed the expensive getaway.
"All L1 officials (mostly GGMs/EDs) and their families were invited," says a source. Some criticised the lavish expenditure; ONGC had booked the entire hotel.
One ONGC source remarked sarcastically that the disconnect between management and workers reminded him of India's former "colonial masters." Criticism aside, company chairman Singh stressed the importance of collaboration across ONGC, arguing for a multidisciplinary approach to sustainable growth.
Singh stressed the need for the creation of Multi-Disciplinary Teams (MDTs), arguing that individuals must work together to share knowledge rather than working alone in an ivory tower. Singh said the integration of diverse skills and perspectives is essential to promote innovation and efficiency.
"Software is needed in ONGC's operations space," said a source, quoting Singh. "The need to digitise is urgent; collaboration should extend beyond internal teams, with more use of external agencies."
He also stressed the need for improvement in the management of vendor relationships to enhance efficiency and cut costs. While identifying 15 core strengths, Singh highlighted the following weaknesses: the need for more effective strategies to manage and ensure the health of reservoirs, the need for enhanced training and development to elevate engineering expertise, the need for increased digitised operations, and the lack of an integrated approach to maintenance.
Just before Singh spoke, a BCG workshop stressed the importance of joint and team performance indicators, enhanced external collaboration with a broad range of stakeholders, higher information transparency, and system-driven decision-making. All the assembled directors then laid out their ideas to improve performance.