Inefficiency: Getting it Done since 1947

First, I must apologize for my absence from this blog over the last week. In Goa I fell and was feeling the side effects up until a few days ago. I will spare you the details but I am sure you can imagine the symptoms.
With that said, a lot has happened over the last week. After a very relaxing weekend in the resort town of Goa we flew to Bangalore – India’s IT hub. Prior to going to Bangalore I knew very little outside of it being a technology center. Outside of that, Indians informed me that Bangalore boasts great nightlife and cooler temperatures than the rest of the country. Well, it was indeed a few degrees cooler which was very nice. I was able to wear jeans on a regular basis and not sweat profusely after walking half a block down the street. As for the nightlife, I was not feeling well so did not partake but recently Bangalore mandated that bars must shut down before midnight. Good nightlife? This decision is thanks to the very conservative ruling party, BJP, that runs the region.
As for our itinerary in Bangalore we visited Christ University on Wednesday. Thursday we had two company visits: One to Accenture and in the afternoon we went to Boeing. Friday we had our final company visit to GE Healthcare.
Let’s begin with Christ University – one of the longer days we have had in India. In the morning we took a bus to the University and learned about their Slums Education Project. Basically, a wing of the University that does very community service projects throughout the country. Specifically, we were learning about their project in a local Bangalore slum. They had a few initiatives in place here: set up a composting plant and organizing a women’s group. Most interesting was the women’s group. This was a group that met regularly where women from this particular slum were able to discuss any issues going on in their community. In addition, they each donated money and then lent it out to local businesses at a 2% annual interest. This scheme allowed the women to learn basic business and banking skills. Also, it shifted some of the power in the community from the men to the women. Essentially, these women were running a bank of sorts. I was very impressed with their business acumen and their maturity. The age of the group varied with some women being very young to others being senior citizens.
The slum itself was like a scene out of Slumdog Millionaire. Poverty everywhere. The roads were littered with trash and sewage. Cows, dogs and goats roamed around freely (like much of India). Despite the conditions of the slum, I must say that the people seemed happy. Visiting the slums was one of the better experiences I had in India. In a way I am almost jealous that they are able to be so happy with so little while I am still striving for happy despite all my possessions.
In the afternoon we met with Christ University MBA students to discuss the Tata Consultancy and Shoppers Stop cases. Rather than going into elaborate details about our conversations I will give an overview of my thoughts on this experience. I found the Indian students to be very intelligent. Very numbers oriented. They had no problem taking data and processing it as long as numbers were involved. Otherwise they lack the ability to read into the facts and make worthwhile assumptions. Compared to our visit with Chinese MBA students last year I felt the Indian students were a step ahead. While still a weakness, the Indians did posses great amount of soft skills than the Chinese students. Like the Chinese students, the Indians mostly came from a technology and/or engineering background.
The University was very welcoming to our SU group. They fed us both lunch and dinner and put on a short cultural show for us. Throughout this trip both the companies and university have gone out of their way to welcome us and give us the “VIP treatment”.
The next day we had a morning visit to Accenture. Here, Sandeep, the head of Accenture India spoke to us for a couple of hours in a Q&A session. I was impressed that he was willing to make time for us given his job title and the fact that he oversees thousands of people throughout Accenture’s Indian offices. Accenture sees themselves as the top consulting firm alongside IBM. They do view Tata, Wipro, HCL, and Infosys and worthy competitors but not quite in the same league. I think that Accenture and IBM posses a more worldly reach and greater resources. One of the biggest pieces of advice Sandeep had to offer was the importance of business people to get global experience. He suggested taking an expat assignment if possible (seems easier said than done). His point alluded to the growing competitiveness and the increasing talent emerging from countries such as India and China. In order for Americans to stay competitive they have to get this international outlook as part of their resume.
After Accenture we went to Boeing’s Research and Technology office that was only established earlier this year. Honestly, I didn’t get much out of this presentation as they mostly spoke in acronyms that only Boeing people (16 on our trip) could understand. With that said, Boeing seems to have some challenges in India. Politics is crucial in all of Boeing’s deals. The State Department and Boeing work closely to get approval of deals. Also, the US government sometimes steps in to Boeing’s deal on their behalf and negotiates with high level government official in order to try and win this American company business. Boeing currently works with Air India, Jet Airways, and Spicejet. They are also actively seeking military contracts with India but have stiff competition from Saab and Eurojet among others.
Friday we visited GE Healthcare. They had a huge campus in the outskirts of Bangalore with multiple buildings. Each building was dedicated to a different GE business. We had a Director of Engineering speak to us about some of the initiatives being undertaken by GE Healthcare in India. Their vision is the shift healthcare from being reactive to more proactive and preventative. They are taking some great steps towards providing affordable equipment to rural India. For example they have an ECG machine which retails for around $1,000. This machine is very basic but allows for an adequate measure of heart activity and it does not need a doctor to oversee it. They are coming out with many other competitively priced machines that can be used in lower income areas to provide a higher quality of healthcare and thus increase lifespan.
So that’s it. Two weeks in India has flown by. All of our company visits were well organized and worthwhile. I got to see a lot of great things in this country and did some shopping for my friends and loved ones at home.
Some final thoughts:
• India has got to be one of the dirtiest and most polluted places I have been (and I have been to many places in the developing world)
• Things take longer in India
• While money may get you a lot of things it will not get you out of an Indian traffic jam
• People seem happier here even with less
• Democracy is great for the Indian people but it also results in all these delays into improving infrastructure
• Diarrhea is a way of life here – at least for foreigners.
• India is very colorful – I think I took some good pictures.
• It is amazing that peace exists in India with the plethora of cultures that exist.
• I found India to be incredibly frustrating but perhaps it was good in the sense that it helped me relax and realize I cant control every situation.