Brands under Fire

In Brands under Fire, brand experts Ivan Arthur and Kurien Mathews use case studies like the worm in Cadbury’s and the pesticide in the cola to cut through the common thinking on brand behavior to submit fresh insights into the brands of the 21st century.

Questions explored are: Are we witnessing the fading out of the traditional concepts of the brand as a deliverer of consumer expectations and the arrival of alternative models? What impact does the reach of new media, aggressive social activism, changing global sensitivities, agricultural, industrial and economic practice, the unpredictability and uncertainty of an increasingly complex environment, and, above all, a fully participating consumer who influences the product and brand dynamics, have on brand behavior and a brand’s dialogue with the consumer?

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Good talent within Small and Medium Enterprises reach

Talent management revolves around attraction, development and retention of human resources. With the advent of new age industries and leaping developments in IT, BPO and the service sector saw the talent management imperatives change drastically. Similarly, the downturn in these industries has also brought about a different equation, like in IT and manufacturing.

Hiring is likely to continue in a slowdown, but it will be much more targeted and thought through. Clearly, there will be a lot of justification required for addition of headcount. There will also be a lot of care in following a clear process. Companies are likely to use psychometric tools, behavioural interviewing and assessments. The reason is that there will be no margin for hiring mistakes and newcomers will have to be good fi ts for the job and those who can be on boarded quickly. Recruiters and hiring managers are likely to be trained in the use of sophisticated techniques as hiring will become serious business.

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Metadesign

Design can solve most of world’s problems
Richard Farson’s tall claim that design can solve world’s intractable problems may sound far fetched but the conviction with which he articulates his point of view in The Power of Design: A Force for Transforming Everything (Greenway Communications; First edition (October 2008)) will make anyone believe in him.

John Seely Brown, former chief scientist at Xerox has this to say: “This book is a must-read not only for designers and their students but for anyone concerned with our collective future.”

“This is Richard Farson’s masterpiece — the one and only book that illuminates the interdependence of design,organization, and leadership.” — Warren Bennis.

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Ten Commandments of Joy

Welcome the year 2009 with a smile from within and wish everyone with a sankalpa (intention) for peace and prosperity for all the people on the planet. Make a resolution to do more good to society, help the people who are in need and bring solace to those who are suffering. Let our life be useful to one and all.

Today, most people are confused because there is no direction in life. The difference between flood and a normal river is that water fl ow is regulated in a river. Similarly, the energy in our life needs some direction to fl ow. If you don't give direction, it is all confusion. When you attend to the spirit, life attains its highest and becomes a celebration. Here’s how you can nurture the spirit.

1. Give the divine a chance
In the New Year, let your devotion flower and give it a chance to work. Prayer is a vital tool to improve your life. It also nurtures values such as Ten Commandments of Joy integrity and honesty.

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Interplay of interior and exterior spaces

We have really come a long way if we’re discussing trends in luxury apartment design, considering that apartment living was never a luxury only a transformation that collective housing had undergone.

Of course, there have been major changes in the last thirty years, from being uniform, assembly line dwelling units, today we have rigorous and imaginative proposals that give priority to the inhabitants.

I do run the risk of sounding like a 'Total Environment – evangelist', but it is true that Kamal’s (promoter of the company) brainchild has changed the mindset of a number of people. After having lived all my life in an apartment in a ‘swank’ part of town in Mumbai, I was still craving my own “piece of sky”. And now I still live in an apartment but it is a Total Environment apartment and that means that it has everything that I thought was missing elsewhere.

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Unleash the power of middle managers

Customers today are asking for more for less demanding enterprises to create value without resource augmentation.

All rational (strategic) steps have been or are being taken to
• Cut non-customer facing cost
• Shed the under-performing fl ab
• Raise the bar for individual performance
• Make quality processes more stringent
• Re-design roles to include customer-facing responsibilities
• Increase daily working hours in an endeavor to re-assure the customer with more value for less.

And yet, somewhere, not withstanding all the strategic measures that are being taken, on-fl oor performance does not seem to have shown significant and consistent enhancement. Most are wishing that there was some way by which we could augment the efficiency of people across board to return exponential performance. Just as one would do with machines in an assembly line!

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To read the ePaper, visit: http://emagazine.managementnext.com

Interplay of interior and exterior spaces

We have really come a long way if we’re discussing trends in luxury apartment design, considering that apartment living was never a luxury only a transformation that collective housing had undergone.

Of course, there have been major changes in the last thirty years, from being uniform, assembly line dwelling units, today we have rigorous and imaginative proposals that give priority to the inhabitants.

I do run the risk of sounding like a 'Total Environment – evangelist', but it is true that Kamal’s (promoter of the company) brainchild has changed the mindset of a number of people. After having lived all my life in an apartment in a ‘swank’ part of town in Mumbai, I was still craving my own “piece of sky”. And now I still live in an apartment but it is a Total Environment apartment and that means that it has everything that I thought was missing elsewhere.

To read the full article, click here..
To read the ePaper, visit: http://emagazine.managementnext.com/