A Last-Minute Change at Home Development Corporation

"It was a quarter to four on Friday afternoon," said Raghav Kumar. "I was just closing out my
accounts and trying to clear up a few more issues before the end of the business day. Then along
came my division vice president. Since my desk is in the center of the mortgage banking division, I
could tell long before he got to me that I was the one he was looking for. And, frankly, the folder he
dropped on my desk was the last thing in the world I expected to see."

Raghav Kumar is a 26-year-old assistant broker in the home loan banking division of Home
Development Corporation, a relatively small interstate bank located in the south Indian region.
Raghav's branch has regional responsibility for home loans in Karnataka and Tamil Nadu area.
Although he had joined Home Development Corporation following graduation four years earlier, he
was still among the more junior people in his branch.

"The boss came directly to my desk and asked if I had a minute. ‘Of course I have a minute’," said
Kumar, "Who hasn't got a minute for the Branch V.P?" Bala Sundaram was senior vice president,
Home Loan Banking for Home Development Corporation and executive vice president for the
Annasalai branch office. He was not only Kumar's supervisor, but his mentor and partner in several
important projects.

"Mr. Sundaram and I had been working on a new, home loan program funded by central
government that would permit low-to-middle income, first-time home buyers to obtain financing at
very low rates. It was an important project that would require both thorough explanation to the
community and careful screening of each of the applicants." Kumar went on to explain that the
program has been more than six months in development and would require the cooperation of
state and local officials if it were to work. It was an impressive attempt, Kumar thought, on the
bank's part to provide home loan financing to people who would otherwise never qualify for a
home loan.

"I thought he would want to review the screening procedures we'd been working on, or perhaps
talk about the software I planned to use to help set up the program," said Kumar. "What he had in
mind frightened me a lot more. He said that Gourishankar, his principal assistant, had been
scheduled to speak to a Bangalore group about the central government assisted home loan
program. Unfortunately, Gourishankar was in Hyderabad and had just been 'bumped' from his
return flight to Chennai.'

"Mr. Sundaram asked if I would fill in for Gourishankar at the group meeting this evening and speak
about the new loan program. ‘The details are all in this package', he said. I got a phone number, a
set of street directions to a renovated fire station on Bannerghatta Road, and the name of the
woman who would introduce me. The rest of the information would have to come from documents
I had prepared for the bank and for the select committee that had prepared the legislation." Kumar

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was philosophical about the request. "It wasn't that I minded canceling dinner plans I had for that
evening. It was just that I wasn't sure I was ready to stand up in public and explain a bank loan
program that I wasn't in charge of. After Mr. Sundaram shook my hand and said thanks, I looked at
my watch. It was five minutes to four and this thing was scheduled for seven o'clock."

Discussion Questions
1. Assuming you are in Raghav Kumar's position, what would you do? Would it be a good idea to
tell Mr. Sundaram you're just not ready (or willing) to give that speech?
2. What would you want to know about the audience that you don't already know? Where could
you find that information?
3. What would you want to know about the occasion and speaking situation that you don't already
know?
4. Is there anything you think you should know about the physical layout of the room or the
arrangement in the fire station that you will be speaking in?
5. How would you go about preparing your notes for this speech?
6. What else would you bring with you for this event? Do you have time to get visual aids or flip
charts made? Is that a good idea?
7. How should you dress for this occasion?
8. What do you think your principal message should be for these people?