We're number 3!! We're number 3!!

I do not read business management books, but I do remember a few tidbits that I am told by people who do. One of these Keith told me a long time ago is that Jack Welch when he was with GE thought that if they could not be either #1 or #2 in an industry, they should leave that industry completely. To some degree this philosophy shows up in America in that all companies like to either announce that they are the number 1, or the best, or the fastest growing, etc. If your business is none of these things, then you just don't say anything about where it stacks up.

In India very few businesses want to say that they are the best, and even if they do, they like to add all sorts of qualifiers, presumably so that no one can accuse them of being dishonest about their claim.

Examples (real slogans from Indian posters and signs):

- Bagpiper Whisky - India's number 1, now world number 3.

- Jet Airways - Possibly the youngest fleet in the sky.

- Savage Garden Restaurant in Udaipur (the best meal we had there) - Possibly the best of Udaipur's smaller restaurants.

- Hide and Seek Cookies - The world's best moulded chocolate chip cookie. At least they say they are the best, but I have not seen any other moulded cookies for sale.

There are many other examples of this as well, but I just cannot think of them off the top of my head.

Is it this happiness with "pretty good" that also manifests itself in the lack of industry consolidation in India? In most businesses here there are many little independent shops that all seem to copy each other in the products that they sell or the services that they provide. I have to wonder if this is because no person comes along with the idea that they are going to run the unquestionably best general store, Internet cafe, drug store or whatever, and then takes over the industry in that area or even in the whole country. Really the only consumer driven industry that is consolidated here is the petrol stations, and that is because of the government.

I may be going too far with this, but this may be an issue that India will need to rectify if they ever want to truly reach the status as a nation that they are striving for. One of biggest national issues here to me is the lack of quality, not effort, in many business endeavors. When you are looking for a hotel here there are always plenty of options where the owners and the workers will try very hard to make your stay as good as possible. However, in about half of the showers in said hotels the shower is hooked up in reverse (hot to cold and vice versa) or the floor is sloped so that water pools, etc. This is just an example, and I hate to criticize, because Indian people work as hard as anyone, but really the last step they need to make is to raise the standards of quality that are expected. When you work hard and work smart at the same time, then you have no need to say you might be number 1.

Update - 10/4/2007

Since I wrote this we visited the Thread Garden in Ooty. These guys certainly did not mince words when declaring themselves the best. The sign in the picture is one of many.