Hi all, I was witness to a classical debate when the final admission list for most prestigious MBA colleges within the country was announced and was well covered in almost all the leaing dailies ( Ref- http://www.business-standard.com/india/news/male-engg-students-monopolise-b-school-admissions/395190/)

 The trend clearly showed the dominance of the Engineers and there was also a gender skew with male students beating the fairer sex for a change( Girls have been beating boys in CBSE XII exams for last twelve years- Ref http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/delhi/CBSE-Class-XII-results-Girls-outshine-boys-for-12th-time/articleshow/5960327.cms).

 The debate vered around whether the admission process is a comprehensive one or not, or rather it is too dependent on the age old format, and not considering the non-academic aspects of students. Or are the premier institutes also becoming the den of certain stereotypes, with complete disregard to students with other skill sets. Another question which popped up was that do these colleges look at the personality fitment of students in a rigorous manner? Or the future of the entrants hangs primarily upon the 2-3 hour window in which they take the test.. Another key point raised was as what is the percentage success rate of Enginners compared to other stream students? And also, talking within that cut-off percentile range, what is the percentage of engineers compared to the entire set? Then, there is always a discussion about meritocracy versus democracy. In former, the brain rules, while in the second, by the design itself, there is something for every one.

Coming to foreign universities, who typically look into more aspects for selecting a candidate, the B-School crowd is as diverse as possible. Chances of you rubbing shoulders with senior BBC editor, or a business tycoon heir or may be a NGO volunteer as well are much higher compared to Indian colleges. But a recent book PRICE OF ADMISSION by Wall Street Journal deputy Bureau chief Golden threatens to tarnish this repute to a great extent. (http://www.amazon.com/Price-Admission-Americas-Colleges-Outside/dp/1400097975/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1276075009&sr=8-1) .  The book dwells on the endowment leagcy of colleges, and tries to reveal how some of them have been using/misusing the same for wealthy families . A hard hitting one, the book even names the colleges and in some cases, name of beneficiary students as well.

So, which of the two is better? The forum is open to deliberate and decide

Cheers

N.B. You may follow some of my education blogs at www.careerlaunchersec62.wordpress.com

Corporate war: mythological learnings- II

Continuing from where I ended last blog. Taking Ramayan only as example, can we look at following earnings as well?

1) Always let your employees know they can deliver:  When the entire contingent of Hanuman, Jamwant and others was there at sea side while searching for Sita, it took the wise Jamwant to remind Hanuman of his prowess, and what happened next is everyone’s knowledge.

2) Know your competitors’ weaknesses and exploit them:  This is precisely the role of Vibhishan in Ramayana, and it was definitely at more than one instance, that his prowess helped Ram.

3) No loose statement/emotive promise, you never know how it will hit back:  Little did king Dasratha know that his once upon a time promise will cost him so dearly, that ultimately led to his own death as well.

4) Every failed investment can force you to go for more to recover, but if not careful, it will result in total loss:  Had Ravana got the message after losing so many of his world renouned heroes, he would have still saved Lanka, but it was not to be so.

5) Never underestimate your competitor, you don’t know what aces he has up his sleeves:  Bali ran in to fight Sugreev without thinking twice, and getting the details. It turned out to be his last fight.

6) Grapevine has tremendous power:  Any one having knowledge of Hindu mythology can not forget the role Manthara  played in Ramayana.

Hoping, the visitors will add to this list. Will be back with some more thoughts soon.

Corporate war: few mythological learnings

Today, where every evening welcomes new inventions and every morning greets new discoveries, corporates across the world are involved in the game of one upmanship. The baord room discusscions just can’t get enough of strategies of: Either how to move to top or else how to stay there.

Every day newspapers carry one or other masterstroke mantra for success which just turned the course for one particular company, and next day, you can see the millions following that path. But, are these actually innovations at its best, or do they have some root in mythological incidents as well. Mahabharat’s story somehow revolves around just one person, who never used a weapon, but was the architct of the victory of Pandavas.

Given below is an attempt to draw some such conclusions from one of the greatest Hindu epics of Ramayan, and the subsequent corporate learnings, which can be drawn from the same. Request all the readers to give their feedback about the same, and add to this incomplete list.

1) Identify your right resource, and your work is done: Two incidents reflect the same.

• Lakshman was allowed by Ram and saint Vshwamitra to lift the bow during the swamyambar of Sita, as he was considered to be related to Sheshnag, upon whom rests the earth, and the bow was being held back by earth only.
• Nal and neel, the then architects/civil engineers made the crossing of sea a child affair for the entire army of Ram

2) Equitable distribution of work to all the stake holders: The easiest thing for Lord Ram would have been to lead from the front and kill all the demons himself. But, everyday, he entrusted the work to his different lieutenants, whom he considered most appropriate. This way, while every one felt good, he never exposed any of his warriors.

3) Never jump to conclusions:  When Ravan was dying and Ram sent Lakhman to get some advice from him, he said just one line” NEVER TAKE ANY DECISION IN HASTE”. He said that had i not jumped to believing words of Shurpanakha, my other informers would hev informed me of entire episode, and the war would have been well avoided.

4) Never mix business with personal life:  Ravan staked his entire kingdom for his whim to keep Sita. Looking recently, not so long ago, some Mr. Raju tried to do the same for son for Maytas Pvt ltd. Rest is history.

5) Never ride a tiger, you can not tame:  Once the war started, Ravan did not find ways of how to stop the same ( or by the time, he realised, it was too late). Same is the case for this hall of shame Satyam director, who had to spend the night on floor in jail.

6) IF IT IS TO BE DONE, IT WILL BE DONE : Be it getting the Sanjeevani booti for  Lakshman or geetin Ram and Lakshman rid of Nagpash ( serpent rope), if it was to be done, it was done.

With this, I end for today, but promise to be back with more such dope.

Those reading, your comments/feedbacks are most welcome.

Sub-prime crisis: Implications and path ahead for Indian economy

When troubles come, they come not single spies but in batallions- Shakespeare.

These were the words Indira Nooyi used to sum up the financial turmoil in US. Guess she could not have been closer. With all the institutions which were considered invincibles till not so long ago, falling one after the other, the initial reaction for anyone was of dismay and distress. The world around, the central banks joined hands in the endeavor to reduce as much impact of this financial Tsunami as possible. Now, as the dust settles ( though many analysts are still pointing to this being just the tip of iceberg and warning that future is going to be worse), the thoughts racing across the minds are what effects will it have on the Indian economy and how coming few months can shape up and what can be ideal role of the RBI to help us tide the crisis as best as possible?

The different schools of thoughts are coming up with different ideas and predictions as to how it will impact and how it will not. Best analogy can be  the Indian capital market and Indian Banking system. While the former are experiencing the echo, later have remained fairly insulated from any direct impact of the crisis. Its obvious, as on one hand, the Indian banks did not have significant exposure to the sub-prime loans, FIIs are pulling their money to cover their losses back home. Their withdrawal still continuing, Indian equity markets can expect some turbulent times ahead as well.

Coming to IT sector, an effort to reduce costs can  boost outsourcing of services, and Indian IT companies stand to benefit from the same. There is a genuine concern among the ongoing projects with these troubled financial institutions, but with most of them being bought out or bailed out, a new wave of consolidation requirements is not far away. This simply means more business. Though there are talks about the IT majors who are heavily dependent on their overseas clients getting affected as the US economy heads for slowdown, but overall the positives seem to far outnumber the concerns.

Coming to exports, in 2006, roughly 18% of India’s exports ( amounting to 15% of GDP) was directed to US. Slow down in US can impact the same. But, fortunately like China, we are not an export oriented economy, so the efect would be less and some deficit can definitely be offset by increase in service exports.

What this crisis also means that cost of raising capital will go up. This is laready being felt by Indian corporates, as loans at sub-PLR have almost vanished from the market. Also, with liquidity crunch abroad, the companies have to look forward to domestic market for raising capital, thereby exerting upward pressure on domestic borrowing costs. In the words of Indian Finance Minister, P.Chidambaram, “There is impact in terms of credit flows and financial flows. But at the moment, I believe that impact is second-order impact and a moderate impact”. This is where I feel the role of RBI becomes all the more important. Having faced the record inflation recently, it would be nice to watch if it continues with its efforts to reduce inflation or shows a more pragmatic approach by pushing for growth.

Summing up in words of Mr. Chidambaram, “Growth is imperative. Growth is important. If there is growth, there is chance of inclusive growth. Without growth, there is no chance of inclusive growth” lets hope that the coming days see all the endeavors in the same direction. Only then, the tiger will roar to its fullest, and can take on the dragon.

Apotheosis: Life at top is all alone

Learnt this word quite recently. In fact yesterday morning. Thanks to one of my friends. Then thought how would an ordinary mortal react to such efforts?

 

“Mere prabhu!

Mujhe itani unchai kabhi mat dena

Gairon ko gale na laga sakun

Itani rukhai

Kabhi mat dena”

A.B.Vajpayee

(`My Lord, Never let me climb so high that I can’t bend down to embrace another human. Deliver me ever from such arrogance.’ )

These lines aptly capture the response to efforts of apotheosis( a Greek word meaning glorification of an individual to divine levels).

History has been replete with examples where people have been referred to and regarded as divine deities, and their acts have become the guiding principles for scores of their followers. A little slip on their part can cause mayhem, as Sri Ramakrishna ( one of the most revered saints of modern India) used to say that if he would piss in a standing position( which used to be a taboo in the Indian society), then his followers would move around and piss.

Looking at the corporate side of apotheosis, we have numerous examples of corporate czars, who have been regarded in almost the same high esteem, both by their employees as well as others. Their peaks of success are just like mountain peaks, rearing up against sky and apart from the normal life below. There are no two doubts about their majesty or grandness, somethings you can easily get in awe with. Only request, please don’t be myopic. Look around. Its all snow: white as shround and cold as death. Neither can a tree grow there, nor can a bird set up her nest. Still think, apotheosis is a blessing. Think again.

While it is human to feel cynical about the same, especially if your thought process is not in sync with the concerned individual, who has been heaped with such honours, think again. May be he/she is also not comfortable beacuse you have no one to share your burdens, no one to see beyond your smiles.Need one say “LIFE AT TOP IS ALL ALONE”.

 

 

 

Low Cost airlines in India: The past and the future

The history of civil aviation in India started with the first commercial flight on Feb 18,1911 covering a distance of 11 km between Allahabad and Naini by a French pilot Monseigneur Piguet. The next step came when the first domestic route was opened between Karachi and Delhi in December 1912. The Indian aviation industry has certainly come a long way since then.

Times change, and so do the market sentiments. The last ten days have yet again proved that nothing is impossible, else who would have predicted the stalwart I-Banks to go bust, that also in droves. Was recently reading an article echoing the sentiments during early 2006. It was the time, when the LCC craze was catching up. With Deccan launched in Sep 2003, Spicejet in May 2005 and Go Air in Nov 2005, there were others waiting to grab a pie of the ever expanding market (as it seemed at that point of time). After all, LCCs were tipped to capture 50% market share by 2010. There were talks by LCCs like “Every time we fly, the economy looks up”. Finding an investor was never a problem. In words of Kapil Kaul, CEO( Indian sub continent and Middle-East), Centre for Asia-Pacific Aviation, “There is a mad rush of money chasing India‘s aviation sector.”

 Also then, A meagre 6.67 percent of Indian middle class used to travel by air compared to 35 percent in China. So, with India shining, did it not mean a terrific opportunity? In the words of Ray Webster, the former CEO of easyJet,  “In Europe, the number (of passengers) is far lower, journeys are short, and traveling by train is a nice experience. Yet, the low-cost airline model has worked very well. I can’t begin to imagine the size of the market in India.”. He obviously had a point there and found many takers for the same. But, there was a voice of dissent too, some one whom people did not pay much heed to, and some who is soon going to start international operations of his airlines.Yes, it was none other than Vijay Mallaya who said“I don’t believe that there is a space for low-cost carriers in India. Where is the low-cost opportunity? You are forced to fly under dispersal guidelines on unprofitable routes, you pay the highest air turbine fuel (ATF) prices in the world, including humongous sales tax levied by the states, pay a lot of landing and parking fees, and there are no secondary airports where you can save money. On the contrary, air traffic control (ATC) delays are so huge that all financial calculations on point-to-point destinations go haywire. Pilots are costing a lot of money and there’s a rat race for engineers. So where is the differentiator?”

 CUT 2008, and the scenario changes. Deccan has been aquired, and lately rechristened Kingfisher Red, Spicejet was in desperate cash crunch, unless it had Wilbur Ross pumping in Rs. 345 crores,Sahara Airlines has been aquired and rechristened Jetlite. The few other operating airlines are also not breathing easy. With crude oil touching an all time high about a month ago, they burnt pockets like never before. Then came the spate of increasing prices and fuel surcharge, but how much deficit did it cover for them is still questionable?

Now, looking at the parameters, where a particular airlines can look to leverage cost benefits is faster turn around time, more load capacity, optimum staff utilization, and no frill flights ( no snacks or meals on board). Looking at few other parameters, airport congestion ( and therefore additional costs and levies), lack of proper infrastructure, increasing fuel prices, lack of trained manpower, they are common across all the airlines, and these are the factors which account for majority of the expenses for any airlines. Obviously, all of them are trying new and innovative ways gain as much of financial leverage as possible, but is there a room for the same? And what about the government regulation which ensures that the airlines fly to unprofitable sectors as well? Can they really do much about many of these parameters. Falling rupee has further compounded the problems as the expat pilot salaries and fuel prices are paid in dollars only.

Looking at the industry trends,  air traffic in India could double to 50 million passenger journeys a year by 2010. India would need 1,100 planes over that same period, worth $105 billion. Also, Centre for Asia Pacific Aviation (CAPA) estimates expect the domestic traffic to grow 25% to 30% annually and international traffic at 15% until 2010. But, does that mean that times are out to change for Low cost careers. Perhaps, I would like to go by the words of M.Thiagarajan, MD, Paramount Airways, who feels that there should be a threshold level in pricing to provide value addition to passengers, and in whose words, “a low cost airline in our country is a fallacy and may not be in tune with the sector which is still emerging whereas in the US and Europe the vastness of the geography together with the passenger volume have been responsible for LCCs survival”.

Hail communism or To hell with capitalism?

The blood bath in financial sector has shaken the confidence of one and all. Its not just investors, employees, academicians, but general people are also now questioning the very basics being followed. The level of distrust among banks reached an all time high, with them being refusing to lend among themselves. Stalwarts are either gone, on brink of collapse, bought by some other giant, or bailed out by Fed. Not long ago, Buffet had said that the derivatives are the weapons of mass economic destruction. Something, people laughed off, but the same thing is staring them in face, in a proportion, they would have never imagined.

Billions of investors’ hard earned money is gone, many top fliers are rendered jobless, and need to start afresh, and the global interlinkage ensured that the effects cascade to different geography and different sectors. But is it all? Some say the worst is still to come, some say the world economy was just saved by tottering because of timely efforts by Fed, and other central banks. China tampered with the interest rates for the first time in 6 years, RBI provided to support the free fall of rupee, Fed bailed out some of the corporations.

But a million dollar question doing the rounds now is: ARE THE PROFITS BEING CAPITALISED AND LOSSES SOCIALISED? Is it setting the wrong precedent for times to come? Fed bailed out Freddie and Fannie, bailed out AIG with 85$ billion purchase of its 80% stake, but at the same time, refused to lend the helping hand to Lehman brothers. What were the criteria responsilbe for helping hand for some on one side, while completely refuting the others who were expecting the same.. I am sure Fed has the answers for the critics, but it better come up with them fast, lest it is caught up in storm of suspicion.

The proponents of communism are gaga about their victory, as these last resorts prove their point in a certain way. The tax payer is also asking certain questions, as to did these corporations ever share their profits with him, and if not, why should be he made to share their losses? Also, what does he stand to gain out of these measures. Again, a question that sooner answered the better… There is a nice article refuting certain notions, which you may like to read at http://www.globalresearch.ca/index.php?context=va&aid=8424.

All said, it would not be surprising if more and more loss making firms look forward to Fed to bail them out, and then Fed would be forced to tread a line, which would not be easy, to say the least and though today, round 1 goes to the Communism supporters, it remains to be seen who has the last laugh?

There are no failures, only lessons

Mehmood Gazni attacked India seventeen times, before he tasted success. Big B went through strings of failures before delivering a hit. More recently, on a personal front, the young heart throb Shahrukh Khan proposed Gauri five times before getting a yes. Are these examples mere coincidences, or can a parallel be drawn.

Someone said, Failures are the pillars of success. Looking at the above mentioned examples, we can be assured of one fact. Had they given up after initial one or two attempts, things definitely would not have been the same. R.Chaplin once said,
“Mourn not the dead that in the cool earth lie…
But rather mourn the apathetic throng-
The cowed and the meek-
Who see the world’s greatest anguish and it’s wrong,
And dare not speak”
Drawing the analogy, it’s the learning of the lessons from the mistakes committed which matter rather than shedding tears upon it. Further taking a dig at the statement itself, the word FAILURE is a relative term, because failure for one can mean success for the other and it is only after few occurrences that we are in a position to judge the things.
The bottom line is that if one has quest for pearls, he or she has to jump into the unknown darkness of the sea, and it is up to an individual whether he or she takes the jump, or shies away just because of fear of making a mistake.