Are successful joint ventures possible?
EVER SINCE the former Prime Minister, Mr. P. V. Narasimha Rao, rewrote the country’s economic history in 1991, many established business practices have come under scrutiny. A joint venture with a foreign partner has taken on a different relevance post- economic reforms. In that process, there has been much high drama surrounding some JVs and bitter break ups. A few years ago, the Confederation of Indian Industry’s (CII) Director General, Mr. Tarun Das, described foreign companies’ treatment of their Indian partners as `cowboy capitalism’. The CII followed this up by setting up a special joint venture cell to advise Indian companies. In the years before liberalisation, Indian industry existed in a world of its own. It was mostly oblivious to the perils of international business. As production of almost all goods was licensed, most businesses did not have economies of scale by global standards. Control on collaborations restricted the choice of technology and manufacturing methods. Durin
