Showing posts with label iipm publication. Show all posts
Showing posts with label iipm publication. Show all posts

Wednesday, June 5, 2013

How to serve the unbanked!

We need new banking systems that work for the poor

The last time that licences were given out for setting up private banks in India was way back in 2004. The Reserve Bank of India, vide its guidelines on February 22, 2013, has once again got the ball rolling on the issue of allowing entry of private banks into the Rs.73 trillion banking sector. It is hoped that more banks in the country would lead to the government achieving its target of providing access to financial services for the entire bankable population. With 720 million potential users still remaining outside the banking framework, there is a huge gap that the banking industry could help to bridge.

But deepening of financial inclusion requires providing access to services and credit to a large number of highly dispersed and often remotely located individuals and agents. This raises transaction costs significantly, which if passed on to clients in the form of higher interest rates would price banks operating in rural areas out of the market. The billion rupee question is: Will the new bank entrants be willing to run the gauntlet and serve the objectives of financial inclusion even at the cost of taking a hit to their bottom line?

As private banks cannot justify on commercial grounds the business model that allows them to deal with the triple whammy of low savings balances, small transaction sizes and a large number of customers, they will typically pull back their physical presence in rural areas to discourage the custom of poor. But to ensure that the objective of financial inclusion is met, it is essential that poor people are ensured of low-cost ways of transacting. The ability to undertake remote transactions is therefore a key element of financial accessibility.

To achieve universal banking access, new banking systems are needed that work for the poor and yet are commercially sustainable. Will the new licensees be able to meet these requirements?


Source : IIPM Editorial, 2013.
An Initiative of IIPM, Malay Chaudhuri
For More IIPM Info, Visit below mentioned IIPM articles
2012 : DNA National B-School Survey 2012
Ranked 1st in International Exposure (ahead of all the IIMs)
Ranked 6th Overall
Zee Business Best B-School Survey 2012
Prof. Arindam Chaudhuri’s Session at IMA Indore
IIPM IN FINANCIAL TIMES, UK. FEATURE OF THE WEEK
IIPM strong hold on Placement : 10000 Students Placed in last 5 year
BBA Management Education
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Friday, May 10, 2013

Saving a crippled telecom infrastructure. Tough task.

With demand for high-speed Internet on the rise, optical fibres appear the only medium that can provide relief. But there are bottlenecks. Worse, the failure to execute a pan-India fiber optic installation plan can lead to a disastrous outcome

Another comparison with China. And a parameter that would be of interest to netizens – speed of broadband Internet. According to a 2012 ‘State of the Internet’ report by Akamai Technologies, the average broadband speed of Internet in India is 0.95 Mbps, while that in China is 2.1 Mbps. Even Philippines, Vietnam and a host of other countries that you would term “Third World” record Internet speeds far greater than in India. And since we are already talking comparisons, Asian countries like Japan and South Korea are years ahead of India with 10.5 Mbps and 14.7 Mbps of average Internet speeds respectively. What is interesting about these numbers is that ISPs in China, Japan and South Korea have been delivering over 2 Mbps of connectivity speed for over a decade now! And India? Thanks to 40 million copper loops (last mile connectivity count as per TRAI) spread across India and owned mostly by State-run telcos MTNL or BSNL (of which only 50% can support even 1 Mbps of Internet transfer), except for rare glimpses of real broadband connectivity, Internet users (on various devices including tablets and mobiles) in the country are still feeding on “pseudo-broadband” connections! The advent of fiber optics can however improve the situation. But given the current ecosystem, fiber optics in India appears a thing of the future.

The Delhi metro rail is an example of how optical fibers can infuse efficiency into a process. To ensure on-schedule running of trains and minimum waiting time for millions of users every day, the system works on a high speed optical fibre network that was set up at an initial cost of Rs.200 million a decade back (the network connects all the spoke servers at various stations to the central server at Shastri Park station). What if such a highly efficient fiber optic-enabled communication network was made available to everyday mobile phone or Internet users sitting at work or home? Greater voice clarity, better TV viewing experience and faster data transfer would change the experiences of millions of users of telecommunication devices in the country.

Lack of infrastructure is the reason why such experiences would be hard to come by for the average Indian, for at least the next decade. Some refer to coaxial fibers or wireless technologies as alternatives. At present, coaxial fibers used by cable operators (serving 80 million households across India) are not capable of carrying high bandwidth digital signals. There is much data loss and disturbance during signal transfers on coaxial fibers. Of the thousands of operators of cable TV across India, less than 7% have the expertise or pockets to make coaxial fibers ready for two-way data transfer (a necessity for high-speed transfers). As for wireless technology, 3G or 4G wireless technologies are an option. However, experiences in the past two years have made clear that additional spectrum (needed by telecom operators to serve the broadband needs of millions of customers) isn’t an asset that can be bought for a song. As per TRAI, in Delhi alone, on average, ‘each’ wireless operator would need about 300 MHz of spectrum to meet broadband connectivity demands – 1400% more than the ‘total’ spectrum allocated in the 2010 auctions. Therefore wireless mode is not a practical alternative to fiber optics. It is also important to note that when compared on the basis of loss of data, fibre optics is the best medium. Copper or coaxial cables are not reliable when transmitting data over long distances. These mediums require repeaters at regular intervals to ensure data reaches the intended destination, adding to the cost of equipment required to install a reliable system. On the contrary, fibre cables can transmit data over very long distances without the aid of repeaters.


Source : IIPM Editorial, 2013.
An Initiative of IIPM, Malay Chaudhuri
 
For More IIPM Info, Visit below mentioned IIPM articles

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Saturday, May 4, 2013

The fading magic of Nitish Kumar

The Bihar CM’s second term has been nothing short of turbulent. However, he refuses to accept that the people of the state are angry. With promises on investments and an improved power scenario not delivered, will Nitish’s arrogance prove costly?

The magic of Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar seems to have started fading gradually in the second term of his regime. Against tall claims of the ruling government, the ground realities don’t augur well for the state. The poor law and order situation and the red-tape that has marked his present term has had an adverse impact to the extent that investors have already started rethinking on their proposals to set up industrial units in Bihar. The recent spate of unnecessary violence in Madhubani district is a glaring example of the shambles that law and order in the state is currently in.

In the first phase of NDA rule in the state, Bihar had acquired considerable attention throughout the country and even abroad for its remarkable performance in the improvement of law and order and other successful experiments like speedy trials, fast-track courts and prompt action against criminal activities. But the situation has changed faster than expected. Take the example of the much-touted Adhikar Yatra that was recently undertaken by Nitish. The escalating resentment of the people has become so evident that the CM was greeted with slippers, black flags, stone-pelting and anti-government slogans. The people’s anger forced Nitish to give up the Yatra and he has also refrained from participating in meetings in Ara and Buxar. No other prominent leader has hitherto faced such resentment in the state. Skeptics point out that his arrogance and absolute disregard for popular sentiment lie at the root of the quandary.

On a recent visit to the state, Markandey Katju, Chairperson of the Press Council of India, attacked the Chief Minister for the poor law and order situation in the state. In a programme organised by the Director General of Police (DGP) in Patna, Katju, a man known for not mincing his words, said while referring to public angst during the Adhikar Yatra, “He (Nitish) is shying away from facing his own people. The CM had been living in an illusion and is not doing any introspection for things gone wrong.” The reactions that followed warrant even more attention. After listening to the attack on the government made by Katju; the DGP, along with several other bureaucrats, chose to leave the function midway. The organisers disowned Katju’s speech later on and tagged it as ‘unwarranted’.

Moreover, political analysts feel that Nitish’s prime ministerial ambitions and his engagement in national politics have taken prominence at a time when the state is in dire need of Nitish, the administrator. After all, Nitish’s first term was marked by a show of guts and courage and a solemn promise to deliver on the administrative front. However, he now chooses to stay busy in yatras rather than delivering on promises of economic upliftment.

There was a time when industrialists were making a beeline for investing in Bihar. But the manner in which companies like Adani Power & Essar have given up on their proposed plans in the state is not very encouraging. Investors are realising, for instance, that chances of improvement in the power scenario are quite bleak and wonder how industry would function in this milieu. Recently, State Bank of India Chairman Pratip Chaudhuri also insisted that the Bihar Government must cater to outstanding land and power issues to encourage investors.


Source : IIPM Editorial, 2013.
An Initiative of IIPM, Malay Chaudhuri
 
For More IIPM Info, Visit below mentioned IIPM articles

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Tuesday, April 30, 2013

Global oil market update 2012

It seems that Price rise has stopped having a negative impact on demand, at least that’s what’s happening in the oil sector. Despite rising retail prices, demand for oil has strengthened in 2012, mostly driven by overwhelming Chinese consumption. On the supply side, though the non-opec producers have fallen short, opec has filled the gap to maintain a smooth flow.

China rules the day
Global oil demand is expected to remain strong in the second quarter of 2012. This demand growth is primarily driven by accelerating non-OCED income, which has almost negated the adverse impact of higher oil prices. Region wise, oil consumption is expected to shrink in Europe and North America. And the reasons are obvious. While Europe is struggling to get its debt loaded countries out of the trap, North America is still to come out of the aftermaths of the 2008 recession. Hence, economic activity in both these regions is bound to be disappointing. On the other hand, consumption in Asia-Pacific is expected to hold on to strong growth. More so, for the overwhelming Chinese demand. China is expected to maintain its dominance in 2012, by consuming as much as 9.9 mb/d, a growth of 0.4 mb/d y-o-y.

Gasoline drives demand
Global demand for oil grew about 0.3% year-on-year in the first quarter of 2012. Average demand during this period remained at 89.5 mb/day. However, marginally improved economic activity in various parts of the world is expected to give another 0.7% y-o-y push to the oil demand during the second quarter. In total, global oil demand is expected to expand by 0.8 mb/d or 0.9% in 2012 to 90 mb/d. What’s good for the oil producers is the fact that the demand growth is expected despite a 15% rise in global crude prices during the year. This demand growth is mostly anchored by gasoline and diesel. Having fallen to around 80 kb/d last year, gasoline demand is forecasted to expand by 180 kb/d in 2012, as it continues to replace diesel and petrol.


Source : IIPM Editorial, 2013.
An Initiative of IIPM, Malay Chaudhuri
 
For More IIPM Info, Visit below mentioned IIPM articles
 
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Thursday, April 25, 2013

The enemy within

The BJP is in the throes of virulent factionalism with state satraps pitted against central leaders. Can they get their act together in time?

The story of little known Kuljeet Singh Chahal is symptomatic of how the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) continues to sideline potentially popular leaders in favour of its nominated oligarchs. It also provides an insight into the faction ridden ways of the saffron brotherhood and why the party hasn’t yet emerged a serious contender for the 2014 sweepstakes.

Chahal’s entry into politics came through the Delhi University campus. His talent was spotted quite early by party leaders and by the time he was aged 27, he became BJP’s youngest district president in Mayur Vihar. During the last Delhi Assembly elections, he wanted to contest from Vishwasnagar and that is where his troubles began. His claims were overlooked in favour of O. P. Sharma, political adviser to BJP’s Rajya Sabha MP and Leader of Opposition Arun Jaitley. Chahal was then nominated as Secretary of the Delhi unit of BJP but subsequently embroiled in a fake case after which he was sacked.

Scores of young and upcoming leaders have similarly been sacrificed at the altar of factional politics engineered by top leaders, which, in turn, threatens to gnaw at the very foundations of the party. Most media discussions, which focus on the roles of the BJP state satraps – B. S. Yeddyurappa, B. C. Khanduri, Vasundhara Raje Scindia & Narendra Modi – miss the larger picture: the ongoing, no-holds barred tussle between the BJP central leadership and its popular Chief Ministers (CMs), who may lack the elan in stylish TV debates, but more than make up for it with their mass support in the states. Says A. P. S. Chauhan, professor and head of the department of political science at the Gwalior-based Jivaji University, “The battle of attrition between central leaders and popularly elected ones is three decades old... For the BJP, it means real trouble.’’

Top central leaders of the party are too squeamish about contesting elections and prefer safe passage into the Rajya Sabha. The ones who win can only do so if they have the support of the state leaders. In fact, one of the frontrunners for the Prime Minister’s chair, Arun Jaitley, is also from the Rajya Sabha. Sushma Swaraj, Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha, had to go as far as Vidisha in Madhya Pradesh to win an election with the support of CM Shivraj Singh Chauhan. L. K. Advani is dependent on Gujarat CM Narendra Modi to pull his political chestnuts out of the Gandhinagar fire, while Murli Manohar Joshi and Rajnath Singh have had to change constituencies to avoid defeat.

Public statements by Yeddyurappa, Vasundhara Raje and Gujarat veteran Keshubhai Patel make no bones about vicious infighting within the party rank and file. State-level leaders, often at the receiving end of central diktats, have had enough. Top BJP leaders well ensconced in their air conditioned rooms in Delhi are hell bent on putting mass leaders in their place, even if it seriously damages the party’s poll prospects.


Source : IIPM Editorial, 2013.
An Initiative of IIPM, Malay Chaudhuri
For More IIPM Info, Visit below mentioned IIPM articles
 
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Friday, April 19, 2013

Doing business 2012

Enabling private sector growth and ensuring that poor people can participate in its benefits are objectives that require a regulatory environment where new entrants with good ideas, regardless of their gender or ethnic origin, can start businesses with ease and where firms can invest and grow, generating more jobs. The countries which can provide this turn out to be the best places to do business

Reforms are the order of the day

Over the past year Sub-Saharan Africa has seen a sea change in terms of regulatory environment to make it easier for domestic firms to start up and operate. In a region where relatively little attention was paid to the regulatory environment only eight years ago, regulatory reforms making it easier to do business were implemented in 36 of 46 economies between June 2010 and May 2011. That represents 78% of economies in the region, compared to 56% over the previous six years. Globally in 2010-11, governments in 125 economies implemented 245 institutional and regulatory reforms as measured by Doing Business – 13% more than in the previous year. This shift has been particularly pronounced in low- and lower-middle-income economies, where 43% of all reforms were recorded.

Africa turns the heat on asia

Globally, more efficient regulatory processes often go hand in hand with stronger legal institutions and property rights protections. OECD high-income economies, by a large margin, have the world’s most business-friendly environment on both dimensions. On the other hand, economies in Sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia are most likely to have both weaker legal institutions and more complex regulatory processes. However, some regions break away from the general trend. One is the Middle East and North Africa, a region where reform efforts over the past six years have focused mainly on simplifying regulation. Today economies in the region often combine relatively weaker legal institutions with relatively more efficient regulatory processes.


Source : IIPM Editorial, 2013.
An Initiative of IIPM, Malay Chaudhuri
For More IIPM Info, Visit below mentioned IIPM articles
 
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Monday, April 15, 2013

“All we are asking for is a level playing field”

KOSHY K. VARGHESE, EXECUTIVE VICE PRESIDENT – MARKETING, MRF LTD.

B&E: MRF has become the first Indian tyre company to cross the turnover of Rs.100 billion in one year. In fact, the company has registered growth in excess of 30% during the financial year ending September 30, 2011. So, how do you plan to keep pace with the rising demand in the near future, both in the aftermarket and from OEMs (original equipment manufacturers)?
Koshy K. Varghese (KKV): We have been growing at a CAGR of over 30% for the last two years, and Rs.100 billion turnover is something we are really proud of, because we are the first Indian tyre company to achieve this. However, this fiscal might not be as good as the last one, primarily because the raw material prices have gone up sharply over the last one year. As far as rising demand is concerned, the company has been investing Rs.9-10 billion annually in new plants for the last few years. In fact, we are in the process of setting up a new plant with an investment of Rs.8 billion in Trichy which will start operations by early 2012. Post the commercial operation, this new plant in Tamil Nadu will add 15% to the overall turnover of the company.

B&E: MRF is reportedly considering several overseas acquisition options. Is the decision triggered by the rising prices of raw materials in the country?
KKV: We may look at acquiring plants outside India. We have not come across anything as yet. If we do get we will definitely acquire. But it will not be just to offset the rising costs of raw materials. We are looking at it as a tool to increase our turnover. Further, as a company which has a global footprint – today exports are about 10% of our total sales – it is good to a look at options of having manufacturing bases outside the country. Therefore, we will definitely go for an acquisition if a good opportunity comes up. But it has to make business sense and fit into our overall strategy.


Source : IIPM Editorial, 2012.
An Initiative of IIPM, Malay Chaudhuri
 
For More IIPM Info, Visit below mentioned IIPM articles
 
2012 : DNA National B-School Survey 2012
Ranked 1st in International Exposure (ahead of all the IIMs)
Ranked 6th Overall
Zee Business Best B-School Survey 2012
Prof. Arindam Chaudhuri’s Session at IMA Indore
IIPM IN FINANCIAL TIMES, UK. FEATURE OF THE WEEK
IIPM strong hold on Placement : 10000 Students Placed in last 5 year
IIPM’s Management Consulting Arm-Planman Consulting
Professor Arindam Chaudhuri – A Man For The Society….
IIPM: Indian Institute of Planning and Management
IIPM makes business education truly global
Management Guru Arindam Chaudhuri
Rajita Chaudhuri-The New Age Woman
IIPM B-School Facebook Page
IIPM Global Exposure
IIPM Best B School India
IIPM B-School Detail
IIPM Links
IIPM : The B-School with a Human Face
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“We support choice & are platform agnostic”

B&E: You have recently announced the launched of Samsung Galaxy Note, a hybrid between a smartphone and a tablet. Such products haven’t really caught up in India as of yet. What make you sure of its success?
Ranjit Yadav (RY): We don’t look at Samsung Galaxy Note as a hybrid product; we have created a new category of devices. It has a smart-pen built in, which allows you to create and capture content in ways much more different than then before. This is meant for a person on the go, who can purchase this one device where he can do all his activities together, whether it’s consumption of content, portability and creation and sharing of content. So he doesn’t need to reach for his phone, MP3 player, tablet or notebook; all at the same time. This one core device can do all the disparate things of these separate devices. It has a built in Stylus, which can help in doing so many things: you can paint, write, take notes, create or capture. Within a year, we want to sell one million units of Samsung Galaxy Note.

B&E: Are you working on a converged ecosystem for Samsung products, because as you know Apple which is strong in the mobility space, is planning to launch its own television soon, which is being talked about as a strongly conversed product. Even companies like RIM have a similar strategy. What is Samsung doing in this regard?
RY: Convergence with digitisation and connectivity pipes being available is a reality. It plays very well into our plans, as our products are best suited for a converged world. Many of our devices like Galaxy Note are excellent examples of convergence devices. Similarly, in television, we have smart television. We have, as an example, a function called “All Share”, where you can share all your applications across devices. It starts from our basic central theme that we want to give consumers choice; we don’t want to choose for them. We believe they are smart and know what they want. So we will bring best in class in every aspect we can. So we have supported the Android platform, we also have our own Bada platform and we also have products on the Windows platform. We support choice, and are agnostic to platforms. And that’s our strength; we can work on multiple platforms, and bring out innovative products.

B&E: You have become the largest tablet player in India. However, the real challenge seems to be reaching out to the sub-10K tablet space that is increasingly getting crowded. What are your plans for the same?
RY: The tablet category is new, and it’s still about creation of a category here. So we are working on that front. Our emphasis is on creating the category, educating consumers, and getting the usage going. We first focus on the consumer experience, and with time and when technology costs allow us; because technology has this particular advantage with economies of scale, you can bring down costs.


Source : IIPM Editorial, 2012.
An Initiative of IIPM, Malay Chaudhuri
 
For More IIPM Info, Visit below mentioned IIPM articles
 
2012 : DNA National B-School Survey 2012
Ranked 1st in International Exposure (ahead of all the IIMs)
Ranked 6th Overall
Zee Business Best B-School Survey 2012
Prof. Arindam Chaudhuri’s Session at IMA Indore
IIPM IN FINANCIAL TIMES, UK. FEATURE OF THE WEEK
IIPM strong hold on Placement : 10000 Students Placed in last 5 year
IIPM’s Management Consulting Arm-Planman Consulting
Professor Arindam Chaudhuri – A Man For The Society….
IIPM: Indian Institute of Planning and Management
IIPM makes business education truly global
Management Guru Arindam Chaudhuri
Rajita Chaudhuri-The New Age Woman
IIPM B-School Facebook Page
IIPM Global Exposure
IIPM Best B School India
IIPM B-School Detail
IIPM Links
IIPM : The B-School with a Human Face
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Thursday, April 4, 2013

Truth Vs. Statistical Truth

The Controversy over NSSO’s self Contradictory Unemployment data not only has Highlighted The Drawbacks in The survey, but has also raised a finger at Policymakers who, for The First time, questioned the same.

Soon after the results of the 66th Round of the National Sample Survey Organisation (relating to data collected in FY2009-10) were declared, it became the subject of a huge controversy and debate. In an apparent change in the scheme of affairs, the controversy this time around was spurred not by the usual critics of the government and its statistical system, but from within the government circles itself. Deputy Chairperson of the Planning Commission Montek Singh Ahluwalia slammed the National Sample Survey Organisation (NSSO) report for indicating fall in both employment and unemployment rates at the same time. He ended up claiming that there has been a ‘gross misrepresentation’ of the NSSO data. And the whole system, rather than questioning the priors, decided that the data must be wrong, and the NSSO was reprimanded for its ‘faulty’ investigative methods – something that had been accepted without question and with a lot of pride on many occasions in the past decade or so.

The controversy began when the NSSO, in its survey report titled ‘Employment and Unemployment in India’ (which was conducted between July 2009 and June 2010 and included a sample of over 1,00,000 households), found that employment in labour force had fallen from 42% in 2004-05 to 39.2% in 2009-10 and the unemployment rate had fallen from 2.3% to 2% in the same period. What this essentially translated into was that despite more than an average of 8% economic growth during these five years, sufficient jobs had not been created, suggesting that the government’s economic policy was not inclusive. But countering the argument, Ahluwalia pulled up NSSO for the self contradictory figures saying that the data collection methodology used was faulty. Subsequently, Secretary, Ministry of Programme Implementation T. C. Ananth, went on record to admit that the data was ‘confusing’. “Once you break up labour force participation for women, children and subsidiary status it becomes clear that employment has increased,” he clarified, claiming that the computation of the unemployment rate was a problem as it failed to take into account people who may be self employed. But interestingly, the NSSO data also shows a consistent fall in self-employment – an indicator that more jobs were being created because of economic growth.

As amusing as these official interventions may seem, there is no denial in the fact that the results of the latest survey of the NSSO reveal some important shifts in India’s labour markets and the nature of the growth process that determines these changes. Policymakers, who currently choose to stay in denial, need to take note of these trends seriously and analyse them in detail. For instance, there was an addition of 40-45 million people in the age group of 15-59 between 2004-05 and 2009-10 and unemployment rate for that period has fallen from 2.3% to 2% of the labour force. Agrees Pronob Sen, Former Chief Statistician of India, as he explains, “It is because of the fact that the additional people in the working-age population and some past unemployed people were given jobs, the unemployment ratio has come down.”


Source : IIPM Editorial, 2012.
An Initiative of IIPM, Malay Chaudhuri
For More IIPM Info, Visit below mentioned IIPM articles

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Monday, April 1, 2013

Why Hazare’s Model is Supreme

Development of Sustainable and Safe Drinking Water supplies is an Acute Challenge in India, given its High Population Density, and Increasing Depletion & Contamination of its Water Resources. To Solve The Problem, all that Government needs to do is to Conserve Water. But is it Really Working in this Direction?

They say, “the statistics speak out for themselves.” Well, they really do, at least when it comes to paucity of water in India. According to a recently released government data, while only 68.2% of households in the country have access to safe drinking water, 50% of the total Indian villages have no source of protected drinking water at all. In fact, if per capita water availability is any indication, ‘water stress’ is just beginning to show in India! Given the projected increase in population by the year 2025, the availability of fresh water per person per annum is likely to drop to below 1,000 cubic meters (1 cubic metre = 1,000 litres) from about 1,800 cubic meters at present. As per the World Bank’s Environment Report, drinking water availability in India has fallen by about 15-20% over the last two decades and will continue to shrink further if no proper steps are taken to conserve it, and that too urgently.

It’s not that the social activists haven’t initiated programmes to spread awareness about water scarcity in the country, or have not come up with projects that could help conserve water; they have, time and again, but unfortunately, such uprisings, except a few, have died down after sudden flashes of enthusiasm. In fact, today, there are very few social activists like Anna Hazare and Rajendra Singh who continue to do their bit to conserve water since 1985, when the shortage of water in comparatively dry parts of the country, like several places in Rajasthan and Maharashtra, had started turning acute as frail efforts from the government failed to provide residents with water.

While Hazare with Pani Puravatha Mandals (water supply associations) ensured proper distribution of water in Relegan Siddhi village in Maharashtra, Tarun Bharat Sangh, started by Rajendra Singh in 1985, is involved in revitalisation of five rivers, like Arvari & Ruparel, around Alwar region in Rajasthan, and is using traditional water harvesting methods like ‘Johads’ or small earthen check dams to conserve water.

Although these projects proved to be really effective when it came to meeting the rising demand of water in these areas, they, unfortunately failed in influencing the government, and in turn being replicated on a larger scale. Nevertheless, efforts by Rajendra Singh bore fruits considering that the project was extended to 1,200 villages. Even the 1990s saw some strong initiatives from politicians as well as social activists like Mathurbhai Savani, who with other MLAs from Gujarat visited Alwar to see the success of the project and took no time in replicating it within the parched lands of Gujarat. Chennai too saw similar urban experiments on water conservation in the 90s under the leadership of former IAS officer Santa Shiela Nayar. However, despite their thumping success, projects in both Chennai and Gujarat were never taken ahead by the government. “They were not concerned,” says Rajendra Singh, the water conservationist from Alwar, Rajasthan and winner of the Ramon Magsaysay Award for community leadership in 2001 for his pioneering efforts in water management. “No policies have been written down yet on water conservation. The government has the budget and it can do anything, but it is not doing enough,” Singh tells B&E.


Source : IIPM Editorial, 2012.
An Initiative of IIPM, Malay Chaudhuri
and Arindam Chaudhuri (Renowned Management Guru and Economist). For More IIPM Info, Visit below mentioned IIPM articles
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Wednesday, March 27, 2013

“B-Schools Should Desire Maximum Industry Interface”

Taking Forward their Commitment to Education, The Ninth IIM was set up in Rohtak in 2010 under The Mentorship of IIM-Lucknow. In Conversation with B&E’s Bhuvnesh Talwar, Dr. P Rameshan, Director of IIM-Rohtak, talks of Urgent reforms that are Required in India’s Management Education System.

An economist and an IITian, Dr. P. Ramesh has represented India several times in the international arena. The most prominent ones being The Asian Productivity Organisation, Tokyo, Japan, representing India on “Survey on Total Factor Productivity” on Asian countries and at the National Experts’ meeting in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. He is presently involved in teaching, training, research and consulting. Prior to joining IIM, Rohtak in July 2010, he served as Director in-charge of IIM, Kozhikode during April-May, 2009. In an exclusive interview with B&E, Dr. Ramashan discusses the need for innovation and greater independence at work place.

B&E: There is a general opinion that India has been home to some quality B-schools. Do you think there are loopholes in the system that deserve careful corrections?
Dr. P Rameshan (PR): In any business field, first the business emerges and develops, and then the government thinks about placing control mechanisms. Yes, there are issues in terms of accreditation and regulatory mechanisms since the existing systems are inadequate. However, a view over the need to regulate the business of B-schools has strengthened over the years and a good mechanism will definitely emerge soon.

B&E: Although considered as one of the key ingredients of quality B-school education, many institutes in the country still treat “industry interface” as secondary. Why so?
PR: I think every business school should desire maximum industry interface. However, to many of them, industry interface is a tedious task. This is due to their own constraints and inadequate response from the industry. It has been observed that although companies speak of increased interaction with the academic world, they have actually been wary of the initiatives of the academia.

B&E: Unlike the West, India has failed to develop home-grown cutting edge technology. What is your opinion on the same?
PR: This has been a matter of concern for many of us in the academic world. However, the Indian teachers are so pampered by ready-made material available from the western world that they do not feel the need to develop new material or frameworks. In fact, Indian academic researchers have not been sufficiently motivated to work on fundamental issues. The short run orientation of Indians due to genetic, social and economic reasons have also contributed to this.

B&E: What value-addition do internship programmes offer to freshers and students with prior experience?
PR: For a fresher, everything that he learns about management is new and his value addition is obvious. During the internship, he gets an opportunity to apply the concepts and techniques he learnt over the first year as the whole experience will be new to him. For those with prior industry experience, it’s the time to revalidate what they experienced while on job.


Source : IIPM Editorial, 2012.
An Initiative of IIPM, Malay Chaudhuri
and Arindam Chaudhuri (Renowned Management Guru and Economist).

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Tuesday, March 12, 2013

EXCLUSIVE SURVEY: MR COMPANIES

However, even if it comes from the mouth of Steve Jobs, it is not a conclusive debate against the relevance of market research, not by any stretch of imagination. Apple’s iPhone has suffered a lot of flak in India, for instance, since it was a market Jobs hadn’t prepared the product for. Research In Motion, which is the player Apple is competing with fiercely in the smartphone segment, believes passionately in consistently lapping up consumer insights through its Blackberry Market Research Panel; which sends short questionnaires to selective people on a monthly basis. Moreover, especially when resources are limited, and when you are not an Apple or a RIM, it’s better to adhere to the age old military lesson of using precision bombing over carpet bombing. Without quality MR, it is virtually impossible to know who to target, with what product and how.

But yes, one has to admit that market research is a relatively less understood and insufficiently applied part of the marketing budget in today’s time as compared to say, the advertising industry (and also not given that kind of attention by the media). This was evident when companies began to make deep and painful cuts into their market research budgets (especially big American B2C companies, which made cuts by up to 20%) during recession; even at the risk of affecting expansion plans, getting out of touch with vital consumer intelligence, delaying product launches and possibly giving competition a leeway. The key word, though, has to be cost optimisation and not cost cutting. The Greenbook Research Industry Trends Report for Summer, 2010, talks about how clients and companies in US are perceiving growth trends. Around 33% actually saw higher spending on market research, as compared to a mere 6% in the winter of 2009. Alarmingly, around a third of respondents from the research industry felt that market research is not as respected today as it was earlier, citing unrealistic client expectations and the competition from the growing trend of online surveys. The feeling that quality of research has come down and important insights are lacking were the major issues that clients had, with 14% of respondents surveyed offering this view.
 

Source : IIPM Editorial, 2012.
An Initiative of IIPM, Malay Chaudhuri
and Arindam Chaudhuri (Renowned Management Guru and Economist).

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Tuesday, March 5, 2013

Switching on the next big power play!

REC has been posting growth in numbers at an impressive clip. Certain challenges threaten this growth in the long run. Virat Bahri of B&E analyses the company’s strategy to face the same.

Even a few minutes without electricity supply in our urban environment can make us cringe. In fact that makes the term electri‘city’ all the more apt! Imagine the plight of millions who go on with their lives without this precious resource. Power for all by 2012 is a cornerstone of the vision of the Indian government, which it has been trying to achieve under all circumstances. It presents myriad technological, managerial and logistical challenges and a mammoth financial challenge as well. That is where Rural Electrification Corporation of India (REC) comes in, as the nodal agency of the Indian government to fund power projects in rural areas.

Under the Rajeev Gandhi Grameen Vidyutikaran Yojana, funds used in completed projects and projects under implementation for rural electrification amounted to Rs.570 billion as on September 15. And REC is moving every inch possible to leverage the potential. The company has been growing income from operations at a CAGR of 18.8% since 2000-01 to reach Rs.67.07 billion for 2009-10. Net profit has grown even faster at a CAGR of 21.8% in the same period to reach Rs20.01 billion in FY 2009-10. REC Chairman J. M. Phatak tells B&E in an exclusive interview, “Since the base in rural India is much lower than urban India, their demand (for electricity) grows at around 8%, slightly higher than the national average. Our business therefore has to grow at least that rate plus inflation if any.” Typically, he expects business to continue to grow by 15% plus yoy. Loans of Rs.271.27 billion were disbursed during the year, and recovery was to the tune of Rs.124.96 billion.

Being an NBFC with the primary motive of social welfare, one of the key challenges for REC has been to control the default rate on loans. Being restricted to the power sector does have its drawbacks, as it is well known how power projects in India have been famously infamous for missing deadlines by miles. As Phatak tells us, the company comes in when most of the delays are accounted for, particularly with respect to environmental clearance and securing of coal linkages. But borrowers here are generally State Electricity Boards (primarily for transmission and distribution) with an inherently weak credit profile. Over time, the company has been able to mitigate this problem. Since 2005-06, the company’s loan sanctions have tripled to around Rs.450 billion but NPAs have come down drastically from around Rs.3 billion then to around Rs.195.4 million, around 0.03% of gross total assets. A CARE analyst tells B&E, “The risks (from the weak credit profile of SEBs) stand mitigated due to robust credit appraisal procedures and monitoring. Also, a majority of these loan assets are backed by respective state government guarantees and escrow mechanism for recovery.” Moreover, REC is an important source of funding from tax free bonds and loans from multilateral institutions backed by the government of India; and borrowers do not want to risk losing this source. That is why REC’s credit rating relies heavily on the government’s ratings. On June 14 this year, Fitch Ratings revised REC’s Long-term local currency Issuer Default Rating (LC IDR) to Stable from Negative after it changed India’s sovereign LC IDR rating to Stable from Negative on the same day. Another option they are now considering is equity stake in upcoming projects, which they can cash out of at an opportune time.


Source : IIPM Editorial, 2012.
An Initiative of IIPM, Malay Chaudhuri
and Arindam Chaudhuri (Renowned Management Guru and Economist).

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Friday, February 8, 2013

Are you satisfied with the performance of your Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh? How would you rate his performance?

The economist seems to be going from strength to strength. The soft-spoken, mild-mannered Sikh gentleman has a picture-perfect clean image. Though perceived to be pro-reforms, he has maintained a balance between sweeping economic reforms and populist, pro-poor measures. Not the proverbial Indian politician, Dr. Singh keeps away from party matters as far as possible and concentrates on running the government. Having faced a lot of flak for his non-interference in the manner in which the Union agriculture ministry has handled the price rise issue, his government has been crucially undecisive about ways to tackle the growing Maoist influence. However, a weak Opposition has been God-sent for this man of few words.


Source : IIPM Editorial, 2012.
An Initiative of IIPM, Malay Chaudhuri
and Arindam Chaudhuri (Renowned Management Guru and Economist).

For More IIPM Info, Visit below mentioned IIPM articles.
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