Google , Microsoft , Nokia, Novartis , Deloitte , Mastercard , Micron, Adobe, NetApp, Diageo, Wayfair... These are all big companies that are well-known around the world. The professional fields of these companies include information technology, audit consulting, manufacturing, and financial services, which can be described as diverse. If one asks, what do these companies have in common? Readers may be confused and a little confused. But if you are reminded who the CEOs of these companies are and where they come from, the answer will immediately be much simpler: they are all of Indian origin.
In people's minds, India's most famous exports are curry, yoga and Bollywood movies. Today, in addition to these three, it may be necessary to add "CEO". A study by "Harvard Business Review" shows that 30% of the leaders of the world's top 500 companies are Indians. In Silicon Valley in the United States, the smell of curry in each company's canteen becomes stronger and stronger. Employees often joke that they can already judge the proportion of Indians in each company based on the smell of curry in each canteen.
Recently, IBM announced the appointment of Arvind Krishna as its next CEO, and WeWork confirmed that it has hired Sandeep Mathrani as its new CEO. Is it a coincidence that so many of the world’s largest companies are run by Indians? Or is it inevitable? Analysts believe that a series of factors such as the globalized workplace, technological advancement, and leadership have contributed to the collective rise of Indian CEOs. Indian CEOs are able to dominate large global companies because of the following factors:
1. Be good at accepting changes and uncertainty.
Currently, companies around the world are trying to cope with a variety of new challenges. And Indians are more adept at handling challenges than others. India has a population of more than 1 billion, with dozens of languages spoken across the country. The infrastructure development in various places is very uneven, and there is so much uncertainty everywhere that many people don’t even know whether they will be able to get water from the open faucet to brush their teeth when they wake up the next morning. This has conditioned Indians to accept force majeure surprises while remaining perseverant. There is widespread bureaucracy in the corporate processes of large enterprises, which calls for innovation and patience from management.
2. See the future around the corner.
predicting market changes is an important indicator that reflects the leadership of company executives. Thanks to their strong ability to accept data, Indians are often confident in formulating "Plan B" and are always prepared with "spare tires" without even realizing it. Mathrani, the CEO-elect of WeWork and a real estate veteran, recently spoke to the media about his views on US shopping malls , which is a good example of this. He told CNBC: "If there are 1,100 malls in a country, how will the industry develop long-term? If the number is 800, what percentage of them is appropriate? So to me, it's very It's easy to understand that good malls will continue to do better, while lower quality malls will continue to deteriorate over time. "
sees the future around the corner, maybe not revolutionary, but it's about moving into the unknown. Domain shifts are fundamentally different. This requires adopting the best strategy to combine the data at hand with current market conditions to move the business forward and realize its vision.
3. Higher education, especially STEM.
Among the immigrant groups in the United States, Indians have the highest level of higher education. According to data from the research company Pew, 77.5% of Indian immigrants had a bachelor's degree or higher in 2016, which is the highest proportion among immigrants of any country. In comparison, the proportion of native-born Americans is only 31.6%. Graduate education in the United States has grown slowly over the past few decades, but foreign-born students have filled the gap, especially the shortage of Americans studying STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics). These skills are in urgent need of major technology companies. For example, Google CEO Sander Pichai and IBM CEO-elect Arvind Krishna are both graduates of Indian Institute of Technology (IIT).IIT is regarded as the "jewel in the crown of science" in India. It is extremely difficult to admit. It is known as the most difficult university in the world. The admission rate is less than 2%, even higher than Harvard, Yale, MIT , It is still difficult to get admitted to top American universities such as Stanford.
4. Diversity.
A diverse workforce and leadership have never been more important to companies. A survey by international accounting firm Deloitte found that 69% of employees who believe in diversity in senior management consider their work environment motivating and motivating; in contrast, 69% of employees who believe there is no diversity in leadership Employees, only 43% believe their work environment is motivating and motivating.
Another survey of high-tech companies shows that Asians have a higher proportion of technology companies, but the number of Asians at executive levels is seriously underrepresented. Recent research shows that Asian Americans' success has benefited from white Americans' nondiscriminatory practices and opportunities, which have resulted in Asian Americans being paid on par with and respected by white Americans.
5. Adaptability.
Nooyi (Indra Nooyi) served as CEO of PepsiCo from 2006 to 2018. As an Indian-American, she graduated from Yale University Business School and worked for Johnson & Johnson, Boston Consulting Group, Motorola and ABB. She believes that the key to being an executive at a major global company is to focus on values and character, not just charisma. Nooyi recounted arriving in the United States in 1978, missing her beloved cricket and filling the void with the Yankees. She said in an interview: "I also found that in business activities, the language of business is sports. Everyone analyzes the game. If we are not part of the entire event, we will be neglected and excluded. Therefore, I Bringing the love and desire for the game of baseball, connecting to Yankee games, and having an incredible season with this business language ”
6. Language superiority and belief in meritocracy.
Another reason for the success of Indian immigrants is the language advantage. The courses in the best schools in India are all taught in English, which ensures that science and engineering graduates can also be proficient in English. This is compared with other Asian countries. A huge advantage for peers.
It is indeed rare and eye-catching for a foreign immigrant to become the CEO of a Fortune Global 500 company, but it also reflects the way large companies around the world work. In short, this is the result of the unremitting efforts of the market, investors and corporate employees. In the eyes of Microsoft founder Bill Gates , Microsoft's current CEO Satya Nadella "has good engineering skills, business vision and good interpersonal skills." Strong technical skills, business acumen and interpersonal control skills are in line with the requirements of global large companies for management elites.
(Source: "Economic Daily")
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