The Aware Professional |
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Sanmar goes to school |
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By J Ramdas |
‘The Aware Professional’ (TAP) is a corporate knowledge programme developed by IMA-India, an associate of The Economist Corporate Network, dedicated to the provision of business information, insights and analysis. IMA-India has been conducting the TAP programme for the Sanmar group since last year.
The programme has been designed to equip executives and managers to understand and interpret several factors, internal and external, impinging on their businesses and optimise the benefits arising out of these in a rapidly changing environment. The TAP programme consists of four modules:
The programme is held for a whole day, once a month at the SEC auditorium at Karapakkam. Around sixty participants from the different businesses of Sanmar group attend TAP.
A brief insight into some of the sessions under the TAP programme is given below. (The next issue of Matrix will cover the remaining sessions).
Adit Jain
Managing Director, IMA-India
July 20, 2001
Adit Jain spoke about Indian politics and the political economy.
The challenges to Indian business are:
A V Rajwade
Expert on Foreign Currency Markets
August 17, 2001
India has moved
The greater the volatility of the exchange rate, the greater the risk. Hence, there needs to be a policy for currency risk management. Risk management involves:
The exchange rate is determined by
Rajwade felt that substantive capital account convertibility was unlikely in the near future. The prevailing rates are low by historical standards but
higher than Chakravarthy Committee recommendations. There is a realisation that high interest rates worsen the fiscal deficit.
Pronab Sen
Economic Adviser, Planning Commission
September 14, 2001
There has been a slowdown in all sectors of the Indian economy, but going by the definition of ‘negative growth’ for two successive quarters, we have no recession.
The causes of this situation are:
Arun K Thiagarajan
President, HP India
October 12, 2001
Industrial marketing has changed dramatically over the last 4-5 years, forcing industrialists and marketers to rethink their strategies and approach to customers. Industrial marketing is increasingly becoming similar to retail. Organisations engaged in industrial marketing base their business models on three areas of specialisation:
Operational excellence – focus on execution and distribution, and giving the best deal to the customer in terms of price, reliability and service.
Customer intimacy – treating each customer as unique and using customer ideas to make advanced products.
Product and technology leadership – treating each product as unique and aiming to provide cutting edge technology to the customer.
Customer relations are impacted by the choice of the specialised area.
Technology is helpful in designing integrated systems - linking suppliers and customers with the organisation. This facilitates free flow of information, and allows changes to be immediately incorporated into the system.
Adit Jain
Managing Director, IMA-India
November 8, 2001
Post ‘September 11’, there are two possible scenarios that could emerge in the global economy. The situation could get marginally better (probability – 30%), or there could be substantial escalation of war, with the economies of the US, the European zone and Japan bearing the brunt of the after-effects. Emerging economies – South East Asia– could be worst affected since they depend heavily on the US for their exports.
In most Asian countries, exports constitute a substantial proportion of GDP. With the US and Europe under recession, there are not many buyers for goods produced in the Asian countries.
The Indian economy, despite the export slowdown, is expected to grow at 4.50%. But weakness in demand and investment would continue. Financial sector reforms are not progressing at the desirable rate. The chances of Government pump priming the economy is also low, as the fiscal deficit does not permit such a move.
China, having become a full member of WTO, has important implications in the region. It has:
Adit Jain also spoke about other Asian countries – Indonesia, Malaysia and Thailand.
Amar Raj Singh
Corporate Affairs, Coca Cola India
January 9, 2002
India is the only country in the SAARC region that has not yet implemented VAT. It is the only federal state trying to do so. The main problem in India in converting to VAT is that sales tax is a state subject, and hence consensus among states is important for its implementation.
An empowered committee of eight state Finance Ministers was formed, with the Union Finance Minister as the Chairman, and the West Bengal Finance Minister as the Convenor. This committee was empowered to recommend ways and means of implementing VAT.
Industry has five key concerns:
The administrative mechanism of the states is inadequate to implement VAT.
A clear definition of the roles of industry and state governments is important for smooth implementation of VAT. The concerns of industry have to be addressed.
R C Nandrajog
Vice President-Finance, Tata Steel
January 9, 2002
Opening up of the Indian economy changed the business environment significantly over the last decade. A seller’s market became a buyer’s market. More competition meant more efforts to improve quality, reduce costs, and improve distribution systems. Tata Steel, which flourished under a protective regime, had to change itself radically to survive in the changing market conditions.
Tata Steel’s first step was to change the values prevalent in the company. The values that needed to be inculcated were ‘trusteeship, integrity, excellence, credibility and respect for the individual’. The core values were then broken into strategic objectives and key business processes. The strategic objectives consisted of creating wealth, creating a learning organisation, creating a world-class organisation, and establishing industry leadership. Key business processes included market development, operations, planning risk and control, supply chain, HRD and social responsibility. Finally, Tata Steel aimed at becoming the most competitive steel producer in the world.
Tata Steel modernised its plants, reduced costs significantly, and focussed on performance of employees – a ‘profile-person’ match enabling it to get the closest match for its managerial positions.
The results have been impressive – a noticeable improvement in customer satisfaction; improved logistics; focus on quality and SAP implementation along with Business Process Reengineering have helped Tata Steel become the lowest cost steel producer in the world today.
The author is Manager-Accounts, Sanmar Shipping Limited.