Never say die... till U’re dead!

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As a matter of fact, the sector as a whole has also been marred by stringent RBI regulations which does not make life any easier for players like Omaxe. The central bank has increased interest rates to control inflation, besides restricting fund flows in it. “As the availability of funds from banking sector is being restricted for the Real estate players – both big and mid-size players are compelled to borrow from the High Net-worth Individuals (HNIs) at high interest rates of about 20% which is not helping their cause anyway,” explains Wadhwa. Omaxe and party have got another setback from foreign inflows too with the global crisis looming large over and with the investors keeping doors locked in the wake of the US financial crisis.

Nevertheless, Omaxe seems to have solved the cash-crunch puzzle to fund its mega projects. It has strategically opted for debentures to accelerate the pace of completion of its projects as Goel explains, “To mobilise large funds, Omaxe has taken the route of debentures for the consistent endeavour of completing all our projects on time.” Strengthening the financial standing of the company, Omaxe has also paid 60% of the total term facility of Rs.3.0 billion taken from Indiabulls Financial Services Limited. Also it has paid-up the entire outstanding sum on debentures issued to LIC Mutual Fund. Despite the fact that the term facility was for a period of 3 years, this was done to strategically prepay the loan in order to free up the equity. Omaxe is also planning to retire the outstanding of Rs.1.2 billion shortly. So in the face of such a cash crunch, is the plan of ‘going public’ in the pipeline too? “No,” confirms Goel. Issuing an Initial Public Offering (IPO) is one aspect of fund raising which the company wants to stay clear of looking at the currently volatile market. Moreover the company’s total debt of $600 million (which carries an annual interest rate of 16%), also has to be taken care of, as investors get restless by the day.

Omaxe has also unleashed plans to concentrate more on affordable housing projects in the price range of Rs.3 lakh to Rs.10 lakh to fight the dying demand in high-end housing. It has planned out investments totalling $20 billion to develop 10 lakh ‘affordable’ homes for low-income consumers. “The need for affordable housing is driving the real estate industry now. Our prefabricated township and affordable rate & reservation based allotment are the USP of the project making it a hot cake,” explains D. P. Srivastava, Vice President, Omaxe Limited.

So there you are – troubles indeed for Omaxe and others in the realty market, but one ray of hope is the mid and low-income Indians who may just be willing to spare their dimes for some value-for-money asset as Srivastava further justifies, “Omaxe will develop the corridor and build affordable housing units by using cost-effective technologies and using land-sharing techniques...” All is therefore not lost. With the RBI slashing CRR rate twice in quick succession, about Rs.600 billion is expected to be pumped into this sector. Troubles galore, but that ray of hope on the horizon may just keep Omaxe and party going. “Never say die... till you’re dead,” is the way to be for all in the sector; for now...

For more articles, Click on IIPM Article.

Source : IIPM Editorial, 2008

An Initiative of IIPM, Malay Chaudhuri and Arindam chaudhuri (Renowned Management Guru and Economist).

For More IIPM Info, Visit below mentioned IIPM articles.
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The bigger you get, the better for you... Mr. Rohtas Goel, CMD, Omaxe Ltd

IIPM Programme :- SUPERIOR COURSE CONTENTS

Are the big builders and brand names easing out the small and mid-size developers?
The real estate sector is heading towards being the favourable for end-users. A stable economy and rising inflation rate have forced companies to cut costs. This has resulted in a lot of struggle ahead for mid-size developers with small projects. Small and mid-size developer need to join hands to build big projects together.

During this cash tight situation will small and mid-size developers and their small projects find it difficult to complete their projects on time?
Banks are going slow on funding a real estate project and the prices of land, materials and labour have increased two fold. Small and mid-size property developers are in a cash-tight situation finding it difficult to meet their project deadlines and only big developers with large budgets, brand names and mega projects would be able to make it.

Will only big developers with large budgets, brand names and mega projects be able to survive this slump? Or is there still hope for small and mid-sized players?
Larger players with mega projects will be able to survive this slump since they can identify with end-customers and match their expectations with superior performance.

Small and mid sized players who are not able to strategise their business in the current market scenario and who have less expertise in the development of real estate will surely feel the liquidity crunch. These players can only survive by consolidating their expertise to complete a project. This is between one developer who has land but no resources and the other who has the resources.

For more articles, Click on IIPM Article.

Source : IIPM Editorial, 2008

An Initiative of IIPM, Malay Chaudhuri and Arindam chaudhuri (Renowned Management Guru and Economist).

For More IIPM Info, Visit below mentioned IIPM articles.
Now IIPM's World-Class Education... for everybody!!
IIPM INTERNATIONAL - NEW DELHI, GURGAON & NOIDA
IIPM - Admission Procedure
IIPM, GURGAON
IIPM : EXECUTIVE EDUCATION
IIPM’s 36th Glorious Year of Academic Excellence
4Ps Power Brand Awards 2007
When IIPM comes to education, never compromise
Why Study Abroad When IIPM Gives You 3 global Advantages!
IIPM Ranked No. 1 B-School In Global Exposre - Zee...

monojit lahiri attempts a checkout to this disturbing phenomenon of kids moving away...

IIPM Programme :- SUPERIOR COURSE CONTENTS

Creative. Fun-biz. Arty. Glamorous. Culture-specific. Intellectual. Cerebral. Idea-driven. Business/market-friendly. Life-enhancing… Advertising has always spawned a zillion descriptions and definitions. It was that rare calling that fused mystique with market-forces in one magical sweep. It was that rare profession that embraced both the pin-striped B-School types and the bindas Art-College guys without hiccups or hassles. It was that rare career-path that attracted the brightest and best creative minds, desperate to be liberated from the stereotypical jobs (Law, Engineering, Medicine, Bank, Government) available in the market to explore avenues that informed, engaged, entertained, even empowered. Whatever happened to that magnetic pull? Why is Adland losing its allure as a desirable career-destination? What has triggered this deadly drought?

Motorola’s Senior Director, Sales and Distribution (India and South West Asia), Lloyd Mathias is convinced that it has to do with the slew of alternative career-choices available (on a silver platter) to today’s bright kids. “Where were the choices, even a decade and a half ago? It was all so closed, restricted and stereotypical. Also, tradition and convention played a much bigger part, so one usually followed the path that was safer and risk-free. Today the spread available allows for more adventuring,” shares Mathias. He also believes that money plays a huge part in this dramatic re-alignment, “The kind of packages that fresh B-School grads are offered can be mind-blowing.” Finally, he points to a distinct lack of iconic and inspirational leaders whose vision and values prompted, persuaded and motivated an earlier generation to go for it. “Today, it appears to be an each-for-himself and god-for-all situation! It’s more individual personalities – than team – that are celebrated. Maybe it defines the times we live in…,” he adds.

Sid Roy, Executive Director of the Kolkata- based Ad Agency, Response agrees, “In these consumer-driven times, bright new-age kids, confronting the perils of peer-pressure every day, fall victims to the big-bucks syndrome. Quite natural. The options. The packages… and most importantly what it promises them in terms of lifestyle statements… no Ad Agency job can touch that! Also, the profile of this new-gen – unlike the previous one – is different. It’s about impatience, speed and now! Experience and Gray-haired eminence has been buried. It’s performance today that matters! How the work impacts bottom lines!” Roy believes that while all of this is not a bad thing, it has led to “a generation of net-literate, Googled, book-illiterate types. A constituency that lacks vision, values or wisdom and hopes to compensate by getting all of life’s answers through the Internet. Scary!”

For more articles, Click on IIPM Article.

Source : IIPM Editorial, 2008

An Initiative of IIPM, Malay Chaudhuri and Arindam chaudhuri (Renowned Management Guru and Economist).

For More IIPM Info, Visit below mentioned IIPM articles.
Now IIPM's World-Class Education... for everybody!!
IIPM INTERNATIONAL - NEW DELHI, GURGAON & NOIDA
IIPM - Admission Procedure
IIPM, GURGAON
IIPM : EXECUTIVE EDUCATION
IIPM’s 36th Glorious Year of Academic Excellence
4Ps Power Brand Awards 2007
When IIPM comes to education, never compromise
Why Study Abroad When IIPM Gives You 3 global Advantages!
IIPM Ranked No. 1 B-School In Global Exposre - Zee...

Changing agencies is not a good idea

IIPM Programme :- SUPERIOR COURSE CONTENTS

But have clients got their priorities right? Pressure, competition, cut throat rivals, breaking the clutter, media fragmentation, accountability and delivery apart, in the final analysis, is it really a good idea to change your existing agency? Brand-building does take truckloads of creative and emotional intelligence. And perhaps agency B may not really be able to deliver the same EQ to your brand as perhaps agency A did. “Yes! Changing agencies is not a good idea. After all, a constant agency adds continuity to the brand proposition,” says Chauhan of Rediffusion.

He could be right! You only go back to the 41-year-old Amul butter campaign, famous for puns on current events, to know that stable brand management is vital. Sylvester DaCunha of DaCunha Associates is the man responsible for the campaign’s vitality since the beginning. Even Fevicol (Fevicol Ka Jod) trails a similar path with its two decade old relationship with agency O&M. B. O. Mehta, President, Pidilite Industries told 4Ps B&M: “The brand has grown with Ogilvy, they know the DNA of the brand, which it would be difficult for any new ad-agency to take up.”

Or take Nike globally. Ever since ad man Dan Wieden coined the ‘Just Do It’ slogan 20 years ago, the brand has stayed with the same agency and prospered in the process.

But for that kind of an enduring relationship, passion and honesty are the two key ingredients. Agencies must treat the brand as their own babies and clients must give agencies the status of ‘partners’ not ‘vendors’. The only way out of this current client-agency quagmire is for agencies to move back up the value chain. Kamath of Star India concurs. “The real opportunity for the industry now is to go back upstream and become a consulting partner again.” Kamath has a valid reasoning.

The moving up the value chain has already started, with communication strategy outfits like ‘Naked Communications’ hitting the scene in the west. Described by the Washington Post as the ‘future of advertising’, Naked considers itself as the conductor of the brand communication opera, works corroboratively with existing agencies (creative, media, digital and BTL) and simply ‘partners’ the client. Naked understands the future as getting all folks to be responsible for the brand together. Basically, the world’s changed and marketers know it. It’s up to agencies now – they must wake up and smell the coffee! As a fitting sign off to this piece, we bring to you Jon Wilkins, the founder-partner of Naked Communications (see adjoining page), spelling out the future course of advertising in India and across the world, as he sees it!

For more articles, Click on IIPM Article.

Source : IIPM Editorial, 2008

An Initiative of IIPM, Malay Chaudhuri and Arindam chaudhuri (Renowned Management Guru and Economist).

For More IIPM Info, Visit below mentioned IIPM articles.
Now IIPM's World-Class Education... for everybody!!
IIPM INTERNATIONAL - NEW DELHI, GURGAON & NOIDA
IIPM - Admission Procedure
IIPM, GURGAON
IIPM : EXECUTIVE EDUCATION
IIPM’s 36th Glorious Year of Academic Excellence
4Ps Power Brand Awards 2007
When IIPM comes to education, never compromise
Why Study Abroad When IIPM Gives You 3 global Advantages!
IIPM Ranked No. 1 B-School In Global Exposre - Zee...

Up, Close & Personal with Adi

IIPM Programme :- SUPERIOR COURSE CONTENTS

It was raining incessantly. When we reached the Godrej complex for a 9:30am appointment, we were fairly certain that the patriarch Adi Godrej would probably be late because of the rains & clogged roads. We were wrong. He had apparently reached office about an hour before us! “I appreciate things, which are pre-arranged and I start my day very early so I can give time for everything,” affirms Adi. In a freewheeling interview with 4Ps B&M, the man behind Godrej shares his views on India Inc., leadership style, his passion and more...

4Ps B&M: Has the recent logo change been good for Godrej’s positioning?
AG: Yes. The message needed to be conveyed that Godrej has moved consistently with time and we are changing faster. This was communicated well through the logo change.

4Ps B&M: How do you think Godrej as a group has evolved over the years?
AG: The Godrej Group has always moved in lockstep with the Indian consumer’s progress. As India has evolved, so too has Godrej. Today, more than 400 million consumers use one or the other Godrej product everyday. We are rapidly increasing this number through the creation of innovative products and global standard brand management practises.

4Ps B&M: Once a market leader in various verticals, Godrej has slipped on sustaining its position in some of these verticals. Do you think the recent changes will help Godrej to regain its lost glory?
AG: Godrej has grown consistently over the years. We maintain our strong position in a number of our flagship categories. We have constantly remained the second largest toilet soap manufacturer in the country, we are leaders in the hair colour category and are the largest manufacturer of household pesticides in Asia through our Godrej Sara Lee joint venture. Our appliances business is also among market leaders.

4Ps B&M: But isn’t India changing faster than Godrej is?
AG: India today is extremely different than what it was 15 years ago. The mindset has changed and I have no hesitation in saying that today’s generation has confidence which is more than us. It’s so nice to work with young people. I know there is a huge difference between my working style and today’s generation. But that’s where team work comes in and we as a group have changed with India.

4Ps B&M: You are an India Inc. veteran. From where you stand, do you think China is changing faster than India?
AG: Another 3 to 4 years and China will grow faster but still we will have the highest diversity in demography. I also feel that our capital productivity is relatively better and lots of young entrepreneurs are now representing India. This first generation entrepreneur without any strong business family base are doing superb. Sunil Bharti Mittal and G.M. Rao of G.V.K are notable among first generation entrepreneurs.

4Ps B&M: Does this mean the end of the legacy of time honoured family run businesses like yours, Tatas and Birlas?
AG: Family run businesses have always done well in Europe and USA and India is not an exception. If you notice, family run businesses just have the legacy of a family, but are actually run by non-family persons. They are also being run by professional MBAs and they have the potential to make it as large as seen on the global scale. Moreover, most successful family run businesses have a competitive spirit and good succession planning.

4Ps B&M: How are you focusing on succession planning and who would carry the legacy of Godrej? Tanya?
AG: Tanya is heading the Strategic Marketing Group and she’s doing it very well. But apart from her, there are other members from the next generation of our family who are very buoyant and keen to learn something new. Navroze, is also learning very fast. In fact, that has been our policy. Whosoever from our family joins the organisation, should necessarily go through training.

4Ps B&M: What are the key challenges in front of Godrej and also in front of India as a country?
AG: For the Godrej Group, as with any large employer in a rapidly growing economy, attracting, retaining and managing talent is a priority. Together with this, the need to constantly delight consumers means that we need to continue innovating our ideas flawlessly. From a macro perspective, I think poverty is a major challenge for India and we are still lacking behind in terms of literacy rate.

4Ps B&M: What’s your leadership model and in your eyes, who’s an ideal leader?
AG: Earlier I followed a military command; everything has to be in due time and perfect. But soon I realised I was wrong. I now follow team work, where any of my employees can come to me anytime. I think a leader is one, who’s admired rather than who creates an atmosphere of fear. That’s the reason my favourite leaders are Mahatma Gandhi, Margaret Thatcher and Jack Welch.

4Ps B&M: You where just 17, when you went overseas to study mechanical engineer. But, then you switched to management. Why?
AG: I was too young when I was enrolled at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. I planned to study mechanical engineering as I was too young to think of the future. But later I realised that my family business would require me and I should opt for management.

4Ps B&M: What makes the owner of Rs.75 billion Godrej Group, who can afford the costliest products, use a simple Godrej shaving cream? Is it because Adi Godrej wants to be a self brand ambassador for his company?
AG: I have brand ambassadors like Katrina Kaif, Hrithik Roshan and people prefer watching them rather than looking at me. I believe our products are world class so I use them. My mother who was a school teacher always taught me how to be simple and never to forget humility. I miss her a lot. I believe that what Indian masses can use, I can use. So, it’s not only the Godrej shaving cream, in fact, I often change my bathing soap also, but the precondition is that it has to be a Godrej brand.

For more articles, Click on IIPM Article.

Source : IIPM Editorial, 2008

An Initiative of IIPM, Malay Chaudhuri and Arindam chaudhuri (Renowned Management Guru and Economist).

For More IIPM Info, Visit below mentioned IIPM articles.
Now IIPM's World-Class Education... for everybody!!
IIPM INTERNATIONAL - NEW DELHI, GURGAON & NOIDA
IIPM - Admission Procedure
IIPM, GURGAON
IIPM : EXECUTIVE EDUCATION
IIPM’s 36th Glorious Year of Academic Excellence
4Ps Power Brand Awards 2007
When IIPM comes to education, never compromise
Why Study Abroad When IIPM Gives You 3 global Advantages!
IIPM Ranked No. 1 B-School In Global Exposre - Zee...

Electrifying boon for storage devices

IIPM Programme :- SUPERIOR COURSE CONTENTS

Hybrid hard drives for mass storage will increasingly emerge as a high value solution

Rajesh Khurana,
Country Manager, Seagate Technologies

With the explosion in user generated digital content, Internet penetration and emergence of digital devices that require backup in many forms, storage is finding newer applications and usages in new verticals. Nearly 44% of Seagate revenue is being generated from the Asia-Pac & India is a key focus area for Seagate.

In the coming years we’re going to witness exciting developments in storage market – in terms of technology & products as well as emerging verticals. This will be true globally, and India will be no exception. The traditional market in India (PC and enterprise storage segment) will continue to grow and is still the prime segment in volumes. IDC has estimated that the country is now consuming 2.5 million PCs per quarter and this is still a growth market. The Indian server market for instance sees a growth rate of 15% year-on-year.

But now we will see the emergence of new applications consequent to increasingly digital lifestyles, professional & personal digital storage going mobile and data of all kinds – personal photographs, videos and music, work-related data, enterprise information, all being on demand – anytime, anywhere. Consider this – Gartner has estimated that half of business travelers by 2012 will not be carrying their laptops with them when they move. This could give rise to an entirely new class of “pocketable” devices – UMPCs, mobile Internet devices, high-end smartphones, personal entertainment devices.

Among the newer emerging application areas will be digital video surveillance systems, rapidly becoming ubiquitous, empowering a broad variety of security solutions throughout banking/finance, casinos/gaming, retail/commercial, corporate, government (internal security, law enforcement). All of these will be storage-enabled. The hotel industry alone will spend $82 billion on electronic security. Consumer electronics (CE) is another emerging field of application. The rapid acceptance of digital entertainment and a need to store those files in an inexpensive medium is accelerating HDD integration into CE products. Improved broadband speeds enable home networking, which lets consumers tap a PC’s hard drive for storage. The gaming market, both with portable devices as well as networked/web-based gaming, is just taking off in a big way. HDDs for the gaming devices demand a combination of capacity and size.

SMEs are now looking for cost-effective storage solutions, particularly in the NAS and SAN applications. The established brands often are unable to provide the economical solutions where investment may be in line with what SMBs generally plan for their annual outlay on IT infrastructure. This is emerging as a huge market opportunity.

One of the most revolutionary pointers to the future is the move towards ‘green computing.’ We’ll see the emergence of ‘hybrid’ hard drives for mass storage in certain applications as a key technology trend. Hybrid drives, essentially offer a combination of magnetic media based storage and flash storage. While traditional HDDs remain the largest part of market, hybrids will increasingly emerge as a high value solution. IDC estimates that by 2012, shipments of storage drives (currently at around 400 million units) would go up to about 850 million units per year. And approx. 12-15 % of these would be hybrid drives.

At Seagate, we’ll continue to look at new and emerging market segments that are poised to grow exponentially in India – these include the application-specific hard drives for consumer electronics segment, the security and surveillance segment and the very demanding gaming segment. Seagate will also see the further expansion of the recently introduced initiative of retail access points in smaller towns, this will take its brand directly to consumers in such locations.

For more articles, Click on IIPM Article.

Source : IIPM Editorial, 2008

An Initiative of IIPM, Malay Chaudhuri and Arindam chaudhuri (Renowned Management Guru and Economist).

For More IIPM Info, Visit below mentioned IIPM articles.
Now IIPM's World-Class Education... for everybody!!
IIPM INTERNATIONAL - NEW DELHI, GURGAON & NOIDA
IIPM - Admission Procedure
IIPM, GURGAON
IIPM : EXECUTIVE EDUCATION
IIPM’s 36th Glorious Year of Academic Excellence
IIPM Ranked No. 1 B-School In Global Exposre - Zee...
4Ps Power Brand Awards 2007
When IIPM comes to education, never compromise
IIPM is A World of Career
Why Study Abroad When IIPM Gives You 3 global Advantages!
IIPM Ranked No. 1 B-School In Global Exposre - Zee...