F r o m t h e E d i t o r ’s D e s k

The first editorial by a first time editor is like the first tender step of a

little child – tentative and tenuous but full of hope and possibilities.

The first step symbolizes earnest efforts to emerge from helpless

dependence to a world beyond the mother’s apron string. In our case

too, the first issue is symbolic in ways more than one.

The cover says it all. The image of a butterfly evolving out of an un-

wieldy, ugly pupa typifies the emergence of a bunch of uncut profes-

sionals into managers of tomorrow, ready to take on the world in

their strides. In that sense, the emphatic ‘i CAN’ couched cleverly

within the cover calligraphy sends the message of quintessential

manager loud and clear. The message goes beyond mere symbolism.

The first issue is, in another sense, the measure of men from

‘Nowhere’ to ‘Now Here’. It represents the metamorphosis of the mot-

ley lot from different walks of life to a confident group, ready to face

the world.

Coming to specifics, the first issue includes articles from EPGP ,

PGP students of IIM Indore, the distinguished members of IIM-I fac-

ulty, established alumni of IIMs , luminaries from the corporate world

and significantly from Leon and Harvard business schools. In other

words, genuine efforts have gone into the making of the magazine, to
Editorial Team
cover new grounds and provide a wider perspective so characteristic
V. Narasimham
Deepak Chauhan of the IIM tradition.

Riddhi C
Anupam C
Our next issue, we are confident, will have an even broader canvas
Chandan Pal
and wider horizon.

Design & Layout Thank you and happy reading !

Prabhakar K

Chandan Pal
Editor

1
In This Issue
Team Building and Innovative Leadership
"Chak de is a really inspirational movie…just look at
our hockey, football & cricket teams…they have
started winning in every field after the release of Chak
De…" Bacha Prasad
IIM-I’s Management Program with a difference..
Deepak Chander
Self Organizing Model for Large Ticket
Portfolio Management
Here I have tried to develop a model that provides an
integrated automated workflow for managing the large
ticket portfolio management work - Sonal Sareen
The Great Indian Hunt
“Hunters are of all ages, some as young as 19 or 20 years
old whereas the more experienced ones are above the
age of 35 and even 40.” - Pranav Agarwal
Indian Healthcare—Opportunities & Challenges
The challenges the sector faces are substantial, from the
need to improve physical infrastructure to the necessity of
providing health insurance and ensuring the availability of
quality trained medical personnel — Girish Mehta
Make A Wish On The Shooting Stocks—Bet on
the Indian Market
4 Try and identify what attracts you the most in this sizzling
13
casino. Do not spend too much effort in identifying con-
trarian trades – things that do not move. You may pick the odd
winner, but chances are akin to banging your head against a wall
- Abhishek Rajgarhia
Capital Account Convertibility—India’s Dilemma
Why can’t a country adopt fixed exchange rate system (i.e.,
7 officially fix the exchange rate) or intervene in the foreign ex- 14
change market to ensure stability of exchange rate to moderate
the impact of capital flows? -Prof. Ganesh Kumar Nidugala
8
Inclusive Banking
But, have these developments trickled down to masses? Are
these measures adequate to solve our problems of poverty, 16
unemployment, illiteracy and malnutrition? - Rajiv Narayan
Energy Security-Is the oil shock permanent?
If the present rate of economic boom continues, then the daily
10
requirement for oil or oil equivalents is expected to be some- 19
where north of 150 million barrels per day-Dr. Shiv Kumar
Intellectual Property - India’s Key to Survival
Weak Indian IP Laws is one of the reasons why we do not have
too many inventors, but a tremendous intellect power
20
11 Deepak Chauhan
ENTREPRENEUR’S QUIZ
Designed by Ibis Associates
Are you? Financial Dimensions of HRD Decision
….to understand Audits of Human Resource, Social, Envi-
23 34
ronment, Productivity, Efficiency and Value Added are
essential to take fair decisions.. Prof. Dr. V.K Gupta

Courtesy –The Lost Horizon

I have often wondered whether it is too much of an effort 25
to greet another person? - Prof. Abha Chatterjee
Million Dollars or Knighthood
What would you do? asks Harpreet Singh 39
.

Sudoku Manager
As you play this game, making strategies to fill those blocks, you A Real Life Saga—Motivation
When I was transferred here, a dual feeling operated in my
will find an association between Sudoku and management- 40
mind – a challenge to overcome and a fear of defeat. Little
Riddhi Chokravorty
26 did I know that there was a third twist in the whole set-up-
Anupam Chakravorty

Leadership
The best way to learn to lead is to do it. There’s a leader within
Job Communication– The Art of Winning
all of us. It’s time we discover it- Sameer Tikko you may have proper qualifications, experience, knowl-
28 43
edge, confidence, and appropriate skills but you may still
find it difficult to get the job... M Ashraf Rizvi

Crisis Unites Humanity While Peace Fosters

Discord
The prime difference between peace and crisis is not the 30
qualities they impart to humanity in form of unity or discord;
the dichotomy really lies in the way a change is affected
Niraj Mohan
Unleash Thy Mind
If research could arrive at some practical methods by which
man could channelise his thoughts more towards visioning 45
strategizing and planning for the future, we could safely say
”WE HAVE ARRIVED” Arjun Basu

CRM Was, Is and Will be

"Some may say [Siebel and SAP] are the only two vendors
Book Review - Entrepreneurship From Opportunity to
Action : By DAVID RAE 46
people think about. But that's not really the case. There's a 31
wide range of other players out there."-Raju Ganguly Mrinal Srivastava

Crossword 24
SCM Logistics in India
We need companies, who can see the larger picture and
think supply chain as not just a cost centre but also as a 33
strategic initiative….Purnendu Kumar

Quiz Time 42
 Team Building & INNOVATIVE Leadership
Leadership
Introduction:
People, especially of Western societies today focus on the “bottom-
line” in business. There is much focus on the tasks necessary to pro-
duce the expected results. To produce goods and/or services in this
competitive work environment demands a high level of integration of
competencies, technologies, and personalities in the work team.
Studies have established that the most productive groups or teams of
employees are the most satisfied and motivated and who tend to be
the most collaborative. This says bottom-line productivity is influenced
by high levels of motivation, innovation and competence. It is being
demonstrated that happy employees are productive employees. Or-
ganizations that have satisfied employees have a higher degree of
productivity and a lower employee turnover, thereby reducing costs.
Synergistic teamwork in an organization does not just happen. When
assignments designate a group of people to work together, there is no
guarantee that high levels of production and outcomes will automati-
cally happen. The integrative relationships between team members
are critical to the long-term success of the team.
Though team is always necessary but its need felt strongly in follow-
ing conditions:
• When we are trying to deal with a situation/problem, where no-
body knows the answer. Though an answer is expected to exist.
• When dealing with rapid changes.
• When the task at hand is really very difficult.
4
CANVAS
Team and its potential:
“Coming together is beginning,
keeping together is progress and
working together is success”.
The term ‘team’ is defined by Katzenback & Smith as, “A team is a
small number of people with complementary skills, who are committed
to common purpose, set of performance goals and approach for
which they hold themselves mutually accountable.”
Team potential can be much more than the arithmetic sum of the
potential of the individuals. It is usually called regarding a team, if the
potential of two individual is 1 each, then the potential of the team will
be 11 and not 2. Thus, a team of people working together can—
• Achieve better results than individuals working alone,
• Be more flexible than larger group
• Take more risks and explore areas than individuals may
avoid
• Generate wider range of ideas than individuals,
• Help each other grow in skill and confidence,
• Demonstrate commitment not only to the task but to each
other.
 Team Building & Innovative Leadership

A team differs from a group in many of confusion and uncertainty.

Characteristics of a dynamic team:
ways. A group is physical congregation, Storming (Conflict):--This is the highly
1. Clearly states its goals and objec-
which becomes a team when it acquires conflicting period, during members be-
tives
the below mentioned characteristics: come hostile to each other.
2. Operates creatively
1. Shared values Norming (Cooperation):--- This is the
3. Focuses on results
2. Interdependence period during which the members become
4. Clarifies roles and responsibilities
3. Commitment towards the shared more cohesive, identify with group, and
5. Is well-organized
goal establish close relationship. During this
6. Supports leadership and each
4. Interpersonal skills period, feelings of camaraderie and
other
5. Mutual trust shared responsibility prevail.
7. Builds upon individual strengths
6. Consistency Performing (Productivity):-- During this
8. Develops team climate
7. Conflict resolution period, work is performed at full potential
9. Resolves disagreements
8. Listening and production/ productivity reaches its
10. communicates openly
9. Consensus peak. The productivity is highest as ques-
11. Makes objective decisions
10. Cooperation tions of leadership and relations are al-
12. Evaluates its own effectiveness
11. Openness or feelings expressed ready well established.
among members Adjournment (Separation):---Now team
Team building and its stages: There
12. Focus on group process may cease to exist as purpose for which it
are following five stages of team build-
So, it is important to establish a “WE” was established is already achieved.
ing:
organization rather than a “ME” organiza-
tion.
Forming (Awareness):--This is the first
“Ask not what your team stage of team building, during which
Note: Some of the experts don’t consider
can do for you, but what members meet each other with a lot en-
the fifth and last stage as stage of team
building, as it may not at all exist in some
you can do for your thusiasm and get acquainted, establish
of the cases.
ground rules. This is the period with a lot
team."

5
CANVAS

Team building and leadership in “Chak
De” way
Movie review: Kabir khan (SRK), India’s hockey team captain
receives blows of insults after the Indian team loses out to Paki-
stan in the world cup finals. Moreover, the “khan” factor raises
questions on his loyalty to the country and eventually he gets
tagged as a traitor. Seven years later, The Indian women hockey
team is looking for a coach and of course, the association is not
serious about the coach-hunt. It just doesn’t matter - these girls
are supposed to do the household work and not play international
level hockey. Even if they play, can they ever win?
SRK, inspite of knowing the association’s callous attitude accepts
the challenge and realizes that his real job is not about coaching,
but keeping the entire team function as a single cohesive unit. The
team had players with big egos, diverse background and different
attitudes.
It is a very good and successful management case study which
has created ripples in the corporate world, as the theme is some-
thing which people can relate to. The multi- cultural diversity and
its attendant problems, the work place politics and finally the tri-
umph of ethics and commitment of the team over all odds, make it
look like a fairy tale come true.
6
CANVAS
Dr. H Chaturvedi, Director, BIMTECH (Birla Institute of Manage-
ment Technology) told in an event recently, "To make learning
more effective, we should always evolve innovative ways in teach-
ing. Chak De is a very stimulating film, and BIMTECH has used it
efficiently to convey the principles of management studies. BIM-
TECH has taken special permission from the producer - Yash Raj
Films to use the clippings of the film at the event."
"Chak de is a really inspirational movie…just look at our
hockey, football & cricket teams…they have started winning
in every field after the release of Chak De…"
Thus whatever may be the method team building is very important
for getting optimum performance of any organization. This is more
relevant in current environment of cut-throat competition of corpo-
rate world.
Bacha Prasad did his bachelor’s degree in Mining Engineering from Bihar
Institute of Technology (BIT) Sindri and M.Tech in Mine Environment from
Institute of Technology (IT), BHU, Varanasi. He has an experience of over 7
years in mining industry in various functions. He is currently a student
of EPGP at IIM Indore batch of 2007-09
IIM-I’s Management Programme with a difference ….

I
n late 2001, once I was reasonably sure about the future of my consulting start-up in the field of life sciences, I was

contemplating joining a business school. I had options with eminent business schools in India as well as

abroad. My personal situation needed me living in India and I had little good options others than a full time MBA
program.

Deepak Chander graduated in 1996

from the Indian Institute of Technology

Delhi. He has over a decade of diverse

experience in various functions in the

industry. His business exposure

ranges from manufacturing to market-

ing and business. At present, he is

working as Business unit head with

Lanxess AG. Earlier, he was Global

Marketing Manager for one of the

businesses of Rohm & Haas, materials

and specialty chemicals company

head quartered in Philadelphia, USA.

In the year 2001, IIM Indore chose to launch the first semi full-time management graduation program. The design of the

program focused on accelerated learning for the working executives in a classroom based module that would be substanti-

ated through out of the classroom modules. The outline of the program was attractive because, after quick review of the

management fundamentals, it emphasized in detail on application of management principals on real life problems, some-

thing more valuable for the working people.

I opted for the EPGP program at IIM Indore, because of its content and the design that enabled me to learn and apply the

management skills set at the same time in real life situations. I am convinced that students in the EPGP program will be

relatively more proficient in effectively solving the real life problems using B-school management theories than those in any

other MBA program.

7
CANVAS
 ‘Self Organizing
Model for Large
Ticket Portfolio
Management,
Business Case
The financial institutes, who lend money to commercial clients, ei-
ther to buy a new venture, or spin off, or MBO or LBO and other
requirements institutions require a great deal of financial analysis
and constant monitoring the Clients for there credit worthiness and
working under compliance.
These lending can be in various formats ABL, CDO, CLO, etc.
These sophisticated lending procedure and mechanism in itself are
very time consuming and detail oriented leaving portfolio managers
with very little time for managing and optimizing portfolios. In to-
day’s scenario, a portfolio manager has to do a lot of manual and
tedious work which utilizes a lot of his time spreading financials,
calculating ratios, calculating risk, etc. and is left with little time to
focus on analyzing them in detail.
Here I have tried to develop a model that provides an integrated
automated workflow for managing the large ticket portfolio manage-
ment work.
CANVAS
Idea explained…
The concept is to integrate the whole financial management system
of the financial institute which comprises the financial to analyze,
compare & model to eye there portfolio investments and to search
for better investment options.
The idea is to suggest a process that automatically accepts finan-
cials and store them logically to support model on top of it.
This knowledgebase is then used by various modules like Risk Mod-
ule, Portfolio Module and Business Intelligence module to share the
data and develop models and perform analysis automatically.
Building Knowledgebase - The Financials are acquired from vari-
ous sources like SEC, if client is public company and required to file
returns at SEC and from other private institutions and automatically
scanning and feeding in a database which has comparable structure
of financials stored to provide a knowledgebase for further analysis.
Accounts Analysis Module – This module does some basic number
crunching for the system and provides ratio analysis and covenants
calculation.
Portfolio Analysis Module – This module takes the feeds from
Knowledgebase and develops the intra firm comparison of financials
as well as comparing with the peers. And providing auto-generated
financial comparison reports, also it provides the risk analysis of the
portfolio.
Forecasting and Simulation Tools – The next steps in portfolio
management is to determine how portfolio is going to operate in
future. This tool tries to do the advance forecasting of cash flows,
profits, etc. and assist the portfolio manger in performing simulation
and what if analysis.
Market Analysis Module – This Module is an add-on to provide the
portfolio manager with analysis of Industry and country. This module
is a central repository which helps in taking more informed and col-
laborated decisions.
8

Business Intelligence & Reporting Module – This module pro-
vides all analytical and exceptional reports required by portfolio
manager at any level. This also helps in making various slice & dice
and pivot analysis reporting.
Key features of the model:
The tool automatically picks up the financials and spread it accord-
ing to the Accounting standards; the financials are automatically
stored in database to support comparison amongst each other and
for time series against previous years.
The ratios are automatically calculated.
A model picks up the information and tries to calculate the credit
worthiness and financial strength of the companies based on vari-
ous scoring model.
All these tools sum up and logically arranged into an executive
dashboard or portfolio dashboard as per relevance and importance.
All the KPI as calculated automatically and are strategically located
on the dashboards.
An automated tool calculates the future projections of the compa-
nies based on time series and tries to predict the future profits and
cash flows.
An embedded tool performs the sensitivity analysis and helps the
project managers and executives to do what if analysis and simula-
tion on future credit worthiness, profits, default frequency, cash
flows, etc.
Where are we heading for?
With a next-generation financial statements Analysis & management
Application Financial Institutions will be enabled to efficiently and
CANVAS
Self Organising Model for Large Ticket Portfolio Management
effectively manage credit risk and to rate their commercial custom-
ers by leveraging the financial information found in their customers'
financial statements. A system which reduces the analysis time of
credit analysts and document managers on collecting, managing
and analyzing their customer’s financial information.
The Portfolio Managers will be able to manage the portfolio in more
strategically way by use of new and innovative mathematical portfo-
lio optimization and management tools.
It will provide a one automated end to end solution for all the re-
quirements of the financial institutes.
Summary:
The Model explains an approach of integrating the whole process of
portfolio management and supporting portfolio managers to dedi-
cate there time to analyzing the portfolio rather than managing the
manual process and making the knowledgebase.
Using the suggested approach the financial institutions can leverage
the use of cutting edge IT tools to manage there portfolio in better
fashion and optimize them to fullest.
Sonal Sareen CA, works as Business Consultant in Talent & Organisation
Consulting group at Hewitt Associates. His areas of interest includes financial
modeling and risk analysis. He is a regular contributor to various magazines
and journals. He can be reached at sonal.sareen@gmail.com
9
The Great
Indian
Hunt
D
eep within the masses of lands and mountains, lakes
and rivers, hidden deeply yet easily accessible is the
Biggest and Largest Jungle, the meanest place in this
country. A jungle that is full of deer to hunt, dense trees protect
the most coveted and biggest ones. To get to the innermost
realms of the jungle, one needs to cross many tests, fight other
hunters, display their superiority.
Every hunter who gets to the far end of the jungle and lands one
of these big deer is destined to make it big, enjoy the admiration
and laurels of his peers. The hunting season is from the second
week of November to the end of April. Many people are known to
practice and train for months on end before the season begins,
perhaps for a year or two that people prepare for the hunt and
give it their best.
Hunters are of all ages, some as young as 19 or 20 years old
whereas the more experienced ones are above the age of 35 and
even 40. Last season there were more than 2,00,000 hunters who
tried their hand at the hunt. The number of deer were also high,
but most of them vie for the top ones, the biggest and fastest
deers, which dwell only in the furthest part of the jungle.
In, fact they are so deep into the forest that hunters begin their
hunt in the beginning of the season only to hunt down the deer in
the month of March and April. There are no more than 2000 such
deer and last year’s hunters have not returned again. Generally
the ones who hunt down these top prizes never come back for
more. It is almost a nirvana for hunters.
For those who are not as lucky to reach the furthest end of the
forest, there are many many more deer at all parts of the forest.
The government is not far behind on this too. They have been
10
CANVAS
trying to introduce more number of deer into the forest, but as with
everything else Indian the demand far outstrips the supply.
Recently there have been some queer developments in this jun-
gle. Many hunters who were at it for multiple seasons have now
left for other jungles in foreign lands. Some have left the hunt all
together whereas the more determined ones come back year after
year hoping for better success. There are numerous hunting
schools that train and coach the hunters on the skills, tricks and
loopholes of the entire process.
There are many who have bagged multiple deer in the past. How-
ever as rules have it, no person can take home more than one
and the hunter is forced to make a choice. Another interesting
observation is the introduction of new deer and foreign deer into
the Indian jungle. This has dramatically changed the scenario and
increasingly giving the erstwhile kings a run for their money.
Few people know what will happen with this jungle in the near
future. One thing that is for sure is that it will last, last long and
wide, it will grow, grow large and big, it will thrive, thrive like never
before. Hunters will increase and so will the hunted. The seasons
will keep rolling; the trophies will keep coming up.
This is after all THE GREAT INDIAN HUNT!
Pranav Agarwal
PGP Batch of 2008
IIM Indore
“Pranav is a second year student at the Indian Institute of Management
Indore and loves travelling, listening to music and blogging."For comments
mail him at pranav10@gmail.com
The
Indian
health-
care in-
dustry is
poised for unprecedented growth. The
industry has never seen any downtrend,
and is expected to witness continuous
growth. There are many factors for this
growth:
Large population: The population is
growing at the rate of 2 percent per annum
and is a major factor. More people imply
more healthcare requirements.
Growing affluence and spending power:
There are two kinds of healthcare spend-
ing: discretionary spending and compul-
sory spending. Discretionary spending will
grow as the affluence grows and will lead
the growth of the healthcare industry
GDP Growth: The economy is booming.
Over the past four years, the GDP growth
rate has been over 8 percent on average,
and is expected to remain between 6-7
percent for the next 15 years as well. This
means more money with the people and
even if one takes poor percolation, masses
having money to spend on discretionary
healthcare needs.
Affordability and availability of quality
healthcare: Increase in the number of
hospitals has ensured easy access to
healthcare. This trend is specifically
brought by the private sector through
opening medi-cities and specialty health-
care centers. Several multi-specialty hos-
pitals are coming up in metros that are
attracting foreigners to come to India for
healthcare needs. The medical tourism
boom is around the corner, possibly in the
next 3-5 years.
Growing disease burden: Another factor
driving the growth of India’s healthcare
sector is a rise in both infectious and
chronic degenerative diseases. While
ailments such as poliomyelitis, leprosy,
and neonatal tetanus will soon be elimi-
nated, some communicable diseases once
thought to be under control, such as den-
gue fever, viral hepatitis, tuberculosis,
malaria, and pneumonia, have returned in
force or have developed a stubborn resis-
11
CANVAS
tance to drugs. India is witnessing a boom
of another kind that is a rapid growth in
lifestyle related ailments like heart attacks
and diabetes. It is estimated that at least
3-4% of India’s population suffers from
diabetes and a similar number with heart
related disorders. Combined with the
availability and affordability of related treat-
ment, this shall fuel the growth to health-
care for many more years to come. Medi-
cal insurance, currently not a very impor-
tant factor, may give a huge growth impe-
tus to the Indian healthcare industry. In
next 3-5 years, insurance may bring cash-
less transactions, as well as medical insur-
ance based diagnostic testing and hospi-
talization to a large group of people. In the
wake of liberalization, health insurance is
projected to grow to $5.75 billion by 2010,
according to a study by the New Delhi-
based PHD Chamber of Commerce and
Industry.
Outsourcing Opportunity: Healthcare
outsourcing as expressed through pathol-
ogy samples, tele-radiology, and clinical
trials and by means of telemedicine will
also be a significant factor driving the
growth of healthcare in India in the future.
While outsourcing of pathology samples to
India has not met with a huge success so
far, the early successes of telemedicine
and clinical trials pioneers have led to
increased acceptance and proliferation of
such centres.
Today there are approximately 120 tele-
medicine centres throughout India. The
Asian Heart Institute (AHI) is planning to
establish 60 more telemedicine satellite
centres across the interiors of Maharash-
tra. The government has also made a
major commitment to the growth of tele-
medicine. The Indian Space Research
Organization (ISRO) plans to establish 100
telemedicine centres across the country.
ISRO has already connected 25 major
hospitals in the mainland and plans to link
at least 650 district hospitals by 2008. The
government also is reducing import tariffs
on infrastructure equipment. And while
India has yet to pass legislation on tele-
medicine related issues, the Ministry of

Information Technology has developed
“Recommended Guidelines & Standards
for Practice of Telemedicine in India,”
with the goal of standardizing digital com-
munication in telemedicine. The Medical
Council of India has formed committees to
explore this and other legal aspects of tele-
medicine.
Similarly in clinical trials, Indian companies
have established themselves as reliable
provider of quality services in lower strata of
the business namely bioequivalence based
trials and are inching their way up into high
end areas like phase 1, 2 and 3 trials.
Lastly, the public private partnership in
healthcare shall lead to availability of quality
healthcare to masses at affordable
price. Combined with spread of
insurance (likely to be provided by
the government to the masses), this
will fuel the growth of healthcare for
decades keeping in mind the huge
population.
Technology and Skilled Man-
power: “The enabling factors for
Growth” India is largely advanta-
geously placed on both accounts.
As far as the availability of the latest medi-
cal equipment is concerned, India is at par
with its counterparts. Therefore, there are
hardly any limitations or challenges. The
rebuilding of India’s healthcare infrastruc-
ture, combined with the emergence of medi-
cal tourism and telemedicine, will drive
strong demand for medical equipment.
Leading international companies market
most high value medical equipment, while
only consumables and disposable equip-
ment are made locally. Many international
companies have expanded their operations
in the Indian market in recent years and
established manufacturing facilities to as-
semble equipment for the domestic market
and export sales. The competition is ex-
pected to intensify with the entry of more
global firms into the medical equipment
marketplace. The government is encourag-
ing the growth of this market, through poli-
cies such as a reduction in import duties on
Indian Healthcare: Opportunities & Challenges
medical equipment, higher depreciation on
life-saving medical equipment (40%, up
from 25%), and a number of other tax in-
centives.
As of now India does not suffer from lack of
trained manpower in healthcare because
has a large number of medical colleges in
public and private sector. Some of them are
world class and their students are highly
respected for their skills. However, quality
of medical education needs to improve
drastically if one wants good personnel to
come out of these institutions. This is one
area where improvement is needed and
appropriate steps shall be taken to plug the
deficiencies.
Diagnostic Services Business in India
Widely regarded as the least glamorous
part of the whole healthcare spectrum but
holding tremendous potential, the Diagnos-
tic testing business in India is still in unor-
ganised sector and there are only three or
four organized players in this business,
controlling only around 10-12 percent of the
total diagnostic testing market. The balance
88 percent is still in the hands of individual
small laboratories.
There are close to 50,000 laboratories that
operate under their own rules and regula-
tions. In comparison to the developed coun-
tries, regulation is a major limitation in India.
Other issues include varied pricing points
and quality. The sector is witnessing
changes and is on a path of getting organ-
ized. However, it would be fair to say that
the current scenario would continue for
12
CANVAS
another 8-10 years. As far as the numbers
are concerned, we will definitely not witness
a sharp decrease in the number of laborato-
ries. Out of the 50,000 laboratories, around
30,000-35,000 should remain in the next 10
years.
There are five or six segments within this
market, out of which biochemistry, hematol-
ogy, and immunology are the three main
segments. They comprise close to 90 per-
cent of the overall pathology testing market.
Biochemistry and hematology involve basic
testing and together form the bulk of total
testing. Immunology is set to double in size
while the other two will continue at the exist-
ing growth rate. New areas like molecular
biology have a small base and are set to
grow at an approximate rate of 30-35
percent.
Conclusion
The Indian healthcare sector can be
viewed as a glass half empty or a
glass half full. The challenges the
sector faces are substantial, from the
need to improve physical infrastructure
to the necessity of providing health
insurance and ensuring the availability
of quality trained medical personnel.
But the opportunities are equally compel-
ling, from a huge domestic market to lucra-
tive outsourcing business. For companies
that view the Indian healthcare sector as a
glass half full, the potential is enormous.
Mr. Girish Mehta, President and SBU Head of
Wellspring, a fully owned subsidiary of Nicholas
Piramal India Limited is a product of IIT Mumbai
and IIM Kolkata. He has a rich experience of over
17 years in different industries. He started his
career in marketing, followed it by a long stint in
management consultancy and then took up the
challenge of establishing Wellspring. He is cred-
ited with establishing Wellspring as one of the
largest players in a short period of 4 years with
turnover of more than 150 Crores.
 MAKE A WISH ON THE
SHOOTING STOCKS
BET ON THE INDIAN MARKET
E
ssentially, the Stock markets globally are a casino, and
that is what makes it exciting and interesting for the
public at large. All of us out here, need an adrenalin
boost and the clientele at the Indian Casino is growing very rapidly,
with online trading and dedicated call centers being set up by In-
dian brokerages to facilitate more and more participation. The
market base is getting thicker and younger and we have witnessed
new record volumes being set and beaten in the run up so far.
Some of our top honchos have made their way to the Forbes Top
10 and India has finally stepped into the global boardroom, all
geared to make its mark on the global economy.
It has been a magnificent cruise for the BSE-30 Scrip Index
(Sensex) to 20000 level currently and as I write this article, I am
betting on the Sensex to at least double from the current levels by
2010. There may be occasional hiccups as it rises which is essen-
tial for the market in its own way. We all might reason that nothing
much has changed in India yet, what makes the Sensex touch the
20000 mark and still looking up? At first glance the Indian market
appears expensively priced both on an absolute and relative basis,
to other emerging markets. Yet these static comparisons do not
take into account the higher growth projected for the Indian econ-
omy. With such a fast growing market, it is important to value the
future growth prospects. The Attitude and mindset of India has
changed. Better industry prospects in the wake of the govern-
ment’s greater emphasis on accelerating infrastructure growth are
the obvious explanations. There are a whole lot of things happen-
ing in this direction such as development of SEZ’s, power projects,
privatization of projects related to infrastructure development are
the major ones and not to forget the financial reforms.
Here I would like to highlight some rules I believe for investing in a
bull run. It might be a dream come true for some wise investors,
while it must have been harrowing for some traders who were
trying to fight the roaring ticker. The thing to do in a bull market is
13
CANVAS
to spot the right baskets to be in and then not ask questions. Intelli-
gent analysis and rational thought are always useful companions in
any market, but once you have placed your bet on the right stock,
give it a wide berth. More often than not the stock will climb to
valuation levels that will look absurd to you. Never mind, pat your-
self on the back, take credit for it and do not even think of fighting
the trend. Enjoy the profits and do not regret if you left the party a
bit too soon, it does not matter. Strange things happen in a bull
market so do not short what you do not understand. Just step
aside respectfully if you do not have the heart to participate, you
may not make money but you will not lose either. Try and identify
what attracts you the most in this sizzling casino. Do not spend too
much effort in identifying contrarian trades – things that do not
move. You may pick the odd winner, but chances are akin to bang-
ing your head against a wall. Also, do not rely on news or media.
They will only comment on what is the current trend, and are mas-
ters at changing sides. By profession they can never be loyal to
what they say and mean. And most importantly, do not bet if you
are afraid to lose and unable to trust your own instincts. If we have
bet on own instincts, there is satisfaction in even losing, lot to learn
and nobody to blame. As individuals, the idea is to make money,
lose little, never to be the first in class. We are hardly fund manag-
ers, only ordinary folks getting lucky from a bull run.
Abhishek Rajgarhia holds a bachelors degree in Chemical engineering
from Thadomal Shahani Engg College in Mumbai. He has gained vast
business exposure through family enterprises comprising of manufactur-
ing and trading activities and is serving a telecom company as Network
Commercial. He is currently a student of EPGP at IIM Indore class of
2009.
 Prof. Ganesh Kumar Nidugala

Why can’t a country adopt fixed exchange rate system

(i.e., officially fix the exchange rate) or intervene in the
foreign exchange market to ensure stability of exchange
rate to moderate the impact of capital flows?

Capital Account Convertibility

India’s Dilemma
W
hy is capital account con-
vertibility such a thorny issue
for policy makers? Isn’t it
simple – foreign capital can boost invest-
ment in the country and produce faster
growth? Well, after all it is not that simple.
Like any medicine it has its side effects.
When we say foreign capital it can take
different forms. One broad classification is
based on the duration of the flows. Based
on this you can have short-term flows and
long term flows. Under long-term flows we
mainly have foreign direct investment (FDI).
FDI is considered to have smaller side ef-
fects when compared to short-term capital
flows. The short-term capital flows viz. capi-
tal that goes into stock markets, bond mar-
kets or short-term loans can flow in easily
but they can also flow out quickly. When
expectation of devaluation of the local cur-
rency builds up, foreigners may suddenly
pull out capital. Opening up for capital out-
flows for domestic residents adds another
dimension to the problem. When the local
currency is expected to depreciate, given
the chance even the residents would like to
take out capital and bring back later on
when currency has been devalued. Who
does not want to make a quick buck? Such
sudden capital outflows can cause steep
changes in exchange rate putting the econ-
omy out of gear for several years.
Why can’t a country adopt fixed exchange
rate system (i.e., officially fix the exchange
rate) or intervene in the foreign exchange
market to ensure stability of exchange rate
to moderate the impact of capital flows?
This is where we have to understand Fren-
kel’s (1999)1 ‘principle of impossible trinity’.
As per this principle a country can not have
all the three choices – monetary policy inde-
pendence, liberalized capital flows and
exchange rate stability.
Developing countries ideally would like to
have the benefit all three things –free capi-
tal flows, independent monetary policy, and
exchange rate stability. Developing econo-
mies which are growing fast or which intend
to grow fast need capital. Opening for capi-
tal flows and prospect of growth attracts
capital. The objective of faster growth also
necessitates independent monetary policy
so as to gear the interest rate and channel
credit to finance the growth. Exchange rate
stability is deemed to be important for inflow
of foreign capital, particularly, the portfolio
capital flows. In absence of exchange rate
guarantee of some sort, foreigners may not
be interested in investing capital for the fear
of losing their capital via the exchange rate
changes.
The impossible trinity says that all the three
things are not feasible. For instance, if a
country liberalizes capital flows but wants to
have exchange rate stability, it has to give
up its monetary policy independence.
Why? As the central bank buys foreign
currency (due to excessive capital inflows)
to prevent the domestic currency from ap-
preciating the domestic money supply rises.
This can cause inflation. Similarly when
capital starts to go out of the country, selling
foreign currency to maintain exchange rate
stability can lead to fall in domestic money
supply. This can push up interest and throw
the economy into recession. Thus, the cen-
tral bank loses control on money supply or
we can say it loses monetary policy inde-
pendence.
Another issue related to capital inflows is
what is called as the possibility of ‘Dutch
Disease’. This problem was named after the
problem Netherlands had to go through

1
Frenkel, Jeffrey (1999): No Single Currency Regime is Right for All Countries or at All Times, NBER Working Paper 7338

14
CANVAS

when it discovered significant oil reserves
and exported oil and related products. The
resulting inflow of foreign exchange led to
appreciation of country’s currency. Appre-
ciation hurt the domestic manufacturing
sector. Even excessive capital inflows and
resulting appreciation can also lead to the
same problem.
India’s dilemma
India implemented economic reforms since
1991. However, India retained control on
capital flows, particularly the short-term
capital flows. Even the liberalization of
foreign direct investment flows was imple-
mented gradually. India was supposed to
implement capital account convertibility in
1999-2000 as per the earlier report of
Tarapore committee report (1995). How-
ever, series of financial crises, including
the Asian financial crises, made India put
capital a/c convertibility on hold. Many
observers identified capital account con-
vertibility as one of the prime causes of
crisis in the emerging economies. Also, the
signposts set out in the report such as
fiscal deficit and inflation, were
achieved. Now that India’s Balance of
Payment position looks healthier, once
again the issue of capital account converti-
bility has taken the center stage aided by
the recommendations of the new Tarapore
Committee report (2006). As per this re-
port, the revised date line for implementing
capital account convertibility is 2010-11.
Capital Account Convertibility: India’s Dilemma
What has been India’s experience so far
with freeing up capital flows? While the
trinity (monetary policy flexibility, exchange
rate stability and openness to capital
flows) cannot co-exist in their extreme
form, Indian experience suggests that it is
possible to have monetary policy flexibility
with limited openness to capital flows and
some stability in exchange rates. The
Reserve Bank of India ensures that volatil-
ity in exchange rate is not extreme while
the country allows restricted access to
foreign capital. Till a year ago, the capital
inflows into India have not been significant
(around $5 billion p.a.) when compared to
such flows into developing countries
(China for example gets $50 billion p.a.).
One of the reasons for this is of course
capital controls. Another reason could be
the fact that exchange rate variability intro-
duced the element of risk for foreign inves-
tors and Indian firms that would like to
access foreign capital and foreign firms
that want to invest in India.
Quite recently (2006-7) India has been
not facing problems of huge amount of capital
inflows and had to implement measures
such as controls on P-note issues in order
to moderate capital flows. RBI’s rising
reserves (currently at over $260 billion) is
an indication of the capital inflows into the
country. The Rupee has appreciated by
around 15% against the US$ over the past
one year. In absence of the intervention by
the RBI things could have been worse.
15
CANVAS
The appreciating rupee is beginning to
cause some sort of Dutch disease. Al-
ready, by the government’s own admission
20 lakh jobs may be lost in the export
sector (reported in leading Indian dailies)
due to the recent appreciation of rupee.
Loss of jobs cannot be swept under the
carpet in a democratic country like ours.
Considering the recent remarks made by
the govt. about the need to moderate capi-
tal flows, it is unlikely that full capital ac-
count convertibility is going to be imple-
mented any time soon. Should any of the
developing countries face another bout of
currency instability, the issue of capital
account convertibility will once again go
into the back burner. What is the most
likely scenario then? We might move to-
wards greater openness to capital move-
ments with authorities playing cat and
mouse game with the issue of capital ac-
count convertibility.
Prof. Ganesh Kumar Nidugala is fac-
ulty in Economics Area. His work
experience includes teaching at
T.A.Pai Management Institute, Mani-
pal (1993-97), IIM Indore (1997-2001)
and Stansfield School of Business,
Singapore (2001-2007). He is a Fellow
(Economics) of IIM Ahmedabad. He
was awarded with Ford Foundation
Post Doctoral Fellowship in Econom-
ics (1996-97) under which he pursued
research and course work at Univ. of
Southern California, Los Angeles,
U.S.A.
He has published research papers in
Economic and Political Weekly, The
Indian Economic Journal, Indian Eco-
nomic Panorama etc.
His Areas of interest are: Macroeco-
nomics, Monetary economics, Inter-
national trade and finance, Options
and futures.
BankIng
Introduction
We know that India is a very large country
in terms of population and other diversi-
ties. Progress and prosperity of all the
countrymen has always been a challenge
for the policymakers in the Indian econ-
omy. In the last decade we have been able
to achieve high growth potential in our
economy due to large scale liberalisation,
globalisation and technological break-
throughs. This has enabled us to ride on
GDP growth rate of above 9%, BSE sen-
sex sailing over 20000 mark, foreign ex-
change reserve above $230bn, large
scale investment by foreign institutional
investors in equity and debt market and
capital inflows by foreign direct investors.
But, have these developments trickled
down to masses? Are these measures
adequate to solve our problems of poverty,
unemployment, illiteracy and malnutrition?
There is no doubt that the recent develop-
ments have been able to improve the living
standards of a particular section of society.
Hence, the present economic direction is
beneficial to the country and our people.
But, it remains a fact that 70% of our popu-
lation live in rural areas on a paltry income,
55% of our work force depends on farming
which is heavily dependent on erratic mon-
soon, 28% of our population live below the
poverty line, 39% people in our country are
illiterate. We rank 126 in human develop-
ment index (HDI). 18% of our people do
not have access to safe drinking water,
10% of the work force is underemployed or
unemployed makes us think of the innova-
tion in the present scenario.
16
CANVAS
It has been realised that there is a large
section of population who are still left out
of the present economic growth process.
This makes them stagnant and impover-
ished. The only way to improve their lot is
to bring them into the economic main-
stream. This will help them to grow at the
rate of economy. This can be achieved in
two ways. One of them is fiscal, in which
the governments take various measures.
The other one is monetary and credit
measures. Reserve Bank of India, National
Bank for Agricultural and Rural Develop-
ment, Small Industries Bank of India, Na-
tional Housing Bank act as facilitators in
this sector. The commercial banks and
cooperative banks, with more than 40,000
branches spread all over the country and
more than 500,000 employees in its mani-
fold, are the main players of the credit and
monetary policies.

Role of the banks
The banks play a major role in the econ-
omy. They play the balancing act by taking
money as deposit from those who have
surplus to be lent for productive purpose or
to raise standard of living. Hence the banks
can help inclusion of people in the eco-
nomic mainstream in the following way.
1) Saving habit: - At present the poor
expend what they earn or put their
money with someone who seldom
elope the money. The banks can in-
culcate saving habit among the poor
households by opening their accounts
at zero or very small balance. This
way people are able to park their 5)
money securely and meet their future
exigencies. The banks can do this by
adopting the villages in rural areas
and clusters in urban areas.
2) Change in attitude: - The banks must
perceive the poor as a creditable lot.
We are aware that the poor take
money from moneylenders at hefty
rate of interest and repay them at any
cost. If they can be creditable at such
a high rate of interest then they can
easily repay the loan to the bank.
Hence, the banks should feel free to
lend to the poor for production as well
as consumption.
3) Agriculture development: - The 6)
banks should encourage agriculture
graduates to establish agri-clinics in
rural areas, so that the farm-
ers are able have correct
To the society
knowledge of the quality of
soil of their land and get
Poverty Alleviation
proper consultancy regarding
crop production. The banks
Employment generation
should lend to agriculturists
for purchase of up-to-date
equipments for soil testing, Rise in standard of living
vermi-culture etc. The banks
should encourage veterinary
Increase in productivity of labor,
doctors to establish clinics for as more people are taken into
treatment of cattle and con- economic mainstream
sultancy regarding up-
keeping of cattle. Literacy
4) Provision of inputs to farm-
ers: - The banks should pro- Better civic amenities
vide credit to needy farmers for pur-
chase of agriculture inputs like high
variety seeds, fertilisers and irrigation.
To reduce the dependence of farmers
on monsoon, farmers should be en-
couraged to use micro-lift water irriga-
tion and rain-water harvesting tech-
niques. Mechanisation of farming
activities should be encouraged by
banks by providing credit facilities for
purchase of tractor, power tiller, culti-
vator, leveler, thrasher, etc. The banks
should arrange for procurement of
high yield variety cattle, cattle feed,
poultry, fish prone etc.
Non farm sector development: - 7)
Rural and urban artisans should be
encouraged for establishment for
village and cottage industries and
credit can be provided to them for
purchase of equipments and other
inputs. Establishment of food-
processing industries will help the
farmers to grow cash crops like sugar-
cane, oilseeds etc. Educated youths
should be encouraged to take on
entrepreneurial ventures individually 8)
or in a group. Formation of self help
group (SHG) of poor, particularly
women should be encouraged and
credited for their productive activity.
Education and health: - Since the
To the Bank
Increase in business
Increase in profit
Fulfillment of social objective
Customer loyalty
Fulfillment of social goals
17
CANVAS
Inclusive Banking
government has already incurred a
heavy cost on education, the banks
have nothing much to do except edu-
cating them about the power of knowl-
edge. The banks should encourage
establishment of a well furnished
health clinic for treatment of diseases,
maternity health and family planning
awareness among the poor. Voca-
tional training and training for use of
information technology to the edu-
cated poor youth to cater the skill
requirement to corporate and entre-
preneurial development can be sup-
ported and financed by the banks.
Marketing and linkage: - The banks
should provide adequate support to
establish linkage of farming products
and artisans’ product to be sold at
remunerative price. Development of a
well established rural ‘haats’ is neces-
sary for the buyer and seller of the
area so that the people are able get
things of need at affordable cost and
the sellers get remunerative price of
their products in their vicinity.
Encouraging manufacturing: -
Banks should encourage establish-
ment of industry and manufacturing
units to absorb the surplus labour in
the rural and urban sector. The small
scale industries and the medium scale
To the corporate
sector
Increase in consumer base for
goods and services due
Increase in productions and
sales
Increase in profit
Availability of skilled manpower
Fulfillment of corporate social
responsibility
 Inclusive Banking

industries are best suited for employ-
ment generation.
Channels of banking services
The banks can serve the far flanged areas
through the following means:-
Through branches: - The nationalised
banks, the regional rural banks and the
Micro Finance institutions:- The banks
can act through micro finance institutions
operating in the area. These institutions act
as bridge between banks and people re-
mote areas by providing the credits they
receive from banks to poor at some margin.
Conclusion
Mr. Rajeev Nayan is a practicing banker. He has
been associated with Central Bank of India for
over 15 years. He is B.Sc.(Honours) in Electron-
ics from Magadh University, Bodh Gaya and
CAIIB from Indian Institute of Banking and Fi-
nance. Currently he is pursuing Executive Post
Graduate Programme in Management at Indian
Institute of Management, Indore.

cooperative banks have already opened
their branches in the remote areas. They
need only train their personnel for social
sensitisation and inclusive banking.
Mobile ATMs:- Banks can use the services
of mobile ATMs for their reach to rural ar-
eas. Biometric ATMs, which uses finger
prints, retinal movements for identification
for the customers are best suitable for
these areas.
Thus we conclude that if India has to sus-
tain a high GDP growth of above 9% for the
next decade inclusion of large masses into
economic mainstream is necessary.
This inclusion not only raises the output but
also improves the socio economic indica-
tors like literacy, awareness, health and
standard of living which will keep us on
high HDI. The banks can play a major role
in achievement of the inclusion process.

In the absence of the man, the assistant told the villagers. Look
SHARE MARKET at all these monkeys in the big cage that the man has collected. I
Once upon a time in a village, a man appeared and announced will sell them to you at Rs35 and when the man returns from the
to the villagers that he would buy monkeys for Rs10. The villag- city, you can sell it to him for Rs50."
ers seeing that there were many monkeys around, went out to The villagers squeezed up with all their savings and bought all
the forest and started catching them. the monkeys.
The man bought thousands at Rs10 and as supply started to Then they never saw the man nor his assistant, only monkeys
diminish, the villagers stopped their effort. He further announced everywhere!!!
that he would
now buy at
Rs20. This re-
newed the ef-
forts of the vil-
lagers and they
started catching
monkeys again.
Soon the supply
diminished even
further and peo-
ple started going
back to their
farms. The offer
rate increased to
Rs25 and the
supply of mon-
keys became so
little that it was
an effort to even
see a monkey, let alone catch it!
The man now announced that he would buy monkeys at Rs50!
However, since he had to go to the city on some business, his
Welcome to the "SHARE" Market!!!!!
assistant would now buy on behalf of him.

18
CANVAS
Security
Energy
E n e r g y
I
could feel the heat of the oil
literally as well as figuratively
on the sight of French Fries
dancing in hot, boiling oil at the
Mc Donalds. Oil governs the voting power,
currency fluctuation, the government
budget, the FDI and the energy sector.
With the advent of Gulf War, Oil publicly
became the most significant eco-political
factor for all the national economies. It
seemed to be going even more powerful
than religion till the deadly September 11.
The Oil Ministry had become the hottest
portfolio for any government. However,
ultimately the axe fell on consumer on
various oil and related products. The sub-
sidized oil products became a white ele-
phant for the public sector Oil refining &
distribution companies.
Oil is hovering at close to $100/
barrel.Since 2004; the energy sector has
entered a new watershed era where the
mismatch between supply and demand is
real and widening. Botched US policy in
the Middle East, increasing demand from
China and India, political tension in oil
exporting countries like Nigeria, Venezuela
S e c u r i t y
and Iran, and terrorist attacks in Saudi
Arabia have all contributed to the unreal
escalation in oil prices. Mindful of these
myriad of factors, the IMF did not hesitate
to call the energy situation a state of
“permanent oil shock”.
DCF has shown that global equity markets
have valued the oil sector at anywhere
from $30 to $40 per barrel up from $18/
barrel not too long ago. This means that
the upstream, midstream and downstream
industries have adjusted prices upwards
for acquisitions.
In 2005, India signed a long term agree-
ment for LNG with Iran at prices in excess
of 40% than what Iran offered a few
months earlier. These trends clearly show
that these are not mere blips on the price
radar screen; they are indicative of a mam-
moth structural shift in the energy sector. If
the present rate of economic boom contin-
ues, then the daily requirement for oil or oil
equivalents is expected to be somewhere
north of 150 million barrels per day. The
present capacity with no slack is around
95million barrels per day. This mismatch
does not forebode well for future oil prices
19
CANVAS
as it is taking longer to find new reserves
and costing more to exploit what can be
extracted.
OPEC has clearly signaled that they are
happy keeping prices at historically high
levels provided economic growth is not
choked. Many countries within and outside
OPEC are finding it politically impossible to
turn on the production as concern for the
future outweigh the short term economic
gain. Thus the notion that supply can keep
up with demand is no longer a reasonable
assumption.
Unless the global economy stalls or alter-
nate energy sources are brought on
stream, the ridiculously high price in oil is
here to stay.
Dr. Shiv Kumar is a B-tech from BITS Pilani,
PGL from Harvard and PHD in Chemical Engi-
neering. He has an experience of more than 25
years. He is presently the Sr. Vice President for
Global Sales for Tyco Thermal Controls (TTC) a
part of an USD 18Bn Tyco International. He has
been associated with TTC for more than 20
years and operates from Houston, US.
INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY
INDIA’S KEY TO SURVIVAL
“Intellectual Property - ideas and the people who generate them - is the new coin of the realm, with innovative
capacity the key driver of future economic growth, productivity gains and wealth creation.” Bruce P. Mehlman.

H
ow nations create wealth is A strong Intellectual Property regime not only intellectual property protection environment
changing. And while it may still encourages the local talent and channelizes creates investment friendly conditions, which
take years before we find any resources, but also helps in getting foreign in turn promotes R & D.
replacement for oil, the impact of innovation investment in cutting edge areas, thereby
on our society is already profound and unmis- helping the country to compete successfully in Needless to say, the country having a very
takable. So profound that in today’s world the world markets. This is especially true in high strong IP regime attracts maximum invest-
health of a country’s economy can be gauged technology area, where investment is required ment from foreign and local investors. The US
not only from parameters such as GDP, Pur- in development of new technologies and prod- is able to attract large investment in R & D
chasing power parity and the likes but also ucts. because it enjoys a very good Intellectual
from the two parameters related to intellectual property climate see (Fig.1).
Property. These are the strength of the Intel- The main motivation for investment in R & D is
lectual Property Laws existing and the number to realize profits and promote newer technolo-
In fact in the US, many Indians have made
of patents filed in the country. gies to capture the market. A strong national
millions of dollars because of the friendly IP

20
CANVAS

regime which has been existing there.
That is why we hear of persons like Kan-
wal Rekhi of Exclean, Jagdeep Singh of
Infinera, Sabeer Bhatia of Hotmail fame
and host of others. Jagdeep Singh
founded two Networking companies Air-
Soft and Lightera Networks; he sold them
both for $ 625 million, then teamed up with
Drew Perkins and David Welch and devel-
oped the world’s first integrated photonic
circuit, which has revolutionized the way
light behaves in Optical Communication
Networks. He attracted investment to the
tune of US $ 90 million because the poten-
tial of the technology developed was ex-
Intellectual Property: India’s Key to Survive
tremely high. But this success of Indians is
restricted to Silicon Valley only; Indians in
India played second fiddle to their counter-
parts in California and could get less bene-
fits of IT revolution.
Weak Indian IP Laws is one of the reasons
why we do not have too many inventors,
but a tremendous intellect power. We have
nobody to blame but our weak Intellectual
Property Laws.
Intellectual property becomes important
especially for small firms investing into
newer technologies. It has been observed
21
CANVAS
that local companies are unwilling to invest
in R & D when there is a significant
amount of software piracy. Even in the US,
where the IP regime is quite good as com-
pared to other parts of the world, it takes
2-3 years for an IT company to realize
profit after it launches new products. This
shows that piracy has a chilling effect on
the fortunes of a startup company. The
situation is worse in other parts of the
world.
According to Prof. Mansfield who is a lead-
ing authority on the economics of techno-
logical innovation and economic develop-
 Intellectual Property: India’s Key to Survive

ment, stronger Intellectual Property rights
not only goes had in glove with economic
development and rising incomes, but is a
direct and important determinant of the
willingness for foreign capital to enter local
markets. In fact if India had the proper
Intellectual Property Laws, perhaps it
would be the holder of the largest Intellec-
tual Property and a more prospering na-
tion.
According to a leading IP firm, if the US
level of IP protection exists a product will
be approved, developed and launched as
per schedule, but if the level of IP protec-
also shows the strength of a company.
Large global corporations like IBM, Canon,
Mitsubishi, Sony Fujitsu, invests heavily
into developing and patenting their prod-
ucts and make big bucks by selling off the
technology or the services.
As we sit on another slow down in world
economies, its time to rethink and realign
strategy and focus on product develop-
ment. The Indian companies should focus
on development and enhance their patent
portfolio to earn profits in coming future
and this is the right time to look inward and
re-strategise.
then India’s vast technical and scientific
manpower can help it to become a global
center in R & D and the next technology
revolution will happen right next to our
door in India.
Deepak Chauhan holds a bachelors de-
gree in Electronics & Communication
engineering from Jamia Millia Islamia in
New Delhi and post graduate certificate
in management from IIM Calcutta. He has
over 9 years of experience in manage-
ment and business consulting, helping
organizations design and re engineer
processes for business continuity and
accelerated growth. He is currently a
student of EPGP at IIM Indore class of
2009.

tion is that of China (Fig.1), then it will take

80 % more time to be launched. This
clearly shows that piracy rates keep the
technology away from the market.
Apart from pulling resources IP portfolio
The 21st century will no doubt be defined
by nation’s ability to innovate and harness
the power as this is directly going to affect
their national prosperity and global influ-
ence. If India adopts a good IP regime,

∗ "I think there is a world market for maybe five

Union internal memo, 1876

computers." -- Thomas Watson, chairman of IBM, ∗ "The wireless music box has no imaginable commer-

1943 cial value. Who would pay for a message sent to no-

∗ "Computers in the future may weigh no more than 1.5

body in particular?" -- David Sarnoff's associates in

response to his urgings for investment in the radio in

tons." -- Popular Mechanics, forecasting the relent-
the 1920's
less march of science, 1949

∗ " I have travelled the length and breadth of this coun-

∗ " The concept is interesting and well-formed, but in

order to earn better than a 'C,' the idea must be feasi-

try and talked with the best people, and I can assure
ble." -- A Yale University management professor in
you that data processing is a fad that won't last the
response to Fred Smith's paper proposing reliable
year." -- The editor in charge of business books for
overnight delivery service. (Smith went on to found
prentice Hall, 1957
Federal Express Corp.)
∗ "But what .....is it good for?'-- Engineer at the Ad-
∗ "Heavier-than-air flying machines are impossible." --
vanced Computing Systems Division of IBM, 1968,
Lord Kelvin, president, Royal Society, 1895
commenting on the microchip

∗ "There is no reason anyone would want a computer

∗ "Airplanes are interesting toys but of no military

value." -- Marechal Ferdinand Foch, Professor of

in their home." -- Ken Olson, president, chairman and
Strategy, Ecole Superieure de Guerre
founder of Digital Equipment Corp., 1977

∗ "This 'telephone' has too many shortcomings to be

∗ "Everything that can be invented has been invented."

-- Charles H. Duell, Commissioner, U.S. Office of Pat-

seriously considered as a means of communication.
ents, 1899
The device is inherently of no value to us." -- Western

22
CANVAS
ENTREPRENEUR’S QUIZ
Designed by Ibis Associates

Are you the right type of group or individual to develop a business?

This quiz is designed to show you the range of qualities which research on successful businesses shows are necessary to be an effective en-
trepreneur. Entrepreneurs require different skills at different stages of the business; this is why groups have more success than the lone individ-
ual.
So, if you are a group, answer it as a group; if an individual as an individual.
Do be honest. It is only worthwhile if honestly answered. Get a friend or someone else objective to answer it - we don't want to be responsible
for the break up of relationships! If you are answering as a group, get an outsider who knows you all to answer.
Don't think that this is the final answer. It is only a broad guideline, and designed to raise more questions than it answers. All types of individu-
als and concepts succeed against apparently insurmountable obstacles - as long as you are aware of them, this quiz will have fulfilled its pur-
pose.
The right person is only one element in the mix of the successful business. The right people have to have the right idea, and the right plan. This
quiz is no substitute for the detailed planning which must be completed next. Start up businesses require a lot of planning and thought to get
them right - don't skimp on it.

Strongly Strongly
Question Agree Neutral Disagree
Agree Disagree

Can you accept a high level of uncertainty in your working day?

Can you easily cope with disappointment?

Can you sell?

Do you have hands on experience of managing budgets?

Do you have hands on experience of managing projects to time & budget?

Are you happy to work long hours?

Can you work without a large income in discomfort?

Are you ambitious to create your own future?

Will you listen to advice from anybody?

Have a supportive networks of friends, family and expert advisors?

Are you forward looking?

Do you like dealing with new ideas?

Do you take decisions easily?

Do you find it easy to work with other people?

Do you find that you can keep detailed records?

Do you delegate easily?

Do you like the details of monitoring progress?

Can you manage meetings well?

23
CANVAS
SCORES
For strongly agree: Give 10 marks.
Food For Thought
For agree: Give 6 marks.
For neutral: Give 4 marks.
For disagree: Give 2 marks.
For strongly disagree: Give 0 marks.

Analysis.
Score 180: You and your group are
too perfect! Get someone else to
analyse your strengths and weak-
nesses
Score 110-178. You and your group
have the mix of the right qualities to
become and entrepreneur. But re-
member that this is only the start of a
long and difficult journey. You must
have the right idea – check out the
business concept quiz, and the right
plan – which Business Plan Pro will
give you – and then the right monitor-
ing system for when the business
plan is established
Score 82-110: You have many of the
right qualities to become an entrepre-
neur, but there are gaps which need
strengthening. Think about building a
team to help you achieve the balance
of attitudes and skills that you need
in an effective business.
Score 36- 80: Becoming an entrepre- ACROSS DOWN
neur is probably not for you. Sit back 3 Grow weak and thin or waste away physi- 1 A hidden storage space for weapons or
and think about the demands that it cally. ammunitions.
will place upon you and your family. 7 A monument constructed to honour war 2 Edible bulb of an onion plant.
dead soldiers. 4 Of a moderate purple colour.
8 Malicious burning or destroying of property. 5 Adolf Hitler's German name.
10 The writing point of a pen. 6 Deprive of necessity and cause suffering.
13 The second largest of Jupiter's satellite. 9 A selfish person unwilling to give or spend.
14 A colourless liquid used in perfumery 11 An expanse of scenery which can be seen
Anagram of enroll. in a single view.
15 Perform without preparation. 12 The outer and thinner of the two bones of
19 A quiet lull song intended to make child go the human leg between the knee and the
to sleep. ankle.
21 The capital of Honduras. 16 An iron that was heated by putting it on
22 A chamber in which piston moves. stove.
23 An Example regarded as typical of its 17 A spring flowering shrub or small tree of
class. A bit of tissue or blood or urine taken the genus crategeus.
for diagnostic purposes. 18 The condition of being unable to speak.
24 One of Santa's reindeer with shiny red 20 To growl of snarl as a dog does.
nose.

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CANVAS
 Prof. Abha Chatterjee
The Lost Horizon
C
ommunication changes across peo-
ple, climes and culture. It has recently
been strongly impacted by technol-
ogy. Then, how can we keep abreast of the
changing ways in which we are expected to
communicate – are there some universals or do
we change our style and manner according to
the person we are communicating with?
By no means can we totally change ourselves
like chameleons each time we communicate…
can you imagine how many personalities we
would have to become each day or even each
moment?
We shall focus here, on one aspect that could
be universal yet changing…courtesy and polite-
ness, an essential part of any good communica-
tion. We may ask ourselves why in this century
we should be concerned with what was polite
and is no longer so, or what was accepted as a
norm of behaviour (opening of doors for ladies)
is now perceived as a western import in India -
of doubtful vintage.
Of course, it could be true to a certain extent,
given that more women are at the workplace
and consider themselves equal in every way.
Opening of doors though, could be something
anyone could do if another person is laden with
things or even just behind one, when one is
entering through a door. It may not be limited to
gender at all in this day and time. It indicates a
courteous attitude, nevertheless, appreciated by
all.
If we take the cell phone and its usage in public
places we are bound to be surprised at how it
has changed every place and situation. If tele-
phone etiquette exists then it should demand
that the usage be limited to professional and
short conversations - in lifts, staircases and
25
CANVAS
airplanes. Or everywhere where there are peo-
ple close enough in order to hear what one is
saying.
This is true for all written communication as well
– not just the oral. It is hard to imagine writing to
one’s peer in all capitals (equivalent to shouting
verbally) just because the “caps lock” got
unlocked and because one finds it expedient to
send off the email without taking the trouble to
redo it.
Similarly, is there a correct way to greet an ac-
quaintance when one is no longer a part of the
team that was, an office colleague who is now in
another department? I have often wondered
whether it is too much of an effort to greet an-
other person? Both non-verbal and verbal greet-
ings can be brief but sincere. It is awkward to
just pass by and avoid eye contact.
Apparently, the survey of 35 cities in 2006
showed that Asians in general were less polite
and Mumbaikars in particular, were the least
courteous. There were responses to this pro-
testing that the three tests set were “western” in
their criteria. To avoid cross-cultural blunders
and to practice polite behaviour in any age or in
any given situation the rule of thumb could be to
behave naturally and put the other person first.
This is the simplest definition of courtesy -
across time and boundaries.
Prof. Abha Chatterjee is faculty in the area of General
Management. She teaches Business Communication
and Business Ethics. She has international as well as
national research publications in refereed journals such
as International Journal of Ethics, Teaching Business
Ethics and IJTD. Her research interests are in the
domain of cross-cultural studies. She regularly con-
ducts Management Development Programmes and in-
company training programmes in Managerial Commu-
nication and Business Ethics.
S
tart Playing Sudoku, if you
want to become a manager.
Neither this is a marketing ploy
nor a gimmick; it is a fact which
all the budding CEOs and managers should
know.
Well the general opinion about the game -
"Oh it is just a fashion”, "Impress people
around you", "It’s just filling up some empty
boxes with digits, so nothing really great
about it”. But that is what this article is
about, to show you the hidden qualities of
this game. I am sure after reading this arti-
cle, the very perspective about this game
will change.
Let’s recap of what we already know about
this game and a brief intro for those people
who are planning to work out their grey cells
in Sudoku.
Well, Sudoku itself is believed to be an
abbreviation of a Japanese phrase “Suji wa
dokushinsha ni kagiru” meaning “the digits
must remain single”. So Sudoku or Su Doku
was a safer bet! Basically, the name refers
to the fact that only of each digit can occur
in each row, column or 3 x 3 box. The origi-
nal grid has some of the squares filled with
the digits from 1 to 9 and the goal is to com-
plete the grid so that every row, column and
outlined 3 x 3 sub-grid contains each of the
digits exactly once. A valid puzzle admits
exactly one solution.
As you play this game, making strategies to
fill those blocks, you will find an association
between Sudoku and management. Picture
it like this - the central block (BLUE BLOCK)
represents the team you are managing in
your organization.
For assumption purpose, place yourself in
the role of a middle level manager. Upper
center block (WHITE BLOCK) represents
the management team that you report to
and the lower center one (DARK GREEN
BLOCK) represents the team that report to
you. Just like the numbers in Sudoku need
to align vertically and horizontally, you and
your team need to ensure that enterprise
strategy aligns up and down the manage-
ment chain, and that members of your team
work toward executing the strategy. Your
team also needs to coordinate with peer
teams and this would be the two other hori-
zontal blocks (LIGHT BLUE BLOCKS) in the
26
CANVAS
center. Again, you need to make sure what
you do align with what other teams (both in
higher management and lower manage-
ment) do which means the four blocks at
the four corners (2 TOP CORNER GREY
BLOCKS AND THE 2 BOTTOM CORNER
LIGHT GREEN BLOCKS).
Each number in Sudoku belongs to a slot in
the block, and similarly each member
(number) in the team needs to know what
their responsibility (slot) is. There are also
others associations - such as the need to
rethink strategy and move resources
(numbers) around etc
The very fact that Sudoku has a unique
solution, the player is focused about the
objective. Similarly in an organization the
managers should have clarity on the organi-
zation’s mission, vision and values. Once
the manager is clear about them, he can
easily motivate his team to achieve the
objectives.
This puzzle teaches us that as managers,
we should not take non-calculative risks.
There is only one place for any number in
that puzzle. Though two or three options/

locations will be available, you have to do a
lot of permutations and combinations in
logical thinking to get the correct place for
that number. This is also true with real life
situations. Before taking any speculative
risk in business, analyze those risks thor-
oughly and then reach a solution. You se-
lect a number, which may look correct, be-
cause of another logic leading to that space.
But if the logic itself is wrong, you must be
prepared to change your mindset (in this
case, the logic itself) and erase the number
to move to its original location. In the same
way, if the manager’s ideas and thoughts
are not fetching desired results in the de-
sired time frame, he should not hesitate to
change his methodology to reach the goal.
The Managers learn flexibility from this.
We are human beings and we are bound to
do some mistakes .As a manager there are
times when we commit mistakes and fail in
achieving the desired targets/ goals. So it is
very important that a manager does a fail-
ure analysis and makes sure that from next
time onwards he will not commit the same
mistake. To quote Akio Morita, the co-
founder of Sony Corporation – “Don’t be
afraid to make a mistake. But make sure
you don't make the same mistake twice”. In
Sudoku, a square filled in incorrectly will go
unnoticed. The process will continue nicely,
happily building on false information. More
erroneous numbers will be derived from the
first. Erroneous numbers will be consistent
with one another, creating a false confi-
dence that all is well. Only at the very end
will it become obvious that a mistake was
made. If a mistake is found, it may be nec-
essary to start over, re-verifying every num-
ber. The analysis of failure in business sce-
narios must comply with a more complex
reality, and one error may lead to erroneous
conclusions. The mistake may not be obvi-
ous, even at the very end. So be careful
with each step. Avoid reading unwarranted
significance into an observation that sup-
ports a desired output. On the other hand,
do not discount an observation that does
not fit an otherwise satisfying conclusion.
Trust that all the facts will fit and make
sense when the problem is understood.
Finally a manager needs a drill down on the
group of lessons that Sudoku teaches and
which can be applied to every day life and
how we should be living it.
1. Accept the challenge in your business
– Sudoku is one of those games that refuse
to be ignored. It lures you in and then does-
n’t let go. It is exciting and you do not give
up until you have cracked the solution. So
the first lesson Sudoku teaches is to accept
the challenge.
27
CANVAS
Sudoku Manager
2. Think – Sudoku is a logic based game
that requires that the player use local rea-
soning. Life is the same way. Use logical
reasoning in your approach to management
and business problems. There is always an
answer.
3. Beware of illusions – Things are not
always what they seem and Sudoku
teaches this in the simplest of ways. This is
not a game that requires math
however it “looks” like it is a
math inspired game. Things are
not always what they seem to
be.
4. Look ahead – In Sudoku part
of the game is to try and deter-
mine where the future numbers
will go. In an organization we
should plan for the future and
plan ahead so that we meet our
targets in time.
5. Remember where you came
from – Backtracking is a huge
part of the game of Sudoku. If
you don’t know which numbers
you have placed, you can’t
move on. It is the same way in
business too. If you don’t know
where you have come from, you will not be
able to determine where you are headed to.
6. Sometimes you have to scan the hori-
zon – Scanning in Sudoku is done for a
simple reason, you must know the lay of the
land. In day to day activity of a manager,
you also have to “scan” before making a
move so that you know what you are deal-
ing with. In the simplest of terms, look be-
fore you leap.
So what are you all managers waiting for,
start “Sudokuing” and sharpen your man-
agement skills.
Riddhi Chakravorty holds a bachelors degree in
Mechanical engineering from R.V.College of Engi-
neering, Bangalore. He has over 5 years of experi-
ence in Global IT projects with expertise in ERP
consulting, managing clients and custom software
development. He is a 6 Sigma Green belt certified
professional. He is currently a student of EPGP at
IIM Indore class of 2009.
 Leadership
Leadership
Leadership
C
Leadership
hak De! Just a few months ago
these two words entered our
psyche as being synonymous with war cry.
The movie just shows how, SRK, trans-
formed a bunch of girls, who were playing
in their individual silos and looking for
personal glory, into winners. In fact, Chak
De has become a popular slogan for moti-
vating and exhorting people, be it in corpo-
rate boardrooms, sports or any other in-
dustry. Chak De is the new management
mantra.
The role SRK played in this movie epito-
mizes “Leadership” for me.
To put it formally, Leadership may be de-
fined as:
“The ability of an individual to influence,
motivate and enable others to contribute
towards the success of the organization."
So what do Leaders do? Leaders help in
defining the following:
Vision - What Success Looks Like
Define the vision, the dream that you set
out to achieve. It’s important to get a “buy
in” from all the stake holder's. This comes
from conviction, a strong belief in your
abilities, a desire to succeed come what
may.
Direction – Show the way
Clearly state the approach that needs to
be followed to realize the vision.
Communicate- The “Why” & “Benefits” of
the direction
Make the team understand why we have
taken a certain approach out of the possi-
ble alternatives. What are the pros &
cons ? Enroll and engage in conversation
and communication. Sit back. Listen. Take
in as much as you can. Look for trends
and themes. Find out where the possibili-
ties are - the connects and disconnects
that you can effect.
Objectives & Goals- How much, by when
Define the qualitative and quantitative
objectives and goals. Make sure you set
realistic goals and keep raising the bar
higher over time. Put in enough checks
and balances to keep you on track.
Team Work
To achieve all of the above you need a
team. Whether the group you oversee is
called employees, associates, co-workers,
teammates or anything else, what they are
looking for is someone in whom they can
place their trust. Someone they know is
working for the greater good - for them and
for the organization.
And the way you see it is that your organi-
zation is transcending all previous quality,
28
CANVAS
productivity, innovation and revenue
achievements. You're operating at such a
high level of efficiency that you're giving
budget back to the corporation - and
you're still beating your goals.
You're achieving what you always
dreamed could be achieved. And not only
that, but it's actually easier than you
thought. Because the classic command
and control management model - which,
contrary to popular belief still applies even
in our most progressive 21st century com-
panies - is no longer in play. Sure, controls
are in place. Sure, you're solving problems
that arise.
But it's not just you alone. You have the
people in whom you've put your trust - and
who have happily and safely
reciprocated - to help you create
organizational success.
How to be a good leader?
It’s pretty simple if you think
through the answers to following
questions:
Q: How do you become a
great cricketer a.k.a Sachin
Tendulkar?
Q: How do you become a
great designer/developer/
tester?
Q: How do you become a
great parent?
So, let me ask again, how do
you become a great Leader?
You guessed it, Practice. Just practice
great Leadership, day in, day out, over a
sustained period of time! Well, unfortu-
nately that’s the truth. The world is yet to
see a magic pill for developing leadership
skills. It’s an arduous task which needs to
be practiced every day.
However, the following Leadership frame-
work (Be, Know, Do) does help to under-
stand the attributes of a leader.
BE KNOW DO
1. BE a professional. Examples: Be
loyal to the organization, perform
 Leadership

selfless service, and take personal cious of tradition. They seek out the truth how does a company become better
responsibility. and make decisions based on fact, not known with limited resources? By becom-
2. BE a professional who possess prejudice. They have a preference for ing an industry thought leader.
good character traits. Examples: innovation." Summary
Honesty, competence, commitment, The table below summarizes some of the Great leaders are instrumental in shaping
integrity, courage. traits associated with Leaders and Man- the destiny of a team, an organization or
3. KNOW your self. Examples: agers. a country. History is replete with facts on
strengths and weakness of your Thought Leadership how the influence of few super leaders
character, knowledge, and skills. Before I wrap this up, I must touch upon changed the world around us. Good lead-
4. KNOW human nature. Examples: the subject of “Thought Leadership”. This ers are made not born. If you have the
Human needs, emotions, and how is much talked about today and in fact, is desire and willpower, you can become an
people respond to stress. a discipline in its own right. Thought effective leader. Good leaders develop
5. KNOW your job. Examples: be profi- leader is used to describe a futurist- a through a never ending process of self-
cient and be able to study, education, training,
train others in their Leading Managing and experience. The best
tasks. way to learn to lead is to
6. KNOW your organiza- Moving between paradigms Working within a paradigm do it. There’s a leader
tion. Examples: where within all of us. It’s time we
to go for help, its Doing right things Doing things right discover it.
culture, who the unof- C’mon be a leader. Chak
ficial leaders are. Creating improvement Managing processes De!

7. DO provide direction.
Creating leaders & develop-
Examples: goal set-
ing people
ting, problem solving,
decision making, Breaking rules
planning.
8. DO implement. Exam- Taking risks
ples: communicating,
coordinating, supervising, evaluat-
ing.
9. DO motivate. Examples: develop
team spirit, train, coach, counsel.
Leading vs. Managing
Most of the differences related to Man-
agement and Leadership arise out of the
different perspectives. Managers think
incrementally, while leaders think radi-
cally. "Managers do things right, while
leaders do the right thing." This means
that managers do things by the book and
follow company policy, while leaders
follow their own intuition, which may in
turn be of more benefit to the company. A
leader is more emotional than a man-
ager . "Men are governed by their emo-
tions rather than their intelligence" . This
quotation illustrates why teams choose to
follow leaders.
"Leaders stand out by being different.
They question assumption and are suspi-
Leadership
Focus on control
Making rules
Minimizing risks
person who is recognized by everyone for
the innovative ideas which have a deep
impact on the work in hand or the industry
at large. Thought leadership is an in-
creasingly vital driver of business suc- Sameer Tikoo is an accomplished telecom
software professional with over 12 years of
cess. Its aim is to engage people with
expertise in Software Testing. He is currently
companies through innovative ideas. A working with GENBAND (formerly Baypackets
distinguishing characteristic of a thought Technologies) as Senior Engineering Manager.
At GENBAND, he is responsible for building the
leader is "the recognition from the outside
systems test group and establishing test proc-
world that the company deeply under- esses and practices. He provides leadership to
stands its business, the needs of its cus- the System Test group in testing of NextGen
telecom products in VoIP, NGIN and IMS do-
tomers, and the broader marketplace in main. Prior to GENBAND, Sameer worked with
which it operates.” Hughes Software Systems and Bharti Airtel.
Sameer holds a Bachelor of Engineering (E&C)
Thought leadership can be really effective
degree from Karnatak University. He is currently
for small companies. Small companies a student of EPGP at IIM Indore class of 2009.
have to work hard to get visibility, espe-
cially when the market is crowded with
competitors all vying for the same busi-
ness. In high tech they face the added
dilemma that big companies don’t want to
buy from a small unknown vendor, and
the vendor can’t become large and repu-
table unless it has major customers. So,

29
CANVAS
 Thought

Crisis Unites

Humanity
While
Peace Fosters

Discord
D issent and dissension are the forays of minds when the element of existential stake is absent. Whenever the existential identity
of humanity is put to stake, it has an uncanny ability to muster up an invincible unity and put to rest the gravest of dangers and peril. His-
tory is eloquent in its testimony that whenever the citadel of human existence is apprehended to be crumbling, humanity brings itself forth
as one, undivided and resolute, and the might that conjures out of such unison spawns forth new and visible ideas to a way out of the
streak of crisis and catastrophe, of gloom and doom.
It therefore, may seem paradoxical that crisis unites and peace tends to foster disunity. However, that peace tends to disunity is not ex-
actly an apt conjecture; on the contrary, it breeds exoticism. Crisis leads to focused but restricted evolution and impinges lessons out of
necessity; there is little scope for difference of opinions on account of time crunch and all discordant notes are crushed. Peace, however,
is all embracing; it heeds to opinions and suggestions from all quarters. Thus peace, even though seemingly discordant, is more accom-
modative and really representative of all opinions. It is much like democracy where every voice is heard and every head counts.
The prime difference between peace and crisis is not the qualities they impart to humanity in form of unity or discord; the dichotomy really
lies in the way a change is affected. Crisis is precipitate while peace is gradual in affecting a change. The gradual path of peace is
marked by dissent and arguments, which culls out the best from differing opinions and enriches in a more wholesome way. This might be
apparent as discord but is in fact plurality. It is this plurality in thoughts, opinions, culture, religion and society that every nation covets and
which can only be visible during the reign of peace.
Together, therefore, both peace and crisis yield the broad incentive to the human race to evolve and progress, the hallmark of life.

Niraj Mohan works as software consultant with Infosys Technologies in Bangalore. He holds a degree in engineering from Dhirubhai Ambani Institute of
Information and Communication Technology, Gandhi Nagar. A prolific writer he has won many awards for writing including the President of India’s Gold Medal
for Essay writing in 2001.He can be reached at nirajmohan@yahoo.com

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A
customer relationship management (CRM) sys-
tem, by its simplest definition is a process to
compile information that increases understanding
of how to manage an organization’s relationships
with its customers. In this simple a CRM system
consists of two dimensions, analysis and action.
The market for customer relationship management (CRM)
solutions has changed significantly during 2006-2007. Consolidation
of leading CRM vendors intensified competition from well-capitalized
business applications players, and the rise of new software-as-a-
service (SaaS) deployment options (salesforce.com) mean enter-
prises must rethink their CRM solution strategy. Enterprises will
continue to make significant investments to improve their customer-
facing capabilities. However, the need to extract additional value
from past expenditures and a lack of game-changing innovations
from vendors will result in moderate market growth.
Let us get some acquainted with a few buzzwords in CRM: -
Internet.
Erlang B is a modeling formula that is widely used in call center
scheduling.
Personalization is the process of tailoring Web pages to individual
users' characteristics or preferences to enhance customer service or
e-commerce sales.
Predictive analytics is the branch of data mining concerned with the
prediction of future probabilities and trends.
Second Life is a 3D virtual world where residents can design and
build residences on land that they own or rent from either Linden
Labs or other residents.
Speech recognition is the ability of a machine or program to recog-
nize and carry out voice commands or take dictation.
*(ISM is a major CRM consultancy firm based in Bethesda, MD).
Vendors are listed alphabetically
There are some familiar names in Forrester Research Inc.'s latest
rankings of enterprise CRM suite vendors. The Cambridge, Mass.-

Apex is a development platform for ISM's top 15 enterprise CRM vendors ISM's top 15 SMB CRM vendors

building Software as a Service
(SaaS) application on top of Sales-
force.com's CRM functionality.
Business process outsourcing
(BPO) is a market trend that refers
to the contracting of a specific busi-
ness task, such as payroll, to a
third-party service provider.
Customer acquisition cost is the
cost associated with convincing a
Amdocs CRM v. 6 -- Amdocs Ltd.
C2 CRM v. 8.0 -- Clear Technologies Inc.
CMS/Oncontact V, v. 5.2 – OSC
ExSellence 5.0 -- Optima Technologies Inc.
Firstwave CRM v. 3.1 -- Firstwave Technologies.
growBusiness Solutions -- Software Innovation
Infor CRM – Infor
mySAP CRM -- SAP AG
Onyx v. 6.0 -- Onyx Software Corp.
Ardexus MODE v. 5.5 -- Ardexus Inc.
C2 CRM v. 8.0 -- Clear Technologies Inc.
CMS/Oncontact V, v. 5.2 -- OSC
Goldmine v. 7.0.3 -- FrontRange Solutions.
Maximizer Enterprise -- Maximizer Software.
Microsoft CRM 3.0 -- Microsoft Corp.
NetSuite CRM v. 11.0 -- NetSuite Inc.
Powertrak v. 8.02 -- Axonom Inc.
Relavis CRM 7.0 -- Relavis Corp.

consumer to buy your product or
service.
Customer valuation is a scoring
process used to help a company
determine which customers
company should target in order to
PeopleSoft CRM -- Oracle/PeopleSoft Inc.
Pivotal v. 5.9 -- Pivotal Corp.
Salesforce.com -- Salesforce.com Inc.
Saratoga CRM 6.5.3 -- Saratoga Systems Inc.
the
Siebel 8.0 -- Oracle/Siebel Systems Inc.
RightNow CRM v. 8.0 -- RightNow Technologies.
Sage CRM 100/200 v. 6.0 -- Sage Software
Sage SalesLogix v. 7.0 -- Sage Software
Salesforce.com -- Salesforce.com Inc.
Salesplace 2006.3.2 -- Interchange Solutions

maximize profit. Tibco Process RM v. 9.0 -- Tibco SalesPage CRM -- SalesPage Technologies LLC
E-commerce is the buying and sell- update 7.0 -- update software AG Siebel CRM OnDemand -- Oracle/Siebel Systems.
ing of goods and services on the

31
CANVAS

based research firm named Siebel CRM
(from Redwood Shores, Calif.-based Oracle
Corp.) and Germany's SAP AG as the lead-
ers in its latest Wave report on enterprise
CRM suites.
"The CRM market has been in a lot of tur-
moil," said Bill Band, principal analyst at
Forrester and co-author of the report.
"Some may say [Siebel and SAP] are the
only two vendors people think about. But
that's not really the case. There's a wide
range of other players out there."
Forrester separates the CRM market into
three categories:
• Enterprise CRM suites
2010, up from $8.4 billion this year.
In 2008, CRM investments will begin to shift
toward business-to-consumer e-commerce
technologies, online communities, virtual
contact centers and marketing resource
management. Google will enter the CRM
market. (Gartner research)
The factors that are driving are: -
1. Up selling/ Cross-selling and increas-
ing wallet share.
2. Companies spending more on increas-
ing productivity of client facing employ-
ees.
3. Increasing customer experience
CRM: Was, Is and Will be There
Enterprise buyers should:
1. Invest selectively in high-value up-
grades;
2. Focus on customer-process optimiza-
tion;
3. Demand support from vendors to opti-
mize existing CRM infrastructures.
IT vendors should:
1. Stretch harder to innovate.
2. Focus on distribution and support.
3. Add value in new offerings such as
CRM advisory services, hosting, and
SaaS.
Sources: Forrester, Gartner, Nasscom reports.

• Midmarket CRM suites

• CRM specialty vendors.

In the enterprise category, Forrester evalu-
ated 13 applications. The Siebel and SAP
applications emerged on top, but there were
plenty of applications Forrester considered
strong contenders, including Infor CRM,

C Epiphany, Microsoft Dynamics CRM, Onyx

CRM, Oracle's E-Business Suite CRM,
R PeopleSoft CRM and Siebel CRM OnDe-
mand, RightNow, and Salesforce.com.
M

The Siebel and SAP products have a broad

range of functionality, industry-specific ca-
pabilities and global support organizations,
giving them the most complete applications.
But customers face lengthy time-to-value, a
lack of flexibility in changing business proc-
esses, and higher costs, according to the
report. Meanwhile, software as a service
(SaaS) vendor Salesforce.com and Right-
Now are making inroads in the enterprise
thanks to the rising popularity of the deploy- GARTNER’S MAGIC QUADRANT
through service oriented architecture.
ment model, but they lack the breadth of
functionality. Microsoft, Forrester con-
A survey of CEOs from Accenture found
cluded, is capitalizing on its platform to
that their top four priorities are Raja Ganguly holds a bachelors degree in
capture CRM business but lacks functional-
1. Acquiring new customers, Electrical engineering from R.V.College of
ity in such areas as e-commerce, channel Engineering, Bangalore and is completing his
2. Increasing customer loyalty and reten-
management and industry-specific business Post Graduate Program in Management from
tion, SP Jain Institute Management & Research,
processes. Mumbai. He has over 5 years of experience in
3. Increasing revenue from current cus-
Customer relationship management and sales.
tomers
He is currently joining IBM as a CRM consult-
WHAT LIES AHEAD?
4. Increasing customer service capabili- ant.
Despite a wave of consolidation in recent
ties.
years, Forrester expects CRM spending to
climb. The firm predicts the market for soft-
SUGGESSTION FOR BUYERS AND VEN-
ware and services will reach $10.9 billion by
DORS.

32
CANVAS

I
ndia is on the verge of the retail revolu-
tion buoyed by the faster economic
growth and a new announcement eve-
ryday day of corporate entering Indian
organized retail. While, we get to read a lot
of activity at the front end or the end con-
sumer interface, but very little is written
about the challenges at the back end. In
retail, there are three core activities in the
whole process, Production-Movement-
Selling. In this article, we will focus on the
“Movement” activity which stands for the
supply chain and logistics functions and
which is the key for setting-up of successful
and sustainable long term retail venture
The total Indian logistics market is estimated
to be about USD 100 bn, and is expected to
be growing at the rate of more than 10% per
annum. However, as a percentage of total
cost for manufacturing it is in the range of
30%, which is very high as compared to the
developed economies where it is in the
range of 15-20%. This is due to highly ineffi-
cient supply chains which are longer and
complicated and there are multiple reasons
for the same. First is the legacy of license
raj, where in government’s fear of capitalism
resulted in sub-optimal and smaller installed
capacity which results in higher sourcing and
supply chain costs for the manufacturers and
retailers.
Second unique problem in Indian context is
the multiple tax structure based on the
change of geographies. The Central sales
tax levied by the govt. gives dis-incentive for
supplier, who would like bring logistical effi-
ciency by optimizing their distribution routes.
It seems to be ridiculous that companies
have to bring an intermediary agent to avoid
paying the tax. A typical national supplier of
goods have between 15-20 clearing and
forwarding agent, to manage their stocks.
S U P P LY C H A I N M A N A G E M E N T
Third is the fragmented retail structure,
wherein more than 96% share of the retail is
accounted by the unorganized outlets, does
throw up a challenge for the supply chain
and logistics efficiency. Resources required
to service more than 15 million outlets
across India is a real challenge and this
could be major hindrance for manufacturers/
suppliers in reaching out to every nook and
corner of the country. India with its inherent
weakness due to highly discreet demand
centres, the industry is plagued with many
issues like higher inventory, stock outs,
shrinkages, poor supplier-buyer relation-
ships, higher logistics costs resulting in loss
of sales with higher distribution costs.
However, some initiatives taken by the govt.
of India in the recent times shows its inclina-
tion to remove some of these distortions.
Introduction of VAT regime in India, replac-
ing the existing central and state taxes is one
of them, VAT is now present in almost all the
states and we may actually see abolition of
CST in the near future as well.
I would also like to mention the Govt’s initia-
tive of laying a vast network of national high-
way cutting across states. This will definitely
help not only in democratization of invest-
ments across states but also facilitate effi-
cient movement of goods. In the same con-
text the decision to allow private container-
ized operators other than Concor will also
bring companies with world class expertise
to invest and regulate the convoluted supply
chain structures
Another key activity that I am following very
closely is the opening up of the domestic
aviation sector. I foresee that the modern
retailers will combine rail-road-air logistics to
derive efficiency. Even thought the domestic
air logistics may look costly, but looking at
33
CANVAS
the overall improvement in stock-outs, lower
inventories, geographically concentrated
supply base, it may look attractive. Already a
large Indian corporate with retail ambitions is
talking of having a dedicated fleet of aircrafts
for their logistics and supply chain infrastruc-
ture.
I also see a major growth in the International
logistics opportunity. With major growth in
exports in textile sector, auto components
and there are sectors like fresh fruits and
vegetables, India with its vast but underuti-
lized farm base, may become the vegetable
market for the developed country. To estab-
lish ourselves as an efficient supply base, we
will definitely need a much more responsive
supply chain.
There is also a great potential for third party
logistics companies in India. At the moment
the 3 PL market is estimated to be of USD
0.3 bn but is expected to be growing at 20%
per annum. In developed economies like US,
10% of the logistics is outsourced, compared
to the less than 1% in our country.
Indian industry needs to improve perform-
ance on several supply chain and logistics
parameters. In case of transportation, they
need to evolve from trucking to fleet man-
agement systems and optimization of costs
with 3PL companies. Supply chain need to
be integrated with the manufacturers and
distributors leading to optimal investment in
working capital. We need companies, who
can see the larger picture and think supply
chain as not just a cost centre but also as a
strategic initiative, which could enable them
to differentiate them in the years to come.
Purnendu Kumar is a post graduate from IIM A. He
has vast experience in Consultancy in the Retail
domain. He is currently working as Associate Direc-
tor in Technopak.
A C a s e St u d y — P r o f . V K G u p t a

This paper refers the different financial dimensions, which affect managerial decisions of HRD of Corporate.
The crucial issues of Accounting like Human Resource, Social, Environment, Productivity, Efficiency, and
Value Added may be used as managerial tools of HRD decision making and; to understand Audits of Human
Resource, Social, Environment, Productivity, Efficiency and Value Added are essential to take fair decisions
of HRD.

that one of the shareholders of the or- RECT costs in the social balance
INTRODUCTION
ganisation is the society and the organi- sheet/income statement are attribut-
The equation that comes to mind when think-
sation gains more if it gives back to the able to the EMPLOYEES of the
ing about an organisation is:
society what it borrows from it…." company and hence the lofty ideals
It fundamentally has got three levels: of doing something for the society is
Profit = Revenues - Cost
• Costs and benefits to employees, actually a eyewash)

community and general public • Difficult-to-quantify costs

If the organization is using any tool to further
There are fundamentally two problems with To substantiate my viewpoint, I take the
any of the above, then it is perfectly justified
the idea of social accounting. These are: example of the typical social income
in doing so, but if it is imputing some higher
motive (environmental, social etc.) in doing • Notional cost (Also most of the DI- statement of MMTC :

so, then it is not being true to its sharehold- Social benefits and costs Attributable to :
ers.
1 Medical facilities Employees
Objectivity is the hallmark of MEASURE-
MENT, without it, all justifications falls flat. 2 Children's education, benefits, allowance Employees
The tool is powerful if there can be objective 3 Scholarships Employees
quantification of the relevant (???) variables.
4 Family Planning TRUE SOCIAL BENEFIT
Now, we evaluate the different financial di-
mensions, which affect managerial decisions 5 Canteen, housing, Training Employees
of HRD of Corporate.
6 Activities Employees

7 Taxes Statutory requirements

SOCIAL ACCOUNTING AND
8 Contribution to state govt. Employees
AUDIT 9 Research For own benefit (products patents, royalties)
The concept of social accounting is "……
10 Provident Fund and bonus Statutory

34
CANVAS

Why do I say so? All the employee-costs
mentioned are actually a part of the com-
pensation package of the employees. Any
benefits (motivation, morale) that accrue
will go towards improving the company's
own bottom-line. The "profit motive” is the
idea driving these costs. I do not see a
greater social objective in them.
Also most of these costs are based on
the premise that the company
"borrowed" from the society i.e. Labour,
material acquired. I frankly do not see
that in a free-market this argument is
too relevant. Each factor of production
goes to the avenue that pays it's fair
price.
If increasing the motivation of the employ-
ees (through compensation) becomes the
objective of social accounting, then it
can be achieved by new and scientific
Financial Dimension For HRD Decisions
uniform efficiency
SOCIAL AUDIT
The social audit can be used as a correc-
• Historical Cost: the cost incurred
in employing the employee to-date
tive ethics checklist. By examining what its
social beneficiaries are, a company can • Standard cost: Standard costs of
infer quite accurately what it considers to be the activities (recruitment, training
most important or politically significant at etc.) are calculated for a grade.
any moment in history. The social audit may • Present value: The potential earn-
not be an acceptable vehicle for quantifica- ings of the employee discounted
tion of events and experiences which do not over his life/ employment in the
has
submit to number crunching even at its organisation. This is the most popu-
best. However, it does provide, even in its lar method and has several modes
rawest form, a sense of the outputs, inputs, to evaluate the human capital.
costs, incomes, and progress that a com-
pany is making. The social audit remains a The weakness in accounting for human
central mechanism for providing a self- resources is that is SUBJECTIVE to say
portrait for a company enabling it to monitor the least. There are at least three funda-
its objectives and goals against its opera- mental problems with the discounted
tional reality. present value approach that needs to be
tackled before we accept the figures that
HUMAN RESOURCE AC- it throws up :

compensation strategies. (competency • Subjectivity in the evaluation of

COUNTING AND AUDIT
based compensation, value added com- future earnings (Extrapolation of
Human Resource Accounting is based
pensation models etc.) the present skills and knowledge
on the concept of monetary costs to the
into the future and thus estimating)
human resources of the organization. It
If we really want to contribute something • Probability of the person staying
helps the management in better utiliza-
to the society (NOT THE EMPLOYEES) in the organisation
tion, planning and management of hu-
the company can follow two ap-
man resources. It also helps the HR • The rate of discounting the earn-
proaches :
function in taking better decisions : Re- ings
• Fix a particular percentage of the
cruitment, Promotions, Compensation
net income to professional, reputed strategy, Retention strategy and going in I think that subjectivity WILL remain in
charitable organisations (Missionaries for special initiatives like the voluntary accounting for human resources, but the
of charity, Helpage India etc. ) This retirement schemes etc. degree can be minimized. Each com-
has the double benefit that if the pany must identify specific variables for
more the company does well, the the organisational context and for the
How do we quantify Human re-

more the society benefits. different levels. (e.g. in the fast-changing

sources ?
• Undertake specific projects (adopting There are several approaches : software industry, willingness to learn
a village near manufacturing facility, Some of the popular approaches are : becomes an important variable in esti-
mating future earnings) The HR depart-
100 % literacy of a town etc.) • Replacement: you see the cost
ment must take a lead in this direction
incurred in replacing (recruiting, train-
as doing it does lead to better HR deci-
ing) an employee of another with

35
CANVAS
 Financial Dimension For HRD Decisions

OLD
PARADIGM Resource-Based View
Premise 1: Difficulty in ac- Premise 2: Creation of
cess to resources Entry barriers

Globalization Information
Revolution
Trade barriers reduced Improvement in IT
Access to capital Easy access to information
Access to technology Greater exchange of ideas

THE ACCESS TO RE- OLD BUSINESS MODELS RE-

CHANGES SOURCES EASIER DUNDANT (premise 2 and 1

All resources including explicit knowledge can be accessed & copied

Parity in competition leading to need for a new basis of competition

SUPERIOR VALUE PROPOSITION

IMPLICIT KNOWLEDGE: know-how, know-why, know-what, know-when

Knowledge
NEW Customer Knowledge Innovation Ideas Constant learning & adaptation
PARADIGM Adaptation
Management

Experience Insights Integration Collective Wisdom Judgment

PEOPLE

Knowledge-Based View

36
CANVAS

sion making.
HUMAN RESOURCE AUDIT
should be performed to determine where
reductions or expansion could be made. The
decision to reduce or expand in certain areas
will depend on the industry and the reasons
for the problems.
ENVIRONMENTAL AC-
COUNTING AND AUDIT
Environmental accounting is a method for
improving business decision making in recog-
nition of the increasing environmental chal-
lenges and opportunities facing business
today. It does this by identifying hidden or
misallocated internal and external environ-
mental costs and allocating them to particular
products or processes. It helps to :
• Better discern opportunities to minimize
compliance costs and reduce operating
costs
• Reduce costs through energy and re-
source conservation
• Aid strategic decision making regarding
continuing or abandoning a particular
product or process
The other issue is that of the WORK
ENVIRONMENT and not the generic envi-
ronment which is a relevant issue for HR.
How will it lead to better HR decision
making is that by managing the work
environment (cleaner and greener work-
places) it will raise the efficiency and
productivity of the employees. Also they
instill a sense of pride in the employees
which leads to better motivation.
Does the organisation employ environ-
mental accounting just because it has to
because of the compliance necessities and
not because it GENUINELY wants to care
for the environment? It is perfectly under-
standable to use the tool for cost plan-
ning (compliance costs vs. opportunity
costs in lost goodwill and transaction
costs). But if the organisation truly wants
to care for the environment, then, the HR
department must work towards changing
the MINDSETS of its employees to be
Financial Dimension For HRD Decisions
more sensitive about the environment. than one :
Also by encouraging people to keep their Compensation systems based on added
environments clean will help in several value
ways. Relating development costs to the added
value
ENVIRONMENTAL AUDIT: as VALUE-ADDED AUDITing is to maximize the
difference between the costs and benefits of
such there are no generally accepted stan-
the internal audit function. Value-added audit-
dards regulating the nature of such audit
ing is used in terms of risk reduction; stages
work. There is, however, growing pressure on
of the audit; customer satisfaction, and cus-
companies to conduct environmental audit, of
tomer-driven quality.
which there are two competing and incom-
patible views - audits as managerial aid and
audit as an independent critique of environ- PRODUCTIVITY AND EFFI-
mental performance. In the absence of stan-
CIENCY AUDITS
dards, the views of particular practitioners will
The productivity and efficiency areas are
have a decisive effect on the form of the au-
the exclusive preview of the HR depart-
dit. The most widely used auditing procedures
ment. Again the organizational context
used are site visits, interviews with manage-
(degree of automation, hierarchies, transac-
ment, observation of procedures and inter-
tion costs in terms of politics, systems and
views with client staff. A shift in regulatory
processes in the organisation etc.) A
style has stimulated experimentation with new
performance or efficiency audit can just be
instruments of control, including voluntary
the starting point of a BPR (Business proc-
schemes for environmental auditing which
ess Reengineering) in the organisation.
emphasize a management control system.
Two things need to be kept in mind when
Subsequent attempts to define the relevant
dealing with the conventional ratios :
knowledge base of environmental auditing
and to accredit verifiers have created a stage
• Comparison with the industry stan-
dards
on which accountants can promote their
claims. • Capacity of the unit (the link with ca-
pacity planning)
The productivity of the employees needs to
VALUE ADDED ACCOUNT-
be constantly measured and it helps in
ING taking the HRD decisions pertaining to :
Value added accounting is one of the most ⇒ Training (of employees of low produc-
useful tools of the new millennium. With re- tivity)
source and entry barriers going down in the
⇒ Variable pay determined by the pro-
world and with the massive changes taking
ductivity and performance
place (WTO, LIBERALISATION, GLOBAL-
⇒ Determining the segments of the com-
ISATION, IT PROLIFERATION, INTERNET),
pany that are less productive and then
the only metric of competition will be the
concentrating there
added value. A self-formulated-model incor-
One more function of this tool is that it is
porating the changes is proposed below
especially helpful for HRD managers and
which lays a major emphasis on the manage-
helps in QUANTIFYING the HR initiative.
ment of Knowledge.
The HR manager can use the BEFORE-
AFTER technique to compare the productivity
The added value is a very simple concept:
and justify the initiative to the top manage-
Added value by the organisation = Value of
ment.
the final goods and services produced by the
organisation Value of Inputs that the organi-
CONCLUSION
sation takes in producing goods and services
To conclude we can say that Financial State-
HR can benefit by this tool in more ways ments like Balance Sheet and Profit and Loss
37
CANVAS
Account are not the only tools which are
to be considered but it is equally impor-
tant that a corporate should consider
other HRD dimensions like Social Ac-
counting, Human Resources Accounting,
Value added Accounting, Environmental
Accounting, Productivity and Efficiency
Accounting etc. as tools in today’s con-
text for managerial decisions. These
dimensions must not be ignored.

!! I am
REFERENCES
N o p e !
76543
1. H.D. Vests. ‘Invests in SQL Finan-
cials’ Human Resource’- Manage- 9 9 4 5 8
ment accounting, March 1998
2. Dalmahoy, Mary, ‘Putting a value on
people’ – Feb. 1996
3. Dawson, Chris, ‘Human resource
Accounting’ – Management Deci-
a!!
sion 1994 Gotch A!
4. Vakharia, Rusell P., ‘Financial Ac- OSAM
counting of human resource poli-
cies’ – Cost Engineering July 1995
5. Filios, ‘Human System Accounting
is Social Accounting’ – Human re-
source Management 1991
6. Jones and Rowan, ‘Human Re-
source Accounting’ – Accounting
and Business Research 1998

Dr. V. K. Gupta is Professor & Chairman, Fi-

nance and Accounting Area at Indian Institute
of Management, Indore. He has been teaching
Post-Graduate Program, Executive Post-
Graduate Program, Post-Graduate General
Management Programme for Defense Officers,
Broadband Based Education Programme,
Management Development Programs, Faculty
Development Program and Professional Man-
agement Courses for over 16 years. Presently,
He is a member of Accounting Standards
Board, The Institute of Chartered Accountants,
New Delhi. He is also a member of MOU Task
Force, constituted by Government of M. P. His
research interests include International Ac-
counting and International Finance.

An idea can change your life!!

By -Chandan Pal

38
CANVAS
 Million Dollars
or
Knighthood

E
ven though knighthood is alluring, I would opt for a million

dollars instead. Knighthood, proffered to honor some distin-

guished service rendered to the nation or humankind, empow-

ers and impacts in certain ways in the contemporary context; it exempli-

fies the reward for service and therefore inspires future generations to

follow a noble path. Also, the honor invariably vouchsafes a clout that can
What would you do

be fruitfully leveraged to further the interests of the nation and the people.

Money however empowers in a whole new set of ways; it opens up limit-

less avenues and can also be a major incentive for social and business

entrepreneurship. It can be used to pioneer an enterprise that eventually

goes on to generate a million employment opportunities and invigorate an

entire economy. It may also be used to take up a task of social responsi-

bility or cause which would impact the society in a profound manner. Ironi-

cally, none honored with knighthood has pursued and toiled for the

honor’s sake; it has always been the lofty objective to serve that has

driven great people, and the title has been merely incidental while they

pursue their passion. The conscientious knight in every individual is aware

that the title is not the end to be sought, and he is ready to serve unmind-

ful of what comes unsought.

I would choose those million dollars, venture into business and thereby

create wealth for the nation as well as self. Aided with planning, vision and

resourcefulness, the million dollars would multiply manifolds adding to

economic growth and result in a relatively more rich and prosperous na-

tion to which every knight will surely feel proud to belong.

Harpreet Singh is a student of MBA at EM Lyon Business School at Ecully in France; class of 2008. He has
more than 8 years of experience working for global companies such as Logica CMG, AON Insurance in
Europe and India. He can be reached at harpreet-singh.imba@em-lyon.com

39
CANVAS
It
was one of those rare cold win-
ter nights in Calcutta. I was driv-
ing my way back from office and
pondering how could it be
achieved. How could I single-handedly bring
down the losses of West Bank? The task
was proved unachievable by my stalwart
predecessors – experienced both in age and
work. I was totally engrossed in my thoughts
when suddenly the lights of a traffic signal in
front of me turned red. I could barely man-
age to stop the car within the limits.
I looked out. The lights illuminating Victoria
A Real Life Saga
……..a dual feeling operated in my mind – a challenge to overcome and a fear of defeat.
Memorial were off. It must be well passed
10. A street urchin was fighting with a dog for
cozy warmth in the hay beside the footpath.
The dog finally gave in. Slowly a determina-
tion came within me. I have to do it. There is
no other way out. I restarted the engine
when the lights turned green and pushed off.
This dates back to the year 2004 when I was
just transferred as the regional in-charge of
commercial operations of the entire west
bank of the licensed area of Calcutta Elec-
tricity Supply Corporation, the oldest private
power utility in India. At that time, the cumu-
lative Commercial, Transmission and Distri-
bution losses of this region were reeling to
the tune of 22%, much above the company
wide average of about 17%. For quite a long
time the senior management was convinced
that nothing could be done because of the
demography of the region with its dying in-
dustries and poor population.
So when I was transferred here, a dual feel-
ing operated in my mind – a challenge to
overcome and a fear of defeat. Little did I
know that there was a third twist in the whole
set-up.
Generally whenever I am assigned with new
responsibilities I ensure to be accustomed
M O T I VA T I O N
with the people first. It is not only because
that I want to be familiar or friendly, but also
to leverage the benefits out of it. A person
delivers much more when in confidence
rather than merely instructed. So, for the first
week I did no other work except to get ac-
quainted with people. And during this period
of acquaintance, within a couple of days I
was warned about the then union leader,
Ajay Malik. I was even told that no office
master survived in that region if he worked
against the interests of Ajay. Some even
advised to make a deal of peaceful co-
existence with Ajay beforehand. It would be
beneficial to both my job and career. I was
smelling problem.
40
CANVAS
On the third day of my taking charge, a lanky
dark person with small eyes entered my
chamber and without a word sat directly on
the chair kept for visitors. With a shrewd
gesture he scanned me first. I was quiet and
waited for him to start. He asked, well Mr.
Chakraborty, I am Ajay Malik. This is the first
time that I am introducing myself to any offi-
cer. Generally it’s the other way round. You
have been here for more than two days and
you didn’t even feel like meeting me? I
smiled and politely replied, had you been in
the office working at your desk for the last
two days, surely you wouldn’t have com-
plained. I have been moving around and met
all the staff working in this office. It is unfortu-
nate that I didn’t find you anywhere. The
person was taken aback for a while. He un-
derstood that here’s a nut that won’t crack.
Immediately, he switched track. With a
beaming smile he started explaining how
busy he was in the local party conferences
and how much the state legislature depends
upon him. Prior to leaving he added that he
may be contacted for any kind of problem.
The tone sounded to me that he “should” be
contacted and not “might”. The meeting
ended there.
I was back to business. Transmission and

Distribution loss is purely technical and de-
pends upon the gear used by the electricity
utility. On an individual basis, this kind of loss
could not have varied drastically across the
company because the equipments used were
the same everywhere. So there had to be
some problem with the Commercial loss. I
asked for detailed customized reports of vari-
ous commercial processes and on analyzing
the same I found that the major cause of such
high loss is the poor recovery of outstanding
dues. A further dissection of the report re-
garding recovery yielded that the average
percentage of disconnection of sup-
plies for non-payment was only 30-
35% as against the companywide
average of 65-70%. Moreover, the
number of cases which were offered
interest free installments in that
region was just double the average
of the other regions.
The fact was unearthed but the root
cause behind the same was yet to
be brought to light. To discover the
same, I personally undertook spe-
cial disconnection drives along with the out-
door staff. To my astonishment, the teams
that I accompanied with could perform 80-
85% disconnections. Thus, as I anticipated,
all the circumstances were pointing towards
an unholy nexus between the defaulters and
outdoor staff of the company. On pretexts of
resistance, the staff declined to disconnect
defaulting supplies thus allowing dues to pile
up and simultaneously getting their share of
carrot from the nonpayer.
But due to lack of any proof, I couldn’t take
any harsh step directly against my suspects.
Hence amidst tremendous resentment of the
staff, I resorted to implementing two policy
decisions for the region. Firstly, all defaulters
were barred from getting interest free install-
ments over their outstanding bills. Secondly,
all payment counters were advised to charge
the shortfall of security deposit from every
defaulter who turns up to pay. These two
decisions were exclusively deployed for my
region and not across the company. I was
able to convince my senior management that
this change will definitely yield results and
they kept faith on me.
Within an hour of notification of the decisions,
my chamber was stormed by a crowd of hoo-
ligans led by Ajay. They started off with a
different issue altogether regarding the dete-
riorating working conditions with respect to
safety, security and hygiene. I asked them to
provide me a list so that I can immediately
arrange for resolution. From there they
landed on to safety of the field staff perform-
ing the disconnection of supplies. Ajay em-
phasized that the decisions circulated by me,
if implemented, would adversely affect the
safety of the field staff. Hence the decisions
communicated should be immediately with-
drawn.
Initially, I tried to explain that in no way the
decisions affected the field staff and these
were targeted to increase the revenue of the
West Bank. But then I found that they came in
not to listen to any of the clarifications. So I
remained silent and allowed them to exhaust
out. After an hour or so they realized that they
were unable to get the desired outcome. I
was sitting there carrying on with my routine
work. Ajay gave the ultimatum that I will be
under detention by them till such time I re-
verted the decisions. My only cold reply was
that they can carry on with anything they
desire, but if that tantamount to indiscipline,
they better be responsible for the same.
The drama started at 2:30 in the afternoon. It
went on till 10 p.m. in the night. I was not
allowed to take even a glass of water or to go
for the nature’s call. Calls came from all quar-
ters – the top management, my peers and my
family. I calmly assured them that I was abso-
41
CANVAS
A Real Life Saga: Motivation
lutely OK. Eventually Ajay and his team gave
in. They withdrew the protests and agreed to
perform according to the decisions imposed
provided the management took adequate
precautions for the filed staff security. My
battle was won.
After that there were various hindrances
placed by the union people to thwart me off
the track that I laid. But I remained focused
and dealt with all the issues candidly and with
a personal touch.
Within a month I achieved the desired
result. Defaulters had no way out but to
liquidate their total outstanding dues.
Moreover, many unlucky ones even had
to coffer up for their shortfall of security
deposit. When such consumers realized
that it’s better to pay off their bills rather
than to bribe the staff, the nexus was
automatically broken. The staff seeing
that they would not get their share of
cake from the defaulters started discon-
necting defaulting supplies in full swing,
to earn their performance bonus at least.
The fallout – percentage of disconnection of
supplies increased to 80 and for the first time
over a decade, West Bank charted as the
topper with losses reducing to 17% within the
next two quarters. Seeing the success, the
model was gradually implemented all across
the company by top management.
When I was about to quit the company, Ajay
came to my chamber one day and acknowl-
edged that he was wrong in leading the agita-
tion and wished me success in my newer
ventures.
I am now with North Delhi Power, but when-
ever I face a road block, I recall this incident
which automatically inspires me. And it all
started with the determination that I found
within me on one cold winter night.
Anupam Chakravorty holds a Bachelor’s degree in
engineering from Bengal Engineering College,
Shibpur.He has more than 13 years of experience in
Indian Power Distribution industry in the field of
Business Process Re-engineering and designing
strategies for increased efficiency. He is currently a
student of EPGP at IIM Indore, class of 2009.
 Answer: Crosswords

Quiz time

⇒ The BBC is to sell its landmark London build-

a meteor fell to earth in Peru. Which sci-fi colonial links with Britain, except for which
thriller does this tale most closely echo? country?
ing Television Centre as part of efforts to
a. Mozambique b. Cyprus c. Gibraltar d. Corsica.
make up a £2bn shortfall in funds. Which
a. Day of the Triffids b. The Andromeda Strain c.
punctuation mark is the building based on?
a. Question Mark b. Asterisk c. Ampersand d. @
The Quartermass Experiment
⇒ What is the name of the body of water which
d. They came from Mars.
Sign separates Africa from the United Arab Emir-
ates?

⇒ Who is credited for turning around the ailing

⇒ Who has been rated as the most glamorous a. Caspian Sea b. Red Sea c. Shat al arab d.
women recently by the Vogue magazine? Straits of Hormuz.
Japanese car maker Nissan?
a. Kate Moss b. Naomi Campbell c. Queen Eliza-
a. Carlos Ghosn b. Yoshisuke Aikawa c. Kirk
Kerkorian d. Yoshikazu Hanawa
beth second d. Hillary Clinton.
⇒ Which country's flag features a vertical white
stripe sandwiched by two vertical green

⇒ What piece of music was the England Rugby

⇒ Nelson Mandela's statue unveiled in London. stripes?
But how much did sculptor Ian Walters com- a. Afghanistan b. Bulgaria c. Chile d. Nigeria
Team using to psych themselves up before a
plete before he died?
game in the last World Cup?
a. Tina Turner’s Simply the best b. Johnny Cash’s
a. Halfway through initial clay model b. Finished
⇒ What are the two bones in your forearm?
clay model c. Halfway casting through bronze. d.
Ring of Fire c. Kenny Roger’s The Gambler d. a. Radius and ulna b. Tibia and fibula c. Tarsal and
completed the statue.
Ozone- Numa Numa metatarsal d. Biceps and triceps

⇒ Some 200 people claim to have fallen ill after

⇒ All members of the Commonwealth have had

42
CANVAS

The Art of Winning
G
etting the job you want is
what you aspire for. In fact, everyone as-
pires to get a job that offers everything from
a plump salary to high perks and incentives
along with fast career growth. Moreover,
smart people want to do what they like to do
because they know that the kind of passion
that will take them to the top will only come
if they do what they love to do. However, it
is easier said than done.
Getting the job you want in today’s techno-
logically advanced world is more challeng-
ing than it used to be a few years ago.
There is more competition in the job market
today due to the availability of more quali-
fied and experienced candidates. The fast
increase in population, the availability of
sophisticated specialised education and
Prof. M Ashraf Rizvi
training, the trend of ‘hire and fire’ by most
organisations, and globalisation of the world
economy have increased the number of job
seekers. If there is one right job, there are
many applicants for it.
There are several other factors responsible
for making the job market more competitive
and full of challenges. The job market is not
the same. There are more opportunities but
at the same time there are more challenges,
more demands, and more expectations.
There are more job positions but these are
less stable than they used to be. Moreover,
the positions are more demanding and often
include a broader range of responsibilities
than did positions in the past. In fact, the
business world has become more profes-
sional. With the expansion of multinational
companies and worldwide business opera-
tions, the world has become a global vil-
lage. As only the best can survive, most
43
CANVAS
companies and organisations have to strug-
gle to survive and grow. They need very
efficient, competent, and highly dynamic
personnel to run the show and achieve the
desired success.
The job selection process has
also become more complex and sophisti-
cated. Most organisations have their own
recruitment departments with highly compe-
tent people who receive appropriate training
so that they can make valid selection deci-
sions. Moreover, there are specialised re-
cruitment agencies to help companies get
the right people for the right jobs. These
agencies have developed new and effective
interviewing techniques for evaluating a
candidate’s suitability for a particular posi-
tion.
Thus, you may have proper qualifications,
experience, knowledge, confidence, and

appropriate skills but you may still find it diffi-
cult to get the job that you aspire for as get-
ting the job you want depends on many fac-
tors, some of which you cannot control. For
example, you have no control over other
applicants who might be more qualified, more
experienced, and better suited to the job at
hand. In fact, you may not be aware of the
strengths and qualities of your competitors.
But there is one factor that you do control,
and that is, how well you communicate.
You job communication skills are crucial for
you. Research shows that the ability to com-
municate effectively is the most important
factor that helps people identify and get the
job of their dreams. There is an increasing
focus on the candidate’s personal qualities
rather than on qualification, experience, and
job skills because most recruitment experts
believe that proper training can easily develop
these skills but it is not easy to develop per-
sonal motivations and qualities. Communicat-
ing effectively is basically the ability to per-
suade the employer of your special qualities
and strengths that make you suited to the job.
Job communication can be defined as a com-
plex process that involves writing employment
letters, applications, résumés, and facing job
interviews and selection group discussions.
The success of employment search depends
a lot on the candidate’s ability to design a
persuasive résumé and an effective cover
letter and face the job interview effectively. An
employer has to evaluate a large number of
applicants before he or she takes a decision
to hire a candidate for a particular position.
No employer is under any obligation or com-
pulsion to appoint a candidate. In fact, the
process of selecting candidates for a position
might result in the rejection of a large number
of applicants.
The employer tries to get to know the candi-
dates through their application and résumé by
evaluating their education, skills, and experi-
ence. They confirm their observation during
face to face job interviews/telephone inter-
views and selection group discussions where
they observe and evaluate the candidates.
Therefore, developing job communication
Job Communication: The Art of Winning
skills is essential. guided by a ‘specific purpose’.
Job communication skills involve a set of M Ashraf Rizvi is an Associate Professor in General
Management and Communication Area, teaching
tools and techniques for communicating ef-
courses on business communication and Manage-
fectively in formal employment situations. rial Communication in the Institute's PGM and E-
When you want a job, you have to pass PGM and management development programs. He
has more than eighteen years of experience in
through a rigorous selection process. You
teaching, training and consulting.
might confuse the employer without meaning
to, or you might not present correctly all that Prof. Rizvi's areas of special interest area Corporate
Communications, cross-cultural communication,
you have to offer to the employer. So, partly interpersonal communication strategies, technical
as a result of not knowing the conventions of writing, and managerial oral communication.
job communication, you may make all kinds
The source of this article is his latest book
of mistakes. You should, therefore, under- “Resumes and Interviews: The Art of Winning”,
stand the nature of job communication. McGraw Hill Education, 2007
Job communication is distinct from other
types of human communication in the sense
that it occurs in highly structured setting as it
is intended to convey specific personality
information to a specific audience for a spe-
cific purpose. Thus, the first important charac-
teristic of job communication is its content,
i.e., your knowledge and skills. Whatever your
field of operation, whenever you try to write or
say anything about your knowledge, skills,
experiences in order to obtain a position, you
are engaged in job communication.
Quiz Answers:
Another key aspect of job communication is
the receiver of the information—the employer. 1. a
Adapting to the varying needs of the employ- 2. a
ers and accommodating their perceptions is 3. c
an integral part of job communication. Every 4. b
time you apply for a job position, you need to 5. c
follow a new process. An effective job com- 6. b
municator may use a blend of methods and 7. d
alternatives to emphasize how he or she is 8. b
right for the job by matching the requirements 9. d
of the job with his/her qualifications and ex- 10. a
periences.
The last aspect of job communications is the
‘specific purpose’. Job communication is
always purposive. For the job communicator,
it is the communicative purpose that brings
his/her perspective, knowledge and ideas into
focus for the employer. Whether a job com-
municator has to design, write, and edit re-
sumes or job applications, do a self-analysis
for facing a job interview, or revise his/her
subject competence, or prepare for a selec-
tion group discussion, he or she is always
44
CANVAS
We
are upwardly mobile on the Maslow hierarchy.
With human needs shifting from the physical to
the metaphysical, the focus had to shift to the
brawn from the brain. Development in any one sector is always
accompanied by a parallel shift in the accompanying fields –
history is witness to this simple fact. One of the biggest spin-offs
of the New age Industry is that it has brought into focus the irre-
placibility of the human brain. For too long and to a dispropor-
tionate degree, we have been emphasizing on the power of
money, materials and machines. Even when we started realizing
the last tool of differentiation in our hands, the human brain, the
emphasis was more on the visible manifestations of the brain:
the demonstrated skills. The grey areas of knowledge and skills
remain as such. Of course there is no lack of studies on how to
better tap these two vital yet nebulous elements of creativity, but
there are miles to go before Behavioural scientists hit upon ways
and means to utilize even 50 % of mind power. Researches
THERE IS BUT ONE FREEDOM
AND THAT IS THE FREEDOM OF THE MIND
show that the major proportions of our everyday thoughts are
about the past. If even 20% of our thoughts could be about the
future, man could do wonders. Think about it, what a vast poten-
tial remains untapped. If
research could arrive at
some practical methods
by which man could channelize his thoughts more towards vi-
sioning, strategizing and planning for the future, we could safely
say, “WE HAVE ARRIVED”.
Mind is what the brain does consciously. Mind performs a series
of information processing in order to form strategies needed to
live our daily lives. Hence if brain is the hardware, mind can be
termed as the software. I remember a story wherein a person
45
CANVAS
stopped at the sight of an elephant which was being held by a
small rope tied to its front legs. The person was confused by the
fact that the huge creature was held not by chains or cages but
only by a small rope . It was obvious that the elephant could
break away from the shackles anytime but it did not for some
reason. Then seeing the trainer standing beside, the person
enquired why the animal did not break away. To this the trainer
replied that when the elephant was much smaller the same sized
rope used to tie it and at that age it was enough to match the
creature’s strength. As the elephant grew up it was conditioned
to believe that it cannot break away . Today the elephant still
believes that the rope can still hold it and thus never tries to
break free. The elephant can , today , break free any moment
but because it believes it couldn’t, it is stuck right where it is. Like
the elephant, many of us go through in life clung to the belief that
we cannot do something, simply because we failed at it once
before. This is the power of mind. If it is being channelized for
positive and constructive
purposes it will give one
result . Similarly if chan-
nelized for negative
purposes it will limit one
from performing.
Once we came to realize the power of the mind, we overplayed
the rational part to
the detriment of the
right brain. Logical
reasoning and analysis, by virtue of the role science has played
in the progress of the human race, assumed a natural one-
upmanship on the softer aspects of intuitiveness, creativity and
dreaming. But the fact is that the starting point of any innovation
or any idea is a dream. If you can dream something, you can do
it. As it says “Be aware of what you want – you shall get it”. By
nature man is designed to dream. But the cold assembly line
production of the industrial revolution seemed to send a deaden-
up-manship on the softer aspects of
intuitiveness, creativity and dream-
ing. But the fact is that the starting
point of any innovation or any idea
is a dream. If you can dream some-
thing, you can do it. As it says “Be
tive approach to entrepreneurship which is the
aware of what you want – you shall
distinguishing factor from other similar books is
get it”. By nature man is designed to
that it focuses on the human interaction in
dream. But the cold assembly line
generating ideas, opportunities and business
production of the industrial revolu-
ventures. The book further generously ex-
tion seemed to send a deadening
pands on different aspects of entrepreneurship
message to man: rational thoughts,
and how it works at different levels, giving you
science and analysis and not some
both an insight how entrepreneurship works
Technicolor dream, will take him to
and how to convert a startup into flourishing
the frontiers of progress. Fortunately
business empire and finally into a huge con-
that myth is being shattered.. But if
cern.
de-freezing is difficult, refreezing is
The book is a great motivator for all those look-
a Herculean task, more so when it
ing towards entrepreneurship and de-stresses
comes to fuelling the fires of mind.
on how one can turn into an entrepreneur.
When we try to tap the individual
However, whilst not everyone wishes to be-
mind for better performance we
come an entrepreneur, the book proposes that
have to stress on the learning as-
enterprising skills are valuable for everyone.
pects of the mind so that the poten-
Entrepreneurship Inspirational case studies of entrepreneurial
tial of an employee will always be
From Opportunity to Action people and organizations have been included
positively enhanced. Organizations
By DAVID RAE. Professor of Business & En- to demonstrate what can be achieved.
have a gigantic task in front o them
terprise at Lincoln Business School, University
if they are to manage minds in the
of Lincoln, UK. It's a great read whether you are looking for a
true sense of the term and ulti-
Publisher: Macmillan Publishing Company, business book with a difference or you are truly
mately be able to unleash its power
16th Jan 2007.GBP 29.99 the man who truly believes that anyone can be
and potential. They have to re-teach
successful, if you approach things with the
employees, something they have
right attitude. But let me tell you that, once you
forgotten to do naturally: Dream.
This is a great piece of work from Professor
start reading it will be difficult to stop and you'll
And then they have to facilitate
Rae, who is Professor of Business & Enter-
probably try to finish reading the book in one
nurturing of these dreams and their
prise at Lincoln Business School, University of
sitting, and when you reach the end of the
morphing into reality.
Lincoln. I have read many books on entrepre-
book you will realize that all those ideas you
neurship but this is one of the better books so
had of creating your own business suddenly
A tough call, but who ever said suc-
far. This book relates theory and practice in an
have a new lease of life! Written in a very lucid
cess was easy?
entirely new fashion. Actually it’s a unique
and concise form, the book has real life stories
blending of theory and practice. Most other
of those who dared to dream and went forth in
entrepreneurship books are mostly theoretical
realizing them. An absolute must buy for all the
in nature and lacks real world case studies or
Arjun Basu is a Civil Engineer from the young and budding entrepreneurs.
Bengal Engineering and Science Univer- actual implementation processes. This book on
sity. Currently working as an Assistant the other hand offers a stronger practical ap- Mrinal Srivastava is a graduate of IIT Kanpur and a
Manager with NALCO ,Asia's largest
Alumina Refinery, he has around 07
proach. It focuses on learning with a new ap- MBA student at Indian School of Business (ISB) at
Hyderabad, class of 2009.He is a budding entrepre-
years of experience in Project Manage- proach which is basically an “active learning
neur and has more than 9 years of experience in IT
ment, material Planning, auditing, quality
process”. service industry, working in varied roles such as
management systems and Environment
Project Manager and Delivery head for major IT com-
management systems. He is currently a
panies in India. He can be reached on mrinal-
student of EPGP at IIM Indore class of Entrepreneurship theory is well covered in this
sri@gmail.com.
2009.
book, but the real emphasis is on the individual
as the entrepreneur and on creating and seiz-
ing entrepreneurial opportunities. The innova-

46
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