Education Portal

Address Change

2006-10-10T05:58:00.000-07:00

Hense Forth Read new Articles At

http://www.tekno-world.blogspot.com

and

http://www.business-affairs.blogspot.com

Cola Contro

2006-10-08T04:16:00.000-07:00

Is the pesticide level in Cola's high. Are the NGO's right or the companies being made a scapegoat. No one knows for sure. One thing which one can be sure about is vested interests. You can find them every where. People today have learnt to defend the wrongdoing. The art of lawyers and the bastion of politicians. What people are not bothered about is, go to hotels in cities and tea stalls, you can see dirty tap water being served. So that is the state of civic amenities in this country. Cola companies say they are being targetted and that the content of pesticides is less than in other sensitive products like baby soaps etc.
Say what, " Who gets caught proves to be the theif".

Data Aid your Business

2006-10-08T03:55:00.000-07:00

Data about existing, past and prospective customer is a very big boon to business. It can be used to leverage the marketing efforts of the company, in designing customised communication to address the target audience and to forecast the success of a new product launch. The various categories of data are Prior marketing data, existing customer data, third party data and new data. Let us see each category in detail and see how it can be used.
For companies which have been in business for some years all the four categories of data are available. For newly formed companies only the last two categories are available for use. Past customers and existing customers are a great source of customer preferences, tastes, spending pattern and credit worthiness. If yours is a new company you could buy data about prospective clients from third parties or you could take up an exercise of new data generation like focus group, survey or test marketing. Using these new data generation methods one can measure customer perceptions, attitudes and spending capacity.
Customer and market intelligence data can either make or break company fortunes. It can hel you in growing your company's market share at a faster rate. You can use the past past data to identify trends and anticipating demand. Or you can use the information of existing customers to infer about their other needs. For example dat aabout new house purchases can be used to infer a demend for furniture and other durables in a particular locality.
"Play that data game real careful".

Are women weak?

2006-10-07T05:41:00.000-07:00

Last year I read an article in the online edition of Eco-Times that women tend to fall in love with men who are powerful ( power as measured by money or influence) because they are who have the capacity to protect them and they can survive longer with them. Do you think that the love of women is conditional? Do you know of a female who loved a male for any other consideration than money.

Are women weak?

2006-10-07T05:37:00.000-07:00

SEZ'a Not Panacea

2006-10-07T05:32:00.000-07:00

According to A Michael Spence Dean of Stanford Graduate Business School. SEZ's create distortions in the economy and can only be transitory strategy. Once the necessary infrastructure and regulations are in place in a country, then there is no need for preferential treatment to attract FDI. In the long run the nation can progress only if thereis a balanced growth of all regions, Urban, Sub - Urban as well as Rural.

Delhi Sealing Issue

2006-10-07T05:27:00.000-07:00

With 45,000 commercial establishments being affected it is surely going to hit the local economy. But I think the decision is correct. Already with increasing population spaces in cities look like Haat. With selling and buying taking place every where the same beleif is strengthened. Also small shops are breeding ground for criminals. Drug peddling and eve teasing to child molestation. Or is today survival so difficult that Indians are not bothered by these things. Or is it the fear of the Goonda Elements of the society.

Trial Room Voyeurism

2006-10-07T05:26:00.000-07:00

In Infiniti mall , Andheri one such incident has come up. Last six months have seen increasing number of such harassment cases. REcently women objected to male security guards searching their bags. People go to the mall for better experience, but it is increasingly turning out to be as good as a Dadar's Phoolwali Galli exp. . Rude staff, rude security. These people seem to be following "Marketing by Insult", insult as a stimulator to purchase. I think the solution to the problem could be an entry ticket. If it decreases the footfall then atleast restricted access to some of the floors ao areas. Also employee background checks should be made compulsory. Ask a Mall Incharge, Who runs the Mall? Pat Comes the reply, "Employees".

Why Merge? Why Acquire?

2006-10-07T05:11:00.000-07:00

Open a newspaper and you see Tata tea makes an acquistion. Tata interested in Corus three times larger than its size. Wipro or satyam acquires oversea's. Have you ever wondered why? Companies want to grow. There is this insatiable desire to grow and surpass the shareholder's expectations or in the family businesses to increase personal wealth. According to researches spanning upto 15 years, it has been found out that 70% of the M&A's fail to create any value. Still so much activity? The reason can only be sanguinity or tax planning. But then these 30% companies which succeed in creating synergy are the ones who make it to the Forbes 500.

Growing Too Fast

2006-10-06T04:30:00.000-07:00

Air Deccan doubled its plane capacity to 37 in one year. They are constantly making losses. Their balance sheet is in the red. Stock prices are down. Customer satisfaction is low. MD GR Gopinath says that there are teething problems which every successful company faces in the initial years of operations. some problems he faces are lack of Airport Infrastructure facilities and callous attitude of the government staff ( read buereucracy and red tape) . Also to keep costs low work has been contracted to agents which results in rude staff. He feels that with 21.8% market share his company is well poised to be the market leader in the coming years. His argument for fast growth is to confuse competitors. He believes the likes of LCC, Spicejet and Indigo are not having as mature a business model as Air Deccan.
" Well, hope you have a smooth flight".

Telecom Expansion Rush

2006-10-06T04:23:00.000-07:00

23 circles 9 operators. Thats the current equation. Spice telecom a small player with 21 lakh subscriber base is looking to expand to 23 circles at a cost of $ 2.5 billion. BSNL is investing $5 billion on expansion plans. Idea cellular expanded from 8 to 23 circles. Looks like telecom sector is heating up. Consumers can expect dream offers. But the question remains, what about the quality of connections. Most operators ( 60 % ) are lagging in this aspect. There is this mad rush to acquire new customers with scant thought paid to servicing them properly. Call drop rates are increasing. This is only going to creat customer churn.

Marketing manrta," Churn only remains within the Market".

Rare Facts?

2006-10-06T04:15:00.000-07:00

MCX ( Multi Commodity Exchange ) of India is the largest commodity exchange of the world having a 10K ( 10,000) crore daily turnover.
According to the PM services like health, legal, higher education and tourism have the sme growth potential as the IT and the telecom sector. Service sector contributes 50% to the GDP of the Country.
Tata tea continues its Acquisition spree acquiring 33% stake in South African tea company Joekels tea packers weeks after acquiring the US Branded Flavoured Water maker Glaceau for $677 million. The latest acquisition is through subsidiary Tetley group. Murphy Advises digest the prey before continuing predating.
Sixth Pay commission is formed to review the salaries of 33 lakh govt. employees.

Anti Pirate

2006-10-06T04:09:00.000-07:00

The Vista O.S. and Longhorn Windows server will be protected by a new Anti-Piracy technology. This will reduce the functionality of the software after 30 days if the product is not activated in the stipulated time. Windows xp was also protected by this feature but the recent initiative is a more enhanced one. Microsoft has 90% marketshare in OS ( Operating System) market and OS revenue accounts for 30% of the total revenue of $44 billion.

"Damn the Pirates".

Profitable Balanced Regional Development

2006-10-06T04:04:00.000-07:00

Microsoft and Hughes Network system have come together to set up 5000 high speed VSAT based broadband Kiosks in smaller towns and regions. Hughes already has 250 Kiosks under brand name "Hughes Net Fusion" spread across the country. The speeds expected are 256 Kbps. Enough to pop eye the rural Indians. Services would be in three categories internet access, educational programs and value added services.
"Milk India, Milk the cash cow".

How to handle Conflicts in Project Management

2006-10-05T04:05:00.000-07:00

Any long term Project is subject to the vagaries of economic, political, social and legal environment of a country. It is also dependant on the trust between the parties involved. To make sure that such relatioships work on a long term basis, there are two ways. First is to share the economic rewards. If rewards are shared in a pre agreed manner both parties are incentivised to co-operate. The second way is to incorporate shock - absorber and safety-net clauses. Shock - absorber clauses are used to determine the course of action when circumstances changes requires renegotiation of contracts. safety net clause is used to decide the course of action in advance regarding the legal recourse tor arbitration proceedings if re-negotiation fails.
"For successful contract formulation, Anticipate trouble".

Tata enters organised Retail

2006-10-05T03:58:00.000-07:00

Through Infiniti retail tata is opening its first retail store at Juhu in Mumbai to promote sales by trials. People would also be able to test the features of the products like handycams and phones before buying them. The format store would be named Croma would sell 6,000 products in 8 categories ranging from CTV's to laptops and DVD's to softwares / Games. The store will be spread over 15,000 sq.ft. Infniti has sourcing agreement wih Australian retail giant, WoolsWorth Ltd., which currently operates 2000 stores across Australia in 12 different formats.
Murphy says," Grow like hell".

Clean Teams in Mergers & Acquisitions

2006-10-05T03:46:00.000-07:00

Clean teams are entities consisiting of annointed advisors and is a third party kind of intervention used in the M& A endeavours. The role of clean team i sto be unbiased and objective accessor of the M& A initiative. Its role is especially pronounced in the initial stages of M& A's effort. There are so many issues involved. Prime among them being the security of the sensitive data to be shared among the merging entities. If the M& A dosn't go through, there is no risk of sensitive data leaking to the other party. Also Anti-trust legislation requires that customer data be safeguarded. The task of the team in the initial period is to formalise the process of preparing integrated business plan, and synergy between the operation of the two companies.
"My dear, how clean is your process".

Titanic Dreams

2006-10-04T03:30:00.000-07:00

Titan is the leader in Indian watch and Jewellery market and worlds sixth largest company. Today titan manufactures over 8 million watches and has 65 million customers. In Luxury segment it has competition from brands like Rado, Omega, Tag Heuer and Cartier. It has a strength of 3000 employees . In 1995, Titan diversified from watches to Branded Jewellery by launching Tanishq. In the coming 5 years it plans to launch 450 stores of watches (300 ) and Jewellery ( 125) in India. It has a presence in 30 countries. Bhaskar Bhatt MD, believes in Participative Management, teamwork and teamplay. Accoerding to him commitment , integrity, energy and enthusiasm are important to be a Titan Employee. It recently launched FastTrack eye gear with brand ambassdor John Abraham.
Murphy Says," Titanic dreams do come true, dream big".

Toying with Danger

2006-10-04T03:12:00.000-07:00

70% of toys market in India i s held by unbranded mostly Chinese wares. These contain high levels of toxic chemicals like Poly Vinyl chloride, lead, cadmium which if accidently ( by way of chewing or biting by children) are consumed by tiny toddlers could cause serious lever and kidney damage, low IQ levels and learning disorders. Also branded players offer variety of designs with 50 - 100 new designs added every month. International players like IKEA, Walmart, Metro Group et al source from Indian Quality Manufacturers. The Indian toy market is worth $2.5 billion.
Pesticides in Cola, Toxic elements in Toys, worms in Choclate, what next?
Murphy says," No toying with life".

Domino's Strategy

2006-10-04T03:04:00.000-07:00

Domino's currently has 105 outlets in India which it plans to increase to 150 outlets by 2007. Competitors aer Pizza Hut and Papa John's. Its offering in the Indian Arena includes Italian delicacies and customised Indian dishes. The differentiators for the company are its Delivery Model " 30 Minutes or free" and freshness of the Pizza's it delivers. About 30 of their stores have sit and dine facilities for 35-40 people via self-service. Mumbai is their prime market but Hydrabad and Bangalor ein the south are also emerging as important markets. To optimise their delivery model they have provided bikes replacing scooters to thier delivery team.
Murphy Says," Domino's keep delivering to customer expectations".

Gold Beckons

2006-10-03T06:45:00.000-07:00

There are total 5 lakh jewel traders in India. The market is unorganised and fragmented with mostly family owned businesses.. Wih the gold price easing in the recent months. 20,000 jewellers across 60 cities are coming together at 250 centers launching a roadshow for 25 days, Pan - India, to sell gold worth 4000 crores weighing 400 tonnes at a promotional cost of 100 crores. The road show will last till nov,09. Discounts and incentives would be used to lure the retail investors.
Murphy Says,"For now, All that glitters on Roads is gold".

Rebranding Effort

2006-10-03T06:36:00.000-07:00

Did you know that butter substitute market is pegged at an abysmal 45 crores compared to 6,000 crores Makhan Market. Astonishing facts. Nutralite, 30 crores butter alternative brand is currently spending 7-8 crores on rebranding. With 60% market share it wants to grow the market. Other players in the segment include Amul, Marigold et al. The money would be spent in product improvement, launch of new variants and a new look packaging. Nutralite was acquired by Zydus Cadila a few months back. Zydus Cadila's current portfolio includes, Sugar Free and Natura ( Sweetness ), Sugar Free D'Lite ( an Energy Drink ) , EverYuth and DermaCare ( Skin Products ). Nutralite is a choloestrol free breadspread which is low in saturated fats since it is made from vegatable oils.
Murphy says," Commodity, brand, re-brand, re -invent, Innovate Nice Cycle".

Cathay - Pacific : Strategy

2006-10-03T06:26:00.000-07:00

Cathay Pacific is Hong- Kong based and believes in differentiating through Service. Rupert Bray, Country Manager says he believes in full service, the reason why the company is not investing in Low Cost Carrier ( LCC ) . They have about 77% load factor hense they can compete with LCC's by deploying dynamic pricing for the one quarter vacant seats in each flight. They have recently added six cargo-carriers ( 100-112 tonnes stupendous capacity) as they want to lead in cargo service world over. This is to take advantage of the growing trade between India with China and US. Bray says the hallmark of a true leader is grooming successors. Trust and inspiring people are important ingredients. They want to be NO 1 Global Cargo-Carriers in coming years.
Murphy Says," Service the mankind".

Emotional Marketing

2006-10-02T04:50:00.000-07:00

Want to increase sales? Try Emotional Marketing . What it is? OK. Let me explain it this way. Your goal is to sell more , to more people, at most cost, at most value proposition. So lure people with freebies and promotional efforts. This way it becomes more exciting and appeals to people who may otherwise lack excitement and fun in their life. Appeal to their basic instincts and needs. This way make one make impulsive purchase or buy just for demonstration . Design your store professionally. Make it easier for the customer to use the product, inducing them to buy. Target those customers who are already shopping, they are likely to make other purchases.

Murphy Says," If you find emotion, harness it".

Business Trends: M-Commerce

2006-10-02T04:34:00.000-07:00

Although Mobile-Commerce finds few takers today m-Transactions ( Mobile-Transactions) are likely to increase in coming decade as more tech-savvy youth enters into their thirties. Basically M-Commerce requires a mindset change and also there is the ubiquitous security issue. ( What if mobile is lost et al?). Currently citi bank is offering Pay Mate a SMS-based mobile payment service. Airtel is offering m-Cheque a SIM based payment solution and NG Pay is a downloadable end-to-end solution valid on all Master and Visa Cards, whereas M-Cheque is valid for payment of Pizza Hut and Cafe Coffee Day, NG Pay for Air Deccan and Sify Mall.

Murphy Says," My , My M- Commerce".

Design Impasse

2006-10-01T04:27:00.000-07:00

Indians Require about 10,000 design professionals annually but produce 800-1000 quality professionals currently from top rung design Institutes. China has 400 design schools compared to 20 in India. There is a huge deficit in quality skilled manpower in India. Design is one field which has tremendous growth opportunity as surplus skill can be deployed in outsourcing for the west and European countries. Currently industry is plagued with lack of organisation and fragmentation. What are the solutions under the current circumstances? I think companies should provide on the Job training and appreticeship to trainee design executives in order to close the Gap. Also massive investment should be done in the Educational Infrastructure.
Murphy Says, " Design Differentiates, Differentiation is Life Blood".

Survival Sure

2006-10-01T04:23:00.000-07:00

The prices of common drugs are expected to fall by about upto 70%. BPL families would be provided free medicines from 26th January 2007. Welcome steps. Food Security, Work Security and now Death Security . India seems to be heading towards paradise for the poor. If you can't afford Roti or milk for children , Government will provide REVITAL.
Murphy Says, " Guys, Ram Rajya AA Gaya".

Reciprocal Hatred

2006-10-01T04:19:00.000-07:00

50% of Indians have unfavorable impression of Pakistanis and 67 % of pakistanis have a nagative view of Indians according to a survey. It seems that politicians have been successful in generating animosity among people of the two countries.
Murphy Says , " Happy Bonhomie".

Gala Time Marketing

2006-10-01T04:09:00.000-07:00

The consumer durable sector is worth 30,000 crores and 25% of its sales are during festival season ( Sept- Oct) . Companies come up with various innovative schemes to sell more volumes during this period. One of the baits used is new product launches. This year ('06) Whirlpool launched 4 new product ranges, LG launched 11 new flat TV models and Godrej a new Frost Free refrigerator EON. Also there are a slew of promotional activities like contests and assured gifts on purchase of durables. So what makes revenues zoom. Proper brand positioning is the long term ploy used and in the short term discounts do the trick. Companies also have their eyes on the rural markets which are more attuned to purchasing in the festival season after harvest when they have enough surpluses.
Murphy Says," Buy, India Buy".

SEZ Graft in Making

2006-09-25T07:28:00.000-07:00

It seems that the government is divided in two groups. One lead by commerce minister Kamal Nath who favors creation of SEZ's for giving a boost to export, infrastructure development, employment generation and tax collection. On the contrary a legion led by the finance minister Chdambaram says that it will only create land Mafia's, Revenue loss and increase regional disparities among states. 250 SEZ's have been approved and there are already about 28 fully operational in India. India wants to go Chinese way to attract FDI by setting up SEZ's.

Murphy Says," Do Something , Government".

Clutter in Indian Skies

2006-09-24T03:19:00.000-07:00

Twelve airlines to join the ranks. Existing airlines are on an expansion spree. GoAir has ordered 20 Aircrafts( A-320's). Air Sahara has ordered 10 737-800 Jets. The Airspace in India is getting cluttered. The already existing players complain about infrastructure bottlenecks, things look to be getting difficult. Air Deccan reported a loss of 340 Crores in the last financial. Things for LCC do not look rosy. A gala time for budget travellers with tickets being doled out at Re. 1 or even free. Looks like lot of Co-operation and consolidation are to be witnessed in coming times.

Murphy Says," Optimism is Life".

Humane Interactions

2006-09-23T04:18:00.000-07:00

In a world of cutthroat competition, quality of product has become a commodity. Then how does one differentiate. One way is through customer-orientation. Treat your customers with care and they come back. To achieve this you need to create a culture of empathy and sensitivity to the customers needs in your organisation. It begins right from having the right people and training them to effectively liasion with the customers. Customer is not a mere cog in the supply chain. It is a human being with a heart and a brain. Courtesy is the key word. There are always difficult customers but they are a few and in between. Don't take exceptions to be the rule and treat the general population according to the strategy derieved from the exception.

By the way, " Happy Selling".

Absenteesim: Whittling the Productivity of Global Inc

2006-09-23T04:08:00.000-07:00

Western countries, Europe, India. Its a global phenomenon. More and more absenteeism. Workers are not only taking more leaves but even when present are not making significant contributions to the companies goals. Sometimes it is due to stress, not keeping proper health or unhealthy relationship with colleagues or boss. So what is the solution? Is there a panacea ? No.

But there are ways in which productivity can be increased. If the compensation system is aligned to be more incentivised to reward the productive employees regardless of their seniority. Productivity linked bonuses could be used or outright variable pay system could be of vital help. In using these systems MBO could be of vital help. Also workshops on stress handling and empathy can help. Meditation camps are also known to provide releif.

Murphy Says," Don't work hard, Work Smart".

Future of Cinematic Entertainment

2006-09-22T05:05:00.000-07:00

Some times it seems that the future of the Cinema is bleak. With box office collections and number of hits heading southwards. But like all other industries, Cinema is also innovating to make the experience of viewing Cinema worth while. Three innovations lead the endeavours. First which is not a new one and most of us are aware about is the 3D Cinema. But that is a very old story. Latest of innovations is this field include, Experiential Cinema, ie, there are simulation of motion, Aroma, Rain , Snow Flakes etc in the Hall. But then programming the whole affair is a cumbersome phenomenon. The second one is Semi Circular Dome Screen. This is a screen which encloses the viewer in a semi sphere. Upto six projectors are used to project the Image. Computers are used to make these images distortion free and Seamless. Upto 100 speakers are used to give a very real life like sound using complex waves.

Murphy Says," Innovation is the mother of all survival and growth".

Harbinger of Good Times

2006-09-21T03:56:00.000-07:00

Imagine downloading hundreds of MP3 songs or a movie in a few seconds on to your cellphone. With the advent of 4G technology it is a near possibility now. 4G exhibits 1 Gbps speed which is 50 times more than the nearest contesting technology WiMax. The 4G signal bundles video telephony, internet access and 32 High Def. Video channels. Nortel and samsung are pioneering to bring the technology to the consumers. Some hiccups which may be encountered are the existing investment in the inferior technologies and profitability issues.

Murphy Says, " Reliance is right, Life i s Growth".

Is your Organisation Stressed

2006-09-20T03:34:00.000-07:00

Do your employees get easily irritated, are they agressive, do they lack concentration and commit errors. Are they less commited towards every day tasks. Is there absenteesim? Are there physiological changes ( headache, back pains to high blood pressure, digestive disorders and heart disease). Are they involved in substance abuse ( increased smoking or drinking or drugs ).
How to deal with stress?
Companies could organise Yoga, Tai Chi ( Chinese Martial Arts ) or art of living courses. As an individual intervention one could visit a temple and pray, do pranayama, eat different foods, play with children, visit relatives, go for a long walk or drive, or involve yourself with whatever activity relieves you of stress. All big private sector and PSU's are doing it.
" Now its your Turn".

Earn Good Profit to Sustain Growth

2006-09-19T01:23:00.000-07:00

If you want to sustain the growth of your company always strive to earn good profit. Good profit is earned by delighting the customer. The customer is so happy so as to become sticky and make repeat purchases and spread good word of mouth and recommend to friends, relatives and acquaintances. In other words he extends the circle of your marketing influence. Bad profits are earned by cheating the customer, unfair or misleading pricing, poor customer experience or miscommunicating benefits or services. The more good profit your company earns the rosy the future bottomline, the more bad profit your company earns the gloomier the future growth. I think all telecom companies today are earning bad profits. What are your experinces calling.

Murphy Says, “ Buddy, do Good”.

Goonda's to Fight Against Terrorism

2006-09-18T01:37:00.000-07:00

Ever stood near a Bhajan Mandali or a gang of card players in a train. Ever had water thrown at an inch away from you by a Panwallah. Ever shoved by a speeding autorikshaw, ever bullied by aTaxi-Driver, Ever short changed by a bus conductor. Well police seems to be so hapless in its fight against terrosism that it is making the above responsible citizen groups stakeholders in its fight against terrorism. A number of these people have allegiance to various political parties and unions and are highly unruly in their behavior. Many have links with underworld and other unscruplous elements. With even police infested with underworld people.

Murphy Says, " Birds of the same feather flock together."

Goonda's to Fight Against Terrorism

2006-09-18T01:34:00.000-07:00

Goonda's to Fight Against Terrorism

2006-09-18T01:23:00.000-07:00

Sword in the Hands of Monkeys

2006-09-15T04:20:00.000-07:00

In my eyes all the nuclear nations are monkeys with the Nuclear Sword. These would be psycopaths will either kill others or accidently exterminate their own races. Recently I was reading a story on Chernobyl disaster and it occured to me that population is not the imminent problem, " Survival of the Fittest" will take care of it, but "Nuclear Prolification" certainly is. Imagine if terrorists get hold of these weapons. Nations would be wiped off the Earth's surface in seconds.

" If I get angry I will blow the Earth Nuclear".

Walmart Conundrum

2006-09-15T04:09:00.000-07:00

Any monopoly is bad. Imagine a country with single party politics, it wouldn't be called democracy it would be called Autocracy. A counter-balancing force is always good be it business or politics. Walmart currently is doing governments job by keeping inflation in check and making overall supply chain and economics more efficient. The US government should learn from them in reducing dcebt and deficit. Also either the private sector should come up with mini-walmarts in different sectors to compete with walmarts or US governments should set up a big PSU to compete with Walmarts might and bully power, to sell cheap products and boost the nations economy.

Remember, " Power corrupts, Absolute power corrupts absolutely".

Dollar Dreams

2006-09-15T04:00:00.000-07:00

Dollar has been the worlds reserve currency for quite some time now. Previously Roman Currency was the reserve currency. It lasted 400 years before inflation caught on. The reserve currency of 18th and 19th century was Pound Sterling. 20th Century Dollar. Now since 1971 dollar has devalued 95%. It is fast losing its reserve currency status. Chinese Yuan or European Euro looks like hot contenders of the Reserve currency to be. If India plays seriously it can catch up somewhere in 23rd century. Reserve currency is determined by
a) The productive capacities of a nation
b) Strong international trade
c) Capability to defend itself

With dollars seemingly impending decline, gold early this year touched a 25 year high price.

Murphy Says," Change is the only constant".

The Parliament Dilemma

2006-09-14T05:31:00.000-07:00

Recently I was going through B & E Editorial by Revered Mr. Arindam Chaudhuri. The rate at which Parliment passes bills in this country is really pathetic. In August 2006 Monsoon Session a pathetic 2 bills were passed. To speed up the process of passing bills I think the parliament and the Upper House should be devided into four chambers with proportional representation of the members of the various parties. So as to increase the rate of passing bills by four times. Also there should be minimum number of holidays. Members should be discouraged from obstructing the proceedings of the House. Also salary should be decreased and strict tab should be kept on Corruption by politicians.

India Run Yourself

2006-09-14T05:24:00.000-07:00

America has confessed that India is increasingly contributing to its affluence. Be it Indian Professionals or Corporate Investment of Indian companies in America. It seems that Indian work in America and develop Products and Services which Indians then buyat a premium price. Thus Indians are generating wealth for America. Imagine all those Indians if alternatively would work for India as Entrepreneurs and Consultants. Indian GDP could grow by a whoppimg 15 to 20% per annum. But guys who would work for India, besides the world is headed Global.

More Ways to Moksha

2006-09-14T05:18:00.000-07:00

If you have not yet written to the President of India to allow you Euthanasia because of Unemployment. If you have not yet died in a train accident or terrorist attack. You could soon be able to afford an Arial Coffin. With 4-5 players already plying in the low fare sector five new Airlines are likely to join the Indian Sky.

Latest Corporate Mantra, " Woo the Customer".

Corporate Investment in Indian Infrastructure

2006-09-14T05:09:00.000-07:00

Rs. 6,72,000 Crores ( $ 149 Billion ) is the amount commited by Indian corporates into power, Petrochemical and Cement Sectors in last 2 1/2 months alone. Karnatka tops with 63,000 crores, Orissa ( 47,000 Crores) , Maharastra ( 36,000) crores , Chattisgarh ( 33,000 crores) and Gujarat ( 25,000 Crores) according to Assocham Report. Energy sector invited 1,78,000 crores ( 39.5 Billion $) the largest chunk of Investment monthly into Orissa. Tata Group topped with ( $ 26.6 billion) followed by ONGC ( $25 Billion) and RIL ( $ 13 Billion).

New Search Philosophy

2006-05-19T05:28:00.000-07:00

Both Yahoo and Google are initiating a novel Search Methodology. Human advice would be incorporated in the search result which previously used to be done via mechanical algorithms using bots automatically. Yahoo is planning to take the verdict of its internet community of 400 million users. Google is planning to use expert advice eg. Mayo Clinic for health etc. Yahoo is trying to follow the Googles footsteps in Innovation by launching Yahoo Answers ( to common questions 11 million answers already on technical and common queries) and visual search ( screen shots of home page ) results which will help you to avoid badly designed sites and broken links.

Murphy Says," If you can't be pro active at least be reactive in Innovating but , guy don't get left out".

Multi Boot Multi CPU

2006-05-19T05:24:00.000-07:00

MAC has planned to come out with a model which would boot MAC OS, Linus and Windows. Truely a dream m/c. Also this is the age of dual core CPU. Single CPU m/c's would soon be a passe. Dual core would give you high performance, speed and true multitasking. Want to buy a computer.

" Wait for that ultimate m/c."

WTO : Wings Clipped

2006-05-19T05:19:00.000-07:00

WTO ( World Trade Organisation) is increasingly emerging as a failure and is not able to achieve its purpose of promoting international trade. Rounds and rounds of failed negotiations points towards this fact. In fact bilateral trade agreements , FTA's and Regional Trade Blocks have been more successful in the recent past. Maybe the time is not ripe for full integration of the world Economy.

WTO,"Worlds Tortured Organisation".

Eco Funda : Social Welfare Economy

2006-05-19T05:14:00.000-07:00

You heard of Capitalist , Socialist and Communism Economies. Do you know that Nordic Countries ( Norway, Denmark, Sweden, Netherlands, Iceland and Finland) follow a Social Welfare economy, which is a marriage of Socialist Economy to Market Economy. Their economic parameters are good and they have better quality of life compared to the US Economy. MAybe India should move towards being one such country.

Murphy Says,"Hybrid is better gene".

Loyalty Pays

2006-05-19T05:08:00.000-07:00

Loyalty pays both to customers and business people. Shoppers Stop, Pantaloons, West side all have reward point scheme. Depending on your shopping you gain reward points which can be redeemed later, the ratio of redemption is 1:0.7 for shoppers stop, 1: 0.55 for westside and 1:0.3 for pantaloons. It means that for every 1 reward point shoppers stop gives you a credit of 0.7 Rs. 60% of Shoppers stops revenue comes from 65 lakh customers enrolled in the loyalty program spread across 20 outlets in the country. Kishore Biyani of Pantaloon has 28 lakh members and contributes to 35% of sales.

SME's Woo Banks

2006-05-19T05:01:00.000-07:00

CitiBank, SBI , ICICI and Canara Bank all are wooing SME's ( Small and Medium Enterprises) to take loans for modernisation and expansion. With the corporate sector performing well for last 5 years and banks expect that SME sector would also do well. Citi bank is targeting units with a topline of Rs. 45 crores. They would appoint Relationship Managers to look into SME accounts. With all other avenues exhausted Indian banks are looking at this sector. Till now SME sector was not able to raise funds cheaply because of lack of transparent financial controls.

Changing Consumer Habits

2006-05-19T04:54:00.000-07:00

People are showing inclination to buy technologically sophisticated products because of increasing affordability, quality consciousness and increasing affluence. Last quarter sales of Flat TV's grew 52.7%, Conventional TV's sales dropped 12%. Frost free refrigerator sales grew 19%, direct cool refrigerator only by 8.8%. Top loading washing machines grew 9.3%. New technology and sophistication continues to awe the Indian Consumer. Also the latest on the block are the Energy Efficient m/c's which saves on electric power consumption.

Kheloge Kudoge Banooge Nawaab, Padhoge Likhogi to -----------

2006-05-12T08:49:00.000-07:00

Mahindra Singh Dhoni is endorsing 14 brands at 1.4 crores per brand( average). Sachin Tendulkar has recently landed a contract of 180 crores, whopping isn't it? Sania Mirza is already going great guns. It seems that after all the pension scheme being proposed for sports people is nothing but an extravagance. Perhaps not, people on the fringes would need it, as all these brands are based on performance and Personal Charisma. Those who are earning big need to take a course on Fiscal Prudence by IIM-A so they don't go bankrupt in their golden years.

Murphy Says,"Ab sport profession ho gaya".

Domestic Markets can help Companies Compete Better

2006-05-12T08:35:00.000-07:00

Hongkong, Finland and Singapore are a fraction of size of US but are fiercely competitive. What decides the competitiveness of a country? Four factors, economic performance, government efficiency, business efficiency and infrastructure. US though ranks first in competitiveness suffers from budget deficit and high debt. In 80's Japan was ranked first but now at seventeenth rank due to collapse of the financial system. What limits the competitiveness of small nations is the lack of support of a large domestic market. They have to look at foreign markets to sell their products to increase revenue and raise capital. A country like denmark has high cost and high ease of doing business. Russia is low on cost but difficult to do business. India got skilled workforce but red tape and high level of corruption. China and India rank 19 and 29 respectively in competitiveness, compared to Hongkong and Singapore which are ranked 2,3 respectively. Which shows that these nations are managing their economies better than larger countries even though they are not supported by a mature and large domestic market.

Murphy Says," Satisficing is better than No Satisfaction".

Identity Management

2006-05-12T08:27:00.000-07:00

Biometrics is the latest chip of the block in security apps. Voice recognition, fingerprints, retina scan, energy pulses emitted by the body, the vein pattern of hand, the DNA pattern of the cells, all form the basics of biometrics. Biometrics is the use of physical characteristics to identify a human being. Basically it is used to subvert fraud. Any person can use others Credit Card, but the fingerprint can't be replicated. Guys, Advanced Security Systems of 21st century is going to change how crime is conducted and controlled in the evolved society.

Meanwhile," Happy Buddy Punching,eh officegoers".

Communication Galore

2006-05-12T08:17:00.000-07:00

The WiMax Communication Technology presents a distinct technical advantage. 3G covers 2 miles WiMax covers 30 miles. Its cheaper, faster and more cost effective and affordable. Upto 40 MBPS speed can be achieved wirelessly. Initially aimed at workstations, it would be extended to mobile workforce soon. It would be lot more easier and cheaper to set up wireless Metropolitan Area Network ( WMAN) and change the way education, communication and economies work. In north America and Europe a lot of stakes have already been devoted to the previous generation technology ( 3G & Broadband ) by vested interests ( read companies) to allow the adoptionm of this Intel proposed technology solution. India and South America which at the time were developing countries, are lagging behind in technology adoption and are now more ready to absorb this latest technology. Other advantage over WiFi is that it supports more number of protocols (IP,ethernet and ATM).

The Age of Mafias

2006-05-12T08:10:00.000-07:00

The corporate is related to the underworld and the politicians. The police works for underworld and politicians. The media is related to the politicians. The judiciary has no spinal chord. The president is notional head. The municipal council and the municipal corporation levies irrational taxes. WTO is a failure in conducing international trade. Wars are unilateral. UN has no fangs. India has no place in UN Security Council. Only the US Veto works. All the above forces are corrupt.

Murphy Asks,"What a honest person does for a living?",
You are right,"Corruption".

A judiciary in Slump

2006-05-10T07:50:00.001-07:00

Indian Judiciary can take lessons from the Corporate World. Businesses have feelers in the society wo spot new trends and the company quickly design and market products to cater to the new needs of the society. Similarly the judiciary can play a more pro active role in the society by spotting new evil practices in the society and taking a stance. They could ask the government that new laws are required or existing laws which are outdated need to be modified to reflect the new realties of the society. Why always wait for PIL's by aware citizens.

But the question is does the Judiciary have the moral strength or gavernment the political will.

Black Economy

2006-05-10T07:50:00.000-07:00

Recently I was reading B&E of IIPM publications in which it was pointed out that 60% of the black money in India is channelised into political funding. Either the politicains are fools spending all the money, or the businessmen are fools who fund these parties without demanding reciprocating favours, or we the public are fools who do not understand anything. If half or quarter of the Indian money is spent in electing governments which do nothing and hardly complete their five years of incumbancy and with elections happening more frequently , all this money is going down the drain. If this money is moving into the swiss accounts of the "100 most influential people in India" then it makes some sense.

Any which way," We the Indians , are losers".

The role of publicity in Marketing

2006-05-10T07:35:00.000-07:00

Publicity is the cheapest mode of Marketing and it is also the most credible. If times of India Business Journalist gives a review of a particular product and she says it is good you tend to believe her because she is under no financial obligation ( or is it always so). Good press is the best publicity you can get. Also involving your company in Corporate Social Responsibility Initiatives ( CSR) will give you good press and credibility. Recently Bharti decided to spend 300 crores on rural initiatives. Such acts go a long way and build a repertoire of goodwill in people which can be safely offset in the times of adversity.

Guys and Gals,"Publicity Hi Marketing Hai".

Indian Population : Ticking Time Bomb

2006-05-10T07:29:00.000-07:00

Mr. Arindam Choudhari feels Indian Population is an Asset as 50% are in young earning bracket whereas most of the US, Europe and Japan are facing the problem of an ageing workforce. With teeming crores and no basic amenities people are dying every day of hunger and preventable diseases. There is growing criminalisatoin of the society due to poverty and unemployment. Children strarve and die or face malnutrition. All this only shows that a lot more planning is required to prevent unsustainable growth.

After all," We are a Humane Society".

Hoodlum Hoodwink

2006-05-10T07:23:00.000-07:00

All telecom companies came up with a life time prepaid offer. Fine print reveals that the offer is valid till the licence of the company expires and only in the circles in which they operate. More over with the technology changing with the wink of the eye nobody knows what tomorrow begets. So if the public is ignorant we deceive them seems to be the telecom Corporate Mantra.

Corporate Mission Statement, " I shall always fool the customer".

or put differently

"If Customer is a fool We are in Fooling Business".

Indian MNC's Fare well in Domestic Market

2006-05-10T07:16:00.000-07:00

Bharat Forge beat Delphi, Idea Cellular beat Vodafone, Cipla beat Pfizer, Satyam beat IBM in performance in 05-06. This shows that Indian MNC's have matured their business model and are rising to the challenge in the more competititive environment in the libralised Market Economy since 1991. Indian MNC's were also seen making mid-level acquisitions which speaks about their high confidence levels.

Murphy says, "India good times are ahead".

New Premium Journal

2006-03-23T05:28:00.000-08:00

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Of IPO,FPO and Secondary Market

2006-03-21T21:18:00.000-08:00

Initial Public Offer ( IPO) is when a company first time issues shares and gets listed on the stock exchange. A percentage of the issue is reserved for the retail investor and the rest for the Financial Institutions. A follow on public issue ( FPO) is when a company raises capital from the market a second or subsequent time. The main characteristic of IPO is that there is a scope for gaining profits or loss immediately on listing. A drawback is that for new companies there may be no data about company performance and hence its fair price band. In a FPO this drawback of IPO is absent. If you have a short term investment horizon, then maybe this is the right choice.

Once the company gets listed the subsequent buying and selling of shares in the stock exchange is called the Secondary Market. Now a days the dealings of stock is in dematerialized form( demat ). A number of portals like ShareKhan, India Bulls, and ICICI Direct in India deal with online investing in the stock market. They generally charge a flat rate for opening an online account and annual fees for maintaining the demat account with the bank. One time fees is in the range of 700-900 Rs. and demat fees of about Rs 300 annually.

Indian Manufacturing Primer

2006-03-20T07:24:00.000-08:00

Indian manufacturing sector contributes 25% to the Indian GDP and is growing at 6-8% annually. Some challenges which the sector faces is; cheap products of China. China is considered to be the manufacturing hub of the world but India stands a better chance in product quality and product & process Innovation. Chinese are good learners. The competition in the coming decades is more likely to be neck to neck.

India needs to concentrate in playing the value proposition game in the domestic market. But a growing percentage of Indian population has high disposable income and looks for premium products. Indian companies should also consider this market segment as the products developed for this market could also be marketed to the developed markets. Constant improvement in quality is another concern area. International benchmarking and following international best practices would also help. Also new product development and patenting would prove to be fruitful in the era of patent protection. Once the corporations are world class more and more Indian corporations now exporting to developed countries can convert into MNC's.

Distorted Labour Deployment : Economy Focus

2006-03-20T07:23:00.000-08:00

60% of Indians are involved in agriculture contributing only 23% to the GDP. This is surely a distortion. Efforts should be made to modernize agriculture practices in India as in developed countries to drastically improve productivity. This can be achieved through training of farmers and providing the marginal farmers with credit to use technology for improved harvests.

The surplus labor which is currently involved in agriculture could move to manufacturing and services sector and create a multiplier effect on the economy growth. Efforts would be required on the part of HRD ministry to plan for more productive labor deployment at the national level. Also work done by housewives currently do not get discounted in the GDP of the country. With more and more women becoming productive and gainfully employed GDP is bound to increase in the coming decades.

Meanwhile,"Take the right direction".

Amusement Parks

2006-03-18T07:16:00.000-08:00

With increasing upward mobility of Indian Middle class, there is a growing thirst for entertainment. Children demand, parents accede. Amusement park industry is pegged at Rs. 30 billion in India and growing at 6% annually(fastest in world). Its 22% of the country's total entertainment Industry. Water parks itself form 17% of the Industry. With stale formula films, and sticky star kids boring a mature Indian Audience, expect more excitement in this space.

Sector Watch

2006-03-18T07:10:00.000-08:00

Because of the increasing number of players in the Indian Aviation sector soon the margins will be under pressure. Innovative ways of wooing the customer is going to result in a hurt bottom line for all involved. Also as some of the smaller players would soon be guzzled by the larger players. Consolidation will help the industry, competition will help the frequent fliers.

"Mom, I just won myself an air ticket, Mumbai - Delhi for Re. 1".

I will not die, I got Money

2006-03-18T07:04:00.000-08:00

There are innumerable examples of rich business tycoons dying with out leaving behind a will or succession plan which results into feuds in the next generation of owners in family businesses. Even public companies are known to ignore succession planning. There are de-mergers and restructuring which follows and results into a lot of bad publicity and eroding of shareholder wealth and confidence. Well my advise to Business Tycoons.

"Anticipate Death".

Loss making Unit

2006-03-18T06:58:00.000-08:00

Vodafone registered $26 billion loss in 04-05 after previous three years losses of $15 billion,$17 billion and $31 billion. The company landed into the situation because of its profligate M&A's and concentrating on low growth telecom markets like UK,USA, Japan and ignoring high growth markets like Indonesia, India, and Pakistan. Recently Vodafone has invested 10% in Bharati Televentures.

"Keep trying Turnaround".

Spam or no spam

2006-03-17T07:03:00.000-08:00

Yahoo and America Online ( AOL) have decided that for a certain payment ( up to 1 cent), they would allow bulk mailers to get past all spam filters and block lists of user. This they say is to ensure that the genuine mails are differentiated from the real spam. The existing rules they say sometimes prevents the delivery of genuine mail. Users say it is just another ploy by these companies to generate another revenue stream. Ultimately spam is a big drain on corporate and user resources. According to an estimate users receive 3,250 spams per annum on a average. About 67% of total e-mails on the internet are spam, which inundates a genuine mail in heaps of spam.

Meanwhile,"Keep deleting spam".

Non-Intrusive Policing : IT Department

2006-03-17T06:43:00.000-08:00

The income-tax department in Mumbai have gone through the data of shops and malls locating people who are high spenders but tax evaders and issued them letters to explain their high spending which do not match their income according to the IT returns. There are people who buy costly watches, home theatres, plasma TV's et al which cost upward of Rs. 25,000. The people issued notice include politicians, film personalities, business honcos, high society people and sports personality.

This act of IT-department looks commendable and proactive. Shows that government departments have started learning from their corporate counterparts. But this step by itself will not curb the black economy of India. Thinking needs to be done to permanently put an end to all shady transactions.

"Black is not always beautiful".

Riches of Misery

2006-03-16T08:37:00.000-08:00

According to reports Laksmi Mittal (90,000 crores), Azim Premji ( 62,000), Mukesh Ambani ( 43,000), Anil Ambani ( 32,000), KP Singh ( DLF group 25,000) are the most richest ( in the order of listing ) in India. This is the white portion of their wealth. I thought the first 50 richest people of India should have been politicians; with 50% of India's wealth in black money and lots of it stashed in foreign banks.

"Officials figures always underestimate".

Brand Makeover

2006-03-16T08:07:00.000-08:00

India has grown old, or rather putting it differently India is evolving. Today the youth is more independent, has more purchasing power and is becoming successful at a younger age. They also have a new outlook towards life and think differently and beyond the obvious.

Therefore even the companies are looking at Brand Makeover to attract this young generation of aspirational spendthrifts. SBI has changed its advertisement and PR campaign, BOB has gone for a total repositioning including the tagline "Indian International Brand" and appointed Rahul Dravid "The Youth Icon" as their brand ambassador. Indian airlines has become Indian. Hutch, ICICI, Airtel, Bajaj and LML all have tried it out. Become more contemporary and woo the young generation. As the competition increases so does the effort of the companies to find new ways of invigorating and instilling new life to these brands.

But one thing to be kept in mind is that there should be a repositioning which should not be inconsistent with the core values of the brand. Tagline may change, brand ambassadors may change but the brand identity should be maintained. Any inconsistencies may erode the brand value. Moreover makeover is an expensive proposition if not handled carefully , could backfire and result in losses. Any change would have to reflect on the company products, building, hoarding, stationary, Vans and vehicles, and even media and PR initiative would have to be taken to communicate the change.

Recently even BMC is known to be making an effort to makeover its image, it has hired PR agency Sampark for the same task.

"Makeover before its late".

What is ethical hacking?

2006-03-16T08:00:00.000-08:00

When you have professionals who are experts at hacking but work for the good of humanity to hack into your system to find out vulnerabilities in your application at the application development level or the testing phase or after deployment, using the same tools which professional hackers use; to patch these vulnerabilities is called ethical hacking.In olden days hacker stood for a very Intelligent IT professional with gifted talent. In recent times many hackers have been arrested and jailed, a number of them being minors. Many of them ( their talent identified either after their jail term or sentence pardoned) otherwise started their own companies in security vertical to advice companies on security. Well ethical hacking is the highest paid job in IT.

"Wanna get rich, try hack..err...ethical hacking".

Design Criteria for Application Development

2006-03-16T07:57:00.000-08:00

1)Functionality : A need assessment of the user needs to be done. Depending on the requirements of the client the functionality of the application should be arrived at.
2) Performance : If a customer is waiting at the booking counter and the system takes 3 minutes to retrieve details of flight, the response is certainly not mission critical. The system should be adequately performing.
3) Usability : Multiple users should be able to use the system if it is the requirement according to problem at hand.
4) Quality Requirement : the reports should be neat and impressive, the system should perform well at stress loads, back up and restore of data should be easy and less time consuming. Business continuity, DR should all be the best conforming or if possible of path breaking standards.
5) Security : Without proper security all investment fail as internal or external hacker may halt the system resulting in business loss.
6) Simplicity :Complexity is already driving the organizations crazy , so simplicity will sure reduce the headaches.
7) Scalability : It's the ability to add more number of users & functionality as the enterprise grows.
8) Modularity :Modular system are fail safe and easily scalable. They are also easily maintainable.
9) Flexibility and Customization : The software should be amenable to be used for the peculiar situation of an enterprise. Also it should be easy to add new features.

Politicians if worked for Welch

2006-03-13T23:47:00.000-08:00

Indian politician : Sir, Indian Railways running for loss, there is subsidy on LPG which is leading to losses for the oil companies,....

Jack Welch : See I have a policy, if you don't perform but follow company values, I give you another chance. As I am an MNC, try running US of A. And.... change your language to something positive, don't talk like a loser. I can't ... because ..... .

Want to succeed : Try Double Standards

2006-03-13T23:24:00.000-08:00

Take the case of Indians working abroad, if they get paid in dollars they would work for even 14 hours a day in extreme conditions of stress and strain, but if they are working in India they work only as strong as Rupee. Otherwise take medical tourism. 1,50,000 people visit India for getting treated every year ( and increasing). I have myself experienced some third class service from Indian doctors. But if earnings is in dollars,

Well, "Atithi Devo Bhava".

Skill Shortage

2006-03-13T23:22:00.000-08:00

The leaders of corporate sector and industry associations of India and other countries find relief in constant crooning that skill shortage will reach so and so figure in so and so year. The moot point is what initiative have they taken to tackle the problem and who are accountable for the situation.

The root of the problem is that of lack of alignment between quality of supply and quality of demand. National planning for development of Human Capital at a national or International level would help. There is a need to constantly upgrade the syllabi of Educational Institutions and Universities ( if possible every year) in consultation with Industry Pundits and keeping to the expected skill requirement. A national database should be created and every citizens career should be planned in consultation with him/her.

Also the corporation in India have become Pound Foolish Penny Wise. They save a cent of employee training cost and are ready to lose million dollar business opportunity.

Murphy's equation , " Skill shortage x unemployed 10x".

Jessica Vs. Zaheera : Judicial Update

2006-03-09T03:26:00.000-08:00

One thing is common in both the cases the poor women lose.

Other issue is that of witnesses turning hostile. Thanks god the supreme court has taken cognizance of the fact that witnesses turning hostile is a big problem in the way of delivering justice. But no thought has been given by the learned people towards the reasons behind this widespread phenomenon. One reason is that politicians and other big shots having muscle and money power are involved; the life of a genuine witness is constantly under threat by the accomplices of the perpetrator of crime. It is a well known fact that a large proportion of police works under the influence and on the payroll of the underworld, so police protection to the eye witnesses make little sense.

Further in a country where even higher class people dont like to forgo even one day of salary, why a person employed in a lower job would take the chance of losing a job by getting involved in long drawn cases( high profile cases having media support take three to four years to get a final judgment). Further there are professional witnesses who work for commercial considerations, would obviously act to have gone hostile after receiving a better package from the rival party.
The Judicial state of affairs is pathetic.

"God , help this country".

Falling Standards of Telecom Service in India

2006-03-09T03:16:00.000-08:00

Trai served notice to Bharti Televentures, Reliance, Tata Teleservices, BPL, Spice Telecom operators for failing to meet the network congestion benchmark. BSNL, MTNL, Idea, Hutch and Aircel have been found to be satisfactory. At end February 2006, the number of mobile subscribers stood at 84.88 million which was 51.44 million same time in the year 2005.

The blame game is on. Operators site the increasing number of cellular subscribers and failure on the part of the government to allocate sufficient spectrum as the reason for fall in quality. This is a specious reasoning. When the well performing mutual funds could stop allocating fresh units to stop quality of returns to get affected, why cellular operators can not stop offering new connections till the spectrum issue is sorted out. The benchmark standard is 0.5% Point of Interconnection ( POI ) congestion.

" Hello , can you hear me."

Work Place Stress

2006-03-07T01:20:00.000-08:00

A PAC Jawan in Delhi kills his colleague then kills himself, a Army Jawan in Jammu kills four of a group before reportedly committing suicide because of a clash between two groups. Somebody slap his boss. Somebody shouted loudly in office. Most famously who can forget the expressions of Anil Ambani in the TV Media where while putting forward his case all the bio-chemical reactions going on in his body could be clearly seen.

There is a need for analysing the causes for such incidents. These causes may be different in different instances. The police man could be under stress because of the long working hours they have to put in and the abusive behavior of their superiors. The problem could be redressed could be to add more people to the work force and training superior officers to be sensitive to the junior officers. At civilian work force the reason could be group dynamics or politicking. People behave in different manners according to their own personal goals and agendas. Training should be conducted for them to be more empathetic and sensitive to others in the team. Also the compensation plan should be aligned to reward co-operative team behavior to foster a behavior of friendship and teamwork.

"Live and Let Live"

What is satellite Radio

2006-03-07T00:54:00.000-08:00

Its a bundle of radio stations of different types of music generes ( Jazz, Hip Hop, etc), news, sports et al. bundled together in a small bandwidth and encrypted and beamed to the subscriber through geo-stationary satellites. Encryption is done to prevent non-subscribers from receiving the service. It has digital quality sound; no ads cluttering the air time and wider geographical coverage. I mean you could have a radio station covering the entire nation.

FM Update

The total advertising pie of India is Rs. 12,000 crores out of which radios share is 2%. Recently in the second round of FM radio auction of more than 300 FM stations frequencies have been alloted to companies like Relence Adlabs ( 44), Synergy ( Dainik Bhaskar Group , 17), Century Communications ( 8 licences), HT Music and Event Management Comapany ( 4), other big players in the field are The Times of India Group, The India Today Group, and Mid-day Multimedia.

"My Heart Sings Ra......Ra......dio".

CRM and Interactive Marketing

2006-03-05T06:55:00.000-08:00

Customer Relationship Mangement ( CRM ) is the art of acquiring , nurturing and retaining customers. Various ERP vendors also provide CRM modules. These can be integrated with ERP solutions. The CRM can be used to create a system where information about the customers can be obtained and stored.

This information stored in data warehouses which contain data in Tera Bytes (TB). This data can be mined to create reports which gives insights into customer habits and purchase patterns. This information can be used to offer customised and other products bouquet to the customer. The CRM system can be used to co-ordinate with partners to feed them with information which they can use to better inform customers and close higher sales. Customised messages can be sent to the customers and feedback used in future improvements in the companys offerings.

"If you treat customers as god, they will reward you, coverse also being true".

Product Update : ULIP

2006-03-05T06:40:00.000-08:00

Unit Linked Insurance Plan ( ULIP) is an insurance cover which also offers to you market related returns i.e. your money would be invested into the stock market and it will apart from the insurance cover also give you returns. ULIP scheme also offers you to choose between the type of equity exposure that you require depending on your risk profile.

Compared to the conventional life insurance products ULIP's have been showing a very healthy growth rate showing that the Indian Consumers have happily embraced the product. You can use SIP ( Systematic Investment Plan) and NAV's are declared regularly. Some ULIP's schemes have even beaten some good equity mutual fund schemes. Sensing the inter industry competition even mutual funds have started offering insurance cover with increased liquidity.

Well today insurance has become so cheap that banks are offering lakhs worth of insurance with bank credit or debit card subject to card usage to buy products.

Message to Indian Consumers ," Happy life after death".

How to get promoted

2006-03-05T06:29:00.000-08:00

In todays business environment there is cut throat competition. How can you hold your neck above water, better put be a flying fish among deep water fishes.

There are two aspects to your performance which would make you a stellar performer. One is the individual front and the second is how you fare as a team member. As an individual you could be a great performer but always remember that two individuals working together would always sum up to two i.e. 1+1=2, where as two individuals working in a team spirit would add synergy to the effort adding up to eleven i.e. 1+1=11. Hence the organisation earns 11-2=9 units. So if you work as a team player both of you can earn one unit more. Organisation gets more profits and expands and chances are that you both get promoted to handle the extra business which gets generated.

"Man is a social being, lets be humane, lets be a team"

Leadership Secrets

2006-03-04T01:27:00.000-08:00

Some traits exhibited by a good leader are

1. Risk Taking : There is a famous equation in Business high risk high return. If you want to be a successful entrepreneur learn to take risks. At the maximum you may fail. But you will learn from the mistakes which will help you to be successful later on.

2. Think Strategically : Right moves in the wrong direction will not take you to your goal. Think in terms of the big picture and derive tactical moves and operational policies from it.

3. Perseverance : Obstacles will come in your way you must learn to overcome them. Obstacles show that you are trying and today or tomorrow you would succeed.

4. Be a servant leader : In a knowledge economy one can only lead by serving the knowledge worker who are the earning powerhouses of the organisation.

5. Give creadit to your team : Share credit, take blame to be a effective leader. Dont play pass the buck game. I believe if you are working you are too old for playing games.

6. Think Abundance : Dont have a scarcity mindset . Think positive and exude confidence and energise other team members or subordinates.

Be once a leader always a leader.

Gosh Hacked

2006-03-04T01:10:00.000-08:00

Dear Friends,

Thank you for your relentless support,

My site has already been hacked and tampered with, shows that there is success,

If there are repeat articles or blatant lies or Pornographical material found,

ps. e-mail bestrajeev@rediffmail.com.

Thanking You,
Rajeev Vashisht.

Hybrid Hard Disk

2006-03-04T01:02:00.000-08:00

It combines magnetic disk and flash memory and has the best features of both. It has fast read/write speed, low power consumption and robustness of flash media and high storage density and low cost of hard disk. It is being developed by Microsoft and Samsung.

A look at Globalisation Issues

2006-03-02T03:55:00.000-08:00

Challenges posed by Globalisation

1. There is a problem of over regulation. For example some clauses of Sarbanes-Oxley act and clause 49 of the Sebi act is being felt by the Companies to be over restrictive. There is a cost of compliance to be borne by organisations.

2. Trade barriers , protectionism : Some countries try to protect their domestic organisations and industries by way of subsidies, high custom and excise duties and other covert or overt ways.

3. Political instability or coalition government may make globalisation and liberalisation a policy specific to a particular political party and some other party when come to power may not support it or may reverse the decisions of a previous government like in India.

4. There may be social issues which may affect privatisation. Labour unions may not support opening up of various industries to foreign competition.

5. Only cost cutting is not going to make domestic organisations competitive. Various other proactive measures and strategies are required to achieve growth and profits.

6. Level of complexity of business has increased. For example a foreign company wanting to invest in India finds that the regulations, law and culture of the market is so diverse that it is very difficult to continuously keep performing profitably as well as growing consistently.

7. Companies must constantly innovate and introduce new products according to the market expectations.

8. Poor or unfair legal system is also supposed to be a hinderance in setting up shops in host countries.

9. IPR issues also figure frequently. For example 90% of software use in India is pirated which hurts the American business returns. Countries should abide by each others IPR laws.

10. One way to deal with complexity is to keep the business operations simple which can be achieved through continuous business process reengineering. (BPR)

Take my advice ," First grow in your home country , venture out with a full kitty".

Some Demographic Trends

2006-03-01T06:55:00.000-08:00

1. More britons are staying with their parents in their late 20's and due to financial pressures. Women are more likely to marry younger men.

2. A survey has found Britons to be rude, Americans ignorant and Ambitious, French outrightedly rude in behavior.

3. Bill Clinton former US president is a staunch Ganesha Devotee.

4. Sex ratio in Punjab at 853:1000 one of the lowest. 24 villages in punjab have a sex ratio of 500:1000.

5. Its difficult to deal in the Bombay Stock Exchange ( BSE ) if you dont learn the Business Language Gujarathi. Even americans, Europeans and Japanese learn Gujarathi to be able to transact in the Exchange.

6. 54% of Mumbai's total population lives in slums which is the highest among metros and mini metros. 69% of them are literate which is also the highest.

7. UK gender wage gap is Europes worst, with female workers earning an average 17% less than male counterparts.

What is RDBMS

2006-03-01T04:44:00.000-08:00

It stands for Relational Data Base Management System. It is data stored in a set of related tables. There are other objects like queries, views, indexes, clusters, etc in a RDBMS. It is used to store millions of transactions or records in transaction intensive industries like the BFSI, BPO etc. Popular RDBMS providers are Oracle, SQL Server from Microsoft, Sybase, Ingres et al. SQL Server 2005 edition has built in data warehousing, mining and Business Intelligence and Analysis functions and tools built into it.

HRD Concepts: Temping

2006-03-01T04:38:00.000-08:00

Temping is the process of hiring temporary employees as and when need arises to keep the annual salary budget down. Disadvantages arising may be a lack of proper teamwork because of new people entering the group, dysfunctional group dynamics due to changed relationship patterns, temp could be a corporate spy. The advantage is that fresh ideas and technical expertise can be brought into the company.

Budget 2006-07: India

2006-03-01T03:56:00.000-08:00

Overall the budget looks sensible. Agri-credit expanded to Rs. 1,75,000 crores, covering 50 lakh more farmers. Farmers can get short-term credit at 7%. My only apprehension about this scheme or any other government scheme is that of execution. Strategising is one thing and proper implementation and delivery is another. According to estimates roughly 10% of aid reaches the intended target. Also there seems to be no step to insure the farmers against crop loss at national level. The scheme of depositing Rs. 3000 to girl child after she enrolls for class VIII is welcome. Allocation for educators and health care increased by 31% and 22% respectively. Emphasis should have been laid on increasing the quality of medical services and the ethics exercised by doctors while treating the patients. Also education should be made more bread based and affordable for poor. Some sort of financial aid should also be helped ( in return for some errands) to poor kids. FII limits for the stock market raised to $2 billion , markets will see increased investment. 82 power projects to generate 69,500 MW of power in private and public sector. Welcome step if next summer there is no load shedding.

Personal income tax and corporate tax rates not touched. Securities transaction tax increased marginally from .02 to .025. This is to result in loss to short term equity investors but I think its good for the health of equity market. 1,000 girls school for SC's , ST's, OBC's and minorities. Effort should be to make them efficient, productive, competitive and employable at par with other candidates so that they don't require the the crutches of reservation. The list of items that got dearer and cheaper looks fair.

Tax holiday for power projects and industrial parks would give a much awaited fillip to the infrastructure requirements of India. Peak customs duty reduced to 12.5% from 15% will result in cheaper imported components and goods and boost consumption and improve the fundamentals of the economy and enabling India to achieve higher growth. Minimum alternate tax increased to 10% from 7.5% negative , but credit can be taken for 7 years instead of 5 years ,positive step. Countervailing duty of 4% in imports to make domestic producers more competitive.

User of Internet Banking Beware

2006-02-28T08:14:00.000-08:00

You may have heard about the pros of banking but not cons. Here is a a caveat. It does offer you convenience of transferring your funds at any time you need but you stand the threat of losing vital information through trozan horses if you use internet cafes or your own little secure handheld device for accessing your bank accounts.

There are keylogging programs ( a kind of trozan horse ) that once enters into your system by being hidden in other software programs start monitoring your keyboard entries as you visit a bank and then sends this information to the theives through the net. They can also be planted in your device or desktop through e-mail messages. So be careful whenever you download and install free software on your system or read emails. Don't blindly download or don't open suspicious looking( rather harmless looking) e-mails. There may be a malicious code in it.

Cases were reported in Brazil where 55 people stole $4.7 million and in France $1.1 million from bank accounts( internet ofcourse). According to some reports in the period between '00 and '05 the number of such cases have increased exponentially.

These problems of fraud have also been occuring in India but under reported or not reported by the banks because of the threat of loss of reputation and a profitable medium of business channel.

Murphy's Trivia," Why robbers are always ahead of police

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because the Earth is round, Hi Hi Hi".

Skimming Price Strategy : Marketing Mantra

2006-02-28T08:04:00.000-08:00

Skimming price strategy is operated by first placing the product at the premium end ( i.e. high price) targeted at status conscious audience. After that segment is exhausted the price is progressively reduced to target the middle class and finally the lower class.

A drawback of this strategy is that the brand value may be destroyed because what is offered to the lower and middle class high class people would not touch. But the advantage for the company is that profit and revenue are maximized.

" While skimming, tread with caution"

Economy Column : The Economic Survey 2005:2006

2006-02-28T07:45:00.000-08:00

A quick summary

Economy to grow at 8.1 % (Central Statictical Organisation)
Inflation expected to be a problem area because of increasing global oil prices but manageable
Interest rates may rise
The current account deficit is rising which can be a cause of worry
Other problem areas include inadequate infrastructure and High taxes and distortive exemptions
The subsidy on oil related products to be removed
Sixth pay commission may be imprudent and profligate to implement
A need for single energy regulator