New and emerging Idea of “Behavioral Marketing” is gripping the websites and advertisers are getting more keener on it. This basically talks about customization of Ads based on predictions on what you are going to buy next. This is like one-on-one marketing based on individual data. Like: Gender, Location, Demographics, Interests, Past website visits, Recommendations etc.
Like Book Selling Sites recommending the following:
“People who liked this also liked books like these:-
Link 1
Link 2
Link 2”
Now websites are trying to provide Real-time Ads. With the help of certain details like your Location and demographics. They are continuously collecting data about you, while you browse and on real-time change the ads from a generic one to the most relevant ones relevant to your interest.
“Auto Opt In” is the trick most of the sites are using which means you just can’t skip this.
The basic value proposition is “we are going to stop bombarding you with non-relevant ads and give you something which is very relevant to you.”
Well companies are trying to build and implement these algorithms and only some retrun on investment data will prove if this model is working well!
Some Online Citations:
nugg.ad AG - http://blog.nugg.ad/2007-07-25/is-predictive-behavioral-targeting-only-something-for-geeks-nerds-and-freaks/
Yahoo! Expands Behavioral Targeting - http://www.clickz.com/showPage.html?page=3520631
Yahoo Adds Behavioral Targeting - http://advertising.yahoo.com/marketing/bt/
Microsoft Demos Behavioral Targeting - http://publications.mediapost.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=Articles.showArticleHomePage&art_aid=38484
Behavioral Maketing - http://www.behavioral.us/2007/06/15/when-does-behavioral-fail/
Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Behavioral_targeting"
Saturday, August 04, 2007
Tata Indiacom Offers Samsung Duo Dual Mode Handset in India
Following the Spice Telecom, Tata Indicom with Samsung has announced to launch Samsung Duo, the dual mode handset supporting GSM and CDMA technology.
According to Samsung, users can use two GSM or two CDMA or one of each sim cards in one handset.
The Duo handset is a slider phone having a 2.2-inch hybrid TFT display. Also it features 1.3 megapixel camera with 10X digital zoom and video recording. This phone is a real business phone supporting document files in excel, word and PDF formats.
The phone also offers good amount of entertainment to users through an MP3/AAC+ player supporting video in MPEG4. The phone has 10MB of internal memory and can support up to 1GB of external memory.
Besides, the phone has three input options ABCD’ keyboard or a normal mobile phone keypad and thanks to the handwriting recognition software that it incorporates, you also jot something on it.
Perhaps, the most interesting feature for Indians the Indian calendar it bundles which lists all the festivals, dates and important occasions. Additionally it has a Panchang featuring auspicious/inauspicious times during a day.
Currently the Duo is launched in Mumbai only at the price of Rs. 11,999, excluding the Indicom Sim card.
According to Samsung, users can use two GSM or two CDMA or one of each sim cards in one handset.
The Duo handset is a slider phone having a 2.2-inch hybrid TFT display. Also it features 1.3 megapixel camera with 10X digital zoom and video recording. This phone is a real business phone supporting document files in excel, word and PDF formats.
The phone also offers good amount of entertainment to users through an MP3/AAC+ player supporting video in MPEG4. The phone has 10MB of internal memory and can support up to 1GB of external memory.
Besides, the phone has three input options ABCD’ keyboard or a normal mobile phone keypad and thanks to the handwriting recognition software that it incorporates, you also jot something on it.
Perhaps, the most interesting feature for Indians the Indian calendar it bundles which lists all the festivals, dates and important occasions. Additionally it has a Panchang featuring auspicious/inauspicious times during a day.
Currently the Duo is launched in Mumbai only at the price of Rs. 11,999, excluding the Indicom Sim card.
Was just discussing yesterday night ... Teleportation is the Next Technology change? Which is going to throw out all these mobiles and communication devices....I wish I could be alive to see that day!
Friday, August 03, 2007
Goal Setting!
What will you achieve if you don't know what you want to achieve?GOAL setting, timeline setting, steps break-up, milestone celebrations, motivation, inching closer to your GOALS. Well all this sounds more or less like a excerpt from a Project Management book at your B-School. No. This is simply the latest thing running in my office where all the employees have put together all their Goals on the wall:
1 yr goal
5 yr goal
10 yr goal
Lifetime Goal.
In the image some 32 Goal sheets are visible which says exactly this. I think its necessary and every company should do this. Get your employees to decide the goals. Set some timelines. Breakup the path to achieve those goals into smaller units. Self Motivate yourself. Keep working and celebrate the milestones. Achieve and Enjoy! Start your journey for the next goal.
Wednesday, August 01, 2007
The USUAL Scenario outside Forum just next to my Office!
The UN-USUAL Scene in the evening sky over Forum!
Usual is to see long waiting queues of traffic in front of my office. Hosur road and surrounding areas. Well it takes me 5 minutes to walk down to my office. And if i drive by car it takes 15 minutes. Bangalore traffic is becoming pathetic day by day. And no solution seems to be in pipeline.
Unusual was the large number of eagles flying over the Forum and its vicinity last Friday evening. I was working in the office and suddenly my boss Liam called me out and asked me, why do you think these birds are so frantically flying all over the place? Well not just me, we were like 3-4 people and offcourse human nature prompted everyone with his or her own theory! This was a very strange thing which i saw for the first time. I don't particularly know why it happened, however, what sounded a good logic from Zafar was that, it became dark suddenly that night so the birds lost their time tracking mechanism.
Anyways, if you seem to know why it happened....do post in your comments.
Royal treatment on my Birth Day!
Royal treatment on my 25th Birth Day!I didn't expect the Royal treatment I got this 4th of july on my 25th B'Day. I turned 26. Yes the venue was Leela Palace, Bangalore. The location was Jamavar. Thanks to my wife who had done some pre-booking. I was impressed. We had fun time that night, I njoyed a lot. And i think we ordered food in excess as always. The aloo tikki dilli style was good, i relished it. The rest of the food was also delectable. With the enjoyment in the air, coz of Independence Day of America, there was hustle n bustle. And we could hear some fun party going on there. Overall good music and good ambience.
Cheers again and thanks to my biwi for this ossum treat!
Tuesday, July 31, 2007
What is naseba?
A lot of people have been asking me recently, what is naseba? Well here is your FAQ answered...
Q) What is naseba?
A) The word naseba comes from a Japanese idiomatic expression: "when there is a will there is a way." naseba can be translated, "if you make it happen." naseba is Business Information (BI).
We are committed to provide BI to the entire online community without them paying any charge for the same. We are a product company and our products are Strategic Business platforms like Congresses, Forums, Conferences or Expos.
Q) Is naseba Event Management Company?
A) NO
We produce, promote and host our own strategic business platforms using a conference, congress, expo or forum format - depending on the market - with the ultimate focus on ‘knowledge expansion’, ‘networking’ but most importantly maximizing ‘deal-making’ opportunities for all our executive clients.
Q) How are you unique from other similar events companies?
A) Let me answer this in bulleted format:
We are into providing you with Business Information for your strategic decision making.
We don’t host someone else’s events.
We host our own Strategic Business Platforms for business information exchange.
We give commitment in our contract, in black and white, the target number of people attending our event.
Pre-scheduled One-to-One business meetings.
A complete delegate directory with contact information & pre-course questionnaire to help you uncover the needs of the prospective client in advance.
Open business meeting to ensure you do not miss out on meeting any delegates you would want to meet.
Table sponsorship opportunities to maximize your visibility.
Limited numbers of suppliers to ensure you are not surrounded by your rivals.
Hope this makes us as a “unique” company!
Q) What products does naseba have?
A) naseba provides 4 streams of international products:
Travel & Tourism Series - 10 strategic congresses focused on maximizing networking and deal-making opportunities for Travel & Tourism professionals.
CXO Strategies - designed exclusively for CXOs by CXOs providing a UNIQUE mix of best practice and knowledge sharing in a problem-solving environment.
Global Expansion Series - a dynamic two-day platform created for busy decision makers to conduct business in their respective infrastructure sectors through prescheduled, one-to-one business meetings interwoven with re-educational sessions and the ultimate networking parties.
Knowledge Expansion - a conference format with a networking approach, focused on dynamic re-education for busy upper-level executives who do not attend vendor-driven conferences.
Q) How old is your company, some company history details?
A) In order to climb to the next level and expand more aggressively - further proving to make things happen - naseba did a reverse takeover of MM Finance, a company listed on the Marché Libre of the Paris Stock exchange - therefore, on October 5th, 2006 naseba proudly went public.
Since inception in 2002, naseba has expanded its portfolio of worldwide executive congress and forums to 60 annual strategic B2B platforms covering 26 different industries.
As a leading global business information company with headquarters in Monaco, naseba has offices strategically located in eight cities around the world and employs over 200 executives from more than 30 nationalities.
We are multicultural, dynamic and focused on making it happen.
Q) What is naseba?
A) The word naseba comes from a Japanese idiomatic expression: "when there is a will there is a way." naseba can be translated, "if you make it happen." naseba is Business Information (BI).
We are committed to provide BI to the entire online community without them paying any charge for the same. We are a product company and our products are Strategic Business platforms like Congresses, Forums, Conferences or Expos.
Q) Is naseba Event Management Company?
A) NO
We produce, promote and host our own strategic business platforms using a conference, congress, expo or forum format - depending on the market - with the ultimate focus on ‘knowledge expansion’, ‘networking’ but most importantly maximizing ‘deal-making’ opportunities for all our executive clients.
Q) How are you unique from other similar events companies?
A) Let me answer this in bulleted format:
Hope this makes us as a “unique” company!
Q) What products does naseba have?
A) naseba provides 4 streams of international products:
Travel & Tourism Series - 10 strategic congresses focused on maximizing networking and deal-making opportunities for Travel & Tourism professionals.
CXO Strategies - designed exclusively for CXOs by CXOs providing a UNIQUE mix of best practice and knowledge sharing in a problem-solving environment.
Global Expansion Series - a dynamic two-day platform created for busy decision makers to conduct business in their respective infrastructure sectors through prescheduled, one-to-one business meetings interwoven with re-educational sessions and the ultimate networking parties.
Knowledge Expansion - a conference format with a networking approach, focused on dynamic re-education for busy upper-level executives who do not attend vendor-driven conferences.
Q) How old is your company, some company history details?
A) In order to climb to the next level and expand more aggressively - further proving to make things happen - naseba did a reverse takeover of MM Finance, a company listed on the Marché Libre of the Paris Stock exchange - therefore, on October 5th, 2006 naseba proudly went public.
Since inception in 2002, naseba has expanded its portfolio of worldwide executive congress and forums to 60 annual strategic B2B platforms covering 26 different industries.
As a leading global business information company with headquarters in Monaco, naseba has offices strategically located in eight cities around the world and employs over 200 executives from more than 30 nationalities.
We are multicultural, dynamic and focused on making it happen.
Friday, July 27, 2007
Top 100 Blogs
I found this interesting site which gives you the list of Top 100 blogs in India. A very good website for seeing who's blogging in India.
More interesting pages that I found was on this website are:
Top 100 Most Influential blogs.
Top 100 Songs being heard.
Top 100 DVDs being watched.
Do comment and let me know if you come across similar sites.
More interesting pages that I found was on this website are:
Top 100 Most Influential blogs.
Top 100 Songs being heard.
Top 100 DVDs being watched.
Do comment and let me know if you come across similar sites.
Monday, July 23, 2007
Product Review: BOSE Companion 5 Multimedia Speaker System.
Update 2 - The volume control pod snooze error (Scroll to bottom)
The volume goes off in the middle of play if USB not connected.
Update 1 - How to connect your BOSE Companion 5 Multimedia Speakers to your TV? (Scroll down)
Procedure and images to demonstrate the connection with TV.
Product Review - Good sound comes in Small Packages!
The volume goes off in the middle of play if USB not connected.
Update 1 - How to connect your BOSE Companion 5 Multimedia Speakers to your TV? (Scroll down)
Procedure and images to demonstrate the connection with TV.
Product Review - Good sound comes in Small Packages!
If you are one of those who hold any of the following opinion:
>BOSE is costly.
>BOSE has only Sophisticated Surround Sound Systems.
>BOSE is my dream audio-video system.
Then please read on….
BOSE Companion 5 Multimedia Speaker System (BC5MSS) shatters all the myths and brings forward the reality of High Quality audio experience in a small package!
---------------------------------------------------------------
Bottom Line
Bose's Companion 5 speakers are great for those who want more from their DVD audio but lack the space for a true surround-sound setup.
---------------------------------------------------------------
PROS
The subwoofer delivers nice rumble. Speakers widen the stereo image. Great for desktop or home listening. Wired control has volume and mute button.
---------------------------------------------------------------
CONS
"Surround-like" is NOT real surround sound. The satellites are lacking in the mid-high frequencies. Control is wired.
---------------------------------------------------------------
I bought the BC5MSS one month back and tried and tested it in multiple scenarios. Here is what I have to say about the system. BOSE is committed to provide Best Audio Quality and they have 100% delivered on it, interestingly, cost effectively and in a small package!
I am sure most of us would have come across BOSE’s amazing sound quality experience once in a while somewhere. I experienced it for the first time in FORUM Mall’s BOSE showroom. During my first visit there I was sure, this is my Dream Audio system. However, I was not sure when this Dream is going to turn into reality. Yes, price was something which was keeping me back.
Not long, I visited BOSE showroom around mid of June 2007 and I saw this BC5MSS system and saw a little price tag hanging there for Rs. 24,500/-. I was sure this is just going to be the price of the small speaker and nothing else. I was about to overlook, when the gentleman in the showroom approached me and asked me if I would like to see a Demo of the product. I said Ok go on show me what can this Tiny thing do? To my amazement, I was immediately overwhelmed by the systems audio performance! My very next question was, is this sound coming just from the speakers or there is a base unit to it? And, there it was, a pretty Acoustimass module happily sitting down there. My next question, so this set of speakers, stand, cables and this module costs how much in total? “Sir this entire unit including everything costs 24.5K” said the gentleman….yippeee…!! Am I dreaming or what? Well I had almost made-up my mind and thought let me quickly do an online research of the same and talk to one or two near ones. Did that quickly and took my decision to buy this system!
Features worth a mention!
Proprietary TrueSpace® surround digital processing circuitry - Creates an immersive sound environment from just two visible speakers. The system is designed for sitting at the computer; however I have used it with my TV out in my living room and gave that WOW experience.
Digital 5.1 audio playback (Surround Like – Not Surround Sound) Brings music, games, movies and other 5.1-decoded material to life with much of the performance you'd expect from a five-speaker system.
Compact Acoustimass® module – (The heart) delivers clean, deep low frequencies into the room. The module can be hidden almost anywhere in the listening area and allows for small, elegant speakers without sacrificing performance.
Control pod - multi-function pod for volume control, single-touch mute, headphone jack and connection for a second audio source such as an MP3 player.
USB connectivity - to your PC, this means that the Digital signal is being processed by the BOSE’s internal circuitry delivering that Virtual Surround Sound.
Dual inputs – means you can connect your DVD/iPOD/TV-Out/MP3 etc while it’s connected to PC. As well as there is a sound out – to connect to your Head Set / Headphones.
Performance Test – Built to last!
I have tried connecting this to my PC, Laptop, MP3 Player, iPOD, DVD/TV Player.
Results:
PC / Laptop: As promised, delivered the Virtual surround sound experience with USB connectivity you do get a 5.1 channel surround sound experience.
MP3/iPOD: Again as promised, delivered the WOW BOSE effect. Even with a 2.1 channel input, you get a 5.1 channel output experience.
DVD/TV: You can take a serial to phono cable and connect your TV out to the Control Pod “in” the DVD out can go to the TV and experience the Surround Sound experience.
Catch – Doesn’t match up to the actual BOSE surround sound system! I wouldn’t recommend for a complete surround sound experience. However, COST factor overtakes the sound logic sometimes! So your call, at this cost, a BOSE like experience should be really worth it!
>BOSE is costly.
>BOSE has only Sophisticated Surround Sound Systems.
>BOSE is my dream audio-video system.
Then please read on….
BOSE Companion 5 Multimedia Speaker System (BC5MSS) shatters all the myths and brings forward the reality of High Quality audio experience in a small package!
---------------------------------------------------------------
Bottom Line
Bose's Companion 5 speakers are great for those who want more from their DVD audio but lack the space for a true surround-sound setup.
---------------------------------------------------------------
PROS
The subwoofer delivers nice rumble. Speakers widen the stereo image. Great for desktop or home listening. Wired control has volume and mute button.
---------------------------------------------------------------
CONS
"Surround-like" is NOT real surround sound. The satellites are lacking in the mid-high frequencies. Control is wired.
---------------------------------------------------------------
I bought the BC5MSS one month back and tried and tested it in multiple scenarios. Here is what I have to say about the system. BOSE is committed to provide Best Audio Quality and they have 100% delivered on it, interestingly, cost effectively and in a small package!
I am sure most of us would have come across BOSE’s amazing sound quality experience once in a while somewhere. I experienced it for the first time in FORUM Mall’s BOSE showroom. During my first visit there I was sure, this is my Dream Audio system. However, I was not sure when this Dream is going to turn into reality. Yes, price was something which was keeping me back.
Not long, I visited BOSE showroom around mid of June 2007 and I saw this BC5MSS system and saw a little price tag hanging there for Rs. 24,500/-. I was sure this is just going to be the price of the small speaker and nothing else. I was about to overlook, when the gentleman in the showroom approached me and asked me if I would like to see a Demo of the product. I said Ok go on show me what can this Tiny thing do? To my amazement, I was immediately overwhelmed by the systems audio performance! My very next question was, is this sound coming just from the speakers or there is a base unit to it? And, there it was, a pretty Acoustimass module happily sitting down there. My next question, so this set of speakers, stand, cables and this module costs how much in total? “Sir this entire unit including everything costs 24.5K” said the gentleman….yippeee…!! Am I dreaming or what? Well I had almost made-up my mind and thought let me quickly do an online research of the same and talk to one or two near ones. Did that quickly and took my decision to buy this system!
Features worth a mention!
Proprietary TrueSpace® surround digital processing circuitry - Creates an immersive sound environment from just two visible speakers. The system is designed for sitting at the computer; however I have used it with my TV out in my living room and gave that WOW experience.
Digital 5.1 audio playback (Surround Like – Not Surround Sound) Brings music, games, movies and other 5.1-decoded material to life with much of the performance you'd expect from a five-speaker system.
Compact Acoustimass® module – (The heart) delivers clean, deep low frequencies into the room. The module can be hidden almost anywhere in the listening area and allows for small, elegant speakers without sacrificing performance.
Control pod - multi-function pod for volume control, single-touch mute, headphone jack and connection for a second audio source such as an MP3 player.
USB connectivity - to your PC, this means that the Digital signal is being processed by the BOSE’s internal circuitry delivering that Virtual Surround Sound.
Dual inputs – means you can connect your DVD/iPOD/TV-Out/MP3 etc while it’s connected to PC. As well as there is a sound out – to connect to your Head Set / Headphones.
Performance Test – Built to last!
I have tried connecting this to my PC, Laptop, MP3 Player, iPOD, DVD/TV Player.
Results:
PC / Laptop: As promised, delivered the Virtual surround sound experience with USB connectivity you do get a 5.1 channel surround sound experience.
MP3/iPOD: Again as promised, delivered the WOW BOSE effect. Even with a 2.1 channel input, you get a 5.1 channel output experience.
DVD/TV: You can take a serial to phono cable and connect your TV out to the Control Pod “in” the DVD out can go to the TV and experience the Surround Sound experience.
Catch – Doesn’t match up to the actual BOSE surround sound system! I wouldn’t recommend for a complete surround sound experience. However, COST factor overtakes the sound logic sometimes! So your call, at this cost, a BOSE like experience should be really worth it!
How to connect your BOSE Companion 5 Multimedia Speakers to your TV?
I used the serial to phono cable(image below). The white and red end went into the TV out in the image below
Serial to Phono Cable.(Single end into BOSE POD and Double end into TV Audio Out)
TV Audio out
Also, you can connect it to your DVD player too. Take a 3 pin to 3 pin connector cable and connect the 3 pins as shown in the image below to the Audio and Video IN of your TV. The other side of the 3 pins should go into the DVD player Audieo - Video OUT. So now your DVD player is connected to your TV and your TV player's output is connected to speakers.
However, to be precise in this case the Audio processing is not directly on the BOSE board, so its not the digital signal being processed, but the analog one. Also when you connect BOSE directly to your laptop/PC, the digital signal is directly sent to the BOSE acoustimas module so the digital signal processing happens on the board and that's why DVD live quality.
If you want to OWN a BOSE system which gives you most of Audio-Video functionality at a very reasonable cost, this would be a Perfect BUY!
Update 2 - The volume control pod snooze error. The volume goes off in the middle of play if USB not connected. I have faced this problem that if I have connected the volume control pod with TV/DVD play, after some time of playing, the volume control pod goes into sleep mode. I am not sure why this happens, however, the solution is, connect your USB connector cable to some USB device or a laptop. In this way, the volume control pod remains active.
This is a strange solution, but then it works. Let me know if it worked for you or not.
Did you think Harry Potter was a children’s Movie? – Think Again!
Movie Review - Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix
Ihe movie's fame has gone beyond just being a children’s movie. Rowling and Yate has made it clear with the 5th part, Harry Potter and the Order of Phoenix, that its not just for the children. It’s a full fledged entertainer which is power packed with the right ‘masala’ for being a complete entertainer for all ages (a little better editing would have propelled it more)! However lacks in fun or the funny element (I expected, a little bit, though). The story, plot, special effects, acting, costumes, make-up, fight scenes, drama, performances, screenplay, emotions, intimacy…am I forgetting anything, I guess pretty much it, the entire curry cooked very well!
I watched this movie, after all the juggle, this Sunday afternoon at REX theatre, Bangalore. Actually this movie made me think, was this for children or adults? Teens may be, but not for kids… for sure!
Well to start with the plot was very well portrayed in the movie, though sometimes it looked like you are watching the abridged version of book. Most of the scenes would quickly remind you of the chapter in the book, but would get over quick, however fairly conveyed the messages and the story. The plot was not revealed till the end, which keeps people glued who haven’t read the book and were watching the movie for the first time.
Another interesting area, which I would like to comment upon would be the special effects. I liked them! They make or break a Harry Potter movie. Very well picturized flying scenes, well sequenced, breathtaking heights, brilliant sound effects, flying witches and amazing flying horses. What more would you want?
Oh well, there was a keen importance given to costumes, I liked Sirius’s cloak, Hermione’s pink striped dress (and the way she wears her Tie), Imelda’s dress and off course Mr. Potter’s Suit! The make-up artists had spent good amount of time to ensure that every scene looked genuine and it did. The fiction brought to reality was looking true. The picturiziation and the screenplay were like the story unraveling scene by scene…like the pages of the book rapidly flipped.
Performances go like this, Harry’s kind of shedding Ron and Hermione (I felt it). Evanna as Luna was brilliant. The best performances, however, were by Helena and Imelda - as Bellatrix and Umbridge, respectively. Helena portrayed Bellatrix perfectly and supremely pulled off Bellatrix’s obsessive (and deranged, creepy) devotion to Voldemort - she was practically licking her Dark Mark! Imelda was a great Umbridge, sinister in her own way - as we all know. However I felt, because of the length of the book, the movie was made fast paced, where lots of performances just got missed like the Grawp, Grimmauld Place, Kreacher, Tonks, Quidditch, Giants, Centaurs etc.
Other interesting things were the drama, emotions and the intimacy! Well-well-well, Mr. Potter’s onscreen kiss, an intimate one, surely not for kids, made the crowds go howling. It was pretty much like any other Hollywood adult flick. Scenes with Harry holding hands, Harry going towards all the women, Hermione’s way of looking at Harry and others, all clearly suggested, NOT for my Kid. Not to forget the blood on the faces of Harry and others after every fight sequence. The order of the phoenix has grown out of being a ‘children’s movie’ to an adult/teen entertainer well.
What I missed though was the funny side of it, which was there in initial parts. Who says teens/adults don’t like fun? Anyways….another thing which I didn’t like was poor editing of the scenes of Ministry of Magic. The long dialogues, the last scenes of the Prophecy, Dumbledore’s and Valdemort’s fight sequence.
In short, a little over than an average watch! Worth watching once, if you are a Harry fan!
Ihe movie's fame has gone beyond just being a children’s movie. Rowling and Yate has made it clear with the 5th part, Harry Potter and the Order of Phoenix, that its not just for the children. It’s a full fledged entertainer which is power packed with the right ‘masala’ for being a complete entertainer for all ages (a little better editing would have propelled it more)! However lacks in fun or the funny element (I expected, a little bit, though). The story, plot, special effects, acting, costumes, make-up, fight scenes, drama, performances, screenplay, emotions, intimacy…am I forgetting anything, I guess pretty much it, the entire curry cooked very well!
I watched this movie, after all the juggle, this Sunday afternoon at REX theatre, Bangalore. Actually this movie made me think, was this for children or adults? Teens may be, but not for kids… for sure!
Well to start with the plot was very well portrayed in the movie, though sometimes it looked like you are watching the abridged version of book. Most of the scenes would quickly remind you of the chapter in the book, but would get over quick, however fairly conveyed the messages and the story. The plot was not revealed till the end, which keeps people glued who haven’t read the book and were watching the movie for the first time.
Another interesting area, which I would like to comment upon would be the special effects. I liked them! They make or break a Harry Potter movie. Very well picturized flying scenes, well sequenced, breathtaking heights, brilliant sound effects, flying witches and amazing flying horses. What more would you want?
Oh well, there was a keen importance given to costumes, I liked Sirius’s cloak, Hermione’s pink striped dress (and the way she wears her Tie), Imelda’s dress and off course Mr. Potter’s Suit! The make-up artists had spent good amount of time to ensure that every scene looked genuine and it did. The fiction brought to reality was looking true. The picturiziation and the screenplay were like the story unraveling scene by scene…like the pages of the book rapidly flipped.
Performances go like this, Harry’s kind of shedding Ron and Hermione (I felt it). Evanna as Luna was brilliant. The best performances, however, were by Helena and Imelda - as Bellatrix and Umbridge, respectively. Helena portrayed Bellatrix perfectly and supremely pulled off Bellatrix’s obsessive (and deranged, creepy) devotion to Voldemort - she was practically licking her Dark Mark! Imelda was a great Umbridge, sinister in her own way - as we all know. However I felt, because of the length of the book, the movie was made fast paced, where lots of performances just got missed like the Grawp, Grimmauld Place, Kreacher, Tonks, Quidditch, Giants, Centaurs etc.
Other interesting things were the drama, emotions and the intimacy! Well-well-well, Mr. Potter’s onscreen kiss, an intimate one, surely not for kids, made the crowds go howling. It was pretty much like any other Hollywood adult flick. Scenes with Harry holding hands, Harry going towards all the women, Hermione’s way of looking at Harry and others, all clearly suggested, NOT for my Kid. Not to forget the blood on the faces of Harry and others after every fight sequence. The order of the phoenix has grown out of being a ‘children’s movie’ to an adult/teen entertainer well.
What I missed though was the funny side of it, which was there in initial parts. Who says teens/adults don’t like fun? Anyways….another thing which I didn’t like was poor editing of the scenes of Ministry of Magic. The long dialogues, the last scenes of the Prophecy, Dumbledore’s and Valdemort’s fight sequence.
In short, a little over than an average watch! Worth watching once, if you are a Harry fan!
Saturday, July 21, 2007
Mozilla Addons Rock
Though I write this blog entry using IE browser, I wanted to share some things which I see rocking in Mozilla Firefox.
As advertized by Mozilla, firefox does speed-up your speed of browsing, but what it additionally offers is these Add-Ons which are really cool.
You can visit this URL https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/recommended to find the reccomended Add-Ons by Firefox.
Some of these which I personally like are:
Yoono
While you are surfing, Yoono instantly suggests what others have discovered: websites, people and articles. Create a rich scrapbook of your favorite stuff with the new "Buzz It!" feature, one-click grab and share videos, photos and texts from any web page. Yoono keeps your scrapbook and original Firefox bookmarks synchronized across your computers.
ScribeFire
ScribeFire (previously Performancing for Firefox) is a full-featured blog editor that integrates with your browser and lets you easily post to your blog.
CoolIris Preview
Cooliris Previews gives you the power to browse and share Web links and rich media faster. Just mouse over any link, and the Cooliris preview window immediately appears to show you the content. To email it, just click.
Another reason why I like this one is that it reminds me of the Song "Iris" by Goo Goo Dolls, one of my all time favourite. Lyrics and the music is ossum!
del.icio.us
This extension seamlessly integrates your browser with del.icio.us (http://del.icio.us/), the leading social bookmarking service on the Web.
ChatZilla
A clean, easy to use and highly extensible Internet Relay Chat (IRC) client.
LinkedIn Companion
LinkedIn is an online network of more than 10.5 million experienced professionals. LinkedIn helps you be more effective in your daily work and opens doors to opportunities by helping you develop and manage your network of business...
My LinkedIn profile can be easily accessed and update, whenever I need to!
Do share if come across some interesting Firefox Addins. I would love to read your comments. Download firefox and new google toolbar for better browsing experience.
As advertized by Mozilla, firefox does speed-up your speed of browsing, but what it additionally offers is these Add-Ons which are really cool.
You can visit this URL https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/recommended to find the reccomended Add-Ons by Firefox.
Some of these which I personally like are:
Yoono
While you are surfing, Yoono instantly suggests what others have discovered: websites, people and articles. Create a rich scrapbook of your favorite stuff with the new "Buzz It!" feature, one-click grab and share videos, photos and texts from any web page. Yoono keeps your scrapbook and original Firefox bookmarks synchronized across your computers.
ScribeFire
ScribeFire (previously Performancing for Firefox) is a full-featured blog editor that integrates with your browser and lets you easily post to your blog.
CoolIris Preview
Cooliris Previews gives you the power to browse and share Web links and rich media faster. Just mouse over any link, and the Cooliris preview window immediately appears to show you the content. To email it, just click.
Another reason why I like this one is that it reminds me of the Song "Iris" by Goo Goo Dolls, one of my all time favourite. Lyrics and the music is ossum!
del.icio.us
This extension seamlessly integrates your browser with del.icio.us (http://del.icio.us/), the leading social bookmarking service on the Web.
ChatZilla
A clean, easy to use and highly extensible Internet Relay Chat (IRC) client.
LinkedIn Companion
LinkedIn is an online network of more than 10.5 million experienced professionals. LinkedIn helps you be more effective in your daily work and opens doors to opportunities by helping you develop and manage your network of business...
My LinkedIn profile can be easily accessed and update, whenever I need to!
Do share if come across some interesting Firefox Addins. I would love to read your comments. Download firefox and new google toolbar for better browsing experience.
Friday, July 20, 2007
I have joined naseba
I have joined naseba last week. I joined as a Marketing Director for the India and Middle East markets. I am accompanied with my colleague Zafar who brings in his extensive experience in Middle East market. My role would be to work along with Zafar to set-up a marketing department for the company and help generate leads and generate revenue. I am reporting to Liam Findlay, CRM Director, who has envisioned this entire department.
naseba is Business Information.
naseba producec, promotes and hosts strategic business platforms using a conference, congress, expo or forum format - depending on the market - with the ultimate focus on knowledge expansion, networking but most importantly maximizing deal-making opportunities for all our executive clients. naseba is listed on the Paris Stock Exchange.
The word naseba comes from a Japanese idiomatic expression: "when there is a will there is a way."naseba can be translated, "if you make it happen."
As a leading global business information company with headquarters in Monaco, naseba has offices strategically located in eight cities around the world and employs over 200 executives from more than 30 nationalities.
naseba is proud to be working in partnership with many leading press groups and local authorities such as BBC World, CNBC, Financial Times, Time, Al Arabiya, London Convention Bureau, the Principality of Monaco, the Abu Dhabi Government and the City of Prague, just to name a few.
I feel highly motivated with our CEOs statement: "The secret to our success is that we understand that all participants, both sponsors and executive delegates, must have a return on their investment - whether that investment is time or money. Our high rebooking rate of both executive delegates and sponsors is proving that we are delivering this ROI to our clients.” Scott Ragsdale, Chairman and CEO.
naseba is Business Information.
naseba producec, promotes and hosts strategic business platforms using a conference, congress, expo or forum format - depending on the market - with the ultimate focus on knowledge expansion, networking but most importantly maximizing deal-making opportunities for all our executive clients. naseba is listed on the Paris Stock Exchange.
The word naseba comes from a Japanese idiomatic expression: "when there is a will there is a way."naseba can be translated, "if you make it happen."
As a leading global business information company with headquarters in Monaco, naseba has offices strategically located in eight cities around the world and employs over 200 executives from more than 30 nationalities.
naseba is proud to be working in partnership with many leading press groups and local authorities such as BBC World, CNBC, Financial Times, Time, Al Arabiya, London Convention Bureau, the Principality of Monaco, the Abu Dhabi Government and the City of Prague, just to name a few.
I feel highly motivated with our CEOs statement: "The secret to our success is that we understand that all participants, both sponsors and executive delegates, must have a return on their investment - whether that investment is time or money. Our high rebooking rate of both executive delegates and sponsors is proving that we are delivering this ROI to our clients.” Scott Ragsdale, Chairman and CEO.
Harry Potter Movie Tickets Sold Out in 60 minutes
Harry Potter and the order of phoenix, Movie Tickets Sold Out in 60 minutes!
Yesterday afternoon I visited PVR in Forum Mall, Bangalore, to purchase tickets for the movie long awaited movie Harry Potter and the order of phoenix, at 3 PM. They told me that the booking will start at 5 PM. So I went back and then again reached at 5.45 PM. And to my amazement, there was a long never ending queue. Within 5 minutes the person at the booking counter announced that the tickets for Harry Potter - the order of phoenix are sold out for the entire Saturday and Sunday(21-22 July 2007).
With a long face, I returned to my office and started working. Just thinking that the demand is much more than the Supply. Or may be there are too many Harry Potter fans in bangalore! This is the 2nd week of the movie and still the tickets are not available.
Real estate companies might want to look at this and start more new movie theatres in bangalore!
Yesterday afternoon I visited PVR in Forum Mall, Bangalore, to purchase tickets for the movie long awaited movie Harry Potter and the order of phoenix, at 3 PM. They told me that the booking will start at 5 PM. So I went back and then again reached at 5.45 PM. And to my amazement, there was a long never ending queue. Within 5 minutes the person at the booking counter announced that the tickets for Harry Potter - the order of phoenix are sold out for the entire Saturday and Sunday(21-22 July 2007).
With a long face, I returned to my office and started working. Just thinking that the demand is much more than the Supply. Or may be there are too many Harry Potter fans in bangalore! This is the 2nd week of the movie and still the tickets are not available.
Real estate companies might want to look at this and start more new movie theatres in bangalore!
Wednesday, July 18, 2007
New Harry Potter Book Leaked Onto Bit Torrent
After OJ’s book, its Rowling’s now. Seems like the latest book in the Harry Potter series, “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows”, has been leaked onto Bit Torrent. The book was leaked onto Demonoid and quickly spread to other sites in the form of two torrents. Already google search showing over 1,160,000 search volumes . One of the torrents features only 495 pages of the book while the other is complete. However, users who have downloaded the book say that it’s a bad quality scan and half the pages are illegible. You even have to use Photoshop to clean up some of them, should you want to read the book in its entirety.
But with all the hype around Harry Potter, having torrents of a book like this can be dangerous. Mininova has already removed the torrents for the book, a move that the site normally wouldn’t choose. Now that it’s leaked, spoilers are bound to hit the Internet left and right, so be careful where you click. Otherwise, wait until the 21st to get your Potter on.
But with all the hype around Harry Potter, having torrents of a book like this can be dangerous. Mininova has already removed the torrents for the book, a move that the site normally wouldn’t choose. Now that it’s leaked, spoilers are bound to hit the Internet left and right, so be careful where you click. Otherwise, wait until the 21st to get your Potter on.
I would urge all the Harry potter fans just to avoid downloading such leaked books and pay respect to the Author for her hard work!
Saturday, July 14, 2007
Changing Language of 21st Century Leader - Accountable Communication
As the 21st century leaders come in the field to lead and empower a team of high performers, they need to develop and inculcate the New Language to motivate and bring more accountability and personal integrity. I am sharing some of the New Language words which are set to change the boards.
Some important day to day examples which can help you excel in day to day conversation. These examples are nothing more than some well thought and well crafted sentences which can guide your way to growth. Initially you might find difficulty to implement these in your day to day dialogue, however with the positive mindset complemented by a conscious effort, you are bound to excel and bring more and more accountability in the system.
> Avoid: “You’re acting ridiculous. How can you expect me to respond to a question that has absolutely no logic to it and doesn’t relate to anything that we’re talking about?”
ü Replace with: “I’m having difficulty understanding how what you’re saying connects to the issue we’re discussing. Would you please elaborate…?”
Ø In short harnessed words are accountable!
> Avoid: “Everyone needs to get on board fast to handle this mess.”
ü Replace with: “I need everyone on board fast. I can’t do this alone. Together we can turn this situation around.”
Ø In this case, You are triggering action and not reaction!
> Avoid: “I’ve made a decision to move ahead with a program that will help us achieve better performance.”
ü Replace with: “I see a possibility for us to be the first group to lead the way in building a high-performance organization. I know we can accomplish this together.”
Ø Inspiring people is the key, not derailing them!
Do share more similar lines, words or sentences that you have seen effective in difficult situations.
Sunday, July 01, 2007
Coorg, your relaxing holiday destination!
With ever increasing pressures of work, family chores, daily hustle and mundane routines, u'd need a relaxing and soothing holiday. I recently visisted Coorg and got exactly what I was waiting for quite a long time.
Coorg enjoys the incomparable scenic beauty, lush green valleys, coffee plantations, teak wood forests & majestic mountain ranges. Add to that a strong, brave martial race of Coorgs (Kodavas) that reveres tradition, has a distinct culture and lives life to its fullest.
Coorg is situated on the Western Ghats of Karnataka in South India. For the adventurous at heart, it is an absolute treat. There are trekking, golfing and angling (Mahaseer too!) options available. Religious trips abound on Hindu and Buddhist circuits. Family getaways can be easily arranged. You can also relax your body and mind with special Ayurvedic massages. Coorg is also as trendy and happening as its close neighbour Bangalore.
Some Videos from Coorg trip
Friday, June 22, 2007
Communication!
Say it Right the First Time
There are many different ways to produce high-performance results in organizations. Some companies create an internally competitive environment where the toughest, but not necessarily the most competent, rise to the top. Other organizations build a consensus culture where agreement replaces quality by reducing decisions to the least common denominator. Organizations of the future, however, are choosing a longer term approach to producing results by investing in people. The most prized possession in these companies is the high level of accountability and collaboration among people.
Communication, language in particular, is the vehicle for unleashing the power of people. Words are potent and they can drive or retard the growth of an individual or a company. So they should be cautiously utilized. I am hereby sharing some thoughts and some daily use language, which forms the communication dialogue between people everyday. These language snippets, aptly used with the right timing can do wonders for people at different management levels.
Your Purpose
To inspire positive action in others by communicating accountably at all times!
You need to help other take 100% Accountability. What 100% accountability means is:
>Choosing to be an OWNER of everything you do.
>Accepting responsibility (not blame) for your impact on results and people.
>Focusing on what you can do instead of waiting for other to act.
7 Keys to speak accountably:
Talk straight responsibly – Being appropriately direct, honest, and straightforward raises trust and credibility.
Inspire positive action – Communicating in an up-lifting manner.
Collaborate with others – Working well others gives more speed and flexibility, competitive advantage in market.
Build ownership – Taking accountability for results and their impact on others.
Commit with integrity – Commitments should be made only when they can be fulfilled, else bargain for time.
Hold people accountable – By holding yourself and people accountable for high standards, morale is raised along with performance.
Recover quickly – Perfection is not the wuest; recovering quic kly should be the goal. Admitting mistakes, using breakdowns and problems as learning experiences increase creativity, innovation, and risk taking.
Short Statements that inspire Accountability
Speaking Accountably
“That’s the problem in a nutshell”
ü Add: “Now it’s up to us to turn this around.”
“This is an issue we must address quickly.”
ü Add: “I’m confidant we can do this.”
“We will meet on Friday at 8 a.m. in the conference room.”
ü Add: Let’s use this time to generate new ideas together.”
“I haven’t had the chance to read your report.”
ü Add: “I always appreciate how you look at things.”
“We are facing a number of challenges this next year.”
ü Add: “I’m happy to be on a great team. We’ll need everyone’s thinking and energy.”
“Good Morning.”
ü Add: “It’s always good to see you.”
Here is the document, read it and let’s talk.
ü Add: “I’m interested in hearing your thoughts.”
I am just at the starting point; I would be sharing some more thoughts in coming time. I would highly appreciate your comments and suggestions to improve my posts. I hope this would be helpful in bringing an all-round high performance leadership in your organization.
There are many different ways to produce high-performance results in organizations. Some companies create an internally competitive environment where the toughest, but not necessarily the most competent, rise to the top. Other organizations build a consensus culture where agreement replaces quality by reducing decisions to the least common denominator. Organizations of the future, however, are choosing a longer term approach to producing results by investing in people. The most prized possession in these companies is the high level of accountability and collaboration among people.
Communication, language in particular, is the vehicle for unleashing the power of people. Words are potent and they can drive or retard the growth of an individual or a company. So they should be cautiously utilized. I am hereby sharing some thoughts and some daily use language, which forms the communication dialogue between people everyday. These language snippets, aptly used with the right timing can do wonders for people at different management levels.
Your Purpose
To inspire positive action in others by communicating accountably at all times!
You need to help other take 100% Accountability. What 100% accountability means is:
>Choosing to be an OWNER of everything you do.
>Accepting responsibility (not blame) for your impact on results and people.
>Focusing on what you can do instead of waiting for other to act.
7 Keys to speak accountably:
Talk straight responsibly – Being appropriately direct, honest, and straightforward raises trust and credibility.
Inspire positive action – Communicating in an up-lifting manner.
Collaborate with others – Working well others gives more speed and flexibility, competitive advantage in market.
Build ownership – Taking accountability for results and their impact on others.
Commit with integrity – Commitments should be made only when they can be fulfilled, else bargain for time.
Hold people accountable – By holding yourself and people accountable for high standards, morale is raised along with performance.
Recover quickly – Perfection is not the wuest; recovering quic kly should be the goal. Admitting mistakes, using breakdowns and problems as learning experiences increase creativity, innovation, and risk taking.
Short Statements that inspire Accountability
Speaking Accountably
“That’s the problem in a nutshell”
ü Add: “Now it’s up to us to turn this around.”
“This is an issue we must address quickly.”
ü Add: “I’m confidant we can do this.”
“We will meet on Friday at 8 a.m. in the conference room.”
ü Add: Let’s use this time to generate new ideas together.”
“I haven’t had the chance to read your report.”
ü Add: “I always appreciate how you look at things.”
“We are facing a number of challenges this next year.”
ü Add: “I’m happy to be on a great team. We’ll need everyone’s thinking and energy.”
“Good Morning.”
ü Add: “It’s always good to see you.”
Here is the document, read it and let’s talk.
ü Add: “I’m interested in hearing your thoughts.”
I am just at the starting point; I would be sharing some more thoughts in coming time. I would highly appreciate your comments and suggestions to improve my posts. I hope this would be helpful in bringing an all-round high performance leadership in your organization.
Thursday, June 21, 2007
Contd. Organized Retail in India
I suggested earlier that government regulation is needed....Atleast First step taken by government.. ..however this may not be the best policy adopted...but it is somewhat similar to whats done in other parts of world.
Article in Economic Times, Front page, 18-june-2007, Bangalore edition
Big grocery retailers may come under licence raj
SHOPS SPREAD OVER 10,000 SQ FT, RETAILING FOOD AND GROCERY, TO NEED LOCAL NOD
Mayur Shekhar Jha & Rajat Guha NEW DELHI
THE government is mulling the introduction of a licensing regime to regulate grocery, fruits and vegetable retail in the country. As per the model being considered by policy makers, any shop dealing in retail of food and grocery items such as atta, edible oil, fruits and vegetables, and spread over 10,000 sq ft will mandatorily have to seek licence from the local urban body managing that area. The objective is to check unfettered growth of grocery retail and to protect small kirana stores by restricting the mushrooming of organised retail outlets in a particular catchment area. When implemented, the licensing policy will have a direct impact on all hypermarkets where selling of food and grocery items is proposed. Both Reliance and Bharti plan to operate huge hypermarkets, ranging from 50,000 sq ft to even 1.5 lakh sq ft in certain cases. The retailers will be allowed to operate only in a specified catchment area, thus minimising the scope of competition between them and local kirana shops. For one, in the case of Delhi, the MCD, which is the administering authority in most areas, will be empowered to give these licences. Large mega outlets and hypermarkets will be asked to operate from outside the city. The policy is being worked out by the commerce, urban development and labour ministry. According to sources, the move has come at the back of Left parties’ demand of regularisation of retail. “The Ministry of Urban Development is already finalising zonal plans. The zonal plans for Delhi will be ready by January next year. Subsequently, the same model will be followed in other states. The move is aimed at protecting the interest of local kirana stores from unfair competition thrown up by large corporate retailers,” a senior government official said. Zonal plans divide a city or town into different zones, specifying areas for mixed land use. These plans are then incorporated in the city’s master plan. However, when implemented, the mandatory licensing will not impact the basic food and grocery format of retailers like Reliance and Future Group and the proposed Bharti Retail.
Article in Economic Times, Front page, 18-june-2007, Bangalore edition
Big grocery retailers may come under licence raj
SHOPS SPREAD OVER 10,000 SQ FT, RETAILING FOOD AND GROCERY, TO NEED LOCAL NOD
Mayur Shekhar Jha & Rajat Guha NEW DELHI
THE government is mulling the introduction of a licensing regime to regulate grocery, fruits and vegetable retail in the country. As per the model being considered by policy makers, any shop dealing in retail of food and grocery items such as atta, edible oil, fruits and vegetables, and spread over 10,000 sq ft will mandatorily have to seek licence from the local urban body managing that area. The objective is to check unfettered growth of grocery retail and to protect small kirana stores by restricting the mushrooming of organised retail outlets in a particular catchment area. When implemented, the licensing policy will have a direct impact on all hypermarkets where selling of food and grocery items is proposed. Both Reliance and Bharti plan to operate huge hypermarkets, ranging from 50,000 sq ft to even 1.5 lakh sq ft in certain cases. The retailers will be allowed to operate only in a specified catchment area, thus minimising the scope of competition between them and local kirana shops. For one, in the case of Delhi, the MCD, which is the administering authority in most areas, will be empowered to give these licences. Large mega outlets and hypermarkets will be asked to operate from outside the city. The policy is being worked out by the commerce, urban development and labour ministry. According to sources, the move has come at the back of Left parties’ demand of regularisation of retail. “The Ministry of Urban Development is already finalising zonal plans. The zonal plans for Delhi will be ready by January next year. Subsequently, the same model will be followed in other states. The move is aimed at protecting the interest of local kirana stores from unfair competition thrown up by large corporate retailers,” a senior government official said. Zonal plans divide a city or town into different zones, specifying areas for mixed land use. These plans are then incorporated in the city’s master plan. However, when implemented, the mandatory licensing will not impact the basic food and grocery format of retailers like Reliance and Future Group and the proposed Bharti Retail.
Monday, June 18, 2007
Wipro Infotech launches India’s first eco-friendly desktops
Wipro as a Brand has always stood for Integrity and Good Quality. They are one of first and most concerned organizations in India to take up Corporate Social Responsibilities.
With Wipro launching these eco-friendly PCs, they have proved it yet again that they are socially responsible for making our environent better.
_____________________________________________________
Wipro Personal Computing would be free of hazardous materials such as brominated flame retardants (BFR), PVCs and heavy metals
Bangalore: Wipro Infotech, the India, Middle-East and Asia-Pacific IT business unit of Wipro Ltd on 14 june launched its eco-friendly range of desktops, claiming it was the first Indian company to do so.
The new range of products named Wipro GreenWare, which include desktops and laptops, is compliant with RoHS (Restriction of Hazardous substances) directive, thereby reducing substantial e-waste.
“At present, eight products -- five desktops and three notebooks -- are 100% RoHS-compliant. By this year- end, we want to ensure that the entire product range of laptops and desktops is RoHS-compliant,” Ashutosh Vaidya, Vice President, Wipro Personal Computing, told reporters here.
Wipro has set up its e-waste management process called Wipro Green Computing which spans across its product lifecycle, from designing and manufacturing to the final disposal.
Wipro Personal Computing would be free of hazardous materials such as brominated flame retardants (BFR), PVCs and heavy metals like lead, cadmium and mercury that have been regularly used in computer manufacture so far.
“We will choose only RoHS components from our vendors,” Vaidya said.
Welcoming Wipro’s initiative, despite no government legislation on the issue, Greenpeace Toxics Campaigner Ramapati Kumar, who was present on the occasion, hoped this would lead the way in phasing out chemicals like BFRs and PVC.
Greenpeace appealed to electronics industry to design products that are free from hazardous substances.
____________________________________________________
Green is the way to go, and we have Way to Go!
With Wipro launching these eco-friendly PCs, they have proved it yet again that they are socially responsible for making our environent better.
_____________________________________________________
Wipro Personal Computing would be free of hazardous materials such as brominated flame retardants (BFR), PVCs and heavy metals
Bangalore: Wipro Infotech, the India, Middle-East and Asia-Pacific IT business unit of Wipro Ltd on 14 june launched its eco-friendly range of desktops, claiming it was the first Indian company to do so.
The new range of products named Wipro GreenWare, which include desktops and laptops, is compliant with RoHS (Restriction of Hazardous substances) directive, thereby reducing substantial e-waste.
“At present, eight products -- five desktops and three notebooks -- are 100% RoHS-compliant. By this year- end, we want to ensure that the entire product range of laptops and desktops is RoHS-compliant,” Ashutosh Vaidya, Vice President, Wipro Personal Computing, told reporters here.
Wipro has set up its e-waste management process called Wipro Green Computing which spans across its product lifecycle, from designing and manufacturing to the final disposal.
Wipro Personal Computing would be free of hazardous materials such as brominated flame retardants (BFR), PVCs and heavy metals like lead, cadmium and mercury that have been regularly used in computer manufacture so far.
“We will choose only RoHS components from our vendors,” Vaidya said.
Welcoming Wipro’s initiative, despite no government legislation on the issue, Greenpeace Toxics Campaigner Ramapati Kumar, who was present on the occasion, hoped this would lead the way in phasing out chemicals like BFRs and PVC.
Greenpeace appealed to electronics industry to design products that are free from hazardous substances.
____________________________________________________
Green is the way to go, and we have Way to Go!
Organised food retailing can increase rural income
One of my batchmates from IIM C sent this article on our group mail. and the following is what happened post it...
http://www.thehindubusinessline.com/2007/06/14/stories/2007061401910500.htm
Pranav sent the following article:
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Organised food retailing can increase rural income, cut inflation: Crisil Will facilitate better supply chain management, create efficiencies
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The findings make a strong case for providing an impetus to organised retail of food and grocery.
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Chennai June 13 If organised retailing manages a deep and widespread penetration of the food and grocery sector, farm incomes could increase even as consumers pay lower prices, according to a latest study by Crisil Research. The study suggests that the resultant rise in farm incomes and in rural spending could boost GDP. Only one per cent of the Indian food-retailing sector is currently organised as against countries such as the US where the penetration is 80 per cent. Crisil estimates the total avoidable supply chain costs in the food and grocery chain at Rs 1,00,000 crore. About 57 per cent of this is due to avoidable wastage, the rest due to costs arising out of multiple storage points and multi-layer commissions. Farm realisations are, as a result of this wastage, only 35-40 per cent of the final retail price as against 60-65 per cent in countries such as the US. Inefficiencies push the final price paid by the consumer to 2.6 times that paid to the farmer. Organised retail practices, however, invest in better supply chain management and could create efficiencies by way of disintermediation and enhancement of transportation and storage facilities, which could in turn lead to reduction in commissions and lower wastage of produce, says the study. According to Mr Sudhir Nair, Head, Crisil Research, if one-third of these savings (Rs 33,500 crore ) are passed on to the consumer in the form of lower costs, it amounts to 3.5 per cent of the country's spend on food items (Rs 9,51,000 crore ). "This can play a significant role in lowering food inflation," it says. Food inflation was 8 per cent in 2006-07, while overall inflation was at 5.4 per cent. Mr Nair goes on to argue that if two-thirds of the savings from supply chain efficiencies are passed on to the farmer, farm incomes can grow by more than 37 per cent to Rs 2,50,000 crore. Crisil estimates that if farmers then spend 80 per cent of this incremental income, an additional spending of Rs 53,600 crore — nearly 1.7 per cent of India's GDP— would get added to the economy. In a teleconference with the media, Mr Nair admitted that the savings equation could be more biased towards the consumer, as against their own estimate of two-third of the savings going to the farmer, depending upon the way consumer preferences and retailing practices evolve. However, he maintained that the findings made a strong case for providing an impetus to organised retail of food and grocery. Do modern retailers in India really generate supply chain efficiencies? Mr Nair told Business Line that such players were, indeed, better in managing the supply chain. Wastages for such players were found to be about 3-5 per cent of retail price as against 15 per cent otherwise.
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I wrote:
Good English but full of Heat but no substance in Indian context....better supply chain etc is good but at the expense of Local street hawker's job...? In country like India...adundance of manpower is already a challenge in front of government to provide them with jobs...here we are talking about taking away thousands of more jobs....by giving better supply chains...we r going to give more jobs in terms of new jobs but one section of people is going to suffer for sure....and the small entrepreneur having his business is going to get uprooted... Government has to ensure the dirty price politic games should be avoided some regulations which can regulate the retail industry is getting important day by day to dave the interest of common businessman and workers workign with them.Just my personal view, you can differ!
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Pranav Clarified:
Few observations on your connotation:
a) “Good English but full of Heat but no substance in Indian context..” CRISIL is Indian company incorporated in 1987. There AOF has been Indian Market and PSU on whole. Thus this is not observation from foreign player but this is study from organization with Indian roots and deep rooted knowledge of Indian businesses, culture and they are well aware of issues that lie in Indian contex towards retailing. Apart from them KSA Technopak hold the rapport at international level in market research and retailing in India. They have already roped in Pantaloon, DLF, TSV as customer. Wal-mart Bharati are on there way to use their services to promulgate their retail business, here in India. There is indian context here :).
b) “here we are talking about taking away thousands of more jobs....by giving better supply chains”
Two wrongs does not make one Right. Point here is if government is incompetent in certain areas businesses cant be restrained from growth. It’s just a perspective, on how you see thing; improving the SCM(supply chain management) in India will help consumer to avail commodities at lower prices. Also if Supply chain evolves and develops to expected level this will generate innumerous jobs. To leverage such large upcomming system ancillary business will also grow around new retail and supply chain developments. Aaian leading to more jobs and better prospects.
e.g. ANAND as an NGO removed middlemen from dairy product business, despite of doing so it created more job opportunities then what existed before and consumer had better offering at lower price.
Same was the case with Telecom industry in their days of infancy. There was huge skeptic about it but today same telecom has created huge job and business opportunities. They have enlarged the scope of business thus swelling the customer base and eventually call tariffs plummeted. Consumers are benefited with more employment opportunities.
Lastly improving the supply chain mean reducing the cost of moving goods effectively and efficiently. Although this would lead to job cuts and business loss in few sectors but this will be counterbalanced with new opportunities that will come along.
This is how I perceive this retail fiasco in India.
In business if you don’t innovate you w'll die. !!
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I clarified:
Good observations, Thanks for sharing your point of view, I appreciate the effort!
In my comments I didn't question CRISIL's credibility neither i said govt is incompetent or not. What I mean here is, Organized sector, with improved supply chains is a good thing, however in Indian context, at what cost? You have to leverage the resources best....India has manpower, as a citizen what would you want....jobs for all or jobs for only few and rest kept lurking in search of job and food? Not to mention the crime which gets fuelled.
I already mentioned that there will be new jobs created however they will not be for the people who are going to loose there jobs. Putting pressure on middle men is good to give better rates to customers, but organized retail is also playing dirty price wars of initially killing the competition wwith low prices and then increasing the prices....for these reasons, I said govt has to regulate the retail pricing.
Mr Nair's comment "if two-thirds of the savings from supply chain efficiencies are passed on to the farmer, farm incomes can grow by more than 37 per cent to Rs 2,50,000 crore." Who takes gurantee of this "IF"? Organized sector is driven by profit motives similar to unorganized sector, I don't see a reason why the organized sector would give better prices to the rural cultivators? Considering they would be investing in improving supply chains, adding infrastructre, managing their human resources, killing competition, managing initial losses etc.
Lastly Mr Nair admits "that the savings equation could be more biased towards the consumer, as against their own estimate of two-third of the savings going to the farmer, depending upon the way consumer preferences and retailing practices evolve."
So he also knows that this estimate is wrong!
However as mentioned, if govt regulates this, atleast the improved supply chains might help the rural farmer.
Hope this clarifies my point.
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Your comments.....
http://www.thehindubusinessline.com/2007/06/14/stories/2007061401910500.htm
Pranav sent the following article:
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Organised food retailing can increase rural income, cut inflation: Crisil Will facilitate better supply chain management, create efficiencies
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The findings make a strong case for providing an impetus to organised retail of food and grocery.
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Chennai June 13 If organised retailing manages a deep and widespread penetration of the food and grocery sector, farm incomes could increase even as consumers pay lower prices, according to a latest study by Crisil Research. The study suggests that the resultant rise in farm incomes and in rural spending could boost GDP. Only one per cent of the Indian food-retailing sector is currently organised as against countries such as the US where the penetration is 80 per cent. Crisil estimates the total avoidable supply chain costs in the food and grocery chain at Rs 1,00,000 crore. About 57 per cent of this is due to avoidable wastage, the rest due to costs arising out of multiple storage points and multi-layer commissions. Farm realisations are, as a result of this wastage, only 35-40 per cent of the final retail price as against 60-65 per cent in countries such as the US. Inefficiencies push the final price paid by the consumer to 2.6 times that paid to the farmer. Organised retail practices, however, invest in better supply chain management and could create efficiencies by way of disintermediation and enhancement of transportation and storage facilities, which could in turn lead to reduction in commissions and lower wastage of produce, says the study. According to Mr Sudhir Nair, Head, Crisil Research, if one-third of these savings (Rs 33,500 crore ) are passed on to the consumer in the form of lower costs, it amounts to 3.5 per cent of the country's spend on food items (Rs 9,51,000 crore ). "This can play a significant role in lowering food inflation," it says. Food inflation was 8 per cent in 2006-07, while overall inflation was at 5.4 per cent. Mr Nair goes on to argue that if two-thirds of the savings from supply chain efficiencies are passed on to the farmer, farm incomes can grow by more than 37 per cent to Rs 2,50,000 crore. Crisil estimates that if farmers then spend 80 per cent of this incremental income, an additional spending of Rs 53,600 crore — nearly 1.7 per cent of India's GDP— would get added to the economy. In a teleconference with the media, Mr Nair admitted that the savings equation could be more biased towards the consumer, as against their own estimate of two-third of the savings going to the farmer, depending upon the way consumer preferences and retailing practices evolve. However, he maintained that the findings made a strong case for providing an impetus to organised retail of food and grocery. Do modern retailers in India really generate supply chain efficiencies? Mr Nair told Business Line that such players were, indeed, better in managing the supply chain. Wastages for such players were found to be about 3-5 per cent of retail price as against 15 per cent otherwise.
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I wrote:
Good English but full of Heat but no substance in Indian context....better supply chain etc is good but at the expense of Local street hawker's job...? In country like India...adundance of manpower is already a challenge in front of government to provide them with jobs...here we are talking about taking away thousands of more jobs....by giving better supply chains...we r going to give more jobs in terms of new jobs but one section of people is going to suffer for sure....and the small entrepreneur having his business is going to get uprooted... Government has to ensure the dirty price politic games should be avoided some regulations which can regulate the retail industry is getting important day by day to dave the interest of common businessman and workers workign with them.Just my personal view, you can differ!
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Pranav Clarified:
Few observations on your connotation:
a) “Good English but full of Heat but no substance in Indian context..” CRISIL is Indian company incorporated in 1987. There AOF has been Indian Market and PSU on whole. Thus this is not observation from foreign player but this is study from organization with Indian roots and deep rooted knowledge of Indian businesses, culture and they are well aware of issues that lie in Indian contex towards retailing. Apart from them KSA Technopak hold the rapport at international level in market research and retailing in India. They have already roped in Pantaloon, DLF, TSV as customer. Wal-mart Bharati are on there way to use their services to promulgate their retail business, here in India. There is indian context here :).
b) “here we are talking about taking away thousands of more jobs....by giving better supply chains”
Two wrongs does not make one Right. Point here is if government is incompetent in certain areas businesses cant be restrained from growth. It’s just a perspective, on how you see thing; improving the SCM(supply chain management) in India will help consumer to avail commodities at lower prices. Also if Supply chain evolves and develops to expected level this will generate innumerous jobs. To leverage such large upcomming system ancillary business will also grow around new retail and supply chain developments. Aaian leading to more jobs and better prospects.
e.g. ANAND as an NGO removed middlemen from dairy product business, despite of doing so it created more job opportunities then what existed before and consumer had better offering at lower price.
Same was the case with Telecom industry in their days of infancy. There was huge skeptic about it but today same telecom has created huge job and business opportunities. They have enlarged the scope of business thus swelling the customer base and eventually call tariffs plummeted. Consumers are benefited with more employment opportunities.
Lastly improving the supply chain mean reducing the cost of moving goods effectively and efficiently. Although this would lead to job cuts and business loss in few sectors but this will be counterbalanced with new opportunities that will come along.
This is how I perceive this retail fiasco in India.
In business if you don’t innovate you w'll die. !!
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I clarified:
Good observations, Thanks for sharing your point of view, I appreciate the effort!
In my comments I didn't question CRISIL's credibility neither i said govt is incompetent or not. What I mean here is, Organized sector, with improved supply chains is a good thing, however in Indian context, at what cost? You have to leverage the resources best....India has manpower, as a citizen what would you want....jobs for all or jobs for only few and rest kept lurking in search of job and food? Not to mention the crime which gets fuelled.
I already mentioned that there will be new jobs created however they will not be for the people who are going to loose there jobs. Putting pressure on middle men is good to give better rates to customers, but organized retail is also playing dirty price wars of initially killing the competition wwith low prices and then increasing the prices....for these reasons, I said govt has to regulate the retail pricing.
Mr Nair's comment "if two-thirds of the savings from supply chain efficiencies are passed on to the farmer, farm incomes can grow by more than 37 per cent to Rs 2,50,000 crore." Who takes gurantee of this "IF"? Organized sector is driven by profit motives similar to unorganized sector, I don't see a reason why the organized sector would give better prices to the rural cultivators? Considering they would be investing in improving supply chains, adding infrastructre, managing their human resources, killing competition, managing initial losses etc.
Lastly Mr Nair admits "that the savings equation could be more biased towards the consumer, as against their own estimate of two-third of the savings going to the farmer, depending upon the way consumer preferences and retailing practices evolve."
So he also knows that this estimate is wrong!
However as mentioned, if govt regulates this, atleast the improved supply chains might help the rural farmer.
Hope this clarifies my point.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Your comments.....
Strive Harder!
After reading the news below, I am just going to head faster and faster to reach my goals!_______________________________________________________
San Francisco-based drug distributor, McKesson's chairman, John Hammergren, recieved a total compensation package valued at $22.6 million last year. This is in commesurate with the record profit posted by the company last year.Besides his salary of $1.37 million, Hammergren also collected eleven million dollars in bonuses.He also was awarded stock options and restricted stock that had an estimated value of nearly ten million dollars.In addition to the salary, bonuses and stock options, McKesson also doled out nearly $500,000 in other benefits for Hammergren including his personal use of the company's aircraft.McKesson earned 913 million in its fiscal year ending in March, the highest annual profit since its inception in 1833. Revenue also reached a new peak at $93 billion.
______________________________________________________
Keep working hard!
San Francisco-based drug distributor, McKesson's chairman, John Hammergren, recieved a total compensation package valued at $22.6 million last year. This is in commesurate with the record profit posted by the company last year.Besides his salary of $1.37 million, Hammergren also collected eleven million dollars in bonuses.He also was awarded stock options and restricted stock that had an estimated value of nearly ten million dollars.In addition to the salary, bonuses and stock options, McKesson also doled out nearly $500,000 in other benefits for Hammergren including his personal use of the company's aircraft.McKesson earned 913 million in its fiscal year ending in March, the highest annual profit since its inception in 1833. Revenue also reached a new peak at $93 billion.
______________________________________________________
Keep working hard!
Organization Citizenship Behavior
Organization Citizenship Behavior
“No employee in any organization is indispensable, every employee’s efforts to become indispensable brings foreword the citizenship”
In today’s competitive world we see the biggest challenge in front of a Leader would be managing and motivating people in an organization. People are one of the most important drivers of the business and no business leader can ignore this fact. People, who can be technology enablers, technology managers, sales enablers or sales managers, everyone needs to be motivated.
Another challenge faced by Leaders is to align the entire company to the business objectives. This is a major challenge posed to any Managing Director; HR Manager; Delivery Managers; as failing to align people in your company would essentially mean a Hay-wire execution which results in inability to meet business targets. This challenge of People Motivation and Alignment leads us to find out innovative techniques to achieve the same.
In my article below I run you through an innovative leadership technique which, out of my experience and interaction with business leaders from Fortune 100 companies has shown success.
Organization Citizenship Behavior or OCB is one human behavioral technique under research for improvisation in many institutions worldwide as well as tried and tested approach in many Fortune 500 companies. OCB is one way in which there is a direct involvement of the business leaders with the people in his company. There is an open communication channel and there is a clear understanding in every individual of their role in the organization.
You might wonder how come Citizenship is being talked about in respect of an organization. Essentially citizenship is considered in terms of States or Countries; however, there is a striking similarity between a state and an organization. Driven by a Leadership with values and distinct goals in mind, any state, works for the development of its citizens. In addition to providing rights to the citizen, it can motivate its citizens to contribute to there duties. Similarly, in an organization, driven by a strong leadership and distinct values one can help every individual to understand his or her roles importance in the organization and by fulfilling the basic rights of freedom of work it can drive them to go beyond there call of duty by making them the Citizens of the company.
What this leads to is, creation of a “Citizen” and not an “Employee”. Having a lot of employees in the company is not a great thing and not enough, what matters is how many citizens have been grown in the organization.
It’s a proven fact that any Citizen of the Company would perform much better than any employee. Every citizen would take decisions which are aligned with the company’s business objectives. The strategy and execution would work hand-in-hand delivering higher productivity, and increased business revenues.
I would categorize Citizenship behavior in an organization in two parts:
Self inculcated citizenship behavior
External Driven Citizenship behavior
Self inculcated citizenship behavior:
Such behavioral occurrences are due to an Individuals’ high understanding of the organization and personal belief in ideologies of the organization. The urge to get benefited on a long term basis for any individual drives them to co-operate as well as contribute. Thus drives a citizenship amongst themselves and peers to achieve long term goals and bring in long term discipline.
This behavior is not comfortably supported by an organization until the individual makes an extra effort to educate and influence others. The individual needs to communicate the same within a smaller group and hence find ambassadors to promote the same.
As an organization, starts seeing the benefits of this behavior, starts encouraging the cause and hence motivates the individual and the organization on a whole. This is the time when the individuals taking these initiatives creates a higher value for themselves in the organization and become indispensable.
External Driven Citizenship behavior:
In this kind of behavior, individuals are motivated by the management to inculcate an additional responsibility where they create enough awareness and need, to become a citizen of the organization rather than just being an employee.
Creating this culture in an organization requires additional efforts to educate all employees, to motivate them further and align them further with the company goals and objectives. To find ambassadors to promote this behavior, a strong sense of understanding is required along with a crafted communication message.
Organizations which are able to achieve such feats really have individuals working with them who are very passionate and committed. Such initiatives are then passed on from management to the employees and the employees finally become the ambassadors of the cause. This creates a lot of value for the managers. The ambassadors who practically implement such initiatives again draw enough attention from management and get recognition for the same.
Various ways which can lead to having lots of citizens in an organization can be as follows:
Leader Spending Time with Citizens
v Every Leader should spend enough time with its citizens to communicate the business goals of the organization.
v Spending time helps people understand, what is expected out of every individual, to achieve the business goals
v It gives freedom to the individuals to take creative decisions keeping in mind the business goals
v It again helps them to verify the decisions and check if they align well with the objectives
v As well as the leader should explain the importance of Contribution to the company as the next step to Learning
Citizens spending time to see the Bigger Picture
v Every citizen having understood there role in the organization should try to spend time in coming out of that frame and should try to understand the bigger picture.
v Post understanding the basic elements of there role the citizen should try to look at the importance of there role and how to improve and enhance productivity.
v Learning is a life long process, to emerge as a successful citizen there should be a focus on contributing to the company.
As an employee in an organization try to think
Am I Indispensable in this company?
If your answer is Yes try to do things which moves you closer to become a Citizen and
if your answer is No, you need to learn a lot more!
“No employee in any organization is indispensable, every employee’s efforts to become indispensable brings foreword the citizenship”
In today’s competitive world we see the biggest challenge in front of a Leader would be managing and motivating people in an organization. People are one of the most important drivers of the business and no business leader can ignore this fact. People, who can be technology enablers, technology managers, sales enablers or sales managers, everyone needs to be motivated.
Another challenge faced by Leaders is to align the entire company to the business objectives. This is a major challenge posed to any Managing Director; HR Manager; Delivery Managers; as failing to align people in your company would essentially mean a Hay-wire execution which results in inability to meet business targets. This challenge of People Motivation and Alignment leads us to find out innovative techniques to achieve the same.
In my article below I run you through an innovative leadership technique which, out of my experience and interaction with business leaders from Fortune 100 companies has shown success.
Organization Citizenship Behavior or OCB is one human behavioral technique under research for improvisation in many institutions worldwide as well as tried and tested approach in many Fortune 500 companies. OCB is one way in which there is a direct involvement of the business leaders with the people in his company. There is an open communication channel and there is a clear understanding in every individual of their role in the organization.
You might wonder how come Citizenship is being talked about in respect of an organization. Essentially citizenship is considered in terms of States or Countries; however, there is a striking similarity between a state and an organization. Driven by a Leadership with values and distinct goals in mind, any state, works for the development of its citizens. In addition to providing rights to the citizen, it can motivate its citizens to contribute to there duties. Similarly, in an organization, driven by a strong leadership and distinct values one can help every individual to understand his or her roles importance in the organization and by fulfilling the basic rights of freedom of work it can drive them to go beyond there call of duty by making them the Citizens of the company.
What this leads to is, creation of a “Citizen” and not an “Employee”. Having a lot of employees in the company is not a great thing and not enough, what matters is how many citizens have been grown in the organization.
It’s a proven fact that any Citizen of the Company would perform much better than any employee. Every citizen would take decisions which are aligned with the company’s business objectives. The strategy and execution would work hand-in-hand delivering higher productivity, and increased business revenues.
I would categorize Citizenship behavior in an organization in two parts:
Self inculcated citizenship behavior
External Driven Citizenship behavior
Self inculcated citizenship behavior:
Such behavioral occurrences are due to an Individuals’ high understanding of the organization and personal belief in ideologies of the organization. The urge to get benefited on a long term basis for any individual drives them to co-operate as well as contribute. Thus drives a citizenship amongst themselves and peers to achieve long term goals and bring in long term discipline.
This behavior is not comfortably supported by an organization until the individual makes an extra effort to educate and influence others. The individual needs to communicate the same within a smaller group and hence find ambassadors to promote the same.
As an organization, starts seeing the benefits of this behavior, starts encouraging the cause and hence motivates the individual and the organization on a whole. This is the time when the individuals taking these initiatives creates a higher value for themselves in the organization and become indispensable.
External Driven Citizenship behavior:
In this kind of behavior, individuals are motivated by the management to inculcate an additional responsibility where they create enough awareness and need, to become a citizen of the organization rather than just being an employee.
Creating this culture in an organization requires additional efforts to educate all employees, to motivate them further and align them further with the company goals and objectives. To find ambassadors to promote this behavior, a strong sense of understanding is required along with a crafted communication message.
Organizations which are able to achieve such feats really have individuals working with them who are very passionate and committed. Such initiatives are then passed on from management to the employees and the employees finally become the ambassadors of the cause. This creates a lot of value for the managers. The ambassadors who practically implement such initiatives again draw enough attention from management and get recognition for the same.
Various ways which can lead to having lots of citizens in an organization can be as follows:
Leader Spending Time with Citizens
v Every Leader should spend enough time with its citizens to communicate the business goals of the organization.
v Spending time helps people understand, what is expected out of every individual, to achieve the business goals
v It gives freedom to the individuals to take creative decisions keeping in mind the business goals
v It again helps them to verify the decisions and check if they align well with the objectives
v As well as the leader should explain the importance of Contribution to the company as the next step to Learning
Citizens spending time to see the Bigger Picture
v Every citizen having understood there role in the organization should try to spend time in coming out of that frame and should try to understand the bigger picture.
v Post understanding the basic elements of there role the citizen should try to look at the importance of there role and how to improve and enhance productivity.
v Learning is a life long process, to emerge as a successful citizen there should be a focus on contributing to the company.
As an employee in an organization try to think
Am I Indispensable in this company?
If your answer is Yes try to do things which moves you closer to become a Citizen and
if your answer is No, you need to learn a lot more!
Tuesday, June 07, 2005
Just Go and Tell...
Now guys I am no poet or anything near to that but whatever I have written below is one of the entries that I sent for a internal contest...so thought to put in here!!!!
Would love to read comments on this!!!!
Just go and tell!
She came into my life and I was gliding through sky,
She did some cute things and made those butterflies fly.
I always cared for her and wanted her to be beside me,
Always loved her and used to think what she feels for me!
I always wanted to tell her how much I cared and love her,
But just stopped before making the final stir!
But soon I realized that it’s me, who loves her and not her,
She always took me as a friend; it was I who was in fuzz!
Now she is now gone; happy and content,
But who am I kidding; It was I who went to that extent!
But soon I realized this is so close to the life,
When did I tell her I always wanted her to be my life!
I loved her with my whole heart feeling every single pain she had,
But when did I go and tell her about the feeling that I had?
I loved her and felt the pain she had,
But when did I tell her the feeling that I had?
With this question intriguing me in my life,
Now I learnt to get over this mental strife!
It made me realize that one has to just go and tell,
How you feel, you have to go and break the spell!!!
Thursday, May 12, 2005
College days part 1
College Days....I did my engineering staying away from home for 4 yrs (not continuous, as in, use to frequent home) and had a GR 8 time in college…
Again I had an 8 guys group @ college and we used to go to various colleges all over India to attend the various Cultural and Technical fests…
I’ve been to BITS Pilani, IIT Delhi, NSIT Delhi, DCE Delhi, REC Jalandher, Thapar Patiala, PEC Chandigarh, Mohali, and Panipat…..and the list goes on
We were a mast group with guys who were best @Dance,music,quizzing,debating,JAM,skits,plays,singing,dancing,presentations,Literary events, marketing events…etc etc
We won a lotta event and used to collect a lotta certificates…J
Had a tremendous fun @collig…I was into Hosting, Organizing etc for various events…and even I organized Blood Donation camp in our collig…I was a regular Blood Donor so it struck me that I can organize the whole event…And even in Wipro I have consistently month after month won some prizes in extra curricular and hosted some events @Wipro Technologies level..!!!
In college I used to be a bit short tempered however from the time I have joined this job I have mellowed down. I have become very patient, I listen to others very meticulously and that has actually made me a mature and sensitive person. Now I don’t react to situations rather I respond to situations!
However sometimes if some1 really gets on my nerves then there r 2 options…either I’ll blast him/her or won’t talk to them ever!
Now don’t get scared…generally it doesn’t happen and I most of the time forgive people!!!
Again I had an 8 guys group @ college and we used to go to various colleges all over India to attend the various Cultural and Technical fests…
I’ve been to BITS Pilani, IIT Delhi, NSIT Delhi, DCE Delhi, REC Jalandher, Thapar Patiala, PEC Chandigarh, Mohali, and Panipat…..and the list goes on
We were a mast group with guys who were best @Dance,music,quizzing,debating,JAM,skits,plays,singing,dancing,presentations,Literary events, marketing events…etc etc
We won a lotta event and used to collect a lotta certificates…J
Had a tremendous fun @collig…I was into Hosting, Organizing etc for various events…and even I organized Blood Donation camp in our collig…I was a regular Blood Donor so it struck me that I can organize the whole event…And even in Wipro I have consistently month after month won some prizes in extra curricular and hosted some events @Wipro Technologies level..!!!
In college I used to be a bit short tempered however from the time I have joined this job I have mellowed down. I have become very patient, I listen to others very meticulously and that has actually made me a mature and sensitive person. Now I don’t react to situations rather I respond to situations!
However sometimes if some1 really gets on my nerves then there r 2 options…either I’ll blast him/her or won’t talk to them ever!
Now don’t get scared…generally it doesn’t happen and I most of the time forgive people!!!
School Days 1
School days Part 1... No body can forget…I was in a day school so had the normal school going routine and had a nice friend circle in there and we used to have GR8 time @school as well as @home as we were a group of 5 guys(Sumit, Ajay, Deepanker, Piyush(he joined after 10th) and me) who were well to do and intelligent too…all IITians DCEians RECians…IIMs…All cool guys…and we use to Njoy a lot…
We use to meet up at any1s home for doing those holiday homework in summer holidays. And we use to generally eat at home as my mom is a gr8 cook, we used to play a lot and ya in the last week of summer holidays all those project making, charts n all…that was fun. I remember those days when teachers use to scold us while we use to munch our lunch before lunch time in the class. Not only our but also all the reachable
Then i remember that amazing incident tht happened with me, sumit and ajay...we bunked and went to Priya complex and unknowingly entered the Baskin Robbins(We all r 8th std kids so no ideas about the price menu and lil money in poockets) Ordered our fav ice cream scoops and drinks...happily waiting and overjoyed with the feeling of that cool delight that was gonna go down our food pipes...just then the reality snake bit us when the guy at counter started removing the plates in front of the prices mentioned there...and we all were looking equally dumb while watching that...oohhh in all our order was worth around 350 buks and what we all in toto carrying 400 bucks and we were supposed to watch a movie yet....
Suddenly GOD may b heard us or what...just then the came from inside and told that they have ran out of serving glasses and the sweat just rolled back from our foreheads as if we have actually eaten that cool
delightful icecreams...we all shouted in tandem okk no problems and thanking them just ran out of that place :)
After that we made sure that weare not listening to the costly ideas of Sumit...as this was his idea only....
I was OK in my studies usually I was in the 90% bracket so teachers were happy with me most of the times…science was my area of interest so took up science and engineering was the most obvious option after that…
but in collig I realized many hidden talents in me (ok am a Brag ) so thot of moving my focus area to be media/advertising but then marketing with expanding my horizons of knowledge recognized it soon that there is lotta opportunities in Technical Marketing or strategic marketing as they call it!So wud be pursuing my MBA some time after some gud 2-3 yrs work ex. Ryt now Njoying my life to fullest!
Monday, March 07, 2005
Workout!!
Every day when i look at my tummy...I feel i should get rid of at least some more pounds!!!
Now don't let your assumptions go wild...am not FAT its just that am slightly overweight u can say some 4-5 Kgs but then this flab can be done away with soon by Working Out in a GYM!!!
How easy it seems to say this...the reality shows its teeth to you in Morning when you have to break the warm envelope of your bed sheet...
It won't let u break itself in the first go and then ur inner self may stop u further and say don't go dude u can make up for this tomorrow!
WARNING: Don't let these tantrums of ur bed sheet stop you anymore...I have Won over this and I would say this to all you won't find any other day to start this...If u want something to happen its Now and Right now!!!
The moment I broke that shield of laziness around me...I found myself in GYM and that to Live Fresh and Kicking!
Only a person who workouts can experience this feeling of Freshness and Strength around him/Her!
And now I am loving it...everyday I look forward to go to GYM and workout and get rid of that xtra flab around me! Ya I know it will probably take some regular effort of 2 months but am not afraid of it and am face to face with this challenge!
If you would have read 7 habits of Highly effective people then in his book he tells about "Sharpening the Tool" which means sharpening the body which has made the world go around it! So it becomes really necessary to go and Workout regularly! Exercise should be made a habit instead of just being a monthly endeavor...
Working out doesn't necessary means you have to push and pull those heavy monstrous weights on those Big machines...there are so many other exercises which are for cardio and other parts of body which helps u to be in shape and once u get in the habit of it...u'll start enjoying it and u'll love it!!!
So wish me luck that I continue with this and make it a Habit of mine!
All the best to all 4 there Workout!
Enigma.....Sucks
No am not talking about the music Enigma....Am in love with the Enigma music....
This Enigma is the PUB located in Koramangla(Bangalore)
They say Enigma the mystery...
seriously it was a mystery for me that why did they actually come up with this Pub???
So bad it is...
Bad ambience...bad color combination...poor asthetics...hard seats...
Pathetic DJ narendr...
Nonsense music...
Absolutely a Horrible experience.... :(((
U can tell about ur expeiences about Bangalore Pubs!
or Nice eating places!
This Enigma is the PUB located in Koramangla(Bangalore)
They say Enigma the mystery...
seriously it was a mystery for me that why did they actually come up with this Pub???
So bad it is...
Bad ambience...bad color combination...poor asthetics...hard seats...
Pathetic DJ narendr...
Nonsense music...
Absolutely a Horrible experience.... :(((
U can tell about ur expeiences about Bangalore Pubs!
or Nice eating places!
When???
Ok lemme start this with an engineer’s life....
RE-Wind....
School days...A smart intelligent guy generally likeable by all...popular among teachers and friends...njoying his life...
Suddenly one day the career light beacons on him after his 10th standard exams and he takes up the Science field as he is gud at that!
Now 11th std and 12th Std just pass by with no GFs in picture and just study and njoyment in mind...as the parents and teachers and all in family tells that these two years make or break
Sad story starts he din't get into IITs hmm then has to take up engineering in a Pvt Engineering collig...Was that sad??? Probably was when his friends got into IIt and other gud colligis...
Then this guy is again told u have to b serious in this 4 yrs as these will make or break his life...he has to get Honors in his degree and he has to get a nice Job...
This guys gets the whole gist that this is the time to build on his skills and he started building his communication skills to the extent that he can stand a massively audience alone! he tries to find a nice balance between Studies and Friends...studies go fine...but the friendship scene goes sad...as d gal don want any commitments as very far so can't b wid that gal for more time so...sad story...no relation…
But this guy gets honors in his degree and finally light of wisdom beacons on him saying that this in engineering field technical stuff is not for him...So he better get into management...and that crappy CAT paper he cudn't crack...and takes up a job in a nice company...Even after not liking the work he is managing the stuff!
But this time also he has a hard luck in getting a nice GF y??? Coz he is away from his friend circle...no known ppl in here....again sad story for him...
Now he has a gud paying job…most things he aspire for in place…and probably in the coming time he would be having whatever he has aspired for…his management dreams will also come true coz he is very focused….But the question is
When will he get a nice GF???
When??????
Thursday, March 03, 2005
The Chun Chu sounds...
Ok the topic name suggests that am gonna write something about some weird sounds...and that is absolutely what I am gonna write about.
Now you must be wondering what is this “chun chu”sound. Ok so lemme take you to the world of rust. You must be knowing that when things get old and don't get proper oiling they get rusty...and that is the time when they start producing this weird and embarrassing “chun chu”sounds.
Now just imagine sitting in a conference hall and the chair that you are sitting in creates this “chun chu” sound...and the client is giving some presentation...its almost an embarrassing situation which you can't avoid. I don’t know how to avoid that situation and u obviously can’t sit in a position without moving for a long time…and the moment you’ll move that “chun chu” sounds comes…!
Now this is my rant against our office Library, am always interested in reading some things in our library so frequent there. First to start with, any place with a size of 12 ft by 10 ft shouldn’t b called a library and not then when it hosts 5 computers to surf net too, in it. Now even if we accept that mini room as a library then we should at least get some feeling of a library in there.
Just imagine people sitting on computers surfing net, typing emails, chatting to friends on messenger and you are sitting and trying to concentrate on a business strategy or something…I don’t know how much can make out of that reading in such an atmosphere.
Now the icing on the cake is the “Chun Chu” sound that will echo in that tiny room. The moment you turn to adjust your butt, it will create that same funny noise. You move in front or you relax your back you are bound to hear that sound which will tickle your ribs and bring a grinn on your neighbor’s face.
And the moment your face starts going red in embarrassment you will hear that sound again from the guy sitting across the table and that sends a relaxation signal down your spine…and now this is the time when that grin should appear on your face.
Oh I forgot that was a library and we were supposed to read something over there and to get some knowledge but this “Chun Chu” sound won’t let you go ahead.
So I have a simple request to the guys in the admin that they can loosen up there pockets a bit more and get us those chairs which won’t make that “Chun Chu” sound!
Thanks for patiently reading my rants!
Wednesday, March 02, 2005
Law of Seeds
Take a look at an apple tree. There might be five hundred apples on the tree, but each apple has just ten seeds. That's a lot of seeds!
We might ask, "Why would you need so many seeds to grow just a few more apple trees?"
Nature has something to teach us here. It's telling us: "Not all seeds grow. In life, most seeds never grow. So if you really want to make something happen , you had better try more than once."
This might mean: You'll attend twenty interviews to get one job. You'll interview forty people to find one good employee. You'll talk to fifty people to sell one house,
one car, one vacuum cleaner, one insurance policy, or a business idea. And you might meet a hundred acquaintances just to find one special friend.
When we understand the "Law of the Seed", we don't get so disappointed. We stop feeling like victims. We learn how to deal with things that happen to us.
Laws of nature are not things to take personally. We just need to understand them - and work with them.
Successful people fail more often. But they plant more seeds.
When Things Are Beyond your control, here's something that you must NOT DO so as to be happy: You must not decide how you think the world SHOULD be.
You must not make rules for how everyone SHOULD behave. Many times, such thoughts can bring you spiraling down into more unhappiness.
On the other hand, let's say you expect that:
Friends SHOULD return favours.
People SHOULD appreciate you.
Planes SHOULD arrive on time.
Everyone SHOULD be honest.
Your best friend SHOULD remember your birthday.
These expectations may sound reasonable. But often, these things won't happen! So you end up frustrated and disappointed.
There's a better strategy. Demand less, and instead, have preferences !
For things that are beyond your control, tell yourself: "I WOULD PREFER "A", BUT IF "B" HAPPENS, IT'S OK TOO!"
You prefer that people are polite.. but when they are rude, it doesn't ruin your day.
You prefer sunshine... but if it rains, it is ok too!
To become happier, we either need to:
a) Change the world, or
b) Change our thinking.
It is easier to change our Thinking!
IN A NUTSHELL
It's not the problem that is the issue, but rather it is your attitude attending to the problem that is the problem. It's not what happens to you that determine your happiness but rather how you think about what happens to you!
We might ask, "Why would you need so many seeds to grow just a few more apple trees?"
Nature has something to teach us here. It's telling us: "Not all seeds grow. In life, most seeds never grow. So if you really want to make something happen , you had better try more than once."
This might mean: You'll attend twenty interviews to get one job. You'll interview forty people to find one good employee. You'll talk to fifty people to sell one house,
one car, one vacuum cleaner, one insurance policy, or a business idea. And you might meet a hundred acquaintances just to find one special friend.
When we understand the "Law of the Seed", we don't get so disappointed. We stop feeling like victims. We learn how to deal with things that happen to us.
Laws of nature are not things to take personally. We just need to understand them - and work with them.
Successful people fail more often. But they plant more seeds.
When Things Are Beyond your control, here's something that you must NOT DO so as to be happy: You must not decide how you think the world SHOULD be.
You must not make rules for how everyone SHOULD behave. Many times, such thoughts can bring you spiraling down into more unhappiness.
On the other hand, let's say you expect that:
Friends SHOULD return favours.
People SHOULD appreciate you.
Planes SHOULD arrive on time.
Everyone SHOULD be honest.
Your best friend SHOULD remember your birthday.
These expectations may sound reasonable. But often, these things won't happen! So you end up frustrated and disappointed.
There's a better strategy. Demand less, and instead, have preferences !
For things that are beyond your control, tell yourself: "I WOULD PREFER "A", BUT IF "B" HAPPENS, IT'S OK TOO!"
You prefer that people are polite.. but when they are rude, it doesn't ruin your day.
You prefer sunshine... but if it rains, it is ok too!
To become happier, we either need to:
a) Change the world, or
b) Change our thinking.
It is easier to change our Thinking!
IN A NUTSHELL
It's not the problem that is the issue, but rather it is your attitude attending to the problem that is the problem. It's not what happens to you that determine your happiness but rather how you think about what happens to you!
God doesn't call the equipped, He equips the called!
To encourage her young son's progress on the piano, a mother took the small boy to a Paderewski concert. After they were seated, the mother spotted a friend in the audience and walked down the aisle to greet her.
Seizing the opportunity to explore the wonders of the concert hall, the little boy rose and eventually explored his way through a door marked: "NO ADMITTANCE."
When the house lights dimmed, and the concert was about to begin, the mother returned to her seat and discovered that her son was missing. Suddenly, the curtains parted and spotlights focused on the impressive Steinway on stage. In horror, the mother saw her little boy sitting at the keyboard, innocently picking out "Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star."
At that moment, the great piano master made his entrance, quickly moved to the piano, and whispered in the boy's ear, "Don't quit. Keep playing." Then leaning over, Paderewski reached down with his left hand and began filling in a bass part. Soon his right arm reached around to the other side of the child and he added a running obbligato.
Together, the old master and the young novice transformed a frightening situation into a wonderfully creative experience. The audience was mesmerized.
That's the way it is with God. What we can accomplish on our own is hardly noteworthy. We try our best, but the results aren't exactly graceful flowing music. But with the hand of the Master, our life's work truly can be beautiful.
Next time you set out to accomplish great feats, listen carefully. You can hear the voice of the Master, whispering in your ear, "Don't quit. Keep playing. "Feel His loving arms around you. Know that His strong hands are playing the concerto of your life.
Remember, God doesn't call the equipped, He equips the called.
Seizing the opportunity to explore the wonders of the concert hall, the little boy rose and eventually explored his way through a door marked: "NO ADMITTANCE."
When the house lights dimmed, and the concert was about to begin, the mother returned to her seat and discovered that her son was missing. Suddenly, the curtains parted and spotlights focused on the impressive Steinway on stage. In horror, the mother saw her little boy sitting at the keyboard, innocently picking out "Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star."
At that moment, the great piano master made his entrance, quickly moved to the piano, and whispered in the boy's ear, "Don't quit. Keep playing." Then leaning over, Paderewski reached down with his left hand and began filling in a bass part. Soon his right arm reached around to the other side of the child and he added a running obbligato.
Together, the old master and the young novice transformed a frightening situation into a wonderfully creative experience. The audience was mesmerized.
That's the way it is with God. What we can accomplish on our own is hardly noteworthy. We try our best, but the results aren't exactly graceful flowing music. But with the hand of the Master, our life's work truly can be beautiful.
Next time you set out to accomplish great feats, listen carefully. You can hear the voice of the Master, whispering in your ear, "Don't quit. Keep playing. "Feel His loving arms around you. Know that His strong hands are playing the concerto of your life.
Remember, God doesn't call the equipped, He equips the called.
Focussed on Goals...
Sometimes people come into your life and you know right away that they were meant to be there...to serve some sort of purpose, teach you a lesson or help figure out who you are or who you want to become. You never know who these people may be but you lock eyes with them, you know that very moment that they will affect your life in some profound way. And sometimes things happen to you at the time that may seem horrible, painful and unfair, but in reflection you realize that without overcoming those obstacles you would never realize your potential, strength, will power or heart. Everything happens for a reason. Nothing happens by chance or by means of luck. Illness, love, lost moments of true greatness and sheer stupidity all occur to test limits of your soul.Without these small tests, life would be like a smoothly paved, straight, flat road to nowhere safe and comfortable but dull and utterly pointless. The people you meet affect your life. The successes and downfalls that you experience can create whom you are, and the bad experiences can be learned from. In fact they are probably the most poignant and important ones. If someone hurts you, betrays you or breaks your heart, forgive them because they have helped you learn about trust and the importance of being cautious to whom you open your heart.If someone loves you, love them back unconditionally, not only because they love you, but also because they are teaching you to love and open your heart and eyes to little things. Make every day count. Appreciate everything that you possibly can, for you may never experience it again.Talk to people whom you have never talked to before, and actually listen. Let yourself fall in love, break free and set your sights high. Hold you head up because you have every right to.Tell yourself you are a great individual and believe in yourself, for if you don't believe in yourself, no one else will believe in you. Create you own life and then go out and live it.
"If you take your eyes off your goals, all you see is obstacles."
"If you take your eyes off your goals, all you see is obstacles."
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