Drawing a comparison between Shell and Enron, Hofmeister said that whileShell is primarily revenue-driven in line with its shareholders' interest,Enron has a fast-growth strategy. "We would love to achieve Enron's growthbut not at the cost of our dividend paying capacity to the shareholders," headded.

The greatest transformation that the shell had undergone in recent times wasits positioning as a global company by aligning the operations of theindividual companies spread across the globe, he said. "This process beganin 1995. Till that time Shell was a nation of companies," he added. With theglobal positioning, Shell could imbibe some of the best corporate practicesemployed in different nations. For instance, Burma-Shell had devised a novelway of communicating to the distributors in India which was shared in otherparts of the world, he pointed out.

Shell's success primarily lies in strategies it employed over the years.When the company realised that the low oil prices would be a continuous wayof life, it made changes in the unit cost of production, Hofmeister said.For many years, Britishers accounted for 80 per cent of the Shell's topstaff structure. The company changed this by creating diversity at the top,he said.

It has also changed its strategy of remaining as a global oil major andinitiated steps to be known as an energy company, Hofmeister added. TheDutch outfit has realised the importance of people in the organisation andtook initiatives to enhance their commitment. This was done with a view todevelop them for the future, he added. "Change is not easy, smooth, nice andsimple. You have to cope with the chaos to get at the end," he added sayingSilicon Valley is the hotbed of innovation.

The world comes to know about the explosive changes taking place in Siliconvalley only after a year.