Globalisation of Indian companies
The Globalisation of Indian Companies
“In each and every case, (the companies studied in the survey) the emerging multinationals had leaders who drove them relentlessly up the value curve. These leaders shared two characteristics. First, their commitment to global entrepreneurialism was rooted in an unshakable belief that their company would succeed internationally. Second, as their operations expanded, they all exhibited a remarkable openness to new ideas that would facilitate internationalism–even when these ideas challenged established practices and core capabilities.”
Christopher A Bartlett and Sumantra Ghoshal*
Introduction
One of the main objectives of this book is to document the experiences of various transnational corporations and enable Indian companies to learn from them. After all, Indian companies need to accept that they are way behind their counterparts in not only the West but even in Asia, when it comes to globalisation. Till 1991, they were by and large happy selling goods at attractive margins in the domestic market. Only in the past five years, with international trade being increasingly freed from regulations, has the pressure increased on our companies to look for markets outside the country. Today, many CEOs in India are talking about the need to globalise. Yet, most of them are probably not aware of the enormity of the task involved or are simply paying lip service to the concept. It is heartening to note in this somewhat bleak scenario that there are a few companies in the country with bold plans to go international and a high level of top management backing for these plans. In recent times, India’s internationalisation thrust has been led by the software companies. With the Indian software market still in its infancy, companies like TCS, Infosys and Wipro have felt a compelling need to tap the markets in the West in general, and the US in particular. It is not uncommon to see software companies in India generating more
“In each and every case, (the companies studied in the survey) the emerging multinationals had leaders who drove them relentlessly up the value curve. These leaders shared two characteristics. First, their commitment to global entrepreneurialism was rooted in an unshakable belief that their company would succeed internationally. Second, as their operations expanded, they all exhibited a remarkable openness to new ideas that would facilitate internationalism–even when these ideas challenged established practices and core capabilities.”
Christopher A Bartlett and Sumantra Ghoshal*
Introduction
One of the main objectives of this book is to document the experiences of various transnational corporations and enable Indian companies to learn from them. After all, Indian companies need to accept that they are way behind their counterparts in not only the West but even in Asia, when it comes to globalisation. Till 1991, they were by and large happy selling goods at attractive margins in the domestic market. Only in the past five years, with international trade being increasingly freed from regulations, has the pressure increased on our companies to look for markets outside the country. Today, many CEOs in India are talking about the need to globalise. Yet, most of them are probably not aware of the enormity of the task involved or are simply paying lip service to the concept. It is heartening to note in this somewhat bleak scenario that there are a few companies in the country with bold plans to go international and a high level of top management backing for these plans. In recent times, India’s internationalisation thrust has been led by the software companies. With the Indian software market still in its infancy, companies like TCS, Infosys and Wipro have felt a compelling need to tap the markets in the West in general, and the US in particular. It is not uncommon to see software companies in India generating more
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