India Trade Mission: Learning Exchange

By: Maureen Donohue Krauss
Deputy Director of Economic Development & Community Affairs

We frequently hear that low cost labor in India and China  threatens our economy in Michigan and the United States.

It’s clear that a virtually unlimited work force and a much lower cost of doing business in India make it nearly impossible for most domestic manufacturers to compete there.

But if you look closely, you’ll see there is more to the success stories of these international juggernauts – especially in India – than simply an abundance of cheap and available labor. The key is a deliberate strategy from the employer that emphasizes the value of it employees to the company.

The Oakland County Business Development Team recently returned from a trip to India that covered five major cities: Mumbai, Pune, Bangalore, Chennai and Hyderabad.

Headed by County Executive L. Brooks Patterson and in partnership with the Greater Detroit Chamber of Commerce, the goal of the trip was to meet with companies interested in potential investments in North America and meet with Indian companies that already have a North American presence and encourage their future growth in Oakland County. It was also to meet new companies.

The group had several in-depth visits with some of India’s top IT companies including Wipro, Infosys and Satayam.

These are fast-growing, relatively new companies that already have a business presence in Oakland County. These companies are not looking to move work to India but to North America. They made it quite clear they wanted to hire Michigan residents to serve their Michigan clients.
 
As we learned more about their business models and their philosophy towards their employees, it became apparent that we are concerned about the wrong competitor in India. Our greatest competitor is the company that employs a highly-skilled, technical work force (not unlike Oakland County) because of the way the company is run.

Employees are seen as assets and supported completely. Training is extensive and on-going. Benefits extend well beyond basic medical to include a virtual city on the company’s campus that provides everything from shopping to fitness transportation to medical care.

Employees are encouraged to learn not only their jobs but to learn how their task fits in to the bigger picture of the customer mission. They are challenged to be innovative and creative. And these large companies set an example by giving back to the community in an extraordinary way. One company donates 10 percent of its earnings to charity.

The work force of these companies is young – average age 26 – and because of the competition for this demographic, companies are forced to be innovative to get loyalty from their employees. This support for their work force is what will result in growth for these companies in the future – and in today’s global economy, many of our companies should be studying the model coming out of India – our true competition in the future.