Monday, September 28, 2009

By Circumstances of Our Birth ?

I have once again been convinced, after over 13 years in Organised Retailing in India, that retailing as a career will humble anyone who feels he/she can know all there is to know in this field. Every day is a day to cherish, and wonder at the combinations of pieces that fall together. It is a celestial game of chess! Such is the respect with which I approach my work.

Yet a few weeks ago I had another humbling experience.
It is common in retail companies for senior personnel to “walk the stores” and during such visits, they tend to take high ground and preach to the store associates and managers of all that they are doing wrong. It is part of the training that improves store standards when done in detail and in mentoring manner.

The reality in retailing is that all decisions that happen at the back-end of the supply chain only two people ever get to bear its consequences. The Store Manager and the Manager of the distribution centre. They are the ones who handle vendors and consumers face to face, numerous times everyday. Often the companies, at large, fail to realize this.

One such visit to a store in North Karnataka, I will not ever forget. I make it a practice during such visit to spend one-on-one with one of the staff members and ask them about their lives and work atmosphere. I first called a staff meeting and shared with them their below par performance, in terms of sales and shrinkage. Particularly their low sales of Fruits & Vegetables. For 30 minutes as a group we discussed and they know that retail companies tend to inevitably shut down perennially poor performing stores. I then called on a girl associate who participated well in the discussions to share her views with me.

She told me that her father had died when she was young and that her mother was a maid servant and worked in 4 houses in a day from 6 am to 11 pm everyday. She had the determination to pass matriculation exam from the local school. She said that the work she did at the retail outlet was life changing, in that she worked eight hours, in a decent work place, got her provident fund, and medical care, something her family could never even aspire to get. She spoke fluent Hindi and passable English. She said Abhisekh Bachchan was her favorite actor and Rahul Dravid the best cricketer. She spoke briefly about how we can improve the store performance. The conversation ended with a few light remarks, I walked back into the store spend an hour walking the bays and then planned to exit, when the same girl came to me asking to speak to me in private.

She said, “sir, we all will work very hard and honestly, please don’t close down this store, or I too will become a maid servant like my mother”. I could see a streak of tear in her eyes. My heart went weak. I shook her hand and told her that I would work hard to see that this store would not close.
I carry that comment deep in my heart. At the head office I shared that with my colleagues. This leads me to think- why is she there and me here? Is it not just the circumstances of our birth?

It convinces me that senior executives at any decision making levels must remember this at all times that decisions they take have a ramifying whiplash that affect the lives of those who depend on those directions. Do we not see in meetings where personal interest overtakes the best-fit direction? How can we be self-effacing in our decision making? This is what I guess Jim Collins calls the Level 5 leadership- building enduring greatness through a paradoxical blend of personal humility and professional will. How can we keep our self interest aside when we make these direction changing decisions solely focused on three entities in an executives life that he/she works for, without whose long term success they themselves cannot prosper - the consumer, employees and shareholders?
How can we save little girls from going back to becoming a maid servant from where they are today? Let not the circumstances of our birth blind us from our responsibilities to those who have not been so fortunate.

Sunday, September 13, 2009

Can Indian Retail Transform India?

This question....someone asked me, I guess, because I have been long in the business of retailing. But not being wise enough, I could not answer readily. But i continued to think deeply, and still do.

As long as I can remember, I have wondered if this can happen. India is too diverse for just one thing to transform it. But anything is a start. Transformation is too big a word I guess; "make a difference" is better.

Why not then start with the largest section of the country, the rural, 75% of this nation lives there? I have spent time, a little time, with the farmers in rural India to know how they struggle from crop to crop whether, it is aqua culture, horticulture or Agriculture


I have seen that they have very basic and uncomplicated needs. I refer to those farmers who are the vast majority, holding 1 to 4 acres of land.

They need:
1) Guaranteed off-take of whatever they produce.
2) Recover their cost of production-which in most cases as they articulate
    it covers seed, manure, pesticides, labour, and sustenance.
3) Guaranteed payment in a reasonable time frame.

How can things get better? Where is the scope?
Well consider this to your surprise - Tomatoes sell at Rs. 29 on the pavement in Salt Lake in Kolkata, the farm gate price around Bangalore is Rs. 3 ! How much intelligence is required to make a difference to the farmer and the consumer at the same time...separated by 2k Km? Not much! But the will? And competence? And How? And Who?

Are we waiting for a Gandhi to arrive to tell us that it is possible or for someone else to say "yes we can" ?
Some, ONE retailer 4 years ago articulated that he would fly aircrafts from one end of the country to the other to arbitrage the costs and price to the benefit of the consumer and producer and everyone said ... "here he goes again, let see how he fails...".

Well I have always hoped that I could be part of that "difference making" to albeit a few. That would be an achievement. I just returned from visiting a part of Maharashtra, and met a farmer his name is Anil, who produces Coriander, brought 80 kg on his bike. On being asked, he said all he needs is the 3 things I have stated above. Here is his Photograph.


There is no dearth of technology or for that matter money, in the system. What the big picture lacks is extensive selling outlets that will reach his coriander in a fresh condition, with minimum wastage, directly to the consumer. We don't have to get emotional about the farmer; there are enough people with much time on their hands to do that. We have to get practical and Pragmatic.