But then, like the hapless curate, the chairman and chief executive of KPMG India has little choice. In April 1997, soon after Iyengar took over the reins, an employee feedback survey exposed a rash of festering issues: employees carped that they had no idea what the firm was doing. There was no transparency in the performance management system. The practices were not working closely with each other. And worst of all, the stretch marks of high growth were showing.

One,averaging a 50 per cent per annum growth since its inception in May 1994, KPMG had not only sprung into the top three consultancies in the country, but the manpower strength had also risen to 700 people in just four years. Two, on one hand the average age was low--between 25 to 28--and on the other, the more experienced people brought in cultural baggage.

Finally, cohesion was low with employees scattered across four member firms: KPMG Pvt India Ltd, KPMG Peat Marwick, Bharat S Raut & Co, and BSR & Co.

Iyengar's prognosis:

There was an urgent need to bind the whole organisation together under a core KPMG corporate culture, which was driven by a set of aspired values unique to KPMG India. So, together with John R Kirton, COO, KPMG Peat Marwick, and tapping on KPMG's global best practices, by April 1998, Iyengar had identified six core values for KPMG India.

On July 10, began the formal roll-out. At 8 am Iyengar began briefing KPMG staffers personally, in batches of 20, working top-down.Consider KPMG's current value-addition through the six new values:

Open, honest communication:

Speak with one another openly and directly, bring the hallway conversations into meeting rooms, listen intently, and encourage different ideas and opinions.

At KPMG they now notice whether a consultant has something to contribute at each meeting or not. On the flip side, key players in KPMG are required to listen. Iyengar for example, encourages people to come and talk to him about their problems; then he insists that the petitioner go back and report to his line-manager, so that hierarchies are not undermined.

More importantly, from strategic plans to operational issues, Iyengar is encouraging the open flow of information through the warp and weft of KPMG. Says Darshan Bijur, head of business development, KPMG: ``Out of the Big Five in India, KPMG is the only firm which shares revenues and profitability numbers with all its 700 people.''

Teamwork and collaboration:

Work together, with thefirm as priority, even if it means supporting something you might want to do differently. Base all decisions on what is best for the firm.

To break down invisible walls, KPMG is now encouraging the transfer of people between the four business groups which cut across member firms: manufacturing, retail and distribution; banking and financial services; infrastructure and government; information, communication and entertainment.

Moreover, to ensure collaboration between businesses, one of the team-performance criterion is the number of business referrals one group makes to another. Says John R Kirton, deputy chairman and chief operating officer, KPMG, ``One of my favourite questions in internal meetings is, `what is the best solution for the firm?' There is usually, one answer that's the best.''

* Involve everyone:

Seek the best information from all sources while supporting decisions made by those closest to the situation. Each person who uses his or her voice to better the firm will be rewarded.Everyone must believe he or she will make a difference.

This value tries to ensure that there is open communication without fear of retribution. Increasingly, the message is going down the line that when a decision is to be made, all those who have a stake in the decision are involved in the process.

For example, recently, a request was made to KPMG India to suggest suitable names for a post abroad. Says Iyengar, ``In the old day's, the person would be chosen by management and simply told about the transfer. This time, the news of the vacant post was circulated in the staff and we sought volunteers.'' Adds Kirton: ``During discussions, I make sure some idea of each person in the group is adopted.''

* Be boundaryless:

Share knowledge and relationships in a fresh, open environment. Take the time to share your knowledge with others. Accept great ideas regardless of their source.

Iyengar is determined to tame an old consultancy bug-bear: hoarded knowledge. Besides hiring a chief knowledge officerto capture strategic information--such as, who knows who--KPMG also plans to put together a team of knowledge managers, attached to each practice.

Moreover, the performance system has been redesigned to reward those who share knowledge. People are tracked for example, on how many best practices they have contributed to the database.

* Leaders who serve:

Leading is not about power or control, but is measured by the success of those on the team being led. Leaders don't get on the backs of their people--they get behind and push. Leadership is a privilege and a responsibility.

Iyengar strongly disapproves of the command-and-control regime and advocates mentoring and counselling instead. Recently, a practice leader based in Bombay readily flew into Delhi to be a sounding board for a pitch the Delhi team was preparing. ``In the old days,'' says Iyengar, ``the Delhi partner would have objected.'' To set a personal example, Iyengar ensures that as soon as a team bags a job, he sends a personal note ofcongratulation to each team member.

* Personal accountability:

Set clear aggressive goals and deliver on your commitments.

Increasingly at KPMG, if you are given authority, you are loaded with responsibility first. To drive home the value, a competency profile has been etched for each level. Each KPMG employee now knows the clear and multi-faceted goals he must deliver on.

Consider the typical goals a senior manager in corporate finance will be set. There will be financial goals in terms of business generated for the corporate finance group; a goal for the number of referrals and contacts brought to the consultancy; goals for developing people and succeeding; and goals for creating visibility for KPMG.

Interestingly, for each person, there are baseline goals and incentive goals--for a top performer, up to 50 per cent of the gross salary could be incentive-based. Says Iyengar, ``If you meet the at-expectation level of performance, the compensation is good. But a third of KPMG people manage toget large bonuses too.''

Tied to the carrots is a stout stick. The appraisal for values is bottom-up: at KPMG the juniors rate their senior on how the boss practised the values. ``And there are only two scores: satisfactory or walk,'' says Darshan Bijur, ``If the person has not followed the values, there is a strong move to rid the organisation of the person.''

``It isn't easy,'' admits Iyengar. ``But if we get the culture right, and the people resources right and deploy them correctly, then the only way to go is up. There is nothing more powerful than a group of people working together.'' Right now, Iyengar has merely laid the foundation of values. Building the institution, KPMG India, follows next.