Seasoned executives serving in multinational corporations, either in India or elsewhere have for long driven the global agenda in their areas of operation. In a heavily matrixed global environment they realize that their hands are tied when it comes to driving their agenda and vision in a local context. Decisions are slow to come by and unrelated global events have often led to derailment of their local business plans. Global events, beyond their control have ramifications on local strategy, compensation and even performance bonus which may lead to sense of helplessness & frustration at work. In recent times, inspite of a robust India business, as many senior executives have realized, the global woes of their parent organizations have led to widespread job cuts, pruning of bonus kitties and a major value depletion of their share options.
We are talking of experienced MNC managers hitting such a bump in their careers and are serving in roles which offer very little excitement with limited scope for business and career growth. But the good news is that Indian corporations are pursuing aggressive local as well as international growth opportunities. In addition, there are a slew of private equity firms ready to put their money on accomplished management teams to start up & build exciting new businesses.
By definition, these are roles where the executive drives the agenda and is responsible for shaping their organization’s destiny quite like his/ her own business. The only difference being that there is a support of a larger institution with access to capital upfront, which is not often the case if you are setting up a business on your own. This is what we call ‘safe entrepreneurship’.
As a senior executive, you need to look at the following when you evaluate such opportunities.
1. First and foremost is the credibility of the investor, broad business strategy including committed capital, expected payouts and commitment to stay the course. It is better to plump for institutional investors or large private equity firms as opposed to individual investors who tend to have a shorter term horizon.
2. Evaluate the nature of business, market opportunities and your assessment of your ability to pull it off. As a business leader in this situation, we have seen that executives who have a track record of having built businesses with an ability to ‘woo’ talent have a distinct advantage. The executive must assess his own ability to attract and retain a hi-powered management team for the business. Also, your ability to operate without the ‘air cover’ from a global brand and existing on the ground infrastructure will be put under severe test.
We are talking of experienced MNC managers hitting such a bump in their careers and are serving in roles which offer very little excitement with limited scope for business and career growth. But the good news is that Indian corporations are pursuing aggressive local as well as international growth opportunities. In addition, there are a slew of private equity firms ready to put their money on accomplished management teams to start up & build exciting new businesses.
By definition, these are roles where the executive drives the agenda and is responsible for shaping their organization’s destiny quite like his/ her own business. The only difference being that there is a support of a larger institution with access to capital upfront, which is not often the case if you are setting up a business on your own. This is what we call ‘safe entrepreneurship’.
As a senior executive, you need to look at the following when you evaluate such opportunities.
1. First and foremost is the credibility of the investor, broad business strategy including committed capital, expected payouts and commitment to stay the course. It is better to plump for institutional investors or large private equity firms as opposed to individual investors who tend to have a shorter term horizon.
2. Evaluate the nature of business, market opportunities and your assessment of your ability to pull it off. As a business leader in this situation, we have seen that executives who have a track record of having built businesses with an ability to ‘woo’ talent have a distinct advantage. The executive must assess his own ability to attract and retain a hi-powered management team for the business. Also, your ability to operate without the ‘air cover’ from a global brand and existing on the ground infrastructure will be put under severe test.
- K Sudarshan
The author is Managing Partner – India, EMA Partners International, A Global Executive Search Firm
No comments:
Post a Comment