Conquering the chaos

Sunita Sehmi asks Ravi Venkatesan, one of India’s best management thinkers, for his views on global business

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Ravi Venkatesan is the former chairman of Microsoft India and Founder Chairman of Social Venture Partners India. As chairman of Microsoft India, Ravi helped build India into Microsoft’s second-largest territory and one of its fastest-growing markets. He is also a venture partner at impact investor Unitus Seed Fund. Ravi advises several global firms and serves on the boards of Rockefeller Foundation, Infosys Ltd, and Strand Lifesciences. But perhaps his definitive gift to the business world is his acclaimed book Conquering the Chaos: Win in India, Win Everywhere (Harvard Business Review). "Adapt to the market, don't expect the market to adapt to you" is one of the lessons from Ravi’s book. The subtitle is based on a quote from Tim Solso (now chairman of General Motors), with whom he worked at Cummins, verbalising the mind-set necessary for global companies to make it in India.

Even beyond this deliberate positioning to win the large Indian market, lessons learned in India can be applied to other emerging markets, most of which look more like India than China. As more emerging markets open up, and the global middle class looks for products and services to cater to their new needs and desires, companies that have successfully adapted to the chaos in India can repeat this process elsewhere.

Consequently according to Ravi, the many challenges of doing business in India are not discouraging, and should be welcomed as early experience of the emerging new world of business. Indeed he argues that the companies that do not succeed in India should not blame the market, but reconsiders the mind-set of their own headquarters.

I was lucky enough to attend his talk at the recent Executive Conversation held at the Geneva Centre for Security Policy, where Ravi shared insights with diplomats, journalists, academics and executives. He discussed how challenges of doing business in India are not insurmountable, and that mastering them is of strategic importance for any global business.

When and where did it all begin for you?

Ravi Venkatesan: When I was studying in India I had a chance to work to America. Only the very smart and most ambitious could go. There were no or few opportunities in 1995 in India and out of our class of 55, 45 left to work abroad. I began my career in Cummins where I worked for over 16 years with Cummins Inc. Cummins was the world leader in engines and related technologies. The founder JI Miller was keen to have beautiful architecture and followed the philosophy of Churchill: “We shape our buildings, and afterwards our buildings shape us." I was so fortunate to be shaped about “conscious capitalism,” encouraged to contribute to the communities was the core value, this was a revolutionary concept at that time. I learnt an important principle, which has been a guiding light for me: “Do what is right, not what is convenient.” I then went to Harvard Business School, which my company funded. I returned to India in 1996 and was fortunate to help with the transformation of Cummins into the leading provider of power solutions and the largest manufacturer of automotive engines in the country. Between 2004 and 2011, I worked for Microsoft where again I along with my team had the good fortune of seeing India blossom into Microsoft’s second-largest presence in the world and one of its fastest growing markets.  

What was the motivation to write Conquering the Chaos?

BY 2011, I saw India getting eclipsed again this time around not just by China but also by Indonesia, Nigeria and even a small country like Vietnam. India had become such a hostile place to do business in. You can’t wish away the chaos, you have to find ways to survive and thrive. If you can crack the code you are onto a winner. Succeeding in India is essential not just because it is a huge market but also because it is a litmus test for your corporation's ability to succeed in other emerging markets. Granted India is a difficult and tumultuous but some companies have had great success such as Nestle, JCB Standard Charter Bank, Volvo and Eriksson to name a few. Why do these companies succeed when others fail? It’s about a mindset that is a long-term commitment to the country and to the market.

So to be successful in the emerging market economy is not just about strategy it is about attitude?

To be successful in all emerging markets we have to adapt to the market itself and not how it is back home. We have challenges with illiteracy, poverty, and infrastructure but getting companies to see every problem as a business opportunity that's the key.

There is a new administration in India since May 2014 with prime minister Narendra Modi in office. In what way will this modify businesses in India?

In order to go forward we have to have a functioning government. No amount of NGO or business enterprise alone can help but the government. We have had some pretty awful governments, the last one being quite possibly the worst since independence in 1947 and I say these words not to be critical but to drive the message home that we have a new government that is committed.

Who are your local business champions?

Narayana Murthy, co-founder of Infosys. He has inspired a lot of people and Infosys is a world-class performer in India and he is an excellent role model for the young generation. Ratan Tata, chairman of Tata Group, from 1991–2012, practices responsible leadership and conscious capitalism throughout his career. And there are our unsung heroes the 25 -35 year olds who are world-class entrepreneurs. They are young, vibrant and future global leaders.

What is the best piece of advice you were ever given?

One of my managers at Cummins told me “Those who work for you will shape you and your career far more than who you work for.” I owe my past success to my teams I was able to hire people who were good at things I was bad at.

What's the next challenge for us?

Switzerland, Japan and Germany are totally opposite from India. These are countries, are orderly, clean, disciplined as opposed to India, which is chaotic, dirty and undisciplined. However, once you immerse yourself in the social, cultural and business perspective the vibrancy of India and other emerging countries becomes more persuasive than the chaos and the dirt. I guess India is like Marmite, you love it or hate it. But I encourage you to go past your intellectual perceptions and have a more visceral approach. I run a global leadership course and I take the CEOs to visit the schools, the hospitals they get to experience the whole of India and all that this embodies.

What does it mean to be global?

Empathy, compassion, respect and humility. Having openness, being humble and recognising that talent goes beyond the passport. To be able to recognize that we all have talent and we are all capable wherever we come from. Celebrate these talents and have compassion. A global mind set means when you travel you look through empathetic eyes and not with disdain or judgment.

What's next for you?

I want to make India a better place. Make sure that India engages and produces sensibly but no man is an island and so we need to be part of a community. Hence, I launched Social Venture Partners India in 2012. We aim at improving social welfare of India by bringing together philanthropists who want to address social problems through venture philanthropy. I am also writing two more books. One is tentatively titled “What the bleep should I do with my life?” as I feel the old model of what a job looked like as to what it will look like is very different. We are going towards a sharing economy and nothing is for certain anymore whether you were born in India, Greece,

Ravi has a BS from IIT Bombay, an MS from Purdue University, and an MBA from Harvard Business School where he was a Baker Scholar. He is a recipient of the Indian Institute of Technology Bombay’s Distinguished Alumnus Award and Purdue University's Distinguished Engineering Alumnus Award. Thinkers50 voted him as one of India’s best management thinkers.

Sunita Sehmi

Sunita Sehmi is an executive coach, trainer and consultant. In addition to her own consultancy service Walk The Talk, Sunita also works as a coach for the High Potential Leadership Programme at IMD Business School and as a business mentor at the Branson School of Entrepreneurship.