A company culture is often
mentioned as an outcome of its business success . The greater the
success in terms of revenues and profits the higher is the tendency to
elevate its company culture. Can the company culture survive the
scrutiny of business success? Can it outlive the original organisation
and still exist in the minds and hearts of the people it nurtured. Can it
be carried to other organisations and still be talked about with pride? Can it
make an impact on an individual outside work? Can it rally around
and self-organise itself into a network?
It does at times and that is when
you feel like penning a testimonial, here is mine.
Picture
this! A small town in Netherlands having a software company with about
300 employees doing all its business locally. One can imagine its founder
thinking about expansion and seeking talent and innovation primarily in Europe
or in North America, surely not India and that too in the mid
80’s. Not many people had India on their map back then for software
development. Yet the founder of Baan Company Mr Jan Baan thought
differently, visited India in 1986 and could clearly sense its potential in software
development.
Quick to
act, a short time later he deputed his dynamic VP of Business Development (Mr
Kees Westerhuis) to visit India and forge partnerships for software development
with emerging outsourcing firms. I am talking of 1987. A new chapter
began then in India’s young history of software outsourcing, this time not
written by a big firm with lots of cash but a small yet visionary company from
Netherlands called Baan, led by its founder and CEO Mr Jan Baan. What
others waited for to see clearly he could sense and wanted to seek and nurture.
My stars
were perhaps in the right place. I got the opportunity along with a few
colleagues to work in this initial phase of East meeting West for
software product development. This was when I got to meet many of
my Dutch colleagues and also make many trips to Netherlands. I got to
experience the cultural amalgamation at close quarters. Remember India
was still not famous for its software industry back then and only a
few Western companies were active in India. The challenge was even
more as India had still not opened up its economy. Risks were high,
challenges many.
Working
closely with Indian outsourcing firms the Dutch company began to see more
strategic possibilities in India and took the plunge to set up its own
subsidiary in 1989 in Mumbai.
Making it
work in terms of delivery was big challenge for all of us but I could feel the
persevering and stewardship leadership from the top to make it
happen. There was a strong belief in the long term potential of
Indian software engineers. This was backed with the
investments required to make people on both sides understand what it takes to
overcome barriers of language, culture and expectations. The wisdom of patience
and acceptance of cultural differences was emphasised in tough times.
This laid the strong foundation for a deep understanding
between India and Netherlands in the organisation and was led from the front by
the CEO Mr Jan Baan and supported more than ably by his trusted
colleagues on both sides.
A deeper
understanding of people and culture led to an increase in the scope and scale
of the Indian subsidiary in Mumbai. We set up a CoE and were able to
provide top notch ERP consultants to serve the increasing demands of our global
partners and customers . Soon we set up core product
development and support functions in Mumbai. Early 90’s we were one of
the few companies which could use its Indian subsidiary not as a
cost centre but more as a strategic force multiplier for its global business.
Working
closely with my Dutch colleagues, was a unique experience. I noticed their deep
passion for technology and products. They went deep into their respective areas
and always talked about generic problems and solutions. There was an
important focus on modelling and architecture. Instead of bespoke solutions we
had products that were able to meet diverse needs. Releasing products to
the market was a critical process where we had to get so many
things right and this was a great learning for all of us in India. Dutch
colleagues who barely spoke English were open to share knowledge and coach
their Indian counterparts, some of them often carrying their Dutch to English
dictionaries with them. This phase was crucial for there was a big gap
then in understanding how to develop and implement technology based
products. Our Indian colleagues stepped up to this challenge and soon they took
ownership of several products. The strategic intent of this
venture was now being achieved in the early 90’s.
Our ERP
products became very popular globally. Growth led to more demands on scaling
the India operations. By mid-90’s we needed a new location to expand. The
pioneering and risk taking culture of the company stood out once again when we
decided on Hyderabad as our growth location. This was unusual at that time, for
Bangalore was the obvious choice for many. This was a bold decision. One
that was taken because of a deep understanding of India. Taken by the senior
leadership team of the company who travelled frequently to India and some who
even relocated here for longer durations. India by then was not anymore
only a land of elephants and snake charmers and was seen as an emerging economy
with its vast pool of talent and enterprise.
The
government of Andhra Pradesh recognised this bold decision of the Baan Company
and not only extended their full support but also based their marketing efforts
on the famous words of Mr Jan Baan i.e. “I have bet my future on
Hyderabad”. We got off to a good start in 1995. Soon we had over
800 developers developing, maintaining and support old and new products, we had
a global institute for training partners and employees on a massive scale.
We soon became one of the most sought after employers in this region and
were able to attract a lot of talent to the company. This was the
original vision which now became a reality.
To
support this growth we needed larger office facilities. A
brief chat between me and my boss (Marcel Verhoeve - VP R&D) in Netherlands
led to some very efficient straight through communication and soon this was
discussed with the EVP of R&D (Mr Laurens v.d Tang) and CEO. I
did not expect such a quick response and was even more surprised to find that
the CEO and the President were flying down to Hyderabad to discuss and
decide. The decision was quickly taken in late 1997 to have a campus in
Hyderabad with significant investments. This then was one of the largest
private company investments in the city. The speed of decision
making really galvanised us in India to make it happen and the trust and
support we received in the process of setting up the campus was perhaps the
main reason we could do so quickly. By late 1999 the first phase of the campus
called Vanenburg IT Park, was ready and occupied. The management style
here was delegation and decentralisation.
Soon the
Vanenburg IT Park in Hyderabad became one of the well-known landmarks in the
Hyderabad IT industry. When I look back at this, it was a great combined
effort from our senior management in Netherlands and the India team, one that
needed apart from competence a lot of understanding, trust, risk taking and
vision. Subsequently a lot of companies followed suit and we were the
reference check for many of them.
Business
subsequently hit turbulence. This was again a true test of the character and
commitment of the company towards people. Downsizing happened in the most
humane way and the process set us apart. The company helped the employees who
were let go find jobs with other partners and in the process created a stronger
bond with them. Many of them subsequently applied and joined back, remembering
how they were treated during the process. Baan as a company was sold and
another avatar of this culture was formed. Initially called Vanenburg this was
later renamed to Cordys headed by its founder and CEO Mr Jan Baan.
A new business started and true to its product pedigree Cordys once again
gained global attention as one of the leading BPMS and PAAS product vendor. It
was another example of how a good company culture can create good products.
A lot
more can be said about this journey, but when I put it all together it
was a great combination of talented people in technology and product
development working as one team, envisioning the future ,
designing innovative products and above all forging a bridge
of deep trust and understanding across the company . A lot could be
achieved due to this, and a sum of these experiences at work can be termed as
our company culture.
These
experiences have changed me and made me look at people, business and products
in a different way. It has made me realise that it is the process that
matters, success or failure is incidental. I have learnt the
importance of being able to spend time with people and try to understand them
better. It’s important to create a culture of being open and transparent, one
of integrity, innovation and initiative. Good products will follow, the
ones created by our team are still being used by several thousand companies
worldwide and ex-colleagues with fond memories scattered all over the globe
that still stay in touch. The network is still strong and reflects
the shared values in each of us. This is the legacy of the culture that was
built and I can say this culture has survived the organisation that created it.
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