Mnagement Guru

(Founder and Chairman of HCL)

SHIV NADAR

                                                                 ( Born 14 July, 1945)

Shiv Nadar  is an Indian industrialist and philanthropist. He is the founder and chairman of HCL and the Shiv Nadar Foundation. As of 2011, his personal wealth is US$ 5.6 billion. Shiv Nadar founded HCL in the mid-1970s and transformed the IT hardware company into an IT Enterprise over the next three decades by constantly reinventing his company's focus. In 2008, Nadar was awarded Padma Bhushan for his efforts in the IT industry. Nadar, nicknamed by friends as Magus (Old Persian for Wizard), since mid-1990s has focused his efforts in developing the educational system of India through the Shiv Nadar Foundation.

Early Life:

Shiv Nadar hails from Moolaipozhi village in the Thoothukudi district about 10 KM from Tiruchendur town in Tamil Nadu, India and was born in the Nadar community to Sivasubramaniya Nadar and Vamasundari Devi in 1946.

His mother, Vamasundari Devi and S. P. Adithanar, founder of Dina Thanthi were siblings. Shiv Nadar received a pre-University degree in The American College, Madurai and degree in Electrical And Electronics Engineering from PSG College of Technology, Coimbatore. He began his career at Walchand Group's Cooper Engineering in Pune in 1967.

HR Article

The Educated Training Consumer

Why Is Training Undervalued?

Training and development activities can increase the capabilities and abilities of most organizations. Virtually every recent management leaders (eg. Deming, Crosby, Senge), have stressed the importance of learning as a primary tool for organizational success. That said, training as a whole, is not consistently valued by managers or staff. Even when managers support training through what they say, when the time comes to allocate resources for training, it is often the new photocopier that wins out.

Staff can also be ambivalent. We've noticed a shift in the perceptions of employees regarding training. Ten years ago, training was often regarded as a pleasant break from work, a chance to learn a few things and meet others. Now overworked staff are more hesitant to even attend. Being away from the workplace for a day means that somehow a day's work must be made up.
Since we work in the training delivery sector, you might expect us to attribute the undervaluing of training to neanderthal managers, prehistoric like organizations, or burned out employees. In fact, we think the explanation must lie with the profession itself. Perhaps training is undervalued because it often doesn't provide value! If that is so, then the responsibility must lie squarely with training practitioners. We are going to look at some aspects of the training profession so that you can become a more educated training consumer.

The Problems With Training

In our years in the training profession we have made the following observations:

1. Trainers are often more interested in selling a program than helping you and your staff improve performance or organization effectiveness.
2. Trainers generally move into training from other jobs. Few people choose training as a primary career choice. Hence they are unlikely to have undergone rigorous training in psychology, learning, interpersonal relationships, etc. They are less likely
to have formal training in the content they will be teaching.
3. The training profession is dominated by a culture that includes the notion that a trainer does not need to have advanced knowledge about what s/he is teaching.

Marketing Glossary

Involvement

The level of interest, emotion and activity which the consumer is prepared to expend on a particular purchase

Labelling

Packaging information that can be used for a variety of promotional, informational and legal purposes.

 Laggards

The group of consumers who are typically last to buy a new product Late majority People who are quite sceptical about new products but eventually adopt them because of economic necessity or social pressure

Lifestyle

Lifestyle is a person’s pattern of living as expressed in his or her activities, interests and opinions

Lifestyle segmentation

Lifestyle segmentation of a market is based on identifying lifestyle characteristics of customers that enable target customer groups to be identified. Many businesses now segment their markets by lifestyles, as these are increasingly seen as good predictors of consumer behaviour. Most companies use off-the-shelf research-agency classifications (such as the Target Group Index), because of the high cost and complexity of developing their own.

Thought for the Day

Thought for the day

Education is one of the few things a person is willing to pay for and not get.

- William Lowe Bryan

Business News

Technological innovations: Entertainment, education, monetary transactions all set to turn smarter this year

The world is getting increasingly influenced by technology and how people interact with it in their day-to-day lives. All the same, technology itself keeps changing, evolving and throwing up ever-newer possibilities. As we turn the corner on another year, the tech landscape too will shift gears, taking us even closer to a more interactive, personalised, mobile and connected future. Here are a few key trends in technology that are likely to make an impact or break new ground in 2013:



With mobile phones more widespread than banking, mobile payment is the next big payment method in India.



 Multitude of screens

It is curious to note that despite many industry watchers predicting the end of certain media types — the latest 'favourite' being the PC — they have continued to coexist and add to our overall experience. The year 2013 will likely establish the presence and utility of multiple screens in our lives, including TVs, PCs, tablets and, of course, phones. What technology companies will aim is to resolve the problems caused by fragmentation and the lack of common standards. Internet companies will come up with cool and innovative mobile-first experiences that will wow consumers with their simple, open, compelling and feature-rich applications.

Computing will get 'more ubiquitous'

No, you are right: just saying 'ubiquitous' is enough to convey the idea of how pervasive computing is getting. But while the concept of ubiquitous computing — also called the Internet of Things — has been around for some time, we are still not there — not quite. The coming year will possibly see more devices getting connected to each other through internet protocol (IP) than any other time in history.

World of Massive Open Online Courses (Moocs)

It's never been easier to take a course online. A new model of online courses open to people all over the globe via the internet has quickly gained ground and support among global universities in recent months. Moocs is a new generation of online education, freely accessible on the internet and geared towards very large student numbers. The buzz began last fall in the US when more than 1,60,000 students in more than 190 countries signed up to take a free artificial intelligence course taught by Stanford research professor Sebastian Thrun. Moocs are built on efficiency of scale, making a world-class professor or university accessible to thousands of students at once. The enthusiasm for Moocs reflects excitement about the potential economic benefits that could be unlocked by bringing higher education to people around the world. From free courses to partial or entire online degrees, one can't help but wonder about the future landscape of higher education in 2013!

Management Guru

I PLANT A SEED, IT'S UP TO PEOPLE TO NURTURE IT

ROOSHIKUMAR PANDYA

I've been a teacher all my life,'' says Rooshikumar Pandya with a smile. ''The first lesson I learnt as a Sanskrit teacher in an elementary school was that my job was not so much to teach children slokas and mantras, as to make sure that they never scraped their shoes and chappals on the bare floor (which was my habit when the speaker bored me!). This has always remained as an feedback system. This is why at 62, I continue teaching!''

He was also a learner, picking up a BA, MA and an L.L.B., before he got a Fulbright scholarship to go to the USA. He did not speak English then, so he decided to learn and within six months he was teaching English to Americans. He attributes his success to an innate love for words and languages, plus an yen for challenges.

HR Article

The Johari Window

Using Self-Discovery and Communication to Build Trust

Have you ever been part of a team where everyone was completely open with one another?

If so, then the chances are that you worked extremely effectively together. You knew your co-workers very well, and there was a solid foundation of trust between you. As a result of this positive working environment, you probably accomplished a great deal with this group.

Most of us realize that teams rely on trust in order to function productively, but how do you go about building that trust?

The Johari Window improves communication and trust.The Johari Window is a model that helps you do this, and it helps you learn important things about yourself, and so develop as a human being.

In this article we'll look at how the Johari Window works, and we'll see how you can use it with your team to improve communication and trust.

Business News

Daimler seeks stake in China car maker: Report

Daimler is planning to buy a 10 to 20 per cent stake in the passenger car unit of its Chinese partner BAIC Group and could sign the deal on Friday.

German auto maker Daimler is planning to buy a 10 to 20 per cent stake in the passenger car unit of its Chinese partner BAIC Group and could sign the deal Friday, a state-backed newspaper said.

The National Business Daily said on Thursday the deal for a portion of BAIC Motor will enhance Daimler's presence in China, the world's largest auto market and the third largest for Daimler unit Mercedes-Benz after Germany and the US.

BAIC could not be reached for comment on Thursday. Daimler declined to comment on Wednesday, calling recent media reports "speculation".

Earlier this month, Daimler chief Dieter Zetsche said the German company could take a stake in BAIC Motor ahead of its flotation.

BAIC Motor is planning a listing in Hong Kong later this year and is seeking to raise 10 billion yuan ($1.6 billion), BAIC Group chairman Xu Heyi has said, according to Chinese state media reports.

Marketing Glossary

Direct response advertising
Direct response advertising is that which incorporates a contact method such as a phone number, address and enquiry form, web site URL or email address. This is done with the intention of encouraging the recipient to respond directly to the advertiser by requesting more information, placing an order etc. The use of this technique on television is commonly referred to as DRTV advertising

Distribution channelThe network of organisations necessary to distribute goods or services from the manufacturers to the consumers; the distribution channel therefore potentially consists of manufacturers, distributors, wholesalers, and retailers.

Distributors

Companies that buy and sell on their own account but tend to deal in the goods of only certain specified manufacturers.

Divest

A strategy based on the Boston Matrix. Here the company can divest the SBU by phasing it out or selling it in order to use the resources elsewhere (e.g. investing in the more promising "question marks").

HR Article

Getting Value From Training

  Get Some ROI (Return On Investment)

All too often, potential benefits from training seminars are lost because the supports required for the application of learning are absent. And let's face it -- nobody can afford to send people for training just for the fun of it. We all expect that training will somehow impact upon a person's present or future ability to contribute to the employing organization. How do we "make it so"? That's our topic this month.

General Principles

Getting value from training isn't magical. There are some general principles that you can adapt to ensure that training for yourself and your staff results in changes in the workplace.

First, training that adds value tends to be integrated with other management systems. That is, training decisions and actions are carried out with reference to performance management systems, strategic planning processes, and career development initiatives. Training must be managed so that it is planned, and deliberately and clearly linked to workplace outcomes. When training is used as a reward, or its goals aren't clear to all concerned, it is rare that it has any positive impact.

Second, training that adds value actually has three components. First there is the training planning component. Then training occurs. Most important is the third component -- follow-up. Mechanisms must be in place to provide reinforcement to the learner for his or her efforts to implement what has been learned.

Finally, training that adds value occurs when there is an infrastructure in place that supports the learner's application of what has been learned. For example, if people attend a workshop on the use of a computer-based word processor, training will only add value if the software and hardware is available and in place when the person returns from training. While we normally think of infrastructure as relating to things, it can also refer to elements like time. For example, people attending a seminar on the use of effective management techniques will only be able to use what has been learned if they have sufficient time to do so.

So, getting value from training requires integration, planning, follow-up and infrastructure. While getting value should be a shared responsibility on the part of attendee(s) and manager, the manager plays a critical role in helping to create the conditions under which training will add value.

Thought for the Day