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Verizon and Google proposed rules to police traffic on web !!!!

2010
08.11

Now there are chances to regulate the police web traffic over cable and telephone lines, but carriers should control the speed of access to content on wireless devices.

NET-NEUTRALITY- A term that means high speed internet providers should not block or slow information or charge websites to pay for a fast lane to reach users more quickly.
Since the past few years efforts have been made to craft the rules for how internet traffic should be managed on telephone, cable, and wireless devices. The court has sanctioned Comcast for blocking bandwidth- hogging online applications.
So finally, Handheld devices is a lucrative business for the companies expecting growth in wireless broadband internet services as more people use smart phones.

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Some guidelines which enterpreneurs must follow !!

2010
08.11

Entrepreneurs typically lack the time and money to interview a representative cross section of potential customers, let alone analyze substitutes, reconstruct competitors’ cost structures, or project alternative technology scenarios. In fact, too much analysis can be harmful; by the time an opportunity is investigated fully, it may no longer exist.
Many successful entrepreneurs spend little time researching and analyzing. founders who spent a long time in study, reflection, and planning were no more likely to survive their first three years than people who seized opportunities without planning. In fact, many corporations that revere comprehensive analysis develop a refined incapacity for seizing opportunities. Analysis can delay entry until it’s too late or kill ideas hy identifying numerous problems.

What are the critical elements of winning entrepreneurial approaches? Our evidence suggests three general guidelines for aspiring founders:
1. Screen opportunities quickly to weed out unpromising ventures.
2. Analyze ideas parsimoniously. Focus on a few important issues.
3. Integrate action and analysis. Don’t wait for all the answers, and he ready to change course.

Screening Out Losers

Individuals who seek entrepreneurial opportunities usually generate lots of ideas. Quickly discarding those that have low potential frees aspirants to concentrate on the few ideas that merit refinement and study. Profitable survival requires an edge derived from some combination of a creative idea and a superior capacity for execution. But entrepreneurs cannot rely on just inventing new products or anticipating a trend. They must also execute well, especially if their concepts can he copied easily. In other cases, entrepreneurs must reflect on the adequacy of their ideas and their capacities to execute them. Successful start-ups don’t need an edge on every front. The creativity of successful entrepreneurs varies considerably. Some implement a radical idea, some modify, and some show no originality. Capacity for execution also varies among entrepreneurs. Selling an industrial niche product doesn’t call for the charisma that’s required to pitch trinkets through infomercials. In assessing the viability of a potential venture, therefore, each aspiring entrepreneur should consider three interacting factors:

1. Objectives of the Venture: Revolutionary enterprises usually require new processes or manufacturing techniques; competitive markets rarely fail to provide valuable products or services unless providing them involves serious technological problems. In contrast, ventures that seek to capture a market niche, not transform or create an industry, don’t need extraordinary ideas. Some ingenuity is necessary to design a product that will draw customers away from mainstream offerings and overcome the cost penalty of serving a small market.

2. Leverage Provided by External Change: Exploiting opportunities in a new or changing industry is generally easier than making waves in a mature industry. Enormous creativity, experience, and contacts are needed to take business away from competitors in a mature industry, where market forces have long shaken out weak technologies, strategies, and organizations. Strategic choices in a new industry are often very limited; entrepreneurs have to adhere to the emerging standards for product features, components, or distribution channels.
3. Basis of Competition: Proprietary Assets versus Hustle. In some industries, a company’s profitability depends significantly on the assets it owns or controls-patents, location, or brands for example. Good management practices like listening to customers, maintaining quality, and paying attention to costs, which can improve the profits of a going business, Companies in fragmented service industries, such as investment management, investment banking, head hunting, or consulting cannot establish proprietary advantages easily but can nonetheless enjoy high profits by providing exceptional service tailored to client demands.

Gauging Attractiveness

Entrepreneurs should also screen potential ventures for their attractiveness-their risks and rewards- compared to other opportunities. Several less likely to face cash crunch because of factors such as technical delays, cost overruns, and slow buildup of sales.

Parsimonious Planning and Analysis

To conserve time and money, successful entrepreneurs minimize the resources they devote to researching their ideas. In setting their analytical priorities, entrepreneurs must recognize that some critical uncertainties cannot be resolved through more research. For example, focus groups and surveys often have little value in predicting demand for products that are truly novel. Entrepreneurs should concentrate instead on issues that they can reasonably expect to resolve through analysis and that determine whether and how they will proceed. Resolving a few big questions-understanding what things must go right and anticipating the venture-destroying pitfalls. Visionary entrepreneurs must guard against making competitors rich from their work. Entrepreneurs who hope to secure a niche face different problems: they often fail because the costs of serving a specialized segment exceed the benefits to customers. Entrepreneurs should therefore analyze carefully the incremental costs of serving a niche and take into account their lack of scale and the difficulty of marketing to a small, diffused segment.

Integrating Action and Analysis

Standard operating procedure in large corporations usually makes a clear distinction between analysis and execution. In contemplating a new venture, managers in established companies face issues about its fit with ongoing activities Acting before an opportunity is fully analyzed has many benefits. Doing something concrete builds confidence in oneself and in others. Key employees and investors will often follow the individual who has committed to action, for instance, by quitting a job, incorporating a lease.

As soon as any problem or risk shows up, the entrepreneur begins looking for solutions. Entrepreneurs often blur the line between research and selling. From the beginning, entrepreneurs don’t just seek opinions and information, they also look for commitment from others.
An entrepreneur’s willingness to act on sketchy plans and inconclusive data is often sustained by an almost arrogant self-confidence.

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Some tips – How other Brands use strategies to promote themselves??

2010
08.11

Google’s Robust Business Strategy

Company Overview
Google Inc. is an American public corporation, earning revenue from advertising related to its Internet search, e-mail, online mapping, office productivity, social networking, and video sharing services as well as selling advertising-free versions of the same technologies. Google has also developed an open source web browser and a mobile operating system. The company is running millions of servers worldwide, which process hundreds of millions of search requests each day and about 1 petabyte of user-generated data every hour. Google’s mission is to organize the world’s information and make it universally accessible and useful. Google is now widely recognized as the world’s largest search engine — an easy-to-use free service that usually returns relevant results in a fraction of a second.

In the past decade, Google has gained the dominance position in the internet search engine business and in the course of becoming the leader in the business has outperformed the competitors like Yahoo and Microsoft who were dominating the industry for years. These competitors were not able to match the business model of Google and hence got off beaten in a very short span of time. This is because the robust business strategy of Google which is not so easy to understand and match. Let us examine this “Robust Strategy” of Google under various headings of main four sources of robustness:

Rarity:

A. Unique Resources: Google has the world’s one of the largest hardware network and information resource network. The recent massive development in the brand image of Google has resulted in gaining maximum number of customers which has also increased in the user participation for its information gathering. This huge number of customer base has also attracted maximum number of business to advertise their products and services through Google’s websites and services. The company also holds one of the world’s largest capital funding through its unique revenue earning model.
B. Preferred Access: Google has got preferred access in gaining the data information which are having restricted access for rest of the competitors.
C. Situation dependent: Google has strategized to mould its operations depending to the changing customer needs which provide it the flexibility in its service delivery to the global customers.
D. Sunk costs: Google had spent huge capital on building the data storage and linking network across the globe and building nodes and hubs at all locations to manage the data resources and gain customer requirement information.
Robustness of Resources and competences:
It is almost impossible for the present competitors to match the quality and quantity of the services provided by Google. The reasons are:

• The availability of huge capital for expenditure on the introduction of new technologies, research and development, and maintenance of present technologies.
• The company has the strategy to successfully acquire upcoming technologies at the right time and understand it’s future possibilities of success for new and future customers
• The Google maintains world’s largest and most advanced data storage capacity that is supported by about 1 million dollar per day on the maintenance of these huge resources across the storage and connecting sites on the globe.
• Such huge infrastructure has not been achieved yet even by the competitors like Microsoft and Yahoo.
• Google has also strategized to continuously spend huge amount on the infrastructure of these data resources and has world’s largest computer hardware manufacturing facility which it uses for building its own infrastructure.
• It has maximum customer share in the internet business with most number of clicks and visits that has attracted maximum number of small, medium and huge capital companies to advertise on its various websites.
• Such advertisements generate maximum revenues for the company as it is source of direct and continuous revenue for Internet service providers.
• Google continuously spend maximum amount in the whole industry to keep a track of the changing customer requirements and become the first provider of those services.
Complexity:
• The core competency of the Google lies in its best search engine service which has maximum databases linked internally and externally linked to it which are continuously updated 24X7 providing customized search options (based on file type, country specific search, duration of uploading, etc.) for all users across the globe.
• Google has many of its subsidiary service websites linked together to its main website portal i.e. www.google.com is internally linked/connected to Facebook, Picasa, YouTube, Google videos, Google books, Google maps etc. which are provide a single platform access to these services.
• Google also provide its unmatched global positioning and location services through Google maps which is highly detailed and consumer supported service for almost every country and its various cities providing details of popular destinations of entertainment, health facilities, government departments, restaurants, companies, local places, etc.
• The data storage facility of the Google websites is also providing the users to store unlimited data on Google servers at free of cost which proved to be the best strategy in the market resulting in migration of huge percentage of customers shifting to the services of the Google’s mail service.
• Picasa service of Google also replaced many traditional Microsoft and other companies’ image applications by providing easy sharing using upload and download service of image with unlimited capacity and highly fast speed due to the advanced fast speed network of Google across the globe.
• Google services to these accounts are accessible using single account name and password so that the user is not required to maintain separate accounts with the linked websites and services.
• These complex services are also securitized using advanced technology which provides best secured data storage and transmission.

Culture:
Google has its unique culture across its organization where the company promotes creativity among its employees and gives them ample opportunities to develop these creative skills so as to cope up with the constantly changing external business environment. It encourages its employees to work in informal manner and daily spend some time to think out of the box of which its playful variations on its own corporate logo are an indicator. This kind of open to ideas approach by the company has proved to be one of the most successful factors for the company. Thus Google’s organic approach has provided it to continuously enhance its service quality by continuous upgradation.

Causal Ambiguity:
The competitors of Google like Microsoft, Yahoo, etc. are unclear about the key basis of the success of the company. They are not able to understand the basis of the robust business strategy of the company where it successfully forecasts the future needs of its customers and how it maintains it highly and massive infrastructure that has proved to be unmatched by the market players.
All these factors combined, gives Google a business model which is unmatched by its competitors and can thus be concluded as the Robust Strategic Model. This gives Google the competitive advantage in the internet industry which is not easy to imitate as it holds the secret strategy of Google towards its competitive external and internal environment.

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Scope of Services in Rural India?

2010
08.11

The rural market in India is a huge unorganized market as well as much of it is still untapped in various domains. A huge scope for services exists in these markets where still major companies have directed their focus on. Since major of Indian population exists in rural segment, prospects of huge demand exists for the products offered by various companies or service providers.
But the demand and supply pattern in the rural segment is majorly different than those in the urban segment.

This difference is due to vast difference in:
• Income level
• Expenditure capacity
• Taste and preferences
• Educational level
• Social, Cultural and environmental

These differences results in Gaps between Service provider and the consumers/customers in both the market segments. Hence a service provider clearly needs to understand these gaps and the strategies to fill these gaps effectively. Therefore the mantra for successful strategy implementation in rural markets for service delivery is “Think Global Act Local”
Analysis of Services Requirements in Rural Markets:
Following Service areas have great potential in rural markets:

1. Agricultural consultancy:
Rural customers require proper consultancy services about the best methods, timings and seasons, technology, tools, prices and best markets for selling their farming products.

2. Banking, microfinance and loan facilities:
The rural market has huge potential for banking services for providing following facilities at affordable prices:
• Agricultural loans
• Educational loans
• Housing loans
• Savings accounts and safe deposits
• Automobile loans
• Personal loans

3. Healthcare:
There is a huge demand for medical and health facilities in rural markets as there is large population in India that resides in Rural areas and lack proper facilities for proper health care. The availability and location of these services is of great concern as most of the areas either do not have any or many rural and remote areas needs to be dependent on very few and distantly located Hospitals.

4. Telecomm services:
Due to increased awareness and improved telecomm infrastructure across India, the demand for telecomm (Fixed and wireless) and internet services have increased drastically. Even the government’s policies for reduced tariffs, call rates, lesser mobile handset prices and private participation involvement has helped in increasing the level of competition, continuous improvement in technology and thus has resulted in the growth of the rural telecomm market. Hence the rural market has now become attractive and lucrative for many National and Global telecomm companies, who now are focusing more on this huge untapped market.

5. Automobiles Services:
There has been a huge increase in the number of two wheeler, four wheeler and Agricultural tools and vehicles in past few decades because of reduction in prices and government support to the rural population. This has give rise to a new business for providing maintenance and repair services to these vehicles with more attractive service quality, location and availability. This segment has huge potential in the upcoming trends of services to the rural markets.

6. T.V. Channels Services:
Due to the increased awareness, arenas of interest, leisure requirements, and number of entertainment options like televisions and computers due to reduced & affordable prices, the demand for entertainment services like T.V. entertainment channels have increased. This provides a huge potential for cable and Direct to Home services providers to tap the rural markets to meet their demands. Many companies have already gained profits by targeting rural markets which include Airtel (DISH TV), Reliance (BIG TV), and Tata (SKY).

7. Travel and reservation Services:
The travel and reservation booking and organizing services for booking train, busses, taxies and tour consultancy has also been observed to create a huge demand in last few decades as more and more rural population need to mobilize for business and personal needs. Hence these services hold a huge potential for service providers.

8. Low Cost Hotels:
Due to increased mobilization because of business and personal needs, there is also increased demand for hotel and lodging services to the travellers but majorly driven by the pricing of such services and facilities. Hence provide a great platform for the service providers to focus on these demands to capture a big untapped market.

9. Event Managements:
The rural population are majorly involved in celebrating and organizing festivals, which require lightning arrangements, venue decoration, food, lodging, transportation, catering and event planning etc. for:
i. Family gatherings, Marriages, engagements, birthday parties,etc.
ii. Festivals like Diwali, Onam,Christmas, lorhi, Eid, Dushera, Kannada Rajamahotsava, Navratri, Garba and Dandia mahotsava etc.
iii. Religious/Caste based events like poojas, various ceremonies, etc.
Hence these services also have great potential to meet the rural customer’s demand for even management.

10. Beauty Parlours:
As there has been major improvement in the quality of life style and increased awareness among the rural customers (especially females), there has been great demand observed for beauty products and services. A huge increase in the demand for FMCG products like shampoos, beauty soaps, beauty creams, cosmetics, etc. has also been observed lately in rural India. This market is still dominated by unorganized and local players who lack adequate tools, methods, skills, process, technology and beauty products to meet the demand of rural population. Hence focusing on this segment would be a profitable business for any company.

11. Affordable Movie theatres:
Till now the entertainment service providers for movie theatres at affordable prices in rural markets are dominated by local and unorganized players who lack proper facilities and infrastructure as well as quality delivered. Focusing on this market is a good profitable business

12. Educational and Career consultancy:
The rural markets lack adequate and quality educational services which are majorly catered by government agencies and bodies. But due to lack of proper infrastructure, expertise, knowledge, talent, funds and participation of the service provider, this sector is unable to meet the desired level of service expectation of the rural customer for career building. Hence there a great business opportunity for any company if it is able to fill this gap effectively and would also be imparting its social responsibility to the growth of the society and country.

With all the above mentioned arenas for Services in rural markets, there is a huge demand and growth opportunities that exists to be exploited by the companies which can make best market expansion and profitability by investing in Rural India.
7 P’s analysis of Rural and Urban Marketing

The most potential among all the above described services is the Rural Banking Service. Lets us examine this sector on the basis of difference between Rural and Urban markets on the grounds of 7 P’s of Marketing.

1. Product:
The Products (Services) provided to Rural customers differ from that of urban customers as rural segment have more demand for agricultural loans, lower limits for savings accounts, microfinance, lower amount of loans for education, automobiles, small & medium scale industry and personal loans. The duration for these loans, schemes and capacity also differs from that of urban customers.

2. Price:
The price of these services as expected by the rural customer is lesser as compared to urban customer due to the fact that income level as well as savings pattern of the rural customer are lesser. The risk appetite and affordability is also a matter of concern for the rural markets as they are lesser as compared to urban markets.

3. Place:
The place of availability is of very intense concern in rural markets due to lack of adequate and proper transportation facilities in rural India. The rural customers face major problems with the availability of service location in vicinity and thus are reluctant to derive benefits due to lack of travel support.

4. Promotions:
The promotional strategies in rural marketing needs to be more personalized and simple as compared to the urban markets which needs to reach more remote areas as rural markets lack more in means of communications and technology. The promotional tools also need to be customized according to the regional languages so that it clearly states the service details and benefits.

5. Physical evidence:
The physical evidence provided to the rural segment differ from that of the urban markets as they need to be more simple, colourful, artistic and personalized as most of the rural customers lack adequate education or low educational background and thus need to be clearly explained about the features and benefits of the services thus provided.

6. People:
The people and staff appointed for the service delivery for rural banking services needs to be properly selected, recruited and trained to properly understand the rural customer’s needs and requirements. They need to be made well aware of the regional, cultural, social, economic and technological needs of the customers. The employee involvement in the service delivery to the service (banking) sector is more in rural markets than urban markets as the employees need to constantly educate and assist the customers about the service process, price, product and simultaneously communicate the benefits as well as the precautions and risks involved with the services being offered.

7. Process:
The process of rural banking differs from that of urban banking sector as it needs to be more simple and thus less documentation involved and more customized as per the economic capacity of the customers. The process of banking in rural markets is observed to be more affected by the Government policies and rural customer psychology driven. Hence the process needs to be more frequently reviewed and flexible to accommodate the changes due to these factors. The process also need to be timely revived and revised to remove any complexity arising due to inclusion of new economic policies and changing demand & supply patterns.

Strategic recommendations for Rural Banking services

To enter into the Rural Markets, A global company needs to keep in mind the following Do’s and Dont’s before making strategic decisions about the Service quality:

Do’s for Rural Banking:

• The focus of the service quality should be customer driven and hence need to be customized as per the rural requirements of customers having low income group as major target group. Hence more of benefits driven by the customer from savings schemes should be included in the Services provided through accounts maintenance with the banks.
• The service providers should be clearly aware of the local languages, culture and behaviour of the rural customers. Thus the inclusion of local employees would be beneficial for the banks to deal effectively with the customers.
• The banks should be able to provide these banking services such as loan and microfinance services at lowest and most profitable interest rates with flexible and customized repayment options to the customers. The Bank need to clearly understand the best possible location for its setup and operations as the location and facility layout of the service provider plays a very significant role in rural banking because the rural areas do not have sufficient transport facilities like urban markets.
• The customers should be made aware clearly about the services provided by the bank through effective physical evidence and promotions that should be made as simple as possible to the rural customers to understand properly. The assistance should be provided regularly to the customers to educate them about the current as well as prospective facilities and benefits derived from the banking services provided.

Don’t’s for the Rural Banking:

• Do not put much focus on providing any complex and unessential services like corporate loans and credit card facilities as still the market demand for such services are much lesser as compared to other banking services.
• Do not use any illegal or unethical means for repayment of loans and other services as this would result in more of customer dissatisfaction and grievance which would harm the brand equity and image of the banking company
• Do not provide services to the customer before properly educating the customer about the details product and process of the service so as to avoid confusion and discrepancy.
• Do not focus on the short term profitability but the bank needs to focus on the building long term relationship with the customer by putting more concentration on:
o Service quality
o Service recovery
o Reach to the customer and building prospective future customers
o Improving market share
o Building Brand loyalty
o Providing new facilities as per the customer needs and requirements

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When Internet Marketing is becoming popular than why not E-Governance?

2010
08.09

E-Governance is :

? It is the use of a range of modern
Information and Communication.
?It uses Technologies such as Internet,Local Area Networks and mobiles.
? Internet used by Government to improve efficiency.

Why E-Governance is useful?

? It provides a common framework and direction
for the following Government policies.
? Across the public sector Organisations and institutions(G2G).
? Between Government and the Business Community(G2B).
? Between Government and Citizens(G2C).

Goal of E-Governance:

To make the Government more result oriented.

It enables citizens and outside world to access Government Services and Information as efficiently as possible through the use of Internet.

E-Governance comprises of : Citizens, Central Government, Local Government,Business NGO’s

Basic requirement of E-Governance components:

? Highland affordable Information and Internet Infrastructure within government ministries.
? Extensive ICT Human Capacity development in Government,Private sectors and citizens.
? Legal Framework that recognizes and supports digital communication.

3 PILLARS of E-Government Governance are:

LEADERSHIP:
Roles and responsibilities if senior management that shape strategic vision, culture, decision making process and plans for action.

ORGANIZATIONAL STRUCTURE:
Structure and form of relationships that support decision making,foster appropriate culture and marshal resources to execute the strategy.

PROCESS MANAGEMENT:
Management of activities including leadership and decision making processes, performance measurement, and changes to operational processes.

Use of IT for governance of Civic Services:

Reasons for e-government are in the following lines:-

? Efficiency
Service Quality
Policy outcomes
Economic Objectives
Public reform
Trust

Challenges to E-Governance:
? Limited time to plan.
? Lengthy process for Legal Framework to support E-Governance.
? Insufficient telecommunication infrastructure to support E-Governance.
? Unaffordable Internet services for private sector and citizens.

How does e governance cope with it?

TRIED & TESTED

Technology tends to get obsolete fast. And government may not be in a position to buy new servers every other year. It is better and safer to use tried and tested technologies and products for longer periods of time than the latest, bleeding edge ones. It is not for nothing that old banks still run their mainframe based applications, and keep maintaining them at huge costs. 

TERRAIN

Corporate networks reside on reliable and controlled networks. Governance networks have to go into all sorts of inhospitable areas. It is going to be prohibitively costly to wire up all villages in the country. So, governance systems will have to use wireless networks like existing cellular networks to reach the applications into remote areas irrespective of the terrain.

PERMANENCY

Enterprise data has a limited lifespan, of maybe a maximum of twenty or thereabout years. Banks go longer, but governance systems have to retain data and the transaction trail for time immemorial. A good example is land records, where we already have more than a century’s worth of mutation information. 

LANGUAGE

Enterprise applications in India are written in English; and so are the e-governance applications. If e-governance has to gain mass acceptance, then that has to change.

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Anybody can answer this??

2010
08.09

Puzzle For the Week-Hat “Tricks ” II (For “brainy” people)

Now there are five caps. Two black and three white. While the trio is made to wear one cap each, the remaining two caps are thrown into the ladies hostel.

Sachin who is the last in the line, is given the first chance. He says pensively “I don’t know”. Saakshi, next in the line also gives the same answer. Now the onus is on Saurav. He thinks for a while and comes out with the correct reply. How has he done it?

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Some guidelines that Azim Premji followed and we must also follow!!

2010
08.09

AZIM PREMJI Speaks…..,

My own successes and setbacks along the way have taught me some lessons. I wish to share them with you and hope you will find them useful.

#1: Be careful to ask what you want. You may get it.
What this means is that do not ask too little either of yourself or the others around you. What you ask is what you get. When I look back at the time when I joined Wipro at 21, I did not know if Wipro would grow so huge by someday; but neither did I think it would not. We constantly stretched ourselves to higher and higher targets. Sometimes, it seemed possible, sometimes fanciful and sometimes plain insane. But we never stopped raising limits. And we got a lot more than what we bargained for.

# 2: Respond, don’t react
Always be aware of your emotions and learn to manage them. There is a huge difference between people who react impulsively and those who can disengage themselves and then respond at will. By choosing to respond differently, we can prevent another person from controlling our behaviour.
I remember a small story that illustrates this well. There was once a newspaper vendor who had a rude Customer. Every morning, the Customer would walk by, refuse to return the greeting, grab the paper off the shelf and throw the money at the vendor. The vendor would pick up the money, smile politely and say, “Thank you, Sir.” One day, the vendor’s assistant asked him, “Why are you always so polite with him when he is so rude to you? Why don’t you throw the newspaper at him when he comes back tomorrow?” The vendor smiled and replied, “He can’t help being rude and I can’t help being polite. Why should I let his rude behavior dictate mine?

# 3: Intuitions are important for making decisions
It is important to realize that our intuition is a very important part of decision making. Many things are recorded by our subconscious. Use both sides of the brain. Even that is not enough. Some decisions need the use of the heart as well. When you use your mind and heart together, you may get a completely new and creative answer.

# 4: Learn to work in teams

The challenges ahead are so complex that no individual will be able to face them alone. While most of our education is focused in individual strength, teaming with others is equally important. You cannot fire a missile from a canoe. Unless you build a strong network of people with complimentary skills, you will be restricted by your own limitations.

Globalisation has brought people of different origins, different upbringing and different cultures together. Ability to become an integral part of a cross-cultural team will be a must for your success.

#5: Never lose your zest and curiosity
All the available knowledge in the world is accelerating at a phenomenal rate. The whole world’s codified knowledge base (all documented information in library books and electronic files) doubled every 30 years in the early 20th century. By the 1970s, the world’s knowledge base doubled every seven years. Information researchers predict that by the year 2010, the world’s codified knowledge will double every 11 hours. Remaining on top of what you need to know will become one of the greatest challenges for you.
The natural zest and curiosity for learning is one of the greatest drivers for keeping updated on knowledge. A child’s curiosity is insatiable because every new object is a thing of wonder and mystery. The same zest is needed to keep learning new things. I personally spend at least 10 hours every week on reading. If I do not do that, I will find myself quickly outdated.

# 6: Put yourself first
This does not mean being selfish. Nor does it mean that you must become so full of yourself that that you become vain or arrogant. It means developing your self confidence. It means, developing an inner faith in yourself that is not shaken by external events. It requires perseverance. It shows up in the ability to rebound from a setback with double enthusiasm and energy. I came across a recent Harvard Business review which describes this very effectively:
“No one can truly define success and failure for us- only we can define that for ourselves. No one can take away our dignity unless we surrender it. No one can take away our hope and pride unless we relinquish them. No one can steal our creativity, imagination and skills unless we stop thinking. No one can stop us from rebounding unless we give up.”
And there is no way we can take care of others, unless we take care of ourselves.

# 7: Have a broader social vision
While there is every reason to be excited about the future, we must not forget that we will face many challenges as well. By 2015, we will have 829 million strong work force. That will make India home to 18% of global working-age population. The key challenge is to transform that into a globally competitive work-force.
This will not be an easy task. Despite all the rapid economic expansion seen in recent years, job growth in India still trails the rise in working-age population. It is important that gains are spread across this spectrum, so that the divide between the employed and the under-employed, is minimized. Education is a crucial enabler that can make this growth as equitable as possible.

# 8: Play to win
Playing to win is not the same as playing dirty. It is not about winning all the time or winning at any cost. Playing to win is having the intensity to stretch to the maximum and bringing our best foot forward. Winning means focusing on the game. The score board tells you where you are going, but don’t concentrate too much on it. If you can focus on the ball, the scores will move by themselves.
I recently came across this story that I thought I would share with you
A group of alumni, highly established in their careers, got together to visit their old university professor. Conversation soon turned into complaints about stress in work and life. Offering his guests coffee, the professor went into the kitchen. He returned with a large pot of coffee and an assortment of cups: porcelain, plastic, glass, crystal- some plain looking, some expensive, some exquisite – and asked them to help themselves to coffee.
When all the students had a cup of coffee in hand, the professor said: “If you noticed, all the nice looking expensive cups were taken up, leaving behind the plain and cheap ones. While it is normal for you to want only the best for yourselves, you were more concerned about comparing your cups but what you really wanted was coffee. Yet you spent all your time eyeing each other’s cups.
Now if life is coffee, then the jobs, money and position in society are the cups. They are just tools to contain Life, but cannot really change the quality of Life. Sometimes, by over concentrating on the cup, we fail to enjoy the coffee.”

I wish you all every success in your career and your life.
Azim Premji

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Brand Strategy that Brittania used to promote Good day

2010
08.09

Britannia Industries Limited has chalked out an umbrella branding strategy for `GoodDay’. As a first step in this direction, the company rebranded its Merricake range of small cakes and relaunched the same under the Britannia GoodDay name in January this year. The company plans to further grow the number of product offerings under the GoodDay name. It has already launched GoodDay Plum Cake priced at Rs 35 for a 300 gm pack.

GoodDay is one of Britannia’s stronger sub-brands with a variety of offerings in the cookies segment of the Rs 2,000-crore Indian branded biscuits market.
“The decision emanates from consumer research conducted late last year which highlighted tremendous potential for the GoodDay brand equity and its extension possibility to other categories,” says product manager Britannia Industries Limited, Somesh Dayal, commenting on the fresh strategy for the GoodDay sub-brand.

The GoodDay basket of small cakes address a variety of price points- including convenient packs priced at Rs 5.00 to larger packs priced at Rs 20. In the future the company will grow the GoodDay basket of goodies with the addition of new products with rich ingredients from time to time. With the GoodDay range of cakes the company is looking at growing the nascent branded cakes market in the country. Only one third of the small cake market is in the organised segment, say analysts. Cakes currently contribute about two per cent to the Britannia’s turnover.

The company enjoys a 25 per cent share of the market. The small cake market is however dominated by Monginis with a 40 per cent market share. This despite the fact that Monginis, as opposed to Britannia, is present in Western India only.

All Britannia products share the common communication platform of `Eat healthy, think better.’ However, sub-brands have developed distinct values and target audiences-for example, the Nutri-Choice range of biscuits which drives heavily from the `health’ plank. GoodDay will hence be positioned on the `source of richness’ platform. Says Dayal,“GoodDay will stand for a brand with rich ingredients, offering taste and eating pleasure.” GoodDay offers three variants of cookies in the branded biscuits market currently.
Britannia Industries leads in the Indian branded biscuits market – which are the revenue drivers for the Rs 824 crore company. Rival Parle Foods Limited is currently number two in this market with around 38 per cent market share.

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Globalization in the perspective of business

2010
08.09

There are competing definitions of globalization, some favorable and others less so. From the perspective of business, it is a process of worldwide economic integration. A more broad perspective describes the process through which culture is diffused throughout the world as a result of various forces including trade, travel, and communications. In some cases, the term is often used without clear definition. For example, Ramesh Diwan, professor of economics at Renssalaer Polytechnic Institute, says, “Globalization has become a buzz word.” He continues, “Like other similar buzz words, such as sustainable development, it is rarely defined but used to promote arguments favoring business interests.” Therefore, an introduction to the topic requires a working definition.
The Turin European Council calls economic globalization one of the major challenges facing the European Union. The Council defines globalization as a process of worldwide economic integration based on three forces:

• The liberalization of international trade and capital movements
• Accelerating technological process and the advent of the information society
• Deregulation through withdrawal of the state from specified areas of economic activity.
Businesses want to know what it means for a company to globalize, and they ask several kinds of questions. First, is there something fundamentally different about doing business globally as compared to established business practices? Second, will globalization require different practices in the future as compared to today? Third, what products and services will firms need as they globalize?
Meanwhile, globalization involves more than economics. Cultural globalization involves the spread of language, products, and customs as people intermingle. In some cases, cultural perspectives literally involve love and gene pools as people from around the world intermarry.

A third facet of globalization involves government and international organizations. Nation states have created supranational organizations such as the European Union and the World Trade Organization. Such organizations, in turn, include new rules of law and international bodies charged with enforcement of those laws. Further, governments of single nations are changing their outlooks as a result of globalization.
Globalization means different things to every nation of the world and cannot be discussed fully in a short essay. Therefore, this discussion provides only an introduction to several facets of globalization. First, the forces behind globalization are outlined. Second, examples of global businesses are given along with discussion of characteristics they share. Third, the results of globalization are discussed. Finally, there is a brief introduction to issues arising from globalization that must be addressed as we enter the 21st century.

THE FORCES BEHIND GLOBALIZATION
Business firms want to globalize in order to expand their markets, increase sales, and increase profits. Free trade agreements facilitate those activities and promote economic globalization. Such agreements vary in scope. Some are bilateral such as the U.S.-Canada Free Trade Agreement and the U.S.-Israel Free Trade Agreement. Others are multilateral and regional such as the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), Mercosur (including Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay, and Uruguay as full members and Chile as an associate member), and the 18-member Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation Group (APEC). The European Union (EU) goes further by creating a supranational government. And the World Trade Organization (WTO) includes more than 120 nations from around the world. These agreements and organizations are facilitating economic integration on a regional and worldwide basis.

Trade agreements facilitate the activities of major companies. For example, Ford Motor Company is working to create a “world car” that can be sold and used throughout the “global village.” Trade agreements facilitate distribution systems, franchising, joint ventures, and other cross-border collaborations between and among businesses. Coca-Cola and Pepsi-Cola are sold in hundreds of countries throughout the world. Franchises for McDonald’s hamburgers, Pizza Hut, Subway, Burger King, and others carry U.S. trade names as well as U.S.-style fast foods (and fast eating styles) throughout the world.

One of the major forces facilitating such globalization is the expansion of communication systems. During the final decades of the 20th century, the Internet globalized communications. One document can be distributed throughout the world in seconds. Using computer software, that document can be converted quickly to various languages for use almost anywhere in world. Telecommunications systems allow radio and television transmissions to be broadcast throughout the world within seconds. For example, the Cable News Network (CNN), based in the United States, produces 24-hour news broadcasts that can be seen around the world by traveling businesspeople and others. CNN’s 24-hour coverage of the Persian Gulf War in 1991 established the network as one that serves global audiences. It is not viewed as “foreign” when it broadcasts to and from countries other than the United States.

EXAMPLES OF GLOBALIZED BUSINESSES
There is no established definition of the “global” business, but it is helpful to look at companies that operate on a worldwide basis to try to identify characteristics that show how their outlook and operations are global. One group of researchers identified and studied how the following large companies are responding to the forces of globalization: Banque National’ de Paris; Canon; CSX; Electrolux, JCB; Pirelli; Royal Trust; TNT Express Worldwide; and Waste Management, Inc. That study identified four common characteristics of global companies. First, activities such as marketing, manufacturing, logistics, and research and development are approached based on a holistic, worldwide plan. Second, the global company does not confine itself within boundaries; its headquarters is, ideally, transparent to customers. Third, global business adjusts its business to meet the needs of local customers; cultural diversity and understanding are crucial. Fourth, the company strives to balance an integrated, global system with the need to be sensitive to local needs.
The automobile industry provides excellent examples of the globalization of business. Toyota (a Japanese firm) manufactures its Camry model in the United States. Major U.S. automobile firms have all formed alliances with Asian or European firms. GM is allied with Toyota and Saab; Ford has alliances with Mazda, Jaguar, and Volvo; and Chrysler has joined forces with a European company to become Daimler Chrysler.

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Airtel inks five-year sponsorship deal with the Red Devils- The way of promotion

2010
08.06

The largest cellular service provider of India, Bharti Airtel has inked multi-million dollar sponsorship deal with the Old Trafford, Greater Manchester based Manchester United Football Club, nicknamed as “The Red Devils”. The Indian telecom giant and the English football club have confirmed the 10m pound ($15m) sponsorship deal.
The telecom giant and the football club announced the five-year sponsorship deal on Friday in the presence of celebrated soccer starts, like Wayne Rooney, Carlos Tevez and Darren Fletcher of MUC. Airtel and ManUtd disclosed that there will be revenue sharing between them, but declined to disclose further details of the deal.
In a statement, the Deputy CEO, Bharti Airtel, Sanjay Kapoor stated that seeing the growing popularity of Football in the young population in India, the company is making a pioneering effort to deliver rich football content on the mobiles for the Airtel subscribers. The service will allow the the Airtel subscribers to watch and enjoy football matches across Europe.
The Chief Executive of Manchester United, David Gill stated that the football club feels proud to enter into partnership deal with Bharti Airtel. The partnership will deliver “the action and passion of Manchester United directly to the millions of fans of Manchester United across India and other Asian countries”.
Gill said that he knows that cricket is the top game of the moment in India, but he is delighted to know that football is most popular after cricket and its fan following is growing among the youth
The deal between Airtel and ManUtd will allow the Airtel subscribers in India, Sri Lanka and the Seychelles to view the Red Devils’ content including matches and interviews on their mobile phones. Airtel currently has about 100 million subscribers; in February 2009, the company claimed that it has more than 92 million subscribers. The football fans could also get an opportunity of training at one of the Manchester United Soccer Schools run at Hong Kong, Seattle, Toronto and Dubai.
Bharti Airtel is the first Indian company to ink sponsorship deal with one of the world’s richest football clubs Manchester United. Last year, Bharti Airtel revealed its plans of opening a football academy, with Rs 100 crore investment, to make India participate in the Football World Cup 2018. The Manchester United has great fan following in India; the club has estimated 12 millions fans in India, while the club has 330 million all over the world.

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