Rail staff globe-trotting to improve track record
27 Aug, 2007, 0223 hrs IST,Ashish Kumar Mishra & Surbhi Goel, TNN
NEW DELHI: Don’t have it in you? So what, learn it from the best around the globe. That seems to be the mantra at Rail Bhavan. Taking a cue from railway minister Lalu Prasad Yadav, four batches of second-rung Indian Railways (IR) officials have been globe-trotting to countries like South Africa, Japan and Australia to study the developed rail systems. This approach is different from the earlier practice that used to see only top officials making such trips.
A lot of the these changes have got to do with the ambitious projects being conceived by IR, like the Dedicated Freight Corridor (DFC), high-speed trains along with the increased need of modernisation and overhauling of the rickety infrastructure.
A handful of officers have just returned from Japan, after a thorough learning experience from the dedicated freight routes in the country, another trip to South Africa has been scheduled for September, 2007.
“Though a time frame of five years has been fixed for the fruition of the DFC project, the railway board has ramped up its activities and many railway officers and executive directors (ED) are being sent abroad to take lessons from the established routes of DFC in those countries,” said a senior Rail Bhavan official, who requested anonymity.
Moreover, to develop competency, a global training programme is being formulated by IR, according to which, officers of the rank of general managers, divisional railway managers and even a rung below AMPs will be be sent on a training program for two weeks, twice a year. There are almost 14,000 officers in IR.
However, the exact details of the training program is being worked out. Already, a batch of officers have made trips to business schools in Singapore and Malaysia. “This is a welcome decision which will broaden the vision of officers and enable them to come up with new ideas,” says IIM Ahmedabad faculty G Raghuram.
Tuesday, 28 August 2007
Venezuela to change time zone by 30 minutes
Venezuela to change time zone by 30 minutes
CARACAS (Reuters) - Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez has changed his country's name, redesigned its flag and rejigged its coat of arms in his drive for a socialist state.
Now the leftist reformer, highly popular for redistributing oil income, is seeking to move the country's time zone to offer a more equitable distribution of sunlight.
Venezuela in September will turn clocks back by 30 minutes as it switches time zones to boost the amount of natural light to residents, a government official said on Thursday.
Next month Venezuelan clocks will be set at Greenwich Mean Time (GMT) minus 4-1/2 hours, compared to the previous GMT minus four hours, Science and Technology Minister Hector Navarro told reporters at a news conference.
He said the measure sought "a more fair distribution of the sunrise," which would particularly help poor children who wake up before dawn to go to school.
"Very rigorous scientific studies have determined that ... the metabolic activity of living beings is synchronized with the sun's light," he said.
Navarro said the government is planning to announce additional measures to "make more effective use of time."
Venezuela, which under Chavez was officially changed to the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, adopted its current time zone in the 1960s.
CARACAS (Reuters) - Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez has changed his country's name, redesigned its flag and rejigged its coat of arms in his drive for a socialist state.
Now the leftist reformer, highly popular for redistributing oil income, is seeking to move the country's time zone to offer a more equitable distribution of sunlight.
Venezuela in September will turn clocks back by 30 minutes as it switches time zones to boost the amount of natural light to residents, a government official said on Thursday.
Next month Venezuelan clocks will be set at Greenwich Mean Time (GMT) minus 4-1/2 hours, compared to the previous GMT minus four hours, Science and Technology Minister Hector Navarro told reporters at a news conference.
He said the measure sought "a more fair distribution of the sunrise," which would particularly help poor children who wake up before dawn to go to school.
"Very rigorous scientific studies have determined that ... the metabolic activity of living beings is synchronized with the sun's light," he said.
Navarro said the government is planning to announce additional measures to "make more effective use of time."
Venezuela, which under Chavez was officially changed to the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, adopted its current time zone in the 1960s.
Yahoo Mail adds SMS, drops beta tag
Yahoo Mail adds SMS, drops beta tag
AP[ MONDAY, AUGUST 27, 2007 02:14:25 PM]
SAN FRANCISCO: Yahoo Inc. will introduce new features for its popular Web-based e-mail programme, including software that allows computer users to type text messages on a keyboard and send them directly to someone's cell phone.
The enhancements make it easier to send e-mail, instant messages or text messages from a single Web site - no need to launch or toggle between separate applications or devices. It will take up to six weeks for all the new features to become available to all 254 million Yahoo Mail subscribers in 21 languages worldwide.
The most obvious beneficiaries will be parents, who will be able to use their keyboards to type messages sent to their children's cell phones - no thumb-twisting typing on a dial pad, said Yahoo Vice President John Kremer.
"We're giving you the right way to connect at the right time with right person," said Kremer, whose two preteen sons vastly prefer text and instant messages to e-mail.
The changes come amid fierce competition among providers of free, Web-based e-mail services. Yahoo and Microsoft Corp's Hotmail have long dominated the niche, but Google Inc's Gmail has grown quickly since its introduction in April 2004.
In February, Yahoo announced that it would provide unlimited storage space, and earlier this month Redmond, Washington-based Microsoft said Hotmail would increase free storage from 2 to 5 gigabytes. Time Warner Inc's AOL, the fourth largest e-mail provider, began offering unlimited storage last summer. Google provides nearly 3 gigabytes.
AP[ MONDAY, AUGUST 27, 2007 02:14:25 PM]
SAN FRANCISCO: Yahoo Inc. will introduce new features for its popular Web-based e-mail programme, including software that allows computer users to type text messages on a keyboard and send them directly to someone's cell phone.
The enhancements make it easier to send e-mail, instant messages or text messages from a single Web site - no need to launch or toggle between separate applications or devices. It will take up to six weeks for all the new features to become available to all 254 million Yahoo Mail subscribers in 21 languages worldwide.
The most obvious beneficiaries will be parents, who will be able to use their keyboards to type messages sent to their children's cell phones - no thumb-twisting typing on a dial pad, said Yahoo Vice President John Kremer.
"We're giving you the right way to connect at the right time with right person," said Kremer, whose two preteen sons vastly prefer text and instant messages to e-mail.
The changes come amid fierce competition among providers of free, Web-based e-mail services. Yahoo and Microsoft Corp's Hotmail have long dominated the niche, but Google Inc's Gmail has grown quickly since its introduction in April 2004.
In February, Yahoo announced that it would provide unlimited storage space, and earlier this month Redmond, Washington-based Microsoft said Hotmail would increase free storage from 2 to 5 gigabytes. Time Warner Inc's AOL, the fourth largest e-mail provider, began offering unlimited storage last summer. Google provides nearly 3 gigabytes.
Happy Raksha Bandhan
Happy Raksha Bandhan... Artist Sudarsan Pattnaik makes a sculpture of Rakhi, with a message against terrorism inscribed on it, at Puri beach in Orissa on Monday.
And this special one to all my sisters......... Please select the one you like and wish for me Good luck. Team 1 protection is all yours.
Taqa readies $4b buyout plan
Taqa readies $4b buyout plan
By Himendra Mohan Kumar, Staff Reporter/GULF NEWS Published: August 27, 2007, 23:06
Abu Dhabi: The Abu Dhabi National Energy Company (Taqa), plans to invest Dh14.68 billion ($4 billion) in new energy acquisitions over the next 12 months, the company's chief executive said yesterday.
"We are looking at opportunities in Algeria, Libya, Tunisia, Norway, The Netherlands, UK, Canada and possibly, the US," Peter Barker-Homek told Gulf News.
At present, Taqa has investments, assets and operations in 10 countries - UAE, Canada, Ghana, India, Morocco, The Netherlands, Russia, Saudi Arabia, the UK and the US.
Barker-Homek said Taqa's latest upstream acquisition - Pioneer Canada - will go through the normal regulatory approval process and is expected to be completed "probably in November this year."
Taqa said last week that it will acquire the Calgary-based upstream petroleum exploration company for $540 million from Pioneer's parent - the US-based Pioneer Natural Resources Company.
Pioneer Canada, which has operations in the western Canadian sedimentary basin, would be Taqa's fifth overseas acquisition since November 2006.
Post acquisition of Pioneer Canada, Taqa's debt-to equity ratio would be 80 per cent debt and 20 per cent equity.
Talking about the company's debts, he said: "We have $3.5 billion in bonds that we have issued to the global financial community. In addition, we have, through a syndication of banks, about $6.5 in project finance in our subsidiaries in the UAE." Barker-Homek said Taqa's assets are worth $16 billion.
Output
The combined output of Taqa's upstream assets is currently a little more than 60,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day.
Even if there are no further acquisitions by the company, Taqa can sustain its current production level for several years, said Barker-Homek. "Right now, the average reserve life of our oil and gas properties is 12 years," he said.
Barker-Homek said Taqa plans to invest $300 million in 2007 to boost output at its oil and natural gas producing assets. "Since January this year, we have invested about $200 million."
Barker-Homek felt Taqa is grossly undervalued on the Abu Dhabi Securities Market.
"The earnings potential of the company is currently not reflected in the share price. I think the market is probably waiting to see if our acquisitions will add value to shareholders. We plan to maintain and increase the dividend that we established last year," Barker-Homek added.
By Himendra Mohan Kumar, Staff Reporter/GULF NEWS Published: August 27, 2007, 23:06
Abu Dhabi: The Abu Dhabi National Energy Company (Taqa), plans to invest Dh14.68 billion ($4 billion) in new energy acquisitions over the next 12 months, the company's chief executive said yesterday.
"We are looking at opportunities in Algeria, Libya, Tunisia, Norway, The Netherlands, UK, Canada and possibly, the US," Peter Barker-Homek told Gulf News.
At present, Taqa has investments, assets and operations in 10 countries - UAE, Canada, Ghana, India, Morocco, The Netherlands, Russia, Saudi Arabia, the UK and the US.
Barker-Homek said Taqa's latest upstream acquisition - Pioneer Canada - will go through the normal regulatory approval process and is expected to be completed "probably in November this year."
Taqa said last week that it will acquire the Calgary-based upstream petroleum exploration company for $540 million from Pioneer's parent - the US-based Pioneer Natural Resources Company.
Pioneer Canada, which has operations in the western Canadian sedimentary basin, would be Taqa's fifth overseas acquisition since November 2006.
Post acquisition of Pioneer Canada, Taqa's debt-to equity ratio would be 80 per cent debt and 20 per cent equity.
Talking about the company's debts, he said: "We have $3.5 billion in bonds that we have issued to the global financial community. In addition, we have, through a syndication of banks, about $6.5 in project finance in our subsidiaries in the UAE." Barker-Homek said Taqa's assets are worth $16 billion.
Output
The combined output of Taqa's upstream assets is currently a little more than 60,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day.
Even if there are no further acquisitions by the company, Taqa can sustain its current production level for several years, said Barker-Homek. "Right now, the average reserve life of our oil and gas properties is 12 years," he said.
Barker-Homek said Taqa plans to invest $300 million in 2007 to boost output at its oil and natural gas producing assets. "Since January this year, we have invested about $200 million."
Barker-Homek felt Taqa is grossly undervalued on the Abu Dhabi Securities Market.
"The earnings potential of the company is currently not reflected in the share price. I think the market is probably waiting to see if our acquisitions will add value to shareholders. We plan to maintain and increase the dividend that we established last year," Barker-Homek added.
New masterplan to offer growth roadmap
New masterplan to offer growth roadmap
By Saifur Rahman, Business News Editor GULF NEWS Published: August 27, 2007, 23:06
Dubai: The newly announced Dubai Urban Development Framework (DUDF) will offer a comprehensive roadmap for Dubai's future up to 2020 and beyond, according to a top government official, that would solve the main concerns of today's urban life.
"The DUDF is our roadmap for the future of Dubai in offering sustainable growth that will look into environmental and social aspects of the urbanisation," Ahmad Bin Bayat, secretary-general of Dubai Executive Council, told Gulf News in an interview.
Dubai, which has witnessed an explosive growth over the last half-decades due to government's major economic initiatives, has been trying to cope with the rapid-fire expansion, leading to inflationary pressures.
The emirate's GDP grew 16 per cent year-on-year over the last few years while the foreign trade skyrocketed in recent years.
More than 80 per cent of the UAE's Dh510 billion ($139 billion) merchandise trade are conducted through Dubai, while the city's attractive hard infrastructure is attracting massive investments that is adding further pressure on its capacity, pushing the property and rent prices higher - beyond the reach of the middle income group.
In the recent years, traffic and skyrocketing rents have been identified by the city's residents as the major cause for concern.
"In 14 months time, the consortium will offer an integrated masterplan that will be based on the future needs of Dubai's growing population, in terms of land use, traffic impact , water and electricity consumption requirement, etc," he said.
The government has not yet re-calculate the population growth projections yet.
"The consortium, in its masterplan, will suggest that and the plan will be based on those calculations. We did not give any projections," Bin Byat said.
The DUDF project will be guided by the Urban Planning Committee (UPC) of Dubai Government and by Ahmad Bin Bayat, a UPC statement said yesterday.
The project falls in line with Dubai's nine-year vision and is part of the Dubai Strategic Plan 2015 (DSP) announced earlier this year.
"The DSP articulates the collective vision and strategy of His Highness Shaikh Mohammad Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice-President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai. It focuses on economic development, social development, security, justice and safety, infrastructure, land and environment and public sector excellence," the statement said.
The UPC has key stakeholders including Dubai Municipality, the Road and Transport Authority (RTA), Dubai Electricity and Water Authority (Dewa), Dubai Land Department, and The Executive Office, as well as developers like Dubai Holdings, Emaar and Nakheel.
Technical experts from each of these organisations will be part of a task force which will help prepare the DUDF. The project will be administered by the Executive Council Secretariat and managed and directed by Dubai-based consultants, Halcrow.
"Environment and sustainability will be key in the masterplan as Dubai has now grown to become an international metropolis," Bin Byat said.
"Therefore, Dubai needs a different approach to its future development and growth where all the aspects will be integrated into the plan so that we no longer face the usual problems like traffic and other issues."
An Advisory Panel, which will have specialists and representatives from globally-recognised companies as members, will be formed to provide independent guidance to the project.
The long term Vision will provide clear direction and establish shared aspirations for the city-region, particularly in improving environmental, economic and social sustainability and business conditions in the city. It will develop quality of life targets, seeking to firmly position Dubai within the short list of the world's most 'liveable' places.
The Emirate-wide 'City and Regional Planning Framework' will seek to establish a strong integration between the increasingly complex governmental, quasi-governmental and private stakeholder relationships of the city. Key elements of the Framework will include: integrated land use and mobility, housing provision, economic and demographic growth, urban character and design, heritage management, integrated community facilities provision, civic harmony and sustainability strategy.
Gold shops say sales have increased in Dubai
Gold shops say sales have increased in Dubai By Sunita Menon, Staff Reporter/GULF NEWS Published: August 27, 2007, 23:06
Dubai: Business is brisk at gold shops, with outlets reporting an increase in sales.
"There has been a slight increase in gold prices, but it has not affected our sales," said P. Shine, of Alukkas Jewellery outlet at the Gold Centre in Dubai.
"A fluctuation in gold prices does not make a difference to residents or overseas buyers. This is because over here you do not pay tax ... we are looking forward to the rush from the festive season from next month onwards," said Shine.
A cross section of residents who spoke to Gulf News said their reasons for purchasing gold vary - some buy it as a gift for their wife or daughter during festive occasions while others buy it as an investment.
They said people trade and buy gold for diversification of existing investments. This means gold comes into use when the stock market fluctuates and the real estate market is down.
Asians usually buy 24 carat gold while Europeans prefer 18 and 21 carat. Nilang Shah, a Dubai-based financial consultant, said that whenever a gold trader buys a bar, he pays a premium to the bank for buying it.
Competition
He explained: "What happens is that in a place like Dubai when they mould the bar into jewellery, the costs are competitive in comparison to other countries. Charges may vary from Dh2 per gram to Dh20 per gram depending on the design and the make."
He said Indian jewellers get the work done in India because the charge to make gold is an important component. "When you sell a particular piece of jewellery you get the gold price and not the production charge," said Shah.
Supriya, a housewife who purchases gold and diamond jewellery regularly, said that it is the design that she focuses on.
Umang Navneet, a Dubai-resident, said: "An individual who buys 22 carat gold does so because of its high purity content and also because it will fetch him a good exchange price."
Monday, 27 August 2007
Indians are known for jugaad
Indians are known for jugaad
Q&A/ Rajiv Narang, Founder and CEO, Erehwon Innovation Consulting
Shuchi Bansal / New Delhi August 28, 2007 /BUSINESS STANDARD
Rajiv Narang has been invited by the Tata Group to make a presentation at its annual general meet at Phuket. He is also busy getting ready for Financial Times' annual Innovation Summit in London.
“Suddenly there is a huge interest in innovation and the demand is growing,” observes Narang, founder and CEO of Erehwon Innovation Consulting. Erehwon — that’s “nowhere” spelt backwards — was originally set up by Narang with a few like-minded people “to ignite imagination in children, teach them to think creatively and apply knowledge in new ways”. The programme ran in almost 400 schools between 1987 and 1991.
However, as a business model, it flopped. That’s when Narang, an engineer and management graduate, switched to corporate training in innovation and creativity. It was a short leap from training to consultancy and Erehwon now boasts of a client list that includes the likes of Asian Paints, Bharti, Hewlett Packard, JP Morgan Chase, Apple, Mahindra Auto and Wipro.
Erehwon came full circle recently when it launched innovation programmes for management students. Narang spoke with Shuchi Bansal on the need for a culture of innovation. Excerpts:
Does every organisation need a culture of innovation? How do you build it?
The question is “when” a culture of innovation becomes necessary. It becomes necessary when companies find they they no longer have a differentiated product and when they feel threatened by competition. Few companies think ahead and innovate at the peak of their success.
The culture of innovation can be built by transforming the leadership mindset. Leaders have to understand that innovation review is not a performance review. You can cultivate new leadership practices leading to culture of innovation.
The mission route, for instance, is the extra-constitutional route where a dedicated team focuses on innovation. Another way could be the “groundswell” route, that is, to multiply the champions of innovation within a company — basically train people in innovation skills and build it like a social movement.
But can creativity be acquired or taught? Isn’t it instinctive?
It is instinctive, but a large part of it can be developed. For instance, you can teach people not to go to the usual “insight” sources.
For breakthroughs you need to shift the insight source. People can be taught skills for breakthrough innovation just as they can be taught how to excite and enroll others in their innovation. Unless you have the skill to enroll others, your idea will get diluted. Innovation skills — on how to generate concepts and how to carry them to their realisation — can be taught.
People think that brainstorming also generates ideas. But those ideas emerge from a conditioned space and, therefore, old ideas keep coming up.
How did the idea of teaching innovation to management students come about?
We want to build innovation into a movement and to multiply the number of creative leaders that emerge from business schools. The idea is to produce creative leaders and not just structured MBAs, to create people who are not seeking stature or position but seeking a challenge.
At the B-schools, the programme is sponsored by different companies. For instance, the sponsor at IIT, Mumbai, is Thermax and while Marico sponsors the programme at S P Jain. The company sets a live challenge for students and we train them to pursue a breakthrough innovation. The intent is very clear. We need to un-condition their minds.
Next year we may take the programme to leadership institutes and not necessarily management schools. The IAS academy or St Stephen’s College, for instance.
What do you teach the companies with whom you consult?
Over the years, we have enabled organisations to leverage innovation. For instance, we taught Marico about “orbit-shift” interventions, which help top leadership to recognise the current orbit of the organisation, inspire the team to challenge the existing status and identify “innovation keystones” — areas where innovation will help create the next orbit for the organisation. Marico used this to make a quantum jump in the strike rate of new products, such as Shanti amla hair oil.
Insights don’t come only from consumers. The Kaya Skin Clinic concept, for instance, emerged from a service possibility. The first reaction at Marico was, “We are an FMCG company, what do we know about the services sector?”
But then the head said, “Perhaps we could test a low-cost, low-risk model.” The tool was “breakthrough insight dialogue.” Typically, ideas get pulled down; the mindset is to maintain what you are doing. So, first you dig out the mindset through diagnostic tools.
With Philips, we launched the India Business Creation Centre last year. The company set up four teams and within eight months they came up with innovative ideas. Three of their proposals — two product innovations and one business model innovation — were accepted. The company is now developing a breakthrough music delivery product and a new medical system for eye care. Both the products have global potential.
We worked with Mahindra Auto to develop new concepts for pick-up trucks. The purpose of engagement was to redefine the cargo carrier space. It resulted in one unique product concept that is ready to be patented and its launch has been announced by the company.
Your client list seems dominated by large corporations.
Innovation has generated a whole lot of interest. To be honest, we have not developed a mature business model for the small and medium enterprises. We are expensive. But I must add that the smaller companies are no longer afraid of the giants.
Does innovation refer only to product and service design? Where else is it necessary?
Data shows that in India, maximum growth in companies has come from innovation in business models. Innovations can be in product and services, in business models, business processes and strategies.
Unfortunately, most companies think that breakthrough innovation is limited to technology or a product. Since the West thinks that innovation is related to R&D, product or technology, India, too, believes the same.
You say that India could be the innovation leader of the world…
Japan is the quality leader because discipline is embedded in the Japanese society. And quality emerges from discipline. India has the intellectual capability. We are known for our thinking ability and the orientation to jugaad, that is, the small problem-fixes that we think about and implement.
But that is thinking innovation at the lowest end of the value chain. We have to move that to another level in the business and social space. For instance, why can’t an Indian beat a Google or a Microsoft?
At the social level, why can’t someone come up with an innovation to resolve the potable water or power crisis in the country? If we can create innovations to break rules, we can surely use them for constructive purposes. We have the raw capacity, we need to move it to a much higher plane.
In Denmark, a straw has been innovated that purifies the water as you drink through it. It costs Rs 200. With our level of water crisis, shouldn’t India have innovated it?
Q&A/ Rajiv Narang, Founder and CEO, Erehwon Innovation Consulting
Shuchi Bansal / New Delhi August 28, 2007 /BUSINESS STANDARD
Rajiv Narang has been invited by the Tata Group to make a presentation at its annual general meet at Phuket. He is also busy getting ready for Financial Times' annual Innovation Summit in London.
“Suddenly there is a huge interest in innovation and the demand is growing,” observes Narang, founder and CEO of Erehwon Innovation Consulting. Erehwon — that’s “nowhere” spelt backwards — was originally set up by Narang with a few like-minded people “to ignite imagination in children, teach them to think creatively and apply knowledge in new ways”. The programme ran in almost 400 schools between 1987 and 1991.
However, as a business model, it flopped. That’s when Narang, an engineer and management graduate, switched to corporate training in innovation and creativity. It was a short leap from training to consultancy and Erehwon now boasts of a client list that includes the likes of Asian Paints, Bharti, Hewlett Packard, JP Morgan Chase, Apple, Mahindra Auto and Wipro.
Erehwon came full circle recently when it launched innovation programmes for management students. Narang spoke with Shuchi Bansal on the need for a culture of innovation. Excerpts:
Does every organisation need a culture of innovation? How do you build it?
The question is “when” a culture of innovation becomes necessary. It becomes necessary when companies find they they no longer have a differentiated product and when they feel threatened by competition. Few companies think ahead and innovate at the peak of their success.
The culture of innovation can be built by transforming the leadership mindset. Leaders have to understand that innovation review is not a performance review. You can cultivate new leadership practices leading to culture of innovation.
The mission route, for instance, is the extra-constitutional route where a dedicated team focuses on innovation. Another way could be the “groundswell” route, that is, to multiply the champions of innovation within a company — basically train people in innovation skills and build it like a social movement.
But can creativity be acquired or taught? Isn’t it instinctive?
It is instinctive, but a large part of it can be developed. For instance, you can teach people not to go to the usual “insight” sources.
For breakthroughs you need to shift the insight source. People can be taught skills for breakthrough innovation just as they can be taught how to excite and enroll others in their innovation. Unless you have the skill to enroll others, your idea will get diluted. Innovation skills — on how to generate concepts and how to carry them to their realisation — can be taught.
People think that brainstorming also generates ideas. But those ideas emerge from a conditioned space and, therefore, old ideas keep coming up.
How did the idea of teaching innovation to management students come about?
We want to build innovation into a movement and to multiply the number of creative leaders that emerge from business schools. The idea is to produce creative leaders and not just structured MBAs, to create people who are not seeking stature or position but seeking a challenge.
At the B-schools, the programme is sponsored by different companies. For instance, the sponsor at IIT, Mumbai, is Thermax and while Marico sponsors the programme at S P Jain. The company sets a live challenge for students and we train them to pursue a breakthrough innovation. The intent is very clear. We need to un-condition their minds.
Next year we may take the programme to leadership institutes and not necessarily management schools. The IAS academy or St Stephen’s College, for instance.
What do you teach the companies with whom you consult?
Over the years, we have enabled organisations to leverage innovation. For instance, we taught Marico about “orbit-shift” interventions, which help top leadership to recognise the current orbit of the organisation, inspire the team to challenge the existing status and identify “innovation keystones” — areas where innovation will help create the next orbit for the organisation. Marico used this to make a quantum jump in the strike rate of new products, such as Shanti amla hair oil.
Insights don’t come only from consumers. The Kaya Skin Clinic concept, for instance, emerged from a service possibility. The first reaction at Marico was, “We are an FMCG company, what do we know about the services sector?”
But then the head said, “Perhaps we could test a low-cost, low-risk model.” The tool was “breakthrough insight dialogue.” Typically, ideas get pulled down; the mindset is to maintain what you are doing. So, first you dig out the mindset through diagnostic tools.
With Philips, we launched the India Business Creation Centre last year. The company set up four teams and within eight months they came up with innovative ideas. Three of their proposals — two product innovations and one business model innovation — were accepted. The company is now developing a breakthrough music delivery product and a new medical system for eye care. Both the products have global potential.
We worked with Mahindra Auto to develop new concepts for pick-up trucks. The purpose of engagement was to redefine the cargo carrier space. It resulted in one unique product concept that is ready to be patented and its launch has been announced by the company.
Your client list seems dominated by large corporations.
Innovation has generated a whole lot of interest. To be honest, we have not developed a mature business model for the small and medium enterprises. We are expensive. But I must add that the smaller companies are no longer afraid of the giants.
Does innovation refer only to product and service design? Where else is it necessary?
Data shows that in India, maximum growth in companies has come from innovation in business models. Innovations can be in product and services, in business models, business processes and strategies.
Unfortunately, most companies think that breakthrough innovation is limited to technology or a product. Since the West thinks that innovation is related to R&D, product or technology, India, too, believes the same.
You say that India could be the innovation leader of the world…
Japan is the quality leader because discipline is embedded in the Japanese society. And quality emerges from discipline. India has the intellectual capability. We are known for our thinking ability and the orientation to jugaad, that is, the small problem-fixes that we think about and implement.
But that is thinking innovation at the lowest end of the value chain. We have to move that to another level in the business and social space. For instance, why can’t an Indian beat a Google or a Microsoft?
At the social level, why can’t someone come up with an innovation to resolve the potable water or power crisis in the country? If we can create innovations to break rules, we can surely use them for constructive purposes. We have the raw capacity, we need to move it to a much higher plane.
In Denmark, a straw has been innovated that purifies the water as you drink through it. It costs Rs 200. With our level of water crisis, shouldn’t India have innovated it?
Wastes into bottomline
wastes into bottomline
THE QUALITY CONUNDRUM
Surinder Kapur / New Delhi August 28, 2007
How Indian Industry is managing quality?
In the past two articles, I highlighted examples of innovations in two organisations — one, a large business house, and the other, a small company innovating for the bottom of the pyramid.
In this article, the focus is on innovation for sustainable development by a manufacturing company — Brakes India Ltd -- Foundry Division (BI Foundry). With the world becoming evermore environmentally conscious and technologies having to conform to increasingly stringent environment norms, BI Foundry’s breakthrough assumes an increased importance.
The American foundry population has declined by about a third in the past 20 years, largely due to the increased cost of legislative compliance. Which is why an increasing number of foundries have shifted to low-cost countries.
In contrast, BI Foundry decided to innovate in order to become a zero-waste company, given that foundries are known for discharging high levels of waste. In the process, it has converted this polluting waste into its topline and created sustainable uses for it.
The seven elements for driving sustainable change were drawn from the seven infrastructure tools defined by breakthrough management expert Shoji Shiba — goal setting, promotion organisation, training and education, promotion, success story, incentives and rewards and monitoring.
Brakes India’s foundry division became a zero-discharge unit of process water and pollutants in 2000 and zero-discharge of solid wastes in March 2001. The converted waste was used for creating kitchen gardens, irrigating flowering trees and the development of a green belt. Today, BI Foundry is a zero-discharge company and has converted 4 per cent of its topline waste into its bottomline.
The foundry division has developed a “stabilised mud block” technology from solid wastes to construct buildings. This division has established and maintains a school for the local village, besides setting up a technical training centre, called Matrix, for developing tool room and mechatronics skills.
BI Foundry has polluting by-products that could be processed to make them reusable. Dust, slag, leaves, packing and so on were waste products and there was an added requirement from regulatory bodies to minimise the impact of such pollutants. The problem was to maximise revenue from wastes and create a new value proposition.
The idea for using waste, sand and slag productively came from a French architect. For implementation of any such project, there is a need for a dedicated team with complete support from the top management. A team was thus formed with the vice president of projects as its head. This executive was accepted and respected by all in the organisation.
The first experiments used sand and slag in different proportions to make bricks for compressive strength. Using these bricks, a kitchen was constructed to help create awareness about using solid wastes.
The process was then extended to other buildings and tested for different usages such as roads, floor molding, non-load bearing structures and light-load walls. At the next stage, this material was also adapted for use in building roads and improving the fertility of the soil in the district.
Further, a green belt was developed in accordance with Shiba’s hypothesis. The company aspired to become a global benchmark in environmental management standards. These developments for usage of waste have been patented and in the future, the company proposes to provide this technology to the local community to develop the local economy.
Thus, the company redefined its purpose as the upliftment and harmony of Sholinghur, Tamil Nadu, where the company is located. In that journey, the company also makes profits and improves its business constantly.
All social initiatives in Sholinghur are operated by the villagers themselves. As a future strategy the company proposes to commercialise the villagers’ activities by providing them with training and helping them obtain means of livelihood.
Established in 1981, Brakes India supplies ductile iron castings to automotive, refrigeration and air-conditioning industries. Set up as a result of non-availability of good quality castings, the foundry division initially concentrated on the domestic market.
Later, the company started exporting with machining and painting. The company now earns 49 per cent of the turnover from exports.
The foundry, set in Sholinghur village, considers its responsibility to the society as paramount. Following Shiba’s philosophy of noble goals, far beyond the immediate financial results, BI Foundry also identified itself completely with Sholinghur and is operated by the local people. The company works for the upliftment of Sholinghur.
BI Foundry is a prime example of the steps that Indian industry is taking to find sustainable solutions to global problems with a focus on social issues.
For Business Standard / Dr Surinder Kapur is chairman, CII Mission for Manufacturing Innovation, and chairman and managing director, Sona Koyo Steering Systems
THE QUALITY CONUNDRUM
Surinder Kapur / New Delhi August 28, 2007
How Indian Industry is managing quality?
In the past two articles, I highlighted examples of innovations in two organisations — one, a large business house, and the other, a small company innovating for the bottom of the pyramid.
In this article, the focus is on innovation for sustainable development by a manufacturing company — Brakes India Ltd -- Foundry Division (BI Foundry). With the world becoming evermore environmentally conscious and technologies having to conform to increasingly stringent environment norms, BI Foundry’s breakthrough assumes an increased importance.
The American foundry population has declined by about a third in the past 20 years, largely due to the increased cost of legislative compliance. Which is why an increasing number of foundries have shifted to low-cost countries.
In contrast, BI Foundry decided to innovate in order to become a zero-waste company, given that foundries are known for discharging high levels of waste. In the process, it has converted this polluting waste into its topline and created sustainable uses for it.
The seven elements for driving sustainable change were drawn from the seven infrastructure tools defined by breakthrough management expert Shoji Shiba — goal setting, promotion organisation, training and education, promotion, success story, incentives and rewards and monitoring.
Brakes India’s foundry division became a zero-discharge unit of process water and pollutants in 2000 and zero-discharge of solid wastes in March 2001. The converted waste was used for creating kitchen gardens, irrigating flowering trees and the development of a green belt. Today, BI Foundry is a zero-discharge company and has converted 4 per cent of its topline waste into its bottomline.
The foundry division has developed a “stabilised mud block” technology from solid wastes to construct buildings. This division has established and maintains a school for the local village, besides setting up a technical training centre, called Matrix, for developing tool room and mechatronics skills.
BI Foundry has polluting by-products that could be processed to make them reusable. Dust, slag, leaves, packing and so on were waste products and there was an added requirement from regulatory bodies to minimise the impact of such pollutants. The problem was to maximise revenue from wastes and create a new value proposition.
The idea for using waste, sand and slag productively came from a French architect. For implementation of any such project, there is a need for a dedicated team with complete support from the top management. A team was thus formed with the vice president of projects as its head. This executive was accepted and respected by all in the organisation.
The first experiments used sand and slag in different proportions to make bricks for compressive strength. Using these bricks, a kitchen was constructed to help create awareness about using solid wastes.
The process was then extended to other buildings and tested for different usages such as roads, floor molding, non-load bearing structures and light-load walls. At the next stage, this material was also adapted for use in building roads and improving the fertility of the soil in the district.
Further, a green belt was developed in accordance with Shiba’s hypothesis. The company aspired to become a global benchmark in environmental management standards. These developments for usage of waste have been patented and in the future, the company proposes to provide this technology to the local community to develop the local economy.
Thus, the company redefined its purpose as the upliftment and harmony of Sholinghur, Tamil Nadu, where the company is located. In that journey, the company also makes profits and improves its business constantly.
All social initiatives in Sholinghur are operated by the villagers themselves. As a future strategy the company proposes to commercialise the villagers’ activities by providing them with training and helping them obtain means of livelihood.
Established in 1981, Brakes India supplies ductile iron castings to automotive, refrigeration and air-conditioning industries. Set up as a result of non-availability of good quality castings, the foundry division initially concentrated on the domestic market.
Later, the company started exporting with machining and painting. The company now earns 49 per cent of the turnover from exports.
The foundry, set in Sholinghur village, considers its responsibility to the society as paramount. Following Shiba’s philosophy of noble goals, far beyond the immediate financial results, BI Foundry also identified itself completely with Sholinghur and is operated by the local people. The company works for the upliftment of Sholinghur.
BI Foundry is a prime example of the steps that Indian industry is taking to find sustainable solutions to global problems with a focus on social issues.
For Business Standard / Dr Surinder Kapur is chairman, CII Mission for Manufacturing Innovation, and chairman and managing director, Sona Koyo Steering Systems
How to build and lead teams
How to build and lead teams
WHAT THEY DON`T TEACH YOU AT B-SCHOOL
A B-school endeav-ours to simulate the business environment and make you “better” prepared to handle practical business situations.
It tries to mimic practical business scenarios to enhance the understanding of how best these could be dealt with in a day-to-day working environment. However, like most simulations, this, too, falls short of reality!
Business school education churns out a jargon-spewing graduate who is goal-oriented, with excellent information gathering and analytical skills, and a good general awareness of various areas of business management. Where it fails to provide adequate inputs is in the areas of people management, building and managing teams and leadership.
Just consider these examples:
* A course in organisational behaviour teaches you about the typical behaviour of people, different leadership styles and so on, but it can’t teach you which leadership style would suit you the best. All B-school graduates have to find their individual leadership style the hard way.
* A class in negotiation skills will make you aware of the nuances and tactics of negotiation, but it can’t make you a skilled negotiator. It is only when you start applying these learnings in practical scenarios that you evolve as a better negotiator.
* A class in sales management may teach you the various techniques in selling, sales forecasting, budgeting and so on. Getting an “A” grade in sales management will not ensure that you are the best sales manager. It is the day-to-day fire fighting, motivating the team, handling tough customers and the ability to handle the high pressure of achieving targets month on month that will get the best out of you.
Also, while the case study method followed in B-schools is a great way to teach about real-life business situations, it has one lacuna — it is written “post the event”, and thus suffers from all the biases that are a result of the capacity of the human mind to rationalise and justify the actions taken.
A typical case study also gives huge amounts of data and lulls you into believing that business decisions are taken with deep analysis. In reality, that is not the case; more often than not, the everyday business realities unfold gradually and business decisions are taken in “foggy” conditions.
In sum, a B-school no doubt enhances your knowledge level and the ability to think and solve problems, but it is only on-the-job experience that transforms a management school graduate into a business manager.
For Business Standard - Sanjiv Kathuria graduated from IIM, Bangalore, in 1991
WHAT THEY DON`T TEACH YOU AT B-SCHOOL
A B-school endeav-ours to simulate the business environment and make you “better” prepared to handle practical business situations.
It tries to mimic practical business scenarios to enhance the understanding of how best these could be dealt with in a day-to-day working environment. However, like most simulations, this, too, falls short of reality!
Business school education churns out a jargon-spewing graduate who is goal-oriented, with excellent information gathering and analytical skills, and a good general awareness of various areas of business management. Where it fails to provide adequate inputs is in the areas of people management, building and managing teams and leadership.
Just consider these examples:
* A course in organisational behaviour teaches you about the typical behaviour of people, different leadership styles and so on, but it can’t teach you which leadership style would suit you the best. All B-school graduates have to find their individual leadership style the hard way.
* A class in negotiation skills will make you aware of the nuances and tactics of negotiation, but it can’t make you a skilled negotiator. It is only when you start applying these learnings in practical scenarios that you evolve as a better negotiator.
* A class in sales management may teach you the various techniques in selling, sales forecasting, budgeting and so on. Getting an “A” grade in sales management will not ensure that you are the best sales manager. It is the day-to-day fire fighting, motivating the team, handling tough customers and the ability to handle the high pressure of achieving targets month on month that will get the best out of you.
Also, while the case study method followed in B-schools is a great way to teach about real-life business situations, it has one lacuna — it is written “post the event”, and thus suffers from all the biases that are a result of the capacity of the human mind to rationalise and justify the actions taken.
A typical case study also gives huge amounts of data and lulls you into believing that business decisions are taken with deep analysis. In reality, that is not the case; more often than not, the everyday business realities unfold gradually and business decisions are taken in “foggy” conditions.
In sum, a B-school no doubt enhances your knowledge level and the ability to think and solve problems, but it is only on-the-job experience that transforms a management school graduate into a business manager.
For Business Standard - Sanjiv Kathuria graduated from IIM, Bangalore, in 1991
When no complaints is cause for worry
When no complaints is cause for worry
For many organizations the number of complaints is a measure of the effectiveness of their quality processes and systems. Unfortunately this assumption is flawed. If customers are not complaining, they assume the customers are satisfied. Research by USA's Technical Assistance Research Program clearly shows that if customers are not complaining they have less loyalty and could take their business elsewhere.
But why don't customers complain? More often than not, it is because the customers either do not know where to complain, or the process is too cumbersome. It is the onus of the organization to create an infrastructure that encourages customers to complain. I call them the 5As of a complaint management system.
Accessibility: often customers do not know where and how to complain. Communicate to the customers as to whom they should get in touch with, should there be a problem. If it is a toll free number, make it visible on your products or at the location where service is provided. Do not just have one channel for complaints but provide a mix of telephone, email and fax. Whatever channel the customer takes, the complaints should get entered into one central system from where actions can be initiated.
Agility: an effective complaint system should provide quick response to customers. By acknowledging the complaint and informing the customer that the complaint is being investigated; getting back to the customer after the complaint has been resolved with an assurance that it shall not recur again. The process of resolution should be laced with a sense of urgency and personal touch. Never respond with a generic letter starting with "Dear Customer". The endeavor should be to disarm the customer through actively listening, apologizing for the problem and if possible doing something to correct the problem. The latter could be by providing a gift hamper or a complimentary room in hotel or paying for not meeting a service guarantee as in a bank. Remember, accept the mistake but don't be defensive.
Ability: the ability creation should begin with convincing the representatives that there is nothing more important than keeping customers happy. This should be followed by assimilating the basic skills required for effective customer service. Train the representative on specific techniques to convert irate customers to opportunities to build successful relationships.
Authority: empower customer services representatives. They should be able to take decisions if the customer is peeved. At McDonald's for example, if your meal is not provided within the specified time, the customer representative is empowered to provide the meal free of cost.
Arsenal: This refers to the central database which stores the customer and complaint details. Whenever a customer gets in touch with a customer care center, the details of the customer's interaction pops up in the computer in front of the representative. It provides the demographics and the history of the type of business relationship the customer has had with the organization.
The system captures all details from the time the customer gets in touch with the organization with the complaint, till it is resolved. It also tracks the time taken to resolve a complaint and forwards the complaint to the relevant person for resolution. Remember, this database is the heart of the complaint management system and is imperative for efficient and speedy complaint redressal.
Debashis Sarkar
Source: The Smart Manager
For many organizations the number of complaints is a measure of the effectiveness of their quality processes and systems. Unfortunately this assumption is flawed. If customers are not complaining, they assume the customers are satisfied. Research by USA's Technical Assistance Research Program clearly shows that if customers are not complaining they have less loyalty and could take their business elsewhere.
But why don't customers complain? More often than not, it is because the customers either do not know where to complain, or the process is too cumbersome. It is the onus of the organization to create an infrastructure that encourages customers to complain. I call them the 5As of a complaint management system.
Accessibility: often customers do not know where and how to complain. Communicate to the customers as to whom they should get in touch with, should there be a problem. If it is a toll free number, make it visible on your products or at the location where service is provided. Do not just have one channel for complaints but provide a mix of telephone, email and fax. Whatever channel the customer takes, the complaints should get entered into one central system from where actions can be initiated.
Agility: an effective complaint system should provide quick response to customers. By acknowledging the complaint and informing the customer that the complaint is being investigated; getting back to the customer after the complaint has been resolved with an assurance that it shall not recur again. The process of resolution should be laced with a sense of urgency and personal touch. Never respond with a generic letter starting with "Dear Customer". The endeavor should be to disarm the customer through actively listening, apologizing for the problem and if possible doing something to correct the problem. The latter could be by providing a gift hamper or a complimentary room in hotel or paying for not meeting a service guarantee as in a bank. Remember, accept the mistake but don't be defensive.
Ability: the ability creation should begin with convincing the representatives that there is nothing more important than keeping customers happy. This should be followed by assimilating the basic skills required for effective customer service. Train the representative on specific techniques to convert irate customers to opportunities to build successful relationships.
Authority: empower customer services representatives. They should be able to take decisions if the customer is peeved. At McDonald's for example, if your meal is not provided within the specified time, the customer representative is empowered to provide the meal free of cost.
Arsenal: This refers to the central database which stores the customer and complaint details. Whenever a customer gets in touch with a customer care center, the details of the customer's interaction pops up in the computer in front of the representative. It provides the demographics and the history of the type of business relationship the customer has had with the organization.
The system captures all details from the time the customer gets in touch with the organization with the complaint, till it is resolved. It also tracks the time taken to resolve a complaint and forwards the complaint to the relevant person for resolution. Remember, this database is the heart of the complaint management system and is imperative for efficient and speedy complaint redressal.
Debashis Sarkar
Source: The Smart Manager
Changing the smell of the place
Changing the smell of the place
There is a misconception about culture that culture can be copied, that all large companies must have a similar culture. It takes weeks, months, years to evolve a culture. We have an unique culture because we had no standards to go by. For years after Independence, India did not have housing societies, mortgage banks. We were the first. So our success story was learning by doing: we made mistakes and we corrected them.
What we said in the first day of the first week of our company was that HDFC is going to be a principle-centered company. We would try to build a company which is fair, kind, effective and efficient. Today, we are in a highly competitive market. We have to have integrity as our main source of competitive advantage. We deal with money: cash is our raw material. We have 130 offices. Anything can happen anywhere in the country. We are not a rich nation: greed is always there, and there are too many borrowers with the attitude that if I give something to the lender, I will get a larger loan, I will get a quicker loan. It’s a part of our life.
To remain above board in such a system, how do you operate? It’s in the training process. And in the leadership. I may be the leader here but every branch manager has to be a leader. He is the CEO of the branch, he must inspire confidence, and he must be totally above board. He must have a passion to work, he must sleep, dream, think about HDFC from morning to night as I do. And the leaders have to travel, I tell all our senior people, in order to pass on the culture.
HDFC’s objective is helping ordinary people. The average size of our loans is Rs 400,000, our clients are mostly lower middle class. Normally, the lender is king and the borrower is way down. But from day one, we did not follow this practice. We were the only player in town, but we gave the borrower respect. We try to understand the problems. We treat borrowers not like borrowers but like clients.
It’s the senior management who has to percolate down this culture to others in the organization. You cannot identify ‘kind’ people before they join. But if a senior manager is kind, others take their cues from the way he or she behaves, communicates with people, be it the staff or the public. If there is a huge crowd at the information counter, I go and ask, “Can I help you?” We all do that. And this is what makes the organization so unique.
There is a great difference between leadership and management. Management optimizes results, management introduces improvements at the edges by cutting cost and other measures. Leaders drive change. Leaders have to have leadership qualities like vision, passion and integrity. There are different rules for leaders and different rules for managers. Now a case in point is a branch manager. He or she is a leader because a large number of people report to the branch manager. He has to make budget; he has to have a vision for the area; he must show growth not only in number but also in the quality of loans; his non-performing loans cannot exceed a certain percent; he must set targets and ensure that the targets are met.
He is a leader in his territory but he cannot design a vision for the company because the exposure is not there. HDFC is run by ordinary people who in a particular environment perform exceptionally well, as a result of which HDFC has become a special success story. We work together as a team and we produce results. In the last ten to twelve years, we have grown enormously, and not just within HDFC.
At the same time, we have created many leaders. HDFC has grown well but how do you tackle ambition? We started five new companies and our own senior people are running these companies. Take the life insurance company or the asset management company both of them are run by HDFC-grown people who have been with us for 20 to 25 years.
When Deepak Satwalekar went to insurance, two or three others also went, and they have done well for themselves. When Milind Barve went as CEO of the asset management company, he took half dozen people, and they too have done well. We don’t hire much from outside because we develop people. Because of diversification, people have got an opportunity to move out, to move into independent organizations which still carry the HDFC brand.
Leaders have to be visible, have to spend evenings at the branches, have to call 20 to 40 people. Six monthly budget meetings and quarterly review meetings are a must, but over and above that senior managers must go to the territories. They must meet people, sometimes even the families, always in the evening after office hours, when they can talk to them in an informal atmosphere about what is happening globally, what is happening at HDFC and its group companies.
All of us do that regularly. It is not easy. You have to stay days away from home. You spend weekends away. Even if you leave in the morning and come back home in the evening, it is difficult. It is a part of the leader’s agenda, part of a manager’s agenda. And a leader will never win a popularity contest. The more successful you are, the more enemies you create. It’s lonely at the top.
Author: Deepak Parekh
Source: The Smart Manager
There is a misconception about culture that culture can be copied, that all large companies must have a similar culture. It takes weeks, months, years to evolve a culture. We have an unique culture because we had no standards to go by. For years after Independence, India did not have housing societies, mortgage banks. We were the first. So our success story was learning by doing: we made mistakes and we corrected them.
What we said in the first day of the first week of our company was that HDFC is going to be a principle-centered company. We would try to build a company which is fair, kind, effective and efficient. Today, we are in a highly competitive market. We have to have integrity as our main source of competitive advantage. We deal with money: cash is our raw material. We have 130 offices. Anything can happen anywhere in the country. We are not a rich nation: greed is always there, and there are too many borrowers with the attitude that if I give something to the lender, I will get a larger loan, I will get a quicker loan. It’s a part of our life.
To remain above board in such a system, how do you operate? It’s in the training process. And in the leadership. I may be the leader here but every branch manager has to be a leader. He is the CEO of the branch, he must inspire confidence, and he must be totally above board. He must have a passion to work, he must sleep, dream, think about HDFC from morning to night as I do. And the leaders have to travel, I tell all our senior people, in order to pass on the culture.
HDFC’s objective is helping ordinary people. The average size of our loans is Rs 400,000, our clients are mostly lower middle class. Normally, the lender is king and the borrower is way down. But from day one, we did not follow this practice. We were the only player in town, but we gave the borrower respect. We try to understand the problems. We treat borrowers not like borrowers but like clients.
It’s the senior management who has to percolate down this culture to others in the organization. You cannot identify ‘kind’ people before they join. But if a senior manager is kind, others take their cues from the way he or she behaves, communicates with people, be it the staff or the public. If there is a huge crowd at the information counter, I go and ask, “Can I help you?” We all do that. And this is what makes the organization so unique.
There is a great difference between leadership and management. Management optimizes results, management introduces improvements at the edges by cutting cost and other measures. Leaders drive change. Leaders have to have leadership qualities like vision, passion and integrity. There are different rules for leaders and different rules for managers. Now a case in point is a branch manager. He or she is a leader because a large number of people report to the branch manager. He has to make budget; he has to have a vision for the area; he must show growth not only in number but also in the quality of loans; his non-performing loans cannot exceed a certain percent; he must set targets and ensure that the targets are met.
He is a leader in his territory but he cannot design a vision for the company because the exposure is not there. HDFC is run by ordinary people who in a particular environment perform exceptionally well, as a result of which HDFC has become a special success story. We work together as a team and we produce results. In the last ten to twelve years, we have grown enormously, and not just within HDFC.
At the same time, we have created many leaders. HDFC has grown well but how do you tackle ambition? We started five new companies and our own senior people are running these companies. Take the life insurance company or the asset management company both of them are run by HDFC-grown people who have been with us for 20 to 25 years.
When Deepak Satwalekar went to insurance, two or three others also went, and they have done well for themselves. When Milind Barve went as CEO of the asset management company, he took half dozen people, and they too have done well. We don’t hire much from outside because we develop people. Because of diversification, people have got an opportunity to move out, to move into independent organizations which still carry the HDFC brand.
Leaders have to be visible, have to spend evenings at the branches, have to call 20 to 40 people. Six monthly budget meetings and quarterly review meetings are a must, but over and above that senior managers must go to the territories. They must meet people, sometimes even the families, always in the evening after office hours, when they can talk to them in an informal atmosphere about what is happening globally, what is happening at HDFC and its group companies.
All of us do that regularly. It is not easy. You have to stay days away from home. You spend weekends away. Even if you leave in the morning and come back home in the evening, it is difficult. It is a part of the leader’s agenda, part of a manager’s agenda. And a leader will never win a popularity contest. The more successful you are, the more enemies you create. It’s lonely at the top.
Author: Deepak Parekh
Source: The Smart Manager
Wipro making ‘green’ a way of life
Wipro making ‘green’ a way of life
Bangalore, Aug. 20:
Long before its PCs went green, Wipro has been working at making ‘green’ a way of life at its corporate offices across the country.
Recognition like the Platinum Rating from the US Green Building Council for its Gurgaon Software Development Centre is only one milestone in this endeavour, says Mr Laxman K. Badiga, Corporate Vice-President and CIO, Wipro Technologies.
There have been other achievements too, like the paper recycling unit at the company’s Electronic City campus, making note-pads for employees for the last six months, the Kochi Development Centre likely to get a Gold Rating from the US Green Building Council and the conversion of canteen waste into bio-fuels at the Bangalore office.
“The key thing in all our buildings is extreme discretion in power consumption and water management, which has become a way of life for us,” says Mr Badiga.
The Electronic City campus at Bangalore could consume 45 days of recycled water last year. The Azim Premji Foundation building in Bangalore runs on natural light and without air-conditioners.
Solar water heating systems and smartly-designed lighting and air-conditioning systems have ensured 30% reduction in energy usage at the Gurgaon Development Centre, the only building in the country to be recognised with the Platinum Rating.
The centre uses natural lighting as much as possible, reduces the need for additional lighting using a combination of daylight sensors and lighting control. Treated water is reused for gardening, flushing and air-conditioning makeup water. Double glazed windows with energy efficient glass ensure low noise levels and low penetration of heat into the building reducing the load on the air conditioning system.
Mr Ramakrishnan, General Manager, Facilities Management, Wipro Technologies, says that at GDC, all furniture is modular, made of MDF boards made from recycled material. Bio-gas from canteen waste is being used at the company’s headquarters in Bangalore. Wipro is also considering setting up of windmills as an energy source option, Mr Badiga said.
But do savings in terms of energy and water really merit the cost of setting up these ‘green’ initiatives? “All this has been achieved with a nominal increase in construction cost, say about 10%.,” Mr Badiga says. But he’s thinking of a more critical factor: “Launching such an initiative is easy, but sustaining it is the tricky part.” And that’s why Wipro employees are being sensitised to its green programmes through exhibitions, conferences and training programmes.
Taken from Business Line
Bangalore, Aug. 20:
Long before its PCs went green, Wipro has been working at making ‘green’ a way of life at its corporate offices across the country.
Recognition like the Platinum Rating from the US Green Building Council for its Gurgaon Software Development Centre is only one milestone in this endeavour, says Mr Laxman K. Badiga, Corporate Vice-President and CIO, Wipro Technologies.
There have been other achievements too, like the paper recycling unit at the company’s Electronic City campus, making note-pads for employees for the last six months, the Kochi Development Centre likely to get a Gold Rating from the US Green Building Council and the conversion of canteen waste into bio-fuels at the Bangalore office.
“The key thing in all our buildings is extreme discretion in power consumption and water management, which has become a way of life for us,” says Mr Badiga.
The Electronic City campus at Bangalore could consume 45 days of recycled water last year. The Azim Premji Foundation building in Bangalore runs on natural light and without air-conditioners.
Solar water heating systems and smartly-designed lighting and air-conditioning systems have ensured 30% reduction in energy usage at the Gurgaon Development Centre, the only building in the country to be recognised with the Platinum Rating.
The centre uses natural lighting as much as possible, reduces the need for additional lighting using a combination of daylight sensors and lighting control. Treated water is reused for gardening, flushing and air-conditioning makeup water. Double glazed windows with energy efficient glass ensure low noise levels and low penetration of heat into the building reducing the load on the air conditioning system.
Mr Ramakrishnan, General Manager, Facilities Management, Wipro Technologies, says that at GDC, all furniture is modular, made of MDF boards made from recycled material. Bio-gas from canteen waste is being used at the company’s headquarters in Bangalore. Wipro is also considering setting up of windmills as an energy source option, Mr Badiga said.
But do savings in terms of energy and water really merit the cost of setting up these ‘green’ initiatives? “All this has been achieved with a nominal increase in construction cost, say about 10%.,” Mr Badiga says. But he’s thinking of a more critical factor: “Launching such an initiative is easy, but sustaining it is the tricky part.” And that’s why Wipro employees are being sensitised to its green programmes through exhibitions, conferences and training programmes.
Taken from Business Line
Are Leaders Born?
Are Leaders Born?
Most people fantasise about being in a leader’s shoes. But many believe this would remain wishful thinking because they are convinced that leaders are born. For them, people who influence their societies and workplaces are the ones who are born into certain families, have a certain pedigree and possess certain traits. According to research at the London School of Economics (LSE), leaders are very rarely born. Instead, they are the ones who are willing to take a decision to lead in situations when it is most expected from them.
Leaders are rarely born because:
They often do not carry any legacy nor are they from great families. People who have initiated and propagated great changes are seldom there because of a birthright. They emerged as and remained great leaders out of their own merit. They began with a decision to take on leadership and a determination to lead a cause that they believed in.
Traditionally, leadership skills were always thought to be something people are born with; that leadership is about being genetically lucky. But as researchers correlated scores on IQ and personality tests, they found only a modest and moderate relationship that did not differentiate leaders from non-leaders in any way. Even a behavioural correlation established the same. So, leaders were proved to be non-distinguishable from other people in terms of their intelligence and other abilities. Even as we study history, leaders seldom appear to have a past where they exhibited some extraordinary physical or mental capabilities, setting them several notches above other people. On the contrary, many of the world’s great leaders had been branded below average or just average individuals at some point in their lives. Each of them emerged as leaders because they took a decision to lead.
Leaders are hardly ever exceptional. And they need not be. Leadership is not something with which you are born, it is not inherited, but it is something you decide to do. Leaders are the ones who are bold enough to take a decision when they are faced with a defining moment.
If we examine corporate leaders, we see that this hypothesis holds good most of the time. Take Henry Ford. He not only revolutionised industrial production, but also had such influence over the 20th century economy and society that his combination of mass production, high wages and low prices to consumers is still called “Fordism”. His parents were poor immigrants from Western England where they were evicted from their land in Somerset. They underwent great tribulations as they came over to America looking for a new start.
As a child, Ford was quiet and inward looking, and spent much of his time around his mother. She died while he was very young, leading him into depression. His father despised him for not showing any interest or skill in farm work and literally wrote Henry off, saying he would never amount to anything. During most of his younger days, Ford apprenticed as a low-level machinist at various places, not even earning enough to lead a decent living. He did not own anything that could make him a born leader — no birthright, no pedigree and certainly no extraordinary attributes. Nobody ever recognised that he could do anything worthwhile. But when he took the decision to lead, he went on to be one of the greatest leaders the corporate world has ever seen. He brought on a new age of industrialisation and urbanisation owing mostly to his leadership in the automobile industry.
Even if we look at India, we see several first-generation corporate leaders who have built and led their empires, devoid of any family legacy. We can either learn from all their success stories and strive to be leaders ourselves, or we can retreat into our shell, presuming leadership to be something beyond our reach, reserved for those born with silver spoons in their mouths.
by Sangeeth Varghese / moneycontrol
The author is a leadership scholar from the LSE and founder of LeadCap. His book, Decide to Lead: Eight Decisions That Can Make You A Leader, will soon be published by Businessworld. He can be contacted at sangeethv@leadcap.org This email address is being protected from spam bots, you need Javascript enabled to view it
Most people fantasise about being in a leader’s shoes. But many believe this would remain wishful thinking because they are convinced that leaders are born. For them, people who influence their societies and workplaces are the ones who are born into certain families, have a certain pedigree and possess certain traits. According to research at the London School of Economics (LSE), leaders are very rarely born. Instead, they are the ones who are willing to take a decision to lead in situations when it is most expected from them.
Leaders are rarely born because:
They often do not carry any legacy nor are they from great families. People who have initiated and propagated great changes are seldom there because of a birthright. They emerged as and remained great leaders out of their own merit. They began with a decision to take on leadership and a determination to lead a cause that they believed in.
Traditionally, leadership skills were always thought to be something people are born with; that leadership is about being genetically lucky. But as researchers correlated scores on IQ and personality tests, they found only a modest and moderate relationship that did not differentiate leaders from non-leaders in any way. Even a behavioural correlation established the same. So, leaders were proved to be non-distinguishable from other people in terms of their intelligence and other abilities. Even as we study history, leaders seldom appear to have a past where they exhibited some extraordinary physical or mental capabilities, setting them several notches above other people. On the contrary, many of the world’s great leaders had been branded below average or just average individuals at some point in their lives. Each of them emerged as leaders because they took a decision to lead.
Leaders are hardly ever exceptional. And they need not be. Leadership is not something with which you are born, it is not inherited, but it is something you decide to do. Leaders are the ones who are bold enough to take a decision when they are faced with a defining moment.
If we examine corporate leaders, we see that this hypothesis holds good most of the time. Take Henry Ford. He not only revolutionised industrial production, but also had such influence over the 20th century economy and society that his combination of mass production, high wages and low prices to consumers is still called “Fordism”. His parents were poor immigrants from Western England where they were evicted from their land in Somerset. They underwent great tribulations as they came over to America looking for a new start.
As a child, Ford was quiet and inward looking, and spent much of his time around his mother. She died while he was very young, leading him into depression. His father despised him for not showing any interest or skill in farm work and literally wrote Henry off, saying he would never amount to anything. During most of his younger days, Ford apprenticed as a low-level machinist at various places, not even earning enough to lead a decent living. He did not own anything that could make him a born leader — no birthright, no pedigree and certainly no extraordinary attributes. Nobody ever recognised that he could do anything worthwhile. But when he took the decision to lead, he went on to be one of the greatest leaders the corporate world has ever seen. He brought on a new age of industrialisation and urbanisation owing mostly to his leadership in the automobile industry.
Even if we look at India, we see several first-generation corporate leaders who have built and led their empires, devoid of any family legacy. We can either learn from all their success stories and strive to be leaders ourselves, or we can retreat into our shell, presuming leadership to be something beyond our reach, reserved for those born with silver spoons in their mouths.
by Sangeeth Varghese / moneycontrol
The author is a leadership scholar from the LSE and founder of LeadCap. His book, Decide to Lead: Eight Decisions That Can Make You A Leader, will soon be published by Businessworld. He can be contacted at sangeethv@leadcap.org This email address is being protected from spam bots, you need Javascript enabled to view it
Getting the essence of incense right
Getting the essence of incense right
Being an entrepreneur is one thing but following in the footsteps of generations of successful entrepreneurs can be challenging. But Arjun and Kiran Ranga are not in the least fazed. These two brothers are scions of the 50 year old NR Group.
This company is situated in Mysore and it was here that founder N Ranga Rao changed the humble agarbatti (incense sticks) into an FMGG product. Today, these brothers are the third generation of family members who are running the business.
As children, both watched their father shape and mould the incense and essence industry. Both Arjun and Kiran were educated in the US and have worked with international organisations.
It's the joint family ethos that led them to bring the Cycle brand into the new millenium. Arjun, the elder brother, says he always wanted to come back and work in the family business since he felt his family had given him a lot in terms of a good education and exposure to working abroad as well. But he says he has worked his way up from some of the smaller departments and the family just didn't hand over the entire company to him right away.
Kiran Ranga has got a degree in perfumery which is what his specialty is - he comes up with new perfumes for the agarbattis.
Both say that the family has been very forthright in letting these youngsters come in and handle the business. The Cycle brand has a 30% share in the agarbatti market and also exports to more than 40 countries. This was an unorganised industry and this company was the first to use the FMCG channel for distribution.
It has a library of more than 200 fragrances created and blended inhouse. And Rangsons Electronics, the most recent subsidiary has seen a compounded growth rate of 55% over the last five years.
Today, Rangsons has diversified to aircare and personal care products - from deoderants, perfumes, incense to aromatherapy products - it's got them all. Ofcourse they export these products and their company has 10% of India's export marketshare.
Before 2000, incense was not a popular item but after 2000, when Western culture has started to look East - whether it's for spiritualism or yoga - and incense now ties up with all of this very neatly.
The Group is looking at hitting revenues of Rs 325 crore in the year end and in the next five years, it's going to hit Rs 1,000 crore. But they plan to be market leader in the in-home fragrance sector.
A new real estate mogul arrives
He took a small step to achieve a bigger dream. Nitesh Shetty is a 30 year old former star tennis player, who gave it up to become one of many of India's young entrepreneurs.
He started a billboard company at 20 and called it Serve and Volley/ He borrowed money Rs 12,000 from his mother to get started. Today, it's one of the biggest companies dealing with outdoor advertising. But this was not all and he set out to do different things as well.
This made him launch the Nitesh Group, which is now into real estate and is one of Bangalore's top real estate companies. As its managing director, he's well aware that daring to dream big is not just about grit and gumption but also about spotting the right opportunity at the right time.
So, in keeping with this motto, he has brought down the Ritz Carlton to India and their first hotel is going to come up in Bangalore's central business district in 24 months. They are not going to be managing it - for that they are roping in experts who know how to run a world class hotel.
But he credits this new direction he took in his life to Mrs Nalini Mohan, who gave him his first break. She allowed him to develop a piece of land that she owned. While she consulted with her husband about the land, Nitesh went ahead and hired a consultancy firm from Singapore and an archtect from Hong Kong. So, when she came back with her permission, he had his plans ready to show her and she was impressed and the rest is history.
But he did have to struggle to prove to people that he was in for the long haul despite being so young when he started out. He recalls the times when he wasn't taken seriously by the local councillor when he went to get a license for a billboard or when banks wouldn't extend him a loan because he had no knowhow or collateral to start a real estate project.
But that's in the past. Today, he's got big investors like Citi backing him, but picking prime real estate in the heart of Bangalore is his priority. He plans to concentrate on the growing needs of the real estate market, focusing on the very high-end niche.
The Group works with A-list office spaces and hotels and are currentlt developing the Ritz Carlton hotel, which is India's first in the heart of Bangalore. It's a 260 room hotel with an investment of Rs 500 crore.
What's more, the Group has moved into seven new cities and is looking at going public very soon. Managing Director, Nitesh Group, Nitesh Shetty told CNBC-TV18, "Definitely, an IPO is on our mind but we're waiting for appropriate timing and size. The real estate business has been five years now from the time it has been started. We're quite happy with the partners who have come on board with us and we have actually moved into 6-7 cities and we've moved into almost all the verticals of A grade buildings - office, malls, hotels and residences."
Along with construction, he's looking forward to integrate smoothly with infrastructure development as well. He also has plans to go into virgin markets, where he can beat the smaller players.
Going forward, he's got some vision documents ready that will ensure that he creates a world class company. A company that will be able to sail away from the competition and leave them behind - through easy and tough times - just as smoothly.
For more on the Group's projects: http://www.niteshestates.com/
Source: moneycontrol
He started a billboard company at 20 and called it Serve and Volley/ He borrowed money Rs 12,000 from his mother to get started. Today, it's one of the biggest companies dealing with outdoor advertising. But this was not all and he set out to do different things as well.
This made him launch the Nitesh Group, which is now into real estate and is one of Bangalore's top real estate companies. As its managing director, he's well aware that daring to dream big is not just about grit and gumption but also about spotting the right opportunity at the right time.
So, in keeping with this motto, he has brought down the Ritz Carlton to India and their first hotel is going to come up in Bangalore's central business district in 24 months. They are not going to be managing it - for that they are roping in experts who know how to run a world class hotel.
But he credits this new direction he took in his life to Mrs Nalini Mohan, who gave him his first break. She allowed him to develop a piece of land that she owned. While she consulted with her husband about the land, Nitesh went ahead and hired a consultancy firm from Singapore and an archtect from Hong Kong. So, when she came back with her permission, he had his plans ready to show her and she was impressed and the rest is history.
But he did have to struggle to prove to people that he was in for the long haul despite being so young when he started out. He recalls the times when he wasn't taken seriously by the local councillor when he went to get a license for a billboard or when banks wouldn't extend him a loan because he had no knowhow or collateral to start a real estate project.
But that's in the past. Today, he's got big investors like Citi backing him, but picking prime real estate in the heart of Bangalore is his priority. He plans to concentrate on the growing needs of the real estate market, focusing on the very high-end niche.
The Group works with A-list office spaces and hotels and are currentlt developing the Ritz Carlton hotel, which is India's first in the heart of Bangalore. It's a 260 room hotel with an investment of Rs 500 crore.
What's more, the Group has moved into seven new cities and is looking at going public very soon. Managing Director, Nitesh Group, Nitesh Shetty told CNBC-TV18, "Definitely, an IPO is on our mind but we're waiting for appropriate timing and size. The real estate business has been five years now from the time it has been started. We're quite happy with the partners who have come on board with us and we have actually moved into 6-7 cities and we've moved into almost all the verticals of A grade buildings - office, malls, hotels and residences."
Along with construction, he's looking forward to integrate smoothly with infrastructure development as well. He also has plans to go into virgin markets, where he can beat the smaller players.
Going forward, he's got some vision documents ready that will ensure that he creates a world class company. A company that will be able to sail away from the competition and leave them behind - through easy and tough times - just as smoothly.
For more on the Group's projects: http://www.niteshestates.com/
Source: moneycontrol
Shocked into creative living
Shocked into creative living
27 Aug, 2007, 0253 hrs IST,K VIJAYARAGHAVAN, TNN
The process of “getting tired of being tired”, in a larger context, can also be extended to one’s advantage, through waking up to the shocking realisation that he is drifting and is dissipating his talents and potential. It was rightly noted that even fault finding and impatience can be virtues, provided these are directed upon oneself.
In this manner, the seeker realises his infirmities and limitations — the starting point to laying down a path to emerge into a new world of excellence, right relationships and joie de vivre. This verily is also process of ‘waking up to make one’s dreams come true’.
The immortal Kannada film, Hamsagethe powerfully depicts the progression in the transformation of Venkanna, a gifted singer, who also yearns for moral perfection. In stages, through particular interactions and developments in his life, he overcomes the retarding factors of arrogance, pride, infatuation and overconfidence, which stand in the way of the pursuit of his vision.
Though accomplished and gifted in many ways, he realises that he has miles to go to even comprehend the spark of that divinity, which verily is that power, in all bliss and joy and harmony with all aspects within and without, expressed often as outpourings of true Bhakthi.
The prerequisite, therefore, in many cases, for this awakening, is often that of being shocked into feelings of dissatisfaction, if not disgust, with one’s present state of mind, body, heart and soul. This state within is also reflected in situations, relationships and circumstances which attend upon him. Such wake-up calls, as blessings in disguises, transform, sometimes, even the most ordinary into extraordinary beings, endowed with supreme powers.
The story is often told of a great saint and poet, who once was highly attached to worldly comforts and fiercely infatuated with his newly wedded wife. One day, during the height of his over powering passion, his wife jokingly taunted him, “Why don’t you divert at least a part of this attachment for me to God?” As if instantaneously, the young man experienced a metamorphosis, to realise his mission in life.
Indeed, contentment stays as a virtue, only when applied to material and mundane pursuits. For sublime aspirations, the seeking aspirant should hitch his wagon to the highest star. Only then would he be truly fulfilled and be satisfied in the self by his own self, delighting in himself and be genuinely contended — in the manner conceived of by Bhagawad Gita.
27 Aug, 2007, 0253 hrs IST,K VIJAYARAGHAVAN, TNN
The process of “getting tired of being tired”, in a larger context, can also be extended to one’s advantage, through waking up to the shocking realisation that he is drifting and is dissipating his talents and potential. It was rightly noted that even fault finding and impatience can be virtues, provided these are directed upon oneself.
In this manner, the seeker realises his infirmities and limitations — the starting point to laying down a path to emerge into a new world of excellence, right relationships and joie de vivre. This verily is also process of ‘waking up to make one’s dreams come true’.
The immortal Kannada film, Hamsagethe powerfully depicts the progression in the transformation of Venkanna, a gifted singer, who also yearns for moral perfection. In stages, through particular interactions and developments in his life, he overcomes the retarding factors of arrogance, pride, infatuation and overconfidence, which stand in the way of the pursuit of his vision.
Though accomplished and gifted in many ways, he realises that he has miles to go to even comprehend the spark of that divinity, which verily is that power, in all bliss and joy and harmony with all aspects within and without, expressed often as outpourings of true Bhakthi.
The prerequisite, therefore, in many cases, for this awakening, is often that of being shocked into feelings of dissatisfaction, if not disgust, with one’s present state of mind, body, heart and soul. This state within is also reflected in situations, relationships and circumstances which attend upon him. Such wake-up calls, as blessings in disguises, transform, sometimes, even the most ordinary into extraordinary beings, endowed with supreme powers.
The story is often told of a great saint and poet, who once was highly attached to worldly comforts and fiercely infatuated with his newly wedded wife. One day, during the height of his over powering passion, his wife jokingly taunted him, “Why don’t you divert at least a part of this attachment for me to God?” As if instantaneously, the young man experienced a metamorphosis, to realise his mission in life.
Indeed, contentment stays as a virtue, only when applied to material and mundane pursuits. For sublime aspirations, the seeking aspirant should hitch his wagon to the highest star. Only then would he be truly fulfilled and be satisfied in the self by his own self, delighting in himself and be genuinely contended — in the manner conceived of by Bhagawad Gita.
Soap that cleans clothes with less water
Soap that cleans clothes with less water
27 Aug, 2007, 1131 hrs IST, IANS
MELBOURNE: Wasting water to rinse that extra lather from your clothes may be a thing of the past now. Scientists in Australia have developed a detergent that cleans clothes with less water.
Normal detergents contain surfactant molecules, which are oil-friendly at one end to capture dirt and water-friendly at the other to pull it away. They also tend to form bubbles, which require extra water to rinse.
Researchers at the University of Queensland in Brisbane, Australia, have made a surfactant that only forms bubbles under mildly alkaline (that contain soluble mineral salts) conditions.
The unusual product, which is a biological detergent, has been named pepfactant because it is made from peptides (specific acids).
The inventors - Annette Dexter and Anton Middleberg - said the unique aspect of pepfactants is that it can be switched on or off, depending on its intended application.
For example, in laundry detergents there's a built-in pH (a measure of the acidity or alkalinity of water) change that occurs between the wash and rinse cycles.
Pepfactants designed to respond to that change could be added to the detergent to reduce the rinse time, reports UPI news wire.
Detergents tend to be alkaline, so during a wash cycle the molecules link to form bubbles. The rinse water lowers the pH, breaking the bubbles apart, so less water is needed to wash out the lather.
Soap bubbles that collapse once clothes are clean could reduce the water needed during washing, the scientists said.
Pepfactants could also control the mixing of oil and water in industrial processes, according to a report in the online edition of New Scientist.
Dexter believes the more near-term application might develop in the personal care area, such as a shampoo, conditioner, skin cream or hand wash. There also could be potential applications for eye drops, she added.
27 Aug, 2007, 1131 hrs IST, IANS
MELBOURNE: Wasting water to rinse that extra lather from your clothes may be a thing of the past now. Scientists in Australia have developed a detergent that cleans clothes with less water.
Normal detergents contain surfactant molecules, which are oil-friendly at one end to capture dirt and water-friendly at the other to pull it away. They also tend to form bubbles, which require extra water to rinse.
Researchers at the University of Queensland in Brisbane, Australia, have made a surfactant that only forms bubbles under mildly alkaline (that contain soluble mineral salts) conditions.
The unusual product, which is a biological detergent, has been named pepfactant because it is made from peptides (specific acids).
The inventors - Annette Dexter and Anton Middleberg - said the unique aspect of pepfactants is that it can be switched on or off, depending on its intended application.
For example, in laundry detergents there's a built-in pH (a measure of the acidity or alkalinity of water) change that occurs between the wash and rinse cycles.
Pepfactants designed to respond to that change could be added to the detergent to reduce the rinse time, reports UPI news wire.
Detergents tend to be alkaline, so during a wash cycle the molecules link to form bubbles. The rinse water lowers the pH, breaking the bubbles apart, so less water is needed to wash out the lather.
Soap bubbles that collapse once clothes are clean could reduce the water needed during washing, the scientists said.
Pepfactants could also control the mixing of oil and water in industrial processes, according to a report in the online edition of New Scientist.
Dexter believes the more near-term application might develop in the personal care area, such as a shampoo, conditioner, skin cream or hand wash. There also could be potential applications for eye drops, she added.
New-age accounting standards
New-age accounting standards
22 Aug, 2007, 0000 hrs IST, ECONOMIC TIMES
By Dolphy D'Souza
There are now more than 100 countries across the world where international financial reporting standards (IFRS) is required or permitted. IFRS came into prominence when EU decided to adopt it for all its members starting from 2005. Since then, and in a very short span of time, IFRS spread very rapidly all across the world.
The Institute of Chartered Accountants of India (ICAI) decided recently that Indian accounting standards will be fully in line with the IFRS from April 1, 2011 for listed companies and will be extended to other entities in a phased manner. The decision was expected as more than 100 countries around the world currently follow IFRS, and the US SEC is proposing to eliminate, for IFRS foreign filers, the reconciliation requirement to US GAAP.
The convergence to IFRS will greatly enhance Indian entities’ ability to raise and attract foreign capital at low cost. It will also mean escape from multiple reports for huge Indian multi-national companies that have to prepare their financial statements under multiple GAAPs. The Indian professional, trained under IFRS, could very well become a globe trotter.
If he is a home bird, he still would be much sought-after by accounting firms and Indian entities converging to IFRS. With the world changing to IFRS, BPO/KPO businesses in India would have a massive requirement for IFRS resources, and Indian IFRS-literate resources could feed this appetite and provide a huge fillip to this sector. It could be the next big thing for the BPO/KPO business in India. The opportunities are tempting, but they come with huge challenges.
The IFRS adoption by 2011 will have a significant impact on all stakeholders, such as the ICAI, CA, regulators, preparers of financial statements, analysts, users of financial information, etc. Firstly, ICAI will have to give up its function of drafting and issuing accounting standards.
Instead, its focus would be changed to ensure that India’s interest is protected at the international accounting standards board (IASB) level. Given that India is such a huge economy, it will have to ensure adequate representation at the IASB level. Secondly, ICAI will have to set up a formal accreditation process and impart IFRS training to existing as well as prospective members, before 2011. That is not going to be an easy task.
Right now accounting standards or accounting-related requirements are issued not only by the ICAI but various regulators/regulations, e.g., the RBI, Sebi, IRDA, Companies Act, etc. Sebi prescribes accounting for ESOPs, MFs, and presentation format for quarterly reporting, etc.
The Companies Act has various accounting-related aspects covered under Schedule VI, Schedule XIV, section 78, etc. In the case of amalgamation and restructuring, high courts in India require accounting treatment, which may not be in accordance with the accounting standards.
Global frameworks do not recognise such override by non-standard setters. The RBI prescribes accounting requirements for banks, such as accounting for derivatives or provision for NPAs, etc. If the April 2011 deadline has to be met, all these legal hurdles will have to be addressed as soon as possible. That can be done through appropriate amendments in the law, which is a significant challenge in the IFRS convergence process. For example, it would be extremely difficult to convince the RBI to require banks to follow IFRS, rather than the RBI prescribed accounting pronouncements.
IFRS are fair value driven, which result very often in unrealised gains and losses. How are these to be dealt with for income-tax purposes? Are these taxable? Can unrealised gains be distributed as dividends under the Companies Act? These are the questions that would have to be addressed much before the 2011 deadline.
The change from Indian GAAP to IFRS will have a significant impact on various entities’ financial statements and performance indicators. But it can get far more complicated than that, since it would also significantly affect management compensation, stock options, debt covenants, tax liability, distributable profits, etc. IT and internal MIS systems will have to be modified in time, so that it could generate robust and reliable IFRS information on a timely basis.
IFRS are rigorous but the over-emphasis on fair valuation can bring in a lot of subjectivity and volatility in the financial statements, besides requiring a lot of hard work and use of valuation professionals to make those estimates. Under such circumstances, would it be right to subject SMEs to the rigors of IFRS? There is hope here, since the IASB has issued a draft standard for SMEs, which is a simplified form of the main IFRS. Hence the concerns of SMEs should be adequately addressed.
Going ahead, the challenge is not only for India, but also for the IASB. It will have to keep in mind the interest of all member countries when issuing IFRS, bring stability in the entire framework, provide clarity on confusing issues, address appropriately the fair value criticisms and, most importantly, ensure that the standards are interpreted and applied consistently, be it Asia, Africa or America.
(The author is partner, Ernst & Young. Views are personal)
22 Aug, 2007, 0000 hrs IST, ECONOMIC TIMES
By Dolphy D'Souza
There are now more than 100 countries across the world where international financial reporting standards (IFRS) is required or permitted. IFRS came into prominence when EU decided to adopt it for all its members starting from 2005. Since then, and in a very short span of time, IFRS spread very rapidly all across the world.
The Institute of Chartered Accountants of India (ICAI) decided recently that Indian accounting standards will be fully in line with the IFRS from April 1, 2011 for listed companies and will be extended to other entities in a phased manner. The decision was expected as more than 100 countries around the world currently follow IFRS, and the US SEC is proposing to eliminate, for IFRS foreign filers, the reconciliation requirement to US GAAP.
The convergence to IFRS will greatly enhance Indian entities’ ability to raise and attract foreign capital at low cost. It will also mean escape from multiple reports for huge Indian multi-national companies that have to prepare their financial statements under multiple GAAPs. The Indian professional, trained under IFRS, could very well become a globe trotter.
If he is a home bird, he still would be much sought-after by accounting firms and Indian entities converging to IFRS. With the world changing to IFRS, BPO/KPO businesses in India would have a massive requirement for IFRS resources, and Indian IFRS-literate resources could feed this appetite and provide a huge fillip to this sector. It could be the next big thing for the BPO/KPO business in India. The opportunities are tempting, but they come with huge challenges.
The IFRS adoption by 2011 will have a significant impact on all stakeholders, such as the ICAI, CA, regulators, preparers of financial statements, analysts, users of financial information, etc. Firstly, ICAI will have to give up its function of drafting and issuing accounting standards.
Instead, its focus would be changed to ensure that India’s interest is protected at the international accounting standards board (IASB) level. Given that India is such a huge economy, it will have to ensure adequate representation at the IASB level. Secondly, ICAI will have to set up a formal accreditation process and impart IFRS training to existing as well as prospective members, before 2011. That is not going to be an easy task.
Right now accounting standards or accounting-related requirements are issued not only by the ICAI but various regulators/regulations, e.g., the RBI, Sebi, IRDA, Companies Act, etc. Sebi prescribes accounting for ESOPs, MFs, and presentation format for quarterly reporting, etc.
The Companies Act has various accounting-related aspects covered under Schedule VI, Schedule XIV, section 78, etc. In the case of amalgamation and restructuring, high courts in India require accounting treatment, which may not be in accordance with the accounting standards.
Global frameworks do not recognise such override by non-standard setters. The RBI prescribes accounting requirements for banks, such as accounting for derivatives or provision for NPAs, etc. If the April 2011 deadline has to be met, all these legal hurdles will have to be addressed as soon as possible. That can be done through appropriate amendments in the law, which is a significant challenge in the IFRS convergence process. For example, it would be extremely difficult to convince the RBI to require banks to follow IFRS, rather than the RBI prescribed accounting pronouncements.
IFRS are fair value driven, which result very often in unrealised gains and losses. How are these to be dealt with for income-tax purposes? Are these taxable? Can unrealised gains be distributed as dividends under the Companies Act? These are the questions that would have to be addressed much before the 2011 deadline.
The change from Indian GAAP to IFRS will have a significant impact on various entities’ financial statements and performance indicators. But it can get far more complicated than that, since it would also significantly affect management compensation, stock options, debt covenants, tax liability, distributable profits, etc. IT and internal MIS systems will have to be modified in time, so that it could generate robust and reliable IFRS information on a timely basis.
IFRS are rigorous but the over-emphasis on fair valuation can bring in a lot of subjectivity and volatility in the financial statements, besides requiring a lot of hard work and use of valuation professionals to make those estimates. Under such circumstances, would it be right to subject SMEs to the rigors of IFRS? There is hope here, since the IASB has issued a draft standard for SMEs, which is a simplified form of the main IFRS. Hence the concerns of SMEs should be adequately addressed.
Going ahead, the challenge is not only for India, but also for the IASB. It will have to keep in mind the interest of all member countries when issuing IFRS, bring stability in the entire framework, provide clarity on confusing issues, address appropriately the fair value criticisms and, most importantly, ensure that the standards are interpreted and applied consistently, be it Asia, Africa or America.
(The author is partner, Ernst & Young. Views are personal)
Insurance cover should be 20 times one's current income
Insurance cover should be 20 times one's current income24 Aug, 2007, 0000 hrs IST,Haresh Soneji, TNN
Insurance products are dime a dozen. Choosing an insurer over another is not easy with little track record of performance to compare. Bharti AXA Life Insurance CEO Nitin Chopra , in an interview to ET , advises individuals to keep an eye on product charges, investment returns & service capability of insurers.
What are the factors to be kept in mind while choosing a policy and an insurance company?
While choosing an insurance product, it is important for an individual to identify the core need. While most seek a combination of financial protection as well as investment needs to achieve long-term goals like child’s higher education or buying a house, there are customers who require only financial protection.
Such individuals have already taken care of their investment needs and have identified a need to protect his/her family financially from undesirable eventualities such as mortgage liability or sustenance of lifestyle, in the unfortunate event of his death. A term insurance product would be appropriate for them, as it provides his family a lumpsum amount on his death.
However, there are other customers whose needs vary (saving to retirement planning to simple tax planning)?
The need for buying an insurance policy not only differs among individuals, but also varies with people’s lifestage. The insurance needs of a working executive when he is in his early days of employment (and not yet married) are different from his needs when he is middle-aged and married with children. It is, therefore, important that the individual evaluates his insurance need, considering his lifestage, following which he can arrive at a suitable protection and investment mix, and tenure.
Having arrived at the insurance product requirement that best suits his need and existing financial portfolio, the customer can choose from a number of insurance companies. Some of the factors that will help him select the insurance company are product charges, net return on investments, additional benefits of the product such as loyalty bonus and the service capability of the company.
The customer may compare the charges for similar products across different companies and the net return on investments. Also, in case of ULIPs (Unit-Linked Insurance Plans), the customer can also consider the track record of funds performance. Market knowledge and the quality of advice offered by agents of insurance companies can also help with the choice of the company.
How much of an individual’s savings do you think should be invested in life insurance? Is there a thumb rule that applies for various age groups?
Although there is no defined thumb rule for life insurance investments, the insurance cover required for future financial protection of an individual is typically said to range from 10 to 20 times his/her current annual income. In India, it has been estimated that around 15% of the gross domestic savings of a household is invested in life insurance.
How much of an individual’s portfolio need to be invested in ULIPs? Given the current market scenario, do you think investment in ULIPs is advisable?
It is advisable to invest in ULIPs primarily because of their transparent charge structure and the potential to achieve good investment returns over a longer period (generally five years or more), given the choice of different investment funds. Even in a volatile market, Unit-Linked Insurance Plans can be a reasonable investment option as the customer can switch funds from high equity to high debt or money market funds, without any switching charges. This protects the customer from market volatility
However, it is important that the customer understands that ULIPs, by nature, would require reasonable decision-making to achieve optimum investment returns. Also, ULIPs are tax-efficient and have typically low-fund management charges.
Are Indians underinsured? What accordingly to you are the challenges faced by the insurance industry?
Life insurance penetration in India is estimated at 4.1% of GDP, with per capita life premium at $33, both of which are low compared with the Asian and global average. The penetration and premium for Asian countries stands at 5% and $154, while the global average is 4.5% and $330.
That the Indian customer base is so diverse it can be described as several countries rolled into one is a challenge and opportunity for insurers. The challenge is meeting the expectations of this diverse market while the opportunity lies in bringing the best of international product design to cater to this demand.
Segmented approach to product design and delivery, especially for the vastly-untapped rural market will help insurance penetration in India. It is equally important to reach these products out to the target markets through innovative distribution techniques and channels as awareness on the need for financial protection and disciplined long-term financial planning is still in its nascent stages in small towns. For customers in urban centres, the quality of service delivery is a key differentiator.
Insurance products are dime a dozen. Choosing an insurer over another is not easy with little track record of performance to compare. Bharti AXA Life Insurance CEO Nitin Chopra , in an interview to ET , advises individuals to keep an eye on product charges, investment returns & service capability of insurers.
What are the factors to be kept in mind while choosing a policy and an insurance company?
While choosing an insurance product, it is important for an individual to identify the core need. While most seek a combination of financial protection as well as investment needs to achieve long-term goals like child’s higher education or buying a house, there are customers who require only financial protection.
Such individuals have already taken care of their investment needs and have identified a need to protect his/her family financially from undesirable eventualities such as mortgage liability or sustenance of lifestyle, in the unfortunate event of his death. A term insurance product would be appropriate for them, as it provides his family a lumpsum amount on his death.
However, there are other customers whose needs vary (saving to retirement planning to simple tax planning)?
The need for buying an insurance policy not only differs among individuals, but also varies with people’s lifestage. The insurance needs of a working executive when he is in his early days of employment (and not yet married) are different from his needs when he is middle-aged and married with children. It is, therefore, important that the individual evaluates his insurance need, considering his lifestage, following which he can arrive at a suitable protection and investment mix, and tenure.
Having arrived at the insurance product requirement that best suits his need and existing financial portfolio, the customer can choose from a number of insurance companies. Some of the factors that will help him select the insurance company are product charges, net return on investments, additional benefits of the product such as loyalty bonus and the service capability of the company.
The customer may compare the charges for similar products across different companies and the net return on investments. Also, in case of ULIPs (Unit-Linked Insurance Plans), the customer can also consider the track record of funds performance. Market knowledge and the quality of advice offered by agents of insurance companies can also help with the choice of the company.
How much of an individual’s savings do you think should be invested in life insurance? Is there a thumb rule that applies for various age groups?
Although there is no defined thumb rule for life insurance investments, the insurance cover required for future financial protection of an individual is typically said to range from 10 to 20 times his/her current annual income. In India, it has been estimated that around 15% of the gross domestic savings of a household is invested in life insurance.
How much of an individual’s portfolio need to be invested in ULIPs? Given the current market scenario, do you think investment in ULIPs is advisable?
It is advisable to invest in ULIPs primarily because of their transparent charge structure and the potential to achieve good investment returns over a longer period (generally five years or more), given the choice of different investment funds. Even in a volatile market, Unit-Linked Insurance Plans can be a reasonable investment option as the customer can switch funds from high equity to high debt or money market funds, without any switching charges. This protects the customer from market volatility
However, it is important that the customer understands that ULIPs, by nature, would require reasonable decision-making to achieve optimum investment returns. Also, ULIPs are tax-efficient and have typically low-fund management charges.
Are Indians underinsured? What accordingly to you are the challenges faced by the insurance industry?
Life insurance penetration in India is estimated at 4.1% of GDP, with per capita life premium at $33, both of which are low compared with the Asian and global average. The penetration and premium for Asian countries stands at 5% and $154, while the global average is 4.5% and $330.
That the Indian customer base is so diverse it can be described as several countries rolled into one is a challenge and opportunity for insurers. The challenge is meeting the expectations of this diverse market while the opportunity lies in bringing the best of international product design to cater to this demand.
Segmented approach to product design and delivery, especially for the vastly-untapped rural market will help insurance penetration in India. It is equally important to reach these products out to the target markets through innovative distribution techniques and channels as awareness on the need for financial protection and disciplined long-term financial planning is still in its nascent stages in small towns. For customers in urban centres, the quality of service delivery is a key differentiator.
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