Selfie Obsession based Sales Strategy

While I teach Sales in classes, never in my wildest dreams had I thought that companies would move on from SPIN and FAB selling techniques to a “Selfie Opportunity” selling strategy. I read about it today and felt the need to do some research on how companies are enticing their TG, the Millennials, and the - loaded with cash - Generation Z into stores to shop.

Selfie: How did this become a verb / noun?

In 1839, Robert Cornelius was the first person ever to click his own self. Since photography was a slow process, he had enough time between when he uncovered the lens, ran into pic position and then ran back again to cover the lens. In 1914, Grand Duchess Anastasis Nikolaevna of Russia at the age of 13 was the first teenager ever to take her own picture using a mirror.

Oxford Dictionary defines Selfie as “a photograph that one has taken of oneself, typically one taken with a smartphone or webcam and shared via social media”. Its typically a term that got the status of an Oxford word in early 2000s and the title of “word of the year” in 2013.

Obsession with Selfie

Everyone is taking selfies now? And why is that? Many may call it fun, many however also call it a mental disorder. As someone said, “If Selfie were a pond, a large portion of the population would have already drowned!”

Obsession can be of varying degrees, with one extreme being the narcissistic level of a selfie a day, and the other extreme being losing weight and getting cosmetic surgeries done to look selfie perfect. This has led to an understanding amongst psychiatrists and marketers that there’s a huge connection between taking selfies and earning self-respect. People love to live in a world of illusion, and selfies help them reach the gates of that delusional world. While it’s a worrying trend, marketers have recently started using “Selfie Moments” for attracting people to shop, by creating selfie-friendly zones.

The story of Mall and Selfies

About a year ago, Rajneesh Mahajan, executive director of Inorbit Mall observed, the craze amongst mall visitors of clicking selfies with a Heart-shaped bonsai (Economic Times, dated 19^th Dec 2016). He realized that anything quirky attracts youngsters to click selfies at an innovative selfie spot. Most mall managers have gone ahead and set up such selfie spots, which are innovative and draw audience to the mall for a click. I noticed one such spot in Ambience Mall on the 4^th floor where a huge dinosaur has been placed, and people are busy clicking selfies with that grotesque creature.

Will this lead to an increase in footfalls in malls and inside stores? A question store managers are not even hazarding an answer to! According to selfies posted on Instagram and Facebook, Select CityWalk in New Delhi is one of the most “Checked-in” places online. Yet brands are unsure of the upswings of such a trend.

Well neither are we. And as many say, Selfies is a fad that may soon outlast it’s day under the sun.

By:

Monica Mor,

Sr. Faculty, INLEAD

‘The Ray of Hope’ turns 70

The United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) is celebrating its 70 years of presence around the world, this week. UNICEF was created by the United Nations General Assembly on 11 December 1946, to provide emergency food and healthcare to children in countries that had been devastated by World War II. Since its founding, the organization has been instrumental in improving children’s lives across 190 countries of the world. 

Living by its motto – “For every child, a fair chance”, UNICEF promotes the rights and well-being of every child, in everything they do. Together with their partners, it operates in 190 countries and territories to translate that commitment into practical action, focusing special effort on reaching the most vulnerable and excluded children, to the benefit of all children, everywhere.

In all of its work, taking a life cycle based approach; UNICEF recognizes the importance of early childhood development and adolescence. Its programmes focus on the most underprivileged children, including those living in fragile circumstances, those with disabilities, those who are affected by rapid urbanization and those affected by environmental degradation. UNICEF was created with a distinct purpose in mind: to work to overcome the obstacles that poverty, violence, disease and discrimination placed in a child’s path. 

While natural disasters, armed conflict and the silent emergency of famine and disease continue to affect children worldwide – particularly those already burdened by poverty and disadvantage, since its founding, UNICEF has never stopped responding to such crises. By breaking down the barriers between urgent humanitarian action and sustainable development work, UNICEF’s aim is to strengthen systems that provide critical services to children and families before, during and long after the onset of crises. With this support, communities can be better prepared for emergencies and more resilient when disasters strike.

In 2014 alone, UNICEF responded to 300 emergency situations in 98 countries. Among them were three major humanitarian crises in different parts of the world: In Southeast Asia, Typhoon Haiyan put millions of children at risk of waterborne diseases and other threats; in West Africa, the Ebola crisis took a heavy toll and prevented 5 million children from attending school; and in the Syrian Arab Republic, a brutal conflict broke out, forcing families into flight in a harrowing pattern that continues today. 

The following infographic explains the success story of UNICEF from 1946-2016 (source: www.unicef.org):

By:

Mr. Sumit Chakravarty,

Faculty, INLEAD

IoT- Revolutionizing Indian Healthcare

Imagine a scenario where your wearable healthcare device detects an asynchronous heart beat which is immediately signalled as an alarming sign to your physician who in further with EICU immediately starts with preventive measures. It results in a life being saved with minimal time loss. This is what IoT and its importance is. 

‘Internet of Things’ means that consumers now have the power to take control of their own health in a highly personalized manner.

Everyone loves the Internet. In today’s scenario, we are more digitally connected than physically connected. World is getting smaller day by day and healthcare has changed in a big way from hospital care to physician’s care to care of patient at home.It has become more customer centric. As familiar surroundings has a positive outcome and facilitate healing of the person,more of the hospitals are providing the domiciliary care to the patients. IoT focusses on streamlining of healthcare delivery with better outcomes and increased efficiency which further help in making healthcare more affordable. It is the network of physical objects that are connected to the internet allowing them to send, receive and exchange data.

Internet of Things can help in equipping medics with cloud-based tools that allow them to ‘consult’ with patients who aren’t even in the same room, or even the same city.

Indian Healthcare though have progressed a lot since last decade but still we are lagging behind. As its said that health of country is measured by the health status of citizens, India with GDP of 4 percent still is lagging behind BRIC nations. Additional requirement of 1.8 million beds and 1.54 million doctors is still an understatement. Health for all which talks about universal access to all the citizens is still a promise which is getting difficult to be fulfilled and achieved. IoT can be an answer to capture real time information, collate it, analyse it and then share it with the stakeholders to create a connected environment.

India has a huge potential though to overcome all these challenges. IoT have a huge impact on Chronic disease management,Remote Clinical Monitoring and Assisted living. As healthcare focus is changing more from curative to preventive and promotive aspect, IoT with the help of wearable technology can be an answer for providing the same.

IoT can help India achieve a paradigm shift and revolutionize Indian Healthcare. Consumers, patients and those working in medical professions will all need to alter their mindsets to take full advantage of this revolution in healthcare and be provided with innovative methods to motivate a change in behavior. And so, it will be the companies who are able to offer cutting-edge, highly personalized solutions – that are both meaningful and trustworthy – who will become our new health mentors.

So, welcome to the next era of connectivity in Healthcare. 

By:

Mr. Anurag Bora

Student, INLEAD

The Flip by FlipKart & the Outburst by OLA

Do foreign companies not have the best interest for India and Indians? Should we look towards China for their style of economic growth?

Should we go back to the days of Protectionism? Do we really need support from government to do well or are we capable enough to handle all conflicts and volatility?

In India, while our constitution speaks of becoming a “Socialist” economy, it’s been a while we have been capitalistic in our approach towards business. The first step in this direction was when our Industrial Policy was revamped in 1985, followed by the LPG in 1991. Two and a half decades of working towards liberalizing and globalizing the economy, can it be unraveled by the demands of certain insecure home-grown organisations? I doubt it. And where has it been written or ever been observed that a company that’s protected performs the best? If that were the case, India would have become the best agricultural producer in the world and those working in our agrarian sector would have become the richest.

So what left Sachin and Bhavesh flustered?

Bhavish Agarwal, CEO and Founder, OLA Cabs and Sachin Bansal, Founder and CEO, Flipkart, came together at a recent Carnegie India Global technology Summit to make a nationalistic appeal and urged the Indian Government to design policies which will favour homegrown companies.

In the words of Ola Founder, “What’s happening in both our industries (is that) there is a narrative of innovation that non-Indian companies espouse but the real fight is on capital, not innovation. The markets are being distorted by capital”; 

In the words of Flipkart Founder, “What we need to do is what China did (15 years ago) and tell the world we need your capital, but we don’t need your companies”.

OLA and Flipkart are the harbingers of new generation business, which has propelled the FDI inflow in India, most of which is in the e-commerce industry. The two companies have been growing on the basis of funds that have been pumped in by many multinational funding agencies and venture capitalists. Their business model has failed to bring in profits for their respective investors. Ola posted a loss of Rs 418.25 crore on a net revenue of 754.87 crore for 2014-15. Flipkart posted a loss of Rs 1,932 crore on an estimated net revenue of 1,200 crore for the same period.

VCs have started questioning the business model and stability of these companies. Frankly, the two companies are facing severe problems in logging faster growth rates because of the presence of Amazon and Uber. Traditional businesses often with a gestation period of 3 to 5 years are able to turnaround their business with profits and an IPO plan. Unfortunately these two companies are still unable to strengthen their foothold in their respective businesses. That has left them gasping for breath and crying out for protection. I think they know they will fail if they do not push the envelope! Predatory pricing has never really helped any company win the battle, and these two will have to come up with a better strategy.

Let’s hope that they pull up their socks and, just for the fact that they are Indian companies, they will be able to turnaround their business and chart a historic win atleast in India. They need to learn from a Patanjali which is beating MNCs in India hollow!

By: 

Ms. Monica Mor,

Sr. Faculty, INLEAD

La Liga Special Event Participation

La Liga the eponymous Spanish Football League, has set its base in India in New Delhi. They hosted their first Live Screening of Real Madrid vs Barcelona clubs in JLN Stadium. The event was marked by presence of huge screens, fan engagements, food and beverage stalls on the evening of 3^rd December, 2016. The event was managed by DNA Networks, and our students were invited to be volunteers at their various stalls.

“Students got an amazing experience of crowd management, brand activation & artist management. They even got to work at the ticketing counter, which quite a challenging work," said Ms. Sakshi Vig, Faculty, INLEAD. 

At the venue there was a huge set- up of stage, activity area, VVIP zone, ticketing centre, food stalls and many more. DNA team people picked randomly from amongst the students & assigned them different duties around 12:00 PM. Some were sent to manage the electricity set up, some for masking and some to manage the food court, the VVIP zone and Logistics. Students while volunteering got to learn some new technical terminologies like Masking, Mojo ,Knop etc Those incharge of food court were busy setting up food stalls, others got to do ticketing at the cash counter and some were working on the stage.

One of the students was made in charge of the store room in the stadium and was asked to work on the logistics of thousands of glasses and other stuff, from store to venue. A  team of 20 volunteers was assigned to him for this extremely critical task. It was around 6:30 PM when Viewers started to enter the stadium and that’s when majority of INLEADers got to work, maximum on the cash counter and the coupon counter where it was rather challenging to handle thousands of people. 

The event ended around 10:30 PM and post which there was tallying done, cash was counted, venue cleaned and a very long day came to a closure. La Liga brought the big screen viewing of an El Classico match to India in a big way, and INLEADERs got the opportunity to be a part of it.

INNOVATIVE REWARD INITIATIVE – The Fulcrum Awards 2016

What is Fulcrum Awards 2016?

Fulcrum Awards 2016 is an initiative by Deepak Choudhary, Founder and Director, Event Capital. It was founded with a motive to acknowledge and honor the work of Individuals and teams churning out Award winning campaigns and forms a strong basis and acts as a strong back for the professional community.

It is an innovative way of awarding excellence in the public relations fraternity in India. Overwhelming and Proud Founder Deepak Choudhary, said, “It is a great privilege to organise the inaugural edition of Fulcrum Awards, where we have recognised excellence in the ever growing Public Relations business in the country. It is heartening to see a great response from the professionals to be a part of the Awards from year one itself. I would like to take this opportunity to congratulate all the winners and give my best wishes to those who entered the awards this year. I, along with Ben Smith from PR Moment India, look forward to hosting all communication professionals at the Fulcrum Awards 2017, which will be hosted at Praxis 2017.”

This is the first year of Fulcrum Awards, It got approx. 400 entries from over 70 Organisations. On 24^th  September a gala Evening at Aamby Valley was held at Lonavla to announce the Winners. Winners were from across different organisations like Fevicol brand owner, Pidilite Industries for bringing dignity into the lives of carpentars, and FlipKart for its Big Billion day 2015 campaign.

The jury comprised of 17 esteemed communication Leaders, chaired by Sunil Gautam and Founder, Pitchfork Partners.

Major Categories are:

The Fulcrum Awards 2016 is an effort to recognise and applaud individuals and teams who work on award winning campaigns and are the backbone of the professional community. The first year kicks off with 38 categories divided under four sub heads with an objective to recognise both individuals and team contribution. 

The categories are:

Technique Awards: There are 12 sub categories under the technique awards that will be judged for outstanding campaigns

Consultancy Professional Awards: There are 10 individual categories that will honour professionals from PR consultancies

In-house professional: There are 10 individual categories that acknowledge the stars from corporate communication world

Special awards: These will honour five outstanding entities.  An Initiative to honour  men and women who are pivotal to a campaign and are the backbone of the professional community. The Awards system aim  to create a sense of pride among all those who submit entries.

The Public Relations Consultant Association of India (PRCAI) and Public Relations Council of India (PRCI) are the Association partners for The Fulcrum Awards. Ben Smith, Managing Director, PRmoment.com added, “The Indian PR community has shown the world that it has the intelligence and the skills to help brands communicate more effectively!”

The Fulcrum Awards nights received a huge participation of 500 professionals from the communication business, themed on honoring excellence in the profession. The Fulcrum Awards kicked off at Praxis 2016 with the announcement of The Lifetime Achievement Award, which was bestowed upon Irfan Khan, a veteran Public Relations professional. Over 30 other organizations were honored including wordswork, Avian Media, Adfactors, Value 360 Communications and more.

Such awards serve as huge motivators to companies & the ideators whose blood, toil & sweat, does get recognised. We are now eagerly awaiting Fulcrum 2017.

By:

Ms. Sakshi Vig
Faculty, INLEAD

Holistic Life Skills by Mr. Mehernosh Bazyn Dittia

A recently organised workshop on Holistic Life Skills by Mr. Mehernosh Bazyn Dittia, Founder & Director, Lighthouse Training, proved to be quite enlightening for the students. They were encouraged to introspect and mull about the bygones and understand the importance of non materialistic things. Students went through a cathartic experience and were able to appreciate life as it was and what it would be without the shades of grey. 

The session was highly appreciated by students who often struggle with multiple complexities that can lay them waste and leave them depressed. They were able to find happiness in little drops of joy.

Mr. Dittia encouraged everyone in the audience to look back into their lives and seek answers to everything that was bothering them. This encouraged all to see life from a new perspective. He spoke about the circle of life which consists of Circle of Concern & Circle of Influence. He narrated a Japanese story of Student and Master. He emphasized that no individual got what he deserved before time and life gives all what they deserve and not always what they desire.

Moral- Success invites arrogance and attitude, if not handled properly we will lose it. He encouraged all to be successful & vigilant, to explore their passions and interest, and to lead a life with feelings of satisfaction & achievements and devoid of arrogance. He also spoke about keeping a focused approach that needs to be adopted while selection of degree, job or friends. At the end, he summarized the steps for stress and time management as follows:

• Spend time in planning and organizing
• Set goals
• Prioritize
• Use a to do list
• Be flexible
• Convert your biological prime time
• Do the right thing right.
• Practice the art to intelligent ignorance
• Avoiding to be a perfectionist.
• Conquer procrastination.
• Learn to say No.
• Reward yourself.

Students felt extremely rejuvenated and refreshed after this session.

Happy Feet – Go on...Love your Walk!

I happened to be in Cyber Hub on a balmy Saturday afternoon, sipping a hot cuppa Starbucks’ cappuccino. One of those lovely moments when you wish time would stand still, when you could just look at the people walking by as if they are doing the catwalk performance for you; when you feel you have the right to observe all that’s around you and pass your irrefutable judgements. It was that Saturday when I couldn’t help but notice the many types of walks amongst the people walking by. By many types I am trying to imply that each individual has his or her own way of walking. 

Some walk with a swing, a spring in their steps. It seems like they are on a mission to save the world; like they need to be somewhere soon, and that soon has to be quite immediate; if you know what I mean! I love this category of people. 

Then there are those who have all the time in the world, they have a lazy walk, they walk like they have been walking all their life; slouched shoulders, hunch in their back and a glazed look in their eyes. Those are of course the type of walkers who don’t walk, they stroll. They believe that the world is on a display for them and that they are the designated nymphs from heaven above, who need to look around and nod their acceptance or smirk their condescension. This  category looks like they are bored with their lives and are using the walk as fillers in life, like we use uhs and ums as fillers when we speak. You need to actually ask them to excuse you while you walk.

I believe when you walk, it speaks volumes about you, about the aura that you carry with you and the personality that is uniquely yours. A walk defines you and sums up the energy that you possess. A drag–your-feet walk shows your nonchalant attitude and a peculiar disinterest in the person who’s walking with you. A swift walk shows the zest that you possess for living and the passion that you exude in all that you do. Dainty steps are elegant but time consuming. Thumping steps look sloppy and are of course noisy. A jogger, a sportsperson has a walk that’s very different from someone who avoids exercising. 

It’s all about the energy, about the zeal to live and the happiness that envelopes you when you do anything. If you check the world wide web, it will tell you there are 25 ways of walking and that the word “walk” originates from an old English word “wealcan”, which means to roll. But that your walk defines you is indisputable, so straighten up and walk like you can take the world in your stride.

Remember even “Happy Feet” won the Academy Award for Best Animated Feature.

By:

Ms. Monica Mor

Sr. Faculty, INLEAD

Try Staycation This Season

Considering travelling to a cold place, an icy mountain, a tropical resort, an island in the middle of nowhere for a holiday? This season, try STAYCATION. What’s that you ask? Read on and find out.  

Staycation also referred to as Holistay is a portmanteau of "stay" and "holiday". Simply stated, it is a time when a family or an individual stays at home sleeping in their own homes, but do indulge in leisure activities within driving distance. So is this a new trend; no not exactly, staycation had become popular during the recession times when families were forced to forego their holidays because of the economic crisis. It became popular during 2007 – 2010 during the financial crisis and in the UK in 2009 as a weak pound made overseas holidays significantly more expensive. The trend is catching up again similarly like another new trend that now is catching up is going back to the roots, where hotels are not actually selling luxury to lure the guests; it’s the rustic charm, which is attracting guests.

What has led to a marginal rise in this segment? So, when an individual or family actually goes for a vacation, there is a lot of planning that is cumbersome to many and also there are issues like unpredictable exchange rates, visa regulations and political instability that contribute to reluctance in travelling abroad. A personal observation is also that for many the reason for taking a break is …RELAXATION. But, how many of us do actually achieve this. In some cases we are busier than our normal working days. This however doesn’t lessen their itchy feet, and has led to an increase in “staycations” – which are vacations nearer to home. It is also a great way of exploring domestic tourism.

There is a misconstruction among many that travel is only valuable if you travel to other countries to see new cultures and foreign lands, but this is not true domestic travel can be just as much of a special experience as international travel. Domestic travel can be an enlightening and rejuvenating experience for those who cannot afford overseas travel.

So, what can one do to maximize a Staycation:

·         Visit a local museums

·         Arrange for a beach/pool party

·         Go biking

·         Catch up on a movie

·         See a play

·         Go shopping: women would love this while men would detest

·         Catch up on sleep, hammock sound really relaxing

·         Read a book

·         Explore on a leisure activity

·         Go to an adventure park

·         Take a mini cruise

·         Participate in environment conservation activites

·         Read a book

·         Indulge in wellness( Spa, Tai-Chi)

The trick is to deviate from daily routines and truly make it a vacation. Do things that you would do during a vacation, don’t do the regular household chores. Remember that though you are at home…but you are on a vacation. 

By:

Ms. Bindu Menon,

Sr. Faulty, INLEAD

The Global Citizen Festival: They came, they sang and they conquered!

When Coldplay’s lead singer, Chris Martin sang, “I call it Magic, when I’m with you”, the crowd of 80,000 broke into rapturing applause. Were they feeling the ‘magic’? Oh yes they were! That was what the Global Citizen Festival in Mumbai was about. Absolute magic!

What is the Global Citizen Festival?

It’s an annual music festival established in 2012 and has been organizing music concerts in New York, USA. Mumbai happened to be one other such lucky destination for the first time in 2016. There is however a philanthropic motive behind this unique music festival, whose curator is Chris Martin himself. It is actually organized by Global poverty Project, which aims to eradicate poverty by 2030.

In 2016, the focus has been on raising funds for rehabilitation of refugees across the world. The other causes include funding of education, water and sanitation. This year since the campaigning and propaganda commenced for Global Citizen Festival, a total of 1.3 million actions have been conducted form advertising to digital marketing, to YouTube videos (by even Michelle Obama) to raise awareness about the Festival. This resulted in announcements to the tune of $1.9 billion that should benefit 199 million people worldwide. (www.globalcitizen.org)

Celebration called Global Citizen Festival

In New York when the festival was organized on the 24^th of September, 2016, about 60,000 people attended it.  The celestial presence of renowned Hollywood artists, rock stars and politicians helped keep the crowd galvanized enough to feel joyful about their contributions. There were electric performances by Demi Lovato, Rihanna, Coldplay, Major Lazer, Elle Goulding, Usher, Metallica and Kendrick Lamar. These performances were interspersed by Priyanka Chopra coming on stage and announcing her support for festival partner, Google’s campaign “Made with Code”, which encourages girls to study computer programming, and by Nancy Pelosi, Democratic House Leader, USA who came on stage to promote the importance of voting, as US elections then were round the corner.

In Mumbai, on the 19^th of November, 2016, the festival marked India’s presence on global citizen map, with a phenomenal turnout of little more than 80,000 people. The show marked the daylong event with performances by Farhan Akhtar, AR Rehman, Amitabh Bachchan, Sonakshi Sinha interspersed by appearances made by Shah Rukh Khan and East India Comedy who were talking about issues like open defacation. The highlight of the evening other than Coldplay’s performance was the video speech made by our Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who even quoted Nobel laureate, Bob Dylan. The best part about Global citizen Festival is that it’s streamed live, so you can enjoy while cuddled in front of your TV screens.

Celebrations that are cause related are the norm these days, and when the mission is eradication of one the biggest problems on this planet, that being poverty, then people shelling out Rs. 15,000 for a ticket, it all seems worth it!

By:

Ms. Monica Mor

Sr. Faculty, INLEAD

ACT OF CRUELTY

It is highly disheartening and disturbing to watch a news flash about a human who can sensibly think and act, however, defies not to do so, thus wilfully causing pain and suffering to those who can’t speak our language or think like us. Right now sitting in front of the idiot box, news of three people who mercilessly took charge to beat up a 4 year old stray dog came into light. They became so desensitized that they picked up a sharp edged weapon to pierce her eyes making her permanently blind, Was this type of inhuman treatment even required? Remembering the lines of Mahatma Gandhi “The greatness of a nation is judged by the way it treats its animals”, made my head stoop low in shame.

Over 24,000 cases of animal cruelty were filed in last three years by those who can’t stand like a mannequin while some are those who see, feel sorry for the animal but do not react over the issue which makes them equally accountable for the act of cruelty which is happening around them. People are sometimes unaware of the system of laws and regulations which are made for animals, but the truth to be told - the law made for conserving flora and fauna in India dates back to the 3rd century B.C. when King Ashoka banned killing and hunting of animals in his kingdom. For now the main laws/acts that prevail over this heinous crime are: The Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act, 1960 and the Wildlife Protection Act, 1972 which includes punishment of imprisonment and fine also. 

The Constitution of India declares the fundamental duties for every citizen to be compassionate towards all living creature. As an individual we should not only rely on NGO’s and other welfare organizations. One can monitor their areas and can also help in sterilizing process of stray dogs so they do not further increase their population. Stray dogs are scavengers so they rely on garbage which we human dump in our locality, sometimes it is harmful for them so one can feed them on their own, Adopting any stray dog might be a great idea else the least we can do to protect them is calling or transporting them to vets or animal welfare organizations when we hear or see animal abuse as many of the organization does not charge any fee for their service.  

We must understand that our origin was also from animals. Is it "HUMANS ABUSING ANIMALS OR ANIMALS ABUSING ANIMALS?” 

INLEADers @Fortis Memorial Research Institute, Gurgaon

Fortis Memorial Research Institute, Gurgaon is a 400 bedded multi-specialty hospital. The world-renowned hospital has around 55 specialty departments with a world class customer service to cater to many HNIs and foreign patients. INLEAD recently facilitated an Industry Visit to the hospital in order to provide its Jan’16 Batch Healthcare Administration students a deeper understanding about the working of a hospital and its various departments.

The visit gave a practical exposure to students, especially to those who haven’t worked in a hospital earlier. They were shown around all the different facilities in the hosoital like OPD, IPD, Emergency, Nuclear Medicine, Radiology, etc. The students also got an insight into the clock work activities that are performed to ensure smooth functioning of all facilities such that customers are not inconvenienced for even a small issue.

Post the campus tour, students were taken to the hospital auditorium where they had an interaction with the Medical Quality Head, HR Head and Talent and Development Head. Students got an insight into all these three major functions and were made aware about how opportunities are generated at Fortis. This will surely serve as a boon to students in the near future.

How some of our Currency become piece of paper overnight

The demonetization of INR 500 and INR 1000 Indian Currency Note has come as a surprise to everybody. Whatever change is going to happen, but, this is the first time in my life when I have sensed that a person who is living on his liabilities, honesty and morality is feeling safe in this country. “Honesty is the best policy”, the saying, in fact, is now making much sense for the Indians. But, this isn’t the only change, which made Narendra Modi’s mind to take such a huge step, there were a lot of factors that bound him to do this. So what was that? Why this decision came into effect so sudden? Is it for unaccounted money? If yes, then what kind of effect will be seen, if that black money will become white or get captured by the country’s central body institutions. So many questions are raised.

Despite possessing legal earnings, Indians (Mostly in rural areas) accumulate their makings either at their home or lend them to the nearby surroundings. Even in the 21st century, when the banking network has spread more or less in every small area, money lending, the oldest form of business, is still effective in many areas.

With these changes, people who have a lot of legally earned cash in their pocket or at home, will have to deposit it in the bank before the date proclaimed by the government (30-Dec-2016). As it is legally earned money, it will surely be deposited in the banks (with id proof) and this will let the banks house surplus amount.

Now, talking about black money basically found in large digits i.e. crore or more than it undoubtedly carry INR 500 and INR 1000 currency notes, acquired through unrecognized or illegal ways, has no option other than to be destroyed or to be deposited. But, for considering the second option, they have to disclose it as legal income and have to pay heavy tax on it. So, how they’ll make it possible with these legal boundaries.No matter, if they found a way to make their income legal or they just get frightened, they have to pull out all the money that is not under the account of Indian government. Later on, it will help to minimise the total currency circulation in the Indian economy. As the currency circulation will be reduced, the inflation rate will also become negative, it is known as deflation. Although, deflation leads to unemployment problem, it increases the internal value of money as well.

So, the bottom line is: The demonetization of INR 500 and INR 1000 currency notes is such a positive move for the Indian economy as well a good lesson to those who are playing with Indian taxation policy. 

By:

Priyanka Sinha

Student, INLEAD

Black is Out & White is In

“It don’t matter if you are black or white…” sang Michael Jackson in his eponymous song Black or White. India’s chant is diametrically opposite “It matters if its Black or White!”, and no it’s not a racist statement, it’s all about the money that many have realized has ceased to be legal tender since India’s 9/11 (9^th of November).

At the stroke of midnight, 8^th November 2016, the Prime Minister demonetised all Rs.500 and Rs.1000 currency notes, rendering them worthless paper. However to not irk the common man they have been provided with time to convert their currencies into Rs.100s or maybe the new Rs.500s or Rs.2000s.

The idea behind this Master stroke

Master stroke, that’s what it is! The idea behind all of this is to curb the black economy that has taken gargantuan proportions in India. A parallel black economy was the reason behind very few people filing tax returns in India. With a population of 121 odd crores, only about 3.9 crores file their IT returns. (Economic Times, dated 10.11.2016) Those are the ones the Government is targeting & those are the ones who will be adversely affected.

Money being deposited in different bank accounts will be monitored, and any large sum deposited would come under Income Tax net. There is no immunity scheme in place. There may be a spurt in foreign currency purchases, gold purchases; and the respective rates have risen due to speculative effect. People may turn religious and deposit their black money, of no use to them since they can’t declare it, in Dan Patras.

Drawbacks to this idea

There may be mushrooming of middlemen across India who for a 10% – 30% commission may offer to convert high denomination notes to smaller ones. The temples if benevolent enough, can convert the offered black money into smaller denominations. Money for temples is tax free, and they can go ahead and get their newly received cash donations converted in banks.

Micro Finance Institutions that deal largely in currencies while lending to or retrieving loans from farmers. They may have to hold off their work for a few days. The biggest setback was 1500 points fall in Sensex on the 9^th of November. By 10^th it had gone up by around 250 odd points.

Purchase of consumer goods & automobiles and fine dining will see a drop in the coming few days. Online shopping will see a decline, where Cash on Delivery is the most preferred mode of payment. But all of this will be short term, in the long run consumers and companies will get used to the new systems and mechanisms put in place by RBI.

What happens to the demonetized 500s & 1000s?

Well, if you have black money and cannot declare it or get it deposited in your bank account, you have to destroy them (don’t burn them, there’s enough pollution in the air already)! So what will RBI do with all the old notes?

They have to handle the truckloads of demonetized currency notes rather delicately. All money will be shredded minutely such that they cannot be reconstructed. They will then be passed through a humidifier to be converted into briquettes, which are then given to contractors who mostly use them for land filling. They may even use some briquettes for sale as souvenirs, or for artistic or commercial purposes, as is done by Federal Reserve in United States of America.

That’s the story of how Black has become White in India, and we will along with westerners be celebrating “Thanksgiving to our Govt”.

By: 

Monica Mor

Sr. Faculty, INLEAD

Does Fox get the Apple in India?

Will Apple make iPhones in India? That's one question in the minds of many Indians whilst Apple Inc.’s CEO - Tim Cook seems reluctant to make a commitment yet.

He might be contemplating about calling off the contract with one of its largest manufacturing partners, Foxconn Technology Group; the contract was signed to look at the possibility of making the iPhone in India in the next two to three years, according to two people with knowledge on the matter.

Move to make devices cheaper 

Local manufacturing would allow Apple to bring products to market quicker besides making them cheaper for Indian consumers and turning the country into an export hub, while adding that this would require creating an elaborate and complex supply chain too.

On his first visit to the country in May 2016,  Cook announced the setting up of an App development unit in Bengaluru and opened a development centre for Apple Maps in Hyderabad, with an investment of $25 million. Apple wants to expand its wholly owned stores in India, which Cook sees as an opportunity to win Indian customers by setting new service standards.

Need to boost sales in India

Apple badly needs to boost sales in the world's fastest-growing smartphone market at a time US and China are slowing down.

In recent years, Cook has repeatedly spoken of India being a market where Apple sees great potential. "India is fast-growing, but our base there is smaller," Cook told the Washington Post in an interview last month. One of the biggest drawbacks that has held India back is the inefficient cellular infrastructure.

Sales boost of iPhones in India

iPhone sales in India were up over 50% in fiscal 2016 compared to the prior year. Cook said India could be as big a market as China and would be crucial for the smartphone maker.

In a market research, it was found that Apple shipped a record 2.5 million iPhones in India from October 2015 to September 2016, up by 56% in a year, according to an estimate.

Make in India push for Foxconn

Foxconn Technology is expected to start the manufacturing operations in Maharashtra by 2018.
In the month of August, Foxconn Technology signed a $5-billion deal with the Maharashtra government to set up manufacturing operations in the state.

Maharashtra government has allotted two plots of 1,500 acres each, one in Pune and the other near Mumbai, for the company to set up its plant.

The company would also be taking 1,000 engineers from India to Taiwan University for a bridge course, to enhance their skills, so India is expecting chances of growth of job opportunity too.

Yet to find 'customers', Foxconn's Maharashtra debut awaited

Maharashtra government's much touted USD 5 billion MoU with the world's largest electronics contract manufacturer and iPhone maker Foxconn is yet to materialize as the Taiwanese giant has "yet to find customers" to start its production unit, a top bureaucrat said today.

Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis had announced that Foxconn will create direct employment for 50,000 people through the MoU.

Many challenges 

However, making phones locally would come with certain challenges. Compared with indigenous brands manufactured in India, Apple's plans would entail far higher investments, cutting edge technology required for making the high-end smartphones and a component ecosystem  that is currently far more developed in China.

While local brands operate at volumes running into millions, Apple would operate at multiple times that scale as it would look at catering to multiple countries from India, not just the local market.

With Apple's growing popularity in India, there's speculation that it may reduce the lag between launch and sales of the iPhone7 in India, having shortened it last year for the 6s model as well. What remains to be seen is how soon will this turn into a reality!

By:
Ms.Shalu Solanki
Faculty - INLEAD