CC Issue No.71-Jul 12

Consultants’ Corner Volume 5 | Number 71 | July 2012 | Page 1– 14

Thriving on Chaos Page. 03

Rekha Murali

Better decision-making Page. 04

NCR Consultants Limited www.ncrcl.com Associates with

Our Mission is to apply our professional capabilities with a holistic approach for the happiness of clients, through values and social commitment.

Inside Better decision-making Life is full of decisions ranging from the simple to the complex on matters of what to wear to office to more profound business decisions like expansion or seeking loans….…

-read more...page 4

News

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Message from Dr. RSM

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Better decision-making Secretarial Standards

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Mc Millan Woods and i2i IFRS tie-up targets IFRS training for Accountants

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7 questions to test your strategy Income Tax Website Navi-

see more..page 9

8 gation 9 What’s up at NCRCL? 11 An Exclusive Talk 12 Parichay 13 Knowledge Snippet 13 Birthday Greetings 13 Just for Laughs 13 Round Table

Secretarial Standards Companies follow diverse secretarial practices and, therefore, there is a need to integrate, harmonize and standardize such practices so as to promote uniformity and consistency………

7 questions to test your strategy An economic downturn can quickly expose the shortcomings of your business strategy. But can you identify its weak points in good times as well? And can you focus on those weak points…….

read more..page 5

see more..page 6

Mc Millan Woods and i2i IFRS tie-up targets IFRS training for Accountants The Accountants are working in a constant changing environment. In order to do face the challenges in a better way, the company Mc Millan Woods and i2i IFRS, an Indian company collaborates to offer them training on IFRS. read more..page 6

An exclusive talk with Suresh see more..page 11

Parichay I2i IFRS Consultants see more..page 12

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Thriving on Chaos Dr. R. S. Murali muralirs@ncrcl.com

This is the title of a book written in 1990s by Tom Peters. TP goes to discuss how organizations should mend their ways to survive shocks of the market, realign their strategies, and build an organisational culture that withstands the changing behaviour of the people across the value chain and so on. While most of the wisdom discussed in this book holds good even today, there is a strong necessity to take a hard look (or a hard necessity to take a strong look) at how we work - I mean our organisational culture!

Is chaos a result of others‘ actions or the result of how we have not reacted to a particular situation? Chaos begins and ends with us. This is the truth. Chaos originates in our day to day work primarily due to: lack of knowledge, not organising ourselves, not using appropriate approach/methodology in what we do, and the way we react/interact with others.

For Consultants, lack of knowledge implies total lack of capital. This condition arises basically due to not upgrading ourselves technically and not keeping pace with what is happening around. Psychologically this is due to mental lethargy or in simple words - laziness.

The second aspect relating to not organising ourselves, according to me, is actually a matter of genetic legacy. Indians in general are not organised. Lack of planning, lack of follow-up, lack of systems in doing routine works, etc. is really hampering the growth of our country and every family in our country. This is a cultural issue and we need to work very strongly to overcome this deficiency.

The next important aspect is the methodology. This point is related to the first one. We continue to do things in a way that is comfortable to us rather than executing them in an appropriate manner. I know people who do not store the telephone numbers of their friends and depend on their memory to ring them up! Similarly in consulting, many people do not use appropriate models for strategising a particular assignment and completing them within the stipulated time without compromising on quality.

The fourth key element is the behavioural aspect. We need to understand others and others us. This can happen only when communication between people is cordial, and is useful for the assignment. Often the relationship on personal matters work very well between people and when it comes to official matters, there is indifference. The main reason for the same is not understanding the objective of the organization and possibly it does not gel with that of the individual!

Also the impact of ego which each person carries (their superiority over others) influences delivery.

Now how do we address these points that lead to an internal chaos, about which we do not understand and therefore do not recognise? The chaos affects our health, our thinking, office work and targets, the quality of work and hence the client satisfaction. There is a simple, three way strategy for winning over the chaos: personal discipline in terms of planning the work, monitoring how we do: in time, in the way required, etc., and of course updating ourselves in our area of specialisation.

It is a process of continuous learning. In fact if we thoroughly: (a) learn our subject area of specialisation, (b) learn how to deliver what we are meant to deliver and (c) learn how to cooperate with others, we would have mastered the art of addressing the chaos. Since chaos is all around, we can thrive on chaos. Actually addressing the chaos is a science, as we can clearly undo chaos step by step. And in order to make us learn these three, we need to prepare not just our body but also our soul! This would mean good exercise, positive food and meditation!

We will continue this discussion......

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Better decision-making Rekha Murali rekha@ncrcl.com

Life is full of decisions ranging from the simple to the complex on matters of what to wear to office to more profound business decisions like expansion or seeking loans.

We make so many decisions each day consciously or unconsciously as a matter of routine or habit, resulting in tiredness and fatigue. Therefore, when it comes to life altering decisions, confusion reigns and thoughts go on ceaselessly because of the available choices. The crux is to arrive at the right choice.

Self awareness and analysis are two key factors to assist us in making the right choices. Conscious awareness that a practical and beneficial decision has to be taken amidst all the commitments is the first step.

Decisions made in haste or as a reaction to a trigger invariably backfire, leading to more complications and frustrations. At the same time, the other extreme of this decision making process would involve too much thinking, which again hampers decision making.

Therefore, a person needs to be aware of the issue, analyse the pros and cons to arrive at an amicable solution.

But can all decisions be made after prolonged thinking?

Some situations require spur of the moment decisions.

So, what aids good decision-making?

Understand that it is the right choice: To have self awareness, we need to understand the physical and mental symptoms and the action to be taken.

Physical/mental symptoms - Faster heartbeat and pulse rate, tightness in any part of the body along with fast thoughts that are more emotion based.

Action - Breathe deeply, calm your mind and body by sitting quietly in one place and then bring up the issue for decision. There will be clarity in thinking thus enabling the right decision.

Consider future implications: Decisions should not be short sighted but the consequences or implications in the future need to be considered. Most of us have the tendency to solve the issue quickly, leading to immediate satisfaction without bearing in mind that the problem could rear its ugly head in the not-too-distant future.

The decision may not be favourable to us but may benefit others. Are we prepared to do that? As a consultant, we may have to dissuade a client from going for expansion considering the futility of the business even at the cost of losing the client!

List out the pros and cons of the decision; consider the favourability of the result not only for yourself but others who would be affected by it. We need to ask ourselves how this decision will favour us in the future and if we are being true to o u r se l v e s?

C o n su l t mentors and peers if need be.

Besides this perspective from the individual point of view, the trend which is fast picking up among corporates is collective decision making. Collective decision making can arise from simple processes.

Prioritisation: To start with, there may be a number of decisions, hence identifying, listing and prioritising the important ones would be a first step.

Delegation: Groups can be assigned to come up with solutions by assessing the factors that would go into the decision making. Each group can collectively come up with strategies and plans.

Brainstorming and intervention: Brainstorming by a larger group of key personnel along with the initial small group would enable discussions on the outcome of the decision. It will also bring out suitable interventions to alter the factors for the benefit of the organisation.

It is important to note that implications about future need to be considered while going through this process of decision making.

These points are only a framework on which individuals and groups can build or customise on processes for effective decision making. It will help avoid major repercussions in the future and in general to safeguard against poor calls.

(As published in ‗The Hindu—Opportunities - 27 June 2012)

If you don't like something change it; if you can't change it, change the way you think about it.

- Mary Engelbreit

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Secretarial Standards Bhavana R bhavana@ncrcl.com

Introduction Companies follow diverse secretarial practices and, therefore, there is a need to integrate, harmonize and standardize such practices so as to promote uniformity and consistency.

The Institute of Company Secretaries of India, acknowledging this need, formed the Secretarial Standards Board with eminent members. In consultation with various professional bodies, Chamber of Commerce, DCA, DEA, SEBI and RBI, the standards were drafted and approved. So far, 10 Secretarial Standards have been issued by the Institute of Company Secretaries of India.

Objective  To integrate, harmonize and diverse secretarial practices

 To achieve sustained growth and enhanced visibility of the profession and members  To provide clarity in legal provisions- where law is silent and ambiguous Impact  Standard Secretarial practices in corporate India  Better understanding of existing laws  More transparency, more compliance  More recognition to the ICSI and members  Increasing professionalism in corporate  Non- compliance will be easily located Secretarial Standards  SS-1 Secretarial Standard on Meetings of the Board of Directors Standard

 SS-9 Secretarial Standards on Forfeiture of Shares  SS-10 Secretarial Standards on Board's Report Guidance Notes issued To facilitate the corporate sector to comply with the Secretarial Standards, the Secretarial Standards Board also formulates Guidance Notes. The Institute has issued Guidance Notes on  Meetings of Board of Directors  General Meetings  Passing of the Resolutions by Postal Ballot  Dividend

standardize

 To improve the compliance of corporate governance norms

 SS-2 Secretarial Meetings

 SS-8 Secretarial Standards on Affixing of Common Seal

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 SS-3 Secretarial Standard on Dividend  SS-4 Secretarial Standard on Registers and Records  SS-5 Secretarial Standard on Minutes  SS-6 Secretarial Standard on Transmission of Shares and Debentures  SS-7 Secretarial Standards on Passing Resolutions By Circulation

 Buy-back of securities  Board‘s Report  Corporate Governance (Clause 49 of the Listing Agreement)  Preferential Issue of shares Corporates in line with Secretarial Standards  The Secretarial Standards are currently recommendatory. Many Companies are voluntarily adopting Secretarial Standards.  Some reputed companies that are adopting Secretarial Standards are: 

Reliance Industries Limited

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Tata Metaliks Limited

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Reliance Energy Limited

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Kotak Mahindra Finance

Conclusion ICSI is endeavouring to persuade the Government and appropriate authorities to enforce the Standards, to facilitate their adoption by industry and corporate entities in order to achieve the desired objective of standardization of best secretarial practices.

It is expected that once these standards gain acceptability and their importance has been recognized, these would be mandatory.

"Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world; indeed, it's the only thing that ever -Margaret Mead has."

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Mc Millan Woods and i2i IFRS tie-up targets IFRS training for Accountants C S Suresh sureshcs@nccrcl.com

The Accountants are working in a constant changing environment. In order to do face the challenges in a better way, the company Mc Millan Woods and i2i IFRS, an Indian company collaborates to offer them training on IFRS. This exclusive partnership was announced in a conference on Thursday in Saint George‘s hotel, by Osman Badat, CEO of McMillan Woods Mauritius. The Mauritian Accountants works in diverse sectors having different needs according to their jobs. The trainers of i2i IFRS will be at Mauritius to train on this course. ―We wish to capitalize their rich expertise and benefit the Mauritius market. We wish to penetrate into the African market. The adoption of IFRS has a clear and substantial impact on the investment climate of a country.‖ he said precisely.

Also, the company Mc Millan Wood is represented in four African countries, namely Madagacar, Mozambique, Kenya & Seychelles. According to the CEO, the presence in these countries is going to permit further penetration in the African market which is promising.

According to the CEO, Mauritius is constrained in evolving a strong knowledgeable economy. This partnership is also for improving the level of accountants and training them on KPO.‖ We propose special training for the banking sector or the Global Business. The IFRS are going to contribute to create a friendly business environment‖ explained Osman Badat.

Moreover, there is an increasing demand for Mauritian accountants across Africa. Further, Mauritius applies IFRS since 2001.

According to Dilip Astik, director of i2i IFRS, his company and Mc Millan Woods will help to develop and conduct training programmes on IFRS. The goal of this tie-up is to respond to the needs of the accountants of Mauritius‖ he said.

Mc Millan Woods, Mauritius is an accounting firm which forms part of McMillan Woods Global, an international network of independent accountants and business consultants present in 25 different countries. I2i IFRS is a company based in Hyderabad and offer training and consulting services. The company consists of a team of expert professionals in IFRS. Till date, Mauritius accounts for less than 3000 accountants while Singapore has more than 24000. (published in a leading newspaper in Mauritius)

7 questions to test your strategy Namith O C namith@ncrcl.com

An economic downturn can quickly expose the shortcomings of your business strategy. But can you identify its weak points in good times as well? And can you focus on those weak points that really matter?

Stress test- is an assessment of how a system functions under severe or unexpected pressure, by asking tough questions about your business, where you can identify confusion, inefficiency and weakness in your strategy and its implementation.

1. Who is your primary customer?

Choosing a primary customer is a make-or-break decision, as it should determine how you allocate resources. It is simple. Allocate all possible resources to meet and exceed your primary customer‘s needs.

Allocating resources to more than one customer, results in confusion and less optimal service. Stick to your primary customer rather than multiple customers. Choice of primary customer may change over time. But you need to recognize that such a change will probably require restructuring your business. Consumer would no longer be the primary customer when there is a change in demand, price and technology. contd on next page

The only important thing about design is how it relates to people.

- Victor Papanek

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2. How do you prioritize your core value?

Core value must indicate whose interests come first when difficult trade off must be made. Companies that execute strategy well, define their core values to reflect the relative importance of shareholders, employees and customers.

Choice is made based on a different theory of value creation, but making one and communicating it, effectively is essential.

Employees first, customers second, shareholders third. If employees are treated well, they will treat the customers well, resulting in customer satisfaction which in turn scores profit, driving to shareholders happiness.

3. What critical performance variables are you tracking?

It is a mistaken belief that adding more variables to a score card makes it more complete and better. It is not possible to keep tracking so many variables for a manager to measure the performances. There is a reason as you add metrics to your scorecards; you incur an opportunity cost, in that people have less time to focus on what really matters. Monitor only small numbers-those that could cause their strategy to fail.

4. What strategic boundaries have you set?

Setting clear boundaries lets organization avoid the waste and risk that inevitably accompany undisciplined growth. Every strategy carries the risk that a manager‘s action will push the business. The risk intensifies when the manager feels the pressure to hit targeted growth and profit. The prudent approach if safety and quality are paramount concern to control such risk is to tell people what to do or tell them what not to do.

If innovation and entrepreneurial thinking are important hire creative people and give them freedom to exercise their creativity within defined limits.

5. How are you generating creative tension?

As a business leader, primary responsibility is to make outside market pressure felt inside your business. Motivate employees to think and act.

Set challenging goals, rank according to performance, setting spans of accountability that are greater than spans of control. When operating manager has skin in the game, they will generate ideas about how units can work together to do things better, faster and cheaper. While defining a primary customer or ranking your responsibility, choose what is right for the organization. More innovation you desire, the more techniques you consider.

6. How committed are your employees to helping each other?

To create the high levels of commitment required, leaders must build an organization that has the sort of people embodied in organization mission who will assume shared responsibility for success, group identification, trust and fairness.

7. What strategic uncertainties keep you awake at night?

Today‘s strategy won‘t work tomorrow. Today‘s success will be tomorrows old news.

The most powerful way to signal what‘s important to you is to use your business control systems as interactive tools. Pay close- and visible-attention to the data they produce and use them to generate questions that will activate the search for information throughout your business. The system you choose to use interactively could be a profit plan.

In conclusion, the first and second questions compel you to set strict priorities. Next two questions assess your ability to focus on those priorities. Questions five & six investigate whether your techniques are on track and the final question deals with your ability to adapt your strategy over time.

We must not cease from exploration; the end (Source: Stress – Test your strategy - The seven questions to ask by Robert Simons-Harvard Business Review)

of all our exploring will be to arrive where we began and to know the place for the first time.

- T. S. Eliot

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Income Tax Website Navigation Karthik M V karthikmv@ncrcl.com The tax filing days are back and so is the worry for the tax payer about the filing of IT returns. So you think? Not anymore! Rejoice!

Consultants‘ Corner thought of bringing out a series of articles and pictorial explanations on the Income Tax website that provides invaluable insights into the features and facilities made available to the tax payer.

The tax filing season is fast approaching and hence it would be appropriate to kick start the series this month with an article on accessing the Tax Credit Statement (Form 26AS) from the Income Tax website.

Brief: Form 26AS provides the tax payer the information on the amount tax deducted at source from his income and deposited to the Government. This form can be cross checked with the Form 16/16A provided by the deductor to the tax payer and any mismatch can be sorted out with the deductor prior to filing of the IT returns so that they give out the correct income and tax paid information about the assessee to the IT Department.

Pictorial explanation on how to check Tax Credit Statement (Form 26AS) online is given in the next page.

6 Simple Steps and you are there!!

1. Go to the website https://incometaxindiaefiling.gov.in/portal/index.do 2. Login to your Income Tax website Account 3. My Account >> View Tax Credit Statement

4. Choose Asst. Year >> Enter DOB >> Enter code >> Click Submit

6. Click on View Form 26AS 5. Click Confirm

xxxxxxx

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A Beautiful Way Of Looking at Things A father was reading a magazine and his little daughter every now and then distracted him. To keep her busy, he tore one page on which was printed the map of the world. He tore it into pieces and asked her to go to her room and put them together to make the map again. He was sure she would take the whole day to get it done. But the little one came back within minutes with perfect map. When he asked how she could do it so quickly, she said, ―Oh…. Dad, there is a man‘s face on the other side of the paper. I made the face perfect to get the map right." She ran outside to play leaving the father surprised. There is always the other side to whatever you experience in this world. Whenever we come across a challenge or a puzzling situation, look at the other side. You will be surprised to see an easy way to tackle the problem.

Did you know?

Harvard has produced seven U.S. presidents.

Seven presidents of the United States – John Adams, John Quincy Adams, Theodore and Franklin Delano Roosevelt, Rutherford B. Hayes, John Fitzgerald Kennedy and George W. Bush – were graduates of Harvard. It‘s faculty have produced 40 Nobel laureates and 41 Pulitzer Prize winners.

What’s up at NCRCL?

New location, new beginning….

Our Bangalore office has moved into a more spacious location on Railway Parallel Road, Kumarpark West. The new office started functioning on 18th June 2012 with a small pooja. CC wishes that the new premises brings more business for NCRCL and more fun at work for the staff.

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What’s up at NCRCL?

C S Suresh was on an official trip to Dubai and Mauritius. He had fruitful meetings with our clients in Dubai. He was part of the two member team of i2i IFRS Consultants for discussion on IFRS training with clients in Mauritius. A press conference was covered by the five leading newspapers of the country.

R Bhavana received the certificate of Achievement for successfully answering the smart corner questions five times in a row. Congratulations Bhavana!

Rekha Murali‘s contribution to an article titled ―Talking with men at work‖ appeared in The Hindu dated June 13, 2012 http://www.thehindu.com/todays-paper/tp-f eatures/tpopportunities/article3521398.ece Karthik M V, Chartered Accountant, j oi ns N CRC L ® Ba ng al ore a s Consultant Trainee.

We extend a very warm welcome to Karthik!

Fun Corner

“Cool”y Mohanty!!

I would define "good" as the daily pursuit of making the world ever so slightly better than you found it."

-Chris Baker

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An Exclusive Talk with Suresh S Meti

Suresh S Meti B.Com. Working as Project Trainee Born on 04th June Email: suresh_ ganjihal@yahoo.in Mob No: +91 9916204630

CC. The meaning of your name.

Suresh: Shining.

CC. Nickname.

Suresh: Surya.

CC. Your dream job.

Suresh: To be a professional CC Your first impression of NCRCL. Suresh: Learning firm.

CC. What personal/emotional characteristic of yours do you want to change?

Suresh: I want to get over some habits.

CC. Money or job satisfaction?

Suresh: Both.

CC. Team work vs Individual work – your comments.

Suresh: Team work is good but individual work is more measurable.

CC. Do you make efforts to get others to laugh and smile?

Suresh: Yes I do.

CC. Your heart rules your head or your head rules your heart?

Suresh: My heart rules my head.

CC. What kind of special talent do you have?

Suresh: I am a good cricket player.

CC. What are your hobbies?

Suresh: Playing cricket, music, reading books.

CC. Your Stress buster.

Suresh: Music, Movies CC. Do you have a small circle of close friends, rather than a large number of friends?

Suresh: Large number of friends.

CC. What do you most like about a person?

Suresh: Attitude.

CC. What do you most hate in a person?

Suresh: Ego.

"Life is either a daring adventure or nothing. Sec urity is mostly a superstition. It does not exist in nature."

- Helen Keller

Parichay

Know our Associates!

i2i IFRS Consultants I2I IFRS Consultants is a consortium of six firms/entities who have come together to handle the challenges of IFRS implementation in India. The members are: 1. M /s Contractor, Nayak & Kishnadwala (CNK), Mumbai 2. M/s M.M.Nissim & Co (MMN),Mumbai 3. M/s V Sankar Aiyar& Co (VSA), New Delhi 4. M/s B.K.Ramadhyani & Co (BKR),Bangalore 5. M/s i2i IFRS Management Service (i2i), Hyderabad 6. M/s NCR Consultants Limited (NCRCL), Chennai These members bring along their consulting, auditing and taxation experience which will help various companies in India. Apart from IFRS implementation, the consortium focuses on conducting training programs both in India and other countries. Last year, the consortium held 4 successful training programs in Chennai, Bangalore and Delhi on IFRS, XBRL and Schedule VI. As part of the overseas initiative, the consortium has entered into an MOU with McMillan Woods, Mauritius for imparting IFRS training both in Mauritius and in other African countries.

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Knowledge Snippet Which is the largest coffee growing country in the world?

Send in your answers to the editor at cc@ncrcl.com

Answer To last month’s Knowledge Snippet question: Which bird is the international symbol of happiness?

The right answer was given by R Krithiga Priyadarsini & R Bhavana

Answer: Bluebird

!!! Congratulations !!!

For feedback If you have any comment/suggestion for the editors, please write to us at cc@ncrcl.com! Your views and comments on articles featured here are also welcome!

Thank you for appreciating and recognizing our work. Lets continue our good work together.

- Prashanth K., C.E.O.,4SPL Technologies India Pvt. Ltd.

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