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 For
Peter Gartenberg, his current assignment in India is more
than just a coveted posting. He tells Sudipta Dev about his
interest in the country, which began almost three decades ago when
he first came here as a child
"China
does not possess the ready management talent that India has. They
are developing the first generation of management talent now"
When
Peter Gartenberg came to India in November 2000, it was much more
than a coveted professional assignment for him as the executive
vice president, Information & Communication Networks-Enterprise
Networks (ICN-EN), Siemens. He knew that it would be part of the
continuous learning process, which he had started as a childdiscovering
the sights and sounds of the country he had learnt to love over
the years. It was in fact a fascination that started when Peter’s
family first visited India when he was just an 11-year-old. His
father, the principal of an education institution in the US, had
taken a year long sabbatical and was travelling all over the world
doing research on British colonial school systems. “For the
very first time I developed an interest outside California. It was
also one of the reasons why I was later keen to enter international
business,” says Peter.
Coming
from an academic family, his interest in India took deeper roots
when he visited the country again, this time with his mother, a
librarian who won the Fullbright Scholarship in 1975-76, to study
the Indian library system. “I was 17 at that time and stayed
here for a year. It was then that I developed a love for the country.
The impressions have of course changed. While on one level India
is timeless, with its rich culture and tradition, on the other hand
there has been a lot of development. The good parts of India, that
is its cultural tapestry, has of course not changed,” says
he, adding that while earlier his interest was more academic, this
time it is also from a commercial standpoint, which gives an insight
into the culture.
Following
his graduation from the University of California in Berkeley in
Liberal Arts, Humanities and History, he applied for a job with
IBM and got it. This despite the fact that he did not have a typical
profile to work for the company. “Both the corporate world
and IT were new fields to me. However, within the first year itself
I assumed a technical production management position.” Then
came his tenure with IBM’s corporate education division, in
which he was responsible for different programmesfor new hires,
bright from universities and also senior executives. It was here
that he got the chance to focus on how to develop people, which
continues till today.
At
the time he was working with IBM Telecommunications as product line
manager for data switching and call centre solutions, when it was
acquired by Siemens AG. The organisation essentially has two demarcated
paths for its professionalsfield and corporate sections. Being deputed
to Germany, he was made in-charge of introducing call centres in
Southern Germany. “I did not know the language and we were
heavily into skills transfer from the US, which I had introduced,”
he informs. In 1995, he was made responsible for Siemens’ worldwide
corporate account in 160 countries. In 1998, he was deputed to China
for three years as director sales and marketing, to introduce the
company’s call centre solutions in the Chinese market. For
him it was a very challenging assignment. Most of the employees
did not speak English and whether it was official work, public events,
press announcements or banquets, there was always a support staff
of interpreters.
“China
does not possess the ready management talent that India has. They
are developing the first generation of management talent now. And
if there is a new assignment without a management pool, the burden
falls on you. The first year I spent identifying and developing
the management team. The Chinese are however very hardworking, intelligent,
ambitious and competitive. The organisation was on the decline,
we did a turnaround,” he says. It was for Peter a very gratifying
experience with the company registering a rapid growth path. Following
the three years in China, when Peter became aware of the opportunity
in Mumbai he did not want to miss it. “Here we hear a lot about
China, but the truth is that while the Chinese are spending a lot
of money on building infrastructure, as far as manpower and innovation
outside the US is concerned, India is one of the top innovators.”
After
taking up the assignment in India, Peter set upon the arduous task
of forming the right team. For him, the reason behind his career
success has been his ability to focus on people and performance.
His next challenge was to consolidate Siemens’ market presence
in the country, which was enabled by doubling the dealership network.
“We had the best technology, but were not able to reach customers
which we are now able to do,” he points out. In addition, his
division has also emerged as a support hub for South Asia. For the
man himself, whatever international assignment he has taken up,
his concentration has beenputting everything on a self-sustaining
track and move on to the next big challenge in another new market,
in a different country.
A
professional who has no fixed career goal, he concludes simply,
“I like to do things which are gratifying to me. I believe
in growth and continue to grow in my capabilities, learning new
things, and also to create the environment where other people can
do that. I like positions in which there are a lot of responsibilities
and a lot of people. Hopefully, I will continue to find ways and
opportunities to do that.
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