Xenophobe's Guide to Globalisation

A street urchin uses a razorblade to scratch a BMW parked on a forlorn road. Is this a problem for the police or for the economic policy-makers? The answer depends on the lens of analysis you use. If you choose the class conflict lens then the answer would be income inequality rather than a case of juvenile misdemeanour.

The recent fracas between Jet Airways and its pilots is a similar case. Till now, the case has been discussed in the minutiae of sacked employees and unfair wages. These factors are important but don’t tell the entire story. To get the true picture, analyse the conflict as a “local talent versus global workforce” one. Suddenly, things begin to appear clearer.

The tussle is not about money alone. It is about the Club Class treatment that the expatriate workforce gets while the local talent travels cargo. How does Naresh Goyal strike a balance between using expatriates to build a world-class organisation and not turning off Indians who think he gives them a raw deal? Especially, at a time when Indian engineers and managers think they are as good as anyone else in the world. Pretty soon, most Indian companies that are going global will grapple with these problems.

Do Indians working in these companies have any “special claims” over plum assignments once the company becomes a multinational? Most Indian companies have isolated the problem to their overseas subsidiaries and some like the IT companies have chosen to remain totally Indian, at least at top management level. At some point, global talent will want to work for Indian companies and that too in India.

In many ways, Cuckoo Paul is the perfect choice to write this story. Cuckoo has been covering aviation since the Wright brothers made their maiden flight. Just kidding!

You get the picture though. She has been around and has seen Naresh Goyal grapple with this vexing issue for some time now. Read this gripping tale of global versus local.

And then, we lift the veil off the best kept secret in the financial markets: Dolat Capital. You must also read the story on how Rio Tinto has found a breakthrough in mining for diamonds in India; and how an IAS officer fought the Naxal menace through economic development.