Category: Conclaves

The New Woman of Today

Read Time:23 Minute

The annual MMA Women Managers’ Convention is a celebration of the spirit of women, and the many diverse roles women play. Each year, the theme for the convention revolves around the evolving roles and needs of today’s women.
Working mothers today perform more childcare and face increased job insecurity; there are fears that COVID-19 has undone years of advancement. But could the pandemic be a catalyst for progress? The MMA Women Manager’s Convention 2021 facilitated meaningful dialogue about the challenges faced by women, impact of the pandemic and what it means to the New Woman of today.
The 4-hour virtual convention had a key note session with Ms Kate Sweetman, former editor of HBR, and conversation with Ms Ranjini Manian, Chairperson, Global Adjustments Foundation and three special sessions titled, ‘The Elephant in the Room,’ ‘Playing Field,’ and ‘Silver Linings.’
Edited excerpts from the various sessions:
Kate Sweetman, author, Thinkers50, thought leader and former editor, Harvard Business Review, in conversation with Dr Ranjini Manian.
Ranjini: As a former editor of HBR, you have been “living and breathing leadership.” In one of your blogs, you have mentioned about five essential domains of all effective leaders—Strategising, executing, engaging with today’s talent, building the next generation and being personally proficient. From your experience, are women leaders of today better at strategizing or executing?
Kate: As the world has speeded up, we find that strategy and execution collapse with each other. Strategy is planning for 3 to 5 years from now, while execution is about the day-to-day things. The success is not in doing these two separately but doing it together.
How comfortable are today’s women leaders in building the next generation of women leaders?
Decades ago, when I started my career, women did not help other women. There was a scarcity mentality. But people like you say, “Look. We are not competitors. We are sisters. We should help each other.” We can create networks, be positive and collaborative and help us all to succeed. 15 years ago, when I studied leadership, I was stunned by how helpful people were.
What would be your prescription to women leaders to manage their personal proficiency—especially their physical and emotional fitness?
I studied many successful CEOs and, universally, I found them all pretty fit. Every single senior executive that I worked with, started the day by doing something for themselves. They did meditation, rode bicycles, and went for a jog or a swim. They always did something very physical.
You need to recognise what you need emotionally. No one can tell you that. It could be spending time with children or in garden, reading a book or by being with themselves. You have to be who you are. When I come from business trips, all I want is to spend time with my children. These days, I want to work on weaving. It changes over time.

We need to keep our lives more integrated. You may have many assignments but you have to be who you are at the moment. You have to be mindful. ~ Kate Sweetman

From your rich experience with HBR, what sets a woman apart from her male colleagues?
We need to keep our lives more integrated. You may have many assignments but you have to be who you are at the moment. You have to be mindful.
Do you think aspirations of women vary from country to country? Or, are they tethered deeply to the cultural roots?
It depends on individuals. I have a couple of observations. I was giving a talk in Qatar for a women’s group in a big international company. A woman came up to me and asked me, “How can I get my husband to stop interfering with my career?” I asked her what she wanted to do and she said that she wanted to become a petroleum engineer and ride in helicopters in the petroleum field. I did not have an answer. I had stereotyped women wearing an Arab dress to be seeking traditional jobs. So it doesn’t matter where you come from.
I was based in Malaysia and doing a research studying about leadership and followership in 18 countries. From the responses, we found that gender did not matter in terms of what people aspired for themselves. People should not feel constrained by gender, countries and so on.
What is your advice to prepare our women for global leadership roles?
Julia Child is an American woman. She went to France and learnt to cook better than the French. She wrote a book, “Mastering the Art of French Cooking.” She said, “Find something that you are passionate about and keep tremendously interested in it. You will become an expert in it.” Eliminate the word failure from your vocabulary.

Special Session 1

The Elephant in the Room

Moderator: Sharanya Modi, Head HR, EFL

Speakers:

  • Deepali Naair, CMO, IBM, India and South Asia
  • Sneha Sharma, Racing Driver & Airline Captain, Indigo
  • Sarah Kirlew, Australian Consul-General in Chennai

Ranjini: I run a non-profit organisation—Global Adjustments Foundation. We work on a movement called ‘Champion Woman’ to empower women from within. We were not tech-savvy. Naming the elephant in the room took a lot of time for us. We had to persuade Corporate India to give time for women to undergo programmes on mindfulness. Once they understood the importance, things started falling in place.
Deepali Naair: 27 years ago, when I started working, there was no term called diversity and inclusion. I was one of the first female management trainees the Tata Motors hired. Now I work in IBM where there are many wonderful women who support each other. Due to Covid-19, more women have lost their jobs. They also found it tougher managing their homes as they were denied of their house maids due to Covid. It was a double whammy. Our identity comes from our work. We are also the primary care-givers at home. I believe that women need the support of mentors, sponsors, coaches. I have had a life coach. Women leaders find it easier to share their vulnerabilities with the team. They score well on empathetic leadership.

The rest of the world should be gender sensitive. But the women as such should be gender agnostic. ~ Deepali Naair

Sneha: I race formula cars and fly air planes. For both these jobs, there is no work from home. During lockdown, everything came to a screeching halt and it affected me. We started flying around June with a lot of restrictions and Covid testing. It was quite stressful and increased our workload.
It is important for women to be financially independent. For me, the elephant in the room was ‘looking at the woman as over ambitious’ when she tries to become successful. Women have every right to be as successful as a man.
Sarah: For most of the pandemic, I was in Canberra doing work from home for the Ministry of External Affairs. Women were most affected by the pandemic—70% of the frontline workers were women. The lockdown increased the risks of domestic violence. There was the challenge of balancing multiple roles like home schooling, child care and managing a full time job.
I am lucky my husband is extremely supportive. As per statics, 1 in 4 women found it difficult to continue their work during the pandemic and stopped working. Even prior to the pandemic, our leadership agenda was that women should effectively work from home. Both men and women should share the responsibilities.

Even though we can’t expect the same level of performance from our people during the pandemic, I have observed that everyone had a desire to contribute more than they normally do. ~ Sarah Kirlew

R: Is there a lack of gender sensitive response to the impact of the pandemic? Should the response of the corporate leadership have been different?
Deepali: The rest of the world should be gender sensitive. But the women as such should be gender agnostic. We require male sponsors, male mentors and coaches. That is where you have to be gender sensitive.
How much welfare would be ‘too much welfare’ for women?
Deepali: I worked in HSBC. When I came back after my pregnancy sabbatical, they had implemented a lot of flexible policies. Such benefits must be offered to everyone including men. They may have to drop kids at school and come to office. More than gender, across the world, companies now consider inclusion across age groups, gender and ethnicity. Women should rise above their limiting beliefs. We are shy to ask for help. We don’t feel entitled.
It is said that every crisis is an opportunity. What are the opportunities and positive aspects that women discovered for themselves from the pandemic?
Sneha: Before the lockdown, my schedules were erratic. But during the lockdown, they were streamlined. I developed a routine. I practiced fitness at home without equipment. I did yoga and stretching. I got back to cooking. I took up my hobbies. I started educating myself on the technical aspects of both flying and racing.
Deepali: Many women have been able to find their other side, their alter-ego. Friends of mine published books, some took up educational causes, and some got healthier. Some became successful home-chefs. They could run classes which they never thought were possible.
I have been asked to write a book on leadership and collaboration, for the last two years. It didn’t happen though I had done enough research on the subject. Last June, in the midst of the pandemic, I launched my podcast with 25 episodes. It is a best seller on aawaz.com. It brought the childlike excitement back in my life. I interviewed 25 CEOs who are the Who’s Who of Indian Corporate Industry. Personally, it has been a great learning in mentoring and learning.
When targets are not met in the WFH scenario, will it affect the career growth? What is visible is only the results and not the efforts that women make.
Sarah: We have all been learning through the pandemic from virtual seminars and meetings. Even though we can’t expect the same level of performance from our people during the pandemic, I have observed that everyone had a desire to contribute more than they normally do.
We always talk about gender equality between men and women. How much equality exists amongst women themselves—between working professional women and home makers?
Sneha: Raising a kid is also a full time job. Women create mature adult assets to the world which may be male or female. Working professionals can also do that but it is a personal choice. Indigo came with an option of 2 weeks on and 2 weeks off. Many companies are coming up with such initiatives.
Tell us your story Sneha, how did you become a racing driver and a pilot?
Sneha: I started racing about 15 years back with go-karting. I couldn’t get professionals to coach me. I learnt from the local mechanics whatever they knew like braking, overtaking, etc. With this knowledge, I started participating in a lot of local races. I won many and was picked for the national team in go-karting, saloon car racing and formula car racing. I became the first woman to win an international racing in four wheelers. Between my racing stints, at the age of 17, I went to the US for my flying studies to California. I learnt basic flying on the Cessna and other multi-engine aircrafts and got my CPL with Instrument Rating. Then I came back and converted my US flying license to Indian license. At the age of 20, I joined Indigo. Now I am flying as a Captain of Airbus 320 nationally and internationally.
Great Sneha. You have broken all ceilings and sky is the limit for you. How did you become a diplomat, Sarah?
Sarah: I joined Foreign Service directly from University. I had a series of postings. I was in Cairo, New Delhi, Canberra and Beijing. I am now Australian Consul General based in Chennai. You need good role models. I was lucky enough to have fabulous role models including our current head of Foreign Service Ms Frances Adamson who is an extremely experienced diplomat and a mother of 4 children. I worked with her in Beijing.

Special Session 2

Playing the Field

Moderator: Sharanya Modi, Head HR, EFL

Speakers:

  • Pavitra Singh, CHRO, PepsiCo India
  • Lt Cdr Vartika Joshi, INSV Tarini
  • Anuranjita Kumar, CEO, Women in Technology – ACE

Pavithra: The subject of D&I is very close to my heart and I am a D&I evangelist. In Pepsico, D&I has evolved. We get a lot of strength from diversity. The business case for D&I is right in front of us every day. Real progress will happen when we work on D&I through systems thinking. There has to be an intention, push and pull and accountability. All three are very important.
Sharanya: Do women leaders bring a different sensibility?
Pavithra: Yes. Women leaders lead with both IQ and EQ. They are great listeners and open to feedback. They can make a tremendous impact in the culture of the organisation.
Is D&I an expensive proposition for organisations to do?
Pavithra: The benefits of diversity far outweigh the cost. Inclusion is tougher. We need to create an environment where D&I can thrive.
Anu, Can you tell us about your organisation—Women in Technology.
Anu: I am not a techie. It’s a startup venture, completely out of my comfort zone. Anything we do in future is going to be defined by technology. When I looked at STEM sector, there were very few women. So last year, we launched our startup. It focuses on engagement, enablement and employment.

For me, the term biological clock is more of a metaphor. The term was coined in an article that appeared in the late 70s where it was mentioned that the clock is ticking for career women. ~ Lt Cdr Vartika Joshi

What is that makes women to transition from surviving to thriving in roles?
Anu: I have worked in a male dominated space—in New York, London and India. There are biases and systemic issues. Men also do not have an easy journey to leadership. They also face the same politics and dynamics. When we go into a global role, we are at the intersectionality of gender and colour. The way to work around this is with the help of mentors. A lot of men I worked with were my mentors.
When I launched my startup after 26 years of working, it was scary. Making a pitch to investors was very challenging. If it did not work, I was ready to go back to my job. That made me put on my wings.
Vartika, can you tell us a bit about your sailing experience?
Vartika: It was great to have sailed with a bunch of female officers. It was a first of its kind expedition. It was the first Indian circumnavigation of the globe by a female crew. The navy pushed for it and we prepared really hard. It was a great feat not just at the military level but at the national level too.
With women flying fighter jets, do you feel that a level playing field has finally been found?
Vartika: We are slowly moving forward. Women are coming into many unconventional roles. However, people still have rigid mindsets and it reflects in how they see women in lead roles.
Do you have any advice for women students who generally avoid choosing courses like mechanical or automobile engineering which are considered as male dominated.
Vartika: I am a graduate of aerospace engineering. We have an inherent fear and to a large extent, it is passed on from generations that unconventional works are not meant for women. These are mental barriers and need to be broken. Only then, we can change the perception of how we view ourselves and also how we are viewed by others. My message to the girls is not to restrict themselves to a set pattern. We are more than what we think we are.
With women excelling themselves in many professions, is this perception of “Biological Clock” just a myth?
Anu: I don’t think it’s a myth. Biological clock and career clock coincide in some ways. We see many women stepping back from their careers because of the maternity situation. It is changing but a bit slowly.
Pavithra: There are many parties to it. The organisational policies too matter. I have been a beneficiary of sabbaticals in my company. Policies may be there but implementation is often a problem. Role models and senior leaders play an important role.
Anu: Smaller companies struggle to compensate women, like long maternity leave and other benefits. There are penal provisions against non-compliance of acts like POSH. As a way around, we need to incentive companies for supporting women workforce, rather than rap them on the knuckles.
Vartika: For me, the term biological clock is more of a metaphor. The term was coined in an article that appeared in the late 70s where it was mentioned that the clock is ticking for career women. It was invented so that women never went beyond their traditional roles. Unfortunately, it pushes many professionally competent women towards marriage and motherhood, many a time even before they are ready for it. To me, there is no direct correlation between the physical make-up of the female and the career graph.
To give you a perspective, Jeanne Socrates was the oldest person to circumnavigate the globe at her age of 77. We as team of 6 female crew circumnavigated the globe for 8 months. So, to me, biological clock is more of a myth.
Do men and women approach a crisis differently?
Vartika: Women have ability to anticipate a crisis, analyse and arrive at logical solutions better than men.
Pavithra: Women are very resilient. They lead with their heart. They are very open and can listen during a crisis. But we fall short on confidence. That is one thing which holds us back. We need courage and need to believe in us.
Anu: It is better for women to get a little more comfortable with being uncomfortable. Beyond a point, gender will wither away.

Special Session 3

Silver Linings

Moderator: Sowmya Eswaran, European Ambassador, Global Adjustments Foundation

Speakers:

  • Meena Ganesh, CEO and MD Portea Medical
  • Aarti Mohan, Co-Founder, Sattva Consulting
  • Niloofer, CEO, An Exponent in Advaita Vedanta & TEDx Speaker

Sowmya Eswaran: The topic ‘Silver Linings’ is close to my heart. Covid and the lockdown phase reminds me of my own life. I was diagnosed with cancer in 2017. I underwent nine months of intensive treatment. I had to maintain my energy levels. Throughout the Covid period, people have undergone different kinds of hardships. The important thing is to seek the silver linings. It makes the difference between whether you come out of a prolonged hardship with growth or stress.
Meena Ganesh: I would like to talk from my company Portea’s perspective. During the pandemic, everything that was elective in medical treatment became secondary. We are a home healthcare company. So certain aspects of what we do became very important. Many patients, especially elders, could not go out and they needed help. In the Indian medical ecosystem, primacy is given to infrastructure based care.
In May 2020, we discussed with the Government and told them that 85% of Covid positive tested patients need not go into a facility. We went back with a plan of keeping them at home, monitoring them, providing tele-consultations and, if required, moving them to a hospital. This took wings. We worked with Delhi Government, the GCC and five other states. We managed 400,000 patients in this process.
Aarti Mohan: At Sattva, we work to support social impact, on the ground, by working with philanthropists, corporates and their CSR teams. The pandemic took a heavy toll on SMEs and migrant labourers and all people. It pushed us back in the areas of inclusive development that we already made. The silver lining we saw was that women played a stronger role. 85% of the health workforce is women and they were battling at the front line. Women also stepped up and supported their local communities. In Delhi, working with another voluntary organisation, we could mobilise 900 women volunteers overnight for our reach-out initiative during Covid.
Niloofer: “What lies before you and what lies after you are tiny matters compared to what lies within you.” Our minds are capable of looking at the silver lining behind all that is dark. Personally, the lockdown was a time for me to stop, study and grow. It served as the perfect cave that the wise men of the old used to go to. A lot of people also needed help, psychologically. We have the capacity to keep the external things outside our mind. Yes. Pandemic exists but it need not exist in me. If there is a storm, you can look at its havoc or as to how it cleans up the place. The pandemic has got people to visualise and get into new ways of thinking, working, living, communicating and recreating themselves. It has been a mirror for everyone.

Most women think that they should aspire for a career. They also look for stability which is unlikely if you are in a startup. Families discourage them against taking risk. ~ Meena Ganesh

With more entrepreneurial opportunities available for women, can you suggest three sectors where the biggest opportunities lie for women, particularly in social entrepreneurship?
Aarti: Post-pandemic, I believe there will be opportunities for women in:
a) Healthcare and wellness: There are 27 new job roles that have opened up in this sector
b) Digital, mobile and internet services: Can a woman weave a duppata in Kutch and sell it to a woman in Chennai, facilitated by e-commerce?
c) Food and food processing: Right from providing mid-day meals to thousands of poor children to providing healthy food in urban areas.
Why do we see only a few women taking up entrepreneurship as a career option?
Meena Ganesh: Less than 10% of the startup cohorts are started by women entrepreneurs. I am referring to the organised part of the startup ecosystem. That does not mean women are not entrepreneurs. If you look at the rural sectors, especially the self-help groups (SHG), micro-entrepreneurship, they do very well. The microfinance is predominantly absorbed by women and they are the best in repaying the loans promptly.
In home based entrepreneurship also, we see lot of women on YouTube selling various services. When it comes to the formal entrepreneurial system, there seems to be some block. Most women think that they should aspire for a career. They also look for stability which is unlikely if you are in a startup. Families discourage them against taking risk. The investment community is also male dominated. More women must come into this space.
The extended family is slowly disappearing and small nuclear families have come to stay, where both the spouses go to work. Is this a positive trend for women? Is there a need to reverse this trend?
Niloofer: It is definitely advantage to women because there is an avenue for women to express themselves. It paves the way for women to contribute to the society and economy. Women also need a support system from the extended family. We can move towards appreciating the capacity of women to contribute to world progress. Let them shine and contribute. Give them all the support and nourishment through strong bonds with elders and other family members.
Talking of work-life balance, during an interview as CEO of Pepsico, Ms Indra Nooyi remarked, “I don’t think women can have it all. I just don’t think so. We pretend we have it all.” Do women have it all?
Aarti: The pandemic has shown us that we don’t have it all. We cooked more, took care of our children. Women in India do 5 times more unpaid work than in any other country.

To get the mind to rest is a challenge because the mind is trained to run at its own pace. ~ Niloofer

Meena Ganesh: Nobody can have it all. It is important to focus on what we have rather than what we don’t have. The question is: are we moving forward so that men and women can have a more equitable life?
E-commerce and digital marketing have changed the market place much faster in the last one year. Could you suggest some specific areas of training for women to get into this domain?
Meena Ganesh: Growth mindset is very important. Women should constantly look around and ask, “What is the new thing that’s happening?” and keep learning. Your company may not help you with training but if you have to stay relevant in this fast changing world, especially in technology, you need to invest in yourself.
Aarti: Women need to learn the fundamentals of digital and financial literacy. There has to be life-long learning. It can be through bite-sized nuggets, rather than chunks of learning.
Entrepreneurship is often seen as a second career option by women after a few years of corporate life. Entrepreneurship demands your time 24 x 7. So is that the right time?
Meena Ganesh: I started my venture in the year 2000 when my son was 8 years. Being one of the first BPOs, it was physically taxing. I started from ground zero. The family support is super important to help you succeed. If you are sure that is what you absolutely want to do, any time is right time.

The pandemic has shown us that we don’t have it all. We cooked more, took care of our children. Women in India do 5 times more unpaid work than in any other country. ~ Aarti Mohan

Aarti: I think it is not a second career but your second baby. I don’t think there is any right time. I started moving from corporate sector to entrepreneurship when my child was three months old thinking that I’ll be my boss and that I would have more time at my disposal. How wrong I was!
You must have the resilience and tenacity to go through very difficult things, at different times. The support system from the family and colleagues at work is also important. Older entrepreneurs have been more successful because they bring in their experience.
We can maintain physical health through regular workouts. How can corporate leaders keep their mental fitness at the highest levels?
Niloofer: The answer for what we do for mental fitness mirrors what we do for physical fitness. We use our body and allow it to rest. The muscles need rest to recover and be fit again. To get the mind to rest is a challenge because the mind is trained to run at its own pace. The mind has to be trained to rest. I have read a philosophical story titled, “The Yogi and His Mat.” There is a yogi. He has a mat. Wherever he goes, he takes the mat with him. He unfurls it, sits on it and talks to people, eats food, sleeps on the mat and when his work is over, he rolls it up and takes it with him to the next place. There he uses the mat again and takes it to the next place. End of the story. I wondered if this is a story at all. But it has got very deep implications. The mat is our mind. We use our mind. Shouldn’t we also roll it back and tell it to keep quiet and relax? Can we use the mind as an instrument, rather than the instrument using us?
How does mental recharge happen?
Niloofer: It happens if you get a good 7 -9 hours of sleep, depending on the individual. However the mind is so burdened with thoughts. Getting the mind to cooperate with you is a skill. For example, when should you eat? Eat when you are hungry. Allow your mind to relax when it is strained.
Are the criteria for professional success different for men and women?
Aarti: Why should it be different? We need to level the playing the field and then look at the metrics of professional success.
Meena Ganesh: Not just companies, individuals too must create the level playing field in their own minds.

Free Trade Post-Pandemic: Rationale vs. National

Read Time:16 Minute

“Shouldn’t we try to see the post-Corona period as a reboot to rebuild supply chains in a more diverse and sustainable way?”
A virus, not visible to the naked eye, has put the world on pause. With the prospect of some sense of relief, sparked by the advances in vaccination, we can now begin to gradually think about what the world will look like after Corona.
Fragility exposed
The pandemic has shown us how fragile our globalised world is. The bottlenecks in the supply chains revealed how much our domestic economies depend on global cooperation.
India’s government seems to search for economic solutions in national self-reliance. But will this be the right approach to reach Prime Minister Modi’s declared ‘$5Tn’ dream in the long run? Or perhaps Mr. Modi meant strategic national self-reliance when he spoke of Atmanirbhar Bharat. Can we thus consider the current tendencies of de-globalization as an opportunity? Shouldn’t we try to see the post-Corona period as a reboot to rebuild supply chains in a more diverse and sustainable way? Couldn’t this also represent an opportunity to create new forms and ways of multilateral cooperation and partnership?
Need for open borders
Even prior to this global health-crisis, the world order had begun to shift with the rise of an extremely belligerent China. The US-Chinese trade war was just the first noticeable event that underscored this fact.
The new presidency under Biden presents a possibility to return to a more liberal global order. Nevertheless, the experiences from the recent years have shown the risk of relying exclusively on one partner, not just politically but also economically. However, we should not see this as a reason to tear down all bridges and brick ourselves in, but rather as a chance to build new coalitions of like-minded countries with common respect for international rule of law and having democratic ethos.
In Europe, the initial reaction on the first wave of the pandemic was to close down the borders. Now, Europe has strengthened its cooperation in other areas and built a common and supportive European health policy.
It is now up to all of us to decide what we will make out of this historic hiatus that the pandemic forced us into, for what could be a historic rethink! None of us can predict the future—but we can shape it in an environmentally sustainable manner, bringing us closer together and making the world safer for generations to come.

“We will see the emergence of two distinct economic spheres.”
The post pandemic phase will not see the end of globalisation but we will see a reshaping of globalization, primarily due to the geopolitical conflict with China rather than due to the Coronavirus. We do not have simple answers to the question on how to deal with China, but broadly, I will discuss Three Key Issues:
• Why I am skeptical about China
• Why I am optimistic about India
• The merits of free trade
Skeptical about China
On a provocative note, I would like to say that China, probably, will not be prospering as much as many people have been expecting it to prosper.
The talk about Chinese economy is a bit of an exaggeration and it is not doing all that well. China is drowning in debt. China has significant demographic issues too. In 2020, the number of babies born in the People’s Republic of China declined by 15%, to the lowest level since its foundation in 1949. China is becoming old before it becomes rich. Much of its economic growth of the last four decades was not a miracle; it was due to the rising use of labour in the economy. The world is turning away from China, but simultaneously China is also turning away from the world. What does that decoupling mean for the institutions that regulate international trade and for WTO, in particular? India could be the winner of this new form of globalization but its success is not guaranteed.
India and trade policy
I have been a regular visitor to India. In the last 15 years, I have seen remarkable changes in India, starting with infrastructure. There have been dramatic changes in airports. Since 1991, India has implemented a policy of reducing tariffs. The value of imported goods has come down significantly due to this. India has not been enthusiastic about free trade. But the bottom line is, trade liberalisation contributed to a rising GDP in India. India’s population also grew rapidly but per capita GDP quadrupled in the years since 1991. I realise that Prime Minister Modi’s government is changing the rhetoric on trade. In 2020, he announced ‘atmanirbhar,’ and emphasised national economic development.

India has not been enthusiastic about free trade. But the bottom line is, trade liberalisation contributed to a rising GDP in India. ~ Dr Heribert Dieter


If I look at the historical experience that India has had with protectionist trade policies, Gandhi promoted an economic autarchy on the sub-continent and his words sounded very similar to the statements of Mr Modi. Gandhi argued that economic development is more than just material prosperity and that it has ethical and spiritual dimensions.
Companies all over the world are looking for an opportunity to replace production in China. They want to move out of China and are looking to find new countries. There is not much future in China. Does PM Modi want to reduce dependency only on China or is it indeed a new form of protectionism and emphasis on self-reliance which sounds more diplomatic? Whether an inward-looking India will be able to achieve the growth targets of 8 to 10%? The Indian economy is about 3 trillion US Dollars and the global economy is 30 times as large. It is easier to grow in a market that is significantly larger than the Indian market.
China’s problems
Currently, China is looking all right, but its borders are closed and the vaccination rates in China are very low. People don’t trust the China made vaccines. This will make it very difficult for China to return to the previous situation. What does the Chinese Communist party want and what are its preferences?
When Xi Jinping took over in 2012, he made it very clear that he does not want to suffer the fate of Mikhail Gorbachev and doesn’t want to preside over the collapse of a Communist Party. Openness is an issue for the Communist Party in China. They feel that foreign thought should not be taught in Chinese universities and that thinkers from abroad should have a smaller role in the future.
Dual circulation policy
Last November, China announced its new economic strategy called Dual Circulation. It is a relatively simple concept. China wants to continue to be important to the rest of the world, but the rest of the world should not be important for China. The rest of the world shall continue to buy goods made in China, but the Chinese companies and consumers should buy fewer goods made from the rest of the world.
China has had a very long tradition of dissociation from the world. China had a very traditional understanding of the economy and society rooted in Confucianism. Its people were ranked in four classes. The highest class was made up of Scholars, followed by Farmers and then Craftsman. The lowest class were Traders and even within trade, those that traded with abroad had lesser reputation. Today, the emperor is gone and has been replaced by the rule of the CCP. Even the English language might be at risk in China. A leading Chinese politician suggested in March that English should no longer be taught in Chinese schools because it would no longer be needed. So China is more inward-looking and deliberately fuelling the process of decoupling.
Free trade
The free trade was repeatedly interpreted as a form of imperialism and an obstacle to achieving full independence. The Indian experience with free trade was mixed. In the days of the British colonial power, Britain supported free trade only when British factories became competitive. The force used in the Opium Wars left scars in the collective memory of Chinese society. It is fair to say that China is not the only country that evaluates trade policy primarily from the point of view of producers. France, India and my own country, Germany, may be in that category. We look at the benefits of exporting but do not emphasize the benefits of importing.
Way forward
There is still an opportunity for like-minded countries and democracies to cooperate and expand their trade with each other. The case for cross-border division of labour is still intact, and between liberal democratic societies we can still expand.
A WTO without China?
We may have to discuss whether we should recreate a World Trade Organization (WTO) without China. We may return to the trade governance structures in the GATT evolved during the Cold War. If that isn’t working, we should probably look at plurilateral trade agreements amongst like-minded countries. We have one scheme in the Indo-pacific that is already intact, which is the CPTPP (The Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership). It was originally called TPP (The Trans-Pacific Partnership). After Trump withdrew from TPP, it was renamed CPTPP. In February this year, the UK applied to join CPTPP. Now my proposal is that the European Union, US and India should also join this and we would have a coalition of like-minded countries that could do trade with each other; China would be out of that. We will see the emergence of two distinct economic spheres. India has ample opportunities in that geopolitical globalization, but a closed-door policy would probably do more harm than good.

“Free trade post-pandemic is a far deeper and complex subject and requires a helicopter view”
Everyone agrees that the post pandemic world order will change forever. The Cold War order was based on the ideology of democracy versus autocracy. The Cold War order changed when the Communist block began dismantling, and the new order that emerged was based on balance of power or rather balance of convenience. It was given a kind of a philosophic shape by Francis Fukuyama, who said that liberal democracies and free market will constitute the foundation of the emerging World Order, which later came to be known as globalization.
So, free market is a product of democracy. There cannot be free market without democracy. Democracy means information, and information means market. But what happened in the post-cold war world order? China- an illiberal and non-transparent country was brought into a liberal democratic world order. It had nothing to do with free market. It was purely based on balance of power. China is a country with two systems—Marxian politics with market economics. The two cannot go together.
Liberal democracies in troubled waters
The Foreign Policy magazine came out with a paper in 2019 in which it said that India is the only silver lining and golden lining of democracy, for the simple reason that western democracies are fatiguing.
The world order will change and it is not just the geopolitical order; it will also be the commercial, economic and trade order. Globalization is at an end as an idea. Now we will not look for the cheapest source but safe source –safe politically, economically and nationally. There will be multiple factors which will shape the future world.

The world order will change and it is not just the geopolitical order; it will also be the commercial, economic and trade order. ~ S Gurumurthy

Collapse of the WTO?
I am seeing a virtual collapse of the WTO. WTO itself came to a conclusion that China is not a market economy. Nothing has changed between 2001 when it was admitted into the WTO and now. After the 2008 financial crisis, the west began sliding from its prime position and China began to lead with its undue advantage. The west must realise its mistakes and revisit its foundations. Allies have to be brought in. Rooting for unbridled individualism has created complications. The west which insists on ultra-human rights could never talk about human rights in China, because China was a source of economic prosperity. Thus the political discourse was morphed by economic advantages resulting in both political and economic problems. This caused the rise of Trumpism; Trumpism is a phenomenon—not just an event nor associated with one name.
Future world order
Democracy will be the foundation or the fulcrum of an ideal world order. The emerging world order will get bifurcated (or trifurcated) between democracies and autocracies in the ratio of 46% and 54%. Only 46% is under democracy and of this, 13% is liberal democracy. I see a world order which will postulate democracy as the pivot around which politics, economics and even civilizational alliances will have to develop. If there is a broad alliance of democracies, then the future world order—political, geopolitical, economic as well as national order—will be in alignment. It will require people who are studying the history of the world.
The US is realising the importance of Taiwan, which they gave up. Taiwan has a strong grip in semiconductor, which is going to be the future technology. Taiwan needs protection against China, as China wants to grab Taiwan.
Nature and environment
Each nation can have its own economy, but it cannot have its own environment and climate. The world is getting apart in dealing with these. The environmental pollution which one country is making is affecting the whole world, but there is no world order to bring together people. Only a philosophy can bring us together. We have to look at nature as a partner and not as a source.
Way forward
Each nation will have to work out its own model of development. There cannot be a one-size-fits-all model. We need to rework the rules and recognize the diversity of the world.

“We should formulate, reframe and rethink.”
In 2016, Condoleezza Rice, the former US Secretary of State, talked about the rise of the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse—the old biblical myth. The Four Horsemen were populism, isolationism, nativism and protectionism. This was even before President Trump got elected and unleashed Trumpism. Rice alerted the world to the storm clouds of the Four Horsemen.
The Four Horsemen post-pandemic
Fast forward to March 2020 when the world literally went into lockdown. A year later, we are still not out of the woods. What started out as a global health crisis unleashed a secondary crisis namely the economic and financial meltdown from the lockdowns and leading to social crisis in the form migrant crisis and other movements in the US and Europe.
So there are four crises that we are now trying to tackle—health, economic, social and environmental. It might take two years to come out of some of these; some countries will do it faster than other countries.
Populism, nativism, isolationism and protectionism have been unleashed in every single country starting with the Mecca of Capitalism—the US; they exist even post-Trump. It’s not going to be a magic switch for Biden to restore what might have been the original order.
Striking similarities
Rice says the Four Horsemen rode the world stage during the interwar period between 1920 and 1940 which also saw events like the World War II, the rise of Nazism and the Great Depression.
Trade then was done with less than 40 countries in the world signing the agreements when colonialism was still rampant. We now have close to 200 countries and, if we follow ‘one country-one agreement’ style, it becomes much more complex. The biggest player that doesn’t play by the rules is our own neighbour: China.
We need world architecture, as that’s what John Maynard Keynes argued and that’s what led to Bretton Woods, WTO and the UN system. We cannot wish for a world in which there is no super architecture. We should formulate, reframe and rethink.
Free trade
Free trade has become unregulated. Freedom is something everybody fights for. So free trade is very cleverly posited as something we should all aim for. In 1991, the communistic economic experiment collapsed. We are left with variable versions of market openness and capitalism, and each country picks a flavour. Hong Kong does it differently; so does India or Germany.
Democracy, as Churchill said, and capitalism which I am arguing for, both may have tremendous flaws, but they are better than every other alternate system. The pandemic and the four crises it unleashed has made us rethink about global supply chains: we are for economic isolationism, more self-reliance or atmanirbhar.
The magic of 8 billion
At no point in our world history, we were dealing with humanity of close to 8 billion people as we do today. What does that mean for us? Obviously, the environmental crisis is a very critical one. Covid-19 happened. We are also in the midst of the fourth industrial revolution with the incredible explosion of AI and technology and the fact that the globe is shrinking for quite some time. Finding jobs for eight billion people is going to be a fascinating challenge. In many countries, because of AI and the fourth Industrial Revolution, we are creating incredible wealth, but doing it in a jobless way. Many countries opt for a tit-for-tat against other countries in trade and they forget that ultimately trade is a two-way street. For instance, China wants to export everything and they do not want to import. Then it becomes a one-way street. As Gandhi said, ‘an eye for an eye will make the whole world blind.’ We have to wake up as countries and figure out how to do this multilaterally, even if we redefine what multilateral structure is and reframe what WTO needs to do. Otherwise we will make ourselves blind, as Gandhi said.

“The reason why things have gone haywire in India is because of increased specialisation…”

The collapse of the Indian economy is unprecedented and its impact will be long lasting. The pandemic has hit Indian economy hard because of the largeness of its unorganised sector, which employs 94% of the workforce and produces 45% of the output. The reason why things have gone haywire in India is because of increased specialisation, division of labour and disruptions in supply chain due to the lockdown. The service sector has been hit badly. Because of infodemic and false information circulating, people’s sense of science has been impacted and this has come in the way of government’s policy making.

We need to work on transparency, social justice, improving demand, generation of large employment opportunities ~ Prof. Arun Kumar

Lessons:
• Pandemics will keep coming and we need to be prepared.
• We are a collectivity and we need to deal with the virus collectively.
• The role of public sector and that of government intervention during such crisis moments is very important.
Way forward
We need to work on transparency, social justice, improving demand, generation of large employment opportunities, strengthening of education and R&D and the nation’s as well as people’s capacity to deal with future crises collectively. We need to pay workers a living wage.

Based on my experience in the manufacturing sector, isolationism is not a great idea. India should look at integrating with the global supply chains even more than what is being attempted now, as a matter of compulsion and not choice because that is essential for getting access to the latest technology, manufacturing global brands, and to access markets in India and abroad, while being Atmanirbhar at the same time. Like Korea has Samsung, we do not have manufacturing brand either at the country level or at the industry level or at the product level. In the absence of technology, it will take a long time to build world-class brands that are competitive. One more reason why we need to be connected is the lack of scale in India. For the industry to access customers outside India, we need to scale up. Therefore, we need to be integrated with the global supply chains.

Thrive or Survive? Enabling Personal Growth in Times of Adversity

Read Time:10 Minute

If we look at events from 1400 to the present, we can discern a common factor—and that is, these are once in a century events that have the power to shape the next one to two decades, in both lives and livelihood. Most people suffer from post-traumatic stress. Research shows that for many individuals, adversity is an opportunity for growth. So, a fair number of people experience post-traumatic growth. How can we achieve this? Gary Hamel says, “You can’t find new land using old map.” We need new leadership to take us forward.

Character is Greater Than Experience
We can approach the present crisis with a fixed mindset (which is one of ignorance, hate and fear) or growth mindset (which is of curiosity, compassion and courage). The choice to learn and grow is ours. When the Tylenol poisoning crisis hit Johnson & Johnson, the CEO James Burke swung into action and decided to withdraw the entire lot, even though only a few batches were affected. They suffered millions of dollars in losses, yet after a few months, their sales began to rise again, because of the trust people had in the company. For Jamshedji Tata, it took 33 years to get permission from the British to build a steel plant in India. Yet, he pursed it. That is what we mean by character.

Five Leadership Lessons
Bounded Optimism: This concept comes from Admiral James Stockdale, who was an American Prisoner of War in Vietnam where he was repeatedly tortured. He observed that fellow POWs who were very optimistic of survival, died. The pessimistic people too died. The ones who survived were those who had faith that they would survive but prepared for the worst. In a crisis like Covid, we saw both extremes of people. A leader must have faith and optimism but that should not stop him from being prepared for any eventuality. He must focus on what he can control. The other important factor, to quote Tom Schwartz is, “Energy, not time is the fundamental currency of performance.” On a Performance Vs. Emotions Quadrant, the Performance Zone is the one in which our performance is high and we have positive emotions. In the Survival Zone, our performance is high but we have negative emotions. If we continue here, we may end up in the Burnout Zone, where we deliver low performance, while having negative emotions. In the Recovery Zone, we have positive emotions and deliver low performance. In this zone, we are relaxed and peaceful. It is not possible for us to always stay in the Performance Zone. The awareness of what gives us energy and what drains our energy helps us to manage our energy levels. So, instead of time management, the new paradigm, i.e., energy management is more important.

Pause, Then Act: Involve others in the decision process. We need to be aware of our triggers. ‘Between stimulus and response, lies our freedom of choice (Viktor Frankl).’ It is between these two that we need to give a pause.

Empathy and Love: Show love, care and gratitude.

Communicate: Have one story, one voice and repeat it many times till it trickles down; communicate in one voice and transparently. There is a difference between a plan and story. A plan is what we show in a PowerPoint and is the shortest path to get from Point A to B. A story is the most interesting path to get from A to B and it gives hope. To explain where you are going, tell people your plan. However, to inspire them, tell them your story.

Have a Network of Teams: Involve more people in the process. Get their inputs and push decisions to the edge. n

Faridun: Why is leadership so important in a crisis?

Dr Jairam: Leadership has to exist across the organisation and not just at the top. It’s about enabling the execution of the agenda. It is about people and excellence. The leader is the custodian of the purpose of organisation. In a crisis, the asymmetry of information causes great uncertainty. The leader’s role is to bring a certain point of view and clarity.

Santhanam: I would like to give a human analogy. We have the Corpus Callosum which connects the Left and Right brains. Leadership is about connecting the emotional state of the people in a crisis, with a rational response or a series of responses. Distributive leadership is central to managing a crisis.

Faridun: What is different in how people lead during turbulence?

Santhanam: It is very important for a leader to give a point of view. It can change depending on the situation. The leader must prepare his team to face multiple scenarios. The leader must encourage people to act swiftly without fear of failure.

Dr Jairam: The leader’s role in a crisis is to assure his team that he is there and that he will back them. When a spacecraft is having problem and the crew hear the voice, “Houston calling,” it gives so much relief to them. The leader’s role is to give that comfort of ‘Houston calling.’ The leader must lead from the front.

Faridun: Is the leader expected to have all the answers?

Santhanam: I don’t think so and it’s a faulty assumption. All that the leader can have is a range of possibilities and a range of possible actions. The company does not expect the leader to have all the answers. However, authentic leadership is needed. Together with his team, the leader can discover all the answers.

Dr Jairam: The leader must have confident vulnerability, than knee-shaking vulnerability. If he has all the answers, then people will become suspicious of him. Super heroes don’t exist in real life. The leader must have the ability to ask deep, probing questions, rather than having all the answers.

Faridun: Why is empathy so important and how can leaders show empathy during times of crises?

Santhanam: If the enterprise wants to be successful, the leader must put himself in the shoes of the employees, customers and various stakeholders. During Covid crisis, 30% of our employees worked at the factory and they worked extraordinarily hard. The rest 70% worked from home and some of them did not have that much work. But it is important for us to take care of this 70%, understanding their vulnerability, as much as we take care of the other 30%. We made sure that there were no pay cuts, and increments were given. These are little things that companies can do and demonstrate empathy.

The company does not expect the leader to have all the answers. However, authentic leadership is needed. Together with his team, the leader can discover all the answers. ~ B Santhanam

Dr Jairam: The level of stress for any individual during a crisis is very high. Everything is uncertain. We need to understand their situation. This is not just required of good leaders but of good human beings. Empathy is a foundational human quality.

Faridun: There is an increasing amount of pressure on those who work from home, leading to stress and anxiety. There are inherent limitations of working from home. How does your organisation handle this?

Santhanam: Once we started WFH mode, in our digital town hall meeting, we said, “We are intruding into your privacy; we respect your home.” During one of our online discussions, a child came into the frame to talk to the father. We immediately stopped our official discussions and engaged with the child for a couple of minutes. It was a spontaneous gesture and made a huge impact. We also made sure, quite early into WFH, to restrict our work between 9:30 and 5:30.

Dr Jairam: Work from home is an opportunity and definitely, it should not be abused. You can’t have a one-size-fits all solution for WFH. You must have a very segmented and flexible approach. It’s okay if employees don’t come on video. On WFH, the jury is still out and no one has a clear formula. There are lots of theories, trials and testing going on.

Faridun: How can we make our students more employable?

If leaders can simulate a crisis situation when the crisis is not there, it helps in managing a crisis in a much better way. ~ Dr Jairam

Santhanam: Thanks to privatisation of engineering education, we have 10x more talented people. We find them significantly better than what we were at that age. A major portion of our digital transformation is done by 25-year-old employees. Our company is in growth phase and we are looking for talent. Post-Covid, there would be a growth phase for many firms and it means a burst of opportunities for youngsters.

Dr Jairam: I also do not agree that our students are not employable. What is important is the value of employment. Government has come out with a huge platform for skilling. Students must make use of them to skill themselves adequately.

Faridun: How is decision-making different in a crisis?

Santhanam: It is based on evaluation of probabilistic scenarios. You don’t put a strong analytical value to a decision. We need to prepare the organisation for the most likely scenarios and explain to people about the various possibilities.

Dr Jairam: In a crisis, many options are not readily available. Plan B mode of working has to be in place. The chances of implementing innovative solutions are high in a crisis, and this gives lot of confidence to the people. If leaders can simulate a crisis situation when the crisis is not there, it helps in managing a crisis in a much better way.

Faridun: How do you handle communication and storytelling in your organisation?

Santhanam: Historically, leaders have used PowerPoint as a tool. It doesn’t capture the imagination of the people nor inspire them. So companies for the last few decades have been focussing on narratives and story-telling. The narrative we used for this crisis was a four-phased action plan. Phase -1 was about Survival. Phase 2 was Revival. Phase 3 was Improvisation and Phase 4 was Thriving. We realised that once we developed this narrative, people at once understood what phase they were in and responded. The thread of stories motivates employees.

Dr Jairam: Story-telling is very important. First, you need to tell the story to yourself standing in front of a mirror and keep repeating it till you get the visceral emotions of that story. Tell that story with credibility. We can take the help of history and draw out the positive aspects from similar situations that happened in the past and share those stories.

Faridun: How can leaders manage their own composure and energy?
Santhanam: In one of our townhall meetings, I got a feedback from my colleague that I sounded anxious. This input really helped me. I moved from a frame of managing anxiety to managing my energy. The shift happened because of the honest and authentic feedback of my colleague. In a crisis, be open and expand your circle of people who can give feedback. One month into the crisis, we realised the huge opportunities and that gave us fresh energy. During the crisis, our employee engagement level was significantly higher.

Dr Jairam: We went through a period of tremendous uncertainty. Then we accepted the reality. We did a series of videos of people talking and sharing their experiences. This helped the employees to regain confidence and understand that things were not as bad as they feared.

Faridun: How can we use such crisis to learn and grow?
Santhanam: During the crisis, we strongly crafted the purpose of the organisation. We are a 350-year-old company and it took us so many years to come out with our purpose. During this phase, we had numerous engagements with our various units across the globe to work on our purpose. It ensured rapid transformation to digital. On March 12, we shutdown our plant and at that time, we had WebEx. On March 15, we had Microsoft Teams by which we could talk to 5000 people. Such digital transformation normally take 18 months to happen in Saint Gobain. People adopted it like duck to water. The customers too adopted digital. We went beyond B2B and looked at B2C models.

Gender diversity was always a challenge for us and we could not attract women employees in our manufacturing set-up. Digitalisation and WFH have changed our mindset about gender diversity in the group. We also reached out to our customers, vendors and partners. All these happened in a very short time.

Dr Jairam: Normally, we look at vertical alignment in an organisation. But the Covid crisis has exposed the criticality of horizontal alignment, across all stakeholders in the larger eco-system. As a result, we completely transformed the way we worked and it brought tremendous value to the organisation.

Digital Transformation Accelerated – Trends & Implications

Read Time:10 Minute

Digital Transformation is viewed differently by technologists and economists. For a technologist, it means:
• Connectivity
• Computational power
• Technology modularisation
• Annotated data
• Algorithm advance, and
• Visualisation

For an economist, it means lower cost to make previously unimaginable steps possible. In addition to this, personal behaviours have changed significantly because of digital. Many of them have become irreversible.

What Are the Challenges?
• Digital adoption across sectors varies significantly. It is much low in public sectors.
• Only 16% of the digital transformation has led to value. Some of the reasons for this are:

Most projects are done on a pilot basis and not scaled thereafter.

Cost savings from Cloud are not very clear.

Digital needs a different set of talent. Digital natives must gel with others in the organisation.

How Do We Derive Value from Digital Transformation?
This needs to be addressed on three levels by any business attempting digital transformation.
• How can we transform the core?
• How can we build new businesses?
• How do we modernise technology?

Even before we attempt digitisation, the application areas must be stacked up based on business value. For example, for a manufacturing firm, one can think of using digital skills for capacity forecasting, forecasting of cost function, inventory forecasting and so on. Then the areas must be prioritised. The agile model, which talks about co-locations and creating functional teams, has to be used. Agile teams must be fully empowered to make decisions. These teams must have top-notch and differentiated talents.

Key shifts in successful implementation cases are:
• Driving business improvement
• Building capability internally rather than outsourcing
• Realising business opportunities; having pragmatic implementation.

Of the new businesses built by corporates, only 16% have been blockbuster successes. There are various reasons for failure, like having no unfair advantage, misaligned expectations, revenge of mothership, cultural contamination and so on.

Some digital success stories from legacy businesses include SBI Yono; Service Mandi of Ashok Leland and Apollo’s 24 x 7 omnichannel ecosystem focussed on healthcare.

The Big Learnings Are:
1) Have big aspirations.
2) Put the user at the centre.
3) Adopt the Agile approach where Business and Technology teams have to work hand-in-hand.
4) Do not compromise on talent.
5) Have partnerships for enhancing value and ensuring faster time to market.
6) Go for cost-effective (frugal) customer acquisition and at scale. n

Raghavan: Your initial thoughts on digital transformation?

Ravi: For supply chain industry, the head room is huge for digital transformation. We are at very early stages of putting digitally enabled solutions. We need to transform this into digitally-led solutions. On one side, it is happening on the infrastructure front. On the other, we need to give power not only to internal users but external customers as well. If we combine the tools available with tools like social media, it’s going to be very powerful. The key to success is to believe that technology is the spine of the business. Business transformation happens around technology.

Anantha: We first heard the word digital in 2014 or 15. We had IT for 30-40 years. At that time, we heard of digital bytes. Again, we heard of digital from 2014 because a bunch of new technologies appeared on the horizon. We had faster network, computing became more powerful, storage became more available and Cloud became an option.

All this led to delivering of a reliable and consistent performance that businesses could bank on while changing business models using digital technology. A year into the pandemic, all of us have seen the power of digital, not just limited to virtual meetings. Businesses have realised that hundreds of things that they thought could be done only face-to-face could now be done through digital. You can buy, sell, manufacture or pay through digital. Businesses and Technology must come together to make it a success.

A year into the pandemic, all of us have seen the power of digital, not just limited to virtual meetings… ~ Anantha Sayana

Raghavan: Do you think that without digital transformation organisations can survive today? How central is this topic for organisation’s competitiveness?

Anantha: In a large construction company like L&T, how do projects succeed? Projects have to be delivered on time and within budget. That is success. Doing a very complex project at a certain level and scale gives us competitive advantage.

Digital transformation in other industries has happened through interaction with customers like in travel, banking and insurance by giving alert to customers and improving touch points with customers. These are all B2C and we have had thousands of success stories in B2C.

At L&T, we looked at digital to improve our operational efficiency, right from the start of a project like studying the geography of the land followed by engineering, procurement, execution of the project, monitoring, improving quality and safety and doing O & M after completion of the project. In every one of these areas, we could use digital.

We could use LiDAR, geo-spatial survey, satellite imaging and drones to get data about the terrain and complete survey in less than one third of the time and 10 times more accurate than conventional methods. That enables us to do engineering better. In engineering, we use 3D modelling and we are able to see virtually the construction even before the first brick is put in place. You can walk through the building virtually, detect problems and rectify it then and there.
All these help us deliver a project on time. Digital technology is not an add-on. If properly implemented, it can impact every function of the way we do business. At L&T, we started digital transformation in 2016. Now we have got every project site of L&T covered through digital solutions. We have over 40 to 50 solutions and are used by thousands of our employees. So digital transformation is core and it affects everything we do.

Raghavan: What does digital mean in a B2B context?

Ravi: At TVS, we have taken it as the core of the business. For instance, as a partner with L&T, I need to know how they move from point A to point B. It’s about getting the right material, in the right time, giving that visibility to the customer. If my system can correctly pick up this information, I can plan for the number of vehicles and right size of vehicles based on the equipment size.

I can provide information to L&T about the vehicles moving to their sites in real time. They can view these in their system. So digital transformation gives an end-to-end path. Competitors who don’t have the baggage of legacy, challenge you. If you don’t invest in technology, you will become outdated and lose out on competition. Organisations have to look at their processes and see what can or cannot be digitised. It requires change management.

Our customers are consumer product companies. Real time information about our logistics helps them immensely. We need to look at our business and see which problems can be solved using technology. That is where the buy-in becomes stronger. ~ Ravi Viswanathan

Raghavan: How did you evangelise the concept of digitisation in your organisation? How did you rally support?

Anantha: Software like ERP focussed on the office: Balance Sheet, Trial Balance, P&L Account, Purchase Order, Sales Order and so on. They automated office functions. When we started digital transformation in 2016, our focus was project sites and not office.

My team and I travelled extensively to the sites. Every solution originated from discussions in the project site. We used technology by deploying highly advanced equipment. We also used IoT. Without manual intervention, we could get enormous of amount of information and visibility. Problems could be solved by discussions and collaboration.

Digital was a passion for our CEO and MD; in every forum, he mentioned that digital is our core. We also sent the message that digital is not just for experimentation and that people will have to master technology.

Ravi: It is very important that the messaging is constant and continuous. It has to go down to the last person in the chain, which in logistics is, the picker and packer. They need to understand that this is the new way to do things and that they cannot go back to old ways. Communication with customers is also critical. It has to be followed up with execution. Youngsters have a real-time mindset and are tech-savvy. In digital, work gets captured at the point where it is done. Once a consignment is received, we label it. Once it is labelled, it can be tracked on a real-time basis. You may use a barcode or QR code scanner. We have used vision technology using AI in our warehouses and the returns from investments are almost immediate.

Our customers are consumer product companies. Real time information about our logistics helps them immensely. We need to look at our business and see which problems can be solved using technology. That is where the buy-in becomes stronger.

Raghavan: What are the challenges that business leaders driving digitisation should take care of?

Anantha: The first digital solution that you’re going to roll out will be the toughest. Don’t keep it on the table as blue print for a long time, but go and implement, so people can see and experience. Be alive to maturing and agile solutions. Tune them as you go along, making use of feedback. Digital implementing teams must have empathy.

Digital solutions must make the work of people easier, faster and more efficient. The solutions have to be user-friendly. There must be focus on UI (User Interface) and UX (User Experience).

Ravi: The trick is to get early wins and buy-in from the people who are going to use it. If they see the benefits of technology, 50% of our roadblock is gone. The biggest challenge is the mindset of the people who think, “How is it different from what we are doing?” They will say that it cannot work in their area. We can’t push it on them either. We need to cull out the commonalities across the organisation and build a platform. Only then, we can scale it. It is easier to get customers on a customised platform. In a B2B, the buy-in of a supplier or customer is very critical.

The first digital solution that you’re going to roll out will be the toughest. Don’t keep it on the table as blue print for a long time, but go and implement, so people can see and experience. Be alive to maturing and agile solutions. ~ Anantha Sayana

Raghavan: How do you attract and retain digital talent? What are the challenges?

Anantha: In L&T group, we have many technology companies. For us, getting the work done using one of these companies is not very difficult. I have a great relationship with the technology companies in the group. I feel that very often, we are looking for more talent than what the job calls for. I may know multiple machine learning techniques and algorithms but finally what matters is the one that I am going to use. If you are clear about the problem that you are going to solve and the value that you are going to provide, you just need to fit that with the right technology and skills. Another motivating factor for our employees is that they are able to solve real life problems within the group companies. They are able to see what impact their solutions make.

We created a bunch of films on safety using virtual reality. This gave our workers a visible and immersive experience. We have distributed VR glasses to all sites and more than 10000 workers have seen the two minute films in virtual reality, delivered in their local language. The developers get immense satisfaction at the results.

Ravi: There is so much talent in our country. We are blessed to be in a country which got onto the digital bandwagon quietly early. At TVS, we have global operations. We have created a very strong back office. 80% of our global operations get executed from India. We have centres in Madurai and Coimbatore apart from Chennai and Bangalore. The nerve centre is Madurai.

I did Cobol programming and managed with it for 15 years. Today, you can’t be wedded to a technology for more than two years. You need to get the talent which is able to very quickly assimilate new developments and apply them as required. We also have a strong brand, so we are able to attract and retain talent. People understand the value systems of TVS group.

India’s Turning Point – Challenges & Opportunities

Read Time:9 Minute

I am happy to share the outcome of the year-long research done by McKinsey Global Institute. The findings are important in the context of Covid-19’s effect on health and economy. Though people have not returned to work at the levels that existed before Covid, it has been steadily recovering.

Covid and lockdowns have taken a big toll on our economy. Though we are bouncing back, we have structural challenges which cannot be ignored. Exports are slowly recovering but it has yet to show the buoyancy that it needs. Capex announcements are one fifth of the normal level, indicating weakness in the Capex recovery. Job creation is a challenge. The pace of growth of bank credits is a cause for concern. The report looks at not just the pandemic year but the next decade. The call to action is quite urgent.

Action Plan for the Next Decade
By 2030, India must create 90 Million jobs, which is three times the non-farm jobs created in FY13-19. For this to happen, GDP growth should be twice that of pre-Covid rate of 4.2%. Our research focused on four areas:

• Building frontier businesses that generate higher wages for workers; there are 43 of them.

• Climbing the ladder of scale. We need 1000 more mid-size companies to become large companies; 10,000 small companies must become medium size companies. The larger the companies grow, the more productive they will be.

• We need to raise $2.4 Trillion capital, which is three times the pre-pandemic level, at 3.5% lower cost. The cost of capital for investors must come down.

• Broad based reforms need to be implemented at a certain speed and urgency over the next 12 to 18 months.
Frontier Businesses

• We must create global hubs serving India and the world

• We must unlock efficiency engines for India’s competitiveness

• We must find new ways of working and serving.

India’s long-term savings must flow into long-term capital market products like insurance and pension funds. Liberalisation of insurance announced in the budget is one of the reforms that could enable this. The cost of capital also must come down. An average commercial borrower in India buys credit at 5% points more than the average commercial borrower in other Asian countries. The cost of bad loans is passed on to the borrower. The privatisation of banking can bring in more efficiency and, in turn, benefit the borrower.

On the reforms front, some progress has been made in intent and bold announcements. The Production Linked Incentive (PLI) for manufacturing is a good example. In agriculture too, we are seeing reforms. We need a whole range of reforms in land and labour market and power distribution to reduce tariff cost. Moreover, ease of doing business needs improvement. Reforms are needed in the financial sector too.

How Can We Make This Happen?
• We need two engines of reforms: 60% State-led and 40% Centre-led.
• 50% reforms need a policy or law that can be speedily implemented.
• There has to be an effective implementation architecture with a consultative process involving all stakeholders, rigorous PRAGATI style reviews for the next two years, and CM-led war rooms.

Naveen: Can you share your thoughts on our turning point in the year gone by, from your and your organisation’s perspective?

Preetha: I am sad at the number of people we have lost and the battles we have fought. It was a tough year. There are so many lessons we’ve learnt. I am excited about the prospects of the future.

We had the courage to announce a lockdown of this size. It was a question of lives versus livelihood. Suddenly we were thrown into a digital ecosystem. ~ Dr. Preetha Reddy

We are in a position to give vaccines to the world. We have used it for our countrymen and we have already given millions of doses to other countries. Vaccination at a global scale has not happened like the way it has happened in India. We had the courage to announce a lockdown of this size. It was a question of lives versus livelihood. Suddenly we were thrown into a digital ecosystem. We have come through the challenge with resilience. India is a country that uses crisis as a spring board.

We have the largest English-speaking workforce in the world, which is a big advantage. We have 65% of our population as youth, and it’s a powerful driver to take us forward. Using healthcare opportunities, we can keep our ageing population comfortable at their homes. Keeping people out of hospitals is a big opportunity for the healthcare sector.
Josh: The courage we have seen from the government, the frontline workers and factory workers has been incredible. India has already taken off from the springboard. Indian manufacturing will not be the same again for three reasons:

• Because of travel restrictions, we had to lean more on local expertise.
• Industry 4.0 and digitisation were on the back burner, but these will be in the forefront this year.
• Social distancing has led to new ways of conducting business. These will power India into a global manufacturing powerhouse and become a part of global supply chains.

Rakesh: I was in the US until October and was locked up in my place. In the US, Covid infections—after coming down in September—continued to rise; while in India, it is steadily coming down and I hope this trend will continue. We need to understand how the pandemic has unfolded in different places around the world. There is no explanation as to why the pandemic has been voracious in Europe, the US and North America, while it has been less virulent in South Asia and Africa and much less in East Asia. There is no way to figure it out if health systems are responsible for this difference.

For each one of us who have been privileged to take care of us staying in and working from home, there are 10 others who didn’t have that much advantage. I have been on the Board of Companies in India—Nestle and Kirloskar. In both the companies, it’s very impressive how they managed to come back to production very quickly despite the lockdown, and implement safe work practices.

There are many people we cannot avoid working together and having face-to-face interactions—in factories, warehouses, logistic companies, kitchens, restaurants and so on. These are the people who risk themselves and make it possible for others to work from home. We need to give our thoughts to these people, to their courage and to their continued working in a pretty efficient fashion.

Coming to the budget and the economy, given the adverse situation, I must say that this has been a very innovative budget. It has turned around the mood in the economy. Among the welcome points is the focus on capital investments, particularly infrastructure expenditure. Of course, the devil is in the details and let us hope for the best.

Atmanirbhar is a good trigger point. We must focus on design. Whatever we design, we must be able to produce in India. ~ Josh Foulger

I would like to highlight a few issues:
• The tax-to-GDP ratio has remained rock solid at around 10% over several budgets, which is baffling and indicates a structural issue.
• Lack of adequate generation of non-farm employment has been a matter of concern over the past many budgets. No country, especially in Asia, has grown without high manufacturing and employment growth.
• Manufacturing growth is also linked to export growth. From 2002 to 2012, we had higher manufacturing export growth than China. Since then, it is almost zero growth in manufacturing exports.
• If we keep our exchange rate competitive, we may not need artificial support like PLI.

Naveen: What is your view on FDI in India and how can we spur manufacturing growth?

Josh: FDI must translate to gainful employment and employment for women. Atmanirbhar is a good trigger point. We must focus on design. Whatever we design, we must be able to produce in India.

The next important thing is the supply chain. India has the breadth in supply chain. Very few countries have India’s capability in this sphere. Right from fundamental research to true productization, hardware design, software design, mechanical design and integration, India has strength.

We need to generate big companies. In the last 15 years, no new big companies have come up. ~ Rakesh Mohan

In machines and instrumentation areas, FDI has always been poor and we majorly import these. We take pride in getting imported machines. This budget talks about incentivising machine building in the country. PLI is definitely a right kind of boost. Automobile industry is slowly becoming an ICT industry. If we get the right kind of FDI and we are able to execute it, then India can achieve gainful job-led growth.

Preetha: We can provide skilling services in Healthcare sector, which can lead to gainful employment. We can export these services. Also, Ayushman Bharat will generate 5 million jobs for the country.

Anu: There is a feel good factor now, perhaps because we are coming out of the pandemic and bouncing back, and partly because of the budget announcements. There is no room for complacency, and reforms must stay the course.
In a global research study done by us, we noted that remote working, digitisation and automation to manage workforce, health and safety. All these will accelerate in the long-term and there will be a big churn of jobs. Many more workers will be displaced and they have to find new occupations. We need to simplify skilling and reskilling.

We have seen that 50% of the reforms are made at the stroke of a pen. They must translate to reality. The policies have to be framed in a business-friendly manner. State governments also have a big role to play in the reform process.

Naveen: Any advice for the corporate leaders?

Rakesh: We need to generate big companies. In the last 15 years, no new big companies have come up. I feel that the money reserved for PLI can be spent for infrastructure development. Since independence, we have been lacking in health and education sectors. We need to give much more attention to coordinated programs in these areas. Companies must focus on R&D.

Preetha: We are getting a lot of support and learnings from our friends in the manufacturing sector. I find that many of the young graduates from business schools come with a menu on their hand and that things have to be as per that menu. We need to learn from the opportunities that stare us in the face. Who would have thought of the opportunities that exist now in digitisation? Let not conventional wisdom cloud the trigger of innovation.

Josh: This is going to be India’s decade. $5 Trillion is a milestone around the corner. $10 Trillion is on our way. Manufacturing will be a big part of that. Leaders in the industry must embrace the Atmanirbhar concept and take it forward.

Anu: We are on one more major inflection point in our growth and a much welcome one. During the worst days of the pandemic, we saw the spirit of innovation, can-do nature, agility and whatever-it-takes-to-make-it-happen approach in the leaders. We need that kind of a mindset. The worst thing that can happen is the feeling that we can go back to the pre-pandemic style of life. Things will not pan out like that. The spirit of openness and lifelong learning, not just for youngsters but for all is very important.

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