Global Manager: Made in India

“We must head for India, too!”

Mohan Joshi

These could be the wise words of a 21st century German head honcho who has recognised the signs of the times. But these words were spoken by Jakob Fugger, the famous Augsburg merchant who saw major opportunities coming from India in the 16th century-opportunities that many German entrepreneurs after him also seized successfully.

Deutschland and India have cultures that are poles apart; likewise, business and management practices that are vastly different from one another. Then how are so many Indo-German alliances making it successfully to the altar and living happily-ever-after in the cut-throat world of international business?

The answer is simple – by putting together the best minds and best management practices to work!

The best of both worlds – The best of German and Indian management practices

Germany and India can create magic by simply putting together their best management practices. What the Germans have, Indian managers can learn and what the Indians have, the German managers can imbibe; creating a win-win global alliance.

Qualities German managers possess

• Sense of the future and a view of the long-run
• A clear purpose of establishing excellence in their products and services
• Total product orientation and complete confidence that a good product will sell itself
• Structured approach, follow up on action points with an eagle’s eye on timelines and schedules
• Every single person in the plant works with a focus on improving quality, productivity and reducing costs

Strengths Indian managers possess

• Ability and willingness to put in long working hours
• Requisite skills to absorb technology
• Ease of communication in English and also communication with diverse sets of people
• Building and sustaining relationships

The making of a global manager—Made in India

By focusing on the following areas, Indian managers can well become successful global managers and leave their footprints on the international business map.

Good is the enemy of the great. Kill it!

Indian managers need to shift gears from ‘being good’ to ‘becoming great’! The casual approach to excellence usually becomes the nemesis of Indian managers in the international arena, where managers from around the world practice excellence as a habit. Instead, they should adopt the German attitude to ensure that the outcome of whatever they undertake must be of the best quality; which will make all the difference in the final outcome.

Get rid of the fire-fighting syndrome

Indian managers tend to look at problems from a short-term point of view and then resort to fire fighting for the moment. A more complete approach would be to think long term and anticipate the issues likely to emerge and ways to address them. A good example from our daily life can be found in the automobile industry. In manufacturing parlance, a global managers needs to go for ‘preventive maintenance’ and not ‘reactive maintenance’.

Don’t lose sight of the time- frame

Indian managers are focused on the activity at hand and tend to lose the time-frame. They shy away from commitment to plans and schedules. For a successful global manager, while building an activity plan, cannot forget that along with the activity plan, equally important is to identify time lines of achievement and monitoring them.

Practice ‘active listening’

Most of our solutions can be found easily if we listen attentively to the problems and issues being discussed and understand what the customer requires. Therefore, building listening skills is imperative to figure out important information that will be crucial in developing the relevant plan and to build the correct strategy in addressing his needs.

Understand that information-sharing is a strength

Indian managers do not share complete information on any given situation or problem. There is an inherent tendency to withhold crucial data and to protect information; the fear here is for ‘loss of job’ for divulging information. This attitude might protect one in the short term but will only fan one’s insecurity in the long term which is detrimental not only to the individual, but also to the team’s and the company’s well being.

Be not democratic, but be conscientious

Being too democratic does not add or create any additional value; in fact is can only add to the nuisance value. A good example is about email communication and whom to copy on a particular mail. Instead of copying the whole department, one must be judicious in judging who must be kept informed and to what purpose. Communication systems must be kept lean and simple that will not only simplify the process but also help achieve the desired action in a shorter time.

The world is getting flatter by the day and the need for good global managers is on the fast track. In Germany alone, business opportunities abound for Indian companies and managers. Many German companies are growing much faster in India than globally. Both countries share a rich business history that spans more than 500 years. In 2011, bilateral diplomatic relations between the countries completed 60 years. In 2013, euro 20 billion of trade between India and Germany is targeted. Every fourth acquisition in Germany is from India.

It’s the writing on the wall. We need a fast-growing tribe of Global Managers – Made in India!

The author can be contacted at [email protected]