Yesterday, I had an interesting dinner with Sebastian Matthes, editor of the "Wirtschaftswoche"-magazine, something like the German equivalent of the Newsweek. It was rather a background conversation where it dawned on me how different opinions about India's future you get to hear depending on whom you ask. Disclaimer: I am very aware that these three following viewpoints are not remotely sufficient to portray this both huge and complex country. But nevertheless:
- Macro-Views: Reading the Economist, there is optimism mixed with scepticism where India was not overheating as this or this article points out. In absolute terms nobody questions that India has brought a lot of people out of poverty and will continue to do so. Let's see on which pace it's going to happen.
- MNC (Multi National Company)-View: Talking to a CEO of an MNC will overall be on the positive side. He will tell you that e.g. in IT it is no longer just labour arbitrage which keeps them committed, but the mere lack of people in their motherland to cater for the growing HR-demand. He will complain about rising labour-cost and attrition, but point out that the Indian subsidiary has contributed enormously in transforming his company into a true global player.
- Expat on a team-lead level: He will usually have the most negative outlook. And I understand exactly why this is so. In contrast to his MNC-Expat-CEO he will not have the KPI-dashboard in front of him, his unquestionably smart Indian board of directors and perceive that by the figures, things are going well. The expat team-lead will have to put a lot of energy into rolling-up his sleeves every day and get his shocks also every day. Especially as he will compare productivity and outcome on the individual level to what he is used to back in his western homeland. In India, and it's like that, he will be confronted on a constant bases with an unbelievable amount of idiocy, unreliability and lack of accountability. This will usually make him cynical and turn his entire view on the country pretty sour.
My own views are oscillating equally between those various perspectives, depending on what a day I have here. At the end these mixed experiences might even defy the concept of "what is truth". But what I know for sure: "Mother India" doesn't care about that and will just keep going.
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