Competitive SME

Government will soon announce strategy for increasing the competitiveness of Indian SME's. SME's are major employment generators. Modernisation of Indian SME's is required so that they can grow into competitive future large companies and exporters. Management of SME's should be groomed so that they can follow modern practices and catapult their companies form mediocre performance to excellence in whatever product or service they offer. With the advent of the e-marketplace, it could take only months for asmall company to harness the global market.

Short Term Deposit Gain Popularity

Last five years have seen fluctuating interest rate movements and hense people have changed their pattern of investment. Short term deposits be it 90 days to 6 months, and 1-2 years period has seen increase in the rate of deposit. The 3-5 year period and 5 plus period has seen a erosion in the total deposits. People are cautious and want to decrease the interest risk of their portfolio. So thinking of investing, go for short term bank-fixed deposit.

CEO Outage

According to a study by EMA Partner International India saw a churn of 66% of CEO's in the last five year. Whopping Indeed! Indian companies saw 57% and their MNC counterparts saw a attrition of 86%. The expectations from CEO's is also increasing, they are expected to deliver results in shorter period of time. They are also expecting better remuneration. IT / ITES saw the highest turnover at 88%, humongous, followed by banking at 70%, Pharma ( 67%) and FMCG ( 61 %) , the reason for churn cited being Resignation( 41%) ,retirement ( 24%).

Farmer Suicides

1000 farmers in Maharastra commited suicide last year. What is the solution? Microcredit should be provided to them. Also private companies shouls come forward to insure the crops at a payment of reasonable affordable premium. Maybe ITC should take up the initiative for both the above solutions. Also better irrigation facilities shold be provided to the farmers. Those on the brink of extinction, loans for them should be wavered or repayment period extended. Also strong arm tactics should not be used aginst them by banks and money lenders. Farmers should be educated in using sophisticated technology for better yield and marketing their produces at best prices, for which again physical infrastructure like roads should be improved. It is noted that compared to 5% growth in the past decades , last year agriculture grew by just 2%.
"Pathetic state of affairs."

Corruption to be licenced : Govt. Says

First the blog was blocked. Now there are talks about bringing a legislation against sting operations. I have only one thing to say to the govt.. Don’t see the process of selling tapes, look at the end result of catching the corrupt which is anyhow not the job of these reporters. Putting their lives in danger, certainly not the 4.5 to 5 lakh rs they earn through it. They would be better of robbing. Such people need to be given Param Vir Chakra for exposing high profile criminals who are plundering the country of wealth and setting wrong leadership example. Why extinguish the spirit of true patriotic India. This blatantly shows the state of affairs of Indian polity.

Legalise criminals to fight elections, legalise rapes, murders, bank-robberies et al. Every body knows the truth, the question is who shall bell the cat, especially if it has paws like tigers.

"Vande Matram".

Of Acquisitions

Tata-Corus deal seems to be going through at $7.7 dollars. A huge takeover. Spoiler and counter-bids notwithstanding, India is ona firm footing and shows business confidence. A slew of M&A's only indicates the same.

Data Theft in Call Centers

People working for self interestss. Cheating at workplace is an area which requires enquiry. What are the reasons for theft? Does it point to other evils existing inside the org.. Is hostility and collective group pressure a reason. Is it due to bullying by boss. Is it acquired or imbibed?
Or is it genetic or learned?
"Any Guesses?"

Compelling Print Media : Mumbai

With the launch of DNA and HT Mumbai's print media has become democratised. There is a healthy competition to provide compelling stories to the reader. I felt like reading more than one newspaper at times. Smelling competition TOI improved its offering by introducing Mumbai Mirror and working on giving better stories in the TOI. Blogosphere has been another democratising force which precludes newspapers to form cartel or mafia and serve filtered facade of the nation.
"Thank americans for blogs".

Automobile Quagmire

REcently I came across a query put across Mr. Jack Welch in the International Column in 4P's. Will the Auto sector die out in the US. Sooner or later Mr. Welch retorted. Just like the coal and steel industry of US. The death of Auto Industry is seems imminent. But then what should a shrewd businessman do. Man you your self said exit the non-profitable businesses, enter promising sectors. Asian tigers are doing it better, sell to Asians. Quit manufacturing man, enter services. Yours is a developed economy right. Do any value added work. Or just lease the factories.
"Is the solution too simplistic Mr. Welch".

Quality in Education

Recently I was going through an article in 4P's that there is a huge shortfall of skills in IT industry. 5,00,000 by 2010 to be precise. The same is true about various other emerging sectors. What is the solution? Simple. raising the benchmarks of quality across the levels of educational institutes. There should be a rationalisation of quality across various levels of Institutions. It is possible through exchange of ideas and Info. More R&D and research work by lower level educators. Creation of Educational CD's by top rung Institutes and distribution of the same to lower rung school. The lectures of IIM's could be recorded and provided to other institutes across India to take advantage of the management field.
"Are you ready for a better tomorrow".

Superstition Sells

When in Rome, notice what romans do. Want to do business in India. Superstition works. Even educated people believe in astrology, numerology , tarot and a host of other works. These are ancient healing methods which people have faith in. Even west has taken cue from India and Ayurveda is big business in US. They also think Yoga works andLearn Indian Music. Cross-cultural fertilisation begets enriched minds. Even Americans loose billions of dollars due to scare from 13 number, thinking it to be unlucky. Looks like irrational human behaviour is here to rule the roost be it 18th century or 21st century.
"By the way, is today 13th the Friday..Uh"?

Kudo's to Indian Railways

Indian Railways is getting progressive. It has paid 40 crores to Reliance General Insurance Company Ltd to cover all passages and people carrying a platform ticket from any accident or eventuality with cover upto 4 lakhs. Even the passengers should co-operate to keep the railways running world class. Cleanliness should be given top priority. Also trains running on schedule would help a lot. Co-operating coolies with fixed rent would also make the experience of the passengers hassle-free. Security of the passengers in naxalite affected areas should be given top priority. More facilities should be extended on the railways stations.

"Well Done, Keep India Alive and Running Railways Minister".

Marketing to the Savvier Indian Women

Indian women are breaking the stereotype image. They are no longer seen feeding babies in local transport. Instead they excel in all aspects , in every field. They make men insecure, be it collegues , be it husband or a boyfriend. What drives the 21st century women?
Women no longer want to be seen as a mere home maker exclusively. They want their own identity, their own achievement and want to set new benchmarks. And they have realy proved their worth, be it serving Army or Accompanying the males in space. All this requires a diferent approach to marketing when dealing with these set of young aspirational breed. The products can no longer be marketed to the female genre. The merket needs to be segments into The Older HomeMaker and the 21st century 25-30 somethings. The never say die kind. So the advertisers and marketeers, stop taking a mass approach to women.
The key word when dealing with women is "Discern".

The Radio Raga

The second phase of FM expansion has so far resulted in 10 new FM channels. Jaipur got 4, Hyderabad and Bangalore got two each where as Chennai and Delhi had to contend with 1 each. According to the experts the problems which will surface eventually would be of lack of differentiation. With each channel playing the same contemporory hits, it would be difficult for the listeners to tell the difference, creating a clutter in the Market. Even the RJ's are boring and monotonous. Also the advertising revenues currently being garnered is just 2% of the total ad pie. But industry pundits have their fingers crossed. They say with fragmentation in the overall media industry, local advertising ( targeted ) through FM will pick up.
"Umeed pe Duniya Kayam Hai".

Trends

Last year 30 IAS ifficers either quit or got themselves deputed to reputed private companies. Salaries offered to them in the range of Rs 50 lakh - 2.5 crores p.a. Their job to get clearances from govt. in infrastructure and agro-based projects. It seems that be it actors or IAS or IPS officers. One fine day they realise that what earns respect is not knowledge but power. And knowing the loopholes of the system enebles them to exploit the same to their advantage.
"So man, if you can't beat them join them".

Malls will rule the Future

Of the 350+ malls being constructed 60% are to be builtin the to 7 cities of India the rest in tier II and Tier III cities of India. North India and West India have the highest number of malls ( 49,46 respectively), followed by South India ( 28) and East India ( 11) . These are the modern age temples where people of all caste and creed converge to splurge and mingle. You have a brand choice and product education at one place. Entertainment , movies, gaming, shopping, eateries and hanging extravaganza.
" Want to enjoy, show me the moolah".