Longterm Perspectives

Outsourcing and Offshoring do not always give the quick results overseas companies expect. In order to make business work in India one will have to have a longterm perspective and a certain amount of perseverance. The possibilities have often been overwhelming as the markets within India function quite different from the west, and are very open for business. Down the line business is executed on the bases of relationships. Longterm perspectives and investing a lot of time in local relationships is crusial to the success of any cross cultural venture. Often not the quick-fix western customers are looking for in a time of recession, but for longterm sustainability a must. So, I will have another cup of chai and share a ten to eleven pm dinner!

The image shown is the new property we are developing to expand our operations. Will share more of the development in detail next time.

Indo-Dutch Mix

After 7 years in India it is very hard to see my Dutch upbringing in an objective cross-cultural perspective. Many of the Non-Indian people I work with often expect the Indian businessmen to fully understand where they come from and let me be Dutch: They Indians don't! They will do it their way as I would do business the Dutch way when i am in Rotterdam. The Knowledge Culture in the Netherlands does not go very far in India. Being 'right' here simply stays at with you and does not really change a lot in the relationship with your supplier or buyers in India.

I require a level of EQ that outshines our IQ in order to relate cross culturally in a very productive way. It is very interesting and offers a huge opportunity to make businesses work better in the global village. Just like one of our new customers mentioned Saturday: “During the last project with a large Indian company we all agreed on the specs and the deadlines, until the deadline date reached”. All of a sudden we had all kind of misunderstanding and a new deadline had to be established :)… this is the way it goes all the time.

Managing an entrepreneurial venture the Indian way will drive most Western managers absolutely crazy. The influx of foreign companies is India is on the rise and managing the Indian way becomes more of a requirement. As a Multinational company you HAVE to HAVE an India-plan ready to be executed, or this country with it's 1.1 billion potential customers will shop elsewhere. An amazing opportunity is right in front of us... now understanding the Indian system better.
As one of my friends puts it: “the Dutch take about 5 years to plan, calculate, and process and then complete the project in 1 year time. We plan only for 1 year and complete it in 5!”
(It is not about who is right or wrong… we simply work and enjoy life with them, and find a new way to work together, a little bit more planning, a little bit more chaotic and uncertain)… Down the line you do have to get your project completed, so: Let’s make this work!

"Yes" and "No"...

Coming from a country where 'Yes' means '100% Yes', it is amazing to be faced with a total different reality in Pune, India. The majority of our suppliers and local customers say 'Yes' to many of the requests put forth to them, but most of these sayings mean nothing more than 'I heard what you said'. 'Yes', as a reply from a relation here has to be followed by the question from my side: 'your 'Yes' containes which percentage of 'No'?' So by the time I've figured out that the 'Yes' was '100% No' I have wasted a lot of time... It is amazing what levels of frustration this causes, but at the same time an incredible opportunity when managed well. It is really cool to see to relationships being so different from the Western style, but at the same time by asking more questions solving some very basic misunderstanding.
'Yes' does not always mean 'Yes', and 'No' not always 'No'. If somebody asks you something here and you say 'No' they will ask again, thinking you means 'Yes', but you will only say that after a couple of "No's". I have seen large business deals being cancelled because of this simple misunderstanding... Before going to India to take part in one of the largest markets in the world today, I have to balance my Dutch and Indian culture very careful every day. Yes! the people we are employing and working with on a daily basis slowly, but steadily change. (Yes = 100% Yes works very efficiently :))

Click here for the RTL-Z Link

Just click the link for the full version of the news broadcast...
-Frank

Financial Crisis Global Opportunity

Yes, it is true. The financial crisis is not a global thing anymore. A lot of places in the world see their economies grow at rates others are just dreaming of. In India I see the growth topping 5% and so did our company over the last year. Expanding in our new location in the months to come we expect sales to cross our projections. India is HOT and very likely to be the next selling market for many international companies. What a great opportunity to launch your product or service in a billion peoples market. Now, there are some cross-cultural difficulties to overcome...we know a lot about that.
The Indian Business Culture is not always efficient and values differ from the ones we have been taught in the western parts of the world. 'In your face' corruption, bartering, quality understand...yes, that will be a bit of of a challenge. But as always, every challenge has interesting opportunities to constructively add to the quality of life, anywhere.
RTL-Z (Dutch national news channel) has been very curious about the development of my Indian company and send a reporter to do an interview...pretty cool!!
More business soon!