Nice to hear/read about the hospitals looking to use technology. This is one of the industries that serves the mankind directly, i always felt that technology can be used to enhance quality of service in the hospitals, be it a small one or a huge hospital.
But at the end of the day we need to see how effective it may turn out to be for the 700 million population in India(~70%) who are rather not so economically strong to get the benefits of these resources.
One good thing is that we are atleast trying to reach there soon.
FANCY a paperless hospital? It may not relieve pain, but carrying a smart card embedded with personal details and a doctor’s notes could reduce the amount of paper that patients carry to the hospital. That vision is yet to materialise. Bandwidth availability and faster IT adoption could make it a reality in the not-sodistant future in at least a few hospitals in India.
On the road to that promising future, India has suddenly seen a spurt in quality healthcare over the past few years, with world-class hospitals like Wockhardt Hospitals, Asian Heart Institute, Apollo Hospitals and Fortis Hospitals, coming up. In these hospitals, as with most new service offerings, it is the information technology backbone that is at work behind the scenes, ensuring that the quality of services and treatment is of the highest order.
Says Vishal Bali, CEO, Wockhardt Hospitals: “Today, digital information is at the core of healthcare delivery in India and diagnosis is becoming more and more information-led.”
What would healthcare and IT have in common? A lot, it would seem. The CT scans, MRIs, 3D and other images are now exclusively the domain of high-tech healthcare machines. The use of semiconductors in healthcare devices (like digital monitors, MRI, CT scan machines and so on) is at $2 billion a year and this is increasing at 17-20% a year. Companies like GE, Philips, Siemens work closely with chip-makers like Texas Instruments and others to embed medical devices with semiconductors.Various vital signs monitors hook up directly to the central hospital servers, allowing doctors to monitor patients remotely. Finally, massive state-of-the-art servers, like the HP-Compaq ML 350, which can store up to 1.2 terabyte of data, are used to house all possible images and information about the patients.
Broadly, IT is used in hospitals in three different ways — in providing hospital information systems (HIS) which looks after hospital administrative functions as well as patient records; in enhancing the delivery of treatment and post-treatment monitoring, and finally in better overall service offering to patients.
Adds Anshuman Khare, IT-Manager, Asian Heart Institute, “We have to create a system with proper backup clusters so that no data is lost.” So what is the exact process that takes place once a patient is admitted to a hospital? On admission, the details of the patient are immediately put on to the network. The paperwork is minimal, and restricted to the doctor’s assessment of medical record and treatment. Every ward has a secretary that would feed these details onto the patient’s record, and subsequently, every single input provided to the patient, whether it’s an X-ray, a path lab report or a MRI scan, is logged in. Thus, various departments of the hospitals are also integrated with the HIS. Additionally, all reports are available to doctors on hospital networks, who needn’t be physically present at the patient’s bedside. Philips and GE have helped greatly in remote monitoring — they’ve designed machines that monitor vital signs and feed them directly into the servers, which allow doctors to check on their patient from several different locations.
It’s here that data security also comes into place, because hospitals don’t allow all doctors to view patient files. Remote monitoring, according to hospital executives, will become a more prominent feature in hospitals which focus on intensive care of patients.
Monday, December 11, 2006
Bring in futuristic outlook to bridge consumer, marketer chasm
IN ONE of his books, Richard Koh draws a parallel between the theory of relativity and its impact on business. Einstein said the speed of light was constant, and it follows that if two observers are travelling at different speeds, they won’t agree that on the precise time that anything happened. There is no absolute reality, everything is relative.
He compares this with business life and leads on to an interesting point. He says “for precisely the same reason mentioned in the theory of relativity, the organisation’s perspective of what the customer wants will always be different from the customer’s perspective. And it will be wrong in proportion to the distance of the decision-making executive from the customer front line.”
I was thinking on why this happens. One reason is because the customer is himself changing all the time, and the best service providers are merely playing catch up with the customer’s needs, if at all. Organisations go great lengths understanding the needs of the customer, only to find the needs have changed by the time the product or service is out. One way to time this is to get away from “understanding” the needs of the customer to “anticipating” the needs. Now this is a paradigm shift and it will take skill, wits and bets. The challenge is this:
when you ask customers what they want, you are as likely to get a correct answer as the clues in an Agatha Christie. I read somewhere that when Xerox came up with the concept of Xerox machines and did a survey of secretaries they were told the product had no future as carbon was doing as well. Yet, to take an informed bet of the needs of the future is what is required going forward.
The other way to bridge this is to take decision making and product planning from the top/middle of the hierarchy to the bottom of the hierarchy. We make products, and when it comes to deviations, the front end refers it to the bosses, a time consuming process which the customer puts up with. Meanwhile, the customer facing team is not feeling very good facing the customer. One American humorist Dave Barry makes the point tellingly on behalf of a frontline staff: “The most hated group in any large company is the customers. They don’t know about our company procedures or anything about you do, which drives you crazy. At the same time your bosses, who are idiots and who don’t have to talk to customers, tell you day in and day out that the most important person in the world is the customer”.
I think eventually the decision-making will move to the customer himself, at the choice of the customer channel, time and terms. For example, if a product programme allows for a margin of 20% to be brought in by the customer, chances are, eventually, the customer will drag and drop his kind of collateral on a computer screen, and walk away with a zero margin.
It’s not just the way the organisation understands needs, its also the way they profile their customers. The Ford Edsel was the most brilliantly designed car in automobile history of those days, yet it flopped miserably. They learnt the hard way that they had segmented the market by income… the way it was segmented for decades, while the market was giving way to segmentation by lifestyles. In designing products for customers, the biggest clash will come from the “creator fetish”. We all know its technology that is powering change, and we make products and expect customers to love our creation. In his book, “Crossing the chasm”, Geoffrey Moore points out that after the early adopters, there is a major barrier to be crossed, what Moore calls the chasm. The chasm is there because the mainstream market is not impressed with technology per se, they want to see value; and not just appreciate the plaything for technophiles. Its only then that customers let that technology into their lives.
Once the chasm is bridged, and consumers see value, there will be a movement from “impossible” to “inevitable”… two extreme ends of the spectrum . The speed will surprise even the diehard optimists. For example today consumers don’t mind scratching codes and “sms”ing codes to the service provider… since they get to speak wireless .. because its value. In fact, the journey from impossible to inevitable will be sooner than expected.
The author is executive director, ICICI Bank
He compares this with business life and leads on to an interesting point. He says “for precisely the same reason mentioned in the theory of relativity, the organisation’s perspective of what the customer wants will always be different from the customer’s perspective. And it will be wrong in proportion to the distance of the decision-making executive from the customer front line.”
I was thinking on why this happens. One reason is because the customer is himself changing all the time, and the best service providers are merely playing catch up with the customer’s needs, if at all. Organisations go great lengths understanding the needs of the customer, only to find the needs have changed by the time the product or service is out. One way to time this is to get away from “understanding” the needs of the customer to “anticipating” the needs. Now this is a paradigm shift and it will take skill, wits and bets. The challenge is this:
when you ask customers what they want, you are as likely to get a correct answer as the clues in an Agatha Christie. I read somewhere that when Xerox came up with the concept of Xerox machines and did a survey of secretaries they were told the product had no future as carbon was doing as well. Yet, to take an informed bet of the needs of the future is what is required going forward.
The other way to bridge this is to take decision making and product planning from the top/middle of the hierarchy to the bottom of the hierarchy. We make products, and when it comes to deviations, the front end refers it to the bosses, a time consuming process which the customer puts up with. Meanwhile, the customer facing team is not feeling very good facing the customer. One American humorist Dave Barry makes the point tellingly on behalf of a frontline staff: “The most hated group in any large company is the customers. They don’t know about our company procedures or anything about you do, which drives you crazy. At the same time your bosses, who are idiots and who don’t have to talk to customers, tell you day in and day out that the most important person in the world is the customer”.
I think eventually the decision-making will move to the customer himself, at the choice of the customer channel, time and terms. For example, if a product programme allows for a margin of 20% to be brought in by the customer, chances are, eventually, the customer will drag and drop his kind of collateral on a computer screen, and walk away with a zero margin.
It’s not just the way the organisation understands needs, its also the way they profile their customers. The Ford Edsel was the most brilliantly designed car in automobile history of those days, yet it flopped miserably. They learnt the hard way that they had segmented the market by income… the way it was segmented for decades, while the market was giving way to segmentation by lifestyles. In designing products for customers, the biggest clash will come from the “creator fetish”. We all know its technology that is powering change, and we make products and expect customers to love our creation. In his book, “Crossing the chasm”, Geoffrey Moore points out that after the early adopters, there is a major barrier to be crossed, what Moore calls the chasm. The chasm is there because the mainstream market is not impressed with technology per se, they want to see value; and not just appreciate the plaything for technophiles. Its only then that customers let that technology into their lives.
Once the chasm is bridged, and consumers see value, there will be a movement from “impossible” to “inevitable”… two extreme ends of the spectrum . The speed will surprise even the diehard optimists. For example today consumers don’t mind scratching codes and “sms”ing codes to the service provider… since they get to speak wireless .. because its value. In fact, the journey from impossible to inevitable will be sooner than expected.
The author is executive director, ICICI Bank
Tuesday, December 05, 2006
Saudi Arabia's global investor: An interview with Prince Alwaleed
The biggest individual foreign investor in the United States discusses the pace of reform in Saudi Arabia, his investments, and the future of Islam.
Kito de Boer
Web exclusive, December 2006
His Royal Highness Prince Alwaleed Bin Talal Bin Abdulaziz Alsaud—or Alwaleed, as he’s known in the Middle East—is a highly successful international investor, a member of the Saudi Royal family (and nephew of the king), and the biggest individual foreign investor in the United States. He first came to prominence in the West in 1991, after paying $590 million for a 14.9 percent stake in then-struggling Citicorp (now Citigroup). His investment quickly became worth billions of dollars when the US financial giant pulled itself back from the brink of bankruptcy and resumed its profitable growth. Most recently, he has attracted headlines by teaming up with Bill Gates to back a $3.7 billion management buyout of the Four Seasons Hotels and Resorts.
Alwaleed’s business empire today includes extensive direct investments (in real estate, banking, retailing, industrial, media, and construction) in Saudi Arabia and elsewhere in the region—such as private holdings centered on his Kingdom Holding (KHC) projects—plus a range of significant minority interests in some of the world’s more prominent companies. Besides Citigroup (where his shareholding now stands at 3.6 percent), his holdings include Fairmont Hotels and Resorts, News Corporation, Time Warner, the Walt Disney Company, Canary Wharf (in the United Kingdom), Apple Computer, and Motorola. Alwaleed is estimated to be one of the wealthiest people in the world.
His significance, though, goes well beyond his business and financial career. A self-described “bridge” between Arab and Western cultures, he combines a traditional Muslim outlook with a passion for market-driven economic and social reform. Alwaleed prowls Wall Street and business boardrooms during the week yet spends his weekends dispensing charity to the Bedouin at his tented desert camp near Riyadh. He finances mosques in his native Saudi Arabia while promoting the cause of women as earnestly as any campaigner in Europe or the United States—proudly pointing out, for example, that one of the pilots of his private plane is a woman.
In this conversation with McKinsey director Kito de Boer in Paris, Alwaleed discusses the pace of reform in Saudi Arabia, global investment flows, and the debate that must take place within Islam.
The Quarterly: How would you compare what’s happening in the Gulf today with the last oil boom, in the 1970s?
Alwaleed: Last time round we rushed into a lot of construction projects, and I think some things then were done haphazardly, but the countries of the Gulf have learned from those mistakes. Governments are now trying to do things properly and with more precision. Much of the basic infrastructure—airports, roads, universities, et cetera—was put in place in the 1980s and 1990s, so political energies in Saudi Arabia can now be devoted to things that will impact the social structure, such as reducing unemployment, building houses for the poor, and other good causes.
A big achievement, in my view, has been the debt reduction program in Saudi Arabia, which has brought down public-sector debt from 118 percent of GDP at its peak to around 40 percent today, with a target of eliminating it completely by the end of 2007. It’s important that the bulk of the excess money be channeled into new industries with added value that can give us a good income in the future.
The Quarterly: How do you feel about the pace of economic reform in Saudi Arabia? Could the oil bonanza be an excuse to slow things down?
Alwaleed: Although some observers assume that the brakes will be put on political reform because of the new oil wealth, I honestly don’t believe this to be the case. For sure, I would like some things to be quicker. First, bureaucracy needs to be cut. When the law establishing the Saudi Arabian General Investment Authority [SAGIA] was enacted, the idea was that it would encourage one-stop shopping for international investors, but I am not certain we are seeing that happen. There is also a need for more competitive tax laws. We have to compare ourselves not only with the rest of the region but with Eastern Europe, Latin America, and Africa. It is a very tough climate for inward investment, and we have to go further than lowering the capital gains tax to 20 percent, from 40 percent. Finally, there are the labor laws, which—although less important than the first two issues—are still not clear enough.
The Quarterly: From the outside, Saudi Arabia sometimes seems to struggle to turn reform ideas into action because, unlike, say, in Bahrain or Dubai, no one person or institution appears to be driving the agenda. Is that fair?
Alwaleed: In the years when he was crown prince and since he became king, a year ago, King Abdullah has initiated major political, social, and economic reforms. In general, Saudi Arabia is now looked at favorably by international investors. We see that in the many companies locating there. King Abdullah would like to move faster, but for him it’s like moving a big yacht—it takes time to turn it round.
The comparison between Saudi Arabia and the Gulf countries, whether it be Dubai, Abu Dhabi, or Bahrain, is not right. These are all city or emirate states, whereas Saudi Arabia is a giant country with a lot of different constituencies: the Islamic constituency, the political constituency, the royal family, the conservatives, and the Bedouin. On top of that we are at the vanguard of Islam, and we have the wider Muslim population of the world—1.3 billion people—looking to us for leadership. To move in Saudi Arabia, with all these entrenched interests, is very difficult.
That’s not to say I’m a defender of the status quo. Far from it. I’m frustrated that women can’t drive—we’re the only country in the world where they can’t—and that while it’s legal to buy a videotape and see it on the small screen, we don’t have any cinemas. These may be cosmetic issues, but they’re important.
The Quarterly: Are you worried that some of your neighbors in the Gulf are moving ahead more quickly?
Alwaleed: Saudi Arabia is the anchor of the region, just as Germany, France, Italy, and the United Kingdom matter economically much more than Slovakia, Poland, or Greece in Europe. I don’t agree that we will be left behind, but we have to take lessons from what is happening now in, say, Dubai and Abu Dhabi. It is quite possible to be politically conservative and at the same time to encourage reform. In Saudi Arabia we have to unlink political conservatism from economic liberalism. There are still some hiccups in this respect.
The Quarterly: Is the balance changing between conservatives and modernizers?
Alwaleed: There is certainly a tension, but the king and the government are very much proreform, and they are moving ahead. I’m not saying they are not conservative too—they are. I am conservative, I am a Muslim, I pray five times a day, but I’m economically and socially very liberal. I don’t see that as a conflict. In my judgment the conservative role is shrinking, or at least not getting stronger, and the king is taking a strong stance against this group. What the US government is doing in Lebanon, in Palestine, and Iraq, though, is not advancing the liberal cause.
The Quarterly: Are events in those territories a cause of instability in the Gulf region? What are the main risks for businesses as you see them?
Alwaleed: I think the Gulf region has learned by now to deal on the economic front with the hot spots around us. While a big benefit comes from the price of oil, the investment boom at the moment is very real. Clearly, terrorism is a risk, but the risk is diminishing. In Saudi Arabia we were not geared up for antiterrorism at the time of 9/11—we were never a police state—so we have been on a learning curve on how to combat terrorism. I am not saying terrorists have been eradicated, but I would say to Western people that the matter is under control and we are weeding them out before acts are committed. The political situation in the region, meanwhile, is very stable.
The Quarterly: Turning to investment matters, do you think the pattern of global capital flows is changing? As an international investor, where do you see the most attractive opportunities in the next few years?
Alwaleed: There’s no doubt that after 9/11 and after the Dubai Ports [DP World] debacle, many investors from our region, including the government of Saudi Arabia and other governments in the Gulf, have been thinking of putting more of their money into Europe, India, China, and the Far East in general. At the end of the day, politics is mirrored in economics and finance; US attitudes toward the Arab and Islamic worlds and toward the Dubai Ports deal have had a negative effect, though not on me.
I can’t put numbers on any of this, but I have seen the trend for some time in the communications I have with other investors. When the Bank of China asked Kingdom Holding to be the Saudi investor in their bank, we received subscriptions for the first $2 billion within three days. Actually, we were oversubscribed.
At the same time, a lot of capital is being invested in the local economies of the Gulf. In the past several months, I have met five or six chairmen of US banks and investment banks that are lining up to come to Saudi Arabia, to open branches and serve the corporate sector and high-net-worth individuals. Studies say that in excess of $1 trillion could flow into the budgets of the Gulf economies in the next two years, even with oil at around $60 a barrel, and if there were to be a slowdown in the world economy the transfers would be huge.
The Quarterly: Apart from oil and property, what other industries do you see emerging in Saudi Arabia over the next five to ten years?
Alwaleed: At the end of the day, any country has to invest where it has an economic edge. During the first boom, Saudi Arabia announced that it was going to be self-sufficient in wheat. Yet we had none of the components that make agriculture feasible in a country—an abundance of water, cheap labor, or soil. We were importing labor, and we were digging wells to find water before exhausting them. That policy was a blunder. As a derivative of the oil industry, petrochemicals is one sector that is likely to be very important. Banking and financial services too. We are planning to build an international financial center in Riyadh to compete with the rest of the Gulf region, though it remains to be seen if it will be successful. Islamic tourism is another potential area for expansion, though I don’t think we’re talking about tourism in the international sense.
The Quarterly: What changes have you been making—or do you intend to make—in the asset allocation of your own global portfolio?
Alwaleed: After 9/11 my investments in the United States actually grew, not just tactically, but strategically. Because of Kingdom’s restructuring ahead of our IPO, we have not really invested a lot recently in the Middle East region. But we intend to invest tens of millions of rials in Saudi Arabia in various sectors, including airlines, real estate in Jeddah and Riyadh, and banking. Elsewhere in the Gulf, we are opening Four Seasons properties in Bahrain and Abu Dhabi and will end up with ten hotels in the region in the next two to three years. But we will not expand in other areas for the sake of expanding—we want to consolidate what we have now.
The Quarterly: Can you tell us about your extensive media interests? Besides the investment angle, is this a way for you to change perceptions of Islam in the West and, indeed, of the West in the Middle East?
Alwaleed: That is a good question. My media investments are worth about $5 billion to $6 billion and are divided into Middle East assets, which are grouped around the Rotana brand and include six television channels and the Islamic channel Alresalah, magazines, radio stations, and a stake in LBC Satellite (LBCSAT); and international interests, which include Time Warner, Walt Disney, and News Corporation, in which we are the third-largest shareholder. In the second phase of going public, we may have another IPO for our media entities.
I must say adamantly that we do not try to influence the political direction of our international media interests. However, given our alliance and strong relationship with the owners of certain entities, like Mr. Murdoch’s Fox News, we try to build bridges and discuss things with them in a logical and pragmatic way. We only ask for the chance to be heard. We are not asking them to be pro-Iraq, pro-Palestine, or pro-Islam, but we are asking them to be neutral.
Most media outlets in the Arab world—at least the print and TV ones—reflect the wishes and the dreams of their governments. So we are not so worried about that.
The Quarterly: What else can be done to bridge the gap between Muslims and the West?
Alwaleed: Through Kingdom Foundation we have established a $20 million Islamic studies program at Harvard University and a $20 million Center for Muslim-Christian Understanding at Georgetown University, in addition to our funding at Exeter University in England. We have set up the only two American centers in the Middle East, at the American University of Beirut and the American University in Cairo, donating $5 million and $10 million, respectively. At the request of President Chirac we have supported the Islamic wing of the Louvre, in Paris, and I am discussing with universities in the United Kingdom the opening of new Islamic-Christian-Jewish centers.
We put our money—more than $100 million—where our mouth is, but it’s going to take a long time to have any effect.
The Quarterly: What can be done to change hard-line attitudes in the Middle East? Do you share the view that education reform has a key part to play in the next few years?
Alwaleed: Our curriculum in Saudi Arabia is old and obsolete—I say that openly—and we need to do more. In schools we need more science, more English at the elementary level, more mathematics, and more emphasis on the Internet, reflecting the world we live in now. Things are moving a bit in universities, but it’s still the same story. On the religious side, the Ministry of Islamic Affairs has issued a circular that promotes moderate preaching in mosques and takes out anything related to the so-called enhancing of terrorist acts against Judaism and Christianity.
The Quarterly: What misunderstandings between Saudi Arabia and the West most frustrate you?
Alwaleed: In the West, and specifically in the United States, any act of terrorism by a Muslim is blamed on the entire Muslim community. In response to a recent attempted terrorist plot in the United Kingdom, for instance, the president of the United States talked of Islamic fascism. One or 2 people, or 20 people, or 100, or even 1,000 may fall into that category, but you can’t make a general statement about 1.3 billion people. I acknowledge that we have problems inside our Islamic community, but putting all Muslims into one pot and implying Islam is a terrorist religion adds fuel to the fire. This polarization between Islam and Christianity is very dangerous. There is very little difference between Islam, Christianity, and Judaism—they all believe in one God, one day of judgment, and a scripture that teaches about heaven. OK, one says the Bible is the word of God, the other that the Koran is the word of God. There are differences, but we are so close.
The Quarterly: A prominent Middle East editor said recently, “Not all Muslims are terrorists, but all terrorists are Muslim.” Is there a debate within Islam about the way things are going?
Alwaleed: I know that. Not all Muslims are terrorists; unfortunately, most terrorists in Russia, Thailand, the United Kingdom, and Spain are Muslim. I acknowledge that, but we have an issue with that internally in the Muslim community, and this is very dangerous talk for many people. In my view we need a major reform movement in the Arab and Islamic world to change perceptions. We are where the Catholic Church was when it controlled Europe, in the Middle Ages, and the political agenda succumbed to the religious agenda. But who is going to do it? I worry that things may have to get worse before we go in that direction, just as they got really nasty in Europe in the Middle Ages. That’s why I’m doing my best, with others, to bridge the gap, to think about the curriculum, and to take initiatives in the academic arena.
The Quarterly: Have you thought about doing something for Muslims in the region, equivalent to the Harvard and Georgetown foundations?
Alwaleed: It is very delicate to have something within the Islamic community. Right now we only have the Arab Thought Foundation, and while we are thinking of an opportunity ourselves, something new would have to be done by the government. We are seeing some indications, such as the recent conference in Mecca, that the debate is beginning, and it is important that the West should understand this. But we are living in history now. There is a beautiful Koranic verse that says God does not change people unless they change what they have inside them. In 100 years we will see what is happening—5 to 10 years is not enough. Look how long it took for Martin Luther to bring about change in Europe. It is not going to happen in the Middle East unless we have a strong reformer to take the lead.
The Quarterly: Kingdom Holding has been a pioneer in promoting women. Tell us about that, and what is happening generally in the country at the moment?
Alwaleed: I am Islamically conservative—I will do anything to help people, especially in the Islamic community—but I believe in the women’s cause, not just for their sake, but for the sake of the economy and for Saudi Arabia. You cannot have a population that is 50 percent female and have it account for only 4 or 5 percent of productivity. In my company I am trying to set an example. And what I do gets monitored because I have a relatively high profile. I have, for example, hired the first lady pilot, the first lady flight attendant, and the first lady jockey. And I use my media outlets to promote that. The jockey went to the Emirates, and all they talked about was her, even though she didn’t win. On television the pilot pointed out that she was not permitted to drive on the roads, but she could fly a plane and look down on everyone from the air.
Not many others are following at the moment, and a lot of Saudi women are frustrated as a result. But things are changing and will have to change more.
Kito de Boer
Web exclusive, December 2006
His Royal Highness Prince Alwaleed Bin Talal Bin Abdulaziz Alsaud—or Alwaleed, as he’s known in the Middle East—is a highly successful international investor, a member of the Saudi Royal family (and nephew of the king), and the biggest individual foreign investor in the United States. He first came to prominence in the West in 1991, after paying $590 million for a 14.9 percent stake in then-struggling Citicorp (now Citigroup). His investment quickly became worth billions of dollars when the US financial giant pulled itself back from the brink of bankruptcy and resumed its profitable growth. Most recently, he has attracted headlines by teaming up with Bill Gates to back a $3.7 billion management buyout of the Four Seasons Hotels and Resorts.
Alwaleed’s business empire today includes extensive direct investments (in real estate, banking, retailing, industrial, media, and construction) in Saudi Arabia and elsewhere in the region—such as private holdings centered on his Kingdom Holding (KHC) projects—plus a range of significant minority interests in some of the world’s more prominent companies. Besides Citigroup (where his shareholding now stands at 3.6 percent), his holdings include Fairmont Hotels and Resorts, News Corporation, Time Warner, the Walt Disney Company, Canary Wharf (in the United Kingdom), Apple Computer, and Motorola. Alwaleed is estimated to be one of the wealthiest people in the world.
His significance, though, goes well beyond his business and financial career. A self-described “bridge” between Arab and Western cultures, he combines a traditional Muslim outlook with a passion for market-driven economic and social reform. Alwaleed prowls Wall Street and business boardrooms during the week yet spends his weekends dispensing charity to the Bedouin at his tented desert camp near Riyadh. He finances mosques in his native Saudi Arabia while promoting the cause of women as earnestly as any campaigner in Europe or the United States—proudly pointing out, for example, that one of the pilots of his private plane is a woman.
In this conversation with McKinsey director Kito de Boer in Paris, Alwaleed discusses the pace of reform in Saudi Arabia, global investment flows, and the debate that must take place within Islam.
The Quarterly: How would you compare what’s happening in the Gulf today with the last oil boom, in the 1970s?
Alwaleed: Last time round we rushed into a lot of construction projects, and I think some things then were done haphazardly, but the countries of the Gulf have learned from those mistakes. Governments are now trying to do things properly and with more precision. Much of the basic infrastructure—airports, roads, universities, et cetera—was put in place in the 1980s and 1990s, so political energies in Saudi Arabia can now be devoted to things that will impact the social structure, such as reducing unemployment, building houses for the poor, and other good causes.
A big achievement, in my view, has been the debt reduction program in Saudi Arabia, which has brought down public-sector debt from 118 percent of GDP at its peak to around 40 percent today, with a target of eliminating it completely by the end of 2007. It’s important that the bulk of the excess money be channeled into new industries with added value that can give us a good income in the future.
The Quarterly: How do you feel about the pace of economic reform in Saudi Arabia? Could the oil bonanza be an excuse to slow things down?
Alwaleed: Although some observers assume that the brakes will be put on political reform because of the new oil wealth, I honestly don’t believe this to be the case. For sure, I would like some things to be quicker. First, bureaucracy needs to be cut. When the law establishing the Saudi Arabian General Investment Authority [SAGIA] was enacted, the idea was that it would encourage one-stop shopping for international investors, but I am not certain we are seeing that happen. There is also a need for more competitive tax laws. We have to compare ourselves not only with the rest of the region but with Eastern Europe, Latin America, and Africa. It is a very tough climate for inward investment, and we have to go further than lowering the capital gains tax to 20 percent, from 40 percent. Finally, there are the labor laws, which—although less important than the first two issues—are still not clear enough.
The Quarterly: From the outside, Saudi Arabia sometimes seems to struggle to turn reform ideas into action because, unlike, say, in Bahrain or Dubai, no one person or institution appears to be driving the agenda. Is that fair?
Alwaleed: In the years when he was crown prince and since he became king, a year ago, King Abdullah has initiated major political, social, and economic reforms. In general, Saudi Arabia is now looked at favorably by international investors. We see that in the many companies locating there. King Abdullah would like to move faster, but for him it’s like moving a big yacht—it takes time to turn it round.
The comparison between Saudi Arabia and the Gulf countries, whether it be Dubai, Abu Dhabi, or Bahrain, is not right. These are all city or emirate states, whereas Saudi Arabia is a giant country with a lot of different constituencies: the Islamic constituency, the political constituency, the royal family, the conservatives, and the Bedouin. On top of that we are at the vanguard of Islam, and we have the wider Muslim population of the world—1.3 billion people—looking to us for leadership. To move in Saudi Arabia, with all these entrenched interests, is very difficult.
That’s not to say I’m a defender of the status quo. Far from it. I’m frustrated that women can’t drive—we’re the only country in the world where they can’t—and that while it’s legal to buy a videotape and see it on the small screen, we don’t have any cinemas. These may be cosmetic issues, but they’re important.
The Quarterly: Are you worried that some of your neighbors in the Gulf are moving ahead more quickly?
Alwaleed: Saudi Arabia is the anchor of the region, just as Germany, France, Italy, and the United Kingdom matter economically much more than Slovakia, Poland, or Greece in Europe. I don’t agree that we will be left behind, but we have to take lessons from what is happening now in, say, Dubai and Abu Dhabi. It is quite possible to be politically conservative and at the same time to encourage reform. In Saudi Arabia we have to unlink political conservatism from economic liberalism. There are still some hiccups in this respect.
The Quarterly: Is the balance changing between conservatives and modernizers?
Alwaleed: There is certainly a tension, but the king and the government are very much proreform, and they are moving ahead. I’m not saying they are not conservative too—they are. I am conservative, I am a Muslim, I pray five times a day, but I’m economically and socially very liberal. I don’t see that as a conflict. In my judgment the conservative role is shrinking, or at least not getting stronger, and the king is taking a strong stance against this group. What the US government is doing in Lebanon, in Palestine, and Iraq, though, is not advancing the liberal cause.
The Quarterly: Are events in those territories a cause of instability in the Gulf region? What are the main risks for businesses as you see them?
Alwaleed: I think the Gulf region has learned by now to deal on the economic front with the hot spots around us. While a big benefit comes from the price of oil, the investment boom at the moment is very real. Clearly, terrorism is a risk, but the risk is diminishing. In Saudi Arabia we were not geared up for antiterrorism at the time of 9/11—we were never a police state—so we have been on a learning curve on how to combat terrorism. I am not saying terrorists have been eradicated, but I would say to Western people that the matter is under control and we are weeding them out before acts are committed. The political situation in the region, meanwhile, is very stable.
The Quarterly: Turning to investment matters, do you think the pattern of global capital flows is changing? As an international investor, where do you see the most attractive opportunities in the next few years?
Alwaleed: There’s no doubt that after 9/11 and after the Dubai Ports [DP World] debacle, many investors from our region, including the government of Saudi Arabia and other governments in the Gulf, have been thinking of putting more of their money into Europe, India, China, and the Far East in general. At the end of the day, politics is mirrored in economics and finance; US attitudes toward the Arab and Islamic worlds and toward the Dubai Ports deal have had a negative effect, though not on me.
I can’t put numbers on any of this, but I have seen the trend for some time in the communications I have with other investors. When the Bank of China asked Kingdom Holding to be the Saudi investor in their bank, we received subscriptions for the first $2 billion within three days. Actually, we were oversubscribed.
At the same time, a lot of capital is being invested in the local economies of the Gulf. In the past several months, I have met five or six chairmen of US banks and investment banks that are lining up to come to Saudi Arabia, to open branches and serve the corporate sector and high-net-worth individuals. Studies say that in excess of $1 trillion could flow into the budgets of the Gulf economies in the next two years, even with oil at around $60 a barrel, and if there were to be a slowdown in the world economy the transfers would be huge.
The Quarterly: Apart from oil and property, what other industries do you see emerging in Saudi Arabia over the next five to ten years?
Alwaleed: At the end of the day, any country has to invest where it has an economic edge. During the first boom, Saudi Arabia announced that it was going to be self-sufficient in wheat. Yet we had none of the components that make agriculture feasible in a country—an abundance of water, cheap labor, or soil. We were importing labor, and we were digging wells to find water before exhausting them. That policy was a blunder. As a derivative of the oil industry, petrochemicals is one sector that is likely to be very important. Banking and financial services too. We are planning to build an international financial center in Riyadh to compete with the rest of the Gulf region, though it remains to be seen if it will be successful. Islamic tourism is another potential area for expansion, though I don’t think we’re talking about tourism in the international sense.
The Quarterly: What changes have you been making—or do you intend to make—in the asset allocation of your own global portfolio?
Alwaleed: After 9/11 my investments in the United States actually grew, not just tactically, but strategically. Because of Kingdom’s restructuring ahead of our IPO, we have not really invested a lot recently in the Middle East region. But we intend to invest tens of millions of rials in Saudi Arabia in various sectors, including airlines, real estate in Jeddah and Riyadh, and banking. Elsewhere in the Gulf, we are opening Four Seasons properties in Bahrain and Abu Dhabi and will end up with ten hotels in the region in the next two to three years. But we will not expand in other areas for the sake of expanding—we want to consolidate what we have now.
The Quarterly: Can you tell us about your extensive media interests? Besides the investment angle, is this a way for you to change perceptions of Islam in the West and, indeed, of the West in the Middle East?
Alwaleed: That is a good question. My media investments are worth about $5 billion to $6 billion and are divided into Middle East assets, which are grouped around the Rotana brand and include six television channels and the Islamic channel Alresalah, magazines, radio stations, and a stake in LBC Satellite (LBCSAT); and international interests, which include Time Warner, Walt Disney, and News Corporation, in which we are the third-largest shareholder. In the second phase of going public, we may have another IPO for our media entities.
I must say adamantly that we do not try to influence the political direction of our international media interests. However, given our alliance and strong relationship with the owners of certain entities, like Mr. Murdoch’s Fox News, we try to build bridges and discuss things with them in a logical and pragmatic way. We only ask for the chance to be heard. We are not asking them to be pro-Iraq, pro-Palestine, or pro-Islam, but we are asking them to be neutral.
Most media outlets in the Arab world—at least the print and TV ones—reflect the wishes and the dreams of their governments. So we are not so worried about that.
The Quarterly: What else can be done to bridge the gap between Muslims and the West?
Alwaleed: Through Kingdom Foundation we have established a $20 million Islamic studies program at Harvard University and a $20 million Center for Muslim-Christian Understanding at Georgetown University, in addition to our funding at Exeter University in England. We have set up the only two American centers in the Middle East, at the American University of Beirut and the American University in Cairo, donating $5 million and $10 million, respectively. At the request of President Chirac we have supported the Islamic wing of the Louvre, in Paris, and I am discussing with universities in the United Kingdom the opening of new Islamic-Christian-Jewish centers.
We put our money—more than $100 million—where our mouth is, but it’s going to take a long time to have any effect.
The Quarterly: What can be done to change hard-line attitudes in the Middle East? Do you share the view that education reform has a key part to play in the next few years?
Alwaleed: Our curriculum in Saudi Arabia is old and obsolete—I say that openly—and we need to do more. In schools we need more science, more English at the elementary level, more mathematics, and more emphasis on the Internet, reflecting the world we live in now. Things are moving a bit in universities, but it’s still the same story. On the religious side, the Ministry of Islamic Affairs has issued a circular that promotes moderate preaching in mosques and takes out anything related to the so-called enhancing of terrorist acts against Judaism and Christianity.
The Quarterly: What misunderstandings between Saudi Arabia and the West most frustrate you?
Alwaleed: In the West, and specifically in the United States, any act of terrorism by a Muslim is blamed on the entire Muslim community. In response to a recent attempted terrorist plot in the United Kingdom, for instance, the president of the United States talked of Islamic fascism. One or 2 people, or 20 people, or 100, or even 1,000 may fall into that category, but you can’t make a general statement about 1.3 billion people. I acknowledge that we have problems inside our Islamic community, but putting all Muslims into one pot and implying Islam is a terrorist religion adds fuel to the fire. This polarization between Islam and Christianity is very dangerous. There is very little difference between Islam, Christianity, and Judaism—they all believe in one God, one day of judgment, and a scripture that teaches about heaven. OK, one says the Bible is the word of God, the other that the Koran is the word of God. There are differences, but we are so close.
The Quarterly: A prominent Middle East editor said recently, “Not all Muslims are terrorists, but all terrorists are Muslim.” Is there a debate within Islam about the way things are going?
Alwaleed: I know that. Not all Muslims are terrorists; unfortunately, most terrorists in Russia, Thailand, the United Kingdom, and Spain are Muslim. I acknowledge that, but we have an issue with that internally in the Muslim community, and this is very dangerous talk for many people. In my view we need a major reform movement in the Arab and Islamic world to change perceptions. We are where the Catholic Church was when it controlled Europe, in the Middle Ages, and the political agenda succumbed to the religious agenda. But who is going to do it? I worry that things may have to get worse before we go in that direction, just as they got really nasty in Europe in the Middle Ages. That’s why I’m doing my best, with others, to bridge the gap, to think about the curriculum, and to take initiatives in the academic arena.
The Quarterly: Have you thought about doing something for Muslims in the region, equivalent to the Harvard and Georgetown foundations?
Alwaleed: It is very delicate to have something within the Islamic community. Right now we only have the Arab Thought Foundation, and while we are thinking of an opportunity ourselves, something new would have to be done by the government. We are seeing some indications, such as the recent conference in Mecca, that the debate is beginning, and it is important that the West should understand this. But we are living in history now. There is a beautiful Koranic verse that says God does not change people unless they change what they have inside them. In 100 years we will see what is happening—5 to 10 years is not enough. Look how long it took for Martin Luther to bring about change in Europe. It is not going to happen in the Middle East unless we have a strong reformer to take the lead.
The Quarterly: Kingdom Holding has been a pioneer in promoting women. Tell us about that, and what is happening generally in the country at the moment?
Alwaleed: I am Islamically conservative—I will do anything to help people, especially in the Islamic community—but I believe in the women’s cause, not just for their sake, but for the sake of the economy and for Saudi Arabia. You cannot have a population that is 50 percent female and have it account for only 4 or 5 percent of productivity. In my company I am trying to set an example. And what I do gets monitored because I have a relatively high profile. I have, for example, hired the first lady pilot, the first lady flight attendant, and the first lady jockey. And I use my media outlets to promote that. The jockey went to the Emirates, and all they talked about was her, even though she didn’t win. On television the pilot pointed out that she was not permitted to drive on the roads, but she could fly a plane and look down on everyone from the air.
Not many others are following at the moment, and a lot of Saudi women are frustrated as a result. But things are changing and will have to change more.
Wednesday, November 15, 2006
American leaders studying the Gita
The world has realised the importance of the Bhagvadgita..When are we? Its not only for leadership but a guide for life to lead life.
Lord Krishna says in the Gita that whenever there is trouble in the world, he will return. Similarly, leaders seem to emerge when needed. While many may wait for God or a leader to emerge when there is trouble, some cannot be passive. They will not leave it to God or others to improve the world: they will take steps themselves. Such people are leaders. What makes a leader and how leaders can be developed, are questions that have intrigued people for centuries.
A recent article in Business Week says the Bhagvad Gita is supplanting Sun Tzu’s The Art of War in the US as the favoured Eastern text for ideas about leadership. Concerned that the models they have followed so far may no longer be appropriate, American executives are looking for new role models. This article reminded me of the dilemma of an engineering college in Pune in the 1970s. It did not have an IC engine and continued to offer its students a steam engine for their laboratory work.
Though the essence of the process of combustion can be studied within a steam engine as well as an IC engine, the systems of combustion management , which students also want to learn, are very different in the two machines . Similarly, though at heart the essence of leadership is eternal, the skills that leaders need vary with the circumstances in which they must lead.
When two great leaders, Lee Kuan Yew of Singapore and Narayana Murthy of Infosys met some months ago, Mr Lee suggested to Mr Murthy that it was time for him to enter politics and improve the quality of governance in India. Mr Murthy humbly replied that running a company was very different to running a democratic country and he did not have the skills required. Thereby he questioned the simplistic notion that successful corporate leaders could be role models for the management of a democratic state.
Jack Welch was the most successful CEO of the twentieth century according to CNN Money. During his years at GE, the firm’s revenues increased 400%, its profits 800%, and its market value 3,400%! While achieving this, CNN Money explains, Welch managed 993 acquisitions and 81,000 layoffs. It is inconceivable that the head of a democratic state, confronted with a sluggish economy, could acquire other countries and fire under-employed citizens!
The skills leaders need are inseparable from the context in which they must lead. Sun Tzu will remain a good source of wisdom to win a war. But the Gita may provide better lessons for living in harmony with the world and with one’s conscience too. Therefore, in the drive to teach leadership through books and seminars, we must offer models that fit the needs of our times.
CEOs that create great wealth for their shareholders are good models for running a company. But they may not be appropriate models for many vital issues that must be addressed in the world today. Disillusioned by a spate of corporate scandals and by the macho but mindless invasion of Iraq, Americans need new role models. In India too we need leaders who win by inclusion and who secure peace and not merely win wars.
Therefore, the interest in the Gita in the US is encouraging, as well as the revival of Gandhi as a role model for Indian youth in a very enjoyable Bollywood movie, an idiom they can relate to more easily than erudite discussions of his philosophy.
MANY leadership summits that showcase powerful and wealthy leaders and popular books on leadership fail to get to the heart of leadership. Books that present lists of the common traits of leaders expect that others will become leaders by applying these lists in their lives. Such lists may describe the management systems that leaders employ to get to their goals, but not the process of combustion within: they do not explain what makes leaders emerge.
In contrast to such lists, Warren Bennis , an authority on leadership, describes the process of emergence of leaders in his book, Geeks and Geezers. He says that while leaders may come in many forms and have very different traits; all leaders are born in a ‘crucible’ within which, through an intense alchemy, they acquire their leadership mettle.
The concept of the crucible and the spark that sets off the alchemy was lucidly explained by a young man who had set his heart on conquering India. Alexander the Great, when 16 years old, told his secretary, Eumenes, “The gods put dreams in the hearts of men; dreams that are often much bigger than they are. The greatness of a man lies in that painful discrepancy between the goal he sets himself and the strength that nature granted him when he came into the world.”
This simple and profound statement points to three eternal truths about the essence of leaders. A leader has a passionately desired goal in his or her mind. A leader has the honesty and courage to admit a personal incapacity to reach that goal. Nevertheless, he strives to improve himself to obtain the goal and thus emerges as the leader we recognise.
Gandhi and Alexander, both great leaders , were very different persons: one a man of peace, the other a hero of war. Gandhi was a small man with a big dream. Like Alexander, he also had a goal he pursued relentlessly — though unlike Alexander’s his goal was to throw off a conqueror of India. His autobiography My Experiments with Truth recounts his lifelong efforts to find a better way to reach his goal and acquire the personal strength necessary.
We need more leaders in India in many walks of life. Our young people need appropriate role models, not all of whom may be powerful or wealthy. Moreover, any movement to develop leaders in India should hark back to some eternal truths. To become leaders, young people need opportunities to reflect deeply on the context in which they must lead and to ignite the spark within themselves. Because, to become leaders, they need much more than the style of leaders: they must care for others, have commitment to a cause, and the courage to take the first, difficult steps — the wisdom that Krishna gave to Arjun.
Taken from Economictimes - The author is chairman, BCG India
Lord Krishna says in the Gita that whenever there is trouble in the world, he will return. Similarly, leaders seem to emerge when needed. While many may wait for God or a leader to emerge when there is trouble, some cannot be passive. They will not leave it to God or others to improve the world: they will take steps themselves. Such people are leaders. What makes a leader and how leaders can be developed, are questions that have intrigued people for centuries.
A recent article in Business Week says the Bhagvad Gita is supplanting Sun Tzu’s The Art of War in the US as the favoured Eastern text for ideas about leadership. Concerned that the models they have followed so far may no longer be appropriate, American executives are looking for new role models. This article reminded me of the dilemma of an engineering college in Pune in the 1970s. It did not have an IC engine and continued to offer its students a steam engine for their laboratory work.
Though the essence of the process of combustion can be studied within a steam engine as well as an IC engine, the systems of combustion management , which students also want to learn, are very different in the two machines . Similarly, though at heart the essence of leadership is eternal, the skills that leaders need vary with the circumstances in which they must lead.
When two great leaders, Lee Kuan Yew of Singapore and Narayana Murthy of Infosys met some months ago, Mr Lee suggested to Mr Murthy that it was time for him to enter politics and improve the quality of governance in India. Mr Murthy humbly replied that running a company was very different to running a democratic country and he did not have the skills required. Thereby he questioned the simplistic notion that successful corporate leaders could be role models for the management of a democratic state.
Jack Welch was the most successful CEO of the twentieth century according to CNN Money. During his years at GE, the firm’s revenues increased 400%, its profits 800%, and its market value 3,400%! While achieving this, CNN Money explains, Welch managed 993 acquisitions and 81,000 layoffs. It is inconceivable that the head of a democratic state, confronted with a sluggish economy, could acquire other countries and fire under-employed citizens!
The skills leaders need are inseparable from the context in which they must lead. Sun Tzu will remain a good source of wisdom to win a war. But the Gita may provide better lessons for living in harmony with the world and with one’s conscience too. Therefore, in the drive to teach leadership through books and seminars, we must offer models that fit the needs of our times.
CEOs that create great wealth for their shareholders are good models for running a company. But they may not be appropriate models for many vital issues that must be addressed in the world today. Disillusioned by a spate of corporate scandals and by the macho but mindless invasion of Iraq, Americans need new role models. In India too we need leaders who win by inclusion and who secure peace and not merely win wars.
Therefore, the interest in the Gita in the US is encouraging, as well as the revival of Gandhi as a role model for Indian youth in a very enjoyable Bollywood movie, an idiom they can relate to more easily than erudite discussions of his philosophy.
MANY leadership summits that showcase powerful and wealthy leaders and popular books on leadership fail to get to the heart of leadership. Books that present lists of the common traits of leaders expect that others will become leaders by applying these lists in their lives. Such lists may describe the management systems that leaders employ to get to their goals, but not the process of combustion within: they do not explain what makes leaders emerge.
In contrast to such lists, Warren Bennis , an authority on leadership, describes the process of emergence of leaders in his book, Geeks and Geezers. He says that while leaders may come in many forms and have very different traits; all leaders are born in a ‘crucible’ within which, through an intense alchemy, they acquire their leadership mettle.
The concept of the crucible and the spark that sets off the alchemy was lucidly explained by a young man who had set his heart on conquering India. Alexander the Great, when 16 years old, told his secretary, Eumenes, “The gods put dreams in the hearts of men; dreams that are often much bigger than they are. The greatness of a man lies in that painful discrepancy between the goal he sets himself and the strength that nature granted him when he came into the world.”
This simple and profound statement points to three eternal truths about the essence of leaders. A leader has a passionately desired goal in his or her mind. A leader has the honesty and courage to admit a personal incapacity to reach that goal. Nevertheless, he strives to improve himself to obtain the goal and thus emerges as the leader we recognise.
Gandhi and Alexander, both great leaders , were very different persons: one a man of peace, the other a hero of war. Gandhi was a small man with a big dream. Like Alexander, he also had a goal he pursued relentlessly — though unlike Alexander’s his goal was to throw off a conqueror of India. His autobiography My Experiments with Truth recounts his lifelong efforts to find a better way to reach his goal and acquire the personal strength necessary.
We need more leaders in India in many walks of life. Our young people need appropriate role models, not all of whom may be powerful or wealthy. Moreover, any movement to develop leaders in India should hark back to some eternal truths. To become leaders, young people need opportunities to reflect deeply on the context in which they must lead and to ignite the spark within themselves. Because, to become leaders, they need much more than the style of leaders: they must care for others, have commitment to a cause, and the courage to take the first, difficult steps — the wisdom that Krishna gave to Arjun.
Taken from Economictimes - The author is chairman, BCG India
Friday, October 13, 2006
Work & Career - Is this the reality
Problems, issues always there & i get a feeling of this how the world works atleast the 'corporate' world that i was keen to be a part of.
People just cant' keep things simple, do their work & get out. They want to make other's life miserable by which they feel that their life will be better.
People need to act in a way which they are totally unlike themselves ( Being Pseudo). Designations are of prime importance rather than the actual person, respect a person for the position rather than the person is the norm.
Showing supremecy is a very important thing, else you are not considered important or you are taken for granted.
At the initial part in your career we run behind the 'CTC', the brand of the company & keep running behind it for quite sometime.After a point where you are a part of the senior management, trying to please others, trying to be right but cannot be as your 'competition' will do better for some time if you take that path which others do not want & a lot more things.
Does this mean all your life in your career you can never find solace in the place where you earn your bread & butter? I dont know but i am sure there are places where people enjoy working (atleast i'm enjoying my work right now & also in my prev 3 jobs, i've had great colleagues & good immediate bosses) but i've seen my peers & also my good friends ( who are much senior to me) really not happy with what they are doing.
Being a part of the senior management was fun, even today i'm sure it is & has its own plus points but i only realised that there is another side to it too. Good that i atleast got to see at in the inital part of my career, i now know for sure 'ALL THE GLITTERS IS NOT GOLD'.
I saw the movie corporate & i think this movie relates a lot to reality of the corporate world but i'm sure there are atleast 10 - 15% organisation who are unlike that & are quite ideal in theor way of work.
People just cant' keep things simple, do their work & get out. They want to make other's life miserable by which they feel that their life will be better.
People need to act in a way which they are totally unlike themselves ( Being Pseudo). Designations are of prime importance rather than the actual person, respect a person for the position rather than the person is the norm.
Showing supremecy is a very important thing, else you are not considered important or you are taken for granted.
At the initial part in your career we run behind the 'CTC', the brand of the company & keep running behind it for quite sometime.After a point where you are a part of the senior management, trying to please others, trying to be right but cannot be as your 'competition' will do better for some time if you take that path which others do not want & a lot more things.
Does this mean all your life in your career you can never find solace in the place where you earn your bread & butter? I dont know but i am sure there are places where people enjoy working (atleast i'm enjoying my work right now & also in my prev 3 jobs, i've had great colleagues & good immediate bosses) but i've seen my peers & also my good friends ( who are much senior to me) really not happy with what they are doing.
Being a part of the senior management was fun, even today i'm sure it is & has its own plus points but i only realised that there is another side to it too. Good that i atleast got to see at in the inital part of my career, i now know for sure 'ALL THE GLITTERS IS NOT GOLD'.
I saw the movie corporate & i think this movie relates a lot to reality of the corporate world but i'm sure there are atleast 10 - 15% organisation who are unlike that & are quite ideal in theor way of work.
Wednesday, September 27, 2006
Chaos by design : Google
A nice article about Google , its startegic thinking of intentional chaos & how that would bring in money.
The nice thing about this article is that atleast it does not talk about ROI on a product or a set of products.
It gives the impression that there is accountability but one does what he really feels, its not a number game but just committment towards a project!
Wow, feels really good to hear atleast about such companies.
I'm personally a great fan of google merely because of the company culture which I have heard from people, their way of functioning etc..
Good read if
1. You want to understand what you can bring to the table as a manager
2. Wanting to start a company which will be different in more than 1 way..this could be worthwhile to generate more innovative ideas..
Chaos by design - October 2, 2006
The nice thing about this article is that atleast it does not talk about ROI on a product or a set of products.
It gives the impression that there is accountability but one does what he really feels, its not a number game but just committment towards a project!
Wow, feels really good to hear atleast about such companies.
I'm personally a great fan of google merely because of the company culture which I have heard from people, their way of functioning etc..
Good read if
1. You want to understand what you can bring to the table as a manager
2. Wanting to start a company which will be different in more than 1 way..this could be worthwhile to generate more innovative ideas..
Chaos by design - October 2, 2006
Tuesday, September 26, 2006
Monday, September 18, 2006
Trends to watch out
Those who say that business success is all about execution are wrong. The right product markets, technology, and geography are critical components of long-term economic performance. Bad industries usually trump good management, however: in sectors such as banking, telecommunications, and technology, almost two-thirds of the organic growth of listed Western companies can be attributed to being in the right markets and geographies. Companies that ride the currents succeed; those that swim against them usually struggle. Identifying these currents and developing strategies to navigate them are vital to corporate success.
What are the currents that will make the world of 2015 a very different place to do business from the world of today? Predicting short-term changes or shocks is often a fool's errand. But forecasting long-term directional change is possible by identifying trends through an analysis of deep history rather than of the shallow past. Even the Internet took more than 30 years to become an overnight phenomenon.
Macroeconomic trends
We would highlight ten trends that will change the business landscape. First, we have identified three macroeconomic trends that will deeply transform the underlying global economy.
1. Centers of economic activity will shift profoundly, not just globally, but also regionally. As a consequence of economic liberalization, technological advances, capital market developments, and demographic shifts, the world has embarked on a massive realignment of economic activity. Although there will undoubtedly be shocks and setbacks, this realignment will persist. Today, Asia (excluding Japan) accounts for 13 percent of world GDP, while Western Europe accounts for more than 30 percent. Within the next 20 years the two will nearly converge. Some industries and functions—manufacturing and IT services, for example—will shift even more dramatically. The story is not simply the march to Asia. Shifts within regions are as significant as those occurring across regions. The United States will still account for the largest share of absolute economic growth in the next two decades.
2. Public-sector activities will balloon, making productivity gains essential. The unprecedented aging of populations across the developed world will call for new levels of efficiency and creativity from the public sector. Without clear productivity gains, the pension and health care burden will drive taxes to stifling proportions.
Nor is the problem confined to the developed economies. Many emerging-market governments will have to decide what level of social services to provide to citizens who increasingly demand state-provided protections such as health care and retirement security. The adoption of proven private-sector approaches will likely become pervasive in the provision of social services in both the developed and the developing worlds.
3. The consumer landscape will change and expand significantly. Almost a billion new consumers will enter the global marketplace in the next decade as economic growth in emerging markets pushes them beyond the threshold level of $5,000 in annual household income—a point when people generally begin to spend on discretionary goods. From now to 2015, the consumer's spending power in emerging economies will increase from $4 trillion to more than $9 trillion—nearly the current spending power of Western Europe.
Shifts within consumer segments in developed economies will also be profound. Populations are not only aging, of course, but changing in other ways too: for example, by 2015 the Hispanic population in the United States will have spending power equivalent to that of 60 percent of all Chinese consumers. And consumers, wherever they live, will increasingly have information about and access to the same products and brands.
Social and environmental trends
Next, we have identified four social and environmental trends. Although they are less predictable and their impact on the business world is less certain, they will fundamentally change how we live and work.
4. Technological connectivity will transform the way people live and interact. The technology revolution has been just that. Yet we are at the early, not mature, stage of this revolution. Individuals, public sectors, and businesses are learning how to make the best use of IT in designing processes and in developing and accessing knowledge. New developments in fields such as biotechnology, laser technology, and nanotechnology are moving well beyond the realm of products and services.
More transformational than technology itself is the shift in behavior that it enables. We work not just globally but also instantaneously. We are forming communities and relationships in new ways (indeed, 12 percent of US newlyweds last year met online). More than two billion people now use cell phones. We send nine trillion e-mails a year. We do a billion Google searches a day, more than half in languages other than English. For perhaps the first time in history, geography is not the primary constraint on the limits of social and economic organization.
5. The battlefield for talent will shift. Ongoing shifts in labor and talent will be far more profound than the widely observed migration of jobs to low-wage countries. The shift to knowledge-intensive industries highlights the importance and scarcity of well-trained talent. The increasing integration of global labor markets, however, is opening up vast new talent sources. The 33 million university-educated young professionals in developing countries is more than double the number in developed ones. For many companies and governments, global labor and talent strategies will become as important as global sourcing and manufacturing strategies.
6. The role and behavior of big business will come under increasingly sharp scrutiny. As businesses expand their global reach, and as the economic demands on the environment intensify, the level of societal suspicion about big business is likely to increase. The tenets of current global business ideology—for example, shareholder value, free trade, intellectual-property rights, and profit repatriation—are not understood, let alone accepted, in many parts of the world. Scandals and environmental mishaps seem as inevitable as the likelihood that these incidents will be subsequently blown out of proportion, thereby fueling resentment and creating a political and regulatory backlash. This trend is not just of the past 5 years but of the past 250 years. The increasing pace and extent of global business, and the emergence of truly giant global corporations, will exacerbate the pressures over the next 10 years.
Business, particularly big business, will never be loved. It can, however, be more appreciated. Business leaders need to argue and demonstrate more forcefully the intellectual, social, and economic case for business in society and the massive contributions business makes to social welfare.
7. Demand for natural resources will grow, as will the strain on the environment. As economic growth accelerates—particularly in emerging markets—we are using natural resources at unprecedented rates. Oil demand is projected to grow by 50 percent in the next two decades, and without large new discoveries or radical innovations supply is unlikely to keep up. We are seeing similar surges in demand across a broad range of commodities. In China, for example, demand for copper, steel, and aluminum has nearly tripled in the past decade.
The world's resources are increasingly constrained. Water shortages will be the key constraint to growth in many countries. And one of our scarcest natural resources—the atmosphere—will require dramatic shifts in human behavior to keep it from being depleted further. Innovation in technology, regulation, and the use of resources will be central to creating a world that can both drive robust economic growth and sustain environmental demands.
Business and industry trends
Finally, we have identified a third set of trends: business and industry trends, which are driving change at the company level.
8. New global industry structures are emerging. In response to changing market regulation and the advent of new technologies, nontraditional business models are flourishing, often coexisting in the same market and sector space.
In many industries, a barbell-like structure is appearing, with a few giants on top, a narrow middle, and then a flourish of smaller, fast-moving players on the bottom. Similarly, corporate borders are becoming blurrier as interlinked "ecosystems" of suppliers, producers, and customers emerge. Even basic structural assumptions are being upended: for example, the emergence of robust private equity financing is changing corporate ownership, life cycles, and performance expectations. Winning companies, using efficiencies gained by new structural possibilities, will capitalize on these transformations.
9. Management will go from art to science. Bigger, more complex companies demand new tools to run and manage them. Indeed, improved technology and statistical-control tools have given rise to new management approaches that make even mega-institutions viable.
Long gone is the day of the "gut instinct" management style. Today's business leaders are adopting algorithmic decision-making techniques and using highly sophisticated software to run their organizations. Scientific management is moving from a skill that creates competitive advantage to an ante that gives companies the right to play the game.
10. Ubiquitous access to information is changing the economics of knowledge. Knowledge is increasingly available and, at the same time, increasingly specialized. The most obvious manifestation of this trend is the rise of search engines (such as Google), which make an almost infinite amount of information available instantaneously. Access to knowledge has become almost universal. Yet the transformation is much more profound than simply broad access.
New models of knowledge production, access, distribution, and ownership are emerging. We are seeing the rise of open-source approaches to knowledge development as communities, not individuals, become responsible for innovations. Knowledge production itself is growing: worldwide patent applications, for example, rose from 1990 to 2004 at a rate of 20 percent annually. Companies will need to learn how to leverage this new knowledge universe—or risk drowning in a flood of too much information.
Companies need to understand the implications of these trends alongside customer needs and competitive developments. Executives who align their company's strategy with these factors will be the best placed to succeed. Reflecting on these trends will be time well spent.
Source: McKinsey quarterly
What are the currents that will make the world of 2015 a very different place to do business from the world of today? Predicting short-term changes or shocks is often a fool's errand. But forecasting long-term directional change is possible by identifying trends through an analysis of deep history rather than of the shallow past. Even the Internet took more than 30 years to become an overnight phenomenon.
Macroeconomic trends
We would highlight ten trends that will change the business landscape. First, we have identified three macroeconomic trends that will deeply transform the underlying global economy.
1. Centers of economic activity will shift profoundly, not just globally, but also regionally. As a consequence of economic liberalization, technological advances, capital market developments, and demographic shifts, the world has embarked on a massive realignment of economic activity. Although there will undoubtedly be shocks and setbacks, this realignment will persist. Today, Asia (excluding Japan) accounts for 13 percent of world GDP, while Western Europe accounts for more than 30 percent. Within the next 20 years the two will nearly converge. Some industries and functions—manufacturing and IT services, for example—will shift even more dramatically. The story is not simply the march to Asia. Shifts within regions are as significant as those occurring across regions. The United States will still account for the largest share of absolute economic growth in the next two decades.
2. Public-sector activities will balloon, making productivity gains essential. The unprecedented aging of populations across the developed world will call for new levels of efficiency and creativity from the public sector. Without clear productivity gains, the pension and health care burden will drive taxes to stifling proportions.
Nor is the problem confined to the developed economies. Many emerging-market governments will have to decide what level of social services to provide to citizens who increasingly demand state-provided protections such as health care and retirement security. The adoption of proven private-sector approaches will likely become pervasive in the provision of social services in both the developed and the developing worlds.
3. The consumer landscape will change and expand significantly. Almost a billion new consumers will enter the global marketplace in the next decade as economic growth in emerging markets pushes them beyond the threshold level of $5,000 in annual household income—a point when people generally begin to spend on discretionary goods. From now to 2015, the consumer's spending power in emerging economies will increase from $4 trillion to more than $9 trillion—nearly the current spending power of Western Europe.
Shifts within consumer segments in developed economies will also be profound. Populations are not only aging, of course, but changing in other ways too: for example, by 2015 the Hispanic population in the United States will have spending power equivalent to that of 60 percent of all Chinese consumers. And consumers, wherever they live, will increasingly have information about and access to the same products and brands.
Social and environmental trends
Next, we have identified four social and environmental trends. Although they are less predictable and their impact on the business world is less certain, they will fundamentally change how we live and work.
4. Technological connectivity will transform the way people live and interact. The technology revolution has been just that. Yet we are at the early, not mature, stage of this revolution. Individuals, public sectors, and businesses are learning how to make the best use of IT in designing processes and in developing and accessing knowledge. New developments in fields such as biotechnology, laser technology, and nanotechnology are moving well beyond the realm of products and services.
More transformational than technology itself is the shift in behavior that it enables. We work not just globally but also instantaneously. We are forming communities and relationships in new ways (indeed, 12 percent of US newlyweds last year met online). More than two billion people now use cell phones. We send nine trillion e-mails a year. We do a billion Google searches a day, more than half in languages other than English. For perhaps the first time in history, geography is not the primary constraint on the limits of social and economic organization.
5. The battlefield for talent will shift. Ongoing shifts in labor and talent will be far more profound than the widely observed migration of jobs to low-wage countries. The shift to knowledge-intensive industries highlights the importance and scarcity of well-trained talent. The increasing integration of global labor markets, however, is opening up vast new talent sources. The 33 million university-educated young professionals in developing countries is more than double the number in developed ones. For many companies and governments, global labor and talent strategies will become as important as global sourcing and manufacturing strategies.
6. The role and behavior of big business will come under increasingly sharp scrutiny. As businesses expand their global reach, and as the economic demands on the environment intensify, the level of societal suspicion about big business is likely to increase. The tenets of current global business ideology—for example, shareholder value, free trade, intellectual-property rights, and profit repatriation—are not understood, let alone accepted, in many parts of the world. Scandals and environmental mishaps seem as inevitable as the likelihood that these incidents will be subsequently blown out of proportion, thereby fueling resentment and creating a political and regulatory backlash. This trend is not just of the past 5 years but of the past 250 years. The increasing pace and extent of global business, and the emergence of truly giant global corporations, will exacerbate the pressures over the next 10 years.
Business, particularly big business, will never be loved. It can, however, be more appreciated. Business leaders need to argue and demonstrate more forcefully the intellectual, social, and economic case for business in society and the massive contributions business makes to social welfare.
7. Demand for natural resources will grow, as will the strain on the environment. As economic growth accelerates—particularly in emerging markets—we are using natural resources at unprecedented rates. Oil demand is projected to grow by 50 percent in the next two decades, and without large new discoveries or radical innovations supply is unlikely to keep up. We are seeing similar surges in demand across a broad range of commodities. In China, for example, demand for copper, steel, and aluminum has nearly tripled in the past decade.
The world's resources are increasingly constrained. Water shortages will be the key constraint to growth in many countries. And one of our scarcest natural resources—the atmosphere—will require dramatic shifts in human behavior to keep it from being depleted further. Innovation in technology, regulation, and the use of resources will be central to creating a world that can both drive robust economic growth and sustain environmental demands.
Business and industry trends
Finally, we have identified a third set of trends: business and industry trends, which are driving change at the company level.
8. New global industry structures are emerging. In response to changing market regulation and the advent of new technologies, nontraditional business models are flourishing, often coexisting in the same market and sector space.
In many industries, a barbell-like structure is appearing, with a few giants on top, a narrow middle, and then a flourish of smaller, fast-moving players on the bottom. Similarly, corporate borders are becoming blurrier as interlinked "ecosystems" of suppliers, producers, and customers emerge. Even basic structural assumptions are being upended: for example, the emergence of robust private equity financing is changing corporate ownership, life cycles, and performance expectations. Winning companies, using efficiencies gained by new structural possibilities, will capitalize on these transformations.
9. Management will go from art to science. Bigger, more complex companies demand new tools to run and manage them. Indeed, improved technology and statistical-control tools have given rise to new management approaches that make even mega-institutions viable.
Long gone is the day of the "gut instinct" management style. Today's business leaders are adopting algorithmic decision-making techniques and using highly sophisticated software to run their organizations. Scientific management is moving from a skill that creates competitive advantage to an ante that gives companies the right to play the game.
10. Ubiquitous access to information is changing the economics of knowledge. Knowledge is increasingly available and, at the same time, increasingly specialized. The most obvious manifestation of this trend is the rise of search engines (such as Google), which make an almost infinite amount of information available instantaneously. Access to knowledge has become almost universal. Yet the transformation is much more profound than simply broad access.
New models of knowledge production, access, distribution, and ownership are emerging. We are seeing the rise of open-source approaches to knowledge development as communities, not individuals, become responsible for innovations. Knowledge production itself is growing: worldwide patent applications, for example, rose from 1990 to 2004 at a rate of 20 percent annually. Companies will need to learn how to leverage this new knowledge universe—or risk drowning in a flood of too much information.
Companies need to understand the implications of these trends alongside customer needs and competitive developments. Executives who align their company's strategy with these factors will be the best placed to succeed. Reflecting on these trends will be time well spent.
Source: McKinsey quarterly
Thursday, September 14, 2006
Steven Covey - 8th Habit
I am sure most of us will have heard about the book ' 7 habits of highly effective people'
Covey has come up with another one the 8th habit, not that it was missed out but its i feel a move from being effective to being great.
Just a review of the book ..
The 8th habits is: Find your Voice & Inspire Others to find Theirs. The essence of this habit is that you will find your voice when you can say that you are 100% involved in what you are doing with your life. By 100% involvement, what is meant is that your body, mind, heart and spirit are all engaged in the adventure - whatever that is for you.
The idea is very simple. Whatever you are doing right now with your life, ask yourself these questions. Is it serving my body, mind heart and spirit? In other words, is it serving your bodily needs: does it allow you to make a good living; does it more-than pay the bills; does it feed and clothe you and your family and provide you with a lovely home? Secondly, is it serving your need for mental stimulation: do you find it truly stimulating, engaging and challenging? Thirdly, is it serving your emotional needs: do you just love it and are you passionate about it? Finally, does it serve your spiritual needs: do you believe it is the right thing for you to be doing with your life? If you can answer those four questions relating to body, mind, heart and spirit with a resounding 'yes', then it can be said that you have 'found your voice'.
Covey says that the reality in business today is that there are very many people who have not found their voices or perhaps they have lost their voices. The result of this cane be seen everywhere. People may go to work just to earn money i.e. to serve their bodily needs but do not really put their creativity, talent and intelligence into the job.
Perhaps the job is serving more than your bodily needs: perhaps it is also mentally stimulating you but, if you won the lottery, you might immediately resign because it is not really what you want to be spending your time doing if monetary considerations were not present. Perhaps, most difficult to imagine is having a job that provides the money, is indeed stimulating and you love doing it, but it is still not the right thing for you to be doing. The cost to business of employing people who don't really understand or even care about the Vision and Mission of the company is a loss of the 'voice' of the organization.
Covey has come up with another one the 8th habit, not that it was missed out but its i feel a move from being effective to being great.
Just a review of the book ..
The 8th habits is: Find your Voice & Inspire Others to find Theirs. The essence of this habit is that you will find your voice when you can say that you are 100% involved in what you are doing with your life. By 100% involvement, what is meant is that your body, mind, heart and spirit are all engaged in the adventure - whatever that is for you.
The idea is very simple. Whatever you are doing right now with your life, ask yourself these questions. Is it serving my body, mind heart and spirit? In other words, is it serving your bodily needs: does it allow you to make a good living; does it more-than pay the bills; does it feed and clothe you and your family and provide you with a lovely home? Secondly, is it serving your need for mental stimulation: do you find it truly stimulating, engaging and challenging? Thirdly, is it serving your emotional needs: do you just love it and are you passionate about it? Finally, does it serve your spiritual needs: do you believe it is the right thing for you to be doing with your life? If you can answer those four questions relating to body, mind, heart and spirit with a resounding 'yes', then it can be said that you have 'found your voice'.
Covey says that the reality in business today is that there are very many people who have not found their voices or perhaps they have lost their voices. The result of this cane be seen everywhere. People may go to work just to earn money i.e. to serve their bodily needs but do not really put their creativity, talent and intelligence into the job.
Perhaps the job is serving more than your bodily needs: perhaps it is also mentally stimulating you but, if you won the lottery, you might immediately resign because it is not really what you want to be spending your time doing if monetary considerations were not present. Perhaps, most difficult to imagine is having a job that provides the money, is indeed stimulating and you love doing it, but it is still not the right thing for you to be doing. The cost to business of employing people who don't really understand or even care about the Vision and Mission of the company is a loss of the 'voice' of the organization.
Monday, September 11, 2006
BLUE OCEAN STRATEGY
The concept of BLUE OCEAN STRATEGY that I came across sounds very interesting & fascinating, I do feel that as we see India growing there are huge untapped areas that can be catered to & there lies a great opportunity for any aspiring people who want to make a difference to the world we live.
Though I have not read the book, it definitely looks like the book that's worth a read.
Here is an excerpt from one of the online customer reviews on Amazon.com by Peter Leerskov about the book:
What is a BLUE OCEAN STRATEGY? The authors explain it by comparing it to a red ocean strategy (traditional strategic thinking):
1. DO NOT compete in existing market space. INSTEAD you should create uncontested market space.
2. DO NOT beat the competition. INSTEAD you should make the competition irrelevant.
3. DO NOT exploit existing demand. INSTEAD you should create and capture new demand.
4. DO NOT make the value/cost trade-off. INSTEAD you should break the value/cost trade-off.
5. DO NOT align the whole system of a company's activities with its strategic choice of differentiation or low cost. INSTEAD you should align the whole system of a company's activities in pursuit of both differentiation and low cost.
A red ocean strategy is based on traditional strategic thinking - e.g. Harvard's strategy guru Michael Porter.
A blue ocean is created in the region where a company's actions favourably affect both its cost structure and it value proposition to buyers. Cost savings are made from eliminating and reducing the factors an industry competes on. Buyer value is lifted by raising and creating elements the industry has never offered. Over time, costs are reduced further as scale economies kick in, due to the high sales volumes that superior value generates.
Examples of strategic moves that created blue oceans of new, untapped demand:
- NetJets (fractional Jet ownership)
- Cirque du Soleil (the circus reinvented for the entertainment market)
- Starbucks (coffee as low-cost luxury for high-end consumers)
- Ebay (online auctioning)
- Sony (the Walkman - personal portable stereos)
- Cars: Japanese fuel-efficient autos (mid-70s) and Chrysler minivan (1984)
- Computers: Apple personal computer (1978) and Dell's built-to-order computers (mid-1990s).
Blue Ocean Strategy provides a framework to start thinking about new opportunities.
Blue Ocean Strategy offers both a process and a set of supporting tools that practitioners can use to navigate. It begins with a ?strategy canvas? that visually maps the current industry environment in two dimensions. The horizontal dimension includes the range of factors on which an industry currently competes and those factors in which it invests. The vertical dimension shows levels of performance against each factor, measured qualitatively. A strategy canvas is a conceptual tool remarkable in both its simplicity and its usefulness. It can be used to understand the current strategy of a company and its competitors, to communicate the strategy, and to imagine business directions. To do the latter, Professors Kim and Mauborgne recommend that a company create several alternative, radically different strategies, each aimed at delivering superior value to potential ? not existing ? customers by:
Reducing cost by eliminating some factors that the industry takes for granted and reducing other factors below the industry standard.
Enhancing differentiation by raising some factors well above the industry standard and creating additional factors that the industry has never offered.
Though I have not read the book, it definitely looks like the book that's worth a read.
Here is an excerpt from one of the online customer reviews on Amazon.com by Peter Leerskov about the book:
What is a BLUE OCEAN STRATEGY? The authors explain it by comparing it to a red ocean strategy (traditional strategic thinking):
1. DO NOT compete in existing market space. INSTEAD you should create uncontested market space.
2. DO NOT beat the competition. INSTEAD you should make the competition irrelevant.
3. DO NOT exploit existing demand. INSTEAD you should create and capture new demand.
4. DO NOT make the value/cost trade-off. INSTEAD you should break the value/cost trade-off.
5. DO NOT align the whole system of a company's activities with its strategic choice of differentiation or low cost. INSTEAD you should align the whole system of a company's activities in pursuit of both differentiation and low cost.
A red ocean strategy is based on traditional strategic thinking - e.g. Harvard's strategy guru Michael Porter.
A blue ocean is created in the region where a company's actions favourably affect both its cost structure and it value proposition to buyers. Cost savings are made from eliminating and reducing the factors an industry competes on. Buyer value is lifted by raising and creating elements the industry has never offered. Over time, costs are reduced further as scale economies kick in, due to the high sales volumes that superior value generates.
Examples of strategic moves that created blue oceans of new, untapped demand:
- NetJets (fractional Jet ownership)
- Cirque du Soleil (the circus reinvented for the entertainment market)
- Starbucks (coffee as low-cost luxury for high-end consumers)
- Ebay (online auctioning)
- Sony (the Walkman - personal portable stereos)
- Cars: Japanese fuel-efficient autos (mid-70s) and Chrysler minivan (1984)
- Computers: Apple personal computer (1978) and Dell's built-to-order computers (mid-1990s).
Blue Ocean Strategy provides a framework to start thinking about new opportunities.
Blue Ocean Strategy offers both a process and a set of supporting tools that practitioners can use to navigate. It begins with a ?strategy canvas? that visually maps the current industry environment in two dimensions. The horizontal dimension includes the range of factors on which an industry currently competes and those factors in which it invests. The vertical dimension shows levels of performance against each factor, measured qualitatively. A strategy canvas is a conceptual tool remarkable in both its simplicity and its usefulness. It can be used to understand the current strategy of a company and its competitors, to communicate the strategy, and to imagine business directions. To do the latter, Professors Kim and Mauborgne recommend that a company create several alternative, radically different strategies, each aimed at delivering superior value to potential ? not existing ? customers by:
Reducing cost by eliminating some factors that the industry takes for granted and reducing other factors below the industry standard.
Enhancing differentiation by raising some factors well above the industry standard and creating additional factors that the industry has never offered.
Wednesday, August 30, 2006
Ideas to Execution
We all have ideas, great ideas, ideas we think will change the world drastically..don't we?
If that is the case then why is that all the ideas dont turn out to be great success stories? Well not all ideas can be great success stories if not appropriately sold well to people, planned & executed. All this backed with some great funding though.
It definitely is a long journey from the initial point of idea generation to the final point of actually making the company/business profitable for a period.
Here will be an ongoing attempt to continously try to put down all the elements that are important while trying to get there.
To begin with, let me list out a few things that strike my mind first.
1. An idea in the mind
2. Moves to something on paper -> Refines itself into a b-plan
3. Hiccups / Obstacles one would identify after the draft.
4. Another version of the plan.
5. Revised version of the plan which sells the idea to the external world.
6. The actual roadmap
7. The team
8. The partners
9. The actual work - Execution
10. Success Story - Yes OR No!!
Well that was a short overview / contents of how actually is the process of getting the whole thing up & running.
Looks quite interesting, atleast for me!! but how does one accomplish all these things?
How does one know how to do things right?
How will anyone know what is the best possible action that can be taken?
This is where I do feel such people need mentors, mentors provide the necessary badn-width for such people in a true business sense. Help entreprenuers give the insight of the various elements that go into making an idea into an action.
Lot of people have ideas but they by themselves should also have the urge to do something different which can change something around them, that is a character which must be present. Consistency is another key factor without which its just not possible to grow ideas into plans into execution.
To conclude it is important to have a basic inherent characteristic with consistency & dedication, along with a mentor who will show the path towards achieving the vision.
If that is the case then why is that all the ideas dont turn out to be great success stories? Well not all ideas can be great success stories if not appropriately sold well to people, planned & executed. All this backed with some great funding though.
It definitely is a long journey from the initial point of idea generation to the final point of actually making the company/business profitable for a period.
Here will be an ongoing attempt to continously try to put down all the elements that are important while trying to get there.
To begin with, let me list out a few things that strike my mind first.
1. An idea in the mind
2. Moves to something on paper -> Refines itself into a b-plan
3. Hiccups / Obstacles one would identify after the draft.
4. Another version of the plan.
5. Revised version of the plan which sells the idea to the external world.
6. The actual roadmap
7. The team
8. The partners
9. The actual work - Execution
10. Success Story - Yes OR No!!
Well that was a short overview / contents of how actually is the process of getting the whole thing up & running.
Looks quite interesting, atleast for me!! but how does one accomplish all these things?
How does one know how to do things right?
How will anyone know what is the best possible action that can be taken?
This is where I do feel such people need mentors, mentors provide the necessary badn-width for such people in a true business sense. Help entreprenuers give the insight of the various elements that go into making an idea into an action.
Lot of people have ideas but they by themselves should also have the urge to do something different which can change something around them, that is a character which must be present. Consistency is another key factor without which its just not possible to grow ideas into plans into execution.
To conclude it is important to have a basic inherent characteristic with consistency & dedication, along with a mentor who will show the path towards achieving the vision.
Saturday, May 20, 2006
Moving ahead
Been a long time since i wrote.
As i move ahead with a new job which is and i hope will be a lot more exciting for a longer period, my thought is that how does one know how much he should move ahead in the corporate world? Everyone wants to be a CEO, but can they? Will they? The answer is NO, not all can reach there.
So how does one keep going.. i know the immediate thought is hardwork, dedication but i also feel luck is a very vital thing too to 'Move Ahead' in life or rather corporate life.
One needs to be smart, intelligent & also lucky enough to reach to positions he aims for. Also is the factor of time of how soon one gets there.
So another thing that pops up in my mind is - do u also need to knwo how to seel yourself effectively?
Yet to find answers for these, hope i'll find it.
As i move ahead with a new job which is and i hope will be a lot more exciting for a longer period, my thought is that how does one know how much he should move ahead in the corporate world? Everyone wants to be a CEO, but can they? Will they? The answer is NO, not all can reach there.
So how does one keep going.. i know the immediate thought is hardwork, dedication but i also feel luck is a very vital thing too to 'Move Ahead' in life or rather corporate life.
One needs to be smart, intelligent & also lucky enough to reach to positions he aims for. Also is the factor of time of how soon one gets there.
So another thing that pops up in my mind is - do u also need to knwo how to seel yourself effectively?
Yet to find answers for these, hope i'll find it.
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