IILM Undergraduate Business School

New Delhi & Gurgaon

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.

Blood donation Camp at IILM Gurgaon

IILM Undergraduate Business School, IILM University

IILM organizes a blood donation camp every year to support their campaign “Bring a life back to Power”.  I am pleased to share the blog written by Saikat Mazumdar (PGDM student from year 1) from the last camp held at the institute.

“A life may depend on a gesture from you, a bottle of Blood” – This was the motto of every member of the college, when a blood donation camp was organized in IILM Gurgaon campus.

The college took the initiative of donating blood to State Blood Transfusion Council.The team of the Rotary club arrived at college campus at 9:30 A.M. The posters for the blood donations were designed by Juhi Bajaj and Swati Gulia. The promotions in the campus was done by Manpreet Kaur, Syed Moin and Gaurav Singh Punetha.

The seniors from the Rotary Blood Bank team tested each candidate whether they were eligible to donate blood. Forms were filled up by the students of the college to collect various information of the donors required for blood donation. Yugam Verma took the initiative of checking whether the forms are being filled up correctly or not. Hemoglobin of the participants was tested. Abhishek Sarkar assisted in the test for hemoglobin.

A total of 30 units were collected in the camp which lasted up to 3:30 P.M.The blood donors were given a blood donation card, for which they can avail 1 unit of blood for the upcoming year. They were also provided with a coffee mug, biscuits, sandwiches and juice.

Jaap Chandok and Amritanshu Anand helped in post blood donation registration and documentation of the blood donation cards. The photography of the event was done by Saikat Mazumdar. There were various students from the college who were responsible for the success of the camp. This included Abhinav Gupta, Sameer Chaudhary, Vikas Lakra, Chirag Gupta, Abhinav Pal, Aruti Sapra and Anisha Bajaj. Overall coordination was done by Sukant Jain and Manpreet Kaur who took the responsibility of the whole program.

Written By: Saikat Mazumdar

PGDM Year 1

Book Review on ‘Jack Welch & The GE Way’

IILM Undergraduate Business School, IILM University

At IILM, we encourage our students to read management books in order to get a deeper perspective into the industry at large. A recent blog shared by our student, Arpit Aggarwal (PGDM Batch of 2013-15) provides some relevant insights into the book ‘The GE Way’ by Jack Welch.

Jack Welch & the GE Way

Recently, I finished reading this book and it is the most interesting book on Management Insights and Leadership secrets of the Legendary CEO Jack Welch. Robert Slater has contributed so well and it is his second book on Jack Welch. GE is the most valuable company in the world and Jack Welch, GE’s CEO is the most acclaimed CEO of the world. This book tells in details the Welch Strategies and Management Secrets. Under his leadership, GE became the first company in the world to apply six-sigma strategy in their work.

This book also offers a rare look into the mind of Jack Welch illuminating his vision and prescriptions for the future of business. Slater has highlighted the GE revolution of achieving double-digit growth in a boundary less organization and feature over 30 of Jack Welch’s leadership secrets. Jack Welch does not believe in sitting still. His innovative, breakthrough leadership strategies as CEO have transformed GE into a highly productive and labor efficient powerhouse. One of the good quotes in this novel is “Act like a leader not a manager.”

One of the Welch strategies that I like in this book is – “Welch was open to take feedback from every employee of his organization, starting from a labor employee to a General Manager.” Companies will do well to with this advice on how to foster an open ended, informal work atmosphere that will encourage employees to speak out, breaking down the walls of hostility between managers and subordinates.

His commitment towards the organization motivates his employees. Welch commitment and dedication for the company came when he said, “GE will be the top most production company in the sector, otherwise GE will stop producing products.” This statement and vision of Jack Welch drives GE into the top Fortune 500 companies. In 1997, GE led Business week list of all companies worldwide in market value for the second consecutive year and achieved near top ranking of the most profitable companies in the U.S.

This book gives an overview of Welch philosophy on how to manage and how not to manage and covers topics such as building a market-leading company, forging the boundary less organization, harnessing people for competitive advantage, pushing service, and globalization for double-digit growth.

—

Written by: Arpit Aggarwal

PGDM Batch of 2013-15

IILM Institute for Business & Management, Gurgaon

 

Summer Internship

IILM Undergraduate Business School, IILM University

In today’s day and age, exposure to the industry is an essential aspect for any management student. A blog written by Raghav Singla (PGDM Batch of 2013-15) highlights the experiences of a student at their very first step towards living the corporate life – The Summer Internship Project.

SIP EXPERIENCE

Internship is very important for a management student because this is the time when we are exposed to the harsh realities of the corporate world. I had also went through the process of doing internship with one of the leading companies not only in India but around the world as well. With Reliance Industries I was able to get the feel of working with and in such a big organization. Rubbing my shoulders with EXIM department officials for over 2 months helped me to gain corporate exposure and knowhow of the department. When I speak about how I got this offer was through my close relative. I had to sit for an interview with the senior official of the department before clearing the hurdle.

On the due course of my internship I was given a task for suggesting any changes in Foreign Trade Policy 2014-19. In my internship I learnt about the core functions of EXIM department. Since I was based out in Mumbai I had learned the skills of time management and cash management respectively.

Every internship has some or other things to offer and the learnings out of this internship has helped me to be a better person. Internship is not all about having work experiences rather it is about gaining, learning and working in corporate life. Reliance Industry’s EXIM department helped me in achieving the above mentioned fundamental of the internship. Though I was limited to only couple of months of internship but when I look back at it now I can rightfully say that this has been a life changing couple of months and the learnings out of it has somehow helped me to devise a path for my career.

 

Raghav Singla

PGDM Batch of 2013-15

IILM Institute, Gurgaon

Student life at IILM Gurgaon

IILM Undergraduate Business School, IILM University

After much preparation, the students got to live the most exciting part of their student life with the iFest 2014 held in December 2014. The following blog talks about the experience from a student’s perspective, Juhi Bajaj (PGDM Batch of 2014-16)

Student life at IILM Gurgaon

IFEST was a blend of full on entertainment and the most memorable day for all of us. We enjoyed a lot with plenty of events happening on that days such as Dalaal street, Tasveer competition, treasure hunt, junk yard followed by Ru Ba Ru ( street play) , band performances and last but not the least Group dance performances.

We all can learn from these things that there are lot of moments and memories which we can cherish, rather than worrying about petty things around you. May be these are the last two years to be irresponsible here, relax and enjoy your life to the fullest. Work is for people with jobs. You’ll never remember class time, but you’ll remember the time you wasted hanging out with your friends. So stay out late. College life is where memories are made! The best way to remember memories is to create it!

Written by: Juhi Bajaj

PGDM Batch of 2014-16

IILM Gurgaon

IILM International Short Term Program

IILM International Short Term Program

IILM Undergraduate Business School, IILM University,

IILM Gurgaon welcomed students from the University of Technology, Sydney and Queensland University of Technology in the month of January, 2015 for a three week short term program on Social Entrepreneurship and Rural Markets in India. The program was a blend of theory and practical knowledge which exposed the students to the realities of the bottom of the pyramid.

The program was delivered by eminent speakers from the industry and academia who gave some thought provoking insights on rural India. It also included a visit to an NGO, cultural excursions, blend of yoga and meditation sessions along with Bollywood workshops. The entire curriculum was designed to provide a holistic learning experience.  Students from IILM were also a part of the program and learnt from the experiences of the Australian students.  The program was a blend of both the cultures.

The international students were taken to Agra, Jaipur and Rishikesh to show them the historical culture that India holds.  At Rishikesh, they stayed at Parmarth Ashram which is located on the banks of the Holy River Ganga. These excursions were an eye opener to community service and social entrepreneurship.

Besides academics, students appreciated the hospitality extended which exceeded their expectations. They stayed in the campus residences and enjoyed the facilities provided by the Institute to make their stay comfortable.

 

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

Responsible Business | Can Business be responsible?

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

Words have different meaning in different context. Capitalists have been shown as cruel people with single minded focus on profit . They are not bothered about the larger well being of society. Over the years , things have changed. The government plays an important role in regulating business. Firms have to compete and play by the rules. In the modern world, business needs to be responsible to the challenges faced by society and the world. Super capitalists like Bill Gates and Warren Buffet, Mark Zuckerberg of Facebook are super philanthropists too,championing the causes of the poor and the challenges faced the world.

Business is important for society as it organizes production and distribution of goods and services for people. It brings innovation and increases productivity, introduces better techniques of production , employs people, pays taxes to the government and makes profit for its investors .

A responsible business does all this playing by the rules and norms set by the community and the government . But there is more to this term Responsible Business . As I see there two main challenges which our world faces and businesses can’t be oblivious to these challenges . The first challenge is environmental problems due to economic development and burning of fossil fuels which are impacting nature in negative way. The second challenge is the prevailing inequality in the world between the rich and the poor . These problems will increase in their proportions as population of the world will increase from existing 7 billion to 9 billion in next 30 years, though most of the increase will happen Africa where consumption level is very low .

Business has the three important factors what in management jargon is said ” Triple Bottom Line ” . People, planet and profit . There is going to be tough balancing act for any company to do as the scope and range of competition at the market place are getting sharper everyday.

The economic and scientific and technological development of last 200 years have brought enormous benefits to mankind but there are downsides with serious consequences . The use of plastics is one case which is so harmful. It is choking the drains, pollutes water bodies and is non biodegradable . We need an alternative to plastics for packaging and other uses .

Companies drain their untreated chemical effluents to fresh water rivers . That is creating serious problem to large number of people. There are many examples where planet friendly business processes create higher cost to the company which affect their competitiveness at the market place . This is serious dilemma for any company to create a right long term path.

A company which can balance people Profit and Planet or triple bottom line is responsible business. A very few is venturing out in that direction in real sense. Most of the initiatives are on surface and for media and government consumption while maximizing profit remains the main mantra.

The economics and accounting measurement need to change to reflect the ideal balance which a company has achieved and that also gets rewarded at the marketplace. . Without thinking long term and aligning the personal goals with larger social goals, nothing much can be achieved .That is precisely the role of enlightened leadership. Responsible Business will stem out of responsible , visionary and enlightened business leadership.

Responsible business will come out of only from responsible leadership.

Engaging for the Future | PEOPLE MANAGER CONCLAVE 2012

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

IILM students participated in the IBM People Manager Conclave 2012 which gave an insight about the challenges faced by the present HR managers and what strategies/ tactics can be used in order to align their individual goals with the organisational goals. Theme of this event was “Engaging for the future.” This event involved various activities such as:-

  • Panel discussion on “GEN- Y” and “ Managing 360 degree”
  • Students were enlightened on the topic by:
    • Pari Sadasivan- India Delivery Leader @ IBM Global Process Services
    • Ashish Kumar- General Manager @ IBM Global Technology Services
    • Sanjiva S Dubey- Service Delivery Executive @ IBM Global Business Services
  • Lecture on “ Creating a High Performance Culture” delivered by
    • Dhirender Jagdev- CRM @ IBM Global Process Services
    • Abhishek Sharma- CRM @ IBM Global Process Services
    • Vinayak Sastri- S&D @ SMS CoE

    GEN-Y, also known as the Millennial Generation, is the demographic cohort following Generation X. The generation born in the 1980s and 1990s, typically regarded as increasingly familiar with digital and electronic technology. The session focused on the issue like GEN-Y tends to move from organisation to organisation in a very short span of time. Role of career planning for such workforce was discussed. Thus, to have a better and motivated Gen-Y need for a mentoring program through which their career planning could be done was emphasised within the session. The biggest challenge for the HR managers would be how to retain GEN-Y employees and make them committed towards the organisational work.

    Pari Sadasivan gave her real life corporate examples which were enlightening. She also talked about the importance of the focus team session, move fast, no subtitue for the talent, integrity, clarity and humility. She concluded as how people managers were earlier considered as managers only to manage the workforce. But now HR managers are the business partners who make and support the organisational vision and strategy to be possible.

    Creating a high performance culture in the organisation through below mentioned points were outlined:

    1. Matrix organisation
    2. Decentralisation
    3. Team player
    4. Building trust
    5. 7S model of change
    6. Collaborative decision making
    7. Prepare for change
    8. Manage operation and strategy
    9. Work-life balance
    10. Performance and Benefits

    Role of HR manager in bringing about the change was discussed. HR manager should be:

    1. Change Agent
    2. Employee Champion
    3. Administrative expert
    4. Strategic Partner

    Another important fact regarding HR is managing 360 degree. 360 degree feedback is very important in an organisation but it is not necessary that employees should worry about it. Employees should be able to contribute towards the individual and organisational betterment. It is necessary to have a good feedback but it is always necessary for the employee to work in the organisation according to the need of the organisation without thinking about the feedback.

    Leadership is skill that a manger should possess. Thus a leader should be able to motivate his employee to do their work. A video on leadership of Emma Brandon, award winner of Britain’s Best Boss was shown in the conclave. She was a senior charge nurse at a mental facility who was motivating the employees and the patients. She invited ideas from the employees to make their work better and to cure the patients in a better way. Thus this increased the number of cured patients and employees were also happy to work there. The decision making in the medical facility was decentralised and new ideas were invited from all employees which made a feeling of belongingness among the employees. She also had pleasure trips and games for the patients in the medical facility centre which was a better treatment for them. Thus a leader should be a motivator along with directive and supporting.

    Another insight was given by Mr. Durga Kota on is experience in different parts of the world and how he was able to manage he work force. The keys mantras which kept in to connect IBM with Bharti were building trust worthy collaborative team, to be a team player, prepare oneself for changes, manage operation and strategy and manage matrix organisation.

    Thus the conclave gave an insight of the different aspects about the people manager to be taken to consideration as most of the organisation neglect or don’t appreciate their work. Thus it is important for an organisation to take their people manager as a business partner for the organisation.