Harshad Rane

MBA for Dummies: Lesson 10: Credit (Finance)

2012-07-05T16:52:00.001-04:00

Credit (finance)

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Credit is the trust which allows one party to provide resources to another party where that

second party does not

reimburse the first party immediately (thereby generating a debt), but

instead arranges either to repay or return those resources (or other materials of equal value) at

a later date.

In the story discussed below the Glass of Milk was the "Credit" Extended.

A Glass of Milk – Paid In Full

One day, a poor boy who was selling goods

from door to door to pay his way through

school, found he had only one thin dime left,

and he was hungry. He decided he would

ask for a meal at the next house.

However, he lost his nerve when a lovely

young woman opened the door. Instead

of a meal he asked for a drink of water.

She thought he looked hungry so brought

him a large glass of milk. He drank it

slowly, and then asked, “How much do

I owe you?” “You don’t owe me anything,” she replied. “Mother has taught us never to

accept pay for a kindness.” He said, “Then I thank you from my heart.” As Howard Kelly

left that house, he not only felt stronger physically, but his faith in God and man was

strong also. He had been ready to give up and quit.

Year’s later that young woman became critically ill. The local doctors were baffled.

They finally sent her to the big city, where they called in specialists to study

her rare disease. Dr. Howard Kelly was called in for the consultation. When he

heard the name of the town she came from, a strange light filled his eyes. Immediately

he rose and went down the hall of the hospital to her room. Dressed in his doctor’s

gown he went in to see her. He recognized her at once. He went back to the consultation

room determined to do his best to save her life. From that day he gave special attention

to the case.

After a long struggle, the battle was won. Dr. Kelly requested the business office to

pass the final bill to him for approval. He looked at it, then wrote something on the

edge and the bill was sent to her room. She feared to open it, for she was sure it

would take the rest of her life to pay for it all. Finally she looked, and something

caught her attention on the side of the bill. She began to read the following words:

“Paid in full with one glass of milk”

Signed, Dr. Howard Kelly.

reference and further read: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Credit_(finance),
http://academictips.org/blogs/a-glass-of-milk-paid-in-full/

MBA for Dummies: Lesson 9: What is Strategy?

2012-07-03T13:23:00.000-04:00

Strategy

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

A strategy is a plan of action designed to achieve a vision. Strategy is all about gaining (or being prepared to gain) a position of advantage over adversaries or best exploiting emerging possibilities.

Strategy doesn't necessarily has to be a plan it can be an action as well. Look at the following story.

Birbal Shortens a Road

The emperor Akbar was travelling to a distant place along with some of his courtiers. It was a hot day and the emperor was tiring of the journey.
“Can’t anybody shorten this road for me?” he asked, querulously.
“I can,” said Birbal.
The other courtiers looked at one another, perplexed. All of them knew there was no other path through the hilly terrain. The road they were travelling on was the only one that could take them to their destination.
“You can shorten the road?” said the emperor. “Well, do it.”
“I will,” said Birbal. “Listen first to this story I have to tell.”
And riding beside the emperor’s palanquin, he launched upon a long and intriguing tale that held Akbar and all those listening, spellbound. Before they knew it they had reached the end of their journey.
“We’ve reached?” exclaimed Akbar. “So soon!”
“Well,” grinned Birbal, “you did say you wanted the road to be shortened.”

Reference and Further read: http://dimdima.com/khazana/stories/showstory.asp?q_title=Birbal+Shortens+a+Road, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Strategy

MBA for Dummies: Lesson 8: Resource Management

2012-06-28T17:51:00.003-04:00

Resource management

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

In organizational studies, resource management is the efficient and effective deployment of an organization's resources when they are needed. Such resources may include financial resources, inventory, human skills, production resources, or information technology (IT).

Have a look at the following story, which discusses how the available resources were used successfully in a Zoo.

Zoo Job

One day an out of work mime is visiting the zoo and
attempts to earn some money as a street performer.
As soon as he starts to draw a crowd, a zoo keeper
grabs him and drags him into his office. The zoo
keeper explains to the mime that the zoo’s most
popular attraction, a gorilla, has died suddenly and
the keeper fears that attendance at the zoo will
fall off. He offers the mime a job to dress up as the
gorilla until they can get another one. The mime
accepts. So the next morning the mime puts on the
gorilla suit and enters the cage before the crowd
comes. He discovers that it’s a great job. He can
sleep all he wants, play and make fun of people
and he draws bigger crowds than he ever did as
a mime. However, eventually the crowds tire of him and he tires of just swinging on tires.
He begins to notice that the people are paying more attention to the lion in the cage next
to his. Not wanting to lose the attention of his audience, he climbs to the top of his cage,
crawls across a partition, and dangles from the top to the lion’s cage. Of course, this makes
the lion furious, but the crowd loves it. At the end of the day the zoo keeper comes and
gives the mime a raise for being such a good attraction. Well, this goes on for some time,
the mime keeps taunting the lion, the crowds grow larger, and his salary keeps going up.
Then one terrible day when he is dangling over the furious lion he slips and falls. The mime
is terrified. The lion gathers itself and prepares to pounce. The mime is so scared that he
begins to run round and round the cage with the lion close behind. Finally, the mime
starts screaming and yelling, “Help me, help me!”, but the lion is quick and pounces.
The mime soon finds himself flat on his back looking up at the angry lion and the
lion says, “Shut up you idiot! Do you want to get us both fired?“

Reference and Further Read: http://thestorybooks.wordpress.com/2008/02/29/zoo-job/,

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Resource_management

MBA for Dummies: Lesson 7: Value for Money

2012-06-27T17:55:00.004-04:00

Value For Money

A utility derived from every purchase or every sum of money spent. Value for money is based not only on the minimum purchase price (economy) but also on the maximum efficiency and effectiveness of the purchase.

Example: Rolls Royce Loan

A businessman walks into a bank in San Francisco and asks for the loan officer. He says he is going to Europe on business for two weeks and needs to borrow $7,000. The bank officer says the bank will need some kind of security for such a loan.
So the businessman hands over the keys to a Rolls Royce parked on the street in front of the bank. Everything checks out, and the bank agrees to accept the car as collateral for the loan. An employee drives the Rolls into the bank’s underground garage and parks it there.

Two weeks later, the businessman returns, repays the $7,000 and the interest, which comes to $19.67.

The loan officer says, “We are very happy to have had your business, and this transaction has worked out very nicely, but we are a little confused. While you were away, we checked you out and found that you are a multimillionaire. What confuses us is why would you bother to borrow $7,000?“

The businessman replied, “Where else in San Francisco can I park my car for two weeks for $20 bucks?”

Reference & Further read: http://thestorybooks.wordpress.com/2008/02/29/rolls-royce-loan/ , http://www.businessdictionary.com/definition/value-for-money-VFM.html

MBA for Dummies: Lesson 6: Case Interview

2012-06-27T14:32:00.001-04:00

Case interview

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

A case interview is a job interview in which the applicant is given a question, situation,

problem or challenge and asked to resolve the situation. The case problem is often a

business situation or a business case that the interviewer has worked on in real life.

After the applicant is given information about the case, the applicant is expected to ask

the interviewer logical and sequential questions that will enable the applicant to understand

the situation, probe deeper into relevant areas, gather pertinent information and arrive at

a solution or recommendation for the question or situation at hand.

Case Interview by Akbar

The Three Questions

King Akbar was very fond of Birbal. This

made a certain courtier very jealous. Now

this courtier always wanted to be chief

minister, but this was not possible as Birbal

filled that position.

One day Akbar praised Birbal in front of

the courtier. This made the courtier very

angry and he said that the king praised Birbal unjustly

and if Birbal could answer three of his questions, he would accept

the fact that Birbal was intelligent. Akbar always wanting to

test Birbals wit readily agreed.

The three questions were
1. How many stars are there in the sky
2. Where is the centre of the Earth and
3. How many men and how many women are there in the world.

Immediately Akbar asked Birbal the three questions and informed him that if he could not

answer them, he would have to resign as chief minister.

To answer the first question, Birbal brought a hairy sheep and said �There are as many

stars in the sky as there is hair on the sheep�s body. My friend the courtier is welcome to

count them if he likes.�

To answer the second question, Birbal drew a couple of lines on the floor and bore an iron

rod in it and said �this is the centre of the Earth, the courtier may measure it himself if

he has any doubts.�

In answer to the third question, Birbal said �Counting the exact number of men and women

in the world would be a problem as there are some specimens like our courtier friend here

who cannot easily be classified as either. Therefore if all people like him are killed, then and

only then can one count the exact number.�

Reference and Further Read: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Case_interview, http://thestorybooks.wordpress.com/2008/02/29/the-three-questions/

MBA for Dummies: Lesson 5: Strategic Leadership

2012-06-27T01:17:00.000-04:00

Strategic leadership

Strategic leadership provides the vision and direction for the growth and success of an organization. To successfully deal with change, all executives need the skills and tools for both strategy formulation and implementation. Managing change and ambiguity requires strategic leaders who not only provide a sense of direction, but who can also build ownership and alignment within their work-groups to implement change.

Story: Limping Horse

A nobleman’s prized racehorse began to limp for no apparent reason. Veterinarians who were called found nothing wrong with the leg - no fracture, no sprain, no soreness - and they were baffled.
The nobleman finally consulted a sage, a man known for his wisdom.
“Has anything changed for the horse in the last few months?” he asked.
“I changed his trainer a few weeks ago,” said the nobleman.
“Does the horse get on well with his new trainer?”
“Very well! In fact, he’s devoted to him.”
“Does the trainer limp?”
“Uh… yes, he does.”
“The reason for the horse’s limp is clear,” said the sage. “He’s imitating his handler. We all tend to imitate those whom we admire. The company we keep has a great influence on us.”
The nobleman put the horse in the charge of another trainer, and the horse soon stopped limping.
— Adapted from the Jatakas.

"The Horse in the story is an Organization and the handler is the Leader."

Hope this clarifies the term "Strategic Leadership".

Reference & Further Read: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Strategic_leadership, http://dimdima.com/khazana/stories/showstory.asp?q_title=Limping+Horse

MBA for Dummies: Lesson 4: Partnership

2012-06-26T20:28:00.002-04:00

Definition:

A partnership is an arrangement where parties agree to cooperate to advance their mutual interests.

A small story to explain this term in detail:

Half of the Profit

A rich man wanted to give a great feast to his friends. He got all kinds of dishes prepared but he could not get fish. He offered a reward to the man who would bring it.

After some time a fisherman brought a big fish. But the gate keeper would not let him in till he had promised to give him half the reward.

The fisherman agreed. The rich man was highly pleased and wanted to give him a lot of money, but the fisherman refused to take it. Instead, he demanded a hundred lashes on his back. All were surprised.

At last the rich man ordered a servant to give him a hundred lashes. When the fisherman had received fifty, he asked them to stop as he had a partner in the business.

It was the gate keeper. The rich man understood the whole thing. He was given the remaining fifty lashes dismissed from the service. The rich man gave the fisherman a handsome reward.

References and Further reading: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Partnership , http://www.preservearticles.com/2012041930776/half-of-the-profit-short-story.html

MBA for Dummies: Lesson 3: Sales Pitch

2012-06-26T20:09:00.000-04:00

Sales pitch

In selling technique, a sales pitch is a line of talk that attempts to persuade someone or something, with a planned sales presentation strategy of a product or service designed to initiate and close a sale of the product or service.

A sales pitch is a planned presentation of a product or service designed to initiate and close a sale of the same product or service. A sales pitch is essentially designed to be either an introduction of a product or service to an audience who knows nothing about it, or a descriptive expansion of a product or service that an audience has already expressed interest in. Sales professionals prepare and give a sales pitch, which can be either formal or informal, and might be delivered in any number of ways.

Reference and Further Reading: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sales_pitch

MBA for Dummies: Lesson 2: Market Development Strategy

2012-06-26T10:30:00.000-04:00

Market Development Strategy: Selling Ice to the Eskimo

A company follows a market development strategy for a current brand when it expands the potential market through new users or new uses. New users can be found in new geographic segments, new demographic segments, new institutional segments or new psychographic segments. Another way is to expand sales through new uses for the product.

The key difference between this growth strategy and market penetration is that the definition of the target market must change. In other words, the market potential must increase through this strategy, whereas the market size is "fixed" with a market penetration strategy.

Reference and further read: http://www.theproduct.com/marketing/market_development.htm

MBA For Dummies : Lesson 1 : Oligopoly

2012-06-25T23:54:00.002-04:00

What is Oligopoly?

An oligopoly is a market form in which a market or industry is dominated by a small number of sellers (oligopolists). Because there are few sellers, each oligopolist is likely to be aware of the actions of the others. The decisions of one firm influence, and are influenced by, the decisions of other firms. Strategic planning by oligopolists needs to take into account the likely responses of the other market participants.

Source: Wikipedia

For further reading refer : http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oligopoly

Ronaldo: Portugal Can Beat Germany, Probably in dreams

2012-06-09T19:15:00.004-04:00

30th May 2012

Ronaldo: Portugal can beat Germany

REAL Madrid attacker Cristiano Ronaldo believes that Portugal can defeat Germany in its Euro 2012 opener.
Die Mannschaft sent Portugal packing at Euro 2008 and are one of the favorites in Poland and Ukraine, but Ronaldo refused to write off the Seleccao's chances against Joachim Low's men in the first group game.
"I am looking forward to the tournament, we will have a few days to prepare for it," Ronaldo said.
"The coach knows better than anyone what to do. We will have 20 days to prepare for the first game, so we will have enough time to set up the tactics to beat Germany."
After the match against Germany on June 9, Portugal will take on Denmark (June 13) and Netherlands (June 17).
The Euro 2004 runnerup, whose pre-Euro training base is located in Obidos, will play friendlies against Macedonia and Turkey before flying out to Opalenica, in Poland.

Reference: http://www.nationaldailyngr.com

9th June 2012

Euro: Gomez scores as Germany hangs on to beat Portugal

Lviv (Ukraine), June 10 (IANS/RIA Novosti) Germany beat Portugal1-0 on the second day at the European Championship in a match here Sunday.

A Mario Gomez header helped Germany to register a 1-0 win over Portugal in their Euro 2012 Group B opener here Saturday.

Gomez, who started ahead of Miroslav Klose in attack, ended a turgid opening 74 minutes with a pinpoint header into the corner of the goal, outjumping Joao Pereira six yards out from Sami Khedira's cross.

Portugal had hit the crossbar just before half time as defender Pepe's close-range shot cannoned onto the line and away.

The win takes the Germans joint top of the group after Denmark's surprise win over the Netherlands earlier Saturday.

Germany face the Netherlands next Wednesday, with Denmark playing Portugal.

Reference: http://in.news.yahoo.com/germany-beats-portugal-1-0-euro-2012-210522318.html

How did Molson go wrong with the "Cold Shot" Campaign?

2012-06-09T15:44:00.003-04:00

Molson using Facebook to engage Canadian students

On behalf of Molson Canada, Toronto-based interactive agency Henderson Bas has announced the launch of a Facebook campaign targeted at the 19-24 demographic. The social networking site will be used to increase brand awareness of Molson products in Canada.

The Molson Canadian Nation group profile on Facebook, which currently has over 17,000 members, will serve as the key communication vehicle for the initiative. It will feature the Cold Shots Campus Challenge, which pits academic institutions across Canada against each other to prove which school parties the hardest.

Each university or college will have a virtual ‘dorm room,’ where members from those institutions can post images of themselves and their friends in full party mode. The school with the most pics will take the title of #1 Party School in Canada. The best image, as determined by a panel of Molson judges, will win the Spring Break Trip Give Away Contest – a trip for the winner and three friends to Cancun, Mexico, for Spring Break 2008, courtesy of Breakaway Tours.

Also on the Facebook group site, users can play the Cold Shots Amped Up game, download screen savers, wallpaper and MSN Icons, check out the ‘Party Finder’ section or look at concert pics and polls.

‘Utilizing Facebook for this program made strategic sense,’ explains Henderson Bas creative strategy director Heather Clark. ‘This is where they hang out and it’s a great opportunity to engage them in a dialogue. If you do it right, you can find yourself with a whole nation of brand ambassadors.’

Reference: http://mediaincanada.com/2007/11/22/molson-20071122/

Discussion:

Molson acted responsibly by ending the “Cold Shot” Campaign. The campaign was acting against the core values and principals of Molson. Molson had always focused on its principals of responsible drinking among its target customers. The reaction to the campaign was hampering Molson’s brand equity. Universities, student associations and primarily some of the target audience perceived the campaign as an effort to target underage audience to increase revenue by Molson. Hence pulling the campaign off was a smart move.

In Traditional marketing the customers don’t get physically involved in the campaign, also the company has exclusive control over the campaign; while in case of social media marketing consumers play an important role. Social media marketing primarily works on the principle of word of mouth marketing and viral marketing. In Case of Molson campaign both these concepts were used to spread the message. While Molson understood the effectiveness of SMM it underestimated the control consumers have over the campaign.

Yes Molson should use social media marketing again. Molson was correct in engaging their customers via social network. According to Charlene Li of Forrester Research, “80% of young adults are using them” with “60% of teenagers and 67% of young adults visiting the sites every day or more” (From the exhibits) I would suggest the following guidelines to be in place while designing the next SMM campaign:

Speed: The speed at which information spreads via social media is both cause for celebration and fear. However, every plan should address the positive and negative aspects of speed. Molson should estimate the rate at which promotion would spread and prepare a contingency plan in case things go wrong.

Reach: Molson should also anticipate that who could be affected by the campaign outside the target audience. Stakeholder analysis needs to be done before launching the campaign.

Message: Molson’s website acknowledges that the company has “a firm commitment to alcohol responsibility” This underlies the fact that Molson was aware that their product could be abused. Every marketing promotion or communication message should eliminate vague messages that are open to multiple interpretations, such as “Best Party School.”

Community: Molson is actively engaged in many community activities and governing bodies. Molson should evaluate every activity and promotion on the basis of what kind of community is created and whether that community would fall within company and society’s expectations.

Virtual Worlds and Social Media Marketing - Overview

2012-06-09T15:31:00.002-04:00

Click here to see the presentation:

Virtual Worlds and Social Media Marketing - Overview

Virtual Worlds and SMM

What is a virtual world?

“A virtual world is a computer-based simulated environment intended for its users to inhabit and interact via avatars.” – Wiki

Can a brand benefit from marketing in virtual worlds?

The market is still wide open. It benefits brand/company to be ahead of the game and start marketing in virtual worlds, establishing presence before competitors do. Virtual items/goods in social games have been huge source of income for many companies for the last 4 years. Income from virtual games hit the $ 2 billion mark in 2010 and it continues to grow.

What is the advantage of marketing in virtual worlds?

It is an opportunity to connect with users in an environment they are already using for entertainment. It is an opportunity to increase brand awareness beyond normal boarders and it allows customers to experience the company in a 3D world on their own terms.

Different types of advertising strategies in Virtual worlds:

1. Static Advertising

The ads could be of dynamic nature or static. Just as the names suggest, dynamic ads are those that are dynamic and action seeking in nature, while static are those that are still in nature. But both have their advantages and disadvantages.

2. Promotions and Sponsored Events

3. Virtual Good and Product Placement

4. Dynamic InGame Advertising

In-game advertising (IGA) refers to advertising in computer and video games. IGA differs from advergaming, which refers to a game specifically made to advertise a product. IGA can be integrated into the game either through a display in the background, such as an in-game billboard or a commercial during the pause created when a game loads, or highly integrated within the game so that the advertised product is necessary to complete part of the game or is featured prominently within cut scenes. Increasing Internet connectivity and bandwidth has increased the use of dynamic IGA, which allows the game manufacturer or its advertisement vendor to deliver advertisements remotely, update advertisements after the game is launched, and target advertisements based on time or geography. This approach combines the customization of web banners with the functionality of traditional billboards and posters as most in-game advertisements do not link to a website outside the game.

5. Branded Spaces

6. AdverWorlds and AdverGames

Advergaming (a portmanteau of "advertising" and "gaming") is the practice of using video games to advertise a product, organization or viewpoint. The term "advergames" was coined in January 2000 by Anthony Giallourakis, and later mentioned by Wired's "Jargon Watch" column in 2001. It has been applied to various free online games commissioned by major companies.

Corporate Opportunities within Virtual World:

· To advertise and spread brand awareness

· V-Commerce (For selling virtual products)

· To do market research, for example to launch a virtual prototype and collect response from Avatar’s

· Human Resource management (To recruit people)

5C’s of success in virtual social world:

· Catch Traffic
· Compensate presence
· Consider innovativeness
· Create a learning environment
· Care about Avatars

Some reasons for failure in virtual world marketing:

Target Market definition – Companies are not able to define their target consumer in virtual world precisely.

Environment Consideration - Many companies fail to fully understand what can happen in an open-world free-reign environment. Proficient residents have capabilities to manipulate the world in many ways that may not be appreciated by big brands. Setting virtual fires to buildings or initiating protests with meteors crashing are unfortunately a potential occurrence that businesses should be aware of.

Community - "Contribution" is of major importance. A branded presence alone isn't enough to bring in visitors. The community needs to have a reason or a benefit tied to interacting with a brand.

Lack of research and personal experience - There was a huge misperception of marketers as they jumped on the virtual-world bandwagon. Reported resident numbers don't necessarily translate to regular users. Although virtual worlds may report millions of registered participants, only a fraction of them may be logged in at any given time.

ROI goal establishment - Without an established road map toward success, many companies failed to justify their existence in virtual worlds without concrete metrics.

Technology - Another contributing factor was the technology itself. With connection and processor speeds varying amongst users, it is difficult to maintain high refresh rates allowing a "smooth" interactive experience.

Appendix:

References:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/In-game_advertising

http://www.mediacontacts.com/wp-content/uploads/mc_insight_outubro.pdf

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Advergaming

http://www.emergingmarketer.com/book/chapter8/8-3.html

http://secondlife.com/

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Virtual_world

http://www.virtualworldsreview.com/

http://www.brandchannel.com/papers_review.asp?sp_id=1269

The fairy land of Second Life: Virtual social worlds and how to use them

http://gigaom.com/2007/04/29/does-virtual-world-advertising-work/

http://www.clickz.com/clickz/column/1701719/virtual-advertising-virtual-world

Revenge by Denmark - Denmark beats Netherlands

2012-06-09T15:19:00.001-04:00

14th June 2010

Netherlands needed a lucky own goal and a late strike by Dirk Kuyt to get their World Cup campaign off to a winning start with a 2-0 win over Denmark in their Group E match at Soccer City on Monday.

They took the lead just after halftime when Denmark defender Simon Poulsen’s misdirected header from Dutch striker Robin van Persie’s cross hit the back of fellow Dane Daniel Agger and went into the net for the first own goal of the tournament.

Forward Dirk Kuyt put the game beyond Denmark in the 85th minute when he followed up to tap home after Eljero Elia had hit the post following a through ball by Wesley Sneijder.

Denmark, who have not beaten the Dutch, apart from a penalty shootout victory in Euro 92, for 43 years, rarely looked like scoring in a match that never really lived up to expectations.

Although the nature of the own goal was fortunate for the Dutch, they probably deserved what luck was going after being more enterprising for most of a largely poor first half.

The Danes seemed content to sit back and soak up what was thrown at them — which was actually very little.

Van Persie and Rafael Van der Vaart created a couple of half-chances that hardly drew gasps from the vuvuzela-blowing fans, while the Danes were just as ineffective on their forays.

The nearest they came to a goal was when Nicklas Bendtner, surprisingly named to start after recovering from a groin injury, sent a header wide after 27 minutes, his last notable contribution before going off after an hour.

The Dutch continued to dominate possession and got their just reward when Kuyt pounced near the end. They then almost made it 3-0 but Ibrahim Afellay’s effort was acrobatically cleared off the line by Simon Poulsen.

Teams:

Netherlands: Maarten Stekelenburg; Gregory van der Wiel, John Heitinga, Joris Mathijsen, Giovanni van Bronckhorst, Mark van Bommel, Dirk Kuyt, Nigel de Jong (Demy de Zeeuw, 88), Robin van Persie (Ibrahim Afellay, 77), Wesley Sneijder, Rafael van der Vaart (Eljero Elia, 67).

Denmark: Thomas Sorensen, Christian Poulsen, Simon Kjaer, Daniel Agger, Lars Jacobsen, Martin Jorgensen, Nicklas Bendtner (Mikkel Beckmann, 62), Thomas Kahlenberg (Christian Eriksen, 73), Simon Poulson, Dennis Rommedahl, Thomas Enevoldsen (Jesper Gronkjaer, 56).

Reference: http://www.timeslive.co.za/sport/soccer/2010/06/14/netherlands-beat-denmark-2-0

9th June 2012

Denmark Beat Netherlands in Euro 2012 Group B Match

Denmark's national football team beat the Netherlands 0:1 in the two teams' first match in the group phase at UEFA Euro 2012.

In what is considered by many to be a surprise, Denmark stole the win from one of the Euro 2012 favorites, the Netherlands.

The only goal in the match was scored by Denmark's Krohn-Delhi in the 24th minute.

Reference: http://www.novinite.com/view_news.php?id=140135

Toyota's Innovation Strategy - Brief Overview

2012-06-08T19:28:00.000-04:00

Toyota Motor Corporation abbreviated TMC, is a multinational automaker headquartered in Toyota, Aichi, Japan. In 2010, Toyota employed 317,734 people worldwide, and was the world's largest automobile manufacturer by production.[1]

Toyota Motor Corp., which leapt 10 spots this year to No. 4, is becoming a master of many as well. The Japanese auto giant is best known for an obsessive focus on innovating its manufacturing processes. Because of the hot-selling Prius, Toyota is earning even more respect as a product innovator. It is also collaborating more closely with suppliers to generate innovation. Recently Toyota launched its Value Innovation strategy. Rather than work with suppliers just to cut costs of individual parts, it is delving further back in the design process to find savings spanning entire vehicle systems.[2]

As per the “four models of corporate entrepreneurship” companies of all types and sizes must create internal entrepreneurial capabilities to stay competitive in an increasingly globalized marketplace where competitors can come from anywhere. Toyota follows the four model approach. Toyota follows the producer model. Toyota group has built a separate R&D and innovation department. This subsidiary is called Toyota central R&D lab limited. Toyota Group has provided this subsidiary independence. Toyota central R&D lab supports a full service group with a mandate for innovation, similar to Cargill organization. [3]

Current Innovation strategy:[4] Toyota central R&D lab works on the basis of red ocean strategy. The boundary of the research is defined and the objectives are defined by competition. Line extension is the primary objective of the Toyota central R&D lab.

In keeping with its founding spirit of “Be ahead of the times through endless creativity, inquisitiveness, and pursuit of improvement”, Toyota Industries actively carries out research and development activities. Toyota R&D activities can be broadly classified into two areas, (1) product development and improvements performed independently within each business division, and (2) R&D undertaken mainly by the “Research & Development Center” separate from the activities of Toyota’ business divisions and with a view toward company-wide management strategy.

1. R&D Activities Carried Out by the Business Divisions[5]

In each of Toyota’ internal divisions various initiatives, centered on the technical departments, are being taken to promote the advanced development of future products that will lead the world in functionality, quality, and low cost. The results of these R&D activities are unveiled at an internal technology exhibition in each division and also at a company-wide technology exhibition held every year where the engineers from all divisions gather. In this way Toyota strives to give their engineers access to a wide range of exchange opportunities.

2. Research & Development Center Activities[6]

The “Research & Development Center”, which is located in Kyowa, Obu City, Aichi Pref., undertakes the advanced development of fundamental technologies which will be the keys to the future products of each division, and advanced research for the development of new products for new businesses as well as development of materials and other technologies that will come to serve as the common foundation for all divisions. For example, there are a multitude of research and development results and prototypes such as a wide variety of functional parts for use in fuel cells, non-contact power supply technologies for use in clean logistics, super smooth coatings for inside car air-conditioning compressors, and three dimensional fabric reinforced composite technologies. In order to make research and development more efficient and introduce leading edge technologies, Toyota Industries conducts collaborative research with Toyota Central Research & Development Laboratories, Inc., an R&D facility of the Toyota Group involved in basic research, as well as with universities, other outside R&D institutions, and manufacturers. Top level research activities are carried out with the support of the newest simulation software and analytical instruments. In this environment Toyota researchers and engineers are developed through wide-ranging participation in scientific societies in all the major technological fields, such as machinery, electronics, physics, and materials, etc. This allows them to absorb the latest technologies. Toyota creates opportunities for engineers to deepen their practical business experience in product development through exchanges with the other technical divisions within Toyota Industries and cooperation with other members of the Toyota Group.

Current R&D department structure[7]

Toyota central research and development laboratories incorporated is a company which belongs to the Toyota group parent subsidiary. The Toyota central research and development lab was established in the year 1960. Shoichiro Toyoda is the current CEO and chairman of the R&D lab. Approximately 1062 employees work in the Toyota R&D lab. The total capital investment is of 3 billion yen. The R&D lab is built on an astonishing 300,000 meter square ground space. The principles of this independent R&D lab are to contribute to further prosperity of the Toyota Group through technological innovations. The Toyota R&D lab has sown the seeds of new business and industry by pioneering concepts and technologies, and combining technical elements to crystallize and conjoin core technologies. The fundamental attitude is to contribute to human prosperity through the formation of industries resulting from original research and actualization. The Toyota central R&D lab promotes the active exchange of ideas and information to continue growing as an open and globally respected company. The Toyota central R&D lab empowers the organization by fostering a vivid corporate culture and active corporate environment, in which the individuality and enthusiasm of all are encouraged. The role of Toyota central R&D lab is to contribute to the present and future businesses of the Toyota Group by conducting research in a variety of fields. At the same time, survey global technology trends and explore new fields of science to propose a vision of the future that will lead to new businesses while contributing to the advancement of science, technology, and industry. (Refer to Appendix 1) The Toyota central R&D lab works in conjunction with other research organizations. The technical collaboration contractor companies send specific technical innovation requests to the Toyota central R&D labs. Toyota central R&D labs based on the request works cooperatively with the contractor companies, Genesis research institute, Toyota technological institute and Toyota Physical and chemical research institute. (Refer to Appendix 2)

Research objectives (Refer to appendix 3)

Toyota central R&D lab’ research objectives focus on issues such as environment, energy, safety and comfort, electronics, materials and monozukuri (making things).

Management Culture: From the Middle Manager as Innovator article[8] in the readings we understand that Innovative managers tend to be visionary, comfortable with change, and persistent. Innovation flourishes in companies where territories overlap where people have contact across functions and information flows freely, numbers of people have excesses in their budgets. Also Managers are in open ended position help build an innovative atmosphere in the organization. Toyota central R&D lab follows a similar model. Most of the senior executives are with technology background and have stayed with the organization for more than 20-30 years on average. For example Mr. Akira Imura[9] has been serving as Chairman of the Board and Representative Director in TOYOTA INDUSTRIES CORPORATION since June 16, 2011. He joined the Company in April 1968. His previous titles include Vice President, Managing Director, Director of Technology in Compressor Business Unit and Senior Managing Director. He also previously served as President and Director of a subsidiary. The budget allocation to the Toyota central R&D lab is also very high as compared to automobile R&D industry standards. The total capital investment is 3 billion yen.

Entrepreneurial culture of Toyota:[10] Toyota has an interesting history. The current trend in “lean start-ups” can be directly traced to Toyota’s entrepreneurial origins. A major factor in the development of the Toyota Production System, which inspired the global lean movement, was a shortage of working capital when Toyota was young. That’s certainly something that most entrepreneurs can relate to. The story is that Toyota couldn’t afford inventory or waste. So it had to innovate a just-in-time and total quality approach to maximize capital efficiency. Perhaps the most important insight from those early days at Toyota was that making lean work was entirely dependent on people: people who could solve problems and maintain the right focus. That insight goes all the back to the founder of Toyota (when it made automatic looms), Sakichi Toyoda, and his son, Kiichiro (who started manufacturing automobiles). The founders laid the foundation for a culture that continues to guide the company to this day. Toyota views its people not as the biggest bucket of variable costs, but the biggest bucket of appreciating assets. Toyota follows the following model as we learnt in the “Implement entrepreneurial thinking in established organizations” article[11]: 1) Assessment of strategies for entrepreneurial activity 2) Implementation of an entrepreneurial climate 3) Control and evaluation of corporate entrepreneurship.

Toyota R&D portfolio:[12] Toyota Motor Corporation (TMC) spends more than $26 million a day on research and development (R&D), according to figures compiled by an international management consultancy firm. The figures show Toyota has been the world's top R&D spender in each of the past three years among publicly traded corporations.[13] To ensure efficient progress in R&D activities, Toyota coordinates and integrates all phases, from basic research to forward-looking technology and product development. With respect to such basic research issues as energy, the environment, information technology, telecommunications, and materials, projects are regularly reviewed and evaluated in consultation with outside experts to achieve efficient R&D cost control. And with respect to forward-looking, leading-edge technology and product development, Toyota establishes cost-performance benchmarks on a project-by-project basis to ensure efficient development investment. The Toyota R&D portfolio can be divided into three major segments. First segment is basic research which comprises of development theme discovery research on basic vehicle-related technology, Forward-Looking and Leading-Edge Technology Development. Second segment is Technological breakthroughs related to components and systems which comprises of development of leading-edge components and systems ahead of competitors. The third segment is product development which comprises of new model development and existing model upgrades. With reference to the article “Crafting R&D Project Portfolios”[14], what we can conclude is that Toyota observes all the three options for R&D i.e. positioning options, scouting options and stepping stone options. These categories make more sense, given uncertainty of technology and R&D than using NPV to allocate resources.

Toyota leadership and innovative culture: From the “How leaders influence employees'[15] innovative behavior” article we learn that different leadership behaviors influence innovation, both idea creation and idea implementation. With reference to the article we can conclude that Toyota provides following aspects to foster innovation:

· Innovative Role Model – “leaders who act creatively make themselves available for creative emulation, which in turn produces more creativity in followers”.

· Support for innovation

· Recognition

· Rewards

· Resources

· Monitoring

· Vision

The culture was embedded in Toyota by the founder Sakichi Toyoda[16] who was a Japanese inventor and industrialist. Toyoda is referred to as the "King of Japanese Inventors". He invented the principle of Jidoka which means that the machine stops itself when a problem occurs became later a part of the Toyota Production System. Toyoda developed the concept of 5 Whys: When a problem occurs, ask 'why' five times to try to find the source of the problem, then put into place something to prevent the problem from recurring. This concept is used today as part of applying lean methodologies to solve problems, improve quality, and reduce costs. Hence what we can observe is that Toyota has the inbuilt culture of innovation and improvisation.

Toyota’ Open Market Innovation: There are 9 major stockholder companies in Toyota central R&D lab limited these are Toyota Industries Corporation, Toyota Motor Corporation, Aichi Steel Corporation, JTEKT Corporation, Toyota Auto Body Co., Ltd., Toyota Tsusho Corporation, Aisin Seiki Co., Ltd., Denso Corporation, and Toyota Boshoku Corporation. Toyota central R&D lab limited has approximately 42 technical collaboration contractor companies. In order to make research and development more efficient and introduce leading edge technologies, Toyota Industries conducts collaborative research with Toyota Central Research & Development Laboratories, Inc., an R&D facility of the Toyota Group involved in basic research, as well as with universities, other outside R&D institutions, and manufacturers. With reference to the “Open Market Innovation”[17] article what we can observe is that Toyota benefits by following the open market innovation strategy. It is evident that Toyota collaborates with universities and external R&D organizations to run its R&D department. The benefits to Toyota are, by importing new ideas improves cost, quality and speed of innovation, higher % of total sales from new products. It is similar to the P&G model of acquiring 50% of its innovation from the outside company as mentioned in the article, “Connect and Develop: Inside Procter and Gamble’s new model for innovation.” ‘Connect and develop’ aligns P&G with strategic global innovation partners, through its ‘technology entrepreneurs’ from around the world, to locate innovations for new and existing product lines. Same holds true for Toyota.

Recent R&D investment by Toyota: As per the recent press release by Toyota group they have started investing heavily in Hybrid technology. As per Toyota the demand for fuel efficient hybrid cars will increase in near future. Toyota is not committing the mistake that has been described in the article “Disruptive Technologies”[18]. As per the article, “A fundamental reason why large leading companies invest aggressively in technologies needed to retain their current customers by fail to make certain other technological investments that customers of the future will demand is that these leading companies stay too close to their customers.” Hence Toyota is trying to stay as close to the customers as possible by doing future R&D investments based upon customer demand.

Toyota falling flat:[19] In the early 2010 Toyota announced recall of 270,000 Prius models over a braking problem. Prius is one of the flagship hybrid cars of Toyota. Toyota had already recalled around 8 million cars worldwide over concerns regarding accelerator pedals. We can analyze this instance from the perspective provided by article “The upside of falling flat”.[20] Toyota improved upon its quality standards post the recall incident. Hence falling flat doesn’t always hurt an organization but it can also benefit the organization in some way.

Toyota’s R&D investment: As per the financial times report Toyota is the number R&D investor in the world. Toyota approximately spends $ 24 million every day on R&D research. As per the “Money isn’t everything”[21] article, there is no relationship between R&D spending and economic or corporate success, larger organizations have an advantage because the proportion of spending on R&D can be small but the actual amount is still larger and spending too much doesn’t help, but too little will hurt. Strategies that focus on increasing funding of an innovation program without fully understanding the process of what the group will do is more likely than not to fail to deliver the desired performance. Companies should avoid being the top 10% or bottom 10% of spenders on R&D unless there is a defined strategic reason because the middle 80% tend to outperform them. While Toyota belongs to the top 10% of R&D investors it has succeeded in its entire venture till date because of the defined process in R&D process. The R&D central lab receives R&D requests from the collaborative technical labs. The standards and expected end result is defined in the initial phases of R&D. Hence the R&D investment done by Toyota is productive and effective. Toyota’ sales team plays crucial role in R&D process, the sales team provides feedback/customer insights to the R&D team. Toyota has aligned its innovation with corporate strategy.

Key learning’s from Toyota’s innovation strategy[22]

Toyota is an organization which implements 1 million new creative ideas each year and has become one of the ten profitable companies in the world. The world knows Toyota as the car maker that produces such great brands as Camry, Lexus, Prius, Scion, Rav4 and more. For example, the introduction of the Hybrid car back in 1997 when other car makers had not even put together a design for a hybrid car, much less a concept car. Matthew E. May, a senior University of Toyota advisor, and the author of “The Elegant Solution: Toyota's Formula for Mastering Innovation” puts forth a perspective on how Toyota creates new innovations at the breakneck speed of over 2,500 new ideas implemented every day. How is this possible? Innovation at Toyota has to do with the history, foundation, guiding principles and practice. Three guiding principles drive Innovation and create elegant solutions at Toyota, which were originated and finessed by Toyoda:

The art of Ingenuity: Toyota believes that in order to succeed in a competitive environment the only solution to survive is to innovate. Ingenuity creates images of cleverness, resourcefulness, initiative, originality, inventiveness, creativity, skill and even cunning – resulting in innovation.

Pursuit for perfection: For a business to succeed at innovation, it has to rigorously search for an optimal solution – one that yields low-cost, low-risk, high-impact breakthrough. Innovation happens at Toyota through systematic pursuit of perfection at every level, every department, in everything Toyota does. For example, the Lexus cars made by Toyota epitomize perfection in the form of car design, function, performance, service and total satisfaction.

The rhythm of fit: A great innovation has to fit the consumer needs. Toyota recognizes this fact. For example Toyota Prius the first hybrid car was launched in the era of gas guzzlers as Toyota identified the demand for fuel efficient car.

Ten Practices that Toyota has adopted on its core principles towards making Innovation happen:

· Let learning lead - Education and Learning can drive substantial innovation.

· Learn to See- The key is to unearth the latent needs of the customers, and perceive the emerging needs.

· Design for today- Innovation that drives business in today’s market is likely to get funded and succeed.

· Think in Pictures- Visual imagery supports innovation process

· Capture the Intangible- Innovation based on consumers demand insight

· Leverage the limits- It is critical to know what you can deliver, how you can deliver and by when.

· Master the Tension- Accept that mistakes will take place during the innovation process

· Run the Numbers- A sound technical analysis is critical before you begin a new product innovation. This should take into account such factors as risks, probabilities of success, and lessons learned from past projects.

· Make Kaizen Mandatory- Innovation requires great discipline, hence create a standard and follow it.

· Keep it lean- Innovation happens when you can simplify the intended application and make it so easy-to-use.

[1] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Toyota

[2] http://www.businessweek.com/magazine/content/06_17/b3981401.htm

[3] (Lippitz, 2007)

[4] (Mauborgne, 2010)

[5] (Toyota Industries, 2012)

[6] (Toyota Industries, 2012)

[7] (Toyota, 2012)

[8] (Kanter, 1982)

[9] (Financial Times, 2012)

[10] (Ogden, 2011)

[11] (Donald K, 1993)

[12] (Toyota, 2011)

[13] (www.booz.com, 2011)

[14] (McGrath, 2002)

[15] (Jeroen P.J. de Jong, 2007)

[16] (Wikipedia, 2012)

[17] (Zook, 2002)

[18] (Christensen, 1995)

[19] (Wardrop, 2010)

[20] (Michel, 2007)

[21] (Barry jaruzelski, 2005)

[22] (creativityandinnovation, 2006)

Bibliography

Barry jaruzelski, K. D. (2005). The Booz Allen Hamilton Global Innovation 1000: Money isn't Everything. USA: Booz Allen Hamilton Inc.

Christensen, J. L. (1995). Disruptive Technologies: Catching the Wave. USA: HBR.

creativityandinnovation. (2006, October 17). Toyota's Innovation Factory. Retrieved March 13, 2012, from www.creativityandinnovation.blogspot.ca: http://creativityandinnovation.blogspot.ca/2006/10/toyotas-innovation-factory.html

Donald K, J. H. (1993). Implement Entreprenurial thinking in established Organizations. USA: SAM advanced management Journal.

Financial Times. (2012, March 13). Toyota Industries Corp. Retrieved March 13, 2012, from www.markets.ft.com: http://markets.ft.com/Research/Markets/Tearsheets/Directors-and-dealings?s=6201:TYO

Jeroen P.J. de Jong, D. N. (2007). How leaders influence employees Innovative Behavior. Netherlands: Emerald.

Kanter, R. M. (1982). The Middle Manager as Innovator. USA: HBR.

Lippitz, R. C. (2007). The Four Models of Corporate Entrepreneurship. USA: MIT Sloan.

Mauborgne, W. K. (2010). Blue Ocean Strategy. USA: Harvard.

McGrath, I. c. (2002). Crafting R&D project portfolios. USA: Research-Technology Management.

Michel, S. (2007). The Upside of Falling Flat. USA: HBR.

Ogden, J. K. (2011, April 25). What Entrepreneurs Can Learn from Toyota and its Crises. Retrieved March 13, 2012, from www.blog.eonetwork.org: http://blog.eonetwork.org/2011/04/what-entrepreneurs-can-learn-from-toyota-and-its-crises/

Toyota. (2011, March 31). R&D and Intellectual Property. Retrieved March 13, 2012, from www.toyota-global.com: http://www.toyota-global.com/investors/ir_library/annual/pdf/2011/p27_28.pdf

Toyota. (2012, March 13). Toyota central R&D Labs Limited. Retrieved March 13, 2012, from www.tytlabs.co.jp: http://www.tytlabs.co.jp/english/comp/outline03.html

Toyota Industries. (2012, March 13). Research and Development (R&D) - Corporate Info. Retrieved March 13, 2012, from www.toyota-industries.com: http://www.toyota-industries.com/corporateinfo/development/

Wardrop, M. (2010, Feb 05). Toyota admits failures over handling of car faults. Retrieved March 13, 2012, from www.telegraph.co.uk: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/motoring/news/7164347/Toyota-admits-failures-over-handling-of-car-faults.html

Wikipedia. (2012, March 27). Sakichi Toyoda. Retrieved March 27, 2012, from www.en.wikipedia.org: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sakichi_Toyoda

www.booz.com. (2011, March 13). Toyota is the World's Top R&D Spender. Retrieved March 13, 2012, from www.toyota.tsusho.com.au: http://www.toyota.tsusho.com.au/page/News/Toyota_is_the_Worlds_Top_RD_Spender/

Zook, D. R. (2002). Open Market Innovation. USA: HBR.

Ageless Idea

2012-06-08T19:16:00.001-04:00

Ageless Idea

Corporate Entrepreneurship ventures are successful based upon new innovative ideas. Quite frequently we run out of ideas or are unable to come with an innovative idea. This document talks about certain ideas which are ageless. Hence the idea remained the same but the application of the same idea was invented or discovered.

Humans always dreamt about flying, the first rocket was built by Chinese in 9^th century while searching for elixir of life. Post this accidental discovery of rockets they were used in battle in the year 1232 by Chinese while fighting against Mongol’s.[i] Hence the idea of “Propulsion” was born in 9^th century. In the year 1920 Robert Goddard published “A method of reaching extreme altitudes.” The work included remarks about sending a solid-fuel rocket to the Moon, which attracted worldwide attention and was both praised and ridiculed.[ii] We all know that history was created on July 16, 1969 when man went to moon by using the same concept of propulsion. When rocket was creating its own history the idea of propulsion found a new application in the shape of planes. Hence what we can observe here is that the same idea gave birth to new applications. We still don’t know how drastically the aviation and aeronautics industry will change but the idea of flying will remain ageless. This holds true for any corporate environment as well, any idea can give birth to various applications over a span of time. Linking the dots:

· The idea of propulsion was proposed in 9th century

· The defined uses were limited by the vision of humans in 9th century

· The idea evolved and new uses were invented

· The same application of idea gave birth to different products (airplane)

· The idea again evolved with respect to applications

· The future is still uncertain and will see evolution

Following are some of the key learning’s

· Any idea is not a bad idea

· Any idea can have multiple applications

· Keep mind open to apply the same idea in various applications

· An idea is ageless and will keep evolving

Conclusion: Darwin’s law of evolution also holds true in a corporate venture. The idea will remain the same, while the applications of the same idea will evolve. In case of lack of ideas think about creating new applications.

[i] (Wikipedia, 2012)

[ii] (Wikipedia, 2012)

Wikipedia. (2012, March 18). Robert H. Goddard. Retrieved March 18, 2012, from www.en.wikipedia.org: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_H._Goddard

Wikipedia. (2012, March 14). Rocket. Retrieved March 18, 2012, from www.en.wikipedia.org: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rocket

Strategic Alliances and Joint Ventures, Reasons for Failure and Success

2012-06-08T19:07:00.004-04:00

Reasons for Failure of strategic alliance:

Absence of Governance:[i] Most of the alliances fail to adapt. The primary reason is missing governance. Governance is present in an alliance in the initial stages and post exit stage. Lack of Governance takes away the adaptability from the alliance. As per Doz and Hamel “managing the alliance relationship over time is usually more important than crafting the initial formal design.”

Not planning for exit in Strategic alliance:[ii] Most of the strategic alliances today fail to consider the exit strategy. Alliance managers fail to think about exit strategies while formulating the alliances. Most of the alliance contracts are based on assumptions of a static business relationship. Hence the alliance fails when the scenario changes example Sames alliance with the Japanese automaker. Sames failed to realize the dynamic nature of the alliance. Alliance managers often fail to quantify the value of the relationship. Hence the exit criteria’s are not set properly. In many organizations the employees who initiate the contact do not run the alliance. Hence the exit criteria’s are vague and result in unsuccessful alliance.

Prisoner’s Dilemma:[iii] Alliances often fail because many partners view them as prisoner’s dilemma situation. Each partner believes that by not cooperating they will receive the highest payoff.

Misunderstandings:[iv] Both the partner and the parent firm do not use same yardstick to evaluate the performance of the alliance. This leads to misunderstanding and a failed strategic alliance. This failure can be attributed to the expectations or the processes.

Excessive persistence in failing alliance:[v] Some alliances fail due to excessive persistence to keep the alliance alive, while both the parties should walk away from the alliance. The reasons for excessive persistence are the difficulty and cost of creating an alliance, non-economic output objectives (Value Creation), and difficulty of measuring alliance performance, involvement of senior management in alliance management, inaccurate assessment of partner competencies, closing costs, and conflict over how to end an alliance and differences between constituencies.

Lack of Trust:[vi] Many alliances fail due to lack of trust during the initial contact and negotiations process. Trust requires the presence of an element of risk and mutual interdependence. The quality of inter-partner relationship is a critical determinant of the alliance success. Sometimes failure to broaden the negotiation process results in failure of the alliance for example FCB-Publicis joint venture.

How to make the strategic alliance successful?

Managing Governance adaptations in strategic alliance:[vii] It is necessary to understand the environmental conditions, parent firm factors and alliance attributes in order to decide the governance changes in alliances. Avoid looking at alliance from a more static vantage point. Analyze the drivers behind the parent firms’ specific governance interventions in alliances to predict the degree of alliance adaptation.

Clear understanding between the partner and the firm:[viii] Understand the interest of the partner, both initial and emergent. Understand the value partner attributes to intermediate outcomes. Before blaming the partner think of alternative causes of trouble. Have clear communication with the partner; define a standard yardstick to evaluate performance in the initial stages of alliance.

Planning exit strategy:[ix] Some of the key lessons while formulating the exit strategy are to understand the dependency of the firm on the partner and vice versa. One of the key success factors of formulating exit strategy is to quantify the value of relationship and to understand all the dynamic possibilities of the alliance, depending upon the above criteria’s an easy, hard, or dynamic exit strategy should be formulated. A successful, reliable exit strategy makes a strategic alliance successful by ensuring commitment from both the parties involved in the strategic alliance.

Avoiding persistence with failing alliance:[x] Organizations should avoid excessive persistence with failing alliance. Things that can be done before the alliance is formed are define failure, make the intangibles tangible and define alliance as a tool and not an objective. During the alliance don’t rely on partner to fix the problem and understand end game realities.

Unilateral Commitment:[xi] Unilateral commitment help build the trust between alliance partners. Unilateral commitment of sequential, irreversible type helps to structure the alliance in a more profitable way as the decisions are made sequentially. Successful alliances are contractual in nature which provides the flexibility to the alliance to breathe. Example alliance between General Electric and Snecma is not permanent and is working for last 17 years.

Improving Relational Quality:[xii] By improving relational quality trust can be built and long term alliances can be formed. Managers need to negotiate with broad bandwidth in mind, monitor their own behavior and not just partner’s behavior, provide advanced warning of the intentions, manage expectations carefully, learn for past experience, manage cultural conflicts from the start and recognize the importance of national differences.

Building Trust:[xiii] In successful alliances trust is often touted as a prerequisite, a necessity, and an absolute must (Byrne, 1993). While forming an alliance various uncertainties are present, Trust is the key solution to answer all these uncertainties. While building trust it is important to understand the nature of the industry, the alliance, sources of uncertainty, mechanisms to gauge to likelihood that an alliance partner will behave in trustworthy manner and to understand the expectations. Managers should know and understand the various variables of trust.

Broad Contractual Interface Structure:[xiv] A broad contractual interface structure helps to build trust between the two firms. A broad contractual interface is characterized by an overlapping task division, the presence of obligations to exchange information and mechanisms to provide opportunities for not only performance but also behavior monitoring. This is proved in the case of successful JV between Jet and Graph to develop ESH technology.

Selection of Contract:[xv] Selecting the type of contract based upon the ambiguity or volatility of the situation makes the alliance work. Relational contracts are effective against opportunism when the situation is volatile while in case of ambiguity formal contracts are effective to avoid opportunism.

[i] Managing Governance Adaptations in Strategic Alliances – Jeffrey Reuer, Maurizio Zollo

[ii] Breaking up is never easy – Gulati, Sytch, Mehrotra

[iii] The Unilateral commitments and the importance of process in alliances

[iv] Rescuing Troubled Alliances, Before it’s too late

[v] Why do some strategic alliances persist beyond their useful life – Andrew Inkpen

[vi] Relational Quality – Arino, Torre, Ring

[vii] Managing Governance Adaptations in Strategic Alliances – Jeffrey Reuer, Maurizio Zollo

[viii] Rescuing Troubled Alliances, Before it’s too late

[ix] Breaking up is never easy – Gulati, Sytch, Mehrotra

[x] Why do some strategic alliances persist beyond their useful life – Andrew Inkpen

[xi] The Unilateral commitments and the importance of process in alliances

[xii] Relational Quality – Arino, Torre, Ring

[xiii] Understanding Trust in International alliances - Parkhe

[xiv] Towards an integrative perspective on alliance governance- Faems, Janssens, Madhok, Looy

[xv] Uncertainty, opportunism and governance, the effect of volatility and ambiguity on formal and relational contracting – Carson, Madhok, Wu

Starbucks Brand Essence

2012-06-08T18:55:00.003-04:00

Market Segments: Coffee consumption industry can be segregated based upon various products present in the market. It can be divided into five segments predominantly like Explorers, Regular coffee drinkers, Health Conscious drinkers, No time for love drinkers, Anti-Caffeine Drinkers. Explorers are ready to pay a premium price for gourmet coffee; Regular drinkers prefer brewed coffee to maintain caffeine level, Health conscious drinkers are ready to pay a premium for sugar free and fat free coffee, No time for love drinkers prefer to pay a premium on bottled coffee as it saves time to purchase and consume, Anti-Caffeine drinkers are ready to pay a premium on substitute products.[i] Coffee competes with a variety of other non-alcoholic drinks like tea, soft drinks, energy drinks, milk and dairy beverages, fruit juices, bottled water, sports drinks, vegetable juices, soya beverages, hot chocolate, and low alcohol wine coolers and ciders.[ii]

Trends- Coffee sales grew by 1% in the year 2010, but the important point to review here is that Coffee industry is matured and the growth is gradual. Coffee sales are expected to grow at a total volume CAGR of 2%. Since the category is matured and limited opportunities for innovation.[iii]

Socio/Cultural/Consumer trends: Per capita consumption of coffee in Canada is 6.5 kg and Canada is ranked 11^th in the world. [iv] As per Appendix 1 it is confirmed that age demographics play a major role in coffee consumption. Old generation prefer brewed coffee as compared to other segments. Average age of male in Canada is 38.6 years, while for female it is 40.4 years.[v] Older the population, the more they prefer brewed coffee.

Economic trends, Recession: During the 2008-2009 recession period premium coffee chain shops like Starbucks were affected. People chose not to consume premium coffee, rather spent their money on cheap coffee substitutes.[vi] Uncertainty: Post the 2005 Tsunami which hit Indonesia and Sri Lanka (major coffee producers) coffee prices in North America went up and coffee consumption decreased.[vii]

Competition: The three closest competitors present in Canadian market based upon market share and strategy are Second Cup, Timothy’s and Timhortons. [viii]

Timhortons: With whopping 76% market share they rule the Canadian coffee market. They work on simple strategy by providing value for money. Using customers brand loyalty to promote, and they promote the strong concept of being Canadian. Medium priced freshly brewed coffee and donuts strengthen their business.[ix]

Second Cup: They hold 8 % market share, but they are growing slowly and at a steady pace. With the concept of home away from home, they provide unique experience to the customers. Customers are ready to pay premium price for unique drinks like Caramel Coretto. It gives direct competition to Starbucks in terms of ambience and unique experience. Products also include cakes and pastries. [x]

Timothy’s: Timothy’s has captured 5% market share, and is growing. Following Nestlé’s footstep they are giving indirect competition to Starbucks, by their unique products. K-Cup is a unique concept which is targeted at corporates and customers who want to have coffee at their will. Timothy’s targets time crunched people. It believes in “Catch and Go” sale.[xi]

Customer Segments: Primarily there are five customer segments present in the coffee consumption market. They are:[xii]

Taste Crazy: Customers who primarily care about taste and premium quality of beans. These customers are ready to pay a premium price for gourmet drinks. The primary issue with these customers is they are explorers, hence after some time their taste buds need a new taste.

Experience Oriented: These are the customers who want to spend some peaceful time away from home. Hence they search for home away from home experience. They are ready to pay a premium price for the ambience. They prefer gourmet coffee or regular coffee, but ambience and customer service is of utmost importance. Very few coffee chains concentrate on customer service experience.

Price Sensitive: These are customers who want to grab the cup of coffee on the way to office or back home. They are price sensitive and they prefer to drink regular brewed coffee. They are brand loyal customers, any changes done to satisfy other customers by the brand, impacts this segment of customers.

Health Conscious: This is a new segment of customers; this has originated due to the trend of health consciousness. These customers want to drink coffee but also want to make sure that the calorie intake is controlled. This is a niche market, and customers are willing to pay premium price to buy products. Currently few products are present in the market to satisfy these customers.

Anti-Coffee Drinkers: These are the customers who want to experience hot drinks apart from coffee. Few coffee chains offer such specialty drinks. This customer segment may or may not pay a premium price.

Internal Analysis:[xiii] Starbucks provides a unique experience to the customer from the moment the customer enters the café. The aroma of coffee and the music being played depending upon the location adds an essence to the ambience. Not flashy but adequately lit café invites customer to spend more time in the café. [xiv]

Product: Some locations serve store made sandwiches. The customer base has forced Starbucks to be innovative. Starbucks also sells coffee packets, coffee mugs, CD’s and gift cards. Starbucks wants to provide unique experience to the customer and also wants the customer to take the experience home.

Price: For the high quality product and ambience Starbucks charges a premium price, this also makes sure that they can compete in the market based upon higher margins. Margins range from 15-20%, much higher than the industry standards.

Position: Starbucks has positioned itself as a unique café by using differentiation focus strategy tailored to provide a high quality, focused product. They want to sell the experience rather than coffee, they have identified the unique weakness of human beings that is the hunger for a unique experience.

People: Starbucks has targeted customers who are ready to pay a premium price for the unique experience and gourmet products.

Promotion: Starbucks focuses entirely on high level marketing. They use word of mouth technique for branding. They also believe in key alliances and partnerships to establish the brand image in new regions. Starbucks believes that “Once you become customer of Starbucks, you become part of the Starbucks Family.” Hence brand loyalty is trusted more than advertisements.

Brand Identity:[i]

[i] Refer Appendix 4

[i] Refer Appendix 1

[ii] http://www4.agr.gc.ca/AAFC-AAC/display-afficher.do?id=1172237152079&lang=eng

[iii] http://www.euromonitor.com/coffee-in-canada/report

[iv] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_coffee_consumption_per_capita.

[v] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Demographics_of_Canada

[vi] http://queensjournal.ca/story/2009-01-23/postscript/lowering-prices-what-cost/

[vii] http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/6810581/ns/world_news-tsunami_a_year_later/t/there-tsunami-your-coffee-cup/

[viii] Refer to Appendix 2

[ix] http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=newsarchive&sid=aVbau_WUTixk

[x] http://gabrielles-blog.blogspot.com/2008/12/marketing-analysis-starbucks-vs-second.html

[xi] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Timothy's_World_Coffee

[xii] Refer Appendix 3

[xiii] Refer Appendix 2

[xiv] http://www.scribd.com/doc/9683015/Starbucks-Campaign-Market-Analysis

New Swadeshi Movement and Indian Growth Model

2012-01-09T01:30:00.001-05:00

The Swadeshi (Bengali: স্বদেশী, Hindi: स्वदेशी) movement, part of the Indian independence movement, was an economic strategy aimed at removing the British Empire from power and improving economic conditions in India by following the principles of swadeshi (self-sufficiency), which had some success. Strategies of the Swadeshi movement involved boycotting British products and the revival of domestic products and production processes.

The Swadeshi Movement started with the partition of Bengal by the Viceroy of India, Lord Curzon, 1905 and continued up to 1908. It was the most successful of the pre-Gandhian movements. Its chief architects were Aurobindo Ghosh, Lokmanya Bal Gangadhar Tilak, Bipin Chandra Pal and Lala Lajpat Rai. Swadeshi, as a strategy, was a key focus of Mahatma Gandhi, who described it as the soul of Swaraj (self rule). - Source Wikipedia

Now as we understand what is Swadeshi Movement and how strategically important it was to gain economic independence, lets look at the same movement post independence era. The questions that arise are can this movement be used to support enormous, sustainable economic growth? Can this movement provide economic independence to India and provide super power to India?

Swadeshi Movement alone is not enough to support growth. Lets turn the pages of history, what we see is the vision that Che had for the whole world hides the key to success. Che believed in partial Communist, Marxist and Capitalist kingdom. What he believed was if people are given power to produce goods independently without any capitalist intervention enormous growth rate can be achieved. Now the catch here is communist economic model is not sustainable as if the power disparity goes away productivity falls and it results in economic meltdown. Now Capitalism is running the world right now but power disparity makes rich more richer and poor more poorer. So how do we find the sweet spot? How do we reach the balance in the power greedy world?

Tilak, Gandhi, Pal, Ghosh understood the importance of economic independence. In today's era economic independence can not be achieved without capitalist intervention. Now how will India grow with such intervention by external powers? The truth is even if India got Independence in the year 1947 the economic independence is an impossible dream. So what is the solution?

The import figure for India is around $ 379 Billion in the year 2010-2011 with growth rate of 28.23%. While export was worth around $251 billion with growth rate of 40% around the same period. Now if we are able to reduce the import figures down to zero imagine the amount of money that will stay in India and the cumulative growth rate that we can achieve.

Step1:

Now how do we reduce the import numbers, the answer is follow Swadeshi Movement, With respect to the new proposed Swadeshi movement, Indian government should promote producing everything inside the country. Pay highest possible amount to get the design and the infrastructure and start the production inside the country. Now what is the benefit for the government? Increased employment rate and Increased export figure numbers, hence the proposed movement is profitable.

Step2:

Now do we produce everything independently on day 1? No, we find out what do we import. What is the commodity that is taking away all the foreign currency. The culprit is identified and the model proposed in Step 1 is followed.

Step3:

Now we have started producing independently, so how does it benefit the citizens of India? Here the capitalist structure comes into picture. Do not nationalize the production of commodity. Create perfect competition in the market, by promoting national producers. FDI (Foreign Direct Investments) allowed will be close to 49%, no direct investment will be allowed. Hence the economy is saved from the harmful effects of communism that we will propose in the next step.

Step 4:

To make sure that we are able to reduce the power disparity, Government will be the new stakeholder in all the private companies. This step/proposition looks radical but this is required to achieve economic independence. Now you must be thinking as I said before that 49% FDI is allowed. So how do we achieve economic independence. So this is how its going to work,

Suppose the name of the Indian company is X, and Foreign company invests $1 billion in Company X for 49% stakes, what Indian government will do is it will keep aside $1 billion as well with RBI (Reserve bank of India) as security. Hence Indian government has the power to buy 49% stakes in company X if situation arises. So suppose the Foreign company is not doing good because of economic conditions, in this case Indian government will intervene, give the $1 billion back to the foreign company and take over 49% stakes in Company X. Hence in this way the economic independence can be achieved. Once the economic conditions stabilize Indian government can either retain the 49% stakes or can sell it to some other FD investor. This concept is similar to the concept of bailout, but the difference here is that bail out is done to save a national company when the economy is not doing well of some other nation.

So what I am proposing here is a economic self sustainable model based on the concept of Swadeshi movement, communism, marxism and capitalism. The proposed model will work (Assumed corruption doesn't exist), increase employment, drive India from a service based country to a product based country, Increase the export numbers, Increase foreign currency reserves and most importantly Give India "ECONOMIC INDEPENDENCE".

Just my thoughts, need to work upon it in detail though.

लौटा दो

2012-01-05T22:52:00.001-05:00

जब कभी तुने वो कहा जो मैंने ना सूना,

मैंने वो सूना जो तुने कभी ना कहा,

तेरी आहट ने गुमशुदा पता दिया,

जो मुझे कभी ना मिला!

तुने उन चंद लब्जो से जो कहा,

वो दिल की गहराइयों ने कभी ना समझा,

आज पास आकर, फिर वो लब्ज लौटा दो,

आज पास आकर फिर वो रात का सन्नाटा लौटा दो!

मेरा खोया हुआ कल मुझे लौटा दो,

मेरा खोयी हुई रात मुझे लौटा दो,

मेरे दर्द के टूटे हुए दिल के तार लौटा दो,

मेरा खोया हुआ चाँद मुझे लौटा दो!

मेरी आंसूंओ के वो क़र्ज़ लौटा दो,

मेरी बैचैनी के पल लौटा दो,

मेरी वो मुस्कराहट लौटा दो,

मेरी मासूमियत लौटा दो!

जब वक़्त मिले तो मुझे फिर मुझसे मिला दो,

उस बिछड़े हुए आदमी को आदमी से मिला दो,

सूरज की गुमी हुई रोशनी उसे लौटा दो,

रात की घूप सन्नाटा उसे लौटा दो!

फिर कभी मुलाकात हो तो,

तुम मुजसे मेरा छीना हुआ कल लौटा दो,

तुम्हारा वो अनजान चेहरा लौटा दो,

वो मेरी यादे और वो मेरे सपने लौदा दो!

फिर कभी मुलाकात हो तो,

तुम तुम्हारा वजूद मुजे लौटा दो,

तुम तुम्हारी तस्वीर मुजे लौटा दो,

और हा मेरा खुदा मुजे लौटा दो!

जब तुम याद आये

2012-01-05T22:06:00.000-05:00

जब तुम याद आये वो शब् याद आई

जब तुम याद आये वो रात याद आई

जब तुम याद आये वो रस्ते याद आये

जब तुम याद आये वो बहार याद आई!

जब तुम याद आये वो शक्स याद आया

जब तुम याद आये वो सिलसिला याद आया

जब तुम याद आये वो मुद्दत याद आई

जब तुम याद आये वो बिखरा बिस्तर याद आया!

जब तुम याद आये वो जिंदा शक्स याद आया

जब तुम याद आये वो अनजान चेहरा याद आया

जब तुम याद आये वो कोहरा याद आया

जब तुम याद आये वो नदी का किनारा याद आया!

जब तुम याद आये वो मुद्दतो बाद बिचड़ा यार याद आया

जब तुम याद आये वो बैचैन दिल याद आया

जब तुम याद आये वो दर्द याद आया

जब तुम याद आये वो साया याद आया!

जब तुम याद आये वो ख़ूबसूरत चेहरा याद आया

जब तुम याद आये वो सूनी सदके याद आई

जब तुम याद आये वो भटके पंची याद आये

जब तुम याद आये वो सुबह की किरने याद आई !

जब तुम याद आये ओस की बूंदे याद आई

जब तुम याद आये आँखों के आसूं याद आये

जब तुम याद आये वो यादे याद आई

जब तुम याद आये बस तुम याद आये

तुम्हारे यादे याद आई और वो वादे याद आये!!

Dream

2011-12-19T20:30:00.000-05:00

In the dark night below the draping stars,

Just take away the memories and my scars,

When the sun is shining harsh,

Just split my heart apart..

From now until death, you promise me one thing,

I remember your kiss and you being in my arms,

Don't forget to kill those feelings,

Before we meet worlds apart..

Torn between the Truth and Lies,

My Heart seeks peace in your eyes,

Ask your heart not to cry,

As we did give it a try..

My soul betrayed my heart,

Gods will seek my permission before tearing it apart,

Your heart beats like the strings of guitar,

I will wait for you on the far other star..

Trust and Truth were the soul,

Gods decided to take it away,

I tried to snatch it away,

That's the cause of this dismay...

The fog has cleared now,

Wait why can not I see you somehow,

The eyes are still closed with the heart crying now,

I guess you were a dream which falls apart now...

Proposed New Economy

2011-10-02T22:01:00.000-04:00

Today I was just wondering how does the value system work in today's current economic system. I just thought about a simple example. My father gave me money to spend it on my MBA. I gave that money to Schulich School of Business as tuition fees. Schulich gave some part of that money to professors as part of Salary and spent the other part on infrastructure and saved some money for operational expenses. Lets talk about the money that professors received.

Professors must have spent that money on grocery shopping, buying a house and a car. Hence lets assume this money went to Walmart.

Walmart must have spent some part of this money on salaries of the employees.

Again the employees of Walmart must have spent that money on grocery shopping, buying a house and a car. Hence lets assume this money went to Walmart.

Hence the important point to notice here is that the money is flowing between Walmart and its employees.

The other important point here is that all the agencies involved are paying money to the government as part of tax payments. Hence government is the only agency which is getting money in any case and the only expense government has is infrastructure expense.

Now in today's economy currency is used to perform a trade and hence there is always a fear of recession as if the productivity goes down, the economy becomes vulnerable to a recession. Even an incorrect decision by any organization may result into reduced productivity. So what is the solution to this issue? As this is a vicious circle?

The answer lies in the basics of communism. Law of equality. But the problem with theory of communism is that its not a practical solution. As if equality is established in the society then the economy will crash as people will not work, as they know they won't get any additional benefits even if they are more productive.

So what else can be the solution for a currency less economy? Make productivity a variable of economy. So how do we do that? Remove currency from the economy. Now you must be thinking so how do we perform trade? How do we buy a car? How do we buy grocery?

Lets have a look at a simple example.

Lets assume Person A works in Ford and Person B works in Walmart. Both of them are blue collared workers. Person A clocks 100 Man hours in the month of August and Person B clocks 50 Man hours in the month of August. Now lets assume to manufacture a packet of lays it requires .05 man hours and to Manufacture a Ford fusion it takes 350 man hours. So if Person A wants to buy a packet of lays he goes to Walmart in the month of August pays .05 man hours out of his 100 man hours valet. If person B wants to buy a ford fusion he has to work for 3.5 months and he goes to Ford and pays 350 man hours out of his valet. Hence a transaction is performed. No actual currency is getting exchanged. People need to work to buy anything. hence the value of any asset will be priced in man hours instead of currency. Also people performing high value job will clock more man hours as compared to people performing less skilled intensive jobs. Hence inequality is maintained in the society and people work more to clock more man hours. People will get bonus man hours and benefits. Organizations also trade in terms of man hours based on how many hours their employees have clocked. Stock markets work based upon man hours. I still need to think how the import export will work as the productivity definition is different in different countries and the culture is different as well. Now lets see what are the benefits of this proposed value system:

People still have to work to earn man hours. Fraudulent activities are eliminated to certain extent. Currency is not required. Hence the economy is not currency based but rather productivity based. Now the primary advantage of this system is, it makes sure that the demand always exist as if the company or an employee needs to survive, it has to work. Hence productivity levels will always remain high or rather normal. If they become abnormal, people will start working hard and the economy will be boosted automatically.

Foreign exchange fluctuation doesn't impact the economy as currency is not present in the whole system. The proposed system is still flawed, but at least its just an idea. Lot of factors have to be considered before this system can become practical. I am certain that lot of organizations and countries will not accept this system. But we have to learn from our ancestors, Pyramids were built based upon man hours transactions. There was some reason due to which our ancestors preferred not to use currency exchange.

Probably some day we have to go back to the basics to save human existence and the economy.

This system should be called as "Rane's Productivity based economy" :).

It is just a wild thought. Probably most of you will laugh, but its just an idea.

Shattered Dreams!!

2011-08-31T03:27:00.000-04:00

30th August,1:00 am, Location: Lift, Some foul smell in the lift, I thought must be some rotten egg. I cursed the people who did it and continued with my life.

31st August, 4:55 pm, Location: Lift, I was on my way for the seminar, after waiting for the lift at 15th floor for sometime, I entered the lift. Again the same foul smell was present. I wondered why this smell was still present, Was busy with my thoughts, suddenly the lift stopped at 12th floor, and the intensity of smell increased. I got a new company in the lift. Still wondering whats wrong with the lift and the air conditioning, the new member in the lift broke the ice. He uttered, somebody died over here. I was shocked to hear the fact, didn't react though.

Downstairs I saw a group of paramedics and cops discussing something. I was just staring at them and wondering what was really wrong. I was not able to accept the fact that somebody died. A stranger standing by said, "Don't worry everything is fine over here."

Lost in my thoughts I walked towards the auditorium, to attend the seminar. I completely forgot about the incident over the next 120 mins. On my way back to the apartment I took the same lift, this time the foul smell was missing. I went back home, cooked food and was listening to songs, suddenly my roommate appeared from no where, His face was excited, may be due to fear. He said a guy committed suicide on the 12th floor of this building.

I didn't react, may be I didn't know how to react. The thought of somebody ending his life was shocking. I was thinking how can anybody end such a beautiful life. Must be a weak person to do something like this. Still wondering what could have gone wrong, I started listening to songs. I was trying to justify the cause of suicide. Why would he do this? What could have gone wrong?

The only justification I was able to give was, "Lost Hope." When we lose hope and we don't see any way out, I think living every second of life becomes more painful than living it. I think the best statement that can describe this pain would be, "When you lose hope you don't live your life, you just survive." The shattered dreams makes sleep painful. But still why would anybody do that, I still don't know what that guy went through and took this extreme step.

Was discussing this with my friend, he asked me whether you can take up that apartment. The question was mind boggling. I thought about it and replied "No." I said, " That guy must had some aspirations. Even if he is not present in this world today, his aspirations are still alive and will stay in that apartment. Unfulfilled aspirations are the major cause of depression. I am not a strong person to take up that burden.

Still wondering what that guy has gone through, I am not able to think about any explanation for what he did. May be the Shattered Dreams, may be the unfulfilled aspirations or may be the loneliness. Whatever the reason was but many dreams have shattered today, not only his, but his families. He just didn't take his life, he took away many lives. I wish that you find peace wherever you are.

Rest in peace my stranger friend!!

Maqbool - Accepted

2011-08-28T12:24:00.000-04:00

I have watched this movie at-least 5 times, every time I watch this movie, it invites a storm.

The storm of thoughts, ideas and introspection. I thought I am the only human being who gets disturbed after watching this movie.

Sattu was going through the same pain, as I understand after watching this movie. The last scene of the movie pops up the same question every-time in my mind, "Was our love chaste?".

I never found the answer to this question.

As Maqbool also means accepted, but did the society really accepted the relationship between Miyan and Taboo? Does the society ever accepts any relationship? Is any relationship pure at all?

Sattu said that any relationship which is not based on moral grounds is not pure. I fail to agree to his point as, I don't think any relationship starts building its base on moral grounds. I think, "It just happens."

And once it happens its impossible to control, like a fission reaction. Its been 4 days since I watched the movie, still these thoughts are bothering me, they don't let me sleep. I think at the back of my mind I try to relate to Miyan.

I think I will find peace, Once I find the answer to the question, "Was my love pure?" I am sure at some point of time all of us try to find the answer to this difficult question. And I am sure even if we know the answer we pretend that we don't know the answer. Sometimes the answers are more difficult than the question itself. Sometimes somethings should be left unanswered as the answers will raise more difficult question.

We tend to stay in the comfort zone and try to protect what we have or rather what we should have. People say that human beings don't want to face the questions, I would say we don't like to face the answers.

I think losing something gives you more insight about your life rather than holding on to it. The important lesson learned in past few months is, "Let things go". I would say, " Being loved makes you feel like a human being but Being Alone makes you feel like a Man."

I am sure after reading this, most of you will try to answer the same question, "Was my love pure?" I hope you find the answer.