FROM BUSINESS WORLD OF 5 FEBRUARY 2006
As India’s
visibility rises
With 1007
members from 64 countries, World Economic Forum (WEF) is the perhaps the most
significant non-official international organization. Its annual meeting in
Davos attracts leaders of both countries and companies. The air of Davos is
bracing, but the outdoors are not inviting except for skiers. So most visitors
stay indoors. That makes Davos a great place for partying and networking.
While grand
speeches by political leaders make most of the headlines, some of the most interesting
sessions were those relating to business. Gary Hamel, the management guru,
pointed out that most businesses have a process, but do not have a deep
conversation about strategy. Azim Premji disagreed with respect to Wipro; it
has a strategy – basically an intuitive judgment conditioned by what was learnt
from customers and employees. But the general point, that businesses tend to
get too stuck in the short run to think much about where they will be in a
decade or two, was well taken.
Lack of strategy
can be costly: neglect or misreading of trends can bring a company to the brink
of collapse. This is why making forecasts is so important; missing forecasts is
an early sign that things are going wrong, according to Robert Miller of
Delphi. John Swainson of Computer Associates disagreed: it is not faulty
accounts that cause collapses, but the loss of markets. He should know, for
Computer Associates was amongst the greatest successes of the IT boom, and went
through a prolonged crisis when the boom collapsed. The tribulations of
companies in the ensuing slowdown were accentuated by the fact that their
employees migrated to companies that they saw as more stable. Worker volatility
has been a serious problem in the IT industry. Nandan Nilekani had an unconventional
take on it. In his view, the more you invested in training your employees, the
more likely you were to retain them.
The most difficult time in a manager’s
life is when he becomes CEO for the first time; what he does with his first 100
days may make or break his career. Solomon Trijullo thought that he should
spend them getting to know his people – but that even before he took the job,
he should make sure that he had people on his board who would support him, work
together, and bring talents and resources needed by the company. Thomas Friel
of Heidrick and Struggles, on the other hand, felt that the support of someone
who had the interests of the company at heart and who would give unvarnished
advice was crucial in the first few days.
The most
unlikely source of management wisdom was President Pervez Musharraf, invited to
give a special plenary address because of his country’s experience of rescue
and rehabilitation after last year’s earthquake. He outlined a five-point
programme: Take stock
of the situation and assess the damage; chart a course of action without panic
or undue tension; create an implementation organization; select the right
leaders to run that organization; form an overarching strategy for meeting the
challenges of the disaster; and generate and place adequate resources for
distribution by the implementation organization. It was Musharraf’s opportunity
to invite investors, and he did so in his inimitable style. He portrayed
Pakistan as the gateway to western China and central Asia to the Indian Ocean:
even Indians had to traverse Pakistan if they wanted access to landlocked
central Asia. Pakistan has cheaper labour than India according to him; the low
level of literacy held him up for a second, but then, those who are educated
are highly intelligent. And for those who had to go and get oil from Iran,
Iraq, Saudi Arabia and Bahrain, he had a better solution – they could pick it
up from Gwadar in Baluchistan, where he was building a port. He was a bit hazy
on where the oil would come from. And to those whom Pakistan’s entrepot
potential did not appeal, he offered mangoes, the world’s best, and citrus
fruit, which needed value addition.
Musharraf’s breathless prose may be the best
thing that those who did not go to Davos missed; but it is by no means the only
thing. Many would-be leaders make it a point to turn
up, move around, and exchange visiting cards. To salve their conscience and
make them feel they are learning, WEF offers a rich menu of talks and
discussions. When they are satiated with the wisdom being poured out in the
conference rooms, they can slip out and meet people of business interest over a
drink. This is where Lakshmi Mittal can catch up with Juha Rantanen of
Outokumpu Oy, or George Soros can exchange notes with Richard Branson of
Virgin. So if you want to rub shoulders with the high and mighty, pencil Davos
into your 2007 diary.
