A platform where I will share my views on topics and issues that interest me deeply (with a strong business bias, of course)and chronicle the major events in my life beginning 2010.
Sunday, March 17, 2013
Saturday, March 9, 2013
On the joys of reading
I love reading books and articles, essays and oh, for that matter everything under the sun. I have read things printed on the wrappers of FMCG products and what’s written on signboards of shops while travelling in buses, whenever I have had the luxury of a window seat.
My roommates ask me what you get by reading. Whenever I think about this question, there are the basic answers that come to my mind – increase knowledge and develop a worldview, improve vocabulary etc. But when I sit down and contemplate, the benefits of reading are far more nuanced and valuable than all these.
For starters, I believe that reading liberates one’s mind and takes it into uncharted territories. You may call it escapism, if you like. Reading is entertainment for the soul and education for the mind. It all depends on what one reads, after all. Whether one is reading pulp fiction or serious literature, there are good chances that a reasonably educated person will feel a kind of ecstasy and joy out of it.
In our limited lifetime, it is impossible to understand and assimilate all the ideas that humanity has thought and expressed in the form of books. And not just books, there’s also so much interesting on the internet to be read. Reading non-fiction is very important to understand in detail a perspective on anything of significance. Fiction, on the other hand, is like chicken soup for the soul. Education can never be considered to be complete if one hasn't read great fiction, and not necessarily the ones in English only.
When my father, an eternal student of history, told me this when I was fifteen, it didn't make much sense to me. At twenty-five, I realize how true Montesquieu was.
Sadly, most of my generation’s reading habits are confined to Harry Potter, Chetan Bhagat and a few Bollywood-type novels written by authors who think books are like soaps, a commodity that needs to be sold to make money. I am not saying it’s not important for a book to make money. That’s crucial. But more crucial aspects are its literary quality and aesthetics. Even among the professionally educated ones, I seldom come across people who genuinely love reading for the sheer pleasure of it. While travelling in Bangalore’s Volvo buses and long-distance trains, I find people reading books and naturally I am tempted to take a surreptitious peek at the covers of the books, without infringing on their privacy. I look forward to the day when I can see people reading Bertrand Russell, Fyodor Dostoevsky or other writers of similar intellectual quality and stature.
That day, in my humble opinion, is still not in the horizon.
My roommates ask me what you get by reading. Whenever I think about this question, there are the basic answers that come to my mind – increase knowledge and develop a worldview, improve vocabulary etc. But when I sit down and contemplate, the benefits of reading are far more nuanced and valuable than all these.
For starters, I believe that reading liberates one’s mind and takes it into uncharted territories. You may call it escapism, if you like. Reading is entertainment for the soul and education for the mind. It all depends on what one reads, after all. Whether one is reading pulp fiction or serious literature, there are good chances that a reasonably educated person will feel a kind of ecstasy and joy out of it.
In our limited lifetime, it is impossible to understand and assimilate all the ideas that humanity has thought and expressed in the form of books. And not just books, there’s also so much interesting on the internet to be read. Reading non-fiction is very important to understand in detail a perspective on anything of significance. Fiction, on the other hand, is like chicken soup for the soul. Education can never be considered to be complete if one hasn't read great fiction, and not necessarily the ones in English only.
Charles de Montesquieu, the great French politician and social commentator, had once remarked, “I have never known any distress that an hour’s reading did not relieve.”
When my father, an eternal student of history, told me this when I was fifteen, it didn't make much sense to me. At twenty-five, I realize how true Montesquieu was.
Sadly, most of my generation’s reading habits are confined to Harry Potter, Chetan Bhagat and a few Bollywood-type novels written by authors who think books are like soaps, a commodity that needs to be sold to make money. I am not saying it’s not important for a book to make money. That’s crucial. But more crucial aspects are its literary quality and aesthetics. Even among the professionally educated ones, I seldom come across people who genuinely love reading for the sheer pleasure of it. While travelling in Bangalore’s Volvo buses and long-distance trains, I find people reading books and naturally I am tempted to take a surreptitious peek at the covers of the books, without infringing on their privacy. I look forward to the day when I can see people reading Bertrand Russell, Fyodor Dostoevsky or other writers of similar intellectual quality and stature.
That day, in my humble opinion, is still not in the horizon.
Sunday, July 29, 2012
The youth in Indian metros
India is a ‘young’ country. According to reports, close to 60% of the 1.2 billion people in India are under the age of 30. Before I get into the topic, let me clarify the cities I mean by metros – NCR/Delhi, Mumbai, Bangalore, Chennai and Pune. Kolkata and Hyderabad can also be considered metropolitan cities, for all practical purposes. The age group of youth under consideration is 18-27.
Let us look at the brighter side first:
Good things:
1.Ambitious and career-oriented : The youth in these cities have access to quality higher education and most of them have college degrees in professional courses like law, engineering, management, communications etc. Many smart graduates with engineering and/or management degrees are throwing caution to the wind and starting up on their own, which is a great thing for a nation like India that needs more and more wealth creators to employ its poor millions.
2.Broadminded: Born mostly after the first wave of India’s liberalization in 1991, the youth are exposed to a different worldview compared to their parents’ generation. With proliferation of mass media fuelled by increasing globalization of the Indian economy, the youth are exposed more and more to Western ideas and thoughts. There is a significant improvement in the level of scientific temper and rationality. Superstitions and religious bigotry doesn’t apply to this demographic segment and if trained and skilled adequately, the demographic dividend, which has become a much-clichéd word now, can be fully leveraged by a fast-growing economy like India. In summary, with virtually unlimited opportunities, the outlook of Indian youth has also improved significantly.
Not-so-good things:
1.Addiction to cigarettes and alcohol: This is the biggest cause of concern with the Indian youth and the trend is not confined to the metros alone. The consumption of cigarettes and alcohol have hit the roof despite heavy taxes and the denial of permission for the latter to advertise freely. The fairer sex, as if to display its new-found equality, has also taken to smoking and alcohol in a big way.
2.Complete lack of knowledge and interest when it comes to Indian values, history and culture: Middle-class upbringing and English medium education have enabled the youth to bag jobs and benefit from globalization immensely. But at the same time, there is near-total disengagement from the traditional Indian values, history and culture. This segment has literally accepted the superiority of Western lifestyle and values over that of India.
3.Consumerism at its peak –It’s now or never: With jobs aplenty in such cities for people with the right qualifications and good communication skills, the youth have started to earn starting salaries close to or more than their parents’ current monthly income. Globalization and the rising influence of mass media including the internet have made the youth want to consume more and more. The consumer credit culture that is in vogue in the developed Western countries has now become a part of the Indian social fabric. This often pushes the impulsive youth to enjoy before they earn by taking loans to finance these purchases.
4.Disenchantment with the political system and governance in general: Incessant bombarding of negativity about politics and governance in India – scams, sleaze and dynastic politics – has led to a mental disengagement of the youth from what’s happening in the realms of politics. The word ‘politics’ has assumed a seriously negative connotation, fueled by the feudal and corrupt behavior of most of Indian politicians who consider the country their personal fiefdom.
In essence, for India to be a global power to be reckoned with, the youth need to be proud of their roots and the rich culture of India. Every country that is considered a superpower today is proud of itself – Chinese, Japanese and the Americans. There is not just a need for a structural transformation in the Indian economy but also the Indian mindset. The youth need to drive this change from the front to create India’s true identity in front of the world and help achieve ‘the Indian dream’. The youth in metros can be the beacon to their counterparts in smaller towns, cities and villages in this long, arduous yet highly fulfilling journey.
Let us look at the brighter side first:
Good things:
1.Ambitious and career-oriented : The youth in these cities have access to quality higher education and most of them have college degrees in professional courses like law, engineering, management, communications etc. Many smart graduates with engineering and/or management degrees are throwing caution to the wind and starting up on their own, which is a great thing for a nation like India that needs more and more wealth creators to employ its poor millions.
2.Broadminded: Born mostly after the first wave of India’s liberalization in 1991, the youth are exposed to a different worldview compared to their parents’ generation. With proliferation of mass media fuelled by increasing globalization of the Indian economy, the youth are exposed more and more to Western ideas and thoughts. There is a significant improvement in the level of scientific temper and rationality. Superstitions and religious bigotry doesn’t apply to this demographic segment and if trained and skilled adequately, the demographic dividend, which has become a much-clichéd word now, can be fully leveraged by a fast-growing economy like India. In summary, with virtually unlimited opportunities, the outlook of Indian youth has also improved significantly.
Not-so-good things:
1.Addiction to cigarettes and alcohol: This is the biggest cause of concern with the Indian youth and the trend is not confined to the metros alone. The consumption of cigarettes and alcohol have hit the roof despite heavy taxes and the denial of permission for the latter to advertise freely. The fairer sex, as if to display its new-found equality, has also taken to smoking and alcohol in a big way.
2.Complete lack of knowledge and interest when it comes to Indian values, history and culture: Middle-class upbringing and English medium education have enabled the youth to bag jobs and benefit from globalization immensely. But at the same time, there is near-total disengagement from the traditional Indian values, history and culture. This segment has literally accepted the superiority of Western lifestyle and values over that of India.
3.Consumerism at its peak –It’s now or never: With jobs aplenty in such cities for people with the right qualifications and good communication skills, the youth have started to earn starting salaries close to or more than their parents’ current monthly income. Globalization and the rising influence of mass media including the internet have made the youth want to consume more and more. The consumer credit culture that is in vogue in the developed Western countries has now become a part of the Indian social fabric. This often pushes the impulsive youth to enjoy before they earn by taking loans to finance these purchases.
4.Disenchantment with the political system and governance in general: Incessant bombarding of negativity about politics and governance in India – scams, sleaze and dynastic politics – has led to a mental disengagement of the youth from what’s happening in the realms of politics. The word ‘politics’ has assumed a seriously negative connotation, fueled by the feudal and corrupt behavior of most of Indian politicians who consider the country their personal fiefdom.
In essence, for India to be a global power to be reckoned with, the youth need to be proud of their roots and the rich culture of India. Every country that is considered a superpower today is proud of itself – Chinese, Japanese and the Americans. There is not just a need for a structural transformation in the Indian economy but also the Indian mindset. The youth need to drive this change from the front to create India’s true identity in front of the world and help achieve ‘the Indian dream’. The youth in metros can be the beacon to their counterparts in smaller towns, cities and villages in this long, arduous yet highly fulfilling journey.
Monday, November 7, 2011
Living with oil price hikes
It seems there is no respite for the Indian consumer (especially the middle-class) from back-breaking inflation with the latest hike in oil (petrol and diesel) prices coming into effect from 04 November, 2011. There is some noise in the media about a partial rollback, though something like that seems highly unlikely despite the fact that international crude oil prices have softened of late.
If we look at the situation dispassionately, the reasons for this recurring phenomoenon are not difficult to comprehend. India imports about 79% of its oil and the sharp depreciation in the value of rupee against the greenback has offset the gains from the softening of crude oil prices internationally. The rupee has dipped from Rs. 46.29 to a dollar at the time of the last hike (on September 16) to Rs. 49.40 making oil imports costlier.
To put things in perspective, a change in the value of the dollar by one rupee leads to a loss of 90-95 paise per litre of petrol.The Indian consumer has become used to (rather fed up with) frequent interest rate and oil price hikes. Both burn a hole in her pocket. The Opposition along with the Left have decided to take the government to task as the latter battles to save its face in the wake of rampant corruption and a slowing economy. The interesting thing to note here is the withdrawal of support by UPA allies like Trinamool Congress lately.
According to Jayati Ghosh, the prominent Left-leaning JNU-based economist, an increase in oil prices will not just have a direct effect on prices (estimated by the Finance Ministry to add just below 1 per cent to the existing rate of inflation). It will also have a cascading effect – as all goods have to be produced using some energy, usually oil or equivalent, and then transported, so all of their prices will increase subsequently. So the country will have to face a further onslaught of inflationary pressure which is this time entirely policy-induced.
However, chairpersons of state-owned oil marketing companies have enough justification to hike the oil prices citing rupee depreciation. The government had decontrolled petrol pricing in June last year and given oil companies freedom to fix rates at retail level.
All this leaves the common man with a heart full of discontent which might have electoral repercussions in the future. However, for the time being the only avenue at his disposal is increased usage of public transport.The only people cheering at this scenario will be the ecofriendly green campaigners!
If we look at the situation dispassionately, the reasons for this recurring phenomoenon are not difficult to comprehend. India imports about 79% of its oil and the sharp depreciation in the value of rupee against the greenback has offset the gains from the softening of crude oil prices internationally. The rupee has dipped from Rs. 46.29 to a dollar at the time of the last hike (on September 16) to Rs. 49.40 making oil imports costlier.
To put things in perspective, a change in the value of the dollar by one rupee leads to a loss of 90-95 paise per litre of petrol.The Indian consumer has become used to (rather fed up with) frequent interest rate and oil price hikes. Both burn a hole in her pocket. The Opposition along with the Left have decided to take the government to task as the latter battles to save its face in the wake of rampant corruption and a slowing economy. The interesting thing to note here is the withdrawal of support by UPA allies like Trinamool Congress lately.
According to Jayati Ghosh, the prominent Left-leaning JNU-based economist, an increase in oil prices will not just have a direct effect on prices (estimated by the Finance Ministry to add just below 1 per cent to the existing rate of inflation). It will also have a cascading effect – as all goods have to be produced using some energy, usually oil or equivalent, and then transported, so all of their prices will increase subsequently. So the country will have to face a further onslaught of inflationary pressure which is this time entirely policy-induced.
However, chairpersons of state-owned oil marketing companies have enough justification to hike the oil prices citing rupee depreciation. The government had decontrolled petrol pricing in June last year and given oil companies freedom to fix rates at retail level.
All this leaves the common man with a heart full of discontent which might have electoral repercussions in the future. However, for the time being the only avenue at his disposal is increased usage of public transport.The only people cheering at this scenario will be the ecofriendly green campaigners!
Tuesday, June 14, 2011
World-class in India
A few things that I deem to be world class in India have been mentioned below. Before I proceed, it is important to define the term world-class. To me the term world-class means “having quality that is more or less on par with the best in the world”.
1.ISB: The Indian School of Business, a decade-old institute at Hyderabad is the youngest entrant in the top twenty business schools of the world according to Financial Times.
2.The Delhi Metro: It is definitely the best in India and comparable with the best in the world for its reliability, spaciousness, comfort and affordability. All this despite the accidents which happened during its construction killing a few people.
3.Tata Nano: The cheapest car in the world is fast gaining a strong foothold in the small car market which it created in India. After a slump, it is raking in the sales numbers and is all set to be exported.
4.Dabbawallahs: The Harvard Business School has come up with a case study on the Dabbawallahs of Mumbai. With no technology at their disposal these men put six sigma experts to shame with their impeccable and timely delivery of lunch boxes to thousands of Mumbaikars from their homes.
5.Narayana Hrudayalaya and Shankara Netralaya: These heart and eye hospitals provide world-class healthcare at affordable rates thanks to an innovative business model that makes social service sustainable and profitable.
6.Sachin Tendulkar: The only sportsperson from India to have dominated a global sport ie; the world of cricket as a batsman for almost one and a half decades (out of a twenty two year old ongoing career). He is arguably the greatest batsman to have graced the game of cricket.
7.Indian IT talent: Indian IT workers are considered world-class for their analytical and programming skills, besides their knowledge of English and the willingness to work overtime. From Silicon Valley to Bengaluru, the Indian techies have carved a niche for themselves and are highly sought after, be it for IT services or products.
8.Taj Mahal: It’s majestic monument which is one of the seven wonders of the world. Perhaps, the only monument that has put India on the global tourist’s map.
1.ISB: The Indian School of Business, a decade-old institute at Hyderabad is the youngest entrant in the top twenty business schools of the world according to Financial Times.
2.The Delhi Metro: It is definitely the best in India and comparable with the best in the world for its reliability, spaciousness, comfort and affordability. All this despite the accidents which happened during its construction killing a few people.
3.Tata Nano: The cheapest car in the world is fast gaining a strong foothold in the small car market which it created in India. After a slump, it is raking in the sales numbers and is all set to be exported.
4.Dabbawallahs: The Harvard Business School has come up with a case study on the Dabbawallahs of Mumbai. With no technology at their disposal these men put six sigma experts to shame with their impeccable and timely delivery of lunch boxes to thousands of Mumbaikars from their homes.
5.Narayana Hrudayalaya and Shankara Netralaya: These heart and eye hospitals provide world-class healthcare at affordable rates thanks to an innovative business model that makes social service sustainable and profitable.
6.Sachin Tendulkar: The only sportsperson from India to have dominated a global sport ie; the world of cricket as a batsman for almost one and a half decades (out of a twenty two year old ongoing career). He is arguably the greatest batsman to have graced the game of cricket.
7.Indian IT talent: Indian IT workers are considered world-class for their analytical and programming skills, besides their knowledge of English and the willingness to work overtime. From Silicon Valley to Bengaluru, the Indian techies have carved a niche for themselves and are highly sought after, be it for IT services or products.
8.Taj Mahal: It’s majestic monument which is one of the seven wonders of the world. Perhaps, the only monument that has put India on the global tourist’s map.
World-class Universities and Institutes in India
Of late, I got to read a few articles about the Environment Minister Jairam Ramesh’s remarks on IIT/IIM faculty. He had said that the IITs/IIMs were world-class institutions because of their students and not the faculty. His statement was not original and is an open secret.
Research output in India (including the IITs/IIMs) is negligible both in terms of quantity and quality. The primary reason behind this is that there is no ecosystem for research to happen in India. There is neither strong industry-academia partnership nor adequate funding. MIT’s annual budget is about seven times the government funding available to all the IITs put together. (Source: Angela Saini's book The Geek Nation).The whole government funding system should be replaced by an endowment system which is in vogue in the US and other European universities and institutes. The ecosystem is not just about money but a change of mindset as well. In the US, higher education institutions follow the principle of “publish or perish” in letter and spirit. The same culture needs to be imbibed by Indian higher education institutions if they really want to become world-class. Besides, the government needs to give them autonomy and reservations must not exist at all (neither for the students nor for the faculty). The students at IITs/IIMs and other higher education institutions in India should be selected purely on the basis of merit and should be encouraged to do research for which adequate grants and support should be provided by their alma mater. India Inc. should also come forward and donate money generously to set up chair professorships, new departments and high-tech labs as a part of their CSR activities. The bottomline is if you can keep the government and reservations away ( or at least, as far as possible) and change the funding model altogether, there is no reason why we cant have a few Indian universities up there in the global top 100 rankings.
Research output in India (including the IITs/IIMs) is negligible both in terms of quantity and quality. The primary reason behind this is that there is no ecosystem for research to happen in India. There is neither strong industry-academia partnership nor adequate funding. MIT’s annual budget is about seven times the government funding available to all the IITs put together. (Source: Angela Saini's book The Geek Nation).The whole government funding system should be replaced by an endowment system which is in vogue in the US and other European universities and institutes. The ecosystem is not just about money but a change of mindset as well. In the US, higher education institutions follow the principle of “publish or perish” in letter and spirit. The same culture needs to be imbibed by Indian higher education institutions if they really want to become world-class. Besides, the government needs to give them autonomy and reservations must not exist at all (neither for the students nor for the faculty). The students at IITs/IIMs and other higher education institutions in India should be selected purely on the basis of merit and should be encouraged to do research for which adequate grants and support should be provided by their alma mater. India Inc. should also come forward and donate money generously to set up chair professorships, new departments and high-tech labs as a part of their CSR activities. The bottomline is if you can keep the government and reservations away ( or at least, as far as possible) and change the funding model altogether, there is no reason why we cant have a few Indian universities up there in the global top 100 rankings.
Greatest American business leaders and entrepreneurs
Nitin Nohria, the current dean of Harvard Business School (HBS)in his JRD Tata Memorial Lecture, which he delivered in 2010, mentions about the following American leaders who form a part of the "Greatest business leaders" course being taught at HBS.Most of us are aware of Steve Jobs, Bill Gates and Jack Welch. To know more about the men who built the world's largest economy, read on. For the entire speech, click here
Andrew Carnegie, who at the turn of the 20th century built the steel mills that provided the raw material for the railroads and transportation infrastructure that connected America and made it the world’s largest integrated domestic economy.
CW Post, who during the 1910s and 1920s introduced Post Cereal and launched the consumer packaged goods industry in America
Walt Disney, who during the 1930s built one of the great media and entertainment companies, even though he started during the depths of the Great Depression
Henry Kaiser, who helped build the Hoover Dam and many other extraordinary infrastructure projects including a shipyard that, during the height of World War II, was completing three Liberty Ships every day.
William Levitt, who created Levittown, the first mass-produced postwar American suburb, in the 1950s and built houses that redefined the American real estate landscape;
Sam Walton, who started building one of the biggest discount retailing companies in the 1970s;
Bill Gates and Steve Jobs, who ushered in the personal computer revolution in the 1980s;
Jack Welch, who transformed GE during the 1990s so that it remained an iconic company, and the only company that was on the Dow Jones Industrial Average for the entire 20th century.
Andrew Carnegie, who at the turn of the 20th century built the steel mills that provided the raw material for the railroads and transportation infrastructure that connected America and made it the world’s largest integrated domestic economy.
CW Post, who during the 1910s and 1920s introduced Post Cereal and launched the consumer packaged goods industry in America
Walt Disney, who during the 1930s built one of the great media and entertainment companies, even though he started during the depths of the Great Depression
Henry Kaiser, who helped build the Hoover Dam and many other extraordinary infrastructure projects including a shipyard that, during the height of World War II, was completing three Liberty Ships every day.
William Levitt, who created Levittown, the first mass-produced postwar American suburb, in the 1950s and built houses that redefined the American real estate landscape;
Sam Walton, who started building one of the biggest discount retailing companies in the 1970s;
Bill Gates and Steve Jobs, who ushered in the personal computer revolution in the 1980s;
Jack Welch, who transformed GE during the 1990s so that it remained an iconic company, and the only company that was on the Dow Jones Industrial Average for the entire 20th century.
Near-zero interest rates and their impact
I was brooding over the question as to why the US, Japan and Germany have near-zero interest rates and how it impacts the global financial markets. The following post is the answer to this question by Mr.Harshil Dave, one of my seniors at SDMIMD, Mysore. He is an MBA Finance guy working as a consultant at Oracle Financial Services. I agree with whatever he wrote about this topic on Facebook and I would welcome comments from my readers as well.
"In order to spur the GDP growth rate and reduce unemployment in their economies they need to provide incentive to businesses to borrow money from banks. By having near zero interest rates, the central bank is trying to encourage existing businesses and budding entrepreneurs and luring them by cheap credit. In theory, near-zero interest rates are supposed to help increase GDP growth rate (By capacity expansion and increased spending by businesses and households) and reduce unemployment (which stands at 9.8% in the US at present). After the crisis when major economies across the world were dragged into recession (which is characterized by multiple negative GDP growth rate quarters according to NBER definition of recession) the monetary policy makers had to cut down the interest rates to bring back the economy on positive GDP growth track. Near zero interest rates are also meant to restore confidence in the dried up inter-bank money market lending. This was in context of the US.
Coming to Japan, they have been a zero interest rate regime since a long time, you can refer to 'Yen carry trade' and 'Asian currency crisis' to go to the origins of the same!
Germany, had to follow France's footsteps of lowering the interest rates after Sarkozy accused Merkel of not taking adequate measures to combat recession!
Low interest rates increase liquidity in domestic economy, as in the case of the US what has happened is that since you can borrow money at virtually zero interest rates from commercial banks, the proprietary trading arms of big multinational banks have borrowed from their commercial banking arm and invested money in emerging economies like India, China and Brazil. Because of this we observe a surge in FII inflow led by prop trading desk activities and also by 'Dollar carry trade' (Selling short dollar against other currencies expecting dollar to depreciate on account of slow growth and more dollar bills being printed, and then investing that money made by shorting the dollar contract into other asset classes in Emerging economies).
Consider it as a tap of water (liquidity) opened by the Fed to aid the domestic economy, but the water (liquidity) spilled more in other places (Emerging Economies)! We see benchmark indices go up by 10-15% in matter of few months because of such liquidity. When the interest rates in the US will go up there is very high likelihood of reversal in this fund flows which can cause markets to crash in matter of few weeks!"
"In order to spur the GDP growth rate and reduce unemployment in their economies they need to provide incentive to businesses to borrow money from banks. By having near zero interest rates, the central bank is trying to encourage existing businesses and budding entrepreneurs and luring them by cheap credit. In theory, near-zero interest rates are supposed to help increase GDP growth rate (By capacity expansion and increased spending by businesses and households) and reduce unemployment (which stands at 9.8% in the US at present). After the crisis when major economies across the world were dragged into recession (which is characterized by multiple negative GDP growth rate quarters according to NBER definition of recession) the monetary policy makers had to cut down the interest rates to bring back the economy on positive GDP growth track. Near zero interest rates are also meant to restore confidence in the dried up inter-bank money market lending. This was in context of the US.
Coming to Japan, they have been a zero interest rate regime since a long time, you can refer to 'Yen carry trade' and 'Asian currency crisis' to go to the origins of the same!
Germany, had to follow France's footsteps of lowering the interest rates after Sarkozy accused Merkel of not taking adequate measures to combat recession!
Low interest rates increase liquidity in domestic economy, as in the case of the US what has happened is that since you can borrow money at virtually zero interest rates from commercial banks, the proprietary trading arms of big multinational banks have borrowed from their commercial banking arm and invested money in emerging economies like India, China and Brazil. Because of this we observe a surge in FII inflow led by prop trading desk activities and also by 'Dollar carry trade' (Selling short dollar against other currencies expecting dollar to depreciate on account of slow growth and more dollar bills being printed, and then investing that money made by shorting the dollar contract into other asset classes in Emerging economies).
Consider it as a tap of water (liquidity) opened by the Fed to aid the domestic economy, but the water (liquidity) spilled more in other places (Emerging Economies)! We see benchmark indices go up by 10-15% in matter of few months because of such liquidity. When the interest rates in the US will go up there is very high likelihood of reversal in this fund flows which can cause markets to crash in matter of few weeks!"
Monday, May 2, 2011
Religion Marketing!
This is not the latest marketing jargon! Of late, while zipping through TV channels during my post-MBA and pre-job break, I came across a few regional and national channels beaming shows (akin to the Telebrands shows). But the products being advertised are not the traditional consumer products or services for that matter. Some companies have realized that Hindu religious feelings which border on superstition for most Indian housewives (besides the uneducated and gullible men from small towns) can be leveraged to sell products like Shri Yantra, Rudraksh etc. These products (if you can call them so) were traditionally given by the saints/sanyasis to their devotees since centuries to ameliorate suffering of all kinds. It was given and accepted as something that had divine blessings in it. But with commercialisation of everything else around us, one can’t be surprised if somebody tries to commercialise God and make money in His name.
It’s not that there is no precedence for things like this in India. Over the past three decades, many fake sadhus and babas have duped the gullible and unassuming Indian public of their hard-earned money, all in the name of faith. We have had scores of Nithyanandas in India now and people still fall for such people and products with the belief that they will help them to get rid of their troubles. Nothing can be further from the truth.
Life is not rosy. In fact, everyone’s life has problems and the best way to deal with them is to be optimistic and honestly try to find solutions instead of buying such products. I don’t know if Rudrakshs and Shri Yantras of yore had any divine blessings or not but I can tell for sure that the modern Rudrakshs and Shri Yantras being sold via TV shows have devil’s blessings (which would certainly strip people of their cash).
It is high time the ASCI took some stringent action against companies which advertise such products. Awareness needs to be created to prevent more people from being hoodwinked and cheated of their money.
It’s not that there is no precedence for things like this in India. Over the past three decades, many fake sadhus and babas have duped the gullible and unassuming Indian public of their hard-earned money, all in the name of faith. We have had scores of Nithyanandas in India now and people still fall for such people and products with the belief that they will help them to get rid of their troubles. Nothing can be further from the truth.
Life is not rosy. In fact, everyone’s life has problems and the best way to deal with them is to be optimistic and honestly try to find solutions instead of buying such products. I don’t know if Rudrakshs and Shri Yantras of yore had any divine blessings or not but I can tell for sure that the modern Rudrakshs and Shri Yantras being sold via TV shows have devil’s blessings (which would certainly strip people of their cash).
It is high time the ASCI took some stringent action against companies which advertise such products. Awareness needs to be created to prevent more people from being hoodwinked and cheated of their money.
Dhoni Demystified!
Hello readers.
It has been a long time since I posted anything on my blog. The World Cup victory and the subsequent hysteria is now behind us. I would try my best to decipher why MS Dhoni has been what he is today- India’s world cup winning captain besides being the world’s highest paid cricketer according to Forbes.
To begin with, Dhoni is a maverick. He believes in himself more than any other Indian cricketer I have ever seen. He is an excellent reader of the game. He understands tense situations, stays cool (sans emotions mostly) and takes calculated (at times very unconventional ) risks. According to him, one has to be different to be successful. He has got a 60% success rate in ODIs and he is easily India’s most successful captain ever. But he has also had his share of failures and embraced them with utmost sportsmanship.
I have been watching Dhoni very closely ever since he burst into the international scene in 2004 with a blistering 148* against Pakistan at Visakhapatnam (which happens to be the place where I did my entire schooling). His approach towards batting has matured from outright aggression to calculated strokeplay as per the needs of the team. He has improved his wicket-keeping skills over the years tremendously. I admit his batting has deteriorated over the past one year or so. But his innings in the WC final against Sri Lanka reminded us all of his gutsy brilliance.
I love his cool temperament which hides his aggression on the field, honesty ( he is not afraid to call a spade a spade) and smart thinking. He has been my idol ever since he started playing for India. After so many years, a guy from a small town made it big at the international scene and hogged the limelight (from Sachin Tendulkar). I don’t mean to compare the two. Tendulkar is a way better batsman when compared to Dhoni. But for the first time, a cricketer in India became more popular (as defined by endorsement fees) than Sachin and caught the fancy of an entire nation. Nobody could even dream of such popularity in the era of Tendulkar. Dhoni is an inspiration for all Indians, especially those from small towns and middle-class backgrounds sans any connections to make it big in whatever field they are in.
To sum up MSD is what he is today because of his smart and unconventional thinking, super cool temperament and tremendous self-belief besides of course, good (not great) cricketing (batting & wicket-keeping) talent. Watch out for more from the man who revolutionised Indian cricket.
Cheers,
Alok
It has been a long time since I posted anything on my blog. The World Cup victory and the subsequent hysteria is now behind us. I would try my best to decipher why MS Dhoni has been what he is today- India’s world cup winning captain besides being the world’s highest paid cricketer according to Forbes.
To begin with, Dhoni is a maverick. He believes in himself more than any other Indian cricketer I have ever seen. He is an excellent reader of the game. He understands tense situations, stays cool (sans emotions mostly) and takes calculated (at times very unconventional ) risks. According to him, one has to be different to be successful. He has got a 60% success rate in ODIs and he is easily India’s most successful captain ever. But he has also had his share of failures and embraced them with utmost sportsmanship.
I have been watching Dhoni very closely ever since he burst into the international scene in 2004 with a blistering 148* against Pakistan at Visakhapatnam (which happens to be the place where I did my entire schooling). His approach towards batting has matured from outright aggression to calculated strokeplay as per the needs of the team. He has improved his wicket-keeping skills over the years tremendously. I admit his batting has deteriorated over the past one year or so. But his innings in the WC final against Sri Lanka reminded us all of his gutsy brilliance.
I love his cool temperament which hides his aggression on the field, honesty ( he is not afraid to call a spade a spade) and smart thinking. He has been my idol ever since he started playing for India. After so many years, a guy from a small town made it big at the international scene and hogged the limelight (from Sachin Tendulkar). I don’t mean to compare the two. Tendulkar is a way better batsman when compared to Dhoni. But for the first time, a cricketer in India became more popular (as defined by endorsement fees) than Sachin and caught the fancy of an entire nation. Nobody could even dream of such popularity in the era of Tendulkar. Dhoni is an inspiration for all Indians, especially those from small towns and middle-class backgrounds sans any connections to make it big in whatever field they are in.
To sum up MSD is what he is today because of his smart and unconventional thinking, super cool temperament and tremendous self-belief besides of course, good (not great) cricketing (batting & wicket-keeping) talent. Watch out for more from the man who revolutionised Indian cricket.
Cheers,
Alok
Tuesday, February 15, 2011
Book Review- Rural & Social Marketing
In this post, I am going to review a book named “Tapping Rural Markets-Concepts and Cases” edited by Mr. V V Gopal (an IMT-Ghaziabad alumnus) and published by ICFAI University Press in 2005. It’s a tad lengthy but I am sure you will enjoy reading it.
The book provides a broad view of the rural market scenario in India as of 2005 and discusses the opportunities and challenges faced by marketers who venture into the arena. It is divided into two sections- Concepts and Cases, wherein the concepts of rural marketing and innovations and initiatives of leading consumer goods companies like ITC, Coca-Cola, HUL and LG are dicusses in detail.
Section 1: Concepts
1. Innovations in rural India- Jayatri Dasgupta
Being the source of livelihood for close to two-thirds (around 65 %) of the country’s population, rural India holds great potential for development. This article investigates why rural economy did not develop much in spite of the wide scope that agriculture and non-farming rural activities offered. Large-scale exploitation by private traders and middlemen and the lack of information dissemination to farmers on various important issues were identified as serious obstacles for rural development. Dasgupta highlights the success story of the cooperative movement in dairy production pioneered by AMUL. The setting up of agri-portals to open up information channels, distribution and procurement networks is also focused upon.
2. Understanding Rural Marketing- V V Gopal
Spotting the exciting opportunities of the rural markets, marketers are drawing elaborate plans to tap them. However, rural marketing is still at an embryonic stage. This article analyzes the reasons behind the scenario. It discusses various strategies adopted by marketers to influence the decision-making process and the buying behavoiour of the rural customer. CavinKare chik shampoo in 50 paise sachets and Coke Rs. 5 per bottle are just a few of the marketing strategies formulated by big marketers targeting the rural customers. The authoralso lays emphasis on the role of communication in promoting rural sales. He further opines that communicating in the local language captures the rural shoppers mind share as well as heart share resulting in the capture of wallet share.
3. Emerging Face of Rural Markets – Purba Basu
The rise of the rural markets has been the most important marketing phenomenon in the nineties. Leading consumer goods companies ventured into this segment the colume of growth it likely was going to offer. The article narrates how mass media have come in handy for FMCG companies to promote their products in rural markets. Various strategies adopted byu the retailers to attract the consumer. The need for product availability, enhancing awareness and increasing the buying power of the rural customers is emphasized in this article. The article also explains that product availability can affect decision of brand choice, volumes and market share. Creating awareness through advertisements, which touch the emotions of the rural consumers can drive a quantum jump in sales. Marketers are concentrating on tapping the untapped buyers which have tremendous purchasing power.
4. Tapping India’s Rural Market – Sara Huhmann
The open sale of foreign consumer products in India commenced during post liberalization period. Multinational companies view India as a market with great potential and opportunities for growth and promotion. This article addresses various issues relating to rural marketing such as understanding rural market formulating the strategies to be adopted to penetrate into segment and understanding the types of products and packages the rural consumers use. The buying behaviour of rural India revolves around the concept of ‘earn today and spend tomorrow’. Marketers are taking into account the low disposable incomes of the consumers and are coming up with unique packaging for such consumers such as ‘sachets’, priced at affordable level.
5. For a Brand New Rural India – Harish Bijoor
This article focuses on the challenges of marketing in rural India, which is multi- cultural, multi-faceted and populous. It differentiates rural India (real India) from urban India (Virtual India). The author opines that real India is today run by virtual India. It is moving very fast in the direction of the needs, aspirations, desires discovered by the man in rural India. Marketers have to adopt one of the two ways top create brand for the rural shopper – either the insensitive way or a sensitive way. Taking the urban brand and lowering the price, extending the brand to low unit packs etc constitute th einsensitive way. The sensitive way is all about taking the rough route of branding in the rural market while at the same time preserving rural India. The article suggest ways by which marketers can preserve the rural terrain but still create brands that are relevant to the needs of the rural man. It emphasizes the need to preserve the sanctity of the rural India.
6. Rural Promise - Sravanthi Challapalli
This article presents the distinct features of the rural markets and details how it is different from its urban counterpart. Rural Indians are keen to buy small packs. They are price and product conscious. They cling on to particular brand. In contrast to what is generally believed, disposable income in this segment is not low. The author opines that the yardstick applied to study urban India could provide pointers to rural India als0. Statistics show that rural India is rapidly moving from poverty to propensity opening the doors for marketers.
7. Rural Marketing is a Different Ballgame – Deepak Halan
When it comes to non-urban shoppers the marketing strategies formulated should be different from those that aim at their urban counterparts. This article narrates why establishing a rapport with rural consumers is important and discuss the research methodology that needs to be followed when catering to their needs. The author opines that identifying region-specific media, melas, developing regional messages and demonstrations facilitate the process of creating brand awareness among the rural folk. This article emphasizes that besides pffering products that specially cater to the needs of rural consumers, marketers need to understand that capturing rural markets involves focusing on low priced products.
8. Strategies for Rural Markets – T Sarathy and R Lakshmi Narayanan
The expanding rural markets are vital for the growth of many companies. Hindustan Uni Lever Ltd (HUL) is one among them. This article deals with various aspects relating to rural marketing in rural India, important among them being the market potential, rural reach and the budget allotment. Having understood the changing dynamics of the Indian market scenario and realizing that the rural consumer is now in a position to dictate terms, corporates are allocating a significant part of their budget to the rural markets. This article discusses the role of IT in this segment with reference to e-Choupal by ITC. Lack of infrastructure, low literacy levels and uncertain income of the rural consumers are some of the major challenges faced by the rural marketers.
Section II : Cases
1. ITC – M Rajshekar and Indrajit Gupta
This details the initiatives taken by this company to capture rural markets. Choupal Sagar is the first rural mall set up by the company. The outlet has an offer every commodity – from toothpastes to televisions, hair oils to motorcycles, shirts to fertilizers and many more. With its network of e-choupals, ITC gets in touch with the farmers through the Internet or VSAT lines and thus communicates the latest commodity prices. In case the farmers find these prices attractive, they sell their products to ITC. ITC has ushered in an information revolution catalyzed by choupals. The company is planning to set up a bank, cafeteria, an insurance office and a learning center to ensure that farmers visit Chaupal Sagar at all times, unlike the present situation, wherein they come only after harvest. ITC, with all present situation, wherein they come only after harvest. ITC with all its initiatives, succeeded in gauging rural consumers buying patterns.
2. Coca- Cola – K Subhadra
This details about the marketing strategy adopted by coca-cola to capture the rural market. The company proposed a strategy based on 3 A’s – Availability, Affordability and Acceptability. It adopted a hub and spoke distribution model to make coke available to rural consumers. Coke was transported to the hub from bottling plants and through them to the spokes in small towns. Coca-Cola launched a 200 ml ‘Chota Coke’ at a price affordable by rural consumers. The company ensured through its tv commercials and hoardings that consumers received and accepted them well. The case also presents the future plans of the company in penetrating further into rural markets.
3. LG – Dakshi Mohanty and T Phani Madhav
This traces the history of LG’s entry into India and examines its rural marketing initiatives. Though it had a presence in the Indian market since a few decades, LG focussed on rural marketing only from 2002. LG advertised its products all through the year. It also gave them an option of online shopping. As a unique marketing strategy, LG offered offices in the semi-urban and rural areas, known as central area offices (CAO) and remote area offices (RAO), which not only acted as sales offices but were also profit centers with decision making authority. The case details how LG succedded in its ventures by way of introducing a series of economy range products such as CinePlus along with Sampoorna CTVs and frostfree refrigerators. Through its novel strategy, “Different models, different channel”, LG operated into rural markets successfully.
4. SEWA – Reema Nanavaty
SEWA (Self-Employed Women’s Association) is a member based organization, which assists rural women producers realize the maximum financial benefits from their products and services. Out of its 1,67,000 members 1,01,000 are rural members. This article illustrates the measures taken up by SEWA to uplift the rural women who mostly come from the drought prone areas where their ability to produce goods for consumption and sale is severely affected by various factors including water shortages, etc. its strategy focuses on assisting rural women to bargain for better prices from middlemen, identifying the needs of the community and design programs that go hand-in-hand with the exiating government programs. SEWA also proposes to continuously invest in regular market surveys and market based research activities.
5. Hindustan Unilever Limited – N Gayatridevi
Project streamline is a rural distribution model for Hindustan Unilever Ltd. Owing the invasion of television, consumer awareness in rural India has increased. HUL is among companies that took rural marketing seriously. Having experienced a bitter loss in its business of toilet soaps, toothpastes, HUL realized that the future lay in tapping the enormous rural population. It then ventured into the rural markets with an intention to promote its products in the rural areas. Project Streamline was launched by the company with an objective to have an control over the rural distribution and thereby to increase the rural penetration. Then HUL went on to initiate “Project Shakti” to address the drawbacks of the project streamline, with an objective to respond to the buying behaviour of the rural consumers. It facilitated the reach and distribution process of the company. It also explains the marketshare and price of the product.
6. CavinKare – Gouri Shukla
Having understood the needs ad buying pattern of the rural consumers, CavinKare came up with an unique idea of selling its shampoo in “sachets”. The case illustrates how the company unshered in a revolution in consumer products through “Chik” – shampoo in low priced sachets. This filled the need gap in rural markets. The price sensitive rural consumer did not mind spending Re. 1 for a shampoo hair wash. The case then details CavinKare in order to consolidate its position went on to sell shampoos at 50 paise, and also launched a single use perfume at Rs. 2.
The book provides a broad view of the rural market scenario in India as of 2005 and discusses the opportunities and challenges faced by marketers who venture into the arena. It is divided into two sections- Concepts and Cases, wherein the concepts of rural marketing and innovations and initiatives of leading consumer goods companies like ITC, Coca-Cola, HUL and LG are dicusses in detail.
Section 1: Concepts
1. Innovations in rural India- Jayatri Dasgupta
Being the source of livelihood for close to two-thirds (around 65 %) of the country’s population, rural India holds great potential for development. This article investigates why rural economy did not develop much in spite of the wide scope that agriculture and non-farming rural activities offered. Large-scale exploitation by private traders and middlemen and the lack of information dissemination to farmers on various important issues were identified as serious obstacles for rural development. Dasgupta highlights the success story of the cooperative movement in dairy production pioneered by AMUL. The setting up of agri-portals to open up information channels, distribution and procurement networks is also focused upon.
2. Understanding Rural Marketing- V V Gopal
Spotting the exciting opportunities of the rural markets, marketers are drawing elaborate plans to tap them. However, rural marketing is still at an embryonic stage. This article analyzes the reasons behind the scenario. It discusses various strategies adopted by marketers to influence the decision-making process and the buying behavoiour of the rural customer. CavinKare chik shampoo in 50 paise sachets and Coke Rs. 5 per bottle are just a few of the marketing strategies formulated by big marketers targeting the rural customers. The authoralso lays emphasis on the role of communication in promoting rural sales. He further opines that communicating in the local language captures the rural shoppers mind share as well as heart share resulting in the capture of wallet share.
3. Emerging Face of Rural Markets – Purba Basu
The rise of the rural markets has been the most important marketing phenomenon in the nineties. Leading consumer goods companies ventured into this segment the colume of growth it likely was going to offer. The article narrates how mass media have come in handy for FMCG companies to promote their products in rural markets. Various strategies adopted byu the retailers to attract the consumer. The need for product availability, enhancing awareness and increasing the buying power of the rural customers is emphasized in this article. The article also explains that product availability can affect decision of brand choice, volumes and market share. Creating awareness through advertisements, which touch the emotions of the rural consumers can drive a quantum jump in sales. Marketers are concentrating on tapping the untapped buyers which have tremendous purchasing power.
4. Tapping India’s Rural Market – Sara Huhmann
The open sale of foreign consumer products in India commenced during post liberalization period. Multinational companies view India as a market with great potential and opportunities for growth and promotion. This article addresses various issues relating to rural marketing such as understanding rural market formulating the strategies to be adopted to penetrate into segment and understanding the types of products and packages the rural consumers use. The buying behaviour of rural India revolves around the concept of ‘earn today and spend tomorrow’. Marketers are taking into account the low disposable incomes of the consumers and are coming up with unique packaging for such consumers such as ‘sachets’, priced at affordable level.
5. For a Brand New Rural India – Harish Bijoor
This article focuses on the challenges of marketing in rural India, which is multi- cultural, multi-faceted and populous. It differentiates rural India (real India) from urban India (Virtual India). The author opines that real India is today run by virtual India. It is moving very fast in the direction of the needs, aspirations, desires discovered by the man in rural India. Marketers have to adopt one of the two ways top create brand for the rural shopper – either the insensitive way or a sensitive way. Taking the urban brand and lowering the price, extending the brand to low unit packs etc constitute th einsensitive way. The sensitive way is all about taking the rough route of branding in the rural market while at the same time preserving rural India. The article suggest ways by which marketers can preserve the rural terrain but still create brands that are relevant to the needs of the rural man. It emphasizes the need to preserve the sanctity of the rural India.
6. Rural Promise - Sravanthi Challapalli
This article presents the distinct features of the rural markets and details how it is different from its urban counterpart. Rural Indians are keen to buy small packs. They are price and product conscious. They cling on to particular brand. In contrast to what is generally believed, disposable income in this segment is not low. The author opines that the yardstick applied to study urban India could provide pointers to rural India als0. Statistics show that rural India is rapidly moving from poverty to propensity opening the doors for marketers.
7. Rural Marketing is a Different Ballgame – Deepak Halan
When it comes to non-urban shoppers the marketing strategies formulated should be different from those that aim at their urban counterparts. This article narrates why establishing a rapport with rural consumers is important and discuss the research methodology that needs to be followed when catering to their needs. The author opines that identifying region-specific media, melas, developing regional messages and demonstrations facilitate the process of creating brand awareness among the rural folk. This article emphasizes that besides pffering products that specially cater to the needs of rural consumers, marketers need to understand that capturing rural markets involves focusing on low priced products.
8. Strategies for Rural Markets – T Sarathy and R Lakshmi Narayanan
The expanding rural markets are vital for the growth of many companies. Hindustan Uni Lever Ltd (HUL) is one among them. This article deals with various aspects relating to rural marketing in rural India, important among them being the market potential, rural reach and the budget allotment. Having understood the changing dynamics of the Indian market scenario and realizing that the rural consumer is now in a position to dictate terms, corporates are allocating a significant part of their budget to the rural markets. This article discusses the role of IT in this segment with reference to e-Choupal by ITC. Lack of infrastructure, low literacy levels and uncertain income of the rural consumers are some of the major challenges faced by the rural marketers.
Section II : Cases
1. ITC – M Rajshekar and Indrajit Gupta
This details the initiatives taken by this company to capture rural markets. Choupal Sagar is the first rural mall set up by the company. The outlet has an offer every commodity – from toothpastes to televisions, hair oils to motorcycles, shirts to fertilizers and many more. With its network of e-choupals, ITC gets in touch with the farmers through the Internet or VSAT lines and thus communicates the latest commodity prices. In case the farmers find these prices attractive, they sell their products to ITC. ITC has ushered in an information revolution catalyzed by choupals. The company is planning to set up a bank, cafeteria, an insurance office and a learning center to ensure that farmers visit Chaupal Sagar at all times, unlike the present situation, wherein they come only after harvest. ITC, with all present situation, wherein they come only after harvest. ITC with all its initiatives, succeeded in gauging rural consumers buying patterns.
2. Coca- Cola – K Subhadra
This details about the marketing strategy adopted by coca-cola to capture the rural market. The company proposed a strategy based on 3 A’s – Availability, Affordability and Acceptability. It adopted a hub and spoke distribution model to make coke available to rural consumers. Coke was transported to the hub from bottling plants and through them to the spokes in small towns. Coca-Cola launched a 200 ml ‘Chota Coke’ at a price affordable by rural consumers. The company ensured through its tv commercials and hoardings that consumers received and accepted them well. The case also presents the future plans of the company in penetrating further into rural markets.
3. LG – Dakshi Mohanty and T Phani Madhav
This traces the history of LG’s entry into India and examines its rural marketing initiatives. Though it had a presence in the Indian market since a few decades, LG focussed on rural marketing only from 2002. LG advertised its products all through the year. It also gave them an option of online shopping. As a unique marketing strategy, LG offered offices in the semi-urban and rural areas, known as central area offices (CAO) and remote area offices (RAO), which not only acted as sales offices but were also profit centers with decision making authority. The case details how LG succedded in its ventures by way of introducing a series of economy range products such as CinePlus along with Sampoorna CTVs and frostfree refrigerators. Through its novel strategy, “Different models, different channel”, LG operated into rural markets successfully.
4. SEWA – Reema Nanavaty
SEWA (Self-Employed Women’s Association) is a member based organization, which assists rural women producers realize the maximum financial benefits from their products and services. Out of its 1,67,000 members 1,01,000 are rural members. This article illustrates the measures taken up by SEWA to uplift the rural women who mostly come from the drought prone areas where their ability to produce goods for consumption and sale is severely affected by various factors including water shortages, etc. its strategy focuses on assisting rural women to bargain for better prices from middlemen, identifying the needs of the community and design programs that go hand-in-hand with the exiating government programs. SEWA also proposes to continuously invest in regular market surveys and market based research activities.
5. Hindustan Unilever Limited – N Gayatridevi
Project streamline is a rural distribution model for Hindustan Unilever Ltd. Owing the invasion of television, consumer awareness in rural India has increased. HUL is among companies that took rural marketing seriously. Having experienced a bitter loss in its business of toilet soaps, toothpastes, HUL realized that the future lay in tapping the enormous rural population. It then ventured into the rural markets with an intention to promote its products in the rural areas. Project Streamline was launched by the company with an objective to have an control over the rural distribution and thereby to increase the rural penetration. Then HUL went on to initiate “Project Shakti” to address the drawbacks of the project streamline, with an objective to respond to the buying behaviour of the rural consumers. It facilitated the reach and distribution process of the company. It also explains the marketshare and price of the product.
6. CavinKare – Gouri Shukla
Having understood the needs ad buying pattern of the rural consumers, CavinKare came up with an unique idea of selling its shampoo in “sachets”. The case illustrates how the company unshered in a revolution in consumer products through “Chik” – shampoo in low priced sachets. This filled the need gap in rural markets. The price sensitive rural consumer did not mind spending Re. 1 for a shampoo hair wash. The case then details CavinKare in order to consolidate its position went on to sell shampoos at 50 paise, and also launched a single use perfume at Rs. 2.
Sunday, December 26, 2010
FDI in retail?
A question that has been in the media for quite some time now. After some study and introspection, this is what I think about it:
FDI must be allowed in all forms of retail in India:
1. Single-brand retail : 51% should be hiked to 100%
2. Cash-and-carry : 100% FDI status quo be maintained
3. Multi brand retail : No FDI currently, initially 49% should be allowed. Later depending on the expansion and macro environment factors, it can gradually go up to 74% and finally 100%.
FDI in multi brand retail should be opened up gradually. The government should allow 49% initially so that large MNC retail giants can forge tie ups with big local players in India. This would help in technology transfer, strengthening of supply chain systems and bring fresh capital that is badly needed for expansion. Between 30-40% of post-harvest produce goes to waste in a country where nearly half the people are malnourished. This would help tame double-digit food inflation that pushed the central bank to raise rates five times since March. A more organised retail sector, which currently is only around 5% of total retail, would also improve tax receipts. The move could generate huge employment in the multi-brand retail sector and, while fears of job losses for smaller outlets are real, analysts have often played down the impact. Farmers may also benefit because they could sell direct rather than relying on middle men. Political unrest would be near-inevitable. Manmohan's government has grappled with huge strikes and protests over soaring food prices and fuel reforms. Even if he pushed the reform through, huge upheaval could force the government to backtrack.Like insurance, retail is a capital-intensive business and hence FDI is a must.
However, the govt. needs to realize that allowing FDI in multi brand retail is not going to be the PANACEA. The rural agricultural infrastructure is far from acceptable standards in India. Expecting retailers to turn around everything is not realistic. Hence significant investments should go into improving the rural agricultural infrastructure. Only then will the farm-to-fork model of modern retail yield its benefits fully and rein in the spectre of inflation.
FDI must be allowed in all forms of retail in India:
1. Single-brand retail : 51% should be hiked to 100%
2. Cash-and-carry : 100% FDI status quo be maintained
3. Multi brand retail : No FDI currently, initially 49% should be allowed. Later depending on the expansion and macro environment factors, it can gradually go up to 74% and finally 100%.
FDI in multi brand retail should be opened up gradually. The government should allow 49% initially so that large MNC retail giants can forge tie ups with big local players in India. This would help in technology transfer, strengthening of supply chain systems and bring fresh capital that is badly needed for expansion. Between 30-40% of post-harvest produce goes to waste in a country where nearly half the people are malnourished. This would help tame double-digit food inflation that pushed the central bank to raise rates five times since March. A more organised retail sector, which currently is only around 5% of total retail, would also improve tax receipts. The move could generate huge employment in the multi-brand retail sector and, while fears of job losses for smaller outlets are real, analysts have often played down the impact. Farmers may also benefit because they could sell direct rather than relying on middle men. Political unrest would be near-inevitable. Manmohan's government has grappled with huge strikes and protests over soaring food prices and fuel reforms. Even if he pushed the reform through, huge upheaval could force the government to backtrack.Like insurance, retail is a capital-intensive business and hence FDI is a must.
However, the govt. needs to realize that allowing FDI in multi brand retail is not going to be the PANACEA. The rural agricultural infrastructure is far from acceptable standards in India. Expecting retailers to turn around everything is not realistic. Hence significant investments should go into improving the rural agricultural infrastructure. Only then will the farm-to-fork model of modern retail yield its benefits fully and rein in the spectre of inflation.
Friday, December 17, 2010
The Big "P" and more...
Hello readers!
It has been a long time since I posted anything. The Big "P" stands for PLACEMENT in all B-schools. Thanks to Nitish who coined this term (as if we needed one more P after the 8 Ps in services marketing! ). The term-5 of PGDM (MBA) has come to an end and I am cooling off my heels for a day before the final term sessions get underway.This term has been the most eventful and exciting for me and most of my friends would concur with this as well. I have got a job offer from Pantaloon Retail India Limited, the flagship company of Future Group, India's largest retailer in terms of number of stores and revenues (over $ 2.1 billion in FY 2010). Most of my friends here at SDMIMD have bagged jobs and that's one more reason to rejoice. Very soon, India Inc. will get a new set of high potential-high performing (STAR) managers!
The whole placement process taught me that one needs to be patient, well prepared and a little lucky to get the offer from a company. The process involves multiple trade-offs between conflicting parameters like salary, profile, location, company brand, CGPA and industry dynamics. A lot depends on the schedule of companies coming to campus (as we follow rolling placement system here at SDMIMD) and the risk appetite of the student.Also a few of my batchmates are determined to start their own ventures or expand their parent's businesses which is a welcome sign as India needs such wealth creators more than corporate managers.
The whole concept of putting students on HOLD by recruiters really sucks. It puts undue pressure on the young students and speaks poorly of a company's recruitment policies.
The annual management fest of SDMIMD is going to be conducted from January 6 to 8, 2011 here at SDMIMD campus in Mysore. Loads of events are on the anvil. Preparations are on and I will update you all on this soon.
Cheers!
It has been a long time since I posted anything. The Big "P" stands for PLACEMENT in all B-schools. Thanks to Nitish who coined this term (as if we needed one more P after the 8 Ps in services marketing! ). The term-5 of PGDM (MBA) has come to an end and I am cooling off my heels for a day before the final term sessions get underway.This term has been the most eventful and exciting for me and most of my friends would concur with this as well. I have got a job offer from Pantaloon Retail India Limited, the flagship company of Future Group, India's largest retailer in terms of number of stores and revenues (over $ 2.1 billion in FY 2010). Most of my friends here at SDMIMD have bagged jobs and that's one more reason to rejoice. Very soon, India Inc. will get a new set of high potential-high performing (STAR) managers!
The whole placement process taught me that one needs to be patient, well prepared and a little lucky to get the offer from a company. The process involves multiple trade-offs between conflicting parameters like salary, profile, location, company brand, CGPA and industry dynamics. A lot depends on the schedule of companies coming to campus (as we follow rolling placement system here at SDMIMD) and the risk appetite of the student.Also a few of my batchmates are determined to start their own ventures or expand their parent's businesses which is a welcome sign as India needs such wealth creators more than corporate managers.
The whole concept of putting students on HOLD by recruiters really sucks. It puts undue pressure on the young students and speaks poorly of a company's recruitment policies.
The annual management fest of SDMIMD is going to be conducted from January 6 to 8, 2011 here at SDMIMD campus in Mysore. Loads of events are on the anvil. Preparations are on and I will update you all on this soon.
Cheers!
Thursday, November 25, 2010
Management Gyaan!!!
Dear friends, in the words of my friend Anupam, we are the "future" managers of our country. So let me share some management lessons that we never get in MBA classrooms....in an entertaining fashion....all the credit or discredit goes to the copyright owner Mr. Anupam Niyogi!
ENJOYYYYYYY !!!!!!!
* Lesson Number One*
A crow was sitting on a tree, doing nothing all day. A small rabbitsaw the crow, and asked him, "Can I also sit like you and do nothingall day long?" The crow answered: "Sure, why not." So, the rabbit sat on the ground below the crow, and rested. All of a sudden, a fox appeared, jumped on the rabbit and ate it.
Management Lesson: To be sitting and doing nothing, you must besitting very, very high up. .
* Lesson Number Two *
A turkey was chatting with a bull.
"I would love to be able to get to the top of that tree," sighed the turkey, "but I haven't got the energy. "Well, why don't you nibble on some of my droppings?" replied the bull. "They're packed with nutrients."The turkey pecked at a lump of dung and found that it actually gave him enough strength to reach the first branch of the tree. The nextday, after eating some more dung, he reached the second branch. Finally after a fortnight, there he was proudly perched at the top ofthe tree. Soon he was promptly spotted by a farmer, who shot the turkey out of the tree.
Management Lesson: Bullshit might get you to the top, but it won'tkeep you there.
* Lesson Number Three *
When the body was first made, all the parts wanted to be Boss. Thebrain said, "I should be Boss because I control the whole body'sresponses and functions."
The feet said, "We should be Boss as we carry the brain about and gethim to where he wants to go." The hands said, "We should be the Bossbecause we do all the work and earn all the money." And so it went onand on with the heart, the lungs and the eyes until finally theasshole spoke up. All the parts laughed at the idea of the asshole being the Boss. Sothe asshole went on strike, blocked itself up and refused to work.Within a short time the eyes became crossed, the hands clenched, thefeet twitched, the heart and lungs began to panic and the brain fevered. Eventually they all decided that the asshole should be theBoss, so the motion was passed.
All the other parts did all the work while the Boss just sat andpassed out the shit!
Management Lesson: You don't need brains to be Boss, any asshole will do! You just need to screw people at the right moment.
* Lesson Number Four *
A little bird was flying south for the winter. It was so cold, thebird froze and fell to the ground in a large field. While it was lyingthere, a cow came by and dropped some dung on it. As the frozen birdlay there in the pile of cow dung, it began to realize how warm itwas. The dung was actually thawing him out!
He lay there all warm and happy, and soon began to sing for joy. A passing cat heard he bird singing and came to investigate. Following the sound, the cat discovered the bird under the pile of cow dung, and promptly dug him out of the shit and ate him!
Management Lessons
A) Not everyone who drops shit on you is your enemy.
B) Not everyone who gets you out of shit is your friend.
C) When you're in deep shit, you better keep your mouth shut!
PS: THESE ARE PROVEN FACTS AND SHOULD BE KNOWN TO EVERY MANAGER.....
ENJOYYYYYYY !!!!!!!
* Lesson Number One*
A crow was sitting on a tree, doing nothing all day. A small rabbitsaw the crow, and asked him, "Can I also sit like you and do nothingall day long?" The crow answered: "Sure, why not." So, the rabbit sat on the ground below the crow, and rested. All of a sudden, a fox appeared, jumped on the rabbit and ate it.
Management Lesson: To be sitting and doing nothing, you must besitting very, very high up. .
* Lesson Number Two *
A turkey was chatting with a bull.
"I would love to be able to get to the top of that tree," sighed the turkey, "but I haven't got the energy. "Well, why don't you nibble on some of my droppings?" replied the bull. "They're packed with nutrients."The turkey pecked at a lump of dung and found that it actually gave him enough strength to reach the first branch of the tree. The nextday, after eating some more dung, he reached the second branch. Finally after a fortnight, there he was proudly perched at the top ofthe tree. Soon he was promptly spotted by a farmer, who shot the turkey out of the tree.
Management Lesson: Bullshit might get you to the top, but it won'tkeep you there.
* Lesson Number Three *
When the body was first made, all the parts wanted to be Boss. Thebrain said, "I should be Boss because I control the whole body'sresponses and functions."
The feet said, "We should be Boss as we carry the brain about and gethim to where he wants to go." The hands said, "We should be the Bossbecause we do all the work and earn all the money." And so it went onand on with the heart, the lungs and the eyes until finally theasshole spoke up. All the parts laughed at the idea of the asshole being the Boss. Sothe asshole went on strike, blocked itself up and refused to work.Within a short time the eyes became crossed, the hands clenched, thefeet twitched, the heart and lungs began to panic and the brain fevered. Eventually they all decided that the asshole should be theBoss, so the motion was passed.
All the other parts did all the work while the Boss just sat andpassed out the shit!
Management Lesson: You don't need brains to be Boss, any asshole will do! You just need to screw people at the right moment.
* Lesson Number Four *
A little bird was flying south for the winter. It was so cold, thebird froze and fell to the ground in a large field. While it was lyingthere, a cow came by and dropped some dung on it. As the frozen birdlay there in the pile of cow dung, it began to realize how warm itwas. The dung was actually thawing him out!
He lay there all warm and happy, and soon began to sing for joy. A passing cat heard he bird singing and came to investigate. Following the sound, the cat discovered the bird under the pile of cow dung, and promptly dug him out of the shit and ate him!
Management Lessons
A) Not everyone who drops shit on you is your enemy.
B) Not everyone who gets you out of shit is your friend.
C) When you're in deep shit, you better keep your mouth shut!
PS: THESE ARE PROVEN FACTS AND SHOULD BE KNOWN TO EVERY MANAGER.....
Wednesday, November 10, 2010
My favourite poems
Two poems that have influenced and touched me to the core are posted below. Hope these will do my readers some good.Looking forward to your comments and suggestions.
INVICTUS
---William E. Henley
Out of the night that covers me,
Black as the pit from pole to pole,
I thank whatever gods may be
For my unconquerable soul.
In the fell clutch of circumstance
I have not winced nor cried aloud.
Under the bludgeonings of chance
My head is bloody, but unbowed.
Beyond this place of wrath and tears
Looms but the Horror of the shade,
And yet the menace of the years
Finds and shall find me unafraid.
It matters not how strait the gate,
How charged with punishments the scroll,
I am the master of my fate:
I am the captain of my soul.
Don't Quit!
-Anonymous
When things go wrong, as they sometimes will,
when the road you're trudging seems all uphill,
When the funds are low and the debts are high,
And you want to smile, but you have to sigh,
When care is pressing you down a bit,
Rest, if you must, but do not quit.
Life is queer with its twists and turns,
As every one of us sometimes learns,
And many a failure turns about,
When he might have won had he stuck it out;
Don't give up though the pace seems slow-
You may succeed with another blow.
Often the goal is nearer than,
It seems to a faint and faltering man,
Often the struggler has given up,
When he might have captured the victor's cup,
And he learned too late when the night slipped down,
How close he was to the golden crown.
Success is failure turned inside out-
The silver tint of the clouds of doubt,
And you never can tell how close you are,
It may be near when it seems so far,
So stick to the fight when you're hardest hit-
It's when things seem worst that you must not quit.
INVICTUS
---William E. Henley
Out of the night that covers me,
Black as the pit from pole to pole,
I thank whatever gods may be
For my unconquerable soul.
In the fell clutch of circumstance
I have not winced nor cried aloud.
Under the bludgeonings of chance
My head is bloody, but unbowed.
Beyond this place of wrath and tears
Looms but the Horror of the shade,
And yet the menace of the years
Finds and shall find me unafraid.
It matters not how strait the gate,
How charged with punishments the scroll,
I am the master of my fate:
I am the captain of my soul.
Don't Quit!
-Anonymous
When things go wrong, as they sometimes will,
when the road you're trudging seems all uphill,
When the funds are low and the debts are high,
And you want to smile, but you have to sigh,
When care is pressing you down a bit,
Rest, if you must, but do not quit.
Life is queer with its twists and turns,
As every one of us sometimes learns,
And many a failure turns about,
When he might have won had he stuck it out;
Don't give up though the pace seems slow-
You may succeed with another blow.
Often the goal is nearer than,
It seems to a faint and faltering man,
Often the struggler has given up,
When he might have captured the victor's cup,
And he learned too late when the night slipped down,
How close he was to the golden crown.
Success is failure turned inside out-
The silver tint of the clouds of doubt,
And you never can tell how close you are,
It may be near when it seems so far,
So stick to the fight when you're hardest hit-
It's when things seem worst that you must not quit.
Saturday, October 30, 2010
Perspectives on key issues- I
I am back again after a long time.Its the Diwali break at school. Happy Diwali to all my readers.
Tried to figure out answers to a few key issues being raised in Indian business media lately. There are no easy answers considering the scale and complexity of the problems. However, the idea was to crystallize thoughts in my mind. Comments are MOST welcome.
1. Impact of rising rupee on IT/ITeS companies:
Excessive speculative FII inflows as developed economies still not out of recession fully and emerging markets fetch attractive ROI.Could spell trouble for small and medium software companies in India. According to analysts, every 1% rise in the rupee could have 30-40 basis points impact on operating margins.With Coal India IPO on the anvil, we might witness further appreciation in the rupee.RBI has to intervene by buying out the dollars through the public sector banks to rein in the rupee to maintain India’s export competitiveness.Companies need to diversify their clientele across geographies and hedge their forex reserves better.
2. Was it right to award the Nobel Peace Prize to Liu Xiaobo?
Xiaobo was awarded this year’s Nobel Peace Prize for his long and non-violent struggle for fundamental human rights in the world’s second largest economy.Many Chinese dissidents within the establishment and the intelligentsia are working for incremental political reform, greater economic and social equality and a negotiated compromise between the conflicting interests in the complex and stratified Chinese society.Chinese govt. perceives this award as another act of the West to derail its progress by promoting internal strife and has made its displeasure public.It was right. His selection can be justified on the premise that more people around the world and inside China will know what the Chinese dissidents like him stand for, and for a time will remember them and their cause a little better.
3. Commonwealth Games- Lessons for India
Major loopholes were improper planning, huge cost overruns and ramapant corruption besides problems in ticket vending and hygiene in the CWG Village.International sports events like the CWG have become branding events for emerging economic superpowers.Lessons need to be learnt in plugging the loopholes if India wants to host the Olympics in the near future.Proper utilisation of the sports infrastructure created for the CWG to enhance the standards of sports in India is crucial. More players should be able to access the facilities created to improve their game.The Games have prevented any major embarassment or disaster since their opening. All the nations participated. India’s best CWG performance till date. But a lot of things remain to be learnt.
Tried to figure out answers to a few key issues being raised in Indian business media lately. There are no easy answers considering the scale and complexity of the problems. However, the idea was to crystallize thoughts in my mind. Comments are MOST welcome.
1. Impact of rising rupee on IT/ITeS companies:
Excessive speculative FII inflows as developed economies still not out of recession fully and emerging markets fetch attractive ROI.Could spell trouble for small and medium software companies in India. According to analysts, every 1% rise in the rupee could have 30-40 basis points impact on operating margins.With Coal India IPO on the anvil, we might witness further appreciation in the rupee.RBI has to intervene by buying out the dollars through the public sector banks to rein in the rupee to maintain India’s export competitiveness.Companies need to diversify their clientele across geographies and hedge their forex reserves better.
2. Was it right to award the Nobel Peace Prize to Liu Xiaobo?
Xiaobo was awarded this year’s Nobel Peace Prize for his long and non-violent struggle for fundamental human rights in the world’s second largest economy.Many Chinese dissidents within the establishment and the intelligentsia are working for incremental political reform, greater economic and social equality and a negotiated compromise between the conflicting interests in the complex and stratified Chinese society.Chinese govt. perceives this award as another act of the West to derail its progress by promoting internal strife and has made its displeasure public.It was right. His selection can be justified on the premise that more people around the world and inside China will know what the Chinese dissidents like him stand for, and for a time will remember them and their cause a little better.
3. Commonwealth Games- Lessons for India
Major loopholes were improper planning, huge cost overruns and ramapant corruption besides problems in ticket vending and hygiene in the CWG Village.International sports events like the CWG have become branding events for emerging economic superpowers.Lessons need to be learnt in plugging the loopholes if India wants to host the Olympics in the near future.Proper utilisation of the sports infrastructure created for the CWG to enhance the standards of sports in India is crucial. More players should be able to access the facilities created to improve their game.The Games have prevented any major embarassment or disaster since their opening. All the nations participated. India’s best CWG performance till date. But a lot of things remain to be learnt.
Saturday, October 9, 2010
Vital Stats! (Vol-I)
Compiled a few vital statistics from various sources to aid my memory.Happy reading and please add to the figures with your comments.
Indian Economy (Eco.Survey FY10 and e-newspapers)
1. GDP growth rate in India in FY10: 7.4%
2. GDP growth rate projected for FY11: >8.5%
3. Fiscal deficit of FY10 : 6.9% of GDP (budget estimate, according to new series)
4. Global rank in terms of nominal GDP ($1.25 trillion,FY09): 11th
5. Global rank in terms of PPP: 4th
6. FDI inflow in FY10 : $ 49.30 billion (RBI)
Business India
7. Interest rate on Employees Provident Fund (EPF) for FY11 : 9.5% (+1%)
8. Number of EPF subscribers : almost 5 crores
9. Interest rate on Senior Citizens’ Savings Scheme : 9%
10. Bank deposits offer up to 7.5%
11. Total size of the workforce in India: 38 crore
12. Organized workers in India constitute around 15% of the total workforce : 5.7 crores
Business Line
13. Wireless subscriber base in India as of August 2010 : 67.06 crore
14. Wireless teledensity stands as of August 2010: 56.61%
15. Bharti Airtel market share as of August 2010 : over 20%
16. Total broadband subscriber base as of August 2010: over 1 crore
Income Tax rates FY 11:
17. Rs. 160,001/- to Rs. 500,000/- 10%
18. Rs. 500,001/- to Rs. 800,000/- 20%
19. Above Rs. 8 Lacs 30%
Indian Economy (Eco.Survey FY10 and e-newspapers)
1. GDP growth rate in India in FY10: 7.4%
2. GDP growth rate projected for FY11: >8.5%
3. Fiscal deficit of FY10 : 6.9% of GDP (budget estimate, according to new series)
4. Global rank in terms of nominal GDP ($1.25 trillion,FY09): 11th
5. Global rank in terms of PPP: 4th
6. FDI inflow in FY10 : $ 49.30 billion (RBI)
Business India
7. Interest rate on Employees Provident Fund (EPF) for FY11 : 9.5% (+1%)
8. Number of EPF subscribers : almost 5 crores
9. Interest rate on Senior Citizens’ Savings Scheme : 9%
10. Bank deposits offer up to 7.5%
11. Total size of the workforce in India: 38 crore
12. Organized workers in India constitute around 15% of the total workforce : 5.7 crores
Business Line
13. Wireless subscriber base in India as of August 2010 : 67.06 crore
14. Wireless teledensity stands as of August 2010: 56.61%
15. Bharti Airtel market share as of August 2010 : over 20%
16. Total broadband subscriber base as of August 2010: over 1 crore
Income Tax rates FY 11:
17. Rs. 160,001/- to Rs. 500,000/- 10%
18. Rs. 500,001/- to Rs. 800,000/- 20%
19. Above Rs. 8 Lacs 30%
Wednesday, September 22, 2010
India and Global Financial Crisis- Evaluation of Policy Responses and Lessons
I and Nitish (a close friend and batch mate at SDMIMD) are currently working on a student paper to be presented at Institute of Management, Nirma University during Nirma International Conference on Management (NICOM 2011) at Ahmedabad.Here's the abstract of that paper:
The US and other major European economies like the UK are gradually emerging out of the recession, although at a snail’s pace, despite some critics predicting a double-dip recession in the near future. It would take a few more years to completely regain the growth momentum. India has by now emerged from the global financial crisis and is on its way to report strong economic growth over the next fiscal. The greatest economic calamity since the Great Depression of the 1930s has thrown up several issues like regulatory oversight, fiscal misprudence, unbridled corporate greed etc. along with unforgettable lessons for policymakers, regulators and enterprises worldwide .
In this paper, we seek to evaluate the various fiscal and monetary policy responses to the financial crisis by the major global economies, right from the unfolding of the crisis till date, with a special emphasis on India.The varying impact of these responses on inflation, unemployment ,fiscal health and economic growth of India has been examined. Protectionist measures in the developed economies have been analysed. The key lessons to be learnt from the crisis have been dealt with. The conclusion and our inferences have been included at the end.
I will post the entire paper for those who want to read it after we finish it.
Cheers!!
The US and other major European economies like the UK are gradually emerging out of the recession, although at a snail’s pace, despite some critics predicting a double-dip recession in the near future. It would take a few more years to completely regain the growth momentum. India has by now emerged from the global financial crisis and is on its way to report strong economic growth over the next fiscal. The greatest economic calamity since the Great Depression of the 1930s has thrown up several issues like regulatory oversight, fiscal misprudence, unbridled corporate greed etc. along with unforgettable lessons for policymakers, regulators and enterprises worldwide .
In this paper, we seek to evaluate the various fiscal and monetary policy responses to the financial crisis by the major global economies, right from the unfolding of the crisis till date, with a special emphasis on India.The varying impact of these responses on inflation, unemployment ,fiscal health and economic growth of India has been examined. Protectionist measures in the developed economies have been analysed. The key lessons to be learnt from the crisis have been dealt with. The conclusion and our inferences have been included at the end.
I will post the entire paper for those who want to read it after we finish it.
Cheers!!
Being beautiful helps!!
The inspiration for this post comes from the 1946 Alfred Hitchcock flick "Notorious" which I just finished watching.Thanks Virinchi for this wonderful movie!
Would like to make a few points about the benefits of being a beautiful girl/woman. I certainly don't mean to say that not being a beautiful woman is a vice. Neither do I mean that feminine beauty can compensate for the lack of other essential traits which are a MUST in any job like sincerity, competence etc. Apart from all the attention(often unwarranted,though seldom undesired) that feminine beauty attracts almost on a daily basis, it has been the source of inspiration for many a poet in a multitude of languages worldwide. From John Keats to Kalidasa, every poet has penned poems appreciating and admiring this virtue of women.Many men have lost their hearts to beautiful women in the past and continue to do so. I am trying to address how being beautiful helps a woman in this largely male-dominated world. Let's take espionage (spying) for instance.Beautiful women have been great spies in the past.Almost all the major nations have employed them to gather sensitive and otherwise inaccessible information from the enemies. These femme fatales have been largely successful in their missions, often not shying away from sleeping with multiple males to gather information (an occupational hazard). It is very hard to lie, even for the sternest of men,when immersed in the ecstasy of love-making. This basic instinct of men has spilled the beans on many occasions in the past and has been therefore exploited accordingly by intelligence agencies.Good-looking girls certainly get an upper hand when it comes to hiring for jobs that requires extensive face-to-face contact with a large number of people (mostly men!) like receptionists, air hostesses, school teachers and models.It makes sense as men generally feel good talking to a beautiful women than a man (however efficient and handsome he might be) and for the women, it doesn't matter whom they are talking to as long as the job is done well.Research done in the US clearly suggests the incidence of a direct positive correlation between feminine beauty and career success in many jobs.
There could be various reasons to explain this. I believe apart from the biological urges of sexual attraction,other things can be at play like the feeling of happiness (to varying extent) experienced by men when they deal with a smiling, courteous and effective (of course!)lady who is good-looking. It harms nobody.
For all those women who are not good-looking, there is nothing to lose heart as they can leverage other traits they are good at, in jobs as well as in the pursuit of LOVE and happiness in their personal lives.I believe there are many men out there who are more than willing to share their lives with women who are kind and caring despite being moderately endowed with beauty. But then there are also many men who want to go for the belle femme (beautiful women in French) ONLY!!
Keep Smiling. Makes you look more beautiful!!!
Would like to make a few points about the benefits of being a beautiful girl/woman. I certainly don't mean to say that not being a beautiful woman is a vice. Neither do I mean that feminine beauty can compensate for the lack of other essential traits which are a MUST in any job like sincerity, competence etc. Apart from all the attention(often unwarranted,though seldom undesired) that feminine beauty attracts almost on a daily basis, it has been the source of inspiration for many a poet in a multitude of languages worldwide. From John Keats to Kalidasa, every poet has penned poems appreciating and admiring this virtue of women.Many men have lost their hearts to beautiful women in the past and continue to do so. I am trying to address how being beautiful helps a woman in this largely male-dominated world. Let's take espionage (spying) for instance.Beautiful women have been great spies in the past.Almost all the major nations have employed them to gather sensitive and otherwise inaccessible information from the enemies. These femme fatales have been largely successful in their missions, often not shying away from sleeping with multiple males to gather information (an occupational hazard). It is very hard to lie, even for the sternest of men,when immersed in the ecstasy of love-making. This basic instinct of men has spilled the beans on many occasions in the past and has been therefore exploited accordingly by intelligence agencies.Good-looking girls certainly get an upper hand when it comes to hiring for jobs that requires extensive face-to-face contact with a large number of people (mostly men!) like receptionists, air hostesses, school teachers and models.It makes sense as men generally feel good talking to a beautiful women than a man (however efficient and handsome he might be) and for the women, it doesn't matter whom they are talking to as long as the job is done well.Research done in the US clearly suggests the incidence of a direct positive correlation between feminine beauty and career success in many jobs.
There could be various reasons to explain this. I believe apart from the biological urges of sexual attraction,other things can be at play like the feeling of happiness (to varying extent) experienced by men when they deal with a smiling, courteous and effective (of course!)lady who is good-looking. It harms nobody.
For all those women who are not good-looking, there is nothing to lose heart as they can leverage other traits they are good at, in jobs as well as in the pursuit of LOVE and happiness in their personal lives.I believe there are many men out there who are more than willing to share their lives with women who are kind and caring despite being moderately endowed with beauty. But then there are also many men who want to go for the belle femme (beautiful women in French) ONLY!!
Keep Smiling. Makes you look more beautiful!!!
Monday, September 13, 2010
Seth Godin
Hi folks! I am in the middle of the term-4 exam season and typing something in my blog about an extraordinary video I just saw on youtube!!
For the uninitiated, Seth Godin is one of the greatest experts on marketing of our times. His ideas have been path breaking, thought provocative and highly useful for all the students and practitioners of marketing. In this video, he essentially talked of two things:
1. Target the innovators and the early adopters whenever you come up with a new product/service because they are the ones who care to listen to what you are saying and will buy the product. They will speak good about the product/service to their friends and the idea spreads like that.No point to communicate to your entire target audience as it costs a bomb and isn't effective.
2.Try to be remarkable in whatever you make or the way you market. With choices increasing and very less time at the disposal of the consumers,there is no way a product/service is going to be noticed unless there is something remarkable about it.
Here's the link to this wonderful video with amazing examples to elucidate the ideas:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xBIVlM435Zg&feature=related
Cheers!
For the uninitiated, Seth Godin is one of the greatest experts on marketing of our times. His ideas have been path breaking, thought provocative and highly useful for all the students and practitioners of marketing. In this video, he essentially talked of two things:
1. Target the innovators and the early adopters whenever you come up with a new product/service because they are the ones who care to listen to what you are saying and will buy the product. They will speak good about the product/service to their friends and the idea spreads like that.No point to communicate to your entire target audience as it costs a bomb and isn't effective.
2.Try to be remarkable in whatever you make or the way you market. With choices increasing and very less time at the disposal of the consumers,there is no way a product/service is going to be noticed unless there is something remarkable about it.
Here's the link to this wonderful video with amazing examples to elucidate the ideas:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xBIVlM435Zg&feature=related
Cheers!
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