Patents and innovation- protection

You work hard, spend huge intellectual effort in fine tuning your idea and finally converting the idea into a game changing innovation. You get a patent protection on it. Now the challenge is to convert this innovation into a business proposition. You have already shared this with your close friends and your immediate network but none of them have been able to convert that innovation into a business. Now you are looking for options. You use the internet, social networking sites like linked in and others hoping that someone, somewhere in some part of the world with business sense will help you convert your idea into a business venture. 

Innovators will meet such people, some of them will be genuine, others will be non serious and frivolous while a few will be out to steal the concept. The challenge is now to select the right person. I have come across some innovators who are faced with this dilemma. In one case, we succeeded in building trust and are taking steps to convert the innovation into a business venture. In another case, I did not succeed. Maybe I did not make the right noises and build that trust or maybe the innovator was just too scared of taking the plunge. 

There are no easy options here. It is just like dating. You make it with some and do not make it with others. You go by your gut feel. 

Super specialist unemployment and business opportunity

With demand for goods and services ebbing in most parts of the developed world, specialists who were hitherto accepted to be the critical components in a business are finding themselves being asked to either take early retirement or are shown the door. Talented people are suddenly finding themselves without work. 

On the other hand economies like India and China while there are large numbers of educated graduates, there are relatively few highly experienced super specialists. These economies were largely command and control economies where bureaucrats played and to a large extent still control the top decision making jobs. 

The private sector institutions in these institutions are starved of top quality talent. Business opportunity for talented people who are getting de-mobilized in the West exist in these countries. The trick is in finding, accessing and capitalizing on this.  

Infrastructure projects management

There is huge unultized capability in energy, steel, auto, food processing, mining etc in North America and Europe which is struggling to survive in the global bear market. On the other hand there is substantial unmet demand for such goods and services. Many Corporations find it difficult to crack into the otherwise lucrative India market because of what are perceived to be huge social, political, bureaucratic and regulatory barriers. 

The current bear market affords a major potential in risk diversification and business expansion to business. SAC can help reduce the entry pain and break into this difficult but potentially lucrative market. We have integrated social sector models that can be deployed to assist in implementation of mega infrastructure projects. Specialised expertise and generic local capability is a potent combination that can be deployed to effect. 

With the general elections coming to a close in India by middle of May, this is a good time to explore and exploit the situation. The bear market will not last forever and once it is over, it will competition as usual. Now is the time to make your move.

Learning from entertainment industry collaboration efforts

I had set out enthusiastically collaboration efforts in the entertainment industry. We had planned to organize music related events worldwide. Unfortunately the collaboration effort did not succeed in one place but in other places it has achieved great success. 

I would like to list out the reasons where I failed. It failed when expectations of both parties although clearly outlined at the start was not followed up and updated.  As the project planning moved ahead, expectation management was left at the oral level and corporate principles of documenting conversations, making alterations to existing agreements was given a go by. Critical communication gaps emerged and the relationship tanked. It ended with rancor and distrust on both sides. 

Where it succeeded was where we kept discussions at a purely professional level and did not let emotions get ahead of us. We are going strong on at this stage with our programs but it was a learning that I wanted to share with others.  

Principles for global collaboration

Cultural differences need to be resolved while entering into collaborative arrangements with companies and individuals worldwide. Most of us from Asia generally find it difficult to say no to things that we are not comfortable with; we are especially reluctant to make a negative statement to people who we categorize as elders, religious people or people in what are perceived in Asia as coming from 'noble" professions like medicine, religious people and others like people in high office, well connected people etc. We also try too hard to get a deal going and are willing to negotiate which is perceived as vacillation or resorting to trickery in other parts of the world. I have found additionally differences in approach to doing business in different sectors in the same country. The entertainment industry in general is less structured and organized as other sectors like manufacturing, IT, finance and the like. My recommendation that the best way to handle these challenges is to adopt a structured approach while dealing with people in culturally different locations. Documenting discussions, making out legal agreements, defining roles and responsibilities, insisting on a structured process to doing business are some ways these differences can be bridged. Collaboration is critical to success and perhaps some of these aspects may help us in our journey to collaborate and grow together.