Lucknow - the changing face

My home place- Lucknow, is not out of the race that has ubiquitously started all over the world, in the developing countries – a race to be at par with the global scenario. This is none but a very prominent effect of globalization, a policy which India adopted almost two decades back, opening its curtains to the world. By adopting this policy not only India made itself accessible to the world, but also opened for itself new horizons where it could soar high.

I originally am from a remoter town of Uttar Pradesh (U.P.), called Rampur. Not only have I seen changes in the more affluent cities of my state like Lucknow, but smaller towns also are setting up a pace to be at par with their higher counterparts. From this small town Rampur, I moved to Lucknow in the later half of 1992. Since then I have seen the metamorphosis of this lovely town known for its delectable way of speaking and unpronounced mannerism. Lucknow has been land of Nawab’s, who were known for their grandiloquent lifestyle. They had a queer sense of dressing themselves, and impeccable penchant for the best of Mughlai cuisine. This is what marks Lucknow till now, but the style has changed.

When I started my life at Lucknow, it was called ‘Babuo ka Shahar’ or the city of Government employees. It was called so because of it being the capital of U.P. and all the government offices being situated here. Most of the people found here used to be middle class people, who worked 9 to 5 and spent rest of the time with their families and enjoyed their easy going lives. This place was also devoid of any kind of industries, unlike the nearby city of Kanpur. So here people only had their modest salaries pronounced by the government, which was certainly not enough to live a lavish life. There was no demand hence there was no supply too. There were only two major markets – Hazratganj and Aminabad, where one could go and buy stuff. Hazratganj was a market preferred by the so called ‘elite’, which were none but same babus whose long span in the job had made them more well-to-do. Here also there was none a word like branded stuff. The so called good shops only were shops that had been running for ages and who used to cater the Nawabs, this legacy only made them a choice of the ‘elite’. This was also a place where one could go and just roam about, the slang for which was ‘Gunjing’. One could also tingle their taste buds with spicy chaat and golgappas, which the chatwaala used to serve himself.

The second major market Aminabad was one with shops of all standards. Here along with the better-off people, the commoners also had their share. Along with the pucca shops there were temporary roadside shops also which were flocked by burkha clad ladies, bargaining over prices. The specialty of Aminabad apart from the market was Prakash’s Falooda Kulfi and Tunde ka Kabab-Parantha – vestiges of the ever comestible Mughlai cuisine.

Lucknow is also known as the ‘City of Parks’, owing to the numerous gardens and parks present in the city, initially built by the Nawabs to elate their nobility. These parks used to be the heart of the city during summer evenings and winter afternoons. People used to come here with their kids, who were much more overwhelmed to be at theses place adorned with swings and various rides. The outsides of these parks were cluttered with vendors selling balloons, toys, edibles etc. The sight of people pulling their children away denying their demands was common.

Today the scene is very different. Now Lucknow is a different place, very different. This place inhabited by government officials started its ride once it was felt by the MNC’s. Since then the modest city hasn’t got time to look back. It has started moving very fast. With the intrusion of multi-nationals the previously okay salaries seemed to be nothing. Now people working in these companies though Lucknowites by heart had set up a head of a more global human. With the increasing levels of disposable income, things which were luxury in the past and territories of the elite seemed be vulnerable now. Demand for better products increased in the city, calling for words like branded products, which was the new territory of the still better off people. Now instead of traditional shops people found it more pleasing visiting showrooms and making purchases. The next step towards getting even modern was the starting of Malls and Multiplexes. The first malls to be built up were Wave and Sahara Ganj. The branded and showroom fever had now moved to the chronic Mall fever. With more and more multi nationals dropping in people have more money to spend and infrastructure companies more malls to build up. At this point Lucknow has five malls ready and working and few in the pipe.

All this though may glorify the city in some realms but it is losing upon its base, which is very torturing to ponder over. Gunjing is still the favorite pastime of the youth here but the destination now instead of the conventional Hazratganj is Sahara Ganj – the Mall. People here still like to savor Golgappas, but today it’s not served by hand, you have to help yourself. People now don’t stand on the roadside to have tea; there are better options like Barista and Café Coffee Day. Nike and Reebok seem to impress people more than their modest counterparts.

Hazratganj is still there with all its glory, what it has lost is its alacrity which used to form its part due to the younger generation hanging out here, now dispersed to the malls which seem to them as the epitomes of modernity and globalized India. Aminabad still hustles with all the people but it’s less resounding. Falooda Kulfi, what is that. Today we know only Kwality Walls and Baskin’ Robbins. The world famous Kabab-Parantha of Tunde has not lost its taste, people have lost their taste in it. A Chicken Mc. Grill appears to be more appeasing. Now no body would wait by a shop to have a Thandaii, Chip-chocolate shake can be more refreshing.

The city of parks still has all of them but in a degraded form. Nobody visits them now. How are the revenues going to be generated for the upkeep of these once prides of the city. Leave aside elders, children today are not interested to visit them. They now are a permanent home to gamblers and smackis. Children find themselves more comfortable in Mc Donalds getting clicked next to Ronald. The age old Imambaras, or the religious apexes of the city since the Nawabs, now stand alone just for some enthusiastic tourists and ailing archeologists.

This I believe is not the story of my city alone. In a traditionally profound country as of ours, globalization is taking more than giving us. I do not simply mean that it is bad for our country; on the contrary it is essential for our growth. If we are not at pace with the world we will be laggards. But just think, can we lose upon the our great past, our culture, our ways and manners which were brewed upon for centuries for the sake of this globalized world which is just seventeen year young to a country like India. Globalization means knowing others across the globe but not forgetting what we are. Globalization if kept up to the limit of transactions is more and enough; let us not let it touch our ways.


-fahad jameel

WAL-MART - in India

Wal – Mart

Everyday Low Prices and Everyday low Cost – That’s exactly what every consumer needs, and Indian consumer is no exception. This opportunity will be provided by the joint venture of Bharti Enterprises, a leading Indian cell phone operator, and Wal- Mart the world's No. 1 retailer, when it opens hundreds of Wal-Mart-branded superstores across India over the next five years, starting in 2007.
Across the globe, Wal-Mart is trying to establish a large scale retail network with an integrated supply chain that gives it huge clout with suppliers and the high degree of efficiency that results in low price for its customer. The role of Wal-Mart in this joint venture is to focus on back end supply chain management, giving Bharati access to proprietary know how in logistics and retail chain management for which Wal–Mart is known worldwide and hence, this combination of retailing’s 800 pound gorilla Wal-Mart with Bharti group is feared, admired and closely watched.
Certain trends that we have identified that could have a bearing on Wal-Mart operations in India are as follows:

1. Increase in the Double income families:
With the advent of rising disposable income, consumers desire to purchase a variety of products has increased. Wal-Mart being a retail giant will form close association with large number of suppliers, and provide wide range of products, thereby adequately fulfilling the rising needs.

2. Change in the consumer behavior:
Across the globe, the customer expectation is rising with every passing day, shopping is no longer a need fulfilling activity. Customers want a “Shopping Experience” which they previously ignored. People now a days, do Shopping for entertainment, and to get away from their busy lifestyle. Imagine a bunch of friends, wanting to do some essential purchases during weekends. They will definitely opt for a place that has front desk staff, which is helpful and a place where there is vibrancy and cheerful faces around. For this they will be ready to pay something extra for an overall experience to get away from the routine not break the head with a general store owner trying to bargain for a commodity priced a bit higher, which u will readily and happily pay in a retail outlet.

3. Increase in Nuclear Families:
Today, most families comprises of parents and two children. No longer are grandparents, brothers, maternal uncles etc. included as a part of a family. With the increase in the number of families, more purchases will be made. Wal-Mart can be highly benefited by this trend.

4. One shop stop:

Wal-Mart being a retail giant will have excellent ambience, good parking space, and global food and entertainment outlets within its premise.
In this fast paced world, time is precious. The offer of A-Z products under one roof will reduce time for shopping considerably. Working women will be tremendously helped by it. They need not hop around the market and spend hours for buying a product. Thus, apart from getting a variety of products under one roof, customers will enjoy the added value.

5. Desire to be treated unique/special:
Customer Service encompasses two major components: Visual Merchandizing and availability of the products at the right time. Wal-Mart’s (handling the back end operation) excellent value chain set up would ensure a constant availability of products all the time. Technologies like RFID (Radio Frequency Identification) for managing replenished stocks and inventory level, and the handheld billing machines will play a major role in increasing customer delight and satisfaction. Also, shopping at Wal-Mart will be a status enhancer.

6. Fascination for Global Branded Products:
Indians have always been attracted towards international products. They sense foreign goods as one that possess excellent quality. Wal-Mart can provide these brands at a much competitive price on account of the strong contacts with the suppliers around the world and excellent value chain activities which will give them a competitive advantage. Also, the influence of western culture is increasing by the day. This will lure more and more people to make certain purchases which they previously would not.

7. Health consciousness:
People are getting concerned about their health. They want to consume foods that are eco-friendly. Wal-Mart can make use of this trend and provide fresh organic fruits and vegetables to the consumers. Think of a person who lives away from the local market place. He would always desire to get fresh food which is not always feasible. But if fresh food is available in the nearby Wal-Mart stores and at a reasonable price the health conscious need can be fulfilled.

Environmental Factors

MARKET

The retailing market is one of the fastest growing markets in India. Currently the contribution of organized retail to the total retail market is just around 3%. There is a high potential in the retailing market which is totally untapped. There is not only high current demand but the sector is also expecting a big leap in the future. So in such an environment Wal-Mart will need to get a grasp of the market through the knowledge of Bharti. They will have to constantly track down the changes in the market and change their strategies according to the current market scenarios.

THE CONSUMER

Indian society is known for shaping its own benefits, values and norms that largely define its peoples taste, preferences and their expectations about the service offered by a company. This factor will affect Wal-Mart, which is a foreign player in retail industry, when it enters the Indian market. The taste and preferences of people are constantly changing. So the market here for any new firm is very slippery, including the very high timers like Wal-Mart. Very consummate knowledge can only help Wal-Mart pass through this tough test, in which the help of Bharti is very consequential.


The other major factor about the Indian consumer is the high diversity in all the fields. Whether it is religion or it is language India has a very high variety. This is also a factor which Wal-Mart will have to take into consideration. It cannot run the same strategy all over India and in all the sections of the society. The strategy that will work in North India may not work in South India; the schemes that would influence one fragment of the society may not do so to the other segments. Wal-Mart will have to concentrate on its strategies in different areas of the society to hold the market properly.


INDUSTRY AND COMPETETION

Information about the industry and the existing and potential competitors is very important for any new firm launching into a new sector. Though the retailing sector of India is very promising a tough competition can simply ruin all the efforts by Wal-Mart. So Wal-Mart will need to concentrate on all the aspects of retailing in which it can be run down by its competitors. Major competitor ‘Reliance Retail’ is now concentrating on enhancing its Supply Chain to give Wal-Mart a good competition on its low price strategy. The other aspect of retailing is the service part in which firms like RPG and Reliance can give Wal-Mart tough time on the block.

GOVERNMENT POLICIES

One of the main reasons for Wal-Mart creating a conglomerate with Bharti is the Government regulation that bans FDI in the retail sector. Any foreign firm cannot directly invest into the retail sector in India; it can operate only through a franchisee, so Wal-Mart cannot have a direct entry into the booming sector of organized retail in India. The way Wal-Mart has chosen is to invest in the supply chain at the back end of the whole operation. The government allows a foreign investment of up to 51% in the wholesale business, so this is the only way through which Wal-Mart can invest.


SUPPLIER RELATED FACTORS

Suppliers form another part of the proximate environment of any firm. They have their own bargaining power in the industry, through which they can influence the cost of inputs for the firm. Since Wal-Mart is firm totally concentrated on providing the lowest prices, its interactions with the producers and the suppliers would be quite critical to the firms’ success in the future. This is one area which will have to be taken care of very precisely to ensure the implementation of the strategy which has made Wal-Mart the biggest retailer of the world.

Thus looking at the trends and the environmental factors that can affect Wal-Mart‘s entry into the Indian market it is obvious that it is not going to be a cake walk .But looking at its past performance and emergence in countries like China, along with its incredible satellite based value chain activities which have always given it a strong competitive advantage it is possible for Wal-Mart to succeed. However this would not be possible without the local expertise of Bharti. Thus together this joint venture will certainly be a force to reckon with. Also it will change the face of the Indian retail market and the way the ever changing Indian consumer shops.

-fahad jameel

Overview of the Arvind Mills Pvt. Ltd.

General Overview of the Arvind Mills Pvt. Ltd.

The Textile Industry
The textile industry forms a very important part of the Indian economy. It was one of the earliest industries to come into existence. Textile production forms nearly 14% of the total industrial production and accounts for a 30% of the total exports and is the second largest employment generator after agriculture.
Talking about the competition being faced by Arvind Mills there are a total of 92 firms including Arvind Mills in this sector of textile manufacturing. Other major players in this sector are Cotton Corporation, Raymonds, Bombay Rayon etc.
The sector receives a total sale of 5717.73cr per year. The latest of this quarter shows a total sale of 960.97cr.

About the company
Arvind Mills ltd is a flagship enterprise of Lalbhai group and was incorporated in 1931 to manufacture cotton textile. It has been one of the leading players in manufacturing cotton products. The products included conventional suiting and shirting fabric till it moved to denim production in 1980. Currently Arvind Mills is the largest producer of denim fabric in the world.

The promoters
The chairperson and the promoter of the company is Mr. Arvind N. Lalbhai. He has been associated with the Company for over 60 years. He has been the Director since March 1974 and Managing Director since January 1975 till November 2002. The other permanent directors of the company are Mr. Sanjay S. Lalbhai(Managing Director) and Mr. Jayesh K. Shah(Director Finance). There are a total of 45 promoters of the company.
Total number of shares held by the promoters of the company is 71591251. They amount to a total of 34.19% of the total equity. The distribution of shares amongst the promoters was not available. Only info available was that 71319955(34.06%) shares are held by corporate bodies and only 271296(0.13%) shares are held by the individuals or the Hindu Undivided Family.

Products
Arvind Mills has registered its presence in the market with an array of local and international brands of readymade garments. It is one of the leading players in this sector of ready to wear clothing. The company in India has the right to market many international brands. Apart from that it also owns many popular Indian brands.

The list of the products sold by Arvind Mills Ltd in India is as follows –

International brands –
-Arrow
-Lee
-Flying machine
-Wrangler
-Nautica
-Jansport
-Kipling

Local brands –

-New port
-Ruggers
-Excalibre
-Ruf n tuf

Market share
The total sale which this sector gets is 5717.73cr. Out of the total yearly sales Arvind Mills has a sale of 68.35cr. The percentage market shared by the company is 1.19%.

Collaborations
Arvind Mills Ltd has a collaboration with West Point Stevens Inc. West Point Stevens is a U.S. based textile manufacturing company. The collaboration between this company and Arvind Mills is for the manufacture of Knitted fabric.

Recent news
Arvind Brands, the wholly-owned subsidiary of Arvind Mills has agreed to form a joint venture with VF Corporation of US for marketing the various brands owned by VF Corporation in India. In this joint venture coming into effect from September 01, 2006, Arvind Mills will hold 40% equity and VF Corporation will pay $ 33 million for the balance 60% equity in the new company. The new company formed will be called VF Arvind Brands. The existing business includes licenses from VF for Lee, Wrangler, Nautica, Jansport and Kipling brands. These brands currently held by Arvind Fashions will be transferred to this new company VF Arvind Brands.
The new company will be handling the designing, sourcing and marketing of the existing licensed brands and in the future may add a few more brands belonging to VF Corporation. The retailing and the stores infrastructure will continue to be held by Arvind. Darshan Mehta, currently President, Arvind Brands, will be CEO of the new company.

Details of listings
Arvind Mills is listed in the following stock exchanges –
-Ahmedabad
-Kolkata
-Luxemburg
-Bombay Stock Exchange
-National Stock Exchange

The BSE code for the company is 500101 and its BSE group is ‘A’. The NSE code for Arvind Mills is ‘ARVINDMILL’.

-fahad jameel

Analysis of the Nobel Prize winning macro-economic theory by Edmund S. Phelps

Analysis of the Nobel Prize winning macro-economic theory by Edmund S. Phelps.


The work of Phelps basically deals with unemployment in the economy. He tried to answer some of the basic macro-economic questions that were left unanswered by the classical macro-economists as Keynes. He tried to answer why involuntary unemployment is observed even in the best of times and why a drop of aggregate “effective demand” causes a rise of unemployment.

His award winning theory is called the ‘Intertemporal tradeoffs in macro-economics’. These tradeoffs are between the unemployment and the inflation present in the economy. He directly points out on the irrelevance of the Phillips curve which showed the relation between inflation and unemployment. The thoughts of Phelps on this topic are discussed here within.

Phelps says that low unemployment and low inflation are central goals of any stabilization policy. During the 1950s and 1960s the view of a stable tradeoff between inflation and unemployment was established in the form of called Phillips curve. According to this, the price for reduced unemployment was a one-time increase of the inflation rate. He challenged this view through a more fundamental analysis of the determination of wages and prices, taking into account problems of information in the economy. Individual agents have incomplete knowledge about the actions of others and must base their decisions on expectations. He formulated the hypothesis of the expectations-augmented Phillips curve, according to which inflation depends on both unemployment and inflation expectations.

According to Phelps, unemployment does not only depend on inflation it also depends on the expectation of unemployment. He showed that how low inflation today leads to expectation of low inflation in the future. So using this concept he had put forth a new type of Phillip curve called the expectations augmented Phillip curve. He recognized that inflation does not only depend on unemployment, but also on the expectations of firms and employees about price and wage increases. Phelps put together a new model to describe the relationship between inflation and unemployment, known as the expectations-augmented Phillips curve.
As a consequence, the long-run rate of unemployment is not affected by inflation but only determined by the functioning of the labor market. It follows that stabilization policy can only dampen short-term fluctuations in unemployment. Phelps showed how the possibilities of stabilization policy in the future depend on today's policy decisions: low inflation today leads to expectations of low inflation also in the future, thereby facilitating future policy making.

-fahad jameel

ANSOFF Matrix analysis of Amul

Ansoff matrix

The Ansoff matrix developed by Igor Ansoff is a very essential tool for strategic planning. It helps the firm to identify the firms’ growth using the intensification and diversification strategy, which aims at achieving growth through certain modifications in the firm’s existing business. According to Ansoff model four different strategies are possible. They are –

• Market penetration strategy
• Market development strategy
• Product development strategy
• Diversification

Market Penetration Strategy

This strategy involves achieving growth through existing products in existing market. Amul’s market penetration strategy involves its expanding its customer base in the existing market. Currently Amul is trying to expand its customer base through the following measures –

• Amul is set to build up 10,000 `Amul Parlours' across the country during the year. These stores will sell the entire product range of Amul products, in addition to the existing retail network for ice cream, milk and other products.
• It is trying to get more and more customers through a more intensive distribution. It is opening more stores at Highways, Railway stations, Airports, Bus stations, Schools, Colleges, and Industrial Canteens etc.
• It is trying to find place in various retail outlets, the latest story being Amul trying to acquire a shelf in the yet to come Wal-Mart.
• Opening small Amul-exclusive stores in each and every neighborhood to reach to the very near of the consumer.

Market Development Strategy

This strategy is concerned with creating business through developing new markets with existing products in hand. Amul is using this strategy to capture new and unexplored sectors without creating new products. What Amul is doing in this sense is as follows –
• Amul is now shifting its focus from urban to rural markets and smaller towns. In 2005 Amul added 900 new stores all across small towns to increase its reach.
• Amul is capturing the market of diabetic and health conscious people through sugar free ice-cream, which is a variation of an existing product.
• Amul will expand its fresh milk markets to Kanpur and Lucknow and other smaller towns this year, thereby increasing its market base for the existing products.

• Amul is also increasing its market base for milk through a new version – the Amul Tazaa. Tazaa is the long-life version of milk which has a longer shelf life as compared to normal fresh milk. This product is highly picking up in the domestic and export market.

Product Development Strategy

Product development deals with producing new products for the existing customer base. Amul has vastly capitalized on this strategy by constantly coming up with newer products. Let’s have a look at some of them –
• Amul-Cool (milk based cool drink) and Amul-Kool café – these are the products aimed at the youth of the country with synonymous marketing campaigns.
• It is coming up with a chain of pizza corners. This chain would consist of around 2000 stores all over India.
• Stamina – the instant energy whey based sport drink has been launched to provide its customers with a totally new product.
• Amul has recently launched a new variation of ice-cream, the sundae swirl to its existing base of ice-cream customers.
• Amul-Masti, the packaged buttermilk is aimed to be another non-carbonated cool drink in the Amul Cool range which is not only aimed at the youth but also at the more mature chunk of the society.

Diversification Strategy

Diversification is a very important part for any business organization. For the further growth opportunities of a company diversification is required. When a new product is launched into the new market diversification holds good and provides more growth opportunities in the future. Diversification is a high-risk strategy as it involves taking a step into a territory where the parameters are unknown to the company. Amul has identified the need to increase its presence in newer markets and thus have come up with many new such strategies for increasing its presence in the entire market.

There are different types of diversification process that any company can adopt they are as follows:

• Concentric Diversification Strategy
• Conglomerate Diversification Strategy
• Horizontal Diversification Strategy

Concentric Diversification Strategy: It is the development of new products by using the older technology directed for the benefits of newer segments. In this type of diversification Amul has identified a segment for the health conscious people and is introducing two pro-biotic ice cream ranges, Amul Sugarfree and Amul Profile and both of these products will be available in five different flavors this is apart from the various regular ice cream products that it offers. They have identified the working class women as a new segment and has introduced frozen easy to cook stuffed parathas, matar paneer and paneer pakoras which makes them easy to cook quality tasty food in less time.

Conglomerate Diversification Strategy: It is developing new products for the newer markets. Amul in this concern has come up with an idea of introducing an altogether new spots drink named "Stamina" which will be the first sports drink by an Indian company and it will be priced at only Rs 12 for 200ml which will be lower than its competitors whose price ranges around 60 to 75 Rs. In this they have also introduced the Amul Pizza in order to enter the pizza market. They have also come up with flavored milk and also flavored lassis to enter newer markets.

Horizontal Diversification Strategy: It is developing newer products with newer technologies for the old customers. In this concern Amul to provide something new to its older and loyal customers have come up with a facility whereby they could order the food through the internet and this was at a time when internet was heard by very few in India during 1996.

Thus we can say that Amul has come across a long way in diversification to provide something new to its customers and in this concern what Amul has to say is that the diversification has nothing to do with the increasing competition.

-fahad jameel

May this MBA be of some use to you guys...!!!!

hey guys...

posting after quite some long time.....bt this time its some gud news.....maybe atleast fr some.

this is my second post.....jus becoz i never knew what to write.....so i decided to throw all the crap that i make my professors read onto the net......so i am goin to post all the assesments and analysations i do as a part of my cirriculum....

maybe of some help to those who are in the same field.....but can also be interesting stuff for others to read along.....so starting with the Ansoff analysis of Amul.....u can gt other stuff also continuing from the next post...

happy blogging

-fahad jameel

hi this is fj

hey guys,

another person adding up to the world of bloggers and this is fj........or you can call me jammy or maybe call by my first name only.........fahad.

so guys and gals this is my first blog and hence will be wasted in telling bout myself.

hey i am an easy going guy.......you wont find any complications in me, and i love to be just me. i beleive that everybody is great in fact, inclucing me. and the only problem that causes the person to change and become bad is his low confidence in himself which makes him move at a path for which he is not made and thus ends up doing something not so good.

thats too much of philosophy............now let me tell you something bout my career and professional life.

i did my senior secondary with physics, chemistry and maths with the plans of becoming an engineer. but something i exactly dont know what changed my mood- actually it was a combination of various circumstances. then instead of becoming an engineer i went in for graduation in management sciences. during this course i came to know that this was the careeer made for me and hence planned to go on with an MBA.........which i am currently pursuing. i am in the first year of my MBA.

i am doing my MBA from the Amrita School of Business, Coimbatore. its a lovely business school surrounded by the best of natures creations and i am a residential student here.

this was quite some thing bout myself and would really like to know your reviews......though it is quite difficult giving reviews on some not so important person......but surely reading it is quite fun. and so you need to write something so that others can enjoy and others will write so that you can.

now fj signing off.

happy blogging

-fahad jameel