Management Informatika-Learn and Share

Just Another Explorer: When to do MBA??

2011-08-21T02:43:00.000-07:00

When to do MBA??

Hello Friends

This is my fifth article in the series. Earlier four were:

1. Career Start: Multi Skilling Vs Specialization??

2. Interview-How to act as an equal with the Interviewer??

3. Why I am MBA, not an Engineer??

4. Is Professional Networking Important??

I come across this question quite frequently from lot of students and professionals in their early years of jobs. And, I remember, I also used to seek the answer this question incessantly prior to my MBA. So, I thought, why not write an article reflecting my point of view on the same.

Bachelors of Cramming

Well, most of the times, when one is doing his Bachelors Degree, one is not able to make head and tail of why the particular subject is being taught i.e. what is the actual significance of the subject and its application in real life. And the result is “ Congratualations!! You have cleared Bachelors of Cramming degree!!”

And when one comes to real job related to his qualification, its most of the times eye opener and a shock. And one regrets wasting so many valuable years in cramming and mugging the subjects, instead of actually getting insight in to it.

But, it’s natural, especially in Indian Education system, where the course curriculum and teaching methodology forces students to cram the things instead of mastering them.

Masters of Cramming

So, do you want the same thing to be repeated? Do you want Masters of Cramming degree to be added to your resume? I mean do you want to go for next degree to repeat the same story of cramming?

And especially in the course of MBA, where

· Where theory is very near to actual trends of the corporate irrespective of degrees unlike Engineering?

· Where the companies actually look for understanding and clarity of the business perspective one has developed via the course?

When to do MBA?

Well for Masters of Cramming course the best choice will be immediately after Bachelors of Cramming.

And, the alternate choice is to do Déjà vu MBA

By Déjà vu MBA, I mean when during MBA during every lecture, case study, group assignments and discussions, one gets feeling of Déjà vu, most of the times.

· “Yes! This is the way our Human Resource Policies were implemented!”

· “Yes! This is the way we worked on prototyping new product!”

· “Yes! This is the way; we helped our boss to make his budget proposal!”

· “Yes! This is the way; we resolved customer complaint by troubleshooting quality problem!”

So, my take is to have experience of at least 2-3 years before going for MBA. The reason is, in 2-3 years one is able to form framework of corporate functions in the mind. And basics are same across all the industries. Thereafter one’s mind starts making correlation to your experience in corporate with the study of MBA. And one will be able to a actually learn and build upon the subjects.

1 year Vs 2 year MBA

Also, traditional MBA courses of 2 year duration in India is designed for freshers, who need lot of basic training just to have feel of corporate framework and then 2 to 2.5 months summer trainings, which doesn’t add much value if one has decent experience.

So, I feel the new trend of 1 year MBA is sufficient for experience holders to actually get the feel of Business, and in addition one saves 1 year of earning and actual experience

Finally I would like to say, its just my point of view, which I have gained through going through circumstances, which most of the Graduate Students and the Professionals in their initial careers, are going through. Also, this article is written in general sense, while exceptional students, teachers, institutes are always there.

Just Another Explorer

Prabal Aggarwal

PS: I got lot of queries, via forwarded mails that can one forward or use the earlier articles, I have written with the same motive.. The very idea, of this article is to share experience, so that the mistakes I did in my professional life, others shouldn’t do it. Even if one professional or student is benefited by this, my purpose is more than served. So, friends if you like it spread it. That’s the whole idea of sharing.

Friends, as an author of this article, I authorize anybody, can use this article for publishing on any media i.e. print, visual, audio, internet, forwarding emails, intranets, etc. Only request is that, the name of the author, body of the article shouldn’t be changed or altered. Secondly, would request to mention that this article was originally written & posted by Prabal Aggarwal, on August 21st , 2011 on www.managementinformatika.blogspot.com . You can start discussing with me and other readers, by commenting on the blog post. Also, if anybody using this content, feel like that monetary contribution should be made, you can donate on my behalf that sum of money to Project Why (http://www.projectwhy.org/), not for profit organization.

If you like this article, then subscribe to justanotherexplorer@googlegroups.com, by visitinghttp://groups.google.co.in/group/justanotherexplorer

Is there something like Strength or Weakness?

2011-04-04T08:40:00.000-07:00

Well weird question. Isn’t it??

I was also taught SWOT analysis in B-Schools. And we are trained to see in the frameworks of Strengths & Weaknesses.

“Everybody has some strength. We need to identify it and utilise it.” Isn’t it again the familiar sentences??

I also, used to quote the same wherever I got a chance. But, in reality never got the meaning of it. And I am sure, there must be couple of others (if not all), who are yet to get the meaning of it.

Well, when we talk about Strengths & Weaknesses, its always like

· Extrovertness

· People’s guy

· Bold

· Go-getter

· Multi Tasking

· .....................

· ......................

But, are these actually the Strengths?

Can extrovert person fit in everywhere? Can Bold person work or required in all the scenarios? What if everybody is Bold? Can it lead to non-productive ego tussles in the environment?

The idea, is there is nothing called Strength or Weakness. But, the Personality Attributes.

And in which scenario, the Personality Attribute is being used makes it Strength or Weakness.

Lets take the example of the person who is having irritating personality, for most of the humans. What will you call such an attribute? I am sure, most of us will choose it as Weakness. And I agree, in most of the scenarios, it will be a Weakness.

Now, there are situations, where we need to get work done from external peoples like vendors. And many a times, pleasing persons are not able to get the work done. So depute the irritating guy on vendor end, and many a times, you will see vendor, just to avoid contact with this person, gets the work done faster. I know, it may seem unethical. But, it happens

Similarly, introvert guy, is normally perceived as a weak person. But, when you need a R&D guy, whom you just shut in the lab and forget it , do you think extrovert guy can survive? In such scenario, extrovertness is weakness while introvertness is strength

Not making this article too long, I will repeat there is nothing called strength or weakness, but personality attribute. Its use in a particular scenario, makes it strength or weakness.

Interesting Application: Gmail Offline

2011-04-03T11:34:00.001-07:00

hi Friends

I just came across the feature of Gmail, where we can use it in offline mode. Its just like Microsoft Outlook.

I am sure, as Gmail is one of the preferred way to communicate, for most of us, this feature, can help us to better our communication process

You can find more details about the feature here http://gmailblog.blogspot.com/2009/01/new-in-labs-offline-gmail.html

Just Another Explorer: Career Start: Multiskilling Vs Specialization

2010-10-29T10:17:00.001-07:00

Dear Friends

This is my fourth article in the series. Earlier three

· Interview-How to act as an equal with the Interviewer??

· Why I am MBA, not an Engineer??

· Is Professional Networking Important??

I am writing this article, to answer the questions I used to seek, and I find now, lot of starters seeking it from seniors.

I still remember when I completed my Mechanical Engineering and joined my first job in 2003. All my friends were placed in good companies in all the streams. And the usual style was:

· Initial Orientation i.e. meeting with top bosses and relevant people to give the feeling of grandeur and oneness

· Classroom Training i.e. Minimum skill set that every body in that company needs to have to start from the common platform

· Allotment of individual departments

And, I think that’s still the trend with most of the fresher nowadays.

So, as Mechanical Engineers, I and my friends landed up in departments like:

· Production

· Purchase

· Vendor Development

· Maintenance

· Quality

· R&D

And, most of us stuck to that department for quite a time i.e 2-3 years. Then came the job switch. Now, one has developed a particular skill set and the new company wants to hire the person. So, obviously the company will be hiring the person where the same skill set can be used or in other words the same department.

And so is defined your career.

Then after sometime most of us needed change of profile, and the easiest way was MBA i.e. good profile change, 1 or 2 years of holiday from work and on the business side.

But again, after MBA the same story is repeated i.e. Marketing, HR, Operations, Finance….. But slowly specializing in one department.

Now, let’s rewind it back to my first job.

After first 6 months of my production profile, I was in dilemma what to do? Should I go for new department or should I specialize in this department? And bigger question was should I stay in this job or change the company, as the job market was hot at that time?

So, one of my first bosses guided me that

· You choose the company where you can have multiskilling i.e. you see different areas of work.

It was tough call at that time, and I was not convinced as such. But, going by his word I followed this approach. So, I got my department changed from Production to Projects Department. This department used to decide which machines are to be acquired and if there is any major modification required in any prevalent process. Then after some time, I got my department changed from Projects to R&D. Simultaneously, got additional responsibilities in HR department in Training & Development domain.

During all this time, I was just wandering like a traveler, in each new department taking 2-3 months just to settle down, then learning a skill set, and again changing the department. So, in nutshell in my initial few years of job, I experienced lot of domains but didn’t specialize in any of them. It was tough, as I can see my friends getting command over their domains, which in turn helped them to command better salaries and control. At the same time, my parents were furious, about my approach. Their notion was simple, if you don’t specialize then what good can you do to any company?

Now, that was what I did. Why I did so?

· How much time an average Indian spends before getting started as a graduate in the first job? I think the average age would be around 21-23 years, out of which one invests 19-21 years during studies.

· Now, as a fresher, one starts in one department or domain and ends up doing the same thing for decades. Only difference is scale and place.

· So, one never actually gets much chance to understand where one can contribute better and where one can find more interest.

· So, my question is after spending 21-23 years why can’t we spend 2-3 years more to just understand, where our actual interest and potential lies? Can it be decided by just discussing or reading about it? I don’t think so. There is no substitute of experience. That was my take.

This approach, didn’t give me immediate results, but now reflecting back, I have better understanding of holistic business and especially Manufacturing Business, in comparison to had I been sticking to single domain. It also made me learn better during my MBA, then otherwise would have been.

So, my suggestion to lot of career starters is to experiment and find the actual interest and potential of yours

Via sharing this article, even if one fresher makes better career choice, my purpose is more than served.

Just Another Explorer

Prabal Aggarwal

Friends, as an author of this article, I authorize anybody, can use this article for publishing on any media i.e. print, visual, audio, internet, forwarding emails, intranets, etc. Only request is that, the name of the author, body of the article shouldn’t be changed or altered. Secondly, would request to mention that this article was originally written & posted by Prabal Aggarwal, on Oct 29^th 2010 on www.managementinformatika.blogspot.com . You can start discussing with me and other readers, by commenting on the blog post. Also, if anybody using this content, feel like that monetary contribution should be made, you can donate on my behalf that sum of money to Project Why (http://www.projectwhy.org/), not for profit organization.

If you like this article, then subscribe to justanotherexplorer@googlegroups.com, by visiting http://groups.google.co.in/group/justanotherexplorer

Just Another Explorer: Interview-How to act as an equal with the Interviewer??

2010-09-10T07:08:00.000-07:00

Dear Friends

This is my third article in the series. Earlier two were Why I am MBA, not an Engineer?? & Is Professional Networking Important??

The purpose of writing this article is to share my experience of changing trends in Interview Styles over the last decade in India and to share the techniques, where the candidate can act as an equal during the interview process, rather than a culprit during a Police Interrogation.

The idea is that even if one professional candidate can have a

· Better interview experience

· Better Negotiation

· Avoid common interview Pitfalls

via this experience sharing, my purpose of writing this article is more than served.

Is Pre Graduation or Pre PG Marks Relevant??

I still remember the campus interviews I appeared in 2003 during my Engineering & then during campus interviews of MBA during 2008

On the very first step I was surprised, that the companies had a cut off percentage for the candidates, in all the semesters, and during Xth and XIIth examinations. I used to wonder why, previous performances were given preference even though one had done an exceptional job in the interview process. More than that I was baffled that when the Engineering or Management Institutes had already admitted students with good aptitude, then why did the companies bother about the pre-engineering marks? Typically in India during their XIth and XIIth, engineering students focus more on cracking entrance examinations, than scoring good marks in CBSE XIIth board examination. The reason is quite simple, that apart from very few colleges like BITS Pilani, there is no weightage given to CBSE marks, during Engineering Selection. So, why do one need to focus on that? And, another aspect is that the demands of CBSE exams are quite different from IIT and AIEEE entrance examinations. So, the confusion and frustration was that why do the companies even bother about pre engineering marks??

And same is the case with PG like MBA. And a broader question, do these marks actually matter?? I don’t think so in most of the cases.

What does a company actually want??

Very often, in the job descriptions, we come across the term ‘Good Leadership and Management Skills’. But, if we introspect, these two are very different skill sets. Leadership tells you ‘What? & Why?’, while Management tells you ‘How?’. Let’s take an example of Mahatama Gandhi. If one has to answer, ‘Whether Mahatama Gandhi was a good leader or a good manager?’ I would say that he was a good leader, and some of his followers were good managers, which made the Indian Freedom Movement successful. By this I don’t mean, that Mahatama Gandhi didn’t have any management skills. Just that his leadership qualities were exceptional in comparison to his managerial ones. And, so is case with everybody. One has mix of Leadership & Management Skills, but both the things are independent and vary in degree. And hence companies should distinguish clearly, whether they are looking for a ‘Leader’ or ‘Manager’ or ‘Both’. The last catch is the toughest, but whenever it is there, it has made history. Similarly, the candidate needs to introspect, and assess, whether one is a better leader or a better manager or a good gel of both? And, accordingly choose one’s career path.

Loyalty Vs Hire & Fire

A very frequent question asked during interview is ‘How long will you stick to our company?’ Does this question have any relevance in today’s scenario? Companies don’t think while firing an employee. The recession hit corporate world, gave us many such examples recently. Then why should an employee think about the loyalty to the company. The typical answer company gets is ‘2 to 5 years’. But the very fact is till the time, company and employee are able to satisfy each other, the relationship continues.

Negotiation Pitfalls- CTC & Designation

CTC(Cost to the Company)- Every candidate is just interested in money he or she is getting in hand, after tax. But, very often candidate ends up negotiating ‘CTC’ rather than ‘In Hand’ salary. And company evades the clear break up till the last moment and in some cases during Campus interviews, don’t even reveal it. So, I think candidate should very clearly negotiate In Hand Salary after tax on an average

Designation - In conjunction with ‘CTC’ another googly is ‘designation’. But, most of the times today, designation is nothing more than a ‘terminology’. It doesn’t have any relation to the type of work or authority the candidate will be having. It’s natural, because with the ever expanding working population of India, companies don’t have any choice, but to please everybody atleast on ‘face value’. And, more often than not, employees feel frustrated once the reality sinks in after joining. So, my suggestion, is please don’t consider ‘Designation’ as a point to ‘Negotiate’, but the role and authorities, one can have

Seeing is Believing

Do you think that the onus of “Acceptance” only lies with the companies? Don’t you think that as a company, one can afford to make a mistake in choice of candidate, but as an individual, one can’t afford to make a mistake in the choice of the company?

If One has the experience or a job, there is no point of acting submissively or meekly or appearing very needy during the interview. It’s a simple DEMAND and SUPPLY issue. I want something, and I am ready to offer something in return. You want something, and you are ready to offer something in return. But, it would be on mutually agreed terms and conditions. I am no more a beggar, and you can’t make me feel like one.

Owing to explosion of Web 2.0 or Social Media, it’s not very tough for candidates to know about the company’s culture or practices. Still, ‘Seeing is Believing’. So, it should be essential to visit the operations of company before joining it. Whether it be Manufacturing, IT, Services… it always gives you the feel of the company. And, companies do entertain such requests nowadays, provided you insist and are unwavering in your stance. I did it with Fortune 500 companies.

Q&A-Can only Interviewers ask it??

Nowadays, very often at the end of the interview process, the companies give choice to candidate to ask any relevant question. But, most of the times candidates shy away. In today’s scenario, if it’s important for a company to make a right choice, it’s even more important as an individual to make a more informed choice. So, I would suggest asking as many relevant questions as possible during the interview itself. It gives the candidate clarity about the company and the role being offered.

Professionalism-Is it only expected out of a Candidate??

In a typical scenario company approaches the candidates, via consultants, and claim that opening is urgent with the Professionally Managed Company. The candidates prepare for the interview, take leaves to attend the interview, at times get harassed during the interview, and get an answer ‘That we will let you know about the result’. The candidate waits for a week then calls the consultant. Initially consultant entertains the candidates ‘That still the short listing process is on.’ ‘We will get back to you in 2-3 days.’ And, after few such calls, the consultants stop attending the calls of the candidate. ‘So, where is the claimed professionalism?’. ‘Where is the well planned, professionally managed company?’ ‘Where is the urgent opening requirement?’. All these things are expected only from candidate. And, I don’t understand that why the companies and consultants, most of the time, when they have made up their mind, don’t explain the real situation to the candidates i.e. ‘ You are not able to clear this round’ or ‘Such and such situation is prevalent, in the company, due to which things are getting delayed, or position is on hold.’ And if the candidates ask about the feedback ‘That what went wrong?’, again most of the times, answer is not there. So, my suggestion is that you can always give ‘Tit for Tat’. If the majority of candidates start following this approach, then the companies will automatically change to the conduct, which is actually professional

Now, I am just trying to say via this article, that things are changing even in third world or developing countries like India for the first time. There is a huge ‘demand’ ‘supply’ gap between the number of openings and the number of employable candidates, so no need to kow-tow in front of the companies, which are treating you as laborers. If company and opening is important to you, so are you to the company. And, company is not made by machineries, finances, brand image, political clout and systems. Its core is made of people and only people. So, if you think that you are getting what you want and in return you will be able to add value to the company, then go ahead, else be fearless and upfront in your conduct.

‘It’s just a buying and selling process! Nothing Less & Nothing More!’ (most of the time in today’s scenario)

Just Another Explorer

Prabal Aggarwal

Friends, as an author of this article, I authorize anybody, can use this article for publishing on any media i.e. print, visual, audio, internet, forwarding emails, intranets, etc. Only request is that, the name of the author, body of the article shouldn’t be changed or altered. Secondly, would request to mention that this article was originally written & posted by Prabal Aggarwal, on Sep 10^th 2010 on www.managementinformatika.blogspot.com . You can start discussing with me and other readers, by commenting on the blog post. Also, if anybody using this content, feel like that monetary contribution should be made, you can donate on my behalf that sum of money to Project Why (http://www.projectwhy.org/), not for profit organization.

If you like this article, then subscribe to justanotherexplorer@googlegroups.com, by visiting http://groups.google.co.in/group/justanotherexplorer

Indian Job Search Engine

2010-09-08T11:27:00.000-07:00

Dear Friends

I recently came across the site www.simplyhired.com. Its a job search engine, which extracts relevant jobs from all the job sites and display it. Its a global portal and primarily focuses on US jobs.

The Indian portal of the same group is www.simplyhired.co.in

It is also present in the www.linkedin.com job search feature, which is powered by simplyhired .

The wonderful thing about this tool I found is that you dont need to go to individual sites, but still can extract all the data from there.

Simply punch in the keywords and criterias like location, and all the jobs from all the Indian Job Portals and other geographies(if selected) will be displayed in single place

Happy job search :)

Just Another Explorer: Why I am MBA not an Engineer??

2010-08-06T19:43:00.000-07:00

Dear Friends

I am writing this article, not as a boasting that I am a Management Grad, but as a sarcasm and regret, that why I am not an Engineer??

To tell you about myself, I did Engineering and then MBA.

So, as an average Indian student, in 1997, I was focused on the biggest fear or the D-Day, for each and every Indian student, has to slog, mug, burn midnight oil. Yes, that is the Board Examinations of 10^th. At this point of time, the only goal in front of my eyes, was to get good percentage, so that I can get admission in better schools (or colleges) for Senior Secondary Education.

So, as per destiny, I happened to score around 80% in 10^th Board Examination. Now, the D-Day was over, what next??

Do, we actually plan after D-Day?? I don’t.

Now, had to take a decision that whether to go into Medical , Non Medical, Commerce or Arts.

At that time, commerce and arts were looked down upon, as compared to Medical and Non Medical.

In my case, choice was easier. I can’t see blood. So, it was by default Non-Medical i.e. Physics Chemistry and Maths.

But, is it only because of this reason??

No!! It was something more. I was always fascinated by machines and technology and science behind it. And, now I was on my way to do what I wanted to do.

At this point of time, I wanted to be great scientist, inventor or discoverer. I think, I am not the only one, who thought that way.

So, next two years, were even more gruesome, preparing for Engineering Entrance Examination.

The Next D-Day, was already scheduled.

But, while studying these preparations for Engineering Entrance, I also enjoyed studying those subjects. To better say, exploring those subjects.

As, internet was not that prevalent or I must say, that was not in reach of an average Indian Student, so I resolved to libraries. I used to pick up books like ‘Unified Theory’, ‘Theory of Relativity’, ‘Para Science’, anything whose name was enticing. And, most of the time, I couldn’t make out much sense out of these books, as it was too early. But, still it helped me to keep the notion intact in my mind, or atleast maintained my hope, that I am gonna be what I desire to be. Will take some time, but will reach there.

So, after 2 years of hard work, I was able to crack the Engineering Entrance Exam, and was able to make it to a decent Institute, with the long history. Although, my cherished dream of being an IITian, was blown away, but still I was on my way.

So, everything started rosily. First time, out of your parents control. Complete freedom. In my case, as I studied mostly in boys institutes, so girls were the additional and I must say one of the most enticing factor.

Then, there I saw, such a big workshops, where we used to or I would rather say, forced to do exercises like Carpentry, Smithy, Fitting, Welding, Machining……….

But, then I was confused. Did, I did all the studies, and faced one of the toughest competitions in India, for doing this, to act as a carpenter or smithy guy?

Obviously not. My dream was to do inventions, to take science to next level. Work on uncompleted works of Great Scientists like Einstein………. But, was I alone in this thought process.

At this moment, I came to realize the difference between Science and Technology. Science is the study of the laws of nature that govern the universe. But, that is what I thought I would be doing in Engineering. Now, the term came to be understood as Technology. What is Technology?? Frankly, I was not able to answer this question for many years, I admit I have a dumb mind in that sphere.

But, technology is the application of science, not the science. That is the biggest eyewash, I had during my engineering 1^st year. But, I said ok , no probs, atleast as a Mechanical Engineer, I may be able to design the car, or aspired to design the best car. And, I think my friends in other streams like Electronics, Computers etc, had similar notions or fantasies in their field.

But, full first year, I was just drawing nuts and bolts. I couldn’t understand why???

And, then we were forced to do manual drafting or drawings. Again, I couldn’t understand, that when we have softwares on our computers, and it’s much easy on it, why I or anybody should do it by manual methods. Is it just the rotten heritage the Institutes are trying to carry forward? Or I was just not thinking straight??

So, confusion prevailed.

Now, the subjects came Chemistry, Applied Thermodynamics, Solid Mechanics,…………. And endless list. But, again I was not able to make head and tail out of it. I was not able to understand, why I am doing this cramming???

So, slowly the interest started drifting, the very idealistic mind of a fresh Engineering Students started to go for ‘Cut-Copy-Paste’. We had our ways. We used to call it ‘Glasso Toppo’. It was the technique, where you trace the diagrams and drawings, on your sheet, by the help of bulb, bucket and glass. And obviously tracing paper.

So, rat race again started.

But, I was loosing interest, as I was not comfortable cramming. Infact, I felt guilty cramming. And, couldn’t make any sense of the Prof, what he/she is teaching in the class, because it was purely theoretical in most of the cases.

So, what to do?? I stopped attending classes. My routine was that I used to read a novel, in the night. Sleep by 4:00 am in the morning, and then wake up at 12:00 noon for lunch. And, then of course, I couldn’t have missed labs and tutorials. So, I went to attend them.

But, slowly I realized, that after 5:00 pm, when the classes are over, then I become active. Talking to friends. Sitting on lover’s lane, or jealously staring at the couples sitting on the lover’s lane.

Then, I came in touch with lot of seniors, who were poaching us for their respective Clubs like Dramatics, Youth Welfare Club, College Magazines, …………..

And, we went with the flow. At times, I was selected in these clubs and at times I was rejected. But, it was part of the game.

In whole of this process, where is my Engineering???

I seriously don’t know. And after some time, I was not even bothered about it.

The norm was that it doesn’t matter, which branch or specialization are you from, big IT companies like Satyam, Infosys, TCS, Wipro…. Will come and pick us not in numbers, but in truckloads. So, career was set.

But, was it so??

So, continuing these extra curricular activities, I got involved in management stuff. And its obvious extension i.e. politics. And I enjoyed it. It gave me the feeling of power, feeling of belongingness, and a platform to improve my management skills. But, above all it gave me a feeling that I am creating something i.e. systems. I picked up the Club, which were having around 5 active members, and within the span of 1 year, I along with my friends made it 150 members.

So, now my college was secondary, and my extra curricular activities primary.

You, can say, that I started evolving as a Manager and devolving as an Engineer.

Then, as per our curriculum, we have to undergo 6 months industrial training in 6^th semester. I was selected with one of the best brand names, and went there with lot of expectations.

But, it was actually a shock. They wanted me as an engineer, not as a manager. They wanted me to install machines. They wanted me to increase the quality level to 6 sigma. They wanted me to develop gauges, and what not.

At this time, I was no more an engineer. So, I was back to square one. I slogged for 6 months. I did lot of work in many engineering fields of mechanical engineering like machining, welding, die casting……………..

Now, I was back at my college for my final year. And, again the same subjects cropped up with new Avtaar like Applied Thermodynamics, Metallurgy, Advanced Solid Mechanics, Theory of Machines,…..

But, I don’t know how, it became more interesting for me. I started enjoying the lectures. And at times, I was more knowledgeable then Profs, because they have studied it, but I have worked on it for 6 months. So, there was a again a drift.

In the final year, I went back to introspection, that why I lost my Engineering. The answer was very simple. Evey Prof, and subject and the course book, told me ‘How?’, but nobody told me ‘Why?’. In other words, nobody made me realize that why these subjects are important from application point of view. Or in other words, they never showed me big or holistic picture, they were just focused on micro elements. I am not sure, whether it comes under Maslow’s Pyramid or Theory X or Theory Y and other such theories of Organisational Behaviour and Psychology, but can one be driven without seeing the big picture? I am really sorry to say, I am not. So, when you don’t understand, ‘Why?’, then how can you feel like or actually master ‘How?’

But, the surgery was done. It was too late. I was now a Manager, not an Engineer.

Then again, I got my first job in an Automotive Industry. I worked mainly on technical areas like Machine Installations, creating systems like Just In Time, and then I was an engineer in the R&D, working on actual R&D, not the false R&D (which is just modifying the drawings and adjusting the designs).

It was the best profile, as a Mechanical Engineer, I could have got. But, Engineer in me was long dead.

And, now ask myself a question; why even in such a technical and creative environment of the Core Engineering, it couldn’t rekindle the dormant fire of Science & Technology in me.

The reason was again clear. In the technical area, one can grow, but not exponentially. There is a glass ceiling, that if you want to grow in the organization, then you should be Masters, and obviously in Management.

So, the choice was crystal clear, draw satisfaction out of Engineering job or make a giant leap both in terms of career and salaries, by doing MBA. So, I went for an MBA.

But, now I ask, if I actually had to do MBA at last, then why did I do Engineering?? Why I didn’t go for Commerce, which was easy, could have saved my one year (as B.Com is of 3 years and Engineering is of 4 years)?

It was too late. Past is the only event, which has probability value of 1. It can’t be changed. So, I lost so many valuable years, when I was at the peak of my youth, doing something, which I don’t want, and not doing something which I want.

So, has happened to ‘many many many’ Indian Students over these years. And, it’s still continuing.

But, recently after doing MBA, I came to realize that my batch mates, who haven’t done MBA, are drawing more packages than myself, even after doing MBA.

I think it was because the fad is getting over. We always, at least in India, give more powers, packages, fame, recognition……… to a guy who is ‘Managing’ the show. We don’t give all these things, to a guy who is actually ‘Giving Reason to Manage The Show’.

Just imagine, what will Management do, if there is no R&D, if there is no Quality Department, if Machines are not properly selected………..

In that case, I won’t call it a company per se, but a trader. It could be a big trader like Walmart.

So, with the fad getting faded, I think it makes more sense to pursue your actual interest, if it was science and technology, rather going for Management.

Sooner of Later, you will grow, where you have to manage. But, in that case, you have completed the journey to the top. And the journey was enjoyable and blissful, because you were doing which you actually wanted to do, in most of the journey.

So, coming back to the main topic. I blame, the whole eco system, which is superset of education system. And, to an extent, I was part of it. So, I am to be equally blamed.

So, at last I will say, that please understand ‘Why?’, and ‘How?’ will automatically come to you.

I am writing this article, so that the students or professionals, who still have time, shouldn’t repeat the same mistake, which I have made along with many others, and still making.

Via this article, even if one person is able to make a better career choice, my purpose of writing this article is more than served.

Well, at last, this was just my opinion or thought process, and I felt like sharing with you. But, the very idea is to stimulate or trigger the thought process, that ‘Am I doing, what I want to do? And why?’

Just Another Explorer

Prabal Aggarwal

Friends, as an author of this article, I authorize anybody, can use this article for publishing on any media i.e. print, visual, audio, internet, forwarding emails, intranets, etc. Only request is that, the name of the author, body of the article shouldn’t be changed or altered. Secondly, would request to mention that this article was originally written & posted by Prabal Aggarwal, on Aug 6th 2010 on www.managementinformatika.blogspot.com. You can start discussing with me and other readers, by commenting on the blog post. Also, if anybody using this content, feel like that monetary contribution should be made, you can donate on my behalf that sum of money to Project Why (http://www.projectwhy.org/), not for profit organization.

If you like this article, then subscribe to justanotherexplorer@googlegroups.com, by visiting http://groups.google.co.in/group/justanotherexplorer

Interesting Applications: That can make Professional Live Easier

2010-07-21T23:09:00.000-07:00

Dear Friends

Since, last few days, whenever I used to browse google on my mobile handset, there was a footer ' Google Search by Voice' . I kept on ignoring, this for couple of days. Then, finally I downloaded the app from http://www.google.com/mobile/voice/ and tried it. I was simply amazed. I never thought that voice can be substitute of text, because of tones, volume and dialect, which vary inevitably. But, it works. I won't say, that it works perfectly, but reasonably well to start with. And, morover Google has, given the option in settings to choose the type of dialect. In my case it was 'Indian English'. And, I am sure, that sooner or later Google will drill down to North Indian English, East.............., West......................, South..................... And then it will further drill down to Punjabi English, Haryanvi English.................. So, its a good start.

Secondly, application which I recently came across is Google Maps, whose app can be downloaded from here http://www.google.com/mobile/maps/ . Google has done a wonderful job, to create maps of all the major cities of India. Then there are features like, the level of traffic on the particular road (presently available only for Metro Cities). Another feature is, directions i.e. you define your starting point and ending point, and the transport mode. Google will give you different alternative routes for it. Above all, I liked the feature Latitude. This enables you to define your current latitude(location)- automatically (via wifi connections, mobile tower settings and Satellite) or manually or even invisible. The interesting thing about this feature is that you can invite your friends to connect and share their latitudes(location) with you. Now it will make easier to meet friends whenever we happen to be on a nearby locations. But, the flip side is that, I am sure that companies sooner or later, will make it compulsory for its employees to share their latitudes with their company database. I know its a debatable topic. And, I am sure, if it happens, then the subsequent action will be by Human Right Activists, against such enforcement by companies. Surely, it will interesting tussle, and finally(hopefully) free will prevail.

Anyway, I just wanted to share these two interesting applications, which has made my professional life easier.

regards

Prabal Aggarwal

Is Gmail or Google Account Safe???

2010-03-05T23:19:00.000-08:00

Dear Friends

Just 2 days back I accessed my gmail. It was normal. After another half an hour I operated it, I was unable to access it. On trying I came to understand that not only Gmail but the whole google account got deleted i.e. orkut, google docs, blogger all gone in one go. I was unable to understand, when nobody else knew my password and I didnt delete it then how its possible.

I tried to approach various offices of Google India, but couldnt locate relevant guys there.

All this time, I was tense, all my contacts, all my data of 4 years including the whole data of my MBA, down the drain. It was indeed a major loss, for a netizen like me.

Now, next day I filled the lengthy google form, that I can't access my account. In half an hour my gmail and blogger was restored. Again, no intimation by google, that what went wrong, and is it safe in future or not.

Now after 3 days, still my orkut profile remains deleted. And I am unable to do much about it.

So, the point of me sharing this information is, that as most of us keep most of our data in the form of stored mails on gmail and other popular emails, is it really safe practice? So, please please dont use just one id, use multiple ids, if possible from different service providers like yahoo and hotmail. Secondly, regularly download your contacts in the form of CSV format. Thirdly, please keep all your important data in hard disk or computer, and keep on updating it on regular basis.

Because, if it can happen to me, it can happen to you also.

regards

--
Prabal Aggarwal

The New Era of Offensive Advertising in India

2010-03-01T21:24:00.001-08:00

Dear Friends

I was seeing TV on last Friday, after so many days, and suddenly I saw the ad of Rin (HUL), in which it is openly negating Tide(P&G), its competitor brand. I was simply shocked. In fact shocked is an understatement, i was horrified. Never seen such an ad in my life.

The link to the ad is http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2M5rBXtK9iA

Is it new way of offensive advertising? How will it effect the future of advertising? I am unable to answer these questions.

Kindly give your opinions about the same.

Just Another Explorer: Is Professional Networking Important???

2010-01-18T07:25:00.000-08:00

Dear Friends

I am writing this article, because I have recently observed my friends from premier B Schools like IIMS & ISB, and premier engineering colleges like IITs and very good career path in top positions of leading MNCs not able to get the opportunities, which they deserve. The point is that they don’t know how to search for this options. In other words, they don’t have good professional networking skills.

Now, professional networking or any type of networking can’t be taught, it is inborne skill. But, yes you can sensitize the one and help the one to discover the skill within.

I am not claiming, that I am expert in Professional Networking, but I have my own ways, which have proved to be effective. So, via this mail I would like to share my ways of professional networking. And would like to receive feedback from you guys, which will help me to further improve my skills. Anyone can connect with me via my email id aggawal.prabal@gmail.com or via my linkedin profile http://in.linkedin.com/in/prabalaggarwal.

Now the starting point of any networking is the will, the urge to network. It can’t be created, it has to be within oneself. I have seen my friends, sitting at home for an year, after being laid off during recession. They will continuously use the job portals like www.naukri.com and monsterindia.com, but to no avail. At these times, they try to meet people who are decision makers in good MNCs via their personal contacts, or via sites like www.linkedin.com. But, do you really think that somebody just met me at party or at linkedin, and next thing he does is talk about a job option from me. Will I help such a guy?? The answer in most cases is no. Till I don’t know that guy for a fair amount of time, I wont help him. So, the point is that network, can’t be and shouldn’t be built overnight. It needs continuous efforts and time.

Now, the medium for professional networking could be many. It could be attending professional seminars, it could be alumni or batchmates meets, it could be emails, it could be professional networking platforms like linkedin. And true networking, needs combination of all of them.

I will tell now my ways.

Few years ago, when I was doing my engineering, one of the professionals told me to keep visiting cards. I was totally shocked, how do u expect a graduate student to keep a visiting card. But he had his own point, that this may seem odd but its an investment. And when I joined MBA, this advice came very handy. Not many, students in my institute used to have visiting cards. I used to keep it, though it used to pinch my pocket. It helped me to keep in touch with lot of high fi professionals, I met during seminars organized by TIE and NEN. Then, sometimes it so happened, that during the vivas, I came across a professor, who was external faculty or unknown to me. I used to introduce myself, by exchanging a visiting cards with him. It may seem odd, but believe me I did it. And this used to take the viva on altogether at different platform (mostly I got better marksJ ). Now, since last ten years from my engineering days, I never used to throw a visiting card, I always used to store it. You never know, who could be of help to you, in future. So, this was the section covering importance of visiting cards, especially for students.

Now, there was a time, when I had my first official email id during my first job. And then best use of it (apart from official work), was forwarding interesting mails. I used to be in the race of sending most interesting mails to my friends, and vice versa. These mails could be good pictures, some masala news, some funny mails, some videos and what not. But, I observed, that most of colleagues when left the organization, they never used to send the mails , as they earlier used to. Second aspect was, that these things seemed good, while in start of career, but later on as the responsibilities grew, I used to grow irritated, by continuous flux of mails in my inbox. The reason was simple, that they were irrelevant mails to me, and they didn’t help me in any way at all. Gradually, it so happened that the friends who used to send these sort of stuff to me, I slowly started deleting their mails even without reading. I learnt from this behaviour. It so happened, that when I left my first job and subsequent second job, on my last day, I made a list of people, with whom I would like to be in touch in future. And the best and cheapest way, was emails. But what type of emails, how not to get marked as a spammer?? The idea clicked me, that one the email should be good one, which adds value to the receiver, and secondly, it should be infrequent. So, I made a list of email ids. This feature is easily available in all the frequently used mail services like yahoo. I made a lists or groups of email ids by tagging them with relevant nick names like company 1, company 2,…. Or mba friends, engg friends…. Then being an MBA grad, I had a wide repository of business articles. I used to send the best articles to my groups, in 2 to 3 months time. Not earlier than that. And it used to be continuous. This lead me to stay in touch with hundreds of ex colleagues even after 5 years of leaving the job. I still get mails, from these colleagues, that how come you haven’t sent an interesting email, since last few months. I keep on getting calls, from them, sometimes after 3-4 years. But it’s always a good surprise. So idea, is that you can use emails as a good source of touchbase with your ex colleagues or friends, without being marked as a spammer, on the contrary creating respect for your communication. But, still there may be many of the people, who doesn’t value it or still are not in touch with you. One can’t please everyone!!! Clapping happens, when both the hands participate, if one person is not interested in networking with you, you can’t force him to.

Then, the next way to do networking is participating in professional seminars or alumni meets. Now, I was ardent participant in all the free professional seminars organized by NEN and TIE. Apart from it, I used to participate in conferences, which were of my interest, and which my pocket allowed me to. The biggest challenge I faced, when I came back to Delhi, after completing my MBA in Mumbai. I lost touch with quite a few batchmates of my engineering, and now most of my MBA mates were in Mumbai. And it was the time, I was looking out for socializing and to expand network. Instead of waiting, for somebody to take initiative, I initiated Delhi Chapters of my engineering as wells as my MBA college in Delhi. This led to frequent meets of these chapters, where I was able to network not only with my batchmates, but with quite a seniors as well as quite a juniors. This actually expanded my network to a great extent. So, idea is don’t wait for anybody to take initiative. If you want to network, then create your own ways and take the initiatives. Another thing, I would like to emphasize here is that email is not a substitute for phone call and phone call is not a substitute of face to face meeting. Also, to make the communication effective and meets easy to organize, I created email groups of the participants and the possible participants. These sort of group services are easily available like yahoogroups.com and googlegroups.com. But, the problem was that I found that these groups were equally linked to the inboxes of all types of people. Some busy some free, some interested some not interested. And all the mails posted in them were not very relevant, which irritated quite a few members. This is an evil; I am not able to understand how to cope up with technically. At the same time, the groups I created with the view of networking, soon started having mails, where alumni started helping members to get jobs, to get more business. This was a real eye opener for me.

Then the latest tool, which is a boon to any networker are social and professional networking sites like orkut, facebook and linkedin. I like www.linkedin.com best for this purpose. It has helped me to connect with the people, about whom I used to read in the Economic Times or see on CNBC TV 18. It has totally punctured any boundaries imposed on professional networking. On the flip side, I had once the tendency to increase my network blindly i.e. my no. of connections should increase. But, later on I realized the difference between Active Network and Passive Network. If I am not interacting with the person I am connection of, then how it is better than repository of electronic visiting card? So, again the idea is to interact with the people you find synergy with. It can lot of topics for students regarding their studies, for professionals regarding their careers, for academicians regarding the research they are doing, for businessmen regarding their business. Infact, if you don’t have any purpose, than it will be very tough to network. In that case, at max you will be able to get back in touch with your old associates or friends. But, what about meeting new people. I don’t think it can be done without a purpose. So, have a purpose, and don’t be afraid of meeting and interacting with new people, that is the essence of networking.

Another aspect, I will like to emphasize here is that networking can’t be done by being selfish. If you seek to take help only, it will sooner or later diminish your networking capacity. Be willing to help others also, and that too in selfless way. This is the true essence of networking. Take interest in the people’s work, and try to think how you can add value to him or help him out via your network. Sooner, or later this will give you returns far more than you have expected.

Now, the purpose of writing this mail is not to boast about myself or my networking skills. I am also on learning path. But, to help my friends, ex colleagues and alma mater to take advantage of the skill, which is not taught in colleges i.e. Networking. Second purpose, of this mail is to start a dialogue regarding the importance of Professional Networking and the ways to do it. So, friends do reply to this mail to start the dialogue.

Regards

Just Another Explorer

Prabal Aggarwal

PS: I got lot of queries, via forwarded mails that can one forward or use this article. The very idea, of this article is to share experience, so that the mistakes I did in my professional life, others shouldn’t do it. Even if one professional or student is benefited by this, my purpose is more than served. So, friends if you like it spread it. That’s the whole idea of sharing.

Friends, as an author of this article, I authorize anybody, can use this article for publishing on any media i.e. print, visual, audio, internet, forwarding emails, intranets, etc.Only request is that, the name of the author, body of the article shouldn’t be changed or altered. Secondly, would request to mention that this article was originally written & posted by Prabal Aggarwal, on Jan 18 2010 on www.managementinformatika.blogspot.com. You, can start discussing with me and other readers, by commenting on the blog post. Also, if anybody using this content, feel like that monetary contribution should be made, you can donate on my behalf that sum of money to Project Why (http://www.projectwhy.org/), not for profit organization.

If you like this article, then subscribe to justanotherexplorer@googlegroups.com, by visiting http://groups.google.co.in/group/justanotherexplorer

What is risk in Entrepreneurship?

2010-01-12T09:41:00.000-08:00

Dear Friends

Recently I came across the following mail forwarded by my friend. It just changed my mindset regarding Entrepreneurship. Hope you will feel the same after reading it.

___________________________________________________

Update on 18th May 2010. I have been long wondering who has written this inspiring post. Finally, I found him. His name is Sameer Guglani. People may refer to his linkedin profile at http://in.linkedin.com/in/sameerguglani

___________________________________________________

Recently I met with parents of the founder of one of our portfolio companies. They asked me about their son’s venture , how do I think its doing and what will be the outcome etc. Here was my answer to them:Your son worked for 1 year as a SW engineer with a big company before starting his ventureNow the venture is 4 months old and is already seeing some good tractionLets say he works on this venture for 2-3 years, at the end of it one of the two outcomes will be seen Good case outcome: He continues with the venture. It has become successful – not necessarily an IPO but at the minimum its growing steadily and makes enough money to sustain itself and pay him a salaryWorst case outcome: The venture shuts downWhen your son started this venture he auto promoted himself from SW engineer to the CEO / CXO A level he may have never achieved or achieved after a very long time period in a regular career with big SW companiesSince he is CEO / CXO – he would need to work & network with CEOs / Founders / Owners / Senior management folks of other companies As a matter of fact this person I am talking about has already met CEOs / owners of more than 10 established / funded companies which are from the similar domain as his own companyIn case of shutdown of his venture it is certain that with the right efforts your son will: Find a senior management position – VP / AVP / Director / Head of department with a company in the same domainGet very good salary to go with these positionsAnd he would have switched from writing code to a domain of his choiceAnd if he has another venture in him, he can save enough to start itThis will happen because 2-3 years as an entrepreneur will give the two things needed to get a senior position: Network of decision makers at good companies who have seen him run his own company3 years of intense learning you get as as a start up founder, is worth more than 10 – 12 years in regular jobThese days people in the industry are very happy to hire X-entrepreneurs, since they know these guys can get work doneNot all companies would be open to hiring him. But there are lot of funded, growing, young, dynamic companies who would be happy to consider him seriouslyYour son will be way ahead, both in salary and position, as compared to most of his classmates / colleagues who will never go out of the SW industry and become Senior SW engineer or at best a team lead in these 2-3 years. Some of these guys may have gone to top B-Schools to do MBAs and after 2 years will be doing entry level jobs in companiesSo if in the worst case spending two years passionately working on your startup can him chance to switch his job profile and domain, a very good jump in both and salary, and in good case he may be running a successful venture – doing a start up is a great investment in career, and not at all a riskThey understood my point since it was quite logical, but still did not seem fully convinced . I don’t blame them. They are from a different generationI also shared with them my personal example:In August 2004, when I left my job to start madhouse, I was Principal SW engineer in a telecom startup in California, two levels below a managerI started madhouse and promoted myself to be the CEODuring my three years with madhouse I worked and networked with lot of other CEOs / VPs / Owners / Partners of other companiesAfter three years madhouse was acquired by Seventymm and I joined as Vice President – Corporate StrategySo in three years I went from being two level below manager to the topmost layer of a well known company and with quite a good salary packageNow while I was at Seventymm I had access to senior management jobs across domains like retail, consumer products, media. I had an offer to join as president of strategy at one of the leading public entertainment companies in India and the annual package was more than 50LBut I turned that offer down and decided to start the next stint of entrepreneurship – MVPOther two founders of madhouse (Ankur and Nandini) saw a similar result as well. Nandini became AVP @ Seventymm and Ankur joined as VP @ TravelguruI am aware of many more similar casesBusiness Ideas may fail, but Entrepreneurship is risk freeNo opportunity comes with surety. Even an MBA from a top B-School might not get the best returns. There are lots of bright ideas which never reap fruits. What is important is that you should be able to separate failure of your idea from your personal failure. Its very clear, if you choose to become an entrepreneur for the right reasons, have the right approach and are determined to give it your best shot for 2-3 years and create value in your venture, chances of failure are near zero. You will learn so much and get to know so many people that even in case of the worst outcome, you will come out way ahead and will be a much wanted resource.hThe journey of entrepreneurship is the real value add for the entrepreneur. The result is a by product.So where is the risk in entrepreneurship?

Lack of Sleep and Heart Attacks - What killed Ranjan Das and Lessons for Corporate India

2009-11-20T04:52:00.000-08:00

This Study was recently circulated to all Microsoft employees by their CEO.

A month ago, many of us heard about the sad demise of Ranjan Das from Bandra, Mumbai. Ranjan, just 42 years of age, was the CEO of SAP-Indian Subcontinent, the youngest CEO of an MNC in

India

. He was very active in sports, was a fitness freak and a marathon runner. It was common to see him run on Bandra's Carter Road. Just after Diwali, on 21st Oct, he returned home from his gym after a workout, collapsed with a ma

ssive heart attack and died. He is survived by his wife and two very young kids.

It was certainly a wake-up call for corporate

India

. However, it was even more disastrous for runners amongst us. Since Ranjan was an avid marathoner (in Feb 09, he ran Chennai Marathon at the same time some of us were running Pondicherry Marathon 180 km away), the question came as to why an exceptionally active, athletic person succumb to heart attack at 42 years of age.

Was it the stress?

A couple of you called me asking about the reasons. While Ranjan had mentioned that he faced a lot of stress, that is a common element in most o

f our lives. We used to think that by being fit, one can conquer the bad effects of stress. So I doubted if the cause was stress.

The Real Reason

However, everyone missed out a small line in the reports that Ranjan used to make do with 4-5 hours of sleep. This is an earlier interview of Ranjan on NDTV in the program 'Boss' Day Out':

http://connect.in.com/ranjan-das/play-video-boss-day-

out-ranjan-das-of-sap-india-229111-807ecfcf1ad966036c289b3ba6c376f2530d7484.html

Here he himself admits that he would love to get more sleep (and that he was not proud of his ability to manage without sleep, contrary to what others extolled).

The Evidence

Last week, I was working with a well-known cardiologist on the subject of ‘Heart Disease caused by Lack of Sleep’. While I cannot share the video nor the slides because of confidentiality reasons, I have distilled the key points below in the hope it will save some of our lives.

Some Excerpts:

· Short sleep duration (<5) compared to those who slept longer than 6 hours per night. Paper published in 2009.

As you know, high BP kills.

· Young people (25-49 years of age) are twice as likely to get high BP if they sleep less. Paper published in 2006.

· Individuals who slept less than 5 hours a night had a 3-fold increased risk of heart attacks. Paper published in 1999.

· Complete and partial lack of sleep increased

the blood concentrations of High sensitivity C-Reactive Protein (hs-cRP),the strongest predictor of heart attacks. Even after getting adequate sleep later, the levels stayed high!!

· Just one night of sleep lossincreases very toxic substances in body such as Interleukin-6 (IL-6), Tumour Necrosis Factor-Alpha (TNF-alpha) and

C-reactive protein (cRP). They increase risks of many medical conditions, including cancer, arthritis andheart disease. Paper published in 2004.

· Sleeping for <=5 hours per night leads to 39% increase in heart disease. Sleeping for <=6 hours per night leads to 18% increase in heart disease. Paper published in 2006.

Ideal Sleep For lack of space, I cannot explain here the ideal sleep architecture. But in brief, sleep is composed of two stages: REM (Rapid Eye Movement) and non-REM. The former helps inmental consolidation while the latter helps in physical repair and rebuilding. During the night, you alternate between REM and non-REM stages 4-5 times.

The earlier part of sleep is mostly non-REM. During that period, your pituitary gland releases growth hormones that repair your body. The latter part of sleep is more and more REM type.

For you to be mentally alert during the day, the latter part of sleep is more important. No wonder when you wake up with an alarm clockafter 5-6 hours of sleep, you are mentally irritable throughout the day (lack of REM sleep). And if you have slept for less than 5 hours, your body is in a complete physical mess (lack of non-REM sleep), you are tired throughout the day, moving like a zombie and your immunity is way down (I’ve been there, done that L)

Finally, as long-distance runners, you need an hour of extra sl

eep to repair the running related damage.

If you want to know if you are getting adequate sleep, take Epworth Sleepiness Test below.

Interpretation: Score of 0-9 is considered normal while 10 and above abnormal. Many a times, I have clocked 21 out the maximum possible 24, the only saving grace being the last situation, since I don’t like to drive (maybe, I should ask my driver to answer that lineJ)
In conclusion:
Barring stress control, Ranjan Das did everything right: eating proper food, exercising (marathoning!), maintaining proper weight. But he missed getting proper and adequate sleep, minimum 7 hours. In my opinion, that killed him.
If you are not getting enough sleep (7 hours), you are playing with fire, even if you have low stress.
I always took pride in my ability to work 50 hours at a stretch whenever the situation warranted. But I was so spooked after seeing the scientific evidence last week that since Saturday night, I ensure I do not even set the alarm clock under 7 hours. Now, that is a nice excuse to get some more sleep.J

Unfortunately, Ranjan Das is not alone when it comes to missing sleep. Many of us are doing exactly the same, perhaps out of ignorance. Please forward this mail to as many of your colleagues as possible, especially those who might be short-changing their sleep. If we can save even one young life because of this email, I would be the happiest person on earth.

Inflation-Nice One

2009-11-19T07:36:00.000-08:00

Nice Logic - It May Work !!

A man eats two eggs each morning for breakfast. When he goes to the Kirana store he pays Rs. 12 a dozen. Since a dozen eggs won't last a week he normally buys two dozens at a time. One day while buying eggs he notices that the price has risen to Rs. 16. The next time he buys groceries, eggs are Rs. 22 a dozen.

When asked to explain the price of eggs the store owner says, "The price has gone up and I have to raise my price accordingly". This store buys 100 dozen eggs a day. He checked around for a better price and all the distributors have raised their prices. The distributors have begun to buy from the huge egg farms. The small egg farms have been driven out of business. The huge egg farms sell 100,000 dozen eggs a day to distributors. With no competition, they can set the price as they see fit. The distributors then have to raise their prices to the grocery stores. And on and on and on.

As the man kept buying eggs the price kept going up. He saw the big egg trucks delivering 100 dozen eggs each day. Nothing changed there. He checked out the huge egg farms and found they were selling 100,000 dozen eggs to the distributors daily. Nothing had changed but the price of eggs.

Then week before Diwali the price of eggs shot up to Rs. 40 a dozen. Again he asked the grocery owner why and was told, "Cakes and baking for the holiday". The huge egg farmers know there will be a lot of baking going on and more eggs will be used. Hence, the price of eggs goes up. Expect the same thing at Christmas and other times when family cooking, baking, etc. happen.

This pattern continues until the price of eggs is Rs. 60 a dozen. The man says, " There must be something we can do about the price of eggs".

He starts talking to all the people in his town and they decide to stop buying eggs. This didn't work because everyone needed eggs.

Finally, the man suggested only buying what you need. He ate 2 eggs a day. On the way home from work he would stop at the grocery and buy two eggs. Everyone in town started buying 2 or 3 eggs a day.

The grocery store owner began complaining that he had too many eggs in his cooler. He told the distributor that he didn't need any eggs.
Maybe wouldn't need any all week.

The distributor had eggs piling up at his warehouse. He told the huge egg farms that he didn't have any room for eggs would not need any for at least two weeks.

At the egg farm, the chickens just kept on laying eggs. To relieve the pressure, the huge egg farm told the distributor that they could buy the eggs at a lower price.

The distributor said, " I don't have the room for the %$&^*&% eggs even if they were free". The distributor told the grocery store owner that he would lower the price of the eggs if the store would start buying
again.

The grocery store owner said, "I don't have room for more eggs. The customers are only buying 2 or 3 eggs at a time. Now if you were to drop the price of eggs back down to the original price, the customers
would start buying by the dozen again".

The distributors sent that proposal to the huge egg farmers but the egg farmers liked the price they were getting for their eggs but, those chickens just kept on laying. Finally, the egg farmers lowered the
price of their eggs. But only a few paisa.

The customers still bought 2 or 3 eggs at a time. They said, "when the price of eggs gets down to where it was before, we will start buying by the dozen."

Slowly the price of eggs started dropping. The distributors had to slash their prices to make room for the eggs coming from the egg farmers.

The egg farmers cut their prices because the distributors wouldn't buy at a higher price than they were selling eggs for. Anyway, they had full warehouses and wouldn't need eggs for quite a while.

And those chickens kept on laying.

Eventually, the egg farmers cut their prices because they were throwing away eggs they couldn't sell.

The distributors started buying again because the eggs were priced to where the stores could afford to sell them at the lower price.

And the customers starting buying by the dozen again.

Now, transpose this analogy to the gasoline industry.

What if everyone only bought Rs 200.00 worth of Petrol each time they pulled to the pump? The dealer's tanks would stay semi full all the time. The dealers wouldn't have room for the gas coming from the huge tanks. The tank farms wouldn't have room for the petrol coming from the refining plants. And the refining plants wouldn't have room for the oil being off loaded from the huge tankers coming from the oil fiends.

Just Rs 200.00 each time you buy gas. Don't fill up the tank of your car. You may have to stop for gas twice a week, but the price should come down.

Think about it.

Also, don't buy anything else at the fuel station; don't give them any more of your hard earned money than what you spend on gas, until the prices come down..."

...just think of this concept for a while.

..................please pass this concept around....reaching out to
the masses ...the world .....

Management Ethics

2009-11-14T03:26:00.000-08:00

Simply Reliance - Exclusive News -Plan Variants to be Launched "Customer Chooses the Pulse"- This is truly India's Most Disruptive & Best Tariff Plan

2009-11-04T10:17:00.000-08:00

Article originally published at our associate site - http://analyticsnewswire99.blogspot.com/

http://analyticsnewswire99.blogspot.com/2009/11/simply-reliance-exclusive-news-plan.html

Exclusive Updates to "Simply Reliance" Plan - India's Best and Most disruptive Telecom Tariff Plan.

I don't like to explain tariff plans to people - i believe they should understand them on their own.

But this step by Reliance Communications is an another first by them - a pioneering step which made them launch country's Most Disruptive Tariff plan on October 5th 2009 in Simply Reliance

and now in November 2009 - they are going to launch its extensions (source based news).

So here is my explanation to make people choose the best.

RCOM’s new plan extensions (to be launched) to the Simply Reliance Plan are — customer chooses the pulse plans.

(Extension Plans to Simply Reliance are not officially launched on the website still - but will be launched shortly as per the source)

After almost 3.75 years of BSNL Launching its One India Plan - this step by a Pan India operator like Reliance Communications is an another milestone in the Indian telecom industry.

They have altered the Industry landscape towards them (in their favor). Although the short term profitability impacts on the company and the entire industry are negative but the game plan currently for all the companies is to garner maximum Revenue Market Share.

Additionally RCom wants to Increase Network Utilization & be properly placed for service upgrades post 3G Launch as their current networks are already 3G ready.

This Reliance Offer is available to All its GSM + CDMA subscribers - New & Existing.

Unlike its competitors RCOM offer is applicable to All Prepaid and Postpaid subscribers - New & Existing. Also Plan Validity is for lifetime.

The Exclusive News with our Team is that they are about to Launch Variants of Simply Reliance Plan.

They will launch a 1 paisa per second plan with Rs. 0.60 per minute cost
& a per 180 second plan with Rs. 1 per 3 minute cost (effective cost .33 paise per minute).

Rcom's Plans are without any conditions or monthly recharge commitment.

RCOM has taken the pricing war to the pulse level. The offer to customers is simple – customer chooses the pulse duration (second, minute, or 3 minutes) and the higher the pulse duration, the lower the per-pulse charge.
RCOM's another Pricing action is similar to Volume Discounting in segments or slabs. This has and will put pressure on Incumbents like Airtel and Vodafone who are responding to the price war with a passive approach - which is ridden with lots of conditions or riders along with the tariff plans which they offer. Airtel Advantage Plan and Airtel Freedom Plan are both expensive as compared to Simply Reliance Plan by as much as 20% to 60% in various tariffs they offer and again their offers are timed - 30 day validity or 1 year validity. Unlike reliance whose offers are for lifetime.
Please find below the image showing the details of the plan: Data Marked in Gold Color is The officially launched correct data.

Reliance Communications Simply Reliance Plan Variants

Applicability (Both GSM & CDMA Networks)

Both Prepaid & Postpaid segments - Pan India

Prepaid Plan Implications

New Plan

Existing

New Plan

Sim Card Cost Currently

Free

Free

Free

First Recharge for lifetime plan benefit

Rs.51

Existing customer migration cost - one time cost for lifetime

Rs.48

Validity of the plan and the number

Lifetime

Lifetime

Lifetime

Minimum Recharge Commitment every 6 months for connection continuity

Rs. 200/6months

Rs. 200/6months

Rs. 200/6months

SIMPLY RELIANCE PLAN (Rs.)

Category / Pulse Rate

Per second

Per minute

Per 180 seconds (3mins)

Local on-net

0.01

0.5

1

Local off-net

0.01

0.5

1

STD (NLD) on-net

0.01

0.5

1

STD (NLD) off-net

0.01

0.5

1

SMS - local

0.01

0.5

1

SMS - national

0.01

0.5

1

Roaming incoming

0.01

0.5

1

Roaming outgoing (local)

0.01

0.5

1

Roaming outgoing (STD)

0.01

0.5

1

Per Minute Cost Workout for Consumers - Effective Cost

Rs. 0.60/min

Rs. 0.50/min

Rs. 0.33/min

Postpaid Plan Implications

Monthly Plan Type 1 - Cost (with Rs. 99 worth of free sms's)

Rs. 99/month

Monthly Plan Type 2 - Cost (with Rs. 399 worth of free sms's & free local calls both)

Rs. 399/month

Source - Company and Kotak Report

Thus next time you choose your operator then kindly see who offers what without any conditions attached to it. And don't go by the face value please. (We acknowledge the company website and kotak report for this information)

Why not to have quota based voting?

2009-10-21T05:10:00.000-07:00

This issue popped up in my mind some time back when I heard our new HRD minister Dr. Kapil Sibal talk about having quotas for OBCs in private institutions. It’s not that I was amazed at this U-Turn by Mr. Sibal on the issue of quotas (He was one of the few from government to criticize Arjun Singh’s quota policy.). I have understood by now that you can never trust a politician. But this news item triggered a thought in my mind that when the government is keen to divide the society on the basis of castes, as opposed to what it SHOULD be

doing, why doesn’t it allocate a quota to the voting as well?

Here’s a proposition for quota-based voting in India. Let’s have 27% quota for OBCs, 33% for women, 15% for SCs, 10% for Muslims, 5% for Christians and 5% for others. Remaining 5% might be allocated to the General Category but only if Mr. Sibal and his government think that GC are intelligent enough to chose a government. If they decide to move ahead with their existing argument that GC people have EXCESSIVE advantage over other castes and categories of people, they might take away this Extra-ordinary right as well.

But just imagine what will happen after this quota allocation. 27% of the whisky bottles for elections will be distributed among OBCs leading to nation-wide strikes by SCs to increase their quota. The Election Commission of India will issue a

charge-sheet against Mr. Lallu for exceeding the quota of SCs and OBCs in his rallies. Mayawati will be awarded the “Best Politician” award for showing most respect towards the quota system and the quickest implementation in her state. Mulayam will be put behind bars for having 25% muslims in his party against the quota of 10%. And BJP will be banned for defying the entire Quota regime. Congress will still remain the Most Secular Party in India with strict adherence to quotas.

So, while the GC citizens will be downgraded to third-class citizens, India will develop as the Most Secular Nation on the planet with Quotas for everyone.

Originally posted on http://am-i-possible.blogspot.com

History of various technologies

2009-10-08T22:20:00.000-07:00

This is an excerpt from an article in the newspaper today.Found it interesting.

Ever wondered how old your favourite technology or gadget really is? Read on to find out

CELLPHONES

How many years old: 36

Date of birth: October 17, 1973

From being a luxury for the rich to an absolute necessity even for the common man, the cell phone’s come a long way. It’s almost an extension of the human body now. Martin Cooper made the first call on a handheld mobile phone on April 3, 1973. The first mobile phone was approved by the Federal Communications Commission in the US in 1983.

THE INTERNET

How many years old: 40

Date of birth: September 2, 1969

For something that you can’t feel or see, the World Wide Web has changed our thoughts and our lives in ways we’re only just beginning to realise. The Internet truly shrunk the world, being the harbinger of an information revolution. This mode of connectivity was born at the University of California 40 years ago last week. And when was the first time it was attacked? In 1988, by ‘Morris’, one of the first Internet worms!

BLOGS

How many years old: 12

Date of birth: April 1, 1997

This one’s the kid in the family. Blogs are freedom of expression on steroids — everything from Bush-bashing to your sex life can be broadcast to the world. ‘Scripting New’ was the first modern blog. Initially, it was named ‘weblog’ (meaning log of the web), and later, in 2004, it received legitimacy from the etymological elite, with the Merriam Webster dictionary making it its word of the year.

THE WALKMAN

How many years old: 30

Date of birth: July 1, 1979

This one passed away young, but its memory lives on every time someone plugs in the earphones of an MP3 player. Thirty years after it was born, the great grand daddy of iPods has been relegated to obsolescence, but the snazzy gadget revolutionised the way people listened to music, and still inspires fond nostalgia from the parent types.

Forecasting Model for Fruits & Vegetables in Retail Outlets

2009-09-29T08:11:00.000-07:00

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

Statement of Purpose

To create an indenting system between Retail Outlets & MIS of Subhiksha Trading Services Ltd in Upper North Region. The system should serve the following purposes

Ø Reduces Inventory

Ø Reduces Time lag in SCM

Ø Reduces Dump

Problem Faced

Ø High level of Inventory

Ø High time lag in SCM

Ø High Dump Value

Solution

Implementation of PRABAL’S INDENTING SYSTEM Version 1 that takes into consideration the following parameters.

Ø Average Sales

Ø Day Effect

Ø Season Effect

Ø Increment Effect

Ø Dump Effect

Ø Days of Stock

Ø Critical Shelf Life

Problem Analysis

The company is leading Retail Chain, which serves Fruits & Vege

tables (F&V) also. The F&V are purchased centrally from

Mandi and supplied to Ware House. The purchase is based are based on the compiled order of the region provided by MIS. MIS compiles the data based on the Indent given by individual RO’s(Retail Outlet).

Indent is made by Supervisor. The education level of Supervisor is less than higher secondary. The indent is given in 2 days advance to MIS. Indent is normally created by gut feeling of Supervisor.

Indent > Supply = Wt loss + Sale + Closing Stock

Closing Stock = Sellable Closing Stock + Dump

Present Methodology

Ø On the Closing of Day i.e at night, closing stock is weighed and recorded.

Ø Each outlet tries to maintain the desirable no. of day’s stock, which has been calculated for each item separately.

Ø Also Critical Shelf Life of each SKU has been calculated and circulated.

Ø While indenting, supervisor normally keeps both the mentioned information in mind.

But the closing stock calculated by them is misleading in two ways:-

Closing Stock reported consists both sellable Closing stock and Dump.

Closing Stock is taken at night, while reported in the morning. Considerable amount of weight loss and increase in Dump occurs by the morning.

This deviation from ideal indent at RO level creates a bullwhip effect at Central Purchase Level.

New Methodology

The indent is forecasted, based on the mathematical formulas.

It Considers:-

Ø Average Sales

Ø Day Effect

Ø Season Effect

Ø Increment Effect

Ø Dump Effect

Ø Sellable Opening Stock in the morning

Ø Days of Stock

Ø Critical Shelf Life

Ø Crate Size

Gives Recommended Indent
Gives the option of modifying indenting by increasing the %age of sales over last day

Nomenclature & Formulae

Nomenclature

DSi = Day Sale of particular SKU on Day i

Average= ∑ DSi (i=1 to 14)

Dump E=( ∑ DUMPi)/14 (i=1 to 14)

INPUTS

DSi where i=1 to 14

OS15 = Opening Stock of Day15 of particular SKU

DUMP15 = Opening Dump Stock of Day15 of particular SKU

STN IN15 = Stock Transfer Inwards(Accepted) on Day15 before Indent is made.

STN OT15 = Stock Transfer Outwards on Day15 before Indent is made.

OUTPUTS

RI = Recommended Indent in no. of crates for Day17

FI = Final Indent in no. of crates for Day17

Recommended STN out in no. of crates on Day15

OPTIONAL INPUT

Increment desired on last day sale in percentage inputs.

REMARKS

Kindly mention that why you are giving this increment when its more than 50% or less than -50%

Formulae

DE= Day Effect

DE= (DS3+ DS4)/2

Avg Sale

SE= Season Effect

SE = ∑ DSi (i=1 to 8)

∑ DSi (i=1 to 7)

Dump E= Dump Effect

Dump E= (( ∑ DUMPi)/14)/Avg (i=1 to 14)

PS= Projected Sale

PS= Avg(1+DE+SE+ Dump E)

DOS = Days of Stock

DOS = OS15 + STN IN15 – STN OT15

Avg

CSL= Critical Shelf Life

Logic Test 1 If DOS > CSL

> Stock out the excess stock

Else >Regular Indent

Logic Test 2 If DOS<1/2*csl

> Additional Indent=AI

> AI= RI*0.45 (0.45 is taken by Hit & Trial)

Else >Additional Stock=0

Recommended Indent = Reco I = RI+AI

Inc= Increment percentage over last day sales (DS14)

FI= Final Indent = Reco I(1+Inc/100)

Marketing Concepts@IIMs

2009-09-17T10:56:00.001-07:00

A Professor at one of the IIM's (INDIA) was explaining marketing concepts to the Students:-
1. You see a gorgeous girl at a party. You go up to her and say: "I am very rich. Marry me!" - That's Direct Marketing
2. You're at a party with a bunch of friends and see a gorgeous girl. One of your friends goes up to her and pointing at you says: "He's very rich. Marry him." - That's Advertising
3. You see a gorgeous girl at a party. You go up to her and get her telephone number. The next day, you call and say: "Hi, I'm very rich. Marry me." - That's Telemarketing
4. You're at a party and see gorgeous girl. You get up and straighten your tie, you walk up to her and pour her a drink, you open the door (of the car)for her, pick up her bag after she drops it, offer her ride and then say: By the way, I'm rich. Will you marry me?" - That's Public Relations
5. You're at a party and see gorgeous girl. She walks up to you and says: You are very rich! Can you marry ! me?" - That's Brand Recognition
6. You see a gorgeous girl at a party. You go up to her and say: I am very rich. Marry me!" She gives you a nice hard slap on your face. - That's Customer Feedback
7. You see a gorgeous girl at a party. You go up to her and say: "I am very rich. Marry me!" And she introduces you to her husband. - That's demand and supply gap
8. You see a gorgeous girl at a party. You go up to her and before you say anything, another person come and tell her: "I'm rich. Will you marry me?" and she goes with him - That's competition eating into your market share
9. You see a gorgeous girl at a party. You go up to her and before you say: "I'm rich, Marry me!" your wife arrives. - That's restriction for entering new markets

Delhi: A long way to go.

2009-08-21T05:39:00.000-07:00

It’s really difficult to understand the relevance of the claims made by Mr. Kalmadi and Ms. Sheila Dixit about ‘successfully’ holding the Commonwealth games in Delhi next year. We do not have the stadia ready to play, we do not have the audience to watch sports apart from Cricket, we do not have the roads to carry the tourists across the city and we do not have the buses to do so. In such a case, how do we make the claims to hold Commonwealth Games in India and are bold enough to bid for Olympics.
A short stint of 4.5 months in Dubai was enough to change my perception on India Shining. A GDP growth rate of 6% and the ability to fight the inflation did not have any impact on the actual condition of India. Through this post, I do not intend to criticize and re-criticize the government for its failure in bringing up the talent to the forefront, but I’ll pick up three most grieving problems faced by Delhi to attract foreign tourists and businesses. I end this blog with three recommendations for the government and the citizens to start the change process and give a speed to it.
The first and the foremost factor is the portrayal of the image of India. I landed at New Delhi IGI Airport and the first sight was old, stressed out baboos sitting at the immigration counter, handling the foreign tourists and creating the proverbial first impression on them. The moment I came out of the airport, the scene outside was even worse. There was a long queue at the pre-paid taxi counter that was shattered itself. After standing in queue for 15 minutes, I got the receipt for the taxi but no taxi number and nobody to tell me where to get the taxi from. As if that wasn’t enough, the taxi itself was in a broken condition with foam coming out of the seats, rear view mirror missing and seat belt just tied at one end. And if you get a chance to travel by train in the morning, you’ll see people doing their chores besides the railway tracks making India the butt of the joke.
The second serious problem faced by Delhi today is the road traffic control system. Delhi-NOIDA express way was created to showcase India’s prowess in the road transportation but despite the wide, high-speed roads, the toll-gate has done the damage by making the cars wait for long times. Though I am proud of the DMRC project in the city, but the traffic hassles that it has been creating for the last 6-7 years have been a major headache. The temporary roads that have been built as bypass to the metro-line have been built in a very bad condition as if the responsibility for travelling on temporary roads lies with the drivers and not with the authorities. At traffic lights, it becomes evident that there’s no lane system existing in Delhi, whatever are the claims of the Delhi traffic control authorities.
Third major problem faced by Delhi is the safety of its citizens, especially at night. Every other day, we read a couple of news of murder in some corner of Delhi or a rape in the other. Night life is pathetic, to say the least, in Delhi and the only reason is the security issue. People don’t feel safe to come out of their houses at night, even for a walk. And foreigners are the least protected of the entire lot because of their naiveté about India.
Given these basic problems, apart from the administrative, bureaucratic and sports issues, how does Delhi claim to be in control of the situation and sure enough to be able to hold the Commonwealth games in 2010?
Coming to the solution part, there are three basic things that Delhi needs to focus on, rather than beating around the bush with same old policies leading to absolutely nowhere.
The first thing that Delhi needs is the role clarity between the Center government’s responsibilities and the State government’s. Not long ago, the state and central governments were from different parties and one could see a constant blame game going on between the two for the responsibilities of the safety of citizens, public transportation, power supply, water supply and other basic infrastructural facilities. Even now, it’s not clear whether the Indian Olympics Association (IOA) needs to tighten the state government for certain facility requirements or the Center govt. Before we move on to ensure a Developed Delhi, we need to sit for a while and draw clear lines of responsibilities.
The second important step to be taken by the Indian government is to ensure a better road network and a planned expansion of the same. Just like the Andhra Pradesh government, Delhi govt needs to take some bold steps to expand the road network within the city at a much faster pace than it has been doing. Roads in Old Delhi need to be broadened and new roads to be added, even if it means purchasing the land from the residents of the area. The Delhi-Gurgaon flyover system was planned to take on the traffic for next 20 years, but it has already been clogged up with traffic jams and long queues. Proper traffic planning needs to be put into place before mindlessly creating new roads. The BRTS system has faced so much resistance from the local public because this system created another barrier in the already bad traffic condition of the capital. A centralized support system for the public transportation should be set in place to help the non-residents of Delhi. In the nutshell, the master plan for the city or Delhi Vision 2020 should be created for Delhi and every department should be aligned to work towards the same.
My last recommendation to the Delhi government will be to shift as fast as possible from the man-oriented governance system to e-governance. I really appreciate the Bhagidari initiative of Delhi govt. under the supervision of Ms. Sheila Dixit, but this initiative needs to be more inclusive in approach. E-governance should not only be focused at the citizens or residents of Delhi, but it should also be targeted at making the stay of the tourists as comfortable as possible. E-governance should help the citizens to fill in the bills online, file complaints against public offices, get to know the bus routes, know about the decisions of the government, know about the plans for Delhi’s development, rules and regulations prevalent in Delhi and other needed support for the residents of and visitors to Delhi.
I think these three solutions will form the base for the Delhi government to start its further development towards proving itself as the capital of the next super-power of the world. Once developed in Delhi, the same model can also be implemented in other cities in India that suffer the problems similar to New Delhi’s.
But before putting it all on the government, I must say that nothing can be fruitful if the citizens of the country will not support the system. Any initiative of the government needs an encouragement and acceptance in right spirit by the residents. Only then will we be able to create a Shining Delhi and Shining India.

ARUN SHARMA

Copyright © 2009, Arun Sharma. All Rights Reserved.

For discussion on this article, visit http://am-i-possible.blogspot.com
For more posts by Arun Sharma, visit http://WhyNotHaveFun.wordpress.com

Opportunity at the Bottom of the Pyramid ???

2009-07-09T16:31:00.001-07:00

Opportunity at the Bottom of the Pyramid – CK Prahalad proposed the idea and many of us cashed upon it. The “Business Pandits” of the world like Mr. Prahalad, say that the opportunity exists in emerging markets like India and there too, in the rural markets of India. My point of dissatisfaction with this approach is with treating the rural population as target market and not as a means to ensure a fair distribution of wealth.
The major indicator of India’s financial intents is the Annual Budget of India. The Finance Minister of India, Mr. Pranav Mukherjee presented the budget on 6th July 10, 2009 and spelled out a budget that clearly revolved around the single point agenda of the upliftment of the Bottom of The Pyramid. Increased allocations for JNNURM (Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission) and NREGS (National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme) are just a few indicators of this approach. Another important step taken by government is to subsidize the communication infrastructure set-up in rural India to ensure a faster reach.
Any considerate citizen of India would’ve appreciated this approach of India, Inc. to pave a path for the rural population of India to reap the same benefits as the urban population. Infosys Chief Mentor, Mr. Narayan Murthy appreciated the Finance Minister by saying, “heart of the UPA is in Inclusive Growth.”1 Through budget focus on agricultural growth by fertilizer policy and credit availability to the farmers at low interest rate, it has been tried to create an equated society of India.
But then why at the end of the day, Sensex (Bombay Stock Exchange Index) fell by 6% in a single day? And why has every other person from the industry criticized the approach adopted by Indian government? Why has the approach of India to make a rich brother help his poor brother been criticized by the “Industry Experts”? Why did The Wall Street Journal regard this budget as “A Budget for Second-Tier Developing Nation”2 ? Why would The Financial Times pass judgments about the Finance Minister by saying, “one would expect him to at least balance the politics”3 ?
I see only one reason for this – Expectation of immediate gains. In May alone, the FII to the Bombay Stock Exchange went up by $ 4.14 bn4 on the hopes of immediate gains when their economies back home were not stable and needed the cash badly for revival. But excess “money attracts more money” is the rule. So, the business logic makes sense only when it adds to itself – doesn’t matter what the country needs. And they expected Indian government to pave a path for them to realize their short term objectives, which obviously did not happen and the stock markets plummeted.
There is a major problem with the idea that all these organizations agree with – the fact that the “Opportunity lies at the Bottom of the Pyramid” where everybody looks at them just as potential customers. Several NGOs work at the grassroot level to take the benefits of government policies to the real beneficiaries. Not to miss out that the corporate also contribute to this, but only from a single perspective of “Tapping the untapped markets” or being “Prime-movers in markets of no-competition”. Never has any business organization thought about the welfare of the society in general and not as customers.
Why I am so against the “mutual benefit” theory of the Corporate Social Responsibility? The reason is that there is always an Information Asymmetry in Urban-Rural interaction and hence, there cannot be an equal “mutual benefit” for the corporates and rural population. And in such a case, it is the prerogative of the government to provide essential infrastructure to the rural population (and urban poor) to bring them at par.
So, the opportunity indeed lies at the bottom of the pyramid but let’s not consider them just a Market but a part of the family that we left behind in the run for money.

References:

1 “FM did a good job: Narayana Murthy”, The Economic Times, http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/FM-did-a-good-job-Narayana-Murthy/videoshow/4744647.cms
2. “A Budget for a Second-Tier Developing Nation”, By PAUL BECKETT, JULY 6, 2009, The Wall Street Journal, http://online.wsj.com/article/SB124687522344399695.html
3. “India’s Budget lacks a reform agenda”, By John Elliott, July 6 2009, The Financial Times, http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0be648c2-6a2c-11de-ad04-00144feabdc0
4. “India is now flooded with $1billion per week”, by Swaminathan S Anklesaria Aiyar, June 7, 2009, The Times of India

Copyright © 2009, Arun Sharma. All Rights Reserved.

For more articles by Arun Sharma, visit http://am-i-possible.blogspot.com

How To Survive The Recession, Then Fail The Recovery. The British Airways Story.

2009-06-23T21:32:00.000-07:00

"How To Survive The Recession, Then Fail The Recovery"
“The British Airways Story”.
Last year BA reported a sharp rise of operating profit to £883 million, which in view of the rising fuel price and their falling market share, seemed to be bucking the downward global trend.
This year they reported a loss of £401 million.
Somewhere between the two reality probably lies, but when has reality ever paid out a performance bonus? And when have the published numbers ever reflected what is actually happening to a business?

A spokesman for BA, Mr Willie Walsh, said last month: “The combination of unprecedented oil prices, economic slowdown and weaker consumer confidence has led to substantially lower first quarter profits." “But,” He said ”British Airways is well prepared and has adapted its plans in the event of further economic uncertainty.”

These reported performance figures for BA and their smooth denial of concern reminded me of the last time BA management hit the news.

It was several years ago and Rod Eddington, the then chairman of British Airways, was responding on TV to concerns about the profitability of British Airways.
He was having a moan about how the budget airlines were cutting into his market share, but he was still being quite bullish about it. He told the interviewer how, in the last three years, he had cut the operating costs of British Airways by 5% and that although the competition was tough they fully expected to maintain their market share.

What he didn’t say was that in the past three years, to make that 5% saving, he had made redundant 16,000 members of his workforce.

He must have had some idea of the consequences of those redundancies for the remaining workforce. How did he think they felt about it?

Did he think they still felt good about working for British Airways?
Did he think they still felt their jobs were secure?
Did he think they felt proud of what had happened.

At the time Rod Eddington seemed supremely unconcerned by any of the consequence of his actions other than the ability to boast about the financial savings he thought he had made.

The men and women who worked for BA had. in the main been in their dream jobs. Pilots, who as schoolboys had pictured themselves wearing Raybans while they lounged around in the cockpits of big jets.
Cabin crew who used to dream of all the exotic destinations they would go to.
Baggage handlers and support staff who at the time could use BA to nip over to Paris for the weekend for the price of a cup of strong coffee.

And then, by making 16,000 redundancies, Rod Eddington had at a stroke completely changed the way that the remaining BA employees felt about what they did.

He had changed their attitudes and behaviours from those of a proud group of motivated people, dedicated to the service of their customers, to a bunch of disillusioned job hunters.
By making these redundancies British Airways changed the behaviour of their whole workforce from a powerful group of people who were proud of what they did, to an apathetic, untrusting workforce who were only interested in where they could send their next CV.

In the latest twist in the saga of the failure of BA we read of the appeal from the current management for the workforce of BA to give the company one months work without pay to try to save the company.

Since the days of Rod Eddington, management at BA have completely lost the loyalty of their staff by the way that they have behaved towards them, creating a morally bankrupt organisation, Make no mistake, this moral bankruptcy was caused by BA management.
Now we see the current management attempting to cash a cheque against the BA account that they themselves have already emptied.

Is this BA management completely misreading the way that the workforce feel about the company they work for? Or is this a cynical manoeuvre by management to deflect the blame for the failure of the company?

It is possible that the company will fail without these individual contributions from the workforce.
The workforce must be aware that it is just as likely that the company will fail even after they have put themselves into personal debt to try to keep it afloat, the only difference being that when the company fails, even after the workforce have given their time for free, the workforce will be in an even worse position to support their families.
Either way, management have already broken the trust of the workforce and since none of the management team seem to have offered to work for nothing it seems even less likely that any of the workforce will be persuaded to stick their necks out.

Do BA management truly believe that the workforce, working for nothing, will save them or are they working a spin, which when the company goes to the wall will enable them to say
“It was not our fault, We were let down by the workforce who would not support us.”

In this ongoing crisis we have to be very careful about what we do to survive and how that changes the way that our remaining workforce feel about they are asked to do.

Ride roughshod over the workforce during the recession because you can, and like BA you will have a very hard time continuing to trade even when the rest of the world has resumed doing business, Or, take care of your people when they most need it and they will take care of you when you need it.

We can’t have it both ways.

What goes around comes around.

Peter A Hunter
Author – Breaking the Mould
www.breakingthemould.co.uk

Its all about Money

2009-05-23T08:10:00.001-07:00

It’s all about Money!

It is August. In a small town on the South Coast of France, holiday seasonis in full swing, but it is raining so there is not too much businesshappening. Everyone is heavily in debt. Luckily, a rich Russian touristarrives in the foyer of the small local hotel. He asks for a room and putsa Euro100 note on the reception counter, takes a key and goes to inspectthe room located up the stairs on the third floor.
The hotel owner takes the banknote in hurry and rushes to his meat supplierto whom he owes E100.
The butcher takes the money and races to his wholesale supplier to pay hisdebt.
The wholesaler rushes to the farmer to pay E100 for pigs he purchased sometime ago.
The farmer goes quickly to the hotel, as he owed E100 the hotel for usinghotel room for some family function in past.
At that moment, the rich Russian is coming down to reception and informsthe hotel owner that the proposed room is unsatisfactory and takes his E100back and departs.
There was no profit or income. But everyone no longer has any debt and thesmall town people look optimistically towards their future.
COULD THIS BE THE SOLUTION TO THE Global Financial Crisis?

Just In Time: Different Prespective

2009-03-15T08:35:00.001-07:00

Hello Friends

I was recently preparing a Just In Time Training Module in my company. And my biggest challenge was how to explain it to high school pass operator.

So, the following two points I thought of:
1. JIT is like driving a sports car at a speed of 200 miles/hr. Imagine when you are driving a bicycle at the speed of 20 what is important to you. And in comparison when you are driving a sports car on the track what is important to you. I think when you are driving sports car the most important thing to you is Reliability of your machinery. When we are talking about JIT then Reliability doesnt come only under machinery, but the whole process means whole supply chain or value chain per se.

2. JIT is like a relay race where next player can't run till the earlier one hasn't handed over baton to him. This is in essence the Pull System which is pillar of JIT. Also it defines the very existence of Kanban system.

If you have any more ideas do lemme know.

regards
Prabal

Book Section: The Goal by Goldratt

2009-03-15T08:31:00.001-07:00

I read this book, after i was recommended by my friends atleast dozen times.
I was surprised that this book is in story form, where the author has explained lot of management tactics via form of situations arising in front of our Hero.
I was more surprised to learn that this book was a textbook of MBA students in NITIEE.
It definitely acts as a source of inspiration to all management practioners in general and to operations guys in particular.

It is this book in which Goldratt founded the concept of Theory of Constraints.

A must read.

What is recession?

2009-02-17T19:46:00.000-08:00

What is recession?

This story is about a man who once upon a time was selling Hotdogs by the roadside. He was illiterate, so he never read newspapers. He was hard of hearing, so he never listened to the radio. His eyes were weak, so he never watched television. But enthusiastically, he sold lots of hotdogs. He was smart enough to offer some attractive schemes to increase his sales. His sales and profit went up. He ordered more a more raw material and buns and sold more. He recruited more supporting staff to serve more customers. He started offering home deliveries. Eventually he got himself a bigger and better stove. As his business was growing, the son, who had recently graduated from college, joined his father. Then something strange happened. The son asked, "Dad, aren't you aware of the great recession that is coming our way?" The father replied, "No, but tell me about it." The son said, "The international situation is terrible. The domestic situation is even worse. We should be prepared for the coming bad times.." The man thought that since his son had been to college, read the papers, listened to the radio and watched TV. He ought to know and his advice should not be taken lightly. So the next day onwards, the father cut down the his raw material order and buns, took down the colourful signboard, removed all the special schemes he was offering to the customers and was no longer as enthusiastic. He reduced his staff strength by giving layoffs. Very soon, fewer and fewer people bothered to stop at his Hotdog stand. And his sales started coming down rapidly and so did the profit. The father said to his son, "Son, you were right”. “We are in the middle of a recession and crisis. I am glad you warned me ahead of time."

Moral of the Story: It’s all in your MIND! And we actually FUEL this recession much more than we think.

Just Another Explorer : Balanced Score Card of Life!!!

2009-01-25T23:10:00.000-08:00

Hello Friends

The first diagram you are seeing is of Balanced Score Card for Corporates as designed by Kaplan and Norton.

It talks about the four perspectives

Financial

Customer

Internal Business

Innovation and Learning

You can read more about this balanced score in my other articles in the same blog.

Taking inspiration by Kaplan and Norton, I designed the Balanced Score Card of Life, which is in second diagram.
It talks about again four perspectives:

Wealth
Health
Career
Personal Life

I am working on this concept for last 1 year. I am putting this article to get more ideas from the readers. The ultimate goal is to be able to implement in my personal life.

I will write more articles on this concept soon.

Regards

Just Another Explorer

(Prabal Aggarwal)

PS: Friends, as an author of this article, I authorize anybody, can use this article for publishing on any media i.e. print, visual, audio, internet, forwarding emails, intranets, etc. on the condition that, the name of the author, body of the article will not be changed or altered. Secondly, one has to give due credit by mentioning that this article was originally written & posted by Prabal Aggarwal, on Jan 25 2009 on www.managementinformatika.blogspot.com. Also, if anybody using this content, feel like that monetary contribution should be made, you can donate on my behalf that sum of money to Project Why (http://www.projectwhy.org/), not for profit organization.

If you like this article, then subscribe to justanotherexplorer@googlegroups.com, by visiting http://groups.google.co.in/group/justanotherexplorer

Satire: How to rule the stock mkts !!!

2008-11-18T06:06:00.000-08:00

a bit old but really gud!

Once upon a time in a village, a man appeared and announced to the villagers that he would buy monkeys for Rs10.
The villagers seeing that there were many monkeys around, went out to the forest and started catching them
The man bought thousands at Rs10 and as supply started to diminish, the villagers stopped their effort. He further announced that he would now buy at Rs20. This renewed the efforts of the villagers and they started catching monkeys again.
Soon the supply diminished even further and people started going back to their farms. The offer rate increased to Rs25 and the supply of monkeys became so little that it was an effort to even see a monkey, let alone catch it!
The man now announced that he would buy monkeys at Rs50! However, since he had to go to the city on some business, his assistant would now buy on behalf of him.
In the absence of the man, the assistant told the villagers. Look at all these monkeys in the big cage that the man has collected I will sell them to you at Rs35 and when the man returns from the city, you can sell it to him for Rs50."
The villagers squeezed up with all their savings and bought all the monkeys.
Then they never saw the man nor his assistant, only monkeys everywhere!!!
Welcome to the "Stock" Market!!!!!

Warren Buffet: Berkshire Hathaway Shareholders meeting at Omaha 2008

2008-11-18T05:59:00.000-08:00

Hello Friends

I just got this article forwarded through my friends. I found it really good and would like to share it.

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I had the good fortune to attend the 2008- Berkshire Hathaway Shareholders meeting at Omaha, Nebraska a few weeks back.
It was a wonderful experience listening to and learning from the Master Investor- Warren Buffett himself and all I can say is that he stands alone as the reigning deity of financial world's Mt Olympus!
The degree of humility and composure he exhibited, although he is the richest and most well respected human is stunning!
I tried to take some notes and would like to share with you some of the best questions and answers which came across during the conversation between we mortals and God.
Having read about him, observed him and worshipped him for a few years now, I think it is reasonable to believe that this guy is exactly what he seems: a plain-speaking, tee totaling man of uncrackable integrity who works really, really hard and sticks to his investing and management principles through boom and bust which makes him a freak of nature since he is above normal human tendencies. He is like a comet streaking through the heavens every 75 years or so.
The questions the shareholders threw at him for 7 continuous hours ranged from finances, life, religion, career, politics, sports and several other streams. And he answered everything with a Zen like calm and confidence.
Even if you are least bothered about investments and finances, I insist, Pl read on.
================
What does it take to become a successful investor? Brilliance or Smartness?
Neither, Success in investing doesn't correlate with I.Q. Once you have ordinary intelligence, what you need is the temperament to control the urges that gets other people into trouble in investing.
When do you deicide to invest in a firm?
The best thing that happens to us is when a great company gets into temporary trouble. We want to buy them when they're on the operating table. (Mr. Buffett bought Coke when it had its biggest fiasco after launching New Coke; he bought American Express when it went through a loss making phase in the early 60's)
What do you look for in people when they come to sell their firms to you?
I don't look for the usual credentials such as an MBA, a pedigree (Harvard, Wharton), or cash reserves or market cap of their firm. What I look for is just a passion in their eyes; I think that's the key. A person who is hungry will always do well. I prefer it when people even after selling stay on and work for the firm; they are people who can't wait to get off their bed to get to work. Passion is everything; there is no replacement for innate interest.
Mr. Buffett, you told us that Berkshire Hathaway has $ 45 Billion in cash. Why aren't you investing?
Up until a few years back I had more ideas than money. Now I have more money than ideas.
When do you plan to retire?
I love my job; I love it so much that I tap dance to work. Mrs. B, the founder of Nebraska Furniture Mark worked until she was 104, she died within 6 months of her retirement, that's a lesson to all my managers, don't retire! I personally am going to work 6-7 years after I die, probably that's what they mean when they say- "Thinking out of the Box"!!
Why do stock market crashes happen?
Because of human nature for greed and insecurity. The 1970s were unbelievable. The world wasn't going to end, but businesses were being given away. Human nature has not changed. People will always behave in a manic-depressive way over time. They will offer great values to you."
What are the things that are taught wrong in Business school and the corporate world?
I like such open ended questions, I think Business schools should refrain from teaching their wards about profit making and profit making alone, it gives a sense of 1 dimensional outlook to the young students that loss is a curse. In reality, in the corporate world, failure and loss making are inevitable. The capital market without loss is like Christianity without hell. I think they should teach the student on how to buy a business, how to value a business? Not just on how to determine the price of a business. Because price is what you pay, value is what you get.
Do you still hate Technology stocks?
With Coke I can come up with a very rational figure for the cash it will generate in the future. But with the top 10 Internet companies, how much cash will they produce over the next 25 years? If you say you don't know, then you don't know what it is worth and you are speculating, not investing. All I know is that I don't know, and if I don't know, I don't invest."
How to think about Investing?
The first investment primer was written by Aesop in 600 B.C. He said, 'A bird in the hand is worth two in the bush.' Aesop forgot to say when you get the two in the bush and what interest rates are; investing is simply figuring out your cash outlay (the bird in the hand) and comparing it to how many birds are in the bush and when you get them."
How do you feel after donating $ 40 Billion to the Bill and Melinda Gates foundation? You are a hero to us!

I feel nothing. I haven't sacrificed anything in life. I have had a good life. I donated after I turned 75. I think I admire those people who sacrifice their time, share their food and home, as the people to be emulated not me. Besides, what is money before a man's life?
What do you think are the pitfalls in donation?
I have never donated a dime to churches or other such organizations; I need to believe in something before I end up doing that. I have been observing the Bill & Melinda Gates foundation for years now and I am confident they will do a fantastic job of making use of the money. I am a big believer in Outsourcing, others believed in me as an Investor and gave their hard earned money to invest. I believe in Bill Gates, he is a better donor than me.
Why do you work from Omaha and not Wall Street, New York?
Wall Street is the only place where people alight from Rolls Royce to get advised by people who use the Public transportation system.
You seem to be so well read, tell us how it all started.
My father was a stock broker, so we had all these financial books in our library. He introduced me to those classics and I got into them. I am lucky that my father was not a fan of Playboy! Reading is the best habit you can get. Well, you can learn from teachers too, and have mentors but there are so many constraints attached- they will talk fast, talk slow, they might talk like a pro or they might be terrible communicators. Books are a different animal altogether, I love reading! The beauty about reading and learning is that the more you learn the more you want to learn.
People who join Berkshire Hathaway seldom leave. How do you get along well with all your executives?
I try to get quality people. I always say - Hire someone in your organization who is better than you are. If you do that, you build a company of giants. If you get people worse than yourself, you build a company of dwarfs. And do not try to do everything yourself. Delegate the jobs and look out of the window. The results will come. That's how you build institutions. It happens only when you empower others, believe in others. Iam an investor, Iam very secured at that, I have no clue how to make Coca-Cola or how to dole out credit cards (Mr. Buffett owns 8% of Coca-Cola and 13 % of American Express). I understand the wisdom of the aphorism that you cannot please all the people all the time. Of Course, you will always find qualities that you don't like in people around you, but if you observe carefully the love of the work unites you both. There is no point in being obsessive about a bad quality in a person, whom you otherwise respect.
I am a small time businessman from Dallas, Texas, what do I need to do to hit big time?
Be patient, Achieving your financial goals and dreams will not happen overnight. As much as we would all really love to accomplish our goals in a few years, this is an ongoing process. Defining your financial goals is not a one-time task; you need to keep adding new plans at different stages in your life. We all admire the skills of Olympic ice skaters, pro golfers, and concert pianists. But do we remember that they didn't acquire their skills overnight? They had to practice hours on end for years to achieve their dreams. The key to success is to continue learning throughout your life with a voracious appetite.
I think it is marvelous that you have had a golden run with investing, how did you do that?
My rule is to be fearful when others are greedy, and be greedy when others are fearful. Besides, I call investing the greatest job in the world because you never have to swing. You stand at the plate; the pitcher throws you General Motors at 47! U.S. Steel at 39! And nobody calls a strike on you. There's no penalty except opportunity lost. All day you wait for the pitch you like; then when the fielders are asleep, you step up and hit it. Stay dispassionate and be patient. You're dealing with a lot of silly people in the marketplace; it's like a great big casino and everyone else is boozing. If you can stick with drinking Coke, you should be OK. First the crowd is boozy on optimism and buying every new issue in sight. The next moment it is boozy on pessimism, buying gold bars and predicting another Great Depression, most people get interested in stocks when everyone else is. The time to get interested is when no one else is. You can't buy what is popular and do well.
Mr. Buffett you have seen so many crashes and recessions, your take on facing recessions and stock market crashes?
If past history was all there was to the game, the richest people would be librarians. Every scenario is different. But always remember, Tough times do not last. Tough people do.
What is the 1 biggest advice you would impart to a young investor like me?
Think for a moment that you are given a car and told this is the only car you would get for the rest of your life. Then you would make sure that you car is taken care of well, it is oiled and detailed every now and then. You would make sure that it never gets rusted, and you would garage it. Think of yourself as that car. You just get 1 body, 1 mind and 1 soul. Take care of it well. Invest in yourself that would be my advice.
You personally know many of the Financial executives who are engineers of the current turmoil in the financial world, surprisingly even after record losses, those executives receive astronomical salaries and bonuses and arrogantly declare that they deserve it, why dint you advice them from making such decisions and what's your view on their justification for their pay?
I like sharing my ideas but don't like imposing my ideas on anybody. It doesn't make sense and is a waste of time. If somebody has decided that they know everything that is there to know, nobody can help them. The best way to learn and succeed is to know that we know nothing. There is an entire universe out there and still some of us think we can know everything. In the world of investing a few people after making some money tend to imagine they are invincible and great. This is the worst thing that could happen to any investor, because it surely means that the investor will end up taking unnecessary risks and end up losing everything – arrogance, ego and overconfidence are very lethal. Personally I don't feel too comfortable with too much extravagance, because I always think like an investor. My thought process doesn't see a lot of value in a fancy car or a designer suit. Thinking like an investor always is very important to bring in a sense of discipline and focus. Before reading balance sheets and investing you need to make sure your outlook and mindset is that of an investor. Never let ego, arrogance and over-confidence control you - not just as an investor but also as a human being. You will never have internal peace if you are unable to look at everybody around you with love, compassion and understanding. Irrespective of who the person is, he or she can teach you something you don't know. I have learnt so much from people all around me and I wouldn't have been able to learn all these wonderful things if I had not spoken to them with a smile. To quote Sir Isaac Newton- If I have seen farther than others, it is because I have stood on the shoulders of giants.

It was a 7 hour conversation and I could just capture some of the best questions and answers. As 37,000+ dazed, amazed and grateful shareholders trooped out of the stadium after the meeting, I found myself recalling one of my favorite quotes-
"A man has to learn that he cannot command things, but that he can command himself; that he cannot coerce the wills of others, but that he can mold and master his own will: and things serve him who serves truth; people seek guidance of him who is master of himself".

Satire: How to get Bankrupt?

2008-11-04T07:26:00.000-08:00

Funny but true:
Once there was a little island country. The land of this country was thetiny island itself. The total money in circulation was 2 dollars as therewere only two pieces of 1 dollar coins circulating around.
1) There were 3 citizens living on this island country. A owned the land.B and C each owned 1 dollar.
2) B decided to purchase the land from A for 1 dollar. So, now A and C own1 dollar each while B owned a piece of land that is worth 1 dollar.
* The net asset of the country now = 3 dollars.
3) Now C thought that since there is only one piece of land in the country,and land is non producible asset, its value must definitely go up. So, heborrowed 1 dollar from A, and together with his own 1 dollar, he bought theland from B for 2 dollars.
*A has a loan to C of 1 dollar, so his net asset is 1 dollar.* B sold his land and got 2 dollars, so his net asset is 2 dollars.* C owned the piece of land worth 2 dollars but with his 1 dollar debt toA, his net residual asset is 1 dollar.* Thus, the net asset of the country = 4 dollars.
4) A saw that the land he once owned has risen in value. He regrettedhaving sold it. Luckily, he has a 1 dollar loan to C. He then borrowed 2dollars from B and acquired the land back from C for 3 dollars. The paymentis by 2 dollars cash (which he borrowed) and cancellation of the 1 dollarloan to C. As a result, A now owned a piece of land that is worth 3dollars. But since he owed B 2 dollars, his net asset is 1 dollar.
* B loaned 2 dollars to A. So his net asset is 2 dollars.* C now has the 2 coins. His net asset is also 2 dollars.* The net asset of the country = 5 dollars. A bubble is building up.
(5) B saw that the value of land kept rising. He also wanted to own theland. So he bought the land from A for 4 dollars. The payment is byborrowing 2 dollars from C, and cancellation of his 2 dollars loan to A.
* As a result, A has got his debt cleared and he got the 2 coins. His netasset is 2 dollars.* B owned a piece of land that is worth 4 dollars, but since he has a debtof 2 dollars with C, his net Asset is 2 dollars.* C loaned 2 dollars to B, so his net asset is 2 dollars.
* The net asset of the country = 6 dollars; even though, the country hasonly one piece of land and 2 Dollars in circulation.
(6) Everybody has made money and everybody felt happy and prosperous.
(7) One day an evil wind blew, and an evil thought came to C's mind. "Hey,what if the land price stop going up, how could B repay my loan. There isonly 2 dollars in circulation, and, I think after all the land that B ownsis worth at most only 1 dollar, and no more."
(8) A also thought the same way.
(9) Nobody wanted to buy land anymore.
* So, in the end, A owns the 2 dollar coins, his net asset is 2 dollars.* B owed C 2 dollars and the land he owned which he thought worth 4 dollarsis now 1 dollar. So his net asset is only 1 dollar.* C has a loan of 2 dollars to B. But it is a bad debt. Although his netasset is still 2 dollars, his Heart is palpitating.* The net asset of the country = 3 dollars again.
(10) So, who has stolen the 3 dollars from the country ? Of course, beforethe bubble burst B thought his land was worth 4 dollars. Actually, rightbefore the collapse, the net asset of the country was 6 dollars on paper.B's net asset is still 2 dollars, his heart is palpitating.
(11) B had no choice but to declare bankruptcy. C as to relinquish his 2dollars bad debt to B, but in return he acquired the land which is worth 1dollar now.
* A owns the 2 coins, his net asset is 2 dollars.* B is bankrupt, his net asset is 0 dollar. ( he lost everything )* C got no choice but end up with a land worth only 1 dollar
* The net asset of the country = 3 dollars !!!?

Petro Euro Vs Petro Dollar- Good Eye Opener

2008-10-03T09:13:00.000-07:00

Hello Friends

I haven't written this article myself, but came across it via forwarded mails.

But neverthless, I have checked the validity of the facts stated in the article.

It is indeed an eye opener.

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Petro-Euro Vs Petro-Dollar - Good Eye opener
Why the Dollar Bubble is about to Burst? IRAN HAS REALLY DONE IT...more deadlier than the nuclear..
The Voice (issue 264 -) ran an article beginning, ' Iran has really gone and done it now. No, they haven't sent their first nuclear sub in to the Persian Gulf . They are about to launch something much more deadly -- next week the Iran Bourse will open to trade oil, not n dollars but in Euros' This apparently insignificant event has consequences far greater for the US people, indeed all for us all, than is imaginable.
Currently almost all oil buying and selling is in US-dollars through exchanges in London and New York . It is not accidental they are both US-owned..
The Wall Street crash in 1929 sparked off global depression and World War II. During that war the US supplied provisions and munitions to all its allies, refusing currency and demanding gold payments in exchange.
By 1945, 80% of the world's gold was sitting in US vaults. The dollar became the one undisputed global reserve currency -- it was treated world-wide as `safer than gold'. The Bretton Woods agreement was established.
The US took full advantage over the next decades and printed dollars like there was no tomorrow. The US exported many mountains of dollars, paying for ever-increasing amounts of commodities, tax cuts for the rich, many wars abroad, mercenaries, spies and politicians the world over. You see, this did not affect inflation at home! The US got it all for free! Well, maybe for a forest or two.
Over subsequent decades the world's vaults bulged at the seams and more and more vaults were built, just for US dollars. Each year, the US spends many more dollars abroad that at home. Analysts pretty much agree that outside the US , of the savings, or reserves, of all other countries, in gold and all currencies -- that a massive 66% of this total wealth is in US dollars!
In 1971 several countries simultaneously tried to sell a small portion of their dollars to the US for gold. Krassimir Petrov, (Ph. D. in Economics at Ohio University ) recently wrote, 'The US Government defaulted on its payment on August 15, 1971 . While popular spin told the story of `severing the link between the dollar and gold', in reality the denial to pay back in gold was an act of bankruptcy by the US Government.' The 1945 Breton Woods agreement was unilaterally smashed.
The dollar and US economy were on a precipice resembling Germany in 1929. The US now had to find a way for the rest of the world to believe and have faith in the paper dollar. The solution was in oil, in the petrodollar. The US viciously bullied first Saudi Arabia and then OPEC to sell oil for dollars only -- it worked, the dollar was saved. Now countries had to keep dollars to buy much needed oil. And the US could buy oil all over the world, free of charge. What a Houdini for the US ! Oil replaced gold as the new foundation to stop the paper dollar sinking.
Since 1971, the US printed even more mountains of dollars to spend abroad. The trade deficit grew and grew. The US sucked-in much of the world's products for next to nothing. More vaults were built.
Expert, Cóilínn Nunan, wrote in 2003, 'The dollar is the de facto world reserve currency: the US currency accounts for approximately two thirds of all official exchange reserves. More than four-fifths of all foreign exchange transactions and half of all world exports are denominated in dollars. In addition, all IMF loans are denominated in dollars.' Dr Bulent Gukay of Keele University recently wrote, 'This system of the US dollar acting as global reserve currency in oil trade keeps the demand for the dollar `artificially' high. This enables the US to carry out printing dollars at the price of next to nothing to fund increased military spending and consumer spending on imports. There is no theoretical limit to the amount of dollars that can be printed. As long as the US has no serious challengers, and the other states have confidence in the US dollar, the system functions.'
Until recently, the US-dollar has been safe. However, since 1990 Western Europe has been busy growing, swallowing up central and Eastern Europe . French and German bosses were jealous of the US ability to buy goods and people the world over for nothing. They wanted a slice of the free cake too. Further, they now had the power and established the euro in late 1999 against massive US-inspired opposition across Europe , especially from Britain - paid for in dollars of course. But the euro succeeded.
Only months after the euro-launch, Saddam's Iraq announced it was switching from selling oil in dollars only, to euros only -- breaking the OPEC agreement.. Iran , Russia , Venezuela , Libya , all began talking openly of switching too -- were the floodgates about to be opened?
Then aero planes flew into the twin-towers in September 2001. Was this another Houdini chance to save the US (petro) dollar and the biggest financial/economic crash in history? War preparations began in the US But first war-fever had to be created -- and truth was the first casualty. Other oil producing countries watched-on. In 2000 Iraq began selling oil in euros. In 2002, Iraq changed all their petro-dollars in their vaults into euros. A few months later, the US began their invasion of Iraq .
The whole world was watching: very few aware that the US was engaging in the first oil currency, or petro-dollar war. After the invasion of Iraq in March 2003, remember, the US secured oil areas first. Their first sales in August were, of course, in dollars, again. The only government building in Baghdad not bombed was the Oil Ministry! It does not matter how many people are murdered -- for the US , the petro-dollar must be saved as the only way to buy and sell oil - otherwise the US economy will crash, and much more besides.
In early 2003, Hugo Chavez, President of Venezuela talked openly of selling half of its oil in euros (the other half is bought by the US ). On 12 April 2003, the US-supported business leaders and some generals in Venezuela kidnapped Chavez and attempted a coup. The masses rose against this and the Army followed suit. The coup failed. This was bad for the US .
In November 2000 the euro/dollar was at $0.82 dollars, its lowest ever, and still diving, but when Iraq started selling oil in euros, the euro dive was halted. In April 2002 senior OPEC reps talked about trading in euros and the euro shot up. In June 2003 the US occupiers of Iraq switched trading back to dollars and the euro fell against the dollar again. In August 2003 Iran starts to sell oil in euros to some European countries and the euro rises sharply.. In the winter of 2003-4 Russian and OPEC politicians talked seriously of switching oil/gas sales to the euro and the euro rose. In February 2004 OPEC met and made no decision to turn to the euro -- and yes, the euro fell against the dollar. In June 2004 Iran announced it would build an oil bourse to rival London and New York , and again, the euro rose. The euro stands at $1.27 and has been climbing of late.
But matters this month became far, far worse for the US dollar. On 5th May Iran registered its own Oil Bourse, the IOB. Not only are they now selling oil in euros from abroad -- they have established an actual Oil Bourse, a global trading centre for all countries to buy and sell their oil!
In Chavez's recent visit to London ; he talked openly about supporting the Iranian Oil Bourse, and selling oil in euros. When asked in London about the new arms embargo imposed by the US against Venezuela , Chavez prophetically dismissed the US as 'a paper tiger'.
Currently, almost all the world's oil is sold on either the NYMEX, New York Mercantile Exchange, or the IPE, London's International Petroleum Exchange. Both are owned by US citizens and both sell and buy only in US dollars. The success of the Iran Oil Bourse makes sense to Europe , which buys 70% of Iran 's oil. It makes sense for Russia , which sells 66% of its oil to Europe . But worse for the US , China and India have already stated they are very interested in the new Iranian Oil Bourse.
If there is a tactical-nuclear strike on - deja-vu - `weapons of mass destruction' in Iran , who would bet against a certain Oil Exchange and more, being bombed too?
And worse for Bush. It makes sense for Europe , China , India and Japan-- as well as all the other countries mentioned above -- to buy and sell oil in Euro's. They will certainly have to stock-up on euros now, and they will sell dollars to do so. The euro is far more stable than the debt-ridden dollar. The IMF has recently highlighted US economic difficulties and the trade deficit strangling the US-- there is no way out.
The problem for so many countries now is how to get rid of their vaults full of dollars, before it crashes? And the US has bullied so many countries for so many decades around the world, that many will see a chance to kick the bully back. The US cannot accept even 5% of the world's dollars -- it would crash the US economy dragging much of the world with it, especially Britain .
To survive, as the Scottish Socialist Voice article stated, 'the US , needs to generate a trade surplus to get out of this one. Problem is it can't.' This is spot on. To do that they must force US workers into near slavery, to get paid less than Chinese or Indian workers. We all know that this will not happen.
What will happen in the US ? Chaos for sure. Maybe a workers revolution, but looking at the situation as it is now, it is more likely to be a re-run of Germany post-1929, and some form of extreme-right mass movement will emerge...
Does Europe and China/Asia have the economic independence and strength to stop the whole world's economies collapsing with the US ? Their vaults are full to the brim with dollars.
The US has to find a way to pay for its dollar-imperialist exploitation of the world since 1945.. Somehow, eventually, it has to account for every dollar in every vault in the world.
Bombing Iran could backfire tremendously. It would bring Iran openly into the war in Iraq , behind the Shiite majority. The US cannot cope even now with the much smaller Iraqi insurgency. Perhaps the US will feed into the Sunni v Shiite conflict and turn it into a wider Middle-East civil-war. However, this is so dangerous for global oil supplies. Further, they know that this would be temporary, as some country somewhere else, will establish a euro-oil-exchange, perhaps in Brussels .
There is one `solution' -- scrap the dollar and print a whole new currency for the US . This will destroy 66% of the rest of the world's savings/reserves in one swoop. Imagine the implications? Such are the desperate things now swimming around heads in the White House, Wall Street and Pentagon.
Another is to do as Germany did, just before invading Poland in 1938. The Nazis filmed a mock Polish Army attack on Germany , to win hearts and minds at home. But again, this is a finger in the dam. So, how is the US going to escape this time? The only global arena of total superiority left is military. Who knows what horrors lie ahead. A new world war is one tool by which the US could discipline its `allies' into keeping the dollar in their vaults.
The task of socialists today is to explain to as many as possible, especially our class, that the coming crisis belongs purely to capitalism and (dollar) imperialism. Not people of other cultures, not Islam, not the axis of evil or their so-called WMDs. Their system alone is to blame.
The new Iranian Oil Bourse, the IOB, is situated in a new building on the free-trade-zone island of Kish , in the Persian Gulf . It's computers and software are all set to go. The IOB was supposed to be up and running last March, but many pressures forced a postponement. Where the pressure came from is obvious. It was internationally registered on 5th May and supposed to open mid-May, but its opening was put off, some saying the oil-mafia was involved, along with much international pressure. ............................ In 2007 Crude was trades around 60 usd. Everyone know dollar was getting weaker and weaker day by day. Than US with the help of their two NYMEX & IPE exchange started rising the price of crude by Future trading on crude( called speculation). Today crude is around 140 usd. It means whole world who were paying 60 usd, now paying 140 usd, means demand of dollar increase to 230% and dollar start again rising. Even OPEC recently that in hike og crude, 60% contribution is due to speculation (Future market). Moral of story is USA has & will go to destroy any nation to keep its monopoly of dollar in world

L'Oreal Paris Menexpert

2008-09-03T07:50:00.000-07:00

L'Oreal is a brand that is extremely popular among females. Anyone who thinks of beauty thinks of L'Oreal. But it is relatively unknown among men. If it is known at all, it is for high quality beauty care for women. So, L'Oreal has an image that is strongly feminine.
But L'Oreal wants to change that image now. With the rising of the Metrosexual Man, L'Oreal has come up with an exclusive range of men's grooming products. These products are mainly skin care and shaving products, under the brand name 'L'Oreal Paris Menexpert'
There have been similar other attempts by personal care giants trying to woo the man with products that were popular among females. Eg. HLL's Fair & Lovely Vs Fair & Lovely Menz Active, Fair and Handsome, etc.
The current stigma associated with beauty for men and also the rift between the sexes does not let men touch anything that is remotely feminine. India is definitely one of the more masculine cultures where males would like to keep an arm's length from products associated to females. No one will publicly admit using a product or get caught anywhere around it. Yet, products are flying off the shelves really fast.
Question
With such a strong feminine image attached with L'Oreal, how would you as a brand manager deal with the task of making a success out of Menexpert and thus come close to Men too? What role can women play to help you out?
(This case study is provided by FMCG Marketers http://www.fmcgmarketers.com/ and is created by Mr. C.Seshagiri )If you want our panel of marketing experts and Mr. C.Seshagiri to analyse your solutions then send your solutions to aggarwal.prabal@gmail.com

Contents of a Business Plan

2008-08-08T12:23:00.000-07:00

Executive Summary
Vision, mission, objectives
Current state of business
Products and services
Strategy and sources of sustainable competitive advantage
Customer acceptance
Summary financial forecasts
Money required, timing and deal on offer

Basic business information
Title
Contents
Contact Information
Document control
Proffesional advisers
Definitions
Legal structure and corporate data

Current Business situation
Definition of current business and its markets
Corporate history, major events and past financial performance
Current business and market position
Core competencies
Current business organisation and outline business infrastructure

Strategic analysis
Political, economic, social and technical anlysis and impacts
Key differentiators and unique selling points
VRIO analysis
Core competencies
Confirguration of resources
Value add analysis
Value chain analysis
Value system
Resource audit
Operations resources
Human Resources
Organisational resources
Financial resources
Industry life cycle
Industry structure
Competitor analysis
SWOT analysis

Strategic Plan
Vision, mission and objectives
Sources of sustainable competitive advantage
Competitive position
Marketing positioning
Brand Strategy
Portfolio strategy
Business design

Marketing Plan
Market segments, size and growth
Description of customers and customers needs
Target market segments
Product positioning and value proposition
Marketing mix
Description of products and services
Pricing and discounting
Advertising and promotional plans
Channel and distribution strategy
Guarantees and warranties
After sales service and customer care
Comparison with competition
Performance and economics
Marketing forecasts

Operations/Production
Physical location
Make or buy considerations
The production process
Facilities, equipment and machinery
Scalability of operations
Engineering and design support
Quality control plans
Staffing recruitments
Sources of supply of key materials

Research and Development
Objectives
Organisation
Plans
Resources

Management and Organisation
Organisation chart
Top Management
Management's ability to deliver the plan
Corporate governance and shareholder control
Staffing
Recruitment
Training
Labour Relations
Office space and amenities
Employee and related costs

Forecasts and financial Data
Summary of performance ratio
Sales forecast
Assumptions underpinning financial forecasts
Profit and loss account
Balance sheet
Cash flow statement
Evaluation criteria and valuation
Discounted cash flow
Payback
Break even
Benchmarks
Sensitivity analysis

Financing
Summary of operations prior to financing
Current shareholders loans oustanding
Funds required and timing
Use of proceeds
The deal on offer
Anticipated scenarios and strategic responses
Specific risks and risk reduction strategies

Business Controls
Information Technology
Financial
Sales and marketing
Operations
Other controls

Appendices
Glossary of terms
Details of market research
Consultants' reports
Product specifications
Marketing collateral
Orders in hand
Organisation charts
Curricula vitae
Detailed financial forecasts

How to find the impact of Advertisement?

2008-08-08T12:02:00.000-07:00

Hello friends

Recently, I was reading Marketing Management by Philip Kotler. One topic struck my mind. How to measure the impact of the advertisement?

Just think. With billions in budget, the marketing and advertisement guys do their best to have powerful and memorable ads. But the point, is does it give any results? If yes, then how much?

I am sure, this is the question that bugs every marketing and advertising professional.

So, I asked the following question on one forum.

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Question

Hello Friends

When we design the marketing campaign, we focus on three factors i.e. Reach, Frequency and Impact. Now reach, can be obtained through the media agencies like the readership of the newspapers, and the categories of the readership. Frequency, can also be calculated via various quantitative techniques, like you can tail the target customer, and find out the frequency of exposure, he gets to the particular type of media. But, I am unable to understand, how to find the impact Can anybody help me to understand this?

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Responses

Dear Prabal, I would like to talk about what I understand of the issues that you've raised. When we design a marketing campaign, we do not focus on reach, frequency and impact alone. A marketing campaign adheres to the marketing plan (sample attached). Hence these three factors are only a part of the whole (marketing) plan. Reach, frequency and impact come under the domain of ADVERTISING and/or MEDIA CAMPAIGN. Although roles overlap, reach and frequency are taken care of by media planning agencies. Impact is measured by the media planners, ad agency and even the client. To measure the impact, the media vehicle details (like reach, frequency) are collated from media agencies (say TAM) by the ad agency and the company. The ad agency may or may not do a "Communication Research" in which they do a market survey to "test" and analyze the response of the target audience. The ad agency may do primary research to gauge the public opinion and a secondary research to gauge the response of the critics. Then they arrive at the "impact" of the ad campaign on the brand - whether the ads have succeeded to position the brand in the mind of the customers as intended. The company may or may not do a litmus test on its brand equity to measure the "impact" of the ad campaign on its brand. But as many marketers, and definitely the sales managers, will say - The "real impact" is measured by the ACTUAL SALES as all this effort is directed at only one goal - making the balance sheet look good!
Links:
http://www.csu.edu.au/division/marketing/downloads/Marketing_Plan_template1...

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If it moves people to do something (hopefully purchase something in most cases or at least be remembered correctly in terms of brand and message) it has had an impact. If it doesn't, it hasn't. Simple eh? Many things are unless people are getting paid to unnecessarily complicate them.
Messages from Peter Palmer (1):

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Agree to Peters views. Impact will be positive as well negative, neutral one will not be considered good from placement as well campaign point of view. To me impact can be as simple as getting numbers/data for Has campaign succedded in reaching potential audience/targets/buyers with appropriate message, with acceptable cost. Has potential audience/targets/buyers started finding more about product/service Has potential audience/targets/buyers started enquiring about product/service at sell points Have they started buying it finally, how much, how frequently, hows feedback so far? Are they buying it again and again and helping brand building through loyalty as well value add to customer. With above data one can check how much your service/product is eating into competition business etc.. Hope this helps. regds- Vijay
Messages from Vijay Kurhade (1):

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Impact is the ability to create sales - so measure sales. Or if the advertising is not directly focused on sales, then its increase in something like brand strength or consideration - this can be obtained from market research. Other possibilities for estimates of impact include enquiries, returned coupons, visits to a website.
Messages from Saul Dobney (1):

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Impact have to call out the shock in the customer and to encourage him to the purchase product( I say that purchase without the reflection so example the small child ask for next ice cream) not so much the frequency because this can bore but to calculate the cost of attainment to the customer - for the best on the 1000 persons. Effective reach of advertisement good tools for this for example GRP(Gross Rating Points) or TRP( Target Rating Points). I like better to use GRP. I think that impact is the pressure on the customer something in the kind of buy this if you are not you be wrongful - you will fall down about 1 level in social hierarchy, everyone of use wants to boast this stay in our nature. Nobody does want to be beyond of the sociable cream
Messages from Lukasz Urbaniak (3):

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You can do some research to measure the effect of your campaign - some metrics such as brand awareness, image, etc. With media you should get a post-buy analysis The best proof is your sales though ;)
Messages from Mirek mirpo POLYNIAK (1):

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Prabal, This a very good question. However, what you are describing is not a marketing campaign, but an advertising/ media campaign which is a part of a marketing campaign. A marketing campaign can have two prime targets: - creating brand awareness By which we use mostly mass media (that what you where describing). - creating sales By which we use mostly direct marketing to reach our goals The campaign itself can be focussed on one or the other or both targets. I will leave direct marketing for another discussion and will focus on the term ‘brand awareness’. Within ‘brand awareness’ you again have different possibilities of setting targets, for example: - creating top of mind awareness - creating a certain Public Image - etc. Know we come to your question: “How the measure the impact of advertisement? “ To measure the impact of advertisement directly is very difficult. Their always creative ways to measure a certain part of your advertisement campaign off course, but most often the results are not reliable. A better way is to link the ‘impact’ to the target you have set for the campaign, think of creating top of mind awareness. Before you start your campaign you have data regarding the current situation; simple example is that from a 1000 persons 200 think of your name first during a survey. Know you can measure the impact by holding the exact same survey again after your campaign and compare the results with the previous survey. The impact of your advertising campaign is measured on the comparing of the two survey’s and their results.
Messages from Sebastiaan van Aard (3):

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Hi Prabal, I think conversion/ sales would be tangible impact. You could also measure brand awareness, advertisement recal etc pre and post advertisement for impact evaluation.
Messages from Yogesh Bisht (2):

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Prabal, When you say 'impact' I'm not sure whether you are referring to sales impact or communication impact. But, reach and frequency are surrogate measures for what a marketer really cares about, sales. If a communication metric is necessary you should look towards awareness because you can make better correlations to sales this way.
Messages from David Adelman (1):

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Prabal, It is quite an interesting question, however, the answers are pretty basic. Reach and Frequency are measurements of the depth of your advertisement reaching your target audience, frequency is the number of times your target is exposed to the ad. Impact is the results which moves the consumer to take action. This is measured by sales, visits to the web, tracking, pre and post focus groups, etc. However, remember, that if we all knew the answers all of the time regarding this question, we probably would not be discussing it now :). Fran

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Sales of course is a the most direct metric, however that can be constrained by factors like distrbution and pricing. To understand the AD IMPACT ie whether the ad motivated the consumer to consider purchasing the brand the following simple metrics would give you a good idea. - ad awareness - how many people recall seeing the ad - message recall- what do they remember from the ad - Impact on purchase intent and brand image- difference in purchase /trial intent and brand image ratings amongst those aware of ad vs those not aware These metrics can be obtained via primary research.
Messages from Asit Gupta (1):

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Prabal- Impact can be defined from a media point-of-view, such as R/F. Media impact is more or less measured by setting some level of effective communications level... e.g. reach at the 3+ frequency level and effective GRP's (a/k/a ERP's). However, a more salient measurement is whether your ad resonates with your audience and does the messaging communicates to them. This can be determined via focus groups, copy testing, etc. Hopefully, this will translate to increased sales and/or increased awareness of your product or service.
Messages from Stan Weinstein (1):

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When we traverse Marketing through to Sales and are looking at the success of any campaign - 'impact' is best measured by looking at your order book....It's simple from that perspective Ensure you define specific milestones at various stages along the campaign timeline as this will allow you to trend the success or failure of the campaign. The metrics you create will vary according to the nature and reach of the campaign.
Messages from Sam Thiara (1):

Book Section: Joker in the Pack

2008-08-08T11:32:00.000-07:00

By Ritesh Sharma & Neeraj Pahlajani

This is the book, I saw in my friends hand few months back, during the placement season of my college.I came to know that it’s the story about IIM life, and wanted to read immediately. But, as time was scarce couldn’t pick it.

Few weeks ago, I was out shopping, and saw it in one of the windows of the book shop, and immediately bought it.

The story is indeed about the life in B-Schools in general and IIM’s in specific. While reading it was remniscent of my life in general and my B-School life in specific. The dilemma, whether to do MBA or not? Which B School to choose? How to convert the interview call?

Then it further walked me down the lane of ragging, summers, Business Plan Competitions, Co-curricular activities, Placement fight, and of course academics.

To make the story spicy, it had a estranged love story, lot of funny incidents. And the best part was the insertion of ‘hindi’ dialogues.

I would recommend it to any B-School aspirant, student and alumunus.

Easy Cabs: Business Model

2008-08-01T08:21:00.000-07:00

www.easycabs.com
Recently I got a chance to come in one prepaid air conditioned taxi ( courtesy my new job ) from airport to my home. The drive was of about an hour.

The moment I entered it, the driver asked me, which newspaper I would like to read. I was surprised, and chose one business paper. Then he asked me, whether I would like to have mineral water, I was even more surprised, and accepted one bottle. Then he asked me, which music I would like to listen, I chose pop music. Then, he asked me if I smoke, and which brand, I courtly gave him my brand, and he offered me cigeratte. Then he told me that, if I need to charge my mobile phone, I told him, he wont be having its charger, to which he replied, that he has five type of chargers. I was simply amazed at this treatment.

( Some of this was cooked up to make the story spicy, but my astonishment was not )

By this time, I was intrigued by the five star treatment. So, I started inquiring him about the business model of the taxi system.

The major highlights :

The taxi was owned by the company, but will be transferred to the driver after 4 years.
There was a call center throughout the National Capital Region ( Delhi and around), with a single no.
The customer calls the call center
The call center, flashes the message to all the taxis in 10 km range of the customer location.
The driver who bids first, gets the order.
The taxi has to reach the customer in 15 mins.
All this is done via GPS (Global Positioning System) installed in each taxi.
The driver is a qualified driver, from a reputed driving institute.
The driver is supposed to pay the company, Rs 750 a day
Rest all the expenses including fuel is born by the driver
Apart from Rs. 750 a day, all the earnings go to the driver
But for this, drivers need to pay Rs 25000/- as deposit, and two guaranters.

What does the company gets?

Presently this company is having around 500-1000 taxis. Just imagine that the company is earning Rs 750x 750 ( average of 500- 1000 taxis)= Rs 562500 a day just for operating a call center. This amounts to be Rs 205312500 ( 205 millions) an year.

What does the driver gets?

Apart from getting the taxi after four years, each driver earns Rs 1500 a day after deducting expenses. In other words Rs 45000 per month. This is rare for even qualified professionals in India.

What does customer gets?

Five star service at reasonable rate.

Isn’t it the cool business model??

Food business

2008-03-17T23:52:00.001-07:00

Speaking of eating joints, when we were at this place, I actually felt that this was a good business. Any ways margins are way high in the restaurant business, add some novelty like a Rajwadu style village setting or a maachan and people will pay the premium.
My friend pointed out that it wasn't a very easy business to do however. His reasoning was, that you need to be present all the time else you wouldn't know where your ingredients disappeared. Cooking isn't exactly an activity where you measure with a weighing scale how much atta you used in a paratha (though I know of pizza places which do that, weight the dough, weigh the cheese etc, atleast Dominos does). How do you track a few Kgs of atta going here and there, vegetables disappearing. Unless you source the food items yourself, you might get hit on the prices (assuming you have people who are not exactly honest working for you) Or how do you track spoilage ?
Today I was sitting at this food joint waiting for my order, when I overheard the conversation that the manager of the joint was having with his employee. The place had apparently made a loss of some 35-40k and he was trying to check the accounts. Finally it came down to staff eating food for free. The employee showed the register where the staff makes entry when they eat. The manager scans it and says, "this itself will account for more than half of your loss" (actually said in Hindi, but will post translated versions here)
Then he starts looking at individual items and names of the staff and suddenly exclaims "where is my name in this, even I had eaten, why is my name not here"
The employee showed him his name saying "Ya it is there, see here" to which the manager replies "Double omlett against my name, I don't even eat eggs, get me a pen let me scratch this out, I am a pundit, eggs against my name doesn't look good" simultaneously scratching out his name. Then he goes on to scan the rest of the ledger
"Omlett so many times ? I don't remember having eaten here so many times, what is the date here, 24th and 29th, that time I had still not started eating eggs, I am a pundit" scratch- scratch
And he goes on... Finally exasperated he says "Listen, I am your manager, you don't put my name here, I will make life tough for you" while laughing.
Saying this he says, "see this is the reason for the loss, from tomorrow onwards staff won't eat at this outlet, if they eat they will have to pay. I will talk to the boss and get this system in place" and then tossing aside the register, he asks the guy whats there in the kitchen, "get me dinner, I have to eat here else who will do your accounts for you. Understand else I will stop coming here and you can show your accounts to the big boss himself. Now is there paratha? rice? get me some dal along with it" And off he ate happily.
Its true, with motivated employees like these, it is definitely a difficult business to do :)

Money Money everywhere

2008-03-17T23:51:00.000-07:00

Ever since I took the LEM course with professor Handa, I am always on a look out for some business / venture which might interest me. The more I observe the more convinced I am there there is money to be made everywhere. You don't necessarily need a splendid idea that no one had thought of before. Find what people want and give it to them and they will pay. Let me give you a few examples

1. The chai and maska bun seller at gujarat university road.

One evening while on a stroll we went to this fellow. He sells just 2 things. Tea and maska bun. ( Ok he sells coffee as well, but thats besides the point) Now lets do a simple estimation based on what we observed in the 15 mins we were there. The charges are Rs 10 for a maska bun. A plain bun costs Rs 2.50, even assuming he justs puts 10 buns from a 100gm butter pack which costs Rs 15, butter costs Rs 1.50 thus total raw material cost = Rs 4. So assuming he is an entrepreneur and so he doesn't charge himself for his labour. Thus he gets a contribution of Rs 6 for each maska bun he sells. In the 15 mins we were there he sold atleast 25-30 buns ( yeah he is famous ) So lets assume he sells say a meger of 150 buns in a day ( though I think he sells much more, lets be conservative) So he makes Rs 900 a day. He has two helpers. Now labour who does work for civil and construction is paid between Rs 40-Rs 60 a day. Lets assume he pays these helpers Rs 100 a day. Even then he makes Rs 700 a day and in a month he makes
Rs 21,000 and all of it tax-free !!! Surprised ???
Where are all the software engineers ?? We think we make money :P

2. Visa-counselling service

When we were to go to Germany on student exchange, we were going to stay for 4 months and hence we couldn't go on a schangen visa, we had to apply for a long term student visa / residence permit. Now we had guidance from our seniors who told us to apply for a 90 day student visa and then convert it to a residence permit after reaching Germany. Thats what we did. Now some other friends of ours from another management institute decided it was probably better to go to a visa agency. The agency asked them their duration of stay and based on that asked them to directly apply for a residence permit. Nothing wrong so far, however the problem is that the consulate asked them to show as financial proof, a DD drawn on a German bank to the effect of EUR 7000 ( our total 3 month expense was less than EUR 3000) and so none of them ended up going on exchange. EUR 7000 is a lot of money to show even if you will not use all of it. All this when they paid the visa agency probably a 1000 bucks.
This got me thinking. This is actually a good business. All you need to do is, go to the websites of all the consulates and download forms, requirements for the different visa types etc. Now-a-days almost all consulate websites are self sufficient. Once you have this dossier ready, you are in business. Any time someone comes, find the safest option, photocopy the relevant info from the dossier, hand it to them and take you fees. NO visa agency will give guarantee and no one will expect them to either.

There are so many other seemingly "unglamorous" businesses which nevertheless make money !!

Reflections on the past two years at IIMA

2008-03-17T23:50:00.000-07:00

Sometime back, a freind had asked me how we (IIMA people) solve a case. What is it that we do differently when we solve a case and when I thought about it, my honest answer was nothing different. We still do the same things, we look at the data, we analyse it, and give our recommendations.
So what is different about an MBA from IIMA?
Now that I have spent 2 years here and am on the verge of graduation, I was stumped by this question and spent some time reflecting on the two years here and how it has changed me. Well in my opinion, the biggest value add that I received from the two years here was more personal than academic. (yes all the assignments and cases and discussions did help me think in a more structured manner)
The rigorous first year is the key I'ed say. When I came here, I had no idea that I was capable of working so hard. Sleep at 2 am and be ready for class at 9am day after day. Nightouts, read 100-200 pages daily. Be prepared with the basics and the class starts assuming you know the basics. Plus couple this with being part of campus activities. When I look back, though the second year has made me a bit lazy, but if it really came to it, I can do it again and it won't scare me.
The two years here have really seen me stretch myself to the limits, and I am much more confident of my abilities than I was before I came here. Learning to manage your time well, so that you can also make time for some other things you like and not get caught up finishing your academic work, increased stress resistance and even higher failure tolerance. Outside of IIMA each one of us was probably amongst the top in our respective colleges, once you come here, you realise that there are others far better than you. First there is denial, then you taste failure, then you decide that its time to work harder and you improve on your past performance. It its things like these that have been the most value add to me, not the thousands of cases we did, yes they did matter, they did help in broadening our outlook, but in my opinion I value the personal growth more.

Reliance Communications Simply Reliance Plan Variants

Applicability (Both GSM & CDMA Networks)	Both Prepaid & Postpaid segments - Pan India
Prepaid Plan Implications	New Plan	Existing	New Plan
Sim Card Cost Currently	Free	Free	Free
First Recharge for lifetime plan benefit		Rs.51
Existing customer migration cost - one time cost for lifetime		Rs.48
Validity of the plan and the number	Lifetime	Lifetime	Lifetime
Minimum Recharge Commitment every 6 months for connection continuity	Rs. 200/6months	Rs. 200/6months	Rs. 200/6months
	SIMPLY RELIANCE PLAN (Rs.)
Category / Pulse Rate	Per second	Per minute	Per 180 seconds (3mins)
Local on-net	0.01	0.5	1
Local off-net	0.01	0.5	1
STD (NLD) on-net	0.01	0.5	1
STD (NLD) off-net	0.01	0.5	1
SMS - local	0.01	0.5	1
SMS - national	0.01	0.5	1
Roaming incoming	0.01	0.5	1
Roaming outgoing (local)	0.01	0.5	1
Roaming outgoing (STD)	0.01	0.5	1

Per Minute Cost Workout for Consumers - Effective Cost	Rs. 0.60/min	Rs. 0.50/min	Rs. 0.33/min

Postpaid Plan Implications
Monthly Plan Type 1 - Cost (with Rs. 99 worth of free sms's)		Rs. 99/month
Monthly Plan Type 2 - Cost (with Rs. 399 worth of free sms's & free local calls both)		Rs. 399/month

Source - Company and Kotak Report