What Business Are You In ?

For the entire Telecom Industry , the one lesson they must learn after the latest announcement of Shri Mukesh Ambani , is what Ted Levitt wrote in his seminal essay (  Marketing Myopia / 1960  ) :

" What business are you in ?  If you don't make yourself obsolete , someone else will "

He went on to quote the example of the US Railroads , who thought they were in the “ RAILROAD BUSINESS “

Along came Henry Ford with his Model T , saying :  I am in the business of  TRANSPORTING PEOPLE

And made the railroads obsolete ( at least in USA ) , as far as  PEOPLE BUSINESS  was concerned !

I still cannot forget when I had a 30 minute one-to-one meeting with late Shri Dhirubhai Ambani , in February 1990 , when , for a short period , he was Chairman of L&T

I said :

Sir , I just resigned as General Manager ( Planning & Development ) of L&T , after working for 31 years

I was hoping that he would dissuade me from resigning

To my utter surprise , he said :

Very Good !  Despite being son of a Bania , why did you work for someone else for 31 years ?

Dhandho Karo ( Start your own business ) . If you need funds , just tell me . I keep a separate fund for people from Saurashtra

The he explained to me in details , his plans for a backward integration of his business :

"  From Fabric to Yarn to Petro-Chemicals ( which are basic raw materials for synthetic yarn ) to Refining to Production to Exploration of Oil "

It is high time for the giants of Telecom Industry to ask of themselves :

WHAT  BUSINESS  ARE  WE  IN  ?

Are we in the business of  “ MOBILE  TELEPHONY “  or are we in the business of  “ MOBILE  ENTERTAINMENT “ ?

Then , after 5 years , what business should we be in ?

Should we continue to remain in “ MOBILE  ENTERTAINMENT “ or should we consider ourselves in the business of “ MOBILE  SOLUTIONS “  for ANY / EVERY problem faced by a user ?

And should we continue our “ Backward  Integration “  into the  ENTERTAINMENT INDUSTRY  or should we integrate with Start Ups in HEALTH-CARE  /  EDUCATION  /  EMPLOYMENT  ?

The writing is on the Wall – for professional executives who can read !

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23  July  2017

www.hemenparekh.in / blogs