IIPM- News Articles: February 2008

Tuesday, February 26, 2008

Kancheepuram Red Silk Saree, 20,400,000 INR

If the nine-yard wonder made your mum-in-law happy, jus

t imagine what throes of pleasure would this throw her in…. A Kancheepuram Red Silk Saree measuring 486 metres, (featuring in Guinness Book of World Records as the world’s longest saree) exhibits motifs of Indian heritage & culture. Designed by Kerala based Seematti Textiles, the saree took 80 workers, 2 months & 18 days to complete and weighs a whopping 72 kgs! Think again if you were planning to wear it this Pooja!

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Source : IIPM Editorial, 2007

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

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Monday, February 25, 2008

Idol Making

Generation? Yes, Kumartuli, with a history older than Kolkata’s

has seen many generations. Around the middle of the 17th century, potters from Krishnanagar (south Bengal) came to the village called Gobindapore on the banks of River Bhagirathi (today’s Hooghly) seeking a sound livelihood. Their lives centred around clay pots, toys, idols & cooking utensils crafted in clay, by them. But colonisation’s rise evicted them off Gobindapore as the British East India Company demanded the land to build Fort William. Choiceless, the potters migrated to an area near Kolkata and named it Kumartuli (‘Kumar’ means potters and ‘Tuli’ locality). Here, their profession ascended the esteem ladder and idol making became lucrative as a handful Brahmins formed the first ever Durga Puja committee. With chanda (contributions) from the commoners, the first ever committee-arranged Durga Puja in Kolkata was seen in the 1790s (breaking the monopoly of Durga Puja being a domain of the rich). The responsibility of making idols of Gods and Goddesses fell on the artists of Kumartuli. And thus sprang a glorious artistic tradition that became a cultural motif of Bengal.

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Friday, February 22, 2008

A rather unconvincing stock market bounce!

Bernanke’s love for asset markets will force him to repeat the same old mistake
From an intraday low at 1370 on Augus

t16, the S&P 500 rallied by more than 100 points to a recent high at 1479. Coming from a deeply over-sold condition the rally was not surprising but disappointing for two reasons. Volume diminished, and on each day of this rally the number of NYSE stocks making 52- weeks new lows exceeded the number of stocks reaching 52-weeks new highs. Still, I doubt that the Fed will resist supporting the stocks market at the expense of a weaker US dollar and higher inflation. This would mean that a new high for the stock market in dollar terms is possible. In this context we should not forget that Mr. Bernanke’s main thesis – about which he has both repeatedly written and spoken – is that the Great Depression could have been avoided if the Fed had flooded the system with liquidity right away. He is also the man who suggested that if deflation became a real threat the Fed could always drop money from a helicopter onto the United States.

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Wednesday, February 20, 2008

Sourcing & Supply

“A major part of merchandise, sourcing & supply have already being p

lanned by the designers and this year, the various new formats of retail that have come up are expecting a big turnover,” predicts Gibson G. Vedamani, CEO, Retailers Association of India. And as the festive season draws near, the behemoths of organised retail are in the lurch for footfalls, and are expected to fight tooth & nail with the unorganised players to grab the maximum advantage. Even some of the larger incumbents are on the offensive now, realising that their position is under threat. Pantaloon, for instance, has un unveiled some mega plans for the season. During the period from September to November, they will be rolling out 4 Pantaloon stores in 4 new cities and there will be various discount offers to beckon the consumers. Reasons Mayur Toshniwal, Head Operations (North Zone), Pantaloon Retail India Ltd., “During September- October, we have a growth in turnover by 35-40% and you have to be fully loaded with your merchandise, marketing schemes & other promotional activities.” Understanding quite well that the success mantra for marts & departmental stores lies in ‘emotional marketing’ and ‘window dressing’, the marketing teams from Chairman Kishore Biyani’s other ventures have also swung into action.

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Friday, February 15, 2008

Revelry is in vogue!!!

With festivities knocking on the door, textile titans are all set to entice the consumers

The wait is over. The celebrations have begun. And hackne

yed this may sound, but the diktat: shop, shop, till you drop, has only become more pervasive over the years. So with anticipated breath, textile bigwigs are weaving massive game plans to drape the denizens of the country. Well-heeled buyers notwithstanding, textile titans this year are catering to all cadres of the society. Road-side markets, street shops and local apparel stores with their unbranded offerings are ready to compete fiercely with branded apparel makers. Global chic retailers, too, are hogging the limelight with their easy on the pocket offerings. Shopping during the festive season is an unforgettable experience. From discounts to sales, from freebies to incentives, players are launching an avalanche of schemes to garner a greater share of the consumer’s wallet. And why not, when industry experts, too, are betting high on this festive jamboree. The highly acclaimed KSA Technopak’s ‘PANIndia’ Survey 2006, brought out that thetextile sector (both dress material & apparel) generates an exorbitant 60% of its annual sales in September & October alone. Similar thoughts are echoed in the findings of Confederation of Indian Textile Industry (CITI), which states that over 50% of apparel sales happen from September to November.

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Thursday, February 14, 2008

Grand fiesta

In fact, it won’t be wrong to say that the figure may run in mil

lions. Little wonder that the developer’s fraternity is gearing up for the grand fiesta. Invariably, the upcoming festival season will spur demand for real estate, and to capitalise on the increased demand, the developers are not leaving any stone unturned. Such is the inferno of the festive season that many realtors are pushing back their launches/bookings/ deliveries to the gala season. On an average, the demand gets inflated by 10-20% across all segments – residential and commercial in the festival season. “Our experience says there is at least a 20% rise in demand,” comments Partho Kumar, Vice President, Alliance Nirman Limited. Realtors deploy different tactics (special discounts, relaxation in payment terms, value added products/services) to magnetise the prospective customers. Many builders are giving freebies, off ering free air-conditioning or interior facilities or even paying a few initial EMIs for their customers. Not only this, developers are using other innovative techniques as a bait to lure the customers.

For Complete I I P M Article, Click on IIPM Article

Source : IIPM Editorial, 2007

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

Monday, February 11, 2008

Figure may run in millions

In fact, it won’t be wrong to say that the figure may run in m

illions. Little wonder that the developer’s fraternity is gearing up for the grand fiesta. Invariably, the upcoming festival season will spur demand for real estate, and to capitalise on the increased demand, the developers are not leaving any stone unturned. Such is the inferno of the festive season that many realtors are pushing back their launches/bookings/ deliveries to the gala season. On an average, the demand gets inflated by 10-20% across all segments – residential and commercial in the festival season. “Our experience says there is at least a 20% rise in demand,” comments Partho Kumar, Vice President, Alliance Nirman Limited. Realtors deploy different tactics (special discounts, relaxation in payment terms, value added products/services) to magnetise the prospective customers. Many builders are giving freebies, off ering free air-conditioning or interior facilities or even paying a few initial EMIs for their customers. Not only this, developers are using other innovative techniques as a bait to lure the customers.

For Complete I I P M Article, Click on IIPM Article

Source : IIPM Editorial, 2007

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

Friday, February 08, 2008

The first half of the calendar year has been a rather dry one for banks in t

erms of lending, especially retail loans. Consider HDFC Bank for that matter. After a meteoric increase in retail lending in 2004, 2005, 2006 and the first half of 2007, it came to a halt. In H1 of the calendar year 2006, HDFC Bank disbursed retail loans worth Rs.32.77 billion, as against Rs.21.66 billion for the same period in the previous year; an increase of 51%. The first half of 2007 saw the retail lending growth dropping from 51% to 25% to Rs.41 billion; courtesy hikes in interest rates. So is there some relief in the coming festival season? Do banks really have the room to provide some kind of relaxation to customers? Well, it appears to be an emergency situation where some big banks are ready to pay from their pockets, as they want their business kicking again.

For Complete I I P M Article, Click on IIPM Article

Source : IIPM Editorial, 2007

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

Thursday, February 07, 2008

Real challenge

The real challenge for HR in an organisatio

n is to be able to establish its credibility, ensuring that its internal customers observe significant value in their contribution to the organisation. In a tête-à-tête with Sugato Palit, Head-HR, at Perfetti Van Melle India, B&E finds out how PVMI is dealing with the ‘people challenges’ so that they become a ‘partner to the business’. Palit is of the opinion that in any organisation, people are perhaps the only ‘asset’ that ‘appreciates with time’. Little wonder that Perfetti has in place many approaches to access talent and get the right candidate on board. Besides the usual method of visiting campuses, Perfetti emphasises on two other critical processes, which work very well for the Italian confectionery major. One is the process of ‘Employee Referrals’, which works wonderfully, given that if an employee knows the organization well, then evidently s/he will be able to judge correctly the type of person who will fit into the organisation’s culture. The second method is that of Internal Job Posting (IJP), which strives to fill vacancy internally.

For Complete I I P M Article, Click on IIPM Article

Source : IIPM Editorial, 2007

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

Wednesday, February 06, 2008

“Europeans are lazy”

So what? If overachieving, workaholic Americans are the ben

chmark, Europeans are positively idle. Across the richer parts of EU, people typically work far fewer hours, with shorter working weeks and longer vacations, than their counterparts in US. But who says bigger cars and sub-zero refrigerators are preferable to more free time? If Americans live to work and Europeans work to live, Europe might be right. The people of Old Europe live well. The standard of living in rich (albeit slow growing) countries such as France and Germany is higher than America’s wage slaves might expect or hope. The US’ much higher output per person is due mostly to more hours on the job, not to superior productivity while working. Most Europeans are actually just as productive as Americans on a per-hour worked basis. In 2005, GDP per hour worked was actually higher in supposedly stagnant France ($49) than in the US ($48).

For Complete I I P M Article, Click on IIPM Article

Source : IIPM Editorial, 2007

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