www.abplgroup.com - Asian Voice 10th May 2014
COMMENT
Indian CEOs in global business
The appointment of 46 year-old Rajeev Suri as CEO of $18 billion Finnish telecoms giant Nokia comes in the wake of Satya Nadella’s elevation as CEO of US IT behemoth Microsoft. Both men have been entrusted with arresting the decline in their respective companies’ market share and to take them to higher level of growth through innovation and restructuring. The two men share a common educational background as graduates of India’s technologically oriented Manipal University, before making their way to centres of excellence in the West, in their case the hallowed Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). Both men share a passion for cricket and closely follow the fortunes of Team India. While they describe themselves as global citizens, they are not shy of proclaiming their Indian roots. They are not the only Indian-born executives to have attained these rarified heights, their eminence shared by a lengthening list of other high profile Indian CEOs and entrepreneurs for whom the world is their oyster. Four Indians at the Harvard Business School have just carried off the School’s top awards for business innovation. Sample this roll call of honour: Indra Nooyi (PepsiCo), Nitin Noharia (Harvard Business School), Rakesh Kapoor (Beckitt Benckiser), Anshu Jain ( (Deutsche Bank) and many more. So what is it that they bring to their jobs, apart from specialist skills and commitment? What makes them fit in so easily into the worlds of East and West, into their social mores and contrasting cultures? Observers of the business scene attribute this phenomenon to the cultural diversity of India, to the comfort Indians usually feel with mobility; their ability to adapt to any challenge - for the educated fraternity of Indians in particular - to their command of the English language, their openness to new dietary experiences. “The ability of Indians to adapt seamlessly to the global business environment, their openness to experiment with international food and cuisine, an excellent balance of
analytical and creative minds, and the willingness to accept an assignment in a challenging geography from the political or climate standpoint have made Indians the preferred choice of compared to other nationalities,” said Arvind Aggarwal, President HR& Corporate Development, RPG Enterprises. Frans Johansson, CEO of The Medical Group, remarked that India was an incredibly diverse country, and it was this diversity that powered a culture of innovation and agility. “Any manager aspiring to an executive leadership role in companies like Nokia, Microsoft or PepsiCo will need to be a workforce of diverse cultures, perspectives and backgrounds to innovate.” The Indian performance, however, is not without its ironies. Well into the 19th century Indian ventures across the “black water” was taboo. The German thinker Max Weber, who is widely credited as the father of sociology, opined that India’s caste system would be an impediment to Indians making a success in business. Put down the nullity of Indian social rigidity and Germanic theorizing and the Indian success thereof to Hegel’s “Cunning of Reason”! To return to Rajeev Suri, an old Nokia hand, who, during his time with the company, says each job required new learning, hence, “I never want to be limited to what I know today, by what is familiar. I tend to gravitate to where the opportunities are, and where there is the most value to be created.” Mr Suri concludes: “Before the end of the next hundred days, I want to see us have clarity across the entire company about our values and desired culture……This is not the time for any of the [Nokia] businesses to miss their plan, as the world is watching us and trying to decide if we are up to the task ahead. Let’s deliver the excellent results that make the answer to that question resoundingly clear. ” The Nokia paradigm going forward has been well defined by a man who knows what it means to deliver success to those who expect nothing less.
On April 27, South Africa celebrated the anniversary of its first post-apartheid democratic election. Two decades have passed since the curtain came down on the white supremacist political system and all its works. Multiracial life has expanded its reach into every corner of the land, from politics, sport, administration, the judiciary, administration, academe and the industrial shop floor. The press is free and voices its opinions without let or hindrance. Civil society is alive and well. These are advances of which all South Africans should be proud as they go forward to the the future. But questions also need to be asked. Are the disadvantaged sections of society more upwardly mobile now than they were under apartheid? Yes, but not fast enough. Liberation was the best of times, the present is the worst of times. South Africa must ask why. It is not so long that the iconic and revered Nelson Mandela died. He relinquished office at the end of his first term and the reins were taken up by his democratically elected successor Thabo Mbeki, then by Jacob Zuma, the present incumbent. Under their dispensations the economic, social and political situation has deteriorated so alarmingly that there is increasing talk of South Africa as a failing state. Forty per cent of the black population are unemployed, the rife cronyism spawning a black elite that is concerned only to retain their ill-gotten perks and
perquisites. The Black Economic Empowerment (BEE) programme that has been designed to give blacks priority in employment, ownership and procurement in the public and private sectors is falling grievously short of producing the desired results, as Moeletsi Mbeki (bother of the former president Thabo Mbeki) pointed out. According to him, the employment equity programme is deepening the rich-poor divide in the black community. Archbishop Desmond Tutu has spoken out boldly at the abuses of power perpetrated by the political hegemony of the ruling African National Congress (ANC); South African trade unions have locked horns with the government over increasing labour unrest and violence at the workplace. The spreading pandemic of crime has left citizens fearful and insecure. Alex Boraine – churchman, Parliamentarian and Deputy Chairman of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission and friend of Nelson Mandela – has written a book “What’s Gone Wrong?”- a work he was reluctant to write – in which he addresses the growing concerns of the people at large. His own greatest concerns include the hegemonic tendencies within the governing ANC, once the engine of freedom, now seemingly rudderless. “Power corrupts and absolute power corrupts absolutely,” pronounced the historian Lord Acton a century and more ago.
Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif was in London recently to cement UK-Pakistan ties. His talks with David Cameron and Nick Clegg resulted in a considerable quantum of British aid for the teaching of English in Pakistan, which is to be welcomed. Following their discussions in Downing Street, both Prime Ministers issued, among other subjects, a statement calling for “closer cooperation” between their respective countries and next Indian government. The UK-India relationship, being free of road blocks, is set to prosper, especially on the trade and investment front. IndoPakistan relations are more problematic, despite Mr Sharif’s brave promises before and after taking office to free the India logjam. Trade was supposed to be the starting point of a new beginning, but the Pakistani starter’s gun is yet to fire. What has fired are jihadi bombs, most recently in a railway carriage in Chennai, which killed a young woman IT programmer on her way to Bangalore, and injured 14 innocent fellow passengers. Yasin
Bhatkal, the Indian Mujaheedin (IM) leader, now in police custody, has disclosed that Pakistan’s Inter-Services Intelligence Directorate provided the IM with Rs 26 crore funding; Mohammed Zakar, a Sri Lankan citizen has been arrested in Chennai for planning bomb attacks on foreign consulates (most notably those of Israel and the US), and also Indian installations, bringing to mind the work of David Coleman Headley’s reconnaissance trips to Mumbai prior to the 26/11 bombings there. Pakistani journalists are being routinely assassinated for their investigative reporting on ISI covert activities. One hopes Mr Cameron brought this to his visitor’s attention. The last word on the West’s relationship with Pakistan belongs surely to the French writer and historian Emmanuel Todd. He likened America’s role in Pakistan to that of an arsonist and fireman: provide Islamabad with all the incendiary devices it needs, then douse it with financial aid to contain the blaze.
South Africa’s balance sheet after apartheid
UK-Pakistan partnership: Deeds not words will tell
3 Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness, that most frightens us. We ask ourselves: 'Who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented and fabulous?' Actually, who are you not to be? - Nelson Mandela
Lord Dolar Popat of Harrow, Conservative peer
The European elections are too important to ignore Next month’s European elections are the most important in a generation. This is your chance to decide which Party is best placed to represent Britain’s national interest. On May 22nd you have the chance to send a message that the EU has been heading in a direction that Britain never signed up to. These elections are the first time you’ve been able to have your say on Europe since the Eurozone crisis, and there is a clear choice between the positions of the different political parties. Anyone who saw the debates between Nick Clegg and Nigel Farage will know the two extremes of the EU argument; the Lib Dems love the EU unconditionally, UKIP have an irrational hatred towards the EU and want to leave irrespective of what it costs. Unfortunately the naivety of the Lib Dems and UKIP is matched by the Labour Party. They refuse to give the British people a say on our membership of the European Union, despite consistently signing over more power to the EU when in Government. Only the Conservative Party have a clear strategy for reforming Europe, and we are the only Party committed to giving you a say on our continued membership. The Prime Minister is committed to renegotiating our membership to get the best deal for Britain, and
then putting an ‘in or out’ question to the British people in a referendum in 2017 if we are the Party in Government. David Cameron has a clear track record of standing up for Britain’s interest in Europe. He secured a cut in the EU budget to protect British taxpayers and he vetoed an EU Fiscal Treaty that didn’t guarantee a level playing field for British businesses. But perhaps the most important thing we have done is ensure that no more powers can simply be given to Europe. We have brought in a lock, so that a referendum will be needed before any more powers can be handed over. We have demonstrated that we are committed to protecting Britain’s interests, and trusting the British people. The world is changing rapidly. Emerging economies like India are going to be competing for every job. Britain –and Europeneed to be ready to compete; this Government have started to deliver the change we need at home, and now we have a plan to deliver the fundamental change that Europe has been crying out for. On May 22nd you have a chance to support that change. A vote for the Conservatives is a vote for real change in Europe that works for you, for your family and for your business. The Conservative Party is the only party which can deliver for you.
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