• Opportunities

When Ranjini Manian met Joanne Grady Huskey in 1995, a representative of the John F. Kennedy Center, Washington, D.C., in Chennai, she empathized with her. Huskey was in India for the first time, overwhelmed by her surroundings—and coping with taking care of a 2-month-old baby didn’t make life any easier.

Manian helped Huskey settle down and learned from her expatriate friend that relocation services were commonplace in the West. “I was at the right place, at the right time,” says Manian. Together, Manian and Huskey set up the Chennai-based Global Adjustments Services Pvt. Ltd., India’s pioneers in end-to-end expatriate relocation services and cross-cultural learning.

Manian’s time at the University of Paris-Sorbonne, where she did her Diploma in French Literature, helped her understand what it was like to live in a new culture. Of course, life became easier with a little help from local friends. Similarly, when Manian went to Japan to train to be a teacher there—she was invited by the Japanese government due to her exemplary flair for the language—she understood the importance of immersing one’s self in a culture in order to excel across domains.

Her own experience as a foreigner, coupled with seven years of working in a travel agency through which she traveled to exotic locales abroad, shaped the foundation of Global Adjustments. “I was a fish out of water [in these countries], even though I spoke the language,” says Manian. “India can be a severe culture shock for someone who is here for the first time,” she adds, referring to the country’s glaring discomforts like traffic, poverty and, most importantly, the snags of day-to-day life that foreigners may not be aware of.
It’s been 14 years (and 76 nationalities!) since Manian and Huskey pioneered relocation services in India.

Back then, the concept was unheard of. This was mainly because the number of expatriates in India was negligible, so there wasn’t much need for it. However, with Ford’s entry into India, 80 families of Ford employees moved to India from countries like Taiwan, Australia, Colombia, Korea and the U.S. over a span of two years. This opened up a huge opportunity for Global Adjustments. The venture grew as the Indian economy opened. And in 2000, the IT boom gave Manian an opportunity to add another very important vertical to her array of relocation services: training programs specifically designed for Indians traveling overseas, or for those interacting with foreigners in virtual teams.

Through India Destination Services, the company’s first vertical, essential relocating services are provided—housing, schooling, visas, and organizing day-to-day amenities. Through Cross Cultural Training, the second vertical, sensitizing courses are offered; these aim to help clients navigate through various social dilemmas and understand the many contrasts inherent in the country. And through its India Immersion Centre (IIC)—a relatively new facility—the company offers skills training, cultural experiences, enter-
tainment, and social networking for members and their guests.

From the start, Manian had a gut feeling that such a business would work. This was further reinforced when she observed people taking notes while she pushed the concept at various forums. “I knew that the [relocation services] business wouldn’t make a lot of money at that time, but it was very satisfying,” she says. Of course, breaking in wasn’t easy. She had to hard sell her business, often going door-to-door to promote the concept. People who relocated to India were under the impression that anyone could take them on a tour. But the nitty-gritty’s of living and working in India needed to be explained. Moreover, most firms looked at business strategies and numbers alone, ignoring the cultural and behavioral aspects. “I told them, in India, there is no business without behavior,” says Manian. “Understanding India requires a sixth sense.”

Luckily for Manian, her first client became a business partner, helping her overcome the initial hurdle of credibility. Since then, the firm has been following a key strategy for each of its clients—a two member team comprising one Indian and one expatriate. “While the expatriate has his / her life experience, the Indian has a reliable network,” she says. This network saves her clients time and money, as expatriates / tourists tend to get easily conned in a new country.

The result: success. Today, Global Adjust-ments has reached a level of reliability where it renders services even at the stage of business planning. “We help firms network with the right people for their business needs—even in the government and social sectors,” says Manian. Global Adjustments also takes over all the negotiations, making the venture somewhat of an HR arm of the firm, though at a deeper level.

Since its inception, the relocation services company has expanded operations with offices now in all the major Indian metros and an employee base of 42people. It also has regional consultants in emerging cities like
Pune, Thiruvanantha-puram, Kolkata, Hyderabad and Coimbatore, to name a few. Since then, Global Adjustments has added new verticals to its business model. Five years ago, it launched its design and publishing arm, which makes brochures and newsletters for MNCs.

Started with an investment of just Rs. 5,000, Global Adjustments grew at a rate of 50-60 percent year-on-year for the first four years, reflecting the advantages of being a first-mover. Since then, the firm has maintained a steady growth rate of 30 percent. It generates earnings from contract fees paid by companies, or by charging a package rate per family. Till date, it has the benefit of being the only relocations services company that offers an array of services under one umbrella.

Being a woman in the services industry was an advantage for Manian, as
it is a largely female-oriented business. “Women are naturally caring,” she says. “It’s important for women to stand up to their intellectual prowess.”

More on the entrepreneur

• Manian authored Doing Business in India for Dummies
• Co-chaired the Worldwide Employee Relocation Council’s Global Workforce Symposium and received its ERC Meritorious Service Award
• The only Indian Executive Committee member on the Women’s Leadership Board at Harvard University
• Writes regular columns in well-known business dailies
• Fluent in French, Japanese and Spanish, in addition to  English and several Indian languages
• Architect of India’s only cross-cultural e-learning portal:
www.globalindian.net.in

©Entrepreneur February 2010

Tags:
cross-cultural, expatriate, Global Adjustments, Huskey, Joanne Grady Huskey, Manian, Ranjini, relocation, services