The Hindu Business Line : When East meets West

Gary Valan is the Americanised name he has taken for ease of interaction. And on the back of the card, it says: “Hi, instead of going out and getting a job like a normal person, I decided to pursue an insane dream in a tech field that I had no particular talent for. But luckily, I live in San Francisco where there are thousands of people like me, which allows me to blend right in. Please, may I have your phone number? Thanks!”

There is no way I would forget him if I was a venture capital provider. It reminded me yet again of the innovation and informality of America, especially California, where anything goes, and innovative ways to success are being discovered everyday.

It’s unlikely that an Indian in India would have thought of taking the kind of casual, humorous approach he did — for the simple reason that it would be unlikely to work.

It set me thinking about the problems that a returning NRI (let’s dub it RNRI) manager might face, vis-À-vis different styles of functioning in the East and West.

Our ways have much that is good in them, but some things can be bettered. There are various ideas we could adapt or adopt from the West to improve our functioning. I’ve set down some of these here.

Innovate or perish!

Let’s look at Seshagiri Valangimani’s or rather, Gary Valan’s strategy. Innovation would have taken him places in America. Will it do so here in India? Probably not. But innovation, or being different, is what keeps the world moving forward.

Innovation is not only about making new products, it’s also about taking unusual or unconventional steps to tap hitherto untapped markets, making business plans that are out of the box, or doing something extraordinary to catch the eye of the consumer.

Recently, we at Global Adjustments, launched our publishing arm with a coffee table book called “Looking for P James – An Expatriate’s Photo Journey from Old Madras to New Chennai”. The title was attention catching. “Who on earth is P James?” was the most common reaction.

It took an author like Darren Burnham from Oxford to pull it off. But if we hadn’t done this jointly and had gone with the original title of “Old Madras, New Chennai” it would have been an also-ran book!

Don’t mistake me!

Another point that comes to mind is the attitude to mistakes. I’ve often found that here in India, we think it’s unacceptable to make mistakes. And when we’re wrong, even if it gets up and smacks us in the face, we refuse to say “hello”.

Westerners and RNRIs find this trait really hard to take. As a long-time trainer and mentor of foreigners who come to India on business, I’ve lost count of the number of complaints I’ve received about the trouble someone had been put to merely because an Indian colleague hadn’t owned up to a mistake, even a trivial one.

As modern managers, we should keep in mind — It’s OK to make mistakes, and encourage team members to acknowledge theirs so long as we learn from them.

Don’t play Monopoly

Another difference between the Indian and the Western way of doing business is the attitude to competition. In the West, competition is rarely viewed as a threat. I remember, when I walked into Macy’s in New York and found that they didn’t have the particular lipstick I was looking for, the girl at the counter said, “I’m sorry, we don’t carry it; but why don’t you try the Maybelline store at the corner?” I don’t think I’m likely to hear a similar comment in India. Most probably, I’ll be met with a bland “No, we don’t have that brand”, and an “I don’t know”, if I asked where I would be likely to find it.

We Indians are good at collaborating — Maruti Suzuki is an example. But it’s time we let go of the mentality which dictates — “whether I win or not, others must not win”. This attitude earns us ‘negative points’.

Dare to dream!

And one more thing — to quote our former President, the well-loved Dr A. P. J. Abdul Kalam — we need to dare to dream.

That’s what made the Chandrayaan project possible. Think big, think expansion. The Landmark chain of stores, which began life as one woman working in a little bookstore, dreaming of a chain of bookstores, is one of the best examples I can think of. That woman, Hemu Ramaiah, a personal mentor of mine, grew it into a brand of lifestyle stores with a disciplined, informed plan and a clear idea to sell out in a decade.

So we need to rid ourselves of the closed-in approach, open our doors to ideas, possibilities, and welcome change.

Mark the milestones

To turn dreams into reality, we need to set goals. Business gurus tell us that goals have to be specific, achievable, periodic and profitable for success. Goal setting is second nature to the Western business culture. We should ensure it’s the same for us if we’re to emerge as a global business entity.

When I make growth plans for my own business, I set myself and my team specific goals — for instance, bringing in two new customers each month. Such a goal fits all the four conditions I have mentioned. And short-term goals should pave the way for a long-term vision. For that, you need to do some introspection. Where would you like to be 10 years from now? Where do you see yourself in 2020? Once you’ve fixed that long-term target, begin to set short-term, achievable goals which will lead you to it.

Success is sure!

(The writer is the CEO of Global Adjustments, a relocation and cross-cultural services company, and is also the author of Doing Business in India for Dummies. Contact: info@globaladjustments.com)