Volume: 7 November : 2011
SESHADRIPURAM INSTITUTE OF MANAGEMENT STUDIES ALUMNI ASSOCIATION (SIMSAA) SIMSAA was formally inaugurated on 12th May 2007: fulfilling the long-cherished dreams of SIMS Alumni for their homecoming. SIMSAA aims to • Stay connected with the institute. • Explore ways of giving back to the institute. • Support SIMS students in their quest for knowledge, skills and capabilities. • Foster teamwork among students and alumni.
SIMSAA is striving to achieve these objectives through broadband membership training, development and placement and Industry academia interaction.
Spandana Vibrating to Global Challenges
Alumni Annual Day SPARSHA 2011 Alumni annual day titled as Sparsha 2011 was celebrated at SIMS on 10th April 2011. Sri. N.R. Pandith Aradhya. Hon. President of SET presided over the function. Mr. Suhas Gopinath, CEO, Globals Corporation, who is popular as the youngest CEO was the Chief Guest. He shared his entrepreneurial journey and his success with the students of SIMS. Two Hundred SIMS alumni participated in this event and made this event a grand success.
Mr. Suhas Gopinath , CEO, Globals Corporation inaugurating Sparsha 2011
Eye Check-up Camp
Alumni Association of Seshadripuram Institute of Management Studies conducted an Eye – Check – up camp on 30th October 2011. Ophthamologists from Vision Express were invited for this event. All the students of SIMS and faculty participated.
Vision Express Group during Eye Checkup camp at SIMS. Seshadripuram Educational Trust
SIMS BANGALORE
Seshadripuram Educational Trust
SIMS BANGALORE
Seshadripuram Institute of Management Studies No. 26, Yelahanka New Town, Bengaluru-560064 Tel: +91 80 2295 5371 Fax: +91 80 2856 6944 Email: info@simsblr.ac.in www.simsblr.ac.in
Seshadripuram Institute of Management Studies
Principal's Message A Brief Report on Orientation Programme 2011 Batch
Management as a career option is beckoning more young people today than ever before: thanks to widening avenues of managerial jobs. More opportunities for professional fulfillment too are on the horizon for the future manager. However, a salient aspect of managerial aspiration is often overlooked: it is easy to take for granted that a MBA degree alone will guarantee a promising career. In the days to come, the profession of management calls for creativity and uniqueness. The need of the hour is creative, thinking managers, who are capable of challenging the old ways of functioning, who have the grit to try out new ideas. It is the motivation and effort to produce new ideas. It is a mix of motivation, time, effort and skill.
going to be a winning team leader. And the crucial test is going to be how best a manager can motivate a team.
Gone are the days when a postgraduate management degree was the be all and end-all for a successful career. But not any more: academic qualifications alone are no longer a passport to success. Then, what do we need for a rewarding career? Globalization being the buzz word today, one can never overestimate the need for global exposure for the management student and practitioner. Exposure to the global business scenario is a must. Also, soft skills, computational skills, communication, presentation and motivation skills are essential. But skills, like habits, are not taught, but caught.
We, at SIMS, are committed to equip you, the MBA aspirants, for a rewarding career. It is your privilege to study here and our mission is to give you the best in terms of global exposure, skills and erudition in this invigorating ambience, With 70 years of tradition, with world class infrastructure and committed staff, all that matters is your reciprocation, your professionalism, your yearning to keep abreast of global developments, your readiness to adapt yourselves to and gear up to the rigors of this professional course.
A solid grounding in economics is yet another sine qua non for the potential manager. Hasn't many a management venture floundered on the rock of faulty economic planning?
Spandana is your platform for creative and critical written communication. Through its pages, we reach out to you, and we invite you to respond. Spandana is where minds meet, react and interact. It is your rostrum, your medium of self-expression. May your voices be heard through Spandana. I wish you success in your course and in your life.
Challenging times are ahead for captains of economy and business. Managers' roles, and the demands and expectations from them, are changing too. Who is today's manager? In the days to come, a successful manager is
Mr. Sandeep Dhar, CEO, TESCO HSC Delivering the inaugural address.
Dr. M. Prakash Principal
Director's Message I am, indeed, very happy that SIMS is bringing out SPANDANA 2011 aiming at developing among the students , the regular habit of reading, writing and talking. This is being done by the faculty by having regular 'Booktalk' and 'literature surveys'. To 'vibrate to global challenges', it is necessary that the students should know the changes taking place in the global business environment. The global environment is changing every minute. What was considered earlier to be the best strategy for success is no more the best strategy. Earlier, quality was considered the fundamental source of competitive advantage. Now capacity to create fundamentally new products and businesses are considered to be the factors which impact competitive advantage. Tomorrow’s competitive advantages are necessarily different from today's. This fact students must keep in mind and prepare to be innovators. To be innovators, the students are required to have exposure to various facets of business world. They are required to acquire knowledge through observation, reading of business literature, listening and talking to experts and putting in writing what they listen to, and read so that the ideas are concretized. The process of learning, adding value and value creation is not a one time activity. It is a regular and continuous process. I think, there is need to remember and recollect an African proverb of the “lion and gazelle”. Every morning in Africa, a gazelle wakes up. It knows it must run faster than the fastest lion or it will be killed. Every morning a lion wakes up. It knows it must outrun the slowest gazelle or it will starve to death. It does not matter if you are a lion or a gazelle. When the sun comes up, you better be running. This proverb clearly indicates that “if you want to be where you are, you must run faster”. It means, there is a need to be always on our
Inauguration of MBA 2011 Batch
toes to take up any challenges. Taking up a challenge and succeeding in it requires constant updating of knowledge and to be fully equipped. SPANDANA is a humble attempt in this direction in making students to read, write and talk regularly. During April 2011, SIMS conducted a two day intercollegiate management fest Abhi-SPANDANA. Twenty two teams from different B-Schools participated in the programme. This prorgramme created 'Visibility' to SIMS. The management fest helped the students to work as leaders, team members and helped them to learn the art of skillful execution of the programmes. I must place on record, the excellent job done by the editorial board of SPANDANA. All the members of the editorial board deserve appreciation and compliments for their yeomen service. I also take this opportunity to thank all the students and teachers for contributing articles for SPANDANA 2011. With best wishes,
Dr. D.K. Murthy Director
Dr. P. M. Radhakrishna Director- Technical, Provimi India being felicitated by Sri A.R. Sreenivasaiah Hon. Joint Secretary, SET
Editorial Note It is a delight to see the latest avatar of SIMS's mouthpiece. And the pleasure is all the greater at the thought that it is shared by you. You have a right to rejoice because you have given shape to it. Over the years, what began as a broadsheet has grown and come of age.
MBA freshers performing the Ice Breaking session
SIMS Gathering at MBA Inauguration
Orientation programme for the first semester MBA batch 2011-13 was conducted from 10th October 2011 to 15th October 2011. This programme started with the inauguration for which all the students of first semester, their parents and the students of third semester were invited. Sri. A.R. Sreenivasaiah, Hon.Joint Secretary of SET presided over the function. Inaugural address was delivered by Mr.Sandeep Dhar, CEO, TESCO, and HSC. Dr. D. K. Murthy, Director, SIMS, introduced the chief guests and welcomed the august gathering. In his address he mentioned that skill is the universal currency and students need to work towards building their skill-sets. This was followed by the lighting of the lamp by the dignitaries.
The third day session started with a guest lecture by Dr. Ali Khwaja, Banjara Academy. He spoke on “Path to excellence” to the students. In his lecture he covered the importance of human skills over other skills, lateral thinking, and setting achievable and realistic goals. It was full of humorous examples and resulted in active participation from the audience. The second session was addressed by Mr. Sharath Chandra, Senior Consultant, IBM. He started his session with a role play, where the students were divided into different departments of Maruti Suzuki. This made the students realize the meaning of SAP, its functions and its importance. All the students were actively involved in this session. Mr. Zane Cuxton, CEO, Academy for Skills and Knowledge conducted a workshop on Business Communication in the post lunch session. It was this session which made the students to come out of the shell and get the maximum input. He made every student to come on the centre stage and discuss their strengths and weaknesses. It was a highly impactful session and resulted in excellent feedback by the students.
Mr.Sandeep Dhar addressed the students on the secrets of success in the corporate world. He mentioned that rather than working smart, one has to work hard to climb the corporate ladder. It was a motivating talk for the students as the speaker shared his own journey of becoming a CEO at such a young age. He concluded his address by emphasizing that, acquiring skills and knowledge and avoiding arrogance is the mantra of corporate success . Chief Guest, Dr.P.M.Radhakrishna, Director – Technical, Provimi India shared three interesting success stories with the students, one of Dr. Sudarshan (healthcare industry), Mr. Sharath Babu ( Food Industry) and Mr. Arvind (Arvind Eye Hospital). He also emphasized that in order to become a successful business man, one has to identify the need of the customers, add value to the products, and most importantly set the right price for the products. He showed the students the various business opportunities available in the current world. Sri. A.R. Sreenivasaiah, Hon. Joint Secretary of SET, in his presidential address, motivated the students to have a proper vision in their lives, to aim high and develop solid communication skill. He introduced the Seshadripuram group of institutions to the gathering.
The fourth day's programme started with a guest lecture by Prof. Sudhakar from Sikkim Manipal University. He addressed the students on Career Planning. He mentioned that, career gives an identity to a person and career decision making is a life long process and one should take sufficient time to make the right choice. He motivated the students by adding that, desire, commitment, responsibility, hard work and persistence would take anyone towards success. The second session was a workshop on Image Building and Self Management conducted by Mr. Rajesh, iExpert Consulting. It was a real ice breaker for the students as they shrugged their fear and came out confident. It imbibed lot of energy and confidence in the students. The post lunch session was a workshop by Ms. Triveni Rabindraraj, i Expert Consulting. She conducted a workshop on Communication and attitude formation. It was an interactive session filled with lots of games and video clippings. The students' feedback suggests that it was highly impactful.
The formal session got over at 11.15am; this was followed by the ICE-Breaker session. Mr. Biraj Ameet Anil, Lecturer, SIMS, was the faculty Coordinator for this session. The MBA 2011-13 batch students were divided into groups and were given the task of introducing themselves in a unique way. It was organized by the III Semester students and they did a wonderful job. Rtd. Lt. Gen. Sampath Kumar addressed the students on “Success, Happiness, Leadership and Attitude.” He shared his life experiences with the students in a humorous way. His experience as an army officer was the real success story for motivating the students.
The fifth day's programme started with a workshop by Ms. Chetana Shridhar, Mpower Consulting. She addressed the students on personality development. She made the students open up with various games and exercises. The Second and the post lunch session on this day was taken by Mr. Narayan Raghavan, CEO, Athiya Consultancy. In his first session he conducted a workshop on goal setting. Students were thrilled by this session. It made them to introspect and see where they are now and where they are supposed to reach. In the post lunch session, Mr. Narayan Raghavan conducted a workshop on Decision making. It was full of motivating clippings, exercises and games. Students enjoyed both of his sessions and have given excellent feedback.
The second day's programme started with a guest lecture by Mr. Raghottama Rao, CEO, Manas Consulting. He spoke on Vivekananda as a Born Leader. He gave the abbreviation of leader as L- Learner, E-Empathetic, A-Able, DDisciplined, E-Enthusiastic, and R-Resourceful. The second session was a guest lecture by Mr. Nagendra Rao, CEO, and Talent serve. He unveiled the present HR Scenario. Many examples from corporate regarding the bench marking HR practices, Johari's Window, Blue Ocean Strategy, Employer Branding, Employee engagement were given by him. Mr. Satyanarayana Swami, from Learn and Unlearn conducted a workshop for I semester students exclusively in the afternoon on leadership. The student feedback suggests that the video clippings used were very impactful.
The sixth day's orientation programme started with a workshop on corporate competencies by Mr. Mahesh, TRG Consultancy. It made the students recognize the brand in them. It was a lively session with the case studies of Dhoni, Sreesanth and Steve Jobs. The Valedictory session was fully arranged by the first semester students. Ten students came on the dias, gave feedback and shared their experiences. They said that all the programmes were very interesting and useful. They conduced it exceedingly well which spoke on the effectiveness of the orientation programme conducted for the entire week.
The saving grace of the publication, however, is here to stay: 'Booktalk' has come to be its fixture, its defining hallmark. Booktalk features your take on recently published classics; this feature proves, in the process, that perceptive reading is not yet a thing of the past. SIMSites read widely and critically and they can talk intelligently about what they read; this fact is now beyond doubt. Also, it shows that they have understood the wisdom of Francis Bacon's words: • Some books are to be tasted, some to be swallowed, and some few to be chewed and digested. • Reading makes a full man, conference a ready man, and writing an exact man. Thanks to the magnanimity of the SIMS management, the concern of Dr. M Prakash (Principal) and Dr. D K Murthy (Director), now Spandana has more pages for your contributions, a wider canvas for your self-expression, greater scope for fine-tuning your written communicative competence, fluency and accuracy. That is because, they and the rest of your staff, know that your course, in itself, has very little scope for the practice of writing. They realize, besides, that the value of the writing skill as a proof of correctness, as a way of improving the choice of words, and establishing correct usage, are grossly underestimated. Rightly has it been recommended to you that you write about what you read, critically evaluate books which have relevance to
Prof. PV MATHEW your profession: management. The whole exercise is predicated on the principle that the wise choice of subject is the key to writing success. What is more, writing about your chosen field will stimulate you into thinking. A wannabe writer would do well to remember that every piece of writing has room for improvement. Some probing, analytical questions like these will show how you can improve upon your effort. • Are there too few ideas here? • Are the ideas too general and sweeping? • Are they forged through logical connections and sequences? • Are grammatical correctness, continuity and clarity of language taken care of? This apart, we need to constantly work our way towards evolving a unique personal style of our own, because, as it has been wisely said:”Le style c'est l'homme meme” (the style is the man). Thankfully, for the students of SIMS, there is ample scope for growing as writers, evolving individual styles, in the pages of SPANDANA.
Editorial Board Dr. M. Prakash Principal
……………………………………… in this issue Conflict Management in Teams How Sony became successful? ? FDI in Multi-brand retailing in India ? MBA and being successful ? Booktalk ? Abhispandana ? Attitude ? Student's social responsibility ? Microfinancing ?
Dr. D. K. Murthy Director Prof. P. V. Mathew Chief Editor Prof. Akhila R. Udupa Editor
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Dr. M. R. Bhavani Prof. Janardhan Shetty Prof. Vatsala G. Prof. Murali Krishna Prof. Biraj Ameet Anil
Thank you, Mr. Syed Eliyas Ahmed, Mr. John Aaron, Ms Lekha & Ms. Akshata. You co-ordinated with Prof. Akhila R. Udupa in making this magazine beautiful and memorable forever. Our cover features Planet Earth opening up to a new world of innovations, ideas and challenges in management and business administration. Students of SIMS are shown sharing these insights, ‘vibrating to global challenges’ The tree is a recurring image in Indian tradition symbolizing altruism. Besides, the tree motif has an added dimension today: our place in nature and our environmental concern.
Abhi – SPANDANA 2011
Industrial Visit 2011-2012
Industrial Visit 2011-2012 to Pune, Mumbai, Mahabaleshwar and Goa Inauguration of Abhi-Spandana 2011,
Sri N.R Pandith Aradhya, Hon . President , SET delivering the Presidential address.
The II sem MBA students –ninety-eight of them, accompanied by members of the faculty- embarked on a tour to Pune, Mumbai, Mahabaleshwar and Goa which gave them a good deal of industry exposure – and a lot of fun , too. Here is a brief line up of the sojourn: 19th June; 3:00 pm : students assembled in the city cantonment station at 5:00 pm; they started their journey by train. 20th June; 11:00am : reached Pune and reached resort by bus. Then after having lunch students proceeded for Pune sightseeing. 21st June;: 8:00am : the students proceeded to FORBES MARSHALL factory. 9:00am reached FORBES MARSHALL, they went around the company, guided by an executive, and this was followed by a presentation by the HR executive. 21st June; 12:00pm : left for Mahabaleshwar; then visited Seven Point and Mapro a confectionery company at Mahabaleshwar. 22nd June; 11:30am : left for Mumbai by bus, reached Bandra around 11.00 pm. 23rd June; 10:00am : the students proceeded to Mumbai sightseeing to Siddhi Vinayak Mandir, Nariman house tourist point; 5:00pm students were allowed for shopping in Mumbai Fashion Street; 8:30pm left for Goa by train. 24th June; 9:00am : reached Goa and stayed at a “Hotel Colva Kinara” resort. The stay was enjoyable. In the afternoon students went to colva beach a source of great fun, at 8:30pm students had an enjoyable boat cruise, dancing and singing.
SET addressing the gathering.
Dr. Pallav Bandophadyay, Director, HR, Citrics India Pvt Ltd. Addressing the Gathering.
Mr. Aman Kumar Singhal, Associate VP & Head, Process group, Infosys technologies. Delivering the inaugural address.
Sri S.R. Vishwanath, MLA, Yelahanka Constitutiency, releasing Swayam Krushi Audio at Abhi-Spandana valedictory session.
Dr. Wooday P Krishna. Hon Gen. Secretary,
With the success of Management fest Abhi spandana 2010, the institute again conducted the fest Abhi Spandana 2011 on 29th and 30th of April 2011, under the guidance of the Director Dr. D.K.Murthy and Principal, Dr. M. Prakash. The fest would not have been conducted had it not been for the committed and dedicated work of the faculty of SIMS and all the students' active participation. The organising secretary chosen was prof. Murali Krishna. The student organising secretary was Mr Nelkudri Vinayak & Mr Sunil Kumar P. Joint secretaries were Mr. Kiran Kumar D. M. Mr. Manjunath R. Mr. Nitesh Melani and Mr. Sunil S. the total expenditure of the fest was managed through the sponsorships got by the students. The total number of stalls put on were 16, with stage decoration and microphone system being sponsored.
The fest was inaugurated by Mr. Aman Kumar Singhal, Associate VP & Head, Process group, Infosys technologies. Dr. Pallav Bandophadyay, Director HR, Citrics India Pvt Ltd was the chief guest. The students approached various management institutions in Bangalore city for their participation. Total number of 26 teams came from various colleges for the 2day fest. Some of them are SJCIT, Nagarjuna College, M.P Birla Institute, Presidency college, NMIIMS etc The fest included six events viz, Best Manager, Crisis Management, Business Quiz, New product launch, Dalal Street, Group Discussion, which were spread across the two days involving prelims and final rounds. The cultural events like fusion dance and corporate fashion show were conducted. Keeping up to the schedule was one of the most appreciated facts about Abhi Spandana. I and II prizes were given to the winners of events and overall championship was won by M.S. Ramiah Arts and Science College.
25th June;10:00am : the students went on an industrial visit. At 6:30pm we came to the end of the trip, had immense sense of satisfaction that they learnt much and enjoyed it too.
Report Of The Inter - SET Quiz Competition Held From 14th to 16th March
Dr. D.K. Murthy, Director, SIMS distributing the prizes for quiz winners
Quiz Master posing a question to audience
As a part of SIMS Outreach Programme, we conducted a General Quiz programme. The Quiz was conducted as a Graduate level Inter-SET competition. Students of first, second and third years' B.Com, BBM, B.Sc, BCA and BA courses participated in the event. The preliminary round was held between 14th and 15th March 2012; and the finals were slated on the 16th March, 2012. We covered 4 campuses – Yelahanka, Kengeri, Magadi and the Main Campus.
We received excellent response; the total number of participants for the Preliminary Round was: • Seshadripuram Main College: 21 teams • Seshadripuram Academy for Business Studies: 60 teams • Seshadripuram College for Commerce and Management: 65 teams • Seshadripuram First Grade College, Yelahanka: 75 teams Out of these 500 students, 50 students came to the final round and all of them were invited to SIMS, Yelahanka. They were taken around the campus and they had interactions with students of SIMS. Seshadripuram Main College team won the event and Seshadripuram First Grade college Yelahanka students were runners up . The winners were given away a cash prize of Rupees three thousand and runners were given a cash prize of rupees two thousand.
Guest Lectures by Eminent Personalities during 2011-2012 01/12/2011
Prof. Geoff Wills (Professor, University of Central Oklahoma)
10/12/2011
Mr. Jonathan Utarid (SAP Head)
12/11/2011 12/11/2011
G.S. Gundu Rao (President, Consumer Care Society) Ravindranath Guru (Secretary, Consumer Care Society)
Supply Chain Management Six sigma quality initiative for achieving world class performance Telecom Consumer Awareness Workshop Measures taken by TRAI to protect consumers interest and regulating quality of service
15/11/2011
Sri Ananda Krishna Das Swamiji (Preacher, ISKCON)
The art of mind control
18/11/2011
Mr. V. Narayanan (Strategy Consultant)
Morphing from college life to professional life – the challenges.
18/11/2011 11/11/2011 11/11/2011 4/11/2011
Mr. C. Sridhar (Senior General manager, The Hindu) Mr. Shailesh. S. (Senior soft skills trainer,Troika)
Importance of Business Daily for MBA students
Mr. James Williams (Head of soft skills, Troika Learning Solutions) Mr. Srinivas V. (Director, Teampower Consulting)
Understanding the foreign culture for International Business
Importance of soft skills for MBA's
Realising your dreams
Dr. Lakshmi Iyer (Coordinator, Corporate Wellness, SAAOL Heart Institute)
How to stay protected form heart diseases
14/10/2011
Mr. Narayan Raghavan ( CEO Athiya Consultancy)
Workshop on goal setting.
14/10/2011
Ms. Chetana Shridar (Mpower Consulting)
Workshop on personality development
13/10/2011
Ms. Uma Sudheendra (corporate trainer)
Workshop on attitude formaition
13/10/2011
Mr.Rajesh (corporate trainer)
Image building and self-Management
13/10/2011
Prof. Sudhakar(Sikkim Manipal University)
Career plannings
12/10/2011
Mr. Zane Cuxton(CEO, Academy for skills and knowledge)
Workshop on Business Communication.
12/10/2011
Mr. Sharath Chandra (Senior consultant IBM)
28/10/2011
12/10/2011 11/10/2011 11/10/2011 11/10/2011 10/10/2011 1/10/2011 14/5/2011
Dr. Ali Khwaja (Banjara Academy.) Mr. R Sathyanarayana Swamy (CEO, Learn and Unlearn.) Mr. Nagendra Rao (CEO, Rao consultancy, IBM) Mr. Raghottama Rao ( CEO, Manas Consulting) Lt.Gen.Sampath Kumar (PVSM, AVSM, VSM) Retd Mr. Krishna Kishore (VP, HR, Aditya Birla Minac) Mr. Suhas Gopinath (Chairman and CEO, Globals Inc.)
Thinking Without Thinking
SAP in marketing. Emotional intelligence. Workshop on Leadership Current trends in HRM Vivekananda's thoughts in management Attitude Challenges in recruitment Urge for Entrepreneuring
K.Roopa Madhuri
Malcolm Gladwell Malcolm Gladwell has emerged in the 2000s as one of the most influential figures in American letters. Extending the trademark style that he developed in 2000's “The Tipping Point,” Gladwell's research in 2005's “Blink spans” many different disciplines and areas of study in a dazzlingly comprehensive analysis of the mechanisms and processes that underlie our ability to make decisions rapidly. He illustrates that very accurate decisions can be made rapidly, that our initial, intuitive response to a person, object, or event -- the one that transpires in the first few milliseconds of our exposure to it -- is often the one that proves to be correct and he shows this with various case studies and anecdotes This ability is predicated upon the process that Gladwell terms "thin slicing." examine a situation and skim all of the information that is necessary to make a correct decision and plot a course of action almost instantaneously. The most accurate "thin slices" are often those that involve our assessment of the emotional or mental states of others. INTRODUCTION-The Statue that Didn't Look Right : Gladwell begins with an account designed to illustrate the way our instantaneous reactions to people, objects, and problems are often the most accurate responses . His story relates the details surrounding the acquisition of a particular type of statue called a kouros by the J. Paul Getty Museum in Los Angeles. As is standard, the museum initiated an investigation into the metal work statue, seeking to validate its authenticity.Preliminary scientific analysis of the piece seemed to corroborate its ancient origins, and the sheaf of documentation the dealer provided to the museum offered a convincing account of its ownership throughout most of the twentieth century. The Theory of Thin Slices: How A Little Bit of Knowledge Goes a Long Way In the beginning, the author introduces the concept of the "thin slice," - the way that our unconscious minds can make what are in many cases highly accurate assessments in a very short amount of time, often a matter of seconds. He discusses the example of the work of a research team assessing interaction patterns and long-term compatibility in married couples.The research team that Gladwell observed would videotape married couples having a discussion about a seemingly innocuous subject, such as the idea of acquiring a family pet, nothing more than playful banter and typical conversation. The Warren Harding Error: Why We Fall for Tall, Dark, and Handsome Men : In this chapter, Gladwell considers the impact of what he calls the Warren Harding error on the accuracy of our ability to make rapid judgments. He asserts that when we allow our unconscious prejudices and biases to
II Sem MBA
circumvent the "blink" process, our judgments are often inaccurate. Paul Van Riper's Big Victory : Creating Structure for Spontaneity In this chapter, Gladwell outlines another type of problem that can hamper our ability to make accurate decisions -- too much information. He describes this point using many examples like emergency room triage, improvisational comedy performances, and military war games. He explains that the consideration of too much data can sidetrack decision makers and mire them in a state of confusion. The case of Paul Van Riper : Gladwell recounts the unorthodox military philosophy of one of the country's most decorated Marine officers. While in retirement, Van Riper was asked to play the role of a rogue Middle Eastern leader in a military exercise that served as part of the preparations for the 2003 invasion of the Persian Gulf. The opposing team -- representing the U.S. forces -- came to the exercise with a plethora of data, often interrupting the fighting to engage in long sessions of analysis. Van Riper's team had used this approach to achieve a position of strategic advantage over the U.S. team.Gladwell contends, the best decisions are made by relying on only a few pieces of high-quality information. Kenna's Dilemma : The Right -- and Wrong -- Way to Ask People What They Want This chapter focuses on another part of the decision-making process -- the context in which a judgment is made. His chief contention is that in many situations, people will make the wrong snap judgment if they are being asked to decide something that is outside of their range of knowledge. Gladwell demonstrates that removing a problem from its normal context makes it very difficult for people to make accurate decisions. He argues that focus groups often fail to return accurate assessments because they both stretch the limits of the participants' expertise and remove the product assessment decision from the normal context in which it would be made. Seven Seconds in the Bronx: The Delicate Art of Mind Reading Negative outcomes can occur when a series of erroneous judgments are made in rapid succession. The author uses the killing of immigrant Amadou Diallo at the hands of NYPD officers as a case study in the way that misjudgments can snowball. The Author notes that several researchers and experts have undertaken intense, sustained studies of the vagaries of human facial expressions. They have been able to demonstrate a heightened level of perception and insight about the interior emotions and thought processes of other people.
Everyone knows that innovation is a core business necessity. Companies that do not innovate, die. This is no news. - Henry Chesbrough
How To Be Better At Managing Change
So You Want To Be An Entrepreneur?
Anil kumar r IV Sem, MBA
JON GILLESPIE-BROWN is a published Author, Lecturer, Founder/CEO and Mentor on Entrepreneurship. He currently mentors at Stanford, UC Berkeley and the London Business School. Background of the author Author Jon Gillspie Brown is from a poor background. His father worked for two companies all his life and his expectation was that his son would pursue science or something equally 'credible'. At the same time the author was not expected to waste his brain in business start- ups. Mr. Jon had a habit of reading books. One book “ How to win friends and influence people ” which had a profound effect on the author gave a huge amount of confidence, it also sowed the seed of a burning entrepreneurial ambition. With the help of this book the author found new confidence which grew steadily until he started his new venture at the age of eighteen. “ SO YOU WANT TO BE AN ENTREPRENEUR? “ has grown out of his own experience” Under the head of What's life like an entrepreneur the author Jon-Gillespie has shared some of his views about entrepreneuring. The author has compared the entrepreneurs, to a married life. Because running a successful business takes just the same depth of commitment and desire The book is developed to guide those “YOUNG TURKS” who have the idea to start up their new VENTURE.The book was designed as a series of mentoring sessions, There are EIGHT(8) mentoring sessions. It includes:1. Introduction to the entrepreneurship-This gives the introduction, traits and ten ways to answer a big questiion about becoming an entrepreneur,and research into entrepreneur. 2. Entrepreneurs uncovered - This speaks about what makes people to become an entrepreneur and top 10 myths of entrepreneur. 3. Entrepreneurial life style: This speaks about how entrepreneurship is like human life . 4. Deconstructing you (part-1) - It tells about proper utilisations of personal inventory, audit of business history, managament skills and personality evaluation,health position, about family network and interest in life. Under the same session and topic ‘Taking your personal inventory and assessing your current resource’ - the author says anyone around the globe can start business but a small percentage of those attempting will suceed because their accessing capability between their personal inventory and current resources is very less. Under the topic, ‘Audit your business history and abilities’- the author adds that those who have idea to start up own venture should go in depth and conduct practical study about their idea to reduce the risk after starting the company. 5. Deconstructing you (part-2) - It tells about personal motivation, story of finding personal mission and identifying personal criteria which will fit for a new venture. Here the author shares a small and interesting story about an 18 year old boy who achieved his dream. There was a boy who was working
under a 65 years old carpenter for daily pay. One fine day he quit his job and finds his own job for his livelihood . After a few years he became a rich man in the society by becoming a successful entrepreneur through his HARD WORK and DEDICATION. 6. Is it really for me- This session explains how to come out of the fear of starting business,student entrepreneur,geriatrepreneur, 10 excuses for not becoming an entrepreneur and courage to go for it. Mr. Jon has covered various topics regarding entrepreneurs problems like- Getting over the fear of starting out, Any one can become an entrepreneur at any life stage. 7. Make sure you take your loved ones- This mentoring session explains about achieving life balance, getting the life balance right at home, friends and family and circle of influence. Here, he speaks about how an entrepreneur should - achieve life balance, maintaining stability with family and friends, and having good track and bond with circle of influence. 8. Are you ready to be an entrepreneur- The last and final session of the book helps the readers to answer the ultimate big question? In the head Getting over the fear of starting out . The author says that anyone can start up his own venture but he/she should have strong will power. And if anything is stopping them from becoming an entrepreneur, the author suggests to all those persons to try to analyse and interpret his/her weakness and problems to overcome from the stating up his/her new venture. The book has been designed as a series of mentoring sessions,carefully thought to make, think about, consider, and plan our life based on passion, ambitions, life phase, and resources. The ultimate vision of the book is that even if the reader will not become an entrepreneur, sure in his life he will be more focused and directed towards happiness and success after having read just the first few chapters. Under the head, Student Entrepreneur the author explains a ” 1997 gallup study”. This study states that every 7 out of 10 high school students say that they want to start their own business. The author says that starting and runnning a business when they are still in the school is a great oppourtunity to grow, learn, network and accumulate wealth and to learn beyond their studies. Great enterpreneur :- Is any person who starts his own venture when he is over 55 or after the retirement. Author Jon Gillespie says that after retirement people pass their half age and waste time in staying at home and travelling around globe with their savings. But some take the risk to start a new venture and strive hard with the experience they have and succeed in their entrepreneurial life. Author Jon Gillespie assures that after reading this book every reader will be capable to answer the big question CAN I BECOME AN ENTREPRENEUR?by accessing his/her inner personal inventory and current resource effeciently and effectively I specially extend my gratitude to the author JON GILLESPIE-BROWN who designed a beautifull book like “SO YOU WANT TO BE AN ENTREPRENEUR?”.
Sheshina Bhaskar IV Sem MBA
David Hussey is the former Managing Director of Harbridge Consulting Group Ltd. and former Vice President of the parent organization Harbridge House Inc. He is a prolific business writer and the author of numerous books, including, How to Manage Organizational Change. This book titled “How to be Better at Managing Change” emphasizes on how an organization can adjust to the changing conditions of the business environment. This book has six chapters. In the first chapter; Mr. Hussey explains in detail the factors which affect change. He lists them as, Competitors, Customers, Technology and Deregulation. It also discusses the importance of effective change management. In the second chapter the author discusses choosing the right level of participation to fit the requirements of the situation. To choose the degree of participation in implementing change, four things should be kept in mindCollaborative, Consultative, Directive and Coercive. The selection of an appropriate style for a given situation depends on three things. They are, nature of change, Urgency and Degree of resistance. There are 2 critical factors that influence the choice of management style. They are Incremental change and transformational or fundamental change. Later, Mr. Hussey describes the steps involved in effective change management. He lists them as follows : Assess the implications of the proposed change, Manage the change process and Know when to declare a halt to the change process. The next chapter deals with the implications of
Innovation is the specific instrument which helps in creating wealth. Innovations create a resource. There is no such thing as a resource until man finds a use for something in nature and endows it with economic value. Until then, every plant is a weed and every mineral just another rock. - Peter F. Drucker.
the change management situation. It includes - change decision, Tasks, People, Structure, Reward systems, Control systems, Decision processes, Culture and Information systems. Mr. Hussey takes up the major issue connected with change in the next chapter, that is dealing with resistance to change. Resistance emerges when there is a threat to something- individual values. The threat could be overcome by showing how the individual will benefit. The causes of resistance are- resentment at an imposed change, lack of trust in the leaders, belief that the change is wrong, personal animosity, serving their own ends. In the end of this chapter, he lists out the mechanism to reduce resistance to change through participation and communication. In the next chapter, the author deals with working through the change process. EASIER model is adopted to work through the change process. It stands forE - Envisioning A - Activating S - Supporting I - Installing E - Ensuring R - Recognizing Mr. Hussey concludes by mentioning that EASIER approach could be applied for bringing about a change in the organization.
Companies achieve competitive advantage through acts of innovation. The approach innovation in the broader sense includes both new technologies and new ways of doing things. - Michael Porter
Jack Welch;
Booktalk- Presentation by Students
Robert Heller has written the biographies of many business Gurus who have transformed the business world. One among them is the biography of Jack Welch, the CEO of General Electrics (G.E) .
A Booktalk, broadly speaking, is what is spoken with the intent to convince someone to read a book. Bootalks are conducted in a classroom setting for students. It is not a book review or a book report or a book analysis. The booktalker gives the audience a glimpse of the setting, the characters, and/or the major conflict without providing the resolution of denouement. Booktalks make listeners care enough about the content of the book to want to read it.
a Guru who transformed business
In this book, he has highlighted the principles and management skills followed and practiced by Welch to make G.E a widely known organization internationally. Welch's motto to progress in the corporate world was to be “Number One or Number Two”. Unless a company either led its market or was a good second or could rise to that position, Welch says the company should be closed or sold. In today's business, many adopt Welch’s practices such as “restructuring” to streamline costs, concentrating responsibility on subordinates. According to him, “To be vital, an organization has to repeat itself, start again, get new ideas, renew itself”. He proved that even giant companies can be renewed by management. According to Robert Heller, Welch strongly felt that there should be control over bureaucracy. He believed in minimalist form of management. He could not tolerate three defects i.e. slow decision making, blur responsibility and creating undoable jobs. Heller says Welch restlessly encouraged the new style managementtechniques in his managers as it is indispensable in a fast paced business world and are far better suited to developing the full strengths of an organization. Welch says that it is true that you risk failure when you take initiative. But one cannot become an efficient leader unless he/she is prepared for failure on the
Aishwarya T. II Sem M.B.A way to success. According to him, one must also work as the team member who gets maximum efforts out of his whole team. He also says that, the ultimate test of a leader is not what happens during his/her leadership but what follows after he/she has departed. Half-way through Welch's period in office, however, it became apparent that G.E's productive systems were defective in key respects. It noted that other successful companies had a different approach. After learning the secrets, G.E shifted from what was being done to how it was being done; in other words, it focused on how people produced, not how much.He says we need to encourage employees by giving rewards with training, promotion and stock options. He has adopted Six Sigma which he feels is highly educational and a huge force for cultural change in any organization. Lastly, he says that some people are born leaders, though anyone can succeed in his/her career by being ambitious, through SWOT analysis, having a vision about future, by increasing and practicing his/her ability which raises confidence, being prepared to take calculated risk and act accordingly , being active and proactive both mentally and physically. He says we should always admit our mistakes and learn never to repeat them i.e. self criticize, and encourage others to follow and help you, march ahead and take lead.
Why Booktalk? The purpose of a booktalk is to motivate listeners to foster good reading, writing and speaking skills by encouraging self-directed learning through reading. Booktalkers also try to incorporate learning opportunities following a book talk which include discussions topics, ideas for journals, papers, poems or other creative writing, panel discussions or presentation(Visually and/or Orally).
Booktalk by SIMS Students SIMS made a humble attempt in this venture- booktalk. Some students individually presented their talk before all the MBA students. Their presentations covered a brief about the author of the book, preface, and central theme of the book in brief; number of chapters and content of each chapter, anecdote, illustrations and examples given by the authors were quoted exhaustively.
Details of Booktalk “You can Win” by Mr. Shiv Khera, “Who moved my cheese” By Spencer Johnson, “So you want to be an entrepreneur by Jon Gillespie-Brown, “Thinking without thinking” by Malcolm Gladwell, “The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People” by Stephen R Covey, “The Selection Maze” by Tony Bray. “Biography of jack Welch” by Robert Heller were the books presented by students.
You Can Win
Who Moved My Cheese Loads of cheese and four characters going after it : this is the story of Who Moved My Cheese? The four characters are very cleverly named, (suggesting their attitudes and characteristics:) Sniff, Scurry, Hem and Haw. The first two are mice and the latter two are small people. They move around the maze for cheese to feed on. They also land at a cheese station full of cheese. So full, they think it is enough to last a life time. In life's way, suddenly all the cheese disappears from that station, leaving the four stunned. The reality is, it had been gradually decreasing, but they had failed to foresee it. How they react to this situation is the remaining part of the story; the best part of the story. Cheese, here, is a metaphor for the things we pursue in life: a job, a relationship, money, or anything for that matter. Cheese can even be an activity which we cannot do without doing. The disappearing cheese implies change. Change of a routine which hits us right in the face when we least expect it to.
Rashmi S. IV Sem M.B.A which we find ourselves most of the time? It might even be too late before the estimation and other careful planning are done. The hesitation to move on and the lame reasons we state in defense, are also brought out pretty well. The two little people, however, mope around, blaming someone for moving their cheese. They claim they don't deserve to be in such a situation because they worked hard through the maze to find that cheese. They are not prepared to look again for more, even though it is their only source of survival. At an instance, even after Haw overcame his fear, laughed at himself for being so foolish and moved on without Hem, Hem stays stubbornly put, insisting that someone will put his cheese back. Haw, on his way, scribbles on walls for Hem to know the way, just in case he changed his mind and decided to follow him. These scribblings are the goods the author wants to deliver.To make a long story short, (I know I could have done it in the first place, but still…)
Sniff and Scurry are mice with brains smaller than those of humans. Naturally, we tend to think they are less intelligent than human beings. But in reality, smaller brain implies lesser complexity; fewer rules to follow; faster decisions. Sniff is good at “sniffing out” cheese, and Scurry excels at “scurrying” after the cheese once he knows where it is. The two mice don't really think about things. They just react to them. They find cheese; they eat it. They don't find it; they go places, looking for it. Unlike us, they don't overanalyze and waste time doing paperback calculations. They don't plan. They act spontaneously . And most of the time, it is what works well. Sniff and Scurry are ready to handle the cheese crisis. They, without second thoughts, get back to looking for more.
Both, in this narration and in reality, the end of the story is always in favour of the daring, Sniff, Scurry and Haw. Ask yourself, “What would I do if I were not afraid?”, and get going, because a “good enough” solution to a problem is fine. Much better in fact than a “no-solution”. Even the best would be futile if it comes too late.
Hem and Haw, you could say, are a little bit too complicated than the simple mice. They can't help using their brains more because they have them. Hem, in particular, and as the name suggests, is someone who is afraid of change; One who cannot take a break from the routine. Is this not the situation in
In short, this book “Who moved my cheese?” is very much worth the read. This is not in any way an advertisement or a promotion for the book, though I wish it were. It is just to say, “Don't hesitate to laugh at your own folly and start doing what it takes.” Over-analysis is activity. It is analysis that is productivity.
Kavya. N.S II Sem MBA Mr. Shiv Khera is the founder of Qualified Learning Systems. He is an author, educator, business consultant and successful entrepreneur. He is a much sought after speaker. He inspires and encourages people. He has been successful in making many people realize their true potential. He has 30 years of Research undertaking and experience which have helped people on the path of personal growth and fulfillment. Mr. Shiv Khera is the author of 12 books including International bestseller “You Can Win” which has sold over 2 million copies in 16 languages. His other books are creating a new records. His trademark is- “Winners don't do different things, they do the things differently.” Mr. Shiv Khera gives good examples in this book to make us get proper understanding of our minds and habits. He says that “we are all born to lead successfull life but our conditioning lead us to failure”. Later, he gives the secrets of forming a good habit. He also says about GIGO principles that is Garbage in Garbage out. In the second chapter, he explains the difference between conscious and
subconscious mind. He adds that taking inputs from Auto – Suggestions and negative Auto- suggestions, can make us prepare for the subconscious mind. Mr. Shiv Khera says about utilization and 21 day formula to form positive habits. By applying the GIGO principle one can form good habits. They are, Negativity in: Negative out, Positivity in: Positivity out,Good in: Good out. In the next chapter, he discusses the concept of resistance to change .He says that the pleasure of continuity is greater than the pain. They may lack the desire to change, lack the discipline to change, lack the belief that they can change or lack the awareness for the need to change. Shiv Khera concludes by adding that, “the big reason for failure is the lack of vision or limited vision. We need to dream beyond what is possible. Everything that we see today was a dream before it became a reality. Live with enthusiasm, direction and a sense of purpose. Don't listen to living failures- they will give you faulty advice on how to succeed, instead get your advice from successful people”.
Baale Mane - A Token Of Social Responsibility Of SIMS Students Visit By Elite Group Baale mane (literally, “Girls Home”) at Gopalapura is a home for around 65 orphan girls between the age of eight and fifteen. It is situated on the outskirts of the city of Bangalore, India. It was founded in 2001 by PARASPARA Trust, an NGO dedicated to the eradication of the child labour system. At present, it is managed by The Baale Trust which provides shelter & a loving home for girl children. The girls in Baale Mane have been rescued from domestic service, found homeless in the streets by volunteers.
The Success Journey John Calvin Maxwell (born 1947) is an evangelical Christian author, speaker, and pastor who has written more than 60 books, primarily focusing on leadership. Titles include The 21 Irrefutable Laws of Leadership and The 21 Indispensable Qualities of a Leader: Becoming the Person Others Will Want to Follow. His books have sold more than nineteen million copies, with some on the New York Times Best Seller List, and translations in over fifty languages. John C. Maxwell was born in Garden City, Michigan in 1947. Maxwell followed his father into the ministry, completing a Bachelor's degree at Ohio Christian University in 1969, a Master of Divinity degree at Azusa Pacific University, and a Doctor of Ministry degree at Fuller Theological Seminary. He currently resides in South Florida with his wife, Margaret.
I. Right Picture of success & II. Right Principles for getting there.
In this book Dr. Maxwell has included “The Steps to take along your way” and has outlined what success is. THE SUCCESS JOURNEY discusses how the journey of success begins and how it sails towards the destination.
The Author says that the picture is not the same for all because we all are created differently as unique Individuals and it is also based on the principles that you need to change.
Dr. Maxwell , in his book has mentioned that it is difficult to define success. He also says if you don't know what success is, how will you ever achieve it? The author says, If you want to know what success is , then identify success as a journey ; then it is for everyone. In this book, he(author) gives the wrong and right picture of success. He gives an overview of how people think about success and how it is to be achieved or reached.
Therefore , Success is… I. Knowing your purpose. II. Growing to reach your maximum potential. III. Sowing seeds that benefit others.
The Costs of Social Action are Great; The Costs of Inaction, Immensurable: SIMS students visited Baale Mane on 13th November 2011. It is remembered by them as a memorable day. It is a pure case of Social Responsible activity of SIMS students. Their day began with the cake cutting session in the morning. Next day was children's day. So the students of SIMS wanted it to be memorable for Bale Mane children. Girls at Baale Mane were highly excited as they hadn't celebrated children's day in the recent past. In order to motivate & boost up the children, SIMS students conducted activities such as Mehendhi Competition, Drawing, Singing, Rangoli, Musical chair, Balancing the balloon & so on. The winners of every competition were
awarded with gifts as a token of appreciation. They distributed new clothes, books and stationery items to the girls out of their donations. They could see the happiness reflected in the girls' faces. After spending the whole day in such a fruitful manner, students of SIMS were filled with a sense of satisfaction. They felt proud for doing something to the needy. They felt great for being responsible citizens. This visit of SIMS students to Baale Mane was highly appreciated by the Director and faculty of SIMS.
Inauguration of Campus Interface Session by The HINDU Newspaper.
In THE WRONG PICTURE OF SUCCESS, the author says that people usually equate/relate success with achievement of some sort ; with arriving at a destination or attaining a goal. Here are several of the most common misconceptions about success WEALTH Here the author says that most common misunderstanding about success is that ; it's the same as having money. A lot of people believe that if they accumulate wealth ; they will be successful. But wealth does not bring contentment or success. A SPECIAL FEELING Another common misconception is that people think that they have achieved success when they feel successful or happy. But trying to feel successful is probably even more difficult than trying to become wealthy. Here , the author says that if you make happiness as your goal ; you are certainly bound to fail. This belief demonstrates that many people equate success with what they don't have. SPECIFIC WORTHWHILE POSSESSIONS The author says that Success will never come as a result of possessing something(which you wanted). Success cannot be attained or measured in that way , since it is temporary. POWER According to the author Power often gives the appearance of success , but even then ; it is also temporary.
Inauguration by Mr. V. Narayanan, Strategy Consultant & Mr. C Sreedhar, Regional Manager, The Hindu. The Hindu Newspaper has a long association with Seshadripuram Institute of Management Studies. On 18th Nov 2011, The Hindu conducted a campus interface session at SIMS. Mr. C. Sreedhar, Senior Regional Manager of The Hindu was the chief Guest. Mr. V. Narayanan, Strategy consultant Inaugurated the session. Mr. V. Narayanan addressed the students on “Morphing of College life to Professional life”. He gave a brief note on choosing the right career path on the basis of interest to step into the professional life. He also emphasized on the transitional mantra of developing the right attitude which is the key to success in both college and Professional life.
ACHIEVEMENT The author says that many people believe that if they can achieve something, i.e; attain a position ; accomplish a goal or have a relationship with the right person; they will be successful. But, simply achieving goals doesn't guarantee success or contentment. SUCCESS Isn't a list of goals to be checked off one after another . It is not reaching a destination . It is a Journey. If success is a Journey , then how shall we understand success ; What is THE RIGHT PICTURE OF SUCCESS . So, how do you get started on the success journey? What does it take to be successful? The Author says that two things are required.
B. L. Gowda II Sem MBA
KNOWING YOUR PURPOSE If you don't try actively to discover your purpose , you are likely to spend your life doing the wrong things(i.e; you might travel in a wrong way). The author says that you must know where you would like to go . Everyone has his own specific vocation(career or occupation) or mission in life . Each one of us has a purpose for which we are created . Our responsibility is to identify it and sail towards destination .So , for knowing your purpose ; You need to analyse your Dream because dream gives hope for the future and it also brings us power in the present. You have to act yourself into changing your attitude. GROWING TO YOUR MAXIMUM POTENTIAL The author says that, the only true measure of success is the ratio between what we might have been and what we have become . In other words , success comes as a result of growing to your potential. The author says that many people let everyone around them decide their agenda in life . As a result, they never really choose their purpose in life. The author has put forward four principles that put you on the road to growing toward your potential :I. Concentrate on the main goal. II. Concentrate on the continual improvement. III. Forget the Past. IV. Focus on the Future. SOWING SEEDS THAT BENEFIT OTHERS The author says that when you know your purpose in life and are growing to reach your maximum potential , you are well on your way to being a success. The author specifies that one more essential part of the success journey is : Helping others . Without that aspect , the journey can be a lonely and a shallow experience. It has been said that we make a living by what we get, but ; we make a life by what we give. All of us are born for a reason , but all of us don't discover it. Success in life has nothing to do with what you gain in life or accomplish for yourself . It is what you do for others. CONCLUSION The success journey will look the same for everyone because , the picture of success is different for every person . But the principles used to take the journey don't change. That's what the remainder of the book is about – The Principles that can help you work toward Knowing your purpose , Growing to your potential and sowing seeds that benefit others.
Living with Honor
Fresh Apples The original Apple I was only a circuit board with no case. Jobs pushed for an Apple II – the first-ever complete home computer. It was fully functional out of the box, and its expansion Slots made it flexible. Job was ruthless, manipulative, charismatic and utterly determined. Jobs refused to acknowledge his baby daughter, Lisa, and let her grow up in poverty. But he was dedicated to creating revolutionary products, and his fervor inspired his Apple the Company took off and it seemed he could do no wrong. By 24, he was a millionaire, and he was learning to behave and present himself like a polished businessman, at least in public.
By Shiv Khera Shiv Khera comes from a family of businessman who owned coal mines in Jharkhand. But due to nationalization of coal mines his grandfather lost the business and Shiv Khera left India to start life over. Later he landed in the USA. Over 20,000 people have attended and benefitted by his three day dynamic workshops internationally and around 1 million people have heard him as a key note speaker. Shiv Khera's Vision - to help people unlock their true potential and gain a winners edge through his value based programs and products. Mission- to help individuals and organization become more productive by building on attitude, leadership, motivation and values. “Living with Honor” book explains about values, consistency, character, honesty, ethics, conscience, loyalty, rationalization, mental toughness, courage, endurance, character, leadership gap, pride and humility, corruption, strength in unity, man of courage and vision. In this book, the writer tells us to identify values, which not only help decision making easier but make decisions that would give direction to the coming generations. Shiv Khera also describes the tools which are needed for honorable living and offers direction for living with pride. This also speaks about consistency which is firmness to develop good character which includes integrity, honesty, ethics, conscience, loyalty, mental toughness and courage. He says “A person feels complete, fulfilled and gratified which is the ultimate objective of an honorable person”. This book very systematically explains five steps to develop courage. One has to face up to reality, re-examine value system and take a stand, build character , build courage, practice small acts of courage , perfect practice leads to preparation. In the book, “Living with Honor”, Shiv Khera explains
Piyusha II Sem MBA each and every topic with very suitable examples and stories which would surely help reader to develop his behavior. This book also explains about reputation and character, where Shiv Khera says that character is about knowing who we are, reputation is what other people think of us. This book very finely explains about leadership, pseudo leaders, great leaders, sources of power for leaders. Shiv Khera says that leadership is about taking initiative and being accountable. This book also explains about humility, pride and vanity. Shiv Khera also explains about corruption, sources of corruption, causes of corruption, forms of corruption, how to fight against it. The book also speaks about teaching honor justice, honor above honors. This book emphasizes that, weakness in any area could disrupt living with respect and dignity. The author further makes a mention of the collective behavior of individuals which is called culture. In those cultures, trust and transparency lead to general well being of people. Shiv Khera finally concludes by saying that generally culture influences individual behavior.
i Con Steve Jobs Steven Jobs has always had charisma and inspirational talent, but his early career was marked by manipulative, dishonest, boorish behavior. Ever since he co-founded Apple Computer, Inc., Jobs has had a flair for attractive, Userfriendly industrial design and excellent user interfaces. Many of Jobs' blunders came from trusting his own instincts above everything else. Jobs' ventures after Apple were marked by product failures and enormous losses. Jobs' road back to success began when he let go of his obsession with hardware, and focused instead on software and content. As CEO, Jobs stuck with Pixar Animation Studios – pouring in millions of dollars for no return – until he and the studio became major forces in Hollywood . Jobs is the only CEO who mastered – and inspired – Apple's renegade culture. Combined, the iPod, iTunes and iTunes Music Store transformed the music industry. Under Jobs, Apple has positioned itself carefully for an assault on Microsoft's dominance in computers. “Flowering and Withering” Steve Jobs has always had charisma. In his early career as head of Apple Computer, Inc., some said that was all he had. But by the time he took the MacWorld Expo stage in January 2000 to announce that he was returning as Apple's permanent CEO, he was a changed man. Fifteen years of failure had humbled and humanized him. Even long estranged Apple co-founder Steve
Vinod Raj C. U. M. IV Sem MBA Wozniak was moved to tears by the sight of the man Jobs had become. Born in 1955, Jobs grew up in California, a wilful, free-spirited young loner with a penchant for trouble. In his high school years, he already was fascinated with electronics. In 1969, He met Wozniak, known as “Woz,” who was five years older and already electronics Whiz. Jobs attended college but soon dropped out. After months spent travelling India in rags, he returned to California and started a thriving business with Woz. They built and sold “blue boxes” they let users make long distance calls for free. In 1976, Jobs, then 21, and Wozniak started a new business to build computers for hobbyists. Jobs chose the name Apple Computer
But Apple's president and board avoided giving him full authority. He was digging his own corporate grave. The Apple III, which he supervised, never worked properly. He Dreamed of creating a business computer – his creation, not Woz's. The result was a Business-oriented computer that Jobs named Lisa, after his unacknowledged daughter. Jobs convinced Xerox to let them use the technology in exchange for an investment in Apple. The Lisa project got out of control, as too many features were added to the computer. Eventually, Jobs was forced off the project, but as consolation the company gave him the title of chairman of the board, though de facto he had little power. Nonetheless, Jobs made more than $200 million overnight with Apple's IPO in 1980. He set his sights on a Machine being launched by Jef Raskin: a small, inexpensive “appliance computer.” Jobs Seized control of the project, called Macintosh, and put most of Apple's best minds to work on it. About this time, IBM entered the personal computer business, legitimizing the industry. The lower price on its PC's made the $10,000 Lisa a clear fl op. Since Jobs Was not allowed to run Apple, he recruited Pepsi exec John Sculley, thinking (rightly) that he could push Sculley around. In 1984, the first Macintosh made its debut. It was cheaper than the Lisa, but Jobs had blundered: the closed box had no expansion slots and its limited memory made it impractical. The business world rejected it. His Mac team learned they'd been paid badly compared to the Lisa team and turned their backs on him. Only the old Apple II kept the company afloat. Woz publicly quit Apple and denounced its management. The board took the Macintosh Division away from Jobs and turned to Sculley, who insisted on full authority and got it. Jobs tried to launch a coup, but was caught and demoted. In 1985, he resigned from the company altogether. He was 30. The Next 15 years would be very humbling. Next and Pixar: Starting Up Again Determined to create great new hardware products, Jobs founded Next Computer. The Company made a splash with announcement after announcement, but it had a difficult time getting products to the marketplace. IBM approached Jobs about licensing the Next Operating system, but Jobs dragged out the talks and, by doing so, missed a chance to head off Windows and create the dominant PC operating system. Though it didn't find a market, like all Jobs' products, the Next “cube” PC had great industrial design. The seeds of Jobs' eventual triumph were planted almost by accident. A small group of computer graphics experts, led by Alvy Ray Smith and Ed Catmull, had gone to work For Star Wars film maker George Lucas. They eventually convinced Lucas that computer generated imagery (CGI) was viable for movie special effects. Lucas put them to work Designing dedicated graphics computers. John Lasseter, a terrific young animator who'd been a rising star at Disney, joined them and they hoped to make CGI animated films for Lucas. But Lucas, who was divorcing, needed cash for the settlement. He decided to sell the CGI unit, dubbed Pixar, for $30 million. When a friend told Jobs that Lucas' computer graphics unit was for sale, he visited the group and saw huge potential in what it was doing, just as he had at Xerox PARC. But
Jobs was bleeding cash and decided to play a waiting game with Lucas. Eventually, in 1986, he bought Pixar from Lucas for $10 million, which gave him 92% of its stock. Still eager to sell hardware, Jobs focused Pixar on building dedicated graphics computers, which didn't sell. Lasseter made a short film, Luxo Jr., which garnered an Academy Award nomination and displayed the potential of CGI animation. Jobs poured some $50 to $60 million of his personal fortune into Pixar, but it still lost money. Layoffs loomed. In the midst of a cash crunch, the Pixar team asked him to fund another short film, Tin Toy. Impressed by Lasseter's storyboards, Jobs gave the go-ahead. The film won the animated short film Oscar and proved to be the prototype for Pixar's first feature, Toy Story. Pixar finally began to build cash flow by selling RenderMan, a still popular software package that became a big money-maker and won a Sci-Tech Oscar. But the cash drain remained so severe that Jobs considered closing Pixar and Next. He laid off a third of Pixar's staff, sparing only the animation division. He had a bitter split with Alvy Ray Smith. But Disney studio chief Jeffrey Katzenberg, a fan of Lasseter's work, contacted Lasseter and offered to fund, promote and distribute a full-length animated feature. The offer saved Pixar. Jobs wrangled a three-picture deal, but Disney kept all the merchandising revenue. Meanwhile, Next progressed on the software front. Jobs decided to build an operating system around a “kernel” called “Mach” from Carnegie-Mellon University. But the company was struggling, even with a $100 million investment from Canon. Jobs had to shutter Next's hardware business. He was in trouble. His fortune was dwindling, Next was a shambles and Pixar was on the brink. To add to Jobs' troubles, Katzenberg had halted production on Toy Story. However, he started it up again when Pixar's writers wrote new scenes to cure his objections. Then Katzenberg left Disney, which had descended into management turmoil under CEO Michael Eisner. Jobs realized that Disney would make far more money from Toy Story than Pixar would, unless the fi lm was a $100 million smash. He considered selling the studio. Then Eisner announced that Toy Story, which he called, “both a spectacular movie and a loveable movie,” would be Disney's holiday 1995 release. Success seemed assured. Jobs' personal life also improved. He married, started a family and reconciled with Lisa, now a teenager. Meanwhile, Apple struggled under a series of CEOs who couldn't inspire the company's renegade engineers. It was losing money and becoming irrelevant. The last of these CEOs, Gil Amelio, reduced inventories and put the company on a solid financial footing, but its computers needed a new operating system. Jobs' “NextSTEP” proved to be exactly what Apple had to have. Apple purchased Next for $378 million and 1.5 million shares of Apple stock. Jobs soon regained control of Apple and became interim CEO. To stabilize the company, he made an essential but unpopular alliance with Microsoft. Soon the company returned to profitability, though much of the credit for that really lay with Amelio. Toy Story opened to glowing reviews and huge returns. Apple became profitable and Jobs became an icon. After Pixar's 1995 IPO, he was also a billionaire. He demanded a new Disney contract and got it, since Eisner feared Pixar would ally with Katzenberg, his former right-hand man who had now helped start Dream Works, a rival studio. Pixar became an equal partner with Disney. Pixar had been making Toy Story 2 as a direct-to videotape picture, but decided midstream that it didn't want to make an inferior product. It revamped Toy Story 2 into a full-fledged theatrical feature. Over the Next three years, Pixar's Next three films, A Bug's Life, Toy Story 2 and Monsters Inc. were huge hits. Jobs was now a movie mogul. At Apple, Jobs conceived the colourful, self-contained iMac, a return to the original “appliance computer” concept of the first Macintosh. This started a steady stream of
successful Apple products that often defied conventional wisdom and succeeded despite dubious reviews. Jobs was still a tough negotiator, especially in his dealings with Hollywood, but he was now a more reflective person, more willing to share credit. Family life had mellowed him. He was also more willing to see the world as it is, not as he wanted it to be, and that made him more open to working with others on new ventures. He had learned that his success had not come from hardware, or even software, but from content. The Tuneful Future Jobs turned his attention to music. A lifelong fan of the Beatles and Bob Dylan, he saw an opportunity to enter the digital sale and distribution of music. Apple acquired a software package called SoundJam from developer Casady & Greene, and turned it into iTunes, which immediately became the premier music software package. Jobs saw the potential in MP3 players. Again looking at an existing product, he formed an alliance with Portal Player to create a new music player: the iPod. When it was introduced in late 2001, critics said it was overpriced, but consumers ate it up. Finally Apple completed its music coup with the iTunes Music Store, which made music downloads legal, economical and simple. Apple soon
had more than 70% of the legal download market.
Subroto Bagchi grew up amidst what he calls the 'material simplicity' of rural and small-town Orissa, imbibing from his family a sense of contentment, constant wonder, connectedness to a larger whole and learning from unusual sources. From humble beginnings, he went on to achieve extraordinary professional success, eventually co-founding MindTree, one of India's most admired software services companies. The book is in three parts : Part I talks about his birth, childhood days , his first job as a clerk in Orissa government and then his first corporate job in DCM. He takes us through his wonderful journey of childhood which made him what he is today.
The etymology of business relates to the state of being busy either as an individual or society as a whole, doing commercially viable and profitable work. Owners engage in business administration either directly or indirectly through the employment of managers. Owner managers, or hired managers administer to three component resources that constitute the business' value or worth: financial resources, capital or tangible resources, and human resources. These resources are administered to at least five functional areas: legal contracting, manufacturing or service production, marketing, accounting, financing, and human resourcing
To start any business, a most important trait an entrepreneur has to have is “practical intelligence” or “reliable commonsense” than any MBA. MBA degree is needed only to get theoretical knowledge about the business and its management. Theoretical knowledge will be useful only when it is practiced practically when the business is undertaken, otherwise no businessmen can succeed in his business. So practical knowledge about market, HR, capitalisation, products, and production is very important to get succeed in one's business.
Vinuthana D II Sem MBA
“Go Kiss the World” were Subroto Bagchi's blind mother's last words to him. These words become the guiding principle of his life and that proved to be the inspiration of this book. It is an autobiography of Subroto Bagchi who is a well respected personality in Indian IT industry. He is one of the founders of MindTree.
Hundreds Of Businessmen Have Succeeded Without an MBA Degree But None Without Commonsense!
To start any business commonsense is more important than any degrees like an MBA! MBA holders who are not having practical knowledge about business can't succeed in business even though they are having MBA with them. Many businessmen have proved that MBA is not compulsory to succeed in business. Dhirajlal Hirachand Ambani is one among those businessmen who founded reliance industries (petrochemicals, communications, power and textiles conglomerate) and one of the three privately owned Indian companies in the future 500 and succeeded without an MBA. He started his business in 1950s with the strategy of “everyone has to work for me, if i earn one rupee, I will keep 10 paise of my profit, remaining 90 paise I will share with who works for me”. This strategy has been implemented in his business. Through this he has proved himself as a pillar of Indian economic growth and created plenty of job opportunities. He is the role model for all businessmen though he was not a MBA holder.
Go Kiss The World
In two years, Steve Jobs had reshaped the music industry. Jobs angled for an even more favourable Pixar deal from Disney. Eisner told the Disney board that Pixar's Next film, Finding Nemo, would fail. This infuriated Jobs. Then Nemo became a hit, strengthening Pixar's hand. Eisner was already facing a shareholder revolt at Disney and Jobs let it be known that he would never re-sign with Disney while Eisner was CEO. Negotiations broke off in January 2004 and Jobs announced Pixar would align with a different distributor. Pixar's Next project, The Incredibles, was another monster hit and won an Oscar. Pixar now had so much cash that it could self-finance its films.
Part II is about his career with many IT companies culminating with a 10 year stint in Wipro.
1. Nurture and cherish the talent in us. 2. The Power of resilience. It is not inherent competence but once 's resilience that decides who the winner is , particularly in the long run. 3. The key to happiness is not money. You can acquire any amount of material success you want ,but do not expect that to be the source of your happiness. 4.
Connect with people. When you get older , begin to reduce your work. Work less but do not give up work . its all in the mind and connect with people.
5. One must learn to forgive others and sometimes , forgive oneself. 6. There is purpose for every experience in life . It is preparing us for something great in future.
Part III deals with founding of MindTree and shares his views on leadership, management and life in general.
All the young professionals can imbibe these lessons in their life and can achieve success. The book emphasises on building a company with heart and soul and not by the hire and fire style of management so prevalent today. It even emphasises good leadership skills.
The book is subtitled "Life Lessons for the Young Professional" Sure enough it has a vast array of nuggets of author's experiences. Life lessons : these are some principles which author has learnt in his life which he has included in this book.
The Book is full of memorable quotes and lessons about displacement,progress,adversity, faith, grace, pressure, mentoring, memorability, future of desire and fate, mind games,Mid-life crisis, successes and failures of the life and times of Subroto Bagchi's life.
Chethana Shree.R II Sem MBA The important qualities which one must process to succeed in business are: 1. Always ready to take up risks. 2. Ability of proper time management. 3. Confidence in him/herself, his/her products or services. 4. Should have patience. 5. Knowledge about the market. 6.Knowledge about Competitors and competitors products 7.Always coming with the new innovation and compatible product. 8.Always have proper planning, organising and controlling. All MBA's cannot become Successful businessmen and those who have succeeded as businessmen have not done their MBA's. But being MBA students if we concentrate more on practical knowledge along with theoretical knowledge, definitely it leads to a great success in the business world.
Oh God! Give me the courage to change what I can; the serenity to accept what I cannot; and the wisdom to know and accept the difference - Swami Vivekananda
The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People
Conflict Management In Team
STEPHEN R COVEY EARNED BS IN BUSINESS ADMINISTRATION from THE UNIVERSITY OF UTAH, AN MBA from HARVARD UNIVERSITY and a DOCTOR OF RELIGIOUS EDUCATION from BRIGHAM UNIVERSITY.
In today's competitive and complex world, team oriented business is crucial because clashes of individuals within and across teams is the toughest challenge faced by the employers across organizations.
The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People, first published in 1989, is a selfhelp book written by Stephen R. Covey. It has sold more than 15 million copies in 38 languages since first publication, which was marked by the release of a 15th anniversary edition in 2004. Covey presents an approach to being effective in attaining goals by aligning oneself to what he calls "true north" principles of a character ethic that he presents as universal and timeless. Independence or Self-Mastery The First Three Habits surround moving from dependence to independence (i.e. self-mastery): • Habit 1: Be Proactive Take initiative in life by realizing that your decisions (and how they align with life's principles) are the primary determining factor for effectiveness in your life. Take responsibility for your choices and the subsequent consequences that follow. • Habit 2: Begin with the End in Mind Self-discover and clarify your deeply important character values and life goals. Envision the ideal characteristics for each of your various roles and relationships in life. •Habit 3: Put First Things First : Plan, prioritize, and execute your week's tasks based on importance rather than urgency. Evaluate whether your efforts exemplify your desired character values, propel you toward goals, and enrich the roles and relationships that were elaborated in Habit 2.
Ranjitha.G IV Sem MBA Interdependence The Next three have to do with Interdependence (i.e. working with others): •Habit 4: Think Win-Win Genuinely strive for mutually beneficial solutions or agreements in your relationships. Value and respect people by understanding a "win" for all is ultimately a better long-term resolution than if only one person in the situation had gotten his way. • Habit 5: Seek First to Understand, Then to be Understood Use empathetic listening to be genuinely influenced by a person, which compels them to reciprocate the listening and take an open mind to being influenced by you. This creates an atmosphere of caring, respect, and positive problem solving. • Habit 6: Synergize Combine the strengths of people through positive teamwork, so as to achieve goals no one person could have done alone. Get the best performance out of a group of people through encouraging meaningful contribution, and modelling inspirational and supportive leadership Self-Renewal The Last habit relates to self-rejuvenation: • Habit 7: Sharpen the Saw Balance and renew your resources, energy, and health to create a sustainable, long-term, effective lifestyle.
Tony Bray was a freelance training consultant with 20 years Line Management experience in a UK Company. He spent the last five years in the company's management college, where he played a leading role in training senior managers in the skills of Recruitment. Tony Bray's experience in the training field has been extensive. In addition to his work in selection and interviewing techniques, he trains managers in a wide variety of companies in a whole spectrum of management skills.
The selection Maze will help you to improve your ability to select winnerspeople who will make an immediate contribution to your winning team. It shows you how to: • Project a powerful image for your company • Defining the job and the ideal candidate • Identify the key qualities and skills you need • Sharpen your communication skills • Harness the power of non-verbal behavior • Plan and manage effective interviews, and • Make that difficult final decision easier.
Although teams may share common project objectives, they may have different internal goals that conflict with other teams. This could manifest in various forms like duplication of work, pushing work, taking decisions that impact other teams without consulting or communicating.
Krithika Raj II Sem MBA Cross functional teams instead of organising the project by teams along the lines of skill or department, the project manager may reorganise the project into cross functional teams derived from various departments delivering a common sub system. This would improve team work amongst the individuals as they now have to work and deliver as one team.
Conflict may not necessarily originate from conflicting goals, but may be related to the individuals involved. It could be due to personality clashes between certain individuals, thereby impacting the project work.
Co-located teams: The project manager should look at the possibility of locating the teams on the same floor space. With teams working in close proximity to each other, communication barriers are obliterated and there is greater team rapport.
Mutual trust is the key to minimising unhealthy conflict in a group, be it goal or personality related. To remove communication barriers and improve mutual trust, a manager may also look at the following ways of organising and locating the teams:
Although it may not be possible or essential to eliminate conflict altogether, the project manager should strive to minimise negative conflict and manage healthy conflict.And by doing this, one can evaluate better results over a period of time and keep the team highly motivated.
Do You Know About E.I? [Emotional Intelligence]
The Selection Maze
Selection Maze is a confusing network of intercommunicating paths or passages. Selection introduces you to the key steps and skills which will dramatically improve your success rate. Selection is primarily intended for line managers, for whom selecting staff may occupy a small percentage of their time. So welcome to The Selection Maze. Selecting the right people for your company is very similar to working through a Maze. It is a skill which all managers can learn.
When teams come together, conflict is almost inevitable. Conflict has the potential of bringing out the best from individuals and teams and helps in building rapport when it is directed towards the goal at hand. The concern is only when it starts damaging the team spirit and jeopardising the common goals. Therefore conflict needs to be properly identified, analysed and managed.To do so, one has to acknowledge the presence of conflict, and then look for root causes. Conflict can be due to misaligned goals or personality clashes. It is imperative to understand the nature of conflict to adopt a suitable approach towards managing it.
John Mayer, PhD was the first to propose the model of Emotional Intelligence. He defines emotional intelligence as a set of acquired skills, competence and some form of social intelligence. It is the capacity and the ability to receive and manage one’s own emotions and those of others and of groups. Most importantly it is the ability to restrain negative feelings such as anger or self doubt. Harish T.K. IV Sem MBA Organizational Excellence We conduct consulting engagements designed to assist organizations in accomplishing unprecedented levels of inspiration, effectiveness and excellence in fulfilling their purpose and potential. We are particularly effective in transforming "collections of people that happen to be working together" into "inspired teams, comprised of inspired team members, fulfilling on inspiring visions." Finding the right person for your job isn't easy. If it were we'd all be happy and businesses would be humming along contentedly without any conflict whatsoever because we'd all be living in the fantasy world as illustrated in the satirical movie, “The Stepford Wives”. So, we need to be honest here and figure out what you can realistically do to ensure you find the right person. What I am going to suggest may sound to some of you like it's too much work – but my years of experience have taught me that doing the work up front will save you ten-fold as you begin to move forward and people are indeed doing what it is you hired them to do.
People with high E.I are able to recognize feeling, which helps them to manage their emotions better and focus on confidence and congeniality (compatibility between individuals) . With right E.I, anyone can is able to enjoy excellent performance and success in any walk of life. It can be developed by anybody, at any time of life, no matter what the background. There is no doubt that high achievers and successful people, people with high motivation and persistence are people with high E.I. We all know about cognitive intelligence. What is more important at work and in life? High IQ or high E.I scores? It is Emotional Intelligence. Many organizations prefer people having a higher E.I than people having a high I.Q. Daniel Golem PhD, author of the book Working with Emotional Intelligence and an expert in the field of E.I, says “eighty percent of your success at work is based on your E.I, not your IQ”.
Nethravathi.G II Sem MBA I have good news for you, if you do not have high Emotional intelligence; you can gain it and learn it. High 'IQ' alone is not a very good predictor of job performance. If you want to know your EI score, you can test yourself online. If you just want to know more about yourself answer these questions. I can you express and control your feelings appropriately? Can you take responsibility for your Emotions, behaviors and actions? Can you listen to other people expressing their emotions and ideas? Can you easily handle stress and change? If your answer to any of these questions is “No”, there is room for improvement. Not only your Emotional Intelligence score can make your journey through life much easier but you will enjoy a better life.
Nothing Comes Easy It's kind of funny to keep watching people who want things to come easy to them in life. Many other people know of this tendency among human beings, so they keep selling them diet pills that let them eat whatever they want, job information that will make them rich with no effort, college "degrees" that require no study at all, and many other "quick" fixes forzz their problems, easy fulfillment of their desires. But over and over again these people who want the easy ways out are disappointed, for what they hoped and expected would help them simply has left them still with their problems and now with a little less money in their pockets and wallets. We've adopted the slogan "Nothing Comes Easy" for this year, mainly because we all knew that we would have a long and difficult road ahead of us-that is, if we wanted to accomplish anything significant. We definitely could have taken the easy road and doomed ourselves to a winless season, or we could have worked very hard to try to become more than anyone expected. And while we haven't come out as a Cinderella team that in the movies would win all of their games against much tougher teams, we have become a team that's extremely competitive, and that already has won more games than anyone expected us to. Saying that "nothing comes easy" isn't at all defeatist or cynical. It's a fact that's been proved over and over in life, as major scientific breakthroughs come after years and years of research and hard work; financial stability comes after years of sacrifice and effort; great movies and albums are made
Aakansha Saxena IV Sem MBA with the most effort and practice and planning and preparation. History is full of examples of great successes and great results after a lot of effort and time. There are, of course, the exceptions--those people who have found success almost immediately, with almost no work involved. But they truly are the exceptions rather than the rule. And that type of success rarely is lasting, either. When we remind ourselves that nothing truly worthwhile comes easy, we can face our obstacles and problems with more equanimity, and we can be much more calm in the face of setbacks. When we know that it's going to take time and work to reach a goal, we're much more likely to accept delays as necessary elements of the process, and we're much more likely to see obstacles as learning opportunities rather than back-breakers. Keeping in mind that nothing comes easy, we can give our best effort because we know that it's that effort--as well as the time involved--that's going to craft a fine finished product.
What is an Attitude....??? Some say it is a mindset, a way of thinking, which is partly right. In simple terms, an attitude is a habit of thought. Usually we think of habits as behaviors; the way we do something. Habits can be mental as well. Therefore an attitude is our habitual way of looking at our world.
By Tom Northup Harsha II Sem MBA
People with positive attitudes are winners. They build an environment that values employees, suppliers and customers. They think positively. The words 'don't' and 'can't' are not in their vocabulary. Experienced leaders understand how positive attitudes play an important part in driving the success of their organization. They build a culture where positive people can thrive and reach their personal goals. These leaders understand that when both the organization and employees reach their goals great accomplishments are possible. 10 Tips to boost your Attitude… 1. Rise and Shine! Getting up early and taking a walk in the morning is a great way to start the
day. Fifteen or twenty minutes is plenty of time for a quick walk in the brisk morning air. 2. Tomorrow is a New Day When things aren't going the way you might like them to go, remember that as time passes, so do your troubles. At the time it may be hard to realize that things will get better, but rest assured they will. 3. Circle of Friends You may be trying to stay positive, but if your friends or coworkers are negative, it may make for a losing battle. The company you keep impacts your attitude greatly. Seldom will you find a group of negative thinkers and one positive attitude together. Negativity can spread, so be sure to keep clear of noticeably negative situations. 4. Your Hobby to the Rescue It is important to have a fun hobby or activity that you can do when facing a problem or a long, hectic day. Sports, books, collecting, etc. are great ways to get away from the hustle and bustle and enjoy yourself. 5. Do good to others It's true what they say, you get what you give. When you focus on treating others positively and with respect, you will, in most cases, receive the same
attitude and tell them to let you know when you are getting negative. You may not want to admit you have a negative attitude, but your friends sure will tell you. 10. Be an Optimist Being the optimist for others can help you see the positive things in your own life. When a friend comes to you with a problem, remind yourself that you are trying to improve your attitude and make your best effort to give the most positive advice you can. It doesn't have to be overdone, but it should have a very positive flavor to it. Make use of the above tips and believe me you'll find yourself a true optimist in no time! Conclusion To conclude, we have taken a brief look at what attitudes are and the ways they can be changed. The importance of attitudes on society cannot be overestimated. It will be very interesting to see how so many different viewpoints are able to successfully mingle and which values or norms win over the others.
Microfinance services for Low Income Families: An Appraisal Microfinance is the provision of financial services to low income clients including consumers and the self-employed, who traditionally lack access to banking & related services. According to Robinson, microfinance is “small-scale financial services primarily credit and savings provided to people who farm, fish or herd” and adds that it “refers to all types of financial services provided to low income households and enterprises.”
Attitude
How to Improve Your Attitude I am not sure if attitude is everything, but I am sure that it affects everything. Your home life, your job, and all that lives in between is either made better or worse by your attitude.
treatment. Change the focus from yourself to others and let the giving spirit be the reason for your improved view of the world. 6. Try Something New If you feel like you're stuck and you need a way to break out, try something new. Picking up a new instrument, trying out a new sport, or discovering a new talent may add some excitement and enjoyment to your life. 7. Past Proofs Others have successfully done what you are trying to do, and that is why you should be positive about the future. It doesn't matter what you are trying to accomplish, the chances are that someone has done it. That means you can do it too. We are all human, and we all have the same 24 hours in each day. If they can do it, so can you. 8. You Need Bad Days If you do have a bad day though, that's all right. Some people have trouble with that thought. They think that one bad day is not acceptable, making it even worse for them. We all have an off day. The important thing is to make sure we improve the Next. 9. Helping Hands Bringing your friends and family into the picture is a great way to keep you heading in the right direction. Tell some friends about your desire for a better
Informal financial services have always been an integral part of the traditional economy of India and even semi- formal and formal financial services through agricultural cooperatives and a vast network of commercial banks, cooperative banks and regional rural banks as well as other financial institutions provide such services. The other financial institutions include non-banking financial companies (NBFC's), insurance companies, provident funds and mutual funds. There are more than 1,60,000 retail credit outlets in the cooperative and banking sectors, increased by another 25,000. In addition to this some 94,000 cooperative societies or branches of cooperative banks around 60,000 branches of 27 public sector commercial banks and 196 regional rural banks (RRB's) and another 4,700 branches of 55 smaller private banks providing financial services in India. There is also a growing number of foreign banks operating, but their reach, through some 200 branches, is limited to main cities. Formal financial services are, available to low-income families mainly through the 33,000 in rural and 14,000 suburban branches of the major banks and RRB's & by 94,000 cooperative outlets either bank branches or village level societies. Financial services to the poor are also available from the village or town neighbourhood level agents of NBFCs. The RRBs, were established specifically in order to meet the credit requirements of the poor, small and marginal farmers, landless workers, artisans and small entrepreneurs and should, therefore, have emerged as a major source of microfinance. A total of 1,40,000 institutional outlets serving the rural sector and the poor implies the availability of one outlet for every 5,600 persons, however their availability is questionable for many years, bankers and senior government officers were fond of describing the Government of India's main poverty reducing programme. The Integrated Rural Development Programme (IRDP) is the world's largest microfinance programme. And it involved the commercial banks in giving loans of less than Rs 15,000 to poor people and in nearly 20 years resulted in financial assistance of around Rs 250 billion to
Syed Eliyas Ahmed IV Sem MBA roughly 55 million families. The problem with IRDP was that its design incorporated a substantial element of Subsidy and this resulted in extensive malpractice and mutualisation of funds this situation led bankers too to view the IRDP loan as politically motivated hand-out and they largely failed to follow up with borrowers. The net result was that estimates the repayment rates in the IRDP ranged from 25-33% not surprisingly, the two decades of IRDP experience in the 1980s and 1990s affected the credibility of microborrowers in the view of bankers and ultimately, hindered access of the less literate poor to banking services. Similarly, the entire network of primary cooperatives in the country and RRBs both sets of institutions established to meet the needs of the rural sector in general and the poor, in particular has proved a dismal failure. Saddled with the burden of directed credit and restrictive interest rate plan the financial position of the RRBs deteriorated quickly while the cooperatives suffered from the depression of mismanagement, privileged leadership and corruption born of excessive state patronage and protection. Microfinance in India started in the early 1980s with small efforts at forming informal self-help groups (SHG's) to provide access to much needed savings and credit services. From this small beginning, the microfinance sector has grown significantly in the past decades. National bodies like the Small Industries Development Bank of India (SIDBI) and the National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (NABARD) are devoting significant time and financial resources to microfinance. These points to the growing importance of the sector. The strength of the microfinance organisations (MFO's) in India is in the diversity of approaches and forms that have evolved over time. In addition to the home grown models of SHG's & mutually giving assistance to co-operative societies (MACS),the country has learnt from other microfinance experiments across the world, like Bangladesh, Indonesia, Thailand, and Bolivia, in the form of micro financial services. Indian organisations could also learn from transformation of experiences of these microfinance initiatives.
equilibrium of India. Organized retailing in India makes up only 22% of the total trade. Whereas in developed economies, its share is 70-80%. This fact reveals the relative underdevelopment of this industry in India. According to AC-Neilson report, India has the highest shop density in the world, that is, eleven outlets for 1000 people. Further, a report prepared by McKinsey and CII predicted that global retail giants like TESCO, Kingfisher, Carrefour and Ahold are waiting in the wings to enter India.
Selling to the New Market Akio Morita is the Marketing Head of the Sony Company . After the success of his company's product in the home country Japan, he thought of entering a new market and selected the then world’s fast growing country like USA. Mr. Morita went to New York with a small transistor radio. He saw the United States as a natural market. And at the moment business was booming, employment was high, the people were progressive and eager for the new things and international travel was becoming easier. He took his little $29.95 radio to New York and made rounds of possible retailers. Many of them were unimpressed. And the retailers said 'why are you making a tiny radio? Everybody in America wants big radios. We have big houses, plenty of room, who needs these tiny things? After this depressing reaction Morita didn't get disappointed and he thought positively and learned in looking around and explained them that in United States there are more than twenty radio stations and, yes, the houses were big even big enough for every family member to have his or her own room where he or she could turn on this tiny radio and listen to whatever pleases him or his without disturbing or bothering anybody else. Of course the fidelity isn't as good as a large unit, but it is excellent for its size'. Many people saw this logic of his argument and he was happy to be offered some tempting deals and looked like a chance to make big profits., but not easy as he expected . Again he faced some trouble, the buyers thought Morita was crazy, but even though Sony was a young company and inexperienced . The people of Bulova liked the radio very much, and a buyer placed an order for 10000 units, but on one condition; call the radio “Bulova’ instead of ‘Sony’. Morita disagreed, and Sony’s Tokyo head office concurred with him.
Prabhu Shettar IV SEM MBA Morita replied, “I understand what you (buyer) are saying but I have my own view , fifty years ago your brand name must have been just as known as our name today. I am here with a new product and I am now taking the first step for the next fifty years of my company. Fifty years from now I promise you that our company name will be just as famous as your company name is today. And finally the first order failed in the initial stage of entering the new market”. After this incident Morita never regretted the decision that he took and still had more pressure from his higher authorities regarding the losing big huge and more profitability order. Few days later things changed Morita succeeded in getting new order and the company reached the US market in business and now one of the best companies in the world in electronic goods . This short live story tells us how to enter a new market with a new product and a new company.
But the buyer tried to convince him saying ,“Our company’s (Bulova) name is a famous brand that has taken over fifty years to establish and nobody has ever heard of your brand name, so why not take advantage of ours?”
FDI in Multibrand Retail in India - Boon or Curse and Lessons from China Introduction: Tanvi, five year old, ever inquisitive daughter of mine, after return from the USA, innocently asked me, “When will WallMart come to Bangalore?” A simple question for her, but, not so for me to explain. One can understand the excitement, fun and frenzied shopping experience that the foreign retail chains can create. The retail industry in India is often hailed as one of the sunrise sectors of the economy. AT Kearney, the well known international management consultancy identified India as the “ second most attractive retail destination” globally among the emerging economies . This has created excitement for many foreign players to make an entry to the indian market. India being a signatory to WTO's GATS had to open up the retail trade sector to FDI. There were initial reservations for this, fearing job-loss, procurement from international market, competition and loss of entrepreneurial opportunities. However, in 1997 it was allowed for wholesale trade. As per the present regulations, India has allowed FDI of upto 51% in single-brand retail and FDI in Multibrand retail is prohibited. Indian retail scenario With a contribution of 14% to the national GDP and employing 7% of the total workforce in the country, retail industry is definitely one of the pillars of the Indian economy. It is the single largest component of the services sector in terms of contribution to GDP. The retail industry is divided into organized and
Prof. Akhila R. Udupa unorganized sectors. Organized retailing refers to trading activities undertaken by licensed retailers. These include corporate backed hypermarkets and retail chains and privately owned large retail businesses. Unorganized retailing refers to the traditional formats of low-cost retailing like kirana - shops, pan-beeda shops, convenience stores, etc. Employment in retailing Organized retailing employs roughly five lakh people, where as the unorganized retailing employs nearly 3.95 crores. Even within the organized sector the number of individually owned retail outlets outnumber the corporate backed institutions. That about 4% of India's population is in the retail trade, says a lot about how vital this business is to the socio economic
FDI in multi-brand retailing FDI in simple terms refers to capital inflows from abroad that is invested in or to enhance the production capacity of the economy. One question which has aroused a lot of debate in the Indian retailing world recently is about allowing FDI in multi-brand retailing. The entire saga of FDI in retailing make us think as to whether we are overestimating the impact of FDI on existing Indian retail structure. Indian retail market is disorganized, but very vast. Foreign brands might come to India with unlimited capital and expertise. Organized and unorganized retailers posed a very strong opposition, forcing the government to put the FDI decision on ice. The recent clamour about opening up the multibrand retailing to FDI is a very sensitive issue. It is widely acknowledged that FDI in multi-brand retailing can have some positive results on the economy. These are, greater efficiency and improvement of living standards of customers, integration of Indian retailing to global economy, superior technology and know-how transfers from foreign players. But the most important factor against FDI drive in modern retailing is that it will destroy the traditional retail sector. For instance, millions of middlemen indulged in the supply chain between the producer and the retailers would lose their jobs. Further, if the FDI move is not matched by job creations in the manufacturing sector, society might suffer. Similarly, a single foreign entity might emerge as a dominant player in our market creating monopoly. They might come with unlimited capital and expertise which could be unmatchable for the local players. Further, If we consider Wal – Mart, the world's biggest retailer, setting its operations in 35 Indian metropolitan cities, it will typically sell everything. It will undercut those in nearby local stores selling similar goods. It is more likely to source its raw materials from abroad, and procure vegetables and fruits directly from farmers at preordained quantities and specifications. This means, a foreign company will buy big from India and abroad and be able to sell low. Lessons from China In order to get a glimpse of how things might turn out, we could look at China, which, like India has a similar kind of retail structure. Both organized and unorganized retailers together dominate the Chinese retailing. China liberalized retailing in 1990. Immediately, privately owned super markets emerged in China. In 1995, they opened 100% FDI in Food retail. At this juncture, global retailers like, Tesco, Wal – Mart, Metro and Carrefour entered China. The Chinese retail environment is hence fifteen years ahead of us. Therefore, lessons from China in allowing FDI in multi brand retaining is a meaningful study for India. For foreign retail brands entering the Chinese market was definitely not a cake walk. Chinese political environment is supposed to be with inconsistent policies posed serious challenges. In spite of this foreign players have been fairly successful and have opened more than 3000 stores in China. They have adopted to local customs and preferences and incurred profits. They have shown a positive outlook and expanded their operation significantly. On the other side, the share of foreign retailers in Chinese retail is very tiny. The local retail giants in China like, Lianhuo, Non – gang – shang and Wumart posed tough competition to them and are still dominating. Looking at the positive effects of FDI in Chinese retailing, foreign retailers brought expertise in every field to Chinese stores. This has benefited the Chinese retail sector.
Quality of their service, customer centricism, product quality enhancement while reducing costs were the major changes. It also forced the Chinese retailers to imbibe greater efficiency in distribution and a streamlining of supply chains. It has benefited even the customer by giving him more choice and product levels. The Chinese market like the Indian market is an equally large and rapidly growing market. It has not been possible for foreign brands to displace the traditional wet markets. Hypermarkets and convenience stores make up less than half of the urban Chinese markets. Their presence in rural China is much smaller. Although foreign players have captured a large proportion of retail growth, they have not been successful in replacing traditional retailers. The retail pie has been so large for everyone to get a slice. But, the point to be remembered by India is that, this retail growth in China is directly related to its rapid economic development. If it slows down, things could change. Further, Chinese government allowed FDI in multi brand retailing with very strict conditions for the foreign players in relation to backward and forward linkages. Hence, the experience of China of allowing FDI in retailing indicates that these players might not be such a big threat to Indian retailers. It is more of a media buzz. The foreign brands will encounter an unfamiliar cultural, social and political environment. They will be vulnerable to significant political opposition and adverse media coverage. They have to create backward linkages in order to win the hearts of Indian farmers and consumers. However, global retailers have been non committal in their evaluations of FDI discussions. Because, they know that it is only a permission to enter the market and the battle is going to be very long later on. Need of the Hour: Measures and Policies However, looking at the experience of China, so much of opposition to FDI introduction in Indian multi brand retailing is not needed. For the Indian retailers, it does not pose a big threat. But, the government should come out with the policies to encourage retailers in the organized sector by providing them finance, technical know how, etc. Further, National Commission could be established to study the problems of the retail sector and to evolve policies to cope with FDI. It should also frame a clear set of conditionalities on giant retailers with regard to backward and forward linkages. These measures would lead to the encouragement of the purchase of goods in the domestic market. They can also stipulate that the store area should be minimum 2000 square feet. The ratio of parking space to floor area should also have a standard. As India has already been doing, opening of the retailing to FDI has to be gradual in nature. This would give sufficient time to introspect about the impact of it on Indian retail structure. All measures should lead to curbing of monopoly powers if they tend to exist after retail liberalization. Hence, it can be concluded that the advantages of introducing FDI in multi brand retail outweighs the disadvantages and if done in the right manner, it can prove to be a boon rather than a bane.
No individual has any right to come into the world and go out of it without leaving something behind. - George Washington Carver
Kingfisher – Choking in muddy waters?????
Communicating Change To Stakeholders Through Brand Identities
Perhaps there is a total unanimity across the country that cash-strapped Kingfisher airlines should not be given any government assistance to bailout. Reasons are many, like, mismanagement, wrong strategic decisions, etc. The airline has exhausted all possible sources, with the exception of FDI by foreign airlines. It also owes huge sums of money to all associates- airport operators, oil companies, leasing companies, suppliers of spare parts, other airlines with interline arrangement, tax authorities, and of course, the employees.
“Change is life” – We have all woken up to this phrase time and again to indicate that if there is something permanent, it is change. Companies have also battled and are battered with this phenomenon that seems to shake up the very kingdom that they have struggled to build for decades. Since 1991 India has slowly transformed its image from being an agri-based country to a manufacturing based country. Many Indian firms have slowly and surely embarked on the global path and lead to the emergence of Indian multinational companies. Effects of globalization on Indian industry has seen increased competition between foreign companies and domestic companies. With foreign goods being perceived better than Indian goods, consumers preferred to buy foreign brands. Globalization also brought about structural changes in the Indian Industrial sector. These led to increased competition for domestic companies. In such a scenario, it becomes very important for Indian multinational companies to gear up to such changed scenario. The firm has to rework on its strategic Intent to stay ahead of others and gain back sustainable competitive advantage. A sustainable competitive advantage is central to a successful strategy, and changes in the firm's environment can affect its competitive advantage. Indian Firms that once had a substantial incumbency advantage are facing new, strong competitors. Shifts in technology have destroyed dominant firms' once impregnable positional advantage. Change could also be proactive or reactive to circumstances. When companies face negative situations due to internal fallacies and are facing fallouts in the market, it becomes important to indicate change to the world to reassure that they have matured out of their past mistakes. Satyam Computers is a classic example for such a forced changed Strategic Intent. However, companies like Axis, Godrej, Canara Bank, Microsoft, Videocon and many others in the world have brought about a change to keep themselves abreast with changing business contexts. The “Context – Action – Performance” Equation cannot be ignored by companies wanting to fight back in a market which was once predominantly theirs. The “Context” parameter for most of the companies has seen a paradigm shift in the last two decades. It is important to understand the dynamics of business strategy when change is initiated outside the firm. These results in a change in the “Context” for the firm - both internal and external contexts are affected. Due to such a changed context, companies are forced to initiate “Actions” that leads to higher levels of “performance and delivery”. However simple it may sound, “Change” is very complex in nature and involves a multitude of diverse factors to be consolidated to ensure a holistic and consistent result throughout the firm. “Fundamental change” is difficult to adapt. One reason for this is that firms develop routines that are spread throughout the organization and are difficult to change. However, as these changes occur, each firm must adapt its strategy to exploit the new opportunity or fend off a new threat. Bringing tangibility to Change “Change” is highly intangible and change management – complex and challenging. Changes with the Strategy can be tangibilized through changes in Business Policy, HR Policy, Product Mix Policy, Expansion/ Diversification policy and the like. These are however only for the consumption of Internal Customers (employees). However, the biggest challenge lies in showing the external world 'what' about you has changed, 'why' it has changed, 'what for' and what message is being reinforced through the change. Generally, a company brings about changes in various elements which are
Dr. Bhavani.M.R tangible enough for the world to see. Companies over the world have brought about changes in various forms – Mission Statements, Diversification, Mergers, Acquisitions, Logos, Brand Personality and other brand identities. Through one of the above, the message is clearly communicated to all the stakeholders. Using Brand Identity to showcase “Change” Brand Identity is the 'Visible' elements of a brand (such as colors, design, logotype, name, and symbol) that together identify and distinguish the brand in the consumers' mind. Brand Identity can be defined as “The totality of brand associations including name and symbols that must be communicated.” It is the sum total of all that is known, thought, felt and perceived about a company, service or product. The strategy in branding involves consistent and disciplined way a company communicates a brand's essence to the public. Consumer's perceptions and response to the brand revolves around the brand image. This makes branding strategy an essential part of the marketing communications because a positive, strong brand image is sure to lead to choosing a particular brand. Since brand identities are highly tangible, companies over the world have been using them to communicate change to stakeholders. Many companies are involved in corporate identity exercises by modernizing their visual image in terms of logo, design, and collaterals. Logos have been changed by many Indian Multinational companies – the latest ones being Godrej, Videocon, Canara Bank and the like. Logos have always provided an opportunity to signal change and send strategic messages to the world. However, it's crucial that a logo change happens for the right reason: whether it be a shift in business focus, a merger or divestiture, acknowledgment of a cultural change or other. Communicating Change to Stakeholders Change is never easy. But change without communication is even harder. When implementing change management methodology into your organization, you need to communicate to the people involved everything that is known about the change and communicate it often. Stakeholders include shareholders, employees, customers, suppliers, government, bankers and any other party who is interested in the economic welfare of the company. “Change” brings about a fresh lease of life to companies and reassures its stakeholders regarding adapting positive strides towards rejuvenating a company towards higher performance and delivery. The basic rule of communication is that the message should be clear, concise and authentic. Communication has to imbibe authenticity and an honest effort from the company's side to resonate with the people involved. The message should inspire others but be reasonable. Companies should reinforce the message that stakeholders want them to hear often.
What happens if Kingfisher goes out of the Indian skies? It means the following, loss of income to the government arising from various taxes, scarcity of flights and high air fares to air travelers, loss of jobs to employees. This is very much evident because as on December 2011, Kingfisher had 20 percent market share in Indian sky. Merger with Air Deccan Capt. Gopinath, who pioneered low-cost aviation in India with Air Deccan, was reluctant to let go of his baby when Vijay Mallya's Kingfisher tried desperate takeover. Though Mallya's money power prevailed, Gopinath's concerns proved valid as nothing went right for Kingfisher since acquisition. In one of the interviews Capt. Gopinath said, Mr. Mallya chose a model where cost is more than revenue. Air Deccan, was India's first low cost carrier. It had a vision to enable every Indian to fly and had adopted the mascot of the common man of cartoonist Laxman. The common man represented the airline's simple as well as no frills approach. Air Deccan was the Nano of Aviation industry; what Nano planned to do to the automobile industry (converting two wheelers into four wheelers) Air Deccan had done to Aviation industry (shifting people from rail travel to travel by air). Initially, Kingfisher acquired 26 percent of Air Deccan. Then acquired an additional 20 percent of Deccan priced at the same INR155 ($3.82) per share. The initial stake cost INR5.46 billion. Deccan was named as Simplifly Deccan, and on Sep 08, the name was changed to Kingfisher Red. The old logo of hands had been replaced by the Kingfisher logo and the font of Kingfisher was also being used. The check-in counters at airports as well as the crew uniform had the same red and white colors. What went wrong? After the merger, the company had a combined fleet of 71 aircrafts, connecting 70 destinations and operated 550 flights in a day. The combined entity had a market share of 33 percent. After the merger, it was expected that Kingfisher will focus more on the international routes while Air Deccan will give it a wider domestic reach. Also Air Deccan planned to continue as a low cost carrier while Kingfisher will function as a full-service carrier. There were immense synergies as both operated Airbus. However, against the experts' expectation, Kingfisher Airlines' announced in March 2011 to discontinue with Red, its low-cost wing formed after merging with Air Deccan, citing profitability issues. Kingfisher Airlines was only two years old in 2007, when it acquired over four-year-old Air Deccan. Merger was also because Kingfisher wanted to venture into international routes. But the move was forced from the top and was not planned well and supplemented properly. Kingfisher's failure to capitalize on the acquisition of Air Deccan, which had a well-designed hub-and-spoke model (connecting small towns with large metros and then connecting them to larger destinations across India and abroad), added to Mallya's troubles. The subsequent decision to shut down the low cost brand, Kingfisher Red, gave away market share to competitors, many passengers shifted to IndiGo, which has done a better job and met the breakeven point last year. Mallya's problems started with his ventures outside his core-competency, the liquor business. Many of his acquisitions, such as the Force India F1 team, football clubs, the IPL team and the Asian Age newspaper drained the
Prof. Janardhan Shetty cash flow. Kingfisher, the largest of them all, was a loss-making SBU from the day it started its operation. It posted a loss of $444 crore in the third fiscal of the current financial year alone. Among other reasons that hampered the merger was divergent working culture. The merger of two airlines can be successful if there is a common corporate culture, similar type of operation (full service or low cost), complementary route network and commonality of fleet. The lack of this commonality made it difficult for this joint venture to succeed. The Indian airlines seem to have committed the same mistake. Jet-Sahara or Air IndiaIndian Airlines had different corporate cultures. This makes a merger process difficult. Fortunately, Jet Airways has kept JetLite as a subsidiary otherwise they would have killed the airline. Unlike his rivals-Jet Airways's Naresh Goyal and IndiGo's Rahul Bhatia, who had immense experience in the aviation industry - Mallya ventured into aviation industry without taking into account the wafer thin margins that the Indian airline industry operates on; Mallya's liquor business is big and well established, but his lack of experience in the aviation industry, over confidence and his top management with delegated functioning had let him down. Mallya was doing everything on his own, from managing public relations and the media, answering DGCA queries, organising funds, managing internal environment, so on, he was doing all this by himself. He should have had respective functional heads to do some of these activities so that he should have focused on core issues like airline's future. According to a former Kingfisher employee, Kingfisher had hired big names and smart workers but they have failed to get along and pull together for the company, the senior management did not see eye to eye and there was a lack of cooperation. What's Next? As per Forbes, Mallya's fortune, last year, was put at $1.1 billion, which has taken a big dent because of his various ventures. However, he has no plans to sell any of his businesses to salvage Kingfisher. He said, in an interview that he keeps each of his businesses with Chinese walls. He added, each of his businesses is a limited liability company. As mentioned earlier his KFA venture is threatening to pull down the foundation of United Spirits Limited (USL), the cash cow of Vijay Mallya's UB group. With government refusing to make any financial bailouts for private airlines, Kingfisher has clearly reached a dead - end. What Mallya requires at this stage, is infusion of funds, through a tie up with a foreign airline or a foreign investor. It is very important that Mallya takes the pilot's seat in this revival. It is time for Mallya to admit and accept his mistakes; it is the best way to look forward. A brand revival plan for kingfisher must include all these aspects as the basic element of building blocks. Still there are large chunks of Kingfisher employees coming to office with the hope that Mallya will take out his magic wand to revive his most ambitious baby. He is dreamer, smart and shrewd, he made us proud, envy him and for many Indian entrepreneurs he is a figure whom they look up to. Don't forget that he took his father's Bangalore based small company UB Spirit, to new heights in a span of twenty years, India's largest and world's third largest in terms of sales. Let us hope that he comes back this time with a vengeance. Wish him all the best.
Bull in China Shop: Foreign Universities and Indian Higher Education Dr. D. K. Murthy Education is one of the social infrastructures which have to be nurtured and developed according to changes taking place in our socio – economic environment. In economic sphere, the countries are removing barriers which obstructed flow of goods and services from one country to another. In this process, we are witnessing a convergence of socio – cultural factors. One of the social factors which alter the quality life of people is education. Therefore, there is a big argument raging among the educationists and policy makers about the methods by which we can integrate Indian education system with the global system. Conspicuously Absent: Higher Education Reforms In India, unfortunately, for centuries, the education particularly higher education has been under the direct control of the government. After the independence also, for many decades, the higher education (HE) was funded and monitored and controlled by the government. Only in the last three decades, we are witnessing private participation in the lower and higher education in India. After recognizing the need for creating better opportunities for ever growing student population, the government started depending on participation of private institutions to share the burden. The private participation remained restricted to permitting private colleges. The private educational institutions supplemented the efforts of governments. These institutions were established by philanthropists, religious institutions and linguistic minorities. Later the government offered autonomy to some institutes and deemed university status to some groups of institutions. The government constituted a number of committees, from time to time, to suggest methods by which HE in India could be improved. Some suggestions were implemented, which include, establishment of UGC/AICTE etc. But many remained archaic. For example, even after introducing the semester system, the old system of evaluating students is being continued. Though the government went in for changing economic scenario of the country by introducing many reforms, it did not do much to reform the HE system. Reforms took place in Economic Planning, in sectors like, Banking, Insurance, Taxation, Foreign Trade, etc. At this juncture, when we look back we see a number of challenges and issues faced by the IHE system. The Central Government also felt the need to bring about qualitative improvement in IHE. Hence the government appointed an Expert Committee headed by Prof. Yash Pal to suggest ways and means to improve the IHE in India as well as to review the functioning of UGC/AICTE in February 2008. Later on, in October 2008, its name was changed to committee to advise on “Renovation and Rejuvenation of Higher Education”. The committee submitted its report to the HRD minister, Mr. Kapil Sibal, on June 24, 2009. Only recently, the government has announced and started the expansion of IITs from seven to fifteen, seven more IIMs and five Indian Institutes of Science. Similarly, the extremely well thought out plan of setting up thirty Central Institutes is a step towards enhancement of quality education in the country. The budget outlay for HE in the 11th Plan has been increased to the tune of Rs. 2500 billion. But owing to the vastness of our country, a lot more remains to be done. Some of the important challenges and issues relating to IHE are: I Deemed Universities ii Recovering cost, mobilizing resources iii Privatization of HE iv Entry of Foreign Universities Deemed Universities Due to lack of sufficient funds, the government has encouraged private institutions to support government initiatives. Later it allowed, the so called Deemed Universities to provide greater academic autonomy to the management of educational institutions to introduce new courses, reshape the curricula and bring out greater interface with the industry. Unfortunately, the Deemed Universities
have failed to measure up to the standards laid down by the UGC. It is reported that out of 126 Deemed Universities, only 38 fulfilled the requirements of UGC. The freedom given has resulted in increasing commercialization of HE and mushrooming of Professional Colleges, notably Engineering and, Management institutions. It has caused serious concern and it is damaging the very fabric of IHE system. The committee has expressed concern over the spurt in the number of Deemed Universities. It feels the majority of these institutions are not established with any educational purpose and they end up only deluding the students. In view of misuse of the provisions for the Deemed University status, committee want that granting of such status should be put on hold till unambiguous and rational guidelines are evolved. Recovering Costs, Mobilizing Resources The government feels that the institutions of HE should make efforts to mobilize their own resources by raising the fee levels, encouraging private donations and by generating revenues through consultancy and other activities. It is surprising as well as shocking to note that the report on “A Policy Framework for Reforms in Education” suggests recovering the entire cost of HE from the students and privatization of several segments of HE. If this suggestion is accepted, the HE in India becomes a saleable commodity and the supplier of commodity, the institutions become profit generating organizations, which could charge any amount of fee in the name of market equalization cost. If this suggestion is accepted, what could be the fate of poor students hailing from economically and socially disadvantaged families? At present, most students enter colleges and universities because of the subsidy offered by the government through a number of schemes. In spite of this, the actual number of students seeking HE is just 11% of the eligible students in the age group of 17 – 23 years. HE in India has not yet reached the remaining 89%. If the system of HE is made further costly, there is no doubt that the percentage may further decline – which is a serious issue to be taken cognizance of by any government committee appointed to uplift socially and economically weaker sectors of the society. The Yash Pal Committee states that HE “was and continues to be considered as a national responsibility and the State has to make provision to realize its potentials”. Recognizing the cost of providing quality education, the committee recommends imaginative ways to be devised to find complementary sources of funds. The imaginative ways once again mean Privatization and Commercialization of HE. The committee is against subsidization of fees. It feels that the absence of differential fee has lead to a segment of students who can afford to pay for HE not paying, but differential fee structure has been opposed by all sections of students even earlier. Further, the committee has recommended guaranteed students' loans at low rate of interest for those who can take loans, and free education for those who cannot afford it at all. However, here, the term 'fee' itself is ambiguous. There are many components of fee charged by colleges – some are legal and genuine, while others are unrecorded and unaudited fees levied by the management. Many colleges even do not give receipts for certain fee collected by them. Therefore, practically this suggestion does not carry any meaning even though the intention is good. Privatization of Higher Education The government allowed establishment of, or conversion of existing institutions into, autonomous institutions with practically no control over their management, funding linked to mandatory assessment and accreditation, and students' loan scheme and some of their decisions taken in order to usher in massive privatization and commercialization of HE. The government feels that privatization of HE will not lead to its commercialization. But the fact is that the HE sector is considered to be a fertile field for making huge profits with little capital investment. After the General Agreement on Trade in Services, the IHE sector is going to be fully explored and exploited by those countries which want to make huge profits from the HE business.
It is reported that the US is a big votary and supporter of GATS. It wants all obstacles and barriers removed so that American Corporate Sector can enter countries like India. The corporate sectors are also showing a lot of interest in offering HE because this sector has a lot of potential. For the corporate sector, students, teachers and non teaching employees are resources for making profits. They consider students as customers and want to satisfy them by offering a variety of money generating courses. It is reported that these organizations are not interested in offering conventional courses like, B.A., B.Sc. and B.Com. They want to offer courses such as MS, MBA, MCA and similar courses which are in demand and for which the institution could fix a fee which is significantly very high compared to general courses. The Yash Pal Committee feels that there are no clear guidelines to assess the competence of private institutions. The committee feels that the salaries paid by private institutions are very low and the teachers are exploited. They are made to work for nine months in a year and being forced to favour some by awarding good marks in the internal examinations. The committee is also against huge donations collected by the institutions of HE. Stringent regulations need to be in place, the committee feels. Entry of Foreign Universities Why are foreign countries interested in entering India? The answer is obvious. The foreign countries are considering HE to be a fertile field which is unexplored and unexploited. At the same time, they also know that public investment in HE is declining, which is adversely affecting the entire system. As against this, they know very well that from the present 75 lakhs students' strength, it is going to increase to almost 1.25 crore in the next 20 years. They consider HE in India to be a promised land, a potential market for them to enter. In fact, some foreign universities have already entered Indian market to sell their HE programmes in India. Representatives of several countries have visited India to market their courses. Some foreign universities have also engaged Indian agencies and firms to recruit students to study in their universities. Others have started franchising or commercial presence in India by allowing students to be enrolled in India and carry out studies for a part of the degree in the institutions abroad. In certain cases, even degree institutions are established for awarding foreign degrees. Some have twinning programmes between Indian and foreign universities. Some others offer programmes through the distance mode, through print, computer, TV and electronic mode, that is, the virtual universities. The courses offered by them mostly relate to hospital, service, management, medical, IT. Sometimes concurrent degree programmes, that is, two degrees in the same period are offered. No conditions of minimum qualification, that is, minimum marks etc. are insisted upon. The advertisements have come from institutions from countries like, the UK, Australia and Canada. Which segment of the population is the foreign universities going to serve? What is the cost of their services? What could be the Indian expectation? What could be the government role? How is the existing HE in India going to face the competition? Will the HE offered by foreign institutions help the students of these institutions to get employment? These are some of the questions which are supposed to be addressed. In our country, there are people who argue that HE and employment should not be linked. According to them, education is not a passport to employment. When parents do not spend a huge amount of money on their children's education, this argument has validity. However, when parents opt to use the services of foreign institutions and pay the huge amount, can we expect them to spend without any good prospects of employment? In fact, today good numbers of educational institutions in our country procure their raw material – the students – offering good market in the form of placement. Students enter educational institutions which have good track records of placements. When foreign institutions offer education in India, where are they going to find placements? It should be only in India. It means, they are going to act as intermediaries and make use of all resources of the country to turn out the product and sell the same to us and make and repatriate huge profits. Let us accept this as a part of the game in globalised economy. But what will the impact of this globalization be on our less fortunate citizens? The foreign education providers are targeting the economically well – to – do groups in the society in order to maximize the profits. This may help the private unaided, unorganized educational institutions in India substantially. The government institutions will be definitely marginalized due to the use of modern
gadgets and facilities. This will ultimately create a wide gap between the new institutions and the existing higher education institutions in India. Will the foreign educational institutions which intend to enter India be prepared to venture into this area where clearly private unaided institutions have failed miserably? Will it be possible for them to offer HE particularly general degree courses? It looks very bleak. It means, they will not try to enter this domain. They would seek green pastures elsewhere. The apprehension is that if government feels that with the entry of foreign education institutions, it can shirk its responsibilities and reduce the budgetary support, it will be ruinous and create an unimaginable situation which may lead to decline in number of students seeking admission to HE. On Foreign Universities, Yash Pal Committee has stated that interactions with the best minds of the world would enhance the quality of our universities. But the committee is against giving open license. It says if the best of Foreign Universities, say, among the top two hundred in the world want to come and work here, they should be welcomed. Such universities should give Indian degrees and be subject to all rules and regulations that would apply to any Indian Universities. However, it should be noted here that Foreign Universities would be guided by profit motive. They will come with huge funds, create a good infrastructure facility, attract the best teachers and finally financially well off- students from local institutions. Financial Repercussions on Existing Institutions The spread of HE in India, particularly in rural areas, is mainly due to private efforts supported by the government. We have institutions established by religious institutions, minorities and philanthropists and general public in the form of public and private press. These institutions have been established purely for helping students hailing from poor families. The capital investment for the physical infrastructure like land and building, laboratory etc., is provided with donations received from people and the parents of the students. In many places students are provided with free boarding and hostel facilities. The general administration or management rests with chiefs of the religious groups, or elected bodies. Yeoman Service is rendered by these groups. What happens if there is globalization of higher education? The impact could be tremendous. The students having financial affordability will automatically switch over to foreign institution because of the glamour. This will create an impact on the student strength. Already, the general degree students are shifting to management and other courses offered by many institutions. Ultimately, if students' strength declines, over a period of time, because of globalization and if the government reduces grants or stops the grants, it will not only affect these institutions but also the poor students. In a country like ours, it is necessary to consider the impact of any change specifically on our students. It should not deprive their chance of continuing their higher education. This clearly indicates that if Foreign Universities enter India, the situation will not remain the same. The implications will be very serious because the very concept of higher education in India undergoes a change and as a result there will be a big gap between rural and urban, urban and urban elite; poor and rich segments of the Indian society. In the case of cities and towns, the entry will lead to more disparity. Already, there is disparity between government institutions and private institutions. This will further increase, and the elite segment of the society will enjoy the benefits and comforts by entering foreign institutions and the people belonging to low and middle income will have to continue to make use of the existing system which will face reduced financial support. Future Shock All said and done, it should be noted that entry of foreign universities could also result in favorable benefits. If the foreign institutions spend huge funds in supporting the existing institutions and function as collaborators or partners we can expect impact. Though there are many apprehensions, it should be noted that the misgivings may become meaningless if there is change of attitude and approach by foreign educational institutions and a change of the Indian mindset. The biggest anxiety is: will the government wash its hands off from higher education? One hopes, it won't. The opinions expressed in this article are the author's own views and not of the institution.
Students of 2010 Batch Section A
Greece Sovereign Debt Crisis Can Greece come out of the woods? A sovereign default is the failure of the government of a sovereign state to pay back its debt in full. If potential lenders or bond purchasers begin to suspect that a government may fail to pay back its debt, they may demand a high interest rate in compensation for the risk of default. A dramatic rise in the interest rate faced by a government due to fear that it will fail to honor its debt is sometimes called a sovereign debt crisis. Governments may be especially vulnerable to a sovereign debt crisis when they rely on financing through short-term bonds, since this creates a situation of maturity mismatch between their short-term bond financing and the long-term asset value of their tax base. They may also be vulnerable to a sovereign debt crisis due to currency mismatch if they are unable to issue bonds in their own currency. This is because a decrease in the value of their own currency may then make it prohibitively expensive to pay back their foreign-denominated bonds. Since a sovereign government, by definition, controls its own affairs, it is obliged to pay back its debt. Nonetheless, governments may face severe pressure from lending countries. In the most extreme cases, a creditor nation may declare war on a debtor nation for failing to pay back its debt, in order to enforce the creditor's rights. Therefore, governments rarely default on the entire value of their debt. Instead, they often enter into negotiations with their bondholders to agree on a delay, or partial reduction, of their debt payments, which is called 'debt restructuring' or 'haircut'. The International Monetary Fund often assists in sovereign debt restructurings. Europe in trouble From late 2009, fears of a sovereign debt crisis developed among investors concerning some European states, and they intensified in early 2010 and thereafter. On the side of the excessively borrowing states, the governments have had problems to finance further budget deficits and service existing high debt levels. This included Euro zone members, Greece, Ireland, Italy, Spain and Portugal, and also some non-Euro zone European Union (EU) countries. Especially in countries where government budget deficits and sovereign debts have increased sharply, a crisis of confidence has emerged with the widening of bond yield spreads and risk insurance on credit default swaps between these countries and other EU members, most importantly Germany. While the sovereign debt increases have been most pronounced in only a few euro zone countries, they have become a perceived problem for the area as a whole. Euro zone sovereign debt concerns Members of the EU signed the Maastricht Treaty, under which they pledged to limit their deficit spending and debt levels. However, a number of EU member states, including Greece and Italy, were able to circumvent these rules and mask their deficit and debt levels through the use of complex currency and credit derivatives structures. The structures were designed by prominent U.S. investment banks, which received substantial fees in return for their services and who took on little credit risk themselves - thanks to special legal protections for derivatives counterparties. The fact remains, however, that Greece, in spite of the dubious methods adopted, faced a severe debt crisis and serious problems in debt servicing. Greece adopted a method to suppress the severity of the problem. Although some financial institutions clearly profited from the growing Greek government debt in the short run, there was a long lead up to the crisis. EU politicians in Brussels turned a blind eye and gave Greece a fairly clean bill of health, even as the reality of economics suggested that the Euro was in danger. Investors assumed that they were implicitly lending to a strong Berlin when they bought Eurobonds from weaker Athens. Historic enmity to Turkey
Prof. Biraj Ameet Anil led to high defense spending, and fuelled public deficits – financed primarily by German and French banks. Greek government spends more than it earns This is a simple fact which has been going on for decades. For more than 16 years Greek deficit has topped the Greek GNP. Tax collection is disproportionate to expenditure which is almost 115% of GNP. And here - in the end - is the bigger EU problem or what is now addressed as "spread the risk and have the European Banks take a part of the risk". Yet these same - mainly German and French - banks are raising interest rates up to 16% on Greek Bonds, but their exposure is so large, that if the Greeks go bankrupt, it may touch off a tsunami throughout Europe and engulf the German and French banks, which at the same time get the highest possible returns on their billions of Euros. Is Greece really that poor? What went wrong in Greece? It is mostly the bad management of the Greek government and corruption leading to low tax revenues. Greeks themselves are not really that poor. When the global financial crisis hit other economies of the world they all felt a little pain. The Greeks with their closed economy and strong domestic private household ownership felt less "pain". First of all, the bulk of Greek labour is not mobile at all like other labour of the world. Secondly, family links and private household ownership are much higher than in the North Europe. North Europe tends to buy houses which are really owned by the bank, while Greeks tend to own the house they live in with small mortgages or none at all. The solutions 1 The EU (mainly Germany, France and some smaller Northern countries like the Netherlands and Belgium) is pushing mostly for drastic expense cut-back measures that would eventually balance the Greek budget. They have to and earn more through higher tax revenues and spend less. 2 Tax Collection by the Greek Government needs to be invigorated. The Government must adopt stringent measures to solve the present problem of ineffective tax collection. 3 Let Greece step out of the Euro. The loss within the EU will be felt in terms of taxpayer's money, but once Greece is out they will have new monetary options to use like a strong devaluation of the local currency to boost exports and foreign investments. Conclusion Northern Europeans love the EU, simply because it meant, and still means, a relatively smooth flow of goods in the export markets. Besides, they have understood that the EU is just a free market zone giving the stronger Northern economies the possibility to sell more to the weaker economies. Countries like Greece can in no way compete with the Northern economies. EU, with its rules and regulations, can effortlessly kill all local competition. Will the Greeks, on their own, like other economies, take measures - an improved tax collection regime and discussions with other EU countries - and bid farewell to the Northern (mainly French and German) domination? This is the only escape route for Greece out of the present debt crisis.
Section B