Tuesday, January 20, 2009
New Vice Chancellor
Wednesday, January 21, 2009
Thursday, January 8, 2009
Young father
“Now we have become three from two…” his voice was grim and eyes reflected sadness. I wondered how a young man could downplay his fatherhood like that! But by that time, I had done the calculations. What lied in front of me was an economic reality and a human tragedy.
He is one of around 35 security personnel employed in our college. A young man of around 30, he is skinny but fit, sports a thin moustache and has very sharp eyes. He sounds positive, enjoys tea once every afternoon, and has learnt a lot about operating PCs since he has been posted in the computer centre. He is honest, and has returned back my pen-drive that I left in the lab by mistake, two times recently...
The calculation which came out of our chat of about five minutes tells this: His duty for 8 hours a day earns him Rs 130. He does overtime 20 days a month. Hence, (20 days X Rs 260) plus (10 days X Rs 130) equals to Rs 6500 a month. Is that enough? How much does he spend? “We are able to maintain in Rs 2500 a month” he replies. And obviously, he sends the remaining money to his home where his old parents and may be some unwed sisters would depend on him…
“Where do you live?” I asked to confirm. “Where else? In the nearest jhuggi-jhopdi (slum)…” And the house? “It costs Rs 2500 a month… But we share it with five more families; otherwise we can’t afford it…” I am taken aback. To share a one bedroom house with five families! For a young couple with a newly born baby! That is something… And of course the house would be an illegally made structure which would have a leaking roof, with community toilets and no clean drinking water…
The calculation tells that he earns Rs 6500 a month, spends Rs 3000, and sends home Rs 3500 a month. Perhaps his wife would also be working, earning around Rs 3000 a month, and hence both of them would save around 78,000 in a year. Of course this will happen only if there are no health related problems, no absenteeism from work due to any reasons, no threat on life due to regional political parties, and no yearly floods in the city destroying their household…
The economics still makes sense. If the young family is able to save more than fifty thousand rupees at the end of a favourable year, life is still worth carrying on. Is it so?
A deeper analysis tells a different picture. The family of three is able to maintain life in Rs 2500 a month. That means Rs 83 a day. Means Rs 28 a person a day. If all this money is spent on food alone, it means Rs 9 a person a meal (assuming three meals a day). How is this possible? How is this possible in Mumbai? With this tight budget, what will happen if tomorrow his wife is diagnosed with a serious illness? Can he spend Rs 2000 a month on medicines? With this earning, will they educate their child? If yes, then for how long? How can they share a one bedroom house with five more persons? This would happen because they need the house only during night for sleeping; what if two persons become sick at the same time? Where do they keep their savings? Can they ever get a bank account opened in Mumbai, without address proof? What if one of them meets with an accident? What if he is fired from his job? What if there is an urgent need to go to his native place; how many times can they afford railway tickets? At the end of it all, why is it that he is unhappy at the birth of his first child?
What wrong did his newly born baby do that it was born amidst such poverty? Did you ever feel that your life was tough? If life is still worth carrying on for this young father; do you have the right to complain? Also, can we learn something from his life? Can we learn something from life? To begin with: We can neither control our birth, nor our death; but we can certainly control what we do between the two...
He is one of around 35 security personnel employed in our college. A young man of around 30, he is skinny but fit, sports a thin moustache and has very sharp eyes. He sounds positive, enjoys tea once every afternoon, and has learnt a lot about operating PCs since he has been posted in the computer centre. He is honest, and has returned back my pen-drive that I left in the lab by mistake, two times recently...
The calculation which came out of our chat of about five minutes tells this: His duty for 8 hours a day earns him Rs 130. He does overtime 20 days a month. Hence, (20 days X Rs 260) plus (10 days X Rs 130) equals to Rs 6500 a month. Is that enough? How much does he spend? “We are able to maintain in Rs 2500 a month” he replies. And obviously, he sends the remaining money to his home where his old parents and may be some unwed sisters would depend on him…
“Where do you live?” I asked to confirm. “Where else? In the nearest jhuggi-jhopdi (slum)…” And the house? “It costs Rs 2500 a month… But we share it with five more families; otherwise we can’t afford it…” I am taken aback. To share a one bedroom house with five families! For a young couple with a newly born baby! That is something… And of course the house would be an illegally made structure which would have a leaking roof, with community toilets and no clean drinking water…
The calculation tells that he earns Rs 6500 a month, spends Rs 3000, and sends home Rs 3500 a month. Perhaps his wife would also be working, earning around Rs 3000 a month, and hence both of them would save around 78,000 in a year. Of course this will happen only if there are no health related problems, no absenteeism from work due to any reasons, no threat on life due to regional political parties, and no yearly floods in the city destroying their household…
The economics still makes sense. If the young family is able to save more than fifty thousand rupees at the end of a favourable year, life is still worth carrying on. Is it so?
A deeper analysis tells a different picture. The family of three is able to maintain life in Rs 2500 a month. That means Rs 83 a day. Means Rs 28 a person a day. If all this money is spent on food alone, it means Rs 9 a person a meal (assuming three meals a day). How is this possible? How is this possible in Mumbai? With this tight budget, what will happen if tomorrow his wife is diagnosed with a serious illness? Can he spend Rs 2000 a month on medicines? With this earning, will they educate their child? If yes, then for how long? How can they share a one bedroom house with five more persons? This would happen because they need the house only during night for sleeping; what if two persons become sick at the same time? Where do they keep their savings? Can they ever get a bank account opened in Mumbai, without address proof? What if one of them meets with an accident? What if he is fired from his job? What if there is an urgent need to go to his native place; how many times can they afford railway tickets? At the end of it all, why is it that he is unhappy at the birth of his first child?
What wrong did his newly born baby do that it was born amidst such poverty? Did you ever feel that your life was tough? If life is still worth carrying on for this young father; do you have the right to complain? Also, can we learn something from his life? Can we learn something from life? To begin with: We can neither control our birth, nor our death; but we can certainly control what we do between the two...
(Rahul)
How Honest is India?
I would judge someone honest if s/he does good and just even when God is not watching. Judging a nation or place in general is very difficult, because of diversity. Here is an interesting report about honesty in Mumbai/India.
Reader’s Digest came up with a report (Aug’07) on an exercise it carried out in 32 cities across the world. They deliberately mislaid 1000 cell phones, and waited to see how people behave once they see the phones lying unclaimed. And to see how many phones are returned back. At some places they even video-recorded the whole process.
On an average, 30 cell phones were kept in a city. In India, Mumbai was the chosen place. The editor says that he expected to get back only 6 out of the 30 phones left at several places in the city. Some people in the team jokingly said that they weren’t expecting even a single cell-phone back. Do you know how many cell-phones were returned back in Mumbai? 24 out of 30! And do you know how other countries fared? Mumbai stands at World’s No. 5, above Paris, London or Singapore!
Coming to my own personal experience, yes, I have lost one mobile phone while getting into a Mumbai local train. And in one instance, a gang of three guys on a motorbike stopped a friend on mine in Thane and snatched away his phone. He lodged a police complaint but didn’t get it back. But these are cases of crimes and can’t be used to judge if people are honest or not.
The average Mumbaikar who returned the cell-phone back was not of a particular caste, religion or surname. The report tells the story of one Dharmendra Kumar, who had already lost three mobile phones himself in the city, but very promptly returned back the phone he found. He even asked the journalist in disguise: “Just how can you be so careless?” Mumbai is made what it is – good or bad - with the joint effort of both the migrants and the locals.
So what explains such high score on honesty, in case you wonder? We may say that such cases can be the result of general attitude of Mumbaikars to mind their own business, which some times goes to extreme limits. A woman reported in yesterday’s newspaper that a stupid person groped her from behind at a bus-stop but not a single person came to her help. She had to hit him with newspaper and verbally abuse him to get rid of him. But these cases of returning back the mobile phones needed the person to call up a contact from the address book of the phone and enquire and then make arrangements to give the phone back: it needed investment of time and effort. And if 24 out of 30 Mumbaikars still did it, it proves that we really are honest people!
After all, the land of Buddha and Gandhi, where children grow up listening to moral stories from their mothers with every dinner should reflect some times!
Baffling Corporate Decisions
Business decisions are becoming more and more difficult to interpret. What appears apparent in the beginning is not so in reality and many a time we understand them only by looking beyond the obvious. It seems corporate now a days don’t feel any dilemma in what to keep secret and what to drop in the public domain, and are using the power of information technology and media to reach new avenues of strategies and gimmicks. Some of the recent decisions and announcements make an interesting collage.
Reliance – proposals and disposals
Back in March, Reliance Industries had decided to close down all the 1432 petrol stations it had opened across India. The company had invested some 4000 Crore rupees in setting up these stations and employed 55000 people. Reason was that government had not agreed to pass on the same subsidies to the company as what it had granted to the public sector oil firms. On one side, it made me wonder: how could Reliance be so buoyant at the business planning stage that it believed the government would grant it the same subsidies that PSUs get in order to survive? I tried to calm down my bewilderment by asking myself to wait and watch; may be Ambanis had some hidden Plan-B’s. But any good news in the regard is not coming in. On the other side, we didn’t realise that when Reliance closed its petrol stations, all its sales went to the PSU oil firms, thereby requiring the Govt of India to churn out Rs 4000 Crores extra in the form of additional subsidies! Interesting? So the decision of the Govt not to give the same subsidies to Reliance still resulted in a loss of Rs 4000 crore to the govt! Now it is evident that Reliance was sending a message across by its decision to close down.
Reliance Retail – Sending message @ speed of Fire
The first thing Reliance Retail did after public and political opposition to its setting up organised retail stores in Uttar Pradesh was to send termination letters to its 1200 employees it had hired, and announcement of closing down 20 stores. Did this decision to fire employees and bad press coverage cause it any harm? No! Actually it sent a strong signal that the opposition to organised retail in UP was actually resulting in loss of employment rather than save some! A very fine example of sending the right message with a bad news…
The Nano – and the Grand dreams
We all know about the fate of Tata Nano project in West Bengal. Knowing the state of industries there because of trade unions and labour protection policies, I wondered why Singur was Tata’s first choice. Later on I understood that the strategic port location, presence of huge middle class customer base in the vicinity and the favourable sops offered by the state government were the reasons behind its selection. But what about the long term sustainability? In a communist state where public life stands still at the call of frequent bandhs by any political party, starting a project there, which was so very critical for the company and for the nation was questionable. The same is true about communist ruled Kerala. Harsh Mariwala, Chairman and MD of Marico who visited our campus told how everyone laughed at him when he decided to put up a plant in Kerala. And successfully managing it despite all odds can still be called one of his major achievements. The public announcements made by Ratan Tata, whether at the negotiating stage or to pull out of the state can be understood because the situation was all political. Right communication by the company was very important because the whole world was watching them and their baby Nano. (Though some suspect the Govt of West Bengal of killing the political career of victorious Mamta Banerjee by not trying too hard to calm the situation with some real sops and compensations for the farmers. If we see it this way, then the defeat of the ruling party in the state in retaining the Nano project was actually its victory in insuring their rule for next two or three decades.)
Jet Airways firing and flip-flop
The case of Jet Airways firing 1100 employees and then inducting them back with some touching and emotional statements made by the Chairman and CEO Naresh Goyal calling company the mother and all employees as her children was an interesting one. No emotional speeches were able to douse the bad press it got, and this episode would definitely leave some bad impressions for the company as an employer for a long time to come. But this whole episode can be seen as an attempt by the Indian airlines industry to wake up the government and get some favourable policies and subsidies in order to survive…
State of Indian economy - Pessimism or Propaganda?
Front page of HT on Nov 12 carries a news title, “No more acquisitions, Tata tells his firms”. The news report had quoted Ratan Tata’s email to the top management of Tata Group firms! Should this email have been kept a secret? Not necessarily so. The decision to make it public is understandable. Due to Indian economy in bad shape – partly due to global financial meltdown and more critically due to failure of the Indian economic planners – private firms are the first to get the beating. Their survival is questionable as the raw material costs are going high on one hand, and the competition is merciless on the other. In such a situation, sending panic messages in the markets, raising questions about the sustainability of Indian growth story, making employment an issue in a country with 7.2% unemployment rate, the message is clear – the government has to act and give more breathing space for the private firms. But after a limit, it seems that the general pessimism and the panic that is created in India by the private firms is more in the air than on the ground. India is still not that much affected by the global financial crisis, but companies are making use of this gloomy situation to achieve some difficult goals. Some companies are using the situation to fire employees, cut down salaries, and stopping all perks, even if they are in the business of selling chocolates, which is mostly unaffected.
As we look at it, some decisions and communications by the Indian companies raise questions about their prudence at first, but eventually the real picture comes out as very different… Let us keep the faith on the board of directors who decide the salaries of the CEOs :)
Reliance – proposals and disposals
Back in March, Reliance Industries had decided to close down all the 1432 petrol stations it had opened across India. The company had invested some 4000 Crore rupees in setting up these stations and employed 55000 people. Reason was that government had not agreed to pass on the same subsidies to the company as what it had granted to the public sector oil firms. On one side, it made me wonder: how could Reliance be so buoyant at the business planning stage that it believed the government would grant it the same subsidies that PSUs get in order to survive? I tried to calm down my bewilderment by asking myself to wait and watch; may be Ambanis had some hidden Plan-B’s. But any good news in the regard is not coming in. On the other side, we didn’t realise that when Reliance closed its petrol stations, all its sales went to the PSU oil firms, thereby requiring the Govt of India to churn out Rs 4000 Crores extra in the form of additional subsidies! Interesting? So the decision of the Govt not to give the same subsidies to Reliance still resulted in a loss of Rs 4000 crore to the govt! Now it is evident that Reliance was sending a message across by its decision to close down.
Reliance Retail – Sending message @ speed of Fire
The first thing Reliance Retail did after public and political opposition to its setting up organised retail stores in Uttar Pradesh was to send termination letters to its 1200 employees it had hired, and announcement of closing down 20 stores. Did this decision to fire employees and bad press coverage cause it any harm? No! Actually it sent a strong signal that the opposition to organised retail in UP was actually resulting in loss of employment rather than save some! A very fine example of sending the right message with a bad news…
The Nano – and the Grand dreams
We all know about the fate of Tata Nano project in West Bengal. Knowing the state of industries there because of trade unions and labour protection policies, I wondered why Singur was Tata’s first choice. Later on I understood that the strategic port location, presence of huge middle class customer base in the vicinity and the favourable sops offered by the state government were the reasons behind its selection. But what about the long term sustainability? In a communist state where public life stands still at the call of frequent bandhs by any political party, starting a project there, which was so very critical for the company and for the nation was questionable. The same is true about communist ruled Kerala. Harsh Mariwala, Chairman and MD of Marico who visited our campus told how everyone laughed at him when he decided to put up a plant in Kerala. And successfully managing it despite all odds can still be called one of his major achievements. The public announcements made by Ratan Tata, whether at the negotiating stage or to pull out of the state can be understood because the situation was all political. Right communication by the company was very important because the whole world was watching them and their baby Nano. (Though some suspect the Govt of West Bengal of killing the political career of victorious Mamta Banerjee by not trying too hard to calm the situation with some real sops and compensations for the farmers. If we see it this way, then the defeat of the ruling party in the state in retaining the Nano project was actually its victory in insuring their rule for next two or three decades.)
Jet Airways firing and flip-flop
The case of Jet Airways firing 1100 employees and then inducting them back with some touching and emotional statements made by the Chairman and CEO Naresh Goyal calling company the mother and all employees as her children was an interesting one. No emotional speeches were able to douse the bad press it got, and this episode would definitely leave some bad impressions for the company as an employer for a long time to come. But this whole episode can be seen as an attempt by the Indian airlines industry to wake up the government and get some favourable policies and subsidies in order to survive…
State of Indian economy - Pessimism or Propaganda?
Front page of HT on Nov 12 carries a news title, “No more acquisitions, Tata tells his firms”. The news report had quoted Ratan Tata’s email to the top management of Tata Group firms! Should this email have been kept a secret? Not necessarily so. The decision to make it public is understandable. Due to Indian economy in bad shape – partly due to global financial meltdown and more critically due to failure of the Indian economic planners – private firms are the first to get the beating. Their survival is questionable as the raw material costs are going high on one hand, and the competition is merciless on the other. In such a situation, sending panic messages in the markets, raising questions about the sustainability of Indian growth story, making employment an issue in a country with 7.2% unemployment rate, the message is clear – the government has to act and give more breathing space for the private firms. But after a limit, it seems that the general pessimism and the panic that is created in India by the private firms is more in the air than on the ground. India is still not that much affected by the global financial crisis, but companies are making use of this gloomy situation to achieve some difficult goals. Some companies are using the situation to fire employees, cut down salaries, and stopping all perks, even if they are in the business of selling chocolates, which is mostly unaffected.
As we look at it, some decisions and communications by the Indian companies raise questions about their prudence at first, but eventually the real picture comes out as very different… Let us keep the faith on the board of directors who decide the salaries of the CEOs :)
AlumniNM Blog - New posts
Wednesday, January 7, 2009
Invitation to Alumni Meets – January 2009
Wednesday, December 24, 2008
Remembering late Prof. Pratap Sirur
Invitation to Alumni Meets – January 2009
Wednesday, December 24, 2008
Remembering late Prof. Pratap Sirur
Friday, October 17, 2008
Turnaround Babus
One day when I returned home, I found a piece of paper fixed on my door. I was ready for surprises. But it turned out to be a notice from a post man that he had brought a speed-post and as the door was locked, now I had to collect it from the designated post office within five days. I thanked the postman for his concern; otherwise he could have just returned it back.
When I went to collect the post at my nearby post office, I was asked to collect it from another PO at some distance from the place, and that too before 10 AM.
Two days after, I went there, and found to my surprise that there was a queue of around 7 people waiting to receive their registered/speed posts. The recipient needed to show our picture ID cards in order to receive. The lady at the counter was as expected slow. And then, another woman complained that the postman never made a second round to deliver; he just left the notice when he found the door locked. There I realized the problem: As the government departments are fighting hard to improve profitability, or to become profitable at all, should they do that at the sake of poorer service to the public?
Imagine how many times we shall need to make rounds of post offices just because our main door was closed for the few hours in which the postman came? Or about the person in whose name the letter has come is out of town for some time? Should government departments be making profits? Yes. But should they adopt quick-fixes in order to make profits? Think about the courier guy who will call you up if he doesn't find your house. On the other hand, the post offices don't offer any comparable service. This is true for all government departments trying to turn around. Shouldn't they focus on improving efficiency and making some real changes in their work process and culture? Think about the railways which, in order to become profitable, fixes an extra side berth, reserves large quota for RAC and tatkal, or increases cancellation charges. Why should the railway tickets booked via the internet be costing more than those booked at their counters? I am using my computer, paying via my card, taking print of my ticket on my own printer, and thus saving the railways time, manpower and money. But in return, I am charged more than the guys who make queues at the reservation counters, fill up requisition slips, argue with the booking clerks and fight at their mundane fancies. As one of our professors says: by automating the wrong processes, you will end up doing the wrong things more efficiently!
Customers don’t forgive
I was late and in a hurry. I had to create recovery CDs for my laptop, which I had been procrastinating for a long time. I stepped in the neighbour general store and asked for a blank DVD. “How much is it?” I heard “90”! I asked him to say again. Now he says “only 20”. I took two pieces and went out. But then I came to realise that the first time he had said “19”, but seeing that I couldn’t hear him, he had asked the round figure of 20 the next time. I made a mental note that I would avoid this shop in the future.
One of the ways the market has developed has resulted in un-forgiving customers. Taking a short term approach can be fatal to businesses. The opportunity cost of losing a customer is very much higher than acquiring a new customer from competition. But even then some shoppers do that mistake. And the worst thing is that they are not reading our blogs to realise this :). They will learn it a hard way...
Every man is a story
One of our professors shared his life story with us in bits and pieces. Connecting them gives us a glimpse of ups and downs on the way to a success story called India.
Born in a small town, he went to a school where the medium of instruction was the regional language. Every morning, he walked up to the school carrying two things inviting curiosity of his classmates: his half-pants which had a distinctive flared cuffs/ends and a bag in which he used to carry notebooks in the morning and household items / vegetables on the way back to home…
And then one day he found himself admitted to an English medium school in a city. Life was challenging, as he couldn’t even speak either of Hindi and English! When he had to borrow a pen from a colleague, he used to utter, “Tumhara pen, mujhe pen” :) Finding an interesting ‘item’ in their classroom, the students made him a popular punch bag. Ridicules were naïve; but then they used to call him by a name that was insulting. And he didn’t even understand its meaning! One day when he asked what the word meant, they replied, “You are such a ‘good boy’, so we call you that with love”. The teasing got more innovative day by day. Until one day, when he called it quits: in his own way.
As he was having his lunch, some boys threw dust into it and he couldn’t take it any more… He being physically much stronger beat the blues out of the ‘bad boys’. From that day onwards, whenever someone created troubles for him, he would wait for him outside the campus and make sure to send him off on shoulders rather than on legs. This way, he survived his school days…
Seasons changed, birds reached home, and time flew like clouds. He passed his engineering and joined an automobile company. Then he did his post graduate degree in management and rejoined the industry. By this time he had got to understand a market gap and started his own business by procuring parts and selling them at higher margins. Very quick by any standards, he had all that his parents would wish him to possess. But his punishing work hours and passion for ‘more’ resulted in him having some undesired ailments and one day he vomited blood. Having survived and now convinced by parents to stick to a ‘comfortable’ job, he came to teaching as a profession. At the same time he offered his consulting services to the industry. Today, he also owns a medium scale industry with turnover in crores. And then the next: he has adopted a village near his native place and has set a target to build a school; a hospital and the entire infrastructure that is needed there to make their life comfortable and safe…
Until there is mutual trust, respect and love between elders and the younger generations, our India will remain our India.
Born in a small town, he went to a school where the medium of instruction was the regional language. Every morning, he walked up to the school carrying two things inviting curiosity of his classmates: his half-pants which had a distinctive flared cuffs/ends and a bag in which he used to carry notebooks in the morning and household items / vegetables on the way back to home…
And then one day he found himself admitted to an English medium school in a city. Life was challenging, as he couldn’t even speak either of Hindi and English! When he had to borrow a pen from a colleague, he used to utter, “Tumhara pen, mujhe pen” :) Finding an interesting ‘item’ in their classroom, the students made him a popular punch bag. Ridicules were naïve; but then they used to call him by a name that was insulting. And he didn’t even understand its meaning! One day when he asked what the word meant, they replied, “You are such a ‘good boy’, so we call you that with love”. The teasing got more innovative day by day. Until one day, when he called it quits: in his own way.
As he was having his lunch, some boys threw dust into it and he couldn’t take it any more… He being physically much stronger beat the blues out of the ‘bad boys’. From that day onwards, whenever someone created troubles for him, he would wait for him outside the campus and make sure to send him off on shoulders rather than on legs. This way, he survived his school days…
Seasons changed, birds reached home, and time flew like clouds. He passed his engineering and joined an automobile company. Then he did his post graduate degree in management and rejoined the industry. By this time he had got to understand a market gap and started his own business by procuring parts and selling them at higher margins. Very quick by any standards, he had all that his parents would wish him to possess. But his punishing work hours and passion for ‘more’ resulted in him having some undesired ailments and one day he vomited blood. Having survived and now convinced by parents to stick to a ‘comfortable’ job, he came to teaching as a profession. At the same time he offered his consulting services to the industry. Today, he also owns a medium scale industry with turnover in crores. And then the next: he has adopted a village near his native place and has set a target to build a school; a hospital and the entire infrastructure that is needed there to make their life comfortable and safe…
Until there is mutual trust, respect and love between elders and the younger generations, our India will remain our India.
Wednesday, October 15, 2008
The Tata Finance episode
The American financial sector is in the turmoil. From Bear Sterns to developments with Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, the crisis unfolded and took companies like AIG and Lehman Brothers in the grip. Coveted institutions which took generations to reach the enviable positions were down in some months. It is all in the newspapers these days. Somewhere somehow someone made mistakes which reached the US to these conditions.
Do you think Tatas did a mistake by deciding to set up the Nano plant in West Bengal? Do you hold the CEO of the bankrupt US finance major Lehman Brothers guilty? Did George W. Bush do a mistake by invading Iraq? Any question, that can be answered in ‘yes’ or ‘no’ need not be asked. Bad decisions and mistakes happen; so do frauds. One person’s gain may be the whole system’s loss.
Every event has far reaching repercussions, both positive and negative. The only thing that matters is – how you deal with them and how you let the event affect you. This small case is a very important one, because such cases set examples for years to come.
Frauds happen – deal with them
What does a corporate house do when the managing director of one of its companies commits a fraud? Does it try to put a lid on the affairs or does it make an all out effort to ensure that the stakeholders suffer no losses? When Tata Finance was engulfed in a financial mess, the Tata Group took the latter approach. Before the fraud could be detected by the regulators, it was the Tata Group’s self disclosure that opened the matter up.
Rather than sweep the issue under the carpet, Tatas decided on a two-pronged course of action. First, the interests of the small depositors who had placed their trust in the Tata name had to be protected. Second, an open and objective enquiry would be conducted to bring the culprits to book.
Tata Sons and Tata Industries made available to Tata Finance cash and corporate guarantees amounting to Rs 615 crores. Not many industries would have put hundreds of crores into a company that was sinking and that too without being sure that any of it could be recovered.
Despite the promptness with which the Tatas moved, the public perception of the Group and the Tata brand was affected initially. But it was the right thing to do, and the Tatas did what was required to be done.
Ref.: Tata Review
Sunday, September 28, 2008
China and Bihar
History is made, and not written. Any low position is an opportunity to aim high. And anyone down with a great past is a sleeping giant.
The sleeping giants
We have listened enough of the Chindia (China+India) debates, now here is something fresh. What is common between China and Bihar? … Both are underdogs, and both are down.
China has been renowned for justifying the negative connotation attached with the word 'cheap'. It can manufacture anything that can be manufactured and at a price which is below others’ raw material costs. However, the product quality will always be broke. The recent scandal in baby milk, which made over 54000 Chinese children sick and many dead, is just the ‘most recent’ visible example. The tainted milk products were contaminated with a toxic chemical melamine, to disguise the protein levels of adulterated milk. Many countries including India have banned such products from China. From farm products to automobile components, Chinese quality is under serious doubt. China is down.
However, Japan was in a very similar situation at the beginning of 70s when its product qualities were not better than junk. It started from there and within years, Japan became synonym with best-in-class quality. A number of Japanese companies like Sony took it personally and in order to remove the poor quality tag from "Made in Japan", they created a history. China has the opportunity to do the same. It is down and the whole world is watching her. It can manufacture a change.
Bihar on the other hand is also in one such situation. Despite having a past that is more glorious than any other part, it lost all its shine in the after years of independence. The land where Lord Buddha attained enlightenment, where Lord Mahaveer and Guru Gobind Singh were born, and the place where great men like Chandragupta, and Ashoka ruled, lost its touch with the happenings later on. Out of government apathy and lack of opportunities, people moved out of the state to other parts of India and the unwelcomed migrating populations were targeted in many places. Of late, there has been a general skepticism that nothing can happen in the state. Then, the most devastating flood in the history of modern India happened. For state which had lost its major sources of revenues by creation of a separate Jharkhand, and where corruption eats through any public spending, it could not have gone worse. Millions have been without homes for months and thousands were washed away by the mad water. There cannot be a tougher time. Bihar is down.
However, never before in its recent past the state has been able to generate the genuine interest and pure empathy towards its condition that has happened this time. Even the skeptics who ridiculed the state have been touched at nature's fury at the innocent population. This is the real turning point. Never before in the last many decades, the collective India has seen Bihar with this much empathy. Already the new leadership in the state is doing well and trying hard to turn it around. The state is down and the whole India is watching her. The state can take it from here.
Thursday, September 25, 2008
Management lessons from Mahabharata
Coaching or Mentoring is a great tool in management for talent development. This small piece tells how the Mahabharata teaches us the key points:
Trust in coaching: Krishna and Arjuna
In the Mahabharata, the Pandavas are shown to have fought with the Kauravas on a matter of principle.
Arjuna was the person on whose shoulders the morale of the Pandavas rested. His well-being heralded victory and he stood for all that was supreme Pandava valour and glory. He had two biological older brothers, so he was not solely responsible for looking after the family. However, Arjuna was a little vain and sensitive, and felt he had nobody to look up to. Krishna filled this void. Krishna’s style of mentoring relied on certain building blocks.
Krishna proclaimed his love for Arjuna publicly and attached the highest importance to his friendship with Arjuna. They spent much time together and Krishna took every opportunity to demonstrate his love for Arjuna. On one occasion, they fought a battle which pleased Lord Indra. Lord Indra offered Krishna a boon. Guess what he asked for? He asked that his friendship with Arjuna continue forever! This built great trust in the relationship. Trust is the first building block in the mentoring.
The second feature was that Krishna was always supportive of Arjuna but never interfered with his life. At no point did Krishna take the decisions or the actions required, he merely offered his advice to Arjuna. At any rate, Arjuna had a fragile personality, the kind that would not accept interference by someone else. Krishna ensured that after proffering his advice, he gave Arjuna his own space so that the protégé felt no sense of dependence on the mentor.
The third feature was that the relationship was one of cheer and warmth. Arjuna took his tasks very seriously and had frequent outbursts of temper. Krishna showed himself to be a friends and comrade despite the moodiness of his protégé, so that Arjuna felt free to open his heart to him.
The fourth feature of Krishna’s mentorship was that when required, he criticized Arjuna’s decisions openly but never insulted or denigrated him personally. Krishna’s focus was on the issue, not on the person. Thus he was always non-judgemental.
The fifth feature was that Krishna never left Arjuna to fend for himself just because he had chosen a path which Krishna was not supportive of. When Arjuna’s son Abhimanyu was killed in battle by Jayadratha, Arjuna vowed that by evening he would either kill Jayadratha or commit suicide. Krishna did not think this was a good idea, but he stood with his protégé to help him complete his difficult task. Lastly, when Arjuna faced a personal crisis on the battlefield, Krishna came to his rescue by propounding the Gita; it was not a mere sermon but a way of looking at the issues he was facing and helping Arjuna to resolve his dilemmas himself.
(Taken from the book “The Case of the Bonsai Manager”, by R. Gopalakrishnan)
Trust in coaching: Krishna and Arjuna
In the Mahabharata, the Pandavas are shown to have fought with the Kauravas on a matter of principle.
Arjuna was the person on whose shoulders the morale of the Pandavas rested. His well-being heralded victory and he stood for all that was supreme Pandava valour and glory. He had two biological older brothers, so he was not solely responsible for looking after the family. However, Arjuna was a little vain and sensitive, and felt he had nobody to look up to. Krishna filled this void. Krishna’s style of mentoring relied on certain building blocks.
Krishna proclaimed his love for Arjuna publicly and attached the highest importance to his friendship with Arjuna. They spent much time together and Krishna took every opportunity to demonstrate his love for Arjuna. On one occasion, they fought a battle which pleased Lord Indra. Lord Indra offered Krishna a boon. Guess what he asked for? He asked that his friendship with Arjuna continue forever! This built great trust in the relationship. Trust is the first building block in the mentoring.
The second feature was that Krishna was always supportive of Arjuna but never interfered with his life. At no point did Krishna take the decisions or the actions required, he merely offered his advice to Arjuna. At any rate, Arjuna had a fragile personality, the kind that would not accept interference by someone else. Krishna ensured that after proffering his advice, he gave Arjuna his own space so that the protégé felt no sense of dependence on the mentor.
The third feature was that the relationship was one of cheer and warmth. Arjuna took his tasks very seriously and had frequent outbursts of temper. Krishna showed himself to be a friends and comrade despite the moodiness of his protégé, so that Arjuna felt free to open his heart to him.
The fourth feature of Krishna’s mentorship was that when required, he criticized Arjuna’s decisions openly but never insulted or denigrated him personally. Krishna’s focus was on the issue, not on the person. Thus he was always non-judgemental.
The fifth feature was that Krishna never left Arjuna to fend for himself just because he had chosen a path which Krishna was not supportive of. When Arjuna’s son Abhimanyu was killed in battle by Jayadratha, Arjuna vowed that by evening he would either kill Jayadratha or commit suicide. Krishna did not think this was a good idea, but he stood with his protégé to help him complete his difficult task. Lastly, when Arjuna faced a personal crisis on the battlefield, Krishna came to his rescue by propounding the Gita; it was not a mere sermon but a way of looking at the issues he was facing and helping Arjuna to resolve his dilemmas himself.
(Taken from the book “The Case of the Bonsai Manager”, by R. Gopalakrishnan)
Management lessons from Mahabharata
Coaching or Mentoring is a great tool in management for talent development. This small piece tells how the Mahabharata teaches us the key points:
Trust in coaching: Krishna and Arjuna
In the Mahabharata, the Pandavas are shown to have fought with the Kauravas on a matter of principle.
Arjuna was the person on whose shoulders the morale of the Pandavas rested. His well-being heralded victory and he stood for all that was supreme Pandava valour and glory. He had two biological older brothers, so he was not solely responsible for looking after the family. However, Arjuna was a little vain and sensitive, and felt he had nobody to look up to. Krishna filled this void. Krishna’s style of mentoring relied on certain building blocks.
Krishna proclaimed his love for Arjuna publicly and attached the highest importance to his friendship with Arjuna. They spent much time together and Krishna took every opportunity to demonstrate his love for Arjuna. On one occasion, they fought a battle which pleased Lord Indra. Lord Indra offered Krishna a boon. Guess what he asked for? He asked that his friendship with Arjuna continue forever! This built great trust in the relationship. Trust is the first building block in the mentoring.
The second feature was that Krishna was always supportive of Arjuna but never interfered with his life. At no point did Krishna take the decisions or the actions required, he merely offered his advice to Arjuna. At any rate, Arjuna had a fragile personality, the kind that would not accept interference by someone else. Krishna ensured that after proffering his advice, he gave Arjuna his own space so that the protégé felt no sense of dependence on the mentor.
The third feature was that the relationship was one of cheer and warmth. Arjuna took his tasks very seriously and had frequent outbursts of temper. Krishna showed himself to be a friends and comrade despite the moodiness of his protégé, so that Arjuna felt free to open his heart to him.
The fourth feature of Krishna’s mentorship was that when required, he criticized Arjuna’s decisions openly but never insulted or denigrated him personally. Krishna’s focus was on the issue, not on the person. Thus he was always non-judgemental.
The fifth feature was that Krishna never left Arjuna to fend for himself just because he had chosen a path which Krishna was not supportive of. When Arjuna’s son Abhimanyu was killed in battle by Jayadratha, Arjuna vowed that by evening he would either kill Jayadratha or commit suicide. Krishna did not think this was a good idea, but he stood with his protégé to help him complete his difficult task. Lastly, when Arjuna faced a personal crisis on the battlefield, Krishna came to his rescue by propounding the Gita; it was not a mere sermon but a way of looking at the issues he was facing and helping Arjuna to resolve his dilemmas himself.
(Taken from the book “The Case of the Bonsai Manager”, by R. Gopalakrishnan)
Trust in coaching: Krishna and Arjuna
In the Mahabharata, the Pandavas are shown to have fought with the Kauravas on a matter of principle.
Arjuna was the person on whose shoulders the morale of the Pandavas rested. His well-being heralded victory and he stood for all that was supreme Pandava valour and glory. He had two biological older brothers, so he was not solely responsible for looking after the family. However, Arjuna was a little vain and sensitive, and felt he had nobody to look up to. Krishna filled this void. Krishna’s style of mentoring relied on certain building blocks.
Krishna proclaimed his love for Arjuna publicly and attached the highest importance to his friendship with Arjuna. They spent much time together and Krishna took every opportunity to demonstrate his love for Arjuna. On one occasion, they fought a battle which pleased Lord Indra. Lord Indra offered Krishna a boon. Guess what he asked for? He asked that his friendship with Arjuna continue forever! This built great trust in the relationship. Trust is the first building block in the mentoring.
The second feature was that Krishna was always supportive of Arjuna but never interfered with his life. At no point did Krishna take the decisions or the actions required, he merely offered his advice to Arjuna. At any rate, Arjuna had a fragile personality, the kind that would not accept interference by someone else. Krishna ensured that after proffering his advice, he gave Arjuna his own space so that the protégé felt no sense of dependence on the mentor.
The third feature was that the relationship was one of cheer and warmth. Arjuna took his tasks very seriously and had frequent outbursts of temper. Krishna showed himself to be a friends and comrade despite the moodiness of his protégé, so that Arjuna felt free to open his heart to him.
The fourth feature of Krishna’s mentorship was that when required, he criticized Arjuna’s decisions openly but never insulted or denigrated him personally. Krishna’s focus was on the issue, not on the person. Thus he was always non-judgemental.
The fifth feature was that Krishna never left Arjuna to fend for himself just because he had chosen a path which Krishna was not supportive of. When Arjuna’s son Abhimanyu was killed in battle by Jayadratha, Arjuna vowed that by evening he would either kill Jayadratha or commit suicide. Krishna did not think this was a good idea, but he stood with his protégé to help him complete his difficult task. Lastly, when Arjuna faced a personal crisis on the battlefield, Krishna came to his rescue by propounding the Gita; it was not a mere sermon but a way of looking at the issues he was facing and helping Arjuna to resolve his dilemmas himself.
(Taken from the book “The Case of the Bonsai Manager”, by R. Gopalakrishnan)
Monday, September 22, 2008
Should we go for APICS certification now?
Someone from the junior batch asked if we should go for APICS certifications at this stage. Here is my opinion:
Anyone working in the supply chain function would like to have this certification. The advantages are like from any certification: it tells that you have the basic competencies since you have cleared the exam, it differentiates you from the competition since many of them won't have that, and it gives an impression that you are very serious about this field so companies may consider you more seriously.
On the other hand, I think MBA in Operations Management as majors is one degree which itself is something that speaks all. I know many professionals working in the supply chain functions in organizations are not MBAs and they can't even go for MBA at later stage. Many of them do a Diploma or PG Diploma in SCM and they would definitely look for this APICS certification.
Many of our seniors from 2k8 batch had gone for this and had cleared the exam. But to say that they got advantage in the placements won't be direct, since it depends on the profile with which the company would be coming in.
I have not enrolled for this, but I can go for this once I am into a company and I would get sponsored by the company itself. It is not all about money, but also about self-learning. Once we enter the industry, the learning process has to be planned and there, doing the course wold benefit more. For someone who has limited idea right now about SCM, doing this would just seem like passing one more exam. (This is not a course but just an exam which you have to clear)
As such it is a personal call: you can take it up if you have time and want to, it will of course add value to your profile.
Anyone working in the supply chain function would like to have this certification. The advantages are like from any certification: it tells that you have the basic competencies since you have cleared the exam, it differentiates you from the competition since many of them won't have that, and it gives an impression that you are very serious about this field so companies may consider you more seriously.
On the other hand, I think MBA in Operations Management as majors is one degree which itself is something that speaks all. I know many professionals working in the supply chain functions in organizations are not MBAs and they can't even go for MBA at later stage. Many of them do a Diploma or PG Diploma in SCM and they would definitely look for this APICS certification.
Many of our seniors from 2k8 batch had gone for this and had cleared the exam. But to say that they got advantage in the placements won't be direct, since it depends on the profile with which the company would be coming in.
I have not enrolled for this, but I can go for this once I am into a company and I would get sponsored by the company itself. It is not all about money, but also about self-learning. Once we enter the industry, the learning process has to be planned and there, doing the course wold benefit more. For someone who has limited idea right now about SCM, doing this would just seem like passing one more exam. (This is not a course but just an exam which you have to clear)
As such it is a personal call: you can take it up if you have time and want to, it will of course add value to your profile.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)