Industrialisation in Kerala: a necessity in the near future

Even though the Communists resist industrialization, they cannot do that in the present scenario. This is because people do not need theories, but decisions for the betterment of common man. Social and economic improvement will get a place in this ‘betterment’, but I am not sure whether environmental and cultural improvement will get the adequate importance.

The social and economic improvement is possible only through more job opportunities and good education. This pave the ways for fetching more industries and businesses to Kerala by the Govt. The Communist Party always stand for the employees; against the exploitation of employees by the employers. But most people, now-a-days, think in a different manner. They do not matter their exploitation; but they need a job, a better pay package than before. They are ready to work hard. As long as they get a very good salary, they do not mind being exploited to a certain extent. I.T jobs are clear examples for this.

Today the hot topic is economic slowdown. It has affected worldwide, but not much severity in India. It primarily affects the production houses or manufacturing units. If the slowdown becomes more severe and results in more lay-off, many ‘Mallu’ people working in Gulf countries will be forced to come back to Kerala. Even though there are not much authentic records about how many Keralites are working abroad, an informal record shows about 20-40 lakhs Keralites are working abroad; out of which, around 20 lakhs are in Gulf countries only.

Think about the situation when these many people are forced to return to Kerala due to economic recession. Can Kerala handle this much population, without a job?

These people do not have a place to work due to lack of businesses in Kerala. Most people will move to those places like Cochin, where the chances of getting a job is more than that in a village. Some will more to metros like Mumbai, Bengaluru etc. in search of a ‘better’ job and for better education for their children. Some will ‘adjust’ for some time with their foreign earnings. But how long? They have no other way, but to work at a lesser pay package and position. Some will end up in starting a small business.

This is a very big blow to the pride of Keralites – working similar to a servant, where once lived like a king.

People who had gone to Gulf at their twenties and now at fifties or sixties will not face much difficulty to cop up with the situation. They must have earned enough and will definetly lead a calm and peaceful life. But the situation I narrated above is for a middle-aged man who struggles to meet the two ends.

People coming to Kerala from Gulf were worked in different fields. Due to the experience in diverse fields, Kerala is blessed with a wide variety of expertise, talents and knowledge of these returning Gulf Malayalees. Sad! we do not have enough place to occupy them, to utilise their expertise properly. Otherwise, Kerala will be the numero uno among the states in India, with its knowledge power and the hard working attitude of Keralites(I must admit that the hard working attitude can be seen only when Keralites move out of the state. In Kerala, people are lazy!!)

A couple of technoparks or smart cities are not sufficient for the development of Kerala. Those cannot provide much employment options when compared to the population in Kerala above the age of 20. We need more industries. We need not only IT companies, but manufacturing firms, food processing units, service industries, agricultural institutes and research firms. We need incubation centres for the development of new businesses. We need more private limited firms and Public Private Partnership(PPP) firms. Our public companies should compete with the private ones. In short, each and every firm, everyone in Kerala should work for the development of our state and there by the development of each individual. Betterment of a single person is possible only through a collective effort.

We need a government with ‘very less’ red tapism( I won’t say NO because it will take time to get implemented in Kerala at present scenario), ‘less’ corruption and a competent team to lead Kerala. Keynes macro economic model focuses on three factors- Government, Businesses and House holds(Individuals). So government plays a crucial role in the economic development of each individual.

We need an efficient government, we should welcome more businesses/industries to Kerala. Yes, as an individual, I’m ready to work hard, for the benefit of my nation and that ultimately results in a better life for me than what I am enjoying right now.

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Do you need an MBA to become an entrepreneur?

“Why do you want to do an MBA?”
“I want to be an entrepreneur.”
“Do you need an MBA to become an entrepreneur?”

Even though I answered “Yes” with out any logical thinking, this question of my Professor Anirban Ghatak kept me thinking for the entire two years in MBA. Do you need an MBA to become an entrepreneur?

Source: http://www.vctec.ac

MBA – Masters in Business Administration – is different from entrepreneurship. To be specific, MBA is a subset of entrepreneurship. Entrepreneurship is more than that of MBA. The roles of a manager and an entrepreneur are not comparable. The approaches to the same problem by an MBA graduate and an entrepreneur are also different. The way they think(intuitive/ systematic), the decisions they make, idea generation methodologies, their dealing or presentation with other people, the risk taking abilities, and even their appearances and mannerisms are different.

An MBA graduate, usually, focus on one particular specialisation and even into micro specialisations. But an entrepreneur is a jack of all, and sometimes may be a master in one subject. There is no need of an MBA to start a business, but to proceed further, may be after a year, one needs some knowledge about managing the business. An entrepreneur can avoid this step by appointing a manager in the firm to take care of business. But would you prefer another person to run the business to you? Three things matter here.

Effectiveness: The entrepreneur has better information and knowledge regarding the business because he/she is the one who conceives the idea. And hence he/she can manage the business effectively and efficiently.

Trustworthiness: Since the entrepreneur knows the business inside out, it is better to take the position as a manager than appointing another person.

Money: You need to pay the manager a hefty amount if one is appointed.

An MBA is good when you need to understand more financial/marketing/HR concepts, otherwise there may be a chance that your own employees fool you and take advantage of your ignorance.

The critical factor: Idea
The critical factor that decides whether you need to do an MBA to become an entrepreneur or not is “idea”. If you have a very good ‘innovative idea’, do not waste your time in doing a two year MBA course. Start it right away. Get the help from a professional to make a business plan and present your idea before venture capitalists. They will take care of the funding part. But be cautious that the professional who is helping you to prepare the business plan should not steal your idea. (It is better to prepare a business plan by yourself or patent your idea).

But what if you do not have an innovative idea? An existing business or a successful idea copied from another country is prone to more competition. You need to know how to develop your business and here comes the importance of MBA. It depends on a number of external factors like economy, politics, technology etc. If you do not want to waste your time and have good financial backing, go ahead and hire a manager.

Decisions and risk-taking ability

An entrepreneur thinks both intuitively and logically more or less the same. But intuition plays a less role in the decision taking ability of a manager. Business schools will teach you to think in a systematic way just like solving a case study. But no one in business schools will teach you how to think intuitively. It is qualitative and is difficult to convey. One need to practice it. Keep in mind that intuition plays a major role in decision taking.

Entrepreneurs are more risk taking than managers. An entrepreneur identifies an opportunity and grabs it. He/she takes the risk and acts accordingly. But a manager is more into traditional way of thinking and hesitates to take the risk. Even if a manager do not take a risk and the business goes smoothly, he is not in a dangerous position. But if he takes risk and the business flops out of the risk, his may get a pink slip. This thought hesitates the managers to take risk. Always keep in mind that the risk should be a calculated one.

Learning: an on-going process
Whether you have an MBA or not, whether you plan to take an MBA or not, whether you are a manager or an entrepreneur, to run a busiess, it is essential that you need to learn continously. It is an on-going process.

Keep on updating your knowledge. Identify the opportunities, anaylse them – its advantages and drawbacks. If it is viable, take the risk and invest in it. Reap the benefit as soon as possible.

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