The Hindu Business Line : India Inc’s R&D investment ‘pathetic’

Chennai, Feb. 15 That Indian companies do not spend enough on research and development was underlined by both the keynote speakers at the Annual Convention of the Madras Management Association held here today.

Mr R. Seshasayee, Managing Director, Ashok Leyland, who delivered the inaugural address, termed India Inc’s R&D spend as “pathetic”. Mr Subodh Bhargava, Chairman, Tata Communications (formerly VSNL), (who was not present when Mr Seshasayee spoke), echoed similar views, observing that Indian companies did not quite realise the need to deploy more resources in technology and innovation.

The theme of the conference was ‘Global Challenges for Emergent India’. Both the speakers stressed on the need for innovation as a means to gaining sustainable competitive edge. Innovation, Mr Seshasayee said, was a challenge because an organisation by nature was “conformist” and innovation meant thinking out of the box.

Harvesting ideas

Describing a mechanism put in place in Ashok Leyland to harvest ideas from junior executives, Mr Seshasayee recalled an instance when he received an e-mail by mistake from a young executive, in which the writer had rued that the company did not have a culture of listening to good ideas.

This e-mail, Mr Seshasayee said, triggered a process which culminated in the setting up of a mechanism for channelling ideas from all the staff.

Mr Seshasayee observed that the dot-com boom got ‘brain power’ a recognition as a factor of production. It made entrepreneurs realise that it was possible to get good returns using brain power. This in turn underscores the fact that leveraging on intellectual property is a key means of achieving competitive edge.

Ms Jayashree Venkatraman, Chairperson, Convention Committee and Director, Tractors and Farm Equipment Ltd, noted in her address that one of the biggest challenges remains sufficient job creation to meet the needs of India’s growing population, especially for the migrating rural workers. “The country needs to further develop its manufacturing base, chiefly automobiles, steel, textiles and leather products as well as in higher value-added activities.

“However, enhancing job creation will necessitate important reforms to India’s labour laws that are notoriously inflexible,” she said.

Speaking at the seminar, Mr Aquil Busrai, Executive Director, Human Resources, IBM India, observed that IT companies had “tens of thousands of employees where each employee is a mere number. It is the role of the HR manager to make their voices heard to the management.”

“HR managers must aim at customising solutions and not adopting ‘off the shelf’ solutions as is common practice,” he added.

Mr Dependra Mathur, Associate Vice-President and Head of Talent Planning, Infosys BPO said that managers “are fully responsible for their employees quitting. At Infosys, about 35 per cent of weightage in a manager’s performance is given to his ability to contain attrition,” he said explaining the company’s model for attrition control.

Skilled labour shortage

Mr Nachiket Mor, President, ICICI Foundation for Inclusive Growth, spoke on the importance of financial inclusion and how the growing economy opens up avenues and growth opportunities for people. Financial inclusion should mean the ability of every individual to have access to basic financial services.

There is a need for an environment that could promote sustainable financial services providers to operate in rural markets, he said.

Pointing out that there is a shortage of skilled labour in every industry, Mr Mor said that skill building is one area that requires good attention to utilise the opportunities thrown up by the growing economy.

Structural inequality

Mr P. Sainath, Rural Affairs Editor of The Hindu, said there is a structural inequality in this country. India may produce a few billionaires and post good economic growth, but must also frame policies to include its over 836 million people who live in poverty with just Rs 20 a day.

More than 40 per cent of the poor are landless agriculture labourers.

“In the last ten years, more than eight million people quit farming in the country because of lack of viability. We are driving people out of agriculture but with no options,” he pointed out.

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