After OPEC, a gas cartel! Well, Putin is impressed

IIPM PUBLICATION

What was meant for all, actually fall into the hands of countries that behaved like corporations. First it was Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) world’s foremost recognised oil cartel; now a gas cartel appears to be in making, courtesy, Vladimir Putin’s Russia and Ahmadinejad’s Iran. The intentions of Vladimir Putin can be gauged from the act when recently Putin took the whole world by surprise by planting its flag on the ocean floor under the North Pole in a symbolic gesture to claim the rights to the sea-bed, which could be rich in oil and gas.

Russia happens to be a dominant player in the natural gas and a major supplier to many erstwhile USSR countries and other European countries. Russia’s state-controlled Gazprom exports natural gas to nine European countries. Russia has world’s largest proven natural gas and eight largest oil reserves. As such Russia has the ability to dictate gas prices and influence the natural gas supply, Russia turned off the natural gas tap to Ukraine and Moldovo in January 2006 and threatened to pull out the plug to Belarus and Georgia in late 2006 over price negotiations. The above examples not only damaged Russia’s image as a reliable energy provider, but also made it quite apparent that Russia is using gas a political tool to gain economic mileage.

A string of deals by Russia with other Central Asian countries like Kazakhstan, Turkmenistan & Uzbekistan indicates for a high probability of Russia along with countries mentioned above, along with Iran joining hands for a natural gas cartel. “A gas OPEC is an interesting idea,… our main aim is to co-ordinate our activities with an eye to the solution of the main goal of unconditionally and securely supplying the main consumers of energy resources,” Putin said in a Kremlin new conference. But past instances fail to prove Putin’s viewpoint, where Russia has used gas as a weapon to control its neighbours.

For Complete IIPM Article, Click on IIPM Article

Source : IIPM Editorial, 2007

An IIPM and Professor Arindam Chaudhuri (Renowned Management Guru and Economist) Initiative

For More IIPM Info, Visit Below....
The Sunday Indian - India's Greatest News weekly
IIPM Mumbai Parables - Stories that change life
IIPM International Student Exchange Programme
IIPM, ADMISSIONS FOR NEW DELHI & GURGAON BRANCHES
IIPM, GURGAON
ARINDAM CHAUDHURI’S 4 REASONS WHY YOU SHOULD CHOOSE IIPM...
IIPM Economy Review
IIPM :- Cicero's Challenge is going global
The Indian Institute of Planning and Management (I...
Time for Awards at IIPM

The Attenborough heirlooms

IIPM Mumbai Parables - Stories that change life

Brothers in caste, creed & deeds...

They are perhaps the most famous brothers in the living memory of the British; where one was labelled as the most trustworthy public figure in a poll; the other claims the same faith among his peers and admirers of his school of work. Though their life’s work has been dedicated to subjects as different as chalk and cheese, their single-minded obsession with the same, is a direct give away to the fact that these two stalwarts are kinsman in spirit as much in body.

While Richard Attenborough, born on August 29, 1923, was the eldest of three siblings, David Attenborough was three years his junior and the middle child. Their father, the principal of University of Leicester, set high benchmarks for his three sons. Where Richard, a laggard in studies, wished to pursue acting, he set him the challenge of winning the much sought after Leverhulme drama scholarship from The Royal Academy of Dramatic Arts. David on the other hand faced the test of winning the open scholarship in order to attend the natural science trips at Cambridge. And so they set forth upon their journey uphill, though opting for two entirely different trails.

An 18-year-old Richard made his professional debut on stage and a year later in 1942, he enacted the role of a deserter in, In Which We Serve. From there on he would go on to epitomise the English wimp in the chunk of his films of the next two decades. He pursued roles of darker hues too, such as that of Pinkie the Hoodlum in Brighton Rock (1947). He also starred in Satyajit Ray’s 1977 movie – Shatranj Ke Khiladi. In 60s, he divided his attention between acting & production and along with writer/actor Bryan Forbes, he set up Beaver Films. In the late 60s, he began to direct movies too and his very first – Oh, What a Lovely War! – garnered much acclaim. Three more directorial ventures followed in the 70s followed by his magnum opus Gandhi (1982), which bagged three Oscars, including one for Attenborough as the Best Director.

Unlike his brother, David showed no inclination in getting in the front or at the back of the camera and completed his graduation in 1942 in Natural Sciences at Cambridge University. He started out editing children’s science text books & in 1952 he moved to BBC. Initially, he became a producer in the Talks Department; the head of his department disapproved of his teeth, which discouraged him to get in front of the camera but it wouldn’t be long before he managed to produce and present the three part series – The Pattern of Animals – during the making of which he met Jack Lester. The result of that association was Zoo Quest, which upon Lester’s illness, Attenborough would go on to anchor. As the show steadily rose to become Britain’s most popular wildlife show, so did Attenborough’s career graph. In 1952, he became responsible for introducing his countrymen to colour television as Controller of BBC2. Eight years after he took on editorial responsibilities of both the BBC networks as Director of Programmes, he grew jaded of his routine and decided to introduce some colour into his life too – he resigned and returned to making programmes! Based on South Asia’s natural history, Eastwards with Attenborough became the first of several series that include the 1979 13- part series, Life on Earth, his ode to Antarctica – Life in the Freezer (1993) – among many others.

Old age hasn’t slowed down the Attenborough brothers at all. In his 70s, Richard starred in movies like Jurassic Park (1993), Miracle on 34th Street (1994) & Elizabeth (1998). Going strong in his 80s too, his latest directorial offering, Closing the Ring, will premier on September 14, at the 2007 Toronto International Film Festival. Equally robust, 2000 witnessed David Attenborough in State of the Planet, which focussed on the environmental crisis and more recently in Sharing Planet Earth that aired on June 24, 2007.

The Attenborough brothers have received many prestigious honours too, where Richard was knighted in 1976, Sir David was awarded the Order of Merit in 2005. On the face of it Richard & David Attenborough are siblings who couldn’t be more disparate and though their routes differed, their final destination was the same – the hearts of their audiences and the minds of generations to come.

Edit bureau: Anu Gulmohar

For Complete IIPM Article, Click on IIPM Article

Source : IIPM Editorial, 2007

An IIPM and Professor Arindam Chaudhuri (Renowned Management Guru and Economist) Initiative

For More IIPM Info, Visit Below....
The Sunday Indian - India's Greatest News weekly
IIPM International Student Exchange Programme
IIPM, ADMISSIONS FOR NEW DELHI & GURGAON BRANCHES
IIPM, GURGAON
ARINDAM CHAUDHURI’S 4 REASONS WHY YOU SHOULD CHOOSE IIPM...
IIPM Economy Review
IIPM :- Cicero's Challenge is going global
The Indian Institute of Planning and Management (I...Time for Awards at IIPM

Rising of India

The Sunday Indian - India's Greatest News weekly

Six decades have now passed since Independence. And the textile sector has had a key significance for India, even before Mahatma Gandhi launched the revolutionary Swadeshi movement. But while liberalisation & organized retailing have enhanced the prospects, Indian apparel is yet to achieve its rightful place on the world map. Will we ever be able to catch up?

Think of the word ‘apparel’ and you are pushed back into a psychedelic state of mind, with your highly intensified receptors almost blinding you with the fl ashy, theatrically lit ramp. Then you could feel overpowered by the razzle-dazzle brought forward by the troupe of bedazzling models (not forgetting those goose bumps) & struck dumb (and deaf) by the overwhelmingly stupefying proceedings. The applause follows them all – and there you’re left wondering if there could be a better showcasing opportunity to the hundreds of beauties that just passed by… leaving you in a trance (well, almost)! At the end of it all, something plays on your bewitched mind; a question – “did I miss something?” And it’s already the next day before you realise that it was in all sincerity meant to be a fashion parade to showcase something which can crudely be referred to as ‘textiles talent’!

Think what you want to, but textile honchos around the world take advantage of this craze with the case in the Indian context being no different as the real ‘models’ of India Inc. gear-up fast for a ‘creativity-filled’ autumn ahead. And with multi-million dollar game plans, the industry is teeming with players ready to create a splash, well realising the potential of the fiercely growing Indian textiles market – a fact corroborated by global equity giant Blackstone Group’s 50% stake buyout in Gokaldas Exports on August 21, 2007 for a handsome Rs.6.76 billion. The fact of the matter is that, currently, one can only witness ‘growth’ smeared all over the Indian textile mart as Ravi Thakran, President (Asia-Pacific) of Louis Vuitton Moët Hennessy (LMVH) justifies, “Today, India stands first in terms of setting up production units... To top it all, it also enables the investing party to have a grip on the fast growing home market...” All this only further testify es why more and more foreign entities are sensing bright prospects for their investments in garments manufacturing & outsourcing business in India.

As per CRISIL, the Indian textiles sector is forecasted to touch a sprawling $110 billion in net revenues (domestic sales & exports) by 2012 – a dazzling appreciation of 479% when compared to the $19 billion during 2006-07. Exports, too, are predicted to escalate to a breathtaking $50 billion by 2010! Keeping in mind the immensely fertile development, it comes as a little surprise that Indian textile titans are relentlessly upgrading their manufacturing infrastructure and pumping in resources on a large scale to make India the world’s next fashion capital. Sure enough, India will have to bite the bullet in order to achieve this feat as there are various challengers even in this regard. However, Gianluca Bollani, Fashion Coordinator of Corneliani votes for India as far as offerings are concerned as he maintains, “Compared to other Asian countries, India has a unique offering in the textile world and those are value added products like special cotton yarns, fabrics, made-ups et al. Most Italian fashion houses today resort to India for these value added products.”

Well, whether it makes it to the top is still a question subject to many constraints, but there’s still another carrot and that’s the domestic haute couture market, which is currently steaming ahead at an annual growth rate of a noteworthy 10% (as per CII). No wonder, the Ambanis and Wadias are fast getting their acts together with primo brands – Vimal & Bombay Dyeing, respectively. But with other relatively smaller players already capturing a major share of the market – although in a fragmented fashion – both globally & in Indian sub-continent, the question remains – “Isn’t it an act too late?”

Well, ill-strategies and utterly discouraging government norms forced many textile mills to close shop during the 1970s & 80s, which was also considered a rampant fragmentation period in the textile industry as D.K. Nair, Secretary General, Confederation of Indian Textile Industry (CITI) exclaimed, “Many textile mills in the mid-1980s couldn’t even dare to diversify. Then there were labour laws at that time, which always supported the labourers (unions) and never looked at the problems faced by manufacturers...” However, what ultimately resulted was a plethora of unorganised players coming together with their aggressive growth strategies... And today, these are the very entities which are minting colossal profits, promising to take on the world of textiles by storm & challenging global titans!

For Complete IIPM Article, Click on IIPM Article

Source : IIPM Editorial, 2007

An IIPM and Professor Arindam Chaudhuri (Renowned Management Guru and Economist) Initiative

For More IIPM Info, Visit Below....
IIPM Mumbai Parables - Stories that change life
IIPM International Student Exchange Programme
IIPM, ADMISSIONS FOR NEW DELHI & GURGAON BRANCHES
IIPM, GURGAON
ARINDAM CHAUDHURI’S 4 REASONS WHY YOU SHOULD CHOOSE IIPM...
IIPM Economy Review
IIPM :- Cicero's Challenge is going global
The Indian Institute of Planning and Management (I...
Time for Awards at IIPM
STUDENTS AGAINST CORRUPTION & KICKBACKS : SACK
Heavy dut(t)y stress Sanjay Dutt Bollywood Actor
The Business of B-School Rankings & The Big Farce

Growing @ Talent.com

IIPM International Student Exchange Programme

Handpicking talent right from the campuses, nurturing them on the job and infusing a sense of ownership to a large extent helps in retaining talent at HCL. The highly dynamic IT industry is experiencing a staggering attrition rate of around 20%. Some companies have even gone ahead, claiming a massive 30% attrition. However, HCL has an altogether different take on the attrition issue. The rate of attrition for younger employees – who have been a part of HCL Info systems – for less than five years - is around 15-18%. However, the attrition figure for employees who have been around for more than five years, it is a miniscule 5%. Punekar feels that the younger lot coming in today is simply short of direction. They are in a hurry to reach the top and hence resort to job hopping, but once they stick around in an organisation for more than five years, then they prefer to stay.

Talk to Punekar for sometime and one more aspect of his personality that shines brightly is his passion – not only for the company, but also for the work he does. No wonder, this HR veteran has inculcated a culture driven by ‘passion’ in the company as well. Today, HCL in industry circles is known as a company driven by passion, where passion even takes precedence over processes. All of these show HCL as being a very informal organisation. But informal does not mean that the employees are left altogether to do as they like. Like all known organisation, HCL too has in place a proper performance appraisal system whereby employees across the country are constantly monitored with the help of the right soft wares. The HCL philosophy is simple: ‘what gets measured, gets reviewed and what gets reviewed, gets improved.’ States Punekar, “We’ve a matrix to measure performance of the employees on a daily basis.” At HCL, performance results in handsome rewards and the right kind of remuneration. Punekar further reveals, “We have pioneered a lot of things as far as rewards are concerned. We were the ones who introduced the concept of profit sharing and also the first ones to bring the concept of ESOPS in India.” In fact, by 2005, HCL had covered all its employees under their ESOPS programme.

Rewards aside, HCL also knows how to touch the heart of its employees. In 2001, HCL contributed and encouraged its employees to build their own houses under a project called HCL Towers. In addition to it, to make life simpler for employees, HCL provides facilities like transportation, administrative facilities et al. Though HCL may justifiably claim not to be a full-fl edged soft ware focused company but one cannot deny that for this ‘Entrepreneurial Incubator’ of the Indian IT industry, HR certainly ensures that the HCL garden is always blossoming with talented and well-managed human capital.

(H)uman (C)onduct (L)ist

• Calls itself a campus organization as trainees are picked up straight from campuses.
• Received the highest rating of Five Star in the ‘Dataquest-IDC Best Employers Survey,’ 2005.
• HCL wins IMM Top Organisation Award 2007 for Excellence. Human Resource Development was one of the key parameters for the award.
• HCL Support wins the DQ Channels-2006 Gold Award for Best After Sales Service on a nationwide customer satisfaction survey conducted by IDC.
  

For Complete IIPM Article, Click on IIPM Article

Source : IIPM Editorial, 2007

An IIPM and Professor Arindam Chaudhuri (Renowned Management Guru and Economist) Initiative

For More IIPM Info, Visit Below....
The Sunday Indian - India's Greatest News weekly
IIPM Mumbai Parables - Stories that change life
IIPM, ADMISSIONS FOR NEW DELHI & GURGAON BRANCHES
IIPM, GURGAON
ARINDAM CHAUDHURI’S 4 REASONS WHY YOU SHOULD CHOOSE IIPM...
IIPM Economy Review
IIPM :- Cicero's Challenge is going global
The Indian Institute of Planning and Management (I...
Time for Awards at IIPM
STUDENTS AGAINST CORRUPTION & KICKBACKS : SACK
Heavy dut(t)y stress Sanjay Dutt Bollywood Actor
The Business of B-School Rankings & The Big Farce