India needs risk taking business tycoons

The Indian corporates prefer to engage themselves and then carry out business operations under the environment of protection, as if the mother is holding the hand of her child to cross a busy road. This propensity has been inculcated into their business sense, since long. Though they always talk and prefer the competition route for business deals,but in reality they do not like competition, particularly from the world class quality manufacturers. They give eloquent speech how doing business in the midst of stiff competition and even take part in risk taking management seminars, but when it comes to take risks to do investment and face competition globally, they mostly refrain and shy away. Indian corporates have long been criticized for operating as merchants or traders; they seldom show their instinct to operate as entrepreneurs.  This is one of the foremost reasons of our lacking to dominate the business scenario in Asian countries as compared to China, South Korea and Singapore keep aside world market.In fact, our PM, Modi recently upbraided some of the top industrialists saying, “Risk taking is in your DNA and that is why, you are a businessman and not a consultant drawing a salary.” How far they have digested this sarcastic comment, they only know, but the time has come for them to come out from their slumberous activities and to start work as real entrepreneurs, who believe in risk taking and run the businesses accordingly.

The Indian corporates must get rid of those not taking risk attitude and infuse animal spirits in the wild. One can observe that Indian businesses were protected from overseas competition till 1980 and they were managing their businesses in domestic market facing only the domestic competition. Moreover, the leading businesses were almost enjoying monopoly or oligopoly at that time. The liberalization movement, though made a rat-tat of caution to the doors of various business houses, these capitalists refrain themselves from taking risk and were protected by the rules and regulations being enacted in their favor. Even for PPP model, these business houses did not show much of risk taking aptitude. The major part of the investment of all these PPP models are from the public. The balance  private sector investments are again on loans  from various banks or a consortium of banks or financial institutions, indirectly the public money. So, the business houses are not taking any risk to increase the growth of the businesses considerably. Against this pattern of business sequences by our industrialists, if you see the risk taking ability of South Korea’s business families, coupled with innovation and zeal of introducing world class industries, you will be  mesmerized to see their fabulous growth and their growth is significantly higher than us. Indian business houses do not want the traffic of competition from overseas conglomerates as in that case, their profits will be eroded significantly. Because they have to produce world class quality at a reasonable margin. Indian business houses are very much averse to taking risk and produce a world class facility either for manufacturing or for R&D and Training Centers. Indian billionaires, despite their abilities, are yet to open a single world class university like Stanford.  We are famed for our IT activities, but here also R&D expenses of our only account for 3%, whereas some other countries, who are not that reputed, spend around 10%. Again Indian industrialists are not that eager to establish world class vocational institutes to produce highly skilled workforces.  Barring a few, most of the corporates are not bothered to take risks to establish these types of centers.  They are not taking any risk and so there is no innovation and no uplifting of Labors skills.

Unless this risk taking ability is increased considerably, Indian corporates, no doubt, may scream of their capabilities, but will not be in a position to compete with world class manufacturers and snatch businesses in the world market.  Doing business here and there in the international market will not make India as a dominant player unless this skill of risk taking is increased.