Month: September 2014

Group Discussions (GD)

Shabbir Chunawalla

This was an important step in the selection process. The FMCG major Hindustan Unilever still resort to this selection tool to save time. Some companies have entirely eliminated GDs. It is believed GDs are not the best tool to agrees the character and values in a person. Besides, GDS are a high cost exercise. GDs are certainly useful when choosing candidates where oral communication is important. Instead, candidates can be asked to write a note on either a customer, technical or business situation they have faced. GDs have worked in the past allowing recruiters to observe a larger pool of applicants within a short duration. The better alternatives now available are simulated games, role plays and even the theatre. They offer better opportunity to judge group interaction; initiative, creativity and problem solving skills.

Group discussions work well when organisations are hiring in volume. GDS are not the best option when the hiring is for niche skills. Some candidates take longer to open up. Some have limited ability to stand out in a crowd. That does not rule out their knowledge or skills. The organisation might lose a potential candidate with great subject matter expertise.

GDs may turn out to be impersonal if not managed sensitively. They may keep away potential candidates from applying in future.

GDs are good for junior level selection with a large number of applications. As you go up to more mid-levels and beyond, GDs are not employed.

  E-Retail Business Models

Shabbir Chunawalla

 

Open Market-Place ( OMP )  is a technology-based asset light model. It merely hosts sellers of new, and in small percentage, used goods and connects them to the buyers. E-bay has adopted this model. It does not handle logistics beyond alerting its partners in this space by an automatic process. When goods move from buyers to sellers, they do not pass through an e-bay warehouse. It is based on trust. It is suitable for a mature eco-system. It is It is merely a hosting platform.

Managed Market-Place (MMP )

It controls delivery and returns and does not deal in used goods. It helps to control customer experience and is more suitable for India. In this model, the e-retailer does not own the products but controls delivery, quality and returns.

Inventory-led Model

The e-retailer here owns the inventory and controls delivery and quality too.

Catwoman

Shabbir Chunawalla

Catwomen have appeared in movies, on TV and in comics for over past 70 years. The Catwoman persona is flexible. In essence, she is beautiful, wears tight costumes and she steals. She is a foil to Batman—the yang to Batman’s yin. Though she is a criminal, she is consequently Batman’s enemy. However, she is not villainous. She does not harass the innocents. She is a hedonist who believes the luxuries the rich enjoy could rightfully be enjoyed by her. The bat is a billionaire, and her crimes are occasions to flirt with him. Catwoman first appeared a year after Batman in a 1940 story drawn by Bob Kane and written by Bill Finger. Her first appearance was in’’ ‘Batman No.1 ‘. Between 1955 and 1965, she disappears as the comic code forbids glamorising criminals. Julie Newman in 1966 is the first TV Catwoman. Selina Kyle appears as jewel thief in 1985. She was a femme fatale to begin with. She becomes a mad babe in 1967. In 1987, she is the icy dominatrix.  In 1992 Tim Burton’s Batman Returns  was released. Michael Pfeifer plays Batman’s foil. In 1993 Selina starts Catwoman’s first series. In 2001, the second series reinvents her black-leather-clad, morally ambiguous champion of underworld. In 2004, Halle-Berry starred as Catwoman. In 2012, Catwoman’s third series explores the master thief’s troubled love life.

Sale of Music

Shabbir Chunawalla

The music on records was not easily replicable, and so its spread remained limited. It could be transported as a tangible disc from one place to another. Then came cassettes. It affected the market. These were soon replicable at low cost.Then came CD , DVD, MP3. All these finished the monopoly of music market. It spread widely through Internet. Music was a sign of creativity and talent. This was diluted. New market for music emerged. Steve Job’s created iTunes to globalise the music market. Piracy has adversely affected the music sales. Music market in 2005 was $ 20.7 billion. In 2011, it was reduced to $ 16.2 billion. It affected the spread of music, and the musicians too. There were no concerts without sponsorship. Music was available free on You Tube. The market prices crashed. Presentation of music in a concert—this was considered secondary. Talent was adversely affected. Music shops closed down. New talents were seeking stage shows. Download of music became possible. It has entered Indian market. The repertoire of Indian music on iTunes is limited. But there is a hope, that the market will expand. The iPods have given a new experience of listening to music.  iTunes buys music and sells it. It has disciplined the market.

Simulcasting a Programme

Shabbir Chunawalla

Simulcasting consists of showing a programme on different channels at the same time or running different seasons on different channels concurrently. Satyamev Jayate of Amir Khan was simulcast on Star Plus Network’s channels and DD. It is considered a trend setter. This helps broadcasters expand their audience base. Simulcasting is followed by sports channels for years. Ad rates are very low for simulcast properties. Simulcasting also fills the time slots with programmes as programme production does not keep pace with channel proliferation.

Vijaya Mehta

Shabbir Chunawalla

A very talented director who gave us plays such as Ajab Nyay Vartulacha, Hayvadan, Vada Chirebandi, Purush, Barrister, Hamidabaichi Kothi, Nagmandal  and Sandhyachhhaya. She has operated on both the parallel and professional stage.

Her father was the secretary to Anie Beasant of the Theosophical Society. She lost her father when she was six. They stayed at Bhivandi. Her uncle was varkari. She was reared by the family of  V.B. Karnick. He was a humanist. She was influenced by Rashtra Seva Dal and Bhausaheb Ranade. She was born in Mumbai.

Post-independence, the cultural rennaisance took roots in India. In her teens, she was influenced by Ganpatrao Bodas, Nanasaheb Phatak, Kestavrao Datey and Mama Pendse.

Al Kazi returned from England. He took a drama workshop at Bhulabhai Memorial Institute, Mumbai. Vijaya Mehta participated in it.

She chose Marathi theatre as per profession. She got the grounding in this from Al Kazi. They formed a Girgaon group. In that group, the members were Tendulkar, Vijaya and Madhav Vatave from theatre. Music was represented by Jitendra Abhisheki, Kishori Amonkar and Shobha Gurtu. Prafulla Dahanukar and Gaitonde represented art. All these people mingled. This led to an institution called Rangayan under the leadership of S.P.Bhagwat. Almost 1000 members each contributing Rs. 10 were enrolled for Rangayan.

Vijaya Mehta has a twelve year itch. She then becomes restless again. After Rangayan, she turned to professional theatre. She came across Peter Brook when he produced Mahabharat. They did Shakuntal together. She turned to tele-films without knowing the shot division. She learnt the ropes soon. She worked as an assistant to Shyam Benegal. She learnt film making and made Raosaheb, Pestonji and Lifeline. She worked as the Director, NCPA. She is optimistic about the future of theatre in India.

Raja Harishchandra : First Indian Film

Shabbir Chunawalla

Raja Harishchandra  was screened on April 21, 1913 at the Olympia Theatre in Mumbai for a select audience—it means the Indian feature films have entered their 100th year in April 2012. Dada Saheb Phalke was the first-Indian to make a feature film. Though Pundalik  was released a year earlier i.e. on 18th May, 1912 at The Coronation theatre, still the honour of being the first feature film goes to Raja Harishchandra  because Pundalik was photographed from a play. There is no evidence of an independent script and shot division at different places. There is also no evidence of editing.It too was an Indian film project, but its makers employed British cinematographers. As Phalke himself put it, Raja Harishchandra was fully ‘swadeshi’. It was later released commercially on May 3, 1913.

Price-Quality Relationship

Shabbir Chunawalla

Price may exert a non-conscious influence on expectations of product quality. These expectations affect the actual product performance. These expectations can be induced through advertising. Baba Shiv, University of Iowa ( Stanford ) and his colleagues Dan Ariely, Ziv Carmon did a fascinating study to examine this phenomenon. The findings were summarised by Akshay R. Rao, University of Minnesota. In the study, two groups were given a mental acuity enhancing drink—one costing $ 1.89 and the other $ 1.0. They were asked to solve the puzzles after consumption of the drink. The group which had consumed full-priced drink solved more puzzles than the group that received discounted price drink. The discounted price receiving group had less expectations about the efficacy of the drink as far as their problems solving ability is concerned. These lessened expectations sub-consciously and affected the actual product performance. It is a demonstration of price-quality effect. In many instances, psychology is more important than engineering in product design.

Sales Promotion Research

Shabbir Chunawalla

According to the research study done by Akshay R. Rao, Carlson School of Business, University of Minnesota, a consumer prefers a bonus extra quantity promotion of a product, rather than a price discount for the same quantity. A 100 gm  coffee pack with 80 p.c. extra quantity is preferable rather than a 100 gm coffee pack at a price discount of 30 p.c.. Essentially, this occurs because of the ‘base value neglect’ when dealing with percentages. Adding of percentages as if they are whole numbers is also erroneous. A store offering 20 per cent off Diwali sale and another 25 per cent off Diwali sweets is not offering a total discount of 45 per cent. If suppose the base value is 100, 20 p.c. off reduces the price to Rs. 80. Another 25 p.c. of the base of value of 80 is Rs. 20, reducing the price further to Rs. 60. It means overall discount of 40 percent.