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Picking brand names in China is a business itself

2012-02-16T16:21:00.001+05:30

Western companies choosing a brand name in China now rely on consultants and linguistic analyses to ensure that consumers are attracted rather than amused or even repelled

After a hard day’s labour, your average upscale Beijinger likes nothing more than to shuck his dress shoes for a pair of Enduring and Persevering, rev up his Precious Horse and head to the pub for a tall, frosty glass of Happiness Power.

Or, if he’s a teetotaler, a bottle of Tasty Fun.

To Westerners, that’s Nike, BMW, Heineken and Coca-Cola, respectively. And those who wish to snicker should feel free: The companies behind these names are laughing too – all the way to the bank.

More than many nations, China is a place where names are imbued with deep significance. Western companies looking to bring their products to China face a problem not unlike that of Chinese parents naming a baby boy: little Gang (“strong”) may be regarded quite differently than little Yun (“cloud”). Given that China’s market for consumer goods is growing by better than 13% annually – and luxury-goods sales by 25% – an off-key name could have serious financial consequences.

And so the art of picking a brand name that resonates with Chinese consumers is no longer an art. It has become a sort of science, with consultants, computer programmes and linguistic analyses to ensure that what tickles a Mandarin ear does not grate on a Cantonese one.

Art “is only a very, very tiny piece of it,” said Vladimir Djurovic, President of Labbrand Consulting Co. in Shanghai, which has made a business of finding names for Western companies entering the Chinese market.

Maybe. But there is a lot of artistry in the best of the West.

The paradigm probably is the Chinese name for Coca-Cola, Kekoukele, which not only sounds like Coke’s English name, but conveys its essence of taste and fun in a way that the original name could not hope to match.

There are many others. Consider Tide detergent, Taizi, whose Chinese characters literally mean “gets rid of dirt.” (Characters are important: the same sound written differently could mean “too purple.”)

There is also Reebok, or Rui bu, which means “quick steps.” And Colgate – Gao lu jie – which translates into “revealing superior cleanliness.” And Lay’s snack foods – Le shi – whose name means “happy things.” Nike (Nai ke) and BMW (Bao Ma, echoing the first two sounds of its English and German names) also have worn well on Chinese ears.

Still, finding a good name involves more than coming up with clever homonyms to the original English.

“Do you want to translate your name, or come up with a Chinese brand?” said Monica Lee, the Managing Director of The Brand Union, a Beijing consultant. “If you go for phonetic sounds, everyone knows where you are from – you’re immediately identified as a foreign brand.” For some products, having a foreign-sounding name lends a cachet that a true Chinese name would lack. Many upscale brands like Cadillac (Ka di la ke), or Hilton (Xi er dun), employ phonetic translations that mean nothing in Chinese Rolls-Royce (Laosi-Laisi) includes two Chinese characters for “labour” and “plants” that more or less have become standard usage in foreign names – all to achieve a distinct foreign look and sound.

But on the other hand, a genuine Chinese name can say things about a product that a mere collection of homonyms never could. Take Citibank, Hua qi yinhang, which literally means “star-spangled banner bank,” or Marriott, Wan hao, or “10,000 wealthy elites.” Or Pentium, Ben teng, which means “galloping.” Asked to introduce Marvel comics to China, the Labbrand consultants came up not long ago with “Man wei” – roughly phonetic, foreign-sounding and eminently suited to superheroes with the meaning “comic power.”

For more articles, Click on IIPM Article

Source : IIPM Editorial, 2011.

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

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NO CARDS, NO CASH... THE WALLET IS A PHONE [not yet!]

2012-01-25T16:14:00.001+05:30

The wallet app from Google holds many promises. But google needs to surpass many big hurdles before it can replace plastic money

Plenty of companies would love to get their hands on our wallets. But Google wants to go one step further – it wants to be our wallets.

Its new phone software, called Google Wallet, is intended to replace the credit cards in our actual wallets. It does sound pretty spectacular, doesn’t it? No fishing plastic cards out of wallets, no paper slips, no signatures. Everything is handled securely, instantly, conveniently, with one tap of your phone at the register. Europeans and Asians already routinely pay for things that way. But there are enough footnotes to fill a podiatry journal.

At the moment, the free Google Wallet app runs on only a single cellphone model: Sprint’s Google Nexus S, which runs Google’s Android software. That’s because Google Wallet requires a special NFC chip (near-field communications), and the Nexus S is one of the few phones so equipped.

Someday, Google says, many more phones will have NFC chips. The company says that it is in talks with every major Android phone maker.

The next question: Where can you use Wallet to pay for things? Google had the inspired idea of teaming up with MasterCard, which has already installed NFC readers at 150,000 merchants in the US and 230,000 overseas. You can see the black MasterCard PayPass terminals all over the place.

That’s 150,000 companies; the total number of physical stores is far higher. Someday, Google says, the readers will be installed at cash registers all across this great land. Think of Wallet as a copy of your actual credit card. Wherever you might swipe a credit card, you can tap your phone instead. At the moment, though, the only credit card Wallet can impersonate is a Citibank MasterCard.

Someday, Google says, all kinds of credit cards from all kinds of banks will work with Wallet.

If you don’t have a Citibank MasterCard, you can still use Wallet. On the screen where you select which credit card you want to use, you’ll find an imaginary one called Google Prepaid Card. It comes with $10 of credit – Google’s gift to you, O Early Adopter – but right there on the phone, you can preload it with more money from another credit card.

All right. So you’re in a drugstore, and the cashier announces the total, “$31.24”. At the exact moment when you would ordinarily swipe your credit card, you simply turn on the phone. (You don’t have to fire up the Wallet app first.) You hold it against the PayPass terminal and enter your four-digit password. The screen says “Sent,” and the terminal’s screen says “Authorising ... Approved ... Balance $0. Thank you!”

Security, Google says, is baked into the system from the beginning. The phone’s NFC chip is completely deactivated when the screen is off. That’s to prevent sneaky evildoers from “skimming” (reading) your credit card information.

A shame, really; Google says that the NFC chip could work even when the phone was off, meaning you could keep using it to buy things. But Google chose to emphasise security over convenience; as a result, the phone is useless as a wallet once its battery is dead.

The pass code requirement is intended to prevent people from buying stuff with your phone if it’s lost or stolen, since they won’t know the code. (And if they guess wrong five times in a row, the whole Wallet becomes unusable. You have to contact Google and explain yourself.)

Of course, the four-digit pass code requirement also sucks most of the fun and convenience out of the whole phone-as-wallet concept. Tapping out the pass code on small keys on a not-always-responsive touch screen is a hassle, and not demonstrably faster than signing a regular credit card slip. Why can’t we disable that requirement according to our own paranoia levels?

You can’t even pick an easy-to-type pass code to save yourself effort; Wallet won’t accept codes like 1234 or 1111.

(Besides, the stolen-phone defense doesn’t hold water. Trust me: If you lose your phone, you’ll know it. You’ll be on your bank’s customer service hotline to freeze your account before you can say, “my stomach is in knots.”)

So if Wallet isn’t vastly more convenient than swiping a credit card, what’s the point?

Google has an answer for that: SingleTap.

For more articles, Click on IIPM Article

Source : IIPM Editorial, 2011.

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

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“We are reaching out”

2011-12-23T17:05:00.001+05:30

As Rameet reveals, McDonald’s is up to some interesting new product and service innovations, even as it looks to better leverage the web as a medium

The much-touted ‘I’m Lovin’ It’ experience and customer satisfaction is at the core of everything that McDonald’s does. As times have evolved, the company has also re-invigorated itself and consolidated its position. Rameet Arora, who has taken charge of driving growth for the brand and the business last year when he moved on from Colors, talks to mona mehta about the new initiatives and the use of the online medium:

How has the “Breakfast Menu” strategy taken off in terms of generating targeted revenues?
The breakfast menu added a new day part to McDonald’s as the outlets serving breakfast had to open at 7 am as opposed to 9 or 10 am. The campaign to promote the new breakfast menu was based on the research done that showed that at least 60% of the working population has breakfast on the move at least once a week. The creatives show breakfast items such as a hot cup of coffee and a muffin or pancakes, with an antonymic play on words like ‘Rise - Shine’, ‘Wake up - Get up’, ‘Grumpy - Chirpy’, ‘Skip work - Skip to work’, and ‘Morning - Good morning’. The copy also read ‘Good morning. Great breakfast’. This helped establish McDonald’s as an all day dining destination catering to all meal times.

What new delivery touchpoints are you planning for the Indian market?
Customer convenience and service are highly critical factors in driving growth in any industry and key impetus is on product and service innovation and customer orientation. McDonald’s today has evolved from just attracting customers to their restaurants. McDonald’s is increasingly reaching out to customers leveraging a range of innovative retail formats ranging from Kiosk, drive through’s and MYF. McDonald’s also has outlets at various petrol pumps for which we have formed an alliance with the leading oil companies of India like HPCL, BPCL and most recently IOC. In addition, McDonald’s India has also given consumers the convenience of formats such as home delivery and web delivery through which they can enjoy their favourite McDonald’s products.

Keeping in mind where the customer is and the fast reach of the web, McDonald’s has successfully explored the medium of technology to reach out to the consumers. McDonald’s was one of the very few food brands to extend reach to customer through QR code technology.

What is your take on promoting/launching new McDonald’s products through the internet? What are the challenges?
The advancement of technology and the widespread reach that the internet provides a brand is unquestionable in today’s tech savvy scenario. However because internet is such a dynamic field, we are just as good as our last idea and innovation in this medium is of key importance. For the launch of the McSpicy range, McDonald’s launched its first ever viral campaign. A video uploaded on Facebook and YouTube showed the other products at McDonald’s anticipating the arrival of new competition in the form of the spicy products. This viral campaign was supported by the microsite, specially created for McSpicy. We used QR codes for this campaign, which allowed customers easy, on the move access on their cell phones. With the McFlurry launch, we have taken a step ahead with QR technology and are working with Image recognition technology, where anyone clicking on a picture of McFlurry will be directed to the McDonald’s website/McFlurry microsite.

Just update us on your M&A budgets please!

2011-12-14T17:27:00.001+05:30

The security industry is desperately looking for ideas to cope with increasing threats to companies in cyber space, & most ideas are coming from start ups. So how do the leaders cope?

At times, the manner in which we relentlessly surf the web and exchange critical and non-critical information over the web so nonchalantly does cause a lot of surprise. We aren’t really thinking of our vulnerability to cyber attacks in those moments, are we? And that’s after the spate of attacks & breaches on companies like Sony, Bank of America, Wipro, et al & even on national networks that have made headlines. The recent one affected top defence contractors to the Japanese government like Mitsubhishi Heavy Industries and shocked the world. If they are vulnerable, where are smaller companies, or even average consumers headed?

For security companies, of course, this is a sign of business opportunity as well as a challenge to match the dynamically changing security needs of the organisations of today. As per Gartner estimates, the global security software market aggreagated a turnover of $16.5 billion in 2010, a rise by 12% yoy. The market is led by Symantec with a revenue of $3.12 billion in 2010 (market share of 18.9%) followed by McAfee with revenues of $1.71 billion (market share of 10.4%) and TrendMicro with a revenue of $1.04 billion and market share of 6.3%. It’s still a highly fragmented market, considering that the top five vendors account for 44.3% of the global market. The battle for market share between these top five in particular is only going to intensify in the coming months, and there is a lot of inorganic activity expected, since a number of the new innovations in this increasingly complex arena lie to a large extent with smaller companies and start ups. “Products within the security market are undergoing rapid evolution, in terms of both new delivery models – with security as a service showing increasing popularity – and new technologies being introduced, often by startup companies,” asserts Ruggero Contu, principal research analyst at Gartner.

At the top is the bitter rivalry between Symantec, McAfee & TrendMicro. Symantec continues to be especially aggressive on acquisitions and has acquired 25 companies since 2005. Its recent deals include Clearwell Systems for their eDiscovery Solution this year, and acquired Verisign’s Security Services (for their online identity protection portfolio), RuleSpace (URL filtering functionality), PGP Corporation & GuardianEdge (e-mail & data encryption) and Gideon Technologies (standards-based information security solutions) in 2010. McAfee has become a unique case. Its CEO had promised at least 3-4 acquisitions every year in early 2010, but the company was itself acquired by microprocessor giant Intel for a whopping $7.7 billion last year. Intel’s sudden diversification to this space has surprised many. The company hopes to bundle hardware security capability with McAfee’s software credentials to be able to undo some of the disadvantages it has of not being there in the mobile space and facing increasing competition from rivals. The number 3 player TrendMicro acquired mobile encryption player Mobile Armor last year to boost its capabilities in the mobile space. The acquisition of TrendMicro expands its portfolio to serve the growing cloud space. As remote management of infrastructure becomes a reality with increasing cloud adoption (globally a $1.6 billion market as per IDC), it is becoming a huge opportunity for security firms.

JWT The Retro-Brigrade!

2011-09-06T17:18:00.002+05:30

Their First Big Campaign Delivered Unexpected Results. Presenting the Cannes Lions Gold Winners this year – Vanguards of the Retro-Brigade: Anupama Ramaswamy & Simran Sahni

They have not stopped beaming since the time they bagged their first Cannes Lions Gold this year for the Fujifilm ‘Inner Smile’ Campaign. The campaign was not only well gulped down by the international jury at Cannes, but it has also brought home a whole baggage of awards including 2 awards at the Goa Fest, 5 metals in Adfest and 2 in Spikes! And the creative minds behind all this haven’t lost their lust for more!

Their repartee on the same goes thus, “After all, who doesn’t want to be Piyush Pandey or Prasoon Joshi and redefine advertising with their work and simultaneously win lots of awards? Greedy? But that’s us!” These girls with the Midas touch are flag bearing representative of the new leadership race at JWT Delhi – and Anupama Ramaswamy, Senior CD (ART) and Simran Sahni, Creative Director apparently take no prisoners.

But the road that took them to the Lions Gold was not adorned with candy floss. As they reveal (and that too almost in unison), “Our first faceoff was a typical meeting at work where the senior pairs you up for a project. It was an LG commercial brief and we were working in Lowe Lintas at a very junior position at that time.” This was in the year 2005. After their maiden assignment, the duo again teamed up for small assignments for clients like Convergys and Lowe.

However, to really catch the big fish, one has to go deep into the ocean; and the duo did that! The one big opportunity that elevated them to notable status (and also made them take advertising seriously!) was of Apollo Hospitals. Call it destiny’s undoing – the two were not even briefed for it! Anupama shares, “That was the campaign that we did just for the heck of it. But eventually, we loved it and showed it around proudly. Surprisingly, it was the last round of the pitch and the agency presented only that campaign, which later made them win the account.”

Their first impressions on each other are dispassionately honest! “It was very comfortable working together in the first project. As we worked on, we listened to each other’s ideas... There was no ego among us, especially from my side, about how art directors think! Also, Anu was very polite with my scribbles and rough layouts,” exclaims Simran. To this, Anu adds her own take, “She is one of the most positive persons I have met in this world of skeptics and cynics. She is a complete believer and the spark between us was instant, as I could tell her any of my thoughts without (the apprehension of) her judging me.”

The duo that has managed to grab 13 awards in their relatively short career span and has enabled many exceptional commercials to see the light of day including the award-winning Woodland outdoor campaign, Lay’s, Boost, et al is currently investing their hearts and souls in Nokia. That’s the biggest account on which they are working in full swing currently.

For more articles, Click on IIPM Article.

Source : IIPM Editorial, 2011.

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

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‘Penning’ a new brand odyssey

2011-08-11T17:29:00.002+05:30

Deepak Jain’s vision has transformed Add gel from a regional brand to a household name in India. He shares with Shephali Bhatt how he owes it to his father and his insights from Gen Y

Deepak Jain
COO, Add Gel

In 1990, his father M. C. Jain started a company with the brand name Advert Pens, and in over a period of two decades, during the journey that saw Advert transform to Add Gel, they have grown in terms of quality, in terms of value, and in terms of scale. With operations in more than 40 countries right now, Add Gel has a strong brand image accompanied by a vibrant consumer recall in the country.

Deepak Jain, now the Chief Operations Officer (COO) of Add Gel, has been an active part of the company’s operations for eight years. He shares, “When I joined the company, the corporate and export sector growth in our product category was minimal. I saw that this is the upcoming area that has to be tapped fast. I started with corporate sales, met clients for promotional activities, and then shifted to handling exports. And now more than 1500 companies know me by my name and my face. They rely on my services”. Talking about challenges, he simply comments that challenges are never within the organization but outside. Jain’s mantra is quality and good service and he believes that the customer should feel proud when he is holding an Add Gel pen. “And we have succeeded in achieving that in the past decade,” he says.

Sharing an anecdotal learning from the past, he says, “One thing that I have learnt is that every product has its own market. Be it any segment, automobile, electronics or any FMCG product, there’s a volume market and there’s a niche market. We have already succeeded on the niche market front for we deliver the best quality, but at a higher price of course. Our customers have accepted that if it’s an Add Gel pen, it has to be expensive; it has to be a world class quality pen. Even today, our competitors come up with cheaper low quality products with less than Rs. 10 as the MRP, but we don’t have anything that’s priced at less than Rs. 20. In fact, our largest selling pen is Add Gel Achiever, which is priced at Rs. 40. And we are still growing in volumes.”

Now, Jain aims for Add Gel to be in the top 20 big brands of India, in terms of brand recall value and consumer perception, and obviously sales turnover, but all the more, he wants people to know that Add Gel is the company that they can rely on.

On being asked about the tricks of the trade that he has learnt, he says, “You need to be smart, need to be fast, you need to stick to the fact that the consumer is always right. Moreover it is very important for you to gain respect in whatever field you are working on, in terms of the commitments that you have made”.

For more articles, Click on IIPM Article.

Source : IIPM Editorial, 2011.

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

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A travelogue that promises to thrill!

2011-08-08T17:30:00.003+05:30

Discloses to Rajlakshmi Saikia Bhimwal & Angshuman Paul the strategy behind the travel company successfully selling premium as well as mass products to travellers

Sudip Ghose
Director Marketing, Samsonite South Asia Pvt. Ltd.

The various Ps of marketing – a concept popularised by the marketing guru Philip Kotler – have been widely accepted by all marketers and marketing managers across the world as being essential elements of any marketing mix. But there are very few marketers within India who have actually paid heed to these aspects in the true sense. Many simply move in the marketing space according to their gut feel. In this vast and discrete group of marketers, Sudip Ghose, Director, Marketing, Samsonite South Asia Pvt. Ltd, definitely stands out for his attempts to re-define the same marketing mix, and this time, practically. In his own words, he points out to us, “If marketing were all about 4Ps, then all of your people should be knowing everything about your product and its correlation with the 4Ps. Clearly, such correlations cannot be taught but only can be learned by practical experience.”

Backed up with such a belief, Sudip has transformed a boring baggage business into a glamorous travel business and has taken Samsonite from selling travel suitcases and bags to even shoes. And in doing so, he has never compromised with the brand equity and consumer behavior. “I believe that marketing is all about understanding your customers. What he/she wants and where does he/she want it is the basis of marketing, which somehow is defined in 4Ps but as I said, this has to be related to the product that you are offering,” explains Sudip. His deft marketing strategies might be the outcome of his working in various companies prior to joining Samsonite. He’s an alumnus from Narsee Monjee (NMIMS) and has worked in different sectors like optical products (Bausch & Lomb), durables (Whirlpool), electronics (Onida), telecom (RIL), and now in Samsonite, a company that Sudip ensures stays a premium company.

But wonder of wonders, Sudip doesn’t believe in over staffing and has ensured the maximum effectiveness from each individual. “Our marketing team is divided into four segments. There is an umbrella communications team comprising of three people. Brand Samsonite is handled by another three people. Then, there are three people in our American Tourister brand and two people in our shoes segment. So it is a 3-3-3-2 network. I am the 12th man in my team,” he adds with a smile.

The group recently commemorated 100 years of its existence and as a part of such celebration, the brand tied up with Bollywood blockbusters like ‘My Name is Khan’ and revealed a collection of products under the brand name Cosmolite – the world’s strongest and lightest travel gear. He adds that churning out new products is Samsonite’s USP, explaining, “We have just completed 100 years, and in every decade we have brought out something new and revolutionary. Cosmolite is also a product of patented technology.” Sudip opines that they have been able to combine the desired attributes of light and strong bags, and at the same time maintained an element of design and fashion and they plan to keep introducing such high-end products for their discerning customers termed as ‘globe trotters’. Interestingly, whether you are in Mumbai, Tokyo or Cairo, you can get the best of Samsonite, as they launch all products simultaneously across all their markets.

Coming on to American Tourister, Samsonite’s easy on the pocket brand which is positioned against VIP’s Aristocrat. Sudip says, “Working with American Tourister as a brand was a different experience. We had to stop thinking of only style and class; this product is for the mass with class.” He explains the ‘Place’ in marketing mix and clarifies that Samsonite, being a niche brand, is not for everywhere and everyone, but it does have presence in Tier II cities such as Coimbatore, Madurai, Nagpur, Kanpur, et al, and “the idea is to keep expanding.” Currently, Samsonite enjoys an overwhelming 80 per cent market share and thus is not bothered about competition even from premium names like Da Milano and Giordano. The company has recently ventured into the shoe market as well, which Sudip says is because of the simple fact that shoes are also part of travel.

For more articles, Click on IIPM Article.

Source : IIPM Editorial, 2011.

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

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Burning Indian roads on Korean wheels!

2011-08-02T15:00:00.005+05:30

What is Hyundai India’s marketing chief doing to ward off competitive eyes? Or is he only bothered about giving his best shot and not worrying about the pack? By Pawan Chabra

Arvind Saxena
Director – Sales & Marketing, Hyundai Motor India

Arvind Saxena is one of those individuals, who have seen the Indian automobile industry being built brick by brick. With a rich experience of 25 years in the industry, Saxena, who is currently the Director of Sales & Marketing division at Hyundai Motor India, has been spearheading the company’s branding and sales efforts for the past five years. After he majored in mechanical engineering from the Motilal Nehru Regional Engineering College, Allahabad, he got enrolled in the MBA degree course at Lucknow University. Saxena started his career with Escorts as a Management Trainee in the Sales & Marketing department. Realising his capabilities at an early stage, he was handed over control of Escorts’ auto business in Bihar after just a couple of months into his training at the company. Recalling those days, he says, “It was actually the best assignment that has ever been given to me.” After a successful stint of nine years at Escorts, he moved to Bajaj Auto as a Regional Marketing Manager for the company. He was put in charge of the company’s marketing operations in the Eastern and Northern region of the country. Saxena also has a long list of achievements to share, and they have all been result-driven performances. After a short stint at Bajaj, he joined Maruti Suzuki, where he worked for ten long years. He quickly rose up the hierarchy and was spearheading Maruti Suzuki’s all-India sales force (in the capacity of Chief General Manager – Sales) before he joined Hyundai in November 2005, where he was allocated the task to manage sales and marketing operations at the all-India level.

While at Maruti, he ensured that the company maintained its #1 spot in the Indian market. From there, he jumped ship to the #2 Hyundai, which was then and still is, chipping-away at the leader’s market share day in and day out. So how is Saxena taking this change of side? Is there a sudden antagonism towards all in the Maruti camp? Disagrees Saxena, “There is always a sense of competitiveness, but even today, I have close friends at Maruti. But when you are at the marketplace you are definitely competing with each other.” But one fact which he cannot deny is that a lot has changed for Hyundai since he joined the company. And it comes in the name of heightened competition. Though Hyundai continued to play the right cards by banking on the Indian small car segment (which has always attracted maximum volumes in the industry), competition has grown by the day. In recent years, players like GM, Ford, Volkswagen, Nissan et al, have moved into the small car category to make the most of the opportunity at hand. But Saxena disagrees on this front as well. He boldly dismisses any worry, as he says, “The market has expanded well over the past few years, with many product launches happening in the small car segment. But Hyundai has also done very well. Five years back our market share stood at 17%, and despite competition rising, our market share today is close to 20%, which more or less describes how well we have been doing.” Numbers surely prove his point.

For more articles, Click on IIPM Article.

Source : IIPM Editorial, 2011.

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

For More IIPM Info, Visit below mentioned IIPM articles.

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Kasab appeals death sentence

2011-07-29T17:13:00.004+05:30

The lone surviving gunman from the 2008 Mumbai attacks that left 166 dead has approached th Supreme Court asking for his death sentence to be overturned.

The request by Ajmal Kasab had been filed via jail authorities in Mumbai, where he has been held since the attacks, and lodged with the secretary general of the court. He filed the appeal through the Arthur Road jail authorities.

Pakistani national Kasab, one of 10 gunmen who laid siege to Mumbai for nearly three days, was first convicted and sentenced by a trial court in the Indian commercial and entertainment capital in May 2010. The death sentence was confirmed by the state high court in February in the first failed appeal by the 23-year-old school drop-out from a poor farming area in Pakistan's Punjab state.

India has the death sentence for the "rarest of the rare" criminal offences and executions are uncommon. Kasab was found guilty of a string of offences including waging war against India, murder, attempted murder and terrorist acts after a trial at a maximum security prison court in Mumbai. During the trial, the prosecution produced fingerprint, DNA, eye-witness, CCTV and other evidence showing him opening fire and throwing grenades in the bloodiest episode of the November 26 attacks at Mumbai's main railway station.

A number of senior police officers, including the head of the Maharashtra state anti-terrorism squad, were killed as the gunmen fled the scene of carnage. Three luxury hotels, a popular tourist restaurant and a Jewish centre were also targeted by the other gunmen.

If the Supreme Court upholds the verdict and sentence, Kasab can appeal for clemency to the President as a last resort.

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

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Meet the tech-freak!

2011-07-18T16:01:00.002+05:30

The stylish Bollywood diva, Lara Dutta gets candid with 4Ps B&M on her larger-than-life philosophy and love for gadgets

In the era of iPhones and Blackberrys, how has technology impacted your life?
As an individual, I have experienced how technology actually impacts and enhances your experience for the better. In fact, I have become a complete gadget freak these days. I love getting my hands on the latest gadgets and gizmos around. I am carrying two mobile phones with me right now. I’ll die if I don’t have any of those two. They facilitate me to stay in touch with family and friends.

What appeals to you in a gadget?
I would like my gadgets to be stylish and sleek. But at the same time, I prefer a user-friendly gadget compared to the one that only looks appealing. I believe in securing value for money and not buying something that just looks cool and trendy.

At this moment, which gadget are you in love with?
Apart from my two mobiles, I have almost all the new gadgets that one should and should not necessarily have.

What does ‘excellence in lifestyle’ mean to you?
To me, being at par with the rest of the world in terms of the standards of living is the benchmark we should look towards. I take a lot of pride in the remarkable transformation we have made in the way we define excellence in lifestyle in our country. We are poised at the brink of the newest technologies entering our doorsteps. All we have to do is embrace them into our lifestyles.

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Source : IIPM Editorial, 2011.

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

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THE NEW INDIAN MIDDLE CLASS WILL IMPACT THE WORLD OF MARKETING IN A BIG WAY

2011-07-13T17:13:00.001+05:30

We often assume that the entire middle class is just ‘One Class’ & Try and paint them in one straight go

It is now official. For the first time in the history of modern India, high income households will outnumber lower income households. According to latest NCAER (National Council for Applied Economic Research) estimates, India will soon have over 46.7 million households in the high income category against the 41 million odd households that are supposed to constitute the lower income category.

For starters, households earning up to `45,000 per annum are dubbed as lower income households, and those earning over `1.8 lakh per annum are classified as high income households. But the real story lies in the number of households whose annual income falls between `45,000 to `1.8 lakh. In fact, this number has now reached a whopping 141 million households (out of the total 228 million households in the country), and this is what we call the great Indian middle class. This middle class now is over 60% of the entire population. This is a stupendous turnaround that we are seeing happen to our country.

We often assume that the entire middle class is just ‘one class’ and we can try and paint them in one go. However, the truth is that the middle class in India is a constantly evolving mix of audience. The current decade has seen a very strong growth in middle class. The economic growth, the rising prosperity, more and more people moving up the ladder, et al, have created a new class of customers. These are new members of middle class of India. In fact, they are the ones fuelling this new middle class. After all they are a very potent group of consumers. But who are they? What are the trends that they will trigger?

The new middle class has been powered by women. Just look at the long term literacy data of India and the impact women are having will be clear. The female literacy rate has risen from 8.6% in 1951 to 54% in 2001 census. By the 2011 census, I am sure that this number would have crossed 60%. Interestingly, the growth of female literacy rate was 15% between 1991 and 2001, as against just 11% of male literacy growth. Clearly the women are catching up with males, and this is triggering a set of new trends. The growth of the new middle class is powered by women. With better education they are joining the work force in a greater number. With this they are taking control of their future, having a greater say in their weddings, deciding on when to have kids and how many. Apart from the demographic impact, they are also driving their partners with a greater zeal to improve their future. They are making the most of the change in their demographic and social status.

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Source : IIPM Editorial, 2011.

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

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BIDDING ADIEU TO FLAT WORLD!

2011-07-08T16:02:00.002+05:30

From humble beginnings, Infosys has transformed itself into a global player on the basis of ethics, values and performance. Now, it’s time for the company to take the ultimate leap by marrying its global delivery model with consulting

The textbook definition of holistic marketing is that the entire company must think customer. But it’s rare to actually listen to a person with a finance background talking so extensively about marketing strategy.

Infosys CFO V. Balakrishnan is an exception to that norm. In a write up titled, CFO strategies for winning in a Flat World, he mentions how the company measures its success by the success of its customers and how the key is to be a transformation partner for clients. He also indicates the company’s strategic intent when he says, “Leveraging countries like India is critical to our ability to select the best talent so we can address the needs of our global customers.” We don’t mean intent in terms of customer commitment; Infosys has been famous for that, with 97.3% of turnover as repeat business in FY 2009-10. The interesting part is where he says “leveraging countries like India”. Clearly, Infosys now finds the tag of ‘Indian IT company’ relatively irrelevant as compared to the tag of a ‘global IT company headquartered in India’. Going by the ‘chop shop’, and later ‘body shop’ remarks made by US senator Charles Schumer recently, the strategic shift is spot on for a company that has always endeavoured to be ahead of its time.

Infosys measures its brand value on an internal basis using the ‘generic brand earnings multiple model’ by Michael Birkin. For the financial year 2009-10, the value works out to be `36,907 crore; around 24.7% of its market capitalisation for the year. One of the most interesting facets of brand Infosys is that it is a unique case of a B2B brand that prides itself in the tremendous recognition it enjoys in the B2C space. In fact, the company has been monitoring brand recall regularly since 2004. It does surveys on brand recall in the US, with the target audience as ordinary people rather than CIOs. Of course, the larger challenge is to ensure that all the key stakeholders remain positive about their association with the company, which they ensure through both performance parameters as well as regular communication. Ramanujam Sridhar, CEO, Brand-Comm has elucidated Infosys’ branding strategy quite elaborately in his book – One Land, One Billion Minds, and comments to 4Ps B&M, “Infosys is a typical South Indian company in a certain sense, since they are largely conservative, profitable and well run. But South Indian companies are generally “understated” in their relations with the external world, that includes the media.

Infosys talks about its achievements in the media, that too in a planned and strategic way.”

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Source : IIPM Editorial, 2011.

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

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ICC may scrap rotation policy for choosing presidents

2011-06-13T16:08:00.004+05:30

The International Cricket Council's (ICC) system for appointing presidents is set to undergo a significant change with the world body planning to table a proposal to scrap the current rotation policy at its next annual general meeting of board members in Hong Kong on June 28. The move is likely to be opposed by Pakistan and Bangladesh, the two full members who are next in turn to nominate a president and vice-president, according to a cricket website. The proposal formed the main topic of discussion at an ICC governing committee meeting in Chennai last week.

The Pakistan Cricket Board is worried over this development and chief Ijaz Butt has even written a letter to the ICC on this issue, according to reports in the Pakistan media. PCB's fear is that this may be an attempt to sideline it at a time when Pakistan cricket is struggling to come to terms with one controversy after another. Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) chief Ahmed Mustafa Kamal told sections of the Pakistani media: "We want one cycle of the president rotation policy to be completed. Pakistan's Ehsan Mani already had a chance to be president and now we want one nominee from Bangladesh for the vice-president and then the president's post at the ICC."

Mani slams Pawar's policy

Former ICC chief Ehsan Mani has slammed the Sharad Pawar-led ICC's reported move to do away with the rotational policy for appointment of presidents after 2015, suggesting that India might have initiated it. Nine out of 10 Test playing nations have reportedly signed on the ICC's proposal to change the rotational policy and Mani termed it unusual.

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

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When freebies fail to fulfill?

2010-07-22T13:06:00.001+05:30

Certainly, growth in the mobile subscriber base (since 2002 India has evidenced 94% CAGR in mobile telephony and has reached a subscriber base of 347 million) is definitely a reason to offer this service, but it’s not the only reason. Factors like ubiquitous reach, convenience, time saving, and low costs are some other key advantages influencing mobile subscribers to become mobile banking users. “From the bank point of view, mobile banking helps cut down costs as it is even more economical than branch banking or any other mode of electronic banking like ATMs and online banking. If accepted by consumers, mobile banking will cost one-fifth what ATMs cost and only 40% what Internet banking costs per transaction,” reasons Rajan.

Apart from this, mobile banking can also act as an effective tool to bring unbanked rural customers into the banking umbrella. In regions where accessibility, infrastructure, illiteracy, and foolproof identity are still issues, banks and service providers are considering mobile banking as an effective and robust tool to carry on banking activities. For banks, it is nearly impossible to build a retail brick-and-mortar infrastructure in rural India, thus making mobile banking the best available alternative with a relatively low investment.

Though the numbers that these banks are quoting (as far as mobile banking is concerned) are still relatively low, what is impressive is the pace with which these numbers are growing. In fact at the end of 2008, private banks like ICICI, IDBI, HDFC and Kotak had close to 12.5 million registered users for mobile banking. Even public sector banks are not behind when it comes to the use of mobile as an interface to interact with their huge customer base. While India’s largest lender, State Bank of India (SBI), has reported adding more than 20,000 customers in the last two months – just in mobile banking, the Union Bank of India (UBI) has seen it’s mobile banking customer base increase from 1,700 in June to over 11,000 in August. In fact, banks are leaving no stone unturned when it comes to testing the efficacy of their mobile banking initiative before launching it on a pan India basis.

HDFC Bank, for instance, has tied up with Bharti Airtel (the telecom service provider) and Eko (the technology provider) to launch the ‘Abhilasha’ savings account. This is a pilot-project that has enabled over 2,000 low-income individuals in Uttam Nagar, West Delhi, to access banking facilities without having to visit bank branches. In this pilot phase, chemist shops, general stores, residents, NGOs, or individuals can register to become an authorised outlet. These authorised outlets will then help mobile banking customers conduct banking transactions which include facilities like money transfer, cash deposit and withdrawal, wage and salary disbursements, micro-insurance, microcredit, and payments on behalf of the bank. To make it happen the mobile banking services are powered to the customers on all mobile phones including the most basic models, without WAP or GPRS applications.

Even the public sector behemoth SBI is not far behind when it comes to offer mobile banking. Lately, SBI has introduced a new facility in mobile banking wherein central government employees receiving payments through SBI will receive the details of their transactions through mobile phones.

So, while HDFC and SBI are banking on Eko, banks like Dena Bank, Andhra Pradesh Grameena Vikas Bank, Punjab National Bank, Axis Bank, Punjab and Sind Bank, Oriental Bank of Commerce, United Bank of India, et al are banking on A Little World’s (another technology provider) “ZERO” platform to reach to the customers.

Increasing competition has even prompted telecom service providers to move ahead of telecommunication services. In fact, now they are aiming at partnering with banks to provide mobile banking services to bank customers. Bharti Airtel, for instance, has entered into agreements with ICICI, HDFC, SBI, and VISA to offer mobile money transfer (MMT), postpaid bill payment, and prepaid recharge services in addition to ticketing services for air, rail, and movies. Likewise, Reliance allows ICICI Bank account holders with Reliance handsets (even on low-end handsets of Rs.1,000, with or without Internet connectivity) to make intrabank money transfers. Apart from this, it has also tied up with HDFC to offer Reliance mPay, a virtual credit card.

No doubt, mobile banking happens to be the buzz word with every single banker in India at present, but whether it will emerge as a clear successor of e-banking will depend on how customers across the country accept and acclimatise to this new banking channel. “Increasing mobile penetration cannot be the only indicator that mobile banking will slowly and steadily increase acceptance. However, factors like technological advancement in terms of software applications and service offerings, user-friendly products and services, security concerns, and last but not least, regulatory norms will play a pivotal role in the growth of mobile banking in any country,” states Rajan.

But who knows, with banks looking adamant on developing a more user friendly interface for their customers, mobile might soon become a popular tool for conducting financial transactions. And Pathak, who is today furiously clicking the keyboard of his laptop for transferring funds from his one account to another, might tomorrow be happily doing it through his cell phone!

For more articles, Click on IIPM Article.

Source : IIPM Editorial, 2010.

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

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Uncle Sam has no philosophical disagreement with global partnerships

2010-04-02T11:00:00.000+05:30

Exclusive In chat with Society Magazine - Prof. Arindam Chaudhuri

Uncle Sam, however, is having none of this. While he says that he has no philosophical disagreement with global partnerships, he’s willing to wait for a “win-win partnership” offer before he can be swayed. For now, he is busy chalking out Madison World’s future roadmap, which is littered with 50% perspiration and 50% inspiration to serve clients. “A lot of people may think we are stupid, but I almost feel apologetic if we have too many internal review meetings to clock Madison’s growth. I feel that my people are better off thinking about how to solve our client’s problems and benefit them,” points out Sam, adding that this one statement sums up the DNA of Madison. A reason perhaps, that in an industry plagued by attrition and regular client calls for pitches, most of Madison’s clients have been with them for years together. With new specialisations, Sam feels that Madison will be able to provide more cost-effective solutions to clients. “Following this credo, if we have survived for 22 years, guess we have a viable business model,” he gesticulates, with a flourish.

It is this viable business model that Sam now intends to take global. And Lara is again leading from the front by identifying new markets to tap for global expansion. Incidentally, Madison has already spread its wings into Sri Lanka (via a JV with Media Factory, the island nation’s largest media buying agency) and Thailand (Madison has invested in Penada, a Bangkok-based event management company). “It’s got to be the neighbouring countries first and the best way for that is acquisitions and alliances,” avers Lara. While she refuses to give details, she says that a couple of discussions are already on, in other neighbouring countries, for other similar tie-ups.

But even as Lara is stitching up international alliances for Madison, her exuberance and glowing optimism for Madison’s new domestic vision is unfettered. “Each of our specialist unit is raring and firing to go. We are confident of achieving our vision of being seen as a comprehensive communication service provider within the next two years,” she explains, There’s more specialist expansion for Madison World on the cards. Sources within the company say that the next specialist unit to spring from their stable will be focused on Customer Relationship Management – a crying vacuum in the industry so far. Adds Lara, “The world is familiar with those deals, which we have successfully been able to conclude but there are so many that we have not been able to conclude.”

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Source : IIPM Editorial, 2010.

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

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The Sunday Indian:- B-SCHOOL RANKING SCAMSTERS EXPOSED!
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Back to square one?

2009-09-11T13:36:00.000+05:30

IIPM fights meltdown, places 2300 students By Education Mail Bureau

They call it a breather! And why not? Despite the ongoing carnage in the global aviation industry Sir Richard Branson’s Virgin Atlantic has not only been able to end the year on a positive note but it also seems flying high this year without any turbulence (read financial!). All thanks to the fuel hedging and a rise in sales of premium seats the flamboyant airline was able to almost double its pretax profits to £68.4 million for the financial year ending February 28, 2009, from just £34.8 million last year. This definitely puts the privately owned airline aloft of the red-painted crowd, where the number of casualties (read bankruptcies) has reached 30 since the oil price started to soar at the beginning of 2008. But then, critics argue that the falling air traffic and increasing input costs might pull the soaring airline back to the ground. “The current economic downturn is extremely challenging for the airline industry. There will be a particularly pronounced fall in premium class and cargo revenue,” warns Binit Somaia, Regional Director, Center for Asia Pacific Aviation. Thus, with fruit bearers turning futile Virgin is surely to find it tough to maintain its current profitable run.

Ratan Lal Bhagat

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Source : IIPM Editorial, 2009

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

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Bid to start MAXimising your desires...

2009-08-21T12:43:00.000+05:30

IIPM Best B-school

Brand: Max New York Life;
Agency: Euro RSCG

Remember the ‘Czechoslovakia’ ad, which has a young couple ecstatic as their child starts speaking? Karo Zyaada Ka Iraada breaks the clutter in insurance advertising. The power idea is to move away from simply meeting your post-retirement needs to maximising your post-retirement life. Playing on the basic human emotion of desiring more than one has, the campaign portrays a similar circle of life, making an instant connect with the target audience. Post this campaign, the premiums received by the insurance player have seen a 100% rise over six months (IRDA). Well, if it’s about maximising your revenues, guess zyada ka irada works!

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

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MOHIT D. JAYAL, MD, W+K, DELHI

2009-08-03T14:09:00.000+05:30

IIPM Best B-school

1. Vodafone – an excellent example of great client & agency relationship
2. Incredible India – re-branding a nation is no easy task...
3. Coke’s ‘Paanch’ series had great characterisation and gave the competitors a run for their money
4. Fevicol’s campaign helped define a brand new Indian sensibility based on authenticity, not ‘aspiration’

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

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Together we can, and we will... !

2009-07-22T13:15:00.000+05:30

IIPM only B-school in India to be Ranked Ahead of The IIMs in so Many Parameters! Regularly!

It was indeed a long wait when in July 2007 Air India and Indian got the government’s nod to operate as a single entity. But then it was worth waiting! The rationale behind the merger was to provide an integrated international and domestic airline that will benefit passengers significantly. And the merged entity has achieved that effectively. Their complementary networks, common ownership and greater efficiencies, all point towards the benefits of a successfully merged entity. Though, the ongoing slowdown seems to have restricted it from scaling new heights at present, but then, savings have definitely come from route rationalisation, common sales & distribution network, et al. Certainly, one cannot ignore the nice and ambitious idea behind the merger despite the poor execution, which as a matter of chance was revealed later.

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

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Spreading the spirit of enterprise all over!

2009-06-22T14:58:00.000+05:30

The Most Revolutionary Concept In Education PLANMAN CHE CENTRE FOR HIGHER EDUCATION, Supported by IIPM India’s Leading B-School

Deconstructing the McDonald’s supply chain efficiency, straight from the horse’s mouth. What works and what certainly does not!

A unique sense of dedication and commitment characterizes McDonald’s India – a commitment to be driven by the leadership of local owners. Commitment to provide quality products and fast friendly service at a real value to support other Indian businesses through local sourcing. McDonald’s unique ‘cold chain’ – which the QSR major spent more than six years for setting up – in India has brought about a veritable revolution, immensely benefiting the farmers at one end and enabling customers at retail counters get the highest quality food products, absolutely fresh and at great value. Setting up this extensive cold chain distribution system has involved the transfer of state-of-the-art food processing technology by McDonald’s and its international suppliers to pioneering Indian enterprises who, today, are an integral part of the McDonald’s cold chain.

Trikaya Agriculture, a major supplier of iceberg lettuce to McDonald’s India, is one such enterprise that is an intrinsic part of the cold chain. Exposure to better agricultural management practices and sharing of advanced agricultural technology by McDonald’s has made Trikaya Agriculture extremely conscious of delivering its products with utmost care and quality. Initially lettuce could only be grown during the winter months, but with McDonald’s expertise in the area of agriculture, Trikaya Farms in Talegaon, Maharashtra, is now able to grow this crop all the year round. Post harvest facilities at Trikaya include a cold chain consisting of a pre-cooling room to remove field heat, a large cold room and a refrigerated van for transportation. With this cold chain infrastructure in place, Trikaya Agriculture has also a plan to export this high value product to other international markets, especially to McDonald’s Middle East and Asia Pacific operations.

Financial support extended by OSI Industries Inc., USA and McDonald’s India Private Limited have enabled Vista Processed Foods to set up world-class infrastructure and support services. This includes hi-tech refrigeration plants for manufacture of frozen food at temperatures as low as - 35°C. Also, keeping cultural sensitivities in mind, both processing lines are absolutely segregated and utmost care is taken to ensure that the vegetable products do not mix with the non-vegetarian products. Today, production of better quality frozen foods that are both nutritious and fresh has made Vista Processed Foods Pvt. Ltd. a name to reckon within the industry.

McDonald’s supplier of cheese, Dynamix Dairy, recognising the need for quality milk to make quality cheese, has set up a dedicated quality programme for milk procurement. It has made significant investments in setting up bulk coolers at all milk collection centres in the Baramati area, where it is based. On receipt, the milk is immediately stored in the bulk coolers at the collection centres, to prevent growth of bacteria in the milk and preserve its freshness – thus, maintaining the ‘cold chain’.

McDonald’s local supply networks through Radhakrishna Foodland, which operates distribution centres (DCs) for McDonald’s restaurants in Mumbai and Delhi. Ranging from liquid products coming from Punjab to lettuce from Pune, the DC receives items from different parts of the country. All these suppliers share McDonald’s commitment and dedication to satisfying customers by supplying them the highest quality products. They work cohesively to ensure that the final product reaches the customer consistently each time and every time.

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Source : IIPM Editorial, 2009

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

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Luxury’s not a lipstick

2009-05-06T16:43:00.000+05:30

IIPM - Admission Procedure

Small wonder that there has been a slash in the colossal promotional activities of such luxury brands in recent times. Market watchers claim that Chanel’s couture show (2008 fall-winter collection) was a much muted version of the spectacular displays in previous years. Even the Swiss luxury giant Richemont (owner of prestige brands like Cartier & Montblanc) is cutting down on promotional costs. Given the dramatic dip in their third quarter sales (by 12%) and their quagmire is understandable.

But why has premium-luxury escaped the wrath of the market downturn? Take Tag Heuer. Despite Swiss watch brands seeing an overall drop in export figures, Tag Heuer (from Louis Vuitton), claims that in the last half of 2008, it has grown by nearly 4%. “Recession hasn’t affected us much because we are into the premium luxury segment. Our target audience will buy a Tag Heuer irrespective of recession,” Jean Christophe Babin, President, Tag Heuer told 4Ps B&M.

Clearly, premium luxury and their Richie Rich target audience continue to ride the downturn unaffected. Self-proclaimed global leader in luxury Moet Hennessy Louis Vuitton (LVMH) has recorded 6% growth for the quarter ended December 2008 and Dior has shown a 3% growth in the same period. A glaring case in point is Van Cleef & Arpels (a premium-luxury brand from Richemont) that has shown 5% growth this quarter; while Cartier and Montblanc (mass-luxury brands from the same Richemont Group) recorded negative growth. Here’s what Stanislas De Quercize, President and CEO, Van Cleef & Arpels told this magazine. “We don’t believe in volume growth. The brand has always been into quality sales (as opposed to quantity sales) so our sales figure has remained intact even during recessions.”

What also keeps the premium-luxury flame burning is exposure to emerging markets (instead of depending only on US and European markets). Take for example Cartier. The brand still does not have a direct retail presence in India, whereas LVMH has expanded its arms deeply into Japan, India and China. The company claims that 94% of 20-plus Japanese women own a LVMH bag. That’s huge, given that Japan accounts for almost 41% of the global luxury mart. “This takes care of avoiding the monetary transaction cost, which has been affected due to recession,” feels Bradely Jones, Head of South Asia Unit of UK Trade & Investment. The Lipstick-Index may or may not be decisive in its feelings and judgements; but hey, it does seem that there are a few recession-proof things in this close-knit, global world! Do we hear cheers going up from the likes of Tag Heuer, Versace, Dolce&Gabbana, Van-Cleef & Arpels???

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Source : IIPM Editorial, 2009

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

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Why the old, brutal and controversial prisons should be closed

2009-03-18T13:09:00.000+05:30

The next in line is Camp 1391 which was built by British to imprison Jews and Lebanese. It now serves Israeli interests and is known more as Israel’s Guantanamo. Detainees, mostly from Palestine and Lebanon, are imprisoned in small cells with walls painted black or red with one small ventilator and a light. And then there's the Black Beach of Guinea. It is said that incarcerating someone in Black Beach is like ‘a slow but gradual death sentence’. Prisoner torturing through beating, burning, limited food rationing make life as good as hell for detainees. The Vladimir Central Prison in Russia too can be safely called the Gitmo of Russia. There, in normal circumstances six captives are locked in one cell and are often subjected to violent torture by guards and suffer from deadly diseases like HIV, tuberculosis and malaria.

Closing litigious Guantanamo prison is a good start but not enough. Punishing and imprisoning criminals is very important and relevant but prisons all across are losing their credibility on ground of justice, fairness and basic facilities to be served to any human on any situation. But shutting them down would not guarantee the eradication of crime from the world. Thus it isn't about closing prisons but about making efforts to make them look similar to earth and not hell. This change would serve mankind more while keeping crime at bay. Let's not the hatred of civilised world be the reason for giving birth to a new breed of terrorists.....Continue

Death for the milkman

2009-02-23T12:12:00.000+05:30

China gets tough on those behind the scam

Two men have been sentenced to death and a woman, a top executive of a dairy company, got life imprisonment by an intermediate people's court in Shijiazhuang, capital of Hebei Province, China, for their roles in the production and the sale of milk that was deliberately contaminated with an industrial chemical. At least six babies died and 300,000 fell ill after drinking the milk powder produced by the dairy company Sanlu Group. According to investigations, Geng Jinping, the middlemen who bought milk from farmers and sold it on to dairies, watered it down and mixed it with melamine, a nitrogen-rich chemical used to make plastics and fertilisers, which creates the appearance of higher protein levels in quality tests.

The court has sentenced Zhang Yujun, 40, to death for producing 770 tonnes melamine-laced “protein powder” and selling more than 600 tonnes to others to be mixed in the milk powder. Jinping also faces execution for selling 900 tonnes of milk tainted by 434 kg of protein powder to Sanlu Group. Geng was convicted of manufacturing and selling toxic food while Zhang was convicted of endangering public safety. Zhang was well aware of the damage his actions created, the prosecution said. Another man, Gao Junjie, got a suspended death sentence for endangering public safety while protein powder dealers Zhang Yanzhang and Xue Jianzhong got life imprisonment. The remaining 15 defendants were sentenced to 15 years in jail.

However, the life sentence given to Tian Wenhua, 66, former board chairwoman of the Sanlu Group, has outraged many parents, as they feel she too should have been condemned to death. Tian had pleaded guilty to charges of producing and selling toxic products and admitted knowing of the problems for at least four months before notifying the government. Adam Segal, senior dellow for China studies at the Council on Foreign Relations, told TSI: “It's now unclear if Chinese officials have made any real gains in food safety over the past year or they have simply been blocking bad news out. Death sentences can act as deterrence but its impact will be short-lived.” Undoubtedly, the milk scandal has tarnished the image of Chinese products in the US and European markets.....Continue

Serendipity in Serendib

2009-02-17T12:33:00.000+05:30

From all our immediate neighbours, only one may ever be considered as an escapist destination, it’s the island which Marco Polo declared as, “the finest in its size”, Sri Lanka. This beautiful country enjoys a rich heritage and an eventful history, as one finds it through the pages of Greek, Egyptian and Indian literature.

As soon as I arrived at the Colombo International Airport, a plethora of appealing elements unfurled before my senses. The heavy warm air, the copious green foliage, the luxuriant swirls of the Sinhalese language and the multi-coloured Buddhist flags. All of them in perfect harmony and yet individually alluring.

From the bustling commercial capital, 12 kilometers south, I reached the passive but exquisite colonial beachfront hotel of Mt. Lavinia. A legacy of colonial heritage, it stands as a monument to the forbidden love of a Governor General and a local mesitzo dancer who cast a spell on his heart. Time stood still in the corridors of this grand old structure, but I managed to stir a beach volleyball game with the effervescent and warm staff outside. A few good games and a special body massage later, I parked myself pretty comfortably and called it a night.

In the morning, after breakfast, I left for the city of gems or Ratnapura. The scenic route takes us passing the paddy fields, rubber plantations and extensive tea estates to the foothills of Adam’s peak – the holy mountain where Ratnapura is situated. A visit to one of the museums, gem workshop or even mines and one gets educated to the variety and processing of precious stones. Sri Lanka is most renowned for its Blue Sapphires.....Continue

Air farce one

2009-02-10T11:24:00.000+05:30

As the ‘Bush’ jokes era winds down with Barack Obama taking over on 20th January, here’s one last satirical jibe at ‘The Decider’ who has been ‘misunderestimated’! So, it’s 2006 and the President (of the US of A of course!) is coming. Among other things on his agenda after Air Force One (the Presidential plane) touches down in India, is his wish to shake hands with a ‘young’ Indian and the responsibility for finding that Indian is of Samantha Patel’s whose Zenith PR is the agency hired for the job. Six madcap shortlists later, Samantha and able assistant Ritu Johnson find themselves in the American consulate taking the contestants through a ‘Survivor’ meets ‘Big Boss’ style reality show setting to find out who will be the last one standing to shake hands with the President.

Throw in six dysfunctional contestants in a room for a night as they compete in farcical rounds (‘Recognising American Faces’ where one guy thinks Bin Laden is Osho or reading out a Bush speech while acting like a duck!) and the laughs are bound to come. The beauty is that the laughs are a result of insightful writing and dialogue as much as the ability of the cast. Konkona Sen Sharma is in top form as the Bengali author and the frontrunner in the contest, but the others too play their slightly typecast (there’s the Gujju stock broker, the right wing MBA, the cool accent trainer, the software engineer and even a Paris Hilton wannabe!), but hilariously funny, roles with aplomb!....Continue

Strange question

2009-01-29T15:08:00.000+05:30

K Swain, BJP MP, Orissa

“No MP named Swain stays here,” the security guard said, stunning us when we asked for Kharabela Swain’s residence. “Actually, no one knows me in this locality. You have to ask for Kalpana Parida’s home to find me!” Swain later told us when we finally traced him. “Sometimes even security guards stop me from entering my wife’s house.” He never applied for a government accommodation, nor has he bought a house in Bhuvaneshwar. “Whenever I come to the capital, I stay in Kalpana’s flat. She is working with Doordarshan and lives here with our only son,” clarified Swain.

Named after Orissa’s legendary ancient king Mahameghabahana Aira Kharabela, Swain, a powerful BJP politician maintains a very low profile. And his entering politics says it all. In 1988, this 1980-batch Indian Allied Services Officer quit his cushy job to join politics. “I was fed-up with the corruption and opportunism of politicians. People feel that good and honest persons can’t survive in politics. I wanted to prove them wrong. I believe in that old economic aphorism – good money drives out bad money from the market. So will it be in politics.” Kharabela’s stature as a highly articulate and active parliamentarian cuts across party lines. He always takes centre-stage in all major national debates. He is exceptionally popular in his constituency. In the last election, Kharabela polled a massive 553,087 votes and defeated his rival by 236,955 votes. And why not? During the floods last year, the first man to reach the remotest areas was their MP, not any sort of government agency.

‘My capital is people’s affection, which is much more valuable than a bungalow, car or money. I could have achieved all that, but that is not my philosophy,” says he. And bribes ever offered? “Yes, but only in my initial days as a parliamentarian. Today, everybody knows what I do. Kalpana manages all our expenses. My son has got a job through campus selection. So for what will I pile up money?”....Continue

Survival of the fittest?

2009-01-13T11:49:00.000+05:30

When hunting is all they have done for generations, it is difficult to contemplate an alternate means of living overnight. Inasin Bai, an intrepid member of the hunting tribe of Pardhis brazenly questions, ‘what about us?’, now that hunting is banned...

We are a nomadic clan. For generations we were known as baheliyas and have been hunting to earn a living. We know no other skill. Living in the jungle has been a way of life for us. Tigers are like cats for us. We stay in the jungle and for days our men roam around the jungle and study the routes that the animals take, especially the tiger.

Tigers fetch us good money because the buyers are readily available. A lot of business comes from the crocs as well. But for killing them we use poisonous tablets. Once the men have hunted the animals, it is the women’s job to shave the skin off, to clean it and to look for a buyer at a good price. Till the time we are in the forest, we often feed on birds like bater (quails). Our kids have learnt to mimic the voice of the bird well, which it assumes as another bird’s call and also responds. This makes it easier for us to trace them and then we hunt them with a catapult. But now animals have to be protected and hunting has been made illegal. So suddenly our means of earning a living has become illegal. The rules are so strict that most of our men are in the jail. It has been three months that we have been ostracized from our community because we have stopped hunting in the hope that the government would provide us with an alternative. But now there seems to be no source of earning from the jungle. It seems like it will take long before anything is done for us. The money in the work they offer us isn’t enough and the work is tiresome too. If we don’t get enough food to survive, we would have no other option but to go back to the community and engage in hunting, which is no more legal. Everybody thinks that the count of tigers and other animals is falling, but we can’t die of hunger for them. I’m sure you would weigh human life more than that of an animal!....Continue

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In Delhi, people were swayed by Sheila Dikshit’s consistent track record on development, and simply ignored the BJP

2009-01-09T10:46:00.000+05:30

In Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh – the creditable innings of Shivraj Chauhan and Raman Singh notwithstanding – the two were also partly helped by the Congress party’s internecine struggles and often outright negative campaigns. The party failed to project a united front, ignoring young leaders like Jyotiraditya Scindia.

In Chhattisgarh too, the Congress was visibly divided between the VC Shukla, Moti Lal Vora and Ajit Jogi camps. While Jogi kept projecting himself as the chief ministerial candidate, the other Congress leaders continued to be in denial mode, confounding the electorate to no end. Slim as Congress chances were, Chief Minister Raman Singh’s promise of providing rice at Rs one per kg won for him the sobriquet of Chaval Baba. In an impoverished state like Chhattisgarh, such gestures count a great deal; and the Congress could find no effective counter to the popularity this had ensured. But if these upsets can for a moment be put aside, the polls do show that the scale – howsoever slightly – is at this point tilted in favour of Congress. And it also looks like the finals will be a real cliffhanger. The issues will be different no doubt, as too will be the protagonists. But what is almost certain is that smaller parties like the BSP will have a major say in determining the course of events.

Both Congress and BJP are gearing up for the Big Battle. While Congress has to put its house to order in some states, BJP wants to sharpen its attack on issues which it feels, might appeal to people in parliamentary elections. “People might not have found rising prices and terror a potent issue in the Assembly elections, but we will keep highlighting the government unwillingness for strident terror law, till either government accedes or people realise the need for such a law”, says BJP general secretary Arun Jaitely.

By announcing a hefty bail package, Congress is leaving no stone unturned to contain inflation, rising prices and combat economic recession. It has already reduced the repo rate and reverse repo rate, besides infusing the manufacturing sector by lowering cenvat. “People would have forgotten about inflation and price rise by General Election time,” said a senior Congress leader. But where all pundits have failed, such statements seem based on the recent euphoria. Reality may be different.....Continue

Tribals put Reds on red alert

2009-01-07T13:03:00.000+05:30

The tribal upsurge in West Bengal’s Jungle Mahal area is making the ruling CPI(M) lick dust, with people in Chhotopelia village of the now famous Lalgarh area surrounding a patrol party of the Central Reserve Police Force for more than seven hours through the night of December 8, till the district administration asked for forgiveness for “a breach of treaty”. The ‘treaty’ had been worked out on December 7, one point of which was precisely that villagers would have to be informed whenever police wanted to enter the forests or villages.

Again, this week itself, the vast Sarenga area in Bankura district, so far unaffected by the upsurge, saw a gathering of 2,500 tribals telling the administration that they would follow the Lalgarh path against police atrocity. Surprisingly, far away from Lalgarh, tribals in Balurghat, West Dinajpur district, submitted a 33-point charter of demands, which included immediate stopping of atrocities on tribals in the name of hunting for Maoists, and punishing those responsible for atrocities in Lalgarh. And in Nadia and Jalpaiguri district too, tribals are expressing solidarity with Lalgarh.

Almost a full month after the massive tribal unrest started in the Jungle Mahal area, the agitation had been suspended early this week after the leaders of the Committee’s Rail Roko call....Continue

…not with standing the fact that many Pakistanis suspect the hands of their own establishment in one of the worst terror strikes anywhere, that is wha

2009-01-02T15:49:00.000+05:30

Lashkar-e-Taiba or "Army of the Pious" was banned in Pakistan in 2002 but it continues to operate in Pakistan under the garb of a charity organisation, Jamaat-ud-Dawa. Similarly, al-Qaeda and the Taliban, with strong footholds in Pakistan's Federally Administrated Tribal Areas (FATA), continue to pose grave threat to nascent democracy in the country. In the Swat valley, some 100 miles from the capital city Islamabad, at least eight people were killed and 40 others injured when a suicide bomber attacked a military check post on December 1. The intelligentsia in Pakistan is equally alarmed by developments following mayhem in Mumbai.

"The inhuman and callous attack in Mumbai is a great surprise to each and every Pakistani. When hopes were high that India and Pakistan relationship was going to be normalised, various routes between India and Pakistan were going to be opened, the trade between the two countries were on the verge of taking off, and the uselessness of military establishment was going to be a reality, this incident is a stab in the back of the people of Pakistan. I hope that the two governments will stop the blame game and rise above in the interest of common man and appreciate the new reality of a global village," said Dr Syed Haroon Ahmed, an eminent psychiatrist and president of Pakistan Association for Mental Health.

Veteran journalist and peace activist MB Naqvi concurred. "Speculation about who organised the Mumbai outrage is useless. Both India and Pakistan are among the usual suspects. It is quite possible that Pakistan''s security establishment has decided to derail the Indo-Pak peace process and to keep the two at daggers drawn; it will suit its long-term purposes," he said.

The Mumbai carnage and subsequent developments have also alarmed the US government because war between India and Pakistan would mean diversion from the "war on terror", that is neither in the interest of the US nor the vast majority inhabiting South Asia.....Continue

The renovation of the Jallianwala Bagh is drawing a lot of flak from veteran patriots, but the old order is yielding place to the new.

2008-12-23T11:11:00.000+05:30

However, most of these protests have fallen on deaf ears. A public interest litigation filed in the Punjab and Haryana High Court in September 2008 was dismissed, and the initial stay given on the petition was vacated. The order of dismissal signed by Chief Justice TS Thakur and judge Surya Kant says: “If the Government, the Trust and the Managing Committee have put their heads together and conceived a plan intended to revitalise and preserve the Memorial (sic)for the future generations, we see no reason why the petitioner should find fault with the same, particularly in exercise of the extraordinary public interest writ jurisdiction of the court.”

The background goes like this. In 1923, the trust purchased land for the project from the Jallewala Sardars at a hiked-up price of Rs 5.65 lakh. The money was gathered by an international appeal for a memorial issued by Mahatma Gandhi. The British Government in India was keen to turn the Jallianwala Bagh into a cloth market so that all traces of the incident were wiped out. Nationalist leaders, however, formed a committee headed by Madan Mohan Malviya. The land was purchased from the Jallewala Sardars at a hiked up price of Rs 5.65 lakh.

The money was gathered by an international appeal for a memorial issued by Mahatma Gandhi. The upkeep of Jallianwala has been with a Mukherjee family of Bengal. S.C. Mukherjee, an associate of Malviya, was appointed the first secretary of the Trust. It subsequently went to his son and now to his grandson S. Mukherjee. A memorial designed by American architect Benjamin Polk was built on the site and inaugurated by the then-President of India, Dr. Rajendra Prasad, on 13 April 1961, in the presence of Jawaharlal Nehru and other leaders.

A flame was later added to the site. However, the past few decades have seen the monument in neglect and decay with only a fraction of the people who come to the splendorous Golden Temple next doors visiting it. Interestingly, the Jallianwala Bagh National Memorial Committee is headed by the Prime Minister of the country. But in spite of the high profile management, the memorial suffered complete neglect during the past many decades.....Continue

2008-12-18T17:24:00.000+05:30

Parties in Kerala are looking at this proposal from different angles. The news has certainly delighted LDF who had received Jamaat’s support in the last assembly elections. The Front has already busied itself in building up an alternative Muslim vote bank to counterbalance Muslim League, a constituent of Congress-led United Democratic Front (UDF).

In this regard, the only catch, so far, is People’s Democratic Party (PDP) led by Abdul Nasser al Madani, who was acquitted in the 1998 Coimbatore bomb blast case, aimed at eliminating BJP leader LK Advani. Right-wing National Development Front (NDF), known for its extremist Islamic views, attained influence and strength during the nine year-long incarceration of Madani, causing CPM and PDP grave worries. Till date, it gives PDP sleepless nights.....Continue

Lakhimpur Kheri, stands a lonely house… and here they say, an old tiger still roars

2008-12-17T12:44:00.000+05:30

As an adult, Billy returned from the army after the second great war and moved to these lands bordering the forests of Dudhwa, hoping to make a living as a farmer. It was difficult because these lands were overrun by stray and wild ungulates, and yet Billy succeeded in running the farm in the lap of nature, sharing its bounties with the wild animals who frequented it. Around the same time, in the 1960s, he took up cudgels against the rather popular sport-hunting outfitters who organised trophy hunting expeditions for rich paying clients. Billy was almost single-handedly responsible for driving them out and having the government ban trophy hunting for good. In a way, he was atoning for the transgressions of his early days. And Dudhwa, especially its rare barasinghas, owe an invaluable debt to this man for dedicating his life to protecting the park from poachers, land grabbers, and securing the future of this deer.

But when I ask him of his legacy, he seems unsure. “Democracy will kill the tiger. There are just too many of us and soon these forest too will have to go. What can you do?”, he says. I’m saddened to hear him say that. I was hoping that he, more than anyone else would hold out defiant hope. After all, isn’t he the most decorated conservationist in the world, having won awards and appreciation from all quarters and corners and isn’t he the man who poachers still fear? And isn’t he the man who has repeatedly achieved the impossible, whether it be protecting a forgotten landscape from eternal destruction or be it successfully returning hand reared leopards and tigers back to the wild. “What can I do? I’m an old man now. Everybody I know is gone. I’m just waiting for the end. Soon, I’ll be gone too… and so would the forests.” I must’ve looked crestfallen, and I was. Though physically much taller, I felt dwarfed by the majesty and aura of the man. I must’ve seemed like a sad little boy who’s had his last shred of hope wrenched away from his hopeful heart. The affectionate old man seemed to take pity on the little boy sitting across him and his eyes softened… “I haven’t given up yet. I might be old but I’m not going to quit. I’m still working hard… I can’t give up the fight.” There’s fire burning in that belly yet… the old tiger roars still… ....Continue

Decentralisation has done more harm than good to India….

2008-12-13T13:46:00.000+05:30

Likewise, even though law and order remains a state subject, wherein the states continue to fight against the formation of a central law enforcement agency, these very state bodies literally seem to destroy policing in their respective regions. They have not only kept the force subservient to the polity’s dictums, but have also created lack of amenities, training, low remuneration and defunct intelligence machineries, contributing to create a demotivated force that repeatedly fail to perform duties proficiently. Be it hooliganism in Mumbai, riots in Orissa and Karnataka or relentless terror attacks across India, the states seem to remain clueless of any appropriate actions. Its only when things go absolutely out of control that they seek help from the Center. Similarly, agriculture, being a state subject, remains shackled till date. The sector not only faces complete lack of capital investments but also sees relentless suicides of debt-ridden farmers.

Today's identity politics (and the resultant violence) is a residue of the aspirations of regional political parties, trying to consolidate their regional vote banks with utter disregard to national integrity. A strong central government, with more discretionary powers, would have perhaps created a far better India than what it is today. Nothing can be worse than witnessing terror rattling India when foreigners are mistreated in s Goa, or when non-Marathas are beaten up in Maharashtra. The Union Government, knowing that law and order is but a state subjects, chooses to remain a mute spectator; and it seems it shall remain so that even if this fallacy someday destroys the very concept of India, disintegrating it altogether.....Continue

Karnataka State Cricket Association

2008-12-05T17:00:00.000+05:30

He has been bowling for India continuously for 18 years. To sustain and to be successful for a long time in a team, one must cope with different kind of pressures. The generation after Anil also has to cope up with the pressure in both forms of the game – the traditional test format and modern limited over format. The two formats demand different modus operandi while bowling. Adapting to the two forms of the game is not easy and the fact that Anil has done it perfectly proves he is one of greatest players India has ever produced.

Wherever he played, whatever may be the condition, he played for Team India. He is a complete team person. Imagine a bowler coming in with his jaw strapped, or 11 stitches to his non-bowling hand. That’s determination personified. I once told him that bowling from a short run-up would put heavy pressure on his shoulder. He changed his bowling style and adopted his own run up in later stages. He is a great learner of the game. There are two types of players – one who quits the game finding it boring; another, who continues to play just for the sake of playing. But Anil stands apart, as mentioned before – he never entered the field unless he thought he was 100 per cent fit to play. I respect his decision to say 'Good bye' to international cricket. I do not think a player who played for the country even when he was injured and led the team towards victory will take a wrong decision.

Coming to the other part, Anil and his gentle approach to everything – no matter whether it is professional or personal – always caught my attention. I have neither seen him losing patience nor ever speaking aloud. There were times where I advised him when he was down. He lent his ears attentively to me and took in passionately whatever I said. Though I am not active in cricket, he is still in touch with me; he occasionally comes to my home for dinner and, of course, he invites our family over as well. He is a true gentleman. Anil is a great ambassador of cricket and the nation. He is a great inspiration and a good friend, whose smiling face never fades. None can fill the vacuum he leaves behind. Gems like Anil come but once in eons. Team India was lucky to have had the services of this rare gentle gem. ...Continue

Olive branches: political maths

2008-12-01T15:45:00.000+05:30

IIPM Publication
The octogenarian Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu M Karunanidhi is into his political maths once again. The Diravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) has tried to woo back the estranged Pattali Makkal Katchi (PMK). Last week, Union Minister for Surface Transport TR Balu met Dr S Ramadoss, chief of PMK and conveyed his leader’s rapprochement message. Ramadoss said he would consult his party colleagues. The meeting was kept a secret. So secret in fact that the DMK’s organ Murasoli’s scribes too did not know of this, and Murasoli continued it’s tirade against PMK. However, the news leaked out after two days, and immediately senior functionary of the party, Naganathan hastily telephoned Ramdoss about the faux passé. Things are tough for the ruling DMK these days. It went to the 2004 Parliamentary elections with Congress, PMK, CPI, CPM, MDMK on its side. But over the years, the alliance eroded. First it was MDMK to go. Then PMK, and finally the communist parties, citing DMK’s support to Indo-US nuke deal. Now the only partner is Congress but its members are peeved for not getting a share in power. The DMK, with 96 members in the Assembly, is running a minority government with support from the Congress. With the general elections nearing, DMK’s voice in the UPA is not as powerful as earlier....Continue

ARGENTINA: BOND BUYBACK

2008-11-06T15:25:00.000+05:30

Though the Argentinean government is already into its third week of a debt buyback programme (has bought back $430 million worth of its 2008 and 2009 bonds) to bolster investor confidence, but it hasn’t been of much help. “Bond buyback by government has boosted some investors’ confidence. But still a lot more needs to be done to restore Argentina’s lost credibility,” P. B. Henry, Professor at Stanford University and an expert of Argentinean issues tells B&E. Certainly at 50% (an estimated $140 billion) of GDP (market exchange rate), Argentina’s public debt is still large. In fact, this is only a bit lower than the level (53%) immediately before the 2001 mayhem which had seen the economy shrivel by 15%, unemployment rate mount to 21% and poverty engulf 56% of Argentines. Moreover, the current estimate also does not include $23.5 billion in debt held by the holdouts (those who refused to accept the terms of the 2005 restructuring). If this is included, the ratio is surely over 60% of GDP.....Continue

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

Read also :-

The Fighter Factory of Bhiwani...

2008-10-22T12:22:00.000+05:30

...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).

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

2008-10-13T12:44:00.000+05:30

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

If McCain’t the guy, is Obama?

2008-10-11T12:07:00.000+05:30

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).

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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!

2008-10-03T14:48:00.000+05:30

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).

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Right hair, right now

2008-09-27T13:47:00.000+05:30

Finally, a fairytale ending for a timeless ‘hairytale’ ?!

Barring phallus and breast size, nothing in the history of mankind has interested, mystified, intrigued and puzzled humans about personal appearance more than human hair… or the lack of it. Annals have pointed to some bizarre and weird methods to hide male and female baldness. Chinese used to wear horses’ tails on their heads. Greeks would eat hair to get hair. Some tribes also believed that washing hair with certain animal’s blood would revitalise their thinning hair. Then came the wigs, which were almost patronised by Queen Elizabeth I in 1600s in her court with her legendary red and curly wig. Since then, till early 20th century, almost all men and women of prestige and power customarily wore wigs in the English and the French courts.

And in our times, came the resurrection in the form of hair weaving and hair transplant. Though on the pricy side, it did provide means by which harrowed people could conceal their receding hairlines. However, it was a curative measure rather than preventive.Continue....

Source : IIPM Editorial, 2008

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

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Curbing inflation

2008-09-23T16:02:00.000+05:30

Curbing inflation seems to be the major concern for RBI. But is the over emphasis on inflation hurting growth? Yes and no! Inflation, which is an iniquitous tax, hurts the poor more than the rich, and must be undoubtedly contained. To that effect, the banking industry seems to have paid heed to RBI Governor Y.V. Reddy’s suggestion (or was it an order?) that “net interest margin of banks was high and there was scope for reducing lending rates.” Considering the fact that non-food credit off-take has come down in the recent past, large banks like SBI, HDFC and ICICI decided to bring down the rates. Thanks to the ‘peer fear’, other banks are falling in line. Increasing credit flow to small scale and medium enterprises, and providing a boost to the housing sector as well as to other productive sectors are amongst the few cited positive effects of the rate slash. But in reality, have banks bent down because of a political diktat from the finance ministry?

Dr. Mukesh Kumar Anand (Senior Economist, National Institute of Public Finance and Policy) rules out the logic, and says “The finance ministry does not interfere with the banks in deciding their rates; the finance minister and the RBI governor merely asked them to consider a reduction in rates in order to boost growth.” But sir, that’s not what many banks are telling us. In fact, the smaller banks are waiting for a deeper rate cut, before following suit. Given the situation, bankers with a good quality portfolio and improved operational efficiency would benefit the most. And the rest will need to shape up. According to Ritesh Maheshwari (Senior Director, Financial Institutions Rating, Standard & Poors), “In 2008, the Indian banking system will continue to reap benefits of a strong domestic growth.” It is expected that prudent monetary policy changes will help bring about the benefit of anchoring inflation expectations. With inflation rate under control, interest rates could come down by 25 basis points or so, or remain stable.

Tied in exchange knots

On a visit to Tirupur, which is around an 80 minute drive from Coimbatore airport, there’s hardly anything that would strike you as particularly spectacular, barring the larger-than-life banners of AIADMK chief Jayalalitha and her party leaders. Even the locals grudgingly admit that there is not one tourist attraction to boast off, and if it were not for the giant strides made as an export hub for knitwear, Tirupur would have had a very slim chance of moving out of obscurity. But move out it did, and how, thanks to Verona, an Italian merchant who recognised the potential and brought in a deluge of business opportunities for these hardworking, entrepreneurial people, mainly from Europe & America. Indeed, the story of Tirupur is, in many ways, a story of the Indian resurgence in manufacturing and exports. Local exporters have been servicing many high-profile international apparel brands like Nike, Adidas, Arrow, Tommy Hilfiger, and departmental chains like Wal-Mart, Target, Sears and Mother Care. In 2006-07, Tirupur’s turnover was a whopping Rs.110 billion.

However, nothing could have prepared these people for the rude shock that came up last year, when the rupee appreciated by almost 14% to the dollar in a very short span of time, making it extremely difficult for them to negotiate better terms with their buyers. Largely unaware of the vagaries of financial markets and hedging techniques, many exporters, who were bullish about expansion till early last year, are now looking for ways to sustain, thanks to business lost to competing countries like Bangladesh, China, Sri Lanka, and Indonesia. Sums up S. Sakthivel, Executive Secretary, Tirupur Exporter’s Association, on the impact, “We were enjoying annual growth rates of over 25% since the last two financial years. But we are expecting to register a turnover of Rs.90 billion for the financial year 2007-08 (which is, in fact, a negative growth of nearly 20%).”

For Complete I I P M Article, Click on IIPM Article

Source : IIPM Editorial, 2008

An IIPM and Professor Arindam Chaudhuri (Renowned Management Guru and Economist) Initiative

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‘Rate’d down, once again

2008-09-22T16:47:00.000+05:30

US policy makers need to move beyond just rate cuts to keep recession at bay or else they will loose the grip
When the US economy sprinted through the third quarter of FY 2007 at 4.9% (its fastest pace in the last four years), many felt that the worst was over. But, as the US Commerce Department, on January 30, came out with the latest numbers, it only provided further credence to the arguments that the US is knocking on the door of recession, if not already in.

Managing just 0.6% growth rate - its weakest in the last five years, the US GDP grew way below the industry expectations of 1.2% for the fourth quarter. Well, the main culprit once again was the tumbling housing sector that further chopped off a sizable 1.2% off GDP last quarter as spending on housing projects witnessed a deep cut of 23.9%, the most since 1981. Even the labour market weakened at 4.9% – a pace that in the past had showed the way to recession. The decline indeed poses a further threat to consumer spending that has already slowed to 2% from 2.8% a quarter earlier. Affirms Jay Bryson, Global Economist at Wachovia, “The perfect blend of a weakening labour market, plunging house prices along with a sharp credit contraction will continue to put pressure on the economy further putting a stop on consumer spending.”

No doubt, the situation is frightening and the policy makers are doing what seem best to them. What else? Go for rate cuts! Since September 2007, the Fed has cut its short-term policy rate by 225 bps to 3% from 5.25% – all to ease the economy. The industry even predicts further cuts as rates are still way above the 1% level in 2003. “We foresee a further rate cut by 25-50 bps by March,” agrees Dean Maki, Chief US Economist with Barclays Capital. Although, the Fed action will boost the liquidity in the economy. But then one should not forget that it was the rally of cuts in interest rates in 2001-03 (the last downturn), that sowed the seeds of the ongoing housing and credit crunch. Well, what about inflation, which is already proving to be double whammy for the economy watch dogs? Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke is already been under criticism for being far too cautious. And if these cuts also prove to be temporary (which of course have a better chance), it would only worsen the situation.

The core personal consumption expenditure deflator (an important indicator of inflation) is already at 2.7% on an annualised basis – the second fastest since 2005. And as such, the threat of stagflation (a situation of both economic sluggishness and rising inflation) has to weigh on the Fed decision before it goes for another rate cut, otherwise it will lose its grip on the economy (or has it already?).

For Complete I I P M Article, Click on IIPM Article

Source : IIPM Editorial, 2008

An IIPM and Professor Arindam Chaudhuri (Renowned Management Guru and Economist) Initiative

Recent liberalisation will boost investments

2008-09-20T14:09:00.000+05:30

“Policies were aimed to provide healthy competition, and level-playing field”
In a high growth sector, there is no need to trim staff. With the sector booming, every one can be accommodated, Union Civil Aviation Minister, Praful Patel, tells B&E’s Ranjit Bhushan in an interview. The minister, who is credited with turning around the civil aviation ministry in his four-year-stint, adds that far-reaching changes are going to be brought in its FDI policy to encourage private investments.

Your tenure has marked a definite turnaround in the prospects of the civil aviation sector. What do you attribute this upturn to?

The aviation sector has evolved over the past few years. The change in mindset in both the public and the private sectors has led to more competition, competitive and affordable fares, and more passengers. The reasons are clear and strong policies of the government have been aimed at providing healthy competition and level playing field to both the public and private players. The government has played a great role as being a facilitator in this sector. Your speech at the US-India Aviation Summit last year was impressive.

What are the gains that you see accruing from the deal? Also, technologically, the US aviation industry is light-years ahead of us. Which are the areas of common interest between the two countries?

The purpose of the US India Aviation Cooperation Programme is to improve coordination of US assistance to the Indian civil aviation industry, including the identification of aviation training and technical assistance meets, communication meets, and improving coordination with the US Government entities including the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), US Trade and Development Agency (USPDA) and the US Department of Commerce.

The programme will be funded with the assistance of USTDA and would enhance safety, operational efficiency and system capacity of the aviation sector. The Union government has also approved a Memorandum of Agreement with the US in the civil aviation sector, which will provide the framework for seeking assistance of the Federal Aviation Authority in developing civil aviation infrastructure in managerial, operational and technical areas, as and when required.

You talked about attracting FDI, about more US involvement in Indian aviation. Is that going to be a reality?

The Union government on 30 January, 2008 liberalised and enhanced the FDI policy in the civil aviation sector. This is expected to greatly boost investments by not only American, but also other foreign companies in Indian aviation.

The market share of national carriers has gone down with more private competition coming in. And a lot of it has happened during your tenure as the minister. Do you see a situation wherein the national carriers could become minor players in the company of many private operators, big and small? Although the number of passengers carried by the national carriers has increased considerably, registering a growth of almost 25%, the market share has been impacted due to the entry of private airlines, availability of low cost carriers, decline in capacity share, and delay in acquisition of new and latest technology aircraft. However, a number of initiatives have been undertaken like acquisition of new aircraft, merger of Indian and Air India, aggressive marketing and sales initiatives, which has resulted in marked improvements in market share.

For Complete I I P M Article, Click on IIPM Article

Source : IIPM Editorial, 2008

An IIPM and Professor Arindam Chaudhuri (Renowned Management Guru and Economist) Initiative

BCCI’s performance as a cricket administration

2008-09-02T17:25:00.000+05:30

But Pawar has many critics, who feel that BCCI’s performance as a cricket administration institution and as a positive for the team is not up to the mark. “It’s easy to manipulate the masses when it comes to winning elections. But to really manage the Indian cricket team, you need to be an emotionally intellectual person, which Pawar isn’t at all,” feels a former cricketer who knows the BCCI President for the past five years. For instance, they say that the BCCI shouldn’t have been so quick in asking the Indian team to continue with the current Australian tour after what happened during the second test at Sydney. It should have waited to gauge the mood of the team and taken into account the feelings of the manager. In the end, BCCI had to backtrack and use its clout to force the ICC to arrive at a face-saving solution.

In a cricket crazy nation, if there’s anything that combines the denizens of this country after cricket, it is politics. But unlike the men-in-blue who are almost worshiped (only when they win), politicians are not as fortunate. So, can the two marry? Maybe, maybe not. But Pawar, who has the knowledge of grassroots feelings and emotions, is capable of having a long, patient, and courageous innings.

For Complete I I P M Article, Click on IIPM Article

Source : IIPM Editorial, 2008

An IIPM and Professor Arindam Chaudhuri (Renowned Management Guru and Economist) Initiative

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BRIC’s BRICKS

2008-08-26T15:29:00.000+05:30

Time to pay attention to the finer points of the BRIC report
Goldman Sachs’s most famous Global Economics Paper No. 99 named Dreaming with BRICs: Path to 2050 is no news now-a-days, at least in India, given the impunity with which this has often been referred to by nation’s polity and policy makers to showcase the bright future of our country. And also as if forewarn all those, who are yet to make up their minds about investing in India or take it seriously, as to what a grave mistake they would commit if they gloss over the writing on the wall.

This year, Goldman Sachs even revised their previous estimation thereby putting India even ahead of the US by 2050 in terms of Gross Domestic Product (GDP). Much to the glee of the Indian policy makers, soon thereafter, India entered the exclusive trillion dollar club. But in the midst of all these, one thing was completely ignored, i.e. the warning from Goldman Sachs which had laid down four conditions namely, macro stability, institutions, openness and education. While India’s combined fiscal deficit (that of the Centre and the states together) of about 9-10%, is a major dampener to the right kind of macro stability, lack of reforms in agriculture, power and education spheres and several other government departments like the Department of Post make sure that fiscal deficit would continue to remain high. Its reduction, if at all is not in absolute numbers but because of the increasing GDP, as a percentage looks lesser. Subsidies continue to serve the rich and middle class and incredible amount of loss in power and oil sectors is a proof enough of lack of right kind of institutional mechanism. All that oil bonds end up doing is to shift the subsidy burden to a future date. Sheer lack of pragmatic regulatory bodies ensure that cross subsidies remain very much a part of system of governance, thereby stifling growth in key sectors like aviation which continues to pay the price of the distorted price juggleries in oil sector. Incidentally, the price of aviation fuel in India is about 70% more than that in the international markets. In the same league, absence of institutional mechanism, translates into a challenge, when venture capital for starting a business is sought. Industries like insurance and banking are yet to receive full dosage of foreign investment even when they, and especially the insurance sector, are in dire need of fund infusion.

That the Indian economy is yet to be opened properly is vindicated by the fact that a stronger rupee is increasingly becoming a major cause of concern for the government and the exporters, at a time, when India ideally should be celebrating the strengthening rupee as a sign of a growing and potent economy. Instead, strict controls on capital outflow ensure that India isn’t being able to extract maximum mileage from it. The fourth and the most important point as stated by the Goldman Sachs report is on education. Unfortunately India’s dismal ranking (128th) in the UNDP Human Development Report portrays the dismal condition in terms of education and health. This can severely impede India’s economic dream run as it would invariably dry down the future supply of quality manpower. In addition to it, distorted subsidies for education like in other sectors, make sure that even today, urban college students spend more on one time recharge of their cellphones than on paying college fees, thereby depriving the millions who otherwise deserved the subsidy, more. It is for all these reasons that for India, BRIC dream is still nothing more than just daydreams. And to make it a reality, the bricks of the BRIC will have to be first of all put in the right place. Or else, the ‘I’ of BRIC would just collapse like a pack of cards.

For Complete I I P M Article, Click on IIPM Article

Source : IIPM Editorial, 2008

An IIPM and Professor Arindam Chaudhuri (Renowned Management Guru and Economist) Initiative

Read these article :-
ZEE BUSINESS BEST B SCHOOL SURVEY
B-schooled in India, Placed Abroad (Print Version)
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Tech giants’ leap to the cloud

2008-08-25T17:00:00.000+05:30

Cloud Computing is the new buzzword, but can it deliver the expected?
Remember ‘Grid Computing,’ a concept that emerged almost a decade ago and was talked about in the IT arena as ‘the’ idea that would take away computing from the desktop to an imagined central hub – of course known to most, today, as the Internet. After a promising start ‘Grid Computing’ eventually found no takers, but the idea lingered on and has now made a comeback of sorts, reinvented and rechristened as ‘Cloud Computing’ or simply stated, a cluster of programs running through thousands of parallel computers and accessible through the Internet.

So shall we call it the first death-nail to the idea of personal desktops with individual copies of Windows Vista? Not for now but it’s surely an idea that has also taken big daddy Microsoft into its grasp – the people originally deriding the entire concept of Ethernet-connected graphics terminals but have now released Windows Live – a photo sharing and file storage application served from new data centers instead of just being served on the usual desktops.

But what exactly is ‘Cloud Computing’ and what is it about the idea that is causing ripples amongst geeks and technocrats alike? For one, you can call it a cluster of low cost extremely fast processing servers capable of handling tens of trillions of complex calculations in a jiffy that can be accessed through the Internet, thus empowering the common man in a way the Supercomputers have done to large corporations and government agencies.

Recently, on November 15, IBM embraced the process of ‘Cloud Computing’ by releasing a system named Blue Cloud, which will allow the banks to distribute their programs and processes across number of machines, delivering faster data analysis. “We’re aiming to train tomorrow’s programmers to write software that can support a tidal wave of global Web growth and trillions of secure transactions every day,” says IBM’s CEO Samuel J. Palmisano commenting on the tie up that aims at providing research setups to several American Universities, with Carnegie Mellon paving the way. Even Yahoo jumped into the ‘Cloud Computing’ bandwagon on November 12, allowing schools and colleges to conduct software research, housing around 4,000 processors to run on Yahoo servers.

However, the journey from ‘Grid to Cloud Computing’ is full of stumbling blocks. Be it the lack of Internet infrastructure or ignorance of mobile devices centred at tapping the Web world through ‘Cloud Computing’, for without a proper focus, the concept of ‘Cloud Computing’ will simply remain just another brilliant idea. Are the tech biggies like IBM and Yahoo listening?

For Complete I I P M Article, Click on IIPM Article

Source : IIPM Editorial, 2008

An IIPM and Professor Arindam Chaudhuri (Renowned Management Guru and Economist) Initiative

Read these article :-
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B-schooled in India, Placed Abroad (Print Version)
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Increased presence of supercomputers

2008-08-13T14:12:00.000+05:30

With ‘bus’ sizes doubling up, possibilities for the increased presence of supercomputers have only got better, which therefore calls for greater investments in R&D on the part of the companies. Amongst those in the current pack of leaders, Microsoft leads the rat race and its Windows Blackcomb OS (in the developmental stage) certainly holds many promises, even when you measure it by the ‘security’ rod. However, it fails to address the ‘size’ question; what with handheld and sophisticated computers (like palmtops, which call for embedded OSs) gaining enormous popularity these days? Well, we are not left with nothing here too with names like Chorus, coniX, VxWorks, and DR-DOS (which are far better alternatives to the likes of Windows CE, Palm OS & QNX).

Where OS for your darling handheld ‘mobile phone’ is concerned, Linux seems to be clearly heading towards to leader’s spot in the near future with mobile handset companies swearing by it. Mobiles with powerful applications call for devices to be compatible with each other; so that there is greater hardware flexibility and an enhanced ability to handle voice and data simultaneously (unlike what the traditional Palm OS is capable of). As per ARB Research, Linux with web-its browsing experience OS is forecasted to be the fastest growing smart phone OS by 2012 – a truth that is vindicated by the fact that currently, more and more handset producers are favouring it over the others in the category.

The future of operating systems surely seems to be favouring the community of ‘Open source’ (which was once termed as a ‘Cancer’ by Steve Ballmer, CEO, Microsoft, when explaining how it was eroding his company’s market share), primarily because it offers more flexibility to users. In future, operating systems will employ traditional methodologies to code, control & coordinate the software development tree and these developments will certainly be giving the behemoths, mainly Microsoft, a slew of sleepless nights!

For Complete I I P M Article, Click on IIPM Article

Source : IIPM Editorial, 2008

An IIPM and Professor Arindam Chaudhuri (Renowned Management Guru and Economist) Initiative

Read these article :-
ZEE BUSINESS BEST B SCHOOL SURVEY
B-schooled in India, Placed Abroad (Print Version)
IIPM in Financial times (Print Version)
IIPM makes business education truly global (Print Version)
The Indian Institute of Planning and Management (IIPM)
IIPM Campus

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What’s the right time to exit?

2008-08-12T15:43:00.000+05:30

Observe performance of the fund for a while before you say, “I Quit”

It is proven by facts that the right timing of entry and exit from the stock market or a mutual fund is a difficult call. The decision purely depends on the investor’s choice, driven by his investment objectives, his perception of the market and other relevant factors. However, common sense tells us that a good time to enter a market is when the market looks attractive and valuations of stocks seem relatively cheap. Similarly, exit when it is on a high. But for a happy exit, the following points should be kept in mind:

Under performance: One should study the performance of this fund against the benchmark and the peer group. If the fund is outperforming the benchmark and peers then one may remain invested in the fund till the time his objective is met. Selection of peers should be done carefully. One should never compare a debt-based fund with an equity-oriented fund or a sectoral fund with a diversified fund. Though every mutual fund publishes its data on regular intervals, it is not prudent to sell a fund because of its short term performance only. As a prudent investor one should observe performance of his fund for a while before he decides to exit.

Change in fund’s objectives: A fund says a lot about investor’s risk profiles and its own plans on investment. What it says and how it complies with them has to be seen. Any material change in the investment objective of the fund is an exit point worth considering. For instance, a fund whose primary objective is to invest in a diversified portfolio may start investing only in a particular sector. The investor needs to be cautious because it’s alarming if such changes are too often.

For Complete I I P M Article, Click on IIPM Article

Source : IIPM Editorial, 2008

An IIPM and Professor Arindam Chaudhuri (Renowned Management Guru and Economist) Initiative

Read these article :-
ZEE BUSINESS BEST B SCHOOL SURVEY
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Tussle over Virgin air-waves!

2008-08-11T15:27:00.000+05:30

BCCL betting high on the UK radio sweepstakes. Will the buy-out payoff?

Losing my Virginity, the autobiography of the most flamboyant business tycoon, Richard Branson created waves across the globe. But now he’s trying to regain his virginity (ahem! We mean the Virgin Radio brand in UK). The buyout of Virgin Radio by Indian media powerhouse Bennett, Coleman & Co. Ltd. (BCCL) has taken the Indian media by storm. However, Branson’s intervention to keep BCCL away from using the Virgin brand may be a damp squid for BCCL’s overseas plans. Will Branson’s bravado prove fatal for BCCL? Or is it just a hiccup that will soon pass by?

BCCL’s invasion into UK’s radio space with this recent buyout of Virgin Radio for a whopping $106 million [from Scottish Media Group (SMG)], has stirred the hornet’s nest in the media space. Branson has tied up with HT Media in India for a radio channel Fever104, which is a competitor of BCCL’s radio station, Radio Mirchi, in the country. This has put the boisterous Branson into a catch-22 situation, as it will associate the Virgin Radio brand with two arch rivals in India. So in true Branson-style, he has worked out a full-proof solution (if we may say) and has influenced SMG to sell only the company and not the ‘Virgin’ brand to BCCL. As a bonus, this has also given fruit to Branson’s long coveted plan to buy back Virgin Radio (UK). He now plans to again start a new radio company in UK under the Virgin Radio brand. “We’ll now go on to grow the Virgin Radio brand over the airwaves and on the Internet… not only in the UK where we are considering options to re-launch Virgin Radio on FM, but across the globe in the near future,” says Branson.

For Complete I I P M Article, Click on IIPM Article

Source : IIPM Editorial, 2008

An IIPM and Professor Arindam Chaudhuri (Renowned Management Guru and Economist) Initiative
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“Best Marketed State? Andhra Pradesh?! What?!”

2008-08-08T13:28:00.000+05:30

IIPM Ranked No. 1 B-School In Global Exposre - Zee...

“Best Marketed State? Andhra Pradesh?! What?!” Sceptics would debate over this extensively surveyed and intensely calculated choice. Really, think of Andhra Pradesh, and perhaps the first monument that comes to mind is the Char Minar. Right? Next, think of a city in this state. ‘Hyderabad’ is your top-of-mind recall response, right? Nothing wrong there, but in all probability, you (like most) are not too well aware of the real Andhra! Appropriate thus that you demand ‘reasons’ that hail Andhra as the Best Marketed State as per this exclusive 4Ps B&M and ICMR Survey 2008. So, allow us to take you through a revelation of the secrets behind the Best Marketed State in the country – Andhra.

As you look upon the runway at Rajiv Gandhi International Airport in Shamshabad (22 km due-west of Hyderabad), you’ll appreciate the ‘green’ efforts of the Andhra government (also thanks to the GMR-HIAL combo) to maintain one of the best greenfield airports in the country. ‘You feel fresh about it all’, and that’s the line to describe Andhra. But wait! This state is more than what meets the eye and has more than just mountains (it has none!) and river valleys (it has two - Krishna and Godavari); talk about it - Information technological advancements, Bio-technolgical breakthroughs, Pharma investments and setups, Infrastructural developments, and so on... Andhra has enough to boast about; more than any state in the country. The state is the first in India where an international MRO provider (Lufthansa Technik) is setting up an Indian base (in Shamshabad with initial investments of Rs.100 crore), therefore giving a boost to the state’s connectivity quotient as Arun Agarwal, Research Analyst, Karvy Stock Broking opines, “With the setting-up of this new MRO facility in the new airport, Hyderabad is all poised to become an important hub in the global aviation map...” And there’s more... The airport modernisation and other developments in the aviation sector are only a miniscule fragment in the massive Andhra developmental drive.

For more articles, Click on IIPM Article.

Source : IIPM Editorial, 2008

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

Read these article :-
ZEE BUSINESS BEST B SCHOOL SURVEY
B-schooled in India, Placed Abroad (Print Version)
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So, Who’ll be King of this Mobile Castle?

2008-08-06T15:13:00.000+05:30

On the accessibility count, the numbers certainly go to The MobileStore, which currently leads the pack in terms of number of stores. Besides, the Ruias-backed venture has been aggressively chalking out expansion plans. Earlier this month, the chain made a record of sorts by opening as many as 125 stores in just under a month. Says Rajiv Agarwal, CEO & Director, The MobileStore, “We are proud to have set a new industry standard of having launched over 125 stores in India in 30 days. We are bringing the best products and service experience at the disposal of the common people across the country and would like to continue to do this in the future.” Following them closely on the brand visibility and aggressive expansion front is Subhiksha, which recently set up stores in Kolkata for the first time and Khattar adds that, “we would soon be entering many new cities in MP and Kerala.”

Further, from August 2007, RPG Cellucom also has gone aggressive and has been constantly adding more numbers in its total tally. Biswajit Pandey, Marketing Head, RPG Cellucom revealed to this magazine that the group has been adding 25-30 stores every month since August and plan to take the tally up to 500 stores by March 2009, at an investment of Rs.50 crore every month. Hot Spots too scores well on the number of stores front, although their largest presence is restricted to Delhi (more than 107 stores of their total is in NCR alone). Even mBazaar has massive plans for this year. Firstly, it plans to take the tally of stores to 500 by Dec. 2008 (via the cluster stores format) and would be pumping in almost Rs.300 crore for this count. Also on the cards is a major re-branding strategy wherein by next month, mBazaar would rechristen itself “Mobile Bazaar” and would harp on the value format. Alongside, there are also plans to set up a lifestyle store called ‘Axiom’ for mobile retailing.

For Complete I I P M Article, Click on IIPM Article

Source : IIPM Editorial, 2008

An IIPM and Professor Arindam Chaudhuri (Renowned Management Guru and Economist) Initiative

Read these article :-
ZEE BUSINESS BEST B SCHOOL SURVEY
B-schooled in India, Placed Abroad (Print Version)
IIPM in Financial times (Print Version)
IIPM makes business education truly global (Print Version)
The Indian Institute of Planning and Management (IIPM)
IIPM Campus

Rising TRPs

2008-08-05T15:43:00.000+05:30

Besides, there is also the element of rising TRPs that SET Max is garnering from the perfectly orchestrated IPL reality show. According to Advertising agencies too have struck a gold mine with IPL as all teams are spending multi-millions on creating high decibel campaigns. Rajasthan Royals, Deccan Chargers and Daredevils plans to spend roughly Rs.20 crore this year. And this is when purportedly, the franchises did not have much time to prepare for this cricketing jamboree. In future, the hospitality and aviation sectors are also likely to get roped into the IPL mania as fans get more passionate about their teams and travel to different cities to watch the game. Time for agriculture minister cum BCCI chief, Sharad Pawar to declare cricket as an industry? Well, the game, as they say, has only just begun – both on and off the field!

For Complete I I P M Article, Click on IIPM Article

Source : IIPM Editorial, 2008

An IIPM and Professor Arindam Chaudhuri (Renowned Management Guru and Economist) Initiative

Merchandise partner for Delhi Daredevils

2008-08-05T15:38:00.000+05:30

In fact, the balls category is topping the sales charts for SG, followed by bats, gloves and pads. But hey, SG is not the only one who has hit riches in town. Other majors like Reebok, BDM and SS are also busy raking in the money. Similar to the craze seen with the English Premier League (EPL) and UEFA fans, Indian fans are also basking in their new found craze by draping themselves in team jerseys and accessories to show support and solidarity with their respective teams. Global sports good major Adidas is the merchandise partner for Delhi Daredevils, while Reebok is doing a similar tango with Kolkata Knight Riders, with the maximum craze for replica jerseys being witnessed in the city of joy. “Demand is growing with every passing day. So far, almost all stores in Kolkata have sold more than 300 replica jerseys and in some cases the sales figures have crossed the 600 mark,” says a Reebok spokesperson. Affirms Vijay Dugar, a Reebok store owner in South City Mall, Kolkata, “The stock sells on the same day it arrives.” In Delhi too, Adidas marketers are grinning with joy. More than 21,000 Daredevils jerseys have been sold in the span of just over a month.

And the good news just refuses to stop coming in. Ardent fans are pouring in to watch their favourite team and players in action. Restaurants, pubs and other joints are turning into mini stadia, while respective stadia are almost always full. All teams are expected to make Rs.11-14 crore just from ticket sales for their matches. For Shah Rukh Khan’s Knight Riders, the amount goes up substantially (as Kolkata’s Eden Gardens has double the capacity of other stadia). Just to give you an idea, Knight Riders raked in Rs.4 crore from ticket sales from its first match in Kolkata on April 20 alone. Industry buzz is that before the season closes, Knight Riders will rake in Rs.25-28 crore from the seven matches his team plays in Kolkata alone.

For Complete I I P M Article, Click on IIPM Article

Source : IIPM Editorial, 2008

An IIPM and Professor Arindam Chaudhuri (Renowned Management Guru and Economist) Initiative

Read these article :-
ZEE BUSINESS BEST B SCHOOL SURVEY
B-schooled in India, Placed Abroad (Print Version)
IIPM in Financial times (Print Version)
IIPM makes business education truly global (Print Version)
The Indian Institute of Planning and Management (IIPM)
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Humungous amount of work for many International players

2008-08-04T15:00:00.000+05:30

There are many animation studios that are doing humungous amount of work for many International players. Jayakumara, CEO Toonz Animation, (that had created Hanuman), says “There are presently around five-six companies that are doing top class work for Indian as well as International clients.” The wave of outsourcing has been in the air for quite some time now but it is now time for the big names to set up their shop in the Indian market.

Imageworks, which is a visual effects production and character animation arm of Sony Pictures had recently officially launched its new facility in Chennai. And this news is closely followed on the heels by another International media conglomerate – Turner International, announcing their interest in setting up a subsidiary in India. In December 2007, DreamWorks Animation too had formed a strategic alliance with Technicolor which will assist them in developing animation capabilities in India through Paprikaas Animation Studios. “We also saw Rhythm & Hues have set up their units in Mumbai and Hyderabad a few years ago,” discloses Rajiv C,Founder, Director of Greengold Animation Pvt. Ltd., Hyderabad. So is it an opportune time for creators of the animated characters to leverage the ensuing potential?

DQ Entertainment, Hyderabad is Asia’s biggest animation service provider with around 3,800 employees associated with them. Interestingly, the scene could get far brighter five years down the line as there would be a further influx of other international players seeking to set up their subsidiaries in India. Ramakrisha P, MD of the International Academy of Computer Graphics (IACG) a training body in collaboration with JNTU, Hyderabad, which also works on animation projects says, “Just in a span of two years, more international animation production firms will set up their shop in India given the demand for multi media professionals growing unabated”. India should get talent rich as greater expertise could comparatively garner more projects. Sidhartha M. Jain, CEO, iROCK feels that, “All the competition that we are getting is good for the industry as we would be able to get a much better trained staff.”

For Complete I I P M Article, Click on IIPM Article

Source : IIPM Editorial, 2008

An IIPM and Professor Arindam Chaudhuri (Renowned Management Guru and Economist) Initiative

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‘Slim and Trim’

2008-08-01T16:45:00.000+05:30

Another niche in the FMCG category pertains to the fast-expanding fleet of health conscious consumers. From Amul’s ‘Slim and Trim’ milk & curd (and similar variants from Nestle and Mother Dairy), to diet chocolates like Kit-Kat Lite to pro-biotic ice-creams to Diet carbonated drinks to Maggi Atta & Rice noodles to diet cornflakes like Kellogs K series… there are myriad products in this niche. “Niche marketing in food & beverage industry is a very popular phenomenon for marketers abroad and is picking up in India too. We in Mother Dairy, believe such marketing helps to capture the market well, so we will be launching lots of product for a certain class of consumer,” Paul Thachil, CEO, Mother Dairy Food Processing Ltd. told this magazine.

Besides, the inherent market segmentation that goes with FMCG products adds its own ‘niche’ flavour to various products in the sector. You have products like razors, especially for women, like Satin from Gillete. Then there is Fair and Handsome from Emami, which propagates the message that ‘Men and women are different so are should be the products they use’. Besides, there is a race among marketers to catch the kid-consumer with either a Pepsodent kids gel, Pears Junior Soap and various mild kid shampoos. So, from the earlier one shampoo for the entire family, now there are three different niches for the marketer to tap (mother, father and kids).

Another fast growing niche that marketers are eyeing is in the apparels category. The finest examples in this category are of plus size apparels, where stores like Musturd, Pluss, ‘Just Your Size Designers’ (Bangalore), et al are mushrooming in umpteen malls. ‘Even large size women want to look good’ is the sentiment that these marketers are cashing on.

For Complete I I P M Article, Click on IIPM Article

Source : IIPM Editorial, 2008

An IIPM and Professor Arindam Chaudhuri (Renowned Management Guru and Economist) Initiative

This Yatra was truly worth it

2008-07-31T15:33:00.000+05:30

A Private Equity funding does not only benefit start-ups monetarily. It’s all about a partnership with experienced people who will hand-hold you through the myriad teething troubles of managing and eventually making your company succeed.

Set up in 2006 with the objective of providing able solutions to the needs of myriad travellers, this one can’t stop telling people that Yatra.com is a smarter way to travel. However, not many are aware that the portal became possible only through the funding of various venture capital firms. The VCs that have parked their funds in Yatra.com are Norwest Venture Partners (NVP), Reliance Capital and the Television 18 group who came in the initial part of the business and remain a part of the company till date. Dhruv Shringi, Co-founder and CEO, Yatra.com, elaborates on the journey of the online company.

What factors enabled you to convince the VCs to give you funding?

We approached the VC firms initially and, I think, there were a few things that we had got right, which are attributes that VC’s look for. We had a clear idea of what we wanted to do and the right team, with the capability to execute that idea. We were also aware about the competitive environment that the idea would develop in. For us the strongest point was team, we had people who had worked on this kind of business before and hence had the relevant experience to execute the entire plan well. These things worked in our favour.

How has the funding helped you grow?

I think these funds have helped us in multiple ways. As it was really the starting of the journey as far as Yatra is concerned so firstly, the funds helped us in getting together the right kind of team, as also in terms of formulating strategy and making an introduction with key people within the industry. Apart from the monetary aspects, this relationship also got many eminent people on the board of Yatra.com. Some of our investors are reputed people, involved in running companies. They brought with them a lot of experience. In case of start-ups, there are many problems that you encounter from time to time and it’s always good to have experience on your side. We had people like Haresh Chawla, CEO of TV18 who has taken TV18 from a small company to being a media conglomerate today. Likewise, Pramod Haque has invested in about 100 companies in various parts of the world. These guys, with their immense management experience, helped us to put forward our best foot.

How do see the relationship with the three key investors 2-3 years down the line?

The relationship that we share has evolved a lot. I see it more as a partnership. There is a lot of trust and respect involved. We help each other, we respect each other, we value each other and we also trust each others judgments.

Your advice to entrepreneurs who seek funding from Venture Capitalists?

My advice to anyone seeking funds is to not get blinded by valuations.Judge the quality of the investor. A little difference between valuations cannot determine success or failure. But having the backing of a right investors can.

Investee: GMR Infrastructure

2008-07-30T17:27:00.000+05:30

Investor: Eton Park Capital, SBI, UBS, et al

Investment Value: $1,000 mn

As per G. M. Rao, Group Chairman, GMR Group, “The positive response to the Issue reflects the confidence that global investors have in the Company and its integrated business model. As a result of this, they have decided to invest in the company through the QIP route in large volumes.” Madhu Terdal, CFO of GMR Infrastructure asserts that “the funds will be used for the construction of GMR Istanbul’s airport in Turkey as well as buyouts in the international power and airport markets.”

In a deal worth $1 billion, qualified institutional players like Citigroup, Capital International, SBI, Kotak Mahindra, Credit Agricole, UBS et al, bought a 9% stake in GMR Infrastructure Limited (GIL), the flagship company of GMR Group. GIL plans to spend about Rs.800 crores in its various projects, which include the Istanbul Airport and a Special Economic Zone in Tamil Nadu. The fund raising exercise by the company was an effort in complimenting its future expansion plans, which will see the company moving into newer pastures like SEZs, Export Promotion Parks etc.. Already in GMR’s kitty are projects like Delhi Airport modernisation and the Hyderabad Airport construction, both in the final stages of completion. The company also has plans of setting up overseas offices and to tap the opportunities available in markets like Europe. The group is also planning to get into airport projects in Africa.

For Complete I I P M Article, Click on IIPM Article

Source : IIPM Editorial, 2008

An IIPM and Professor Arindam Chaudhuri (Renowned Management Guru and Economist) Initiative

Personalisation

2008-07-22T13:32:00.000+05:30

The manner in which Google has been personalising the search engine space, with its local content in local languages (not to forget ‘My Google’), has truly revolutionised the world wide web

Search engine Google has redefined the word personalisation by giving freedom to computer friendly masses. The product allows people to search anything and everything on the Internet, in almost any corner of the world, personalising computing more than even the PC did! After establishing itself as a preferred search engine on the Internet, Google evolved its brand strategy further, by offering ‘My Google’ services to its target audience. Personalising the Google homepage by the name of iGoogle was another master stroke. As a portfolio extension exercise, the company has also acquired cutting edge innovative web based products like Orkut and the Gmail, which can be personalised by users on need basis! Oh! And did we forget to add their masterstroke in India: offering their search in local languages, including Hindi, Bengali, Telugu, Marathi and Tamil!

For Complete I I P M Article, Click on IIPM Article

Source : IIPM Editorial, 2008

An IIPM and Professor Arindam Chaudhuri (Renowned Management Guru and Economist) Initiative

Read these article :-
B-schooled in India, Placed Abroad (Print Version)

IIPM in Financial times (Print Version)

IIPM makes business education truly global

The Indian Institute of Planning and Management (IIPM)

IIPM Campus

Toofan(i) caravan

2008-07-21T12:58:00.000+05:30

When IIPM comes to education, never compromise

Girl power to storm the rural ‘ad-man-world’

The amount of opportunities in the vast virgin lands of the Indian hinterlands have tempted many big-ticket organisations like ITC, HUL, Bharti et al to set up shop there. However, the marketing & advertising fraternity, which takes great pride in helping these companies in making inroads into this unexplored marketplace, has itself stayed away from venturing into rural India. But here’s an agency that has changed the rules of the game.

RC&M,which began its journey in 1990, is today a specialist in planning experiential marketing campaigns for these rural markets.

RC&M (previously Rural Communication & Marketing), is the brainchild of Rajesh Monga, who after spending time in the advertising industry decided to start an agency that would cater to rural marketing. Soon RC&M roped in a host of agri clients like Eicher Motors, Parle et al. Four years later RC&M decided to move up the value chain by entering markets in semi-urban areas & even metros. With the passage of time, other verticals – event management, separate company for LEDs – were added to RC&M. Rajesh moved on to take charge of these sister companies, while the baton of RC&M was passed on to his wife, Priya Monga.

“RC&M basically seeks to provide experiential marketing solution to a brand,” an effervescent Priya told 4Ps B&M, adding that under the banner of experiential marketing, the major task is to take brands to the doorsteps of consumers. So unlike mass media, RC&M is more into one-to-one communication. Priya opines, “For such marketing one needs to be clear about where to do and how to do. The target group needs to be spot on as we cater to refined audiences. It’s all about the right venue, the right timing and conveying the right kind of message. In short, experiential marketing is very strategic and driven by results.”

Then again, within the broad banner of experiential marketing, a host of services can be offered and RC&M especially specialises in exhibitions, road shows, putting up banners, customer contacts & kiosks. Events and launches are taken care of by one of its sister concerns. With such 3600 offerings, clients from different sectors have been flocking to RC&M. The agency’s ever expanding portfolio includes clients like M&M, TVS, Castrol, Bharat Shell, Colgate, Parle, Marico, HUL, Airtel & Nokia. Their Toofan campaign for M&M and GM’s Caravan have even received awards at various forums.

With success stories like these to narrate, one cannot help but ask about the core competency of the agency. Priya is prompt to reply that “We have the concepts to deliver the right solutions for the concerns which are shared by the client.” She believes that honesty in the business in terms of deliverables is also essential. “One may commit anything to the clients, but one must be able to deliver them as well,” she avers.

Those are the dreams and determination that help in making an agency big and RC&M is no different. Adds Priya, “I try that in a year I can take up three such projects that would help make a dent in the industry.”

Hear, hear! With an ambition like that, small surprise that RC&M’s already going places!

Edit bureau: Surbhi Chawla

For more articles, Click on IIPM Article.

Source : IIPM Editorial, 2008

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

Read these article :-
B-schooled in India, Placed Abroad (Print Version)
IIPM in Financial times (Print Version)
IIPM makes business education truly global
The Indian Institute of Planning and Management (IIPM)
IIPM Campus

For More IIPM Info, Visit below mentioned IIPM articles.
IIPM, GURGAON
IIPM - Admission Procedure
IIPM is A World of Career
Why Study Abroad When IIPM Gives You 3 global Advantages!