Showing posts with label IIPM BBA MBA. Show all posts
Showing posts with label IIPM BBA MBA. Show all posts

Saturday, October 13, 2012

Pupils, you're on your own now!

Whether or not they agreed with his style of working, MPs would surely miss this headmaster in the next Lok Sabha
 
On the last day of 14th Lok Sabha, while MPs would be wondering whether or not they would return for the 15th Lok Sabha; they were certain of one thing – that they will not get to hear the commanding and firm voice of Somnath Chatterjee, Speaker of Parliament, again. Somnath has willingly retired from active politics. And during the emotional farewell when he was given the title of headmaster, he wasn't angry but proud. Now he would be spending his days away from the hullabaloo.

Born on July 25, 1929 in Tejpur, Assam, Somnath Chatterjee completed his preliminary education from Kolkata and then got his post graduate degree from Cambridge. In 1971, he contested for the Lok Sabha elections for the first time from Bolhpur and remained as an MP till the 14th Lok Sabha in 2004. During his tenure as an MP he raised many important issues for CPI (M). A front bencher in the Parliament, he commanded tremendous respect; in fact he used to always get preference during a discussion on any topic. And that is the reason why he was given the Best Parliamentarian award in 1996. In 2004, when Sonia proposed his name for the Speaker's post it was supported even by the BJP. He has been known as the most well-versed person in the guidelines and rules of Parliament and during his tenure as Speaker, he tried to follow the rules to the fullest.

Mostly clad in dhoti kurta at his residence, this CPI (M) comrade loved going to Bolhpur with his family every year to attend every Durga Puja. During one of his visits to Bolhpur, when school children asked him about the activities taking place in Parliament, he had a brain wave; that Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha activities should be telecast. His idea was the base of the 24-hour telecast of Parliament activities. During his tenure as Speaker, he made some important decisions. One amongst them was that even the Zero hour should be telecast, since it is during this time that most of the members actually come up with their local problems.


Source : IIPM Editorial, 2012.

For More IIPM Info, Visit below mentioned IIPM articles.
 
IIPM : The B-School with a Human Face
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Wednesday, October 10, 2012

Reading the future of books and movies...

Most would agree that the art of this age are movies, and since decades writers have made little money from their work. So, is it time for writers to ruminate about the subject of their books in context to their scope of becoming entertaining masala films? Ravi Subramanian, author of books like I bought the Monk’s Ferrari, opines, “Movies are one more viable option for authors to make revenue and get noticed. In Hello, for instance, the only person who benefitted from the movie was Chetan Bhagat. The movie bombed, the producers lost money, its actors didn’t profit much. The real benefit in terms of profile, money, visibility, was Chetan Bhagat. I think writing books with an eye on the movies, is not a bad option because it gives you a fair bit of recognition. The movies go far and deep in this country. In India as they say, only two things sell – cricket and Bollywood. If you can write a book that can be adapted to a movie, or if you can tweak your book to adapt around for a movie, I think you can be fairly successful. Though movie writing itself doesn’t pay you too much.”

Cinema is a medium that has the entire nation hooked. So is it not high time authors tweak their Modus operandi? A strong relationship can be forged between films and books, what remains to be seen is how long this will take to blossom.


Source : IIPM Editorial, 2012.

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


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Tuesday, October 09, 2012

Two wars, none the smarter...

Europe gloated during the meltdown, claiming it would be left untouched. The claims return to haunt a failing Europe

I945: Europe is completely devastated and in ruins after the Second World War. It is also facing the haunting spectre of Communism emanating from the Soviet Union. And yet, Western Europe rises from the ashes and emerges as a powerhouse of economic growth and all round prosperity. The resurgence is thanks largely to the Marshall Plan implemented by the United States.

1957: A handful of European nations come together and form the European Economic Community that seeks a ‘European’ perspective on global as well as local issues. This is the first tentative attempt by Europe to emerge out of the trans-Atlantic embrace with America. Many more nations join by 1967 and Europe starts dreaming of a unified market that can emerge more powerful than America.

1993: The European Union emerges as an actual rival of the United States with 500 million citizens and 30% of the world output. By now, Europe is frequently critical of America and its policies – political, strategic as well as economic. The criticism climaxes after the foolhardy George Bush decision to invade Iraq in 2003 and many start openly talking of EU as a rival to the US and euro as the rival to the dollar.

2008: In the early days after Lehman Brothers collapsed, there is much glee amongst many in Europe. Analysts and hacks point out how Europe has fostered a more ‘responsible’ model of capitalism while America has gone beyond the pale. In a parody that seems inconceivable now, European media praises banks for responsible lending and handling of assets.

That perverted euphoria lasts just a few days. Within a matter of days, it is revealed that toxic assets, bankruptcy, bad debts, collapse and contagion had as much to do with Europe as America. In fact, the ‘star’ economy of the continent Iceland, that had delivered blistering growth rates for a decade, became the first country to go completely bankrupt as a result of the meltdown. The government in Iceland has collapsed and protests have become the order of the day when people wake up from the numbing shock of seeing a ‘market’ disappear into oblivion.

In 1945, Europe was in ruins physically. By the end of 2009, it could be in ruins in financial terms. All the smart talk and looking down at Uncle Sam has vanished as the major economies of Europe start prostrating themselves. But this time, Uncle Sam itself is in such deep trouble that Europe cannot even dream of another Marshall Plan!

The recent events in France are a classic case of disconnect between reality and perceptions. The government still insists that the economy will actually grow despite the meltdown. But workers and citizens in France have a dramatically different viewpoint. In end January 2008, more than one million protestors took to the streets in Paris demanding higher wages and job protection. One shudders to think what will happen when the economy starts actually shrinking in 2009-10 and workers ‘actually’ start losing jobs by the thousands. Then there are the poignant and depressing tales from England about how investors have lost billions of pounds in savings because they gambled on Iceland. Many British citizens started parking their savings in Iceland based banks because they offered higher interest. All that has vanished and hundreds of thousands stare at poverty because their deposits were not guaranteed by any State.

Credit rating agencies are now waking up to the financial nightmare unfolding in Europe. They started by downgrading Spain, Greece, Portugal, Latvia and now Russia. Ireland is next in queue. And don’t be surprised if England follows suit because as an economy, it is even more leveraged than that of the United States. Overall, the European economy is slated to shrink by close to 3% in 2009 – something that has not happened since the Great Depression.


Source : IIPM Editorial, 2012.

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Monday, October 08, 2012

Creative capitalism in fact holds all the answers?

Muhammad Yunus, Nobel laureate, explains why creative capitalism in fact holds all the answers to improve human life, as told to B&E’s Neha Sarin

B&E : So are you trying to say that there is really no difference between Creative Capitalism and Corporate Social Responsibility?
MY: What actually is Corporate Social Responsibility?! It is something which started with the idea to help other people; but today, CSR has only become money to gain better public relations. You sponsor a cricket team, a rock concert, that’s CSR. The money goes to the R department and does not go to help poor people. CSR budget is now public relations money.

B&E What kind of government support did you get for your concept of Micro-credit and Grameen Bank? What are the kinds of hurdles you faced to achieve what you had dreamt of?
MY: There were so many hurdles. This was something new. So I knew it was very critical. The kind of words they used irritated me for a while. You had to give money to the poor women. You had to deal with them. You had to address unknown women. These were the hurdles we faced. Then there were legal hurdles too. Initially we did not have any law, which explained how you could lend money without any security. We did not have any banking structure like the government banking system had. When you took some money from the government, it puts some money in the bank @ p.a. interest of 5-6%. As a token of support the government deposits the money. But in our case, we did not even take money from the government. We took it from the borrowers. We take money from them and then lend them to the poor people. That’s how we have always worked, and worked well….

B&E: Aneel Karnani (a Strategic Management professor at Michigan University) criticises the whole idea and system of Micro-credit. He said that giving money to the ladies-folk creates all the problem due to the low level of education and women freedom in these societies. Do critics like him make your job more difficult?
MY: People come with different perceptions. If lending money to poor women make them laugh-at and criticised, let the people laugh. I don’t know what this gentleman sees wrong with it. But he may have some points. I don’t want to argue with that. But it does not convince me that he can lend money to the rich. See, in this world if you want to do something, people will criticise and say something.

B&E: Isn’t it risky that money is lent to poor people?
MY: That is not true at all. In Grameen Bank alone, we have a high rate of return of about 97-99%. Whether we work in India or Bangladesh or Somalia or Costa Rica, it does not matter. High rate of return has impressed people about micro-credit systems.

B&E: For how many people did you actually stand as a guarantor? And what was the amount you lent in total?
MY: There were almost 20,000 borrowers to begin with in the first place. And the total amount that was borrowed amounted to a massive 20 million taka (an average of 1,000 taka per head)!

B&E: With such a huge risk potential, didn’t your strategy backfire or at least weren’t you hesitant to some extent considering the possible negative outcomes?
MY: See, we trust people. It is a continuous system. We do well with them. So they come to us again. Then they stay back with us. We remind them. It is not a one shot thing. So there is no such room of doubt.

B&E: Which was the bank that actually helped you in the end?
MY: The bank is called Janata Bank. It is a government-owned bank and sits in the campus of the University where I teach.

B&E: So what kind of response are you receiving from the market today ?
MY: Yes, we don’t give advertisements in any form of media or newspaper. Yes if you talk about word of mouth we do. We write and people read about it everywhere. Through this, the whole world came to know. Thus the word spreads and naturally so. And about the response, the results are there to prove that it has all been really well accepted. Our model of CSR has done wonders; and that is what real socially responsible capitalistic business should learn to do. No business grows forever without the growth of the entire society and it’s time the global capitalists learn the truth…


Source : IIPM Editorial, 2012.

For More IIPM Info, Visit below mentioned IIPM articles.
 
IIPM : The B-School with a Human Face
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Friday, October 05, 2012

US MID-TERM ELECTIONS: LOSS OF DEMOCRATS

The Tea-Party Tidal Wave has Managed to undo the Gains of Democrats; The Shellacking Serves as a Massive Rebuke to President Barack Obama. As Republicans gain Majority Control of the house, Obama needs to Strategically Re-Align his Policies, Priorities and recast his Presidency keeping the 2012 Re-Election in mind 

William A. Galtson, Senior Fellow, Governance Studies, Brookings, says to B&E, “Voters are understandably frightened, rancid, and profoundly disheartened about the financial prospects.” Galston further explains, “The well-documented successes of the fiscal normalisation and stimulus initiatory are concealed to a populace responding to the here and now, not to the counter-factual of how much worse it might have been.” But, in all certainty, it is the future of this political gridlock, as both the Democrats and the Republicans have the power to gridlock the legislative process, which will script the future of America, the American people and most importantly that of President Obama. It will indeed be difficult for Obama to reach out to his fellow Republicans who are intent on repealing ObamaCare, his signature health care legislation; as a matter of fact, many Republicans are hell bent on opposing just about everything Obama stands for. Other than ObamaCare, the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act and the policy on use of bio-fuels for transportation are a few such policies which the Republicans would want to repeal. With less bargaining power, it is but natural that Obama will have a tough time brokering peace between Israel and Palestine and the sailing is certainly not going to be smooth in the case of Afghanistan and Iraq. November 18, 2010, when the sessions begin, and the sessions thereafter will be equally interesting; it will not be the usual cordial and supportive Democrat Congress for Obama but the antagonistic Republicans, the sessions will not be chaired by the like minded Nancy Pelosi but by the perma-tanned John Boehner (most probably).

Given the flimsy majority that the Democrats continue to enjoy in the upper house (the Senate), the President would like to push through some of his platform policies, the only hurdle being Republicans who can play havoc if they insist on using filibuster (a delaying tactic that requires 60 votes to overcome). In such a case, one can expect President Obama to take a leaf out of President Harry Truman’s presidency era and follow suite – what he can probably do is double down on his strategy (which critics claim Americans have roundly rejected), change course – move to the Left and appease his critics and challenge the ‘do-nothing’ Republicans. It might be tough to replicate the Truman strategy of 1946, but given the circumstance when the Republicans have surpassed their ‘Republican Revolution’ of 1994, challenging the opponents and the inherent gridlock will make for a big comeback.

The worst fear is that Obama would become a lame duck president for the remaining two years of his presidency. And that fear is rounded off by the fact that while it took the better part of two years to campaign for his presidency, this time around, with just two years left in his Presidency and a choice between the Devil (reviving the economy) and the deep sea (trying for a second term), one believes Obama has already met his endgame. For all practical purposes, Obama is lost to America; and America, to Obama!


Source : IIPM Editorial, 2012.
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Thursday, September 06, 2012

Wars of the Luxury Car Makers in India

The Indian Luxury car market is on the verge of exploding, led by the increasing affluent class. this has catapulted Germany’s big 3 into an internecine and long drawn war. Is their any winner in sight yet? B&E’s Sanchit Verma Gives an incisive sectoral update on the current relative sales figures, positioning issues, production plans...

To understand a nation’s economic growth, one could study many indicators, from GDP rates to consumption indices to even employment levels. But the most fascinating and alluring of all such factors remains the automobile industry growth, which over time has become a seat-of-the-pants clinker of a method to forecast expected economic momentum. In other words, positive automobile industry sales are in general signals for positive GDP growth; and vice versa too. For example, when August 2010 US automobile sales figures were released, analysts realised that these were the worst August auto sales figures in 27 years –immediately, market expectations of and from the US economy fell in an instant. Yes, there are many economists who deride the drawing of such a clunky correlation between the auto-industry and economic growth – but then, the fact of the matter is, such a correlation not only exists but is supremely inevitable.

And for sprightly economies like India’s where in reality there exists no true middle class, and where factors like UN’s Gini index (shows income inequality, with 0 denoting total equality and 100 denoting utter inequality) have become more eccentric by the year – apparently, at 36.8 on Gini, the UN believes India is pleasurably floating on brilliant equality of income across classes – an extension of the auto sales correlation to the luxury car segment throws up brilliant market understanding, again seat-of-the-pants, of how forcefully would India’s top segment of consumers drive our economy.

While this was one of the primary reasons why we took up this issue’s cover storyline, this wasn’t the only one. The lives and styles of the rich and famous fascinate one and all – including yours truly. And there’s always this infatuated fascination with getting to know how richer are the rich growing by the day (well, not many might wish to entertain a commentary on how much poorer are India’s poor) – something similar to how new records in high-end b-school placement packages are followed by everybody. What better a method to study the same, and look intellectual at the same time, than to minutely analyse the luxury car segment, interrogate top CEOs in this sector, and get to drive a few of their dapper suave monster machines – all for the sake of the nation! And given the suspiciously elongated justification we’ve attempted to pull for this article, we jump right into the issue.

The target market: There’s no gainsaying the fact that the current rabid war in India’s luxury car segment is clearly because the target market has undergone a similar rabid growth. Some statistics would put this inference into context. According to the World Wealth Report by Merrill Lynch and Capgemini, India’s HNWI (High Net Worth Income) population came down by 31.6% yoy to 84,000 in 2008 after growing by 22.7% yoy in 2007. The Indian industry, which had suffered a slowdown in 2008, came back strongly in 2009, apparently on the backs of the HNWI population, which grew by 50.9% yoy for the year. The report further suggests that India’s HNWI population will reach three times its 2008 level by 2018. Cut to the luxury car segment in India, and in a similar vein to the HNWI movement, a recent study by AT Kearney projects that the Indian luxury market is set to triple from current levels to $14.72 billion by 2015. And going by SIAM figures, even though the luxury car segment accounts for just around 1% of the Indian automotive market, this minute segment in itself grew by 33.58% yoy in the period of April-September 2010.

Clearly, there’s not much left to imagination about why western car manufacturers, especially in the luxury segment now, are focusing in a mammoth way on developing nations like China and India. For example, German luxury car maker Mercedes Benz assembled its first car in India in 1996, and had had a virtually free run since in the affluent class for years – till the time competitors entered and got on with the battle in double time. Today, the field is still dominated by the Germans, with Mercedes Benz, BWM and Audi (Volkswagen’s premium arm) engaged in an epic battle to capture. Besides them, brands like Porsche, Bentley, Jaguar, Lamborghini, Land Rover, Maybach, Rolls Royce, Toyota, Volvo, Nissan and Mitsubishi are present in one or more segments, since they still don’t feel the Indian market is ready for their products. That’s a surprising take, given that the increasing desire to own luxury cars simply to ‘up’ one’s status has led to India’s luxury car market heating up like how. From a mere 600 units back in 1999 (primarily Mercedes Benz), the luxury car segment is poised to give annual sales of over 15000 units per year.

Market share movements: Even to the untrained eye, the critical years that have changed India’s luxury car marketing landscape have been the last two to three years, with 2009 being the watershed year. In 2006, BMW had a market share of simply 9% in India. Cut to 2009. While Mercedes’ sales reached 3,202 units, BMW managed to clock a fantastic 3,587 units. As a result, BMW overtook Mercedes and gained over 40% market share. BMW President Dr. Andreas Schaaf told B&E, “2007-2009 were demanding years for BMW in India, and at the same time, the most successful entry for BMW in any country recently.” Successful because BMW was able to increase its sales by ten-folds from 2006 to 2009. Audi wasn’t far behind, with a record 2009 as well in India. Audi sold 1,658 cars in 2009, translating into a growth of 58% over 2008.

Understandably, this was news that shook the whole industry. In the first five months of this financial year, however, Mercedes again recaptured its leadership position with a sale of 2,212 cars, with BMW at 1,987 units and Audi at 1,876 units in hot pursuit. Dr. Wilfried Aulbur, CEO, Mercedes-Benz India, told B&E, “We will end up with more than 5000 units this year, which means we have had a CAGR over these 5 years of about 30%.” In January 2010, Mercedes broke its own past records by selling 411 units, with BMW and Audi standing at 341 319 respectively. Mercedes-Benz India announced a sale of 321 units in April 2010 taking the cumulative sales for January-April 2010 to 1603 units marking a growth of 80% yoy. E-Class registered 139% growth while the SUV portfolio registered 67% growth. There was a significant month-on-month growth in April 2010 for both C-Class (71%) and E-Class (84%). Such huge growth figures in the face of competition are critically surprising and momentous. Mercedes’ July 2010 month sales of 521 vehicles in India was apparently the best ever month sales since Mercedes entered India 15 years ago. Their August 2010 sales at 573 units bettered that too! And if you were to see the 662 units they sold in September 2010, you’d start understanding why we have been continuously using the term ‘rabid’ to describe this segment’s growth.


Source : IIPM Editorial, 2012.
For More IIPM Info, Visit below mentioned IIPM articles.
 
IIPM : The B-School with a Human Face
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Wednesday, September 05, 2012

Courtney, lovable at last

Courtney Love surprised all at her recent turnout at Ziegfeld Theatre (NYC). The Calvin Klein red dress, well accentuating her newfound contours, and flawless make-up, was quite unlike Love’s previous image, chequered with infamous episodes of drugs and bad fashion. Setting the red carpet ablaze, hats off to the lady who took pains to find the right dress, even while she fights for her daughter’s custody. Or perhaps her clean-up act is an attempt on her part to fit the mother’s role? A little over the top perhaps, but the lady’s sure trying.

Read more....

Source : IIPM Editorial, 2012.
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Monday, September 03, 2012

FACEBOOK: FUTURE QUESTIONED

While the world debates over when Facebook will go public and what its worth would be, Mark Zuckerberg is worried about a decision he has to make – sell-off his 24% stake & bid adieu to Facebook or alter the very business model by diversifying. What should he choose? by Steven P. Warner

So will Facebook become a meteoric fad? Louis says it already is: “Facebook is already a fad. I don’t think it is going to grow out of that. It lacks credibility.” Pessimism apart, the giant’s credit notes being reduced to scribbled sheets appear quite a possibility. And the mass market has proven to be a fickle group; Facebook cannot overlook this historical truth. Speaking to B&E from San Mateo in California, Jeremiah Owyang, Partner, Altimeter Group says, “Facebook is at risk. Other social networks became complacent, got sold to larger media entities, or failed to invigorate their talent tools and suffered as a result.”

Debate is also on that Facebook could become larger than Google. Speaking to B&E from Chicago, Andrew Lipsman, Senior Director of research agency comScore Inc., sounds optimistic. He says, “Facebook can eventually becoming the largest web property in the world (currently it is #4). But this would still take a few years. To get there, it would need to get traction in some of the larger Internet markets where it still has a limited presence, such as Japan, S. Korea, Russia & Brazil.” But Sturm doubts it. Says he, “It is unlikely that Facebook will become bigger than Google. It is riding the wave of popular infatuation. Things can go wrong for Facebook. What if some hacker found a way to compromise its security? There are many possibilities!” Facebook also has to move away from relying only on online ads. While Facebook is growing, so is Google. Not content with being the dominant search engine, Google continues to attempt to mean more things to more people. Its latest innovation is Google RealTime. In short, cautious, but deliberate diversification will benefit Facebook, as Owyang of Altimeter says, “Facebook will need two strategies to maintain leadership: Innovate & integrate features at all consumer touchpoints, so it’s no longer just a destination strategy.” This typically implies that Facebook has to look beyond social-networking communities.

The opportunities? First comes “analytics”. Zuckerberg has to better realise the power of 500 million samples across 100+ countries. Facebook can serve research agencies and surveyors who are looking at demographic, psychological or other types of market researches. There is presently no clause that disallows “grouped data” to be furnished to third-parties. The situation is thus – Facebook has a mine it can monetise. Strangely, it is not doing so.

Facebook dreams of becoming the new-Google. But it isn’t doing what Google did on day #1 – it has no credible search business (except people), which is what primarily made Google worth $150 billion today, and forced Microsoft to risk a $47 billion bid for an outdated Yahoo! Search capability enhances the value of a web property and multiplies the revenue inflow manifold. How? Google crossed the $10 billion revenue mark when it was seven years old. Facebook is already six and hopes to cross the $1 billion mark only by 2010-end. Facebook is also missing out on the places where netizens spend most of their time – the Inbox. Facebook’s mailing system is outdated, looks rigid & clumpy and is almost impossible to organise. Mails give the most important dimensions to online networking. Most know this; some don’t. Does Zuckerberg?



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Saturday, September 01, 2012

The group’s flagship company jaypee associates ltd

While there is a lot of hue and cry about jaypee infratech’s yamuna expressway project, the group’s flagship company jaypee associates ltd is climbing up the ladder with its diversified approach, says Deepak Ranjan Patra

Buoyed by the performance of the cement division, JAL, which has an installed capacity of 21.3 million tones, now aims to scale it up to 37.55 million tones per annum by FY 2012 through various greenfield projects. Interestingly, if forecasts about Indian cement industry in FY 2012 hold true, then at that capacity JAL will be the second largest cement manufacturer in the country. Certainly, increased capacity will result in higher top-line for the company. But, considering the prevailing oversupply scenario in the industry, the question remains whether the company will manage to save its margin and thus the bottom-line? Well, analysts like Shailesh Kanani from Angel Securities puff up some doubt on the same. Shailesh explains to B&E, “Capacity expansion will certainly help JAL’s top-line to grow high, but the pressure on margin due to over supply conditions will hurt its bottom-line in the near future. It’s a risk arising from the market conditions. So, it will be tough for the company to avoid the same, more so for the fact that the company itself is increasing its production capacity by a great extent.”

However, the company, which hopes to mop up revenue of around `60 billion from the cement division this year, sounds positive on this front and expects the demand-supply situation to ease in the later part of this fiscal. As per it, with the government giving higher importance to the infrastructure sector and its new production facilities operating at full capacities, the cement business can achieve a significant growth.

The company’s real estate wing too showed resilience in the last fiscal by selling premium real estate of around 1.4 million sq. ft. at an average rate of `5500 per sq. ft. at its on going projects at Noida and Great Noida regions. In fact, backed by strong real estate results the company’s engineering business (including real estate and others) saw its income rising 79.26% from `36.66 billion to `65.72 billion. However, at present JAL’s real estate business is heavily focused on residential projects. And as analysts feel, down the line this may not bring much onto the plate unless the company enters into the commercial segment, which offers a higher margin.

Meanwhile, to keep its growth track intact, the company is in the process of strengthening its interests in other sectors. Despite having a strong faith in organic growth, it has recently forayed into the fertilizer segment by signing a joint venture with Duncan Industries to revive the latter’s urea plant in UP. Considering the fact that the country imports around 6 million tonnes of urea every year, the plant may be a value proposition for the company in the years to come. Further, hospitality is another area where the company aims to gain ground in the days to come and thus continuously adding impetus to the expansion of its presence in the particular sector. However, despite its thrust on other sectors, the company still believes that it’s infrastructure, which will continue to guide the company to new heights. Manoj Gaur says, “JAL has an established track record as the leading infrastructure company with clear competitive advantage and immense growth potential in Indian infrastructure and core sector. The group is fully geared up with the avenues opened by the government of India in infrastructure, real estate and power sectors.”

Yes, there are hiccups. But with a strong determination, experienced management and impeccable track record of project execution, JAL is confident enough to move up the ladder when it’s about being the country’s best in terms of earning profits for their investors. Perhaps, that’s what even makes analysts like Shailesh say, “If you are ready for the long-term, this company will offer you great returns.”


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Thursday, August 30, 2012

“We often work without competition”

In an exclusive with virat bahri, Aricent CEO Sudip Nandy talks about how focus has been one of Aricent’s key strengths and how they will leverage it to enhance value proposition and growth prospects for the future
 It’s been over 4 years since Aricent was set up as a conglomeration of different entities post the acquisition of a majority stake by PE giants KKR and Sequoia Capital. The company has seen an impressive success rate, with revenues at $484 million in FY 2009-10 (from $238 million in FY 2005-06, a CAGR of 19.4%). The company’s business model has several unique hues to it; starting from the exclusive focus on telecom to the multiple client engagement model to the intense focus on design as well as R&D. In this exclusive with B&E, Aricent CEO Sudip Nandy discusses the company’s plans to grow in the telecom space and how the sector is expected to evolve further.

B&E: Tell us about how Aricent evolved as a pure play IT company in the telecom vertical. Do you feel it remains a compelling strategy?
Sudip Nandy (SN): Different parts of Aricent have got different ages, some of the parts are very old. For instance, the larger part of the building where we are sitting was one of the entities called Hughes Software Systems. These were independent companies in the 1980s and 90s. Hughes was listed on the BSE. In 2004, Flextronics acquired Hughes Software Systems in India and made it a part of Flextronics Software Systems in India. They continued buying a few more companies in India. In 2006, Flextronics became a part owner, and a significant investment was brought in by PE KKR and Seqouia Capital. At that point, we became Aricent. It just so happened that the larger entity called Hughes Software Systems and so many of the other entities that got acquired under it, were focussed in some way or the other on the communication eco system. There was a synergy in what was there together. The decision was taken that we should focus on the telecom and communications area since the feeling was that this is going to be a very very high growth area. Three years on, we find that was highly prescient in terms of where we are today. It is not only high growing; it is going to find its way into all parts of life and industries. It’s almost like internet in the mid-1990s. Communication in the next ten years is going to be embedded into everything. We think that with the focus we have, we are able to a) better predict what the future could bring b) invest ahead of the curve and c) when required beat out competition but often work without competition on our own work with clients. Over the last four to five years, we have been growing well and have been able to ride the crest and the trough.

B&E: You have had a long experience at Wipro. What motivated you to make the shift to Aricent?
SN: I have had a more broad experience in technology from 1989 onwards, with a little under 26 years in Wipro. And this is the first change; about an year and a half back I joined Aricent. And at Wipro, Aricent was our competition number 1! And when we talk about Aricent in comparison with other IT companies in India there are some unique aspects; besides the fact that we are sharply focussed. Companies are struggling and are at different levels of readiness in terms of the kind of consulting they have created. For us, around 20% of the revenue comes from situations which is really consulting; where the revenue per employee would be in the $300,000 per employee range; where in normal outsourcing and services business, it would be in the $50,000 per employee range. Second interesting thing is that the model that we have is what we call rightshoring. Around 82% of our people in US and Europe are actually local people. For other companies, the figure is around 20% and the rest are expatriates from India. We are more strategic for customers here whereas in my previous job, I would say we were probably more tactical for the customers. More positive was the sense of what is possible in Aricent. We had an innovation piece that was chugging along and doing very well; and then there was this engineering piece, and there was also a piece which was products and licences. All three had a significant communication component but it was not woven together. If you put the missing piece of strategy, it becomes a very compelling and complete story. Secondly I understood the business very well as we were competing with Aricent. The possibility of creating a new class of company was a motivating factor.

B&E: With respect to your co-creation strategy with clients, what are the different models of revenue you employ and how is it working out?
SN: We do co-creation because the work we are doing is very strategic. Often when services companies work with customers, it’s more of a play on the cost side, whereas our work is more to do with creating new and enhanced revenue streams. Most people go and talk to a CIO and get business, but with a CMO it is a very different discussion and value proposition. Even if it is not licensing of something we have created, we have different models – fixed price model, fixed price + sharing of rewards, capped royalties, et al. We haven’t made it a huge part of our business yet but it could over time become a huge part of our revenue. In situations like cost saving, clients want to share the risk and to keep you happy, they give a bit of a reward. With co-creation, they want to share the reward. We don’t own the IP in these cases; the customer owns it. We have not just people doing delivery work but also project management for the customer and defining their product road map. They have their eyes and ears on the ground to understand what competition is doing and how we can be a step ahead. Our people also work for customers on the strategy front. This is very different from a purely product engagement.


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Wednesday, August 29, 2012

“I rate the UPA government’s second tenure only a five on ten.”

Sudarshan Mazumdar, Former Director of Brand and Communications, Fortis and Escorts Group, speaks to Steven Philip Warner on why he considers the UPA II regime a half-success...

B&E: How would you rate the first and second tenure of the UPA government?
SM: Considering the overall performance since 2004, I rate the UPA government’s first tenure a 6.5 on 10 and its second tenure only a 5 on 10. The second season for UPA has been marred with failures. Be it the Budgets or the failed implementation (so far) of an issue like GST.

B&E: But aren’t you satisfied with UPA II’s foreign policies?
SM: We have tried to improve our relationships with China, Russia and others. But how beneficial it has been for India? Even today, we have not been able to strike any agreement with China, which still supports the nuclear programme in Pakistan. I think the biggest failure of the UPA has been that even after the Mumbai attacks of 2008, it did not succeed in creating a cohesive pressure on our neighbours to stop them from shipping terrorists. That is blatant. There has to be a coherent policy. You cannot have external parties representing you, which is precisely what has been happening. This has given Pakistan an undue advantage during inter-border talks. All this represents a failure of UPA II.

B&E: And what are your thoughts on inflation in basic food commodities?
SM: Even today, we still have to count on the weather gods to forecast how our economic growth will be. Currently, our agricultural growth is below expectations. Food grain production actually dropped this year by 12%. Then, there is poor food preservation. The lack of government supported logistics creates great wastage. Inflation is just the end result.


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Tuesday, August 28, 2012

Kat’s Game for more!

While the world swayed to Shakira’s Waka Waka at the South Africa World Cup, the organisers of the Commonwealth Games have roped in Katrina Kaif to work the magic for India. The actress, who turned 26 recently, is learning belly dancing for her performance on an anthem composed by AR Rehman. Already struggling with a hectic schedule, Katrina seems to have agreed to many more sleepless nights!


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Monday, August 27, 2012

Can they unravel this funds mystery?

Leave aside regulatory changes, the Indian mutual fund industry today faces a number of issues which are characterized by lack of investor awareness, low penetration levels, high dependence on corporate sector and spiraling cost of operations. Structural changes in business models are what AMCs now require if they want to sustain profitability by Mona Mehta

When viewed from over 25,000 feet above the ground, the pace of change in Indian asset management industry appears almost miniscule. Year after year, it seems, industry turn out the same old products with growth showing no superlative jump. But that’s only the bird’s eye view. Drill deeper, and a very different picture emerges – one in which a handful of mighty forces are spurring some dramatic changes, in an industry which is perhaps considered dormant till date.

In fact, apart from dramatic stock market performance, the year gone by was the year of reforms for mutual funds (MFs) in India. The key changes included elimination of entry and exit loads on purchase of schemes, the government allowing MFs to be traded on the bourses, et al. While some were in favour of investors, others pampered the industry. Whatever the situation may have been at the start of 2009, most investors definitely seemed relaxed and happy as the year ended. But the question stayed – how will the year 2010 unfold for this beleaguered industry which is still adjusting to the regulatory changes? Will the promise of growth sustain in the near future? Well, it is already halfway through 2010, and the questions still remain unanswered.

Despite clocking growth rates that are amongst the highest in the world, Indian MF industry continues to be a very small market comprising just 0.32% share of the global assets under management (AUM) of over $20 trillion. Though the ratio of AUM to India’s GDP has gradually increased from 6% in 2005 to 11% in 2009, it’s still significantly lower than the ratio in developed countries, where AUM accounts for 20-70% of the GDP. Even a recently released report by PricewaterhouseCoopers (Indian Mutual Fund Industry – Towards 2015) states that although the Indian mutual fund industry has weathered the financial crisis with AUMs posting a year-on-year growth of 47% in FY2009-10, retail participation has witnessed just a marginal increase to 26.6% from 21.3% posted during the previous corresponding period. In fact, the net sales of Equity and Balanced funds in FY2009-10 have been one of the lowest in recent years. Further, if statistics are something to go by, AUM as a percentage of GDP is still less than 5% in India as compared to 70% in the US, 61% in France and 37% in Brazil. This obviously means that low penetration level is a bottleneck in spurring industry growth.

What’s more? Since the crisis of October 2008, the domestic fund market has seen the steepest fall. As per a recent data from the Association of Mutual Funds in India (AMFI), the industry’s average AUM plunged 15.89%. While UTI MF saw the sharpest fall of 18%, ICICI MF too witnessed a decline of 15.86%. Experts say this was mainly owing to the overall liquidity crisis and outflows due to advance tax and 3G auction payments. Telecom companies sucked over Rs.1 trillion from the system.


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Friday, August 24, 2012

AMIT SRIVASTAVA, COORDINATOR INDIA, RESOURCE CENTER

THE SIGNIFICANT DROP IN GROUNDWATER LEVELS DUE TO COMMERCIAL ACTIVITIES, CONTINUES TO BE THE REASON FOR WORKABLE ISSUES BECOMING JUDICIAL MATTERS

In March this year, a High Power committee appointed by the government of Kerala validated the community concerns. The committee concluded that Coca-Cola was responsible for water depletion and pollution, and applied the “polluter pays principle” in recommending that Coca-Cola be held liable for around $48 million in damages that it has caused in Plachimada, which have destroyed the very fabric of the agrarian community.

In a manner that characterizes the way with which Coca-Cola has continued to operate in India, the company has questioned the very legitimacy of the High Power committee that was appointed by the state of Kerala.

The committee was the highest empowered committee possible to be set up in the state of Kerala, and its members included eminent officials like the state department heads of Agriculture, Animal Husbandry and Health, as well as regional directors of the Pollution Control Board and the Ground Water Board, along with a number of experts.

If Coca-Cola chooses not to accede to the findings and recommendations of such a high power committee in India, they should not do business in India. Adopting such an adversarial position would be unthinkable in the United States, Coca-Cola’s home country, or even in the European Union. The company’s actions therefore exhibit a double standard – it has more respect for the law and institutions in developed countries than in India. This is not acceptable.

An international campaign is underway, reaching all the way to Coca-Cola’s boardroom in Atlanta, to ensure that Coca-Cola respect the rights of communities and farmers in India and around the world.


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