IIPM International

Tuesday, January 22, 2013

Mr. Obama, can you really be an ‘honest broker’?

Mere rhetoric can fall flat unless Obama moves in fast to repair the Middle East

Humanity has heaved a collective moan of relief since their contender has won the US Presidential election. Poll after poll in numerous countries confirmed that if they could have voted, Barack Obama would have polled even more of a rout than he received in the just concluded election. And why was Obama the world’s candidate? Quite plainly, people feel they can talk to him. Individuals around the globe associated with Obama as they perceive him as a gentleman of dialogue, not a hoodlum of dictates. And after years of the haughtiness, bigotry, and unilateralism of the Bush regime, this came as a gust of fresh air. And voters in the United States should be proud of themselves for overcoming the terror and racism that had so subjugated their civilisation since time immemorial. It was time and again stated that America was a racist nation and would by no means elect a Black president. Well, now they have done it, so a new day has surely dawned.

However, one needs to be cautious while expecting a drastic change in US (read ‘Obama’s’) policies post-elections. The Middle East has endured great pains over the last decade due to the Bush regime’s lopsided and unreasonable policies. Palestine, Iraq, Lebanon, and Afghanistan faced contemptuous assaults by the US and Israeli armies.

The Palestine question is still unanswered and it is still not apparent if the US military will pull out from Iraq and Afghanistan. Thus, Obama will have to move towards the populace of the Middle East in a reasonable conduct and make hard work to put up assurances. In the last eight years, the people of the Middle East witnessed more prejudice and absolutely lost confidence in US officials, whose standing has fallen to an unsurpassed low in the region. And the gone-astray confidence cannot be reinstated by rhetoric. Obama ought to put the Middle East conflict on the peak of his foreign policy programme and make serious and honest efforts to locate a just resolution for the never-ending crisis.

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2012 : DNA National B-School Survey 2012
Ranked 1st in International Exposure (ahead of all the IIMs)
Ranked 6th Overall
Zee Business Best B-School Survey 2012
Prof. Arindam Chaudhuri’s Session at IMA Indore
IIPM IN FINANCIAL TIMES, UK. FEATURE OF THE WEEK
IIPM strong hold on Placement : 10000 Students Placed in last 5 year
IIPM’s Management Consulting Arm-Planman Consulting
Professor Arindam Chaudhuri – A Man For The Society….
IIPM: Indian Institute of Planning and Management
IIPM makes business education truly global
Management Guru Arindam Chaudhuri
Rajita Chaudhuri-The New Age Woman
IIPM B-School Facebook Page
IIPM Global Exposure
IIPM Best B School India
IIPM B-School Detail
IIPM Links
IIPM : The B-School with a Human Face
IIPM – FLP (Flexi Learning Program)

Saturday, January 19, 2013

Work at making inequity in education history...

Learn priceless lessons for life as you teach the lesser privileged children and work at making inequity in education history...

While such exemplary initiatives clear off the hurdle of requiring mandatory degrees and qualifications for imparting knowledge, there are a growing number of recession-hit stressed professionals across the world who are increasingly seeking solace and satisfaction in teaching courses and jobs.

A recent study by a UK-based school workforce training organisation TDA, (Training and Development Agency for Schools) found that enquiries for teacher training have gone up by 50%, that too by people with banking, legal, architectural and management backgrounds. The research found that most people do not anymore consider holding a high-status management job as important, but are looking for meaningful work with manageable stress-levels, which allows more time for pursuing leisure activities.

In India this trend is quite common among women, though for different reasons. Reema, a primary school English teacher in Delhi says, “I have done my MBA from Symbiosis, Pune and have worked as an HR professional for long. But my growing-up daughters needed more of my time and I couldn’t handle the pressure of running the house with a managerial job, so I opted for teaching. Whatever were the reasons, today, I think, I go back home with a sense of accomplishment and not stress about tomorrow’s schedules.”

Though majority of India’s education sector would continue to see this trend of bias for teaching profession, there are a growing number of World Schools that are hiring people who can blend their experience and team management skills with academic knowledge. But such schools too are only for the privileged few. For improving young lives like that of Sudhir’s, we need more Indians to come forward for initiatives like ‘Teach for India’, so that the rest of India can also be privy to world-class educational standards.

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Friday, January 18, 2013

Who moved my comics?

Only a superhero can rescue comic-book artists from becoming casualties of the animation industry...

Concerts, exhibitions, artwork and a display of acrobatics by none other than the elite fighter pilots from the French Air Force marked the celebrations of 50 years of France’s unique cultural export – Asterix and Obelix! As the French went all out to celebrate Asterix and Obelix’s birthday, their 34th comic book “Asterix and Obelix’s birthday – The Gold Book” was also launched. It’s been a while since a comic book created such a stir in our country. The spotlights have been fixed on the animators churning out exciting new films, and cartoons for television, which have all perhaps contributed to reducing children’s interest in comic books. Having sold 325 million copies of Asterix and Obelix comics, its co-creators René Goscinny and Albert Uderzo are the best-selling authors of France. But in India, do comics even have an audience today?

“Channels like Cartoon Network and POGO have impacted the reading habits of children. They love to see the heroes on the small screen rather than read comic books,” opines V.G. Narendra, Managing Trustee, Indian Institute of Cartoonists. So, will it be a rare sight to see a kid spending his/her summer holidays reading comic books? Creator of perhaps India’s most famous cartoon character – Chacha Chaudhary – Prem doesn’t subscribe to the popular gloomy view about the comics industry’s future. “There was a set-back about a decade ago, due to television and other electronic media. But once again comics are coming up and their sales are increasing. This is also the effect of television and other electronic media. Like the sales of Superman and Batman comics increased because of the films, which also ended up giving publicity of the printed comics.” He has experienced the same effect with Chacha Chaudhary and relates how after a few episodes of ‘Chacha Chaudhary’ had aired on Sahara TV, there was a noticeable surge in its sales. “Both mediums are helpful in encouraging the market for each other. Now cartoons and comics are appearing on mobile phones and on the Internet, and films too are being produced.”

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Source : IIPM Editorial, 2012.
An Initiative of IIPM, Malay Chaudhuri
and Arindam Chaudhuri (Renowned Management Guru and Economist).

For More IIPM Info, Visit below mentioned IIPM articles.

2012 : DNA National B-School Survey 2012
Ranked 1st in International Exposure (ahead of all the IIMs)
Ranked 6th Overall
Zee Business Best B-School Survey 2012
Prof. Arindam Chaudhuri’s Session at IMA Indore
IIPM IN FINANCIAL TIMES, UK. FEATURE OF THE WEEK
IIPM strong hold on Placement : 10000 Students Placed in last 5 year
IIPM’s Management Consulting Arm-Planman Consulting
Professor Arindam Chaudhuri – A Man For The Society….
IIPM: Indian Institute of Planning and Management
IIPM makes business education truly global
Management Guru Arindam Chaudhuri
Rajita Chaudhuri-The New Age Woman
IIPM B-School Facebook Page
IIPM Global Exposure
IIPM Best B School India
IIPM B-School Detail
IIPM Links
IIPM : The B-School with a Human Face
IIPM – FLP (Flexi Learning Program)

Wednesday, January 16, 2013

When giants are in conflict

After being completely exhausted by the packed traffic, when I finally managed to reach the Chinese embassy in New Delhi just a minute before the scheduled time of the meeting with one of the embassy officials, I found him waiting for me with seven books, documentaries and write-ups on China’s progress, relations with India, the Tibet issue and many more. Without giving me a chance to utter anything, he started speaking on all possible issues associated with India with proofs and statistics which made me feel that Chinese believe in statistics. However, be it at the personal, trade or diplomatic level, there is always a lot of speculation, doubt and uncertainty when it comes to the relationship between Chinese and Indians. Both consider each other friends – outwardly – while behaving as enemies from inside. B&E tries to explore the unique relationship in Chinese words. Here is what China has to say about its friendly enemy India, in a friendly healthy discussion. Some excerpts:

“5 things we appreciate about India...”

CULTURE & BOLLYWOOD: India is culturally very rich. Such a diverse society still united without much chaos and hesitation - that is a remarkable achievement for a country. Moreover, one of the best things China appreciates and Chinese are becoming crazy about is the emergence of Bollywood and popularity of Bollywood actors in China. Indian stars and celebrities are regularly coming to China to perform. There is a huge popularity of Indian movies and movie stars, which is gradually increasing. Raj Kapoor’s films (especially “Awara”, “Sangam” and “Mera Naam Joker”) still have much influence in China. Shahrukh Khan is very famous among Chinese fans.

RELIGIOUS EXCHANGE AND PILGRIMAGE: It is one important aspect of the relationship and has great potential. If the hotel rates are lowered and traffic improved, lakhs of Chinese tourists will come to visit Buddhist sites like Nalanda, Varanasi, Aurangabad. Buddism might have been born in India but it is highly practiced in China today. Hence, the places which Buddhism is associated with are considered pious land for the disciples. Recently, many Chinese scholars visited Nalanda, Arunachal and many other places to explore the undiscovered history of world’s one of the famous and practiced religions.

QUALITY OF INDIAN DOCTORS AND HEALTH PRACTITIONERS: China perhaps could not forget the sacrifices and contributions of Indian doctors for their country. Dwarkanath Kotnis, the famous Indian doctor is an example for the same for whom the Premier Wen Jiabao himself came and delivered a commemoration speech in his praise and in memory of many other Indian doctors who are selflessly contributing to the Chinese health care system. Chinese people are still grateful to those Indian doctors (Dr. Kotnis, B.K.Basu, M. Atal, M.Chilkar, D. Mukerji) who came to help China while we fought Japanese invaders in the 1930s. That’s why President Hu Jintao and Prime Minister Wen Jiabao went to visit relatives of Dr. Kotnis in Mumbai when they came to India.

Read more.....

Source : IIPM Editorial, 2012.
An Initiative of IIPM, Malay Chaudhuri
and Arindam Chaudhuri (Renowned Management Guru and Economist).

For More IIPM Info, Visit below mentioned IIPM articles.

2012 : DNA National B-School Survey 2012
Ranked 1st in International Exposure (ahead of all the IIMs)
Ranked 6th Overall
Zee Business Best B-School Survey 2012
Prof. Arindam Chaudhuri’s Session at IMA Indore
IIPM IN FINANCIAL TIMES, UK. FEATURE OF THE WEEK
IIPM strong hold on Placement : 10000 Students Placed in last 5 year
IIPM’s Management Consulting Arm-Planman Consulting
Professor Arindam Chaudhuri – A Man For The Society….
IIPM: Indian Institute of Planning and Management
IIPM makes business education truly global
Management Guru Arindam Chaudhuri
Rajita Chaudhuri-The New Age Woman
IIPM B-School Facebook Page
IIPM Global Exposure
IIPM Best B School India
IIPM B-School Detail
IIPM Links
IIPM : The B-School with a Human Face
IIPM – FLP (Flexi Learning Program)

Tuesday, January 15, 2013

Kirill on a mission

Is it the Orthodox Church that Putin is using in his new diplomacy?

For the uninitiated, ‘Patriarch’ Kirill, the newly elected Patriarch in Russia, is alleged to have been and to still be a KGB agent. He has been very successful and influential in diplomatic issues, more regional than global. He succeeded to lay down the foundation of Orthodox Church in Cuba and Venezuela, where he is alleged to have secret political dialogues with top level diplomats like Fidel Castro. He is also one of the richest Russians in Russia with a personal wealth over $4 billion. Compare that with the Pope: rich, yes; millionaire, surely; but billionaire? (Even the Vatican operates on a budget deficit these days; one guesses after the billions of dollars payouts globally on child abuse cases).

For the initiated, Russian neighbours including Ukraine are not ready to accept Russia’s presence and domination in their territory. On a key multiple tier diplomatic level, Russia desperately needs to keep its existence and influence in the neighboring states for its economic benefit and to retain supremacy. Thus, as it has exhausted all possible options, Prime Minister Vladimir Putin is now all set to launch another contrivance to resolve political and diplomatic issues with its neighbours – the Russian Orthodox Church. Putin is trying to use the Orthodox Church quite cleverly, with the recent visit of Patriarch Kirill to Ukraine evidence of the same. Analytically, the 10-day visit of Kirill to various churches in Kiev and other cities of Ukraine might not seem very successful at the political level on the face of it, but it seems to have laid down a strong positive foundation in the minds of the common Ukrainians with respect to acceptability of anything Russian.

Religion, especially the Christian Orthodox faith, has been very influential in the region, especially in countries like Ukraine, Georgia. About 17.3% of the Ukrainian population is of Russian origin. In addition, the long history of Christian faith binds people of these countries in common terms.

Read more....

Monday, January 14, 2013

Africa is just an ‘mtn’ away

Having achieved 100 million customers in the Indian market, Sunil Mittal is betting big on the MTN deal to create a Global Conglomerate, says Surbhi Chawla

The Indian telecom industry – reckoned as one of country’s burgeoning sunrise sector continues to leapfrog with 10-11 million subscribers being added every month all through the year gone by. And it comes as no surprise that Bharti Airtel continues to be the undisputed leader of the telecom pack by standing tall with 105.18 million subscribers as its share till July 2009 (according to COAI). While the world was battling with the economic turmoil with most companies witnessing massive erosions in their market capitalisation, Airtel has been seemingly untouched. Its market capitalisation in fact increased yoy to Rs.1,559 billion (as on August 18, 2009) compared to Rs.1,454.55 billion a year ago. Key growth indicators, revenues and net profits too have amplified by 36.77% and 26.40% in FY 2008-09.

However, given the tough economic conditions, achieving such figures has certainly been strenuous for Airtel, with Sunil Mittal demanding that the company be measured vis a vis the investments it has made (Rs. 700 million) in hard infrastructure rather than just cash flows (which are still in the negative) and profits. Add to it the fact that the landscape of the Indian telecom industry has transformed dramatically in the last two years making it increasingly competitive with a slew of new operators like Aircel coming in.

Even the existing operators like Vodafone Essar Ltd., Idea Cellular Ltd, et al, have started expanding the number of operated circles. This in the background of the ever existing and bloodying price war that all operators have played from time to time; a war that resulted in pressure on the Average Revenue Per User (ARPU). Airtel, for its bit to maintain the flow of subscribers, expanded its reach in the rural segment to tap the customers that lie at the metaphorical middle and bottom of the pyramid and ensured that it’s revenues were not impacted as it was backing on value added services (VAS).

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Thursday, January 10, 2013

“ We invested before time”

B&E: What factors have worked for you in India?

VT: We have been in the Indian market for 14 years now, and believe that our foresight and belief in the country and commitment to the telecom market, along with work with the government have helped grow the telecom industry. Nokia devices today straddle a comprehensive range of products at every price point for all segments. India is not only its second largest market globally, but is also one of the only three countries, where Nokia has an end-to-end presence, including a manufacturing unit, R&D centres and over 10,000 employees.

B&E: What strategy did you adopt in the initial days to help you penetrate the Indian market?

VT: Nokia had a holistic approach towards developing the market and growing its consumer base. Our strategy has hence been focused on investing before time, understanding different consumer needs, building a strong product portfolio that caters to all segments of the market and making our products and services relevant to the Indian market. We were the first to invest in setting up a robust distribution network, to understand the potential of having an effective after sales network. Today, our reach and scale is amongst the best in consumer durable industry, let alone handset industry. Nokia has 1,90,000 outlets and a retail point for every 20 sq. km and 800+ centers across 400+ cities.

B&E: What, according to you, are the biggest strengths for Nokia India ?

VT: One of our greatest strengths has been our power to localise our products and services. In India we have used our understanding of the Indian consumer to create handsets, applications and services that answer the needs of the consumer and deliver value.

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Source : IIPM Editorial, 2012.
An Initiative of IIPM, Malay Chaudhuri

and Arindam Chaudhuri (Renowned Management Guru and Economist).

For More IIPM Info, Visit below mentioned IIPM articles.