I am sure many of you would have first read just Osho before reading about what he actually said. It’s all right! He has been outraged talking a lot about sex and has captivated his image on the same note and that’s what we all love reading about. But that’s not about it. If you go back now and check what he actually said, I find it very appropriate. For a cribber like me, who wants all in life I think Osho solved it all. P.S – Not that I am a follower of osho, this picture is as fresh as someone’s Facebook share.

So Yes, I think all my life I have been cribbing about a lot of things. Let it be a taking up on a decision like Science or commerce to a decision like a fashion designer or a collared job. Alike most of us, my decisions have been based upon what my parents or society want to see me as. Coming from a small town, when i walked up to my parents saying I want to take up fashion. More than me, the relatives were thought about and then it came to evaluating the children of the family friends and neighbours. Anyways, I know now it does not matter now. I have still managed to take a diploma from NIFT but post a B.COM+MBA(Marketing Major Finance Minor) and a work ex in Media of 2 years. Ok! I am not that old. But yes I have blamed a lot of people for my discomfort in Life. I just right now blamed parents for not letting me pursue fashion, society for what it actually thinks. But somewhere down my heart, I know if i would have even fasted for a day/consulted my parents well and made that extra effort of actually pursuing fashion I would have been in that stream today. Bow down to you Osho, Yes we are only one who are responsible for our smiles and tears and its all based on our decision. But also we are not a dead fish who has to go with the flow, Life is changing and moving all and then. But I also agree had I not been in discomfort of doing what I do not want to I probably would not have figured out what I actually want in life. Had i not taken up a job in Star Tv and got to know that this is not what I am meant for, I would have never got the gist to pursue fashion. Remember, if you do not see yourself in what you are doing today. You are wasting your time. And to get into something we need to get out of something.

But yes i do agree there are lot of things which that period teaches you when you are stuck in an Unfit Job and it is very important for us to actually be in that discomfort to be more serious on what we want to do, Let’s talk about it one by one:-

• “Makes you very mature”

For someone who has never given a damn in life right from what he wants to become to “chal bunk mar” attitude. It is an eye opener. It’s like life saying you, “Hello! Enough of honey moon period, earn you bread” and then from a clumsy person who does not give damn about stats has to work on excel and MS word all the time. Besides regularly saying “I love you Papa” we also begin to realize where our happiness lies and that ignition is what one wants.

• From “give me the money” to “show me the money”

Someone who has always called home and fluently just said three words “Papa paise bhejdo” and like a lucky kid has always got a voice back “Kitne chahiye?” now suddenly begins to go hevaya all the day in realising where can he get the revenues from against the targets allotted for the month. The sudden respect for the salary and the usage of Laxmi mata comes in place when he realises how hard are thirty days to spend to get a text from HDFC.

• Hello, How are you? J (in the head “Why are you still alive?”)

So yes, People Management is the biggest lesson for those who have always been a free bird and have had a choice in what group of friends they want to be in and most of the times ignored people they disliked and now you just do not have a choice than being subservient to those who torture you the most expecting them to sober down. Eventually some of us end up become those ever smiling plastic dolls with “Hi, how are you” paired with a fake smile everywhere we go and especially to those of our clients who do not take the phone calls and neither revert on mails. Imagine, from someone who wouldn’t call back and now calling endlessly to someone whom you wouldn’t have given a second look to.

• We always think of what we will do when we get the Job we love

The phase which grows on you also grows you. When we are low on the present job, we always think of what we will do when we get into what we love to. To plan the thing we love is in itself taking a step towards it. By the end of we dropping the unfit job, have an entire plan of action in hand.

• The unfit job shows who stands by you no matter what

The people whom we call siblings, parents, friends, partner show how you matter to them when you are fed up with you job. Those who are true they are always supportive in pursuit for your happiness and those who do not care about your personal happiness and want you to stick to what you are doing are the one’s who want something else from you but not you.

• You understand emotions

From a person who never gave a damn on someone’s break up or to a sad happening can actually now consult people on how they should take some really serious things and as they say when one can understand how other feels, the actions are always in favour.

In last, Remember, you are not a tree keep moving till the time you are not happy because it is just you who matters.

Contributed By : Rahul Wadhwa (Class of 2013, IBS Gurgaon).

Believe it or not – Even in highly developed country like the United States of America, roughly 40% of Gross National Product is contributed by companies owned by families. More than 80% of all enterprises are family-run. The same culture and trend is prevalent in many European nations as well. But, what makes me dedicate an entire article to business families in India will be made clear if you bear with me a little longer. You will understand why their impact on nation building, wealth creation and employment generation is undeniably monumental. When Anil Ambani raised ownership issues in the board meeting held on 3rd August 2005, the sensex went down 80 points and shook the entire business community. Need I say more?

At the outset, let me give you a brief profile (however superfluous it may be) of the oldest family owned businesses in India.

The Tata Group- Established in 1868 by Jamshedji Tata as a trading company, Tata Group has become the global face of Indian business. It has 32 listed companies with a market capitalization of 6 trillion. JRD Tata’s death in 1993 symbolised the end of an era. His legacy was continued by Ratan Tata, who took over as chairman in 1991. He guided the Tata group in a fast-changing business environment. Tata group is now more cohesive and united than it has ever been.

The Dabur Group- Dabur has come a long way since its foundation by Dr. S. K Burman in 1884. It’s currently the largest manufacturer of Ayurvedic medicines in India. In the 1990s, when they were scaling up their business, the family showed a lot of maturity in recruiting the right people from outside and looking into their own talent pool. This maintained work culture within the family and at the same time the business grew exponentially. Probably the most important thing they did was to align all family members on the same page. They created a one-of-its-kind family constitution and a family council, which determined what happens in the family and who does what.

The Birla Group- The Birlas could be described as the Rockerfellas of India. This Marwari clan which originated from a small town called Pilani in Rajasthan became the tallest industrial house of the 20^th Century India and were rivaled just by Tata’s post independence. It invested in tea and textiles, further expanded and diversified the family business into cement, chemicals, rayon and steel tubes. Subsequently, Grasim and Hindalco were formed in 1947 and 1958. The list goes on.

GODREJ GROUP- Ardeshir Godrej founded the Godrej Group in 1897 to manufacture locks. They are present in industries such as furniture, industrial engineering, real estate, agri-business, construction, information technology and FMCG. It’s currently managed by the 4th generation of the family. The group has revenue of $3.5billion. They employ 26,000 people. The present chairman of the group is Adi Godrej. When asked what has kept the Godrej Group together? Adi Godrej replied “We’ve been lucky in that there have always been more businesses to run than there were family members available.”

Some other old and mighty family businesses worthy of mention are The Kirloskar group (Been in the business of pumps and engines since 1888; Currently under the leadership of Sanjay Kirloskar), The Bajaj Group (Comprises 34 companies with Bajaj Auto being its flagship firm ably headed by 4^th generation member Rahul Bajaj), The Wadia Group (started with ships and docks manufacturing ; Current Chairman is Nulsi Wadia), The Murugappa group (originally money lending and banking; presently managed by 4^th generation members, and The Modi Group (Diversified business portfolio including tea & beverages, education, entertainment, health-care and hospitality ; Current Chairman is 2^nd Generation member Krishan Kumar Modi. He is known as the Tobacco king of India. His older son was the infamous chairman of the equally famous IPL cricket tournament).

In all business families mentioned above and thousands of others ranging from small mom-and-pop grocery stores to large conglomerates, the one thing that perpetually binds them is TRUST. It is undoubtedly the most vital ingredient for a business group to prosper. In the words of Adi Godrej, “Trust can be a source of significant competitive advantage to a family business.”

Indian firms, by and large, continue to be family-run. And that, too, by the Bania families of traditional trading castes. It is predominantly the Aggarwals and Guptas in the North, the Chettiars in the South, the Parsees, Gujarati Jains and Banias, Muslim Khojas and Memons in the West, and Marwaris in the East, and, in fact, across the country. Of these, the Marwaris have been the most successful. Fifteen of the twenty largest industrial houses in 1997 derived from the Vaishya or Bania trading castes – eight of them were Marwaris. Take that!

Take the example of Marwari ‘great firms’ of the 19^th Century. They transacted large business arrangements as far away as Central Asia and China merely based on trust. They mastered the deployment of a financial instrument called ‘Hundi’, which served as a cashless remittance facility. The hundi made it possible for a grain dealer from Kanpur to sell in Kolkata without taking cash and risk being waylaid during transit. In another example, it’s only because of the inherent trust in joint family system why Jain diamond merchants rely on inter-ethnic ties to keep this highly scattered, specialised and intrinsically high-risk business together.

Moreover, since the family’s name is on the line and the stake is both emotional and economical, it becomes all the more important for family members to stand for the pre-existing value system, long-term commitment and the dignity earned by foregoing generations. Neeraj Bajaj (Rahul Bajaj’s cousin Treasurer of Bajaj group) attributes Bajaj’s success in keeping together the strict equality with which they divide the pie. In one of his interviews he said, ‘We may run businesses of different sizes but we have the same standard of living. Rahul runs the multi-billion Bajaj Auto and Shekhar runs a relatively modest Bajaj Electricals, but they get equal salaries and equal pocket money.’

In spite of innumerable achievements and invincible feats of these business empires, they are very often accused of lack of professionalism, nepotism, infighting, and mismanagement. Until now, their sustainable driving forces were non-existent bureaucracy, fast decision making ability and its practice of socialism.

But the question is – Can they overcome their historic weaknesses and survive extant competitive demands? Will they be able to become professionally managed corporations of the kind that exist in Japan and the United States? Will they be able to separate family’s interest from the interest of the business? Only time will tell. But presently they remain the unsung heroes of the Indian Economy.

Contributed By : Pranshu Awasthi (Class of 2007, IBS Gurgaon).

A few months back, I met a friend who started an online portal for listing colleges and universities of India.  The venture looked really promising on paper and it did take off well. But it was too overwhelming and big for him to manage it with limited resources. Eventually, he had to shut it down. It did make him wiser but at a certain price. While I really appreciated the initiative from my dear friend, failure in an online venture did not take me by surprise. A few years back even I had my share of failure while trying to create a portal for sourcing IT related (specifically Enterprise Resource Planning software) services for clients. Luckily, timely action saved us from losing more resources in terms of money and time.  Hence, in this post, I would like to share some of my experiences as well as that of my friends so that if any of the readers want to start an online venture in future, they make sure that they do not repeat commonly made mistakes.

• Create a realistic revenue model first

 Be it an online marketplace, an educational or gaming portal, an affiliate marketing website or review blog, the first step that needs to be taken is to create a business model. The model may not be perfect, but one must have the numbers in place for understanding revenue recognition and costs estimates. While creating a business model, one must be very specific about revenue model. Simple statements like revenue through advertisements, listings, leads or collaborations will not help. Having at least a three-year revenue plan along with month-wise cost and revenue structure is advised. It is always better to have a minimalistic approach while creating the revenue model. It may not be perfect, but it is required to keep you on track of the progress. Also, there could be possibilities that the model evolves or changes with time. So one should be flexible enough to accommodate changes with time.

Most people are consumed by their own ideas. Their overconfidence leads them to believe that they just need to launch their site and revenues will follow. This rarely happens and it is good to know this fact.

• Knowing what runs behind the scene

 We are so fascinated and enthralled by the success of other websites that we are impelled to think– “If they can do it, why can’t we”. This is probably one of the biggest and most common mistakes committed by amateur entrepreneurs. What we often forget to see and study is the amount of hard work, struggle, sacrifice, patience and passion that went into the making of a successful website.

Anyone can replicate a website or a business idea. But it is very difficult to replicate processes that run behind the scene.

For instance, there could be an online marketplace that is known for reaping huge benefits through ad listings. We might know how to create such a marketplace, but simply an online market will not help. An established network of suppliers and buyers will have to be established first to sustain such a business. It has to be remembered that in such cases, the website is an offshoot of the business itself and not the other way round.

• Know your market

 “We plan to launch globally when we go online,” mentioned one of the participants in a startup meet recently. They wanted to enter into the business of online tutoring. The word ‘global’ overwhelmed me because it sounded that the team was still not sure of which market they wanted to cater. This can be a major disaster for any business.

For startups or amateur entrepreneurs who have limited resources, it is always wise to start small. Instead of trying to be global or for matter instead of trying to serve the entire nation, at the beginning, it is better to test the waters through one ‘pilot zone’. Once the business is established or sustained in one area, one can slowly move on to another geographical region. That will be more sustainable and easier to manage.

There is another reason as to why one should not try to go global or cater to a very large section of users. It is easier to get visibility at a local level than at a global level.

• Do not wait for the perfect site or application

 There is nothing called perfect in any application. That is why we have ‘versions’ just like the ‘Windows’ OS. The same is true for websites. Instead of waiting for an entire season for your website to be stable and perfect, it is better to launch it once you have the basic functionalities up and running. Slowly, adding to it will help more in creating a stable site. The sooner you enter the market, the earlier you will be able to achieve sustainable revenue.

• Take into account Search Engine Optimization (SEO) Cost

 As per webopedia.com “SEO is typically a set of “white hat” best practices that webmasters and Web content producers follow to help them achieve a better ranking in search engine results.

If you want to achieve business though your website, you will need good website ranking that boosts your visibility.

SEO is one of the biggest and hidden cost components of a web based business. Failure to plan, execute and manage the SEO costs can lead to an eventual shutdown of a business. Even before creating the website, one must study and research thoroughly about SEO. Any mistakes in the design, architecture or the content can lead to costly rectifications afterwards.

I recollect one of my business acquaintances mentioning that they had to overhaul their entire website as it was not compliant as per web standards requiring SEO. So plan for SEO from day one of execution.

• Do not try it alone

A business cannot be built alone. You need teams to take forward a startup business. One may have a brilliant idea and think that he has ownership over the idea and therefore he should execute it as well. It may sound reasonable at the beginning, but it has been proven time and again that you need a good set of competent people to work with you for transforming an idea into a successful business. Most people do not want to take the risk of discussing their idea thinking that they may be stolen or someone might execute it better. It is wise not to share your ideas with every person you come across. However, you should start sharing your ideas with your close group of people who can evaluate its feasibility, criticize it and then finally give finishing to it.

Through such discussions with closed groups you may come to know of new people who will have faith in your product or idea. It is important to track such people from the beginning so that when you them on board you can pull them in faster. Having different people on board helps in delivering the ideas faster.

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

“Any publicity is good publicity!” is an old and famous saying in the business sector. Its significance though is not too applicable any more. Today, companies look out and struggle to maintain a consistently positive word of mouth, a strong image and an ambient relationship with their customers. “Reputational risk” is no longer optional and now taken seriously.

The competition is forever increasing and it is difficult to stay ahead in the race. Companies resort to different means for achieving the above mentioned objectives, all of which constitute a good PR. Conventionally, advertising, both print and digital, was the prime means of communication with the consumers. Companies used to pay hefty money to stay in the news through advertising. But then emerged the concept of public relations; a way of increasing your visibility, strengthening your image and therefore building consumer trust.

An important field of marketing mix, public relations, first started to become popular in Indian market during the 90’s and has since then gained momentum with the advent of internet and further, with the expansion of social media. Reaching out to your target audience today has become much easier than what it used to be earlier; and yet, equally challenging has become the task of maintaining a strong and positive image of your name.

The prime reason businesses today have come to realize the increasing importance of a good PR is because publicity is more effective than advertising. It is cost effective and has longer impact. An article about a business or a company is remembered far longer than an ad. But that does not mean that building a good PR can happen without effort. It calls for careful planning, persistent effort and spending money to hire PR consultants or firms, copywriters etc.

Besides, social networks have made marketing very interactive. Online behavior has significant impact on the buying pattern of the consumers. These days, every product is researched on the internet- before a decision is made to purchase it. The role of PR is very instrumental in creating a social engagement strategy.

Since the initial scope of PR was limited to media relations only, it drew professionals from the journalism background. But today, in a more advanced business set up, there is a lot more to public relation which requires going beyond media. It includes an understanding of the consumer behavior, right audience, market scenario and ability to think out of the box. This has attracted many MBA professionals these days to pursue their careers in this exciting field of marketing, both as executives and entrepreneurs, aiming to venture into their own PR consulting business.

For MBA professionals, an entry into the PR field could be through marketing communications. Here you work with a company’s marketing team to help launch new products or re-positioning the existing ones. PR firms hire MBA professionals for the reason that they understand the various concepts of marketing crucial for generating good PR. For instance:

1. Understanding the USP – Unique selling proposition of a product and how to leverage it through effective communication
2. The sense of targeting the right audience and finding the right placement to ensure the message reaches the target audience.
3. Exploiting the competition’s weakness and what differentiates your client’s product.
4. An MBA credential can provide networking opportunities

An emerging field of PR is also in community relations, where you work on finding ways of attaching your client’s name to the positive events in the community, for instance asking them to sponsor a children’s sports event or a cultural program, having to volunteer for city cleaning initiatives etc. Tata group for example has established the Tata Council for Community Initiatives; it acts as a central body to facilitate the entire group’s social initiatives.

An interesting aspect of a PR profile is facing the ethical dilemma. A PR professional is constantly tied between fulfilling its client needs and the public’s right to be honest and fail-dealing. Hence, various associations of PR provide professional code of conducts to help professionals and enhance public trust. The Public Relations Society of America (PRSA) website offers a detailed code of ethics for its members to help them overcome ethical challenges.

The PR job prospects in the Indian market are abundant and assuring for well skilled professionals. Once entered in the field of PR, some people further take up courses in photography or visual communication and expand their horizon to work with film making agencies. The growth of advertising agencies that promote various events has also boosted the number of jobs in the field of PR. You can also work for celebrities or rich tycoons who want to maintain a good public profile.

Many believe an MBA degree might not enhance your chances of starting to climb the PR career ladder. It is true to a certain extent if you are willing to work on the agency side, because they look out for hiring creative problem solvers. But I always believe that an MBA is not just a degree targeted to launch your career in a specific field. It hones your skills such as team work, problem solving, analysis, critical thinking. All these skills are valuable in business sector communication and PR.

If you are willing to get into the field of PR, there are a few key things that you should know:

• It is different from advertising. In fact, it is a form of sales. It calls for maintaining a good network with the media personnel and some field work for planning and arranging participation in public events, conferences and conventions etc for your client or your company. The major part of public relations work involves generating publicity for your client.
• Building a good PR requires knowledge of utilizing the best possible potential of social media.
• PR isn’t always all glamour and jazz, it can involve a challenging career as you sometimes have to work on turning around a company or a client from negative or defamed image. It is important to have the ability to multitask and a flexible attitude as you might be expected to stretch hours and work under deadline pressures.
• It requires good verbal and written communications skills, as well convincing ability. You handle and communicate with the press and work on writing press releases to journalists and publications.

If you hold a passion for the field of communication and PR, you might want to add on a specialized course or certificate in media relations or public relations alongside your MBA. This would not only improve your placement prospects in this specific sector, but will also provide you a more thorough knowledge of the domain. And yet if you are naturally creative with the ability to bring out of the box ideas, PR is the field for you with incredible scope of success.

Contributed By : Isha Jajodia (IBS Gurgaon, Class of 2010).

From cricket scores to movies timings, from spotting a location to navigating to it, from finding a house to finding a person; today we use internet for practically everything. Internet is our savior in all situations as we all are information seekers all the time.

But as much handy the World Wide Web is, most of us still do not know how to make the best of it. Knowing the correct ways of tapping the best possible potential of internet is an art. It is important to learn this art if you want to save further time and find exactly what you are looking for. Data on the internet is increasing manifold every year and access to information is more important than ever. It is all out there and yet most of the time, we don’t find it. This is because although we are looking through the right medium, we are not able to look at the right source of information.

Search engines have a unique way of working. For them relevance is more important than finding a page with the right key words. They have been developed over the years to better match results with our queries. Search engines also assume that more popular the site or page, the more useful it will be for the user. This assumption seems to have fairly matched the end user satisfaction. So, given all this, what are the things that we could take care of from our end to fulfill our means? Let us start by looking at the most effective and reliable search engine of today – Google.

Google offers multiple tools, operators and filters to refine your search. We will look at some of those tools and other tips and tricks to make your search easier, time saving and yielding more precise and accurate results.

Keywords

• The first step to any search is the keywords. Normally, Google returns the result giving priority to the pages containing most of your keywords, irrespective of the order. If you want to improve your search results, it is advisable to use 5 to 7 keywords as then it is easier for Google to understand what you are looking for. Please note that Google tends to ignore frequently used key words like a, an, the, I, this, that etc.
• Use of within-quotes (“ ”): to get the exact phrase or the order of keywords in your search results, you can put your search query within quotes. By doing so Google will look for sites with the exact phrasing. For example, if you want to look for the growth rate of the IT enabled services industry, you might use – “IT enabled services” “industry” “growth rate”, to yield more specific and precise search results.
• Use of asterisks (*): If you are not sure about what keywords to use, or do not know what to look for, you can use * symbol in combination with your keywords. This will make Google find all possible combinations of pages. For example, * internship

• If you want to exclude some words from your search, you can use the minus sign. Google will exclude all the pages from your search result that contain the specific words, except where the minus sign is used as a hyphen.
• Use for comparing data
• You can use the ‘OR’ operator to get choice in your search results. Google will display the sites with either of the two keywords, instead of the sites containing both the words. For example:

Other important points to consider are:

• Use precise keywords to describe what your are searching
• Do not use questions to search on Google. For example instead of using ‘in which year Pfizer acquired Wyeth?’ use ‘Pfizer acquired Wyeth in’
• Use Google shortcuts to save time.

Google Advance Search

Since you cannot always memorize the different search operators, Google offers us the advance search options. You can access more accurate information by using these basic tools:

• Site/Domain search: If you want to search on a specific site then you can use your keywords along with the name of the website separated by a double colon. Google will return results from the same website. You can also use this trick for searching a specific domain. For example, Disaster management : .org

• You can find pages that link to a certain page. For example- link:linkedin.com
• Search specific file type by using, Product development:PDF
• Access a cached version of a website by using cache:timesofindia.com
• Find related pages to the website you already know, related:IPL
• Use allintitle: to view a page with a title containing your desired keyword

Please note that while using operators, do not use any space between keywords and punctuation to refine your search.

Additionally Google gives us the option to filter our search by language, region, time, etc.

Google Shortcuts

• Dictionary: Find meaning of a word without having to access the whole dictionary. For example, use define:ambient to get the meaning of the word ambient

• Calculator: directly use Google’s in built calculator by simply entering the calculation you would like into the search box
• World clocks, weather forecast
• Public data or demographics
• Fill in the blank – Google reduces our efforts by filling in the information that we seek by providing initial keywords followed by asterisks sign (*).
• Unit conversion and currency calculators
• Mortgage rates
• package tracking

Now after having known almost all the search modifiers offered by Google, we can use these options in combination to further clean out the unwanted results. For example, if you are looking for the managing director of a company you can use: “Unilever India” “Managing director” site:Linkedin.com

You can also apply these search modifiers to search for images, news, videos – which are again a form of filtering our search results.

Google’s search technology has reached new heights since it was launched years ago. Most of us do not even know how search works anymore. We just assume to get the results we want. However remembering these simple search modifiers discussed in the article and learning to use them indicatively, can make you search more proficiently.

Here are some links that you can refer to for further gaining clarity on Google’s advance search:

https://support.google.com/websearch/answer/134479?hl=en

https://support.google.com/websearch/answer/35890?hl=en

https://support.google.com/websearch/answer/2466433?hl=en

Contributed By : Isha Jajodia (IBS Gurgaon, Class of 2010).

One of the skills that most, MBA grads or would-be managers require the most is persuasion skills. A sales representative or marketing person is nothing without persuasion skills. One of my professors used to say that a marketing guy must be well-equipped with skills to sell raincoats in a desert. Interesting it sounds but it is certainly difficult to get anyone to do what you really want by making them feel that they really want it.

First and foremost, you need to understand that influencing others isn’t luck or magic, it is science! Researches and management books always proclaim that there are a certain number of ways that make people agree to your messages or pitch. As a marketer, you must be well equipped with consumer behavior i.e. you must be able to understand what affects your target’s behavior.

See, no one can give you a clear explanation that why customers take a particular decision. But if you really, really understand the factors that influence their decisions, you can use them in your favor and that is real persuasion skill. Now since you have knowledge on behaviors remember that in your long term interest never push a product or service to a customer with poor quality or extremely high prices, else you will end up losing your dependability and trust in the long term.

The first mantra that I am going to share with you is ‘A Tooth for a Tooth’. Most of you would-be managers would have guessed by now that a target customer feels more affected and related to a marketer who gives them something or does something for them at no cost. Here, you have to understand that in order to receive you have to give first, let it be samples, gifts, information etc. The key here is to provide a positive experience before hand and then reaping its benefits.

Giving a free trial pack or demonstration gives the prospective customer a feel or experience which they would like to reciprocate. Such prospects become more open to hear your pitch, donate for your cause or tip someone. Also remember, you do not have to go overboard to gift a positive experience.

After you have mastered the reciprocation game, the next step is ‘Communal Consent’. Remember prospective buyers may doubt your information. Hence, just like little kids look for approvals from their parents; prospective customers hunt for approvals from friends, family, relatives, peers, competition and others for their purchase decision.

The number one reason nowadays android applications, products on various shopping sites; restaurants on food sites etc have reviews and ratings beside them is that prospects want to know what existing customers have experienced as well as how they feel about it. This strategy is actually a cost less one but remember the target audience always looks for people similar to them. I used to work for an online ad space selling firm and one of my prospects only bought my service because I gave him a plethora of existing customer’s name that were using the service, were in the same industry or were well known!

The third mantra is ‘Honoring Promises and Remaining Steady’. Would you purchase from a sales representative who commits something and backs out at the actual time of sale? No. A marketer must honor something after agreeing to it verbally or on paper given by him. Prospective customers really look for this steadiness or say consistency in marketer’s commitments.

Moreover customers do not like to leave good deals for which attitudes, values and actions have previously been set, said or discussed. They want to honor what has been decided previously. If you really want someone to say ‘yes’ to you, just make them committed to an action in your favor. Remember elder people value this consistency more!

The fourth mantra is ‘Aristocracy’. People really like to follow what experts or people of high social class do. They like to mimic attractive clothing, valuable and precious jewelry or good quality automobile for the credibility they provide. When someone imposes authority, customers generally tend to blindly follow or accept it.

Remember when prospects are insecure or hesitant they look for reference points outside to guide their choices. Authority figures leave a high level of influence in the form of testimonials, certificates, etc. This is the prime reason why a Bollywood star Amitabh Bachchan endorses hair oil, suit fabric, etc and people actually buy them.

The next mantra is to ‘Invoke Affinity’; i.e. understanding that prospects say yes to things or people whom they either know or have a liking for. Remember customers place high value of genuine compliments because everyone is needy for praise that boosts their self confidence and esteem.

Customers might like physically attractive or people just like them or their friends approaching them for sales. Understand and know the challenges, problems and preferences of prospects. Remember that Walter Hudson will only be impressed and interested in you if you understand the problems he faces with his weight and give him a solution easing one of his challenges.

Lastly the mantra of ‘Scarcity and Dearth’, leads to creation of demand because the lesser something is available, the more it is in demand else Picasso’s paintings wouldn’t be sold at extremely outrageous prices. Also, offers such as special edition or limited period add to demand temporarily leading to immediate sales at high prices.

Show the prospective customer that you are sensitive to their possible losses than their would-be gains. Therefore it is wise for a marketer to emphasize less on product, its style, benefits and utility but on the opportunity being wasted. Use phrases and words like don’t miss the opportunity. Also, highlight the uniqueness wherever it exists!

Your skill to persuade in the extremely competitive environment, depend on your genuine efforts to show customers that you care and value them; proving social acceptance of your product or service; sticking to your commitment and steadiness; implicating aristocracy; increasing likeliness and showing that the offering you have to make is unique as well as limited in availability!

Contributed By : Chayan Jain (Class of 2011-2013, IBS Hyderabad).

It is said, “When you focus on what you want, everything else falls apart”. Look back and think for a moment, have you decided what you really want to achieve in life? Some of you would say yes, but most would say no!

Pull up your socks, be focused on the future and give directions by deciding upon the ultimate goal of your life. It holds true both for professional and personal life. Until and unless you really know what you want to achieve, whatever you are doing in day-to-day life might be unrewarding.

Hence setting goals is important. Now you would say setting goals for profession is understandable but what do I mean by setting goals for personal life – it could be anything from being a wonderful wife/husband who never gives an opportunity of complaint to their spouse to leading a stress-free life outside work. Difficult to imagine, isn’t it. Actually it is not, if you make a clear goal you will plan things accordingly, which would result in a happy personal life and positively influences your professional life too. Indeed a win-win situation. You would wonder why I’m going out of track and talking about setting personal goals on a blog where we talk about studies and career. In that case, most of you would agree with me that both are inter-related, which is why I’m talking about both sides of the coin.

Moving on to professional goals, the thumb rule is really simple – think hard about what is it you want to do in the future that would give you a kick and makes you happy. I am not saying that you imagine yourself to be the President of USA as he is one of the most powerful men in the world, but something realistic and achievable. No offence but if you think you can be the President, then go for it!

Say for example your dream is to become Google India’s head. That is an impressive dream and Google is such an amazing company to work with that most of the employees feel more at home when they are actually in office! You would instantly fall in love with Google and its more than awesome work culture. Additionally, it goes without saying how impressive the company is, that it has a turnover of multiple billion dollars, has presence in almost every country of the world and is a household name.

Say you have thought through it and have decided what your ultimate goal would be, now what next? Let’s put up a scenario here – if you want to reach the 1^st floor of a building, you take one step at a time or do you just jump to the first floor? Now please don’t say you would take a lift as that is a different scenario altogether. Here I am trying to make my point by demonstrating the example of climbing stairs, so let’s stick to it. Going back to the discussion, almost all of you would agree with me that taking one step at a time is the most comfortable and easiest way of reaching the first floor.

This is exactly what you need to do in case of setting goals for your life – make interim goals and give them a timeline. Giving a timeline to goals really help in staying focused. Also every time you achieve an interim goal you feel happy about it and are motivated to move on. To further illustrate it using an example, I will go back to the goal of being India’s Google head. In order to achieve that, one needs to decide upon interim goals. In this case those interim goals could be:

• Every third year aim of getting a designation hike
• Every year aim at getting at least 20% hike
• Every year aim at contributing at least one innovative idea that made a positive difference to the company.

What if you do not achieve your goals in the timeline you set for yourself? First of all there are slim chances of that happening because if you have a positive mindset, you almost always give the best shot putting you on the right track.

However, God forbid this happens there is no need to feel low as you get the opportunity to learn a lot of things during this course and this learning will certainly help you in achieving your goal when you try the second time around.

I would like to refer to the “Law of Attraction” which I learnt from ‘The Secret’ series written by Rhonda Byrne. My recommendation is to read ‘Secret the Power’, the second book of the series. It has helped thousands of people in achieving their goals.

So what exactly is Law of Attraction? According to this law, which holds as true as law of gravity, whatever you think you attract in your life. Your thoughts and feelings design your present and future. We should actually feel positive talking about these interim goals and should not worry about the result. If you believe in yourself, everything would be fine. If you worry then you would actually attract more worrisome circumstances! That is the last thing you should do. Take calculative risks and believe in yourself. Try to keep yourself as happy and as cheerful as possible as that will attract more happiness, which indeed would be achievement of your goal!

To further talk about goal setting, the following catalysts will give your career an accelerated growth:

• Good networking: In corporate world, networking plays a very important role. If you have a good rapport with your clients and influential people of your industry, things will be much easier. Here I am not saying that you get unreasonable and buy expensive gifts for clients or give free services, for which your company otherwise pays, to get a new client. What you should do is keep in touch with influential people, attend conferences and exchange your business cards there. Networking also means maintaining a decent relationship with your sister companies and know about their business as well. If you are part of a media agency that deals with TV campaigns, then you should have a good bonding with somebody in digital wing as well. This would give you knowledge of inevitable marketing medium and perhaps more business to your company!

• Going an extra mile to seek knowledge of your domain: Doing day-to-day work perfectly is not enough to be a star performer. In order to be that or to run a successful business you need to go an extra mile and keep yourself updated with latest trends of your industry. Read whitepapers, reports, analysis, surveys, blogs etc. Keep increasing your domain knowledge every passing day.

• Put yourself in other’s shoes: Before judging anyone, put yourself in their position and think what kind of behavior you would have expected had you been on the other side. Always and always behave in this manner, whether it is your subordinate, your colleague or client. Always follow this simple rule and you will always end up in people’s good books, which will eventually help you in being successful.

• Treat your client/customer as king: We all are majorly working for work satisfaction and money. But where does this money come? Clients of course. Hence we need to treat them with utmost importance. However at the same time we should never say yes to their unreasonable timelines or assignments they ask us to do. We should be confident enough to say no. If you make a valid point, client would always agree and would respect you even more for your approach and realistic attitude.

• Stay away from blame game: Usually in the corporate world if someone is reprimanded for anything, the blame game starts. However if you were at fault you should actually put your foot forward and except your mistake. Before such a situation arises, before it starts to pick fire just flag the issue in a subtle manner. Try not to offend anyone.

• Stay away from office politics: Here I would like to say, just don’t do it and try not to fall in its trap. By putting someone down and moving ahead by wrong means you could get short term success along with a lot of mental trauma. If you do your work well and highlight it to the senior management, they would certainly notice and reward you appropriately. If you do not then probably that company is not worth you and it’s time to move on.

Setting personal goals go hand-in-hand with professional goals, and when set right they can propel you to success. You will definitely enjoy a successful professional life along with a great personal life. After all, this is what everybody aims for!

Contributed By : Arpita Seth (Class of 2010,IBS Gurgaon).

 

When I was a kid, my grandfather used to tell me stories from his era. He used to boast of a simple and happy life with no stress or hurry. People were easy going, dedicated, honest in their jobs and satisfied with limited means.

But the world has grown too far from those times. Massive data is being transferred in small chips. We are constantly engaged in working even on the go, while eating and sometimes even doing our daily ‘honors’. We have learned to multitask, constantly striving to match the pace of fast moving and dynamic business conditions around us.

Change occurs mostly through evolution. If we don’t embrace it, we will be left behind unable to decipher our environment. So, new developments, technologies, processes have led to new mindsets, principles and ideals. Banks do not run on piles of files any more. Entrance exams are conducted online. Companies connect with other companies across the globe. The world has become a smaller place.

Operating businesses today, therefore, vastly differ from what it used to be in older times. There are many processes and principles that are no longer applicable to contemporary corporates. If you run your business like that in the 70’s, 80’s or 90’s, you might need to re-evaluate your current position in comparison to your counterparts.

Let’s look at some of the ‘old school’ business practices that are no longer relevant:

• Dictatorial leadership techniques and hierarchical bureaucracy: Gone are the days of ‘bossy’ bosses. No one wants to work because they are made to. Inflicting strict regimes, keeping records of in and out times by seconds, issuing warnings or the need to control every aspect of your company are ways of micro-management that is totally unappreciated or even required in today’s office cultures. Managers now believe in empowerment. Giving employees some flexibility and space to think out of the defined lines is encouraged. Following strict protocols is no longer relevant, as long as the work gets done.

• The “Flashy Executive Suites”: In times where companies have to face bigger and real problems within the market, providing big and lavish offices to its executives is not a high priority agenda. Organizational structures are becoming more horizontal. Communication and approachability of the higher management is more in demand. Also, in stressful global economy, management focuses on cost cutting rather than spending big bucks on designer offices.

• No – mistakes or no tolerance policy: Management these days acknowledge that to err is to human, unlike mangers of the 70’s or 80’s who believed in hire and fire. In fact, contemporary leaders consider layoffs as the last resort. Emphasis is laid on learning from mistakes and growing by learning.

• Emphasis on qualifications and grades over skills and experience: This is a cliché. I remember my elder brother narrating stories of how companies came for placements in their college and the best picked up the best. Toppers got placed first, but this practice is not strictly applicable today. Yes, academics are important, but placements do not completely depend on GPAs. Quite likely, a 5 pointer will land with a better offer in the end, but recruiters look for skills more than knowledge. Quick learners, problem solvers and people who take ownership are given preference than those who only have college ranks to show.

• Women are not suitable for leadership roles: I would say this was more of a social bias than a business practice. But it is completely insignificant today. The growing number of women at top positions, boards of biggest public companies is a clear indication to that. There used to be times when promoting women to top management was discouraged, but almost all companies now focus on improving gender diversity within their firm.

• Copy old theories than design new ones: Earlier businesses used to run with the sole aim of maximizing shareholder values. Tried and tested approaches of profit making and coping with competition were implemented. But globalization and Internet has changed everything. Innovation is the key to growth and survival as access to information is much easier now. The power equation has changed from seller to buyer, and relying on traditional management strategies is not enough.

• Pay employees more money and they will do more: Yes, money used to be a driving force in the old business era. Monetary incentives are still welcome but today, more importance is laid on rewards and recognition. You can retain but not motivate your employees by merely paying them extra bucks. Hence, Maslow’s hierarchy of needs theory is out of date. Instead, an ethical work culture driven by fair recognition, opportunity and scope for growth is part of the present-day core values.

• Management knows everything: Earlier, leadership was looked upon as someone who knew all the answers. But today’s managers don’t pretend to know everything. Collaborative learning, choosing the right people with right skills, trusting your workforce is the new approach.

• Investing in technology and not people: While this is somewhat still relevant and followed, the modern perspective is to invest in people who are creating and running the technical interface that runs your business. Without them, no technology infrastructure can be successful.

• Dress code or uniforms: Surprisingly, ties and double-breasted suits are no longer standard office attires. Except for specific occasions, companies permit employees to ‘loosen-up’. Business casuals are the new fashion trend for office-goers. There are casual Fridays, themed –working days in MNC offices. The idea is to have people relax and de-stress instead of worrying too much about following the clothing protocol.

There are many large corporations who still practice traditional management. GE, for example, co-exists with old ways in the new world. Work culture today is undergoing a metamorphosis. There is no place for slowing down. The transition is happening across industries and among all large as well as small-scale firms.

Even these management practices are not perfect and will continue to evolve, finding new ways to add value. Modern day management revolution calls for continuous innovation and transformation, keeping the customers happy and employees inspired. We could all hope the change continues to be for the larger good.

Contributed By: Isha Jajodia (IBS Gurgaon ,Class of 2010).

The BCG matrix named after the Boston Consulting Group, identifies 4 types of strategic business units for a company’s portfolio analysis so that companies can identify which of its products and services are performing well, growing, decaying, need investment or need to be done away with. Four years back, I made a blunder of classifying the clients (of the company I was doing my internship with) into BCG matrix (growth-share matrix) instead of classifying its services and products for portfolio analysis in my summer internship project report.

But I realized that though this approach may sound rude and inappropriate for business clients; it can be successfully implied in our lives to understand the kind of friends we make during our MBA days; keeping in mind that it is important for all of us to understand whose presence is good and benefiting for us while who is our grave digger.

Friendship growth rate refers to the summation of various characteristics such as the age of friendship (whether new or old); the quality of company (enjoyable or irritating); the extent of matching interests (knowledge, recreation, thinking etc.) With these factors being common such as old friendship, good company that refreshes you and like thinking you are more likely to get together and form friends with a person. Such person may be contributing to your various interests such as academics, discussions, sports; recreation etc and these characteristics make him/her attractive.

Friendship’s share in life or say strength of friendship refers to the importance and value you assign to your friendship. Also, this refers to the strength of equation shared by you with a friend. It is important to know whether you assign value to a particular friend or not and if you do then how much. Those with high value should always be grown to be beneficial and those whom you value less should be taken care of because every friend has their own importance.

Remember it is easy for you to make your place as a friend in someone’s life when there is opportunity to grow friendship. Also, if you try to build all your friends at one time, you might end up being confused as to who is more important to you while, who is less important.

The Star Friends: A very few friends remain attractive and maintain the friendship for a long time due to various reasons. Although I believe only few of your friends qualify and maintain as star friends, such people are those with whom you invest most of your time, efforts and thus friendship grows rapidly. With time their growth may or may not slow down and they may shift to other areas due to excessive closeness.

Such friends are ideal and beneficial for everyone because from teaching to project work they stand by you and you reciprocate with ease. Everyone wants such loyal and dedicated friends who not only know your grades better than you but also your family and your mindset. Such friends are practically challenging to maintain because with time, things change yet some people successfully maintain the equation.

The Cash Cows: This classification of friends does not refer to your filthy rich friends but those who are with you for a long time; already know you and share a very strong bond with you. Such friendships do not demand extensive investment from your side in terms of excessive effort. Such friends reciprocate with good relations, support, understanding that are always a positive for you.

You neither need to go out of the way to help them out nor need to overdo anything because you already share a good rapport with them. You are aware of their extent and limitations of friendships and vice-versa. Such friends are a boon because you need to make no additional efforts and the relations are already good. You stand by them and they give an extra hand to you when you need help.

The Question Marks: Such friends devote lesser time and strength in the present but have a high growth rate or potential. What do you do with friends who give you less time but appear worthy of your companionship? You invest in them by giving them your attention, time, dedication as well as look ahead to spend time with them.

You have to be extremely careful as to which friends you should convert as star friends. There are chances that your efforts may succeed or fail, there’s complete uncertainty. The crux here is to identify here who is valuable and who is not. Once you know whom all to focus upon, you must make efforts.

Dogs: Ethically it is ridiculous to call or coin a friend as a dog. But, this combination is the least important looking at your interests, its attractiveness and the time and effort you would like to devote. They may be disloyal, prove to be a time and energy drain or use up a disproportionate amount of time and resources. Such friends might have been close friends with you in the past but you lost touch or closeness with them due to some form of lack in trust, misunderstanding or deceit. This category includes those friends who cannot keep your secrets and blow the trumpet in front of the world.

Remember that while some friends might need immediate deletion, there are some friends required to be maintained to avoid negative publicity; to complete the group where such a friend is liked by others; to receive regular updates or any other reason. Such friends may be capable of revitalization and must not be done away with completely. At least maintaining touch is important in this case.

You must remember that since question mark and star friends are crucial; they are extremely demanding and require consistent efforts to be maintained and nurtured. Further it is extremely crucial for you to understand whom are you investing your time on and what kind of return are you expecting? Again as the critics of the matrix say, this matrix doesn’t care about averages; uses absurd notations and headings, cannot be used freely and lacks pragmatic approach.

Contributed By : Chayan Jain (Class of 2011-2013, IBS Hyderabad).