Quarterly periodical of International Business Society @ SIMSR

2. VOL - II ISSUE – III JAN – MAR’12 e
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FOREWORD
Dear Reader,
It gives us immense pleasure to bring to you Issue III Volume II of e-Globuzz.
Over the last three months the world witnessed signs of economic recovery in
the developed countries including USA. On the other hand, uncertainties of oil
supply and inflation spiral due to the developments in West Asia continue to
cause concern over economic growth in the world markets.
During this period, IBS@SIMSR arranged numerous useful interactions with
industry stalwarts including our illustrious IB alumni, the details of which have been covered
later in this issue.
Like in the prior issues, this issue also brings to you a wide range of international business
topics. We cover the legendary journey of Kodak and its unfortunate downfall in this decade.
There is also topical coverage of the Euro debt crisis and possibilities of new countries emerging
as sources of natural gas. The other notable features are the changing role of central banks in
recent times and the invaluable contribution of SMEs to India’s international trade.
We will be back with the next issue in July 2012. We look forward to contributions for the
upcoming issue from the alumni and faculty.
Happy reading!
Prof. CP Joshi
Faculty Mentor IBS@SIMSR
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Vol II Issue III Jan–Mar ‘12
European Debt Crisis 4
Faculty Mentor
Marketing and 6
Branding in China Prof.
C.
P.
Joshi
The Kodak Story 8
Editor-in-Chief
Kyoto Protocol 10
Manvinder
Sodhi
Natural Gas of 12
Prerna
Makhijani
Turkmenistan
Designers
Indian SME 14
Swetaleena
Das
Effect of Changing 17
Vishu
Kartik
Role of Central Banks
Did you know?
Country in Focus 20
Turkey Ankur
Yadav
Alumni Speak 23
Interactions coverage
IBS Interactions 25
Swati
Moolchandani
Alumni Interactions 27
Circulation
Gurpreet
Kaur
All
the
views
expressed
in
this
e-­‐periodical
reflect
the
personal
opinions
and
views
of
the
authors
and
do
not
reflect
IBS@SIMSR
views.
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European
Debt
Crisis
-­‐
Sunmeet
Kaur
PGDM-­‐IB
(2010-­‐12)
The global banking system is currently under close In the US, financial markets are showing
watch as fears of another crisis spread through increased signs of volatility and risk aversion in
Europe and the US. Unnerving sovereign debt response to the situation in Europe. The
crises in Europe have sparked concerns of distress aftermath of the 2008 financial crisis has
among banks and have scared investors away from continued to weigh on the economic recovery
financial markets. European banks that once saw and the recent debt ceiling debacle and credit
little risk of holding sovereign debt are now at a rating downgrade have increased concerns of
huge disadvantage with balance sheets comprised financial instability. With the global economy
mostly of Euro-zone government bonds. Now that still coming out of its misery in 2008-2009,
banks seem reliant on weak sovereigns, panic is Greece got severely exposed for its years of
steadily increasing. The potential for significant unrestrained spending and failure to implement
losses has caused a credit crunch that has severely financial reforms. The statistics exposed a
limited the short-term financing available to national debt of US$414 billion in Greece that
European banks. When a government’s outlays is bigger than the country’s economy, and a
exceed its tax receipts in a given fiscal year, it runs fiscal deficit of 12.7 percent of the GDP.
a deficit and may have to borrow money to make Greece's credit rating has been downgraded,
up the difference. Sovereign debt is the implying worsening investor’s confidence for
accumulation of such borrowing from foreign and the economy. This crisis is not only hitting the
domestic creditors. If creditors are unsure whether zone economically but also politically. Spain’s
a national government is able or willing to repay its Socialists became the fifth government in the
debts, then the government may have to pay a 17 nation single currency area to be tumbled by
higher interest rate on the bonds it issues to entice the debt crisis this year following Portugal,
buyers. If a government is unable to issue bonds to Ireland, Italy & Greece. Also the risk premium
cover its debts, then it must resort to other means: on Spanish, Italian and French government
cutting expenditures, raising taxes or borrowing bonds rose as investors fled to German Bunds.
from international agencies such as the The key impact that has sent ripples across
International Monetary Fund. Greece and a few financial markets so far is a drop in investors’
other European countries currently find themselves confidence triggered by concerns about debt
in this situation. servicing ability of PIIGS governments.
Repercussions through financial markets can
also arise from cross-border bank lending, as
European firms rely heavily on banks for
funding and banks have extensive cross-border
lending activities. . Major lenders to PIIGS are
financial institutions from France and
Germany, with outstanding bank loans
amounting to 34 and 21 per cent of their
respective GDP. Therefore, should financial
institutions in PIIGS experience severe
problems, the banking sector of these major
creditor countries could also be affected, which
could create systemic risks to Europe’s
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financial markets going forward.
Such a crisis is not only affecting the low rated
economies in the Euro zone but also France
which is among the Euro’s six AAA rated
countries. Moody's warned that the debt crisis
that began more than two years ago in Greece
and snared Ireland, Portugal, Italy and Spain is
close to reaching France pertaining to the rise in
borrowing costs.
The effects are not just confined to the Euro
Zone but it is also affecting US, the world
leader. The country had reported 2.5% annual that a fiscal union was in the works, an effort
growth in the third quarter which was far below to correct a basic flaw within the EU that it
the growth rate of about 4% in 2009-10. The has a common currency and shared monetary
major cause for the same is that because Europe policy, but no mechanism to ensure that all
is the largest trading partner of US. More than members are financially sound.
20% of all US exports go to Europe. Germany
and Great Britain are by far the US's largest Euro zone has taken several measures recently
trading partners. Total exports to the European like Germany and France have signed a pact
Union were $177 billion in the first eight months that has laid a sigh of relief to the zone. The
of 2011, up 15% from last year. Even then the meetings are being held at different points in
U.S. is running a $65 billion trade deficit with time between the leaders of zone and other
the EU. Adding to the woes, U.S. banks have countries to come out with the solution to
about $300 billion outstanding loans each in tackle the problem at hand. It is high time that
France and Germany and about $50 billion each actions are taken to correct the current
in Italy and Spain. They have about $700 billion situation because if the issues are aggravated
in Great Britain, which isn't directly affected. then it can not only blow off the Euro zone
Needless to say the political effect felt in the US affecting its single currency system but can
with regards to the crisis situation. also deeply hurt other emerging economies of
the world. Such a crisis has shaken up the
The cause of the problem is that European world affecting, the US and other major
Union is at the fourth stage of Economic emerging regions especially Asia. In fact
integration, which is Economic Union. Most Billionaire Investor Warren Buffet said
notably, economic unions require formally Europe’s debt crisis had shown up a major
coordinated monetary and fiscal policies as well flaw that cannot be corrected just by words. It
as labour market, regional development, would take more than words to fix it.
transportation and industrial policies. Since all
Source: guardian.co.uk
countries would essentially share the same
economic space, it would be counter-productive
to operate divergent policies in those areas. An
economic union frequently includes the use of a
common currency and a unified monetary
policy. Eliminating exchange rate uncertainty
improves the functioning of an economic union
by allowing trade to follow economically
efficient paths without being unduly affected by
exchange rate considerations. It has been told
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Marketing and
Branding
in
China:
Global
Product
Strategy
Alternatives
-­‐
Sahil
Patel
PGDM-­‐IB
(2011-­‐13)
There have been wide and deep linguistic shopkeepers created signs that combined
differences between Chinese and English, making characters whose pronunciations formed the
translation of brand names a difficult task. Cultural string ko-ka-ko-la, but they did so without any
context, pronunciation and the meaning of regard for the meanings of the written phrases
characters are just a few examples of such they formed in doing so. The character for
difficulties. Let’s discuss four global product- wax, pronounced la, was used in many of these
naming strategic alternatives available to signs, resulting in strings that sounded like ko-
country/brand managers, along with their usage. ka-ko-la when pronounced, but conveyed some
These four alternatives include (i) dual extension, nonsensical meanings such as "female horse
(ii) brand meaning extension, (iii) brand feeling fastened with wax," "wax-flattened mare," or
extension, and (iv) dual adaptation. "bite the wax tadpole" when read in Mandarin.
What the Coca Cola story demonstrates is that
linguistic nuances in Chinese can affect brand
sound and brand meaning which, in turn, can
affect consumer perceptions and brand
identity. Marketers in China must realize prior
to entry that the market is culturally distinct,
requiring some degree of localization.
Toyota's Chinese branding of the SUV Prado
A firm’s Brand naming is a product
characteristic that supports brand equity,
Branding Challenge in China: positioning, unique advertising, and
competitive advantage. Toyota's Chinese
Brand naming in China by Coca-Cola branding of the SUV Prado, launched by
Saatchi & Saatchi in Beijing, was translated to
There was no official representation of the name ba dao, which more or less translates to "the
‘Coca-Cola’ in Mandarin Chinese when Coca-Cola mighty rule" or even "rule by force." Such a
first time entered the Chinese market in 1928. They masculine depiction of the Japanese SUV
required finding four Chinese characters whose Prado was also accompanied by advertised
pronunciations approximated the sound of the media that presented two stone lions saluting
brand without producing some nonsensical or and bowing to the car. This cultural blunder
adverse meaning when strung together as a written evoked association with the Japanese
phrase. Interestingly, written Chinese employs occupation of China during WorldWar-2 and
thousands of different characters, but there are only also attracted government censorship, public
about 200 pronounced sounds that can be used in outrage, and a call for a boycott of the
forming the name ko-ka-ko-la. Meanwhile Coca- company.
Cola was in search of a satisfactory combination of
symbols to represent their name, Chinese
Apparently, brands going into the Chinese
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market have to scrutinize many market characteristics
including the Chinese language and its consumer
responsiveness. Attendance to local market
considerations should also involve consideration of the
firm's global brand-strategy, which certainly involves a
wide range of possibilities: globalization on one end,
localization on the other, or probably a strategic
combination of both.
A word of caution:
A company's brand is considered to be its intellectual
property. As China is not the best place for its
safekeeping of intellectual property and since theft of
such property is still rampant, all the companies
venturing into China are advised to register the likely
translations for their Chinese brand names as soon as
DID YOU KNOW??
possible.
Mala Fides means "In bad
Looking forward to China:
faith". It is used when a seller's
The complete process of global brand-strategy says that goods are usable for a
identification and implementation is a journey particular purpose when in fact
comprising market research, creative work (especially
creating the Chinese brand names require some), the seller knows that the goods
international coordination, marketing investments and are not.
decisions at all stages. The journey may not always be a
drive on a smooth highway, but it is unquestionably
challenging as well as interesting and rewarding to
professional marketers and brand managers. Dell Computers was started
Key takeaways: by a 19 year old with only $1,000
and Dell's first advertisement
For any international brand, different cultures influence
consumers in different markets which consequently will
was made on the back of a pizza
affect their perceptions of the brand's standing vis-a-vis box.
other competing brands, both locally and
internationally. While today's consumers do not have to
leave home to be affected by globalization's influence
on local market, the meaning of the brand is still often
interpreted and translated in a local context. As far as
the near future is concerned, we are all likely to
continue to be lost in such translation. Superior talent
must unite with the market opportunities for successful
cross-cultural branding exercises.
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The
Kodak
Story
-­‐
Prerna
Makhijani
PGDM-­‐IB
(2011-­‐13)
As The Economist rightly puts across, seems in technology, research and development. The
like it is the last Kodak moment. After a glorious company’s culture and the attitude of the top
history of 132 years, the company filed for management made it complacent. Even
chapter 11 bankruptcy. So the question remains, though the labs were churning out great
what went wrong in all these years that led to products and innovation, the management
Kodak’s fall? seemed myopic and focused more on the
current market than delving into the
There was a time when Kodak earned nearly possibilities of future.
$16 billion in revenues and employed over
145,000 workers worldwide. Now the current Ironically, Kodak shelved the digital cameras,
evaluation of the company stands at $150 something that they invented in 1970’s. This
million with an employee base of less than was probably the start of losing out heavily to
17000 people. competitors like Fujifilm when it came to
digital imaging and photography. Kodak’s
management believed that digital cameras
would cannibalize their photographic film
business and therefore did not take forth the
idea which was going to be the future of
photography. In 1993, when they decided to
dive into digital photography and online
sharing of pictures, it was already too late and
that business model also couldn’t sustain the
profitability of Kodak.
Kodak also tried its hand at diversification.
They dabbled in pharmaceuticals for a period
of time, owing to their base of chemical
expertise used in photography. But this
Looking at the financial health of Kodak, it is venture also fizzled and was sold out by 1990s.
evident that they have huge amounts of pension The leadership and the strategy of each leader
and other benefits obligations. Their annual has also been highly inconsistent causing
profitability has been going down for the last six dissonance in the company’s business model.
years. They have in all $5.1 billion of assets and The current CEO is focusing more on turning
$6.57 billion in liabilities. Most of these are in Kodak into a digital printing powerhouse,
the form of 1100 digital patents that they hold something on the lines of what Hewlett
and are being used for litigation against giants Packard has been doing. He is also trying to
like Apple & Samsung for patent infringements. engage in litigation and make money out of
There have been a couple of reasons for the patent infringement lawsuits.
predicament that the company is in now. To Even after years of foot dragging into the
begin with, Kodak has been labeled as a digital world, Kodak’s strategy lacked focus
complacent monopolist despite being a pioneer
and it was not clear whether it wanted to be a
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product based or a service based or a B2B Even a couple of years of restructuring has not
company. Even their M&As were all over the helped the company improvise its financial
place and did not add value to their portfolio health and the only way forward is to sell its
in the slightest way. pile of digital patents. This would at least
enable it to pay off debts and other obligations
The company in its heydays became bloated to its stakeholders. There appears to be no
and did not know how to scale down its place for a legend like Kodak anymore, the US
operations in the last decade. So when giant seems to have run its course.
disruptive technologies appeared, Kodak
found it extremely difficult to change their The Kodak fiasco makes the business world
business model in terms of creating and realize the importance of having a clearly
capturing value. For years they operated under thought out strategy. It is important for a
the classic razor-blade model and when they company to constantly evaluate its vision and
switched to digital photography, they objectives in a world full of disruptive
continued with the same model which technologies. There also has to be balance
obviously did not work. Selling cheap digital between the company’s core competencies and
cameras and relying on customers to get its management objectives. A lucid positioning
photos printed and sharing it online would not is imperative if one has to survive in the
help earn revenues. market with competitors snapping at your
heels.
All in all, a lot of things went downhill for
Kodak and there was no coming back after
that.
DID YOU KNOW??
Warner Chappel Music owns the copyright to the song "Happy
Birthday". They make over $1 million in royalties every year from the
commercial use of the song.
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Kyoto
Protocol:
An
answer
to
unpleasant
economic
climate
-­‐
Erica
Fernandes
PGDM-­‐IB
(2011-­‐13)
The world is changing. With the revolutions have committed to reduce their emission levels
in the Arab world, the questions surrounding of greenhouse gases to targets that are mainly
the EU, the nuclear standoffs between nations, set below their 1990 levels. Thus the major
the US recovering at a very slow pace, ever feature of the Kyoto Protocol is that it sets
wondered if we are globally sustainable? binding targets for 37 industrialized countries
However when we think of sustainability we and the European community.
tend to overlook an imperative factor
contributing to its’ deterioration, and that is So how do these countries reduce GHC
climate change. emissions?
Policy makers today are realizing the They can reduce the use of carbon-emitting
seriousness of the issues and the importance of technologies or improve these technologies so
the Kyoto Protocol signed on 11th December as to reduce the emissions they create. For
1997. The Kyoto Protocol is an international example, today we have cars using catalytic
agreement linked to the United Nations converters which lower emissions. Thirdly,
Framework Convention on Climate Change development projects that actively reduce
(UNFCCC). Its main objective is to reduce atmospheric GHG like planting trees
greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, especially effectively help to capture greenhouse gases.
six gases which are:
carbondioxide, methane, nitrousoxide, sulphur The Kyoto Protocol also provides countries meeting
hexafluoride -hydrofluorocarbons and their targets through nation measures. The three
perfluorocarbons. market mechanisms available to countries are as
According to the UNFCCC, parties to follows:
UNFCCC are classified as:
§ Annex I countries: industrialized
countries and economies in transition
§ Annex II countries: developed
countries which pay for costs of developing
countries
§ Non Annex I countries: Developing
countries
Recognizing that developed countries are
principally responsible for the current high
levels of GHG emissions due to the higher
level of industrial activity, the Protocol places
a heavier burden on developed nations. Annex
I countries which have ratified the Protocol
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Market mechanisms to help meet emission 1. Joint Implementation (JI)
targets
The Joint Implementation mechanism is often
1. Emissions trading (the carbon market) grouped with CDM because it is a very similar
system. The major difference is that the
Countries that have not met their emissions countries in which projects can be built under
targets can purchase additional credits from the JI are primarily in the Eastern Bloc
those countries, which have exceeded their (Eastern & Central Europe). This is separate
emission targets. This had led to the from the CDM because these countries are
development of international carbon trading generally considered developed.
systems, the largest of which is the European
Emissions Trading System(EU ETS). In recent The Kyoto protocol is a step in the right
times, price for credits has been raised and direction, but implementation has been poor
there are more stringent caps on emissions as countries have struggled to strike the right
which will help achieve more emission balance between the environment and
control. An extension of the above is carbon economic growth. Especially in recent years,
trading at a domestic level between states and the economic crisis has robbed the
businesses. But these are mostly un- environment of its due attention. Only if the
standardized and there is a need a need to need for bolder policy implementation can be
make local trading more integrated on a global met can we achieve global sustainability in its
scale. true sense.
2. Clean development mechanism (CDM)
Source:
UNFCCC
Developed countries can also choose to
compensate their excess emissions by reducing
emissions in developing economies (Non-
annex I countries). Sometimes, it may be more
cost-effective to reduce emissions in specific
projects in developing countries approved
under CDM rather than reduce emissions in
the developed world or to purchase carbon
credits. Possible sectors where CDM is used
include renewable energy (Wind, solar,
biomass), modernizing power plants,
switching from fossil fuels like coal to more
efficient means like gas. It may be relatively
easier to achieve such projects in developing
economies which are less energy efficient than
their developed counter-parts.
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Natural
Gas
of
Turkmenistan:
Plethora
of
Opportunities
-­‐
Pratichi
Swain
PGDM-­‐IB
(2011-­‐13)
Central Asia has not enjoyed the same is the Reserve/Production ratio. This ratio
limelight in the past as the other regions of signifies the number of years it would take for
Asia. This was mainly because of domination the existing proven reserves to exhaust with
by the Soviet Union. The breakup of the the current rate of production. With the
USSR in 1991 gave birth to many countries present rate of production, while the world
in Central Asia. The autonomy enjoyed by reserves are estimated to last 59 years,
these countries enabled them to build their Turkmenistan’s reserves would carry on for
own roadmap for growth and development 256 years. This is music to the ears of a long
which was further fuelled by the large term investor as it speaks about the volume of
reserves of oil and natural gas in the region. opportunities Turkmenistan has to offer.
Central Asia currently contributes around 70 Turkmenistan also has the benefit of good
percent of the oil production outside OPEC. quality gas because impurities like Caron
The oil and gas revenues have led to a surge dioxide, nitrogen and hydrogen sulphide are
in building roads, railways, airports, power present in very less quantities.
plants and pipelines throughout the region.
Turkmenistan, the heart of Central Asia has
also been a big beneficiary. It has come a With Turkmenistan’s ability to supply good
long way from depending on its cotton and quality natural gas in large quantities for a
carpet exports for foreign exchange supply. long period confirmed, let’s see where the
With nearly 10% GDP growth rate and US $ demand is likely to originate and concentrate.
7500 per capita income, it has already set The main driver for domestic demand of
itself on the fast pace of growth. natural gas has been the power sector. Off late
Turkmenistan has been an electrical energy
Presently Turkmenistan is predominantly an exporting nation. In 2010, out of 15.5 billion
oil exporting nation. It enjoys the forty fourth kWh electricity it produced, it exported 2.5
largest reserve of 100 million tonnes in its 150 billion kwh, 1.6 billion kwh of which was to
oil depots. But with a present production rate Afghanistan. Natural gas is used as the main
of 10 million tonnes per annum, these reserves resource for 99.8% of Turkmenistan’s
would hardly last for next 10 years. The electricity generation. The Turkmenistan
presence of many MNE’s hardly leaves any government has also been laying more
space for a new entrant. emphasis on exporting electricity. It aims to
produce 35 billion kWh of electricity and
On the other hand, natural gas sits at a more export 17 billion kwh by 2030. That would
promising situation for the future. mean an increase in production of 20 billion
Turkmenistan has the fourth largest reserve of kWh, which in all probability has to be met by
10 billion cubic metres of Natural Gas which its most abundant resource –natural gas. On
accounts for 5.29% of the total world reserves. an average 1 kWh of electricity production
It currently contributes only 1% to the total requires 0.2 cubic metre of natural gas. So this
production of Natural Gas in the world. But would result in an extra demand of 4 billion
what turns the scale in favour of Turkmenistan cubic metres by 2030.
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Even the world gas demand is certain to can reach the energy deficient Europe by
increase significantly in the coming years. The accessing the European pipeline grid either
widely accepted Hubbert Peak theory says that through Russia or Azerbaijan. The high
for any finite resource: handling capacity of Turkmenbashi port on the
Caspian coast can be used to transport gas to
1. There will be a point for start of Azerbaijan and then the gas can be sent
production through pipelines connected to the European
grid. The low cost of transportation using the
2. The rate of production then moves to extensive pipeline network helps
the peak/highest point Turkmenistan’s gas to remain cost competitive
by the time they reach the distant markets.
3. Then the rate declines till the resource
gets exhausted With President Kurbanguly succeeding after
the death of Sarpurat Niyazov, a lot of
Hubbert was highly acclaimed for using his initiatives have been taken to attract foreign
theory to accurately predict the point of investments in the natural gas segment, most
highest production of crude oil for USA. He importantly the enactment of the Petroleum
forecasts the crude oil production to reach its Law in 2008, which encouraged long term
peak in 2020 and thereafter show a permanent investments. The following long term licenses
decline. An ever increasing world demand for are currently given
energy sources and fall in the production of oil
would cause a greater shift in dependence from • Exploration License (6 years + 2 x 2
oil to natural gas. Also the introduction and years extension)
usage of higher number of gas run or hybrid • Production License (20 years + 1 x 5
engines and machineries will result in more years extension)
demand for natural gas. This law provides concessions on royalty and
exploration and production terms. The
The world demand pattern for natural gas is introduction of Single Window mechanism
also going to watch a sea of changes in the has helped to overcome delays and curb
near future. It is estimated that India and corruption. The low tax rates and Free Trade
China which have a combined contribution of Agreements signed with countries like
4.3% to total current world demand of the Armenia, Georgia, Ukraine and Uzbekistan
resource will see their share increase to 25% by are also a big boost. Natural gas is slowly but
2030. This will happen on account of steadily becoming the protagonist in
individual increase in demand of natural gas in Turkmenistan’s growth story. It not only offers
India and China by 309% and 463% huge opportunities for long term but also an
respectively. This has very high relevance for investment friendly environment making it the
Turkmenistan gas. Turkmenistan enjoys destination to be for all major gas companies
locational advantage of having proximity and across the world.
accessibility to these geographies. It already
has accessibility to Chinese market through the
pipeline to LuNan in China. Talks are
underway between the concerned governments
for commencement of work of the TAPI
(Turkmenistan-Afghanistan-Pakistan-India)
pipeline. Turkmenistan has well laid out
pipeline grid within the country and also has
direct pipelines to Russia. Turkmenistan’s gas
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Indian
SME:
Export
Competitiveness
-­‐
Nilay
Kale
PGDM-­‐IB
(2011-­‐13)
Introduction hovering for global partnerships to absorb and
impart technologies in various fields. In order
Globalization is the increasing
to attain comparative advantage, SMEs need
interdependence of national economies—
to pay more attention to quality, price and
involving consumers, producers, suppliers, and
delivery by implementing few marketing
governments in various countries. In this
strategies.
environment, there exist opportunities for
Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) to play
Why Should SMEs Export?
a greater role in the world economy.
International activities expose SMEs to more There is high scope of expansion of markets
complex and risky business environment for and customer base by diversifying product
which, compared to big firms, SMEs are segments. This can be achieved by exploring
relatively unprepared and less resourced. different export markets. Additionally, higher
SMEs gaining access to global markets can exports lead to greater exposure to foreign
help realize the potential for prospective high technology and processes. Consequently,
growth. However, in regards to their smaller optimum utilization of production capacity
size, most SMEs lack in various sectors over and greater attention to product design can be
the traditional multinational enterprise achieved. This can guide the production
(MNE). techniques to cost efficient and enhanced
quality control systems. SME’s decision
SMEs were operating in a protected making structures are often flatter and more
environment, but a direct consequence of nimble owing to their family-style
globalization resulted in free trade flow and management organization. This enables them
increasing competition. Along with foreign to take quick international trade related
competition, domestic demand is changing to decisions when needed. Contribution of SMEs
better quality products at globally competitive to export benefits the industrial operations and
prices. economy of nation in general.
In the Indian perspective, potential of SMEs is How should SMEs export?
reflected as they contribute 45% of industrial
output, 40% of exports, employing 60 million SMEs begin by importing technology in
people, creating 1.3 million jobs every year material forms (FDI, licensing and
and producing more than 8000 quality equipment). Then they invest in building their
products worldwide. There are approximately abilities to master the unstated elements of the
30 million SME units in India. SMEs are technology. They draw upon a variety of
considered to be important members within a internal (human resources, technology,
supply chain.
Hence export promotion from management and organization) and external
SME sectors are highly preferred in India’s inputs (skills, finance and infrastructure) to
Export promotion strategy which includes build up their capabilities.
incentive for higher production of exports, Marketing Strategies
market development funds, simplification of
procedures and duties etc. They are thus SMEs lack resources and are thus prevented
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from embarking on market development (E.g. China, India, Indonesia, Malaysia,
efforts. Hence, they are normally at a cost Singapore and Taiwan). The formation of a
disadvantage against the MNEs. Given the strategic alliance allows the SME to overcome
resource limitations and cost disadvantages of its weaknesses compared to the big MNEs.
SMEs, they should therefore focus on selecting This will put the SME in a better position to
market niche. An SME may consider entering defend and survive against the aggressive
into a market segment that is currently being measures taken by the big MNEs
ignored or one that is currently being served by
an MNE. A set of generic marketing strategies SME Export: Indian Perspective
are practiced for entering into a market. The
three generic marketing strategies are Indian SMEs export both traditional and non-
substitution, free riding and strategic traditional goods. Sectors like food and
deterrence. beverages, chemicals, auto-components,
machinery, electronics, metals, castings and
§ Substitution call for the SME to offer forgings have witnessed an increasing export
differentiated yet substitutable products orientation trend over the last decade.
to that of a present so as to force space Potential export destinations for products of
by the latter. SMEs are the USA, EU and Japan. There
§ Free riding allows the SME to enter a exists a huge potential in the non-traditional
served market segment without having sectors. SMEs may not be able to strike the
to incur market development expenses. advantages of economies of scale, but then
§ Strategic deterrence aims to prevent a they are ideal for serving small markets. From
bigger serving. This can be achieved by the Five year All India MSME census report
formation of strategic alliances in order 2006-07, 40540 enterprises were engaged into
to indicate the SME’s commitment to exporting, which contributes to only 3.3% of
stay in the market. total MSMEs. Majority contribution towards
export was from auto, textile and apparel
In targeting market segment already supplied sectors.
by big MNEs, an SME can successfully enter
the segment by following a free-riding strategy. Challenges
Some SMEs in the developing and newly
developed countries in Asia are known to SMEs are uncertain due to the erosion of their
practice the free-riding strategy by engaging in market share, and the middle 60 per cent are
illegal and prohibited trade of goods. An SME not able to arrange themselves with the supply
can follow a substitution strategy by offering a chain systems, despite of strong demand from
substitutable yet different product targeted at a customers. The top 20 per cent of SMEs (on
segment of the market currently ignored by a the basis of exports) are mainly from
big MNEs in order to successfully penetrate automobile, pharmaceuticals, engineering,
the market. . A direct implication of the power and apparel industries, and these are
substitution strategy is that both the SME and facing variety of problems ranging from
the MNEs can exist profitably in the market. A funding, product quality to labour related
good example of such a strategy is that of large issues. A major difficulty of the SME sector is
departmental stores and supermarket chains that it is highly set apart with small local
(mostly foreign owned) competing face to face power base. SMEs have to struggle to achieve
with the smaller retail showrooms and corner economies of scale, and to access credit,
garment stores in many of the newly information, technology and markets.
developed and developing economies in Asia.
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Conclusion
The application of the recent technology and
innovation perspective to SME
competitiveness provides valuable insights on
the process of how SMEs in developing
countries become globally competitive in an
integrated international economy. A rational
SME competitiveness strategy needs to be
formed by current and future comparative
advantage of a national economy and should
be an integral part of national export strategy.
Such a strategy could also emphasize less
demanding regional markets for first-time
SME exporters and more demanding
international markets for established SME
exporters.
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Effect
of
changing
role
of
Central
Banks
-­‐
Sushant
Shah
PGDM-­‐IB
(2010-­‐12)
Changing role of Central Banks will be able point in countering the emergence of financial
to actively counter the development of imbalances central banks are strengthening
monetary instability macro prudential supervision and regulation as
one plausible option. Macro prudential policy
The predominant view until now was that takes account of systemic risks in the financial
Central Banks should pursue "one tool and sector through action geared to reducing such
one target" policy strategy. Based on this view, risks. Collaboration between the various
the best role for the Central Bank in pursuing authorities involved – both nationally and
macroeconomic stability and prosperity was to internationally – is also of crucial importance.
ensure that inflation remains low. These instruments are being used to essentially
supplement set of existing monetary policy.
Recent financial crisis has changed this
perception. The recent crisis highlighted the Monetary Policy:
extent of systemic risk and thus the overriding Monetary policy is any policy related to the
importance of a stable financial system. It also supply of money. A more realistic definition of
demonstrated the inadequacy of the monetary policy would be that it consists of
instruments and measures used until now to the directives, policies, pronouncements, and
ensure financial stability. More effective actions of the central bank (agency concerned
measures are needed to check and prevent with the supply of money) that affect aggregate
systemic risk. The key question is how should demand or national spending. Monetary
or can this be achieved in the future? The policy can have important effects on aggregate
appropriate responsibilities of the central bank demand and through it on real Gross
are being re-examined in light of the recent Domestic Product (GDP), unemployment,
financial crisis. real foreign exchange rates, real interest rates,
and the composition of output. These
Due to increased connectivity of the world, important effects, to the extent that they occur,
systemic risk events have become more are essentially only short run in nature. Over
widespread and significant as compared to the longer run, the major effect of monetary
what it was previously. The complex policy is on the rate of inflation. Thus, while a
interactions between the financial system and more rapid rate of money growth may for a
the real economy raise important questions time stimulate the economy, leading to a more
about the role central banks should play in rapid rate of real GDP growth and a lower
responding to episodes of financial instability. unemployment rate, over the longer run, these
changes are undone and the economy is left
Stable economic growth and low inflation with a higher rate of inflation.
could not prevent the emergence of vast
imbalances in the global financial system.
Ensuring price stability remains top priority for
central banks but more attention is also being
paid to crisis prevention in order to improve
the stability of financial systems. As monetary
policy instruments are only suitable up to a
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How central bank’s role is changing:
• Core Objectives of the Regulator - The core • Public policy objectives of regulation - In a
objectives of the Central Bank are to broader sense, ensuring financial system
maintain price stability. Now with a new stability, investor protection and market
mandate of achieving financial system integrity/discipline are considered to be
stability public policy objectives. Clarity,
• Progressive Liberalization of Financial consistency and public announcements are
Systems - The present day financial necessary on the part of the regulator, as
markets are well integrated. National they will reduce distortions in the playing
borders mean little to the global financial field between local and foreign institutions
services as well as state-owned and private
• Increasing Role of Financial Intermediaries institutions.
in Allocating Resources –
Banks and financial institutions are now • Perception of the Government - It is a part
moving towards investment banking, of Government’s public policy to ensure
structured finance, syndicated loans, retail that banks and financial institutions
and micro financing, derivative financing, function well and that there is public
property development financing etc. at confidence in them. Governments tend to
large scales. The traditional banking label rely on regulators to ensure that there is a
is no longer valid. conducive regulatory environment, which
• Rapid Pace of Financial Innovation and establishes confidence in the wider
Product Development - It should not lead financial system.
to disruptions in financial markets and thus • Type of the regulatory structure -
stability Movement from rule-based regulatory
• The Scale of International Financial Flows structure to a more risk focused system
- FDI, bi & multi-lateral aid flows, other • Perception of the financial community and
investment flows and cross border understanding of regulator’s role
remittance flows are important worldwide • International standards - Framework
as their impacts are felt on economic comparable to international norms,
growth of countries. standards and benchmarks
• Increasing Incidence of Domestic and • Availability of domestic supervisory skills -
International Financial Crises Over enthusiasm of Financial Institutions,
Factors affecting Central bank’s role: Information overload
• The nature and characteristics of the • Safety nets and moral hazards - Mandatory
Financial Sector - There are no clear Deposit Insurance Schemes, Explicit and
boundaries or demarcations. Therefore, a Implicit Guarantees, Bailouts by
case for changing the licensing procedure Regulators
by the regulator is important.
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more important role in monetary policy in the
A new role of central banks will be:
future?
1. First the emphasis on a well capitalized With regard to measures taken during crisis, the
banking system with adequate regulation effectiveness of monetary policy instruments
regarding liquidity and currency was clearly demonstrated. We were able to
mismatches. This has to be a central safeguard price stability and cushion the
concern on the part of policymakers in the negative impact on the real economy. However,
world. vigorous interest rate cuts were not sufficient on
their own. The liquidity situation on the money
2. Second, less reliance on market discipline markets initially remained extremely tense. In
and much more emphasis on supervision - many cases, interest rates rapidly dropped to
The assumption being that financial zero. The chief monetary policy instrument
institutions have incentives to circumvent could thus no longer be used. Central banks
regulation. Maybe they will not cross the around the world therefore adopted so-called
line, but the natural tendency is to leverage unconventional measures. These included direct
and thus earn profits. intervention in the financial markets by buying
assets, such as long-dated government bonds,
3. Third, a careful approach to financial debt securities issued by private borrowers and
innovation - Sophistication of financial foreign exchange. Another measure was the
systems is closely associated with financial temporary expansion of liquidity provision to
innovation. Financial innovation that is banks beyond the ‘normal’ level.
geared mainly to increase profits of the
financial industry, and is more and more These measures permit further monetary easing
removed from the main function of finance if the desired stabilization of prices and the
i.e. the channelling of savings to productive economy cannot be achieved through cutting
activities is not adding value to society. interest rates alone. Also, unconventional
measures can be justified by the central banks’
The most fundamental rationale for a central role as lender of last resort. Its role is of
bank to safeguard financial system stability is providing emergency funding for financial
that monetary and financial stability are institutions that are facing short-term liquidity
actually two sides of the same coin. Monetary bottlenecks. The aim of these unconventional
policy has significant implications for financial measures is to restore the functioning of market
stability; while on the other hand, financial forces as quickly as possible and ultimately to
stability is the most elemental pillar for restore market confidence in the financial
effective monetary policy. Therefore, system.
preserving financial stability for a central bank
is a core task as monetary policy and financial Vigorous response by central banks showed that
stability are interlinked. If monetary policy is zero interest rates on no account mean that
mismanaged, inflation may soar and have central banks have exhausted their set of
adverse impact on the performance of financial monetary policy instruments. Through
institutions and financial markets. quantitative and credit easing measures, the
central banks have effective instruments that can
This raises a number of questions about the be used to reduce risk premia, alleviate liquidity
future role of central banks. Can and should bottlenecks and prevent deflation. Moreover,
monetary policy be used to actively counter their role as lender of last resort has taken on a
the development of imbalances or financial new dimension. The central banks demonstrated
bubbles? Does it make sense to use monetary that they can fulfill this function to a previously
policy instruments for this? Will the new unforeseen extent. In short, they demonstrated
instruments used during the crisis also play a their ability to respond to monetary instability.
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Country
In
Focus:
Turkey
-­‐
Winning Team Comercio’12 (Mrinal Banerji, Monika Mane, Meet Buch, Satwik
Kabisatpathy) PGDM-IB (2011-13)
The Economy:
Introduction:
-­‐
It is the 16th largest economy in the world and
Established in 1923 after the collapse of the is popularly referred to as the BRIC country of
-­‐
Ottoman Empire, the Turkish Republic has Europe. After the major financial crisis in
encountered periods of instability and 2001, Ankara adopted fiscal solidarity reforms
-­‐
recurrent democratic power. Modern day in collaboration with the IMF. These went a
Turkey though, can boast of being an associate long way in strengthening the country’s
member of the European Union and macro-economic fundamentals and ushered in
undergoing major changes in order to an era of strong growth. It was growing at an
strengthen its democracy and integrate its average of more than 6% annually until 2008,
economy into a more global field. Turkey’s after which the global recession and tighter
geographical position offers an excellent base fiscal policy caused GDP to contract in 2009.
for economic activities throughout the region The inflation reduced to 6.9%, which was a 34
and is emerging as a focal point for politics year low and it also cut public sector debt to
and culture. Thus such increasingly attractive GDP ratio to fall below 50%. Its’ well
business environment presents the world with regulated financial markets and banking
many advantages and potential opportunities system weathered the global crisis
to businesses wishing to expand in this commendably and GDP growth rebounded to
country. a robust 7.3% in 2010, as exports returned to
normal levels after the recession. The economy
however continues to be burdened by high
current account deficit and often remains
dependent on volatile, short-term investment
to finance its trade deficit. The stock value of
FDI stood at $174 million at year end 2010,
but inflows have slowed owing to current
economic mess in Europe. Turkey’s high
current account deficit, uncertainty with
regards to policy making and fiscal imbalances
leave the economy vulnerable to destabilizing
shifts in investor confidence. Turkey’s
economy continues to be incrementally
developed by its industrial clusters and service
sectors but the agricultural sector accounts for
about 30% of the employment like any of the
developing countries. The last decade has seen
an aggressive privatization programme which
has capped state’s involvement in priority
industries like banking, transport and
communication. The expansion rate for the
industrial clusters has been higher than
developed countries like Britain and France.
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Thus this forward looking economy is About 98 percent of Turkey’s citizens are
certainly not going to go under the radar for Muslims, of whom about 80 to 85 percent
the next 30 years at least. The GDP per capita represent Sunnis of the Hannafi School and
(in terms of PPP) is 12,300 USD as per latest 15-20 percent of Shiite sects.
figures which is quite healthy and is expected
to rise. The education system in Turkey is governed
by a national system which was established in
The Political Climate: accordance with the Ataturk reforms after
1923. Every year it is estimated that 1.5
The major driver for this period of prosperity
million students graduate from Turkish high
in modern Turkey’s history is the
schools. There are around 167 universities in
unprecedented political stability that it has
Turkey. The system of education involves a
enjoyed since the Justice and Development
national examination after which graduates
(AK) party took over the reins in November
are assigned to universities according to their
2002. It has brought in with it a strong leader
performances.
who remains a popular public figure and
recently won the elections for the third straight Currency:
term. The Turkish Lira is the currency of Turkey
The charismatic and is subdivided in to 100 kurus which is the
leader, Mr. Turkish equivalent of paisa. In the last decade
Recep Tayyip or so the Turkish lira has stabilised in
Erdogan has comparison to the US dollar and the Euro. An
transformed average of 9 Lira per U.S dollar in the late
Turkey in this 1960s was replaced by 1.65 lira per U.S dollars
decade with a in late 2001. This represented a situation of an
plethora of average inflation of 38% per year. It was
financial reforms referred to as a matter of national shame by
and governance Prime Minister Erdogan. Thus it led to a slew
measures which of measures which have radically changed the
Lira’s fortunes. Like the Brazilian real it has
have propelled
the economy on emerged as one of the strongest currencies in
an impressive growth path. Thus this climate the modern financial structure. The strong
of political stability has gone a long way in currency has been one of the drivers of a
ensuring Turkey’s glorious present continues burgeoning middle class population with a
into the future. large consumption demand. The Turkish Lira
exchange rate depreciated 1.95 percent against
The Culture: the US dollar last month. The last 12 months
the lira has depreciated almost 14% against the
The official language, Turkish is spoken by dollar.
90% of the population. Minority languages
include Kurdish (6%), followed by Arabic Ease of Doing Business in Turkey:
(1.2%). Islam is the religion of the majority of The World Bank and the International finance
the Turks and the state is a very secular one. corporation rank Turkey as the number 71 in
Most citizens now identify themselves as in the ease of doing business out of the 183
Turks regardless of their ethnic origins. The countries sampled. The R & D and innovation
major non-ethnic groups include- the Kurds in law passed by the government which entitles
the south-east, the Arabs in the South, the Laz you to certain tax breaks on investing in R &
of the Western Black sea coast and the D is one of many measures that allow a
Georgians in the North-east and Northwest business
to
grow
further
as
you
invest
in
high
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end technology. Thus the government policy. The trade volume is expected to grow
understands the need of the hour to invest in to 20 billion dollars in the next five years. Both
technology and a low corporate income tax the countries are mulling on signing an FTA
allows businesses to operate with high profit which will move towards increasing bilateral
margins. Moreover ease of repatriation of trade and co-operation. Indian companies like
profits to the home country also makes Turkey TATA and Mahindra have been operating in
a very viable proposition for doing business. It Turkey for a fair amount of time. The TATAs
is much ahead of the BRIC countries in the have gone for the licensing route like many
Ease of doing business index and thus it gives other foreign car majors while M&M has gone
a pre-cursor of how the corporate world views for a JV with the ILCE group. Its association
the former Ottoman behemoth. There is with the EU customs union would thus
considerable ease in certain micro factors provide India with better trade opportunities in
related to setting up a business like getting the EU region as well.
construction permits, getting electricity,
registering property, getting credit, protecting The Road Ahead:
investors, trading across borders and enforcing
contracts. It has provided foreign firms within The demographic phenomenon is very similar
the technology sector with land and tax to what we find in Brazil today. By 2050
benefits and incentives. TDZ, IZ and FEZ are Turkey would have a consumer market of a
being set up like SEZs in China and India to 100 million people which makes it a very
promote exports and give a boost to the attractive investment hub for MNEs.
economy. The challenges though are to address some
barriers in its development structure. It has the
Indo-Turkish Relations: second highest unemployment rate in Europe
Indo-Turkish relations date back to 1948. The after Spain. The other issue is to invest in
trade relations between Turkey and India are education. Only 13% of the population has
very strong and India sees Turkey as a major higher education which is a worrisome figure.
trading partner. Moreover the bilateral trade The tolerable level of social development is
between the two countries is 7.6 billion dollars. critics’ argument for delaying succession to the
India and Turkey have both had a rich and EU. Thus it needs to look at its HDI indicators
diverse historical connection. Turkey has to further fuel its democracy to newer heights.
stressed on having stronger ties with India Therefore just like the BRIC countries it needs
China and other rising Asian powers as part of to look at its people as drivers of its prosperity
the diversification of its economic and foreign in the new millennium.
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Alumni
Speak:
Jyoti
Anand
-­‐
Gurpreet
Kaur
PGDM-­‐IB
(2011-­‐13)
2. Over the last 2 years, how have you
Jyoti Anand, alumnus leveraged your learning pertaining to IB? In
of SIMSR, 2008-10, what ways has PGDM-IB programme helped
batch, PGDM- you to rise up the corporate ladder in the last
International 2 years?
Business, is currently
working as a In today’s global business environment, any
Customer Supply company faces global competition in the
Chain Analyst at market place. The overall exposure to IB helps
CHEP. He has also worked as Operation & you understand the mindset of international
Maintenance Associate with Tata Steel. companies working in different geographies &
Jyoti is one of the founder members of the conditions. This also gives me an advantage of
International Business Society and also the understanding cross-cultural factors while
class representative of IB batch, 2010. dealing with internal & external customers.
One can not only get comfortable in any
company quickly, but can start contributing
Interview: effectively as per company’s vision and
policies. Two years is comparatively very
1. What were your expectations when you small time to talk about the leverages taken out
joined PGDM-IB, SIMSR in 2008? Which of of the IB programme.
those expectations, you think, have been
fulfilled in these 2 years? 3. Looking back, what do you feel (skills,
capabilities, subjects), you should have
Expectations were many. Few of them can be focused on while you were a student at
described as: SIMSR-PGDM-IB?
-­‐ To understand the basics of business Statistical tools, MS office are some basic tools
administration and general management
to get the mastery in. International trade,
practices in global business environment.
-­‐ To understand the impact of cultural & marketing & operations could have been more
socio-economic factors on business effective with live cases & projects.
environment
-­‐ Get the exposure to a mixed profile people, 4. What would you suggest for the current
where cross functional learning gives us an PGDM-IB batch (2010-12, 2011-13) to
advantage of understanding various improve their long term career prospects?
situations in different business conditions.
This knowledge and experience can be
leveraged in future career path of senior Just after graduating from the college, it is very
management or at best in entrepreneurship. important to know where you want to move in
Certainly in these two years, understanding the long term. While getting a right profile
about business functions, their importance and gives a perfect start to your career, you must
roles in organization has increased a lot. also note that getting a handsome salary
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without good learning might get counted in I believe the inclusion of some live case-studies
those years of experience that went in vain and or recently winning B-plan can be more
may affect negatively. Therefore selection of refreshing and worth reading for all the
your aim in life and choosing the right path to students and alumni.
achieve your goal is very important. Getting
experience across various functions may give 7. Being one of the founder members of IBS,
you good confidence both for entrepreneurship what additional initiatives you suggest for
or senior management positions in long term International Business Society?
prospect. Cultural changes based on
geographical variation could be a good IBS team should now go one step ahead of all
learning, both for national as well as in terms of bringing in eminent guest speakers
international business understanding. from across the industries and verticals on
regular basis. Seminars on international topics
5. What do you feel should be the can be arranged frequently with the help of
capabilities and skills, PGDM-IB students respected lecturers. This gives IB course an
should develop while at SIMSR? opportunity to showcase itself across industries
and get more relevant job offers in future.
Apart from regular curriculum, participation
in various B-school competitions should be 8. Would you like to suggest some initiatives
increased. There should be a regular watch for the Alumni Committee /Imprints?
and news spreading from respective
specializations in order to make sure the Alumni Committee can have an “Active Cell”,
participation of students in good competitions. which can work exclusively with esteemed
Further, live projects can be a very good add- alumni to maintain healthy relations and get
on for students to learn and contribute to any quality projects/summers/placements for
company. This can also create a chance to deserving candidates. Highlights of Imprints
showcase the students’ abilities and may can be put in mail, covering the success
convert in job offers. story/Award wins by SIMSR students in
recent competitions. This can allure alumni
6. What changes would you like to see in the towards reading it fully and may bring their
content and format of e-globuzZ? attention to their contribution in it.
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IBS
Interactions
Financing entrepreneurial ventures by Colin Bottomley: An hour and a
half discussion with sir was really an insightful one where we learnt about
the sources of funds for an entrepreneur and how they go about in the
struggle in setting up their own “ventures-a physical manifestation of their
dreams”. He started with a small group activity wherein we had to list
down our (students) revenue structure and expenditure pattern. This way
we were enlightened by the fact that-if managing daily transactions is so
difficult for a human being then the scale and complexity of business
transactions an entrepreneur deals in is unimaginable! This way he threw
open the discussion and told us about the various funding agencies for an
entrepreneur to name a few were-angel investors, venture capitalists, bank overdraft, and last but not
the least friends and families. We not only learnt the literal definitions of the same but also about some
nitty-gritty involved in the inception of ventures.
HELM Interaction: Two delegates from a global MNE Helm AG, Mr.Daniel Wilhoeff and Mr.Axel
Thomas Viering along with Mr. Samir Somaiya graced the afternoon and made the IBS interaction
session a memorable one! The team started with a fine
group activity involving not only the students (SIMSR
and other colleges of Somaiya campus) but present
faculty and Mr Samir Somaiya too. The latter half of
the discussion involved understanding Germans work
culture, the role of Indians in their firm and what is
their perspective on “Global India and its Resurging
economy”. All this was followed by a quick rap- up
question-answer session where the intrigued audience
asked relevant questions pertaining to international
Business and in return got extremely satisfying
answers. A lot of practical learning and cross
polarizations of ideas took place and students had a lot
in their palette to discuss and take away before they left
the room!
Cultural Awareness Session on Spain: On 23rd Jan, IBS@SIMSR
arranged an interaction with Dr. Myriam Guerra Balic, MD PhD
from Ramon Llull University in Barcelona. She was accompanied by
Ms. Andrea Granell Querol. They made an interactive presentation
on Spain highlighting its history, culture including the dances and
foods, levels of economic development in various sectors and
achievements in sports, arts etc. They also dwelt on the possibilities
for cooperation between Ramon Llull University and SIMSR. The
visitors were immensely impressed with our campus and the students
as well.
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CHEP India Interaction
We had the president of CHEP India, Pranil
Vadgama to interact with us. He has been heading the
Indian operations for the last three years of which he
spoke about in detail. He was very candid in telling us
about his experiences with Indian clients and how he
managed to expand his pallet and logistics business in
such a short span of time. Mr. Vadgama has also been
part of GE, Europe division and he elaborated on the
work culture at GE. The insights provided by him were
of immense value and definitely complemented our
classroom learning with what he had to share with the
students. He was accompanied by our alumnus Jyoti
Anand of the 2008-2010 batch, who is currently a
Customer Supply Chain analyst at CHEP India.
Asian Paints
Tom Thomas, General Manager
International Business Division at Asian
Paints addressed the students of PGDM-IB
on the strategies adopted by Asian Paints in
the past to expand their business in APAC
and other European countries. He gave
interesting anecdotes on his experiences at
Asian Paints while dealing with foreign
business associates. He related theoretical
concepts with real time practical situations,
which helped the students, get a holistic view
of international business as a profession. It
was indeed a great learning experience for us
and was a reassurance that the learning in
the classroom is applied in the real world.
Mr. Thomas also invited queries from the
students and explained at length quenching
the curiosity of the students pertaining to the current international business scenario.
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Alumni
Interactions
Interaction 1.
Our alumnus, Mr. Mihir Deshpande who is currently the assistant manager
for Business Development and New Product planning at Johnson & Johnson
was with us recently for an interaction with the IB class. He spoke to us about
his journey after graduating from SIMSR as an International Business
professional. Mr. Deshpande also gave us insights into the pharmaceutical
industry and in particular explained about J&J’s business in India. At the later
end, the session became highly interactive when students inquired the
prospects of international business as a profession and the current employment
scenario for the same. He answered all of them very patiently and his warmth
won everyone’s hearts.
Interaction 2: Co-hosted along with Alumni Committee
Key Speakers for the event:
Vipul Khosla,Research Manager at Australian Broadcasting Corporation, Melbourne, Australia
PGPIB (2002-04 Batch), SIMSR
Aarohi Vashishtha, Associate Director at IPE
Global, London, UK
Amruta Kulkarni, Manager -Client Relations at
Sodexo Svc India Pvt. Ltd, Mumbai, PGPIB
(2002-04 Batch), SIMSR
Mr. Vipul Khosla and his colleagues were in the
SIMSR campus on 24th February, 2012. Prof.
C.P. Joshi coordinated our interaction with the 2
PGPIB alumni and an esteemed guest from
London.
Vipul shared his personal experiences and
learning in SIMSR very candidly. During his
SIMSR tenure, he had his summer internship at
EXIM bank and got placed with an advertising
firm later. He found that ‘media’ and ‘developmental work’ were his core interest areas. His calling
was ‘child educational development’ and Media literacy. He completed his Master’s programme in this
domain at London School of Economics (LSC) after which he worked with BBC, London.
Vipul is currently working with ABC, Australia, in the Research Management division. He showcased
to the students one of his online live projects for UN. Vipul explained how IB programme at SIMSR
acted as a launch pad for him and his International career progression in a great way. He told the
audience, the importance of voluntarily going out and trying different activities, exploring and getting
new ideas for personal development. He also talked about the attitude and motivational differences
between students at Indian institutes vis-à-vis the foreign institutes.
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