World Colleges Information

Marketing is the lifeline of any business. Though commerce has witnessed the concept of marketing evolving over the age, its relevance stays undeterred till date. Business connoisseurs have always banked on wise marketing, stating that a successful marketing strategy can make or break a product’s stance in the market. With each passing year, the trends and patterns of marketing has evolved along with swelling global demands. Marketing narratives have been rewritten and improvised with each passing year. 2014, being a promising economical years many giant players in the market here are the latest marketing trends that every b-school student must be aware of :

It’s all about the content

Content is king this year. Getting the right word out, at the right time and through the right channel is key. Online avenues such as blogs, social networks and websites are known to generate a whopping 67 per cent of leads for many big businesses from the international arena. This mode of marketing is essential in particular for social media B2B (business to business) companies. With a major chunk of our present generation reliant and well versed with the Internet – the online medium is the biggest customer bank for any business. Tools such as Digital Platform GPS will maximize the placement and aids businesses to differentiate between media especially when it comes to contextual relevance.

Once pressing content is figured out the next crucial step is to correctly categorize content. Brands have to be particular in strategizing the execution of their content. In order to capture the attention of smarter and high-end intellectual customers, marketers will have to pay attention to specific category values.

Picking a marketing strategy based on the category your product falls under will help leverage the brand value and capture the right target audience.

Brands to get emotional and targeting to get personal!

The value that attaches a customer to a particular business or brand is going to become emotionally driven. As market awareness and maturity heightens the brand decision process among consumers wills start involving emotions along with rationality and loyalty. In order to be successful, brands will have to identify the emotional values that should cater to in order to channelize their marketing strategy accordingly. This deviation in marketing tactic will require businesses to come up with sentimental outreach strategy. Also, engaging one’s emotions will require the understanding personal needs. In a time and day were personalized services and customized branding has become the order of business the need to satisfy personal craving of the customer has become essential. Placing or presenting the product by personalizing content will have more customers flocking towards your business. Marketing outreach strategies that involve an inter-personal experience will mark brands more relatable to the target audience.

The apt engagement

Mode of marketing is being revolutionized and while direct marketing was the norm for a long time, a newer concept of engagement is slowly flooding the market. Unlike earlier when a brand loyalist was gauged based on the money spent and product consumption, the latest idea now is to cash in on their influence on other prospective buyers.

Businesses will now target customer not just for loyalty but also for their capacity to influence and attract more consumers. Engaging in indirect sales and marketing techniques will be the key. A brand loyalist can be engaged to promote a particular brand or product if they become supportive of philanthropically relevant efforts, social initiatives and non-sales related endeavors of an enterprise. Turning customers into advocates of a particular brand can prove to be one of the most efficient channel of marketing. With social media available to almost everyone now a days, engaging a customer’s attention can be as effective as a television or a print advertisement.

Being at the right place at the right time

Location specific marketing is fairly new concept. Example of this trend is the presence of mobile apps such as Fourspuare, Path and Ban.Jo. The idea is to us the GPS technology send a tailored multimedia content to a customer’s mobile device at the specific geographical location. Stemming from the idea of inter-personal marketing, this is one of the most promising and sought after trend in marketing this year. Being a generation that cannot function without mobile phones and digital gizmos, location based marketing can be greatly exploited. With online businesses picking up and apps like Google Wallet being perfected, the capacity of people to buy and pay via their mobile phones will increase leaps and bounds. Advertising on popular social networks like Facebook, Pinterest and Twitter will also gain momentum. In retrospect, paid online advertisement will face an upward thrust as more and more marketers scramble to seen, read and heard.

Digitally crisp

As the arena of online marketing expands, the need for digital diversification will arise. Once the channel of online marketing is chosen with respect to the product, the emphasis should lie on optimizing the allotted cyber space in the most efficient manner possible. Streamlining content based on the needs and expectation of the customer will increase the efficiency of this marketing tool. Which reaching the customer through a digital medium the idea should be keep the message simple and crisp. People have fleeting online memory, being an already crowded space; Internet has to be used wisely. More visuals and lesser text can guarantee more visibility. Being visually literate customers, the best means will be to engage them with a powerful image. Tedious text can be time consuming and even confusing to some extent.

Thus virtual marketing campaigns should target towards generally visual content. Data aggregation for digital as well as traditional will be deemed to become more intertwined and streamlined in general. This would allow marketers to point their potential customers out. So, the bottomline is, when online – the mode of marketing should be visually attractive and precisely crisp.

BUDDING MANAGERS
SEPTEMBER 2014 ISSUE

Though the Oxford Advanced Learner’s Dictionary defines an interview as “a formal meeting at which somebody is asked questions to see if they are suitable for a particular job”, the modern interviewee knows very well it is more than that in reality. Interview spots are high-octane zones with sweaty hands, involuntarily tapping feet and ultra-alert ears. The slightest of voices make heads turn wondering if it is you they are calling for, even if it’s only the janitor crossing to perform his daily routine. Every paper which goes in and comes out of the sanctum sanctorum – the interview room inevitably seems to carry your name and destiny written all over it.

You are desperately eager to know your fellow-interviewees qualifications, whether they have a stint of a year or two abroad, if they are casually dropping names or you plainly ask yourself what is wrong with you – you, otherwise a person who has your head on your shoulders. Some even go to the extent of running through the profiles of their competitors on various social networking sites to assure themselves of what? That they do not know. An old friend becomes a new enemy all of a sudden and you wish he or she had not been there. You check the time every minute, keeping track of the number of minutes spent by each candidate inside the interview room and look for any clues on their faces of the slightest traces of appointment or disappointment. You lose all the time, wondering again ‘Who said that face is the index of the mind?’ In the micro-second of the door opening and shutting behind, you want to listen the discussion of the panel of interviewers and hear conjured voices. The clichéd butterflies in the stomach feeling just caught you on.

The wait seems to be unending, but you also don’t want your name to be called out, as you feel you are just not ready at the moment and ask yourself “When will I ever be ready?” To shatter these imaginary demons inside your head, you invoke the positive energy that is being fogged in the cloud of doubts and fears and assure yourself that your doubts are completely baseless. You bring before our mind, the faces of people who have always thought you had it in you, that you will make it. You recapture their exact words and breathe in and out deeply abruptly realising that the person in the corner is watching you with tweaked eye-brows.

All this and there comes the clarion call and you are on your feet already. You rehearse that lightning-speed smile and the nod that will accompany your ‘Good Morning’ or ‘Good Afternoon’ – you are not too sure and take a flash look at your watch. The moment you enter the room, a realisation dawns upon you that it is nothing like what you had imagined. It’s even worse. You don’t feel like counting the number of panellists but you are certain that there are more than five. You use the car wiper technique and rotate your head to a full 180 degree and smile beamingly and all their faces refuse to register in your head. It’s a blur of sorts and you sit down hesistantly assuming one of them have signalled you to.The best is yet to come! You are a bundle of nerves extremely conscious of every part of your body – pruned by several training and body language sessions.

On the other hand you are taken aback by the sense of coolness and nonchalance that prevails in the postures and gestures of your interviewers. They may be your Pantheon of Gods at the moment, but you are just another guy. One person disinterestingly utters, “So, Mr/Ms. ___, tell us about yourself.” And there it is! That million dollar question to which there are a zillion number of ways to answer and you find them all inadequate at this juncture. You are unsure when to stop and look for a fresh question, from some quarter of the room, but they seem to refuse to give in. You want to shut up so that they’ll ask the next question which you later wish hadn’t happened.

The question springs out from what you had uttered inadvertently but from a different, in fact an opposite perspective. While you are thinking if it was you who had uttered those exact words, another question is shot at you.

They have decided you don’t know the answer for the previous question and you don’t know what the next question was. Your line of thought has gone haywire and while you still sorting it out another question bombards you right on your face. Even before you come to terms with yourself they exchange glances and sink back into the seats signalling they’re done. Unsure, you utter a few things and thank them before you leave. The butterflies in your stomach has just metamorphed into a tyrex and the groaning just got louder.

This is clearly an example to show how people undo all that you’ve known and can articulate well. This is also the worst you should be prepared for. However, on the other hand, interviews of these kind, popularly known as stress interviews can be a learning experience of a higher degree where holding on to your ground is more important when the carpet under your feet is pulled out. They show you a different dimension of learning and executing what you have learnt in the most vulnerable of circumstances.

BUDDING MANAGERS
SEPTEMBER 2014 ISSUE

With the horrible state of economy coupled with lack of employment opportunities, the Indian job market had taken a huge blow. But, even amidst such tussle, the only sector that kept churning out job with solid packages and scope to grow is Consulting. This claim is supported by the latest statistic drawn from a survey conducted by TCS (Tata Consultancy Services) where it was found that 8 out of 10 management student in the country opting for a career in consulting in the 2014. Carried out by TCS’ Global Consulting Practice, the results revealed that business students are inclining towards becoming a consultant.

The description

Consultants are key players in a company’s hierarchy. The job profile of a management consultant includes a wide range of responsibility within the company. A consultant is an individual who can also be called an analyst of sorts. These folks are required to examine and understand information from within the firm and outside in order to make business and operational recommendations which will boast the productivity and market value of a business enterprise in its entirety. Consultants are the masterminds behind profit yielding plans of a company. Organizations of very size, type and nature, a NGO (non-profit organization), a government firm or a private corporation, spend big money on recruiting the right kind of management consultant. While some companies hire a couple of consultants, few multinational companies cash in on a entire team of expert consultants to ensure growth and increase returns.

The recommendations made by these consultants decide the course of a company’s future and help in cutting unnecessary manpower, hiring the right workforce, reducing production cost and increasing market presence and revenues.

The numbers

One of the most luring aspects in opting for a career in consulting is the attractive pay package. For a fresher or an entry level consultant the package would span anywhere from 40k pm to 1 la and more. But, it isn’t the package alone that attracts the young folks, what’s more inviting is the fact that many of these consulting companies sponsor executive MBA courses for their consultants. A consultant has the flexibility to work from home and has excellent benefits and perks. With the consulting industry swelling at a promising pace, it was noted that among the 300,000 consultants all over the globe a whopping 30 billion US dollars was generated as annual revenue. Among many other stark revelations brought about by the survey conducted by TCS was that about 28 per cent of students want to pursue consulting as a long-term profession and also believe that consulting is a gateway to attain leaderships positions within a firm

The eligibility

Being an intellectually stimulating role, a consultant is laden a high-risk responsibility very early in their career. For who like to stay on their toes and don’t want to be tied down by a mundane monotonous 9 to 5 job then consulting is the profession for you. A consultant needs to be an all rounder, a jack of all trades rather.

While most companies prefer MBA students, with the rise in need for specialized knowledge and expertise, many recruiters are hiring Ph.D students, lawyers, engineers and even pilot and then ready them by putting them through business training. Reason being that there is a strong numerical element to consulting, therefore a degree in science, economics and commerce will qualify as well. There are two types in consulting – the generalist and the specialist. The generalist as the name suggest is consulting on a generic, broader level.

Specialist on the other hand is more intricate in nature, according to the same survey which was conducted by TCS, it was reported that about 55 per cent of students preferred strategic consulting followed by IT (Information Technology) consulting. In consulting work experience isn’t as important as being skilled and talented. Therefore if freshers have all the attributes to become a consultant, the company will still hire them. The generic skills on the checklist of recruiters looking to hire a consultant are –to be innovative, creative, fast –thinker, a passion for ideas, high intellectual capacity and to be a people’s person. Consultants are the intellectual capital of a firm hence, a candidate with pure and strong intellectual capacity and a passion to generate ideas will score the job. Passion for client service and for people in general is a must. Being in a service rendering profession, a consultant is often required to work very closely with clients in order to meet and understand their needs. Seasoned consultants are often quoted saying that the profession of consulting becomes truly enjoyable only when there is a need for personal excellence and an urge to connect with people and build or bridge relationships. Hence in a nutshell a consultant has to have an appealing personality, should be smart, talented, an intellect, a likeable person, should possess good IT skills, should have the ability to "Consulting is the only sector where a fresher has access to tremendous amount of mentorship and coaching from seniors as well as high level executives." work from anywhere and for anyone, should be witty, fast to problem solve, willing to travel and in general an all- rounder.

The scope

Consulting calls for lots of hard work and dedication. The scope to grow for young aspirants and fresh B-school pass outs are ample, as entry level management consulting jobs are not only well-paid but also very engaging. Since management consulting is about analyzing the right information and respectively deriving creative solutions all recruiter even hire fresh graduate if the candidates’ qualify and meets all the criteria. Consultants at entry level or as freshers are known as Business Analyst or Associates. These folks are primarily made to work in a team alongside Mid-level and senior consultants. Consulting is the only sector where a fresher has access to tremendous amount of mentorship and coaching from seniors as well as high level executives. Since a consultant is required to constantly upgrade this skills and stay updates with the changing status of the market, many big firms offers training, seminars, online courses and even aid or pay for specialized courses. The chance to work with a variety of specialist and learn about all the departments within the company and its working methodology is given only to consultant. For a consultant, as the process of learning never stops, the job never gets boring.

BUDDING MANAGERS
SEPTEMBER 2014 ISSUE

A newly opened fuel station in Lonikand near Pune is attracting huge crowds daily. Apart from regular customers queuing up to fill their tanks with fuel, many curious onlookers are trying figure out the fuel dispensed there. “We sold over 2,000 litres on the very first day,” exclaims Santosh Verma, his face lighting up with excitement.

It is natural for the 38-year-old promoter director of My Eco Energy (MEE) to be excited with his new venture - a clean and green initiative. Mr Verma is not selling petrol or diesel at his fuel station. It is Indizel, MEE’s branded biodiesel, which has caught the fancy of people in and around Pune. Mumbai-based MEE is perhaps one-of-its-kind biodiesel manufacturer and marketer in India, using feedstock, comprising waste materials, including vegetable oil, nonedible oil, acid oil and animal fat.

Mr Verma seems satisfied after an exciting career, spanning 17 years across six foreign countries. “I started working when I was still studying in Class X,” recalls Mr Verma, the son of a Hyderabadbased builder. The first-generation entrepreneur, who honed most of his skills on the job, graduated in science, completed his MBA from Hyderabad’s Osmania University and also obtained an executive MBA from IIM Ahmedabad.

Before starting his India venture, Mr Verma had acquired a string of loss-making businesses, mainly in the UK, turned them around and sold for hefty profits. Go Fuels, a UK start-up that manufactures biodiesel, was one such venture. Mr Verma teamed up with Sachin Labde, his childhood friend, in 2011 to acquire Go Fuels, which produces about 50,000 litres of biodiesel per day for blending with diesel in the UK. It is this UK biodiesel start-up that is powering MEE’s growth in India with its high-end manufacturing technology and marketing strategies.

New twists It was a cosy life in the UK as Go Fuels’ business stabilised in a few months. Meanwhile, an interesting turn of events brought Mr Verma back to India. “My daughter, who was born in London, was diagnosed with eczema.

My doctor advised me to move to a tropical country, like Spain, for a few days as a line of treatment. But I chose Mumbai where I had spent quite a lot of my childhood days,” reveals Mr Verma. With Go Fuels’ business running smoothly, Mr Verma was looking to India for a new venture. The childhood friends - Mr Verma, Mr Labde, who had now settled in Pune with his real estate business, and Pune-based architect Rishikesh Kulkarni - got together again. The result was the birth of MEE in 2012. “We were thinking of starting an eco-friendly business. We began with the hydrogen project, a complete hydrogen engine that can run a vehicle,” reminisces Mr Verma, with a glint in his eyes.

Sadly, the ambitious plan had to be dropped because it was not economically viable. Besides, it was a huge challenge to get regulatory approval for hydrogen-operated vehicles in the country. “The hydrogen engine is still up and running, lighting up Sachin’s (Mr Labde’s) garden restaurant in Pune,” discloses Mr Verma.

The trio then thought of introducing its biofuel business in India. “Earlier, the biofuel business in India was not economically viable. With the controlled diesel price, it was a challenge to get the right pricing of biodiesel, which is generally costlier than conventional diesel. But things began changing since 2012 with a monthly rise in diesel price,” points out the MEE founder.

Enthused by the success of Go Fuels, MEE drew up big biodiesel plans for India. But ground realities forced them to redraw their business plan. Biodiesel was up against challenges of availability of sufficient feedstock with consistent quality at regular intervals, its transport cost and its right pricing.

MEE focused on multiple sources of feedstock and contract manufacturing of biodiesel. It tied up with a number of vegetable oil refiners for supply of raw material. It also entered into contract manufacturing agreements with a few entities situated close to its suppliers - vegetable oil refiners - for producing biodiesel according to technology and specifications provided to them. “Indizel is today manufactured at three plants through contract manufacturing. Together, these plans have a capacity to produce 25,00,000 litres per day. But I now need to create that market to run these units at full capacity,” adds Mr Verma.

The company is now focusing most of its energy on building a robust market for Indizel. It has built an innovative, multi-tier retail model to popularise its brand and create a strong market for it. At the first level are fuel stations that are similar to any other large fuel outlets, planned along major highways. The next tier consists of fuel outlets that can be operated by anyone who is already running an existing business. These are followed by fuel points and the smaller fuel kiosks that will accommodate a fuel tank and a dispenser as a self-sustained system.

“The retail model is so dynamic that anybody from a small kirana store with a small investment of Rs 2.5 lakh to a big five-star hotel can act as our retailers.

Besides, Indizel is a safe, noexplosive fuel that makes it easier to store it anywhere unlike petrol or diesel,” explains the MEE promoter. The company has rolled out its Available on Demand (AoD) scheme, where a bulk consumer will be delivered the fuel at his doorstep by just making a phone call to one of the Indizel outlets.

This results is a lot of savings for customers, stresses Mr Verma.

Right formula Indizel has been positioned as dynamic fuel that can run cars, buses, trucks, trains, bulldozers, ships and other machinery, like electricity generators, industrial boilers and furnaces.

“There is no need to make any modification to an existing diesel engine to use Indizel. Our product is more superior to other biodiesel brands as it allows 100 per cent blending with diesel unlike most brands that permit blending only up to 20 per cent,” notes Mr Verma, adding: “With higher lubrication, Indizel reduces use of engine oil and enhances life of an engine.”

Biodiesel has a lucrative market in the West, especially in the US and Europe.

“There is no biodiesel industry in India at present and I have already occupied the space here,” points out Mr Verma. The country’s regulatory regime is slowly moving towards cleaner fuels. The stress currently is on ethanol, another green fuel, for blending with petrol. But ethanol, which can only be used in petrol engines, will require modification of engines for use beyond 20 per cent.

Indizel, with its interchangeability with diesel and dynamic blending qualities, promises to be a better, cleaner and greener fuel of the future for India.

MEE has estimated a total investment of Rs 250 crore for manufacturing, retail supply chain and brandbuilding, of which it has already invested about Rs 80 crore.

The company is readying to open its second fuel outlet in Khalapur along the Pune-Mumbai national highway in September. It is looking at having around 500 fuel stations and about 3,000 smaller retail outlets across Maharashtra in the next two years.

“A biofuel user is a more responsible citizen as he supports local economy and local currency by reducing import of crude oil. Besides, he tries to leave behind a cleaner planet for future generations by cutting down on pollution. MEE’s basic philosophy revolves around a commercial venture built on a noble cause,” emphasises Mr Verma.

The MEE promoter appears to have found the right formula for sustainable business.

BUDDING MANAGERS
SEPTEMBER 2014 ISSUE

Myths can be mysterious, but the ones about MBA are outright outrageous. Picking a post graduation course in itself can be a taxing experience. Careful consideration and cautious calculations must be done before foraying into the two year management course. Opting for a MBA or not will be a crucial academic decision that can either make or break your career. Therefore, making an educated guess would be the wisest thing to do as the apt idiom by George Orwell reads ‘myths must be broken because myths which are believed in tend to become true.’ So, before these myths cloud your judgment, let us clear the air for you:

Myth #1: It rings in the big bucks!

MBA is your pass code to a handsome bank account is probably the most falsified fact about the otherwise constructive management course. The common notion that has been doing the rounds almost since the inception of MBA itself is the fact that it guarantees big money and is a sure shot means to ring in the moolahs. While MBA quips an individuals with the nitty-gritty of entrepreneurship and all the pros and cons there is to know about a career in business it doesn’t assure instant money. Being a rather expensive course in itself, the common case for a business student during and immediately after the course completion is the tussle to clear the heap of student loan and other education related debt. Going into the course with the sole intention to make the big bucks is possibly the most downbeat reason to opt for MBA as it defies the very purpose of the course. Going by the rags to riches story of one of the richest folks of our generation like Bill Gates and the Wal-Mart’s, it has been proved time and again that it’s all mind over matter and tactics our shortcuts when it comes to excelling in the business arena.

Such runaway success needs more than a 2 or 3 year course, such phenomenal feat and stamp on the corporate map needs steel determination, dedication, sheer hard work and a strong sense and understanding of business in itself. Given the present job market and the number of fresh MBA out there, it pure talent that would eventually matter. An MBA degree for sure will fetch you interviews, appointment and considerations at impressive MNCs, but that’s about it, whether you get the job or not solely lies on the homework you do and the knowledge you carry forward from your B-school.

Myth #2 It gives you ‘Brainy’ bug!

Without a second doubt, it can be said that getting an MBA will enhance your personality, shake off that fear of public confrontation, boast your confidence, make you a people’s person to an extent, but making your brainier than before is something it will absolutely not do. One of the most common notion and probably the biggest business bluff is that getting an MBA will ensure that you’d be smarter than the race and class that doesn’t possess an MBA. Relevant business training and B-school education definitely puts you above the rest and places you in the crème de la crème slot for recruiters, but that since doesn’t mean that you are smarter than the other, so be humble. MBA is a substratum of your business or a corporate career, what you learn in B-school teaches you how and where to start. But, sustaining and flourishing it comes with experience. B-school students are taught to be analytical and target- oriented, often being extremely calculative and prone to risky financial behavior, thus making them oblivious to the laws of probability and reason of experience.

The great financial collapse of 2008-2009 was testament of such erratic attitude of MBA professionals. The comeuppance was felt by not only them but a huge population of employees and workers who are yet to recover from that drought. Getting an MBA doesn’t mean you will always have the right answers. Many freshers walk out of their B-schools thinking that they know absolutely everything there is to know about running a business and thus can tackle and solve every problem in that arena. But the fact that they are oblivious to is that, not every problem has a bookish solution that was taught to them in school. If so, every business in the country today would be blemish free and churning out huge turnovers. Lessons learnt in B-school are resourceful and useful, but there will be lot more learning to do and various unexpected problems to solve but only one other means there are and that is – experience.

Myth #3: Lets you swap careers

This isn’t as much of a myth as it is a misinterpretation of what a MBA course is and does. An extensive post graduation business course at a B-school is a means to hone your business skills and not a means to start over. In general post graduation courses are meant to perfect what is already acquired, not a game changer or a talent initiator. For the professional who want to sharpen their business skills in their particular area of expertise should opt for MBA with an intention to further their career curve. For example a lawyer, to manage his law firm better should get an MBA, not to start a whole new dimension of business. A degree in MBA does under no circumstances guarantee a new career or enables a completely new career path. An exponential growth can be expected, provided the individual sticks to his/her line of skill.

Myth #4: An awesome B-school is the ultimate ticket

Getting into the top tier business school is a commendable feat in itself. It’s a reflection of the individual’s academic flair and talent. But, as many have it getting admission at a premier institute doesn’t ensure a bright future. At the most, it is just a stepping stone or your initiation into the rigorous and extremely competitive world of business. A good college name stamped on your resume will get you to the crowded corridors of high flying corporate organization but making it big in there will be solely on how well you apply your learning.

Sustenance in the business sector requires a consistent urge to learn and excels, which is a lifelong phenomenon. Excellent education and academic credential is all that would be given to you at a B-school, everything else beyond that will be due to your muscle and brain. A good example of ‘good business brain gone bad’ is the case of Jeff Skilling, former CEO of Enron Corporation, Houston, USA and a Harvard alumni who disgraced his company and took it to the dumps. Another classic example is the Indian national Ramalinga Raju, the former chairman of Satyam, a MBA graduate from Ohio University. Though these folks had the golden ticket from esteemed universities, it didn’t ensure them ethical career or long term success.

Myth #5: It teaches you to talk your way out

MBA teaches you to eat, talk, breathe and speak business in every sense of the word. From business lingo to corporate jargon, the course itinerary covers it all. Over the span of two years at the B-school, a management student is taught to put their point across in a business appropriate manner. A good businessman and corporate mogul knows the importance of being articulate and using the right narrative while making your case. Excelling in various major verticals on MBA such as marketing, Human Resource, Branding and the likes depend on a how good of an orator and storyteller one is. A leader and a manager are required to be notoriously good at convincing with their words. Using the right terminology and language reflects highly on your credential and market value. But there is a fine line between knowledge laden rendition and empty promises – both require heaps of fancy vocabulary and a solid diction, but on the former will let you sustain in the market.

A good story teller is often the best brand builder and exceptional marketer. So, use your two year at the institute to hone your oratory and people skill. But, being a business novice, one need to watch their words and indulge in obfuscatory jargon.

Myth #6: Guarantees instant success

With it comes to management studies and its repercussion it is necessary to understand and anticipate that there is nothing instant about it – neither the outcome nor the success. At B-school they prepare their patrons for a lifelong romance with the corporate businesses and not to become an overnight corporate sensation. Acquiring an MBA degree gives you a creative and competitive edge, but it does not under any circumstance promise instant success. Many industry experts argue that while MBA prepares you to excel at a corporate level it doesn’t however teach you to start your own corporation. That is, it teaches you how to work for others but not how to start you own venture and make others work for you. The intricacies of business that you will learn at school during your two year stint will teach you make already established business more prosperous. It is often said that B-schools are in the business of selling. They take in their patrons into the college by luring them with fancy MBA degrees and once the student is ready to step into the corporate arena, they lure the employers and big MNCs to take these patrons in.

Myth #7: Makes you social

As the above pointer indicate, a Masters degree in Business Administration from a premier B-school moulds an individual to be job ready, makes them more articulate, presentable and confident to an extent, but the buck stops there. Getting into a B-school with an intention to network and increase your corporate contact base would be a massive waste of time and resource for both the individual involved as well as for the organization. In today’s competitive era, a corporate organization can find an MBA graduate for almost a dime a dozen, literally. The only way to access the inner circle of the corporate arena is by interacting and being pro-active. MBA isn’t your ticket to the inner circle or a flamboyant social lifestyle. The degree lets you optimize your networking skills and paves the way towards the right contact, but the first step or greeting has to come from your end. No degree can give you a personality makeover, if you are a shy person, it is up to you to practice and muster the courage to go out there and meet and greet people. MBA will teach you what to say, but will not say it for you.

Myth #8 people skills and leadership lessons are big fat faffs

The two year long MBA package includes a lot of different courses and subject that a student would be entitled to learn and pass in. among the various subjects such as accounting, analytical skill, mathematical reasoning and the likes the least popular and the most shunned topics are Soft skill training, management and leadership training. Once of the B-school gaffs committed by the students is to ignore these subjects and not pay attention to during these sessions and hence lack in inculcating

one of the most important business skills of all. Many top-notch managers and business moguls have opined that while bookish and analytical knowledge is relevant, but the most important of all are the skills of people management. Big ideas and bright tactics are of no use, if you can’t convince your management of its goodness or can’t sell it to your consumer, and these soft skills teach you exactly that. B-schools professors are often heard complaining that their pupil do not pay attention to soft courses as much as they should. A good manager can afford to be bad at number-crunching, but under no circumstance can they afford to be lousy at people skills.

Myth #9: The books have all the answers

Charting out the graphs and numbers on a spreadsheet and analyzing everything through the bookish DCF (Discounted Cash Flow) method might get your higher grades while at B-school, but might not get you anywhere in a corporate boardroom. The business principles and theories that were taught to in the classroom might not be as effective as one might think in the real world. Commercial reality is a different ball game altogether, while the bookish fundamental might come in handy but without experience and quick wit it problems won’t get solved. Thinking outside the box and constantly redefining the business basics is required from a bright management to make it big. Books and your MBA courses will not supply a lifelong worth of business solutions and answers. It is important to realize that not everything can be fit into an excel sheet or not all power point presentations will carry solutions.

Myth #10: Promises swanky jobs

While various institutions promise immediate placement and campus recruitment, a wise applicant should remember that such assurances might be no more than a luring technique. The fact is that no one can promise you a great career or an outstanding job but you. Premier colleges might show you the way bring in the big corporate players to conduct interviews, but landing a job or not lies solely in the hand of the participant. The job market is a very busy place and given the recent boom in folks preferring and taking up MBA courses, there is no scarcity of eligible candidates in the market.

Therefore, a student should realize that while the MBA course does half the job for you, accepting the other half of the deal is your responsibility. With students with similar caliber flocking the market, it’s time to own up to your part of the bargain and take on future challenges with an élan and panache that only a business graduate can flaunt.

BUDDING MANAGERS
SEPTEMBER 2014 ISSUE

All work and no play makes jack a dull boy, this clichéd colloquial proverb cannot be more true in the case of new-age spin to the otherwise mundane management studies. Management studies and fun? One might wonder, but with the latest swanky gaming techniques that has been introduced to teach serious business and corporate sense to newbie is testimony of this practice. The idea is to learn a thing or two about the fundamental business and to couple with a generous dose of fun. A complete genre in itself these games are revolutionizing the way business studies are perceived. For a generation that is addicted to gaming and glued to their play station, this mode of learning is refreshing, promising and thoroughly foolproof. Learning was never this fun, interactive, modern and proactive. Though on a minuscule scale, there are few protestors of this notion who believe that these management games like the others of its kind can get addictive and becoming painfully time consuming. However, while the believers and haters of this new-age notion battle it out, let’s steal a sneak peak into the top ten management games in the market right now:

1. SimCity

One of the most popular ones of the lot, with numerous updates and many a version later it is still considered to be one of the first games that was qualified to be part of the management games genre. It is classic video game with its latest version – Sim City 4 flaunting 3D pictures and increased options. The game is about building a city up from scratch and gives the player a free hand and option to come up with the entire concept of building this dream city.

The features that needs to be planned and executed varies from landscaping parks, running electricity and utility line, building a co-operative society, overcoming roadblocks and all this while working under a rigid budget. The player is in control of every details and decisions made in or for the city. The management quotient and business take away from this game for its players is the fact that the tricks and gaming technique of this game teaches humility, strategy-making techniques, decision-making skills and crisis management lesson.

2. The Patrician series

Though fairly recent and not as popular as SimCity, the games from the Patrician series, especially the third installment of the game has become a popular option among management gamers worldwide. Of These games revolve around the concept trading set in a historic era. The players assumes the role of a trader or a merchant expected to accumulate money, goods, capital, land, building and hence further his profits and simultaneously his/her business and career both in their hometown as well as in foreign land through acquisition. Players also have the options of building public stations, personal houses, industries, take up a career in politics and interact or collaborate with characters such as politicians, pirates or burglers. Extensive usage of demand and supply strategies, trading techniques, advanced business planning methods and consumer satisfaction method gives the player an impactful insight into all these essential management lessons. The ultimate goal of the game is to reign as the elected leader of the Hanseatic League, which isn’t an easy feat to achieve, a player as to practice various leadership skills and qualities to get the crown.

3. Profitania

Considered as one of the most advanced business stimulation games, Profitania is a vibrant new – age game where the aim is to build a functional manufacturing empire. The idea is to eventually become a industrial tycoon, starting with buying and selling best priced and quality goods at the commodity exchange unit while the prices of the goods fluctuate according to the real time market.

The game was designed by its makers as the final part of their business simulation games series and is targeted for higher level students with expert gaming skills. For amateurs, Profitania might not be the best option to start with. With intricate details and a game structure that is more complex and trickier of the lot, it is definitely a mind boggling game for those students who like a tough challenge to crack. For the players who take up a liking for this game, deemed as the most challenging game in it series, the ultimate business and leadership lessons is in store every step of the way.

4. Virtonomics

This game flooded the market about seven years and has gone from strength to strength and increased in popularity with every version. Along with providing intellectual entertainment, it also provides a solid business to business platform to face and decode obstacles of both small and large businesses in general. The goal of the game for the player is to be a successful businessman who creates profitable and effective business with the help of standard capital provided to each participant at the starting of the game. The players are free to choose the nature of their business according to their fancy, it can anything from a retail chain to a manufacturing unit or agricultural venture. In the process of playing the game, the player learns to make administrative decisions and gets can option to perform on various verticals of business. the players learns the art of management by the means of employing worker, fishing for partners, making business agreement, building branches, expanding through clients, buying equipments and the likes.

5. Industry Player

This business simulation game also has a web server version known as Industry Masters. With multi-player options, Industry Player is one of the most new-age and advanced game in its lot. The game is based on real world economy and thus the lessons learnt are extremely apt and textbook real. Each player acts as an entrepreneur competing to acquire dominance on the market and tussle for shareholder value in real time.

This game lets business students, corporate professionals and aspiring entrepreneurs to tailor a successful and full-fledged corporate organization. The players can choose to play individually or in groups and also opt to get evaluated for their corporate skills. With real corporate accounting system, debriefing features, industry analysis tools, and corporate handling, this game is as real as it gets. Industry Player lets its participants to take part or run a business without the real-life risks and speculations. It simulates very possible aspect of entrepreneurship – ranging from accounting, investment, finance, and interaction with competitors, consumers, banks, authorities and even the environment.

6. Capitalism

Deemed as the best version of real world economics, the game version is so close to reality that many professors of premier league B-school use it in their classrooms as a teaching aid. The games includes every aspect necessary – right from resource extractions, marketing to mass manufacturing. Being a hardcore business game that deals with extensive business details, it is options considered as a boring option as compared to other games in its genre. The aim of the business is to run a whole industry or small business and maximize profit in the business of your choice by the means of manufacturing products and subsequently selling them, all this while maintaining the supply and demand chain. With the stock market and competitors putting up a tough fight the player has to expand their business carefully without bursting any bubble. The latest version in this series is Captialism II, this installment has lot more options for the player. With the last update released over a decade ago, the game could really use a modern makeover, given the stiff new-age competition.

7. Gazillionaire

This is a business simulation game for amateurs and beginners. Unlike what the name of the game suggest, Gazillionaire, the game is set in outer space, it is facilitates lot of fictional assumptions. The idea of the game for the player is to pilot a trade ship across space, while buying and selling consumer goods at a high profit margin. The player who has accumulated the maximum amount of wealth wins the game. Players are given the opportunity to make various business decisions, starting with simpler concepts and eventually leading for up to multilevel complex concepts. With customizable options, Gazillionaire has numerous challenges like the task to juggle taxes, hiring a crew, branding, advertising and stock market investment. The game introduces the theory of fiscal responsibility and business management. Along with other business facets, the concept of risk management and quick also gets honed in the process of playing this game. Off the entire course of the game, most of the time and concentration of the player will be spent reading and learning charts and graphs and subsequently applying that data to make profitable yet informed business decision.

8. Zapitalism

Released for Windows in 1997 Zapitalism, this fun fantasy business simulation game is multiplayer "the concept of risk management and quick also gets honed in the process of playing this game." game of business strategy. Applauded for its beautifully rendered graphic images, Zaptialism is of one the most popular and widely played game in its genre.

The concept of this game is to take a small retail store and to turn it into a business empire. The game is to based in an island called Zapinalia, where the player has to deal with its eccentric inhabitants and buy and sell goods, build their stock and bonds, conquer the market and construct megastores. The player who succeeds in building the first retail empire wins the game. This turn based game also has an added option where the player can venture out in the island to explore Archipelago of Mermadan in the look out of treasure and mysterious relics. The player is expected to not only build s successful empire but also stock the best quality products, allot the right prices and make a remarkable profit. Each player gets their respective turns, and once everyone has played their turn the game moves on to the next week.

9. Air Bucks

Released in 1993, Air Bucks as a business simulation game received mixed reviews initially. It is the first game in this genre that deals with running a airline. The rules and plot of the games involves purchasing land rights for the airlines for cities around the globe. The game provides as in-depth insight into the functionality of an airline and all the hurdles involved running the said airline. The timeline of Air Bucks starts from 1946, right after World War II. The player is the founder and manager of the airline and thus is responsible for the purchasing of planes, designation of airline routes and choosing airline slots. The player is expected to accomplish the entire above task with the start up money of $100,000.

As the game progresses the competition increases and the player is faced with real world events, new and tougher competitions either from humans or computers, new plane stock, worker strikes and protests, seat pricing wars and the like which makes the game very tough and challenging. Though the game is said to have numerous flaws it is still considered to be the game that comes the closest to its real venture.

10. Railroad Tycoon series

One of the most popular game from the Tycoon series business simulation games, it was initially known as Sid Meier’s Railroad Tycoon. The first version of the game had a very basic interface with flat surfaces and black rectangles that would go over grid like line where the participant is expected to build a rail empire from scratch. The next version of the game however is a big leap into the future with various technological facets involved like tunnels, bridges, stock market, difference in elevation and improved competition. The latest however is considered the best installment so far with complete 3 dimensional imaging. The games promises to enhance the management skills of the player in general as well time management techniques as the game of building a railway company is set against a time limit. The main objective of this game is for the players to construct and manage a railroad company by the means of laying rail tracks, building stations, purchasing and timely scheduling trains. The makers of this game claim that there is no dull moment, as the game is fast paced and engrosses you business skills. Managerial skills are put to task as various business related decisions are expected to be made at crucial junctions.

BUDDING MANAGERS
SEPTEMBER 2014 ISSUE

For all the razzmatazz that surrounds social media, its business implication and usage sure presents a stark contrast. Often considered as an informal medium of casual entertainment, social media is slowly being accepted as a valuable marketing tool. With a fair share of population under 25, Internet is the place where businesses should go if they wish to reach this demographic. From major enterprises to promising start-ups – everyone is out there. With our Facebook, Twitter and other social media accounts getting flooded with commercial promotions and advertisements – looks like the age of social media advertising has finally arrived. With that, the question of the hour is – what does one do to stand out and get noticed when everyone out there is scrambling for a piece of this pie.

Social media marketing is more than a tweet here and a post there. It should be more than just random barrage of post about your business, your profit statistic or a plug for your latest product in the market. To get noticed and popular, there needs to be a plan in place. Insensitive or outdated approach can cause a major portion of your customer base to move towards a business that has better promises to make and more relatable content. Strategic approach to your online interaction with you customer can mean crucial business. Sensing the pulse of the opportunity many multinational company across the globe has created specific job position like social media specialist or social media analyst. As alluring as the title sounds, the job comes with a lot of marketing responsibility. The Social Media Marketing Industry Report released by The Social Media Examiner in May 2014 has is a testimony of how social media marketing and strategies have become a hot topic in every corporate boardroom.

A whopping 83 per cent of companies who took part in the survey have incorporated social media into their traditional channels of marketing Emerging as the winner among other online mediums, Facebook is deemed as the important and effective platform for online marketing. Among the 94 per cent marketers who use Facebook, 43 per cent say that based on their ROI (Return on Investment), this medium has been the most effective. LinkedIn emerged as second most important for B2B (Business to Business) marketing. Mobile optimised blogs are also picking popularity as 43 per cent support and use this trend.

According to industry insiders and marketing experts there are few essentials when it comes to social media marketing. These strategies have been carefully crafted to help aspiring entrepreneurs and starts-ups to make the most out of social media. The most crucial aspect that will determine your online success is the medium you choose. As the survey indicates for B2C (Business to Customer) marketing and interaction, the most successful medium by far is Facebook, followed by Twitter, Google+, Instagram, YouTube and Pinterest. So, pick a medium that best suits your business. Do on overcrowd or haphazardly scatter information all over the Internet, rather choose four to five mediums and regularly and religious stick to it.

Monitoring your social progress will give you an insight into your success rate. Use analytics to measure. While most of these social medium platforms have their own parameters and measurement scales that would help you rate your success, there are other third party tools that are available as well. Many businesses have said to have noticed an increase in their ROI after using social media.

Among the various strategies that social marketers inculcate, few main ones that are absolute necessities are - to build a relationship with your customer, being proactive and on-time, to present visually alluring content, to keep the content simple yet sharp and finally to keep the space completely professional and legible. Social media marketers need to remember that this online medium is a two way street therefore every content that goes online should be interactive in nature.

Let not the communication be just from you to your customers – build a relationship. Engage your audience and promptly reply to any response or efforts of outreach. Starting a profile or a product page alone won’t suffice, you need to mark your presence and refresh your customer’s memory with regular updates and posts. Either daily or weekly or more – pick a pattern or schedule to post about your business to your target audience.

Social media marketing is all about quality – so keep it fresh and new at all times. people have very fickle memory – so to ensure a lasting impression opt for a visually appealing content and crisp yet catchy content. Infographics and informative videos are great ways to start, use vibrant hues and patterns, but don’t go overboard, least you might repel or worse still – confuse your consumers. Once you have an established page up and running – use it as medium to make it a special experience for your followers. Introduce offers, discounts, and giveaways exclusively for those who connect to your business through these social mediums. Your business Facebook page or Twitter account should be used as thoroughly professional medium. No matter how successful and popular your social account gets personal opinions, comments and outburst should be always kept off-limit. Though a social medium, a personal account and a business account are two completely different arenas with different repercussions, so tread carefully. Once your social page starts witnessing more traffic and the number of fans and followers swell, be ready for trolls and baiters to join as well. Be sensible and handle them professionally.

Known when you reply, "Social media marketing is all about quality – so keep it fresh and new at all times. people have very fickle memory – so to ensure a lasting impression opt for a visually appealing content and crisp yet catchy content." when to keep mum and when to completely ignore and delete their comments.

Have content that makes the customer wanting to come back for more. The posts should be interesting and easy. Clubbing two mediums can be useful as well – for example Facebook and YouTube is known to work very effectively together. Post links that easy to share. Posts that are interesting has well as easy to share are the most effective ones. Lastly remember to check your diction and grammar before you post. It is very difficult to undo and correct online mistake and sloppy and incorrect posts reflects very badly on the business, so be extra cautious. By incorporating social media into your business plan you will be able to gauge if this medium actually works for your business or not. The idea is to create an online avenue where interaction with customers will become easy and regular.

BUDDING MANAGERS
SEPTEMBER 2014 ISSUE

Today the life of the average person has become almost frenetic with activities that seem to demand his attention all day and every day. While it has made them look very active it has also made their lives complex. Many opportunities have arisen in just about every domain. For instance providing personal services has literally exploded. Similarly, in the B2B space, needs that are specific to each trade have also appeared and as a consequence the purchasing behavior and pattern of individuals have also diversified. Once upon a time we used to classify household as ‘under 40 or above 40’ but today, that doesn’t belong to any reality. In many areas even the gender factor is not a strong enough criterion to differentiate the marketing messages though it used to be sufficient in the past.

This evolution has not come without consequences in the world of data mining. Reality has become more and more complex and data-mining techniques have had to adapt towards it. Many criteria such as the socio-professional category, the age or the gender which were the main criteria used to define marketing targets in the past, can no longer suffice today because it doesn’t make sense any more! For example, a couple with a somewhat low income can make unusually high value purchase even if it means high debts, because it may correspond to a strong desire at a point in their life. These behaviors depending on their stage in life do not correspond to the ‘cliché’ type of behavior that one would traditionally expect.

It becomes therefore harder and harder to use just intuition in marketing. A marketing analyst needs landmarks in the middle of all the data available. The role of descriptive data mining is to build an accurate “map” with the data available.

To make an analogy, would you venture into the ocean without a proper chart that would show you how to reach your destination?

Nowadays, the same question applies with all the marketing databases that are available to the advertiser. We just need to cite a few to be convinced: CRM databases, transactional databases, e-commerce platforms, web analytics, call center databases, email database, SMS, etc. each of these databases (whether they are interconnected or not) can represent a different – but mostly complementary – view of the same customer. Extrapolating insights from the mountain of data available is critical for maximizing profits. In this respect, you won’t be able to do predictive analysis if you didn’t complete a good descriptive analysis earlier. Data must be ‘understood’ before trying to create a model. An organization must put itself through an often advanced and detailed descriptive stage for any analysis to be worth the trouble and expense. The complexity will depend on the multiplicity of data one wants to process.

Descriptive data mining must answer the question “Why did it happen?”

Raw data most of the time is unfortunately impossible to understand or utilize. Not only are they very large and composed of numerous different formats, but the information that is really useful may be diluted or even hidden. You can change this data into information, which give scales, dashboards, ideas but you still may not be able to understand ‘Why’.

Descriptive data mining can bring you the tools, which will really help you to reveal the critical and actionable knowledge that lies in your databases.

Sometimes it would mean using specific technical knowledge, like in finance or marketing, when we have to wear a hat of technical expert along with our hat of a statistician. The broadcasting and sharing of the results of predictive marketing happens mainly at that level. Descriptive analysis enables the creation of true models and all the subsequent predictive computing. Let’s forget the erroneous idea that only predictive marketing adds value. Actually the opposite is usually true. The length of the descriptive data mining stage is sometimes gigantic compared to the length of the predictive stage. It is more or less a Pareto principle: 80% of the time is used in descriptive data mining and only 20% doing predictive data mining. In the end, the predictive data mining is a bit like the cherry on top of the cake, the last result issued from data mining, or the visible part of the iceberg that is published. More often than not the things we learn about our clients, markets, products and campaigns mainly come from the descriptive part.

In an increasingly competitive market, banks that can transform vast amounts of data into valuable information can help generate sales and create differentiated customer experiences.

Overview

The ability to use data to shape decisions and outcomes has become a key factor for banks to maintain a competitive advantage over others and over the passage of time. Yet, for many banks, data and data mining remains an underused and underappreciated activity. As customers demand more and more qualified information and expect more personalized experiences, it is critical for banks to be able to segment clients to unlock their potential.

Banks can leverage data analytics to:

1. Enhance customer acquisition, retention and cross-selling.
2. Optimize pricing structures.
3. Gain customer insights through integration with relationship management architecture.
4. Implement real-time event management to improve contact rates and redemption rates.

In its simplest form data mining can start with the information available on an average ‘Invoice’. For instance just by examining his invoice a medical-store owner can monitor his regular clients, their average purchase amounts, the frequency of their purchase, the medicines that they buy on a regular basis and the quantity they buy. Armed with just this much detail the owner can ensure that he is holding just sufficient stock of the required drugs, he can make a forecast of his sales for the week, make arrangements for payments as they fall due. Over a period of time he can even eliminate the stocking of certain medicines that have poor sales and only occupy valuable shelve space. He can identify those medicines that combine good off take and profits to optimize his sales.

In its most complex form through data mining, a company can streamline its entire activities right from the purchasing of raw material, up to the shipment of the manufactured product. It can give valuable insights into the purchase and stocking pattern of raw material, the time taken to manufacture the finished product, manage its working capital needs etc.

Sometimes over production of a product or the under production of a particular album would cause a loss to a company. Take for instance the sale of CDs of a film starring a popular actor. Though they would be expected to sell in large quantities, by analyzing earlier sales patterns the sales staff would be able to keep just enough stock to cater to the demand. By studying the past pattern of sales the staff could store them in regional stock rooms to respond quickly and thereby beat the pirates.

Data mining could prove invaluable in the manufacture and sale of perishable products too. Often holding on to stocks when their expiry date is approaching can cause huge losses. Information from analyzing the past will help the management to offer trade discounts to clear stocks that might remain unsold otherwise. These are analysis in the short term but it is in the long term that data mining will be of critical importance.

BUDDING MANAGERS
SEPTEMBER 2014 ISSUE

RBI tightens regularoty norms for ARCs

The RBI has tightened the regulatory framework for asset reconstruction companies (ARCs) to improve sale of bad loans in the banking system. ARCs will henceforth mandatorily have to invest and hold a minimum of 15 per cent - as against 5 per cent earlier - of the security receipts (SRs) issued by them against the assets acquired from banks on an ongoing basis till the redemption of all the receipts. This will make it more difficult for ARCs to allow an asset to sit on their balance sheet and collect management fees for that.

BoI gets AAA rating for tier-I instrument

Brickwork Ratings has assigned AAA rating to Bank of India’s (BoI) current issue of additional tier-I instrument. Additional tier-I instruments are hybrid in nature and different from regular bonds.

The bank can have a call option for the instrument that can be exercised after ten years. But it can do so with the prior permission of the RBI. The coupon payment on the instrument by the bank is discretionary in nature, and the bank has every right to cancel the payments.

Big-bang start for financial inclusion plan

Prime Minister Narendra Modi recently launched the Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana, one of the biggest financial inclusion programmes, calling for an end to financial untouchability. The massive financial inclusion drive aims to open 7.5 crore bank accounts and provide banking facility to the vast segment of the population by January 26, 2015. Under the scheme, a person opening an account will get a Rupay debit card, a Rs 1 lakh accident insurance policy as well as a Rs 30,000 life insurance cover.

According to the government, banks opened a massive 1.5 crore new accounts for the unbanked across the country, coinciding with launch of the programme.

TMB eyes Rs 1,00,000-cr biz, pan-India growth

Upendra Kamath, the new managing director and chief executive officer of Tamilnad Mercantile Bank (TMB) has chalked out growth plans, targeting the bank’s business volume of Rs 1,00,000 and 800 branches across the country in four years.

The plan aims turning the Tamil Naducentric bank, which currently has a network of 383 branches and 715 ATMs, into a pan-India lender. The bank will continue to strengthen its presence in Tamil Nadu. It has also drawn up a 15-month plan to expand its reach South and West India.

IRDA nod for 3-year motor insurance policy

Two-wheeler owners can now buy a third-party motor insurance policy for three years following the IRDA’s nod to issue such long-term policies. Currently, motor insurance policies for private cars and two wheelers in India are annually renewed.

The premium charged by insurers for the three-year motor insurance contract will be thrice the annual thirdparty motor insurance premium for two-wheelers as prescribed by the regulator.

The regulator has also stipulated that insurers will not be able to cancel the third-party insurance cover in any circumstances except in case of a total loss.

Tribunal finds NSE abusing dominant position

The Competition appellate Tribunal (COMPAT), a quasi-judicial authority, has upheld an order passed against the National Stock Exchange (NSE) by the Competition Commission of India (CCI) regarding misusing its dominant position. In May 2011, the competition watchdog had found the NSE guilty of abusing its dominant position in stock market.

A penalty of Rs 55.5 crore was imposed on the exchange for adopting unfair trade practices in currency derivatives trading.

The COMPAT rejected the NSE’s argument of limiting the case to currency derivatives and ruled to include all stock exchange services.

Banks tighten free ATM payouts

Number of free transactions for savings bank account-holders at other bank ATMs in six metro cities - Mumbai, New Delhi, Chennai, Kolkata, Bangalore, and Hydrabad - will be reduced from five to three a month from November 1.

The RBI has reduced the number of free ATM transactions after taking into account-high density of ATMs, bank branches and alternative modes of payment available to customers. Banks have been permitted to levy transaction charges not exceeding Rs 20 and applicable taxes per transaction after the minimum three free transactions.

No-frills accountholders will continue to get five free ATM transactions.

Q1 GDP grows by 5.7% buoyed by industry, farm

The domestic economy expanded at its fastest pace in more than two years in the April-June quarter of 2014-15. The Gross Domestic Product (GDP) in the first quarter (Q1) of FY15 grew by 5.7 per cent as against 4.6 per cent in the corresponding quarter of FY14. The good GDP figure was fuelled by robust growth in the industrial sector, including mining, construction and manufacturing, which expanded by 4.2 per cent against a 0.4 per cent decline in the previous year.

The agriculture sector too put up a reasonable show, rising by 3.8 per cent against 4 per cent in the year earlier. Services, however, disappointed with a 6.8 per cent jump against 7.2 per cent growth last year.

TRAI for ban on politicians owning media

Politicians and corporate heavyweights will find it tough to own a media house. The TRAI recently barred entry of political and government entities and also proposed curbs on entry of non-media corporate entities.

The regulator, in its report on Issues Related To Media Ownership released recently, said: “On grounds of inherent conflict of interest, ownership restrictions on corporate entities entering media should be seriously considered by the government and the regulator.” This may entail restricting amount of equity holding and loans by a corporate entity in a media.

SEBI can now compensate cheated investors

The Securities Laws (Amendment) Bill, 2014, which was approved unanimously by the Lok Sabha last month, allows the SEBI to issue disgorgement orders. The SEBI, in its little over two decades of existence, has issued disgorgement orders only on two occasions - once, in 2006, during the IPO irregularities issue and for the second time in the Satyam Computer scandal.

The money collected from disgorgement will be parked in SEBI’s Investor Protection and Education Fund. The new law allows the regulator to repay money to defrauded investors of Ponzi schemes and other market frauds.

Chacha Chaudhary creator passes away

Eminent cartoonist Pran Kumar Sharma, popularly known as Pran, who gave life to lovable comic characters like Chacha Chaudhary and his friend Sabu, is no more.

Pran, 75, succumbed to cancer last month at a hospital in Gurgaon, according to his publisher Diamond Comics. Born in Kasur near Lahore in Pakistan in 1938, Pran began his career in 1960 as a cartoonist for the Delhibased newspaper Milap with a comic strip called Daabu.

Bengal to exit joint real estate ventures

The West Bengal government is planning to exit joint sector real estate ventures. The JVs were entered into to create the cross-subsidy component, which has now come under a cloud, according to the State government. The government has engaged a professional firm to review operations of these joint venture companies.

The State government has an equity stake in nine joint venture companies that are managed by private partners.

The State government had mandated that at least 50 per cent in each project taken up by the JVs be reserved for people from low- and middle-income groups.

Gujarat leads in tourism investment

Gujarat, followed by Maharashtra and Karnataka, are the leading States attracting significant investments in hotels and tourism industry, together accounting for about 61 per cent of the total investment share. According to industry body ASSOCHAM, Gujarat has emerged on top with a lion’s share of about 29 percent amid 20 major States, attracting outstanding investments worth over Rs 34,800 crore.

Maharashtra ranked second with about 18 percent share, followed by Karnataka at 14 percent, and Odisha and Andhra Pradesh at 6 per cent each of the total investment.

Sugar import duty increased to 25%

The Centre has raised the Customs Duty on raw and white sugar imports by 10 percentage points to 25 per cent. However, it has desisted from raising the duty to 40 per cent as demanded by the domestic sugar industry to protect consumers from a likely rise in sugar prices. The hike in Customs Duty has been effected to help sugar mills struggling from lower realisation and a glut.

The government has added a rider that the duty hike would be made only if sugar companies cleared the Rs 8,703-crore arrears due to cane growers.

SBI, associates to roll out cash recyclers

State Bank of India (SBI) and its five associate banks are planning to collectively install 4,300 cash recyclers, which will accept and dispense currency notes through replenishment and recycling of notes. The banks will roll out recyclers across the country by March-end 2015 as replacement for old ATMs or cashdispensers.

Banks will gain from cash recyclers as it will reduce the number of times recyclers have to be replenished with cash as customers will also be putting cash into them for instant credit to their accounts. Besides, recycles will also minimise the risk of customers carrying their daily earnings home.

AFISCO to resume Afghan plant talks

Steel Authority of India-led Afghan Iron and Steel Consortium (AFISCO) will soon re-commence negotiations with the Afghanistan government to set up a plant with a capacity of 1.5 mtpa. The final agreement for the project, which entails an investment of over Rs 6,000 crore, can take place after the new mining law, which has been approved by the Parliament of Afghanistan, will become operational after the President’s approval.

In November 2011, AFISCO had won three blocks with reserves of an estimated 1.28 billion tonnes of high-grade iron ore in the Hajigak mine in Afghanistan.

Petronet to lease out Kochi terminal

Petronet LNG has obtained its board’s approval for leasing out its 5- mtpa Kochi terminal as a storage facility for international LNG players. Petronet terminal’s capacity utilisation is merely 1.4 per cent due to lack of pipeline connectivity.

Only 0.66 trillion British thermal units of natural gas was regassified and sold from the terminal during the first quarter of 2014-15. More than a dozen foreign companies have shown interest to use Petronet’s LNG facility. With international gas spot prices not attractive currently, the Kochi terminal provides an ideal opportunity for storing gas.

JNPT SEZ eyes Rs 4,000-crore investment

The 277-hectare special economic zone (SEZ) within the premises of Jawaharlal Nehru Port Trust (JNPT) is set to be the main driver of the country’s busiest port’s next phase of development. Prime Minister Narendra Modi laid the foundation stone for the SEZ last month. The special zone, which JNPT expects to complete in three years on EPC basis, is expected to attract investments of over Rs 4,000 crore. Apart from warehouses, the SEZ will have electronics, textile, apparels, engineering, energy and healthcare units. By the time the SEZ comes up, the port will also have its fourth terminal ready to handle the increase in volume.

Allahabad Bank to grow retail loan segment

Allahabad Bank is looking to strengthen its retail loan portfolio. The Kolkatabased, State-owned lender has taken a conscious decision to slow down corporate lending because of inherent risks of bad loans.

Besides, corporate loan growth has remained flat while there is a rise in demand for retail loans. Housing and gold loans are the focus areas of Allahabad Bank. At present, around 65 per cent of the bank’s loan portfolio is from the corporate segment, which it is targeting to cut down to 60 per cent by the end of FY15.

BHEL develops new flexible boiler

Bharat Heavy Electricals (BHEL) has developed a new kind of a boiler, one of the key equipment in power generation. Known as Fuel Flexible Supercritical Boiler, this new equipment can help in producing electricity with 100 per cent domestic coal or 100 per cent imported coal.

Currently, the companies are required to mix both categories of coal in a fixed ratio and also have to consider few characteristics before blending. With the help of this new boiler, there will not be any such requirements.

Cash-strapped DVC warns of power outages

Damodar Valley Corporation (DVC), east India’s largest power generation utility, has warned that non-payment of electricity dues by Jharkhand may halt its operations in the next couple of days. At present, DVC is not in a position to provide funds for payment to coal companies due to non-receipt of more than Rs 8,000 crore till July.

Jharkhand has not even been paying the monthly electricity bill of Rs 160 crore, DVC has added in a release. Bihar (of which Jharkhand was formerly a part) along with West Bengal and the Centre had promoted DVC in 1948.

JSW to buy Welspun Steel for Rs 1,000 cr

JSW Steel is acquiring Welspun Max Steel’s asset for Rs 1,000 crore. Welspun has an installed capacity of 0.9- mtpa, gas-based, sponge iron) plant, with a captive jetty and a captive railway siding.

It has a pellet plant in Salav, Maharashtra. The captive jetty has a capacity of 2.5 mtpa, which is located to its sponge iron plant. The acquisition will add value to JSW Steel due to synergies in supplying surplus pellets to Welspun Max Steel and enable it to use sponge iron from Welspun in the company’s steel-making operations at its 5-mtpa Dolvi plant.

Honda to step up exports from India

Honda Motor expects to step up exports during the year, especially to South Africa. Honda Cars India, the Indian arm of the Japanese auto-maker, has two manufacturing units in the country - one near Greater Noida in Uttar Pradesh and the other in Tapukara, Rajasthan. These plants have a combined installed capacity of 2,40,000 units.

The company plans to export at least 9,000 units in the current financial year, up from 6,000 vehicles last year. Honda has managed to increase the localisation level in India to 87 percent for diesel vehicles and 93 per cent for petrol cars.

UltraTech plans Rs 3,800-cr expansion

UltraTech Cement will be spending about Rs 3,800 crore this year in increasing capacity and in a waste heat recovery plant. The company plans to boost capacity by 8 mt to 70 mt by early next year. In the current financial year, the Aditya Birla Group company will add 2.9 mt with supporting grinding units and waste heat recovery project at its subsidiary, Aditya Cement Works, in Rajasthan as a part of the expansion plan. Besides, the company will also invest to modernise its Gujarat facility.

Apollo Hospitals bets big on telemedicine

Apollo Hospitals is looking at expansion with a hub-andspoke model and harnessing the telemedicine technology.

In a first-of-its-kind initiative, Apollo Hospitals has introduced eICU, a remote ICU monitoring system, in Chennai and Hyderabad hospitals. The company is planning to introduce eICU in Kolkata, which will allow it to expand in smaller towns and cities of eastern region. Apollo Group manages 8,600 beds across 50 hospitals and has 150 telemedicine centres. The company is planning to upgrade its telemedicine centres from tele-consultation to offering intensive care.

Jet consolidates Konnect

into Jet brand Jet Airways is bringing its low-cost airline Jet Konnect under the Jet brand. The company has justified the move to remove any confusion about the Jet brand, which it says stands for premium service. It has added that the change will come into effect by the end of the year after obtaining regulatory approval.

Accordingly, all Jet Airways aircraft will sport only the Jet brand and will have 12 seats in business class and 156 in the economy section. The master brand will also reflect in the livery and staff uniforms across the Jet Airways group.

Apollo Tyres to set up Rs 4,100-cr plant in Europe

Apollo Tyres is planning to set up a plant in eastern Europe to manufacture passenger car tyres and heavy commercial vehicle tyres. The exact location of the factory is yet to be decided. The facility, expected to be completed by 2018 at an investment of around Rs 4,100 crore, will roll out an estimated 55 lakh car tyres and 6.75 lakh truck tyres. Apollo already has an R&D centre for passenger car and SUV tyres in Europe. While 60 per cent of Apollo’s tyres are consumed within the country, the rest are marketed abroad, mainly in Europe.

Saraswat Bank chief Eknath Thakur dead

Eknath Keshav Thakur, 73, the chairman of Saraswat Cooperative Bank and former Shiv Sena Rajya Sabha member, passed away last month. Under Mr Thakur’s leadership, the business of Saraswat Bank, India’s largest cooperative bank, rose from a little over Rs 21,000 crore in 2001 to cross Rs 36,000 crore by the end of March 2014.

BUDDING MANAGERS
SEPTEMBER 2014 ISSUE

The clock ticked 6.00 in the morn. Dawn of ‘Yet Another day’ for Smriti. She dint need an alarm in her phone or the table clock, as it’s all inbuilt in her body mechanism. Each day, 6`o Clock ...and she`s up for the preparations of the daily course of meals, packing lunches for the family, quite a bit of cleaning, writing instruction notes and leaving it on refrigerator top for the maid, squeezing in few minutes for her morning workout...Back and forth in the middle giving voice for waking the kids and their daddy. After about a couple of hours of rushing...speeding through the many mundane chores of domesticity, she finally gets ready herself for her work.

And now its honk..honk...honk.. Everywhere on the roads. A pretty long journey she got to make to reach her office. Its 9.30 am. And there lies her days` tasks tightly packed for each minute till 5.30 pm. Couple of meetings, some important tasks laid down on her desk, and few impromptu tasks coming up her way. Smriti was a Mid-Senior level employee in a private firm for about 8 years. She`s earning a pretty decent salary. A mom of 2 children. A perfectionaist by nature. She`s a woman who engages in few social activities outside work. A woman with bigger goals in life. A woman whose vision is to be focused on her career as well as be the great care giver for her family. All these years of an extensive tug of war between work and life to do justice to both her career and life that she envisions to have, has only made her realize one thing, “Smriti, You can’t have it all. And if you wish to, then in the process you end up stressed out yourself and others around you” In her mission to fulfill and give her best to both ends has resulted in nothing but leaving her frustrated.

At times even pushing her to compromise on her bigger goals of career. Also at times, she feels she is prostituting her love for her family with her passion for career. Eventually she`s filled with the guilt of not providing her whole self to her dear ones while she`s completely fatigued and engulfed with the work pressures.

If Smriti is a story that unerringly portrays the lives of many working woman of all strata and woman who are at the start of their career or who has reached the pinnacle of success in their career.. Am sure, that would not be a cake walk for any. Rather each day and every single moment, the woman who sets out to work needs to cope with a OVERABUNDANT challenges and stores deeper sense of guilt many a times.

It was a complete surprise and a daring confession made by the PepsiCo CEO, Indra.K. Nooyi during her interview with The Atlantic when she was asked two questions that elucidated a frank discussion on Work Life Balance for a woman. The world knows her as one of the most successful career woman who made it to the top as well as a mother of 2 children; hence she must be a stalwart of that ‘Happy Balancing Act’. Instead Mrs. Nooyi stated “Working women has to put up with many things. Women can`t have it all. It’s just that women pretend we have it all. We pretend we can have it all!” By this statement she has nailed it hard in our minds that a woman who is amongst the most influential list of people in the world also faces the trauma and is still striving hard to balance her work and life to embrace the ‘Happy Balancing Act’

We all wish for a ‘Happy Balancing’ between the 2 scales of work and life. We must all understand that Work-life balance is a daily effort and in fact a minute to minute effort to make time for family, friends, society, spirituality, personal growth, self-care, and other personal activities, in addition to the demands of the workplace. Just as how we have the ‘Work Management’ which guides and functions with pre-set goals and timelines, we have something called the ‘Family Management’ which has evolved as a new science for striking the balance between work and life.

But a happy, well-functioning family doesn’t just happen - it takes an infinite amount of efforts from not just you but those around you as well. The first step towards ‘Family Management’ is to THINK about how you’d like your family to work? In this write I am bringing to you the ‘HAPPY BALANCING ACT’ to help you in FAMILY MANAGEMENT.

We must all understand that men do more of ‘Paid works’ and a less of or nil of ‘Unpaid works’ whereas working women do both ‘Paid Works’ as well as ‘Unpaid works’ at home. The dipstick to check if your families are working well is to find out if you have more time and energy for activities to be indulged in together, and all the members in your family are less stressed and more happy. This is when you can be sure of your ‘Happy Balancing Act (HBA)’ in place.

HBA 1 – Bring the members of the family together. In many a family these days, 4 or more people live under one roof but seldom make time to see each other and talk. Probably a lesser person-to-person connection is evolving these days and a more of person-to-gadget/technology connection is happening.

HBA 2 – Make everyone in the family, be it the grown-up or the children to get organized in their respective works and to equally contribute their share of responsibility to the functioning of the family. Say, for children it will be to plan and work on their daily lessons, wake up times, play time, eating and entertainment time etc.

To initiate them you may prepare a weekly time table of activities with a weekly reward for the first month. Slowly you may stop you intervention and let them be their own little masters. And ensure to reward only if time table was followed for the week completely. You could write up a chart that outlines who does what and when. Then,down the track, hold an informal family meeting to see how everyone is finding the plan. This will also give you a chance to praise your children for their achievements, or suggest better ways of doing jobs. This paves way for appreciation and encouragement instilling a positive attitude in children towards their responsibility rather than being hostile or showing aggression.

HBA 3 – Every family has its own dynamics of functioning. So certain intricacies in family management cannot be generalized. You must ensure the family functions based on a sound value system set by you and provide a way for passing on those values to each member of your family. And all grown-ups in the family play an equal share in making this happen. Values could be the social skills, civic sense.....

HBA 4 – Help each other in the family to have fun in a way together as well as in the preference of each. Encourage all in the family to pursue a hobby or a worthwhile pass-time. Through this we ensure all are coping well with the stress. Nowadays stress is not the absolute confine to the grown-ups alone, it’s something which has swamped our children as well. Affection and Positive Attention for everyone in the family is needed to feel the love and value each other in the family. Make sure your children and the grown-ups receive lots of encouragement, positive feedback and signs of affection. It’s also important to make time every week to do things as a family – even a short walk or a night sky watch at the terrace can help bring you together.

HBA 5 – Routines and Rituals: Consider your daily routines and figure out what system works best for all members of the family. Routines make children feel safe and secure, and can make the busy times of day less stressful for everyone. The HBA 2 will help in achieving this. Routines are those planned and recurring activities that help keep the home running smoothly. They include things that need to be done at the same time most days, like getting dressed for school or having a bath, doing the daily lessons, cooking a meal... Research shows that rituals can strengthen your family’s values and help pass these values on to your children. You can indulge in cleaning or dusting the house/counters/Dishes/Washroom/Vehicle along with the children or as family.

HBA 6 - Coping Mechanisms - Think about how you can divide up jobs so everyone is happy. Understand the preferred reactions of family members by talking about how you would like everyone to respond to difficult or challenging situations like tiredness, an upset child or financial pressures and time pressures. If household jobs are shared, the burden is lighter on everyone. Sharing household chores with your children can help them feel important and valued members of the family. Taking the support from others in the neighborhood or at office making them as ‘Extended Families’ during the needs of time is a best coping mechanism. It also develops connections to become strong as its all about getting and giving support in return.

Managing stress for striking the BALANCE

Getting the work-family balance right can be stressful. You’ll be trying to cope with more responsibilities and even less time for you. Stress has a way of sneaking up on you slowly, or it can sometimes be more like a volcanic explosion, particularly if conditions at work or home are difficult. Take care of yourself. Eat a healthy diet and exercise regularly. Exercise is a great outlet for stress and helps put things into perspective. Are you getting some regular time to yourself? Do not hesitate to take support. Often, the first steps in getting support are asking for it, and accepting it when it’s offered. Giving others support is a great way of creating a support community. When you offer or ask for help, others feel that they can ask you for help in return.

When we opt for careers and work hard for progression, we also need to remember that we progress in our life into succeeding phases. We are bound to take many roles each day and give our best to all the roles as an employee, daughter, wife, mother, care giver, financial advisor, motivator and an infinite other undefined roles. All these roles become bundled that we got to take up multiple roles in a single moment sometimes.

Women eventually become a pro juggler rotating the tasks seamlessly and are expected to manage the family flawlessly. The simplest way to reach for the perfect balance of work and life are these SIX HAPPY BALANCING ACTS detailed above. Striking a balance between Work and Life can be beautifully attained if and only if you make up your mind to ‘stop and smell the roses’ every now and then! And that is when you can acclaim success in your FAMILY MANAGEMENT.

Nevertheless even after striking a healthier balance through the HBAs and being a better ‘Family Manager’, we got to concede with ‘We still can’t have it all!!

BUDDING MANAGERS
SEPTEMBER 2014 ISSUE