How did the globalization of media and technology impact marketing, advertising, and other sales efforts in India?
Patel: One prime example of the globalization of technology and information was when P&G India went from having more than 3,000 distributors to about 24 or so in early 2000. P&G India used information and communication technology to leverage the size of large distributors and improve the quality of service to small retail stores, as well as reduce inventories and increase retail coverage from 200,000 to 700,000 stores. You have been actively involved in the Ross alumni network for many years. Talk about the challenges and rewards of supporting the school and its alumni in a location so far removed from Ann Arbor. Patel: I started the University of Michigan India Alumni Association eight years ago. The biggest challenge is to get the alumni proactively involved and participating in events. We launched the club with a big event in Mumbai during which Dean Robert Dolan, Professor C.K. Prahalad, and Professor Wayne Brockbank gave presentations. The club is closely connected to both the Ros
