If California was an independent country, it would be the seventh largest economy in the world. With a Gross State product of $1.5 trillion, its a larger economy than India. Its head of state would certainly attend the G7 and G20 summits. For an economy of its size, the state budget is so dysfunctional, that it beggars belief. I would even trade India's budget, which I had commented upon here and...
Saturday, 28 February 2009
Thursday, 26 February 2009
E Mail Addiction
Try this today. Count how many times you look at your e mail , either on your PC or on your Blackberry. If you've looked into your mailbox more than at 15 different times, you're addicted !!E Mail addiction is an under recognised problem. Yes E Mail has been an integral part of life for some time. But...
Wednesday, 25 February 2009
Bank Nationalisation
The US is struggling to come to grips with the unpleasant choice of having to nationalise some of its banks. Citicorp looks set to become the first major bank in the US to become part nationalised, with the government likely to take up a 40% stake. Frannie Mae and Freddie Mac, while not being banks,...
Monday, 23 February 2009
It ain't the same anymore
Accountants are, by nature, cautious and tradition bound. You wouldn't expect to see accounting in the forefront of change. And yet sweeping changes in accounting have happened in the 20 odd years that I have been acquainted with this profession. Here is a trip down memory lane.When I first started...
Sunday, 22 February 2009
Is all this business travel really necessary ?
(photo courtesy Businessweek)Every business executive these days travels like crazy. In the "flat" world of today, its usually long distances across countries. Is all this really necessary ?I have myself been guilty of wild travel - one of the reasons I took my sabbatical. My badge of shame includes...
Thursday, 19 February 2009
Why does anybody borrow on a credit card ?
I got a lovely comment from Aashish Sharma yesterday, complimenting my ranting. Got me very motivated to make another rant, instead of writing about the gloomy Indian budget.Why does anybody borrow on a credit card ? This is a naive question as millions of people do borrow on a credit card. But why...
Wednesday, 18 February 2009
Even the rope is gone
A few days ago I posted twice on the Indian budget, ahead of the next year's budget that was presented a couple of days ago. Click here and here for these posts.I argued that making a massive loss and therefore simply printing more money (officially called debt) was just unsustainable. Little did I...
Tuesday, 17 February 2009
Corporate Social Responsibility - What companies should do
Yesterday, I posted on what I believe companies should NOT do in the area of corporate social responsibility. I am a strong believer that companies must be very socially responsible. Today I write on what companies should do. In my opinion, what companies can do, can be divided into three sequential levels. At the basic level, companies should first do what they are supposed to do - operate efficiently...
Monday, 16 February 2009
Corporate Social Responsibility - What companies should NOT do
A much researched and written about topic, where extreme views tend to sway with the season. My friend and ex colleague, Sandip Ghose wrote nicely about it a few days ago in his blog. I am posting here, a personal perspective, rather than a research paper !That it is fundamental today for any business, large or small, is more or less a given. Motives differ. For some it’s the warm feeling of doing...
Sunday, 15 February 2009
The greatest salesman in the world
This weekend's light reading (or viewing I should say) is something that my good friend, Subroto Bagchi, sent me some 8 years ago. Thanks Subroto for sharing something very inspirational.This is the story of Bill Porter. Born in the US in 1932, Bill moved to Portland at an early age where he lives now....
Saturday, 14 February 2009
The Great Indian Rope Trick II
Continuing the previous post on the Indian budget - this time I'm focusing on the revenue side of the P&L.In true single entry bookkeeping fashion, the government combines revenue and capital receipts into one - if a company did this, its Board would be thrown into jail. Stripping out capital receipts,...
Friday, 13 February 2009
The Great Indian Rope Trick - I
Imagine an organization that does not produce a Profit & Loss Account and a Balance Sheet. It adopts a single entry system of bookkeeping. It only publishes what cash came in and what went out. The accounts are not audited (at least for a year, maybe more). It makes a whopping loss year after year....
Thursday, 12 February 2009
Subprime Crisis in Plain English
(cartoon courtesy www.blackcommentator.com)The financial crisis currently sweeping the world, was triggered by the collapse of the “sub prime” lending in the United States. What is sub prime? This post is a semi rant saying it is just gobbledygook invented by the industry to clothe “we screwed up big...
Wednesday, 11 February 2009
Bailout for Charities – Right or Wrong ?
Yesterday, the British government announced a bailout for charities of about £40m. Every group is now clamouring for a bailout. Where will this end ?The argument of the charities is simple. If the government can give £500bn to the bad boys in the banks, they can give something to us. The charities asked...
Tuesday, 10 February 2009
China – Spend More and Save Less – Ha Ha
Many views have been expressed in recent months that one of the causes of the present crisis is that the Asians (read Chinese) save more and spend less. Because they save more, the world is awash with capital and the poor Americans have been forced to consume more to absorb all this stuff sloshing around....
Monday, 9 February 2009
Independent Directors – Not good enough
Try this one. Ask any independent director of any company, the following 5 questions.What was the exact turnover and profits of your company for the last quarter ?What is the annual turnover of your five largest brands/geographies/service lines – whatever ?Who is the Financial Controller of your company ?How many employees, to the nearest thousand, does your company have ?What is your market share...
Saturday, 7 February 2009
A Violonist at the Metro
This is a business blog primarily to highlight and discuss issues in business. However, once in a while, I'll post something not directly connected to business, but might be of general interest. This is one such post. This was sent to me by my good friend Prince Asirvatham. Thanks Prince for an interesting...
No Layoffs --- Ever !
I came across an interesting article today, from which I stole the title of this post. Click here to read the article.The article listed 9 American companies that have never had layoffs, ever. They range from $ 11bn turnover Devon Energy to smaller enterprises. One of them has been in business for 81...
Friday, 6 February 2009
Are you an idiot if you are loyal to your company ?
A couple of months ago, I had the honour to be associated with a very special event ; one of my colleagues was completing 40 years in the company. Pause for a moment and let this sink in. 40 years in the company. I myself had completed more than two decades in the company, but I am a positive chicken...
Thursday, 5 February 2009
What is “American goods” anyway ?
Barack Obama’s $825bn stimulus package seems to have raised howls of protests, especially in Europe for the “Buy American” clause. Dangers to free trade have been espoused. Similar concepts are being propagated in other countries as well – the other day Alan Sugar was waxing eloquently on “Buy British”...
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