Namastrategy

Namastrategy (noun) is derived from the words Namaste (Sanskrit), and Strategy (Greek). It is a long term plan of action, and a method of winning, that is based on respect and recognition for the value of partners and clients, in acquisition, merger, expansion, and diversification.

- Namaste (noun) is an Indian greeting as well as a gesture, indicating deep respect, often intended as recognition of the common divinity within another person. The same hands folded gesture is made wordlessly upon departure.

- Strategy (noun) is a Greek work that derives from the words stratos (army) and ago (leading). It is a careful long term plan of action or method designed to achieve a particular goal, most often "winning". Strategy is differentiated are used to make problems easier to understand and solve. Strategy is about choice, which affects outcomes.

How quickly trends change in global capitalism. For a decade the mantra was a concern about losing US technology jobs to overseas outsourcing. The debate centered primarily on the value to consumers for low cost timely services in exchange for the perceived loss of jobs in the US. The predominant argument was related to the loss of jobs for Americans, as enterprising corporations took advantage of the lower cost of personnel in other countries. The decline of the US currency has created an even playing field, and in some cases it is less expensive to hire US employees than to pay for the same expertise overseas. As currency and global exchange continue to move toward balance, the real driving force will be pure business. The global economy is adjusting and balancing itself at a much more rapid pace than ever before, and it is gaining speed.

Is this really a new trend, or is it just another highly publicized manifestation of trends that have existed for generations? Previously, a much publicized shift occurred in the 70's and 80's as automobile manufacturing plants grew in Japan, and closed in Detroit. The once dramatic battle for domestic manufacturing dominance made a u-turn when Toyota began manufacturing quality automobiles in Kentucky. The Mitsubishi Motors manufacturing plant is located in Illinois, and the Nissan motor manufacturing plant is located in Tennessee. These companies discovered the advantages of local just in time manufacturing, with local suppliers, to avoid the tremendous logistics costs of moving materials and automobiles between continents. The financing, marketing, distribution, and other business segments of the operations likewise took advantage of local geographic presence in the US, and in Europe.

Similar trends occurred with the transition of consumer electronics. The very names of the brands are a telling tale of the trend. The generation of RCA and Zenith, was replaced by the generation of Sony, Hitachi, and Toshiba. The subsequent generation of consumer electronics manufacturing did little to change the brand names, but the factories moved to China, Taiwan, Philippines, and Korea. Another generation is emerging, one that is even less sensitive to brand names, but even more aware of the global economy. Domestic borders have less consequence to consumer demand than cost, quality, and availability. Each subsequent generation of manufacturing is more fluid and responsive than the previous generation. Each generation is more aware of supply chain, environment, market fluctuations, and consumer trends.

Are we really that much different than the time of the Roman Empire? As the Roman empire expanded, it frequently met resistance from local tribes. Although the upper classes of the conquered areas usually adjusted to the Roman way of life, the majority of the conquered population continued to live as they did before the Romans came to power. As a result, a mixture of Roman and native cultures coexisted easily in many regions. As the empire advanced, it assimilated technologies and theologies from nearly every region. As the empire expanded, it introduced the accumulation of acquired technologies to the people of the conquered lands. Roads, arches, water and waste management were improved, but not without some sacrifice. Many generations later, as communication, transportation, and technology continue to evolve, global information, education, and interaction is advancing at incredibly accelerating speed, and without the assistance of invading legions.

Successful modern expansion also requires assimilation and integration. Even as global economics and capitalism create a common marketplace, by contrast, cultural individualism has become increasingly diverse. Groups, communities, and individualism are no longer restrained to domestic or geographic demographics. MySpace, iTunes, social media, and social networking have created powerful communities and amazing forms of individual expression. As manufacturing and logistics must cope with globalization, so sales and marketing must cope with fluid social diversity and individualism. The market is much more dynamic than ever before, and this is just the beginning of the trend.

So, who is advancing effectively? Surprisingly, the culture that is adapting to the universal diversity of individualism is one that has, for thousands of years, honored the spirit in you which is also within me. As defined by Mahatma Gandhi, in India, when people meet and part they often say, Namaste, which means, "I honor the place within you where the entire universe resides. I honor the place within you of love, light, truth, and peace. I honor the place within you, where, when you are in that place in you, and I am in that place in me, we are one." The Roman Empire assimilated portions of the local regional cultures, technologies, and trends, as it conquered and controlled new lands. Likewise, the culture of India is to acknowledge, embrace, and pay homage to the common divinity of each unique being. As India's economy and business expands beyond it's borders, it does not conquer, but rather embraces and enables partners and clients, respecting and protecting individual capabilities, while gently blending the strengths of each individual for the benefit of the collective good. In this example, the individual could be representative of a person, a region, a company, or an industry. Namastrategy pays homage to the divinity of the individual, organization, or region, even as it integrates diverse and dependant resources for collective benefit.

Bangalore based Wipro is evaluating several regions in the United Kingdom to employ 500 people, in addition to the 300 employed at the facility in Reading, England. This trend of hiring and expanding in local markets is sometimes referred to as 'reverse off-shoring', which would presume that the jobs would otherwise have been outsourced to another country. However, the move is really just another form of namastrategy. In exchange for bringing more local jobs to the United Kingdom, Wipro will enjoy government tax incentives linked to the jobs that they create, and they will have the added benefit of being an integral part of the local community. "We want a center where the general profile of the young girls and boys graduating there is of a nature where they would like to work in that area, they have family roots in that area, they come from a background which is comfortable in that area, and don't necessarily want to migrate to the larger cities." said Azim Premj, chairman of Wipro.

Consulting services represent just under 5% of Wipro's $3.4 billion annual revenue, but the goal is to increase that amount to 15% of the annual revenue over the next five years. To accomplish this objective, Wipro is also committed to increase the number of local staff members in each region. Of the total 88,000 workforce, Wipro currently employs about 6,500 staff in Europe, including the United Kingdom. Wipro recently set up facilities to support US customers in Troy, Michigan and Atlanta, Georgia. When asked if onshore expansion and local recruitment at local western salary levels would increase cost and decrease the company profit margins, the chairman of Wipro was quick to point out that local billing would be commensurate for maintaining local employees. "The billing rates are completely different. They are much higher. So the profit per person you get from consultancy, if it's well run, is higher than the profit per person which you get from the other businesses in the rest of Wipro Technologies."

In many cases the global expansion is achieved by acquisition. In 2006, HTMT Global Solutions acquired AFFINA - The Customer Relations Company, a leading provider of inbound contact center services. HTMT is one of India's premier customer solution providers, offering a wide range of contact center services, and business process outsourcing, to customized IT solutions. Based in Bangalore, HTMT is rated among the Top 5 Best Employers in the industry (Dataquest - IDC). How did HTMT demonstrate this reputation as Top 5 Best Employer when it acquired the Peoria, IL based AFFINA? Rather than redirect the calls to an offshore center, HTMT infused financial and personal interest to empower the Peoria based AFFINA operations. The astounding results can be measured in profound profit increases for both companies, enhanced capabilities, integrated expansion in US and overseas, and the inspired dedication of the workforce in all geographies. "AFFINA is a strategic fit into HTMT's global vision. Through it's experienced management team, diverse skills, and wide-spread network of delivery centers, HTMT is now poised to ramp up its operations in the growing American market. This will be a happy marriage of domain expertise, CRM capabilities and management skills," said Mr. Partha Sarkar, CEO, HTMT.

In the last five years, Tata Group has expanded it's influence from India into the global market by acquiring a diverse portfolio of businesses. In keeping with a proven trend, the Tata Group often maintains the prestigious brand name, brings resources to a beleaguered organization, embraces the existing employees, and invests in the local market for stunning success. Since 2003, the Tata Group has bought the truck unit of South Korea's Daewoo Motors, a stake in one of Indonesia's biggest coal mines, and steel mills in Singapore, Thailand, and Vietnam. By acquiring the Dutch-British steel giant, Corus Group, Tata Steel secured access to automakers across the US and Europe, immediately propelling the capacity fivefold, with mills in Pennsylvania and Ohio.

The strategic acquisitions of Daewoo, steel mills in Singapore, Thailand, Vietnam, Europe, Pennsylvania, and Ohio, were all precursors to the announcement of Tata Group's acquisition of Jaguar, and Land Rover. In a landmark deal worth $2.3 billion, the India steel and motor company has become a marquee name in luxury automobiles. With unparalleled infrastructure for steel and production, the company is poised to polish the slightly tarnished reputation of the proud brands. As many as 40,000 jobs in the United Kingdom, mainly suppliers, depend on the Jaguar and Land Rover brands, as well as 16,000 direct employees. Tata Motors executives have expressed commitments to preserve jobs, and grow the business. "We have sought to keep management in place after we acquire a company," Ratan Tata, chairman of Tata Motors said. "We pride ourselves on our ability to motivate management's plans."

In 2000, Tata Tea took over one of the United Kingdom's biggest tea brands, Tetley Tea. To this day, no Tetley Tea directors or senior management have been asked to leave. On the contrary, Tata sent managers to work for Tetley in the UK, and to learn about tea buying, branding, and exporting into new markets. Tata has continued to invest in Tetley Tea, and enabled Tetley Tea to expand into new markets, including Pakistan and Bangladesh. "Experts say you have to slash, burn, cut, and we have not. People might say that it is foolish," says R.K. Krishna Kumar, president and managing director of Tata Tea. "Sometimes acquisitions should have an equivalent impact on the acquiring company."

How does Tata Group use this global expansion to fuel the development of economy and infrastructure in other regions of the world? In January, Tata Motors announced plans to build the Nano, a $2,500 "people's car". The inexpensive Nano was inspired by witnessing entire families being dangerously transported on motor scooters, a very common sight in developing countries. The goal is to introduce a vehicle so inexpensive that it will enable even economically challenged geographies to provide safe transportation for the entire family. The Nano resides at the absolute polar opposite end of the spectrum of luxury automobiles, but it may give some additional satisfaction to owners of Jaguars that, when they slip into an automobile that defines luxury, they are preserving jobs in the United Kingdom, and contributing to preserve lives in developing countries with safer modes of transportation.

Can it really be that good corporate citizenship is also good business? ZSL Inc certainly believes so. With headquarters in Chennai, India, and US headquarters in Edison, New Jersey, ZSL Inc has demonstrated phenomenal growth through expansion, acquisition, and diversification of the portfolio of offerings. However, the executives would tell you that the formula for success in much simpler than that. The executives would tell you that sustainable growth is achieved through loyalty, enabling clients, actively contributing to the community, and empowering partners. Growing the success of clients is the means of naturally growing success for ZSL. The current client base includes small and medium sized companies across a broad range of verticals, as well as respected leaders in Finance & Banking, Insurance, Life Sciences, Telecommunication, Retail, and Manufacturing.

ZSL ranked 275 for the year 2007 in the VAR Business 500, and was recognized as one of the 10 Fast Growth VARs to watch. Despite the accolades, the executives maintain a dedication to humility that is a reflection of the respect toward the divinity within every other person. To expand operations and support into the Consumer Electronics industry, the humble company recruited a volunteer advisory council of respected members from within the industry. The advisory council guides development of solutions that integrate the best practices from across all services. The role of the council is to provide leadership, guidance, and participate in design of architecture that unites multiple diverse systems through common platforms and applications. This approach enables each constituent to maintain the infrastructure and expertise of individual organizations, while simultaneously enabling each to communicate, update, perform, and report with valuable real time actionable data. ZSL openly respects the expertise of the diverse industry representatives and empowers them to lead the design of development, as ZSL take a supporting role to bring the vision to reality. Who benefits from these solutions? Everyone. "With our humble beginnings and modest approach, we are certain to make a difference for the good," said Ananth Chaganty, Senior Vice President, Enterprise Solutions of ZSL Inc.

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Words of Wisdom

"You must not lose faith in humanity. Humanity is an ocean, if a few drops of the ocean are dirty, the ocean does not become dirty."- Mahatma Gandhi

"I do not want my house to be walled in on all sides and my windows to be stuffed. I want the cultures of all lands to be blown about my house as freely as possible. But I refuse to be blown off my feet by any."- Mahatma Gandhi

"Happiness is when what you think, what you say, and what you do are in harmony." - Mahatma Gandhi

"You must be the change you want to see in the world."- Mahatma Gandhi

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Strategy by the Numbers

The following is a simple step-by-step process for creating a strategic plan by the numbers. This is a ten step process that can be used by a group, an organization, or an individual. Print out the steps and prepare to organize your ideas into a tactical plan for progress.

1) Twenty-one questions

Brainstorm to make a list of the first twenty-one challenges that come to mind. This can be done as a group, or as an individual. Ideas should be based primarily on identified opportunities to improve, real current challenges, or competitive necessities. Brainstorming means a free flow of ideas, so do not discourage or debate the merit of any individual ideas until twenty-one items have been identified.

If you are experiencing difficulty in identifying a list of twenty-one issues or ideas for improvements, then try using a SWOT Analysis. The SWOT Analysis is a list of your strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats. This can help to give perspective and spark some ideas, but may not be necessary to identify a quick list of twenty-one issues, obstacles, problems, and opportunities.

Once you have created a list of twenty-one suggestions, stop. The list is complete. The first twenty-one ideas that come to mind are the most important opportunities and the most relevant issues. Anything beyond the top twenty-one ideas is getting too detailed in the issues, and can wait for the next strategic planning session.

2) Assign a point value to your twenty-one ideas

Review your list of twenty-one potential issues and opportunities, and assign points based on the following criteria.

Assign one point to each idea that is important. Important means long term and lasting benefit that truly impacts or changes the business. Be honest about your assessment.

Assign one point to each idea that is urgent. Urgent means that the idea or improvement needs to be implemented immediately, because waiting would have catastrophic consequences.

Assign up to three points based on your determination of the benefit. Benefit can be measured as financial benefit, or customer satisfaction benefit, or some other metric of benefit. Whatever methodology is used to determine benefit, this same measurement must be applied to all twenty-one ideas. For example, if you choose to use financial impact as the measurement for benefit, then all twenty-one items should be measured by financial impact. Do not mix and match, as with measuring some items by financial benefit, and measuring others by customer satisfaction impact. The metric should be the same for all ideas. The value of three applies to significant realistic benefit. The value of two applies to significant benefit, but not really sure if it can be achieved. The value of one applies if the benefit can probably be achieved, but may not be significant. If the benefit is not significant, and not likely to be achieved, then it is reasonable not to award any points for the idea, and move on to the next idea on the list.

Assign up to three points based on your ability to affect change, implement the idea, or address the issue. If you are absolutely certain that this is within your control to do, then assign a value of three. If you feel that it can be done with some concentrated effort, then assign a value of two, If it can be done, but requires resources, investment, budget, or other assistance to get the job done, then assign a value of one.

Add up the points assigned to each idea. Now you have a score for each suggestion,

3) Pick the Lucky Seven

Sort and prioritize the ideas based on the total score for each suggestion, from high score to low score.

The seven ideas with the highest points are the lucky seven that will get your attention. In the event of a tie score, agree on the final seven. Review the final list one more time and confirm your top seven priorities. The other fourteen ideas are really good suggestions, and may be the starting point for your next strategic planning session. For now, we will only focus on the top seven.

4) Ask the Five "Why's"

One by one, for each of the lucky seven selected ideas, ask the question "Why" five times. First, ask, "Why?" When you have the answer to that question, ask the same question about your answer. For example, "This idea will help me improve customer satisfaction." "Why?" “Because this is something that customers are always asking for." "Why?" "They are frustrated by not knowing what to expect." "Why?" "They have no visibility to our schedule, status, or progress." "Why?" "Our ETA is not always the same. We cannot communicate an expected completion date, and there is no method to give them updates." "Why?" "Creating a way to give updates would have some development cost, and it would take time to design the customer interface."

Some individuals may become frustrated asking "Why" five times. The reason that it can be frustrating is that the answer may appear to be abundantly clear as common sense. Even though the answer may appear obvious, it is still beneficial to ask the question, and dig a little deeper into relevance and root cause. In the example above, it is not enough to know that the idea will improve customer satisfaction, but by asking the question "why" five times, it created some additional clarity with regards to the real customer value and the real underlying obstacles. Practice asking the question "why" five times, even if you need to slightly adjust the question or the answer to give yourself an opportunity to dig a little deeper into each idea.

When you have completed asking the question "why" five times for each question, it is time to asses your lucky seven ideas. After this further review and assessment, you can decide if you want to work on all lucky seven opportunities and issues, of if you want to work on just a few of them. The magic number that you choose is based on what you feel that you can handle, based on your assessment of each opportunity.

5) Assign your METRICS

Measure Everything That Results In Customer Satisfaction. Identify two primary metrics for each of the ideas that you have selected to pursue. These two primary metrics will be the method to compare past history, and future success. Things that get measured get done.

The first metric is based on the goal that you wish to impact or achieve. Metrics must be tangible items that can be measured with a numerical, financial, or date assignment. For example, a reasonable metric is to reduce cost, increase revenue, increase profit, decrease hours or time to complete a task, decrease time to obtain a response, increase production by a predetermined percentage, etc. If it is a good idea, then find a way to measure progress and assign a goal.

The second metric is based on a measurement that could potentially be adversely affected by the attainment of the goal for the primary metric. For example, if the primary metric is to reduce time, a secondary metric may be to measure the associated cost to achieve the goal. If a primary metric is to reduce price, a secondary metric may be to measure the impact to quality as determined by number of defects. Consider the potential undesired consequences of achieving your primary metric, and assign a secondary metric as your control. The combination on these two metrics will greatly enhance your success.

6) Create your schedule

Identify key tasks and milestones associated with your ideas and implementing improvements. Perhaps you have commitments for dates, or a fiscal period that must be accommodated. Perhaps you are in a competitive race for the solution. Perhaps you have an idea of the project plan and key milestones for implementation. Use your judgment to assign a tentative schedule for achieving your metrics. The schedule may be subject to change upon further review, but it is important to recognize important commitments and establish expectations.

7) Do it

Create a plan for each objective and implement it. The process for creating an implementation plan for each idea is distinctly different from the strategic planning process.

8) Measure it

Measure your results, both the primary metric and the control metric. How did you do compared to your goal?

9) Learn from the experience and make adjustments

Use the knowledge that you have gained from the experience as a review before beginning the next strategic planning session. It may create new opportunities, and it may help to refine your perspective for other ideas.

10) Go back to the first step It is time to start planning again

Wash, rinse, and repeat.

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Words of Wisdom

"There is a theory which states that if ever anybody discovers exactly what the Universe is for and why it is here, it will instantly disappear and be replaced by something even more bizarre and inexplicable. There is another theory which states that this has already happened."- Douglas Adams

"Why be a man when you can be a success?"- Bertolt Brecht

"An economist is an expert who will know tomorrow why the things he predicted yesterday didn't happen today."- Lawrence J. Peter
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"John has been a tremendous resource for our company in helping us put together a solid strategic plan to enhance our selling efforts. His knowledge of the customer, their process, and our contact strategy has provided advice that has catapulted our chance of closing this sale. His follow up has been world class and he has the utmost integrity that the end client and partner are both going to benefit from the relationship."

Curt M. Bimschleger
Executive Vice President, Business Development
Accent Marketing

The Trusted Advocate: Accelerate Success with Authenticity and Integrity is available now online in hardcover and paperback from www.Amazon.com (Hardcover), www.Amazon.com (Paperback), www.BarnessndNoble,com, www.Borders.com, www.Target.com, www.Buy.com, ,www.iUniverse.com, and many other fine booksellers.

About the Author:
John Mehrmann is author of The Trusted Advocate: Accelerate Success with Authenticity and Integrity, the fundamental guide to achieve extraordinary sales and sustain loyal customers. John Mehrmann is a freelance writer and President of Executive Blueprints Inc., an organization devoted to improving business practices and developing human capital. www.ExecutiveBlueprints.com provides resource materials for trainers, sample Case Studies, and educational articles. http://www.InstituteforAdvancedLeadership.com provides self-paced tutorials for personal development and tools for trainers. Presentation materials, reference guides and exercises are available for continuous development.