Team Nine:

We started the day with an amazing breakfast at the Intercontinental Eros in Delhi before heading to our first company visit. Our hosts were extremely gracious and gave an interesting presentation about their technology company. Due to a non-disclosure agreement we signed, we are unable to go into further detail about this company but this was a highlight of our business tour and we are very thankful to our hosts for their hospitality.

Our second firm visit of the day was to a company that manages business processes for companies around the world. We were given a very informative presentation by the Senior Vice President about this firm’s services and strategy. We also observed firsthand how the Indian work mentality differs from the Chinese. The Indian mentality is to “try harder” meaning everyone is willing to go the extra mile. For good or bad, our host said they customize too much and don’t say no to their customers. In comparison to China, India is more flexible while China has a higher degree of discipline. In terms of workforce, India has an abundance of qualified candidates, but the challenges they face are teaching their employees the cultural differences of countries around the world. A common thread throughout our international business tour has been the focus on six sigma and lean business practices in the companies we have visited. It has been very interesting to see these tools applied in a company setting as most of us recently completed a course focusing on lean operations. This visit was extremely valuable to our understanding of Indian business practices and we greatly appreciate such an experienced business leader taking the time to meet with us.

We arrived back to our hotel around 6 pm and had the rest of the evening to ourselves. We all dispersed in different directions but many of us found our way down to the hotel pool. After a few hours of escaping the heat, a few of us ventured into the hotel lounge for their July special “Salud Mexico” for a little taste of home. While we are all enjoying the Indian cuisine, it was a treat to find Mexican food in the middle of Delhi, India! After our delicious meal, we headed to bed to get a good night sleep before our long train journey to Mumbai.

Today provided a fascinating look into the Indian business culture. Although both of the companies we visited offered very different services, it was interesting to see the similarities in company cultures which are heavily influenced by the Indian mentality of flexibility. Our hosts were very accommodating in that they focused their presentations on the things that we were interested in learning about. This is an excellent example of their flexibility. Instead of having a rigid agenda, both speakers allowed our questions to build the content of their presentation. It was a very informative day and we are all looking forward to our adventures in Mumbai.

Team Five: 

After a good night sleep in our new five star hotel, we woke up fresh and ready for some of the best company visits of out trip. We had a short 30-minute drive to the first company. One thing we have learning in India is that even though we only have to travel about 10 miles or so for many of these visits traffic in India is equal to or worse than anything we see in California, even in LA. Because the roads are in such bad conditions it keeps the flow of traffic to a minimum. Even on the highways that only have minor potholes the speed limit is low. All the cars here have smaller engines than their counter parts in the US. Brands like Mercedes and Audi only offer smaller engines on their cars sold here. All the cabs in the city have very small motors and feel like they only put out about 30-40 horsepower, so their top speeds are very low.

Upon first entering the business districts of India, we observed many completed grandiose buildings, but also many that were also under construction. India is a conglomerate of both the old and the new, an intriguing fusion of antiquated, draconian traditions with hyperfast, outpacing technology. Even the buildings we passed had bamboo scaffolds juxtaposed with modern mechanical pulley lifts, a fitting microcosm of the businesses here in India.

The country’s infrastructure constantly fails; power goes out five times a day on a bad day in our hotel. While were visiting a large American company in India, we entered the building through a metal detector that constantly flagged each of our members with a beep. However, nobody stopped us or checked us. It made us wonder why this machine was there in the first place. It seems a number of these kinds of systems exist in India, where the infrastructure may be in place but poorly utilized.

Our first company visit of the day introduced us to a technology based firm entering the Indian market. The lecture was interesting and helped to give us useful information for entering a market with a population more than three times greater than the United States. We were treated to lunch in the company cafeteria. We were all amazed at the quality and variety of foods to choose from.

The second company we visited today was Genpact, an outsourcing firm spun off from GE. Genpact provides accounting, finance, IT, and HR services for its clients. A company that desires scalability and flexibility in its capital structure could choose to outsource its auxiliary business components to Genpact instead of retaining its own accounting, lawyers, IT, and HR reps. This type of outsourcing strategy works well for small to medium size companies who cannot afford having a large employee base. Especially companies that are in the growth phase, it is important to focus all its attention and resource on its core mission. Outsourcing parts of its business processes could avoid the legal liability of rapid expanding and contracting of work force size. For large companies on the other hand, since they have much stabler revenue stream and security/privacy concern, they might want to keep these services in-house.

At the completion of the two company visits we were happy to have a free afternoon and evening to do what we pleased. Many students went shopping to try and get cheap gifts and use our well-honed negotiating skills. Many students took to the pool at the hotel to relax and cool down in the hot weather. Knowing that tomorrow would be a long day many of us went to bed early and prepared for the long train ride to Mumbai.