Showing posts with label IIPM Campus. Show all posts
Showing posts with label IIPM Campus. Show all posts

Saturday, October 06, 2012

The Storm is over

The Small Wonder has been Struggling to Match The Demands of its Target Group after The Settlement of the Initial Hype. The Storm is over. B&E gives a Detailed Analysis of The Past Issues and The Future that Lies Ahead for The Nano

And then came a clinching shocker when I picked up the newspapers in the early hours of December 2, 2010. Each month, the Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers (SIAM) publishes the latest sales figures of all auto brands in India. In November 2010, the SIAM report said that 509 units of the Nano were sold. This, when auto sales actually grew by more than 40%. And believe it or not, Nano sales were lower than that of Mercedes Benz which managed 518 units in November. Look at it this way: the cheapest car in the world sold 509 units in a month when close to 200,000 cars were lapped up by the Indian consumer.

Quite clearly, Ratan Tata seems to be pre-occupied with other unsavoury things even as his Nano dreams seems to be on the verge of unraveling. At the moment, he is angry (let me add justifiably) with the Radia tape leaks and has even taken the matter to the Supreme Court. But sooner or later (if he is not already doing so already), Ratan Tata must summon his top lieutenants and strategists to revive the flagging fortunes of the Nano. At Business & Economy, we refused to be swayed by the early hype about the Nano becoming the best selling car of history. And now, we don’t think it is time to pronounce that the Nano is a colossal bomb. But surely the time has come to ask that simple and straightforward question: Can Ratan Tata Salvage His Nano Dream?

Our colleagues and reporters in Business & Economy and The Sunday Indian spoke to dozens of dealers and people associated with the auto industry in Guawahati, Bhubaneswar, Ahmedabad, Kochi, Delhi, Chandigarh and many other places. The first impressions that we gathered was that Tata dealers were stubbornly optimistic about the future prospects of the Nano – now based more on hope rather than hype. Most of the Tata dealers blamed the many incidents of new Nanos catching fire and the negative publicity surrounding it as a dampener on sales and new bookings. Says Dinesh Shukla of Ahmedabad based Swati Autolink, “Few instances of firing in the engine are also a matter of concern. Though you can’t state it as a manufacturing defect, but it has created some impact on potential consumers.”

Talk to auto industry analysts and you get a similar sense of hope being the overriding factor when it comes to the future prospects of the Nano. Says Vaishali Jajoo of Angel Broking, “It will not be right for now to say that the Nano has failed in the Indian market. The unit sales fell in the month of November. It was mainly because of the operational shift at the back-end wherein the company is trying to shift the entire production from its Uttarakhand plant to the Sanand plant apart from many other reasons”


Source : IIPM Editorial, 2012.

For More IIPM Info, Visit below mentioned IIPM articles.
 
IIPM : The B-School with a Human Face


Posted by at
Labels: , , , , , , , , , , ,

Monday, September 10, 2012

MSMES: CREDIT AVAILABILITY AND GROWTH

Independent India has seen the MSME sector grow by leaps and bounds and is proving to be the most promising and reliable sector for job creation and poverty alleviation in India. Despite an elaborate and dynamic policy framework, the road to the next level for MSMEs continues to be hindered largely due to the lack of adequate and timely credit.

Any collateral or third party guarantee free credit facilities extended by eligible institutions known as Member Lending Institutions (MLIs, at present 117 in total) with a maximum credit cap of Rs.10 million are eligible to be covered. The maximum guarantee cap is set at Rs.6.25 million or Rs.6.5 million. The extent of guarantee cover is 85% for micro enterprises for credit up to Rs.5 million. The coverage under CGS has made a record by covering 150,000 guarantee approvals in FY 2009-10, which was the highest so far in any single year. With this, the cumulative number of credit guarantees crossed the 300,000 mark on March 31st, 2010; covering an aggregate credit of Rs.115.51 billion, extended by 85 MLIs in 35 States/UTs. The corpus of CGTMSE is being contributed by the Government and SIDBI in the ratio of 4:1 respectively and has contributed Rs.19.06 billion to the corpus up to March 31, 2010. By the end of the 11th Plan, the corpus is to be raised to Rs.25 billion. Although the government has placed institutions and mechanisms to deliver financial help and other assistance to MSMEs, the implementation of these schemes needs to be monitored at the ground level. Unless the credit guarantee system is strengthened and streamlined, smaller units would continue to suffer neglect in accessing the much needed credit for both inception and expansion.

In India, the situation is further complicated by the fact that the preferred mode of finance is either self or other sources. According to the MSME Annual report 2009, more than 85% SMEs source finance either through the self-finance route or are unable to get funds, while only around 15% of the total approach financial institutions and non-institutions like moneylenders. Financial institutions like Industrial Development Bank of India (IDBI), SIDBI, Industrial Finance Corporation of India (IFCI), and other major public sector banks like SBI, Andhra Bank, Bank of Baroda and private banks like ICICI, Standard Chartered and others are providing financial assistance for commercialisation of domestic innovations and importing relevant technologies for growth. Small Industry Development Organization (SIDO) is another prominent government institution offering a number of financial services to SMEs. In addition to the above, government has recently emphasised on the importance of ‘credit rating scheme’ to help smoothen the loan facility process by banks and financial institutions for the SMEs. Under this scheme, the credit rating agencies assess a company’s credit worthiness and give it a rating which is widely accepted by banks and other financial institutions. This, in turn, facilitates hassle free flow of credit to SMEs, while enhancing the comfort-level of the lending banks. The other cherry on the cake is that the government reimburses 75% of the fees charged by the rating agency subject to a ceiling amount. T. R. Bajalia, Executive Director, IDBI Bank says, “Credit agencies have played a vital role as we welcome independent and reliable credit assessment. As credit agencies have done due diligence for an enterprise, it lessens our work and fastens the entire loan granting process.” Still, one of the largest problems in this is that most MSMEs are not aware about this credit rating facility. Outstanding credit to MSMEs has increased at a CAGR of 32.55% from 2005 to reach Rs.2.57 trillion. But total contribution of MSMEs to credit disbursal by financial institutions has improved very slightly from 8.8% in 2005 to 11.4% in 2009. So a more comprehensive information dissemination programme is a must to reach out to the others. Only 1.5 million of the 30 million odd MSMEs are in fact registered.


Source : IIPM Editorial, 2012.
For More IIPM Info, Visit below mentioned IIPM articles.
 
IIPM : The B-School with a Human Face
Posted by at
Labels: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Tuesday, September 04, 2012

GENERAL MOTORS: SUCCESSION

 An IPO in the pipeline means that the US government could be well on its way to make a swift exit from running GM. This portends positive tidings for GM, which is recovering on the numbers. But a far more daunting challenge is looming up on the horizon. By Pawan Chabra

The company has also said in its S-1 filing sent to B&E, “Operating in a large number of different regions and countries exposes us to political, economic, and other risks as well as multiple foreign regulatory requirements.” There is no denying that the strategy of dumping brands like Pontiac, Saturn, Saab and Hummer has fetched success to the company in no time. While the IHS Global Insight research report forecasts global vehicle sales to increase at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 6.0% from 2009 to 2015, GM has returned to profits even after the vehicle sales are running about 25% below the recent historical trends. In fact, it is expected that when the consumer sentiment improves further, the auto major will scale new heights in the coming times. Similarly, the rating agency, Moody’s has remarked in its global automotive outlook update, “Compared to where the industry was a year ago, when General Motors Corp. and Chrysler Corp. were in the throes of bankruptcy protection, and when many economies were still in recession, the turnaround in volume sales, demand, and to a lesser extent in pricing, has been faster than we anticipated.”

But the challenges that GM faces today is even beyond getting its IPO right on the bourses. Ensuring a sustainable sales performance will be a relatively easier task with the launching of fuel-efficient and competitively priced models; but the larger problem of succession planning is what could be a much more daunting concern in the coming time. The appointment of Dan Akerson on September 1, 2010 got the fourth CEO for GM on board in the past 18 months (see table). Akerson has taken control to ensure a smooth comeback of the company from Ed Whitacre Jr., a former telecom executive despite the fact that the telecom executive turned PE expert has never run a heavy-industrial company in his career so far (forget about one of the size GM’s operations).

The major problem that GM has been through is to find a suitable leader to run GM successfully. Whitacre was selected by the US Treasury, and apparently wasn’t planning to be there for the long term. So it was decided that the company should pitch a more stable leader before the IPO. Even auto czar Steven Rattner, who led the Treasury Department’s auto task force, has written a book ‘Overhaul: An insider’s Account of the Obama Administration’s Rescue of the Auto Industry’; mentioning the difficulty of finding someone to manage the world’s largest automaker.

For the ones who haven’t heard about Rattner’s role in the scheme of things that often, he was the one who went through, among other things, the daunting task of finding GM’s next CEO; a job that was rejected by the likes of Nissan CEO Carlos Ghosn. Rattner fired Rick Wagoner as the Chairman and CEO of GM, and promoted Henderson as his replacement and eventually appointed Whitacre as the Chairman & CEO of the auto major. However, after Whitacre’s unexpected exit in August, Rattner was pushed again in a tight spot. And as finding an outsider would have taken much more time with the IPO development looming, Rattner decided to go with Akerson as he was one of the most promising names on the board of the company. In the book to be published on October 14, Rattner points out that Akerson himself had declined the offer of being the CEO of GM twice (as he neither wanted to leave his PE job at the Carlyle Group nor move to Detroit); before he finally opted to take up the role. GM may be back to learning the ways of the market, but it’s hard to say that all is well with a hesitant General at the helm, and little view on the leadership. Where in heavens is Plan B?


Posted by at
Labels: , , , , , , , , , , ,

Monday, September 03, 2012

SRI LANKA: PRESIDENTIAL POLITICS

Rajapakse is turning the Lankan constitution into a useless shred of paper

By destroying the self-governing nature of key institutions and reducing them to puppets, Rajapakse is obviously not going up in global popularity ratings. To further cement his hold over the government, Rajapakse is also employing dynasty politics. Now, he is also in charge of various ministries – defence, finance and ports and aviation – and has appointed his brother (who is not an elected member of parliament) as defence secretary, in charge of all three divisions of armed forces. Two other brothers have portfolios and his son is also an MP; this is apart from many cousins getting plum bureaucratic postings.

Not only can Rajapakse now easily manipulate the state machinery to keep himself in power, he has also managed to leave little of what the contemporary world knows as democratic governance. Yes, elections are still held – the last opponent (Fonseka) has been jailed and a court martial is in progress. Long live Sri Lanka; long gone democracy!


Posted by at
Labels: , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Friday, August 31, 2012

INDIA’S 100 MOST PROFITABLE COMPANIES

John Danner, Senior Fellow, Lester Center for Entrepreneurship, Haas School of Business, UC Berkeley
 
Conversely, big company managers need to understand what it takes to really listen to customer’s needs and wants, be willing to improvise as well as maintain high quality consistency, and give their people freedom to explore as well as execute new ideas. These are precisely the skills and culture that entrepreneurs relish, whether by personal style or market necessity or both.

But, today’s business schools train students to manage the enterprises of yesterday’s successful entrepreneurs. Classes focus on the issues involved in running large, established companies. Indeed, many MBA graduates see their future careers in the offices and cubicles of these firms. The crucible for both entrepreneurship and innovation usually requires experimentation, failure, reformulation and resilience. Reality is probably the best teacher for this.

Even business schools can provide such a crucible, by encouraging students to “creatively collide” with one another’s ideas, and experiment with their business visions early and often knowing that failures are highly likely but also represent superb learning opportunities to improve strategies for later efforts. The more interdisciplinary the crucible, the better opportunities for experimenting and learning at an early stage.

Profound economic growth, not to mention meaningful improvements in global security and environmental sustainability, will not come from today’s markets in the developed world; it will come from new ventures, products and services focused on the needs and aspirations of the four billion people who now live on less than $10 a day. This is where the future and fate of capitalism resides.

That’s the entrepreneurial challenge for which B-schools need to prepare their students, whether as future CEOs and business managers responsible for ensuring their large corporations survive for another generation, or as would-be entrepreneurs courageous enough to create the next “Power 100s” of the world.


Posted by at
Labels: , , , , , , , , , , ,

Thursday, August 30, 2012

“THE #2 RANK IS NOT THE ONLY THING THAT ONE WORKS FOR.”

Arvind Saxena, Director – Sales & Marketing, Hyundai Motors India, explains to B&E why competition is no threat to Hyundai in India, and why Hyundai does not need to worry about capacity expansions

B&E: Over the past few months, the competition in the small car segment has been growing thicker. And the future promises nothing different. Is this situation a threat for Hyundai India?
Arvind Saxena (AS): Competition pushes you to bring in more innovation and enhance the market size. We fight with the same brands worldwide and we haven’t really limited ourselves on any front, during the past 12 years. Actually, Hyundai has been the most lethal competitor for players in the Indian auto industry. We are far stronger today as compared to what we were when we entered the market. We have a wide network, full range of cars and most importantly, have consumer trust. Hence, we are today very much geared up to face the rising competition.

B&E: After Hyundai launched the Santro in 1998, it took the company just six months to capture the second spot in the Indian market. How do you plan to save that spot now that your company is under great threat from the Tata Nano?
AS: Slots, positions and spots in the Indian automotive industry are very subjective matters to talk about. We definitely want to be a major player and we will do everything possible to achieve greater heights. For instance, we are expanding out network and working on future models. Many things are being done to retain our #2 position in the industry.



Posted by at
Labels: , , , , , , , , , ,

Wednesday, August 29, 2012

Jailhouse ruckus

Serving jail term, Lindsay Lohan is reportedly receiving preferential treatment, and the jail authorities are believed to have been extra kind to her. She is allowed to cry and speak with the personnel, and moreover she does not have to share her cell either. No wonder the other inmates flipped out and refused to indulge in recreational activities with her, and some even threatened her! Meanwhile her ex, Wilmer Valderrama, says he still adores her and hopes that she sails through this tough time.


Posted by at
Labels: , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Friday, August 24, 2012

Is your work killing you?

Working non-stop could be the ladder to a promotion and a host of health problems...

Most urban Indians are caught-up in a fast-paced lifestyle where home is a place to quickly gulp down dinner, exchange a word or two with the children and other members of the family, and then either pin the phone to the ear or start punching the keys of the laptop. Not that you’re to be blamed; yes, the times are such, but while you flow with the rapids, it’s also important to be wary of the rocks along the way. And stress happens to be the harmful side-effect of overwork, which can lead to various health issues. A survey conducted by the Chartered Society of Physiotherapy reported that one in every four employees is risking their health by working continuously without breaks or by reporting to duty while ill and working for long hours with no space for exercise in their schedules. In our country, people employed in the BPO sector suffer additional stress as their body clock goes for a six as their work begins at night and ends at day-break.

Dr. Ajay Pal Singh, Consultant Psychiatrist at Max Healthcare, agrees with the findings of the survey and adds, “It’s only in the last couple of years that cases of health issues due to stress have started pouring in. I have seen patients struck with depression, hypertension, loss in immunity, obesity and back and joint problems due to overwork.” In this competitive environment, overwork is inevitable. “But by accommodating some exercise like half-an-hour walks daily, healthy and timely eating habits, and taking a vacation once in a while, will reduce the risk of health problems”, said Dr. Singh.


Posted by at
Labels: , , , , , , , , , , ,

Wednesday, August 22, 2012

Fatwa’ed!

The times they are a-changin’ and established norms and beliefs are now being challenged...

When people strongly believe in something, then sometimes, their minds become less receptive to factors that threaten to alter what they hold close to their hearts. This subconscious mind-play subjects people, and religious heads especially, to contend with the difficult tight-rope walk between religious diktats and changing mind-sets. Battling a similar situation, the Darululoom Deoband group, was recently in the news, allegedly for issuing a fatwa against women working alongside men without veiling themselves. The Darululoom Deoband is an Islamic school located in a town called Deoband in Uttar Pradesh. Founded in 1886 by renowned Muslim scholars, this school propagates Sunni Islam in the Indian sub-continent.

This injunction was vehemently condemned by liberal Muslim women around the country. The Deputy Vice-Chancellor of Darululoom Deoband, Maulana Abdul Khaliq Madrasi, however clarified, “We did issue a fatwa, which was based on the religious ruling, but it was an opinion meant to be personal and not to be issued for public interest. This fatwa was not for all women. It was for one person only.” The meaning of fatwa is also misunderstood by many. It’s said to be a legal pronouncement in Islam issued by religious specialists, but it is to be noted that the opinion of the religious specialist may or may not be followed by the advice seeker. Talking about the fatwa, Maulana Abdul further elaborated, “We keep getting a lot of letters where several problems of people have to be addressed. The fatwa department sends back the instruction issued by the clerics in a sealed envelope. Similarly, we had received a letter where a woman needed advice on what she should do to support her family. So, we issued a fatwa to her advising her to work in a place where there are women only and if not, then definitely do purdah (wear a burka).”


Posted by at
Labels: , , , , , , , , , ,

Tuesday, August 21, 2012

POWER: TRANSMISSION LOSS

T&D losses and power theft have to be addressed in a flagrantly strict manner – arrest the power stealers and publicise their conviction

They not only trouble consumers but also lead to huge financial losses. Assocham estimates that 1/3rd of the investments in the 11th five year plan is wasted because of T&D losses.

Regulation over return has hurt private interests in T&D which needs to change. Privatization of the distribution process has helped states like Delhi and parts of Maharashtra, but the model has not been successful in Orissa. The reason is that state electricity boards play a role in regulating tariffs and political interests come into play, which discourages private companies from investing. States like Karnataka and Uttar Pradesh, which are considering giving their power grid to private hands, must keep this in mind.

But there’s a shortcut to all this. Start arresting power stealers and publicise this in a big way to reduce power theft. It worked for reducing drunk-driving, it’ll work for this too.


Posted by at
Labels: , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Monday, August 20, 2012

GODREJ: RETAIL

Godrej Industries has suddenly become more enthusiastic about its retail plans, especially in new concepts of retailing (like gourmet food). Is there any radical plan we’re missing or is this it? by Angshuman Paul

Critically speaking, for years, there has been a critical ever present wedge within the Godrej group – and that almost always has been the lack of post haste speed to change within the organisation. Not that simply ‘changing’ is enough to give one market leadership (well, there’s only a thin line between dynamism and childish over-eagerness), but the fact remains that Godrej has suffered due to some of their static strategic models. The white goods segment is a classic example of how this message was evident to the collective psyche of the 23,000 strong Godrej family. Many years back, the Godrej name was enough to sell any item relevant to a family household, with products from Godrej & Boyce Mfg. Co. Ltd. (the appliances division of Godrej), ruling a psychological monopoly in the minds of the Indian consumer. And then dynamics changed. The biggest hits came from LG and Samsung, who sneaked into the show using a combination of pure marketing and advertising blitz and an exhaustive retail penetration that had the Indian consumer believing in Korean brands. Apparently, the possessing of a cost efficient manufacturing base (by Godrej) was not enough when confronted with such aggressive rivals who were dependent, perhaps rightly, more on marketing warfare than on ensuring backward integration.

The melee became more competitive during the last three years when arch-rival Videocon fiercely entered the retail arena. Still, Godrej – believing in their brand pedigree – were non-committal in recognising the tremendous business potential retailing offered. And although Godrej took the lead amongst Indian companies in forging strategic alliances with multinationals and brands like Sara Lee, Hershey, P&G and even the iconic GE, it still was not too eager to ramp up their feet-on-street plans. Senior Godrej officials accept that Godrej didn’t have any intentions to foray into retail then. But now, with changing times, the newer expansion model – of increasing retail presence – has gained better acceptance within the Godrej circles; one reason why there’s a reinvigorated enthusiasm to expand their retail ventures – Lifespace and Nature’s Basket.

Clearly, Godrej today has to reassess its response quotient to change. The brand is perhaps as respectable as it has been for many years. But the Indian consumer is not what he used to be years ago. Today, there are factors that are more critical to the typical Indian buyer – pricing, loan schemes, discount offers, service, product brand varieties, qualities and so on so forth – than a simple brand name. It’s not too late yet to change... but it soon will be...




Posted by at
Labels: , , , , , , , , , , ,
Subscribe to: Posts (Atom)