The Hindu Business Line : How to create a new tomorrow

AN OFT-ASKED question about Indians is: In spite of having such rich heritage, an abundance of natural resources and intellectual minds, why we are unable to make a difference to the world economy?

Going by the well-known strategist and a former partner of McKinsey, Dr Partha S. Ghosh, the key ingredients required to make a difference are: Courage, thinking differently and an effective moral compass. Addressing students of SIES College of Management Studies, Nerul, in Mumbai, on "How to make difference?", he said that what India needed now was a restructuring in its government and infrastructure policies, education system and, above all, an attitudinal change in its people.

According to a recent survey by McKinsey, most Indian companies strategise well but fall behind in execution. The report concluded that the high performers such as General Electric, Sony Corporation, Singapore Airlines or A.M. General are action oriented and this reflects in their market share.

The top leaders of Indian companies are good at making broad policies, but they do not monitor day-to-day performance, or provide much motivation to employees. A good leader should reward managers who act and show initiative and take to task those mangers who play safe and behave like bureaucrats. Indians are trapped in the game of bureaucracy, which has stopped people from thinking and taking decisions.

Since Independence, we have given undue attention to politicians. Though the rich history of our nation tells us about the various people who have contributed their bit to the nation's growth we all end up giving credit to the politician.

Every day thousands of innocent people are being tortured and killed because of the ugly politics played. Democracy is becoming a fast fading illusion.

And the impact of all this is seen in our ecosystem, in the large scale destruction of trees, which, in turn, is contributing to global warming. The paradox of `shining India' is seen in an outdated education system that cripples the imagination and overburdens the student, with the result that we have engineers who, instead of designing machines, are employed in mundane managerial tasks. Rural India is still waiting for primary health care.

Indians have certain negative attitudes that pull them down. Fear of failure is one. The other is nurturing mediocrity and encouraging herd culture. Every youngster passing out of the IITs, IIMs, engineering colleges, B-schools, wants to be a manger, rarely does somebody want to be an entrepreneur instead.

India boasts of immense human resource. This human capital has to be trained to think independently and out of the box. Talent management needs to become a national priority. Which means attracting talented people, providing them support and the right environment to learn and grow. All of us need to make a difference. Strike a different chord, accept offbeat ideas, and walk towards a new tomorrow.

(The author is professor, Marketing at SIES College of Management Studies, Nerul. She can be contacted at vidyah_28@yahoo.com.)

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