Showing posts with label IIPM Admission. Show all posts
Showing posts with label IIPM Admission. Show all posts

Monday, October 08, 2012

US OFFICIAL LIST OF TERRORISTS: AND AN ANALYSIS OF WHY YOUR NAME COULD FEATURE THERE

January 20, 2009, Bush leaves the White House; but before that, he ‘updates’ the ‘official’ US terrorists list. 

Corporation being preferentially allocated to China by the Chinese government.” That then “would weaken the ability of the US to influence the oil and gas supplies of the Nation through companies that must adhere to United States laws.” The CNOOC deal therefore threatens “to impair the national security,” and “the President should initiate immediately a thorough review of the proposed acquisition, merger, or takeover.” From Dubai Ports to Singapore’s Temasek, all investments by foreign countries have faced similar opposition in the US.

Clearly, when the US drains out oil from Iraq, then it’s not a problem the Pope should worry about, but if some other country goes in for a legal acquisition of a powerful US company, then Nostradamus inferences are redrawn to ensure that such moves are nipped even before the bud is born. If Iran is the latest to face the brunt of Mr.Bush’s rottweiler-like attitude – who wants the world to stop trading with Iran completely – what is not often told is the fact that there are several Israeli companies, like Medent [quoting Steve Rodan, Jerusalem Post Service] who do brisk business running up to hundreds of millions of dollars at the same time with Iran.

Bush might be leaving on January 20, 2009; but has ensured that NCTC stays in absolutely safe hands. The current NCTC Director, Michael E. Leiter, is pretty well qualified. One hears that just a few handful of years back, Mr. ‘well qualified’ Leiter served as the Dy General Counsel and Assistant Director of the US President’s Commission on “US Intelligence Capabilities Regarding Weapons of Mass Destruction!” Gotcha Elvis!!! Rock on!!!


Source : IIPM Editorial, 2012.

For More IIPM Info, Visit below mentioned IIPM articles.
 
IIPM : The B-School with a Human Face
Posted by at
Labels: , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Friday, October 05, 2012

MOVIE PRODUCTION HOUSES: INVESTOR DISINTEREST

Soon after the Economic Liberalisation, It became almost Impossible to lose Money in the Movie Making Business due to The Rise of Multiple Revenue Streams. However, Despite Delivering Blockbusters, Dalal Street largely remains Disinterested in These Stocks.
 
One of the possible reasons for investors turning blind eye is the lack in consistency of cash flows. In the notoriously fickle business of movie making, consistency in profits is what would attract investors. However, our production houses have time and again failed to explain the exact nature of profits. Mahendra Swaroop, Vice President, Indian Venture Capital Association (IVCA), says, “Although listed, Indian movie production houses are mostly non-corporatised. They have no formidable approach of tracking profits except for box office performance because they are not present in the end to end value chain.” Compare this with the case in US and the US investors share an everlasting relationship with Hollywood. The combined market cap of Walt Disney, Time Warner and Newscorp stands at a staggering $150 billion. Walt Disney alone is valued at $64 billion, around 5 times the size of the entire Indian media and entertainment industry. Even the recent MGM collapse, despite its James Bond franchise, is purely because of visible fundamental debt and loss aggregation issues.

In fact, globally, media and entertainment is a relatively lucrative sector for all kinds of investors ranging from private equity to individual ones. But back home in India, the case is quite to the contrary. The total market cap of stocks listed on the BSE is $1 trillion. Out of this, the market cap of media and entertainment companies is roughly 1.1% amounting to a mere $11 billion. And this is where the opportunity lies for Indian movie production houses, which have a great future provided they decide to be present in the entire value chain (as against the present form where the distribution rights, music rights et al are dispersed). This will help investors too in understanding and realising the true worth of the scrip and the company– a traditional happy ending for both. Till then, our production houses will continue to languish in the forgotten alleys of Dalal Street.


Source : IIPM Editorial, 2012.
For More IIPM Info, Visit below mentioned IIPM articles.
 
IIPM : The B-School with a Human Face
Posted by at
Labels: , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Wednesday, August 29, 2012

Learning from the best

After an unexpected turn of events with Kites, Kangana is now hoping to do better with Once upon a time in Mumbai. The surprise of this film is that this time she’s finally playing a ‘normal’ girl and not a maniac or mentally disturbed character! A character inspired by Madhu Bala, Parveen Babi and Zeenat Aman, Kangana was required to pick up nuances of style, grandeur and sex appeal from the consummate work of these veterans. Awed by Madhu Bala, this 23-year-old now dreams of playing Anarkali someday.


Posted by at
Labels: , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Friday, August 24, 2012

AFGHANISTAN: THE $1 TRILLION LOTTERY

The US has announced the discovery of minerals apparently worth $1 trillion in Afghanistan – the IIPM Think Tank believes much of this made up value is balderdash and pure hogwash forwarded by the US

There’re three reasons for the June 2010 re-branding of old news. First: when it comes to fragile governance, the Afghan government is already a top contender. It is today standing on legs largely because of foreign aid, which is over 70% of its budget. Undoubtedly, the announcement of this discovery will give Karzai – who has recently mended fences on his own terms with Obama – a new lifeline in his fragile political career, as he would be able to wishfully promise the mineral rich regions to tribal chiefs and Taliban representatives. Second: the announcement will give an excuse to the US to postpone their decision of withdrawing troops out of the country. Third: the US has been trying hard to figure out ways to attract foreign investment into the region. The announcement will jump start the proceedings. One can easily visualise deals being signed under pure promises and conjectures than on realistic data – leading to future litigation.

There is a huge downside for Afghanistan due to this announcement. Mineral and oil discovery announcements have led to social unrest in various countries; and Afghanistan is a country that is still struggling to come out of a war like condition. African nations like Ghana, Sierra Leone, Uganda, Nigeria and Sudan saw a decade long violence and civil unrest after similar discoveries. An analysis of the top oil rich countries would show that around 10-12 nations in the top 50 list are unstable. For Afghanistan, the announcement would exacerbate the ongoing power politics. If on one hand the local clans, Taliban, Al-Qaeda and the likes will fight a bloodying conflict to tap these supposed resources to fund their anti-social missions, then on the other, China, which last year grabbed the Aynak copper mine in Logar, would leave no stone unturned to expand its influence over the region and country in particular.

All this is not to say that there are no reserves – of course, there are. But in all probability, only around 1/5th of what has been announced – which anyway would be exploited by US firms. It’ll take decades for other investing companies to realise they’ve been had. By then, Obama will be out of power, and Afghanistan will no more be a priority.




Posted by at
Labels: , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Wednesday, August 22, 2012

Cooking-up new rules for the game!

The introduction of the word ‘career’ in the lives of women is swiftly redefining the virtues of a good relationship for today’s new-age couples…

“Shalabh was asked by his mom if the girl he had chosen for marriage would let go of her pursuit of happiness through lifework (read career) whenever needed, and he immediately replied in the affirmative to avoid further discussion,” recollects 30-year-old Priya Madaan when talking about the over-rated virtue or vice (depending on which school of thought one subscribes to) of women’s decisions regarding their work-life that gives them a high in life. Today’s women are caught between the traditional people, who are utterly disdainful of women who choose their careers over becoming the 24/7 homemaker and support system for the family even when there are no financial constraints, and the other more modern people, who are instead frowning upon the ladies giving up their work-life for the simple pleasures of life such as one’s marriage, motherhood or for simply managing the household.

25-year-old Shruti Bhatia, a recipient of the excellent performer award, quit her job at the mere confirmation of her eight-months-later wedding date. Unusual in the professionals’ world, the simple reasons, tells Shruti “of wishing to make a home, socialise more with old and new families and figure out a comfortable way of pursuing a career” invited surprise and criticism from those who for a decade or two have only epitomised the ‘perfectly juggling’ avatar of women.

But what Shruti did is somewhat closer to what 41-year-old Jennifer Wilkov and 42-year-old Kimberly Mylls, authors of a recent book, Boys Before Business: The Single Girl’s Guide to Having It All, suggest. Advising the wives (as well as the husbands) to ‘put themselves first, their relationship second, and their career last’ for having a lasting relationship, the authors feel that this way the women would actually perform better because of the love and comfort back home. So, according to the authors, staying late at work and cancelling a scheduled date with the spouse to stay behind the desk for longer are actions that must be avoided! Also, the advice usually given to men apply equally to career women – do not bring workplace problems back home with you!

While one may crib about the title of the book that anticipates how most often women are required to put the men first and not vice versa, there are a lot of privileges that women enjoy and men don’t complain about. For instance, several organisations in our country allow women comfortable work hours. “Lesser number of working hours for women is not a part of our mainstream Human Resource policies, but my team manager with the help of HR has revised my working hours to suit my responsibilities and priorities at home. This hasn’t affected my performance at all. In fact, I am more focused and grateful to my organisation because of this concession at work,” says 33-year-old Shweta Pandey (name changed) working in the sales division of a Telecom company.


Posted by at
Labels: , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Tuesday, August 14, 2012

A B&E EXCLUSIVE

With exclusive interviews and incisive insights, B&E brings the electrifying annual listing of India’s top’ wealth creators during the financial year 2009-2010; companies that gave the largest rise in market capitalisation for their shareholders! By Deepak Ranjan Patra

Did Globalisation Matter?

The 2006 study titled Globalization and the Impact on Shareholder Value and Revenues proved that companies which globalize “create more value for shareholders than companies that don’t globalize!” The 2006 Accenture report Expanding Markets: Innovation and Globalization added that “the best performers were 83% globalized, while the average performers were only 18% globalized!”

While the world is shrinking with every passing day, when it’s about a market place and business opportunities, companies that have globalised in emerging markets and large income geographies have more or less been the ones that have come out of the economic slowdown much stronger. For that matter, as analysts believe, RIL’s thrust on its global ventures could certainly have gone a long way in creating some true value for the company. Its latest joint-venture with Atlas Energy in the US, to buy 40% stake for $1.7 billion in a shale gas project in Pennsylvania has acted as a sure shot booster for the company as the undeveloped 300,000 acres area has a potential of 13.3 tcf [trillion cubic feet].

Citigroup is an obvious inclusion in this commentary. The bank has just returned from the brink of oblivion. If Goldman Sachs’ profitability came from hedging exposures and shorting losses (that is, pure financial investments) the brilliant turnaround time for Citi has been possible mostly because of the group’s strong global presence (on-site presence in 100 countries and operations in over 140 countries). As per Citi’s books for the financial year ended on December 31, 2009, 77% of the $14.8 billion profit earned by Citicorp came from regions like Asia, Latin America and EMEA (Europe, Middle-East and Africa). Not that the group jumped into profits for the last financial year. But because of this contribution from Citicorp, the group managed to restrict its losses to just $1.6 billion as compared to a mammoth loss of $27.7 billion in 2008. This certainly should be a lesson for Indian banks like SBI and ICICI Bank, who, although being amongst the country’s biggest wealth creators and profit makers, are still living with a very negligible global presence.

When it’s about creating a true value for a company’s shareholders by foreign ventures, it certainly is an area of expertise for the Indian IT brigade- TCS, Infosys and Wipro. This has been their key growth area for years now with over 90% of their revenue coming from the overseas markets. Moreover, with the conditions in the international market – especially in the US – improving, these companies are all charged up to swing back to their best in those markets. A company like Infosys (read more about it in the last story in this cover package) has beaten Microsoft comprehensively if one were to consider the three year average growth rates for profits and revenues (see chart on left page) and even the past FY’s earning per share. It’s the same case when one sees our #6 company ICICI Bank in comparison with Citigroup. Does this mean that ICICI Bank is better than Citigroup; or that Infosys is better than Microsoft? Actually, that’s quite possible.

Though Microsoft apparently comes in fourth on this year’s US list of top m-cap gainers in absolute value, the Steve Ballmer led fireball has actually devastated shareholder value since the start of this decade. Microsoft has plummeted from close to $580 billion dollars in market capitalisation in April 2000 to around $270 billion dollars in April 2010. That is what we’d call murderous! Compare this to Apple’s m-cap increase: from $20 billion or so in April 2000 to $240 billion in April 2010. That’s godly!

Coming back to India, TCS, which has been growing consistently in the North American market even during the recession, has ensured that the North American contribution to its growth trajectory moves up to 52.8% during FY’2009-10 from 51.5% in the previous fiscal. And N. Chandrasekaran, CEO and MD, TCS, confirms that, “Our ability to react to growth opportunities and execute efficiently has helped TCS deliver a superior performance. Our sales and execution machine is primed and we have laid a solid platform for growth. There is significant traction for our strategy of full services, which together with our global engagement model positions us well for accelerated growth.”

One noteworthy aspect of the top five Indian market capitalisation stalwarts is that with respect to simply their stock price growth (and not absolute m-cap rise) through the previous financial year, all of them outbeat the BSE Sensex and the NYSE Index (see chart on previous page). And in the flow of things, if one were to rate listed firms purely based on m-cap percentage growth (rather than m-cap absolute growth; see chart below) for the past financial year, none of our original BSE top ten absolute wealth creators figure on the new list, which has names like Kwality Dairy (1,342% stock price growth), IVRCL Assets (989%), JP Power Venture (894%) and the likes. But truly, pure stock price growth can be misleading given how a smaller base of stock price in one year is enough to give a top ranking in the next year.

Did R&D Matter?

The joint HBS and Southwestern University 2006 ‘Industry R&D Survey’ proved how, in the US, the total number of R&D spenders has almost regularly gone down year after year since 1993. The Stock Market Valuation of R&D Expenditures by Chan, Lakonishok & Sougiannis of The University of Illinois summarises that “the average historical stock returns of firms doing R&D matches the returns of firms without R&D...” The concept is double proved by simply reviewing the two IT icons. While Microsoft spent nearly 15% of sales as its R&D expense, Apple spent about 3% only! And down south, TCS spent only 0.28%! Case proved!

In Conclusion

While CEOs in contemporary times do realise that they have to modulate all strategies and tactical moves with the shareholders’ wealth in mind, the paradox still remains on the viciousness of the expectations of shareholders – who more or less demand immediate short term stock price increases disregarding long term vision. Would not focusing purely on short-term shareholders’ wealth destroy the company completely? Jim Collins gave the right answer two years back in his brilliant analysis in the Fortune 500 issue, “Of the 500 companies that appeared on the first Fortune 500 list in 1955, only 71 have a place on the list today. Nearly 2,000 companies have appeared on the list since its inception, and most are long gone from it.” In conclusion, maximise shareholders’ wealth, even if it means destroying the company!


Posted by at
Labels: , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Monday, August 13, 2012

Pranab Mukherjee becoming CM first, followed by Mamata

chandrasekhar bhattacharjee explores the possibility of a power-sharing arrangement in post-2011 polls West Bengal, with Pranab Mukherjee becoming CM first, followed by Mamata

An analysis of the political situation in post-2011 Assembly polls in West Bengal will reveal that such an arrangement might be good for the state. The state has been caught in a spiral of political violence with all parties including the Maoists having a blood feast. In that light, Mamata assuming chief ministry can lead to unprecedented violence on part of the CPI(M), which will no doubt spark off unforeseen counter-violence by Trinamool activists and the state administration. Pranab Mukherjee scores handsomely here as he has personal equations with most prominent CPI(M) leaders and can tackle the situation more tactfully.

Mamata and her party’s position on the Maoists have been pretty ambiguous from the start. She has always made amply clear that she does not see eye-to-eye with Union home minister P. Chidambaram’s assessment of the Maoist situation and his counter measures. Mukherjee will have greater synergy with the Central view. But this logic gets grounded on the premise that a power-sharing alliance is more likely to be governed by common minimum programmes and agendas than by the personal opinions of the leaders of the dispensations.

The industrialist lobby of West Bengal as well as those who have invested in the state will heave a sigh of relief if Mukherjee assumes power at Writers’ Building. Mamata, in her capacity as railway minister, may have tried to overhaul her image as a pro-development politician but the memories of Singur and Nandigram are still afresh in people’s minds.

Political observers also believe that the astute and experienced Pranab Mukherjee will be better placed to deal with the Gorkha Janamukti Morcha about the situation arising in the Darjeeling Hills in the north of the state.

Of course, sharing power for stipulated periods of time is a bit like playing spin on a tricky wicket. Past experiences of Uttar Pradesh and Jammu and Kashmir say that fissures between the partners only get enlarged in such experiments. Pranab Mukherjee’s reputation as a troubleshooter will have to play its part in any such eventuality. Mukherjee will likely play an important part in national politics even if he assumes responsibility of his home state. So that way, he will wield power both at the state and the Central levels. It remains to be seen if Sonia Gandhi and the Congress high command will be comfortable with that.

But the odds against Pranab Mukherjee are also huge as Mamata Banerjee enjoys a huge mass base across the state which Mukherjee or for that matter, no other Congressman, can claim to rival. If the Railway Budget was any indicator, Mamata is dogged on winning Bengal. And being the bigger partner of the alliance, she just might have the final word.




 
Posted by at
Labels: , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Saturday, August 11, 2012

The Finance Minister has galvanised the Opposition to close ranks in a rare show of unity

The fuel price hike announced by the Finance Minister has galvanised the Opposition to close ranks in a rare show of unity. But will the sound and fury translate into long-term political gains? Pramod Kumar reports

From the government side, parliamentary affairs minister Pawan Bansal was in total command. He had personally called Mulayam and Lalu to request that if at all they plan to protest against the move by the government, they should do so in a way that would not unduly embarrass the government. However, Lalu, for own sweet reasons, not only came out openly to support the allegations levelled by Swaraj but also made it amply clear that his party would support the Opposition in the mass movement against price rise.

As far as the BJP is concerned, the plan was carefully laid out during the Indore conclave. It was planned that the struggle would be taken to the streets. It was felt that the party rank and file are a demoralised lot at the current juncture and the anti-price rise agitation would galvanise them. It is not for nothing that the party has launched mass protests in every provincial capital city. The party plans to move the campaign to the rural areas and has also decided to show its strength in a mass rally in Delhi on April 21. However, while talking to B&E, BJP spokesperson Ravi Shankar Prasad did not admit that the party was linking price rise to the awareness campaign. He also insisted that BJP was a national party and its cadre were spread across the entire country.

Lalu, Mulayam and Mamata want to remain associated with the regime while making their stance clear. This will also revitalise their parties, which, particularly in the case of RJD and SP, is the need of the hour. Mulayam, in a hurriedly called meeting of SP MPs, asked his flock to return to the state and initiate street protests. This was a clear departure from the pre-Budget days when Mulayam was hardly active and the day to day affairs were in the hands of Ram Gopal Yadav and Mohan Singh.

Lalu, on the other hand, has also joined hands with the Opposition. In a reply to B&E, he said he is aware he cannot muster much in terms of numbers in Parliament, but he certainly can mobilise effective street protests.

The Left is once again on the same side as the BJP. They insist that they were the first to ring the warning bell. Talking to B&E, CPM leader Sitaram Yechury said, “If we had not checked the government during UPA-1, inflation would have touched double digits. This Budget will strangle the common man. Every party is convinced of this apart from the ruling Congress party, which still insists that the policies are good for the nation.” Commerce minister Anand Sharma said such decisions were necessary in the interest of the country as the price hike will lead to funds that will keep pro-people projects running. Such decisions become necessary at times, he added.

Sources claim that in the Congress Core Committee meeting on Tuesday night, the party was unanimous in concluding that the Opposition was opposing the UPA for the sake of it and it will not affect the fate of the government. However, it was felt that the parliamentary affairs minister would need to coordinate more actively with the alliance partners.

It was also decided that even though international crude price is low, the government needs extra money. Pranab Mukherjee will try to convince party MPs regarding the move, failing which Sonia Gandhi will step in and intervene.


Posted by at
Labels: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,
Subscribe to: Posts (Atom)