Saturday, October 25, 2008

They both, once again, reaffirm the world of their distinctly different political systems

The Olympics may just be a sporting event, Olympicsbut it is hard not to read larger messages into results, especially when you see how China & America have dominated the medals tally. Both countries can – and will – look at their Olympic successes as reaffirmations of their distinctly different political systems. But what strikes me is how much they could each learn from the other. This, as they say, is a teaching moment. Call it: One Olympics – two systems.

How so? You can’t look at the US Olympic team & not see the strength that comes from diversity & you can’t look at the Chinese team & not see the strength that comes from intense focus & concentrated power.....Continue

Source : IIPM Editorial, 2008
An Initiative of IIPM, Malay Chaudhuri and Arindam chaudhuri (Renowned Management Guru and Economist).

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Tuesday, October 21, 2008

Let’s head to a ‘Spice’y Hot Spot

After selling off his telecom business to Idea and speculations rife on the sale of his mobile business to Sony Ericsson, B. K. Modi is still betting big on mobile retail. surbhi chawla analyses what makes this business worth keeping for the Modi camp?

It couldn’t have been easy for Bhupendra Kumar Modi, the man who brought mobile phones to our country, to exit the telecom sphere, and that too at a time when the sector is growing exponentially. Let’s head to a ‘Spice’y Hot SpotBut even after selling Spice Communications to Idea Cellular, he stands tall and states unabashedly that, “Our Spice brand and the mobile retail chain – Hot Spot would remain with us.” In fact, B. K. Modi is so bullish about the mobile retail venture that big plans are being charted out and an IPO by the end of this year is also on the cards.

With India becoming the second largest telecom market of the world with about 212 million GSM connections (for June 2008 by COAI), and still growing steadily at 18% per annum, there seems to be plenty of scope for the handset market too. The market is pegged at Rs.750-Rs.1000 billion and is growing at a whopping CAGR of 60%. Little wonder that players like The Mobile Store (promoted by Essar & Virgin) Motostore (promoted by Motorola), mbazaar (promoted by Future Group), RPG Cellcom and Subhiksha Mobile have already joined the mobile retail bandwagon....Continue

Source : IIPM Editorial, 2008
An Initiative of IIPM, Malay Chaudhuri and Arindam chaudhuri (Renowned Management Guru and Economist).

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Saturday, October 11, 2008

Who says charity begins at home?

More and more people are tripping on philanthropic travel!

When asked if one had all the time and money, what would one do; most would say, ‘travel’. And why not? It’s exciting to laze by the beach, trek in the hills, anticipate the movements of an animal in the wild and drown oneself in the bustle of a big city. But how many travellers delve into the soul of the destination, by really understanding its culture and people? Not many. However, there are a growing number of people travelling to the lesser-privileged parts of the world, attempting to blend in with the natives and lend a helping hand wherever possible.

Philanthropic travel as a concept is still at a nascent stage, although it has gained popularity in the US. There are NGOs that sponsor and arrange such jaunts, the most traversed destinations being Burma, Cambodia, Botswana, Tanzania and India.

Marc Gold is a philanthropic traveller, and in 1989 he had visited Darjeeling for a vacation. Here, he met a girl who was suffering from a life-threatening disease. The girl’s folks were incapable of affording the treatment and so Marc donated funds for her medication and treatment. This kind gesture of Marc’s saved a life and brought back happiness to a family that had almost lost hope. Marc now visits various places with the objective of not just absorbing their beauty and interacting with the people, but with the intention of reaching out to those in need.....Continue

Source : IIPM Editorial, 2008
An Initiative of IIPM, Malay Chaudhuri and Arindam chaudhuri (Renowned Management Guru and Economist).

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Tuesday, October 07, 2008

Ma, we’re re‘pink’ing our strategy!

US slowdown is affecting employment across the globe, but the financial services sector leads the rest

Steven Tyler never uttered these words! But his group’s song was the rage of the 90s – ‘Pink is my favourite colour’, by the raucous Aerosmith! And you’ve been of late noticing how your boss has started crooning the song whenever you pass him by. Relax, it’s just a coincidence. Research shows that when bosses want to throw you out, they don’t sing Aerosmith songs :-) More seriously, international experts have been strongly commenting since last quarter that recession would not necessarily affect the skilled employment market that fast, especially in developed countries. Closer home, Dr. Naresh Malhan, MD, Manpower India comments that the impact on new recruitments “would not be imminent... especially when most businesses are plagued by talent shortage.”

On taking a global perspective, B&E realised that irrespective of how many experts we could put on one side of the table, it was the pink slip strategy that coloured every aspect of our finding, on whichever sector we touched. And there’s no better example than the global financial sector, with the sub-prime mistress raking in every penny uttering its name....Continue

Source : IIPM Editorial, 2008
An Initiative of IIPM, Malay Chaudhuri and Arindam chaudhuri (Renowned Management Guru and Economist).

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Friday, October 03, 2008

No blitzkrieg this

Barclays must tread carefully

Can the British bull dog dance the Russian ballet? Barclays Bank, Britain’s third largest bank sure seems to think so, as it enters into a strategic move for expansion in emerging markets by buying up Russia’s Expobank.

Sure enough, it fell flat for its last bidding contest for ABN Amro Holding NV last year (offered $99 billion but lost to Royal Bank of Scotland Group Plc.), but Barclays is not giving up for sure! It has oozed out a whopping $745 million for Expobank, about four times its book value of $186 million, surely a red signal to analysts. Frits Seegers, Chief Executive, Global Retail and Commercial Banking, Barclays, prophesises, “Expobank’s existing relationships and infrastructure create the ideal platform for us to be one of the leading retail and commercial banks in Russia.” Expobank has assets of $1.24 billions with 32 branches in western Russia, and one of the largest networks of ATMs in Moscow. Moreover, Russia’s economic growth at 8.1% last year is much more promising than UK, with a meagre 2.9% growth, not to mention the collapse of the market for credit-related securities....Continue

Source : IIPM Editorial, 2008
An Initiative of IIPM, Malay Chaudhuri and Arindam chaudhuri (Renowned Management Guru and Economist).

Read also :-

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