‘The biggest way to succeed is to have a knowledge advantage’

Font Size

Print

Feedback

Email

Discuss

Related Articles

Gold the most preferred investment

: Partha S Ghosh, chairman of Boston Analytics, believes that companies must arm themselves with the power of knowledge and analysis if they are to succeed in a dynamic and ever-changing marketplace. Whether it is M&A or the act of carrying on a business, knowledge about the sector, convergence and competition is critical. The Boston Analytics subscription model seeks to arm clients with current, accurate and actionable research and analytics. In a freewheeling interview with Sourav Majumdar & MG Arun, the former consultant points out the gaps in the knowledge spectrum of the Indian corporate world. Excerpts:

What is the value addition that firms like yours bring to the table?

Lots. We feel as a knowledge processing firm, which has a tremendous capability in research and analytical modelling, we can support companies. For instance, if a company is designing a molecule, let them design it, but we can provide all the knowledge that they require on the market or technology. Or if a bank is making transactions or trying to structure deals, we can provide all the knowledge and information support that they require. Let the analytical part be done from outside. This is the concept behind firms like ours.

Taking off from what you said, there is a lot of hunger for growth in the Indian corporate sector. But is there a disconnect in terms of the actual knowledge pool available with them?

Yes. I have been talking of this for quite some time. If I see the cream of the Indian companies, there are a lot of good quality people. So far in the protected environment, they maintained their competitiveness. Over the last 10-15 years too, because of the large un-served demand, everyone was enjoying growth. If you can make the car right, you can sell the car. If you can make the refrigerator right, you can sell it. A lot of unmet demand! But there are significant gaps in their ability to process knowledge, track competitors worldwide or track market segments.

Essentially, on-time market intelligence is what is critical…

On-time market intelligence, ahead of the curve. Before you realise it, we’ll provide it. We say we provide a 360-degree view of the world. I have been known more as a management consultant, but I find, to be honest with you, that this force that we are creating is perhaps a more powerful force. Because as a management consultant, often the ego factor comes into play for clients: Who is Partha to tell me how I should run my automotive company? But instead of getting advice, now you buy a subscription model. It’s cheaper and no one is really advising you. The world is moving towards knowledge intensity. India has got a lot of talent. Could we package the talent to provide the knowledge support? And can we take this to Corporate India, because Corporate India should realise that the biggest way they can succeed is by having a knowledge advantage. And we say, knowledge advantage is equal to competitive advantage.

When we talk of a knowledge advantage, isn’t it also true India has such an advantage in a number of areas?

It’s yes and no. Yes in the sense that there are a lot of people who are reading, thinking, etc. No in the sense that if you take a company like Genzyme and any Indian pharma company. Genzyme’s knowledge in areas like DNA and RNA and on the therapeutic side is significantly more. So in terms of being able to watch, observe, analyse, companies in US and Europe are way ahead.

Here in India the challenge would be to make them realise that they are not processing a lot of knowledge, which they’d rather process. On individual molecules, Indian companies may have a lot of information. But does an Indian pharmaceutical company know how with old age, given the life cycle of people is increasing, new diseases may emerge in the UK or in Russia.

It could very well be that some of the herbal medicines in this country could be the solutions to the old age population in the UK or Scotland or Ireland. Who knows? So there American companies are significantly better informed and are tracking all kinds of things. We’re tracking what we believe today are areas where the business opportunity lies. Good companies are those that are able to see all the surrounding forces at work.

In this hunger for m&a, what do you think is the knowledge spectrum the Indian corporate sector needs to have to be successful?

Today they pick up companies where investment banks are trying to offload someone else’s problem and they sense an opportunity. There is a tendency among Indian companies to compete as well. They say, look, if Tata bought Corus, I’ve also bought so and so company. Obviously, the investment bankers are taking advantage of it. It’s not easy to manage global businesses.

Do we have the capacity? I don’t know. How we speak and how we conduct brainstorming sessions are very important. Sometimes, Indian CEOs pretend they know everything.

So, what do we do? If a company in the pharma space subscribes to our model, we sit down with the company and assess their areas of interest. Let’s say there are 15 buckets of analysis we can do: interesting companies that are not making money, active pharma ingredient prices, changes in the therapeutic market demand and regulatory framework, we will provide this information to them periodically.

What are the typical knowledge gaps you see in Indian companies, across the spectrum?

Knowledge about competition is very weak. There is a feeling that I know my product is good, I’ll take it to Germany. But it’s done without understanding who are the competitors, how they’re fighting, what are the quality standards, etc. The second area is understanding of the regulatory environment. They understand when they get into trouble. But in regulation you’ve got to be pro-active, not reactive.

The third area is convergence. In a world of convergence, you have to have a good idea of all the surrounding possibilities that may impact your area of business, as opposed to when they wake up late. For instance, if suddenly they discover that nanotechnology is coming to textiles…oh, we have to understand nanotech. Nanotech has been in textiles for ten years! If I am a top-grade textile manufacturer, I should know. These are critical areas.

Are there specific sectors where knowledge gaps are pronounced?