People ask the difference between leader and boss... The leader works in the open, the boss in the covert. The leader leads and the boss drives" -Theodore Roosevelt ,24 Oct 1910.
The final test of a leader is that he leaves behind him in other men the conviction and the will to carry on ... The genius of a good leader is to leave behind him a situation which common sense, without the grace of genius, can deal with successfully" -Walter Lippman
The leader is one driven by vision, who plans better, persists when others have faded out and who is immortal in the history of that entity-Padma Srinivasan.
Leaders and Leadership have been defined, time and again, in different contexts and theories based on the leaders who have succeeded in that era. But all leaders have been known for their visions. The vision leads them to success and the leader continues his plan on and on. The Corporate strategies, redefined and rewritten, are to bring about the competitive leadership, differentiation in the business space and focus on the vision and mission. The organization of Microsoft is where it is now because of Bill Gate’s vision; Infosys technologies is a success story because of a simple visionary man named Narayan Murthy. It is the thought seed that has germinated, nurtured by vision, shaped by the leading hand.
The ideology of David Gleicher1 maintained that organizational change dynamics follows the change equation of D x V x F> R ,
where D- dissatisfaction, V-vision, F-first steps and R- resistance to change. But Carol Verret, in her article states that following are the idealistic expectations form a leading leader.
They are
§ Develop market IQ
§ Know the enemy
§ Agonizing Reappraisal § Positioning rates
§ Partnering.
In a growing globalized environment, converting challenges to opportunities then into wealth creation require a fine blend of strategic integration of resources and competencies. The competitive environment has brought about paradigm shifts in the comprehensive conceptual framework of organizational goals, systems, processes, skills and lookouts. It is no longer enabled to rest on the previous functional setup and design waiting for things to happen. Here the leader plays a significant part diagnosing the gaps, intervene if variances occur and reinforce the vision and mission-the essence of organizational set up.
Finally, to conclude the visionary leadership requirements to align with the global trends can be SEVEN 2,
CONCEPTUALIZE GOALS
VISUALISE GLOBALLYv ACT LOCALLY
ACCEPT REGIONAL DIFFERENCESv SPEED UP RESETS
BE INNOVATIVE
STAY FIT & TRIM
Thus as Organizations expand and venture into wider global markets, the executive and managerial workforce must have technical competence, international expertise and a global perspective. In short, they must be prepared to become global leaders, equipped to meet the demands of global organizations.
Source: http://akottolli.spaces.live.com/
Friday, January 18, 2008
5 Level Leadership
There are five levels of leadership:
LEVEL 1: HIGHLY CAPABLE INDIVIDUAL
Makes productive contributions through talent, knowledge, skills, and good work habits
Here the focus is more on the individual’s capability which he has acquired/developed in his lifetime. They have the job specific knowledge and guide others into achieving the goal through their expertise.
LEVEL 2: CONTRIBUTING TEAM MEMBER
Contributes to the achievement of group objectives; works effectively with others in a group setting.
They are good as a team player. They are aware of the group objectives and contribute towards achieving those goals.
LEVEL 3: COMPETENT MANAGER
Organizes people and resources toward the effective and efficient pursuit of predetermined objectives
LEVEL 4: EFFECTIVE LEADER
Catalyzes commitment to and vigorous pursuit of a clear and compelling vision; stimulates the group to high performance standards.
LEVEL 5: LEVEL 5 EXECUTIVE
Builds enduring greatness through a paradoxical combination of personal humility plus professional will.
The highest of all these categories is the level 5 leadership. It combines Humility with Strong will power. These leaders are generally cool, shy and confident in nature, but very strong in their will power. They don’t look for adulation, either personally or publicly. They attribute all the success to the team mates and are very forward in taking responsibility for anything that has gone wrong. Many a time, they assign good results to their luck or to chance factor, rather than taking the full credit to themselves.
They are equally gifted with the power to charge the atmosphere with their contagious enthusiasm. They work tirelessly to create something out of nothing.
LEVEL 1: HIGHLY CAPABLE INDIVIDUAL
Makes productive contributions through talent, knowledge, skills, and good work habits
Here the focus is more on the individual’s capability which he has acquired/developed in his lifetime. They have the job specific knowledge and guide others into achieving the goal through their expertise.
LEVEL 2: CONTRIBUTING TEAM MEMBER
Contributes to the achievement of group objectives; works effectively with others in a group setting.
They are good as a team player. They are aware of the group objectives and contribute towards achieving those goals.
LEVEL 3: COMPETENT MANAGER
Organizes people and resources toward the effective and efficient pursuit of predetermined objectives
LEVEL 4: EFFECTIVE LEADER
Catalyzes commitment to and vigorous pursuit of a clear and compelling vision; stimulates the group to high performance standards.
LEVEL 5: LEVEL 5 EXECUTIVE
Builds enduring greatness through a paradoxical combination of personal humility plus professional will.
The highest of all these categories is the level 5 leadership. It combines Humility with Strong will power. These leaders are generally cool, shy and confident in nature, but very strong in their will power. They don’t look for adulation, either personally or publicly. They attribute all the success to the team mates and are very forward in taking responsibility for anything that has gone wrong. Many a time, they assign good results to their luck or to chance factor, rather than taking the full credit to themselves.
They are equally gifted with the power to charge the atmosphere with their contagious enthusiasm. They work tirelessly to create something out of nothing.
Good to Great
- That is what makes death so hard-insatisfied curiosity
- You can accomplish anything in life, provided that you do not mind who gets the credit.
- There are going to be times when you can't wait for somebody. Now you are either on the bus or off the bus.
- There is no worse mistake in public leadership than to hold ou false hopes soon to be swep away--Churchill
- Know thyself
- Freedom is only part of the story and half the truth...That is why I recommended that the Statue of Liberty on the East Coast be supplanted by a Statue of Responsibility on the West Coast.
- Most men would rather die, than think. Many do.
Tata’s Nano bomb
Tata group has once gain shown that it is a responsible corporate citizen and has maintained the heritage that is has received from its predecessors. Mr Ratan Tata’s desire to produce a people’s car was ignited when he once saw a complete family riding on a scooter, male head driving the vehicle, wife sitting behind with a kid and another kid in the front. He felt the need to provide a safer and convenient mode of transportation to the people. He discussed this issue with many and initially everybody scoffed at him, saying that it would be impossible to build such low cost car on a long term sustainable basis. He remained determined and now we have in front of us what he once dreamed.
People’s response to the new car is tremendous. Everybody is excited about the new car. The positive reviews are just pouring in. Moreover, many other major players have gone back to their board room to develop strategies to capture this newly created marketing segment.
In India, people’s disposable income is rising. So a big segment of the population is now aspiring for a better life and bigger cars. But still a huge chunk of the population is still in the lower middle segment, which rides on two wheelers. Nano car targets that segment. But if one goes to the people’s psychological level, possession of car has also to do with one’s social status, apart from the convenience. I have seen many people in North India demanding a car in marriage, not because their prime concern is safety and convenience, but because they want to show to other people in the same community and social hierarchy that they are superior to others. My concern with the Nano car is how this issue is going to be addressed. When everybody will be having the same kind of car or in other words, when everybody can afford the car, then where is the psychological advantage of possessing a car. Moreover, anybody possessing the Nano car will be considered as not belonging to the upper class. So the real market for this car actually that population which really can’t afford to have car. And this segment is a huge untapped segment residing in Tier 2 and Tier 3 cities.
Many a people have raised concern about the increased pollution level with the roll out of the new car. First of all I would say that everybody has a right to own a car. If pollution is really a national concern then everybody should be equally responsible in addressing this menace. We can’t deny a person from owning a car simply because he belongs to lower middle class segment. What we need to do is to improve our infrastructure and develop clean technologies. Tata Nano assures us this is going to happen. The emission level due to the car will be lower as compared to two-wheelers.
Tata Nano represents not just the physical structure or the body of the car; it represents the embodiment of somebody’s vision and aspiration of a millions of prospectus users.
People’s response to the new car is tremendous. Everybody is excited about the new car. The positive reviews are just pouring in. Moreover, many other major players have gone back to their board room to develop strategies to capture this newly created marketing segment.
In India, people’s disposable income is rising. So a big segment of the population is now aspiring for a better life and bigger cars. But still a huge chunk of the population is still in the lower middle segment, which rides on two wheelers. Nano car targets that segment. But if one goes to the people’s psychological level, possession of car has also to do with one’s social status, apart from the convenience. I have seen many people in North India demanding a car in marriage, not because their prime concern is safety and convenience, but because they want to show to other people in the same community and social hierarchy that they are superior to others. My concern with the Nano car is how this issue is going to be addressed. When everybody will be having the same kind of car or in other words, when everybody can afford the car, then where is the psychological advantage of possessing a car. Moreover, anybody possessing the Nano car will be considered as not belonging to the upper class. So the real market for this car actually that population which really can’t afford to have car. And this segment is a huge untapped segment residing in Tier 2 and Tier 3 cities.
Many a people have raised concern about the increased pollution level with the roll out of the new car. First of all I would say that everybody has a right to own a car. If pollution is really a national concern then everybody should be equally responsible in addressing this menace. We can’t deny a person from owning a car simply because he belongs to lower middle class segment. What we need to do is to improve our infrastructure and develop clean technologies. Tata Nano assures us this is going to happen. The emission level due to the car will be lower as compared to two-wheelers.
Tata Nano represents not just the physical structure or the body of the car; it represents the embodiment of somebody’s vision and aspiration of a millions of prospectus users.
Private Placement
It is the raising of capital via private rather than public placement. The number of parties is small. Parties involved are generally pension funds, mutual funds, large banks and insurance companies. No need to make explicit financial disclosures to the parties involved. Securities issued could be equities or debt or hybrid kind. Private placements are generally exempted from public registration.
Tuesday, January 8, 2008
ITC’s e-chaupal initiative
This was launched in 2000 by the International Business Division (IBD) of ITC. Currently it reaches out to more than 3.5 million farmers in over 31,000 villages through 5200 kiosks.
ITC entered the soy industry in the 1990’s. It soon realized the need for greater presence to understand the product dynamics in better way.
Production channels prior to E-chaupal
The Agricultural Products Marketing Act legislated the creation of mandis wherein the producers would bring in their crops for sale to the traders. Mandi trading is conducted by commission agents called adatiyas (who buy and sell produce). They belong to the Agarwal and Jain community. They for a close knit economic community.
Farmers bring their produce o the mandi in carts and more often than not, they arrive to the mandi in the night to avoid queue. When the mandi opens in the morning they bring their cart to the open area to display their produce.
The produce is inspected by sight. No test is conducted to check for oil content. No grading of the produce and the only instrument used is the moisture content meter.
Once the potential buyers have inspected the produce, auction is conducted by a mandi employee where commission agents place the bids. It is oral auction and the result of the six month of the farmer’s hard work is decided in just 30 seconds. For the commission agent, this is a routine job, there are loads of cart waiting to be auctioned.
The produce is then taken to the weighing area, either in the mandi complex itself or in the commission agent’s home nearby. In the latter case, the produce is packed in sacks and then weighed manually at the commission agent’s place. The farmer goes to the agent’s office to collect the cash. The agent pays the mandi fee to the mandi. The produce is then loaded on the buyer’s vehicle and then goes to the processing plant.
Limitations of the mandi system
1. Farmers have no idea of the price trend, hence no idea of optimal selling time.
2. Auctioning mechanism is not the best mechanism of the actual price discovery. Moreover, by the time the price is discovered thru auctioning, it’s too late for the farmer to go to the other mandi to sell his produce.
3. Farmers have to wait overnight for the mandi to open next day, adding to the overall cost.
4. Most crops are displayed in the open, hence negatively impacted by the weather conditions. the quality check are very crude. No incentive to the farmers to improve he product quality.
5. Farmers have to bear the cost of bagging and weighing, done by mandi laborers—part of whose compensation is the spilled produce. Hence they have no incentive to reduce the wastage thru spillage.
6. Under-weighing of the produce thru the use of faulty weighing machines.
7. Farmer is not paid upfront for his sale. He has to come to commission agent’s office several times to collect his money.
ITC’s initiatives
The Agricultural Produce Marketing Act prohibits procurement outside the mandi. ITC convinced the government that its model of business would within the spirit of the Act.
Under the business model, the company appoints a Sanchalak to manage one e-chaupal. The sanchalak is generally a person from the same village community who can read and write, has the risk taking ability, and lot of zeal with entrepreneurial spirit. He gets training from the nearest ITC centre on basic computer literacy, using e-chaupal portal and a few basic business funda.
One e chaupal is meant to serve around ten villages in a five km radius.
Another secondary but important role is played by samyojak, who provides logistic support.
E-chaupal supply chain
Pricing
The previous day mandi price is used to determine the benchmark fair price at the e-chaupal. The commission agents at the mandi feed this data into the e-chaupal portal which is then communicated to the sanchalak via portal.
Inspection and grading
To initiate a sale, a farmer brings his produce to the sanchalak who then conducts a quality check and makes appropriate deductions (if any) from the benchmark price and gives a conditional price to the farmer. If the farmer accepts the quote and wants to sell his produce to ITC, then the sanchalak gives him a note capturing his name, village name, quantity and quality of the produce, and the conditional price offered.
Weighing and payment
The farmer takes his produce along with the note from the sanchalak to the nearest ITC’s procurement hub where the produce is again tested in the laboratory against the sanchalak’s assessment. The produce is weighed on a electronic machine, first with the produce and then without it.
Hub logistics
The farmer is paid for his produce at the cash counter immediately and he is also reimbursed his transportation cost. All stages of procurement is duly documented and he is given all the receipts.
ITC entered the soy industry in the 1990’s. It soon realized the need for greater presence to understand the product dynamics in better way.
Production channels prior to E-chaupal
The Agricultural Products Marketing Act legislated the creation of mandis wherein the producers would bring in their crops for sale to the traders. Mandi trading is conducted by commission agents called adatiyas (who buy and sell produce). They belong to the Agarwal and Jain community. They for a close knit economic community.
Farmers bring their produce o the mandi in carts and more often than not, they arrive to the mandi in the night to avoid queue. When the mandi opens in the morning they bring their cart to the open area to display their produce.
The produce is inspected by sight. No test is conducted to check for oil content. No grading of the produce and the only instrument used is the moisture content meter.
Once the potential buyers have inspected the produce, auction is conducted by a mandi employee where commission agents place the bids. It is oral auction and the result of the six month of the farmer’s hard work is decided in just 30 seconds. For the commission agent, this is a routine job, there are loads of cart waiting to be auctioned.
The produce is then taken to the weighing area, either in the mandi complex itself or in the commission agent’s home nearby. In the latter case, the produce is packed in sacks and then weighed manually at the commission agent’s place. The farmer goes to the agent’s office to collect the cash. The agent pays the mandi fee to the mandi. The produce is then loaded on the buyer’s vehicle and then goes to the processing plant.
Limitations of the mandi system
1. Farmers have no idea of the price trend, hence no idea of optimal selling time.
2. Auctioning mechanism is not the best mechanism of the actual price discovery. Moreover, by the time the price is discovered thru auctioning, it’s too late for the farmer to go to the other mandi to sell his produce.
3. Farmers have to wait overnight for the mandi to open next day, adding to the overall cost.
4. Most crops are displayed in the open, hence negatively impacted by the weather conditions. the quality check are very crude. No incentive to the farmers to improve he product quality.
5. Farmers have to bear the cost of bagging and weighing, done by mandi laborers—part of whose compensation is the spilled produce. Hence they have no incentive to reduce the wastage thru spillage.
6. Under-weighing of the produce thru the use of faulty weighing machines.
7. Farmer is not paid upfront for his sale. He has to come to commission agent’s office several times to collect his money.
ITC’s initiatives
The Agricultural Produce Marketing Act prohibits procurement outside the mandi. ITC convinced the government that its model of business would within the spirit of the Act.
Under the business model, the company appoints a Sanchalak to manage one e-chaupal. The sanchalak is generally a person from the same village community who can read and write, has the risk taking ability, and lot of zeal with entrepreneurial spirit. He gets training from the nearest ITC centre on basic computer literacy, using e-chaupal portal and a few basic business funda.
One e chaupal is meant to serve around ten villages in a five km radius.
Another secondary but important role is played by samyojak, who provides logistic support.
E-chaupal supply chain
Pricing
The previous day mandi price is used to determine the benchmark fair price at the e-chaupal. The commission agents at the mandi feed this data into the e-chaupal portal which is then communicated to the sanchalak via portal.
Inspection and grading
To initiate a sale, a farmer brings his produce to the sanchalak who then conducts a quality check and makes appropriate deductions (if any) from the benchmark price and gives a conditional price to the farmer. If the farmer accepts the quote and wants to sell his produce to ITC, then the sanchalak gives him a note capturing his name, village name, quantity and quality of the produce, and the conditional price offered.
Weighing and payment
The farmer takes his produce along with the note from the sanchalak to the nearest ITC’s procurement hub where the produce is again tested in the laboratory against the sanchalak’s assessment. The produce is weighed on a electronic machine, first with the produce and then without it.
Hub logistics
The farmer is paid for his produce at the cash counter immediately and he is also reimbursed his transportation cost. All stages of procurement is duly documented and he is given all the receipts.
Tobin Tax
This tax was proposed by Mr. James Tobin of Yale University. He received Noble Prize in economics in 1981. Tobin tax is levied only on speculative foreign currency exchange transactions to deter speculation on currency fluctuations. The tax rate is very low (less tan 0.5%). It will not have any effect on long term longer term investments.
Approximately US $ 1 trillion worth of currency is traded every day in unregulated financial markets. Out of this, only 5% of the transactions are related to trade and other real economic transactions. The rest 95% is simply speculative in nature, betting on the exchange rate fluctuations and international interest rate differentials. This speculation is very dangerous for the national budgets, economic planning and allocation of resources.
Apart from deterring the speculative currency trade which harms national economic policies, the tax will generate billions of dollars in revenue by way of tax collection. Part of the revenue would go to the international funds while remaining to the national governments.
Benefits:
1. Reduction in the exchange rate volatility
2. More power to the national governments in determining fiscal and monetary policies
3. Revenue generation
Problems in implementation:
1. Need to forge an agreement among national governments on levying a uniform tax rate
2. Need to develop a mechanism on revenue sharing
Approximately US $ 1 trillion worth of currency is traded every day in unregulated financial markets. Out of this, only 5% of the transactions are related to trade and other real economic transactions. The rest 95% is simply speculative in nature, betting on the exchange rate fluctuations and international interest rate differentials. This speculation is very dangerous for the national budgets, economic planning and allocation of resources.
Apart from deterring the speculative currency trade which harms national economic policies, the tax will generate billions of dollars in revenue by way of tax collection. Part of the revenue would go to the international funds while remaining to the national governments.
Benefits:
1. Reduction in the exchange rate volatility
2. More power to the national governments in determining fiscal and monetary policies
3. Revenue generation
Problems in implementation:
1. Need to forge an agreement among national governments on levying a uniform tax rate
2. Need to develop a mechanism on revenue sharing
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