Dear John,
By the time you read these lines, I’ll be gone...


No, it’s not that kind of a note. It’s my current reality: As we speak, I’m preparing my deployment to Mumbai, India, as part of the CSC, IBM’s Corporate Service Corps in September.

And by the time this article gets published, I’m in Mumbai and Ladakh, trying to make a difference.

India huh?

When I found out I got selected there was a first moment of utter and complete excitement, immediately followed by a more down to earth “Oh shit! How on earth am I supposed to combine this with my “normal” day job?”

Things to worry about later. First things first.

India. What crosses my mind thinking about India? Rich colours and spices, Apu from the Simpsons’ Kwik-E-Mart, Dr. Suresh from Heroes, a former colleague called Harvinder, spices and curries, a country where the company “Cable & Wireless” surely doesn’t have a subsidiary, Ghandi, the Dalai Lama, Bollywood, yoga,…

To my shame, I quickly came to realize my list was merely a big pile of prejudices or commonplaces and some vague recollections of colourful Canvas documentaries.

This was however soon to change when our team calls started at the beginning of June and reality kicked in. Don’t be mistaken: It’s not some leisurely trip to a far away country.

It’s all about making a difference.

IBM wants to build global IBMers and instead of merely donating money to projects or organizations, IBM also ‘donates’ its most precious asset: IBMers. IBMers and their skills, enthusiasm and experience.

Another motivation for establishing the CSC is the need for IBM’s current and future leaders to understand how differences in cultures affect business. Our company is increasingly globally integrated, changing the way work gets done and the way we engage with clients.

So, “CSCers” set the way. In our team, there’s 10 of us from 8 different countries that will be deployed to Mumbai, working on 5 different projects.

The project that I recently got assigned to based on my background and for which my skills, enthusiasm and experience will be put to use is: berries.

Berries?? Yes, exactly my reaction as well when I first found out about it. Not sure where they found a logical fit between the berries and yours truly except maybe the colour of the thing which is similar to my haircolour. But I’m sure they weren’t making a fashion statement…

No, this is serious business. Proof hereof in the title of my scope of work: ‘The development of a business model and marketing plan for Seabuckthorn.’

Sea-what? The almighty Google learned me that Seabuckthorn is a shrub, growing in the Himalayas, bearing a type of small orange berry, filled with vitamin C. It’s a fruit grown wild in Ladhak (Himalaya region, North-West India). Goal is to create sustainable livelihoods for a large number of Ladhaki families living in harsh conditions and to create an alternative revenue stream to tourism which is threatening the region’s fragile ecosystem.

So, bye bye spare time. I see every minute disappear and being eaten up by research papers on the still to be determined medicinal value of Seabuckthorn, its currently known benefits; its juice, filled with vitamins, its roots, used for areas suffering from erosion, its thorns used as a natural form of barbwire. But knowing our little berry friend is one thing, it’s another thing to implement business model innovation, identify value chain interdependencies and from there create a sustainable strategic organizational design and investigate possibilities for a viable export plan (Kwik-E-Marts of the world here comes ‘the berry’).

Now that I’m slowly starting to understand the breadth, depth and full background of this project it struck me again: This is why I entered. I get a chance at making a difference.

And who knows…The berry and I will soon act as extras in a Bollywood movie. Be on the lookout!

To be continued

Sandra Grieden

Marketing, Communications and Citizenship Manager IBM Belgium/Luxembourg