India Inc is set to acquire an unlikely ally in its drive to meet freshly mandated spending targets for corporate social responsibility activities - the Village Buddha.
The Japanese government has agreed to fund this unique new model developed by breakthrough management specialist Shoji Shiba that involves stationing change leaders, called Village Buddha, in Indian villages to spur the social and economic development of local communities by implementing thousands of kaizens.
Kaizen is the Japanese philosophy of continuous improvements in processes, credited for its phenomenal economic resurgence after the Second World War.
To be funded by the Japanese International Co-operation Agency and implemented with industry chamber CII, the programme, called 'Champions for Societal Manufacturing', will be formally announced later this month.
"India needs drastic innovation, without which it will be very difficult to create the jobs needed for its expanding workforce," Shiba, a Padma Shri awardee, told ET. "Economic development needs to be accompanied by social and environment development at the grassroots level. This new concept has been developed keeping in mind India's inclusive growth agenda," he said, expressing hope that the practice may be recognised in future as "the Indian way" of doing things.
The Village Buddha, which will help companies spend their CSR budgets more productively and improve the quality of life and incomes of villagers, is designed to transform some villages into role models for others by implementing several kaizens. This will also help companies appreciate the needs of rural markets and develop business models to tap opportunities at the bottom of the pyramid.
Besides, the concept envisages firms working with the villagers and panchayats to identify breakthrough projects around community needs such as clean water or self-sufficiency in energy and education.
"We will try to dovetail such projects with a business model so that villagers see sustainable benefits. We want to create 30 leaders every year who can become rural entrepreneurs within their company structures," Shiba said.
While the Village Buddha will address rural India's social and economic development needs, Japanese experts will work with a cluster of producers to help them adapt to green and energy-efficient manufacturing technologies. Learnings from a pilot project with one such industrial cluster will be distilled into clear recommendations for India Inc to improve its environmental footprint.
The Japanese grant will also aim to adopt and transform 1,000 small and medium enterprises to meet its economic development goal. "We have already helped 100 companies, including Tata MotorsBSE 1.77 %, improve their supply chains. We would like to now help smaller firms move up the value chain and grow bigger with an eye on job creation," Shiba said.
Shiba, who taught at the MIT Sloan School of Management for 14 years, had developed the concept of Big M that treats manufacturing as a holistic activity rather than just an act of production.
The Japanese government has agreed to fund this unique new model developed by breakthrough management specialist Shoji Shiba that involves stationing change leaders, called Village Buddha, in Indian villages to spur the social and economic development of local communities by implementing thousands of kaizens.
Kaizen is the Japanese philosophy of continuous improvements in processes, credited for its phenomenal economic resurgence after the Second World War.
To be funded by the Japanese International Co-operation Agency and implemented with industry chamber CII, the programme, called 'Champions for Societal Manufacturing', will be formally announced later this month.
"India needs drastic innovation, without which it will be very difficult to create the jobs needed for its expanding workforce," Shiba, a Padma Shri awardee, told ET. "Economic development needs to be accompanied by social and environment development at the grassroots level. This new concept has been developed keeping in mind India's inclusive growth agenda," he said, expressing hope that the practice may be recognised in future as "the Indian way" of doing things.
The Village Buddha, which will help companies spend their CSR budgets more productively and improve the quality of life and incomes of villagers, is designed to transform some villages into role models for others by implementing several kaizens. This will also help companies appreciate the needs of rural markets and develop business models to tap opportunities at the bottom of the pyramid.
Besides, the concept envisages firms working with the villagers and panchayats to identify breakthrough projects around community needs such as clean water or self-sufficiency in energy and education.
"We will try to dovetail such projects with a business model so that villagers see sustainable benefits. We want to create 30 leaders every year who can become rural entrepreneurs within their company structures," Shiba said.
While the Village Buddha will address rural India's social and economic development needs, Japanese experts will work with a cluster of producers to help them adapt to green and energy-efficient manufacturing technologies. Learnings from a pilot project with one such industrial cluster will be distilled into clear recommendations for India Inc to improve its environmental footprint.
The Japanese grant will also aim to adopt and transform 1,000 small and medium enterprises to meet its economic development goal. "We have already helped 100 companies, including Tata MotorsBSE 1.77 %, improve their supply chains. We would like to now help smaller firms move up the value chain and grow bigger with an eye on job creation," Shiba said.
Shiba, who taught at the MIT Sloan School of Management for 14 years, had developed the concept of Big M that treats manufacturing as a holistic activity rather than just an act of production.
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