IIPM: October 2008

Friday, October 24, 2008

What makes Bhiwani so different from other districts of India, indeed other districts of Haryana for that matter?

As Vijender’s semi-final match ends in a narrow defeat, Jagdish Singh, solemn but satisfied, emerges from his prayer room. Almost a legend in Bhiwani, the man, fed up with overcrowding and hidebound rules in

SAI hostel, mortgaged his house and other property, took loans from well wishers and friends and started this club in 2002, where he dispenses free coaching. As the medals and accolades rolled in, his colleagues and superiors at SAI, did the most predictable thing, they initiated a departmental inquiry against him on the charges that he takes money for his coaching. Still fighting the enquiry, Coach Jagdish Singh, gets a reprieve when the news comes in that he has conferred the Dronacharya award. The reprieve is that in more ways than one, as the award carries a cash prize of 25 Lakhs. “I will use this money to pay back my loans, the rest I will invest in this club and maybe get my motorcycle repaired,” he says as an afterthought. Famous for not taking any breaks, the club is open seven days a week. Singh gets right down to business as the evening rolls in and with it come some 100 kids with stars in their eyes and dreams in their hearts. “I say, give us money and hold us accountable if we fail to produce more medals in 2012,” he says, with the supreme confidence of a man who’s been vindicated. I could be wrong, but maybe he’s the difference between Bhiwani and the rest of India.....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

The Dark Knight!

Of all the July 4ths that Bennett hates, he’ll hate July 4, 2008, the most. While the nation rejoiced on this day, he had already been sentenced to 16 years in Federal prison the day before... all thanks to his Dark Knight acts at Refco

“I knew failing to disclose these filings was wrong. I know I was wrong. I deeply regret it,” is how Phillip R. Bennett pleaded guilty, with eyes full of tears, before the US District Judge Naomi

Reice Buchwald, on February 15, 2008. And what was his crime? Well he literally killed a company!!! Bennett, the former CEO of Refco Inc., a New York-based leading financial services company, earned fame having made millions for thousands of his clients (even US Senator Hillary Clinton was one!). But there was the dark side to this knight... he mismanaged Refco’s clients’ equity and disguised $430 million of bad debts. During its heydays, Refco was known as the largest non-bank US futures commission merchant of commodities and futures. The company was founded in 1969 by Lt. Thomas Dittmer and his stepfather Ray Freidman (who also had a criminal record!) as ‘Ray Freidman & Co.’ in Chicago. It was eventually relocated to New York. Its base had swelled to 200,000 customers and $4 billion in assets by October 2005. Then doomsday occurred. Many experts claim that Refco’s flameout was one of the most spectacular financial failures in US history amid civil and criminal investigations. Between its IPO in August 2005 and its October 18, 2005 bankruptcy filing, more than $1 billion in investor capital evaporated from Refco’s coffers. Beat this, it took just four days for Refco to transform from being the world’s largest commodities and futures brokerage to a company worth nothing, making it the fastest crash of a publicly listed company ever!...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

Rockers & shockers!

Imagine selling rock guitars when classical music comes into vogue! Surely, a difficult external environment can overwhelm the best of them. B&E profiles three key sectors that merit a mention for profitable or not-so-profitable reasons. psus, of course have been included for their prominence in the list

Sub-prime?: Who is he?
Despite global slowdown, interest rate uncertainties & mounting inflation, Indian banks have a great opportunity to move ahead. But consolidation is also looming on the horizon, says gyanendra kashyap

The paradigm shift in the dynamics of the banking

industry is overwhelming; thanks to the continued strong economic cycle. A total of 23 banks made it to the B&E Power 100 list this year. This shows that we are either quite immune from the sub-prime crisis or the impact is yet to come.

Bankex, which trailed around the 3,000 mark a couple of years ago, crossed the 12,000 mark on January 14, 2008. Once dominated by public sector entities, the industry is witnessing unprecedented changes and shareholders are having the last laugh (even though 19 of the 23 are PSBs); and why not, for Indian banking has topped the charts in value creation in FY ’08 (Boston Consulting Group’s report entitled “Managing Shareholder Value in Turbulent Times”). What is more interesting is the sharp decline in NPAs (from 8% in 2000 to about 1% today). Private players as well as their foreign counterparts are making deep inroads into the highly untapped markets; on the backdrop of an efficient technological set up and customer service; and slowly and steadily increasing their market share. Estimates suggest that the duo have been adding 1% of market share on an annualised basis. Their growth in terms of market share (by total assets) has been phenomenal; in 2003, market share of private banks was 17.5% and of foreign banks was 6.9%; by the end of 2007, the private sector banks commanded 21.5% of the market share, while their foreign counterparts increased their share to 8% (Moody’s report). ICICI, HDFC and AXIS are challenging the PSBs both in terms of quality and profitability; nevertheless the banking major State Bank of India (SBI) still tops the charts as far as profitability is concerned. Market capitalisation of ICICI bank (on June 24, 2008) was at $18.01 billion (as compared to SBI’s mcap of $17.71 billion); ample reasons to suggest why Brand Finance Plc. has rated the brand value & mcap of ICICI as ‘very strong’; HDFC bank has been rated strong on the same parameters. Going by the current rate of growth and promises that the new players show (AXIS, HDFC & ICICI banks have respectively registered 62%, 39% & 34% surge in profitability), the day may not be too far when more of them occupy the coveted B&E Power 100 ranks....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

Unwilling contestant

The AICC General Secretary tours the country to enlarge his constituency

For four years Rahul Gandhi did what he felt was right.

He seemed oblivious to advice from partymen. He concentrated on Amethi and his mother’s constituency, Rae Bareli and refused to look beyond these two constituencies. He delivered simple speeches. Unlike other politicians, he has refused to make empty promises in his speeches. And in an effort to take the higher ground, he has refused to play politics with the dead body of a farmer.

It is only after four years that an extremely adamant Rahul Gandhi has come out of his constituency to ‘Discover India’. This is again purely his decision. According to Congress sources, it is Rahul who has now realized that in politics one can not survive without playing mind games and do it all over the country.

Politicking may not be his cup of tea, but now it appears, Rahul is learning. From a man who believed in being a silent worker, the Gandhi scion is turning another leaf. Seeking to expand the Gandhi Nehru magic, he now spends nights with Dalit families, plays around with their children and enjoys photo-ops with Dalit children on his shoulders.....Continue

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

Read also :-