Showing posts with label Delhi. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Delhi. Show all posts

Thursday, May 02, 2013

How Dr. Manmohan Singh Beats V.P. Singh Hands Down...

It was really a no contest till recently. The late V.P. Singh was the undisputed winner of this trophy. He also remains the classic example of a middle class hero who became a middle class villain. Till he became the Prime Minister, V.P. Singh was the anti-corruption crusader and messiah who rode on the infamy of the Bofors scam. Of course, Indians soon realised that pious crusaders do not always become good leaders. Mercifully, his tenure did not last long enough for V.P. Singh to inflict irreparable damage to India.

I used the words “till recently” because there was some lingering, forlorn hope that the current Prime Minister would at least do something that would enable V.P. Singh to retain the crown. But then, forlorn hopes always remain hopeless. I realised this when I read newspaper stories about how a Supreme Court Bench has yet again criticised the PMO. This time, the rap on the knuckles is because the Prime Minister has failed to convene a meeting of the Cauvery River Authority despite reminders. Allow me to use the words of the Bench: “What do you mean by this? It is shocking that you require the consent of all the states even for a date of a meeting? Is the PM to see his convenience or the convenience of the members? It is surprising that the PMO is asking the convenience of everybody before fixing the meeting.” Just imagine. The Prime Minister is the head of the Cauvery River Authority set up to tackle the often ugly dispute between Tamil Nadu and Karnataka over the sharing of Cauvery waters. What conclusion can you draw from the fact that he is not able to set up a meeting with some chief ministers? Either he is truly helpless and powerless, or he is indifferent and callous. Either ways, it bodes ill for India.

This incident and the rap on the knuckles by the Supreme Court is not front page news. Nor will it lead our television anchors to froth at the mouth. Yet, in a small but very significant way, it reflects the disappointment and disaster that Dr. Manmohan Singh has been. In 2009, he was a true blue middle class hero because the Congress won virtually all urban seats in the Lok Sabha elections, including seven out of seven in Delhi. Today, that halo has been torn to shreds. Of course, the middle class Indian is very fickle and unreliable. And later historians might have more charitable things to say about the tenure of Manmohan Singh. The more charitable may say that Indians expected too much from him and hence the disappointment and anger.


Source : IIPM Editorial, 2013.
An Initiative of IIPM, Malay Chaudhuri
 
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Friday, April 12, 2013

Sony’s (Intelligent?) bet on The Idiot Box

Sony India has been Focussing Big Time on its Television Business in India. And it seems to have paid it off well. But then, it will Certainly have to come with Some Innovative Strategies soon if it wants to continue rising up The Ranks.

“It’s a time of transition, which makes things even more difficult”. These words from Osamu Katayama’s book These are our future (which details Sony Corporation’s recent history) aptly describe the phase that this Japanese multinational is going through at the moment. First, a devastating earthquake in Japan. Then, a cyber-attack on its network. And finally, a colossal net loss of $3.1 billion for the financial year ending March 31, 2011 (Sony’s second worst financial performance ever). All this has not only made its share price tumble over 25% since the turn of the year, but has also put an enormous pressure on its chief executive Howard Stringer who is striving hard to win the battle against the odds, one after the other.

In fact, when Howard Stringer, Chairman, CEO & President, Sony Corporation, took over the reins of this Japanese conglomerate in June 2005, its three major businesses – gaming, mobile phones and television – were already losing momentum, globally. Thus, the task ahead for Stringer was not only to save these businesses from collapsing, but also identify functions and markets that could serve as alternative sources of revenue for Sony, at least till the time these businesses were back on track, live and kicking.

Although Sony had been in India since 1994, it was only then that the Indian consumers saw Sony recognising the real potential of this ‘Asian Tiger’. Thus, everything from more launches, slightly more affordable prices, to more stores, to even zero-interest finance schemes, to things which Sony had never done before, were all suddenly happening, and not just in India, but across the globe. Result: Sony’s CPD division, which sells televisions, digital imaging, audio and video products, semiconductors, components and business services, recorded a respectable profit of $35.4 million in FY2010-11, up 1.6% y-o-y, at a time when the core divisions were bleeding losses.

No doubt, the strategy paid it off well across countries, but then India seems to be special, so much so that the company is now looking at the country as a priority market and expects it to become the fourth largest market for its products in the world, contributing as much as 10% to the group’s sales in the next couple of years. In fact, Sony, which started off slow in the Indian market, is now rising up fast in a market dominated by chaebols like LG and Samsung.

Cut to the chase, the focus for the time being is on its television business, particularly the Flat Panel Display (FPD) TV market in India. In fact, as per the US-based market research firm DisplaySearch, Sony has already overtaken Samsung Electronics and LG Electronics for the top position, with 22.1% of flat panel TVs shipped in the Indian market in 2010. Even according to the GFK Nielsen Urban India Panel TV (LCD + Plasma TV) Report (for April-June 2010 period), Sony Bravia (Sony’s flagship FPD product) had become the market leader in Flat Panel Display segment in the first quarter of FY2010. It had grabbed a market share of 32% by value, and 29.5% by units sold. The company had sold more than 1,00,000 units during this quarter, more than the number of units sold by any other brand in the market. For the month of June alone, Sony had captured a significant market share, 33% by value and 29.5% by units. The company reported maximum sales in the states of Maharashtra, Delhi, Tamil Nadu & West Bengal during this quarter. For starters, under the FPD TV market, the 22-inch, 32-inch & 40-42 inch segment comprises of more than 75% of LCD units sold in the country. And interestingly, Bravia was the leader in all the three categories.
 

Source : IIPM Editorial, 2012.
An Initiative of IIPM, Malay Chaudhuri
 
For More IIPM Info, Visit below mentioned IIPM articles
 
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Saturday, December 01, 2012

VISION 2020: CITIES IN INDIA

Don’t be surprised, there’s Karachi too! Read on... this is an eye-opener

Indian cities lose on almost all factors. Delhi scored low on ‘Business activity’ and ‘Information exchange’. This is evident from the scores we received in ‘Ease of doing business’ and ‘Bureaucratic hurdles’ and ‘Lack of transparency’. In case of Mumbai, we find low scores on parameters like ‘Cultural experience’ and ‘Political engagement’, and why not? Today, the whole of Maharashtra is burning because of regionalism and ill politics! Bangalore, out proud IT epicentre received low scores on almost every parameter. And here’s the worst of them all – a global comparison. Indian cities couldn’t rank higher than even crime-plagued cities in like Mexico or the totally non-fashionable capital of Bangladesh, Dhaka or even the conflict-torn Pakistani city of Karachi! We have an advise for our administrators – take a holiday to Dhaka or Pakistan... you all need a break!

Source : IIPM Editorial, 2012.

For More IIPM Info, Visit below mentioned IIPM articles.

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