As Indians outperform Chinese in overseas corporate management, China must nurture talent

Wisemarko

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Google Inc CEO Sundar Pichai talks to a group of women and girls who learn mobile internet skills via Google, in a village west of Kolkata, India, on January 5, 2017. Photo: VCG

Indians seem to have outperformed Chinese in terms of their presence in the corporate management world, with more Indians holding CEO positions in large multinational companies in the US such as Google and Microsoft. What's the reason behind this disparity? The Global Times spoke with two businesspeople - one Indian, the other Chinese - to find out. According to them, India's advantages in nurturing talent and in language makes it easier for Indians to adapt to different cultures, while Chinese students who studied in the US prefer to come back to China and focus on the Chinese economy.
In recent years, more Indians, including Indian-Americans, have taken up high-level management posts in large multinational corporations in the US compared to Chinese, with India-origin CEOs now leading Google and Microsoft.

Sundar Pichai, who was born in Tamil Nadu, India, was appointed CEO of Google in August 2015, while Satya Nadella, who was born in Telangana, India, became Microsoft's CEO in 2014.

In addition to those two representatives, the CEOs of SanDisk, Adobe Systems, PepsiCo, Harman International and Cognizant are all of Indian origin.

By contrast, there are barely any CEOs of large companies in the US who originate from the Chinese mainland.

So why are so many Indians becoming CEOs of multinational companies, while businesspeople from the Chinese mainland lag behind?

Popularization of MBA

Different from China, MBA degrees have become common for university students in India.

"Most of my friends pursued an MBA degree after undergraduate study. The institutions where we did our MBAs were some of the top business schools in India, and then we managed to get jobs with some of the better-known corporations, banks or consulting firms," said Sumeet Chander, country head of global professional services provider Evalueserve.

Chander is from India and manages the company's China operations in Shanghai.

Generally speaking, holding a bachelor's, master's, especially an MBA, or even a PhD degree in engineering has become standard for CEOs of Indian origin in US high-tech firms. This trend is demonstrated in the profiles of the CEOs of Google, Microsoft, Adobe, SanDisk and many other firms, said Chris Dong, global research director at technology advisory firm IDC China, who is based in both the San Francisco Bay Area and Beijing.

Dong, who studied in the US during the 1990s for his master's degree, worked as a software design engineer at Microsoft for more than six years and the director of strategy and operations at Cisco for nearly a decade.

"Most Indians at US high-tech firms seem to follow the same career path: They start as an engineer and then manage products. It's crucial for those who wish to pursue high-level management posts, as rotations in different product or business units help one better understand the firm's strategies and operations," Dong said.

Take Google's CEO for example. Prior to joining Google in 2004 as a vice president of product management, Pichai worked with the engineering and product management divisions of semiconductor maker Applied Materials Inc, as well as at McKinsey & Co in management consulting.

On the contrary, most Chinese engineers prefer to pursue a career on the technical ladder.

Easier adaption

Aside from Indian businesspeople's strong educational backgrounds, their willingness to adapt and lead also helps them in big global companies, according to experts.

"Most of the good students in India tend to be proficient in English, so when they move to the US, Canada or the UK, it's relatively easy for them to adapt," Chander said.

"Interestingly, most Chinese prefer to move back to China [in the long run] for work. Also, sometimes language is an issue, especially for first-generation folks who move to the US. So adapting takes longer," he noted.

Meanwhile, Indians are more adaptive and more willing to express themselves and get recognition, Dong said. "It's common to see Indian students developing friendships with Americans and those from other countries and regions, while most Chinese students are confined to their small circle."

During the 2016-17 academic year, 350,755 Chinese students enrolled in US universities, up 6.8 percent year-on-year, while the number of Indian students grew 12 percent year-on-year to more than 185,000, the fastest recorded growth rate, according to a report released in November 2017 by the Institute of International Education, a nonprofit organization supported by the US government.

Another key factor is the recognition of Indian talent by US firms, Dong noted.

"Foreign companies are more willing to set up outsourcing centers and research centers in India, which is beneficial for the nurturing of global and high-end talent," Dong said, noting that the R&D investment budgets of US firms in India is generally two or three times that of such budgets in China.

In fact, India is a quickly emerging global R&D hub, with around 30 percent of the top 1,000 global R&D spending organizations hosting centers there, according to a report released by the India Brand Equity Fund in June 2017.

China catching up

China's nurturing of innovation talent could be accelerated, if the country is willing to establish a more open market for both local and foreign technology players, such as those in the enterprise software and services sector, especially cloud-based platforms and software service providers, Dong said.

He also added that this will enable China to play more competitively in an open market and to share, compete with and utilize best-of-the-breed knowledge and skills.

"I do think that there will be a lot more internationally acclaimed CEOs from China in the future, but a lot of them will be working from China and not in the US going forward," Chander told the Global Times.

"Most smart Chinese folks would like to focus on the Chinese economy, which is likely to become larger than any other economy in the world."

Newspaper headline: Indian CEOs dominate in US

http://www.globaltimes.cn/content/1106620.shtml
 

HariPrasad-1

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We still have a big foot print of colonial legacy education. Discarding of the same has begun in many places in India. Once this process starts and we start getting new generation out of it, we shall excel like anything. We must focusing on Indianization of our education and we shall get a highly genius generation. We now how to engineer a human being. We unfortunately lost so many things in colonial era. This is a correction time. If we take appropriate steps, we can nurture a generation which can not only give excellent leadership but give a totally new direction and human touch to business to solve many modern time problems.
 
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rockdog

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Xiaomi is going to be list on Hong Kong stock market with value of USD80-100 billion, the super fast growth in Indian market is the key with such a high vaule, and thanks to Manu Jain outstanding work. He is also famous in China now.

An Indian exec is set to make a fortune when Xiaomi goes public

. @XiaomiIndia has disrupted status quo over last 4 years!

* #1 brand; 31%+ share
* #1 online brand; 57% share
* Mi. com: #3 e-commerce platform in India
* R&D centre
* 6 factories; 2 phones/sec
* 3 call centres, 750+ service centres
* 10,000+ factory employees; 95% women https://t.co/hr3hGvnZMI

— Manu Kumar Jain (@manukumarjain) May 5, 2018


https://qz.com/1271703/xiaomi-ipo-m...fortune-after-chinese-tech-giant-goes-public/

Chinese phone-maker Xiaomi’s initial public offering (IPO) is likely to make at least one Indian a lot wealthier: Manu Kumar Jain, vice president and managing director of the company’s India arm.

Xiaomi has announced plans for a $10 billion stock market debut in Hong Kong, which could value the company at around $100 billion. Jain, who is the only Indian on Xiaomi’s board, holds 2.3 million sharesallotted under the employee stock ownership plan (ESOP), making him the third-highest ESOP holder in the company.

Jain, who joined Xiaomi in October 2014, is the man behind the brand’s overwhelming success in India, a region that helped propel the company’s recent growth. In January 2017, Jain took the additional role of Xiaomi’s vice president after Hugo Barra left the company to join Facebook.

...

...
 

Armand2REP

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What is the value of an MBA from Indian unis? Sundar Pichai got his from Wharton.
 

rockdog

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What is the value of an MBA from Indian unis? Sundar Pichai got his from Wharton.
Have read an article from top level guy from ZTE India, said lots of high level Indian manager have both technical and MBA background when they receive education in India, that's quite different from most Chinese top manager only has degree on single area.
 

Otmshank7

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When a euro goes abroad, gets into to positions of power and influence and becomes successful and wealthy they're smart, exceptional and praised but when an Indian does it they're a coolie...sad how much the Indian mindset sabotages itself from all sides.

Does anyone really believe they could have stayed in India and accomplished 10 percent of what they do in the west given india's social strife, lack of infastructure, corruption and the system of reservations?

The average citizen creates these conditions don't begrudge the upper percent of talented Indians who make the best of their talent and skills
 

prohumanity

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Come on guys...Indians have a great reputation in USA as they are educated, humble, law abiding and do
not indulge much in crime.
Indian Americans are well treated by most Americans as they are perceived smart, trouble free and good citizens and of course their children mostly are respectful, drug free and of course..win spelling bee competitions.
The depth and wisdom of Indian civilization is being recognised more and more with Yoga, meditation, vegetarianism and compassion towards all fellow humans and animals.
PM Modi has enhanced the image of India by presenting to the World real Indian values .
Most Indian Americans have India in their heart and has that special bond of love and reverence towards their native motherland because of its deep and spiritual civilization.
 

roma

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I feel that overall pla-land is substantially ahead of india because pla-members can return to their own homeland where they are citizens of pla -land and not remain as foreigners in a foreign land ...

also they are directly contributing to the pla economy and unlike indians who are contributing to usa's economy

when India gets act together ( wonder how long that will be) then Indians will prefer to return home or better still not have to leave home in the first place

having said that the post just above by @prohumanity also raises good +points​
 

prohumanity

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Indian Americans have a lot of attachment and reverence towards India because India is seen as a concept..not just a land mass.
At the same time, what truly bothers Indian Americans is the rampant corruption and lack of rule of law. So they are scared of investing in India. The arrogance of Govt officials, Police and politicians disgust them.

One major reason PM Modi energizes Indian Americans so much is that they see in him a leader who can "drain the swamp" meaning end the corruption and establish rule of law.

They dream that India should be like American society where your investments and assets are protected and corrupt govt officials can not blackmail you or demand bribes.

15 years prior to 2014 of Congress /regional party rule made corruption, bribery and tax evasion almost like a norm in Indian society. PM Modi attacked those corrupt forces and now, they are ganging up against BJP as their very survival is at stake as they are being exposed to Indian public.

Next 10 months will be very tumultuous for India as these corrupt, power hungry politicians will do anything to defeat BJP and use casteism regionalism, languagism and religionism against PM Modi's Nationalism.
God bless India !
 

Haldiram

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Google Inc CEO Sundar Pichai talks to a group of women and girls who learn mobile internet skills via Google, in a village west of Kolkata, India, on January 5, 2017. Photo: VCG

Indians seem to have outperformed Chinese in terms of their presence in the corporate management world, with more Indians holding CEO positions in large multinational companies in the US such as Google and Microsoft. What's the reason behind this disparity? The Global Times spoke with two businesspeople - one Indian, the other Chinese - to find out. According to them, India's advantages in nurturing talent and in language makes it easier for Indians to adapt to different cultures, while Chinese students who studied in the US prefer to come back to China and focus on the Chinese economy.
In recent years, more Indians, including Indian-Americans, have taken up high-level management posts in large multinational corporations in the US compared to Chinese, with India-origin CEOs now leading Google and Microsoft.

Sundar Pichai, who was born in Tamil Nadu, India, was appointed CEO of Google in August 2015, while Satya Nadella, who was born in Telangana, India, became Microsoft's CEO in 2014.

In addition to those two representatives, the CEOs of SanDisk, Adobe Systems, PepsiCo, Harman International and Cognizant are all of Indian origin.

By contrast, there are barely any CEOs of large companies in the US who originate from the Chinese mainland.

So why are so many Indians becoming CEOs of multinational companies, while businesspeople from the Chinese mainland lag behind?

Popularization of MBA

Different from China, MBA degrees have become common for university students in India.

"Most of my friends pursued an MBA degree after undergraduate study. The institutions where we did our MBAs were some of the top business schools in India, and then we managed to get jobs with some of the better-known corporations, banks or consulting firms," said Sumeet Chander, country head of global professional services provider Evalueserve.

Chander is from India and manages the company's China operations in Shanghai.

Generally speaking, holding a bachelor's, master's, especially an MBA, or even a PhD degree in engineering has become standard for CEOs of Indian origin in US high-tech firms. This trend is demonstrated in the profiles of the CEOs of Google, Microsoft, Adobe, SanDisk and many other firms, said Chris Dong, global research director at technology advisory firm IDC China, who is based in both the San Francisco Bay Area and Beijing.

Dong, who studied in the US during the 1990s for his master's degree, worked as a software design engineer at Microsoft for more than six years and the director of strategy and operations at Cisco for nearly a decade.

"Most Indians at US high-tech firms seem to follow the same career path: They start as an engineer and then manage products. It's crucial for those who wish to pursue high-level management posts, as rotations in different product or business units help one better understand the firm's strategies and operations," Dong said.

Take Google's CEO for example. Prior to joining Google in 2004 as a vice president of product management, Pichai worked with the engineering and product management divisions of semiconductor maker Applied Materials Inc, as well as at McKinsey & Co in management consulting.

On the contrary, most Chinese engineers prefer to pursue a career on the technical ladder.

Easier adaption

Aside from Indian businesspeople's strong educational backgrounds, their willingness to adapt and lead also helps them in big global companies, according to experts.

"Most of the good students in India tend to be proficient in English, so when they move to the US, Canada or the UK, it's relatively easy for them to adapt," Chander said.

"Interestingly, most Chinese prefer to move back to China [in the long run] for work. Also, sometimes language is an issue, especially for first-generation folks who move to the US. So adapting takes longer," he noted.

Meanwhile, Indians are more adaptive and more willing to express themselves and get recognition, Dong said. "It's common to see Indian students developing friendships with Americans and those from other countries and regions, while most Chinese students are confined to their small circle."

During the 2016-17 academic year, 350,755 Chinese students enrolled in US universities, up 6.8 percent year-on-year, while the number of Indian students grew 12 percent year-on-year to more than 185,000, the fastest recorded growth rate, according to a report released in November 2017 by the Institute of International Education, a nonprofit organization supported by the US government.

Another key factor is the recognition of Indian talent by US firms, Dong noted.

"Foreign companies are more willing to set up outsourcing centers and research centers in India, which is beneficial for the nurturing of global and high-end talent," Dong said, noting that the R&D investment budgets of US firms in India is generally two or three times that of such budgets in China.

In fact, India is a quickly emerging global R&D hub, with around 30 percent of the top 1,000 global R&D spending organizations hosting centers there, according to a report released by the India Brand Equity Fund in June 2017.

China catching up

China's nurturing of innovation talent could be accelerated, if the country is willing to establish a more open market for both local and foreign technology players, such as those in the enterprise software and services sector, especially cloud-based platforms and software service providers, Dong said.

He also added that this will enable China to play more competitively in an open market and to share, compete with and utilize best-of-the-breed knowledge and skills.

"I do think that there will be a lot more internationally acclaimed CEOs from China in the future, but a lot of them will be working from China and not in the US going forward," Chander told the Global Times.

"Most smart Chinese folks would like to focus on the Chinese economy, which is likely to become larger than any other economy in the world."

Newspaper headline: Indian CEOs dominate in US

http://www.globaltimes.cn/content/1106620.shtml
The whole article is a veiled taunt to Indians. It basically says "Indians have to work overseas because they don't have domestic giants to work for. Chinese study in the US and come back to China because we have good companies here".
 

HariPrasad-1

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The whole article is a veiled taunt to Indians. It basically says "Indians have to work overseas because they don't have domestic giants to work for. Chinese study in the US and come back to China because we have good companies here".
Recently a list of companies whose stock has rose manyfold. Most of them are Indian companies.
 

Haldiram

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Recently a list of companies whose stock has rose manyfold. Most of them are Indian companies.
The stock has risen relative to their own previous valuation. In absolute terms, it doesn't compare to the size of foreign giants. In a country with a billion people, scale matters.

Compare the size of iBall (150 million $) and Micromax (300 million $) to Xiaomi (46 billion $).

46 billion $ from one company alone is more than the size of the 3 largest Indian IT MNCs combined (Infosys, Wipro, TCS, each have assets of 15 billion each). Our list of companies ends at those 4-5 household names.

Between an Indian and Chinese in the US, which one would want to come back to his home country? Would an Indian engineer want to quit his job in the US to work in iBall? I highly doubt it. Would a Chinese consider working in Xiaomi? probably.

China has many more companies like that. They have Baidu, Alibaba, Tencent, Didi, Huawei.

 
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