IIPM: October 2008

Wednesday, October 22, 2008

The Fighter Factory of Bhiwani...

...and the man behind it who’s already trained his eyes on London 2012!

What makes Bhiwani so different from other districts of India, indeed other districts of Haryana for that matter?

I pondered over this vexing question as my car sank into yet another mammoth pothole (a crater actually) littering the main Bhiwani road like Small Pox marks. The city...er...no, the town is ordinary, even less than ordinary, but somehow its dreams are nothing short of extraordinary.

As I arrive at the focal point of these brave dreamers, Bhiwani Boxing Club (locally known as the BBC!), the mystery deepens. The club’s courtyard, approach road and a volleyball court are shin deep in water from an overnight downpour, yet the place is buzzing with excitement. Several broadcast vans from different news channels are parked precariously on patches of dry land, jostling for space, a sight which incidentally is not so uncommon in Bhiwani nowadays. The man behind all this excitement, Coach Jagdish Singh, whose unfailing passion and devotion towards popularising boxing in Bhiwani and even Haryana is the reason for the hype, is praying. He keeps praying through Vijender’s semi-final match, his wards periodically updating him on the scores....Continue

Source : IIPM Editorial, 2008
An Initiative of IIPM, Malay Chaudhuri and Arindam chaudhuri (Renowned Management Guru and Economist).

Read also :-

Monday, October 13, 2008

Do you have a coach for the captain’s job?

Q: What’s the biggest hiring mistake you have ever made? (Stephan Klapproth, Zurich, Switzerland)

Ans: Would you believe that with about 60 years of combined experience, we’ve made too many hiring mistakes to name just one? It’s true. Now, many occurred when we were newer at this game, but picking the right people never gets easy. Just last month, we almost blew it twice, saved only by a last-minute eureka in both cases. Incidentally, even as we were in the midst of making these almost-mistakes, we were cringing a bit, concerned we were off-track. And yet we forged ahead, feeling simultaneously hopeful and helpless. Our candidates seemed bright and shiny enough, and we were just so tired of interviewing when there was real work to be done. Of course, hiring is real work. Given the central importance of your people, it’s as fundamental as work gets. Yet too often we rush headlong into its painfully common pitfalls.

Take our first near-miss last month, when we almost gave into the universal impulse to hire a person who looked too good to be true. There she was with an Ivy League degree, several technology jobs at solid companies and exactly the skills we needed. Well dressed, well spoken, charming, eager – the works. Even her salary requirement was in the low range....Continue

Saturday, October 11, 2008

If McCain’t the guy, is Obama?

Who, among the two, will be more preferred by the ‘white’ nations?

To the amusement of everyone, a Southern

California Think Tank has inferred that the intelligence of a person has an indirect relation to his liking for President Bush. In other words, if you dislike Bush, you’re intelligent, and if you do, you don’t need to read the report. Though that’s putting it quite simplistically, the fact is that despite Bush’s strong arm tactics towards certain countries, he had ensured that the ‘white’ nations (well, almost) remained allies – more or less – of the US. The question now is, will the seeds of propelling amicable foreign relations sown by Bush be nurtured just as well by Obama or McCain? While Obama keeps harping that he would do everything within his power to prevent Iran from indulging into nuclear activities, the much speculated ‘could-be’ President is still indecisive about visiting Iraq or for that matter even Iran; and on the other hand is sweet old McCain, who has been constantly persuading Obama to undertake an Iraq trip. While Obama has been accused of lack of foreign policy experience, in contrast stands McCain, who has served four years or so in Vietnam, has been a prisoner, and in his many years as Senator and political player, has influenced and lobbied for and against many foreign policy decisions....continue

Source : IIPM Editorial, 2008
An Initiative of IIPM, Malay Chaudhuri and Arindam chaudhuri (Renowned Management Guru and Economist).

Read also :-

Friday, October 03, 2008

Yes, Dr. Singh! It’s a huge crisis that looms in front of us; yet, it’s an excellent opportunity to display great leadership and become a statesman!

It seems

that the ruling United Progressive Alliance (UPA) is all set to gift away a comfortable victory for the Bharatiya Janata Party and its allies in the forthcoming Union elections, with the latter doing nothing much to earn it. Looking at the way things are happening, it is as if history is repeating itself. It was not very long ago that onions had taken away the sheen of whatever good work that the then National Democratic Alliance had done. The electorate had then ruthlessly stripped them of their power, showcasing the crude fact that the Indian electorate posses extremely short memories, particularly when it comes to elections. And this time, no one else is realising it more than the ruling UPA. They realise that gone is the euphoria they created by gifting the huge Rs.60,000 crore loan waiver for farmers in this year’s annual budget, and that too barely two months ago. And gone along with it is the positive sentiment that was created by the increase in the non-taxable income from Rs.1 lakh to Rs.1.5 lakh. Also gone is the populist Sixth Pay Commission, which was clearly to woo the Indian middle class.

In less than a few weeks’ time, all that the UPA (and not just the Congress) had tried to prove – as being the representative of the aam aadmi – has been withered away by a phenomenon that is taking catastrophic proportions not just within the nation, but globally. The inflation figure, which is hovering at around 7.33%, has been giving sleepless nights to most governments across the world, including the UPA. In fact, UPA should remember quite well how, around a decade back, BJP had to pay dearly by getting routed in three state assembly elections, simply because the prices of onions had skyrocketed. And this time, it is not just onions; prices have shot up across each and every basic commodity, making things extremely difficult for the Congress. And out of nowhere, a disorganised opposition led by BJP, has found a major poll plank to avenge its earlier defeat. And if the UPA fails to reign in the prices, then it is needless to state that it would all be over for them, at least in the forthcoming elections......Continue

Source : IIPM Editorial, 2008
An Initiative of IIPM, Malay Chaudhuri and Arindam chaudhuri (Renowned Management Guru and Economist).

Read also :-

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