“You have to be in Germany to understand what Bosch means,” a friend told me recently. “They are like the Tatas in India,” he continued, “big, well-respected, old.” He was referring to the engineering and consumer goods company Robert Bosch GmbH. And comparing it to a large Indian conglomerate.

Both of them are standing testimony to what it means to grow without sacrificing values. As they grew, they would have made tradeoffs, they would have learnt the meaning of tough choices. Not all companies can do that. Many companies, at some point or another, give in to the pressure of shareholder results or top management self-aggrandisement. That is why we feel a strange sense of respect for companies that have maintained their values through thick and thin.

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