Monthly Archives: May 2015

Tangible Branding

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TangibleMORE SUBSTANCE, MORE SHINE

‘Seeing is believing.’ The idiom above, which first came on the scene in the early 17th century, intends that “only physical or concrete evidence is convincing”. In other words, it is the substantial that is perceived and readily accepted as real. To distinguish the physical from the spiritual, the palpable from the impalpable, the form from the formless, the human mind heavily relies on the senses. What is definite to the faculties exists and is tangible.
Lairesse’s Allegory of the Five Senses
However, it is not an impossible task to capture the obscure outline of a shadow on the wall and transform it into an expressive graffiti. That is to say- what is intangible can be made tangible.

Tangibility as an induced characteristic manages to lend substance to an otherwise elusive entity, bringing it into clearer existence. Brand is one such entity.

With so many rival brands offering competitive products, providing similar and frequently superfluous experience in a market, it is all too easy for a brand to get lost in the noise of commonness.
I do not admire greatness that has no substance. ― Mary Balogh
To truly come alive, the brand needs to gain a foothold in the customer’s perception of the physical world. For that it must aim to deliver utility. The brand must become tangible.

Tangible brands cultivate a deep distinctive connection with the consumer. There is a tactile sense to each interaction. The brand comes across as a living, breathing person, ready to help with its unique tools to solve or satisfy.

Such tangibility, when associated with a brand, provides many opportunities to augment customer loyalty. The customers tend to invest more, both emotionally and financially, once they think of the brand as singular.

Brand Tangibility is vital in order for a brand to convey itself as being ‘of this world’. A tangible brand is coupled with a definable feeling which is unique to the company. The more useful and relevant a brand, the more customers are likely to get attached.

TOMS presents shoe-shoppers with a chance to absolve their social conscience by participating in a philanthropic purchase. For each pair of shoes sold, the company donates a pair to someone in need. The details are shared with the buyer on his phone, post purchase. Customers have noted a feeling of accomplishment wash over them when they see the physical proof of the donation in their name.

The presence tangible brands seek to maintain is long-term and personal. Brand leaders chose to provide utility by staying up-to-date with their customers’ needs and attitudes. They embrace technology, acknowledging it as the reshaper of the human experience, and master online and offline marketing strategies.

The need to integrate tangibility is even greater for a service brand. Service brands struggle with brand penetration since their product offering has little or no differentiation. The senses are deprived of things to touch, feel, hear and experience.

Moreover, consumers take notice of the service only when it malfunctions, finds a study conducted by Utility Week. A tangible aspect, when incorporated, allows the service brand to differentiate itself on the basis of an identifiable physical presence and emotional connection. To enhance the brand tangibly, the goal should be to educate, entertain or inspire the consumer.

Tangible Branding can be defined as the art of making the brand seem more tangible to its customers either by way of inciting the utility of the brand or by giving the brand a uniquely interactive voice or face.

Building a tangible brand requires an Industry Analysis, that is, a fair assessment of tangibility of the product/service provided in comparison to one’s competitors in the market-place.

Uber managed to take a tough-to-please service like transportation and give a favorable cost-to-experience ratio by delivering solutions for the common industry headaches like driver unreliability.

Tangible1
Design is another important marketing strategy employed by tangible branding.

Smart-e set up an Energy Conversation Centre in Guilford, giving a brand with previously no tangible value a chance to physically interact with its consumers. The founder, Dave Nugent says they try to provide services that suit customers’ every day usage and that convey an energy ‘harvesting’ or energy generation message. Since no customer likes the hard sell, the centre incorporated tangibly expressive elements (infographics, light-up tiles, see-through heat converter pipes) in the centre’s décor to resonate with the idea of energy consumption and conservation. The centre also boasts of a gym which shows, for instance, how much cycling will power one hot shower. The play area has a conveyor-belt slide which lights up from the kinetic energy of the children’s movement. The company created a place where their customers actually wanted to be! What is more, the centre’s hard work made the real value of the brand visible to the customer. The intangible was made tangible through innovative design which could be felt and seen. Tangible Branding also resorts to Tangible Marketing, which is the use of promotional items (like branded stationary or personalized items) to contribute to brand recognition and customer loyalty. Going above and beyond shows the company’s willingness to put efforts to earn and keep a prospective client.

Creating a memorable marketing piece requires selection of a creative Gift and/or attention-grabbing Tagline. A good example of tangible marketing would be the silicon Livestrong bracelets. The custom statement-on-a-wrist turned out to be very successful as a fundraising tool for the cancer awareness cause.

In order to highlight tangibility, most retail brands nowadays propose loyalty cards to their customers, inviting them into the exclusive club that is their brand.

Furthermore, the Social Media platform has proved very useful for improving tangibility of a brand through customer networking. Brand forums online readily offer help to consumers and deliver speedy solutions. The idea is to expose their target audience to their tangible brand elements and what they stand for.

The literal personification of the brand results in Mascots. Where logos are the tangible elements of a brand, mascots are their tangible representatives. Think of a Ronald McDonald and you inevitably think of McD burger/fries. The mascot and the product by association, both embody the brand value of happy times.

In this way, extending to a physical presence can amplify the commercial and competitive value of your brand. More substance, more shine.
A question arises, however.
How do you know that you, as a brand, are in fact tangible?
People today are bombarded with so much Advertising and in a world where a plethora of brand choices prevail per vertical. It really is hard to get the true picture of tangibility. What makes you real is the tangible of intangibles which, however easy to materialize, is difficult to measure. The real question to ask, therefore, is Will they miss you when you are gone?  Answer this and you will know where you are on the brand tangibility scale. Tangibility is not a wishful thinking. It can be brought into the daylight out of the shadows. It is just a matter of filling in the outlines. It is just a matter of showing.

For, seeing is believing.

Contributed by Ankita Verma, (Class of 2009, IBS Hyderabad)

5 steps to build your own brand

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You are a product. Be wanted! 

You may be a star in whatever you do. You could be a great academician, a skilled sportsperson or an artist — but in an MBA college, you are just likeeveryone else. It is easy to get lost. So do not waste yourself — build your brand and be remembered.Brand

Most of us think the world will recognize us for our achievements and everything will be fair in the end. Sometimes, it is too late before we realize that ‘fair’ can be a ‘fairy tale.’

If you want to create your own brand, ask yourselves these five simple questions:

  1. Are you capable of making noise?

If we are capable of doing something or we actually do something, let others know about it. It is of nouse to work in isolation and wait for the world to recognize you. We need to recognize ourselves before that. Telling others what we have achieved and how they can benefit from it is a win-win situation for all. The best way to do this is to spread your achievements through word of mouth. Impact is only a “good-to-have” unless it is communicated to the right people.

Case: Suppose you play guitar and there is an annual festival in your college. There may be 50 others like you.So how do you differentiate yourself? Do not wait for the auditions and competition. Start making people aware of your guitar-playing skills from day 1. By the time your annual festival takes place, people already have your name in mind. This way, you would have already established your brand for a particular skill. And when the time is right, leverage the opportunity and buildyour visibility.

  1. Are you honest and simple?

According to a research, the most effective way to reach consumers is not through detailed and complex websites orflashy advertisements, but rather through simplifying the decision-making process; in other words, presenting exactly what consumers need to know, while leaving out the rest. In fact, this research reveals that companies who simplified and streamlined the decision-making process for their customers were 86% more likely to make a sale. We are like products — if we are simple to use, people will find us more suitable for their purposes. So we need to make sure we do not come across as complex personalities. Be approachable and honest. By honest, I mean never making false promises about our capabilities.

Case: One of my classmates in college appeared for the placement cell interviews, theatre and dance competitions, and commerce fair. People thought he was an all-rounder. He created a great image of himself.  Unfortunately, he could not make it anywhere. I remember him quoting – “I should have kept my focus and not rushed for everything.” ’Less is more’ truly applies here. Our capabilities should be simple, effective and true.

  1. Are you generous and considerate?

Do you believe in giving back? When we think of the Tata Group, we do not only talk about its products, we always mention its in-depth approach of giving back to society through CSR activities. People know you more when you make a difference to their lives, rather than taking from them to make a difference to your life. So your brand building is directly proportional to what you do for your classmates, your professors, your flatmates, your maids and even your toughest competitors.

Case:During the selection of our class representative, students voted for a classmate who was not an expert in studies or possessed any significant leadership qualities. He was a people’s person, showed empathy and had created trust in fellow classmates. The opposition contender who had a great rapport with professors and an image of a strong leader lost in this case. I learned then – a leader always takes his people along.

Branding

  1. Are you dependable?

Times always tests you when you are least prepared for it. These are the times when you need to be dependable and exhibit commitment to the people who have shown faith in you. You are their role model; they will talk about you in front of others. You should never let them down by taking any hasty decisions. It is not necessary to win for them, but they want you to fight for them till the end. If you find your team member missing from the group presentation day, that person is not dependable.

Case:In 2006, ViratKohli continued to play his batting innings even after hearing the news of losing his father the same day. His deep level of commitment and determination created a great brand for him. This incident may be lost, but the people involved here will remember Virat’s commitment for their lifetime.

  1. Are you the future?

A very important aspect of creating your own brand is to focus on both the present and the future. People’s trust is long-term. We do not want to be a wave, but want to remain and be remembered forever. Consistency is what distinguishes you. Achieving this is very tough. It demands great courage and sacrifice, as we tend to falter when boredom hovers around us. People with great brands remain consistent in their ability to deliver. They also keep innovating with their delivery methods.

Case:The best example of a brand that comes to my mind is the Indian Army. Many in the Indian Army have forgone their family pleasures and sacrificed a civilian’s life to protect our borders.In my opinion, they are the most consistent people and will be remembered forever. Their brand will remain intact.

Your MBA and professional career will provide you various opportunities to build a brand for yourself. Stay simple, consistent, emphatic and dependable to touch other people’s lives. And you shall be a winner everywhere.

Contributed by Virag Jain ( Class of 2010, IBS MUMBAI )

LATERAL THINKING AND CREATIVITY

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In today’s competitive market companies not only need skilled people but needs employees who have lateral thinking and are creative so that they can provide creative solutions. Below article will provide you a brief overview of lateral thinking and creativity as it is an important skills which is needed by MBA students to come up with ansolution of a difficult situation.

What is Lateral Thinking?

Think of a railway track; it consists of two parallel lines running alongside each other separated by a narrow gap. A train has to run along that track; if it goes on either side it will derail.Creativity

Our thoughts or the way we react to events can be likened to that railway track. They run along defined boundaries and the reason for that is the conditioning that we receive early in our lives and our experiences.

Most of us go through our lives with more or less similar experiences and incidents. About 90% of us can relate to one other because our lives follow a similar pattern allowing for some individual quirks and differences. These patterns are established very early in life and most of us are unable to break out of it or do not want to break out of it because we find comfort in things that are familiar. To be honest, there is also no particular need for us to move out of that pattern that we have set up for ourselves.

The ‘railway track’ mode of thinking also arises from these circumstances. The predictability of our experiences circumscribes our thoughts and over a period of time, we are incapable of moving out of that parallel track. If we need to think differently, we need to derail our minds so that it jumps out of the track. And that is the crux of lateral thinking or what has come to be known today as ‘out-of-the-box’ thinking.

The Dynamics of Lateral Thinking

When we speak of people being creative or creatively inclined, we are talking about people who do not think along conventional lines because they have jumped off the railway tracks. By some quirk of fate, they perceive things differently from what the majority of the population do. You must understand that there is nothing abnormal about these people – it is nothing more unusual than being left-handed among a largely right-handed world.

What does lateral thinking actually involve? Is it merely being able to think differently and perceive your world differently? Well, that is part of it. Those are just the ingredients, which go into lateral thinking. Lateral thinkers have their brains wired differently from most of us. This enables them to not only have a different world-view, but also have a different perspective on events.

The main objective of lateral thinking or what in corporate circles is called ‘value proposition’ is how it affects the way we solve problems. Are we getting results out of that lateral thinking? Is it making us more efficient at solving problems?

Let me give you a very simple example. Most of us take the same route while going to college, university or work. You may be walking or taking a cab to the nearest bus or railway station and then taking the train to your destination. Or, you may be driving/be driven to your college or workplace. Or if you are very lucky, you may just have to walk around the corner to reach your journey’s end.

Whatever the mode, the fact is that we invariably follow the same route. That is because we like safe, predictable things, we like routine and it is also less trouble.

How many of us actually try to find out different routes to go to our institute or place of work? How many of us experiment with different modes of transport to see if we arrive faster or even slower or have a more stress-free journey? How many of us think of varying our routine even slightly just in order to get a different experience?

The answers to these questions will give a glimpse into the way lateral thinking works. As a lateral thinker, your mind will follow different routes to solve a problem compared to a conventional mind.

Your mind will view the problem in a unique way; in all probability, your mind may not even see it as a problem.

Here, I want you to understand that all lateral thinkers are not necessarily problem solvers or are creative, in the sense that we know it. Let me iterate here that it is just a different perception of things.

Lateral thinking

It is quite likely that a lateral thinker might further complicate an existing situation. But yes, with lateral thinking you can definitely arrive at uncommon conclusions and can learn to tackle problems in other ways than you would normally.

But then do we want to be lateral thinkers? Instead of answering that question, let me ask you something else – do you want to be left handed?

Can we Train our Minds to Think Laterally?

Well, if we can learn to play tennis and swim tolerably well, I guess we can also learn to think laterally. There are certain skills of an exceptional nature that you might not be able to acquire – if you are tone deaf or do not have a good voice then it is quite likely that you will never be a singer or be able to appreciate music or learn the piano. These are some skills, which require inborn talent.

For the rest, certainly you can acquire mastery with practise and training.

Edward de Bono, who pioneered the concept of lateral thinking said in another book, ‘Tactics’ – “The key point about lateral thinking is that concepts, perceptions and structures evolve over time and are a summary of history rather than a blueprint for the future. In the mind, this is due to the self-organising nature of the brain, which is designed as a pattern-making recognition system. So we may have to cut across and break out of patterns before putting things together in a new way. Provocation is an essential part of lateral thinking and there are various specific techniques such as the random word technique.”

To paraphrase what Bono says, we have to create a spark in our brains that will provoke our thought processes to get off the beaten track. We have all heard of brainstorming; brainstorming is a way of provoking our brains to come up with novel and unique ideas. The more bizarre, the better because then you have more and varied ideas to choose from.

We have to learn to brainstorm at every opportunity. You should not let logic or reason colour your thoughts during this process, because you have to break out of the pattern you have set for yourself.

The brain has to be trained to make that shift from the usual to the unusual.

If you are consistent, you will find that thinking up stuff ‘outside the box’ becomes a habit. Keep in mind though that the ideas you have generated should lead to practical use. Some creative people are known to be impractical and some are also known to be severely straitjacketed in their ideas. You don’t want that. But then again while coming up with ideas do not junk the impractical ones. Maybe they will lead you somewhere too.

As a lateral thinker you have to let your mind roam freely; you should be able to astonish yourself with your thoughts. Push and stretch at the limits of your metal boundaries. That railway track I told you about in the beginning should have a width than can be widened at will.

Contributed by Disha Parekh Mohanty

 

Simple Leadership Steps At The Beginning Of Your Career

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LeadershipDo you have leadership capabilities? Are you a born leader? Are there any instances where you showcased your leadership skills? How good are your team management skills?

These questions will keep coming back to you as you progress in your career and rise up the rungs of the corporate ladder. Have you ever wondered why leadership is so highly valued in the corporate world and beyond?

Good leadership brings a lot of great qualities and skills along with it. Honesty, sincerity, integrity, teamwork, positive attitude, delegation skills and the ability to inspire come along with good leadership.

There has been the timeless argument on whether good leaders are born with inherent qualities or can good leaders be made.  Recent studies have indeed shown that leadership trainings can definitely create a change in people and such a change can really create an impact in the work environment.

In this post, we will try to relate to the small but simple leadership steps that will get you started. Once you appreciate the ‘change’ in you, you will start appreciating the benefit of imbibing the qualities of a leader.

Start Owning First and Then Delegate

 Most of us shy away from owning things because it carries along with it a responsibility. You must have encountered situations where there are conflicts in a group when individuals do not reach an agreement. This happens mostly when some of the tasks are ugly or difficult to handle and none wants to own it. In such situations, the natural leader resolves the issue by taking up the ugly tasks.

Owning the ugliest task and doing it whole-heartedly not only gives you a sense of accomplishment but also creates followers for you. The next time when the same group has a conflicting situation they will look upto you for the delegation of the task.

Deal With Your Insecurities

 People are reluctant to share knowledge or information because they think holding on to it will create a stable position for them. This is very common in the corporate world where employees want to become indispensable to their companies and keep themselves secure.

Leadership1

Good leadership comes with exposure first and experience afterwards. For exposure, one has to move on and create a space for someone else in his or her position. Leaders are extremely confident people and are not bothered by insecurities of transition. They are constantly in lookout for opportunities and do not hesitate to move on from a comfortable position.

To move on and gain exposure you have to deal with your insecurities first. So the next time when you are asked to change your team you should consider it as opportunity rather than a challenge.

Know Your Strengths But Know Your Weaknesses Better

 Once we had an annual sales presentation meeting. Every team from different product lines had to do their presentation. Though it has been years now, I still remember one team very well not because their presentation went extremely well but because no one from the audience could be attentive to their presentation. This was because the main presenter, supposedly the leader of the team was extremely bad in his presentation- both verbal and non-verbal. He was constantly shouting and trying to use all kind of body gestures to communicate his message.

In retrospection, I think a better job could have been done by delegating the main part of the presentation to another team member with better public speaking skill.

In order to gain attention and seek opportunities leaders do not resort to doing things, which they are not capable of. They know to play their cards well and know how to leverage the strengths of their followers.

Contributed by Sanjit Das ( Class of 2005, IBS HYDERABAD )

 

MBA course is in sync with the latest market trend

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TrendWe live in a world which is dynamic and change is the only constant. Markets move from one cycle to another, industry gets new technology, and the rate at which innovation is taking place, its remarkable. How much change may happen, knowledge does not get outdated rather it gets updated. While choosing out career, what many of us think is how much updated the chosen course will be? Sometimes this may sound vague, but this is one of the pertinent questions and a true introspection for a career oriented aspirant. The same question pricks when many of us chose MBA. Many of us think will the market need an MBA, is it justifiable course and will it keep pace with this dynamic, ever changing world. Well the answer is, MBA is never about imparting an ancient law, it is about progressive teaching aligned with the very DNA of the changing times.

A broad view of MBA will show that it is actually divided into two parts – the first part which is a profound conceptual background and the other is the practical application. So if you were to see the two,  the former is in which MBA tries to impart a deep conceptual knowledge on various aspects of business management using various techniques such as providing them a study material, a full time professor and a classroom training. These all provide theoretical aspects of the curriculum. While the later one provides a drill down approach of application of the same theories in a more sophisticated manner which includes case studies, industry lecturers, internship program, and live projects, which are abreast with latest market trends.

Conceptual Background

The conceptual Background is provided initially from relevant materials provided during each semester. These books are written by expert writers in their own domain, and are always updated as an when there is a need in order to make it in sync with the market trends. Books written by Philip Kotler for Marketing and by Benjamin Graham & David Dodd for Finance are a classic example of the kind of exposure these books provide to the aspirants. Even though these books are as old as one can vouch yet they are always updated and represent the current changing scenario. The most interesting part is that the conceptual theory never gets outdated, rather, the new trend dwells on the old premise.

The knowledge and interpretation of the books are imparted by an experienced full time professor who has a seamless understanding of the domain and has in fact mastered himself. The regular on the class training provides not only a conceptual discussion on the current topics, but also helps in the impromptu discussion which are related to the most recent incidents, facts and trending topics. The lecturer at the same time provides an insightful view of the subject with latest analogy. Sometimes a group assignment or an individual assignment too is  provided which could be associated with market trends.

MBA at the same time, is extremely instrumental in keeping the aspirants completely in touch with current activities, global knowledge and market trends through social clubs, student exchange program, and intra-college competition. Such events and activities help the aspirants to set his right foot forward in confidence. The primary days of teaching during each semester act in stimulator to the mind.

MBA

Practical Application

Practical Application is where the main crux of the MBA lies. For every semester, the most part of the time is spent on this particular aspect in several ways. The most important one is the case study methodology which certainly makes this course, most popular and in sync with the latest market requirements. The case methodology is a highly researched and thoughtfully designed by experts. It encompasses case studies from HBS (Harvard Business School) to the self designed cases by the lecturers. These case studies capture the relevant aspects in a nutshell featuring both classic cases and the most recent ones. This makes MBA set a new bar in the arena of professional course.

These case methodologies not only covers the latest market trends, companies, events, industry but also provides ample scope to the aspirants to apply the theoretical framework. These case studies are scientifically designed to represent each chapter of the syllabus and making an effective learning methodology. It helps the aspirants keep updated of what’s going around in the corporate world, irrespective of the geographical boundary. In short, the gap that is built between the books and the real life events are mostly filled by this methodology.

Further to this, during the MBA course, one definitely finds some of the leading industry speakers providing guest lecture to the aspirants. These industry leaders are one who has profound knowledge of the current market trends and who work day in and day out. Their sharing of experiences as well as suggestions provides a new dimension to the learning and knowledge. They not only help set the wheel into the motion for the aspirants of different domains, but also provides live examples of cases which would otherwise take a lot of time to get included in the paperback editions and sometimes may even miss out in the cases.

During the curriculum the aspirants mandatorily have to go through an internship program. This program provided under MBA curriculum is specially designed in which the aspirants have to go through a stipulated months of training in a company. He would have to work religiously on the topic chosen by him and approved by his mentor who belongs both from the school as well as the company. This on-the-job training helps the aspirant to get familiar about the current scenario, help infer about the industry, and act accordingly. The close knit of people in the organisation help further accentuate the learning.

During the course, various ongoing initiatives such as brainstorming sessions, panel discussions, social groups, innovation convention and live projects are introduced to the candidate. These are not only self-indulging but also helps get others response, ideas and exchange of information. The dynamic interaction and meeting of like minded aspirants help steer new things.

MBA, therefore, has its roots and genesis of the old days, but it is such that it evolves over time. This can be seen from numerous examples and success stories of aspirants who have completed it and has been setting an indelible mark in the history.

Contributed by Mitesh Agarwal  ( Class of 2011, IBS HYDERABAD )

 

Ethics Vs. Competitiveness

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Ethics1There is no doubt that the Corporate world (even World for that matter) is getting more and more competitive. Competitiveness is the “key”, since everyone knows that it’s a World where only the fittest survive. Well, is there anything wrong in being competitive? I would say, “No”, but then there is another question – “at what cost?”. If the answer to this question is “Ethics”, then the competitiveness is Hollow. Definitely you can find many examples of people who do not give any important to Ethics but they still rise to higher levels. But there is no guarantee that you will stay at Top if you have compromised with Ethics.

Ethics and Competitiveness go hand in hand. There is no doubt about it. All individuals are faced with situations where one has to choose growth or ethics and even though it’s a straight forward choice, there are people who would choose growth over ethics. To explain this better let us take an example of Misselling. What is mis-selling? It is an approach very commonly taken by sales people to sell their products or services by hiding facts and giving false promises to the customer. This is very much prevalent in the sales world and in the race of being competitive, many professionals fall prey to this monster. This may lead to various types of impact on the end customer which may be inform of financial risk, health risk, reputation risk, other direct or indirect risk/loss. Misselling may not necessarily mean lying about the product, it may also mean hiding important terms and conditions, or operational procedures, or missing features, hidden charges, refund policy, return policy etc. Very frequently most of us fall prey to mis-selling and get frustrated at the sales man, most of the times it is because of the hidden charges. This has really spoiled the image of the sales community.

Sales team is a backbone of every organization as it is the sales team that brings in revenues by selling products or services. But recently there has been increased emphasis in large organizations on Sales ethics. Mis-selling is taken very seriously and strict disciplinary action taken against those who do not comply. Reputation of an organization primarily depends on the sales force representing it. Organizations have started becoming more and more transparent in their sales processes. Most of the times the details of product/ service being sold is documented by way of an agreement, brochure, offer letter which clearly mention all the terms and conditions, product features, pricing etc. Mutual fund companies and Insurance companies also clearly tell their clients to read the terms and conditions before buying the product. This is done to ensure that the client is not cheated and to save the reputation of the organization.

But, despite efforts being taken by large organizations to avoid mis-selling, it is really important to lay emphasis on sensitizing the sales force to understand the importance of ethical sales. Just to be competitive and to achieve or over achieve targets the sales team should refrain from unethical sales practices. Even though in short term you may be able to achieve the numbers but this does not take you very far. Any sales done by hiding facts or lying will sooner or later be unearthed, which may lead to reputation loss for the organization as well as the employee (and a disciplinary action).

Ethics

Unethical sales may also include compromising the interest of the organization that you are working for. Sometimes a sales person may show value to the customer by promising something that may be against the interest of the organization, this comes in forms of bribery, passing on other tangible or non-tangible benefits to the client which may be from the pocket of the organization or from his or her own pocket. A sales person may ask for a favourable business deal from a specific individual at the client organization and in return he may offer something for the personal benefit of the person who is in decision making position at a client organization. It’s very easy to close out business deals by promising such personal benefits, but then, this is completely unethical and unacceptable. This ultimately leads to loss of reputation for the selling organization.

Many large organizations take this type of unethical sales very seriously and have very strict policies to completely stop such dealings between sales team and client. There are strict gifting policies and very very strong disciplinary action taken against employees if they try to do such act. For organizations it is very important to closely scrutinize such transactions.

It may not always be linked to the sales function, professionals use unethical practices to grow within the organization, offering personal benefits to stakeholders or bosses, hiding facts that may be a risk to the organization, snatching someone else’s credit, passing-on blame to others and various other unprofessional and unethical practices.

Compromise with Ethics in any form is not a long lasting tool to success. One is that it spoils the organization culture and more importantly it is a big reputation risk for you and the organization. There are ethical ways of growing and being competitive. Very easily you can find examples of top managers/CEOs who have grown to that level just because of the level of ethics that they maintained during their professional careers. Compromising with ethics may seem to be a shortcut, but it’s definitely not going to take you to the right destination.

Being professional is very much equal to being Ethical. And an Ethical person earns a lot of respect and even if you lose the sales opportunity or promotion because of representing the facts, don’t worry, you have earned mental peace and respect. A customer always respects a fair sales person, a boss always respects a true employee, stakeholders always respect an honest colleague, an ethical organization will always respect an ethical employee.

So, don’t let competitiveness and ethics compete with each other. Make them shake hands with each other and surely it will become easier for you to climb up the ladder of success.

Contributed by DIVIK ( Class of 2004, IBS HYDERABAD )

CORPORATE RELATIONSHIP MANAGEMENT

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CRMRelationship Management in business is all about ensuring a healthy bond with the Vendors, Dealers, Distributors and Stakeholders. As for any other relationship a Corporate level relationship also requires human interactions and communications. These interactions may happen by way of a meeting, conference calls, Video Conferencing, emails or any other channel of communication. A corporate level relationship helps the businesses to derive mutual benefits and creates a win-win situation. A corporate relationship is not about liking the people or mutual respect towards individuals working in the organization, it is more about the benefit that this relationship provides to the organization you are working for. An effective corporate relationship can only be established by way of clear communications, if a communication is intended to hide facts or present wrong facts then there are obvious chances that the relationship may die out very soon, just like any other human to human relationship.

 

A corporate relationship involves high degree of complexity, while it also depends a lot on the human factors, but at the same time two corporate having a relationship will have a Legal agreement between each other to tie them into a relationship, even though the two companies may never consider to sue the other one in case of a conflict but the agreement keeps the relationship to a professional level.

 

When people of one organization interact with the people of the other organization – may it be a customer or a vendor, they have to maintain a professional distance and keep the tone of the communication at a professional level. It may happen that when you interact with professionals of other organizations, you may build a personal comfort level with them, but still during corporate meetings, emails, calls you should bear it in mind that you are interacting with those individuals in professional capacity and you are representing your organization, so despite having a personal bond with those individuals, you should refrain from making personal comments or remarks during these interactions. While managing corporate relationships, one should always protect the interest of the organization that he/she is working for and at the same time also try not to harm the interest of the other organization.

 

Most of the organizations have job profiles called “Relationship Managers” (mainly Banking organizations), these Relationship Managers are supposed to maintain good corporate relationships with the relevant units of the Customer Organization. This helps the organization to keep themselves updated on the business plans of their customers and help the organization to align their sales/products strategy to keep up with the client requirements. A good relationship manager understands the client’s business in and out and makes a business proposal keeping in mind the requirements of the customer, rather than selling whatever he has to sell without even understanding whether the client needs it or not. Most of the times a Relationship Manager profile is a sales profile.

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Email is the most commonly used and abused mode of communication. People tend to write emails loosely when they get comfortable with the recipient. In a corporate communication you must always be 20 times more cautious because you never know if the recipient forwards the email to other recipients who may not like the content of the email. An email should be professionally drafted and very carefully read before it is sent out to a client, any loose comments may spoil the relationship with the client. In my own career I have noticed many such email disasters and consequences of writing such loosely drafted emails.

 

Another most effective and commonly used mode of communication is a face to face meeting. When it comes to a face to face meeting/ presentation the situation has to be handled with additional caution, as you have very limited time to react and there is no scope of correcting the errors. An good Relationship Manager always has an agenda whenever such meetings are fixed with a client and a lot of homework has to be done before you meet the senior people of the other organization. The most basic etiquette expected is to sent a formal meeting invite and call up the senior participants before actually reaching the venue. Without a meeting invite sent on email you should never expect senior members to remember the time and venue of the meeting – it should be there in their outlook calendar. Distribute the agenda of the meeting along with the meeting invite so that all stakeholders are reasonably prepared. Have a list of discussion points ready on your diary/laptop that you intend to discuss during the meeting. Once you are into the meeting your focus should be completely on the agenda and not to digress much from it, because otherwise the intended objective will not be achieved and you will end up calling for another follow-up meeting in quick succession (Senior stakeholders will not like it). During the meeting – assess the current state of matters at the client end, understand their problems, understand the implications of the problems and how they are effecting the business and then make your business pitch showing various options and checking with the client if the options can help the client to address the problems. This makes a perfect relationship pitch. There are many people in the industry who just approach the client and try to sell whatever they have without even understanding the need. So why would a client buy a product if he doesn’t need it?

 

Corporate Relationship management is a complex organizational behaviour and spans across a lot of important verticals within an organization. It is very important to stay within professional and ethical limits. A good corporate relationship and a long lasting one can only be built over a solid Ethical base.

 

Last but certainly not the least, key towards building a solid Corporate Relationship is to use EMPATHY. Just put yourself into the shoes of your client/ vendor and try to understand his perspective, this will help you to plan your business strategy. Never impose your thoughts on the other person, just share your view with them politely and ask them for theirs and then try to reach an amicable conclusion.

 

Always target to create a WIN-WIN situation for all stakeholders and it is very likely that you will be a successful Relationship Manager.

 

 

 

Contributed by DIVIK ( Class of 2004, IBS HYDERABAD )

Log Kya Kahenge has killed more dreams than anything else

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LogI remember when I was really young my ambitions were based irrespective of “how much money would I make?” because those were the ambitions that directly came out of passion and love for that particular occupation. At once I wished to be an actor, being from a small town and raised among orthodox elders I was told that it is the computer who is playing those roles and such characters do not exist in actual. After this great theory I attempted to go inside the television as I started believing that there is a world inside the box. It just didn’t stop there, when I grew a bit more from a young 5 year old aspirant actor, I began to love to sing, from a bathroom to a full fledge birthday party in my locality, I used to just wait for someone to ask me to sing and I was just all over there. I remember me asking my parents if I can get some professional classes as I figured out a lady who taught ‘Shastiya Sangeet’. In return I got the list of incomplete homework and red grades earned in the past. Yes I was never into studies but that doesn’t define me now, but at that time it was the only criteria people would judge you. I remember once my aunt who always used to ask me to sing asked me “So what do you aim to be”, without any second thought I said “Singer” and she burst out laughing as if me singing professionally is bizarre thing ever. Then I was confused and disturbed, not about my aspirations, but the people I was surrounded with all my life. All my aspirations were either judged on my grade sheet by the people who have not been to school ever or considered irrational as they had not seen the lifestyle and opportunities that exists.

From what one aspires to be and always contradicted by “Log Kya Kahenge” is the reason that this country has lost some great talents that would have existed and celebrated but have been led down and professionally aborted by these three words. We do the best at what we love, even if it is from being a doctor to an artist. This country cannot have just some corporate working professionals highly available next door, that is the reason the professions like Engineers are hired in peanuts and the roads not taken like French convertor, stylists, Singers are paid heavily today. The moral of the story is that there exists undefined jealousy in the people towards you even if they do not know you or they are related to you through your parents(they are the most dangerous). So no matter whatever you wish to do or actually do professionally, these people will try to put you down. Well I am fortunate enough to figure out my way as a media professional and a Performer, escaping my roads from a small town confused person to what I am today. But that is what it actually takes “An Escape” “An Ignorance”. I remember when I got a break as a radio jockey and started performing as a vocalist with my ever first rock band, my parents were told by some carried away relatives of my dad that I must be consuming alcohol and having drugs and should concentrate on my studies. Well it came from those who haven’t crossed there towns ever and whose kids act like 50’s in their 20’s and cannot stand a content conversation, so was obviously worth an ignore. Had my parents taken it seriously I wouldn’t have been fortunate to have Big 92.7FM, Ogilvy and Mather, Star TV in my profile today.

Kya kahenge

When we start taking people seriously is the time we start giving up a bit of us to them. That does not mean that the world is against you, your true ones will be those who will seek their happiness in you being happy not their friends and relatives being in comfort with what you do. How does it matter? And why would one please the people one does not even know. We should all be ourselves till the time you are not paid some handsome amount for being something else. At the end of the day, not your acquaintance, society and relatives are going to feed you. It is you who is always going to stand up for yourself. Humans being the most dangerous species you would be surprised to see those people flipping their heads tomorrow for whom you gave up on your aspirations. Who wish to grow up to an old man I tell your grand children that you know what I wanted to be this but was led down by the neighbors so I chose to be this. OMG! Sounds like some dharmender’s 70’s dialogue.

It is just you and your parents who will stand by you all your life no matter you grow or you fail. In case some other people continue to be with you in your ups and downs all the way through out will be your real friends, never leave them. Rest everyone is going to come and go, judge and leave, misguide and enjoy the sycistic pleasure. During the young times it is easier to give up and blindly trust what people say or how they perceive certain things. But as we grow and life teaches its story we get to know that there exists a practical way which leads to our fairy tale but we have been guided by monsters we met on our way rather than fighting with them through our ignorance we trust them because of our innocence. So it is vital to be stiff on what we need to do. Give your ears to people and still do how you feel you should.

Dear friend, it’s a natural Indian mentality if you spend too much on a wedding people say “Zada Paisa hai” and if you keep the wedding simple same people say” Arrangement acha nahi hai”. Any which ways people will criticize what you do because of their insecurities so it’s better to bother them with what you love. Repect someone not basis the wrinkles earned by them rather respect someone basis what they are as a person. Life is too short to live it boring.

Contributed by Rahul Wadhwa (Class of 2013, IBS GURGAON)

 

Role of Good teacher

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TeacherTeacher! The name which we hear a lot in our day to day life. We also know that what part our teachers played in our life and we will always be indebted to them for the life which we live. Take a minute and think about your teachers who helped you in moldingand shaping yourlife. If you get reminded of the teacher that means, yes they taught you very well and they play an important role in your life. When I think about past I also feel that there were few teachers who had an impact in my life and they changed my life enormously. How did this happen and how can we realize the same? These questions will be answered briefly in the blog.

“A good teacher can inspire hope, ignite the imagination, and instill a love of learning.”

Before knowing more in detail about role of a teacher we will know a bit about learning and teaching.Teaching includes all the activities of providing education to other. The person who provides education is called teacher. The teacher uses different methods for giving best knowledge to his student’s .They try their best to make understand students. Their duty is to encourage students to learn the subjects. Teaching means interaction of teacher and students. They participate for their mutual benefits. Both have their own objective and target is to achieve them. Many great teachers of world define teaching in different way and we can say that teaching is just to train the students so that they can stand on their own foot in society. Teacher helps in enhancing our knowledge and shares their experience of life. There are two ways of learning

1) Learn from your personal experience.

2) Learn from experience of other.

We can learn from our own experience but it take a long time and we pay a price for that learning. But if we learn from others experience then we don’t need to pay the price for learning and we can learn at very early stages. A teacher not only gives us bookish knowledge but also gives us practical example and makes us learn from that.

“Is there anyone so wise as to learn by the experience of others?”

Duties of Teacher-

The role of teacher is often formal and ongoing, carried out at a school or other place of formal education. Teachers, like other professionals, may have to continue their education after they qualify, a process known as continuing professional development. Teachers may use a lesson plan to facilitate student learning, providing a course of study which is called the curriculum.

A teacher’s role may vary among cultures. Teachers may provide instruction in literacy and numeracy, craftsmanship or vocational training, the arts, religion, civics, community roles, or life skills.

The ways teachers can lead are as varied as teachers themselves.

Teacher leaders assume a wide range of roles to support school and student success. Whether these roles are assigned formally or shared informally, they build the entire school’s capacity to improve. Because teachers can lead in a variety of ways, many teachers can serve as leaders among their peers.

So what are some of the leadership options available to teachers? The following 5 roles are a sampling of the many ways teachers can contribute to their schools’ success.

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  1. Resource Provider

Teachers help their colleagues by sharing instructional resources. These might include Web sites, instructional materials, readings, or other resources to use with students. They might also share such professional resources as articles, books, lesson or unit plans, and assessment tools.

  1. 2. Instructional Specialist

An instructional specialist helps colleagues implement effective teaching strategies. This help might include ideas for differentiating instruction or planning lessons in partnership with fellow teachers. Instructional specialists might study research-based classroom strategies (Marzano, Pickering, & Pollock, 2001); explore which instructional methodologies are appropriate for the school; and share findings with colleagues.

  1. Learning Facilitator

Facilitating professional learning opportunities among staff members is another role for teacher leaders. When teachers learn with and from one another, they can focus on what most directly improves student learning. Their professional learning becomes more relevant, focused on teachers’ classroom work, and aligned to fill gaps in student learning. Such communities of learning can break the norms of isolation present in many schools.

  1. Mentor

Serving as a mentor for novice teachers is a common role for teacher leaders. Mentors serve as role models; acclimate new teachers to a new school; and advise new teachers about instruction, curriculum, procedure, practices, and politics. Being a mentor takes a great deal of time and expertise and makes a significant contribution to the development of a new professional.

“Good teachers know how to bring out the best in students.”

  1. School Leader

Being a school leader means serving on a committee, such as a school improvement team; acting as a grade-level or department chair; supporting school initiatives; or representing the school on community or district task forces or committees. A school leader shares the vision of the school, aligns his or her professional goals with those of the school and district, and shares responsibility for the success of the school as a whole.

 

Importance of Teacher according to research:-

  • There are huge variations in teacher effectiveness. Some teachers are really good at getting their students to learn, and others are not.

 

  • Teacher quality matters so much that a student is likely better off in a bad school with a good teacher than in a good school with a bad teacher.

 

  • You can find ineffective teachers in good schools and effective teachers in bad schools. But struggling schools tend to have more ineffective and inexperienced teachers.

 

  • Students of the most effective teachers make excellent academic progress regardless of their prior achievement levels, while students in the classrooms of the least effective teachers do not progress well.

 

  • As the level of teacher effectiveness increases, the lowest–achieving students are the first to benefit.

 

  • Having a high–quality teacher throughout elementary school can substantially offset or even eliminate the disadvantage of low socio-economic background. If poor children consistently got great teachers, the achievement gap could disappear.

 

  • The effects of bad teaching last. Even if a student eventually gets great teachers, those who had ineffective teachers in the past continue to lag behind their peers. “Although an effective teacher can facilitate excellent academic gain in students during the years in which they are assigned to them,” writes researcher William Sanders, “the residual effects of… ineffective teachers were measurable two years later, regardless of the effectiveness of teachers in later grades”.

 

“Most of us end up with no more than five or six people who remember us. Teachers have thousands of people who remember them for the rest of their lives.”

 

Andy Rooney

 

Contributed by Kandarp Gandhi, (Class of 2014, IBS Mumbai)

Net Neutrality – Explained

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Net neutralityNet Neutrality, a term first coined in the year 2003 by Columbia university media law professor Tim Wu has now spread like a wildfire in our nation. The credit holder is none other than the telecom giant Airtel for it is the one behind introducing the concept of charging ‘Over The Top’ services separately and changing the perspective of people over the usage of internet.

So what is this Net Neutrality?

Internet is known for its ‘free and open’ nature. Just like a network operator is not concerned about the person we call, his location and the way we converse with him. In the same fashion when the user of internet is not charged on the basis of the websites he surfs, the online applications he uses or the content he browses, the entire phenomena is known as Net Neutrality. In layman terms, treating the data or internet traffic equally is known as Net Neutrality.

Let’s understand it with the help of an example. Suppose you are driving on a highway and the speed limit on that highway is 100Km per hour. You are already driving at a speed of 80Km per hour and now you want to accelerate and match your speed with that of your friend’s vehicle which is running at the peak speed. You are stopped by the highway authority and are asked to pay before you take your odometer to 100. You pay and now you accelerate to reach 100 but here comes the catch. You notice that the highway authority has asked your friend to reduce his speed because only one at a time can enjoy the three figure speed. Hence you can see that in both the situation you are losing because of this Internet traffic discrimination.

The telecom companies are trying to change the internet usage to somewhat like the way we use our cable TV. By eradicating net neutrality these telecom companies can milk their cash cows daily but the data pack users like us would have to feel pinch due to the same step.

Where Net Neutrality first adopted?

In the year 2010, Chile became the first country in the world to adopt the concept of net neutrality. And in 2014 the telecom regulatory body of Chile banned the telecom companies over there to use ‘Zero Rating’ schemes to lure customers. Under zero rating a telecom company allows its users to access certain application and websites for free. Reliance, for instance, allows its users to access twitter, facebook and watsapp for free.

Subsequently, European Union adopted Net Neutrality followed by Netherlands in the year 2011. Recently in Brazil the term was passed as a law with many more strict alterations and amendments.

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So what exactly is happening in India over Net Neutrality?

Since majority of the people in India have shifted from SMS to instant messaging and calling apps such as Watsapp, Hike, Line, Wechat, Viber etc. the telecom firms have incurred a loss of 4000 Cr. To cover such a gigantic amount, they have decided to join hands with these VOIP and OTT apps tocharge separately on the usage of these apps and hence reduce their loss.

Till now we are paying a single amount to get our hands on all the websites and apps mentioned above. In case if TRAI (Telecom Regulatory Authority of India) nods in the favor of telecom companies, it might drill a hole in our pockets because then we would have to pay way more than what we are paying right now to access these services.

Flipkart, an e-commerce giant, partnered with Airtel in their program ‘Zero Rating’ which violates the principle of Net Neutrality and gives an edge to the players of the C-world to promote them in exchange of a price . But witnessing such a massive protest against the Airtel program, the retail giant backed out from it and terminated the relationship with Airtel.

But have a look to the above mentioned update from another angle. If you are an MBA with the entrepreneurship bug in you then this eradication is going to hit you where it hurts the most. Had there been no such protest against the ‘zero rating’ program of Airtel, would Flipkart still be sharing the bond with Airtel. And in case of a yes what you would have done as a startup and a competitor to Flipkart. With no deep pocket as that of the already established giant, Flipkart would you be able to stand in the competition?

With a whopping population figure of 1.25 Billion, the internet users contribute only 19.19% in the entire population. In that too the Watsapp users, specifically, are mere more than 7 crores. These figures make us mull over a thought that whether or not it is too early in India to bind the Internet? There are majority of Indians who consider Food, Shelter, Clothing and power as a basic necessity. Internet is something which they don’t even consider when counting the necessities. But what if they add internet in their list? What if one day they could get their hands on ‘Internet’? Will they be able to enjoy it without restrictions?

What we can do save the neutrality of Net?

As a part of the massive protest against the eradication of Net Neutrality from India, a website called www.savetheinternet.in has been launched. With the help of this website one can send an email to the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India, to the Member of Parliament from our constituencies and also share your opinion over Net Neutrality with others. Hence one can take a stand with the help of this initiative and save the net neutrality.

Even TRAI has put a consultation paper on the same on their website which explains the entire concept in more detail. And the last date to lodge complain against this “Corporatism” and save the net neutrality is April 24, 2015. In case if TRAI does not get enough responses it might give a green signal to these companies to bind the internet in the way they like. As of now more than half a million complaints have been registered with TRAI and it is still counting.

As Mr. Peter Singer rightly said “The Internet, like the steam engine, is a technological breakthrough that changed the world.” And ceasing the freedom of such a change agent is not a right move and that too at the very initial stage.

 

Contributed by Hasan Ali Gumani (Class of 2014, IBS HYDERABAD)