The Tata Corus deals that finally culminated in April of 2006 and 2007 involving Corus and Jaguar/Land rover not only took the world by storm, it also firmly planted the Indian flag across the global map.
The fact that an Indian company had gone across borders and acquired globally renowned brands is not the only fact that made heads turn and eyebrows arch- it was also the fact that the world never expected a company from India to actually make this big a splash.
Whats new about it?
The truth is, Indian companies going abroad and hiring local talent is not something new. But what’s definitely new about this trend this time is that Circumstances, Ambition and Geographic Spread are different!
In 2009, The Boston Consulting Group (BCG) published a report that said the world's leading multinationals were facing an unprecedented competitive challenge from a new group of fast-globalizing companies based in rapidly developing economies (RDEs). In that report, the Chinese companies dominated the list, numbering 36, followed by firms from India (20), Brazil (14), Mexico (7), and Russia (6). For the first time, the Middle East was represented, with 4 companies from the United Arab Emirates and 1 from Kuwait.
20% of the world’s fast globalizing challengers came from India!
Circumstances: This is the post recession India, free from the uninhibited free-fall optimism that shackled Corporate India just before the global markets crashed. Circumstances today mean that Indian companies are much more sure footed, cautiously optimistic and financially much more stronger to play in the global playground.
Smaller players have come out of the shadow of larger ones and established their own credentials across borders. Most of the recent buyouts were seen in the energy, telecom, mining and metal industries. Even Companies in traditional agriculture and allied industries have also seen a spate of cross-border acquisitions. Eg Renuka Sugars have made two acquisitions in Brazil. Companies in industries usually considered the bastion of monopolistic mammoths (Like Telecom, Pharma Infrastructure etc) are also getting heavy competition from younger counterparts.
Right behind Bharti, Reliance, BSNL and even MTNL are the likes of GTL International and Acme TelePower who have also acquired foreign telecom licenses.
Adani Enterprises, India’s largest importer of Coal bought coal mine assets in Queensland for USD $2.7 billion
Ambition: This is where the diminutive score over the mighty. Smaller companies with gigantic ambition to take on the world seem to be crawling out of India’s woodwork. This is not to say that India’s 200 largest companies are running low on determination to conquer foreign markets- but the sheer number of Indian origin companies (not part of the top 200) trying to get a foothold in overseas market is mind boggling.
Size, in this case, does matter. These organizations are cash rich, quick on taking decisions and even if family-held, believe in giving enormous power and autonomy to the leadership of the firm.
They have surprisingly very few challenges in hiring local talent on competitive salaries, are able to attract good talent, and are able to cue-in to cultural nuances fairly quickly to succeed in overseas markets.
Geographies:
The direction that the Indian bandwagon has taken towards making global acquisitions or entering into foreign partnerships has very clearly changed towards developing and emerging economies. Though United States, UK as well as the rest of Western Europe still command a lot of business interest from India, it is the BRIC countries as well as Emerging Markets like Africa, Middle East, North China and Eastern Europe that now the most exciting business destinations of the world.
Markets like Ethiopia, Kazakhstan, Iraq, Egypt etc are some of the countries that are seeing significant influx of business from the Indian subcontinent, in spite of having either sporadic and irregular bursts of economic progression or very demanding entry barriers. Add to the fact that the political climate in these countries is volatile to that say least, Indian companies entering these countries have definitely proved their mettle by proving to be highly aggressive, very ambitious and with a high risk taking ability.
Positive Moves has been hiring for such Indian Business Houses and has tasted success with searches executed across diverse geographies. The key to hiring in these countries is to always be ready with the market understanding of the talent available, appreciate local sensibilities of conducting the recruitment process, the clients’ approach towards candidate assessment parameters and keeping in mind client priorities and requirements.
Positive Moves is one of the fastest growing Executive Search firms in India. We are also the Emerging Markets specialists in the global markets of Middle East, Eastern Europe, Mediterranean and Africa.
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