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1. PRATIBIMB The Reflection of Management
FINANCE | GENERAL MANAGEMENT | HUMAN RESOURCE | MARKETING | HEALTHCARE | OPERATIONS | SYSTEMS
LIBOR’s Labour’s Lost
By Anuj Narula and Prakash Nishtala, NMIMS Mumbai
Book Review of The Google Story
By Madhukara Holla , TAPMI
Exclusive Interview of
Mr. Sanat Satyan
Research Associate, Equity Research - Oil & Gas sector,
Nomura
Mass vs. Class: Branding for BOP
Revisited
By Unnikrishnan Nair and Utkarsh Sachdeva, TAPMI
A Students’ Initiative
Pratibimb | October 2012 | 1
Volume II, Issue XIV October 2012 A Monthly e-Magazine

2. T. A. Pai Management Institute
Manipal, Karnataka
About TAPMI
T. A. Pai Management Institute (TAPMI) is a premier management institute situated in
Manipal and is well known for its academic rigor and faculty-student interaction. The
Institute has been recently ranked amongst top 1 per cent of B-schools in India and 4th
in the South Zone by The Week Magazine.
Founded by the visionary, Late Shri. T. A. Pai, TAPMI‖s mission is to provide much
needed impetus to the task of building professional management capability in the
country. In the process, it has also played a role in strengthening the existing
educational and health infrastructure of Manipal.
Our Mission
Team Pratibimb is committed to excellence in post graduate management education,
research and practice by nurturing and developing global wealth creators and leaders.
We shall continually benchmark ourselves against the best-in-class institutions. We
shall foster continuous learning and reflection, achievement-orientation, creative
interdependence, and respect for diversity with a holistic concern for ethics,
environment and society.
Pratibimb | October 2012 | 2

3. PRATIBIMB
TAPMI‖s e-Magazine - is the conglomeration of the various specializations in MBA (Marketing,
Finance, HR, Systems and Operations). It is primarily
intended to provide insights into the plethora of knowledge
that relate to the various departments of Management and
to give an opportunity to the students of TAPMI and the best
brains across country to exhibit their creative cells. The
magazine also strives to bring expert inputs from industries,
thereby bringing the academia and industry together.
Pratibimb the e-Magazine of TAPMI had its first issue in
December 2010. The issue comprised of an interview of well
known writer Ms. Rashmi Bansal along with a series of
articles by students and industry experts like Madhu Sudan
Rao (AVP-Delivery, Mahindra Satyam) & Ed Cohen who is a
global leader and chief learning officer who led Booz Allen
Hamilton & Satyam Computer Services to the first rank
globally for learning & development . It also included a
hugely successful and engrossing game for finance geeks called “Beat the Market” to bring
out the application based knowledge of students by providing them the platform where they
were expected to predict the stock prices of two selected stocks on a future date. The
magazine is primarily intended for the development of all around management knowledge
by providing unbiased critical insights into the modern developments.
TAPMI believes that learning is a continuous process and is not limited to the four walls of
the classroom. This viewpoint is further enhanced through Pratibimb wherein students
manage and contribute to create a refreshing learning environment outside the classrooms
which eventually leads to a holistic development process. The magazine provides a
competitive platform and opportunity to the students where they can compete with the best
brains from various B-Schools in the country. The magazine also provides a platform for
prominent industry stalwarts to communicate their views and learning about and from the
recent developments from their respective fields of business which in turn helps to create a
collaborative learning base for its readers.
Team Pratibimb is committed in continuing this initiative by bringing in continuous
improvement in the magazine by including quality articles related to various management
issues and eventually creating a more engaging relationship with its readers by providing
them a platform to showcase their talent.
We invite all the best brains across B-Schools to be part of this initiative and help us take this
to the next level.
Pratibimb | October 2012 | 3

4. Director’s
Message
It is always a pleasure to witness that certain efforts of the students are sustained and
carried forward; Pratibimb is one such. The oft-beaten track, “We are here to learn,” ends up
as a mere platitude when there are no visible actions and documentation. Whereas there is
no dearth of actions at TAPMI, documentation is not something that many—other than
scholars—choose to engage in; it is normally viewed as uninteresting, drab and a drudgery.
TAPMIans have proved that they are equally capable of actions and of documentation
without losing the intellectual flavour of it.
Scholarship is too important a phenomenon to be left to scholars alone, especially in the field
of management. As future practicing managers who will be engaged in rigorous action in
different fields of business, TAPMIans have manifested both the penchant to produce
research works and also get their counterparts in other leading business schools to
contribute their thoughts to this endeavour. In this regard, TAPMIans have truly
demonstrated the evidence for creative interdependence, an important aspect of TAPMI‖s
mission.
I sincerely appreciate the students and the faculty of TAPMI who have made Pratibimb a
possibility through their scholarly works, co-ordination efforts and support. I wish the team
the very best.
Dr. R. C. Natarajan
Pratibimb | October 2012 | 4

5. Editor’s Corner
Dear Readers, Editor in Chief
Sushmit Sinha
UPA’s economic blitzkrieg perfectly coincided with a special event on
campus. Described as “a true corporate event which had far too many Marketing & Advertising
variables to be managed” – Horizon 2012, the annual finance conclave of Manish Mishra
TAPMI conducted on 22nd September was a grand success. Mr Sushil
Design
Shah (Head – Banking and Finance, First Source) also adds that
TAPMIANS have “displayed an excellent temperament in running the Abhishek Dubey
program, something which is critical in corporate careers”. Horizon 2012
Creative & Cover Design
saw the participation of eminent persons from the area of finance who
Namrata Mahapatra
engaged in panel discussions and guest lectures. Team Pratibimb would
like to thank Nishith Maheshwari of PGP-2 who is an active member of Communications
the Finance Forum for sharing his experience in this issue and
Divyanshu
Jayakrishnan T R of PGP-2 who has sought an exclusive interview from
Varun Anant
fellow alumnus Mr Sanat Satyan (PGDM 2008, Senior Analyst, Nomura)
on the sidelines of the conclave. Sub-Editors
Abhishek Raghupungav
At the Late Show with Dave Letterman, British Prime Minister David Aditya Bhat
Cameron jokingly narrated how his government has ‘shamelessly’ Arun Stephen
leveraged the success of the London Olympics to bring in investors. Devi Kailas
Sankalp Parihar and Kirti Dua’s article Marketing Lessons from London Kannan Venkat
Olympics looks at the event with a different view. Britain’s PR strategy Pallavi Prasad
may have worked at last and it is especially a refreshing change from the Rithwik Krishnakumar
moribund Royal ceremonies. This issue’s Best Article Contest winners are
TAPMIANS Unnikrishnan Nair and Utkarsh Sachdeva who have Publishing
thoroughly analysed the BoP segments in India in their article Mass vs. Vandna Soni
Class: Branding for BoP Revisited - debunking common myths that
marketers harbour. On behalf of our entire team, I wish to congratulate
them on their wonderful piece. Faculty Advisors
Teeming with variety, the October edition has a rich assortment of items. Prof. Chowdari Prasad
Second year student Madhukara Holla offers a spectacular starter kit to Dean (Branding and Promotions)
“the Google Phenomenon” in his review of the bestseller – The Google
Story. Harsha Vatnani has shared her valuable experiences from the HCL Prof. Vinod Madhavan
Asst. Prof. , Marketing
Emerging Women Leaders Conference which she attended at NOIDA and
Chandrakumar N, the key person who, along with his team, bore the Prof. Srivatsa H S
herculean responsibility of hosting DISHA, TAPMIs annual HR conclave Associate Prof. , Marketing
also shares his personal learning from the 2-day event. Team Pratibimb
would like to thank Utkarsh Sachdeva. Utkarsh, PGP-2, has been Prof. Vrishali N Bhat
instrumental in helping our team with deployment of a project Asst. Prof. , Economics & Finance
management tool which has streamlined much of our processes. Our lead
Prof. Animesh Bahadur
times have fallen thanks to his technocratic prowess!
Asst. Prof. , Human Resources
Stay updated, like our page to hear more from us at Prof. Sanjay Choudhari
http://www.facebook.com/pratibimb.reflecting.management Asst. Prof. , Operations
We would like to thank all faculty members who have provided their
valuable feedback to help maintain the standards we have strived to Prof. Mohan Kumar V
Associate Prof. , Systems
achieve. Also, send in your valuable suggestions or feedback to
pratibimb@tapmi.edu.in
Enjoy Reading!
~ Sushmit Sinha
Pratibimb | October 2012 | 5

6. Contents
Indian Logistics The Way Forward – Challenges & Opportunities 7
by Md Umair Ansari & Rahul Jain, IIFT
LIBOR‖s Labour‖s Lost 10
by Anuj Narula and Prakash Nishtala, NMIMS Mumbai
Marketing Lessons from Olympics London 2012 13
by Sankalp Singh Parihar & Kriti Dua, Great Lakes Institute of Management
Mass vs. Class: Branding for BOP Revisited 16
by Unnikrishnan Nair and Utkarsh Sachdeva, TAPMI
Personalization: 8th P of Service Industry 21
by Arpit Bansal, SIMS, Pune
Interview : Mr. Sanat Satyan 24
Research Associate, Equity Research - Oil & Gas sector, Nomura
Disha 2012 : The Learning Experience 27
by Chandrakumar N, TAPMI
Horizon 2012: Money Matters 30
by Nishith Maheshwari, TAPMI
Book Review: The Google Story 33
By Madhukar Holla, TAPMI
Experiences at the HCL Conference 35
by Harsha Vatnani , TAPMI
Slideshare 37
by Sahil Anand , TAPMI
Pratibimb | October 2012 | 6

7. Indian Logistics The Way
Forward – Challenges &
Opportunities
by Md Umair Ansari and Rahul Jain, IIFT
Logistics Sector in India: The logistics sector in India has today become a key
performance indicator of the economy. One of the primary reasons for it is that
years of high growth in the Indian economy has resulted in a significant rise in
the volume of freight traffic moved. This large volume of traffic has opened up
new growth opportunities in all facets of logistics including transportation,
warehousing, freight forwarding, express cargo delivery, container services,
shipping services etc. According to the World Bank‖s Logistic Performance Index
(LPI), India is ranked 39th place among 150 countries of the world.
Growth in Freight Volumes in India
Size of Logistics
Industry in
India: Various
estimates put the
total market size
“Logistics cost is 13% of of the logistics
sector in India to
India’s GDP in comparison be between USD
90-125 billion.
to 11% in Europe and 9% Sources also
estimate that the logistics sector employs over 4 5 million people in India.
in the U.S. “
Country Wise Comparative Analysis of Logistics Sector
Source: Thomas Weisel International Estimates; Agile Advisory; IIM.ac.in
Pratibimb | October 2012 | 7

8. Why Logistics sector is important to India‖s why the Indian logistics sector prefers road over rail
Economic growth: Logistics cost is 13% of India‖s GDP for transportation of goods
in comparison to 11% in Europe and 9% in the U.S.
 Important rail networks are oversaturated.
There is no doubt that in India, an increasing demand
There has been no significant capacity addition
is being placed on the logistics sector to provide
to Indian Rail since Independence (Refer the
solutions which are required to support future
graph below)
growth.
 Rail freight tariffs are comparatively higher
Indian Logistics Industry Structure: The logistics  Transit times are long and uncertain
 Rail terminal quality is poor
sector in India operates in the following four broad
 Less flexibility in carrying different types of
segments, they are depicted in the chart below: Products
 Railway carriage not easy for industries which
Future Outlook of Logistics sector in India: The cannot provide full train loads
industry is expected to grow annually at the rate of 15
- 20 per cent, reaching revenues of approximately $
385bn by 2015. Market share of organised logistics
players is also expected to double to 12 per cent by
2015. Third party logistics (3PL) business in India is
anticipated to hit US$ 90mn by 2012.
Comparative analysis of the Freight rate increase of
Indian Rail over the years.
Issues plaguing the Road Transportation in India:
The road movement in India has its own shares of
Source: Thomas Weisel International Estimates; Agile problems. Those problems are summarized below:
Advisory  Coverage of road network is inadequate
 Quality of the roads is inadequate
Key Challenges of the Indian Logistics Industry
 Expressway road network is in its infancy stage
Transportation related challenges: The
 Delays due to multiple checkpoint
predominant mode of transportation of freight cargo
in India is roads. In India nearly 61% of the cargo is
transported by road, 30% by rail and rest by airways, Challenges faced by Air Transport: Given below are
inland waterways and pipelines. This as compared to the strategic challenges of the Logistics Industry
a 37% share of road in USA and 22% in China. This is a vis-a-vis air transport
well known fact that movement of bulk cargo by road  Rising Air Turbine Fuel (ATF) prices
is always less efficient as compared to rail.
 Ever growing congestion at Airports
 Delay in cargo handling and clearances
Issues faced by Port Sector in India: Following are
some of the key problems being faced by the port
sector in India
 High turnaround times
 Inadequate depth at ports
 Costal shipping is yet to take off in India
Challenges relating to the Storage Infrastructure:
Comparative share of Highway & Railway as mode of  Poor state of Inland Container Depot (ICD) &
transport in Indian Logistics sector Container Freight Stations (CFS)
 Poor Warehousing Facilities
Why the Logistics Industry Prefers Transportation  State of cold storages is poor
Through Road Over Rail : Following are the reasons  Multimodal Logistics parks is yet to take off in
Pratibimb | October 2012 | 8

9. India
Indicator India China Brazil South
Africa
Technology & Skill Related Challenges: The Documents to Ex- 8 7 8 8
port (Number)
logistics sector in India has suffered a lot due to the Time to Export 17 21 13 30
low rates of technology adoption and poor skill (Days)
Cost to Export 1055 500 17907 1531
levels. ( US $ per contain-
er)
Documents to Im- 9 5 7 9
There is a substantial opportunity to save on
port (Number)
transportation and In Transit Losses with the Time to Import 20 24 17 35
adoption of technology (Days)
Cost to Import 1025 545 1730 1807
Constituents of India ( US $ per contain-
er)
Total Logistics
Comparative Analysis of the KPI‖s of the
Cost
Logistics Industry of Emerging Economies
Source: Logistics Performance Index
Transportation 35% Report 2010
Warehouse & 9%
Handling
Inventory 25%
Packaging 11%
Customers & 6%
Shopping
Transit Losses 14%
Technology cost < 1%
Source: Logistics Performance Index Report 2010
Indian logistics Industry – The Way Forward:
In the years to come, the Indian economy will be
driven by sectors like manufacturing and retail. So for References
these sectors to contribute effectively to the economy,  Logistical Bottlenecks in India: Government
the logistics industry in India will have to improve Interventions &Policy Initiatives – Dr Ram Singh –
upon its lacunae and deliver value enabling solutions. Assistant Professor, IIFT Delhi
 Logistics Industry: Global and Indian Perspectives –
To achieve this, the logistics industry needs to focus
Subrata Mitra – Assistant professor – IIM Calcutta
on the following fronts:
 Expand distribution channels and increase
consumer reach
 Reduce operational cost & improve delivery
time
 Overcome infrastructure bottlenecks &
implement E-Infrastructure
 Efficient port utilisation and decreasing the
turnaround time
 Increase investments in storage infrastructure
i.e. warehouses & cold storages
 Organise the trucking operations on a pan India
basis
 Adopt the latest technology
 Address skill gaps issues
Pratibimb | October 2012 | 9

10. LIBOR’s Labour’s Lost
by Anuj Narula and Prakash Nishtala, NMIMS Mumbai
In 1598, William Shakespeare scripted the rib-tickling comedy “Love‖s Labour‖s
Lost”. The world has seen an unprecedented paradigm shift by then. But, now,
the history seems to repeat itself. This time around, Barclays comes up with an ad
nauseam thriller, “LIBOR‖s Labour‖s Lost”.
Prelude
During the late 1984 and early 1985, the financial world felt an inalienable need
to provide a standardized rate to facilitate the ever increasing usage of new
financial instruments such as interest rate swaps, foreign currency options, and
forward rate agreements, that‖s when LIBOR, or the London Interbank Offered
Rate, was born. Countries that rely on the LIBOR for a reference rate include the
likes of United States, Canada, Switzerland and the U.K.
LIBOR is the average interest rate estimated by leading banks in London. The
Banks charge this rate for lending credit to other banks in the London Interbank
Market. For instance, a multi-national corporation (MNC) with a very good credit
rating may be able to borrow money for one year at LIBOR plus four to five
points. LIBOR is calculated and published by Thomson Reuters on behalf of the
British Banker‖s Association (BBA) after 11:00 AM (usually around 11:45 AM) each
day (London time) on a daily basis wherein they survey interbank interest rate
quotes by 16 large banks. The submitted rates are, then, ranked and the mean is
calculated using only the two middle quartiles of the ranking. So, if 16 rates are
submitted, the middle 8 rates are used to calculate the mean. The calculated
mean becomes the London Inter-bank Offered Rate for that particular currency,
maturity, and fixing date. The rate at which each bank submits must be formed
from that bank‖s perception of its cost of funds in the interbank market. It is
published for various currencies and for maturities ranging from overnight to one
“Right from LIBOR’s in- year.
ception, it has enjoyed BBA follows a typical, believed by many as immaculate, method for calculating
fame and acceptance in the sacrosanct LIBOR for the day. LIBOR plays a much crucial role by not only
providing information about the cost of borrowing in different currencies but it
a world where change is also actually influences it. LIBOR, the lingua franca of the banks helps them in
the only constant.” figuring out what they should charge for not just home loans, but car loans,
commercial loans, credit cards.
Plot (LIBOR, Lie More?)
So far the LIBOR‖s journey was a dream run. Right from its inception, it has
enjoyed fame and acceptance in a world where change is the only constant. But,
all was not rosy as it appeared. As every flick has its protagonist, this story had
the Wall Street Journal (WSJ) as its saviour. In 2008, WSJ released a controversial
study suggesting that some banks might have understated borrowing costs they
Pratibimb | October 2012 | 10

11. reported for LIBOR during the 2008 credit crunch that the need for a reference rate in the debt market was
may have misled others about the financial position of felt. The National Stock Exchange (NSE) on 15 June
these banks. 1998, developed the Mumbai Inter-Bank Offered Rate,
referred to as MIBOR, on the lines of LIBOR.
To obliterate gloomy economic scenario, banks
showed lower than actual interest rates. The lower These rates are calculated by a combination of two
interest rates therefore resulted in lower LIBOR and methods—polling and bootstrapping. In the polling
thus heaved up the confidence and increased lending. method, like in the case of LIBOR, the data is collected
As LIBOR is the average of the interest quotes by from the panel of 30 banks which has a mix of public
different banks, so rigging of LIBOR would have sector banks, private sector banks, foreign banks and
involved many banks. primary dealers.
Why was the rate rigged in the first place? A close How safe is MIBOR?
examination into the issue transpired that Barclays
As MIBOR shares a similar DNA as that of its elder
was itself facing rising interest rates; had it provided
brother LIBOR, it might also have a little room to get
the same rates to BBA, it would have created an
manipulated.
unhealthy picture on the bank‖s financial stability and
liquidity issues it was facing would have surfaced. So, But, MIBOR has its own merits over LIBOR which
in order to protect its own interest Barclays resented makes it a bit safer. Firstly, instead of omitting 2
on reporting (read rigging) lower rates so as to highest and 2 lowest rates as is done in case of LIBOR,
present a merrier outlook to the outer world. The NSE uses a statistical technique called bootstrapping
rigging happened between 2005 and 2009, as often as to separate the outliers and determine the mean rate.
daily. It is expected to help against any attempt by the
market participants to come together and influence
Creating a bang in the already turbulent banking
rates. Secondly, though in a less extent, the very fact
world- thanks to Euro crisis, the WSJ report on rigging
of Indian banking system being largely dominated by
was welcomed with raised eyebrows and harsh
public sector banks makes one to believe that MIBOR
criticisms. A fast-paced turns of events ranging from
could not be affected by private players to satiate
staunch investigations into the conversations of
their own interests.
Barclays‖ CEO Bob Diamond and the Deputy Governor
of Bank of England to the Barclays‖ public admittance Learning from LIBOR scandal
of the rigging, the world witnessed abdication of three
stalwarts of Barclays from the throne. Barclays Bank Prior to the exposure of scandal, proponents of LIBOR
was fined a total of £290 million (US$450 million) for were too confident about its piousness. Promoters of
attempting to manipulate the daily settings of LIBOR. MIBOR such as Reserve Bank of India (RBI) should act
proactively to tighten the possible loose links and to
What‖s the big deal? cover the undiscovered loopholes.
Upshots on proletarian: If LIBOR is very high that The case in point is the possible switching over of
means one needs to dish out more to avail the credit. MIBOR calculation to actual dealt rates on a trading
If it‖s maneuvered towards a lower rate, it implies that platform. As India has online, screen-based trading of
your interest earnings on savings account would be money market instruments such as call money, unlike
subdued. Hence, in either ways, a manipulation would voice-based markets in many countries, it makes
lead to common man‖s loss. sense to move to a transparent, actual screen based
traded rate system which could capture actual MIBOR
As it is used as a benchmark for deciding various rates
levels.
across numerous banks including central banks or
even EURIBOR, so at a macroeconomic scale, it has Epilogue
the potential to create many ripples in financial assets
worth $500 trillion. As the Shakespeare‖s classic had not only the King of
Navarre involved in the promiscuity, he had an
Mumbai Inter-Bank Offered Rate (MIBOR) - The unflinching support from his three noble companions
Younger Brother as well, on a similar line, even in this story Barclays is
not forlorn, they reportedly, have support from many
In India, as the financial markets started developing,
Pratibimb | October 2012 | 11

12. other players (refer to Exhibit 1) of the game. The
immediate action in the current context should be to
identify the hidden miscreants and subject them to
serious punishments.
What we require today from regulators is not merely
whipping fines on the perpetrators rather a system
should
Exhibit 1
evolve wherein there is no scope for manipulation at
all.
The world is now hopeful that one day, preferably
sooner than later, the system should get clear of all
the malpractices and the market participants can
again reinforce their faith in LIBOR.
The time must come sooner when we could say,
“LIBOR‖s LABOUR‖s WON!”
References
 The Economic Times, Monday, July 23, 2012, Mumbai
Edition
 Exhibit 1: http://chasvoice.blogspot.com/2012/08/
the-libor-cartel.html
Pratibimb | October 2012 | 12

13. Marketing Lessons from
Olympics London 2012
by Sankalp Singh Parihar & Kriti Dua,
Great Lakes Institute of Management
Citius, Altius, Fortius.
Think of Olympics and suddenly there is a gleam of happiness over your face, an
amiable visage one which radiates and exudes only joy. It is an event that unites us,
binds us, combines us to synergize and support our athletes; it is the ultimate test of
human sporting capability and mettle. For fifteen days billions of people across
hundreds of nations wait and watch with bated breaths as their favorite stars sweat it
out with the best of the best. Each jump is an anticipated medal, each lunge another
jewel in the crown, each maneuver another name in the annals of history. It is those
fifteen days when the human mind is riveted to the television and newspaper
scurrying from one medium to another to find out the latest medal tally or the
progress of their favorite stars. Each outcry resonates the same emotion: What‖s the
progress? Did we win? Have we qualified? What‖s the tally?
It is this event when the world comes to a standstill to listen to this extravaganza when
you have the best opportunity to market yourself. A brand would not gather more
eyeballs at any other event or time than this. It is this small window, this small crevice
when you can do wonders with your product and market yourself to new pedestals of
success. Olympics 2012 cost London approximately $14.6 billion dollars.
Notwithstanding the high cost, 11 MNCs paid $1 billion dollars as sponsor fees. These
MNCs are Coca Cola, ATOS, Acer, GE, Panasonic, Samsung, Dow Chemicals, McDonald‖s
Corp., Omega, P&G and VISA. Now if a company pays top dollar for such event it is
safe to assume that it is betting its bottom dollar that the event would be a success.
And success it was. London 2012 Olympics was hailed by many as the best Olympics
“London 2012 so far. Over 10,000 athletes from 204 countries took part and captured the world‖s
Olympics was attention. USA grabbed the highest number of golds, followed by China and Great
Britain. London 2012 was called the first true Social Media Olympics, keeping in mind
hailed by many as that Twitter, Facebook and other social media were in full flow and usage, both by
advertisers as well as the common public which sent more than 150 million tweets in
the best Olympics the span of 15 days. Chat rooms, Facebook walls, tweets, messages etc. were abuzz
so far. “ with Olympics. People were either discussing sports strategies, medal tallies, next
competitions, prospects or quite surprisingly, advertisement and about brands. So
what exactly were the advertisers doing during this marathon 15 day event?
Official sponsors, advertisers, etc. all were busy creating a buzz around Olympics.
Some were extremely successful, others not so much. So what were the chief
marketing lessons from London Olympics 2012?
Lesson #1: It is no longer just an advertisement
Gone are the days when a simple and traditional advertisement before and during the
Pratibimb | October 2012 | 13

14. Olympics‖ broadcast was enough. Or printing a simple Lesson #3: Strike an emotional chord with the
pamphlet or securing a half page advertisement is a public
popular magazine was sufficient. Today it‖s it is no
Yes, it‖s an ecstatic sport. Yes, Olympics makes nations
longer just an advertisement. Give the consumers or
proud and athletes celebrities, but nothing creates a
the people more than that. Create a mobile app,
connection more than emotion. That unrestrained
compose a catchy jingle, start an optimistic
bundle of joy that touches the sweet spot of your
discussion, churn support for your athletes. General
heart; one which creates a whiff of joy and evokes that
Electric did just that. It created a Facebook application
wonderful tear of happiness, yes make your
that let users to work out like an Olympian. And not
consumers emotional. Proctor and Gamble did exactly
only that, it handpicked four sport stars that had the
that and reaped rich benefits! Its emotional campaign
largest online fan following to create a campaign.
―Thank you mom‖ on social networking sites featured
Panasonic which has a relative low presence in online
an emotional video showing different scenes: It starts
social media also created an online app that allowed
with a line stating “They weren‖t born an Olympians.”
people to superimpose their national flag on their
Then come the emotional scenes: a young kid held by
pictures and some of the best pictures were then
his mother as he stumbles to his first paddles in a
displayed on huge screens in the Olympic parks.
cycle, a concerned mom bandaging her hurt child, a
Engagement is now necessary. Just an advertisement
joyous mother playfully wrestling his son, a mom
is passé.
bathing her child in the bath tub. Next frame: Olympic
Lesson #2: Social Media is here to stay. Ignore it participants taking part in corresponding events; a
and perish. cyclist running at full steam, another participant
bandaging himself before the start of the event, a
Social media is a giant today. If one wants to create a
wrestler grappling his opponent, a swimmer racing
true buzz, a wild discussion or a enhance one‖s PR
past his competitors. And then the emotional punch
social media is the first step. Ushered as the first
line stating that as P&G Celebrates this year‖s Olympic
Social Media Olympics, brands were smart enough to
Athletes, they would like to remember the force
realize the true value of social media. And rightly so,
behind these athletes: Their Moms. This is followed by
millions of fans follow their favourite stars and
scenes of emotional athletes hugging their crying
athletes on Facebook, twitter, etc. and anything said,
mothers. Truly an emotive scene which indeed struck
portrayed or conveyed by these stars has an instant
a chord with the common public and brought P&G
reach to millions. Truly an attractive medium for
enormous PR positives. This was evident by the fact
different brands that leveraged it to its full potential
that P&G was the most discussed brand in twitter and
as evident by the following examples:
over 90% of the mentions of P&G were around its
1. Jamaican sprinter Usain bolt famous for his marketing theme.
World record sprints mingled a photograph of
Lesson #4: Offset your challenges
his with a refrigerator filled with the energy
drink Gatorade. Thanks to social media he While branding and PR is an important as it can get
advertised it instantly to his 620,000 fans. one should be mindful that negative PR spreads like
2. Or take the case of Michael Phelps, arguably the wild fire. And before one is able to douse the blaze,
greatest ever Olympian who is ardently the damage has been done. Take the case of
followed by 5.4 million Facebook fans. Phelps, McDonald‖s which had negative press hounding it
amidst his training and exercising updates since the beginning of the games as it was the sole
sprinkles a mention of famous brands like Head (exclusive) supplier of French Fries in the Olympic
and Shoulder Shampoo, Hilton hotels or VISA Venue. Plus the fact that most people resented a fast
creating an instant ring in the minds of his food company sponsoring an event touted to be the
followers. cauldron of the fittest athletes, McDonald‖s had plenty
much to do to tackle the negative press. While a lot of
Nothing helps a brand create a positivity around itself
people were talking about McDonald‖s it was mostly
more than social media and with the number of users
negative. McDonald‖s further failed to tackle this issue
growing alarmingly in these social media sites,
in twitter as it only had a corporate twitter handle and
ignoring them would not only be stupid but even
not a dedicated Olympics twitter feed. Result:
suicidal.
McDonald‖s had just 300,000 views in Youtube in a
Pratibimb | October 2012 | 14

15. month compared to 1million views for Adidas. sponsors did just that. Adidas‖ Team GB created a
video with a multitude of Olympians lip syncing to
While on one hand, McDonald‖s failed to redeem itself
Freddie Mercury‖s famous song “Don‖t Stop me Now”.
in the social sites, Coca Cola (also termed unhealthy
The video was so popular that it was an online rage, a
for the athletes and accused of being insalubrious to
wildfire and within two days everyone was talking
be sponsoring a sporting event) conjured a rabbit
about it from Knighted personalities of London to
from the hat. Coke was enormously popular in the
musicians and others. There were 1 million views
social media which contributed to over 85% of the
within 48 hours and everyone had just one thing to
brands mention during Olympics. Part of Coke‖s
say apart from the closing ceremony: ―Have you seen
success was due to the musical events it had
the Adidas video?‖
organized during the torch relay. One has to keep in
mind that there was no way Coke could have Olympics are the pinnacle of sports and the perfect
marketed itself differently as healthy or done anything opportunity to create awareness about one‖s brand
to change public perception in such a short time. and product. Not leveraging such an important event
Instead it chose to offset its shortcoming by would simply be fool hardy. The next stop: Rio de
sponsoring events where there was a large audience. Janeiro 2016. Till then, au revoir.
Torch relays were not only witnessed by millions on
References
roads by millions more on media. Sponsoring the
torch relays created a positive mindset in the minds of  http://www.ft.com/intl/cms/s/0/b0959724-e6fc-11e1-
the consumers. af33-00144feab49a.html#axzz24kLFinZR
 http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/c7b1f694-f5b9-11e0-bcc2
Lesson #5: Don‖t just be imaginative.
-00144feab49a.html#axzz24kLFinZR
Think outside the box is one of the most oft repeated  http://www.ft.com/intl/cms/s/0/e7e9b3fa-d661-11e1-
clichés and it is true for a reason. Regular ba60-00144feabdc0.html#axzz24kLFinZR
advertisements though wonderful slip past a  http://www.terminalu.com/europe/taxi-british-
consumers mind way too easily. Create an imaginative airways-launches-dont-fly-olympics-ad-
campaign/27405/
and compelling ad and people will remember, discuss,
 http://ca.finance.yahoo.com/blogs/insight/london-
talk about it, disseminate on social networking sites
2012-olympic-games-marketing-lessons-extend-
and they spread awareness about the brand. Take the
beyond-155229166.html
case of British Airways and its ―Don‖t Fly‖ Campaign.
 http://www.campaignindia.in/Article/311814,top-10-
The campaign is a minute long video disseminated by
marketing-lessons-from-the-olympic-games.aspx
television, social media and print which shows people
 http://www.warrenstrategies.com/blog/bid/206511/4
packing their bags in the aero plane. The Boeing 777 -Marketing-Lessons-Learned-from-the-Olympics
then taxies the passengers on board across the streets  Image Courtesy: Wikipedia http://en.wikipedia.org/
of London through different areas as the excited wiki/File:2012_Summer_Olympics_logo.svg
passengers paint cardboards, miniature flags to
support the home team. The ad ends with the plane
coming to a halt at an Olympics stadium and a caption
which says ―Don‖t fly. Come and support the Team
Great Britain #homeadvantage‖. This churning up of
national sentiment combined with the imaginative
and counterintuitive theme helped British Airways
generate a lot of positive PR.
Lesson #6: Finish with a bang.
The term ―Icing on the cake‖ or ―Cherry on the cake‖
sums it all. It‖s fabulous to have a great PR during the
Olympics but at the fag end or an event when
everyone is ready to wrap up and leave or when
others are busy packing their bags be ready to deliver
the knockout punch. Adidas the official Olympics
Pratibimb | October 2012 | 15

16. Mass vs. Class:
Branding for BOP
Revisited
by Unnikrishnan Nair and Utkarsh Sachdeva,
TAPMI
Dynamism in the New markets and the potential of the market – close to 4 Billion of
the population, has been the main draw for many companies to cater to the newest
of the multitude segment – defined as the BOP or the bottom of the pyramid by the
legendary paper by C.K Prahlad.
“A look at the recent
trends in the market
and it is no surprise
that leading brands
have realized that
1: The Economic Pyramid
ignoring this segment
The major draw for this market has been the lack of geographical boundaries to
can be at their own cater to, with the population base spread across continents. Couple this with the
peril “ following factors and this brings forth a marketer‖s dream domain – innovative and
beyond straight forward understanding, requiring more than traditional text book
strategies.
Pratibimb | October 2012 | 16

17. Economic Con- Low Gross domestic Beliefs Ground Reality
straints product, low income,
high inflation, import They have less pur- The margin factor is
price shocks, reduced chasing power and not exactly right
private capital in- hence the market is
flows volume driven and
Political Constraints Political instability, not margin based
poor governance,
corruption & weak They are not brand They are highly brand
legal systems conscious and value conscious
Infrastructure chal- Lack of reliable elec-
lenges tricity, poor distribu- They are hard to They are willing to
tion channels, unreli- reach pay premium for
able transport goods & services
Product Constraints Price Controls,
Availability, Differ- They are unable to They have sophisti-
ent set of needs use and are not inter- cated technology in-
ested in advanced clination
technology
2: List of Constraints
The lure of this market has thrashed the conventional
ideology of given cost structures, product focus rather
than functionality focus and the mentality of having
innovations catering to the high end of the market.
Therefore, in a market ridden with innumerous
challenges, it has become a play ground for some
ground breaking products and practises and business
models that has redefined marketing as we know it
today.
The basic characteristics of the BOP segment have
4:Traditional 3A model of BoP Buying
been largely described as follows:
The 3A model above has been the basis of product
purchase behaviour at the BOP level. However, brand
3: Belief V/S Reality recall and awareness seems an oft neglect paradigm
here largely due to the non-availability of appropriate
The Indian market is a prime example that has mediums to cater to these segments. However, based
showcased how BOP segment has been largely mis- on the 11P marketing mix, and the PIRT (personality,
understood, especially on the brand front. HUL, Coke, image, reputation & trust) model and suggestions of a
GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) and desi-brands like Micromax, close relationship between brand attributes and
Brittania have all realized and evolved to cater to this corporate brand image has been suggestive of
huge segment. considerable impact on brand loyalty in the BoP
segment.
The basis for the branding exercise has been an
exercise born out of necessity and out of the
realization that the market is not exactly as
understood in literature.
Pratibimb | October 2012 | 17

18. 5: The BoP Brand Strategy brand.
Quality Confidence: Quality platform has been an
Using this model, the companies have been trying to essential factor and its essential for continuing to
build the brand leadership in this segment based on command premium market share – a case in point is
several counts:- the Hero Motor Corp which has never tinkered with its
quality offerings, helping to cater to segments with
Consumer Knowledge: This is captured through quality offerings and thus maintaining its numero uno
periodic research, helping to factor in mind shifts and position in the country.
tweaking the marketing strategies to cater to the
people at the right points – an example was the Multi-brand & Aggressive Branding Strategy: First
triangular hanging packs of Frooti in the stores at mover advantage and a complete capture of the
affordable rates. senses is an essential factor to cater and keep brand
recall and this has been essentially the case as proved
by HUL‖s multiple offerings that seem to be catering to
Long term vision: Brand extensions has been a major
virtually the same market.
factor – helping to gather enough traction and then
diversifying to cater to multiple needs through the 6: Brand Evolution in BoP
same brand- an example is the Tiger brand of biscuits
that took the market from Parle-G and successfully The significant shift has been in the context of moving
went on to introduce affordable choco-chip biscuits away from low margin-high volume products to actual
and cream biscuits at price points not envisaged by new products that command premium.
others.
7: The Volume Game
Product Innovation: Quality was never an important
consideration till the markets actually went on to Disruptive innovation has become the new name of
show their preference for it rather than price – this the game and it is not surprising at all if we have a
was perfectly exploited or put to use by HUL through good look at how disruptive innovation and BoP
their Surf Excel Blue catering to quality detergents market actually functions. Hence branding has
segment in BoP against their own Wheel brand, while become more than just a name – it‖s a game play
Surf Excel Automatic was positioned as a premium which involves survival through evolution and genesis.
Pratibimb | October 2012 | 18

19. innovation that cater to the duality of functions as
well costs and fit in with needs across the segments
incorporated with marketing initiatives that can never
be found in text books.
8: Disruptive Innovation & BoP
A look at the recent trends in the market and it is no
surprise that leading brands have realized that
ignoring this segment can be at their own peril – a
point brought into strict focus thanks to the relentless
occurrence of recession impacting the markets that
have always been the primary focus for marketers.
The need has now shifted to value for money, and
9: The BoP innovation trends
Pratibimb | October 2012 | 19

20. If Tata Nano is a product that redefined car making  Branding at the base of pyramid: A Zimbabwean
and business models, it is but a gentle reminder that perspective by Tendai Chikweche and Richard
the new world order will be dictated not by the high Fletcher
pointers but by the bottoms that support the  Disruptive Innovations at the Bottom of the Pyramid
structure in the first place. Can they impact on the sustainability of today‖s
companies? by BAIYERE Abayomi & ROOS Jaspar
 Reality Check at the Bottom of the Pyramid by Erik
Simanis
 Raising the Bottom of the Pyramid: Strategies for
Sustainable Growth by C. K. Prahalad & Stuart L. Hart
 Shampoo, saris and SIM cards: Seeking
entrepreneurial futures at the bottom of the pyramid
by Catherine Dolan, Mary Johnstone-Louis & Linda
Scott
 Branding paradigm for the bottom of the pyramid
markets by Rajagopal
 http://www.brandchannel.com/home/
post/2010/01/12/Coca-Cola-GSK-Invest-In-Indias-
Bottom-Of-Pyramid-Consumers.aspx
References
Pratibimb | October 2012 | 20

21. Personalization: 8th P of
Service Industry
by Arpit Bansal, SIMS, Pune
Abstract—This article is about the enhancement of personalization in the
service industry at an alarming rate. It also signifies why personalization
should be 8th P of service Industry. It describes how Personalization actually
satisfy the snob value of customer and create imprint in the mind of the
consumer. Finally the game of personalization is understand by major players
in Europe and middle east but there are some patches where this fact is still
under cover. This article is based on my research and training in Le Meridien
New Delhi. Every hypothesis has the relevant and proved data .
INTRODUCTION
The service industry is the industry which is growing worldwide. Day by day this
industry mitigates the mistakes and luring the customer with innovation. Gap
analysis is done to reduce the gap between what customer expect and what the
industry is offering to them. Personal care or personal attention is demanded and
very less offered or identified. Growing conventional wisdom in marketing argues
that customer loyalty is responsible for large fractions of the profits of many service
businesses. Constructs such as satisfaction, trust, customer collaboration, customer
interaction, firm image, personalization, learning relationships, and so forth, have all
been proposed as intermediate objectives, or as tools to build loyalty. Yet, to date,
only some of these constructs have been measured and shown to be related to
loyalty. This paper fills a portion of the empirical gap by showing that service
personalization, indeed, affects loyalty, above and beyond the other explanatory
variables.
WHAT IS PERSONALIZATION ?
Sometimes Personalization is also defined as the adaption of new policies or
changes which can be customize according to guest but Personalization is nothing
but adjusting or designing the things in order that the specific person who is landing
to your hotel will personally like it. In service Industry people are eagle-eye (from
cleanliness of remote of TV to groomed staff ) they actually notice each and every
“The service industry thing. So peculiarity in every task is expected. Even a centimeter of smile is also
mentioned in manual of some 5 star Hotels when some employee escorting or
is the industry which welcome the guest hotels .
is growing world-
wide.”
Pratibimb | October 2012 | 21

22. ELEMENTS OF PERSONALIZATION avail to VVIP guest. Requirements , designs and
facilities are change according to situation and people.
There are three elements of personalization which are That‖s what called as flavor of Personalization.
defined as :
EMPHASIS ON KEY FEATURES
It is being found out that there are categories where
service industry wants to review or concentrate on
guests. Now these are few categories where the whole
set of 5 star hotels wants to differentiate themselves.
These are some parameters on which employees
wants to judge the guest experience.
So all the level 1 employees work on these Improvement in these areas would help the Hotel to
elements so that they can get more business, retain its brand name as well as the customers.
Personalization is directly related to user. Suppose if Across the world hospitality is the only industry where
some Gujarati family is coming to the Hotel then all guest repeat behavior is very low. The factor like trust
the arrangements are done according to them. More and comfort can be easily copied but not the Personal
variety of food should be available as Gujarati are care. So marketing executive should always keep this
fond of food. Gujarati channel should be made in mind.
available to their room. This type of customization is These are the few parameters which are accessed in
actually implemented in “CIDADE DE GOA”. This is the detail by the five star hotels to analyze more business.
hotel who changed its target audience because there I have done a research and training in le Meriden New
was oil leakage from the nearer port and people are Delhi and this data is collected , analyzed by me and
getting rashes and skin disease if they are going in the recommended by my teachers from the Institution.
sea water. So this hotel is very apt example of These parameters are further divided into small
Personalization. subparts that garner the view point of the guest. For
example arrival is bifurcated into:
Content refers to the interest of the people in service
1. Entry experience and lobby environment
industry. Expected features in the hotel are about
cleanliness of room, basic facilities and the privacy. 2. Doormen/Bellman service and check in
But Hotel like Le Meriden is also caters about the experience
guest health and entertainment. They have spa, gym,
yoga , swimming pool, Jacuzzi jewelry shop , pastry 3. Directional signage with secure environment
shop , coffee lounge , all day dining restaurant ,
I have individual result for each question as well as
specialty restaurant , Bar and discotheque . So these
coagulated graphical data also
kind of eminent facilities are basically to lure the guest
and this actually builds the differential advantage
among different 5 star properties.
Rules are actually designed not only for guest but also
for the employees working in the organization. To
satisfy the snob value some of the features are only
Pratibimb | October 2012 | 22

23. Overall welcome Bulletin, 134(1), 61-76.
 Journal Article, two authors
Sanchez, D. & King-Toler, E. (2007). Addressing Marketing
for Hospitality and Tourism
. Consulting Hospitality Journal: Practice and Research,
59(4), 286-295.
 Journal Article, more than two authors
Van Vugt, M., Hogan, R., & Kaiser, R. B. (2008).
Personalization and marketing in hospitality .Some lessons
from the past. American Author, 63(3), 182–196.
 Magazine article
This is the data collected from the Le Meridien, New Kluger, J. (2008, January 28).Events at hospitality industry.
Time, 171(4), 54-60.
Delhi which has all the authentication proofs as well
as recommendation. Sample size is kept to 100 for the  Newspaper article, no author
calculation purpose. This data shows that how much
peculiarity is expected in the decorum of Five Star As prices surge. European service industry. (2008, May 5).
The Wall Street Journal, p. A9.
property and how minutely each of these parameters
are judged by the guest.  Newspaper article, multiple authors,
discontinuous pages
CONCLUSION
Delaney, K. J., Karnitschnig, M., & Guth, R. A. (2008, May 5).
After this research we can say that hospitality Microsoft ends pursuit of Yahoo, reassesses its online
business are booming in the country due to rich options. The Wall Street Journal, pp. A1, A12.
heritage value of India . Probably this is better
opportunity to get our bags full of the Forex reserves.  Butterworth-heineman
This is the business which have a great impact of word Hospitality principles : Butworth –hineman (11th ed.).
of mouth (WoM) . So to enhance the imprints in the (2003). Springfield, MA: Merriam-Webster.
mind of consumer Personalization is the best weapon
Robert D. Reid, David C. Bojanic
to cope with.
Referral from the consumer also helps to convert Kidder, T. (1981). Hospitality Marketing Management
leads to potential account. All the traits and elements Boston: Little, Brown & Company.
are shown in the article with facts and figures. This
shows how Personalization is going to become the
deciding factor for the consumers while choosing the
Hotels and how it will affect the Hospitality business.
References
 Journal Article, one author
Sweeny, K. (2008). Hospitality Marketing: an
introduction takes a unique approach to outlining
marketing processes in the hospitality industry.. Hospitality
Pratibimb | October 2012 | 23

24. INTERVIEW
Mr. Sanat Satyan
Research Associate, Equity Research - Oil & Gas sector, Nomura
What are the current major trends in the global
investment banking Industry?
For 2-3 decades before the 2008 crisis, investment
banks had not changed the way they had been doing
business. They were doing exactly the same things
that they were doing three decades earlier in almost
the same fashion. Post crisis, the industry has seen
some collaboration between regulators, governments
and financial institutions. Banks have realized that
one needs a better cost structure, efficient trading
platform and timely client interface, more than
anything else (even, leverage). I believe, from 2012
TAPMI had an opportunity to interact with Mr. onwards, you are going to see a structural shift in how
Sanat Satyan, Research Associate, Equity Research -
banks are going to service their clients and make
Oil & Gas sector, Nomura. In an exclusive interview
with Jayakrishnan Reghunathan for Pratibimb, Mr. money. Client interface is changing internationally as
Sanat Satyan shares valuable insights on the current banks are shifting to online trading platforms, which
trends and challenges faced in global investment is more cost effective and efficient. As a result, one
banking industry. Mr Satyan is a TAPMI alumnus from will see more high frequency trading platforms
2008 batch. Excerpts: [The views expressed are his
coming up. As the industry recovers, these changes
personal and not views of Nomura or any other
organization he has worked for] will more likely stay.
Equity analyst job @ an Investment bank is very What is your opinion about the industry trend of
hectic by nature and very demanding in terms of buy side firms reducing the dependency on sell
long working hours etc. What are the average side analysts by employing more sophisticated in-
working hours in an Investment bank? house buy side analysts as part of cost reduction?
What do you think about this from a buy side and
In the Indian investment banking industry for sell side point of view?
international banks, 12-14 hours is minimum. It is a 5
day work week but sometimes, if you are working on A sell side analyst is always a specialist on a particular
urgent reports and deals, you may have to work on sector and that is the value he adds to the buy side
the weekend as well. However, this is lesser compared client. Internationally, roles that buy side firms offer
to the domestic IB companies where you will have to as an analyst are mainly that of a generalist across
work on Saturdays as well primarily because some multiple sectors and sometimes, even multiple asset
Indian companies report their financials on classes. Although buy side firms may intend to
weekends. develop in-house expertise for portfolio management
roles, we constantly hear from clients about the need
for more macro research and industry trend analysis
from sell side. This is where the next ―big‖ idea comes
from!
Now that all the major Investment banks are
Pratibimb | October 2012 | 24

25. looking for more opportunities in emerging communicate, it is of no use! Technical skills like
markets, can you please comment on the kind of valuation methodologies and excel based modeling
job opportunities created as a result of this? are also important. In recent years, the importance of
additional qualifications like CFA and CA has also
The kind of opportunities coming to emerging market
increased. Finally, a proactive nature along with being
will likely be more towards assessing local knowledge
a team player is also considered. This industry is
and expertise. Salary cost inflation may make offshore
about idea generation on a daily basis so a little bit of
units less attractive for some time but as banks move
financial creativity is always welcome.
towards growth regions, it will be crucial to hire
people who can provide effective corporate access.
This can only come through local presence and Due to increased regulatory requirements such as
networks, forcing one to focus on local equities. the Basel III norms on liquidity, leverage etc.
which will limit the scope for more risk taking,
One important objective for all the major
how do you think this can affect the investment
investment banks today is cost reduction. What do
banking business?
you think about this?
Talking about the regulatory requirements let me give
We often forget that the global IB industry works on
you an example. The FSA in UK aims make sure that
this model. In a bull market, it will hire and in a down
an investment bank does not mis-sell products, does
cycle, it will lay off in the absence of deals. The last 3-4
not make securitized products so complicated that a
years have been very tough on banks amidst tighter
client cannot understand it and that there are
regulations and public criticism. Banks had grown to
effective penalties for both. Globally this has become
such a size that the only way to remain profitable was
a trend now as regulators have become more
to shrink. This will change again once the market
coordinated. This has indeed made certain functions
recovers. Also, one must remember that this is very
in bank more difficult (e.g. proprietary trading). In
sector-specific – banks are shrinking their headcount
hind sight, industry experts now say that this is good
in sectors where they do expect any growth
for the industry. Besides lowering risk appetite and
opportunities.
complex products, banks will also learn to focus on
How do global investment banks deal with quality. Shrinking sizes will help the industry has a
competition from the domestic players in the whole to become more efficient and hopefully, less
emerging markets? competitive.
What I hear from my colleagues, the competition is Regarding the recent developments in the
indeed very tough simply due to the large number of industry about few major banks making huge
players. A company like Reliance Industries is covered losses on derivative deals, do you think there is a
by more than fifty brokers and if you are entering a scope for improvement in risk management
market where there are already 50 players, it is going systems which are currently in place?
to be tough to make money, unless you provide
I agree that risk management systems at banks had
differentiated research and calls. This is true for all
failed but it was not because they were wrong. Such
firms in the market and not just international
events occur when certain people learn to manipulate
investment banks. One key differentiator for
the system and even banks are not ready for it. Today,
international investment banks in such a situation is
the FSA has even admitted that ―LIBOR‖ is broken but it
the access it provides through global research and
is helpless, given the large volume of instruments
international investor base.
quoting it. Every bank has checks and balances in
What according to you are the skills which a place to ensure that such events don‖t occur but it
company looks in an MBA graduate for the role of seems that this is not enough. It is important to
an Equity Analyst or a Sales/Trader profile? maintain trust with customers and banks have now
started to invest more internally to ensure that
Besides technical skills (which is a given for this ―compliance‖ is maintained. People interacting with
industry), the most important skill we look for is clients/customers are more held responsible now for
communication skills, which is crucial to this industry their actions – and regulators have started taking
– you might have the best idea but if you cannot strict action for any misuse. However, I still believe
Pratibimb | October 2012 | 25

26. there is a long way to go for the industry in this
regard.
During recession, some of the major Wall Street
banks were accused of selling junk investments to
investors. Do you think there is a high need for
ethical concern in this Industry?
In an ideal world, everybody will be ethical but I
believe it is more of a human nature and not
restricted to a particular firm, industry or region. As a
general rule the industry right now works on the
principle of “Buyer Beware” and there is a lot of effort
being put in to essentially change this thought
process. As industry participants realize that their
malicious actions are detrimental to both themselves
and the industry at large, we can expect people to
―become more ethical‖. One quick and effective
solution (agreed by regulators) is strict penalties (both
financial and professional) through restitution and
prohibition.
How was your experience at TAPMI and how is it
helping you in your current role?
I had worked with ING Vysya Bank for two years
before joining TAPMI in 2006 which helped me
understand the importance of several subjects that
were being taught in the classroom. Some of the
subjects which we studied are still very relevant such
as Corporate finance, valuation, Security analysis and
Portfolio Management etc. However, the industry is
changing rapidly and it is also important to keep
oneself up to date. Working on real like case studies
of contemporary events (like a small summer
internship project every month in your syllabus) is
something that will be helpful to a finance student of
today.
Pratibimb | October 2012 | 26

27. Disha 2012
The Learning Experience
by Chandrakumar N, TAPMI
They say everyman is a sum total of his experiences. If As the chief guest for inauguration, we had Padma
that were the case, I have to be immensely thankful Vibhushan Dr. M. S. Valiathan, Ex-vice chancellor of
for Disha which has enriched me with a wide array of Manipal University and National Research professor
meaningful experiences. I went through almost every of the Government of India.
emotional state - from jubilance to depression, pride
What are the personal lessons for me from Disha?
to disappointment, and stress to relaxation. I
interacted with illustrious men and experienced the 1. The higher the stature of a person, the humbler
proud feeling that one gets when all things go exactly he is.
as planned.
This was something I found out after talking to n
So what am I talking about? number of executives who held roles from assistant
manager to president. Of all the people I interacted
I am talking about Disha, the Annual HR conclave held
with during Disha, the most humble was Dr. M. S.
in T. A. Pai Management Institute, Manipal. It is the
Valiathan. He is a Padma Vibhushan recipient,
second biggest HR conclave in India and is held in the
National research professor and has been a part of
second week of September. For Disha, we call senior
planning commission for many 5 year plans. I, along
level HR executives from various companies for a
with a member from HRFORUM, had gone to invite
round of panel discussions and guest lectures in our
him for the inauguration ceremony. Before the
campus. It is a platform where our students get a
meeting we were intimidated and were a little
chance to interact with corporate honchos from big
nervous as we had never interacted with a person of
companies and the executives meet the students from
his stature. But we were pleasantly surprised to meet
TAPMI and get a feel of our college and its activities.
the kind and wise gentleman. Instead of the allotted
This year Disha was held on September 8th and 9th. I
10 minutes, we ended up spending an hour discussing
am Chandrakumar N., a second year PGDM student in
various problems of the country, what needs to be
TAPMI. I am a part of the HRFORUM, the committee
done to make it a better place and the steps to be
which makes it all happen and I was the Event co-
taken to improve the Indian Education System. I still
ordinator for Disha 2012.
cherish the pleasant intellectual conversation we had
Who all were the guests of Disha? with Dr. Valiathan. The other guests who came for
Disha were equally humble and easy to talk to. These
This year we had the following guests coming to Disha
guests held roles like President, Vice President, Head
2012.
HR etc. But interactions with each of them were like
Pratibimb | October 2012 | 27

28. the ones with our college faculty. They were friendly, Before we actually started the work for Disha, we took
cordial and pleasant. all the members for a nice dinner outing. We played
some team building games, interacted and got to
2. A team needs to gel well before any results can know each other well. This and many more of such
be expected of them. informal meetings led to a good rapport among the
members. Once the team members are comfortable
Tuckman's stages of group development says that with each other, it is much easier to work with them.
every team that is formed will have to go through the
following 4 stages for it to grow, to face up to This accustom phase can be used to bypass the Storm
challenges, to tackle problems, to find solutions, to stage, which is usually the unpleasant stage where
plan work, and to deliver results. team members confront each other and differences
are resolved. So you don‖t have to tolerate the team
members because now, they are your friends.
3. Democratic way of leadership is not the only
way.
According to a HBR Article, Leadership that gets
Results by Daniel Goleman, there are 6 types of
leadership
I think one stage, the storm stage can be replaced by
a better one, accustom.
So it can also be The article goes on to say that, the most effective
leader is one who is well versed in all these types of
leaderships and uses each of them like an expert
mechanic uses different type of tools for different
situations.
Before Disha I knew only one way and that was
democratic. For every decision I used to get a group
consensus and carry forward. But during the course of
Disha I have picked up a few more styles of
leadership; pacesetting, affiliative and authoritative
being the prominent ones.
Team Disha comprised of 18 people. Each of them
highly motivated, intelligent and smart individuals but
none same as the other. Each of them had their own
reasons to be a part of the team, their own ways of
thinking, and their own definitions of success. So how
do you deal with each of them? You deal with them
individually.
For motivated smart members who need a friendly
Pratibimb | October 2012 | 28

29. figure who just needs to tell them what needs to be References
done, I used to delegate the entire responsibility. For
humble hard working members who needed a little  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/
Tuckman's_stages_of_group_development
more guidance in their task, I put on the role of a
coach. For members who just needed to know their  Daniel Goleman, Leadership That Gets results,
share of work, I put on the role of an authoritative Harvard Business Review, April 2000
figure.
Though these tools which I have acquired may still be
blunt, nevertheless they are priceless and will
definitely come in handy in the future.
4. It helps to have a lot of friends
During Disha, I had a lot of help from non-members
of Disha whether they are my classmates or faculty or
the support staff. Having a friendly relation with
people definitely pays off. There were many instances
where the support staff of TAPMI voluntarily came
and gave suggestions for improving Disha. And there
were always friends and well-wishers who were there
to help whenever I needed it.
On the whole, I would say that Disha has taught me
many things. Some lessons about operational
efficiency, some about human behaviour and some
about me as a person.
Pratibimb | October 2012 | 29

30. Horizon 2012
Money Matters
by Nishith Maheshwari, TAPMI
It is said that the people you encounter while at increase the financial knowledge of the batch. In
University are among the most diverse and interesting order to achieve the same the Finance Forum is
you will ever meet and that probably you will stay in responsible for conducting numerous events
touch with a number of them for many years throughout the year. The flagship event of Finance
afterwards. I discovered the same at TAPMI, with its Forum is its annual conclave - ―HORIZON‖. A student
unique college system of numerous student run run initiative, the conclave aims to bring together
committees responsible for different functions of finance professionals from investment banks,
college. Being a member of the Finance Forum from commercial banks, mutual fund houses, credit rating
my first year; gave me a strong sense of being part of agencies, business houses as well as academicians,
something big and also provided a platform through alumni, and students to discuss recent trends and
which you meet and work along with a lot of people, emerging issues in the industry, the challenges and
many of which will become your friends for life. opportunities they present and the way ahead. It also
acts as a forum for budding entrepreneurs and
The main objective of the Finance Forum is to
students in the field of finance to interact with
Pratibimb | October 2012 | 30