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Business

Despite being the world's second most populous country, India faces a talent crunch. Here's how to confront this paradox.
India -- the world's second most populous country, with more than 48.7 million college graduates -- surprisingly faces a talent crunch. To tackle this problem, most companies have followed a conventional path that hasn't been effective. Time for a new approach.

In this era of tweets, Facebook, and buzz tracking, the evidence is clear: Consumers and companies want to hear from each other. But many marketers are missing a golden opportunity to have an engaging and profitable dialogue with their customers.

To survive financially right now, businesses need to build a “fortress balance sheet,” says Gallup’s chief economist. Moreover, he cautions: Be wary of Wall Street as a measure of the economy -- it has become decoupled from Main Street and isn’t a reliable barometer.

Most senior executives are pushing hard to keep their companies together. If their businesses are to survive, those leaders can’t overlook opportunities to boost productivity and profitability -- and that means employee engagement is more critical than ever.