Big names like the Ambanis, Tatas and Mahindras will be part of the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) government's "Make in India" campaign designed to make the country a global manufacturing hub. The "Make in India" slogan given by Prime Minister Narendra Modi is revolutionary in the sense that it seeks to compete with China, which has an economy five times larger than India's. Can India take on China as the manufacturing hub of the world? The world wants to buy in abundance and cheap. India has a massive labour force of 496.4 million people and average hourly wages of $2.1 compared to $4.5 in China. Yet, the Chinese are able to get all the business, and supply products at half the cost at which Indian companies can produce goods. While it is a fact that the manufacturing sector in China is highly subsidised by the Chinese government, to make exports cheap, it is also true that the Chinese companies have been able to take innovation to the grassroots. In India, big companies believe in bringing in foreign technology at high cost and earning a premium over it. The Chinese have been able to penetrate world markets not just technologically but also culturally. This is the reason why on Diwali, Indians prefer to buy fancy yet cheap Chinese lighting over the bland Indian bulbs to light their homes. Only the Chinese could think of making ceiling fans with a power inverter that would run for four hours without electricity in a power-deficit country like India. From kites to rakhis and toys to fire crackers, name a festival and products associated with it and Chinese companies produce them. The Chinese have been able to customise their products by going deep into the cultural aspect of a country. While the big companies in China have played a major role in building the infrastructure for producing massive amount of merchandise for the whole world, the Chinese government has promoted innovation by the small-scale industries that can match the research and development of large MNCs of the world. Today Indian start-ups in the technology sector are making headlines all over the world. However, there is no news of Indian small and medium-slace enterprises (SMEs) making a cut in terms of innovations. Prime Minister Modi needs to understand that while it is good to meet industry bigwigs like the Ambanis and Ruias to realise his "Make in India" dream, it is also necessary that he takes the manufacturing drive to the grassroots level. Otherwise, India will never be able to compete with China, where manufacturing accounts for over 40 per cent of GDP as compared to India's share of only 15 per cent of GDP.
Read More
If I were to sum up IMImobile's journey, I would say that it has been based on the twin phenomena of technical ignorance and business innocence. However, perseverance and the will to fulfil our vision has helped us evolve into a global mobile solutions company. The milestones of this journey have been determined by all the conditions that shaped me as an individual over the years.I was born to a family of farmers in Tarimela village of Anantapur district — a drought-prone but politically-fertile village in Andhra Pradesh. Our family grew paddy, groundnuts and sweet limes. My father was active politically and I was working in the party office during communist leader Tarimela Nagi Reddy’s election campaign, when I was barely six years old. The rub-off of the Communist ideology I was exposed to as a child resulted in inculcating the belief that undue exploitation of Indian resources by any forces should not be allowed. From this belief springs my desire to harness Indian intellectual resources in order to build intellectual property (IP)-based offerings and take on Western hegemony in this sphere.I studied to be a chartered accountant and company secretary. Thereafter, I worked as a finance manager of a manufacturing company in Bangalore, after which I moved to Hyderabad as the financial controller of a mid-sized pharmaceutical company. After my early years of work in accounting, I was clear that my joy was not in number crunching to prepare audits and financial analysis. Subsequently, I set up a company for the same promoters in the field of medical diagnostics. I decided to venture out at this point of time and my employers allowed me to incorporate Information Management India (IMI) Software, which developed software for design of transmission line towers and telecom towers — an IP in the field of structural engineering. Since this was a niche segment, we contemplated diversification by creating new intellectual property for international markets using Indian talent and resources.One day, in April 1999, while browsing the The Financial Times, London, I came across an article which talked about how data — not voice — would be the major driving force for mobile phone business in the future. This was my moment of epiphany. My belief in this trend was further reinforced when I, along with my technical director Shyam S Bhat, attended the first Symbian conference where all the speakers talked about data and its growing importance in the future. With the conviction that my non-technical background and Bhat’s technical background provided the right combination, we co-founded IMImobile, as a division of IMI, to cater to delivering data for telecom operators. At IMImobile, we zeroed in on developing a platform that would provide telecom operators a flexible foundation on which innovation and new services could be delivered to their subscribers. The platform (DaVinci Evolved Service Platform (ESP)) represents 720 person-years of investment and development. We combined this offering with a new model of engagement for operators wherein we hosted and managed services on a pay-for-use basis on their behalf which effectively eliminates both CAPEX and infrastructural risk for them. This ‘Software-as-a-Service (SaaS)’ model is now being increasingly adopted by vendors in the industry and has now come to be labelled ‘cloud services’.The initial period was tough for us as our business model were radical for that time. Those were trying times which continued for three years. However, we were firm in our belief that operators would see the economics of our offer and eventually come to us. Our perseverance eventually paid off when we finally won the mandate from MTN South Africa for a multi-territory deployment of DaVinci ESP in Africa in their operations in 17 countries. Our first major international deployment — based on the hub-and-spoke model — was successful as MTN achieved reduced time-to-market, increased Average Revenue per User (ARPU) and easier roll out of local services after implementation of our platform. As market entry strategy, we acquired WIN, plc. in the UK, which counted Vodafone, O2, BBC and Barclays Bank among its customers, to whom we up-sold our solutions. There was no looking back for DaVinci after this deployment and today it is deeply embedded in the business processes of 97 mobile operators, over 100 blue chip companies encompassing over one billion subscribers in over 72 countries. We stayed the course of our vision with our belief in our offerings even when no one was willing to take a risk. But we were confident about the market opportunity and our ability to deliver.The Road To SuccessI have always believed that knowledge travels in the shadow of ignorance: If an individual were to become an entrepreneur based on the assumption that one is an expert, he is prone to run into rough weather. But awareness of one’s own ignorance is one of the necessary conditions for a smooth journey forward.Ignorance manifests itself as the lack of awareness of one’s own self, desires, passions and motivations. This is caused by not understanding and deeply examining the factors that shaped oneself, and results in lack of understanding of what one would be passionate about and love to do. These factors go back to your childhood and the journey ever since. In my case, coming from a communist village, the instinct against western hegemony was ingrained in me as a child and has manifested itself in the desire to build an IP-based company out of India.This was, however, followed by the idea of business innocence. A businessman is caught up in end results; but at IMI we weren’t. Once you are not caught in the end result, all your energies flow to respond to the current challenges of the business.The next aspect is vulnerability: which means you are always aware that you are not omniscient or invincible. You never approach any situation with over-confidence but ensure that the mind is alert to potential missteps and pitfalls. When you are overcome with hubris, failure is inevitable. Finally, I believe that more than success and failure, it is the fundamental approach that is important. You do not control the outcome, what you do control is your own approach to a task, which must be one of utmost sincerity and should be undertaken with assumption of total responsibility towards all the stakeholders. When you do so, you will never do wrong.I have been deeply touched by J. Krishnamurti’s teachings and a lot of what I have stated might seem like a reiteration of his ideals. But my journey as the so-called entrepreneur is as much a journey inward as it is outward thanks to the exposure to his worldview.The ‘Lightbulb’ MomentThe Indian environment for entrepreneurs has never been as good as it is now. Most of it is linked to the phenomenal success of the initial Indian American entrepreneurs in the US who made their fortunes in US and are now helping entrepreneurs in India by pumping vast amounts of angel investments. A vindication that times are good for Indian entrepreneurs is the fact that Ernst & Young, last year, in a global study of G20 nations, had ranked India as the number one country in terms of entrepreneurship culture; education and training; access to funding; regulation and taxation and coordinated support. Given the lack of adequate infrastructure in the country, Indian entrepreneurs are adept at coming out with creative strategies to deal with systemic inefficiencies to deliver their products and services. Indian entrepreneurs are more determined to get things done, and creative – whatever the odds. I think the time has come now for both India and Indian entrepreneurs to go out seek forth opportunities. In technology and communications, I feel it is a tragedy that an innovation like Google did not come from India. India deserves product companies and I am confident that we will soon have world-renowned Indian product companies. (Vishwanath Alluri is the founder, chairman and CEO of IMImobile)
Read More
For the first time in their 120-year-old history, Mumbai's famous dabbawalas, who deliver tiffins service to over two lakh customers daily, will be taking a break on Friday, to support social activist Anna Hazare in his fight against corruption."In the last 120 years, we have not had the occasion to take a day off, come rain or shine. We never stop work. But we have decided to back Hazare's agitation," Sopan Mare of the Nutan Mumbai Tiffin Box Suppliers Association told reporters here today."To support Hazare, as the whole country is doing so, the 5000 dabbawalas in the city would hold a rally from Churchgate to Azad Maidan tomorrow," Mare said. Asked if their customers would be irked if they fail to deliver their tiffins, Mare said "they love us so much that they wont feel offended with our action." "All this is for a cause which we feel is just," he added.Anna Hazare is on an indefinite hunger strike and not a fast-unto-death, his associate Kiran Bedi said today."As long as he can fast, he'll continue the fast. But the moment Dr Naresh Trehan's team is of the view that he needs medical attention, he will get medical attention because the object is that it is an indefinite fast and not a fast-unto- death," she said.Permission has been given to Anna Hazare and his associates for his fast at Ramlila Maidan till September two and it is conditional, Home Secretary R K Singh said today. He said the government was not involved in any discussion with Team Anna and it was the Delhi Police which held the talks and resolved the issue "amicably".The standoff between Team Anna and the Delhi Police come to an end late on Wednesday night following hectic consultations between the two sides over the proposed fast site and the duration of the protest.Civil society activists on Thursday hailed the agreement between government and Anna Hazare on his fast at Ramlila Maidan and demanded that the Jan Lokpal Bill at least be brought to Parliament which could take a call on it.Delhi Police finally gave Team Anna the permission to fast for 15 days at Ramlila Maidan after marathon discussions between the civil society activists and Delhi Police Commissioner BK Gupta.Expressing happiness at the turn of events, close associate of Hazare and former Law Minister Shanti Bhushan said the decision to allow Hazare to fast for 15 days showed that his demands were reasonable and that the government should bring in a new Lokpal Bill after consulting the Gandhian. (PTI)
Read More
Expectations are building up with the countdown to TiE Entrepreneurial Summit 2010 drawing near as Nobel Laureate Amartya Sen and the founder of Infosys, N.R. Narayana Murthy will kick start this year's summit to be held in New Delhi from 21-23 December 2010. This congregation organised annually by The Indus Entrepreneurs (TiE) will witness the coming together of over 100 most celebrated leaders, l entrepreneurs and thinkers from India this year. With an aim to generate ideas for doubling the number of private ventures in the country's thriving entrepreneurial ecosystem, TiE's focus is on showcasing India's exemplary and diverse entrepreneurs.The annual symposium, now in its fifth year, will offer attendees an opportunity to learn about entrepreneurial opportunities in booming industries like education and training, clean technology, internet, retail, telecom and social sectors among others. The theme this year is Enterprising India and the ideas is to "initiate a series of engagements with Indian youth to open their minds to the vast entrepreneurial opportunities," says Pradeep Gupta, President, TiE Delhi- NCR. In fact, along these lines, TiE Delhi-NCR has launched initiatives such as the ‘Idea2Enterprise'; a student business plan competition to identify their innovative ideas. The goal is to turn young graduates into entrepreneurs and job creators.Saurabh Srivastava, TiE Chairman Emeritus, believes that the "dialogue between Nobel Laureate Amartya Sen and Infosys' founder NR Narayana Murthy on day one will set the tone of deliberations over the next three days." Of particular interest is the Gurukul session which intends to reassure budding entrepreneurs about the risks, rewards and viability of their business ventures. The TiE summit held last year in Mumbai and in Bangalore in 2008 had been very successful.Founded in 1992 by a group of executives and professions in the Silicon Valley, TiE is now a global organisation dedicated to the advancement of entrepreneurship across 14 countries with a huge presence in Asia. There are currently over 15,000 members and more than 2,500 charter members which include venture capitalists, angel investors, private equity and law firms, technology and management professionals, SME's, aspiring entrepreneurs as well as students.
Read More
Leadership within organisations is largely perceived to be within the purview of senior management. Leaders are essentially people who can think beyond their present circumstances, override uncertainty and translate challenges into opportunities. However, in the present scenario, things have changed and in order to stay ahead of competition or even retain and grow its existing customer base, a firm needs to command certain elements that differentiate it from the other players in the market. And these differentiating elements emanate through innovation — a mandate that is interestingly not restricted to any or a particular management level.Today it is not just enough for leaders (in every walk of life) to be effective strategists and decision makers. Apart from these trademark traits they also need to be good innovators - a characteristic that stands them in good stead as far as entrepreneurship is concerned. It is important to understand that one can pursue one's entrepreneurial abilities even while pursuing a career within an organisation - by creating processes, services and products that make a difference and enrich the value chain. In other words, entrepreneurship need not be restricted to those people who embark on enterprises funded by venture capitalists.Nurturing leadership qualities among the youth is an overriding concern for an emerging knowledge economy like India; particularly in view of the fact that more than half of the country's billion plus population is below the age of 25. If India has to truly achieve the status of a knowledge economy, then every working professional should be a leader and entrepreneur in his/her own right. The corporate fraternity, given its constant engagement with the principles and practices of leadership and management has a turnkey role to play in terms of achieving this mandate. Innovative ideas can spring from every quarter of the organisation. Today's corporate environment constantly contending with the dynamics of change (ushered by the cross currents of the global business landscape) and hence is in need of people who can go beyond stereotypical work profiles and carve their own career path. In other words it is in need of 'doers' or leaders as opposed to mere executors. Hence it will not be an exaggeration to say that today the traits of leadership are indispensable to the corporate world and are required of professionals at every stage of their career.Corporate world is also fast realising the fact that while many young minds are brimming with ideas they might not necessarily have the acumen to translate the same into workable propositions. One clear way of countering this inherent challenge is to invest in leadership training. It is of utmost importance that young employees are oriented with the macro dynamics of organisational functions so that they can think beyond stereotypical work roles. Such an orientation shall automatically translate into increased confidence levels and a heightened sense of professional responsibility and ownership that can in turn help in transforming them from being mere executors to 'doers/leaders'.It is not an exaggeration to say that today the traits of leadership are indispensable to every professional sector and are required of professionals at every stage of their career. When young employees demonstrate qualities of leadership it translates to a beneficial equation for their organisations. For instance, among other things a young leadership cadre can help in cementing collaboration among different functions because today's youngsters are essentially collaborative by nature. Also if invested with leadership young employees can usher true democracy and be instrumental in terms of breaking rigid and obsolete power structures.Ironically, while today there is a broad consensus that organisations have a sacrosanct mandate of nurturing young leaders there hasn't been much deliberation on specific approaches that need to be adopted in this direction. A right approach is one that takes into consideration the specific behavioural nuances and aspirations that are characteristic of the young. For instance today's youngsters are adept at multi-tasking and are less prone to compartmentalise their work and personal lives. They are also relatively better networked and more transparent and vocal about their views as compared to the previous generations. Hence instituting platforms whereby young employees can routinely exchange their ideas and opinions (among peers and seniors) on various organisational and industry topics/issues is one possible way of nurturing leadership. Management and training support can be extended to these institutions/platforms. Organising focused workshops, seminars and lectures in educational institutions are yet some other ways in which leadership among the youth in society could be fostered.The author is Corporate Vice President & Global Head - HR, HCL Technologies
Read More
