India's Management Mind-Set

India's Management Mind-Set:

The nation's model of human capital management reveals four lessons for managers worldwide.

By Peter Cappelli

This article highlights some of the distinct practices that set leading Indian enterprises apart from their international counterparts with in the global economy. The most distinguished aspect of these practices would be referred to as the "India Way" of leadership. The India Way is a mind set that emphasizes Indian business leaders becoming more involved with solving societal issues or problems that their western counterparts.

This melding of private and public interests goes beyond private profits and public charity to a mind set that directly contrasts with the U.S. and other European nations that focus on shareholder and personal prosperity before considering societal benefits. This article refers to a mind set that focuses on the greater good, where business can help society move forward and progress while still being profitable. While this is a foreign concept to many business models in the U.S., I think parts of it can be added to our business culture in the U.S.

The most significant aspect of the India Way occurred when it allowed Indian business to sidestep the world wide financial crisis to remain a global leader, driven by leaders of big companies such as Infosys Technologies Ltd that were hell bent on competing globally. India's economy is growing at an astonishing pace compared to the rest of the world at a blistering 9% a year and big companies are growing at an even faster rate of 20% per year. India is poising its self to be a world leader in the human capital intensive industries such as business services, information technology and pharmaceuticals.

In the article the India Way is described and implemented by four principle practices: 1) Holistic engagement of employees, 2) Improvisation and adaptability in execution, 3) Creative value propositions for customers and 4) A sense of social purpose for business operations. These principals make up a distinctly Indian way of doing business, which contrast with principals utilized in other countries. Now not all Indian businesses follow this approach. However the author wants us to know that there is a large enough following of these principals that it is considered a viable model.

Here is how the four principles work in the approach that Indian businesses take to human resource management.

Holistic engagement of employees, this principle focuses on sustaining