Jan 15

One of the benefits of the e-governance initiatives that India is attempting to accomplish is the refuction in corruption.

In "Being Indian" Varma claims that it is the acceptance of corruption which makes Indians unique from other areas of the world. "Corruption is, of course, not unique to India. What is unique is its acceptance..." He continues on and says "An act is right if it yields the desired end; it is wrond if it does not." From what I see, I have a hard time believing that India is unique in anything involving corruption.

Varma is basically saying that in an Indian's mindset, if corruption produces a desired end, then it is correct. They basically justify their actions. However, I have a hard time believing that they dont know that they are doing wrong. Only the most hardened people can do wrong and feel no ill effects. I believe that it isn't accepted, it is only viewed as necessary from one mindset to get something done. If the thing could get done another way, it would. Saying corruption is accepted is saying that if given a choice of doing something a corrupt way, or an uncorrupt way, and both ways will succeed, then Indians would have no qualms choosing the corrupt way.

However, Indians do have qualms with the corrupt way. Why else is there such a public outcry against corruption? Why else would e-governance have such a backing because it would help eradicate corruption?

Jan 14

“But the world has gotten flat, and we all have started to become public figures to some degree – even an assistant principal in Texas – we all need to be worried about bad press.”

This quote by Friedman really caught my attention. Numerous times during our trip here has the press either taken our picture or interviewed us. After, we see our names popping up on Yahoo! India along with things we “said” (the press still has a way with words) for all the world to see.

The reality of the world we live in is information spreads like wildfire. Anything we say or do can instantly be placed online for anyone to see (YouTube videos, Facebook pictures, etc.). This is just something I normally take for granted, but is just an amazing concept.

Jan 13

One interesting thing I overheard last week during our trip to Srirangaputna (the wooden palace for Hyder Ali) was the comment by the Muslim family. Basically, they said that they were glad that they lived in India rather than Pakistan. India has mostly been a place where everyone coexists, whereas Pakistan (mostly Muslim) is constantly embroiled in conflict.

Friedman’s take on this situation is that people in India have an opportunity, whereas the closed society of Pakistan is devoid of those opportunities. Therefore, hatred builds up in the closed society, while entrepreneurial spirit and creativity are unleashed in the opportunistic one.

Most of the conflicts around the world, both present and near past, have involved Muslims in some way or form. Throughout the years, Islam has constantly been at war somewhere in the world. Some have even gone as far as to proclaim Islam as the religion of war (many of Mohammed’s initial converts were forced to become Muslims at the edge of the sword).

Friedman’s take on this situation is interesting because this is the first theory I have read which says the problem lies in economics rather than religion. Personally, I will have to explore this further as my gut instinct tells me that the economics are in place BECAUSE of the religion rather than them being completely separate. However, I do not know enough of these theories to complete an adequate analysis and synthesize an intelligent conclusion.

Jan 12

Fact 1:

Green is a huge movement in both America and Eastern Europe. Whenever I visit a plant or company in America, I usually get a huge spiel about how green or environmentally friendly the company is. However, not once during our factory visits have we heard about environmentally friendly practices. Even if a company may be green, they don’t advertise it, unlike companies in the US. However, when it comes to the financial, HR, marketing or supply chain aspects of business, practices here are relatively similar to practices in the US.

Fact 2:

In “The World is Flat”, Friedman talks about getting the big players to do the right things for the wrong reasons. An example he gives is that it is good that McDonalds is putting pressure on its suppliers to meet certain standards. Also, many other companies are doing the same thing by setting compliance levels on a host of issues such as labor, waste, etc. It can be assumed that pressure from the big players is affecting companies here in India.

Fact 3:

An interesting comment I recently read about regarded the phenomenon of “green development.” All of the developed countries in the world first focused on development of their economies. After they were significantly developed, they focused on green practices. Now, countries such as China and India are being forced to develop while staying environmentally friendly. Environmentally friendly practices are frequently criticized as being stifling to development. Therefore, it is a paradox many countries are facing now. Either they protect the environment, or fuel economic growth.

Therefore:

Is it fair that big corporations are placing so much pressure on suppliers from developing nations; those that have so little in terms of material goods? One reason I see that very little emphasis is placed on social responsibility is because the companies don’t care about it. They would much rather pursue a fatter bottom line as that is what investors want. However, fueling this mindset is the fact Indians don’t make choices based on environmental factors. They make choices based on a whole different set of factors (which won’t be reflected here as it is irrelevant). In the past, Americans didn’t care about the environment, and that is the mindset Indians are in currently.

I believe green practices will only begin to take a foothold into society here when development becomes greater, and people have enough disposable income to make choices not on necessity, but on principle. In the US, people are willing to pay a premium for green products. Also, the government isn’t shy about axing wealth creating projects if environmental damage is possible. However, should the government of India turn down a project that can help millions of poverty stricken people because a lake can become polluted? It is much more difficult for them to justify that action. It will be interesting to see if environmental practices become the norm here in India later rather than sooner, or if an entirely new, environmentally friendly, path towards development is created.

Can India keep growing rapidly while placating environmentalists?

Jan 11

In “Being Indian” Pavan says that “Indian society encourages status quoism and tolerates mediocrity.” However, it is interesting that he says later that it is only Indians who are living abroad that create waves. Then he asks the question of what is it about living abroad that changes Indians. He claims that it is the exposure to a new value structure that changes them.

However, I have yet to see this. I know many Indians in America who are very successful. However, they didn’t just become successful when they moved to America because their values changed. Their values are the same as the day they left India. However, they were given an opportunity.

Friedman and Pavan both analyze the “English-speaking, low-wage techies” here in India. They realize that in reality, that is what India is to most of the world. Indians aren’t given an adequate opportunity to be anything more. It has very little to do with values. As Indians are given a bigger opportunity, they will show that mediocrity isn’t tolerated or celebrated. In fact, mediocrity is looked down upon, and is seen as bad for the family name.

Jan 10

One interesting thing I learned today during the L&T visit was the lack of regulatory oversight in the medical device industry here in India. However, this will soon be changing. The planning portion for creating an oversight board is complete, and is moving onto implementation.

I find this interesting because it seems that the globalized and flatter world that Friedman discusses includes not only the commercial realm, but also the political realm. Medical devices have been in India for a long time, and regulatory oversight has been demanded for just as long. However, it is only now that implementation is beginning. From what I understand, this is because of pressure from international entities.

Will the result of commercial globalization result in similar laws and oversight in the countries involved? I believe it will result in a convergence of laws, but even globalization cannot make flat the values, religions, and other aspects of culture, which make up the basis of most laws.

Jan 9

One thing that stood out during the presentation by the person from the Dharmastala was the importance of education. Education here in India is much more important in the family dynamic when compared to families in the US. Now, this is not to say that education isn’t important in the US. Many middle-class US parents sacrifice immensely to put their kids through college. However, education is just more important in Indian culture. I have heard, numerous times, that students are now staying in India to complete their undergraduate work. Then they travel abroad to complete their graduate-level coursework and find that the curriculum is easier. So, not only is education generally more important here, it is harder.

In 04, I had the opportunity to visit family members here in India. I was astonished by my little cousin’s knowledge about computers. She was in second grade, and her knowledge would easily rival the computer knowledge of most high-schoolers in America. India is investing in its population (which is eager to learn), and is beginning to churn out some of the most talented engineers, mathematicians, and medical specialists in the world. At the same time, the number of people attempting to receive math and science degrees in US institutions is dropping dramatically.

Some American workers complain that free-trade policies and globalization are hurting America. However, I will argue conversely. It is fortunate that there are other countries in the world which are training professionals in math and engineering fields. We in America have experienced a tremendous amount of technological advances in the past decades. In order to continue this pace of innovation, we will need these professionals in other countries to collaborate with us as they bring both tremendous knowledge and a varied perspective (and there aren’t enough engineers graduating from US institutions). America and Eastern Europe aren’t the only sources of information anymore. 6 billion heads are most certainly better than 3 billion heads.

This flatter world (and Friedman's third convergence) will result in exponential innovation, fueled by the influx of talented new workers from non-traditional knowledge source countries (such as India and China). This will not only benefit those countries, but also America.

Jan 8

In “Being Indian” Pavan explains in great detail about Indians and Power. He makes it seem as if Indians with power don’t respect normal people. However, during the factory visits, I have noticed one striking thing. Everyone, laborers, managers, executives, is willing and wanting to talk to us. Is this only because we are foreigners? Are these suppliers on the leading edge of a cultural revolution; one that the rest of India will catch up to? Is the “Holier than thou” attitude applicable only to politicians? Is there a certain level of management where power suddenly changes people?

When I visited Cargill plants this past summer, only the people who were assigned to be with our group interacted with us. Everyone else ignored us, and seemingly, went out of their way to avoid us. An executive taking time out of his/her busy day to meet a bunch of students would have been unheard of. Now I understand that this isn’t a fair comparison, and Cargill is many times larger than all the companies we have visited – combined. However, I have yet to see this pursuit of power, even at the expense of others, that Pavan has so gloriously proclaimed. From what I see, I believe that this pursuit of power is innately human, and not strictly Indian. If you replace the Indian examples with examples from other cultures, you could republish the book with the title “Being {insert culture name here}.”

Jan 7

Over the past two years “blogosphere” has changed the way news is being reported. It is a blogger who outed the false documents which were used by Dan Rather in his ill-fated 60 Minutes report regarding George Bush’s National Guard record. Just last week, the Washington Post printed an article regarding an RIAA lawsuit, which said that it was illegal to rip a CD to a computer. As news spread through the blogosphere, an outcry arose. It is interesting to note that the outcry arose from the blogosphere, and not as a direct result of the article (which was, in the end, erroneous).

People are predicting that traditional media sources will soon change roles from news creators to news filters, with the people providing the news. For example, after the Madrid and London mass transit bombings, it was the people which provided the best news. The BBC received so much footage from people that they opened up the lines and became filters rather than content creators.

We are already seeing, in the US, the diminishing power of traditional newspapers and traditional news media. It is interesting to see that the newspaper reporters we talked to weren’t too worried about this happening soon in India. They claimed that it was because the paper was so engrained into Indian culture. However, the paper was also engrained into US culture, and that is slowly falling to the wayside.

From what I can see, I believe that the “steroids” which Friedman talks about in Flattener 10 haven’t enveloped India enough to cause traditional news media issues. Eventually (much sooner than most people expect), I believe people will have more control over the news they receive here in India through direct means, rather than just indirect means. This will happen as the steroids proliferate deeper into rural areas, and people feel empowered enough to use them.

Jan 6

Some of the flatteners Friedman discusses are Supply Chaining, Outsourcing, and Insourcing. These three flatteners require an extreme amount of trust between multiple companies to succeed. Friedman gives an example of Wal-Mart. For Wal-Mart to succeed in maintaining the lowest possible prices, they need to interface their supply chain system with the ordering systems of their suppliers. Also, for an outsourcing project to work, the company which is doing the outsourcing must trust the company on the other end to fulfill their contract using acceptable standards.

All of this sourcing and interaction with other companies has created demand for a particular business position; risk management. The main reason companies use these strategies revolves around efficiencies and the basic economic concept of opportunity cost. The theory is that if the opportunity cost of doing a particular activity is lower for someone else, let them do it, and let us focus on our strengths. Therefore, people have the particular job to manage the risk associated with these partnerships.

However, as the world gets more and more efficient, I believe these risks will be uncontrollable. How can we control natural disasters? How can we predict that the main shipping ports along the west coast will be backed up for weeks? For example, Samsung supplies about 25% of the flash memory in the world. Apple buys almost all of their flash memory for the iPod and iPhone from Samsung. Samsung has their flash memory plant located in South Korea (high fixed costs prevented diversification). This past summer, the plant had huge power supply issues. Because of the delicacy of the chip making process, weeks’ worth of production was destroyed. Apple wasn’t severely hurt by this issue, but a few more days of power issues would have had a material impact on their earnings. Apple can only mitigate issues like this by sourcing from different suppliers. However, in this case, it would have been less efficient. At some point, getting more efficient will be too risky, making the cost too high for the benefit. When will this critical mass be reached? How will India be affected?

Jan 5

One of the things that caught my attention during the HR lecture was the change that Indian companies are facing in this “flatter” world. One of the changes involved changing personnel retention to employee engagement.

This summer when I interned with Cargill Business Unit, I had the opportunity to work on a balanced scorecard. One key statistic they tracked was employee engagement (through a survey with they sent quarterly to about 300 employees). It is interesting to see that Indian companies are worried about the same HR factors as US companies. Would this have been the case ten years ago (Indian and American companies having the same HR issues)? Has this paradigm shift resulted from an uncovering of innate human nature, or is it a result of the flattening forces which the world is interacting with?

Some would argue that this shift is a result of human nature (for arguments sake, ignore the straw man here). It is human nature to enjoy doing something (whether it is a necessary activity or an extracurricular entertainment activity). Therefore if companies want to attract and keep the best employees, they need to keep them happy. Otherwise, they will just leave and find another job that they enjoy. A key way to keep employees happy is keeping them engaged in what they do. Therefore, logically, employee engagement is good for the company - wherever it may operate.

However, I will argue that this paradigm shift in India is mainly derived from the new globalized world that we live in. Before India opened up its borders to global companies, there was less of a demand for knowledge workers. There would have been plenty of labor everywhere. If someone left, they could be easily replaced because their knowledge didn’t have to be replaced. However, in this flatter world, where knowledge workers are an extreme asset, replacing employees isn’t easy. If someone leaves, their knowledge has to be replaced, or there could be serious issues in the company’s daily operating routine. This gives employees an immense amount of power – power which they didn’t have before the spread of globalization. As a result of this power, employees have asked that they be engaged in their work. Companies, not wanting to alienate and lose their talented workforce, have no choice but to comply. Therefore, this focus on knowledge workers, in both the US and India, is rooted deeply in globalization.

However, it possible that the value of the knowledge worker is grounded in the shift to more service oriented tasks.

Jan 4

“Wealth and power will increasingly accrue to those countries, companies, individuals, universities, and groups who get the three basic things right: the infrastructure to connect with this real-world platform, the education to get more of their people innovating on, working off of, and tapping into this platform, and finally, the governance to get the best out of this platform and cushion its worst side effects.”

Arguably, this statement by Friedman is mostly true in the United States. Broadband connectivity is widely available for affordable prices. K-12 education is freely available for all, and companies are widely using the internet. Lastly, ICANN, Verisign and a host of other companies are governing the net well (arguably, ignoring the debate about net neutrality).

Conversely, this doesn’t seem to run true in most of India (except for major metropolitan areas). Broadband connectivity isn’t widely available and affordable. Education is available, but at the cost of losing a hand in the field or around the house. However, every day, while driving around, we see happy, waving, smiling people. On the surface, it seems as if the happiness quotient is much higher here in “poor” India when compared to “wealthy” America. Therefore, it seems that one of the worst side effects of the convergence of the ten flatteners is a loss of perspective and happiness for the people living in this digital era – or is it?

Debatably, the beginning quote is also true for most of Eastern Europe. However, it seems as if they are happier when compared to Americans? Is this first convergence the root of American unhappiness, or is there some other underlying societal source? When India becomes fully converged, will their happiness quotient decrease?

NOTE: This blog speaks in EXTREMELY general terms

Jan 3

An interesting sight I noticed during our visit to the district courts was the image of Gandhi in every courtroom. Obviously it was there because he is a revered figure here in India, procreating mainly from his moral values. It would be interesting to see the repercussions if the US government attempted to place a non-religious figure (as a religious figure would immediately be challenged by the ACLU) in the courts. Would this be accepted by Christian/Muslim/Jewish groups (as it is apparently accepted here)? How divisive would the issue be? Is there a figure in US culture that is as universally revered at Gandhi is in India?

I believe a single figure is accepted all across Indian culture (at least partially) because Indians, according to Varma, go to extremes to avoid confrontation. As cased during the Indian Airlines hijacking situation, Indians will swallow their pride. Gandhi embodies their underlying cultural values and actions.

Jan 2

Is it ethical for an American company to source from Automotive Axles? The working conditions that the workers experience in the factory would not be acceptable to American workers. For example, there were areas of the plant where noise levels could have made ear plugs necessary. Also, some of the fumes gave both Dan and I headaches. Regarding environmental factors, we read a sign that said (to the best of my recollection) “We keep the surroundings free of pollution. We pump the waste to a lake at a village far away.” This statement is extremely disturbing, and brings to question the environmental policies of the company. However, i still do not have enough information to pass judgment.

January 1

During the Vikram visit, I was particularly engrossed by one concept. The doctor mentioned that medicine would be the field of the next great outsourcing phenomenon, where medical referrals won’t be constrained by location. This is a particularly interesting development for American companies because many are getting inundated by the high cost of medical insurance. If the costs of medicine decrease, then insurance premiums will decrease. This is potentially the next great source of savings for American companies, which will allow them to remain competitive in the increasingly global economy.

This is interesting because it seems like the flatter world that Friedman proclaims is also extending into professional services. Accounting work is being sourced around the world. Medical tests are being read by doctors in other countries. Simple services and manufacturing aren't the only fields which will be affected in this globalized world.