Turnaround specialist Jan Carlzon, the ex-CEO of SAS, is in India and promises to coach Indian companies on what they shouldn’t be doing.‘‘The most difficult thing,’’ says Carlzon, who took a year (1981) to turn SAS and its dawdling fortunes into a success-story ‘‘is to be able to say ‘no’ to bad business and ‘yes’ to only good offers.’’On Wednesday, he begins a two-day lecture tour in Delhi and Mumbai, hoping to assist India Inc make difficult choices, that many have already made - and profited from - worldwide.‘‘In any country, when competition opens up the economy, everyone has to learn the same lessons: You must decide who is going to be your customer and then adapt your product or service to his needs. This, while making sure you’re at least 1 per cent better than your rivals,’’ says Carlzon,.The lesson was learnt, says Carlzon, by all television companies. ‘‘TV is mature today, but first every channel selected an audience and stuck with it. A business channel won’t offer house-keeping or gardening advice today. So TV is a good example for what Indian business should try and do,’’ explains Carlzon.On his first trip to India, Carlzon isn’t sure if the Scandinavian venture capital firm he heads, Ledistiernan, will find the right Indian company, but he’s sure there is potential.‘‘India is nothing like where I come from. But I am sure there are immense business opportunities here. We are very pleased with an Indian offshore company working for us, and there must be many others with potential,’’ he says.Carlzon sees India’s strengths in its technically trained and educated workforce. But he spots weaknesses too, specially in the ‘‘unusual reliance’’ on labour arbitrage.‘‘It is good India has a combination of good prices and competitive labour, but it must prepare for when the privileged situation will no longer be there,’’ Carlzon says. He cites the cases of China, Korea and others who are fast catching up in costs and capability.Carlzon holds 50 per cent in the Swedish investment firm Karl Stockman AB, but thinks Indian companies need an unique edge in services to be really global. ‘‘They must build a close long-term relationship with existing and new clients, a relationship that technical rivalry or labour arbitrage cannot displace,’’ he suggests.Though Carlzon does not reveal the Indian firms he admires, he admits Indian aviation, retail and IT are most interesting today.‘‘The most difficult thing in retail is to price low enough to be popular, but stick with quality,’’ he says.But on India’s aviation experience, he is cryptic: ‘‘Normally, firms either don’t go far enough with cutting costs. Or, when they do, they compromise quality while waiting for a ‘good year’ to invest in. This is a terrible but common mistake.’’
