Letter from The Editor: Celebrate the Slowdown

No one is switching off lights at 6 p.m. Or slashing salaries and headcount by a quarter and cutting back on travel budgets. Actually, there are very few Indian firms exhibiting those typical knee-jerk reactions that one associates with tough times.

Instead, when our team began interviewing CEOs of some of India’s best run companies to gauge how they’d plan their strategy to tide over this year of uncertainty, we found them investing, hiring and revamping their organisations—all with a clear eye to the future. The mood is understandably cautious. But no one is losing sleep over the uncertainty in the current business environment. On the contrary, they’re doing everything within their power to be ready for the upturn when it comes later in the year.

A large part of the reason is because almost every CEO we spoke to remains optimistic about India’s long-term growth story. And they’re taking this short-term blip in their stride. What’s more, many of them have learnt their lessons from previous slowdowns, especially the last one in 2008-09, when demand suddenly fell off a cliff. On the contrary, this current slowdown has been a slow burn. And firms are ready with a well-thought action plan, which you can read about, starting on page 52.

Those prone to watching the ups and downs of the stock markets may end up missing the wood for the trees. In my book, however, India Inc. has indeed come of age. Processes for planning and strategy have improved considerably inside boardrooms and corner offices. And it leads me to believe this will be perhaps the last time that we’d do a big feature on Managing the Downturn.

If our research is any evidence, India Inc. has written its own chapter on that theme—and as this year unfolds, it’ll also become clear whether they’ve truly imbibed the lessons of how to stay one step ahead in a slowdown.

Before I sign off, make sure to also read our gripping—and untold—story of the Vodafone judgement, one of the most significant court-room battles in recent years.


Best,
Indrajit Gupta
Editor, Forbes India
Email: indrajit.gupta@network18online.com
Twitter id: @indrajitgupta