Andreas Nobis: The Global Manager in India

Volume 13, Number 4 Article by Janat Shah and R Srinivasan December, 2001

Andreas Nobis: The Global Manager in India :

Andreas Nobis is Managing Director, MICO, a member of the Bosch Group. His long association with Bosch began in 1980, when he joined the Internal Audit Department in Germany. He has been Managing Director, Robert Bosch, Turkey; and has held the posts of Executive Vice President in the Human Resources and Controlling and Finance departments in the Communication Technology sector of Bosch, before becoming its President in 1998. Since then, he has been on special assignments for the Board of Management, Bosch, before joining Mico in end 1999.

In these times that are tough on the manufacturing industry, Nobis spoke to Janat Shah and R Srinivasan on where Indian manufacture stands in the upsurge of global competition and how it is being affected by global trends, and the relationship between Mico and its parent Bosch. His parting words of advice to young MBAs were to look for companies with long term growth and to acquire a solid base in one area before moving on to other functions.

At a time when the future of the Indian manufacturing sector is being hotly debated, the views of Andreas Nobis, Managing Director, MICO Bosch, are of particular interest. His long association with Bosch, and his experience of Bosch companies worldwide, place him at a vantage point to discern the strengths and weaknesses of the industry in India. In a wide-ranging interview with Janat Shah and R Srinivasan, Nobis discusses the Indian industry vis à vis the global environment. India has some advantages, he says, especially in the form of its technical expertise, its excellent engineers and its managers who are enthusiastic learners of new concepts. However, the discipline and thoroughness necessary for implementing such concepts are missing. Other areas of concern are the high degree of uncertainty, the lack of flexibility in labour, and the corruption, which erodes trust everywhere. Now that we have abandoned our protectionist policies, India will have to look into these matters in order to be able to hold its own in the face of international competition.

Nobis goes on to talk about the new value based management system introduced by Bosch, with its detailed planning system that minimises the effects of uncertainty. These systems, together with the readily available technical know how, the huge R&D capability and the network that facilitates sales and marketing, create an advantage for Bosch companies all over the world. The role of MICO, both within the Bosch Group and as a ‘local’ company, are discussed. With its focus areas of aftermarket and exports, MICO has formulated certain strategies for succeeding as a supplier of components and of knowledge. These include establishing an anti-spurious cell to bring down the usage of spurious parts, adding accessories like car audio systems and other products to the business, developing products specially for the Indian market, outsourcing more non-core technology to vendors and suppliers, and optimising products and services continuously. Nobis concludes with some timely advice for young managers aspiring to global careers.

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