Kumar Malavalli has been crowned as the guru of storage ...managementnext.com/pdf/2005/MN_Jan_2005.pdf · 2003, the Silicon Valley Engineering Council (SVEC) recognized Kumar’s

January 2005�� 1

��

� ��

��

� ��

Continued on page 2...

Kumar attributes his phenomenal success to his ability to match technology with customerneeds. He says people are generally hung up on technology without realizing that

technology is good only if it solves user problems.

What’s led an emigrant Indian engineer to be counted among the top technologyinnovators of the world today makes for a fascinating story. He belongs to the eliteclub of Indians who have made it big through sheer grit, enterprise and an exceptionaltechnical foresight.

Kumar’s Brocade Communications Inc has emerged as the reigning champion of FibreChannel SANs (storage area networks), with well over 50 percent market share today. In2003, he also co-founded InMage, a data continuity company. He is an avid angel investorand plays golf apart from doing a bit of philanthropic work in education and e-learning. In2003, the Silicon Valley Engineering Council (SVEC) recognized Kumar’s distinguishedaccomplishments and contributions to technology and society by inducting him into theSVEC Hall of Fame.

Kumar is a customer’s delight as he does a lot of thinking for them and a wee bit ofselling to them. He does not draw a distinction between the art of successfully managing a

company and a blind focus on the customer. “Managing a technology company is different. We treat customers as our colleagues.”

To Kumar, everybody in the company has to be salesman/saleswoman. “Initially, you should treat your customer as anextension of your lab. You got to work with them and show them that you got expertise in the given field. You are selling notbecause you have a product, you are selling because you also have expertise. You should be a mentor and at the same time caterto their requirements. To me that’s a cultural issue. Companies have to make it part of their culture – it’s not just having an openmind but also being a mentor to the customer.”

JANUARY 2005 Vol. 1 - ISSUE 6 Rs. 30/-www.managementnext.com

��Kumar Malavalli has been crowned as the guru of storage networks. He combines a headymix of terrific technical talent and an uncanny ability to invest in right companies. But heattributes his success to his unique understanding of his customer

- By Benedict Paramanand

��

��

��

��

��

��

��

��

�� !"!#

�� !

��$��%��!&

��"�#��$

'��(��)�� !*

% ��

��+��,�� -��!�

&��

.��""

'��$

�� /�0��1��+"2

��(�� )�*��)�+��

,��)�, ��

��+��&3

� ��%�� - ��

.//0

� ��-��

��$�'� ��1��

� ��

��.//0

� ��#��,��2

(��

� (��,��-�-��

��

What’s in...

Books to watch out in 2005

�� January 20052

��

� ��

��

� ��

Continued from page 1...

MissionTo be an effective resource of information, knowledgeand perspective to managers

Letters and Article Submission

www.managementnext.com/submitE–mail: [email protected]

Copyright © Rishabh Media Network

Information in this publication is drawn from a variety of sources, includingpublished reports, interviews with practicing managers, academia andconsultants. While doing so utmost importance is given to authenticity andintegrity.

4+��+��

(��(�� )� +��

%��,�� 3*)�%��,��

(�� &�1�� )��""��,��

��

4��,�� **)��&��

(��4�� '��3��

%��,�� 3*)�%��,��

(�� "�� 4�� "��

+��4�� 3��5)�� &��

'��5 4-��#��

��)�'��

��2�3�� ,��

�� 6��(��)�4��-��

"�� 7��4��

4�--�� 4��1��

6�� +��8��

�� (�� 75��

'��

�� (�� "��)�4��

"��

��(��+��-�9�(�:�;/<=

'��4��-��9�(�:�;//<=��>?.�"��@

��,��A��(�:�?./<#

6��9�6��4��)�,��

:��:��

��

,��)�3��

(��7��

�9�B?�C/�.0;D;D/D

��9� ��E��:��

7��4+��9� ��-9<< :��:��

�� 1118 �� 0�8�� 9�+��

Volume 1 Issue 3.

Printed, published and owned by Benedict Paramanand andprinted at Rukmini Prakash & Mudra, 38, Behind Modi Hospital,Nagapur, Bangalore – 560 086; and published at Bangalore.

Editor – Benedict Paramanand, # 2, Bilden Park, G M Palya,Bangalore – 560 075.

An essential requirement to play the role of a mentor is to have domainexpertise. “If you don’t have it you cannot be a mentor. Indian ITcompanies are getting better at meeting global customer expectations,but they have to work harder at domain expertise.”

“When you are a mentor it’s not just domain expertise and theunderstanding of customer psychology but the frankness to tell them orsell them what they really need. Don’t try to sell them beyond their need.Then they trust in you. When you oversell you lose the customer.”

How has Kumar been taking his ideas to market so successfully?“You don’t do it alone. You got to associate with the right people and theright team. This is the industry where the customer gets products pushedto them. It’s not a consumer type industry where consumer says I wantthis. What’s important is you really got to be with the customer for a verylong period of time.”

Kumar’s team works on the premise that success comes only if theyare able to translate features to benefits. “Instead of telling the customerthat they got to have deterministic backup, a better way to convey thesame message is to tell them that they need better bandwidth managementand a guaranteed back-up window. You can have the best technology inthe world and not go anywhere. That’s what separates technologistsfrom visionaries.”

Why do technology companies normally fail? Why are customersbombarded with loads of features they don’t need? “Many engineersbecome emotional about technology without looking at what benefits itcan bring to the end user. By doing that you miss the market window.Then companies fail. You got to step back and ask whether this technology

is solving real user problems and how do we release that in stages. Youshould also be able to understand when the market is ready for yourproducts. Not many people do that.”

His mantra is simple. “The best way to manage a company after pickinggood people is not to micromanage. Assign their goals and don’t watchover their shoulders. With responsibility accountability also comes.”Kumar believes in an open work environment where colleagues shouldbe able to tell their CEOs what may work and what may not. “Don’t hidethe bad news. Get the bad news soon on the table so that you can make acourse correction quickly.”

Having taken his first co-founded company, Brocade CommunicationsInc, public in the US in 1999, Kumar now has to satisfy two masters – thenever-happy customer and the ever- greedy shareholder. How does hemanage it? “I tell the shareholders that this is the cycle and this is whatthey want and this is what we can provide. You cannot just put somefigures just to satisfy them. It’s better to tell the truth. If you tell themarket that customers totally believe in you and that it’s a question oftime revenue will start to come. You should set their expectations right atthe very beginning.” A tough call indeed.

“When you are a mentor it’s not just domain expertiseand the understanding of customer psychology but thefrankness to tell them or sell them what they really need.Don’t try to sell them beyond their need. Then they trustin you. When you oversell you lose the customer.”


��

� ��

��

� ��

��

��

��

��

��

��

niche is in, mass is outCall Now: 80 25343404


��

� ��

��

� ��

trends

New corporate democracyThe position of tradeunions as democraticsymbols inorganizations islosing its strength.But a new powerbrigade is emergingthat will givecorporate democracya totally newmeaning.

According toCharles Handy,renowned writer onmanagement whose

book The Elephant & the Flea received rave reviews, the front-end staff – the employee at the check-in desk of an airline, atthe end of a telephone in a call center, a waiter in a restaurant,a nurse on the ward or even a policeman on the beat are theones who will embody the values of their organizations. Theseindividuals have become the unintended guardians of theircompany’s brands. They are beginning to realize theirimportance and the power they wield, albeit it is oftendisproportionate to their pay.

In just-in-time organizations, people are beginning tofeel that they are no longer humanized machines but livingcommunities that “have to be governed and led like anyother community.”

Handy believes that the front-end staff will begin todemand greater recognition and more control of theirpersonal time. Organizations could expect increasingdemands for a greater work-life balance and greaterdiscretion in 2005. And if organizations don’t recognizethe simmering trend, they will face more absenteeism andhigher attrition – a vote by the feet.

Other powerful trends organizations have to watch out foris that managers/employees want to be regarded as belongingto something, not just used by it, as members, not employees,citizens not human resources. “They want a voice in whatconcerns them, the chance and the right to make a difference.”

Lessons from PoliticsNew words like citizens, community and members that

are being used are concepts drawn from political theory andnot from the language of machines. Globalization is resultingin regional offices gaining greater control over their operations.Here, Handy believes the definition of Federalism and itseffectiveness will be more apt. “Federalism is a tried and trustedway of combining local responsibility with a necessary degreeof central control and organizations might usefully go back tothe handbooks of political theory to find out how it works.

Federalism, if properly designed, is a way to introduce apractical form of direct democracy, where more people havemore influence over the decisions that directly concern themand their group.”

Cost of strategic mismanagementMore shareholder value has been wiped out in the past

five years as a result of strategic mismanagement and poorexecution than was lost in all of the recent compliancescandals. A Booz Allen Hamilton analysis of 1,200 firms withmarket capitalizations of more than $1 billion found that thepoorest performers — the 360 companies that trailed the S&P500 between 1999 and 2003 — destroyed almost seven timesmore value through strategic missteps than by compliancefailures.

87 percent of value destruction was attributable to suchfailures as management ineffectiveness in reacting tocompetitive pressures or forecasting customer demand, oroperational blunders, such as cost overruns and M&Aintegration problems. These findings suggest that even in theface of Sarbanes-Oxley, to manage for growth, companiesmust design a robust and integrated strategic planning processbuilt on a broad understanding of all risks to the business.

Global execs less optimist icabout future

Executives are markedly less optimistic than they were ayear ago, according to McKinsey’s latest survey of executivesfrom around the world. Although The McKinsey GlobalConfidence Index shows that more executives than not arestill confident about the economic prospects of their industriesand countries and of the world as a whole, the index has fallenby 12 percent since January 2004, and executives in developedAsian countries are the least confident of all.

The McKinsey findings, based on the responses of some16,500 businesspeople from 148 countries, confirm a spateof bad economic news. The weak dollar, volatile oil pricesand geopolitical uncertainty seem to have depressed economicprospects around the world; a respected US consumerconfidence survey fell to an eight-month low in November,for example, and in early December the Organisation forEconomic Co-operation and Development forecast that in2005 economic growth would be 10 percent lower in theUnited States and 24 percent lower in the euro zone than ithad predicted just six months earlier.

Since much of the world’s economic growth depends oninternational trade, the McKinsey survey’s findings on tradeliberalization are cautionary.


��

� ��

��

� ��

trends

According to The Economist’s The World in 2005 the best selling business book of 2005 “has almost certainly been publishedalready. And it may well be the same as in 2004.”

Jim Collins’ Good to Great – Why Some Companies make the Leap…& Others Don’t was firstpublished in 2001 and has since overtaken the 1982 classic Tom Peter’s ‘In Search of Excellence’as the best selling business book of all time.

What is great about a book that simply studies 11 companies and how their managerstransformed them from ordinary to extraordinary? The answer could well be the surprise element.The book does not study the Wal-Mart’s of the world but some innocuous companies that havenot found their names on business papers’ headlines. The book perhaps gives confidence throughsome absorbing prose to ordinary people that they too can dream of achieving such results.

Collins discovered common traits that challenged many of the conventional notions of corporatesuccess. Making the transition from good to great doesn’t require a high-profile CEO, the latesttechnology, innovative change management, or even a fine-tuned business strategy. At the heart of those rare and truly greatcompanies was a corporate culture that rigorously found and promoted disciplined people to think and act in a disciplinedmanner. Peppered with dozens of stories and examples from the great and not so great, the book offers a well-reasoned roadmap to excellence that any organization would do well to consider.

All of Collins’s conclusions are drawn from a subjective definition of ‘great’—namely, that only those companies aretruly great that can demonstrate 15 years of sustained, above-average stock market results. There is no accounting for whatthese companies actually do, only for what they return to shareholders. A debatable definition, but suspend your disbelief ifyou must, because Collins’s research nevertheless delivers some keen insights into the makings of some of today’s mostsuccessful companies.

Why Good to Great will still be the 2005 bestseller

Reality bitesDo a majority of CEOs live in a make-believe world? Or when they really realize what is happeningaround them, is it too late? Or so Larry Bossidy and Ram Charan think. The authors of ConfrontingRealit: Doing What Matters to get Things Right (Crown Business October 2004) tell E. BrookeGilbert of Amazon.com in an interview that “At the time we wrote Execution, we saw that peoplewere failing to deliver results not necessarily because they didn’t have good strategies, but becausethey did not execute. As we looked back on the book, we came to see that the failure to confrontreality was the larger issue—responsible not only for poor execution, but also for poor strategies.In order to execute, you have to have a clear perception of reality. Maybe, that sounds obvious,but it’s painfully clear that a lot of leaders don’t.”

Since the publication of Execution - The Discipline of Getting Things Done in 2002 the authorssee significant changes in the business ecosystem. “The key differences today are increased competition and unanticipatedchange. Whether the overall economy is up or down, products and services are becoming commoditized faster, andstructural changes are increasing. These trends developed faster than most of us in business imagined, and with theincreasing pace of globalization, they will only become more pronounced.”

The authors believe that Confronting Reality is not just a buzz phrase but also the foundation of business success.They believe their book can make significant contribution because “People haven’t previously had a tool specificallydesigned to help them understand and face reality in all areas of their businesses. That’s what our version of the businessmodel is, and we expect that people will adopt it as they discover how well it works.”

They say that all leaders should be concerned – even paranoid – about whether they can sustain their current positions.“By the time you’re in visible trouble, it may be too late.”

How will the immediate future look? “Technology and the Internet will continue to drive rapid change, raising boththreats and opportunities for all kinds of businesses. Commoditization and outsourcing will continue. And we’ll see theflip side of outsourcing: The arrival of new multinationals, notably from China, setting up businesses on to the home turfof companies in the United States, Europe and elsewhere.”


��

� ��

��

� ��

trends

How Richard Branson manages 350 companiesRichard Branson is a people’s man. How he manages diverse companies and at the same time finds time for publicity antics isamazing

Richard Branson, the founderand owner of The Virgin

Group - an empire of 350companies that includes VirginAtlantic airlines as well asventures in telecommunications,trains, cosmetics, credit cards andseveral other industries –participated in a satellite telecastorganized by Linkage, aM a s s a c h u s e t t s - b a s e d

organizational development firm, in collaboration with WHYY,a public television broadcaster in Philadelphia, as well asWharton School Publishing and Knowledge@Wharton.

Branson’s approach to building the Virgin brand figuredseveral times during the discussion, particularly since he saidhis goal is to turn Virgin into “the most respected brand in theworld.” It is difficult to separate the success of the Virgin brandfrom the flamboyant man behind that brand. Branson says hewouldn’t have it any other way. He travels the world weekly,reinforcing his good-natured, visible, jet-setting, billionairereputation as a reflection of the companies he owns.

A Young, Fun CultureBranson firmly believes in the happiness of his employees.

Branson says his philosophy of “look for the best and you’ll getthe best” helped him build an empire recognized for its young,fun culture. “For the people who work for you or with you, youmust lavish praise on them at all times,” Branson says. “If aflower is watered, it flourishes. If not, it shrivels up and dies.It’s much more fun looking for the best in people. People don’tneed to be told where they’ve slipped up or made a mess ofsomething. They’ll sort it out themselves.” Branson feelsstrongly that if an employee is not excelling in one area of thecompany, he or she should be given the opportunity to do wellin a different Virgin Group job. Firing is seldom an option.

Motivational strategies extend to innovative ideas. The keyto encouraging innovation within the Virgin ranks, suggestsBranson, is to listen to any and all ideas and to offer feedback.Employees often leave companies, he reasons, because theyare frustrated by the fact that their ideas fall on deaf ears.Interaction between employees and managers is fundamental.For the companies in which he serves as both chief executiveand chairman, Branson writes his staff “chitty-chatty” lettersto tell them everything that is going on and to encourage themto write him with any ideas or suggestions. He gives them hishome address and phone number. He responds with a letterpersonally, even if he doesn’t follow up and deal with the

details. Sometimes people come to him with personalproblems, while others have suggestions for improvements intheir companies. Either way, they get the chance to be heard.

And then, of course, there are occasions when the bossneeds to connect with employees while leaning up against abar. “Some 80% of your life is spent working,” says Branson.“You want to have fun at home; why shouldn’t you have funat work? I think leaders have got to make a bigger effort tomake sure the people who work for them are enjoying whatthey’re doing. If a chairman of a company visits Seattle, thatchairman should take all the staff out in the evening and havea few drinks together, talk together and party together and notbe embarrassed about the staff seeing the weaker side of you.They don’t lose respect for you because they see your humanside. They actually gain more respect for you.”

Building TrustBranson has developed a level of trust with his top managers

by setting the direction and then stepping back to let themnavigate. “I come up with the original idea, spend the firstthree months immersed in the business so I know the ins andouts and then give chief executives a stake in the companyand ask them to run it as if it’s their own,” explains Branson.“I intervene as little as possible. Give them that, and they willgive everything back.”

Trust in managers and employees is particularly importantas Branson looks to build Virgin. Adding more companies tothe cache makes it that much more difficult to be everywhereat once. Yet, for Branson, expansion is always a priority.“Virgin is an unusual brand,” he notes, because it is a “way oflife” brand, unlike Western brands like Coca-Cola or Nikethat focus on one type of product. Virgin challenges bigbusinesses in completely different sectors. “In Nigeria, we’vebeen asked to set up a national airline,” he explains.

“In India, we’re going to build a phone company. In SouthAfrica, the financial services industry is still stuck 30 yearsback with incredibly high prices. We’re looking at getting inthere and shaking up the industry. In America, we’re lookingat space travel. Around the world we’re looking at takingthe brand into a number of different industries. Our criterionis, will it fulfill the Virgin yardstick of being good value forthe money? Will it enhance the brand by bringing greatquality? Will we have fun doing it and can we make itprofitable? If those criteria work, then we’ll seriously lookat a new industry.”

This artical excerpt, published in the Knowledge@Wharton newsletterDecember 2004, is reprinted under a content license agreement


��

� ��

��

� ��

innovation

Vaccine jockeyStud farms and vaccines are indeed an eclectic concoction. To Dr. Cyrus Poonawalla the alchemy of mixing passion and missioninto a highly profitable enterprise has been a way of life for the last three decades.

By Benedict Paramanand

Dr. Poonawalla's Serum Institute of India made a humble beginning in the 1960s with a 20-man operation. It's

today India's largest vaccine manufacturer. One in every twochildren around the world isvaccinated with his vaccine.

People are more familiar with Dr.Poonawalla's association with racingand stud farms. He sponsors therichest juvenile race in the country -the Poonawalla Breeders' MultiMillion. He's also the cheapestmanufacturer of several life-savingvaccines in the world. BioSpectrumrecently honored his company as thebest biotech firm for 2004.

Success has come, but after agreat deal of toil and sticking to hisfundamental business model - low-price-high volume. His innovativedistribution strategy of sellingstraight to the customer withoutinvolving intermediaries andexpensive advertising has helped him stick with his pricingstrategy even today.

Dr Poonawalla is not just aflamboyant punter and anentrepreneur. He has acquired adoctorate for his thesis"Improved Technology in themanufacture of SpecificAntitoxins and its SocioEconomic impact on the Society" - a clear mission of takingtechnology to the bottom of the pyramid.

With a bureaucracy such as India's, Poonawalla's journeycould hardly have been smooth. "I faced tremendous challengesduring the socialist period. Securing permission forconstruction, power, and drug licensing - all were new to us.With no help or support from the government authorities, itwas really a very challenging part of my career, whichcommenced with little in my pocket to take care of suchsituations," he told an interviewer recently.

Multi-product strategy is what kept his business rolling.After Serum rolled out many other products - anti serumvaccines, diphtheria, tetanus and pertussis vaccines followed.All these products have been in short supply and India hasbeen completely dependant on UNICEF and imports.

With the launch of a range of products such as polyvalentanti-snake venom serum, measles, vaccine on human diploid

cells, measles, mumps and rubella vaccine, polyvalent anti-snake venom serum (Central Africa), mumps vaccine, measlesand mumps vaccines measles and rubella vaccines and several

other products, within a short period,Serum Institute was able to make profits.

Dr. Poonawalla was able to hit backat the MNC brands when his institutereceived the accreditation from WorldHealth Organization (WHO) and prequalified to supply for the UnitedNations agencies such as UNICEF andPAHO (Pan American HealthOrganization) ten years ago. Thereafter,there was a meteoric rise in the turnoverof Serum Institute.

The institute is a market leader inmeasles, DPT and MMR vaccines in theworld with manufacturing capacity of170 million doses per year for DPT and300 million doses per year for MMRvaccines. It meets the total demand ofthe Indian market. It is now focusing on

other range of products like Hepatitis vaccines, Rabies vaccine,BCG, TB vaccines. Around 85percent of revenues of SerumInstitute are from overseasmarket, chiefly UNICEF andWHO organizations andremaining 15 percent comefrom India. The products areavailable in over 138 countries

across the world

Dr. Poonawalla's ambition is to enter the tough Americanand European markets. "The road map is clear. “We want tobecome a world leader in pentavalent vaccines and also wantto enter into the regulated market like USA and Europe wherethe products are sold 10 times the price what we get fromUNICEF. We also want to become strong in anti cancerproducts in India and the US, as a lot of products will go offpatent soon. We are already manufacturing several anti cancerproducts. Now we are putting up a state of art facility forthis.”

But Dr Poonawalla rues the fact that Indians still don'tbelieve that Indian science can deliver. What's worse are Indiandoctors who seldom articulate the specific needs of the market,thereby stifling innovation opportunities. With recentaccolades and publicity for achievers, it may not be too longfor Indians to recognize their worth.

His innovative distribution strategy of sellingstraight to the customer without involvingintermediaries and expensive advertising hashelped him stick with his pricing strategy eventoday.


��

� ��

��

� ��

communication

Dos and don'ts at job fairsJob fairs are to be taken seriously not just by candidates but also by the companies that participate in them

By Anish V

J ob fairs have become a new medium for companies to'deep dive' and get fresh and lateral talent across locations

and geographies. The reasons are manifold; faster processcycles, easier reach, opportunity to meet face-to-face,possibilities in branding the company from a 'great place towork' perspective. While recruiting, teams focus on gettingthe right talent, there are communication angles which needto be addressed quite consciously.

From my experience in attending fairs (as an onlooker, acandidate, as part of a recruiting team and also as an undercoverplacement consultant!), there are two key aspects which needto be looked at - creating awareness among the target andengaging them actively.

Educating the audience on the company, its backgroundand its reason form participating in the fair are important. Evenestablished companies fall into the 'We are a big name: theywill know us' trap quite easily. Placing collaterals, explainingcompany history, culture and values help give a first hand feelof what prospective executives can look forward to.

Usually, the full 50 percent or more of the attendees at jobfairs are 'window shoppers' who are just browsing to see whatis available. While this approach may seem valid, take notethat job fairs are not a 'get acquainted session' for you to meetprospective employees.

With multiple interview sessions, the plain vanillacandidates are stepped on and over by those who are targetedand prepared. Yes, even the two to three minute greeting andexchange of sound bites is considered a real first-hand feel forthe candidates. As a company, you are being evaluated, whetherit is for thirty seconds or thirty minutes. You always need to

be at your very best. You got to have a very aggressive yetstructured approach.

Here are some ways to build your rapport and image at jobfairs

Know the psyche of the audience: Do a quick tour inadvance of the city/town where the fair would be held. Talk tostudents from prospective colleges or poll employees fromtarget companies. Use the good office of the job fair organizersto get a pulse of the expected turnouts and key expectations.

Make your presence felt at the location ahead of the event:Do some PR exercises a week ahead of the event to supplementyour branding efforts during the event days. Try some belowthe line promotions/contests to evaluate general interest/awareness levels of prospective candidates. At the end of thefair, your return of investment can be maximized using thesetechniques.

Ensure consistency of messages: Clarity of messages willsend prospects back with a good impression. Brief your teamahead of the event so that all are on the same page. Evolve aset of FAQs and a code of conduct for handling queries thatare tough and sometimes irritating or irrational.

Try and make the meeting interactive: Give prospects areason to keep the channels of communication open even iftheir profiles do not match your immediate requirement. Maybesending them back to the website to post information/answera quiz/take a test - might be a good idea.

Respect privacy: Some candidates do not want to be seenholding their CVs at fairs. Maybe their companies are alsoparticipating in the fair itself! Provide them with an alternateavenue and you could win a loyal spokesperson for a long time.

Follow-up again: Build your database. Don't losemomentum after the fair. Keep the channels warm byproviding feedback to the organizers, ensuring presence andcontent for your company on their website and sending mailsto prospects who attended your stand but may not be theright fit this time around.

The author is Specialist - Marketing and Communication with [email protected]. The views in this article are his own and in noway reflect the views of his company

You always need to be at your very best if youare to succeed at the job fair of the newmillennium. You got to take a very aggressiveyet structured approach.


��

� ��

��

� ��

managing technology

Wireless ahoy! WiFi, WiMax, UWB, wOzNet...by Ranganath Iyengar

What do iPass, Roku, Network Instruments, StacattoCommunications, Bluesocket, Wavesat and Airespace

have in common? - Well, all of them are companies thatdevelop cutting edge products and solutions for the wirelessor wirefree market. Perhaps, this technology originated toaddress the proverbial last mile access problem and the mazeof wires on our desk that seem to keep increasing with themaze of gadgets around us!

Technologies: Wi Fi and beyondIn the technology business, the storyboard is always

predictable - first come the mavericks, then the enhancers whocompete incrementally and then marginalize or even eclipsethe initial discovery. The Wi Fi market is no different…

Wi Fi started initially focusing on removing the immediateclutter in our offices and campuses and that technology is matureas can be seen in our laptops and other access devices althoughhotspots beyond our workplace are still not as pervasive.

However, there is the urge to go beyond the magic 90 metersand higher data speeds as we have multimodal access needsand the age-old last mile access problem.

Wi Max is one of the fastest emerging technologies whichwill have a 50 km radius and will first be used by DSLproviders to address last mile issues and will help users to'roam' beyond their current perimeters and truly telecommute!!WiMax is stated to offer data transmission rates of upto anunbelievable 70 MB per second.

UWB (ultra wideband for the uninitiated) allows data tobe transmitted at a rate of 1 gigabit per second (nearly 10 timesfaster than the current Wi Fi) although it has a limited rangeof 30 to 60 feet. This is ideally suited for homes as well asbusinesses such as healthcare that need large data transferwithin a small area.

There is also the yet to be nicknamed 802.20 (currentlybeing tested) that could extend the hotspot to cover an area aslarge as a city and offer 1.5 megabits per second faroutperforming the current Wi Fi hotspots.

Challenges remain on convergence of technology standardsand embedding these technologies into the devices that weuse. There is also the usual problem of vendors agreeing todisagree on standards.

Products & Solutions: The hard sellLet us look at some products and solutions that are emerging

across access facilitation, security, end user solutions andenterprise solution enablers.

Enterprise enabling solutions include Propogate's Autocelltechnology, Airespace's Wireless enterprise platform,Bluesocket's WG-400 wireless gateway, smartBridges

airBridge TOTAL Wireless LAN bridge,security devices such as DeciveID fromiPass to name a few.

There are testing and emulation tools such asCommunication Machinery Corporation's Emulation Engine,Network Instruments Observer etc.

End user solutions and embedded devices space, wOZnetwill offer wireless solutions in tandem with GPS, Stacattooffers single chips incorporating radio and baseband for superfast wireless access, Bluesocket offers WiFi gateways, pocketaccess points from Wiflyer, WiMax baseband chips fromWavesat, Dlink's Gamerlounge Gaming router, Infoexpress'sCybergatekeeper, Patronsoft's hotspot management softwareand Roku's streaming digital audio solutions for home.

As you can see, there is enough of technology and lots tolearn and unlearn...

The Future: Networks, Devices and ServicesFor the common end user, the technologies that we are talking

about need to go into networks, devices and services in a logicalsequence for day-to-day usage. These technologies can beexpected to be user-friendly and ubiquitous probably by 2009.

The first visible trend will be adoption of these technologiesby combining Wi Fi with cellular data networks (e.g. WiMax).Next software on our devices will extend existing capabilityand leverage the wireless networks and lastly we will startseeing next generation embedded devices.

The most visible new generation devices will be cell phonessince the life cycles are shorter and device adoption quicker.Enterprise computing will start leveraging the backend of thesetechnologies as they replace existing communication gear. Afew businesses with communication and commute heavy needswill adapt the wireless enterprise computing platforms.

Homes will be the last to adopt these with the push drivenby the service provider and the most visible will be the lastmile access and eventually high-end application for wirelesscontent streaming as these become more affordable.

To summarize, Wi Fi will truly enable the virtual office asthe ability to access, communicate, move large chunks of databecomes a reality within the foreseeable future. At home, youcould consider the same technologies embedded in the varioushome use gadgets that you could control from where you are -the uses would be only limited by your imagination!!

Ready to get un'wired'? - do check out the upcomingstandard 802.11n which is supposed to deliver 100 times betterthan the current Wi Fi networks.

The author is the founder of Strategic Interventions India P Ltd.(www.siiplconsulting.com). He was till recently a country solutions businessmanager with HP ISO.


��

� ��

��

� ��

rich picking

New Business with the New MilitaryHarvard Business Review Research Report

Is your business missing out on the $200 billion militarymarket revolution? This HBR Special Report identifiesemerging opportunities in dozens of non-war fighting productand service categories and provides expert direction on howto profit from them. It is an indispensable guide not only forestablished military suppliers and consultants but also forcompanies and entrepreneurs outside the traditional defense-contracting [email protected]

CRM—The Right Way 2nd Edition

Think CRM is just over-hyped technology? Discover newstrategies for unleashing its power. This collection offers thefollowing strategies: Clarify your strategy before implementingCRM; Use CRM to contact customers who want a relationshipwith you—in ways they value; Identify who in your companyneeds real-time customer data—and who doesn’t; and extendCRM’s power by applying lessons from small-scaleimplementations to new, well-defined [email protected]

Planning EssentialsStrategic IT planning is evolving away from the traditional,

yearly big-bang approach, toward a dynamic and continuousprocess that has both traditional and highly strategic, digitallyinnovative components based on portfolio and scenarioplanning concepts.

Dynamic planning forms the basis of balanced value,innovation, and agility programs that manage proactivetechnology investments and enable organizational dexterity.Experienced CIOs should exploit integrated planning with theircustomers as extensively as possible.http://www.itproportal.com/

Marketing Financial Services: Strategic IssuesBy Prof. S Anand & Dr. V Murugaiah, SCMS Journal of Indian Management,July- Sept. 2004

The paper discusses issues such as designing servicesstrategy, tangibilisation of services, developing servicesystems. It highlights the importance of managing marketinformation systems competently. It talks about the need toadopt new marketing strategies and tactics to capture maximumopportunities with lowest risk.

Choose CEOs from insideIf all corporations take Rice University’s advise, then you

will all be looking for new gigs. In a recent study they foundthat despite a sharp increase in the number of CEOs in U.S.they are being increasingly recruited from outside their firms,

a new study suggests. The study suggests that boards ofdirectors should look inside their organizations before fillingthis critical position. The study is by Yan (Anthea) Zhang ofRice University’s Jesse H. Jones Graduate School ofManagement and Nandini Rajagopalan of the University ofSouthern California — When The Known Devil is Better Thanan Unknown God: An Empirical Study of the Antecedents andConsequences of Relay CEO Successions.

Transforming the Public SectorToday, public-sector organizations everywhere find

themselves squeezed between their constituents’ risingexpectations and their own financial constraints. Citizens’needs are ever increasing. Yet continuing fiscal pressures limitgovernment’s ability to maneuver.

Many governments are responding by trying to radicallyimprove their performance. They are embracing innovativereforms—everything from making services like motor vehicleregistration and corporate filing less cumbersome to privatizingtransportation, energy and communications agencies.

However, a select group of government agencies hasachieved remarkable results through reform initiatives thathave dramatically increased the value of the services theyprovide. Here is a framework, based on their experiences,that gives public-sector leaders a practical andcomprehensive view of the principles and capabilities thatcontribute to high performance.http://www.accenture.com/

Absenteeism in Small Scale Industry – A Study ofCauses, Cost and ControlDr. Inder Jeet, University of Delhi, Review of Professional Management, A Journalof New Delhi Institute of Management, Jan-June, 2004

The research paper offers survey reports on various causesof absenteeism in good detail and is backed by numbers. Theauthor lists practical suggestions to improve the record butmost important is commitment and support from all levels ofmanagement and an open communication system. “Ifabsenteeism is to be controlled physical and emotional needsof employees must be addressed,” is the verdict of the study.

Business Process Outsourcing: An OverviewAshok Sharma, Faculty, Jaipuria Institute of Management Review of ProfessionalManagement, A Journal of New Delhi Institute of Management, Jan-June, 2004

The paper does a SWOT analysis of the Indian BPO sectorand discusses various models and their implication to futuretrends. It highlights the point about enhancing the quality ofhuman power and moving from quantity to quality of contracts.

The paper also throws light on the pros and cons of severalBPO options such as captive units, third party serviceprovider, etc.


��

� ��

��

� ��

jargon buster

BHAGBHAG stands for Big Hairy Audacious Goals. The term

was used often by Tom Watson Jr., son of the founder ofIBM. He took a great company and made it even greater. Hisstory teaches how to stop a successful company frombecoming trapped in the "we've arrived" syndrome. A BHAGserves as a powerful mechanism to stimulate progress--afinish line to shoot for, a summit to reach, the businessequivalent of the NASA moon mission. Whereas manycompanies languish in the second generation after the drivingintensity of a founder, Watson Jr. was unusual in challengingthe company to new levels.

AMELIWohland.de, a German software developer, has launched

a new Java-based idea management application that it callsameli. Based on a Babel fish translation of the product page, itappears to be more of an open-ended suggestion system thana campaign-based (i.e., time limited assignments where allemployees are asked to contribute ideas to meet a specificneed or objective) idea management tool.According to aposting by an official from Wohland.de in the InnovationToolsdiscussion area, ameli is recommended for companies withmore than 500 employees, and the application is translatedinto German, English and French. A Chinese translation isalso under development.

MassputersA term coined by Om Malik, Massputer is a computer that

costs $300 for thecomputing hungry massesin emerging economies likeIndia, China and Brazil.Users of this massputershould be able to do basictasks like writingdocuments, Internet surfing,email and perhaps somebusiness-related tasks likedata entry.

Rajesh Jain, MD of theMumbai-based NetCore Solutions says there are nearly fourbillion people who live in these emerging markets andassuming that only 10 per cent of them can afford $300 it isstill a market of 400 million. Currently, the PC troika of Intel,Microsoft and Dell typically charge $750 for every computer,which most people in these emerging markets findunaffordable. Even the so-called network computers cost anunaffordable $500-plus.

So this is a perfect opportunity for brave entrepreneurs. It

is not an easy task, but it isn't impossible. With free opensource software like Linux and powerful low-cost processorsmade by companies like Texas Instruments, the ingredientsare all right there for someone to build this Massputer. Sure,it isn't as exotic as building a super fast optical system, but itcan definitely be lucrative.

Ambush marketingAmbush marketing - a term often hissed in industry circles

- occurs when one brand pays to become an official sponsorof an event (most often athletic) and another competing brandattempts to cleverly connect itself with the event, withoutpaying the sponsorship fee and, more frustratingly, withoutbreaking any laws. Ambush, or guerilla, marketing is asundeniably effective as it is damaging, attracting consumersat the expense of competitors, all the while undermining anevent's integrity and, most importantly, its ability to attractfuture sponsors.

It is no surprise that ambush marketing techniques are attheir utmost when the stakes are highest. And the stakes arenever higher than at galactic sporting events such as the FIFAWorld Cup and the Olympics - the hands down, undisputed,two most mammoth events on modern earth.


��

� ��

��

� ��

I was the last child of a small-time government servant, in a family of five brothers. My earliest memory of my father is as

that of a District Employment Officer in Koraput, Orissa. It wasand remains as back of beyond as you can imagine. There was noelectricity; no primary school nearby and water did not flow outof a tap. As a result, I did not go to school until the age of eight;I was home-schooled. My father used to get transferred everyyear. The family belongings fit into the back of a jeep - so thefamily moved from place to place and, without any trouble, myMother would set up an establishment and get us going.

Raised by a widow who had come as a refugee from the thenEast Bengal, my mother was a matriculate when she married myFather. My parents set the foundation of my life and the valuesystem which makes me what I am today and largely defines whatsuccess means to me today.

As District Employment Officer, my father was given a jeepby the government. There was no garage in the Office, so thejeep was parked in our house. My father refused to use it tocommute to the office. He told us that the jeep is an expensiveresource given by the government - he reiterated to us that it wasnot 'his jeep' but the government's jeep.

Insisting that he would use it only to tour the interiors, hewould walk to his office on normal days. He also made sure thatwe never sat in the government jeep - we could sit in it only whenit was stationary.

That was our early childhood lesson in governance - a lessonthat corporate managers learn the hard way, some never do. Thedriver of the jeep was treated with respect due to any other memberof my Father's office. As small children, we were taught not tocall him by his name. We had to use the suffix 'dada' wheneverwe were to refer to him in public or private. When I grew up toown a car and a driver by the name of Raju was appointed - Irepeated the lesson to my two small daughters. They have, as aresult, grown up to call Raju, 'Raju Uncle' - very different frommany of their friends who refer to their family drivers as 'mydriver'. When I hear that term from a school- or college-goingperson, I cringe. To me, the lesson was significant - you treatsmall people with more respect than how you treat big people. Itis more important to respect your subordinates than your superiors.

Our day used to start with the family huddling around myMother's chulha - an earthen fire place she would build at eachplace of posting where she would cook for the family. There wasno gas, nor electrical stoves. The morning routine started withtea. As the brew was served, Father would ask us to read aloudthe editorial page of The Statesman's 'muffosil' edition - deliveredone day late. We did not understand much of what we werereading. But the ritual was meant for us to know that the worldwas larger than Koraput district and the English I speak today,despite having studied in an Oriya medium school, has to do withthat routine. After reading the newspaper aloud, we were told tofold it neatly. Father taught us a simple lesson. He used to say,

success mantra

Defining successSubroto Bagchi shares his life experience and its impact on his corporate journey

"You should leave your newspaper and your toilet, the way youexpect to find it". That lesson was about showing considerationto others. Business begins and ends with that simple precept.

Being small children, we were always enamored withadvertisements in the newspaper for transistor radios - we did nothave one. We saw other people having radios in their homes andeach time there was an advertisement of Philips, Murphy or Bushradios, we would ask Father when we could get one. Each time,my Father would reply that we did not need one because he alreadyhad five radios - alluding to his five sons. We also did not have ahouse of our own and would occasionally ask Father as to when,like others, we would live in our own house. He would give asimilar reply, "We do not need a house of our own. I already ownfive houses". His replies did not gladden our hearts in that instant.

Nonetheless, we learnt that it is important not to measurepersonal success and sense of well being through materialpossessions. Government houses seldom came with fences.Mother and I collected twigs and built a small fence. After lunch,my Mother would never sleep. She would take her kitchen utensilsand with those she and I would dig the rocky, white ant infestedsurrounding. We planted flowering bushes.

The white ants destroyed them. My mother brought ash fromher chulha and mixed it in the earth and we planted the seedlingsall over again.

This time, they bloomed. At that time, my father's transferorder came. A few neighbors told my mother why she was takingso much pain to beautify a government house, why she wasplanting seeds that would only benefit the next occupant. Mymother replied that it did not matter to her that she would not seethe flowers in full bloom. She said, "I have to create a bloom in adesert and whenever I am given a new place, I must leave it morebeautiful than what I had inherited". That was my first lesson insuccess. It is not about what you create for yourself, it is whatyou leave behind that defines success.

My mother began developing a cataract in her eyes when Iwas very small. At that time, the eldest among my brothers got ateaching job at the University in Bhubaneswar and had to preparefor the civil services examination. So, it was decided that myMother would move to cook for him and, as her appendage, I hadto move too. For the first time in my life, I saw electricity inhomes and water coming out of a tap. It was around 1965 and thecountry was going to war with Pakistan. My mother was havingproblems reading and in any case, being Bengali, she did notknow the Oriya script. So, in addition to my daily chores, my jobwas to read her the local newspaper - end to end. That created inme a sense of connectedness with a larger world. I began takinginterest in many different things. While reading out news aboutthe war, I felt that I was fighting the war myself. She and Idiscussed the daily news and built a bond with the larger universe.In it, we became part of a larger reality. Till date, I measure mysuccess in terms of that sense of larger connectedness.


��

� ��

��

� ��

Meanwhile, the war raged and India was fighting on bothfronts. Lal Bahadur Shastri, the then Prime Minster, coined theterm "Jai Jawan, Jai Kishan" and galvanized the nation in topatriotic fervor. Other than reading out the newspaper to mymother, I had no clue about how I could be part of the action. So,after reading her the newspaper, every day I would land up nearthe University's water tank, which served the community. I wouldspend hours under it, imagining that there could be spies whowould come to poison the water and I had to watch for them. Iwould daydream about catching one and how the next day, I wouldbe featured in the newspaper. Unfortunately for me, the spies atwar ignored the sleepy town of Bhubaneswar and I never got achance to catch one in action. Yet, that act unlocked myimagination. Imagination is everything. If we can imagine a future,we can create it, if we can create that future, others will live in it.That is the essence of success.

Over the next few years, my mother's eyesight dimmed but inme she created a larger vision, a vision with which I continue tosee the world and, I sense, through my eyes, she was seeing too.As the next few years unfolded, her vision deteriorated and shewas operated for cataract.

I remember, when she returned after her operation and shesaw my face clearly for the first time, she was astonished. Shesaid, "Oh my God, I did not know you were so fair". I remainmighty pleased with that adulation even till date. Within weeksof getting her sight back, she developed a corneal ulcer and,overnight, became bli> nd in both eyes. That was 1969. She diedin 2002. In all those 32 years of living with blindness, she nevercomplained about her fate even once. Curious to know what shesaw with blind eyes, I asked her once if she sees darkness. Shereplied, "No, I do not see darkness. I only see light even with myeyes closed". Until she was eighty years of age, she did hermorning yoga everyday, swept her own room and washed herown clothes. To me, success is about the sense of independence;it is about not seeing the world but seeing the light.

Over the many intervening years, I grew up, studied, joinedthe industry and began to carve my life's own journey. I beganmy life as a clerk in a government office, went on to become aManagement Trainee with the DCM group and eventuallyfound my life's calling with the IT industry when fourthgeneration computers came to India in 1981. Life took meplaces - I worked with outstanding people, challengingassignments and traveled all over the world. In 1992, while Iwas posted in the US, I learnt that my father, living a retiredlife with my eldest brother, had suffered a third degree burninjury and was admitted in the Safderjung Hospital in Delhi. Iflew back to attend to him - he remained for a few days incritical stage, bandaged from neck to toe.

The Safderjung Hospital is a cockroach infested, dirty,inhuman place. The overworked, under-resourced sisters in theburn ward are both victims and perpetrators of dehumanized lifeat its worst. One morning, while attending to my Father, I realizedthat the blood bottle was empty and fearing that air would go intohis vein, I asked the attending nurse to change it. She bluntly toldme to do it myself. In that horrible theater of death, I was in painand frustration and anger. Finally when she relented and came,my Father opened his eyes and murmured to her, "Why have you

not gone home yet?" Here was a man on his deathbed but moreconcerned about the overworked nurse than his own state. I wasstunned at his stoic self.

There I learnt that there is no limit to how concerned you canbe for another human being and what is the limit of inclusionyou can create. My father died the next day.

He was a man whose success was defined by his principles,his frugality, his universalism and his sense of inclusion. Aboveall, he taught me that success is your ability to rise above yourdiscomfort, whatever may be your current state. You can, if youwant, raise your consciousness above your immediatesurroundings. Success is not about building material comforts -the transistor that he never could buy or the house that he neverowned. His success was about the legacy he left, the memeticcontinuity of his ideals that grew beyond the smallness of an ill-paid, unrecognized government servant's world.

My father was a fervent believer in the British Raj. Hesincerely doubted the capability of the post-independence Indianpolitical parties to govern the country. To him, the lowering ofthe Union Jack was a sad event. My Mother was the exactopposite. When Subhash Bose quit the Indian National Congressand came to Dacca, my mother, then a schoolgirl, garlanded him.She learnt to spin khadi and joined an underground movementthat trained her in using daggers and swords. Consequently, ourhousehold saw diversity in the political outlook of the two. Onmajor issues concerning the world, the Old Man and the OldLady had differing opinions. In them, we learnt the power ofdisagreements, of dialogue and the essence of living with diversityin thinking. Success is not about the ability to create a definitivedogmatic end state; it is about the unfolding of thought processes,of dialogue and continuum.

Two years back, at the age of eighty-two, Mother had aparalytic stroke and was lying in a government hospital inBhubaneswar. I flew down from the US where I was serving mysecond stint, to see her. I spent two weeks with her in the hospitalas she remained in a paralytic state.

She was neither getting better nor moving on. Eventually Ihad to return to work. While leaving her behind, I kissed herface. In that paralytic state and a garbled voice, she said, "Whyare you kissing me, go kiss the world." Her river was nearing itsjourney, at the confluence of life and death, this woman whocame to India as a refugee, raised by a widowed Mother, no moreeducated than high school, married to an anonymous governmentservant whose last salary was Rupees Three Hundred, robbed ofher eyesight by fate and crowned by adversity - was telling me togo and kiss the world!

Success to me is about Vision. It is the ability to rise abovethe immediacy of pain. It is about imagination. It is aboutsensitivity to small people. It is about building inclusion. It isabout connectedness to a larger world existence. It is aboutpersonal tenacity. It is about giving back more to life than youtake out of it. It is about creating extra-ordinary success withordinary lives.

Go, kiss the world.

The author is COO, MindTree Consulting. This paper was presented at IIMBrecently.


��

� ��

��

� ��

managing quality

CMMI – A fad or a value-addHas CMMI become another ISO 9000? For CMMI to become a differentiator it has to offer real benefits to all stakeholders

By Jyoti Sahai

I still remember an incident with great amusement. Recently, while on a vacation in Delhi, I decided to call up a close

friend working in a software company in Noida. I tried callingup his office board number, but no one picked up the phoneeven after several rings. After several tries, a person pickedup who said he was an office boy, and asked me to call uplater. Finally, about half an hour later, I was able to get throughto the receptionist, who promptly connected me to my friend’sextension; even more promptly, the call went into his voicemail. I called up again asking the receptionist to please confirmwhether the person was in his seat before transferring the call.Ultimately, she was able to locate my friend and transfer thecall. After an exchange of pleasantries, I casually informedhim of the trouble I had faced in getting connected to him.

He said “Oh! Today you really cannot blame us. We are in acelebration mood as we were assessed to be a CMMI Level 5company yesterday.” I dryly replied: “Yeah, I know how capableand mature at least your external call handling process is.” Ofcourse, my friend totally missed the sarcasm in my comment.

The incident left me wondering whether being known as aCMMI (Competency Maturity Model Integration) Level 5 (orfor that matter Level 3 or 4) company is just fashionable orgives real benefits to all stakeholders.

It is really ironic that in spite of CMMI being a very strongmodel of continuous improvement – which if implementedwell surely results in great levels of process improvement –its credibility as a differentiating benchmark is perceived tobe at stake.

Recent years have seen a spate of CMM/I assessments atLevel 5 in India. Initially it was imperative for Indiancompanies to get assessed at CMM/I Level 5, primarily toprove maturity and quality of their software developmentprocesses to their customers. However, as more and morecompanies are joining the CMM/CMMI bandwagon, it isgradually losing its significance as a real differentiator.

So what’s new?It is not at all surprising now that more and more vendor

presentations on their process improvement achievements arelistened to by prospects/customers with an expression thatclearly screams out – “Tell us something new. All yourcompetitors too claim the same achievements.” What is in itfor the customer?

Another set of questions that most of the process champions(of companies who have been assessed at Level 5 in CMMI)dread to hear from their customers is, “So you have achievedCMMI Level 5, but what is in it for us? Reduction in price? Ifnot, why should be we be interested? Will you please elaborateon how we are benefited?”

Faced with the skepticism of customers and community at

large in real value-add of CMMI adoption, it has becomeimperative for the companies to adopt a better approach forits implementation. It is heartening to note that recent trendsin CMMI adoption clearly demonstrate that.

Focus on sustenanceCompanies that have already been assessed at CMMI Level

5 are gradually realizing that treating this achievement just asa tick in the box has not brought them (or their customers) anybusiness benefits. Thus the focus is now on to ensure continuedinstitutionalization and adherence to processes. This approachhelps maintain the same efficient level of quality service tocustomers.

Focus on knowledge managementCompanies have also found that to sustain continuous

improvement over long periods of time, relying on adherenceto a set of processes only is not sufficient. It has to be ablysupported by building up an appropriate knowledgemanagement system that contains heuristics, best practices,historical data on risks, defects, etc. This data is ploughed backto review and optimise the processes, ensuring that theseprocesses remain dynamic and be responsive to changingdemands and profile of the business.

Six Sigma and CMMIAnother trend gaining increased attention is using Six

Sigma approach to deploy and institutionalize CMMIframework and processes. Use of Six Sigma methodologybrings the requisite rigor and speed to process deploymentand its performance measurement, and may significantlycontribute towards its successful implementation.

Gaining business benefits through CMMICompanies have also discovered that a typical CMMI

implementation gives greatly improved and predictableperformance, primarily in project management and deliveryrelated areas only. An emerging trend is to apply CMMI modelto define its rigor and discipline to monitor and optimisebusiness processes too. That would ensure enterprise-widebusiness benefits for an organisation.

Benefits to customerCompanies have begun to realize that the real value-add

of a CMMI implementation will come only if the end-customerbenefits from its adoption, whether by way of reduced price,or by way of shortened delivery periods.

The above trends, if sustained over a period of time willensure that for companies adopting CMMI as their vehicle ofprocess improvement, it will be a real value-add and not justremain a fad.

The author is an executive vice president with vMoksha Technologies Pvt.Ltd. E-mail: [email protected]


��

� ��

��

� ��

guruspeak

How to beat the Monday morning bluesBy Robin S. Sharma

Link Paycheck to Purpose. One of the deepest needs of every human being is the need to make a difference in

the lives of others. Take the time to connect with all the peoplewho count on you and the lives you affect through your work.Often we forget the men, women and children who rely onour work to live high quality lives of their own.

Find Work that Excites You. We spend most of our lives atwork so we might as well find an occupation that fires us upand engages our hearts. Most people stay in jobs they don'tlike because they feel they need the security or because "itcould be worse.

" Yet, one of the most universal truths of all is that whenyou find work you love and have the courage to pursue it,success is certain to follow. We are all here for a special purposeand we all have unique gifts and talents. Discover your callingand have the self-discipline to follow it.

Set Weekly Goals. Goals offer hope to the hopeless andinspiration to the uninspired. Big, exciting goals give you areason to get up in the morning and fuel your thoughts as youmove through your day. People without life goals are like aleaf drifting in the Fall wind, moving in whatever direction itdecides to take them.

Get Up Earlier. Rather than beginning your week in theeye of the tornado, why not get up 1 hour earlier and take thetime to enjoy some of life's simpler pleasures, pleasures thatyou may have neglected in your fast-paced lifestyle.

Go for a walk in natural surroundings, watch the sun riseor read a good book. Contemplate how you will spend theweek ahead and create a plan for success. Remember, failingto plan is planning to fail.

Stop Blaming Others. Successful people accept completeresponsibility for every aspect of their lives. They realize thatif the way they are living is not ideal, they have the power tomake changes and improve their life's quality. They accept

total responsibility for their current circumstances andcontinuously strive to make things better.

They understand that for their life to improve they mustimprove and so they read more, learn more and do morethan the average person. They don't blame others for setbacksbut, instead, have the wisdom to know that they alone affecttheir destinies.

Keep Your Perspective. Too many people focus on the littleannoyances of work. They complain about colleagues theydon't like or a boss who doesn't care. They complain aboutthe long hours or the endless commutes. But when you remindthem that many people are unemployed, their sense ofperspective returns.

When you inform them that some people have beensearching for work for years, they begin to appreciate theirgood fortunes. When you mention that their salary is far higherthan most salaries in the rest of the world, they grow morepositive about the positions they hold. Maintain a sense ofperspective about your work and your life.

Focus on the Positive. Our thoughts form our world. Yourmind can be your best friend or your worst enemy. Throughthe thoughts you run through your mind every minute of everyday, you can create a rich, rewarding life or a living nightmare.Remember, there is no objective reality.

We see the world through our own set of unique lensesand we all have the power to interpret the world in a positiveway if we so choose. As one wise thinker said: "we see theworld, not as it is but as we are."

Grow Wiser. Rather than wishing for fewer problems, wishfor greater wisdom. Rather than hoping that life will get easier,why not focus on working smarter. In these change-crazedtimes, he who learns most wins.

Become a lifelong student. Learn more about yourindustry and field than anyone else around you. Read morethan others. Go to more seminars and get serious aboutthe work you do. This is how you become a person of greatvalue whose success is assured.

Robin S. Sharma, is an internationally known speaker and corporate trainer.His latest book is the top-selling motivational fable The Monk Who Sold HisFerrari. Visit his site www.robinsharma.com

We spend most of our lives at work so we mightas well find an occupation that fires us up andengages our hearts. Most people stay in jobsthey don't like because they feel they need thesecurity or because "it could be worse.


��

� ��

��

� ��

bookshelf

Book of Financial TermsBy: Sundararajan, Surendra, rs.225.00, Tata Mcgraw Hill

This book can come to the rescue ofreaders who find it difficult to cut throughthe jungle of financial jargon… Lot oftheories like Capital Asset Pricing Modeland others are explained succinctly and ina student-friendly language. It provides awelcome break from the regulartextbooks”… The Economic Times TheBook of Financial Terms is a single sourcereference for all those who wish to:

Supplement their basic proficiency in finance; Brush up thefundamentals just before an interview; Keep pace with thelatest in financial jargon… The Book of Financial Terms offersa quick, reliable and up-to-date coverage of terminology fromthe world of corporate finance, investments, public financeand financial economics. Written in a language that iscomprehensive even to the uninitiated, the book helps thereaders to easily grasp the nuances of financial terms. Therevised edition covers terms from: Banking; CorporateFinance; Derivatives; Financial Intermediaries; FinancialSystem; International Finance; Investments; MerchantBanking; Mutual Funds; Portfolio Management; PublicFinance; Taxation; Technical Analysis; Working Capital.

Restructuring for GrowthMichealson, John c., rs.595.00, Mcgraw-hill

The business world is just now beginning to regroup fromits latest merger wave in history. But after more than half ofall acquisitions failed to enhance shareholder value, the “biggeris better” mantra has given way to new, leaner value-creationstrategies- and to the increased use of subsidiary equityredeployments (SERs) to redeploy and gain access to valuehidden in subsidiary operations. Restructuring for Growth isthe first comprehensive guide to creating value by redeployingthe equity value of subsidiary operations and assets.

Creative New Employee Orientation ProgramsSims, Doris M, Rs.695.00, Tata Mcgraw-Hill

New employee orientation is the most commonly offeredtype of training in organizations, yet very few books have beenpublished on the topic.

Creative New Employee Orientation Programs is filled withdownloadable, customizable training games, samplecurriculum, handouts, and checklists used in leadingorganizations such as Arthur Anderson, Ford, Micron, andAlcatel. Whether creating an orientation program for the firsttime, enhancing an existing program, or moving orientationon-line, HR pros will find ideas and tools they can useimmediately.

Appreciative Sharing of Knowledge: LeveragingKnowledge Management for Strategic ChangeTojo Thatchenkery, A Taos Institute publication, 2005

How to manage knowledge effectivelyis a question that has run through theliterature of the field of organizationalbehavior for many years. Knowledge hasbeen examined from many angles: how itis created and how it is applied. What theauthor has done in this book is to help thereader understand a simple process forgetting at what it takes to actually improvethese processes in an organization. Although

the Appreciative Sharing of Knowledge or ASK approachdescribed in the book is focused primarily on the act of sharingknowledge, the methodology described in this simple bookcan be applied to a wide range of knowledge managementchallenges and opportunities.

Conquering Complexity In Your BusinessBy Michael L. George And Stephen A. Wilson, Rs 1440.00 (approx.), July 2004

Over the past two decades, the authors claim to have helpedmany businesses create genuine economic value primarilythrough process improvement. They often found that clientswho restricted their efforts to Lean and/or Six Sigma wouldhit a ceiling in profit generation: though progress wassignificant, there was only so much they could accomplishthrough these process improvements.

Where did this ceiling come from? Their most recentresearch and experience over the last few years led them to astartling conclusion: that there is an entirely separate dimensionto operating improvement that presents the single largestopportunity for cost reduction and the most significant hurdleto profitable growth in most companies. This mysterious forceis product and service complexity.

The book show you how to identify the offering and processcomplexity in your business; Quantify the cost impact of thatcomplexity; Decide which complexity you want to keep andexploit, and which you should eliminate; Select specificapproaches to eliminate different kinds of complexity.

Together, this knowledge will enable significantimprovement in your ability to grow profit, revenue, andshareholder [email protected]

Managing Constant ChangeP.N. Rastogi Dr P N Rastogi is a professor at the Indian Institute of Management,Lucknow.), Rs 375.00

The only certainty today is uncertainty and the only constantis change. Rapid, relentless change in products, markets,technologies, business structures, and competitive arenas, is


��

� ��

��

� ��

bookshelf

the new reality confronting companies andmanagers across the world. New products,processes, and even whole markets emerge,mutate, and disappear with an increasingfrequency. Change today, therefore, needsto be viewed as a continuous, incessant andpervasive phenomenon, and managedaccordingly. It can no longer be managedin terms of any one-time program or project.To manage today, is to manage change. To

manage change, is to manage today and tomorrowsimultaneously.

The present volume delineates a new approach to, and styleof managing change. It maps a spiral pathway for steering theenterprise through volatility and turbulence in terms of insightsand capabilities. Capabilities, in turn, based on knowledge andskills, synergy and momentum, vision and values.

The conclusions reached in the book are insightful, any mayeven appear surprising. They are, however, firmly groundedin the abiding purpose and meaning of man and [email protected]

Confronting Reality : Doing What Matters to GetThings Rightby Larry Bossidy, Ram Charan, Crown Business, October 2004

On the heels of their business bestsellerExecution, retired Honeywell chairman andCEO Bossidy and corporate guru Charantake a step back and focus on the morefundamental issue of figuring out what toexecute in the first place. The message issimple (“relentless realism”), and theirsolution is a return to the “ancient analyticaltool” of a three-part business model thatincludes external realities (such as customer

demand and industry conditions), financial targets (such ascash flow and revenue growth) and internal realities (such asoperational and workforce capabilities). Bossidy and Charanuse that model to analyze how companies such as EMC, Ciscoand Sun reacted to the meltdown of the high-tech sector, andhow Home Depot built efficiency, 3M reignited growth throughinnovation and Thomson Corp. restructured its focus.

The Necessary Nature Of Future Firms: AttributesOf Survivors In A Changing WorldEdited by: GEORGE P HUBER University of Texas, Austin, June 2004, ResponseBooks, Rs.650

The business environment in which organizations operateis now changing rapidly, and will change even more rapidlyin the future. Survival for firms today therefore depends onthe ability to anticipate and respond to these changes. The

Necessary Nature of Future Firms is aninsightful look into the landscape of thedynamic business of the future. It describesthis landscape clearly and credibly andmakes explicit the organizational attributesand management practices firms mustpossess to be among the ranks of the ‘futurefirms‘

Microsoft to publish book of creative PowerPointstrategies

Cliff Atkinson has developed better ways to utilizePowerPoint effectively. His new book, Beyond Bullets, willbe published by Microsoft Press in February 2005.BeyondBullets will introduce advanced PowerPoint users toinnovative communication techniques inspired byHollywood storyboarding, Greek philosophy and popculture. "By publishing this book, Microsoft Press isthrowing the door wide open to fresh thinking aboutPowerPoint," Cliff said in a press release announcing hisnew book earlier this year.

The ideas that will be contained in Beyond Bullets willbe an expansion of what Cliff has been talking about inhis weblog of the same name for months -- you don'tHAVE to use PowerPoint in the same boring way aseveryone else. There are better, more creative techniquesyou can use to get your key messages across and topersuade your target audiences.

Books to watch out in 2005

1. Jim Collins, the author of the best-sellingGood to Great, is working on a yet-to-be-namednew book. The book examines companies thathad an IPO (initial public offering of stock) inthe 1990s but somehow survived the businesscyclones at the turn of the century.2. Jack Welch’s second book after the hugelysuccessful ‘Straight from the Gut’ scheduled forMay, this year, is Winning: The UltimateBusiness.3. The Allure of Toxic Leaders by JeanLipman-Blumen, a California academic4. Bad Leadership by Barbara Kellerman,lecturer at Harvard Business School5. Why Most Things Fail by Paul Omerod, aBritish economist6. Churchill’s Wizards by Nicholas Rankin


��

� ��

��

� ��

Brands create cults. Cults of consumers. Some cults are small and some big. Whatever

their size though, every brand has itsown cult following.

As the pure commodity traversesits way to become a quasi-commodity for a start, the process ofdistinction of the offering happens.The plain old rice becomes a“Nellore” rice and the plain old teabecomes a “Nilgiri” tea!

The quasi-brand then morphs on.It becomes a brand. A brand with thatmuch more of a specific appeal and that much more of adistinction. A Kohinoor Basmati rice and a Red Label tea forsure as examples of the popular brand.

Brands are common enough in our lives. Ask any selfrespecting brand manager and the journey is not complete asyet. Legions of managers of the brand and its appeal will haveyou understand that their journey is one to end with theachievement of the status of super-brand for their offering ofcondiment and condom alike.

The super-brand is therefore the end-goal for many a brand.Few brands achieve this status and there are indeed few we cantalk about today. A Harley Davidson and maybe a Rolls Royce!

Will Nescafe get there soon? Is Ovaltine already there? Weare not too sure of that, but let’s wait for the polls to be out onthis. And this might just take a hundred years ahead of us!

What makes a super-brand then? A lot of warmth? A lotof positive feel? A feel-good factor that dominates all else? Abonding that is so sacrosanct in the consumer-brand interface?Or is it all about a whole big dose of the intangible? A wholebig dose of the unexplainable? A whole dollop of passion andfire that just happens when you think of this super brand?

I think it is primarily about consumer passion. It is mostcertainly about the process of the consumer adopting a brandfor more than what it physically stands for. It is 99 per centabout the non-physicals and 1 per cent of the body, the gutand the gore of the brand. The super-brand is fundamentallyall about a bonded-consumer. It is about the consumer bondedto the brand with a great big garnish of the irrational. It isquite like religion as well. Brand religion, let’s say!

The super-brand happens over a long number of years.Long number of trusted years when the brand subliminallyenters the psyche of the consumer in manners that are bestleft to the imagination to describe, rather than the

The author is CEO, Harish Bijoor Consults Inc., a private-labelconsulting outfit with a presence in the markets of Hong-Kong,London and the Indian sub-continent. [email protected]

branding

The Brand is a religion!At a time when most brands face commoditization how do some manage to sustain consumer passion?

-by Harish Bijoor

fundamentally weak word to attempt.

The super-brand needs to have allthose trusted ingredients of thereliable brand that delivers.Functionality apart, the super-brandbrings with it a hoary past ofadvertising appeal. An appeal thatswims entirely in the territory of themind and mood. An appeal that knitstogether every consumer with thebasic thread of similar passion.

And then it is all about a brandcult. A Brand religion that creates

from among its consumers passionate beings who look farbeyond the commercial purpose of the brand. The brand istherefore a religion of sorts. A religion that breeds similarminded souls into cults of worshippers.

I have been to McLaughlin (very,very close to the motherof them all gambling towns, Las Vegas) on a day throughHarley week. More than 60,000 worshippers of the Harleycult, out in their drag attire….all with their beautiful flyingmachines! All with a passion that is common and crazy! Thissure was a brand cult celebrating their own festival of thebrand. In this case, the Harley legend!

As Ovaltine, the Swiss brand of powdered barley, malt,egg and cocoa is being put on the selling block, there arehundreds and thousands of appeals coming from theOvaltineys (a veritable club of Ovaltine users of the UK,founded in 1935) asking for Novartis AG, its owners toreconsider selling out to non-Swiss interests! There are protestsgalore! The common link: passion! Brand passion!

Consumer passion is therefore possibly the one commonthread that makes for the super-brand. Brands that build cultsof followers of this kind reach the status of the super-brand!

And these brands are far and few. Can an Amul aspire tobecome one then? In the next hundred years? Depends thenon the number of followers ‘Religion Amul’ will nurture inthe years to come.

In a nation where temples are built for starlets who capturethe imagination of the public, is it too far fetched then to finda temple dedicated to the religion of brands? One never knows!

Touche!


��

� ��

��

� ��

The first three correct answers

Rs. 500/- gift vouchers of CROSSWORD bookstores and one year subscription to��

Address:

.....................................................................................................................

.....................................................................................................................

.....................................................................................................................

Crossword by Ravi Narayan Raghupathi Send the original crossword clipping to: Rishabh Media Network.#2, Bilden Park, G. M. Palya, Bangalore – 560 075

��

��


��

� ��

��

� ��

offbeat

Matchmaking - Wipro styleInnovation in people management is nothing new at Wipro

Technologies. But this one takes the cake. Faced with highattrition rates for several reasons, Wipro has hit upon a novelidea to tackle one of them – techies relocating to be with theirspouse or do tiring and risky weekend trips.

Wipro has launched a matchmaking site where 30,000of its unmarried/separated techies can find their suitablegrooms/brides within the vast campus or from multiplelocations within the city. The intranet portal Channel W isto provide the profile of the most eligible ones. Whetherthe portal also provides e-horoscope is not known. Whatabout courtship allowance or a marriage loan? Just to makethe process a bit easier.

Intel gives Indians some sleepThe time difference between the United States and India

has worked well for Americans. Most Americans don’t thinktwice before waking up their half-asleep or sleeping colleaguesor business partners in India. Indians have put up with thisinconvenience grudgingly.

Now Intel has taken the lead in democratizing the telephoneetiquette. It’s coming up with a system where Americans andIndians would take turns to wake each other up every twomonths. Will the others follow suit? They better do!

Mumbai cooliesThe Mumbai dabbawallas have hogged all the limelight

although another fascinating system has been in place at theVictoria station for years. According to the system, every cooliedeposits 75 percent of his daily collections with the union andkeeps the rest. Out of the collection, all the registered cooliesare distributed equal sum end of the day. The unique systemhas resulted in very high service standards without the cooliesundercutting one another. In fact, they are seen helping oneanother. Karl Marx would have been too happy to hear this.

Chinese roosterThe Economist expects growing interest for business books

in China in 2005 and publishers would do well not to ignorethe big potential. There’s also a big fad now to use extendedanimal metaphors in business books. The challenge then ishow to combine the two trends to get the Chinese managersto buy business books.

2005 happens to be the year of the rooster in China. Butthe bird does not have strong characteristics like that of pig,rat or a monkey. It’s happy to crow a few times in the morningand is too lazy to do it the whole day.

It doesn’t hunt nor steal its food but is happy to eat what’sthrown at it or scavenge. Perhaps, it’s time someone discoveredits new traits or the publishers would have to wait one moreyear for a better animal to work the metaphors.

US bans junk faxesA recent rule bans junk faxes in America. A company or

an individual must have a signed permission slip beforesending an ad by fax. But some analysts feel that loopholes inthe legislation will certainly be found and Americans will endup getting more junk faxes than they did before. But in theage of email why should people use fax anyway? That’sAmerican for you!

How Branson tricks newspapersAt a recent videoconference Richard Branson let out his

secrets about how he saves millions from his publicity antics.“Generally speaking, I think being a high-profile person hasits advantages,” he said. “Advertising costs enormous amountsof money these days.

I just announced in India that I was setting up a domesticairline, and we ended up getting on the front pages of thenewspapers. The costs of that in advertising terms would havebeen considerable.” Visibility is good, said Branson, “as longas you’re not in the headlines for the wrong reasons.”

Australian management funda for Indiancricket

Cricket Australia is as much a saga of management successas it has been in the cricketing arena in recent years. Three ofits big boys recently held a five-day course on strategicplanning, administration and management for Asian cricketadministrators in Bangalore.

The trio emphasized that very good administration isreflected on the field. “You just can’t have the players, youneed to have a governing body to run the show.” Will thisgyaan make any difference to the highly politicized andpatronizing Indian cricket board?


��

� ��

��

� ��

leisure

This article is reprinted with permission from Club Mahindra’s Hello magazineDecember 2004

Are you dressed to chill out?Here are some winter clothing guidelines that will help you take the sting out of the cold so that you can enjoy chilly outdoors

For those of us who live in the warm plains of India, avacation in a cold place with real winter weather is an

exciting proposition. Brisk morning walks near icy streams,watching sparkling snowflakes, an uphill trudge in two feet ofice and snow or even a go at skiing, are allthrilling thoughts. But when you exposeyourself to the cold you also need to takeprecautions. If you are inadequately dressed youwill not enjoy the outdoors, and in extreme casesend up getting ill. Prolonged exposures to lowtemperatures and strong winds can result incold-related injuries. Take a few protective stepsand you can have a blast.

The most important strategy in dealing withthe cold weather is learning to dress properly.Cover your neck and head well as they lose heatmore than any other part of the body. The secretis to dress in layers. Three layers are ideal. Wearloose clothing to insulate your body by trappingdry, warm air inside.

Loosely worn cotton and woolen clothesbest trap air and resist dampness. Layers work best becauseyou can take something off when you are sweating or addsomething if you are chilly. And take heart, fashionable folks,the loose fitting look is in now.

Everyone has shivered in sopping wet clothes, huddle underthe nearest doorway when caught out in a downpour. There’snothing like wet clothes to dampen your mood and attract allsorts of unsavory cold-related infections. Keeping your clothesdry helps your body stay warm. When moisture startsevaporating from wet clothes, it has a cooling effect on yourbody. If the wind blows over you and you have wet clotheson, you will feel even colder. So not only should you stay dry,you must also protect yourself from the wind.

You should also not get over-heated from wearing too manywarm clothes. Make sure you wear closed footwear and avoidsandals or high-heeled shoes when you are outdoors in freezingtemperatures. Don’t bring along tight footwear which mayinhibit circulation of blood in the lower extremities and causecold feet. There should be enough room in your shoes for apair of thick shocks as well as some movement of toes. If youstill find that your feet are getting incredibly cold, check tosee if your hat is warm enough. There’s an old saying, “ifyour feet are cold, put on your hat.” And it is absolutely true.

Dehydration and hypothermiaIn the heat of the boiling midday sun, the first thing we

want is a glass of chilled water, but when it is cold we oftenforget to drink enough. Dehydration seriously impairs our

body’s ability to produce heat. Drink fluids as often as yourcan throughout the day even if you are really thirsty. Roomheaters also dehydrate the body, so make sure your keep somewater beside your bed to sip on if you wake up in the middle

of the night.

Be aware of hypothermia, which is acondition in which the body’s temperature fallsdangerously low, usually 90 degre F. It isn’tthe feeling of stiffness you get when you playin the snow and your fingers get chilled. Thatkind of cold is mostly superficial and can beeasily controlled by the body when you get outof the cold and head indoors. Science ofhypothermia includes forgetfulness,drowsiness, slurred speech and change inappearance (eg. puffy face), weak pulse, slowheartbeat, and very slow and shallow breathing.

If you feel serious pain or numbness infingers, toes, nose, ear, or any other part of yourbody while you are outside, go indoorsimmediately and warm up.

Skin care and hot bathsWinter is hard on the skin. This is not something women

should be concerned about; men and children too need togive their skin a little extra care when the air outside iscold and dry.

Because it is cold outside you may favor having a bathwith very hot water but take a rain check on that. When longhot showers or a leisurely soak in the bathtub sound veryappealing, they strip the skin of its natural moisturizing lipids.Instead, take a short warm shower, pat your skin almost dry,and then put on moisturizer while the skin is still damp. Payspecial attention to areas like your hands, heels and feet, orwherever else you experience especially dry, cracked skin.Don’t forget your lips as they can get painfully dry andchapped; protect them with lip balm or Vaseline.

Additionally, when you are in the mountains you need tocontinue to protect your skin from damage from the sun. Don’tmake the mistake of thinking you only need protection fromthe sun during summer.

Finally, it’s a good idea to prepare for the weather to becolder than you expect. Take a little extra time to plan yourclothing before you head out on your wintry vacation. Borrowan extra jacket, windproof vest or pants or woolen hat fromfriends and family-you won’t regret it. Then get set to staywarm and have a bundle of fun.

Documents

Kumar Malavalli has been crowned as the guru of storage ...managementnext.com/pdf/2005/MN_Jan_2005.pdf · 2003, the Silicon Valley Engineering Council (SVEC) recognized Kumar’s