Navigating the Global Capability Center (GCC) Landscape: The CEO's Guide to Sustaining Competitive Edge & Value Creation

In the ever-evolving global business landscape, India has held a prominent position in the Global Capability Center (GCC) market for years. With a vast pool of skilled talent, a favorable business environment, and cost-effectiveness, India's GCCs have long been the preferred choice for global businesses. However, the competitive landscape is changing, and it's now more important than ever for CEOs of GCCs in India to actively lead their organizations to maintain and enhance their competitive edge.

To strengthen a GCC's competitive edge, it's essential to focus on implementing a range of strategies for value creation. As a CEO, your role is pivotal in ensuring the success of these strategies.

1. Embrace an Intrapreneurial Approach

To maintain a competitive edge in the GCC market, encourage your team to shift from a reactive stance to a more proactive and strategic role within your parent organization. Actively participate in decision-making processes, contribute innovative insights, and align GCC activities with the overall corporate strategy. By positioning your GCC as a strategic partner, you can leverage its specialized expertise and influence critical decisions that impact the organization's success and expansion plans.

One example for this that comes to mind is an organization I was working for. Their job was to analyze truck drivers’ behaviour and data from their cargo trucks to improve the fleet’s safety, fuel consumption and efficiency. ?

The problem was that many of the people who were supposed to be doing the analyses had never even driven a car before, let alone a truck. So we took an intrapreneurial approach to ensure they get a better understanding of their customers’ experience and needs. We put them in cars and got them to drive. Then we installed the analytical tools in their own vehicles to show them the results. Finally, we even had them driving trucks virtually in video games. That gave them an idea of how challenging it is to drive a huge truck, which helped them to be more realistic in their drivers’ evaluations.?

2. Identify and Address Regional Needs

Some years ago, I was coaching a tech support leader at a GCC. Unfortunately they were failing to understand the customer’s perspective, which led to them responding in a purely technical way that didn’t fully address the customers’ needs.?

After I worked with them, they were able to understand the customers in the region and thus learned to serve them better. This particular client even went on to become an advocate for adding special features for the region.?

Understanding the specific requirements of the regions in which your parent organization operates is vital for value creation. Invest in market research and customer feedback mechanisms to identify gaps in existing operations and develop new ideas or features that cater to the needs of each region. Tailoring your services and processes to align with local preferences will enhance your GCC's reputation as a trusted and reliable partner, driving growth and long-term success.

3. Prioritize Effective Customer Relationship Management

As the CEO, deepen your GCC's market and customer understanding to build strong and lasting relationships with global clients. Focus on providing exceptional customer experiences by offering personalized solutions, engaging in open communication, and actively addressing customer feedback. By proactively managing customer relations, your GCC can strengthen loyalty and become a valuable strategic partner for the parent organization.

I remember one case where a company wasn’t taking a complaint from a customer seriously. They were complaining that they weren’t able to print the invoices from the company’s software. The support team was ignoring it until the customer sent a picture of trucks lining up outside their warehouse unable to load the company’s products because the invoices couldn’t be printed.?

After that we started rotating employees from the GCCs into customer sites for them to study some real-life use cases in the field. It majorly improved their understanding of what features and add-ons are needed.?

4. Embrace Calculated Risks

Larger companies are employing a variety of methods to create a fast-paced, start-up-like environment within their organization to enable them to compete. One of these is to start accelerators that attract and nurture start-ups that are developing relevant products.?

I was an advisor to one of these accelerators where some of the best ideas were incubated. Some senior executives from the GCC would be encouraged to spend time with the start-ups to be part of the innovation and carry some of that fresh energy into their work environments.

In the fast-paced global business landscape, as the CEO, encourage your GCC to embrace calculated risks. Foster a culture that encourages experimentation and innovation within your organization. Showcase past successes and present comprehensive risk assessments to instill confidence in your parent organization to support novel initiatives that can lead to breakthroughs and sustained growth.

As the CEO of a GCC, your role is pivotal in maintaining your organization's competitive edge. By focusing on value creation, adopting an intrapreneurial approach, understanding regional needs, prioritizing effective customer relationship management, and embracing calculated risks, you can ensure that your GCC not only retains its market position but also thrives on the global stage. Adapting to the unique demands of each region, fostering innovation, and strengthening partnerships with your parent organization will position your GCC as a dominant player in the market, ensuring continued success and growth for the organization. In navigating the evolving GCC landscape, the CEO's vision and leadership are the driving forces that will shape the future of India's GCC sector.