Cerebral Shangrila

Monday, May 29, 2006

MNC's - The race for numbers

Its like the California Gold rush of the 19th century. People are flocking to the city (and the country), there is absolute mayhem and everyone has an opinion.

The growth of IBM in India is astounding. Its grown from 9000 to 43000 employees in just 2.5 years and is on a hiring spree race with Accenture (not to forget the Indian majors). Though there are doubts on the quality of hiring , the quantity seems no signs of abating. Just how important is India to IBM's future strategy ? Sample this from BusinessWeek :

" IBM's annual investor briefing is typically held in a bland hotel conference room in New York. But this year look for something radically different. It's kicking off the event 10,000 miles away at Bangalore Palace, a sprawling Colonial-era edifice modeled on Britain's Windsor Castle, in the heart of India's Silicon Valley. Speakers at the June 6-7 extravaganza will include Indian President A.P.J. Abdul Kalam and Diya Mirza, Bollywood's answer to Lindsay Lohan, who will emcee an event attended by 10,000 IBMers. What's all the hoopla about? IBM is sending the message that India and the rest of Asia are crucial to its future -- as fast-growing markets and as pools of low-cost talent that IBM must tap to fend off pesky Indian competitors who are biting into its market share. IBM's (IBM ) India staff jumped from 9,000 to 43,000 in the past 2 1/2 years, making it No. 2 behind the U.S."

With the Indian majors slowly moving up the value chain , the Global majors are facing the heat. The investors haven't been too kind either and are either pounding the stocks or most stocks have just been stagnant for a really long time.

On a different note, Robert Cringley in PBS blasts the lack of customer focus & innovation at the Big blue.

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