The emergence of an IP and technology-based leader from India will have a bigger long-term impact than a few Indians heading major global corporations Isn’t it strange that we were obsessed with happenings at Google while the really momentous news of the coming of age of a serious desi challenger got lost in the noise? Sundar Pichai and Google News of Sundar Pichai’s ascension to the Google...
Creative inventors with creative ideas need creative capital “As a first-gen entrepreneur and professional by training, I have become contemptuous of the local investor community—it uses a cookie cutter approach with very limited imagination. They would rather blow their cash on an app (without proof of concept) than on a good service model that has growth potential. We pretend in India to be...
There are increasing signs of breakthroughs that could provide disproportionate returns to Tata companies. One question that I am asked frequently by companies that have launched innovation programmes is: “How do we sustain interest and commitment from employees across the company?” In other words, how do we keep up the momentum? After attending the final presentations and awards...
Trends in the US could portend the challenges India will face. Like many people, I dislike long flights, particularly since my body does not deal well with jet lag. I therefore try to avoid visiting the United States more than once a year. But every time I visit that country, I remind myself how important it is to keep in touch with what is still the powerhouse of the global economy, for that...
Over the last few years, the Global Innovation Index (GII) compiled annually by INSEAD, WIPO and Cornell University has become the most commonly accepted global indicator of nations’ innovation performance. So, there has been much angst in India over the last couple of weeks once it emerged that India has fallen 10 places in the last year from 66 to 76. About the Global Innovation Index I have...
The Finance Minister’s recognition of software products as a distinctive category which can propel India forward as a product nation could well mark a new era in India’s industrial development. At the time of independence, we had very limited industrial capabilities. But, in the last 67 years, we have built a strong foundation across industries ranging from tractors to...
Disruption and disruptive innovation have been in the spotlight of late. The guru of disruptive innovation, Clayton Christensen, and his famous theory were put under the scanner in a highly critical if somewhat flippant recent piece by Jill Lepore in the New Yorker. Just a few weeks earlier, the New York Times carried a provocative article titled “Business School, Disrupted,” that examined the...
With a new government at the helm, this is the time for wish-lists and advice as to how it can make a major impact. Here’s my two pennies worth on what should be the government’s priorities if it wants to promote technology-driven innovation and entrepreneurship. Ease of Doing Business India routinely does badly on the World Bank’s survey on ease of doing business. But, from talking to...
My interest in knowledge management has always been from the perspective of knowledge creation. So, I readily agreed to participate in the CII Knowledge Management Summit this year in a session that focused on this dimension. Ganesh Natarajan, Sharad Sharma and I were together on a panel to explore the potential of, and challenges in, the creation of intellectual property (IP)-based businesses...
As the new year approaches, its customary to review the year that has passed. Here is my take on where we stand on innovation at the end of 2013. Positive Highlights of the Indian Innovation scenario in 2013 Innovation in the public/strategic sectors took two important strides. The first was the successful launch of the mission to Mars (Mangalyaan) which demonstrated India’s ability to undertake...
