Omnium Goes To India

While China takes the spotlight, India may take the prize. India’s remarkable growth may prove more durable than China’s. To be sure, the country faces formidable challenges. But since the economy liberalized in the early 1990s, India has developed an explosive knowledge-based business culture that thinks in English, rests on the traditions of British law and draws on the strengths of long-time democratic institutions. Omnium’s Indian sojourn introduces participants to the potential and the obstacles facing organizations active in the Indian marketplace.

"DELIGHTFUL AND FRUSTRATING ALL IN ONE"
On the one hand, there are rules. According to Omnium graduate Craig Smith, an area vice president for Marriott International, hotels in Goa, India, must register every bottle of liquor they stock in three different books. Needless to say, meeting such government regulations requires some labour. "That’s why," Craig explains, "you have to hire so many people." On the other hand, there’s the emergence of an open, flexible knowledge-based economy run by young, highly educated workers. "Talk about ambition driving people! Everybody wants to build a hotel. The speed of growth is something else." Doing business in India, says Craig, "is the most delightful and frustrating experience all in one."