What gives?

The preservation work of Jaipur’s renowned Amer Fort is stuck between an authority set up to look over preservations and high court orders. on The current status, Anil Sharma reports

The world famous Amer Fort has been losing its sheen over the years, partly because of lack of maintenance work, and partly because of the vagaries of nature and pollution. To be fair, this grand historical monument has undergone restoration and preservation work for several years in the past. Unfortunately, in the last six years, controversies with respect to preservation funds usage has given a grey layer to the issue.

Talking to TSI, Abhinav Sharma, ombudsman for the fort appointed by the high court, said, “The Amer Development Management Authority was constituted during the Vasundhara Raje regime. In the name of restoration and management, the only thing it did was to start all sorts of commercial activities in different parts of the fort.” While that could be an extreme view (given that tourists we met did tell that they appreciate buying typically royalty branded items from within the fort), the high court recently decided to cancel all the commercial arrangements and activities within the precincts of the fort, and even stopped the restoration work that the Authority had taken up. The court was of the view that allowing commercial activities was outside the purview of the Authority and hence the decision (to start commercial activities) stood null and void. Sadly, although the court's order might have been intended towards ensuring that the Authority focuses purely on restoration, the collateral damage was that commercial activities – which are an active source to earn tourism earnings for both the state and its citizens – were stopped.

The response of the present Ashok Gehlot regime has been neutral to the court order; but the fact is that the Gehlot government has been proactive towards the restoration work of the Fort. Before the elections, Gehlot had promised to investigate the issues haunting the Amer Development Management Authority. Post elections, in the case of Amer Fort, despite the fact that the authority was set up by the opposing Raje lobby, Gehlot gave the green signal to the work initiated by the previous regime and also restarted commercial activities in the interests of the future of the Fort.

For Complete IIPM Article, Click on IIPM Article

Source : IIPM Editorial, 2009

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

Read these article :-

The Sunday Indian:- B-SCHOOL RANKING SCAMSTERS EXPOSED!

Outlook Magazine money editor quits
Don't trust the Indian Media!

Follow Arindam Chaudhuri on Twitter
Delhi/ NCR B- Schools get better
IIPM fights meltdown
IIPM News
1 LAKH COPY SOLD in less than ten days of Prof. Arindam Chaudhuri's new book Discover The Diamond In You
IIPM B School on Twitter
IIPM ISBE Programmes
IIPM NEWS

It’s how you look at it, finally

infosys has been definitely hit by the global slowdown, but it is also learning valuable lessons for its future, say virat bahri & arun roy of B&E

Endless sessions of yoga, meditation or spiritual advice would be all in vain. If you want long lasting success for your organization, worry, by all means. Worry, even if your doctor gets on your nerves! That’s not us, that was Andrew S. Grove, Senior Advisor Intel Corporation in his bestseller book on management and strategy – Only The Paranoid Survive. If you go by his logic, paranoia is a necessary trait for a leader; a trait which he must inculcate in his people too.

If we were to speculate on the name of the one Indian IT company where Andy Grove would feel quite well at home, we would suggest – Infosys. The company has traditionally been a believer in traits like conservativeness, ethics, succession planning, exceptional customer orientation, et al. And, although badly hit, they are fighting the recession better than their ilk.

September 15, 2008, the day Lehmann Brothers fell, Infosys realised some bitter truths. As Kris points out in an exclusive to B&E, “The first lesson we learned was that the world has become very unpredictable. The second was that when even large companies fail, you do become more paranoid.” According to him, speed is very critical now w.r.t. anything you do, so is the manner in which you manage risk.

Strategically, there was obviously little room for manoeuvre. And the biggest problem was that the failing of financial institutions was like a body blow for them, as that is their main bread and butter business. Within this backdrop, the company did credibly well by posting net profits of Rs.58.19 billion for the year ending March 2008-09, a stellar growth of 30.2%, with revenues at Rs.216.93 billion.

For Complete IIPM Article, Click on IIPM Article

Source : IIPM Editorial, 2009

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

Read these article :-

The Sunday Indian:- B-SCHOOL RANKING SCAMSTERS EXPOSED!

Follow Arindam Chaudhuri on Twitter
Delhi/ NCR B- Schools get better
IIPM fights meltdown
IIPM News
1 LAKH COPY SOLD in less than ten days of Prof. Arindam Chaudhuri's new book Discover The Diamond In You
IIPM B School on Twitter
IIPM ISBE Programmes

A good quality of life truly challenging

Medical facilities are another area of concern in an area so remote. NMDC has tried to ensure quality medical care to its employees. Combined together, the two hospitals in Bacheli (in collaboration with Apollo Hospitals of Hyderabad) and Kirandul have a total capacity of just 200 beds and 41 doctors, but the mass they cater to is much larger. The hospital in Bacheli alone has treated as many as 101,264 patients since the beginning of 2009. And this excludes the 5,000 odd patients that they have treated through their mobile hospital facility that started in June this year. But what is more intriguing about these hospitals is that they not only provide free treatment, medicines and food to NMDC employees, but also extend the same benefits to the tribal people of nearby villages. Even the mobile facility is entirely dedicated to villagers of the surrounding area who can not come to the hospitals. These hospitals do lack state-of-the-art facilities, but NMDC has ensured that they are prepared for any kind of emergency with a blood bank, semi-sophisticated ICU and modern equipment. Ravi Sekhar Rao, Chief Administrator of NMDC-Apollo Hospital in Bacheli explains, “We don’t have any good hospital in a radius of 400 kms. So, in case of emergency, patients either have to go to Raipur or Hyderabad. That’s why we always keep ourselves prepared with all necessary facilities.” Even though NMDC has ambulances to send patients to Raipur and Hyderabad if required, it is obviously a situation that they would dread; considering the distance.

Early next morning, while walking on the well cleaned up roads of the townships and enjoying the parks and the greenery, I come across an area with a number of demolished houses. When I ask the shop owner at the end of the colony, he tells me that the company got these houses demolished a few months ago. Later in the day, while talking to a newly employed executive trainee, I also come to know that demolition of these houses (and hiring of trainees recently) has now given rise to a housing crisis in these townships and many employees are at present accommodated on a sharing basis. However, while conversing with Rakesh Ranjan, Manager (Personnel) and Estate Officer, Kirandul, I get to know that it’s just a temporary phase. The 300-odd quarters demolished were all temporary old quarters and the company now intends to build new multi-storied houses to replace those. New constructions have already started, but our trainee friend complains that the process is quite slow.

For Complete IIPM Article, Click on IIPM Article

Source : IIPM Editorial, 2009

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

Read these article :-

The Sunday Indian:- B-SCHOOL RANKING SCAMSTERS EXPOSED!

Follow Arindam Chaudhuri on Twitter
Delhi/ NCR B- Schools get better
IIPM fights meltdown
IIPM News
1 LAKH COPY SOLD in less than ten days of Prof. Arindam Chaudhuri's new book Discover The Diamond In You
IIPM B School on Twitter
IIPM ISBE Programmes

“Managing the crisis”

By increasing CRR, the central bank has explicitly shifted its stance from “managing the crisis” to “managing the recovery” (as Subbarao puts it), but then at the same time one should not forget that amidst concerns about rising inflation, the recovery is yet to fully take hold. As such we shouldn’t be surprised if strong anti-inflationary measures, while addressing one problem, may aggravate another, particularly by deterring private investment and consumer spending. “A tightening of monetary policy when the economy is beginning to get out of its downturn and credit growth and investment demand are anaemic will surely have an adverse effect on investment demand even if banks maintain lending rates,” agrees Rajiv Kumar, Director & Chief Executive, ICRIER.

No doubt Subbarao’s worry is understandable as food prices are rising at their fastest pace in the last one decade. From a low of 1.2 per cent in March 2009 (in between it also turned negative in August due to the large statistical base effect), the wholesale price index (WPI) inflation has accelerated to 4.8 per cent in November 2009 and further to 7.3 per cent in December 2009. Even the consumer prices have been rising around 13 per cent from a year earlier for months. In fact, weekly WPI data on primary articles indicate that primary food articles prices have increased by 17.4 per cent (y-o-y) for the week ending on January 16, 2010. But then, one should know that the food inflation can’t be contained via CRR hike directly as it’s purely a supply side phenomenon (thanks to last year's drought and poorly managed distribution chains). Therefore, that makes RBI’s this fight against inflation a little different from the previous ones.

Further, the reversal of monetary accommodation cannot be effective unless the government reduces its fiscal deficit in order to make way for better credit growth and help RBI in the tightening process. In fact, the combined union and state deficit is projected to be around 10 per cent of GDP during this fiscal. However, if industry sources are to be believed then RBI doesn’t seem to get the much-needed support from the government on this front. As per them, the government is likely to bulk up expenditure in the national budget due this month, which means more money getting pumped into the economy in the form of infrastructure spending, food subsidies, et al. If these arguments are true, then the CRR hike, as several critics too believe, is only a political response to the expectation that RBI should do something, rather than a commitment on its part that there would be any real impact to this monetary stance.

For Complete IIPM Article, Click on IIPM Article

Source : IIPM Editorial, 2009

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

Read these article :-

The Sunday Indian:- B-SCHOOL RANKING SCAMSTERS EXPOSED!

Follow Arindam Chaudhuri on Twitter
Delhi/ NCR B- Schools get better
IIPM fights meltdown
IIPM News
1 LAKH COPY SOLD in less than ten days of Prof. Arindam Chaudhuri's new book Discover The Diamond In You
IIPM B School on Twitter
IIPM ISBE Programmes

Global leaders have somehow found it difficult to crack the indian market

The fact that TKM has also postponed its desired aim of the double-digit market share by 2015, which was earlier slated to be attained by 2010, clearly shows how the Indian market is still a tough nut to crack for the company. Hiroshi Nakagawa, MD, TKM admits, “Toyota has been very slow in its approach when it comes to operating in the Indian market.”

However, he points out that the scenario at TKM is in a lot better state as compared to the headquarters and with the launch of its small car by end 2010, the situation is most likely to change very soon. In short, Toyota is planning to play the volume game. But will it succeed?

Toyota aims to produce around 70,000 units for this small car initially from a new plant and this will be ramped up to 1,00,000 units by 2011, 1,50,000 by 2012 and 2,00,000 by 2013. The fact that the company is very bullish on its success in the Indian market is clear. It has kept its investments intact and is investing around Rs.32 billion in setting up its second manufacturing facility in Bangalore to roll out the small car. However, recent news reports claim that the company has cut down on the proposed investments by one-fourth and now the company will invest Rs.24 billion in the second plant, near its existing factory at Bidadi on the outskirts of Bangalore, and not Rs.32 billion as announced in November. The existing plant has the capacity to produce up to 80,000 vehicles every year so one can definitely expect that capacity may not be a constraint for the company going ahead.

The company also plans to ramp up its dealership by as high as 65% by 2010 to increase its interface with its consumers. At present, Toyota has around 90 dealerships across the country and has firmed up plans to enhance the figure to 150 outlets, of which about 60% are expected to come up in semi-urban and rural locations. Keeping in mind the rising demand from semi-urban and rural areas, the company plans to expand to smaller cities, namely Allahabad, Srinagar, Shillong, Belgaum, Ambala, Tirupati, Meerut and Patna, before the launch of its small car.

For Complete IIPM Article, Click on IIPM Article

Source : IIPM Editorial, 2009

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

Read these article :-

Follow Arindam Chaudhuri on Twitter
Delhi/ NCR B- Schools get better
IIPM fights meltdown
IIPM News
1 LAKH COPY SOLD in less than ten days of Prof. Arindam Chaudhuri's new book Discover The Diamond In You
IIPM B School on Twitter

Garo Hills of Meghalaya

Up in the Garo Hills of Meghalaya, ballots have for decades now been stamped Purno Agitok—and sons, and daughter, writes Pranab Bora

One does not need an alarm clock at the circuit house in Tura. Whistling through the deep valley, gliding over the smaller hills in between the high, and pondering, momentarily, at the impediments that man has raised in its path, it’s the cold gale that tells you day has broken, the rays of the morning sun having in the meanwhile streaked through the gaps in the flowery curtains. Arise and push them aside and the large grilled windows open out into an expanse of deep, mysterious green, of high hills dotted with tin-roofed houses and lazy roads that snake along their hillside, vanishing at the curve, and appearing again as it turns a few feet ahead. It is silent this morning, but for the gardener working quietly on his euphorbias and marigold. This is the season for these lovelies, he says. Hidden in the snowy mist that now gently rises is the valley of Tura in Meghalaya’s West Garo Hills. For decades, this is where the Sangmas have ruled: Purno Agitok, James, Conrad and now Agatha. They are the North-east’s foremost political dynasty.

Many a battle has been fought, won and lost on these slopes that are part of the Shivalik hills, the southernmost, and the youngest east-west mountain chain of the Himalayas. Songsarek, the religion the Garos carried in their hearts and minds when they first trekked here from Tibet some 2,400 years ago, was gradually displaced as Baptist missionaries who set foot here in the latter part of the 19th century set about spreading the word of Jesus Christ. Claiming their share of the matrilineal Garos later were the Roman Catholics—the congregation the Sangmas belong to—Seventh Day Adventists and Anglicans. Much, though, has survived and prevailed over the winds of change that have blown steady. Come November and the Achik Mande—the “hill people” as the Garos call themselves—still gather to dance the Wangala to the beat of a hundred drums, a rhythm that has reverberated far beyond these hills. This year, it was the turn of AR Rehman to send his team to capture the beat of the Wangala, which will form a part of his presentation at the Commonwealth Games in Delhi.

This is the gradual globalisation of Tura and Garo Hills, an amalgamation of tribes and tradition, of communities other than the Garo, of technology and mass media, of aspirations that now reach to the skies. Mintu Mazumdar, an employee of Doordarshan in Tura, gives us a wrap-up of life here: “We have everything that we see on cable here. ATMs, banks, autos, taxis, an airport…everything that Mumbai has, we have, except maybe filmstars. PA Sangma has brought us all that we have.” The electorate of Tura has responded with gratitude: Sangma has been elected to the Lok Sabha eight times; his sons James and Conrad are MLAs and daughter Agatha, currently Union minister of state for rural development, has also won from Tura twice. At a time when part of the NCP leadership had faltered, softening its stand towards the Congress, the Sangmas had held fort. In Shillong, where PA Sangma is stationed having just returned from a party campaign in Jharkhand, he explains the ‘secret’ of his success rather plainly: “Truthfulness and dedication.” Lal Bahadur and John F Kennedy, he says, are his idols—one the son of a poor school teacher and the other a member of the minority Catholic community in the US. “They tell me a tribal such as me can make it,” he says.

For Complete IIPM Article, Click on IIPM Article

Source : IIPM Editorial, 2009

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

Read these article :-
Delhi/ NCR B- Schools get better
IIPM fights meltdown
IIPM News
1 LAKH COPY SOLD in less than ten days of Prof. Arindam Chaudhuri's new book Discover The Diamond In You

And quietly it dies

The plan to clean up the Yamuna is flawed. It is based on the concept of interceptors, which may not work due to lack of freshwater reserves. By SAURABH KUMAR SHAHI
There is a thing about river cleaning projects. Whether you really clean a river or not, the results can seldom be assessed through the naked eyes. All the other parameters are relative and ambiguous. No wonder, various governments have been able to use the lacunae for their benefit. This is true in the case of both the ambitious projects to clean up north India’s Yamuna and Ganga rivers.

Let’s talk about Yamuna first, whose clean-up drive was initiated by the Delhi government. First, the facts: close to Rs.1,500 crores has been spent in an attempt to clean up the 22.4 km stretch of Yamuna in Delhi. It is being done through the “interceptor plan.” Even if we don’t consider the financial implications, there are other loopholes in the project. Firstly, there is problem at the sewage assessment level. The project is not based on any bonafide estimate of the quantity of sewage that is spawned in the city.

In addition, the project overlook similar failures in other places such as Agra and Varanasi that are situated at the downstream stretch of the river. So, the conclusion is that even if cogently pressed through, the river will require millions of litres of freshwater to dilute the intercepted and treated mess. The question is: are there enough freshwater reserves?

Actually, the interceptor plan is nothing but a watered-down version of the Rs.3,150 crores scheme, originally mooted by the Delhi Jal Board in 2006. It involves laying 50 kms of interceptors, 2-3 metres in diameter, to intercept 150 small drains discharging into three major

The Delhi state government plans to add another 50 kms of sewers at a cost of Rs.1,950 crores along the three major drains to intercept sewage from 150 minor drains, from where the sewage will be passed on to pumping stations and, finally, transported to the sewage treatment plants. The Centre for Science and Environment’s (CSE) has dealt with the issue of cleaning up of the Yamuna, which is a ‘relatively’ clean river till it enters Delhi but transforms into a murky sewer by the time it leaves the Capital. While the Yamuna Action Plan that focused on sewerage systems has not yielded the desired results, the CSE suggests an alternative rehabilitation plan aimed at minimising waste, and its treatment and recycling closer to the source.

Moreover, unless all the unauthorised colonies of Delhi are regularised and fitted with a proper sewerage system, no government scheme for cleaning of the Yamuna river would be successful. This fact has also been admitted by the union urban development ministry, and the Delhi state government in an affidavit filed in the Supreme Court.

The same is the case with similar plans to clean up the river at other places in India. Agra spent Rs.77.75 crores on cleaning the Yamuna till September 2005; it is the second most expensive town under the Yamuna Action Plan in Uttar Pradesh. But inspite of this investment, the pollution loads in the river in Agra have increased by 180% from 90 MLD in 1996 to 254 MLD in 2005. The faecal coli form count, which indicates the presence of disease-causing micro-organisms, is 25,000 times more than the limit prescribed for bathing.

“In fact, Agra and Mathura have been at the receiving end of pollution from Delhi. The Yamuna’s 22 km stretch in Delhi is barely 2% of the length of the river, but contributes over 70% of the pollution load,” says S. V. Suresh Babu, Deputy Coordinator, River Pollution Campaign, CSE. In Delhi, the river has virtually no freshwater for nine months. Delhi impounds all its water at Wazirabad, where the dammed-up river practically ceases to exist. What flows subsequently is only sewage and waste from Delhi’s 22 drains. There is just no freshwater available to dilute this waste.

For Complete IIPM Article, Click on IIPM Article

Source : IIPM Editorial, 2008

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

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

Top Articles on IIPM:-
'This is one of Big B's best performances'
IIPM to come up at Rajarhat
IIPM awards four Bengali novelists
IIPM makes business education truly global-Education-The Times of ...
The Hindu : Education Plus : Honour for IIPM
IIPM ranked No.1 B-School in India, Management News - By ...
IIPM Ranked No1 B-School in India
Moneycontrol >> News >> Press- News >> IIPM ranked No1 B-School in ...
IIPM ranked No. 1 B-school in India- Zee Business Survey ...
IIPM ranked No1 B-School in India :: Education, Careers ...
The Hindu Business Line : IIPM placements hit a high of over 2000 jobs
Deccan Herald - IIPM ranked as top B-School in India
India eNews - IIPM Ranked No1 B-School in India
IIPM Delhi - Indian Institute of Planning and Management New Delhi ...
domain-b.com : IIPM ranked ahead of IIMs

Social networking

Of course, the other ultimately hot topic on the web today is social networking, and 2008 could see a revolution of sorts with Google’s OpenSocial concept, which is currently under development, and would take the concept of Democracy on the Web to a new level. What Linux has done to Microsoft Windows, Google’s OpenSocial concept is expected to do to Facebook, as in this case, developers will be able to build social applications on the web through a common set of APIs. OpenSocial will provide users with more of interesting, engaging & useful features. “There’s a lot of innovation that’ll be spurred simply by creating a standard way for developers to run social applications in more places. With the input & iteration of the community, we hope OpenSocial will become a standard set of technologies for making the web social.” ” said Jeff Huber, Senior VP, Engineering, Google. Potential of social networking is going to grow manifold, as companies will use it to tap potential customers, a case in point being Wal-Mart’s tie up with FaceBook for back-to-school sales. Aficionados of social networking will be in for a treat when Yahoo launches ‘Mash’ in 2008, where they will be able to edit others’ profiles.

Furthermore, this steep surge in development of the web will call for more stringent security applications, especially in chat rooms & databases. There’s speculation that the whole idea of universal access could start being based on mandatory authentication checks wherein specific websites could use complex authentication methods like retina & fingerprint identification to enable access to users. And here again, the year 2008 could well prove to be just the beginning.

For Complete IIPM Article, Click on IIPM Article

Source : IIPM Editorial, 2008

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

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

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

Diversified global operations

A notable feature of all high revenue earners this year was the amount of revenues earned as an offshoot of globalisation. Yes, of the 32 companies that earned more than $50 billion in revenues, a swashbuckling 65.63% earned more than 20% revenues from outside America. In this regard, too, the leader was Exxon Mobil, which earned a gargantuan 72.2% of its revenues from non-US customers. Others in this list include HP (66.6%), Dow Chemical (65.9%), Chevron (65.7%) and IBM (63%).

Of those who lost money in 2007, GM, with net losses of $38.73 billion ensured that auto companies retained the ‘tainted’ title (Ford was the odd one with losses of $12.61 billion in 2006), followed by Sprint Nextel with losses of $28.58 billion and Merrill Lynch ($7.78 billion). In all, 57 companies recorded losses of $116.7 billion, a dejecting rise in net aggregate loss of 141.12%. Another 183 companies reporting lower profits for 2007 – a rise of 17.51% in count over last year.

As per Fortune’s Geoff Colvin, “The IMF has lowered its estimates of world growth for 2008, and the higher cost of capital is hurting businesses that need to borrow – which means everyone...” This is followed by the prediction of the US economy weakening further and unemployment rising to an alarming 5.6% as per National Association for Business Economics. With over 56% economists predicting a recession in US as per the report, surely time, profits and even revenues for America Inc. will get harder in 2008. Year 2008 will perhaps even see topline tumbling with US economic growth predicted to grow by just 1.4% in 2008 (from 2.2% in 2007) as Lynn Reaser, chief economist at Bank of America’s Investment Strategies Group confirms, “The economy is still going to be weak in the very near term…’’ Even Ellen Hughes-Cromwick, President, NABE & Chief Economist, Ford Motors professes, “Although housing and credit markets will gradually loosen their grip, US economic growth is expected to ‘only slowly’ return to health.’’ ‘Slowly’, mind you!

Watch out for the 2008 Global 500 list… the count of losers sadly will increase further and winners will remain the same with the glorious top five top-line & bottom-line champions remaining unchanged. And yes, only those with well diversified global operations will score better over last year!

For Complete IIPM Article, Click on IIPM Article

Source : IIPM Editorial, 2008

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

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

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

Club #1, live it! And this ain’t just fancy!

Manav Singh is happy that he’s not carrying mass passengers. He’s also happy that he’s dealing with only HNIs. STEVEN PHILIP WARNER explains the joy and nervousness behind this leader’s passion for flying

He likes playing golf. He’s a fan of rock music, loves driving sports cars and owns 9 chartered planes. Wait, we’re not talking of Tiger Woods here; nor is the reference to the lead singer of some rock band; and no, it’s not Richard Branson either (though our man loves Branson’s autobiography ‘Losing My Virginity’). But, Manav Singh, MD of Club One Air probably has picked up traits from the best in probably every field; something that sets him apart from run-of-the-mill CEOs in the Indian context. Dressed in a purple shirt and tie combination, with keen eyes scanning the ‘strategically’ divided geographical India on the white board in his office, Singh exudes a different aura altogether. Unlike others in the aviation sector, this man deals with high net-worth individuals (HNIs) and chartered planes; and currently boasts of a clientele comprising of the who’s who from both the business and political fraternity of India! “I think that the general airline industry is cluttered, considering the size of the market. Growing at 40% is not healthy for anybody. The airlines just went for an overkill. Healthy growth would mean growing at about 10%,” is how Manav expresses his view on the oversupply in Indian mass ‘air’ transportation.

In sharp contrast to other aviation players, Singh has mastered the Blue Ocean Strategy and has created a niche market for Club One Air. He’s managed to stay more than a kitten’s whisker away from indulging in the loss-making ‘mass’ air carriage business; a business which as per the Centre for Asia-Pacific lost a teeth-rattling $500 million in 2007. Surely, Manav was not ready to give up the hard earned dimes of his stake holders in a jiffy, all in search for quick glory! “I’m happy I stayed away from the general aviation market in India. Our business is growing and we have a growing count of customers,” reveals Manav.

For Complete IIPM Article, Click on IIPM Article

Source : IIPM Editorial, 2008

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

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

HR or operations

At Domino’s, these initiatives start right from the day an employee is inducted. And employee has to go through 21 days of induction programme, irrespective whether an employee is joining the corporate or the branch office. “From the day a person joins, till the time he is given his workstation, one person from the HR department completely takes care of the new joinee,” avers Bardoloi. Interestingly, all joinees in the managerial cadre need to spend time in all the departments, be it finance, HR or operations. In fact, Bardoloi too, had spent 22 days in various departments and stores. The front-level employees have 25 days of on-the-job training. First, at the stores, where they observe various tables and then they are sent to the factory where they are taught to prepare the dough, manage logistics et al. Once they are through, they are given uniforms & bikes.


What’s more, the HR at Domino’s believes in easing the communication channel between the employees and management. States Bardoloi, “We try to keep the communication channel open. If the HR receives any query, the person at corporate HR or regional HR needs to reply ASAP. This motivates the people that there is a department who takes care for these queries. The communication level should be 100% clear and instant. In fact, at Domino’s the processes and financial data is very transparent.”

Domino’s India works very much in tandem with Domino’s International. So the QSR giant is trying to bring all its policies and initiatives to the Indian subcontinent. The latest being the globally acclaimed Domino’s University. Domino’s India recruits people with a minimum qualification of 10+2, so anyone who wants to be a part of this organisation need not be a graduate or a post graduate. Asserts Bardoloi, “We are in the process of opening up a Domino’s University in India. We sponsor all the 10+2 qualified employees, who have stayed with us for six months or a year. The company will reimburse 50% of their higher studies.”

Apart from this, the company also has in place internal training programmes where the internal guidelines are governed by Domino’s International. As part of the programme, employees can take internal tests to go to the next level. Adds Bardoloi, “We’ve various levels like silver, gold, diamond & platinum. Once an employee reaches the platinum level, then his vertical career starts, and he either goes to T&D or quality control department. We ensure that every person reaches the platinum level in 0-7 months and becomes Assistant Manager (AM) & Senior Assistant Manager (SAM).” And things just don’t end here. For there is yet another programme called ‘Erase A’, in which the letter ‘A’ is removed from SAM and the employee becomes Senior Manager (SM).

Little wonder then that according to Hewitt Survey 2007, Domino’s was nominated as the 16th Best Employer in India and 20th best in Asia. So Hungry Kya for some rib-tickling crunchy delight from this home delivery specialist?

For Complete IIPM Article, Click on IIPM Article

Source : IIPM Editorial, 2008

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

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

Passion

Steve Jobs, the founder of Apple once said, “People say you have to have a lot of passion for what you’re doing... It’s totally true.” He meant it when he said that!

It is the marketing passion of Steve Jobs, which has made Apple what it is today. As in the case of the iPhone (which was launched in mid-2007), it was just because of Steve’s passion that within the first 90 days, iPhone was able to capture 20% of the US market. His capturing of 200% more market share than his closest competitor only speaks volumes about the manner in which he pursues his business. The same is true with MacBook. No one had an idea that this very Steve, who was thrown out of Apple in 1985 would come back so strong and launch a MacBook and the world’s thinnest laptop decades later while holding the sceptre over the very same company’s affairs. That indeed speaks volumes about the passion that he has - the passion to carry on in spite of failures and the passion to prove to the world that you would not take things lying own.

For Complete IIPM Article, Click on IIPM Article

Source : IIPM Editorial, 2008

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

Read these article :-
B-schooled in India, Placed Abroad (Print Version)

IIPM in Financial times (Print Version)

IIPM makes business education truly global

The Indian Institute of Planning and Management (IIPM)

IIPM Campus

lowest prices

And to cater to the untapped population, existing telecom players like Bharti Airtel, Reliance Communications and Vodafone, among others are battling it out hard, providing consumers with the best of the services at lowest prices. The fact that India has the lowest voice call rates in the world has gone a long way in scripting the success story of the Indian telecom sector. Now, with new players like DLF, Unitech and others slated to enter the telecom domain, the prices are set to fall further thus increasing the competition in the sector, ultimately resulting in increased penetration of mobile services in the country.

However, to ensure the smooth sailing of the Indian telecom ship, both operators and regulators must keep a watch on certain factors. As far as operators are concerned, they are confronted with a challenge of sustaining the high growth levels despite such low tariffs and ARPUs (Average Revenue Per User). Low tariffs, not only weigh down the balance sheet of operators, but may also become a disincentive for them, as they won’t be able to fund network expansion and growth to the far-flung areas. More importantly, the Department of Telecom must soon resolve the spectrum row and give a clear diktat over the distribution of spectrum to various operators. “There is a severe paucity of spectrum, which is hampering quality as well as spread of service. While there is a clear subscriber linked roadmap laid down for allotment of additional spectrum for service providers, the same could not be fully implemented due to inadequate availability/ vacation of spectrum by existing user” says Ramachandran.

The need of the hour demands that the operators and the regulator should move beyond existing spectrum rows and instead of fighting amongst each other, gear themselves up to race ahead of, first, the US and ultimately the Chinese telecom sector.

For Complete IIPM Article, Click on IIPM Article

Source : IIPM Editorial, 2008

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


B-schooled in India, Placed Abroad (Print Version)

IIPM in Financial times (Print Version)

In ‘search’ of excellence!

Yahoo! shakes up its search engine to blow Google away...

It’s a game of ‘tags’ that has been on ever since ’04, when Yahoo launched its very own algorithmic search engine. But that game, since inception, has always had a winner – Google. Always leading with a market share almost twice that of its closest rival – Yahoo, Google made search synonymous with its trade name that can today be found in the world’s leading dictionaries. But as they say, to play ‘his highness’ forever, one has to constantly weed out smaller men or competition, which Google was seen doing very well. Until the current quarter (on October, 2) when the gap shortened considerably in terms of experience, when using Yahoo’s all new search engine.

The ‘search engine’, a core competency of just a few amidst the vast confines of the World Wide Web, is perhaps the single most important factor that directs traffic in millions on websites hosting them. And the most sought after search engines belong to Google and Yahoo playing rivals, followed by the likes of Ask (formerly Ask Jeeves), Live Search (formerly MSN Search) and Alexa, a subsidiary of Amazon.com.

So while Yahoo having once again reiterated that it’s in no mood to play second fiddle, it’s Google that continues to outsmart all and here’s how. In Yahoo’s makeover with an in-built search assist that suggests various options while one keys in words, there seems a sort of a shift in line that suggests the next level in competition. After Yahoo, follows IAC and Microsoft, who have already revamped their searches earlier, in putting up such an application. Also on the search result page, below the box, there is an added box suggesting alternatives to key terms that the user had used earlier. Though helpful, it falls a shade lighter with the platform that Ask provides. Once used, the screen splits into three – with the search box at the left, results at the centre and images and encyclopaedic references to the right, hence deleting the need for the user to go back. As for Live Search, MSN’s cool new avatar, it matches exactly up to Yahoo’s new form with a difference in presentation, of course.

Another area where Google bamboozles the rest is in terms of properties that it owns and displays in tandem with search results. So when you type ‘BMW films’ on a Google page, along with the usual weblinks you also get to see a YouTube video link of BMW’s short films. Harnessing search and search results, Google further consolidates with its extremely successful contextual advertising platform – AdSense. Here again, it’s Yahoo which plays second fiddle with its own version of the relatively new Panama. So while Google pockets almost 75% of the $8 billion spent by marketers on search advertising, Yahoo gets a paltry 16.3%.

Sceptical, is what most seem when questioning Yahoo’s ambition over Google under today’s circumstances, especially on the search front. “The whole point is we want to get you from ‘to do’ to ‘done.’…. — their (users) intents expressed via a few keywords in a search box,” says Yahoo’s official blog. Sounds great and projects very well of Yahoo’s mission to conquer the top spot. That’s half the job done or is it??

For Complete IIPM Article, Click on IIPM Article

Source : IIPM Editorial, 2008

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

The ‘Third (i)’ of Indian IT!!!

3i INFOTECH : V. SRINIVASAN

The ‘Third (i)’ of Indian IT!!!
So what’s special about this third eye, or 3i Infotech as you know it to be? Well, nothing so special about it being a professionally-run & an IT-led software company; but then talk about the aggression without its borders and you’d surely give a thought to it being...well, special! Acquiring smaller software product companies and then putting all its marketing strength behind it has undoubtedly made 3i Infotech what we know as a IT superlad. “3i Infotech’s key USP is that it has clearly differentiated itself as a software company through a strong focus on software products, along with services to complement its product suite. It started focusing strongly on software products and building an IP-based (Intellectual Property) business model,” opines Harit Shah, Analyst, IT & Telecom, Angel Broking.

Currently, 3i Infotech offers a strong range of software products for the banking, financial services and insurance (BFSI) verticals. “It also has an ERP product, serving the process manufacturing industry and is the third-largest regional ERP player in the Middle East,” adds Shah. The company is also present in the services business with focus on areas like e-governance, which is a potential segment with the Indian government is now strongly focussing on maximising the use of technology to provide more effective governance. Recently, it also acquired Taxsmile.com, which has a product in the e-tax filing space. With India contributing to 31% of its revenues, its geographical mix of revenues also shields it against the fluctuation of the dollar. “The company’s vision is to be a complete solution provider to the BFSI industry,” asserts Shah. Well, having being blessed with that extra third eye, all it takes is a vision & the rest follows...

For Complete IIPM Article, Click on IIPM Article

Source : IIPM Editorial, 2008

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

Rolta, relying on…?

ROLTA : HIRANYA ASHAR, CFO

Rolta, relying on…?

Headquartered in Mumbai, Rolta India can well be defined as an Indian MNC. In the past six years, Forbes magazine has ranked the company in its “Asia’s best 200” list for the fourth time. Rolta’s secret can be credited to its dominating presence in Infrastructure and domestic market as compared to other IT companies, which operate in the BFSI segment and international markets. The one thing that the company has strongly focused in the past one year, says Hiranya Ashar, CFO, Rolta, is “the Company’s USP in addressing the niche segments of IT instead of generic IT services segment.” Rolta offers IT-enabled GIS and engineering design services and solutions on varied platforms due to its diverse domain expertise and strong track record of successful completion of end-to-end projects. It has continuously enhanced its strengths and capabilities in all three business areas, adopted and integrated latest technologies through alliances.

May be this is the right strategy for a firm that wishes to achieve a revenue target of US $ 1 Billion over the next 4 years.

For Complete IIPM Article, Click on IIPM Article

Source : IIPM Editorial, 2008

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

It’s all about the “versions”!!!

Bill Gates is a very rich man today... and all because of one word: versions, says Dave Barry, American humourist

Software release process
Software is typically released in stages. The first release to a customer or alpha release is generally an unstable release still being actively developed and debugged but made available to select users so that the developer can test the users’ reaction to it. The second or beta release is more stable and less buggy and closer to a release candidate. And – even though one can find many, many exceptions to this rule – the gold release in theory is thoroughly debugged and stable. Alpha and beta software releases are understood to be risky by both the developer and the user; the user, not the developer, assumes this risk.

The less than thrilling conclusion

However annoyed one may be by it, no one should be surprised that software products do not have the reliability of a Honda Civic. But the cost of software immaturity and unreliability may be a surprise: In 2002, US National Institute of Standards and Technology estimated that buggy software cost the US economy approximately $60 billion. In making a software purchase decision, do you suppose individual or business users consider that software may cost some portion of their revenue in future?

Since 1817, in USA, the legal doctrine of caveat emptor – Latin for “let the buyer beware”– has meant that a buyer could not recover anything from a seller for product defects which rendered it unfit for its intended use. All users – not only American users – of COTS or Web software should surely beware of their next and all future software purchase decision.

For Complete IIPM Article, Click on IIPM Article

Source : IIPM Editorial, 2008

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

‘Leading’ Times

Rahul Kansal, Brand Director, The Times of India Group on his passion for the success of the ingenious Lead India campaign
Yong minds hard at Work… is what the shining India is all about. This is also the India that Rahul Kansal, Brand Director, The Times of India dreamed about, waiting for the much needed political reforms. Taking thought leadership in transforming India, one of the oldest newspaper dailies of the country made many sit up and take note with their India Poised campaign. Lately, TOI has given a more proactive shape to their reforms agenda with Lead India. From the very first instance, the campaign has been close to Rahul’s heart as he proudly says, “This is our time and this time is about ‘doing’ and doing now.”

The rationale behind the Lead India campaign?

On Jan 1, 2007, we kicked off the India Poised campaign in which we talk about two parts of India. This campaign provided the masses with a forum to themselves talk about what was the India they envisioned and where it lacks. We got a huge response from people across all walks of life and the Amitabh Bachchan video alone got 2,50,000 downloads on YouTube. From this the issue that came to the front was that India is growing but it is despite the political support and we got thousands of responses from which it is evident that faith in the political system had become an all time low and Lead India is all about rolling up our sleeves and getting on with doing something now.

How did you take this initiative forward?

We started the Lead India campaign on the Independence Day that is August 15, 2007, and invited entries from the people to participate in the exercise of choosing the future leaders. There are many people in India who deserve to be running the country and want to do it, but because of the muck involved in getting in, they shy away. So this basically was aimed to be a shortcut to a political career for the young men and women in India. It was an eight city campaign and we choose these cities because the TOI vehicles had to be used and we got 36,000 applications in the first level and now we moved on to getting to the process of selecting one candidate from each city to launch this exercise on TV.

Was the TV launch premeditated?

Yes the thought process was already there. We knew that print is an inactive media and would have to involve television later. We picked up SRK, Priyanka Chopra, et al who are the role models of young India.

For Complete IIPM Article, Click on IIPM Article

Source : IIPM Editorial, 2008

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