League of Champions

India’s time is now, as its wealthiest blaze to the top in Asia...

To be candid with you, I was almost beginning to feel world-weary with the Forbes list of our planet’s richest billionaires. Year after year, it invariably read the same: Bill Gates at the peak, with Warren Buffett in close succession, the illustrious from ‘developed’ economies like the United Kingdom, Germany, Japan and France ruling the upper echelons of the global affluent, and India representing a flash-in-the-pan dotting the horizon somewhere, flaunting a handful of ubiquitous names that made it big.

So a few days back, when Forbes rolled out its latest rankings for the year, and India dethroned Japan for the numero uno slot among Asia’s most flourishing individuals, it was, to express it mildly – a pleasant surprise! Now boasting 36 billionaires with a combined net share of $191 billion between them, in contrast to Japan’s coterie of 24 worth a net aggregate of $64 billion, we didn’t just dethrone, rather we steamrollered Japan to end its 20-year-old dominion over the continent! With 14 newcomers striding into the high-game highway in 2007, and second only in number to the United States so far as the first-ten tier is concerned, the occasion does mark a landmark of sorts. And pleasant as the happenstance may be, I’d say it comes across as anything but as a surprise.

Two facts shine through: One, India’s traditionally super-rich players are steadily marching towards the pinnacle of international prosperity (a fact acknowledged by Forbes itself), and what is far more significant and a trend indicative of one likely to eventually rule the roost, the ascent of new-world entrepreneurs into the global big-ticket bandwagon (delightful coincidence that last year, at precisely this time, I had penned a piece on India Inc.’s resourceful fresh entrants gracing the world stage in times to come). So, apart from the uber-rich like L. N. Mittal, the Ambani Brothers, Azim Premji and Kumara Mangalam Birla, who constantly do our nation proud by exponentially reinforcing their legacy, I feel it’s the entrepreneurial talent on the list of the lately-arrived that merits close consideration.

Take the case of 39-year-old maverick Jignesh Shah, who created India’s biggest commodities exchange MCX or 41-year-old Kalanithi Maran of Sun TV, who took a very average publishing business to an enterprising conglomerate operating 14 channels and 4 radio stations, besides magazines and newspapers. Then of course, there’s the relatively older but no less spirited, Ramesh Chandra, who started off with a consulting company and amassed his billions providing homes for the country’s burgeoning middle-class. And K. Dinesh, among the founders of the legend that the world now knows as Infosys, who appears to give fellow founder Nandan Nilekani good company!

And then, of course, dazzle the prodigies of raw inventive genius that evoke inspiration. Sunil Mittal is a man who needs scant introduction, surging ahead to frontiers anew till today. 35-year-old IIT-Delhi Graduate, Anurag Dikshit, who moved to Gibraltar and produced a revolution with his online gaming portal PartyGaming, and Tulsi Tanti, who transited from the textile industry to alternative energy, resulting in the genesis of the country’s 15th most priced company, Suzlon. Subhash Chandra, Naresh Goyal...the legion continues to expand!

And while we rejoice in such individual accomplishments, the stark contradiction of circumstances that manifests itself in the malaise of poverty India is still ridden with, and the yawning per capita income chasm that exists between us and advanced nations, if allowed to endure, will shackle us from achieving – and making – true sense of any superpower vision. If anything than superficial, the current moment of glory must be construed as a vindication of the hope that a progressive and ethically sound entrepreneurial cluster that possesses the inherent gift of spawning opportunity, employment and talent, will unlock a veritable ‘world’ of wealth for a nation whose time has irresistibly dawned…

Written On:

25-10-2007

Strength of a woman!

A new-age India witnesses the dawn of eve power... all the way!

As 4Ps Business & Marketing completes two magnificent years of its existence and we present our much cherished readers with yet another one-of-a-kind special feature – showcasing India’s forty most prolific women achievers under the age of forty – the occasion sweeps me with what is at once a sense of pride and pleasure at the giant strides that the Indian woman of today has paced forward within the last decade, casting an indelible impression of accomplishment in practically every realm of business and society. Be it the corporate arena, the fields of literature and art, sports, politics, information technology, entertainment or media, there’s more than the traditional handful of women flying the country’s flag high into the new millennium you could identify with, domestically and globally.

And while it may well be considered rude to ask a girl her age and weight, the gravity with which these stellar livewires have descended into public consciousness coupled with the magnitude of their achievements is impossible to ignore. We’ve basked in the now familiar glory of Kiran Mazumdar Shaw, whose efforts at Biocon made her the nation’s wealthiest businesswoman; Chanda Kochhar, Shikha Sharma and Renuka Ramnath – each a phenomenon in their own right who have spearheaded the ICICI success saga – Naina Lal Kidwai of HSBC and Vidya Mohan Chhabria of the behemoth Jumbo Electronics company, making it to the echelons of the prestigious 50 most powerful women in international business compiled by Fortune, a few years back. With these role models to emulate in the foreground, the present has been blessed with the phenomenal ascent of the young female Indian professional and businesswoman, catapulting into an erstwhile pre-conceived, male-dominated bastion of senior and top-rung management names like Madhabi Puri-Buch, Kiran Chhabria, Monisha Shah, Vedika Bhandarkar, Shireen Bhan, Ekta Kapoor, Barkha Dutt, Renuka Jaipal and Priti Nair Chakravarthy, besides dynamic young business leaders of the ilk of Sulajja Firodia Motwani, Pia Singh, Schauna Chauhan, Manisha Girotra and Pooja Jain, each a formidable force in their functional domain. Then there springs to mind the ladies to whom we owe international acclaim: the likes of Indra Nooyi, who rose to the position of PepsiCo’s global CEO last year and earned Fortune’s No.1 title for the Most Powerful Woman in Business (2006), Booker Prize winners Arundhati Roy and Kiran Desai, Pulitzer Prize awardee Jhumpa Lahiri, to name a few. I personally have admired Rajita Chaudhuri (Dean-Undergratuate Studies - IIPM) more than most. Simply because of the fact that she not just makes an amazing teacher – where all her students that I have known swear by her to have made a difference in their lives most positively – but also her management and motivational skills are absolutely extraordinary. And also like most ideal a woman should be, she makes a great mother and wife who just brilliantly balances the entire mix of sheer brilliance of a woman.

Blessed as this trend is, and far too significant to form a matter of mere fluke, the fact remains that the quantum of women managers and leaders at the higher-ranking, strategic and directorial levels of corporate hierarchy is still sparse, internationally and more so closer home. Whilst globalisation and the arrival of multinationals in India has translated, over a period of time, into a stupendous number of opportunities and considerably led to moulding conventional mindsets towards women employees occupying positions of executive power and administrative influence, I believe that we’re yet to transcend nascence in this regard. And the benefits are only for corporations to revel in. At the risk of sounding a feminist, I feel we need to appreciate what is a well-documented truth: women possess the uncanny ability to accept and tackle situations in a more detached and rational manner than their male counterparts. They are known to discern with perfect clarity the objectives and output they desire, besides the very critical element of empathy and intuitive thinking they bring to the table as a natural attribute (and yes, on a lighter note, why do they always do better at studies?!). Think of it, if you were to design a marketing strategy for a consumer product knowing for sure that more than 50% of your target audience would evidently comprise the opposite gender, whom would you be better off hiring to create your blueprint?! So I say, shatter that proverbial glass ceiling with finality and think beyond the barriers of illiteracy and prejudice, with a line from Shaggy that goes out to all the women I know… So amazing how this world was made, I wonder if GOD is a woman…

Written On:

05-06-2010

Freedom Under Siege

“Like adequate education, freedom of expression is no longer a political nicety, but a precondition for economic competitiveness,” or so mused American creative thinking great, Alvin Toffler. Well, leave aside economic spirit, judging by the events that have transpired in the last month, I don’t quite believe it is even a political nicety in our country anymore. Case in point is the Broadcasting Services Regulation Bill 2006, devised purportedly by the Information & Broadcasting Ministry with the noble objective of thwarting the emergence of monopolies in Indian media.

Fair enough... you would presume, and probably not tender it much consideration beyond what media tycoons of the land now have to contend with, with the draft intending to fix a ceiling on cross-media ownership – across broadcasting and cable networks, radio and DTH – portending a realignment of shareholding structures. But sneak a glance into what lies beneath, and the proposed bill bears in its fold some extremely tyrannical legislations.

According to the plan, “In the event of war or a natural calamity of national magnitude, the Central Government may, in public interest, take over the control and management of any of the broadcasting services or any facility connected therewith, suspend its operation or entrust the public service broadcaster to manage it, in the manner directed by the Government for such period as it deems fit.” Further, the draft also contains provisions for penalising and repealing licenses of those breaching its instructions, besides a prearranged ‘content code’ for all broadcasters to incorporate!

If you thought that was enough already, the bill recommends the founding of a Broadcasting Regulatory Authority of India (BRAI), with an official on the payroll of the Government as its Secretary/CEO. Surprise Surprise! And if this didn’t suffice, here’s more: If, at any time, a broadcaster’s service is “considered prejudicial to friendly relations with a foreign country, public order, communal harmony or security of the state,” brother BRAI could brandish its sword and snatch your right to air your programme, temporarily or better still, for keeps.

Every sanctioned BRAI administrator – as wide-ranging as a district magistrate, sub-divisional magistrate or police commissioner – according to the bill blueprint, would wield the clout to inspect, search, and seize broadcasting equipment on receipt of complaint, or restrict service providers from playing or replaying a show or channel “if it is not in conformity with the prescribed content code, or if it is likely to promote feelings of disharmony or of enmity, hatred or ill-will between religious, racial, linguistic or regional groups or castes or communities or which is likely to disturb public tranquillity.”

And if the draft bill were ever to materialise into an Act, it’s ‘Hasta la Vista, Baby’ to sting journalism, hidden cameras and media revelations of concerns involving high-flying politicos or celebrities, without “identifiable public interest reason.”

And here’s the mother lode – the Government, in consonance with the draft, will not only embrace the privilege to frame fresh regulations for the media as and when it pleases, but the proposed BRAI-officials’ adventures cannot even be contested in the court! Well, where does one even begin to fathom or react to this brilliant masterstroke of media management? Were it not so horrendously high-handed, it might even have been hilarious.

It’s nothing short of a grim reminder of times during the Emergency (1975-77), when newspapers were obligated to relinquish their subject matter for shearing by the Government, before it decided what was ‘suitable’ for printing. Today, when we are well and truly living in the information age, with the media more often than not proving the one sane source and link to transparency, this sort of all-encompassing command to the state could effectively castrate the spirit of the free press, with tenets of the bill open for exploitation to the hilt by the powers that be.

The words of the Honourable I&B Minister, Shri Priyaranjan Dasmunsi, “I can say with responsibility that the bill will be a media friendly, progressive legislation not seen anywhere in the world,” seem true only in the final clause. Very few places on the planet indeed, would have even heard of such a prejudiced regulation. Worse still is the initial unilateralist attitude with which the ministry first approached the matter – never at first consulting media concerns nor industry representatives – instead proclaiming the draft bill would neither be “diluted” or “polluted.”

Almost equally baffling was the I&B minister’s volte-face on television, urging that the provisions of the bill did not seek to address established national channels, but to curb the unmitigated multitude of cable operators and regional networks that have emerged in areas of unrest in the country.

We’ve seen it before; the stark reality is that every Government or ruling authority of whichever kind in the universe would rub its hands in glee with the prospect of controlling the media, for it’s perhaps the one inexorable opponent that brings the elements of accountability and transparency – or at least fear of these – to any administration’s operative proclivities. So, be it subtle stratagems of smothering the media by forbidding news on FM radio or mercilessly ripping away parts from felicitated films or relegating television programming to ‘Universal’-rated themes or outright asphyxiation of the media, it might as well not ring as too much trepidation.

I think the truth lies bare before us all: Be it the Tsunami in South India, the earthquake in Kashmir, the floods or the blasts in Mumbai, media-persons were at the heart of each calamity much before anyone else decided to awaken. The courageous new avatar of journalism in India has seen too many skeletons popping out of parliamentary closets, too many beans being spilt on covert escapades, and in the unravelling of this truth lies the bone of contention, that leads to the very likely possibility of such totalitarian legislations even being conceived.

And while it is fortunate enough that the current broadcast bill may not finally be tabled in this monsoon session of Parliament and with any luck, die a natural death (much like it’s predecessors in 1998 and 2000), the burden of duty is now on the shoulders of the country’s media and broadcasting industry to organise and present unitedly a solution that is put in order with a degree of finality.

One would submit that private television – and media as a whole today – is driven to a large extent by corporate advertising, and content many-a-times ventures into the realm of the mindless and the crude, but overriding measures such as this draft bill can hardly be expected to act as alleviative

measures. The remedy, in my opinion, is for the private broadcasting community to mutually craft a code of conduct on programming, with an autonomous media body designated to implement its guiding principles. There lies too ominous the probability of compromise of justice in giving the bureaucracy, police and the Government the right to interfere blatantly with media functioning, anywhere in the world.

Free speech is not just a fundamental right, but more aptly the most sacred of all rights, devoid of which, neither would any hunt for truth be possible, nor the discovery of any truth valuable…

Wriiten On:

17-10-2006

Executive Precision!

The top guns of India Inc. are roaring, and with good reason…

Think of our nation’s spectacular ascent to the economic high ground it is perched on today in the context of 21st century global dynamics, and there’s an intriguing paradox that strikes home. While the quantum leap in progress the Indian economy has taken since the decade-and-a-half of liberalisation is a feat the world bears testament to, that setting shop successfully in India does not exactly equate a walk in the park is also a fact nearly everyone who means business in the land will agree to!

Yet, though the World Bank’s ‘Doing Business 2007’ Report awards India a no. 134 slot among 175 countries on an index of ease of operating an enterprise from end-to-end, the benefits of commercial prosperity dazzle like never before on consumers and companies alike. Flipping through another edition of a refreshing special issue 4Ps B&M dished out last fortnight, I couldn’t but muse over one of the pivotal factors spearheading this revolutionary trend of advancement and growth – those three letters spelling out the pizzazz of modern-day India’s passionate change agents – C-E-O.

We’re only too familiar with the attributes in general that constitute the fabric of a great leader. On this occasion, however, let’s dwell on the mettle that relegates CEOs functioning in the Indian marketspace to a formidable league, one that well… you’ll discover in the course of this discussion, is quite their own. So what makes the Indian CEO so special?

Foremost, I believe is a characteristic that has proved itself near-inherent to successful corporate leaders in India – ‘innovation’; an ability to consciously encourage creative visualisation & deployment of skills to engender products & services equally unique in their value proposition. Far more than ever, today’s fiercely competitive & globalised marketplace milieu compels the existence of innovation not as a mere frill, but as an inescapable necessity! Be it the iconic Narayana Murthy who ensures innovation stays vibrant from the top in Infosys’ bloodstream, the bold Sunil Mittal with his revolutionary operating philosophy that outsources everything except marketing & customer management at Bharti Tele-ventures Ltd., or the perennially-on-the-move Dr. Vijay Mallya who quite aptly brought the ‘good times’ to Indian air travellers, this focus towards innovation as a tool for competitive advantage is truly providing India Inc. an edge over the international pack.

A relentless pursuit of novel concepts, techniques to better manage information, the latest technology and brainstorming to constantly improvise and masterfully deliver customised offerings to a discerning consumer base is another trait that outlines the majority of India’s head honchos, when placed against the greater priority to intangibles like corporate image and goodwill accorded in America and Europe. Much in distinction to their global contemporaries (and contrary to what television soaps would like us to believe!), the man at the helm in corporate India possesses scant regard for bickering while work, preferring to limit both the rumour mill and conversations pertaining to a personal nature. Finally, and most significantly, is the willingness and propensity of the Indian business leader to not just adapt, but thrive in a regulatory ambience austere and laborious enough (and that’s stating it mildly!) to daunt even the best!

There are drawbacks, I agree, when it comes to harbouring that essential measure of emotional intelligence apart from technical acumen, an enhanced appreciation of employee welfare or the very need for such perseverance as manifested to sustain one’s own in the midst of a hundred formalities required for conducting business in a nation fast cutting inroads into global superpowerdom. The number of acquisitions effected by Indian organisations in the last year alone is evidence enough of a trend the international community has not just taken cognisance of, but is increasingly becoming wary of. Yet, both the corporate fraternity & the government need to tighten their acts to further the development of the labour class and the poor through fair and equitable distribution of incomes across the lower socioeconomic strata if India is to be viewed as an economic behemoth in the right perspective.

Be that as it may, what’s just as incontrovertible is that we’re well on our way to becoming masters of the game, and as this Independence Day augurs the dawn on a nation emerging as the world’s largest truly democratic superpower blazing its glorious trail on the economic highway, Chak de India Inc!!!

Written On:

25-10-2007