Wednesday, August 27, 2008

Deprived due to public leanings

Public sector units mustn’t be made to die a natural death
“The private players in metals producing industry have been obliged with mines, then why has the government not accorded this right to a public sector company,” argues K. K. Sharma of the Centre of Indian Trade Unions (CITU) while speaking to B&E. Yes, it is a fact that Essar, Jindals & Posco have all been obliged with mining rights to extract iron ore but the government not granted this privilege to Rs.91.26 billion strong Rashtriya Ispat Nigam Limited (RINL). Now, in order to protect the public sector unit, the workers belonging to 19 different trade unions have dissolved their differences to project a united front to put forth their demand to the government. RINL, which gets the raw material from National Mineral Development Corp. (NMDC) is facing the crunch because the NMDC has hiked the iron ore prices, plus they now have to face enhanced competition. The trade unions fear that such a situation will eventually sound the death knell for the company.

Why indeed should the private industry be given preference? Level playing fields need to provided for all to grow. All efforts to deliberately stymie the growth of the performing PSUs should be opposed tooth & nail.

For Complete IIPM Article, Click on IIPM Article

Source :
IIPM Editorial, 2008
An IIPM and Professor Arindam Chaudhuri (Renowned Management Guru and Economist) Initiative
Read these article :-
ZEE BUSINESS BEST B SCHOOL SURVEY
B-schooled in India, Placed Abroad (Print Version)
IIPM in Financial times (Print Version)
IIPM makes business education truly global (Print Version)
The Indian Institute of Planning and Management (IIPM)
IIPM Campus

Top Articles on IIPM:-
IIPM makes business education truly global-Education-The Times of ...
The Hindu : Education Plus : Honour for IIPM
IIPM ranked No.1 B-School in India, Management News - By ...
IIPM Ranked No1 B-School in India
Moneycontrol >> News >> Press- News >> IIPM ranked No1 B-School in ...
IIPM ranked No. 1 B-school in India- Zee Business Survey ...
IIPM ranked No1 B-School in India :: Education, Careers ...
The Hindu Business Line : IIPM placements hit a high of over 2000 jobs
Deccan Herald - IIPM ranked as top B-School in India
India eNews - IIPM Ranked No1 B-School in India
IIPM Delhi - Indian Institute of Planning and Management New Delhi ...
domain-b.com : IIPM ranked ahead of IIMs

Tuesday, August 26, 2008

Can she deliver victory?

Only aam admi, inclusive growth, and effective delivery systems can help the Congress win elections in 2009
“It’s the only strategy that can work for the Congress. Moreover, it has been forced upon the party,” says a political commentator, who has worked for the party for years. What he is talking about is the fact that the Congress today has no option but to fight on the growth and development planks. In a sense, aam admi, ‘inclusive growth’, and building an efficient and effective delivery system are critical for the future electoral success of Congress president Sonia Gandhi.

Consider the current vote-bank scenario for the moment. In several states like Uttar Pradesh and Bihar, regional leaders like Mulayam Singh Yadav and Lalu Prasad Yadav have snatched away the Muslim votes from the Congress. The rise of Mayawati’s BSP is slowly gnawing away at the Dalits and backward classes votes in several northern and western states. The Brahmins had long ago opted to side with the BJP; in recent times, they have decided to ditch the BJP and forge an alliance with Mayawati in Uttar Pradesh.

So, where does it leave the Congress? “It is now a party with no die-hard supporters. It depends on regional alliances to come to power, as it did in the 2004 elections,” says another Delhi-based political analyst. Even Congress insiders privately admit that the party has to search for new winning combinations, or look at modern issues, which may become its electoral mantra. One of the latter can be a combination of growth, development, and delivery. It may help the Congress to reinvent itself for the 21st century.

Therefore, it is not surprising that the Congress has decided to woo the aam admi; in some ways, it’s a strategy that the BJP tried by uniting the Hindus through its Hindutva ideology. Up to a point, the BJP did achieve its objective. But the problem for Sonia is that her initiatives are being scoffed at by both party insiders, as well as traditional supporters of the party. Even India Inc. seems to be unhappy with it.
Dilip Cherian, who heads a PR firm and is known in the corridors of power, agrees, “Today, Corporate India is demanding a cut in taxes because it feels that this year’s Budget will be pre-poor in the extreme sense. It will be the Congress’ electoral foundation for the general elections in 2009.” But the billion voters question is: will it really work in favour of Sonia Gandhi? Will the common man help the party to come back to power?

For Complete IIPM Article, Click on IIPM Article

Source :
IIPM Editorial, 2008
An IIPM and Professor Arindam Chaudhuri (Renowned Management Guru and Economist) Initiative
Read these article :-
ZEE BUSINESS BEST B SCHOOL SURVEY
B-schooled in India, Placed Abroad (Print Version)
IIPM in Financial times (Print Version)
IIPM makes business education truly global (Print Version)
The Indian Institute of Planning and Management (IIPM)
IIPM Campus

Top Articles on IIPM:-
IIPM makes business education truly global-Education-The Times of ...
The Hindu : Education Plus : Honour for IIPM
IIPM ranked No.1 B-School in India, Management News - By ...
IIPM Ranked No1 B-School in India
Moneycontrol >> News >> Press- News >> IIPM ranked No1 B-School in ...
IIPM ranked No. 1 B-school in India- Zee Business Survey ...
IIPM ranked No1 B-School in India :: Education, Careers ...
The Hindu Business Line : IIPM placements hit a high of over 2000 jobs
Deccan Herald - IIPM ranked as top B-School in India
India eNews - IIPM Ranked No1 B-School in India
IIPM Delhi - Indian Institute of Planning and Management New Delhi ...
domain-b.com : IIPM ranked ahead of IIMs

Monday, August 25, 2008

Will it be Dhum(aal) in HP?

Tough fight in HP, but BJP may hold incumbency advantage
The election scene in Gujarat has indeed reached the boiling point. The Congress leader Sonia Gandhi is openly advocating the “merchants of death” theory to show the true colours of Chief Minister Narendra Modi. Modi on the other hand, is relentlessly pursuing his agenda to ensure that his Hindu vote bank backs him to the hilt in the ensuing elections to the state assembly. The Elections Commission has asked both the parties to explain their conduct during the election meetings.

With the state deeply polarised on communal lines, such mudslinging was perhaps on expected lines. But the question is, why has Modi shifted gears and is now using the communal card to ensure victory? Has the development plank which the BJP had been touting as its trump card lost sheen? The mood in the state and the dissensions within the BJP rank & file, clearly indicate that it is not a cake-walk for Modi this time. Senior journalists and analysts, who have been extensively touring the state, feel that Modi may win anything between 85-100 seats. This certainly puts him in a precarious position is-à-vis the dissidents in the party, because anything short of a comfortable majority will lead the detractors in the party to gun for Modi’s ouster.

Congress, on the other hand is hoping to use the anti-incumbency factor & and the communal track record of the Modi administration to come back to power in Gujarat. From Sonia to Rahul, most of the Congress bigwigs have pitched their tents in Gujarat to snatch victory from the jaws of a possible defeat. But will that be enough? The betting is still on.

For Complete IIPM Article, Click on IIPM Article

Source :
IIPM Editorial, 2008
An IIPM and Professor Arindam Chaudhuri (Renowned Management Guru and Economist) Initiative

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

Top Articles on IIPM:-
IIPM makes business education truly global-Education-The Times of ...
The Hindu : Education Plus : Honour for IIPM
IIPM ranked No.1 B-School in India, Management News - By ...
IIPM Ranked No1 B-School in India
Moneycontrol >> News >> Press- News >> IIPM ranked No1 B-School in ...
IIPM ranked No. 1 B-school in India- Zee Business Survey ...
IIPM ranked No1 B-School in India :: Education, Careers ...
The Hindu Business Line : IIPM placements hit a high of over 2000 jobs
Deccan Herald - IIPM ranked as top B-School in India
India eNews - IIPM Ranked No1 B-School in India
IIPM Delhi - Indian Institute of Planning and Management New Delhi ...
domain-b.com : IIPM ranked ahead of IIMs

Monday, August 18, 2008

Private schools...

...can provide ‘Education for all’

Henry Fielding once said, “Public schools are the nurseries of all vice and immorality” … the statement is of assistance in slapping the claims of the reverential policy makers who vouch for public schools.

The United Nations promised “education for all” in the Millennium Developmental Goal (MDG) by 2015. Beats the wit out of anyone that how on Earth will it be possible with only 25% of all schools in Ghana being government schools, 34% of such schools in Lagos state of Nigeria and only 35% such schools in slum area of Hyderabad and equally contemptible percentage of government schools in other underdeveloped countries! So does that mean that the UN MDG is wearing that confident look only because it banks on the private schools? Private schools might charge more fees, but that again is only because they deliver quality. And why are private schools subjected to such badmouthing, anyway when even the not-so-well-to-do families choose private schools over government schools? Seriously, the umpteenth claims of “education for all” which try and promote public schools do not hold any water … because education in true sense owes gratitude to private schools only.

For Complete IIPM Article, Click on IIPM Article

Source :
IIPM Editorial, 2008

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

Top Articles on IIPM:-
IIPM makes business education truly global-Education-The Times of ...
The Hindu : Education Plus : Honour for IIPM
IIPM ranked No.1 B-School in India, Management News - By ...
IIPM Ranked No1 B-School in India
Moneycontrol >> News >> Press- News >> IIPM ranked No1 B-School in ...
IIPM ranked No. 1 B-school in India- Zee Business Survey ...
IIPM ranked No1 B-School in India :: Education, Careers ...
The Hindu Business Line : IIPM placements hit a high of over 2000 jobs
Deccan Herald - IIPM ranked as top B-School in India
India eNews - IIPM Ranked No1 B-School in India
IIPM Delhi - Indian Institute of Planning and Management New Delhi ...
domain-b.com : IIPM ranked ahead of IIMs

Thursday, August 14, 2008

MANY MILLION BYTES WITHIN

And all the content that you need will travel with you – always

With enhancement in digital lifestyles & demand for more mobility, variety and protective data storage media will undoubtedly become increasingly essential. The growth in the storage devices is breathtaking. Customers will be demanding simple, comprehensive & secure storage solutions. For the consumer segment, Seagate will soon come out with Seagate Digital Audio Video Experience (D.A.V.E.™), which will be based on wireless storage (using Bluetooth or WiFi ) technology. This will enable data transfer on a centralised device from any mobile handheld device, digital or video camera and portable player.

The year 2008 will also witness an one terabyte capacity drive from the world of Seagate, which will easily hold up to 200 hours of HDTV broadcasting and drives meant for digital video surveillance systems, which will comfortably hold 32 full days of high-resolution video streaming. Talking to B&E, Rajesh Khurana, Country Manager Seagate, comments, “Consumers have a lot of intrinsic requirement and they wouldn’t like their digital data to get leaked by unauthorized persons... For this most products will come with perpendicular recording. Even the latest full disc encryption hard disk will encrypt data on the hardware itself, thus making the data more secure.”

And for the enterprise level, Seagate will be coming out with Barracuda FDE hard drive based on AES encryption, a government-grade security protocol and Cheetah 15K.6 hard drive, which is offering a phenomenal 28% increase in sustained data transfer rates compared to previous generation drives.

For Complete IIPM Article, Click on IIPM Article

Source :
IIPM Editorial, 2008
An IIPM and Professor Arindam Chaudhuri (Renowned Management Guru and Economist) Initiative

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

Top Articles on IIPM:-
IIPM makes business education truly global-Education-The Times of ...
The Hindu : Education Plus : Honour for IIPM
IIPM ranked No.1 B-School in India, Management News - By ...
IIPM Ranked No1 B-School in India
Moneycontrol >> News >> Press- News >> IIPM ranked No1 B-School in ...
IIPM ranked No. 1 B-school in India- Zee Business Survey ...
IIPM ranked No1 B-School in India :: Education, Careers ...
The Hindu Business Line : IIPM placements hit a high of over 2000 jobs
Deccan Herald - IIPM ranked as top B-School in India
India eNews - IIPM Ranked No1 B-School in India
IIPM Delhi - Indian Institute of Planning and Management New Delhi ...
domain-b.com : IIPM ranked ahead of IIMs



Wednesday, August 13, 2008

TIME FOR ‘CONSOLE’IDATION

There may not be too many path breaking gaming evolutions in 2008

They might just be games for some, but for those who are engaged in the task of providing these next to real-life experiences, this industry is nothing less than a hot pot of gold. Almost half of the Uncle Sam’s land and more than 90% of kids falling in the age group 2 to 17 are dissolved in the world of video games. Annually, Americans splurge more on gaming than they do on movies. According to PwC, the industry is expected to become an action-packed game of $48.9 billion by 2011 (currently $35 billion) at a compound annual growth rate of 9.1%. Consumers are always wanting more. And for Sony, Nintendo & Microsoft, it’s like a never ending marathon to bring the gaming experience more & more closer to reality.

Moving forward, the battle is going to become all the more brutal since the consoles have already achieved significant advancements. Here on, one may feel that we may not see too many path breaking advancements in the gaming console industry in the near future. Tel Pollak, Sr. gaming analyst, Jon Peddie Research told B&E, “The future of console technology is not easy to predict because the consoles themselves (360 & PS3) now have the power to satisfy most of the personal computing needs.” Slowly but surely, people project that consoles will become indistinguishable from PCs, which means they are expected to eventually end their run as stabdalone products.

However, in the short term, the major driving force in the console industry will be controller evolution and processor evolution to enrich the game play experience. Furthermore, the gaming title industry will take gamers by surprise. Innovation in multi-path story experiences, player communications and social features, massive multiplayer capabilities, and open world (non scripted) game play experience will drive the entire HD game industry; whatever platform you are looking. Therefore, teaming up with title majors and producing exclusive great titles will be of significant importance. Halo – XBox team, for instance, is a great example and has set the tone for evolution of this space. In future such teamwork between consoles & titles will definitely prove to be a source of competitive advantage. Moreover, it would surely put ardent game lovers firmly on cloud 9!

For Complete IIPM Article, Click on IIPM Article

Source :
IIPM Editorial, 2008
An IIPM and Professor Arindam Chaudhuri (Renowned Management Guru and Economist) Initiative

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

Top Articles on IIPM:-
IIPM makes business education truly global-Education-The Times of ...
The Hindu : Education Plus : Honour for IIPM
IIPM ranked No.1 B-School in India, Management News - By ...
IIPM Ranked No1 B-School in India
Moneycontrol >> News >> Press- News >> IIPM ranked No1 B-School in ...
IIPM ranked No. 1 B-school in India- Zee Business Survey ...
IIPM ranked No1 B-School in India :: Education, Careers ...
The Hindu Business Line : IIPM placements hit a high of over 2000 jobs
Deccan Herald - IIPM ranked as top B-School in India
India eNews - IIPM Ranked No1 B-School in India
IIPM Delhi - Indian Institute of Planning and Management New Delhi ...
domain-b.com : IIPM ranked ahead of IIMs


Tuesday, August 12, 2008

Stock valuations are likely to command

But then how long can they sustain this way when the stock valuations are likely to command average PE multiples and are unlikely to be re-rated any time soon? “In such a scenario, it will be difficult to find multi-baggers to show extra-ordinary performance over the next six months,” agrees Ashok Jainani, an analyst with KSL India. So, when equities are likely to remain in a range-bound move, reacting to global and domestic events, the challenges before mutual funds are to generate absolute performance, not only to garner additional subscriptions (growth in AUM), but also to retain existing AUMs. Further, their inability to pass on the burden (rising input costs) to consumers (due to government interventions) is expected to make them bleed more.

No doubt, the biggest challenge at present is to fight volatility but the competition from the insurance sector is one thing that the industry will have to look upon very seriously. Flooded with hybrid products, which offer both good returns and accidental covers, the insurance industry has already started giving fund houses a run for their money. AMCs now need to innovate, embrace technology and use it at a much faster rate in order to remain competitive. Although, the fund houses are working out on some alternate payment gateways, which include payments through credit card, mobile phones et al, to ease the investment process, but its actual implementation still is a distant dream.

For Complete IIPM Article, Click on IIPM Article

Source :
IIPM Editorial, 2008
An IIPM and Professor Arindam Chaudhuri (Renowned Management Guru and Economist) Initiative
Read these article :-
ZEE BUSINESS BEST B SCHOOL SURVEY
B-schooled in India, Placed Abroad (Print Version)
IIPM in Financial times (Print Version)
IIPM makes business education truly global (Print Version)
The Indian Institute of Planning and Management (IIPM)
IIPM Campus

Top Articles on IIPM:-
IIPM makes business education truly global-Education-The Times of ...
The Hindu : Education Plus : Honour for IIPM
IIPM ranked No.1 B-School in India, Management News - By ...
IIPM Ranked No1 B-School in India
Moneycontrol >> News >> Press- News >> IIPM ranked No1 B-School in ...
IIPM ranked No. 1 B-school in India- Zee Business Survey ...
IIPM ranked No1 B-School in India :: Education, Careers ...
The Hindu Business Line : IIPM placements hit a high of over 2000 jobs
Deccan Herald - IIPM ranked as top B-School in India
India eNews - IIPM Ranked No1 B-School in India
IIPM Delhi - Indian Institute of Planning and Management New Delhi ...
domain-b.com : IIPM ranked ahead of IIMs


Monday, August 11, 2008

Longer time frame

At a time where realty prices have stabilised (read as dropped) considerably in the recent months, there is no denying that this has led to positive sentiments in the market about ‘stability’ factor in the sector. Moreover considering a longer time frame, the prices are highly profitable as Susil Dungarwal, Analyst, Real Estate sector asserts, “In the last few years, the land prices have seen an unprecedented raise, which has invited various overaseas and domestic PE firms to venture into such deals...” This being said, the PE giants are however not ‘action sans caution’ with only 2 deals recording more than $100 million in transaction value during March-April, as compared to 4 during the corresponding period last year. “We can see more deals in the small and mid-sized segments, but the PE players are on a watch right now,” adds Pankaj. Even as a disappointed Anubhav Gupta, Analyst, Kiemeng Securities explains reasons for fall in interests in PE deals as, “The slowdown in the economy, the stock market crashing & fall in valuations of the company are the reason why companies are not preferring PE deals currently.”

Then there were two other sectors which earned the ‘docile’ tag during the period discussed earlier. One being the ‘Banking’ sector whose conribution to M&A value dropped from 41% to 7%, and the other being Shipping & Ports, where it fell from 24% to 0%!!!

However over last year, there has been a rise in interest of the Indian nationalised banks in financing M&As. Last year, SBI topped the charts in terms of loan syndication income. However, their limitation was exposed by Gupta as he asserts, “The Indian banks can only finance the small and mid-sized deals but they are still not in a position to finance the multi-billion dollar deals.” However, this limitation will also change with time.

For Complete IIPM Article, Click on IIPM Article

Source :
IIPM Editorial, 2008
An IIPM and Professor Arindam Chaudhuri (Renowned Management Guru and Economist) Initiative

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

Top Articles on IIPM:-
IIPM makes business education truly global-Education-The Times of ...
The Hindu : Education Plus : Honour for IIPM
IIPM ranked No.1 B-School in India, Management News - By ...
IIPM Ranked No1 B-School in India
Moneycontrol >> News >> Press- News >> IIPM ranked No1 B-School in ...
IIPM ranked No. 1 B-school in India- Zee Business Survey ...
IIPM ranked No1 B-School in India :: Education, Careers ...
The Hindu Business Line : IIPM placements hit a high of over 2000 jobs
Deccan Herald - IIPM ranked as top B-School in India
India eNews - IIPM Ranked No1 B-School in India
IIPM Delhi - Indian Institute of Planning and Management New Delhi ...
domain-b.com : IIPM ranked ahead of IIMs

Friday, August 08, 2008

The final fantasy...

Judging by the outstanding sales and satisfaction performances, the future looks bright indeed. However, India is a changing market and competition is both abler and fiercer, hell bent on denting, if not usurping, Maruti’s rightful throne. Maruti needs to deliberate on sharpening its indigenous R&D activity; and becoming more focused on its Indian operations (Suzuki’s largest globally, and by far). Think about it; there used to be a time when Maruti’s market shares were always above of 90%. Today, they still are still strong, albeit at the mid 40s.

When I was leaving Maruti’s office, I chanced upon a familiar debate between two employees of Maruti who were coincidentally arguing animatedly whether Federer or Sampras was the greatest tennis player of all times. While one man’s statistics supported the icy Federer, the other man’s emotions supported the lovable Sampras... I exited, smiling silently, knowing very well who, for me, is ‘the’ greatest tennis player of all times. Maria Sharapova! Look her video up on Youtube. You’ll understand what branding means. And you’ll understand why car companies use her more in their ads than they do either Federer or Sampras. No, she’s not even the world’s number 1 ranked women’s tennis player currently [that’s still the recently retired Justine Henin]. She sells; that’s branding; that’s greatness!

For Complete IIPM Article, Click on IIPM Article

Source :
IIPM Editorial, 2008

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

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

Top Articles on IIPM:-
IIPM makes business education truly global-Education-The Times of ...
The Hindu : Education Plus : Honour for IIPM
IIPM ranked No.1 B-School in India, Management News - By ...
IIPM Ranked No1 B-School in India
Moneycontrol >> News >> Press- News >> IIPM ranked No1 B-School in ...
IIPM ranked No. 1 B-school in India- Zee Business Survey ...
IIPM ranked No1 B-School in India :: Education, Careers ...
The Hindu Business Line : IIPM placements hit a high of over 2000 jobs
Deccan Herald - IIPM ranked as top B-School in India
India eNews - IIPM Ranked No1 B-School in India
IIPM Delhi - Indian Institute of Planning and Management New Delhi ...
domain-b.com : IIPM ranked ahead of IIMs

Wednesday, August 06, 2008

Savvy ad-watcher

Have our marketers and ad frat read the writing on the wall? Does this situation prevail here too? Well, if not in such large numbers, in a smaller way it does... “Some categories – insurance and finance – have attracted advertisers to beam their messages on this target group, but overall, there is ignorance, reluctance and confusion,” says a savvy ad-watcher. He believes that conservative, orthodox and conventional mindset and myths vis-à-vis this community still exist strongly, placing Gen Grey as a group that is “low-value, tight-fisted, close minded, obsessed with the earlier (revered) principle of saving ‘not’ spending.”

They could be hopelessly off-centre and the reasons are not hard to find. The oldies (read 50-plus) of the earlier generations were truly different because they were defined by the times and circumstances they lived in. Mostly, he lived in a joint family – in his prime – had parents to look after, kids to educate, sometimes, even aged relatives to care for. Security and future were his main, over-riding concerns and priorities. Today’s 50-plus is young at heart, financially comfortable with techno-savvy kids doing well in cool jobs and (sometimes) even a portfolio manager to oversee his investments. Further, myths like ‘the older you are, the lesser brand adventurous you become, lesser responsive you are to advertising, lesser willing you are to spend’ have been hurled to the trash can! Hawk-eyed marketers are going beyond financial and Insurance products to energetically woo this target base. Says the ad-watcher, “In today’s battle for Gen Grey’s wallet, a Rifle not a Shotgun, is the need of the hour.”

For Complete IIPM Article, Click on IIPM Article

Source :
IIPM Editorial, 2008

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

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

Monday, August 04, 2008

Snapshots! adland’s affair with the Indian woman...

Monojit Lahiri does a check out with a few celebs on this edgy image issue

First things first. Only guys in dire need of an instant brain transplant perceive advertising to be the unsoiled harbinger of truth or relentless brand ambassador of reality. Advertising is after all (first and last) a crucial marketing tool mandated to do a job as effectively as possible. Toward achieving this end (like Bollywood) magnifying, hyping, dramatising, exaggerating and colouring comes with the territory. “Agreed,” says the hugely respected Asia Pacific President of Leo Burnett, Michelle Kristula-Green, “but are we reading the writing on the wall correctly?” In a hard-hitting presentation made a while ago in Delhi, titled MIS UNDERSTOOD-WHY SHE’S NOT BUYING YOUR AD’S, she let fly some disturbing whoppers based on her findings on an extensive survey across Asian markets – China, Japan and India. Woman, she said, accused advertisers of portraying them in a man’s version of what they should be like. Further, she added, the basic communication slant was way off on five solid counts: money, sexuality, humour, emotion and authenticity. The survey also revealed that unlike the West, woman here weren’t comfortable with blatant portrayals of sex. It was more an internal paradigm shift where they’ve learnt to handle and appreciate sex appeal as part of their intrinsic feminity rather than an exhibitionistic, brazen and titillating man-baiting USP. Finally, in Asian society, “girls are taught to view emotions as their strength NOT weakness hence they seem to respond to a message that is authentic & real – warts and all – more positively than one that is beautifully packaged but phoney.”

How does this argument rock with our guys in celeb-ville?

Ad Film maker (and now celeb Feature Film director), Pradeep Sarkar refuses to bite. He believes that like in the movies, the shift toward realism has begun in the ad film scenario. “You will see a lesser degree of the superwoman, supermom and superwife persona today because the industry has started to recognise and respect the readers/viewers intelligence and thus offer slices of life in the communication that both entertain and connect. No wonder the new war-cry in today’s ad-scene is yaar, make it less addy! Meaning, don’t make it look like a typical ad; make it look real.”

For Complete IIPM Article, Click on IIPM Article

Source :
IIPM Editorial, 2008

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

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

Friday, August 01, 2008

No chinks in his armour

Despite a blip in Mittal’s plans; the steel tycoon is going strong

Tony Stark, the protagonist of Marvel comic series Iron Man, is in many ways similar to Laxmi Mittal, the steel empire builder. Both men were relentless empire builders even in the wake of adversity and reservations. Neither was ever affected by complacency. The moniker of Iron Man is best suited for a Marvel universe inspired socio-economic structure. But we may still conclude that the Iron Man of the real world is indeed living up to his name. Not satisfied by his multibillion dollar bid to merge the world’s largest steelmaker with his own company back in 2006, Mittal is back for more. Obviously when you have $105.2 billion worth of revenue, complacency is well just another impediment.

With a production of 116 million tones of steel, ArcelorMittal has a market share of close to 10% in the global consolidated steel industry. In a bid to even further his reach, the businessman of Indian origin has already fired up the first three months of 2008. In April, he first acquired 50% share in Gonvarri Brasil forming a steel servicing JV. “This JV will allow us to further grow in this very promising market (Brazil),” said Jon Riberas, CEO, Gonvarri. Then Arcelor Mittal has announced that the I/N Kote facility in US will now have an additional capacity of 480,000 tones for building continuous galvanizing line (CGL), almost doubling the facilities galvanising capacity. On an annual basis, the I/N Kote facility in Indiana produces close to 450,000 tones of hot-dip galvanised and galvanealed sheet.

Complimenting its growth strategy in the fast growing Indian and Chinese markets, the company has some extensive plans. Apart from the $25 billion investment for Eastern Indian region, ArcelorMittal increased its stake in China Oriental to 73.1%! In a deal worth $718 million, ArcelorMittal will acquire three mines in Russia as well.

Of course, there has been one dark spot too. When ArcelorMittal acquired the Gandrange facility in Eastern France in 1999, little was known that the plant will become a source of disdain. Due to unprofitability and a poor market, when the company wanted to offload close to 575 workers, the workers ransacked the company office. But for those wondering if this indicates there could be trouble in Mittal’s paradise, we must understand it’s a one off case. Mittal’s expansions gives him an excellent leeway in the steel industry. Some tactical blunders do not question the merit of his ingenious strategy; but then, damage control is one area that he may well have to be adept at.

For Complete IIPM Article, Click on IIPM Article

Source :
IIPM Editorial, 2008
An IIPM and Professor Arindam Chaudhuri (Renowned Management Guru and Economist) Initiative