Japanese teamwork, accountability combined with Indian Jugaad concept can make India world’s Best Manufacturing System
'Jugaad', a colloquial Hindi word, which approximately translates as 'quick fix', 'workaround' or 'hack', expresses essentially an Indian concept, used throughout mainly Northern India
NEW DELHI/PUNE: Struggling hard to see its “Make in India” initiative move, and achieve its ambition of becoming the next China as the world’s factory, India must collaborate with countries like Japan.
Japanese teamwork and accountability combined with the Indian Jugaad concept can create the Best Manufacturing System in the world.
‘Jugaad‘, a colloquial Hindi word, which approximately translates as ‘quick fix’, ‘workaround’ or ‘hack’, expresses essentially an Indian concept, used throughout mainly Northern India
These sentiments were echoed by a Pune-based freelance advisor in Indo-Japanese relations, and former managing director of Japan’s one of the top companies SHARP in India and UAE, Tomio Isogai during his virtual lecture organised by the Indo-Japan Business Council (IJBC).
IJBC, which is continually working to enhance India-Japan Business and Economic Engagement, is currently organising a series of events to celebrate the 70th anniversary of the establishment of the diplomatic relations between India and Japan
Isogai – also a director with Kansai Japan India Cultural Society in Kobe, Japan, and Senior Advisor at India-Japan Business Desk, Kochhar & Co., New Delhi, said that India did not do well, and stood at the 43rd ranking of the World Competitiveness Index 2021 involving 64 economies. However, it did reasonably well but remained behind China at the World Manufacturing Risk Index in 2021.
“But if India and Japan work together, then India can come up much faster on these indexes, and there is a great possibility that India can become number one manufacturing system in the world,” said Isogai while referring to what great Indian preacher and philosopher Swami Vivekananda said in 1894 in Chicago after visiting Japan.
“Western efficiency and dynamism combined with Indian spiritual values will create the Best Management System in the world,” Swami Vivekananda had said.
Tomio Isogai said, “Japanese teamwork and accountability combined with Indian Jugad concept will create the Best Manufacturing System in the world”
While quoting a study by IMD, Switzerland, Isogai said India stood at the 43rd ranking of the World Competitiveness Index 2021 involving 64 economies. Japan did it better at the 31 ranking. Top 10 rankings were clinched by Swisstzerland (1), Sweden (2), Denmark(3), Netherlands(4), Singapore(5), Norway(6), Hong Kong(7), Taiwan(8), UAE(9), and the USA(10). India’s neighbour China was at the 16th ranking while South Korea 23, Malaysia 25, Thailand 28, Indonesia 37, and Philippines 52.
He also narrated a study by Cushman & Wakefield, saying that China ruled the roost at the Global Manufacturing Risk Index 2021.
“When analyzed the impact of COVID-19 and assessed the most suitable locations for global manufacturing among 47 countries in the world including America, Europe and Asia, China claimed number one position on all parameters such as Risk Ranking, Cost Ranking, and Baseline ranking. India was nowhere near China on remained on Risk Ranking, and it was at third and second position in the Cost, and Baseline ranking respectively,” Isogai added.
It was also published in a noted business newspaper with a title “India’s ambition to become the next China has a flip side” in India last year that in 2019 the share of manufacturing in India’s GDP stood at a 20-year low.
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Most foreign investment has poured into service sectors such as retail, software and telecommunications. ‘Make in India’ has failed, replaced by a government that never admits defeat with a call for ‘self-reliance.’
“Yet the bureaucrats in New Delhi are back to picking winners and directing state funding to favored sectors through new “Production-Linked Incentive” schemes, in which companies apply for extra funding from the state for five years in return for expanding manufacturing in India. India’s haphazard foray into industrial policy is going to fail, just as “Make in India” did,” said Isogai while quoting a media report.
While summing up, Isogai said that India should pave the way by offering ideal working conditions and ease of doing business, and also and create an eco-system for more Japanese Investors, companies and entrepreneurs to come to India. These could include the ideal lodging and boarding facilities designed to the very needs of Japanese such as Japanese-styled accommodation and Japanese food.
About Tomio Isogai:
Tomio Isogai is a global minded business leader with diversified experiences in more than 60 countries over the world, residing in 5 countries for more than 25 years up until today, particularly in the emerging markets.
Isogai retired from his career at Sharp in September 2016 and returned to Japan where he become a member of Ayurveda Society in Japan, the Kansai Japan India Cultural Society in Kobe (appointed as Director in Nov/’21), Japan-India Cultural Exchange Network in Tokyo, and the 22nd Century Academy in Yokohama, Japan.
