With a Defence like This...

Debris Dumped into The Sea by Military Operations causes havoc for Marine as well as Human life. Unfortunately, all Advice is yet Unheeded

Ex-British PM Margaret Thatcher had a doctrine regarding ocean pollution caused by perilous military activities: conservatism is good for actions with long term negative consequences! Her vision formed the cornerstone of the London Dumping Convention that banned the release of military debris into the seas. Consequences notwithstanding, a majority of countries do not have such a convention and freely release military debris into the oceans, causing enormous damage to marine lives.

At the recent UN International Marine Debris Clearance conference, Paul Walker, director of Global Green inferred that a massive 8000 tonne of hazardous material has been plunked near Hawaii by the US army. US vessels have been dumping 34 million litres of untreated liquid waste and 16 tonne of plastic waste every month! Alarmingly, more than 400,000 rockets and bombs are drifting around US coasts! During the Cold War, under the shield of the Iron Curtain, the Soviet Union released 2.5 million curies of radioactive material into the Arctic Ocean, the Sea of Japan, the Barents Sea, and the Kara Sea, according to the Yablokov report. France carried out 137 nuclear tests under the sea between 1975 and 1996, creating an artificial crater with a diameter of 140 meters. The tests conducted in French Polynesia caused havoc to 1 million cubic meters of sand and coral. Japan’s seas are contaminated with chemical weapons with a total bulk of over 6,600 tons. And that is not counting the most recent irradiated water being released from the Fukushima plant.

But if military debris isn’t dumped in oceans, then where? Research institutes like Coastal Zone Enhancement Program in US or Swedish Geotechnical Institute talk about measures like recycling and reuse of oceanic debris.

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Source : IIPM Editorial, 2012.

An Initiative of IIPM, Malay Chaudhuri
and Arindam Chaudhuri (Renowned Management Guru and Economist).

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Time for a ‘Crude’ Landing, People!

The Current Surge in Global crude Oil Prices puts forth two basic Questions – what are The Underlying causes and what’s The Worst we can expect. While The Most Pessimistic Projections may prove untrue, The World is Indeed staring in The Face of another crude shock that could derail Global Recovery

Be it the oil shock of the 1970s or the impending oil crisis of 2011; the spike in oil prices in both cases has been the consequence of a combustible mix of geology and geopolitics; with the latter inflicting much more of the damage. The turmoil in Egypt, Tunisia, Yemen, Libya and the consequent fears of disruption of Suez Canal and SUMED pipeline have led to oil prices breaching the $100 per barrel mark (on February 24, 2011 it touched $120 per barrel, well short of the July 2008 peak of $147 per barrel). The continued political upheaval in Libya, which produces approximately 1.6 million barrels per day and accounts for close to 2% of global oil output, will further escalate prices and dampen the fragile global economic recovery.

As the ‘Day of Rage’ rules the roost throughout the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region, oil-supply side vulnerabilities can only increase. It is to be noted that the MENA region is home to about 60% of global crude oil and 45% of the world’s natural gas reserves. Given such dynamic statistics, any disruption in the supply of resources from this region will tantamount to a significant price rise. Though Saudi Arabia and other OPEC members are bent on meeting the challenges, fear of underinvestment in the MENA region will undoubtedly push oil prices northwards.

Amidst this scenario, research houses are forecasting that oil prices could well surge to $220 per barrel (as suggested by Tokyo-based Nomura Holdings). With the bitter aftertaste of the economic crisis still lingering across the globe, the forecasts of spiralling crude oil prices is an indication that we could be in for a reversal of the global economic recovery, as if it wasn’t sluggish enough already.

Even if one assumes that the current spike is merely a result of speculation and that the dust would soon settle down; the potential loss is huge. As per estimates, the British economy would have to wipe out £45 billion in the next two years if oil prices surge to $160 per barrel this year. The economic recovery in the US too could be hurt; it is estimated that every $1 surge in oil prices would cost the consumers $1 billion over the course of a year. The entire episode of unrest has seen the West Texas Intermediate (WTI) and other crude oil spot price increase by about $15 per barrel since mid-February. The US Energy Information Administration (EIA), in its latest outlook (Short -Term Energy Outlook, published on March 8, 2011), has raised its forecasts for the average cost of crude oil to refiners to $105 per barrel in 2011, $14 higher than its previous outlook. However, EIA has raised its 2011 forecast for WTI by only $9 per barrel to $102 per barrel, because of the projected continued price discount for this type of crude. EIA has further projected a small increase in crude oil prices in 2012, with refiner acquisition cost for crude oil averaging $106 per barrel and WTI averaging $105 per barrel.

At best these projections are but optimistic in nature. BMO Capital Markets further goes on to suggest that given the lag and the cumulative 46% increase in WTI between 2009 and 2011, the oil price increase will reduce the US economic growth by 0.7% (a huge figure in their case). Substantially higher prices (as forecasted by Nomura) arising from a supply shock would also significantly heighten the risk of a renewed recession. The current political problem is more grave than the geopolitical problem of the 1970’s, since the problems have spread to the entire MENA region.

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Source : IIPM Editorial, 2012.

An Initiative of IIPM, Malay Chaudhuri 
and Arindam Chaudhuri (Renowned Management Guru and Economist).

For More IIPM Info, Visit below mentioned IIPM articles. 

IIPM Best B School India
Management Guru Arindam Chaudhuri
Rajita Chaudhuri-The New Age Woman
IIPM's Management Consulting Arm-Planman Consulting

Apple shifts: Businesses, too, have eyes for ipads, iphones

Steve Jobs never cared much for selling Apple products to big businesses. A funny thing has happened, though, in the last few years. Big companies have started buying Apple products – a lot of them – for their employees

The late Apple chief executive so disliked the process of catering to the needs of business, rather than those of consumers, that he called chief information officers in corporations “orifices” at a conference in 2005. “There are 500 men and women in the Fortune 500 – CIOs – that you have to go through,” Jobs said then.

A funny thing happened, though, in the last few years. Big companies started buying Apple products – a lot of them – for their employees. The iPad and iPhone have given the Apple symbol a presence in workplaces that Apple never enjoyed when it was strictly focused on selling Macintosh computers.

While corporate technology buyers say Apple does not try to hide the fact that consumers are still its top priority, they note that the company has gotten easier to work with in recent years, adding features to its devices that make them more palatable to business. It also doesn’t hurt that Apple’s new chief executive, Timothy D. Cook, is known to be far more at ease meeting with the CIOs Jobs once so memorably disparaged.

“What they’ve done in the past few years is really started thinking in a deeper way what the enterprise needs,” said Rich Adduci, chief information officer of Boston Scientific, a medical device manufacturer that has distributed about 3,000 iPads to its field sales people and expects to buy 1,500 more by the end of the year.

Apple, which declined to comment for this article, has begun to drop hints that it sees the corporate market as a big growth opportunity. During recent earnings calls with Wall Street analysts, Apple executives have boasted about the portion of Fortune 500 companies testing or deploying iPads and iPhones – 92% and 93%, respectively, Apple said in October.

“You never heard those stats before,” said Gene Munster, an analyst at Piper Jaffray. “The reason why is they struggled for decades, and finally they have a story to tell in the enterprise.”Among the big customers Apple has won recently is the home improvement retailer Lowe’s, which said it bought about 42,000 iPhones to be used by employees on store floors. Instead of having to find a computer, the employees can use the devices in store aisles to check inventory, pull up how-to videos and help customers estimate costs for painting, flooring and other projects.

Airlines have begun to use iPads to replace the printed aircraft flight manuals, navigation charts and other material that pilots are required to bring on board. The binders holding those manuals typically had to be popped open every few weeks by pilots so they could replace pages with updated information. With iPads, the updating occurs electronically.

All of Alaska Airlines’ more than 1,400 pilots now have iPads, and United and Continental Airlines, which have merged, started giving iPads to all 11,000 of its pilots in August.

“We’ve shown we can retrieve an electronic page faster than we can retrieve a printed manual,” said Captain Joe Burns, a United pilot and managing director of technology and flight tests for the airline.

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Source : IIPM Editorial, 2011.

An Initiative of IIPM, Malay Chaudhuri and Arindam chaudhuri (Renowned Management Guru and Economist).

For More IIPM Info, Visit below mentioned IIPM articles.

IIPM Best B School India
Management Guru Arindam Chaudhuri
Rajita Chaudhuri-The New Age Woman
IIPM's Management Consulting Arm-Planman Consulting
IIPM in sync with the best of the business world.......
IIPM Prof. Arindam Chaudhuri on Internet Hooliganism
Arindam Chaudhuri: We need Hazare's leadership
Professor Arindam Chaudhuri - A Man For The Society....
IIPM: Indian Institute of Planning and Management
IIPM RANKED NO.1 in MAIL TODAY B-SCHOOL RANKINGS
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10 steps to build a successful Asian brand

Building a brand is an overwhelming task. Here’s a quick ‘how to’ guide for asian companies to build great brands and get the best out of the process

The orientation of brand management has gone through substantial changes over the last few decades, and has evolved as a more integrated and visible part of the overall corporate strategy. The evolution of the brand equity concept during the 1990s, development of advanced financial brand valuation models and its adoption by advisors and their clients, and emergence of better brand tracking tools, have all facilitated the elevation of the branding discipline beyond the middle management and into the boardroom.

Asian boardrooms generally lag behind this trend and tend to manage brand marketing from a bottom-up perspective instead of a top-down perspective. There are a couple of reasons for this. As marketing and brand decisions traditionally have been managed in mid-level marketing departments among most Asian companies, a large emphasis has been placed on tactical marketing activities as opposed to strategic branding approaches led by corporate management. Branding has been widely perceived as advertising and promotions.

But several indications show rapid progression in the right direction for select Asian companies where branding as a strategic tool has become more recognised and accepted within their boardrooms. This is also driven by the increasing attention on branding and its value-driving capability among stakeholders, media and opinion leaders across Asia. To achieve these objectives successfully, Asian companies must follow a comprehensive brand strategy framework supported by a systematic process throughout the organisation.

There are 10 crucial steps to building a successful branding strategy and manage its implementation. The steps enable Asian boardroom to focus their attention on the required areas, and serve as check-points which can be tailored to the individual company’s specific needs and requirements.

1. The CEO needs to lead the brand strategy

The starting point for branding must be the boardroom, which also serves as the most important check-point during the project. The CEO must be personally involved in the brand strategy, and he must be passionate. Fully buying into the idea of branding is necessary. To ensure success despite the stressful routine which entails various duties, the CEO must be backed by a strong brand management team of senior contributors, who can facilitate continuous development and integration of the new strategy.

2. One size doesn’t fit all: Build your own model

All companies have their own specific requirements, set of business values and a unique way of approaching business functions. Therefore, even the best and most comprehensive branding models have to be tailored to these needs and requirements. Often, only a few but important adjustments are needed to align them with other similar business models and strategies in the company to create a simplified toolbox. Remember that branding is the face of a business strategy, so these two areas must go hand in hand.

3. Involve your stakeholders including the customers too

Who knows more about your company than the customers, employees and many other stakeholders? This is common sense, but many companies forget these simple and easily accessible sources of valuable information for adding value to the branding strategy. A simple rule is to use 5% of the marketing budget on research and at least obtain a fair picture of the current business landscape including the perceived brand image among stakeholders along with the brand’s positioning.

For more articles, Click on IIPM Article

Source : IIPM Editorial, 2011.

An Initiative of IIPM, Malay Chaudhuri and Arindam chaudhuri (Renowned Management Guru and Economist).

For More IIPM Info, Visit below mentioned IIPM articles.

IIPM Best B School India
Management Guru Arindam Chaudhuri
Rajita Chaudhuri-The New Age Woman
IIPM's Management Consulting Arm-Planman Consulting
IIPM in sync with the best of the business world.......
IIPM Prof. Arindam Chaudhuri on Internet Hooliganism
Arindam Chaudhuri: We need Hazare's leadership
Professor Arindam Chaudhuri - A Man For The Society....
IIPM: Indian Institute of Planning and Management
IIPM RANKED NO.1 in MAIL TODAY B-SCHOOL RANKINGS
Planman Technologies