The story of democracy from around the world

There is just one thing that has been talked about this previous month and, most probably will continue to be talked about in the next couple of weeks as well.

The Indian General Elections 2014 has made its buzz and impression in news around the world. One of the star highlights has been the impressive number of Indians preparing to vote this time around – 815 million. Morgan Stanley's Ridham Desai declared this would be the "biggest election in world history!”

So what is the story of democracy from around the world? Are elections and democracy universal? The answer, I’m afraid is not a yes. Even though 80% of countries on this planet are democratic – there are still a handful of countries that are autocratic. 

Even the quality of many of these democracies remains deeply flawed. Only 15 percent can be described as "full democracies," with 31 percent counting as "authoritarian regimes." Another interesting fact about democracy is that the wealthiest countries tend to be democracies: outside the petro-states, the top 25 richest countries in the world (as ranked by the World Bank) are also fully established democracies.

It all began way back in the 1900; New Zealand was the only country with a government elected by all its adult citizens. By the end of the century, there were ostensibly 120 electoral democracies in place!

Here in India, the story of democracy will take a new turn when the new government will be decided next month based on the majority of votes from the current electoral process. For good or bad, only time will tell.

Hope each of you exercised your voting power this time around. Why? Read my post on the importance of voting here: http://sandeepsonisays.blogspot.in/2014/04/one-citizen-one-vote.html

Source for all the amazing facts and the picture in this blog: World Bank  

Elections in the World’s Biggest Democracy

“Power to the people.”

That’s what democracy promises to deliver. The positives and negatives of this system can be debated over and over again and we can end up in an endless loop of discussions with no perfect alternative. That’s the brutal reality – there is no perfect system and the same can be said of the current electoral process. But, we have to make the best of what we have, quoting Winston Churchill here, "It has been said that democracy is the worst form of government except all the others that have been tried."

India, the behemoth of cross-culturalism, has been busy this week with one of its biggest electoral activity in the recent past – General Elections 2014.

I’ve picked up some interesting facts and figures that’ll give you an astute picture of how big the elections in India really are this time around.

·      This process will see more than 814 million Indians voting in the polls. That’s roughly 100 million more than the last general elections in 2009!

·      168 million, or about 20%, will be eligible to vote for the first time.

·      The election will cost about $5 billion or 300 billion rupees!

·      919,000 polling stations have been set up with approximately 3.6 million electronic voting machines. 

The logistics of the electoral process are mind-boggling. Man and machinery have been in constant action to make this happen. 10 million people have been working to make sure that every eligible Indian voter makes it to the polling booth within 2 km’s of their residence.

Incredible, isn’t it?

Hope each one of my readers and followers went out to vote for their respective candidates and parties. After all, your, mine and the country’s future depends on the choices we have made this week!

Source for all the amazing electoral facts: Business Insider – 8 incredible facts about India’s massive elections.

One Citizen, One Vote

They are here and there is no way you can miss them.

The Indian general elections 2014 are already being tagged as the ‘biggest elections’ in world history. There are some staggering figures that go with this mammoth activity for e.g. these also will be the longest and the most expensive general elections in the history of the country with the Election Commission of India estimating that the election will cost the exchequer INR 35 billion! 

The promotions for the two biggest political parties in India are not just hitting television and internet but the online and social space as well. Massive rallies and ground activations are in full swing.

The real question to be asked here is – how much are you as an individual being swayed by it to actually go and vote for the candidate of your choice?

We can never downplay the importance of voting – your future and the country’s future are directly affected with your decision. If you have an opinion which resonates with the thinking or views of a candidate, then it’s your moral obligation and duty to vote for that person and see through that your opinion gets a voice in the parliament. Voting also helps democracy to prevail and if you don’t make that decision to vote, then the chances increase of you getting ruled by by someone who wouldn't necessarily represent your opinions or have your interests at heart.

The reason to vote cannot be overstated. Here at Hero BPO, we have decided to give all the employees and the staff, whose shifts are in the morning and afternoon, an off on the day of the election. This would make sure that our employees go out and exercise their responsibility to vote as they should.

“One of the penalties for refusing to participate in politics is that you end up being governed by your inferiors.” - Plato

Smart People. Smart Solutions.

It’s a highly competitive world out there. There is a need to differentiate yourself. A need to create brand equity for your organization. To win markets, old and new. If ever Charles Darwin’s theory of Survival of the Fittest was true, it’s now. But then how must one survive? How do you make yourself or your business ‘unique’? The answer to all these questions lies in the age-old saying, ‘Customer is the king’. It has been and still continues to be the fundamental base on which the empires of successful enterprises are built.

But it isn’t that easy, mind you. The markets have become complex and so have we, the customers. Today we are smarter, technologically more equipped, with our ever-evolving needs. From the way we live and work to our preferences and choices, everything has transformed significantly over the years.

Smart People. Smart Solutions. – Our motto at HeroBPO didn’t just come from thin air. It’s a motto we live by. This weekend I glanced upon this quote and it some how got stuck with me. It goes like this:

"Surround yourself with smart, dedicated people - to build something isn't a one-man show. It's more important to have smart people who really believe in what you're doing than really experienced people who may not share your dream." - Niklas Zennstrom

True isn’t it? In my 20+ years, I have seen changes that might astonish you, developments that would make you sit in awe. I have learnt a lot, tried a lot of things but one thing that I have not underestimated is the power of the customers. One can’t do this alone. You need a team – a team of like-minded individuals. It will not be wrong to say that the key to winning partnerships lie in the ability to understand, customize and then service according to the consumers’ needs.

But how is this possible? To be able to create a winning product it is crucial to catch the pulse of what the consumer needs and what could make his or her life better, simpler. Though, we have many tools at our disposal to generate consumer insights, it would add a lot of value if we step out into the market, personally spend time with customers and get insights. Once the need is understood, the next step is customization. Categorizing customers as one homogenous lot can be useful as it helps streamline operations, however, one can not ignore the fact that each customer and his/her requirement is different from the other.

The question that arises is ‘How far are you willing to customize your offering?’ This flexibility has to be built in into organizational culture. Only when you are able to customize, you can truly deliver a superlative experience to the customer. People have become smarter, it’s time we offer them smart solutions as well.