A striking difference between the way India and China excel in their respective strengths was clear during a recent trip to China. Despite the recent accident issues and lightning woes, the Chinese railway system is clearly something China is proud about with respect to on-time arrivals, and usage of modern technology. The G-series trains, the latest and proud addition to their fleet, can cover the distance of 1100 km between Beijing and Shanghai in less than five hours, reaching top speeds of up to 350 kmph. The Indian railway system in contrast was more or less a legacy left behind by the British. Although it boasts of a network probably more complex and comprehensive than that of any other country, the trains average paltry speeds, with many of them invariably running several hours late.
However, in terms of the booking systems, the IRCTC system in India works wonders (except during peak hours when the system speeds can drop to a drag), where one can book a ticket on more than 95% of train routes from any point 'A' to any point 'B' of the country sitting in a completely different location 'C'. However, in stark contrast, in China, one can only book tickets from point 'A' to 'B' by appearing in person in specified ticketing outlets in point 'A'.
This clearly shows how information innovation finds its way much faster through the Indian railways, while technological innovation can be much faster in China.
Working as a project manager in the services industry, a lot of my work revolves around identifying how people think and how they work. During the course of standardizing systems, one has to take into account the local differences in the various regions that one is servicing. This was one aspect where China or Singapore are probably very different from India. All service executives have fixed hours of work, and fixed amounts of time allocated for their breaks during the day. However, it is in the usage of these breaks that the executives in India differ a lot from their Chinese counterparts.
A typical day in an Indian executive's workplace is interspersed with several short breaks - including a 15-min break for breakfast, a 20-min break for lunch, a break for tea and snacks at around 5 pm (there is no equivalent of this 5 pm chaat stall or a ‘chai’ stall in or near Chinese offices), maybe even a 15-min break to browse the internet or play snooker or table tennis at such facilities in the office building itself. However, a typical Chinese executive would start work after having breakfast, take a solid break for lunch, a solid half-hour nap thereafter, and work continuously till 6 pm before leaving for the day. The Chinese office spaces (at least in the services industry) seem typically devoid of such recreational facilities.
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