Building a Culture of Innovation
The Role of the Intellectual Diaspora
By Zareen Karani Araoz and Alberto Araoz
Proposal sent to the Pravasi Bharati Divas – New Delhi, January
2004
Executive Summary
As India is poised to enter the developed world, in what will be a knowledge
society, the key to its future success in the global marketplace will
be its ability to be more creative and innovative, to enable it to be
not only a supporter of the knowledge society, but a leader, tapping into
the enormous technological and knowledge potential of its people. India’s
emigration of high level human resources – the brain drain –
is a phenomenon of long standing that has given rise to a sizable intellectual
Diaspora, a potentially important resource for the country. In this paper
we explore the possible use of a key segment, the Diaspora innovators,
to help build a culture of innovation in India.
The 2000 Report on the Indian Diaspora said that "India must encourage
its organizations and people to acquire, create, disseminate, and use
knowledge more effectively for greater economic and social development."
We wish to suggest that India can enhance the development of a culture
of innovation by an even more systematic use of its Diaspora towards this
objective. The intellectual Diaspora – the collection of high-level
Indians living abroad - can be a very important resource to help support
these purposes. It can not only provide contacts of many types, contribute
know-how and investment, and collaborate with the country’s people,
institutions and enterprises, as it is doing now, but can do so with the
directed goal and responsibility of helping create a widespread culture
of innovation.
Even more can be done by identifying Diaspora innovators, those members
of the Diaspora who have acquired exceptional innovative capabilities,
and utilizing them to spur the home country talents to a more innovative
level. Diaspora innovators can become key agents for stimulating attitudes
and environments favorable to innovation and introducing knowledge. Transmission
of innovative skills and knowledge may take place through on-the-job learning,
working side by side with local partners and their collaborators, and
complementarily through carefully planned education and training activities.
Trainees and institutions would be selected on the basis of professional
competence and favorable attitudes to creativity and risk-taking. A continuously
updated database needs to be created, networking the members of the Diaspora
and developing mechanisms to allow them to assist the home country.
Diaspora members coming back as "advisers", however, can be
viewed with some skepticism and resistance. It is therefore critical that
they be culturally oriented to adjust and adapt their approach and communication
style to then reality of India today.
To help build up a culture of innovation through Diaspora innovators,
special "Culture of Innovation" (CI) programs may be envisaged.
These programs could have a strong impact, through on-the-job learning,
carefully planned training and education activities, visits, exchanges,
teaching and training activities, and joint scientific projects. Their
cost could be very moderate since some Diaspora innovators could be motivated
to collaborate for the satisfaction of contributing to India’s development.
Building a Culture of Innovation: The Role of the Intellectual Diaspora
1. Towards a Knowledge Society
India is poised to enter the ‘developed’ world. To do so will
require taking a hard look at some inherent obstacles to change and innovation,
and infusing an even greater openness to creative and new approaches at
many levels of society, education, industry and government.
There is an increasing realization that the next society will be a knowledge
society, enabled by the rapidly developing information and communications
technology. According to Peter Drucker, it will have highly competitive
characteristics and will use knowledge as a key resource. Knowledge has
become the most important factor for international competitiveness, the
creation of wealth and the improvement of living conditions. The knowledge
society will rely heavily on knowledge workers, both traditional professionals
like doctors, scientists and engineers, and also "knowledge technologists"
such as IT technicians, lab analysts and manufacturing experts, who need
a basis of theoretical knowledge acquired through formal education. India
has a vast treasure house of these, and is turning out large numbers of
them every year.
As other rapidly growing economies, India will depend increasingly on
the acquisition, creation and use of knowledge. Having the store house
of treasure in the form of knowledge workers is not enough. To carry out
those functions well, and be on the cutting edge, a country needs an effective
innovation system, linking up with "innovation friendly" enterprises
the various research units, universities, consultants and other organizations
that are able to access the growing stock of global knowledge, and create
new knowledge and new technologies.
Innovation, a knowledge-intensive endeavor, requires creative people
to put knowledge to work. It also needs a favorable environment. A culture
of innovation has indeed become a prerequisite of development in the 21st
century. "To understand people’s ability to innovate and their
ability to adapt to change", says a recent report from UNESCO, "one
has to take into account the social and cultural components of innovation.
Our environment - including our belief and value systems - shapes the
way we view the world around us and determines how we react to ongoing
changes… Technological change has an often overlooked social effect
or consequence, namely, it alters social hierarchies and the power structure
of groups within society and in some cases society itself… In order
to understand people’s ability to innovate and their ability to adapt
to change, one has to take into account the social and cultural components
of innovation. In the end, these ‘soft factors’ are the tools
that enable us to create a culture of innovation". Though we see
this happening in certain segments of India in the last few years, hinting
at India’s great potential, many obstacles must be addressed by dynamic
and culturally relevant strategies. There is no doubt, as the 2000 Report
on the Indian Diaspora says, that "India must encourage its organizations
and people to acquire, create, disseminate, and use knowledge more effectively
for greater economic and social development." It should also develop
a culture of innovation where such activities will find a favorable, nurturing
environment. The intellectual Diaspora can be a very important resource
to help support these purposes.
2. Brain drain and the intellectual Diaspora
The brain drain has brought harmful effects to many countries as some
of their best talents have emigrated. Some of the consequences have been
lower rates of growth, less productive educational investments and poorer
health care. There has also been a loss of actual and potential innovators
who might have led the way to modernization, as they migrated to educational
systems and working environments that better supported their innovative
and creative abilities.
On the other hand, there have been some compensations that may not have
been realized at the outset, though as Prime Minister Rajeev Ghandi said
at Harvard University "You constitute our brain bank, not our brain
drain". In the short run, emigrants send remittances back home. In
the longer run, some highly skilled emigrants return, bringing along useful
knowledge, skills, contacts and even capital. But more important is the
innovative mindset they are likely to bring back.
The experience of many countries has clearly shown that the loss of high
level people cannot be stemmed successfully by restricting mobility, but
rather by a favorable political and economic climate together with better
work facilities, adequate pay and advancement through merit. This helps
retain exceptional talents within the country and utilize them for the
country’s benefit. It may also help to bring back some of those who
had previously emigrated. India is at that juncture now, when many nonresident
Indians - NRIs - are considering "a move home". Let us not miss
this opportunity.
The intellectual Diaspora – the collection of high-level nationals
living abroad - may constitute a key resource for a country, by providing
contacts of many types, contributing know-how and investment, and enhancing
international trade. The Indian Diaspora report has referred to it as
"a valuable asset that has great potential to play an important role
in the multifaceted development of India" and "in making India
a knowledge super power".
Intellectual Diaspora members can enable and promote collaboration with
India’s people, institutions and enterprises. This may take place
through contacts, visits, exchanges, teaching activities, joint scientific
projects and eventually joint investments. To a certain extent this has
been taking place already, but much more can be achieved through accessing
Diaspora members wherever they are, tapping them for advice and support.
Members of the intellectual Diaspora may also be induced to participate
actively in new, innovative productive ventures in the home country. Emigrants
that have accumulated abundant capital, developed novel technologies,
and generated successful enterprises may be willing to create new ventures
at home on the basis of such resources, often in association with a local
partner, if there is true support for these efforts. A promotional mechanism
and adequate incentives may help here, such as has happened in Korea,
Taiwan and China, where the respective governments have catalyzed and
nurtured such initiatives.
Several "brain exporting" countries have become aware of these
potential benefits, and are attempting to organize their intellectual
Diasporas so as to better utilize their high level nationals abroad. This
requires a significant effort to survey the Diaspora’s human resources,
create an active network, and develop specific activities and programs.
China, Colombia, South Africa (with the motto ‘transform brain drain
into brain gain’) and to a lesser extent other countries are putting
efforts into this. India has also embarked on a similar enterprise. It
has begun the process admirably, and should follow up with intensive,
creative efforts to connect the network in meaningful endeavors in order
to effectively assist the country.
Even more can be done by identifying those members of the Diaspora who
have acquired exceptional innovative capabilities, utilizing them to spur
the home country talents to a more innovative level, and providing easier
access, open attitudes and opportunities to bring about meaningful change.
3. Diaspora innovators and their utilization
Attempts to truly build a culture of innovation in an emerging economy
like India can benefit very much from the knowledge, experience and attitudes
of members of the intellectual Diaspora residing and working in industrial
economies, and learn from the mistakes made by these countries as well.
Within the intellectual Diaspora, some individuals have developed truly
innovative capabilities. We may call them Diaspora innovators – having
acquired cultural traits and specific knowledge that are essential to
innovation in science, technology, education and entrepreneurship. There
are outstanding examples in the Indian Diaspora, particularly in the US
Silicon Valley, where the innovative culture is at its strongest.
"Diaspora innovators" who have studied and worked for extended
periods in a modern, open innovative environment have acquired different
beliefs and values from those of their original societies. They view the
world differently and are able to react to ongoing changes in a more flexible,
dynamic and positive manner. Many have acquired good managerial expertise
and technological competence, as well as "cultural literacy (the
ability to recognize and exploit social, cultural, lifestyle, and ethnic
distinctions)" and "a reflexive approach to knowledge and practices"
(UNESCO).
These core competencies are crucial in creating a culture of innovation.
Diaspora innovators indeed embody a specific capital that may be tapped
for the purpose of building a culture of innovation in the home country,
and thus contribute to developing a knowledge society there.
4. Identifying Diaspora innovators
True innovators are likely to be only a small segment of the intellectual
Diaspora, but because of their particular skills, knowledge and contacts
they make up an extremely important one. Over and beyond the efforts to
utilize its intellectual Diaspora, if India wants to create a real culture
of innovation it should take special pains to identify its "Diaspora
innovators", particularly those that can really understand and relate
to their home culture. They should be used as fully as possible for such
a purpose, with meaningful professional, if not financial, incentives.
These people may be invited back home in a planned way, even for limited
periods of time, to help create a better culture of innovation, which
will in turn help India take the lead in the coming knowledge society.
It is an exciting and feasible project that could critically impact the
future development and competitiveness of India in the global arena. Collaborating
closely with local scientists, technologists and entrepreneurs, and coaching
young people, they can help transform attitudes and encourage innovative
potential and the spread of new ideas. Their network of contacts in their
country of residence may help introduce new concepts and new technologies,
thus promoting innovation. They can procure technology and investments
for new, technologically based business ventures. This is already starting
to happen, but a planned effort would hasten the pace.
The Diaspora innovators can therefore become key agents for bringing
in knowledge and stimulating attitudes favorable to innovation. They are
particularly qualified for this purpose since they can speak the local
language, fit into the predominant culture - if made culturally competent-
and use their preexisting networks of family, friends, former fellow students
and colleagues to transmit new attitudes, values and knowledge. This is
in contrast to foreign expatriates who would have an uphill task, and
less motivation, to do likewise.
We first need to define ‘Diaspora innovators’. There is likely
to be a gradation of the capacity to innovate in different members of
the intellectual Diaspora. This may range from those purely interested
in the routine technical and practical aspects of their work, with very
low innovative abilities, to those who have acquired strong innovative
traits and capabilities on top of their professional skills.
Research and discussion are needed on how to define, assess and quantify
those capabilities. Once an operational definition is agreed upon, it
may be applied to a database of the Indian intellectual Diaspora to create
a well selected data base of Diaspora innovators. Ideally, a few categories
should be contemplated, according to discipline and area of work, with
particular attention to those needed at home.
There is also the question of how to best reach out to Diaspora innovators
and motivate them to help the home country. Since these are very special
individuals, who have attained good positions overseas, it is likely that
certain non-monetary incentives may be the most effective motivators,
in particular the opportunity to take part in projects that address national
problems. The stimulation of networking with other outstanding Diaspora
innovators, with the challenge of addressing a nationally important issue,
may be incentive enough for many NRIs.
5. Two approaches
The transmission of innovative skills and knowledge may take place in
two complementary ways. First, through on-the-job learning, by having
Diaspora innovators work side by side with local partners and their collaborators.
Secondly, through carefully planned education and training activities,
using Diaspora innovators as catalysts after they have been helped to
understand India’s real needs and attitudes, and to assess and understand
its skills, knowledge and systems.
The learning by doing approach to the transmission and promotion of innovative
attitudes and skills can be best demonstrated in a concrete situation
of innovation, when an investment or a project is being planned and executed,
in industry, business, educational institutions, hospitals, research centers
and government agencies.
It is critical that the Diaspora innovators themselves be open-minded
and willing to learn from local persons who have innovative ideas and
potential. They may then help develop the latter’s innovative capabilities
in ways best suited to their culture and their institutional setting,
and assist institutions in providing the environment to support them.
A very important aspect is the need to overcome cultural obstacles and
resistance by ensuring cross-cultural training and coaching methods for
all concerned. We explore this issue in the following section.
In an industrial or business situation, the place for this type of training
would be in forward-looking enterprises – locally owned, joint ventures
or foreign subsidiaries. In some cases a foreign firm establishing a subsidiary
or going into a joint venture with local partners will bring in among
its key personnel people who had emigrated some time ago from the country.
If these people have good innovation skills and are culturally aware,
they may be used as trainers or coaches of local innovators.
There is an interesting example by A. Banerji about a successful on-the-job
training activity on innovation he conducted. Going back to his home country,
India, to develop a key early-to-market product on which he had been working
in California, he found "a refusal to innovate". The team "had
engineers with basic engineering degrees with anything from two to seven
years of experience doing mundane project consulting. Few had any experience
with a product and absolutely no one had ever brought new technology products
to market. At first, all attempts to work around engineering problems
with creative solutions failed… After some intense weeks of breaking
down chains and locks against innovative thinking, this relatively inexperienced
team was well on its way to create a world-class, extremely innovative
product… though initially these same bright engineers had just about
refused to innovate – 'cannot do it’ had been the attitude."
6. Selection of target audience
The persons to receive training should be carefully selected, on the
basis of their professional competence and equally on their attitudes
of risk-taking, creativity and courage to consider new and alternative
ways. These individuals should be made to interact closely with Diaspora
innovators, both in the home country and in overseas assignments. They
should additionally be given formal training on developing and demonstrating
innovation and on innovation skills and attitudes, through carefully designed
courses, specifically geared to their cultural realities, with the participation
of Diaspora innovators as co-instructors with local teachers.
However, local innovators cannot be fully innovative without a culture
of innovation and supportive mechanisms that encourage and foster innovative
ideas in their institutions and environments. So it is not merely individuals
that require training. Developing the right attitude and climate to support
these efforts, i.e. creating a culture of innovation in organizations,
educational institutions, government units and corporations, is an even
greater challenge that must be addressed. These institutions, often hierarchically
paralyzed, need to be open to cultural changes and to new, innovative
ways of doing things.
It is not easy to solve this chicken-and-egg problem, but we feel that
the use of Diaspora innovators as catalysts can help to start and stimulate
the process. Specific national problems that need to be addressed, like
alternative energy development, burning health issues and agricultural
production shortfalls can become meaningful "problem challenges"
that provide a goal and the incentive for innovative efforts. At a certain
stage, the development of ‘innovation clusters’ in which universities,
research centers, enterprises and other institutions interact and collaborate
closely would make up a welcoming structure for the activity of Diaspora
innovators.
7. Cultural aspects
It is important to realize that Diaspora members coming back to their
country of origin as "advisers" can be viewed with some skepticism
and resistance by the local professionals. It is therefore critical that
they be culturally oriented to be aware of the perceptions that people
in their homeland may have of them. They should also be trained to adjust
and adapt their approach and communication style accordingly, if their
professional expertise and ideas are to be well received and have full
impact. This is a crucial aspect in the possible influence that NRIs can
have in India.
It is also critical that the Diaspora innovators themselves be open-minded
and willing to learn from local persons who have innovative ideas and
potential. They may then help develop the latter’s innovative capabilities
in ways best suited to their culture and their institutional setting,
and assist institutions in providing the environment to support them.
A very important aspect is the need to overcome cultural obstacles and
resistance by ensuring cross-cultural training and coaching for all concerned.
Among the cultural issues to be addressed in order to ensure the success
of these efforts we should mention:
A possible erroneous belief on the part of the NRI Diaspora innovators
(particularly successful ones) that they are returning to a culture they
really know how to interact in, and in which they would "just fit
back in". Emigrants like the NRIs are usually unaware of how they
have inevitably changed, as people and as communicators, by living in
another culture. There is also often not enough of a realization of how
India, their country of origin, has evolved and how that has affected
its people and their subtle, unspoken interactions and attitudes.
There is also often a lack of awareness on how "returnees"
from abroad might be silently perceived by the Indian professionals and
Indian society in general. For example, professionals from the Diaspora
returning home from the US, unless they are sensitized to these issues,
might talk louder than the average local colleague, and be more assertive
in ways that might be valued in the U.S. but could be interpreted as "arrogant",
"loud", "aggressive" or "pushy" in their
country of origin.
Returning to "teach" some of their own classmates can lead
them to be perceived as "know-it-alls" and can provoke some
resistance from those that consider themselves "equals" and
resent a "big brother" syndrome from the "foreign returned".
So their approach needs to be modified accordingly.
Attitudes that are key for a culture of innovation can only be introduced
in a climate of genuine trust and mutual respect. Creating this in a culture
that one has lived away from may not be easy for some.
In traditional institutions in India, as well as in government and bureaucracies,
innovators can be seen as rebels, or as teaching employees to "buck
the system", to which there may be great organizational resistance.
There is a fear of innovation in many hierarchical cultures in that it
might threaten to change well-embedded power structures. This needs to
be addressed at the highest levels.
How can we address some of these issues to ensure effective and optimum
utilization of the innovative services the Diaspora can offer? The selected
India Diaspora innovators need to receive cross-cultural training to help
them to:
a. understand how they might have changed by living outside India
b. understand how they might be perceived by their colleagues in their
country of origin ("To see ourselves as others see us")
c. want to learn about and respect how things have been done and how
people have been operating currently in India, their country of origin,
to respect and value what traditions and cultural norms need to be preserved
and perpetuated, particularly in the educational system
d. realize the need to adapt as necessary some of their approaches to
the Indian reality, proceed with great humility, and learn how to gain
respect, express appreciation etc. in the Indian culture
e. see themselves as catalysts, recognizing that great talent, abilities
and innovative potential lie untapped in India and in its population
f. learn to give credit to the home country personnel, and to keep a
low profile, while playing a highly inspirational role.
8. National policies
Innovators potentially exist in most countries, and India has shown to
produce more than its share of brilliant and creative professionals. The
challenge is to help those in the country bloom, and to support their
insights and build on their ideas.
The utilization of Diaspora innovators can fuel a process in favor of
innovation and development. This should be supported by explicit innovation
promotional policies from the government and other stakeholders, and by
the adoption of attitudes of openness and flexibility that are not yet
widely embraced in many traditional Indian institutions and many parts
of government.
Perhaps the most effective impact may come about by injecting innovative
blood into the educational system, at the school, college and professional
training level.
In the production system, an interesting instrument may be a promotional
program to expand a novel industry of importance to the country –
such as the environmental technology industry - using it as a vector to
introduce innovative capabilities with the support of Diaspora innovators.
Finally, we may suggest using successful innovative entrepreneurs to
train people and prompt a change in attitudes. These are immigrants from
India who have founded, or are now presiding, successful innovative companies,
such as (in the USA) Sun Microsystems (IT), Computer Associates (software
and IT services), Bose (sound reproduction and acoustics), Sycamore Technologies
(opto-electronics), McKenzie (management consulting) and many other. Some
of these leaders could be invited back to teach the principles and practice
of innovation to a group of young people, who could then travel to the
leader’s country of residence and spend a few months working in laboratories
and technical units of his company. Such a program could deliver a significant
impact for a moderate cost, since it is likely that no fees would be required.
9. A national strategy for India
To help develop a culture of innovation with the collaboration of India’s
"Diaspora innovators" now working in industrial countries, we
may envisage a special type of program that we may call "Culture
of Innovation (CI) Program". A number of such programs may be designed
and executed in different spheres of education, health care, industry,
finance and commerce, and government.
A national strategy to build up a culture of innovation should be defined,
by means of ample consultations among the government and the main stakeholders.
This would be aimed, on the one hand, at designing ‘horizontal’
policies in broad areas such as education, and on the other choosing a
number of ‘vertical’ CI programs. The choice here would depend
on the importance of candidate areas and on the availability of Diaspora
innovators. India needs to make efforts identify members of the intellectual
Diaspora, create a data base to be updated periodically, network these
people, and create mechanisms to allow them to assist the home country.
This would need to be expanded with the preparation of a list of Diaspora
innovators for CI programs, according to the different host countries
as well as the areas of work or expertise.
As a prelude to the design of the strategy and of specific CI programs,
it may be useful to hold a Working Group meeting to review and discuss
the national experiences of India and several other countries – for
instance, Brazil, South Africa, Colombia, China, Taiwan and Turkey - in
using the intellectual Diaspora. Case studies of these national experiences,
with particular reference to the impact on innovation, could be specially
commissioned for this occasion, following a common methodology. This workshop
could be organized in cooperation with an institution of an industrial
country that is now receiving many high level immigrants. The results
of this exercise would be of great use in the design of a strategy for
the CI programs.
CI programs should be designed in consultation with relevant stakeholders.
A CI program would comprise a set of activities on the lines we have suggested
above (see sections 3 and 4). The activities should be specified in detail,
including participating local institutions, areas of innovation needed
and the possible Diaspora innovators to be involved, insofar as this may
be known. Submission of the CI program should include a timetable, a budget,
possible sources of funding and a full appraisal report. A suitable institution
or group of professionals should be selected to oversee the program, and
should be able to infuse into this process an awareness of the fast changing
global economy and global marketplace, with India’s role and needs.
CI programs are likely to have a strong impact on the country because
they would be aimed at the key process of innovation, with extensive ramifications
throughout the social and economic fabric. The cost could be very moderate,
since it is possible that some Diaspora innovators could be motivated
to collaborate for token fees only.
References
Araoz, A. and Z.K. Araoz. "Using the Intellectual Diaspora to Help
Build a Culture of Innovation in an Emerging Economy", UNESCO Symposium
on The Culture of Innovation and the Building of Knowledge Societies,
Moscow, 10-12 November 2003
Banerji, A. "Five Steps to the next India Inc.", http://in.rediff.com/money/2003/oct/23
Drucker, P. "The Next Society". The Economist, November 1st,
2001
INDIA. "Report of the High Level Committee on the Indian Diaspora".
Ministry of External Affairs, Foreign Secretary’s Office, New Delhi,
August 2000
Meyer, J-B. "Network Approach vs. Brain Drain: Lessons from the
Diaspora", International Migration, vol. 39 (5), 2001
SCIDEV. Dossier on the Brain Drain, www.scidev.net, May 2003
The Cambridge-MIT Institute. Strategy: Results of the CMI Strategy Review
process. www.cambridge-mit.org, April 2003.
UNESCO, Bureau of Strategic Planning. "The Culture of Innovation
and the Building of Knowledge Societies. Issue Paper". Paris, September
2003
World Bank. China and the Knowledge Economy: Seizing the 21st Century.
Washington DC, September 2001
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