Life is at a standstill in Telangana Region

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).

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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

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

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Source : IIPM Editorial, 2010.

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

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Jaspal Singh. Bindra, Group Executive Director, Standard Chartered

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.

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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 ranked No 1 B-School in India
domain-b.com : IIPM ranked ahead of IIMs
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Diversification an issue? Not for them!

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.

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