Laxmikanth Venkatraman (MD, Broadridge Financial Solutions India Pvt. Ltd.) tells Schweta Chaturvedi that leaders should attract the right talent and allow them to be themselves by following the right approach

Q. What makes an ordinary company a ‘great organisation’?

A. It is the people and always the people; this is what I have always believed in and have experienced too. It is the ability to attract, retain and nurture people that makes an organisation great. People make all the difference inside or outside a workplace and that is why they need to feel connected with the organisation. Our job as leaders is primarily to attract the right talent and allow them to be themselves which can be done through the following approach:

Experience, Explore and Grow

People should feel empowered. We, as leaders, have to be the Thirthankara (according to Jainism, Thirthankara is a human being who in addition to achieving liberation and enlightenment, became a role model and leader for those seeking spiritual guidance) who with knowledge and guidance will enable the connection and bridge the gap.

Q. What are your thoughts on the talent base in India? What is the need of the hour to generate more employment opportunities for them?

A. I think, fundamentally, our talent base is good both from the perspective of technical skills as well as from that of soft skills and this is increasingly being recognised globally.

There are some challenges that we have from our education system and from companies which do not equip people adequately to be job ready. But the biggest hurdle in my view is embedded in our thinking. Our system constrains us to think only in a certain manner. Our upbringing and milieu have instilled fear in our minds which has conditioned our living. We need to learn to unlock ‘that’ fear. I believe in F=S=O, that is, fear = scarcity = opportunity (on the lines of counterfactuals). Click here to read more...

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Emerging trends

The short-time working programme in Germany, known as ‘Kurzarbeit’, is supposed to ensure that companies across all sectors keep workers employed in times of crisis or low demand by reducing working hours and consequently wage costs. The Federal Employment Agency provides funding for short-time working based on business cycle and economic reasons, providing that certain conditions are met. The agency tops up reduced wages by a certain percentage and subsidises social security contributions on short-time wages by 50 per cent (up to 100 per cent during qualification programmes and after seven months). The programme existed before the crisis, but was extended because of it. The incentives to encourage employers to retain workers by reducing working hours instead of firing them were originally due to expire in 2010-end. According to the German government, the scheme has proved itself during the economic crisis by keeping unemployment lower than in many of the country’s trading partners.

Organising union activities in transnational firms
Between 2007 and 2008, Romania’s Free Trade Union Federation of Commerce (FSLC) carried out activities in companies operating in Romania, with the support of other trade organisations. FSLC concentrated on organising employees in transnational companies. The main companies targeted were Metro Cash & Carry, Carrefour and Billa-Rewe. As a result, FSLC and the newly established Metro union ‘Solidaritatea’ signed a collective agreement in April 2008 for Metro Cash and Carry.

The agreement improved working conditions and wages for the employees at Metro. An information and consultation forum for social dialogue at Metro Romania was also established, and the Romanian employees won a seat on Metro’s European works council. The Metro collective agreement gave a 9.5 per cent increase in wages, a loyalty bonus after five years of employment, and a 10 per cent bonus for work on Saturdays and Sundays. It also provides three paid days each month for union representatives, and stipulates that employers have an obligation to focus on improving working conditions. Click here to read more...

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Universities have two roles – creating and disseminating knowledge.

Third, focus on improving faculty quality. Universities have two roles – creating and disseminating knowledge. This translates into two key responsibilities for faculty, research and teaching. The importance of faculty undertaking these dual roles is demonstrated by the fact that there are almost no top teaching business schools globally that do not also excel in research. Indeed, excellence in research is an important requirement for eminence in teaching and education. Unfortunately, most Indian business schools do not recognise research, and do not view it as related to teaching and education. As a result, with few exceptions, faculties undertake little research and many institutions rely heavily on practitioners who lack fundamental understanding of theoretical foundations.

Not all faculties or institutions need to undertake global-standard research. Yet the current state in India, where perhaps only one business school does so, suggests a major underlying problem. The solution is a challenging one – introduce research-oriented PhD programmes, hire better quality faculty, offer adequate compensation and align incentives to include research excellence. A concerted effort to draw on Indian faculty abroad to help develop doctoral programmes and faculty should be an immediate priority.

Fourth, allow foreign institutions to establish campuses in India, as that will increase options for students, introduce beneficial competition, raise standards and increase investments in education. While there must be some quality standards, a broad range of institutions should be allowed in. The rationale for doing so is similar to that of encouraging foreign direct investment and arguments against doing so, equally mistaken. Click here to read more...

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Professionals make for better teachers

Q. Please give us an overview of the education system in the United Kingdom. Also, how different is it from that in India?

A. The education system in the United Kingdom has experienced the same set of challenges that the Indian system has at some point or the other. In terms of quality and availability of faculty, we have been through a fair share of challenges. Universities in the United Kingdom have depended on faculty with no real-world work experience, even for teaching accountancy courses. On the contrary, the independent training institutes have relied heavily on qualified business professionals to teach professional courses. What we have seen, therefore, is a trend where the independent institutes have almost taken over the entire demand and supply of accounting professionals. Students have moved away from university degrees in accounting to professional programmes supported by training institutions.

Q. What kind of training programmes are conducted for teachers in the United Kingdom?

A Training or qualification is as critical as its application and relevance. Quality teachers have experience of working in the field to back their academic knowledge. The best teacher training programme would expose teachers teaching accountancy or business-related subjects to the real world of business and finance.

Q. What is more important – education or experience, especially at a time when universities and companies are shaking hands?

A. When it comes to teachers, relevant work experience is as important as the academic qualification. Sound exposure to industry ensures that their teaching is backed by examples and case studies from the real world. That means students are more ‘business ready’ when they come out of the institute and the companies do not have to spend too much time in training them. Click here to read more..

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Top-performing countries concentrate on producing a surplus of good educationiSt and ensuring every student has a fine teacher.

 Marc S. Tucker (President & CEO, National Center on Education and the Economy) reveals that top-performing countries concentrate on producing a surplus of good educationiSt and ensuring every student has a fine teacher

Q. Serving on the research board and framing education policies since long, where do you see India standing?

A. It seems to me that much of the progress in India in recent years has been made in spite of its government. When I was in India a few years ago, I saw enormous hunger for education everywhere. I saw that cry for education is being met in many places by a bewildering array of agencies, institutions and individuals. It is conceivable that technology might make a substantial difference to India, although my own reading of history in my country is that technology has rarely lived up to its promise in the field of education. We have been researching the countries with the best national school systems for more than 20 years. They did not get there with technology, but the old-fashioned way, by upgrading their teachers, their standards, their curricula and their testing systems. The principles that underlie successful education systems are the same everywhere. If India wants to join the ranks of the top-performing national education systems, it needs to study those principles and adopt them.

Q. How are educational practices in the United States different from other countries?

A. If you look at top performing countries, one of the important steps they have taken is to improve the quality of their teaching force. They have worked hard to raise the standards for entry of teachers in their institutions. In almost all the top 10 performing countries, you will see ratios of applications to acceptances in the order of 6:1, 8:1 and 10:1, resulting which they are recruiting their teachers from a very high segment of their ability spectrum, essentially the same segment they recruit their high status professionals from. Also, there is an increased emphasis on diagnosis and prescriptions and teachers are able to quickly recognise who is lagging behind and needs help. This practice has become an important part of the curricula in these teacher education systems. Click here to read full interview...

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That formal system

Ajay Mangal, CEO, Umang Realtech Pvt. Ltd.

 

When I was 18, my pocket money was... less than Rs 10.

When I was 18, my wardrobe was full of... only formals.

When I was 18, my walls had posters of... Sunil Gavaskar.

When I was 18, my study hours per day were... more than 12 hours.

When I was 18, one lesson my dad would teach me everyday was... work hard, it will not go waste.

When I was 18, my wallet would have... no money.

When I was 18, my ambition was... to be a chartered accountant.

When I was 18, my favourite hangout was... the library of Sri Ram College of Commerce. 

When I was 18, I would travel to college by... DTC bus or university special.

When I was 18, the sports I enjoyed the most was... Cricket.

When I was 18, my mentor in life was... my father.

When I was 18, I read... only my text books.

When I was 18, favourite actor was... Amitabh Bachchan.

Click here to read more...

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During a crisis situation, it is not enough to have just one backup plan. In the current economic scenario, it is necessary to plan for the worse.

When a company – regardless of its industry – is going through a rough patch and the CEO is an experienced veteran, then according to Chen and Hambrick, the CEO would not be able to think the way out. “He is too trapped by the baggage of the accumulated wisdom of that industry, so the longer the tenure of the industry incumbent, the more a company will benefit from getting rid of him,” says Hambrick.

The same would not be applied when the CEO is an industry-outsider; in that case figuring out a new pathway is easy and seems feasible.

The in-house talent cannot be ruled out in this case but the ‘any-fresh-face-will-do’ attitude will eventually prove worthless unless you are lucky enough. Looking for an in-house alternative can also help avoid the internal unrest that could result from disgruntled employees over missing the opportunity.

One of the key factors in deciding the turnaround is the board’s involvement. The matters related to the CEO shuffling are amongst the most prioritised jobs for any board. Read more...

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The focus of HR should be to attract the talents who are willing to take risk and script success stories in the form of intrinsic rewards.

HR professionals must acquaint, update and equip themselves with the financial and operational aspects of the turnaround plan and a thorough understanding of market forces in operation to address the pressing realities of the function and interdepartmental needs. Turnarounds are uncertain, demanding, risky in nature and tricky in approach and, the key issues are leadership, communication, and change management. These are the issues that require a competent HR team to handle and set directions for organisations. The role of HR leader is critical and crucial as he or she not only steers his or her team to brace and facilitate change, but also guides the top management including the CEO in overcoming HR challenges in the form of layoffs, legal tangles, reorganisation and absorbing the cultural shocks. Lastly, the HR team needs to devise an exit strategy from post-turnaround phase as organisations cannot continue to work under a war-like scenario.

Turnaround phase in organisational life is not uncommon. The turnaround HR team needs to understand the realities and act upon the best ideas and innovations. The role of HR leader during a turnaround can be aptly summarised as “Obstacles don’t have to stop you. If you run into a wall, don’t turn around and give up. Figure out how to climb it, go through it, or work around it”. Read more...

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Managing the Concern Together

Q. How can HR increase its visibility in the organisation?
A. HR can increase its visibility by having a deep understanding of the business it serves. HR cannot just focus on HR topics (compensation, benefits, staffing, employee relations, etc.) but also needs to understand how the business operates to have an impact on profit or service. This is what CEOs want from HR, in addition to managing its responsibilities and keeping the organisation on track to be competitive.

Q. What are the roadblocks that CEO-HR relationship faces while working on a common ground?
A. If HR fully understands the business it supports, the roadblocks should be few and far between. A strong relationship between the CEO and HR can be powerful, as HR supports the mission and vision – that the CEO has for the business – by bringing in and retaining the right talent. If there are conflicts around legal issues or ethical violations, HR must do what it can to protect the organisation but ultimately, it is the CEO’s responsibility to manage the operations.

Q. Are there any sector-specific expectations from HR? Please explain through an example.
A. A great example of industry specific expectations from HR comes from Zappos — a retail company that does not see itself as selling shoes. It has positioned itself as a customer service organisation and prides itself on having every employee interviewed based on cultural fit. Read more...

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NITIN KULKARNI CHIEF OPERATING OFFICER, PERSISTENT SYSTEMS

With a prolific career spanning over 18 years, Mr. Nitin Kulkarni has worked with companies such as Infosys, Siemens Information Systems Ltd, and NELCO ( a TATA company). Knowledge of formulation and implementation of operational strategies in the areas of IT products and services is his forte. At Persistent Systems, he is responsible for running the entire delivery and HR operations for the company.

Q. What is the leadership’s take on HR as a partner?
A. The HR essentially needs to be involved very strongly in the business strategy. A clear understanding of the business strategy will ensure that HR gets the right talent on board. Strong focus should be on mentoring and training, having new programmes besides ensuring a healthy environment in the company to keep the employees motivated and retain them.

At Persistent Systems, the HR head is actively involved in business planning activity, budgeting activities, and is also a part of all business forums and the operation forums. Therefore, he is aware of the grass-roots level and can respond to the business requirements.

Q. Do you think HR needs to make itself more visible to the top management?
A. When I look back at the past three or four years, the role of HR has become more strategic. In most IT companies the HR Head is a part of the executive council. So, I do not think visibility is a big problem for HR. As far as being a part of strategic business is concerned, it is more about the CEO involvement. Today, HR has gained sufficient visibility to be part of the top management and is involved in business decisions as a strategic partner.

Q. Talking specifically of the IT sector, what is the CEOs’ common perception of HR?
A. We see HR as our business partner, and essentially, a very strong enabling function for all our business strategies. HR in the organisation really needs to work on talent acquisition with utmost efficiency and foster their growth and create the employer brand.

As we talk more and more about beings partners in the company’s success, CEOs also need to focus on employee engagement and work closely with the HR. They should adopt the best practices that HR suggests and help it work in an organised manner. I believe, the CEO-HR relationship should be a very strong bond. Click here to read full interview...

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Zipdial

Continued..But given that there are various other telecom or internet based information providers or engagement platforms - the Indiatimes 58888service being one of the most prominent ones - what makes Zipdial unique and saleable to clients? Clarifies Valerie, “For us being toll free and being a dialing service sets us apart and makes us frictionless and disruptive! Otherwise, consumers in India generally end up paying anywhere between INR 3 to INR 10 as premium SMS charges for seeking information. Also, SMSing is much lesser of a priority than simple dialing, in India.”

However, another important differentiator according to her is that, as a service they are more about creating a pull for the customer rather than pushing information into them. “You only get information only when you ask for it. There is no breach of privacy or pesky SMSes. This is a boon keeping in mind the recent TRAI regulations that prohibit SMS pushing,” she explains.
>br> The start-up is Bengaluru based, with a small team of around 14 people and offices in cities like Delhi and Mumbai. Ensuring global delivery to clients, Zipdial relies on cloud computing, while the IVRs are local to each region. Though the company and the concept is unique to India, they have done campaigns in the Carribean and very soon plan to get into Southeast Asia.
>br> And when it comes to hunting for talent, Valerie feels that anybody can learn technology, but what they look for is that, whether the person has belief in the business and finds any value in it.
>br> Having to hop across various cities in the subcontinent quite frequently for work, Valerie is quick to point out that her work is her life! She says, “The first thing I do in the morning is check my mail and that’s the last thing I do at night, too.” However, a gush of excitement overrides her as she shares her marriage plans in June this year and that the newly-weds plan to settle down in Bengaluru itself, as we reach the end of the conversation. Click here to read more...

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India’s Top MR Agencies 2011

The Final Ranking of Top Indian Market Research Firms as per the 4Ps B&M survey gives them scores on an aggregate basis as well as on different parameters.

Methodology

4Ps B&M conducted a perception survey in two phases on Market Research firms in India. In the first phase, the team created a list of MR firms in India. The list of 63 was generated based on the frequency of recall of the market research firms (a focussed survey amongst 215 respondents in the corporate world, market research employees and industry leaders was conducted pan India). This was followed by a secondary study. The MR firms taken into consideration were the ones whose forte is to provide services primarily in the field of market research (primary or secondary). Certain firms who are primarily into consulting and only have an internal research team for their support have not been considered under the purview of the survey. Also, research firms who are specific to an industry have been eliminated from the survey. Hence 38 firms were considered for the second part of the study.

The second part of the research was carried out amongst corporates, employees of market research firms, industry leaders and others on a pan India basis on the parameters given in the table below: The respondents were asked to randomly rate 5 selected market research firms on the above parameters on a scale of 1-10 where 10 was the highest score on the perception scale. Since, employees and members of market research firms were also interviewed, the scores of the agency they were working with was not asked or taken into consideration to avoid any scope for bias. The survey used a structured questionnaire through in-depth interviews, telephonic interviews and e-mails. All responses from respondents are primarily their own perceptions. The individual and cumulative scores have been calculated and displayed to give the final rankings for the research agencies. ICMR (Indian Council for Market Research), being a sister organization, was excluded from the research. However, we firmly believe that if ICMR had been included, given the quantity and quality of the research it does and the expansiveness of its clients’ reach, it would have been ranked amongst India’s top five MR agencies. But committed to editorial integrity, we have ensured that it does not feature in this ranking.

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Source : IIPM Editorial, 2011.

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

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Advertising - Hotspots and Rankings - They came, we saw and everybody reviewed!

An ad is a product of painstaking craftsmanship. Various elements, ranging from positioning of the product, clarity of the idea behind the product to visibility of the brand, its persona and the power of communication have to be intelligently weaved together. But while some ads manage to rewrite preset creative benchmarks, some go the wrong way, fall by the side and fail to excite viewers. In this section, we review three ads that came out tops, for the right and also for the wrong reasons.

Now i love logistics!

Advertiser: Mahindra
Baseline: Outperform
Agency: NA

4Ps B&M Take: Advertising can be defined in five simple steps – why to communicate, what to communicate, where to communicate, how to communicate and whom to communicate. Much to our disappointment, the latest commercial launched by Mahindra to promote its new age Navistar range of trucks, pathetically fails to sufficiently fullfill any of the above mentioned requirements. The creative (with creativity channelilsed in all the wrong directions, though) opens outside a house where a man standing beside his car is waiting for his son Amar. His son comes out all dressed up in a business suit. He looks disappointed as he feels that his parents failed to understand him. As it turns out, he has been roped in to the family business, which primarily deals in logistics. Now he is confused. Why was he motivated to pursue an MBA in the first place if his father had eventually planned to redirect him to the trucking business? Nevertheless, the father and son duo board a BMW as they set out for an important meeting (or so it seems). Moments later, we see that they have landed up at Mahindra’s showroom to collect the order of trucks they had placed. Soon, Amar seems impressed after seeing the modern trucks. And all of a sudden, the entire business starts making sense and he is proud of his dad’s decision. The end. First things first, we don’t really understand how a fancy truck could motivate this kid (in case his kinds are the target audience). Secondly, logistics is about transportation. It’s a pretty straightforward business. What good would a dozen new and expensive trucks do to the business when the same could be achieved by acquiring second hand trucks at a fraction of the cost? Or maybe they would, but if so, shouldn’t the advertisement have talked about the benefits of the Navistar range more prominently and clearly? The kid may be clear, but Mahindra certainly needs some introspection.

dumb... dumb... dumb... d-uh...

Advertiser: AMD
Baseline: Processors that...
Agency: NA

4Ps B&M Take: If you happen to be a brand involved in the business of selling products to the youth segment of India, which has considerable disposable income, then you don’t just need to have a good product. Your brand positioning and communication should be as clear and impactful. Unfortunately, AMD fantastically failed to realise this. The commercial conceptualised by the chip major to promote its six core processor will in all probability do no good to he brand. The TVC opens inside the bedroom of a newly wed couple. As they start undressing each other (they don’t look convincing here either), one starts presuming that this might be a condom ad. However, it turns out that they had been wearing their wedding attire over military uniforms! As you sit perplexed wondering what’s going on (provided you haven’t already switched the channel or banged your head against the wall yet), the couple starts playing a video game and are shown having a lot of fun. VO: With the AMD six core processor, movies, games and music become so really real, you’ll forget everything else. We just have one word to describe this TVC – pathetic. Idea’s 3G ad had a similar theme just a few fortnights back. Besides being original, it was definitely much more likeable.

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Source : IIPM Editorial, 2011.

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

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Aman ki (FIAT’s) Asha?

The flag-off ceremony by FIAT India for its ‘Securing borders drive’ took place on Independence Day this year. Under this activity, NCC cadets from Chetana College of Commerce will be driving the recently launched Fiat Grande Punto 90HP Multijet through an epic 18-day drive, which started from the Wagah border and will traverse via Sir Crick in Rann of Kutch and Longewala battle field in Jaisalmer. The event was flagged off by Marius D’Lima, Head- Corporate Communications, FIAT India and Shirish Chaudhari, Vice President, Chetana Trust. The drive is to promote relations between India and its neighbouring countries. FIAT is expecting to gain positive consumer awareness with this initiative – and subsequently, through similar such future exercises.

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Source : IIPM Editorial, 2011.

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

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IIPM B-School
Arindam Chaudhuri
Rajita Chaudhuri
Planman Consulting

IIPM in the league of best management institutes of India.....
IIPM Prof. Arindam Chaudhuri on Internet Hooliganism
Arindam Chaudhuri: We need Hazare's leadership
Professor Arindam Chaudhuri - A Man For The Society....
IIPM: Indian Institute of Planning and Management