Maharashtra launches Labour Management System

The Maharashtra Government’s Labour Department has designed an innovative Labour Management System (LMS) on a public-private partnership (PPP) mode.

“The pilot project of the system, called ‘Mahashramm’, has successfully been completed and we are rolling it out in other parts of the State,” the Principal Secretary (Labour), Ms Kavita Gupta, said.

The Maharashtra Chief Minister, Mr Prithviraj Chavan, and the Labour Minister, Mr Hasan Mushrif, lauded the project at a function here yesterday, she said.

“The system is a win-win situation for industries and labour, as it interlinks industries, shops and establishments, construction contractors and other businesses, by providing financial inclusion and labour registration,” Ms Gupta said.

From online services to be provided to the establishments and businesses, user charges would be collected, which will go into the Mahashramm society fund and the same will be paid to the total service provider to register the labour force and give financial inclusion to them at no cost to the labourers.

Bata to expand online presence

Footwear major, Bata India, is planning to expand its presence in the online sphere through its virtual retail channel. The company, which now sells nearly 1,000 pairs a week, through its ten-month old online format, is targeting to triple sales (to 3,000 pairs per week) within a year or so.

According to Mr Rajeev Gopalakrishnan, Group Managing Director, Bata India Ltd, at present, “nearly 50 per cent of the company's orders come from the web” and Bata is looking forward to “exponential” growth in this format.

“We have nearly 1,200 retail stores across different locations in the country. It makes more sense for a customer to order online for (shoe) sizes that are not available in the stores,” he toldBusiness Line.

Bata India, currently, is one of the few companies amongst consumer goods majors to have its own online format. The company also sells its licensed products that include brands such as Hush Puppies, Oxford Street, Reebok, Scholls and Marie Claire — for kids, men and women — through the online store.

Tie Ups

In India, e-commerce sites like myntra.com, yebhi.com and bestylish.com have been in the forefront specialising in multi-brand retailing of footwear (for both men and women). The sites have done exceptionally well and if market sources are to be believed, they have grown at over 100 per cent in 2011.

According to Mr Gopalkrishnan, the footwear major will explore tie-up opportunities with e-commerce sites in the future.

JBM Group acquires TescoGo

JBM Cadmium Pvt Ltd, part of JBM Group, on Tuesday announced the acquisition of TescoGo, a leading provider of engineering services in product development process.

Over the years, TescoGo has been catering to a whole range of customers such as Piaggio, MAN, McLaren, MercedesBenz/Daimler, JMC Ford, Iveco, Lamborghini, Scania, Bajaj, BMW, Chrysler, FIAT, Maseratti and Tata.

TescoGo, was established 43 years ago and has a global presence in Detroit, London, Munich, Stuttgart and Turin.

(Source -: hindubusinessline.com)

Business Quiz

Q1. If Ericsson is the technology leader in mobile phone networks who is considered the cost leader?
Q2. Name this indian start up led by Naveen Tiwari that is emerging as a strong competitor to Google in mobile advertising.
Q3. Who are the partners of the finance e learning academy started by Mukesh Ambani?

Q4.  On retirement of the metro man E Sreedharan who has taken over as the new DMRC chief?

Q5. Fittingly in a year bad for business and markets which newspaper has chosen NOBODY as the businessman of the year?

Q6. Which PE firm was the Republican nominee Mitt Romney a joint founder of?

 Q7. Name this pioneering computer scientist who wrote a book called Mirror Worlds in 1991 where he foresaw the modern internet. 

Q8. What is RHEOLOGY a study of?

Q9. Name this innovator who created GMAIL, Adsense and gave the mantra ‘Dont be evil’ as the 23rd employee of Google.

Q10. What simple invention by Marc Koska has prevented an estimated 10m infections and 5m lives?

Q11.Which govt authority has a NFO for a tax free bond that is currently on and is attracting lot of investments?

Q12.  How are Deepti Salgaonkar and Neena Kothari linked to the Ambani family?”

Mahindra to launch Duro DZ scooter at Auto Expo

Auto major Mahindra will launch its new Duro DZ scooter model and unveil its MGP30 racing motorcycle at the Delhi Auto Expo next month.

"The Mahindra Duro DZ is a tough and powerful scooter designed specifically for Indian road conditions. The Duro DZ is the result of our R&D team working closely with consumers and extensive testing," Mahindra 2 Wheelers president Anoop Mathur said in a statement Tuesday.

Ruzbeh Irani, executive vice president (Corporate Strategy and Chief Brand Officer), said Mahindra Racing will unveil its new Moto3 challenger, the MGP30 for the first time in India.

Mahindra was the first Indian company to enter the MotoGP motorcycle racing championship in 2011.

Overall, around 50 new two-wheelers, cars, buses and trucks would be launched at the Auto Expo 2012 beginning here Jan 5.

The 11th edition of the biennial exhibition is being jointly organised by Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers (SIAM), the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) and Automotive Component Manufacturers Association of India (ACMA).

Some 1,500 exhibitors from 24 countries would participate in the trade show.

(Source-: economictimes.com)

Carmakers Nissan, Ford, Toyota, Hyundai, Maruti offering rebates on newly launched vehicles on dipping sales

  The slowdown in the Indian automotive market has taken an unexpected toll on car companies. While discounts and freebies have been doled out in the past few years to get rid of the old stock, in a radical move, the manufacturers are using the same tactic to sell even the most recently launched cars.

In fact, within days of their unveiling, cars have begun to sport discount tags. This, of course, translates into good deals for customers as they can snap up the latest models at a great bargains.

Nissan's new sedan, Sunny, was introduced just four months ago, but now comes with a discount package worth Rs 52,000. Another sedan, Ford Fiesta, which was launched in July, has also hit a rough sales patch and is offering a Rs 75,000 discount.

Small cars are no exception. Japanese carmaker Toyota is wooing customers for its new hatchback, Etios Liva, by offering selective discount options of up to Rs 40,000 on the petrol variant. Hyundai's much-touted hatchback, Eon, which made its global debut on 13 October and is pitted against the world's highest sold car, Maruti Alto, is now available at a discount of up to Rs 20,000 in select regions.

Marketing Glossary

Below the line “Below the line” is a term commonly used to refer to non-media advertising or promotion when no commission has been paid to the advertising agency. This includes direct mail, point of sale displays, and other sales promotions.

Benchmarking: The process of comparing the products and services of a business against those of competitors in a market, or leading businesses in other markets, in order to find ways of improving quality and performance.

Brand building: Developing a brand's image and standing with a view to creating long term benefits for brand awareness and brand value.

Brand loyalty: A strongly motivated and long standing decision to purchase a particular product or service.

Marketing News

It's an internet boom all over again and in 2011, almost 50 new internet companies were funded by venture capital firms. 2012 could spell an acceleration of this trend and internet users become more comfortable about transacting business online. In a recent interview with Shelley Singh, Sanjeev Aggarwal, senior managing director, Helion Advisors talks about the rising internet business.

There are two forces at play: the internet user base is up and domestic  consumption has gone up. Internet has no meaning if customers don't buy. The growth of travel web sites points to future trends. Travel has four million unique subscribers and yield a company like makemy trip with $70 million plus of business and a $1 billion market cap.

Digital marketing:

Digital Marketing is the promoting of brands using all forms of digital advertising channels to reach consumers. Digital marketing extends beyond Internet Marketing to include channels that do not require the use of the Internet. As a result of this non-reliance on the Internet, the field of digital marketing includes a whole host of elements such as television, radio, mobile phones (SMS/MMS), social media marketing, display advertising, and any other form of digital media. Previously seen as a stand-alone service in its own right, it is frequently being seen as a domain that can and does cover most, if not all, of the more traditional marketing areas such as Direct Marketing by providing the same method of communicating with an audience but in a digital fashion. Digital supports the servicing and engagement of customers.

Marketing Problem with solution:

Problem Description: The biggest mistake small businesses make in marketing is making everything so difficult for consumers to understand that they don't get it. Literally. And if they don’t get it, they usually don’t feel compelled to act, buy, etc. Small businesses try to market like big companies, when in fact they've missed the core components that will get a person to buy their products or services. they must stop trying to compete with the "big dogs" - find your own niche and your own market and become one of the big dogs.

Solution: By moving a customer from the point of just attracting their attention to inspiring them to actually take action - which is making a purchase from you. There are four steps to doing this.

·                        Step 1: Get their attention
You have competition, it doesn't have to be a lot of competition - but you have competition. It is up to you to get the attention of your consumers. Do you know how to do that? You speak to their need. You inform of them of the solution that you provide. If you don't provide a solution – it’s time to get back to the drawing board.

·                        Step 2: Create a marketing message that speaks to them.
You know your solution, now you have to create a message that says "I’m your answer." Have you done that with your marketing message? If not, why do you think they will buy your products or services? If you don't inform them about your product who will? Craft your marketing message so it's easy to understand and a consumer doesn't want to walk out of a store without purchasing your product or service and taking advantage of it right away. Your marketing message has to speak about the solution as well as creating an urgency for the need. Have you done that? If not, again take it back to the drawing board!’