Improvised Ingenuity, February 01st-08th, 2018

Learning Circle I: Indian Jugaad

REPORT

INDIAN JUGAAD

Improvised Ingenuity, February 01st-08th, 2018


INTRODUCTION

Within the overall project “Capturing innovation impulses from emerging economies”, the

Executive Agency for Small and Medium Sized Enterprises (EASME) commissioned icunet

to conceptualise and conduct sector specific learning circles for European SMEs in

emerging markets. There are three main goals of these learning circles: 1. Facilitating the

market entry for participating SMEs by train them on cultural differences, 2. Learning about

innovation in the emerging economy in question and trying to implement those innovative

ideas in Europe, 3. Establishing new contacts in the sector within European participants

and also in the emerging market.

The learning circle “Indian Jugaad – Improvised Ingenuity” was the first learning circle in a

series of five and therefore seen as a pilot project. European SMEs active in the mobility

sector were targeted. The group of seven participants travelled to India from February 01st

to 8th, 2018 and visited Indian companies in Mumbai and Bangalore. A networking event

and an intercultural training about Indian culture completed the programme.

The purpose of this report is to summarise the activities of this learning circle. As this was

a pilot programme, feedback and lessons learned are very important to the core project

team and will be reported in the last sections of this report. The success of a group journey

depends not only on the programme and activities, but also on the participants. Therefore,

this report starts with a short section about the group composition.

GROUP COMPOSITION

This learning circle was attended by seven participants from six European countries:

• France;

• Spain;

• Italy;

• Germany;

• Slovenia; and

• Hungary.

The participants are active in the following fields of the mobility sector:

• Transport and logistics;

• ITC;


• Smart cities;

• e-mobility;

• Automotive;

• Intelligent transport services and

• Urban mobility.

Most participants held positions in upper management, but a mechanical engineer and a

junior project manager also took part, which made the discussions and groupwork more

diverse. We had a good diversity of ages in the group, reaching an average age of 44

(youngest 22, oldest 65); however only one of seven participants was female.

The atmosphere in the group was collegial: In the rare moments of free time, the

participants were very proactive in finding each other to do some networking and even a bit

of sightseeing. When in transit, they discussed their businesses and the programme as

well as their cultural experiences, even without prompting. The good team atmosphere

really helped to animate the group work in the intercultural training on the last day.

The participant’s feedback was collected at the end of the last day’s training session but

also continuously during their whole stay. In addition, an online survey was sent two

weeks after the programme was completed. This gap was intentional giving participants

enough time to think more in-depth about their experiences.

DAY 1 | FEBRUARY 01ST, 2018

Most participants arrived in India on the first day, though a few had already arrived the day before. Those who had already arrived used this day to connect and do some sightseeing, whereas the project team was occupied with preparations.

DAY 2 | FEBRUARY 02ND, 2018

Finding the Pulse of the Emerging Market

This first day was dedicated to finding the pulse of the emerging market and experiencing

the local heartbeat. Our programme on Indian Jugaad – Improvised ingenuity started with

a visit to a group of Mumbai Dabbawalas (Dabba=box, wala=guy)—what the Independent

described in a headline as the “World’s best food delivery system”. Travelling by local

transport with the Dabbawalas on their routes, we wanted our participants to experience


first-hand a service that reaches Six

Sigma standards. The Dabbawala

system has run for more than 125

years and is 99.99 % precise in its

deliveries.

With anticipation and excitement

on what would await the group, we

had to wait for the guide from the

Dabbawalas to reach us. We

learned our first lessons on

different time management and

meanings of ponctuality across

cultures.

The narrow staircase to the third floor evoked concerned expressions from our

participants, but when the guide started to explain the history of the Mumbai Dabbawalas

and shared stories about celebrities who visited them and how their process works, all

concerns evaporated. The participants were impressed by the coding system which

guarantees the correct delivery of more than 400,000 lunchboxes every day. The

Dabbawalas—which can be recognized by their white hat—mostly lacked formal

education., The key to success is their dedication. They do their job with a religious

motivation. The system is dependent of the motivated people, because other than in

Europe not the infrastructure or technologies are optimised to achieve goals. What is

optimised in the delivery chain, are the people behind the system.

After the presentation, given on a laptop without a projector, it was time to experience their

work. We followed a Dabbawala who was collecting the prepared tiffin boxes from homes,

and interviewed those in the household who prepared the lunches.

The next step was to take the

dabbas back to their premises so

that they tiffin boxes could be

sorted according to codes. These

codes were essential to ensure that

the dabbas reached the right

destinations. After the sorting, we

followed a small group of

Dabbawalas to the next sorting

station and boarded the local train.


While using a local train with such a big group presents a

logistical challenge, Dabbawalas have their own compartment in

the train, and we felt it important to let the participants

understand all parts of the “supply chain”. The group reached

Churchgate station in good order, arriving at the same time as

many other Dabbawalas from other locations in Mumbai. Here,

a second order of sorting took place based on the dabbas’ final

destination.

Once the system of sorting was clear, the group delivered some

dabbas to the offices, so the participants could understand how

the Dabbawalas chose routes and organised their load. While

the participants learned a lot from the Dabbawala’s creative

logistics, they also gained a real appreciation for the people

ultimately responsible for delivering warm meals to office

workers.

Direct feedback from participants showed that they recognised

the relevance for their work. Participants talked a lot about route

optimization, and one participant remarked that data packets on

the Internet follow the same kind of principles to send messages

to the right addresses as Dabbawalas use to deliver lunchboxes

to the right offices. Participants were also fascinated by how

Dabbawalas stayed motivated to work, despite tough conditions and ungrateful clients.

These process innovations were discussed further during a debriefing of the activities.

Experiencing the Local Heartbeat

All the lunchboxes were delivered by 1:00 p.m., and participants were offered a chance to

visit Juhu Beach, providing an opportunity to further improve the group dynamic and to

experience a less formal part of the city.

Proud to be a Dabbawalla for one Day


DAY 3 | FEBRUARY 03RD, 2018

Building Bridges

The next day, the group visited the office of Ridlr, a developer of a local public-

transportation routing and ticketing app, where participants were greeted by the founder

and CEO of the company, Brijraj Vaghani. Ridlr explained the unique complications

tracking public transportation in India, where traffic chaos and poor infrastructure, meant

that estimating travel times could be particularly difficult. Ridlr explained the solutions that

they had developed to help commuters in Mumbai with their mobile ticketing services.

After the meeting, the group took a

ride in the metro as well as on a

local double-decker bus. While the

metro was air-conditioned and

relatively comfortable (except for

the crowd), the ride back to Ridlr

office by bus was less regulated:

the lack of air-conditioning in an

overly crowded bus had our

participants thinking about how

comfortable someone would be

using a mobile app in such an

environment and how notifications

could help.

At the end of the visit, the participants could network and dig deeper through discussions

and interviews. Ridlr showed interest in collaborating with some of our participants, who

also developed services for public transport, smart cities, e-mobility, and navigation.


DAY 4 | FEBRUARY 04TH, 2018

On this day the group travelled from Mumbai to Bangalore, which took much of the day.

We took advantage of travel on the weekend, when setting up meetings with local,

innovative companies would have been more difficult.


Insight Hunting

One important element of

business culture in India is

showing a certain flexibility in

planning. Our visit to Ridlr led

them to offer introductions to one

of their partners, Ola. This

spontanous meeting was not only

a fortunate, but also showed the

the importance of personal

relationships with business

partners in India. Another cultural

lesson the group learned was on

Indian time management: a high-

level meeting would likely never

have fit in into a European

schedule.

Providing a ride-sharing platform like Uber, Ola includes less conventional modes of

transport, including bicycles. The group received a short but useful session with a smart

presentation from the team on how mobility needs differ in India.

Ola offers different ride options, from premium to budget taxis, including cars and

rickshaws. A client can also reserve a motorcycle or bicycle from their mobile phone

application, with availability varying by location, with the greatest varitety available in major

cities like Mumbai and Bangalore. They continue to develop their vision of Indian mobility,

developing an even greater variety of transportation solutions, such as further route

optimization and e-mobility.


As part of their business expanision geographically, they have recently started operations in

Australia. Founded only eight years ago, Ola has 6,000 employees and more than 900,000

drivers today—an real Indian success story.

After the visit to Ola, the group

proceeded to a site visit at a

company called ZipGo. We met

two of the three co-founders to

learn about their work on bus

aggregators. They explained how

they built a mobile application to

help commuters book seats on

shuttle busses. They hire buses

assigned to particular routes—

passengers are then automatically

assigned seats on buses based on

their current location and

destination. Bookings can be done

for an individual journey or also a

weekly or monthly commute. ZipGo also operates longer distance buses and plan increase

the size of their fleet and routes in the future based on demand.

While all participants learned about the unique demands of the Indian transportation

system and its clients, the meeting was particularly fruitful for our Slovenian participant

running a bus commute service connecting rural areas to airports. As he is right now

running long distance services but wants to enter the market of shorter distances, he learnt

about how to build an efficient route. Vice versa, Zip Go is highly interested in start long

distance services. Another interesting aspect of this exchange, were the different booking

and billing process. This example shows the openness of both Indian and European

companies and a mutual learning.



Insight Hunting and Networking

This day was less structured than some of the others, giving participants a chance for a

short break. It also gave participants the chance to explore the Bangalore on their own

terms, receiving support from our organising team whenever necessary.

In the evening, the group

participated in an innovation event

with three important speakers:

• S Manikandan, Managing

Director of Spero Electric from

Coimbatore;

• Rohit Koshy, Enterpreneur in

Residence of Taxi Baxi from Delhi;

and

• Vinay Jaiswal a film director from

Mumbai.

The session was moderated by one

of icunet’s intercultural experts and

Head of Consulting for South East Asia Zubin Rashid. He introduced participants to the

concept of Indian Jugaad as a concept of low cost and fast solutions using existing

resources, which the participants had been experienced during the earlier days of the trip.

It pointed out the Smartness with which every problem from daily life to business context

is solved.

The team decided to open this event and invited additional Indian companies in the mobility sector. This gave a better networking opportunity for the European participants, who were allowed to pitch their company and product or service. Participants were even allowed to ride the e-bikes of Spero Electric, one of the pitching companies. One of our participants, doing a test ride on a Spero Electric e-bike, was so enthusiastic that he started negotiating the price while riding the bike. Even this bit of negotiating was a cultural learning experience, showing different styles of communication and negotiation. In the end, the participant thought he had just bought the bike and was very happy about it while Spero Electric just said: “Well, we will send an offer.”

Participants also enjoyed the networking and dinner that followed.



Idea incubation and Wrap-up Session

The last day was kept for the

training on the differences in

culture between India and

countries in Europe. We discussed

the participants’ experiences in

India and connected those

experiences with the cultural

nuances of India.

The final day began with a

brainstorming session to connect

the experiences and lessons from

the company visits with the

participants’ respective

businesses. Nearly everyone was

surprised how direct and open Indian companies were in their criticism of inefficiencies in

the Indian public transport system and corruption of the Indian government. Regulatory

and legal gaps, however, led to many of the innovations that the participants experienced

during their cultural journey.

Keeping in mind the follow-up meeting that the group would attend in Europe in three

months time, we provided the participants with a “run book” to reflect intercultural

experiences and challenges, but also encouraged them to think about niche markets and

innovation ideas and how to implement them.

One area where participants had already begun their discussions was around what kind of

innovation they could learn from. The group coalsced, interestingly, around process

innovation rather than product or service innovation. Participants mentioned the Indian

company’s more relationship-oriented approach and the dedication they found from

employees dedication as lessons learned they would try to implement. Most participants

confirmed that the company visits led to new ideas and that they could improve their

knowledge about the sector and niche markets. For example, the participating navigation

provider found niches to improve the own navigation system. Another important take away

for the participants was to keep their minds open and to try to look for complex solutions

based on very simple and reliable processes.


PARTICIPANTS’ FEEDBACK

During the programme and officially at the end of the intercultural training, participants

were asked for feedback.

As the participants came from different fields (transport services, IT services, consulting

services), they liked the complementarity and mixture of the group, but also mentionned,

that it was potentially more difficult to meet all expectations. For example, participants

coming from the e-mobility sector providing charging solutions pointed out that the

programme was focused too much on software and less on hardware. Nevertheless,

participants liked the connection between the business meetings and the field trips, and

they also appreciated the time to network. They appreciated the open discussion with

Indian companies and felt they came away with the opportunity to collaborate further.

Some of our participants missed a public transport agency in our programme. This is

natural, as public transport is under control of the governement in most European cities

and, in theory, also in India.

The participants wished to have more hard facts and figures about the Indian market in

general and about the mobility and transport sector in particular beforehand or in the

beginning of the programme. Participants were interested in these figures also in

comparison with Europe. Furthermore, they were interested in other business support

programmes and agencies in India. The team will plan to deliver these facts and figures at

the virtual follow up meeting in three months.

As the visited companies were more or less all in the ICT sector, participants mentioned

that they had seen only a part of the mobility sector. Trying to include different aspects of

mobility would have helped to get a bigger picture of Indian mobility.

In terms of lessons learned on networking, one participant mentioned that they would have

appreciated additional training about how to contact people from India before the journey.

The innovation event got a mixed feedback: some participants liked the approach to also

invite people not coming from the mobility sector to speak, others said “the content have

to be improved”.

Regarding the overall organisation, some participants summarized the journey as

“European” India, which was due to the choice of hotels. Our team organised highly rated

international hotels and business-meeting spaces, which some felt was unnecessary. In the


view of our team, however, less expensive logistical choices can lead to huge problems - a

cultural lesson that our participants did not need to learn.

Participants also wished to have more culture specific sightseeing on their programme, like

visiting a temple, which is clearly not the aim and purpose of the EASME programme.

Given that the programme was structured with one to two business meetings/main

activities per day, participants were wondering about the “waste of time”; however, given

traffic uncertainties, the project team felt that a more “packed” programme would be

problematic.

The results of the online satisfaction survey are attached in an Annex to this report.

LESSONS LEARNED

The team wanted to avoid building stereotypes about the target culture and therefore

decided not to give too much culture specific input beforehand. The team was also

concerned that by connecting the participants at an early stage, they would exchange their

views about the Indian market, which would only reinforced any euro-centric attitudes they

might have. To avoid these scenarios, participants were only introduced to each other

shortly before the start of the visit through a virtual kick-off meeting.

One lesson learned was that these concerns were, likely, over-stated. Group dynamics were

very good, but valuable time was required to get participants comfortable with each other,

which could have been facilitated further before the trip. Furthermore, the project team

observed many small critical incidents during the journey which could have been avoided

by a cultural training beforehand or several small training units during the journey. In

future learning circles, the team will consider whether an introductory lesson should take

place before departure. A third reason to abanndon the cold-water approach is because

participants want to have a more or less complete overview about the sector specific

market in the target economy. Information needs to be provided beforehand.

Another lesson learned is to define the target sector more precisely. As participants

mentioned, it is difficult to meet all expectations with a broad sectoral focus. While

regional development and other support agencies may target broad sectors, very specific

subsectors make it easier to find events and visits that feel applicable to every participant.

As this first learning circle had to be postponed due to a lack of applications, the team

decided to anchor upcoming learning circles around major events, like international trade

fairs and exposition. This would make the programme more attractive to SMEs who will


have already decided to set aside time for an international travel and would give a better

insight into the target market and strengthen the innovtion and networking aspects.

The topic of IPR should absolutely be included in the following learning circels, as

European SMEs are very worried about protecting their intellectual properties on

international markets.

Before the journey, a WhatsApp group was formed with all participants and the team. This

communication method turned out to be really helpful in several ways: First, information

about meeting times and places was shared easily, particulary important in an

environment like India, where planning can be fluid. Second, participants used this

communication space to organise themselves during the free time. Third, participants and

the team could share photos of the trip. WhatsApp helped to cement a good group

dynamic. This WhatsApp group was used even after the journey and the follow-up phase

was over.

FOLLOW-UP

For a period of three months, icunet offered further support in their market entry activities in India to the participants. After this period, a call with all participants was organised to summarise the status of the implemented ideas, innovative product developments, relationship building and networking. In this section we will present the results of this call:

Innovative ideas and how to implement them in Europe:

We started with the results of our session at the last day in India and showed the participants what they wrote down as their experiences and what they wanted to take home from India. We asked them then how they took the ideas home, how they tried to implement the ideas and take-aways and how did they spread the input within their company:

Anton Gomá, CTRL4ENVIRO:

„simplify“ is becoming more and more important as a concept in his company. Making things simpler works out for them. It might seem obvious but only after the trip to India, it has become a concept for CTRl4ENVIRO. “The simplier the better” is an often used phrase in CTRL4ENVIRO, now. “Make things simple” is something he really learned from the Dabbawallas in India and now applies on every project. He also connects the simplicity to the concept of Happiness, seen in India.

Tamás and Lilla Prajczer, GeoX:

GeoX wants to offer more personalised services as we have seen it at OLA and also the Dabbawallas. GeoX applications is now available in the last mile food delivery sector and


concentrating on personalizing the service. For this project, GeoX is cooperating with MOL, the biggest oil and gas company in Hungary. The user can order food/coffee from the gas station and it will be prepared when he arrives, for that waiting in the queue can be avoided. By approaching the gas station, the user will get notifications on his smart phone and there is also a possibility to communicate with the gas station. The idea of providing more personalized service to the customer is something GeoX learned in India. The app development started after the trip to India and will be ready in December, as processes are long and the Jugaad concept does not work within big European companies.

Cultural aspects and networking:

Anton Gomá, CTRL4ENVIRO

Anton was still in contact with two of the companies visited during the Learning Circle. But what happened was, that one of these companies with which Anton was negotiating, took his idea about time measuring in smart cities and will now try to implement it with cheaper, Indian partners, but not with him. Our trainer could advise here on how to deal with IPR and pricing in India. The second company with which Anton is still in contact is Ridlr, but he feels like the process is stuck and he does not get any responses right now. This is caused by the fact that OLA acquired Ridlr a few weeks ago. However, even with this “negative” experiences, Anton is not afraid of India anymore and really tries to get into the market. He also is in contact with other Indian companies, we did not visit within our programme, and our intercultural training helps him approaching these companies. Our trainer gave more input about MNE in India.

Tamás and Lilla Prajczer, GeoX

GeoX does not have business connections to India/to the visited companies. But they are still in contact with two of our participants.

Frédéric Joint, EP Tender

Frédéric informed us, that their most important (potential) business partner in India is Tata dealer, and that the intercultural lessons are helpful here.

Otto Loserth, e-Wald

Otto is still inspired from the ways of how to motivate employees. He is still in contact with icunet.

The team sent them to the project platform www.cubein.eu for more information about the country and will provide the participants with a market overview.

http://www.cubein.eu/


SATISFACTION SURVEY

The seven participants were asked to give feedback about the learning circle by filling out

an online satisfaction survey. This survey was divided in four parts: Your experience,

Networking opportunities, Innovation, and Summary questions. The results are presented

below.

Your experience:

The activities addressed my companies needs:

0

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

Dabbawalla Ridlr Sightseeingand

Experienceof the localTransportMumbai

ZipGo Ola InnovationEvent

InterculturalTraining

Strongly agree

agree

disagree

strongly disagree

no answer


The activities were interesting:

From what you learned how important have the following topics been to your on your trip?

0

1

2

3

4

5

6

Dabbawalla Ridlr Sightseeingand

Experienceof the localTransportMumbai

ZipGo Ola InnovationEvent

InterculturalTraining

Strongly agree

agree

disagree

strongly disagree

no answer

0

1

2

3

4

5

6

Cultural Understanding ofthe Region

New Contacts Market understanding of theregion

Very important

somewhat important

Slightly important

Not important

No answer


Did you find elements of the decision maker’s toolkit to be helpful?

When did you use the toolkit (if applicable)?

0

1

2

3

4

5

6

Very important

Somewhat important

Slightly important

Not important

No answer

0

1

2

3

4

5

For my preparation

During the journey

Afterwards

Not used

No answer


How satisfied were you with the organisation of the programme:

Did this programme complement other services that you have received from your regional

or national government?

0

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

Assistance from ICUnetbefore the trip

Flight BOM-BLR Hotels Transportation withinthe city

Very satisfied

Satisfied

Dissatisfied

Very dissatisfied

No answer

0

6

1

Yes No No answer


What kind of programmes do you think CUBE IN complements?

No answers

Networking opportunities:

How many contacts have you made during the trip:

Maximum Indian contacts: 9

Minimum Indian contacts: 3

Maximum European contacts: 9

Minimum European contacts: 5

6,52

5,29

Average number of new contacts/participant

Average number of European contacts/person

Average number of Indian contacts/person


Innovation:

Did you recognise innovation niche markets for your products and services?

Did you discover any innovative ideas while on your trip?

42

1

Yes No No answer

5

1

1

Yes No No answer


What kind of innovation idea did you discover? (only answered by the participants

responded "yes" in the previous question, 5 asnwers=100%)

Will you try to implement these ideas? (only answered by the participants responded “yes”

in the previous question, 5 answers =100%) :

0

1

2

3

5

Will you implement any of these ideas?

Yes

No

No answer


Summary Questions:

Did the journey meet your expectations:

Would you recommend this programme to a colleague or partner?

What part of the programme did you find disappointing?

No answers

0

1

2

3

4

5

A lot Somewhat Very little Not at all No answer

Did the journey meet your expectations?

0

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

Yes No No answer

Would you recommend this programme to a colleague or partner?


In brief, what was the best aspect of the programme?

Besindes the cultural learning about India, indespensable when targeting that market,

the networking or even some very interesing new leads that appeared during the

programme, what I deeply value is the fact sharing it with other SME COEs. It

encourages to find people sharing the same kind of challenges.

This journey was a very good introduction to idnai. The companies we

ve met were enthusiastic on their product. It has been possible to experiment several

means of transport. We had some cery good contacts within the European team, the

selection of the start ups was very diversified. It’s a good point that ICUnet organisation

isn’t only Euroepan but also India.

It was my 4th trip to India, so for me, the dabbawalas and the meetings with the

companies were the most interesting parts of the programme.

Intercultural brain storming

The possibility to understand better the approach to the specific new mobility services

realized in a “crowded” environment and the related “process” requirements

In one week we got a brief overview on the market.

In what way can the programme be improved?

I would suggest reducing a bit the cost per person and to include one or two more

participants in the programme

We could have more meetings

It would have been interesting to visit a plant or any “hardware” company. The

accomodation should be cheaper for SME.

More meeting would be better (I learnt that it is hard to organise the meetings with

Indian companies)

The programm is excellent. It could be tighter – more company meetings

To have also the possibilits to meet mobility operators/providers and the Transport

Authorities in order to identity the requirements and needs of the diferent services for

possible collaboration or personalization of the product or t3echnical assistance.


IMPRINT

Publisher

ICUnet.AG

Fritz-Schäffer-Promenade 1

94032 Passau

Telephone: +49 851 988666-14

Fax: +49 851 988666-70

E-mail: [email protected]

Internet: www.icunet.ag

Status: November 2017

Headquarters

ICUnet.AG

Fritz-Schäffer-Promenade 1

94032 Passau

Executive Director

Dr. Fritz Audebert

Image sources: iStock 621616982

Mumbai Bridge: https://www.economist.com/news/christmas-specials/21568582-half-built-bridge-

symbolises-urgency-and-frustrations-improving-indias

Street Scene: https://www.virgin.com/disruptors/rickshaws-vehicles-social-change

Mumbai Airport: http://www.som.com/projects/chhatrapati_shivaji_international_airport__terminal_2

……………

This program is part of the overall EASME Horizon 2020 project "Capturing innovation impulses

from emerging markets", realised by icunet, Technopolis Group and Hofstede insights.

http://www.som.com/projects/chhatrapati_shivaji_international_airport__terminal_2

Improvised Ingenuity, February 01st-08th, 2018

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Transcript of Improvised Ingenuity, February 01st-08th, 2018