RANN – Movie Review
“RANN” starred by Amitabh Bachchan carries a strong social message of “Responsible Journalism”. Cornerstone of the movie’s plot is the commercialization of Media Industry and thereby sensualisation of the information to improve TRP of news channel. The movie begins with visuals of news channels displaying sensitized information in the form of episodes like Yamraj, Sach ka Dhamaka etc
The movie is built around the misuse of media and news channels by politicians for their advantage which strikes a chord in me about the last the lecture of Corporate Social Responsibility in which our professor “Shobhna Vohra” screened a video about the misuse of Mass Communication by Bush during the election time for changing public opinion about Gulf War.
Amitabh is presented as a clean and influential journalist driven by ethics who believes in social responsibility attached with the news industry and hence does not adopt the common tactics used by other news channels to improve TRP of the channels. In contrast his son is the drive by the passion to improve the TRP of the channel. In pursuit of improving the TRP his son stoops to help the opposition party in overthrowing the incumbent Prime Minister by misuse of the channel.
The movie becomes a bit boring as visuals of the sensualised news episodes by news channels are presented multiple times in the movie. The story line becomes very much predictable post the interval. The movie also lacked the presence of songs and romance which could engross the audience. Also the last news presentation by Amitabh Bachchan in the movie is nearly a ten minute monologue and hence adds to the boredom. Overall, I offer a 2 rating of 5 star rating.
Special Edition “B-School Compendium” is really Special
Magazines like Business Today often come up with Special Editions featuring a specific topic. A recent special edition of Business Today named “B-School Compendium” raised questions on credibility of the source of information of these special editions and also pose question on the research work behind the articles presented in the edition. So can one call these editions really “special editions”? Some of the faulty work of the magazine are presented in the blog.
Article “Programs at NMIMS” in Page 63 by Bobonkanta Yumnan lists out programs at Narsee Monjee Institute of Management Studies (NMIMS) viz MBA Core, MBA Actuarial Science and MBA Pharmaceuticals. However, the author misses out other prominent regular MBA courses to which admissions are offered this year viz MBA Capital Markets and MBA Banking. The research work behind the article is questionable as the details of the courses which are missing in the article are a few clicks away if one is on Internet or is at the home page of NMIMS.
Similarly, the article on Jamnalal Bajaj Institue of Management Sciences (JBIMS) cites JBIMS accepting MAT scores which is contrary to what the official website for MAT (AIMA) says. The factual error presented in the article can be easily sighted by a B-School aspirant and readers associated with B-Schools who form the target audience of the special edition. Comment on factual error on JBIMS admission on Business Today’s webpage by Nikhil Daniel can be read hereComment By Nikhil.
“Sir, In the B School Compendium released by Business Today in this month, Jamnalal Bajaj Institue of Management Sciences is cited as one of the colleges accepting MAT scores which is contrary to what the official website for MAT (AIMA) says. Need a clarification for the same as such details could lead people to wrong conclusions. Regards, Nikhil Daniel”
It seems that target audience of these special editions need to cross check the facts and articles presented in the special edition and needs to be extra attentive while reading. Interestingly, these special editions are not special because they feature specific topics but because they require special attention of the readers.
Watch Out! We are MBA
As a reader, I do not have much flair for reading “Indian Authors” and consequentially my reading of “Indian Authors” has been very limited and hence the reason for me to pick the book “Watch Out! We are MBA” from the stands was that the author “Nishant Kaushik” of the book is an alumnus of my B-School NMIMS, Mumbai.
The novel can be easily categorized into stereotyped class of novels which present a plot constructed in college with friends being the protagonist of the plot. The novel in the discussion presents the protagonist of the novel Nakul’s MBA journey in the B-School campus. Nakul fails to cope with the hardships of the tiring MBA at NMIMS and turns to be directionless in the majority of his journey in the school lest the last few pages of the novel. Nakul’s stay in the B-School is presented to be heavily influenced by his peer group and social circle. The story revolves around this peer group of Nakul and its impact on his personal life and professional dynamics.
The author is definitely quick witted and possesses sense of humour. The presentation of the scene local trains of Mumbai coupled with a few other smaller anecdotes in the novel indicates the deftness in writing capabilities of the author. Usage of management lingos like division of labour, strategize etc in the novel is common among many B-School authors as is the case with Nishant.
Being more acquainted with writings of foreign authors, I had expected a greater description of scenes and characters in the novel. The novel is a fast read and does not offer the luxury to the reader to bask in the elaborate and lengthy descriptions of characters and scenes as presented by many renowned foreign authors.
The book will make a good connect with B-School alumni and present B-Schoolers. Summer Internship, CGPA’s role in placement season and tiring assignments/presentations should easily make connect with the readers associated with B-Schools. Book is also a recommend for B-School aspirants, which can offer insights into B-School life awaiting them in the future. Overall, I offer a 3 of 5 Stars Rating.
Happy Reading!!!
Tea off Candle’s heat – Craziest Stuff Tried by Me
History tells us about Birbal trying to cook rice (a khichdi) by suspending a pot from a tall tree branch and lighting a tiny fire much below on the ground. Me and my room partner nearly repeated history by making tea using a few candles when we ran out of LPG. Though initially it seemed impossible, the love of tea spurted the engineer’s instinct inside us to innovate and try out new ways. The only source of heat was candle and thereby came the idea of lighting up 6 candles to make tea. Watch out the video of making AN ENGINEER’S TEA and Probably you may laugh looking at us!!!
Web Analytic Solutions for Effective Blogging
Marketing professionals profess that a marketer should assess his target market in designing the product and in improving/customizing his product. Understanding target market/audience is of utmost important for customer satisfaction, demand generation and consequentially sales generation. Similar is the approach a blogger needs to adopt while drafting his blogs i.e
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Understand/Assess your target reader
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Design your blog
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Measure/monitor reader satisfaction & Return on Efforts “ROE”
UNDERSTANDING THE TARGET AUDIENCE This blog will deal only with the usage of Web Analytic Solutions for understanding target audience while the third step “Measuring ROE” shall be dealt in the next blog.
A blog is generally considered to be an autonomous medium to express an author’s opinion about his topics of interest. However, blog also happens to be a measure of an author’s ability to intrigue his readers and hence a measure of his writing skills. This desire to measure and improve his/her ability to write has led the authors to undertake steps to understand their target audience. Understanding the blog target audience may include some or many of the following items:
- Topics of interest of the reader
- Demographics of the reader
- Satisfaction level of the reader
The desire to understand the target audience combined with the fact that in the current era blogs have effectively turned into monetary instruments has brought into existence web analytic solutions like
- WordPress Stats (specifically for WordPress Blogs)
- Google Analytics
- Google Webmaster
- Yahoo Site Explorer
- Bing Webmaster Center etc.
These services offer information and metrics which can be effectively put into use in analysing target audience, improving traffic to sites/blogs and measuring marketing efforts (internet marketing efforts).
How to use web analytics to understand the above mentioned parameters related to your target audience?
| Item | Information/Metrics that can be helpful to understand the item in argument | Solution providing the metric/information |
| Topic of interest of the reader |
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All the mentioned solutions |
| Inlink Data and Referrer lists the pages/websites from where the reader has reached your blog/site by clicking a link to your blog/site. View ExampleOutlink Data lists the pages/websites to which the reader has moved to post reading/surfing your blog/site by clicking a link on your blog/site. | ||
| Topic of interest of the reader |
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All the mentioned solutions |
| Search Keywords gives an indication of topic of interests of the reader which shall be related to your blog’s subject. Hence is a strong but subjective way of assessing reader’s topic of interest. In the example reader of the blog “India an OniomaniacPolitan of the World” has searched the blog with the keyword “Carrafeur” and therefore it can be inferred that the reader will also be interested in reading blogs about Modern Retail. | ||
| Demographics of the reader (Location) |
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Only Google Analytics |
| Google Analytic Solutions offers Map Overlay feature which allows the user to identify the location of the reader. The feature also provides the user with details related to location of the reader like City, Country, Sub Continent Region and Continent to which the reader belongs. View Example | ||
| Satisfaction Level of the reader |
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Steps post assessing your target audience consists of developing and drafting blogs as per the needs of the target audience and then subsequently monitor your return on efforts “ROE”. The section ROE “Return on Efforts” will be dealt in the next blog.
Please find below snapshots of some of the features (described above) by the mentioned Web Analytic Solutions. Also find attached a Guide on Search Engine Optimization by Google. Happy Blogging!!!
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- Blog rating
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- Inlink Referrer Data
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- Site Visit Statistics
Wish you a Merry X-Mas and a Happy New Year 2010
Happy X-Mas Season
Wish you a very Happy New Year
A Golden Age – Book Review
“A Golden Age” by “Tahmima Anam” presents a plot constructed on the background of Bangladesh War of Independence 1971. The plot is plagued by numerous obvious effects of war of independence like loss of the dear ones, personality transformation of the affected ones, traumas and struggles of individuals in the shadow of war and revolution etc. The story is framed around the life of Rehana (protagonist of the story) and her family which is affected by the war. The narration is full of transformation in personalities of the characters of the story.
The story begins with a widowed women “Rehana” losing a court case thereby losing her daughter and son to her in-laws in Pakistan. The instance of losing the case and losing her husband transforms Rehana to a mother whose sole aim is to get her son and daughter back. The story moves a bit faster till the point where the mother gets back her son and daughter and the country comes to the verge of war.
Maya (Rehana’s daughter) and Sohail (Rehana’s son) are highly involved in student politics and are enthusiastic about Bangladesh’s sovereignty. The environment of war enrages the spirit of patriotism in the two, but at the same mother is presented as a protectionist where her love for her children is greater than her love towards the nation. Her initial protectionist response is overcome and influenced by the love of her children towards the nation. The transformation of Rehana from a protectionist mother to a patriotic citizen of the nation has been depicted in the novel in a beautiful way and in a fashion which is very natural to the Indian Subcontinent context, which can be easily accepted and understood by Indian Sub-Continent Readers.
The novel also offers glimpses of the poverty and the situation of refugee camp during the times of war. The situation and backdrop of the plot is very similar to the older Indian cinemas in which poverty were the main theme. The novel also brings about the rift between the Muslim and Hindu during the war times subtly.
The book is a good read for individuals who want to gain insights into Indian SubContinent culture, family life and a glimpse into the war of independence of Bangladesh. The novel is unlike the novels written on backdrop of war of independences which present a deluge of historical facts and hence become boring to not very avid readers. The book has touched upon the historical facts and incidences meagerly. On the contrary, the author has focussed on presenting the environment of war in a much more interesting mode through the eyes of characters of the novel.
Essar Steel’s Competitive Advantage in Hinterland of India
Essar's Competitive Cost Advantage
Most of my recent blogs are inspired by the debates and discussions in my class and consequentially this article also has its roots from my class’s current discussion on how Supply Chain Management can become a competitive advantage for its owner. Various famous supply chain examples like MC Donald’s Cold Chain, ITC Choupal etc found their presence in the discussion.
The discussion left out of one of the latest logistic management employed by Essar Steel in transporting iron ore which brought down the cost of transportation of iron ore from Rs 550 per tonne to Rs 80 per tonne. The project is implemented at a small tribal area named Kirandul (a small town mainly houses NMDC colony and is situated in southern parts of Chattisgarh) hence not surprisingly the project is much talked about.
The project connects Bailadilla mines in Kirandul to Vishakhapatnam (a city with a sea port) steel plant of Essar with a 267 km pipeline. Iron Ore mined at the mines of Bailadilla is first crushed into smaller sizes and then is converted into slurry using water. This slurry is then pumped from the mine end of the pipeline which is intermittently re-pumped at three different spots between Kirandul and Vishkhapatnam in order to maintain the flow of the slurry. The slurry received at the other end is fed to a dryer plant and the iron ore is received. The water removed from the slurry is pumped back from Vishkhapatnam to Kirandul via the pipeline which is reused for the pumping and slurry making purpose near the mines.
The project has provided a competitive cost advantage to Essar Steel against its competitors like Tata Steel which still continue to use the normal mode of transportation trucks. The project has made the sourcing of iron ore from Kirandul more viable for Essar Steel operating at about 300 km far from raw material source as against Weber’s theory which suggests to setup manufacturing units near source of raw material for which the total transportation cost is high.
You can visit my collection of pics illustrating the competitive advantage of Essar Steel Click Here .Read more about the project Here
Marketing Myopia – The Cause of Low Innovation
A recent debate in the class was on the fact that majority of disruptive technologies are made by smaller companies than the bigger/blue chip companies. Incidentally the debate touched upon areas like Marketing Myopia, S-Curve dilemma OR Innovator’s dilemma and process versus agility. This article will web together all the above mentioned concepts and present my inference that marketing myopia is the underlying cause for process orientation and innovator’s dilemma and hence is the major reason for low innovation in the bigger organizations.
NOTE: Paragraphs in italics hence forth are intended as an explanation of concepts for readers non-acquainted with the concepts dealt in the article.
Marketing Myopia: Short sighted and inward looking approach to marketing that focuses on the needs of the firm instead of defining the firm and its products in terms of the customers’ needs and wants. Such self-centred firms fail to see and adjust to the rapid changes in their markets and, despite their previous eminence, falter, fall, and disappear.
Process Orientation & Innovation do not go together: Process Orientation is sometimes a resultant of Myopic View of companies. Myopic Companies sometimes are so much in love with their products or services (Marketing Myopic Companies) that they design their process in and around for better performance of their product and loose sight of consumer needs especially latent needs which cannot be satisfied by the product in focus and hence we do not find path breaking innovations from these myopic companies. Their innovations are limited to processes and services around their current product only.
- S-Curve
S-Curve Dilemma OR Innovators’ Dilemma: The curve is drawn between Growth Rate (Y Axis) and Time (X Axis) for innovations. Each S-Curve represents Growth Rate versus Time Graph for different innovations. It is observed and indicated in the graph after a period of time it is important for an organizations to move on to the newer innovations in order to reap a better ROI in the coming future. In the curve displayed, organization which has adopted innovation represented by Orange Curve should adopt newer innovation represented by Blue Curve. However larger organizations sometimes do not adopt newer innovations, this is called as S-Curve Dilemma or Innovator’s Dilemma.
Innovative companies also sometimes fall prey to marketing myopia. An innovative company which has put in lot of efforts to innovate a product/service and hence the organization’s image is based on that particular innovation would find it difficult to innovate a product/service which will make the earlier innovation non-useable (a disruptive innovation) i.e. becomes myopic with the earlier innovation. Therefore, these myopic companies sometimes either do not adopt or do not innovate newer disruptive technologies. For Example: Microsoft would not like to innovate a new platform which may put Windows into obsolesce as Microsoft’s image is based on Windows.
At the heart of low-innovation is excess of love with product (Marketing Myopia) which inturn causes Process Orientation and Innovator’s Dilemma and hence is termed as THE cause for low innovation in the article.
Movie Review : Kambakht Ishq
Kambakht Ishq Akshay Kareena
This is my first movie review. Though I am not a movie buff, but movie “Kambakht Ishq” evoked strong feelings in me to pen down my observations about the movie. Marketing of the movie combined with the fact that Kambhaqt Ishq was one among the few movies to be released after the strike caused more than normal turnout for the movie. Movie critics showed thumbs down to the movie and below are some of my observations which I feel justify the ratings:
- The movie was a built on a plot which moved at a faster pace than at a pace at which the audience could grasp the emotion which the movie wanted to evoke and impress on the audience. Example: Akshay and Kareena’s love lasted only a song length which was followed by a sudden turn of events which puts Akshay into state of shock. I as an audience could not appreciate such a swift turn of events because the movie did not allow me sufficient time to fathom how love of Akshay and Kareena which is only a song’s length could become life turning event for Akshay.
- Movie was based on an old cliché plot of war between the sexes and could not differentiate itself among the others in the same category.
- Kareena could not do justice to the two contrasting characters viz 1.) Soft hearted loving woman fallen in love with a guy and 2) Woman filled with hatred for men. However, Akshay was value for money.
I would hence rate 1 out of 5 for Kambhakt Ishq.
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