BANGALORE: Multinational outsourcing firms IBM and HP have been shortlisted for around $700 million contract for managing Microsoft’s global What's new in Windows 7 network of desktops, servers and other IT infrastructure, as the world’s biggest software maker seeks to lower its operational costs and focus better on its core business. India’s top outsourcing vendors had also bid for this contract, but they lost out to the multinational rivals who have better global footprints and are even ready to take over assets including Microsoft’s staff.
“This was one contract where most of us were bidding hard, especially given the kind of customer we are talking about, but global service providers seem to have taken a lead,” said a senior executive at one of the tech firms involved during early stage of bidding.
Another person based in US, and familiar with this contract said that Microsoft had issued a global request for proposal (RFP) few months ago for this contract. Officials at Microsoft India did not respond to an email query sent by ET on Thursday.
The global IT infrastructure market has been growing exponentially over past few years. The top 15 vendors analysed by Forrester in a recent report provided remote and onsite services for about 16.7 million desktops, 1.7 million servers and 23.4 million users globally. These vendors, including IBM, HP-EDS , CSC and some Indian tech firms delivered $83.9 billion worth of infrastructure services last year. “Some clients clearly will require the scope only an IBM or HP can deliver, but many don’t ,” said Dr Paul Roehrig, principal analyst at Forrester Research.
“All of the India-centric firms included in the study - Cognizant, HCL Technologies, Infosys, TCS, and Wipro - have excellent forward-looking strategies for the infrastructure business,” he added. On their part, Indian tech firms such as TCS, Infosys and Wipro have made substantial progress in gaining market share when it comes to application development, maintenance and back office outsourcing, however outsourcing of computer hardware maintenance is an area where multinational rivals still lead.
POSTED BY:
PALLAVI SINGH
PGDM III SEM
Saturday, October 31, 2009
Marketing Strategies of Tata Motors
Tata Motors is an Automobile Company in India and is a very high earning company. It's revenues reportedly in the year 2008-2009, is 14 billion. But it's achievements do not stop there. It is among the world's top automobile companies, reportedly the 4th lagest truck manufacturer.
The question that many may ask is, “What can we learn from such a large company, with such great profits?” The age old statement, “Success often leaves traces” may be appropriate to add in this junction.
With 23,000 employees what is notable in Tata Motors approach is the fact that it's marketing approach is novel and founded on clear cut internet marketing guidelines. One only has to go to the Tata Motors website to find that it integrates multiple media outlets in it's marketing approach. From its use of flash to its sleak webiste design, the comapny useswhat is essential to great profits,- innovation.
Innovation is simply the proccess by which companies increase thei profitabiliyt in the marketplace by staking out a position that other companies in the market can't do. It clears out space in their prospect's mind as to what their company is able to offer them that no other company can.
For Tata Motors- excellence in service and presentation- is the perception that comes to the prospect 's mind, for others it may understanding a customer's family needs for a car.
Essentially what Tata Motors has done is they've brought a new range of value to their market by bringing media and technology that have not been overemphasized by their competitors so that they could carve out an unshakable space in the minds of their customers and thus lead to increased sales.
The question that many may ask is, “What can we learn from such a large company, with such great profits?” The age old statement, “Success often leaves traces” may be appropriate to add in this junction.
With 23,000 employees what is notable in Tata Motors approach is the fact that it's marketing approach is novel and founded on clear cut internet marketing guidelines. One only has to go to the Tata Motors website to find that it integrates multiple media outlets in it's marketing approach. From its use of flash to its sleak webiste design, the comapny useswhat is essential to great profits,- innovation.
Innovation is simply the proccess by which companies increase thei profitabiliyt in the marketplace by staking out a position that other companies in the market can't do. It clears out space in their prospect's mind as to what their company is able to offer them that no other company can.
For Tata Motors- excellence in service and presentation-
Essentially what Tata Motors has done is they've brought a new range of value to their market by bringing media and technology that have not been overemphasized by their competitors so that they could carve out an unshakable space in the minds of their customers and thus lead to increased sales.
Wipro to support laid-off French staff
Wipro Chairman Azim Premji has reiterated the company's commitment to France, a key growth market for the company, by growing its pre
sence and creating employment opportunities in that country.Premji, who met Christian Estrosi from the Ministry of Industry Paris, during a high-level delegation meeting in Paris to discuss the Wipro's IT services growth strategy for France, said the IT firm was committed to work with local authorities to encourage local employment regeneration.
During the discussion, both Estrosi and Premji also spoke about Wipro's worldwide exit from the IP connectivity activity, which implied closure of its Sophia Antipolis centre, a Wipro release said.
During the discussions, Wipro reiterated the measures being implemented to support the employees who will exit from the company, including providing financial benefits.
According to Christophe Martinoli, Head of France, Wipro Technologies, "With continued investment and our focus in creating a skilled talent base in France, we intend to double our staff base and revenues in the next 18 months to serve our French customers across industries such as retail, manufacturing, telecom, energy and utilities, banking and insurance"
The company said over a period of time, it had increased its headcount in France from less than 30 to 170.
POSTED BY :-
SHWETA RANI
PGDM-3rd sem
Friday, October 30, 2009
EMPOWERMENT SCHOLARSHIP
Firewalking. Fire has been around since our beginnings as humans and holds us in thrall with conflicting emotions. Fire is a comfort, a warm home, a tool for empowerment in more ways than one and a source of fear of physical contact with it.
Fire is arguably one of man's greatest accomplishments. Think of a world where we were unable to control fire. No warmth, no heat, no ability to make the tools and objects that we live and work with every day. Fire, and it's offspring, heat are things we were warned about as children and will pass along to our children as something to be wary of.
Now you can learn another use of fire by walking on it. Sound crazy? I guarantee you it's not. Learn how something as unrecognized as fire, can change your perception of life and the world around you through the act of confronting and conquering your fear, building a coherent bond between you and co-workers, team mates, your family, your friends, and even yourself. Believe in the power that you poses's to walk on fire and face down any challenge life can throw at you.
Most of us spend our lives, never really facing the things we fear. We go about circumventing these fears and thinking we have dealt with and conquered them. We merely push them out of the way. Out of sight, out of mind right? What if we could really conquer them? Take those fears, make them your own, and control them. This is what Firewalking is about. Empowering and equipping yourself with tools to take you beyond the place you have carved out for you in the world. Set your intentions high and join us as we walk on fire and discover this brilliant new world.
Depending on your situation, fire and walking on fire may be a realistic fear, or it can be used as a abstraction for all the other obstacles you fear to confront in your life. Empower yourself through the wealth of knowledge and experience our instructors have acquired to lead you on the way to take ownership of your life and live that dream that before, resided only in your mind.
Learn to channel your fears into the flames, as you walk, those fears are under your feet, being squashed as you go, confronting them, they are now beneath and behind you as you pass beyond a life that constrained and confined you. Make your life your own, and make it go beyond the bounds you used to set upon yourself. Be reborn as yourself, empowered, fortified, and forged in fire by the act of firewalking.
Fire is arguably one of man's greatest accomplishments. Think of a world where we were unable to control fire. No warmth, no heat, no ability to make the tools and objects that we live and work with every day. Fire, and it's offspring, heat are things we were warned about as children and will pass along to our children as something to be wary of.
Now you can learn another use of fire by walking on it. Sound crazy? I guarantee you it's not. Learn how something as unrecognized as fire, can change your perception of life and the world around you through the act of confronting and conquering your fear, building a coherent bond between you and co-workers, team mates, your family, your friends, and even yourself. Believe in the power that you poses's to walk on fire and face down any challenge life can throw at you.
Most of us spend our lives, never really facing the things we fear. We go about circumventing these fears and thinking we have dealt with and conquered them. We merely push them out of the way. Out of sight, out of mind right? What if we could really conquer them? Take those fears, make them your own, and control them. This is what Firewalking is about. Empowering and equipping yourself with tools to take you beyond the place you have carved out for you in the world. Set your intentions high and join us as we walk on fire and discover this brilliant new world.
Depending on your situation, fire and walking on fire may be a realistic fear, or it can be used as a abstraction for all the other obstacles you fear to confront in your life. Empower yourself through the wealth of knowledge and experience our instructors have acquired to lead you on the way to take ownership of your life and live that dream that before, resided only in your mind.
Learn to channel your fears into the flames, as you walk, those fears are under your feet, being squashed as you go, confronting them, they are now beneath and behind you as you pass beyond a life that constrained and confined you. Make your life your own, and make it go beyond the bounds you used to set upon yourself. Be reborn as yourself, empowered, fortified, and forged in fire by the act of firewalking.
Scholarships for Girl Students with Visual Impairment
The selection for the Marga Schulze Scholarship, a merit scholarship for the higher education of girl students with visual impairment, will be conducted at the Avinashilingam University on September 6.
Offered by the Marga-Schulze Foundation, Germany, the scheme provides merit scholarships of Rs. 12,000, Rs. 15,000, and Rs. 18,000 for students undergoing graduate, B.Ed., and post-graduate courses.
The scheme is implemented by UDIS Forum, a network of parents, persons with disabilities, professionals and voluntary organisations facilitating employment and empowerment of persons with disabilities.
The selected students will be announced on the same day.
The selection for the Marga Schulze Scholarship, a merit scholarship for the higher education of girl students with visual impairment, will be conducted at the Avinashilingam University on September 6.
Offered by the Marga-Schulze Foundation, Germany, the scheme provides merit scholarships of Rs. 12,000, Rs. 15,000, and Rs. 18,000 for students undergoing graduate, B.Ed., and post-graduate courses.
The scheme is implemented by UDIS Forum, a network of parents, persons with disabilities, professionals and voluntary organisations facilitating employment and empowerment of persons with disabilities.
The selected students will be announced on the same day.
about personality
4. What kind of environment makes you the most comfortable?
Judgers prefer a structured, ordered, and fairly predictable environment, where they can make decisions and have things settled. Perceivers prefer to experience as much of the world as possible, so they like to keep their options open and are most comfortable adapting. So, Judgers tend to be organized and productive while Perceivers tend to be flexible, curious, and nonconforming.
Judgers often:
Make most decisions pretty easily
Are serious & conventional
Pay attention to time & are prompt
Prefer to finish projects
Work first, play later
Want things decided
See the need for most rules
Like to make & stick with plans
Find comfort in schedules
Perceivers often:
May have difficulty making decisions
Are playful & unconventional
Are less aware of time & run late
Prefer to start projects
Play first, work later
Want to keep their options open
Question the need for many rules
Like to keep plans flexible
Want the freedom to be spontaneous
ANNU PAWAR PGDM 1st SEM.
Judgers prefer a structured, ordered, and fairly predictable environment, where they can make decisions and have things settled. Perceivers prefer to experience as much of the world as possible, so they like to keep their options open and are most comfortable adapting. So, Judgers tend to be organized and productive while Perceivers tend to be flexible, curious, and nonconforming.
Judgers often:
Make most decisions pretty easily
Are serious & conventional
Pay attention to time & are prompt
Prefer to finish projects
Work first, play later
Want things decided
See the need for most rules
Like to make & stick with plans
Find comfort in schedules
Perceivers often:
May have difficulty making decisions
Are playful & unconventional
Are less aware of time & run late
Prefer to start projects
Play first, work later
Want to keep their options open
Question the need for many rules
Like to keep plans flexible
Want the freedom to be spontaneous
ANNU PAWAR PGDM 1st SEM.
Thursday, October 29, 2009
Top 10 most prosperous nations
For those who value their freedom of expression as much as health, wealth, and prosperity, then Finland is the place to be, with an index ranking the Nordic nation the best in the world.The 2009 Legatum Prosperity Index, published and compiled by the Legatum Institute, an independent policy, advocacy and advisory organization, ranked 104 countries which are home to 90 percent of the world's population.Check out the top 10 most prosperous nations in the list:
1) FINLAND
2)SWITZERLAND
3) SWEDEN
4) DENMARK
5) NORWAY
6) AUSTRALIA
7) CANADA
8)NETHERLANDS
9) UNITED STATES
10) NEW ZEALAND
POSTED BY:
SHUBHAM AGARWAL
PGDM III SEM
The Balancing Act for New Company Officers
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By Linda Willing
Should a company officer still be "one of the guys" after getting promoted? Or is it better for officers to be apart from the crew, so they can see the big picture and enforce discipline? Or is there a middle ground between these two extremes? How is it possible to balance roles as an officer in a fire station?
Many new officers say that finding this balance point in relating to the crew is the most difficult part of the new position. In some ways, nothing has changed — you're still living together in the same space, eating meals together, watching TV after hours, and working on projects. In other ways, everything has changed. Now you are responsible — if something goes wrong, it falls back to you whether you’re on an emergency scene or just hanging around in the station.
This sense of responsibility can make some officers overreact. They separate themselves entirely from the crew, holing up in their offices or sleeping quarters, avoiding most social contact. This is a big mistake. Not only is being part of the crew an important aspect of the officer's job but a company officer who is isolated will not know what is going on and cannot react quickly to situations that may be problematic or escalating.
Excessive isolation can also lead to a lack of trust among crew members. Firefighters want to know their officers — they want to understand that person, how he or she thinks and reacts to things. This is different than being friends. Crew members should know each other well as members of the team. Such knowledge makes a crew much more effective on an emergency scene and more comfortable and congenial during non-emergency duties. Friendship is a separate thing that may or may not develop over time.
On the other hand, being too much "one of the guys" can lead to serious problems. Whenever there is a story in the news about firefighters behaving badly as a group, one always has to ask, "what was the officer doing when this was going on?" In nearly every instance, the officer was an active participant, if not a leader of the inappropriate behavior.
Officers that just go along with whatever the crew finds entertaining in the moment are not doing their job. It is the officer's responsibility to keep the crew safe under all circumstances, and this includes preventing the group mentality from getting out of control and involving otherwise decent individuals in inappropriate acts. It is the officer who needs to stand up and say, "all right, that's enough. Time to do something else. This is going too far."
One of the ways that an officer can tread that difficult middle ground is by setting clear expectations from the start. Crew members want to know what is expected of them, not only in terms of emergency response, but also during more casual interaction around the station. What kind of language will not be tolerated? What subjects are dangerous? What lines cannot be crossed? These standards can be put out there by the officer not only in words but primarily through example. The worst thing a company officer can do is live by the "do as I say but not as I do" standard. This example not only undermines the officer’s credibility but also does nothing to set real standards for others.
Some officers are afraid of being the bad guy. They want their crews to like them so they never stand up and set limits. Everyone wants to be liked, but it is far more important as an officer to be respected. Firefighters want officers to set standards — to define desired behavior and to model professionalism. This is what leadership is all about.
Officers who achieve that delicate balance in being one of the crew and also standing apart in a leadership capacity can achieve amazing results. Such officers can take a diverse group and truly make it into a team that is not only highly functional in a technical sense, but is also committed to the success and safety of all others within the crew. Such teams provide great service, are fun to be part of, and only make the news as a credit to their departments and the fire service as a whole. Performance like this is not accidental—it is always a result of good leadership.
Linda F. Willing worked for more than 20 years in the emergency services, including 18 as a career firefighter and fire officer. For the past 10 years, she has provided support for fire and emergency services and other organizations through her company, RealWorld Training and Consulting. Linda's work focuses on developing customized solutions in the areas of leadership development, conflict resolution, diversity management, team building, communications and decision making. Linda is also an adjunct instructor and curriculum advisor for the National Fire Academy Executive Fire Officer Program. She has a B.A. in American Studies from the University of Pennsylvania, an M.S. from Regis University in Denver in Organization Development, and is a certified mediator. To contact Linda, e-mail Linda.Willing@FireRescue1.com.
POSTED BY:-
PREETI KUMARI
PGDM IIIRD SEM
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By Linda Willing
Should a company officer still be "one of the guys" after getting promoted? Or is it better for officers to be apart from the crew, so they can see the big picture and enforce discipline? Or is there a middle ground between these two extremes? How is it possible to balance roles as an officer in a fire station?
Many new officers say that finding this balance point in relating to the crew is the most difficult part of the new position. In some ways, nothing has changed — you're still living together in the same space, eating meals together, watching TV after hours, and working on projects. In other ways, everything has changed. Now you are responsible — if something goes wrong, it falls back to you whether you’re on an emergency scene or just hanging around in the station.
This sense of responsibility can make some officers overreact. They separate themselves entirely from the crew, holing up in their offices or sleeping quarters, avoiding most social contact. This is a big mistake. Not only is being part of the crew an important aspect of the officer's job but a company officer who is isolated will not know what is going on and cannot react quickly to situations that may be problematic or escalating.
Excessive isolation can also lead to a lack of trust among crew members. Firefighters want to know their officers — they want to understand that person, how he or she thinks and reacts to things. This is different than being friends. Crew members should know each other well as members of the team. Such knowledge makes a crew much more effective on an emergency scene and more comfortable and congenial during non-emergency duties. Friendship is a separate thing that may or may not develop over time.
On the other hand, being too much "one of the guys" can lead to serious problems. Whenever there is a story in the news about firefighters behaving badly as a group, one always has to ask, "what was the officer doing when this was going on?" In nearly every instance, the officer was an active participant, if not a leader of the inappropriate behavior.
Officers that just go along with whatever the crew finds entertaining in the moment are not doing their job. It is the officer's responsibility to keep the crew safe under all circumstances, and this includes preventing the group mentality from getting out of control and involving otherwise decent individuals in inappropriate acts. It is the officer who needs to stand up and say, "all right, that's enough. Time to do something else. This is going too far."
One of the ways that an officer can tread that difficult middle ground is by setting clear expectations from the start. Crew members want to know what is expected of them, not only in terms of emergency response, but also during more casual interaction around the station. What kind of language will not be tolerated? What subjects are dangerous? What lines cannot be crossed? These standards can be put out there by the officer not only in words but primarily through example. The worst thing a company officer can do is live by the "do as I say but not as I do" standard. This example not only undermines the officer’s credibility but also does nothing to set real standards for others.
Some officers are afraid of being the bad guy. They want their crews to like them so they never stand up and set limits. Everyone wants to be liked, but it is far more important as an officer to be respected. Firefighters want officers to set standards — to define desired behavior and to model professionalism. This is what leadership is all about.
Officers who achieve that delicate balance in being one of the crew and also standing apart in a leadership capacity can achieve amazing results. Such officers can take a diverse group and truly make it into a team that is not only highly functional in a technical sense, but is also committed to the success and safety of all others within the crew. Such teams provide great service, are fun to be part of, and only make the news as a credit to their departments and the fire service as a whole. Performance like this is not accidental—it is always a result of good leadership.
Linda F. Willing worked for more than 20 years in the emergency services, including 18 as a career firefighter and fire officer. For the past 10 years, she has provided support for fire and emergency services and other organizations through her company, RealWorld Training and Consulting. Linda's work focuses on developing customized solutions in the areas of leadership development, conflict resolution, diversity management, team building, communications and decision making. Linda is also an adjunct instructor and curriculum advisor for the National Fire Academy Executive Fire Officer Program. She has a B.A. in American Studies from the University of Pennsylvania, an M.S. from Regis University in Denver in Organization Development, and is a certified mediator. To contact Linda, e-mail Linda.Willing@FireRescue1.com.
POSTED BY:-
PREETI KUMARI
PGDM IIIRD SEM
Microsoft seen as Diller's best bet for Ask.com
Microsoft seen as Diller's best bet for Ask.com
Microsoft Corp (MSFT.O) is viewed as the most likely buyer or partner for IAC/InterActiveCorp's (IACI.O) Ask.com if CEO Barry Diller decides to throw in the towel on the struggling search engine.
Diller effectively hung a "for sale" sign on Ask.com on Tuesday, when he said on a conference call with Wall Street analysts that the search business is "challenging" and its future is "speculative.
Answering questions about whether he would consolidate a business that has been unable to expand beyond its 4 percent market share in search queries, Diller said, "The answer is 'yes.' And it is unlikely that we would be the consolidator."
Some analysts are taking those words as a 'come and talk to me' message to Microsoft, which relaunched its search engine as Bing this year. Microsoft is seeking distribution deals with any number of partners to compete against Google Inc (GOOG.O).
In the search market, Ask.com is a distant fourth behind Google with its 64.9 percent share, Yahoo with 18.8 percent and Microsoft with 9.4 percent, according to comScore.
Most of Ask's revenue now comes from an advertising relationship with Google, which provides links of relevant advertisers in response to a user's search query on Ask.com
"Right now, Microsoft wants share so they could pick up those points from Ask," said Colin Gillis, an analyst at Brigantine Advisors. "Plus it has a double impact since Google powers Ask's paid search."
Ask.com has tried a number of different strategies in the last few years to drive users to its search service, including TV advertising, vertical marketing partnerships with the likes of NASCAR, and more user-friendly search technology.
POSTED BY:-
SHILPI KUMARI
PGDM-3rd SEM
Microsoft Corp (MSFT.O) is viewed as the most likely buyer or partner for IAC/InterActiveCorp's (IACI.O) Ask.com if CEO Barry Diller decides to throw in the towel on the struggling search engine.
Diller effectively hung a "for sale" sign on Ask.com on Tuesday, when he said on a conference call with Wall Street analysts that the search business is "challenging" and its future is "speculative.
Answering questions about whether he would consolidate a business that has been unable to expand beyond its 4 percent market share in search queries, Diller said, "The answer is 'yes.' And it is unlikely that we would be the consolidator."
Some analysts are taking those words as a 'come and talk to me' message to Microsoft, which relaunched its search engine as Bing this year. Microsoft is seeking distribution deals with any number of partners to compete against Google Inc (GOOG.O).
In the search market, Ask.com is a distant fourth behind Google with its 64.9 percent share, Yahoo with 18.8 percent and Microsoft with 9.4 percent, according to comScore.
Most of Ask's revenue now comes from an advertising relationship with Google, which provides links of relevant advertisers in response to a user's search query on Ask.com
"Right now, Microsoft wants share so they could pick up those points from Ask," said Colin Gillis, an analyst at Brigantine Advisors. "Plus it has a double impact since Google powers Ask's paid search."
Ask.com has tried a number of different strategies in the last few years to drive users to its search service, including TV advertising, vertical marketing partnerships with the likes of NASCAR, and more user-friendly search technology.
POSTED BY:-
SHILPI KUMARI
PGDM-3rd SEM
Inside Yahoo's revival kit
Yahoo Inc vowed to triple its operating profit margin in the next three years as the Internet company seeks to reignite its growth
and regain investor confidence. During a presentation to analysts, executives said the company has fixed various shortcomings that have plagued the company in the past and touted its large online audience and ties to advertisers as keys to its comeback. Yahoo also announced in a separate filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission that the deadline to finalize a search agreement with Microsoft Corp has been extended. The deadline had been midnight, Tuesday. Yahoo did not set a new deadline in the filing. "This is just to make sure the definitive agreement has all the complexity in there that is needed to do a 10-year deal," Bartz said at the event about the extension. "We don't think this does anything with the filing regulation deadlines," she said. A string of Yahoo sales, engineering and product executives took the stage in Yahoo's first full-day briefing with analysts since May 2006. Finance Chief Tim Morse said the company expected to achieve operating margins between 15 percent and 20 percent by 2012. Executives said Yahoo would achieve the new margin targets by accelerating its revenue in the next few years, though they declined to provide a specific revenue growth rate. In its most recently ended quarter, Yahoo's revenue decreased 12 percent year-over-year and was roughly flat quarter-over-quarter at $1.57 billion. Yahoo delivered an operating margin of roughly 6 percent in the third quarter, which Bartz described as "pathetic" earlier on Wednesday.
"Today is the beginning of a journey back to respect," Bartz said.
"Along the way, here we are, a 14-year-old Internet company that somehow got boring," she said later. Since Bartz took over as CEO in January, the company cut 5 percent of its staff and has shed several businesses. In July, Yahoo announced a 10-year deal to let Microsoft Corp provide search technology, a partnership designed to save costs and mount a more effective challenge to Google Inc, the world's No. 1 search engine. Yahoo has said it expects the deal to close sometime in 2010. Yahoo executives stressed that the company remains focused on Internet search as a crucial product for Yahoo users and for Yahoo advertisers. Executives said the company was taking a variety of steps, including improving the relevance of the search ads it displays alongside search results that will boost the revenue that it generates per search ad. The company reiterated the importance of search data to help it target display ads to web surfers. With competition on the Web increasingly coming from social media sites like Facebook and Twitter, Yahoo executives said its mixture of online news, entertainment and sports content as well as its communications products like Web-based email and instant messaging will keep the company relevant. Yahoo executives said the company would invest in editorial staff to produce more original features and tweak its online products to keep users on the site longer and boost advertising revenue. Since Yahoo revamped its homepage in July, page views have increased 9 percent while time spent on the site has increased 20 percent, according to Tapan Bhat, senior vice president for integrated consumer experience. Click-throughs on the main ad on the front page have increased 10 percent, he said. Shares of Yahoo closed Wednesday's regular session on Nasdaq down 65 cents at $16.04, and were down a further 8 cents in after-hours trade.
POSTED BY:-
SHWETA RANI
PGDM-3rd sem
and regain investor confidence. During a presentation to analysts, executives said the company has fixed various shortcomings that have plagued the company in the past and touted its large online audience and ties to advertisers as keys to its comeback. Yahoo also announced in a separate filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission that the deadline to finalize a search agreement with Microsoft Corp has been extended. The deadline had been midnight, Tuesday. Yahoo did not set a new deadline in the filing. "This is just to make sure the definitive agreement has all the complexity in there that is needed to do a 10-year deal," Bartz said at the event about the extension. "We don't think this does anything with the filing regulation deadlines," she said. A string of Yahoo sales, engineering and product executives took the stage in Yahoo's first full-day briefing with analysts since May 2006. Finance Chief Tim Morse said the company expected to achieve operating margins between 15 percent and 20 percent by 2012. Executives said Yahoo would achieve the new margin targets by accelerating its revenue in the next few years, though they declined to provide a specific revenue growth rate. In its most recently ended quarter, Yahoo's revenue decreased 12 percent year-over-year and was roughly flat quarter-over-quarter at $1.57 billion. Yahoo delivered an operating margin of roughly 6 percent in the third quarter, which Bartz described as "pathetic" earlier on Wednesday.
"Today is the beginning of a journey back to respect," Bartz said.
"Along the way, here we are, a 14-year-old Internet company that somehow got boring," she said later. Since Bartz took over as CEO in January, the company cut 5 percent of its staff and has shed several businesses. In July, Yahoo announced a 10-year deal to let Microsoft Corp provide search technology, a partnership designed to save costs and mount a more effective challenge to Google Inc, the world's No. 1 search engine. Yahoo has said it expects the deal to close sometime in 2010. Yahoo executives stressed that the company remains focused on Internet search as a crucial product for Yahoo users and for Yahoo advertisers. Executives said the company was taking a variety of steps, including improving the relevance of the search ads it displays alongside search results that will boost the revenue that it generates per search ad. The company reiterated the importance of search data to help it target display ads to web surfers. With competition on the Web increasingly coming from social media sites like Facebook and Twitter, Yahoo executives said its mixture of online news, entertainment and sports content as well as its communications products like Web-based email and instant messaging will keep the company relevant. Yahoo executives said the company would invest in editorial staff to produce more original features and tweak its online products to keep users on the site longer and boost advertising revenue. Since Yahoo revamped its homepage in July, page views have increased 9 percent while time spent on the site has increased 20 percent, according to Tapan Bhat, senior vice president for integrated consumer experience. Click-throughs on the main ad on the front page have increased 10 percent, he said. Shares of Yahoo closed Wednesday's regular session on Nasdaq down 65 cents at $16.04, and were down a further 8 cents in after-hours trade.
POSTED BY:-
SHWETA RANI
PGDM-3rd sem
Goldman Sachs, McKinsey, Morgan Stanley & JPMorgan are back on IIM campus
NEW DELHI: The B-school is back in business. After a year-long stupor that saw billion-dollar names shying away from campuses in the wake of the financial slowdown, the Indian Institutes of Management (IIMs) are waking up to a buzzing summer internship season, a pointer to a packed final placement list. Goldman Sachs, the investment bank that just emerged a tad stronger from the slowdown, is back at IIM campuses with a bigger number of offers, and so are the traditional Slot Zero names-the B-school jargon for the most coveted-like McKinsey & Co, Morgan Stanley, JPMorgan, UBS and Boston Consulting Group. The summer placement season-set to begin early November-often mirrors the final placement lineup as companies tend to make job offers depending on the candidates’ performance during the two-month internship. IIM-Bangalore , for instance, has scored a 100% conversion rate for the current batch in consultancy summer jobs. “Companies are bullish this year,” says IIM-Calcutta’s Prafulla Agnihotri, who is the chairperson for career development and placements. Around 100-odd companies have confirmed their participation across the seven IIM campuses for picking up summer internees , and the list includes top Indian names such as Hindustan Unilever (HUL) and Procter & Gamble (P&G ). The return of i-banks to the campuses is significant since they traditionally opt to select from their internees instead of scouting the campuses with final recruitment offers.IIM-Lucknow placement committee member Sharat Chander says final placements in 2010 are showing every indication of being a whole lot better than last year, if summer placement trends are anything to go by. “This is especially true of the financial sector, hit the most by the economic downturn last year,” he says. Smaller firms, including start-ups , that managed to land talent dirt cheap last year too are back now, but with sweetened deals in the face of increasing competition. IIM-C’s Agnihotri says many of them offer students more challenging roles with an exposure to serious decision-making. While none of the institutes wanted to risk any official comment, the general sentiment is that stipends for the two-month period will also go up this year compared to 2008. Stipends generally range from Rs 10,000-15 ,000 per month on the lowest side, and had gone up to $20,000-plus for a two-month foreign internship in the pre-slowdown days. “There is a positive sentiment on campus,” says Sapna Agarwal, head-career development services, at IIMB. For students, this return of enthusiasm means they will get placed faster, at a job of their choice, she says. All the rush notwithstanding, the process this year is unlikely to be wrapped up in the usual six-day period. Last year, because of the low turnout by companies, the summer placement season was extended across campuses. However, this year, with an increased number of students to place, the process may take the same time as last year. Mr Agnihotri says his school will be placing 408 students this year, up from last year’s 300-odd students. “Slot 0 and Slot 1 will be of two days each, after which the process will be open-ended. We want to give our students plenty of options,” he says. The summer glow comes just after the IIMs did a successful pre-placement offer (PPO) season. Around 15-20% of the batch at IIM-A , B and C have got offers till now. Other IIMs like Lucknow and Kozhikode, too, are witnessing a much better flow of job offers as compared to the past year.
POSTED BY: PALLAVI SINGH
POSTED BY: PALLAVI SINGH
PGDM III SEM
Samsung profit trebles on memory chips
Samsung profit trebles on memory chips
SEOUL (Reuters) - Samsung Electronics (005930.KS), the world's top maker of memory chips and LCD screens, reported on Friday record quarterly net profit on a resurgent memory sector and brisk sales of flat screens and mobile phones.
Samsung's July-September net profit rose to 3.72 trillion won (1.89 billion pounds) from 1.22 trillion won a year ago, beating an average forecast for 3.34 trillion won from Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S.
Consolidated quarterly operating profit was 4.23 trillion won, better than a forecast for 3.92 trillion won.
The results underscore a V-shape recovery by Samsung, which suffered its first quarterly loss in the fourth quarter last year during the global recession.
But the South Korean technology giant may be hit by a recovery in the won and rising competition.
POSTED BY:-
SHILPI KUMARI
PGDM-3rd SEM
SEOUL (Reuters) - Samsung Electronics (005930.KS), the world's top maker of memory chips and LCD screens, reported on Friday record quarterly net profit on a resurgent memory sector and brisk sales of flat screens and mobile phones.
Samsung's July-September net profit rose to 3.72 trillion won (1.89 billion pounds) from 1.22 trillion won a year ago, beating an average forecast for 3.34 trillion won from Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S.
Consolidated quarterly operating profit was 4.23 trillion won, better than a forecast for 3.92 trillion won.
The results underscore a V-shape recovery by Samsung, which suffered its first quarterly loss in the fourth quarter last year during the global recession.
But the South Korean technology giant may be hit by a recovery in the won and rising competition.
POSTED BY:-
SHILPI KUMARI
PGDM-3rd SEM
Building core competencies
Indian companies need to identify and build core competencies
With each passing day, it is becoming increasingly clear that only organisations that have a clear vision of where they are going and how they are going to get there will succeed in the marketplace. One highly powerful and meaningful concept in strategic management that has changed the strategic landscape of many an organisation, the world over, is the concept of core competence.
In the simplest of words, core competence refers to a bundle of skills and technologies that enables an organisation to offer superior benefits to customers. In doing so, the organisation develops a competitive advantage that places it far ahead of its nearest competitors, and virtually builds for the organisation a market of its own. Since there are so many entry barriers for any new competitor, the organisation would march ahead with a variety of strategies to cement its position in the particular business segment it does its business in, and stay the undisputed market leader for a very long period of time.
The Impossibility of emulation
Core competencies take a long time to build and practise. But when practised over a long period of time, akin to the persistent consistency of a master batsman in modern cricket, the particular sets of skills that give rise to the particular core competency, make it impossible for any new competitor or even existing competitor to imitate or emulate. Once again, core competencies are part and parcel of a grand strategy born out of the vision of the founder.
A good example of such an organisation is the Chennai-based Sundram Fasteners Ltd. Its tool making capabilities are a clear core competence. While it takes 40 different tools to make a fastener, it has tools in multiples of lakhs, and these take years to make and specialise in usage. It is at least two-and-a-half times bigger than its nearest competitor.
Since it would take 15 years or more to build this tool-making competency, there is a clear entry barrier for any new potential competitor. And its existing competitors also find it difficult to match its present level of highly specialised skills. Similarly, it has excellent logistics management skills.
Since the organisation does have a very viable knowledge base, it becomes imperative for it to manage it effectively. One of the most important checkpoints for the management is a vital litmus test: the various core competencies should be widespread throughout the organisation. To this end, knowledge-transfer and the acquisition of new skill sets should be made very easy, and the organisation should actively and systematically facilitate this process.
In practice, this is never easy. Once managers know that they have a core competency, they will never be willing to share it with others or develop others to acquire such competencies. For example, if logistics management is a core competency, the intricacies of the supply chain, the regulatory environment management practices, the finer details of the movement of trucks loaded with the finished goods and so on, should be sets of skills that are embedded in the psyche of a very large number of people, and anyone in the organisation should have access to such knowledge. In the recent past, there have been many management experts who have questioned the logic of core competence on one main ground — would it be possible for an organisation like Hero Honda to stick to just one line of products, two-wheelers, and still be profitable for any length of time? What happens when there is saturation in the markets or the markets do not grow for whatever reason?
This kind of an argument is based on a very narrow interpretation of the concept of core competence. C.K. Prahalad has repeatedly emphasised that core competence does not mean that an organisation should be present in only one business; they should leverage competencies across multiple businesses. For example, ITC has a very wide-ranging knowledge of marketing cigarettes. The knowledge and skills of hundreds of its professional managers is now being used to grow its FMCG business. Its growth rate in the biscuit market is now very impressive, and it is taking both Britannia and Hindustan Lever Ltd head-on in several product segments of the FMCG market. Its rural marketing initiative — e-choupal — where the farmers are trained to use information technology to access the markets and eliminate middlemen has also successfully leveraged its marketing expertise.
The concept of core competence is a very intrinsically sound concept. It has enabled organisations like Ranbaxy Laboratories, ITC, Hindustan Lever, Wipro, Infosys Technolgies, Dr Reddy's Laboratories, Larsen and Toubro, and the Murugappa group, among others, to grow their businesses from strength to strength. However, these organisations have always been those that have systematically honed their HR practices and have enviable people processes that ensure continuity in acquiring core competencies.
The most important point is that it is impossible for any organisation to build core competencies in the short term. They take years to build. The vision, mission and values and beliefs of the organisation should be clearly defined and strictly adhered to. They should also be constantly and systematically communicated to all employees. This is extremely important. Once this is done, building core competencies will require tremendous amount of energy and time, in training and re-training people, making continual improvements, building databases where knowledge can be stored and retrieved and making core competencies embedded throughout the organisation.
Such a process is very much HR-oriented, and hence any organisation keen on building core competencies should have highly qualified and competent HR professionals who will contribute to the effective building of such people processes.
Short-sighted approaches to managerial excellence will not work anymore . It takes several years to build teams of extremely motivated and achievement-oriented managers. Investment in management development is a must. For example, the Tata group has an excellent cadre of managers, made possible through its highly-acclaimed Tata Administrative Service. Such managers have very good leadership qualities and it is possible for such managers to grow businesses with a highly natural entrepreneurial streak.
Positive influence
Such managers will have an infectious and positive influence on other managers who will learn from their experiences and marry their own expertise to create knowledge and skill bases for their organisation. The grand revival of Tata Motors is now a case study in many business schools. This is the stuff that great organisations with great core competencies are made of.
In the years to come, only organisations with several core competencies will succeed. It is an imperative, therefore, that Indian organisations are prepared for the long haul, and systematically invest in building core competencies. The process of identifying which core competencies to develop is a task in itself. Much would depend on the nature of the product(s), the position of competitors, present or potential growth of the market for each product, the possibility of the product(s) becoming obsolete and so on.
There is a general simple rule of thumb , which many Indian organisations now follow: are we number one or two in the market we operate in, be it manufacturing or services? Or, can we become number two based on our existing strengths? If the answer is yes, it is eminently possible to build core competencies. If it is no, it is wise to quit the particular business, even if the business is cyclical in nature and has the potential to grow when the economic growth is very good. For Indian organisations, the choice is clear — build core competencies and flourish or simple go under.
POSTED BY:-
SHWETA RANI
PGDM-3rd sem
With each passing day, it is becoming increasingly clear that only organisations that have a clear vision of where they are going and how they are going to get there will succeed in the marketplace. One highly powerful and meaningful concept in strategic management that has changed the strategic landscape of many an organisation, the world over, is the concept of core competence.
In the simplest of words, core competence refers to a bundle of skills and technologies that enables an organisation to offer superior benefits to customers. In doing so, the organisation develops a competitive advantage that places it far ahead of its nearest competitors, and virtually builds for the organisation a market of its own. Since there are so many entry barriers for any new competitor, the organisation would march ahead with a variety of strategies to cement its position in the particular business segment it does its business in, and stay the undisputed market leader for a very long period of time.
The Impossibility of emulation
Core competencies take a long time to build and practise. But when practised over a long period of time, akin to the persistent consistency of a master batsman in modern cricket, the particular sets of skills that give rise to the particular core competency, make it impossible for any new competitor or even existing competitor to imitate or emulate. Once again, core competencies are part and parcel of a grand strategy born out of the vision of the founder.
A good example of such an organisation is the Chennai-based Sundram Fasteners Ltd. Its tool making capabilities are a clear core competence. While it takes 40 different tools to make a fastener, it has tools in multiples of lakhs, and these take years to make and specialise in usage. It is at least two-and-a-half times bigger than its nearest competitor.
Since it would take 15 years or more to build this tool-making competency, there is a clear entry barrier for any new potential competitor. And its existing competitors also find it difficult to match its present level of highly specialised skills. Similarly, it has excellent logistics management skills.
Since the organisation does have a very viable knowledge base, it becomes imperative for it to manage it effectively. One of the most important checkpoints for the management is a vital litmus test: the various core competencies should be widespread throughout the organisation. To this end, knowledge-transfer and the acquisition of new skill sets should be made very easy, and the organisation should actively and systematically facilitate this process.
In practice, this is never easy. Once managers know that they have a core competency, they will never be willing to share it with others or develop others to acquire such competencies. For example, if logistics management is a core competency, the intricacies of the supply chain, the regulatory environment management practices, the finer details of the movement of trucks loaded with the finished goods and so on, should be sets of skills that are embedded in the psyche of a very large number of people, and anyone in the organisation should have access to such knowledge. In the recent past, there have been many management experts who have questioned the logic of core competence on one main ground — would it be possible for an organisation like Hero Honda to stick to just one line of products, two-wheelers, and still be profitable for any length of time? What happens when there is saturation in the markets or the markets do not grow for whatever reason?
This kind of an argument is based on a very narrow interpretation of the concept of core competence. C.K. Prahalad has repeatedly emphasised that core competence does not mean that an organisation should be present in only one business; they should leverage competencies across multiple businesses. For example, ITC has a very wide-ranging knowledge of marketing cigarettes. The knowledge and skills of hundreds of its professional managers is now being used to grow its FMCG business. Its growth rate in the biscuit market is now very impressive, and it is taking both Britannia and Hindustan Lever Ltd head-on in several product segments of the FMCG market. Its rural marketing initiative — e-choupal — where the farmers are trained to use information technology to access the markets and eliminate middlemen has also successfully leveraged its marketing expertise.
The concept of core competence is a very intrinsically sound concept. It has enabled organisations like Ranbaxy Laboratories, ITC, Hindustan Lever, Wipro, Infosys Technolgies, Dr Reddy's Laboratories, Larsen and Toubro, and the Murugappa group, among others, to grow their businesses from strength to strength. However, these organisations have always been those that have systematically honed their HR practices and have enviable people processes that ensure continuity in acquiring core competencies.
The most important point is that it is impossible for any organisation to build core competencies in the short term. They take years to build. The vision, mission and values and beliefs of the organisation should be clearly defined and strictly adhered to. They should also be constantly and systematically communicated to all employees. This is extremely important. Once this is done, building core competencies will require tremendous amount of energy and time, in training and re-training people, making continual improvements, building databases where knowledge can be stored and retrieved and making core competencies embedded throughout the organisation.
Such a process is very much HR-oriented, and hence any organisation keen on building core competencies should have highly qualified and competent HR professionals who will contribute to the effective building of such people processes.
Short-sighted approaches to managerial excellence will not work anymore . It takes several years to build teams of extremely motivated and achievement-oriented managers. Investment in management development is a must. For example, the Tata group has an excellent cadre of managers, made possible through its highly-acclaimed Tata Administrative Service. Such managers have very good leadership qualities and it is possible for such managers to grow businesses with a highly natural entrepreneurial streak.
Positive influence
Such managers will have an infectious and positive influence on other managers who will learn from their experiences and marry their own expertise to create knowledge and skill bases for their organisation. The grand revival of Tata Motors is now a case study in many business schools. This is the stuff that great organisations with great core competencies are made of.
In the years to come, only organisations with several core competencies will succeed. It is an imperative, therefore, that Indian organisations are prepared for the long haul, and systematically invest in building core competencies. The process of identifying which core competencies to develop is a task in itself. Much would depend on the nature of the product(s), the position of competitors, present or potential growth of the market for each product, the possibility of the product(s) becoming obsolete and so on.
There is a general simple rule of thumb , which many Indian organisations now follow: are we number one or two in the market we operate in, be it manufacturing or services? Or, can we become number two based on our existing strengths? If the answer is yes, it is eminently possible to build core competencies. If it is no, it is wise to quit the particular business, even if the business is cyclical in nature and has the potential to grow when the economic growth is very good. For Indian organisations, the choice is clear — build core competencies and flourish or simple go under.
POSTED BY:-
SHWETA RANI
PGDM-3rd sem
Mass production of MBAs flawed
Mass production of MBAs flawed
According to the Centre for Forecasting and Research (C Fore), India has witnessed a quantum growth in the number of business schools from barely 50 in 1991 to more than 2,000 as we speak.We produce close to two lakh MBA graduates every year which ought to be good news for the organised sector that is always hungry for talent. But the picture isn’t as rosy as it would seem on the surface. Not even ten of them have an effective incubation centre to foster enterprise. And not more than thirty of them have the systems and processes in place to deliver quality education. Most of the thirty would be the usual suspects i.e. IIMs, XLRI, ISB, XIM, Symbiosis and S. P. Jain to name a few.
Wake up call for HRD ministry
Ever since I chanced upon this rather troubling data some time back, I have been conducting my own primary source research on B schools in and around Bengaluru. The take away from this exercise has been even more disconcerting. And it is about time the HRD ministry sat up and took notice of the charade that is passing off for professional education in India. No less than the deans of about a dozen B schools that I spoke to candidly admitted to me that about a half of their male students enrolled for the MBA programme only to fetch value in the bustling marriage market. Most of them hardly ever attended classes and did not even opt for internship or final placements. Many female students, likewise, flocked to these faceless institutes to be able to negotiate a lower dowry for themselves. Anybody with a large parcel of land in the city can actually set up a B school as long as he can work the system in the HRD ministry. When the markets are heated, these undistinguished B schools manage to place some of their students but when the economy recesses, they struggle to find jobs for even 20 per cent of their passing out products.Ambience attraction
Interestingly, the placement coordinators of two B school on the southern outskirts of Bengaluru let me into yet another facet of the profile of students. Almost 90 per cent of their students are from the north and choose to come to Bengaluru only to get a whiff of the relatively liberal and cosmopolitan ambience of the city which is denied to them in their far more traditional places of origin.Pune is also a destination of choice for students from the north as it offers a more mixed gender environment than the conservative environs of North India. When I queried the deans further on the demographic profile of their students from the north, they confessed that most of them were children of mid-level government officers whose disclosed sources of income obviously can’t pay for a two year programme that typically costs between Rs 10-12 lakhs including accommodation, meals and transport.The comparatively low incidence of students from the south opting for non premier business schools, according to some of the college officials, was driven by their eagerness to pursue engineering that would lead to a more structured career.A placement coordinator had another interesting postulation. Engineers from South India preferred to either covet the top B schools failing which they tended to settle for distance administered MBA programmes or even executive MBA programmes run by the more credible B schools. Kapil Sibal has made the odd encouraging noise about cleaning up our education system. He could start with our dubious B schools.
POSTED BY:-
SHILPI KUMARI
PGDM-3rd SEM
According to the Centre for Forecasting and Research (C Fore), India has witnessed a quantum growth in the number of business schools from barely 50 in 1991 to more than 2,000 as we speak.We produce close to two lakh MBA graduates every year which ought to be good news for the organised sector that is always hungry for talent. But the picture isn’t as rosy as it would seem on the surface. Not even ten of them have an effective incubation centre to foster enterprise. And not more than thirty of them have the systems and processes in place to deliver quality education. Most of the thirty would be the usual suspects i.e. IIMs, XLRI, ISB, XIM, Symbiosis and S. P. Jain to name a few.
Wake up call for HRD ministry
Ever since I chanced upon this rather troubling data some time back, I have been conducting my own primary source research on B schools in and around Bengaluru. The take away from this exercise has been even more disconcerting. And it is about time the HRD ministry sat up and took notice of the charade that is passing off for professional education in India. No less than the deans of about a dozen B schools that I spoke to candidly admitted to me that about a half of their male students enrolled for the MBA programme only to fetch value in the bustling marriage market. Most of them hardly ever attended classes and did not even opt for internship or final placements. Many female students, likewise, flocked to these faceless institutes to be able to negotiate a lower dowry for themselves. Anybody with a large parcel of land in the city can actually set up a B school as long as he can work the system in the HRD ministry. When the markets are heated, these undistinguished B schools manage to place some of their students but when the economy recesses, they struggle to find jobs for even 20 per cent of their passing out products.Ambience attraction
Interestingly, the placement coordinators of two B school on the southern outskirts of Bengaluru let me into yet another facet of the profile of students. Almost 90 per cent of their students are from the north and choose to come to Bengaluru only to get a whiff of the relatively liberal and cosmopolitan ambience of the city which is denied to them in their far more traditional places of origin.Pune is also a destination of choice for students from the north as it offers a more mixed gender environment than the conservative environs of North India. When I queried the deans further on the demographic profile of their students from the north, they confessed that most of them were children of mid-level government officers whose disclosed sources of income obviously can’t pay for a two year programme that typically costs between Rs 10-12 lakhs including accommodation, meals and transport.The comparatively low incidence of students from the south opting for non premier business schools, according to some of the college officials, was driven by their eagerness to pursue engineering that would lead to a more structured career.A placement coordinator had another interesting postulation. Engineers from South India preferred to either covet the top B schools failing which they tended to settle for distance administered MBA programmes or even executive MBA programmes run by the more credible B schools. Kapil Sibal has made the odd encouraging noise about cleaning up our education system. He could start with our dubious B schools.
POSTED BY:-
SHILPI KUMARI
PGDM-3rd SEM
REC's FPO gets govt approval
Government on Thursday approved Rural Electrification Corporation's proposal for follow-on- public offer for divesting 20% in state-run
company. "(The) Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs on Thursday approved 5% offloading of government's stake as well as infusion of 15% fresh equity in Rural Electrification Corporation," home minister P Chidambaram said. However, the minister did not specify the timeframe for the FPO. He merely said "this will be done at an appropriate time." Going by current market prices, 20% FPO would fetch Rs 3,200-3,500 crore. After the FPO, the government's stake would come down to 66.8% from the current 81.8%. REC which finances and promotes rural power projects across the country, would offer part of the shares to its employees.
POSTED BY :-
SHWETA RANI
PGDM-3rd sem
company. "(The) Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs on Thursday approved 5% offloading of government's stake as well as infusion of 15% fresh equity in Rural Electrification Corporation," home minister P Chidambaram said. However, the minister did not specify the timeframe for the FPO. He merely said "this will be done at an appropriate time." Going by current market prices, 20% FPO would fetch Rs 3,200-3,500 crore. After the FPO, the government's stake would come down to 66.8% from the current 81.8%. REC which finances and promotes rural power projects across the country, would offer part of the shares to its employees.
POSTED BY :-
SHWETA RANI
PGDM-3rd sem
Aircel brings pay per-sec tariff to Delhi
Intensifying the tariff war among telcos, the new telecom player, Aircel, on Thursday launched a pay-per second scheme for its
subscribers in Delhi. Aircel, which has presence in 18 mobile circles in the country said in a statement that it has launched a product in Delhi, which will allow subscribers on Aircel network to make local and STD calls for 1 paise per second. International calls will also be charged at per second pulse. "With per second pulse a subscriber will only pay for what he uses. It's a complete value-for-money offer wherein a subscriber making a call for 12 seconds will pay only 12 paise and not Re 1," the company said.
POSTED BY :-
SHWETA RANI
PGDM- 3rd sem
subscribers in Delhi. Aircel, which has presence in 18 mobile circles in the country said in a statement that it has launched a product in Delhi, which will allow subscribers on Aircel network to make local and STD calls for 1 paise per second. International calls will also be charged at per second pulse. "With per second pulse a subscriber will only pay for what he uses. It's a complete value-for-money offer wherein a subscriber making a call for 12 seconds will pay only 12 paise and not Re 1," the company said.
POSTED BY :-
SHWETA RANI
PGDM- 3rd sem
Washington State Superintendent Reveals Plan to Boost School Technology Funding
Washington State Superintendent Randy Dorn revealed a plan to designate funding to technology implementation in K-12 classrooms from the stage of the FiReGlobal : West Coast technology conference last week. Responding to a suggestion by David Engle, SNS Project Inkwell Director of Operations, that the state designate $500 per student for the implementation of 1:1 computing, Dorn revealed that such a movement is already under discussion in the state-level Quality Education Council. Dorn stressed the necessity of technology in improving Washington State assessment utility and effectivity.
“We’re actually meeting,” Dorn told Engle and the audience. “We have a state-level [council] called the Quality Education Council and we’re looking at the funding of education and technology in basic education and doing just like you said. This piece of that funding has to go to technology, and the state [is] stepping up to that mark.”
FiReGlobal : West Coast 2009, held October 15th at the Seattle Four Seasons Hotel, was the first ever gathering of world-class thought leaders in technology and economics designed to produce fresh and innovative solutions to large-scale regional problems. Problem areas were selected by a steering committee of 50 community leaders. Solutions were achieved beforehand by CTO work groups and produced on-the-fly by presenters on-stage. FiReGlobal was the first regional event for producer Strategic News Service (SNS), whose yearly Future in Review (FiRe) conference has been labeled “the best technology conference in the world” by The Economist.
“We welcome Superintendent Dorn’s shared vision of one to one computing in K-12 classrooms. We look for his continued leadership on this issue, knowing this may be the only affordable path for achieving radical improvements in K-12 outcomes. Our kids need this exact change in moving to the 21st century competitive environment,” said SNS CEO Mark Anderson.
Anderson opened the conference by encouraging participants to “not just talk, but to take action.” Other speakers included Michael Dell, chair and CEO, Dell Inc.; Irwin Jacobs, co-founder, Qualcomm; Rob Glaser, founder, chair, and CEO, RealNetworks; Lee Hartwell, Nobel Laureate and president and director, Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center; Steve Reynolds, president and CEO, Puget Energy and Puget Sound Energy; Rogers Weed, director, Washington State Department of Commerce; Larry Smarr, director, California Institute for Telecommunications and Information Technology, UCSD; Denis Hayes, president and CEO, Bullitt Foundation; and Roger Payne, founder and president, Ocean Alliance.
“We’re actually meeting,” Dorn told Engle and the audience. “We have a state-level [council] called the Quality Education Council and we’re looking at the funding of education and technology in basic education and doing just like you said. This piece of that funding has to go to technology, and the state [is] stepping up to that mark.”
FiReGlobal : West Coast 2009, held October 15th at the Seattle Four Seasons Hotel, was the first ever gathering of world-class thought leaders in technology and economics designed to produce fresh and innovative solutions to large-scale regional problems. Problem areas were selected by a steering committee of 50 community leaders. Solutions were achieved beforehand by CTO work groups and produced on-the-fly by presenters on-stage. FiReGlobal was the first regional event for producer Strategic News Service (SNS), whose yearly Future in Review (FiRe) conference has been labeled “the best technology conference in the world” by The Economist.
“We welcome Superintendent Dorn’s shared vision of one to one computing in K-12 classrooms. We look for his continued leadership on this issue, knowing this may be the only affordable path for achieving radical improvements in K-12 outcomes. Our kids need this exact change in moving to the 21st century competitive environment,” said SNS CEO Mark Anderson.
Anderson opened the conference by encouraging participants to “not just talk, but to take action.” Other speakers included Michael Dell, chair and CEO, Dell Inc.; Irwin Jacobs, co-founder, Qualcomm; Rob Glaser, founder, chair, and CEO, RealNetworks; Lee Hartwell, Nobel Laureate and president and director, Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center; Steve Reynolds, president and CEO, Puget Energy and Puget Sound Energy; Rogers Weed, director, Washington State Department of Commerce; Larry Smarr, director, California Institute for Telecommunications and Information Technology, UCSD; Denis Hayes, president and CEO, Bullitt Foundation; and Roger Payne, founder and president, Ocean Alliance.
Enterprise Resource Planning in Wipro
In a volatile economic environment, businesses are leaning towards innovation in their IT resources. Working with next generation enterprise software, Wipro Technologies provides strategic Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) services that face up to market challenges.
Our ERP expertise is further driven by dedicated partnerships with ERP software providers like SAP, Oracle (including PeopleSoft and JD Edwards) and Microsoft. Mapping functionalities of ERP applications against your business requirements, Wipro professionals provide consulting, implementation, upgrades, application management and SOA services across these domains,
 | Financial Management |
| Human Capital Management |
Financial Management
Wipro’s financial management expertise helps companies transform their finance functions, provides simple solutions to complex issues, and enables organizations to manage risks, reduce costs and improve business insights. | Forecasting and Budgeting |
| Wipro helps organizations enable enterprise wide planning, use integrated applications to perform forecasting and budgeting functions and align them with their business strategies. | |
| Accelerating Post Merger and Acquisition IT Integration |
| Wipro offers solutions for rapid integration of the acquired company's ERP applications with the parent company. We help streamlining and facilitating the merger process with fast and economical integration of business processes and IT systems. | |
| Financial Reporting and Analysis |
| We offer a specialized business solution for Financial Process Re-engineering focusing on Chart of Accounts redesign, Financial Shared Services Assessment and Financial Close Cycle Optimization. Our solution will help customers achieve 20~25% cost reduction and reduce the close cycle from 7~5 days. | |
| Governance and Compliance |
| Our experience in global implementations has necessitated the streamlining of processes that are compliant with the legal regulations. Using a country specific compliance kit, we offer the advantage of making the processes legally compliant with the laws of that geography. | |
| Risk Management |
| Wipro provides Risk Management solutions to achieve high financial returns and smooth business performance by helping your business assess different risks and opportunities in various operations of the organization. | |
| Accounts Receivable and Dispute Management Process |
| Wipro offers deployment of Dispute Management components that integrate with the Accounts Receivable function. It helps large organizations face the big challenge of effectively monitoring the disputes and track to closure, resulting in the saving of administrative cost. | |
| Accounts Payable Process |
| Our functional process knowledge helps organizations get rid of challenges they face in Accounts Payable functions in an industry. We help businesses across industries to bring all processes performed in silos to one platform, from the invoice receipt process to the verification and payment. This brings about savings in both time and administrative cost, by reducing payment cycle time. |
Human Resource Management
Wipro offers services using web-based technologies for automating processes like employee administration, payroll, benefits and training. We act as a catalyst for improvement to those who seek to move HR to a more strategic position within their organization, keeping a check on Human Capital cost. Over the years, the following HR process areas have been improved and automated for various clients using Oracle, PeopleSoft and SAP applications. | Recruitment and Workforce Administration |
| Our solutions help organizations in automated matching and screening processes, at a reduced cost and reduced time. We help optimize resource utilization and strategize to balance the resource demand and supply to meet organizational requirements. Our services have resulted in efficient administration of valued workforce, reducing manual work and hence making HR operations effective and efficient. | |
| Talent Development, Learning and Performance Management |
| Our integrated Talent Development engagements have helped our customers efficiently manage various training initiatives and effectively meet their employee’s career development needs. Our solutions focus on streamlining the performance management process and help standardize employee assessment, and monitor compensation benchmarks. | |
| Compensation Management, Benefits Admin and Payroll |
| Our extensive functional experience in designing and implementing processes related to salary, bonus, incentive compensation, separation or retirement compensation and benefit processes, etc. helps our global customers achieve accurate and timely completion of these processes. | |
| Employee Empowerment |
| Our solutions offer self-service functionalities to empower employees to perform various activities themselves and ensures efficient employee transactions, thus improving overall HR operations. | |
| Absence and Time Management |
| Industries with large workforce and global reach achieve high efficiency through automated absence and time management solutions. POSTED BY :- Shweta Rani PGDM -3 rd sem |
Inflation rises 1.5% on costlier food items
NEW DELHI: Inflation grew by 1.51 per cent as of October 17 on the back of higher food prices, vindicating Reserve Bank of India’s hawkish stance of slowly withdrawing its easy money policy.
The wholesale prices-based inflation stood at 1.21 per cent in the previous week.
During the week, tea, mutton and arhar and manufactured food items including edible oil and gur turned expensive.
Projecting inflation to touch 6.5 per cent-mark by the end of the current fiscal, the RBI in its quarterly monetary policy review on October 27 had taken steps to suck out liquidity from banks.
The apex bank had raised Statutory Liquidity Ratio (SLR), the amount of deposits that banks are to keep in government securities, cash and gold, by one percentage point to 25 per cent.
The wholesale prices-based inflation stood at 1.21 per cent in the previous week.
During the week, tea, mutton and arhar and manufactured food items including edible oil and gur turned expensive.
Projecting inflation to touch 6.5 per cent-mark by the end of the current fiscal, the RBI in its quarterly monetary policy review on October 27 had taken steps to suck out liquidity from banks.
The apex bank had raised Statutory Liquidity Ratio (SLR), the amount of deposits that banks are to keep in government securities, cash and gold, by one percentage point to 25 per cent.
POSTED BY: PALLAVI SINGH
PGDM III SEM
HCL Tech Q1 net dips 10%, hikes salaries
NEW DELHI: Weighed down by forex losses of Rs 151 crore, HCL Technologies on Wednesday posted a 10% drop in consolidated net profit for the first quarter ended September 30, 2009, at Rs 320 crore. However, IT services provider will increase the salaries of their employees by 0-10% from October 1, which will result in a drop in its gross margin by 130 basis points.
The net income was Rs 356 crore in the same quarter last year. The shares of HCL Tech closed lower by 1.9% at Rs 313.50 on the BSE.
"Our net profit dropped 10% as we incurred forex losses of Rs 151 crore on account of hedging of rupee. Our net profit would been Rs 470 crore had we not made the losses. The losses have to be written off each quarter and will have identical forex loss in the next three-four quarters," CEO Vineet Nayar said.
The net income was Rs 356 crore in the same quarter last year. The shares of HCL Tech closed lower by 1.9% at Rs 313.50 on the BSE.
"Our net profit dropped 10% as we incurred forex losses of Rs 151 crore on account of hedging of rupee. Our net profit would been Rs 470 crore had we not made the losses. The losses have to be written off each quarter and will have identical forex loss in the next three-four quarters," CEO Vineet Nayar said.
POSTED BY: PALLAVI SINGH
PGDM III SEM
Schools discuss new challenges
KOLKATA: The radical changes being proposed in the education system by the Centre pose a big challenge and we must carefully weigh the pros and cons, said minister, school education, Partha De at a seminar organised by the Association of Anglo-Indian Teachers in West Bengal (ATAIS) at the GD Shaw Hall in Buntain Education Centre of Assembly of God Church School on Wednesday.
De was speaking on the topic Challenges in teaching today'. Other speakers included Sushmita Bhattacharya, councillor, Kolkata, Anwar Premi, honorary general secretary, Sir Syed Group of Schools and Barry O'Brien, Anglo Indian MLA.
O'Brien spoke on the various challenges that busy parents face while ensuring good education for their children. He also elaborated on the importance of good education in society.
Sushmita Bhattacharya said that the professional atmosphere amongst teachers must be amiable. It is important to have a happy staffroom' the hub and centre of the school she said.
Anwar Premi said education should not be treated as a money-making business.
Professor Suman Mukherjee, director, J D Birla College moderated the lively seminar which was followed by the 51st annual general meeting of ATAIS.
Principals, headmasters, teachers and staff of around 42 Anglo-Indian schools attended the programme. Participating schools included Calcutta Boys' School, La Martiniere for Girls, La Martiniere for Boys, all the Loreto schools, Pratt Memorial School, St Xavier's Collegiate School, Calcutta Girls' High School, St James' School, Our Lady Queen of the Missions, St Thomas' Boys School Kidderpore, St Augustine's Day School, St Joseph's Chandernagore among others.
De was speaking on the topic Challenges in teaching today'. Other speakers included Sushmita Bhattacharya, councillor, Kolkata, Anwar Premi, honorary general secretary, Sir Syed Group of Schools and Barry O'Brien, Anglo Indian MLA.
O'Brien spoke on the various challenges that busy parents face while ensuring good education for their children. He also elaborated on the importance of good education in society.
Sushmita Bhattacharya said that the professional atmosphere amongst teachers must be amiable. It is important to have a happy staffroom' the hub and centre of the school she said.
Anwar Premi said education should not be treated as a money-making business.
Professor Suman Mukherjee, director, J D Birla College moderated the lively seminar which was followed by the 51st annual general meeting of ATAIS.
Principals, headmasters, teachers and staff of around 42 Anglo-Indian schools attended the programme. Participating schools included Calcutta Boys' School, La Martiniere for Girls, La Martiniere for Boys, all the Loreto schools, Pratt Memorial School, St Xavier's Collegiate School, Calcutta Girls' High School, St James' School, Our Lady Queen of the Missions, St Thomas' Boys School Kidderpore, St Augustine's Day School, St Joseph's Chandernagore among others.
POSTED BY: PREETI KUMARI
PGDM III SEM
CBSE blunts pass-fail knife edge
KOLKATA: No pass, fail or compartmental anymore. CBSE has made it clear that such words will be erased from students' marksheets from 2010.
The decision comes hand-in-hand with the Tuesday's announcement that CBSE students would get up to three chances to clear the Class IX and X exams in case they fail to clear the exam.
Terms like pass (P), fail (F) and compartmental (C) are mentioned alongside the aggregate grade at the bottom of the score sheet.
"Till now, anyone who scored below 33% in two subjects got a D-grade and was marked fail' in the aggregate. They were then required to take the compartmental examinations held a year later. We have already decided that henceforth, a student will be given another three chances even if he gets below 33% in all five subjects. We have also decided to do away with words like fail', pass' and compartmental' in the score sheets," said CBSE chairman Vineet Joshi.
The board will no longer mention either pass' or fail' at the end of the score sheet.
"We think the word fail' still carries a social stigma. A simple mention of it at the end of the marksheet will put a lot of pressure on the child. Thus, the decision," added Joshi. The rules are, however, set to change only till class X. "Score sheets of class XI and XII will still mention either pass, fail or compartmental for the moment," explained Joshi.
Mahadevi Birla Girls' Higher Secondary School principal Malini Bhagat says, "With the word fail', millions of people have gone into depression, or worse. There is an emotional trauma attached to it. The very mention of the word makes students shudder. It becomes a permanent seal or stamp, even if he scores good marks later in other examinations. The concept being developed by CBSE is unique. It will ensure that more students are encouraged to study carefree."
Her views were echoed by Meena Kak, principal of Lakshmipat Singhania Academy. Kak says, "Replacing the word fail' with needs improvement' is a much better option. The word fail' frustrates students and makes them succumb to unnecessary exam tension."
During a day-long orientation programme held by CBSE in the city on Tuesday, a majority of school principals also decided that a discussion will be held with parents to make them understand the necessity of taking the class X exam, which has been made optional by the board.
"We cannot simply allow students to refuse to take the examination as they should be aware how much they have learnt during all these years till class X," concludes Bhagat.
CBSE will, for the first time, introduce a percentile rank card which will be issued on demand. It will be based on a continuous and comprehensive evaluation (CCE) system spread over classes IX and X through four formative and two summative examinations in each of the two classes.
"The report cards based on the CCE for classes IX and X will only have the signature of the student and not those of the parents. It is a unique step taken by the board," said a city school principal.
The decision comes hand-in-hand with the Tuesday's announcement that CBSE students would get up to three chances to clear the Class IX and X exams in case they fail to clear the exam.
Terms like pass (P), fail (F) and compartmental (C) are mentioned alongside the aggregate grade at the bottom of the score sheet.
"Till now, anyone who scored below 33% in two subjects got a D-grade and was marked fail' in the aggregate. They were then required to take the compartmental examinations held a year later. We have already decided that henceforth, a student will be given another three chances even if he gets below 33% in all five subjects. We have also decided to do away with words like fail', pass' and compartmental' in the score sheets," said CBSE chairman Vineet Joshi.
The board will no longer mention either pass' or fail' at the end of the score sheet.
"We think the word fail' still carries a social stigma. A simple mention of it at the end of the marksheet will put a lot of pressure on the child. Thus, the decision," added Joshi. The rules are, however, set to change only till class X. "Score sheets of class XI and XII will still mention either pass, fail or compartmental for the moment," explained Joshi.
Mahadevi Birla Girls' Higher Secondary School principal Malini Bhagat says, "With the word fail', millions of people have gone into depression, or worse. There is an emotional trauma attached to it. The very mention of the word makes students shudder. It becomes a permanent seal or stamp, even if he scores good marks later in other examinations. The concept being developed by CBSE is unique. It will ensure that more students are encouraged to study carefree."
Her views were echoed by Meena Kak, principal of Lakshmipat Singhania Academy. Kak says, "Replacing the word fail' with needs improvement' is a much better option. The word fail' frustrates students and makes them succumb to unnecessary exam tension."
During a day-long orientation programme held by CBSE in the city on Tuesday, a majority of school principals also decided that a discussion will be held with parents to make them understand the necessity of taking the class X exam, which has been made optional by the board.
"We cannot simply allow students to refuse to take the examination as they should be aware how much they have learnt during all these years till class X," concludes Bhagat.
CBSE will, for the first time, introduce a percentile rank card which will be issued on demand. It will be based on a continuous and comprehensive evaluation (CCE) system spread over classes IX and X through four formative and two summative examinations in each of the two classes.
"The report cards based on the CCE for classes IX and X will only have the signature of the student and not those of the parents. It is a unique step taken by the board," said a city school principal.
POSTED BY: SHUBHAM AGARWAL
PGDM III SEM
Nine ways to research prospective employers
It's a great to spot a job opportunity that sounds like a match for your talents. Unfortunately, the typical job ad doesn't tell you much more than the company's name. You need to know: What sort of place is it? Is the organization profitable? Does the company hire smart people and give them room to grow? Is the CEO a tremendous leader or a dysfunctional tyrant?
Following are nine ways to learn about your next prospective employer both before and after you enter its recruitment and selection pipeline. The research will require an investment in time and clever stealth tactics on your part, but the information you'll gain will merit your efforts. Your enhanced knowledge will allow you to make better decisions and ask pithier questions during the interview process. This not-quite-insider knowledge will give you extra confidence as you deal with company reps, too. And who couldn't benefit from an extra dose of that?
1) Build Your Dossier
Of course you've read the organization's own Web site thoroughly, focusing on "About Us," "Management Bios," and "Investor Relations" (if it's a publicly traded firm) as well as information about the company's products and services. That's just a starting point. Business information sites like ZoomInfo.com, Hoover's, and BusinessWeek's Company Insight Center will add breadth to your research. Targeting public companies? The EDGAR database is packed with filings, forms, and comment letters on public firms. Dig in!
2) Who's On First
Want to know more about the company's leadership? LinkedIn is a great place to spend some time. LinkedIn features its own employer listings, plus bios (written by none other than the great men and women themselves, or people willing to try to sound like them) that will not only enlighten you as to the leadership team members' past roles and educational histories but also provide their contact lists as well. New LinkedIn tools allow users to create blogs and upload files, but be sure to check your target firm leaders' profiles for PowerPoints, white papers, and other great cover letter and interview fodder.
3) Get the Dish
The user-generated-content site Glassdoor.com is packed with insider information on 30,000 companies, including actual salary figures (reported by the worker bees themselves) by function and location, interview questions used by specific employers, details on the hiring process, and tons more. (Full disclosure: I'm a contributor for this site.) Once you've read up on the enterprise, division, and group you're pursuing, you'll be better prepared to handle interviews and salary negotiations. After all, you're not the first person to go through this process.
4) Get on the Network
Post a question on LinkedIn Answers to ask users about companies you're looking at, and to make contact with people who have worked for those employers in the past and can speak freely with you about them. If you're wary of posting a LinkedIn query under your own profile, ask a friend to do it and funnel the answers back to you. LinkedIn users can reply to you offline, upping the odds of very frank reports about their experiences—good or bad. 5) Soak Up the Ambiance
When you're scheduled for an interview, arrive early—really early, 30 minutes ahead of schedule—and say this to the receptionist: "I've got an interview at 2 p.m., but I got lucky with traffic and got here way ahead of time. Please don't bother (Mr. Trump) just yet—I'll remind you when we're closer to the hour."
Then sit in the office, watching the foot traffic and listening to the conversation among employees and vendors coming and going. This is a great way to get a feel for a business. Are people happy or stressed? Are they chatting pleasantly with one another, or does the place seem like Death Row? A lobby visit is a great way to drink in an organization's culture.
6) Get a Different Perspective
As you talk with your prospective hiring manager, ask him or her, "Would it be possible to talk with (a team member, a customer, a vendor)?" If you're in procurement, for example, it makes sense for you to meet at least one supplier by phone. If you're in sales, you should be able to talk with a customer. If you're anybody else, it makes sense to meet with at least one
co-worker—without the manager in the room. If your request is rebuffed, take note. Unhappy people don't make good ambassadors. If you do get the opportunity to meet, ask your new contact what he or she believes the organization's biggest challenges are and what makes it a great place to work. If you don't get a quick reply to that question, take heed.
7) Call in Your Posse
Send a blast e-mail message to your friends and colleagues (bcc:ing everyone) and ask them whom they know at XYZ Corp., past or present. What's great about this approach is that your friend can make an introduction for you, lowering the wariness barrier and raising the trust level between you and the person whose insight you seek.
Don't ask, "What is the culture like?" This question is nearly impossible to answer. Rather, ask for a culture-related story or two—incidents that illustrate the way things get done in the shop, the way decisions get made, the way people are praised or corrected, and the level of respect (if any) in the environment. Stories are tools for getting these elements across.
8) Investigate the Product or Service
Sounds obvious, but don't take anything for granted: Buy the product or service your next employer makes or distributes. Use it, and call tech support to ask questions and learn more about it—and about the way customers are treated by this company. If you can't afford the product or don't need one (an oil tanker, for instance), contact sales to request product information be sent to you. Check it over carefully. Is it current as far as you can tell?
Does the salesperson follow up with you? When you make your query, is it handled efficiently, or are you sent into circular voicemail hell? These cues to the speed and energy level of the organization are important, even if your prospective job is on the other side of the company. Disorganized companies don't tend to be fun to work for.
9) Join a Group
Join a discussion group on LinkedIn, Yahoo!groups, or Ning to hobnob with people who know this employer better than you do. Follow the conversation and chime in with your own questions to learn what's working and not working, what customers are saying, and what the industry is doing. A job interview isn't a one-sided process—your résumé is your most valuable asset, and you can't afford to damage it by working in second-rate enterprises. Do your research, and accept your next offer with confidence.
POSTED BY :-
SHWETA RANI
PGDM- 3rd sem
Following are nine ways to learn about your next prospective employer both before and after you enter its recruitment and selection pipeline. The research will require an investment in time and clever stealth tactics on your part, but the information you'll gain will merit your efforts. Your enhanced knowledge will allow you to make better decisions and ask pithier questions during the interview process. This not-quite-insider knowledge will give you extra confidence as you deal with company reps, too. And who couldn't benefit from an extra dose of that?
1) Build Your Dossier
Of course you've read the organization's own Web site thoroughly, focusing on "About Us," "Management Bios," and "Investor Relations" (if it's a publicly traded firm) as well as information about the company's products and services. That's just a starting point. Business information sites like ZoomInfo.com, Hoover's, and BusinessWeek's Company Insight Center will add breadth to your research. Targeting public companies? The EDGAR database is packed with filings, forms, and comment letters on public firms. Dig in!
2) Who's On First
Want to know more about the company's leadership? LinkedIn is a great place to spend some time. LinkedIn features its own employer listings, plus bios (written by none other than the great men and women themselves, or people willing to try to sound like them) that will not only enlighten you as to the leadership team members' past roles and educational histories but also provide their contact lists as well. New LinkedIn tools allow users to create blogs and upload files, but be sure to check your target firm leaders' profiles for PowerPoints, white papers, and other great cover letter and interview fodder.
3) Get the Dish
The user-generated-content site Glassdoor.com is packed with insider information on 30,000 companies, including actual salary figures (reported by the worker bees themselves) by function and location, interview questions used by specific employers, details on the hiring process, and tons more. (Full disclosure: I'm a contributor for this site.) Once you've read up on the enterprise, division, and group you're pursuing, you'll be better prepared to handle interviews and salary negotiations. After all, you're not the first person to go through this process.
4) Get on the Network
Post a question on LinkedIn Answers to ask users about companies you're looking at, and to make contact with people who have worked for those employers in the past and can speak freely with you about them. If you're wary of posting a LinkedIn query under your own profile, ask a friend to do it and funnel the answers back to you. LinkedIn users can reply to you offline, upping the odds of very frank reports about their experiences—good or bad. 5) Soak Up the Ambiance
When you're scheduled for an interview, arrive early—really early, 30 minutes ahead of schedule—and say this to the receptionist: "I've got an interview at 2 p.m., but I got lucky with traffic and got here way ahead of time. Please don't bother (Mr. Trump) just yet—I'll remind you when we're closer to the hour."
Then sit in the office, watching the foot traffic and listening to the conversation among employees and vendors coming and going. This is a great way to get a feel for a business. Are people happy or stressed? Are they chatting pleasantly with one another, or does the place seem like Death Row? A lobby visit is a great way to drink in an organization's culture.
6) Get a Different Perspective
As you talk with your prospective hiring manager, ask him or her, "Would it be possible to talk with (a team member, a customer, a vendor)?" If you're in procurement, for example, it makes sense for you to meet at least one supplier by phone. If you're in sales, you should be able to talk with a customer. If you're anybody else, it makes sense to meet with at least one
co-worker—without the manager in the room. If your request is rebuffed, take note. Unhappy people don't make good ambassadors. If you do get the opportunity to meet, ask your new contact what he or she believes the organization's biggest challenges are and what makes it a great place to work. If you don't get a quick reply to that question, take heed.
7) Call in Your Posse
Send a blast e-mail message to your friends and colleagues (bcc:ing everyone) and ask them whom they know at XYZ Corp., past or present. What's great about this approach is that your friend can make an introduction for you, lowering the wariness barrier and raising the trust level between you and the person whose insight you seek.
Don't ask, "What is the culture like?" This question is nearly impossible to answer. Rather, ask for a culture-related story or two—incidents that illustrate the way things get done in the shop, the way decisions get made, the way people are praised or corrected, and the level of respect (if any) in the environment. Stories are tools for getting these elements across.
8) Investigate the Product or Service
Sounds obvious, but don't take anything for granted: Buy the product or service your next employer makes or distributes. Use it, and call tech support to ask questions and learn more about it—and about the way customers are treated by this company. If you can't afford the product or don't need one (an oil tanker, for instance), contact sales to request product information be sent to you. Check it over carefully. Is it current as far as you can tell?
Does the salesperson follow up with you? When you make your query, is it handled efficiently, or are you sent into circular voicemail hell? These cues to the speed and energy level of the organization are important, even if your prospective job is on the other side of the company. Disorganized companies don't tend to be fun to work for.
9) Join a Group
Join a discussion group on LinkedIn, Yahoo!groups, or Ning to hobnob with people who know this employer better than you do. Follow the conversation and chime in with your own questions to learn what's working and not working, what customers are saying, and what the industry is doing. A job interview isn't a one-sided process—your résumé is your most valuable asset, and you can't afford to damage it by working in second-rate enterprises. Do your research, and accept your next offer with confidence.
POSTED BY :-
SHWETA RANI
PGDM- 3rd sem
US economy set to exit recession
Official figures due later are expected to show that the US economy has come out of recession, but analysts warn the continuing recovery will be slow.
The data, set to be released by the Commerce Department at 1230 GMT, is tipped to show that the US economy grew about 3% between July and September.
Commentators say the growth has been greatly helped by President Obama’s $787bn (£480bn) stimulus package.
Some now fear growth will fall markedly when this impetus comes to an end.
The expected growth during the third quarter was also lifted by the government’s popular $3bn "Cash for Clunkers" car scrappage scheme.
This gave people trading in old cars $3,500 towards the cost of a new vehicle.
However, this scheme ended at the end of August, and the big car firms reported a sharp drop in sales in September as a result.
‘Distorted by stimulus’
"It’s good to have the economy growing again," said Brian Bethune, economist at IHS Global Insight.
"You can say that the recession is over, but it sure wont feel like that"
Dean Baker, Centre for Economic Policy Research
"But we don’t think that rate of growth is sustainable because it is distorted by all the government stimulus.
"The challenge here is to get organic growth – growth that isn’t helped by fiscal steroids."
Other analysts point to the continuing high level of unemployment in the US, where the jobless rate currently stands at 9.8%.
Any reduction in unemployment typically lags behind an improving economy.
The US entered the current recession in late 2007.
"You can say that the recession is over, but it sure won’t feel like that," said Dean Baker, co-director of the Centre for Economic Policy Research.
"There is a lot of downward momentum that isn’t going to go."
POSTED BY:-
SHILPI KUMARI
PGDM-3rd SEM
Official figures due later are expected to show that the US economy has come out of recession, but analysts warn the continuing recovery will be slow.
The data, set to be released by the Commerce Department at 1230 GMT, is tipped to show that the US economy grew about 3% between July and September.
Commentators say the growth has been greatly helped by President Obama’s $787bn (£480bn) stimulus package.
Some now fear growth will fall markedly when this impetus comes to an end.
The expected growth during the third quarter was also lifted by the government’s popular $3bn "Cash for Clunkers" car scrappage scheme.
This gave people trading in old cars $3,500 towards the cost of a new vehicle.
However, this scheme ended at the end of August, and the big car firms reported a sharp drop in sales in September as a result.
‘Distorted by stimulus’
"It’s good to have the economy growing again," said Brian Bethune, economist at IHS Global Insight.
"You can say that the recession is over, but it sure wont feel like that"
Dean Baker, Centre for Economic Policy Research
"But we don’t think that rate of growth is sustainable because it is distorted by all the government stimulus.
"The challenge here is to get organic growth – growth that isn’t helped by fiscal steroids."
Other analysts point to the continuing high level of unemployment in the US, where the jobless rate currently stands at 9.8%.
Any reduction in unemployment typically lags behind an improving economy.
The US entered the current recession in late 2007.
"You can say that the recession is over, but it sure won’t feel like that," said Dean Baker, co-director of the Centre for Economic Policy Research.
"There is a lot of downward momentum that isn’t going to go."
POSTED BY:-
SHILPI KUMARI
PGDM-3rd SEM
Basic Principles for National Manufacturing Sector Policy
Basic Principles
Manufacturing has been the backbone of all developed and developing nations.
It is where R&D starts, where new technologies are born, where scientists and engineers and others are challenged to develop new and better processes, products and technologies.
Manufacturing is called the Old Economy or the Real Economy.
Manufacturing takes an important position in most fast moving economies of the world, with a share of between 30 to 50 % of the Economy. In India it accounts for nearly 75% of Government revenues but only 25% of the GDP!
If we compare India with countries in Asia, such as Thailand, Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Philippines, Korea and China, one will find, that most of them have economies driven by manufacturing, which is 30 to 50 % of GDP. India is lagging behind with 22-25% of GDP, in this sector.
China's manufacturing is nearly 50% of GDP, at about $ 650 billion per year, nearly 6 times the size of India's Manufacturing Sector, which stands at about $100 to $110 billion per year.
India's manufacturing is only 22-25% of the GDP, which is about $ 100 to $ 110 billion out of a GDP of $440 billion
Manufacturing provides many jobs, at all levels. It is important as an employment generator.
Because of unfriendly employee and labor policies, and reservations in the SSI sector, India has missed the bus, so far, in manufacturing.
The present conditions do not promote manufacturing in India, especially for high labor intensive technologies. Other Asian countries have taken advantage of our short comings and taken away a lot of International business, which would normally have come to India.
It is only in the last few years, that it is now beginning to dawn on our leaders and planners that a lot of manufacturing could be located in India. After seeing the spectacular rise of manufacturing in all the Asian countries, during the last 25 years.
With the opening up of global trade and imports into India, in the last few years, a lot of manufactured goods have finally hit the Indian markets, bringing in world class manufactured goods at international prices. It has also brought in many opportunities for Indian manufacturers, as they can now bench mark Indian goods against the best available in other parts of the world.
Many Indian companies have already started exports of Indian manufactured products for world markets. Many will become Global players.
Many foreign firms are finally realizing that India is about the right place to look at global manufacturing for out sourcing for world markets.
All the above could get a big boost provided conditions, as mentioned in the policy, could be implemented
Manufacturing has been the backbone of all developed and developing nations.
It is where R&D starts, where new technologies are born, where scientists and engineers and others are challenged to develop new and better processes, products and technologies.
Manufacturing is called the Old Economy or the Real Economy.
Manufacturing takes an important position in most fast moving economies of the world, with a share of between 30 to 50 % of the Economy. In India it accounts for nearly 75% of Government revenues but only 25% of the GDP!
If we compare India with countries in Asia, such as Thailand, Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Philippines, Korea and China, one will find, that most of them have economies driven by manufacturing, which is 30 to 50 % of GDP. India is lagging behind with 22-25% of GDP, in this sector.
China's manufacturing is nearly 50% of GDP, at about $ 650 billion per year, nearly 6 times the size of India's Manufacturing Sector, which stands at about $100 to $110 billion per year.
India's manufacturing is only 22-25% of the GDP, which is about $ 100 to $ 110 billion out of a GDP of $440 billion
Manufacturing provides many jobs, at all levels. It is important as an employment generator.
Because of unfriendly employee and labor policies, and reservations in the SSI sector, India has missed the bus, so far, in manufacturing.
The present conditions do not promote manufacturing in India, especially for high labor intensive technologies. Other Asian countries have taken advantage of our short comings and taken away a lot of International business, which would normally have come to India.
It is only in the last few years, that it is now beginning to dawn on our leaders and planners that a lot of manufacturing could be located in India. After seeing the spectacular rise of manufacturing in all the Asian countries, during the last 25 years.
With the opening up of global trade and imports into India, in the last few years, a lot of manufactured goods have finally hit the Indian markets, bringing in world class manufactured goods at international prices. It has also brought in many opportunities for Indian manufacturers, as they can now bench mark Indian goods against the best available in other parts of the world.
Many Indian companies have already started exports of Indian manufactured products for world markets. Many will become Global players.
Many foreign firms are finally realizing that India is about the right place to look at global manufacturing for out sourcing for world markets.
All the above could get a big boost provided conditions, as mentioned in the policy, could be implemented
Wednesday, October 28, 2009
Nuclear sector set to power job market; hire 19,000 pros
MUMBAI: Even as engineering, as a career choice, is making a comeback after almost a decade of being passed over for software, there is now an added Coming to terms with lay-off
Crisis time: Keep staff motivated
Job-cuts: A blessing in disguise
Keep it light at your workplace!
choice for students, in nuclear technology.
With the government planning a five-fold ramp-up in the existing nuclear power capacity by 2020 and a strong interest by global majors to shift manufacturing operations to India, it is estimated that the country would require about 2,000 trained nuclear engineers every year to staff the increased capacity.
Currently, the number of specialist nuclear post-graduates and PhDs from IITs and other universities is only about 50 people every year. The supply is limited as only a few IITs — Kanpur and Mumbai — the Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore and few other universities offer specialised courses. In addition, Nuclear Power Corporation of India (NPCIL), the sole nuclear power generator in the country, has a capacity to train 250 people annually, while the department of atomic energy schools around 500-700 people every year.
“The existing situation (for trained nuclear technologists) is stretched,” says L&T board member MV Kotwal. “If BARC (Bhabha Atomic Research Centre) opens its training facilities for non-BARC students also, it could help the industry,” he added. L&T is spearheading the private sector’s thrust into nuclear power generation. The government plans to add 20,000 mw of nuclear power generation capacity by 2020, after India and the US jointly agreed in May to cooperate on civil nuclear energy programme. India also signed a similar agreement with France.
Additional trained manpower requirement for supporting proposed nuclear power generation projects is in the range of 10,000 to 19,000 people (based on the norm of 1 to 1.4 person per mw), says a recent PricewaterhouseCoopers India report.
“The industry usually hires and trains such professionals in-house,” says Kameswara Rao, executive director, PricewaterhouseCoopers India. The attrition in this sector is the lowest at about 3-5%, while it is as high as 10-12% in other streams of engineering.
Adding to the demand for trained nuclear technologists is the spate of joint ventures that were recently signed by L&T, Bhel, NPCIL and others.
-AKHLESH KUMAR SHARMA
PGDM III SEM
Crisis time: Keep staff motivated
Job-cuts: A blessing in disguise
Keep it light at your workplace!
choice for students, in nuclear technology.
With the government planning a five-fold ramp-up in the existing nuclear power capacity by 2020 and a strong interest by global majors to shift manufacturing operations to India, it is estimated that the country would require about 2,000 trained nuclear engineers every year to staff the increased capacity.
Currently, the number of specialist nuclear post-graduates and PhDs from IITs and other universities is only about 50 people every year. The supply is limited as only a few IITs — Kanpur and Mumbai — the Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore and few other universities offer specialised courses. In addition, Nuclear Power Corporation of India (NPCIL), the sole nuclear power generator in the country, has a capacity to train 250 people annually, while the department of atomic energy schools around 500-700 people every year.
“The existing situation (for trained nuclear technologists) is stretched,” says L&T board member MV Kotwal. “If BARC (Bhabha Atomic Research Centre) opens its training facilities for non-BARC students also, it could help the industry,” he added. L&T is spearheading the private sector’s thrust into nuclear power generation. The government plans to add 20,000 mw of nuclear power generation capacity by 2020, after India and the US jointly agreed in May to cooperate on civil nuclear energy programme. India also signed a similar agreement with France.
Additional trained manpower requirement for supporting proposed nuclear power generation projects is in the range of 10,000 to 19,000 people (based on the norm of 1 to 1.4 person per mw), says a recent PricewaterhouseCoopers India report.
“The industry usually hires and trains such professionals in-house,” says Kameswara Rao, executive director, PricewaterhouseCoopers India. The attrition in this sector is the lowest at about 3-5%, while it is as high as 10-12% in other streams of engineering.
Adding to the demand for trained nuclear technologists is the spate of joint ventures that were recently signed by L&T, Bhel, NPCIL and others.
-AKHLESH KUMAR SHARMA
PGDM III SEM
Goldman Sachs, Mc Kinsey, Morgan Stanley, And JP MOrgans Are Back To The IIM Campus
NEW DELHI: The B-school is back in business. After a year-long stupor that saw billion-dollar names shying away from campuses in the wake of the Why work before enrolling for MBA?
New-age entrepreneurs
Top business schools in India
global financial slowdown, the Indian Institutes of Management (IIMs) are waking up to a buzzing summer internship season, a pointer to a packed final placement list.
Goldman Sachs, the investment bank that just emerged a tad stronger from the slowdown, is back at IIM campuses with a bigger number of offers, and so are the traditional Slot Zero names-the B-school jargon for the most coveted-like McKinsey & Co, Morgan Stanley, JPMorgan, UBS and Boston Consulting Group.
The summer placement season-set to begin early November-often mirrors the final placement lineup as companies tend to make job offers depending on the candidates’ performance during the two-month internship. IIM-Bangalore , for instance, has scored a 100% conversion rate for the current batch in consultancy summer jobs.
“Companies are bullish this year,” says IIM-Calcutta’s Prafulla Agnihotri, who is the chairperson for career development and placements.
Around 100-odd companies have confirmed their participation across the seven IIM campuses for picking up summer internees , and the list includes top Indian names such as Hindustan Unilever (HUL) and Procter & Gamble (P&G ). The return of i-banks to the campuses is significant since they traditionally opt to select from their internees instead of scouting the campuses with final recruitment offers.
IIM-Lucknow placement committee member Sharat Chander says final placements in 2010 are showing every indication of being a whole lot better than last year, if summer placement trends are anything to go by. “This is especially true of the financial sector, hit the most by the economic downturn last year,” he says.
Smaller firms, including start-ups , that managed to land talent dirt cheap last year too are back now, but with sweetened deals in the face of increasing competition. IIM-C’s Agnihotri says many of them offer students more challenging roles with an exposure to serious decision-making.
While none of the institutes wanted to risk any official comment, the general sentiment is that stipends for the two-month period will also go up this year compared to 2008. Stipends generally range from Rs 10,000-15 ,000 per month on the lowest side, and had gone up to $20,000-plus for a two-month foreign internship in the pre-slowdown days. “There is a positive sentiment on campus,” says Sapna Agarwal, head-career development services, at IIMB.
For students, this return of enthusiasm means they will get placed faster, at a job of their choice, she says. All the rush notwithstanding, the process this year is unlikely to be wrapped up in the usual six-day period. Last year, because of the low turnout by companies, the summer placement season was extended across campuses. However, this year, with an increased number of students to place, the process may take the same time as last year.
Mr Agnihotri says his school will be placing 408 students this year, up from last year’s 300-odd students. “Slot 0 and Slot 1 will be of two days each, after which the process will be open-ended. We want to give our students plenty of options,” he says. The summer glow comes just after the IIMs did a successful pre-placement offer (PPO) season. Around 15-20% of the batch at IIM-A , B and C have got offers till now. Other IIMs like Lucknow and Kozhikode, too, are witnessing a much better flow of job offers as compared to the past year.
-AKHILESH KUMAR SHARMA
PGDM III SEM
New-age entrepreneurs
Top business schools in India
global financial slowdown, the Indian Institutes of Management (IIMs) are waking up to a buzzing summer internship season, a pointer to a packed final placement list.
Goldman Sachs, the investment bank that just emerged a tad stronger from the slowdown, is back at IIM campuses with a bigger number of offers, and so are the traditional Slot Zero names-the B-school jargon for the most coveted-like McKinsey & Co, Morgan Stanley, JPMorgan, UBS and Boston Consulting Group.
The summer placement season-set to begin early November-often mirrors the final placement lineup as companies tend to make job offers depending on the candidates’ performance during the two-month internship. IIM-Bangalore , for instance, has scored a 100% conversion rate for the current batch in consultancy summer jobs.
“Companies are bullish this year,” says IIM-Calcutta’s Prafulla Agnihotri, who is the chairperson for career development and placements.
Around 100-odd companies have confirmed their participation across the seven IIM campuses for picking up summer internees , and the list includes top Indian names such as Hindustan Unilever (HUL) and Procter & Gamble (P&G ). The return of i-banks to the campuses is significant since they traditionally opt to select from their internees instead of scouting the campuses with final recruitment offers.
IIM-Lucknow placement committee member Sharat Chander says final placements in 2010 are showing every indication of being a whole lot better than last year, if summer placement trends are anything to go by. “This is especially true of the financial sector, hit the most by the economic downturn last year,” he says.
Smaller firms, including start-ups , that managed to land talent dirt cheap last year too are back now, but with sweetened deals in the face of increasing competition. IIM-C’s Agnihotri says many of them offer students more challenging roles with an exposure to serious decision-making.
While none of the institutes wanted to risk any official comment, the general sentiment is that stipends for the two-month period will also go up this year compared to 2008. Stipends generally range from Rs 10,000-15 ,000 per month on the lowest side, and had gone up to $20,000-plus for a two-month foreign internship in the pre-slowdown days. “There is a positive sentiment on campus,” says Sapna Agarwal, head-career development services, at IIMB.
For students, this return of enthusiasm means they will get placed faster, at a job of their choice, she says. All the rush notwithstanding, the process this year is unlikely to be wrapped up in the usual six-day period. Last year, because of the low turnout by companies, the summer placement season was extended across campuses. However, this year, with an increased number of students to place, the process may take the same time as last year.
Mr Agnihotri says his school will be placing 408 students this year, up from last year’s 300-odd students. “Slot 0 and Slot 1 will be of two days each, after which the process will be open-ended. We want to give our students plenty of options,” he says. The summer glow comes just after the IIMs did a successful pre-placement offer (PPO) season. Around 15-20% of the batch at IIM-A , B and C have got offers till now. Other IIMs like Lucknow and Kozhikode, too, are witnessing a much better flow of job offers as compared to the past year.
-AKHILESH KUMAR SHARMA
PGDM III SEM
Pirated Version Of Windows 7 on Sales At Rs. 50 Per CD
Even as Microsoft, the world’s biggest software maker, prepares to launch Windows 7 in India next week, pirated version of the Windows 7: Will it win?
A sneak preview of new Windows 7
What's new in Windows 7
company’s new operating system is already being offered by several retail shops in major metros and can even be downloaded for free from various internet websites.
Software piracy is the biggest concern for top software makers, especially in countries such as India and China where consumers are tempted to buy cheaper and at times free versions of the latest software. For instance, the Indian software industry loses nearly $2.8 billion every year because of piracy. The exchequer also loses tax revenues worth around $200 million annually because of unauthorised software sales in the country.
The full version of Windows 7 software available with black marketeers does not even require a key, which is a 16 character alphanumeric unique number that comes with an officially purchased software. Sellers who spoke with ET on conditions of anonymity said they are already selling Windows 7 at Rs 50 for each CD.
While some are buying pirated CDs from these shops, there are many others who prefer to download Windows 7 by simply running a search for the software on popular websites such as torrentz.com, torrentscan.com, isohunt.com and torrentfinder .com.
For instance, at Delhi’s Nehru Place, a place known as the hub for electronic gadgets and latest software, Windows 7 Home Premium can be bought for Rs 50. The official price of the software is Rs 6,799. Black marketeers in Kolkata added that the software will soon be available within two days for Rs 100.
Meanwhile, a Microsoft India spokesman cautioned customers against buying pirated software. “The battle against piracy is an ongoing one. A recent report by KPMG states that at least 60% of pirated software comes with malware,” he said. Apart from the latest Windows 7 software, many users are also buying older beta versions such as Windows 7 Release Candidate (RC), which will expire on June 1 next year.
However, users who install this version will have to face several technical hiccups. Computers running Windows 7 RC version will find their systems shutting down every 30 minutes starting March 2010.
“But who cares as long as Windows 7 works till March or June 2010. By that time there will surely be another set of CDs available in the market that will just be regular Windows 7 without this shutting down affair,” said Ranbir Joshi, a user in Kolkata.
On its part, the Business Software Alliance (BSA), a joint anti-piracy initiative launched by top software makers, hopes that users will buy more genuine software. “During past few weeks, different parts of the country are reporting unavailability of genuine software in retail shelves because of lack of clarity on tax issues on import of packaged software, which may slow down the progress made towards promoting genuine software,” said Lizum Mishra, director BSA India.
- AKHILESH KUMAR SHARMA
PGDM III SEM
A sneak preview of new Windows 7
What's new in Windows 7
company’s new operating system is already being offered by several retail shops in major metros and can even be downloaded for free from various internet websites.
Software piracy is the biggest concern for top software makers, especially in countries such as India and China where consumers are tempted to buy cheaper and at times free versions of the latest software. For instance, the Indian software industry loses nearly $2.8 billion every year because of piracy. The exchequer also loses tax revenues worth around $200 million annually because of unauthorised software sales in the country.
The full version of Windows 7 software available with black marketeers does not even require a key, which is a 16 character alphanumeric unique number that comes with an officially purchased software. Sellers who spoke with ET on conditions of anonymity said they are already selling Windows 7 at Rs 50 for each CD.
While some are buying pirated CDs from these shops, there are many others who prefer to download Windows 7 by simply running a search for the software on popular websites such as torrentz.com, torrentscan.com, isohunt.com and torrentfinder .com.
For instance, at Delhi’s Nehru Place, a place known as the hub for electronic gadgets and latest software, Windows 7 Home Premium can be bought for Rs 50. The official price of the software is Rs 6,799. Black marketeers in Kolkata added that the software will soon be available within two days for Rs 100.
Meanwhile, a Microsoft India spokesman cautioned customers against buying pirated software. “The battle against piracy is an ongoing one. A recent report by KPMG states that at least 60% of pirated software comes with malware,” he said. Apart from the latest Windows 7 software, many users are also buying older beta versions such as Windows 7 Release Candidate (RC), which will expire on June 1 next year.
However, users who install this version will have to face several technical hiccups. Computers running Windows 7 RC version will find their systems shutting down every 30 minutes starting March 2010.
“But who cares as long as Windows 7 works till March or June 2010. By that time there will surely be another set of CDs available in the market that will just be regular Windows 7 without this shutting down affair,” said Ranbir Joshi, a user in Kolkata.
On its part, the Business Software Alliance (BSA), a joint anti-piracy initiative launched by top software makers, hopes that users will buy more genuine software. “During past few weeks, different parts of the country are reporting unavailability of genuine software in retail shelves because of lack of clarity on tax issues on import of packaged software, which may slow down the progress made towards promoting genuine software,” said Lizum Mishra, director BSA India.
- AKHILESH KUMAR SHARMA
PGDM III SEM
United Airlines Retires Its Last 737
United Airlines retired its last Boeing 737 on Wednesday, sending it off with a cross-country trip that was a retirement flight for one of its longtime pilots, too.
Capt. Bob Russo piloted the plane from Washington to Chicago to Denver to Los Angeles on Wednesday, with a final leg to San Francisco. Russo said that as he piloted the plane across the country, air traffic controllers noted that it was the last United 737 flight.
"Most said they understand this is the last one, and we are sorry to see the airplane go, and it was our pleasure to help," he said during the stopover in Los Angeles.
United was an early customer of the 737, taking delivery of its first one in 1968. The plane that flew on Wednesday was delivered in 1988.
United began phasing out the decades-old planes last year as fuel prices spiked. Fuel prices have come back down somewhat since then, but United is still shrinking its fleet because demand is lower.
Russo, 59, grew up in Chicago, where United is now based.
"I was a teenager near Midway airport in Chicago and I saw the first 737s take off in 1968 out of Midway," he said. "Who would have known that 41 years later I'd be flying the last 737 flight for United?"
Russo flew 737s for much of his 31 years with the airline, and said he figured he would retire whenever United's 737s did.
Boeing has delivered more than 6,000 of the planes, and the newer versions remain popular with airlines.
-AKHILESH KUMAR SHARMA
PGDM III SEM
Capt. Bob Russo piloted the plane from Washington to Chicago to Denver to Los Angeles on Wednesday, with a final leg to San Francisco. Russo said that as he piloted the plane across the country, air traffic controllers noted that it was the last United 737 flight.
"Most said they understand this is the last one, and we are sorry to see the airplane go, and it was our pleasure to help," he said during the stopover in Los Angeles.
United was an early customer of the 737, taking delivery of its first one in 1968. The plane that flew on Wednesday was delivered in 1988.
United began phasing out the decades-old planes last year as fuel prices spiked. Fuel prices have come back down somewhat since then, but United is still shrinking its fleet because demand is lower.
Russo, 59, grew up in Chicago, where United is now based.
"I was a teenager near Midway airport in Chicago and I saw the first 737s take off in 1968 out of Midway," he said. "Who would have known that 41 years later I'd be flying the last 737 flight for United?"
Russo flew 737s for much of his 31 years with the airline, and said he figured he would retire whenever United's 737s did.
Boeing has delivered more than 6,000 of the planes, and the newer versions remain popular with airlines.
-AKHILESH KUMAR SHARMA
PGDM III SEM
EXTENSION PLAN FOR HOME BUYER TAX CREDIT
Home Buyer Tax Credit Could Soon Be Extended, Expanded
Posted by: Prashant Gopal on October 28
It’s increasingly likely that Congress will extend and expand the popular home buyer tax credit, which will expire next month. CNN.com reported today that a compromise proposal based on bills that have already been introduced could pass the Senate as early as this week (assuming that it is attached to a bill to extend unemployment benefits).
The compromise bill would likely open the program to some existing homeowners. The expiring tax credit is limited to buyers who have not owned a home for the last three years.
According to a CNN.com story today:
* First-time buyers could continue to claim up to $8,000. But existing homeowners who have lived in their home for five years could receive up to $6,500 if they trade up to a larger principal residence.
* The full credit would be limited to buyers who earn less than $125,000 a year and for married couples with annual incomes up to $225,000.
* The credit could only be used for homes selling for $800,000 or less.
* Contracts must be signed by April 30, 2010 and sales must close by June 30.
Mark Zandi, chief economist for Moody’s Economy.com (MCO), told me recently that he supports the extension because the housing market could take a big step back without it. But he agreed with critics that it is one of the most inefficient ways for the government to support housing.
According to Zandi, only 22% of about 1.8 million buyers who will claim the soon-to-expire credit would not have bought a home but for the incentive. Expanding the credit to include previous homeowners and extending the credit through June will cost about $30 billion, on top of about $8 billion that would have already been spent, he said.
The compromise bill outlined here might be cheaper because it seems to more narrowly define the existing homeowners who can take advantage of the credit.
-AKHILESH KUMAR SHARMA
PGDM III SEM
Posted by: Prashant Gopal on October 28
It’s increasingly likely that Congress will extend and expand the popular home buyer tax credit, which will expire next month. CNN.com reported today that a compromise proposal based on bills that have already been introduced could pass the Senate as early as this week (assuming that it is attached to a bill to extend unemployment benefits).
The compromise bill would likely open the program to some existing homeowners. The expiring tax credit is limited to buyers who have not owned a home for the last three years.
According to a CNN.com story today:
* First-time buyers could continue to claim up to $8,000. But existing homeowners who have lived in their home for five years could receive up to $6,500 if they trade up to a larger principal residence.
* The full credit would be limited to buyers who earn less than $125,000 a year and for married couples with annual incomes up to $225,000.
* The credit could only be used for homes selling for $800,000 or less.
* Contracts must be signed by April 30, 2010 and sales must close by June 30.
Mark Zandi, chief economist for Moody’s Economy.com (MCO), told me recently that he supports the extension because the housing market could take a big step back without it. But he agreed with critics that it is one of the most inefficient ways for the government to support housing.
According to Zandi, only 22% of about 1.8 million buyers who will claim the soon-to-expire credit would not have bought a home but for the incentive. Expanding the credit to include previous homeowners and extending the credit through June will cost about $30 billion, on top of about $8 billion that would have already been spent, he said.
The compromise bill outlined here might be cheaper because it seems to more narrowly define the existing homeowners who can take advantage of the credit.
-AKHILESH KUMAR SHARMA
PGDM III SEM
Business strategies for going global
Businesses which aspire to gain ground in the global market need to follow a logical and planned approach to export development. In the real world, a business rarely follows a straight-path approach, neither there is a mathematical theory of success to excel in export business operations. But research have shown that there are some key factors for export success, such as management and company commitment to export, some lasting competitive strength for the company and internal capabilities to support exporting.
To export or not to exportExport
development is a process and not an event. Most businesses fail to understand this. It is commonly recognized that a business needs a product or services which is in demand in overseas markets. But the fact that businesses need proper skills, resources, commitment and information to support sustained exporting activities over the longer term is often overlooked. Neglecting factors such as these can be a critical exporting barrier for small and medium-sized businesses. To benefit from export market opportunities, a business needs to make a sustained commitment in resources: effort, money and time. Before rushing out to export, a business needs to find out the right reason to export and test its export readiness. Checking readinessYou have been successful in the domestic market and are now looking to export to overseas market. Naturally you very excited. But are you ready? There are a number of questions you will need to consider in terms of assessing market opportunities and your
business' internal capabilities -
It will take more time, money and resources to establish your business in an overseas market than in a domestic one.
You will need to invest time and money before they see any return. You should have a long-range view.
As an exporter, you should be equipped with different skills such as finance, technical, marketing, administration and market experience.
You need to research the target market. It is also important to establish co-operative long term relationships with local partners.
Are your products ready for export? Have you analyzed your product's (or service’s) competitiveness? What are the advantages of your (or services) over other products already available in he target market in terms of quality, price and uniqueness ? Make sure that your product is ready for export. Research why the product will attract sales in the destination market. Also analysis whether your company has the capacity to tailor it to the requirements of the target market? Accessing capabilityAnother key test in determining your export capability is to analysis why your business is successful at the domestic level, what are your competitive advantages, and how these competitive advantages could help you in grabbing success in the international market as well. Try to draw a realistic picture of your business' strengths (factors such as uniqueness of product, competitive capabilities of your company or any other factor which is important to make your business competitive at international level) and weaknesses (such as lack of experience, lack of stuff or technology, inability to change product or packaging, lack of knowledge in marketing, etc.). It will help you to identify some fundamental success factors from both the customer and competitor perspective.
Considering trade barriers
The risks in exports are totally different from those encountered domestically, and they are unavoidable to some extent. But you can minimize them taking proper precautions. Find here some useful information regarding different export business risks-1. Political risk: The country where your client is located may experience major political instability. Such instability could result in defaults on payments, confiscation of property, exchange transfer blockages, etc.2. Legal risk: At domestic level, business are subject to a myriad of laws, regulations, restrictions. But internationally, there are much more complexities. International transactions are governed by unilateral measures, bilateral relationships, multilateral and regional agreements. This difference in law may have impact in such areas as taxation, currency dealings, property rights, employment practices, etc. 3. Credit related risk: While doing business internationally, trading can seem complicated and risky. Besides political, legal and other risks, the most common problem businesses face is the risk in the transaction. To overcome payment related risks, an exporter needs good understanding of different payment methods in international trade. Choose a payment method which provides you with some security. Try to avoid open account method, at least initially. 4. Internet frauds: Like in any other place, the Internet is not free from scammers and frauds. These people are are very cunning and being smart it is not enough to protect yourself from them. It is not only individuals who are targets for a variety of illegal schemes but also small as well as large business organizations.5. Quarantine compliance: Many countries (especially the European countries) have strict quarantine requirements to prevent the spread of contagious disease. Before sending a shipment, ensure that your products are allowed to be exported to the destination country. Besides the above mentioned risks, there may be some tariff barriers which exporters often have to face. For example, many governments impose high import taxes on certain products to discourages a foreign company's market entry and to provides some competitive edge to the local providers.
PRIYA KUSHWAHA
PGDM-3rd sem
To export or not to exportExport
development is a process and not an event. Most businesses fail to understand this. It is commonly recognized that a business needs a product or services which is in demand in overseas markets. But the fact that businesses need proper skills, resources, commitment and information to support sustained exporting activities over the longer term is often overlooked. Neglecting factors such as these can be a critical exporting barrier for small and medium-sized businesses. To benefit from export market opportunities, a business needs to make a sustained commitment in resources: effort, money and time. Before rushing out to export, a business needs to find out the right reason to export and test its export readiness. Checking readinessYou have been successful in the domestic market and are now looking to export to overseas market. Naturally you very excited. But are you ready? There are a number of questions you will need to consider in terms of assessing market opportunities and your
business' internal capabilities -
It will take more time, money and resources to establish your business in an overseas market than in a domestic one.
You will need to invest time and money before they see any return. You should have a long-range view.
As an exporter, you should be equipped with different skills such as finance, technical, marketing, administration and market experience.
You need to research the target market. It is also important to establish co-operative long term relationships with local partners.
Are your products ready for export? Have you analyzed your product's (or service’s) competitiveness? What are the advantages of your (or services) over other products already available in he target market in terms of quality, price and uniqueness ? Make sure that your product is ready for export. Research why the product will attract sales in the destination market. Also analysis whether your company has the capacity to tailor it to the requirements of the target market? Accessing capabilityAnother key test in determining your export capability is to analysis why your business is successful at the domestic level, what are your competitive advantages, and how these competitive advantages could help you in grabbing success in the international market as well. Try to draw a realistic picture of your business' strengths (factors such as uniqueness of product, competitive capabilities of your company or any other factor which is important to make your business competitive at international level) and weaknesses (such as lack of experience, lack of stuff or technology, inability to change product or packaging, lack of knowledge in marketing, etc.). It will help you to identify some fundamental success factors from both the customer and competitor perspective.
Considering trade barriers
The risks in exports are totally different from those encountered domestically, and they are unavoidable to some extent. But you can minimize them taking proper precautions. Find here some useful information regarding different export business risks-1. Political risk: The country where your client is located may experience major political instability. Such instability could result in defaults on payments, confiscation of property, exchange transfer blockages, etc.2. Legal risk: At domestic level, business are subject to a myriad of laws, regulations, restrictions. But internationally, there are much more complexities. International transactions are governed by unilateral measures, bilateral relationships, multilateral and regional agreements. This difference in law may have impact in such areas as taxation, currency dealings, property rights, employment practices, etc. 3. Credit related risk: While doing business internationally, trading can seem complicated and risky. Besides political, legal and other risks, the most common problem businesses face is the risk in the transaction. To overcome payment related risks, an exporter needs good understanding of different payment methods in international trade. Choose a payment method which provides you with some security. Try to avoid open account method, at least initially. 4. Internet frauds: Like in any other place, the Internet is not free from scammers and frauds. These people are are very cunning and being smart it is not enough to protect yourself from them. It is not only individuals who are targets for a variety of illegal schemes but also small as well as large business organizations.5. Quarantine compliance: Many countries (especially the European countries) have strict quarantine requirements to prevent the spread of contagious disease. Before sending a shipment, ensure that your products are allowed to be exported to the destination country. Besides the above mentioned risks, there may be some tariff barriers which exporters often have to face. For example, many governments impose high import taxes on certain products to discourages a foreign company's market entry and to provides some competitive edge to the local providers.
PRIYA KUSHWAHA
PGDM-3rd sem
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