IIPM- NEWS RELEASE: IIPM-Article

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Saturday, April 13, 2013

“No news channel today, is purely a news channel.”

Ambika Soni, Union Cabinet Minister of Information & Broadcasting, talks to Anuradha Preetam about the need for self-regulation in the Indian Television Industry and how the government’s policies are helping people to fight corruption and seek greater empowerment.

B&E: Within this decade there has been a proliferation of 24x7 news channels. How is that affecting our lives today?
Ambika Soni (AS): In India, we have 800-odd channels at present. Half of them are news channels. The pressure is on broadcasters to stay ahead in the scramble for eyeballs. It is not always easy. The media has become very intrusive. It has entered our living rooms. But the fact is that it is having a huge impact on forming opinion, influencing mindsets, generally by setting agendas through repetitive news. So I think the responsibility is on the broadcaster to ensure that what is put out is thoroughly investigated.

B&E: How do you judge the content currently available on Indian television?
AS: There are systems in place and we are only trying to fine-tune the existing systems. There is an inter-ministerial committee, which takes a call whenever complaints come in. It either sends an advisory to the broadcaster or orders the programme to be taken off the air. In a worst case scenario, a channel’s uplink-downlink facilities could be terminated. Since there are no broadcasters in the panel, there is no question of favouritism.

B&E: But the public perception about the committee’s functioning is that it is not very effective. What is your take on this?
AS: Yes. There is a feeling, especially amongst elected representatives, that this system is not effective enough. But then, how would another committee work? After all, people in that committee would be human beings too. And there would still be protests each time an advisory is sent out, no matter the kind of committee that is put in place.

B&E: Regulation for broadcasters is quite talked about. And we hear that you support “self-regulation”. Your comments...
AS: The mandate to me from the PM is that we should impose self-regulation. I have always felt the same way, and the directive from the PM has made my task easier. In June 2011, we put in place a self-regulatory apparatus – the Broadcasting Content Complaints Council. It is a task force headed by the Information & Broadcasting secretary and includes broadcasters and representatives of cable operators along with government officials.

B&E: So you think “self-regulation” is the best way to keep some channels from going overboard?
AS: No news channel today is purely a news channel. It is news-based entertainment. There are some who air a thought-provoking documentary here or raise a social issue there. But then, they don’t get the TRPs. So I must try to help resolve the issue of TRP mechanism. Or the industry must do it. If the government does something, there is resentment. Either we all have to make our little contributions or it will take much longer. But I do appreciate the role of the broadcasters in self-regulation.

B&E: So how does your ministry fit in this whole business of “self-regulation”?
AS: We have a mechanism in the ministry and we are not dismantling it. We are covering 800 channels. The ministry has put in place a 24X7 recording centre. It records at random 300 channels round the clock. We keep the tapes for two weeks. I want to give it a try for 6-8 months. Let’s see how it works. The complaints have decreased since last year. We have also formed a nodal agency that at time of a crisis, man-made or natural, springs into action instantly. We have made arrangements from our PIB room to link up with every district HQ so that if the Home Minister or any other minister speaks from here, it is a direct telecast to every district.

Read more....

Source : IIPM Editorial, 2012.
An Initiative of IIPM, Malay Chaudhuri

and Arindam Chaudhuri (Renowned Management Guru and Economist).

For More IIPM Info, Visit below mentioned IIPM articles

2012 : DNA National B-School Survey 2012
Ranked 1st in International Exposure (ahead of all the IIMs)
Ranked 6th Overall
Zee Business Best B-School Survey 2012
Prof. Arindam Chaudhuri’s Session at IMA Indore
IIPM IN FINANCIAL TIMES, UK. FEATURE OF THE WEEK
IIPM strong hold on Placement : 10000 Students Placed in last 5 year
IIPM’s Management Consulting Arm-Planman Consulting
Professor Arindam Chaudhuri – A Man For The Society….
IIPM: Indian Institute of Planning and Management
IIPM makes business education truly global
Management Guru Arindam Chaudhuri
Rajita Chaudhuri-The New Age Woman
IIPM B-School Facebook Page
IIPM Global Exposure
IIPM Best B School India
IIPM B-School Detail
IIPM Links
IIPM : The B-School with a Human Face
IIPM – FLP (Flexi Learning Program)

Thursday, March 28, 2013

Thumbs down to The free ride!

The Indian Government’s Initiatives towards free trade have not been met as Enthusiastically as Expected by The Industry. What is The way forward?

During an informal dinner conversation with a top government official and some people from the industry, we were discussing the big idea that could come up ahead in the 12th Five Year Plan, which could take India ahead in the next decade. Infrastructure was almost unanimously the choice of most people in the group. Suddenly, I decided to play the Devil’s Advocate and brought up the topic of exports. I asked him why exports cannot be that key thrust area, since it has lifted so many economies like Japan, South Korea and China and taken them strongly on the path of development. His answer baffled me. He said that it wouldn’t work, since over 50% of Indian companies are not really interested in exporting, and are rather perfectly happy serving the domestic market.

The domestic market is obviously considered one of the greatest advantages of being an Indian company. India Inc. has been in a typically self congratulatory mode since our companies were relatively less impacted by the economic recession due to staying local. But the cushion of having a strong domestic market is also one of the greatest drawbacks. Companies in nations like South Korea and Japan had such a small domestic market that exports were the most viable option. That encouraged them to move out, and that is why, their companies have been all over the globe. China, on the other hand, had the cushion but choose to ignore it, and we know the other part of that story. When you look at 2009 figures from WTO, India had a 1.3% share of global merchandise exports of $12.18 trillion, while China accounted for a whopping 9.9%. Indeed, there is an urgent need for the government to change that mind set. Kwang Ro Kim, Vice Chairman, Onicra, tells B&E, “The point on having a huge domestic market is a myth. Moreover, it is the best way to create jobs for 70% of India, since everyone is not intellectual enough to work in IT companies.”

Of course, there are a number of initiatives that the government takes from time to time to boost exports, but we are going to discuss a particular one here – the rising number of Free Trade Agreements (FTAs). India has been signing a number of them in the past few years (like ASEAN, South Korea & Japan); and has also consciously followed a ‘Look East’ policy. When asked about the key benefits of such FTAs, Minister of Commerce Anand Sharma tells B&E, “We have been seeing significant shifts in development from Asia and developing countries like India. We need to focus on different FTAs to boost growth.”

When it comes to Asia, in particular, FTAs are becoming a very critical policy tool. Failure of the Doha round of WTO means that FTAs would be a valuable tool to leverage on trade opportunities and also deepen regional networks and linkages. Even Indian firms have relied on Western markets to a disproportionate extent in the past. Looking at figures for the period from April-September 2010, India’s top destination for exports has been UAE with exports of Rs.657.11 billion (growth of 21.48% yoy) followed by US with exports of Rs.539.42 billion (growth of 23.43% yoy) and China with exports of Rs.256.13 billion (growth of 28.73% yoy).

Read more....

Monday, March 18, 2013

An Exclusive Interaction with Virat Bahri of B&E

HZL COO Akhilesh Joshi in an Exclusive Interaction with Virat Bahri of B&E

B&E: What is your outlook with respect to the market for Zinc globally, as there are some economies that are still not bak on the growth track?
AJ: In India, domestic demand is going to be high. Internationally, it is not going to be good in some countries but in countries like China, it is expected to remain good. If you look at the availability of the concentrate, it is expected to remain in short supply in the coming years, so it has good potential.

B&E: Your margins were affected in the first half of the current fiscal owing to factors like higher stripping costs and higher coal pries. What challenges do you see to your margins going forward?
AJ: There is no challenge as such – it is our DNA to work for better efficiencies and productivity in order to keep our cost under control. On the price front, we are not expecting any downfall in the prices.

B&E: On the front of Zinc prices, do you feel that the London Metal Exchange (LME) is a robust exchange?
AJ: Yes it is a very robust exchange. If you see, the general marginal cost of production for Zinc is around $1000-1200 per tonne and any LME price above that will always give margin to the producer.

B&E: What is the role of innovation in your business?
AJ: The role of innovation in our business is to reduce costs. The rest is market trends. This is an ongoing initiative and we are showing improvement every year.

Read more.....

Thursday, March 07, 2013

Respect to his understanding of the Indian customer

Karl Slym, President & MD, GM India has spent close to three years in the Indian market. The times have changed him considerably, more with respect to his understanding of the Indian customer. Slym shares with B&E the decisions taken in the hard times and the strategy forward with GM’s Chinese JV Partner.

B&E: You have a good experience of working in the JV environment in the past as well but as far as the Indian market is concerned, we have seen many JVs not working in the past. What makes you so sure of the fact that the partnership with SAIC will go a long way?
Slym: I think that JVs are something that you have to embrace. Where there are no synergies and both are not seeing any potential benefits together, there is a problem. But if the planning upfront is right where both parties are seeking their own set of benefits and are able to make something better, which was not possible individually; you have a strong foundation on your side to start with. It is not a single point focus, but if it is done carefully, one may look at the benefits, which are huge in magnitude. Moreover, as we have already seen a lot of success with the partner in China, we are trying to ensure that we are able to replicate that success in the Indian market as well.

B&E: But you have had a bitter experience on the same with your partnership with Reva. What about your plans for the electric car market?
Slym: After the deal with Reva didn’t go through, we decided to go ahead alone in the electric car segment. We will show you an electric car in the first half of next year, which will be a small car.

B&E: You mentioned in our last interaction about your plans for the LCV market for end 2012. What is the latest update on the same?
Slym: We are now planning to roll out the LCVs much before that. It will still be in 2012, but it will be done at the 11th Auto Expo. We will roll out close to six products in total with 15 fuel variants in the next 24 months. We have a design centre here but at the moment, they don’t have a proper architecture, which is a vision for them to grow to. The way we work therefore is that we have global products wherein, let’s say, we pick up a Cruze from Germany and then we put it through our Indian R&D Centre. The centre makes sure that the ground clearance, suspension, horn and similar things are adjusted according to Indian conditions. We will follow a similar process for the vehicles from China. Needless to mention, we are aiming for a very high level of localisation that will be close to a level of 90%. Therefore, we are now signing up with new suppliers for the plans for the LCV market.

B&E: As you have decided to brand it under the Chevrolet umbrella, what makes you come to a conclusion that you will require a new infrastructure to sell commercial vehicles in India?
Slym: As everybody knows Chevrolet today, more and more people are accepting it as one of the most promising brands as well. A lot of energy and effort has gone into establishing the Chevrolet brand after we started with GM moving on to Opel and then finally landing right with Chevrolet. Moreover, when you know you are going to compete against a brand as strong as Tata, you don’t really want to take any chances with a brand which is completely new to the Indian consumer. By the time we launch, we could have reached new heights in terms of consumer confidence and there will be close to half a million Chevrolet cars on the Indian roads. For the different infrastructure, there are two entirely different sets of consumers that we are trying to address here with passenger cars and LCVs. And as both environments are very different from each other, it makes a lot of sense for us to have a separate infrastructure for them too. We have a possibility of sharing a back office for that but the final point of sale will be different from passenger cars.

Read more.....

Monday, March 04, 2013

MIXED SIGNALS

Mamata Banerjee is drawing flak for neglecting the ministry, but as a response to an RTI query from TSI (a Planman Media publication) shows, the railway minister isn't doing as badly as her immediate predecessors. A report by Vikas Kumar

If despair often blurs reality, chaos completely engulfs it. With the Indian Railways being rocked by another tragic mishap, the second in West Bengal in two months, that is exactly what supporters of mercurial Trinamool Congress leader and Railway Minister Mamata Banerjee, must be thinking. The feisty lady is being pilloried – and not entirely unjustifiably – by her political rivals for neglecting her ministerial work and focusing her energies on Bengal politics even as the railways under her charge lurches from one devastating wreck to another.

But the question is: is the 63,000-km stretch of the railways and the musty corridors of Rail Bhavan any worse off under her than they were under her predecessors of the past two decades?

The fact is that Mamata is running for cover. The Railway Ministry, which was adjudged the best performing ministry during the tenure of Lalu Prasad Yadav, has suddenly started hogging the limelight for all the wrong reasons. But what may be apparent is not always true. Going by cold statistics, Mamata certainly isn't the worst Railway Minister of the last two decades.

Data available with the Commissioner of Railway Safety for the period 1991 to 2010-11 shows that she has fared much better than her predecessors. During the tenure of CK Jaffer Sharief, who served as Railway Minister from July 21, 1991 to November 22, 1995, Indian Railways saw more than 500 accidents every year. The number of accidents in 1993-94 was 587, resulting in a death toll of 226. In the year prior to that, when two railway ministers, George Fernandes and Janeshwar Mishra, held the post, the number of mishaps was 532 and the death toll crossed 200.

Nitish Kumar, the current Bihar Chief Minister who loses no opportunity to take swipes at Mamata Banerjee for running the railways from Kolkata, seems to suffer from selective amnesia. During his tenure of almost a year, the number of fatalities was 374, which is the second highest during a single-year tenure of any railway minister. Similarly, with 302 fatalities, Lalu Prasad's record as railway minister is only marginally better. Mamata is fifth on the list of worst performers in terms of rail mishaps. When it comes to misusing the railways, Mamata's record is once again far better than that of her immediate predecessors. The Railway Ministry, in a response to an RTI query filed by TSI, gave out data of railway passes issued by respective railway ministers. This makes interesting reading and reflects the differing approaches of the ministers.

As far as free distribution of railway passes is concerned, Ram Vilas Paswan was generosity personified. During his one-and-a-half-year tenure from June 1, 1996 to December 29, 1997, he issued 597 complimentary rail passes. Of these, 445 were issued in the last year of his term.

Read more....

Saturday, February 09, 2013

Hayward’s wayward BP ways?

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

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

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

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

Read more....

Friday, February 08, 2013

Houston, we have a problem... Portugal!

Though EU & IMF have agreed on an audacious $956 billion bailout plan for the Euro zone to control the sovereign debt crisis that started with Greece, it won’t be of much help. B&E talks to experts across continents, including the European Central Bank to analyse who all are next in the felicitation parade by Manish K Pandey

Almost a month ago when ash clouds from Iceland’s volcano Eyjafjallaj-kull were showing their prowess by bringing almost all European airports to halt, not many knew about the danger that was about to engulf Greece and had the capability of bringing some of the biggest euro zone economies to a standstill. Then it came and even Greek gods could not save their beleaguered nation from its fury. Result: The $333.53 billion economy (2009 estimate) has today almost but collapsed. While Standard & Poor’s has already rated Greek bonds as junk (first time a euro member has lost its investment grade since 1999), its fiscal deficit is hovering around 14% of GDP.

As Greece now moves closer to a sovereign default, several economists believe that the turmoil would not end here, and would continue to take some more in its wake. Taking into account the deteriorating financial strength of the banking systems in nations like Ireland, UK, Spain, Italy, et al, any or all of them could be the usual suspects. But leading the identification parade is Portugal, a country could well be the talk of the town very soon with respect to a domino collapse. Robert Thomas, Senior Vice President, Moody’s Investor Service, based out of UK, shares with B&E, “Despite many fundamental differences to Greece, Portugal is now at the forefront of investor concern if the risk of contagion continues.”

The signals sent by Portugal are almost similar to the ones propelled by Greece just before the financial volcano erupted there. Like its distressed Euro-partner, Portugal too has a fragile public finance. Its budget deficit is already around 9.4%, which is an astonishing 6% higher than the standards set by EU. Further, Portugal’s foreign liabilities are close to 108% of its GDP ($225.35 billion), much higher when compared with Greece whose foreign liabilities stand at 87% of GDP ($264.82 billion). Truly, Spain too has foreign liabilities that are equivalent to 91% of it GDP ($1.20 trillion), but unlike Spain, Portugal has been suffering from a bigger problem of very slow growth rates over the last decade. CMA DataVision, a UK-based research firm that tracks the riskiness of sovereign debt, rates Portugal’s performance during Q1 2010 to be the worst in the developed world. As per it, the spread between the starting price of swaps in January 2010 and the end price in March 2010 has widened to 52.3%. So, while last year Portugal’s GDP declined by 0.1%, this year it is forecast to slow down even further, by 3.3%. And the only solution that Portugal has if it wants to stick to the lifeline is to borrow from foreign investors. But, that’s exactly where the problem lies. If interest rates stay high, this dormant volcano can erupt any time to engulf the Portuguese economy. Not to forget, investors are already demanding an interest rate of 6% on Portuguese bonds.

Read more.....

Tuesday, February 05, 2013

Uneasy lies the head...

More so when it wears the Citi crown! Is Vikram Pandit drowning in a vicious cycle? by Deepak Ranjan Patra

The honeymoon is over now, and 2010 has to be the year whereby you begin showing the world that you are a force to be reckoned with...” (2010; Forbes)

“He got my message very clear that my support has been withdrawn. You can’t go publicly & say our losses are around $3 billion post-tax and then all the sudden add another $11 billion loss.” (2007; Fortune)

T here is a lot these two statements reveal when you take them in the right perspective. Both these statements were made by Prince Alwaleed Bin Talal Al-Saud, Citigroup’s biggest individual shareholder. The difference, besides the years, is that the comments were directed at then Citi-CEO Chuck Prince in 2007; and to Vikram Pandit now. The message is loud and clear – perform or perish. Prince didn’t get it right; and Pandit is tethering close to an encore.

Into his third year as the head of Citigroup, Pandit is now facing stiffening pressure from investors to prove his mettle. More so after his peers at Goldman Sachs and Wells Fargo managed to transform their banks from Wall Street’s problem children to money making machines... and Pandit failed.

Beating industry expectations, both Goldman Sachs and Wells Fargo have posted annual net incomes of $13.39 billion and $12.3 billion respectively. On the other hand, Citigroup has posted a net loss of $1.6 billion. Pandit’s pals may argue that the bank would have returned to profit in the last fiscal had it not faced a $6.2 billion hit on the repayment of bail-out funds. But did Pandit not know, since June 2009, that Citi would have to meet this requirement at year-end?

Read more....

Monday, February 04, 2013

Rick swings, GM misses

...and the shareholders get their pants walloped!

Rick Wagoner during his 8-year term as the CEO & Chairman of GM has oft been described by industry experts as a leader who lacked the “ruthless streak” needed to make the tough decisions... Well, allow us to be crude. Many do claim that he tried his best to revive the lost glory of the wounded auto-maker. Sadly, his best wasn’t enough, and today, his successor, Fritz Henderson, is fighting hard to present a viability plan before the Senate, by June 1, 2009. There is no denying that GM has proved to be Detroit’s biggest blunder in these recessionary times, and all because Wagoner behaved like the wicked kid who skipped classes at Harvard (by the way, he’s an HBS Alumni) and played baseball, trying to hit home runs every ball; but he failed [And guess what, many are blaming the recession for GM’s miserable state]. So here are the bull-headed swings that failed to deliver the so-called homies and which make up for one of the biggest business blunders in the past 100 years.

Swing & Miss #1: Being the CEO of a First World brand, his ‘American legacy’ ego prevented him from shifting units to emerging nations. Swing & Miss #2: Axing of the EV1 electric car project in 2003, which Wagoner admitted was one of his “greatest blunders.” The product, which was the world’s first electric car, could well have become the future of GM. But then again, isn’t GM all about brawns and hefty Hummers? What Wagoner forgot was that fuel-efficiency is something that leaders like Toyota and Honda have focussed on besides offering powerful engines... [Rick, you skipped your market segmentation lessons too?]

Swing & Miss #3: GM’s premature focus on hybrids cost the company too much. Despite being in the news for over 15 years now, hybrids only contribute to about 2.15% of all vehicle sales! Then there are reports which prove how by 2020, oil production will cross a smashing 1,600 million barrels annually – 6667% more than what was produced in 2003! In other words, hybrids are not required in the near future year, but Wagoner still believes it, for he has to swing!

Read more.....

Saturday, January 19, 2013

POSTULATE III : DEADLY DISEASES

Humans have fallen prey to deadly diseases much easier than expected. With the advancement of science, we’ve won some battles but clearly not the war; and as experience shows, we’re waiting for the next animal...

The Asian flu too took 2 million lives worldwide in 1957. Although most Americans had lived through the typhoid and small pox epidemics of 1876 and 1890, its debilitating effects, and those of yellow fever and diphtheria, are still well within living memory across the world.

Even in this modern 21st century, the number of people dying because of epidemics is more than people dying in wars or terror attacks. According to the World Health Report 2004, if 7.2 million people die of ischaemic heart disease every year and 5.5 million out of Cerebrovascular disease, then 3.9 million also die out of lower respiratory infections.

One of the deadliest diseases, HIV/AIDS, kills 2.8 million every year, with over 39.4 million people living with HIV today. Over 32.7 million die every year from just 12 leading diseases worldwide. The World Health Report 2004 further reveals that out of the 57 million who died in the world in 2002 out of diseases, 33.5 million died out of non-communicable diseases, 18.3 million died out of communicable diseases, perinatal and nutritional conditions (rest from other external injuries).

Though medical science is advancing, so is the emergence of new viruses; in just 39 years, 40 new viruses have emerged, including Ebola, HIV, H1N1, H2N2. Avian, swine, mouth-and-foot, salmonella... although we’re winning the battles, scientists accept we’re not even close to winning the war – in fact, some say they don’t even have an idea where the war is supposed to take place.

In the Pulitzer Prize winning book, Guns, Germs, and Steel, cult author Professor Jared Diamond proves how Eurasian cultures have ruled all the other continents by spreading their ‘germs’ within foreign populations, thus killing them en masse, consequently allowing Eurasians to gain physical superiority.

Read more....

Source : IIPM Editorial, 2012.
An Initiative of IIPM, Malay Chaudhuri
and Arindam Chaudhuri (Renowned Management Guru and Economist).

For More IIPM Info, Visit below mentioned IIPM articles.
2012 : DNA National B-School Survey 2012
Ranked 1st in International Exposure (ahead of all the IIMs)
Ranked 6th Overall
Zee Business Best B-School Survey 2012
Prof. Arindam Chaudhuri’s Session at IMA Indore
IIPM IN FINANCIAL TIMES, UK. FEATURE OF THE WEEK
IIPM strong hold on Placement : 10000 Students Placed in last 5 year
IIPM’s Management Consulting Arm-Planman Consulting
Professor Arindam Chaudhuri – A Man For The Society….
IIPM: Indian Institute of Planning and Management
IIPM makes business education truly global
Management Guru Arindam Chaudhuri
Rajita Chaudhuri-The New Age Woman
IIPM B-School Facebook Page
IIPM Global Exposure
IIPM Best B School India
IIPM B-School Detail
IIPM Links
IIPM : The B-School with a Human Face
IIPM – FLP (Flexi Learning Program)

Friday, January 18, 2013

FINANCIAL CRISIS: POOREST NATIONS OF THE WORLD

Recession has thrown up crazy results in the poorest nations of the world; they’ve become richer!

Liberia, the second poorest nation, saw its GDP grow from $0.53 billion in 2005 to $0.87 billion in 2008 (9.4% growth in 2007, 7.1% in 2008), with per capita GNI increasing from $250 in 2005 to $300 in 2008. Much credit goes to Liberian President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, who held innumerable meetings with UN, IMF and even US officials on how to mitigate the impact of the financial crisis. And this despite FDI and aid contracting heavily.

Burundi is the next poorest nation in the world. The landlocked economy is primarily dominated by agriculture, dependent purely on international aid, a factor which in fact dramatically fell in the years leading to the recession – aid aggregated $1.247 billion in 1997, $1.2 billion in 2003 and fell to a tiny $181 million in 2005. Yet, Burundi’s GDP grew from $0.71 billion in 2000, to $0.8 billion in 2005, to $1.16 billion in 2008 (63% since 2000; an average of 4% growth over the last two years). Per capita GNI grew from $310 to $380 from 2000 to 2008.

The paradox of cash flows in a so-called flat world continues to surprise us; and we hope the Friedmans too.

Read more.....

Thursday, January 17, 2013

Here are the real Nobel Prize winners

You would think that the Nobel Prize has been given to Osama instead of Obama; such has been the ballyhoo and brouhaha generated over the act of edifying the first Black President of a country that historically treated blacks as slaves and chattel to be traded in the American version of Mandis. But then, surely Obama deserves it more than the now deceased former Prime Minister of Israel Menachem Begin who was once designated a “terrorist” by the British! And much more than another deceased soul (may his soul rest in peace) named Cordell Hull who – as American Secretary of State – refused exile to God knows how many Jews who wanted to escape from Nazi Germany. All of them subsequently died in concentration camps.

But for whatever it is worth, here is the Business & Economy list of Nobel Prize nominations for next year across categories:

peace: This was a very, very close contest. In one corner stood two brothers who have completely redefined the concept of brotherly love. In the other corner stood a ‘brother’ who has completely redefined the very concept of ‘neighbourly’ love. In one corner stood Mukesh & Anil Ambani and in the other corner stood the Chief of Lashkar-e-Taiba Hafiz Saeed. Ultimately, it was clinched by Saeed for his actual demonstration of ‘peace’ and ‘love’ during 26/11

economic sciences: Yes, the prize is not for ‘economics’ but ‘economic sciences’ since virtually all economists across the world have been mesmerised by the delusion that the study of quirky human behaviour is an exact science. There were many contestants for this prized prize – most belonging to the political and corporate class who understand ‘money’ like no one else. After much deliberation, debate, wrangling and mud slinging, the nomination was conferred upon the honourable Sharad Pawar for taking economics even beyond the frontiers of science. How else can you explain an inflation rate of zero percent and less when the prices of sugar, oil and vegetables have soared by more than 100%?

literature: If you believe that great literature transcends wretched reality in a sublime manner that borders on fantasy, then this one is a no brainer. The unanimous verdict was The Draft Direct Tax Code that has been circulated for debate and discussion. This masterpiece contains a sparkling gem that says that the market value of the plum houses that bureaucrats occupy in VIP Delhi will be added to their taxable income. Now if that does not border on fantasy, I don’t know what will.

Read more......

Source : IIPM Editorial, 2012.
An Initiative of IIPM, Malay Chaudhuri
and Arindam Chaudhuri (Renowned Management Guru and Economist).

For More IIPM Info, Visit below mentioned IIPM articles.

2012 : DNA National B-School Survey 2012
Ranked 1st in International Exposure (ahead of all the IIMs)
Ranked 6th Overall
Zee Business Best B-School Survey 2012
Prof. Arindam Chaudhuri’s Session at IMA Indore
IIPM IN FINANCIAL TIMES, UK. FEATURE OF THE WEEK
IIPM strong hold on Placement : 10000 Students Placed in last 5 year
IIPM’s Management Consulting Arm-Planman Consulting
Professor Arindam Chaudhuri – A Man For The Society….
IIPM: Indian Institute of Planning and Management
IIPM makes business education truly global
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Monday, January 14, 2013

INFLATION: FOODGRAINS

For the middle class families, rising food prices have proved to be killing and the steps by government are a big joke, say Vikas Kumar and Niharika Patra

Those are not just the normal day to day food items that are wreaking havoc on middle-class family budgets. Thanks to the largesse doled out by the Sixth Pay Commission, the amount of money they have to pay as school fees for their children has virtually doubled – often with retrospective effect. And unlike their luckier ‘government employee’ counterparts, an overwhelming majority of those working in the private sector have not seen a pay hike for more than a year. Says Rajarshi, “I have two sons and their school fees have now doubled. I don’t know how will I pay all this.” Rajarshi and her husband really don’t know how to tackle this situation. So, middle-class Indians like Sadhna and Rajarshi who used to save about Rs.5,000 per month have now seen their savings dwindle to literally nothing.

There is more bad news for them in store with the monsoon being far from normal. Says JP Malik, Department of Economic Analysis and Policy at RBI, “It is simple economics. The problem is because of the supply-demand gap which has happened because of the trouble in monsoons. Pulses and cereals have suffered more because they are more dependent on monsoon water”. But poor monsoons alone cannot be blamed for the incredible rise in prices. There is something rotten in the supply chain related to food products in the country. The farmer in the village still gets less than Rs.10 for every kg of cauliflower that he can harvest and sell. By the time you buy it from the market, it costs at least Rs.80 per kg. This is a clear sign that the trader and the middleman are making hay while the farmer as well as the consumer suffer. Add to that the complete absence of modern cold storages in rural areas despite many pious announcements from myriad policy makers.

Read more....

Source : IIPM Editorial, 2012.
An Initiative of IIPM, Malay Chaudhuri
and Arindam Chaudhuri (Renowned Management Guru and Economist).

For More IIPM Info, Visit below mentioned IIPM articles.

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Wednesday, January 09, 2013

Jet’tisoning a brand!

Despite holding pole position in the Indian aviation industry, Jet Airways was known for its apathy towards branding and marketing. 4Ps B&M does a snapshot seat-of-the-pants recap of Jet’s brand journey and the new branding move by Goyal to combine low cost carrier operations under JetKonnect

Exactly five years ago, in April 2007, Jet Airways decided to buy Air Sahara (for the second time, after the previous deal fell through). That was a time when it was flying high and seemed to be within touching distance of becoming the indisputable lord of Indian skies. Its revenues had increased by a whopping 21.5%, closing at Rs 7,401.31 crore for FY 2006-07 as compared to Rs 6,087.57 crore a year ago. Buoyed by its performance, the airline was quick to declare a dividend of Rs 6 on equity shares of Rs 10 each for the financial year 2006-07. Nobody could have faulted the airline and clearly all straws in the wind suggested that the airline was destined to peak new highs in the Indian aviation industry. Things were working to the airline’s plans and the famed merger with Air Sahara was supposed to fuel its future growth.

But the merger, instead of being a seamless exercise in integration and a trigger for growth, brought along a bagful of problems. Instead of deepening the airline’s bench strength for skilled manpower and adding to its reservoir of talent, the airline found itself saddled with redundant resources that could not be put to productive use. As a result of the merger Jet Airways suddenly found itself in a situation where there were crew members far in excess of its own requirements and with more number of expensive pilots than were needed to fly its machines. Also, around this time, economic winds had started turning baleful and the fangs of global recession had started biting. The aviation industry across the world, including in India, found itself stuck in the storm clouds of an intensifying recession. Airlines’ profits took a sharp beating and revenues for the industry plummeted precipitously. Like others, Jet Airways too found itself in the crosshairs of a blowing ill-wind. Its problems were compounded because the adverse business environment foreclosed any options that it may have had for deploying its surplus human resources. As a result, the airline’s management found itself faced with a knotty issue. After keeping this baggage grounded for nearly a year, the airline finally moved to cut the Gordian knot. In October 2008, the airline handed out pink slips to around a 1,000 of its employees.

Unfortunately, for Jet Airways the move backfired. The en masse sacking of employees kicked up a media hysteria and forced the airline to beat a hasty retreat. Two days later the airline reinstated all sacked employees but the episode left a lingering doubt about the health of the airline besides also denting its reputation in the public eye. Also, the market fallout was swift and brutal. Its stock price took a hammering, sliding from Rs.955 on December 17, 2007 to Rs. 115 on March 12, 2009. In a matter of months, the airline which had its nose in the cloud found itself buffeted by turbulent air pockets and desperately seeking a safe landing.

Read more.....

Source : IIPM Editorial, 2012.
An Initiative of IIPM, Malay Chaudhuri

and Arindam Chaudhuri (Renowned Management Guru and Economist).

For More IIPM Info, Visit below mentioned IIPM articles.