Management: January 2012

Rant submitted for Corporate Roadies Round 1

Cor-roadies

Why shouldn’t Corporate Roadies be cor-roadies? We, I am sure, will be a bunch of Mad Men out to emulate the corrosive behaviors I see (and scoff at) on TV. In this day and age, there IS a god, contrary to what Nietzsche said about there being none – our god is social media.

I am ubermensch; I am the light at the end of the tunnel that you will see but never reach. Those who attempt to follow me will lose their ways – my path fades behind me faster than footprints on the beach.

I lead the way in this day and age where you don’t HAVE to be crazy to survive, but it helps. C’mon, can our generation get any crazier over social media than substituting “characters” with “words” and setting Twitter’s limit as the submission guideline for a post-graduate, open-for-all event? Whacky is as whacky do, and whacky ain’t playin’ ball no mo’. Peace out, mon amis.

Treatise - submission for Round 1

'Good-advice' legislation: Are companies and regulators deciding what is best for the consumer?

FOR

The law is the ethical minimum, and where inordinately large sums of money are involved, sometimes barely so. The disinclination of the lawmakers to ensure that every firm’s public information and communication acknowledges potentially harmful effects of corporate produce – cigarettes are only the tip of the iceberg – is fuelled by lobbying that takes place under the table. Large corporations, for the overwhelmingly majority, have the odious track record of not giving two hoots about consumer health and wellness – unless the business model is based on it: the healthcare sector, pharma companies and diet supplement firms come to mind.

Yet even these supposedly-under-the-Hippocratic-oath entities follow subversive tactics at the Medical Representative level to push their products – regardless of effectiveness – over the competitor’s. Who loses? The consumer. The government either hides behind the facade of dealing with other, ‘bigger’ problems – corruption in bureaucracy, sliding economic indicators, political upheavals – while ignoring corporate fraud till it either bursts its own seams under its own weight, as with the Satyam and 2G spectrum scandals, or disappears unnoticed into the safety of the past.

Ralph Nader was oppressed and targeted by the dominant automobile companies of the US of A when he outed their utter disregard of drivers’ as well as pedestrians’ safety. Whistleblowers are a rare breed because people are aware of the trauma large corporations can cause an individual and his/her family. It is as if the very basic tenet of democracy – the freedom to contribute for the betterment of the society as a whole – has been bought, bit by bit and legislation by legislation, by companies who have only monetary profit as their motive and capturing market share as their goal.

As the Walrus in Through The Looking Glass says, "The time has come, To talk of many things: …” – it has come, indeed, to make regulations and those who make them more aware of their responsibility.

From Grandma's Home

From 4Ps Business & Marketing, 16 Dec – 12 Jan issue

www.cselectric.co.in

GST

“How To Reinvent A Brand”, Tim Calkins, Clinical Professor of Marketing, KSM:

Definition of “brand” at NU’s Kellogg School of Management: a set of associations linked to a name, mark or symbol associated with a product or service. Brands are long-lasting assets. Times requiring “reinventing/repositioning” brands: change in technology, competitive pressures, etc. Four things to focus on while planning the repositioning:

i. Realistically evaluate the situation [understand what people actually think about the brand, not the desired position, then identify desired positioning; current – desired state = gap; 2 dimensions suggested – target (who buys the brand) and meaning (associations and benefits of the brand); choose 1 dimension (first) to address since that is easier; consider new brand if gap is too large]

ii. Engage the organization [front-line employees]

iii. Create visibility [paid advertising and promotions; PR; social media]

iv. Set reasonable expectations [for short-term sales and profits, promos; loss of non-core customers shouldn’t set alarms ringing]

From Business Today, 8 Jan issue [20^th Anniversary Issue]

www.srei.com

www.abb.com/betterworld

Sasha Mirchandani: India Angel Network, Ojas Ventures, Blume Ventures, Kae Capital, Nexus, Helion, Sequoia India, IDG India.

Bob Dylan: The Times They’re A-Changin’

www.iicf.in

www.adorgroup.com

“Sunrise Industry”, K R Balasubramanyam:

- only MW-scale plants are eligible for govt subsidy