Pramod Bhasim, CEO of Genpact of Gurgaon, India (Gurgaon is a major suburb of Delhi, the country’s capital), one of India’s largest outsourcing companies, made a major statement on the recent terrorist attack in Mumbai to the Wall Street Journal. (Before life as a public company, Genpact was the India-based back office operations of GE.)
Bhasim decried the Indian government’s lack of preparedness for dealing with this crisis. He called for greater protections for the Indian population and stated that in the business community there was enormous anger and despair. He said:
In the wake of the Mumbai terrorist attacks, it is time for India’s business community to stop being polite to the nation’s politicians and instead demand action on the woeful state of public safety and security.
Bhasim was echoing remarks made earlier by Ratan Tata, chairman of Tata Sons, the holding company of India’s flagship conglomerate Tata Group (and also quoted in a separate Wall Street Journal article). Tata is parent to Tata Consultancy Services, one of the “Big Three” of Indian outsourcing companies (the other two being Infosys and Wipro). It is also parent to the Taj Mahal Palace Hotel, site of the massacre. Tata said:
We had a bomb blast some years ago; we should have learned to get a crisis infrastructure in place that could snap to attention as soon as something happens. We still don’t have that in place. If we don’t have this, we will be subjected to a great deal of lack of protection for the citizens.
These Indian business leaders, doing so much business in the U.S., are fully aware of the actions taken by U.S. officials in the wake of 9/11 and are communicating to their government that they expect no less from their home country. This is a major cultural change for these leaders as it has not been customary in that country for business leaders to express themselves publicly and forcefully on issues of government.
To the degree that these business leaders are successful in pressing their case, India will benefit. It can ill afford to become perceived as vulnerable to such attacks, for such vulnerability will invite more attacks. More attacks would not only threaten the peace of India, they would threaten its prosperity as well should foreign companies decide that doing business in India was becoming riskier.
Let’s hope they are successful.
(Leading offshore vendors focused on insurance are listed at www.InnovationInInsurance.com)
Tags: India, offshore, outsourcing
