The wow Bandwagon!

Passionate about linking strategy and HR and translating this into measurable delivered results, Ms. Aparna Ballakur has over 15 years of experience with companies such as Adobe Systems, McAfee Software and Sasken Communications. After B.E. from the University of Mysore, she has completed an Executive Leadership Program from Cornell University and the Strategic Human Resources program from the Stanford Graduate School of Business.

Q. What drew you towards HR? Also, share your experience working with companies like Adobe and McAfee.
A. I started my career as an R&D engineer and entering into HR was a stroke of serendipity. I chose to stay on because I enjoyed the work and the learning that came along. What caught my attention was that there is a lot of functional expertise within the HR which a lot of people outside the profession are not aware of.

My experience in the two companies was very different. McAfee – my first company – gave me experience and understanding of what it meant to work in a multinational environment. They were just starting their operations in India when I joined; there I got an opportunity to build the R&D centre.

At Adobe, I was managing India and China operations. I got an opportunity to set up the centre in China and learnt how things work there. Culturally, both the nations are very different.

Q. How can you ensure a worldclass HR organisation?
A. Factors that contribute to make a world-class HR organisation are:
• To build the best possible HR team – Talented people are key to enable rapid growth of the organisation or managing change effectively.
• Aligning it very closely to the business – A world-class team needs to have a deep understanding of the business and serve as business partners. It is HR’s responsibility to help business leaders understand how people-related issues impact results.
• Flawless execution – Flawless execution beats everything else. From a strategic perspective, the prime focus for the teams should be on partnering with all stakeholder in the organisation towards building people and organisational capability. From an operational execution perspective, the focus should be on streamlining the efficiency and effectiveness of HR delivery with all stakeholder.
• Minimal dissonance between stated and unstated culture – Against the common notion, I believe that HR alone is not the custodian of the culture. Culture preservation is everyone’s responsibility and each and every employee needs to embody that. At best, a world-class HR organisation can minimise the dissonance between the stated and unstated culture. It can influence and reinforce the stated culture of the organisation through processes, policies or recognition of certain behaviours and coaching leaders to ensure the stated culture is the real culture.

Q. How does Yahoo! retain its top employees?
A. At Yahoo! we settle for nothing less than an addictive combination of work, opportunity and workplace, or ‘WOW’, as we call it. The ‘work’ we do is fun, since we build cool stuff that impacts over 700 million users on the internet. I think the ability to touch millions of people across the world on a daily basis continues to be one of the most appealing aspect. Our employees get the ‘opportunity’ to work on bleeding edge innovation, alongside some of the best minds in the business. The opportunity that we give to our employees is our USP. We have created a work environment that is flexible, open and conducive to building a diverse and inclusive workforce. Click here to read more...

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More Sharing ServicesShare | Share on facebookShare on myspaceShare on googleShare on twitter Engage your employees to counter pull for talent

Q. How would you describe your experience with Accor?
A. It has been an outstanding, elevating, energising, and exciting journey. One of Accor’s core values is the ‘Spirit of Conquest’ and my journey so far exemplifies this to the core. An outstanding feature of the journey so far has been to experience, imbibe,and replicate the Accor culture in our properties.

Q. What are the major HR challenges in hospitality sector?
A. It is talent. There is an urgent need to diversify the sources of talent to include relatively non-traditional markets and to ensure better and more sustainable quality. Apart, employee have more diversified options today, the pull for talent by competition is severe and can destabilise organisations. There is a need to understand what motivates and engages employees in order to help talent retention.

Q. What are current HR trends?
A. The increasing realisation that the biggest barrier to an effective and sustained HR role is the socio-economic cultural factors that shape personality which impacts the organisational capability. I believe that emotional and spiritual intelligence play a significant role in offloading obsolete HR practices that enable transformation of personalities and character traits. Click here to read full interview...

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I was not very good at thinking quickly about simple things - Prof. Aaron Ahuvia

Q. You have talked about social norms impacting the way markets operate. Is this a particularly significant factor in India, a traditionally conservative market?
A. Social norms are incredibly powerful in explaining people’s behaviours everywhere, but are slightly more powerful in traditional or socially conservative cultures. But the big difference in traditional cultures is that many people there are not surprised to learn that they are powerful; it is a part of life and they are aware of it. On the other hand, many Western cultures believe in the ideology of people being true to themselves without giving in to peer pressure; they tend to deceive themselves into thinking ‘I will do what I think is right’, which is non-sensible. So I think there is more self-awareness in traditional cultures.

Q. What is the relevance of social marketing to India?
A. There are a lot of efforts on to promote social issues in India, and I think this has huge potential. For a long time, advertising attempted to simply persuade people to change their behaviour. While this method can be effective in some situations, it is often very hard. We now have lots of examples of people finding creative ways to get behaviour to change voluntarily. To be able to do that involves telling others what they should be doing, rather than just communicating a message. Click here to read full Inverview....

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Gurus of HR

More Than HR Global (MTHRG), a rapidly growing body of HR professionals celebrated its 10th anniversary in April this year.As part of the celebrations, it organised a number of surprises for the HR community. One of them was the line-up of international gurus for a series of lectures in Mumbai and Bengaluru.

Bob Urichuck’s seminar ‘Up Your Bottom Line,’ was presented by MTHRG and Right Selection Group in Mumbai on 29th April and in Bengaluru on 30th April. The Human Factor magazine was the partner for the events.

The guest keynote speaker at Mumbai was Walter Vieira, described by Philip Kotler as one of ‘the best speakers on Marketing in Asia’. Overlaying contemporary marketing lessons on proven marketing knowledge, Walter from his 25 years of experience offered rich insights into new concepts and developments in HR. He shared real-life cases and examples on topics that included Customer Value, Cost to the Customer, Convenience, and Communication. Click her to read more....

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She Writes Story Contest winner: Prarthana Rao

Prarthana Rao is one of twelve winners of the MSN-Random House She Writes a Story Contest', as chosen by our judges. Her story 'Spaces' features in the 'She Writes: A collection of Short Stories' published by Random House India and available at all leading bookstores.

Prarthana Rao was born and raised in Chennai. After her schooling at Bhavan's Rajaji Vidyashram, she completedB.Sc. Visual Communication from Loyola College, followed by a Masters in International Studies from Stella Maris College, securing gold medals in both courses. She has worked as a freelance content and copywriter and has dabbled in acting and scriptwriting as well. She has been writing short stories, poetry, non-fiction, and just about anything since the age of six. Prarthana enjoys music, movies and yes, books.

read an extract from prarthana rao's story 'spaces'

She raced down the keerai patch, ducking under the low-hanging mango tree branch with the heavy green mangoes, the smell of summer briefly intoxicating her. Lifting up her paavaadai around her ankles, Kausalya swerved around the hibiscus bushes and padded through the freshly-watered earth, finally halting at the front steps of the veranda. She stared aghast at the pairs of slippers lined outside-one, two, three pairs-and a pair of men's formal shoes, the kind she had never seen before. Her heart sank. She knew what this meant. Kausalya turned to the east and looked at the horizon, in the direction of the comforting sound of the restless, relentless surge of the sea, the sound that had cradled her since she had been born.

Trishna slammed the front door loudly, but to no avail. Her parents were still at work-her mother had instructed her to heat up the afternoon's left over bhindi, dal, and rotis in the microwave. Yuck. Too much of watching Junior Masterchef made her wish she had a couple of young slaves to whip up a risotto or a Thai red curry for her. She rolled her eyes at the framed photographs of her family that adorned their Dulux blue-and-white patterned living-room wall. She could almost hear her mother saying that she would have to learn to cook all these things and more since she was going to go abroad to study soon enough. She gazed at the pictures-moments frozen in time of her older brother and her making silly faces in the midst of some adventure or the other. Then there was another picture of her father and mother gazing at each other in love during their early marriage days.

She knew all these stories by heart, much as she pretended she was bored of them. Who was she without them?

The wedding was a grand affair-an elaborate and ornate ceremony at the Kapaleeshwar temple and a stately reception at the Dharmaprakash Kalyana Mandapam opposite Dasaprakash hotel. Kausalya would repeat that one single detail to herself in the years to follow, about it being grand. Whether it was repeatedly drilled into her by her grandparents or whether it was a description she had formulated herself, she could never recall exactly. Sometimes a statement repeated and repeated becomes a memory. All she could remember were fleeting moments of sensations-the rustling of heavy pattu saris; the orange-gold fire that bore witness to her marriage; the weight of the gold around her neck; the first taste of sambhar-saadam after hours of standing hungry and greeting guests; the soapy smell of her husband's neck that both soothed and terrified her when he put his arms around her for the first time. But the only sound she longed to hear was the sound of sea waves. The only fragrance she longed to sniff was the smell of the freshly-watered earth. The only taste she wanted to savour was the sour, tongue-tingling tang of nellikaais picked straight from the tree.

in her own words: prarthana rao

Have you always been a writer? What made you start writing?

Writing has almost been like breathing to me. I don't recall a time when I wasn't poised with a pen in hand and with a feverish excitement on seeing a blank sheet of paper. My earliest 'works' were Enid Blyton/Goosebumps/Sweet Valley Kids-inspired tales of fairies and talking animals and witches and little children who made mistakes but soon learnt the error of their ways. My first 'book' was 'published' when I was six by my father who wrapped my sketch pen-scrawled story and illustration-filled notebook with brightly coloured gift wrapping paper. My parents were always both extremely creative so I was always encouraged, even if it meant I ended up staying up late at night, scribbling and scribbling spoofs and scripts and songs.

What inspired you to enter She Writes?

I caught sight of the contest announcement and was intrigued by the creative possibilities offered by the topics. With the topics offered and the given quotes to be used in the story, it seemed like an exciting challenge. I had been working on my novel for some time and needed a break to get a fresh perspective. Writing for the contest came naturally-it wasn't a conscious decision. It felt like a wonderful outlet for the myriad thoughts I had been having. I was simply happy to write something for an audience because I hadn't shared any of my fiction work with anyone in a very long time. The possibility of winning the contest hadn't even occurred to me. I was just glad that I had tried. In fact, it was my mother who really motivated me at the last minute. So it's all thanks to her that I am here answering these questions.

Why did you choose the category you did?

I was tempted to write something for each topic but 'Growing up in India' was a concept I really wanted to talk about and share with the world as well as explore within myself. Having been born and raised in Madras/Chennai, I felt inclined to narrate the palette of emotions and ideas that come from having been so accustomed to one place, especially one distinctive, strongly-flavoured Indian city. To write about it felt like the ideal opportunity to step outside my Chennai-coloured soul and look at what it really means to belong to a place. Also I was going through an extremely tough phase of my life as I had just lost my father whom I was very close to. So it was almost cathartic to analyse what 'home' really means-whether it signified a person, a house, a city, a country or just an intangible stirring in the heart for something you never really understand.

Do you have a writing routine - e.g. do you have favourite places to write/favourite times of day/do you write longhand or on a computer?

I was nocturnal for the longest possible time and so I can wax eloquent on the subject of nighttime writing routines-the peace and quiet, your thoughts sharing space with the screeches of bats and owls. I also used to think I had writer's block when it came to fiction. Having been recently converted to the beauty of a disciplined diurnal routine, I must say that writing can flow from hand to pen to paper (or keyboard to screen) at any time. I do love the electric surge when hand holds pen and pen makes marks on paper. Writing longhand is an intensely intimate experience that I always prefer. But I thank God for Word and all its amazing facilities. I do enjoy how one's thoughts become so legitimate and structured when typed. I sometimes write longhand first and then transcribe onto the computer. Tedious but extremely satisfying. When the story takes hold of you, and your characters want to talk (or cry or scream), there is little that can hold them back. Unless of course, you are stuck in the middle of a traffic jam. Not advisable to write then.

Who is your favourite author?

My choices in literature are so eclectic and varied to a point where I am utterly open to any form of writing (including snack wrappers and mosquito net provider's flyers). I thoroughly soak up the works of Jhumpa Lahiri, Truman Capote, Anuja Chauhan, Elizabeth Gilbert, Chetan Bhagat, Elif Shafak, Khaled Hosseini, Margaret Mitchell's 'Gone with the Wind', Barack Obama's 'Dreams from my Father', young adult fiction by Ann Brashares and Meg Cabot, philosophy by Paulo Coelho, poetry by Kahlil Gibran, and of course, J.K. Rowling.

Which book has inspired you the most?

As a writer and a reader, I am deeply entranced by the language of Jhumpa Lahiri, especially in her short stories. The characters of Ann Brashares' books, the humour and wit of Anuja Chauhan and Elizabeth Gilbert, 'Harry Potter', not just for J. K. Rowling's imaginative creations but also for her acute understanding of the human heart. 'Gone with the Wind' was another book, a classic that I put off reading for the longest time but when I began reading I could not put it down-so swept away was I by this utterly timeless, magnificently sketched epic historical tale which managed to express the trivialities and depth of the human soul as well. I thoroughly enjoy being inspired by autobiographies like Frank McCourt's books and historical fiction as well. I think what draws me to a book are strongly etched characters, a sense of time and place and a big, warm soul-filled story.

Which key piece of advice would you give to any other budding writer?

Be open to life. Observe. Learn. Ask questions. Read anything and everything. Keep writing. Write for yourself, as yourself. Writing shouldn't be a hobby; it should be an unstoppable need.

Entertainment k liye kuch bhi karega!!

Has the Big ‘E’ overwhelmed the Big ‘S’ in today’s Adville? 4Ps B&M’s Consulting Editor Monojit Lahiri probes this tricky terrain

“I laugh so that I may not weep, Boss,” exclaimed my learned friend the other evening at a party. My quizzical expression inspired him to elaborate. “What’s with you ad guys, yaar? Why are you so parasitically – in most cases – in Bollywood’s vice-grip, crazily anxious to only entertain your customers in the hope of making a sale? It’s so dumb, unimaginative and indicative of a total bankruptcy of ideas!” Before I could react, another friend (of the marketing kind) very sweetly chipped in “Yup, he’s spot-on! Entertain by all means but don’t let that drive your ads for chrissake! You have an agenda, right – and it’s not entertaining but selling stuff, powering the purchase intent. If I want entertainment, I’ll see those mindless Rohit Shetty-Sajid Khan crap, not ads, okay? Get real and focused, guys!”

Having successfully ruined my mood, these two killjoys got busy having a blast! However, their words set me thinking and soon I got chatting with some players from Adland. Were these flamboyant accusations true?

First up was Creative Director (at JWT Delhi) Arnab Biswas who summarily dismissed these claims with the arrogance of a successful and hi-flying 30-year-old who’s worked with some of the best and biggest ad-shops, clients and brands. “Tell the bozos, that our job in these scary and competitive times is to – first – grab attention through surprise and delight … not bore the pants off the viewer with a zzzzzz … recitation of facts and figures! It’s a fast-moving and promiscuous world and the Remote is a killer gadget. The challenge is to keep his/her hands off that deadly object! What better solution than sell through the entertainment route?” says Biswas. Agrees Kaushik Sen, Creative Director at Impact Marketing Services, as he tells 4Ps B&M, “All sane communication people know that the ‘Big E’ is the coolest hotline to a mass-connect. The great leveler that cuts across every social strata and literacy barrier. The age of being propah’ and politically correct is over. Films, songs, books, catchphrases, news, events, happenings… we are forever contexting and borrowing from real life, packaging them in an entertaining manner and letting them loose on our prospective consumers. It’s exciting, fun … and it works. Trust me.”

Really? Questions blitzed the brain! Wasn’t entertainment meant to be a creative route, a means to an end, not the end itself? Are prizes, metals and gongs at hi-profile national and global ad events the cause of this distracting by-pass? Has today’s advertising become too self-absorbed, drawing too much attention on itself and too little in closing the deal? Has it become a hi-wire act with the glam, media-hyped creative biggies – not clients or market forces – playing judge, jury and star attraction? Has the ‘S’ word – sell – become too boring, passé, unfashionable and déclassé, and hence the search for something new, shiny, sexy? I posed some of these queries to veteran Adman Nikhil Nehru (ex head-honcho, JWT North and McCann, North) a huge respected name across the 70s, 80s and 90s. He was cool, objective and brought both gravitas and a sober perspective to this issue. “Let’s face it. There has always been one section of ad guys – arty, over-smart, fake, desperately anxious to make an impression at any part – who made it their prime business to enthrall their clients through entertainment. On cue, they got their wows and frequently the business. Problem is: what next? This is a short-term hit because it’s not driven by solid strategy. I’ve always believed that if the hero of your ad is not the product but the treatment (gimmick) you are in trouble, because you have no solid follow-up. Worse, you committed the cardinal sin of creating communication where the ad is remembered – but the product forgotten!” Nehru tells 4Ps B&M.

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Source : IIPM Editorial, 2011.

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

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Turning your business outside in

Managers who have an extra-industry view bring to their business ‘New to industry’ ideas, innovative solutions to old industry problems, and overtime, altogether new strategic directions

It is a common mantra that innovation is the only true source of competitive advantage, and that most new thinking comes from outside one’s own industry. But if by that we mean a vibrant research & development (R&D) pipeline or the much vaunted ‘blue ocean’ strategy, the pickings may be slim. Best-selling products and breakthrough innovations that take us into uncontested waters are rare.

Real ‘innovation’ means acquiring a critical, thought-provoking perspective on the fundamentals of your business model, market practices and core processes. Such a detailed analysis of your organisation can lead to rich possibilities which can be turned into performance enhancing advantage. Put it to managers that an external perspective is essential to the success of their business, they will always concur. Ask them how much time and energy they invest in creating that ‘outside in’ view and the answer is usually ‘not enough’.

What does this tell us other than that we sometimes say one thing and do another? Our research at Cranfield demonstrates that businesses need to have clear answers to two key questions: how much of an external view is needed, and what are the best methods of creating this perspective? Once we have the answers, deciding who in the business should be offered what development opportunity naturally follows. Consider the question, what breadth of external perspective is needed? For managers, it is certainly important to distinguish between three levels: ‘business’, ‘industry’, and ‘extra-industry’.

A business level perspective takes us beyond the functional boundaries of many managerial roles into the world of the customer, the market and the financial issues facing our business; in other words, towards an understanding of the underlying drivers of the business. The result? Better quality operational decision-making enhanced functional core competence, and improved contribution to business strategy. These are all possible, once managers have a business level perspective.

In contrast, an industry level perspective demands that you consider the impact of factors beyond the boundaries of your own business, taking us towards a wider knowledge that extends the range of possible business solutions and performance levels. The prize is ‘new to organisation’ ideas certainly leading to increased business performance together with greater ‘within sector’ competitive advantage.

At a broader level still, the extra-industry perspective contains the potential to create a sophisticated strategic understanding of the business life cycle: ‘what leads to what’ in the business environment; and a leadership mindset that may change the ‘rules of the game’. Managers who have an extra industry view bring to their business ‘new to industry’ ideas, innovative solutions to old industry problems, and over time, altogether new strategic directions.

As one would expect, each of these levels of external perspective requires different development approaches or processes. All of them demand managerial time and commitment. Developing a perspective beyond functional managerial boundaries requires initiatives such as cross-functional career moves, cross-functional networking, and company specific (customised) development programme. Creating an industry level perspective is best achieved through such opportunities as: inter-company career moves; exposure to the supply chain and other key industry components; attending industry forums and networks or benchmarking industry competitors.

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Source : IIPM Editorial, 2011.

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

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“Boss, kuch solid creative banao jo hila de! Ghanti baja de!”

What agency do you choose as the young, infirm, impressionable ad executive? Would you fall for the compelling promise of magic at the big brand ad agencies? Or would you take the plunge for the lucre love at the smaller sole proprietorships? I was young once – and I was courageous too. Here’s my story – but take your own decisions.

The big, burly ‘client’, chewing his favourite brand of pan masala (with three rings on his right hand and four on his left, along with various coloured strings gracing his wrist) dressed in a safari suit of dazzling maroon, seated on a massive, filmy, throne-like chair in a room filled with pictures of Gods, Goddesses, his late father, stared hard at the young, fresh-faced Account Executive from the agency they had hired. From time to time, the client sighed and nodded his head – left to right and back – indicating cosmic sorrow. Eventually, wisdom descended from those pan-masala-stained teeth. “Boss, kuch jama nahin! Kuch solid creative banao, jo hila de, ghanti baja de. Yeh sab to ghatiya, nonsense, rubbish, bakwas!!” With these encouraging gems, he flung the eight ads (which the agency had created in two hours, flat) towards the young man and began to speak again. “Beta, don’t take it personally. I like you very much and love your English-speaking and gyan on advertising, lekin kya hai, bijness to bijness hota hai, hai naa? Your boss is my very good yaar from college days. Kamaal ka tuning hai, to mana nahin kar sakta, hai naa? But you must brush up on creativity. Waise ek phone me ghumaoon to line lag jayegi Adwalon ki and you know it, lekin mind it, mein aisa nahin karna chahta hoon. Navar!” He paused for breath and another intake of pan masala. “My 17-year-old daughter Dimple can do much better. Believe nahin karoge, by gaad, she’s too creative! Angrezi poetry likhti hai, painting karti hai, aur kya GK hai, oye hoi! She only told me these designs are ghatiya, third class, not something that will hilao the junta!”

Totally shaken and bewildered at this bizarre onslaught, the young man – whose parents had invested their wholesome income into making the lad what this world would call “cultured, educated, soft-spoken” – made the appropriate, polite sounds and left the office. On the way, stopping by for a ‘cold drink’, he reflected upon his life. Who were these strange clients – completely uninformed, coarse, totally disconnected with anything to do with basics of good, effective advertising? Why was his agency boss always insisting on young, nubile, half-naked girls to be splashed as the main focus of his ads even when all the client was selling were locks? Why did these creatures never exist six months ago in his high-profile Mumbai agency, where he trained and spent two glorious years? Why did he even shift?... The lad was now beginning to feel the stress and pressure of working in an environment that was a million light miles away from where he came…

Back at the office, confusion became confounded! His boss – a proprietor who was all sugar n’ spice just a few months back while begging him to join – blew his fuse! “Yaar, who told you to give him bhashan on what is good for his product? Is he a fool? Pata hai, he is one of my langoti yaars who has successfully run his Papa’s business for over 20 years, making a huge profit. Also, by the way, he is the President of the Ad Club and active member of the PRSI and Press Club, samjhe?” And then, a sudden parallel track, “What an excursion he organised to Amritsar and Wagah border, maja aa gaya… anyway, he called me and told me not to fire you. But yaar be dedicated to your work. What are you doing? Chal, chal get back…” This was the tipping point. It all spooled over in a millisecond – his fantastic two years at the professional agency, then the rush of blood to join this sole proprietorship of an ad agency for the so-called ‘independence’, and then the nightmare – bah! The young man had had it and finally exploded. “You got me here luring me with big bucks and great promises of freedom with responsibility. From an A-lister, all I’ve become is a Z-lister! My fault is that I didn’t listen to my friends because I was dazzled by the ‘seniority’. However, I’ve started regretting my shift more than anything I’ve ever done – you constantly refer to clients as Mai Baap and Bhagwan, you continuously instruct me to improve my ‘setting-fitting’! What the hell are we here? Pimps? Ever-ready suppliers? Weren’t we supposed to be communication consultants, solution providers?!? Or am I supposed to now always be a yes-jee, no-jee buffoon? You will never, ever understand professionalism because for you, billing is god, not quality… and that is injurious to my health!” Shocked silence followed on both sides. And then the lad blurted out, “I am quitting here and now. Bye!” With that outburst that even surprised him, the young man stormed out of the office. Of course the boss was too shocked to react. No one in his 30-year stint of doing various businesses ever had had the guts to speak to him in this manner.

For more articles, Click on IIPM Article

Source : IIPM Editorial, 2011.

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

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Experience Vs. Evidence

Evidence-based advertising, founded on experimental studies, is the only path to improving the effectiveness of persuasive advertising procedures

Prior to the 1940s, if you had a disease, it made little difference which doctor you went to. There were so many diseases and so many conditions that doctors could not learn from their individual experience which treatments were effective. This changed when doctors began to rely on evidence from experiments. Further progress was made when medical schools began to teach evidence-based medicine. And things progressed even more rapidly when the Cochrane Collaboration for health care began in 1993. It now has 28,000 contributors to serve doctors and patients. Evidence-based medicine has had enormous beneficial effects on the average length and quality of life.

Management is in a similar situation today as medicine was prior to the 1940s. Managers rely on their own experience and on the experience of other managers to decide what actions to take. This works well in simple situations in which they get good feedback. However, many management problems are complex & uncertain, and in these cases, eight decades of research have shown that experience fails. Few people are aware of this research, and, when told, most believe that the conclusion does not apply to them.

When doctors learned that some of their treatments were based on incorrect knowledge or procedures, most reacted as people often do when presented with disconfirming evidence about important topics: They became upset and attacked the credibility of the source. Nevertheless, the pressures are strong to follow best practices in health care. Many patients are well-informed about the possible diagnoses and treatments when they go to their doctors. Many doctors have been sued for failing to adhere to evidence-based procedures.

I have been fascinated by evidence-based management since I began my career in 1960. Many useful management techniques and principles have been discovered. However, to my dismay, this knowledge was typically ignored by managers.

In 1980, I visited my friend Paul Westhead soon after he became coach of the Los Angeles Lakers. After spending a day with him as he took the team through practice, it dawned on me that if we could apply management science techniques to the Lakers, it might lead businesses to follow suit. Paul was enthused about the project, but the owner of the Lakers, Jerry Buss, was not. (The Lakers won the championship that year, without my help.)

Nevertheless, evidence-based methods are currently being used successfully across the sports world, by teams including the Dallas Cowboys, New England Patriots and Philadelphia Flyers. Half of the 30 NBA teams had at least one statistician on their staff in 2009-2010. Those teams won 59% of the 962 games they played in the first half of the 2009-2010 season, while those teams with no statisticians on staff won only 41% of 958 games.

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Source : IIPM Editorial, 2011.

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

For More IIPM Info, Visit below mentioned IIPM articles.

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IIPM: Indian Institute of Planning and Management
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Planman Technologies

150 awards (and not counting!)

They have lived in Both Rural and Urban India. This helps them understand their audience better and craft communication that connects with them

They have been awarded for their creative work by Abby, One Show, D&AD, CLIO and Cannes Lions. But once the awards lineup reached 150, they stopped counting. Their middle-class family background has not enabled them to afford a ‘Creative flair-o-meter’, as they put it. But that does not stop them from executing ideas that resonates their passion and commitment. 4Ps B&M brings to you Manish Bhatt and Rahgu Bhat, Founder Directors, Scarecrow Communications who believe that it is the consumer who seals the fate of a creative creation.

Were you always thinking of setting up your own agency?
Manish Bhatt (MB): Not exactly. In our advertising journey, somewhere along the way, we started taking ownership of clients. We had a free hand and could carve ideas our own way using our own methodology. Also, the exposure to different agency cultures helped. I still remember that it was at Contract that we learnt the craft of print. Every piece of work had to meet a certain set quality standard. It was an everyday battle that the agency was engaged in to ensure this quality. O&M on the other hand, had a very practical approach. We wouldn’t fight over every dangler or poster with the client beyond a certain limit. O&M therefore was a new school of thought altogether. At Ambience, we put this experience to work even as we were learning to deal with clients. Later, when McCann called us in 2004, it was Prasoon, whose strengths we could learn from. This was also a larger, powerful agency platform to stand on.

So, when did this actually happen?
MB: It was at McCann that freelance offers started pouring in and we realised that our equity had gone beyond the four walls of the agency. That was the first spark of entrepreneurship. Reputed brands were offering us freelance work. Most agencies we went to had their own philosophy of how things should happen. We started developing, over the years, subliminally, our own philosophy. While there was no friction, we realised that our philosophy was clashing with those of the agencies we worked for. In 2007, we moved from McCann to Contract. There we started forming an opinion on the way communication should happen, and the way an agency should function. We got a feeling that the optimum level of knowledge acquired over the years could help us set up shop. We were ready to take the plunge.

You have been together for more than a decade now. But how was the first encounter?
Rahgu Bhat (RB): We first met on the 3rd floor mess of Contract’s Delhi Janakpuri office in January 1996. I was a management trainee in Contract Direct. I was at my table, alone, having paneer pasanda, which was floating in oil. Manish joined me at the table and said (pointing to the paneer), “Lagta hai, aaj ka khana has been sponsored by Shell.” (One of Contract Delhi’s clients at that time). We decided to work together on a road trip to Bikaner and Bharatpur. While having a chai along with ‘mirchi ke pakode’ at a thela in Bharatpur, I got to know that Manish was not hitting off that well with his copy partner. I asked if he would team up with me. I was any way ‘single’. His only condition was – he wanted to participate in the ideation process and not limit himself to art direction. I had no problems. By the time the trip ended, I had no money in my pocket but I had a new art partner.

For more articles, Click on IIPM Article.

Source : IIPM Editorial, 2011.

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

For More IIPM Info, Visit below mentioned IIPM articles.

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IIPM: Indian Institute of Planning and Management

“It’s about literally connecting with Indians”

Etihad’s growth as the fastest growing Airline in the world has been legendary. Ward’s marketing strategies have paid off in many markets. In India, Ward tells Shephali Bhatt about the need to do a lot more in future

Andrew Ward
VP, Marketing, Etihad Airways

7 years ago, Etihad Airways made a humble beginning with around $100 million in revenues. Last year, the airways reaped US $2.3 billion. The man at the helm of marketing, Andrew Ward, VP, Marketing, says, “For an airline, the most important thing is to differentiate itself since over the last decade, with the introduction of local carriers, airlines have become general commodities. The consumer is now prepared to buy an airline ticket just like he would buy a train or bus ticket. We have to upgrade the offer so that most people would fly with us for a longer time. We have to offer a higher degree of service, so that when the consumer looks at the price equation, he realises that he is getting good value for money. We need to ensure that the consumer doesn’t switch to any other airline.”

For Etihad and its marketing man, India is an important market in that Indians are spread all over the world. One would find huge numbers of Indians in every continent. For example, even UAE, the key country for Etihad, comprises 30% Indians. Ward comments that he has positioned Etihad as one of the premium offering members of the market. To that effect, he adds, “Etihad Airways has been the fastest growing airline in the world over the last six years. That has been our strength. We have taken new aircraft orders, new spa services, first class private suites and what not. We have been on the path of continuous innovation in order to position ourselves as the luxury premium airlines.”

In this year, Ward has ensured that there be a stronger focus on digital marketing. He has significantly increased expenditure in the digital arena on an year on year basis. The aim is to create Etihad’s own online service environment. According to Ward, although standard banner advertising would always stay there, the most effective mechanism to advertise these days is through the internet. Certainly, there are different stages of development in terms of internet penetration, and Ward is not blind to it – one reason his offline advertising strategy stays fixed.

But given that Etihad is not as well known as certain other airlines in the Indian market, how does Ward plan to distinguish his brand? Ward accepts, “We have to push the brand awareness of Etihad in this market. A good way of doing that is finding a property that is already well known. In some markets, it can be sports personalities but here in India, it’s definitely Bollywood. It’s all about how we connect. We had to find somebody who is famous, in this case, we found Katrina Kaif. We now have to link the airline with her, get her to represent us and thus benefit from her popularity. We have already started a viral marketing campaign online with the video we’ve shot in Abu Dhabi airport. We are going to have her travelling to all our important markets where we’ll have specific events targeting our target and trade audience so that we can work on a B2B basis with travel trade.”

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Source : IIPM Editorial, 2011.

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

For More IIPM Info, Visit below mentioned IIPM articles.

IIPM Best B School India
Management Guru Arindam Chaudhuri
Rajita Chaudhuri-The New Age Woman
IIPM's Management Consulting Arm-Planman Consulting
IIPM in sync with the best of the business world.......
IIPM Prof. Arindam Chaudhuri on Internet Hooliganism
Arindam Chaudhuri: We need Hazare's leadership
Professor Arindam Chaudhuri - A Man For The Society....
IIPM: Indian Institute of Planning and Management

Discover Travel ->TLC!

The rebranding bug has hit the lifestyle entertainment channel segment too as the race to provide trendier, bolder channels with new faces, new genres and new places goes on. Discovery Travel and Living, with more than 60% market share in the same category, has been rebranded with a new name – TLC! Rahul Johri, Senior VP & General Manager, India, Discovery Networks Asia-Pacific said, “TLC marks the beginning of a refreshing journey. It will add a new dimension to lifestyle programming by introducing innovative formats, spunkier hosts and swankier locales.” TLC will come up with new offerings which include ‘Shimmy’ and ‘Exxtreme Sommer’ and will also extend seasons of the already popular ‘World Cafe: Middle East’, Vir Sanghvi’s ‘Asian Diary’ & ‘Living with a Superstar-Shahrukh Khan’. While the exercise is a radical attempt at fortifying gained ground, it would also go a long way in adding newer viewers. On the whole, the rebranding and reprogramming will be initiated from September 1, 2010.

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Source : IIPM Editorial, 2011.

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

For More IIPM Info, Visit below mentioned IIPM articles.

IIPM B-School
Arindam Chaudhuri
Rajita Chaudhuri
Planman Consulting

IIPM in sync with the best of the business world.......
IIPM Prof. Arindam Chaudhuri on Internet Hooliganism
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Professor Arindam Chaudhuri - A Man For The Society....
IIPM: Indian Institute of Planning and Management

BREAKING BARRIERS TO EXPRESS AND EXPAND

A brand that had the first movers advantage in India and still commands the highest subscriber base, Airtel has moved on to ‘express’ itself on the global stage post one of the biggest acquisitions in Africa while preparing for imminent 3G war

One dream can change the world....one raised finger can break a billion hearts, two can win a world war. A whisper can inspire hope, a touch can instill faith, some voices can move a nation, some can dissolve boundaries. One act of defiance can spark a revolution, one hundred thousand candles can end a war - the power of human expression and the brand that has always asked us to Express Yourself, Airtel has grown leaps and bounds in the last few years to become one of the global telecom giants today. With a turnover in excess of $7 billion, it has become the 5th largest mobile operator in the world in terms of subscriber base and the 3rd largest, single country mobile operator. The brand has won an array of awards including “Most Preferred Cellular Service Provider Brand” award for six years in a row that only touches the tip of the iceberg!

“The power to keep in touch” started Airtel’s communication in the early years which stood for efficiency and unflinching strength of service. The “Touch Tomorrow” campaign soon followed with a consumer appeal and established a bond with consumers. “Live every Moment” took shape of the ‘leadership of more’ – of a brand that promised unlimited freedom to communicate spontaneously, not only in words but through exchange of ideas and emotions. The brand espoused the idea that consumers could now live every dream, every desire, every ambition, every thought…in essence they could ‘live every moment’.

Express Yourself, Airtel and arguably, Indian telecom’s most famous campaign ended up taking an encompassing view of telecom services as a whole and thereby creating a leadership in consumer mindspace as well. But, despite the continuity of Express Yourself, Airtel’s breakthrough campaign “barriers break when people talk” touched chords from the individual to the humanitarian level. A R Rahman’s impeccable Airtel signature tune has immortalized the brand and it remains one of the most downloaded ring tones in India. Prasad Narsimhan, ex-CMO of Virgin Mobile comments on branding in telecom, “Recent customer research confirms that branding is the single most important factor in customer choice and telecom brands further need to strengthen their differentiation in manners that are more relevant, desirable and defensible”.

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Source : IIPM Editorial, 2011.

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

For More IIPM Info, Visit below mentioned IIPM articles.

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IIPM: Indian Institute of Planning and Management

D-UA.H

Downloader-UA.h is another one in the series of downloader viruses that have begun this month to unleash its fury onto the uninformed netizens in a perfect game of deceit. Many music and video websites, especially www.fastmp3player.com contain links to files like the following which are enough to attract the attention of adolescents and young adults for obvious reasons (as evident from the names): preview-t-3545425-adult.mpg, preview-t-3545425-changing times earth wind .mp3, et al. When a user attempts to load one of these MP3 and MPG files, they are directed to download a file named PLAY_MP3.exe. When the user downloads and runs PlayMP3.exe, a 4,800 word (End user License Agreement) is displayed. The installed file, PlayMP3.exe from PlayMP3.biz, in reality acts as a browser control wrapped in an exe, which loads a webpage running the Wimpy MP3 Flash player.

All the personal information of the user can be gathered and sent to unidentified locations over the internet on the activation of the Trojan. The best way to remove the virus is to switch off the System Restore utility in the Properties section of My Computer.

There were the five online pests that have destroyed many working PCs in the recent past. We pray, do keep away; rather, stay protected!

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Source : IIPM Editorial, 2009

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

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KAMAL NANDI, VP SALES & MKTG, GODREJ

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1. Bajaj’s ‘Buland Bharat ki... humara Bajaj’ campaign
2. Amul’s ‘The Taste of India’ ad campaign
3. Vodafone’s campaign where the dog follows the little girl
4. LIC’s ‘Zindagi ke saath bhi, zindagi ke baad bhi’ campaign
5. Asian Paints’ ‘Wah! Sunil babu’ campaign

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

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A reality check on the “feel good” factory

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Brand: India Shining
Agency: Grey Worldwide

What began as a goodwill campaign transcended into a full-fledged election slogan. And while India Shining was unable to pull off an electoral win for the then ruling BJP; it nevertheless worked its magic on its original target audiences viz. the global community. India’s image as a land of snake charmers & elephants changed forever, thanks to that one campaign. TAM reports suggest that the Rs.500 crore campaign was aired 9,472 times on TV in December and January, next only to ads for the government’s polio campaign.

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

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A ‘Complete’ faux pas

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What comes to your mind when we say ‘The Complete Man’? With definite conviction, the answer is Raymond. Yes, for several decades, Raymond has been cajoling the desi Adams, through this phenomenally successful tagline. But it spelled disaster for it when suddenly, in the first half of 2007, the company decided to roll out woman’s suiting material. Agreed, that the company was trying to cash in on the credibility generated by the brand Raymond and venturing into woman’s suiting material was just a part of its brand extension strategy. But then, how on earth did Raymond planned to do it without doing away with its famous tagline. Even brand pundits would agree that a masculine positioning is strictly no for a feminine product. So what’s up with the venture now? That’s anybody’s guess!

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

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It developed entirely new food processing methods

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The burger conglomerate’s special relationship with its suppliers has a unique history. As McDonald’s Chairman Fred Turner expanded the chain in the 1970s, he came across a supply hurdle. The traditional food processing biggies of the industry were either unwilling or unable to supply the food goods that McDonald’s demanded. So, as journalist John F. Love points out in his book - McDonald’s:Behind the Arches – “It developed entirely new food processing methods” by relying on small suppliers. Over the years, the system’s suppliers have grown into some of the world’s largest food processors. Keystone Foods is now a $1billion company and the largest producer of hamburgers in the world; Jack Simplot has become the french fry king of the globe and Schreiber Foods supplies over 65% of the cheese consumed by McDonald’s annually. All these guys did was to shake hands with McDonald’s pioneer Ray Croc in the 1960s & ‘70s and the rest is history.

Decades later, when McDonald’s decided to hit the Indian market, it took them six years (and an investment of Rs.4 billion) to put their supply chain in place. The abundant caution seems to have paid off as today, it’s the only QSR brand in the country that has never been disrupted due to inadequate flow of products or lack of suppliers. The slowdown may be forcing some fast food chains in India to shut down loss-making stores, but McDonald’s is certainly not among them. As was the case globally, the key suppliers for McDonald’s even in India were relatively little know players till about a decade ago. Dynamix Dairies in Baramati (Maharashtra), for example is the key supplier of cheese to McDoanld’s restaurants and began as a largely cooperative movement in 1995. Schreiber, McD’s global cheese supplier gave the initial technological help and Dynamix today has become one of India’s largest dairy companies, with a more than 2.8 million lbs./day fluid line processing facility. Schreiber now also holds a 51% stake in the company. “We help our supply chain partners to grow along with us and even introduce them to our global partners for technological assistance and new processing methods,” explains Upadhye.

Besides, global supply partners like McCain (for frozen French fries) and Vista Processed Foods (for lettuce) have also entered India over the past few years. “McDonald’s helped us to come and set up our plant in India,” avers Jaideep Mukherji, Country Manager, McCain Foods India, which also supplies to Yum! Brands and Nirula’s. The reason why these suppliers have even caught the fancy of rival food chains is because of their quality and reliability. So how do they maintain the exclusivity of McDonald’s success recipe, we asked Vista, which is also a vendor for other 5-Star hotels. “Whatever we are manufacturing for McDonald’s, its exclusively for them and we don’t share it with anyone,” reverts Bhupinder Singh, CEO, Vista Processed Foods. When we visited the McDonald’s sprawling distribution center – run by Radhakrishnan Foodland (another vendor!) – located in Greater Noida, cartons of buns, cheese and eggs were lined up in sub-zero temperature (to lock nutrition), each labelled ‘Made for exclusive use of McDonald’s.’ In fact, McDonald’s is the only QSR chain that has a standing record of having the same logistics partner – Radhakrishnan Foodland Pvt Ltd - for more than a decade.

For more articles, Click on IIPM Article.

Source : IIPM Editorial, 2009

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

For More IIPM Info, Visit below mentioned IIPM articles.
The Most Revolutionary Concept In Education PLANMAN CHE CENTRE FOR HIGHER EDUCATION, Supported by IIPM India’s Leading B-School
IIPM set to beat economic slowdown
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