About 25 years ago, India was a different country, Maruti Suzuki India (MSIL) was then called Maruti Udyog and Shinzo Nakanishi was a younger man. “It was easy to do business here but difficult to live,” MSIL’s first Japanese managing director recalls. Indians raved about Maruti cars and bought whatever it sold, but life was tough for a Japanese man. India then had few lifestyle comforts to offer. “It was difficult to even call home. When I got through I had to shout as the line was bad.” He also missed Japanese food.
The cultural differences are stark. The Japanese are reserved. Most live out of hotels in Delhi and almost never bring their family (irrespective of their tenure). “There is no social interaction outside office with them,” says a senior Maruti executive. Their work style is methodical and process driven. “They [the Japanese] hate opinion without data and want numbers in everything,” recalls a senior former Hero Honda executive, who worked with Honda closely. Siddiqui does not disagree. “Nothing should be left to chance or individual interpretation,” he says. And if the process is finalised and there’s a sudden shift in business dynamics?
WITH LOVE FROM THE BOSS
Realising the importance of employee connect, Maruti has put together a slew of HR initiatives to connect with the staff better
(This story appears in the 14 August, 2009 issue of Forbes India. To visit our Archives, click here.)