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Sudhindra's writes a fortnightly column in Deccan Chronicle / Asian Age in the Business - Technomics section. This column 'Tech-Sutra', will appear every alternate Monday starting 15th Jun 2009.
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Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata, London
Monday, 4th January 2010
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:: Business / Technomics
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A Ghosn for Japanese IT
4th January 2010
Sudhindra Mokhasi
As I detailed in my last two columns, there are challenges aplenty, but it is clear that India needs the Japanese IT business and Japan needs to plug into the great Indian Outsourcing engine, the former to sustain its growth rates and the latter to make its businesses more efficient and derisk against historical rival and Asian hegemon -- China.
There have been significant attempts to bridge this divide by both trade bodies and the governments -NASSCOM, JETRO, Japan Foundation etc. But somehow one comes away with the feeling that if this sum of parts could be ensconced into an overarching framework or if there were one stand-out successful template for others to emulate, the results would be much better.
Let's look at some of the fixes required on the Japanese side.
Japan has been and is still a very traditional society -- language and cultural barriers are the often cited reasons for maintaining status-quo. In IT, this is reflected in Keiretsu-vendor driven tactical approach to IT. This mindset needs to change -there has to be an acceptance of the global outsourcing model, better understanding of the value Indian companies have added to global firms and appreciation of the fact that they can leverage this expertise to become more competitive. Japanese society has been known for its long term perspective -- a simple application of this philosophy would make it clear why a partnership with India would be safer and more beneficial than the one with China. Japan must also ease constrains on foreign guest workers.
Are all these too much to ask of the Japanese businesses?
I don't think so. Not too long ago, there was a failing company in Japan. A new COO was inducted in 1999 and most thought he had come to supervise the final passing of the company. But this COO surprised everyone by announcing that he would turn the company profitable in one year or he would resign. In that year, he initiated a drastic shake-up in the way business is done in Japan, and turned the company profitable! The company was Nissan and the COO was the son of Lebanese parents, born in Brazil, educated in Lebanon and Paris and his name was Carlos Ghosn. The Japanese even have a comic strip on his achievements and his style is idolised as Ghosn-Ryu.
There are equally important responsibilities on the India side: Work with the Japanese government to promote Japanese language education in India. Sure, there are points of presence like the Japan Foundation and the JLPT centric courses run in various universities -- but this footprint needs to be made larger and more effective. The Japanese language training department in Pune University is a fine example of what focused efforts can yield; we need more of these! The vendors in India are spoilt by the short business cycle and rapid ramp up style of the western world.
There has to be a realisation and acceptance that you need to stay invested in Japan -- that results will be slow, your loyalty and trustworthiness will be under intense scrutiny before you are accorded a seat at the high table and that you need to change your mindset and elevate your stature from a vendor to that of a partner.
Also, the type of IT would be critical -- typically those that have been successful earlier, lesser language dependency and those that add demonstratable value.
A theoretically ideal way to achieve this is through a national framework where the governments support, trade bodies facilitate, and the users operationalise.
But hey, a quicker way is for Japan to find a Carlos Ghosn for outsourcing and Indian IT will respond! Here's wishing you a Happy New Year or as the Japanese would say "Ake mashi te omedeto"
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