Mr X, a senior vice-president managing human resources of a large &ldquo;Indian multinational&rdquo;, sensed something wrong as he walked into his rather spacious cabin. He could see people huddled together whispering something that he could only guess.

Shyamal Majumdar: Can you be a change manager?

Business Standard

The Indian School of Business (ISB), Hyderabad, has tied-up with three top Asian B-schools to devise a strategy to attract more students from the US, Canada and Europe.

ISB forms 'Ivy League' with 3 Asian B-schools

Baskin-Robbins turned 65 this month. It is much younger in India. Owned by the US-based Dunkin&rsquo; Brands, Baskin-Robbins entered the country 17 years ago in 1993 with a couple of company-run outlets in Mumbai and Delhi. Over the years, it has expanded to 400 franchisee outlets spread across 95 cities and is also available at some 600 hotels and restaurants and at about 600 modern-format retail stores. The chain, which is run by Graviss Foods in India and the SAARC region, says it has always grown close to 25 per cent year on year in India.

Baskin-Robbins: Small is big

Indian handset brands have taken on their multinational rivals.

Local call

You can&rsquo;t fault Emami Director Aditya Agarwal when he says: &ldquo;Our strength lies in marketing.&rdquo; With 16 per cent of its turnover reserved for marketing, the Kolkata-headquartered Emami, maker of FMCG and over-the-counter health products, is undoubtedly a marketing-led company. It has brands like Himani BoroPlus (Rs 250 crore in size) and Navratna (Rs 300 crore) in its portfolio and wants to launch eight to ten products every year. From a little over Rs 1,000 crore in 2009-10, it wants to become Rs 2,000 crore in size within two years.

Oiling the chain

The Logan, Mahindra &amp; Mahindra&rsquo;s sedan, hadn&rsquo;t really set the tarmac on fire. It was left far behind in the sweepstakes by rivals like the Maruti Suzuki Swift DZire, Ford Fiesta and Hyundai Accent. It had started as a venture between Mahindra &amp; Mahindra and Renault. But once the Renault-Nissan alliance began talking to others &mdash; Bajaj Auto for an ultra-low-cost car and Ashok Leyland for trucks &mdash; buyers weren&rsquo;t sure about the product. Car makers have learnt that Indians do not buy cars unless they are convinced the company is going to be around for the long haul; otherwise, there is a question mark over service, spares and resale. Also, taxi companies began to buy the Logan in large numbers. This brought the image of the car down in the eye of the consumer.

Logan's new slogan

Brand IIM could take a beating if it fails to find quality faculty as it grows.

IIMs may expand but at a cost

The Indian Institute of Technology-Bhubaneswar (IIT-BBS), currently operating out of a makeshift campus in the city, is banking on partnerships with industry houses to set up four specialised schools which would act as centres of excellence.

IIT-Bhubaneswar seeks industry link

The placement for the 2010 batch of the General Management Programme (GMP) at the Xavier Labour Relations Institute of India (XLRI), Jamshedpur, concluded on a high note.

1-yr MBA salaries up by 25% at XLRI

Indian students are giving a pass to the former hot study destination, Australia, in favour of evergreen destinations like the UK, US and Canada.

Students bypass Australia

    This product dates back to 1929 and was known for its trademark green shaft and transparent ink window. The brand under which it is sold was founded by a chemist in 1838 and currently has a Hanging Gardens of Babylon edition too. Name it.

Answers to last week&#39s quiz (#158)

India&rsquo;s most famous one-man brand will come out of the shadows in October to relaunch TV&rsquo;s biggest game show.

KBC: Waiting for a facelift

&nbsp;

    Which product is ensnared in the &ldquo;death grip&rdquo; controversy?&nbsp;
    &nbsp;
    Which global fast-food chain plans to serve porridge in its outlets from next year?&nbsp;
    &nbsp;
    In the Indian context, what is common to GE, P&amp;G, Pillsbury, Sara Lee and now Hershey&rsquo;s?&nbsp;
    &nbsp;
    Who has a series of its products branded as Tiger, Turtle, Rhino, Whale, Dolphin and Red Panda?&nbsp;
    &nbsp;
    In the late 1970s, Xerox agreed to accept

The Strategist Quiz (#159)

This year&rsquo;s agenda: More TV channels, 12 movies and a host of new media initiatives.

UTV on fast-forward

Retailers today are opting for revenue-sharing arrangements with reality companies to counter high rentals.

KIT: The revenue-sharing model in retail

A big city comes to life, its people begin a new day. But this will be no ordinary day. On this day, magical things happen.

New dimension in television

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THE NEW AGE OF INNOVATION

The top 10 business bestsellers

Firm regains volume growth via focus on market share, market development, margins and consumers&rsquo; mood
Sitting in his corner office at Hindustan Unilever&rsquo;s spanking new headquarters in Mumbai, Nitin Paranjpe often walks up to his sales director to ask him the following questions : Why has the company&rsquo;s product movement slowed down in Asansol in the past couple of days? Or, why aren&rsquo;t there enough stocks in the FMCG major&rsquo;s Coimbatore depot?
The questions are

HUL's marketing mantra: 4M

When Diageo recently ended its bulk scotch sourcing contract from Whyte &amp; Mackay, time was running out for Vijay Mallya fast.

W&M high on premium brands

ICFAI University, Ahmedabad has tied up with Hyderabad-based Cygnus Business Consulting and Research (Cygnus) to avail internship for its students. According to a release from ICFAI, the institute is the only university which arranges for internship to distance education students.

Cygnus to offer internship to ICFAI  students

Cartoon Network, 9XM, BBC and AXN are among those channels gearing up to cash-in on the FIFA soccer mania.

Page 645 - News