WORRYING DISPROPORTIONATE GROWTH
India's economic boom continues unhindered. Together with China, it is emerging as the most important nation that will keep the economic wheel spinning at a time when the developed world slows down to re-examine what capitalism-led economic reforms have done to its human capital and social well-being. The growth of India has been indeed phenomenal. The Forbes magazine noted this year that India has the highest number of billionaires in Asia Â- 36 -Â exceeding the 24 billionaires in Japan. Together, the Indian billionaires hold among themselves assets worth $191 billion. India, after all these years of economic reforms, is at the crossroads. While one road leads India to economic prosperity and glory, the other road leads it to social inequality. Presently, as India is one of the fastest growing economies in the world, the social aspects have been ridden roughshod by the economic benefits. While this growth is laudable, there is another India or Bharat for some, which escapes attention. India's unquestioned acceptance of neoliberal policies and the resultant prosperity has largely bypassed the nation's poor ÂÂ- a reaffirmation of the trend of the rich getting richer and the poor getting poorer. What has been conveniently forgotten or suppressed till date have been the disparities, mainly the socio-economical issues. This has led to growing discontent among the population and it has gathered momentum since the reforms began 15 years ago. It will very soon reach a critical point wherein the very purpose for which the reforms were started, will start to lose their significance rapidly and throw the country back into the ‘license raj’ and ‘unionist’ era.
India's agrarian crisis has successfully dismantled the rural infrastructure and hastened the migration of those dependent on farming to cities in search of jobs. The migration of the rural poor to cities in search of jobs has created frequent skirmishes between city dwellers and migrants of different economic, social and cultural backgrounds. Another problem is the packaging of these issues as cultural conflicts without looking at the economic crisis that is driving this antagonism. India's agricultural crisis continues to aggravate and the economic reforms initiated in 1991 under the P.V. Narasimha Rao government and accentuated under the NDA government led by A.B. Vajpayee have eroded the agricultural infrastructure of India. The current UPA government led by Manmohan Singh has been of little help, a fact made obvious by the heightening plight of cotton farmers in Maharashtra and Andhra Pradesh. Another worrisome aspect of India's economic growth is that it is mainly led by the service sector, particularly IT and IT-enabled services, in which the country has emerged as a force to be reckoned with. But this also raises the question of sustainability of growth in this sector. While agriculture has been systematically altered to meet the dictates of neoliberal policies, the secondary sector has also experienced a steady setback with the major growth being realized in what academician David Harvey calls as FIRE: Finance, Insurance and Real Estate. With these sectors emerging as the major areas of growth in the future, a prominent feature of all neoliberal economies, India's embracing of the free market is almost complete. But what is alarming is the set trajectory of India's economic growth, with most of it being realized in areas that are driving the world economic order. The rise of information technology as an integral tool through which economic growth is managed, the steady abandonment of agriculture for corporate takeover, the ignoring of the industrial sector and increased dependence on export-oriented growth - all features conducive to and dictated by Western economic forces - places India in a peculiar position and intertwines its well-being excessively with global economic conditions.
The chasm between the rich and the poor has increased so vastly that the rich are just getting richer and the poor are just getting poorer. The real benefits of the economic reforms have rarely percolated to the lowest strata of society. Just to illustrate the same with an example, most of the states today vie with one another to grab a project of any significance, be it chemical, auto or even IT. In doing so, the benefits they are offering, right from free land to tax sops are being given on a platter. But the benefits or savings that a company gains from this does not affect the lower strata of management, but remains in the hands of the top management, thus depriving the former of the economic benefits. Also, most of the labour laws in the country are outdated and have not kept pace with economic reforms. Thus, the exploitation of the working class becomes much easier. A classic example is the BPO industry in our country. While most of them work in the nights, the pressure each employee faces to deliver results and the working conditions are appalling, to say the least.
The agricultural sector has also seen this disproportionate growth, as it is a field that has been left high and dry in the pursuit of agricultural reforms. The sector has been opened up to the multi-nationals, without having evolved a comprehensive cover for our farmers, most of who are poor and own very little land of their own. A case in point is the spate of farmer suicides that our country has witnessed in the past few years. The developed countries, which clamour for open-ended policies, have, in fact, some of the fiercest protection policies when it comes to their agricultural sector. Small scale industries (SSIs), the heart and soul of many towns and villages, have been virtually ignored. More than half of them have closed down in the last few years in the face of intense competition from multi nationals who have unmatched financial and political muscle.
This dependency, though desirable as it promotes global harmony, may place India in the hands of dominant economic forces that have a vested interest in promoting the global integration of economies. The fear that globalization is the next phase of capitalist expansion is not totally unfounded. While India needs to be a part of the global economic apparatus, allowing the latter to control it excessively would hurt its interest. The only way out would be to create a self-sufficient India, a condition almost impossible if the primary and secondary sector continue to be kept out of the policy makers' priorities.
On a parting note, what are essential for India are economic reforms with a social face. The economic policies and their subsequent reforms must be accompanied by suitable clauses to benefit the economically weaker sections. Various schemes must be thoroughly scrutinized and efforts must be made to see that the rewards must reach everyone. Then India will not only be economically prosperous, but will also forge ahead towards its goal of world dominance.
ABHISHEK RANJAN
IMED, PUNE
Thursday, September 13, 2007
Sunday, September 2, 2007
PUBLISHED IN INDIAN EXPRESS,PUNE (03/09)
THE PERFECT BLEND
There's no doubt that the greatest heart-wrenching moments have emerged from many a scintillating fights and fight-back on the sports field. But only a few films in the history of cinema have been able to capture those nail-biting finishes, seconds that defined success and failures, moments that separated gold from the silver. Chariots of Fire was surely one such film. It was based on a true story of British athletes preparing and competing in the 1924 Antwerp Olympics. The film bagged seven nominations and won four Oscars in 1982. Chak De India may not be in the league of Chariots in terms of cinematic capabilities, but emerges every inch a great effort in capturing the sporting capabilities of Indian field hockey, particularly women's hockey. And it certainly deserves a true honour for trying to portray the much neglected Indian sport, hockey and worse still women's hockey. It's every inch gratifying. Chak De India is all about team spirit. There is no romance, but passion. There are no glamorous women but sixteen girls with bucket loads of grit. There are no songs but a title track and background score that will stir your soul. There is no violence but bloodstained knees and elbows. There is no love triangle but love and emotions among the players. It is about hockey. It's about getting beaten and bruised. Importantly, it is about rising to the big occasion and beating the opponents at their own turf.
The movie under consideration can justifiably be taken up as a scintillating example by the corporate world so as to reach their predetermined goal through an immensely focussed team effort of its employees. In their anxiety to hold individuals accountable for results, organisations are fighting shy of using team goals even when the job design calls for a high level of collaboration.
As a result, organisations pursue the path of individual goals and end up in a situation where all the individuals claim individual success while the team itself fails to accomplish its overall goal. Here, team goals become relevant. Goal setting is certainly the way to go. But to get it right, the manager needs to go beyond the numbers and measures and focus on helping define "how" his team member will actually get it done. If the employee does not know the "how", he will have to rely merely on luck, prayer and maybe good monsoon!
The art and science of goal setting is still a mystery to the average manager. As a consequence, there is often lament about managers not adhering to the process in spirit, and, more importantly, the lack of excitement among employees in using it as a performance enhancement tool or technique.
A goal is an end toward which you direct specific effort. Goals are an essential part of successfully conducting business and living a rewarding life. Well-defined goals allow you to choose, design, and implement important targets (objectives) necessary to achieve overall desired results (missions).
Goals:
➤ Establish direction for ongoing activities
➤ Identify expected results
➤ Improve teamwork through a common sense of purpose
➤ Heighten performance levels by setting targets to be achieved
Goals provide the motivation and direction necessary for growth and success in many important areas. In business, for example:
➤ If you or your organization never sets goals for direction, how will you
know where you are headed?
➤ If no goals exist for progress, how will your organization know how it is
doing?
➤ If there are no goals for achievement, how will the organization know
when it succeeds?
Question: Would you get on an airplane if you didn’t know where it was going to land?
Answer: Of course not.
Throughout Chak De, the game's essentially Protestant ethic comes to the fore. Using complex characters, the film-maker sets as rivals several versions of the ethic against each other, and then reveals how these are refashioned as the players learn to labour mutually towards a common goal. For example, both Preeti and Komal, the team's leading strikers, are unwilling to concede ground to one another. In the end, however, the team ethic triumphs with Komal passing the ball to Preeti to score the all-important goal in the final, and Preeti doing her bit in letting Komal take her penalty stroke.
The movie in a way brings into light the perfect blend for Organisational Success. To name a few: goal, team effort, focussed strategy towards attainment of goal, strong determination, preference to the organisational preferences, motivation etc. An organisation which aims high to compete with the players at the apex must try and inculcate the apt blend of managerial features in its system so as to gain an edge over the other competitors.
Follow the saying of Swami Vivekanand who aptly said: “Arise awake and stop not till the goal is achieved.”
ABHISHEK RANJAN
IMED, PUNE.
There's no doubt that the greatest heart-wrenching moments have emerged from many a scintillating fights and fight-back on the sports field. But only a few films in the history of cinema have been able to capture those nail-biting finishes, seconds that defined success and failures, moments that separated gold from the silver. Chariots of Fire was surely one such film. It was based on a true story of British athletes preparing and competing in the 1924 Antwerp Olympics. The film bagged seven nominations and won four Oscars in 1982. Chak De India may not be in the league of Chariots in terms of cinematic capabilities, but emerges every inch a great effort in capturing the sporting capabilities of Indian field hockey, particularly women's hockey. And it certainly deserves a true honour for trying to portray the much neglected Indian sport, hockey and worse still women's hockey. It's every inch gratifying. Chak De India is all about team spirit. There is no romance, but passion. There are no glamorous women but sixteen girls with bucket loads of grit. There are no songs but a title track and background score that will stir your soul. There is no violence but bloodstained knees and elbows. There is no love triangle but love and emotions among the players. It is about hockey. It's about getting beaten and bruised. Importantly, it is about rising to the big occasion and beating the opponents at their own turf.
The movie under consideration can justifiably be taken up as a scintillating example by the corporate world so as to reach their predetermined goal through an immensely focussed team effort of its employees. In their anxiety to hold individuals accountable for results, organisations are fighting shy of using team goals even when the job design calls for a high level of collaboration.
As a result, organisations pursue the path of individual goals and end up in a situation where all the individuals claim individual success while the team itself fails to accomplish its overall goal. Here, team goals become relevant. Goal setting is certainly the way to go. But to get it right, the manager needs to go beyond the numbers and measures and focus on helping define "how" his team member will actually get it done. If the employee does not know the "how", he will have to rely merely on luck, prayer and maybe good monsoon!
The art and science of goal setting is still a mystery to the average manager. As a consequence, there is often lament about managers not adhering to the process in spirit, and, more importantly, the lack of excitement among employees in using it as a performance enhancement tool or technique.
A goal is an end toward which you direct specific effort. Goals are an essential part of successfully conducting business and living a rewarding life. Well-defined goals allow you to choose, design, and implement important targets (objectives) necessary to achieve overall desired results (missions).
Goals:
➤ Establish direction for ongoing activities
➤ Identify expected results
➤ Improve teamwork through a common sense of purpose
➤ Heighten performance levels by setting targets to be achieved
Goals provide the motivation and direction necessary for growth and success in many important areas. In business, for example:
➤ If you or your organization never sets goals for direction, how will you
know where you are headed?
➤ If no goals exist for progress, how will your organization know how it is
doing?
➤ If there are no goals for achievement, how will the organization know
when it succeeds?
Question: Would you get on an airplane if you didn’t know where it was going to land?
Answer: Of course not.
Throughout Chak De, the game's essentially Protestant ethic comes to the fore. Using complex characters, the film-maker sets as rivals several versions of the ethic against each other, and then reveals how these are refashioned as the players learn to labour mutually towards a common goal. For example, both Preeti and Komal, the team's leading strikers, are unwilling to concede ground to one another. In the end, however, the team ethic triumphs with Komal passing the ball to Preeti to score the all-important goal in the final, and Preeti doing her bit in letting Komal take her penalty stroke.
The movie in a way brings into light the perfect blend for Organisational Success. To name a few: goal, team effort, focussed strategy towards attainment of goal, strong determination, preference to the organisational preferences, motivation etc. An organisation which aims high to compete with the players at the apex must try and inculcate the apt blend of managerial features in its system so as to gain an edge over the other competitors.
Follow the saying of Swami Vivekanand who aptly said: “Arise awake and stop not till the goal is achieved.”
ABHISHEK RANJAN
IMED, PUNE.
ANOTHER MASTERPIECE
OBJECTIVES: THE UNIVERSAL FACTOR
Two days after three year-old Anant Gupta, kidnapped son of a top software firm executive, returned home safely, the Uttar Pradesh police arrested the mastermind behind the plot, Chhatrapal Singh, who confessed before the media that he did it for ransom. However, the question of how the child was recovered in such a short span? The speedy recovery of the child highly contradicted the trademark nature of the Indian police. Then, the most awaited joint press conference by the police and the CEO revealed the answer to a greater extent.
Apart from other factual revelations the other important aspect that came into the light was active participation of Naresh Gupta, the CEO in the investigation process. The CEO mentioned that he framed various OBJECTIVES so as to add a high-resolution focus to the ongoing investigation process. The objectives framed by him were as follows:
Ø Safe recovery of the child.
Ø Nabbing the indulged abductors.
Ø Recovery of the bait.
He framed the objectives and the entire team worked in sync so as to attain the predetermined objectives. The above step adopted by the CEO enhanced the probability of safe & prompt recovery of Anant from the hands of the amateur miscreants. In an increasingly demanding and competitive market, to achieve professional success depends on planning, discipline, strength of will, capacity for adaptation and equilibrium. Successful people achieve success because, in the first place, they know exactly where they intend to go, set goals to be reached and then move in that direction.
The writer Lewis Carroll, in his book “Alice In Wonderland” gives us a dimension of the importance of having clear objectives when the girl asks the cat which road to follow. He replies by asking her where she wishes to go and she answers that she doesn't know. "Then," says the cat, "is doesn't matter which road you take." That is, for the one who doesn't know what he wants to achieve, any action is equally valid… and equally useless.
The kind of activity or the stage of the career doesn't matter – whether it is a young talent starting out on the road, or a professional who has already accumulated experience – these five requirements gain the strength of an axiom in the context of striving in the professional market. He who is entering the market must be clear about what will be required of him. Today, one foreign language is no longer sufficient, nor is a university diploma. A second or third language becomes a differential plus, as does an MBA or another specialization course, or even an international experience. The already-established professionals also suffer the same pressure, perhaps even greater, because they must permanently recycle their knowledge, since experience by itself is not a synonym for stability.
But the road that leads us to success begins before, when we decide what we intend to be and what we wish to achieve. The basis of the process is one of simple definition: happiness is the real objective of life and to be happy means to do in life what one likes. Therefore, the task is transformed into the simple proposal of discovering what one does with satisfaction. Besides providing happiness, to do what one likes is also the key to success, as we tend to do well, with emotion and dedication that which gives us pleasure. The solitary exercise of defining life, which I call "self-interview," is, at the same time, a complex task that implies a long voyage through ourselves, scrutinizing feelings, preferences and abilities.
The important thing is to identify in our achievements which one of them gave us most pleasure. One should also keep in mind that achievements are not only related to the work or professional life. They began much earlier, already in school life, in sports, in leisure, in the social activities, in family life, during the first job, in the career, in the current job, etc.
The next step is to distinguish the abilities that help us the most in these achievements and that I classify in three categories: the ability to deal with people – lead, motivate, direct, orient, form groups, integrate efforts – to deal with things – concrete objects, dealing with your body, building things, standing out in sports, manual abilities – and ability to deal with the abstract – numerical exercises, the search for data, analyses and deductions.
The objective is thus; a universal management tool which when applied in versatile range of applications fetches desired results. The fast and safe recovery of Anant Gupta confirms that objectives are universally applicable. Naresh Gupta, applied his managerial skills to help police & STF recover his son in just four days.
By,
ABHISHEK RANJAN
IMED, PUNE
Two days after three year-old Anant Gupta, kidnapped son of a top software firm executive, returned home safely, the Uttar Pradesh police arrested the mastermind behind the plot, Chhatrapal Singh, who confessed before the media that he did it for ransom. However, the question of how the child was recovered in such a short span? The speedy recovery of the child highly contradicted the trademark nature of the Indian police. Then, the most awaited joint press conference by the police and the CEO revealed the answer to a greater extent.
Apart from other factual revelations the other important aspect that came into the light was active participation of Naresh Gupta, the CEO in the investigation process. The CEO mentioned that he framed various OBJECTIVES so as to add a high-resolution focus to the ongoing investigation process. The objectives framed by him were as follows:
Ø Safe recovery of the child.
Ø Nabbing the indulged abductors.
Ø Recovery of the bait.
He framed the objectives and the entire team worked in sync so as to attain the predetermined objectives. The above step adopted by the CEO enhanced the probability of safe & prompt recovery of Anant from the hands of the amateur miscreants. In an increasingly demanding and competitive market, to achieve professional success depends on planning, discipline, strength of will, capacity for adaptation and equilibrium. Successful people achieve success because, in the first place, they know exactly where they intend to go, set goals to be reached and then move in that direction.
The writer Lewis Carroll, in his book “Alice In Wonderland” gives us a dimension of the importance of having clear objectives when the girl asks the cat which road to follow. He replies by asking her where she wishes to go and she answers that she doesn't know. "Then," says the cat, "is doesn't matter which road you take." That is, for the one who doesn't know what he wants to achieve, any action is equally valid… and equally useless.
The kind of activity or the stage of the career doesn't matter – whether it is a young talent starting out on the road, or a professional who has already accumulated experience – these five requirements gain the strength of an axiom in the context of striving in the professional market. He who is entering the market must be clear about what will be required of him. Today, one foreign language is no longer sufficient, nor is a university diploma. A second or third language becomes a differential plus, as does an MBA or another specialization course, or even an international experience. The already-established professionals also suffer the same pressure, perhaps even greater, because they must permanently recycle their knowledge, since experience by itself is not a synonym for stability.
But the road that leads us to success begins before, when we decide what we intend to be and what we wish to achieve. The basis of the process is one of simple definition: happiness is the real objective of life and to be happy means to do in life what one likes. Therefore, the task is transformed into the simple proposal of discovering what one does with satisfaction. Besides providing happiness, to do what one likes is also the key to success, as we tend to do well, with emotion and dedication that which gives us pleasure. The solitary exercise of defining life, which I call "self-interview," is, at the same time, a complex task that implies a long voyage through ourselves, scrutinizing feelings, preferences and abilities.
The important thing is to identify in our achievements which one of them gave us most pleasure. One should also keep in mind that achievements are not only related to the work or professional life. They began much earlier, already in school life, in sports, in leisure, in the social activities, in family life, during the first job, in the career, in the current job, etc.
The next step is to distinguish the abilities that help us the most in these achievements and that I classify in three categories: the ability to deal with people – lead, motivate, direct, orient, form groups, integrate efforts – to deal with things – concrete objects, dealing with your body, building things, standing out in sports, manual abilities – and ability to deal with the abstract – numerical exercises, the search for data, analyses and deductions.
The objective is thus; a universal management tool which when applied in versatile range of applications fetches desired results. The fast and safe recovery of Anant Gupta confirms that objectives are universally applicable. Naresh Gupta, applied his managerial skills to help police & STF recover his son in just four days.
By,
ABHISHEK RANJAN
IMED, PUNE
MY ARTICLE WHICH GOT PUBLISHED IN INDIAN EXPRESS
Strategic India:Rise of the guru
All rise towards their strengths. The best cook makes the meals. The mechanically-inclined person fixes the squeaky door. The plant lover tends the garden. Businesses gravitate around core competencies. Likewise nations aspire for global competitiveness. As the world turns to a single global village, opening plethora of opportunities and challenges, it is imperative for economies to adopt a rigorous approach to identifying and defining what gives them the cutting edge and then single-mindedly pursue them. India should do to this too.
There are three tests for identifying areas that give competitive advantage to business, which can also be applicable for economies at global level, viz.,
· The competence provides potential access to a wide variety of markets.
· It makes a significant contribution to the benefits of the product as perceived by the end user
· It should be difficult for competitors to imitate
In India, the Agriculture sector looks very promising in this regard.
Agriculture, since time immemorial, has been the main stream of the Indian economy, both in terms of quantity of agriculture produce and volume of employment that the sector generates. Recent advancement in science and technology, globalization and transformation in eating habits, vast opportunities have opened up for development of food products from agriculture produce, in terms of varieties, scale and quality. Thus, providing for high value addition, opportunity for diverse utilization of agricultural surplus, and generation of highly skilled man power resources especially for the stagnant rural sector has become essentially important. Chandrababu Naidu aptly comments, “In information technology, we are global leaders. So, why can’t we become global leaders in food supply also?”
With 184 million hectares of arable land, producing annually 90 million tones of milk, 150 million tones of fruits and vegetables, 485 million livestock, 204 million tones food grain, 6.3 million tones fish, 489 million poultry and 45,200 million eggs, India's agricultural production base is vast and varied. What could give an acerbic advantage is the processing of it. The current levels of processing around 2.2% in fruits and vegetables, 35% in milk, 21% in meat and 6% in poultry products, etc. is very low, offering immense potential for investment in this sector.
Currently it is estimated that on an average only 2 per cent of agricultural produce is preserved for processing because of a lack of facilities for storage. In the US some 70 per cent of agricultural produce is currently processed. Food processing covers a spectrum of products from sub sector comprising agriculture, horticulture, plantation, animal husbandry and fisheries. In order to increase the share of agriculture in the GDP, the country needs to efficiently and effectively tap the food processing industry.
Many industry observers believe that the Indian food processing industry is a sleeping giant and that such initiatives will encourage the rapid growth of the industry, which could eventually make it a world-wide force to be reckoned with.
So, what should be done? Global competitiveness is built through a process of continuous improvement and enhancement. It should constitute the focus for an all-round strategy. If the goal is to build world class leadership, governance must ensure value addition by articulating the strategic architecture that guides the process of competence building.
In the developed countries processed food and fresh food prices are usually within a reasonable comparative range. At times processed foods are even cheaper than fresh food. In India, however due to a variety of factors processed foods prices are substantially higher than fresh food. Given the objectives which are achieved by processing there is an urgent need to take measures to reduce costs, and make processed food affordable.
Infrastructure for this sector is lacking. Deficiencies exist for grading and packing besides pre-cooling at farm site which could feed into a formalized cold chain. Physical marketing and warehousing infrastructure also needs to be upgraded. Export related infrastructure agro produce especially at sea and airports needs to be strengthened. Brand building, market intelligence and a continuous watch on areas of emerging competitiveness needs to be maintained to enhance exports.
Contract farming is an intervention which appears to have helped the growth of the processing industry as well as farmer incomes. Care shall however need to be exercised to strike at the correct balance between the farmer and processors rights and obligations. The government of India really needs to divert its attention towards the ample amount of opportunities available in the above mentioned sector. The government should therefore, allow sufficient FDI across different categories of the sector.
The pace of scientific, social and economic change has accelerated. Policies need to address these changes to guard against threats as well as take advantage of opportunities. To ensure that policy remains in tune with its times, a review every five years in consultation with concerned stakeholders should be undertaken.
By
ABHISHEK RANJAN
IMED, BVU
All rise towards their strengths. The best cook makes the meals. The mechanically-inclined person fixes the squeaky door. The plant lover tends the garden. Businesses gravitate around core competencies. Likewise nations aspire for global competitiveness. As the world turns to a single global village, opening plethora of opportunities and challenges, it is imperative for economies to adopt a rigorous approach to identifying and defining what gives them the cutting edge and then single-mindedly pursue them. India should do to this too.
There are three tests for identifying areas that give competitive advantage to business, which can also be applicable for economies at global level, viz.,
· The competence provides potential access to a wide variety of markets.
· It makes a significant contribution to the benefits of the product as perceived by the end user
· It should be difficult for competitors to imitate
In India, the Agriculture sector looks very promising in this regard.
Agriculture, since time immemorial, has been the main stream of the Indian economy, both in terms of quantity of agriculture produce and volume of employment that the sector generates. Recent advancement in science and technology, globalization and transformation in eating habits, vast opportunities have opened up for development of food products from agriculture produce, in terms of varieties, scale and quality. Thus, providing for high value addition, opportunity for diverse utilization of agricultural surplus, and generation of highly skilled man power resources especially for the stagnant rural sector has become essentially important. Chandrababu Naidu aptly comments, “In information technology, we are global leaders. So, why can’t we become global leaders in food supply also?”
With 184 million hectares of arable land, producing annually 90 million tones of milk, 150 million tones of fruits and vegetables, 485 million livestock, 204 million tones food grain, 6.3 million tones fish, 489 million poultry and 45,200 million eggs, India's agricultural production base is vast and varied. What could give an acerbic advantage is the processing of it. The current levels of processing around 2.2% in fruits and vegetables, 35% in milk, 21% in meat and 6% in poultry products, etc. is very low, offering immense potential for investment in this sector.
Currently it is estimated that on an average only 2 per cent of agricultural produce is preserved for processing because of a lack of facilities for storage. In the US some 70 per cent of agricultural produce is currently processed. Food processing covers a spectrum of products from sub sector comprising agriculture, horticulture, plantation, animal husbandry and fisheries. In order to increase the share of agriculture in the GDP, the country needs to efficiently and effectively tap the food processing industry.
Many industry observers believe that the Indian food processing industry is a sleeping giant and that such initiatives will encourage the rapid growth of the industry, which could eventually make it a world-wide force to be reckoned with.
So, what should be done? Global competitiveness is built through a process of continuous improvement and enhancement. It should constitute the focus for an all-round strategy. If the goal is to build world class leadership, governance must ensure value addition by articulating the strategic architecture that guides the process of competence building.
In the developed countries processed food and fresh food prices are usually within a reasonable comparative range. At times processed foods are even cheaper than fresh food. In India, however due to a variety of factors processed foods prices are substantially higher than fresh food. Given the objectives which are achieved by processing there is an urgent need to take measures to reduce costs, and make processed food affordable.
Infrastructure for this sector is lacking. Deficiencies exist for grading and packing besides pre-cooling at farm site which could feed into a formalized cold chain. Physical marketing and warehousing infrastructure also needs to be upgraded. Export related infrastructure agro produce especially at sea and airports needs to be strengthened. Brand building, market intelligence and a continuous watch on areas of emerging competitiveness needs to be maintained to enhance exports.
Contract farming is an intervention which appears to have helped the growth of the processing industry as well as farmer incomes. Care shall however need to be exercised to strike at the correct balance between the farmer and processors rights and obligations. The government of India really needs to divert its attention towards the ample amount of opportunities available in the above mentioned sector. The government should therefore, allow sufficient FDI across different categories of the sector.
The pace of scientific, social and economic change has accelerated. Policies need to address these changes to guard against threats as well as take advantage of opportunities. To ensure that policy remains in tune with its times, a review every five years in consultation with concerned stakeholders should be undertaken.
By
ABHISHEK RANJAN
IMED, BVU
MY ARTICLE WHICH GOT PUBLISHED IN INDIAN EXPRESS
IF THE INVESTORS ONLY KNEW, IF THE STOCKS ONLY COULD!
“I can calculate the motions of heavenly bodies... But not the madness of people!” Sir Isaac Newton (1642 - 1727)
Studies have shown that human have shown patterns of irrationality, inconsistency and incompetence when arriving at decisions and choices when they are faced with uncertainty. Human nature is one of those things that everybody talks about but no one can define precisely.
The story is told of two salesmen who met at the airport. Their conversation went something like this: “How's business?” asked the first. “Oh, very good,” said the second, “and yours?” “Fine, fine,” said the first. “I got orders for a thousand gross last week. I sell buttons.” “Really,” said the second. “I’ve had one order in the last three years.” “And you call that good?” said the first. “Actually yes,” said the second, “I sell suspension bridges.”
Like the salesmen, the investor must have a clear notion of his goals and expectations and they must realize what is normal and acceptable to someone else might not be what is normal or acceptable to them. The goals of the small investor is not of enlarging their fortune because clearly they currently don’t have one but to make available some money, however small, for the purpose of growing it over time.
Regardless of your income level, investment is possible if three conditions are met:
If you are relatively assured of a steady income. Of course, these days nothing is set in stone.
If you are meeting your current household expenses and obligations.
If you have cash reserves with which to meet unforeseen emergencies.
Of course, these conditions are simply safeguards due to the inescapable fact that stock prices fluctuate and that your judgment of when to buy, when to sell and how long to hold should never be dictated by outside circumstances. Investment should be undertaken only with funds you can honestly and legitimately earmark as discretionary.
A reserve also enables you to pick and choose. Whether you have a few hundred or a few thousand lying around should not automatically mean that it's time to invest it. What's the hurry? As the professionals say, "The market is always there." If the trend isn't to your liking or prices are over-valued a reserve allows you the luxury of waiting for more favorable conditions.
Finally, a reserve permits investment over a period of time rather than all at once. Some “experts” feel you should back what seems to be a good situation with all the investment funds at your command. Others will warn against greed and advise partial investment to spread the risk.
The most apt way is to give yourself the flexibility of moving whatever way “your” judgment dictates. Successful investing is hard, but it doesn't require genius. In fact, Warren Buffett once quipped, “Success in investing doesn't correlate with I.Q. once you’re above the level of 25. Once you have ordinary intelligence, what you need is the temperament to control the urges that get other people into trouble in investing.” As much as anything else, successful investing requires something perhaps even rarer: the ability to identify and overcome one's own psychological weaknesses.
This field is better known as behavioral finance. This field explains how emotions influence investors and the markets. This explains why prices can go much lower or higher than the actual value when the companies faced with temporary setbacks or business opportunities. This also explains why there are market bubbles and crashes. This is when value investing comes into picture.
When a stock falls, most investors would not cut lose and withdraw his/her stocks. Instead, to avoid the pain and regret of making a bad investment, they might hold on to the stock until the stocks fall even lower until it worths nothing. An investor tends to follow the market crowd. When he sees that a lot of investors are dumping their stock in the market, they will start to fear and ignore their own judgment and start following the crowd. This could cause the stock to fall rock bottom. However, it is the value investors who profit from this who knows whether this is a permanent or temporary setback to the company stocks and whether prices will increase again.
Some of the ways suggested by eminent financial planners to mitigate risks are as follows viz.:
Don’t chase returns.
Diversify: A healthy mix of different assets, mutual funds, fixed deposits and stocks is the only way you can ensure maximum safety of your assets.
Think long term.
Don’t over leverage: It may help you multiply your returns, but at the same time over leveraging can get disastrous if the market tanks. It can multiply your losses.
In order to reap maximum returns from ones investment one must quintessentially overcome ones psychological weaknesses and must invest wisely taking into consideration the valuable suggestions of immensely qualified financial planners.
By
ABHISHEK RANJAN
IMED, PUNE.
“I can calculate the motions of heavenly bodies... But not the madness of people!” Sir Isaac Newton (1642 - 1727)
Studies have shown that human have shown patterns of irrationality, inconsistency and incompetence when arriving at decisions and choices when they are faced with uncertainty. Human nature is one of those things that everybody talks about but no one can define precisely.
The story is told of two salesmen who met at the airport. Their conversation went something like this: “How's business?” asked the first. “Oh, very good,” said the second, “and yours?” “Fine, fine,” said the first. “I got orders for a thousand gross last week. I sell buttons.” “Really,” said the second. “I’ve had one order in the last three years.” “And you call that good?” said the first. “Actually yes,” said the second, “I sell suspension bridges.”
Like the salesmen, the investor must have a clear notion of his goals and expectations and they must realize what is normal and acceptable to someone else might not be what is normal or acceptable to them. The goals of the small investor is not of enlarging their fortune because clearly they currently don’t have one but to make available some money, however small, for the purpose of growing it over time.
Regardless of your income level, investment is possible if three conditions are met:
If you are relatively assured of a steady income. Of course, these days nothing is set in stone.
If you are meeting your current household expenses and obligations.
If you have cash reserves with which to meet unforeseen emergencies.
Of course, these conditions are simply safeguards due to the inescapable fact that stock prices fluctuate and that your judgment of when to buy, when to sell and how long to hold should never be dictated by outside circumstances. Investment should be undertaken only with funds you can honestly and legitimately earmark as discretionary.
A reserve also enables you to pick and choose. Whether you have a few hundred or a few thousand lying around should not automatically mean that it's time to invest it. What's the hurry? As the professionals say, "The market is always there." If the trend isn't to your liking or prices are over-valued a reserve allows you the luxury of waiting for more favorable conditions.
Finally, a reserve permits investment over a period of time rather than all at once. Some “experts” feel you should back what seems to be a good situation with all the investment funds at your command. Others will warn against greed and advise partial investment to spread the risk.
The most apt way is to give yourself the flexibility of moving whatever way “your” judgment dictates. Successful investing is hard, but it doesn't require genius. In fact, Warren Buffett once quipped, “Success in investing doesn't correlate with I.Q. once you’re above the level of 25. Once you have ordinary intelligence, what you need is the temperament to control the urges that get other people into trouble in investing.” As much as anything else, successful investing requires something perhaps even rarer: the ability to identify and overcome one's own psychological weaknesses.
This field is better known as behavioral finance. This field explains how emotions influence investors and the markets. This explains why prices can go much lower or higher than the actual value when the companies faced with temporary setbacks or business opportunities. This also explains why there are market bubbles and crashes. This is when value investing comes into picture.
When a stock falls, most investors would not cut lose and withdraw his/her stocks. Instead, to avoid the pain and regret of making a bad investment, they might hold on to the stock until the stocks fall even lower until it worths nothing. An investor tends to follow the market crowd. When he sees that a lot of investors are dumping their stock in the market, they will start to fear and ignore their own judgment and start following the crowd. This could cause the stock to fall rock bottom. However, it is the value investors who profit from this who knows whether this is a permanent or temporary setback to the company stocks and whether prices will increase again.
Some of the ways suggested by eminent financial planners to mitigate risks are as follows viz.:
Don’t chase returns.
Diversify: A healthy mix of different assets, mutual funds, fixed deposits and stocks is the only way you can ensure maximum safety of your assets.
Think long term.
Don’t over leverage: It may help you multiply your returns, but at the same time over leveraging can get disastrous if the market tanks. It can multiply your losses.
In order to reap maximum returns from ones investment one must quintessentially overcome ones psychological weaknesses and must invest wisely taking into consideration the valuable suggestions of immensely qualified financial planners.
By
ABHISHEK RANJAN
IMED, PUNE.
MY FIRST ARTICLE IN INDIAN EXPRESS WHICH WAS RE-PUBLISHED
Is it the‘C’ FACTOR
He may be the quintessentially rustic politician whose 15-year-rule in Bihar as chief minister was dubbed by critics as ‘jungle raj’, but India’s Railway Minister Lalu Prasad Yadav is set for an image makeover when he dons the role of a lecturer at the Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad next month. The turnaround in the financial health of the Indian Railways, with Prasad in charge, has been the subject of major discussion at IIMs and he is already being looked upon as a management guru. Ever since Prasad took over as India’s railway minister, the railways have become the second largest PSU profit-earner after the Oil and Natural Gas Corporation. Lalu has surprised many by emerging as one of the top-performing ministers in Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s cabinet.
So what has Prasad done to the Indian railways which his predecessors could not?
The key policy decision, which significantly contributed to this remarkable turnaround, was to maximize the productivity of all existing assets by taking full advantage of sunk COSTS .The above mentioned financial turnaround of the railways could be logically linked to the efficient COST MANAGEMENT.
Cost Management is the process whereby companies use cost accounting to report or control the various costs of doing business. The term CM (cost management) is widely used in business today. Unfortunately there is no uniform definition. We use CM to describe the approaches and activities of managers in short run and long run planning and control decisions that increase value for customers and lower costs of products and services. For example, managers make decisions regarding the amount and kind of material being used, changes of plant processes, and changes in product designs. Information from accounting systems helps managers make such decisions, but the information and the accounting systems themselves are not cost management.
Cost Management has a broad focus. It includes – but is not confined to – the continuous reduction of costs. The planning and control of costs is usually inextricably linked with revenue and profit planning. For instance, to enhance revenues and profits, managers often deliberately incur additional costs for advertising and product modifications.
Cost Management is not carried in isolation. It’s an integral part of general management strategies and their implementation. Examples include programmes that enhance customer satisfaction and quality as well as programmes that promote blockbuster new product development.
Lalu when asked the reason for the railways turnaround. He put it in his inimitable style: “My mother told me not to handle a buffalo by its tail, but always catch it by its horns. And I have used that lesson in everything in my life, including the Railways.” Prasad’s other management mantra for the railways have been: “If you do not milk the cow fully, it falls sick,” which he is practicing while running the railways.
It is not just business schools that are awe-struck. Prasad has also attracted the attention of railways in other nations and, the global engineering house, General Electrics of United States.
It was not as if Prasad applied some new principles .He was just the guy who said ‘let us get down to it’.
Abhishek Ranjan
IMED
He may be the quintessentially rustic politician whose 15-year-rule in Bihar as chief minister was dubbed by critics as ‘jungle raj’, but India’s Railway Minister Lalu Prasad Yadav is set for an image makeover when he dons the role of a lecturer at the Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad next month. The turnaround in the financial health of the Indian Railways, with Prasad in charge, has been the subject of major discussion at IIMs and he is already being looked upon as a management guru. Ever since Prasad took over as India’s railway minister, the railways have become the second largest PSU profit-earner after the Oil and Natural Gas Corporation. Lalu has surprised many by emerging as one of the top-performing ministers in Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s cabinet.
So what has Prasad done to the Indian railways which his predecessors could not?
The key policy decision, which significantly contributed to this remarkable turnaround, was to maximize the productivity of all existing assets by taking full advantage of sunk COSTS .The above mentioned financial turnaround of the railways could be logically linked to the efficient COST MANAGEMENT.
Cost Management is the process whereby companies use cost accounting to report or control the various costs of doing business. The term CM (cost management) is widely used in business today. Unfortunately there is no uniform definition. We use CM to describe the approaches and activities of managers in short run and long run planning and control decisions that increase value for customers and lower costs of products and services. For example, managers make decisions regarding the amount and kind of material being used, changes of plant processes, and changes in product designs. Information from accounting systems helps managers make such decisions, but the information and the accounting systems themselves are not cost management.
Cost Management has a broad focus. It includes – but is not confined to – the continuous reduction of costs. The planning and control of costs is usually inextricably linked with revenue and profit planning. For instance, to enhance revenues and profits, managers often deliberately incur additional costs for advertising and product modifications.
Cost Management is not carried in isolation. It’s an integral part of general management strategies and their implementation. Examples include programmes that enhance customer satisfaction and quality as well as programmes that promote blockbuster new product development.
Lalu when asked the reason for the railways turnaround. He put it in his inimitable style: “My mother told me not to handle a buffalo by its tail, but always catch it by its horns. And I have used that lesson in everything in my life, including the Railways.” Prasad’s other management mantra for the railways have been: “If you do not milk the cow fully, it falls sick,” which he is practicing while running the railways.
It is not just business schools that are awe-struck. Prasad has also attracted the attention of railways in other nations and, the global engineering house, General Electrics of United States.
It was not as if Prasad applied some new principles .He was just the guy who said ‘let us get down to it’.
Abhishek Ranjan
IMED
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