Rajat Bal, General Manager EMEA (Europe, Middle East & Africa), International Business, i.Tech Dynamic reveals his company’s India plans to B&E

Formed in 2002 in Hong Kong, i.Tech is a relatively young company that has successfully carved a niche for itself in the electronics space in a short span of time. The company has launched a range of headphones and headsets. In addition, it is carving a market for itself in the realm of green-friendly chargers and bluetooth devices, that run on solar energy. They have taken their products through distributors to several countries, including China, Mexico, Middle East, India, Singapore, Europe, Malaysia, Thailand and countries in Europe as well. Through the tie up with Ingram Micro in India, the company is looking to expand its product reach in the market in a big way. In this interaction, Rajat Bal talks about the potential of the Indian market for the company and how they plan to expand their reach into the market. Some excerpts:

B&E: Tell us about the key products that i.Tech plans to leverage on in the Indian market.

RAJAT BAL (RB): i.Tech has been present in the Indian market since 2008. i.Tech has an extremely innovative range of Mono as well as Stereo Bluetooth headsets. I.Tech offers unique innovative product features such as multipoint, multipoint and vibrate, stereo headsets with AVRCP, Noise cancellation, Bluetooth headsets with display as well as Radio features, as well as first in the market Solar Headset with multi point as well as Nosie Cancellation. i.Tech has a number of achievements to its credit. It was the first company to promote a stereo bluetooth headset in 2005. We introduced the first multipoint headset in 2006 which pairs two BT devices at the same time. In 2007, we launched the first stereo product with a radio FM feature. In 2008, we introduced the first bluetooth headset with 2.1 EDR (Enhanced Data Rate) and have also launched the first bluetooth headset with the triple point feature last year.

B&E: What is the main USP of these products that i.Tech has broght into the market in all these years?
RB: i.Tech products have a very unique form factor, the Clip form factor, which allows users a much enhanced user experience. i.Tech products use enhanced features such as Display, Vibrate, and AVRCP in our products with relative ease that our competitors with the over the ear form factor cannot use. Our innovative feature set as well as a unique, user friendly Clip form factor are our key USPs.

B&E: Does the organisation have some significant business diversification plans going forward?
RB: The core business of i.Tech is design and development of Bluetooth Wireless accessories and computer peripherals. We are looking at a diversification of our product range. Having said that, our core business will remain Bluetooth Wireless Accessories.

B&E: How would you rate your products in terms of the pricing?
RB: A majority of i.Tech products are focused on mid to high end of the market, although limited to a few SKU’s i.Tech also has very strong entry level products. Our product feature set truly adds value to the end user. Our key value proposition is the price and quality of our products.

B&E: But what’s your core competence with respect to other players in the same industry?
RB: i.Tech’s core competency lies in its in-house R&D and in its product design teams.

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Source : IIPM Editorial, 2012.
An Initiative of IIPM, Malay Chaudhuri
and Arindam Chaudhuri (Renowned Management Guru and Economist).

For More IIPM Info, Visit below mentioned IIPM articles.

2012 : DNA National B-School Survey 2012
Ranked 1st in International Exposure (ahead of all the IIMs)
Ranked 6th Overall
Zee Business Best B-School Survey 2012
Prof. Arindam Chaudhuri’s Session at IMA Indore
IIPM IN FINANCIAL TIMES, UK. FEATURE OF THE WEEK
IIPM strong hold on Placement : 10000 Students Placed in last 5 year
IIPM’s Management Consulting Arm-Planman Consulting
Professor Arindam Chaudhuri – A Man For The Society….
IIPM: Indian Institute of Planning and Management
IIPM makes business education truly global
Management Guru Arindam Chaudhuri
Rajita Chaudhuri-The New Age Woman
IIPM B-School Facebook Page
IIPM Global Exposure
IIPM Best B School India
IIPM B-School Detail
IIPM Links
IIPM : The B-School with a Human Face
IIPM – FLP (Flexi Learning Program)

Delhi Metro; systemic losses

Pricing the Metro tickets low is ridiculous; is it a social service effort?

Is Delhi Metro a costly mistake? Well, it surely will become a national heritage once it gets completed, but would it qualify on the strictest parameter of becoming a financially sound public transport model? Or has it been set up just to beautify Delhi’s landscape on taxpayers’ money? Let’s see some interesting facts.

The concept of metros has never been a profitable business proposition internationally. There are 135 metros worldwide but only four metros have been successful in making profits. These are Hong Kong, Taipei, Singapore and Tokyo. The Kolkata Metro is another example of a staid loss maker. If the financial year 2004-05 saw it incurring losses of Rs.43 crores, last year stood at Rs 48.6 crores (It earned Rs.48 crore from passenger traffic against operating costs of around Rs.91 crore in the same year). In other words, tax payers are paying for the inefficiencies of metro’s employees and processes. The Delhi Metro railway project is purportedly one of Delhi’s brightest projects. The first phase of Delhi metro is complete and the total cost stood at around Rs.10,571 crore. The estimated cost of the second phase is Rs.8,118 crore. In spite of having the lowest fares compared to other metros internationally, Delhi metro has earned operational profits of Rs.398.69 crore. Since there is hefty capital investment and certain amount of operating cost involved, it seems that it will take many years to make net profit.

Claude Jeanrenaud, Council of Europe member, writes in his report, Funding of Urban Public Transport, “Urban public transport systems are systematically loss making,” the reason clearly being pricing travel tickets lower than true cost in an ostensible effort to cater to lower income groups, a clearly misdirected strategy at the cost of other taxpayers. Delhi Metro was not and should not be considered a social service effort, especially when it is not free money that is going in.

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Source : IIPM Editorial, 2012.
An Initiative of IIPM, Malay Chaudhuri
and Arindam Chaudhuri (Renowned Management Guru and Economist).

For More IIPM Info, Visit below mentioned IIPM articles.

2012 : DNA National B-School Survey 2012
Ranked 1st in International Exposure (ahead of all the IIMs)
Ranked 6th Overall
Zee Business Best B-School Survey 2012
Prof. Arindam Chaudhuri’s Session at IMA Indore
IIPM IN FINANCIAL TIMES, UK. FEATURE OF THE WEEK
IIPM strong hold on Placement : 10000 Students Placed in last 5 year
IIPM’s Management Consulting Arm-Planman Consulting
Professor Arindam Chaudhuri – A Man For The Society….
IIPM: Indian Institute of Planning and Management
IIPM makes business education truly global
Management Guru Arindam Chaudhuri
Rajita Chaudhuri-The New Age Woman
IIPM B-School Facebook Page
IIPM Global Exposure
IIPM Best B School India
IIPM B-School Detail
IIPM Links
IIPM : The B-School with a Human Face
IIPM – FLP (Flexi Learning Program)

M & A The Perfect Corporate Crime

CEOs have ripped apart shareholders’ wealth globally under the guise of M&As; Indian firms more so! B&E’s Manish K. Pandey, Deepak R. Patra and Karan Mehrishi undertake the most radical analysis of the recent past and destroy age-old perceptions!

The pity is, Indians never learn! You’ll get the drift by the time you end the introduction. First, the dirt! The year 2000 was the eve of the glorious new century, and a boon for the Big-6 M&A consulting firms. And why not! For these global consulting proponents, an example like the year 2000 Vodafone-Mannesmann merger was god’s gift multiplied many times over. It was proclaimed to be the single largest deal in history. Sir Christopher Gent, then CEO, Vodafone paid a smashing $190 billion for Germany’s Mannesmann AG, making Vodafone the biggest operator in Europe. The combined entity was valued at $365 billion, making it the world’s fourth largest company overnight. What better a gift could the M&A brayers ask for? Wasn’t this M&A deal enough proof that M&As were/are the only dynamic and rapid solution forward to mammoth growth and that all those who had criticised M&As for the past so many years were nothing but dimwits?

If Gent’s strategy cup ran full of suicidal moves, Arun Sarin – who was on the Vodafone board since June 1999 (and was equally, if not more, to blame) and who took over from Gent in April 2000 – redefined the standard of how much shareholder value could ever be destroyed from a company. Eight years since the deal, the value of Vodafone in terms of market capitalisation stands at $161.4 billion (as on July 24, 2008), down by a sickening $203.6 billion, a fall of 53%! Arun Sarin ensured that in the last eight years since the merger, Vodafone has become the biggest loss making company ever in the history of mankind! The loss: $86 billion! Both Arun Sarin (who exited in June 2008) and Christopher Gent, apart from the other top management, retired multi-millionaires, a far cry from thousands of Vodafone pauper shareholders.

If that sounded absurd, Gary Foresee took on the infamy mantle with ease. Gary joined Sprint as CEO in the year 2003. Signing bonus amount: $6 odd million! Subsequent years’ pay: Between $1.5-6 million! Gary’s claim to (in)fame was ensuring Sprint’s spectacular merger with Nextel in 2004-05. He sold the deal on the fact that the combined telecom giant would have a subscriber base of 53.8 million in the US! What he sweetly left out was the disaster the deal could be. At the time of the deal, the Sprint Nextel common stock was trading at $26.9; it’s at a sickening $8.30 today! While many shareholders got wiped out Mr. Gary Foresee was kicked out at the end of 2007. His severance package? $40 million!

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Source : IIPM Editorial, 2012.
An Initiative of IIPM, Malay Chaudhuri

and Arindam Chaudhuri (Renowned Management Guru and Economist).

For More IIPM Info, Visit below mentioned IIPM articles.

2012 : DNA National B-School Survey 2012
Ranked 1st in International Exposure (ahead of all the IIMs)
Ranked 6th Overall
Zee Business Best B-School Survey 2012
Prof. Arindam Chaudhuri’s Session at IMA Indore
IIPM IN FINANCIAL TIMES, UK. FEATURE OF THE WEEK
IIPM strong hold on Placement : 10000 Students Placed in last 5 year
IIPM’s Management Consulting Arm-Planman Consulting
Professor Arindam Chaudhuri – A Man For The Society….
IIPM: Indian Institute of Planning and Management
IIPM makes business education truly global
Management Guru Arindam Chaudhuri
Rajita Chaudhuri-The New Age Woman
IIPM B-School Facebook Page
IIPM Global Exposure
IIPM Best B School India
IIPM B-School Detail
IIPM Links
IIPM : The B-School with a Human Face
IIPM - FLP (Flexi Learning Program)

Tripping on philanthropic travel!

More and more people are tripping on philanthropic travel!

In India it would still take time for a concept like philanthropic travel to emerge. Says Mr. Krishna Pujari of Reality Tours and Travel, “The idea of philanthropic travel is not even known to people in India. Having an abundance of wild life and being known for its culture and heritage, eco-tourism and eco-cultural tourism are fairly popular though.” He also added, “India, in a way, benefits from such kinds of tours that foreigners make to our country. Such a concept exists in places like US and maybe Europe, because those people have an inclination to learn about people of different countries.” But is that the only reason why India is in the list of such destinations? Does India’s poverty-struck population and economic condition also play a role? “I have seen numerous people from different countries come to India, not for the purpose of visiting but to extend help. They either do so by charity or by lending their services by getting involved with hospitals, health-care centres and NGOs dedicated to the well-being of women and children. This is indeed good social service as a lot of funds in the form of donations are collected,” explained Mr. Pujari.

At present, India remains an attractive destination for philanthropic travellers. Will Indians be guests in other countries and get involved in philanthropic travelling? “Not immediately, but it has a strong scope for gaining momentum in India too...” comes the positive reply from Mr. Krishna Pujari...

Read more.......

Source : IIPM Editorial, 2012.

An Initiative of IIPM, Malay Chaudhuri
and Arindam Chaudhuri (Renowned Management Guru and Economist).

For More IIPM Info, Visit below mentioned IIPM articles.

2012 : DNA National B-School Survey 2012
Ranked 1st in International Exposure (ahead of all the IIMs)
Ranked 6th Overall
Zee Business Best B-School Survey 2012
Prof. Arindam Chaudhuri’s Session at IMA Indore
IIPM IN FINANCIAL TIMES, UK. FEATURE OF THE WEEK
IIPM strong hold on Placement : 10000 Students Placed in last 5 year
IIPM’s Management Consulting Arm-Planman Consulting
Professor Arindam Chaudhuri – A Man For The Society….
IIPM: Indian Institute of Planning and Management
IIPM makes business education truly global
Management Guru Arindam Chaudhuri
Rajita Chaudhuri-The New Age Woman
IIPM B-School Facebook Page
IIPM Global Exposure
IIPM Best B School India
IIPM B-School Detail
IIPM Links
IIPM : The B-School with a Human Face