Gosse Wielinga (1964) has been working for the listed Indian family company Suzlon Energy for ten years. Almost every month he visits the Indian factories in Pune and Vadodara (Gujarat) where Suzlon builds its wind turbines. "You have to do your best to understand Indians, otherwise they won't understand you either."
Gosse Wielinga at the production site in India
He is "having a great time" in India, says Gosse Wielinga enthusiastically over the phone. Wielinga is involved in the development of new rotor blades, the blades of wind turbines. He is also the link between the R&D departments of Suzlon and the production locations of the Indian family business. Earlier, Wielinga set up a new production facility in the United States for Suzlon, one of the largest producers of wind turbines in the world.
"Ten years ago, I went in quite naively," says Wielinga. "I had no idea of the Indian business culture. Nowadays, I often describe Suzlon as an onion: at the core is the family and all the shells around it form the organisation. The closer you are to that core, the more influence you have."
Although Wielinga does not report directly to the family, he is quite close to the fire. "I am in regular contact with family members, often informally when they visit the Netherlands or when I am there. When I meet the big boss, Mr. Tanti, I always tell him what I am doing. It is important to keep the line open - even when there is nothing new to report. It is also important to always treat the family with great respect. Some call Mr Tanti by his first name, but I still don't do that after all these years. I keep that distance very consciously.
Production of wind turbines in India
On paper, Suzlon has a strong, formal corporate culture, but in practice it is very informal, says Wielinga. "Actually, we have an enormous polder culture. Plans are prepared at lower levels and discussed informally between the various departments. This goes back and forth for a while, until there is a proposal that satisfies everyone. In formal meetings, such a plan is then only a hammer piece. Some Western colleagues find it annoying because this way of working is slow, but I find it very pleasant myself. Moreover, Indians look at efficiency in a different way than we Dutch do. That's logical, because labour is not as expensive in India as it is here.
Moreover, Suzlon's approach is bearing fruit. In thirteen years, the company has grown into one of the largest players in the world in the wind energy market. Wielinga: "India is our main market, but we also sell turbines in the United States, Australia and South America. We had a difficult time during the crisis, but with the advent of the Modi government, a real business administration, a huge amount of investments have been made again. Wind energy in India is growing at a tremendous rate."
Read here the 5 tips from Gosse Wielinga to work effectively in India.