Showing posts with label MNC. Show all posts
Showing posts with label MNC. Show all posts

Friday, January 11, 2013

A lesson taught ...and learnt?

from the ceo to the office boy, from the business tycoon to the paan waala, from urban to rural; mobile handsets have travelled a great distance in india, and so has nokia. but thanks to the latest twists in the tale, nokia may need to adapt quite a bit very soon

The ‘Black & White’ era went into decline mode in India way back in 1982, when the first colour TV sets were introduced on the occasion of the Asiad Games (movies were already in colour, though; interestingly, India’s first indigenously produced colour film was Kishan Kanya; way back in 1937). But the ‘grey’ era continues to be strong till date. Not on your screens, my friend, but in markets. Ask the MNCs and they will recount, in horror, countless stories on how the grey market has, time and again, wreaked havoc with their plans.

And that was just the beginning of Nokia’s quagmires when it entered the Indian market in 1995. It was a market where mobile phones and services were a luxury item. With the prices that these models commanded, you could get a decent second hand Fiat car in those days!

There were a few key planks on which Nokia played its cards, and played them well. Firstly, they developed phones specifically for the Indian market, with durability to withstand Indian conditions and features like torch, vernacular SMS, news feeds, et al. Also, with other players like LG, Sony and Samsung being perceived as diversified consumer electronic companies, Nokia scored heavily on the fact that it had a core focus on mobile phones & developed strong brand equity.

Also, it developed phones for all price points. They backed this up with an intensive distribution strategy and were greatly helped by the tie up with HCL Technologies. “We realised that one of the main challenges was the geographical spread of the consumer and hence we invested extensively towards overcoming this challenge,” reveals Vineet Taneja, Director, Marketing Nokia India.


Source : IIPM Editorial, 2012.
An Initiative of IIPM, Malay Chaudhuri
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Thursday, November 08, 2012

Industrial infection

MNCs are hailed as national treasures but their devil-may-care attitude results in tragedies, making them global shame

globalisation is inevitable as we reside in ‘global village’. And the entities which benefit the most, perhaps, out of this phenomenon are modern day centres of affluence & influence – MNCs. As they profit and in the process, enhance employment and production, goes unnoticed is that their drive to profit, which leaves the rest in pain, is their lack of concern and efforts towards safe working of their industrial units, across the globe. While a McKinsey report has exemplified that cumulative market value of top 10 Fortune 500 companies is equal to combined GDP of India & Brazil or total forex reserve of six leading Gulf oil exporting countries in 2006, but their irresponsible, greedy & biased business policies and activities without considering people, environment & legal aspects, have brought apocalypse in form of fatal industrial accidents, environmental hazards, affecting millions in myriad other ways.

Start with Bhopal gas tragedy in 1984; which is the most horrifying industrial catastrophe in history, claiming between 3,000 and 20,000 lives, leaving thousands with serious diseases and injuries. The reaction of Dow Chemical, the global giant providing innovative chemical, plastic and agricultural products and services and responsible for this industrial catastrophe, publicly disowns its accountability. Moreover, it tried to console affected families with mere $300-$500. And when nearly 200 women protested against Dow for its meagre liability and for not really taking any proactive mechanisms to clean up the area stacked with dangerous toxic waste which spreads many gas related diseases in the small town Bhopal, it has sued them for raising voice against the company using it’s political, monetary & muscle power.

When an explosion and fire ruined a fireworks factory belonging to Bright Sparkles Sdn. Bhd. at Sungai Buloh, Malaysia in 1991, causing 22 deaths & injuring 103, Bright Sparkles remained lukewarm in helping victims and their families and compensating the environmental damages it has caused.


Source : IIPM Editorial, 2012.

For More IIPM Info, Visit below mentioned IIPM articles.
 
IIPM : The B-School with a Human Face
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