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Change in ancient cultures- "The White Tiger" by Aravind Adiga

 

Aravind Adiga has won the Man Booker Prize for his very first novel. Curious, I had placed a hold on the book at my town library and sure enough the book is in big demand and is on a strict 15 day turn-around.

Adiga has written a gripping tale and covers both India and China with the protoganist Munna  or "The White Tiger" writing from Bangalore as a now powerful taxi operator who provides taxi services to the call centers of big brand companies like Microsoft and so on. Munna is an "entreprenuer" writing to the Chinese Prime Minister (throughout the entire novel)  who is visiting Bangalore and wants to meet local Indian entrepreneurs to understand their story. The book is about Munna's evolution as an "entrepreneur" from abject  poverty based roots as a Rickshaw Puller's son.

The most fascinating thing about the book is the understanding that Adiga brings about the changing  ancient social structure in India. He does so in a sort of cynical manner highlighting rare betrayal by the servant of the master.  I rather prefer the lighter approach  of PG Wodehouse called the "feudal spirit"  where Jeeves is pretty much always loyal to Bertie Wooster. 

To Adiga's credit however, he does bring out continuity and change in the Indian social fabric as the economy booms and "catching up"  with China is on peoples' minds. Adiga's incredulous observation that dependable "servants" literally drive the economy is masterful. He mentions the diamond trade among others  where trustworthy assistants move around with millions in diamonds or cash with literally no "legal" controls and almost no problems. While "The White Tiger" or Munna is a deviant - you do get the feeling of continuity and stability in a  bizarre sort of way. Definitely worth a read.

Worldsourcing-made in this planet

Kudos to William J. Amelio  of Lenovo for coming up with, and promoting the concept of "worldsourcing". Today Business Week  carries a story and this earlier piece on BBC is also enlightening. Bill Amelio advocates lightening up on the "outsourcing" label and the superior attitude that prevails in the wealthier countries vis-a-vis the booming but earlier poorer countries,particularly of Asia. According to Amelio, thinking of the world as one market and therefore one sourcing point suddenly opens up great possibilities for both picking up innovative ideas and developing new markets with a global well oiled supply chain and distribution channel.

Jack Welch, in one of his books recalls how one of his senior managers in GE was disdainful of  his direct report Indian scientists for no other reason than their location as they operated out of the GE India facility. With "neutron" Jack, the manager off course, did not last long and GE went on to become a leader in what Bill Amelio calls "worldsourcing." Indeed, thinking of the world as one place and one opportunity suddenly changes the scene, not only for big business but for the smallest entrepreneur.Quite simply, some places in the world are booming as markets and excellent low cost suppliers are eager to serve your business from other parts of the world.More flexibility and openness is what is called for....
   

Tata Nano and now Tata Jaguar and Land Rover

Tata had announced the $2500 Nano Car (left with Chairman Ratan Tata)  to much applause. There are no dearth of buyers at this price point in Asia,Eastern Europe, Africa and Latin America . But have you ever heard of a company operating at both ends of the market ? In fact, the Tata's have created the entire possibility of a $2500 car and now they are buying the Jaguar and Land Rover. The Nano is for the "Bottom of the Pyramid" while the Jaguar starting at $50,000 ( or 100 times the Nano) is for the super-rich. Are they capable of operating at both ends of the the market? Yes, I think so having worked with Tatas' as customers for several years. They are  great employers  with a  history  of  caring for employees,customers,suppliers and stakeholders far ahead of their location (India) and  times. Luckily, the Jaguar and Land Rover Union does not have to worry about jobs as this report suggests. Also, if Ford can focus on its core brands and turn things around, the auto industry will see better times.

From a public phone booth in India

My winter break travels in India turned out to be great. Visited Delhi,Mumbai(Bombay),Goa and Kolkata (Calcutta)and got the distinct feel that the economy was on the move. Yes ITES ( Information Technology Enabled Services) are important and this sector feeds the notion of India as the global powerhouse of IT services. But what is more incredible is the booming growth of the local market and consumer demand. Consider the phone booth (right) where Devinder helped me set up my local India cell phone account and helped "refill" my phone balance several times.
    This phone booth is a temporary shack like structure and is actually owned by a blind relative of Devinder who has been awarded the space as part of India's efforts to help its disabled. There seemed to be about 10 people constantly on the counter , either making long distance phone calls or adding money to their cell phone accounts. So I asked - what's your sale per day? "About Rupees 5000 ( about $120 a day),"replied Devinder and I was skeptical because I was pretty certain that the guy had several hundred customers a day. "The customers buy small perhaps Rs. 20 ( 50 cents) of talk time by a cart puller or day laborer" explained Devinder. Incoming calls on India cell phones are free and the poorest are able to get on the mobile phone network by just arranging to receive "blank" calls that they don't pick up and understand when a pal or business associate is trying to reach out. Such communication turns out to be free- next best is the booming use of SMS via cell phones. SMS's are cheap and over 1 Billion ( yes billion) were exchanged when people wished each other Happy 2008 over the new year.
    Transactions at the phone booth are both paperless and computer less. You ask for a re-charge and the phone booth attendant has a cell phone agent's access to the phone company ( there are several companies) and the customer gets a SMS confirming the amount credited. Amazingly the poorest almost illiterate customers seem to be dealing with all this with aplomb and confidence.
    Seeing the continuing boom in India had left me wondering about the "bottom of the pyramid" and what was happening there. Close observation of these BoP folks at the phone booth assured me that the economic growth in India is far more deep rooted and fundamental than I had earlier thought!

Muhtar Kent at Coke and Indra Nooyi at Pepsi and the Bottom of Pyramid

Muhtar Kent is the new CEO at Coke. This blog had commented on the changes at Coke earlier this year and the elevation of Mr. Kent to CEO is indeed a great development. Not only is Muhtar Kent, of Turkish origin,  eminently qualified but his elevation signals Coke's  diversity  comeback . It also makes good business sense. Good business sense because as Fortune reports, Muhtar Kent led the Coke efforts in Eastern Europe after the Berlin Wall and should be able to lead the market expansion in emerging markets of the developing world. These markets have been called the "Bottom of Pyramid"(BoP)  and involve most of the world where per capita income is low but human aspirations are high. A person drinks soda as a special treat and serving sizes are low ( about 6 -8 fl. oz. vs. 12 fl.oz. in the US) to keep soda affordable. These markets use bottles not merely because of "green" concerns but because a large unskilled  labor pool is able to move bottles at low cost across the distribution chain. Growth for US consumer products will come from these markets and the CEO must understand how these markets actually work.

Pepsi in the meanwhile has India born Indra Nooyi at the helm and the BoP Cola wars should be interesting.