When I look at the buildings in Hong Kong, or the roads in Dubai; the uniform architecture of buildings in different parts of London or on the islands of Greece; and then return to India and compare the scenario, I wonder why the great disparity. Except for a few patches in this vast country, India is a potpourri! Finally, after much thought, I have come to the conclusion that the key to success in many of these areas is the ability to effectively follow up.
Why do buildings in India show dangerous cracks after just 10 years of being built?
…Because there has not been sufficient supervision of the concrete mixing process or the curing during construction. Instructions have been given but there is no proper supervision and follow-up to see that these processes were done as instructed.
Why do we realise that there is not sufficient room for fire engines to come to the 48th floor of a building in south Mumbai, only in case of a fire?
…Because there was no follow-up to check on this aspect by the supervising engineers of the contractors, or the supervising engineers of the municipality, after the construction was complete. They did not ensure that all rules were followed before the NOC was given and the flat-owners moved in.
Why are there potholes on roads which have recently been repaired?
…Because the road engineers of the municipality gave instructions and then never visited the site later to check during or after the laying of the road. Was the mixture right? Was the laying right? Was the area cordoned off so that there was sufficient time for the tar/ cement to dry and solidify? It cannot be because most times, even on cement roads, there are footprints of people who have walked on the soft cement. Obviously, the area was not cordoned off, to keep pedestrians away while the cement was setting!
Why are the floor tiles laid with wider spaces between tiles (a repository for dirt), while in Hong Kong or Dubai, the interstitial spaces are hardly noticed? Can it be because of a lack of supervision and not insisting on performance close to perfection?
After all, it is often Indian labour that does this job in Dubai, as they do in India. So, what is different? Is it the supervision – the follow-up?
It was such a relief to see the municipal council in Mumbai organise the removal of slums from the pavements on both sides of a main arterial road like P D’Mello road in south Mumbai.
This was miles of pavements with thousands of people who considered these as semi-permanent residences, even acquiring colour TV sets and arrangements for the supply of containers of water. Now, the pavements are clean and dry and it has been a pleasure to drive down the road. However, a few hutments have now sprung up here and there. There is no follow-up to the clearance campaign. The danger is that P D’Mello road may go back to the status quo ante.
Why do successors to MAFCO stalls make these stalls permanent?
There was a time when the government milk dairy MAFCO was allowed to put up stalls on pavements to create a wide distribution network to distribute milk to citizens, even in down-market areas. After many years, the MAFCO scheme has been discontinued. However, the temporary wooden stalls have been taken over by private entrepreneurs, who are now selling snacks and juices and have transformed them from wooden stalls to brick and mortar. Now these stalls will be permanently on the pavements which were primarily for the use of pedestrians – especially the old and the disabled.
Why does this happen? No follow-up, causing customer value starvation (CVS) for the common man, who will be expected to keep paying taxes for services he is not provided but should have expected.
What are the campaigns being held at regular intervals to check hygiene standards in hotels and restaurants?
Yes, these are held at regular intervals. And the inspectors have a field day tasting excellent food at excellent restaurants. The inspectors neither have the time nor the inclination to check on the quality of food at the thousands of roadside stalls serving snacks like vada pav and sugarcane juice, in the most unhygienic surroundings. There is no follow-up in centres where it is needed most - again causing CVS.
Must we have tall Manhattan-style buildings in a crumbling 100-year-old neighbourhood?
You have to look at parts of Mumbai and perhaps most other towns in India. You see tall, elegant buildings, sometimes 40 floors high, surrounded by crumbling, unpainted two- and three-storey houses, which are between 50 and 80 years old. This shows complete dissonance and architectural conflict in the area. And all because there is a lack of follow-up by town planners, who will not learn from the great care and taste that town planners show in similar situations in countries like Singapore.
For news channels, it is headline news today to be forgotten a week later.
Every day, it is a challenge to have a new and earth-shaking headline. There is news of politicians or well-known bureaucrats caught for corruption and cases being filed. The person is sent to jail. Most times, he finds a way to spend most of the time in hospital because now, as an accused, he does not keep good health! Until the whole story is forgotten and the politician quietly slides into a comfortable retirement, or is back in circulation and even becomes a minister again! What happened? No one knows.
…Because there has been no follow-up by the media.
The lack of a fast, effective justice system makes citizens bitter.
Customer value creation or CVS is possibly the highest in our justice system. It is said that 68% of our jails are filled with undertrial prisoners. They could be there for years. Why? …Because the justice system is so slow. It is unfair to those who are detained (especially if, after seven years, the prisoner is found to be innocent). But who cares? There is no quick follow-up system and no timelines or deadlines.
The list is endless. But the above examples will give a flavour of the challenges in providing customer value creation, in a wide field from consumer products to state-provided services.
There are more examples of customer value starvation or even destruction than of creation. But we cannot sit back and watch the downslide. We need to do the best we can to prevent CVS.
(Walter Vieira is a Fellow of the Institute of Management Consultants of India - FIMC. He was a successful corporate executive for 14 years, capping his career as Head of marketing for a Pharma multinational, for India, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka- and then pioneered marketing consulting in India in 1975. As a consultant, he has worked across four continents. He was the first Asian elected Chairman of ICMCI, the world apex body of consultants in 45 countries , in 1997. He is the author of 16 books, a business columnist, international conference speaker and has been visiting professor in Marketing in the US, Europe and Asia for over 40 years. He was awarded Lifetime Achievement Award for Consulting in 2005, and for Marketing in 2009. He now spends much of his time in NGO work - Consumer Education and Research Centre, IDOBRO, and some others.)
