By the end of the film, I was wondering if the hero could have reduced the burden of his problems and escaped few of the unpleasant experiences if he had had the benefit of a travel guide — one who took him through the economic landscape, not the geographic or the historical one. For one knows, only too well, the bureaucratic hurdles that foreign companies face while setting up shop in India. Most companies often end up dealing with touts whose ‘specialist skills’ range from language, to pulling the right strings, to being able to walk you down the right corridor of power — unlike the US, India does not have legalised lobbying.

In writing Doing Business In 21st Century India, Gunjan Bagla makes a genuine attempt at being the right kind of guide for the foreign businessperson wanting to brave Indian bureaucracy and the plethora of legislations. Although the book comes almost two decades after India opened up some sectors to private participation, it is nonetheless very welcome.

The author has captured well the common aspects of verbal and non-verbal communications among Indians — a critical aspect for a foreigner, whether an executive or just a casual tourist. Bagla cautions, “Most Indians shake their heads vigorously left to right a couple times to signify no. But there are many shades of yes, depending upon the region, the speaker, and the context.”

In Outsourced, Hamilton demonstrates the difference in meaning of words in two different cultures. He explains to Indian call centre trainees that one should not say rubber to a customer from the US. “It means condom; say eraser,” he says, much to the amusement of the trainees. Bagla uses such examples, but not always quite accurately.

Quoting Mark Bullard, director of Packaging (AVP) at Reliance Retail, Mumbai, the author suggests that use of wrong Hindi is accepted: “Any attempt to use Hindi is welcomed, even if you screw it up.” While this might work in North India, it is a dangerous piece of advice for other parts of the country.

Gunjan Bagla is a management consultant who helps western companies succeed in India. His firm, Amritt, serves clients in the US, Canada and western Europe in marketing to India, buying from the country, and starting and running their operations here.

Bagla also fails to highlight the fact that a majority of those in the metros and mini-metros are third- and fourth-generation migrants, whose parents or grandparents came from different states. Most of them no longer speak the traditional dialect or language, opting instead for English or the local dialect/language for everyday business.

Apart from the society, even the way in which business is conducted has changed dramatically in the past few years. Take the case of human resources, where the issues of concern have changed significantly. The author does not mention realities such as falling salary levels that have led the flow of engineers away from software to other sectors or the increasing problems of shortage of technical talent. Nor does he inform his target readers that both the government and the society in India will support them more, if they invest in technical institutes — a sure-shot solution to address the human resource crunch.

Bagla has toured a few cities in India to understand people’s taste and attitude towards various brands. He notes: “Western brands do not always translate in India… Indians are quite brand-conscious, and relatively conservative about trying new brands.” Visits to a few more malls might have changed his perceptions.

While the book has its shortcomings, the chapters on the financial sector are a real treat. Bagla has a real understanding and feel for the subject, and his thoughts on it should be taken seriously. Don’t explore India like the “four blind men exploring the elephant,” he warns. Overall, Bagla has presented a good collection of facts and figures about habits, language, tradition, mannerism, financial sector and education in India. But those looking to pick up a book on how to approach a bureaucrat or a politician will be disappointed by this.

If you are a woman, that’s even better. For, as Donald Trump’s co-juror in The Apprentice Carolyn Kepcher rightly notices in her foreword, four of the seven entrepreneurs author David Vinjamuri picked are women. Each story is inspirational. John Peterman of mail-order firm J Peterman Company went bankrupt but fought back; Craig Newmark of the online classifieds site Craigslist replaced newspaper classifieds, yellow pages as well as internet dating sites — all in one go; Gary Erickson of Clif Bar Inc. saw an opportunity in ‘tasty’ energy bars; Myriam Zaoui & Eric Malka set up The Art of Shaving chain; Gert Boyle of Columbia Sportswear transformed a hat-making company into a flourishing $500-million sports empire; Julie Aigner-Clark founded the kids video firm Baby Einstein Company; and, nature conservationist Roxanne Quimby of the Burt’s Bees who made a fortune out of selling honey. A personal favourite in the book is the rule to make a success of accidental branding: build a myth around the brand. That, incidentally, is a great tip.
—Rajeev Dubey

While the lessons are inherent in the stories, the authors still present intelligent analyses of feuds between siblings, and father and sons, something that may still be useful for those fooling themselves into believing that blood bonds can overcome jealousies, egos, and the delusions fed by parasitical spouses and friends.
—Feroz Ahmed

(Businessworld Issue 02-08 Sep 2008)