Infosys... can they beat an elephant?

Wow, I’m actually caught up with my blogs! Yay for hours in the computer lab while the sun is shining… I don’t think the profs understand this is our vacation and the “school” part is just for fun.

We just finished a lecture from Dr. L. Krishnaw who is the managing director of Taegu Tec (a Korean company) in Bangalore. He drove down from Bangalore this morning and from what Harvey and Gene said about traffic in Bangalore from their excursion last night, that’s quite an odyssey which will try your patients.

He gave us a brief overview of the company and then opened it up for questions which was a great way to go about the lecture. Taegu Tec produces tungsten carbide based ceramic cutting tools.

They have grown to be ranked number three in its market holding 15-16% of the market share with $35million. The growth is mainly due to their competitors underestimating them and their excellent consumer relations. Taegu Tec also produces products which are superior in quality yet only cost the consumer slightly more. This, along with their customer relations, is most definitely where their competitive advantage lies.

They have plants all over Asia including India, though it is not as profitable as the other Asian countries. They do this to send a message of conscience and to provide jobs for the Indian people. They also use solar energy to be environmentally conscious and send a message, though it is more expensive. Personally, I think that is outstanding and think more American companies need to be more environmentally conscious.

Our visit today was the Infosys Learning Campus in Mysore, which is across the street from L&T. Infosys had quite a lot to live up to with our expectations and fantastic site visit at L&T the previous day. The campus is very large and pristine; you can almost forget you are in India and trick your mind into thinking you are riding around your gated community on your 18-seater golf cart in Miami. I would have to say, there was quite a difference of opinions when it came to Infosys. Some REALLY liked it and found it fascinating, while others found it to be boarder line creepy. Let me explain…

Being American and free thinking, Infosys would not be the place for this type of mindset to thrive. From my impression, and that of many others, Infosys will tell you how and what to think. They mass produce these technological people in a period of 18 weeks on their campus. Their library consists of practical, knowledge based books (It would not be a place to pick up a Dan Brown that’s for sure) and held pictures of their previous “Batches” (the students which have completed the Infosys curriculum).

However, the campus does create an atmosphere which you would never want to leave. If it were anywhere else it would probably encourage free thought… But they have a gymnasium, badminton courts, swimming pools (all of which are only open between 6am-8am and 5:45-10… no time during the day to have fun I guess) volleyball, a theater, bowling alley and a “Loyalty” food mart. They had wonderful facilities, however, curiously, they all looked (and smelled) like they were NEVER used.

This is where India is at in their economic development; they have the masses of people to pump out the knowledge based students. Perhaps they might not think outside the box (for fear of being electrocuted by the chip implanted during orientation… jp), but they are being prepared for the type of outsourcing which is happening in India today. Friedman said the evolution of outsourcing for India went from manufacturing and “backroom” work, with labor being so inexpensive, to now, after the Y2K help they provided and Nehru establishing Technology Institutes, Knowledge being outsourced. However, I don’t think business will be outsourcing their marketing departments to India any time soon. Whew.

During our presentation at Infosys we asked our guide what the competition was like in India for Infosys. He chuckled and shook his head saying there was no competition except for perhaps Accenture. Call me crazy, but one of the biggest mistakes you can make in business, being the market leader (if that is indeed what you are), is to let your feeling of superiority get the best of you and underestimate your competition. It may be comfortable at the top, but it doesn’t last long if you don’t adapt and stay ahead of the competition. This is the exact reason Taegu Tec was able to sneak up to the number three spot in their market.

In the evening we had a cultural exhibition demonstrated by the students of SDM. It was an amazing spectacle of cultural music and dance. We, as a group, were asked to participate and display some of our cultural talents… we truly tried to figure out what sort of talents we could display but couldn’t come up with much. The realization that Americans don’t have much of a culture that is solely our own is a bit disappointing.