Wednesday, October 31, 2012

A walk in the wild...

Although Vatavaran, Environment and Wildlife Film Festival was not exactly that, it was nothing short of one either!!

Amidst the crowd of film festivals, fashion weeks and star-studded events, the quiet yet stimulating CMS Vatavaran, Environment & Wildlife Festival held in the capital was a one-of-a-kind event which did win quite an applause too. It often happens that amidst the popularity of the aggressively marketed commercial cinema and documentaries and much-hyped apparel showcasing, subjects like wildlife and environment, which need attention, get ignored. So this five-day long festival was organised with a purpose to provide a platform to those who have dedicated their lives to the survival of endangered species as well as those battling to give planet earth a longer life.

Being a wildlife enthusiast, when browsing through the schedule of events, I had picked my days of visit according to the screening of interesting wildlife films. And so there I was on the second day of the event, excited to watch some environment and wildlife documentaries. To my surprise, the event was not only meant to showcase films, but was also a large-scale attempt to create awareness regarding the two subjects. Immediately after registration, I made my way to the film-screening halls, which had back-to-back screenings of movies by filmmakers from around the world, and it was a pleasant surprise to see that a lot of Indian filmmakers figured in the list. While some movies lacked the ‘gripping factor’, others enthralled many an audience. A Norwegian filmmaker’s Saved by a Lioness, which told the story of the survival of a wildebeest and the perils that they face during The Great Migration, and also presented the beauty of wild Africa. There were other eye-opening films on environment, especially about the contamination of the Ganges and about the climatic effects of global warming, which were not only interesting but also managed to drive home a certain message. “Our only concern is to sensitise people about the reality of climatic changes and about the existence of endangered species.
 

Source : IIPM Editorial, 2012.

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Tuesday, October 30, 2012

BUMBLING IN THE BACKYARD

The governments of Pakistan, China, Sri Lanka, Nepal, Bhutan and Bangladesh reveal to akram hoque of B&E...

We all know that the Chinese have an interesting proverb used as a subtle and sarcastic barb against foes: “May you live in interesting times”. Now just imagine for a while that Winston Churchill - the man who wanted India forever to be the crown jewel of the British Empire - was entertaining uncharitable thoughts when it was clear to him that the crown jewel would indeed be lost forever in a tidal wave of anti-Imperialism. Did he possibly utter the following words when he thought grimly about Jawaharlal Nehru and Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel, the architects of the modern Indian nation state: “May you live with interesting neighbours?”. There might be endless debates and controversies when we use other adjectives to describe India’s neighbours. But surely everyone will agree that China, Pakistan, Nepal, Bhutan, Bangladesh, Myanmar and Sri Lanka are quite ‘interesting’, if nothing else! In fact, they - and their relationship with India - has been so interesting over the last six decades that it remains the single biggest foreign policy challenge for the country!

Surely Jawaharlal Nehru would not have had thought even in his wildest dreams (or nightmares) back in 1947 that India would face such enormous, enervating and enfeebling challenges while dealing with neighbours in the 21st century? Bangladesh then was not even a figment of imagination.

Pakistan was hostile no doubt; but jihad was something that had happened many centuries ago in West Asia. Nepal was the only Hindu Kingdom in the world with extremely close - almost umbilical - ties with India. Sri Lanka was on the cusp of attaining freedom and emerging as a South Asian paradise where the Sinhalese and Tamils co-existed in harmony. Burma was a free country where tens of thousands of Indians flourished. And yes, China was to be the friend, ally and partner of India as the Third World nations worked as comrades in arms against ‘Imperial forces’.


Source : IIPM Editorial, 2012. An Initiative of IIPM, Malay Chaudhuri
and Arindam Chaudhuri (Renowned Management Guru and Economist).

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Monday, October 29, 2012

PUTIN: MISMANAGED RUSSIAN MEDIA

Putin’s mouthpiece is a flabbergasting piece of shambles

One year earlier, in January, 2006, Pravda had headlined an article on Condoleezza Rice as follows: “The US Secretary of State released a coarse anti-Russian statement. This is because she is a single woman who has no children.” Their brilliant analysis commented, “[Rice] loses her reason because of her late single status. Nature takes it all... Such women are very rough. They are all workaholics, public workaholics. They can be happy only when they are talked and written about everywhere.” That sounds nothing compared to what they did in July 2008. In an article titled, “George and Laura Bush to divorce after election because of Condi Rice?” Pravda confirmed that “George W. Bush has been having an affair with US Secretary of State, Condoleezza Rice. A former employee of the presidential administration told The National Examiner [sic!] that Laura Bush once spent her night in a hotel to stay away from the White House… Laura Bush will reportedly be paid $20 million in case she divorces her husband…” Another article was titled, “Condoleezza Rice’s sexual worries...”

It’s sad that Putin has chosen to ignore the ridiculous bunch of editors’ mob running the scallywag show in Pravda. Or perhaps he hasn’t. Whichever way it is, Pravda presents a huge opportunity for Putin to develop his international image in an intellectual manner. His recent dalliances with Russian Patriarch Kirill seem to be paying off double time with Kirill visiting many anti-Putin countries and regions in a successful attempt to change perceptions about Russia. Putin may not realise this, that despite the editors, Pravda has a huge international brand value. And yes, some of the current news reports seem to have obtained a saner tint. Even the website has become pretty upbeat. But unless Putin leverages Pravda to run international commentaries from the Krugmans and Friedmans of the world, the media vehicle’s potent strength would never be realised... Last we checked, Pravda was running Cindy Crawford’s bikini clad photographs as the opening views on its home page. 


Source : IIPM Editorial, 2012.

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Sunday, October 28, 2012

Recovery and succession planning

Infosys CEO Kris Gopalakrishnan talks to B&E’s Editor and Deputy Editor about recession, recovery and succession planning

B&E: Your failures as CEO. What have they been?

KG: Well, growth has been a failure for me; it has significantly come down – from 35% to 7% to 0. It is a failure in some sense, since the opportunities are there, we have customer relationships, so I do feel we could have done better. Some initiatives I am taking are taking more time to yield results, that is initiatives in terms of new business development, new markets etc. At another level, the high amount of repeat business (97.6%) is a failure. In good times, high repeat business is very good strategy; in bad times, bad! So should I architect a new sales strategy? We need a lot more hunters (who get newer businesses) than farmers (who maintain current businesses).

B&E: Jack Welch had a list of successors in place and Warren Buffet also has his envelope ready for years. What about Kris?

KG: We have an executive council which has a small number of leaders, five, who could any day takeover as CEOs. Beyond that, we have about 50 people identified as Tier 1 leaders, who also are prospective CEO material. We have a special program for development of these leaders by the board members.

B&E: Do you have a preference for any functional expertise in your prospective bunch while selecting the future CEO? 

KG: Functional expertise, actually, that is a big challenge. Once you develop a functional expertise, it becomes difficult to focus. We are not doing a good job with respect to job rotation. We are trying to replace that by giving them [prospective successors] certain experiences, giving them corporate responsibilities, and running certain programs with them so that they can get an experience of different roles as well.


Source : IIPM Editorial, 2012.

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Friday, October 26, 2012

“E&P still is a challenge”

B&E: A few years back, ONGC announced a much publicised strategic plan. Has that helped you handle the economic turmoil any better?

RS Sharma (RS): In 2001, we identified three strategic priorities, i.e., a) Improving our hydrocarbon reserve base; b) Enhancing recovery factor from existing fields; and c) Accessing equity oil from overseas... Time-bound action plans have been rolled out which are at various stages of implementation.

B&E: ONGC is currently contributing 77% of India’s crude oil production and 81% of India’s natural gas production. Do you expect this to continue in the longer term given the fact that ONGC is not integrated completely in the value chain?

RS: ONGC’s long-term strategy (Vision 2020) focuses on strengthening the core activities i.e., Exploration and production of oil & gas. As such, the strategic vision for improving reserve replacement ratio through new exploration finds remains the first priority. As I mentioned earlier, production enhancement, arresting decline in matured fields and expeditious development of discovered fields are the other priorities... Our endeavour would be to complete these projects on schedule and consolidate our efforts towards value-chain integration.


Source : IIPM Editorial, 2012.

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HOMAGE: MARTYRS

The first symptom of a not-so-great nation is its ungratefulness

But the Indian Army didn’t forget to honour the sacrifice of those young and brave men who were not fighting for any political formation, not for the government but for the country. It was inspiring to see the candlelit hills of Drass. But the real question is, why should we have a grandeur of a celebration only once in ten years? Why cannot we have a similar service every year for every victory of India? And why should it not be commemorated in every significant institution of India?

In countries like Israel, every student is taught about the dark days of the Holocaust and they are made to realise the sacrifice of Jews from the time of the Holocaust till date. It is important for India to tell its progeny about the likes of Vikram Batra, Vijayant Thapar and Sandeep Unnikrishnan and make them be able to distinguish between the real and selfless heroes from the surreal and fake ones, more so because India’s progeny is growing up watching ridiculous and meaningless reality shows where answering questions on one’s private life has become the definition of courage unlimited.

Indian media has been akin to the brother-in-arms with the armed forces to take the valour of young men to the nation. The act of the army and media vindicated why the spirit of India and its future is bright against all odds. Yet, one should not forget that each passing day, when the jawans of CRPF, BSF, CISF, ITBP and even men from the Indian Army give up their lives fighting terrorists of all shades, their sacrifice and valour is no less than those who died in Kargil.

But one still wonders, why is it so difficult for a trillion dollar economy to spend a few millions to provide our brave young men with bullet proof jackets? Vikram Batra and many of his brothers would have perhaps been alive then to narrate their stories. The storyline we have attempted to promote is the fact that patriotism is a leading reason for the members of our defence forces to feel unbelievably committed towards the nation and its people. At the same time, a forgetful nation – or one that does not pay enough back in emotion – faces the danger of having one’s own superheroes question themselves on whether they are really needed or not. And that, with true friends like Pakistan, is the last thing we need.


Source : IIPM Editorial, 2012.

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Thursday, October 25, 2012

“In india, for india...”

B&E: How did you started off in India?

VR: GE Healthcare came to India in the year 1990 through a joint venture with Wipro Corporation. We obviously started at the bottom of the table as most of the big players had established business in India. GE Healthcare was represented through a GE business unit called IGE, which had some presence in the X-ray imaging business. Thus, our immediate vision was to establish ourselves as a top-of-the-line medical equipment supplier and a preferred partner for Indian healthcare practitioners.

B&E: So, how has been your journey till date?

VR: The biggest challenge we faced was do get business from the government. As we were a new entrant in the market therefore we could not grab a good mind share and were able manage only a meager percentage of its business. It took us time to educate them on our technology and service capabilities. However, today, with our investments in technologies, resources, education, et al, we are getting a good chunk of government business as well. Other learning was to bring in more local products and solutions for the local market. We believe we could have accelerated with “In India, for India” solution a lot earlier

B&E: What is your advice to a MNC that plans to enter the Indian market in the near future?

VR: India is a huge market, but it’s a unique market. On one hand, it has an urban market, which is at par with the developed world, on the other it has a huge under-developed market that is crying for basic necessities. I would say that the key to growth in India to get a deep understanding of the Indian consumer. One should be patient enough to play a long innings and should bring out products/solutions that are aligned to Indian consumer needs.


Source : IIPM Editorial, 2012.

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The third time in india

LG finally had it right the third time in india. now it is decisively upping the stakes 

But what came to the company’s rescue was their will to learn from their own mistakes and set out new rules of their own. For instance, in the late 1990s, when the competitors lured the dealers by giving them credit periods of 45 to 90 days, LG in fact asked dealers to pay in advance for its products. This helped them pick the right kind of partners from the crowd. Among the few initial strategies, which the company adopted, was a change in the management structure to suit the local requirements and backed by an understanding of Indian work culture. They vested the power in the hands of Indian employees in a big way with their own Foreign Service Employees (FSE’s) confined to just being facilitators. Interestingly, LG did not initially get into price wars, which was the vogue at that time in the segment. Their slogan was ‘No scheme, no gimmick, great products and honest prices’. But LG had to also deal with the image of ‘inferior products’ in some categories.

So, as the company realised it had greater potential in the lower segments, it went on the rampage with fierce price wars and sorted out penetration issues. Moon B. Shin, in an exclusive interaction with B&E, elucidated, “To increase brand awareness, LG sent vans across India, covering a distance of 5000 km every month and focused on building a strong dealer network.” These strategies gave it market leadership in many categories. As per 2008 figures (ORG-gfk), LG was commanding a share of 24% in ACs, 24% in microwaves, 27% in DVD players, and 23.1% in LCD TVs. Interestingly, LG later saw that the low end was becoming increasingly crowded and therefore launched its Blue Ocean Strategy. Now LG is consciously trying to play on the ‘best-in-quality’ positioning and deliberately commanding premium on price; knowing well that the ‘inferior’ perception is not a problem any more. The only problem is that key categories have seen decline in market share in India for 2008 (see B&E Corporation on LG in the issue dated February 6, 2009). Could LG’s second repositioning lead to confusion in Indian customers and decline in its fortunes? Indeed, it’s a sword that could cut both ways. They must use it very, very carefully.


Source : IIPM Editorial, 2012.

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Tuesday, October 23, 2012

Power for...

...us, promises for the people!

I ndia is indeed a democracy, but for whom? Is it a democracy for those in a position of power or for the common man? The blatant use of money and muscle power by politicians surely appears to tilt the argument overwhelmingly in favour of the former in a country where the combined net worth of MPs is estimated at a huge Rs.28 billion.

A research by National Election Watch (a conglomeration of NGOs that lobbies for electoral reforms) heralds an interesting analysis. A candidate who is worth more than Rs.50 million is around 75 times more likely to win an election as compared to one whose is worth less than Rs.1 million. In fact, only 15 out of 3,437 candidates (i.e. 0.44%) who contested the recently held Lok Sabha elections; and whose worth is less than Rs.1 million, had actually won, whereas 6% of the candidates whose worth is between Rs.1 million and Rs.5 million have come out as victorious. This state of affairs continues as we go upward. We see that 19% of candidates with worth of Rs.5 million to Rs.50 million and 33% of candidates with worth of more than Rs.50 million have defeated their rivals in the last Lok Sabha Election.


Source : IIPM Editorial, 2012.

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Monday, October 22, 2012

RaBieD!

Latest stats on Reverse Brain Drain

Nirad. C. Chowdhury’s shallow claim to be the sole Briton living today who is aghast at the degeneration of Anglo Saxons, does not undermine his deep rooted admiration for the all conquering Britain in their heydays of colonial rule. Many before and since have had a quintessential fancy for the Western lifestyle, their values and their education, the inspiration of which provided them the driving force to land up on foreign shores. The colonial rule is gone now, but the magnetism of the West still persists.

Notwithstanding the fact that US has replaced other nations as the most favoured destination for immigration – with Indians and Chinese forming the bulk of them either in Silicon Valley or in American Universities – the current presentiments are alluring many to return to their home countries.


Source : IIPM Editorial, 2012.

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Saturday, October 20, 2012

Anglo-French folly

Invading Egypt was the last gasp of imperialism

It is said that if World War II pushed British and French imperialism to coffin, Suez War or Suez Crisis drove in the final nail. It all started in the last week of July in 1956, when, in reply to America’s decision (betrayal?) to reverse the promise to help aid the construction of Aswan Dam, the then Egyptian President Gamal Abdel Nasser announced the nationalisation of the Suez Canal—the narrow strip of water that facilitated traffic between Atlantic Ocean & Indian Ocean. The announcement stunned many and reigning imperial powers, Britain and France, decided to act to save their crumbling reputations. The plan was hatched to invade Egypt.

They were looking out for an opportunity and it came their way very soon, provided by Israel, the problem kid of mid-East. Conscious of the imminent Israeli design to invade the Sinai, Anglo-French diplomats decided that a joint Anglo-French force could penetrate Egypt seemingly to disengage the soldiers. Israel attacked Sinai on October 29th. Britain and France quickly reinforced the Israeli Defence Force which led to the immediate defeat and rout of Egyptian Army. However, following Egypt’s response in the canal region and a possible intervention of USSR, the US and the UN intervened. The latter’s salvage team moved in to clear the canal. Britain and France backed down, and control of the canal was given back to Egypt. Dr. Fahmy Abd El Baky, noted historian at Cairo University, said to B&E, “The colonial custom of these two powers started to fall apart. Sheer sense of defeat by an erstwhile colony proved too much for them.


Source : IIPM Editorial, 2012.

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Friday, October 19, 2012

MERGERS & ACQUISITIONS: TWO BIGGEST FAILURES

Two biggest M&As. Who lost? The shareholders. Who won? Mmmm...

Then comes the next biggest from the M&A record book – the $167.4 billion merger between AOL & Time Warner in 2001, making the combine worth a gargantuan $260 billion in terms of Mcap, and the largest media & entertainment company in the world. As per the agreement, AOL shareholders held 55% of the merged entity, while the rest belonged to Time Warner shareholders. (Translation: the tuna had gobbled up the whale!) Getting straight down to statistics, today, the combine’s Mcap has fallen to a lamentable $26.7 billion – an appalling fall of 90% since the merger happened! So what really went wrong? Well, the biggest mistake with the merger was its very ‘timing’. It came just months before the Internet bubble burst in mid-2000, post which there was a huge decline in subscriber growth for AOL. First, it’s ad-revenues water-hole dried-up faster than water from a bottle cap in Sahara, and consequently, it underwent a massive goodwill write-off, due to which the company reported net losses of $99 billion for 2002 alone! Thanks to the merger, the entity can today boast of $132.6 billion in accumulated losses since the deal. God bless Time Warner!


Source : IIPM Editorial, 2012.

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