(Cross posted from Desicritics)
Why oh why?
Why did Pepsi India go ahead and launch a Pepsi Café Chino flavor? Have they forgotten the mess that Vanilla Coke was?
I mean the thing tastes like normal Pepsi when you gulp it down first, but then the pathetic taste of cinnamon-vanilla-insecticide (oops!) hits you and you curse yourself for spending twenty hard earned rupees on the damn thing.
The really bad ad
Of course, they must have spent crores and crores on it, getting Bollywood bimbettes Kareena Kapoor and Priyanka Chopra in one ad to launch it. But the ad gets ruined because they are shown slobbering and kissing one hunky John Abraham wannabe, who unfortunately was last shown in an ad for dental decay. So while Kareena and Priyanka leave lipstick marks all over him the only thing I can think about is: "Will the guy smile and show his yellow decayed teeth". Unfortunately for us, he doesn't !
The reasoning?
One gets the feeling that Pepsi has gone ahead to win back it's GenNext audience which has increasingly gravitated towards the Baristas and Café Coffee Days in the neighbourhood. Unfortunately, what Pepsi fails to realize is that they're not going to come back by launching a new flavor, but by creating third places.
And really, the only take-off they'll get for the flavor is by giving it away free with KFC or Pizza Hut meals !
Impact for Pepsi
For Pepsi, India has been a high impact market, the rare place where it has comprehensively beaten Coke , and like HLL vs. P&G, it's been a case of a global number two becoming number one in India. Both Pepsi and HLL have become talent exporters for their mother companies, but disasters like Pepsi Café Chino will surely pull Pepsi India's reputation a few notches down !
All my posts on Desicritics
Jan 30, 2006
Jan 27, 2006
You give recruiting a bad name
This news item shows how unscrupulous recruiters and consultants are making more money than just their salaries !
Thanks to the great talent crisis in India Inc, a new scam is brewing in the recruitment industry.
Malpractices such as recruitment of unsuitable talent, sharing of revenues between recruiter and hirer, headhunting from one client to fulfil the needs of another and re-recruitment of a candidate recently placed is becoming fairly common nowadays
Such accusations have always been whispered and rumored about HR and Recruiting professionals who've made more money than "expected" over and beyond "known sources of income" but nothing has ever been proved. However, people have been asked to silently leave organizations, but much to the chagrin of their employers have moved to heftier pay packets and bigger organizations, because of a shortage of recruiting talent !
Thanks to the great talent crisis in India Inc, a new scam is brewing in the recruitment industry.
Malpractices such as recruitment of unsuitable talent, sharing of revenues between recruiter and hirer, headhunting from one client to fulfil the needs of another and re-recruitment of a candidate recently placed is becoming fairly common nowadays
Such accusations have always been whispered and rumored about HR and Recruiting professionals who've made more money than "expected" over and beyond "known sources of income" but nothing has ever been proved. However, people have been asked to silently leave organizations, but much to the chagrin of their employers have moved to heftier pay packets and bigger organizations, because of a shortage of recruiting talent !
The new HR professional?
From Egon Zehnder newsletter:
Future HR professionals expect challenging, business-oriented roles, not administrative jobs, reports Robert Rodriguez in HR Magazine. The upcoming generation of leaders strongly believes that HR can influence a company’s bottom line, especially in the knowledge economy, where talent is a key asset. Professionals from a wide range of backgrounds are now moving into HR, where they see exciting development potential, writes the author. Alongside business and financial skills, HR students are now learning to think strategically, he adds. Industry insiders expect future HR programs to cover globalization issues, regulation and technology.
Current HR executives nevertheless need to promote the profession among students to destroy its negative image and attract higher caliber candidates, writes the author. Firms can also give HR a higher profile by offering employees internships within HR, he adds. According to industry experts, tomorrow’s top HR graduates will naturally seek sophisticated positions that offer clear career paths. In return, employers can expect tomorrow’s HR leaders to behave like business partners or internal consultants who also deal with staff issues, predicts the author. Their insight and expertise will be highly-prized in the future, he concludes.
Another interesting article from the EZ knowledge base on what goes into making a great HR leader.
Future HR professionals expect challenging, business-oriented roles, not administrative jobs, reports Robert Rodriguez in HR Magazine. The upcoming generation of leaders strongly believes that HR can influence a company’s bottom line, especially in the knowledge economy, where talent is a key asset. Professionals from a wide range of backgrounds are now moving into HR, where they see exciting development potential, writes the author. Alongside business and financial skills, HR students are now learning to think strategically, he adds. Industry insiders expect future HR programs to cover globalization issues, regulation and technology.
Current HR executives nevertheless need to promote the profession among students to destroy its negative image and attract higher caliber candidates, writes the author. Firms can also give HR a higher profile by offering employees internships within HR, he adds. According to industry experts, tomorrow’s top HR graduates will naturally seek sophisticated positions that offer clear career paths. In return, employers can expect tomorrow’s HR leaders to behave like business partners or internal consultants who also deal with staff issues, predicts the author. Their insight and expertise will be highly-prized in the future, he concludes.
Another interesting article from the EZ knowledge base on what goes into making a great HR leader.
KM jobs at Hyderabad
My organization, which is one of the world's largest professional services and consulting firms is looking for some people at our office in Hyderabad. The positions are for our Knowledge Management Services group.
The details are given below. Anyone interested can mail their resumes to me at my email id gautam.ghosh at gmail.com
Content Management:
Kind of people we are looking for: Technical writers, Content Developers, with an understanding of Business terminology
Education: Graduates
Preferred: BA or MA in English
Global Research Center:
Nature of work: Business and industry related research & analysis, preparation of industry reports, business reports,
Skills needed: Good Analytical & Statistical Skills
Education : MBA in Finance or Marketing /CA/CFA/Masters in Economics.
Communication:
People skilled in : Flash , Dream weaver, HTML, XML, JavaScript, Adobe Photoshop,
Education: Graduates
GSX:
Understanding of Business terminology. Intra/internet search skills.
Education: Graduates
Preferred : MBA
Do pass these openings to your friends if they are interested in these jobs at Hyderabad. Click on the 'mail' icon below this post to mail it to your friends.
The details are given below. Anyone interested can mail their resumes to me at my email id gautam.ghosh at gmail.com
Content Management:
Kind of people we are looking for: Technical writers, Content Developers, with an understanding of Business terminology
Education: Graduates
Preferred: BA or MA in English
Global Research Center:
Nature of work: Business and industry related research & analysis, preparation of industry reports, business reports,
Skills needed: Good Analytical & Statistical Skills
Education : MBA in Finance or Marketing /CA/CFA/Masters in Economics.
Communication:
People skilled in : Flash , Dream weaver, HTML, XML, JavaScript, Adobe Photoshop,
Education: Graduates
GSX:
Understanding of Business terminology. Intra/internet search skills.
Education: Graduates
Preferred : MBA
Do pass these openings to your friends if they are interested in these jobs at Hyderabad. Click on the 'mail' icon below this post to mail it to your friends.
Indian business blogs featured in Fast Company
Fast Company magazine featured three Indian business related blogs in the Jan issue and gives reasons on why FC readers should read these blogs. I follow two of the three blogs listed there and looks like I have to add the third one to my bloglines subscription too!
This is awesome news for the Indian business blogosphere. We're being noticed !
This is awesome news for the Indian business blogosphere. We're being noticed !
Desicritics launch
I've been invited to be a contributor to the new group blogging platform focussed on South Asia, Desicritics. I'll try to focus on my niche of Indian business there, and sometimes I will cross post from this site too.
It's an exciting experience for me and I suggest you check the blog out too. There are some awesome writers writing on South Asian and related themes. It's a great privilege to be sharing the same cyber-space with them.
If you'd like to write about specific topics or news, just drop me line by email or leave a comment here.
Update: My first post on Desicritics is here. It's about how HR can make Indian organizations better at managing free agents, virtual teams and diversity? Have also let some questions foor readers to ponder over.
It's an exciting experience for me and I suggest you check the blog out too. There are some awesome writers writing on South Asian and related themes. It's a great privilege to be sharing the same cyber-space with them.
If you'd like to write about specific topics or news, just drop me line by email or leave a comment here.
Update: My first post on Desicritics is here. It's about how HR can make Indian organizations better at managing free agents, virtual teams and diversity? Have also let some questions foor readers to ponder over.
Jan 20, 2006
The best companies to work for.
There is a qualitative difference between Fortune's list of the Best Companies to Work for in the US and similar lists that are focused on India.
The big difference is in the type of organizations that feature on the lists. In the case of the US, the list is dominated by small and medium sized companies, whereas most of the companies in the Indian list are large organizations like Genpact and Infosys. I haven't heard of most of the companies, as far as brand awareness goes. The highest ranked company which I had heard was BCG which ranked at No. 11.
Unlike India, there are hardly any IT companies on this list. Cisco is there at number 25 and Microsoft is there at no. 42, but no Google?
I am sure that the differences are because of the nature of the economies and also based on the methodology of the study.
The other point that struck me is that the best practices are really quite different. For example one company does away with job titles altogether. And as Jenna says : Timberland gives all employees $3,000 to buy a hybrid car? (Wow, I would love that!). As for some of the other perks - like the $14 onsite haircuts being offered by Worthington Industries.
Sure these companies might not be the sort of places that everyone might like to join. I guess the future trends for organizations is that instead of trying to be all things for all employees they will try to do specific things for selected employees.
The big difference is in the type of organizations that feature on the lists. In the case of the US, the list is dominated by small and medium sized companies, whereas most of the companies in the Indian list are large organizations like Genpact and Infosys. I haven't heard of most of the companies, as far as brand awareness goes. The highest ranked company which I had heard was BCG which ranked at No. 11.
Unlike India, there are hardly any IT companies on this list. Cisco is there at number 25 and Microsoft is there at no. 42, but no Google?
I am sure that the differences are because of the nature of the economies and also based on the methodology of the study.
The other point that struck me is that the best practices are really quite different. For example one company does away with job titles altogether. And as Jenna says : Timberland gives all employees $3,000 to buy a hybrid car? (Wow, I would love that!). As for some of the other perks - like the $14 onsite haircuts being offered by Worthington Industries.
Sure these companies might not be the sort of places that everyone might like to join. I guess the future trends for organizations is that instead of trying to be all things for all employees they will try to do specific things for selected employees.
Jan 18, 2006
George Zacharias joins Yahoo! India as MD
George Zacharias COO of Sify moves to the rejuvenated dot com Yahoo ! India as MD. George moved from the world of textiles to dotcom at the behest of R Rajaram, Sify's CEO.
And George is a senior from my B School, by some 17 years ;-)
Yahoo appoints George Zacharias as MD: from The Hindu
And George is a senior from my B School, by some 17 years ;-)
Yahoo appoints George Zacharias as MD: from The Hindu
Fighting attrition...literally??
From Mid-Day
Sandeep Harish Gidwani (22), team leader at Silgate Solutions, an Andheri BPO, filed a police complaint against his director for threatening and assaulting him in office. He stated that Chandresh Haria, hit him on his right eye and back and injured his wrist. ‘All because I resigned!' Said Gidwani, “I got an offer from another BPO, so I put in my papers. The next thing I know is I am threatened and thrashed!”
“Haria was accompanied by two unknown persons, who beat me up and even tried to force me to sign some document. They were under a misconception that I was poaching my colleagues. ‘We will not let you live, no matter where you go, and if you tell anyone about this incident, we will kill you,’ Haria told me that night.”Haria told Mid Day that Gidwani’s allegations were baseless and absurd. “It was his last day at work and Sandeep had been fired from the company for malpractices and disclosing secrets of the company to other call centres. He also threatened our agents to leave the company and join him.” Haria has lodged a counter-complaint against Gidwani.
Sandeep Harish Gidwani (22), team leader at Silgate Solutions, an Andheri BPO, filed a police complaint against his director for threatening and assaulting him in office. He stated that Chandresh Haria, hit him on his right eye and back and injured his wrist. ‘All because I resigned!' Said Gidwani, “I got an offer from another BPO, so I put in my papers. The next thing I know is I am threatened and thrashed!”
“Haria was accompanied by two unknown persons, who beat me up and even tried to force me to sign some document. They were under a misconception that I was poaching my colleagues. ‘We will not let you live, no matter where you go, and if you tell anyone about this incident, we will kill you,’ Haria told me that night.”Haria told Mid Day that Gidwani’s allegations were baseless and absurd. “It was his last day at work and Sandeep had been fired from the company for malpractices and disclosing secrets of the company to other call centres. He also threatened our agents to leave the company and join him.” Haria has lodged a counter-complaint against Gidwani.
Talent shortage in HR in India?
Today I saw an ad which I never thought I would ever see in India.
Infosys has consistently been amongst India's best employers.
Ergo, the best HR minds are working at Infosys, right?
And since the best like to work with the best, they would be pounding on Infosys' HR gates to get to work with them, right?
Wrong.
Seems like there is a huge amount of HR talent shortage in Infosys, going by the ad they've put out in the Hindu supplement for jobs today. They've advertised positions in HR for business support, Recruitment and Organization Effectiveness across locations.
The experience band they are looking at is 5-7 years which seems to be the people most in demand these days ;-)
There are many reasons why companies like Infosys might be feeling a talent shortage in HR.
1. The large IT companies have a huge HR group, numbering almost 200-300. Good HR folks want to move to smaller groups to increas there chance of being visible.
2. The talent pool for good HR professionals is quite limited in India, to institutes that are only a handful in number.
Going forward we are going to see more and more of innovative measures like this to bridge the talent gap.
Infosys has consistently been amongst India's best employers.
Ergo, the best HR minds are working at Infosys, right?
And since the best like to work with the best, they would be pounding on Infosys' HR gates to get to work with them, right?
Wrong.
Seems like there is a huge amount of HR talent shortage in Infosys, going by the ad they've put out in the Hindu supplement for jobs today. They've advertised positions in HR for business support, Recruitment and Organization Effectiveness across locations.
The experience band they are looking at is 5-7 years which seems to be the people most in demand these days ;-)
There are many reasons why companies like Infosys might be feeling a talent shortage in HR.
1. The large IT companies have a huge HR group, numbering almost 200-300. Good HR folks want to move to smaller groups to increas there chance of being visible.
2. The talent pool for good HR professionals is quite limited in India, to institutes that are only a handful in number.
Going forward we are going to see more and more of innovative measures like this to bridge the talent gap.
Jan 16, 2006
Some blogosphere news
Shel informs me that Naked Conversations is finally available through Amazon.com but that you would help him and Scoble more by buying it from winners are here.
Jan 12, 2006
India looks good on CV?
An article on Rediff on how foreigners are chasing their jobs and landing in India.
The most insightful comments on why they come to India?
"Not only do I get to see the country, but the Indian experience looks good on my CV."
"India provided me a growth opportunity that wasn't there back home,"
The most insightful comments on why they come to India?
"Not only do I get to see the country, but the Indian experience looks good on my CV."
"India provided me a growth opportunity that wasn't there back home,"
Employee blogging
Socialtext has set up a wiki that lists employees of fortune 500 firms who blog.
Do you know anymore employee blogs? Go ahead and add them yourself ! It makes quite an interesting list ! It's not very IT or Technology focussed. There's automobiles, airlines and media employees too!
Do you know anymore employee blogs? Go ahead and add them yourself ! It makes quite an interesting list ! It's not very IT or Technology focussed. There's automobiles, airlines and media employees too!
Jan 11, 2006
The next way to learn
Bill Ives informed me about this really cool sounding workshop that he is planning to run with Kathleen Gilroy: Learning 2.0 bootcamp !
The learning objectives sound very exciting.
How new “2.0” technologies and services, including weblogs, podcasts, wikis, and aggregators, can be deployed for learning programs.
How to build the new desktop: moving from browsing to searching to subscribing.
How to plan for and build a learning 2.0 program. How to produce and distribute podcasts.
How to motivate and manage networked learners.
How to make the “wisdom of crowds” the outcome of your learning programs.
I hope a workshop like this is gets distributed via web 2.0 media too !
The learning objectives sound very exciting.
How new “2.0” technologies and services, including weblogs, podcasts, wikis, and aggregators, can be deployed for learning programs.
How to build the new desktop: moving from browsing to searching to subscribing.
How to plan for and build a learning 2.0 program. How to produce and distribute podcasts.
How to motivate and manage networked learners.
How to make the “wisdom of crowds” the outcome of your learning programs.
I hope a workshop like this is gets distributed via web 2.0 media too !
Vertical Search illegal in India?
This news item is very weird. Apparently Naukri has won a case against Indian vertical job search engine Bixee. The explanation given is:
As a result of this what is happening is that the entire database of the plaintiff is available in the website of the defendant No.1 which entails that as and when the defendant No.1’s website becomes popular and gains a large number of hits, the necessity to access the plaintiff’s website would be obviated thereby resulting in great financial loss because the plaintiffs have spent a lot of time, money and energy in developing the database.
That's strange. People have to go to Naukri's site to apply for a job, so where does the question arise of them losing hits?
Wonder what Naukri will do once Google or HotJobs starts scraping their content?
Update: The Bixee team informs by way of the comments that this is just an interim injunction and not a judgement. Phew ! That's a relief ! Hope they come through without any major issues. This actually puts under the scanner the whole new culture of rib-burn-blog !
As a result of this what is happening is that the entire database of the plaintiff is available in the website of the defendant No.1 which entails that as and when the defendant No.1’s website becomes popular and gains a large number of hits, the necessity to access the plaintiff’s website would be obviated thereby resulting in great financial loss because the plaintiffs have spent a lot of time, money and energy in developing the database.
That's strange. People have to go to Naukri's site to apply for a job, so where does the question arise of them losing hits?
Wonder what Naukri will do once Google or HotJobs starts scraping their content?
Update: The Bixee team informs by way of the comments that this is just an interim injunction and not a judgement. Phew ! That's a relief ! Hope they come through without any major issues. This actually puts under the scanner the whole new culture of rib-burn-blog !
HR Strategic, Again?
Jeff and others have been bouncing thoughts around HR being strategic. Here is what I think.
HR can be strategic if it helps organizations achieve it's strategy. What is strategy? It's a way of doing things to reach the goals. A choice that organizations make to sell products or provide services better than it's competitors. What can HR do to be strategic?
It can ensure that people know the strategic direction of the firm and secondly, hiring people who fit the strategic plan of the organization and keeping them motivated.
The other thing that we can look at are the strategic roles as elucidated by Dave Ulrich in HR champions. He enumerates two roles the Business Partner role (which focusses on aligning HR processes and policies with the business strategy) and the Change Agent role (which focusses on increasing people and organizational capability to achieve the strategy).
Earlier posts on HR Strategy:
More on HR being strategic
Boston Consulting Group's Co-Chairman on HR and Leadership
The future of HR
HR can be strategic if it helps organizations achieve it's strategy. What is strategy? It's a way of doing things to reach the goals. A choice that organizations make to sell products or provide services better than it's competitors. What can HR do to be strategic?
It can ensure that people know the strategic direction of the firm and secondly, hiring people who fit the strategic plan of the organization and keeping them motivated.
The other thing that we can look at are the strategic roles as elucidated by Dave Ulrich in HR champions. He enumerates two roles the Business Partner role (which focusses on aligning HR processes and policies with the business strategy) and the Change Agent role (which focusses on increasing people and organizational capability to achieve the strategy).
Earlier posts on HR Strategy:
More on HR being strategic
Boston Consulting Group's Co-Chairman on HR and Leadership
The future of HR
Jan 5, 2006
Happy New Year !
The new year opened with a lot of great news for me. For starters I moved to a new organization as a HR Manager for a technology consulting business. It seems a great new challenge to start the year with.
Then there was this article in the DNA which featured a quote by me.
The big news was John Sumser's acknowledgement of this blog ! Whew ! That raises expectations and I hope to live upto them !
And then Regina pointed out that I am number 350 on this network list.
Whew !
Then there's my case study in the January issue of Human Capital (available in India only, I think!)
Then there was this article in the DNA which featured a quote by me.
The big news was John Sumser's acknowledgement of this blog ! Whew ! That raises expectations and I hope to live upto them !
And then Regina pointed out that I am number 350 on this network list.
Whew !
Then there's my case study in the January issue of Human Capital (available in India only, I think!)
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