Reservation ????

Everybody in India is familiar is familiar with the concept of the Reservations i.e fixing a quota for specific section of the people based on their category of caste etc. our more knowledgeable forefathers surely had development in mind when they went for the reservations. And this was generally based on the three principles:

• Equality of opportunity: If a member of lower strata applies to a job and has the right qualifications and is a better performer compared to peers, he should get the job. i.e, their caste/economic status should not decide which jobs they apply/get selected to.
• Equality of autonomy: If a member of lower strata wants to become a rocket scientist, and has the intelligence and is willing to work towards this goal, there should not be any barriers to pursuing this goal. i.e, they should not be at a disadvantage when choosing their course of life because they were born poor/belong to a particular caste.
• Social safety net: When certain members of society did not have these privileges earlier and the government wants to help them, certain non- contributory (free) measures are taken to help them. i.e, members of a disadvantaged group are given free financial incentives so that they are not trapped in the present position/do not fall into a life of crime and poverty.

  But In present context, the Hardik patel calling for the quota for Patels is a shining example of what reservation has come to. Now reservations has become a clause for vote bank politics. Main question remains reservation for whom? For the Deprived class. But in reality the beneficiary of the reservation are the same families who have benefited from it and now are not deprived. It has become some sort of vicious cycle.

Though “lower strata” term is relative, the reservation system has not changed anything drastically when comparison of poverty rates and income of the bottom 20% of society is relatively the same compared over the last 40 years. This is more evident in rural areas. There are a significant portion of upper caste (6% of national population) who are poor and do not benefit from reservation. Cost of education has increased 12.5X over the previous decade - even the cheapest institutions have five percent inflation a year. Overall, the Caste based reservation system has achieved very little for the rural poor and has mostly fallen flat on its face in most of the metrics. It has failed because (unfair debate left out, as what's fair to me may not be fair to someone else):

• It has not improved dropout rates
• It has not improved income share of poor people
• It has not performed in terms of quality of education (India ranks 72nd in the world )
• It is not inclusive of all the poor sections of society (poor upper castes are left out)
• It is based on fixed percentages creating selection bubbles ie, there is no incentive to perform for those with reservation and there is no motivation for those without reservation as competition is higher
• There is no data to support reservation based on caste has met any of its objectives after 4 decades of practicing it

Future:
The caste based reservation system is a part of the Indian Constitution and unlikely to change. The window of opportunity to make effective long lasting changes to any Indian system is 10-15 years, and the political landscape is too busy on other things rather than trying to wrap their wits around this. It has affected who we are as a society and it will continue to affect future generations to come. The changes to this system can only be made by a bold government prepared to take action with a long term vision and goals, and that is not going to happen anytime soon.

  

Rules : to be broken or to be followed?

From the very beginning of the civilizations some conditions and rules were in place which gave way to the foundation of a society. even in the current context we live in a world of rules which have to be followed at all times this gives us a feeling of restrictions .The very suffocating feeling that comes from the rules are generally essential for our lives. We do not understand the importance of the rules unless there are some accidents. Rules that we follow in our daily lives provide a semblance of normalcy to our chaotic world.

Rules that we follow in our day to day life cycle are the essential measures of taking steps ahead rightly and proper decisions are centered round the rules which are key to living a good life. Off course stringent laws as for rules before us are somewhat difficult to comply with. Then we take recourse to ignore them somehow resulting in operational difficulties on the way to our normal existence as though we defy to sort out normal acceptance of the other sides and respects of the hard rules only tricky way is the means of breaking a rule for mere attaining objectives in a short cut.

But we forget that there is a reward waiting for us in a long course of our movements ahead. Yet we commit gross mistakes simply avoiding the path of our duty and rules are the does and don't that we sometimes forget to follow because of our petty interests that in course of time prove to be so disastrous that we can hardly be able to protect us from monstrous downfall which is beyond all expectations.

Then we suffer and think long about the past course of action which rendered us sorrow and tears for happiness and cheers due to breaking rules and making a primrose path by sheer indulgence in corrupt means in what actually is in form and manner.

But that doesn’t mean that if a law which is oppressive must be followed. Imagine if the government stops the export of salt in order to save salt in a country, what will happen? One can’t make money as their trade is ruined and this isn’t even fair. Nobody has the right to ruin one’s career. We also know about the oppression when other countries ruled. But the national leaders fought and the citizens became rebellious to fight for their independence. One of the instances is when the women fought against the law of not voting. They fought for acquiring their right and independence and they finally got the 'Universal Adult Franchise'. These were the fruits of their hard work. So we must never forget that besides following certain rules, we too have independence and right to raise our voice against such rules which lead to exploitation and suppression.

I would like to end with that Rules are necessary generally to live a normal life but if you want to make history Some archaic rules will have to be broken.

Battle For Bihar

The Bihar election is the current hot topic of the newsrooms nowadays.Who will win the election?Charismatic Modi or the Dynamic duo Lalu and nitish?? Sorry to say, i was talking about Honorable prime minister when i wrote Modi not the Sushil kumar modi who can be the CM if NDA wins.Its not only very important to win for BJP as it needs the numbers in the rajya sabha,but also after the Delhi debacle this win will help in consolidating its Power. Lalu yadav, who famously said "Jab tak rahega samose mein aalo tab tak rahega Bihar mein Lalu" can't fight the elections but will look to consolidate the power of his family in the state with his two sons and daughter misa entering the fray this time.But the man who has the most to loose is Nitish kumar,if he doesn't win may be he will have to take a hiatus from the Political Scenario.But if Nitish wins He will become the major opposition against the Modi in 2019.so,this election is not just the simple one;its results will have a far reaching consequences.

BJP has formed alliance with Ramvilash pashwan's LJP , Mahadalit leader and former CM Jitanram Majhi's HAM, Union minister Upendra kushwaha's RSLP. Well under Amit shah they have already declared Seat sharing:BJP-160,LJP-40,RSLP-23,HAM-20.

On the other side there is Mahagathbandhan (Grand alliance) Of Nitish and Lalu one time arch rivals, now partners against communal forces as they have repeatedly told in the press conferences.Well Netaji(Mulayam singh yadav as he is fondly called) was there in alliance too,but he has left the alliance to form Third morcha.

Asaduddin owaisi's AIMIM will also be contesting the elections this time mainly in the seemanchal region where the Minority vote is in majority.

Every party is doing every bit be it the caste politics to mouthing off the opposition.From Honorable PM question the DNA of Nitish to Lalu calling Modi Executioner.This will go on.

But who will gain from all this ??Does the common People get anything from this?PM announced 125 lakh crores package but will it help Bihar grow? as there have many announcements in past which are in the cold bags now.It does seem like bleak period.But one can hope.

The dates have been announced 12th October,16th October,28th October,1st November,5th November.

In a state of 6.69 crores, where everybody has an opinion, maybe this election will be for the development not the caste.But with way parties are checking their caste tick-boxes,It remains a pipe dream that election will be fought on the  basis of policies,visions.

whatever may happen,whoever wins the election just do some developmental work in Bihar. As that's not a charity that's the right of of Bihar.  

Niche Marketing

Niche, the very word sounds so elegant like coming from the Victorian age. As was at that time specifically for Lords, Earls etc. It was a segmentation of Customers. In the current context it’s pretty much similar to concept of niche marketing; which is focusing on the on a small but well defined segment of the customers. Generally it’s aimed at catering to needs of few which are being ignored for what may be the reason. It can be related to being a large fish in a small pool in contrast to small fish in a large pool. This is clearly related to Micro-Marketing; but with a minute difference being Specific product focus in niche marketing.

Before going forward let me put a clear words to niche marketing; Niche marketing is a targeted marketing plan that focuses on one particular section of the market that has high potential to connect with a product or service. Instead of casting a wide net in mass-media and large-event marketing, niche marketing zeroes in on strategically selected venues and media platforms that have high concentrations of these targeted consumers.

The very best example of Niche that exploded after is Facebook; created for the Harvard students and now it has touched 1 billion users a day figure.In niche marketing smaller is bigger mantra apply.Either be it the target consumer or the Product, its very specific.From the three Competitive advantage strategies, niche marketing follows the strategy for Differentiation focus strategy; as achieving cost focus would not be possible in the niche markets Normally.

The things to keep in mind when making your niche marketing strategy would be:

• Targeting the right audience: Well, simply finding the gaps is not good enough; what we to find is the audience with a special requirement.
• Market research: It becomes absolute necessity to conduct in depth research to know the actual need and consumers want along with the feasibility of the offering.
  
   

  

•  Third point would be the competition; what if there is not a single competition,Its not always good. it can also mean that some have thought and found it not profitable.
• Promotion: what market can be achieved through without a promotion But in Niche market,its more critical than mass market.As your target audience can be scattered.So choosing medium becomes difficult.generally people advertise on Facebook twitter and other media But maybe paid search ads would be better way to go depending on the target audience.But its critical to choose carefully as this the place where cost can saved
• Last point but the most important part is customer is the king,they know the business better than companies even.so hearing them out is absolute necessary as they will also be medium of promotions for you.

Before ending;If You Commit To a Niche and Stop being everything to everyone.

Signing off till another time..

Rural Markets: land of opportunities

In a country, where almost its 70% population lives in villages,It has taken so long to Go Rural mantra to start in the marketers.Well the villages whose number almost touches 6.5 lakhs grows at compounded growth rate of 6.2% from the 2000s. And its been almost the 1.5 times its urban counterpart.Well looking at the projected numbers for the rural markets it would be dumb to ignore it.

Well thats the figure only for the Fmcg products. The total spending of the rural consumers out paced its urban counterpart by 25% during 2009-2012.This is just an indication of the might of the rural markets.In the last decade only 75% of manufacturing factories were built in rural areas which contributes 55% of the manufacturing GDP. With the focus on the Make it in India its bound to go up.Rural multiplier effect is the most exciting prospect in this.The growth  bound to happen in is exponential rather than the linear.

The reasons for the marketers to follow the Rural hullabooo are many fold.some are :

• Sheer Number of population in rural area;around 11% of world population.
• Purchasing power capacity of the rural consumers has been on the rise for past decade and so.
• Market growth.
• Government initiatives has lead to better Infrastructures which is doing better and better.
• Increase in Aspirational factor for the Rural people.
• Changing taste and preferences. Times  are gone when rural market was used for dumping ground for outdated urban products.Now the rural people are more aware.

  But as they say All that Glitters is not gold.There are lot of challenges faced by the companies.few of them are:

• Reaching the rural consumer:it is the biggest challenge even now.sheer scattered population of the rural population makes it even harder to reach.The cost of reaching the consumers is high making it some sort of barrier.
• Seasonality of the rural demands make it tough for the marketers and so does the need for specialized sales force.
• Language barriers:nothing more to be said about this.
• Illiteracy
• Underdeveloped logistics and infrastructure

 But challenges can be overpowered Through focusing on the Basics of rural marketing that is :

• Availability
• Awareness
• Acceptability
• Affordability

Making the goods available should be the first priority as its a challenge as well; project shakti, ITC e-choupal are example of that.Acceptability it focuses on convincing the consumers to buy the products Here personal selling approach is required more in rural area than the urban area.Affordability means making products focused on value pricing.But with rise in aspirational group R1 in the villages affordability is becoming less of a concern.But awareness is the most important point In the country where the literacy rate leaves much to desire, consumers himself doesn't know that he requires a specific product .so Awareness is much required factor in rural marketing.

At last I end with Hope that Rural marketers overcome the challenges as it will not only Help the bottom-line of the company, it will also help in socio-economic development in rural areas.

Social media marketing :The way forward.....

Above picture says it all ....It was just last monday when more than a billion users were on facebook,that's every one out of every person on the planet was on facebook. well  barring china and India it was more than a population of any country.It just shows the growing fascination of the people with social media.
Well,its almost a certainty that companies wold promote their products where the  people are .. so with help of the magic words Likes,Share,Tweet etc etc. comes the phenomena of the social media marketing.
Before Rambling on and on about the benefits let me put words to what is social media marketing??well basically Its about using the social media platforms to achieve the marketing communication and the brand positioning goals.If we can increase our web traffic for our web sites ,increase the click through rate the more the merrier.But the most important part is about joining with the customers interacting with them. In the world of clicks, posts and shares it becomes more and more important that consumers get to see you on these social media sites which in turn does a part of product promotions and part of putting your brand concept in the minds of the consumers.

Because so much of the customer experience now lives on the web, social media enables brands to take part in a customer's online experience outside of the typical channels

we have established that social media acts as word of mouth,now it all depends on the the goals of the company what do they want to achieve through it?
a)web traffic
b)conversions
c)Brand awareness
d)communication and interaction with consumers
Depending on the goals of the company It can go for the planning process :keywords to use which audience to target,going for google adwords or facebook ads,twitter promotion or even promoting through instagam. these all come under planning.
next comes the content,it is the make or break content should always be of the good quality.As good quality means shares ,likes etc etc which the motive of ours.
lastly, analytics plays an important role in not only tracking your content and all but also your competitors'.
Well there is also matter of feedback and accountability in social media marketing as companies should always be ethical about it.
Few of the channels for the social media marketing are as follows:

1. facebook
2. Google +
3. pinterest
4. twitter
5. youtube
6. linkedin
7. reddit
8. foursquare
9. level up
10. And many more.....     

Before ending I just want to add social media marketing is not just about the numbers of likes,shares,
and views,in the coming future its going to be the way of life.....

Make or Made:India's growth that matters.....

Before going on to the topic,lets us think what is development??is it the common economic growth which also includes social and human factor.let's cut the chase and make it a tad simpler;development is just coping with the growing needs of the population.it also relates to the demand and supply theory of the economics.

Whether be its make or made in India,there will be development in our country so why so much of drama over this ??

Before evaluating,let me try to define it.Make in India is a national Program through which policies will be made to increase or boost the laggard i.e manufacturing sector.Its main objective is to make India a manufacturing hub.with recent slowdown in chinese economy it can be made feasible also.

Its basically based on the model of PPP (public private partnership).Arguments in favour of Make in India campaign is that it will give a much needed boost to the Indian economy.It covers 25 sectors.

                             Make in India can add 90million jobs in the next decade”

                              – CEO & MD, ICICI bank, Mrs. Chanda Kochhar  

Well if Mrs kochhar says it then its almost validated that Make in India will generate a lot of jobs.

Statistically speaking Make in India will lead in growth of exports which will help in Reducing the current deficits(Export-import)Make in India will help in growing the GDP with multiplier effect.Brain drain can also be reduced.And my favourite point,technology brought to India would instrumental in its growth.We can also add the point of Infrastructure development.

Coming to the Made in India means that just like China the production will be done fully in the country on the basis of the indigenous industries.well it has a gandhian root (swadeshi).the points in favour of made in India are that it will include socio economic factors.while the Make in India Mncs can withdraw anytime.some people argue that technology would not be transfer in the Indian hands etc for arguing against the make in India.

From my perspective both has the positive and the challenges i.e.

Economy	Ease of Doing Business Rank ▲	Starting a Business	Dealing with Construction Permits	Getting Electricity
India *	142	158	184	137

India is very difficult place to do business. whether be it through make in India or made in India or whatever name u want to give.end result will matter.for that to happen changes in labour and land laws etc. is much needed. And the red tapes they will have to go. Lets not forget licences it must be available in less time.

From my perspective creating the right environment for the business matters more as the result will follow. whether be make in India or Made in India;India should grow and develop.

बस उनकी याद में।

गमो  का गुलदस्ता लिए चलता हूँ ,
इस बरसात में ।

दिल के टुकड़े संभाले  चलता हूँ,
बस उनकी याद में।
बस उस पलों को संजोता हूँ ,
इस काली रात में।

गमो  का गुलदस्ता लिए चलता हूँ ,
इस बरसात में ।

बस उन मंजर की धुंधली तस्वीर हैं,
हमारी याद में।
सोंचता हूँ यादें मिट जाएंगी,
इस जाम के घुट में।

गमो  का गुलदस्ता लिए चलता हूँ ,
इस बरसात में ।

कोई उनसे भी तो पूछे हमारी यादें मिट जायेगी ,
बस कुछ साल में।
दिल लगी उन्हों ने भी की थी ,
इसी आग  में।

गमो  का गुलदस्ता लिए चलता हूँ ,
इस बरसात में ।

खता ना उनकी न मेरी ,
बस उस प्यार में।
बेबस था जो,
जात के ज़ंजीर में।

गमो  का गुलदस्ता लिए चलता हूँ ,
इस बरसात में ।

consumers changing behaviour.

Consumers buying behaviour has changed with the evolution in technology. we can say with growth of social media the way consumers interact with brands has changed.An example would be Let say a customer has a problem with specific brand he posts about it on the facebook,twitter,and other social networking platforms which creates a negative publicity about the brand and diminishing its image.It can be just opposite too with right amount of positive interaction can help in building a better brand image and creating loyal customer.

 From what can be seen in today's scenario we can reach for the following conclusions about the consumer;that consumers no longer compares the products/brands with its competitors but with all the brands if a brands service is better then that will become the benchmark for comparing even if its not in the same category.

second point would be the consumers have become less tolerant with few words brand image can go down the drain if customers are not properly satisfied.Complaints have gone up and overall satisfaction level of consumers have come down in general sense.So it is paramount for the companies to see that customers have a positive reaction for the brand.

Next point would be the consumer to consumer association,with advance in technology People are becoming more aware about the product and the brand.consumers are affected by the reviews of others and social media is more than happy to build the bridges between the consumers by ways public groups,blogs,expertise opinions etc.

Going further we can say that customers are no longer loyal.Here demographics clearly present an interesting picture with most of the developing and emerging countries has young population(median age of population less than 30)mix them uncertain ever changing  digital technology we got the recipe for disaster for the traditional marketing.awareness has already spoiled them with the choices leading to the less loyalty.

It has already become clear that customers no longer accepts what is thrown in their way by the marketers.opinions are formed elsewhere word of mouth plays an important role here in giving the direction to the consumers perception.Social media is just what a tool for word of mouth but let just say much faster.

Awareness,It traditional marketer's bane;with asymmetry about the product/brand knowledge just a click away consumers do not take everything at face value now they search,compare,judge and then decide with whole process becoming easier for consumers and acquiring new customers harder for the companies. 

Last headache for the companies is that now consumers decide which channel will be preferred by them for the communication, not the other way around.

Now this changes creates a need for customer driven communication strategies to satisfy the consumers.Well there is a silver lining in it if wrong message can threaten the brand and the product,a right message can build it.here comes the part of co creation of brand by consumers which can happen with two way communication channel.

Before ending Just one one message IF YOU WANT YOUR BUSINESS TO SURVIVE AND THRIVE;GO SOCIAL ......

Tangibility Of service Marketing

Its almost an Irony that service which is intangible has become so interconnected with product that it has gained tangibility.The days are gone when we could clearly differentiate between the Products and the Services. World economies are changing with the current market demands with high focus on the Service sector which leading to the economies being characterized Service economies. This shift has led to no clear differentiation between the goods and services. Rather services are an integral part of the product.

American Marketing Association defines services as - “Activities, benefits and satisfactions which are offered for sale or are provided in connection with the sale of goods.” But in general service marketing is considered as augmented part of marketing. Service marketing is marketing based on relationship and value. It may be used to market a service or a product.

The defining characteristics of a service are:

Intangibility: Services are intangible and do not have a physical existence. Hence services cannot be touched, held, tasted or smelt. This is most defining feature of a service and that which primarily differentiates it from a product. Also, it poses a unique challenge to those engaged in marketing a service as they need to attach tangible attributes to an otherwise intangible offering.

Heterogeneity/Variability: Given the very nature of services, each service offering is unique and cannot be exactly repeated even by the same service provider. While products can be mass produced and be homogenous the same is not true of services. eg: All burgers of a particular flavour at McDonalds are almost identical. However, the same is not true of the service rendered by the same counter staff consecutively to two customers.

Perishability: Services cannot be stored, saved, returned or resold once they have been used. Once rendered to a customer the service is completely consumed and cannot be delivered to another customer. eg: A customer dissatisfied with the services of a barber cannot return the service of the haircut that was rendered to him. At the most he may decide not to visit that particular barber in the future.

Inseparability/Simultaneity of production and consumption: This refers to the fact that services are generated and consumed within the same time frame. Eg: a haircut is delivered to and consumed by a customer simultaneously unlike, say, a takeaway burger which the customer may consume even after a few hours of purchase. Moreover, it is very difficult to separate a service from the service provider. Eg: the barber is necessarily a part of the service of a haircut that he is delivering to his customer.

Types of services:

1.      Core service: A service that is the primary purpose of the transaction. Eg: a haircut or the services of lawyer or teacher.

2.      Supplementary Services: Services that are rendered as a corollary to the sale of a tangible product. Eg: Home delivery options offered by restaurants above a minimum bill value.

Service Triangle: The marketing and selling of services requires a special set of tactics and priorities compared with selling physical products. The service marketing triangle breaks the marketing tasks of your business down into three types. As a service business, we must market both to your employees so they understand the focus of your business and to your customers so they do more business with you. Components of the triangle are:

1.      Internal Marketing: Internal marketing is the side of the triangle between your organization and your employees who provide your services to customers. Marketing issues include adequate training on the services to be delivered and customer satisfaction service techniques. Internal marketing requires you to be involved with your employees and let them know the goals and even problems facing the business. Internal marketing also can include a performance rewards system for employees who deliver the highest level of customer service.

2.      External Marketing: External marketing goes from your business organization out to customers and prospective customers. This is the traditional form of business marketing, showing customers how the services provided by your business benefit them. External marketing includes advertising, your website and your company's social media efforts. The purpose of external marketing is to fill the business pipeline with future business.

3.      Interactive Marketing: The side of the triangle between your employees and customers is called interactive marketing. This form of marketing revolves around how your employees deliver the services your company provides. The goal is to have highly satisfied customers who become long-term, repeat customers. The effectiveness of the interactive marketing relates back to the internal marketing efforts of your business. Interactive marketing is also how your employees keep the promises made by your external marketing efforts.

In Present Days when consumers are so choosy, service Marketing makes the difference between successful or Unsuccessful Business. It has also become more important that we close the gaps between Perceived and expected service and the actual service provided.

कुछ अनकही बातें

कुछ अनकही सी बातें हैं ,

सोचता हूँ बोल दूँ ,पर किससे ?

कौन सुनेगा,है भी कोई साथ नही। . 

कोई थी,अब नहीं है। 

नज़रों से लूका -छिपी का खेल होता था। 

वो करीब आते थे, लौट जाते थे,

मैं सोचता था कहूँ कैसे,

कहीं साथ भी न छूट जाए। 

हमने भी मन ही मन चाहा था उन्हें,

सोचा इशारो में कह देंगे। 

पर खता हुई हमसे,

ये सोचा ही नहीं वो समझेंगे भी या नहीं?

फिर सोचा  क्यों न बोल दू,

उनसे बात की और मिलने बुलाया।

वो भी मिलना चाहते थे, 

उन्हें भी कुछ कहना था शायद ?

  

मिलने की जगह जा रहा था,

रास्ते में भीड़ देखी, 

पर रुका नहीं।

हमारी मंज़िल कुछ आगे थी।

काफी इंतज़ार किया,पर वो आये नहीं। 

मायुश सा  मैं लौटा, रास्ते में  भीड़ देखी। 

इसबार पास जाके देखा तो खून से लतपथ चेहरा दिखा,

तब से सोच में हूँ ?

कुछ अनकही सी बातें हैं ,

सोचता हूँ बोल दूँ ,पर किससे ?

कौन सुनेगा,है भी कोई साथ नही। . 

कोई थी,अब नहीं है। 

succession planning : need of the day

SUCCESSION PLANNING: NEED OF THE DAY

You grow a business from scratch and you would not like it go under after you are not handling it. Businesses make a fine legacy to have aren’t they? Who can’t remember Succession of Ratan Tata by Cyrus Mistry? Was it a finger snapping decision? A big No. Cyrus mistry was groomed to take the Position. In this age of multinationals, succession planning becomes more important than ever. First of all what is succession planning? In layman, it is enabling the smooth transition from one person to another for a specific job, or group of persons in case of expansion. Let’s define it: Succession planning is a strategy for passing each key role within a company to someone else in a way that company continue to run smoothly after incumbent leader is no longer in control. In understanding there is just one word which makes the difference between layman and standard definition: strategy.

Strategy entails the evaluations of the skills, identification of the potential replacements inside and outside of the company. From there on the plot differs, for the internal replacements training is the step forward. But in case of outside the company various other factors come into play company values, work culture etc. A hit leader in a company can’t be same success story in another company. That’s why in todays’ world of share market where company can lose a lot due a loss of faith in company by buyers. This makes the need of succession planning even more important.

For the succession planning every company has a succession plan with some names on the paper. The question is whether it can be operational or not?? With HR being in sync with the vision and strategies of the company can create a functional succession planning in tune with talent management program of the company. This practically ensures that employees have developmental opportunities to fine-tune their leadership skills and guarantees a greater chance at success for the succession planning program.

Some of the important things to keep in mind when making the succession planning roadmap are:

v  Stars vs. All: Some focus on the employees who give the best ROI, some on all the employees. With less people we can focus more as in the case of stars, but doing so we alienate a lot of people who resent special treatment to some and it cause low morale. So obviously the better way is to take into consideration all the employees.

v  Internal or External: Developing a leader is a tedious job so take a shortcut and bring an already tested leader simple isn’t it?? But the past studies has clearly shown that internal leaders are far more successful than external with exceptions in case of company changing its direction and in case of shorter duration. Else internal development of the leaders is the way to go.

v  Diversity: In the present people always seek similar people for mentors or protégé leading to common thinking all around the office which can have negative impact on the growth of the company. That’s why diversity plays a crucial role in the development of the company and is a must figure in the succession planning.

v  Alignment of the talent management with the succession planning: From a strategic point of view, Company always try to encourage cohesiveness among the workers and also try to formulate a proper channels for the developmental program for the employees which promotes the retention. And if it is done in the accordance with succession planning need for external searching for leaders can be reduced significantly.

v  Syncing of HR with Company strategy: Clarity in the terms for Future objectives and the way company is going to pursue it will help in succession planning.

Till now we have talked what points should be considered in making the succession plans. And now will talk about the Factors affecting the succession planning.

v  The first point should be the establishment of the Business goals of the owners. This allows the HR policy makers to shift their policies accordingly.

v  Transfer of management responsibility: Especially in family businesses children take over from their family, in that case proper evaluation of the children become necessary as it will help in finding the weaknesses and allowing the company a chance for hiring a specialist to support the leader.

v  Retirement goals: It starts with how much time the leader is going to remain active in day to day operations. It helps in framing a timeline for the succession planning.

v  Target date and contingency plans: Dates are important as it takes time to formulate all the details for the succession. And the in case of any fluctuation from the plans the contingency planning see to it that business runs as smoothly as ever.

Talking about the succession planning in Indian context, it is almost in sync with global world. That planning exists on paper not in practice as much. External hiring is very high which clearly shows that they don’t build the leaders internally. But awareness among the Indian companies are growing about the need of succession planning. The proper implementation here faces several challenges such as: Not having a standard measure for the evaluation of the internal and external candidates. There is also a lack clear strategy regarding the present and future performance. In case of multinationals low understanding of the local geography also contribute towards the faulty succession planning. Talent management body of the companies are also showing lack of intent on the internal leader building processes which contributes towards not so successful succession plan.

Keeping all the above in mind, we have to understand that to create leaders we will have to take bets and chances. We will have to stick with the people and support them as down the line it look fancy to have the technical terms which evaluate the people, at end of the people scoring high on the parameters can perform low and vice versa making it more important to have the succession planning in the tune with company’s future. 

     

E-commerce in India

E-commerce :Electronic commerce is trading of goods and services with the help of digital technology mainly with help of internet.It has presence in all business models, B2B,B2C,C2C,C2B.

E-commerce allows the companies to establish its market presence along side with establishing a strong customer relationship.It was in 1960s that first e-commerce transaction happened over electronic data interchange on VAN networks.But the big thing that changed the shape of e-commerce was starting of Amazon(1995)and e-bay(1995).

Coming on to the Indian context,India has an internet user base of 35 crores.Over the last 15 years due to the boom in internet and mobile sector in India the scope for the e-commerce is huge as that can be clearly seen with 30% CAGR of the e-commerce industry in India for the last 6 years.Indian e-commerce industry is about 16 billion$.But still Indian E-commerce is in its infancy as it contributes to only 0.6% to the GDP of India.With Only 12% of Indian population doing online transaction as compared to 50% of the neighbor china Indian e- commerce industry has long way to go.

The various reasons for such a high growth rate are convenience,lower prices and price comparision. The other reasons for the high growth can also be Rise of smartphones,secure transaction gateway ans easy issue of credit and debit cards.These thing clearly portray a rosy picture of the e-commerce industry in India,But the reality is not so simple. E-commerce is facing multiple challenges on different fronts.The first challenge is finding a way to grow a consumer base, as only 12% do online transaction which is lower than the Internet user percentage. Th next challenge could be the logistics,that is the timely delivery of the product,product return etc.Language is also barrier, not a major one but still a barrier with E-commerce English dominated and only 35% of Indian knowing it.Cash on delivery is the most preferred way of payment accounting almost 60% in e-tailing,But its not profitable for the companies due to various financial reason. FDI in E-commerce is not allowed in India which is also a major challenge for the industry.
E-commerce market in India has started to become crowded and complex with several players fighting for a fair share of customers’ mind and wallet. As the competition in the e-commerce heats up, the companies are using multiple business models in order to get customer attention including:
• Inventory model e.g. Shopper Stop, Croma
• Social networks e.g. TripAdvisor
• Aggregator Model e.g. Ola Cabs
• e-Marketplace e.g. Flipkart, Snapdeal,
• Transaction broker e.g. Irctc
• Click and collect service: amazon
E-tailing : Also called as the online retail.From the perspective of the general consumers this segment is most important as the customer base is larger.It contributes 29% of the total e-commerce industry in India.

Major players in the e-tailing segment are flipkart,snapdeal ,amazon,myntra. Here one point is interesting to note that Myntra has become app only and flipkart is on its way. This clearly establishes a trend for future in E-tailing that app only is the way With almost 70% of this business done over smartphones this has paved way to app only business.In the past year only Billion has become million for the E-tailing companies.Due to high investments and in the race to capture large customer base advertisement budgets of these companies are very high.

From the above data we have clearly seen that E-tailing has been making its presence felt in the market, 29% market share is the proof of that which has grown tremendously and travel segment of e-commerce has not grown at same rate leading to its decrease in the market share.

Listing of alibaba has clearly shown the way of future of the e-commerce. In Indian context,softbanks'627 million dollar deal with snapdeal, ola acquiring of taxi for sure or the high valuation of these companies flipkart at 11 Billion dollars.

These all things point towards huge potential for the future.But there is still the question of sustainability of these companies.Indian government initiative Digital India shows a great scope for the Future of Indian E-commerce industry.

 The way ahead:

Social media as lead generation :facebook,twitter and other social platforms has become the place for Analyzing consumer behavior and targeting the customers from them.

M-commerce : wireless transactions  is the road ahead with almost 60-70% traffic coming from mobiles i-pads companies should focus on this platform seriously. Other things to focus on would be online grocery stores,price comparison sites and last but not the least innovation in logistics which will help the company in operating efficiently.

Indian e-commerce Industry is here to stay and grow with expectation of growing up to 70 billion dollars. 

Marketing : a general perspective.

The most common misconception that exists among the people is that they equate Marketing with Advertisement.But they are not totally incorrect or fully right. Advertisement is a sub set of Marketing.So, the first question That needs to answered is what is marketing ? From my perspective it is a process through which companies create values for the customer and captures value from the consumers. Basically, consumers have needs, companies try to fulfill the needs through their offerings of products or services creating the value for the consumers.In return they capture values from the consumers in terms of profit and consumer equity.Here building a strong relation with customers becomes a priority.

As earlier written marketing is process, This process is based on the planned use of the Elements of the marketing mix.The elements which are used are:
a) Product:The product is the key. From here only the marketing process would start. depending on the consumer wants and demand Product is developed for creating a value for the customer.Here the companies decide which features to included, which will appeal to its target customer, other factors which are taken into consideration are its projected life cycle,Its potential for diversification in terms of product use and product modification.

b)Price:Pricing strategy directly affects the profit margin over all a profit,market share(market penetration or skimming).It also affects the consumer's perceived value of the product. Many consumers judge price as a factor for quality and also for reference pricing.Thus making it very important to select the pricing strategy on the basis of  our target customers.

c)Promotion:This is the part which is equated as marketing by general public.Though this element of the marketing mix, we make our target consumers aware about our product.It can be divided into two parts Traditional ways of communication and online marketing.Such as through Sales promotions,television ads,print media(Traditional),Social media campaigning, flash ads, online banners,etc (Online Advertisement).

d)Place:Then comes the point of purchase,where we will sell our product its also depends on our target consumers.It also helps in formation of our distribution strategy. Product could sold through not only specific purchase stores, but also online, door to door etc making it an important part of our strategy.

The following are also called extended elements of marketing mix or service marketing mix.But in the present market product and service has become so intermixed that its better to include them and give them equal importance.
e)People:Now a days people are not only judging the product but also who delivers
them.so it has become very essential to select and train right people the right way in not only delivering the service but also in communication prior to that in talking with channel partners. Deals can made on basis of people also. Gone are the days where we make good product and it will sell on its own. Now you need the right people to sell the product.

f)Process:This is the element through which we decide How the product or service will be delivered.An efficient process helps in increasing the customer satisfaction which in turn create customer loyalty and increasing customers life time value for the organisation.

g)Physical evidence:It has its importance because It helps the company in differentiating with competitors. Eg. A consumer would buy a product from place whose ambiance is better.It also helps the company in charging premium for its product.It also include corporate symbols such as logos etc.Packaging forms an important part of the physical evidence.

For the developing and emerging markets there is also a need of two more elements of the marketing mix.
h)Power :In the Developing and emerging markets,Government plays a big role, So for a company to expand its business there the right kind of incentive is to be provided to the government  which means how would it be useful for the government and economy there in general?that can be through infrastructure development, job creation etc?
 
i)Public relation:Its also related to expansion of the business in the new markets,this part focuses on familiarizing with the local market scenario and the consumer behavior which in turn helps in formulation of the other marketing mix elements.

Through these steps a full marketing process is determined which at at last helps in creating the value for the consumers and capturing the value that is profits an consumer equity from the consumers for the company..