May 13 to 26, 2013

Back on the

radar

India is willy-nilly attracting global interest once again

`30RNI No.35850/80; Reg. No. MH/MR/South-82/2012-14 TN/CH(C)250/2012-14; Published on: Every alternate Monday; Posted at Patrika Channel Sorting office, Mumbai-400001 on every alternate Monday-Tuesday Su

bscr

iber

cop

y

n Iron ore mInIng

n the adb meet

n the netherlands

n local body tax

u 76 u

MAY 13 -26, 2013

Busi n e ss i n di A u the M AgA zi n e of the cor por Ate wor ldColumn

global mindsetThe global mindset must emerge from the CEO’s vision

and be supported by the top management

the debate on whether ‘globalisation’ of large indian companies should be pur-sued is over. Business success through

‘globalisation’ has to be the desired goal for larger organisations as they possess the req-uisite financial and managerial muscle. it can also be an attractive proposition for smaller and medium size companies through virtual technology and the emerging strong culture of e-commerce.

the fact is that ‘globalisation’ increases mar-ket size, geographical presence, growth and profitability by the necessity to aspire and reach global benchmarks in productivity and quality. the key element of growth comes from innova-tion resulting from deployment of human cap-ital from across the globe which facilitates the culture of innovation. globalised indian com-panies then have the ability to successfully compete in the domestic market with globa-lised companies from other countries. this is a survival issue which concurrently develops the capacity to deliver goods and services in the competitive global economy.

in our last column, we defined the six com-petencies needed for creating a successful and integrated globalised company as global mind-set, cross-culture competency, tech-savviness, partnering skills, collaborative leadership and connectivity. first among equals is the key competency of a ‘global mindset’ that deter-mines success in globalising business in a com-plex and changing world.

in this column, we will attempt to define ‘global mindset’ including from the indian business perspective and what it takes to fos-ter this attribute. An indian company needs to intimately understand strategies and business trends particularly in china which is now the second largest economy and in other emerging economies like indonesia, Brazil, Mexico and eastern europe. equally important is the need to be tuned to the changing business scenario in developed countries, particularly the us and western europe as they are the target customers and sources of much needed fdi and technol-ogy. concurrently, acquiring a ‘global mind-set’ is a must for our business organisations to transform and succeed globally.

we analysed and researched globalised companies from across the world and this list

of truly integrated global companies includes the likes of ibm, samsung, bmw, p&g and ge. A novel interpretation of the ‘global mindset’ was articulated by r. gopalakrishnan, direc-tor of tata sons, when we recently interviewed him on the competencies required for creat-ing globalised companies. his response on ‘global mindset’, expressed in our words: ‘india through centuries has successfully managed and navigated relationships by accommoda-tion and understanding with a succession of invaders of foreign origin. intrinsic ability and the indian tradition to live and let live despite several languages and cultures within our own country is representative of a ‘global mindset’. this fact is amazing if one considers the vari-ety of religions, avatars of the Almighty as wor-shiped in different parts of our country, food and customs prevailing to this day in different regions’. his point of view can be interpreted to state that an indian can transit into a ‘global mindset’ perhaps more easily than other nationalities and the growing tribe of indian origin ceo’s and top management in large glo-balised companies bears testimony.

while an accurate and comprehensive def-inition may be somewhat elusive, sim-

ply stated ‘global mindset’ is the aggregate ability of a company to conduct business in a global framework and to act locally in coun-tries where it has operations. products and ser-vices are becoming increasingly standardised through innovation and technology for cus-tomers located in all corners of the globe. smart phones, cars and courier services are a few examples. ‘global mindset’ is the thought process of the organisation to look beyond individual country boundaries, languages, cul-tures, time zones, political hues and instead, focus on garnering global resources of capital, human talent and advantages of scale to inno-vate, design, manufacture and market products and services in a competitive and continually improving cost effective manner.

what does it take to create a ‘global mind-set’? the ceo’s vision is decidedly the prime mover buttressed by the collective and shared perspective of the top management team to globalise the business. the attributes of a truly successful globally integrated company have

Dinesh Chandra,

Avish Dahiya are

co-founders and

Vibhay Sinha

is the Senior

Consulting Partner

of DNA Global

Network (www.

dnaglobalnetwork.

com), a

Management

Consulting Firm

specialising in

globalisation

based in San Jose,

Ca, USA

di n e sh ch A n dr A

V i B h A Y s i n h A

A V i s h d A h i Y A

u 77 u

MAY 13 -26, 2013

Busi n e ss i n di A u the M AgA zi n e of the cor por Ate wor ld Column

interdisciplinary responsibilities is an ideal way of creating the globalised mindset. employees absorb and offer knowledge interchange for the good of the organisation and in the process of doing so, imbibe the desired global mindset.

formalised training of multidisciplinary workforce from different regions is most ben-eficial in rotating locations across countries where the company operates. the diverse cul-tural mix in a single location even for short but regularly scheduled sessions is by itself a cre-ator of the global mindset. Inquisitiveness and curiosity: Being inquisi-tive is the third per-requisite of a ‘global mind-set’. there has to be a culture where employees are encouraged to be inquisitive about other cultures and countries. And this is not limited to being inquisitive within your own bound-

aries but to have curiosity for peoples and places outside your comfort zone. to illus-trate, as an indian, we may want to be inquisitive about the rest of india but not neces-sarily, for instance, about Japan or Africa. this quality of being inquisitive and curious leads to a better understanding for being inclusive of other parts of the world and consequently encourages fair and just treat-ment within the globalised company worldwide. Concluding comments: global mindset must emerge from the ceo’s vision sup-ported by the top management. in today’s virtual technology

availability, even smaller organisations can aspire to become global. the challenge for indian companies is to look beyond domes-tic markets and compete globally not just for increasing profit opportunities but also to sur-vive successfully against global competition in the home country. Japan had the tradition of being wary of foreigners. consider the trans-formation and formation of the nissan renault alliance with carl ghosyn as the ceo. or con-sider our own country where tata Motors has appointed Karl slym as the md & ceo.

here are some recommendations for consid-eration by indian companies aspiring to suc-ceed globally. hire top management talent from countries that you want to enter, pro-vide opportunities for global work locations and training for your middle and senior man-agement, launch companywide programmes to cultivate curiosity and inquisitiveness and reward this behaviour. u

been widely researched and articulated by aca-demics and business leaders. in our view, there are three determinants which for the most part encompass the totality of a ‘global mindset’. Inclusiveness: there has to be a conviction that all the stakeholders in the business worldwide are inclusive in the conduct of the corporation’s business. this includes customers, employees, shareholders, suppliers, governments, commu-nities and the environment where the busi-ness activity takes place. the most visible and demonstrative manifestation of being inclusive is to ensure that over time the company’s top management and indeed the ‘board of direc-tors’ include persons of either gender from countries other than the country of origin of the corporation. this in turn ensures that the corporation’s policies, products and services take into account individual-ised perspectives of all stake-holders where the business of the company is conducted.

inclusiveness implies ‘trust’. the trust quotient of all stake-holders in the integrity, ethical business practices and appro-priate sharing of benefits has to be high. As an example, con-sider the emerging globalis-ing indian brands such as tata, Mahindra, Aditya Birla group, and infosys that spell cred-ibility and trust worldwide. infosys is recognised inter-nationally, including leading economies and institutions as exemplary in setting world benchmarks for ‘corporate gov-ernance’. in a non-corporate scenario, ‘yoga’ and ‘basmati rice’ can claim to inspire interna-tional trust and Bollywood is gaining interna-tional recognition.

An important manifestation of this trust is that the top management of a ‘globally inte-grated’ company invests in r&d and manufac-turing facilities not only in the home country but also in other countries where business activ-ity occurs based on the logistics of cost, supply and distribution, local financial capital, avail-ability and training of appropriate manpower. Training and experiences of human cap-ital: successful integrated global companies create the global mindset by two major strate-gies which are training and experience oppor-tunities provided to all levels of employees and particularly for the middle and senior man-agement. institutionalised practice of locat-ing personnel in countries other than their home country and assignments offering

Global mindset’ is the aggregate

ability of a company to conduct

business in a global framework

and to act locally in countries

where it has operations