Tuesday, May 12, 2015

INNOVATION SPECIAL..................... Innovate in India

Innovate in India


Entrepreneurs must learn from the Googles, Apples and Amazons to create needs where none apparently exists

It is common knowledge that Indian investment in research & develop ment (R&D) -whether public or private -has always been meagre. Also well-known is that we don't value patents as much as we should. Even in the glittering sector of information technology, a so-called Indian monopoly, we have been content with the popu list tag of service providers and back end processors rather than striving for product development and high-end consulting.
Given the fact that we are neither short of intellect nor enterprise, why should this happen? The question de mands deep introspection.
Somewhere, it's got to do with our innate affinity for volume over value and price over performance. In every product we sell or service we provide, the emphasis is largely on the price tag, on its pocket-friendliness to be precise. And even as consumers, we love the word `cheap' more than `cost-effective'.
Indian companies, with some exceptions of course, hardly have innovation on their growth agenda. They are generally content with volume driven growth that has serious limitations to its sustainability given its susceptibility to industry downturns and the challenge of meeting global benchmarks. Going forward, markets are going to get increasingly global which means competition from global giants would be the order of the day and customers will get even more demanding with time.

An Ongoing Initiative
No longer can we showcase our risk averse glorious workarounds and tweaks in the name of modernisation.We need to inculcate a culture of innovation as an integral part of our entrepreneurial ambition beyond merely employing R&D as a ruse to win tax concessions.
Indian firms have for long focused solely on improving productivity in terms of process and product enhancements or at best replacing manual operations with automated processes.
But the whole effort is still directed chiefly at improving market share, rarely about redefining the marketplace with disruptive innovation. And disruptive innovation can't be reduced to quick-fix KRAs even when we were to acknowledge its need. It's a fullfledged, ongoing initiative that must win buy-in at every level -board, management and workforce.
We need to duly invest in people and processes to consciously seed and steer workplace innovation. And contrary to popular opinion, innovation is not restricted to manufacture, it extends to every aspect of business, including packaging, promotion and customer service. We need to learn from the Googles, Apples and Amazons of the world that create needs where none exist or underline them when they are not explicitly felt.
In fact, Apple has redefined market audacity as a key competitive edge by convincingly and consistently backing its market-dictating claims with a marked penchant for innovation and enduring stress on excellence. No wonder, the glorious legacy of Steve Jobs continues unabated. The spectacular groundbreaking financial results of the global conglomerate bear ample testimony.

Return on Innovation
There's a strong need for academia industry collaboration and co-creation in running sustainable innovative projects. Yes, some corporates in India are indeed running such initiatives but they still represent a glaring minority. More and more corporates should aggressively capitalise on India's robust education system that would undoubtedly prove mutually beneficial for both parties.
Corporates will fetch cost-effective R&D labs and a steady pool of qualified human resources while academic organisations will benefit from the professional ex posure thriving in the living waters of business. If our entrepreneurs get out of their mental block that the only return that matters is the return on investment, they will l e a r n t o t h i n k growth in terms of return on innovation.
If we breed innovation at the grassroots level, we can slowly and steadily compete with China, not just in the global market place but also in the filing of patents as well.In fact, the govern ment should begin incentivising companies that file pat ents. This will provide both motivation and momentum to our entrepreneurs to think different, to become evange lists, to become market leaders in the truest sense of the word.
The best part about India, as the PM's `Make in In dia' clarion call has of ten emphasised, is its humongous market potential. And the opportunity is not just in the consumer market but also the B2B and B2C segments. The government is slowly and steadily revamping the Indian business environment -whether by scrapping redundant laws, doing away with needless intervention or opening new vistas of global business opportunities. Agreed that much yet needs to be done at the government end, but the onus is on Indian industry to take advantage of the changing scenario, which hopefully they will.
Nitin Potdar

ETM3MAY15

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