The Accenture CEO announces in Bangalore that Accenture India will soon overtake the US as the place with the largest employee headcount.
Does this mean that the center of gravity is actually shifting to the east?
In certain matters, yes. The centralised HR policies and processes of large MNC firms that have a huge delivery population in India (like IBM, HP, Oracle, Microsoft) would need to be either changed or aligned to geographical considerations.
The big difference is that the Indian headcount of these firms are not spread out over a large number of cities, as in the case of US, but concentrated in four/five cities like Bangalore, Chennai, Hyderabad, Delhi.
That is a key difference. So while a delivery centre in India might support 3-4 different business divisions for the mother firm, the collaboration possible between these units is something lacking in the US. That's because even junior level employees converse with each other even when they work in separate divisions, because they either travel in the same transport or eat in the same cafeteria.
I foresee the actual center of innovation shifting to India in these firms, as these collaborative relationships come to fruition in the future.
Hello Gautam. How do you pronounce your name?
ReplyDeleteAnyway, I added your blog to my resource list because I enjoy reading your various opinions about consulting and business.
Regarding this post.. do you think the collaborative element evident in India is a product of India's culture (and other Eastern cultures as well). I've heard on a number of occasions, people's preference and desire to work in the East because of culture difference, despite their ethnic background. For example, business in Asia, for the most part is honor-based. So, if a CEO promises to form an alliance with you to your face he will keep his word. That is his culture. A concept as simple as breaking your promise is regarded highly as dishonorable. Where as in the US.. well OK. Let's be frank. How many families in the US actually take care of their grandparents and extended relatives. And by that I don't mean on holidays or birthdays.. I mean actual care under the same roof. Or if not, under the same regard as their immediate family members. See, the problem is that we have categories as "immediate" or "extended," which serves no other purpose than to deemphasize the importance of one group.
Yikes, I'm torn between finishing my essay and completing my thought in this comment. Perhaps I'll continue later if you're interested..
Keep writing!
Sincerely,
Heidi
P.S.
Here is my blog if you're interested. It's also related to consulting:
http://cherrybing.blogspot.com/
Hi Gautam -I really enjoy your blog.
ReplyDeleteOur organization is making a great effort to recruit the best talent in India but at the same time, we continue to look for talented professionals in the US and we have aggressive hiring goals across all four of our workforces in the US this year.
We have a recruiting blog that can help answer anyone's questions as well. All the best, Chris
http://www.accenture.com/Global/Research_and_Insights/Accenture_Blogs/Recruiters_Blog
Hi Gautam - I work with Chris Gould and he recently told me about your blog! I found this topic on working with India delivery centers interesting. In my role I work with my India counterparts at Accenture on a regular basis. I recently started my own blog if you would like to check it out... http://www.accenture.com/Global/Research_and_Insights/Accenture_Blogs/Recruiters_Blog/default.htm
ReplyDeleteTara