In the bygone era, people would flock to auto shows to see the latest car and engine designs. They were awed by how the latest technology could take a driver anywhere he wished to go in the blink of an eye. Today, if you visited an auto show, you will find that some of the most powerful personal computers now come with leather bucket seats. It's the idea that the automobile is yet another way to connect to the world via the Internet. Make no mistake: Car telephones have been around for decades. Satellite navigational systems are nothing new. But automotive internet connectivity is entering a new, exciting phase.
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A very successful private equity investor once shared with delegates of a packed conference that he spends more time on the road than he does in his office. The reason, he said, is that he wants to see firsthand the types of companies in which his firm is considering investing. Not only that, but he would go to exotic lands during the worst times (weather-wise) of the year. Monsoons would hit the coasts, earthquakes would shake cities, and snowstorms would cripple roads and airports.
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My friend's organization was spending upwards of 3% of its revenue on IT. The corresponding figure for its peers is approximately 1.8% to 2.3%. So, does that mean my friend’s business has got its math all wrong?
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Mohit Joshi on four key trends banks must work on, so they can mind their customers better – industrialization (e.g., core architecture), digital strategy (social media), infrastructure optimization (e.g., cloud), and regulatory compliance (e.g., Basel III).
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Part of the pleasure of reading a good book is being able to share it with friends and colleagues. And because Infosys provides me with this space to blog about topics like innovation and creating smarter organizations, I can supply you with a digest of some of my reading that's relevant to these areas.
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“Now don’t get me wrong. I like innovation; just not too much of it.” That’s what I imagine I would hear if I were a fly on the wall of certain corporate headquarters these days. Large companies that once zealously guarded their technological innovations are now opening the floodgates of access to such technology.
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I watched a show recently about how India is making efforts to build out its power grid to meet the needs of a rapidly growing population. What drew me in to this spot on the NewsHour television program was the anecdote told by Rajdeep Sardesai, one of the country's prominent news presenters.
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The most famous songwriter and celebrity of the 19th century - Stephen Foster - is virtually unknown today. Some old-timers might recall the songs he wrote because they were still very popular in the first part of the 20th century. Tunes like "Camptown Racers," "Beautiful Dreamer," and "Swanee River" defined American popular music for many generations. Yet when he died after collapsing on the street in New York City, Foster was found to have just 38 cents in his pocket. Could you imagine today if the head of a major entertainment label or music publishing company were to die with less than a dollar to his name?
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Making an early prediction for 2013 last July, economist Nourel Roubini dismissed the possibility of a robust U.S. recovery. He also issued a grim reminder of America's fiscal cliff, Europe's meltdown and the cooling of emerging market growth. While most of us aren't as pessimistic as Dr. Doom, we cannot deny that the world has reset downward
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A longtime client recently sent me an academic paper he'd just read that - much to my pleasure - singled out Infosys as a model of innovation. I share this story because receiving laurels from academics isn't always easy. They're a tough, discerning bunch.
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It's interesting how stories of contact center excellence are still few and far between. And that only makes me wonder what it'll take to "customerize" these centers, and raise their standard of service and experience. And even more importantly, why this must even be prioritized.
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The first day at the World Economic Forum was warmer than expected, but I am told that it will get colder as the week progresses. I hope this does not happen with the dialogues at Davos during the week.
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Global figures like Kofi Anan and Shashi Tharoor tell us that, perhaps, the single most powerful tool for improving the world is educating women and girls.
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Sometimes, an idea, simple though it may be, can single-handedly change the way the world works. It can empower economies to put payment systems into the hands of the unbanked millions. Enable global corporations to reduce energy footprints.
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The weather at Davos was by and large fine. So is the mood. There is a sense of optimism and a sense that the worst is behind us. A few are even commenting that the financial crisis is behind us.
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Bill George teaches leadership at Harvard Business School. Imagine my delight when he announced to at the recently convened Infosys Executive Leadership Forum that one of the first cases he ever wrote at Harvard was about Narayana Murthy, the founder of Infosys.
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For transformation partner-client relationships to deliver on the enterprise-transformation agenda, beyond trust and proven skills, there needs to be a strong foundation of alignment and synergies around what the measures of success and business value are. But above all, there needs to be a shared vision of how the partnership will help the client enterprise prepare for tomorrow.
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From merely supporting business competitiveness to becoming a catalyst of change and tomorrow-readiness, technology has come a long way. There is growing understanding and increasing consensus about its potential to seed opportunities of the future. Few will argue about the proactive role technology is playing in shaping business; and we all agree it's an equal participant in generating ideas for "what else" business can or needs to be.
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Yes, you read that right. I am talking about disruption powered by IT in the services sector. Common perception associates innovation with products. The classic example is Thomas Edison's bulb, emblematic of innovation itself today. Then, there are the Apple products - owned, coveted, admired, even criticized, but hard to ignore.
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How so, you ask? Well, I've been looking at some idea champs in China. The first - Haier: The largest home appliances company in China. Their innovation model is all about tailoring products, invented elsewhere, specially for the Chinese consumer.
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Confluence 2012, Monte Carlo. An ironically 'easy' setting for discussions on tough-to-crack topics about innovation and business success in a difficult economic climate. And, there was a lot of that over the course of two days. Yes, times are tough.
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It's a world of growing complexity and changing dynamics. And, I often find many vexing challenges, that businesses face, stem from the fact that they must, on the one hand, add on new capabilities to adapt to change, and on the other rationalize these add-ons in the interests of organizational efficiency and operational simplicity.
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Business in China, drawing from my experience, is influenced by a set of critical variables that must be skillfully managed in order to succeed.
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As I experience the energy unleashed by and in emerging economies, I realize that my decision to work in India after I got my Master's degree was the right one. What brought this point home was a recent report I read which stated that the combined GDP of emerging and developing countries - measured in PPP terms - is set to overtake that of advanced economies in 2013.
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The short answer is yes. The long answer is more complicated.
Many companies incorrectly assume that they can replicate their developed world success in emerging economies, by starting off simply building on their developed model of the business
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OK, so what's it like to do business in China?" This must rank among the world's top questions. People ask alright, but don't really want to listen to your detailed answer. So, here's my 2 minute China capsule for when you pop the question.
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Twenty countries around the world show zero or negative population growth. Birth rates are on the decline. By 2025, the U.S. alone will be short of around 29 million workers, as 77 million baby boomers (those born between 1946 and 1964) retire, but only 48 million individuals belonging to Generation X (those born between 1965 and 1980) enter it.
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This is a tale about Jim and Bob. Jim has spent over 5 years working his way up in a large organization setup. When faced with constraints, he knows how to get it all sorted by talking to somebody, escalating the issue, or even concocting a solution himself.
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In emerging economies, mobile penetration is increasing rapidly while landlines are declining. The shift in trend is attributed to the ubiquity of handheld devices and Gen Y willing to experiment. The next level of offerings in these economies centers on enabling lifestyles for the masses. Applications such as mobile money are slowly but surely gaining prominence in developing countries.
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The needs of market is emerging economies are different from developed economies and so are the price points and value expectations of consumers. Product design that gives full value to customer calls for a different thought process altogether. Besides, it necessitates invention in core technology areas to tap a huge market. Reverse innovation where products designed in emerging economies are sold in developed markets shifts the focus to emerging economies.
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Globally, World Trade 3.0 refers to enterprise survival and sustenance in an environment dominated by protectionism and regulatory conditions. Enterprises have a mandate to work within the constraints and scout for ways to create market integration and flourishing trade. This calls for ingenuity to work around the impediments and creation of economic value to all stakeholders concerned.
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Energy efficiency appears to be an insurmountable goal for emerging economies owing to their reliance on traditional energy sources and long-standing transmission and distribution losses. Tapping renewable sources of energy may help in meeting the growing demands of their population. But how long will it take for emerging economies to attain the desired state remains a moot point.
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Several factors scuttle the growth of innovators and entrepreneurs in emerging economies. They include indirect tax regimes, stifling labor laws, inadequate capital, lack of infrastructure, and non-availability of land. To reverse this trend, a National Innovation System is critical. What's your view?
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The $30 mobile phones that provide nationwide service for just 2 cents a minute has worked a magic in a way physical infrastructure hasn’t. This is an apt case where consumption and frugal innovation work together. Rising incomes in emerging economies spurred consumption whilst curtailing financial crisis. In fact, most emerging economies grew in spite of financial crisis. As emerging markets guru Antoine Van Agtmael puts it, "thanks to developing economies there was only a half global financial crisis."
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The Global Financial Crisis (GFC) has reduced the innovation gap between the U.S. and rest of the world. Over the last 15 years, there has been a systematic reduction in research and development. Discoveries and inventions are no longer singular activities but collaborative ones. With innovation activity shifting to Asia, countries other than the U.S. increasingly have a larger say in international intellectual property rights, establishing of standards and commercialization of intellectual property.
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Western multinationals are keen for active engagement outside metropolitan cities in emerging markets. Traditionally, these markets under-consumed but now, they display an insatiable appetite. Catering to such markets, calls for rethink on everything from products and prices to distribution systems and customer service. The combination of challenges and opportunities results in a cocktail of creativity, which is temporarily being dubbed as "frugal innovation."
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Harvard Business School Professors Tarun Khanna and Krishna Palepu studied emerging markets and coined the term “institutional voids” to explain the market ecosystem including labor markets, product markets and capital markets and institutions that make up the ecosystem that were either missing or not functioning as expected. But for every stumbling block there is a creative solution that helps in realizing happy ending.
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Enterprises need to employ a ground-up approach to attain success in emerging economies. Further, they must be willing to question whether their industry will chart a different trajectory for these countries compared to what they are familiar with in home markets.
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Study of successful companies based in emerging economies can provide useful tips on how operating model has to change to factor in shift in personnel makeup. Intuitive systems and processes developed by such companies can also be employed by multinationals to operate and scale up in a similar environment.
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