Image Consulting for Varun Gandhi

                                           

                                                               
 Varun gandhi is the Gandhi who has been really successful in carving a small niche for himself, thanks to the pre election diatribes that he spelled out against a particular community .Not only did Mr. Gandhi won the Lok Sabha election with huge margins but  also recently managed to become national secretary of the BJP .At this point of time he does not have an image crisis but of course an image chaos , he is donning too many images. In the author’s opinion these are as follows:-
1. A Hindu hardliner who is loved for his arrogance and aggressiveness, a Gandhi with a difference who loves speaking his mind.

2. Sanjay's ambitious son who has a vision and to make it happen he holds the guts to take strong actions.

3. An educated elite who loves reading books, does poetry, holds a post graduate degree in public policy from London School of Economics, has a Gandhi surname and who holds the potential to make an impact in the landscape of Indian politics which is often cluttered by goons, regional chauvinists, pseudo socialists, feudal lords etc.

4. A moron, publicity hungry youngster who will not hesitate to put his foot in mouth to get some attention.

Thus Varun in someone for whom people have very divergent views . Now the author will try to do some image consulting for Mr. Gandhi and will also like to suggest some future strategy:-


1. Be a Right winger but avoid being a an ultra conservative:- Varun must understand that there are lot of takers for moderately conservative Hindutva but there is absolutely no space for ultra conservative agendas neither in the media nor among any sizable mass of public. The kind of speech which he spoke in the pre- election rally is never expected from a statesman. What had happened had happen, with time people will forget all this but what is important is that Varun should never use such stuffs in the nearby future .Having said this it does not mean he should not capitalize on mild Hindutava, issues like terrorism, fundamental Islam, illegal immigration are alarming dangers and if projected in the right spirit holds a lot of potential to influence the voters. Varun being a learned person and a good orator can definitely take lead on these issues and by drafting an objective analysis can surely include those people in his supporter’s base who are definitely not hard liners but have concern for such issues.

2.  No comparison with Rahul:- Varun Gandhi should always try to avoid himself being compared with Rahul Gandhi, since both the brothers belong to the same political family there will always be temptation in the media circles to compare them but Varun must understand the fact the kind and the scale of media attention which Rahul enjoys is almost impossible to attain at this stage of time .So there is absolutely no sense in trying to get himself compared with Rahul .Rather he must try to build his own independent image .


3. Avoid Sanjay's name:- Varun's statement on mass sterilization was nothing but an attempt to show that he too inherits his dad's charisma and vision but it must be understood that it will take Varun nowhere .Though Sanjay was a charismatic leader but he was also very sly and shrewd and was often seen in the Indian media as someone who is autocratic and ruthless, so having Sanjay's tag will not be a wise decision .More over it will also irritate the BJP & at this stage of time it’s not the family tag but the support and encouragement of BJP which is more essential for Varun to Bolster his newly started political career .

4. Leverage his Intellectual capital:-Varun has always been considered as someone who was known for having an intellectual perspective. He must leverage this and should always project himself as a very well learned & knowledgeable individual.

In short Varun must understand that initially he will have a comparatively smaller but reasonably decent enough space to work upon. He must try to use it in a proper way and must avoid making blunders to build a bigger base. He cannot be suave and elegant like his cousin or uncle; he cannot be the cynosure of indian politics like his stylish father, power full like his grandmother, idealistic like his great grandfather but can definitely be the Gandhi with a touch of difference, someone who is learned, aggressive and opinionated. Who speaks when needed and prefers silence when there is no need. Who is witty and has the guts to face the volleys of rapid fires , who has the intellect to take on the media and is not bounded by some "good boy" image, if needed can stretch a little bit beyond to challenge the conventions (but of course more on content & logic and less on rhetoric.)

Image Consulting for Abahy Deol

                                                                 
PROS:-He is the deol with a difference, smart ,suave & stylish. He might not be considered conventionally very good looking but is definitely charming and enjoys a strong brand value among the intelligent audiences .He has a large female fan following too and is considered as someone really cute by his female fans .Known for delving into unknown territory Abhay is never worried of underplaying his character if the script demands .He is someone who is equally comfortable playing various different characters be it an arrogant alcoholic in Dev D , the smart yet emotional thief of Oye Lucky Lucky Oye,or the young lover of Socha na tha .
Bollywood where generally actors are not very well read and well aware he is an exception, reads extensively and had good knowledge of lot many stuffs other than acting , is quite active for social causes & had even lectured at Stanford University .With Dev D this talented actor has also tasted some commercial success & has shown that along with artistic credentials he also holds commercial potential .

CONS: - Though considered as a talented actor he is yet to feature in some A- grade main stream flick as a solo hero .One must understand that India is a country where not too many audience have knack for intelligent films, so until unless one doesn't give hits with the main stream cinema he or she is not going to be a super star. The same might happen with Abhay deol . So far he is considered for his off beat roles and  if he keeps on maintaining the same  image it might happen that in spite of having commercial potential he might not get roles in main stream films .He does a less no. of films & his fans often complain that they have to wait a lot to watch him, he is quite media shy and is not very active in media especially in off line one  .In the author's point of view he doesn't also have a very impressive voice , his low pitch voice sometimes becomes a misfit in the kind of tough roles he does .

FUTURE STRATEGY :-Abhay deol is right now in a wonderful phase of his career where not only has his talent well tested but has also tasted a bit of commercial success .It's natural that a lot of offers would be coming his way , so rather than being choosy he needs to grab this opportunity and must sign a few good no. of films .Secondly he is venturing into production which not be a very good desicion at this stage of time, film production is quite a cumbersome task that often consumes a good amount of time and energy and there is no guarantee of the end result as well, so rather than production what the author feels is that this is time where he should focus more on acting & should atleast do 3-4 films a year. There is no intelligence in making your fans wait for so long .Film production can be taken in the nearby future after establishing yourself as a big name in bollywood .As much the kind of cinema he chooses then surely he is not made for typical bollywood masala film where you don't need to bring your brain along with you to the theatres ,but still there will be a lot of scope for him in the main stream cinema from where he can easily deliver 3-4 films a year.He can surely try for genres like good rom-coms,political thrillers, suspense thrillers, psycho thrillers satirical comedies, book adaption( other than rom coms & political thrillers he has done others so far but on a small scale, he needs to scale it up).As much film makers are concern then he can surely work with the likes of Farhan Akhtar, Anurag Kashyap, Sudhir Mishra, Milan Lutharia, Prakash Jha,Dibankar Banerjee,Raju Hirani, Ram Gopal Verma along with a lot of new comers who are ready to challenge the conventions of the Main stream cinema and can yet deliver hits .Along with this he really needs to expand his visibility in the media, needs to sign more endorsements ,just one LG add is not sufficient, can very well endorse products like electronic gadgets,aparels,fmcg items, cars(not bike),tourism, watches, NGOS, can even try his hand in beverages, alcoholic drinks etc( but should avoid cigarettes & strong beer ).

To sum up what the author will like to sum up is that Abhay is an actor who definitely enjoys a decent amount of fan following, who has so far received no negative branding and there is a large mass of audience who have positive thought for him but can still not be considered as an ardent fan base . It's here where Abhay really needs to work upon,he must understand that there lies a potent base that can be easily converted into a fan following, only thing that needs to be done is that increase the visibility amongst them with the help of more no. of big banner flicks which are marketed well , more media presence and more endorsements .

In the end on behalf of the whole "MANAGEMNET GURU” team the author will like to wish Mr. Abhay deol a very successful career and hope he touches new skies in all the dimensions of his life .

Few Traits & Skills :A Manager should have

                                                                                                             
In any industry in order to succeed a manager needs to have a sound domain knowledge but other than this also their has to be a few important traits which are really important if one wants to excel as a manager. These are -

1. Computer/Internet Skills :- A manager must be extremely comfortable with the computer and must have thorough command in various tools like power point, excel, word doc,Gjavascript:void(0)oogle doc etc. Active participation in various social networking sites will be an added advantage .

2. Able Communicator :- He/She should be an able communicator with neither too aggressive nor too submissive kind of persona .A manager must have a pleasing behavior and should always be in a position to communicate the required idea smoothly & convince some one amicably .A good English is more or less a must but knowledge of additional languages will always be an added advantage .

3.Should be Action Oriented :- along with thinking & making plans he must have the zeal to put things in action. ( Mind it this is the most important trait because Planing - Action = Shit )

4. Inclination for reading should be their :- There is no need that a manager should be an avid reader but he must be in practice of regularly going through the latest happenings on and off the business world, few domain specific or interest related websites , one or two magazines . Following a few good blogs, reading some inspiring autobiographies along with some good management books will be a nice add on .( But beware of too much of reading , that might hone your thinking abilities at the cost of putting stuffs into action.)

5. Should not have a very anxious personality :- A manager needs to go through a lot of chaos and ups downs in his course of action, there fore chances of anxiety creeping in is quite high . Now a small degree of anxiety is always helpful in giving a positive push , too much of anxiety will definitely hamper efficiency & decision making ability .

6. Should have some Quantitative approach :- Though their is no need for a manager to be a nut cracker in Maths ,but a mathematical approach is surely a winning trait. A manager must have the ability to observe a qualitative idea with a quantitative frame work

DISCLAIMER :- ( Views here are personal and based on the individual understanding of the author , The author has just finished his 1st year at a B-School with almost no prior work-ex and may not hold the prime authority to give judgment on some thing like this .)

Rural Branding:- Political Parties can provide a good opportunity

                                                           
Rural marketing is surely the buzz word these days .Every company is trying to position their products to the rural customers .A lot of companies are into picture that specializes specifically in rural marketing domain, even the regular big wigs like Ogilvy & Mather has started their own rural branding wings namely " O & M OUTREACH" .

In spite of so much of hoopla going around regarding projecting the rural customer as the next big thing the author is somehow skeptical about this. The basic reason of this doubt is that no matter the rural India constitute a major chunk of the Indian population ,the fact cannot be denied that it still ranks low on per capita income .Moreover in order to cater to the rural India companies need to come up with lot of product & process innovation which they are still not willing to do .Baring few of the companies like Hul who have successfully implemented programs like "Shakti Amma" or Itc there had been hardly any land mark success in the given domain .

But there is an area that can provide a very interesting platform for both the client firm as well as the branding firm to implement rural marketing & this happens to be the promotion of political parties .India the biggest democracy of the world has many national level as well as regional political parties with their political ideology spanning across the spectrum from far right to far left .The fate of these parties are decided in the Lok Sabha election & the Vidhan Sabha election conducted once in every 5 years . What had been seen that though these parties spent huge amount of money in media & promotional campaigns but most of them are spent in print media and tv media which often have low penetration in the rural landscape where as the point to be noted over here is that majority of the voting population (around 70%) comes from the rural India .So no matter what kind of promotion happens in the regular media circle it cannot make any damn difference to the fate of the party until unless the campaign does not target the rural population .The best example is the 2004 Lok Sabha elections where in the regular mass media circles there was hell lot of noise regarding the "India Shining " campaign and almost every news channel predicted that "BJP the party with a difference " is going to win the election but when the result came out to every one's surprise it was n't the BJP but the Congress which made the government .The reason of the BJP'S debacle was very simple , though the promotional campaign targeted the urban mass well it was totally insulated from the rural crowd which in general plays main role in electoral victory owing to it's bigger number .
In spite of such practical examples still the political parties are not serious enough when it comes brand their image in the mind set of the rural voters .The general tendency still is to target them with the same general mass media tools used for targeting their urban counterpart .They must understand that the rural people might be economically laggard but politically they are quite active , only thing that is needed is that if one wants to target them then it must come up with specifically designed local campaigns . One must understand that in the realm of rural india its not the mass media that matters but what does matter is the local as well as the outdoor media activities such as demonstrations, plays, small budget theatres , promotion in local events such as melas, pujas etc, convincing of influential people such as the surpanchs,post masters & teachers who can then convince other people etc .

Professional rural brand management agencies can provide a lot of expertise in this pursuit .Hope this so far neglected domain of branding will soon be taken into consideration and will provide a new set of partnership between the cash rich political parties and emerging agencies of rural branding.

Branding of an educational institute like "TAPMI": few innovative measures

                                                                    
 When it comes to the realm of branding , branding of an educational institute provides a good case to experiment, especially if the institute happens to be some some thing like "TAPMI" which though enjoys a decent amount of reputation in the academic as well as the corporate world but is surely not among the so called Indian ivey league .

In the given blog author attempts to design a few innovative ways that might help in branding "TAPMI" as an institution . (Having said this the blog is not going to describe the general tools of branding that includes the huge offline media & other regular activities such as inter college events , seminars, pr,alumni meet etc )

1. Be Online as much one can & use "TAPMI" as prefix in your user name :-Students should try to be active in lot of on line activities that should include not only the regulars like fb or orkut but also lot of blogs, websites ,forums etc and if possible the suffix "TAPMI " should be added to their regular user name .Exp:- Paritosh@TAPMI, AJAY_ TAPMI etc .That will provide a lot of on line visiblity to the college .

2. Please have more and more mentor-ship programs:- Recently "TAPMI" had started one mentor-ship program in the field of film & media marketing where a passed out alumni is mentoring a few students in the given niche area . Since the author is the part of this program it is his personal opinion that such programs are really of great use , not only do it help in building strong rapport between the college and the alumini base but it also help the current students to get some sort of industry exposure which indirectly make them more employable .

3. Reactivation of Research committee:- The defunct Research committee should be reactivated and students should participate seriously into various research activities .Point to be noted over here is that since PGP 2 can not be very active because of lot of other responsiblities the onus should be on the shoulders of PGP- 1 students .

4. Circulation of brochure :- Placement committee had distributed brochures to the students which they are suppose to submit in their mip( management in practice / internship) firms, but the author feels that a single brochure  per student is not sufficient because in the entire process of mip a student gets exposed to many companies .( for exp:- the author is doing a mip on a purely b2b kind of platform where he needs to consult around 20 big companies for a marketing research work ,similarily it applies for other students also) It will be in the favor of the brand image of college if a brochure is given not only to the mip firm but also to all other related client firms .
Now since further brochures  can not be sent to students what the placement  committee can do is that it can send the soft copy to the students from where the print out can be taken .

Though the given ideas where said in the context of "TAPMI" but can be very well used for other colleges such as IMT, XIM-B,SYMBIOSIS, GIM etc of the same league with required modifications .

Few misconceptions regarding the BOP customers?

Often companies who want to cater to the BOP customers suffer from some kinds of misconceptions. These misconceptions are not only untrue but they also demotivate big enterprises to see the huge potential available in the BOP segment .Some of them are :-

(1)Bop customers don't have buying potential:- this is the biggest misconception that private enterprises have.BOP customers  have huge potential, albeit they do not have buying power like their well off counter parts.  These people who constitute 4-5 billion of the world population with there own latent needs and demand should not be ignored at any cost .These people might look poor at the surface but they do have capacity to spend and they are doing it .It's estimated that 85% of the population living in Dharavi(mumai's slum) have tvs, more than half of them have mobile phones and so on .
One another important fact thta is often ignored is that these people often pay much more than there well off counter part to make purchases . In economy there is a special term for this known as POVERTY PREMIUM ,often this premium amount is paid on account of poor distributions, lot of intermediaries, lack of accessibility ,vested interest etc.For exp:- a comparatively well off person can go to a bank and can get loan at a decent rate of 10-12% ,but if a poor person has to do the same then due to lack of accessibility he will be forced to go to a local money lender who might charge interest as high as 600-1000%.Similarly due to water mafias generally poor people are forced to pay a much higher price for water than there fortunate counter parts living in middle class areas . Thus this poverty premium provides a real time challenge as well as opportunity for the firms to cater to the BOP customers .

(2)BOP customers don't have collective strength :-This again is a very short sighted vision which firms have for BOP customers . As said earlier most of the BOP customers have access to tv, radio ,mobile phones etc as a result they are also well connected with each other, they have their own minimum requirements and expectations which they expect from various external agencies such as the govt.,NGOS and private players .

(3)BOP customers cannot be catered because of poor distribution facility :-

The genesis of this view lies in the misconception that BOP consumers reside only in rural area and since in most of the developing nation rural infrastructure is not well developed it is often tough to reach to them .Now its true that rural infrastructure is not well developed but a very large chunk(around 35-40%) of BOP customers reside in cities not in villages, as much the rural customers are concern there also the demand is high but due to lack of roads, transport, un availiblity of electricity and tv signals they donot constitute a measure customer base. Companies ought to think innovative and cost effective methods to cater to them. There are companies like Avon and Hul who have catered to such markets by appointing distributors from there own local population who can understand there needs and demands in a much better way .

Serving the BOTTOM OF THE PYRAMID:-Prahalad's one of the biggest contribution

Last week we lost one of the most influential Thinker of our time mr. c.k.prahalad.Mr. prahlad will always be remembered for his end no. of contributions in the filed of management and social science .Though definitely prahlad was known for his writings on strategy and innovations but one of his most remarkable contribution has been the idea of creating wealth at the lower strata of the society .Prahald was the first man to coin jargon BOP ie bottom of the pyramid , according to him poverty is an evil that must be eradicated but it cannot be eradicated by mere political rhetoric or by just doing some philanthropy. It can be scuttled only when proper business initiatives are taken, initiatives that have a clear cut vision , clear cut plan to generate money, clear cut revenue generation model.He proposed that rather than thinking them as a burden business must consider them as a resource and devise such plans that are mutually beneficial , plans that consider the BOP crowd as potent consumers who can be catered by the modern business there by generating profits for the business and the same time should also provide enough entrepreneurial cum development opportunities to the people from BOP so that these people can avail better livelihood .

On behalf of the whole management-guru blog the author will like to pay tribute to this great persona who had enlightened the world of management in the past two decades.

Branding of an after shave brand

When it comes to branding of an after shave brand how can it be really done ?well i am not an expert on this but based on my personal experience as well as on some insights i will like to evaluate some thing like an after shave on various parameters .I think some thing like an after shave can be perceived on following parameters

1) Medicinal purpose:- an after shave is supposed to be an antiseptic , that takes care of the skin after shaving . Well this is what an after shave is supposed to be doing but since this is a basic requirement from any after shave this parameter cannot be used for differentiating a brand , for that matter if medicinal purpose is the only factor then there is hardly any difference between an after shave or lets say alum or an antiseptic cream .

2) Price :-the role of price in branding does not look very clear over here. But one thing is for sure that is since it is a luxury brand a price some how in the higher side will do favor .

3) Packaging and color :- Things like packaging and color of an after shave product will definitely play a vital role in building the brand value of the product. A good packaging and color will not only give a feel good factor to the consumer but will also prompt the consumer to show it to their friends there by multiplying the band value.

4) Advertisement :- a brand like an after shave is not a basic need , it is more of a desire and so for any such kind of product it is very essential that it should be promoted in a very stylish and glamorous fashion .The advertisement should strike instantly with the consumer psyche , it should be in a position to compel the customer to spend few extra bucks from his pocket to get the brand. In view of this it becomes essential that an advertisement for an after shave brand should contain added flavors of glamor, style or sensuality .Those elements should be produced in such a beautiful way that it must compel the viewer to connect himself with the brand .For exp:- an advertisement that promotes an after shave as a product which helps in attracting females then in that case the ad should be made in such a mesmerizing way that it must compel the viewer to think that after applying it his sex appeal to the females will increase two fold.

These above given factors are important for developing the brand value for some thing like an after shave but a very important fact that has to be considered is that these factors do not directly affect the consumer, the impact made by stuffs like lets say the packaging or advertisement will either be of some imaginative nature or aesthetic purpose or at most of ego satisfaction but to make a mark as a brand it is very essential that the brand must make a deadly impact on the consumer while he is using , as a consumer(as a consumer not merely as a customer ) there must be a chord between him and the brand.As a product it must give some direct value addition to it's consumers ,for this purpose in my opinion two parameters are very essential .

a) Feeling of freshness that the shave can give and the longevity of freshness :- by feeling of freshness i mean the cooling effect which the after shave gives and the smooth skin that one gets after applying the shave .This is some thing very important for building the brand value of the after shave, a point to be noted over here is that not only the intensity matters but what does matter is the longevity, because the more the feeling freshness will prevail the higher will be the bond time between the brand and the user and stronger will be the impression of the brand in the eyes of the user .

b) Fragrance and its longevity :-Similarly fragrance and its longevity are also very essential factors that can help in building the brand value of an after shave brand. Fragrance is something that directly impacts the consumer .So its quite natural that a nice fragrance will make a strong impact but a very important factor that has to be taken care of is that simply a strong fragrance is not going to serve the purpose since mostly any after shave brand has strong fragrance , what does matter is the longevity of the fragrance , like freshness the higher the fragrance will remain the stronger will be the impact. A nice fragrance will make the first impression but if it will vanish of soon then it cannot reaffirm it self, but if the fragrance can maintain it self for a longer period of time then every time the nice soothing smell will enter the nostril of the consumer the higher will be the feelings of the consumer for that brand.Longevity of the fragrance will ensure a prolonged positive interaction between the consumer and the brand and will surely give enough time and space to the brand to win the heart of his consumer .

IN THE END I WILL LIKE TO LIST DOWN ALL THE FACTORS THAT CAN AFFECT THE BRAND VALUE OF A PRODUCT LIKE AN AFTER SHAVE IN INCREASING ORDER OF THEIR SIGNIFICANCE :-

a)Medicinal use.
b) Price .
c) Color, Packaging, Advertisement.
d) Freshness and it's duration, Fragrance and it's duration.

Emirates Airlines: Brief Introduction

               fig 1 : fly Emirates logo ( source: telguprofessional.blogspot.com)                                                           

Dubai based Emirate airlines, is among the most successful airlines in the world. This largest airline from the Middle East had played a vital role in shaping up the Emirate state from a, oil rich Emirate to a global tourism destination. In the following blog, author will attempt to give a brief description comprising of, history, profile, strengths, corporate strategy and areas of concern, for the airline.

History:

After its independence in 1974, Dubai along with other Emirates were served by Gulf Air, but since the very beginning  relationship between the airline and Dubai was tensed, owing to Dubai’s unwillingness to abandon its open skies policies. In 1985 when Gulf Air reduced its flights to and from Dubai by 2/3 rd, the ruling elite at Dubai realized, to have an exclusive airline for Dubai , hence Emirate Airline (having just two carriers at that time) was born with   an initial investment of US $ 10 Million from the government. The 1st ever flight departed to Karachi on 25th October. In 1987 it started its European operation with flights for London and Frankfurt. A perfect exemplar of phenomenal success stories, Emirate airline had kept on almost doubling itself every three years, growing with an average growth rate of 25% annually. Presently not only it is serving 100 destinations across 60 countries but had also won myriad prestigious awards and accolades. (Andreas E, Alexander K)

Facts and figures (2010)

• Fleet size: 152 ( Boeing: 91, Airbus: 61) + 18 on order/ planned (Boeing:5, Airbus: 13) (planesspotters.net, 2010)

• Average age of the fleet : 6.5 years (planesspotter.net, 2010)

• Destinations served : 100 destinations, 60 countries

• Financials: revenue: US $ 11.8 Billion, profit: US $ 964 Million ( a 416 percent increase over 2009) (emirates.com, 2010)

• Employee strength : 36, 000 approx

• International passengers: 25.9 Million (2009-10), 7th highest in the world in terms of number of passengers. ( arabiansupplychain.com, 2010)

• Number of flights per week : 2400

• Head office: Dubai

• Key people: Chairman and CEO: Ahmed Bin Saeed Al Maktoum, President: Tim Clarke

Parent Company

Emirate airlines, is the part of the bigger conglomerate namely Emirate group, with a range of individual companies, serving various verticals of international travel and tourism industry. Emirate airlines comprises of; Emirate airlines, the biggest airline of Middle East; Dnata, an aviation service company providing ground handling services; Emirates Holidays, providing tailor made holiday packages to over 100 destinations; Congress Solution International , a PCO (professional conference organizer) offering a wide range of services; Arabian Adventures , offering wide range of overland adventure programs such as deep sea diving, desert safari etc; Wolgan Valley Resort & Spa, an exclusive conservation-based resort bordering the Greater Blue Mountains World Heritage Area in Australia; Mercator, Emirate airline’s IT solution provider, is a leading supplier to IT solutions across the globe; Emirate’s engineering, maintaining the expansive fleets of Airbus and Boeing of Emirate airline as well as seven other airlines through 3rd party maintenance contract ; Alpha flight Group Limited, an in flight catering company employing more than 6000 people and serving 58 airports across 11 countries. Beside these, Emirate group also has a wide range of joint ventures such as; Emirates Flight Catering, Emirates Leisure Retail, MMI, Oman United Agencies etc. Emirate Group, employing more than 40,000 individuals from 160 nationalities is a state run entity, managed by Dubai Investment Holding. (emirtaesgroupcareer.com, 2010)

Strengths (Andreas E, Alexander K)

• Political support: Emirate Airlines had been  very crucial with respect to Dubai’s  strategy of transforming itself into world class tourism cum commercial hub, hence the airline was always up on the agendas of the ruling elite of the Emirate.

• Strategic location: Dubai’s is strategically placed between the crossroads of North and South as well as East and West, there is hardly any major agglomeration in the world which is not with in 8000 miles from Dubai. Some 3.5 Billion populations reside with in an 8hr flight from Dubai. The strategic location had played a major role in transforming Dubai into a a very successfull tourist destination. Strategic location coupled with easy immigration policies (transit travelers do not require clearing emigration at Dubai airport) have also helped Emirates Airlines being preferred by many transit travelers.

• Indirect subsidies: it is said that Emirates had been indirectly subsidized by the government of Dubai in the form of almost no charges being paid for various at Dubai airport, such as, ACT, noise and security charges.

• Top class service and high labor productivity: another competitive advantage for Emirates had been its ,great services in almost all the class and  high labor productivity. A study done by UBS in 2005 showed that Emirates per unit cost was 40% lower than that of KLM.

• Tax free regime: the tax free regime at Dubai had not helped in adding to the over all profitability of the airline but also in attracting high quality human resources from all across the globe.

Corporate Strategy (Andreas E, Alexander K)

• Focusing on healthy mix of both O & D (origin and destination) as well as transit travelers.

• Focusing strongly on cargos. 20% of the revenue comes from cargo for Emirates Airlines.

• Along with organic growth strategies, it had adopted inorganic ones as well ,such as having a 43.6% stake in Srilankan Airlines.

• Providing high quality services in all classes.

• Maintaining high frequencies , serving every location at least twice weekly.

• Making strong presence in underserved markets such as Glasgow, Newcastle, Manchester, Hamburg, Cochin, Kolkata etc.

• Making strong presence in markets such as Sub Saharan regions that have been so far unconnected to the global air traffic network due to lack of a effective national carrier.

• Markets itself very strongly, though over all marketing budget is confidential but is expected to be 3-5 % of the overall revenue. Out of the wide range of PR and marketing strategies used, sponsoring major sporting events are at the fore front of its branding agendas.

Areas of Concern:

• Politically unstable Middle East: the present unrest in Middle East poses serious concern for the Emirates Airlines. Though UAE is enjoying a peaceful political climate, but the uprising in various parts of the gulf and Middle East, will surely result in apprehensions, among the travelers in visiting the region.

• Emerging carriers from the region such as Qatar Airways and Etihad Airways are posing tough competition to Emirates Airlines. Though yet to break even, their strategy of matching Emirates level of service in comparatively lesser price is can be a source of serious threat to Emirate airways.

Reference:

1> Andreas E, Alexander K, how sustainable is Emirates business model, available at < http://www.aerlines.nl/issue_38/38_Knorr_Eisenkopf_Emirates_Business_Model.pdf >

2> Planesspotters.net, 2011, Emirates: details and plane history , available at http://www.planespotters.net/Airline/Emirates

3> Emirates.com , 2010, emirates group makes record profit this year, available at < http://www.emirates.com/fr/english/about/news/news_detail.aspx?article=567011 >

4> Arabiansupplychain.com, 2010, top 10 international passenger airlines, available at < http://www.arabiansupplychain.com/article-4997-top-10-international-passenger-airlines/1/print/  >

5> Emiratesgroupcareer.com, 2010, Emirates Group Company, available at http://www.emiratesgroupcareers.com/english/about/companies/  Default.aspx

6> Andreas E, Alexander K, how sustainable is Emirates business model, SWOT analysis available at < http://www.aerlines.nl/issue_38/38_Knorr_Eisenkopf_Emirates_Business_Model.pdf >

7> Andreas E, Alexander K, how sustainable is Emirates business model, Emirates business model, available at < http://www.aerlines.nl/issue_38/38_Knorr_Eisenkopf_Emirates_Business_Model. pdf

Marketing yourself as an ACTOR in bollywood:Where was Abhay Right and Where Vivek went Wrong

The concepts of marketing applies everywhere and Bollywood stars are no Exception, your success as an actor depends heavily on how well you market yourself and how correctly you market yourself .Here i will like to tell stories of two bollywood actors ,one started off well but made blunders in his brand promotion where as the other started off slow but promoted himself in a very slow but strategic sense .

Vivek Oberoi:-

From his very first film Company vivek became the darling of bollywood ,and the press heralded that bollywood has got his new Shahrukh khan,soon after Sathiya followed and vivek gave his second hit in the same year,after the success of sathiya vivek was signed by all the big film makers of bollywood ranging from Subash Ghai,Karan Johar to Mani Ratnam etc.Vivek was now the blue eyed boy of media ,and he was commanding a very strong brand value ,but here vivek made a blunder ,rather than becoming slow he started playing his games very fast, in each and very press conference vivek started to dominate, in every conference a kind of artificial over confidence was quite evident in vivek oberoi, he started pretending as if he was not the would be but the real shahrukh khan,and then there was the famous salman khan controversy ,These all things projected vivek as an inflated balloon ,who was some how a talented man but was highly over rated, soon after what had to happen happened ,one by one his films started bombing at the box office,so here was a man who was holding a very strong brand value as an actor but as a product he was a dud, his brand value itself proved to be short lived and got vanished quickly, very soon he was forced to play supporting roles from main lead roles ,as there is a wonder full saying in marketing nothing kills more than a bad product but a strong promotion, the same happened with vivek, but here i must confess that the product was really not bad,with time vivek had really learned a lot from his mistakes , As an actor he had become quite serious , though still he is not smart enough in dealing with media but he has some very exciting projects in his kitty, and is ready to make a comeback with a bang.

ABHAY DEOL:-

The mistake that vivek did was that he promoted himself so strongly that there was exorbitant amount of expectations with him but when his films came ,there was a mismatch between what was expected and what he delivered(though no doubt he was a talented actor, but the expectation itself was so high that it was tough to deliver),But where as vivek did mistakes another actor abhay deol who debuted in 2005 with his film Socha na thaa, played his cards very intelligently, from his very first film it was evident that this deol is a deol with a difference, there was no doubt that abhay could be nurtured into a great actor ,but abhay never tried to be aggressive in his initial days, since the release of his very first film he was offered a bunch of flicks but rather than choosing any film that came on his way he was very choosy with selecting film, even while choosing the kind of roles to play Abhay preferred playing offbeat roles ( different from playing intense roles in parallel cinema and at the same time avoiding typical bollywood hero kind of roles where an actor is more a hero rather than an actor) , he preferred such roles where he could really deliver and the result was that not only did he receive a lot of rave reviews for his performance but also since he choose the middle path his prospects as an actor was open in both kinds of cinema , that is in parallel/off beat cinema as well commercial flicks .while dealing with media also he always projected himself as a smart, elegant and intelligent actor .(He has got the privilege to speak min WHARTON UNIVERSITY ), but never crossed the line ,as an actor he knew his limitations and never tried to project himself something larger than life but at the same time never went underground as well , at regular intervals news related to him was there in the media. The over all result was that not only was he in a position to establish himself as critically acclaimed actor but after the commercial success of DEV D he is one of the sought after commercial actor of bollywood .

Both VIVEK and ABHAY have huge potentials and have got a long way to go, only time will say who will be more successful but right now the ball is in Abhay's court and a great degree credit definitely goes to the way he marketed himself .

India as a Brand :A mere rhetoric

Couple of months back in my college there was an event organized that dealt with the idea of branding India, the main objective of the event was to focus strongly on the positive aspects of India so that we can attract more and more investment and human capital from all over the world. There were dignitaries from various part of the corporate world and basically every one believed that by reinforcing strongly on positive aspects of our culture ,our diversity and our booming IT industry and economy we can build a strong brand image of India.

Well before being judgmental in the beginning i will like to tell when it comes to the concept of BRANDS what does THEORETICAL WISDOM says .According to theory a brand is a name ,logo or the product of a company with which a customer relates himself and which distinguishes the company from the competition, this was just a theoretical definition ,but practically with out getting into much of global gases(a typical TAPMI TERMINOLOGY that means focusing more on abstraction with out giving much of concern for practicality ) a strong brand value means the strong loyalty a particular product enjoys on account of its supremacy over its competition as well as the value that it delivers to it's customer ,thus though a strong promotion strategy is really important for brand building, promotional strategy are just the circumference of the entire process, at the center of any successful brand lies the product it self ,today CATERPILLAR is a brand because it produces the best tractor ,VAN HUSEIN is a brand with which people feel connected because it makes the best cloth fabrics, MCDONALD is a brand because it prepares the best fast food, thus it is not the promotion but the product that constructs a brand .

Now lets come to the idea of India as a brand ,with the above given concept of brand it is well evident that the brand value of India as a nation depends primarily on the nation called india ,it's economic system ,it's political machinery,its economical parity ,it's efficiency in making things happen ,it's growth potential ,it's per ca pita income ,the vision of its policy makers,it's position in various social index factors such as human development index,gini index etc .Along with this too some extent it also depends on various other factors such culture heritage etc .Now having said this how strong is really India as a product, with 72% people still earning less than 2 dollar a day can we tell that India is an economic super power .With around a quarter of population living in abject poverty struggling hard to make it's end meet can we tell that India is a strong brand in it self, with a rank of 138 in human development index and a abysmal position of 145 in per ca pita income can we really tell that India has got the potential to herald itself as a very strong brand on the global platform .In a country where there is so much of social unrest from north east to Gujarat from Kashmir to the southern part of India is it possible that mere rhetoric of our culture and heritage will offset this harsh reality of violence and unrest and brand india as a epitome of harmony in diversity . With so much of corruption prevalent in all the ladders of bureaucracy , with such a slow pace of deregulation , is it really apt to claim that India is a great place to do business. There is so much hoopla regarding IT that some people even donot hesitate to proclaim that if china is the factory of global economy India is the laboratory ,i will like to tell such people that just tell me a single indigenous IT product that this lab has made , an operating system is a far off dream India could not have made a single web browser so far.

In marketing it is said that nothing kills a brand faster than a bad product it self, and given the kind of statistics given above modern india is indeed a bad product ,a product which is still going through the initial phases of it's product cycle .so rather than emphasizing on brand promotion of india on account of hand full of rhetoric like tradition or IT india first needs to work on the product quality itself ,it needs to implement a very comprehensive human development programs ,that must put emphasis on mass level education,sanitation, health facilities and education .it needs to invest hugely on its higher education system and must change the culture of this system from mere mugging of facts to research and practical application,it needs to curb rampant corruption as soon as possible. (details on this on some another blog), once the product will be of top quality strong branding will simply follow. Till then it will be nothing more than mere rhetoric.

Use of social networking sites for evaluating candidates

This might look weird in first go but social networking sites like orkut and face book can be used as a wonderful tool for judging and analyzing potent candidates for senior positions .

Social sites like face book and orkut can give a hell lot of information regarding one's prospect candidates for senior positions .In social networking site like orkut there are options of joining various communities( since i am not a face book user till now i donot have much idea on this ),there are myriad communities available in orkut ranging from communities on fashion and life style to communities based on politics ,religion , business and others .Generally every individual has a tendency to join some communities of his taste where he can chat and share views with like minded people and also gather some valuable information .Now suppose a company wants to recruit for some senior position and it wants to judge its potential candidates on various parameters, though to make this happen it can rely on the candidate's past experience along with a thirty minute face to face interview ,though they may give some valuable insights regarding the professional behavior of the candidate but still it is n't sufficient in judging the overall personality of the candidate .When it comes to hire an employee for a senior position it is not just the professional behavior that matters but various other things like political inclination, hobbies ,interest are also important and cannot be discounted ,it is tough to evaluate these things just on account of a thirty minute face to face interview ,to know your candidates better interviewer can rely on social networking sites like orkut ,it can go to the interview's account on such sites and can see the various communities the he has joined.To join a community you need to first search that community, then you need to visit the required page,then there happens to be a join option where you need to click,immediately after this another message will appear asking you whether you really want to join this community or not and after replying in yes, finally one becomes the member of the required community .Thus though the entire process does not take more than 3 minutes but if in this fast moving world one cares for giving his 3 minutes then it surely means that he has got some inherent interest in that particular stuff with which the community deals with. Suppose if someone is the member of a community namely "NO MORE COMMUNISM " ,then it surely means that he has some sort of aversion for that communism , or if someone is a member of too many music related communities then then it can be guessed that this fellow is a music buff. Thus with the help of communities (along with some degree of deductive logic) a lot of things can be found out regarding your candidate.

Though this method is as effective in recruiting for lower ladders as for higher ladders but currently it is more practical in using it for high profile recruitment only, in low profile recruitment where recruitment is made in huge bulk and where specific skill set is required from the employee rather than a very diversified one this method will simply end up wasting a great deal of time with out giving much of desired results.

Though a very innovative and wonderful tool in itself it has got it's own flaws:-

1.Some times people join a community not out of love for it but out of hate or differences.Exp:- you might join a community called America not out of love for Americans or America but just to debate with other America lovers regarding your difference in opinion

2. Some times one might join a community not out of some sheer interest but just for some show off.

3. This method can be used as a wonderful supporting tool but too much of reliance on this might not be very effective.
rather than relying on it completely what interviewers can do is that they can get a rough sketch of their prospective candidates with the help of such tools and then based on this sketch a proper face to face interview can be taken to reaffirm the sketch .

NEW PARADIGM OF INDUSTRIAL RELATIONSHIP IN INDIA IN THE FACE OF ECONOMIC GLOBALIZATION

Introduction:-Industrial relationship is a field which basically deals with the relationship between the management and work force. like any other field of social science it has been subject to change since its inception, initially labor was thought just as a mean for production, and the idea was to exploit it to the highest degree possible, this kind of mindless exploitation gave rise to militant unionism, strikes and gheraos .With time it was realized that that labor is not a resource to be exploited but an ally to be utilized in a proper way to achieve higher goals and gradually there was a change in the dynamics of industrial relations. In present scenario when the Indian economy is globalizing very rapidly followed by the massive influx of technology, capital and ideas the dynamics of Industrial relationship in India again calls for a paradigm shift. One fifth of all those born between 2007 and 2030 will be an Indian. By 2030, India will become the biggest source of labor thereby attracting a huge degree of investments from the global market.[1] Under such a scenario, Industrial relations in India will require major changes to streamline itself with the needs of vast globalization. This change has to be implemented from both sides that is from the end of management as well as from the end of labor force so that it can become a win- win situation for both, along with the growth of the nation.




Paradigm Shifts in Negotiations:

As we know that globalization is followed by huge investments of capital, technology and ideas, so one of the major aspect on which globalization survives is Competitiveness. If India wants to leverage its potential in the classic age of globalization, Indian companies need to be highly competitive. This competitiveness has to be shown in every aspect of the organization ranging from innovative measures to process alignment to efficiency of workforce. If the workforce will remain unsatisfied, and will exert means like strikes and gheraos, then productivity will be hugely affected and a lot of man-hours will be lost along with incurring bureaucratic costs to deal with it. Practically speaking, modern Indian industries simply cannot afford this kind of wastage. So the new Industrial policies call for minimizing to a large extent this unwarranted loss. To have almost a zero rate of such activities is easier said than done. Given the kind of history Capitalism has, this neo-Capitalism will have some sort of inclination to exploit the labor force which might create unrest in the workforce. They need some means to address their grievances. For this they need to design such intelligent ways which will not only solve their problems but will also avoid man-hour loss. An excellent example would be the case of strikes in Japanese shoe factories where if the workforce has to protest, they simply don’t go for a strike as their Indian counterparts, but they produce shoes for only one leg. Once their grievances are addressed, they produce the shoes for the other leg to complete the pair. Thus during the time of their so called strike, they hamper the sales of the company temporarily, thereby gaining the attention of the top management, but the best part is that once their problems are resolved it doesn’t lead to any man-hour losses and the company doesn’t lose out on its Competitive advantage.


Paradigm in Labor rules:

Globalization calls for flexible labor rules with hiring and firing as a norm. So our labor rules has to be flexible enough to give proper room to the process of rapid hiring and firing, so that the industry may not lose out on its competitiveness. But at the same time, the industry also has some obligations towards its employees. One beautiful aspect of Globalization is that it generates a lot of new and diversified avenues for employment. With the help of ample technical knowledge as well as soft skills, anyone can leverage on it. What the industry needs to do is that it should keep on innovating as well as providing the required training for its workforce. This will not only ensure better opportunities for a fired employee to search for a new source of employment but will also help in the productivity of the company. One important point to be noted over here is that since globalization calls for flexibility in hiring and firing, it has to be played on a level ground where the rules are same for the employer as well as the employee. Generally it is often seen in Indian IT companies that before hiring an employee the company signs a bond with the new recruit, according to which if the employee quits the company within a particular time period he needs to pay a bond amount. Such kind of practices are not only highly biased against the employee but are also a mis-fit in the world of globalization. If a company has the right to fire an unproductive employee for reducing its losses, so should an employee have the right to switch from one company to another smoothly for his individual growth.



Paradigm shifts in Reporting Relations:

To gain a high degree of efficiency in a globalizing economy it is vital for the Indian industries to have a workforce that is highly motivated and which sees an alignment in their personal interest and the goals of the company. This can only be done when employees have a say in the decision making process as well as vital functions and processes. This can be implemented with the help of an organic, non bureaucratic and informal structure that does not differentiate between management and the workforce and facilitates smooth flow of information from the workforce to the management. This will not only result in psychological satisfaction (as important as economic satisfaction)of the work force but will also have a lot of positive impact on the industry itself. One of them could be the detection of changes in the market. As we know that globalization is always accompanied with a great degree of frequent changes, so it is imperative that such changes be detected as soon as possible so that the proper course of action be followed. It is not the top management but the common workforce which has the direct link with the market that detects such changes. But unfortunately due to mechanistic and bureaucratic structure, the information doesn’t go upwards which in some cases might end up in huge losses. An example that supports this is the “Sony Way”, which encourages the product engineers to ‘self promote’ in the company by seeking projects in different departments of the company where they feel can contribute more and hence promote the flow of ideas in the company.[2]



Paradigm shifts in managing cultural diversity:

Unrestricted flow of labor is one of the pillars on which globalization is based upon. Today mainly we see outflow of labor from India. But with time we should be ready for considerable amount of labor inflow also. So far our industrial relation policies are not accustomed to deal with a diversified workforce, with varying backgrounds in geographies, culture and thoughts. So we need to adapt our industrial policies in view of these demographic shifts. Our policy should be modified in such a way that it can accommodate workforce from various geographies amicably and can extract the best out of each of them. Since the philosophy of India has always been Unity in Diversity, this will not be a very tough task. So far we have dealt with our own regional diversities, now we need to deal with diversity across borders.



Conclusion:

Along with China in this coming future, India has a very crucial role to play. India has the potential to be benefitted hugely by not only outsourcing but also by other models of globalization such as off shoring and global sub contracting model. Right now the world perceives India as a destination where the forces of globalization can play a constructive role that will not only boost Indian economy but will be in favor of the world economy as a whole. The basic reason for this is the cultural aspect of India (which has always been the melting pot of various cultures), the democracy of India, secularism of India, sound fiscal policies and last but not the least, the huge amount of Indian workforce which is not only very talented but also economically viable. We should also consider the fact that Indian economy can be benefitted not only from the influx of capital and technology, but also from the influx of the global workforce and innovative ideas in the near future. But to make these things happen a very vibrant, flexible, unbiased and technically sound workforce is needed. But at the same stage of time to fulfill these above objectives regarding our workforce we also need a very flexible, vibrant, unbiased and knowledge friendly industrial relationship. As we know that the forces of globalization as well as industrial relationship are mutually dependant, we need to design our industrial relationship policies in such a way that not only we are in a position to strike a beneficial deal for ourselves, but can also fulfill the expectations of the globalized economy.


REFERENCE:

1). Organizational Behavior – Robbins, Judge and Sanghi , Pearson Publications

2). Organizational Theory, Design and Change – Jones and Mathew – Pearson Publications.

3).The World is Flat – Thomas Friedman

4).Kautilya Today – Jairam Ramesh

Pricing strategy:What differentiates leaders from folllowers

When it comes to pricing it's product or service there are few parameters that differentiate the leaders from the followers leaders from the followers, where as a follower designs it's pricing strategy on guts feeling a leader thinks of various factors and does a fair amount of mathematical calculations before coming up with a price. The various parameters are:-


• Face to face research

• Survey based research

• Telephonic research

• Competitor’s analysis

• Price sensitivity measurement When it comes to design a pricing strategy there are few parameters that differentiates the

• Activity based costing

• Break even analysis

• Economic value analysis

It's no more about bottom line but about sustainability...

The words business and bottom line have always been synonymous, the word business makes no sense without bottom-line but in the present though bottom line is very important it's not everything, sustainability is as important as mere profit and sustainability doesn't mean sustainability in terms of making profit but also in terms of social and economic stability .In the present context it can be said that there are basically three types of bottom line-

1. General Bottom Line /Economic Bottom Line/Economical Sustenance:-A new product,or strategy makes no sense if it cannot make profit.It has to economically sustainable.

2.Social Bottom Line/Social Sustainability:-It is very essential for a business that it should be socially sustainable and shouldn't create nay social unrest in the long run, because not only economic stability but also social stability is important for a business to run smoothly in long run.

3.Enviromental Bottom Line/Environmental Sustainability:-In the present context along with socio economic sustenance environmental sustenance is also essential ,today natural resources are getting depleted at a very fast rate ,hence for the survival of a business it is essential that it has to be used in a very judicious way,Long term sustenance of a business can never be guaranteed if the business is at logger heads with the environment. Thus environmental sustainability is as important as socio economic one.

REFERENCE:-a)THE INTERNATIONAL GUIDE TO MANAGEMENT CONSULTANCY.
                        b)www.fotoserach.com

What is managment consulting???

We often come across the word management consulting, so what is it exactly? Management consulting is the act of providing expertise to a client by an external agent called consultant. A typical consultancy project includes various steps-

1. Identifying the problem
2. Identifying the constraint.
3. Providing alternative approaches
4. Selecting the best solution.
5. Once best solution is selected it is important for the consultant to help client in integrating the change with the structure of the organization.

Having said this management consulting is something that cannot be restricted to such a simpleton definition it is something beyond, The factual meaning of management consultancy is highly dependent on the kind of socio economic back ground in which the business is done,Due to this there have been significant changes in meaning of management consultancy
in the beginning of twentieth century’s consulting was all about increasing production efficiency of clients,then in the time of 1930's and 40's that is in the time of world war(when the load was very high on industries) consulting was about designing newer process that can meet huge demand at a very small interval of time,Then in the 70's and 80's consulting was more concerned with the concept of quality that is meeting the standard in the most cost efficient way ,Now in the present scenario of globalization where businesses are operated under cut throat competition consulting has underwent a very diversified definition ,it is no more only a advisory role but has to do a lot with final execution and implementation of the projects.Consulting task ranges from implementation of various IT technologies such as ERP,E-GOVERNANCE,OUT SOURCING to implementing organizational designs and changes to making strategies to target newer market segments in this globalizing economy, more on this new aspect of consultancy in upcoming blogs.

REFERENCE:-THE INTERNATIONAL GUIDE TO MANAGMENT CONSULTANCY.

Interactive Branding:A new dimension in brand managment

Marketing and branding has always undergone changes from time time. There was a time of 70's when the idea of marketing mix was developed, the concept of 4p and 4c where developed and for the first time it was realized in the marketing circles that customer is an important aspect of marketing and when it comes to marketing one should never be myopic, rather than producing what it can produce it should rather think for producing what the customer wants. Then in the 1980’s the concept of branding came into picture and the concept of building up of a rapport between the customer and the producer was realized .This was the period when ideas like brand equity, brand management and brand loyalty came into picture. this was the period when branding meant giving customer a value and in return of that value charge them some extra price.Now the value which brand managers talked about could either be real or simply be perceived or a combination of both.


Now this is a new era, in this era technology has made significant changes ,the power of blogs, social networks and open sourcing has given customer a whole new range of weapon ,as customers the individuals are much more powerful and to this aggrandized set of individual the formal branding rules may not hold very effective.

The new era beckons for interactive branding, A kid of branding strategy that will take into account both marketers as well as customers, where the role of customer can no longer be restricted to someone who has a need and whose need has to be fulfilled by the producer by giving him some sort of value in the product,todays customer will play vital role in each and every aspect of branding, such as eliciting his need, the price which he is ready to pay, the kind of value that he wants. Even in trivial issues like aesthetic sense of the product, looks and style of the product customers will be playing an important role.This new branding technique will have positive impact not only for the customer but also for the marketer himself. With the help of this interactive branding The marketer can come up with a huge degree of cost cutting, because a major degree of input will be provided by the customer himself and that to with the help of tools like blogs and social networks which simply costs nothing. This field is an emerging field in the landscape of marketing management .It calls for a great degree of study ,research and analysis ,I will like to write more on this topic and at the same stage of time a expect a lot of inputs from the free thinkers.

Similarity between second punic war and the onslaught by japanese automakers

Competitive strategies in business and wars have always shown resemblance; if closely looked most of the business warfares take its inspiration from wars.

Here in this post i will like to bring one such resemblance between the attacks made by great war tactician HANNIBAL BARCA against the ROMANS in the PUNIC WAR and the attack made by the Japanese auto makers like TOYATA ,NISSAN AND HONDA against the big three ie GM,CHRYSLER AND FORD.

For those who do not know regarding punic war i will like to explain, punic war is a set of three wars fought between the romans and the north african empire of carthage which finally ended up in the culmination of carthage.Out of the three wars our concern here is with the first part of the second war where the carthagian general hannibal barca took a military of around 50,000 soldiers,crossed the alps and attacked the romans in their own land. A similar kind of strategy was adopted by the Japanese automakers in the early 70's when they attacked the american auto industry in their own market.

in 218 bc Hannibal left new carthage(spain) and left for rome,the basic strategy of Hannibal was very clear, there were two major ideas involved-

• Romans always considered themselves as a very superior force,the smug romans could never prognosticate that the army of carthage whom they considered as an inferior stock can ever dare to attack the romans,this sudden attack will completely confuse them and since the Romans are unprepared they will find it tough to respond.

• The second part of the strategy was to fight the war in the roman soil, this can create chaos in Rome and carthage can leverage it.

This carthagian strategy really paid off.They defeated the Romans continuously in three consecutive battles and got a major part of the roman empire (though it should be noted over here is that finally it was not rome but carthage that tasted defeat ,thanks to the retaliatory moves by the romans who used the strategy of hannibal against him only, details on this on some other blog)


These very same tactics were used by the Japanese auto companies against their american counterparts. Japans companies entered in the American market in the early 1970's with their small cars which were better in quality but lesser in price than the cars produced by the American auto majors. American automakers were not prepared for this attack, they perceived these japanese makers as manufactured of inferior quality and instead of fighting them they relegated the segment of small car market to them and started focusing on big car segment, they were sure that Japanese companies were not capable enough to fight them on this segment, but unfortunately they were wrong ,after holding their ground in the small car segment the Japanese attacked the us auto makers in the segment of big cars also and on account of their idea like TQM IE TOTAL QUALITY MANAGEMENT they defeated the us in this segment also ,Finally the American automakers tried to take shelter in the segment of light truck manufacturing but here also the Japanese did not spare them ,as per the present data gm is bankrupt, Chrysler has been taken over and ford is on the verge of bankruptcy. Well, large part of Japanese victory can be attributed to various reasons such as better product, cheap labor in contrast to their American counterparts, better culture in their companies but a very important part that worked in their favor was there strategy of attacking the American on their own profit sanctuaries ,it repeatedly attacked the Americans on all those domains which have been their major source of making profit and thus created a great chaos in there structure, one important point to be noted over here is that while American auto makers were under great pressure of loosing there revenue from their core market the Japanese makers were not only winning ground in the usa but they were making good deal of money from there japanese business also, in fact there safe base at Japan give them the opportunity to take risk against their American counter part by attacking on their territories. This was very much in line with the Hannibal’s strategy of restricting the warfare in the roman land and keeping a safe base at carthage.


Thus we can see that there has been a great similarity between the attack by Hannibal barca and the Japanese automakers. (Baring one difference, though the Japanese have almost won the battle , Hannibal finally lost it to the Romans who learned slowly from Hannibal and used the same strategy against him.)

REFERENCE:- HARDBALL: GEORGE STALK AND ROB LACHENAUER

The rule of 250

The rule of 250 is a wonderful networking cum selling strategy, it stipulates that while you are dealing with one customer you are in reality dealing with 250 potential customer because every individual on an average knows 250 such individuals whom he can influence to some extent, according to this rule if you have made strong relationship with one of your customer on account of your services as well as on account of personal grounds then this one customer has the potential to bring you 250 new customers with the help of his personal network.

The father of this rule is an US based auto salesman named JOE GIRARD,according to Wikipedia Joseph Samuel Gerard, better known as Joe Girard, (born November 1, 1928 in Detroit, Michigan) is an American salesman. He is recognized by the Guinness Book of World Records as the most successful salesman[citation needed], selling 13,001 cars at a Chevrolet dealership between 1963 and 1978.JOE has authored a book called "HOW TO $ELL ANYTHING TO ANYBODY" where he has described the rule of 250,according to him your one single customer is equivalent to 250 potential customers, Joe always believed in making very good relationship with his customers, he was in a practice of sending them cards(every month he used to send 13000 cards) and he generally used cards of different color and size for his customers so that customers should never think that this is a junk mail, this helped him in building strong relationship with his customers who in turn brought him loads of new customers. These new customers again has the potential of bringing 250 new customers, thus a whole new network of customers can be established.

The story behind finding this unique no. 250 is again very interesting, once what happened Joe went to a funeral ,there he was given a prayer card ,unlike other prayer card this card was having the photo of the deceased on the top, this prompt the sales man inside Joe to give a serious thought, he thought since the exact no. of mourners turning up for the funeral is not known how can someone decide how many cards to print, the no of cards shouldn't be very low but the same time it cannot be very high because that will lead to unnecessary wastage( this kind of card cannot be reused  since it was having the photo of the deceased ).After the funeral he went to the funeral director and asked him how did he decide the no of cards to be printed, the director replied that over the period of service he has noticed that for any kind of person generally 250 mourners turn up for his/her funeral. This led JOE to think that every individual is linked to some 250 individuals on whom he has some sort influence because until unless you will not be having some influence on some one  the  guy will not turn up for your funeral, from here the rule of 250 came into existence.

So next time whenever you are dealing with any customer always keep in mind that in reality you are dealing with 250 potent customers.

REFERENCE: a) HARDBALL: GEORGE STALK AND ROB LACHENAUER
b)WIKIPEDIA
c) SOMEDESA.COM