The Hindu Business Line : Expert sees urgent need to groom leaders for tech sector

AS the technology sector workforce grows rapidly, and the offerings go up the value chain, India will be faced with the task of finding leaders and middle managers to handle business challenges, according to Mr Deepak Sukh, President of Luminent Inc, and management expert.

Mr Sukh, who was the Chief Executive Officer of AT&T and Tata mobile venture, on a visit to India, told Business Line, "India needs to immediately address the issue of grooming leaders for the tech sector. It could be a company initiative, just as TCS does through Trailblazer, or an industry association's."

During his visit to TCS, Mr Sukh, a man who was part of training 2,500 leaders worldwide out of about 1,33,000 employees for Lucent Technologies, said, "Unless this is addressed, I foresee leadership aspect posing a tricky problem in the country. Leadership does not come through academic programmes, but through role models and takes time for transition."

Focus has to be by striking a balance between a combination of career and professional centric approach. Typically, Indians grow up with a different mindset. While this culture is heavily loaded against innovation, technology sector is all about innovation. Therefore, in India, we have very few product companies and most of them are services-driven, he explained.

"Just look at the element of time. A careful comparative study of this critical aspect of life in the US and India makes it interesting. Five minutes is five minutes, nothing more. As early as from school days, a child is groomed to take a bus at say 8.37 a.m. with the first class at 9.02 a.m. and second at 9.37 a.m. In India it is always 6.30 or 9.45 or in multiple of five.

"If you take this analogy to the lean manufacturing concept of Toyota assembly line, they talk about just in time, where even a second matters. Given the importance of time, in fact some of the most efficient plants in the world are managed and run by Toyota making it amongst the most profitable companies," Mr Sukh said to illustrate the importance of time concept.

Article E-Mail :: Comment :: Syndication :: Printer Friendly Page

Stories in this Section
DoT objects to security clause for equipment procurement

MTNL keen to tap opportunities in Sri Lanka

The ever-growing impact of IT

SatNav eyes facilities management space

Expert sees urgent need to groom leaders for tech sector

Ravi Ramu quits MphasiS BFL — Baring stake sale may get delayed