Ezhil_blog

Blue Ocean Water Strategy

2011-07-11T17:45:00.000+05:30

BOS is the result of a decade-long study of 150 strategic moves spanning more than 30 industries over 100 years (1880-2000).
BOS is the simultaneous pursuit of differentiation and low cost.
The aim of BOS is not to out-perform the competition in the existing industry, but to create new market space or a blue ocean, thereby making the competition irrelevant.
While innovation has been seen as a random/experimental process where entrepreneurs and spin-offs are the primary drivers – as argued by Schumpeter and his followers – BOS offers systematic and reproducible methodologies and processes in pursuit of blue oceans by both new and existing firms.
BOS frameworks and tools include: strategy canvas, value curve, four actions framework, six paths, buyer experience cycle, buyer utility map, and blue ocean idea index.
These frameworks and tools are designed to be visual in order to not only effectively build the collective wisdom of the company but also allow for effective strategy execution through easy communication.
BOS covers both strategy formulation and strategy execution.
The three key conceptual building blocks of BOS are: value innovation, tipping point leadership, and fair process.
While competitive strategy is a structuralist theory of strategy where structure shapes strategy, BOS is a reconstructionist theory of strategy where strategy shapes structure.
As an integrated approach to strategy at the system level, BOS requires organizations to develop and align the three strategy propositions: value proposition, profit proposition and people proposition.

Trying to reduce Inflation - RBI comedy plus that of government

2011-03-26T21:02:00.000+05:30

The fundas

CRR - The portion of depositors' balances banks must have on hand as cash. [currently 6 percent]

Repo Rate - Rate at which RBI lends to banks [currently 6.75%]

Reverse Repo Rate - The Rate at which RBI borrows money from bank [currently 5.75%]

Inflation - The rate at which the general level of prices for goods and services is rising, and, subsequently, purchasing power is falling.[currently 9.3 %]

** The RBI inclreased Repo and Reverse Repo Rate by 25 basis points.

RBI Strategy & Its Effects

The RBI in order to reduce Inflation , RBI has

1. Increased CRR
2. Increased Repo Rate
3. Increased Reverse Repo Rate

Effects

Increasing all these rates, the RBI sucks out liquidity in the system.
The increase in the policy rates directly impacts the Indian Banks, as the margin for lending is compressed as their funds become scarer.This makes the banks to increase lending rates.

This affects people who are about to get [bank/car/personal] loans, it also affects people who are involved in Small or Medium level business as they are starved for funds.

The next affected are Real estate developers, as they are already howling with the latest Budget.

Coming to the Common man, higher policy rates leaves less money in the markets as the borrowings are less as well this will bring down the GDP of the country automatically.This decreases number of jobs.

*** If there are so many spill over effects, how come the strategic decision of RBI can reduce inflation.

Time Being Solution

The RBI has to be patient till problems wit Gulf countries settle out, so that the Oil prices is back to normal.
The RBI has to be on the look out for monsoon to be punctual every year.

Waiting for your comments..,,

Economics : GDP n GNP

2011-03-20T09:29:00.000+05:30

Gross Domestic Product
(GDP)

India GDP Growth Rate since 2007

Economic growth is measured in terms of an increase in the size of a nation's economy. A broad measure of an economy's size is its output. The most widely-used measure of economic output is the Gross Domestic Product (abbreviated GDP).
GDP generally is defined as the market value of the goods and services produced by a country. One way to calculate a nation's GDP is to sum all expenditures in the country. This method is known as the expenditure approach and is described below.

Expenditure Approach to Calculating GDP

The expenditure approach calculates GDP by summing the four possible types of expenditures as follows:

GDP	=	Consumption
	+	Investment
	+	Government Purchases
	+	Net Exports

Consumption is the largest component of the GDP. In the U.S., the largest and most stable component of consumption is services. Consumption is calculated by adding durable and non-durable goods and services expenditures. It is unaffected by the estimated value of imported goods.
Investment includes investment in fixed assets and increases in inventory.
Government purchases are equal to the government expenditures less government transfer payments (welfare, unemployment payouts, etc.)
Net exports are exports minus imports. Imports are subtracted since GDP is defined as the output of the domestic economy.

Alternative Approaches to Calculating GDP

There are three approaches to calculating GDP:

expenditure approach - described above; calculates the final spending on goods and services.
product approach - calculates the market value of goods and services produced.
income approach - sums the income received by all producers in the country.

These three approaches are equivalent, with each rendering the same result.

Final Sales as a GDP Predictor

Note that an increase in inventory will increase the GDP but possibly result in a lower future GDP as the excess inventory is depleted. To eliminate this effect, the final sales can be calculated by subtracting the increase in inventory from GDP. The final sales can be either larger or smaller than GDP. The change in inventory is an important signal of the next period's GDP.

Nominal GDP and Real GDP

Without any adjustment, the GDP calculation is distorted by inflation. This unadjusted GDP is known as the nominal GDP. In practice, GDP is adjusted by dividing the nominal GDP by a price deflator to arrive at the real GDP.
In an inflationary environment, the nominal GDP is greater than the real GDP. If the price deflator is not known, an implicit price deflator can be calculated by dividing the nominal GDP by the real GDP:
Implicit Price Deflator = Nominal GDP / Real GDP The composition of this deflator is different from that of the consumer price index in that the GDP deflator includes government goods, investment goods, and exports rather than the traditional consumer-oriented basket of goods.
GDP usually is reported each quarter on a seasonally adjusted annualized basis.

GDP Growth

Countries seek to increase their GDP in order to increase their standard of living. Note that growth in GDP does not result in increased purchasing power if the growth is due to inflation or population increase. For purchasing power, it is the real, per capita GDP that is important.
While investment is an important factor in a nation's GDP growth, even more important is greater respect for laws and contracts.

GDP versus GNP

GDP measures the output of goods and services within the borders of the country. Gross National Product (GNP) measures the output of a nation's factors of production, regardless of whether the factors are located within the country's borders. For example, the output of workers located in another country would be included in the workers' home country GNP but not its GDP. The Gross National Product can be either larger or smaller than the country's GDP depending on the number of its citizens working outside its borders and the number of other country's citizens working within its borders.

Marketing Concepts- Market Share

2011-03-08T19:42:00.000+05:30

Market Share

Sales figures do not necessarily indicate how a firm is performing relative to its competitors.

The firm's performance relative to competitors can be measured by the proportion of the market that the firm is able to capture This proportion is referred to as the firm's market share and is calculated as follows:

Market Share = Firm's Sales / Total Market Sales

Sales may be determined on a value basis (sales price multiplied by volume) or on a unit basis (number of units shipped or number of customers served).

Reasons to Increase Market Share

Market share often is associated with profitability and thus many firms seek to increase their sales relative to competitors. Here are some specific reasons that a firm may seek to increase its market share:

· Economies of scale - higher volume can be instrumental in developing a cost advantage.

· Sales growth in a stagnant industry - when the industry is not growing, the firm still can grow its sales by increasing its market share.

· Reputation - market leaders have clout that they can use to their advantage.

· Increased bargaining power - a larger player has an advantage in negotiations with suppliers and channel members.

Ways to Increase Market Share

The market share of a product can be modeled as:
Share of Market = Share of Preference x Share of Voice x Share of Distribution
According to this model, there are three drivers of market share:

· Share of preference - can be increased through product, pricing, and promotional changes.

· Share of voice - the firm's proportion of total promotional expenditures in the market. Thus, share of voice can be increased by increasing advertising expenditures.

· Share of distribution - can be increased through more intensive distribution.

Reasons Not to Increase Market Share

An increase in market share is not always desirable. For example:

· If the firm is near its production capacity, an increase in market share might necessitate investment in additional capacity. If this capacity is underutilized, higher costs will result.

· Overall profits may decline if market share is gained by increasing promotional expenditures or by decreasing prices.

· A price war might be provoked if competitors attempt to regain their share by lowering prices.

· A small niche player may be tolerated if it captures only a small share of the market. If that share increases, a larger, more capable competitor may decide to enter the niche.

· Antitrust issues may arise if a firm dominates its market.

Drivers of the Market Share can be increased by changing the variables of the marketing mix.

· Product - the product attributes can be changed to provide more value to the customer, for example, by improving product quality.

· Price - if the price elasticity of demand is elastic (that is, > 1), a decrease in price will increase sales revenue. This tactic may not succeed if competitors are willing and able to meet any price cuts.

· Distribution - add new distribution channels or increase the intensity of distribution in each channel.

· Promotion - increasing advertising expenditures can increase market share, unless competitors respond with similar increases.

Acid Test to find out - You are a Bad Boss/ Not (Courtesy: Wall Street Journal)

2011-02-25T22:59:00.000+05:30

When the number of employees Matt Kaplan managed at a lab at the University of Arizona in Tucson mushroomed from six to 30, the school called in a management coach to make sure he was prepared. What he learned surprised him–his employees thought he was distant and didn't trust their work.
"The biggest challenge for me was realizing I couldn't do everything myself," he says. "I had to learn to trust my team, which was a gradual process."
Experts say many bosses are similarly clueless about their appearance to employees. Here are five signals you may be one of them.
1. Most of your emails are one-word long
It may be efficient, but many bosses don't realize how curt a one-word email—even a simple "yes" or "no"—can be, says Barbara Pachter, a management coach and author of several workplace etiquette books. She calls it the "BlackBerry effect."
"Managers have a tendency to be abrupt, especially when they're answering emails on the go," Ms. Pachter says. "It comes off as an invitation for conflict. A simple addition of 'thanks' goes a long way."
Some managers craft even shorter emails. When Christina Marcus emailed an idea for a project to a former boss, he responded "Y." Thinking he was questioning her idea, she spent 20 minutes crafting a response. Turns out, the "Y" meant "yes," not "why." " Ms. Marcus eventually left the firm.
2. You Rarely Talk to Your Employees Face-to-Face
Relying on email may be convenient, but bosses are increasingly using technology to avoid having tough discussions, says Robert Sutton, professor at Stanford University and author of "Good Boss, Bad Boss."
"No one wants to do the dirty work, but it's a boss' lot in life to deal with difficult issues," Mr. Sutton says. Face-time engenders trust with employees, adds Ms. Pachter.
3. Your employees are out sick–a lot.
Employees will fake sickness to avoid a bad boss, says Mr. Sutton. But there's evidence that a bad boss may be bad for your health. A 2008 Swedish study that tracked more than 3,000 men over 10 years found that the men who said they were poorly managed at work were 20%-40% more likely to have a heart attack.

View Full Image

Everett Collection

Ricky Gervais played the quintessential bad boss on the original version of "The Office," which aired on the BBC from 2001-2003

4. Your team's working overtime, but still missing deadlines.
New bosses are particularly prone to giving unmanageable deadlines to staffers, says Gini Graham Scott, author of "A Survival Guide for Working with Bad Bosses."
A human resources executive at a New York firm who declined to be named because she's currently looking for a new position, says that she began working 15-hour days after her new boss came on board. Her boss' first order of business: Promising more aggressive deadlines to clients. "She would tell the client, 'We can have this for you in three days,' which was impossible," says this woman.
5. You yell.
Even if you aren't screaming angrily at your employees, speaking loudly can damage workplace morale, says Ms. Pachter, the management coach. "Employees will constantly feel like they're being reprimanded, and they'll avoid you if there's ever a problem," she says.
At one of Ms. Marcus' former jobs every debate was a public forum, she says. "My bosses would shout freely across the office, even when they weren't necessarily angry," she says. "It charged the atmosphere and really killed productivity, especially when you were trying to figure out who you should be listening to." -

Celebrity Endorsements

2011-02-20T20:16:00.001+05:30

I don't feel celebrity make a lot of difference to the brands, in the name of endorsements. The brand's marketing team should be like NFO Fund managers in investing on the brands

Brands like Coca-Cola invest more of 40 crore ruppes on Sachin Tendulkar for a year .

I can still understand that the top management is constantly putting pressure on the marketing team for immediate results, but I seriously doubt investing so much on brand ambassadors is the right one.

Waiting for your comments.....

What is tis?

2011-02-18T16:58:00.003+05:30

provision of financial services to low-income clients, including consumers and the self-employed, who traditionally lack access to banking and related services.What is tis?