Infosys on Innovation

"There’s huge innovation in creating a high-volume, low-price business."

--Nandan M. Kilekani, Infosys CEO

Back in February, I criticized Infosys Consulting for not publishing much thought leadership, aside from its Soap Box section. As a U.S.-based management consulting firm with an India-based parent in the IT integration business, it’s uniquely positioned to speak out on some of today’s most important topics. In the current issue of Business Week, the CEO of Infosys, Nandan M. Kilekani, takes advantage of that perspective in an article on “Obstacles to Innovation in China and India.”


Those obstacles to innovation are familiar: lack of infrastructure, a small middle class, labor inflexibilities, and (in China) a bad IP policy. Yet, to overcome these obstacles, the locals have had to be -- guess what? -- highly innovative -- for example, by building mobile telecom businesses that can make money at one cent per minute, and by selling consumer goods like shampoo in very small quantities and at low prices. Unilever and Proctor & Gamble have adopted this Indian model in some markets.

But “in the end,” Kilekani says, “innovation capability” in India and China depends on having an economy and a culture that’s more like the U.S.

Well, sure. But why then bring up those Indian examples of innovation that Western companies emulate? Maybe the “obstacles” to innovation are also an advantage -- because they force people to think of ways to overcome those obstacles, and those ways can be applied elsewhere. That is innovation from cultural and economic cross-pollination -- not just from imitating one particular culture or economy. One obstacle to innovation in the U.S. might be a U.S. centric view -- something that India and China might help the U.S. overcome.