Gender or race discrimination at the workplace has received a lot of attention and any organisation that overtly does this is in for serious trouble. But a different form of discrimination has become widely prevalent in the last ten years. Age discrimination. The corporate world favours youth and tough luck if you are an older person. The problem with this is that everybody has to get “older” sometime...
Wednesday, 30 September 2009
Tuesday, 29 September 2009
Chinese tyres vs American chicken
There’s a spat going on between the US and China that is threatening to become a trade battle, if not a war. The US imposed tariffs of 35% on Chinese automobile tyres on the grounds that imports were surging and that the domestic industry had to be protected “temporarily”. China immediately appealed to the WTO and there the matter stands now.But China is a prickly nation. It is quick to take offence....
Sunday, 27 September 2009
The "different" Brenda Barnes
Financial Times recently published its list of the top 50 women in world business. The usual toppers were all there – Indra Nooyi (Pepsico), Andrea Jung (Avon), Irene Rosenfeld ( Kraft), the highly controversial Ho Ching (Temasek – as our Singaporean friends will know). At No 14 stood Brenda Barnes, Chairman and CEO of Sara Lee, the makers of Kiwi shoe care, Douwe Egberts & Senseo coffee, Hillshire...
The wonderful world of tags
Tags are a wonderful and frustrating thing at the same time. They seem to spring up from nowhere and have a life of their own. They go all over the place. Usually it’s a girl who starts it, with such gems as “What are you wearing ?”. I’ve now been tagged by Athivas. A wonderful blogger who writes lovely verses. She’s so very friendly and writes such superb comments to make any blogger’s day. So when...
Saturday, 26 September 2009
Where should a CEO live ?
These days many companies are global. Does it matter where they are based ? Or where their top executives live ? I believe it does.This post is prompted by the news that HSBC’s Chief Executive, Michael Geoghegan, will relocate from London to Hong Kong. This is a consequence of the fact that the future of the bank will more and more be in China.In most companies, there is a corporate headquarters....
Sunday, 20 September 2009
Eight is auspicious
In China the number 8 is considered very auspicious. That’s why the Beijing Olympics commenced at 8.00 PM on 8.8.08. When my dear blogger friend, Preeti, tags me with the “Eight tag”, I just had to pick it up. Everybody in the blogging world knows Preeti. I can fill a post with her credits, but let me just say, if you haven’t read 34 Bubblegums and Candies, do get hold of a copy; it’s a lovely read.With...
Friday, 18 September 2009
Forgive me Lord, for I have drunk a glass of milk
There is gathering momentum for product labels to be required to state their “carbon footprint”. So that consumers can feel guilty about contributing to climate change and perhaps do something about it. Nothing illustrates how difficult it is to calculate the environmental impact of daily life , than the attempt to label a milk carton with its carbon footprint. When it comes to environment impact,...
Thursday, 17 September 2009
Remember the dot com mania ....
Sure public memory is short; but that short ? Especially when it comes to your hard(ly) earned money ?Twitter is raising funding at a valuation of $ 1bn. That’s right; ONE BILLION. How do you ascribe that sort of valuation to a company that hasn’t made a cent and that has no idea how to make a cent ?This is exactly what happened during the dot com craze. Get the eyeballs. To hell with revenues, let...
Wednesday, 16 September 2009
Socially Responsible Consumer
A lot has been, and will be said about the social responsibility of businesses. But what about the social responsibility of consumers ? This article set me thinkingEach one of us, as consumers, have the power to make or break businesses – every time we buy, or not buy, something, we hold in our hand the fate of every business in the supply chain of that product. Should we not exercise this power in...
Tuesday, 15 September 2009
Gross National Happiness
President Sarkozy of France has proposed “Gross National Happiness” as an alternate measure to GDP in measuring progress of a nation. He was releasing the report of a study he had commissioned by two Nobel Laureates – Jospeh Stiglitz and Amartya Sen - on this subject.Now even for the flamboyant Sarkozy this is something. Presumably it is an attempt to push the French higher up on the world rankings...
Monday, 14 September 2009
Norman Borlaug
Norman Borlaug, one of the greatest scientists of the 20th century died on Saturday in the US. He was 95.He was the inventor of the high yielding, disease resistant, varieties of wheat which enabled the Green revolution of the 1960s. While his work benefitted the world – three countries gained the most from his work – Mexico, India and Pakistan. He was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1970. India...
Sunday, 13 September 2009
Thank You
This is senti Sunday time. Off day from business, and so a different post. Every blogger’s lifeline is that wonderful person who takes the trouble to read and comment. And I have been blessed by your kindness – by your warm words, by your sharing of an incisive thought, by your encouragement and by the many “aaawww” moments when your lovely comment touches me.So want to say Thank You. Xie Xie. In...
Friday, 11 September 2009
Are you human ?
If you would like to comment on some blogs (not mine), or do various other things on the internet, you are required to prove that you are a human being. How do you do that ? By looking at a mangled word and typing the text into a box. Since humans are better at pattern recognition than machines, it is then presumed that you are a human. Though judging by the number of times I get it wrong, I must...
Thursday, 10 September 2009
Internet gains vs Wall Street innovations
This is the title of a very interesting article written by Prof Prabhudev Konana of the University of Texas at Austin. Click here to read his article.He compares two massive streams of innovations in the last two decades – the internet and the financial sector. The Internet has revolutionalised our way of life, created jobs and wealth for a lot of people and , in general, has created unprecedented...
Wednesday, 9 September 2009
"Shocking" gender pay gap found in UK finance
Thus screamed the headlines from a report by the Equality and Human Rights Commission in the UK. In their report, they made fantastic allegations – Women earn 80% less performance pay than men in the financial services industry in the UK. There was also a 30% gap in basic pay between women and men. Every newspaper in the UK carried this story of how women are discriminated against.This is precisely...
Tuesday, 8 September 2009
A soap opera begins
On 17th October 1988, late in the day, Monday, Philip Morris announced an unsolicited bid to acquire Kraft. It set off a soap opera , the likes of which have not been seen since.October 1988 was an unbelievable month in business history. Two weeks earlier, on October 3, Grand Metropolitan (now Diageo) launched a hostile bid for Pillsbury. But then on October 20th, the atom bomb fell. The management...
Monday, 7 September 2009
Make a fortune with Lehman Brothers !
Yes that’s right. Lehman brothers. The same company that went bankrupt. You could have made a profit of 600% in a couple of months. Welcome to the insanity that sometimes grips markets. And trust the finance world to dignify the madness with a high sounding name. Its called the “lottery ticket rally”.Lehman Brothers shares were languishing at 5 cents for most of the year. Last week, they touched 32...
Saturday, 5 September 2009
Whoever flies first class ?
One of the undisputed pleasures in life is when you enter an aircraft and turn left instead of right.For all of us not privileged to be in that position, we can console ourselves that only an idiot would fly first class these days.Its obscenely expensive. HORRENDOUSLY so. And what do you get for it ?- A flat bed, which is now pretty much standard in business- The oldest stew in the crew on the grounds...
Wednesday, 2 September 2009
CSR in the developing world - Volunteering
What's the most precious thing in the world ? Depending on the context and the person, you can get hundreds of answers. If I ask the question in the context of Corporate Social Responsibility - What is the most precious thing a company can give to the community?, an expected answer would be money. It would not be mine. Mine would be time.My eyes were opened on how organised volunteering has become...
Tuesday, 1 September 2009
CSR in the developing world - alleviating poverty
If you are a company doing business in the developing world, chances are that you are not far away from poverty in a very basic form. You cannot, and should not, be an island behind electrified fences. And at the same time, its not your job to solve global hunger. What can you do ? What should you do ?You are doing something, by the very fact of your existence. You provide jobs to people. There is...
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