You can’t really talk about economic expansion without making a reference to the BRIC (Brazil, Russia, India and China) countries. The media, magazines, stock markets, the policy makers, management gurus, economic advisors, companies refer to these four countries as key to emerging markets strategies. According to a study, India has the potential to grow the fastest among the four BRIC countries over the next 30 to 50 years. A major reason for this is that the decline in working age population will happen later for India and Brazil than for Russia and China. Goldman Sachs predicts China and India to be the dominant global suppliers of manufactured goods and services respectively, while Brazil and Russia would become dominant as suppliers of raw materials.
To help recognize the changing landscape, here are some changes which are already in the works. The retail industry is making plans to enter the BRIC markets, the Banking and Financial Services industries, some of them who are already present through domestic tie-ups, want to go on their own; the Pharma / Drug companies are looking at reducing their cost of clinical trials by moving these operations to countries like India. Corporations have already moved their manufacturing and service business to countries like China and India.
Infrastructure – Roads, Airports, Communication, Hotels, Medical Facilities, Housing, is being improved to attract investments and to support this growth.
We also notice change in the global movement of human resources albeit small at this point. People from the developed countries are moving to the BRIC countries in pursuit of opportunities.
The landscape is fast changing and fascinating. It is very critical, though, that the benefits percolate down to all strata of the society. It is the responsibility of the citizens of the BRIC (BRIC’zens) to take a hard look at their government, and the politicians and enforcing reform at the government level. The government needs to be in the hands of the people who are forward looking, who are in tune with the global changes, who are willing to learn and adapt quickly to the changes and are smart to look at opportunities, both immediate and futuristic in nature.
The key is to manage this change, as carefully as the way successful organizations drive and manage change within their corporations. To bring in the transformation, implementation of the right organization and the implementation of the right governance model are vital. The functioning of the organization structure surrounding the particular transformation proposal is a key to determining whether and how the transformation would work out. General purpose organizations will not work, what would be needed defining organizations that would work as focus groups whose team composition comprises of people with deep knowledge base and experience surrounding the change.
Very often, we lose sight of the good within the country and many a time change and culture are at cross roads. The organization and governance should work with the masses and help the society to transition, take what is good, discard the rest, as opposed to lapping up the new and discarding the old. Focus groups should help societies see the good and bad of every wave of change hitting their nation. As the developed countries bring in their influence through trade, commerce and global exchange, one ought to study the long term negative impacts, educate the society, so that the society at large is able to make informed decisions.
‘How do you manage the change?’ is going to be a key question, the organization and governance team should address early on. Expand the infrastructure, add additional power generation but plan in parallel to address global warming issues (look at harnessing solar, wind energies), bring in processed food, but ensure people are aware of the change in life style they need to bring about to stay healthy, i.e. through rigorous exercise, etc (fast food will become the way of life due to pressures on time). On similar lines look at Medicare, bring in the best practices, but ensure that there is broader coverage and all strata of society have access to good and cheap healthcare (promote generics, raise awareness, reduce reliance on drugs and lay more emphasis on exercise, yoga, meditation. Build centers which can facilitate exercise, yoga, meditation). Cell phones, iPODS, xBox, PS3, PSP, Internet, Nintendo are fine but ensure that children have parks and outdoor recreational facilities to build real physical social networks, big retails like Wal-Mart, Kmart, Giant are fine but make sure you integrate the small mom and pop shops, which exist on the street corners today through a fair pricing system/margin protection system. Increased reliance on automobile, mass transit system is fine but ensures there is balance with the country’s ability to produce oil without increasing imports (biofuels, hybrid, and biomass, etc. alternatives which reduce Carbon and do not contribute to global warming).
Look at the entire value chain and look at reducing wastage & increase recycling. Offer tax concessions and incentives to activities, investments that promote clean environment. Promote metrics across states, which high lights states health status – clean air, pollution levels, fuel consumption, recycle, waste management, etc.
A BRIC country which is able to transform itself along the above lines will be the true role model of a future society.
By having the right organization and governance model, societies should leap frog and become the role models, for in it lies the contribution of the BRIC countries to the progress of the society and mankind at large. Of course there will be issues, problems but let those be new problems for the next generation to solve, but to land up with the same set of problems 25 years from now, would mean going down in the books as history as a period of blind copy as opposed to bring written as the ‘period of BRIC transformation’.
To help recognize the changing landscape, here are some changes which are already in the works. The retail industry is making plans to enter the BRIC markets, the Banking and Financial Services industries, some of them who are already present through domestic tie-ups, want to go on their own; the Pharma / Drug companies are looking at reducing their cost of clinical trials by moving these operations to countries like India. Corporations have already moved their manufacturing and service business to countries like China and India.
Infrastructure – Roads, Airports, Communication, Hotels, Medical Facilities, Housing, is being improved to attract investments and to support this growth.
We also notice change in the global movement of human resources albeit small at this point. People from the developed countries are moving to the BRIC countries in pursuit of opportunities.
The landscape is fast changing and fascinating. It is very critical, though, that the benefits percolate down to all strata of the society. It is the responsibility of the citizens of the BRIC (BRIC’zens) to take a hard look at their government, and the politicians and enforcing reform at the government level. The government needs to be in the hands of the people who are forward looking, who are in tune with the global changes, who are willing to learn and adapt quickly to the changes and are smart to look at opportunities, both immediate and futuristic in nature.
The key is to manage this change, as carefully as the way successful organizations drive and manage change within their corporations. To bring in the transformation, implementation of the right organization and the implementation of the right governance model are vital. The functioning of the organization structure surrounding the particular transformation proposal is a key to determining whether and how the transformation would work out. General purpose organizations will not work, what would be needed defining organizations that would work as focus groups whose team composition comprises of people with deep knowledge base and experience surrounding the change.
Very often, we lose sight of the good within the country and many a time change and culture are at cross roads. The organization and governance should work with the masses and help the society to transition, take what is good, discard the rest, as opposed to lapping up the new and discarding the old. Focus groups should help societies see the good and bad of every wave of change hitting their nation. As the developed countries bring in their influence through trade, commerce and global exchange, one ought to study the long term negative impacts, educate the society, so that the society at large is able to make informed decisions.
‘How do you manage the change?’ is going to be a key question, the organization and governance team should address early on. Expand the infrastructure, add additional power generation but plan in parallel to address global warming issues (look at harnessing solar, wind energies), bring in processed food, but ensure people are aware of the change in life style they need to bring about to stay healthy, i.e. through rigorous exercise, etc (fast food will become the way of life due to pressures on time). On similar lines look at Medicare, bring in the best practices, but ensure that there is broader coverage and all strata of society have access to good and cheap healthcare (promote generics, raise awareness, reduce reliance on drugs and lay more emphasis on exercise, yoga, meditation. Build centers which can facilitate exercise, yoga, meditation). Cell phones, iPODS, xBox, PS3, PSP, Internet, Nintendo are fine but ensure that children have parks and outdoor recreational facilities to build real physical social networks, big retails like Wal-Mart, Kmart, Giant are fine but make sure you integrate the small mom and pop shops, which exist on the street corners today through a fair pricing system/margin protection system. Increased reliance on automobile, mass transit system is fine but ensures there is balance with the country’s ability to produce oil without increasing imports (biofuels, hybrid, and biomass, etc. alternatives which reduce Carbon and do not contribute to global warming).
Look at the entire value chain and look at reducing wastage & increase recycling. Offer tax concessions and incentives to activities, investments that promote clean environment. Promote metrics across states, which high lights states health status – clean air, pollution levels, fuel consumption, recycle, waste management, etc.
A BRIC country which is able to transform itself along the above lines will be the true role model of a future society.
By having the right organization and governance model, societies should leap frog and become the role models, for in it lies the contribution of the BRIC countries to the progress of the society and mankind at large. Of course there will be issues, problems but let those be new problems for the next generation to solve, but to land up with the same set of problems 25 years from now, would mean going down in the books as history as a period of blind copy as opposed to bring written as the ‘period of BRIC transformation’.
No comments:
Post a Comment