The Foreigner

Should Indian telecom companies have foreign CEOs? Till now, the
response of those who oppose this view which included the Government, had been
more emotional and patriotic, rather than practical and realistic. The result
was that the option of getting foreign CEOs when there were not enough available
locally was not there. And many operators were working with makeshift
arrangements that often created uncertainty at individual as well as
organizational level.

The industry has seen phases where some of the largest Indian
telecom operators were apparently headless for long periods of time. For
instance, Tata Teleservices, even when it had become a pan-Indian operator, did
not have a CEO for months, after S Ramakrishnan had left. We saw the same
situation with VSNL, where for a long time N Srinath was operating just as a
director. Similarly, Reliance was also without a CEO and there were lots of
senior level people reporting to Mukesh Ambani. At Idea Cellular also, there was
no CEO for sometime, after CEO Graham Burke had left.

While there have been a variety of reasons for the absence of
formal CEOs, such as changing pattern of new shareholders, constant discussions
of merger and acquisition possibilities, ever changing organizational structure
due to shifting business dynamics, one big reason was also that there was a
dearth of CEO material professionals to head these private new generation
telecom companies. According to a leading manpower placement consultant,
"The basic requirements for top positions is for professionals who are
people leaders as well as technology visionaries. That combination is still a
scarce resource in the country." Therefore, the government rule that Indian
operators cannot have a foreign CEO only adds to the challenge.

Telecom talent is already under pressure from the new sunrise
industries such as a retail, aviation, automobile, banking, and IT. There are
already many cases where senior telecom professionals are moving to these
sectors. Remember, it was not long when telecom was snatching talent from others
including FMCG.

The job of telecom CEOs should be opened up for foreign
nationals also. Operators cannot afford to be spending months in search of CEOs
at a time when competitive pressure is becoming immense, and there is more than
ever a need for fresh perspective, which many foreigners can bring by virtue of
their completely different market environment. The official word is still
awaited, but according to sources, the Union Cabinet has given the green signal
to telecom service providers for hiring foreigners as CEOs and CFOs. Obviously
all this is subject to security clearance from the Ministry of Home Affairs. The
CTO will however have to be an Indian citizen.

Security and integrity concerns are important, but in today's
scenario of globalization there are equally important considerations. What will
be crucial for India is how much and how fast can it imbibe some of the global
business and service values that is still a far cry in India. How do you ensure
that best global business practices are brought into India? How do you get some
of the contemporary QoS standards and telecom consumer rights addressed in
India? How do some of the latest technology innovations get experimented here?
Not by saying India will not allow foreigners to head business here. Actually,
many operators in other SAARC countries like Sri Lanka, Pakistan and Bangladesh
have foreign CEOs — and these CEOs are doing an equally good job in terms of
managing growth and competition, handling regulators, and giving technology
directions.

ibrahima@cybermedia.co.in