I have had the fortune of travelling to about eight countries in Africa this year. Mostly in the Eastern region. Almost everywhere I have been greeted with namastes and warm smiles. People in the fastest growing region in the world are incredibly warm towards India. I have felt more at home in Addis Ababa, Kampala and Nairobi than in any of the western countries I have visited.As India grows in stature globally, it's diplomatic efforts to foster relations with the developing world, especially Africa are growing too. India's Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) launched a unique initiative last year to reach out to countries in Africa. MEA deployed an unusual diplomatic effort to bring together youth, students, civil society and entrepreneurs in a warm embrace of lasting relationship. This initiative is called ''IndiAfrica: A shared future" and is managed by theideaworks, a communication, design and marketing firm. The initiative holds ground events and conducts contests in essays writing, photography with India and Africa as the key theme. The ground events bring academic institutions, students and young entrepreneurs together for partnerships.The IndiAfrica effort is a great template for the MEA to follow for engagement with other countries. This not only leverages the soft power of India, but also creates hundreds of ambassadors that nurture and foster relations. India does not have the diplomatic bandwidth to do justice to its relations with the world. It's diplomatic corp has only about 800 officers. Compare this with China that has about 6000. In this situation, it is even more important to create innovative activities that bring India closer to other countries through a strategy of social engagement. The IndiAfrica programme will have reached out to about 25 countries by June 2014. "The response has pleasantly surprised us. Students, professionals, academics and entrepreneurs are very keen on India. They are looking for opportunities to learn and partner with India," says Amit Shahi, CEO and co founder of theideaworks. But while governments on both sides have been encouraging, Indian private sector's support has been low. Very few companies have participated in this effort through sponsorships. But some companies that have a long term view about on Africa are keen. Corporate strategy and geo-political interests are best served by investing in long term relationship efforts. Especially in a social framework. As the IndiAfrica programme rolls out, it has the ability to inspire more such efforts by MEA in other parts of the world.(Pranjal Sharma is a senior business writer)
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For several months, India has suffered the double misfortune of a slowing economy and high inflation. Now, it is also facing a rapidly depreciating currency against the dollar. While a falling rupee is not the best news for domestic markets, it certainly provides a good opportunity for exporters and NRI investors, who stand to gain from the weakening rupee on conversion, making India an attractive destination to park any surplus funds. The inevitable slowdown of our economy, coupled with Foreign Institutional Investors (FII) pulling funds out of the stock market, sent the rupee into a free-fall. Additionally, real estate in other parts of the world is sinking. Volatile or flat-lining economies in the Middle East and Europe make investing in these regions risky and further make the case for a more lucrative return on investment within the Indian real estate sector.With the rupee on the decline, Indian homes have become significantly cheaper for NRIs. For example, NRIs living in the US could receive as much as a 20 per cent savings on their purchase price. Many from the NRI community look to invest in residential apartments that have comprehensive amenities and safety features required for a comfortable living. Some NRIs residing abroad look for opulent homes with absolute luxury; a property that can be used as a second home investment and eventually be used as a retirement home. Second home is extending good support and an attractive investment option for property buyers. This also becomes a good investment avenue, as the second home segment all over the country has been appreciated astronomically in recent times. Real estate is considered a great long-term investment, and a second home is great way to get into the action. Given this, many domestic realtors are focusing their efforts on making upcoming property development sites attractive to NRIs. Ultra-premium residential projects in cities like Bengaluru are attracting investments from NRIs, who find favor with all the amenities to support and maintain their lifestyle choices like clubhouses, indoor temperature-controlled pools, private gymnasium, squash courts etc.The New AffluentsAffluence is relative. What might appear as affluence to one class, might be conceived as sheer necessity by another.The Boston Consulting Group rightly divides the affluent class in India into the professional affluents and traditional affluents. The former has climbed the social ladder and established its presence in professional and social circles, while the latter has mostly inherited both.The affluent class in India numbers around 13 million households and has an annual household income of US$ 18,500 and above. The professional affluent – we have re-christened them ‘New’ Affluents – and the NRI can be safely termed as New Affluents.They accounted for 16 per cent ($158.56 billion) of India’s overall consumption of $991 billion in 2010. By 2020, this class will account for 26% of total consumption ($3,584 billion).Over the next eight years, the New Affluent class will add 18.8 new households into its fold.With the value of the Indian rupee dropping, and the simultaneous pick-up of interest from NRIs in domestic property investments, several banks have made it easier for NRIs to buy property. Reserve Bank of India has also granted general permission to a few financial institutions providing housing finance to grant loans to NRIs for acquisition of residential property for self-occupation, subject to certain conditions. Similarly, authorized dealers have been given permission to grant loans to NRIs for acquisition of house/flat for self-occupation on their return to India subject to certain conditions. The inflow of NRI money will also benefit real estate companies in paying off their dues and commitment against property already purchased as their revenue will simultaneously increase. This is a good time for developers to market existing and new projects to NRI community and create a win-win situation on both sides by offering attractive deals in new investments, offering schemes for higher interest benefits on early payment rebate options on existing projects that have investments from members in the NRI community.The average investment in Indian real estate properties seems to be currently priced between Rs 40 and 80 lakh. However, some invest in hi-end luxury properties priced between Rs 1.5-2 crore. A small percentage of this NRI population also invests in properties above Rs 2 crore. This trend is mainly prominent in Indian metros.Being clued-in to economic developments across seven seas can sometimes help one in many ways than one. Buying a home is every individual’s dream, and for NRIs aka New Affluents, the time is now.(Brotin Banerjee is MD & CEO, Tata Housing)
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In an industry wide effort to boost the adoption of online shopping in India, all leading e-commerce players and Google India have introduced the ‘Great Online Shopping Festival’ slated for 12 December 2012. The idea is based on the concept of Cyber Monday,a marketing term coined by marketing companies in the US to persuade people to shop online.The festival will see participation from over 50 partners including leading eCommerce players, local classified, online travel sites and BFSI industry offering their best deals to customers all across India for 24 hours.The initiative focuses on reaching out to first time online buyers. Buyers can look forward to exciting discounts across a variety of product range for example users can enjoy discounts up to 40 per cent on smart phones and tablets, up to 70 per cent off on premium, branded footwear and home decor products, 20 per cent off on diamond and gold jewellery plus an additional discount of 12 per cent for first time buyers only on 12th December. Partnering sites will also offer express delivery and many other exciting offers like an opportunity to save up to Rs 10 lakh on real estate deals. Apart from great deals, buyers will also be able to enjoy free shipping across India and learn more about online shopping, various methods of payments and how safe and convenient it is to shop online.“The online shopping industry is estimated to be already over a 1.5 $ billion and with this initiative we want to reach out and promote online shopping to the first time buyers. The industry has done a lot to promote eCommerce adoption in India and we’re partnering with them to provide the users an easy access to all the deals and we look forward to great response from buyers all across India,” says Rajan Anandan, Managing Director & VP Sales and Operations at Google India.Mukesh Bansal, Co-Founder & CEO, Myntra.com talks about the company has lined up some really exciting offers from their portfolio of 500 brands. “(This initiative) will expand our reach beyond the 18 million Snapdeal subscribers and will help us attract and reach more buyers,” believes Kunal Bahl, Co-Founder and CEO, Snapdeal.com.E-commerce companies are understandably optimistic about how such a shopping festival would popularise online shopping as a convenient, trustworthy and exciting experience, which is already making waves across the country.The list of companies participating includes:eBay India, Flipkart.com, IndiatimesShopping.com, snapdeal.com, makemytrip.com, Yebhi.com, firstcry.com, Sulekha.com, Homeshop18.com, Croma, Gitanjali Group, Shine.com, Yatra.com, Zansaar, Fashionara, Caratlane, pepperfry.com, healthkart, Lenskart, Monster India, Bagskart, Jewelskart.com, Watchkart, Tradus, GoIbibo, Timtara, FreeCultr, BeStylish, Inkfruit, Myntra, Zovi, Fashionandyou, Quikr, Hoopos, Naaptol, Jabong, Firstcry, Goodlife, Babyoye, Hushbabies, PropTiger, Fabfurnish, IndiaProperty, People Interactive (Shaadi.com), BigRock, BharatMatrimony, Utsav Fashion, Right florists, Right Shopping, Gets Holidays, Jet Airways, Travelyaari, redBus, Indigo Airlines, Getit Infoservices
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Kelly Services Inc.’s latest global workforce index has found that mobile technologies are transforming the workplace.But while the proliferation of technology such as smartphones and tablets has boosted productivity and efficiency, it has also contributed to increased fatigue and burnout. More than one-quarter of workers surveyed around the world said they feel pressured to stay connected with work outside of normal work hours. Coming to India, more than one third of the Indian respondents say they feel under pressure to stay connected with work apart from the normal working hours. Fifty-five per cent of respondents spend up to five hours per week connected to their work outside normal work hours, 16 per cent spend 6-10 hours, and 18 per cent spend more than 10 hours. Only 11 per cent spent no extra time. Pressure on individuals to stay connected with work is coming from customers and clients, cited by 28%, followed by employers (25%), pressure individuals are placing on themselves (24%), industry culture (14%), and other employees (7%). More than half (56%) say that the use of mobile technologies for work has improved their work-life balance. 38% say that the use of online technologies has improved their job security. Almost half (49% would consider telecommuting) While 61 per cent say the use of mobile technologies has improved their work efficiency and productivity, 35 per cent say it has also contributed to increased fatigue and burnout. Thirty-eight per cent say that the use of online technologies has improved their job security and 49 per cent would consider telecommuting - working mainly from home or away from the office - if that were offered. Kamal Karanth, Managing Director, Kelly Services India, says “The blurring of the line between work and leisure is occurring across all generations, and is most pronounced for employees with a professional and technical background, who are under the greatest pressure to maintain contact with their work. Many employees are juggling the competing pressures between work and leisure”. The Kelly Global Workforce Index (KGWI) survey ‘Highly Virtual Workforce’, examined the growth of the virtual workforce, the impact on workplace productivity, work-life balance and job security. Nearly 170,000 people in 30 countries participated in the survey, including approximately 5,000 in India. “The KGWI shows the results of diverse forces impacting the contemporary workplace, including generational and geographic diversity, technology, employee empowerment, and the widespread use of social media,” says Karanth. Kelly Services, Inc. is one of the leader in providing workforce solutions. Kelly offers a comprehensive array of outsourcing and consulting services as well as world-class staffing on a temporary, temporary-to-hire and direct-hire basis. ·
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Have we accepted fraud and corruption as inevitable facts of life? It seems so, especially if KPMG India's Fraud Survey 2012 is anything to go by. The survey found 71 per cent of the respondents think of fraud as an inevitable cost of doing business. This includes 80 per cent of respondents who said they have experienced fraud over the last two years. Indian companies outnumbered MNCs in this view.Cyber crime, intellectual property fraud including counterfeiting and piracy, and identity theft were rated as the top fraud concerns for the future across all sectors revealed by KPMG India Fraud Survey 2012.This underlines a shift in the fraud landscape with fraudsters increasingly targeting organisational knowledge (data, code etc) and not physical assets to defraud companies.Corporate India's unwillingness to see fraud as a strategic risk poses a grave threat to firms as they start experiencing frauds of the future indicates.Rohit Mahajan, Partner and co-Head, Forensic Services, KPMG in India said,"over the last decade knowledge has emerged as a key organisational asset. It is only natural that fraudsters will target these assets, as they are much more valuable to companies today".The futuristic frauds identified rely on technology and allow fraudsters to work in groups to leverage their full might. Irrespective of size, sector and operations, every company was vulnerable, added Mahajan.The survey noted that nearly 78 per cent of respondents were unaware of the risks associated with intellectual property infringement, counterfeiting or piracy. In case of cyber crime, while over 80 per cent respondents had policies on accessing external websites and social media from their office networks, 40 per cent said their companies did not have specific guidelines on the kind of information that could be shared on social media. Around 53 per cent of respondents said they had faced identity theft (either by way of password sharing, social engineering or malwares) and yet did not have a policy to mitigate these incidences.According to Mahajan: Technology is changing the fraud landscape and challenging the boundaries of fraud risk management. By misusing technology even relatively simple frauds like those in procurement, can become sophisticated and difficult to detect. The frameworks that were sufficient to mitigate simple frauds are no longer effective against these sophisticated frauds", he said. This is evidenced by over 70 per cent of survey respondents claiming they had no effective mechanism in place to mitigate risks from futuristic frauds.There was high reliance on internal mechanisms such as general process controls and compliance frameworks to detect and prevent futuristic frauds, the survey noted. While whistleblower hotlines were identified as an efficient method to uncover fraud or misconduct within organisations, only 50 per cent of respondents said they had established such a hotline in their organisation.Further, only half of the respondents said they had implemented process specific controls, employee and third party due diligence, whistleblower hotline, and a framework to monitor compliance with the Code of Conduct/Code of Ethics. Apart from challenging business processes to unearth gaps in existing controls, and forming internal teams to research on emerging frauds, there was little that companies were doing to tackle these frauds, the survey revealed.Although a majority of respondents were impacted by various types of futuristic frauds, around 71 per cent felt fraud (of any type) was an inevitable cost of doing business, implying that fraud mitigation and risk management ranked low on their board level agenda. This attitude, to some extent, was supported by various survey findings - Increase in the number of frauds discovered (making one believe that no amount of risk management could help); the tendency among companies to undermine the threat of employee fraud; inadequate fraud risk management controls to tackle futuristic fraud; reluctance to rely on external experts during an investigation and a high degree of tolerance for well known forms of fraud such as bribery and corruption.Financial Services and Information & Entertainment were identified as sectors most prone to frauds, owing to their high dependence on technology, large transactional data in electronic form, as well as the confidential information they held. Bribery and corruption continues to be an issue the industry is reluctant to discuss and close to 70 per cent of respondents said they faced no significant threat from it. Around 72 per cent of respondents said their organization had a mechanism to address bribery and corruption, however, only few respondents chose to answer questions pertaining to such a mechanism, indicating high levels of organisational tolerance to bribery and corruption. Click here to view 'KPMG India Fraud Survey 2012'
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Today we are in the early days of cloud computing with organisations taking baby steps. But by 2020, one can expect IT to have transformed itself into a whole new avatar. The IT landscape will be drastically changed by then with cloud becoming an integral and permanent part of the enterprise computing infrastructure including organizational structures, roles, skills and operations.With the increasing popularity of cloud over the past couple of years, Gartner reports that a number of business are facing the heat from their customers to switch to the cloud for their operations to improve business performance, and also to keep up with the trends of what their clients are using. It further states, 60 per cent of server workloads will be virtualised by 2014. As business grows and the headcount increases, companies will need to take a relook at managing workplace operations. And with the workforce getting younger, old business operation methods have to be discarded. Manual and semi-automated processes will need to give way to standardised automated workflows in an increasingly global business environment. And when organisations want to tie in reduced total cost of ownership and paying for the services received, the cloud model reigns supreme.Deployment of an application or solution can be explored in varied ways through cloud-based services. Using cloud resources does not eliminate the costs associated with IT solutions, but realigns some costs and reduces others. A Gartner report on top 10 strategic technologies states that cloud-based, "on-demand" enterprise solutions, which include cloud-based workforce management solutions, are in growing demand. Workforce management vendors will now need to differentiate themselves by optimising the cost implications of SaaS, PaaS and IaaS models. Market leaders like Kronos are setting the stage for such a shift through their Workforce Ready and Workforce SaaS offering.The delivery model of SaaS for workforce management vendors, allows organisations to deploy workforce management products quickly and at ease, with minimal upfront investment. As the vendor is responsible for maintaining all hardware and network infrastructure, including application performance and availability, these models reduces the strain on company’s own IT departments.In addition, organisations can automatically update to the latest and advanced workforce management applications without having to perform expensive upgrades or purchase new software licenses.Workforce management solutions provided via the cloud cater to web or mobile access to workforce management applications that help organisations significantly reduce their workforce costs. These applications can take advantage of cost efficiencies such as shared components, and may also embrace the on-demand infrastructure of a cloud to provide additional services when needed.With the need for "anytime and anywhere" information demand increasing for mobile technologies, using cloud computing allows the user to access the information very easily at any place and at any time. It is predicted that by 2015, mobile application development projects targeting smartphones and tablets will outnumber native PC projects by a ratio of 4:1 (Source: Gartner).The cloud also spells greater accountability for the solution provider. The earlier handoff point at the time of deployment would now go missing. In terms of IT infrastructure and application support the customers would now look for a quicker turn-around-time. This would need a change in orientation for businesses – from product to services. Through subscriptions and support the revenue stream would become fluid and be governed by SLAs.What worked yesterday, will not work today. The need for the cloud to make a transition is significant. From a mid-market company to a farmer, everyone would be able leverage technology. It’s a business need to transform in order to sustain. The game and the rules to play by will be undergoing a shift. And cloud, is the key to success in the future. (Ashok Saxena is the Head, India Engineering Centre, Kronos)
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An entrant into Human Resources function by chance, Suhas Kadlaskar, director, corporate affairs, HR and IT, Mercedes Benz India, believes HR policies and procedures should be different for different demographies within an organisation so that Gen X, Y and Z employees can be treated according to their needs.In our series on HR practitioners, Kadlaskar is the third HR head to share with us what makes HR leaders tick.Excerpts from the conversationWhat made you choose HR as a profession?In fact I did not choose HR as a profession at the first instance; I am a Charter Accountant & was handling accounting, finance & taxation for our company. However, in 2009 an opportunity came up and I was asked if I had an interest to head human resources (HR) function. I was thrilled with the opportunity as I like to deal with people. HR function is a totally people-orientated function where one has to understand the feeling of the human beings. I am always fascinated by dynamics of human mind and hence I grabbed the opportunity of heading Human Resources function.What has been the biggest achievement of your career?One of the achievements of my career is cutting the attrition rate of our organisation to less than 10 per cent in a fiercely competitive market. In an emerging market like India, retaining talent is a big challenge. With innovative HR policies, we could ensure very high employee motivation ultimately resulting in to employee retention.What have been the primary traits/qualities that have helped you attain your present position? I believe that one of the quality/trait a person should have to attend leadership position is to have feeling for human beings. He/she has to understand the aspiration & expectations of people across the management ladder in the organisation.What are the challenges you are facing in your organisation?While at present we do not have any major challenge, I would like to focus on learning and development which would be the key for success in our growth phase.What are the steps a company should take to develop and motivate future leaders?In my opinion, a company should follow clearly defined Leadership Pipeline Model. For those from junior management who are supposed to manage their own function up to the executives who are supposed to manage the whole function, differential training should be imparted. The employee should be exposed to change management & the growth management trainings. While technical leadership is given, they should be exposed to people management.What is your rate of attrition? How do you prevent it?Our rate of attrition is 6-8 per cent. We could achieve this by employee oriented HR policies, which includes not only attractive compensation & benefits but also very good attractive growth opportunities which is the important factor for the retention. We continuously monitor the status through Employee Satisfaction Survey & take corrective actions for various parameters where we see the opportunity for improvements.How do you retain talent in your company?The retention of talent is achieved by offering challenging jobs, a conducive work environment, attractive benefits, full empowerment, and international exposure to potential candidates etc. What sets your company apart from other companies as far as work culture is concerned?We strongly believe that we have highly professionals and excellence- oriented work approach, we encourage our employees to take additional responsibilities with proper delegation and empowerment. International exposure to technology and processes also add to our excellence based work culture.What is the biggest challenge you face when selecting people?Although our country produces more than 3 lakhs engineers per year, only a certain percentage are employable. This is a challenge which we tackle through training. How do you track employees’ satisfaction or dissatisfaction in your company?We conduct different surveys such as Employee Satisfaction Survey on regular intervals where employees are welcome to comment on policies, process and work culture of the organisation. The results of such surveys are analysed at the level of board of management and necessary corrective steps are taken.How important is HR to the bottom line of a company?We treat HR as a business partner, and it is thus one of the most important functions in the organisation. We believe that people drive the strategy and its implementation and from this point of view, HR plays very important role in the success of the company.How has the downturn affected HR?The present downturn has affected HR to some extent in as much as we are optimistically cautious on recruitment. While training & learning continues, we are using this time of downturn for sharpening our HR strategy for short & mid term. This will make us fit for future challenges.How should HR be integrated with the core line of business?HR should be integrated as a business partner. HR should be linked with all important functions so that it gets business perspective of all issues which will help HR to serve the business more effectively.A recent survey has questioned HR’s actual contribution in an organisation. Would you like to comment on it with particular reference to your organisation?HR’s contribution in any organisation is as important as from any other functions like sales and marketing, production etc. We believe that people drive the strategy and its implementations and for this purpose HR plays very vital role to attract & retain good talent, without which the success of the company can not be ensured. If you could change three things about HR practices, what would they be?All HR employees should be made to work in business functions like sales, finance etc. It will change the perspective of HR completely. HR policies & procedures should be different for the different demography within the organisation. This is to ensure that Gen X, Gen Y & Gen Z employees are treated differently as per their own needs e.g.: flexi pay & learning needs etc. More and more flexibility in employee related work practices e.g.: flexible timing, mobile work places, flexi pay etc.(As told to Poonam Singh)
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Last week, the UK-headquartered healthcare and consumer goods giant, Glaxo SmithKline Group announced a voluntary open offer to increase its stake from 43.2 per cent to 75 per cent in its publicly-listed consumer healthcare subsidiary in India, GlaxoSmithKline Consumer Healthcare (GSKCH). The offer through which GSKCH will buy back 31.8 per cent of the company’s shares, will be at a price of Rs 3,900 per share. At that price, existing shareholders can expect 28 per cent premium on the company’s closing share price on the National Stock Exchange (NSE) on 23 November and 22 per cent on the 12 month high price on the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE).At Rs 3,900 per share, the company is expected to invest approximately Rs 5,220 crore or £591 million in increasing its stake. The transaction will be funded through GSK’s existing cash resources. The offer period is expected to begin in January 2013. In India, GSKCH had a turnover of over Rs 2,800 crore in the financial year ended 31 December, 2011 (approximately £380 million at 2011 average exchange rates) with a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of over the past five years of 19 per cent. David Redfern, Chief Strategy Officer, GSK said that this initiative represents a further step in GSK's strategy to invest in the world's fastest growing markets. “We believe GSK Consumer Healthcare is a well established business in India and its leading product, Horlicks, is an iconic household brand. The buyback offers a liquidity opportunity at an attractive premium for existing shareholders," he said.Apart from India, GSK has also initiated a similar open offer to increase stake in its Nigerian consumer business to 80 per cent from the existing 46.4 per cent. “The parent has a strategy to raise its stake in high-growth emerging market subsidiaries,” says a report from Standard Chartered.Kaustubh Pawaskar, a research analyst for FMCG and hospitality at Sharekhan adds that initiatives like these will help the company in the long term and sustain growth prospects as the GSKCH gameplan gets bigger in India. For instance, the company has diversified its portfolio in India from its earlier MFD (Milk food derivatives) centric portfolio to a complete foods portfolio comprising biscuits, oats and noodles. Then, like most MNCs, even GSKCH is seeing a value in emerging markets. With a 75 per cent control, once the buyback offer is completed, will GSKCH delist from Indian bourses? After all, securities regulations in India require a minimum public shareholding of 25 per cent for a company to maintain a public listing in the country. GSKCH executives deny any such move. “While theoretically delisting can never be ruled out, we doubt if the company which has been comfortable with listed subsidiaries will opt for this expensive proposition. Plans to keep minimum free float in both Indian and Nigerian business reinforce this view,” says the Standard Chartered report.
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