Chapter 352: The Tata Family

……

"The Tata family, I'm really looking forward to meeting Ratan Tata!" Guo Shouyun said thoughtfully.

Strictly speaking, he and the Tata family have a similar attitude towards wealth and family inheritance. As India's largest conglomerate, the Tata family holds 66% of the voting rights of the Tata Group through more than a dozen 'sincerity funds', that is, charitable funds, which avoids the division of family wealth and ensures the family's inheritance.

In the past 100 years, although they have never been on the Forbes rich list like the successors of India's giants such as the Ambani family, the Bora family, the Birla family, and the Mittal family, they have won the envy of everyone, but they have always made the Tata Group sit in the position of India's largest conglomerate.

Such means and effects are exactly what Guo Shouyun wants and intends to emulate.

"Do you need to send an offer to Ratan Tata now?" asked Rebecca.

"Not yet. Wait until I have a better understanding of Indian society!"

The most taboo thing in any negotiation is information asymmetry. If you negotiate and cooperate deeply without a deep understanding of India's electricity market and how it works, you will definitely be the ones who will suffer.

After a brief chat, Guo Shouyun's gaze turned outside again. Compared to yesterday's night, now when the sky is bright, you can see the city of Mumbai more clearly.

Sure enough, as Rebecca said, there is no order in the traffic here. All kinds of vehicles are mixed together, and the reflectors don't do much at all, except for the horns. Of course, the speed is no different from a turtle crawl.

In such a state, the distance between the Taj Mahal Hotel and the headquarters of Anping India was no more than 6 kilometers, and it took more than an hour to walk.

"Is this all the traffic in India?"

Rebecca nodded, "This is a megacity with a population of 20 million, of which nearly 7 million are poor, and in the absence of good traffic order, congestion is the norm here. ”

"Maybe I should take a helicopter ride when I go out in the future!" Guo Shouyun complained.

This is the preferred mode of transportation for most of India's wealthy, and it is one of the reasons why they have chosen to build high-rise residential buildings instead of manor-style villas that are common in the United States. ”

Guo Shouyun nodded, looking at the high-rise buildings outside the window that were obviously different from business buildings with unique shapes, and after a while, "I still prefer manor villas to this kind of steel jungle." By the way, is there such a place in Mumbai?"

There are many similar villas in the affluent areas of southern Mumbai. What does the boss want?"

"Keep an eye on me! The staff at the hotel is too complicated, and I don't want to be stuck in traffic for an hour every time I go out!"

"Understood!"

"Boss, we're here!" said Matthew.

"Well, let's get off!"

I briefly looked at the business building in front of me, an ordinary business building with 223 floors, boxy, white exterior walls, and windows with no sense of design, and floor-to-ceiling windows that don't exist at all. When he saw it, Guo Shouyun thought of those old buildings in China in the 80s. There is not a bit of a modern design at all. So, after just taking a look, he walked inside under the leadership of Rebecca.

"The company bought a floor here, about 1,500 square meters. The personnel are divided into two parts, the headquarters has 257 people, and the Dabor power plant has 1,288 people! We are investing in the new Dabor Iron and Steel Plant and the Rolling Mill, because we only hold shares and do not participate in the management, so the personnel are not counted. Rebecca said as she walked.

"Is it always like this?"

"When Enron was still there, it was almost empty. It wasn't until we bought it that it was back to its current level. ”

As the two spoke, the elevator doors opened. Looking at the Enron Pacific logo facing the door, as well as the well-dressed and smiling front desk, Guo Shouyun nodded slightly. It can be seen that Rebecca has worked the Dabor project.

"Is Shah Rukh there?"

Looking at the serious and capable Rebecca, the two young Indian girls looked nervous. They obviously knew Rebecca.

"Yes, I'll get back to you right away!"

"No need. You do your job, and I'll go to him myself. ”

Rebecca waved her hand, and there was a domineering attitude in her tone that could not be refused.

Guo Shouyun, who was standing next to her, watched her performance, with an interesting look on his face. To be honest, although it is not the first time to see Rebecca's shrewd and capable work style when dealing with his subordinates, every time he sees it, it still brings him a different kind of freshness. Because usually, it is really difficult to see a woman with such a strong style.

"Boss, go this way!"

Guo Shouyun nodded, "Rebecca, it seems that everyone here is a little afraid of you!"

"I was also forced. Indians are very emotional and can make good advertising ideas and promotional strategies. But they have a serious lack of respect for time and efficiency. But time and efficiency are often the foundation of a business's success. So, in order for them to be able to get to work on time and complete their tasks, I had to be harsh. ”

Guo Shouyun understood. Rebecca's words reminded him of the online descriptions he had read about the behavior and personality of Indians.

From a management point of view, there are two aspects to everything: controllable and uncontrollable. For example, the market, pricing, publicity strategy, packaging, etc. are uncontrollable in China, Japan and Western countries, because no one can accurately predict the market, and pricing, publicity strategy and packaging will continue to change with the audience, consumption and market.

But in contrast, factors such as production cycles, time consumption, and employees are all controllable. These can be decided by the management of the enterprise.

In India, though, it's all the other way around. Cycles, time-consuming, and employees become uncontrollable. The market and publicity strategy have become controllable factors. So, when foreign companies come to India, you will find that everything is different from what you know.

Absenteeism and delays in construction have become commonplace.

And under the dominance of this thinking, the whole Indian society has become very bizarre. The prime example of this is the government of Mumbai. Mayor is just an honorary title and doesn't have much real power at all. The real municipal power is in the hands of various committees such as the Mumbai Electricity Board, the Water Board, the Education Board, etc.

The uncontrollability of politics has led to administrative inefficiency, rampant corruption, and all sorts of strange things.

In addition, because of the 'freedom of speech', on Indian political TV shows, you find that cricket or Bollywood celebrity gossip is discussed throughout, don't think it's incredible, because everything is 'uncontrollable'!

Walking through the office area, almost all the employees here were looking at them curiously. Of course, it's curiosity about him, and fear of Rebecca.

"Knock...!"

After walking through the office area, she knocked on the inside door.

Soon, with a slight grinding sound, a fair-skinned young woman in a black lady's professional dress opened the door, apparently in the role of an assistant.

"Ms. Mark!"

The woman looked nervous.

"Is Shah Rukh in there?"

"In!"

Rebecca nodded, took a half step back, and gave the way to Guo Shouyun.

"Boss, please!"

Although he didn't care about these false courtesies, it was a good feeling to be respected. After nodding slightly, Guo Shouyun was not polite.

The general manager's office is separated from the assistant's office outside by a layer of tempered glass. Because of the curtains and the angle, the people inside did not notice the movement outside.

But as the ground bullet door of the tempered glass was pushed open by Rebecca, Shah Rukh Singh, the head of the Indian market of Anping, appeared in front of Guo Shouyun.

"Ms. Mark...!"

Shah Rukh Singh was just about to get up to say hello, but his eyes were quickly attracted by Guo Shouyun, who walked in behind.

Since Enron Pacific's regional reforms, Mumbai, India, has become the headquarters of the South Asia and Middle East regions. As the regional president, Shah Rukh Singh is also one of the top executives of Enron Pacific, and he naturally met Guo Shouyun at the company's meetings.

"Boss!?"

"What, are you surprised to see me?" said Guo Shouyun with a smile.

"No, why didn't you inform me when you came to India? When the time comes, I'll organize a greeting!"

Shah Rukh Singh is a typical Indian elite, after graduating from the Indian Institute of Management, he studied at Harvard, received his Ph.D. and joined Dulis, and after three years, he joined Pacific Power and Gas, where he worked for eight years. Prior to the acquisition of Pacific Power & Gas, he was Senior Vice President of Natural Gas at the company.

Later, as the company expanded, especially after the acquisition of Enron, the head office valued his Indian background and excellent work experience, and promoted him to the position of president of South Asia and the Middle East.

"Forget about greeting, if you have this time, you might as well manage the company well!" Guo Shouyun waved his hand.

Waving, the three of them sat down on the couch in the adjacent reception area.

"Shahuk, you know the purpose of my visit to India, so let's talk about it, how is the Dabor project now?" Guo Shouyun said directly.

"The first phase of the 4 million tonnes Dabor steel plant, which is in partnership with Tata Steel, is two years away from completion... ”

"Two years?" Guo Shouyun frowned. It's also too slow.

"Boss, you know it's India. Although the construction party is ourselves, the workers are Indian. The three-year deadline is already a lot of time. ”

"Okay! That means the Dabor power plant will lose money for two more years?"

"Theoretically, yes. However, we are in talks with the Gujarat Electricity Commission and there are some good progresses. ”

"Oh?"

"They agreed to buy our electricity for 3.5 rupees, but they wanted a 10 per cent rebate! ”