IIM Indore’s Special Interest Group on Comparing Business in China and India organized a workshop on Doing Business in China, at the Institute on April 27, 2015. The day-long workshop was organised in collaboration with the Institute of Chinese Studies, Delhi.
The workshop comprised of talks by speakers from both China & India, featuring an interesting mix of researchers and practitioners. The topics spanned a wide variety, ranging from experience sharing of doing business in China to aspects of governance and political economy.
The workshop was inaugurated by Professor Rishikesha T. Krishnan, Director, IIM Indore. In his inaugural address, he noted that for the success of programmes like ‘Make in India’, gaining global perspective is very important and remaining too internally focus will hamper the country’s development.
His lecture was followed by the speech of Professor Alka Acharya, Director, Institute of Chinese Studies, Delhi. Professor Acharya explained how in the last 30 years, China has reached to the second position in the global economy beating all other developing countries. She further emphasized that Chinese have now started believing in slower and sustainable growth rate.
The next lecture of the day was delivered by Professor Yin Xiangshuo of Fudan School of Economics, Fudan University, Shanghai. His lecture was on the topic Is Chinese economy slowing down? Where is it heading’, in which he discussed the causes of slowing down of Chinese economy and reaching a new normal growth rate of 7%. He mentioned that the innovations on technological front will become the driving force for Chinese economic growth.
Mr. Aneesh Sen, Vice President, DigiValet, was the next speaker for the day. His talk was on the theme ‘Foraying into China: Strategies to Pivot the entry with a Niche Technology’. He noted that contrary to general perception, the Chinese favour expensive and cutting edge technology. Chinese companies look forward to partner with the firms who are willing to go beyond the last line.
Mr. Sen’s speech was followed by the lecture by Mr. Jayant J Shrikhande, former country head of China operations, Larsen & Toubro, on the topic ‘Chinese Advantage in Manufacturing’. He highlighted the Chinese manufacturing advantages through illustration of three cases. He explicitly mentioned that India needs to learn cost innovation through process flexibility and come out of its ‘analysis paralysis’. He also cited China’s action & result orientation as a suitable model for India’s economic growth.
The ‘Cultural determinants of Chinese Negotiation Behavior’ was discussed by Professor G. Venkat Raman, Faculty, IIM Indore. Professor Raman discussed actors, structure and strategies associated with the negotiation process. He stressed upon the point that for the Chinese, negotiation means both, discussing and judging and we need to be prepared for long journey while entraining into negotiation with the Chinese.
Mr. Ravi Kethana, former head of China operations, Tata Consultancy Services, delivered an interesting talk on the topic ‘Doing business in China in Chinese way. His interesting lecture covered the difference in perceptions of Chinese and Indians. He also added that he gained success after he let go of his perceptions about China and began exploring the real China.
The next lecture of the day was delivered by Professor Ni Shoubin, Dean, School of Law, Shanghai University of International Business and Economics, Shanghai, on the topic ‘Legal and Financial safety/ risk aspects while doing business in China’. He highlighted the legal and financial risk aspects of China. He also emphasized on pro-business environment provided in China in terms of taxation, single window clearance and case of foreign capital access.
The last lecture of the workshop was on the topic ‘Sub-national Economics: Soft targets and hard surfaces for Indian Businesses in China’ which was delivered by Dr. Aravind Yelery, Associate Fellow, Institute of Chinese Studies, Delhi. He mainly focused on how to do business in China. For that, first we have to consider the prominence of the sub-economies in China, for which we have to find out the faults, cracks, landscapes and then take a decision to do business in China, he added. He also emphasized on global value chain, global trade and global production network
The workshop concluded with a panel discussion. It was attended by the students and faculty of IIM Indore, along with various policy makers, industry chieftains and academicians. The workshop was coordinated by Professor Srinivas Gunta, Faculty, IIM Indore.