The GCC Spotlight

Glocal Capability is the Configuration and Organization of the Cascading Work, Workforces and Workplaces

The quest of enterprises to improve their threshold of capability is not a new one. However, the Focus of Capability until this point in history has been Business Efficiency. This needs to shape shift to the Efficacy of Life. The proposition of Value has to move from Transactional to Relational. Where the relation is the emerging new era that is driven by Digital Technologies.

There is a need for a more sustainable life in which business is just one factor among other important ones. We need new Capabilities to make an Impact (Value) on Life.

Capability is an encrypted word that encapsulates the Capacity to Transform + The ability (Skills) to Perform.

Be it a Grownup or a Startup Enterprise, the five elements that need to fuse to make Capability relevant to the modern enterprise are Data, Talent, Resources / Materials / Energy, Investments and Infrastructure. These five elements are the constituent of any process. The processes for Glocal Capability must craft these five elements to come together for Operations (Efficiency) and Innovation (Efficacy); mutually inclusively.

If the above paragraph doesn’t resonate with your thinking on GCC’s, irrespective of whether you have already established one or are about to, you can bet your last dollar that you have not matured in your mindset to leverage the opportunities presented by Digital Technologies. You are susceptible to the threats of an era soon disappearing.

Global V Glocal

The term GLOBAL needs to transform to GLOCAL in the narrative of GCC’s. What this effectively means is Geography being the least of the considerations. The top most priority is defining the Capabilities you require to succeed in the emerging era and the best possible way to affect a Transformative Journey. Ask the hundreds of enterprises who have made millions in investments in GCC to reveal the true story of their successes beyond the PR narratives. You will hear that most of them are still struggling to cross the chasm from Wave 2 to Wave 3 referenced in the following illustration.

Fig 1: The Imperative for the Design of GCC’s in the current context

The above illustration is a snapshot from the Nasscom — Zinnov report on the evolution of GCC’s published from an Indian perspective. This clearly establishes many things that have changed over the last one and half decades.

1. Wave 1 / Outpost: IT Services Vendors such as Accenture, TCS, Cognizant and Wipro were the ones to popularize Offshore Centers from a Cost Arbitrage perspective. Over a period of time, customers have realized that this limited them to collaborate on their Core Systems.
2. Wave 2 / Satellite: This led to Insourcing and the Creation of Captive Centers that were Created and Serviced by GCC Vendors. This did not take away the utility value of the IT Service Providers. It just created additional capacity. And this was a subservient one that was seen as a threat to the parent enterprise.
3. Wave 3 / Portfolio Hub: The aspirations of the talent combined with the need to Innovate had moved the needle to converting these centers to ones that manage technology portfolios in an enterprise. The Vendors as well as the Customers have been spraying and praying.
4. Wave 4 & Beyond / Transformation Hub: The availability of Digital Technology, the need for Rapid Transformative Growth and the need for multiple global service points that is buoyed by People’s Aspiration to Contribute is making it an imperative to renew the status quo. There isn’t a solution in sight to make this a weavable reality.

It should be clear that the above evolution and transition is not merely structural. It is also about the cascading Synergies and Systems. There is a demand for moving from Value Extraction and Value Addition to Value Creation.

What is Value Creation?

Value Creation is the process of establishing Measurable Impact that is congruent to the Intent established and the Imperatives derived; provisioning for Critical Success Factors (CSF) to deliver the Key Performance Indicators (KPI).

Fig 2: This Power of Design is through Learning and not just with Thinking

Whether it is Enterprises by themselves or through Partners / Vendors / Service Providers must have the Method and Means to Configure and not Labor over Intent. And this should dictate the Capabilities required to address the Imperatives which will then result in delivering the desired Impact / Value. This Organization of Work, Workforces and Workplaces digitally becomes very powerful mechanism to Assure Risk and Minimize Dysfunction.

The mindsets of all involved needs transformation. Defining the Pursuit of Excellence which is nothing but establishing a higher threshold of Capability; not just as a discrete event but rather as a Continuous Process.

Fig 3:It is not the Pipeline of Customers but rather IP that determines one’s success in the modern era.

Value is Created when one can shrink Time and Space for accomplishing each wave of a higher threshold of Capabilities. Such Value is impactful in modern times when it delivers to a segment of one.

A theory that was exponentiated more than a decade ago by C N Prahlad and M S Krishnan in their seminal work at the University of Michigan (N=1; R=G) published as the best seller “The New Age of Innovation — Driving Co Created Value Through Global Networks”.

N = 1; R = G

The true significance of digital is its Potential to converge the Physical and the Virtual. Catalyzing N = 1; a unique Engagement & Experience that is delivered to a Customer that is Created by R = G; where the Resource is the best from anywhere in the World. This becomes a Powerful Mechanism for delivering New Patterns for the 5 Dimensions of Value including:

1. Functional Value: Addressing the Return on Quality in the Customer’s Life and not just on the Product / Service as conventionally addressed.
2. Lifetime Value: Addressing the Return On Cost for the Customer rather than on what is the trend that is recommended to a Customer.
3. Emotional Value: Addressing the Return On Delivery (Personalization) enabling the Configuration to a Segment of One; delimiting the conventional barriers of Access and Affordability.
4. Brand Value: Addressing the Return on Service where Implicit Trust that a Customer can have in Consuming the Products and Services decreases the need to support.
5. Economic Value: Addressing the Return on Flexibility serving both Convenience and Sustainability without compromising each other.

Who Benefits Most from Glocality?

Startups are the ones who need to adapt to the paradigm of Glocal Capability. By that inference, every grownup enterprise that has so far been unable to move the needle to Wave 4 in Fig. 1 and those that are considering establishing a GCC must embrace the mindset of a Startup.

The Imperative for a Startup is Innovation and the reason why the grown ups have not matured with their investments in GCC is this lack of progressing along the maturity curve.

As we discussed at the beginning of this article, the five elements that need to fuse are:

1. Data: The Role Driven Identity Connecting the Universe of Customer Ecosystem needs to be Visualized and Virtualized for Visionization. Data Science and Data Engineering must lead all Intellectual Property (IP) Creation with mutual inclusivity. This is what will Create Value Capital.
2. Talent: It is not a database of talent that will be work but rather Curated Talent for each Industry / Theme / Topic that can Plug N Play to not just the Efficiency but also the Efficacy of Meaningful work produced. This is what will create Human Capital.
3. Resources / Materials / Energy: New forms of Resources such as IOT, Wearables, Scanners, Sensors and Devices, 3D/4D Printing, Robotics, Enmeshed Networks and Pervasive Computing and Materials such as Nanotech and Biotech need to be experimented and solutions built using them. This is what will create Intellectual Capital.
4. Investments: The right level of Investments / Money to Create and Sustain Value.
5. Infrastructure: An Intelligent Infrastructure that Curates all the above allows the Sharing & Collaboration of Work from anywhere on the Planet with the facility of a “Dialog In A Room”.

The Sweet Spot for Investments to produce Returns On Assets Deployed (R.O.A.D.) and Returns On Investment (R.O.I.) is at the intersection of Value, Human and Intellectual Capital. A Proof that Capabilities are growing and contributing to both Productivity and Profitability of the enterprise.

Takeaway

1. If you are not approaching this Strategic Inflection Point (SIP) on our planet with Design to lead your Capability Development, you are seriously in danger of being left behind.
2. GCC Vendors must provide a Platform that allows the Creation, Connection, Curation, Contextualization and Collaboration of all the above five elements. There is nothing else of Value that they can charge a fee for.
3. There is no scope or room for negotiation on Transformation. If this is not transforming the entire enterprise’s approach to Strategic Positioning in the marketplace, it is a waste of Time, Money and Effort.

Giggr Technologies is building the Digitally Intelligent Platform As Service (DIPS) for the Pursuit of Excellence for Individuals, Industries and Institutions. Global Capability Development is embedded in it led by Design Learning shaping Cognitive Intelligence.