IILM Institute for Higher Education

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Book Review:An Uncertain Glory: India and its Contradictions

Alumni, IILM Graduate School of Management, IILM Institute for Higher Education, IILM Undergraduate Business School, IILM University

Authors: Jean Dreze and Amartya Sen
Published by Penguin Books ( 2014)
ISBN No. 978-0-141-97582-5

An Uncertain Glory: India and its Contradictions is published by Penguin Books in 2014 , wherein the two economists Jean Dreze and Amartya Sen pose a question that who are the actual beneficiaries of this growth. The book is an eye opener on two fronts one that the growth is not participatory and two public sources generated by economic growth have not been able to improve the living conditions of people at large.
There has been a lot of discussion on the caste, religion, gender discrimination, regional disparity and languages. But, ever increasing income inequality has often been obscured in all these discussions. In modern India this seems to be a major concern area wherein there has been a widening gap between the deprived community and ever growing opulent rich class. This book by Dreze and Sen narrates this divide between the privileged and ignored society as one of the biggest challenge which has seldom been highlighted in all the literature which has been creating a hype of ever growing and prosperous India.
An Uncertain Glory thus, is equally of interest for readers coming from economic, social and political background as it reveals the story of India’s development. There has been an implied notion amongst political and economic logics which believes that the benefit of economic development will eventually trickle down from the higher levels to the grass roots leading to development with a broader base. But, the fact here is that neither the colonial past nor the policies post independence addressed the issues of poverty, illiteracy and inequality effectively.
The country has overseen the rapid rate of growth which has successfully employed the skilled people and wealth accumulation for a few corporate. There has been a surge in the living standard of middle class. Despite this fact, India has experienced a lack of political will which could utilize growing resources for improving ‘education, healthcare, nutrition, social facilities, and other essentials of fuller and freer human life for all.
The authors demonstrate that “India is not doing well at all in many respects even in comparison with some of the poorest countries in the world” outside of sub- Saharan Africa and even in South Asia though ahead of neighbors in terms of per capita income, India’s developmental indicators stand ahead of only Pakistan, a country with a perpetually disturbed political situation.
Dreze and Sen have strongly raised an argument that markets cannot allocate the resources effectively in the area of education, healthcare and infrastructure services due to inherent externality effects and the state intervention thus becomes inevitable. But, along with that the public services in India have been suffering with the malaise of corruption and lack of accountability .These problems somehow are a major cause of ever increasing inequality in the country. Dreze and Sen have thus spoken about education especially at a higher level as an escape route for the unheard millions. This might curb the established practices viz. corruption and bribery.
The book becomes more relevant in the context of understanding the economic development process as there are solutions been given for global and local issues. The authors have emphasized upon the fact that high level of human development in Europe, Latin America or East Asia – plus others even among India’s South Asian neighbors such as Bangladesh and Sri Lanka are a result of prudent and rationalist intervention of the government. Although some of the state government like Kerala Tamil Nadu or Himachal Pradesh have successfully been able to provide public services like education, administration and addressing economic inequalities as compared to states with poor governance like Bihar, Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, Madhya Pradesh, Odhisa, Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh. In these states living standards are no better than some of the poorer states in Africa.
The ability of the government to hasten poverty alleviation, secure gender justice and produce a corruption-free society can only be ensured by informed political selection. While much has been made, and rightfully so, of India’s democracy, evident in the size of the country, the variety of political parties, a largely free press as well as in the ability to sustain the democratic process amidst vast poverty, Dreze and Sen stress India’s need “to make much greater use of the democratic system.” It is in this optimism, which recognizes that India indeed possesses the means of achieving broad development for all, that An Uncertain Glory maintains a tone of hope amid grounds for despair.
The book by Dreze and Sen is a powerful, thought provoking and strong narration of pertinent issues which have been ailing the country since long. The book highlights the range of both the contradictions and possibilities inherent in the country.

“HR As a Strategic Business Partner”, HR Conclave 2015

Alumni, IILM Institute for Higher Education, IILM Undergraduate Business School, IILM University

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IGSM, Greater Noida organised a day-long HR CONCLAVE on the theme “HR As a Strategic Business Partner” on Saturday, 26th September 2015 at its Greater Noida Campus.

The event began with an opening address by Dr Taruna Gautam – Director, IGSM followed by an introduction to the theme by Dr. Itiliekha Dash, Area chair OB & HR at IILM Graduate School of Management.

Mr Sanjoy Mukerji, Managing Director of iClinic Healthcare and Diagno Labs was the chief guest on the occasion. He started with those values that a company must incorporate in its vision statement i.e. increasing both the shareholder’s value and customer value and making an alignment to at least one character of an employee to organization. Also he mentioned 5 key points that one must look forward to:

    • Every organization is becoming service organization. Therefore, it is important              to think of the policy to add values.
    • The frontline people are the most important people of the organization because they serve the customers.
    • Growth is the mantra that everyone should face and experience.
    • Organization should adopt the right culture to match with the product, customers etc.
    • It is important to integrate the communication process between frontline’s and executives.

Chandan Chattaraj ,President – HR (India & Global),Uflex Ltd was the key note speaker of the inaugural session. Mr. Chattaraj set the direction and elaborated on the broad idea about the whole discussion. With supporting data he spoke about “transformation”, how important it was to experience and understand it, than just learning new things. He emphasized on the idea that key investment for strategic role is knowledge and it was increasingly becoming investment centric than cost centric. He also mentioned that the strategy of UFLEX as an organization was to “Understand your people and your organization”. He elaborated on his journey from a Welfare Officer to a Strategic HR.

Both speakers concluded that in order to be in the centre, HR personnel must understand their responsibility towards the business, objectives and mission of the organization. 

SESSION 1: The changing role of HR leaders from background contributor to strategic value creator.

After the inaugural session, the conclave proceeded to its first panel discussion on the sub-theme “The changing role of hr leaders from background contributor to strategic value creator.” The first panel member of this session was Mr. Mainak Maheshwari. Mr. Maheshwari started the discussion with two questions.

  • Why is it changing?
  • What is actually changing?

While answering the first question, he reminded of how the importance people as an asset have changed the mindset with respect to generational shift. For answering his second question he talked about lot of job opportunities and startup culture and how the traditional perception about HR is changing. At the end of the discussion, he shared the lesson he learned from his experience; “an HR manager needs to be friend, philosopher and guide. For this, empathy and sensitivity is must. Always be futuristic”. He concluded that KRA/KPI should be aligned with that of business and there must be an understanding of complete business to grow with competition.

 

Mr. Vivek Tripathi was the next panel member to talk. He spoke about the importance of HR: “HR is too important to be left with HR. It has to be embraced by every part of the organization.”He threw light on “What is changing and what is driving this change?” Also he spoke of the major challenge faced in HR i.e. TRUST. He also emphasized on Values, their adaptability, integrity and passion for excellence.

Mr. Muralidhar Shyam was our last panel member of the first session. He started his session mentioning some major challenges that a HR department as a whole has to go through. Some of them he mentioned were: Talent Strategies, Core competencies, building capable teams as per KRA/KPI’s. He talked about the foremost role of strategic HR and also emphasized on the fact that effective strategies rest on three foundations ie. Value Creation, Value Delivery and value Capture.

Session 2 – Practices that differentiate the best organization from the good ones.

The second session commenced with video demonstrations on connecting customers and focusing on competencies. Mr Deepak Jalan, Group Head, Resource Management Group, Tech Mahindra opined that the core value of an organistion should be based on freedom to explore. “An organization must focus on seeking for best employees, should be customer centric and should respect individual effort”. He also spoke about sustainable business practices by exploring new ideas which necessarily entailed risk.

Ms Anju Sabharwal, the second speaker of the session shared her experience with Vodafone. She highlighted how the company’s initiatives like focusing on reward and recognition, knowledge empowerment, grievances redressal, girls education, organizing co curricular activities etc for its employees were making a difference in their well being. She concluded her session by emphasizing how happy employees contributed to organizational success and helps a company to build a brand.

Mr Abhishek Tiwary, Managing Director, KPMG was the last speaker on this panel. He spoke about the role of leadership and mentioned that great leaders by themselves were not good enough for building world class companies; it required the concerted effort of talented employees who were aligned to a company’s mission and vision to transform a dream into a reality.

SESSION 3 –Harnessing the power of Gen Y to drive business ahead.

Mr. Anupam Dubey, Key Accounts Manager-Utilities, at Paytm discussed the different features of Gen Y: techno savvy, entrepreneurial, environmentally minded, comfortably self-reliant, socio-mobi generation. He also mentioned that 50% of India’s GDP came from people with average age of 25 years. He suggested prospective managers to focus more on career opportunities and multi-dimensional growth, rather than evaluate growth in monetary terms alone. He concluded his discussion by saying “There has been a shift from work-life balance to work-life integrity.” Ideas for Gen Y already have arrived and in progress such as work from home, leadership development programs & innovation challenges and entrepreneurship.

Mr. Kunwar J Singh, Head HR, Rolls Royce deliberated on how we should equip ourselves in harnessing Gen Y. He also mentioned how Gen Y is different in terms of connectivity, technology orientation, productivity and job skills. He said that Gen Y were more inclined towards technology, and instance feedback and results, and that they were more opportunistic in their attempt to be successful.

The last speaker of this session Mr. Sujoy Basu emphasized that Gen Y were the People who wanted to achieve their goal by walking an extra mile if necessary. They had the extreme personality traits and believed in leadership and self motivation. They were self driven individuals who could avail every opportunity for growth. Mr Basu, emphasized the various initiatives taken by organizations today to harness the power of Gen Y, like recognizing innovation and their risk taking attitude.

Dr Arvind, Deputy Chief Administrative Officer, Ministry of Defense, Government of India delivered the valedictory address at the Conclave. In his address Dr. Arvind emphasized the growing importance of ‘knowledge as an asset’ in determining the prosperity of nations and the role of knowledge capital in fostering economic growth and prosperity.

Valuing the ‘Value based Education’

Alumni, IILM Graduate School of Management, IILM Institute for Higher Education, IILM Undergraduate Business School, IILM University

Value Education, a process by which values are inculcated among people. It is transmitting a set of values which often come from religious customs or societal or cultural ethics. “Life is precious”, everyone knows that.  However, If life is so precious, the values governing the life are equally important. Morals and Values are nothing, but a code we adhere to for living in a society which is civil and just.

 

Values in education are the virtues that make up a human being. Values mould our behaviour, relationships, choices, and the sense of who we are. The greater the positivity in our values, the greater will be the positivity in our actions. This is one of the reasons for value based education being included in all types of learning, because it plays a great role for student’s becoming successful in their self chosen careers.  Education is the vehicle of knowledge, success and self preservation. Education not only provides a platform for success, but also the knowledge of social conduct, character, strength and self-respect. The greatest gift that education bestowed upon us is the set of values (Indrani, Beena, 2012)

 

In today’s “Market Oriented” society, Children are groomed to be professionals to grab the top paying jobs in the market. Therefore, while it is necessary to teach the child to fish instead of giving him a fish it is values that make a man. These values include the simple difference between right and wrong, a belief in God, the importance of hard work and self-respect.

 

Liberalization, globalization and industrialization, have led to rapid changes in almost all social sciences, thereby leading to vast changes in the value systems, attitudes of people and the overall education system. The greed for money, power, fame, success and other materialistic attributes have led to a scenario of moral degeneration worldwide. The following characteristics prove the downfall of values and moral in today’s world.

 

  • Lack of respect for the sanctity of human life.
  • Breakdown of parental control of children in families
  • Lack of respect for authority, seen through the brazen breaking of the law and
  • Total disregard for rules and regulations
  • Crime and corruption
  • Abuse of alcohol and drugs
  • Abuse of women and children, and other vulnerable members of society.
  • Lack of respect for other people and property.

 

“Seven sins: wealth without work, pleasure without conscience, knowledge without character, commerce without morality, science without humanity, worship without sacrifice, politics without principle,” Mahatma Gandhi. Surprisingly, these have become a part of every person’s life in today’s world.

 

The solution for these problems stems from their root causes itself. We know that children today are tomorrow’s citizens. Good education to the present day children, the future of the next generations will be well. Education seems to be the solution for all types of the problems. Living in the modern century, use of science and technology in the proper way will curb all difficulties to solve all the problems of the non-moral and value things. The main objective of the study is to inculcate moral and value based education in schools and colleges and to know the attitude of intermediate students towards moral values.

 

The objective of education in a country like India, which has an incredible heritage and  diversity in geography, values, culture and beliefs, rarely seen in this wide world, should be to educate a student of the value system which is indispensable to live successful life (Das, Sayan, 2008).

 

Considering the above mentioned fact, apart from schools, value education is now being propagated at the college level also. To quote an example, Commissionerate of Collegiate Education, Andhra Pradesh State, has launched value education for the promotion of ethical values among degree college students.

Under this programme, all degree colleges across the State will conduct value education classes for the students of degree first and second year compulsorily from this academic year onwards (The Hindu, 2013).

 

Education is an effective weapon. Education is a weapon, whose effect depends on who holds it and at whom it is aimed (Joseph Stalin).

 

Through education we can change the world. Following few steps can help us mould today’s students into civilized citizens of tomorrow.

 

  • Including moral values in the curriculum.

 

  • Stories, illustrations, poetry, and novels can inculcate moral values in the students. Role play of a good story can facilitate a better understanding for the students.

 

  • Students can also be educated through posters, advertisements and dramatizations.

 

  • Giving course training to students to develop moral values in the society.

 

  • Educating all women in the society. Mother is the first teacher. Motivate every woman to know about moral values, may be through a special course like “Gandhian Studies” (Indrani, Beena, 2012)

 

Values do not only talk about our attitude and behaviour towards other people but also other species on the earth such as plants and animals.

 

To cite an example, United Nations Educational Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) has developed a module on values education for its multimedia teachers’ education program on “Teaching & Learning for a Sustainable Future.” This module provides an opportunity to understand the importance of human values and attitudes in shaping the future. It also provides ideas and examples for two categories of strategies for exploring values in the classroom – values clarification and values analysis (UNESCO, 2010).

 

This module is delivered using four activities namely, “The Elephant Dilemma” which reflects the values about the animal conservation through a case study ‘The Elephant Dilemma in Africa’; “Towards and Ethic of Sustainability” depicting the basic relationships that people have with the Earth and with each other and lastly, “Values Education Strategies” to develop principles for dealing with values-laden issues in a professional and ethical way (IUCN, WWF and UNEP, 1991).

 

According to Father of Indian Nation, M. K. Gandhi:

 

“If wealth is lost nothing is lost

If health is lost something is lost

If character is lost everything is lost”

Best of all things is character.

 

Values and ethics help to build a great character. Thus value education completes this need very easily with an impact on the young minds making the world a better place to live in.

REFERENCES:

 

 

Das, Sayan (2008). Value based education. http://theviewspaper.net/value-based-education/ accessed on 18th May, 2015.

Indrani, Beena (2012). Importance of Value Education in Modern Time. Education India Journal: A Quarterly Refereed Journal of Dialogues on Education, ISSN 2278-

2435, Vol. 1, Issue- 3.

 

IUCN, WWF and UNEP (1991) Caring for the Earth, WWF, IUCN, WWF and UNEP, Gland. https://portals.iucn.org/library/efiles/documents/CFE-003.pdf, accessed on 21st May, 2015

 

The Hindu (2015). Value Education for Degree Students. http://www.thehindu.com/todays-paper/tp-national/tp-andhrapradesh/value-education-for-degree-students/article4822142.ece accessed on 12th May, 2015.

 

UNESCO (2010). Teaching and Learning for a Sustainable Future http://www.unesco.org/education/tlsf/mods/theme_d/mod22.html?panel=1#top

accessed on 29th April, 2015.

 

“I do not yet know of a man who became a leader as a result of having undergone a leadership course”… …..Lee Yuan Kew

IILM Graduate School of Management, IILM Institute for Higher Education, IILM Undergraduate Business School, IILM University

Leaders are iconoclasts; leaders are charismatic;
leaders are willing to the pay the price of conviction – Gandhiji did; leaders are
courageous people; leaders have big heart; leaders have strategic vision – they
can see what is beyond today.
Leadership is not a inherent quality or ingrained, it’s more of a skill which one
develops over a period of time by experience, observing others and learning by
oneself.

Nonetheless, experience has shown that leaders of successful organizations are disinclined to
change things if they are remotely successful. Few individuals or corporations
have managed to change successfully; even fewer have done so repeatedly.

Does this mean leadership courses are ineffective?

It is doubtful if a course can create these qualities. Courses can make, of course,
better managers, but doubt whether they create true leaders.

At the same time, it is the classic “born vs made” issue. At some level perhaps
this comment applies to a very select few of inspirational leaders. Some of these
leaders are a product of their environment, and succeed in them. For the vast
majority it is a skill, self learned by mindful attention to on the job experiences,
job challenges, and all of the external environment. Other than that, we know
that some help from friends, bosses, mentors, and Coaches can go a long way in making a leader to go from good to great.

Brick and Mortar Store is Dead; Long Live Brick and Mortar Store

IILM Graduate School of Management, IILM Institute for Higher Education, IILM Undergraduate Business School, IILM University

A few weeks ago I was looking for a CD of nursery rhymes for my three year old granddaughter. Since I live in south Delhi, I thought of a leading consumer electronic store in South Extension – I have known its owner for the past 40 odd years. However, I was taken aback by its barren look as soon as I made an entry. This visit was after a lapse of over a year. Once famous for its merchandise of leading consumer electronic brands, excellent demonstration and display, choicest of music albums and accessories, now the store wore a stark, deserted look… with hardly any footfall and activity that one got to see during weekends in a popular shop. What had changed suddenly? Upon enquiry, I was told that it was due to the advent of e-commerce that this age old business model had transformed completely. The convenience of on-line purchase rendered the fate of this brick and mortar store of consumer electronics goods vulnerable.
Today customers go to Croma or other similar stores, choose the model and their price and later order online at Flipkart and other e-commerce sites. The product gets delivered at the doorsteps, and on top of it, it comes with at a hefty discount. Music albums are downloaded online, said the owner. The e-commerce giants are targeting the comfort and convenience of the buyers in the marketplace and digging a deep hole in the pockets of the brick and mortar retailers.

The only choice now for the brick and mortar stores is to take their products to customers via online portals and remain relevant to the market place in order to survive. But it results in thin operating margins. A small back office is enough to maintain the level of such operations. Therefore, the stores like this brick and mortar consumer electronics items which have existed since long, have to meet high overhead expenses and bear the burden of maintaining loyal employees who have served them for 40 years or more. Several of these stores are looking for other ways to get out of their core businesses and investing in other areas of business where online retail is unable to make any impact. These could be the niche areas such as designer clothing, expensive jewellery and watches outlets or even food joints. In the event of all such brick and mortar stores divert their attention, how would a customer ever get to physically see, touch, have a feel and view performances of items before buying, especially when the product is not a commodity? Will it be like having a shower with a shower cap on? Or what happens when a customer who wishes to replace an old refrigerator? Does he first sell the old one on OLX and then order a new one on Fliipkart? Perhaps that is the way today.

The concept of e-commerce or retail commerce is a new business model. It creates customers for the future, keeping in mind the sale and profit of distant future- and their reason to exist is the valuation enhancement model for the business. They are driving the retail commerce to an unimaginable level and serving a wide array of manufacturers as well as offline distributors across a host of categories. Foreign investors are looking more for the profit of exposure in the market place than immediate financial gain as they see a huge potential in the e-commerce industry. Surely a time will come when the e-commerce industry will transcend from the introduction to growth stage when a major equity stake will be backed by venture capital firms. Its measure of performance is GMV (Gross Merchandise Volume) – a term used in online retailing to indicate total sales dollar value for merchandise sold in a particular market place over a certain time frame. Over the past one year Wall Street hedge funds and big internet investors have pumped in billions of dollars into India’s consumer internet story. Flipkart and Snapdeal raised about $3 bn. Indian consumers are being subsidized by investors.

They could end up spending close to a billion dollar (Rs.6,000 crore) on offering discounted pricing. The success of e-commerce will continue uninhibited as long as investors chip in money. Consider this: a one page advertisement of popular online portals in the mainstream newspaper that one gets to see today almost at regular intervals costs between Rs.60 lakh to Rs.1 crore. Add to that a sum of $1mn (Rs.6.2 crore) salary with stock options of $3- $6 millon paid to the top software engineers of these portals which are amongst the highest paid to any non board executives. Few Indian companies pay their division heads so much. Only the pay packets of CEOs of other IT industries are comparable to this salary. Even the most famous Amazon.com that maximised the internet’s ability to provide a superior selection of products as compared to those of traditional retail stores had lost hundreds of million dollars in the beginning. Their first profit was registered 10 years after start of operation in 1995 with operating margins averaging 3% to 4%. So the question remains, will the e-commerce story be a sustainable model?

The best strategy for the brick and mortar retailers to sustain their market share is to break away from their established business models, fight back through strategic alliances and try to survive for a longer period of time. When you do not know your competitor, it is difficult to perform and win the race. In this transition phase it is better to reinvent the value proposition for customers by offering a charter of exceptional customer service. They will need to innovate. Take the example of the Kirana stores. One can order groceries from the comforts of one’s home online. Yet these stores continue to thrive. It is because of their ability to provide customized and personalized services with unmatched flexibility.

If the brick and mortar retailers are early adopters then they cannot be ignored by the e-commerce players in the market place. Conventional stores are not easily replaceable. They can re-emerge in some other form. In the US, top 20 retailers who also sell on-line have developed omni-channel capabilities. Walmart survives despite Amazon. 24 hours news channels have not moved out the newspaper. T20 and Test cricket have co-existed, so will perhaps the brick n mortar and e-commerce. Only time will tell.

AICTE approved Fellow Progarm in Management at IILM Gurgaon

Alumni, IILM Institute for Higher Education, , , , , , ,

fpm3

IILM, Gurgaon has launched an AICTE approved Fellow Program in Management for which applications are invited. This is a four year full time/part time progarm offering specialization in the area of Finance, Marketing,OB & HR, Operations Management, International Business and Strategic Management.

Placement Week at IILM

IILM Graduate School of Management, IILM Institute for Higher Education, IILM University, ,

Whenever the human capital of an organization thrives, the organization will prosper, and vice versa. With this belief, a student’s personal potential and workplace potential is intervened, placement week was organized for PGDM 1st year students from Feb 9 -13, 2015 to optimize opportunities and circumstances for summer intern-ship and understanding job market well.

Placement week was a great endeavour to bridge in the gap between demand of companies and students’ expectations.

Industry people from Vodafone, Wingreens, Singer India, Mccain Foods, Silver Arrow, Nova beans (3D Printing), UAS international , IIFL, Deloitte, Garmin Navigational Tools were invited to interact with students. Campus to corporate, how to prepare for an interview, importance of preparing LinkedIn profile in a professional manner in corporate world, understanding corporate culture for professional effectiveness, importance of team building among budding managers,how to develop soft skills, orientation about current job market and various job profiles offered by organizations were the topics appreciated by the students. Some of the companies offered summer intern-ship during the placement week. Face to face interaction with industry people added value and knowledge on understanding job market among students.

Last but not the least, TED videos on motivation, improving body language and enhancing interview skills were also appreciated by the students.

10-Significant-points-your-startup-cannot-ignore

10 Significant points your startup cannot ignore

IILM Graduate School of Management, IILM Institute for Higher Education, IILM Undergraduate Business School, IILM University

Starting your own business and being your own boss can be amazingly satisfying, but it’s s not that simple as it sounds. There are number of fundamental issues that one needs to take care before going ahead with a start up. Here are some important factors you need to consider before jumping into a new business:

► Bright Idea – One of the essentials for start ups is to have an idea.Now, it is worth noting that one needs to also focus on the newness of the idea. Evaluate whether you have a brilliant & original idea, which would be beneficial to society and solves a problem. In order to ensure that your idea is innovative, research your idea thoroughly and see if other people are already using the same concept/idea to make money. If it is already in use by people, do not lose hope. Simply, try to find a different or new approach to the idea.Innovative ideas are key to success.For instance, company called ZIPDEAL ranked number 8th in 2014 in the list of top innovative companies in the world wherein Google stood at number 1.Now, ZIPDEAL used a brilliant idea of making business from missed call and awarded number 8th position “For turning a consumer cheat into an asset”

► Blue print – Once you are done with your innovative idea, the next step is to give it a concluding shape in the form of “Business Plan” . As a business plan helps you to understand business objectives, identify interdependencies, set your priorities , ease the process of tracking results and also it helps you to be proactive and not reactive to business. Thus , a business plan helps you to become a better entrepreneur.

► Legal structure of business – Think about “Which legal structure makes most sense”. There are pros and cons of almost all the forms of business entities be it is company, partnership or sole proprietorship. While deciding about the type of business entity consider the factors such as

• Legal liability involved
• Tax implications
• Flexibility
• Cost of administration etc

► Team – Team stands for more than one person. You should try to start the business with at-least two members .Also, start up businesses should review their team and analyse whether the team is competent enough to bring the different domains expertise like Technology, Human resources, Marketing, Production, Finance etc. Further, a business may be great as a team but try to review whether the team will be able to execute the venture. So, concentrate on the Execution capability of the team.

► Identify Target Market – The more you understand your customer, higher are the chances for the success of the business. Therefore, you need to identify your customer/target market .Identify

• Whether the market wants what you are offering(Market viability)
• Understand the competitors marketing strategy
• Do market research and study your target customer
• Understand market competition .Focus on gap between demand and supply

► Creating Buzz – For a start up company, creating a buzz in the market through a costly promotion campaign may not be easy. Use more creative ways to get the attention in the market at zero or minimum cost. “For example ,UNICEF used Guerrilla marketing campaign which created huge buzz in the street and actually returned great results. A vending machine was set up on the streets advertising dirty water. Instead of different varieties of soda, it was actually different varieties of diseases found in dirty water. Stunning! It is even more interesting that people would actually put in a $1 (which ultimately was donated to the cause) to see what came out” (Source- http://www.creativeguerrillamarketing.com).So,if you use some creativity ,it is possible to launch an effective and low cost promotional campaign. Some of the options can be

• WOM – Word of mouth publicity through family, friends and relatives
• Linkedin – Make a Linkedin profile and join appropriate groups
• Directory – Get your business registered in a business directory most likely online like indiamart, Justdial,Ask me etc
• “.com”– Create a website and display attractive graphics and pictures on the same
• Blogs – Add blog to your website to post pretty images of your products or other engaging materials

► Financing – Fund raising is vital for a new business”.If fund raising is done in perfect way it can lead to lucrative partnership with Angel investors & venture capitalist and if not done perfectly it can be fatal for new enterprise. There are a number of ways in which a start up business can raise funds, some of the important ones are

• Use Family and friends– Family and friends can be used as a source of financing. But make sure that there is proper lending agreement between you and the family/friends .A number of small businesses use this method of financing so don’t underestimate this.
• Crowd funding– There are various crowd funding sites where you can float your business idea and arrange finance for your idea. In case of crowd funding, the project is funded by a large number of public normally via internet.The crowdfunding model consists of mainly three participants: the project creator who proposes the idea , individuals who support the idea and a moderating organization (the “platform”) that brings the parties together to launch the idea .Some of the best crowd funding websites for small businesses include Kickstarter, Indiegogo, and Fundline.
• Bank Financing– People use bank finance as the most common way to raise fund for their business. Further, in India there are various schemes for getting bank finance for start ups
• Venture capital– Affluent Investors wish to invest their capital in businesses with long term growth prospects. Such a capital is termed as venture capital which can be a good source of finance for start ups.There are number of venture capitalist firms in India like Reliance Venture,

► Flexibility – Another important factor that needs to be considered by a start up is flexibility. This covers flexibility in terms of business idea or business goals, which some businesspersons find harder to achieve. It is important that you should be ready to alter your personal start-up dream if it doesn’t match reality.Many a times venture capitalist can give you suggestions for improvising your idea or goal. The successful ventures are normally the ones that can take their initial idea and alter it once, twice or thrice into a better version.At times ,business ideas fail as it lacks flexibility.

► Technology – Now a days, technology has an important role to play in the success of a business. Review your business plan to find out which technology will enable you to save time, save money, stay in control, make more sales and deliver a better service to your customers.Big business brand like L&T,Coca Cola, Pepsi etc spend a lot on technology/softwares.

► Compliance with state and central laws – One should ensure compliance with various legal and tax matters in order to lead a successful start up. Some of the compliances may relate to

• Compliance with companies act
• Tax Identification number
• PAN number
• VAT or service tax registration number
• Patent laws etc

 

A Study On Customers’ Perception Of Online Visual Merchandizing And Its Impact On Their Intentions To Buy Online

IILM Graduate School of Management, IILM Institute for Higher Education, IILM Undergraduate Business School, IILM University

RESEARCH ABSTRACT

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The Internet today ties more than two billion people world across. Also it has an immense bearing on the global economy, contributing an estimated $1.7 trillion, of the global GDP in 2010. Yet half the numbers of Internet users live outside the advanced economies, often in countries that are quickly developing, have significant economic potential and are socially and culturally diverse. India has about 120 million people online today which offers an arresting example of the Internet’s growth potential. The major players are eyeing to gulp a larger pie of India’s $3.1 billion (excluding travel) e-commerce market (Business Standard 23 May 2014). India is adopting the Internet at a much more rapid pace than advanced economies and even many developing economies, yet 90 percent of its population is currently not connected.

Hence the pertinent question rises – What makes India’s online retail sector under perform despite of country being the third largest Internet base in the World after China and the US? Of $500 billion organized retail sector, the online segment contribution is less than 0.50%. (ET New Delhi 10 Feb 2014). India’s e-commerce market is valued at $3.1 billion by CLSA (HT New Delhi 21 May 2014) and is sensed to be highly competitive. Are we all projecting it to “can’t touch, won’t buy” outlook? Or smartphones will flush in torrid patterns in shopping behavior of the consumers in forthcoming years? Are we restricting the uprising to the surface or e tailing will cut the ice to deeper levels? This study attempts to understand the ways to improve satisfaction levels considering visual merchandizing factors impacting intention to buy of online apparel shoppers in India based on empirical research and will also try answering if higher satisfaction is indicative of repeat buying.

Internet invasion along with secure gateways, prompt deliveries and returns, price bargains and convenience have accounted for high affinity among the time starved and impatient generation. Indian consumers have exhibited remarkable rise in online shopping from 65% recorded last year to 85% in 2013 as revealed by ASOCHAM study. Electronics, apparels, jewelry, baby food and lifestyle accessories like watches, books, perfumes and beauty products have witnessed the roar. India’s e-commerce market has progressed from $2.5 billion in 2009 to$6.3 billion in 2011 to $16 billion in 2013 and is estimated to hit $56 billion by 2023 (ASSOCHAM  2013)

Of course the need of the hour dictates how e commerce will gradually creep in to connect people at a click. The way developed nations hinge upon internet shopping, developing nations are not far off in the league. The lower percentage of internet shopping in our country despite of being the third largest internet base is the world may be shouldered upon myriad factors as viewed by “Indian consumer”.

A lot of worldwide research has already been conducted to bring forth various antecedents which are involved in online shopping process. Right from consumer attitude to strategic practices have been examined in past to reveal high involvement factors leading towards an intention to buy. But the visual appeals impacting intention to buy apparels online in a country like India with such a diverse mix necessitates a gaze to comprehend the masses and in turn aid apparel e merchants develop lucrative online visual merchandizing practices.

As larger Indian population gradually becomes acclimatized to online shopping lot many studies conducted talk about mitigating risk factors, thereby enhancing credibility to shop more. Hence, though largely studied in the context of brick-and-mortar stores, Visual Merchandizing (VMD) in the online perspective has gained lot of attention from researchers. VMD is defined as the strategic display of a store and its merchandize in a way that will captivate the attention of potential customers and stimulate them to buy (Diamond & Diamond, 2007). Therefore presentation must be curated with a sharp eye of trending fashion that ultimately yields higher profitability.VMD embraces both visual and marketing functions of the store environment, including store design, merchandise presentation, window dressing, mannequins, props and materials, graphics, lighting and signage (Diamond & Diamond, 2007). Earlier studies establish that site design and merchandising pull customers and impact their satisfaction with Internet shopping (Szymanski & Hise, 2000). Extensive and higher-quality product information affects consumers’ contentment in Internet shopping (Lin, 2007). Also more striking and pleasurable site stimuli may influence consumers’ behavioral intention (Wu, Cheng, & Yen, 2008).

Fashion marketing flags VMD as an absolute vital strategic tool (Lea-Greenwood, 1998), and apparel is a significant fashion category that is frequently purchased online (Burns, 2006). Year 2006 marks the popularity of apparel and apparel-related products purchased online,  excluding travel (Corcoran, 2007); online sales of apparel and accessories in the U.S. increased 31% as compared to the previous year (Emarketer, 2007) almost reaching $12.4 billion, which accounted for 12.2% of total sales in 2007 (Brohan, 2008). This was one of the reasons for choosing apparels as the target product in this research.

In the traditional retail locale, consumers search apparel products using visual and tactile senses. However, due to the nature of the online purchase process, Internet shoppers rely on visual information available on the screen (e.g., verbal descriptions and product images). Since apparel cannot be physically experienced online, ambiguity about color, fabric, and fit makes online apparel shopping risky. Previous research suggests that provision of sufficient visual and verbal product-related information may influence consumer attitudes and enhance buying intentions (Kim & Lennon, 2008).

Hence the study aims to identify the different factors associated with visual merchandizing which may impact the buying intention of the customer. The research will be based on customer perceptions about the various aspects of visual merchandising and hence will also study the customer traits and the possible influence it may have on the buying intentions. It is assumed for the purpose of this study that customer demographics, their purchasing power, their previous shopping experience, their trust and the place of residence will impact their online buying behavior.

The importance of the study lies in the fact that there has been a surge in technology and also a shift in the buying modes of people in India. Indians are now showing interest in purchasing from the comforts of their home and are giving up the traditional mode of buying apparels.

NEWS CHANNLES– CHOICE BETWEEN CREDIBILITY AND ENTERTAINMENT.

IILM Institute for Higher Education, IILM Undergraduate Business School, Uncategorized

We are living in an era where there are as many NEWS channels as music or entertainment channels. Mushrooming of news channels does raise a question – is so much happening in reality or it is being made to happen to fill in all the television slots. How much of it is credible and how much is cooked up?

 

Credibility not only affects the information about the news but also affects the way viewers form an opinion about the news channel. Credible stories need credible narrators and there is cut-throat competition in the Indian media, particularly television.

 

There are so many factors which Indian viewers seek while watching the news like – accuracy of the news, timeliness, entertainment factor, well informed journalists, local national and international news, sports, instant broadcast of the breaking news, business news, political news, social news, etc. Every news channel takes one of these as a USP and focuses on it. While AAJTAK has been perceived to be the best in the field of reporting through entertainment, NDTV is more liked for its well groomed journalists.

 

But have news channels ever wondered about what are the factors that affect their credibility in the eyes of the viewers and how to improve them? This shall be really beneficial for news media outlets particularly because they are getting rough competition from “Social Media”. And it is not surprising that credibility associated with social media is very high as perceived by the social media fans.

 

The whole point about credibility is that facts are presented accurately and without any embellishment and the viewer recognizes this. It takes a lot to build credibility and very little to destroy it. Thus the focused priority for any news product such as a news channel or a newspaper is to safeguard its credibility. Often a few channels may resort to sensationalism in order to boost viewership. However, this strategy is not sustainable. One can either be credible or sensational. Most media companies have already made their choice, whether they want to be credible and accurate or try and get quick eyeballs through sensationalism by focusing too heavily on the entertainment factor. However, one cannot forget the fact that “viewers are intelligent and perceptive enough to know the difference”.

 

According to Rajat Sharma (Editor-in-chief, India TV):- The media is like our army or the judiciary. It stands tall even as several institutions around it have lost their shine. Yet, like the two, media doesn’t remain untouched by what’s happening in society at large. If large sections of the society want sensation, the media, at best, dilutes such rawness. Conversely, when media eschews sensation and offers sane, responsible and researched stories, it expects support.
According to Tarun Tejpal (Editor-in-chief, Tehelka):- We must understand the fact that Indian reality is sensational in itself and representations of Indian realities will often be sensational. We should not get too hyper comparing Indian media reports with western. Indian reality is very sensational and, at any given point of time in this country, there are sort of critical battles going on, environmental battles going on, murders being committed, corruption charges being brought to the fore and so on. We have to recognize the fact that all this is the nature of the Indian reality. Secondly, there is a case that by focusing too heavily on sensationalism we may lose credibility. That is something that every media has to account for itself. Whether it is a television channel, newspaper or a magazine, they have to discover their stand. On the other hand, if the story is sensational then there is nothing that can be done about it. The story then has to be played out as honestly as possible. For example, if somebody finds members of Parliament misusing their constituency fund, then it’s sensational. What can one do about it? But the lines to be observed here are the ethical lines. Are we intruding into people’s private life, are we using dubious methods to expose? These are all ethical issues that all editors and journalists have to deal with.
On the other hand, NDTV has a completely different view to present.According to K V L Narayan Rao (Director, NDTV):- The whole point about credibility is that facts are presented accurately and without any embellishment and the viewer recognizes this. One can either be credible or sensational. I believe most media companies have already made their choice, whether they want to be credible and accurate or try and get quick eyeballs through sensationalism. The currency of news journalism is credibility and sensationalism can never replace that. The viewers are intelligent and perceptive enough to know the difference. For us at NDTV credibility is our most important value.

Irrespective of what the journalists and CEO’s of different television networks feel, when asked some academicians and other professionals who spend more than two hours a day on news channels as to what makes them a regular viewer of a particular news channel, this is what they responded.

 

Options % of respondents
Instant broadcast of breaking news 16.4
Accuracy of news 22.1
Type of news shown at the correct time 8.2
Mix of local, national and international news 17.2
Variety of news 7.4
Sports updates 4.9
Attractive and well-equipped journalists and news readers 9
Timely weather/environment updates 0.8
Business news 9.8
Crime and law news 3.3
Entertainment factor 0.8
Others 0
100

 

G Krishnan, executive director & CEO at TV Today Network said, “TV is the only media whose performance is judged on a weekly basis and advertising revenues largely depend on the ratings the channel has secured each week.” Krishnan further said news channels are becoming bigger and better, in terms of content and technological brilliance. Of the 120 million TV homes, over 70% market is captured by Hindi speaking viewers.

Times Now editor-in-chief Arnab Goswami emphasised that television ratings are the only mechanism to judge the success of any channel. “Hence, our focus should be on viewers. If consumers are still hooked to a particular channel, there is no reason to worry,” he said.

 

It is debatable how this differential view of Arnab Goswami can be related to the wide spectrum of the Indian viewers.

 

It can be concluded that today’s viewers know exactly what they want and secondly, they have a choice of too many news channels. Hence, adding a bit of sensation and dramatization may add to the net acceptance of a news channel but over doing the same to an extent where reality gets over shadowed will not be a long lasting strategy. Very interestingly, even the regular viewers of AAJTAK acknowledge that AAJTAK has its own political and bollywood preferences and talking about dramatization factor, AAJTAK is perceived to be highly dramatized as compared to NDTV and other news channels.

 

Dr. Bhavleen Rekhi

Asst Prof – Marketing

IILM, Lodi Road