FACILITATING EXCELLENCE

Openness to learning is the most common word I used in my context. It meant according to my understanding that when people offer me a feedback, I accept it, infact my magnanimity was that I did not just accept it but took onus to offer it. However very recently I learned two important  lessons; No one likes a "Know it all"- When anyone is giving a feedback, the last think they want to hear is, the feedback is accepted as it is or may be an argument. Ok may be that did not come out right. So the point is LISTEN. Listen to the feedback. And, take time to INTERNALIZE it. No matter whether you agree or disagree, as one my line manager ofter said; sleep over it. Do not react. Do not accept. Do not reject. Just take time to think over  it. PREPARE- I once got very emotional. Never Helps. Especially when you have a line manager who is relatively new. They do not relate to the ups and downs of the tenure. So  only facts help. ACTION PLAN- Based on the feed...

Quarter Se Quarter Tak (QSQT) The task of continuously showing an ever increasing topline with a steady growth in the bottomline is akin to a tightrope walk across two skyscrapers without a safety harness– one representing the revenues and the other profits. Managing the expectations of various stakeholders has become an onerous task indicated by periodic telecon with investors and institutional investors to continuously update on the business outlook and the earnings potential. While the companies spell out short and long term objectives, increasingly it is becoming evident that the pressures to deliver in short term, overrun the policies required to deliver long term results. Most of the review meetings today start with earning per share (EPS) figures and the ability of the company to outperform on the stock market vis-à-vis its industry peers. Failure to do so in certain cases means the exit door for people at the helm of affairs. Capital is scarce and the fight to a...

All through my childhood, my mother told me that friendships are the most valuable relationships. Infact I always proudly said, my mother was one of my closest friend. She also ensured that our home maintained that value, so I always told myself, ' we are a close knit circle of 4 friends, my father, my mother, my sister and I.' And I truly have been blessed. When on one hand I have been lucky to have my family as friends, I have been able to form some truly beautiful friendships outside of it as well. As the heading of the post suggests, I do not know whether friends last a lifetime. But one thing I am certainly sure of. The duration doesn't count. What matters is that they exist. My family will remain to be confidante. My school pals will remain to be the thread that connects me to my past. But there will certainly be others. The ones who come and go and enrich your life. The idea is whenever in life, you are down and low. Just look around. Even if you have one pers...

In my experience of the distribution trade, the points of negotiation or trade-offs between the customers and suppliers are invariably one of the following Diversity (width of SKU’s) Delivery (time) Discrepancy (accuracy in order execution) Discount (price negotiation) Let me elucidate each of these trade-offs and the interplay of negotiations which the entities concerned engage in. Diversity (width of SKU’s) The larger the SKU’s maintained at the supplier (distributor), the better is his ability to have a higher first fill ratio (FFR) w.r.t. to order of the customer. This creates a situation whereby the customer perceives the supplier to be reliable & well stocked. The offshoot of this is the scenario where supplier creates barriers to switching for the customer on account of better order servicing. Customers, on the other hand, are happy because their business downstream is addressed appropriately. ...

The other day, I was reading a message on my mobile which went like “… 20 years back, a man would walk 20 minutes to save Rs. 20/-. Today, a man spends Rs. 20/- to save 20 minutes…”. At first glance nothing seemed unusual about this but then the profoundness of the message dawned over. The pace of life and the things which counted highly then, have changed. Were we looking at a new currency of trading? Were we beginning to finally act in spirit of the famous phrase “Time is Money”? As I pondered over this message and analysed my life in this context, I realized I was anyways acting in the spirit of this famous phrase. So what really has shaped our behavior? I think it’s a multiplicity of factors.   The multiplicity of choices before us. A toothpaste meant Colgate, detergent meant Surf, cooking oil meant Dalda… for those of us who have been witness to such an era will vastly appreciate the plethora of choices we have now. A toothpaste has moved from just ...

You join a new organization.. new people, new processes, new culture.. you are treading very slowly. People are unhappy with you   but they don’t tell you. Your line  manager knows your work and it seems they are happy with it. So you start getting comfortable. And suddenly your manager,   your colleagues, your reports turn around and say. – All is well but we are sorry, we don’t like your work. As an employee you are confused. You think hard you go back to your review and think, how come, why was I not told, why was I not made aware? It was a matter of simply telling me, that I was going off track. Then you start to see the signs. People talking in hushed tones, waiting for you to leave the room, ensuring that things are not said in your presence. Why did you overlook them? It was probably because I wanted to fit in.   I wanted to fit in so badly, that I chose to ignore all signs that told me that my current approach was not working. So what now? You ha...

Distribution networks…the Jugaad way The basics of management state that no matter how good /gold standard the quality of the product, its relevance to the marketplace (consumers), the communication strategy, the pricing, the biggest stumbling block at times turns out to be the distribution network. At the risk of placing the various factors determining the success of a brand in the marketplace, ‘distribution’ should be the first among the equals. The textbooks propagate lucidly various distribution models and most of them have tasted success in the marketplace. These models are conventional in nature and approach wherein and whereby they lay out a mechanism (road map) for the brand to reach from the plant to the consumer often denominated by people / institutions. They are clearly identifiable, have specific responsibilities and spheres of influence and often perform their chores along the dotted lines. Challenges arise when conventional road maps for distribution plann...