Institution building : Lessons from

Vikrarn Sarabhai's leadership

S.R. Ganesh and Padmanabh Joshi

Leadership actions are among the most complex to

analyse, especially those involved in the creation and
development of institutions. Drawing upon .Vikram
Sarabhai's actions in the early stages of two
institutions—the Ahmedabad Textile Industry's Re-
search Association and the Physical Research
Laboratory —.the authors provide insights for leaders of
modern organizations. They present their analysis of the
early stages of institutions around three basic strategies,
all of which are built on the primacy of the individual as
the core value. The three leadership strategies are
networking, trusting, and caring. The leader played a
multiplicity of roles in the network to impart relevant
values through his personal relationships.

Institutions are social arenas where unique strategies are pursued

for inducing and maintaining values which satisfy societal needs.
Organizations are formal, social mechanisms which facilitate con-
stant transmission of values, for example, a business enterprise or
the church. Leaders are key actors in these arenas embodying the
values. The process of institution building is the energizing of
people so that not only they internalize values that transcend nar-
row self-interests but they also become infused with a sense of
mission in their total life. What distinguishes an economic organi-
zation from an institutional organization is the intensity and the
depth with which individual members of an institutional organiza-
tion hold the core values which seem to suffuse their total being.

S. R. Ganesh is Chief Executive, Foundation /or Organizational Research and Con-

tinuing Education, Bombay.
Padmanabh Joshi is Programme Coordinator, VIKSAT, Nehru Foundation for De-
velopment, Ahmedabad.
LEADERS AND INSTITUTION BUILDING

Leaders have been found to be more intelligent, more self-confident,

more self-assured. They have also been found to have more in-
tegrated personalities and superior insights into themselves. Ex-
troversion, sociability, and moderate egalitarianism are their other
attributes. Another significant aspect of their personality is the
great inter-personal sensitivity.
On the other hand, leaders exercise authority and make decisions in a
group, follow the norms of the group, influence group activities
towards goal setting and goal achievement, and effect changes in the
performance of groups. They facilitate interactions among people.
Sinha (18) has developed a model of a leader—the nurtarant task
leader—rooted in the Indian milieu. The nurturant task style, ac-
cording to him, has two main components, namely, a concern for task
and a nurturant orientation. Thus, Sinha says,
The Nurturant-Task style requires that the task must be com-
pleted and that the subordinates understand and accept the
goals and the normative structure of the group or organization
and cultivate commitment to them. The Nurturant-Task leader
structures his and his subordinates' roles clearly so that com-
munications are explicit, structured, and task-relevant. He in-
itiates, guides, and directs his subordinates to work hard and
maintain a high level of productivity, both quantitatively and
qualitatively. Responsibilities are pinpointed and areas of deci-
sion making are synchronized with them. He, thus, creates a
climate of purposiveness and goal-orientation.
His task-orientation, however, has the mix of nurturance. He
cares for his subordinates, shows affection, takes a personal
interest in their well-being, and above all, is committed to their
growth. He wants them to grow up and mature so that they can
assume greater and greater responsibilities and spare the leader
for other tasks like minding the boundary properties of the
group or organization. (18,p.55)
According to Burns (3), the essence of leadership is inducing
followers to act for certain goals that represent the values and
motivations—the wants and needs, the aspirations and
expectations — of both the leaders and the followers.
Peters and Waterman (14) in their recent research on "excellent
organizations" focus on the role of leadership in institution building.
They emphasize the role of leadership in shaping the values of
organizational members as well as in developing distinctive organi-
zational cultures. "Excellent organizations" have four overriding
orientations : customer, entrepreneurial, people, and distinctive
skill orientation.
The research on excellence draws attention to the role of leaders in
developing organizations around individuals and in catering to the
needs of the individuals so that they can be unique and, at,the same

400 Vikalpa
time, belong to a group with a purpose that transcends individual
interest. International Business Machines is an example of a large,
successful multinational enterprise built on the bedrock of the value
of "respect the individual." General Electric is yet another example
of a successful organization that tailors its developmental efforts
around managers and not around abstractions of management.

ATIRA AND PRL

To develop insights into leadership actions in institution building,

we studied two institutions Vikram Sarabhai set up—the
Ahmedabad Textile Industry's Research Association (ATIRA) and
the Physical Research Laboratory (PRL). Both were set up in 1947.
Sarabhai's active association with ATIRA lasted till 1960 and with
PRL till 1971, i.e., till his death.
Sarabhai was a prolific institution builder. He set up an institu-
tion every year beginning from 1947 till his death in 1971. He left his
imprint in fields as diverse as space technology and performing arts.
The exhibit provides the list of institutions he was associated with.
An in-depth study of an exceptional example like his provides us a
basis both to understand the mystique surrounding leadership ac-
tions and to distil the essence of leadership actions for those who are
engaged in the task of leading diverse organizations in a complex
society. The following sections outline various mechanisms used by
Sarabhai in creating and developing ATIRA and PRL. These
mechanisms have relevance beyond their settings and the initial
phases of institutional development. This is because leaders are
constantly confronted with situations demanding re-creation and
on-going development of their organizations infusing them with
new life from time to time in a changing world.

Choice of early leadership

Vikram Sarabhai was very particular in selecting the head of an

institution. ATIRA's experience exemplifies Sarabhai's philosophy
of leadership choice. The chief executive can make or mar the in-
stitutional fabric.
Sarabhai was requested by the Council of Advisors (COA) of
ATIRA to shoulder the responsibilities as director till a suitable
individual was identified. He, therefore, continued as honorary and
part-time director till 1956, when Helmut Wakeham, an American
with considerable experience in textile research, was selected as the
first full-time director of ATIRA.
The search for a full-time director for ATIRA continued for years,
and a number of candidates were interviewed but no satisfactory
person was identified. This is common experience of those who are

Vol. 10, No. 4, October-December, 1985 401

entrusted with the task of finding a chief executive.
Before taking a final decision on Wakeham, Sarabhai wrote to his
colleague, who was also a well-known scientist, and a member of
COA of ATIRA:
I have no doubt, however, that you are fully aware of the
human relations side of a man that is necessary in order that he
might fit into our environment ...I am very keen, therefore,
that before a Director is selected for ATIRA he should be
interviewed by one of us so that we can ascertain how suitable
he is as a human being, (emphasis added)
The letter reveals what Sarabhai looked for in his choice of
leaders besides qualifications and experience. He thought of in-
stitutions and men as one and was particular about the suitability of
the leader's human qualities for the environment. This is in sharp
contrast to the attitude of many Indian business magnates who
regard people as replacement spares or commodities.
The first full-time director for PRL was selected even before the
institute was established. Sarabhai had met K.R. Ramanathan, who
was to become the first full-time director of PRL, during one of his
visits to the Indian Meteorological Department, Poona, where
Ramanathan was director. Ramanathan impressed him not only as a
dedicated scientist but also as a kind human being. He immediately
offered him the directorship of PRL and Ramanathan agreed to join
PRL after his retirement in 1948.

Location

Identifying the location of an institution was also a very important

consideration in Sarabhai's institution-building philosophy.
*For. ATIRA, Ahmedabad, the Manchester of India, was an obvious
location; there was full support from the Ahmedabad Millowners'
Association. Sarabhai's thinking on the topic is interesting:
Events in the past have shown that the question of the location of
a centralised laboratory is likely to create an almost insuperable
difficulty, which could in turn jeopardise the essential
prerequisite of cooperative research, namely, willing partici-
pation of the various units of the industry. This being so, like
linguistic provinces, we shall perhaps have to accept in textile
research an organisation which, though expensive and likely to
be inefficient, would at least satisfy regional ambitions and
aspirations, (quoted in Kulkarni, 17.)
Equally obvious was the choice of Ahmedabad for locating PRL :
Sarabhai had already established a small research laboratory

402 . . Vikalpa
at the "Retreat" (his home) where he was doing cosmic rays research as
a part of his study. There were no scientific research laboratories in
Gujarat in those days. When somebody asked him why he planned a
new laboratory when the Tata Institute of Fundamental Research,
Bombay, the Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore, and the Council of
Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR), New Delhi, were already in
existence, his explanation was : "No plant grows under a tree."
Cosmic ray research was a new branch of scientific research and
needed facilities and funds. The potential for growth and the initial
nurturance needs of the new activity—cosmic ray research—was his
central concern in his choice of location rather than the umbrella of
established reputations of other institutions. His approach to
recruitment was similar.

Recruitment

In selecting researchers for ATIRA, Sarabhai insisted on recruiting

fresh candidates with knowledge of scientific methodology and
preferred those without previous experience. This was a deliberate
move, for he believed that taking away experienced and trained
people from universities and research institutions would create a
vacuum which would weaken them. Does this have a lesson for those
companies who always attempt to take away personnel from
established organizations rather than induct and develop people
through internal investment in organizational processes of develop-
ment ? Do they get carried away by short-run business considerations
and financial parameters of growth which leave in their trail hollow
organizational and institutional "shells" ?
Chowdhry brings out clearly Sarabhai's thinking on the subject :
... the application of the scientific method by fresh and trained
young mind would be able to produce better results in the
textile industry than the applications of "previous experience"
gained in industry. According to Dr. Sarabhai, early experience
seemed to indicate that traditionally preconceived job
requirements and predetermined hiring procedures were
unlikely to yield results when they were related to new institu-
tions intended to perform new roles. Since the research workers
had neither knowledge nor experience of textiles, each was
apprenticed to periods varying from 6 months to a year to a
textile mill with the object of learning about the technology and
the problems of the textile industry. (4, pp. 137-8)
At the PRL, young students with training in scientific methodology
were admitted in the post-graduate and doctoral programmes in the two
areas of atmospheric physics and cosmic rays. They worked

Vol. 10, No. 4, October-December, 1985 403

on their research problems under the guidance of Ramanathan and
Sarabhai and identified the areas for future research. This led not only
to their individual development, but also to institutional development
of the PRL.

Enculturation

The operating culture of an institution determines how the institution

functions in performing its essential (academic in the case of ATIRA
and PRL) as well as peripheral but necessary administrative tasks.
According to Sarabhai, a basic requirement of an institutional leader is
the ability to provide the appropriate operating culture which* would
be created by the attitudes and assumptions of its people rather than by
the formal organizational structure.
In other words, the operating culture appropriate to an institution is
largely determined, on the one hand, by the nature of its primary
objectives and, on the other, by the assumptions and behavioural norms
of people working in it. Sarabhai, S.S.Bhatnagar, and Krishnan played
important roles in the formulation of scientific research programmes
and created appropriate operating cultures in ATIRA and PRL. The
operating culture of these institutions were such that administration
played a supportive role and helped the institutional growth through
implementation of research programmes. This is unlike many
organizations, especially educational, research, governmental, and
public sector organizations, where the tail wags the dog.
Sarabhai identified the need for an appropriate culture not only for
scientific research institutions but also for any organization, be it a
business enterprise, a government department, a university, or even the
army. According to him, no innovative mission can be achieved
without an appropriate operating culture.

Interacting and overlapping clusters

One of the most important strategies which helped Sarabhai in creating

institutions like ATIRA and PRL was creating clusters of individuals
with whom he interacted and through whom he interacted with others.
Sarabhai's use of interacting and overlapping clusters was first noted by
Chowdhry 1(4) who was closely associated with him in building
ATIRA. Recent work and writings of Naisbitt (12) also emphasize the
importance of networks.
Three interacting clusters played a significant role in the growth of
ATIRA. In ATIRA's COA, the first interacting cluster at the policy level
consisted of Kasturbhai, Bhatnagar, Krishnan, and Sarabhai. The second
cluster was at the research level, and it consisted of physical and social
scientists. The members of the third cluster were

404 Vikalpa
young managing agents related to the millowner-members of the
COA. Sarabhai was an elected member of the COA, a young scientist, and
a young managing agent at Calico Mills. He thus represented all three
clusters and thus linked them.
ATIRA's COA had three segments: elected members, coopted
members, and government nominees. Each segment had an eminent
scientist who was known both to the government and the scientific
community. The COA members were close to one another: the three
scientists—Bhatnagar, Krishnan, and Sarabhai—not only knew each
other well, they trusted and respected each other. Together, they
created a culture appropriate for a scientific organization since they
were scientists and not bureaucrats.
All the members of the first cluster, which was a policy making
group, were involved in an institution building activity. They had
served together on many councils: at the CSIR, Bhatnagar was the
Director-General, Kasturbhai and Krishnan were members, and
Sarabhai was on its Scientific Committee; Kasturbhai was the
Chairman of the COA of ATIRA, Bhatnagar and Krishnan were mem-
bers, and Sarabhai represented the Karmakshetra Educational Foun-
dation (KEF) as a trustee. Their mutual trust and commitment to
helping each other's institution building activities added strength.
The second interacting cluster of young researchers played a
significant role in formulating the core research programmes.
Sarabhai was represented on the second cluster as a young re-
searcher with scientific training. Sarabhai decided that every re-
searcher of ATIRA should study the textile technology and identify
various problems faced by the mills. (He too did not have any back-
ground in textile research.) Accordingly, all researchers went to mills
to study textile technology and came in contact with people working
in the mills. In this way, Sarabhai sowed the seeds for an on-going
research and began a dialogue with its users (9), which helped in
building bridges with the users for transferring modern scientific
values to a traditional industry.
The third cluster of young managing agents facilitated the entry of
research workers into the mills. The mills were a new environment
for the researchers. The young managing agents had their higher
education abroad and were looking for appropriate positions in their
family-managed textile mills. The early work of researchers at ATIRA
helped them out. The first nucleus of professionals at ATIRA,
consisting of a psychologist, a statistician, a chemist, and a physicist,
established the need to set up supervisory training and personnel
departments, a quality control department, and chemical and physical
testing laboratories in the mills. The young managing agents were
convinced of the need to set them up and ook it upon themselves to
look after these departments. By doing so, they acted as a bridge
between the researchers of ATIRA and their family members who
were managing the family-owned textile mills.
Thus, owing to their family relations with the millowners' group,

Vol. 10, No. 4, October-December, 1985 405

their professional relationships with ATIRA's young researchers,
and their social relations with Sarabhai, the managing agents
started taking interest in ATIRA's work. Interacting clusters at different
levels were created which made decisive contributions to ATIRA's
growth.
At PRL, Sarabhai used the same strategy of institution building. He
was an elected member of the Council of Management (COM) of the
PRL, a research scientist, and a professor. In the COM, the same
individuals—Kasturbhai (Chairman of PRL-COM), Bhatnagar (rep-
resenting the GOI), Krishnan (representing the Ahmedabad Education
Society), and Sarabhai (a founder-member and scientist)— formed
the first cluster at the policy level.- In the PRL-COM, Sarabhai
actively participated in the policy-making process, as a member of
the PRL faculty he was playing his role in implementing the research
programmes, and as a young researcher he helped single out
scientific areas where further research was required. Thus, his role
was a model to both the faculty and the students, inspiring them as
an innovative scientist as well as a dedicated researcher.
To sum up in Chowdhry's words:
Wherever Dr. Vikram Sarabhai went he created living intellectual
networks of overlapping clusters in a community so that the
members of such clusters become 'carriers' of new ideas and were
able to perform innovative tasks within their professions and
communities. (5, p. 17) And in Sarabhai's own words:
In research laboratories and in other developmental tasks, it
seems important that the chief executive, besides being in-
volved in policy-making and administration, maintains direct
contact with his professional role. (15, p. 36)
This also underscored the importance of visibility of a leader.
Hence, the importance of style.

Leadership style

The crux of culture creation is the style of leadership. To use

Sarabhai's own words:
There is no leader and there is no led. A leader, if one chooses to
identify one, has to be a cultivator rather than a manufacturer. He
has to provide the soil and the overall climate and the envi-
ronment in which the seed can grow. One wants permissive
individuals who do not have a compelling need to reassure
themselves that they are leaders through issuing instructions to
others; rather they set an example through their own creativity,
Love of nature and dedication to what one may call the 'scientific
method.' These are the leaders we need in the field of education
and research, (emphasis added) (16, pp. 172-73)
406
Vikalpa
He believed that an institution based on caring for people gave assur-
ance to individuals to innovate and to respond to situations crea-
tively. Two events show how Sarabhai put this attitude into practice.
* **
When he was Director of PEL and Chairman of ISRO, he had called
a senior accountant from Bangalore for discussing an issue regarding
accounts. He was to discuss with him along with a senior scientist
of PRL. The moment the accountant entered Dr. Sarabhai's room, he
enquired how he was and how his family was. He took a couple of
minutes to answer. Immediately, Sarabhai asked him why he was
so worried. Finally, the accountant revealed that since his father was
not well, he was under tension. Promptly, Dr. Sarabhai told him to go
back and take care of his father and to come to Ahmedabad only when
his father was all right. The accountant told Dr. Sarabhai that he was
ready for the discussion. But Dr. Sarabhai refused to discuss. The
senior scientists of PRL also tried to convince Dr. Sarabhai to discuss
the issue. But, Dr. Sarabhai flatly refused and asked his secretary to
arrange for the return journey of the accountant. *
"He has come. Tell him."
"I didn't do it. You tell him."
"No, you tell. I feel scared."
"What is it, Kane?"
"The meter is burnt, sir. We passed too much current."
"Oh, I see. Well, don't worry. How else would one learn?
Next time you will be more careful."
That, in a nutshell, was professor Vikram Sarabhai. Meters were
scarce those days. In fact, we did not get a new one for almost two
months and the work was held up. But the human qualities of this
great man were evident even before he took courage in both hands
and shaped the destiny of the scientific institution that was to be
PRL, and brought it national and international repute. Visionaries
there are many and finally nothing succeeds like success; but in the
case of Vikrambhai one could see straightaway that he had to succeed;
there was just no other alternative! (11, p.20)

Many such incidents are recalled by the people who worked under
him, and they still remember the personal care and concern shown
by him for his people. Sarabhai was opposed to rigid controls and
often wrote and spoke against controls which, he believed,
"damaged innovative behaviour and consequently the growth of
new institutions." According to him, "...the economic analogue of
horizontal controls is competition. They are implicit and do not
* The narration of the event is based on an interview.

Vol. 10, No. 4, October-December, 1985 407

have to be imposed from above."(15) In this he was close to what
Peter Drucker propounded in his writings, viz., management by
objectives and self-control with objectives being set by the indi-
vidual rather than handed down from above.
Sarabhai was part-time director in ATIRA, and the routine ad-
ministrative work was left to the research workers. Since every one
was new to the textile industry, all of them, including Sarabhai,
jointly explored the new world in order to learn. They jointly
identified relevant areas of enquiry. Researchers planned their own
work, implemented their plans, and worked out their own budgets.
Thus, horizontal controls were more in operation (4). The early
circumstances and Sarabhai's aversion to control helped in creating an
atmosphere in which there was no control from above.
There were no hierarchical controls at the PRL, in line with
Sarabhai's philosophy. Trust was an important element of both
personal and organizational relationship for Sarabhai. Although he
was from an eminent family in Ahmedabad, he could move easily
across various groups because he was able to inspire trust. He en-
couraged young researchers to try out new ideas; he himself
generated ideas constantly, although many were later found not to be
practicable. He liked people who were willing to take risks in a
calculated manner and constantly encouraged them. His ability Jo
gauge men quickly has been noted by various people (see for inst-
ance, Divatia, 6). This is a distinguishing feature of the most suc-
cessful of all leaders in any walk of life. It is the one ability that
aspiring leaders need to nurture and sharpen constantly through
personal risk and experimentation. Both demand tremendous inner
strength.
Sarabhai believed in developing people systematically. This, is
one reason why he preferred to take young people and provide them
with opportunities for development. It is not surprising to find that in
industry successful and admired enterprises invest heavily in
development of people. This, however, is a rather recent phenomenon
and is tantamount to window-dressing except in some instances like
the Tatas and Hindustan Lever.
Sarabhai was always accessible to all in both the institutions
because he was convinced of the importance of the role played by
feedback in managing organizations. This is a lesson which most
current generation leaders need to keep in mind because in their
own insecurity and inadequacy they keep away from both giving and
receiving feedback. During his many trips abroad Sarabhai always
took time off to meet young Indian professionals. With his vision, he
was able to persuade them to return home to contribute towards
country's growth. In the words of Bhavsar, "...one meeting used to be
enough for inspiring that young man to return to the homeland to do
his bit of work." (2, p. 22)

Decision making and structuring

The COA at ATIRA and the COM at PRL—and their respective

408 Vikalpa
directors—were responsible for decision making. Sarabhai
participated actively both in policy making at the council level and in
implementing it as the de facto institutional head of ATIRA and PRL.
Both Kasturbhai and Ramanathan had faith and trust in Sarabhai;
therefore, they not only appreciated that he should make the decision
but wanted him to do so.
Vikram became attracted to communication theory and systems not
for their own sake, but because he realised that through their use,
an organisational framework could be developed which would
make work more efficient, creative and meaningful. (19, p. 143)
In many organizations which Sarabhai set up, a committee system
was established. A committee was set up for every research and for
every administrative unit. Every committee had a chairman who
reported to Sarabhai directly. All the members of the committee also
reported to him directly. This feedback system was very effective.
But the system did not mean hierarchical control. Every individual
research scientist used to report to him directly also.
Sarabhai had recruited the first set of faculty members at both the
institutions, and it was his strategy to develop the individual faculty
members which would in turn promote institutional growth. At
ATIRA, an opportunity to work and learn together was provided to the
first four research workers; they were sent to the textile mills to
understand the complete process of textile manufacture. This ex-
perience helped them not only in understanding the textile process, but
also in understanding each other which helped in the development of
ATIRA. Between 1949-50 and 1956-57, 71 consulting assignments
were completed; the number of research projects undertaken per year
increased from 10 to 17; and the scientific, administrative, and other
staff increased from 30 to 206 (4).
Similarly, at the PRL, the students and scientist* worked and
studied together developing an espirit de corps. Common experi-
ences through group work, with administration acting as a support
system under Sarabhai's guidance, led to the emergence and nurtur-
ance of organic structures in both ATIRA and PRL.
Sarabhai's image as a scientist and the PRL's growth as a scientific
institute were very much interwoven; he was responsible for
establishing a school of physics (PRL) which provided him the
ground to establish his own identity as a scientist. He had tried to
create a second line of leaders from the scientists at the PRL, but he
failed. They were excellent scientists, but none could become a
leader. The failure underscores the difficulty in developing leaders
from within. It is a rare organization like the Indian Institute of
Management, Ahmedabad, or the Hindustan Machine Tools Limited, or
the Hindustan Lever that throws up capable leaders from time to time
from within. However, as experience shows, it is extremely rare to
maintain the quality of successive generations of leaders.

Vol. 10, No. 4, October-December, 1985 409

Identity building. Identity building is an important element that
infuses an institution with distinctiveness (6).
In the first decade of ATIRA, Sarabhai as a young managing agent
interacted with other managing agents, socially as well as profes-
sionally, and developed the identity of the institution as a cooperative,
technological venture serving the needs of the textile industry.
To establish the identity was a comparatively less difficult task for
PRL. The scientists at PRL had an established reputation in, the
scientific community both in India and abroad. By mid-50s, the PRL
was recognized as an important centre for cosmic ray study. In 1953,
Vikram Sarabhai's proposal for a worldwide study of variations of
cosmic ray intensity was accepted by the Special Committee for the
International Geophysical Year. This placed PRL on the world-map as
an advanced scientific research institution. Both Sarabhai and
Ramanathan drew up programmes of work in various disciplines of
earth sciences, including in geomagnetism and cosmic rays.

Summing up
Although Sarabhai was an unusually endowed person, his actions in
respect of birth and development of the two institutions, once
stripped of the mystique that surrounds leadership, offer insights
which can prove useful to others. One of the ways of understanding the
impact of leadership actions on institution building is by presenting
the three guiding strategies he had intuitively used. These three
strategies rest on a single pivotal value which is the primacy and
centrality of an individual
The three guiding strategies he used to build institutions are :
networking strategy or creating interacting and overlapping
clusters internally as well as externally both to produce a vision for the
institution and to translate the vision into actions in terms of
research programmes and projects;
trusting strategy or creating a climate of trust providing freedom of
action to the individuals, ensuring autonomy, and emphasizing
horizontal control; and
caring strategy or creating a climate of caring by the leader remaining
approachable through open channels of communication and
emphasizing the role of administration as a support system to the
core tasks of the institution.
Sarabhai was able to translate these strategies into actions because
of the multiple roles he played in managing both the external and the
internal environment of the institution. These roles were formal as
well as psycho-social.
The work of Peters and Waterman (14) emphasizes the
importance of vision and organizational culture built on trust and
caring in "excellent organizations." One of the ways of under-
standing the strategy of creating interacting and overlapping

410 Vikalpa
clusters in "excellent organizations" is to look upon the linkages such
organizations build with the users as well as with various functional
people within the organization.
Leadership actions may be focused upon in three ways, namely,
externally oriented leadership actions,
internally oriented leadership actions, and
interface leadership actions.
Externally oriented actions facilitate mobilization of support and
resources for the institution around a vision through creation of
interacting and overlapping clusters in the environment. Internally
oriented leadership actions help in the creation of organic structures,
horizontal control systems, and styles of functioning which emphasize
symbols and rituals which reflect the autonomy and the freedom of action
for an individual in the organization. The inter/ace leadership actions
work towards the development of an institution through both attracting
people to a vision and establishing mechanisms of research, dialogue,
dissemination, and transfer vis-a-vis the environment (8). The interface
leadership actions map the environment on to the organization and the
organization on to the environment. The multi-faceted orientation of
Sarabhai's leadership comes through his multiple roles at ATIRA and
PRL. He continued to play similar roles in the numerous other institutions
he founded during his lifetime.
The lessons that emerge from the study of Sarabhai as an institution
builder can be summed up as follows :
• In order to develop institutions it is important to place an indi
vidual at the centre of institution building efforts. The task of a
transforming and transactional leadership is to present a vision
which will inspire many and to provide meaningful exchange
relationships..
• Leadership actions have to nurture trust constantly, creating
inter-acting and overlapping clusters both within and outside the
organization. Failure to do so is likely to lead to the breakdown of
the institutional aspects of the organization resulting in its de
cline and decay.
• It is important for an institution builder to identify and play
multiple (formal and psycho-social) roles within and without the
institution. Decline in the performance of institutions could be
traced to inadequate roles (both formal and psycho-social) to
translate externally oriented, interface, and internally oriented
leadership strategies for institution building. (8,10)
• While the criticality of organizational culture to the development
of institutions has always been emphasized, the importance of
building in trust and caring has not been adequately emphasized
in the literature. (14)
It is interesting to note that Bennis and Namus (1) also come to
similar conclusions based on their study of 90 top leaders in the US.
Vol. 10, No. 4, October-December, 1985 411
They identify the importance of attention of vision, meaning through
communication, trust, and transmitting values of personal self-regard
through all leadership actions. In a more recent book, Peters and Austin
(13) talk about passion for excellence fearing in our terminology) as a key
leadership attribute.
From these lessons, a check-list could be developed to determine
institutional health. It would cover four aspects of an institution and would
have the following items :
• existence of a shared vision;
• number, nature, and scope of interacting and overlapping clusters
both external and internal;
• trust as evidenced within the institution and as evidenced by the
institution vis-a-vis its public and as evidenced by its various
publics vis-a-vis the institution ;
• caring as shown by concern for performance in the institution,
existence of multiple channels of communication, approchabi-
lity of leaders, and the centrality of the primary task of the institu
tion as evidenced by the attitude of the administration.
A quick diagnosis can be made on the basis of which it is possible for
institutional leadership to initiate actions on one or more fronts to reinstate
the individual at the centre of institution building. This is imperative
whether one is in business or a research institution because it makes good
practical sense, and not because it is theoretically fashionable.
Exhibit
List of institutions with which Vikram Sarabhai was associated
Scientific Research : Physical Research Laboratory,
Ahmedabad
Communications : Vikram Earth Station, Arvi, Poona
Atomic Energy : Fast Breeder Reactor, Kalpakkam
Nuclear Centre for Agriculture, New
Delhi Variable Energy Cyclotron
Project, Calcutta
Electronics : Electronics Corporation of India Limited,
Hyderabad Electronics Prototype Engineering
Laboratory, Bombay
Space Research : Thumba Equatorial Rocket Launching Station,
Trivandrum Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre,
Trivandrum Space Applications
Centre, Ahmedabad Sriharikota
Range, Sriharikota ISRO Satellite
Centre, Bangalore Satellite
Instructional Television Experiment
Textile Research : Ahmedabad Textile Industry's
Research Association, Ahmedabad
Developmental and : Nehru Foundation for Development, Educational
Research Vikram A. Sarabhai Community Science Centre,
Ahmedabad
Management and : Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad
Operations Research Operations Research Group, Baroda
Performing Arts : Darpana Academy for Performing Arts,
Ahmedabad
He was also associated with : Indian National Committee for Space Research,
Indian
412 Vikalpa
Space Research Organization, Atomic Energy Commission, Electronics
Committee, Department of Atomic Energy, International Atomic Energy
Agency, and Committee for Space Research of the United Nations.

References
1. Dennis, W.( and Namus, B., Leaders. New York : Harper & Row, 1985.
2. Bhavsar, P. D., Dr. Vikram A. Sarabhai, Physics News, 3(1), 1972,
pp.21-22.
3. Burns, J.M., Leadership. New York : Harper & Row, 1978.
4. Chowdhry, K., Change in organizations. Bombay : Lalvani, 1970.
5. --------,Vikram Sarabhai: Institution builder, Physics News, 3(1), 1972,
17.
6. Clark, B., The distinctive college. Chicago : Aldine Publishing Company,
1970.
7. Divatia, K.J., Dr. Vikram Sarabhai:An enterprising industrialist, Physics
News, 3(1), 1972, 19.
8. Ganesh, S.R., Processes of institution building : A comparative study of
Indian management education institutions, Ph.D. dissertation,
University of London (unpublished), 1978.
9. From thin air to firm ground : Empirical guidelines for a general
processual model of institution building, Human Relations, 32(9), 1979,
751-79.
10. --------- and Banerjee, S., The undergraduate influence environment:
Some insights for action, Ahmedabad : Indian Institute of
Management, Public Systems Group Monograph No. 40, (restricted
circulation) 1982.
11. Kane, R.P., Professor Vikram Sarabhai: Some reminiscences. Physics
News, 3(1), 1972, 20.
12. Naisbitt, J., Megatrends. New York: Warner, 1982.
13. Peters, T., and Austin, N. A passion /or excellence. London : Collins,
1985.
14. Peters, T.J., and Waterman, R.H. (Jr.), In search of excellence. New York :
Harper & Row, 1982.
15. Sarabhai, V., Management for development. New Delhi: Vikas, 1974.
16. --------- Science policy and national development, New Delhi:
Macmillan, 1974.
17. ---------- quoted in Kulkarni, V.B., History of the Indian cotton textile
industry. Bombay: Millowners' Association, 1979.
18. Sinha, J.B.P., The nurturant task leader. New Delhi: Concept, 1980.
19. Sondhi, K., Problems of communication in developing countries. New
Delhi: Vi
sion, 1980.

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