PM Modi Reminds Me Of Former NY Mayor Rudy Giuliani: Prof. Richard D’Aveni

Richard A. D'Aveni, the renowned Bakala Professor of Strategy at the Tuck School of Business at Dartmouth College, affirmed that Prime Minister Narendra Modi is one such dynamic leader who reminds him of Rudy Giuliani, who is an American politician and businessman, public speaker, former mayor of New York City, and an informal adviser on cybersecurity to the White House. Professor D’Aveni, who was invited for a talk show hosted by BW Businessworld & Dr. Herein Arora, also maintained that Modi’s dogged determination and desire to succeed will go a long way in making a positive difference to the country and the world. 

“Prime Minister Modi seems to be the best PM I have seen in years. And I truly believe that he is trying to make a difference in the world which is very positive. I think he reminds me of Rudy Giuliani, the former mayor of New York City. He is tough and also recognizes big attitudes. Giuliani created a noise pollution law where you are fined 500 dollars if you beep your horn except in an emergency. And they enforced it like crazy. Now, when you go around, you would notice that they have stopped all this, there is hardly any horn beeping and it reduces the tension levels and people act more civilised to each other. You don’t see many people jump around in their cars and swearing at each other," revealed D'Aveni, who was listed as one of the Thinkers50, the premier biannual ranking of strategy and management thinkers in the world, in 2007, 2009 and 2011.

Richard D’Aveni’s areas of research include competitive strategy at multiple levels of competition: individuals, teams, corporations, militaries, governments, spheres of influence/alliances, and even competition between capitalist systems. He is the author of numerous articles in academic journals, Harvard Business Review, The Financial Times of London, The Wall Street Journal, the Washington Post, and the MIT Sloan Management Review, as well as the bestselling book Hyper-competition, which is available in 11 languages. He released ‘Beating the Commodity Trap: How to Maximize Your Competitive Position and Increase Your Pricing Power’ in early 2010. He also wrote Strategic Supremacy, currently available in 4 languages. In addition, he was named one of the seven most influential strategic theorists in the world by the Corporate Executive Board.

“I always believe that the United States and India are natural allies. We share a common colonial history and legal background. We share democracy and human rights as issues. There is a great deal of diversity in both of our countries. There is a tremendous amount of similarities. Honestly, I think India, historically, made it very difficult for the United States to be friends with them because they won’t take a side. You can’t take our nuclear technology and two weeks later take the Russian technology which presents as a slap on our face,” revealed the renowned professor.

It is also to be maintained that Prof D’Aveni’s writings are credited with creating a new paradigm in the field of strategic management based on temporary advantages employing principles of rapid and aggressive maneuvering and innovation rather than on defensive barriers to entry and power over buyers and suppliers.