Movement of Global Talent

will comment primarily on Kapur paper.  In many past conferences, everyone claims specialty in either China or India but can't speak about the other.  So familiarity with both countries would be a valuable commodity.  Recommend to students a broader approach.

Kapur paper close to own experience in travelling to india past 35 years.  also with personal experience (wife is Gujarati Jain with diamond family).  She came to US to study.  when married in 1973, she didn't want to leave India.

among list of speakers, perhaps Tata is only practical user of diaspora.  Tata group increasingly global.  Trying to change mindset from Indian company to global co. that happens to be HQd in India.  15,000 people working for Tata in US.

Investments in US about $1 billion, include purchase of Boston Ritz, to be renamed Taj.  many ways of involvement in US.

Global company has to look at global pool of talent.  Includes returning Indians, to provide managerial talent to go global.  Have had some limited success.  Out of 100 companies in Tata, 6 companies headed up by US citizens.  3 of them by Indian americans.  15% of workforce are non-Indian citizens, and numbers are rising.

Have found a lot of interest in NRIs in coming back to India, but have problems with specifics.  Unrealistic expectations about working for an Indian company, especially graduates of top schools, who could make more with an american company.

Have to accept that global workforce is necessary, and have to devise a way to merge new workforce with existing indian circumstances.

Also have to develop specialized administrative track in which international recruits can be moved around Tata companies.

India itself needs to develop a better educational system.  India has lived on reputation of best universities, but quality drops off quickly.  Need for managers in India will be large and will need to be filled by people trained in India.  e.g. project in Hyderabad by Wharton School.

Image of India has changed so much over the years.  It is now of smart young techies, so different from images in 70s... when image was of Gandhi and elephants and beggars.  But would like to see current image of outsourcing to India changed to image of Indian companies as big employers of US (and global) workforce.