IIPM Press Release: August 2008

Wednesday, August 27, 2008

Pensions begin to hound & hurt

Airport strike averted for now
It’s not the European Union, but the unions in Europe that are creating news these days. The French Government faces a tough time as the organised labourers have threatened to veto the proposed reform projects.

The British authorities would also have faced a similar

test if the Unite Union did not call off the airport strike. The Unite Union had threatened to strike on January 7, along with planned walkouts for January 14 & January 17 against the airport company BAA’s decision to end the final salary pension scheme for new workers. “BAA has just posted profits of over five hundred million pounds & the Spanish owners, Ferrovial, have seen their profits rise by nearly 60%. It is clear that our members’ pension scheme is financially sound, & should be left alone,” said Unite’s national aviation secretary Brendan Gold. However, a marathon discussion on the New Year eve averted the January 7 strike.

“This is good news for our members, for BAA & for air travellers. It is a total vindication of the action taken by our members in voting to defend their pension scheme,” said Gold after the strikes were called off. However, the Unite has threatened to go on strike on January 9 & 16 against Virgin’s decision to turn down a 4.8% pay rise. Virgin is now clearly asking the disgruntled employees to leave, and it has put Unite’s unity in jeopardy.

For Complete I I P M Article, Click on IIPM Article

Source : IIPM Editorial, 2008

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

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Tuesday, August 26, 2008

The rural-urban divide is appalling

The rural-urban divide is appalling. While the poverty in urban areas has gone down dramatically, the corresponding figures for rural areas are very poor (a drop of 0.26%). There are regional differences as well. South Gujarat and coastal areas have largely remained out of the development span. Nevertheless, Modi announced several sops six months before the state election to nullify the rebellion that seem to be nurturing in the under-developed areas. Worse, Gujarat is the one of the most indebted state of the Union.

One would have hoped that Gujarat would have been a topper in the list of states that have successfully wooed investments. But between January 1997 and September 2005, Gujarat was ranked fifth in terms of approved FDI projects behind Maharashtra, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh. While Maharashtra attracted investments worth Rs 35,757 crore during the period, Gujarat mobilised Rs 13,289 crore. Between January-May 2007, Gujarat was not even among the top five states. It managed to retain a position in the first 10 due to expansion plans of existing refineries owned by Reliance and Essar groups.

Let’s talk about the much-heard-of “Vibrant Gujarat” campaign. Most people think that it’s a visionary blueprint chalked out by Modi. In fact, it is neither a campaign nor a development plan. It is only the name of a two-day global investment summit—an annual affair—that usually coincides with Navratras. Such events are organised by most states, but generally go unreported. It was Modi’s publicity that worked overtime to amplify the event. Says Suhrud: “Gujarat has always been a prosperous state. It did no wonders in last five years.”

In several of the celebrated projects, Modi tried to adopt short cuts to claim success. For example, while homes in rural areas receive 15-20 hours of power, as claimed by Modi, the supply for irrigation is poor and costly. In fact, he has reduced or manoeuvred the supply to agriculture. Due to construction of new road routes, the price of land has zoomed. Naturally, it made people living near the existing roads richer and happier. This was more prominent in Saurashtra, where most land belonged to ‘Leuva Patels’, who were expected to oppose Modi. Thus, it was political acumen, PR management, and development – and not just governance alone – that won the day for Modi.

For Complete I I P M Article, Click on IIPM Article

Source : IIPM Editorial, 2008

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

Monday, August 25, 2008

Politics over policy

Gujarat shows how voters do not get policy options

They say that bijli, sadak aur paani are so crucial

that politicians and governments spend sleepless nights worrying about a voter backlash every time an election looms on the horizon. They say that issues that affect the day-to-day life and economic well-being of voters decide electoral outcomes. Can we say that about India?

Till early December, it appeared as if the elections in Gujarat would be decided by voters, on the relative success or failure of the ‘development’ and ‘economic well- being’ plank being projected by Chief Minister Narendra Modi. While Modi exhorted voters to re-elect him because of his ‘excellent’ development track record, rival Congress leaders trashed his claims and said the so-called ‘development’ was a hoax on the people of Gujarat. Decibel and temper levels were high; but one hoped that, for a change, voters in India will actually decide an electoral outcome, based on bread and butter issues.

Sadly, that was not to be. Congress President Sonia Gandhi used the ‘merchant of death’ words and Modi reacted in characteristically brazen manner. It doesn’t matter who is at fault; what has happened is that the Gujarat elections is again not about the economic policies of Narendra Modi, but the divide between Hindus & Muslims. That’s a real tragedy for Indian democracy that once again, sectarian, divisive and emotive issues have been encouraged to lord over economic policies.

It keeps happening again and again. In Uttar Pradesh, the assembly elections concluded last summer, were purely about caste identities and no party even bothered to project a vision or a set of policies for the state.

This must be a singular failure of Indian politicians and policy makers – the inability (either unwillingly or deliberately) to make economic policies the subject of electoral debate. Chandrababu Naidu tried it in Andhra Pradesh and lost – primarily because Congress offered ‘free’ electricity’ and a host of other freebies that are not sustainable. Naidu has now started paying the Congress back in its ‘own coin’ (to borrow a term from Budhadev Bhattacharya!) since elections are looming again in the state. In West Bengal, Budhadev did try hard and talk the language of development. But now, West Bengal is all about crypto-fascist Marxist thugs recapturing Nandigram and the comrades in Kolkata offering an olive branch to hurt Mulsims by hounding Tasleema Nasreen out of the state. The bigger failure is: no political party is even trying to rise above this farce. Will India ever really mature as a democracy?

For Complete I I P M Article, Click on IIPM Article

Source : IIPM Editorial, 2008

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

Saturday, August 23, 2008

No reason for...

touring and travel
With the World Tourism Industry churning out more than US$733 billion (2006), there is not even an iota of doubt that same has obviously reached venerable heights.

Bahamas – as a tourist destination yielded revenue of

$2.8 billion in 2003 is now facing water shortage in New Province. And as if that’s not enough, the UN Environment Programme has also cited that the tourism in Bahamas has resulted in 2.2 pounds of solid waste and litter each day per tourist. Places like Hawaii and Grenada are also victims of such abrasively enterprising tourism. Also it would be really unfair not to mention the Corals which are threatened with extinction. Australia might be basking in the glory of $229,506 million which its tourism industry has generated (2007), but what it fails to perceive is that Corals from the bottom of seas around North-West Australia is almost disappearing, owing to tourists, who choose to take back the Corals from the seas. In India too, places like the Taj Mahal, Nandankanan (Orissa) and the Himalayan tourist hotspots are no exceptions.

Hats off to tourism…for leaving the world with not too many reasons to travel and tour!!!

For Complete I I P M Article, Click on IIPM Article

Source : IIPM Editorial, 2008

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

Friday, August 22, 2008

BRIC’s BRICKS

Time to pay attention to the finer points of the BRIC report
Goldman Sachs’s most famous Global Economics Paper No. 99

named Dreaming with BRICs: Path to 2050 is no news now-a-days, at least in India, given the impunity with which this has often been referred to by nation’s polity and policy makers to showcase the bright future of our country. And also as if forewarn all those, who are yet to make up their minds about investing in India or take it seriously, as to what a grave mistake they would commit if they gloss over the writing on the wall.

This year, Goldman Sachs even revised their previous estimation thereby putting India even ahead of the US by 2050 in terms of Gross Domestic Product (GDP). Much to the glee of the Indian policy makers, soon thereafter, India entered the exclusive trillion dollar club. But in the midst of all these, one thing was completely ignored, i.e. the warning from Goldman Sachs which had laid down four conditions namely, macro stability, institutions, openness and education. While India’s combined fiscal deficit (that of the Centre and the states together) of about 9-10%, is a major dampener to the right kind of macro stability, lack of reforms in agriculture, power and education spheres and several other government departments like the Department of Post make sure that fiscal deficit would continue to remain high. Its reduction, if at all is not in absolute numbers but because of the increasing GDP, as a percentage looks lesser. Subsidies continue to serve the rich and middle class and incredible amount of loss in power and oil sectors is a proof enough of lack of right kind of institutional mechanism. All that oil bonds end up doing is to shift the subsidy burden to a future date. Sheer lack of pragmatic regulatory bodies ensure that cross subsidies remain very much a part of system of governance, thereby stifling growth in key sectors like aviation which continues to pay the price of the distorted price juggleries in oil sector. Incidentally, the price of aviation fuel in India is about 70% more than that in the international markets. In the same league, absence of institutional mechanism, translates into a challenge, when venture capital for starting a business is sought. Industries like insurance and banking are yet to receive full dosage of foreign investment even when they, and especially the insurance sector, are in dire need of fund infusion.

That the Indian economy is yet to be opened properly is vindicated by the fact that a stronger rupee is increasingly becoming a major cause of concern for the government and the exporters, at a time, when India ideally should be celebrating the strengthening rupee as a sign of a growing and potent economy. Instead, strict controls on capital outflow ensure that India isn’t being able to extract maximum mileage from it. The fourth and the most important point as stated by the Goldman Sachs report is on education. Unfortunately India’s dismal ranking (128th) in the UNDP Human Development Report portrays the dismal condition in terms of education and health. This can severely impede India’s economic dream run as it would invariably dry down the future supply of quality manpower. In addition to it, distorted subsidies for education like in other sectors, make sure that even today, urban college students spend more on one time recharge of their cellphones than on paying college fees, thereby depriving the millions who otherwise deserved the subsidy, more. It is for all these reasons that for India, BRIC dream is still nothing more than just daydreams. And to make it a reality, the bricks of the BRIC will have to be first of all put in the right place. Or else, the ‘I’ of BRIC would just collapse like a pack of cards.

For Complete I I P M Article, Click on IIPM Article

Source : IIPM Editorial, 2008

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

Thursday, August 21, 2008

Auto sector game

Although the management of Maruti was increasingly in Suzuki hands, Khattar did not see this as incompatible to national interests where there was scope for mutual benefit in many areas. He got Indian managers to spearhead several global initiatives for the company. The R&D capabilities were beefed up and Maruti managers began spending extended periods in Japan to contribute to global teams of engineers, auto styling specialists and other technical areas. From being a virtual subsidiary of a foreign company, the managers at Maruti quickly became important parts of a global enterprise.

It was a heady period that saw development of the successful Swift, followed by the Zen Estilo, XL-7 and the bigger SX4, with Indian designers and engineers as important elements in the production and marketing teams. These new launches pushed up Maruti’s market share and its representation in segments, other than the old market it commanded in small cars alone. Under the bonnet, similar engineering teams developed Suzuki’s first diesel engine, a new 1300cc engine in collaboration with Fiat. The auto company is now working on a brand new state-of-the-art 1000cc aluminum engine for petrol cars.

The new Manesar plant making these engines has a

capacity of 300,000 cars and Suzuki intends to make India the global production base for a new bigger car code named ‘A Star’ mainly destined for foreign markets. Maruti will also be introducing a new family vehicle, Splash, next year. But Maruti will not be competing with Tata Motors or Bajaj Auto for the manufacture of an ultra low cost car. Khattar has stated that the sale of these cars will lay the foundations for more customers to upgrade a few years later to cars from the Maruti stable.

But there’s no doubt that the fate of small cars – to be introduced by Tata Motors and others – will somehow decide the future fortune of Maruti. These new, possibly-cheaper models will threaten the auto maker’s domination in the small car and compact car segments. They will tell us whether Suzuki’s strategy of staying out of the low-cost, higher volumes game was the right one or not. However, the buzz is that Maruti will change the dynamics in the compact segment.

The new buoyancy at Maruti is also seen in the market place where Maruti wants to motivate its dealers to provide the best after-sales service that is being rapidly rolled out to reach new customers including those in rural or remote areas. Maruti has been in the lead with customer services as well with better car finance and insurance packages, Maruti’s ‘True Value’ outlets allow for the trade in sale and purchase of company certified used cars. The surveys on customer satisfaction by J. D. Powers and others have affirmed that these efforts have paid off.

Khattar may have served Suzuki well, but he first served his country and his customers. He did not see that these interests had to be in conflict. In 2006-07, Maruti’s net profits stood at Rs.15 billion; it was a huge change from the dismal profits seven years earlier. It was clearly an example of taking the company from defeat to victory. Khattar has always led from the front and not just in production or management. He has been an ever-smiling and very approachable leader of all the sales promotion efforts.

As a very capable ballroom dancer, he has had no reluctance to be the first on to the dance floor. And he keeps himself remarkably slim and fit by an unbroken daily regimen of exercise and walking. But though easily approachable, he is also very diplomatic and has learned the Japanese skill of very politely revealing nothing till the time is right.

For many, Khattar seemed like a pushover, a CEO who was sacrificing market share and dominance because he wasn’t aggressive. But past experience narrate a different story. Each time, Maruti has been threatened in a particular segment because of a model launch by a competitor, it has taken its time but has struck back with a vengeance. What Maruti’s models like the Alto, Swift and SX4 have done in the recent past is sufficient evidence. Khattar was a manager who didn’t believe in jumping into a crisis. He was the person who thought out his strategy, protected his company against most possibilities, and implemented a plan that had chances of becoming successful.

For Complete I I P M Article, Click on IIPM Article

Source : IIPM Editorial, 2008

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

Wednesday, August 20, 2008

23rd on the trot

IBM’s Cognos buy was logical
If you were looking for a ‘core business’ champion,

look no further than IBM; a truth vindicated by its announcement on November 12, 2007, to buy Canadian business software maker Cognos Inc. for $5 billion. So while this gets counted as the sixth buy for IBM in 2007 (and 23rd overall) to support its ‘Information on Demand’ business, the question remains – does it make strategic sense to buy off a firm that even failed to file its Q1 2007 results, thus failing to meet Nasdaq’s requirements?!

Seen from a competitive light, the acquisition was inevitable considering the move ahead by Oracle which bought off Hyperion on March 1, 2007 for $3.3 billion and SAP, which acquired Business Objects on October 7, 2007 for $6.8 billion. Also going by IDC estimates, the market for business intelligence is currently worth $6.3 billion; and with the other big names strengthening their arsenals, IBM had to make a prompt decision. Thus it paid 5.1 times the net revenues of Cognos (which stood at $979 million during FY 2006) – overpaid yes, but then it comes with merits aplenty! To begin with, Cognos 8 is experiencing high demand in the business software market and is therefore a good complement to IBM’s WebSphere platform. Then there is the synergy on the distribution front, wherein a tie-up with IBM would help preserve Cognos’ growing channel ties, which has resulted in the Canadian reducing its reliance on retailers (apparent from the reduced contribution of revenues from direct sales to 71% during FY 2007 from 75% during FY 2005).

Interestingly, problems in integration, which act as major stumbling blocks in most mergers would not surface here, as both have worked together for a decade-and-a-half now; and despite having common clients, have got quite used to each other’s operational strategies too. The synergy will also provide IBM’s consumers better experience on an overall basis as Steve Mills, Senior Vice President and Group Executive, IBM Software Group, asserted exclusively to B&E, “Our broad set of capabilities – from data-warehousing to information integration and analytics — together with Cognos, position us well for the changing Business Intelligence and Performance Management industry....” At the moment, it all looks like a logical move from the On-Demand giant. But in case other suitors show interest in Cognos, this one clearly becomes a case of ‘watch out for this space’.

For Complete I I P M Article, Click on IIPM Article

Source : IIPM Editorial, 2008

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

Tuesday, August 19, 2008

A globalised leader minus mass appeal

Pranab is an indispensable part of the Congress set-up

He is one of the prime negotiators trying to

convince the Indian communist on the virtues of the Indo-US nuclear deal and the immense benefits which will accrue to the nation through its operationalisation. In addition, Pranab Mukherjee, the External Affairs Minister & the Congress stalwart, is also tasked by the party High Command to ensure that the UPA Government wades through the current crisis to survive its full five year term. Till now, Pranab has been successful in convincing the communist of the need to start the process of talks with the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) for safeguards agreement. Furthermore, the political-economist plus strategist, has been able to buy time from the communists and ensure that the government does not go down at least till the next year begins. This is not the first time that the erudite minister has been coming to rescue of the party in crisis (In early 2005, he was instrumental in convincing the Left as well as his own Union colleagues on the virtues of accepting the Patent’s Amendment Bill.) His proven negotiating skills and his deep understanding of the global & domestic political undercurrents makes him an almost indispensable part of Cabinet.

Unfortunately much like Prakash Karat, Pranab Mukherjee is an intellectual but his lack of mass base in his home state is his weak spot. It is purely his professional & political acumen which have placed him as one of the key policy makers of the nation for the past two decades, a job he has been quietly pursuing with aplomb. Sonia Gandhi’s biographer Rasheed Kidwai describes him as a “living encyclopaedia. He is an authority on all subjects from food processing to culture to diplomacy to social policies.”

The 72-year-old Pranab was baptised into politics by his father, who was so deeply immersed in the freedom struggle that he had to spend more than 10 years in jail during that period. Pranab’s tryst with the Union cabinet began as early as February, 1973, when he became the Deputy Minister, Industrial Development. And since then there has been no looking back. He has held almost all important portfolios, including defence & finance. The closest he came to becoming the Prime Minister was in 1991, when P. V. Narasimha Rao pipped him to the post. However, Pranab didn’t lose heart, & continued to perform as a professional. His grasp of international political economy & foreign affairs was honed during his various stints as member, Board of Governors of IMF, the World Bank, Asian Development Bank & African Development Bank (1982-85).

Pranab, is of course, a sound prime ministerial prospect. But his lack of essential mass base & the arrival of younger leaders like Rahul Gandhi on the scene, perhaps will ensure that the PM’s chair will continue to elude this erudite politician from West Bengal.

FOOTSTEPS

l Birth: December 11, 1935, Mirati, Birbhum (West Bengal)
l 1984: Chairman, Group 24 (a ministerial group attached to the IMF and the World Bank)
l 1969, 1975, 1981, 83, 99: Elected to Rajya Sabha
l 2004: Elected to Lok Sabha & joined the Union Cabinet as Defence Minister & Leader of the House, Lok Sabha

For Complete I I P M Article, Click on IIPM Article

Source : IIPM Editorial, 2008

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

Monday, August 18, 2008

Can we ignore?

Time to redefine the definition
To be disabled in India is a stigma since time immem

orial. With all the vociferous exhortations that India makes about its snazzy IT boom…what’s with the primitive way of defining who the ‘disabled’ really are? Though India puts itself in sync with developing countries like Australia and the UK, it fails to focus on the nitty gritty. In a developed country, a disabled could even mean a diabetic patient apart from the obvious one – kidneyed or one-lunged or for that matter a single-limbed person. However, in India, the disabled are confined to being blind, single limbed or crooked. And perhaps because of the realm of disabled being so small, India manages to flaunt its percentage of disabled at a beguiling 6%, whereas UN officials estimate it at approximate ly 12%. The blatant truth still remains that India has 70 million disabled, of which a mere 2% is educated and a meagre 1% is employed. The Persons with Disabilities Act also failed to make any difference. It’s time India comes out of a mode where it assumes that merely ignoring the presence of the disabled would nurse the problems arising out of it.

For Complete I I P M Article, Click on IIPM Article

Source : IIPM Editorial, 2008

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

Thursday, August 14, 2008

NOW, IT’S B2C

It’s the evolution of the ‘left-out’ India

At these centres, citizens can claim services as diverse as railway & air ticket bookings, licence and passport formalities,

mobile top-ups, and, among other services, insurance. Once completed and fully operational, the centres will offer a bouquet of 180 services. After a tie-up with educational institutions like XLRI, they will provide on-line professional education to rural youth. “For the rural youth, we will start courses in retail management and computers. This will encourage them to gain employment in sunrise sectors like retail (Reliance Fresh & Big Bazaar),” says Nayan Jee, District Manager, Comat Technologies.

Working under government guidelines, the initiative is part of a public-private partnership, taking e-governance another step ahead. The CSC programme can become a nation-wide phenomenon with plans to set up 100,000 centres in 600,000 villages. Currently, states such as Haryana, Jharkhand, Karnataka, and Uttrakhand have initiated specific plans and soon these centres will spurt in unchartered territories. The business model comprises two aspects – Business-to-Citizen (B2C) & Government-to-Citizen (G2C). Once G2C services are functional, locals can access services related to birth and death certificates, and issuances of licences. Initially, the centres will focus on B2C, as the G2C framework is still being implemented.

Furthermore, Nayan Jee feels that the centres will be manned by residents and there is no age limit for it. The rationale behind this move is not only to generate local employment, but also because locals understand the local needs in specific areas. “We work 9 am to 7 pm and employee presence is done through an innovative online attendance checker.”

CSC is undoubtedly the future of India’s socio-economic existence. Given India’s growth, there is potential and the centres can be utilised effectively. Analysts, however, argue that this concept has a long way to go. But judging by what we saw at Panipat, nothing can be more radical than offering the common man with such services. Whether CSCs change ground-level realities or not, they are the first steps in the evolution of the ‘left out’ India.

For Complete I I P M Article, Click on IIPM Article

Source : IIPM Editorial, 2008

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

Wednesday, August 13, 2008

Mobile Phones in the world

Although India is amongst the largest and fastest growing market for Mobile Phones in the world, the volumes are more in the

basic range. There is a tremendous scope for volumes to grow in the business segment and we are surely moving in that direction. With a gradual shift towards data driven services & demand for web enabled & Wi-Fi phones picking up in India, smart-phone sales should pick up. Commenting on the scenario, the spokesperson from HTC said, “Currently, based on IDC figures, datacentric devices, which are more suited as business phones, have a market size of approx. 250k per year. For all high-end devices, which could be those upwards of the Rs.15,000 mark, total market size would be close to the 1 million/month.” HTC is already planning to get the HTC Touch Dual (with two keyboards i.e. QWERTY & normal) and HTC TyTN (compact & ultimate in connectivity) in 2008, apart from other world-class smart phones & PDAs they don’t wish to name at present.

The shift towards VAS services will surely gain impetus. According to Naveen Mishra from IDC, “At present, only 10% of the revenues of the company come from VAS services and would increase in the times to come.” There would also be services like “Pay4me”, wherein with an increase in the number of customers opting for lifetime plan, they would prefer to call the person but not paying for it. Another service that’s in the wings from Vodafone is the feature of being able to select who should call you and who should not. Says Saket Agarwal, COO Spice Mobile VAS, “Easy to use feature of these services puts them in the must have category for a cross section of individuals and companies.” In 2008, one can also expect up-gradation in the Bluetooth from 2.0 with storage capacity multiplying from the current 8 GB.

Technically, today in the Indian market, one has the capability to provide, implement & develop any VAS service on 3G network & companies have done lot of work on IMS (IP multi-media subsystem). There is a scope to offer additional features with the help of 4G spectrum, which would take at least another 4-5 years to come to India, considering the current arm-twisting in the allocation of 3G spectrum. In short, 2008 would not see much innovation in the mobiles and PDA front coming in the form of designs as the screen size cannot go much above with the demand for slimmer and light weight phones, so the drive would be to pack in more features and making the experience of the users more enriching.

For Complete I I P M Article, Click on IIPM Article

Source : IIPM Editorial, 2008

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

Tuesday, August 12, 2008

Debt Ultra Short Term

Another category of debt funds that has given stable returns in the last 12 months. Templeton India MMA remained the best bet under the category with an annual retun of 9.31%, whereas Birla Cash Plus Sweep remained the worst with an annual return of 4.42%, but then, even this was better than many of the equity schemes. What say?

These funds have stated criteria for investments and their portfolio comprises of only those options that meet their criteria. These funds are concentrated and thus riskier. However, even this debt category has managed to escape without delivering negative return under any scheme. Average return for the category remained at 8.61% for the year.

For Complete I I P M Article, Click on IIPM Article

Source : IIPM Editorial, 2008

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

Monday, August 11, 2008

Youthful Image

Ergo, to connect

with the youth and to go for a more youthful image, the company decided to go in for a logo colour change, at the same time leaving the design intact for the ‘old’ customers.” But there was another emotional reason, as we found out later. The logo also denotes the signature of Ardeshir Godrej. And being one of the major sponsors of IPL has only helped. A source in the company confirms that the company is further planning to spend Rs.1 billion per year for branding exercises. But all this sudden transformation has not been a seat-of-the-pants effort, but rather, a plan worth the portals of battlefield.

Deep inside Godrej’s 20,000 acre Vikhroli Godrej Campus lies the ace up their sleeve, the Strategic Marketing Group (SMG) headed by the exemplar Tanya Dubash, Executive Director and President (Marketing) Godrej Industries. SMG builds and implements blueprints and action plans for various units within the company – marketing, sales or manufacturing – that is, SMG works for the company as a whole.

Suddenly, with joint planning, has come the power of collective bargaining for Godrej. Think about it. Whether it’s about SMG negotiating about advertising rates in IPL, or about negotiating with retail giants on product placement issues, the newfound synergy is giving a lot of power. “Till now, we hadn’t leveraged this to that extent, but now, we’ll do it in a more massive way. Like in the case of logistics and publicity, we will have a common base that will help us leverage all the three FMCG companies,” declares Dr. Rakesh Kumar Sinha, COO, Marketing & Operations of Godrej Consumer Products Ltd. (GCPL). Tanya Dubash shoots her answer straight at us, “We want to be fast and youthful and do something for the future of the country that benefits all the citizens. This needed to be conveyed to our consumers in a big way.”

For Complete I I P M Article, Click on IIPM Article

Source : IIPM Editorial, 2008

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

IIPM Press Release

Wednesday, August 27, 2008

Pensions begin to hound & hurt

Tuesday, August 26, 2008

The rural-urban divide is appalling

Monday, August 25, 2008

Politics over policy

Saturday, August 23, 2008

No reason for...

Friday, August 22, 2008

BRIC’s BRICKS

Thursday, August 21, 2008

Auto sector game

Wednesday, August 20, 2008

23rd on the trot

Tuesday, August 19, 2008

A globalised leader minus mass appeal

Monday, August 18, 2008

Can we ignore?

Thursday, August 14, 2008

NOW, IT’S B2C

Wednesday, August 13, 2008

Mobile Phones in the world

Tuesday, August 12, 2008

Debt Ultra Short Term

Monday, August 11, 2008

Youthful Image

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