I am on a ride. a whirlwind tour of case materials, classrooms, projects, guest lectures, ramp parties, dorm outings, group meetings.... Having arrived is the sentiment in this famed custodian of Management Gyaan. And what a perfect time to have arrived! The Indian biz world is today walking into the most interesting chapter of its life and hopefully the most illustrious one-caveat, if it plays its cards right.

The bricks around me are already reverberating with the excitement that each passing day brings with it. News of 'phoren' jobs making a beeline for our coasts, desis taking over and acquiring companies both brown and white, Indians waving sayonara to their not-so-coloured brethren as they climb up the hierarchies of the best organisations across the globe, cutting-edge research and technology labs mushrooming all over the landmass, and much-needed infrastructure projects seeing the light of the day. The rush gets even better when one hears the political establishment mouth business on foreign jaunts, when the top honcho of Politics Inc. puts his foot down in favour of reforms, and when the finance minister takes to task all those who fail to understand that success is spelt $ucce$$.

To add to the good news, unlike the 90s, this time the invitation to the party is for all-the rupee has finally gone secular. Indian capitalism has, for the very first time, espoused democracy in letter and spirit. Unlike the past when you had to be the progeny of a certain someone close to the powers that be or were a manipulative shark, this time all you need is a deep sincerity, and great business acumen to ride the wave. The proof is all around: it firms, biotech labs, home-grown FMCG majors, media hothouses, and healthcare biggies are all what get talked and written about. Then, there are scores of Internet-cafe owners, mobile vendors, grocery shop owners, handicraft manufacturers, farmers, educationists, and social workers who walk to the bank with a smile on their faces-beneficiaries of the sudden splurge in business consciousness all around. The bounty is finally trickling down and as the harvest comes home so does hope of many more contended stomachs.

For a management student this crucial juncture in our nation's economic life affords several lessons. If one were to keenly observe the successful organisations around us, one can conclude that these are companies that have been spurred by competition to world-class efficiency. Successful organisations settle for nothing less than being world class. They have also learnt, albeit the hard way some times, that they need to improvise their own systems and models of growth and development in the Indian context and that western knowledge and experience can only serve as benchmarks. The third common feature of all these success stories is that they have espoused social responsibility and corporate governance to a very large extent, thus creating value for all stakeholders, internal and external.

Much of the cheer that has come our way is due to the close affinity of our value system with the needs of the modern marketplace. Thinking global and acting local is not new to us. Nor is the hr philosophy of people first. And the importance of the customer isn't unknown to us. It is only that the successful organisations have been able to react faster.

The Icing On The Cake

These firms owe much of their success to those remarkable men and women who have been able to adapt to the changing environment. There are so many of them, each an inspiration for a wannabe manager, that naming a few would be an injustice to the rest.

The real icing on the cake is that much of what we see happening around affects millions of lives in ways all together unanticipated. An increasing number of firms believe the worship of mammon shouldn't come at the cost of their social responsibility. In the process, lives all around are getting transformed for the better.

No less heartening is the fact that an increasing number of talented young men and women are venturing out to ensure that more and more people get onto the bus. NGOs and grass roots movements are mushrooming all across the country doing brilliant work in the fields of education, health care, disaster management, poverty alleviation and employment. These complement urban entrepreneurial pursuits that seek to provide socio-economic stability, engineer vast reservoirs of employable manpower resources, and create critical market for their goods and services. India Inc, by actively encouraging and being party to such endeavors has further convinced skeptics that business is good for India.

Of course all is not hunky dory. It never is. There are several shortcomings that we are attempting to conquer. Infrastructure of every kind is sorely lacking in the country. This is one area where public institutions have failed us. A beginning has been made by deregulating several sectors and further policy decisions facilitating private participation through easier financing terms and tax benefits would help provide the necessary impetus. This is one area where India Inc. can only wait for participatory opportunities to arise as much still depends on policy initiatives.

Another issue is that Indian business has been a late adopter of technology. There is a wide gap to bridge as far as development of indigenous R&D capabilities is concerned. Our research-to-execution cycle also needs to be compressed further. Safeguarding know-how through appropriate patenting is also an eminent need.

The importance of corporate governance is another area that can't be overemphasised. The best companies have already taken to heart the mantra to perennial organisational vitality: You can never go wrong when you work in the interests of your stakeholders. Now, other companies are jumping onto the bandwagon.

We have learnt to run some of the most cost efficient and quality oriented brick and mortar businesses in the world. Our track record in the software services business is the envy of the West. The need of the hour is some sort of a nationwide knowledge management programme. We need to realise the strength of symbiotic relationships and develop the same.

We have been able to do so in several fields. Today, free movement of personnel across software firms ensures that best practices migrate along with them. Many brick and mortar businesses have chosen to pool R&D costs. Services firms are also often seen sharing resources for optimising efficacy. The challenge now is to expand the network of such relationships, bringing smaller businesses into the fold.

Some developments that give us an inkling of things to come include public outbursts of industry leaders illustrating that business is not prepared to remain a dumb spectator to the political machinations. The earlier non-committal stand of trade bodies is now being replaced by a willingness to take on erring administrators and politicians. The other fascinating thing is the recent judicial activism creating level playing fields for people and organisations while enforcing much needed changes in technology and trade. These are signals that economic consciousness is beginning to affect every nook and corner of Indian life.

As we move into a new year in the independent life of our nation, I can safely say that the recent past has given us much to be proud of but the future holds even many more promises. Bundled with these promises are challenges that we as a nation have to overcome. I am certain we are equipped to do so.