Much has been said and enough hair split on the timing of the Birla Sun Life Insurance commercial starring cricketer Yuvraj Singh. Inquisitions about the timing and date of the shoot, the change in the copy and the subsequent revelations of Yuvraj&rsquo;s illness have made the advertisement a favourite with controversy-junkies.

Is mortality unethical?

Business Standard

Indian business schools have strengthened their standing among international employers as four Indian institutions have made it to the list of top-10 B-schools in the Asia Pacific region, says a survey.

Four Indian B-schools in Asia Pacific top-10 list

Press Trust of India

The older Indian Institutes of Management have competition from the younger ones. After learning the tricks of the trade from their mentors, the younger IIMs are now approaching the regular set of companies that visit older IIMs for placements.

IIMs vs IIMs for placement pie

The Richard Ivey School of Business (Ivey) is expanding its footprint in India through its partnerships in areas of case study preparation, research and executive education. The Richard Ivey School of Business today signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Management Development Institute (MDI), Gurgaon, for development of India-focussed business case studies and distribute them globally. Further, Ivey will also be developing an executive development programme for a large Indian telecom player.

Ivey ties up with MDI Gurgaon

Few management theories have had a more intuitive appeal than that of &ldquo;core competence&rdquo;. That theory essentially says successful businesses have a unique set of skills or production techniques that make customers prefer them over their competitors; it adds that businesses seeking to grow or diversify should stay within the realm of their core competence.

Ajit Balakrishnan: 'Core competence' and other tales

The number of offers made to students during slot-0, or the first two days, of placements at the Indian Institute of Management, Calcutta, (IIM-C), fell from more than 120 last year to about 107 this year.

Slot-0 offers come down at IIM-Calcutta

Every entrepreneur needs a cushion of expertise and finance to ensure convertibility of ideas into products. As such, the government's strategy to encourage entrepreneurs must be two pronged. By helping out potential entrepreneurs with regard to finance, it is taking a huge responsibility which needs to be backed by proper expertise. At each stage of conversion, expertise is required to cut down costs, improve, market and ensuring success of the product which would ensure success of the entrepreneur. The government would be well advised to extend professional expertise with a financial safety net.

Student's corner

The rotund husband when asked what he would do if his wife accidentally left the window open letting in mosquitoes, says: &ldquo;No problem, switch to active mode.

Good Knight trumps AllOut

Frozen yogurts as a meal option was a strict no-no in India till recently, but not anymore. If companies in this space are to be believed, they are gaining traction as a &lsquo;healthy and quick&rsquo; meal. And the trend is catching on in smaller towns too.

Frozen yogurts look for quick meal positioning 

For the last couple of months, forecasters have been predicting that 2012 would be a better year for Madison Avenue and media companies as more marketers increased advertising budgets. That outlook is starting to brighten further as some of the biggest spenders reveal plans to open their wallets even wider than had been expected.

Marketing budgets rise for some giants

In most organizations, the decision-making freedoms of frontline employees are highly circumscribed. Sales reps, call center staff, office managers, and assembly line workers are usually trussed up in a strait-jacket of rules and procedures. I believe that&rsquo;s a problem, for it&rsquo;s impossible to unleash human capabilities without first expanding the scope of employee autonomy. To create an organization that&rsquo;s adaptable and innovative, people need the freedom to challenge precedent, to &ldquo;waste&rdquo; time, to go outside of channels, to experiment, to take risks, and to follow their passions.

Reversing the ratchet of control

A BCG report finds that women control almost two-thirds of the global consumer spending.

The consumer is the queen

Full-page ads scream &lsquo;Global&rsquo;, &lsquo;India&rsquo; and &lsquo;Adani&rsquo;, waking up the morning reader to a brand new group. The Rs 33,000-crore, Ahmedabad-based Adani conglomerate is in the throes of a makeover aimed at transforming it into an Indian multinational that has operations across the globe.

Will the Adani makeover work? 

With 50 per cent of the Volvo Buses&rsquo; business expected to come from Asia by the year 2015, the company is looking at India with renewed vigour. In conversation with Rajarshi Bhattacharjee, Akash Passey, senior vice-president, Business Region International, Volvo Bus Corporation, and chairman of the Board, Volvo Buses India, lays out the company&rsquo;s growth trajectory in the country.

A comprehensive bus transit system costs almost one-tenth of a metro system: Akash Passey

The television commercial opens on a group of mango vendors. It is the fag end of the mango season and the three vendors prepare to try their hand at a new trade. One becomes a dentist, another takes a shot at palmistry and the third wants to prove his mettle as a mechanic. Bad decision. They just don&rsquo;t seem to get their act right. As they loll under a tree thinking what next, a boy sitting on the tree springs a surprise.

Anytime, anywhere mango

Brands, we all (at least all of us in marketing and advertising) like to believe, are like people. They have personalities, values, they behave in a certain way, have ambitions and relationships.

Being human

With the fifth Indian Premier League (IPL) season right round the corner, at least two of the participating teams have started taking guard. Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) and Chennai Super Kings have kicked off their marketing campaigns with gusto. KKR&rsquo;s marketing blitz, dubbed &lsquo;New Dawn. New Knights&rsquo;, started with the introduction of a new logo in Mumbai recently. The logo, created by Lambie-Nairn, a global branding agency and part of WPP Group, stays with the traditional team colours of purple and gold. KKR is ensuring that the logo stares at you from every touch point, from the screen to merchandising.

IPL: Ready for another onslaught

The US-based World Kitchen, which entered the Indian market in 1998 with dinnerware (glass) brand Corelle, besides Corningware (glass ceramic), Pyrex (glass bakeware) and Visions (cookware), is looking to expand its base in the country aggressively. To this end, the Illinois-based houseware company has launched a wholly-owned Indian subsidiary, World Kitchen (India), and has tied up with TTK Prestige, maker of pressure cookers and kitchen appliances, as a dedicated partner for the southern markets for brands other than Corelle.

World Kitchen (India): The sizzling world of kitchen

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The top 10 business bestsellers

    This company was known as a start up factory in 2001. At that point in time it had thrown up more than 50 start ups and 88 CXOs, many of whom set up Indian operations for giants like Lucent, HP and Philips. Name it.

The Strategist Quiz (#242)

    Based on a report published by UN for the year 2011, Qatar is ranked No.1, Luxembourg is No.5 and USA is ranked No.

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