Friday, April 26, 2013

Legacy of leaders

Andrew Kakabadse, Professor of International Management Development, Cranfield School of Management

In the run-up to the Games, communities and organisations across the UK are being encouraged to create projects that celebrate London 2012 in a way that is relevant to them and which will leave a lasting legacy.

Few leaders are remembered for leaving a remarkable legacy behind them but Steve Jobs is one such example. As the face of Apple for so many years, Jobs became part of the very fabric of the company’s products. It is not uncommon for a chief executive (CEO) to start thinking about their legacy early on in their role. The following comments are from two different world renowned chief executives during interviews undertaken by Cranfield as part of a global study into the role of Chairmen on boards. Both are outstanding performers and both are reflecting on the issue of legacy.

“I put the organisation and all those involved first, but that for me had its consequences. I upset a prominent, national political figure, but I felt I had no choice. I do not know how I will be remembered but at least I hope others understand the reasons for my actions and the values and beliefs that drove me.”

“I worked hard to make the organisation what it is today. It became part of me and that, on reflection, was the problem. I became over concerned with posterity and the image I would leave behind. I Interfered with many things even after I left. The place has slowly deteriorated. I should have stepped aside and let the business determine its own direction and way forward.”

The unfortunate passing of Steve Jobs has drawn considerable attention to a topic prominent in the discourses of Plato and Aristotle, that of legacy. Throughout history, outstanding leaders have been distinguished by their strength of character and deep conviction of purpose and mission. Whether dictatorial or collaborative by inclination, their oratory nurtured a charisma that convinced, perhaps even manipulated, others to applaud their cause. President Harry Truman’s words “a man or woman who can persuade people to do what they ought to do... without being persuaded”, ring true.

These outstanding men and women are the legacy leaders. They are the ones who have others do what they desire because of their ability to inflame passions that the motivation to do so comes from within.

However, the ancients equally warned us of the downside of legacy leaders. The profound and evident contribution of Steve Jobs is countered by the scandals of Bernie Madoff and Dennis Kozlowski of Tyco. These leaders were originally viewed as people of high integrity but later revealed to have abused their privileged position.

Some are crooked from the start; others unfortunately just lapse. Aristotle, was deeply conscious of the challenge of continuously being virtuous not just because of the erosive effect of personal weaknesses, but also because of the impact of forever balancing competing moral priorities. In this sense, the search for everlasting posterity can become an overarching temptation in its own right.

Even some fifteen hundred years before Socrates, the Chinese extolled the virtues of balance captured in philosophies that have become catchphrases of today, Taoism and Daoism. The Tao, (the way), is a journey of trial and tribulation where man and woman stand bare in front of the world clothed only by their virtue as a cover for their modesty.
 

Source : IIPM Editorial, 2013.
An Initiative of IIPM, Malay Chaudhuri
For More IIPM Info, Visit below mentioned IIPM articles
 
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Tuesday, April 23, 2013

“All pieces of the ecosystem are not mature enough”

Ishwar Parulkar, CTO, Provider Access Business Unit, Cisco Systems, discusses the advantages of developing an innovation ecosystem

B&E: How critical is the availablility of an ‘Innovation Ecosystem’ locally for Cisco?
Ishwar Parulkar (IP): For a company like Cisco, which is a systems company, there is a need for different layers of technology – hardware, software, network management, manufacturing, marketing and sales to deliver a world-class product. Having a strong ecosystem is absolutely fundamental for a company like Cisco, which is focussed on systems development as opposed to a company into say, silicon development.

B&E: While developing the ASR 901, what were the critical ecosystem challenges you faced?
IP: India, and especially Bangalore, is a hub for engineering talent. The fact that it’s not invested in the right places or the right companies haven’t invested is a different matter. It’s not mature to the level needed, but the basic system is there. One of the biggest challenges in developing ASR 901 was the lack of a mature ecosystem. To be more specific, the pieces in the ecosystem of silicon vendors, the companies that develop silicon chips, service engineering partners, manufacturing partners… not all of these have the same level of maturity. Most of these tend to be MNCs with a presence in India. Not all of them have invested enough and developed the same level of expertise. There are some who are leading edge. For instance, Texas Instruments has been around for a long time, but if I pick some of the other companies, they just have a handful of application engineers, without a lot of depth in terms of products. So when you are working on an ‘end to end’ solution, you require a lot of capabilities, which the ecosystem limits.

B&E: Does it hamper your progress?
IP: Yes, that is a challenge, as we discovered while we were developing the ASR 901. Within the scope of what we were doing, we were able to strengthen those pieces of the ecosystem quite successfully, but other pieces of the ecosystem had to also be built around it. Tomorrow, if we get into developing a new product, we may hit more pieces of the ecosystem that aren’t mature enough. The ecosystem is about evolution.


Source : IIPM Editorial, 2013.
An Initiative of IIPM, Malay Chaudhuri
 
For More IIPM Info, Visit below mentioned IIPM articles
 
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Friday, April 19, 2013

“We used the financial crisis to take a look at ourselves and adjust”

When Ellen Kullman became DuPont’s 19th Chief Executive in January 2009 and its Chairman later that year, she immediately began championing what she calls “market driven science.”

The idea is to use DuPont’s formidable research capabilities, along with its power to innovate, and to focus them on the needs of the world’s growth markets. By doing that, Ellen Kullman, President, Chair and CEO of DuPont is continuing the company’s evolution from a manufacturer of gunpowder, two centuries ago, to a chemical producer, over the last century, to something with a much larger portfolio of activities that now includes agriculture, nutrition, health, biotechnology, engineered materials, and many other business areas. In today’s DuPont, with just under $34 billion in revenue, the chemicals business accounts for only about 20% of revenue, well behind agriculture, the company’s largest segment. Kullman has been pushing DuPont into new areas that more closely track with the big trends (and needs) of the world. To explain how she is making DuPont a more innovative, science-driven company, Kullman spoke with the Korn/Ferry partners Andy Talkington and Jim Aslaksen, and with the Briefings Editor-in-Chief, Joel Kurtzman, at DuPont’s corporate headquarters in Wilmington, Del. What follows is drawn from that conversation.

Q. You recently gave a speech at the Detroit Economic Club in which you discussed the world’s megatrends – the big changes and challenges everyone faces. You tied those trends to your business. How does that link work?
Ellen Kullman (EK): If a company needs to grow in order to satisfy shareholders and create returns, then you have to understand the trends that are facing the world and how they affect your business. Now, we don’t understand where the world’s actually going to end up, but there are a lot of things that are clear and one of them is that we have seven billion people in the world now and we expect nine billion by 2050. That means we’re going to have to feed two billion more people by 2050. These people are also going to want access to energy – for transportation, communication and their general way of living. They are also going to need to have water, which requires energy to purify and transport. We’re also going to have to protect people and the environment. Today, we don’t do these things very well, and if there are another couple of billion of us on the planet, we’ll have to do a better job than we are doing now. To me, these challenges represent huge opportunities for our company.

Q. You’re talking about focusing DuPont’s resources around sustainability?
EK: When we first started talking about this, our employees said, well, those big trends are all very interesting, but why are we talking about them? And I said, this is more than interesting because this is where we’re going to put our research-and-development dollars. These are the real needs the world has, and these needs will create opportunities for growth for our company. These are long-term and not cyclical or short-term changes. These changes involve billions of people. So, following the megatrends is about sustainability, but it is also about creating long-term growth. And, because we have the science that can help in each of those areas, if we’re successful, not only will we be helping to solve some of humanity’s most difficult issues, we will also be creating growth and returns for our shareholders.

Q. What are the other megatrends you are looking at?
EK: It’s all driven by population growth, but the trends include feeding the world, access to energy – and we think alternative energy is a key part of that – and protecting people and the environment. We also believe that a very large share of future economic growth, as well as future demand, will occur in developing countries, since that’s where the population growth is. We have to be prepared for that, which is what we’re doing. We have research centers around the globe, including India, China and Brazil, and we’re focusing resources there.


Source : IIPM Editorial, 2013.
An Initiative of IIPM, Malay Chaudhuri
For More IIPM Info, Visit below mentioned IIPM articles
 
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Monday, April 15, 2013

Arindam Chaudari , Confirmed as Delhi franchise holder for i1 super series

National, November 4th, 2011: Management guru and economist Prof. Arindam Chaudhuri, of the leading business school Indian Institute of Planning and Management (IIPM), and his Planman Group (of which this magazine is a part) became the Delhi franchise owners for the all new motorsport racing league i1 Super Series, a landmark initiative by Machdar Motorsports. The Delhi franchise is the second team to be confirmed for the i1 Super Series after Bollywood superstar Shah Rukh Khan was revealed as the Mumbai franchise holder.

IIPM is ranked as No.1 in Global Exposure amongst all B-Schools in India and Prof. Arindam Chaudhuri is a noted Indian management thought leader & teacher, entrepreneur, public speaker, author and economist. He is also the Editor-in-Chief of The Sunday Indian as well as the founder of the Planman Group, which has business interests in consulting, media & entertainment and is now entering sports in a big way.

The highly anticipated i1 Super Series, charted on the popular city-based franchisee format, will have 9 teams representing 9 different cities from across the country with each team having an Indian and an international driver per car marking a new dimension in Indian Motorsports.

Announcing the partnership, Ms. Anjana Reddy, Director, Machdar Motorsports said, “Planman and Prof. Arindam Chaudhuri are a fantastic addition to the i1 Super Series and we are delighted to welcome them to the championship. Additionally, Prof. Chaudhuri’s IIPM is one the leading business schools in India and the i1 Super Series is a perfect platform for them to further enhance their brand. Motorsport has got a strong following amongst the youth of the country, which should highly benefit IIPM. Arindam is a great personality to have on board and his presence will be a big boost for the i1 series.”

Prof. Arindam Chaudhuri, honorary Director of the IIPM think tank, is highly impressed by the concept of the i1 series and was keen to be a part of it from the beginning. “We are delighted to be the Delhi franchise holder and very excited to be part of the i1 Super Series. The concept looks very innovative and intriguing and we have been keen to be part of this concept ever since its inception. We are always looking for ways to reach out to new audiences and the i1 Super Series is the right platform to help us do so. I have myself always been a great automobile enthusiast and our company Planman Stars has already been into sports for more than two years now. This is a perfect vehicle for it to strengthen its foothold in sports and we are confident that with our expertise and experience, we have the capabilities to be very successful in this endeavour. After the success of the inaugural Indian GP, motorsport is definitely enjoying a high in the country and will only continue to grow. From Planman Stars, we will always work towards supporting all kinds of sports in India.”


Source : IIPM Editorial, 2012.
An Initiative of IIPM, Malay Chaudhuri
 
For More IIPM Info, Visit below mentioned IIPM articles
 
2012 : DNA National B-School Survey 2012
Ranked 1st in International Exposure (ahead of all the IIMs)
Ranked 6th Overall
Zee Business Best B-School Survey 2012
Prof. Arindam Chaudhuri’s Session at IMA Indore
IIPM IN FINANCIAL TIMES, UK. FEATURE OF THE WEEK
IIPM strong hold on Placement : 10000 Students Placed in last 5 year
IIPM’s Management Consulting Arm-Planman Consulting
Professor Arindam Chaudhuri – A Man For The Society….
IIPM: Indian Institute of Planning and Management
IIPM makes business education truly global
Management Guru Arindam Chaudhuri
Rajita Chaudhuri-The New Age Woman
IIPM B-School Facebook Page
IIPM Global Exposure
IIPM Best B School India
IIPM B-School Detail
IIPM Links
IIPM : The B-School with a Human Face
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Friday, April 12, 2013

B&E This Fortnight

INTERNATIONAL
BUSINESS, ECONOMY & FINANCE

Riding with Germans
While rivals Hewlett-Packard and Dell made headlines in the acquisitions market last year, the Chinese computer giant Lenovo is making some big ticket bids of its own this year. Four months earlier Lenovo signed a strategically positioned JV with NEC Corp to sell laptops in Japan. The company is now all set to buy Germany’s Medion AG in a deal that values the consumer electronics company at $671 million. The deal is expected to double the market share to more than 14% of the PC market in Germany, which is Europe’s biggest economy today and give the combined company a share of around 7.5% in the western European PC market. Hewlett-Packard accounted for 17.6% of the global PC market last quarter, declining from 18% a year earlier, Taipei-based Acer dropped to 12.9% from 14.6% and Lenovo, the fourth largest, increased its share to 9.7% from 8.2%. In the past year, HP made over $7 billion in acquisitions and for its part, Dell bought IT consulting firm Perot Systems for $3.9 billion in 2009, and more recently, Boomi, a cloud computing integration service, for an undisclosed sum. Lenovo shares fell by 3% on the announcement amidst concerns of investing in a slow growing market like Germany. In addition competitors like Dell and HP are moving into the high margin consulting business, while Lenovo is still stuck in hardware.

Ford’s Smallest
Automobile companies are bracing themselves for the rising costs of transportation. Ford Motors, the world’s No. 4 auto maker is developing its smallest engine ever to squeeze out greater fuel savings. The new EcoBoost, a three cylindrical engine, is designed to have a higher fuel economy without sacrificing power & performance. The engine should be available in 90% of Ford’s vehicles in North America by 2013. The company’s profits of $6.6 billion in 2010 have indicated a long awaited rebound as Ford lost $14.6 billion in 2008.

Pandora raises IPO
The music streaming superstar Pandora has dominated the headlines with its announcement of a public offering, which would help them to raise $142 million; announcing a target price range of $7 to $9 per share price. Pandora, which tops the list in terms of music experiences, has recorded a revenue of $43 million during the first quarter by averaging a new user every second with a list of 90 million registered users. Pandora expects to raise $96 million to $142 million.


Source : IIPM Editorial, 2012.
An Initiative of IIPM, Malay Chaudhuri
 
For More IIPM Info, Visit below mentioned IIPM articles
 
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Stop Missing The Woods Already!

The Indian Automotive Market has seen a very Internecine Battle for Small Cars, but Unfortunately, Precious little has been done to Encourage Green Technologies in Cars. B&E wonders when The Hybrid Revolution will actually take off.

“Save the environment. We owe it to our future generations.” Even amidst all the greenwashing that the world gets exposed to nowadays, a statement like this would never fail to grab your attention. But the first world often alleges that in developing economies like India and China, environment often gets substituted by economy. And if they trace the first world path to economic growth, the earth is really headed to its doom.

A recent study by Yale suggested that India’s CO2 emissions grew by almost 8.7% to reach 1.6 billion tons, thereby making India the world’s third largest emitter of CO2 after China and US. While economic development can hardly be compromised, can’t India develop more responsibly than the West did and manage the two seemingly contrarian objectives. While leapfrogging is a buzzword for us in so many different ways, shouldn’t it also figure in our entire approach towards the environment?

The Indian automotive industry is a case in (counter) point, which produced 1.62 million vehicles in April 2011; a growth of around 23% yoy. The small car battle has led to massive competition but unfortunately, in a country where economy (again!) makes more sense than environment, the evolution of green cars hasn’t really taken off. The diversification, albeit visible, is much more towards CNG and LPG powered vehicles. Renewable sources are still being dreamt of as future technologies. More current is a blame game from all corners and a deplorable lack of accountability.

That is why the ‘Bijlees’ are few and far between. We’re neither talking about India’s entertainment baron, nor are we referring to ‘electricity’ per se. Actually, ‘Bijlee’ was an electrically powered three wheeler developed by Mahindra Mahindra (M&M) in strategic collaboration with Jayem Automobiles in 2003. Despite India’s unique position from where it can consolidate itself as a leading promoter of green technology in an era of global power shifts, all that the project could convincingly generate was a subsidy of Rs.8 lakh on electric component excise duty. Unfortunately, the taxes remain intact with high cost of lithum ion batteries and imported technology, which kept it away from the consumer. The green story saw another initiative when Chetan Kumar Maini, the man behind Reva, India’s only electric car to date, came into the limelight in 2007. But electric cars haven’t been fortunate enough to be mass sellers in India.

In fact, the world has given preference to PHEV’s (Plug in Hybrid Electric Vehicles) over PEVs (Plug in Electric Vehicles) as per a recent survey conducted by Accenture of around 7008 people across 13 countries. Only 30% said they knew enough about electric vehicles to consider them for their next purchase. Around 71% preferred PHEVs over PEVs.


Source : IIPM Editorial, 2012.
An Initiative of IIPM, Malay Chaudhuri
 
For More IIPM Info, Visit below mentioned IIPM articles
 
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Thursday, April 4, 2013

Mining: The Game has Changed

Revenue up by 32% to $400 billion, profit up by 156% to $110 billion, total assets approaching $1 trillion... as the numbers suggest the global mining industry is on a roll once again. And that’s despite all words of caution from the experts. Escalating commodity prices and increased production to meet the rising demand from developing countries has certainly done the trick for the miners. by karan arora

Miners on a high
Despite short term fluctuations in the market, the financial results of the top mining companies remained spectacular in 2010. With a total of over $400 billion, cumulative revenue (Top 40) of the global mining industry witnessed its highest level in the past decade. However, the revenue composition of the miners definitely witnessed a change as commodity prices sky-rocketed last year. In fact, with a price rise of 111% last year, iron ore’s share in overall revenue of the industry increased from 15% in 2009 to almost 20% in 2010. Such price rise also helped miners to book higher margins as the bottomline of the Top 4o in the industry surged by a mind-boggling 156% during the year. A 51% rise in production too helped the miners.

Focus is back on exploration
With demand picking up in the global market, miners have again increased their investment in exploration. According to Metals Economics Group’s World Exploration Trends 2011, the total global spend jumped to $12.1 billion in 2010, up from $8.4 billion in 2009. And interestingly, the top 40 miners took lead in this as they contributed to just less than 50% of the total exploration expenditure last year. However, gold and base metals remained the highlight of the year as 84% of the exploration expenditure was made in them only. But then, a stiff price rise in these commodities motivated the mining companies to enter into a race in order to control more and more mines of these commodities to have a better future.


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

For More IIPM Info, Visit below mentioned IIPM articles

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Monday, April 1, 2013

B&E Indicators

Automotive industry regains its footing
As the world continues to rebound from the recent financial crisis, the global automotive industry has regained its footing and is now in a growth mode through M&As. Although volumes have held steady in the M&A deal market, disclosed deal value declined to its lowest levels in five years. In 2010, 521 deals were closed with a total disclosed value of $29.4 billion against 532 deals worth $121.9 billion in 2009.

Deal activity moves upstream
Vehicle manufacturer and component supplier categories experienced higher levels of activity in the deal market during 2010 against 2009. In fact, much of the activity was carried out by firms seeking to: divest non-core assets; bolster core competencies; and engage new markets. On the other hand, deal volumes in the other categories, which include retail, leasing & wholesale, et al, experienced a significant decline.


Source : IIPM Editorial, 2012.
An Initiative of IIPM, Malay Chaudhuri
and Arindam Chaudhuri (Renowned Management Guru and Economist). For More IIPM Info, Visit below mentioned IIPM articles
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