60+ Years of working
with many top companies,
CEOs, and boards
of our time
Clients
Navigating the Crossroads:
From Shoe Shop to
Strategy Rooms
Ram’s journey into business began early, behind the counter of his family’s modest shoe shop in a small town in northern India. From those humble beginnings, he made his way to earning an engineering degree in India, then moving to Australia for his first job. His pursuit of excellence took him to Harvard Business School, where he earned both MBA and doctoral degrees with high distinction, graduating as a Baker Scholar. Ram later joined the faculties of Harvard and Northwestern, before dedicating himself fully to a career in consulting, helping leaders across the world solve their toughest business challenges.
While at Harvard, Ram spent a summer working at a gas company in Honolulu. When he spotted a looming issue with the dividend, his boss challenged him to solve it. Charan dove in spending nights at the plant, reading gauges, and tracking system performance. Six weeks later, he came back with a surprising insight: gas pressure between 10 P.M. and 4 A.M. was too high, leading to excessive leakage.
He also discovered that the production and distribution teams weren’t communicating. By connecting financial insight with engineering detail and the dynamics between people,, Dr.Ram Charan not only fixed the problem but revealed a knack for seeing the bigger picture. It was a quiet beginning to what would later become a lifelong way of thinking.
Ram Charan has authored 32 books since 1998 that have sold over 4 million copies in more than a dozen languages with publishers such as Penguin Books, Wiley, Harvard Business Review Press, and more.
