Strategies for Entering World Markets
- General Management Club Panel

The General Management Club panel focused on India Inc’s globalisation efforts in recent years in terms of sustainable competitive and comparative advantages. The team of speakers comprising Saureen Doshi, Senior Partner, AT Kearney; R Gandhi, Regional Director RBI; Harpal Singh, CMD, Fortis; C Jayaram, ED, Kotak Mahindra; Sushil Handa, CMD, Claris Life Sciences; and Rahul Chaudhry, CEO, Tata Power (SED), shared their insights on global business leadership. Moderator Professor Jay Anand highlighted the importance of entry strategies in global markets.

R Gandhi said, “India is not yet ready to allow unrestricted freedom to commercial interests.“ Speaking about the regulatory perspective he said, “Over the years, the regulatory framework in the country had evolved in a non-disruptive phased manner to promote foreign investments by Indian corporates.” He added that in the case of exports, ECBs and ADR issues, restrictions had been substantially removed. Today, except for investments in real estate and banking, companies are free to invest up to 200% of their net worth through an automatic route, without clearance from the RBI.

Saureen Doshi, Senior Partner, AT Kearney, urged for a global presence over the traditional agent/distributor model used by Indian companies. The challenges, according to him, include “managing misperceptions about Indian acquisitions and pay-scale, and cultural differences.” He concluded by saying that the true measure of a company’s global nature was the extent to which its reflexes were global.

Harpal Singh, CMD Fortis, elaborated on the trends in globalisation in health delivery services, the sector being the single largest area of GDP expenditure globally. He spoke of the need to channelise India’s unique human resource capabilities and the ability to scale up quickly, and added that the government’s role should primarily be that of “a good facilitator rather than a bad interference”.

C Jayaram, Executive Director, Kotak Mahindra, emphasised the need to have sharply focused products for individual markets. He felt that local alliances were essential to achieve this level of customisation. He also spoke about the importance of scrupulous compliance to regulations in every market that the company operated in.

Sushil Handa, CMD, Claris Life Sciences, shared his experience in building Claris into a global firm with a presence in more than 67 countries. “To build a truly global organisation, people are most important. Wherever we have set up operations, we have tried to identify like minded people – people who were as passionate about work as we are, and as committed to excellence,” he said. He also said that a clear strategic vision, and the discipline to follow it was essential to build a truly world class organisation.

Rahul Chaudhry, CEO Tata Power (SED), listed out the basic challenges in entering new markets. According to him, an understanding of local regulations, sensitivity to local cultures, and team commitment, were essential for success. He felt that firms could achieve increased success rate in new markets with only a cash flow analysis considering the worst case scenario, and by having tactics to sustain the business in such a state.