It is tough to create MTV bakra (on the lines of'Candid Camera') for Viacom-the owner of MTV-in India. Likewise, if one genuinely wishes to go for rural management one has to learn the ropes really fast. It seems there are many fakes like me who do not have an inkling of how a rural life can be but still take a fancy for such a setup. Absorptive capacity in Indian rural market also requires one to be at least abreast of what is hapening in this other INDIA.
I was flabbergasted at my own inefficiency in this fold despite having spent so many years in a small town practically doing nothing. How local Haats are mini-marts and can realize scale economies was evident when I visited one in a village! Even the cattle are sold and they come at a premium. A 'bhains' can cost anywhere from 10k to 100k thrice the cost of an average 'Gay'. A bakra can be bought near 2-3k price. I bought six small sized tea cups for Rs. 20, a scrubber literally free, and a quilt for Rs. 250. The morning dawn squatting was intitally embarassing but the dew-laden long pointed grasses piercing my tiny hips after a while , while I was washing it shit-clean, was enthralling and I had to do frogjumping to few places to perform the entire act. I am talking only about the grass and do not have a Socrates' dilemma on this issue. My sexual preferences are straight.:)
Waise to, the NGOs are responsive in villages but the problem is personalisation and empathy with the plights of the rural folks. One cannot just get in the skin of the character but one needs to be the character itself- one of their own brethren sharing all their physical and mental woes.
The morning musings are initially not that great and it requires cigarette puffs to overcome the time warp. The sinus congestion hits me thereafter but showers in a nearby brook washes away all the negativities for few hours at least. The Harvard case studies in my hand are redundant when I sit to read something. The novels have unforutunately been sold off due to mental recession to a neighborhood 'kabadi' in kilos a dime transaction.
As the evening sets in especially in the winters, a city folk can get nostalgic or rather wobbly over the basic amenities so much lacking in villages. It is tough to imagine how quite a few families survive on less than 2000 rs per month, which can be the monthly expenditure of a moderate alcoholic. Pulse consumption is rare as they are now priced near 100 rs per kg and vegetables are like a glutton's culinary adventures. The foodie is a quixotic hero. Automobile sector seems to be a laggard in the rural market. Jaywalkers exist in differnet avatars. Tarmac can only be a dream and express train travelling is akin to commuting in the latest Chinese 392 km/hr plus speed wali train, forget flying one's private jet. On a brighter side, lifestyle disorders are also rare becuase of a distinctive lack of the lifestyle.
Perhaps this is also because agriculture sector is the poor cousin of other sectors and has been given a short shrift with reagrds to human capital. The intellectuals feel ashamed in owning up any agri-related tasks and fakes like me would simply buckle under the pressures of tilling our own farm. One of the reasons why agri-exports are still at an abysmal low. There were early showers this morning boding well for wheat crops at least. But the optimal rainfall required was not met.
The disparities are stark. Life seems to be gently leading on affectionately but the trials and tribulations are testing for someone like me who is not used to wading in different if not troubled waters. But I am trying to be one with the vilagers and I will love to do something genuine so that my consciousness does not trouble me calling me names as a 'fake'.
Wednesday, December 30, 2009
Saturday, December 19, 2009
candid love confessions
What is there to hide in this beautiful feeling? So what if age and lethargy of purpose are catching up fast!These were never the 'neuntam aharta' or eligibility to dare to think beyond love!
After all these ego-shattering experiences the egotist in me lies crushed but lo there comes from the heaven someone who still makes me believe that I am worth a lot! She panders to my ego in a gentle and caring fashion but never loses track of the purpose which might bind our life in a common thread. The 'girl-next-door' image can be deceptive and you are caught unawares when she rings you in the morning asking a rather intricate Math, DI or LR puzzle(she is good at these but is much better in linguistics!) You wonder if she is checking whether you are really up early in the morning or not! On occasions she is morphed into a traditional Indian beauty with a 'bindi' and kewl-eyed gentleness mesmerizing your softer longings.
She is otherwise reticent but is very good in catching up with the 'shana' type lingo as and when required. 'Kyon a gaye ... ke...se' types hahaha.
Perhaps an underrated intellectual, she has immense possibilities but little craving for those as she has a bit of inherent detachment from the mundane, which is enviable for someone who is trying to attain that by dint of reading lots of scriptures, trying to practice meditation, aplomb, karma et al.
Moreover, she is equally at ease and the same unchanged persona wherever you find her. 'Manhattan' is just another place for her as it is with 'Mankapur'. That is indeed stunning. The egolessness in her is an in-built uncomplicated code in her and she does not need to rush to Himalayas for that. But Binomial Theorem can distract her. Math is more applied in remembering numbers and in calculating all the schemes that the cellphone services providers proffer. And she is rather good in that, which puts a theory in practice. 'Tohun marde' is a favorite line for her. You miss her when she is not around and sometimes end up with your eyes welling in tears. The misty winter mornings remind a lot about her and any session seems empty without her. When questioned even a bit in numerical, there is a coy face hiding herself in her dupatta and you feel the universe smiling in bliss at this innocent acceptance of a seemingly innocuous travesty. She resonates within my heart and only God knows how much I crave to get her back. How much do I miss my evening cafeteria coffee with her ordering noodles from the counter! And this evening I am proud of everything that includes my ad-hoc lethargy too. I know I will remove that asap. Such is the power of love!
After all these ego-shattering experiences the egotist in me lies crushed but lo there comes from the heaven someone who still makes me believe that I am worth a lot! She panders to my ego in a gentle and caring fashion but never loses track of the purpose which might bind our life in a common thread. The 'girl-next-door' image can be deceptive and you are caught unawares when she rings you in the morning asking a rather intricate Math, DI or LR puzzle(she is good at these but is much better in linguistics!) You wonder if she is checking whether you are really up early in the morning or not! On occasions she is morphed into a traditional Indian beauty with a 'bindi' and kewl-eyed gentleness mesmerizing your softer longings.
She is otherwise reticent but is very good in catching up with the 'shana' type lingo as and when required. 'Kyon a gaye ... ke...se' types hahaha.
Perhaps an underrated intellectual, she has immense possibilities but little craving for those as she has a bit of inherent detachment from the mundane, which is enviable for someone who is trying to attain that by dint of reading lots of scriptures, trying to practice meditation, aplomb, karma et al.
Moreover, she is equally at ease and the same unchanged persona wherever you find her. 'Manhattan' is just another place for her as it is with 'Mankapur'. That is indeed stunning. The egolessness in her is an in-built uncomplicated code in her and she does not need to rush to Himalayas for that. But Binomial Theorem can distract her. Math is more applied in remembering numbers and in calculating all the schemes that the cellphone services providers proffer. And she is rather good in that, which puts a theory in practice. 'Tohun marde' is a favorite line for her. You miss her when she is not around and sometimes end up with your eyes welling in tears. The misty winter mornings remind a lot about her and any session seems empty without her. When questioned even a bit in numerical, there is a coy face hiding herself in her dupatta and you feel the universe smiling in bliss at this innocent acceptance of a seemingly innocuous travesty. She resonates within my heart and only God knows how much I crave to get her back. How much do I miss my evening cafeteria coffee with her ordering noodles from the counter! And this evening I am proud of everything that includes my ad-hoc lethargy too. I know I will remove that asap. Such is the power of love!
Monday, December 14, 2009
my musings
Our sweetest songs are those that tell us of the saddest thoughts. Fantastic! However, it is better to recall that every flower enjoys the air it breathes. It has been years since a few blokes last felt the soulful bliss. What followed thereafter was ennui?
Levin in Anna Karenina pondered whether we just live for the sake of belly. His belly was full by dint of legacy. So is it with most of us, which gives us time and space to think of the Godhead. The literature is endless. But it rarely provides the divine insight that is so naturally and obliviously present in a simpleton. Are we caught in a time warp?
There have been persistent efforts by all to get closer to the divine. It mostly takes us away from it. Few say love is worship. Few say work is worship and so on and so forth. To an idle adult this exploration is not essentially a quest but an escape route. Does the confession of this crime bring levity to soul? Few hope it does!
The luxurious quest for the divine is an anomaly. And the idleness has so viciously established its foothold in the prodigal but indolent spirit that a sabbatical is only a farce. The mental age is a deterrent. The fascination of a Yogic state holds true but the path is extremely difficult. The seasons immediately revolt and uproot the determined psyche. It is not only the ephemeral flower that wilts away awaiting or even completing the blossoming phase. The spirit fades into oblivion even when the body is living its sad course. To worsen the idleness there is a conflict between optimism and pessimism in which the latter rules the roost. Osho says that man is basically optimistic by nature. The belief that there will be the next breath is optimism per se. Life goes on with optimism. But it is true for the real life. What about the ‘plastic’ life?
What enormous strength is required to remain dispassionate amidst the whirlpool of plasticity all set to devour the human soul! Plasticity of this kind detests the freedom of human soul. And it is a monster few can escape.
Work keeps the soul away from many overwhelming confusions, which afflict the idle ones more. The confession has assuaged the injured consciousness a bit.
When one thinks of work, myriad images get conjured up in mind and one gets lost in the labyrinth of hierarchy. Someone else holds the reign and we are made a puppet of certain antiquated norms. They are antiquated because they can seldom rise above the lethargy of status quo. What gets lost in the process is the ‘I’ in one. It sounds contradictory when one says that there are so many layers of ‘I’ that even that is the genesis of labyrinth of ego. However, the latter one is destructive in nature as is based on the dead pattern of conformity. The former is constructive as it evolves from creativity. Both reside within the same soul and therefore create a confusion of likeness whereas they are poles apart.
Within a soul the latter exists parasitically at the expense of the former and the soul is led to believe that both are indispensable to each other. The difference is more palpable when there are moments of love and it seems that latter has vanished and the former has acquired even the better but morphed aspect of the latter-that of creative submission. This creative submission is different from servile conformity.
Love is the mother of all emotions. Even the painful longings have a ‘yogic’ detachment from the materialistic desires. This is the microcosm of the pinnacle of bliss- that of getting united with the divine. The divine flashes to give a glimpse. Thereafter the soul forgets the flash and complains that there is no sign from the divine despite persistent efforts to seek union with Him.
Levin in Anna Karenina pondered whether we just live for the sake of belly. His belly was full by dint of legacy. So is it with most of us, which gives us time and space to think of the Godhead. The literature is endless. But it rarely provides the divine insight that is so naturally and obliviously present in a simpleton. Are we caught in a time warp?
There have been persistent efforts by all to get closer to the divine. It mostly takes us away from it. Few say love is worship. Few say work is worship and so on and so forth. To an idle adult this exploration is not essentially a quest but an escape route. Does the confession of this crime bring levity to soul? Few hope it does!
The luxurious quest for the divine is an anomaly. And the idleness has so viciously established its foothold in the prodigal but indolent spirit that a sabbatical is only a farce. The mental age is a deterrent. The fascination of a Yogic state holds true but the path is extremely difficult. The seasons immediately revolt and uproot the determined psyche. It is not only the ephemeral flower that wilts away awaiting or even completing the blossoming phase. The spirit fades into oblivion even when the body is living its sad course. To worsen the idleness there is a conflict between optimism and pessimism in which the latter rules the roost. Osho says that man is basically optimistic by nature. The belief that there will be the next breath is optimism per se. Life goes on with optimism. But it is true for the real life. What about the ‘plastic’ life?
What enormous strength is required to remain dispassionate amidst the whirlpool of plasticity all set to devour the human soul! Plasticity of this kind detests the freedom of human soul. And it is a monster few can escape.
Work keeps the soul away from many overwhelming confusions, which afflict the idle ones more. The confession has assuaged the injured consciousness a bit.
When one thinks of work, myriad images get conjured up in mind and one gets lost in the labyrinth of hierarchy. Someone else holds the reign and we are made a puppet of certain antiquated norms. They are antiquated because they can seldom rise above the lethargy of status quo. What gets lost in the process is the ‘I’ in one. It sounds contradictory when one says that there are so many layers of ‘I’ that even that is the genesis of labyrinth of ego. However, the latter one is destructive in nature as is based on the dead pattern of conformity. The former is constructive as it evolves from creativity. Both reside within the same soul and therefore create a confusion of likeness whereas they are poles apart.
Within a soul the latter exists parasitically at the expense of the former and the soul is led to believe that both are indispensable to each other. The difference is more palpable when there are moments of love and it seems that latter has vanished and the former has acquired even the better but morphed aspect of the latter-that of creative submission. This creative submission is different from servile conformity.
Love is the mother of all emotions. Even the painful longings have a ‘yogic’ detachment from the materialistic desires. This is the microcosm of the pinnacle of bliss- that of getting united with the divine. The divine flashes to give a glimpse. Thereafter the soul forgets the flash and complains that there is no sign from the divine despite persistent efforts to seek union with Him.
a patchwork of few cases
I found a floating patchwork of cases through which I am trying to find out the nature of the cases.
Traditional market allocates the available resources in the form of legacy. In this only the individual needful is produced and the surplus is exchanged with valuation and in comparison with some other product. This was earlier known as the barter system. Traditional economy had its loopholes they needed to plug-in like lack of currency exchange system, lack of quality products etc…
In this Asterix story, Gaulish village followed traditional economy paradigm.
There was the lack of common currency for them and the quality of fish sold in market was pathetic. As these both-market and trade- were replete with oligopoly, quality was a trade-off because of fewer dependencies.
On the other hand in a competitive economy there is no oligopoly and it encourages competition between different people to sell a particular product. With the emergence of competitive economy there came a paradigm shift in the ways the traditional market operated.
The comic story of Asterix and Obelix makes us understand the way capitalistic markets behave before and after they came into practice. Obelix and other folk members of Gaul used to hunt boars, drink magic potion, and lived life with gay abandon. The monarch of Rome planned to invade Gaul but Obelix thwarted his ambition by defeating Roman warriors. Julius Caesar then craftily employs Preposterous who taught at Latin School of Economics to teach the Gauls a lesson by his marketing strategies.
Preposterous falsely engages Obelix in manufacturing menhirs by doling 200 sesterts (Gaulish currency) initially and goes on doling increasing sesterts to engage him in always producing the otherwise dirt-cheap menhir. He gets the funding from Caesar. Ergo, there was an articial creation of demand by Preposterous and this made Obelix wealthy soon. Seeing his wealth others in Gaul started making menhirs and aborted their convention line of business (LOB). Very few were now hunting boars or catching fish in Gaul.
This infectious enthusiasm caught Rome and it also started producing relatively worthless mehirs. This spread to other countries too. There came a point of time when valuation for menhir got back to its realistic rate and then it led to an economic downturn. Menhirs were no longer in demand and those engaged in producing menhirs found themselves jobless. The economy of Rome and Gaul collapsed too.
The lesson from this story is that any demand, which has been artificially created or inflated, is bound to find itself plummeting in the natural course.
This is what is happening in the recessionary eras, especially in the recent one, perhaps the largest recession experienced after the Great depression in 1930.
Rome can be found analogous to America, which is reeling under a sub-prime crisis, created due to artificial demand for the housing bubble, which got bust. Gaul can be analogous to India, which has been dependent on American economy, but has managed to remain insulated and back to the original and happy ways very soon. Preposterous can be analogous to the economists at Wall Street who speculated greedily and took all sorts of wrong decisions leading to the entire world order thrown in the state of economic downturn.
This can be an interesting paradigm on how capitalistic system, with little checks and balances, can go awry. It also signifies how greed and incorrect understanding or manipulation of demand and supply can detrimentally damage economy on such baleful scales. Last but not the least, life of content and happiness is also a gift, which we fail to realize in our urban machinations.
Q1. How has Natureview succeeded in the natural foods channel?
Unlike the major players in the US yogurt selling brands-Dannon, Yoplait, and Beyers, Natureview used natural ingredients in its recipe for yogurt manufacturing, which became its USP in the natural yogurt foods market. As a best practice, it prepared yogurt from milk of cows untreated with rGBH , an artificial growth harmone misused by the major US brands talked above to increase milk production unnaturally. This best practice used by Natureview increased its shelf life to 50 days vis-à-vis 30 days of the top brands, enabling it to cut significantly on building multiple production plants. However, Natureview did not go for a trade-off with high quality and wow taste.
Therefore, Natureview’s yogurt became a big hit in the natural foods segment and facilitated it to liaise with big revenue churning natural food retailers like Whole Foods and Wild Oats, who also found its high quality and tasty natural yogurt immensely good as it was also based on creative, low-cost ‘guerilla marketing’ strategy. It offered higher margins over other dairy products. Over a period of time the natural food retailers became the niche and loyal customers of Natureview. The consumers were also loyal to Natureview’s yogurt as it was more health-supplementary. Besides, for more than a whopping 58% of US households, organic foods if lesser priced were in the highest priority. Natureview’s yogurt consumers rose in numbers majorly by dint of its excellent relationship and marketing activities synergistically with natural food retailers. By the year 1999 Natureview Farm captured 24% in the Natural Foods Channel and became the market leader in this segment.
Q2. What are the two primary types of growth strategies under consideration by Natureview?
Natureview is mulling over entering in supermarket channel and also over retaining its niche leadership presence in natural food stores who majorly helped it growing as big as it is now since its inception. The strategy was also to reflect and thereafter execute differences in business models, consumer audiences, and distribution systems per se in both channels.
Q3. How do the three options compare financially in terms of yearly revenue, gross margin, required investment and profit potential?
Option 1. The calculations using Exhibits 3 and 6 reveal that estimated profit using this option was approx $89100000 for Natureview not taking into slotting expenses in consideration. It leveraged a good shelf presence, besides incurring lesser slotting expense. It also had significant revenue potential as 8 oz cups represented the largest dollar and unit share of the refrigerated yogurt market. This segment was growing at a breakneck speed and Natureview was correctly positioned to capitalize effectively on this. Last but not the least, Natureview wanted to tap the first-mover advantage as there were rumors of its leading competitor in the natural foods segment was planning to make a foray in the supermarket channel. They currently generated a gross profit margin of 36%.
Option 2. The calculations using Exhibits 3 and 6 reveal that estimated profit using this option was approx $37500000 for Natureview not taking into slotting expenses in consideration. Despite 32 oz cups representing the smaller dollar and unit share of the refrigerated yogurt market vis-à-vis 8 oz cups, they currently generated an above-average gross profit margin of 43% vis-à-vis 36% of 8 oz cups. Besides, owing to this products longer shelf life Natureview had been able to capture 45% chunk in the pie of this segment and could easily have extended this leadership in 64 supermarket retail stores in supermarket channels. With only higher slotting expenses being the flip side, it was compensated by much lower marketing expenses pegged at $120000, which was only 10% of that projected for the 8 oz cups.
Option 3. The calculations using Exhibits 3 and 6 reveal that estimated profit using this option was approx $5770000for Natureview not taking into slotting expenses in consideration. This option seems to have its demerits superficially as it does not proffer higher profit and due to a host of other planning reasons. However, gross profitability of the line was 37.6% and the future growth potential was immense with 15% projected CAGR over the next 5-year and it could have lead to be yielding the strongest profit consideration of all the considered strategies.
Q4. What are the strategic advantages and risks of each option? What channel management and conflict issues are involved?
Option 1. Like mentioned before, option 1 leveraged a good shelf presence, besides incurring lesser slotting expense. It also had significant revenue potential as 8 oz cups represented the largest dollar and unit share of the refrigerated yogurt market. This segment was growing at a breakneck speed and Natureview was correctly positioned to capitalize effectively on this. Last but not the least, Natureview wanted to tap the first-mover advantage as there were rumors of its leading competitor in the natural foods segment was planning to make a foray in the supermarket channel. All this indicate that upside potential of Option 1 was immense.
The caveats were that the requisite quarterly trade promotions and meaty marketing budget incurred a lot of expenditure. In addition to this, sales, general, and administrative expenses(SG&A) were also a rip-off in this option 1. This could delay the break-even and could also result in lesser market share.
Option 2. Like mentioned in the earlier question, despite 32 oz cups representing the smaller dollar and unit share of the refrigerated yogurt market vis-à-vis 8 oz cups, they currently generated an above-average gross profit margin of 43% vis-à-vis 36% of 8 oz cups. Besides, owing to this, products longer shelf life, Natureview had been able to capture 45% chunk in the pie of this segment and could easily have extended this leadership in 64 supermarket retail stores in supermarket channels. With only higher slotting expenses being the flip side, it was compensated by much too lower marketing expenses. Launching a 32 oz cup in the supermarkets could make them stand in the competition of bigger brands and increase visibility and could also create awareness in the customers in the supermarket channels.
The risks as perceived by Natureview were that this multi-use size may be warily considered by new users. There was also skepticism over the credentials of the sales team’s competence in achieving full distribution nationwide within a year.
Option 3. Like mentioned in the earlier question, gross profitability of the line was 37.6% and the future growth potential was immense with 15% projected CAGR over the next 5-year and it could have lead to be yielding the strongest profit consideration of all the considered strategies. This option had perfect positioning in the core sales channel and had an easier distribution facility.
The risks were manifold. This option seems to have its demerits superficially as it does not proffer higher profit and due to a host of other planning reasons. Its foray in the supermarket channel could have risked the ire of natural food retailers more, who had enabled Natureview to stand to a position where it was now. It also lacked the requisite skill-set to enter the supermarket channel and was underprepared from marketing, sales, branding, and channel-partner arrangement perspectives.
Q5. What action plan should the company pursue? What changes in the current marketing mix, sales, brand, and channel partner arrangements do you recommend in order to implement the action plan?
Apart from mulling over which option to choose to enter in the Supermarket channel, Christine Walker, Vice President of marketing for Natureview Farm Inc., should start negotiating with Natural Food channels, their niche clientele and the ones who enabled to scale such heights from the company inception onwards as to how venturing in the supermarket channel with similar products priced 15% lower vis-à-vis natural retail channels will not dent the latter’s profit margin but will help them to understand themselves too how to effectively make a foray in a competitive market. The strategic cues derived from Natureview experience will also help them get a better hang of the shape of things to come, despite losing the first-mover advantage in certain variants.
That done, they can also offer the natural retail channels to enter in the supermarket channel in collaboration. For that both will need to do a detailed SWOT analysis of the feasibility of it and analyze whether it will lead to a definitive synergy or not.
Going for all the options in a piece-meal approach can be done by Natureview. However, it needs to raise the bar first wherever they find the Achilles Heel in marketing, sales, distribution, networking or any other underperforming department.
Skunk works can be done to forecast effectively with cautious optimism and staffing can be done afresh for it, if need be arises.
1. Why do so many countries want to get back on gold standard after World War I?
World War 1 turmoil brought economic upheavals across the entire world leading to swing in capital inflows. Gold became the international currency even in the backdrop of World War 1 turmoil. To fill in the money supply countries resorted to gold standards whereby they were able to go for ‘convertibility’ of notes into gold, which had become necessary.
2. Why did Sweden give up the gold standard in Sept. 1931?
Britain had a dominant influence on many other countries, which were recoupled. On September 21, Britain abandoned gold standard. Moreover, because of drastic fall in Swedish reserves gold continued to flow out of the bank and out of the jittery public. This lead to Sweden too abandoning the gold standard in order to preserve the domestic purchasing power of Krona using all available means.
3. Was Sweden helped by its statement that it would use “all available means to support the domestic purchasing power of krona “?
Sweden intended to impart the public definitive stand points for estimated future developments in prices and also to establish superiority of the new consumption index vis-à-vis other index series. The domestic purchasing power of the Krona was prone to fluctuations in the existing wholesale indexes. The development of new index was an important touchstone in the implementation of the price stability policy.
4. Why the Riksbank starting 1931 does, appear to be foreign on export rate stability?
Stable exchange rate was imperative at the monetary policy in Sweden post-1931 as it facilitated planning in both the planning and labor markets. Recommendations were made to increase rates when prices were rising and vice-versa. If it was not done it could have ramifications on real wages and on meeting immediate or pending liabilities.
5. Why was Sweden a pioneer in marketing and fiscal policies?
Sweden had a good pack of economists at the helm after the change in Social Democrats government. The emphasis was on the bigger picture by ensuring stable price for consumer goods. In lieu of it, the monetary policy makers pioneered to redeem beyond depression damages and thereafter ‘improve the internal price level and the needs of Swedish life.’ The stakes of the country were deemed higher than anything else. In this way, Riksband became the first bank to declare price stabilization as its policy norm with a floating exchanging rate.
Prima facie Tanishq, the jewelry division of Titan, the watch selling division of the famous Tata corpus, does not seem much too bogged down with any problem in dipping of sales even by comparative standards. It is uniquely poised as the numero uno in the niche upworldly mobile Indian with a market capture of 70% in the India’s total jewelry market, especially in urban market as it sells high-end gold and gem studded jewelry that is branded akin to western standards.
However, Tanishq launched an out-and-out plain god wedding jewelry GoldPlus in India’s smaller cities and rural locations by dint of research and development team’s strategy of implementing this as pilot in two locations initially for nine months and thereafter deciding further based on the performance metrics of the same within nine months, GoldPlus showed healthy signs of progress.
Tanishq, positioned by design as a western brand, has morphed latterly as a strategic rejig to cater to the conservative but modern Indian woman. Even as an oxymoron this segment exists in huge economies of scale. The brand still carries some baggage from its past. GoldPlus, on the other hand, is a new brand that is positioned to serve the plain gold wedding jewelry market. A variety of strategic, economic, organizational and brand investment reasons make the decision an important one.
REFERENCE: http://harvardbusiness.org/product/tanishq-positioning-to-capture-the-indian-woman-s-/an/507025-HCC-ENG?N=0&Ntt=Product+positioning
Tanishq or GoldPlus has ambitiously target a billion dollar sales by the year 2010. In India the consumer psyche is different in the jewelry segment as women in India are more enamored with gold, jocularly called the ‘behanji types’ and they value gold as ‘Streedhan’. Ergo, their capture of psyche was imperative for Tanishq to aggressively increase sales. In mofussil areas gold is an integral component and is wearable in many forms such as necklace, nose or ear rings, rings generally, nose pins et al. Women love to wear ornate gold designs as a force of habit. The audience analysis of GoldPlus should have been majorly focused on smaller town women. Tanishq was able to tap its niche market segment by dint of aggressive marketing like co-sponsoring gala fashionistas’ events like Femina Miss India contest, Milan Fashion Week et al and it also roped in Kolkata-based famous designer sabyasachi Mukherji as a brand endorser once. All these paid dividends. Nonetheless, not much was done on the girl-next-door front. A celebrity like Gracy Singh of ‘Lagaan’ fame or possibly Bollywood actor Vidya Balan with whom smaller town girls are better able to relate to vis-à-vis any sultry siren like Sheetal Malhar who appeared in a D’damas ad.
Buoyed by successes of watches in Titan, Tanishq was launched to tap similar potential in jewelry segment. Despite few failures initially in generating sales for Tanishq, it geared itself to meet the challenges by deciding to market precious studded jewelry under the Tanishq brand. As it happened in Titan’s watch segment, initially awareness had to be created by establishing service centers and by other means that electronic watches were actually better than obsolete mechanical ones and that indigenized Titan watches were the best solution. This strategy worked wonders and Titan became the numero uno within a decade beating public-sector HMT, its arch rival in this segment.
The Indian jewelry value chain largely remained initially an unorganized industry with more than 30 lakh ‘karigars’ or workers laboring hard to produce gold artifacts. The entire business paradigm was more focused on paying the karigars on a per gram basis as monitored by a head karigar. Less focus was given on innovating newer designs or styles. The skunk works in this case were not in place in Tanishq.
The development phase followed in Tanishq more so in urban areas because of other reasons besides quality standards and aggressive advertising. The consumers were willing to dole enough money in those areas for a fashionable cause like gold purchase. The years 2000 onwards witnessed a surge in profit booking for Tanishq along expected lines because of a slew of diversified products within the gold segment that Tanishq proffered. Tanishq rebranded itself from the year 2003 onwards that it was not just for the help English speaking fashion savvy modern women of India but also for women who had the eclectic mix of modernity and tradition. The perceived snob quotient of a typical Tanishq consumer was strategically alleviated and the other half of the society was imparted a new self-evolved transformed but grounded image of the Indian women in Tanishq ads.
Tanishq designed jewelry for the not-so-hit but critically acclaimed Oscar nominated fairytale bollywood movie ‘Paheli’ shot in the backdrop of rural Rajasthan, thereby envisaging again its changed focus on the market segmentation. The movie captured the lure of intrinsic psychological shifts in proclivities of a typical Indian woman, a motif that was supposed to lure the typical market towards GoldPlus. It tried to tap the majority of the jewelry market (well nigh near 85% and 42 million odd plus crowd). The positive effects shone as Tanishq stores had 80 stores spread across 60 towns across the length and breadth of the country.
Then came the paradigm shift from branding GoldPlus or Tanishq as ‘jewelry as adornment’ to ‘jewelry as investment’ considering that urban jewelry market was worth 24000 crore rupees vs 36000 crore rupees in the rural market. Moreover, ‘jewelry as investment’ market was alone worth 48000 crore rupees. Karatmeter, a machine that, in three minutes, measured the karatage of gold without destroying it, was introduced by Tanishq to authenticate the customer the genuine quality of gold and leverage the already famous Tata brand. It took care of the 18 carat gold segment alongside the more popular 22 carat segment and tried to spread the message that without a trusted brand one can be duped into buying a 14 carat gold considering it to be a 22 carat one. In the year 2000 itself more than 5000 women tested karatmeter and found themselves duped under under-karatage. The sales that year hit Rs. 100 crore mark and it inflated genuinely in the years to come.
Besides Bhaskar Bhat. Titan’s managing director and Venkat, head of Tanishq, marketing heads realized that the mark-up of 15% to 25% in Tanishq was not compensating for their stringent stands on the carat front in certain local markets. This also led to markup losses and to cut cost they put a moratorium on television ad costs by putting them on the hold.
Then ensued pilot project plans by Bhat in mid-2005 to launch GoldPlus outlets at two smaller towns- Erode and Ratlam. Supply chain costs were amply taken care of and multiple locations like these were shortlisted and the message was loud and clear for any average gold customer in these areas, “The tata name is like gold in India” and that “There is no company more trusted.”
Then again incentivization process by means of quizzes rewards, giveaways like car gifting on Diwali eve et al ensured rural market penetration of GoldPlus especially in Erode and not that much in Ratlam comparatively speaking. However, Ratlam experience provided Bhat with an insight into the failure of a model with no under-karatage problems.
So far it had been a smooth sail. Resentment started brewing hereafter as Tanishq staff got euphoric and started feeling that GoldPlus’ success in Erode was a flash in the pan and could not easily be replicated in 20 plus locations. Then again GoldPlus’ success anywhere was due to the principles that Tanishq imbued in it and it did not deserve further expansion as it could cannibalize the operations of Tanishq-its parent company. There was an inadvertent strain that developed between the two companies, which became the dilemma for the top brass of Tanishq.
Bhat and Venkat were already perplexed over the complexities that could arise with the foray of other major players in this segment like DeBeers. Then again they had to penetrate other target potential locations. The stand-off, even if it was a minor one, between Tanishq and GoldPlus was totally uncalled for. Bhat and Venkat need to call a centralized meeting of all the employees of Tanishq and GoldPlus staffers to resolve any notional issues, if any. All must understand that they are not disparate entities but a part of Tata fraternity, a legacy which rare staffers inherit.
It was very complacent of employees of Tanishq to believe that they had captured the psyche of Indian woman, something which even Hindu gods dreaded of doing- in a lighter vein so to say. The behavioral attributes of Indian woman- rural or urban- was far more complicated than could have been dreamt of in heaven and earth, Ergo, skunkwork needed to be done more on this niche segment for Tanishq.
Bhat and Venkat ought to realize that India is way more diverse and geographically agrarian to justify two pilot projects and then draw a hazy conclusion, which most of us tend to do while we hit the black boxes. The franchisee model was 90% and should have been exploited to perchance over 100 kindred locations on a pan-India level. For a brand like Tata and with huge undisclosed money flowing in such kindred locations finding the franchisees would not have been a bottleneck. However, it is mandatory to have checks and balances by implementing standardizations of systems, which is a cakewalk for a company of Tata flagship.
Besides, companies like Mcdonalds have already proved that apart from imparting quality products revenues can be created by ways of renting franchising models as the legendary Ray Krock managed to do even after the age of 50 plus.
By any chance, in a country so diverse as India consumer psyche what to say of just a woman psyche becomes so different that a wee bit of punter attitude will only be tantamount to be a calculated risk, if practiced.
Innovation is still the prime mover for any company to succeed. GoldPlus is in the process of improvising on it. Here is a brief lowdown on how they are trying to do that:
GoldPlus, a mass-market jewellery brand from the house of Tata (Titan Industries) was launched at Bheemavaram and at 15 places across Tamil Nadu, Madhya Pradesh, Andhra Pradesh and Maharashtra and has received resounding acceptance from the consumers. GoldPlus is targeted at semi-urban and rural areas and aims to herald standardisation in a largely undifferentiated market by establishing quality benchmarks.
The Bheemavaram GoldPlus showroom was inaugurated by Meera Harish, head, strategy planning, Titan Industries.
Promise of purity
Speaking at the inauguration of the GoldPlus showroom, LR Natarajan said, "Gold has tremendous historical, religious, cultural, social and economic significance across our country. However, the absence of standardised practices in markets often leads to a latent fear among consumers about the purity of gold. GoldPlus from Tata aims to create awareness about gold purity and thereby set new jewellery standards in Bheemavaram."
Harvest, marriages and festivals are the key drivers of jewellery purchases in Bheemavaram. GoldPlus aims to establish an emotional connect by participating in every gold purchase need of the consumers with the promise of purity.
Pure gold, sheer variety
An extensive range of over 5,000 designs in 22 kt plain gold and diamond jewellery will be offered in the showroom to cater to the needs of quality-conscious consumers of Bheemawaram. GoldPlus stands for purity and fulfilling promises, and in line with this, purity certificates would be provided for all GoldPlus jewelry products, which guarantees the purity mentioned with the ornaments.
Backed by Titan's experience
GoldPlus will leverage the design and retail expertise of Titan Industries to present market relevant offerings catering to local tastes and preferences. The product range, showroom ambience and marketing efforts will showcase the company's superior understanding of local consumers. Titan's investment in IT and retail will further enable GoldPlus to achieve cost-effective supply chain logistics, which will deliver greater value for our customers.
Innovative golden schemes for all
GoldPlus runs a monthly saving scheme called "Golden Future Savings Scheme", which offers buyers the benefit of getting more jewelry than what they have paid for. The scheme allows consumers to plan future purchases in advance and pay for them in easy instalments. An attractive gift would be available for all the enrollers.
REFERENCE: http://www.tata.com/company/releases/inside.aspx?artid=iEryTTxfKjE=
Tanishq needs to do legworks to revamp its marketing strategy in order to brace up to the challenge of changing business dynamics. It can be perceived as a double whammy or a synergy but will inevitably benefit the Tata corpus in the jewelry segment. Bhat and Venkat need to keep on reminding Tanishq staffers the good work that will simply propel their sales growth without doing anything extraordinary but by simply following the basics as they used to do earlier. Sometimes, out-of-the-box thinking is not required. In lieu of it, conventional tested model of success needs to be practiced further. Here is an example how Tanishq did it once. They can do it again and indefatigably so. Yes, they can!
High-end jewellery retail chain, Tanishq, is likely to see a 15-20 per cent rise in gold jewellery sales in the current financial year even if prices remain volatile, a senior company official said on Wednesday.
The jewellery division of Titan Industries Ltd. would be able to increase sales as the clients it targets are not very averse to high prices, C.K. Venkatraman, chief operating officer of Tanishq, said in an interview.
"Tanishq's customers are slightly above average in terms of income and quality consciousness, therefore less price-sensitive," said Venkatraman. "My sense is that volume growth for jewellery alone would rise by 15-20 per cent (in the full year)."
Sales of gold coins and bars could see an even bigger growth as investment-driven buying of the yellow metal catches on in the country, he said.
Venkatraman said consumers are more brand conscious from 10 years ago, when Tanishq began operations - a trend that could help boost its appeal.
"We have typically been getting stronger in the wedding segment," he said. "This has driven our sales significantly."
Also, the aggressive advertising and promotional activity undertaken by the company during April to June, could push gold sales further, he said.
In April-June, Tanishq's net profit fell to 55.8 million rupees from 92.4 million rupees a year ago.
Venkatraman said the decline was largely due to the increase in expenditure on brand building.
"We have made a lot of investment in advertising and marketing in the first quarter, which will pay off in subsequent quarters," he said.
Across India's bullion industry, high and volatile gold prices have affected trade with many dealers speaking of a sales drop ranging from 5 to 40 per cent last month.
Gold prices have risen significantly since the beginning of the year and have been quite volatile, touching a 26-year peak of $730 an ounce in May, before tumbling to $543 in mid-June.
On Wednesday, spot gold prices were at $648.1, a rise of 50 per cent on year.
Tanishq plans to open several new retail outlets by end-2007 taking their number to 100 from 82 now, Venkatraman said.
Tanishq contributed 32 per cent to the net profit of Titan Industries in the last fiscal year that ended on March 31.
REFERENCE: http://www.financialexpress.com/old/latest_full_story.php?content_id=136052
Violation of rules is consequential of lack of ownership. If a person is made to feel that he owns a particular task it instills a trust and he does the task better as he is the master of that task and is not enslaved in it. Once work at Wixom was over the workers were deemed redundant and small favors like mailing paychecks were not considered necessary.
The roles assigned at Wixom were extremely confined and there was no scope of power enhancement that could have triggered independent decision-making that majorly results in extra and positive contribution. The workers were doing the run-of-the-mill work leading to ennui. Fatigue in the speed of the line had majorly triggered half a dozen local strikes of United Auto Workers Unions members at other auto assembly plants in the past few years.
Job empowerment often motivates the worker to walk the extra mile for the organization and there was simply no time for the Wixom management to mull over it as the only focus was on churning out cars at a breakneck speed unmindful of the future prospects (or lack thereof).
Hiring process at Wixom was not meticulous as it should have been. It was done just because there was demand for manpower due to rapid turnover and a major expansion of Wixom. However, foresight was missing as unskilled or incompetent workers did enough mistakes that were detrimental to Wixom’s success in the long run. For example, a few workers messed up with installation of color vent plates because they were colour-blind and there was no check-up for colour-blindness during the recruitment process. Most of the workers were dissatisfied with the wages they were receiving and the management at Wixom was blissfully oblivious of the resentment that was brewing within the workers. There were fair chances of it imploding, which was very harmful for Wixom. Leave aside poor wages, there was no incentive to perk up the motivation of the workers, which was already at an abysmal low. There was always the risk of the worker switching over to other company because of a pay-hike.
Besides, the work was mind deadening in the sense that same work was done day in and day out leading to no value addition. The unintelligible work killed the human being inside the workers and made them a ‘Robot’ aptly summed up in the command, “When you are at job, leave your mind at home.” Eventually, the efficiency in the worker was lost.
Handling diversified portfolios and exchanging duties can be the possible solutions of this malaise. Instead of a single job being done by the worker all throughout, different jobs in different time slots can be allotted to insure that the worker breaks free of the monotony. This can lead to higher efficiency and productivity of the worker.
Traditional market allocates the available resources in the form of legacy. In this only the individual needful is produced and the surplus is exchanged with valuation and in comparison with some other product. This was earlier known as the barter system. Traditional economy had its loopholes they needed to plug-in like lack of currency exchange system, lack of quality products etc…
In this Asterix story, Gaulish village followed traditional economy paradigm.
There was the lack of common currency for them and the quality of fish sold in market was pathetic. As these both-market and trade- were replete with oligopoly, quality was a trade-off because of fewer dependencies.
On the other hand in a competitive economy there is no oligopoly and it encourages competition between different people to sell a particular product. With the emergence of competitive economy there came a paradigm shift in the ways the traditional market operated.
The comic story of Asterix and Obelix makes us understand the way capitalistic markets behave before and after they came into practice. Obelix and other folk members of Gaul used to hunt boars, drink magic potion, and lived life with gay abandon. The monarch of Rome planned to invade Gaul but Obelix thwarted his ambition by defeating Roman warriors. Julius Caesar then craftily employs Preposterous who taught at Latin School of Economics to teach the Gauls a lesson by his marketing strategies.
Preposterous falsely engages Obelix in manufacturing menhirs by doling 200 sesterts (Gaulish currency) initially and goes on doling increasing sesterts to engage him in always producing the otherwise dirt-cheap menhir. He gets the funding from Caesar. Ergo, there was an articial creation of demand by Preposterous and this made Obelix wealthy soon. Seeing his wealth others in Gaul started making menhirs and aborted their convention line of business (LOB). Very few were now hunting boars or catching fish in Gaul.
This infectious enthusiasm caught Rome and it also started producing relatively worthless mehirs. This spread to other countries too. There came a point of time when valuation for menhir got back to its realistic rate and then it led to an economic downturn. Menhirs were no longer in demand and those engaged in producing menhirs found themselves jobless. The economy of Rome and Gaul collapsed too.
The lesson from this story is that any demand, which has been artificially created or inflated, is bound to find itself plummeting in the natural course.
This is what is happening in the recessionary eras, especially in the recent one, perhaps the largest recession experienced after the Great depression in 1930.
Rome can be found analogous to America, which is reeling under a sub-prime crisis, created due to artificial demand for the housing bubble, which got bust. Gaul can be analogous to India, which has been dependent on American economy, but has managed to remain insulated and back to the original and happy ways very soon. Preposterous can be analogous to the economists at Wall Street who speculated greedily and took all sorts of wrong decisions leading to the entire world order thrown in the state of economic downturn.
This can be an interesting paradigm on how capitalistic system, with little checks and balances, can go awry. It also signifies how greed and incorrect understanding or manipulation of demand and supply can detrimentally damage economy on such baleful scales. Last but not the least, life of content and happiness is also a gift, which we fail to realize in our urban machinations.
Q1. How has Natureview succeeded in the natural foods channel?
Unlike the major players in the US yogurt selling brands-Dannon, Yoplait, and Beyers, Natureview used natural ingredients in its recipe for yogurt manufacturing, which became its USP in the natural yogurt foods market. As a best practice, it prepared yogurt from milk of cows untreated with rGBH , an artificial growth harmone misused by the major US brands talked above to increase milk production unnaturally. This best practice used by Natureview increased its shelf life to 50 days vis-à-vis 30 days of the top brands, enabling it to cut significantly on building multiple production plants. However, Natureview did not go for a trade-off with high quality and wow taste.
Therefore, Natureview’s yogurt became a big hit in the natural foods segment and facilitated it to liaise with big revenue churning natural food retailers like Whole Foods and Wild Oats, who also found its high quality and tasty natural yogurt immensely good as it was also based on creative, low-cost ‘guerilla marketing’ strategy. It offered higher margins over other dairy products. Over a period of time the natural food retailers became the niche and loyal customers of Natureview. The consumers were also loyal to Natureview’s yogurt as it was more health-supplementary. Besides, for more than a whopping 58% of US households, organic foods if lesser priced were in the highest priority. Natureview’s yogurt consumers rose in numbers majorly by dint of its excellent relationship and marketing activities synergistically with natural food retailers. By the year 1999 Natureview Farm captured 24% in the Natural Foods Channel and became the market leader in this segment.
Q2. What are the two primary types of growth strategies under consideration by Natureview?
Natureview is mulling over entering in supermarket channel and also over retaining its niche leadership presence in natural food stores who majorly helped it growing as big as it is now since its inception. The strategy was also to reflect and thereafter execute differences in business models, consumer audiences, and distribution systems per se in both channels.
Q3. How do the three options compare financially in terms of yearly revenue, gross margin, required investment and profit potential?
Option 1. The calculations using Exhibits 3 and 6 reveal that estimated profit using this option was approx $89100000 for Natureview not taking into slotting expenses in consideration. It leveraged a good shelf presence, besides incurring lesser slotting expense. It also had significant revenue potential as 8 oz cups represented the largest dollar and unit share of the refrigerated yogurt market. This segment was growing at a breakneck speed and Natureview was correctly positioned to capitalize effectively on this. Last but not the least, Natureview wanted to tap the first-mover advantage as there were rumors of its leading competitor in the natural foods segment was planning to make a foray in the supermarket channel. They currently generated a gross profit margin of 36%.
Option 2. The calculations using Exhibits 3 and 6 reveal that estimated profit using this option was approx $37500000 for Natureview not taking into slotting expenses in consideration. Despite 32 oz cups representing the smaller dollar and unit share of the refrigerated yogurt market vis-à-vis 8 oz cups, they currently generated an above-average gross profit margin of 43% vis-à-vis 36% of 8 oz cups. Besides, owing to this products longer shelf life Natureview had been able to capture 45% chunk in the pie of this segment and could easily have extended this leadership in 64 supermarket retail stores in supermarket channels. With only higher slotting expenses being the flip side, it was compensated by much lower marketing expenses pegged at $120000, which was only 10% of that projected for the 8 oz cups.
Option 3. The calculations using Exhibits 3 and 6 reveal that estimated profit using this option was approx $5770000for Natureview not taking into slotting expenses in consideration. This option seems to have its demerits superficially as it does not proffer higher profit and due to a host of other planning reasons. However, gross profitability of the line was 37.6% and the future growth potential was immense with 15% projected CAGR over the next 5-year and it could have lead to be yielding the strongest profit consideration of all the considered strategies.
Q4. What are the strategic advantages and risks of each option? What channel management and conflict issues are involved?
Option 1. Like mentioned before, option 1 leveraged a good shelf presence, besides incurring lesser slotting expense. It also had significant revenue potential as 8 oz cups represented the largest dollar and unit share of the refrigerated yogurt market. This segment was growing at a breakneck speed and Natureview was correctly positioned to capitalize effectively on this. Last but not the least, Natureview wanted to tap the first-mover advantage as there were rumors of its leading competitor in the natural foods segment was planning to make a foray in the supermarket channel. All this indicate that upside potential of Option 1 was immense.
The caveats were that the requisite quarterly trade promotions and meaty marketing budget incurred a lot of expenditure. In addition to this, sales, general, and administrative expenses(SG&A) were also a rip-off in this option 1. This could delay the break-even and could also result in lesser market share.
Option 2. Like mentioned in the earlier question, despite 32 oz cups representing the smaller dollar and unit share of the refrigerated yogurt market vis-à-vis 8 oz cups, they currently generated an above-average gross profit margin of 43% vis-à-vis 36% of 8 oz cups. Besides, owing to this, products longer shelf life, Natureview had been able to capture 45% chunk in the pie of this segment and could easily have extended this leadership in 64 supermarket retail stores in supermarket channels. With only higher slotting expenses being the flip side, it was compensated by much too lower marketing expenses. Launching a 32 oz cup in the supermarkets could make them stand in the competition of bigger brands and increase visibility and could also create awareness in the customers in the supermarket channels.
The risks as perceived by Natureview were that this multi-use size may be warily considered by new users. There was also skepticism over the credentials of the sales team’s competence in achieving full distribution nationwide within a year.
Option 3. Like mentioned in the earlier question, gross profitability of the line was 37.6% and the future growth potential was immense with 15% projected CAGR over the next 5-year and it could have lead to be yielding the strongest profit consideration of all the considered strategies. This option had perfect positioning in the core sales channel and had an easier distribution facility.
The risks were manifold. This option seems to have its demerits superficially as it does not proffer higher profit and due to a host of other planning reasons. Its foray in the supermarket channel could have risked the ire of natural food retailers more, who had enabled Natureview to stand to a position where it was now. It also lacked the requisite skill-set to enter the supermarket channel and was underprepared from marketing, sales, branding, and channel-partner arrangement perspectives.
Q5. What action plan should the company pursue? What changes in the current marketing mix, sales, brand, and channel partner arrangements do you recommend in order to implement the action plan?
Apart from mulling over which option to choose to enter in the Supermarket channel, Christine Walker, Vice President of marketing for Natureview Farm Inc., should start negotiating with Natural Food channels, their niche clientele and the ones who enabled to scale such heights from the company inception onwards as to how venturing in the supermarket channel with similar products priced 15% lower vis-à-vis natural retail channels will not dent the latter’s profit margin but will help them to understand themselves too how to effectively make a foray in a competitive market. The strategic cues derived from Natureview experience will also help them get a better hang of the shape of things to come, despite losing the first-mover advantage in certain variants.
That done, they can also offer the natural retail channels to enter in the supermarket channel in collaboration. For that both will need to do a detailed SWOT analysis of the feasibility of it and analyze whether it will lead to a definitive synergy or not.
Going for all the options in a piece-meal approach can be done by Natureview. However, it needs to raise the bar first wherever they find the Achilles Heel in marketing, sales, distribution, networking or any other underperforming department.
Skunk works can be done to forecast effectively with cautious optimism and staffing can be done afresh for it, if need be arises.
1. Why do so many countries want to get back on gold standard after World War I?
World War 1 turmoil brought economic upheavals across the entire world leading to swing in capital inflows. Gold became the international currency even in the backdrop of World War 1 turmoil. To fill in the money supply countries resorted to gold standards whereby they were able to go for ‘convertibility’ of notes into gold, which had become necessary.
2. Why did Sweden give up the gold standard in Sept. 1931?
Britain had a dominant influence on many other countries, which were recoupled. On September 21, Britain abandoned gold standard. Moreover, because of drastic fall in Swedish reserves gold continued to flow out of the bank and out of the jittery public. This lead to Sweden too abandoning the gold standard in order to preserve the domestic purchasing power of Krona using all available means.
3. Was Sweden helped by its statement that it would use “all available means to support the domestic purchasing power of krona “?
Sweden intended to impart the public definitive stand points for estimated future developments in prices and also to establish superiority of the new consumption index vis-à-vis other index series. The domestic purchasing power of the Krona was prone to fluctuations in the existing wholesale indexes. The development of new index was an important touchstone in the implementation of the price stability policy.
4. Why the Riksbank starting 1931 does, appear to be foreign on export rate stability?
Stable exchange rate was imperative at the monetary policy in Sweden post-1931 as it facilitated planning in both the planning and labor markets. Recommendations were made to increase rates when prices were rising and vice-versa. If it was not done it could have ramifications on real wages and on meeting immediate or pending liabilities.
5. Why was Sweden a pioneer in marketing and fiscal policies?
Sweden had a good pack of economists at the helm after the change in Social Democrats government. The emphasis was on the bigger picture by ensuring stable price for consumer goods. In lieu of it, the monetary policy makers pioneered to redeem beyond depression damages and thereafter ‘improve the internal price level and the needs of Swedish life.’ The stakes of the country were deemed higher than anything else. In this way, Riksband became the first bank to declare price stabilization as its policy norm with a floating exchanging rate.
Prima facie Tanishq, the jewelry division of Titan, the watch selling division of the famous Tata corpus, does not seem much too bogged down with any problem in dipping of sales even by comparative standards. It is uniquely poised as the numero uno in the niche upworldly mobile Indian with a market capture of 70% in the India’s total jewelry market, especially in urban market as it sells high-end gold and gem studded jewelry that is branded akin to western standards.
However, Tanishq launched an out-and-out plain god wedding jewelry GoldPlus in India’s smaller cities and rural locations by dint of research and development team’s strategy of implementing this as pilot in two locations initially for nine months and thereafter deciding further based on the performance metrics of the same within nine months, GoldPlus showed healthy signs of progress.
Tanishq, positioned by design as a western brand, has morphed latterly as a strategic rejig to cater to the conservative but modern Indian woman. Even as an oxymoron this segment exists in huge economies of scale. The brand still carries some baggage from its past. GoldPlus, on the other hand, is a new brand that is positioned to serve the plain gold wedding jewelry market. A variety of strategic, economic, organizational and brand investment reasons make the decision an important one.
REFERENCE: http://harvardbusiness.org/product/tanishq-positioning-to-capture-the-indian-woman-s-/an/507025-HCC-ENG?N=0&Ntt=Product+positioning
Tanishq or GoldPlus has ambitiously target a billion dollar sales by the year 2010. In India the consumer psyche is different in the jewelry segment as women in India are more enamored with gold, jocularly called the ‘behanji types’ and they value gold as ‘Streedhan’. Ergo, their capture of psyche was imperative for Tanishq to aggressively increase sales. In mofussil areas gold is an integral component and is wearable in many forms such as necklace, nose or ear rings, rings generally, nose pins et al. Women love to wear ornate gold designs as a force of habit. The audience analysis of GoldPlus should have been majorly focused on smaller town women. Tanishq was able to tap its niche market segment by dint of aggressive marketing like co-sponsoring gala fashionistas’ events like Femina Miss India contest, Milan Fashion Week et al and it also roped in Kolkata-based famous designer sabyasachi Mukherji as a brand endorser once. All these paid dividends. Nonetheless, not much was done on the girl-next-door front. A celebrity like Gracy Singh of ‘Lagaan’ fame or possibly Bollywood actor Vidya Balan with whom smaller town girls are better able to relate to vis-à-vis any sultry siren like Sheetal Malhar who appeared in a D’damas ad.
Buoyed by successes of watches in Titan, Tanishq was launched to tap similar potential in jewelry segment. Despite few failures initially in generating sales for Tanishq, it geared itself to meet the challenges by deciding to market precious studded jewelry under the Tanishq brand. As it happened in Titan’s watch segment, initially awareness had to be created by establishing service centers and by other means that electronic watches were actually better than obsolete mechanical ones and that indigenized Titan watches were the best solution. This strategy worked wonders and Titan became the numero uno within a decade beating public-sector HMT, its arch rival in this segment.
The Indian jewelry value chain largely remained initially an unorganized industry with more than 30 lakh ‘karigars’ or workers laboring hard to produce gold artifacts. The entire business paradigm was more focused on paying the karigars on a per gram basis as monitored by a head karigar. Less focus was given on innovating newer designs or styles. The skunk works in this case were not in place in Tanishq.
The development phase followed in Tanishq more so in urban areas because of other reasons besides quality standards and aggressive advertising. The consumers were willing to dole enough money in those areas for a fashionable cause like gold purchase. The years 2000 onwards witnessed a surge in profit booking for Tanishq along expected lines because of a slew of diversified products within the gold segment that Tanishq proffered. Tanishq rebranded itself from the year 2003 onwards that it was not just for the help English speaking fashion savvy modern women of India but also for women who had the eclectic mix of modernity and tradition. The perceived snob quotient of a typical Tanishq consumer was strategically alleviated and the other half of the society was imparted a new self-evolved transformed but grounded image of the Indian women in Tanishq ads.
Tanishq designed jewelry for the not-so-hit but critically acclaimed Oscar nominated fairytale bollywood movie ‘Paheli’ shot in the backdrop of rural Rajasthan, thereby envisaging again its changed focus on the market segmentation. The movie captured the lure of intrinsic psychological shifts in proclivities of a typical Indian woman, a motif that was supposed to lure the typical market towards GoldPlus. It tried to tap the majority of the jewelry market (well nigh near 85% and 42 million odd plus crowd). The positive effects shone as Tanishq stores had 80 stores spread across 60 towns across the length and breadth of the country.
Then came the paradigm shift from branding GoldPlus or Tanishq as ‘jewelry as adornment’ to ‘jewelry as investment’ considering that urban jewelry market was worth 24000 crore rupees vs 36000 crore rupees in the rural market. Moreover, ‘jewelry as investment’ market was alone worth 48000 crore rupees. Karatmeter, a machine that, in three minutes, measured the karatage of gold without destroying it, was introduced by Tanishq to authenticate the customer the genuine quality of gold and leverage the already famous Tata brand. It took care of the 18 carat gold segment alongside the more popular 22 carat segment and tried to spread the message that without a trusted brand one can be duped into buying a 14 carat gold considering it to be a 22 carat one. In the year 2000 itself more than 5000 women tested karatmeter and found themselves duped under under-karatage. The sales that year hit Rs. 100 crore mark and it inflated genuinely in the years to come.
Besides Bhaskar Bhat. Titan’s managing director and Venkat, head of Tanishq, marketing heads realized that the mark-up of 15% to 25% in Tanishq was not compensating for their stringent stands on the carat front in certain local markets. This also led to markup losses and to cut cost they put a moratorium on television ad costs by putting them on the hold.
Then ensued pilot project plans by Bhat in mid-2005 to launch GoldPlus outlets at two smaller towns- Erode and Ratlam. Supply chain costs were amply taken care of and multiple locations like these were shortlisted and the message was loud and clear for any average gold customer in these areas, “The tata name is like gold in India” and that “There is no company more trusted.”
Then again incentivization process by means of quizzes rewards, giveaways like car gifting on Diwali eve et al ensured rural market penetration of GoldPlus especially in Erode and not that much in Ratlam comparatively speaking. However, Ratlam experience provided Bhat with an insight into the failure of a model with no under-karatage problems.
So far it had been a smooth sail. Resentment started brewing hereafter as Tanishq staff got euphoric and started feeling that GoldPlus’ success in Erode was a flash in the pan and could not easily be replicated in 20 plus locations. Then again GoldPlus’ success anywhere was due to the principles that Tanishq imbued in it and it did not deserve further expansion as it could cannibalize the operations of Tanishq-its parent company. There was an inadvertent strain that developed between the two companies, which became the dilemma for the top brass of Tanishq.
Bhat and Venkat were already perplexed over the complexities that could arise with the foray of other major players in this segment like DeBeers. Then again they had to penetrate other target potential locations. The stand-off, even if it was a minor one, between Tanishq and GoldPlus was totally uncalled for. Bhat and Venkat need to call a centralized meeting of all the employees of Tanishq and GoldPlus staffers to resolve any notional issues, if any. All must understand that they are not disparate entities but a part of Tata fraternity, a legacy which rare staffers inherit.
It was very complacent of employees of Tanishq to believe that they had captured the psyche of Indian woman, something which even Hindu gods dreaded of doing- in a lighter vein so to say. The behavioral attributes of Indian woman- rural or urban- was far more complicated than could have been dreamt of in heaven and earth, Ergo, skunkwork needed to be done more on this niche segment for Tanishq.
Bhat and Venkat ought to realize that India is way more diverse and geographically agrarian to justify two pilot projects and then draw a hazy conclusion, which most of us tend to do while we hit the black boxes. The franchisee model was 90% and should have been exploited to perchance over 100 kindred locations on a pan-India level. For a brand like Tata and with huge undisclosed money flowing in such kindred locations finding the franchisees would not have been a bottleneck. However, it is mandatory to have checks and balances by implementing standardizations of systems, which is a cakewalk for a company of Tata flagship.
Besides, companies like Mcdonalds have already proved that apart from imparting quality products revenues can be created by ways of renting franchising models as the legendary Ray Krock managed to do even after the age of 50 plus.
By any chance, in a country so diverse as India consumer psyche what to say of just a woman psyche becomes so different that a wee bit of punter attitude will only be tantamount to be a calculated risk, if practiced.
Innovation is still the prime mover for any company to succeed. GoldPlus is in the process of improvising on it. Here is a brief lowdown on how they are trying to do that:
GoldPlus, a mass-market jewellery brand from the house of Tata (Titan Industries) was launched at Bheemavaram and at 15 places across Tamil Nadu, Madhya Pradesh, Andhra Pradesh and Maharashtra and has received resounding acceptance from the consumers. GoldPlus is targeted at semi-urban and rural areas and aims to herald standardisation in a largely undifferentiated market by establishing quality benchmarks.
The Bheemavaram GoldPlus showroom was inaugurated by Meera Harish, head, strategy planning, Titan Industries.
Promise of purity
Speaking at the inauguration of the GoldPlus showroom, LR Natarajan said, "Gold has tremendous historical, religious, cultural, social and economic significance across our country. However, the absence of standardised practices in markets often leads to a latent fear among consumers about the purity of gold. GoldPlus from Tata aims to create awareness about gold purity and thereby set new jewellery standards in Bheemavaram."
Harvest, marriages and festivals are the key drivers of jewellery purchases in Bheemavaram. GoldPlus aims to establish an emotional connect by participating in every gold purchase need of the consumers with the promise of purity.
Pure gold, sheer variety
An extensive range of over 5,000 designs in 22 kt plain gold and diamond jewellery will be offered in the showroom to cater to the needs of quality-conscious consumers of Bheemawaram. GoldPlus stands for purity and fulfilling promises, and in line with this, purity certificates would be provided for all GoldPlus jewelry products, which guarantees the purity mentioned with the ornaments.
Backed by Titan's experience
GoldPlus will leverage the design and retail expertise of Titan Industries to present market relevant offerings catering to local tastes and preferences. The product range, showroom ambience and marketing efforts will showcase the company's superior understanding of local consumers. Titan's investment in IT and retail will further enable GoldPlus to achieve cost-effective supply chain logistics, which will deliver greater value for our customers.
Innovative golden schemes for all
GoldPlus runs a monthly saving scheme called "Golden Future Savings Scheme", which offers buyers the benefit of getting more jewelry than what they have paid for. The scheme allows consumers to plan future purchases in advance and pay for them in easy instalments. An attractive gift would be available for all the enrollers.
REFERENCE: http://www.tata.com/company/releases/inside.aspx?artid=iEryTTxfKjE=
Tanishq needs to do legworks to revamp its marketing strategy in order to brace up to the challenge of changing business dynamics. It can be perceived as a double whammy or a synergy but will inevitably benefit the Tata corpus in the jewelry segment. Bhat and Venkat need to keep on reminding Tanishq staffers the good work that will simply propel their sales growth without doing anything extraordinary but by simply following the basics as they used to do earlier. Sometimes, out-of-the-box thinking is not required. In lieu of it, conventional tested model of success needs to be practiced further. Here is an example how Tanishq did it once. They can do it again and indefatigably so. Yes, they can!
High-end jewellery retail chain, Tanishq, is likely to see a 15-20 per cent rise in gold jewellery sales in the current financial year even if prices remain volatile, a senior company official said on Wednesday.
The jewellery division of Titan Industries Ltd. would be able to increase sales as the clients it targets are not very averse to high prices, C.K. Venkatraman, chief operating officer of Tanishq, said in an interview.
"Tanishq's customers are slightly above average in terms of income and quality consciousness, therefore less price-sensitive," said Venkatraman. "My sense is that volume growth for jewellery alone would rise by 15-20 per cent (in the full year)."
Sales of gold coins and bars could see an even bigger growth as investment-driven buying of the yellow metal catches on in the country, he said.
Venkatraman said consumers are more brand conscious from 10 years ago, when Tanishq began operations - a trend that could help boost its appeal.
"We have typically been getting stronger in the wedding segment," he said. "This has driven our sales significantly."
Also, the aggressive advertising and promotional activity undertaken by the company during April to June, could push gold sales further, he said.
In April-June, Tanishq's net profit fell to 55.8 million rupees from 92.4 million rupees a year ago.
Venkatraman said the decline was largely due to the increase in expenditure on brand building.
"We have made a lot of investment in advertising and marketing in the first quarter, which will pay off in subsequent quarters," he said.
Across India's bullion industry, high and volatile gold prices have affected trade with many dealers speaking of a sales drop ranging from 5 to 40 per cent last month.
Gold prices have risen significantly since the beginning of the year and have been quite volatile, touching a 26-year peak of $730 an ounce in May, before tumbling to $543 in mid-June.
On Wednesday, spot gold prices were at $648.1, a rise of 50 per cent on year.
Tanishq plans to open several new retail outlets by end-2007 taking their number to 100 from 82 now, Venkatraman said.
Tanishq contributed 32 per cent to the net profit of Titan Industries in the last fiscal year that ended on March 31.
REFERENCE: http://www.financialexpress.com/old/latest_full_story.php?content_id=136052
Violation of rules is consequential of lack of ownership. If a person is made to feel that he owns a particular task it instills a trust and he does the task better as he is the master of that task and is not enslaved in it. Once work at Wixom was over the workers were deemed redundant and small favors like mailing paychecks were not considered necessary.
The roles assigned at Wixom were extremely confined and there was no scope of power enhancement that could have triggered independent decision-making that majorly results in extra and positive contribution. The workers were doing the run-of-the-mill work leading to ennui. Fatigue in the speed of the line had majorly triggered half a dozen local strikes of United Auto Workers Unions members at other auto assembly plants in the past few years.
Job empowerment often motivates the worker to walk the extra mile for the organization and there was simply no time for the Wixom management to mull over it as the only focus was on churning out cars at a breakneck speed unmindful of the future prospects (or lack thereof).
Hiring process at Wixom was not meticulous as it should have been. It was done just because there was demand for manpower due to rapid turnover and a major expansion of Wixom. However, foresight was missing as unskilled or incompetent workers did enough mistakes that were detrimental to Wixom’s success in the long run. For example, a few workers messed up with installation of color vent plates because they were colour-blind and there was no check-up for colour-blindness during the recruitment process. Most of the workers were dissatisfied with the wages they were receiving and the management at Wixom was blissfully oblivious of the resentment that was brewing within the workers. There were fair chances of it imploding, which was very harmful for Wixom. Leave aside poor wages, there was no incentive to perk up the motivation of the workers, which was already at an abysmal low. There was always the risk of the worker switching over to other company because of a pay-hike.
Besides, the work was mind deadening in the sense that same work was done day in and day out leading to no value addition. The unintelligible work killed the human being inside the workers and made them a ‘Robot’ aptly summed up in the command, “When you are at job, leave your mind at home.” Eventually, the efficiency in the worker was lost.
Handling diversified portfolios and exchanging duties can be the possible solutions of this malaise. Instead of a single job being done by the worker all throughout, different jobs in different time slots can be allotted to insure that the worker breaks free of the monotony. This can lead to higher efficiency and productivity of the worker.
Sunday, December 6, 2009
Numero uno in test wow India
Good to claim the top slot in test cricket for team India. However, their reign is shaky because of fewer matches under their belt. A fantastic team it is and it will not be lonely for them to stay at the top as the team is a big one with a batting order that can bat uptil number 7. The inclusion of Zak has bolstered the bowling attack with the spiners Bhazzi and Ojha looking good if not ominous. Sehwag is redefining test criket batting pecking order and Sachin is already high in praise for the current team touting it as the best India team side he has ever played with. As a die-hard Indian cricket afficando I am wasting my time blogging on it, which I am sure few wil read.
Par confidence to dekho boss!!!
Aisa hi confidence tha when I sat idle after B.Tech. to write a prosaic fairytale long story of a love affair and few of my friends hailed it as a 'national comedy'. I am planning to rewrite it but after preserving the original manuscript just to showcase how a starry-eyed youth succumbs to reality in his early thirties and tweaks the entire script in a realistic fashion. Is is the right thing to do? It is debatable and an open-ended discussion can follow suit. Practically, this was destined. Philosophically, this is perhaps not right. Let me see if I can manage muster to do an encore!
Par confidence to dekho boss!!!
Aisa hi confidence tha when I sat idle after B.Tech. to write a prosaic fairytale long story of a love affair and few of my friends hailed it as a 'national comedy'. I am planning to rewrite it but after preserving the original manuscript just to showcase how a starry-eyed youth succumbs to reality in his early thirties and tweaks the entire script in a realistic fashion. Is is the right thing to do? It is debatable and an open-ended discussion can follow suit. Practically, this was destined. Philosophically, this is perhaps not right. Let me see if I can manage muster to do an encore!
Saturday, November 28, 2009
CAT online exam goes bust at places
Technical glitches in CAT 09 left a few candidates feel like marroned in a cast away island of intellectual imprisonment. This a blot on their image and CAT-Prometric double whammy are in damage mitigation mode. It is indeed conventional but time tested to work in pencil-and-paper format. Why fiddle with the conventional toeing the lines of the Western counterparts? They should have taken a cue from XLRI's abortive attempt few years earlier.
Sherni manti nahin hai na sher ki mook samarpan ki baton ka aur kutta jeet jata hai:)
I read a case study of University of Phoenix wherein a lot of effort was done on 'flexible' learning instead of 'engaged, experiential, interactive ya lauda lahsun' kinds of pedagogies...
It goes without saying that that majorly the efforts were for-profit ones but what else can one expect in this ratrace! A rat has such a small asshole but is literally fucking human asses globally.
However, hazar galiyon bhi prashansa lagen to samjho ki jeeven ke kaante bhi phool ban rahe hain-Osho
Sherni manti nahin hai na sher ki mook samarpan ki baton ka aur kutta jeet jata hai:)
I read a case study of University of Phoenix wherein a lot of effort was done on 'flexible' learning instead of 'engaged, experiential, interactive ya lauda lahsun' kinds of pedagogies...
It goes without saying that that majorly the efforts were for-profit ones but what else can one expect in this ratrace! A rat has such a small asshole but is literally fucking human asses globally.
However, hazar galiyon bhi prashansa lagen to samjho ki jeeven ke kaante bhi phool ban rahe hain-Osho
Wednesday, November 25, 2009
A crown of flowers
Feeling worked up with substantial reasons... Watched the documentary 'Cannibal Holoucast' and felt like puking at places... Amazon is so wild and we mostly read Amazon.com...Seeing it I gave hearty thanks to my parents for making a human out of me, albiet a worthless one. Then I thought that it is better to be a sensible cannibal than to be a nonsensical human. The Zen effect was so much pronounced in their lives...It is tough due to varied frames of references...How to make the transition as smooth as ever?
Tuesday, November 10, 2009
lost in jargons
God knows where exists a jargon-free world...
Again watched cast away and became ekdum outcast thereafter...
Even rural management is so urban nowadays...
missing rajuapur-my village...
i live in a dingy congested room and have never even stepped inside a villa but village is all where i want to be...
God gimme back my rustic lifestyle...
abhi to hippie wali ban gayi hai kuch salon se...
God save us...
give me my daily bread of my own effort...
Again watched cast away and became ekdum outcast thereafter...
Even rural management is so urban nowadays...
missing rajuapur-my village...
i live in a dingy congested room and have never even stepped inside a villa but village is all where i want to be...
God gimme back my rustic lifestyle...
abhi to hippie wali ban gayi hai kuch salon se...
God save us...
give me my daily bread of my own effort...
Friday, October 30, 2009
Musing in the times of Swine flu!
Heard somewhere that love is blind. I truly wish it were! If it were not see to t that a million imaginations would not get lost. The dreams are like scintillating star that can also power the reality at times. It indeed comes easily to half-aroused intellgence and becomes hopelessly shattering at the final awakening. Decades have changed and so have our ways of loving. However, in each of the ages it has been as intense if one does not look through the eyes of a cynic. Life is not despondent and is an expression of love that engenders happiness. Opposite values are complimentary to each other and similar values are symmetric. And tis our faith too Mr. Wordsworth that every flower enjoys the air it breathes.
The darling winter is back again. It can be hypothermic but so is love. Chills our heart to extreme severity. Ah,you are no longer in physical periphery and you almost vanish in the mudane anxities of earning our daily bread. But you come frequently to remind of a world beyond a parallel self wthout the need of pelf. And more things are wrought by prayers than this world dreams of!!!
The darling winter is back again. It can be hypothermic but so is love. Chills our heart to extreme severity. Ah,you are no longer in physical periphery and you almost vanish in the mudane anxities of earning our daily bread. But you come frequently to remind of a world beyond a parallel self wthout the need of pelf. And more things are wrought by prayers than this world dreams of!!!
Thursday, October 22, 2009
Bangalored in India
In Bangalore on a meditative trip, which is not apparently all that meditative...
In a campus, the beginning itself began not with a wlecome but with a warning of no alchohol, cigarettes, drugs, tea, coffee etc etc, which prompted me to sip a cup of coffee after a long, long time. God knows when they will stop prohibiting Eve from eating a particular fruit from a particular tree!!!
But on the health front it was good and can be reckoned as a good 'prana' management. The homilies delivered were mundane. Nonetheless, it helped me in abstinence from a few good substances for few days!!!
Looking forward to earn a pittance very soon...
In a campus, the beginning itself began not with a wlecome but with a warning of no alchohol, cigarettes, drugs, tea, coffee etc etc, which prompted me to sip a cup of coffee after a long, long time. God knows when they will stop prohibiting Eve from eating a particular fruit from a particular tree!!!
But on the health front it was good and can be reckoned as a good 'prana' management. The homilies delivered were mundane. Nonetheless, it helped me in abstinence from a few good substances for few days!!!
Looking forward to earn a pittance very soon...
Thursday, October 8, 2009
gift of magi
Life is beautiful ended with a fictitious(for a child) tank gifted by a father to his son who sacrificed his life to save his Jewish son from the Germans during Hitler's regime...
Superb!!!
Superb!!!
Monday, September 21, 2009
The muse appeared
It was a flash after so many years but kept me satisfied till now!!! A serendipity indeed!
Wednesday, September 9, 2009
Fortunate accident
Serendepity, serendipidiocity, serendipitous, and serendipaciousness are all good and related words nealy meaning fortunate accident, especially if one is looking for something else. A good movie in 2001 featuring John Cusack and Kate Beckinsale. A good watch! One can repeat watching it or writing on it!
Something about the word 'Serendipity'from the wikipedia:(I hope it is not plagiarism):(
Etymology
The word derives from Swarnadip, the Sanskrit language name for Sri Lanka, and was coined by Horace Walpole on 28 January 1754 in a letter he wrote to his friend Horace Mann (not the same man as the famed American educator), an Englishman then living in Florence. The letter read,
"It was once when I read a silly fairy tale, called The Three Princes of Serendip: as their highnesses traveled, they were always making discoveries, by accidents and sagacity, of things which they were not in quest of: for instance, one of them discovered that a camel blind of the right eye had traveled the same road lately, because the grass was eaten only on the left side, where it was worse than on the right—now do you understand serendipity? One of the most remarkable instances of this accidental sagacity (for you must observe that no discovery of a thing you are looking for, comes under this description) was of my Lord Shaftsbury, who happening to dine at Lord Chancellor Clarendon's, found out the marriage of the Duke of York and Mrs. Hyde, by the respect with which her mother treated her at table."
Role in science and technology
One aspect of Walpole's original definition of serendipity that is often missed in modern discussions of the word is the "sagacity" of being able to link together apparently innocuous facts to come to a valuable conclusion. Thus, while some scientists and inventors are reluctant about reporting accidental discoveries, others openly admit its role; in fact serendipity is a major component of scientific discoveries and inventions. According to M.K. Stoskopf "it should be recognized that serendipitous discoveries are of significant value in the advancement of science and often present the foundation for important intellectual leaps of understanding".
The amount of contribution of serendipitous discoveries varies extensively among the several scientific disciplines. Pharmacology and chemistry are probably the fields where serendipity is more common.
Most authors who have studied scientific serendipity both in a historical, as well as in an epistemological point of view, agree that a prepared and open mind is required on the part of the scientist or inventor to detect the importance of information revealed accidentally. This is the reason why most of the related accidental discoveries occur in the field of specialization of the scientist. About this, Albert Hofmann, the Swiss chemist who discovered LSD properties by unintentionally ingesting it at his lab, wrote
It is true that my discovery of LSD was a chance discovery, but it was the outcome of planned experiments and these experiments took place in the framework of systematic pharmaceutical, chemical research. It could better be described as serendipity.
The French scientist Louis Pasteur also famously said: "In the fields of observation chance favors only the prepared mind." This is often rendered as "Chance favors the prepared mind." William Shakespeare expressed the same sentiment 250 years earlier in act 4 of his play Henry V: "All things are ready if our minds be so."
History, of course, does not record accidental exposures of information which could have resulted in a new discovery, and we are justified in suspecting that they are many. There are several examples of this, however, and prejudice of preformed concepts are probably the largest obstacle. See for example [1] for a case where this happened (the rejection of an accidental discovery in the field of self-stimulation of the brain in humans).
Something about the word 'Serendipity'from the wikipedia:(I hope it is not plagiarism):(
Etymology
The word derives from Swarnadip, the Sanskrit language name for Sri Lanka, and was coined by Horace Walpole on 28 January 1754 in a letter he wrote to his friend Horace Mann (not the same man as the famed American educator), an Englishman then living in Florence. The letter read,
"It was once when I read a silly fairy tale, called The Three Princes of Serendip: as their highnesses traveled, they were always making discoveries, by accidents and sagacity, of things which they were not in quest of: for instance, one of them discovered that a camel blind of the right eye had traveled the same road lately, because the grass was eaten only on the left side, where it was worse than on the right—now do you understand serendipity? One of the most remarkable instances of this accidental sagacity (for you must observe that no discovery of a thing you are looking for, comes under this description) was of my Lord Shaftsbury, who happening to dine at Lord Chancellor Clarendon's, found out the marriage of the Duke of York and Mrs. Hyde, by the respect with which her mother treated her at table."
Role in science and technology
One aspect of Walpole's original definition of serendipity that is often missed in modern discussions of the word is the "sagacity" of being able to link together apparently innocuous facts to come to a valuable conclusion. Thus, while some scientists and inventors are reluctant about reporting accidental discoveries, others openly admit its role; in fact serendipity is a major component of scientific discoveries and inventions. According to M.K. Stoskopf "it should be recognized that serendipitous discoveries are of significant value in the advancement of science and often present the foundation for important intellectual leaps of understanding".
The amount of contribution of serendipitous discoveries varies extensively among the several scientific disciplines. Pharmacology and chemistry are probably the fields where serendipity is more common.
Most authors who have studied scientific serendipity both in a historical, as well as in an epistemological point of view, agree that a prepared and open mind is required on the part of the scientist or inventor to detect the importance of information revealed accidentally. This is the reason why most of the related accidental discoveries occur in the field of specialization of the scientist. About this, Albert Hofmann, the Swiss chemist who discovered LSD properties by unintentionally ingesting it at his lab, wrote
It is true that my discovery of LSD was a chance discovery, but it was the outcome of planned experiments and these experiments took place in the framework of systematic pharmaceutical, chemical research. It could better be described as serendipity.
The French scientist Louis Pasteur also famously said: "In the fields of observation chance favors only the prepared mind." This is often rendered as "Chance favors the prepared mind." William Shakespeare expressed the same sentiment 250 years earlier in act 4 of his play Henry V: "All things are ready if our minds be so."
History, of course, does not record accidental exposures of information which could have resulted in a new discovery, and we are justified in suspecting that they are many. There are several examples of this, however, and prejudice of preformed concepts are probably the largest obstacle. See for example [1] for a case where this happened (the rejection of an accidental discovery in the field of self-stimulation of the brain in humans).
Monday, August 31, 2009
happy bday
Time flies and life has come full circle! :((satire)
Forgive the lethargy and forget the excess baggage from the past. Marge has grown a year older. Her birthay is on 2nd Sep. i.e. today (the blog date is incorrect).
Happy bday Marge!
Forgive the lethargy and forget the excess baggage from the past. Marge has grown a year older. Her birthay is on 2nd Sep. i.e. today (the blog date is incorrect).
Happy bday Marge!
Sunday, August 30, 2009
Monk with a glass of wine
A monk exists who meditates after getting a kick with a peg or two.
"There are lies, there are damned lies, and there is Statistics."
Jaisi hai waise hi bacha lo re duniya ori duniya ri duniya...
Which state is real: the sober or the inebriated?
The insane laughs at the sane and vice-versa. Pagalon ki mehfil me bhagwan bhi hans pade ki chalo koi to alag mila...
Ah! how blissful it is to lose mind at times!
The arrogance of youth, smile of child, beauty of teenage girl, the orgasm in art, the greenery of farm, the evolution of a flower...
The natural happiness lost but not found since so many years...
The absence of eternal love once held dear to the heart...
The shame of failing to live up to expectations of family...
The farce of management in everything...
The desperation of a schizophrenic to socialise...
The severe homesickness of the dislocated...
The failure to conform to the norms...
The loss of motivation...
The dread of accepting the so-called reality of a loser...
The inability to generate own capital and the ability to destroy other's capital...
The ignorance of death approaching slowly but faster...
The desire to feel the bliss of the Supreme...
Yeh duniya agar mil bhi jaye to kya hai?
pan duniya hai to hai...
Great expectations gone awry but nonetheless they are expectations...
A moment of artificially created conviction that gets shattered by reality...
pan jaisa hai waisa hai aur shayad accha hi hai.:)
Rock on!
"There are lies, there are damned lies, and there is Statistics."
Jaisi hai waise hi bacha lo re duniya ori duniya ri duniya...
Which state is real: the sober or the inebriated?
The insane laughs at the sane and vice-versa. Pagalon ki mehfil me bhagwan bhi hans pade ki chalo koi to alag mila...
Ah! how blissful it is to lose mind at times!
The arrogance of youth, smile of child, beauty of teenage girl, the orgasm in art, the greenery of farm, the evolution of a flower...
The natural happiness lost but not found since so many years...
The absence of eternal love once held dear to the heart...
The shame of failing to live up to expectations of family...
The farce of management in everything...
The desperation of a schizophrenic to socialise...
The severe homesickness of the dislocated...
The failure to conform to the norms...
The loss of motivation...
The dread of accepting the so-called reality of a loser...
The inability to generate own capital and the ability to destroy other's capital...
The ignorance of death approaching slowly but faster...
The desire to feel the bliss of the Supreme...
Yeh duniya agar mil bhi jaye to kya hai?
pan duniya hai to hai...
Great expectations gone awry but nonetheless they are expectations...
A moment of artificially created conviction that gets shattered by reality...
pan jaisa hai waisa hai aur shayad accha hi hai.:)
Rock on!
happy bday in advance m...point someone
mrs ergo virgo,
tumhe to pata bhi nahin hai ki koi haapy bday itne salon ke bad advance me bhi kah sakta hai...
anyways,
happy bday in advance...:)
tumhe to pata bhi nahin hai ki koi haapy bday itne salon ke bad advance me bhi kah sakta hai...
anyways,
happy bday in advance...:)
Sunday, August 23, 2009
Accha hai sawere-2 gussa karna
Torn out of context again with the familiar disconnect, it was fun-filled evening again at a marketplace. Doing window shopping was like meditating in the marketplace.
Having rural upbringing, it was tough to enjoy in a mall but somehow it was manageable...
Having rural upbringing, it was tough to enjoy in a mall but somehow it was manageable...
Saturday, August 15, 2009
how dare they detain srk in us?
it is a national shame...
our brand icon srk being detained in us for some trivial reasons..
aur talua chato america ka...
nicole kidman ati hai jodhpur me to pura desh pagal ho jata hai bhai...
usko detain karo delhi airport pe swine flu ya aids quarantine ke liye...
kahanse karoge...
mann mein hi gulami aur nakal bhari hai...
despite all, srk does not need america or anyone else to rock...
he is the best...
yeah, ashok kamte got a road named after him in mumbai...
thatz gr8...
our brand icon srk being detained in us for some trivial reasons..
aur talua chato america ka...
nicole kidman ati hai jodhpur me to pura desh pagal ho jata hai bhai...
usko detain karo delhi airport pe swine flu ya aids quarantine ke liye...
kahanse karoge...
mann mein hi gulami aur nakal bhari hai...
despite all, srk does not need america or anyone else to rock...
he is the best...
yeah, ashok kamte got a road named after him in mumbai...
thatz gr8...
Tuesday, August 11, 2009
Tower of Hanoi
This problem is interesting and can be solved by recursive algorithm.
The link is:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tower_of_hanoi
The number of ways for n weights is 2^n-1.
The logic is yet to be found by me on net or elsewhere...
The link is:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tower_of_hanoi
The number of ways for n weights is 2^n-1.
The logic is yet to be found by me on net or elsewhere...
Monday, August 10, 2009
Zen or the art of mismanagement
The Zen approach in which one is ‘in the moment’ and rationality can be enjoyed together as per Pirsig. Quality of life can be improved by a synergy of rationality and romanticism. In some cases it becomes a trade-off, which can be different from compromise. Few wonder how mismanagement can be viewed in a better perspective and does any benefit accrue from it even if it does rarely so. Do non-intellectualizing and non-conceptualizing have their charm at times? Hitting the black boxes most of the times takes the zing out of things and that is what one is made to believe mostly. Zombies and dumbos are better survivors. The human frailties carry baggage from the past and stigma suffocates sometimes. Is it not okay to be frail somewhere? If not, then one is in the wrong planet or maybe in the wrong era. Call it quit dude before it is again too late. Do not be so unabashed to shamelessly try again living in a civilized society and do not look up to anyone anymore now. You have to take care of everything irrespective of what comes of it.
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