BUSINESS THE BILL GATES WAY

The New Indian Express of 26th July 2009 has in the headline, the statement made by our Prime Minister Mr. Manmohan Sigh, exhorting India Inc. to emulate Bill Gates, the Chairman of Microsoft Corporation. He said that Bill Gates is a unique business leader and while others have shown how to create wealth from knowledge, very few had worked as hard as Bill Gates to share the wealth with marginalized people. Obviously Manmohan Sigh was referring to Bill Gate’s attempt to help eradicate the Polio and HIV from the face of earth through the funding that he had done of hundreds of millions of Dollars to appropriate agencies and the funding of those NGOs in educating children from socio economic backwardness, over the past years. Bill Gates was here in India to receive the Indira Gandhi Peace Award from the President of India.

I really do not know if I could agree with our beloved Prime Minister. I feel that Mr. Singh got so enamored by Bill Gate so as to speak out as above, without really knowing Gates & his company. Or he would have just said it ornamentally (as every Indian usually do, without meaning any of it) to please Bill Gates, the richest man and the strongest philanthropist of the world.

Knowing a little about Microsoft would help us understand this person. It was built up by Bill Gates and associates with lots of passion. For a small company that was originally engaged in making Basic and Cobol compliers for the micro computers, Bill Gates realized the chance of a lifetime when he heard of IBM’s search to locate the man who developed the operating system (OS) for Apple computers, to write a similar one for IBM Personal Computers, way back in the early eighties. Having failed to locate the person who was holidaying somewhere in the Caribbean, IBM just accepted the advances made by Gates & company to write an OS fro the IBM PCs. All of us know the impact made by IBM PCs and IBM compatible PCs and the dependence of the world on it now. There was no looking back for Microsoft and Bill Gates. It grew into unassuming proposition and started controlling the software and IT market not only with the OS, but also by adding the productivity tools, internet tools, compilers, RDBMS and now of course, the Enterprise solutions.

Lots of water had flown under the bridge by now. Microsoft became the world’s largest software company and Bill Gates, the richest man in the world. But if you look at the monopolistic practices employed by Microsoft and the huge pricing that it had marked on its software products, one would realize that he was fleecing the customers by pricing his products at very high rates, without ever bothering about the affordability of the same by users, particularly belonging to the poor third world countries. For example, today to buy a PC, one need to spend only INR 12,000/- whereas to have a Microsoft Vista operating system, it would cost a minimum of INR 7,000/- (that is more than half the cost of the physical computer). The office productivity tool MS Office would cost anywhere close to INR 15,000/- to a buyer and so are the costs of other software from Microsoft.

A third world country such as India cannot afford these costs. After spending INR 12K, a customer has to spend almost INR 20 K plus to make it run with OS and software utilities! One finds it very highly unreasonable because it is un-affordable to many Indians.

And you knew the profits that Microsoft made in the last two decades. It was obscene! There were instances of the company’s net profit amounting to more than fifty percent of the turnover of the company. Yearly profits used to be more than US $ 25 billion and there were instances of all of the profits of the company being given away by the company as dividends. Who benefits, Bill Gates Of course, for he is the largest share holder of the company. No wonder he has all the money in the world to dole out as charity!

And then there is this question, is it charity or guilt money? I believe it is the latter. As an entrepreneur, I am definitely not against making profits. It is the selfishness and GREED that the companies show in amassing profits that I am against. And Microsoft is never an exception. Companies like these have no social consciousness. What prevails is utter greed. They fleece consumers with monopolistic products. And they show very roguish behavior in business.

If one goes by our PM’s praise of Gates, one has to surmise that our PM is approving the strategies made by companies such as Microsoft on poor nations like India through its monopolistic pricing. I find the praise very difficult to come from a compassionate person like Manmohan Singh who always clamoured for inclusivity & social justice. Additionally, Microsoft had played all sorts of games from in and outside the book to arm-twist the governments, authorities, hardware vendors and other software developers to accept its policies and tread its chosen path. By doing so, today every computer user is building walls around him that can only help Microsoft to become its captive vendor. When will such games ever stop?

The practice adopted by Microsoft to annihilate the competition has always been very brutal. Investigating this, two years back, the European Union and slammed a huge fine of US $ 1500 million on it. But will it ever learn? The company continues with all of its competition killing strategies, even now!

Would it not make a difference to Indians if a Microsoft OS is available for INR Rs.500/- and MS Office software at Rs.1000/-. I think so. This would have made more legal users of Microsoft in India, not to speak of the Software Piracy in the country coming down drastically. And of course, many users could escape the legal harassment that the company is putting them under. Our PM could have made a request like this to Bill Gates yesterday.

So what do companies like Intel, Microsoft and Oracle etc do. They price their products at unreasonable levels and then arm-twist poor countries and its denizens to fall in line. A small percentage of the profits so made by the company are doled out to causes like HIV, Polio etc. If any one looks at the PR blitzkrieg that accompanies all these, he would be amply convinced that even these charities are small baits thrown to catch the larger fish. You would realize that his eyes are on the 300 million Indians with huge purchasing capabilities and the burgeoning Indian corporates. All said and done, Bill Gates is an American and Microsoft is an all American company. Selfishness forms the core of Americans, particularly the American business. History had so many examples to prove the point. Vietnam, Iraq, Haiti, Pakistan, Gulf war, Arm Sales, Nuclear deals etc points us to the intent of the nation and its business houses.

In 1999, I had read this book titled “Business the Bill Gates Way” written by Des Dearlove (Capstone Publishing, ISBN 81-7310-123-X) and I would conclude by citing some findings on that. It says the secrets of doing business the Bill Gates way are:

* Be in the right place at the right time
* Fall in love with technology
* Take no prisoners (kill them all)
* Hire smart people
* Learn to survive
* Do not expect any gratitude
* Cover all bases
* Have small sized effective team, &
* Never take your eyes off the ball

For companies like Microsoft and chieftains like Bill Gates, business is war out there. And they perform it by doing all the killings and use means that are considered very un-ethical. They justify the means by citing the end. And in the end, the poor and third world countries such as India get this guilt money that is doled out as charity, making our leaders to accept it and award them and praise them.

It is just like that.

MICHAEL JACKSON

He is gone. In all the probability, he is a star now on the sky, a very bright one at that!

Last Monday was his funeral function at Los Angelos. Speeches, songs, prayers, it was a busy ceremony. With so many well known artistes and public figures attending the same. The gold plated casket carrying his body was in the forefront. With that as the witness, people went on speaking / reading / singing his praise. I was very impressed watching the whole show. Simultaneously, it was being watched by whole the world. How many of the dead ones get such a privilege?

Listening to the speakers about Michael Jackson was a great learning, I must confess. Speaker after speaker sang his virtues. Koby Bryant revealed that Michel Jackson was listed in the Guinness Book as the Pop star who did the maximum charity. Al Sharpton screamed a lot asking the world not to focus on the mess that Jackson had created but on the message of love that he had spread through his songs and performances. He also said that Michael Jackson was one of the pioneers to have gained the respect for the blacks (African Americans). The Tiger woods and Obamas must be grateful to Jackson, he said. Jackson interconnected the whole people of the world; the blacks, the whites, the Asians, the Africans and the Latinos thru his music and gave everyone the comfort, he reiterated. Between each line, he was getting huge applause from the audience.

Then there was his daughter Paris, who did an impromptu. She came on the stage and said Michael Jackson was the best daddy the in the world and she cried after that and the whole world cried with her. It was a touching moment. I too could not help weeping.

I am not much of a Jackson fanatic. In fact my attention to popular music is limited three four numbers, in all. However, one of it is written and sung by Jackson, along with others. “We are the world”…... Every time I hear it, it touches the raw nerve of mine and I become very emotional.

Michael Jackson indeed was a musical genius. History has very few like him. The euphoria of Elvis Presley was a similar one. There is connect between them. Jackson had an unsuccessful marriage with Presley’ daughter. Both at musical level and at performance level, Michael Jackson was way up. His moon walking gait is world famous.

What I fail to understand is why he became broke. For a man who had cut the maximum platinum disc in the worlds, where had all his money gone? He was scheduled to start a tour this month and taken huge advance from the sponsors. Then one had heard the fracas he has had with some Saudi princes. What a pity!

It would not be untrue to say Michael Jackson lived as an unhappy person. Health wise, it is said that he was always on medication, particularly the pain killers. It is even suspected that he died of an overdose the same. The child in him earned for much more than what reality was. And the child in him refused to grow up. The only place he was happy was the stage. What scintillating performances had he delivered! What mass hysteria had he created! Never repeatable by anyone!

To his fans he was God. He delivered the message of love, happiness and charity. But he lived unhappily, of course amidst all the affluences. With one scandal after another and through many failed marriages.

The legacy of Jackson is the music he had left behind. Inimitable, original scores! Truly awesome performances! He took Pop music to very high level. Unassailable by many! It would take very long for his memory fade away from people’s mind.

For all you know, he had left behind so much that his name would ever lastingly linger on Mother Earth.

But for now, he is one of the brightest stars on the sky.

THE BUREAUCRATIC SUPREMACY IN KERALA

An article that appeared today in the supplement of the vernacular Malayala Manorama on the industrial friendliness of Cochin had prompted me to post this mail. It says that as per the World Bank report “Doing business in India - 2009”, Cochin enjoys 16th position on industrial friendliness among 17 Indian cities cited in it. It is no surprise that Kolkotta comes last.

The primary reason attributed to Cochin coming among the last of the cities reviewed, is the bureaucratic supremacy. The report says that it would take minimum 41 days to complete the preliminary formalities of starting an industry in Cochin where as it is less than 30 days for the big cities such as Mumbai & Delhi. It goes on to say that it would take 224 days to actually start an industry in Cochin. The World Bank report is also critical about the taxation situation of Cochin. Notwithstanding the fact that IT helps to expedite the delays, Cochin’s utilization of IT in its industrialization front is very poor, the report points out. All these are due to the bureaucratic delays and their lack of empathy on industries and industrialists.

I had always maintained that it is due to the bureaucrats that industries are not coming up in Cochin & Kerala. Here in Kerala, unless and until proved otherwise, an industrialist or a businessman is a tax evader, a labor exploiter and a profiteering criminal. The bureaucrats never look at the industrialist and businessman as job provider, tax payer and wealth creator & distributor. In no part of the country and world have I seen such negative attitude from the part of the bureaucrats and government servants. One doesn’t relish meeting them and if ever he does it, his experience would be nothing to write home about. I write it with my personal experience. Once to a senior IAS officer of the government I pointed this fact and I got a retort from him “Who wanted you here? We didn’t ask you to invest here”.

A year back during a function at Kerala Management Association, the finance minister of Kerala, while inaugurating the same made a blanket statement that so many businessmen are evading tax in Kerala and he is here to catch them. Whatever is the element of truth in his statement, at least one expected him to be moderate in his views. Such statements do not encourage any prospective businessmen to invest in Kerala. With the implementation of VAT, and with the impending Good and service tax to become effective, the opportunity of those businessmen to evade tax would be very minimal. While I hope that those businessmen would behave, one also expects ministers & bureaucrats to maintain the decorum. It is time we all behaved well.

It has been proven beyond doubt that the mainstay of economic prosperity is entrepreneurship. For entrepreneurship to thrive, the State must be industry friendly. This calls for tremendous levels of behavioral change from the executives and bureaucrats of the State. These fundamentals are not going to change. What is required to be changed is the attitude and mindset?

The sooner it is, the better.

TALA CAUVERY - THE GENESIS OF RIVER CAUVERY

A month back, my brother and myself, along with our family went on a holiday to Coorg (Kodagu in Kannada) in Karnataka and stayed in Mercara (Medikere). On the top of a hill, the city still has the old world charm around it, with modernity creeping in slowly. Unlike the fast upcoming Munnar hill station in Kerala, one didn’t see the mushrooming of resorts and holiday homes here. Old buses, the Ambassador cars and the old shops are still there. Other than honey, coffee and spices, there isn’t much to shop here either.

We took time to travel to ‘Tala Cauvery’ where the river Cauvery originates. Cauvery has always been in news. It is the life line of people of two major southern states, Tamil Nadu & Karnataka. There had been many agitations, politicking and incidents about the sharing of waters of river Cauvery. Still, it is an unfinished story with a potential to explode anytime, particularly when there is water scarcity in these two States.

There is this other side to river Cauvery, that of the divinity. Cauvery is the Goddess to people of Tamil Nadu & Karnataka, particularly to Kannadigas. Every third girl in Karnataka is named Cauvery and the best name given for anything, be it commercial, technical or educational; is Cauvery. The reverence to Cauvery, even today, is phenomenal.

Tala Cauvery is located in Brahmagiri hills which is about fifty kilometers from Medikere. Before reaching Tala cauvery, one has to pass through Bhagamandala which is where one first sees the river Cauvery. There is a temple here with Lord Shiva as the main deity. The temple is good and kept neat. One could feel some good vibrations being inside. At Bhagamandala joins two rivers, Cauvery and Kannike. The legend has it that there is a third unseen river too, called Sujyoti, joining the the sangam (a la Allahabad, where Ganaga, Jamuna and the mythical Saraswathi come together). At its beginning, the river looks so small and insipid. One has to psyche himself to believe that here begins the most reverential ‘Ganges of South India’. However the place around has the feel of serenity and calmness. It is said that all storms begins calmly, may be river Cauvery too!

From Bhagamandala it is good climb to Tala Cauvery. The Karanataka government had taken good care to keep the place neat and serene. In fact what hits you there first is a notice board which alerts you that you are now at a sacred place and not a picnic spot (Good idea, it prepares one well). As you climb up the broad steps you reach a small man constructed pond and above it, a small temple with priests around it. All of us went with the thought that at Tala Cauvery, we could see a spring from the hills pouring out to form the stream called Cauvery. We saw nothing like that and we were initially disappointed. At the foot of the Brahmagiri hills, it is this spot (the man made pond)where Cauvery germinates and people reveres the spot with pooja and prayers. One could see the priest making good money as dakshina. From this place, one could climb up the hill through the neatly laid up steps which amounts to about 400 in number. The climb is steep and one may need to take breaks in between. At the top of the Brahmagiri hills, it is indeed a fabulous view of the Coorg district and the Western Ghats.

The myth about river Cauvery is that Brahmagiri was the dwelling place of the sage Agastya and Cauvery was his wife. She wanted to water the people of the place but it was not allowed by sage Agastya. She was kept imprisoned on the kamandalu (water carrying vessel) of the sage. Once she got a chance and jumped out of the kamandalu, and went underground to escape the sage’s attention and manifested in Bhagamandala. She flows as ‘gupt gamini’ (unseen river) between Brahmagiri and Bhagamandala.

Though there was this disappointment of not seeing Cuvery springing out of the Brahmagiri hills, the visit, the climb and the serenity of the hills gave all of us a wonderful feeling of rejuvenation.

LOHITADAS'S PREMATURE DEATH - WHAT A PITY

A news item that had appeared in the paper today about film director Lohitadas who passed away day before yesterday, made me feel very sad indeed. This gifted movie maker had died a pauper. The last movie made by him bombed and he owed money to lots of people. The story goes to the extent that there is no money to take care of the education of his college going children. Some prominent movie personalities had come forward to help.

Just look at this, the plight of the children of the most successful, respected and gifted story teller and director! They have to live the rest of their life on the gratis from others! What a pitiable state of affair is this!

Lohitadas had always commanded great respect from all sections of movie people. His was the lone voice that every one listened. Whether it was Manju Varrrier’s domestic problems or Meera Jasmin’s love affair, the final judgment made by him was always accepted by both parties. But how come such a soul died bankrupt? Was it his overconfidence to bet everything he had on the movies he made? Was he not practical to understand that there are ups and downs in life and saving for the rainy day makes sense?

Being young (54 years is not a old age, considering that at an average, a Malayali male lives up to 73 years) and with lots of dreams in front of him, he must have been looking long terms with regard to his life and career. It could also be that he never thought that the end would come this fast (who thinks so!) lest he would have had something done for his family. There were hundred of people who could have helped him on the simple fact that it was Lohitadas who made their life and career. It could also be that no one knew his story. When everything looks hunky dory, they would never have thought of a state of affair like this.

One had always seen such a plight for great artists. So many people benefit out of them. The money sharks hover around them only to multiply their wealth using the talents of these gifted ones. See the case of Michael Jackson, which too is not different.

Memory is a short thing. Soon everyone will forget this gifted person, including his pal bearers. Even the benevolent persons who had offered the help will forget their promises. For his family it is ground zero now. For the children of Lohitadas, who launched many lives and career, life have to start from the bottom. They have to undergo all the hardships to come up in life. They have to live like nobody. Only time will tell whether they had made it.

Carelessness, lack of farsightedness, cocksureness and being impractical (a trait always associated with gifted, maverick artists) etc could have led Lohitadas not to save for his family. And when he left them all of a sudden, they find themselves in pits.

What a way to die! What a pity!

BIRTHDAY MUSING

Today (15th June ‘09) is my fiftieth Birthday.

I am not truly into birthday celebrations. This has not been part of the value system that I had grown up with. Birthday was felt like any other day. However after my marriage and after being part of social groups such as Rotary etc, there had occurred some conscious mention of my birthday and of course, a dutiful acknowledgement of the wishes from the friends, from my side.

Generally, a purushayus (life of a human being) is considered to be hundred years by our scriptures and puranas. From that perspective, today I had crossed the mid mark. To some of my friends who called me to wish me, I said that I have become UDF (Since LDF stands for LEFT democratic front in Kerala politics, UDF, the opposing front is the RIGHT one. And since I have come to the RIGHT side of the scale of my life, I jokingly called myself a UDF person)

In our Hindu culture, sixtieth birthday (shastiabdapurthi) is celebrated with prayers, feast and get-together. In the olden days, people did not live for more number of years. Reaching sixty, therefore would have been a major achievement and that landmark would have called for celebrations, I presume. Today the case is different. Statistically, in Kerala, a man lives up to 74 years (and a woman, up to 78) and reflecting that, statistically, I still have a one third of my living time left. Good, let me feel happy!

Man is like wine. Maturity increases the strength and substance. I am thinking whether I can put up a different look of me from today so that people can consider me matured, peaceful and considerate, rather than my hitherto original self of emotional, child like, spontaneous, and sort of, ‘on face’ in my dealings. Probably if I tell them my age, people should give some considerations at least, I hope.

Truthfully speaking, I had some calculations about me reaching fifty years. I thought when I reached fifty; I could give way the operations of my enterprise to the second line and indulge more in mentoring, reading, writing and propagating managerial and entrepreneurial thoughts. The current times are not conducive for that to happen. I am required to continue my present profile for more period of time than I had anticipated, I think. This being the reality, I must accept it, with a pinch of salt or otherwise.

However, is there a better way? I am forcing myself to think that there is. What could that be? Continue whatever I am doing with the required level of focus and add more to it such as mentoring, writing etc. This calls for spending more time at work front and getting lesser rest, that is. Will it work? One has to test and see!

That brings me to the story of the Lion and Gazelle in the African hinterland. Every morning the gazelle wakes up with the thought that it has to outrun the fastest running Lion to survive and every morning the lion wakes up and thinks that t has to run faster than the slowest running Gazelle to make food and survive. The bottom line is, it does not matter whether you are a lion or a gazelle. Whatever you be, what matters is that you have to on the run to survive!

So what do I do? Ok I will run. Since the load is bigger, the efforts needs to better. But probably, rather than short distance dashes, I think I could be looking at doing marathons now.

Steady, consistent and on the run that is ……………………

A ROLE MODEL LEADER

Really I do not know him that well personally.

But whatever I know of him itself is sufficient to make this blog. I sincerely feel that people like him needs to be projected, for the sheer reason for positivity to prevail.

Today he is a well known entrepreneur in the field of agriculture but he is not into agriculture. Can we say that he helps agriculture, floriculture and horticulture? His organization has developed the technology and know-how that allows highest yield on lowest land area, cultivation in uncultivable places and provides treated organic materials (coconut pith etc) on which plants can grow well. He runs one of the best testing labs in the State and he provides the best consulting for controlled cultivation thru green house technology. Let us call him an Agriculture Technocrat (he calls himself a humble farmer’s friend!). Most of his endeavors are pioneering efforts and therefore he is a true leader in the chosen field. No wonder he is a highly decorated person, winning awards from the President of the country etc. He advises many state governments and organizations in and out of the country on the subject. He has linkages with institutions based out of Europe, Africa and Middle East and he often travels to these places.

He is also very active professionally. CII Kerala and TiE Kerala, both he had chaired, had immensely benefited from him leadership. He continues to contribute to both associations by his presence, efforts and advices. He is the only leader in both the associations to have taken business delegations to outside the country. I had the privilege of being part of one such delegation and had immensely enjoyed his company and leadership.

By education he is an Agricultural Engineer, having studied the same in Gujarat. He made his career in a leading MNC of those days, concentrating on products and services meant for horticulture & plantations. The call of entrepreneurship came at mid age and he left the job to start own venture with a friend. He did well initially, went belly down later and had a painful split with his partner. All through, it was good learning for him.

Then he went alone. He started treading the path taken by the least. All he had was knowledge, courage and sheer determination all of which was bound by the thread of poistivity. Where will such a man go? Yes, only to the TOP! That is exactly what happened to him. He took innovation as his guiding spirit. And innovation led him to much recognition.

When you talk to him and deal with him, he comes thru as very sincere and concerned. From the conversations with him I am amply convinced that he genuinely wants people to progress, do well and live well. He is willing to contribute in any which way for that to happen. He has been doing many services and charity to this cause.

He has kept all his connections and relationship intact. And that had led him to have friends at all places, be it senior bureaucrats, head of Institutions, leading academicians or leaders of industry and commerce. His sophistication, behavior, refined culture (the true palakkad trait, which he is one) and language leave a deep impact on everyone. I haven’t seen him behaving badly to anyone, even if he is under pressure, even to his employees and subordinates. His is the way of conciliatory and democratic approach. He is amenable to advices & suggestions. He always looks at what we can do together and therefore the approach is that of inclusivity. No wonder he has so many dependable friends all over the world.

His wife is full of charm. Combinedly, they make a graceful pair. It is not said without reason that behind every successful man, there is a woman! His children (son and daughter) are employed and settled abroad and they are doing well. His laments that his children are not interested in taking over the successful business that he is running. However, that does not in any way dampen his spirit of entrepreneurship. He continues to slog without much rest, though he had crossed the normal retirement age.

Whom am I speaking about? The suspense is about to end…….

Here is presenting an entrepreneur par excellence, an innovator to the core, an extraordinary decent good human being, a considerate leader, a towering positive personality, Mr. SHIVDAS B MENON, Chairman & Managing Director, Sterling Farm Research & Services Ltd. Cochin.

A person worthy to be a true role model!