Mass-customization: the Ice-cream wallah way

There is a small but big word in marketing: “Mass-customization”. This means that the products being offered are customised for the masses, not only for some selected few customers. Examples? The Dell laptops; you can visit the Dell website; configure your laptop as per your requirements and then order. You will be able to decide on the price based on exactly what you want. Some level of mass customization are also offered by the automobile firms where you can chose what colour, accessories, and components to get your car with. But for me, the biggest business doing the mass customization is my neighbourhood Mewad Ice-cream wallah.

You want a cone for Rs 5, or 6, or 10? You want fruit salad or faluda of Rs 5, 10, or 15? Do you love a particular flavour? The boy won’t ask any question, he will give you exactly what you want and for how much. This is unlike the ice creams from big firms and dairies where you get fixed stuff and pay fix amount…

Inspired by my operations professor who always give indigenous examples instead of straight-from-the-books stuff...

Book Review: The Goal by Edi Goldratt

I read the book "The Goal" by Edi Goldratt some days back. It was made compulsory for our operations management class. If you haven't read the book yet, I would recommend it to you. It is a novel which is called "Love story of manufacturing" and is based on the theme of Theory of Constraints (TOC). 

I have worked in the manufacturing industry. Though the process described in the book is different from that industry in terms of (batch) manufacturing, still there are methods and insights which can be replicated. Immediate recall would be like importance of and how to reduce inventories, how to handle bottlenecks and exploit them, and culture change by promoting ideas from workers.

I remember when our works manager asked them to prepare a make-shift bridge to reach the inside of the kiln, one which could be removed and inserted much faster, he was actually practicing the right way to treat the "bottleneck". Kiln is our bottleneck most of the time. As the book says, an hour lost on the "bottleneck" is an hour lost for the entire system.

I came to know that many companies overseas which have made reading "The Goal" compulsory for their entire staff. I recommend this book to all in the manufacturing sector.

Title: The Goal

Author: Edi Goldratt

Publisher: Productivity and Quality Publishing, Chennai

Rs: 395

ISBN: 81-85984-13-1

Book Review: 11 Minutes by Paulo Coelho

I have read Paulo Coelho, through three of his other masterpieces: The Alchemist, The Pilgrimage, and Like the flowing river. How was 11 minutes? At times frightening, at times shocking, at times interesting and most of the time daring. It is the story of Maria, a young Brazilian girl who doesn't believe in any boundaries, bindings, standards or societal norms. She believes in going to the extreme, and taking all her decisions herself. A boy she liked in her school tried to talk to her and she refused. And then she never saw her love again. Life taught and she commanded her life, her personal diary was a witness to all. She loved each slice of adventure, and then she chose to become a prostitute in a country far from her own, and gets to understand the psyche of men, women, sex, suffering and the truths of life. In the end, a painter falls in her love and she makes a decision to go with him. I love the happy ending stories. The book covers her moments of truth very well. The book has gone lengths on the how-to stuff, but that is not something that we would remember about it minutes after we finish it.

Some parts that I underlined:

On women:

Beauty, my dear, doesn't last.

Original sin was not the apple that Eve ate, it was her belief that Adam needed to share precisely the thing she tasted.

On men:

The most important experiences a man can have are those that take him to the very limit; that is the only way we learn, because it requires all our courage.

She began to put clients into three categories: the Examiners, the Pretty Women type, and the Godfathers.

On relations:

I made my first mistake when I was eleven years old, when that boy asked me if I could lend him a pencil; since then, I have realised that some times you get no second chance and that it's best to accept the gifts that world offers you.

If I must be faithful to someone or something, then I have, first of all, to be faithful to myself.

Now, though, I am convinced that no one loses anyone, because no one owns anyone. That is the true experience of freedom: having the most important thing in the world without owning it.

On her profession:

She discovered, to her surprise that one in every five clients didn't want her in order to have sex, but simply to talk a little.

When she realised that releasing tension in the soul could be as lucrative as releasing tension in the body, if not more lucrative, she started going to the library again.

For a prostitute, the kiss was sacred. Nyah (her colleague) had taught her to keep her kisses for the love of her life, just like the story of sleeping beauty.

On history of prostitution:

Prostitutes appear in classical texts, in Egyptian hieroglyphs, in Sumerian writings, in the Old and New Testament. But the profession only started to become organised in the sixth century BC, when a Greek legislator, Solon, set up state controlled brothels and began imposing taxes on the skin trade.

The Greek historian, Herodotus, wrote of Babylonia: "They have a strange custom here, by which every woman born in Sumaria is obliged, at least once in her lifetime, to go to the temple of the goddess Ishtar and give her body to a stranger, as a symbol of hospitality and for a symbolic price."

On loneliness:

Human beings can withstand a week without water, two weeks without food, many years of homelessness, but not loneliness. It is the worst of all tortures, the worst of all sufferings. Like her, these men, and the many others who sought her company, were all tormented by the same destructive feeling, the sense that no one else on the planet cared about them.

Art of gift giving:

She placed the pen gently in his hand. Instead of buying something that you would like to have, I am giving you something that is mine, a gift. A sign of respect for the person before me, asking him to understand how important it is to be by his side. Now he has a small part of me with him, which I gave him with my free, spontaneous will.

When she decides to leave her profession:

I don't care whether it was once sacred or not, I HATE WHAT I DO. Its destroying my soul, making me lose touch with myself, teaching me that pain is a reward, that money buys everything and justifies everything.

No one around me is happy; the clients know they are paying for something that should be free, and that is depressing. The women know that they have to they have to sell something they would like to give out of pleasure and affection, and that is destructive.

Pain for pleasure or peace..

You experienced pain yesterday and you discovered that it led to pleasure. You experienced it today and found peace. That's why I am feeling you get used to it, because it is very easy to become habituated: it is very powerful drug. Pain is frightening when it shows its real face, but it is seductive when it comes disguised as sacrifice or self denial. Or cowardice. However we may reject it, we human beings always fid a way of being with pain, of flirting with it and making it part of our lives.

Does a soldier go to war in order to kill the enemy? No, he goes in order to die for his country. Does a wife want to show her husband how she is? No, she wants him to see how devoted she is, how she suffers in order to make him happy. Does the husband go to work thinking he will find personal fulfilment there? No, he is giving his sweet and tears for the good of the family. And so it goes on: sons give up their dreams to please their parents, parents give up their lives in order to please their children; pain and suffering are used to justify the one thing that should bring only joy: love.

Innovative Indian Companies - HCL Technologies:

1. ‘Employee first, customer second’: Because of its shock value, this initiative invited world wide interest.

2. ‘U’and ‘I’ approach: Employees could directly approach and query President Mr. Vineet Nayar.

3. Trust Pay: 85% of the salary of employees were made fixed, including bonus, along with a trust in them to deliver results.

4. 360o feedback: This was made compulsory, and open for all to see. The President of HCL was the first one to put his own form on the intranet for all to review. Others followed suit.

As a result, HCL Technologies saw its attrition rates dropping, employees better engaged in delivering, and deals getting better and multi-functional.

Ref: When corporates change track, J. Mulraj, HT, Mumbai, 18 Oct. 07

Movies: Ram Gopal Verma ki Aag

I watched Ram Gopal Verma ki Aag two weeks after it was released. I wanted to understand why did the movie failed to make a mark. I got to realise a very wrong trend among the present directors like Ram Gopal Verma: 

This is an adaptation of Sholey. In order not to avoid the blame that RGV has copied an idea, he just went on to ‘reverse’ almost all the scenes. This results in failure of the "effect".

I think RGV thinks he has perfectly decoded the formula of making a hit Bollywood movie. Following is his checklist:

a. Take most popular actors

b. Mix several irrelevant song and dance sequences.

c. Decorate with one or two hot item numbers. Here also the offering is standardised. There are some standard poses and moves by actresses, which are very typical of RGV’s productions.

d. Make use of camera angles well, very often scenes are taken from looking upwards.

e. Very often some very uncommon sounds like chair moving, water dropping, etc are mixed to create an effect.

After watching the movie, I am not surprised that it failed. Because:

- The ultimate realisation should be that we can copy the moves but can’t recreate the "magic".

- The movie has excellent performances by Susmita Sen in the roleof the widow daughter in law. But the movie lacks equal performance from others, except Ajay Devgan who tired his best. 

- One very popular character in Sholey was Dharmendra and everyone just loved him for his role. In Aag, the role is acted by a new face, a model looking guy, who fails to create the magic, and is just average.

- The chemistry between the characters of Sholey, e.g. Jay and Veeru, Gabbar and Thakur, Veeru and Basanti, etc have not been developed enough.

In a nutshell, this movie is another example of the situation when talented people think they have perfected the "art" of being successful, while in reality there is no such art. Movies have been successful not only it has been acted and directed well but because ‘public’ or ‘viewers’ have liked them. Recreating the older movies creates a very different impression in the minds of the viewers, and there is always a fear that the viewer will recall the old movie’s scenes corresponding to each of the new one’s scenes. I have seen Umrao Jaan, and I liked it perhaps only because I have not watched the original one; otherwise the movie failed on the box office. Though I liked Don, it was because the charisma of Shahrukh Khan is of comparable standard to that of Amitabh. And in the Bollywood's formula or masala movies, it is the charisma that pulls the movie through. Producers wanting to recreate old movies should select the ones whom the present generation has not watched or with whom the present generation has not been able to connect with. Otherwise I can say that the probability of failure of recreated movies is >80%.

Innovative Indian Companies - Marico

Marico Industries

Recently, Mr. Harsha Mariwala, MD, Marico Industries was on our campus to deliver his lecture on ‘Marico’s Journey”. He spoke on his and his company’s journey, right from the day of inception to today. Here are some innovative practices that Marico has implemented:

o Only two grades: Company realised that the expectation of being promoted every year makes many a disgruntled managers. So the company made its organisation structure having only two grades, called Managers and Partners. A young MBA joining, for example, would start from the Manager level. This has resulted in curbing the attrition in the company.

o House Concept: Company realised that many of the manufacturing plants were situated in remote places where no adequate facilities were available for employees’ engagement. So the company implemented a house concept, where the plant was divided into several houses, and attempt was made to install a sense of belonging among the employees. Through out the year, cultural events and sports are carried out among the houses. This has resulted in less idle time, and hence more balanced life among workers.

o Ex-Employees Association: This association doesn’t stop at the get-together functions. The company keeps track of all its ex-managers. And whenever there is a vacancy in the future, first it gives the offer to an ex-employee who is most suitable for the position. Even in the meetings and strategic discussions, it invites its ex-employees. This much of trust on its ex-employees is something that many companies can’t believe in.

o Kaya Health Clinics: It has got into this as extension to its products. Now it offers complete wellness solutions. This is a shift from a product driven company to a ‘solutions company’.

o Product innovations: (Coconut Oil)
o Plastic bottles, that rats won’t be able to cut
o Cap which works in both winter and summer. Coconut oil in sachets for the masses

Hinduism: The Devi who lived here

Reproducing an excellent article published in HT (Mumbai, Oct 20)

Sarada Devi (1853-1920) was the wife of Sri Ramakrishna Paramhansa. They had an unusual relationship: a celibate marriage that sublimated into a deep spiritual connection. Sri Ramakrishna saw the Devi in her and actually worshiped his wife as such. During his lifetime, Sarada Devi kept a very low profile, taking great care of his husband. After his death, she suffered at the hands of some of her own relatives, but bore it all with patient faith. Her gentle personality began to attract many devotees and she became a widely loved and respected spiritual persona in her own right.

Once, the birth mother of Swami Vivekananda, who was Sri Ramakrishna's prime disciple, came to the Belur Math. This was the head quarters of the Ramakrishna movement, of modern, seva-based reformist Hinduism. She took her friend around the fine buildings and beautiful complex and remarked proudly, "My son Naren has done all this." Swami Vivekananda and Sarada Devi were nearby. Vivekananda was deeply attached to his mother and loved her very much. But he jumped to correct her, "Not your son but hers (pointing to Sarada Devi). Your Naren was not capable of doing anything much."

When Sarada Devi passed away in July 1920 and was cremated at the Belur Math, there were more than 7,000 wellwishers at her funeral, who came of their own accord.

A modern Indian, especially a woman, may find Sarada Devi's living martyrdom frightening and unappealingly submissive. But two solid qualities in her that will never be oldfashioned seem worth acquiring for everybody, man or woman, as civilizational strengths: her patience and her emotional generosity.

Both seem essential to move our national life forward (and thereby ours), especially I these stressed-out times: virtues embodied in the Mother of the Universe that we can activate in ourselves. If not to Sarada Devi's extent, at least in terms of considerate behaviour on the phone, in the lift, in queues and definitely on the road!

Where is the Divide?

Do Indians believe in their tribe more than they think themselves as Indians? We had a discussion in the class. I still remember what a colleague said: “All communities have a sense of superiority that they want to impose on others. Honour killings are a proof of that.” And one friend said that most of the Indians are not educated enough to see the big picture.

To me, the old statement “Anekta mein Ekta” (Unity in diversity) still holds valid for India. The willingness of Indians to be associated with their caste or credo is nothing wrong per se, until it comes in the way of others. India is a multi cultural country, there is no denying that. It is needless to write the aspects of diversity that exist in India. But above all what matters is: Indians invariably are tolerant and revere others’ religious or cultural beliefs. That is why we have made it so far!. That is why we as a nation have not fallen apart while many other former British colonies fell preys to religious fundamentalism and tyranny. That is why we are still by large a peace loving junta, except when political powers make us vulnerable. Tell me a country where religious riots, racism or hate crimes have not happened.

Problem exists not in India or the Indians. Problem exists when we indulge in narrow wishful thinking. Problem comes when we are far from the ground realities, and try and compare India with other countries, which are homogeneous because of their size which in many cases is less than an Indian city or state. I hope we are wise enough not to fall in this trap of wishful thinking of having a ‘homogeneous’ country.

For me, extremely diverse cultures having completely different practices and beliefs are just fine; until they don’t impose their superiority over others. In India, we have never done that. But petty politicians want us to believe that ‘we are the best’ and ‘our God is better than theirs’. In almost all states of India, there are regional political parties, which try to enrage a regional sense of pride and exploit that for political benefits. It is sad that many of us fell into such traps many a times. These traps only make us think, research and debate the North-South divide, the Hindu-Muslim divide or the caste divide.

When I moved to Mumbai and knocked at the door of my neighbour, he asked my surname and whether I was a Maharastrian. It was up to me, either to believe that people in Mumbai are racist, or to neglect this as an exception. I chose the latter. And I hope you too see the larger picture.

Integration – the Engineering Way

It was our first semester at REC Durgapur. Regional Engineering Colleges, as you know, had seats reserved for each state of India, in proportion to their populations. So we had students from each part of India, with their different languages and cultures. Many of them had never come out of their states before. That was the place where they got a national identity. Everyone spoke Hindi and English; every one wore the similar clothes, ate the same food, shared the same hostel, and sat side by side: like brothers.

I remember it was a maths class. The professor was a Bengali (in fact all professors in our college were Bengalis, except one from Kerala). The professors always felt good while taking classes of first year students. He seemed to be in a mood. I still remember what he said:

“This concept of RECs is foolish. They think if students from all parts of India come and learn together, there would be a national integration! How stupid. In fact when students from different parts of India come and live together, there would only be hatred and dislike of each others. They have all passed different entrance exams; they are not all equally talented. Then they have got educated in completely different environments. When each state has an REC, why don’t they reserve all seats for the students of that domicile? If you think there would be any integration, you are foolish.”

We all giggled together.

Four years in our college gave us many more occasions to laugh. There were times when the professors told many nons (that is how non-Bengalis were called) in public that they were not welcome. There were times when there were secret meetings of Bengali students – over the growing ‘menace’ of nons! But in the end, we know – Satyameva Jayate!

Four years at REC Durgapur changed a lot of things. Slightest feelings of differentiation were erased from our memories. It all started from the ragging days. When one junior used the word ‘reserved category’ in front of one of the seniors, he was thrashed, by all 16 seniors, one by one. Then and there, that word was erased from our minds. During the ragging days, we ate together, suffered together and sang and danced together – how can any feeling of caste or religion survive! And those feelings couldn’t get up ever after. Hindu-Muslim divide – no trace. We had Muslims whom you couldn’t distinguish from amongst the class. North-South divides? No way, we had so many best friends, where one was from the north and the other from the south. For us, Rajnikant and Saurav Ganguli were both equally revered heroes. And even Bongs and Nons partied together; fought together and survived together.

Engineering is not only about studies; studies are just a part of it. I say four years in an Engineering College is like acquiring a complete way of life. A vision where everyone one is equal. We have already come across this many times: that engineers are logical. Don’t you think that when we ‘logically’ think, all are equal – and a ‘divide’ of Maharastra, Gujarat, Bengal, or Kerala exist only on geography and NOT in our minds?

The Kite Runner / Drinking – a sin? / Fathers' desires?

About the Book:

The Kite Runner is a beautiful yet scary novel by Khaled Hosseini. It is the story of Afghanistan. It covers the good and the tough times of the country; right from when it was independent, then under the Russians and finally when under Taliban. It is the story of a young boy and his servant who ran as a kite runner. It is a tale of how reality bites, how relationships change, and how sometimes, we don't change at all. The most touching part of the novel are the horrifying experiences which the characters go through. The biggest causality in Afghanistan was the lost childhood. Message is clear: the level of destruction that wars and the religious fundamentalism can bring to us is scary.

One warning: don't go after the title. The novel has excessive violence, sex and politics, the things that childhood should remain untouched with. I would recommend this book for adults only.

Is drinking a sin? Baba answers.

Amir asks his father whether drinking is a sin, as taught to him in the class by his religious teacher Mullah Fatiullah Khan. Baba says: (text abridged)

Baba: "First understand this and understand it now, Amir: You never learn anything of value form those bearded idiots."

Amir: "You mean Mullah Fatiullah Khan?"

Baba: "I mean all of them. Piss on the beards of all those self-righteous monkeys. They do nothing but thumb their prayer beads and recite a book written in a tongue they don't even understand. God help us all if Afghanistan ever falls into their hands."

Amir: "But Mullah Fatiullah Khan seems nice"

Baba: "So did Genghis Khan; but enough about that. You asked about sin and I want to tell you."

"I mean to speak to you man to man. No matter what the mullah teaches, there is only one sin, only one. And that is theft. Every other sin is a variation of theft. Do you understand that?

Amir: "No, Baba jan"

Baba: "When you kill a man, you steal a life. You steal his wife's right to a husband; rob his children of a father. When you tell a lie, you steal someone's right to the truth. When you cheat, you steal the right to fairness. Do you see?"

"There is no act more wretched than stealing, Amir. A man who takes what is not his to take, be it a life or a loaf of naan; I spit on such a man. And if I ever cross paths with him, God help him."

"If there is a God out there, then I would hope he has more important things to attend to than my drinking scotch."

That is the bottom line: God has more important things to attend to than your drinking scotch. Quite a realisation for me. (Though I still won't go for it.)

Can you explain? 

At one point in the book, it is described that the kite-runner liked a particular story: the story about a father who killed a young man, only to realise later that he was his own son. But Amir didn't sympathise and said:

"After all, didn't all fathers in their secret hearts harbour a desire to kill their sons?"

Do you have any idea, what does the author mean by this? Why do all father, "in their secret hearts' harbour", desire to kill their sons? 

I have come across this idea for the first time, and am not able to understand. The most I can guess is that fathers may think that because of their sons, their "male dominance" in the family would get challenged. But I am not sure. What do you think?

What’s up?

French: I am learning French. The 3 months course has ended, and on this Monday there was the last exam. I hope I passed. I had learnt German while I was in engineering. I found German to be far easier in pronunciation than the French. Still I am filled with doubts regarding pronunciation. French is regarded as the most refined of the languages, and now I understand how!

Yoga: Thanks to our institute, that Yoga classes have been arranged, twice a week, 7:30 to 8:30 in the morning. Three batches of around 100 students each had registered, but I am not able to find them in double digits on any day. I too missed one session out of the three that have passed. (You know, boys don’t get up early). I like the experience very much.

Marico: The MD of Marico came to our institute to deliver his speech on “Marico’s journey”. He spoke on how he built up his business empire. I shall dedicate a separate post for this. A lot of guys were inspired/

Books: Finished reading Angles and Demons by Dan Brown. So far, my record was around 3 in the morning, when I finished Da Vici Code. This time, I was reading the book for some days, and then one day, I read throughout the night to finish the novel at 6:45 AM! Then I took a 3 hours sleep and was ready to move again. Also finished “The Kite Runner”. I shall write about this separately.

Wednesday, 17 Oct. 07

Newspapers of Tomorrow

Marcus Brauchli, Managing Editor, Wall Street Journal was in India recently to participate in HT leadership Summit. He is said to occupy the most powerful position in business journalism. Here are some excerpts from his interview with HT:

- Indian newspapers are among the truly independent newspapers of the world.

- I think newspaper industry in India is heading towards a consolidation. It will have to be more of a shake-out than mergers or buyouts. You are already feeling pressure from the internet, so the redundant newspapers will have to go.

- TV and internet would leave very little time for newspapers everywhere.

- I have a half baked theory that only one major newspaper will survive and people in influential positions will choose to read fewer papers. In most countries, including the US, there is room for one national paper. It will be like an island of clarity and authority in the vast and undifferentiated ocean of information.

- The dividing line between the business and general interest newspaper is also blurring. Our goal at WSJ is to provide the one newspaper you need to read.

Ref: HT Mumbai, 15 Oct. 07, P10

The views and insights of Mr. Brauchli are interesting and thoughtful. But his theory that there is space for only one national newspaper is questionable. Saying that there would be fewer newspapers is ok, but I don't agree that there would be only one newspaper. This condition would pose more risks than the gains. Competition is good for even the newspaper business. At present there are a great number of players, several of them survive only because they know and serve local readers very well. But as newspapers are going professional, like HT Media Ltd, and Jagran Group expanding, it would be difficult for smaller players to survive. Consolidation is a natural phenomenon in the life cycle of an industry, and then I think market would moves towards oligopoly (having few players). Having one national newspaper is having monopoly. Most of the times, governments don't allow any monopoly to form in critical industries. Though in the case of newspapers the government might like a monopoly, for political reasons, it is highly unlikely that it would actually promote or allow a monopoly newspaper to take shape. As a matter of fact, few monopolies are able to survive the competition unless the governments protect them. And Samuelson says, "In the long run, no monopolist is completely secure from attack by competitors." I think that the newspaper industry will have oligopoly, and not a single player monopoly. Even inside oligopoly, I believe in India we shall have collusive oligopoly, where the few firms in the market actively cooperate with each other.

Behind every successful woman, there is another woman

Nations like India to generate numerous success stories, because of the overlooked failures that the previous generations encountered and still secretly lament

On Sep 29, Mint came with an interview of Zia Mody (By Rana Rosen). At one place, Zia said: "My mother always thought she lost out on a higher education and was convinced she would have ended up far better than my father. So, she very often lived her ambitions and aspirations through her children. Always guiding us to be independent, self sustaining, honest to the value structure that we were brought up with, not to compromise our principles, and try to achieve more than what other people have achieved. Alpha mother."

You must agree that this is the case in most of the Indian households today, at least middle class households. The mothers didn't achieve their career ambitions due to family, societal, or marriage related limitations. Therefore, they live their ambitions and aspirations through their children. Although this is true for the fathers also, this is more common a pattern among the women in India. We had this very famous slogan, "teach a man and you teach an individual, teach a woman and you teach a family."

We can expect a revolutionary change in the education and professional scenes some years from now, when these kids, who were guided by the aspirations of their mothers, go and ask their share in the world!

What do you say?