The Goenka Group

By this time, the Group had already established a strong presence in segments like power, tyres, agri-business, financial services and retail. However, with a change in the top management and a significant change in the economic scenario due to the policy reforms, there was a noteworthy shift in the business philosophy of the group. There was a realization that if the group wanted to carry on growing vigorously, competence in the key areas was of utmost importance. Hence, the Goenkas undertook a massive restructuring program tackling issues like high cost of debt, bloated workforce, irrelevant diversifications, et al. Ironically, the group that once was considered as an emerging threat to the biggest companies owing to its aggressiveness, completely lost focus with a weak restructuring program, which became a never ending exercise.

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Source: IIPM, 4Ps, B&E

New age communique

Not just another plain vanilla agency, VGC is bent on redefining the rules!

How many times have we witnessed agencies vowing to deliver cutting-edge communications solutions to clients? And how many succeed in this attempt? Very few! To deliver on tall promises is tough, but Vyas Giannetti Creative (VGC) has managed to accomplish this enviable feat easily, and then some more. The agency is blazing away its creative solutions for an illustrious clientele, that transcends all norms of conventional advertising. Having started operations in 1997, with the gifted and strong-willed Preeti Vyas Giannetti at its helm, VGC today specialises in brand communications and has a capitalised billing that stands at about a whopping $20 million. Quiz the Chairperson on the challenges she faced when she founded the enterprise, and the reply is as inspiring as it is earnest: “The only thing I had with me was the courage of my conviction and the courage of innocence.” Having worked with distinguished agencies such as Enterprise and Trikaya Grey (now Grey Worldwide) prior to venturing out on her own, Preeti explains VGC’s thought philosophy: “I was convinced that there had to be a different way of communication, and ‘vanilla’ agencies were not offering what was going to be needed. By this time I had worked with reputed agencies and also involved myself in other areas of communication, due to which I had a holistic hands-on experience, which clearly reflects in my interaction with clients.”

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Source: IIPM Publication

Some other IIPM Editorial Articles:

• You've got an ‘AD'
• Anil Dhirubhai Group
• Banking on ‘emotions’
• 'Bank mein sirf paise jama nahi hote, Bank of India, Rishton ki Jamapunji'
• Beauty with brains
• And now, Big Mac to grow southwards
• Garib Rath ready to roll out
• Gerard calls this, the ‘wheel of life’ exercise...
• Dreams on Wheels
• Perform a SWOT on yourself...
• Gerard O’ Donovan, CEO, Noble Manhattan, who has coached thousands of executives…
• Netting in more users
• Mauritius beckons!

The Diesel Mania (IIPM News Article)

Ratan Tata would feel vindicated today, since his vision of diesel cars is slowly and surely being shared by the other players. According to Hitesh Raj Bhagat, Analyst, “India is economy driven, therefore, for diesel cars, it’s a lucrative market as consumers are ready to pay a premium.” Since the obdurate fuel prices are not ready to leave their upper echelons of unaffordability, the Indian consumer, like his western counterpart, is feeling increasingly insecure about his depleting pocket size. With around 49,000 units sold in July ‘06 alone, there is serious business potential for diesel cars in the B segment. This season, Tata is offering massive discounts of upto Rs.30,000 on its Indica. Hyundai, is offering Rs.55,000 discount on its Accent CRDi in C-segment. Tata Indigo and Marina could be cheaper by about Rs.40,000. Moving on to the higher strata of the market, the D-segment leaders Skoda Octavia and Laura diesel, are also not out of the discount marathon. After Hyundai played with its CRDI trump card in the Accent and the prospective launch of a diesel Getz, Maruti is exploring the market as well. The company has entered into an agreement with Fiat SPA and General Motors to manufacture diesel engines. The new plant coming up in Haryana is all set to churn out diesel power plants for a new crop of Marutis. The coming festivities will give the extremely fuel conscious Indian consumer a diesel unit under their hoods. The festive season brings about a time when car and bike wars are pitched in the extremes; and as Nagrani says, “This is the way the market is being run.” After the monsoons, demands sky rocket and for the manufacturers, it becomes a high volume game. This period is followed by a brief lull, after which there is a surplus of demand once more in the beginning of the New Year. As previously mentioned, the industry players are sufficiently convinced that they have to play this volume game to survive. This festive season will in fact only provide us with a brief snapshot of the much larger game that lies ahead for the Indian auto sector.

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Editor: Arindam Chaudhuri, Source: IIPM Publication

SOX Act. was enacted in the year 2002 :: IIPM Editorial

The report further adds that the average compliance cost for public companies with annual revenue of less than $1 billion, stands at anun believable $2.88 billion per annum, up by a whopping 174% from the average compliance costs before SOX. Interestingly, when SOX Act. was enacted in the year 2002, companies were asked to swallow the expense pill as many of the provisions required initial one time implementation expenses; and the costs were expected to decline there after. But as per Tom Hartman, the Study Director and partner at Foley & Lardner, “While some of the one-time setup costs have gone away, we are seeing trends that off set that and costs that are going up significantly.” For example, audit fees – which were up by 96% in 2004 – was benevolently forecasted to decrease in 2005; instead it climbed up another killing 16%. Now, while every fi ft h public company is planning to go private, a lot others are planning to get listed outside US (one reason why NYSE bid for Euronext stock exchange). The government must understand that unless the norms under SOX are relaxed, public companies in US might not have any choice but to end up like Sir Churchill, Lord rest his soul.

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Source: IIPM Publication, Editor: Arindam Chaudhuri

IIPM Editorial : The Meteorological Department’s forecast for this year...

All this when droughts and floods visit India more often than normal monsoons! The meteorological department’s forecast for this year for instance has predicted ‘not very good monsoon’. Also, this year’s procurement is predicted to be lower than the targets set. And taking a cue from these predictions and the depleting buffer stocks of wheat, the government has decided to import 3.5 million tonnes of wheat this year. But, what is rather intriguing is, why couldn’t the babus wait for the procurement season to get over? After the season, the actual figures would have emerged and it would have been easier to decide if India needs to import. “All food imports have scams behind them,” says Sharad Joshi, MP, Rajya Sabha, the pioneer of the Shetkari Sangathana. The last time the government decided to import wheat was during the last days of the I. K. Gujral government in 1998. The Rs.12 billion deal is still shrouded in mystery, although it was cleared by the CBI. Cases of such kickbacks are common globally.

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Source: IIPM - Business& Economy, Editor: Arindam Chaudhuri

IIPM EDITORIAL >> Benchmarks

Citigroup – insomnia incarnates…
Would you by any standards call a venture successful, if their daily cash inflows average a whopping $330 million? Yes, you heard it right – day after day, dollar after dollar – $330 million of them. To make matters clearer, that’s precisely what Citigroup, one of the world’s largest financial services firms, pooled in as daily earnings during the previous financial year 2005. Added to this, the group’s revenue collection is mounting at 11.10% annually... No wonder they don’t sleep! Citigroup was the world’s foremost diversified financial services group with more than $1 trillion in asset base; and today, the world’s most profitable financial body. The group formation was formally announced on April 7, 1998, through a merger of Citicorp and Travelers Group.

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Source: IIPM Editorial

The Outcome of the Looming Dollar Crisis (IIPM Publication)

The steep ascent of the universally accepted currency of the last 6,000 years, gold, against all paper currencies is a very strong indication that history may – as so oft en – repeat itself again. In a historical context, the outcome of the looming dollar crisis is clear. Whenever a government had debased its money from the gold/silver standard, it invited its own decline from power as politicians could never resist the temptation to create money with a printing press to comfortably overcome uncontrollable budget restraints. The US abandoned the gold-backing of the dollar in 1971; and the dollar has devalued almost 95% since. From 1935 to 1971, one ounce of gold was 35 dollars.

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Source: Publication, IIPM