Managing Human Resources in the Global Business Environment

Sanjay Bhatia* It is a great pleasure for me to be with you on the occasion of this important "HR Conference 2007 on Managing Human Resources in the Global Business Environment" and share my views on this important theme. The theme of this HR Conference is indeed relevant to the challenging and fast changing times we live in. Before I share my thoughts with all of you, particularly the large number of future managers who are attending this Conference, let me briefly touch upon the contours of this "New Age" that has dawned upon us and the exciting challenges and responsibilities that the younger generation will have to face in the years ahead. We have entered the era of Globalisation. Globalization can be defined as the integration of economic, cultural, political, and social systems through internationalization and localization.This can be applied to many different fields.For example, in economics, 'globalization' may mean an economic trend that was previously limited to one's place but has come to extend across the globe.On a broader level it is usually assumed to include all fields, cultural, technological, etc.Technology has also helped in globalization like telephone. Email and intemet.They help in global transmission of messages.which has now become easier.Rapid growth and poverty reduction in India, and other countries that were poor 20 years ago, has been a positive aspect of globalization. India is fast emerging as a major player in many fields. The economy has never been so buoyant. The growth of GDP has been revolutionary over the past five years. Indeed, The Goldman Sachs' projections indicate that India's GDP will overtake Italy's by 2020, France's by 2025, Germany's by 2030 and Japan's by 203 5 .Another authoritative study, which is widely quoted in global business boardrooms, the A.T. Kearney Report, shows that India scores the highest marks in terms of Locational Advantages for Business Process Outsourcing. According to a recent Global Youth Survey amongst 16-29 years olds across 17 countries, Indian youth are high on ambition and happiness both.The economy is booming and Indian CVs are in demand internationally. "inaugural Address on HR Conference "Managing Human Resources in the Global Business Environment" by Mr. Sanjay Bhatia, President, PHD Chamber of Commerce & Industry. As a result of all these optimistic forecasts about India's growing economy, more than 5 billion dollars of foreign direct investments are flowing in and more than 100 global companies have begun to outsource their R&D facilities from India.Even the foreign investments made by Indian companies are on the increase. Ladies and Gentlemen and my talented young friends, this is just a glimpse of the New Age that promises so much and opens up such vast horizons. But we need to remind ourselves that these optimistic trends are nothing more than projections. In order to make them come true, we must work hard to equip ourselves with the knowledge and skills required to build the future and reap the harvest of the era of economic growth and prosperity.There is no way India can brush aside globalization. Whether we like it or not, we are a part of the global world. To fulfill our potential, as a nation, to emerge as an economic super-power one of the biggest challenges is to mobilise and train our vast powerhouse of human resources. Indeed, the country needs an expanding army of managers and entrepreneurs. We need a supply of young men and women who are not only educated and well versed in the basic principles of management and administration, but who also have a finger on the pulse of change and a yearning and ability to learn new skills throughout their working lives. Increasingly, effective mobilization of the right type of human resources and moulding them to take on productive responsibilities is becoming the real agenda and prime responsibility of Governments, corporate enterprises and educational institutions. I am very glad that Lai Bhadur Shastri Institute of Management, Delhi is playing a proactive role in such mobilization and is doing yeoman service by facilitating interactive sessions with HR captains of industry so that students get insights into the latest management trends. Encouraging students to prepare business proposals on commercially viable projects also helps towards getting a feel of what it takes to be an effective manager in a competitive environment. In the present day competitive environment, industry and business have recognised the importance of productivity, quality, innovation and customer satisfaction. It is a common belief that these are functions of technology. That is, new machines, new manufacturing process, etc., are supposed to be the determinant factors. This is so but only partly,

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38 because a significant aspect is the man behind the machine - the man who uses the technology, and the man who implements the new system. Therefore, modernisation is called for not only of equipment or machines but also the ways of thinking and doing things. Therefore, human resources, specially their induction, training and orientation will be the key to the success of industries. It will thus be appropriate that the Human Resource as a profession takes stock of its own position at this juncture, as it is charged with the responsibility of providing, sustaining and retaining the right quality of manpower. The success of enterprises is dictated by the involvement and participation of people in decision making, development of human resources, decentralisation, re-structuring, delegation of authority. Therefore, the agenda before us today is to involve committed participation of personnel in growth and development and, thus, we must be capable of: Ensuring that the mind-set of people is receptive to change; Facilitating management initiatives; Managing cultural transitions like mergers and alliances Replacing top-down intervention with organisation-wide participation, and Following processes and practices whose success can be evaluated. For long-term success, we need to attract and retain the best people in the Industry. To do that, we must create a company in which every one is contributing his or her best, in which every one is valued. Ahighly motivated workforce is a difficult advantage to competitors to replicate.High performance work practices are those which improve employees' knowledge, skills and abilities and those that address employee motivation. In the wake of liberalisation and emerging borderless world of today we, need to catch up with the bench marking in terms of product, quality, price, service and customer satisfaction. To find an unassailable place in the global market for our organisations, all of us have to be committed to the assigned task and to maximise value addition. Then only we can take pride from the human resources available in abundance in our country, which is capable of pushing upwards to achieve excellence and prosperity. Each industrial organisation is seeking strategic alliance with the world leader, and striving to attain the bench marking of the world class organisations, in pursuit of its vision of becoming a global player. Global competitiveness can be

LBS Journal of Management & Research achieved not through best technology and plants but by effectively motivating the people to perform to global standards.In the era of globalization Managers should not only be taught how to meet the business targets but they should also acquire the capacity to be resilient when things are not under the control.They must have fallback strategies if any sort of unforeseen event occurs like crude oil prices rise/ sharply, if global interest rates rise sharply or if there is a war in some part of the world. Thus, a new approach to managing people becomes absolutely critical. What are the HR challenges in the globalized, knowledge driven organization? What would motivate the new worker? What gives him/her job satisfaction? How do we train such a worker? Cross cultural differences create synergies or dead locks. Positioned at challenging and dangerous crossroads, HR is confronted with some of these questions today. The truth is that there has been tremendous change in the way today's managers need to interact within their organisations in order to perform at the highest level. Most people work within complex environments where the skills required are different to those within traditional hierarchical structures.In essence, management is nothing more than motivating other people. It is often said that a good manager is a man who isn't worried about his own career but rather the careers of those who work for him. Another important dimension is that new age managers always search for change, respond to it and exploit it as an opportunity. For this, knowledge has to be improved and updated constantly. Learning is a lifelong process of keeping abreast of change. I have attempted to share with you some of the thoughts inspired by the theme of this Conference. I would like to conclude by leaving you with a quote by our Past Hon"ble president A.P.J. Abdul Kalam "Our vision 2020 is predicated on the belief that human resources are the most important determinant of overall development" The above quote clearly spells out the importance of human resource in building a nation vis-a-vis the human society On this occasion, let me convey my best wishes to you all.

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