Conference Panel and Keynote: Managing Local vs Global

Ravi Venkatesan, Chairman, Microsoft India, talked about how the Indian market and how its challenges were different from those in the US.

How does the local leadership deal with a global company's priorities while "tending" to the local market? Does the company's DNA allow for a global/ local market trade-off based on the type of market (socio-politico-economic environment)?

What do you think?

The Usual Disclaimer: This is purely a knowledge sharing resource. Ethically, context is everything, and I will gladly retract anything that affects the parties mentioned. Call this my mini OpenCourseWare, if you will, where Open signifies life experiences.

Conference Panel: Infrastructure in India

Commenting on the delays in getting infrastructure projects off the ground toward creating a project pipeline, G.V.Sanjay Reddy, Vice Chairman, GVK Industries Ltd., pointed out that it is more important to get decisions made in getting infrastructure projects off the ground as opposed to developing detailed policy frameworks. That's the 30,000 foot eyeview of the problems in execution.

This, coming from an India company, seems to make sense. The India company has expertise in managing vested interests throughout the project lifecycle and a greater appetite for management risks.

Could there also be a realization that once Indian firms develop core capabilities and differentiate, a network of firms/ contractors/ sub-contractors model would become feasible?

Another thought that I would have like to pose to the policymakers is the consideration they give to developing policy roadmaps.

What do you think?

The Usual Disclaimer: This is purely a knowledge sharing resource. Ethically, context is everything, and I will gladly retract anything that affects the parties mentioned. Call this my mini OpenCourseWare, if you will, where Open signifies life experiences.

Conference Panel: Media & Entertainment in India

TATA Sky setup a nationwide support structure in India, flat. It is growing at a pace that is set to drive the company to leadership in satellite TV subscriber base.

How does a company manage operational decisionmaking, organization structure, core competencies, vendor relationships, training, and breakeven in such a context?

What do you think?

Given that India has over 250 MM cellphone screens, versus upto 50 MM in PC screens, how do service providers support the growth of applications and products for the cellphone screens? Does a Microsoft-Facebook dealmaking approach work in an Indian context?

What do you think?

1> India seems to have a lack of startup oriented risk-taking despite a large pool of enterpreneurs.
2> The Indian market does not have mature "competitive" technology clusters and mature financial players that support various stages of a company's lifecycle in a cluster.
3> Leaders from Microsoft India, pointed to a lack of expertise in business models.

This lack of business model innovation may be impeding a ramping up of local application/ product based activity. Would a Microsoft-Facebook type deal-making model- as a means for service providers to support cellphone market development- work in India?

What do you think?

The Usual Disclaimer: This is purely a knowledge sharing resource. Ethically, context is everything, and I will gladly retract anything that affects the parties mentioned. Call this my mini OpenCourseWare, if you will, where Open signifies life experiences.