Does watching phoren serials instead of desi ones make you feel superior

Monojit Lahiri probes this seldom-discussed English–Vinglish issue.

“Angrez gaye lekin lakhon chamche chodh gaye!” lamented a colleague’s wife recently. When pressed to elaborate on this broadside, she responded with disturbing enthusiasm.  “Bhai, aisa hai, despite the Brits leaving India over six decades ago, uska imperial and feudal impact abtak raha. Fair n’ lovely rules through the assertion of the angrezi language in business, industry, trade and commerce and Corporate India, and the fascination for phoren/phirang models is clearly visible in every area of influence. We can keep yelling about how the ‘phir bhi dil hai Hindustani’ template has never been stronger, but fact is, in places where it counts, English and the phoren influence definitely counts. Ek (how do I explain) subliminal, unspoken but easily transmitted signal of superiority is flashed”. Our blank faces prompted her to focus on the specific reference to context.  “Take TV serials. Today the Hindi serials – Balika Vadhu, Uttaran, Bade Achhe Lagte Hain, Madhubala, Na Bole Tum Na Maine Kuch Kaha are hugely popular across all strata of viewers, especially womenfolk.  However, there remains a distinct group of people – my college going kids included – who may not blatantly laugh or mock this content, but definitely consider it vernace, low-brow, populist and un-cool. ‘Oh god, Mom, how can you bear this crap, with its corny, gharelu melodramatic twists and turns and those over-dressed behenji-types going on and on and on’ is what my daughter  - once  in half amused / exasperated tones – blurted out. I had no answer but to weakly smile… and continue watching.”

The lady’s comment touched a chord and struck a spark. Wasn’t this true of everything connected with one class of people in India?  Bollywood and Hinglish advertising booming is all very well as is the pride and assertion of your national language and mother tongue, but somewhere, the angrez chhaap still does hold its own, six decades after the phirangs were handed their hats and walking sticks and shown the door, right? “Absolutely true! I completely understand the lady’s predicament simply because my nephews and nieces are always making fun of me watching those ghatia Hindi and Bengali serials”, admits 40-year-old, Kolkata-based housewife Alpana Sen. Sen goes on to say that since she lives in a joint family in North Kolkata, she vastly enjoys the world that these serials flesh out in the company of her mom-in-law, army of sisters-in-law and servants. The timings of these serials – in terms of day and schedule – are sacrosanct and nothing and nobody can come between her and those characters during those magic hours! “My nephews and nieces watch those weird English programmes like Friends, Everybody Loves Raymond, Two and a Half Men, Dexter… and beg me to join them. I tried but, frankly, couldn’t understand a word of what they were saying while these kids were doubling up with laughter! Am I a desi ganwaar or are these kids totally westernised and disconnected from basic Indian reality?”  20-year-old Varun Khanna, however, doesn’t agree. The Mumbai-based college kid reckons it’s a clear question of choices. “I come from a middle class Punjabi home. My dad works in a multi-national bank while my mom is a housewife. My paternal grandparents stay with us, so we are pretty grounded and traditional … and hey, despite being a Mumbaikar, my Punjabi is not bad.  However, these TV serials really get me! I don’t know what my mom and grandmom (poor Dadaji is also often forced to join them) see in those crazy programmes.  So corny, unreal and regressive! The ones my pals and I love, like Friends and Two and a Half Men are really ‘wow’!”  Varun is quite cool (although not overtly crazy) about Bollywood stuff, but prefers angrezi fare anyday.  “It’s not about snobbery or feeling superior, but tastes and liking, I guess. I can’t bear to sit through that stuff that mom and dadi so thoroughly enjoy for more than, like, two minutes.”

Fact is, it’s not value-judgment, but many things that are at play here. For one segment, the angrezi chhaap does spell superiority, whether you like it or not. Be honest… in a social gathering, office meeting, club, party or even your home, doesn’t a firang’s presence make a difference? When he/she places a hand on your shoulders, converses with warmth and interest, embraces or shakes your hand before leaving (or is Mmmuaah!) with promises of meeting again – doesn’t it make you feel real good and special?  Also (touch your heart before admitting), doesn’t it psychologically make you feel superior and don’t your friends suddenly look at you with envy and admiration?  Chill, because it’s natural. To most middle-aged (forty plus) middle-class Indians, this social intercourse will be special because of the neo-colonial mindset and conditioning as also the rarity of these interactions. After all it’s not like meeting a Chaddha, Singh, Subramanian, Chatterjee, Khan, Kapoor, Khanna, Saxena or Mahapatra, is it?  To women, it’s likely to have a greater impact. “My NGO activities connect me with lots of foreigners, many of whom come across for a meal or coffee.  My kitty party friends can’t make up their minds between being bitchy and catty or doubly cute to grab an opportunity of an intro to them. Complex to hundred percent hai! explains Delhi-based Parul Agnihotri, aged 42. For the Friends/Raymond new-age gen, children of a globalised, liberated and consumer-driven India, however, there is little awe but lots of immediate and appreciative connect. They embrace this new age with no baggage and hence are free from the shackles of complex, intimidation or pressure. Siliguri or Sydney, Jamshedpur or Joburg, Madurai or Manhattan, Lucknow or London, kids appear to be more open and cool to a globalised space and subsequently less hung-up or obsessed with things desi. A direct result of this is their close connect with things phoren and distancing from the world of Indian TV serials. Explains Social Commentator Deep Sanghvi with superb analytical insight, “It’s not about for or against a certain kind of content and nor is it about superiority and inferiority. It’s simply a generational thing, born out of the milieu and environment one grew up in. Research has indicated that the remote of the TV in Indian households is invariably glued to the hands of the (housewife, ma-in-law, aunt) women.  Now, since most need to chill once the chores are done, what better than enter the world of the multi-layered serial, which is cleverly and strategically programmed to play to the gallery.  Do they give a damn about the snooty brown saabs who pooh-poohs their programmes?  Not one bit because zillions (in whichever part of the world these serials play) wait with breathless expectations each day/night as the amazing, viewer-friendly stories, characters and situations unfold as only they can! As for the other lot – the vocal, anglicised minority – two things happen. For the older lot, it is usually an affectation, a fake posturing to indicate their affinity to the West, be indulgent and patronizing to local stuff and hope that this projects them in a slightly different or hatke superior way than the hoi polloi. Mostly it falls flat because phonies are usually caught out soon enough!  The Gen Next have never expressed their superiority angle while staying away from their mom’s beloved weepies. They have only indicated – with varying degrees of emphasis – their complete disconnect and dislike of the material.  That’s it!”

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Source : IIPM Editorial, 2013.
An Initiative of IIPM, Malay Chaudhuri

and Arindam Chaudhuri (Renowned Management Guru and Economist).

For More IIPM Info, Visit below mentioned IIPM articles

IIPM’s Management Consulting Arm-Planman Consulting
Professor Arindam Chaudhuri – A Man For The Society….
IIPM: Indian Institute of Planning and Management
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Rajita Chaudhuri-The New Age Woman

ExecutiveMBA

Where are 'organised' helps?

Housemaids should come under an organised workforce

Housemaids are in demand everywhere. Supply has also grown at a fast clip, keeping up with rapid urbanisation and migration. However, despite domestic help service being a vital part of ‘home-economics’, no much heed has been paid to organise this sector and safeguard the interests of workers.

Countries in Latin America, the Caribbeans and Africa have included domestic workers under ‘general workers’ category. This way they have brought them under legislation that promises equal rights, bonuses, weekly-offs, and minimum wage rates. For instance, in Brazil, domestic workers are hired through registered contracts and enjoy minimum wages, paid-leaves, weekly offs and come under the purview of legislation meant for conventional workers. However, such a move is still due in India. They are still not considered as ‘waged workers’; in fact, they are degraded as mere servants (read: slaves). In Hong Kong, Fei Yeung is the term used to represent this particular class of workers.

Leave aside providing these workers with legislation that would make their life easier and recognise the value of their work in National Accounting, domestic workers are not even covered for prevention of exploitation of migrant workers and under the Protection of Women Against Sexual Harassment at Workplace Bill, 2010! However, a few states (like Maharashtra and Tamil Nadu) have framed policies to address the grievances of housemaids, but no such laws are available at the national level. Some other states like Kerala, Andhra Pradesh, and Rajasthan have enacted the Minimum Wage Act For Domestic Workers to protect their rights for a minimum pay and for maintaining their dignity.

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Source : IIPM Editorial, 2013.
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

BBA Management Education

Book Review: Island Of A Thousand Mirrors

The detritus of conflict

It is said that the only good byproduct that any conflict brings is good literature. In fact the relationship between conflict and art goes back to the days of antiquity. Who could have imagined  ‘The Persians’ had Xerxes not attacked Greece, or ‘Iliad’ and ‘Odyssey’ without the Trojan War. In the near past, and way closer, Pakistani writers made their mark in the literary landscape when everything else was going wrong inside their country. Under the circumstances, one always wondered why Sri Lanka, which saw its own share of blood and carnage for close to three decades, did not come up with quality work in English language. There were a few attempts here and there but a majority of them were written more for the purpose of furthering the “cause”, both among Sinhalese and Tamils, than offering readers a window into the world of common Sri Lankans and their miseries. Nayomi Munaweera’s debut novel, Island of a Thousand Mirrors, does that and then some.

Set in Sri Lanka and spanning almost three generations, Island of a Thousand Mirrors tells the story of two Sinhalese girls and their family’s struggle to remain afloat amidst upheaval. In the parallel runs the story of another girl, a Tamil, whose fate gets entwined with that of the Sinhalese girls in more ways than one.

Written in the style of a bildungsroman, the book traces the journey of Sinhalese sisters Yasodhara and Lanka and in the process weaves a saga of love, betrayal, self-exile and redemption. The story starts with the births of girls’ parents just around the time British decided to leave the island for good. The respective families could not have been more different. While their father, son of a low-caste Ayurveda doctor who successfully changed his surname to bag an upper-caste girl, raised the status of his family by sheer hard work; the family on their mother’s side, a typical aristocrat Brown Sahib household, had fallen on bad times after the sudden demise of the patriarch. And hence the matrimony that could not have even been thought of a couple of years ago, actually materialized.

And while they are at it, the churning in the North begins. The rise of LTTE, the digging in of heels by the Sinhalese dominated government and the meddling by a larger, bullying neighbor in the North had already prepared the concoction of death and destruction. On a more micro level, the unraveling of the fabric is explained through the situation of their Tamil tenants, members of which become the love interest of the Sinhalese girls across the generations. When violence knocks on their door, rather literally, the girls’ family migrates to the United States leaving behind the mayhem, and memories in the process.

Years later, when betrayal and infidelity bring the girls back to where it all started, they also pick up the thread of the Tamil family that was left during the sudden flight.

On the other hand, the story of Saraswathi, a violated Tamil teenager who joins the Tigers, helps readers take a peep inside life in the north and east of the Island. At the end, when their fate entwines, one is left stunned in more ways than one.
      
Like any great state-of-the-nation novel, one of the strengths of this book lies in the way it seamlessly deals with myriad themes that run parallel to the dominant theme of conflict. In the process, readers not only get a loose idea of how the history of the island has shaped up since the British left it in 1948, but also how a conflict that could have been resolved easily in the initial years, was allowed to fester in order to massage the majority Sinhalese ego. 

However, the biggest strength of this book lies in the way the author rises above ethnic biases to present a picture of conflict that is not burdened by the efforts to look good and unblemished. Nayomi Munaweera is clearly from that painfully small school of intellectuals who believe that any long-lasting process of reconciliation must first start with the admission of complicity in crime. There is no tacit, sly effort to sound politically correct. No compulsion to “balance” the narrative of the conflict in a David versus Goliath mismatch. But that not to say that David here is let off the hook. He is also brought to question. But nothing is disproportionate.

Island of a Thousand Mirrors is an inherently honest attempt to put things in the perspective. Having covered the conflict myself and witnessed how divisive and full of visceral hatred the narrative is, I have no doubt that Ms Munaweera will receive more brickbats than bouquets. Especially from the rabid non-residents from both ethnic groups who have successfully hijacked the narrative. But if Ms Munaweera calculated that and yet decided to write this; she sure as hell is prepared for a long haul.

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Source : IIPM Editorial, 2013.
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

BBA Management Education

Faulty Forensic labs

New forensic labs are vital for speedy justice

Since last couple of weeks, there have been protests going on all across the nation demanding quick and fast justice delivery. This is not the first time when a criminal is scott free due to delays in our judicial mechanism. Without any apprehension, the entire onus of delays lies on the courts which are struggling with less manpower and insufficient resources. And then, further going down is our investigative team, which again is equipped with stone-age facility and faces huge shortage of staff. Amidst all these loopholes, one peripheral of justice delivery mechanism that is largely getting ignored is our investigation laboratories. In simple terms, cases linger on for ages as the investigating teams fail to present sufficient scientific evidences on time. And, the reason for the same is the sorry state of our forensic labs.

Against conventional notion, forensic labs not only help in providing clues for criminal cases but also for civil and statutory cases. Today, forensic labs are called-in for cases related not only to murder, rapes and assaults but also for thefts, property disputes, document verification, forgery tests and truth analysis. As of now, we have less than 30 forensic labs where cases coming in for investigation from all corners of the country. On an average a single Forensic lab handles only 4000 cases annually while the demand for the same runs in tens of thousands per forensic centre! Moreover, only a handful of these labs are equipped enough to handle such large inflows.

As per a media report, around 4000 cases of sexual assault on women are yet to be solved at forensic level itself! These cases are pending from last 2-3 years. The problem gets augmented as one gauge through the vacancies at these forensic labs, still more than 100 seats are vacant (especially those at technical positions). There are labs where even “sufficient amount of chemicals required for several tests” are not even available. Even cases related to corporate fraud, computer fraud, child paternity cases and DNA tests are in the queue waiting for their trial, which can’t be moved even by an inch without forensic reports. Such poor state of infrastructure not only delays the cases but provides ample time to the culprits to tamper and dodge the evidences and in many cases even steal and damage the evidences, thus, leaving no scientific evidences of their crimes. Moreover, given the sophistication with which crimes are committed (and technologies with which the evidences are tampered) forensic investigation has become evident to prove the verity of samples in possession.

Numerous cases like Aarushi-Hemraj murder case, Nithari serial murders case, Priyadarshini Mattoo Case and many other similar cases got delayed because of inadequacy of labs. In spite of these cases attracting media-attention and public outcry, no much heed was seen as most of the vital clues were either destroyed in the process or most of important investigative reports were waiting their turn in various labs across the nation!

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Source : IIPM Editorial, 2013.
An Initiative of IIPM, Malay Chaudhuri

and Arindam Chaudhuri (Renowned Management Guru and Economist).

For More IIPM Info, Visit below mentioned IIPM articles

IIPM Global Exposure
IIPM Best B School India
IIPM B-School Detail
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BBA Institute

Two-witter!

The US State Department wants employees tweets to be reviewed for two days before they are posted

The US State Department has recently decided to tighten the screws on State Department employees participating on the social media – more particularly on Twitter. The State Department has passed an order wherein employees have to submit their tweets two days in advance for an internal review before tweeting the message from their Twitter account. Further, the time for review of posts in other forms of media like blogs, articles and books would take around 5, 10 and 30 days respectively.

Without doubt, while a two-day review of employees’ tweets sounds hilariously insane (for example, it might take eight days to exchange two tweet messages with a colleague and get respective replies), what made more news than the actual State Department decision was the slamming they received from global media. Nicholas Kristof from The New York Times, for example, called the decision “the dumbest idea ever”. Alec Ross, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton’s Senior Advisor for Innovation, defended the decision, claiming that the two-day delimiter is only an outer window for approval which is much lesser than the earlier 30 day period – and that most tweets would be approved much earlier. There’s also the view that such a rule has been reinforced due to a recent tweet of a department employee on an anti-Muslim video, which unfortunately ended up instigating public anger in Cairo and was also used subsequently by the Republicans in their campaign against Obama. Irrespective, the fact is that there seems to be quite some similarity between the State Department and the censor-loving Chinese Communist Party, which also considers all its citizens akin to its fellow workers.

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Source : IIPM Editorial, 2013.
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

BBA Management Education

There’s much to fix between the piers

A raft of infrastructure issues is affecting the growth and prospects of our ports. In the face of capacity constraints, lack of connectivity and inadequate mechanization, ports are burdened with excess traffic they can’t handle

India’s vast coastline, stretching around 7,500 kms, is home to 13 major ports and around 200 non-major ports. These are spread across the nine maritime states that stretch along the country’s western and eastern corridors. Considering that about 95% by volume and 70% by value of the country’s international trade is carried on through maritime transport, ports in India are expected to demonstrate efficiencies to sustain the demands of growing international trade. Even otherwise, modern seaports the world over play the role of logistic hubs in the global transport system, integrating the supply chain and offering a competitive edge to exporters and importers.

Historically, ports were measured on their ability to accommodate ships and other modes of transport effectively and efficiently. Contemporary developments in transportation, however, dictate that emphasis shift to the ability of ports to fulfill new roles in the logistics era in the context of operating within integrated global supply chain systems. Ports are therefore expected to demonstrate efficiencies that help to cut total logistic costs and improve the overall competitiveness of exported and imported products.

Unfortunately, even in the wake of India’s growing maritime trade in the world market and the unprecedented growth in bulk commodities and containerized trade, major ports in India have failed to expand capacity and develop facilities commensurate with the growth in trade. In FY2011-12, Indian exports accounted for $303.7 billion, logging an annual growth of 21%. Meanwhile, imports grew to $488.6 billion, a 32.1% growth. This rapid growth in trade can be sustained only if the port infrastructure keeps pace with the increasing volumes of cargo. Indian ports, over the past decade, have seen a sharp surge in traffic, which has almost grown four-fold to 9.7 million TEU (One TEU represents the cargo capacity of a standard intermodal container, 20 ft. long and 8 ft. wide) in 2011, from 2.4 million TEU in 2001 - a growth of 395%. But our port-handling capacity is way short when compared to the throughput of major ports globally. Even the 9.7 million TEU handled by Indian ports last year represents just 8% of the global benchmark ratio for economic output and one-twelfth of global container traffic averages. Given that the Indian economy grew 7.8% for fiscal 2012, ports in India are in urgent need of capacity augmentation in order to meet the country’s growing economic needs and also to grow our share of international trade.

Over the last decade, our average annual growth rate of port cargo volume has been about 10% and container traffic is projected to grow to 40 million TEU by 2025. But India’s ports are ill-equipped to meet this surge in demand as they have not been able to significantly ramp up their capacity and efficiency. As a result, our ports are congested and lack cutting-edge facilities. Till date, no Indian port is capable enough of handling large container vessels. Thus, most of international cargoes are off-loaded at Colombo or nearby ports and then transported to India in bits and pieces. This very incapability robs Rs.10 billion from traders. Even the custom clearance at ports increases the transport time by an average of 84 hours. Not surprising that the World Bank has ranked India’s port infrastructure at 3.86 in 2010, where 1 stands for extremely underdeveloped and 7 for well developed.

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Source : IIPM Editorial, 2013.
An Initiative of IIPM, Malay Chaudhuri

and Arindam Chaudhuri (Renowned Management Guru and Economist).

 

For More IIPM Info, Visit below mentioned IIPM articles

IIPM Global Exposure
IIPM Best B School India
IIPM B-School Detail
IIPM Links
IIPM : The B-School with a Human Face

BBA Institute

What happens when you mix drinking & flying?

With the recent Diageo deal, the UB group has got some much needed cash to reduce its interest costs. But as major group companies continue to struggle with unfathomable debt loads, the only freely flowing commodity is advice!
Issue Date - 30/12/2012

In late 2005, UB Group Chairman Dr.Vijay Mallya had remarked in a media event that people often asked him what link he saw between the liquor and aviation businesses. And his answer was, “They both make you fly!”

Amusing, yes. But that doesn’t go too far when it comes to explaining the synergies between the two businesses. There were definite branding synergies for Kingfisher in aviation, but not operational ones, as is evident in hindsight. In one of his interviews to a leading pink daily, former UB group CFO Ravi Nedungadi also accepted that he had warned Dr.Vijay Mallya that the airline, which he was planning to start, would be a drain on finances. Over the years, despite his best intentions, Nedungadi’s views have proved prophetic beyond imagination.

As on date, Kingfisher Airlines, which was once India’s second largest domestic airline by market share, is standing on a debt pile of $2.5 billion. According to a statement issued by the company, the exposure of various group companies towards Kingfisher Airlines as on March 31, 2012, stood at an equity investment of Rs.21.14 billion, loans and advances of Rs.10.48 billion, other receivables at Rs.2.09 billion and corporate guarantees to banks/aircraft leasors at Rs.89.25 billion. “Before getting into the airline business, they missed the trick that the airlines business is completely different from their other ventures. It requires a continuous flow of funds & also the skill to stay floating in a volatile environment”, affirms an aviation expert from a leading consultancy on condition of anonymity. State Bank of India, the largest lender to the airlines, has already warned that the airline’s promoters should bring in a minimum of $1 billion (about Rs.54 billion) from any source by the end of November.

Add to this the fact that the UB group is already quite stretched financially, and you begin to wonder if Kingfisher’s current plight could have wider ramifications. Recently, the UB group clinched a deal with Diageo, the world’s largest spirit maker, which will allow the latter the option to take its stake in United Spirits Ltd. (USL) to 53.4% for around Rs.111.66 billion; due to which promoter shareholding in USL will fall from 27.8% to 14.9%. USL issued 10% additional preference shares at Rs.1440 per share to Diageo.

Can this injection of around $1.1 billion in funds help script a revival? Before answering that question, we must take a look at USL itself, the group’s flagship company. It is the largest spirits company in the world by volume; selling 122.75 million cases for the fiscal ending March 31, 2012. For Q2, FY 2013, USL posted a standalone topline growth of 24% yoy to post revenues of Rs.22.21 billion, aided by a one time sale worth Rs.3.15 billion of bulk spirit stocks. Adjusted for the same, sales growth stood at 6.4%, which was way below the 8.9% estimate of analysts. PAT for the quarter declined by 73.4% yoy to reach Rs.392.7 million. Furthermore, USL is weighed down by a debt of close to Rs.90 billion with a D/E ratio of 1.9, and is finding it difficult to even access working capital financing. According to a research report from Angel Broking, “USL’s bottom-line is expected to grow at a CAGR of 103.4% over FY 2012-14 due to the lower interest costs on account of substantial reduction in debts post the UBH-Diageo deal.” So the best that can happen is that USL will work with somewhat improved margins and ROI.

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Source : IIPM Editorial, 2013.
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

BBA Management Education

The alphabet of 2014

With the 2014 general elections looming large, the BJP has managed to quell an attempted revolt in the party ranks. But the collateral damage could have far-reaching repercussions

Let’s say she is a brilliant young political writer who thinks alliterations, symbols, analogies, synonyms, antonyms and metaphors are passé when it comes to analysing the far-in the-horizon Lok Sabha elections of 2014. What choice does she have? Let us say she decides to use English alphabets to forecast who would be the next PM in 2014. Let us hope that, unlike many political journalists today, she knows her alphabets.

She would have a tough time choosing between N and M. And she would, of course, know that there is another N that looms like a mythological warrior. She won’t be able to guess – despite her best efforts and lots of advice from television anchors – as to how another M would behave. People in WB have figured out that this M sometimes herself doesn’t know how she will act. She does know that another N who represents a state called O will not bother if M or N wins the race as long as he remains THE N in his state. And let us spare her and you the agony of other alphabets like J of TN, O of J&K, Y of AP and the original M of UP.

Confused? Actually, so are we. We – like you – know that voters like us are so mad at this so-called government being run by the UPA that we would love to vote against it in 2014. But which alphabet or set of alphabets do we vote for? The logical choice would be NDA, but the possible candidature of an N called Modi has already generated so many abusive and counter-abusive ‘expert opinions’ that we will let this N be; at least for now. That brings us back to that other N and that other M. If not Modi, N can only mean Nitish Kumar, CM of Bihar and the only true ‘secular warrior’ within the NDA fold. And if not Mamata/Mayawati, the M can only mean Mulayam Singh Yadav, the survivor who can teach a lesson or two to another cow belt chieftain called Lalu Yadav. There is a reason why M and N (Mulayam Singh & Nitish Kumar) have already started plotting their moves. Ask any Indian with even a little bit of common sense and it is doubtful if either would be their first choice as PM. But both M and N – like the one and only one heir apparent R – have history on their side. Our political journalist asks you with a wimpish smile – cross your hearts and admit it if you are old enough to remember. Did you, in your wildest dreams or never-ending nightmares, vote in 1996 for a prime minister called HDDG (software geeks, that is not hard drive... it is His Excellency HD Deve Gowda)? Even more bizarre, Indians actually did not vote for a do-gooder with a strange set of alphabets IKG. Our lady reporter was confused when she was told that IKG stands for a great pacifist called Inder Kumar Gujral, who was willing to sell India down the tube for the sake of peace with Pakistan. Did we hear Balle Balle? She was confused because sycophants who write about Congress told her that they had just played an alphabetic trick. First, they yanked the alphabet K from IKG and arrived at IG. They had to remove K because of someone called Sitaram “Kesari”. Then they realised that IG had long passed away. About a few million sycophants started looking for a simple replacement for I. They wanted something simple, which even political journalists could understand. So they settled on S and IG was replaced by SG. Of course, we must apologise on behalf of the lady reporter who appears a little overwhelmed with all these alphabets. We told her that SG has anointed another M. She promptly came back with some alphabets and epithets till we told her that this M is special because he is the only leader in the history of the world who leads without any ability or willingness to lead. Our reporter was thrilled and announced she is taking her poodle for a walk.

Read more....

Source : IIPM Editorial, 2013.
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

Revisiting IT - beyond the street

Results of top Indian IT companies, with the exception of TCS, have sent shock waves across markets. But rather than worry about them, Indian IT companies must focus on structural reforms for long term advantage

There is a paradoxical advantage that Indian IT firms enjoy in the current situation due to their reliance on overseas (especially developed) markets rather than the domestic economy. They have been through one major crisis in 2008, when most of the domestic demand-dependent India Inc. was rejoicing in our economy’s prized ‘fundamentals’. This time, when the crisis shifts to the EU, one can expect that they are better prepared.

Did they manage to take advantage of precedent? Or have they wasted a good crisis, as the saying goes? Let us first look into the final results of the three IT companies that are a part of the B&E Power 100. TCS, of course, is a clear winner with revenues of $10.17 billion (growth of 24% yoy) and net profits of $2.2 billion (growth of 16% yoy); which places it at 4 in the B&E Power 100 list compared to 7 last year. Infosys reported slower growth with revenues at $6.99 billion (a growth of 15.77% % yoy) and profits at $1.72 billion (a growth of 12.64% yoy; ranked 6 in the B&E Power 100 compared to 11 last year). Wipro’s results were even more modest, as it posted revenues of $5.92 billion (a growth of 13.4% yoy) and net profit of $1.1 billion (a growth of 5% yoy, rank dropped to 18 in the B&E Power 100 from 17 last year).

The real investor challenge these players face is the burden of expectations. Infosys, in particular, is facing the brunt, since its Q4 results showed revenues of $1.77 billion (yoy growth of 10.5%) and a decline of 2% qoq. Furthermore, it gave a very modest guidance of 8-10% revenue growth for the current fiscal, which would underperform

Read more.....

Source : IIPM Editorial, 2013.
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

‘Heins’ian economics at work...

Ever since moving into the corner office of the Waterloo based smartphone maker, Thorsten Heins has been struggling to undo the damage RIM suffered over the past few years. However, his two pronged strategy of consolidating the enterprise segment and leveraging emerging economies will take time to deliver results

It often happens that the ascent of most CEOs to the top is marked by public scrutiny, appreciation and sometimes outburst. However, Thorsten Heins, President & CEO, Research In Motion (RIM) has had a relatively subtle career as far as his media presence is concerned. When he was promoted to the top job in January 2012, analysts pointed out that “he’s not a well-known quantity.” A masters in science and physics from the University of Hannover in Germany, Heins started his career in 1984 straight out of college with Siemens AG where he was chief executive of various divisions including R&D, customer service, sales and product management. His last stint at the Munich-based multinational was that of Chief Technology Officer (CTO) before RIM recruited him as Senior Vice President of the handheld business unit in 2007. He quickly rose through the ranks and was made the Chief Operating Officer of Product and Sales in July 2011.

But ever since moving into the corner office of the Waterloo-based smartphone maker, Heins has undertaken an extensive strategic review of the business. And what he’s probably realised by now is that he has an awful lot on his plate. A case in point is RIM’s dwindling financial performance. From a high of $145 in 2008, RIM’s stock has tumbled down to $14 (a 90% fall). In 2011 alone, the stock lost around 80% of its value. What’s more – as per statistics compiled by IDC, BlackBerry devices held just 8.2% share of the global smartphone market at the end of Q4 2012 compared to 14% during the same quarter last year. In fact, despite the launch of multiple new BlackBerry 7 smartphone models, RIM’s revenue for Q4 2012 was $4.2 billion, down 19% from $5.2 billion in the previous quarter and down 25% from $5.6 billion in the same quarter of 2011.

Their problems are evident. Behind this heartbreaking free fall lies a blunder by RIM’s cofounders who despite launching great products failed to predict how the smartphone market would pan out in times to come. A look at RIM’s revenue pie makes it clear that the company’s business is divided into two major segments – enterprise solution and devices (smartphones and tablets). The enterprise segment makes up for 22% of the company’s revenue. The rest comes from smartphones and tablets. Given that RIM’s USP was its network infrastructure which made its enterprise solutions so lucrative to corporations, the company continued developing the kind of phones that would appeal to these clients. However, what they didn’t realise (or probably did but preferred to ignore) was that the sudden surge in sales of BlackBerry smartphones was not caused by companies signing up but because the mass market had started purchasing them. These were the consumers who were not looking for security but for appealing devices. The strategy worked well initially as there were hardly any smartphones in the market except RIM’s. But as soon as Apple’s iPhone and Google’s Android operating system were launched in 2007, RIM’s devices started losing sheen. And before the company could realise what had happened, sales went for a toss.

The promoters who made these assumptions have left the company. And fortunately, Heins knows what went wrong. Therefore he now plans to bring back the company’s focus on the enterprise segment. During his first conference call, as CEO, with analysts last month, Heins said, “We believe BlackBerry cannot succeed if we try to be everybody’s darling and all things to all people.” At the end of 2011, over 90% of Fortune 500 companies had deployed the BlackBerry solution, with approximately 80% of these having an installed base of 500 or more devices. In concurrence with this strategy, RIM recently released the BlackBerry Mobile Fusion – an expanded version of its server software which will now support phones made by competitors as well. In an exclusive conversation with B&E, Michael Holt, a Senior Stock Analyst with Morningstar, expresses his confidence on RIM’s hold on the enterprise segment. “The BlackBerry is still the gold standard in certain corporate markets where premium security is valued. We expect it to retain that position for some time,” says Holt. So, is this a bad strategy? Depends on how you look at it. While on one hand this might indicate further shrinkage of BlackBerry devices in offices, but on the other it gives RIM an opportunity to pursue smartphones as an independent business.

Read more.....

Source : IIPM Editorial, 2013.
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

“The opportunities for sustainability are immense”

Prof. Anant K. Sundaram, Faculty of Business Administration at the Tuck School of Business works with Senior Managers of companies on how their financial fundamentals and performance metrics drive market values and P/E ratios. In an exclusive conversation with B&E’s Amir Moin, Prof. Sundaram discusses the issue of sustainability and how companies can effectively implement it.

We live in a world that is undergoing rapid transition. For now, our setbacks are more or less financial and economic in nature. But as we further globalise amidst an explosion in population, the world that we know of will find itself encountering a completely different set of problems. It is therefore imperative that corporations around the world take up the issue of sustainability with urgency. In this exclusive conversation, Anant K. Sundaram, Professor of Business Administration at the Tuck School of Business, tells B&E, how companies should perceive sustainability and what they can do do make it an integral part of their business model.

B&E: Sustainability is something which a lot of companies promote now a days. While some are actually pursuing strategies that make sustainability a reality not just in terms of application but also profitability, others use it as a mask to look good. What is your view of sustainability and how is it helping the company’s bottom line?

Anant Sundaram (AS): Step back for a moment and think about what ‘sustainability’ means, since it is misused a lot. In a literal sense, it means ‘making something live forever.’ This, of course, is plainly impossible to do and hence not a terribly useful definition. The definition used in policy and NGO circles goes something like ‘meeting society’s needs today without compromising the needs of future generations.’ This, in turn, is a highly loaded definition: Who is to judge what anyone’s needs are? How can we know what future generations might need relative to today’s? The bottom line is, these traditional definitions of sustainability have a condescending, and frankly, impractical view about the world as it is and what people’s wants are. Corporations live in a practical world. They manage scarce resources and juggle the conflicting needs and imperatives of multiple constituencies, all with a view to create value. From their point of view, sustainability is fundamentally about meeting people’s wants for goods and services by consuming as limited a set of resources as possible, keeping their footprint associated with the side effects of such use minimal.

This means efficiently using air, water, minerals, metals, fossil fuels, and other natural (including biodiversity) resources, in a manner that mitigates – or even zeroes out – the footprint associated with pollution, waste, and emissions. Hundreds of good companies – whether it’s a Walmart trying to drive efficiencies in its supply chain, an Apple in its product design that emphasizes conservation, or an Infosys in its building and data center processes that obsesses over energy efficiency – adopt this view. Surely, there are some that will try to use it “as a mask” to look good. However, those will be short-lived efforts, perhaps even short-lived companies. At the end of the day, the ones that do not see the links between sustainability and efficiency will leave value-creation opportunities on the table, thereby not being able to compete against their more efficient peers. In the process, they will be the first to fall by the wayside.

Read more.....

Source : IIPM Editorial, 2013.
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

“There is a clear need for consolidation”

B&E: Indian telecommunications industry may start consolidating by the middle of 2012 after the much-awaited National Telecom Policy, 2011, is unveiled in January 2012. How will this help the industry going forward?

Ranjan Mathews (RM): There are currently 12 operators or more in most of the 22 circles in the country. This has led to a situation of hyper-competition, fierce pricing battles, plunging profit margins, spectrum scarcity and oversupply. In fact, this situation has arisen as a result of the induction of five new operators in 2008 (the context of much of the 2G Scam) by the Department of Telecommunications (DoT). Further, between 2001 and 2007, there were many mergers and acquisitions (M&As) as older operators either exited the business or acquired other operators to cobble together a pan-India footprint. Significant of these were Bharti, Idea, Vodafone and TATA. Major operators who exited the business were BPL, Max Hutchinson, AT&T, Telstra, etc. Most experts now agree the market is ripe for another round of M&As to prune the market to a more sustainable six operators. This conforms to what is seen in most other international markets where there are no more than 3-5 operators. This is seen as more than sufficient to provide adequate competition in the market place. Thus, the benefits that will accrue as a result of such consolidation are many. One, we will have a healthier industry with adequate financial resources to invest in the technology advances (advanced networks, applications, etc) which are needed to keep the Indian mobile communications industry at the forefront of global advances. Second, one can expect affordable services for the customers. Expanded employment opportunities, reduction in the digital divide, increased rural penetration, more efficient use of scare spectrum, increased availability of loans and equity funding for needed roll-out of telecommunications infrastructure are some of the other benefits that one can expect from consolidation. Further, it will have a positive cascading effect on GDP as it has been established that a 10% rise in broadband penetration leads to a 1.3% increase in GDP.

B&E: But don’t you think it’s too late, in terms of safeguarding the industry?

RM: The initial flaw was that DoT ignored TRAI’s recommendation to not issue licenses in 2008 without ensuring there was adequate spectrum available. Further, due to the ensuing litigation surrounding the grant of licences, M&A activity could not proceed until the court cases are resolved. Once this happens, the new M&A recommendations made by TRAI will certainly help in facilitating M&A activity. However, another significant factor that will impact M&A activity will be the availability of additional spectrum, spectrum pricing and licence renewal terms for older operators that will see their licences coming up for renewal commencing 2014.

B&E: New players like Loop Telecom, which have invested thousands of crores in buying the spectrum licences, are now requesting the government for an exit. What, according to you, went wrong?

RM: The fundamental problem was that there were too many players in each licensed area. Contrary to all international norms, the number of operators went to 12. This caused a brutal price war as the new operators fought for market share. However, this only caused a downward spiral for all operators causing a serious decline in profitability. The scarcity of spectrum for the new operators led to many regulatory complaints and litigation. Finally, the eruption of the 2G Scam caused both international and domestic funding to freeze. This caused a liquidity crisis for the new operators who could not raise the required funds for network roll out and market expansion. The litigation also put the license of many of the new operators at risk which further exacerbated their business viability.

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

“For Avon as a corporation, a sell-out is out of the question!”

With a presence in over 140 countries, the Fortune 500 Avon Products Inc., is the largest direct-selling company in the world. And India is considered a critical market by the company. Hemant Singh, MD, Avon India, explains to B&E’s Steven Philip Warner how Avon fanatically believes in reaching out to the masses with the right investments in R&D and how, the company for now, is all about ‘Organic’ growth.

For the first twenty-seven years of his career, Hemant Singh worked at HUL, PepsiCo and Modicare (he was the CEO of Modicare, when he left the company). 2009 saw him being welcome aboard the $10.86 billion-a-year revenue-earning (FY2010) company – Avon Products Ltd., as its Executive Director (Business Development) for the APAC region. Today, he serves as the MD of Avon India. In an exclusive interview with B&E, this man who runs the show at a company which prides itself for being “The Company for Women,” reveals some geographical market-specific trade secrets.

B&E: India as a market contributes to less than 5% of Avon’s global sales. How important really is India for the largest direct selling company in the world?
HS: There is a reason for it. The company was started 125 years ago. In India, the industry is only 15 years old. So first, there is the time gap. Secondly, given the pace at which we are growing, India is fast becoming a huge grosser for us. Our rate of growth in this market has been phenomenal. In 2009, Avon’s India revenues grew at 46%. In 2010, we grew 56%. And as we speak, this year already, the growth has been 55% y-o-y. And our plan for the next 5 years is that we should grow at a CAGR of 60%. I don’t think any company in our business in India can even talk about such figures. So yes, India is very important for Avon.

B&E: So would India be a market more important than China?
HS: No. India and China, from the point of view of the population and the rate of growth, are both right up there amongst the two most important markets in the APAC region.

B&E: Jewellery is something that you added much later in your portfolio, globally. Did that call for any change in approach to your sales strategy?
HS: Whether it be skincare or colours or jewelry, they all fall in the same superset called beauty products. So the introduction of the jewellery range did not influence our sales strategy really. As far as India is concerned, jewellery is naturally a huge opportunity. It is a $13 billion market. Of that $10 billion is real jewelry, and the rest is all about gold & silver-plated jewellery, which is what we do. At present, this fast growing segment contributes to 17% of our sales, while colours (& cosmetics) and skincare contribute to 40% and 15% respectively. So that gives a good perspective of how fast we have grown in the jewellery segment.

B&E: Let’s talk about outsourcing. You currently have close to 1000 products in your portfolio. There must be a huge chunk of that being obtained through outsourcing of the manufacturing function. Right?
HS: Most of our products are made in-house. But that does not mean that in every country where we are present, we have a factory. In India, we have a plant in Dehradun, which has a multi-product manufacturing capability with a limit up to 50 million units a year. But having said that, we do outsource as well. In fact, for many of our products, we have a global sourcing strategy in place.

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

 

Getting Back, Getting Even

From a Time when they were Playing for Survival Against MNCS, a select few Indian FMCG firms are Quickly Turning The Tables. Still, The Head-to-Head Score goes in Favour of MNCs

Even though some Indian FMCG players like Godrej and Dabur have a legacy of more than 100 years, yet they have traditionally been players with modest ambitions till the 1980s. But like other industries, the big churn came in post-liberalisation era. Over time, and especially post liberalisation, foreign players like Nestle, HUL, P&G and Reckitt Benckiser significantly grew in size and stature in the Indian market, and left the Indian firms behind by miles.

The domestic FMCG majors had to desperately play the survival game. Local companies like Dabur, Marico, Emami, Himalaya, Amul, understood that the market was changing and that they had to change with it. They shed their regional ambitions and started investing into distribution, packaging, product innovation & marketing. Players like Godrej went for a complete brand repositioning, and brought in a more professional management structure that emphasised on youth and looked to go global. But to what extent has their radical transformation helped Indian companies move up the steep learning curve that they largely stayed away from earlier? Are Indian firms taking the score back from the MNCs?

A Booz & Company and Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) report pegs the Indian FMCG industry at around Rs.1.3 trillion. The sector witnessed a CAGR of about 11% from 2001 to 2010. The last five years have shown a CAGR of approximately 17%. If the industry could continue to grow with a CAGR of 12-17%, it will become a Rs.4-6 trillion industry by 2020.

The real inflexion point for Indian players was 2001. According to the report, large Indian players grew sales by 12% from 2001-2005 and by 19% from 2006-2010. MNCs, in turn, saw sales growth of just around 2% in 2001-2005 before recovering to see growth of around 16% from 2006-2010. This has reflected in key market share gains as well. Godrej No. 1 is the leading soap brand in Northern India and third largest overall. Wipro’s Santoor holds sway in South India; ahead of the likes of Lux, Lifebuoy or Dove. ITC (well, if you were to consider it an ‘Indian’ company) is giving sleepless nights to HUL with innovations in personal care and food categories. The USP of Indian FMCGs – natural and herbal-based products – is attracting Indian customers, for whom ‘foreign’ ostensibly doesn’t carry the same attraction as before. In fact, differentiated products like Chyawanprash, Navaratna oil and Parachute have been immensely beneficial, as MNCs have consciously not invested in these products.

Consider the situation in personal care and home categories. According to Euromonitor International, Indian companies have been either holding steady or steadily gaining market share since 2005 in these segments. Even as Hindustan Unilever’s market share dropped marginally from 36.6% in 2005 to 33.3% in 2010 in the personal care segment, Dabur marginally upped its market share from 4.7% to 4.9%; while Godrej raising its share to 4.5% from 3.9%. ITC has doubled its market share to 1.4% in 2010 from 0.7% in 2008. But other international players have been gaining ground as well. Colgate-Palmolive’s market share rose from 6.4% in 2005 to 6.8% in 2010. P&G India’s share has also risen from 4.2% to around 5.4%. In these rapidly growing segments, MNCs have a clear edge over Indian players.
 

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
IIPM – FLP (Flexi Learning Program)