K S School of Business Management

Ticket to ride on India's buses

2012-02-16T12:14:00.001+05:30

The redBus website started with three co-founders and grew into a team of 50 within 9 months. It currently employs more than 4000 people all over India.

What makes an entrepreneur? The BBC's Parul Agrawal and Tom Santorelli spoke to Charan Padmaraju about how he and his friends set up India's first organised bus ticket booking service after one of them struggled to secure a ticket home for the festival of Diwali.

In 2005 Phanindra Sama was frantically running around Bangalore hunting for a last-minute bus ticket to take him back home for the festival of Diwali.

Despite calling travel agents and weaving through the city's notorious traffic, he failed to secure a ride and, admitting defeat, sloped back to his flat.

He wondered why there was no centralised booking system for bus tickets in India when plane and train bookings were so well catered for.

The redBus website covers over 4500 routes across India

It sounded obvious to him.

He talked to his friends from the BITS Pilani engineering college, Sudhakar Pasupunuri and Charan Padamraju, and they brainstormed an idea.

Their website, redBus.in, would be a way of providing consumers the convenience of booking a bus ticket over the internet without having to leave the confines of their own homes.

The team of three all resigned from their well-paid and secure jobs and by August 2006 the website was up and running.

Two of the site's co-founders, Charan Padmaraju and Phanindra Sama

Internet penetration was spreading in urban areas and inroads were being made in rural India too. Charan knew this would be vital tool for them but he had to get the bus companies on board as online facilities were still considered to be unreliable and cumbersome: "The internet was new and especially for many of the bus operators they never felt could actually work, there would be a lot of loop-holes in it and they didn't really want to try it."

With hundreds of bus operators of various degrees of computerisation and automation, the challenge was to integrate their schedules into one centralised system. Charan started writing the code: "We created software for the bus drivers so they can log in and create their schedules and make it available for distribution", he says.

Next the co-founders had to change the mindset of a public used to traditional bricks and mortars travel agents. They distributed pamphlets for redBus at busy traffic intersections and bus stations. Slowly but surely word of mouth grew and traffic to the site started to increase.

Customers can chose from a range of travel options, even down to where they want to sit

What started as a team of three grew into a team of 50 within 9 months and currently they have more than 4000 employees all over India, dealing with 10,000 bus schedules a day.

Customers can chose from an option of over 4500 routes across India, picking their tickets up from thousands of outlets across the land or having them delivered to their home. "For a passenger that wants to travel from A to B, he can choose the right bus, the right time, right pick-up point and then make his choice even to the extent of picking his seat. He can do all this through his mobile, through his computer, he needn't go out into the market searching for a travel agent."

Even though the co-founders are keen to adopt the latest technological developments such as cloud -computing, they understand that not everyone in India has access to the internet - and some people feel uncomfortable making financial transactions online: "We have other sales channels, one is cash on delivery, where any customer can call a given number and we book a ticket and deliver it to his home and collect cash on delivery."

Co-founder Phanindra Sama thinks India is the ideal place for entrepreneurs right now: "I was recently touring some of the South-Asian countries and I see a big, big difference between the start-ups there and the start-ups here…the start-up founders are made heroes here, which actually exhilarates more and more people to get into entrepreneurship".

Other online bus ticketing sites have sprung up in redBus's wake, like Ticketvala and Travel Yaari, but Charan is proud that his company was the first to come up with the idea five years ago: "Five years is a long time. We never know where we'll be in the next five years. But we would definitely want to take our services deeper into the country, cover the complete geography - and also look at similar markets internationally where we can add value and create new markets."

Source of Inspiration...

2012-02-03T13:08:00.001+05:30

John T. Chambers

CEO (since 1995) Chairman (since 2006),

Cisco Systems

"I learned an awful lot about what not to do. You could see management getting further and further from the customer, telling the customer that they knew what he needed better than the customer did"

John Chambers is an influential leader of the past one and half decade, a great strategist and visionary who took up reins as Senior Vice President of global operations of Cisco Systems in 1990 and later raised through ranks as CEO in 1995 till now and Chairman of Board since 2006. The company was operating with $70mn when Chambers started in 1990 and in 1995 when Chambers took helm as CEO, the company grew to $1bn and the growth continued persistently under the great leadership of Chambers to the rate of nearly $40bn. Today the company is the world leader in networking systems.

The company, which was a routers company, expanded itself into packets, switches, ATM's, Internets, and Intranets tapping new technologies and markets with quick moves of acquisitions and porting the new technologies to synchronize into Cisco's infrastructure.

The key strategies that were fundamental in success of Cisco Systems was its simple to use technology, the top priority given to the customers' preferences and needs, delivering more value to the customers as compared to its competitors.

In the previous past, Cisco Systems delivered a value of 26 cents per dollar. This was all made possible by the great and pioneering knowledge of Chambers about the growing markets and his unwaivered focus on the future growth of Cisco and his customer centric approach. He worked on his laurels relentlessly, raised the company through the odds, and made it to the top far beyond the expectations of his contemporaries and analysts. Thus, Chambers succeeded in building an innovative next generation company and stood a role model for the upcoming CEOs.

The Essence of Real Leadership

As all of us know that the times of turbulence are real measure of leader's success. As Cisco reported a marginal loss in the recent past, the CEO holds himself responsible for the weak performance of the company and addresses the customers and employees saying that he is confident that "Cisco's vision and fundamental strategy is right". He would act on what is to be fixed in the Cisco's portfolio and the fundamental changes are ahead.

The success of Cisco was mostly dependent on its acquisitions (as many as ten acquisitions in the first ten years of his tenure), where as the world has shifted to consumer dominant products. He says that he plans to boost Cisco's focus and discipline.

Chambers added, "We have disappointed our investors and we have confused our employees. Bottom line, we have lost some of the credibility that is foundational to Cisco's success – and we must earn it back." A Cisco's spokes person revealed "At Cisco we've been driving a value-based channel strategy since 2001 and are committed to earning our partners' loyalty each and every day. While many of our competitors' partner strategies remain unclear, Cisco is doubling down on the channel by investing $75 million in our new partner-led sales model."

Chambers named several of Cisco's strengths, including its ability to anticipate and take advantage of changes in the marketplace, its continued growth in the data center, its focus on collaboration, and its big leap into the world of technology. "We have been slow to make decisions, we have had surprises where we should not, and we have lost the accountability that has been a hallmark of our ability to execute consistently for our customers and our shareholders".

The way he was connected to the customers, shareholders, employees and partners shows his empathy and emotional intelligence, the real qualities of a leader. This bonds the Cisco's customers for lifetime, with encapsulating trust at the time of turbulence. Hats off for the great leadership of Chambers.

Educational and Career Outlook

John Chambers with his winning attitude has overcome his problem of Dyslexia, and got himself well educated as any other leader did. He finished his high school at Charleston High School, Charleston, West Virginia, in the year 1967. In the year 1967-1968, he enrolled himself in engineering in Duke's University, but failed to continue. Later he did his Bachelors in Economics/Science in the year 1971 from West Virginia University. In the year 1974, Chambers finished his JD in the law college, West Virginia University. He did his masters in business administration from Indiana University, Bloomington in the year 1975.

After finishing his Masters and deciding his future would be in business, Chambers accepted a job offer from IBM in 1976 as a salesperson, with least desire to be in sales. At the time when Chambers joined in IBM, the company was a giant in the computer industry, the most massive and powerful company known as "The Big Blue". Soon after he kick started his career as a salesperson, he found himself good at the task with determination and touch of southern gentility he could gain a positive response from the customers. John soon realized the shortcomings of IBM that it was working on business computers and typewriters, where as adventurous startups of that era worked on personal computers. As John was lacking an engineering and research background, he doubted his stepping up the corporate ladder in IBM, though he excelled in sales. Therefore, after a six-year long tenure of sales experience in IBM, he managed to convince Wang, Chinese American founder of Wang Laboratories in the year 1982, that he was the right person to head the Asian sales team of Wang Labs and walked the path of his ambitions with pride. Asian customers liked the easygoing Southern manners of Chambers as compared to loud and hard-driving American salesmen.

Chambers had utmost respect for his boss Wang and he stated that Wang was the most impressive person of his life after his father, who had belief and trust in him. Later things drastically changed and Wang passed away with cancer in 1990's and Wang's son Fred took up Wang's Laboratories as successor to Mr. Wang and the company's prospects turned worse and the stock fell steeply as the investors quit. Chambers happened to resign from Wang labs and looked for a new job.

John Chambers was seriously looking out for executive positions and Cisco was the only company that responded to Chambers letters sent out for job search. In fall of 1990, Morgridge, the energetic, veteran of both Honeywell and Stratus, appointed John Chambers as Senior Vice President of Cisco for Worldwide sales and operations. This was the beginning of the Cisco's way by John Chambers striving through the volatility of the technologies and marketplaces.

Cisco was found in 1983 by a married couple of Stanford, Len Bosack, head of computer-science department and Sandy learner, an MBA. The company was pivoted on device called router, built around a microcomputer, which helped interdepartmental communication through Internet Protocol. Moreover, by the year 1986 Cisco had revenues of $10mn approximately. A venture capitalist Don Valentine was given one-third of the company, for his $2.5mn investment. Len Bosack, Sandy Learner and Don Valentine took the company public on February 16, 1990.

Later the founders were out of the company selling their stakes at $170mn. In 1990's being selected by Morgridge, traditional John Chambers was not an easy fit for the fastest trends of Silicon Valley, which were out of control. At the time when Morgridge and Chambers worked together with "technological agnosticism" the major Cisco's policy, the company has a roaring business in routers. Both of them thought that routers were not the only game of the company. Therefore, they wisely took a decision, keeping in view the company's future generally and technologically to acquire Cresendo Communications, a switching company for $95mn. This was the first acquisition made by Cisco in 1993. These switches gave power users and devices easy and better accessibility to the servers making networking child's play. This acquisition proved to be a great success though the revenues of Cresendo Communications were as low as $10mn, because the giant companies like Ford and Boeing were interested in switching products. The saga of acquisitions continued (2001) and Cisco went ahead to acquire other small switching companies such as Kalpana, Lightstream, and Grand Junction, negating the switching competition gradually.

In January 1995, Morgridge left the company, with John Chambers as successor CEO. Under the leadership of Morgridge Cisco not only went public but also had tremendous growth with takeovers and was at $1bn. The company which has a meager workforce of 34 employees rose to 2,260 by 1995. Chambers was strongly determined to take the company way too high beyond the expectations of industrial analysts and leave his mark in the corporate history.

The most valuable learning that Chambers got from IBM was that, customers liked simple one-step concept of technology rather than trying numerous components rigorously. Therefore, he implemented this learning in Cisco and made it a point to provide Cisco's customers with a full array of data solutions in order to stop them from reaching out competitors. Chambers wanted consistent and continuous growth of Cisco and navigated through routers, packets, switches and with explosion of telecom market; Chambers found that ATM is the key for Cisco's growth because of which he acquired StrataCom in 2001 for $4.5 billion far more than the company's market value. This pushed Cisco to the first place as vendor in 2002, to provide advanced network infrastructure for the intranet and Internet environments and the only vendor to offer end-to-end connectivity across public, private or hybrid networks.

Under the strong leadership of Chambers, Cisco started hiring best talent in technology and business as a part of its aggressive recruitment program. Chambers strongly believed that to stay on the top in the marketplace is to listen to the customers carefully and take into consideration their preferences for now and for five to ten years ahead of time and respond to the customers needs accordingly. Chambers always nurtured R&D and told them to integrate the technology of the acquired companies, making it compatible with Cisco's existing infrastructure. Chambers strengthened the position of Cisco forever by acquiring Linskys for $500mn in 2003 and Latitude Communications, a company specialized in conferencing for $80mn cash in 2004. In 2006, John Chambers took up as Chairman of Board in addition to the responsibility as CEO.

In his journey in Cisco from 1990 until date, Chambers experienced numerous peaks and falls, but steered the company towards excellence with his quick response to the ever-changing market strategies. One such instance; in early 2000 the network and telecom companies have been overvalued and in early 2001 Cisco experienced a fallout hit after 14 consecutive strong quarters till August 2000. As a response to this fall out hit, the company fired 15% of its workforce and the company's CEO received a salary of $1 per annum. He became the inevitable part of Cisco and stood exemplary to the future entrepreneurs.

More about John Chambers

Born	John Chambers August 23, 1949(age 62) Cleveland, Ohio, U.S.
Country of Citizenship	United States
Residence	Los Altos Hills, California, U.S.
Alma mater	Bachelors in Arts/ Science; in business, West Virginia University Juris Doctor from West Virginia University of Law Masters in Business Administration, Indiana University
Occupation	CEO and Chairman of Board, Cisco Systems
Marital Status	Married
Children	A daughter and a son

The born leader John Chambers took birth in Cleveland, Ohio, U.S.A on August 23, 1949. Chambers spent most of his childhood in Charleston, West Virginia, with his sisters Cindy and Patty. Chambers was from a well to do family. His father, Jack Chambers, was a famous obstetrician and gynecologist who delivered all of the children of big wigs like, the Governor Jay Rockefeller. His mother June Chambers was a Psychologist.

Young John at the age of nine had a problem of Dyslexia, a learning disorder, which often made his education and study more torturous. Nevertheless, John's parents were confident about John and arranged him a reading specialist, Lorene Anderson-Walters, to cope up with his problem. John was highly optimistic and had a competitive attitude and enterprising type of personality, by which he achieved his education and stood an exemplary leader for past two decades.

John's favorite game was basketball, which he enjoyed playing in teams and he always played tennis doubles. Later he married, Elaine, his high-school sweetheart and frequent doubles partner. With Elaine, he had two children a girl Lindsay and a boy John.

Awards and Honors
John T. Chambers had received numerous honors and awards from the past one and half decades of his stance at Cisco, as an outstanding leader. Here are a few mentioned below:
	Chambers received "CEO Diversity Leadership Award" for his Diversity Best Practices in 2009
	Chambers was named "The World's Most Respected CEO" by Barron in 2009 and "The World's best CEO" in the same list in 2008
	Time Magazine in 2008 named Mr. Chambers one of the "World's 100 Most Influential People"
	John Chambers stood as "Best CEOs, Telecommunications, Data Networking," six-times by Institutional Investor Magazine from 2003-2008
	John Chambers was one among the "25 Most Powerful People in Business" by Fortune in 2008
	In 2008 InternetNews.com honored John Chambers with "Top 10 CEO Vision Award"
	John Chambers received "Business Leadership Award" by NASSCOM India in 2007-2008
	The Business Council in 2004 honored John Chambers with Presidential Award: "Ron Brown Award for Corporate Leadership"

Social Responsibility and Philanthropy depicted by John Chambers

Added to his entrepreneurship are his social responsibility and his philanthropy. Chambers played an active role in forming public-private partnerships to reorganize healthcare and education in 2008, for earthquake effected areas of China. Chambers also co-sponsored Jordan Education Initiative and the World Economic Forum. Chambers has also held several other education initiatives, including the 21st Century Schools initiative, to improve education and opportunity for children in the Gulf Coast Region affected by Hurricane.

He not only donated $180,000 for the Republican Party (Mr. McCain) and $100,000 to the Democrats Party (Mr. Bush) for the Presidential elections; but also served two American presidents; most recently as Vice Chairman of the President George W. Bush National Infrastructure Advisory Council (NIAC), where he provided industry experience and leadership to help protect the United States' critical infrastructure. He also served on President George W. Bush's Transition Team and Education Committee and on President Bill Clinton's Trade Policy Committee.

Leadership Lessons from Cisco's CEO
	There's almost nothing a leader cannot accomplish, if he does not care who gets credit
	Leadership is about getting tough issues, on not only the table, but also driving to resolution without it ever becoming personal
	Leaders have the courage to try new things and if it works, build a strategy around it and then integrate it into our technology and business architectures
	Leaders support other leaders especially during tough situations. If they disagree with other leaders' decisions, and only if it is important enough to continue the disagreement, do it peer-to-peer
	Leadership is about the ability to communicate the V / S / E objectives of a focus area, while still being realistic with ourselves and our group about the challenges that the V / S / E must overcome
	Leadership is about driving the culture and really walking the talk, including transparency about mistakes and what we need to do better
	Leadership is out Cisco Family

Lessons of Collaboration from John Chambers
As John Chambers is a strong believer of collaboration, he takes a chance to say that there's no miracle and that what the article says is only common sense. Anyway, it helps to identify the main lines of any successful change project:
	Start with the "human matter": A leadership change is not something one can improvise. It needs explanations, people need to be reassured and to be able to imagine themselves in the future situation, to make the change theirs.
	Align systems and remuneration: I often say "tell me how you're evaluated and I'll be able to tell you how you work". Trying to make people collaborate while they're given bonuses to ignore or even fight against each other is useless. In other words, in many cases it will be hard to avoid thinking about evaluation models.
	Think about "articulation": Chambers talks about structure change, but what I can see beyond that is the necessity not to eliminate the hierarchical structure but implement systems that will help hierarchy to articulate with more horizontal and adhoc work models.
	Frame and explain: Explain the future and make it clear. Autonomy and flexibility don't mean absence of rules. On the contrary, employees who are often mistrustful by nature (and sometimes for good reasons…) set. That's what will make them focus on their rethought work instead of continuously wondering about "how to work" and "how to implement change".
	Use social media: I don't know if it's done in purpose but even if it's an essential part of the approach, it comes in last position in the list. Maybe because it's of no use if nothing is done about the above-mentioned points.

Few Inspiring Quotes by John Chambers
	"When in doubt about our goals, we would encourage you to take the conservative view".
	"Education and the Internet must go hand in hand ... It will serve as one of the great equalizers".
	"It's not about size; it's about your ability to make a difference. At that small size, collaboration is all the more important".
	"The Internet economy continues to create unprecedented growth opportunities for people, companies and countries on a global basis".
	"Assume employees are going across a lot of networks. So you have to build in security from the home to any number of networks".
	"Globally, business and government leaders are beginning to dramatically transform their traditional business models into Internet economy business models ... Customers are increasingly seeking Cisco's expertise to help them through this transformation".
	"We see no major changes in that model for the next several years ... In fact, we are more optimistic about Cisco's position and opportunities in both the enterprise and service provider markets than at any point in the last several years".
	"While we remain cautious about the implications of a brief pause in the current 10-year expansion of the U.S. economy, we believe that Cisco has never been better positioned to help our customers solve their two most important business issues: Increasing productivity and creating new sources of revenue".
	"We always try to look three to five years out in the decisions we make and there's no question that the Cisco brand, our opportunity in the commercial market and the evolution of our leaders are going to take us to the next level".
	"Through the wisdom of its government leaders and the entrepreneurship of its private sector, India has rapidly risen to become a major force in the global economy. Cisco believes that the Internet and related technologies will be a key enabler for India to achieve its goal of becoming a developed nation".

Create a Meaningful Life Through Meaningful Work...

2012-01-31T12:01:00.001+05:30

UMAIR HAQUE

Umair Haque is Director of Havas Media Labs and author of Betterness: Economics for Humans and The New Capitalist Manifesto: Building a Disruptively Better Business. He is ranked one of the world's most influential management thinkers by Thinkers50. Follow him on twitter @umairh.

In case you haven't been following my tell-all confessional — I mean Twitter feed — lately, I've been in Manhattan for the last few weeks. Hanging out in all the wrong places (read: painfully hip power hotels), I've had the questionable privilege of overhearing more than my fair share of Very Serious Conversations from the movers and shakers of the world.

And boy, have they been tedious: mostly, about eking out slightly sharper terms for deals for more yawn-inducing stuff (whether flicks, financial instruments, or kicks) that's destined not to matter. So here's a tiny hypothesis: maybe the real depression we've got to contend with isn't merely one of how much economic output we're generating — but what we're putting out there, and why. Call it a depression of human potential, a tale of human significance being willfully squandered (on, for example, stuff like this).

If that's the best we can do, no wonder our economy is falling short of its potential — and no wonder our lives occasionally feel empty, even meaningless. (Even star quarterbacks married to Brazilian supermodels occasionally say to themselves, there's got to be more than this.) Hence, If we want to do better, I suggest it's time to get lethally serious about doing stuff that actually matters. So here are three questions to ask about yourself about what you're spending your life doing:

Does it stand the test of time? Ponder this for a moment: the vast majority spend the vast majority of our lives sweating, suffering, and slogging mightily over stuff that's forgotten by next quarter, let alone next year or next century. Call me crazy, but I'd suggest: mattering means building stuff that's awesome enough to last. Maybe not forever, like Giza's Pyramids — but surely more than a couple of months, before it's absent-mindedly tossed into the dustbin of history along with the rest of the flotsam and jetsam of the age of disposable plastic junk. I'd give you a handful of recent real-world examples, but beyond the labors of love a new generation of artisans are working on, whether microbrews, novels, or games, here's the hard truth: when it comes to the stuff our largest institutions are invested in, I can't think of any, so poor is our cultural performance at standing the test of time. (Just ask yourself: is anybody really going to be watching Mission Impossible 4 a century from now, except a handful of irony-soaked action-movie-worshipping 22nd century hipsters?). Of course, all that really means is that since nearly everyone seems to suck at standing the test of time, you've got a tremendous opportunity not to.

Does it stand the test of excellence? In most boardrooms, the first and last question asked is: will "the markets," financial and "consumer," like your latest shiny trinket slightly better than the next guy's? Of course, that's a perfect recipe for mediocrity: to have barely satisfied weary, oppressed, jaded "consumers" already trained to demand the bare McMinimum is to have furiously smashed the glass ceiling of the lowest common mass-market denominator — and little more. Here are some higher bars: do critics, scholars, aficionados, and diehard enemies pan it, or love it? Mattering means recognizing that everyone's opinion is not created equal — some count more than others, for the simple reason that some opinions are more nuanced, educated, sophisticated, historically grounded, and self-aware than others.

Does it stand the test of you? Sure, I can understand why the dudes and gals I've been overhearing in my little Manhattan adventure are so energized by the stuff they're "working" on — it feels exciting to be part of a buzzing milieu's in-crowd. But let's face it: on our deathbeds, the accomplishments that matter most to most of us probably won't be recounted thus: "In 2012, I sold another thousand copies of someone else's middle-of-the-road blockbuster to an overweening VP with really bad hair and worse manners at a giant monopolistic corporation that was destroying my grandkids' futures. Man, I lived." So while I too sometimes feel enchanted by the seductive power of glittering fantastic excess that seems to have mesmerized my little informal sample of Manhattanites, I'd also like to challenge them — and you — to consider the questions of mattering in a slightly more sophisticated, humane, considered way. It's one thing to work on stuff that seems sexy because it's socially cool and financially rewarding. But fulfillment doesn't come much from money or cool-power — all the money in the world can't buy you a searing sense of accomplishment.

Being human is never easy. But that's the point. Perhaps as an unintended consequence of our relentless quest for more, bigger, faster, cheaper, now, we've comfortably acceded to something akin to a minor-league contempt for the richness and grandeur of life unquenchably meaningfully well lived. Hence, call this post my tiny statement of rebellion. Hex me with all the bland management jargon in the world, zap me with all the perfect theories and models you like, but I'll never, ever accept the idea that triviality, mediocrity, and futility are appropriate goals for any human being, much less our grand, splintering systems of human organization.

We're all built differently — but none of us is here to not make a difference. So what are your three questions for getting lethally serious about doing stuff that matters?

HAPPY REPUBLIC DAY...

2012-01-24T20:56:00.001+05:30

Wish You All A Happy Makar Sankranti-Pongal..!!!

2012-01-13T19:28:00.001+05:30

7 Things Your Employees Will Never Tell You.

2012-01-07T20:12:00.001+05:30

What your employees won't say could be what you most need to hear.

Your employees have a lot of thoughts. Most of those thoughts they don’t share-- especially with you.

At times their silence is a good thing, especially where your ego or their employment status might be concerned, but their silence also may keep you from understanding what your employers really think and what they really need from you.

Consider whether your employees might be thinking one or more of the following:

1. “Please don’t talk to me about your personal life.” Talking about subjects that aren’t work related helps build a personal relationship, but many people fall back on talking about themselves when they don’t know the other person well. Employees, especially new employees, have no interest in hearing about your go-to topics like your last vacation or your antique collection or your beach house.

New employees want to feel like they belong, but more importantly they want to know how they’re doing. Long-term employees want to know you care about them; talking about yourself only shows you care about yourself.

2. “Can’t you see I’m really busy?” Here’s what happens. You stop by to talk, the employee stops what they’re doing to chat with you… and when you walk away they’re behind and have to catch up. Employees want to talk to you, but they have work to do, too. Sometimes there’s an easy answer, especially if the employee’s job involves physical tasks: Help out while you talk. Not only will your employee appreciate a little help, your conversation will be less forced. In other settings, pick your spots carefully.

Never interrupt an employee who is busy simply because today you’ve decided to “check in with the troops.”

3. “I can tell you really don’t care about my personal life.” Walking up and asking an employee a generic question like, “Hey, how are your, um, kids?” or, “Are you doing anything fun after work?” or, “Hey, who do you think will win the Cricket Worldcup this year?” comes across as forced and insincere, at least to your employees. Either take the time to get to know your employees well enough so you can have a decent conversation or just stick to work-related subjects. (Employees definitely prefer “all business” to “pseudo-personal.”)

One way to show employees you care about them as people is to follow the 20% rule: When you’re talking to employees, never talk more than 20% of the time. The single best way to show you care is to listen.

4. “You claim you respect me… so give me something important to do.” Assigning an employee a critical task is a definite sign of respect. Do it as often as you can.

5. “You claim you trust me… so give me something important to do and let me decide how to do it.” It’s only natural to tell your employees how to do their jobs; after all, it’s your business. Still, when you assign a project without providing a lot of direction your employees instantly know you respect their abilities and trust their judgment.

Employees appreciate respect; they love trust.

6. “Actually, I would like to work here a long time.” The average person switches jobs a number of times before they’re 30-years-old. Some leave for money, but many leave because they can’t stand their boss. No matter what your industry, high employee turnover doesn’t have to be a fact of employment life. Find out why employees leave and address the causes. It’s stressful to change jobs, so most employees won’t start job searching until you give them a reason to.

Watch, listen, take smart actions… do your job right and most of your employees will stay.

7. “That gift card is nice, but a simple ‘thanks’ is really all I need.” Sure, every time you hand out paychecks you’re implicitly saying thanks, but not really. Find reasons to thank your employees as often as you can. Look for an accomplishment, however small or fleeting, and express your appreciation. “Thanks for taking care of that difficult customer.” “Thanks for jumping in and helping Ms. Sweta.” “Thanks for letting me know we have a problem in the warehouse; I hadn’t realized orders were consistently shipping late.”

Say thanks benefits both of you: The employee feels appreciated, and you get a great way to start a meaningful conversation.

Top 10 Innovative Companies of 2011

2012-01-04T20:08:00.000+05:30

Ranked 1: Apple

Apple Inc. formerly Apple Computer, Inc., an American multinational corporation, that designs and markets consumer electronics, computer software, and personal computers was established on April 1, 1976 in Cupertino, California.

On January 6, 2011, the company opened their Mac App Store, a digital software distribution platform, similar to the existing iOS App Store.

As of September 24, 2011, the company had 357 retail stores, including 245 stores in the United States and 112 stores internationally. Apple has recently been the largest publicly traded company in the world by market capitalization, and the largest technology company in the world by revenue and profit.

On October 4, 2011, Apple announced the iPhone 4S, which includes an improved camera with 1080p video recording, a dual core A5 chip capable of 7 times faster graphics than the A4, an "intelligent software assistant" named Siri, and cloud-sourced data with iCloud.

On October 29, 2011, Apple purchased C3 Technologies, a mapping company, for $240 million.

Ranked 2: Twitter

Twitter is an online social networking and micro blogging service that has redefined communication with a user retention rate of forty percent. It was created in July 2006 by Jack Dorsey and it has over 300 million users as of 2011, generating over 300 million tweets and handling over 1.6 billion search queries per day.

On April 5, 2011, Twitter tested a new homepage, as well as phased out the "Old Twitter." Twitter acquired application developer Atebits on April 11, 2010.

On December 8, 2011, Twitter overhauled its website once more to feature the "Fly" design, which the service says is easier for new users to follow and promotes advertising. In addition to the Home button, the Connect and Discover buttons were introduced along with a redesigned profile and timeline of Tweets. The site’s layout has been compared to that of Facebook.

Ranked 3: Facebook

Facebook is a social networking service and website launched in February 2004 by Mark Zuckerberg with his college roommates and fellow students Eduardo Saverin, Dustin Moskovitz and Chris Hughes. As of July 2011, Facebook has more than 800 million active users.

In February 2011, Facebook began to use the hCalendar microformat to mark up events, and the hCard microformat for the events’ venues, enabling the extraction of details to users own calendar or mapping applications.

Since April 2011 Facebook users have had the ability to make live voice calls via Facebook Chat, allowing users to chat with others from all over the world.

On July 6, 2011, Facebook launched its video calling services using Skype as its technology partner. It allows one to one calling using a Skype Rest API.

On September 14, 2011, Facebook launched a Subscribe button. The feature allows users to follow public updates, and these are the people most often broadcasting their ideas. The site released major modification on September 22, 2011.

Ranked 4: Nissan

Nissan Motor Company Ltd. (usually shortened to Nissan), a multinational automaker headquartered in Japan, was founded on December 26, 1933 by Masujiro Hashimoto, Kenjiro Den, Rokuro Aoyama, Meitaro Takeuchi and Yoshisuke Aikawa. Along with its normal range of models, Nissan also produces a range of luxury models branded as Infiniti.

In its home market, Nissan became the second largest car manufacturer in 2011, surpassing Honda with Toyota still very much the dominant first.

The Nissan VQ engines, of V6 configuration, have been featured among Ward’s 10 Best Engines for 14 consecutive years.

Nissan is expected to use renewable energy to charge the Nissan Leafs that will be produced there in 2012.

Ranked 5: Groupon

Groupon (a portmanteau derived from "group coupon") is a deal-of-the-day website that features discounted gift certificates usable at local or national companies. The idea for Groupon was created by now-CEO Andrew Mason and the company was launched in November 2008. On February 19, 2011 The Wall Street Journal reported that Groupon was preparing to launch in China.

Groupon also expanded into the MENA region with its launch of Groupon UAE on June 16, 2011.

Groupon New Zealand launched on 10 May 2011.

From January 2010 through January 2011, Groupon’s U.S. monthly revenues grew from $11 million to $89 million.

Groupon’s 2011 estimated revenues are in the $3 billion to $4 billion range. Groupon’s gross billings in October 2011 increased 1.5% to $147 million from $144 million in September 2011, according to independent data provider Yipit.

Ranked 6: Google

Google Inc. is an American multinational internet corporation invested in internet search, cloud computing, and advertising technologies. It was founded by Menlo Park, California, U.S on September 4, 1998. The company’s mission statement from the outset was "to organize the world’s information and make it universally accessible and useful."

Google’s algorithm was changed in March 2011, giving more weight to high-quality content possibly by the use of n-grams to remove spun content.

In May 2011, unique visitors of Google surpassed 1 billion mark for the first time, an 8.4 percent increase from a year ago with 931 million unique visitors.

On September 28, 2011 the company has announced to build 3 data centers worth more than $200 million in Asia (Singapore, Hong Kong and Taiwan) and the land has been owned by Google Inc. It will be operated between one to two years ahead.

In late June 2011, Google soft launched a social networking service called Google+ that had reached 10 million users just two weeks after it was launched in the "limited" trial phase and 25 million users after four weeks in operation.

Ranked 7: Dawning information industry

Dawning Information Industry (Shenzhen) Limited manufactures and sells high-tech computers and servers that owns more than 30 percent of the country’s high-performance computing (HPC) market. Dawning has manufactured some of the fastest supercomputers in the world including Nebulae, the second fastest computer in the June 2010 TOP500 list. The high-performance Dawning 6000, which has a projected speed of over one quadrillion operations per second, will incorporate the Loongson processor as its core. Li Guojie, chairman of Dawning Information Industry Company and director and academician of the Institute of Computing Technology, said research and development of the Dawning 6000 is expected to be completed in two years.

Ranked 8: Netflix

Netflix, Inc., is an American provider of on-demand internet streaming media in the United States, Canada, and Latin America and flat rate DVD-by-mail in the United States. The company was established in 1997 and started its subscription-based digital distribution service in 1999 and by 2009 it was offering a collection of 100,000 titles on DVD and had surpassed 10 million subscribers.

In April 2011, Netflix announced 23.6 million subscribers.

In summer 2011, Netflix announced they will expand into the European market, starting in Spain by 2012.

In September 2011, Netflix completed the launch of streaming-content services in Latin America by launching in the Caribbean, Mexico, Central and South America.

In October 2011, it was announced that Netflix would be launching in the UK and Ireland in early 2012.

Ranked 9: Zynga

Zynga, headquartered in San Francisco, is a social network game developer that develops browser-based games that work both stand-alone and as application widgets on social networking websites such as Facebook and MySpace.

As of November 2011, Zynga’s games on Facebook have over 200 million monthly active users. Four of Zynga’s games, CityVille, Texas HoldEm Poker, FarmVille, and Empires & Allies, are among the top five most widely used game applications on Facebook, with CityVille having over 54 million monthly active users.

In May of 2011, the company launched its most complicated game to date—Empires and Allies.

Ranked 10: Epocrates

Epocrates, Inc., founded in 1998, is an American company based in San Mateo, California that makes various mobile health software applications under the "Epocrates" name, mostly for health care providers. Two Stanford students have founded it as a means to ease doctors’ burden of carrying around books to look up drug information, drug interactions, and dosing information. Since then, the company has transformed itself into a leading provider of clinical information and solutions to healthcare providers. By 2010 the company said it had 1 million users worldwide, including 40% of the physicians in the United States, and that it employed more than 250 people. For the current year, Epocrates projects revenues of $122 million–$125 million with EPS of $0.12–$0.15.

Green Thought....

2012-01-03T16:13:00.001+05:30

In one day a human being breathes oxygen equivalent to three cylinders. Each oxygen cylinder on an average costs Rs 700, so in a day one uses Oxygen worth Rs 2100 and for a full year it is Rs 7,66,500. If we consider an average life span of 65 years; the costs of oxygen we use become a staggering sum of Rs 500,00,000. All this oxygen is derived free of cost from the surrounding trees. Very few people look at trees as a resource and there is rampart tree cutting going on everywhere which should stop.

Think about it and save Trees…

Wish you Happy New Year...

2011-12-31T17:55:00.001+05:30

Merry Christmas...

2011-12-23T19:29:00.001+05:30

Go Green Intiative...

2011-11-07T16:15:00.001+05:30

Save Wood and Paper

Return unwanted mail and ask for your name to be removed from the mailing list.
Always use both sides of a sheet of paper.
Use e-mail to stay in touch, including cards, rather than faxing or writing.
Re-use envelopes.
Always recycle paper after use.
Share magazines with friends and pass them on to the doctor, dentist or local hospital for their waiting rooms.
Use recyclable paper to make invitation cards, envelops, letter pads etc.

At your workplace

Use printers that can print on both sides of the paper ; try to look into this option when replacing old printers.
Use the back of a draft or unwanted printout instead of notebooks. Even with a double-sided printer there is likely to be plenty of spare paper to use!
Always buy recycled paper - for your business stationery and to use in your printers.
Switch off computer monitors, printers and other equipment at the end of each day. Though in standby mode they're still using power - and that adds to global warming.
Always turn off your office light and computer monitor when you go out for lunch or to a meeting.

In your Home

Turn off equipment like televisions and stereos when you're not using them.
Choose energy-efficient appliances and light bulbs.
Save water: some simple steps can go a long way in saving water like for e.g: you should always turn off the tap when you are brushing your teeth. And try to collect the water used to wash vegetables and salad to water your houseplants.
Let clothes dry naturally.
Keep lids on pans when cooking to prevent your cooker having to work extra hard. Prefer to use gas ovens, Geysers etc in place of the electric ones.
Recycle your paper, glass, plastics and other waste.
Use rechargeable batteries.
Send e-greetings instead of paper cards.

In your Garden

Water the garden early in the morning or late in the evening. This reduces water loss due to evaporation. Don’t overwater the garden. Water only till the soil becomes moist, not soggy.
Explore water efficient irrigation systems. Sprinkler irrigation and drip irrigation can be adapted to garden situations .
Make your garden lively - plant trees and shrubs which will attract birds. You can also put p nest boxes and put food.
Try growing sturdy grass in bare patches of land , and convince people in your neighbourhood to do so too.
Put waste to work in your garden- sweep the fallen leaves and flowers into flower beds or under shrubs . This will increase soil fertility and also reduce the need for frequent watering.
If you have little space in your garden , you could make a compost pit to turn organic waste from the kitchen and garden to soil enriching manure .
Don't use chemicals in the garden - as they will eventually end up in the sea and can upset the delicate balance of lifecycles.
Organic and environmentally friendly fertilisers and pesticides are available - organic gardening reduces pollution and is better for wildlife.

Reuse and Recycle

Use washable nappies instead of disposables if you can.
Recycle as much as you can.
Give unwanted clothes, toys and books to charity shops or jumble sales.
Use mains electricity rather than batteries if possible. If not, use rechargeable batteries.
Use a solar-powered calculator instead of one with a battery.
Instead of a plastic ballpoint, use a fountain pen with bottled ink, not plastic cartridges.
Store food and other products in ceramic containers rather than foil and plastic wrap

While Shopping

Buy fruit and vegetables that are in season to help reduce enormous transport costs resulting from importing produce and, where possible, choose locally produced food.
When buying fish look out for a variety of non-endangered species and buy local fish if possible.
Prefer vegetarian options for your meals.
On-line Shopping Purchase solar powered products.
Send e-cards, if you can, rather than buy paper cards.
Shop online, not only will this reduce fuel consumption and emissions by not driving to the shops, but each time you buy something on-line WWF receive a donation. You may even buy products from the nature shop.

Quotes from Warren Buffet

2011-11-03T10:31:00.001+05:30

Amazing Quotes from Warren Buffet

On Earnings:             Never depend on a single income. Make investment to create a second source.

On Spending:            If you buy things you don't need, soon you'll have to sell things you need.

On Savings:               Don't save what is left after spending but spend what is left after saving.

On Taking Risk:        Never test the depth of river with both feet.

On Investment:         Don't put all your eggs in a single basket.

On Expectations:      Honesty is a very expensive gift, don't expect it from cheap people.

Happy Diwali and prosperous New year !

2011-10-22T16:27:00.001+05:30

10 Secrets of Successful Leaders

2011-10-18T11:37:00.001+05:30

Eleanor Roosevelt once said, “A good leader inspires people to have confidence in the leader, a great leader inspires people to have confidence in themselves.” But, becoming a great leader isn’t easy. Successfully maneuvering a team through the ups and downs of starting a new business can be one of the greatest challenges a small-business owner faces.

Leadership is one of the areas that many entrepreneurs tend to overlook, according leadership coach John C. Maxwell, whose books include The 21 Irrefutable Laws of Leadership (Thomas Nelson, 1998) and Developing the Leader Within You (Thomas Nelson, 1993). “You work hard to develop your product or service. You fight to solve your financial issues. You go out and promote your business and sell your product. But you don't think enough about leading your own people and finding the best staff,” Maxwell says. It turns out, the skills and talents necessary to guide your team in the right direction can be simple, and anyone with the determination can develop them. Here’s a list of 10 tips drawn from the secrets of successful leaders.

1. Assemble a dedicated team.
Your team needs to be committed to you and the business. Successful entrepreneurs have not only social and selling smarts, but also the know-how to hire effectively, says leadership trainer Harvey Mackay, who wrote Swim with the Sharks Without Being Eaten Alive (Ivy Books, 1995). “A colossal business idea simply isn't enough. You have to be able to identify, attract and retain talent who can turn your concept into a register-ringing success,” he says.

When putting your team together, look for people whose values are aligned with the purpose and mission of your company. Suzanne Bates, a Wellesley, Mass.-based leadership consultant and author of Speak Like a CEO (McGraw Hill, 2005), says her team members rallied around each other during the worst part of the recession because they all believed in what they were doing. “Having people on your team who have tenacity and a candid spirit is really important," she says.

2. Overcommunicate.
This one’s a biggie. Even with a staff of only five or 10, it can be tough to know what’s going on with everyone. In an effort to overcommunicate, Bates compiles a weekly news update she calls a Friday Forecast, and emails it to her staff. “My team is always surprised at all the good news I send out each week,” Bates says. “It makes everyone feel like you really have a lot of momentum, even in difficult times.”

3. Don’t assume.
When you run a small business, you might assume your team understands your goals and mission -- and they may. But, everybody needs to be reminded of where the company’s going and what things will look like when you get there. Your employees may ask, “What’s in it for me?” It’s important to paint that picture for your team. Take the time to really understand the people who are helping you build your business.

“Entrepreneurs have the vision, the energy, and they’re out there trying to make it happen. But, so often with their staff, they are assuming too much,” says Beverly Flaxington, founder of The Collaborative, a business-advising company in Medfield, Mass. “It’s almost like they think their enthusiasm by extension will be infectious -- but it’s not. You have to bring people into your world and communicate really proactively.”

4. Be authentic.
Good leaders instill their personality and beliefs into the fabric of their organization, Flaxington says. If you be yourself, and not try to act like someone else, and surround yourself with people who are aligned with your values, your business is more likely to succeed, she says.

“Every business is different and every entrepreneur has her own personality,” Flaxington says. “If you’re authentic, you attract the right people to your organization -- employees and customers.”

5. Know your obstacles.
Most entrepreneurs are optimistic and certain that they’re driving toward their goals. But, Flaxington says, it’s a short-sighted leader who doesn’t take the time to understand his obstacles.

“You need to know what you’re up against and be able to plan around those things,” she says. “It’s folly to think that just because you’ve got this energy and enthusiasm that you’re going to be able to conquer all. It’s much smarter to take a step back and figure out what your obstacles are, so the plan that you’re putting into place takes that into account.”

6. Create a 'team charter.'
Too many new teams race down the road before they even figure out who they are, where they’re going, and what will guide their journey, says Ken Blanchard, co-author of The One-Minute Manager (William Morrow & Co., 1982) and founder of The Ken Blanchard Cos., a workplace- and leadership-training firm. Just calling together a team and giving them a clear charge does not mean the team will succeed.

“It’s important to create a set of agreements that clearly states what the team is to accomplish, why it is important and how the team will work together to achieve the desired results,” says Blanchard, who is based in Escondido, Calif. “The charter provides a record of common agreements and can be modified as the business grows and the team’s needs change.”

7. Believe in your people.
Entrepreneurial leaders must help their people develop confidence, especially during tough times. As Napoleon Bonaparte said, "Leaders are dealers in hope." That confidence comes in part from believing in your team, says Maxwell, who is based in West Palm Beach, Fla. “I think of my people as 10s, I treat them like 10s, and as a result, they try to perform like 10s,” he says. “But believing in people alone isn't enough. You have to help them win.”

8. Dole out credit.
Mackay says a good salesperson knows what the sweetest sound in the world is: The sound of their name on someone else's lips. But too many entrepreneurs think it's either the crinkle of freshly minted currency, or the dull thud of a competitor's body hitting the pavement.

“Many entrepreneurs are too in love with their own ideas and don't know how to distribute credit,” Mackay says. “A good quarterback always gives props to his offensive line.”

9. Keep your team engaged.
Great leaders give their teams challenges and get them excited about them, says leadership expert Stephen Covey, author of The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People (Free Press, 1989). He pointed to the example of a small pizza shop in a moderate-sized town that was killing a big fast-food chain in sales. The big difference between the chain and the small pizza joint was the leader, he says.

Every week he gathered his teenage employees in a huddle and excitedly asked them: “What can we do this week that we’ve never done before?” The kids loved the challenge. They started texting all their friends whenever a pizza special was on. They took the credit-card machine to the curb so passing motorists could buy pizza right off the street. They loaded up a truck with hot pizzas and sold them at high-school games. The money poured in and the store owner never had problems with employee turnover, says Covey, who is based in Salt Lake City, Utah.

10. Stay calm.
An entrepreneur has to backstop the team from overreacting to short-term situations, says Mackay, who is based in Minneapolis. This is particularly important now, when news of the sour economic environment is everywhere.

“The media has been hanging black crepe paper since 2008,” he says. “But look at all the phenomenal companies and brands that were born in downturns, names like iPod, GE and Federal Express.”

The Must-Have Leadership Skill

2011-10-15T16:17:00.001+05:30

"We hired a new CEO, but had to let him go after just seven months," the chairman of an East Coast think tank complained to me recently. "His resume looked spectacular, he did splendidly in all the interviews. But within a week or two we were hearing pushback from the staff. They were telling us, 'You hired a first-rate economist with zero social intelligence.' He was pure command and control."

The think tank's work centers on interlocking networks of relationships with the board, staff, donors, and a wide variety of academics and policy experts. The CEO urgently needed to manage those relationships, but lacked the interpersonal skills that organizations increasingly need in their leaders. A CEO who fails to navigate those relationships artfully, the think tank's board saw, could torpedo the organization.

Why does social intelligence emerge as the make-or-break leadership skill set? For one, leadership is the art of accomplishing goals through other people.

As I've written with my colleague Richard Boyatzis, technical skills and self-mastery alone allow you to be an outstanding individual contributor. But to lead, you need an additional interpersonal skill set: you've got to listen, communicate, persuade, collaborate.

That was brought home to me yet again reading "Making Yourself Indispensable," by John H. Zenger, Joseph R. Folkman, and Scott E. Edinger, which makes the strong point that a leader's competencies are synergistic. The more different competencies a leader displays at strength, the greater her business results.

But there's another critically important rule-of-thumb: some competencies matter more than others, particularly at the higher levels of leadership. For C-level executives, for example, technical expertise matters far less than the art of influence: you can hire people with great technical skills, but then you've got to motivate, guide and inspire them.

While Zenger, Folkman, and Edinger make a strong empirical case that competencies matter, it overlooks a crucial point: some competencies matter more than others. Specifically, there are threshold competencies, the abilities every leader needs to some degree, and then there are distinguishing competencies, the abilities you find only in the stars.

You can be the most brilliant innovator, problem-solver or strategic thinker, but if you can't inspire and motivate, build relationships or communicate powerfully, those talents will get you nowhere. What Zenger and colleagues call the "interpersonal skills" — and what I call social intelligence — are the secret sauce in top-performing leadership.

Lacking social intelligence, no other combination of competences is likely to get much traction. Along with whatever other strengths they may have, the must-have is social intelligence.

So how do you spot this skill set? An executive with a long track record of satisfactory hires told me how his organization assessed social intelligence in a prospect during the round of interviews, group sessions, meals, and parties that candidates there routinely went through.

"We'd watch carefully to see if she talks to everyone at the party or a dinner, not just the people who might be helpful to her," he said. One of the social intelligence indicators: during a getting-to-know you conversation, does the candidate ask about the other person or engage in a self-centered monologue? At the same time, does she talk about herself in a natural way? At the end of the conversation, you should feel you know the person, not just the social self she tries to project.

I wouldn't use such subjective measures alone — you're better off to combine them with best practices on hiring without firing. But don't ignore your gut.

Courtesy by:

DANIEL GOLEMAN

Daniel Goleman is Co-Director of the Consortium for Research on Emotional Intelligence in Organizations at Rutgers University, co-author of Primal Leadership: Leading with Emotional Intelligence, and author of The Brain and Emotional Intelligence: New Insightsand Leadership: Selected Writings.

Happy Dassehra...

2011-10-05T18:21:00.001+05:30

Wish you Happy Ganesh Chaturthi....

2011-09-01T11:19:00.000+05:30

Gajanana Shri Ganaraya aadi vandu tujha Moraya

Ganpati Bappa Morya!Mangal Murti Morya

Happy Ganesh Chaturthi.

We Support Anna Hazare...

2011-08-25T18:02:00.001+05:30

SUPPORT INDIA AGAINST CORRUPTION

Say… “I am Anna”

Jai Hind…

Vande Mataram…

Jago India Jago!!!

RSS Introduction

2011-08-07T15:51:00.001+05:30

To the uninitiated RSS is the buzzword but what is it?
RSS is a family of web feed formats, specified in XML (Extensible Mark-up Language) and used for Web syndication. RSS is used by (among other things) news websites, weblogs and podcasting.

Really Simple Syndication
Web feeds provide web content or summaries of web content together with links to the full versions of the content, and other metadata. (Literally data that describes other data)

RSS, in particular, delivers this information as an XML file called an RSS feed, webfeed, RSS stream, or RSS channel. In addition to facilitating syndication, web feeds allow a website’s frequent readers to track updates on the site using an aggregator. (A type of software that retrieves syndicated Web content )
It can be a format for syndicating news and the content of news-like sites, including major news sites like Wired, news-oriented community sites, and personal weblogs.

But it’s not just for news. Pretty much anything that can be broken down into small items and can be syndicated via RSS, anything that has any kind of content makes an interesting RSS feed. Once information about each item is in RSS format, an RSS-aware program can check the feed for changes and react to the changes in an appropriate way.

RSS-aware programs, called news aggregators are popular in the weblogging community. Many weblogs make content available in RSS. A news aggregator can help you keep up with all your favourite weblogs by checking their RSS feeds

How can I receive RSS feeds?

There are several ways of receiving RSS feeds, but the technology is moving forwards and adapting very quickly. The main method is to download a program called a ‘News Reader’. You can then set up this program to receive RSS information from whatever websites you wish that offer it, and browse headlines and story summaries that link through to the full story on the website.
There are several News Reader programs available for all platforms, many of which are free. See a list on google.

Directories (4)
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Alternatively, some newer web browsers offer similar functionality already built-in which will detect whether the website you are viewing offers an RSS feed and will then let you create a constantly-updated list of links in your ‘bookmarks’ menu.

The Firefox browser (Windows, Mac OSX, Linux) will let you do this, and will alert you to an RSS-enabled page by displaying an icon in the bottom-right corner of the window . Apple’s Safari browser (Mac OSX only) offers an even fuller service, and other browsers will probably follow.

There are also some websites that let you customise a list of RSS feeds too.
On this link to the site www.rsscatalogue.com you can instantly download a ready built RSS feed with the click of a button. This offers you a supply of RSS feeds with different outputs, the selection is vast and growing daily.

Courtesy by: http://www.mbaarticles.com/rss-introduction

SCHEDULE FOR ADMISSION PROCESS @ KSSBM

2011-05-30T10:45:00.001+05:30

Save Birds....

2011-04-15T11:15:00.000+05:30

Grand Alumni Meet on 3-4-2011 Sunday

2011-03-29T17:16:00.000+05:30

Our Seniors,

We , the student of k.s.s.b.m batch 2010-2011 are planing to form permenant alumni asso. under legal structure and also planing to organise a Grand Alumni Meet of all Batches on 3rd April 2011, sunday. so we hereby invite you for the alumni meet. we also request you to register your self for the same. Registration form are available in placement cell or u can log on to www.kssbm.org.

For any query Contact Parthesh:9924400849 Manthan: 9924030879 Darshak-9428589892 or at ksallumni@gmail.com

Thanking You,

Students of Ksalumni Asso..

Happy Holi....

2011-03-19T14:59:00.000+05:30

Vande Mataram...

2011-01-26T01:44:00.001+05:30

Work wise...

2010-12-27T14:21:00.000+05:30

In a constantly developing and ever changing corporate world, one of the basic ingredients for its proper is being a 'team player'.

One of the best ways of being a team player is to share job responsibilities with your colleagues. For instance, if you see your colleague has to sit late to meet a pressing deadline, you can jump in as a team member and help him out. By taking this step, you are not only helping in increasing team productivity, but also reducing the work burden and reaping benefits from the act. Sharing the workload with your colleagues helps in building a healthy work environment and creating good professional relationships. It also has a role to play in molding you into a better professional.

While in most cases the responsibility to ensure that work gets shared equally lies with the senior management or the immediate reporting head, often organizations would prefer employees taking the initiative help out others. As Naina Acharya, Project Manager, IndiQuest Research Services says, "The responsibility of ensuring that all jobs are effectively and efficiently shared among each team simply does not lie entirely with the Project Manager. Managers might often allocate more work to a single team member as his skill sets are more suitable and the team member is also known to complete his work flawlessly. This often leads to that particular team member being overburdened with work. During this situation, if one team member jumps in and helps out his colleague, he not only helps to relieve the burden but also benefits as the manager takes notice of his action and mark him as a team player. This would then reflect during his appraisals."

Over work often affects the productivity of the employees as well as the team. If a team member is overburdened with tasks, it affects his or her productivity in the long-run. Also, that employee would not be able to focus on a certain tasks, and apply his skills in the right task due to paucity of time. Another aspect which also happens is that the remaining team members become complacent and lethargic which reduces the overall team productivity to a large extent. Therefore, to avoid the potential loss, work load should be shared equally among the team members.

The sharing of responsibilities is more needed now as many companies are just coming out of recession. During the recession, companies had to face tighter budgets and freeze recruitment which led to shortage of staff due to which employees who were retained were overburdened. Thus, it is during these times that the entire team's skill sets are set to test. Celia D' souza, (name changed as per request) an HR with a reputed digital marketing company says, "In a team, the very essence of teamwork lies on its shared responsibility and collective accountability. A team member should feel that he belongs to a team and this should result in the feeling of being part of something larger than yourself. The employee should understand the company's goals and objectives, belong to a specific department and have a job function. It helps the employee to feel unified with other organization members and helps to establish team spirit. This in turn helps to accomplish the overall objectives. Employees should always try to look at the bigger picture and drive their actions accordingly."

Courtesy by: Priyanka Chowdhury Ahmedabad Mirror, Mon, 27-12-2010

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!!!!!!

2010-12-24T20:17:00.001+05:30

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

Love, Peace and Joy came down on earth on Christmas day to make you happy and cheerful. May Christmas spread cheer in your lives!
Sending the warmest Christmas wishes to you and your family. May God shower his choicest blessings on you and your family this Christmas!
May all your days be merry and bright and may your Christmas be white! Merry Christmas!

Bringing Professionalism in Management with New Perspective - Issues, Trends & Solutions

2010-11-29T21:54:00.001+05:30

Abstract

Today every manager is required to work as a leader and therefore, he is required to be conscious of the fact that he cannot survive in the organization as effective and useful leader unless there is radical change in his outlook to achieve the distinction of his being a true manager with high successful record of achievement. He should understand the inherent possibilities in interacting with other professionals. The business world is filled with possibilities for those who understand key business partnerships and the potential. Knowing how to interface with business professionals can greatly expand your network of contacts and your access to critical career information. He should take responsibility when he has made a mistake and others are wrong. One way to earn the eternal gratitude of those around him is by being willing to take blame. When a manager can do this, he will virtually never have to take all of the blame, because no one will ever let him. Apologies are always accepted and graciousness counts for a lot. One should us professional methods of communication. If the managers are going to be interacting with other professionals and receiving confidential information through a home e-mail or on a home voice mail, it is not the best time to have two-year-old make the message, and it is the time to not use "hotmail" or some other connector which sounds lightweight.

Introduction

The word management has been defined by different writers differently but for our purpose this can be defined in the simplest concept, Management is the Organization, control and motivation of human efforts directed to the set goals.

Any Management analyses situations and facts for guiding and directing the organization objectives and the manager is the dynamic and life giving factor for the growth of the organization and the national prosperity. Management is a dynamic process, ever progressing in the practice with changing world scene. The main objective of the management is set goal achievement for economic growth of the country in wider sense. No economic growth could ever be achieved by legislation, administrative regulation and exhortation It is only through MAN and efficient and effective management.

Professionalism in management essentially demands the following

The right attitude and approach to management.
The systematic evolution of objectives for the organization
The application of appropriate methods for achieving the objectives of the organization.

The very objective of professionalism in a constant endeavor by the Manager to eradicate real the part real short comings and bring in reality to practice for objective achievement with the help of his education, training, skills, experience and vision with right attitude and approach, required adoption in the environment in which he was. Professionalism must lead to the ascendancy of Managerial excellence over various constraints and how this can be brought about is above formal education and training. What is needed is to create real awareness among the management personnel.

Every manager is required to work as a leader and therefore, he is required to be conscious of the fact that he cannot survive in the organization as effective and useful leader unless there is radical change in his outlook to achieve the distinction of his being a true manager with high successful record of achievement. Professionalism will then appear to be meaningful to him. It is a Herculean task to achieve professionalism in management but both of them are very close to each other. In present day managerial situations, professionalism adds greater strength of achievement, may be, simpler too. Therefore, professionalism in management is desirable and all efforts should be made to achieve it. The following will definitely help in this direction:

Faith and confidence:

Every profession is dear to its professionals. But all those who are in the profession may not be managers and are responsible to manage. Even those who are so responsible may not bring professionalism to management. Unless they have faith and confidence in their profession, its usefulness to management and the organization, as a whole will not be successful. Therefore, faith and confidence in the profession and its utility for the management will not only make professionalizing the management easier but also will produce results which otherwise could not have been possible.

Favorable attitude and approach:

No professionalism in management will be effective and useful to the management of the organization unless who intend it and those who will be using for objective achievements have right approach and attitude in utilizing the professionalized management. The absence of proper approach and attitude the part of professionals and managers will not only hinder in serving the purpose but may harm the management and be a real hurdle and constraint for objective achievement.

Competence and capabilities:

For obvious reasons, professionalizing management cannot be said to be always smooth selling. However, inspite of its professionalism can be brought into management if the concerned managers are possessing adequate capabilities and are competent to make proper adjustments in professionalizing the management.

Creativity

A Manager has to possess the quality of creativity and such managers are not only pro professionalizes but make all endeavor to accept professionalization in Management.

Reasonable freedom, Safety and security:

Management function has increasingly been complex and constraints often imbalance the managerial situations. Therefore, the management has to have adequate safety, security and freedom in its functions which will help in not only managing the organization but professionalizing management functions which makes objective achievements easy.

Management of situation & Environment:

Political, social, and economic situations in our country is changing very fast and becoming complex day by day. Today's manager finds it really hard to function and produce desired results. He is required to manage the environment and situations and not only control them but make them favorable for accomplishing his managerial functions. Therefore, the management has to evolve systems and adopt appropriate measures to manage the situation and environment which will create atmosphere for bringing professionalism into management.

Updating Knowledge and education:

Be he a professional or a member of the management team or he is in any sphere of life, adequate knowledge is a must and updating of this is desirable. A manager cannot function effectively and efficiently unless he is knowledgeable and improves his capability through adequate knowledge which is possible through proper education and updating of the knowledge. Proper education of the management team and updating their knowledge will have higher bearing on bringing professionalism and its practice thereafter for objective achievement.

On going and incoming situation oriented ability:

AN organization cannot achieve its desired growth unless its management is effective. Management cannot be effective if it is aware of only the ongoing happenings and turns out itself deaf to the future. Therefore, the management should be fully aware of what is happening now and have to sense what might happen in days and few years to come. The management can adopt professionalism and use it efficiently if sensing power is possessed and adequate measures are taken to harness the future.

Managing the Management:

A manager in the management team cannot be effective unless he is capable of managing the management in a wider sense. While playing his own role he has to play certain roles in some situations and make the management team to function effectively. Every manager and entire management team has this responsibility to discharge and such quality helps greatly to bring professionalism to management.

Disposition:

Adoption of professionalism into management will face hurdles if the management team is disinclined or disinterested and adoption is circumstantial, if it is so, lit will not serve any purpose and made do harm to the organization and the management. Therefore, management team has to be properly disposed for bringing professionalism to management which will help the management to achieve the objectives of the organization.

The above points may help the organization to practice its managerial functions and create favorable situations for bringing professionalism to management.

Conclusion

The recent trends in India have been favorable in many disciplines and organizations and professionalism has to into managerial functions. With proper training and understanding, right attitude and approach do emerge and this had helped in professionalizing the management. Proper faith, confidence and disposition are keys to success and achieving the objectives of the organization through professionalizing the Management.

Courtesy By: Dr. Lakshmi G, Sr. Faculty Member, Icfai National College, Mysore

Go and get it....!!!

2010-11-16T20:49:00.000+05:30

Wish you Happy Diwali and Prosperous New Year.

2010-11-16T13:42:00.000+05:30

STAND UP AND ASK

2010-10-19T15:01:00.001+05:30

Asking questions is not only a skill but a culture. We have created a culture where asking questions is an insult to the teacher - ANJU MUSAFIR.

Last week, I spent a good amount of time teaching Hamlets famous monologue To be,or not to be,- that is the question: I realised how Hamlet as a renaissance scholar not only asks questions but listens to himself and reasons.

Asking questions is not only a skill but a culture. Unfortunately, in India, we have created an educational culture where asking questions is an insult to the teacher.In conventional classrooms,it is the teacher who asks questions much like the interrogative methods of the police.

When I was a high school student in a prestigious school in Delhi, I recall the techniques we invented to avoid being asked questions. Firstly,you never looked the teacher in the eye.Secondly,you ducked behind the person sitting in front.You made your body small by hunching it up a bit and crouched behind.As a result one fervently hoped that the teacher would pick the one she saw.

Why did I not like being asked a question There Im asking you one but as I have the upper hand in this one-way conversation,I will proceed to explain my understanding.In a classroom situation,if one does not know the answer or gives a wrong one,there is instant humiliation or ridicule.The teacher picks you and this act isolates you from the mass of the class.

More importantly, when a person of a higher status or authority asks questions to one who is in a lower status,the person with a lower status is psychologically disadvantaged.This happens in the classroom, this happens at home when parents ask the child,what did you do at school today,whose phone was it,what time did you return last night and so on.With a slight twist the same questions can be asked by a suspicious spouse!

So while little children grew up asking questions about the world,they entered the classroom and were taught to keep quiet with a finger on their lips.They were to be seen and not heard.The reason why teachers do not like children asking questions is because they think too many questions will create chaos and more importantly,they think they may not know the answer.
If the teacher becomes open enough to say that all questions are welcome,that there are no stupid questions and that I do not have the answers but we can seek together,we will create questioning and not subservient children.

The culture of the fear of questions permeates the Indian administration too.For very long,administrators took over the role and authority of the colonial masters.Their work was cloaked in secrecy and it was only with the Right to Information Act that we opened the doors to a lower status ordinary citizen asking questions.But as anyone who has used the RTI act will tell you,the upper echelons do not like being asked questions either! It is viewed as an insult and with suspicion.

Journalists and citizens who set out on quests to discover truths paid with their lives for asking the right questions.For too long,asking questions has always been the prerogative of those in power.It is time we changed it because when a child or a citizen asks a question,it empowers the seeker.It makes the person asking more active and engaged.If a person can ask a question,somewhere deep down,he or she already knows the answer.And for those questions for which we have no answers,it is still important to ask them.

(Anju Musafir is founder of Mahatma Gandhi International School and a teacher trainer with a passion for teaching/learning. You can write in to her at anjumusafir@indiatimes.com)

Courtesy by Ahmedabad Mirror Tue, 19-10-2010

EMPLOYEE OR CONSULTANT MAKE YOUR SMART CHOICE!

2010-10-04T16:37:00.000+05:30

Opting to be a consultant gives the privilege of claiming many deductions not available from employee remuneration!

Anand Roy is offered a marketing work assignment by a company with an annual package of Rs 8,80,000 during FY 2010-11 and he is given the choice to either join the company as an employee or offer his services as a consultant.Weighing the income-tax implications in respect of the same,he is wondering what should be his best choice.
If Anand decides to accept the status of an employee,he needs to be aware of the fact that he would have a comparatively limited choice of exemptions that he can claim from his taxable salary income of Rs 8,80,000.These could possibly be structured in the form of Transport Allowance of Rs 9,600,Childrens Education Allowance of !Rs 2,400,Reimbursement of Medical Expenses of Rs 15,000,Attire Allowance of Rs 18,000 and Food Coupons for a value of Rs 15,000,in all amounting to Rs 60,000.This would still leave his taxable salary at Rs 8,20,000 and even after deducting Rs 1,20,000 as the eligible deduction under Section 80C and 80CCF,income-tax of Rs 76,220 would be deducted at source by his employer on his Total Income of Rs 7,00,000.
However,if Anand goes for the choice of becoming a consultant to the company and accepts the consideration of Rs 8,80,000 as professional fees,he would enjoy distinct tax advantages as explained hereinafter.

TAX WRITE-OFF FOR PROFESSIONAL EXPENSES

THE CONSULTING income of Rs 8,80,000 being in the nature of his income from profession,he would be entitled to write-off all relevant expenses wholly and necessarily incurred for earning such income.Depending on the facts of his case,these could include motor car running and maintenance expenses of around Rs 90,000 (approx Rs 7,500 per month),depreciation of Rs 75,000 on motor car (worked out at 15% on the car value of Rs 5,00,000),annual telephone landline and mobile phone charges of around Rs 25,000,depreciation of Rs 30,000 (at 60%) on his laptop purchased for a cost of Rs 50,000,and stationery,postage,printing books and magazine subscription expenditure of around Rs 20,000 in a year.He can also deduct salary of Rs 5,000 per month paid to his office assistant (annually Rs 60,000).
All this would total up to allowable business expenditure of Rs 3,00,000,leaving his taxable business income at Rs 5,80,000.After considering the deduction under Section 80C and 80CCF in respect of planned savings and allocations,the Total Income of Rs 4,60,000 earned in the case of Anand would attract an income-tax liability of Rs 30,900.
It is quite obvious that Anand would save a healthy Rs 45,320 in terms of his income-tax liability for the year (76,220 30,900) by opting for the right choice in selection of the status of his work assignment.However,he also needs to bear in mind that the company paying him the annual professional fees of Rs 8,80,000 will be required to deduct TDS at 10% amounting to Rs 88,000 under Section 194J of the IT Act and keeping in view his actual tax liability of Rs 30,900,Anand will be entitled to claim a tax refund of Rs 57,100 while filing his tax return.

KEEPING SERVICE TAX IN SIGHT

WHILE THE status of a consultant is indeed income-tax friendly as clearly evident from the discussion hereinabove,the service tax angle of the matter should not be lost sight off.It needs to be noted that under the present service tax regulations,if the annual fees earned by a consultant exceeds the service tax exemption limit of Rs 10,00,000,he would be required to charge service tax at the rate of 10.3% (on the entire amount) from the company paying such fees.In such an event,the company may insist that the concerned person offer his services as an employee rather than a consultant.However,for an annual package of up to Rs 10,00,000,drawing professional fees can indeed prove to be a much smarter tax option over salary!

{Courtesy by Ahmedabad Mirror, Dated: Mon, 04-10-2010 Mukesh Patel is an international tax expert,author and speaker. You can write to him at mukeshpatel.in@gmail.com }

Happy GANESH Chaturthi...EId Mubarak... and Michami Dukaram...!!

2010-09-11T16:18:00.001+05:30

Gujarat Tourism : Khushboo Gujarat ki... by Mr. Amitabh Bachchan

2010-09-01T15:13:00.000+05:30

Story on success of Balaji Wafer !!!

2010-07-21T11:46:00.000+05:30

મલ્ટિનેશનલ્સ સામે દેશી સફળતા

૧૯૮૯ સુધી આ માણસ ઘરે તાવડામાં બટાટાની વેફર તળીને તેને રાજકોટનાં સિનેમાઘરોમાં વહેંચતો હતો. આજે તેની કંપની જગતની મલ્ટીનેશનલ કંપનીઓને દાદ નથી આપતી. તેનું નામ છે ચંદુભાઇ વિરાણી. નામ કદાચ વાચકોને અજાણ્યું લાગશે, તેમની બ્રાન્ડ સાવ જાણીતી છે: બાલાજી વેફર્સ. બાલાજી આજે દરરોજ ૩૫,૦૦,૦૦૦ પેકેટ વેફર્સ, ચટાકા પટાકા, ચેવડો, દાળ વગેરે નાસ્તાનું ઉત્પાદન કરે છે. વેફર્સમાં બાલાજીનો દબદબો એવો છે કે ગુજરાતનું ૮૦ ટકા માર્કેટ તેમના હાથમાં છે. મહાકાય મલ્ટિનેશનલ કંપનીઓ બાલાજીને હંફાવી શકી નથી, પોતે હાંફી ગઇ છે. ન કોઇ માર્કેટિંગ, ન ડીલર માટે કોઇ સ્કીમ, સેલ્સનું કોઇ ડિપાર્ટમેન્ટ નહીં અને મેનેજરોની ભરમાર નહીં, છતાં ૩૫૦ કરોડની કંપની સતત વિકાસકૂચ કરતી રહે છે. ચંદુભાઇ વિરાણીની આ વિકાસયાત્રાનું રહસ્ય શું છે? મેનેજમેન્ટ ફંડાના આધારે જાણીએ.

કાલાવડ તાલુકાનું ધૂન-ધોરાજી નામનું એક નાનકડું ગામ છે. ચંદુભાઇના પિતા આ ગામમાં ખેડૂત હતા, પણ ખેતી કરતાં સમાજ સેવા અને આગેવાનીમાં રસ વધુ. ગામના ઝઘડા ઉકેલવામાં વ્યસ્ત રહે એટલે જમીન ધીમે ધીમે વેચાવા માંડી. ચંદુભાઇ, તેમના મોટાભાઇ ભીખુભાઇ અને સૌથી નાનાભાઇ કનુભાઇનું બાળપણ ગામડામાં ધીંગામસ્તી કરતાં કરતાં વિત્યું. પિતાજી પોપટભાઇ વિરાણી કંઇક અલગ વિચારનાર માણસ હતા. દીકરાઓને તેમણે કહ્યું કે 'મોચી પોતે બનાવેલાં જોડાનો ભાવ પોતે નક્કી કરે, કુંભાર ઘડાનો ભાવ પોતે નક્કી કરે, પણ ખેડૂત પોતે ઉપજાવેલી વસ્તુનો ભાવ પોતે નક્કી કરી શકતો નથી, દલાલો અને વેપારીઓ ખેડૂતના ઉત્પાદનના ભાવ નક્કી કરે છે.

વેપારી બજારમાં જે ભાવે માલ વેચતા હોય તેના અડધા પણ ખેડૂતને મળતા નથી, આવી ખેતી નથી કરવી. શહેરમાં જવું છે.' અને, પોપટભાઇ જમીન જાયદાદ વેચીને રાજકોટ આવી ગયા. આ નિર્ણય બહુ જ જોખમી છતાં મહત્વપૂર્ણ હતો. ચંદુભાઇ કહે છે, પિતાજીએ આ નિર્ણય ન લીધો હોત તો અમે ખેતી જ કરતા હોત. રાજકોટમાં આવીને દસ ધોરણ પાસ ચંદુભાઇએ ધંધો શોધવા માંડયો. સિનેમાઘરની કેન્ટીનમાં વેફરની ખપત બહુ રહેતી એટલે બજારમાંથી વેફર ખરીદીને સિનેમાઘરોમાં આપવાનું શરૂ કર્યું. આ ધંધામાં બહુ માર્જીન નહોતું. ૧૯૭૪થી ૧૯૮૨ સુધી વેફર સપ્લાય કરવાનું કામ કર્યા પછી ચંદુભાઇને વિચાર આવ્યો કે વેફર પણ આપણે જ બનાવીએ તો ?

મેનેજમેન્ટ ફંડા

૧. દુનિયાથી અલગ વિચારનાર ચમત્કાર કરી દેખાડી શકે.
૨. જોખમી નિર્ણય પણ જરૂરી હોય તો તાત્કાલિક લેવો.
૩. નાની શરૂઆત કર્યા પછી પણ નવી તક શોધતાં રહેવું.

ચંદુભાઇએ યુનિવર્સિટી રોડ ખાતેના પોતાના ઘરમાં જ તાવડો માંડયો. બટાટાની વેફર હાથે જ બનાવવાની, તેને તળવાની અને પ્લાસ્ટિકની થેલીમાં પેક કરીને સિનેમાઘરોમાં આપવા જવાનું. તે વખતે વેફર બનાવનારાઓ બહુ ઓછા હતા. એટલે સ્પર્ધા બહુ ન નડી. સિનેમાઘરમાં વેફર ખાનારા કેટલાક વેપારીઓએ ચંદુભાઇનો સંપર્ક કરીને પોતાની દુકાને પણ વેફર પહોંચાડવાનું કહ્યું. બહારના આ ઓર્ડર્સ પર પૂરતું ઘ્યાન અપાયું તે વખતે ઘરમાં રોજ ૬૦ કિલો બટાટાની વેફર બનતી હતી. ચંદુભાઇના એક એડવોકેટ મિત્રે ત્યારે તેમને ટીકાત્મક રીતે કહ્યું હતું, આ શું ધંધો તમે માંડ્યો છે ?

એડવોકેટ મિત્રનો કહેવાનો અર્થ સ્પષ્ટ હતો, આ ધંધામાં કાંઇ બે પાંદડે થવાય નહીં. પણ ચંદુભાઇ હિંમત હાર્યા નહીં. તેમની વેફરની બજારમાં સારી માંગ રહેતી હતી. ૧૯૮૩માં પ્લાસ્ટિકની જે થેલીઓમાં તેઓ વેફર પેક કરતાં હતા તેની ઉપર બાલાજી લખાવ્યું અને બાલાજી બ્રાન્ડનો જન્મ થયો. સાંગણવા ચોકમાં વેફર વેચવાની એક દુકાન પણ કરી. મગદાળ, વટાણા, ચણાદાળ વગેરે પ્રોડક્ટ પણ બનાવવાની ચાલુ કરી. ભીખુભાઇ વિરાણી ત્યારે દુકાને બેસતા.

હવે તેઓ બાલાજી વેફર્સ માટે જમીનો ખરીદવાનું અને ડેવલપમેન્ટનું કામ કરે છે. ભીખુભાઇના બે પુત્રો કેયુર અને મિહિર તથા ચંદુભાઇના પુત્ર પ્રણય બાલાજીની નવી પેઢી છે અને એમણે ધંધાનો અડધો ભાર પોતાના ખભા પર ઉપાડી લીધો છે. નાનાભાઇ કનુભાઇ ટેક્નિકલ ડિપાર્ટમેન્ટ સંભાળે છે. વિદેશી બનાવટના મશીનના સ્પેરપાટ્ર્સ પણ જાતે બનાવી લે તેટલી તેમની આવડત બાલાજીનાં મશીનોને ક્યારેય અટકવા દેતી નથી. ખેર, સાંગણવા ચોકની દુકાને તે સમયે ઘરાકી વધવા માંડી. બાલાજીનો તાવડો વખણાવા માંડયો. એટલે, ૧૯૮૯માં ધંધાનું વિસ્તરણ કરવાનું વિચાર્યું.

મેનેજમેન્ટ ફંડા

૧. જે ધંધામાં સ્પર્ધા હોય તે જ વધુ વળતર આપે તેવું નથી.
૨. ગ્રાહકોને સંતોષ થાય તેવી પ્રોડક્ટ આપો. વૈવિઘ્ય આપો.
૩. સમયાંતરે ધંધાનું વિસ્તરણ કરતા રહો પણ, બીનજરૂરી વિસ્તરણ ટાળો.
૪. નવું કરતી વખતે ટીકાઓ થાય તો પણ વિચલિત ન થાઓ, છતાં ફીડબેક લેતા રહો.

આજી ઇન્ડસ્ટ્રીયલ વસાહતમાં વિરાણી ભાઇઓએ એક હજાર મીટર જગ્યા લીધી. ભઠ્ઠાઓ નાંખ્યા, પણ ભઠ્ઠામાં ધૂમાડા થાય અને પ્રોડક્ટમાં સમાનતા જાળવવી પણ અઘરી પડે. તે વખતે બાલાજીની વેફર વખણાતી હતી, પણ તેની લેખિત રેસિપી નહોતી. ડબ્બાના માપથી મસાલા નાંખવામાં આવતા. તાવડામાં ઉકળતું તેલ જોઇને તેના ટેમ્પરેચરનો અંદાજ લગાવવો પડતો. તેલમાં બબલ્સ બનવાનું બંધ થઇ જાય એટલે તેલ આવી ગયું એ સમજીને વેફર તળવા માંડવાની. ચંદુભાઇ કહે છે, આજે પણ તાવડામાં ઉકળતું તેલ જોઇને હું કહી દઉં કે આનું ટેમ્પરેચર આટલું હશે. આ જાતે કરેલાં કામથી મળેલાં અનુભવની તાકાત હતી. ભઠ્ઠામાં રોજની ૫૦૦ કિલો વેફર બનતી હતી. માંગ વધી રહી હતી અને ભઠ્ઠા-તાવડાની મર્યાદાઓ નડી રહી હતી એટલે ઓટોમાઇઝેશન પર જવાનું નક્કી કર્યું.

બટાટાને કાતરીને વેફર પણ મશીન જ બનાવે અને તેને તળી પણ આપે એવું મશીન લઇ આવ્યા. છ મહિના સુધી મશીન ચાલુ ન થયું. ચંદુભાઇ એ સમય યાદ કરતાં કહે છે, 'અમે ફસાઇ ગયા. મશીન ચાલે નહીં. અમને મશીનમાં કશી ગતાગમ પડે નહીં. આવી સ્થિતિમાં કરવું શું? એટલે દેશી મશીન લઇ આવ્યા. ઇમ્પોર્ટેડ અને દેશી બંને મશીનને જોડી કાઢીને વર્ણસંકર મશીન બનાવ્યું. તે ચાલ્યું. માત્ર ચાલ્યું નહીં, દોડ્યું. સરસ ક્વોલિટીની વેફર બનતી થઇ.'

આજે બાલાજીની ફેક્ટરીમાં જાઓ તો બટાટાની ગુણી મશીનના એક છેડે ઠાલવ્યા પછી બીજા છેડે સરસ પોલીપેકમાં, નાઇટ્રોજન સાથે પેક થયેલું વેફરનું પેકેટ મળે. આ નવાં મશીન તો જો કે, હમણાં આવ્યાં, '૯૨માં જે મશીન હતું તે ઘણું સાદું હતું, પણ ઓટોમાઇઝેશન પર જવાનો નિર્ણય બાલાજી માટે ટર્નિંગ પોઇન્ટ હતો. તાવડા-ભઠ્ઠામાં બનતી અને બહુ જ વખણાતી પોતાની વેફર પ્રત્યે અઢળક પ્રેમ રાખીને જો તેમણે ઓટોમાઇઝેશન ન કર્યું હોત તો હજી બાલાજી સાંગણવા ચોકની દુકાન પુરતી સીમીત હોત.

મેનેજમેન્ટ ફંડા

૧. માર્કેટમાં માંગ વધે તેની સાથે નવી ટેક્નોલોજી પણ સામેલ કરતાં જવું.
૨. નવી મશીનરી લાવતી વખતે ટેક્નોલોજીની સમજ ન હોય તો નુકસાન જઇ શકે.
૩. ધંધામાં સમસ્યા આવે ત્યારે ક્યારેક ટેકનિકલ જ્ઞાનને બદલે કોઠાસૂઝથી તેને ઉકેલી શકાય.

ઘરમાંથી ઇન્ડસ્ટ્રીયલ એસ્ટેટના કારખાના અને ઓટોમાઇઝેશન સુધીની આ સફરની સાથે સાથે બીજી પણ બે બાબતો સતત સાથે હતી, જે બાલાજીને આજની સ્થિતિ સુધી પહોંચાડવા માટે બહુ જ મહત્તવપૂર્ણ ભાગ ભજવવાની હતી. તેમાંની એક હતી ક્વોલિટી. ચંદુભાઇ સતત ક્વોલિટીનું ઘ્યાન રાખતા રહ્યા. બટાટાની ખરીદીથી માંડીને વેફર તળવા તથા તેના પેકેજીંગ સુધી તમામ બાબતોમાં તેઓ ક્વોલિટી કોન્શિયશ રહેતા હતા. બાલાજીની વેફર ગ્રાહકોમાં પ્રિય હોવાનું એકમાત્ર કારણ તેની ક્વોલિટી હતી.

બાલાજીની અધતન લેબોરેટરીમાં માત્ર બનેલી પ્રોડક્ટનું જ પરીક્ષણ નથી થતું, તેમાં ઉમેરાનાર મસાલાનું પણ નિયમિત પરીક્ષણ થાય છે. મરચાંની તીખાશનું પણ માપ કાઢવામાં આવે છે.!!!

ETIQUETTE @ EMAIL!!!

2010-06-28T12:27:00.001+05:30

As business communication goes online,Mithila Mehta outlines basic email etiquette

Email is increasingly becoming the preferred medium for business communication thanks to its simplicity,ability to garner quick responses and convenience.Even so,age-old rules of courtesy and etiquette remain relevant to this new communication channel.Good manners never go out of style,and hence it is important to mind your email etiquette as well.
"Good mail etiquette creates a favourable impression of the sender.In any case,which employer wants an employee who fails to exhibit basic courtesy Your onscreen persona is a direct extension of your real self.So mind every word you type,"explains client servicing executive Pratham Verma.An email once sent can never be retrieved.Worse,it is a form of permanent record.So follow these basic email etiquette outlines and save yourself the blushes!

CONCISE,NOT CURT :
The first rule of courtesy which you learn in kindergarten still holds true.Mind you Ps and Qs,even on email.Don't hesitate to use please when you require a favour,and to thank people after,if don't want to come across as bossy,ungrateful or demanding.
When writing an email,walking the tightrope between brevity and expressiveness is often challenging.Many fall prey to common mistake of rambling on endlessly."Business communication should be crisp and clear.Say what you must directly.Long,confused emails often go unread or are not taken seriously,"says corporate lawyer Neville Billimoria.
At the same time,getting to the point too quickly can be considered rude.Do spend a sentence or two on the social niceties.Remember,it is possible to be concise without being downright curt."If you are emailing someone for the first time,do introduce yourself.For others whom you email occasionally,insert a sentence asking about the other person's
affairs.General social rules of politeness are still golden,"reveals financial analyst Rashi Sanghvi.

DETAILS,DETAILS:
The devil is in the details.Incorrect spellings and poor grammar are a definite no-no in business communication."Bad spellings create a very negative impression of the sender.If the sender cannot even spell basic words correctly,how can he/ she be entrusted with larger tasks"opines Billimoria.Further,incorrect grammar can also mean that the email is misunderstood by the receiver.The solution is simple.Always perform a spell check on emails before sending them.Proofreading (once,or multiple times depending on the importance of the email) is also a must.

Ahmedabad Mirror (Mon, 28-06-2010).

Visit: www.postaresume.co.in

DISAGREE W I T H O U T B E I N GDISAGREEABLE...

2010-06-14T12:24:00.001+05:30

While voicing your disagreement in an informal setting could lead to healthy debate,doing the same in a professional environment,specially with your boss could be tricky,finds Reneta Kripalani

Barack Obama stated,"Yes,We can disagree without being disagreeable."This simple statement would be a lot simpler if we simply practiced it! Easier said than done right Disagreements among colleagues are common at a workplace,however,a disagreement with your boss could put you in a sticky situation.Kavya Somaiya,Assistant Manager in a media firm explains,"At work,you mee people from diverse backgrounds and varied temperaments.Thus,when you work as a team,there is bound to be friction.However,it's important to respect each individual,especially your boss,and work towards the growth of the company."She further adds,"Your boss is where s/he is due to his/her experience and expertise.Thus,if you disagree with your boss,it's best to disagree without being disagreeable.That way,you can maintain your relationship,which is critical."Rahul Arora,a financial planner,adds,"A boss can be a good mentor and do wonders for your career;thus you would not want to offend him/her without due reason."
Listed below are a few pointers on how to tide through the situation: To begin with,before putting forth your disagreement,it is important to build a powerful case.Be a solution provider rather than a problem maker."Do your homework well before you voice your disagreement.After all you don't want to look foolish and juvenile if asked to justify your idea,"feels Somaiya."Also,be open to the idea that you may be wrong,"adds Arora.

"Never voice a disagreement with your boss in public,"suggests Devika Gidwani,Country Head India,HRD Antwerp.

Avoid misunderstandings and communication gaps: "When voicing your disagreement with your boss,you could use a phrase like,'If we look at the situation in this way,it could benefit us in this way.What do you think'It helps to show your boss the advantages of looking at the situation from your perspective,rather than focusing on the disagreement,"feels Devika.Sonal Kuiya,Manager Ad Sales,Maxim,seconds the idea and further adds,,"Having said this,leave the final decision to your boss.It's best not to push it too far.S/he takes the call at the end of the day."
If you choose to disagree,never use phrases like,"It has never worked in the past" or "This idea did fail in the past".Plan your words well.You would not want to lead into a heated argument."Keep your ego aside.Such situations are not about individuals,they are about the bigger picture,"feels Somaiya,"Also,know that you cannot always win."During the course of the conversation,refrain from using "I" too often.Using "we" would sound more from a team perspective rather than individualistic."Today,bosses are more open to ideas as long as it's in the best interest of the product,"adds Kuiya."Leadership today has become more participative than authoritative,"feels Kavya."A good team lead will always listen to counter arguments.However,agreeing or disagreeing depends on a number of factors,including higher authorities,"explains Sandeep Ayyer,Senior Manager,Business Solutions and Support,In-Solutions Global Pvt Ltd.Arora mentions,"Big ideas are born out of brainstorms and disagreements;so do not shy away from expressing your disagreement if you feel strongly about it.Your boss will appreciate that you have an opinion,however,make sure you do not come on too strongly.""At the end of the day,a boss is a 'boss'.It is important to respect his/her authority and e x p e r i e n c e.Probably s/he could have a perspective that cannot be shareed.Else,s/he could could also be under some pressure,"asserts Arora.Arora rightly states,"You and your boss are working towards the growth of the company.It is important to maintain a healthy relationship for peaceful co-existence and work well together.Thus,handle a disagreement with professionalism and do not take it personally."Kavya signs off saying,"Do not let it become a clash of egos."

Courtesy: Ahmedabad Mirror (Mon, 14-06-2010)

Visit www.postaresume.co.in

Apnu Amdavad...

2010-06-11T13:30:00.000+05:30

Employee Motivation Cash or Non Cash Incentives.

2010-06-10T13:32:00.000+05:30

Human capital was considered just one of the factors affecting industrial production. However, this thought has gone under change in the globalised world, where focus is much more now on human capital. Survival of organization is dependent of its motivated workforce. Therefore motivation and employee welfare are center point of many research worldwide. Research has divided employee motivation on cash and non- cash incentives. Dilemma for organization is to discover which type of incentive will propel organization to the next level.

Cash incentives are in form of pay hikes, bonus, paid vacation etc. Cash incentive is tangible asset motivating employee to achieve desire result or performance. It keeps employee on their toes knowing that a solid performance would ensure ample of monetary benefits. Research shows that in order to receive cash incentive employee may sometime use un- ethical business practice. This could compromise brand as well as existence of organization. Also un-equal distribution of cash incentive among the same team could trigger tension among team-member. This sort of tension would create problem for organization in future. Also cash incentive could give rise to a stand- off for organization in difficult economic times, which is deciding whether to reward employee or the share holder.

Non- cash incentives are in form flexible work hours, acknowledgement of good work in front of colleagues, better work environment. Research shows that non-cash incentive has psychological effects; it helps in improving morale of the work force. Flexible work hours for single parent show compassion on part of organization, this gesture would have positive impact on employee. However there could be a problem if employee compares non-cash incentive with cash incentive, as non-cash incentive is not economically measurable. Which leads to question what is it that motivates employees cash or non- cash incentive?

Answer may sound diplomatic, but the right solution may depend upon age of employee, his personal aspirations, stage of her career etc. A fresh graduate always aspire for rise in her salary in order to use to full economical value of cash incentive. But mature employee is much more concerned with quality of work, flexi work hours. Therefore solution lies in a customized incentive program which balances both non cash and cash benefits.

Speech by Chetan Bhagat at Symbiosis...

2010-05-06T17:43:00.002+05:30

Don’t just have career or academic goals. Set goals to give you a balanced, successful life. I use the word balanced before successful. Balanced means ensuring your health, relationships, mental peace are all in good order. There is no point of getting a promotion on the day of your breakup. There is no fun in driving a car if your back hurts. Shopping is not enjoyable if your mind is full of tensions.

"Life is one of those races in nursery school where you have to run with a marble in a spoon kept in your mouth. If the marble falls, there is no point coming first. Same is with life where health and relationships are the marble. Your striving is only worth it if there is harmony in your life. Else, you may achieve the success, but this spark, this feeling of being excited and alive, will start to die. ……………….

One thing about nurturing the spark - don't take life seriously. Life is not meant to be taken seriously, as we are really temporary here. We are like a pre-paid card with limited validity. If we are lucky, we may last another 50 years. And 50 years is just 2,500 weekends. Do we really need to get so worked up? …………….

It's ok, bunk a few classes, scoring low in couple of papers, goof up a few interviews, take leave from work, fall in love, little fights with your spouse. We are people, not programmed devices........." :)

"Don't be serious, be sincere."!!