IIPM-INDIA: October 2008

Saturday, October 25, 2008

Further support of women’s rights is a must to ensure better stability of family life

As women gain collective rights, and especially as men accept their changed roles, many disruptive effects of family

change are ameliorated. In US, divorce rates for well-educated women are now much lower than for less-educated women, and women with good jobs or who have completed college are more likely than more traditional women to be married at age 35. Today, going to work decreases the chance of divorce. In families where the wife is employed longer, men tend to do more and better child-care, with measurable payoffs in child outcomes.

Of course, marriage will never again be as stable or predictable as when women lacked alternatives. But change has far less negative consequences when women have access to economic rights than when they don’t. In the Nordic countries, out-of-wedlock births are much higher than in US, but children of single mothers are much less likely to experience poverty, and spend more time on average with both biological parents, because cohabitation there is more stable than in many American marriages....Continue

Source : IIPM Editorial, 2008
An Initiative of IIPM, Malay Chaudhuri and Arindam chaudhuri (Renowned Management Guru and Economist).

Read also :-

Tuesday, October 21, 2008

Finally, the right brew?

Lavazza’s attempts to gain synergies from Barista seem to be working well so far

Just as Indians developed a growing passion for eating out, they have also developed a phenomenal penchant for coffee. The land of tea

drinkers has indeed created an exorbitant café market of Rs.8 billion (according to Technopak Advisors) and the organised coffee chain in the urban market is growing at a breakneck 35% per annum. It is no surprise that the organised coffee chain has been brewing hot over the past few years. But interestingly, successive owners of Barista have failed to take the heat.

The company has been through three changes in ownership in a time span of just six years, and four CEO changes in a time span of five years. A coffee chain started by Amit Judge of Turner Morrison, Barista was sold off to Sterling Infotech Group (65% stake for Rs.300 million) and to the Tatas (remaining 35%). Maverick NRI businessman – C. Sivasankaran, who owned Sterling Infotech, has a penchant for acquiring companies but no intention to hold them for the long run; even the Tatas. So the Tatas sold off their stake to Sterling and finally Sterling sold it to Italian coffee major Lavazza....Continue

Source : IIPM Editorial, 2008
An Initiative of IIPM, Malay Chaudhuri and Arindam chaudhuri (Renowned Management Guru and Economist).

Read also :-

Saturday, October 11, 2008

Green to the gills?

Here’s B&E’s lowdown on how to walk the ‘green mile’ without losing your way!

Nothing in the last few years has gained so much prominence the world over as much as global warming and climate change have, so much so, that from the food we eat to the clothes we wear, and from the

cars we drive to the houses we live in, everything has been re-engineered and redesigned to make it more environment friendly.

But all this noise has also led to confusion in the minds of many. Just the other day I caught up with a friend who is ever so determined to reduce her carbon footprint. She drives 20 kms to this shop that sells organic food when she could easily buy inorganic food from the neighbourhood store, or better still, order it over the telephone just so she could do her bit for the environment. Usually the one to have all the answers, she asked, “Should one buy organic vegetables produced in far away places or inorganic stuff grown nearby?” Now that’s probably getting too deep into the matter, I thought. But if you belong to the school of thought that thinks that the whole deal gets a little confusing at times, there are simple things that could make a difference. Information overdose has had the most conscious of people confused. That said, we do have a problem at hand and a little thought is all it’ll take for us to make a difference......Continue

Source : IIPM Editorial, 2008
An Initiative of IIPM, Malay Chaudhuri and Arindam chaudhuri (Renowned Management Guru and Economist).

Read also :-

Tuesday, October 07, 2008

Crisis in Bihar BJP blows over

Coordination body to calm down rebels seeking Modi's head

The looming crisis in the Bihar BJP unit has abated somewhat.

The rebel MLAs who had been demanding the head of deputy CM Sushil K Modi for failing to protect their interests in the Nitish-run government, have been told by the party that there can be no leadership change. All it would promise was a coordination body with rebel leaders on the board. “The rebels can rebel as much as they like, both Modi or and state BJP president Radha Mohan Singh will stay put for the moment. A reshuffle is out of the question,” said a senior BJP leader in Delhi. A section of the party had been targeting Modi after two senior ministers from the BJP were dropped from the Nitish Kumar Cabinet and the portfolios of two more were changed.....Continue

Source : IIPM Editorial, 2008
An Initiative of IIPM, Malay Chaudhuri and Arindam chaudhuri (Renowned Management Guru and Economist).

Read also :-

Friday, October 03, 2008

Patented out, legally redeemed

As lawyer Kindler loses court battles, army man Clark strengthens his defences with a flanking strategy

Every time a new face takes on the mantle of a CEO in a pharma company, bold promises and impressive statements are the order of

the day, giving aggrieved shareholders assurance of better times ahead. But perhaps, deep inside, every incoming CEO of a pharma company is well aware that he could be in for several sleepless nights ahead, as he simultaneously keeps track of expiring patents, lawsuits, litigations, et al, not to mention sluggish sales volumes and increasing generic competition. Some make the cut and some don’t and the story of the head honchos of Pfizer & Merck illustrates this perfectly.

When Jeffrey Kindler took the helm of the $139.5 billion Pfizer Inc. in 2006, he dauntlessly proclaimed to completely transform virtually every aspect of doing business with concrete, hard-hitting action plans. ...Continue

Source : IIPM Editorial, 2008
An Initiative of IIPM, Malay Chaudhuri and Arindam chaudhuri (Renowned Management Guru and Economist).

Read also :-