Conquering the Chaos: Win in India, Win Everywhere by Ravi Venkatesan Page A
Authors: Ravi Venkatesan
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leaders in the top jobs,
fully aligned with our strategy. Anything less resulted in chaos or drift.
—TIM SOLSO, FORMER CHAIRMAN AND CEO, CUMMINS INC.
Getting the right leader on the ground is unquestionably the single most important
determinant of a company’s success in India. Although many executives don’t explicitly
realize it, global leaders’ commitment to India is inextricably linked to the level
of their trust and confidence in the country head, with the right leader triggering
a spiral of good performance and commitment. However, choosing a country manager is
a complicated decision that most companies struggle to get right.
The choices are many and confusing. What do you look for? An Indian or an expat? What’s
more important, an understanding of India and the local market or of the company?
Do you look for an execution genius, an entrepreneurial builder, or an ambassador?
What matters more: industry knowledge or leadership ability? Do you put in a high-potential
young Turk or a seasoned, senior leader? Consequently, the choice of country manager
is frequently a process of trial and error, and success is often driven more by chance
than understanding. Many companies drift through a revolving door of leaders or an
overdependence on expats. The consequences are costly.
As a country manager, as well as a leader of country managers, I have witnessed many
successes and failures. In this chapter, I will draw on my personal experiences as
well as those of several other country managers to demystify the job.
Choosing the Country Manager
Match the profile to the job. This sounds obvious, but it isn’t. A company’s journey
in India usually proceeds through several distinct phases. The first is when the company
enters the market. The mission is incubation. The priorities are to establish a sales
and marketing organization, distribution channels, and channel partners; achieve a
basic level of localization of the product; and put in the basic infrastructure and
functional processes and controls. The strategy at this phase is often simple: sell
global products at global prices to the affluent global segment. Since the capabilities
on the ground are limited, the support and oversight of a mature regional organization,
typically in Singapore or Hong Kong, are vital.
The likely profile of the country leader for this mission is a young, driven, high-potential,
sales-oriented leader of high integrity, unfazed by ambiguity and strong in execution,
who can be developed over time into a competent general manager. A country head who
is Indian, with knowledge of the market and Indian business practices, is a big advantage
at this stage.
The leadership challenge emerges when the company has drifted into the midway trap
that I described in the previous chapter and has to play catch-up or when it senses
a bigger opportunity. Many companies currently confront this dilemma. To identify
the right leaders, they need to learn from companies in India that have successfully
made the transition to the second phase, such as Samsung, Pepsi, JCB, Nokia, Cummins,
GE, Nestlé, and Schneider Electric.
The mission at this phase, to build leadership in the large but challenging middle
market, is not easy. It is a very different game. Companies have to become local in
their operations and act much more like an Indian company, but still leverage global
brands, platforms, capabilities, and resources. The country leader’s challenge is
to be ambidextrous: execute the top of the pyramid model and entrepreneurially grow
in the middle market at the same time.
Over the past two years, I have studied several country managers who have led the
charge. For instance, Vipin Sondhi has led a transformation at JCB, the dominant player
in the Indian construction equipment industry, since 2005. GE India’s John Flannery
is leading the company out of the midway trap. Schneider
fully aligned with our strategy. Anything less resulted in chaos or drift.
—TIM SOLSO, FORMER CHAIRMAN AND CEO, CUMMINS INC.
Getting the right leader on the ground is unquestionably the single most important
determinant of a company’s success in India. Although many executives don’t explicitly
realize it, global leaders’ commitment to India is inextricably linked to the level
of their trust and confidence in the country head, with the right leader triggering
a spiral of good performance and commitment. However, choosing a country manager is
a complicated decision that most companies struggle to get right.
The choices are many and confusing. What do you look for? An Indian or an expat? What’s
more important, an understanding of India and the local market or of the company?
Do you look for an execution genius, an entrepreneurial builder, or an ambassador?
What matters more: industry knowledge or leadership ability? Do you put in a high-potential
young Turk or a seasoned, senior leader? Consequently, the choice of country manager
is frequently a process of trial and error, and success is often driven more by chance
than understanding. Many companies drift through a revolving door of leaders or an
overdependence on expats. The consequences are costly.
As a country manager, as well as a leader of country managers, I have witnessed many
successes and failures. In this chapter, I will draw on my personal experiences as
well as those of several other country managers to demystify the job.
Choosing the Country Manager
Match the profile to the job. This sounds obvious, but it isn’t. A company’s journey
in India usually proceeds through several distinct phases. The first is when the company
enters the market. The mission is incubation. The priorities are to establish a sales
and marketing organization, distribution channels, and channel partners; achieve a
basic level of localization of the product; and put in the basic infrastructure and
functional processes and controls. The strategy at this phase is often simple: sell
global products at global prices to the affluent global segment. Since the capabilities
on the ground are limited, the support and oversight of a mature regional organization,
typically in Singapore or Hong Kong, are vital.
The likely profile of the country leader for this mission is a young, driven, high-potential,
sales-oriented leader of high integrity, unfazed by ambiguity and strong in execution,
who can be developed over time into a competent general manager. A country head who
is Indian, with knowledge of the market and Indian business practices, is a big advantage
at this stage.
The leadership challenge emerges when the company has drifted into the midway trap
that I described in the previous chapter and has to play catch-up or when it senses
a bigger opportunity. Many companies currently confront this dilemma. To identify
the right leaders, they need to learn from companies in India that have successfully
made the transition to the second phase, such as Samsung, Pepsi, JCB, Nokia, Cummins,
GE, Nestlé, and Schneider Electric.
The mission at this phase, to build leadership in the large but challenging middle
market, is not easy. It is a very different game. Companies have to become local in
their operations and act much more like an Indian company, but still leverage global
brands, platforms, capabilities, and resources. The country leader’s challenge is
to be ambidextrous: execute the top of the pyramid model and entrepreneurially grow
in the middle market at the same time.
Over the past two years, I have studied several country managers who have led the
charge. For instance, Vipin Sondhi has led a transformation at JCB, the dominant player
in the Indian construction equipment industry, since 2005. GE India’s John Flannery
is leading the company out of the midway trap. Schneider
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