There cannot be more Yin and Yang then India and China

My recent trip to China after a pause of nearly two years made me contemplate and mull over to write this into my diary. Some amount of reading on China blended with hearing to perspectives of a few leaders during the NASSCOM trip where in I did present on the topic related to Manufacturing and IT. I have also linked my presentation on this topic.
When I was reading on Google, I came across this interesting piece about India and China, Nathu La pass re-opening in 2012 after nearly 44 years of closure, while can be considered symbolic it only goes towards furthering the argument the two giants are bound to work together as the foundations on which they stand are more complimentary then one can imagine. The business velocity is only going up exponentially with the expectation that by 2016 nearly 40% of the world trade to be controlled by the largest (China) and third Largest (India). This takes us back to the 1800’s when nearly half of the Globe’s trade was driven by the two.
With most Multinational’s lamenting about either lack of success or slow speed of business in both India and China , they obviously continue to be present despite all the complexities mainly due to the lure of the vast population and the humongous size of the market. Now are they investing enough to reap benefits ? That would be a million dollar question? This will obviously vary from industry to industry and will require deep strategic thinking, capital, and innovation to meet local value and price points leveraging local ecosystems etc before they expect any returns. Will the same shoe fit both the emerging markets, surely not? In more than a decade of experience with China, sharing a few thoughts through this note of mine.
10 years since I first visited China to my recent trip to China, what has changed? I still do recollect during my first visit, I had an opportunity to have a fairly long discussion with a very deep strategic thinker Shiv Shankar Menon the current National adviser to the Indian Government, who was then India’s ambassador to China. His eagerness to support an Indian company setting foot in China, was very evident as I am sure he saw the amount of interest the Chinese were expressing to get into Indian market and we obviously have seen the position they have reached in India by literally dumping Chinese manufactured goods at price points which will be very tough for any of the domestic companies to match upto. Balance of trade heavily tilted in China’s favour with them dumping into India. Menon surely wanted to see India in a similar position leveraging our Supremacy in Software .
In contrast to that , while Indian Software Giants entered China with a lot of Fanfare , many of us thought we could leverage the talent in China, some of us thought we would follow our Global customers into china and very few of us thought let us go after the Domestic market in China . While all these thoughts would have been considered radical in those days. I do not think any of the companies have achieved even 1/10th of what they intended to do. It can be argued that many of us have invested a pittance in China to achieve the above objective, another school of thought would be why Should we?

In the context of the status of the Indian IT industry, if we are seeing better returns for the dollar invested in other markets and in the shortest time frame why would we want to waste our energy efforts and capital by going after the China Market. China undoubtedly will be the most difficult market to address on all counts. While we can show statistics of the availability of software manpower there usability in markets outside China is pathetically poor. The amount of training and management time investments we would need to make is humongous to even bring them to the base levels.
Added to that would be the cautious approach any company would like to take in the current context of the global economic climate. In the past decade we have been used to hearing about the Supremacy of Chinese economic climate , that surely is over now and is surrounded with the fears of the implosion and the turmoil’s they are going through internally .
While there could be a few Global Multinationals have started seeing modest returns in manufacturing investments but none would be leveraging China for building either intellectual property or anything to do with core R&D. All of us know the reasons and that is not going to change any time in the near future.
Also in addressing the domestic markets most of them or nearly all of them have failed miserably as Chinese as a race will never trust another and they do believe as a nation they can do it all and they have the resources and money now to conquer the world. Why would they want to actually develop anyone else at best they would like to plug the gaps by buying what they do not have? Also for a moment if we were to leave aside the above perspective, and we go about forging partnerships with local companies to address the domestic Chinese market , for sure Chinese partner will be one of the toughest race to negotiate and the fundamental premise we should build on needs to be “cross leverage” .
In Conclusion with the above context, while without doubt there cannot be more Yin and Yang then India and China, as both have inherent strengths and if both of us need to prosper the only way out is “ Cross Leverage “ and negotiate to reach a win – win .
At a Government level, Indian IT Industry surely has the Software supremacy to command respect and also use the same as major leverage in bilateral negotiations to get the Chinese Government to concede with favorable terms for other industries where we are challenged. Also in sticky territories like manpower movement, movement of capital between countries we will need to more firms insist on concessions which will make our software industry consider investing more.
At a Company level , we should be negotiating with the Government bodies in China and get them to invest more in terms of capital so that we can assist in building up their industry . Earlier in the last decade the investments have been coming fairly aggressively from the Chinese government in terms of training grants , real estate subsidies etc. We should expect and get them to give a lot more in terms of giving boot strap commercial projects which we could help in executing along with their local companies and manpower and our Superior project / program management which would come at a premium price.
At a Individual level, just like the Chinese exhibit enormous hunger to learn, learn and learn. Many of us who have already invested in our carriers in China or have ambitions to do so, the only way would be to be ahead in the race by equipping ourselves to the next level so that we can manage and command the Chinese resources 

Passion & Attention to detail

Something i read today which made me ponder how many bosses have i had who have eexcruciating made me go through 27 versions of the same content in one presentation ... :-) But this story below is something which i would like revisit as often as i can to remind me to get into detail ....
But there's one story, perhaps, that's piercing because it portrays the exacting nature of Apple's former CEO. Vic Gundotra — the man behind Google +, the company's entree into social media — posted a story about an interaction with Steve Jobs.

He writes that on a Sunday morning in 2008, he received a call during a religious service. He didn't answer, but Jobs left a message saying he had something "urgent to discuss." Gundotra returned his call almost immediately:

"Hey Steve — this is Vic," I said. "I'm sorry I didn't answer your call earlier. I was in religious services, and the caller ID said unknown, so I didn't pick up."

Steve laughed. He said, "Vic, unless the Caller ID said 'GOD', you should never pick up during services".
I laughed nervously. After all, while it was customary for Steve to call during the week upset about something, it was unusual for him to call me on Sunday and ask me to call his home. I wondered what was so important?

"So Vic, we have an urgent issue, one that I need addressed right away. I've already assigned someone from my team to help you, and I hope you can fix this tomorrow," said Steve.

"I've been looking at the Google logo on the iPhone and I'm not happy with the icon. The second O in Google doesn't have the right yellow gradient. It's just wrong and I'm going to have Greg fix it tomorrow. Is that okay with you?"

The CEO of Apple — the tech visionary who revolutionized personal computers, the way we listen to music and the way we think of mobile devices — was worried about the yellow in the second "O" in Google. Needless to say the problem was fixed, and Gundotra says it taught him a lesson on leadership and "passion and attention to detail."

"It was a lesson I'll never forget," wrote Gundotra. "CEOs should care about details. Even shades of yellow. On a Sunday."

Collaborative-innovation

In today’s world, the speed of technology evolution along with its pervasiveness, morphing of the world to an inter connected human network and the ubiquity of the classic 3Cs (communication, connectivity and consumer) is a technological marvel to reckon with. This thriving, though relentless age has brought about an exponential increase of data. Data is being generated and captured at the time stamp an event occurs. The challenge now is to tap on this humungous data and sort and assimilate it into useful information which can be leveraged upon in a timely mode.
If an organization were to work in isolation, it may potentially make itself capable and efficient enough to manage this data. However no single company can survive in today’s world as an island of know-how and expertise. It works and thrives in an eco-system - and this is where the biggest challenge for data extraction, management and utilization lies. An organization cannot but depend upon its partners, suppliers, customers and other members of the supply chain for this effective data management. So how does an organization compete in such an inter-linked, fast paced and competitive market place? One of the answers to this lies in Collaborative-Innovation.
Collaborative-Innovation.is the extension of scale and scope of external collaborations, alliances and partnerships to access and exploit new technologies, markets and customers. It leverages on the niche competencies and the individual strengths of the member entities. It enhances the sum capabilities of an organization and its relevant co-innovation partners from the ecosystem through an integrated network of domain expertise, leading edge technologies and platforms.
Key benefits of Collaborative-Innovation. include
• Acceleration of technology adoption and enablement.
• Facilitation of targeting new markets – especially where trade barriers are insurmountable by any one single entity
• Cost reduction and improved efficiency
• Increases options for biz development
• Helps in better management of uncertainties – market, technology&competition
• Generation of innovative ideas, new product concepts and development and testing of prototypes
• Profitable innovation

The process of Collaborative-Innovation. involves formulating strategic intent, assessing capability for innovation, building strategic alliances and partnering agreements etc. – all with the objective of selling and delivering value to the customer.

Catch-22 & The New World Order ( couple of articles from Fortune)

In the precariously positioned Economic Global Bipolar world, any changes by the Central banks to either lower the interest rates to foster growth further or increase the interest rates to control the inflation which will result in higher fuel prices etc leads us to a perfect CATCH-22 .  

The Global corporations would love to see the Indian and Chinese middle Class go up dramatically as it means they will buy more mobile phones, toothpaste, homes , electricity etc . It is estimated by 2020 China alone will have close to 700 million in middle class and India would go up to around 580 million . But double digit growth in especially  smaller markets and even in India and China also means raising living costs. Inflation in India has doubled to 8% and China has gone up from 1% to & 7.7% since 2006.

The "New World Order" being that 54 developing markets will post a 6.7% increase in GDP ( though last year it was 7.5%) versus 1.6% from the 31 developed countries. US is no longer the spear head for growth , which also means many markets which are very heavily USA dependent need to braise up for tough times ahead. While USA will still be an enormous 13.92 trillion dollars by 2008 and while other markets coming quickly on the radar are still small but sizable. (  China at 3.7 trillion and with India , Brazil and Russia ranging from 1.14 to 1.29 trillion )

For the first time ever in over a decade , did we see a drop in American based  Fortune 500 companies to 153 total in number. Less then a ten years ago India , Mexico and Russia posted just one company on F500 . This years list includes 7 from the subcontinent and five each from Mexico and Russia.

China steals the show this year by an unprecedented total of 29 companies , which is as many as from Italy , Spain and Australia combined. Lenovo  entered the spot at 499. Global Giants grew a phenomenal 13% up by approx. 23.6 trillion dollars  and profits of the complete F500 went up by 3.9% amounting to 1.6 trillion dollars. 

Australia has around 8 Companies in the F500 list while Britain has 34 and Canada around 14. China the Non English speaking market stands at 29 while France and Germany are at 37 and 39 respectively .  India's 7 , Brazil's 5 , Japan's 64 and while  USA is  still the largest contributer with  153 F500 corporations, there does not seem to be a doubt on where the "NEW WORLD" is going to be in the future . 

Do you need a Marketing Department ?

Each one in a company is responsible for Marketing , a Single arrogant statement by the CEO or CFO or a person who is the touch point time to the company  can create a very damaging impact for the company . More then half of all Japanese companies do not even bother to have a marketing department , because they feel everyone in the company is responsible for marketing and Marketing is not a department but it is the  business. A few elements are delineated below from the book i have been recently reading about by Harry Beckwith .

Marketing Myopia : Very often we tend not to see the most obvious , asking for external help at times is the best solution. "So much of what passes for brilliant insight in helping a company is reporting what everyone in that company could see , if only they could see it clearly . It is hard to see the real scope of your business ask for help ....

Tunnel Vision : People talk about what they know and what people know is their company and hence when companies discuss there problems they talk about themselves, But what people really need to know - is your customers and prospective ones .... Get out ! Climb out , have some one pull you out of the tunnel .

Start with every Employee and review every step ... don't start a company if you do not know how to Smile is a famous saying .. and similarly every step means how does the receptionist greet to what is written at the bottom of the invoice.

Irrespective of the Business , get to the core - Know what you are good at and what you specialize ? We all thought Federal Express was a courier company and just delivered mail quickly but when there core management team put their heads together they realized they are much more then that and they could manage logistics with extreme efficiency which included procuring ,Optimizing transportation costs  storing and forwarding and hence they are now known as the best in Logistics Management. Similarly Anderson consulting where always thought to be known as books auditors , but they realized very quickly that they knew the details to the core on information flow and systems which resulted in the setting up of the Management consultancy practice

What are you Selling ? Do Customers go to Star bucks for the Coffee at an exorbitant price or for the experience they can get from Star bucks .. focus on what the clients are actually buying .

If you are selling a service , you are selling a relationship and not necessarily a Expertise : how often do you go to your regular medical practitioner for expertise ?

The best Strategy in a War is to win without a Fight ! : Go to unchartered territories ! The Big Six accounting firms were only in the Metros and big cities .. the Eight largest one focused on the 2nd Tier and 3rd Tier Cities and ended up being positioned as the brand name accounting firm in that area .

Study all your touch Points : Your business card , your receptionist , your sales person , your project execution specialists who are all capable of living an impression on your customers ! Focus on all of them !! 

The Adapters Edge : Have we considered innovative ways that new technology can be used to improve our service and grow our business ? Making technology a key part of our Marketing plan is crucial ... are we ahead in terms of leveraging technology and have we thought of it as we will be second to none two years ahead ? 

Collin Powell's Leadership Lessons

Lessons	Collin Powell' Lessons on Leadership - A scintillating Talk had the opportunity to attend
Lesson 1	"Being responsible sometimes means pissing people off."
Lesson 2	"The day soldiers stop bringing you their problems is the day you have stopped leading them.  They have either lost confidence that you can help them or concluded that you do not care.  Either case is a failure of leadership."
Lesson 4	"Don't be afraid to challenge the pros, even in their own backyard." (if you have a yes-man working for you, one of you is redundant.  Good leadership encourages everyone's evolution)
Lesson 5	"Never neglect details.  When everyone's mind is dulled or distracted the leader must be doubly vigilant."
Lesson 6	"You don't know what you can get away with until you try." Forgiveness is easier then permission
Lesson 8	"Organization doesn't really accomplish anything. Theories of management don't much matter.  Endeavors succeed or fail because of the people involved.  Only by attracting the best people will you accomplish great deeds."
Lesson 9	"Organization charts and fancy titles count for next to nothing."
Lesson 15	Part I: "Use the formula P=40 to 70, in which P stands for the probability of success and the numbers indicate the percentage of information acquired.” Part II: "Once the information is in the 40 to 70 range, go with your gut."[Excessive delays in the name of information-gathering breeds "analysis paralysis." ]
Lesson 16	"The commander in the field is always right and the rear echelon is wrong, unless proved otherwise." ….. (Too often, the reverse defines corporate culture ) `- Shift the power and the financial accountability to the folks who are bringing in the beans, not the ones who are counting or analyzing them.
Lesson 17	"Have fun in your command.  Don't always run at a breakneck pace.  Take leave when you've earned it:Spend time with your families.