Thursday, April 1, 1999
It’s the story of every immigrant: fascinating, disturbing, funny, irritating - all at once. From the perspective of a developing country like India, the US social security system is incredible. The infrastructure alone strikes one as amazing - how does every move that one makes, from getting a driver’s license to borrowing money to changing residence or visa status, get on one’s personal records? And before you understand the deeper implications, the classic chicken and egg conundrum hits you: what comes first, credit history, or a credit card?
There are rules, and then there are always rules to bend the rules. And nowhere does this work better than in the financial industry. One false move by a company in this stringently regulated and high-visibility industry can sound death for its public images, and as a consequence, for its business. Thus it takes a deep understanding of its structure and working to operate in this industry, and a radical, self-styled approach that differentiates between the innovator and the uninspired. Providian Financial Corporation, and its Chairman, President and CEO, Shailesh Mehta, subjects of our cover story this month (King of Cards, page 34), represents this paradigm. More than ever before, technology has transformed the financial industry in the past two decades, as it has done with pretty much every industry in one way or another. It’s suicidal to wait for the technological advancements to permeate the rest of the industry before taking action. In order to reach and sustain a leadership role, it is critical to be on the cutting edge, and enable the technology to become a seamless part of every process in the organization. Providian has marvelously integrated the technological systems with its marketing infrastructure, thus enabling each system to drive the other. This, combined with a fresh approach sans old preconceived ideas and academic baggage, has spelled success for companies like Providian.
Providian is also a classic example of the argument put forth in this month’s View from the Top column (Becoming the Voice of Your Industry, page 54) by Kanti Purohit. The inspiration to change and improve must come from the top of the organization; visionary leadership, with support from qualified professionals, is indispensable. Play the game boldly and nimbly - hubris is simply not an option. Stories about several large, medium and small companies in this issue of siliconindia, like those in every other issue, illustrate this well. Oracle, Efusion, Qualcomm, Sage, HP, Future and others, all displaying the importance of remaining on the edge with new products and services to bring to market.
Let us know your thoughts on this issue of siliconindia, as we attempt to create a newer look, both in print and on our Web site - www.siliconindia.com - have you checked it out lately?
Yogesh Sharma
Editor
