IIPM-India: October 2008

Thursday, October 30, 2008

Public service system led to poor’s food into private business

The first symptom of current ration

disquiet surfaced on September 16, 2007, when a CPI(M) rally was attacked by a mob. Next day, a ration dealer’s residence was attacked. The riot started in Bankura district, very soon engulfed Birbhum, 24 Parganas, Bardhaman, Murshidabad & Hoogli. State government suspended 117 dealers, and thousands others are absconding. A report of Supreme Court appointed Special Commission on Food Security, called it ‘double burden of privatisation’ of Public Distribution System. It further states, not only the Fair Price Shops are run by private parties; the entire distribution of foodgrains is controlled by politically supported private parties, leading to corruption. Owing to double burden of corrupt and privatised PDS, 34.9% of PDS rice and 86.6% of PDS wheat, got diverted. Worse still, 83% of the wheat meant for Below Poverty Line people and 60% of rice, got stolen....Continue

Source : IIPM Editorial, 2008

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

Read also :-

Tuesday, October 21, 2008

My father’s business...

It takes 1 hour and 15 minutes by flight from Barcelona to Madrid while the duration for a train journey for the same by AVE train takes 2 hours 40 minutes. In India, a Kolkata to Delhi flight takes an hour and forty five minutes while the same by the fastest Indian train takes nothing less than 17 hours. That narrates

part of the story, the rest follows.

When the Boston Consulting Group had introduced the concept of BCG Matrix consisting of the four types of companies that a group can have (i.e. cash cows, stars, question mark and dogs), never had it thought that the concept of cash cows would be used with so much impunity by a government of a country which has otherwise been loathe to carry on the concept of structural reforms. For long, the Indian Railways (IR) have been nothing but a typical cash cow for the government to propagate a messiah image; and for long, elected members of the Parliament have fought at large to grab this portfolio. The common saying goes that the best way to benchmark the performance of the Railway Minister is find out how many of his community and constituency have made it to Rail department. Nowadays, it’s an unofficial norm and doesn’t even elicit surprise among the media and mass. No wonder that Indian Railways have 14 lakh employees. One wonders if that many are essentially required or if there’s another instance of a company being mentored by so many. Incidentally, the Indian Army has lesser number of personnel.....Continue

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

Read also :-

Saturday, October 11, 2008

Fitness foreplay

Looking to bust that stress or simply want to try out something refreshing, sign up for a Pilates routine, or take refuge in a spa and rejuvenate yourself with the experience

Pilates anyone?

Founded by one

Joseph H. Pilates, Pilates (Pi-lah-teez) is catching up in India. It revolves around a series of controlled movements on a mat (or a machine) focusing on the torso, toning the body by building up flexibility, strength, endurance, and coordination without adding bulk to the muscles. Pilates helps improving posture, makes one less prone to injury and results in overall good health.

Pilates

is the ‘In-thing’ and classes are springing up everywhere. Growing popularity and the big names attached with it, just makes this pleasurable exercise routine even more interesting. Says model and actress Gul Panag, “Choc-a-block shooting schedules and erratic working hours stress me, so it’s important to take time off to rejuvenate my body. I follow Pilates thrice a week on the desired areas which give me visible results.”...Continue

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

Read also :-

Tuesday, October 07, 2008

Why Saxons hate Porsche!

Piëch would find the Saxon barrier quite unfathomable

As Stuttgart-based Porsche

fires all cylinders to gain majority control over Volkswagen (VW) AG, Chairman Ferdinand Piëch of VW finds himself in a funny situation. Being the grandson of Ferdinand Porsche, the legendary designer of the Beatle and the founder of sports car major Porsche, he surely has his emotional reasons to try and allow Porsche to take controlling stake of VW, Europe’s largest auto group that owns nine separate brands – including Audi, Bentley and the likes – and made close to $1.5 billion in sales during the first quarter this year.

Porsche already owns a 31% stake in Volkswagen and wants to have a majority stake in VW in order to have access to its liquidity and to secure an uninterrupted supply of parts. Also, as per Christian Breitsprecher of Sal Oppenheim comments to B&E, “Porsche is interested in Volkswagen because it wants to have access to the latter’s scales and volumes.”...Continue

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

Read also :-

Friday, October 03, 2008

Let’s just kill the Nano!

With new entry compacts, Hyundai & Maruti are out to prove they are ready to fight the Rs.1 lakh car

Maruti Suzuki’s A-Star debut at this year’s Auto Expo was met with skepticism after the initial hoopla. Analysts who had earlier

anticipated that progressive consumerism would shrink the entry level segment further; were aghast by the audacity with which Maruti made this bold move. According to market reports, the stylish car will be a sub Rs.3 lakh product, offering entry level customers a wider product range. As a repercussion to the impending Tata Nano (the Rs.1 lakh car), volume players are on a scramble to provide the customer with an alternative that is not basic (unlike the Nano) but is highly affordable nonetheless.

Taking the bait of even higher volumes, expected to be generated by the ‘high attention’ entry segment, India’s number two player, Hyundai Motor India (HMIL) has unleashed its plans as well. Reportedly, the South Korea major is developing an entry level small car, albeit one that is not directly competing with the Nano. Comments HS Lheem, MD, HMIL, “Hyundai does not have any plans to enter in to this segment immediately. What Hyundai might look into, in the near future, is the possibility of a car a notch lower than the existing Santro, keeping in mind parameters like technology, safety and regulatory norms.”...Contine

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

Read also :-