HLL and India

HLL and its products
For consumers of FMCG, India is THE PLACE where some of the most competitive fights are fought to capture even a miniscule market of 1% or 2%. The Indian arm of Unilever, HLL, offers the best fight to the world leader P and G.Last year saw HLL stripping its product lines and lined their products with a tag line "Shakthi Brands". HLL identified the best selling brands among its product lines and enhanced the selling of these brands, which has given a positive outlook for the company.
Among its latest moves is to introduce a small cover for its detergents. I have always felt that HLL's detergents turn to fluid state with usage. To check this problem, while maintaining the composition, HLL has to come up with this novel idea. All that one has to do is to put the detergent into the bag, that comes with every purchase. The cover is very handy and should go down well with the consumers. But, there is a minor rethinking that ought to go into this new design. HLL has perhaps not read the mind of an Indian consumer. The Indian consumer typically wants the detergent to be spread all over with lot of foam and this is restricted with the usage of the cover.
HLL should quickly move in to check this flaw, before the novel design is discarded by the consumer.
Sami

Back to bloggin!

Well, what a difference. It has been over 5 months since I last posted my blog. And since then, so many things have happened. I moved to India, to Austria and now back in India. And in this period, the world has witnessed some dramatic changes. London bombings, Katrina, declining approvals for Bush and Tony Blair, the Volcker Committee report and the Indian political drama...what not? It has been a very eventful 5 months. And on my personal front, well....so many things have happened. Right from my career to friendships to.... EVENTFUL INDEED!
Emerging from my shell,
-- I find the Apple mania is very fast catching up in India, one of the largest market for any damn product in the world. Apple is all set to rule!!!
-- Bill Gates plans to invest over 1.2 Billion (you heard it?) in India
-- The Big Five are ramping up their India operations
-- Jobs are pouring in Indian B Schools
-- TCS has been in news for bagging big orders in the past quarter
-- Indian Stock market has breached the 9000 mark
-- A record 1.5 lakhs aspirants took CAT 2005 out of 1.7 lakhs applicants
-- Indian B-Schools toe the ISB line; start one year programs for experienced professionals with simpler entry route

Well, so much more to say but less time. Catch u soon!!!
Sami

Sony on Apple's Footsteps!

Call it fixation on Apple products, I do not mind. But, Apple has emerged a clear winner in the competition for the product of tomorrow. Yes, I am talking about MP3 player.
Not long before, Sony was very popular for its invention of the walkman. In fact, Sony was called one of the companies that produced products with very novel features. But Sony could not keep up with times and now it stands in a peculiar position.The reason could be many. But some of the striking reasons are the business decisions of Sony. It has a culture of supporting their custom technology, while the rest of the world followed a seperate trend. For example, some of the Sony MP3 players support music in ATRAC formats only. To make it compatible with MP3, an additional sum has to be spent. All this makes it difficult for the consumer to percieve.
While all these has been happening, Apple has emerged a clear winner with its iPod range of products. The advantage is that the iPod has brought in more brand recognition for Apple that even its iBooks sales are increasing. The high end iPods are very convenient to use. I would rather call it a feature packed product with the best ease of use.
Recently, I found that Sony has redesigned one of its MP3 players to look like iPods. Looks are almost similar to iPOds. The only difference seem to be the control.
It shows that Sony is desperately trying to catch up with the trends and as a result following the footsteps of Apple!

The changes I would love to see.....

It has been a refreshing experience to be outside India for a good part of the year. That too when one gets to stay in a place like Stockholm, I bet people fall in love with its practices!

Based on whatever I have been experiencing in Stockholm, these are some of the constructive changes that I would like to see in our Indian society:

1. School kids carry less than 1 KG with them to the school. The school provides lockers for the children. The lavatories have the best facilities so that the kids drop in for a shower after a "wild" games period. There is an outstanding amount of individual attention given for each kid, meaning the strength in each class is optimal. The kids are taught to be flexible. The kids are made to play outdoor games for 1 hour each day, irrespective of the weather.

2. People are made to imbibe the culture of queuing at public places.

3. Public utility services are offered with the best interests of the people. A bus driver and a conductor is responsible for the vehicle they drive when they are in duty. Responsibility should span a variety of chores like cleaning the bus, reporting any problems in time and being hospitable.

4. Any hoardings that distract the attention of drivers are removed. No posters in public places.

5. When the public transportation runs late or breaks down, the authorities should provide the people using the system with allowance to use any alternative mode of transport.

6. Have the infrastructure to meet the challenges of extreme weather like floods.

7. The newspapers are flashed with progressive and constructive stories. There are more advertisements about the latest products and services, signifying the fact that the economy is healthy.

8. There is a timetable available for the public transportation and the time is maintained with less than 5% delta. The government should provide a public transport access point to any location at maximum of 200 metres walk.

9. Working hours do not extend beyond 5 pm. Five days work should be emphasised across all industries and sectors.

10. The government provides sufficient social security for even people working in private companies. This could be (a) a legislation that gives an insurance policy for all the working professionals, insulating them from job insecurities (b) a legislation that gives the spouses a long vacation during maternity periods (c) A subsidised health care for at least the underprivileged. This should be a foolproof system!

11. Each Indian has a unique identification number. This should make him identifiable for all purposes, be it passport, driving license, ration card, health care and public libraries.

12. A single taxation system. One should be able to drive peacefully from Kanyakumari to Kashmir without the hassles of check post!

13. Promotion of waterways as viable passenger transportation. This could also be used from an entertainment perspective. For example, there could be a ferry plying between Vizag and Mumbai on weekends that provides superior weekend holiday.

14. Make the place tourist friendly! When I say friendly, I want the real implementation of the meaning of the word "FRIENDLY"

ummmmm....what a wonderful society I am talking about. If I were to talk about these to a common man in India, one could expect a standard reply saying such a thing is possible only in an ideal world and is simply not practical. But I am talking about something that is happening thousands of miles from India!
And yes, it is not a dream but a practical approach to an ideal society.

Intelligent Jacket!

This is supposed to be summer time here in Sweden. I said "supposed to be". But I do not find any difference between October and now. Maybe it is October minus snow equal to June!
I never knew this equation earlier. Believing what the local people say, I have opted to wear normal jacket. But unfortunately, yesterday was one of those days when weather played spoil sport. On my way back from work, it was so cold that I was bitching my thought process for having chosen a normal jacket!
I was also pondering over the idea of an intelligent jacket. Imagine a jacket with the following features:
- It has a sensor to constantly monitor the outside temperature- The user should be able to set a threshold temperature. If the outside temperature drops below this, then a process starts- A process to convert the kinetic energy into temperature, that warms up the jacket and generates heat
I think this one is going to be of great use to people living in extreme temperatures! This also avoids the carrying of extra sweaters.

MP3 player or iPOD?

Tim: "Hey dude! I've just bought a MP3 player. Sony Network Walkman, 20 GB. Even John has bought a Creative MP3 player. What about you?"

Jim: "I have an iPod"!

Most of us have heard a conversation of this type. It shows that Apple is way ahead of its competitors in terms of product conception and delivery. This way, it has been able to carve a niche for itself.

It is of course not a new phenomenon. People refer to photocopiers as Xerox. In India, washing powders are generally called Sabena. There are so many such examples.

Even though Apple has not been able to make iPod a synonym for MP3 players, it has dominated the market perception by making them identify iPod as a different product line altogether!
That is a big success story for Apple. No wonder that a good chunk of its revenues is earned from Ipod sales.

Outsourcing - A Global economic perspective

The term "outsourcing" evokes contrasting and contradicting emotions among people of the developed nations. While the victims swear against this concept, the scholars proclaim that this concept is the growth engine for the future!

No wonder! But whose side should we take? Sometime back, I heard a story of an employee working in MNC committing suicide because his job was outsourced to another company. This evoked a series of protests and failed legislations. But what could be the macro economic perspective of this phenomenon of OUTSOURCING?

Ponder over this fact. Off late, there has been a very popular Internet site that sells the best products at unimaginable discounts. And the discounts are at least 30%. This is something really cool because one gets the best product of superior quality at a very reduced price. It is of course known that the concepts of huge discounts are more an issue of reduced profit margin. But in spite of this, companies are prepared to sell at take away prices. This is primarily because the MNCs are able to globally source in their products. For example, a laptop manufacturer could drive the R & D work in USA, give the manufacturing contracts to a South East Asian country, develop the related software components in a development centre located in India and finally deliver the product in California. The cost advantage incurred is really significant to be ignored by the uproars of anti-outsourcing campaigns.

Also, the laptop that usually sells for 2000 USDs is now available for 1100 USDs. Essentially, the manufacturer transfers a part of his margin to the end user. This results in a volume business, which in turn runs the macro economic engine of the country.
This simple logic proves that outsourcing is a win-win situation for all the stakeholders!

Livelihood and Infrastructure

In almost all the international trade and economic forums, one tends to hear voices on improving the infrastructure to embrace the growth in the next century. It is more often pronounced in the policies of the nations like India, China, Brazil and other developing nations.
One concern among the policy makers in these countries should be to bridge the infrastructure gap as well as to bridge the economic gaps. When I say economic gap, I mean the provision of the very basic living amenities.
Recently, I came across an article discussing the case of wireless internet connectivity across the city of Philadelphia. The connectivity is going to be at a very subsidised rate for the less privileged. The authorities also plan to give computers once the plan takes off. The city authorities aim to bridge the digital divide by this approach.
Compare this scenario with the one in a place like Mumbai - India. The city is supposed to be the commercial capital of the country. It houses the head quarters of most of the MNCs and Indian conglomerates, Stock market and Bollywood. Yet, the city has the largest slum dwelling in the world. The crime rate is quite high and the economy is getting choked because of very basic infrastructural bottlenecks like traffic congestion! Even though similar problems plague other major cities like New york, the infrusture in the advanced countries is far ahead to cope with the demands.
It is high time for the developing economies to set their basics right!

The Beginning!

Everyone has the most cherished memories dating back to one's college days. I have many. One of them was the venture to start an Entrepreneurship centre at BITS-Pilani. We were a group of six guys, who ventured to achieve this. Our aim was to make the student community a budding ground for entrepreneurship. Thus was created the Technonology Incubation Center at BITS-Pilani.
We wanted it to be named Shreshta. But for better reasons, the current name was chosen. So, I have chosen this name for my blog.
The credit for the existence of the center goes to the management of the institute and to the students who carried forward the basic framework that we started with.
To continue with the knowledge sharing experience, I shall keep posting my random thoughts.
Our shreshta team: Amudhanvel (ammu - http://amudhanvel.blogspot.com), Balaji CH (bajji), Bharath (Nob), Shanmugan (shangy), Raghavan (RT) and me.