Online Business Review of SCIBC

by Louise J. Schubert

A recent article in the Spanish newspaper “La Vanguardia” (March 3rd), with the heading “Haciendo negocios en India” or “Doing Business in India” by Jordi Joan Baños, the local correspondent in New Delhi, www.lavanguardia.es/blogs/india.html, made me sit up with interest. I found it fascinating to read advice for Spaniards on how to avoid pitfalls in a country which from my Anglo-Saxon viewpoint and my own personal experience, shares more than one characteristic with Spain.

In August 1993, just a year after arriving in Madrid, I was asked to take an assignment in Agra, famous for the Taj Mahal, the Fort and wonderful marble handiwork. I worked with the newly established local management team of the hotel “Novotel”, in preparation for the imminent opening which was planned for the autumn.

The hotel was still under construction 'the Indian way'. It was an amazing experience for me; there was not a single machine on site. Everything was done by hand - and there were plenty of them.  Women were working side by side with men, transporting loads of cement on their heads from one area to the other. In the meantime, their toddlers and babies slept on material spread out on the floor, in what would one day be the main lobby.

I had already participated in a number of hotel openings in the UK and Spain but I had never seen anything like this one. The project was a joint venture between the Indian group “Oberoi Hotels” and the French multinational “Accor Hotels”. 

Years later, in 2007, I had the good fortune to return to Agra as a tourist and to see the almost 15-year-old hotel, no longer a Novotel, but a Hilton. I could pick out some of the rooms that I had worked in and indeed the hotel had already been refurbished, probably a couple of times. 15 years is a long time in the life of a hotel. The campsite where the “builders” had lived, (basically entire families were to be found) was now a very smart entrance and garden area.

Agra had changed with more asphalt roads, smarter shops and fewer rickshaws and bikes on the very busy highway. The five -star hotel, The Sheraton, where I had stayed and at that time the best hotel in town, no longer had the same privileged views over the Taj Mahal. It had also been dwarfed by even better 5-star hotels that had entered the marketplace.

The article I refer to above makes the following recommendations:

Probably one of the biggest pitfalls for anyone new to India is an under-estimation of the scales of size and distances. Religion and spiritual values are ever present and for many this life is a mere stage in a much longer journey.  Their acceptance of death is a shock to many westerners and despite the terrible living conditions of millions of humble people, smiles are on people’s faces. One cannot visit India and remain untouched by the paradoxes of beauty, serenity and spirituality on the one hand and squalor, chaos and human misery on the other.

I would love to see closer cooperation between Spanish and Indian companies. There are many opportunities, especially in the development of infrastructures, production of machinery, the automotive industry, chemicals and agriculture. Spain has changed so much in the last 30 years and much of this learning could be usefully exported to the growing Indian economy. Climatically, Spain and India are used to extremes and especially this year, Spain has been suffering its own version of the monsoon.  The Indians themselves know very little about Spain. It is very difficult for them to obtain visas for study or for tourism. The only way to practise Spanish, for those that are motivated to study the language, is with the ever increasing number of Spanish tourists who visit the main cultural sites. If relationships are to improve then it seems it needs to be a two-way process. There are no direct flights between the two countries. Spaniards are increasingly interested in Indian culture and people like the late Vincent Ferrer and the work of his foundation (www.fundacionvicenteferrer.org) have done much to highlight the difficult conditions of life in the villages.

There are lots of lessons still to be learnt and hopefully these will bring different types of wealth to both countries and growth for both in the future.

The article has been submited on 29th March, 2010, All Rights Reserved ©, SCIBC Business Review

About the Author Louise is English and works as an organisation consultant and executive coach with a particular interest in helping individuals and teams face change and overcome blind spots. She is fascinated by cross-cultural issues and helps others to discover how differences can be positive. She is a founding partner of Schubert Consulting which is based in Sant Cugat, just outside Barcelona in Spain. Southern Europe has been home for Louise for the past 18 years. She first moved to Madrid, where she lived for 6 years, she then spent 12 months further south east, in Athens before arriving in St Cugat in 1999. Louise began her career back in the late 70’s in hotel and catering management. After changing direction and specialising in training and human resource development, she held management positions in Human Resources for Liberty of London (retail) and with Novotel (part of the French group Accor), in England and Spain. Amongst other academic qualifications she has an MSC in Organisation Consulting from Ashridge and is accredited as an Advanced Executive Coach with the Academy of Executive Coaching, both in the UK. Louise is able to work in English, French and Spanish, she speaks German and has a good working knowledge of Catalan. Louise is married to Werner, who is Austrian, and they have twins: Natasha and Christian who were born in Madrid.