Doing Business in India Day 10

Doing Business in India Day 10:

By day 10, most of us had an idea of what to expect in India. We woke up early morning on March 10, 2013, picked up our overnight bags and left ITC Mughal hotel in Agra for Delhi. While leaving Agra, our excitement grew as we came across Humayoon’s destroyed fort which didn’t seem to end for approximately 3 minutes as we drove away.   

Some of us couldn’t be more excited to see monkeys on our way from Agra to the capital of India. On this four hour drive we also came across other animals we thoroughly enjoyed sharing the road with such as cows and camels. The most interesting aspect of road sharing was that the animals did not disturb you if you didn’t bother them.

 Since most of us were tired from the last few days of activities, we took the last two/three hours of the drive to sleep. Once we entered Noida, which is the bordering city of Uttar Pradesh and Delhi, we began to see the signs leading us to the capital. We began to see heavy construction and urbanization as we approached Delhi. We finally entered Delhi and at that point, most of us were extremely hungry. Although we were running late for our Rashtrapati Bhavan (President’s Palace) visit, we decided to stop at a restaurant recommended by our tour guide. We were mostly enjoying our Indian food which consisted of Butter Chicken, Naans, Kaboobs, Dal Makhani, etc. However, almost at the end of our meal, a man jumped up from his seat and yelled “cockroach” and within a minute I realized that was a table of UM students, and one of my colleague saw the cockroach at the table and freaked out.

Soon after, we got over our “cockroach” incident and moved on with life. We then drove to the Rashtrapati Bhavan.

     

For most of us the President’s palace tour was surprising. We had to go through several channels of security before we were allowed to enter the building. Shortly after we got through security, the tour of the President’s palace began. We began the tour with the kitchen and made our way through the President’s library, ballroom, discussion room, gift room and back to the lobby. This is not the area where the president resides. During our tour, we saw a heavy British influence. Most of the sculptures and paintings were of British Lords and Princesses. The British influence on India became very obvious as we entered the palace. The president resides in the same palace but a different area where tourists are not allowed.

Day 3 - Chennai

Chennai – Day 3

Day 4 of our India trip will be our first company visits.  After having spent the previous night on a beachfront hotel in Mahabalipuram, the last few days sightseeing, Day 4 marked the beginning of our many company visits.  First in the morning we will be visiting “Rane” an automotive company here in Chennai.

Rane (Madras) Ltd. is a subsidiary company of Rane Holdings Ltd.  Rane started with the inception of manufacturing facilities 1960. The company is the manufacturer of steering & suspension systems for every segment of automobile industry, passenger cars, multi-utility vehicles, light commercial vehicles, heavy commercial vehicles and farm tractors.

The company operates under one division, namely components for transportation industry. They manufacture two types of steering gears, namely, circulating ball type steering gears, and rack and pinion type steering gears. The other products include tie rod assemblies, drag link assemblies, center link assemblies (steering linkages) and gearshift ball joints (suspension linkages).

With best in class manufacturing facilities, the production plants of the company at Chennai (2 plants), Mysore, Puducherry each address a specific industry segment.  Independent manufacturing cells produce specialized high-end components.

• Chennai plant - Light Commercial vehicle, Heavy Commercial vehicle and Utility vehicles segments.
• Mysore plant - Tractor and Commercial vehicle segments.
• Puducherry plant - Passenger car segments.
• Varanavasi (Chennai) plant - Exports market.
• Uttarakhand plant - Caters specifically to the customers in the North of India.

Of the companies many achievements, the most they value the most is the Deming Grand Prize (2012).  Being only 1 in 6 companies in India to win the award, the Deming Grand Prize is given to the automotive company that best exemplifies quality in all aspects of its production process.

The meeting at the Rane headquarters was very intriguing and informative.  The people we spoke with were very key people in the organization and were able to discuss with us the ins and outs of their line of work.  We were able to meet with the companies General Manager, the third most influential person in the company, behind the Chairman and the CEO.  He gave us not only great insight to the company, but also discussed with us general business challenges unique to India.

After meeting with the Rane organization, we took some free time to go shopping in a very active shopping area in Chennai.  We all started out in a store call Sandari Silks, which we chose as the place to rendezvous a few hours later.  Everyone seemed excited to spend their Rupees, as this was our first opportunity for some real shopping in India.  We were buying saris, scarves, kurtas, jewelry and the usually trinkets.  We had KFC lunch that afternoon.  Although this was still the beginning of our India trip, we all missed American food that we were so used to eating.  Later that afternoon, we went on our second company meeting of the day to a call center company called Allsec.

Allsec Technologies Ltd, a BPO established in 1998 is a leading provider of outsourced solutions in customer engagement, sales & retention and quality assurance for businesses across banking, financial services, insurance, telecommunication, retail, healthcare, energy & utilities and technology.  With more than 10 years of experience servicing multitude of clients, handling millions of transactions and observing a million of them, Allsec has the experience, expertise and customizable solutions that focus on customer satisfaction.

“Our service delivery objectives are focused on Clients’ Return on Investment while enhancing the ‘customer experience’ quotient. 

We understand that our clients’ success is our success. We grow by delivering consistent, reliable, world-class services”.

The meeting at Allsec also went very well.  Although we were late for our scheduled meeting by about 40 minutes, the members of the organization were all very nice, friendly and eager to meet with us.  This meeting was also extraordinarily informative.  They had a very strict policy with regard to photography and video recording, but that did not put a damper in the experience.  The speakers were all naturally born Indians, but working in a call center, they all spoke English extremely well.  This made listening to them easy, fun and interactive.  Especially since they all had great personalities.

As we were leaving the Allsec company headquarters, the bus driver did not get the clearance he needed to avoid hitting some overhead telephone wires, which led to the emergency exit being ripped of the roof of the bus.  It gave us brief movement of good laughs and entertainment after a long day as we drove to the next and final location for today, the Kapaleeshwarar Temple, a Hindu temple of Shiva located in Mylapore, Chennai.

The Kapaleeshwarar temple was built around the 7th century CE and is of typical Dravidian architectural style, with the gopuram (monumental tower) overpowering the street on which the temple sits.  There are two entrances to the temple marked by the gopuram on either side. The east gopuram is about 40 meters high, while the smaller gopuram faces west.

Once at the temple, we were all in awe of its majesty.  We had to take our shoes off before entering the temple and even had to pay a small fare to take pictures (25 Rupees/$0.50) and video recording (50 Rupees,/$1).  Despite paying to photograph and video record, the only thing we were not allowed to film was the inside of two particular temples, out of respect.  At the temple, some students make offerings of bananas, coconut and jasmine to a deity and received a blessing of ash and prayer.

Day 5: Mumbai

Thursday March 7, 2013

Waking up to a view of the Arabian Sea was an amazing way to begin our first full day in Mumbai. After a great breakfast at the hotel, Trident at Nariman Point, we embarked on our first journey to visit the Future Supply Chain warehouse, FSC, which is a part of The Future Group. We took advantage of the two-hour bus drive to FSC to catch up on some much needed sleep. There are just not enough hours in the day to be able to see everything that Mumbai has to offer! Once arriving at FSC's warehouse, managers showed us a brief PowerPoint about the ins and outs of their supply chain operations.

Founded in 2007, FSC is currently the largest retailer in India and has five different working zones, east, west, north, south and central. Visiting the west location we got to see the largest warehouse used in India. FSC has around 60 employees and 400 associates with companies such as Big Bazaar as well as external customers such as Ford, Cadbury, Tata Motors, ITC, and Johnson and Johnson. FSC operates with multiple manufactures and stores laced through technology. The supply chain begins with pre- receiving and unloading where items are organized and scanned into the smart warehouse system where the system then sorts the items depending upon whether it should be stored or packaged for delivery. This "put to life" (PTL) scanning procedure increases the supply chain accuracy by one hundred percent. This process also allows each product to be ready for shelves with SKUs already in place.

Competition is not an issue as FSC managers stated during our visit. FSC has been in the industry for 10 years and during that time they have established crucial relationships. Even though companies such as Wal-Mart are entering into the Indian marketplace, FSC is not worried. They are calling the competition ‘partners’ because companies such as Wal-Mart will come in and need support with issues like IT and storage, and thus FSC will be there to assist and gain business.

After a brief presentation about the above information, we were served a lovely snack of coffee, tea and cookies before we got a tour of the facilities. We were first brought to the largest warehouse with the tallest ceilings. FSC utilizes warehouse space to the max with its specially designed forklifts that allows them to place and take down merchandise with ease. In addition to the normal warehouse rows, there was also a large encasement for cold products. You could instantly smell the scent of cocoa when walking into the cold storage room from the raw materials that were being stored for the manufacturing of chocolate. After browsing this warehouse, we were taken to another warehouse where we witnessed a sorting assembly line. In this situation, workers placed bins on a belt. Each box has a SKU that was scanned by a worker and if the item were to be placed in a corresponding box, the light and number of items would appear underneath the corresponding box. The employee would then place the items in the box, turn off the light, and continue the same process.  

After a long morning in the hot warehouses of FSC we decided to have Pizza Hut for lunch. Eating nothing but Indian food since our arrival, many of us were excited to see pizza. However, the Pizza Hut Mumbai menu was a bit different from the one in Miami. We found region specific menu items like chicken tika pizza and vegetable-paneer pizza. After lunch we had the great pleasure to meet with Anshuman Singh, the Managing Director and CEO of FSC who was very insightful and answered many of our questions about supply chain management and doing business in India.

Even with a company filled day, we couldn't leave Mumbai without getting to visit the Gateway to India. Despite the terrible traffic we still made it to the gateway before the sun went down.  After taking pictures and marveling over the beautiful scenery that surrounds the gateway, we headed to a nearby street market. Never passing up an opportunity to shop, we witnessed streets lined with vendors and stores galore. From knickknacks to t-shirts to traditional Indian saris, this market had it all. 

After an eye opening company visit, sightseeing and shopping, the group gathered for some down time at the rooftop lounge, Dome, at the Intercontinental Hotel. Relaxing with the skyline view of Mumbai in the background was an extraordinary way to spend our last night in Mumbai and begin our adventures to Delhi tomorrow night.

-India from the eyes of Jody and Stephanie

Day 6: From Mumbai to Delhi (Kristi and Anish)

It was our last sunrise in Mumbai this morning, and the short stay in this dynamic city went by in a heartbeat. With bags packed, we formed neat lines in the pristine lobby waiting to check out of our decadent rooms. This hotel had so far been the favorite for all of us. The breakfast conversation vacillated between hesitation to leave Mumbai to excitement about the upcoming trip to Agra to see the Taj Mahal. We’d also been informed this morning that Anna had fallen ill with a stomach virus. Professor Jayaraman quickly made arrangements to accommodate Anna. In the meantime, we loaded onto the bus and made our way towards Dachser Intelligent Logistics. The humble building laid discreetly tucked behind greenery. As we ascended the stairs into the offices, the Chairman himself, Mr. Cyrus Guzder, greeted us. Dachser, more commonly referred to as AFL India, was in the business of shipping and logistics and was a founding member of freight forwarding in India. With over 68 years in the business, we would receive a briefing from Chairman Guzder, Head of Human Resources, Mr Jhoki, VP of Mumbai Airport Cargo Authority Manoj Singh, and CFO Mr. Nipul Chandiwala. Mr. Guzder, whose father started the company in 1945, was a captivating speaker that meticulously elucidated on the core aspects of doing business in India. He presented us with a political, economic, cultural, sociological and geographical background with which to frame a series of perplexing questions. He posed a series of questions for which the answer was both yes and no. These questions solidified Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's statement "Whatever you say of India...the opposite is also true."  Here are some of the questions he presented:

• ·      Is India an Industrial Society.. or an Agricultural one?
• ·      Is India’s population predominantly Urban... or Rural?
• ·      Are India’s people Rich... or Poor?
• ·      Is India technologically “Advanced” or “Backward”?
• ·      Is India a literate or illiterate society?
• ·      Is India religious... or secular?
• ·      Is India a melting pot or a salad bowl?

Another issue raised was that due to India's population, it is a great challenge to manage the cities. India has 53 cities with populations over 1 million, and India can't find westerners who know how to manage cities with a populations in excess of 10 million. Morever due to India's population, there are 31 million people graduating from universities each year. 30% of this over-qualified population take low-level jobs and 70% are unemployable due to a gap between practical job requirements and academic training. Mr. Guzer went on to attribute the great segregation in India to the caste system and the innumerable gods and goddesses. However, due to the advancements India has been making, Mr. Guzder gladly stated that this disappears within the cities. However, it is still dominant in rural villages, but as India continues advancing, this should decrease. He also posed a question that was top of mind for us all. Who would win the race – soaring dragon versus crouching tiger.  He went on to explain that while India is often likened to a tiger, he thinks India to be more of an elephant – profoundly wise by lacking in speed and agility. To answer the ultimate question of India versus China, Mr. Guzder said that the race boils down to this, “Will China fix its politics first? Or, will India fix its governance first?” He further stated that if both fail to do these respective objectives, they could both fall into the “middle income trap.”

After a thought-provoking discussion with Mr. Guzder, we had a quick lunch before making our way to the airport. We would soon be boarding a flight to Delhi. The conversation in the bus rotated around the death of Hugo Chavez and the worsening crime incidents against women in Delhi. Today was Women’s Day in India and the Indian newspapers reminded locals of the struggle women have had. A mix of sadness and anger was entangled in the horrific stories we heard, and a devastating truth stood in front of us all, especially the women on the trip. Living in a land where women’s rights have been concreted in the constitution, and the fight for equality is on the rise; we often take for granted the basic liberties that some of these women are not afforded. India is a beautiful country, filled with potential. A heavy load of work remains in the balance before this emerging economy can rise to stardom, a big chunk of that load resting on the shoulders of the women of India.

We arrived in Delhi late evening. Knowing that we each would only be allowed 3 hours of sleep time, we quickly made our way up to the rooms and settled in for a short nap. Tomorrow, we would be off to Agra to see one of the Seven Wonders of the World – The Taj Mahal.

Day 7: Taj Mahal and Cultural Show

Day 7: Taj Mahal and Cultural Show

By: Sabrina Beyda & Gabriella Somana Prada 

We rolled over and looked at the clock, it was 4:27am in Delhi and it was made clear the night before that we were to be in the lobby at 4:30am for breakfast. Oops. Knowing that we could grab some breakfast on our way to the bus, which was leaving at 5:00am, we got dressed as fast as possible and made it to the lobby by 4:50am, with 10 minutes to spare in order to grab some breakfast. Breakfast that morning was a boxed breakfast since we were heading out so early. Breakfast consisted of muffins and croissants, which everyone appreciated. 

When we pulled up to the train station we were not expecting what would come next. There were people sleeping everywhere. The floor was covered with blankets and people. As we navigated our way through the people we tried to keep our baggage close by. Once on the train from Delhi to Agra most students caught up on some much needed sleep. During the ride there was cereal and hot milk served but most of us were suspicious of the milk and chose not to drink it. Once we arrived in Agra, we quickly noticed the monkeys. We had all heard about the monkeys but this was our first sighting. It was funny to see the mixture of dogs, cows, monkeys, and goats all living together in the streets. We headed to the hotel and when we arrived we were all pleasantly surprised. The hotel was amazing. From the rooftop, we had a view of the Taj Mahal, It was a sneak peak before we headed over to the see the mausoleum. We wanted to immerse ourselves into the culture so some of the women wore bindis and the men wore kurtas.

During the ride to the Taj Mahal our tour guide, Anil I believe his name was, gave us some background information on Agra and the Taj Mahal. He told us that 3 million people live in Agra and that “Taj Mahal” is only a shortened version of the mausoleum’s actual name. We were told that the Taj Mahal was built by the Mughal emperor, Shah Jahan, for his third wife after she passed away while giving birth to their child. Shah Jahan had intentions of building a second, black, Taj Mahal for himself but before he was able to do so he was put in jail by his son. His son believed that Shah Jahan was spending too much of their fortune on this mausoleum and so he put his father in jail and killed his brothers in order to become the emperor himself. Shah Jahan spent the remainder of his life in Red Fort where he died. He was able to see the Taj Mahal every day from Red Fort. We learned that it took 22 years to construct the Taj Mahal and 20,000 people.

Our tour guide explained “India is a country easy to love, difficult to understand." He says this is because India is “different.” The mausoleum is a symbol of love and is more amazing in person than any picture can display. Once we arrived, we weaved our way through beggars and people avidly trying to sell us everything from key chains to marble elephants. We went through security, women on one side and men on the other, and then we finally reached the Taj Mahal. It was easy to tell from the face of each and every student that we were in awe. 

We took the time to walk past the fountains and enjoy the garden. We walked through the Taj Mahal and analyzed the designs on the walls that were created by semi-precious stones. We learned that the Taj Mahal always looks new because it was built from a marble that is not porous and that this marble can only be found in India. We spent time taking many pictures as we had two photographers who were eager to take pictures of us. Once we were all back together at the entrance of the Taj Mahal, we began to head back to the bus. Once again, people trying to sell us replicas of the Taj Mahal bombarded us. 

We were encouraged by the tour guide to have lunch at a restaurant he suggested, which he called “a very hygienic restaurant.” I think we were all put off by the idea so we elected to go to McDonald’s for lunch. Although there were no cheeseburgers served, we were satisfied with the “Veg Pizza McPuff” and other Indian style foods. 

After lunch, we tried our best to go shopping but we had some trouble finding a place that had quality products. We ended up back at the hotel where we found shops selling Indian style clothing. From the start of the trip we had decided that the night of the cultural show we would all dress up in Indian attire so being that the show was that night, we were happy to find these stores in the hotel. After buying our saris and kurtas we headed upstairs to get dressed. We helped each other put on the Saris and we learned from the native Indian students how to wrap ourselves in the very long silk.

Photos were not allowed in the cultural show but we did take one group photo on stage. The show was incredible. The clothing worn by the actors was so ornate and colorful. The dances were unlike any dance we have here in America. After the show, we headed back to the hotel and had dinner at the hotel restaurant. As always, there was the perfect combination of Indian and American food. Many of the students were happy to find a pasta bar. After dinner we headed to the hotel lounge to reminisce on the day and then headed off to bed in order to rest up for our next eventful day.

Arrival and Day 1

Joe Keilman and John Steele

      

            Our class boarded a very full airliner a bit after 4 in the afternoon headed to Germany.  The first thing that I noticed after not traveling internationally for a decade was the surprise I felt at hearing German being spoken during the instructions before English.  I had become very used America being first in everything. 

            18 hours flying coach was exactly as interesting as is sounds.  We arrived in Germany from Miami after 8 hours and change in the air, walked across the airport, and got on another plane for 9 and a half hours.  We arrived in Chennai just after midnight, local time, and took another hour to get to the hotel.  It was lovely, but the whole class was exhausted, so after the first (of many) buffets, most people tied to get a few hours’ sleep before we rolled out to our first morning in India.

            We started our amazing day with what I can only describe as a truly authentic Indian breakfast. It was amazing to try out new foods such as Aloo Paneer, Masala Dosa, Idli Sambhar and Mango lassi, a type of mango flavored yogurt.   

            Next, we were all off to our first tour to Mahabalipuram for some sightseeing adventure with shopping.  However before we could reach our first adventure of the day, we had to overcome our first obstacle in India, surviving what can only be described as organized chaos.  Some of the students have experience with Asian traffic (Joe lived in China for a time), but for the rest of people it was a jarring experience.  Where cars and motorcycles drive in the wrong lane against oncoming traffic, vehicle swaying left, right, almost grazing against each other, multiple sudden close call stops, where many of use, for sure had our lives flash across eyes. The secret to getting through it, "don't look forward," just trust the driver to do his job and get you to your destination and enjoy the sites to your left and right. In all honesty, it is scary at first, but you get used to it, and the drivers know what they are doing; organized chaos seems to be their natural Indian driving style. However, let’s just say if you can drive in India, you can drive anywhere else in the world. 

Some of the amazing places we visited today were Dashing Chita, where we got our fortunes told by a psychic parrot, The big hit was a fortune-telling parrot that picked a card out of a pile, touched it to a picture of Moraga (brother of the god Ganesh) and the human teller would ask a few questions, revealing a card.  There were Hindu gods on the cards, and even Jesus showed up (to one of us that was a Catholic).  Everyone’s fortune was overwhelmingly positive (par for the course at a tourist area, I would assume), and everyone walked away happy.

Both Religion and Politics was literally everywhere.  Temples would be situated in the middle of residential and commercial sprawls to any number of the Hindu  gods (and Jesus made a few more appearances in windowed towers that act as churches.  The idea that religious figures are used in fortune telling would probably not translate well to many western religions.  On another level, it was refreshing to see faith involved at every level.  It was a part of what happened to everyone all the time, rather than a rarified idea that couldn’t be discussed outside of total perfection and benevolence.  The ruling political party had huge banners and signs, and even gold colored statues.  The big star was “Amma” Jyalalitha (mom), who has a huge amount of clout.  Her party’s flag was draped on banners and across cars.  Opposition figures had smaller posters and murals, but nowhere near the sheer volume and size.  There were numerous posters that had a potilition's face superimposed with tigers or even Hindu gods in the background.

The number of swastikas all over also caught my eye.  It threw some of the other students, who weren't aware that the Nazis co-opted the symbol early in their campaign, and that it's been found all over Asia for thousands of years as a symbol of the sun and renewal.  Not to discount the horrors of WW2, but it seems a shame to let the Nazis keep claim to it in the west.

            We were constantly dashing after a schedule and deadline that we somehow, barely kept up with.  And this was a sightseeing day.  It was going to be the norm for the next few days.

            After a quick lunch at a roadside restraint that the selected, we hit the five Ratas, stone carvings that were meant to symbolize giant chariots of generals of history.

            In the same general area was the sea shore temple, a pair of buildings inside a dry moat, again surrounded by tourists.  Pictures can convey the place better than words.

            Dinner was another great buffet, with a quick meeting afterwards.  The class met up after a quick look at the beach to go over the case, and shoot the breeze. A few people were just of burned out to turn it into a party, but the rest made it stayed up a few hours and made it into a party.

            20 minutes later the next day began.