Business Case Studies, Executive Interviews, Anil Bharadwaj on Managing Troubled Times

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Executive Interviews: Interview with Anil Bharadwaj on Managing Troubled Times
March 2009 - By Dr. Nagendra V Chowdary


Anil Bharadwaj
Anil Bharadwaj, Secretary General, Federation of Indian, Micro and Small & Medium Enterprises


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  • First, a word about Federation of Indian Micro and Small & Medium Enterprises (FISMEs). What is the scope of its operations and nature of its activities? Any milestones as on date, for the Federation?
    FISME came into being in 1995 as a Federation of geographical and sectoral associations of Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) in India spread across districts and states. It was established as National Alliance of Young Entrepreneurs (NAYE) in 1967, when Indian government started monumental initiatives for small industry promotion. India was a different country then, inward looking, interventionist and hugely protectionist.

    NAYE had a contextual agenda which suited that era. After India’s embarking upon liberalization in 1991 and its accession to WTO in 1995, it called for a fundamentally different approach for SME promotion. NAYE along with 8 state level associations gave birth to FISME to lead SMEs in the changed economic realities.
    Its mindset, mission and activities have been shaped by these national and global developments. It focuses primarily on trade and market access issues and reforms with the twin objective of establishing entrepreneurial and competitive environment at home and greater market access for Indian SMEs in India and abroad.

    The key thematic areas of work at FISME constitute:

  1. Internationalization of SMEs which reflects in our activities such as networking with SME associations abroad and organization of trade fairs, trade delegations, hand-holdingtraining, BDS development among others.
  2. Mainstreaming of trade issues among SMEs and their associations, engaging us in continuous research, sensitization on trade issues and organization of collective initiatives
  3. Strong orientation for reforms in regulatory environment and promotional policies in tune with changing world trade order to enhance competitiveness of SMEs vis-à-vis their larger domestic counterparts and foreign firms – engaging us in research, bringing out policy papers and organization of campaigns.
  • What sectors/industries do you think are amenable for SME operating model?
    SMEs operate everywhere. There are only a few exclusions. Sectors not amenable to SMEs are the ones where entry barriers are very high. Such barriers could be of very high capital requirement in sectors such as aircraft, nuclear energy, mining, oil exploration and refining, semiconductor etc., or induced by technology or policy.

  • Do you find clusters operating in Indian SME sector across the country, for instance, Surat for gems and jewellery, Salem and Erode for textiles, etc? What are the pros and cons of operating in a cluster?
    There are around 400 industrial clusters and more than 3000 artisan clusters in India. MSMEs tend to cluster around naturally. Evolution of industrial clusters or clustering of firms at a place could be in response to a wide range of reasons: from nearness of markets to availability of skilled manpower at a geographical location to need to respond to a specific challenge. The phenomenon of clustering also enables them achieve economy of scale and they can thrive on specialization of value chain clustered around at one place. At the same time MSMEs in clusters also suffer from malice of ‘path dependency’ of technology and of markets. The crowd produce the same way, the same type of products and serve same type of customers. Each can bleed the other out. Clustering alone does not bestow much virtue but provides for a platform whereupon competitive strategies could be built through positive externalities.

    However, the understanding of dynamics of clusters in India is very superficial. It is like blinds describing the elephant- each development agency and ministry has its own definition of cluster and its own logic of intervention. Current debate on clusters in India is full of sound and fury, signifying little. We as a country have not yet grasped the means and ways to harness the potential of clustering.

1. Troubled Times Case Study
2. ICMR Case Collection
3. Case Study Volumes

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