Pratibimb October 2012

Pratibimb | October 2012 | 1

FINANCE | GENERAL MANAGEMENT | HUMAN RESOURCE | MARKETING | HEALTHCARE | OPERATIONS | SYSTEMS

The Reflection of Management

A Students’ Initiative

Volume II, Issue XIV October 2012 A Monthly e-Magazine

PRATIBIMB

LIBOR’s Labour’s Lost

By Anuj Narula and Prakash Nishtala, NMIMS Mumbai

Book Review of The Google Story

By Madhukara Holla , TAPMI

Exclusive Interview of Mr. Sanat Satyan

Research Associate, Equity Research - Oil & Gas sector,

Nomura

Mass vs. Class: Branding for BOP Revisited

By Unnikrishnan Nair and Utkarsh Sachdeva, TAPMI


T. A. Pai Management Institute (TAPMI) is a premier management institute situated in

Manipal and is well known for its academic rigor and faculty-student interaction. The

Institute has been recently ranked amongst top 1 per cent of B-schools in India and 4th

in the South Zone by The Week Magazine.

Founded by the visionary, Late Shri. T. A. Pai, TAPMI‖s mission is to provide much

needed impetus to the task of building professional management capability in the

country. In the process, it has also played a role in strengthening the existing

educational and health infrastructure of Manipal.

Team Pratibimb is committed to excellence in post graduate management education,

research and practice by nurturing and developing global wealth creators and leaders.

We shall continually benchmark ourselves against the best-in-class institutions. We

shall foster continuous learning and reflection, achievement-orientation, creative

interdependence, and respect for diversity with a holistic concern for ethics,

environment and society.

T. A. Pai Management Institute

Manipal, Karnataka

About TAPMI

Our Mission


TAPMI‖s e-Magazine - is the conglomeration of the various specializations in MBA (Marketing,

Finance, HR, Systems and Operations). It is primarily

intended to provide insights into the plethora of knowledge

that relate to the various departments of Management and

to give an opportunity to the students of TAPMI and the best

brains across country to exhibit their creative cells. The

magazine also strives to bring expert inputs from industries,

thereby bringing the academia and industry together.

Pratibimb the e-Magazine of TAPMI had its first issue in

December 2010. The issue comprised of an interview of well

known writer Ms. Rashmi Bansal along with a series of

articles by students and industry experts like Madhu Sudan

Rao (AVP-Delivery, Mahindra Satyam) & Ed Cohen who is a

global leader and chief learning officer who led Booz Allen

Hamilton & Satyam Computer Services to the first rank

globally for learning & development . It also included a

hugely successful and engrossing game for finance geeks called “Beat the Market” to bring

out the application based knowledge of students by providing them the platform where they

were expected to predict the stock prices of two selected stocks on a future date. The

magazine is primarily intended for the development of all around management knowledge

by providing unbiased critical insights into the modern developments.

TAPMI believes that learning is a continuous process and is not limited to the four walls of

the classroom. This viewpoint is further enhanced through Pratibimb wherein students

manage and contribute to create a refreshing learning environment outside the classrooms

which eventually leads to a holistic development process. The magazine provides a

competitive platform and opportunity to the students where they can compete with the best

brains from various B-Schools in the country. The magazine also provides a platform for

prominent industry stalwarts to communicate their views and learning about and from the

recent developments from their respective fields of business which in turn helps to create a

collaborative learning base for its readers.

Team Pratibimb is committed in continuing this initiative by bringing in continuous

improvement in the magazine by including quality articles related to various management

issues and eventually creating a more engaging relationship with its readers by providing

them a platform to showcase their talent.

We invite all the best brains across B-Schools to be part of this initiative and help us take this

to the next level.

PRATIBIMB


It is always a pleasure to witness that certain efforts of the students are sustained and

carried forward; Pratibimb is one such. The oft-beaten track, “We are here to learn,” ends up

as a mere platitude when there are no visible actions and documentation. Whereas there is

no dearth of actions at TAPMI, documentation is not something that many—other than

scholars—choose to engage in; it is normally viewed as uninteresting, drab and a drudgery.

TAPMIans have proved that they are equally capable of actions and of documentation

without losing the intellectual flavour of it.

Scholarship is too important a phenomenon to be left to scholars alone, especially in the field

of management. As future practicing managers who will be engaged in rigorous action in

different fields of business, TAPMIans have manifested both the penchant to produce

research works and also get their counterparts in other leading business schools to

contribute their thoughts to this endeavour. In this regard, TAPMIans have truly

demonstrated the evidence for creative interdependence, an important aspect of TAPMI‖s

mission.

I sincerely appreciate the students and the faculty of TAPMI who have made Pratibimb a

possibility through their scholarly works, co-ordination efforts and support. I wish the team

the very best.

Dr. R. C. Natarajan

Director’s

Message


Editor’s Corner

Sushmit Sinha

Manish Mishra

Abhishek Dubey

Namrata Mahapatra

Divyanshu

Varun Anant

Abhishek Raghupungav

Aditya Bhat

Arun Stephen

Devi Kailas

Kannan Venkat

Pallavi Prasad

Rithwik Krishnakumar

Vandna Soni

Prof. Chowdari Prasad Dean (Branding and Promotions)

Prof. Vinod Madhavan Asst. Prof. , Marketing

Prof. Srivatsa H S

Associate Prof. , Marketing

Prof. Vrishali N Bhat Asst. Prof. , Economics & Finance

Prof. Animesh Bahadur

Asst. Prof. , Human Resources

Prof. Sanjay Choudhari Asst. Prof. , Operations

Prof. Mohan Kumar V Associate Prof. , Systems

Editor in Chief

Marketing & Advertising

Design

Creative & Cover Design

Communications

Sub-Editors

Publishing

Faculty Advisors

Dear Readers,

UPA’s economic blitzkrieg perfectly coincided with a special event on campus. Described as “a true corporate event which had far too many variables to be managed” – Horizon 2012, the annual finance conclave of TAPMI conducted on 22nd September was a grand success. Mr Sushil Shah (Head – Banking and Finance, First Source) also adds that TAPMIANS have “displayed an excellent temperament in running the program, something which is critical in corporate careers”. Horizon 2012 saw the participation of eminent persons from the area of finance who engaged in panel discussions and guest lectures. Team Pratibimb would like to thank Nishith Maheshwari of PGP-2 who is an active member of the Finance Forum for sharing his experience in this issue and Jayakrishnan T R of PGP-2 who has sought an exclusive interview from fellow alumnus Mr Sanat Satyan (PGDM 2008, Senior Analyst, Nomura) on the sidelines of the conclave.

At the Late Show with Dave Letterman, British Prime Minister David Cameron jokingly narrated how his government has ‘shamelessly’ leveraged the success of the London Olympics to bring in investors. Sankalp Parihar and Kirti Dua’s article Marketing Lessons from London Olympics looks at the event with a different view. Britain’s PR strategy may have worked at last and it is especially a refreshing change from the moribund Royal ceremonies. This issue’s Best Article Contest winners are TAPMIANS Unnikrishnan Nair and Utkarsh Sachdeva who have thoroughly analysed the BoP segments in India in their article Mass vs. Class: Branding for BoP Revisited - debunking common myths that marketers harbour. On behalf of our entire team, I wish to congratulate them on their wonderful piece.

Teeming with variety, the October edition has a rich assortment of items. Second year student Madhukara Holla offers a spectacular starter kit to “the Google Phenomenon” in his review of the bestseller – The Google Story. Harsha Vatnani has shared her valuable experiences from the HCL Emerging Women Leaders Conference which she attended at NOIDA and Chandrakumar N, the key person who, along with his team, bore the herculean responsibility of hosting DISHA, TAPMIs annual HR conclave also shares his personal learning from the 2-day event. Team Pratibimb would like to thank Utkarsh Sachdeva. Utkarsh, PGP-2, has been instrumental in helping our team with deployment of a project management tool which has streamlined much of our processes. Our lead times have fallen thanks to his technocratic prowess!

Stay updated, like our page to hear more from us at http://www.facebook.com/pratibimb.reflecting.management

We would like to thank all faculty members who have provided their valuable feedback to help maintain the standards we have strived to achieve. Also, send in your valuable suggestions or feedback to [email protected]

Enjoy Reading!

~ Sushmit Sinha

http://www.facebook.com/pratibimb.reflecting.management


Contents Indian Logistics The Way Forward – Challenges & Opportunities 7 by Md Umair Ansari & Rahul Jain, IIFT LIBOR‖s Labour‖s Lost 10 by Anuj Narula and Prakash Nishtala, NMIMS Mumbai

Marketing Lessons from Olympics London 2012 13 by Sankalp Singh Parihar & Kriti Dua, Great Lakes Institute of Management Mass vs. Class: Branding for BOP Revisited 16 by Unnikrishnan Nair and Utkarsh Sachdeva, TAPMI

Personalization: 8th P of Service Industry 21 by Arpit Bansal, SIMS, Pune

Interview : Mr. Sanat Satyan 24 Research Associate, Equity Research - Oil & Gas sector, Nomura

Disha 2012 : The Learning Experience 27 by Chandrakumar N, TAPMI

Horizon 2012: Money Matters 30 by Nishith Maheshwari, TAPMI

Book Review: The Google Story 33 By Madhukar Holla, TAPMI

Experiences at the HCL Conference 35 by Harsha Vatnani , TAPMI

Slideshare 37 by Sahil Anand , TAPMI


Indian Logistics The Way Indian Logistics The Way Forward Forward –– Challenges & Challenges &

OpportunitiesOpportunities

by Md Umair Ansari and Rahul Jain, IIFT

Logistics Sector in India: The logistics sector in India has today become a key

performance indicator of the economy. One of the primary reasons for it is that

years of high growth in the Indian economy has resulted in a significant rise in

the volume of freight traffic moved. This large volume of traffic has opened up

new growth opportunities in all facets of logistics including transportation,

warehousing, freight forwarding, express cargo delivery, container services,

shipping services etc. According to the World Bank‖s Logistic Performance Index

(LPI), India is ranked 39th place among 150 countries of the world.

Growth in Freight Volumes in India

Size of Logistics Industry in India: Various estimates put the total market size of the logistics sector in India to be between USD 90-125 billion. Sources also estimate that the logistics sector employs over 4 5 million people in India.

“Logistics cost is 13% of

India’s GDP in comparison

to 11% in Europe and 9%

in the U.S. “

Country Wise Comparative Analysis of Logistics Sector Source: Thomas Weisel International Estimates; Agile Advisory; IIM.ac.in


Why Logistics sector is important to India‖s Economic growth: Logistics cost is 13% of India‖s GDP in comparison to 11% in Europe and 9% in the U.S. There is no doubt that in India, an increasing demand is being placed on the logistics sector to provide solutions which are required to support future growth. Indian Logistics Industry Structure: The logistics

sector in India operates in the following four broad

segments, they are depicted in the chart below:

Future Outlook of Logistics sector in India: The industry is expected to grow annually at the rate of 15- 20 per cent, reaching revenues of approximately $ 385bn by 2015. Market share of organised logistics players is also expected to double to 12 per cent by 2015. Third party logistics (3PL) business in India is anticipated to hit US$ 90mn by 2012.

Source: Thomas Weisel International Estimates; Agile Advisory Key Challenges of the Indian Logistics Industry Transportation related challenges: The predominant mode of transportation of freight cargo in India is roads. In India nearly 61% of the cargo is transported by road, 30% by rail and rest by airways, inland waterways and pipelines. This as compared to a 37% share of road in USA and 22% in China. This is a well known fact that movement of bulk cargo by road is always less efficient as compared to rail.

Comparative share of Highway & Railway as mode of

transport in Indian Logistics sector

Why the Logistics Industry Prefers Transportation

Through Road Over Rail : Following are the reasons

why the Indian logistics sector prefers road over rail

for transportation of goods

Important rail networks are oversaturated. There has been no significant capacity addition to Indian Rail since Independence (Refer the graph below)

Rail freight tariffs are comparatively higher Transit times are long and uncertain Rail terminal quality is poor Less flexibility in carrying different types of

Products Railway carriage not easy for industries which

cannot provide full train loads

Comparative analysis of the Freight rate increase of Indian Rail over the years.

Issues plaguing the Road Transportation in India: The road movement in India has its own shares of problems. Those problems are summarized below: Coverage of road network is inadequate Quality of the roads is inadequate Expressway road network is in its infancy stage Delays due to multiple checkpoint Challenges faced by Air Transport: Given below are

the strategic challenges of the Logistics Industry

vis-a-vis air transport

Rising Air Turbine Fuel (ATF) prices

Ever growing congestion at Airports

Delay in cargo handling and clearances

Issues faced by Port Sector in India: Following are

some of the key problems being faced by the port

sector in India

High turnaround times

Inadequate depth at ports

Costal shipping is yet to take off in India

Challenges relating to the Storage Infrastructure:

Poor state of Inland Container Depot (ICD) &

Container Freight Stations (CFS)

Poor Warehousing Facilities

State of cold storages is poor

Multimodal Logistics parks is yet to take off in


India

Technology & Skill Related Challenges: The

logistics sector in India has suffered a lot due to the

low rates of technology adoption and poor skill

levels.

There is a substantial opportunity to save on

transportation and In Transit Losses with the

adoption of technology

Source: Logistics Performance Index Report 2010

Indian logistics Industry – The Way Forward:

In the years to come, the Indian economy will be

driven by sectors like manufacturing and retail. So for

these sectors to contribute effectively to the economy,

the logistics industry in India will have to improve

upon its lacunae and deliver value enabling solutions.

To achieve this, the logistics industry needs to focus

on the following fronts:

Expand distribution channels and increase

consumer reach

Reduce operational cost & improve delivery

time

Overcome infrastructure bottlenecks &

implement E-Infrastructure

Efficient port utilisation and decreasing the

turnaround time

Increase investments in storage infrastructure

i.e. warehouses & cold storages

Organise the trucking operations on a pan India

basis

Adopt the latest technology

Address skill gaps issues

Comparative Analysis of the KPI‖s of the

Logistics Industry of Emerging Economies

Source: Logistics Performance Index

Report 2010

References

Logistical Bottlenecks in India: Government Interventions &Policy Initiatives – Dr Ram Singh – Assistant Professor, IIFT Delhi

Logistics Industry: Global and Indian Perspectives –

Subrata Mitra – Assistant professor – IIM Calcutta

Constituents of

Total Logistics

Cost

India

Transportation

35%

Warehouse &

Handling 9%

Inventory 25% Packaging 11% Customers &

Shopping 6%

Transit Losses

14%

Technology cost

< 1%

Indicator India China Brazil South

Africa

Documents to Ex-

port (Number) 8 7 8 8

Time to Export

(Days) 17 21 13 30

Cost to Export

( US $ per contain-

er)

1055 500 17907 1531

Documents to Im-

port (Number) 9 5 7 9

Time to Import

(Days) 20 24 17 35

Cost to Import

( US $ per contain-

er)

1025 545 1730 1807


LIBOR’s Labour’s LostLIBOR’s Labour’s Lost by Anuj Narula and Prakash Nishtala, NMIMS Mumbai

In 1598, William Shakespeare scripted the rib-tickling comedy “Love‖s Labour‖s

Lost”. The world has seen an unprecedented paradigm shift by then. But, now,

the history seems to repeat itself. This time around, Barclays comes up with an ad

nauseam thriller, “LIBOR‖s Labour‖s Lost”.

Prelude

During the late 1984 and early 1985, the financial world felt an inalienable need

to provide a standardized rate to facilitate the ever increasing usage of new

financial instruments such as interest rate swaps, foreign currency options, and

forward rate agreements, that‖s when LIBOR, or the London Interbank Offered

Rate, was born. Countries that rely on the LIBOR for a reference rate include the

likes of United States, Canada, Switzerland and the U.K.

LIBOR is the average interest rate estimated by leading banks in London. The

Banks charge this rate for lending credit to other banks in the London Interbank

Market. For instance, a multi-national corporation (MNC) with a very good credit

rating may be able to borrow money for one year at LIBOR plus four to five

points. LIBOR is calculated and published by Thomson Reuters on behalf of the

British Banker‖s Association (BBA) after 11:00 AM (usually around 11:45 AM) each

day (London time) on a daily basis wherein they survey interbank interest rate

quotes by 16 large banks. The submitted rates are, then, ranked and the mean is

calculated using only the two middle quartiles of the ranking. So, if 16 rates are

submitted, the middle 8 rates are used to calculate the mean. The calculated

mean becomes the London Inter-bank Offered Rate for that particular currency,

maturity, and fixing date. The rate at which each bank submits must be formed

from that bank‖s perception of its cost of funds in the interbank market. It is

published for various currencies and for maturities ranging from overnight to one

year.

BBA follows a typical, believed by many as immaculate, method for calculating

the sacrosanct LIBOR for the day. LIBOR plays a much crucial role by not only

providing information about the cost of borrowing in different currencies but it

also actually influences it. LIBOR, the lingua franca of the banks helps them in

figuring out what they should charge for not just home loans, but car loans,

commercial loans, credit cards.

Plot (LIBOR, Lie More?)

So far the LIBOR‖s journey was a dream run. Right from its inception, it has

enjoyed fame and acceptance in a world where change is the only constant. But,

all was not rosy as it appeared. As every flick has its protagonist, this story had

the Wall Street Journal (WSJ) as its saviour. In 2008, WSJ released a controversial

study suggesting that some banks might have understated borrowing costs they

“Right from LIBOR’s in-

ception, it has enjoyed

fame and acceptance in

a world where change is

the only constant.”


reported for LIBOR during the 2008 credit crunch that

may have misled others about the financial position of

these banks.

To obliterate gloomy economic scenario, banks

showed lower than actual interest rates. The lower

interest rates therefore resulted in lower LIBOR and

thus heaved up the confidence and increased lending.

As LIBOR is the average of the interest quotes by

different banks, so rigging of LIBOR would have

involved many banks.

Why was the rate rigged in the first place? A close

examination into the issue transpired that Barclays

was itself facing rising interest rates; had it provided

the same rates to BBA, it would have created an

unhealthy picture on the bank‖s financial stability and

liquidity issues it was facing would have surfaced. So,

in order to protect its own interest Barclays resented

on reporting (read rigging) lower rates so as to

present a merrier outlook to the outer world. The

rigging happened between 2005 and 2009, as often as

daily.

Creating a bang in the already turbulent banking

world- thanks to Euro crisis, the WSJ report on rigging

was welcomed with raised eyebrows and harsh

criticisms. A fast-paced turns of events ranging from

staunch investigations into the conversations of

Barclays‖ CEO Bob Diamond and the Deputy Governor

of Bank of England to the Barclays‖ public admittance

of the rigging, the world witnessed abdication of three

stalwarts of Barclays from the throne. Barclays Bank

was fined a total of £290 million (US$450 million) for

attempting to manipulate the daily settings of LIBOR.

What‖s the big deal?

Upshots on proletarian: If LIBOR is very high that

means one needs to dish out more to avail the credit.

If it‖s maneuvered towards a lower rate, it implies that

your interest earnings on savings account would be

subdued. Hence, in either ways, a manipulation would

lead to common man‖s loss.

As it is used as a benchmark for deciding various rates

across numerous banks including central banks or

even EURIBOR, so at a macroeconomic scale, it has

the potential to create many ripples in financial assets

worth $500 trillion.

Mumbai Inter-Bank Offered Rate (MIBOR) - The

Younger Brother

In India, as the financial markets started developing,

the need for a reference rate in the debt market was

felt. The National Stock Exchange (NSE) on 15 June

1998, developed the Mumbai Inter-Bank Offered Rate,

referred to as MIBOR, on the lines of LIBOR.

These rates are calculated by a combination of two

methods—polling and bootstrapping. In the polling

method, like in the case of LIBOR, the data is collected

from the panel of 30 banks which has a mix of public

sector banks, private sector banks, foreign banks and

primary dealers.

How safe is MIBOR?

As MIBOR shares a similar DNA as that of its elder

brother LIBOR, it might also have a little room to get

manipulated.

But, MIBOR has its own merits over LIBOR which

makes it a bit safer. Firstly, instead of omitting 2

highest and 2 lowest rates as is done in case of LIBOR,

NSE uses a statistical technique called bootstrapping

to separate the outliers and determine the mean rate.

It is expected to help against any attempt by the

market participants to come together and influence

rates. Secondly, though in a less extent, the very fact

of Indian banking system being largely dominated by

public sector banks makes one to believe that MIBOR

could not be affected by private players to satiate

their own interests.

Learning from LIBOR scandal

Prior to the exposure of scandal, proponents of LIBOR

were too confident about its piousness. Promoters of

MIBOR such as Reserve Bank of India (RBI) should act

proactively to tighten the possible loose links and to

cover the undiscovered loopholes.

The case in point is the possible switching over of

MIBOR calculation to actual dealt rates on a trading

platform. As India has online, screen-based trading of

money market instruments such as call money, unlike

voice-based markets in many countries, it makes

sense to move to a transparent, actual screen based

traded rate system which could capture actual MIBOR

levels.

Epilogue

As the Shakespeare‖s classic had not only the King of

Navarre involved in the promiscuity, he had an

unflinching support from his three noble companions

as well, on a similar line, even in this story Barclays is

not forlorn, they reportedly, have support from many


other players (refer to Exhibit 1) of the game. The

immediate action in the current context should be to

identify the hidden miscreants and subject them to

serious punishments.

What we require today from regulators is not merely

whipping fines on the perpetrators rather a system

should

Exhibit 1

evolve wherein there is no scope for manipulation at

all.

The world is now hopeful that one day, preferably

sooner than later, the system should get clear of all

the malpractices and the market participants can

again reinforce their faith in LIBOR.

The time must come sooner when we could say,

“LIBOR‖s LABOUR‖s WON!”

References

The Economic Times, Monday, July 23, 2012, Mumbai

Edition

Exhibit 1: http://chasvoice.blogspot.com/2012/08/

the-libor-cartel.html


Marketing Lessons from Marketing Lessons from Olympics London 2012Olympics London 2012

by Sankalp Singh Parihar & Kriti Dua, Great Lakes Institute of Management

Citius, Altius, Fortius.

Think of Olympics and suddenly there is a gleam of happiness over your face, an

amiable visage one which radiates and exudes only joy. It is an event that unites us,

binds us, combines us to synergize and support our athletes; it is the ultimate test of

human sporting capability and mettle. For fifteen days billions of people across

hundreds of nations wait and watch with bated breaths as their favorite stars sweat it

out with the best of the best. Each jump is an anticipated medal, each lunge another

jewel in the crown, each maneuver another name in the annals of history. It is those

fifteen days when the human mind is riveted to the television and newspaper

scurrying from one medium to another to find out the latest medal tally or the

progress of their favorite stars. Each outcry resonates the same emotion: What‖s the

progress? Did we win? Have we qualified? What‖s the tally?

It is this event when the world comes to a standstill to listen to this extravaganza when

you have the best opportunity to market yourself. A brand would not gather more

eyeballs at any other event or time than this. It is this small window, this small crevice

when you can do wonders with your product and market yourself to new pedestals of

success. Olympics 2012 cost London approximately $14.6 billion dollars.

Notwithstanding the high cost, 11 MNCs paid $1 billion dollars as sponsor fees. These

MNCs are Coca Cola, ATOS, Acer, GE, Panasonic, Samsung, Dow Chemicals, McDonald‖s

Corp., Omega, P&G and VISA. Now if a company pays top dollar for such event it is

safe to assume that it is betting its bottom dollar that the event would be a success.

And success it was. London 2012 Olympics was hailed by many as the best Olympics

so far. Over 10,000 athletes from 204 countries took part and captured the world‖s

attention. USA grabbed the highest number of golds, followed by China and Great

Britain. London 2012 was called the first true Social Media Olympics, keeping in mind

that Twitter, Facebook and other social media were in full flow and usage, both by

advertisers as well as the common public which sent more than 150 million tweets in

the span of 15 days. Chat rooms, Facebook walls, tweets, messages etc. were abuzz

with Olympics. People were either discussing sports strategies, medal tallies, next

competitions, prospects or quite surprisingly, advertisement and about brands. So

what exactly were the advertisers doing during this marathon 15 day event?

Official sponsors, advertisers, etc. all were busy creating a buzz around Olympics.

Some were extremely successful, others not so much. So what were the chief

marketing lessons from London Olympics 2012?

Lesson #1: It is no longer just an advertisement

Gone are the days when a simple and traditional advertisement before and during the

“London 2012

Olympics was

hailed by many as

the best Olympics

so far. “


Olympics‖ broadcast was enough. Or printing a simple

pamphlet or securing a half page advertisement is a

popular magazine was sufficient. Today it‖s it is no

longer just an advertisement. Give the consumers or

the people more than that. Create a mobile app,

compose a catchy jingle, start an optimistic

discussion, churn support for your athletes. General

Electric did just that. It created a Facebook application

that let users to work out like an Olympian. And not

only that, it handpicked four sport stars that had the

largest online fan following to create a campaign.

Panasonic which has a relative low presence in online

social media also created an online app that allowed

people to superimpose their national flag on their

pictures and some of the best pictures were then

displayed on huge screens in the Olympic parks.

Engagement is now necessary. Just an advertisement

is passé.

Lesson #2: Social Media is here to stay. Ignore it

and perish.

Social media is a giant today. If one wants to create a

true buzz, a wild discussion or a enhance one‖s PR

social media is the first step. Ushered as the first

Social Media Olympics, brands were smart enough to

realize the true value of social media. And rightly so,

millions of fans follow their favourite stars and

athletes on Facebook, twitter, etc. and anything said,

portrayed or conveyed by these stars has an instant

reach to millions. Truly an attractive medium for

different brands that leveraged it to its full potential

as evident by the following examples:

1. Jamaican sprinter Usain bolt famous for his

World record sprints mingled a photograph of

his with a refrigerator filled with the energy

drink Gatorade. Thanks to social media he

advertised it instantly to his 620,000 fans.

2. Or take the case of Michael Phelps, arguably the

greatest ever Olympian who is ardently

followed by 5.4 million Facebook fans. Phelps,

amidst his training and exercising updates

sprinkles a mention of famous brands like Head

and Shoulder Shampoo, Hilton hotels or VISA

creating an instant ring in the minds of his

followers.

Nothing helps a brand create a positivity around itself

more than social media and with the number of users

growing alarmingly in these social media sites,

ignoring them would not only be stupid but even

suicidal.

Lesson #3: Strike an emotional chord with the

public

Yes, it‖s an ecstatic sport. Yes, Olympics makes nations

proud and athletes celebrities, but nothing creates a

connection more than emotion. That unrestrained

bundle of joy that touches the sweet spot of your

heart; one which creates a whiff of joy and evokes that

wonderful tear of happiness, yes make your

consumers emotional. Proctor and Gamble did exactly

that and reaped rich benefits! Its emotional campaign

―Thank you mom‖ on social networking sites featured

an emotional video showing different scenes: It starts

with a line stating “They weren‖t born an Olympians.”

Then come the emotional scenes: a young kid held by

his mother as he stumbles to his first paddles in a

cycle, a concerned mom bandaging her hurt child, a

joyous mother playfully wrestling his son, a mom

bathing her child in the bath tub. Next frame: Olympic

participants taking part in corresponding events; a

cyclist running at full steam, another participant

bandaging himself before the start of the event, a

wrestler grappling his opponent, a swimmer racing

past his competitors. And then the emotional punch

line stating that as P&G Celebrates this year‖s Olympic

Athletes, they would like to remember the force

behind these athletes: Their Moms. This is followed by

scenes of emotional athletes hugging their crying

mothers. Truly an emotive scene which indeed struck

a chord with the common public and brought P&G

enormous PR positives. This was evident by the fact

that P&G was the most discussed brand in twitter and

over 90% of the mentions of P&G were around its

marketing theme.

Lesson #4: Offset your challenges

While branding and PR is an important as it can get

one should be mindful that negative PR spreads like

wild fire. And before one is able to douse the blaze,

the damage has been done. Take the case of

McDonald‖s which had negative press hounding it

since the beginning of the games as it was the sole

(exclusive) supplier of French Fries in the Olympic

Venue. Plus the fact that most people resented a fast

food company sponsoring an event touted to be the

cauldron of the fittest athletes, McDonald‖s had plenty

much to do to tackle the negative press. While a lot of

people were talking about McDonald‖s it was mostly

negative. McDonald‖s further failed to tackle this issue

in twitter as it only had a corporate twitter handle and

not a dedicated Olympics twitter feed. Result:

McDonald‖s had just 300,000 views in Youtube in a


month compared to 1million views for Adidas.

While on one hand, McDonald‖s failed to redeem itself

in the social sites, Coca Cola (also termed unhealthy

for the athletes and accused of being insalubrious to

be sponsoring a sporting event) conjured a rabbit

from the hat. Coke was enormously popular in the

social media which contributed to over 85% of the

brands mention during Olympics. Part of Coke‖s

success was due to the musical events it had

organized during the torch relay. One has to keep in

mind that there was no way Coke could have

marketed itself differently as healthy or done anything

to change public perception in such a short time.

Instead it chose to offset its shortcoming by

sponsoring events where there was a large audience.

Torch relays were not only witnessed by millions on

roads by millions more on media. Sponsoring the

torch relays created a positive mindset in the minds of

the consumers.

Lesson #5: Don‖t just be imaginative.

Think outside the box is one of the most oft repeated

clichés and it is true for a reason. Regular

advertisements though wonderful slip past a

consumers mind way too easily. Create an imaginative

and compelling ad and people will remember, discuss,

talk about it, disseminate on social networking sites

and they spread awareness about the brand. Take the

case of British Airways and its ―Don‖t Fly‖ Campaign.

The campaign is a minute long video disseminated by

television, social media and print which shows people

packing their bags in the aero plane. The Boeing 777

then taxies the passengers on board across the streets

of London through different areas as the excited

passengers paint cardboards, miniature flags to

support the home team. The ad ends with the plane

coming to a halt at an Olympics stadium and a caption

which says ―Don‖t fly. Come and support the Team

Great Britain #homeadvantage‖. This churning up of

national sentiment combined with the imaginative

and counterintuitive theme helped British Airways

generate a lot of positive PR.

Lesson #6: Finish with a bang.

The term ―Icing on the cake‖ or ―Cherry on the cake‖

sums it all. It‖s fabulous to have a great PR during the

Olympics but at the fag end or an event when

everyone is ready to wrap up and leave or when

others are busy packing their bags be ready to deliver

the knockout punch. Adidas the official Olympics

sponsors did just that. Adidas‖ Team GB created a

video with a multitude of Olympians lip syncing to

Freddie Mercury‖s famous song “Don‖t Stop me Now”.

The video was so popular that it was an online rage, a

wildfire and within two days everyone was talking

about it from Knighted personalities of London to

musicians and others. There were 1 million views

within 48 hours and everyone had just one thing to

say apart from the closing ceremony: ―Have you seen

the Adidas video?‖

Olympics are the pinnacle of sports and the perfect

opportunity to create awareness about one‖s brand

and product. Not leveraging such an important event

would simply be fool hardy. The next stop: Rio de

Janeiro 2016. Till then, au revoir.

References

http://www.ft.com/intl/cms/s/0/b0959724-e6fc-11e1-

af33-00144feab49a.html#axzz24kLFinZR

http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/c7b1f694-f5b9-11e0-bcc2

-00144feab49a.html#axzz24kLFinZR

http://www.ft.com/intl/cms/s/0/e7e9b3fa-d661-11e1-

ba60-00144feabdc0.html#axzz24kLFinZR

http://www.terminalu.com/europe/taxi-british-

airways-launches-dont-fly-olympics-ad-

campaign/27405/

http://ca.finance.yahoo.com/blogs/insight/london-

2012-olympic-games-marketing-lessons-extend-

beyond-155229166.html

http://www.campaignindia.in/Article/311814,top-10-

marketing-lessons-from-the-olympic-games.aspx

http://www.warrenstrategies.com/blog/bid/206511/4

-Marketing-Lessons-Learned-from-the-Olympics

Image Courtesy: Wikipedia http://en.wikipedia.org/

wiki/File:2012_Summer_Olympics_logo.svg


Mass vs. Class: Mass vs. Class: Branding for BOP Branding for BOP

RevisitedRevisited by Unnikrishnan Nair and Utkarsh Sachdeva,

TAPMI

Dynamism in the New markets and the potential of the market – close to 4 Billion of

the population, has been the main draw for many companies to cater to the newest

of the multitude segment – defined as the BOP or the bottom of the pyramid by the

legendary paper by C.K Prahlad.

1: The Economic Pyramid

The major draw for this market has been the lack of geographical boundaries to

cater to, with the population base spread across continents. Couple this with the

following factors and this brings forth a marketer‖s dream domain – innovative and

beyond straight forward understanding, requiring more than traditional text book

strategies.

“A look at the recent

trends in the market

and it is no surprise

that leading brands

have realized that

ignoring this segment

can be at their own

peril “


2: List of Constraints

The lure of this market has thrashed the conventional

ideology of given cost structures, product focus rather

than functionality focus and the mentality of having

innovations catering to the high end of the market.

Therefore, in a market ridden with innumerous

challenges, it has become a play ground for some

ground breaking products and practises and business

models that has redefined marketing as we know it

today.

The basic characteristics of the BOP segment have

been largely described as follows:

3: Belief V/S Reality

The Indian market is a prime example that has

showcased how BOP segment has been largely mis-

understood, especially on the brand front. HUL, Coke,

GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) and desi-brands like Micromax,

Brittania have all realized and evolved to cater to this

huge segment.

The basis for the branding exercise has been an

exercise born out of necessity and out of the

realization that the market is not exactly as

understood in literature.

4:Traditional 3A model of BoP Buying

The 3A model above has been the basis of product

purchase behaviour at the BOP level. However, brand

recall and awareness seems an oft neglect paradigm

here largely due to the non-availability of appropriate

mediums to cater to these segments. However, based

on the 11P marketing mix, and the PIRT (personality,

image, reputation & trust) model and suggestions of a

close relationship between brand attributes and

corporate brand image has been suggestive of

considerable impact on brand loyalty in the BoP

segment.

Economic Con-

straints

Low Gross domestic

product, low income,

high inflation, import

price shocks, reduced

private capital in-

flows Political Constraints Political instability,

poor governance,

corruption & weak

legal systems Infrastructure chal-

lenges

Lack of reliable elec-

tricity, poor distribu-

tion channels, unreli-

able transport Product Constraints Price Controls,

Availability, Differ-

ent set of needs

Beliefs Ground Reality

They have less pur-

chasing power and

hence the market is

volume driven and

not margin based

The margin factor is

not exactly right

They are not brand

conscious

They are highly brand

and value conscious

They are hard to

reach

They are willing to

pay premium for

goods & services

They are unable to

use and are not inter-

ested in advanced

technology

They have sophisti-

cated technology in-

clination


5: The BoP Brand Strategy

Using this model, the companies have been trying to

build the brand leadership in this segment based on

several counts:-

Consumer Knowledge: This is captured through

periodic research, helping to factor in mind shifts and

tweaking the marketing strategies to cater to the

people at the right points – an example was the

triangular hanging packs of Frooti in the stores at

affordable rates.

Long term vision: Brand extensions has been a major

factor – helping to gather enough traction and then

diversifying to cater to multiple needs through the

same brand- an example is the Tiger brand of biscuits

that took the market from Parle-G and successfully

went on to introduce affordable choco-chip biscuits

and cream biscuits at price points not envisaged by

others.

Product Innovation: Quality was never an important

consideration till the markets actually went on to

show their preference for it rather than price – this

was perfectly exploited or put to use by HUL through

their Surf Excel Blue catering to quality detergents

segment in BoP against their own Wheel brand, while

Surf Excel Automatic was positioned as a premium

brand.

Quality Confidence: Quality platform has been an

essential factor and its essential for continuing to

command premium market share – a case in point is

the Hero Motor Corp which has never tinkered with its

quality offerings, helping to cater to segments with

quality offerings and thus maintaining its numero uno

position in the country.

Multi-brand & Aggressive Branding Strategy: First

mover advantage and a complete capture of the

senses is an essential factor to cater and keep brand

recall and this has been essentially the case as proved

by HUL‖s multiple offerings that seem to be catering to

virtually the same market.

6: Brand Evolution in BoP

The significant shift has been in the context of moving

away from low margin-high volume products to actual

new products that command premium.

7: The Volume Game

Disruptive innovation has become the new name of

the game and it is not surprising at all if we have a

good look at how disruptive innovation and BoP

market actually functions. Hence branding has

become more than just a name – it‖s a game play

which involves survival through evolution and genesis.


8: Disruptive Innovation & BoP

A look at the recent trends in the market and it is no

surprise that leading brands have realized that

ignoring this segment can be at their own peril – a

point brought into strict focus thanks to the relentless

occurrence of recession impacting the markets that

have always been the primary focus for marketers.

The need has now shifted to value for money, and

innovation that cater to the duality of functions as

well costs and fit in with needs across the segments

incorporated with marketing initiatives that can never

be found in text books.

9: The BoP innovation trends


If Tata Nano is a product that redefined car making

and business models, it is but a gentle reminder that

the new world order will be dictated not by the high

pointers but by the bottoms that support the

structure in the first place.

References

Branding at the base of pyramid: A Zimbabwean

perspective by Tendai Chikweche and Richard

Fletcher

Disruptive Innovations at the Bottom of the Pyramid

Can they impact on the sustainability of today‖s

companies? by BAIYERE Abayomi & ROOS Jaspar

Reality Check at the Bottom of the Pyramid by Erik

Simanis

Raising the Bottom of the Pyramid: Strategies for

Sustainable Growth by C. K. Prahalad & Stuart L. Hart

Shampoo, saris and SIM cards: Seeking

entrepreneurial futures at the bottom of the pyramid

by Catherine Dolan, Mary Johnstone-Louis & Linda

Scott

Branding paradigm for the bottom of the pyramid

markets by Rajagopal

http://www.brandchannel.com/home/

post/2010/01/12/Coca-Cola-GSK-Invest-In-Indias-

Bottom-Of-Pyramid-Consumers.aspx


Personalization: 8th P of Personalization: 8th P of Service IndustryService Industry

by Arpit Bansal, SIMS, Pune

Abstract—This article is about the enhancement of personalization in the

service industry at an alarming rate. It also signifies why personalization

should be 8th P of service Industry. It describes how Personalization actually

satisfy the snob value of customer and create imprint in the mind of the

consumer. Finally the game of personalization is understand by major players

in Europe and middle east but there are some patches where this fact is still

under cover. This article is based on my research and training in Le Meridien

New Delhi. Every hypothesis has the relevant and proved data .

INTRODUCTION

The service industry is the industry which is growing worldwide. Day by day this

industry mitigates the mistakes and luring the customer with innovation. Gap

analysis is done to reduce the gap between what customer expect and what the

industry is offering to them. Personal care or personal attention is demanded and

very less offered or identified. Growing conventional wisdom in marketing argues

that customer loyalty is responsible for large fractions of the profits of many service

businesses. Constructs such as satisfaction, trust, customer collaboration, customer

interaction, firm image, personalization, learning relationships, and so forth, have all

been proposed as intermediate objectives, or as tools to build loyalty. Yet, to date,

only some of these constructs have been measured and shown to be related to

loyalty. This paper fills a portion of the empirical gap by showing that service

personalization, indeed, affects loyalty, above and beyond the other explanatory

variables.

WHAT IS PERSONALIZATION ?

Sometimes Personalization is also defined as the adaption of new policies or

changes which can be customize according to guest but Personalization is nothing

but adjusting or designing the things in order that the specific person who is landing

to your hotel will personally like it. In service Industry people are eagle-eye (from

cleanliness of remote of TV to groomed staff ) they actually notice each and every

thing. So peculiarity in every task is expected. Even a centimeter of smile is also

mentioned in manual of some 5 star Hotels when some employee escorting or

welcome the guest hotels .

“The service industry

is the industry which

is growing world-

wide.”


ELEMENTS OF PERSONALIZATION

There are three elements of personalization which are

defined as :

So all the level 1 employees work on these

elements so that they can get more business,

Personalization is directly related to user. Suppose if

some Gujarati family is coming to the Hotel then all

the arrangements are done according to them. More

variety of food should be available as Gujarati are

fond of food. Gujarati channel should be made

available to their room. This type of customization is

actually implemented in “CIDADE DE GOA”. This is the

hotel who changed its target audience because there

was oil leakage from the nearer port and people are

getting rashes and skin disease if they are going in the

sea water. So this hotel is very apt example of

Personalization.

Content refers to the interest of the people in service

industry. Expected features in the hotel are about

cleanliness of room, basic facilities and the privacy.

But Hotel like Le Meriden is also caters about the

guest health and entertainment. They have spa, gym,

yoga , swimming pool, Jacuzzi jewelry shop , pastry

shop , coffee lounge , all day dining restaurant ,

specialty restaurant , Bar and discotheque . So these

kind of eminent facilities are basically to lure the guest

and this actually builds the differential advantage

among different 5 star properties.

Rules are actually designed not only for guest but also

for the employees working in the organization. To

satisfy the snob value some of the features are only

avail to VVIP guest. Requirements , designs and

facilities are change according to situation and people.

That‖s what called as flavor of Personalization.

EMPHASIS ON KEY FEATURES

It is being found out that there are categories where

service industry wants to review or concentrate on

guests. Now these are few categories where the whole

set of 5 star hotels wants to differentiate themselves.

These are some parameters on which employees

wants to judge the guest experience.

Improvement in these areas would help the Hotel to

retain its brand name as well as the customers.

Across the world hospitality is the only industry where

guest repeat behavior is very low. The factor like trust

and comfort can be easily copied but not the Personal

care. So marketing executive should always keep this

in mind.

These are the few parameters which are accessed in

detail by the five star hotels to analyze more business.

I have done a research and training in le Meriden New

Delhi and this data is collected , analyzed by me and

recommended by my teachers from the Institution.

These parameters are further divided into small

subparts that garner the view point of the guest. For

example arrival is bifurcated into:

1. Entry experience and lobby environment

2. Doormen/Bellman service and check in

experience

3. Directional signage with secure environment

I have individual result for each question as well as

coagulated graphical data also


Overall welcome

This is the data collected from the Le Meridien, New

Delhi which has all the authentication proofs as well

as recommendation. Sample size is kept to 100 for the

calculation purpose. This data shows that how much

peculiarity is expected in the decorum of Five Star

property and how minutely each of these parameters

are judged by the guest.

CONCLUSION

After this research we can say that hospitality

business are booming in the country due to rich

heritage value of India . Probably this is better

opportunity to get our bags full of the Forex reserves.

This is the business which have a great impact of word

of mouth (WoM) . So to enhance the imprints in the

mind of consumer Personalization is the best weapon

to cope with.

Referral from the consumer also helps to convert

leads to potential account. All the traits and elements

are shown in the article with facts and figures. This

shows how Personalization is going to become the

deciding factor for the consumers while choosing the

Hotels and how it will affect the Hospitality business.

References

Journal Article, one author

Sweeny, K. (2008). Hospitality Marketing: an

introduction takes a unique approach to outlining

marketing processes in the hospitality industry.. Hospitality

Bulletin, 134(1), 61-76.

Journal Article, two authors

Sanchez, D. & King-Toler, E. (2007). Addressing Marketing

for Hospitality and Tourism

. Consulting Hospitality Journal: Practice and Research,

59(4), 286-295.

Journal Article, more than two authors

Van Vugt, M., Hogan, R., & Kaiser, R. B. (2008).

Personalization and marketing in hospitality .Some lessons

from the past. American Author, 63(3), 182–196.

Magazine article

Kluger, J. (2008, January 28).Events at hospitality industry.

Time, 171(4), 54-60.

Newspaper article, no author

As prices surge. European service industry. (2008, May 5).

The Wall Street Journal, p. A9.

Newspaper article, multiple authors,

discontinuous pages

Delaney, K. J., Karnitschnig, M., & Guth, R. A. (2008, May 5).

Microsoft ends pursuit of Yahoo, reassesses its online

options. The Wall Street Journal, pp. A1, A12.

Butterworth-heineman

Hospitality principles : Butworth –hineman (11th ed.).

(2003). Springfield, MA: Merriam-Webster.

Robert D. Reid, David C. Bojanic

Kidder, T. (1981). Hospitality Marketing Management

Boston: Little, Brown & Company.


Mr. Sanat Satyan

Research Associate, Equity Research - Oil & Gas sector, Nomura

TAPMI had an opportunity to interact with Mr. Sanat Satyan, Research Associate, Equity Research - Oil & Gas sector, Nomura. In an exclusive interview with Jayakrishnan Reghunathan for Pratibimb, Mr. Sanat Satyan shares valuable insights on the current trends and challenges faced in global investment banking industry. Mr Satyan is a TAPMI alumnus from 2008 batch. Excerpts: [The views expressed are his personal and not views of Nomura or any other organization he has worked for]

Equity analyst job @ an Investment bank is very

hectic by nature and very demanding in terms of

long working hours etc. What are the average

working hours in an Investment bank?

In the Indian investment banking industry for

international banks, 12-14 hours is minimum. It is a 5

day work week but sometimes, if you are working on

urgent reports and deals, you may have to work on

the weekend as well. However, this is lesser compared

to the domestic IB companies where you will have to

work on Saturdays as well primarily because some

Indian companies report their financials on

weekends.

What are the current major trends in the global

investment banking Industry?

For 2-3 decades before the 2008 crisis, investment

banks had not changed the way they had been doing

business. They were doing exactly the same things

that they were doing three decades earlier in almost

the same fashion. Post crisis, the industry has seen

some collaboration between regulators, governments

and financial institutions. Banks have realized that

one needs a better cost structure, efficient trading

platform and timely client interface, more than

anything else (even, leverage). I believe, from 2012

onwards, you are going to see a structural shift in how

banks are going to service their clients and make

money. Client interface is changing internationally as

banks are shifting to online trading platforms, which

is more cost effective and efficient. As a result, one

will see more high frequency trading platforms

coming up. As the industry recovers, these changes

will more likely stay.

What is your opinion about the industry trend of

buy side firms reducing the dependency on sell

side analysts by employing more sophisticated in-

house buy side analysts as part of cost reduction?

What do you think about this from a buy side and

sell side point of view?

A sell side analyst is always a specialist on a particular

sector and that is the value he adds to the buy side

client. Internationally, roles that buy side firms offer

as an analyst are mainly that of a generalist across

multiple sectors and sometimes, even multiple asset

classes. Although buy side firms may intend to

develop in-house expertise for portfolio management

roles, we constantly hear from clients about the need

for more macro research and industry trend analysis

from sell side. This is where the next ―big‖ idea comes

from!

Now that all the major Investment banks are

INTERVIEW


looking for more opportunities in emerging

markets, can you please comment on the kind of

job opportunities created as a result of this?

The kind of opportunities coming to emerging market

will likely be more towards assessing local knowledge

and expertise. Salary cost inflation may make offshore

units less attractive for some time but as banks move

towards growth regions, it will be crucial to hire

people who can provide effective corporate access.

This can only come through local presence and

networks, forcing one to focus on local equities.

One important objective for all the major

investment banks today is cost reduction. What do

you think about this?

We often forget that the global IB industry works on

this model. In a bull market, it will hire and in a down

cycle, it will lay off in the absence of deals. The last 3-4

years have been very tough on banks amidst tighter

regulations and public criticism. Banks had grown to

such a size that the only way to remain profitable was

to shrink. This will change again once the market

recovers. Also, one must remember that this is very

sector-specific – banks are shrinking their headcount

in sectors where they do expect any growth

opportunities.

How do global investment banks deal with

competition from the domestic players in the

emerging markets?

What I hear from my colleagues, the competition is

indeed very tough simply due to the large number of

players. A company like Reliance Industries is covered

by more than fifty brokers and if you are entering a

market where there are already 50 players, it is going

to be tough to make money, unless you provide

differentiated research and calls. This is true for all

firms in the market and not just international

investment banks. One key differentiator for

international investment banks in such a situation is

the access it provides through global research and

international investor base.

What according to you are the skills which a

company looks in an MBA graduate for the role of

an Equity Analyst or a Sales/Trader profile?

Besides technical skills (which is a given for this

industry), the most important skill we look for is

communication skills, which is crucial to this industry

– you might have the best idea but if you cannot

communicate, it is of no use! Technical skills like

valuation methodologies and excel based modeling

are also important. In recent years, the importance of

additional qualifications like CFA and CA has also

increased. Finally, a proactive nature along with being

a team player is also considered. This industry is

about idea generation on a daily basis so a little bit of

financial creativity is always welcome.

Due to increased regulatory requirements such as

the Basel III norms on liquidity, leverage etc.

which will limit the scope for more risk taking,

how do you think this can affect the investment

banking business?

Talking about the regulatory requirements let me give

you an example. The FSA in UK aims make sure that

an investment bank does not mis-sell products, does

not make securitized products so complicated that a

client cannot understand it and that there are

effective penalties for both. Globally this has become

a trend now as regulators have become more

coordinated. This has indeed made certain functions

in bank more difficult (e.g. proprietary trading). In

hind sight, industry experts now say that this is good

for the industry. Besides lowering risk appetite and

complex products, banks will also learn to focus on

quality. Shrinking sizes will help the industry has a

whole to become more efficient and hopefully, less

competitive.

Regarding the recent developments in the

industry about few major banks making huge

losses on derivative deals, do you think there is a

scope for improvement in risk management

systems which are currently in place?

I agree that risk management systems at banks had

failed but it was not because they were wrong. Such

events occur when certain people learn to manipulate

the system and even banks are not ready for it. Today,

the FSA has even admitted that ―LIBOR‖ is broken but it

is helpless, given the large volume of instruments

quoting it. Every bank has checks and balances in

place to ensure that such events don‖t occur but it

seems that this is not enough. It is important to

maintain trust with customers and banks have now

started to invest more internally to ensure that

―compliance‖ is maintained. People interacting with

clients/customers are more held responsible now for

their actions – and regulators have started taking

strict action for any misuse. However, I still believe


there is a long way to go for the industry in this

regard.

During recession, some of the major Wall Street

banks were accused of selling junk investments to

investors. Do you think there is a high need for

ethical concern in this Industry?

In an ideal world, everybody will be ethical but I

believe it is more of a human nature and not

restricted to a particular firm, industry or region. As a

general rule the industry right now works on the

principle of “Buyer Beware” and there is a lot of effort

being put in to essentially change this thought

process. As industry participants realize that their

malicious actions are detrimental to both themselves

and the industry at large, we can expect people to

―become more ethical‖. One quick and effective

solution (agreed by regulators) is strict penalties (both

financial and professional) through restitution and

prohibition.

How was your experience at TAPMI and how is it

helping you in your current role?

I had worked with ING Vysya Bank for two years

before joining TAPMI in 2006 which helped me

understand the importance of several subjects that

were being taught in the classroom. Some of the

subjects which we studied are still very relevant such

as Corporate finance, valuation, Security analysis and

Portfolio Management etc. However, the industry is

changing rapidly and it is also important to keep

oneself up to date. Working on real like case studies

of contemporary events (like a small summer

internship project every month in your syllabus) is

something that will be helpful to a finance student of

today.


The Learning Experience by Chandrakumar N, TAPMI

They say everyman is a sum total of his experiences. If

that were the case, I have to be immensely thankful

for Disha which has enriched me with a wide array of

meaningful experiences. I went through almost every

emotional state - from jubilance to depression, pride

to disappointment, and stress to relaxation. I

interacted with illustrious men and experienced the

proud feeling that one gets when all things go exactly

as planned.

So what am I talking about?

I am talking about Disha, the Annual HR conclave held

in T. A. Pai Management Institute, Manipal. It is the

second biggest HR conclave in India and is held in the

second week of September. For Disha, we call senior

level HR executives from various companies for a

round of panel discussions and guest lectures in our

campus. It is a platform where our students get a

chance to interact with corporate honchos from big

companies and the executives meet the students from

TAPMI and get a feel of our college and its activities.

This year Disha was held on September 8th and 9th. I

am Chandrakumar N., a second year PGDM student in

TAPMI. I am a part of the HRFORUM, the committee

which makes it all happen and I was the Event co-

ordinator for Disha 2012.

Who all were the guests of Disha?

This year we had the following guests coming to Disha

2012.

As the chief guest for inauguration, we had Padma

Vibhushan Dr. M. S. Valiathan, Ex-vice chancellor of

Manipal University and National Research professor

of the Government of India.

What are the personal lessons for me from Disha?

1. The higher the stature of a person, the humbler

he is.

This was something I found out after talking to n

number of executives who held roles from assistant

manager to president. Of all the people I interacted

with during Disha, the most humble was Dr. M. S.

Valiathan. He is a Padma Vibhushan recipient,

National research professor and has been a part of

planning commission for many 5 year plans. I, along

with a member from HRFORUM, had gone to invite

him for the inauguration ceremony. Before the

meeting we were intimidated and were a little

nervous as we had never interacted with a person of

his stature. But we were pleasantly surprised to meet

the kind and wise gentleman. Instead of the allotted

10 minutes, we ended up spending an hour discussing

various problems of the country, what needs to be

done to make it a better place and the steps to be

taken to improve the Indian Education System. I still

cherish the pleasant intellectual conversation we had

with Dr. Valiathan. The other guests who came for

Disha were equally humble and easy to talk to. These

guests held roles like President, Vice President, Head

HR etc. But interactions with each of them were like

Disha 2012


the ones with our college faculty. They were friendly,

cordial and pleasant.

2. A team needs to gel well before any results can

be expected of them.

Tuckman's stages of group development says that every team that is formed will have to go through the following 4 stages for it to grow, to face up to challenges, to tackle problems, to find solutions, to plan work, and to deliver results.

I think one stage, the storm stage can be replaced by a better one, accustom. So it can also be

Before we actually started the work for Disha, we took all the members for a nice dinner outing. We played some team building games, interacted and got to know each other well. This and many more of such informal meetings led to a good rapport among the members. Once the team members are comfortable with each other, it is much easier to work with them. This accustom phase can be used to bypass the Storm stage, which is usually the unpleasant stage where team members confront each other and differences are resolved. So you don‖t have to tolerate the team members because now, they are your friends.

3. Democratic way of leadership is not the only

way.

According to a HBR Article, Leadership that gets

Results by Daniel Goleman, there are 6 types of

leadership

The article goes on to say that, the most effective

leader is one who is well versed in all these types of

leaderships and uses each of them like an expert

mechanic uses different type of tools for different

situations.

Before Disha I knew only one way and that was

democratic. For every decision I used to get a group

consensus and carry forward. But during the course of

Disha I have picked up a few more styles of

leadership; pacesetting, affiliative and authoritative

being the prominent ones.

Team Disha comprised of 18 people. Each of them

highly motivated, intelligent and smart individuals but

none same as the other. Each of them had their own

reasons to be a part of the team, their own ways of

thinking, and their own definitions of success. So how

do you deal with each of them? You deal with them

individually.

For motivated smart members who need a friendly

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tuckman's_stages_of_group_development


figure who just needs to tell them what needs to be

done, I used to delegate the entire responsibility. For

humble hard working members who needed a little

more guidance in their task, I put on the role of a

coach. For members who just needed to know their

share of work, I put on the role of an authoritative

figure.

Though these tools which I have acquired may still be

blunt, nevertheless they are priceless and will

definitely come in handy in the future.

4. It helps to have a lot of friends

During Disha, I had a lot of help from non-members

of Disha whether they are my classmates or faculty or

the support staff. Having a friendly relation with

people definitely pays off. There were many instances

where the support staff of TAPMI voluntarily came

and gave suggestions for improving Disha. And there

were always friends and well-wishers who were there

to help whenever I needed it.

On the whole, I would say that Disha has taught me

many things. Some lessons about operational

efficiency, some about human behaviour and some

about me as a person.

References

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/

Tuckman's_stages_of_group_development

Daniel Goleman, Leadership That Gets results,

Harvard Business Review, April 2000


Money Matters by Nishith Maheshwari, TAPMI

It is said that the people you encounter while at

University are among the most diverse and interesting

you will ever meet and that probably you will stay in

touch with a number of them for many years

afterwards. I discovered the same at TAPMI, with its

unique college system of numerous student run

committees responsible for different functions of

college. Being a member of the Finance Forum from

my first year; gave me a strong sense of being part of

something big and also provided a platform through

which you meet and work along with a lot of people,

many of which will become your friends for life.

The main objective of the Finance Forum is to

increase the financial knowledge of the batch. In

order to achieve the same the Finance Forum is

responsible for conducting numerous events

throughout the year. The flagship event of Finance

Forum is its annual conclave - ―HORIZON‖. A student

run initiative, the conclave aims to bring together

finance professionals from investment banks,

commercial banks, mutual fund houses, credit rating

agencies, business houses as well as academicians,

alumni, and students to discuss recent trends and

emerging issues in the industry, the challenges and

opportunities they present and the way ahead. It also

acts as a forum for budding entrepreneurs and

students in the field of finance to interact with

Horizon 2012


eminent business leaders.

This year Horizon was held on the 22nd September;

and I, Nishith Maheshwari as the event coordinator

and a member of Finance Forum- the committee

responsible to visualize the event from conception

stage to the D-Day, had an experience which is truly

difficult to pen it down in a few words.

It was an event which the entire team nurtured from

its roots. It was like giving birth to a child, a one day

event for many but a 6 month nurturing time for few.

The planning of Horizon started from March, a month

before we leave for our summer internships. It was

this time when you use all your financial skills that

you have learnt during the first year to prepare a

budget for the event and get it approved by the

college authorities by justifying each and every

expense. It was when the entire team was busy with

their summer internships in different cities across the

country, the crucial stage of the event took shape -

coining the event theme and getting in touch with

corporate speakers and sponsors for the event. It was

a challenge to keep the entire team informed at the

same level and at the same time coordinate within the

team and external agents and ensure smooth

functioning. This is when we as a team realized the

importance of IT systems in today‖s management.

By the time we were back to the campus in June, a lot

of thing had started to move. The central theme was

coined, the brochures were ready, and we were in

touch with more than 30 companies to confirm their

participation and were in advance stage of discussions

with almost a dozen sponsors. The entire senior team

comprising of 8 members was now excited to recruit

the junior team. The new batch joins the college in

July and TAPMI has a structured process by which the

different committees select their junior members.

Finance Forum being amongst the most sought after

committees in the college had more than 100

applicants and it was a challenge to select the best 10

members from so many applicants. It was this stage

which gave me the first hand experience of judging

personalities on the basis of their resume and a short

interview, followed with detailed discussions with the

team on their observations and opinions. After long

discussions and a lot of reasoning the junior team was

selected.

With the junior team now selected and the team size

now growing to an 18 member team, it was essential

to quickly identify roles and functions for all the

members to ensure proper functioning and

accelerating a lot of activities as the crucial day was

only 60 days away. This is when the application of

various organizational theories and structures gained


importance as I tried to figure out a mechanism to

ensure quick ways to ensure that the individual

members gel well as a team. We had a dinner outing,

played some team building games which ensured a

high level of interaction and everyone got to know

each other well. Once the team was comfortable with

each other it was much easier to work.

The next few days were a rollercoaster ride with tasks

getting done and again undone on account of

unforeseen situations. It was the final run up towards

the event and the work increased manifold times with

every passing day but with proper distribution of work

it ensured smooth functioning. It was a job where you

have to visualize not only your activities for the day

but the work of all the individual members of the

team and of the team as a whole. You also need to be

a quick thinker for unseen circumstances. I

particularly faced two challenges- managing my time

and managing the timing of the event! It is always

difficult to find a date when most corporate speakers

can spend spare time from their busy schedule to

participate in the event. It was also very nice to find a

lot of friendly alumni who offered to help and get

involved.

With so many committed enthusiastic and

experienced members of Finance Forum, Horizon

2012 with a central theme ―New Economic Order

Post Crisis: Political Reforms, Regulations and

Inclusive Growth‖ started with full swing in the

morning of 22nd September as corporate guests from

the finance sector showered the wealth of financial

knowledge to enthusiastic students of the Institute.

Delegate Company Designation

Dr. Manoranjan Sharma (Chief Guest) Canara Bank Chief Economic Advisor

Mr. Arijit Mukherjee Anand Rathi Senior Vice President

Mr. Hariprasad Centrum Vice President – Treasury

Ms. Lavanya Ashok Goldman Sachs PIA

Mr. Rohan Mathew ICRA Senior Manager

Mr. Sushil Shah First Source DGM, Solution Design, Asia

Mr. Shomitro Goswami Astal Capital CEO

Mr. Sanat Satyan Nomura Senior Analyst


The Google Story by Madhukar Holla, TAPMI

Title: The Google story

Author: David A Vice with Mark Malseed

Publisher: Pan Books, London 2005.

Pages: 316

An awe inspiring success story, a hub of innovations, a legion of geeks and a mandatory search engine!!

Google paints a colorful vibrant picture as a company, as an essential web tool, as a culture and as a

phenomenon. In the age of never quenching thirst for better speed, better quality, Google not only keeps up its

pace but also aspires to be a step ahead.

So what is this Google phenomenon? What sets aside Google from the rest? Who are the actors in the

Google Odyssey? How does Google make money? How is it to work for Google? David A Vice, a Pulitzer Prize

winner, an eminent journalist and an MBA from Wharton, finds out and in this intriguing book, narrates the

story of Google. Vice, who has authored the fiction thriller novel “The bureau and the mole”(2002) and has

worked as a business journalist for Washington post has instilled in his book the elements of both these genres.

The book, hence comes across as an easy to read business Biography with emphasis more on narration than on

bare statistics and technical analysis, catering to a large number of readers with scant knowledge on the

technical aspects of search engines and its algorithms.

BOOK REVIEW


The book starts off with the Google founders, Brin and Page, receiving a grand reception at a school,

where they speak to the kids about how it feels to be a part of Google and its culture! The book then breaks

away into a chronological narrative, along its way, presenting the personal history of various people involved in

the journey and captures various highs and lows that the company faced, the role of Eric Schmidt and others,

the Google economy and its presence and much more. The book also narrates the challenges that Google faces,

including Microsoft and Google‖s expansion in China and trademark infringement troubles. There are some

thoroughly enjoyable light hearted chapters like “Burning Man” and “Charlie‖s place” too!

So does the book do justice to its claim to give the inside story of the “Hottest Business, Media and

Technological Success of Our time”? Not if you are looking for those technical jargons flying around or if you

have insatiable appetite for in depth business analysis of Google‖s unparalleled growth! But this book has in it a

humane insight into how the Google culture evolved, who were the perpetuators and how various events and

people helped in the creation of an empire we now know as Google! Every chapter of the book is a story in itself

dealing with a completely different aspect of the Google story, but, the Google culture, which is the underlying

theme throughout the book, is well inscribed in each of the chapters and keeps the reader in sync with purpose

of the book. The author succeeds in his narrative technique juxtaposing the story with anecdotes and opinions

of various people, making the book not only an enlightening read but also a thoroughly enjoyable one. And for

the thrills, there are extra features like candid photo gallery, a playboy interview of Brin and Page, Google

search tips and GLAT (Google Labs Aptitude test). While the interview and photographs give an exciting insight

into the candid face of Google, Google search tips are quite handy and with GLAT you may end up with a job in

Googleplex (Google headquarters)! And lastly, the book inspires through its efficient narration and subtly drives

the point “Don‖t be evil”: the Google w(c )atchphrase! The book also illustrates the power of innovation and a

“healthy disregard for the impossible” and has a lesson or two in it for all of us!! The lack of a concluding

summary at the end of the book gives a feeling of an abrupt end. But with the Google story going strong and

with many more chapters left, maybe the author is justified leaving the story where it stands and not conclude!

All in all the book delivers and the timeless aspect of its subject makes it a mandatory entry into your

bookshelf!


HCL had organized a conference about emerging

women business leaders on Friday, 7th September

2012. They invited top 2 women leaders from 30 MBA

colleges across India. The selected candidates were

also to receive a Pre-placement Interview (PPI) from

HCL technologies.

Having watched the colourful posters of this

conference on the noticeboard, and it being an

exclusive opportunity for girl students, every girl in

the college was excited about the same. Moreover the

most important term of an MBA program is the one in

which placements happen, and to be able to get a PPI

from one of the top most IT companies, this appeared

to be a once in a lifetime opportunity.

When the placement team briefed us about the

selection procedure we knew that the competition

from all the peers was immense. After the briefing we

had to put up our application in a very long Google

document, specifying our grades from 10th class

onwards to the last semester of MBA. We also filled in

details of our leadership capabilities and related

achievements. After 2 days of the anxiousness, when

we saw our names in the Congratulatory headline, it

was a very happy moment. To be able to represent

college for something was like a dream come true.

Afterwards we set out to complete the formalities of

taking permissions for our travel and booking tickets,

and we waited for the D day to arrive. We had bags

packed a night before, ensuring that we had put in our

best formal clothes for the good first impression. After

attending the morning classes, we flew from

Mangalore to Delhi on 5th September. When we

reached HCL technologies in Sector 126, it felt

extremely good to be standing in front of gates of the

office I had worked in just 8 months before. Although

my old colleagues had since then moved to other

project locations, but the anticipation of seeing

someone familiar was always there. The security

guard guided us to the venue. We registered our

names at the reception and were given satin tags with

our names printed on it and the organizer gave us our

table positions. It was the first time that I had the

pleasure of attending a round table conference. We

were given the day‖s schedule and it is worth

mentioning that each session was timed to the T. Mr

Naveen Narayan, global talent acquisition who was

also the host of the event, gave the welcome address.

The second session was by MrPrithvi Shergill, Chief

HR office. Since I am doing major in HR, I was looking

forward to this session the most. He told us that he

had joined HCL technologies about four months back

and accepted the offer because of HCL‖s employee

first customer second philosophy. His “would be”

subordinates were asked to give feedback on him,

before he was successfully hired. This was the perfect

example of Employee first being in practice.

There was another interesting session on Women and

Innovation by Ms. Srimathi Shivashankar, Global

Head Diversity, Inclusion and Sustainability.

Personally, I don‖t see connect between innovation

and women in particular and when Ms. Srimathi

started her speech with this very line, I was even more

interested to hear her thoughts. She gave some

statistics about how women lead management teams

have better ROI than men only teams and encouraged

us to strive for the leadership positions in our

organizations.

During the tea break we had the opportunity to

directly interact with the speakers and also the 60

other students who were representing India‖s top 30 B

schools. At my table were students of NITIE, K J

Somaiya, ISB and Welingkar. The arrangements for tea

and lunch were extremely well done. There were

many varieties of breads, colourful salads and fruits.

We had a good experience of a 5 course meal.

Emerging Women Business

Leaders by Harsha Vatnani, TAPMI

HCL Conference


One of the interactions we had was with the Head of

HCL‖s Campus relations and we came to know that he

had met our Director Prof. R.C. Natarajan, just a day

before. Having found a personal connect he made us

feel home by asking questions about our travel and

gave us some pointers on how best to spend another

day in Delhi.

Post lunch we had a talk with HCL Technologies CEO

Mr. Vineet Nayar. True to his reputation Mr. Vineet

was straight forward in his approach. He pointed out

that innovation is non-existent in India owing to

reasons like old-school education systems, people not

having high self-esteem and Indians generally being

risk-averse people. He stressed on the fact that

women need more guts and conviction to work their

way towards senior roles because of many constraints

they face. It was a small session of 20 minutes but left

the biggest impression on us. He shook us mentally

and helped us to think that as women we create

barriers for ourselves. Once we decide that we want

to achieve certain heights in the career, there would

really be no ceiling.

In the hindsight I think that such a session was

scheduled perfectly just after the lunch, to remove

any post lunch fatigue that the participants may have

had.

In the session on Transitioning to a Global Mindset,

Mr. Ed Cohen, CLO HCL Technologies, talked about

the differences between the interdependent and

independent cultures. The differences are attributed

to-

Causal relationships/Circle of trust

Positional authority

Decision making time

Society of abundance versus deficit

Different meanings of punctuality

Complexity of Yes/No

Difference in way of handling problems

I enjoyed this session the most because of the way it

was delivered. Ed cohen included funny anecdotes

about his stay in Hyderabad and the difficulties he

and his family faced because of the culture

differences.

In the session on Gender Intelligence, Ms Rangini

Manian, CEO Global Adjustments talked about

neuro-biological differences in men and women and

consequent difference in their behaviours. She also

cited Nielsen study of “Most stressed women in the

world” where Indian women were found to be the

most stressed people. She pointed out that women

should follow 3 simple steps for success-

Go from No confidence to Confidence and learn

to say “ I can”

Give yourself permission to be imperfect

Leverage your natural and learned skills

She came across as very friendly and down to earth

person. She had an aura of success yet humility

around herself and after her session each one of us

felt proud for being the women leaders. We also

attended panel discussion on career choices for MBA

graduates. Before the close of the program, we were

awarded Certificates of participation and given T

shirts as a souvenir.

Attending HCL‖s emerging women‖s conference was

not just a great achievement but an overall great

experience for both of us.


Slideshare by Sahil Anand, TAPMI

Sharing slides whilst shifting tides

“The idea of taking an idea and making it come alive, there‖s something very powerful and very fun about that.

You dream it up and you build it and you put it on the site and millions of people use it. That is a very satisfying

business.”

-Rashmi Sinha

Rashmi Sinha

Co-founder & CEO at Slideshare


Do you want to get the word out about your product or service? Do you want your slides to reach people who

could not make it to your talk? Are you a teacher looking to share your lesson plans? It only takes a moment -

start uploading now, and let your slides do the talking. The world will take notice, as confidently presented by

the management team of slideshare. With 60 million monthly visitors and 130 million page views, slideshare is

amongst the most visited 200 websites in the world. It was voted amongst by the World's Top 10 tools for

education & e-learning in 2010.

Launched on October 4, 2006, the website is headquartered in San Francisco, and has an office in New

Delhi. It is a Web 2.0 based slide hosting service and users can upload files privately or publicly in the following

file formats: PowerPoint, PDF, Keynote or OpenOffice presentations. Originally meant to be used for businesses

to share slides among employees more easily, it has since expanded to also become a host of a large number of

slides which are uploaded merely to entertain. Although the website is primarily a slide hosting service, it also

supports documents, PDFs, videos and webinars. It also provides users the ability to rate, comment on, and

share the uploaded content.

SlideShare's biggest competitors include Scribd.com, Issuu and Docstoc. SlideShare has attracted a number of

people around the globe. Some of the biggest institutions including The White House, NASA, World Economic

Forum, State of Utah, O'Reilly Media, Hewlett Packard and IBM are among the regular users of SlideShare.

In February 2011, SlideShare added a feature called “Zipcasts”. A Zipcast is a social web conferencing system

which allows presenters to broadcast an audio/video feed while driving the presentation through the Internet.

Zipcasts also allows users to communicate during the presentation via an inbuilt chat function.

Introduction to the management Rashmi Sinha, the CEO and co-founder of SlideShare is responsible for partnerships and product strategy. She

was named amongst the world's Top 10 Women Influencers in Web 2.0 by FastCompany.

Jonathan Boutelle is the CTO of SlideShare and came up with the initial idea behind SlideShare. He wrote the

first version of the site.

Amit Ranjan, the COO heads SlideShare's development team in India and focuses on product management,

content and community.

On May 3, 2012, SlideShare announced that it was to be acquired by LinkedIn. It's reported that the deal was

$118.75 Million.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Web_2.0

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Slide_hosting_service

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PowerPoint

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PDF

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Keynote_(presentation_software)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/OpenOffice

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scribd.com

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Issuu

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Docstoc

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/White_House

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NASA

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_Economic_Forum

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_Economic_Forum

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hewlett_Packard

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IBM

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rashmi_Sinha

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CEO

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Co-founder

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/FastCompany

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chief_technology_officer

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chief_operating_officer


In a press release to announce the move, LinkedIn CEO Jeff Weiner said:

"Presentations are one of the main ways in which professionals capture and share their experiences and

knowledge, which in turn helps shape their professional identity, these presentations also enable professionals

to discover new connections and gain the insights they need to become more productive and successful in their

careers, aligning perfectly with LinkedIn's mission and helping us deliver even more value for our members.

We're very excited to welcome the SlideShare team to LinkedIn.”

Some noteworthy facts

In 2009, the official website for the US President (Whitehouse.gov) signed user agreements with eight of

the world's leading social media websites. SlideShare was one of them. SlideShare is regularly used by the

Whitehouse and many other US govt departments.

SlideShare finds reference in hundreds of published books on internet, Web 2.0, technology (search

"slideshare" on Google books)

CEO Rashmi Sinha was recently named amongst the world Top 10 Women Influencers in Web 2.0 by

FastCompany.

In 2009, Playboy Magazine named her one of America's Top 10 "Sexiest" CEOs.

Current employees: 55

Some first servers: Ash, Dia, Celina, Bipasha (named after Indian movie stars)

Exact Google search for "I love SlideShare": 40500 results

"SlideShare's mission is to build the world's largest social content network"

SlideShare's vibrant community consists of professionals, educationists, businesses, non profits, governments

etc. And it has popular applications on LinkedIn, Facebook and Twitter. They continuously look for smart,

talented and motivated employees who will grow with SlideShare and make valuable contributions in a fast

paced environment.

A career with SlideShare offers-

Global Scale: Chance to build one of the world's largest websites

Innovation: Create innovative technology solutions to solve user problems

Progression: Our team is still small, so your career growth will be faster

Culture: Our technology centric, geeky culture will rub off on you

Workplace: Fun, high energy environment

References:

http://www.pcworld.com/businesscenter/article/259202/linkedins_slideshare_site_blocked_in_china.html

http://www.slideshare.net/jackmortonWW/presentations

http://www.slideshare.net/features?src=meetings

http://blog.slideshare.net/2010/12/26/a-year-of-innovation-at-slideshare/

http://www.fastcompany.com/articles/2008/11/influential-women-web.html

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Playboy_Magazine

http://blog.slideshare.net/2006/09/26/meet-the-servers/

http://www.pcworld.com/businesscenter/article/259202/linkedins_slideshare_site_blocked_in_china.html

http://www.slideshare.net/jackmortonWW/presentations

http://www.slideshare.net/features?src=meetings

http://blog.slideshare.net/2010/12/26/a-year-of-innovation-at-slideshare/


Introduction

`Does the stock market overreact?' De Bondt and Thaler in 1985 gave start to a new wave of thinking

known as behavioural finance. Weak form inefficiency of the stock market was discovered by them after

analysing how people are systematically overreacting to unexpected and dramatic news events which were

surprising and profound. The Efficient Market Hypothesis as proposed by Fama (1970) asserts that the

stock prices reflect the relevant information. The asset prices follow a random walk path i.e. they are

merely random numbers. The study conducted by Caginalp G. and H. Laurent (1998) by the predictive

power of price patterns finds patterns and confirms that they are statistically significant even in out-of-

sample testing and report.

The pattern of the stock index might help in predicting some of the effects of the various events. The

calendar anomalies tends to exist which goes against the efficient market hypothesis. The researchers have

used Gregorian calendar to investigate the calendar anomalies. There are various countries and societies

which follow their own calendar on the basis of their religion. For example, the Hebrew calendar is

followed by the Jewish society, which is strictly based on luni-solar, the Christian society follows the

Gregorian, which is based on solar, and similarly Hindu and Chinese follow their own.

The Hindu calendar is called “Panchanga” and it is based on both movements of the sun and the moon.

The festival of “Diwali” is typically occurs at the end of October and beginning of November.

The special ritual called “Mahurat Trading” can be observed on major stock exchanges like NSE, BSE,

NCDEX to name a few lasts for about an hour. It is performed as a symbolic ritual since many years. It

marks a link with the rich past and brokers look at it on a positive note. It marks an auspicious beginning to

the Hindu New Year. The investors place token orders and buy stocks for their children, which are

sometimes never sold and intraday profits are booked, however small they may be. Thus, it is widely

believed that trading on this day will bring wealth and prosperity throughout the year.

It is interesting to observe the behaviour of trading activities during the period preceding and succeeding

Mahurat Trading. The purpose of this study is to know the effect of the festival prior and post diwali on the

the returns.

Econometric methodology

I have measured stock return as the continuously compounded daily percentage change in the share price

index (S&P CNX NIFTY) as shown below:

Rt = (lnPt – lnPt-1) x 100 …………………… (1)

Where, Rt = return at time t

Pt, Pt-1 = closing value of the stock price index at time t, t-1.

I have used S&P CNX Nifty as it has got the most liquid stocks in its portfolio. Further, the National

Stock Exchange is largest in terms of Market capitalisation and Volume. I have used the data of the

Join us on:

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Visit: http://www.tapmi.edu.in/student-life/pratibimb/overview/

Team Pratibimb

TAPMI

P. B. No: 9, Manipal - 576104, Karnataka

mailto:[email protected]

http://www.tapmi.edu.in/student-life/pratibimb/overview/

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