More than just a run machine….

Last week the media was busy collecting the details of a rather long career of India’s iconic cricketer, Sachin Tendulkar. November 15th 2009 marked the completion of 20 glorious years of Sachin Tendulkar in international cricket. People across the world have been talking of one milestone after another, all through this long journey. Records have been broken every now and then, and the shrewd cricketer is nearing another milestone of 30000 runs at the international arena.

However, there is much more to this guy than the extraordinary pile of runs that he has accumulated. Apart from his “off the field qualities”, it is the finer aspects of the game in general and his batting in particular that has been the focus of discussion all these years. One need not be an expert to identify that each and every stroke from this genius (perhaps I can exclude the paddle sweep) is straight out of the text book. Speaking a bit technically, the straight face of the bat, the still head, the upright elbow and the flawless footwork is more than a delight to watch. How many times have we wondered and appreciated the timing, placement and execution of the shots, as though he has memorized the fielding positions for the entire duration of his innings. “Effortless” is the word commentators often use to describe his stroke play. Most of us watch him, not just for the runs, but to see a straight bat dispatching the ball somewhere down mid-off or through the covers. It has come to be known as his trademark shot which we will all cherish for years to come.

There are few batsmen in the cricketing world who have been able to combine traditional textbook cricket with the modern day aggression. This is what sets him apart and keeps viewers glued to their television sets.

Critics have, time and again, insisted on his departure (some called him a “spent force”) and he had consistently proved them wrong. However, the question is what happens after his exit. The satisfaction and delight of watching him bat will suddenly vanish. For us, Indians, the game of cricket may never be the same again. People who appreciate quality would never want to see him go. Given a choice with Aladdin’s lamp, I would ask for at least twenty more years, just to hear the sweet sound of leather on the master blaster’s willow.

Pankaj Kulkarni

“Garden Of Eden”

The concept of “Garden of Eden” is quite an intriguing one. When we sit down to comprehend this mystery, we naturally embark on a journey into the past or, as some would say, into another dimension. This idea has captured the universal imagination and is synonymous with our craving for the ideal.

The term “Garden of Eden” might be derived from Christian literature, but in fact it is referred to by different names in other religions. For ex: In Hindu religion it is termed as “Swarga”, in the religion of Islam it is termed as “Jannat.” Similarly, it is called as Shangrila, Shambala, Utopia, Paradise, etc. and the list goes on. The point here is to understand what it exactly means and why there is a certain sanctity associated with it.

According to biblical references “God created man in his own image” and granted him an ideal home to live. This home is termed as the Garden of Eden, now the fact that paradise was lost by falling from grace on account of a sin is known to us. But what was that paradise like? And where did it exist? Are some of the questions which we will try to answer. Also we can recall that Christ kept referring to the lost paradise in his teachings and also told us that the lost paradise would come back again.

Here the question of the place is - Where does this paradise exist? Does it exist in any other dimension or in an alternate parallel world or did it exist here on this earth. The answer we arrive upon contemplation is that the paradise exists here itself.

This is understood when we go back in time, we find that the population decreases proportionally, this would again challenge the theory of evolution, but that is another topic altogether. So here when we look at the world history we find that the recorded history dates to around 500 BC and before that the description of the time was based on assumptions which are not validated in a concrete fashion. So we can infer that paradise existed on this earth before recorded history.

When we take a look at the ancient wonders and structures of magnificence around us, we note that they are not mere findings, but they have more to them than what is perceived about them. The technology used for their construction is far more superior to the technology existing now, so here we understand that they were constructed during the time when paradise existed. Now the questions arises - Who were the people who inhabited the paradise? Were they any advanced beings? or Were they just like us?

The truth is that people living in paradise must have also been special. So here upon pondering we understand that they had higher morality and discipline of life, as compared to us, i.e. they were evolved beings in terms of actions and reactions observed in human behavior paradigms.

Now from our understanding of the cyclic nature of time, we can conclude that the lost paradise is going to be restored at some point in human history, but to account for this, we as individual entities can contribute by marching towards the ideal, by changing our false belief systems and adopting a higher order of morality. We also should understand that we lost this paradise due to our deviation from the norm of morality and values during the course of the world history.

When we ponder on all these concepts, we understand that the predictions of doom and dooms day are not exactly talking about destruction and catastrophes but in fact they are signaling towards a coming time when everything is going to be perfect again and the lost paradise is going to be restored on this earth.

So let us all endeavor to awaken to a higher and evolved lifestyle based on morality and wisdom, this way we would also be contributing to the global cause of peace and harmony amongst all, and eventually we can usher in a new age by restoring the “Garden of Eden” to its lost grandeur and magnificence.

By Rakesh S

The Playing Field Is Being Leveled

Recently read a very insightful and informative book on Globalization 3.0 named ‘The World Is Flat.’ The first chapter of the book has a description of Bangalore, India describing it as India’s Silicon Valley with presence of companies like IBM, Microsoft, HP, Texas Instruments etc. Further the author talks about the ultra modern Infosys campus with its state-of-the-art technology global conferencing center with the help of which Infosys can hold a virtual meeting of the key players from its entire global supply chain for any project at any time on a supersize screen. Reading all this description on India in the very first chapter of an International bestseller should make Indians extremely proud.

The book by Thomas L. Friedman analyzes globalization, in the early 21st century. The title is a metaphor for viewing the world as a level playing field in terms of commerce, where all competitors have an equal opportunity. Countries like India are now able to compete for global knowledge work as never before. It gives a whole new meaning to the phrase, ‘the playing field is being leveled.’

Freidman has described 10 ‘flatteners’ that have flattened and are still flattening the world even as we speak. Few of the flatteners which I personally found very interesting to learn about are as follows:

Open Sourcing - Self-Organizing Collaborative Communities

Describes shareware programs which are developed by a bunch of geeks working online in some kind of chat room. He talks about the open-source movement, which involves thousands of people around the world coming together online to collaborate in writing everything from their own software to their own operating systems to their own dictionary to their own recipe for cola-building. The word ‘open-source’ comes from the notion that companies or ad hoc groups would make available online the source code - the underlying programming instructions that make a piece of software work - and then let anyone who has something to contribute improve it and let millions of others just download it for their own use for free. According to the author, the geeks do it for the psychic buzz that comes from creating a collective product that can beat something produced by giants like Microsoft or IBM, and even more important - to earn the respect of their intellectual peers. This seems to be a powerful movement. If given a proper direction might give the Microsofts of the world a run for their money.

Outsourcing

Outsourcing means taking some specific, but limited, function that your company was doing in-house - such as research, call centers, or accounts receivable - and having another company perform that exact same function for you and then reintegrating their work back into your overall operation. This section mainly describes the growth of outsourcing in India and how over capacity in fiber optics, created during the dot com bubble benefitted India. Talks of how India’s education system has finally paid off resulting in a rich pool of talent which now India can use to its advantage. The opening up of the economy in 1991 further boosted India’s growth. The Y2K crisis proved to be a great opportunity for India. The Y2K upgrading work was humongous and tedious. India with its ample of software engineers from the IITs and private colleges was in the perfect position to carry it out. Y2K introduced India to the rest of the world. Since then there has been no looking back for India.

Offshoring

Offshoring is relocation of a company's manufacturing or other processes to a foreign land to take advantage of less costly operations there. This flattener is mainly related to events in China. China's joining the WTO took Beijing and the world to a whole new level of offshoring - with more companies shifting production offshore and then integrating it into their global supply chains.

Supply Chaining

The author states Wal-Mart to be the pioneer in building an extremely efficient supply chain with 108 distribution centers around the US serving some 3000 Wal-Mart stores. While other retailers guarded information, Wal-Mart shared it. Wal-Mart approached its suppliers as if they were partners. By implementing a collaborative planning, forecasting, and replenishment (CPFR) program, Wal-Mart began a just-in-time inventory program that reduced carrying costs for both the retailer and its suppliers. In its supply chain innovation it has introduced RFID tags to replace barcodes.

Insourcing

Heard of United Parcel Service (UPS)?? This company and more like it are no longer only delivering packages. They are in fact managing the global supply chains of companies both large and small. For example, if you own a Toshiba laptop computer that is under warranty and it breaks and you call Toshiba to have it repaired, Toshiba will tell you to drop it off at a UPS store and have it shipped to Toshiba, and it will get repaired and then be shipped back to you. But here's what they don't tell you: UPS doesn't just pick up and deliver your Toshiba laptop. UPS actually repairs the computer in its own UPS-run workshop dedicated to computer and printer repairs at its Louisville hub.

For years, the bane of most Ford dealers was the auto maker's ultra slow system of transporting cars factory to showroom. Cars took as long as a month to arrive, that is, when they weren't lost along the way. And Ford Motor Co. was not always able to tell its dealers exactly what was coming, or even what was in inventory at the nearest rail yards. After UPS got under Ford's hood, UPS engineers redesigned Ford's entire North American delivery network, streamlining everything from the route cars take from the factory to how they're processed at regional sorting hubs - including pasting bar codes on the windshields of the 4 million cars coming out of Ford's U.S. plants so they could be tracked just like packages.

Insourcing is different from supply chaining because it requires a more intimate kind of collaboration. ‘This is no longer a vendor-customer relationship. We answer your phones, we talk to your customers, we house your inventory, and we tell you what sells and doesn't sell. We have access to your information and you have to trust us. We manage competitors, and the only way for this to work, as our founders told Gimbel's and Macy's, is “trust us.” I won't violate that. Because we are asking people to let go of part of their business, and that really requires trust.’

By Sakshi Prakash

Ref.: The World Is Flat by Thomas L. Friedman

E = M C ^ 2

This equation attributed to Albert Einstein has caught the attention of scientists as well as philosophers alike. The common perception is that Einstein was an alternate thinker in a generation filled with reformers, but Einstein had more to him than is commonly understood. The exact essence of this famous equation and particularly its spiritual significance is of interest. Let us first try to decode in a general way before moving on to a profound analysis of the same.

When we take the individual terms we note ‘E’ stands for energy, ‘M’ stands for mass and ‘C’ stands for velocity and in this context specifically the velocity of light which is calculated to be in the order of 3 × 10 ^ 6 m/s. The basic understanding which Einstein advocated using this equation is that energy and matter are interconvertible when either of the two approach the speed of light.

Here the space–time paradigm also comes into the picture, which we refer to as dimension. Another interesting conclusion from this equation is that time is an illusion. This concept is highlighted by philosophers who claim that as any object or matter approaches the speed of light it experiences something called timelessness, and time is just a change in reference.

All these ideologies are better understood when we look at the spiritual aspect of this intriguing equation. Here we look at something which each and every one of us continues to do day in and day out, but with or without awareness. This is thought creation, we think, don’t we? Now how this fits in seems to be an obvious question. Here we need to look at the speed of thought.

The speed of thought varies depending on various parameters like the nature of the thought, the desire behind the thought etc. Now, to get an idea of the speed of the thought, we observe that we can travel beyond space and time using the same. One could think of contrasting things like the sun and an ice cream. Now here we observe that there are no limitations or constraints to our thoughts. So when we compare speed of thought vs. the speed of light, what we find and infer is interesting.

The inference is thoughts can travel faster than light. So what this means in a scientific language comes into the picture now. Thoughts are energy forms and once the speed of the thought becomes equal to the speed of light, time is nullified and once the speed exceeds the speed of light we start travelling backwards in time. Now applying the equation E=MC^2, we note that thought energy is interconverted to matter at the speed of light and this matter which is nothing but an energy form materializes into reality.

Thus thoughts are not just stray forms without significance; they have a deep significance in each one of our lives. We have just pictured how it materializes into reality in more ways than one. So the idea is to think differently to materialize success in any endeavor. This is also the secret behind yogis dwelling in solitude who materialize things out of nothing. So here we conclude that supernatural is only the natural not yet understood and now we understand the power latent in each one of us to unlock a beautiful destiny of choice through pure thinking.

By Rakesh S

A Human Being Is a Microcosm

When we look at the universe, it is a vast expanse of different forms of energy interoperating in a pattern of sorts. When the theory of Doppler Effect which is based on sound is applied to light a common hypothesis arrived at is that the universe is expanding.

This is observed by the scientific study of frequency of light waves reaching the earth from the vast expanse. It is found that the frequency is reducing. This gives an inference to scientists and philosophers alike observing cosmic phenomena that the universe is expanding and this theory has held ground among scientists for a long time now. This can be understood based on science as moving from equilibrium to disorder. A new theory “Reverse quantum cosmology” challenges this theory and comes up with another radically different theory which states that the universe expands and contracts periodically; the value of this theory remains to be seen.

Newton’s Law of entropy states that any system moves from an ordered state i.e. a state of equilibrium to a disordered state and that this cannot be reversed unless acted upon by an external agency which tends to bring the system back to equilibrium; on applying this law to the cosmos we may infer that the universe is in flux and moving towards a disordered or chaotic state now and unless an external agency acts on it the universe cannot regain equilibrium or come back to an ordered state. Who or what acts as the external agency in this context remains to be understood.

Now let us look at the spiritual angle which springs forth interesting conclusions. These can be validated by deep contemplation. It may be an odd analogy but it is true that there are parallels which are subtle and can be observed if pondered upon.

The philosophers’ and spiritualists’ famous quote “Man is a microcosm” has to be understood in clarity because there are various doctrines advocating different schools of thought on the same. Let us first start with an assumption that the human being is a microcosm. This would imply that the entire universe is a macro view of the human body. The entire internal machinery within the human body is similar to the entire external machinery operating in the cosmos. As science validates the randomness of the cosmos, this on application to the human body reveals disorder within the human body.

Now here the concept of the spirit comes forth and the innate difference between the human body and the spirit operating it is pictured. We draw conclusions that the human body is in disorder because the spirit and the spiritual energy manifested by the spirit is in disorder and this can be seen by apparent violation of morality and ethics by majority of the human race today.

Now the concept of the external agency has to be understood. Here the external agency is none other than god who is our own spiritual godfather, though views on this may vary based on the background of the individual; it is universally accepted that there is a higher power that we all refer to as god. Now when we look at the abstract picture there is clarity; we realize on introspection that the order of the cosmos is going to be reestablished by the external agency, god and this is accomplished by restoring the order of the spirit that clothes the human body which can be seen in analogy with the cosmos.

So this restoration of the order of the cosmos has to be done by the external agency and no human being within this closed system is capable of restoring this order. Now when we look at it we also realize that no system tends to be in equilibrium at all times and that the degree of randomness increases over time resulting in disorder. This ideology would also validate the cycle of time and role of god in this closed system of the cosmos which operates in a cyclic fashion moving from order to disorder and then back to order again with the help of the external agency god.

By Rakesh S

Cycle of Time

We all know the famous quote “history repeats itself”, but what exactly is it trying to convey we fail to fathom. When we take a look at human history itself we find that recorded history dates back to around 500 B.C. i.e. to around 2500 years before now. Before that the civilizations which flourished have no concrete documentation and are derived in an abstract way.

So here we try to establish the missing links, when we start traveling through the time portal we begin to enter a sphere of arcane realities which somewhere lies latent in each one of us. The only thing needed by us is to unlock this higher reality; for this we need to travel beyond space and time to the core of our being and endeavor to understand timelessness.

This concept is quite intriguing for one who delves deep to understand the subtle realities of day to day life and the complex workings of situations which life throws at us. When we look at the world today we find lot of ancient wonders around which on rational thinking even contemporary technology finds as an impossible feat and marvels at their brilliance. So here the question arises as to how those civilizations achieved feats which even today’s technology fails to accomplish.

When we look at the history books we find that the ancient man was very primal and ordained to life lacking in any form of intelligence or for that matter civil behavior, so therein lies the riddle which we must unlock. When we look at nature we find it is cyclic day-night-day, spring-summer-autumn-winter. Everything we observe tends to follow a cyclic pattern. Take for example a tree - It springs from the seed and wilts away and later the seed from the same tree springs a new tree.

When we travel to the future we get a sense that science is refining and new technologies are unearthed in this process i.e. scientific progress is yielding far greater powers in human hands and enabling one to achieve feats which are impossible as of today. So when we look at the situation and ponder, we find the missing link and realize that the past becomes the future. There seems to be a hidden connection and the past and the future join at a point in human history. This seems to be an odd concept but on introspection we indeed arrive at this.

So here when we look at the broader picture we find things are actually in motion and a lot of energy transfer is taking place and the most important thing is it is cyclic. So let us look at the hidden picture for ourselves and introspect; then we tend to validate that the same set of events are taking place in a cyclic fashion throughout history and indeed history repeats itself. So there you go déjà vu.

By Rakesh S

Metaphysical Realities Brought to Light

Dimensions are an illusion which blind cognition. Metaphysical truths are toying with reality in absurd ways which seem hard to comprehend. Here the line of focus of common individuals engaged in routine work is blinded. This perception is intuitive and comes under the realm of occult studies, but the point is that they are branded.

As the famous quote goes “The supernatural is only the natural not yet understood”, but because of lack of awareness we entrap ourselves in these fatal belief systems which feel comforting but lack wisdom and foresight. The reality is that it is quite obvious for each one of us to experience and also express the supernatural which is but natural.

But the only criterion is awareness. Here the question arises, awareness of what and the answer is the self. No wonder the most asked question by philosophers around the world throughout history is “who am I”, so here we come to understand that this is the distinguishing factor between ordinary living and extraordinary living.

Great seers and wise men of yore are not any weird beings but their success can be attributed to this simple logic. If we all endeavor to rise above the mundane and seek higher levels of perception it would only require the right knowledge coupled with awareness, and this would mean increased productivity on all levels of life which can be seen in the attitude and outlook towards life a person has.

By Rakesh S

Empires Are First Built in the Mind

Before any empire can be built the seed has to be sown in the mind and this seed is nothing but the thoughts we create. Any successful venture, be it a company or an enterprise works on certain fundamental laws which govern the internal machinery. The pivotal factor in determining success in any team or group is essentially human interaction and at the base of this is human communication. How we fellow denizens come into play amongst each other. This may be based on a number of factors based on the framework of the psyche of each other. But ultimately it comes to morality, as perspectives differ there may be violations or breach of trust but the ultimate aim would be to create group synergy. This paradigm would call for another approach which is not so commonly seen. It is the spiritual angle, as in a work place we tend to identify with various parameters which we ourselves set. We need to look beyond these artificial veils of bias which are very subtle and ingrained deeply. The truth is all of us are intrinsically good but because of certain predispositions tend to alienate ourselves from the crux of human exchanges. Any exchange or a relationship can be pleasant and this would give synergy and contribute to growth and eventually end up in successful empires. But for this we have to understand how this subtle machinery of human interaction works. We find that people working together may be from different backgrounds or in fact have different belief systems which they adhere to. So here we need to exercise utmost caution and constantly be aware of our exchanges with one other as the other person may infer a common sign as a sign of dissent based on perception. So we have to trace the origin of interaction which is as follows: starting with the thoughts it tends to manifest as feelings which are conveyed through signs and eventually through the vocal means. It comes forth in action and behavior which is observed. So here if we realize a subtle truth, our entire approach changes and distances melt improving the foundation of human interaction which is communication. As the famous quote goes, “We are not human beings having a spiritual experience but we are spiritual beings having a human experience”. So in view of this when we realize we all are essentially spiritual beings coming into interaction in this field of play, here specifically the work place then the feeling of universal brotherhood dawns and our exchanges become so smooth and loving that the relationship is nurtured and the work culture is empowered and success is just a byproduct of this which can be cherished.

By Rakesh S

M&M – Mothers and Mobiles

Times have changed. From the time the husband earned, and the wife stayed at home to the time now when the husband earns and the wife earns too. But the wife still runs the house and manages children. So, how does she manage to run the house while still at work?

The simple answer to this intriguing question is also simple – through the mobile phone. For working women this gizmo empowers them to run their house and keep a check on their children while still at work. For full-time working mothers the issue of not being able to give enough time to their children oftentimes plagues their minds. Well the cell phone solves this problem partly if not totally.




As per my observation the maximum calls are made close to or after lunch time as this is generally the time when children return from school (see figure given above). (Data has been taken from ANU, AMTA; Impact of mobile phone on work life balance; March 2008.) Questions about their day at school, some test/exam or some competition follow. Children are then instructed to wash up and change and have proper lunch. Often the children’s nannies are also given a series of instructions over the phone.

An appealing topic of discussion between mothers and children on the phone is ‘homework’. The mom’s tone will become strict and she’ll enquire about whether the child has completed his homework or not. If he has done it he will receive a one-minute praise and the mother will then ask the poor child to learn some spellings or do some Math. Only then the child will receive the ticket to go out and have fun or watch some TV. It is torture for the child. I can say this because I have experienced it so many times in my childhood, when my mum called up from her office to check on me. She especially called up during exams and if some exam didn’t go well she first reprimanded for being careless and not preparing well and then consoled and motivated to do better for the next paper.

The calls again peak in the evenings (see figure given above). This is generally the time when children go out to play. I have many times heard negotiations between mothers and daughters/sons – children pleading to go out and play and mothers instructing them to first complete their homework. Many a times children beg to play with their best friend an hour or so longer and it is up to their mommies to allow them or not. It is really fascinating to witness such discussions. It reminds me of my carefree childhood days.

To conclude – Corporates should provide mobile phone allowance to working mothers as a welfare measure and aid them to balance their work with life at home … LOL

By Sakshi Prakash

The Mckinsey Way

As I had nothing better to do this weekend (apart from watching a couple of movies on my laptop), I read this really insightful book – The McKinsey Way by Ethan M. Rasiel. Mckinsey of course needs no introduction. McKinsey is to management as Cartier is to jewellery! Personally, I think it’s a must read for consultants or anyone working in similar functions. This book has a lesson or two for everybody – from people working at the Director level right down to the analyst/associate level.
Though EmPower is not an out-an-out consulting company, we can learn quite a few things from this power pack and try to apply them.
I’ve picked up a few topics, which I really liked, to elaborate on. The first topic is the ‘Rules to live by’ as discussed in the book. These are the rules which McKinsey consultants find very useful for problem solving.
Rules to Live by:
1. 80/20 Rule – this one is a well-known rule. E.g. 80% of sales come from 20% of the sales force. This one is a universal rule for most businesses. By keeping eyes open to this, businesses can come up with ways to improvise.
2. Don’t boil the ocean – like boiling the ocean to get a handful of salt. The mantra is to work smarter, not harder. When problem solving for a client or your own company, don’t try to analyze everything. Be selective and figure out the priorities.
3. Find the key drivers – there can be 50 different factors affecting the sale of your product, but you should focus on the most important ones – let’s say X, Y, Z and ignore the rest. This saves you from boiling the ocean.
4. The Elevator Test – know your solution so well that you can explain it to the client in 30 seconds. If you can do that then you understand what you are doing well enough to sell your solution. To know why this is known as the ‘elevator test’ and how you can encapsulate months of hard work in 30 seconds ... read the book.
5. Hit Singles – this rule says – you can’t do everything, so don’t try. Do what you are supposed to and get it right. The author gives three reasons for this:
a. It’s impossible to do everything single handed
b. If you do it once, you raise impractical expectations from those around you
c. Once you fail to meet expectations, it’s extremely tough to regain credibility
6. Look at the big picture – “perhaps the most valuable thing I learned during my time at the firm was to think about the big picture – to take a step back, figure out what I’m trying to achieve and then look at whatever I’m doing and ask myself, ‘Does this really matter?”, former McKinsey professional.
These are some of the rules given in the paperback. There are a few other good ones too.
Another very resourceful technique which I found was the way of ‘doing research’ as discussed in this volume. Any problem-solving exercise starts with research. One should, however, avoid reinventing the wheel. Whatever the nature of the problem is, chances are that someone has already done something similar. The key then is to look at such previous studies and if possible learn from those who worked on similar problems.
The volume also gives out a few tried-and-tested research tips to jump start your research process. Apart from this it also touches upon - PDNet; an electronic database the firm maintains; the commercial databases McK subscribes to and the excellent business library the firm maintains. All of these aid in the very vital research process.
Other interesting topics include – team building/managing, selling a study, managing hierarchy, work-life balance, and conducting interviews.
The book emphasizes on the fact–based structured thinking culture at McK. I would definitely like to dig into this further and try to understand what structured thinking actually is and how to go about developing it in me for tackling complex managerial problems (of course, this is for the future).
All in all, a great read for self as well as for business improvement!!

By Sakshi Prakash

Reference:
The McKinsey Way by Ethan M. Rasiel

Raison d’ etre

Life is unpredictable! Sorry to disappoint some of you, but life is in fact quite predictable. The certainty about life is omnipresent though in its subtle form. It’s out there but only for those who dare to look in that direction.
When one looks from the angle of management, life is like an ongoing business activity with each individual comparable to a business unit. Like any business entity each person has his strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, threats, core competencies and functions, not in a vacuum but in a dynamic micro and macro environment.
The reason why I am saying that life is predictable is due to this little term called ‘destiny.’ Everybody’s life is predetermined. That omnipotent supernatural power exists. I’m aware that many of us don’t believe in either. Some are atheists, some agnostics and I respect that. A couple of years ago even I did not believe in God or destiny, but now I do. What was the cause behind this metamorphosis of thought, this radical shift, this sudden transformation of my perception? Actually, when I mull over it, it wasn’t sudden at all. The questions were there in my psyche for a long time. Questions like – Why do we need to worship? Follow a religion? Obey a guru? What is the purpose of our existence? Etc., etc. These I suppose nag everyone’s mind at some point or the other. I couldn’t fathom a satisfactory answer to these questions. For people like us I realized the answers lie in becoming receptive, to look at a different perspective, to dare to change.
Now I’ll attempt to explain my rationale behind my beliefs. Being a student of management I can’t help but look at everything from a managerial viewpoint. Using various scientific quantitative techniques one can forecast the future and predict the business environment. At the same time in order to predict on the long-term techniques such as Delphi, expert opinion is used which has a qualitative basis. Similarly, to enable us to forecast our lives there are n number of science art combos which are quite accurate. These methods are proven, have been published in magazines and showcased on television. Just to name a few of these – Brighusanhita, Suryasanhita, Nadi Astrology etc. You can search for them on the Internet as well but, you’ll have to see it to believe it. It’s unbelievable how accurately these can predict about you and your life. Of course deviations are always there. In business forecasts there is always a little difference between actual values and forecasted values. This applies to life as well!
Some of you might argue that through hard work one can change ones destiny. According to me, this is partially true. Destiny can be modified, but cannot be altered altogether. It can be modified through your ‘karma.’ One has to pay for his past karma no matter what. What one can endeavor to do at the most is alleviate the punishment levels. We can look at it this way; there is a tolerance level till which one can make changes. Beyond that there exists a very rare chance of any alteration.
According to Rig Veda, destiny and hard work are two extremes of the human perception. The reality is that both go hand in hand. One has to maintain a balance between the two extremes. For example, a farmer should mow and plough his fields well i.e. put in his efforts. It’s up to good fortune to bring in rains at the right time. Only then he can reap a good harvest.
Those, to whom all of this is resonating as illogical and opinioned, try to look at it as a different school of thought, a different kind of concept maybe…

By Sakshi Prakash

The Changing Face of Social Media

‘Another hottest Web 2.0 startup remains unprofitable.’ This is the kind of news that we hear often these days. One of the greatest challenges of our times has been monetizing user-generated content. This at a time when socializing digitally has become an integral part of our lives.

Innovate or Make Way for Others

Companies that once revolutionized and dominated new industries – like Yahoo!, a Web 2.0 start-up, has seen its profits dwindle and its dominance decrease over the years as others like Google made it run for its money, putting the company up for grabs for the likes of Redmond-based Microsoft – make way for newer ones. Yahoo!, which had long been the No. 2 search engine, behind Google, has been overtaken by YouTube in the United States. YouTube searches grew 114% year over year from November 2007 to November 2008.

Friendster had a great initial vision, and sparked the social networking revolution by allowing friends to hook up with others. The company had an amazing lead and potential. Then MySpace came along and beat it at its own game. But we should not write Friendster’s obituary, just yet. It is seeing a revival of sorts, only this time in Asia. Friendster is now the leading social network in Asia, with over 55 million registered users.

On the other hand, early birds in Social Networking like SixDegrees.com, LiveJournal, AsianAvenue, BlackPlanet, etc. are nowhere on the horizon. What they lacked were self-sustaining business models.


Critical Mass Does Not Translate into High Monetization

We are expected to have more than one billion Social Media users in three years time. We, today, have social networking sites, with millions of users, that lack self-sustaining revenue streams. Social Media participants indulging in high-value transactions that translate into cash money would be any promoter’s dream.

Facebook and MySpace have over 200 million users each. But what they lack are robust revenue streams since they are primarily dependant on advertising monies. Twitter, the darling of the Web 2.0 fraternity, hasn't made any real money and has been surviving on Venture Funding. Digg is still losing money on its pitiful revenue numbers. The central point here is that monetization is not happening despite high adoption.


Challenges Associated with Advertising in an Environment of User-Created Content

Companies are now realizing that their erstwhile revenue stream i.e. online advertising is failing to make the business grow. Players are now ready to experiment and this could not have come at a better time. As per eMarketer, increase in online advertising spend on social networking sites in the US (the largest social networking market) is expected to slow down to 10.2% in 2009 as compared to 33.8% in 2008. A Universal McCann Study in 2008 found that only 14% of users trust advertising, whereas 78% trust recommendations of other consumers.

The likes of P&G are becoming averse to advertising on social networking sites and are now concentrating on engaging their consumers through the launch of their own social networking Websites, running Digital Media promotions on other social networking sites, etc.

"I have a reaction to [Facebook] as a consumer advocate and an advertiser: What in heaven's name made you think you could monetize the real estate in which somebody is breaking up with their girlfriend?”, Ted McConnell, Procter & Gamble's GM for Interactive Marketing and Innovation.


Alternate Ways of Monetizing Are Here to Stay

eMarketer predicts that Facebook and MySpace are expected to enhance their self-serve advertising systems to allow consumers and businesses to buy and sell real-world goods and services in 2009. MySpace is even trying to monetize video content.

Google’s own YouTube, which relies heavily on user-generated content, remains a costly experiment in the high-traffic, low-revenue advertisement business. Google is now expected to try its hand at monetizing this content. Video search already represents 26% of Google’s total search volume.

LinkedIn turned cash-flow positive in 2006, in its third year of operations. As of January 2007, the average LinkedIn user was 39 years old and made $139,000 a year. Of the total user-base, 89,000 were Chief Executive Officers. About 45% of LinkedIn's revenue comes from the monthly subscriptions corporations need to pay to send a meaningful amount of messages as they try to plug into other people's networks of contacts.

Some East-Asian players are also bucking the trend. QQ (from China) had $523 million in revenues in 2007 and an operating profit of $224 million. Only 13% of this came from advertising. The Chinese online advertising market is not as developed as the American one and this induces the players to look for revenue streams other than advertising. It also shows that even in developing markets like China, users are ready to pay for services. This model can be implemented in other markets.


Emergence of New Business Models

Gone are the days of relying on just online advertising. Online players are tweaking their revenue models and launching application platforms. Facebook’s platform, first launched in 2007, now has tens of thousands of applications. MySpace, which mostly relies on Google’s OpenSocial platform, has 4,500 apps available to users, and 211 million applications have been installed. The iPhone, which launched its App Store in July 2008 has more than 15,000 applications, and they’ve been downloaded more than 300 million times. But none has a direct payments platform to let applications collect micropayments from users.

A look at the big news from recent industry shows, like DEMOfall and TechCrunch 5.0, reveals emerging trends that will drive technology innovation next year. Those trends include cloud computing, open mobile platforms and semantic search.

The mobile platform is also expected to be a reliable revenue generator. A case in point is INQ1 – the world’s first social networking mobile phone and has online services like Facebook, Windows Live Messenger, Skype and Last.fm integrated into the phone's operating system, allowing a user to, for example, access their Facebook contacts from the phone’s address book and see a friend's profile picture when they call.

Some players are trying to capture the crowdsourced pools of knowledge floating across the Internet and use them for commercial customer service. Salesforce.com’s recently launched customer service application ‘Service Cloud’ is trying to do just that.

Way Forward

In these challenging times it remains to be seen as to how ready Web 2.0 Start-ups will experiment with newer technologies. Going by the numbers alone, 2009 does seem to be an interesting year. According to Nielson Online, Twitter is growing phenomenally and their number of unique visitors was up 422% in 12 months (August 2008 data for the US). Facebook is expected to have 300 million active users by the end of this year. The numbers are there but what is required now is monetizing user-generated content.

Apart from the new and upcoming models, I would stick my neck out and propose a subscription-based business model. It does seem to be a model worth exploring. It will reduce the number of participants, but will bring in much-needed revenues for the players.

By Navneet S.Aujla

Charcoal Painting by Karthik

Brushwork by A Geeta

Impact of US Recession on India

A recession is a decline in a country’s gross domestic product (GDP) growth for two or more consecutive quarters of a year. A recession is also preceded by several quarters of slowing down. It normally takes place when consumers lose confidence in the growth of the economy and spend less. This leads to a decreased demand for goods and services, which in turn leads to a decrease in production, lay-offs and a sharp rise in unemployment. Investors spend less as they fear stock values will fall and thus stock markets fall on negative sentiment.

As the cliché goes, whenever the US sneezes, the world catches a cold. This is evident from the way the Indian markets crashed taking a cue from a probable recession in the US and a global economic slowdown. Jobs cuts, lay offs and cost cutting measures are the major worries of the Indian masses as they feel the early effects of a looming recession over their heads.

Outsourcing, one of the biggest strongholds of the Indian economy, is going to be hit badly. The IT sector which generates 75 percent of its revenues from the US is probably going to be the worst hit. India’s exports to the US which have grown substantially in the past years are also expected to fall. It is estimated that the Indian economy is likely to lose between 1 and 2 percentage points in GDP growth in the next fiscal year, and worries for exporters will grow as rupee strengthens further against the dollar. The Sensex saw a major shift towards the negative side when it started slipping points from a record breaking 21000 points ending at less than 9000 points. But experts note that the long-term prospects for India are stable. A massive population fuelled by growing domestic demand for goods and services is expected to embrace the Indian economy from a major impact. A weak dollar could also bring more foreign money to Indian markets thus aiding the growth of the economy.

Striking back

The service industry will be the worst hit among all the sectors. BPOs, KPOs, ITeS and other services provided which contribute more than 52 percent towards the GDP growth in India will see a decline. On the contrary, NASSCOM estimates that India will have a shortage of about 5 million skilled people in IT/ITeS which would counteract examples like TCS firing 500 employees due to cost-cutting measures.
K. Ramachandran, Head, Advisory desk, BNP Paribas Private Banking, says Indian companies will have to adopt a multi-pronged strategy, which includes diversification of the export markets, improving internal efficiencies to maintain cost competitiveness in a tight export market situation and moving the product portfolio up in the value chain to impart resilience.

Conclusion

While on one hand we have some parts of the economy affected, on the other, the slow pace of financial reforms taking place in India, regulations towards foreign investments in different sectors and a number of bureaucratic hurdles have actually turned the tables in India’s favor. The recession presents us with a unique opportunity to analyze our own strong as well as weak points. India’s huge population base and a growing domestic demand is one of the contributing factors towards withstanding the effects of the recession to a great extent. It is time we start thinking out of the box and be more innovative to go about the cost cutting in a systematic manner to balance the effect of the rupee.

By Shiladitya Lahiri

There are no free lunches (or, Wal-Mart is a Wise Old Man after all!)

So, with so much talk on the recession (with even my driver saying – “some Rehman ‘bhai log’ (read Lehman Brothers J) did this to the world, and now everyone is losing jobs!”), and much hoopla by retailers on “Recession proof shopping” (witness OOH advertising by a local Indian chain called Hum Brands); we are now being treated to a spate of bewildering promotions by retailers…

• “Buy 1, get FOUR free!” (where did the good ole’ BOGO go? I don’t like the sound of BOGF – it’s difficult to say!)
• “Buy a mattress, get the BED free!”
• “Subscribe to a magazine, get half an acre of LAND free!
• "Buy a DVD, get the ticket to the movie free!” (OK I am exaggerating, but that’s almost as weird as these offers can get)

I really think, despite the tried and tested appeal of promotions, the offers nowadays are testing people’s credibility (and rightly so). Comments heard:

• “This has to be defective/ seconds’ stuff”
• "The land is not accessible, and nothing can be done there – these guys are just fooling us"

What this really means I that people are beginning to understand that there is a fine print in marketing, either overt or covert – the more amazing the offer, the higher the chances that there is something wrong somewhere.

Early days yet to even judge the balance sheet impact of these incredible offers, but my guess (going by a benchmark of sheer footfalls seen in malls and shopping areas nowadays vis-à-vis 6 months ago) is, that fortunes are NOT being made now.

This trend actually pains my deal loving heart – I have, all my life, all over the world, queued up at the Diwali/ Thanksgiving – Black Friday/ Boxer’s Day etc sales waiting for that great bargain. But I am gradually coming to the opinion that Wal-Mart with its EDLP (every day low price) philosophy actually hit upon the idea of the century, apart from spawning a whole new breed of Retail formats – the Discount Store. Their contention then was, take the money you would spend into the cyclical promos, including all the advertising you would have to undertake to enhance awareness of the promo, and put it into having all year round lower prices. THEN build awareness of your store as the place to come for, for the best prices….this strategy has seen refinement over the years – more in the nature of attempting to steer people’s perception away from “Cheap is always low quality” to, “Better prices can also mean fashion forward/ good value for money”, but by and large, the basis tenet has not changed. Obviously Wal-Mart is doing something right – it seems to have been the only US retailer to have done well in the holiday season where large names have infact collapsed (Circuit City, Tweeter).

I do however think that, like mine, the Indian consumer’s maturity has evolved over time – I remember some 10 years ago, the durables business went berserk in Dussehra/ Diwali in India – upto 50% of the annual sales of most brands occurred then – led primarily by great offers. A look at the scenario now, there are not so many unbelievable offers – more manufacturers are playing the “lowest price” game a la Wal-Mart, and consumers are shop hopping to get the lowest price – I did it too!

The question to answer, then, is – is this just change in shopping behavior due to recession, or a larger, more far reaching trend. Well, I am making no guesses – only time will tell!

Toward Type 1

Lately I was reading this book, “Parallel Worlds” by Michio Kaku and came across the bizarre idea of categorizing civilizations according to their ability to harvest energy. The idea was first proposed by Soviet astronomer Nikolai Kardashev back in 1964 and later Carl Sagan modified the scale in 1973. However, Kaku elaborated the idea of Type 1, Type 2 and Type 3 civilizations quite a bit.

A Type 1 civilization is the one which can utilize all of the energy its planet receives from the mother star. At this stage a civilization has total control over its planet. It can literally turn off volcanoes, delay the ice age and control the weather! On the other hand, a Type 2 civilization can harvest all of the energy of its mother star, which is almost 10 billion times greater than the energy output of a Type 1 civilization. At this stage a civilization starts to colonize other planets and develops a multi planetary civilization, confined within the periphery of its solar system. However, on reaching the level Type 3, a civilization goes galactic. It masters the energy from its entire galaxy with an output 10 billion times greater than that of a Type 2 civilization. At this stage it colonizes the entire galaxy, draws energy from billons of stars and resembles the galactic confederation of Star Wars!

Now on this scale, our civilization rates a mere Type 0.7, since we are still dependent mostly on fossil fuels. However, going by the present rate of development we can achieve Type 1 status in another 200 years, Type 2 status in a few thousand years, and Type 3 status in about 100,000 to a million years. So perhaps it is too early to think about Type 2 or Type 3, but we certainly are standing at the very doorstep of our own Type 1 civilization. Kaku described the formation of European Union and invention of Internet as the first step towards a Type 1 economy and communication system. But he was not sure whether we’ll be able to achieve this feat or will destroy our kind long before, leaving a nuclear trail behind. Every now and then he expressed concern over the growing act of terrorism and the rising popularity of the weapons of mass destruction.

Reading Kaku I felt the choice is ours whether to follow the vision of scientists like him or of today’s new-age terrorists. A Type 1 civilization is not only tolerant but also supportive to all its life forms, ethnic groups and cultural diversities that coexist in different parts of the same planet. So probably it’s time for us to join hands and take a united step toward a Type 1 human civilization.

By Arijit Goswami