IIPM News Broadcast

“We aren’t niche!”

2011-12-23T16:54:00.001+05:30

Lufthansa has often enthralled Indian customers with its initiatives & Sangeeta insists that more are on the anvil

Sangeeta Sharma, a veteran in the aviation industry and in Lufthansa, where she has spent over two decades, talks to deepti singh about the company’s approach to the Indian market and the recent Park & Fly initiative:

You have been instrumental in bringing many firsts to the Indian market. Please elaborate on the marketing strategy of Lufthansa this year.
Lufthansa has always been innovative in its marketing strategies and stayed ahead of the curve. This year, we have gone a step further to add a unique ‘experiential’ dimension to Lufthansa marketing, which is focused on customer engagement. This is supported by an integrated marketing campaign that combines conventional marketing channels with new age platforms such as digital and social media.

Lufthansa recently introduced the Park & Fly game. What was your strategy behind this?
Leveraging interactive mobile technology with an innovative marketing model, it presents a first-of-its kind gaming experience in the public space that is both informative and entertaining. The enthusiasm for and the interest in the game has far exceeded our expectations. Over a thousand people have played the game on each weekend, with a multifold ripple effect through the buzz around A380 Park & Fly Zones in every mall and the viral impact of our supporting digital and social media campaigns.

How do you measure your progress in India and how have you customised your approach to this market?
It’s been over half a century since Lufthansa began scheduled services to and from India. The trust and loyalty of our customers has grown with each passing year, making us the No 1 European airline in India today. India is a strategic market and we will continue to be a committed partner in the nation’s growth story as it claims its spot as a global economic powerhouse. We don’t do run-of-the-mill stuff, which is apparent. Lufthansa is not a niche brand now and we cater to a diverse target audience that comprises corporates, SMEs, leisure travellers, MICE groups & students. The fact that our brand recall moved from 17% in 2005 to 100% in 2010 demonstrates the support we have from our Indian customers.

For more articles, Click on IIPM Article

Source : IIPM Editorial, 2011.

An Initiative of IIPM, Malay Chaudhuri and Arindam chaudhuri (Renowned Management Guru and Economist).

For More IIPM Info, Visit below mentioned IIPM articles.

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Planman Technologies

“Hard to categorise India”

2011-12-16T16:58:00.002+05:30

After successfully weathering the initial storm, Manish is now focusing on making Panasonic the ‘people’s’ brand in India

He has had a prolific career of around 15 years already in the consumer durables industry and has served global giants like LG, Samsung & Haier before being inducted into Panasonic India. It is therefore logical to expect nothing less than a thorough understanding of the consumer durables market in India from Manish Sharma, Director, Marketing, Panasonic India.

He joined Japan-based Panasonic in August 2008 as product head for the Viera range of televisions and was promoted as director of marketing in 2010. Sharma, who studied electrical engineering form Madhya Pradesh, considers himself lucky due to the fact that he has always been at the right place at the right time. He often recalls the way he happened to join different brands when they were going through their most challenging times. “When I started my career, I joined Korea-based LG, which entered India as a joint venture and was finding it difficult to make its own place or stand in the market. A few years later when I shifted to Samsung, the brand was repositioning itself at that time, introducing new product lines and betting high on research and development,” he says. When he joined Haier, it presented a different kind of challenge as the company was not a known brand in the Indian market. Then when he decided to join Panasonic in 2008, the company was similarly making a brave attempt to establish itself in the domestic market. Now, after much hard work under his leadership, Panasonic is regaining its glory and market share.

Sharma says that for the Japanese head office of the company, India is one of the most important and strategic markets in the world. The company has recently shifted its focus completely towards India by scaling up investment plans and also launching many new products, which are especially ‘custom-made’ for Indians consumers. The group has recently invested in an R&D plant in Harayana and other infrastructure initiatives also. Panasonic has also delved deep into celebrity associations under his leadershiop apart from the endorsement of sporting events. With his understanding of the industry and the India market, he has helped Panasonic make it big by adding a generous local flavour to its brand appeal and at the same time, making a strong youth connect.

After the success and acceptance of star kid Ranbir Kapoor’s association with the Viera brand, Sharma also introduced another actor Katrina Kaif to be the face of the home appliances range of the firm. And to mark the firm’s foray into the sports world, Panasonic has become the official partner of IPL’s Delhi Daredevils team and is also sponsoring the national football team.

“Media Consumption is Least Affected by Mobile Tech in India”

2011-11-07T17:40:00.002+05:30

The Mobile Boom in India may Inspire many to talk about how it has changed Media Consumption, but Rohit Bhargava from Ogilvy has a Contrarian View. 4Ps B&M finds out his Opinion on A few other trends as well

“I write a blog about influential marketing. I work at Ogilvy. I have a personality. I wrote a book on why personality matters.” This is how Rohit Bhargava, Executive Vice-President, Global Strategy at Ogilvy, likes to define himself at twitter. Bhargava is the founding member of Ogilvy 360 Digital Influence team, which is apparently the world’s largest global network of social media strategists. He has a personal marketing blog – just to say that it is a popular blog would be belittling the fact that it has been ranked by AdAge as one of the top 25 marketing blogs in the world. If that was not enough for his claim to fame, his bestselling book, ‘Personality Not Included’ has been published across the world in eight different languages. If you were to chance upon his blog, you will find a section where he likes to describe himself in the form of various bios, like a one line bio, a short bio, a 100 word bio, then a 100-ish word bio and finally a full bio. Not only has he led marketing strategies for brands like Intel, Pepsi, Lenovo, Seiko and Unilever, he has also worked on marketing campaigns for brands like Arnotts, Subaru, Malaysia Airlines, Kelloggs and Maggi. To cut to the chase, 4Ps B&M caught up with him to bring to you straight from the horse’s mouth, the inside story of the trends shaping media consumption in mainland India viz-a-viz the rest of the world.

‘Content curation’ and ‘entrepreneurial journalism’, how do you see them as important factors in shaping media consumption trends in India or elsewhere?
Journalism is evolving in ways that no one could have imagined around five or 10 years ago. In a world where anyone can publish information instantly, the role of journalism is becoming more entrepreneurial and curated. For example, when citizens post videos experiencing a typhoon, those are the journalists who actually watch these videos and validate them as a source of authenticated news. On the other side, now you have more and more people with journalism training and experience choosing to take the more entrepreneurial road of creating their own media properties and building their own audiences.

There are many trends which have surfaced in the last five years. But what is that most remarkable trend that you think has played a vital role in shaping media consumption over the past couple of years?
The democratization of expertise has been the single biggest trend shaping the consumption of media over the past five years, and also the belief in that media. Everyone is an expert in something, and now you can share that expertise online with the whole world. That means that the media we all read is no longer limited to just a small subset of “official” media publications. Everyone influences everyone else, because we can all read and consume media created by one another.

According to you, what will be the most interesting medium to watch out for, as a trend in shaping media consumption in India and the rest of the world?
The sheer volume of people in each new generation in India has created a natural pressure to stand out. This pressure will lead more and more people to try and build their own personal profiles through creating their own media online. In a truly flat society, anyone can be found and succeed regardless of where they are born or what economic class they fit into. Your place of birth no longer determines your potential future success. Innovation can come from anywhere.

We often hear that India missed the era of pagers and straight away got into mobiles. How do you think that affected media consumption in India?
Actually, I think media consumption will be the one thing that is ‘least’ affected by the mobile technology in India because many people who are now discovering the particular technology are already familiar with print newspapers, televisions and radio. The point is, they already have established patterns for consuming media and they are unlikely to throw that away for what is still a substandard reading experience on a very small screen. Instead, I think the real impact of mobile immediately will come from the people who first access the Internet over mobile devices and use mobile devices to send and receive payments. Those applications are much more likely to drive the growth and adoption of mobile devices. As larger form mobile devices such as tablets start to make their way into the larger base of the market, we may start to see this change.

Decoding Sweet!

2011-11-04T17:38:00.001+05:30

Cadbury has for years Flirted with Campaigns that have Moved away from its Core ‘Chocolate’ Message. Now, with its Latest ad Series, is Cadbury Returning to its Original theme? a Summary 4PS B&M review

There are few food items people feel as passionate about as their love for the “sweetness” of candies, desserts and chocolates. Many years ago when we first saw the ad of a girl dancing on the cricket field and tucking into her chocolate, we knew that there was “Kuch khaas” in Cadbury. That moment has continued to live on as consumers are still dancing to the tunes of the Cadbury brand today.

Cadbury Dairy Milk has enjoyed a long and celebrated history of consumption in India even as it has always been in stiff competition with rival Nestle. Cadbury enjoys a market share of over 70% – the highest Cadbury brand share in the world – with flagship Dairy Milk enjoying 30% of the market share. The size of confectionery market in India is Rs 4,500 crore – double that of the chocolate market, which is closer to Rs 2,000 crore, estimate industry observers. Confectionery, too, is growing at a steady clip of about 15%. Naturally, the billion-dollar Cadbury Dairy Milk brand is considered the “gold standard” for chocolates in India.

Yet, chocolate penetration in India is as low as 6-7% and so there exists a huge potential to grow. With its sustained advertising, churning out new campaigns year after year and increasing its ad spends too, Dairy Milk has been able to connect with large swathes of consumers across various demographics over the years. Over the last six decades that it has been in India, Cadbury Dairy Milk has given numerous reasons and opportunities to celebrate joyous occasions in the company of its toothsome chocolates. Right from the “Real Taste of Life” to the latest “Meethe mein kya hai?” the brand’s campaigns have all through dinned the message about chocolate consumption and new reasons for doing so.

The new “Meethe mein kya hai?” campaign is an attempt to propagate the brand as a preferred option for dessert. Considering the Indian household’s tradition of having something sweet after a wholesome dinner, the brand’s latest campaign uses this insight to increase consumption of chocolate in homes, as opposed to impulse purchases only. The ad has been created by Ogilvy’s National Creative Director Abhijit Avasthi and carries a simple but subliminal message: “Most of us feel the urge to have something sweet (Kuch meetha) after a meal. So after your meals when you ask you wife/mom, ‘Meethe mein kya hai?’ we want them to serve Cadbury Dairy Milk!”. Cadbury has been the pioneer in introducing consumers to the art of enjoying chocolate. The brand is known for its campaigns that induce consumers to increase the frequency of chocolate consumption. Back in 1998, when a lot of adults were still seeking justification for chocolate indulgence, Cadbury came out with “Khane ka bahana” campaign. The campaign fetched the brand a larger consumer base by trotting out another convincing reason to tickle the sweet tooth. Then came the ‘Pappu pas ho gaya’ and ‘’Miss Palampur” campaigns with occasion-based themes that helped create a special space for the brand during moments of celebration and amongst large communities. The message behind Pappu pas ho gaya has been lapped up by consumers and is today used extensively to express joy in a moment of achievement and success. The idea involved a tie-up with Reliance India Mobile service and allowed students to check their exam results using their mobile service and encouraged those who passed their examinations to celebrate with Cadbury Dairy Milk.

Save The Earth... sell some too

2011-11-01T16:40:00.001+05:30

While many companies waste their wherewithal and finances promoting CSR that has no connect with their organisation’s competence or product/service offerings, 3Cs – a real estate company – has used the umbrella of green initiatives to not only promote pro-environment behaviour, but most importantly, has also succeeded in ensuring that the brand recall of their upcoming premium end luxury apartments increases. As an extension of their hyped Earth Water social campaign, the 3Cs company distributed environment-friendly bags as a mark of appeal to people to stop using plastic bags. Apparently, this would reduce the carbon footprint of India. From conservation of water to beseeching people to save planet earth, and more, 3Cs has managed to hit home in finding the connect between CSR and market returns. Go ahead; stop using plastic bags... and yes, buy their apartments too :)

“India Became Important to us in The Past Five Years”

2011-10-17T17:35:00.001+05:30

It is one Entity of The Massive Tata Conglomerate that you would have Heard Little about. But, as Tata Interactive Enters The Domestic Education Sector in a Big way, that could Soon Change

When Ratan Tata became the Chairman in 1989, Sanjaya Sharma, who has been with the group for over 31 years, approached him and a team from TAS with a business idea – to get into computer-based learning. Tata liked the idea and the result was Tata Interactiv – an interesting yet relatively lesser known venture of the Tata group. Within a span of a little over two decades since its inception, Tata Interactive has gone through crests and troughs to become the leader in developing training solutions globally. The company has already served clients across education, government & defence, telecommunications and ICT, pharmaceuticals & health care, banking, financial services, airlines, logistics, hospitality et al. Founder & CEO Sanjaya Sharma elaborates on the company’s business model, and how, with its recent foray into schools, the journey in India has just begun.

How did you evolve towards e-learning? What core competencies has the company developed so far?
We began with a focus on computer-based training and multimedia. As the web came in the mid-1990s, we went into web-based learning. We also leveraged our multimedia skills to create web designs. We designed and ran tata.com for the first two years. By the end of the decade, we had acquired enough international references to focus on e-learning. We had invested in product formats like simulations, games, story-based learning, et al. It evolved more towards e-learning and simulations since then. Although it is a niche, Tata Interactive is recognised as the leader as well as the pioneer. Also, we are the only global player. It is a multimedia and multidisciplinary business, and it’s hard to serve multiple geographies. For instance, the style of English speaking itself is different in different countries. But you can never expect to be a TCS in this kind of niche. You can aspire to be an Ideo, the world’s biggest design company. But three core competencies have been developed – multimedia-based instructional design, project management that scales up and institutional selling, which we are leveraging for our expansions.

What is the rationale behind the recent foray into schools?
We have been looking at India as a larger opportunity in the past few years – be it on the vocational side, the school side or the higher education side. We have prioritised schools as the first step. We are leveraging the same core competencies – there is a team of over 200 people creating the same core content. That comes from the strengths of multimedia production and instructional design. Selling to schools is a different target audience, but it is still institutional selling adapted to schools. It will use our project management skills as well. Education represents a big change in philosophy for us. We were not chasing a billion dollar turnover earlier. With the entry into a mass segment like schools, we definitely expect to reach a billion dollars in the next few years.

What is the core value proposition that you will bring in for schools?
Our concept is to supplement the way teachers are teaching by providing them with methodology and the multimedia content through Internet. We have a cloud solution and everything is hosted centrally. The school server is connected to us. As we create new lessons, they keep popping into the school. The philosophy is built around the lesson plans supplied by us to the teacher. It is about how the topic is to be taught, cross linkages with other topics, short term and long term objectives, group/individual activities, assessments. The animation-based and multimedia-based components are also supplied to the teacher. Lesson plan is an overall plan to teach the lesson based on the way the board specifies. At this time, there is a lot of interest in terms of this concept. Some 7-8 thousand schools have implemented this system only partially. The sector is price sensitive, but demand is arising from all segments – trustees, principals, teachers, students and parents want it as well. We plan to cover some 100 cities across the country in the next few months.

The Great Escape at Mandawa

2011-10-10T17:10:00.001+05:30

One of India’s most anticipated off-road events, the 67th Mahindra Great Escape recently concluded at the sand dunes of Mandawa, Rajasthan. The event was flagged off by Bhaskar Rao, Transport Commissioner, Government of Karnataka and saw eminent personalities from all walks of life enjoy the Mahindra spirit of adventure and offroading. The Great Escape is an ‘invitation only’ rally and since its conceptualisation in 1996, it has offered most of the elusive terrain across India to its participants. In the beginning, the rally was incepted to showcase Mahindra vehicles’ strength on the terrain against termac, though over the years, it has won the reputation of being one of the most thrilling non-competent rallies in India. In 2009, the Great Escape celebrated its Golden Jubilee in Goa.

LG’S War Cry to Apple

2011-07-18T17:10:00.002+05:30

Tablet wars, which was initiated and pioneered by Apple with its launch of i-Pad, have once more been ignited by the original makers of i-phone’s Retina feature. LG plans to rival Apple’s i-Pad by the end of the fourth quarter this year with its upcoming tablet that apparently will have the latest features and all new benefits. The ‘LG slate’, which still awaits a formal brand name will focus on creating content rather than consumption with a mixed support of document writing, video editing and even elements of coding which are presently missing in Apple’s tablet. LG has already declared its initiatives on releasing smart-phones based on NVIDIA’s Tegra -2 chipset along with nine more handsets by the end of this year and plans to capture a 5 million units’ share in the US market alone. Although LG completely failed to make its presence count in the smart phone segment in the past, the current claims can at least boost the confidence of the management which is all set to challenge the temple of innovation (Apple) and the biggest invention of the recent era.

For more articles, Click on IIPM Article.

Source : IIPM Editorial, 2011.

An Initiative of IIPM, Malay Chaudhuri and Arindam chaudhuri (Renowned Management Guru and Economist).

For More IIPM Info, Visit below mentioned IIPM articles.

IIPM ranked No 1 B-School in India
domain-b.com : IIPM ranked ahead of IIMs
IIPM: Management Education India
Prof. Rajita Chaudhuri's Website

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THE UNSHAKEABLE CHARISMA LIVES ON!

2011-07-08T16:39:00.002+05:30

Despite tough competition, brand hero honda continues to be India’s top two-wheeler brand for the high recall that it enjoys among domestic consumers

Post partition when the Munjal family shifted to Ludhiana and started making bicycles who would have thought that it was a giant in the making? But once the government allowed foreign companies to enter the Indian market through minority joint ventures, Hero Group joined hands with Japan’s Honda Motor Co. to manufacture motor bikes. And today, the joint venture – Hero Honda – is not only the world’s largest producer of two-wheelers, but also one of the dearest brands for most people in India. Certainly, the path was not rosy enough. But with a strong determination and by deploying right strategies at the right time, the brand has managed to climb the ladder faster than any other auto maker in the country.

Year 2006 was a true taste of character for Hero Honda. This was the year when its arch rival Bajaj Auto was close to topple it as the market leader. The whole Indian media was doing rounds of speculations about when Bajaj would be able to overtake Hero Honda. But the bike maker was busy finalising its strategy to come out of the tight situation. Recalls Anil Dua, Senior VP – Marketing & Sales, Hero Honda, “We then decided to change our focus to the top-line of the company to which the bottom-line will follow and the rest, as they say, is history.” Undoubtedly, with the tag of a leader in terms of mileage and a focus on entry-level, the company deals with great volumes and there by touches the lives of millions of the Indian consumers ensuring greater brand value for the company. Moreover, going by industry watchers this is one of the biggest reasons which has provided Hero Honda such a cushy position in the domestic market. In fact, the company’s timely foray into the rural parts of the country has empowered its brand equity to grow by leaps and bounds. Avers Pankaj Dubey, National Business Head, India Yamaha Motor, “The Hero Honda brand is very strong in the rural parts of the country and it is very difficult to challenge the leadership position of the company in those areas.” For the uninitiated, Hero Honda banks more than 40% of its total sales from rural areas currently.

However, it is not only about the rural expansion and entry-level segment, the company has also built upon its premium segment portfolio and hence, has been able to cater to a wide range audiences. Offering products like Achiever, Hunk, CBZ Xtreme, Karizma and Karizma ZMR, the company proudly labels its premium products portfolio as its diamond strategy. Explains Pawan Munjal, MD, Hero Honda to 4Ps B&M, “We have decided in the last couple of years that we have to have leadership across segments. We should not be seen as a company for rural masses only. So, we have refreshed our portfolio and have been growing at almost 40% in premium segments.”

Life is at a standstill in Telangana Region

2011-07-06T17:11:00.001+05:30

Life remained paralysed across Telangana Region of Andhra Pradesh on Wednesday, the second day of the 48-hour shutdown called by Telangana Joint Action Committe(JAC) to demand a separate state of Telangana.

Public transport remained crippled in Hyderabad and nine other districts of the region as over 10,000 buses of Andhra Pradesh State Road Transport Corporation (APSRTC) continued to remain off the roads.

Shops, business establishments, hotels, petrol bunks and educational institutions were shut on the second consecutive day.

Commuters in Hyderabad, especially those arriving at railway stations had a harrowing time as APSRTC city services remained suspended while a few autorickshaws and cabs charged exorbitant fares.

The local train or multi-modal transport system services were also cancelled for the second day.

With APSRTC employees too joining the strike, not a single bus can come out of bus depots.

The shutdown forced APSRTC to suspend all services between Hyderabad and other cities like Vijayawada, Visakhapatnam, Kurnool and Tirupati. The corporation, which suffered a loss of Rs.9 crore on the first day, plans to resume services in the evening.

The coal production in Singareni Collieries Company Limited was affected for the second day as a majority of nearly 100,000 employees in the mines, spread over four Telangana districts, refused to work. The company is likely to suffer loss of another Rs.20 crore on the second day.

The usually busy roads in Nampallay, Basheerbagh, Khairatabad, Himayatnagar, Koti, Mehdipatnam, Secunderabad and other areas in the state capital here wore a deserted look.

The shutdown badly affected the work in government offices as a majority of about 300,000 employees in the region stayed away from work.

However, the functioning of IT companies in Hyderabad is normal as the companies made alternate arrangements for the employees to reach their work place. The cabs carrying the techies left early in the day, avoiding routes where trouble is feared.

An Initiative of IIPM, Malay Chaudhuri and Arindam chaudhuri (Renowned Management Guru and Economist).

For More IIPM Info, Visit below mentioned IIPM articles.

IIPM ranked No 1 B-School in India
domain-b.com : IIPM ranked ahead of IIMs
IIPM: Management Education India
Prof. Rajita Chaudhuri's Website

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TCS, Infy may bid for British IT firm

2011-06-22T16:44:00.002+05:30

British financial software company Misys said it had received a bid approach, sending its shares up more than 8% on Tuesday and analysts said that TCS and Infosys could be among the probable suitors. Misys shares were up 8.5% to 417.2 pence, valuing the company at around £1.4 billion ($2.3 billion).

"The board of Misys Plc... confirms that it has received a preliminary approach that may or may not lead to an offer being made for the company," the company said in a statement on Tuesday.
The company is taking the approach seriously and is in talks with one bidder over sale of the whole company, said a source familiar with the matter.

Jefferies said the bidder could be from the US or India, with fair offer exceeding £5 per share."US heavyweights such as FIS and Sungard will be looking for an opportunity to internationalise their footprint, while Indian providers such as Infosys and TCS will be looking for more onshore presence and brand," said Jefferies analyst Milan Radia.

Misys shares have risen sharply from from around 312 pence in early May as market speculation of bid interest swirled around the stock.

Misys — which competes with companies such as Temenos, Fidelity National Information services , Fiserv and SunGard — clients’ include all of the world’s top 50 banks.

An Initiative of IIPM, Malay Chaudhuri and Arindam chaudhuri (Renowned Management Guru and Economist).

For More IIPM Info, Visit below mentioned IIPM articles.

IIPM ranked No 1 B-School in India
domain-b.com : IIPM ranked ahead of IIMs
IIPM: Management Education India
Prof. Rajita Chaudhuri's Website

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Arindam Chaudhuri
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Nail real culprits of Mumbai attack: Chidambaram to Pak

2011-06-13T17:08:00.002+05:30

Union home minister P Chidambaram on Wednesday said confidence cannot be restored between India and Pakistan till Islamabad takes action against the "real culprits" responsible for the 2008 Mumbai Terror Attack .

"The fundamental cause of friction between the two countries is Pakistan not taking action to bring the real controllers and perpetrators of the 26/11 attacks to justice," a news agency quoted Chidambaram as saying during an interaction with visiting Pakistani journalists.

Asked about the seven terror suspects who had been put on trial in Pakistan on charges of involvement in the Mumbai incident, Chidambaram said only two of them, including Lashkae-e-Taiba commander Zakiur Rehman Lakhvi, were "real culprits" while the rest were "foot soldiers". Giving an example, he said Indian security forces had recently killed five militants while they were attempting to infiltrate from Pakistan.

During the interaction, Chidambaram also stressed the need for Pakistan to provide India with voice samples of certain terror suspects in the light of revelations made by 26/11 accused David Coleman Headly and his accomplice Tahawwur Hussain Rana.

If Pakistan did not want to provide the voice samples to India, it could hand them over to the US for examination, Chidambaram said. The US had also confirmed that that there are terrorist training camps in Pakistan, he added.

Chidambaram contended that the authority of Pakistan's civilian government had "further diminished" in the aftermath of the May 2 US raid in Abbottabad that killed al-Qaida leader Osama bin Laden. Things would not improve if the military and intelligence agencies continue to play a dominant role, he hinted.

An Initiative of IIPM, Malay Chaudhuri and Arindam chaudhuri (Renowned Management Guru and Economist).

For More IIPM Info, Visit below mentioned IIPM articles.

IIPM ranked No 1 B-School in India
domain-b.com : IIPM ranked ahead of IIMs
IIPM: Management Education India
Prof. Rajita Chaudhuri's Website

IIPM B-School
Arindam Chaudhuri
Rajita Chaudhuri
Planman Consulting

IIPM in sync with the best of the business world.......

IIPM Prof. Arindam Chaudhuri on Internet Hooliganism
Arindam Chaudhuri: We need Hazare's leadership
Professor Arindam Chaudhuri - A Man For The Society....
IIPM: Indian Institute of Planning and Management

E-coli outbreak hits N Europe

2011-06-09T13:45:00.003+05:30

European countries have traded blame over the source of a mysterious bacterial outbreak that has killed 14 people and sickened hundreds. German authorities have identified cucumbers from Spain as contamination sources. A third, suspect-batch from either the Netherlands or Denmark is also under investigation.

German authorities have warned consumers to avoid eating cucumbers and ordered some products removed from store shelves.

The measures were implemented following a recent outbreak linked to contaminated cucumbers.
European health experts said the outbreak was the largest ever in Germany and one of the biggest of its kind worldwide.

An Initiative of IIPM, Malay Chaudhuri and Arindam chaudhuri (Renowned Management Guru and Economist).

For More IIPM Info, Visit below mentioned IIPM articles.

IIPM B-School Detail
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IIPM ranked No 1 B-School in India
domain-b.com : IIPM ranked ahead of IIMs
IIPM: Management Education India
Prof. Rajita Chaudhuri's Website

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Arindam Chaudhuri
Rajita Chaudhuri
Planman Consulting

IIPM in sync with the best of the business world.......

IIPM Prof. Arindam Chaudhuri on Internet Hooliganism
Arindam Chaudhuri: We need Hazare's leadership
Professor Arindam Chaudhuri - A Man For The Society....
IIPM: Indian Institute of Planning and Management

GDP growth seen at 8.2 per cent year/year

2011-06-06T16:20:00.003+05:30

The economy is expected to have grown 8.5 per cent in fiscal year 2010/11 that ended in March, just below the 8.6 per cent estimated by the government, and up from 8 per cent a year earlier, the poll showed.

Forecasts for the full fiscal year growth ranged between 8.0 per cent and 8.7 per cent.

FACTORS TO WATCH

Industrial output grew an annual 7.3 per cent in March, smashing forecasts on the back of a revival in capital goods production.

Services sector gained momentum in April, with strong growth in new business orders, a HSBC survey showed early this month. Manufacturing sector maintained its strong rate of expansion in April, helped by higher output and employment, the latest purchasing managers' index ( PMI )) data showed.

While both input and output price indexes fell from the highs seen in March, they remained way above the 50 mark as soaring fuel and raw material prices drove up costs and fed into output prices, a clear indication that high inflation was here to stay.

Inflation eased to 8.66 per cent in April, but upward revisions to past readings and the prospect of higher energy prices will keep pressure on the RBI to raise interest rates in June and maintain its hawkish stance. The Reserve Bank of India (RBI), which has been one of the most aggressive of major central banks in tightening policy, early this month raised rates by a higher-than-forecast 50 basis points and said it was willing to sacrifice a bit of growth to tame inflation.

The RBI has raised its policy rate nine times by a total of 250 basis points since March 2010.

Most economists in a recent poll expect the RBI to raise rates by at least another 75 basis points in 2011.

Monsoon rains, which are vital for boosting farm production and rural incomes in the nation of more than 1.2 billion people, have been forecast to be normal in 2011.

MARKET IMPACT

Bond dealers said a March-quarter GDP growth number of around 8.1-8.3 per cent will have little market impact.

However, they said a number below 8 percent could push yields down by 4 to 5 basis points as the market has been heavily sold in recent sessions, while a number above 8.5 per cent could push up yields by 2 to 3 basis points.

An Initiative of IIPM, Malay Chaudhuri and Arindam chaudhuri (Renowned Management Guru and Economist).

For More IIPM Info, Visit below mentioned IIPM articles.

IIPM B-School Detail
IIPM makes business education truly global
IIPM’s Management Consulting Arm - Planman Consulting
Arindam Chaudhuri (IIPM Dean) – ‘Every human being is a diamond’
Arindam Chaudhuri – Everything is not in our hands
Planman Technologies – IT Solutions at your finger tips
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Arindam Chaudhuri's Portfolio - he is at his candid best by Society Magazine

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domain-b.com : IIPM ranked ahead of IIMs
IIPM: Management Education India
Prof. Rajita Chaudhuri's Website

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Relations between ISI, CIA have improved: Gilani

2011-06-03T16:15:00.002+05:30

Relations between Pakistan's Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) and US spy agency CIA - that were strained after the secret mission in Abbottabad that killed Osama bin Laden - have now improved, Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani said on Sunday. Talking to journalists, Gilani said Pakistan has made it clear to the US that Abbottabad-like operation was not acceptable to it, The Nation reported.
AQaeda founder bin Laden was killed in a secret operation on May 02 by US Navy SEALs in Abbottabad, near the capital city of Islamabad. Pakistani security agencies were not informed about the mission.

Regarding a commission to investigate the Abbottabad incident, the Prime Minister said consultations with different political parties were underway and the commission would be constituted after completion of the process.

An Initiative of IIPM, Malay Chaudhuri and Arindam chaudhuri (Renowned Management Guru and Economist).

For More IIPM Info, Visit below mentioned IIPM articles.

IIPM B-School Detail
IIPM makes business education truly global
IIPM’s Management Consulting Arm - Planman Consulting
Arindam Chaudhuri (IIPM Dean) – ‘Every human being is a diamond’
Arindam Chaudhuri – Everything is not in our hands
Planman Technologies – IT Solutions at your finger tips
Planman Consulting
Arindam Chaudhuri's Portfolio - he is at his candid best by Society Magazine

IIPM ranked No 1 B-School in India
domain-b.com : IIPM ranked ahead of IIMs
IIPM: Management Education India
Prof. Rajita Chaudhuri's Website

IIPM B-School
Arindam Chaudhuri
Rajita Chaudhuri
Planman Consulting

IIPM in sync with the best of the business world.......

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Government in Standby Mode Regarding Petrol Price Hike

2011-05-27T14:22:00.004+05:30

With global crude oil prices on the downswing, the UPA government is adopting a wait-and-watch policy before taking the political plunge to raise prices of controlled petroleum products —diesel, cooking gas and kerosene.

Though the buzz was that the Empowered Group of Ministers (EGoM) — which is authorised to decide the increases — was likely to meet on June 9, sources said there was no official confirmation from the EGoM chairman’s office to freeze that date for the meeting. The delay in holding the meeting, first scheduled for May 11, has eased the headache for the UPA as the under-recovery has significantly climbed down, except in the case of domestic LPG, from what was estimated at that time.

Based on a fortnight-ago prices, the losses in June on petrol would be a meager Re 1 a litre compared to Rs 5.50 estimated when its price was last raised on May 15. Loss on diesel would be down to Rs 12.45 a litre versus Rs 16.17 in the first week of May. Similarly, the under-recovery on kerosene would be around Rs 26 from Rs 28.28 a litre. However, under-recovery on cooking gas would climb to Rs 380 from Rs 329.73 per cylinder.

An Initiative of IIPM, Malay Chaudhuri and Arindam chaudhuri (Renowned Management Guru and Economist).

For More IIPM Info, Visit below mentioned IIPM articles.

IIPM B-School Detail
IIPM makes business education truly global
IIPM’s Management Consulting Arm - Planman Consulting
Arindam Chaudhuri (IIPM Dean) – ‘Every human being is a diamond’
Arindam Chaudhuri – Everything is not in our hands
Planman Technologies – IT Solutions at your finger tips
Planman Consulting
Arindam Chaudhuri's Portfolio - he is at his candid best by Society Magazine

IIPM ranked No 1 B-School in India
domain-b.com : IIPM ranked ahead of IIMs
IIPM: Management Education India
Prof. Rajita Chaudhuri's Website

IIPM B-School
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Rajita Chaudhuri
Planman Consulting

IIPM in sync with the best of the business world.......

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Headley says he was trained in espionage by ISI

2011-05-26T15:18:00.004+05:30

Mumbai attacks co-accused David Coleman Headley has testified that he received espionage training against India from Pakistan’s spy agency Inter Services Intelligence (ISI).

“ISI did provide me (espionage) training,” Headley told a Chicago court as he was grilled by the defence attorney Charles D Swift on the third day of the trial of Pakistani-Canadian Tahawwur Rana, another co-accused in the 26/11 attacks, in a Chicago court.

The statements formed part of the testimony of Headley, who has pleaded guilty.
The ISI training to Headley was provided by Major Iqbal, who was his ISI handler, in a two-storey safe house in Lahore near the airport, the Mumbai terror suspect told judges during the course of questioning by Swift.

Headley told the court that when he met Major Iqbal in 2006, he expressed dissatisfaction at the military and espionage training that he had received from the Let earlier.

Headley told the defence attorney that this training in espionage against India was given to him in Lahore on the streets and a safe house near the airport.

Despite repeated questioning, Headley said that he did not know the full name of Major Iqbal, but was sure that he was from the ISI.

He was introduced as Major Iqbal to him. Headley said he never went to the ISI headquarters and added that he was introduced to Major Iqbal by military personnel, a fact corroborated by the unsealed document.

When questioned by Swift, Headley told the court that both the ISI and Major Iqbal trained him for espionage against India. He was expected to go to India, make contacts.

The ISI and Major Iqbal were particularly motivated by the fact that he was US born and an American national, this would have concealed his real identity in India.

“They (ISI and Major Iqbal) wanted me to have a business so as to have the ability to have a long tern stay in India. In discussion with them I suggested it to take the help of Dr Rana’s (Tahawwur Rana) business to get this objective,” Headley said.

Blast near US Embassy in Peshawar

2011-05-25T17:42:00.003+05:30

Pakistan suffered yet again when a blast that took place near US Embassy in Peshawar killed two and injured 29 people.

A suicide car bomber struck a police facility in an army cantonment in Pakistan's main northwest city early Wednesday. Pakistan news channels are calling it a terrorist attack.

Though no group immediately claimed responsibility for the latest attack, it added to fears that it will be a bloody summer as Pakistani Taliban and other Al Qaeda affiliated groups carry out threats to avenge the Al Qaeda chief's slaying.

The bomber's target early Wednesday morning appeared to be a building belonging to the police's criminal investigation department, but Pakistani army facilities also were nearby, said Liaquat Ali Khan, a senior police official in Peshawar.

An Initiative of IIPM, Malay Chaudhuri and Arindam chaudhuri (Renowned Management Guru and Economist).

For More IIPM Info, Visit below mentioned IIPM articles.

IIPM B-School Detail
IIPM makes business education truly global
IIPM’s Management Consulting Arm - Planman Consulting
Arindam Chaudhuri (IIPM Dean) – ‘Every human being is a diamond’
Arindam Chaudhuri – Everything is not in our hands
Planman Technologies – IT Solutions at your finger tips
Planman Consulting
Arindam Chaudhuri's Portfolio - he is at his candid best by Society Magazine

IIPM ranked No 1 B-School in India
domain-b.com : IIPM ranked ahead of IIMs
IIPM: Management Education India
Prof. Rajita Chaudhuri's Website

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VIKAS JAIN, FOUNDER MEMBER AND BUSINESS DIRECTOR, MICROMAX - HOW HE OVERTHREW THE DOMINANCE OF BIGGIES LIKE NOKIA, LG... AND MORE

2011-03-21T15:05:00.001+05:30

Will your product portfolio remain similar for these markets as well?
To begin with, it would remain same, but later on we would like to localize it as and when we see the need.

Don’t you think you are entering the international markets too soon?
I don’t think it’s early. I think there’s enough market available and the company has enough resources to do more than one thing at the time. What’s more important is to be at the right place at the right time and that’s what we are doing.

How will your launch portfolio play out?
12 handsets at the time of Bangladesh launch, 10 for UAE and 7 for Sri Lanka. These are devices from our current portfolio and as we spend more time in these markets, we will look at scaling them in accordance with the needs and demands of each market.

What are your upcoming devices for the Indian market?
Hopefully, 3G services will be rolled out during Diwali and we would like to time our 3G portfolio along with that. I think with time, 3G would be a big part of the portfolio. We would see many more devices with bigger screens, and more smartphones. We don’t want to sell a technology, but a solution, which our customers can experience and have its worth. We would also be looking at Android devices around that time only.

Can we look forward to push mail devices as well?
If things go well, we’ll have push mail on more than one device by the next month.

How do you plan to benefit from your international exposure?
This gives us higher exposure into different markets, and brings in opportunities. For example, Micromax had its smartphones ready, but could not launch it in India as there were no 3G services available. But in a small country like Sri Lanka, 3G has been available for the last one year. So this territory can now help us to take our portfolio to a next level.

What about your service centre strength?

In India, we have 520 service centres and our target is to have 1000 by the end of this calendar year as we are looking to double up our sales base from one million units to two million in this financial year. In international markets also, we are trying to give a similar experience to our customers. So, while we have 22 collection points and 6 services centres in Bangladesh, the count is 54 and 3 in Sri Lanka and 13 and 1 in Nepal respectively.

Do you follow the same branding strategy in international markets as well?
Our phones are different from any other phone in the market. We have always looked at bringing utilitarian things in the market with the help of our devices and I think customers are smart enough to understand the same. So far, all our success has come from this strategy only.

What’s next on your agenda for the Indian market?
We want to have a top of mind recall of 10%. We already have that much market share, but we would want to see the same percentage saying Micromax should be their first preference while buying a cell phone.

For more articles, Click on IIPM Article.

Source : IIPM Editorial, 2011.

An Initiative of IIPM, Malay Chaudhuri and Arindam chaudhuri (Renowned Management Guru and Economist).

For More IIPM Info, Visit below mentioned IIPM articles.

IIPM B-School Detail
IIPM makes business education truly global
IIPM’s Management Consulting Arm - Planman Consulting
Arindam Chaudhuri (IIPM Dean) – ‘Every human being is a diamond’
Arindam Chaudhuri – Everything is not in our hands
Planman Technologies – IT Solutions at your finger tips
Planman Consulting
Arindam Chaudhuri's Portfolio - he is at his candid best by Society Magazine

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A. K. AGRAWAL, DIRECTOR – BUSINESS, MND EDIFY EDUCATION, EXPLAINS WHY AND HOW...

2011-03-18T17:31:00.001+05:30

What are the challenges you have faced as a leader for Edify?
One of the major challenges is Government regulations on investment in education sector and land conversions. Another challenge is availability of quality human resource in the education sector for various reasons.

How would you describe your personal success story separate from the success story of Edify?
We see Edify among the leading educational institutes in South East Asia by 2015. We look forward to create a society of progressive thinking individual who will contribute to the intellectual development of the global community by initiating positive changes in the social fabric, the technology and administration of our lives and businesses and in the approaches employed to realize individual and collective aspirations.

What are the lessons a leader like you should take from the past generation of CEOs?
Optimum utilization of available resources and people management are two important lessons I have learnt from my father. Also the wisdom of knowing when to speed and when to balance is another essential aspect that the past generation CEOs have gained which we need to master.

One leadership trait which is must to have in a leader to succeed.
A leader must be passionate about his work, must learn continuously and remain open to new innovations.

For more articles, Click on IIPM Article.

Source : IIPM Editorial, 2011.

An Initiative of IIPM, Malay Chaudhuri and Arindam chaudhuri (Renowned Management Guru and Economist).

For More IIPM Info, Visit below mentioned IIPM articles.

IIPM B-School Detail
IIPM makes business education truly global
IIPM’s Management Consulting Arm - Planman Consulting
Arindam Chaudhuri (IIPM Dean) – ‘Every human being is a diamond’
Arindam Chaudhuri – Everything is not in our hands
Planman Technologies – IT Solutions at your finger tips
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Arindam Chaudhuri's Portfolio - he is at his candid best by Society Magazine

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Planman Consulting

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Punit Kapoor, AVP & Branch Head, MRM Worldwide India - TV Advertising

2011-03-16T15:43:00.002+05:30

Brand Speak

Punit Kapoor,
AVP & Branch Head, MRM Worldwide India

Lufthansa as a brand has always been perceived to be for the elite class. Is that the positioning that you are trying to achieve for the brand?
I think it is just a perception, which may have been true earlier... not anymore. As a traveller, I will want more options on the net and when I compare prices, I will want the best possible one. Today, our perception is changing – we are localising our campaigns.

Talking about localisation, why haven’t we seen Indians being featured in your campaigns?
That is intentional. Indians are very aspirational; and keeping this in mind visually is very important. Another reason is standardising; you will see the same girl all across the globe so the connection is simple and easy. Localisation is coming because of consumer needs but as far as the brand strategy is concerned, the image has changed. We also have faces looking European/English; but yes, a globalised face.

If radio ads make sense, then why not attempt TV advertising too, as both target the masses?
We were very convinced from the start that we will never use TV for advertising. The radio medium has emerged [faster]. Everyone in our TG is travelling and on-the-move. As they are not in offices, so the medium serves right.

For more articles, Click on IIPM Article.

Source : IIPM Editorial, 2011.

An Initiative of IIPM, Malay Chaudhuri and Arindam chaudhuri (Renowned Management Guru and Economist).

For More IIPM Info, Visit below mentioned IIPM articles.

IIPM B-School Detail
IIPM makes business education truly global
IIPM’s Management Consulting Arm - Planman Consulting
Arindam Chaudhuri (IIPM Dean) – ‘Every human being is a diamond’
Arindam Chaudhuri – Everything is not in our hands
Planman Technologies – IT Solutions at your finger tips
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Arindam Chaudhuri's Portfolio - he is at his candid best by Society Magazine

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TARUN RAI, CEO, WORLDWIDE MEDIA

2011-03-14T16:15:00.002+05:30

With the introduction of more international travel magazines in India, competition in the particular segment will soon reach to new levels. What do you have to say about the change in market dynamics?
The runaway success of Lonely Planet Magazine in India is bound to encourage other international titles to enter the country. I welcome these new titles as they will create more interest in the category. And I am confident that none of them are as comprehensive and credible as Lonely Planet Magazine is.

India is a price sensitive market. Do you have any specific strategy to deal with it?
The feedback that we have got from our readers is that they find immense value in Lonely Planet Magazine. A price of Rs.100 seems appropriate. I believe compared to the other travel magazines, which are also priced at Rs.100, we offer much more information and more than 50 percent more pages.

But the magazine still is an extremely niche magazine. Would you perchance plan to broaden this focus ever in the future?
Travel is not niche and neither is our magazine. Every month our circulation numbers are increasing tremendously. The rate at which the travel market and travelers are growing, the magazine has the potential of being one of the largest English language monthlies.

The magazine market in India is expected to grow at 12% this year. What is the market share you are targeting?
While market share data is not available, we believe we are increasing our market share. In the last few years we have gone from being a two consumer magazine company to ten titles now. We are now in many categories including women, fashion, celebrity, auto, interiors, film and now travel. The pace of our launches is quickening. We are launching a top end design and architecture magazine called Home Trends. This is a magazine based out of New Zealand and has 11 international editions. We will be launching another magazine targeting young adults in October this year. This will be followed by a very big launch in January next year. All these launches and the cementing of our existing titles ensures that we garner a larger market share as we grow.

For more articles, Click on IIPM Article.

Source : IIPM Editorial, 2011.

An Initiative of IIPM, Malay Chaudhuri and Arindam chaudhuri (Renowned Management Guru and Economist).

For More IIPM Info, Visit below mentioned IIPM articles.

IIPM B-School Detail
IIPM makes business education truly global
IIPM’s Management Consulting Arm - Planman Consulting
Arindam Chaudhuri (IIPM Dean) – ‘Every human being is a diamond’
Arindam Chaudhuri – Everything is not in our hands
Planman Technologies – IT Solutions at your finger tips
Planman Consulting
Arindam Chaudhuri's Portfolio - he is at his candid best by Society Magazine

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Rajita Chaudhuri
Planman Consulting

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The Exclusive ICMR-4Ps B&M Annual Insurance Survey

2011-03-09T15:46:00.003+05:30

The Indian Council for Market Research (ICMR) on behalf of 4Ps Business & Marketing magazine undertook a perception survey amongst Indian consumers already buying Insurance to find out buying behaviour, attitudes and perception towards insurance products.

A structured questionnaire was used in the random sampling technique. The respondents chosen were primarily aged between 35-45 years. The Survey was conducted in five cities of India (Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata, Chennai and Bengaluru) with a sample size of 1,200 respondents. It was made sure that the respondents coming under the purview of the survey had life or general insurance policies. In case of general insurance, the respondents were asked to specify whether they were having health, motor, home or any other type of insurance. However, under the final analysis of the survey, separate segments under general insurance have been clubbed together. Each of the respondents was asked both open ended and closed ended questions. Please note that figures have been rounded off in some cases.

For more articles, Click on IIPM Article.

Source : IIPM Editorial, 2010.

An Initiative of IIPM, Malay Chaudhuri and Arindam chaudhuri (Renowned Management Guru and Economist).

For More IIPM Info, Visit below mentioned IIPM articles.

IIPM B-School Detail
IIPM makes business education truly global
IIPM’s Management Consulting Arm - Planman Consulting
Arindam Chaudhuri (IIPM Dean) – ‘Every human being is a diamond’
Arindam Chaudhuri – Everything is not in our hands
Planman Technologies – IT Solutions at your finger tips
Planman Consulting
Arindam Chaudhuri's Portfolio - he is at his candid best by Society Magazine

IIPM B-School
Arindam Chaudhuri
Rajita Chaudhuri
Planman Consulting

Ruined by invaders, looted by foreigners

2011-03-07T17:03:00.002+05:30

Tourism and museum authorities in India claim that cost is the biggest hurdle to promotion and maintenance acts. But they could pick up a lesson or two from museums in US and Europe, which have made their way round such issues by creating unique business models, be it through selling merchandise, membership cards, exhibitions or simply tickets et al. For instance ‘The Natural History Museum’ and Victoria & Albert on an average mints 50% of their maintenance cost through membership fees and shows (as per the museum curators). Not depending upon government grants, these museums have marketed themselves well and have therefore become self-dependent. “But issuing membership cards or organising shows are not simply enough, unless you have the right audience, and for that you need to offer something special to the members of your museum,” says the curator of the Queen’s Gallery at the Buckingham Palace Museum.

There is another learning from the West. To cajole the right audience, museums in US and Europe visit educational institutions and theatre halls to promote themselves. accepts K. K. Muhammed, Superintending Archaeologist, Archaeological Survey of India, “Finding out the right audience is not a big challenge if you can create interest amongst today’s generation for museums. I think in such an attempt, we need to do a lot to attract Indian visitors to our museums.”

State-run museums can also learn from private museums in the country like Albert Museum (nearby City Palace) in Jaipur and Raja Dinkar Kelakar Museum in Pune, where the business of experience begins from the very guards, who wear attires of ancient days and entertain the visitors with traditional amusements. The Akshardham temples have become brand icons in the way even religious history could be presented through a museum-like experience. Clearly, there is much that needs to be done by the government.

There are some who believe that the script of state-run museums isn’t that bad and that the government is trying its best. Subash Goyal, Chairman, Indian Chamber of Commerce, Aviation & Tourism, says, “The government does grant funds for maintaining the museums and a part of it is being utilised for marketing also.” As is quite evident, the allotted funds are either not being utilised well (even misutilised) or, well, not being utilised at all.

It is however clear that we have missed out on getting our heads up about our national treasures, as Goyal confesses, “At times we do miss out to sustain interest of the visitors.” When you visit the Louvre in Paris, you will find all details given on ‘Monalisa’, but those who visit Shri Jayachmarahendra Art Gallery in Mysore will see the famous works of Raja Ravi Verma displayed with no details about either the paintings or the creator. Till this happens, we will need to work towards rectifying the irony of museums which don’t flourish in a heritage and historically rich country like India. The problem – unique; the remedy – common. Spend an extra dime and highlight the USP to get rid of the irony we say!

For more articles, Click on IIPM Article.

Source : IIPM Editorial, 2011.

An Initiative of IIPM, Malay Chaudhuri and Arindam chaudhuri (Renowned Management Guru and Economist).

For More IIPM Info, Visit below mentioned IIPM articles.

IIPM B-School Detail
IIPM makes business education truly global
IIPM’s Management Consulting Arm - Planman Consulting
Arindam Chaudhuri (IIPM Dean) – ‘Every human being is a diamond’
Arindam Chaudhuri – Everything is not in our hands
Planman Technologies – IT Solutions at your finger tips
Planman Consulting
Arindam Chaudhuri's Portfolio - he is at his candid best by Society Magazine

IIPM B-School
Arindam Chaudhuri
Rajita Chaudhuri
Planman Consulting

‘PULL’ FOR MUTUAL FUNDS

2011-03-03T17:46:00.000+05:30

The Indian mutual fund industry is abuzz with a new advertising mantra, which is to create a pull factor as a new way of communication for funds, unlike the push factor, which existed earlier. This is post SEBI’s regulation where the commissioning is being made limited to the distributors. As a result, mutual fund companies are advertising heavily for their products to support the distributor in order to enable customers to understand their products. According to Nipun Kaushal, Head – Marketing, ICICI Prudential Mutual Fund, “The aim is mainly to reach out to more people and make products beneficial to them. We are currently not focusing on above-the-line activities.” In comparison to a regular fund requiring Rs.4-5 crores investment, a new fund offering usually requires 10-15% higher investment in terms of adspends on regular fund. Sarabjit Kaur Nangra, Vice President – Research, Angel Broking said, “Getting more investments depends on performance of stock markets (and not ads). If PSU-favourable funds look exciting, investors will obviously deploy more money into that fund which is heavily advertised. The other reason is that equity investments in retail is hardly anything in terms of asset allocation, although there is potential to garner money from retail investors.”

New RS. Symbol?

2011-02-28T17:34:00.001+05:30

One may not necessarily know either Jitiesh Padamshali, Shahrukh J. Irani, D. Udaya Kumar, Nondita Correa Mehrothra or Shibin K K but if all goes well, then the new symbol of the Indian rupee will be the design work of one of the five. A new symbol for the Indian rupee (which till date is abbreviated as Re, Rs. or INR) will ensure that it joins the select elite club of major currencies like US dollar, European euro, British pound and Japanese yen all of which have a unique identification symbol. It is perhaps the growing influence of the Indian economy that has promoted the Indian government to initiate the move to have a unique symbol for the currency and is intended to convey the brand value of the currency and the nation, one which takes into account Indian ethos and culture. As a matter of fact, the initiative could not have come at a better time when whispers for a new global currency are only growing louder day by day. Nevertheless the moot question is will this make the Indian currency internationally acceptable for trading or is it a mere cosmetic improvement?

ACKNOWLEDGE, ACCEPT AND EMBRACE

2011-02-09T17:48:00.000+05:30

With the Indian populace searching for alternative entertainment avenues to cricket and Bollywood, alternate sports and entertainment options are rapidly becoming growing generic platforms for marketers in India today

While the movement in marketing away from cricket and Bollywood and towards other sports started almost 10 years ago, it is only in the last four years that this paradigm shift has truly begun to gather momentum. The foremost reason of this shift is of course the increasing disposable incomes available in the hands of millions of paying customers, who have been saturated by often pointless cricket and by the disappointing entertainment that is being churned out by Bollywood. A significant percentage of this customer base is constituted of a more urbanised ‘discerning customer’, who is no longer satisfied by plain vanilla entertainment, but who today, demands the loudest possible bang for his buck. As more money comes into other sports and alternate entertainment avenues and, by so doing, empowers these alternate entertainment options to market themselves better to this class of unsatisfied customers.

The second is increase in the risk taking appetite of marketers in alternate entertainment avenues as they become a valuable generic platform. The relationship between marketers and alternate generic platforms is a unique one, for in effect, it is the monetary input of marketers that allows the creation of alternate platforms, which these marketers then themselves exploit to showcase their products. As more and more discerning customers shift away from cricket and Bollywood to these developing alternate platforms, the platforms themselves will become self sustaining, permanent, valuable and therefore of immense interest to other marketers, who will view these alternate avenues as high value propositions through which to market their products. Inevitably, the effect of these self sustaining alternatives will be to support a vibrant ecosystem based on the financial wherewithal of an increasingly vociferous class of paying customer, where all stakeholders will benefit from symbiotic relationships.

The third important change that is already taking place is recognition of the fact that neither cricket nor Bollywood offer any brand the chance of uncluttered brand recall. For instance, while the most ardent of cricket lovers will be hard pressed to name either the sponsor of the last India series played in India, or the name of the various sponsors on the shirts of an IPL team, or the brands that are endorsed by Shah Rukh Khan, all football fans of this country will unhesitatingly identify ONGC as the sponsor of the I-league.

For more articles, Click on IIPM Article.

Source : IIPM Editorial, 2010.

An Initiative of IIPM, Malay Chaudhuri and Arindam chaudhuri (Renowned Management Guru and Economist).

For More IIPM Info, Visit below mentioned IIPM articles.

IIPM B-School Detail
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Mahindra - Tractors

2011-01-17T18:01:00.000+05:30

The company follows a similar approach when it comes to selling in markets like Indonesia, Hong Kong Thailand and the matching likes but the approach towards marketing its products is certainly different in developed markets like the US. However, the Indian consumer is maturing with time and with rural boom in sectors like telecom, transportation, , the rural consumer is getting more urbanised by the day. “As the consumer is evolving, we are ready with something like a Mahindra Kisan Mitra, a website developed for the farmer that not only educates him about the Mahindra products but also gives information on various crops, mandi prices et al,” points out Goyle. In fact, the company has also started an initiative wherein it is planning to turn its dealerships across the country into farming advice centres with an aim to strengthen its brand in the farming community and boost tractor sales. Tagged as the Mahindra Samriddhi Centres, the dealers have set up small farms to demonstrate the best farming techniques to the farmer. Notably, there are 80 such centres present currently and the company plans to take this number to 250 by the end of this year. Clearly, BTL activities have been an integral part of Mahindra’s strategy and as a good monsoon is expected to hit the Indian turf this year, experts are of a view that it will boost the sales of the company this fiscal. Moreover, while the company hasn’t given out is sales targets for the fiscal but factors like easier availability of finance is working in its favour.

Pawan Chabra

“WE WORK WITH OUR SONY SISTER COMPANIES”

2011-01-11T14:48:00.003+05:30

Sony India has taken the Blu-ray market by storm with the introduction of Blu-ray technology at an astonishing price of Rs.9,990. Keith Ribeiro, Managing Director, Sony Pictures Home Entertainment talks about how Blu-ray is paramount in delivering the best picture & sound quality and is a perfect complement for HDTV, the fastest growing category in consumer electronics

Sony in India is planning big initiatives for the Blu-ray market with the introduction of Blu-ray audio-visual products at a starting price of Rs.9,990. Another big plan is to double the number of Blu-ray movie titles to 500. In an exclusive interaction with 4Ps B&M, Keith Ribeiro, MD, Sony Pictures Home Entertainment talks about how a collaboration of the home entertainment & consumer electronic industries can promote cutting-edge media and entertainment device.

Your take on the new trends in the entertainment industry!
As far as the home entertainment industry is concerned, sales of physical media continues to be a strong revenue generator for the studios. It also remains one of the most cost effective means for a family to consume entertainment. We are also seeing evidence that Blu-ray is constituting a larger percentage of shipments and Blu-ray discs will be one of the major keys to renewed growth in the category. Additionally, there are several opportunities that are present for this industry. Among them are digital downloading and streaming; alternative distribution formats; increased retail space; and portability & connectivity on any desired playback devices.

But really, can Blu-ray bring more new experience to user entertainment?
We are continuing to call out Blu-ray on all of our marketing efforts for new release titles, in print, TV and online ads, emphasising the significant improvement in picture and sound quality, as well as the unique interactivity of BD Live and additional high-definition content. SPHE continues to develop new and exciting added-value content, with an emphasis on BD Live. Among our latest is what we believe will be BD Live’s “killer app,” MovieIQ. With a MovieIQ-enabled Blu-ray Disc and an Internet-connected Blu-ray player, movie fans can immediately access continuously updated information on cast and crew and explore relevant trivia such as production facts, music and soundtrack information all tied to scenes within the movie. These kinds of organic yet compelling features are what, we believe, will drive Blu-ray into the mainstream.

How much advertising spends is targeted at Blu-ray?
Blu-ray advertising is not the domain of one single division. Sony is in a unique position of having resources in every part of the evolving home entertainment world, be it software or hardware. Since every marketing initiative is cross divisional, I will not be able to accurately estimate the overall size of Sony’s budget. What is important to remember though is that we work with our Sony sister companies to develop a unified message targeting both consumers and retailers. For example, we are working on a BD Live piece with Sony Electronics that will show both the ease of connecting your Sony Blu-ray player to the Internet and accessing exclusive BD Live content with Sony Pictures Blu-ray titles. Additionally, we’ve partnered with the Sony Rewards team to create the Sony Pictures Blu-ray Club, wherein users can register their Sony Blu-ray Discs via BD Live to earn points that they can then redeem for cool Sony products.

4Ps Cover Story

2011-01-04T12:12:00.002+05:30

BIG, FAT, HAIRY, AUDACIOUS...

As regards the current targets for this year both the companies are tightening up their belts on the war front. LG has ramped up its overall production capacity to 1.3 million units this year. Samsung has recently invested $10 million for its production expansion and is aggressively focusing on its AC segment with a sales volume target of around 1 million units this summer. As Ravinder Zutshi, Deputy MD, Samsung India shares with 4Ps B&M, “Overall, we are looking at a 40% jump in sales volume of our refrigerators and ACs in the April-June quarter. In ACs, we plan to double sales volumes in 2010 this year to one million units, garnering a market share of over 30%. In refrigerators, the market share target has been set at 26% by the end of 2010.” So if ACs are one of the key areas for Samsung this year, LG is busy promoting high-end products like LCDs. “We are now targeting a premium segment of consumers to give the company a premium image. Currently, we are focusing on our Home Entertainment segment, which is our next big target after the launch of the Direct Cool Range in the Home Appliances category and the all new AC range for summer 2010,” explains Shin.

Clearly, if you look at the current scenario, it’s very difficult to predict who will win the crown of glory. But more than that what is important to consider is that there are future challenges that are causes of concern for the behemoths with respect to sustaining the growth and deciding the future road map to take them to a higher level. The biggest challenge for LG, as Shin himself accepts, is succession planning. LG currenlty simply doesn’t have the next big face that could handle the huge growth pressures (“This thing is the most important and is above even numbers,” says Shin). For Samsung, the problems are more market oriented. Irrespective of the advantage till date, the fact is that the maximum sales in the Indian market takes place only through discount-promotions and that too specifically during festival seasons. Till the time Samsung is able to cleverly promote a price leadership image, without compromising its quality positioning, it’ll continue to follow LG, which – due to its supreme focus on providing value offers – leads the market indisputably.

In a 1996 article (Building Your Company’s Vision), two effervescent authors – Jim Collins and Jerry Porras – mentioned that every company needs to have its Big Hairy Audacious Goal (BHAG) to be able to achieve visionary targets that would have seemed impossible previously! LG and Samsung have already been there and done that in India. Now’s the time for something more... atrociously, audaciously more!

As the full range of Kawasaki and KTM bikes hits Bajaj’s Probiking showrooms, the format will be most critical role for Bajaj Auto’s premium segment g

2010-12-21T17:15:00.001+05:30

The format was initially started simply with the aim of projecting a rougher and tougher road image for Bajaj bikes. Having already launched the 250cc Kawasaki Ninja (last year) coupled with the upcoming KTM street bikes, the Probiking showrooms are expected to play a key role – perhaps the most – in the future branding exercises of Bajaj Auto in the premium segment. The response to the 250cc Ninja that was launched in the Indian market last year has been overwhelming so far. The product is running on a three to four months’ waiting period. The whopper dopper recent news was Kawasaki announcing the entry of India Kawasaki Motors Pvt Ltd (IKM), which will launch more supersport, sport and cruiser models primarily in the 250cc and above class in the coming times. With an investment of around Rs. 50 million, Kawasaki will be establishing its Indian plant that will be used for the CKD production of its products in the Indian market. And as the Kawasaki models come in, the role of Probiking showrooms will increase phenomenally – provided Rajiv hangs on to the Kawasaki tie-up over the long term. It may be noted here that the relationship of Kawasaki with Bajaj and with the Indian two-wheelers market is decades old as the company entered into a technical assistance agreement with Bajaj Auto in 1984. But the upcoming confusion is inevitable – how will Bajaj manage to sell both their Probikes (KTMs for example) and Kawasaki’s premium range without eating into each other’s brand space? Probiking Head Nandi tells us that to make the brands different from each other, the company will even have separate sections in the Probiking showrooms. The company will be taking the numbers of Probiking showrooms across the country to 40 by the end of this year that as if today stands at 32. Nandi plans to save a huge part of cost by ensuring marketing is based on the interactions with individual interested consumers rather than on huge advertising spends; a tactic similar to the concept of boutique showrooms.

Truly, the competition in the superbikes segment is still in its initial stages as either there are the 1000cc+ R1 and the Hayabusa on the one end or the 150-250cc Karizma and CBZ on the other. Bajaj clearly, and intelligently, is playing on the big gap between the two segments. But Bajaj needs to hurry to grab the first movers’ advantage. Players like Yamaha have already opened their showrooms that flaunt the whole accessories range apart from the superbikes in the Indian market – the company is planning to convert all of its showrooms into what it calls the Yamaha Bike Centre. Honda Motorcycle and Scooters India (HMSI) is also planning to launch a 200cc product in the Indian market that will be competing against the Ninja 250cc and Karizma ZMR. Rajiv knows them all too well, and for too long. We’re sure he’s not resting easy with the lead...

Pawan Chabra

Jaspal Singh. Bindra, Group Executive Director, Standard Chartered

2010-12-01T17:53:00.000+05:30

So what about your organic expansion plans for India?
No doubt, we want to [grow]. Today, India is the second largest market for the bank in terms of pre-tax profit. But as you know, we are very much restricted by the existing regulatory restrictions.

RBI is now considering reviewing its position on the issue of liberalization of foreign banks in the country. Hypothetically speaking, if it allows you to expand both in terms of branches as well as through inorganic means, what would be your preference?
Naturally, expanding our branch network will come into the picture the very moment we get the freedom. But for inorganic means, it would depend a lot on opportunities, valuations and many such things.

Does this money raising have any link to your expansion plans in India?
Not exactly! This amount will go to the parent company. Even the amount is not of a considerable value. It’s less than 1% of our current market cap. But what we are really looking from this issue is that these IDRs will help us to expand our brand presence in the Indian market as well as among the Indian consumers.

We have not seen Standard Chartered much in the ad space, any specific reason for the same?
We never believed much in it though we sponsored some events like the Asia Cup. But yes, of late, we have realized the value of branding and currently working really hard on the same. In one of our latest attempts to create brand awareness across the globe, we have recently started sponsoring the Liverpool Football Club as soccer, as a game, has a great fan following across the globe. Even in India, we had sponsored the Mumbai Marathon, which was a great a success for us. Also we have come up with a campaign titled “Here for Good”. We are committed to our market through thick and thin.

Diversification an issue? Not for them!

2010-11-15T17:55:00.001+05:30

T. Singh, Group President, SRS Group, in a conversation with 4Ps B&M, defends the strategic intent behind the group’s diversification into many different domains. He also discusses the group’s future plans including the set-up of a full fledged sports university

Starting from microfinance, SRS is in domains like real-estate, retail and hospitality. What is the rationale behind diversifying into so many different domains? Doesn’t it go against the logic of core competence?
For any business to sustain its success, it is a must that its management is sensitive to the changes in the business environment, adjust its business and processes accordingly, and capitalise upon the emerging opportunities. This is what SRS has attempted over the years. SRS started its business activities in 1990 with finance and leasing business and in 1997 diversified into manufacturing and marketing of edible oil & tea. In the year 2000, recognising the opportunity to diversify, the group took a quantum leap and entered the retail, real estate, cinemas and food court businesses – sectors that were on the upswing and in sync with the emerging needs of the masses. This was the new beginning for the group, and paved way for SRS Limited, the flagship company of the SRS Group. With the launch of SRS Multiplex in 2004 at City Centre, Faridabad, the whole outlook of the group changed. The SRS group lifted up to an altogether new level and took the centre stage across all businesses and its future expansions. That’s when we started foraying into newer geographies, demographics and businesses.

But doesn’t such expansion weaken the overall structure? To that extent, which business domain do you foresee as being the backbone of the SRS group?
Our retail and cinemas businesses provide us with the most visibility for our brand. However, these two businesses along with the real estate business form the the backbone of SRS Group. All the three businesses have enabled us to reach out to the masses and build our brand equity in a way that would not have been possible with any other business.

WHAT’S BUZZING THE BUZZ?!

2010-10-25T17:40:00.001+05:30

The latest product and gadget launches that garnered the biggest brownie points with respect to the interest they generated in the market

TVS JIVE

TECHNICAL SPECIFICATIONS:
• 110 cc engine
• Clutch-free technology
• Price: Rs. 42,235 (ex-showroom Delhi)
DIVE ON THE JIVE: Apart from being tagged as the country’s first auto-clutch motorcycle, TVS Jive also steals the show with innovative features like rotary gear technology. It is also the first motorcycle in the country to have a large under seat storage space (as much as to fit a small umbrella). Moreover, its clutch-free technology offers the user an overwhelming experience in the city traffic conditions. The Jive comes in blue, red and black colour.
Neha Saraiya

BIG LEAGUE OR NO LEAGUE

2010-10-18T17:53:00.001+05:30

Moving up the value chain has been an aspiration for Indian IT brands for quite sometime now. Now it may well be deemed an unavoidable necessity!

WATCH OUT FOR THE SILVER LINING!

Cloud computing seems to well be one of the next big things to happen to the global IT sector. In essence, this is about a group of services that addresses multiple areas of a firm’s IT infrastructure. It also enables the user to take pieces of a particular solution depending on what the client thinks it will need. Mayur Sahni, Senior Market Analyst, IDC Asia Pacific, puts it thus, “These services are delivered in real time always, should have granular pricing and regardless of location of delivery of service or consumption of service.” Within the cloud space there are two interfaces, the end user and the developer. Since evey company has a different set of policies, cloud can be synchronized accordingly. It can also adapt itself to different setsof end user needs; for instance, a sales head wanting his sales and research teams to be in synchronism always. Sudin Apte, Principal Analyst, Forrester Research, reveals, “Number of questions we have received on cloud have grown 15 fold over the past year. Also people are now asking more in-depth questions like which players to look at, how to structure the relationship et al.” One of Forrester’s clients even refused to offshore their e-mail management; and gave it to Google instead; choosing to forego the 25% saving they could get. Also, cloud computing takes out the one to one engagement model that Indian IT firms have leveraged for so long; and therefore, India’s cost competitiveness is now going for a toss. The cloud can be anywhere in the world. Yes, Indian IT firms can take it as a huge opportunity, for which players like IBM offer valuable lessons. Big Blue takes a multiple level approach to cloud computing - Business analytics, hardware, services, business units, geography, financing, green IT et al. Indian players have to ramp up their skills very fast in this area. And they have the ability; it is just about looking at things in the right perspective. Mayur suggests, for instance, “When TCS brought Citibank’s assets, TCS can potentially leverage those tools into a platform service.”

THE CREATIVITY ABNORMALITY

2010-10-16T16:24:00.002+05:30

Despite being populated with innumerous product categories, the Indian FMCG sector has invested dramatically in promoting creativity to ensure a distinct brand imagery that has broken the clutter

In 2008 too, the Consumer Products category had the maximum winners. Explains Rajesh Tanwar, Director, Integrated Retail Solutions, “It all depends upon the breathing space available in a particular product category. Take for instance when ITC’s Bingo was launched. The branded snack market was already cluttered with 10 other brands, not to forget the unorganized market. It was its mindless yet effective advertising that helped it garner a substantial market share within a few months time.” And Hippo, oh Hippo, the only reason you remember those chips are because they’re supposed to reduce infighting within families, parties, anybody.

In 2009, Indian FMCG advertising on TV grew by 50% over 2008 with over 40% share in overall TV advertising. Of this, sub-sectors Food & Beverages and Personal Care/Hygiene commanded 36% and 29% respectively. One can only expect this to grow phenomenally. But seriously, why can’t the yankees up the comedy compendium in their ads? Namita Chhetri, President, ICMR, answers, “It’s the land entrapped in political correctness where you can’t joke about a Black being a Black or a White being a White. In India, the more you joke about the unique characteristics of a Tamilian accent or the Sikh happy-go-lucky attitude, the more your product would sell.” Well said, and said well!

Savreen Gadhoke

IIPM Students Live - Industry visit to Coca Cola manufacturing plant - IIPM Chandigarh

2010-08-28T10:10:00.002+05:30

It was quite a refreshing morning on 1st and 2nd of July 2010 for the students of IIPM Chandigarh [PGP/SS/2010-12, UGP/SS/2010-13 Sem 1 and PGP/FW/2009-11/T3] - It was an Industrial visit to Coca Cola manufacturing plant. The student batch comprising of 120 (SS batch), 50 (FW batch) MBA and 20 BBA students had a great time. They had a chance to witness the entire manufacturing process in detail, starting from preparing the mixture, rinsing of bottles and packaging until the final stage when these bottles are ready for distribution. Overall it was an enriching experience for all the students

IIPM Focus - Visit to Infosys Campus - IIPM Bhubaneshwar

2010-08-27T10:00:00.002+05:30

The students of IIPM Bhubaneshwar were taken for an industrial visit to Bhubaneshwar DC of Infosys Technologies on 7th of August 2010.

The visit started with a Corporate Presentation of Infosys. After that some senior project managers oriented the students about various business verticals of Infosys vis-à-vis the opportunities and the risk factors. Just before lunch time, students were taken for a campus visit and they were really impressed by the stunning modern state-of-the-art infrastructure of INFY. The visit concluded with an entrepreneurial skills test, where students were divided into groups and given a task to prepare business plan for a new IT company. Thanks to IIPM’s special focus towards entrepreneurship in its course curriculum, INFY staff were overwhelmed by the response of the students.

Overall the visit was very inspiring for the students and as well served as a good assessment of their aspirations for upcoming corporate life.

IIPM 4Ps Business & Marketing - Nutrivita PRESENTS 100 MARKETING BRAINS THAT MOVE AND SHAKE INDIA

2010-08-26T10:48:00.000+05:30

Chander Mohan Sethi

Chairman & Managing Director, Reckitt Benckiser, India

Dettol has remained an iconic brand and is a brand that all Indians have grown up with. Its success lies in the fact that we Indians have continuously stood by our commitment and offered the best in germ protection through its various product offerings. It makes me immensely proud of the fact that Dettol is truly one of the most trusted brands amongst Indian households. I am confident that with this support, Dettol will continue to grow in its endeavour to protect Indians and their families.

For more articles, Click on IIPM Article.

Source : IIPM Editorial, 2010.

An Initiative of IIPM, Malay Chaudhuri and Arindam chaudhuri (Renowned Management Guru and Economist).

For More IIPM Info, Visit below mentioned IIPM articles.
“We will change your outlook” - The Sunday Indian on B-SCHOOL RANKING SCAMSTERS EXPOSED! A must read...
The Sunday Indian:-
B-SCHOOL RANKING SCAMSTERS EXPOSED!
For Exclusive Footage by Sunday Indian Click Here

Outlook Magazine's B School Ranking Scam Exposed
Business Standard Exposes the Outlook Magazine Money Editor
Don't trust the Indian Media!

IIPM enters into media education
IIPM makes record 10,000 placements in five years
TSI exposes b school ranking scamsters Mahesh Peri of Career 360 and Premchand Palety of C fore. - For Complete Sting Operation Video Click Here
Pioneer Exposes the fraud called Mahesh Sharma and Mahesh Peri of Career 360 and Barbel Schwertfeger of mba-channel.com
IIPM: An intriguing story of growth and envy
Prof Arindam Chaudhuri of IIPM on MF HUSAIN‎

IIPM 4Ps Business & Marketing - Nutrivita PRESENTS 100 MARKETING BRAINS THAT MOVE AND SHAKE INDIA

2010-08-25T10:53:00.003+05:30

Deepti Dang

Head – Marketing (Commercial & SMB, Personal Systems Group), HP India

In my Marketing career, I have spent close to 6 years with HP so far, holding countrywide responsibility for the marketing strategy, planning and programmes for commercial desktops, notebooks and workstations for all commercial and SMB customers. And as clichéd as it sounds, but all marketing campaigns that have been planned and implemented by keeping the customer at the helm have been a huge success. The key is to engage with the customer. Some successful campaigns that stand out in my mind are: (a) The Computer is Personal Again (meant for individuals), (b) Business is Personal Again (for enterprise customers), and (c) some experiential marketing campaigns like HP EliteBook series (innovative launch at a gym), EliteBook kiosk (experience zone for the frequent flyer), Corporate road shows (initiatives such as ‘Can you challenge the notebook’) and ‘ Campus on the move.

For more articles, Click on IIPM Article.

Source : IIPM Editorial, 2010.

An Initiative of IIPM, Malay Chaudhuri and Arindam chaudhuri (Renowned Management Guru and Economist).

For More IIPM Info, Visit below mentioned IIPM articles.
“We will change your outlook” - The Sunday Indian on B-SCHOOL RANKING SCAMSTERS EXPOSED! A must read...
The Sunday Indian:-
B-SCHOOL RANKING SCAMSTERS EXPOSED!
For Exclusive Footage by Sunday Indian Click Here

Outlook Magazine's B School Ranking Scam Exposed
Business Standard Exposes the Outlook Magazine Money Editor
Don't trust the Indian Media!

IIPM enters into media education
IIPM makes record 10,000 placements in five years
TSI exposes b school ranking scamsters Mahesh Peri of Career 360 and Premchand Palety of C fore. - For Complete Sting Operation Video Click Here
Pioneer Exposes the fraud called Mahesh Sharma and Mahesh Peri of Career 360 and Barbel Schwertfeger of mba-channel.com
IIPM: An intriguing story of growth and envy
Prof Arindam Chaudhuri of IIPM on MF HUSAIN‎

Nutrivita PRESENTS 100 MARKETING BRAINS THAT MOVE AND SHAKE INDIA

2010-08-24T17:01:00.000+05:30

Subhajit Sen

Executive VP (Marketing), Consumer Healthcare, GSK

The highlight of Subhajit Sen’s career as Executive VP, Marketing at GSK has been the launch of Foodles in the instant noodles category under the Horlicks brand. Apart from this, this star in the GSK world also led the launch and marketing of the Breathe Easy nasal and snore relief strips which have been imported from UK, the first of its kind mass market product in India. Most prominent in the children’s segment was the launch of the Horlicks bar and Junior Horlicks Biscuits which have become an instant rage with kids and Subhajit has declared to capture 4-5% of the domestic biscuit segment in the next three to four years. Thus, Sen continues to cross newer milestones every few months with GSK.

For more articles, Click on IIPM Article.

Source : IIPM Editorial, 2010.

An Initiative of IIPM, Malay Chaudhuri and Arindam chaudhuri (Renowned Management Guru and Economist).

For More IIPM Info, Visit below mentioned IIPM articles.
“We will change your outlook” - The Sunday Indian on B-SCHOOL RANKING SCAMSTERS EXPOSED! A must read...
The Sunday Indian:-
B-SCHOOL RANKING SCAMSTERS EXPOSED!
For Exclusive Footage by Sunday Indian Click Here

Outlook Magazine's B School Ranking Scam Exposed
Business Standard Exposes the Outlook Magazine Money Editor
Don't trust the Indian Media!

IIPM enters into media education
IIPM makes record 10,000 placements in five years
TSI exposes b school ranking scamsters Mahesh Peri of Career 360 and Premchand Palety of C fore. - For Complete Sting Operation Video Click Here
Pioneer Exposes the fraud called Mahesh Sharma and Mahesh Peri of Career 360 and Barbel Schwertfeger of mba-channel.com
IIPM: An intriguing story of growth and envy
Prof Arindam Chaudhuri of IIPM on MF HUSAIN‎

Nutrivita PRESENTS 100 MARKETING BRAINS THAT MOVE AND SHAKE INDIA

2010-08-23T13:50:00.000+05:30

Harkirat Singh

MD, Woodland Shoes

At Woodlands, we have always approached a pro-environment strategy and you can see that even our logo is green in colour reflecting our point of view in regards to the same. Recently we thought of taking this environmental concern even to our customers and for that we started to have saplings in our shops that the customers can buy for nominal prices to either plant in their homes or to gift to their friends. This was carried out in pilot for now and we have received a phenomenal response, and we are planning to take it to all our stores across the country.

This initiative is very close to my heart and is my most memorable marketing moment.

For more articles, Click on IIPM Article.

Source : IIPM Editorial, 2010.

An Initiative of IIPM, Malay Chaudhuri and Arindam chaudhuri (Renowned Management Guru and Economist).

For More IIPM Info, Visit below mentioned IIPM articles.
“We will change your outlook” - The Sunday Indian on B-SCHOOL RANKING SCAMSTERS EXPOSED! A must read...
The Sunday Indian:-
B-SCHOOL RANKING SCAMSTERS EXPOSED!
For Exclusive Footage by Sunday Indian Click Here

Outlook Magazine's B School Ranking Scam Exposed
Business Standard Exposes the Outlook Magazine Money Editor
Don't trust the Indian Media!

IIPM enters into media education
IIPM makes record 10,000 placements in five years
TSI exposes b school ranking scamsters Mahesh Peri of Career 360 and Premchand Palety of C fore. - For Complete Sting Operation Video Click Here
Pioneer Exposes the fraud called Mahesh Sharma and Mahesh Peri of Career 360 and Barbel Schwertfeger of mba-channel.com
IIPM: An intriguing story of growth and envy
Prof Arindam Chaudhuri of IIPM on MF HUSAIN‎

DON’T MISS THE ONLINE HOLIDAY SEEKERS...

2010-08-20T16:15:00.001+05:30

Internet has already become a key game changer and the mobile is the next in line. It is important for the sector to understand the dynamics of these emerging mediums

During the next few months, another phenomenon, mobile technology, will take centre stage for the global travel and tourism industry, providing India with further opportunity to make great gains. With a base of over 380 million mobile subscribers, the use of the mobile phone as another channel for researching and purchasing travel, both during and before trips, will greatly change industry dynamics.

It is also essential that travel & tourism providers keep their eye on consumer travel trends across the world, helping to ensure there is constant access to new information about destinations and that this is presented across all multimedia formats. Travellers are craving to learn more about their destination of choice and seek this information through their preferred sources; be it through the press, video, social networks or general search. By optimising content and ensuring this is well connected to sales channels, travel businesses can expect a higher level of traffic that can result in increased bookings.

With the Internet becoming a leading factor, it is essential to fully understand its capacity and limitations. As the Internet grows, it still remains a world of its own, broken into many, often niche, segments and markets, often behaving differently than predicted or expected. So it is essential that hoteliers know who their customers are and how to best reach them. It is important to not forget the long-term. Implementing new technologies will save time and make product distribution & management easier; providing availability across multiple channels; allowing time to seek new opportunities by addressing consumer trends through information and mobile technologies.

For more articles, Click on IIPM Article.

Source : IIPM Editorial, 2010.

An Initiative of IIPM, Malay Chaudhuri and Arindam chaudhuri (Renowned Management Guru and Economist).

For More IIPM Info, Visit below mentioned IIPM articles.
“We will change your outlook” - The Sunday Indian on B-SCHOOL RANKING SCAMSTERS EXPOSED! A must read...
The Sunday Indian:-
B-SCHOOL RANKING SCAMSTERS EXPOSED!
For Exclusive Footage by Sunday Indian Click Here

Outlook Magazine's B School Ranking Scam Exposed
Business Standard Exposes the Outlook Magazine Money Editor
Don't trust the Indian Media!

IIPM enters into media education
IIPM makes record 10,000 placements in five years
TSI exposes b school ranking scamsters Mahesh Peri of Career 360 and Premchand Palety of C fore. - For Complete Sting Operation Video Click Here
Pioneer Exposes the fraud called Mahesh Sharma and Mahesh Peri of Career 360 and Barbel Schwertfeger of mba-channel.com
IIPM: An intriguing story of growth and envy
Prof Arindam Chaudhuri of IIPM on MF HUSAIN‎

WHAT’S BUZZING THE BUZZ?!

2010-08-19T14:31:00.001+05:30

Be it handycams, mobile phones, laptops or the latest hot wheels, all of them created enough waves in the Indian market in the last fortnight.

Fujifilm J30:

Sweet Memories: Fujifilm, one of the world’s largest camera makers has come out with a latest compact camera which is affordable and easy to use. With only 20 mm thin, and available in black and silver colours, the product has a double coated laminate which gives it a glossy and varnished look. It has 12 mega pixel sensor, 2.7” LCD screen and 3x optical zoom.

TECHNICAL SPECIFICATIONS:

12 Mega-Pixel
3x Optical Zoom
2.7” LCD screen
Price: Rs. 8,499

Meridian F80

A Trendy Doodad: Sound Of Music has launched one of the worlds most advanced and trendy compact audio systems –“Meridian F 80”in India. This product has been developed by Meridian Audio in collaboration with Ferrari. This trendy and stylish gadget brings together the features of CD/DVD player, AM/FM/DAB radio, alarm clock and an optional iPod dock. It comes with an 80 watt 2.1 stereo system and a subwoofer.

TECHNICAL SPECIFICATIONS:

DSP Technology
80 Watt 2.1 Stereo System
Price: Rs. 200,000

For more articles, Click on IIPM Article.

Source : IIPM Editorial, 2010.

An Initiative of IIPM, Malay Chaudhuri and Arindam chaudhuri (Renowned Management Guru and Economist).

For More IIPM Info, Visit below mentioned IIPM articles.
“We will change your outlook” - The Sunday Indian on B-SCHOOL RANKING SCAMSTERS EXPOSED! A must read...
The Sunday Indian:-
B-SCHOOL RANKING SCAMSTERS EXPOSED!
For Exclusive Footage by Sunday Indian Click Here

Outlook Magazine's B School Ranking Scam Exposed
Business Standard Exposes the Outlook Magazine Money Editor
Don't trust the Indian Media!

IIPM enters into media education
IIPM makes record 10,000 placements in five years
TSI exposes b school ranking scamsters Mahesh Peri of Career 360 and Premchand Palety of C fore. - For Complete Sting Operation Video Click Here
Pioneer Exposes the fraud called Mahesh Sharma and Mahesh Peri of Career 360 and Barbel Schwertfeger of mba-channel.com
IIPM: An intriguing story of growth and envy
Prof Arindam Chaudhuri of IIPM on MF HUSAIN‎

CAN YOU HEAR ME?

2010-08-18T14:29:00.001+05:30

As many as 16 players vying for the attention of consumers in a market, how can anyone get noticed? Ask Indian telecom service providers and they will tell you how…

Thus, in such a scenario the biggest fear in the mind of the marketing honchos is how to avoid getting commoditised in this market and to continue to maintain their individuality despite the onslaught of competition. As all brands, be it new or the established ones, are in rat race to get more subscribers in the world’s most competitive telecom market, experts believe that it would be the brand which is perceived as the most innovative and transparent that will manage to bag the maximum number of consumers in its kitty.

For instance, Tata DOCOMO, which launched its services in the market in early 2009, introduced the concept of pay per second for the first time in India. However, soon other players too started offering this to their customers. But for the end customer, the instant brand recall whenever one talks about per second billing still continues to be Tata DOCOMO, which enforces the fact that though it’s difficult to make a distinctive mark in this market, but once you are able to make the same, it remains etched forever in the minds of subscribers.

Vodafone too was troubled with this industry problem of offering a sustainable differentiating factor for their brand in the summer of 2009 and their miracle solution for this came in the form of famous Zoozoo campaign. The thought process that went in was that, “While the brand had a wide array of never-talked about products and services in the pipeline, not many out of that long tail seemed sustainable as differentiators for an extended period of time. The challenge was in finding a way to make that differentiation sustainable, so as to stay in the consumers’ consideration set. Parallely, a perfect media opportunity was upon us in the form of Season 2 of the Indian Premier League cricket extravaganza…”, Rajiv Rao, NCD, Ogilvy India (agency that handles Vodafone account), tells 4Ps B&M. What more? The campaign not only did wonders for the brand on a mass level, but also went out to win the Gold Effie for this campaign. In fact, Vodafone has already come out with merchandising created around these creatures to match the mass hysteria that followed!

For more articles, Click on IIPM Article.

Source : IIPM Editorial, 2010.

An Initiative of IIPM, Malay Chaudhuri and Arindam chaudhuri (Renowned Management Guru and Economist).

For More IIPM Info, Visit below mentioned IIPM articles.
“We will change your outlook” - The Sunday Indian on B-SCHOOL RANKING SCAMSTERS EXPOSED! A must read...
The Sunday Indian:-
B-SCHOOL RANKING SCAMSTERS EXPOSED!
For Exclusive Footage by Sunday Indian Click Here

Outlook Magazine's B School Ranking Scam Exposed
Business Standard Exposes the Outlook Magazine Money Editor
Don't trust the Indian Media!

IIPM enters into media education
IIPM makes record 10,000 placements in five years
TSI exposes b school ranking scamsters Mahesh Peri of Career 360 and Premchand Palety of C fore. - For Complete Sting Operation Video Click Here
Pioneer Exposes the fraud called Mahesh Sharma and Mahesh Peri of Career 360 and Barbel Schwertfeger of mba-channel.com
IIPM: An intriguing story of growth and envy
Prof Arindam Chaudhuri of IIPM on MF HUSAIN‎

WHAT’S BUZZING THE BUZZ?!

2010-08-17T16:56:00.001+05:30

Be it handycams, mobile phones, laptops or the latest hot wheels, all of them created enough waves in the Indian market in the last fortnight.

MSI LAPTOP CR620

TECHNICAL SPECIFICATION:
• Intel Core i5 Dual Processor
• Intel Calpella Platform
• Price: Rs.38,000 onwards

WORK IN STYLE!: MSI has launched its high-tech and fashionable Classic series of note books for young professionals. The note book features the latest Intel Core i5 dual processor, a high resolution 3D display and LED lights with a rich look backed up by the much-popular Windows7 operating system.

FUJIFILM REAL 3D CAMERA

TECHNICAL SPECIFICATIONS:
• Two lenses with Two CCD Censors

3x 3D OPTICAL ZOOM

Real Photo Processor 3D

2.8 inch 3D/2D LCD

THE NEW DIMENSION: The latest additions from Fujifilm in the Camera range consist of two high resolution lenses and two censors which help in flawlessly layering together two images to generate a 3D image. It has a RP (Real Photo) Processor to determine various shooting conditions such as focus, brightness and tonality. It also has a 2.8-inch monitor featuring Fujifilm’s own LCD panel.

For more articles, Click on IIPM Article.

Source : IIPM Editorial, 2010.

An Initiative of IIPM, Malay Chaudhuri and Arindam chaudhuri (Renowned Management Guru and Economist).

For More IIPM Info, Visit below mentioned IIPM articles.
“We will change your outlook” - The Sunday Indian on B-SCHOOL RANKING SCAMSTERS EXPOSED! A must read...
The Sunday Indian:-
B-SCHOOL RANKING SCAMSTERS EXPOSED!
For Exclusive Footage by Sunday Indian Click Here

Outlook Magazine's B School Ranking Scam Exposed
Business Standard Exposes the Outlook Magazine Money Editor
Don't trust the Indian Media!

IIPM enters into media education
IIPM makes record 10,000 placements in five years
TSI exposes b school ranking scamsters Mahesh Peri of Career 360 and Premchand Palety of C fore. - For Complete Sting Operation Video Click Here
Pioneer Exposes the fraud called Mahesh Sharma and Mahesh Peri of Career 360 and Barbel Schwertfeger of mba-channel.com
IIPM: An intriguing story of growth and envy
Prof Arindam Chaudhuri of IIPM on MF HUSAIN‎

Can Shera add shine to Brand India?

2010-08-16T14:23:00.000+05:30

Prasoon Joshi,
I>Executive Chairman, McCann Worldgroup – India & Regional CD, APAC, McCann Erickson

BRAND INDIA WILL SHINE!

I have been brought on-board of CWG 2010 as a creative advisor, along with Javed Akhtar and Shyam Benegal. I am helping the government in conceptualising the presentation of the games ceremony in front of the international audience. As per the contract, I cannot divulge many details about what we are doing, but broadly, we are assisting the government on the opening and closing ceremonies of the games. I understand that holding an event of this mammoth scale is not easy in India because of many reasons, so the CWG is being done as a part of a bigger exercise. A lot of money is being spent, as it opens gates to a lot of opportunities in almost every sector, including advertising and marketing. I also believe that image is the last thing to be worked out as far as the event is concerned, as India in itself is a brand. So honestly speaking, there is no question whether brand India will shine in the CWG or not [it will!], because I have full faith in the Indian government and its efforts.
Neha Saraiya & Angshuman Paul

For more articles, Click on IIPM Article.

Source : IIPM Editorial, 2010.

An Initiative of IIPM, Malay Chaudhuri and Arindam chaudhuri (Renowned Management Guru and Economist).

For More IIPM Info, Visit below mentioned IIPM articles.
“We will change your outlook” - The Sunday Indian on B-SCHOOL RANKING SCAMSTERS EXPOSED! A must read...
The Sunday Indian:-
B-SCHOOL RANKING SCAMSTERS EXPOSED!
For Exclusive Footage by Sunday Indian Click Here

Outlook Magazine's B School Ranking Scam Exposed
Business Standard Exposes the Outlook Magazine Money Editor
Don't trust the Indian Media!

IIPM enters into media education
IIPM makes record 10,000 placements in five years
TSI exposes b school ranking scamsters Mahesh Peri of Career 360 and Premchand Palety of C fore. - For Complete Sting Operation Video Click Here
Pioneer Exposes the fraud called Mahesh Sharma and Mahesh Peri of Career 360 and Barbel Schwertfeger of mba-channel.com
IIPM: An intriguing story of growth and envy
Prof Arindam Chaudhuri of IIPM on MF HUSAIN‎

“Funding is the major roadblock!”

2010-08-14T14:18:00.001+05:30

He sold his well set up business in 2007, that made him once the market leader and decided to venture into a sector that was only talked about and not explored. Today with Indosolar, he is the largest manufacturer of solar photovoltaic cells in India, ahead of firms like Moserbaer and Tata BP Solar. Set to hit the market with his maiden public issue, Hulas Rahul Gupta, MD, Indosolar, discusses his future plans to B&E’s Deepak Ranjan Patra

B&E: Efficiency of the cells is a major factor when it comes to judging quality of the cells. Do you also value efficiency while moving ahead with scale?
HRG: A lot! The efficiency level that we maintain is one of the best. Certainly, the efficiency curve has moved dramatically in the recent times. Before two or three years, it was around 12% to 14%. But in the past 18 months or so, the average efficiency level has moved up to 15-17%. We have bought a line, which was contracted guranteed 15.9%, now we are averaging 16.2% and have a roadmap for 16.5%.

B&E: Indian climatic conditions are more suitable for power generation compared with Germany and Spain. But these countries produce around 70% of the world’s total solar power production of around 10 GW, India produces only 400 MW. Why is India lagging behind? Any specific reason for the same?
HRG: Solar production in India is really negligible compared with global production. One of the major reasons in those countries is the tarriff system that they are operating with. It attracts entrprenuers to jump into the business. But India has just recently introduced that enabling policy under the Jawaharlal Nehru National Solar Mission.

B&E: Do you think that the Jawaharlal Nehru National Solar Mission can actually give a boost to the solar power production in India?
HRG: Yes, of course. Funding is the only roadblock. If it can be taken care of, then we might soon see the sector growing in leaps and bounds.

B&E: You are mainly an export-oriented revenue model. Do you think that the success of the National Solar Mission may change your revenue composition?
HRG: Of course. At the moment, about 90% of our revenue comes from exports and 10% from domestic level. But with the National Solar Mission has begun, we hope it may go for a substantial change to 50-50 by 2011-2012.

B&E: Do you think the competition in the solar power sector will intensify in the near future?
HRG: Well, I don’t thinks so. I belive domestic as well as global demand is strong enough. The market is large and in many promising countries like the US, India and China, the demand is yet to enter to the mainstream.

B&E: You are part of a value chain. In the future, would you like to consider the options for any sort of vertical integration? What is your long-term plan?
HRG: Well, first we are looking at optimising our cell-making capacity. The real roadmap for us is to first grow up to a GW capacity within the next 4-5 years. We have to stay prepared for the global cost benchmarks of China and Taiwan, and for that, we definitely need scale.

For more articles, Click on IIPM Article.

Source : IIPM Editorial, 2010.

An Initiative of IIPM, Malay Chaudhuri and Arindam chaudhuri (Renowned Management Guru and Economist).

For More IIPM Info, Visit below mentioned IIPM articles.
“We will change your outlook” - The Sunday Indian on B-SCHOOL RANKING SCAMSTERS EXPOSED! A must read...
The Sunday Indian:-
B-SCHOOL RANKING SCAMSTERS EXPOSED!
For Exclusive Footage by Sunday Indian Click Here

Outlook Magazine's B School Ranking Scam Exposed
Business Standard Exposes the Outlook Magazine Money Editor
Don't trust the Indian Media!

IIPM enters into media education
IIPM makes record 10,000 placements in five years
TSI exposes b school ranking scamsters Mahesh Peri of Career 360 and Premchand Palety of C fore. - For Complete Sting Operation Video Click Here
Pioneer Exposes the fraud called Mahesh Sharma and Mahesh Peri of Career 360 and Barbel Schwertfeger of mba-channel.com
IIPM: An intriguing story of growth and envy
Prof Arindam Chaudhuri of IIPM on MF HUSAIN‎

Hayward’s wayward BP ways?

2010-08-13T15:20:00.002+05:30

B&E’s Steven Philip Warner talks to various global oil & climate experts from the likes of Goldman Sachs, Credit Suisse, Standard & Poor’s, Argus Research, JBC Energy & Varda Group to find out what awaits BP’s fate? Will BP, which as recently as two months back was the second most valued oil major in the world, disappear?

“You need to go to jail, Hayward!” These were the loud words heard moments before the publicly accused CEO of BP, Tony Hayward, began his validations before the US Congress’ Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations in Washington on June 18, 2010. The heckler was a woman, with black tar smeared all over her hands and face. She was angered at the BP Chief for the oil spill at the company’s Macondo project deepwater rig in the Gulf of Mexico – the very reason which caused BP’s shareholders to lose $93.4 billion in just 59 days, also considered the most ignominious retreat by any non-banking & financial stock within a span of two months! The cynic was hurriedly removed from the room. Given a chance, many say BP’s shareholders would have done the same to Hayward.

But Hayward didn’t budge during the seven hour-long humiliation session, during which, the beleaguered executive was found to be at his diplomatic best, making his way clean around all the queries. [He used lines like “I don’t know”, “I am not comfortable answering...” and “I was not in the decision making process” about 70 times during the session!] Quite a contrast to the manner in which the four CEOs of Exxon, Conoco Phillips, Shell and Chevron unanimously agreed to the Congress in the same meeting that the prime reason for the BP disaster was the company’s failure to implement industry best practices during the Macondo operation. BP used six centralisers, while Halliburton (BP’s cement contractor), had advised it to use 21 to prevent proper and safe channelling during the cement process. BP also did not test the cement, which gave way under the high water pressure, 5000 feet below the surface. The engineers ignored the need to circulate gas-bearing muds out of the well and to secure the wellhead with a lockdown sleeve before allowing pressure on the seal from below. In short – it opted for lower costs over safety. But Hayward was not broken.

The US Congress members however left home satisfied. They had made up their minds before they walked in. No matter what Hayward replied, they were prepared to leave with much the same opinion. The BP chief was placed there to act out a soliloquy on a ‘high-gentry’ stage, where the script was designed to humiliate the might of a British company, which two months back was the second-most valued oil company in the world with an Mcap of $188.32 billion (only behind Exxon, the most valued in the world today)! Hayward on the other hand had reasons for much discomfort.

For more articles, Click on IIPM Article.

Source : IIPM Editorial, 2010.

An Initiative of IIPM, Malay Chaudhuri and Arindam chaudhuri (Renowned Management Guru and Economist).

For More IIPM Info, Visit below mentioned IIPM articles.
“We will change your outlook” - The Sunday Indian on B-SCHOOL RANKING SCAMSTERS EXPOSED! A must read...
The Sunday Indian:-
B-SCHOOL RANKING SCAMSTERS EXPOSED!
For Exclusive Footage by Sunday Indian Click Here

Outlook Magazine's B School Ranking Scam Exposed
Business Standard Exposes the Outlook Magazine Money Editor
Don't trust the Indian Media!

IIPM enters into media education
IIPM makes record 10,000 placements in five years
TSI exposes b school ranking scamsters Mahesh Peri of Career 360 and Premchand Palety of C fore. - For Complete Sting Operation Video Click Here
Pioneer Exposes the fraud called Mahesh Sharma and Mahesh Peri of Career 360 and Barbel Schwertfeger of mba-channel.com
IIPM: An intriguing story of growth and envy
Prof Arindam Chaudhuri of IIPM on MF HUSAIN‎

Time to stop the rabble rousing Mr. Cameron!

2010-08-12T15:26:00.001+05:30

Why the deficit control measures given by UK Prime Minister David Cameron suspiciously point to his lack of understanding of economics

Ronald Reagan, the 40th American President once avowed in the context of rising US deficit, “I’m not worried about the deficit. It is big enough to take care of itself.” The relevance of this statement lay hidden in a clearly less than astute understanding of deficit economics that Reagan had (something that led to the term ‘Reaganomics’ becoming common sarcastic usage), which had its basis on the key points of reducing marginal income tax rates, regulation, money supply and unfortunately government spending too. While reducing the former two was considered pro-growth, for the rest, it was considered suicidal for economic growth. Fortunately for the erstwhile Hollywood actor, the baby boomers in US ensured that the nation had years of consecutive growth, with or without his policies.

On June 22, 2010, when David Cameron, UK Prime Minister, presented the UK budget through Chancellor George Osborne, it seemed an unbelievable replica of Reaganomics – capital gains taxes not raised for basic rate taxpayers, personal income tax allowances increased by £1000 to £7475, higher rate taxpayers’ income tax rates unchanged but capital gains tax increased to 28%, and corporation taxes cut too. The logic being forwarded by Cameron and Osborne is that by 2015, the budget deficit – which is currently at 11.5% of UK’s GDP – will be “in balance” by 2015. Yes, part of what he’s saying seems brilliant – especially the tax movements (leave the illogic of not increasing the higher tax payers’ rates).

Even during his campaigning days for the UK Prime Ministerial elections, Cameron used the deficit card and it worked successfully. After winning, Cameron has tried hard to continue holding the placard, as he indicated in a speech on June 7, 2010, “The most urgent issue facing Britain today is our massive deficit and our growing debt.” In that speech, Cameron kept harping on the fact that while UK currently pays around £35 billion annually as interest payments, the amount was expected to go up to £70 billion annually in the next five years – something that he wanted to control urgently.

For more articles, Click on IIPM Article.

Source : IIPM Editorial, 2010.

An Initiative of IIPM, Malay Chaudhuri and Arindam chaudhuri (Renowned Management Guru and Economist).

For More IIPM Info, Visit below mentioned IIPM articles.
“We will change your outlook” - The Sunday Indian on B-SCHOOL RANKING SCAMSTERS EXPOSED! A must read...
The Sunday Indian:-
B-SCHOOL RANKING SCAMSTERS EXPOSED!
For Exclusive Footage by Sunday Indian Click Here

Outlook Magazine's B School Ranking Scam Exposed
Business Standard Exposes the Outlook Magazine Money Editor
Don't trust the Indian Media!

IIPM enters into media education
IIPM makes record 10,000 placements in five years
TSI exposes b school ranking scamsters Mahesh Peri of Career 360 and Premchand Palety of C fore. - For Complete Sting Operation Video Click Here
Pioneer Exposes the fraud called Mahesh Sharma and Mahesh Peri of Career 360 and Barbel Schwertfeger of mba-channel.com
IIPM: An intriguing story of growth and envy
Prof Arindam Chaudhuri of IIPM on MF HUSAIN‎

What do you see Rahul Gandhi as?

2010-08-11T12:46:00.000+05:30

The scion of the Nehru-Gandhi dynasty is credited with turning around the party's image in the Hindi heartland and making it more youth-centric. Equally at ease in a Dalit hamlet in Uttar Pradesh as well as a reputed Delhi college, the Congress' Prince charming has surely left a lasting impression on the minds of his countrymen as is evident from this poll.

He should be made the PM 53

He should Manage The Party 13

Can't say 12

He should be made the CM of My State 10

Cabinet Minister 7

He is given undue importance 3

He already has more responsibilities 2

For more articles, Click on IIPM Article.

Source : IIPM Editorial, 2010.

An Initiative of IIPM, Malay Chaudhuri and Arindam chaudhuri (Renowned Management Guru and Economist).

For More IIPM Info, Visit below mentioned IIPM articles.
“We will change your outlook” - The Sunday Indian on B-SCHOOL RANKING SCAMSTERS EXPOSED! A must read...
The Sunday Indian:-
B-SCHOOL RANKING SCAMSTERS EXPOSED!
For Exclusive Footage by Sunday Indian Click Here

Outlook Magazine's B School Ranking Scam Exposed
Business Standard Exposes the Outlook Magazine Money Editor
Don't trust the Indian Media!

IIPM enters into media education
IIPM makes record 10,000 placements in five years
TSI exposes b school ranking scamsters Mahesh Peri of Career 360 and Premchand Palety of C fore. - For Complete Sting Operation Video Click Here
Pioneer Exposes the fraud called Mahesh Sharma and Mahesh Peri of Career 360 and Barbel Schwertfeger of mba-channel.com
IIPM: An intriguing story of growth and envy
Prof Arindam Chaudhuri of IIPM on MF HUSAIN‎

Dementia, me? Fat chance!

2010-08-10T12:46:00.001+05:30

At peace with that ponch? You could be slowly ‘inching’ towards dementia!

You could thump it and mock it by calling it a pot belly, or you could be all lovey-dovey and address it with all due respect as ‘love handles’, but my friend, if you really are in love with yourself, I’m afraid you’re not handling it (life) that well. In a recent research it was observed that belly fat or visceral fat can be instrumental in an individual developing dementia in later stages of one’s life. Visceral fat, which is not routinely given as much importance, clinically produces more inflammation than fat found in other areas of the body. Inflammation plays a key role in triggering heart diseases and is a host to other chronic diseases as well. The point of contention is the overall ‘distribution’ of fat and not obesity in general. It has also been observed that people whose bodies are apple-shaped instead of being pear-shaped are more prone to heart attacks and strokes. Dementia is a clinical condition, which occurs in old-age due to treatable or untreatable causes and it mainly involves cognitive impairment, speech language disturbance and motor skills impairment etc. Basically, the memory and sensitivity of the patient is compromised. Certain treatable causes for dementia could be transmitted through various viral infections in HIV patients. Many cancers such as lung and brain cancer could release certain such chemicals in the blood stream which may cause dementia. Also end stage liver and kidney disorders could lead to dementia.

“Out of all dementias, ‘Vascular’ dementia is the most common, and the most common cause of dementia is stroke. In case if someone suffers a stroke or multiple strokes then the portions of the brain which get damaged may lead to dementia. Other than obesity, diabetes and hypertension, the metabolic syndrome is given a lot of importance these days. Also a focus on the waste-hip ratio is very important. The waste-hip ratio differs in Asians and Europeans. If this ratio is abnormal, it would signify that the visceral fat (unhealthy abdominal fat) is more, which damages the arteries and increases the chances of a stroke by five to six times if coupled with diabetes and hypertension. Although a patient might not have a history of stroke, he could still suffer from dementia at a certain stage. Like in the case of treatable (preventive) causes such as hypothyroid, epilepsy, alcoholics or any accidents in which there might have been a brain haemorrhage, one might suffer from dementia. There isn’t a specific medication for dementia as such because in dementia the cause is treated to the extent possible,” says Dr. Mrinal Bhargava, General Physician (Resident Neurology). Dementia not only affects those who are too lazy to lose weight, but those who are fit as a fiddle may also suffer from a deadly neurodegenerative disease like dementia; like in the case of boxers. Due to repeated concussions they develop ‘Chronic traumatic encephalopathy’. It is also said that famous boxers and athletes such as Bobby Chacon and Jerry Quarry had suffered from this disease.

Being reduced to the state of a vegetable and being dependant on others for everything is not living but merely existing. The least one can do for oneself is to take control of those love handles, otherwise they could leave you with no control over your life.

Ravi Inder Singh

For more articles, Click on IIPM Article.

Source : IIPM Editorial, 2010.

An Initiative of IIPM, Malay Chaudhuri and Arindam chaudhuri (Renowned Management Guru and Economist).

For More IIPM Info, Visit below mentioned IIPM articles.
“We will change your outlook” - The Sunday Indian on B-SCHOOL RANKING SCAMSTERS EXPOSED! A must read...
The Sunday Indian:-
B-SCHOOL RANKING SCAMSTERS EXPOSED!
For Exclusive Footage by Sunday Indian Click Here

Outlook Magazine's B School Ranking Scam Exposed
Business Standard Exposes the Outlook Magazine Money Editor
Don't trust the Indian Media!

IIPM enters into media education
IIPM makes record 10,000 placements in five years
TSI exposes b school ranking scamsters Mahesh Peri of Career 360 and Premchand Palety of C fore. - For Complete Sting Operation Video Click Here
Pioneer Exposes the fraud called Mahesh Sharma and Mahesh Peri of Career 360 and Barbel Schwertfeger of mba-channel.com
IIPM: An intriguing story of growth and envy
Prof Arindam Chaudhuri of IIPM on MF HUSAIN‎

Water Woes Intensify

2010-08-09T16:19:00.000+05:30

When it was predicted about a decade back that the next World War would be fought for control of water, sceptics dismissed it as a mere hyperbole. Now, with killings over water being reported from across the country, the spectre of the past is becoming a scary reality. The team of anil sharma, raju kumar and nishant bhadreshwar take stock of the situation

The scenario in the state capital Jaipur is no better, where water is being supplied once in a day, and that too only for an hour. “To add to our woes, we have heard that the government is planning to make it once in 48 hours. How would we live,” says Ashok Kumar Sharma, a resident of the walled city area.

Gone are the days when people would man pyaos to give water to the thirsty. Now, people are manning water bodies to keep the thirsty away from them. Water shortage has forced the residents of a village near Bikaner to maintain a tight vigil on the village water bodies to prevent water theft. “There is always a threat of water theft, so we have appointed watchmen to keep a vigil on our water bodies,” says Bhola Ram, a resident of Pugal village in Bikaner district.

It is feared that the availability would fall below 450 cubic metres by the year 2050. As per the international accepted norms, availability of water below 500 cubic metres is considered as absolute water scarcity.

Although the Ashok Gehlot government is trying to take steps to ease the crisis, but so far the problem persists. “We are doing whatever best we can. Supplying water through tankers and running water trains. We have decided to supply water through tankers to more than 10,000 villages during May and June,” a senior official of the water department tells B&E. “We have also decided to focus on community-based water management solutions instead of predominantly engineering-based ones,” he adds.

The situation in the neighbouring Madhya Pradesh is probably worse. Brawls over water are resulting in people eventually killing each other at many places in the state. Incidents of the killing of three people of the same family in Bhopal, two people in Indore, a person in Bilkhiriya village and a person in Devas dot the 2009 calendar.

For more articles, Click on IIPM Article.

Source : IIPM Editorial, 2010.

An Initiative of IIPM, Malay Chaudhuri and Arindam chaudhuri (Renowned Management Guru and Economist).

For More IIPM Info, Visit below mentioned IIPM articles.
“We will change your outlook” - The Sunday Indian on B-SCHOOL RANKING SCAMSTERS EXPOSED! A must read...
The Sunday Indian:-
B-SCHOOL RANKING SCAMSTERS EXPOSED!
For Exclusive Footage by Sunday Indian Click Here

Outlook Magazine's B School Ranking Scam Exposed
Business Standard Exposes the Outlook Magazine Money Editor
Don't trust the Indian Media!

IIPM enters into media education
IIPM makes record 10,000 placements in five years
TSI exposes b school ranking scamsters Mahesh Peri of Career 360 and Premchand Palety of C fore. - For Complete Sting Operation Video Click Here
Pioneer Exposes the fraud called Mahesh Sharma and Mahesh Peri of Career 360 and Barbel Schwertfeger of mba-channel.com
IIPM: An intriguing story of growth and envy
Prof Arindam Chaudhuri of IIPM on MF HUSAIN‎

Let’s wait for the results, shall we?

2010-08-07T14:40:00.000+05:30

Mahindra Satyam is now getting back on track. But the biggest issue facing them is the upcoming June declaration of true results. Can they handle that? by Amir Moin

In the last six months, the BSE IT index gained 5%. However, Mahindra Satyam’s stock slipped by 32% (Share price is still languishing at Rs.85 levels, compared to the Rs.500s seen during Raju’s time). This clearly shows that despite the IT sector showing positive signs, investors still don’t have confidence in Mahindra Satyam. That could mean short term valuation issues for Tech Mahindra, which has taken up Rs.8.75 billion to acquire Satyam Computers. “This will continue to happen since Mahindra Satyam is still undergoing restructuring. There are a lot of integration issues and therefore due to lack of transparency, investors don’t have much confidence in Mahindra Satyam. Our analysis says that once the consolidation is over, Tech Mahindra will drop the name of Satyam and merge the latter with the former,” says an industry analyst.

L&T, as was mentioned, recently sold the 4.58% stake that it once used to hold in the past. L&T did this after accusing Mahindra Satyam for not revealing critical business information. That hardly does any good for the company on the shareholders front.

Operationally, Mahindra has brought Satyam’s operations under its ‘Two-in-a-box’ framework, wherein sales and delivery functions will be combined and work on new and existing customers respectively. It is also implementing a new strategy that is aimed at aligning Satyam’s older core areas with Tech Mahindra’s focus on telecom. “Mahindra Satyam has its own set of core competencies and aligning it with Tech Mahindra’s focus on telecom will only confuse clients. So I think that is a bad idea,” says Sahni.

So where does Satyam go from here? Given the new executive leadership at the top of Satyam, can one expect that the June results would finally prove to the world that Satyam is back with a snook cocked at the critic world? Our take is clearly in the negative. The fact is that while Raju ran the company with his group of family and top management members – amply helped by PwC – the extent of fraudulent book keeping declared by him can be confirmed only after Satyam’s new auditors are able to collate and resolve the innumerable non-existent book entries shown in Satyam’s various financial sheets.

Given the past forecasts, there can be no doubt that when results are declared in June, there would be a huge stock taking session by Tech Mahindra on whether they really would wish to continue with Satyam or to simply sell it off. Imagine the phenomenal capital profit Tech Mahindra is set to gain in one year. They purchased Satyam’s stock at Rs.58 per share. At current Rs.85 prices, they’ll be set to gain an immediate 50% plus premium – great enough by any Buffett standards.

But in case Tech Mahindra goes ahead and merges with Satyam, such a valuation could get devastated. One has to realise that Tech Mahindra, by itself, has not followed a traditional IT company path. It was created to primarily service British Telecom (Tech Mahindra’s second largest shareholder holding 31% shares compared to 44% owned by Mahindras), and BT still continues to be Tech Mahindra’s largest client. So what exactly might happen in the coming months? Well, our call still remains, let’s wait for the results!

Amir Moin

For more articles, Click on IIPM Article.

Source : IIPM Editorial, 2010.

An Initiative of IIPM, Malay Chaudhuri and Arindam chaudhuri (Renowned Management Guru and Economist).

For More IIPM Info, Visit below mentioned IIPM articles.
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Prof Arindam Chaudhuri of IIPM on MF HUSAIN‎

Losing power in transit

2010-08-06T11:52:00.001+05:30

T&D losses and power theft have to be addressed in a flagrantly strict manner – arrest the power stealers and publicise their conviction

In April first week, Delhi Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit promised that there would be “no power cuts in the capital this summer.” This promise held well for one week in some localities. In other states, the less said about power the better.

As per a recent report, the Planning Commission has revealed that the combined losses of public sector discoms, which were to the tune of Rs.40,000 crores in 2009-10, could swell up to a shocking Rs.68,000 crores in the current financial year. It has been widely seen that the reason for such huge losses is because of faulty T&D (transmission and distribution) systems. The fact is that more than one-third of electricity supplied gets lost in T&D and a similar substantial part is stolen. Presently, the T&D losses can go up to 40-50% in many states; compared with China where the figure is less than 3%. India’s T&D losses are the highest in the world as per a report by WRI. They not only trouble consumers but also lead to huge financial losses. Assocham estimates that 1/3rd of the investments in the 11th five year plan is wasted because of T&D losses.

Regulation over return has hurt private interests in T&D which needs to change. Privatization of the distribution process has helped states like Delhi and parts of Maharashtra, but the model has not been successful in Orissa. The reason is that state electricity boards play a role in regulating tariffs and political interests come into play, which discourages private companies from investing. States like Karnataka and Uttar Pradesh, which are considering giving their power grid to private hands, must keep this in mind.

But there’s a shortcut to all this. Start arresting power stealers and publicise this in a big way to reduce power theft. It worked for reducing drunk-driving, it’ll work for this too.

IIPM Think Tank

For more articles, Click on IIPM Article.

Source : IIPM Editorial, 2010.

An Initiative of IIPM, Malay Chaudhuri and Arindam chaudhuri (Renowned Management Guru and Economist).

For More IIPM Info, Visit below mentioned IIPM articles.
“We will change your outlook” - The Sunday Indian on B-SCHOOL RANKING SCAMSTERS EXPOSED! A must read...
The Sunday Indian:-
B-SCHOOL RANKING SCAMSTERS EXPOSED!
For Exclusive Footage by Sunday Indian Click Here

Outlook Magazine's B School Ranking Scam Exposed
Business Standard Exposes the Outlook Magazine Money Editor
Don't trust the Indian Media!

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IIPM makes record 10,000 placements in five years
TSI exposes b school ranking scamsters Mahesh Peri of Career 360 and Premchand Palety of C fore. - For Complete Sting Operation Video Click Here
Pioneer Exposes the fraud called Mahesh Sharma and Mahesh Peri of Career 360 and Barbel Schwertfeger of mba-channel.com
IIPM: An intriguing story of growth and envy
Prof Arindam Chaudhuri of IIPM on MF HUSAIN‎

Living up to their name finally?

2010-08-05T15:25:00.001+05:30

From a regional player that faced the ire of debtors in 2003 to a company that is aiming to be one of the leading cement players in India in the coming times, India Cements is planning a paradigm transformation. Can it go the distance? by Virat Bahri

The company posted a welcome growth in revenues for the year ending March 2010, with top line growing by 9.6% to reach Rs.38.05 billion. However, its bottom line was a casualty of declining realisations in the Southern market. For the fourth quarter, per tonne cement realisation declined by 19.4% yoy to Rs.2,488 while per tonne raw material costs, freight costs and power & fuel costs were all up - by 20.1%, 19% yoy and 11.9% respectively yoy. Demand grew by 11.1% in Tamil Nadu, 6.6% in Karnataka and 4.4% in Kerala, while declining slightly by around 1% in Andhra Pradesh for the financial year.

Geographically speaking, cement is a business that normally grows in a linear fashion around the areas where limestone deposits are present; and India Cements was content with its dominant position in South India till a few years back. But the above trends highlight the difficulties of being a regional player, and why going pan-India becomes important. Rakesh Singh, VP-Marketing, India Cements, comments to B&E, “We are seeing a huge rise in demand for cement with infrastructure expansions all over India. Besides, behaviour of prices is varying so much from region to region. Invariably, we have seen two cycles. When the north does well, the south does not and vice versa.” The crux is that a good cycle in one region can cushion a bad cycle in the other region. For comparison sake, national player Ultratech Cement saw its net sales and PAT increase by 10% (Rs.70.5 billion) and 12% (Rs.10.93 billion) respectively for the financial year.

The company is going ahead with its pan-India plans with heed to continuity and has slowly expanded its reach to Maharashtra, Gujarat, Rajasthan and MP. Through greenfield expansions and plant upgradation, the aim is to expand capacity to 16 mtpa by next year. It is expected to have a capex of around Rs.13 billion in the next three years. The plans include a grinding unit in Parli, Maharashtra, mining leases in the Rajasthan, Himachal Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh and construction of a new 1.5 mtpa cement manufacturing plant in Rajasthan by June this year (to cost around Rs.6 billion).

For more articles, Click on IIPM Article.

Source : IIPM Editorial, 2010.

An Initiative of IIPM, Malay Chaudhuri and Arindam chaudhuri (Renowned Management Guru and Economist).

For More IIPM Info, Visit below mentioned IIPM articles.
“We will change your outlook” - The Sunday Indian on B-SCHOOL RANKING SCAMSTERS EXPOSED! A must read...
The Sunday Indian:-
B-SCHOOL RANKING SCAMSTERS EXPOSED!
For Exclusive Footage by Sunday Indian Click Here

Outlook Magazine's B School Ranking Scam Exposed
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IIPM enters into media education
IIPM makes record 10,000 placements in five years
TSI exposes b school ranking scamsters Mahesh Peri of Career 360 and Premchand Palety of C fore. - For Complete Sting Operation Video Click Here
Pioneer Exposes the fraud called Mahesh Sharma and Mahesh Peri of Career 360 and Barbel Schwertfeger of mba-channel.com
IIPM: An intriguing story of growth and envy
Prof Arindam Chaudhuri of IIPM on MF HUSAIN‎

Spooked!

2010-08-04T12:42:00.000+05:30

Who knew that this tough, unabashed and outspoken girl would be a chicken when it comes to ghosts? Recently, on the sets of Golmaal 3, Ajay Devgn and Rohit Shetty played a prank on Kareena Kapoor and told her that a woman was brutally killed in the hotel they were staying in, and that her ghost still wanders in the hotel. This story made Bebo’s blood run cold! One thing is for sure, we won’t see this lass in any of RGV’s films!

For more articles, Click on IIPM Article.

Source : IIPM Editorial, 2010.

An Initiative of IIPM, Malay Chaudhuri and Arindam chaudhuri (Renowned Management Guru and Economist).

For More IIPM Info, Visit below mentioned IIPM articles.
“We will change your outlook” - The Sunday Indian on B-SCHOOL RANKING SCAMSTERS EXPOSED! A must read...
The Sunday Indian:-
B-SCHOOL RANKING SCAMSTERS EXPOSED!
For Exclusive Footage by Sunday Indian Click Here

Outlook Magazine's B School Ranking Scam Exposed
Business Standard Exposes the Outlook Magazine Money Editor
Don't trust the Indian Media!

IIPM enters into media education
IIPM makes record 10,000 placements in five years
TSI exposes b school ranking scamsters Mahesh Peri of Career 360 and Premchand Palety of C fore. - For Complete Sting Operation Video Click Here
Pioneer Exposes the fraud called Mahesh Sharma and Mahesh Peri of Career 360 and Barbel Schwertfeger of mba-channel.com
IIPM: An intriguing story of growth and envy
Prof Arindam Chaudhuri of IIPM on MF HUSAIN‎

The Views

2010-08-03T12:36:00.001+05:30

Lt Gen Athar Abbas, Director General, ISPR

On army action in FATA
In is one of the unique operations of its kind. The area was out of the control of the civil administration and Tahreek e Taliban had taken over. We started the campaign in 2008 but then the elections came and it was decided that the operation will be withdrawn. We also decided to allow the local laws to operate but the terrorists did not stop at that. When they kept on with their terror means even after we offered tribals their own law to operate, this led to the loss of support for the terrorists. Therefore when we started the operation again, we had the full support of the locals. We took a fight in the region that had the most unfriendly terrains but our army overcame all the obstacles and freed the area. Presently we have freed Swat and the reconstruction work is going on. Then it will be transferred to the civil administration. In FATA, we have sanitized the several agencies and the process of consolidation is going on. The focus is entirely on other areas at the present juncture.

On Human Casualty
It was a very different kind of fight and the casualities, therefore, were bound to be high. At the peak of the operation in 2009, we had an average of ten casualties each day. However, we are happy that the motive of the operation has been achieved. Our efforts have been appreciated by people from all over the world.

On action against Lashker e Tayyeba
Until now we have been focused largely on the western front. Every country and its army have a priority and we have our priorities as well. We are fully involved in FATA and want to drive the militants out from the tribal areas. Lashker is a banned organisation and it is not operating in Pakistani territory. It might be behind activities in Kashmir but we are not aware of that.

For more articles, Click on IIPM Article.

Source : IIPM Editorial, 2010.

An Initiative of IIPM, Malay Chaudhuri and Arindam chaudhuri (Renowned Management Guru and Economist).

For More IIPM Info, Visit below mentioned IIPM articles.
“We will change your outlook” - The Sunday Indian on B-SCHOOL RANKING SCAMSTERS EXPOSED! A must read...
The Sunday Indian:-
B-SCHOOL RANKING SCAMSTERS EXPOSED!
For Exclusive Footage by Sunday Indian Click Here

Outlook Magazine's B School Ranking Scam Exposed
Business Standard Exposes the Outlook Magazine Money Editor
Don't trust the Indian Media!

IIPM enters into media education
IIPM makes record 10,000 placements in five years
TSI exposes b school ranking scamsters Mahesh Peri of Career 360 and Premchand Palety of C fore. - For Complete Sting Operation Video Click Here
Pioneer Exposes the fraud called Mahesh Sharma and Mahesh Peri of Career 360 and Barbel Schwertfeger of mba-channel.com
IIPM: An intriguing story of growth and envy
Prof Arindam Chaudhuri of IIPM on MF HUSAIN‎