Wednesday, October 31, 2012

lack of proper management to handle the aftermath

What is more painful than the disasters that destroy everything is the lack of proper management to handle the aftermath. What can bring hope is in itself hopeless and raises real alarm bells, say ratan lal bhagat & niharika patra

The excessive misusage of natural resources and the mounting burden that have destroyed the ecological balance have made natural calamities inevitable. But timely preparedness and preventive approach for both natural and man made disasters can definitely mitigate the damage to manageable limits.

Not that India does not have a system. The successive governments and policy makers did formulate many bodies to look after disaster management. From the enactment of Disaster Management Act, 2005 to setting up the National Disaster Management Authority to coming up with the National Institutes of Disaster Management (NIDM) along with various states’ Disaster Management Cells. But these so called saviours at the time of distress have proven to be more of paper puppets than anything else. Whether it was the Bengal famine, Orissa Super Cyclone, Latur earthquake, Bhopal gas tragedy, Andhra cyclone, Bhuj earthquake, tsunami or the recurring floods in Bihar (Koshi in 2008), terrorists attacks in Mumbai, Delhi, Bangalore or the most recent spread of the epidemic swine flu virus and the current havoc causing floods down south, India has always been found wanting and under-prepared. The quality of Indian infrastructure has also proved to be a big hurdle. The loss of NH-7 to flood waters is a shame and the same can happen again unless the quality of assets in India improves.

“We are prepared to tackle any situation but when there is a huge deviation from the expected occurrence all the planning goes for a toss. For example the floods in Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka had deviated more than 600% thus one can do very little in such disasters,” defends Dr. Santosh Kumar, Professor at NIDM. The fact also remains that while the media has shown disaster in a crude manner, what has occured post any such kind of unsuspected happenings have never made headlines but have been poorly and shabbily covered, just for the sake of doing so.



Posted by at
Labels: , , , , , , , , , , ,

Tuesday, October 30, 2012

R. S. Sharma, CMD, ONGC, in an exclusive with B&E counts the challenges and the strategies to tackle them.

B&E: ONGC has undertaken various ventures and unveiled a huge investment plans for the same. Please highlight the source of funds and the plans there of?

RS: ONGC per se on a standalone basis is a zero debt company. We have enough liquidity to take care of our investments for the next 3-4 years. But to integrate the growth plan of the group we have started initiatives like the petrochemicals at Bhopal with Rs.150 billion investments. It is a SPV where ONGC has 26% equity and the debt-equity ratio is 2:1. Thus there is a large amount of debt involved. So we have tied up with a consortium of around 20 banks to support the almost Rs.80 billion debt. For MRPL expansion, here too, we have enough financial comforts by various banks. We are looking to make an investment in aromatics in Mangalore. OVL too has borrowing of about Rs.50 billion, thus the total borrowing adds up to around Rs.250 billion.

B&E: Please throw some light on your various overseas acquisitions specifically Imperial and the related criticism?

RS: We are already operating in 17 countries and our focus has been the African continent, Latin American countries, Middle East are our pre-dominant areas of operation. The Imperial acquisition has been a very good purchase from the strategic point of view. The acquisition came under a lot of criticism at the time of crude prices crash because in the case of OVL entities there is no system of subsidy sharing so the natural hedge is not available. So there was huge criticism that this transaction would result in heavy losses but we have been maintaining strong fundamentals which is likely to shield us against the price crash. The volatility in the prices was not based on fundamentals as there were no reasons for prices to sky-rocket to $147 per barrel but again there was no reason for them to crash either.

B&E: ONGC has adopted inorganic activities as a major way to grow and expand, is it a growth or survival strategy and why?

RS: M&A is both a growth and survival strategy for ONGC. We are in a business where the assets are depleting in nature so in order to sustain our business we need to have more number of assets. One term that is very important in our business is reserve replacement. Whatever underlined oil and gas reserve we have depletes with its production and as company we need to ensure replacement of those by adding new assets either through exploratory efforts or through organic or inorganic activities. So these help us in sustaining and of course one has to look for growth to increase their reserve profiles.


Source : IIPM Editorial, 2012.

For More IIPM Info, Visit below mentioned IIPM articles.
 
IIPM : The B-School with a Human Face
Posted by at
Labels: , , , , , , , , , , ,

Monday, October 29, 2012

Era of the Groomed Insider

Even today, Immelt takes a month off, just to travel from place to place and from division to division around the world just to ensure that internal talent is being well-groomed across all GE centres. And that’s where we arrive at ‘Session C’, which implies the leadership and organisational talent review programme at GE. During these intensive exercises, the CEO & VP-HR from across various divisions review the talent pool leadership potential of various candidates in GE. Today, the Welch Leadership Center continues its legacy, serving as a powerful organizational force that commissions each of its employees with an important reminder: to never stop learning. A striking similarity is found in the succession policy practiced at Infosys, where at a time there are more than one potential ‘internal’ candidates ready to be made the CEO (at present there are 55 potential candidates to replace Gopalakrishnan; 5 from the executive board, and 50 other Tier 1 leaders). This is where the Infosys Leadership Institute at the company’s Mysore campus comes into the picture.

The 162,000 square feet framework, built at a cost of Rs.411 million, is where the current business heads train and search for next-gen Infosys leaders. It is interesting how both these companies believe in this being the ‘era of the groomed insider’ – they hire, train and then choose one out of the trained lot. They don’t believe in scouting for an ‘outsider’ to lead the company. Efficient succession planning, training and development are the reasons GE and Infosys are forces to reckon with.


Source : IIPM Editorial, 2012.

For More IIPM Info, Visit below mentioned IIPM articles.
 
IIPM : The B-School with a Human Face
Posted by at
Labels: , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Saturday, October 27, 2012

MTN deal to create a Global Conglomerate

Having achieved 100 million customers in the Indian market, Sunil Mittal is betting big on the MTN deal to create a Global Conglomerate, says Surbhi Chawla
 
“There are three pillars of our success – strong vision and unique strategy, scalability and strong execution forces. Our strong and unique business model for the Indian market can now be applied to any other emerging market,” shares Manoj Kohli, JMD, Bharti Airtel Limited with B&E. Airtel’s robust business model has earned it many accolades in the past and continues to be the backbone of its success. Recently, Airtel launched operations in the Sri Lankan region with the same business model as it practices in India. The initial results that the company has received from this region are satisfying and there are already one million subscribers within six months of its launch.

One critical value chain differentiator for Airtel has been Mittal’s belief in employing strategic partners (some call it outsourcing non-core functions) and nurturing them as it allows Airtel to focus on its core competence of providing mobility while its partners take care of other services like tower maintenance, customer care, et al, thereby enhancing its scale. This has given the execution culture fostered at Airtel and in all its projects (like the Sri Lankan roll-out) a world class image. Airtel, perhaps predictably, with an EPS of Rs.40.79 (for March 2009) stands much ahead of Reliance Communication, which has an EPS of Rs.11.40. MTNL and Idea Cellular lag way behind with Rs.3.41 and Rs.3.25 as their EPS respectively.

“Airtel has always had the advantage of being the first mover in the category. It had booked a large number of postpaid customers, which still continue to be its customers. Over the years, Airtel has maintained its positioning of being premium than its peers and that too has worked in its favour,” says Ravi Shekhar Gupta, Telecom Analyst, Springboard Research. Airtel was the first private company to offer services in all the 23 telecom circles of the country.


Source : IIPM Editorial, 2012.

For More IIPM Info, Visit below mentioned IIPM articles.
 
IIPM : The B-School with a Human Face
Posted by at
Labels: , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Friday, October 26, 2012

Qatar+Russia>UnitedStates

Qatar emerges as a new king in LNG

Call it by any name, oil is one thing that makes headlines and tops the agenda in any global forum. From G2 to G12, all Gs and non-Gs are concerned about their fuel efficiency. However with crude oil prices jumping the bungee gun with every passing quarter, Hamad bin Khalifa, Emir of Qatar found a route as innovative as could be praised in ivy league b-schools.

When Qatar discovered huge reserves of Liquefied Natural Gas, the western economies did not give it a second thought. Qatar had no gas transport lines to export the gas to other countries. They didn’t bargain for the Emir, did they? Bin Khalifa worked out the most brilliant arrangement to transport Qatar’s gas in, surprise surprise, ships! From an initial start to today, with Russia’s fleet of 10 LNG vessels (capacity of 135,000 cubic meters each), Qatar is able to supply LNG to almost all Asian, European and even American countries. It’s status in the global gas industry? Bin Khalifa has made Qatar the world’s largest producer, with 31.7 million tonnes produced in 2007!


Source : IIPM Editorial, 2012.

For More IIPM Info, Visit below mentioned IIPM articles.
 
IIPM : The B-School with a Human Face
Posted by at
Labels: , , , , , , , , ,

Thursday, October 25, 2012

“Our prices are still low...”

B&E: Can you reveal to us, the initial ground work that was done by the company before entering the Indian market?

VB: The initial five-six years went into understanding the market and in setting up an adequate cold storage system. Setting up this extensive cold chain distribution system has involved the transfer of state-of-the-art food processing technology by McDonald’s and its international suppliers to pioneering Indian entrepreneurs, who are today an integral part of the cold chain.

B&E: Was it difficult to popularise the concept of QSR in the land of samosa eaters?

VB: From the very beginning, unlike the other players, we Indianised our menu and always kept its pricing easy on the pocket of Indians, (a strategy) which I term as branded affordability.

B&E: Who were your biggest competitors when you commenced operations? Were you worried about the other global brands that were entering the country then?

VB: Not really (on the question of whether other global QSRs were competitors), rather the local branded and unbranded players were our key competitors. Even the roadside aaloo-tikki vendor was our competitor.


Source : IIPM Editorial, 2012.

For More IIPM Info, Visit below mentioned IIPM articles.
 
IIPM : The B-School with a Human Face
Posted by at
Labels: , , , , , , , , , , ,

Tuesday, October 23, 2012

Police + Pak = Paupers!

Unless Zardari massively increases investment on modernising the police, his war against terror will fail

Ever heard of a weak foundation making a building stronger?

Strangely, the under-trained, under-equipped and underpaid Pakistani police seems to fit the bill aptly in Pakistan’s fight against terrorism and Taliban.

It’s true that the US alone has invested $12 billion in Pakistan to fight terror. But a large portion of the money – perhaps correctly – was used to assist the Pakistani Army. Still, merely 2.2% of the funding, a meager $268 million, has been spent on Pakistan’s police force in seven years (from 2002 to 2008). It’s important for the Pakistani government as well as foreign donors to understand that the Pakistani police force has a greater role to play than military for many reasons. One – according to the Rand Corporation, a US based think-tank – is that the Pakistani army generally believes that the primary reason it has been created has been to fight a war against India. Presumably, this means that even though the current ‘will to fight’ quotient against Taliban is pretty high within the Pakistani army, it should not be long before the generals realign sentiments once again to become pro-Taliban, as had been the case before (In the first week of July, while speaking at Capitol Hill, Zardari accepted that militants were deliberately created and nurtured [by Pakistan] as a policy).


Source : IIPM Editorial, 2012.

For More IIPM Info, Visit below mentioned IIPM articles.
 
IIPM : The B-School with a Human Face

Posted by at
Labels: , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

NATIONAL FOOD SECURITY ACT: 100 DAYS AGENDA

100 days is too little time to provide food to the millions of hungry. Importantly, there is no point trying either.

This boils down to the fact that the whole thing is nothing more than a goof-up. There is no coordination amongst the concerned ministries and there is no proper planning as to how the supply and execution will take place. Says agriculture expert, Devendra Sharma, “Even countries like Brazil and Mexico have come up with zero-hunger programmes. Brazil which had to feed only 4.4 million poor people took one year to implement the programme properly while Mexico took two years just to make a blueprint of the execution process. And we with a plethora of loopholes want to get things done in mere 100 days. That is impossible.”

What is the solution?

Experts believe that besides waiting for a proper plan to be in place, distribution should be done through smart cards rather than the traditional ration cards. Besides adding to the extra cost, smart cards would also need a permanent addresses which majority of the BPL families do not have. There can also be a situation where grains like wheat will be produced and consumed by the government only and it will leave less for the private players to consume and the farmers will have to sell at minimum support price.

Though it would have to be said that some resistance can be expected from farmer lobbies who have much to lose should the new arrangement come into place.

The government must understand that the elections are over and that coming up with such populist measures with no practical base is more of a problem than a solution. The UPA government already has a big fiscal deficit to fulfill and programmes like the NREGA, while paying great political dividends, are an unknown commodity as far as the economics of NREGA are concerned.


Source : IIPM Editorial, 2012.

For More IIPM Info, Visit below mentioned IIPM articles.
 
IIPM : The B-School with a Human Face
Posted by at
Labels: , , , , , , , , , , ,

Monday, October 22, 2012

GENOCIDE: DOUBLE STANDARDS

Does Obama have it in him to accuse Bush and Cheney of genocide?

The resemblance between the Iraq war and Darfur civil wars (which the US government accepts is a strong case of genocide) are astonishingly strong. In both the cases, the number of casualties (especially of innocent civilians) runs into hundreds of thousands. In both the case, the perpetrators are the same – paramilitaries. In both the cases, the target victims are groups of people from the same “ethnical, racial or religious group.” In Iraq, Bush and Cheney went one step further. They formalised a quasi-genocidal force while setting up the Iraqi forces, where strangely – or perhaps not so strangely – the forces were clearly dominated by Shiite Muslims and ethnic Kurds, indiscriminately writing a swashbuckling tale of terror against Sunni communities. But while Darfur is termed a genocide, the Iraq war is called a ‘counter-insurgency initiative’.

The present US government (and to a large extent, the previous one too) advocated pulling out of troops and decreasing the size of military from Iraq. But when it comes to Darfur what US does is rather declares trial of Omar Bashir for war crimes. Does this sound like genocide? For them it was just ‘War on Terror’

Cut to Darfur case. Sudanese troops and a pro-government militia known as the Janjaweed killed hundreds of thousands of people to suppress an uprising among the region’s ethnic African against the Arab-dominated regime of President Omar Hassan al-Bashir. On September 9, 2004, President Bush, EU Parliament, labelled the atrocities in Darfur as genocide. Even John Kerry and senators Joseph Lieberman, Barak Obama and Hillary Clinton labelled the Darfur mayhem a genocide. But none of the names in this esteemed list have ever given even passing references of any genocide when it came to discussing the Iraq war.


Source : IIPM Editorial, 2012.

For More IIPM Info, Visit below mentioned IIPM articles.
 
IIPM : The B-School with a Human Face
Posted by at
Labels: , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Saturday, October 20, 2012

Hugging the bear

Nazi dreams faded after Hitler invaded Russia

It is said that history repeats itself, and who else can testify the same better than ‘History’ itself. During WorldWar II, Adolf Hitler did what Napoleon did in WW I. Hitler’s invasion of Russia wouldn’t have been a failed attempt and Stalin wouldn’t have seen a peak, have Hitler listened to his generals. Hitler and his team of generals knew (who were actually against attacking Stalingrad) that Stalingrad would be tough to invade and may cost them heavily. In the mean time (span of six long months) Russians mobilised their industry and even the weather condition deteriorated. During operation Barbarossa, the German army was not prepared for the Russian winter or Serbian winter. The German army was not fully equipped to fight the cold Serbian weather. Even Stalin brought all his troops from the east to the west (after realising that Japan is not a bigger threat per se) and his army slaughtered the Germans. The final blow came in when Hitler refused to allow his generals to retreat, even when it was for sure that they have no potion left. This led to death of thousands of Germans men in the Eastern front. Moreover, Hitler’s orders to German army to use “maximum cruelty” made Russians people to fight back and eventually support Stalin.


Source : IIPM Editorial, 2012.

For More IIPM Info, Visit below mentioned IIPM articles.
 
IIPM : The B-School with a Human Face
Posted by at
Labels: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Friday, October 19, 2012

Plastered to the Wal!

Walmart has failed to replicate success everywhere

They say ‘once bitten, twice shy’; unfortunately Wal-Mart didn’t learn even after a dozen bites!!! Its failure saga began in Germany, where it couldn’t adapt to the German consumers’ culture of hunting for the cheapest products in multiple stores and their resistance to hypermarkets. Finally after incurring losses of $1 billion, Wal-Mart was compelled to sell its 85 stores in 2006 to rival Metro AG. There are also other incidents in other countries which prove how Walmart’s international plans have been smashed to smithereens. It had to invest £337 million to get a grip on its suffering business in Japan (2005), sold-off 16 stores in South Korea (2006), found existence literally impossible in Brazil and Mexico (where sluggish gains and dreadful public relations marred it all). Even Prof. Alan Rugman of Indiana University comments, “Wal-Mart is not competing globally... The first and foremost duty of any retail chain before going global is to gather local knowledge...” When will Walmart learn?


Source : IIPM Editorial, 2012.

For More IIPM Info, Visit below mentioned IIPM articles.
 
IIPM : The B-School with a Human Face
Posted by at
Labels: , , , , , , , , , , ,

Thursday, October 18, 2012

SUN, IBM: ACQUISITION TALKS COLLAPSE

Sun must ideally go back to the negotiating table with IBM; it will be tough for it to survive on its own

Having Sun in its kitty would have helped IBM position itself in the high end segment of corporate computing and in the nascent market for cloud computing services. As a matter of fact, IBM would have enjoyed a 65% market share in the Unix-based servers market and about 42% share in the overall server market (addition of 10%). However, IBM was not too happy with the close relationship that Sun shared with its arch rival Oracle and given the kind of market scenario, it would make no sense to pay more to get its hands on an ailing company. But the vibes from Sun were apparently not too optimistic. So what''s in store for Sun with IBM now walking out?

Currently the mcap of Sun, which has been criticised consistently by analysts for being a stodgy technology driven company that cared less for customer demands or market trends, stands at $4.97 billion (as on April 10, 2009). That was why the company never really recovered as the server market got commoditised with time. IBM was actually paying a $2 billion premium for the company, which is currently in the midst of terrible times. The ongoing financial crisis has led to a further weakening of demand for Sun’s high-end servers and it has lost a whopping $1.9 billion in the last two quarters of the current fiscal. Furthermore, the company has already handed out pink slips to about 2,800 employees to trim costs and it is feared that the number can increase if the situation does not improve in the short term. According to Richard L. Ptak, Managing Partner, Ptak, Noel & Associates, “The problem for Sun is also that its management gives no indication that they recognise the problems that the company faces, let alone understand or solving them." Many would argue that though the server business is being hit, Java still continues to be a star product for this company. However, in 2008, out of the total revenues of $13.8 billion, only $200 million came from Java. It is ironical, therefore, that the company changed its ticker symbol to Java from SUN at NYSE, thinking that Java would ultimately drive the company forward. As per Wall Street analysts, there are chances of revenue slipping further for the next several years, given the present scenario.


Source : IIPM Editorial, 2012.

For More IIPM Info, Visit below mentioned IIPM articles.
 
IIPM : The B-School with a Human Face
Posted by at
Labels: , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Wednesday, October 17, 2012

In dogged pursuit...!!

Is putting stray dogs to sleep the solution to the menace?

Somehow, since childhood, dogs always attracted my attention. Every time while returning from school, I would spare about half an hour playing and feeding the dogs in my colony. But it so happened that every night their barking, and also those of dogs from the other streets, would disturb my slumber. Perturbed with their presence, eventually, my most-awaited everyday activity took a permanent halt. The recent case of Mr. K E Mammen of Thiruvananthapuram, who was constantly disturbed, attacked and finally bitten by the stray dogs of his locality, took me back to my own troublesome experience which changed my love for stray dogs to indifference.

Many are of the opinion that dogs are adorable and harmless but if they turn out to be a menace to an extent to threaten one’s life, then what would one do? The one to face such a predicament, Mr. Mammen – a human rights activist himself – was perhaps right in voicing out an appeal to the Human Rights Commission to step in and also propagating the killing of stray dogs. Expressing his views on this issue, Jaya Simha, the Campaign Manager at PETA first explained the root cause of this problem. “‘The kill or not to kill’ issue has been lingering for long but we have to understand why stray dogs exist. Poor garbage management attracts stray dogs to make a habitat in residential localities and near shops. Their population is directly proportional to food, and since people usually have the habit of shooing them away, these dogs feel threatened, leading to attacks.”


Source : IIPM Editorial, 2012.

For More IIPM Info, Visit below mentioned IIPM articles.
 
IIPM : The B-School with a Human Face
Posted by at
Labels: , , , , , , , , , , ,

Tuesday, October 16, 2012

At the mercy of the State

Not much has changed for India Inc. since the UPA took the power seat in 2004. Genuine business interests continued to suffer, analyses VIRAT BAHRI

It would be wrong to say that the UPA regime was not one of great transformation. And their claim to fame (or the opposite!) in this regard is not just the landmark Indo-US nuclear deal. One entire industry revved up its engines, took off with elan, and all but crash landed in the course of their term. Yes, we are talking about the aviation industry, an industry that decisively led the rest of them in gasping for breath, for the players were bleeding red much before Lehman Brothers actually sounded the alarm bells that shook the world.

Surely, the first question that comes to mind is: What did the government have to do with that? Indeed, as Binit Somaiya, Regional Director, CAPA rightly points out, “A large part of the responsibility for the revival of the aviation industry rests with the industry players themselves and not with the government.” But then, there were critical support systems needed for the industry, which the government failed to provide. In particular the lack of an Airport Regulatory Authority was a major unresolved issue, which, according to Binit, can be quite unnerving for investors; whose role was critical for the industry’s growth. Allegations of corruption in the bidding process for airports made matters only worse. Moreover the horse-before-the-cart philosophy prevailed here as well, as airport infrastructure lagged miserably behind schedule, as players went ballistic on expanding their fleet and routes.


Source : IIPM Editorial, 2012.

For More IIPM Info, Visit below mentioned IIPM articles.
 
IIPM : The B-School with a Human Face
Posted by at
Labels: , , , , , , , , , , ,

Monday, October 15, 2012

Constructive destruction!!!

Don’t play against nature, it will surely bite you back later...

The waiting game on embryonic stem cell research is almost over with Obama signing the bill to allow state funding of it. But the debate isn’t yet over. It was during the Clinton regime that the concept of Stem cell research took shape for the first time. Abortion was legalised and UK’s successful experiment with in vitro fertilisation inspired scientists in the US. Hence the Human Embryo Research Panel of the National Institute of Health approached President Bill Clinton to allow state funding but considering the moral and ethical concerns, he refused it. Later Bush faced similar predicaments but reacted more strongly than Clinton. In spite of unanimous support in the Congress in favour of it, he used his veto power thrice to stop it. He strategically defended his decision by stating, ‘the bill would support the taking of innocent human life in the hope of finding medical benefits for others. It crosses the moral boundary that our decent society needs to respect. So, vetoed it.’


Source : IIPM Editorial, 2012.

For More IIPM Info, Visit below mentioned IIPM articles.
 
IIPM : The B-School with a Human Face
Posted by at
Labels: , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Saturday, October 13, 2012

ISRAEL: COALITION

To form a government that pleases one and all, Netanyahu must discard some of his rigid ideologies

With these moderate parties backing out, chances are high that the next government will be dominated by hardliners. Middle East sources say that the PM-designate might take help from his natural “partners” – religious and right wing parties. Avigdor Lieberman’s Yisrael Beitenu party is also expected to join.

If such a rightist government comes to power, there are chances of conflict escalating in the region. Besides, the new government shall be free to expand illegal colonies; collectively punish civilians and kids for rocket attacks. Netanyahu has voiced serious reservations while meeting foreign leaders on $2.8 billion of aid going into the Gaza Strip for reconstruction. (The US is also willing to invest $900 million in the enterprise). Israel believes that the money will be used by Hamas to rearm itself. Israel has promised firm action if there is more firing from Palestine. More such rhetoric is expected from this regime. .

The Likud party leader can form a narrow government with the help of Shas, Avigdor Lieberman''s Yisrael Beiteinu, United Torah Judaism and other extremist parties, including the National Union. But he knows that including such extremist factions would be a PR disaster, which could negatively impact Israel''s relations with the US and the world. Clearly, by sticking rigidly to his stance, Netanyahu is making his cause harder than ever. Much as he may hate it, he may have to put the issues close to his heart on the backburner. That would, in fact, be good for lasting peace in the region too


Source : IIPM Editorial, 2012.

For More IIPM Info, Visit below mentioned IIPM articles.
 
IIPM : The B-School with a Human Face
Posted by at
Labels: , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Friday, October 12, 2012

BARCLAYS: FINANCIAL DISCLOSURE

Questioning the ‘brilliant’ financial disclosure by Barclays...
 
Add to this the fact that even the cost to PBIT and the cost to PAT ratios have increased by 5% and 16% respectively, the issue of operational efficiency also casts a dark shadow upon Barclays’ performance. Thus, the underlying fact is that Barclays’ ‘happy’ revelation is all due to some unusual gains and earnings on certain ‘abnormal’ deals that won’t make their way into its books every year.

Agreeing to the thought, even an analyst at Brand Finance avers, “The bank has been criticised for not ‘marking down’ asset value and the investors are sceptical about banks like Barclays for declaring toxic assets!” Thus it is quite clear that the Barclays’ FY‘08 audited figures do not paint the real picture! Now for the ‘real’ asset – its shares on the NYSE have tumbled by 85.6% since December 31, 2007 to touch just $5.83 as on February 17, 2009; its Mcap falling by 80% during the same interval – all this despite the ‘extraordinary’ result announced?! Talking about the bank’s immediate agenda, an optimistic John Varley, CEO, Barclays explains, “Our immediate objective at Barclays is... manage the impact of the credit crisis...” Yes, we wish you all the best in your endeavours, but seriously Sir, sometimes even strong financials can have little impact on stock fortunes; and as for your shareholders, the ‘positive’ earnings may just have become a matter to mourn over!


Source : IIPM Editorial, 2012. An Initiative of IIPM, Malay Chaudhuri
and Arindam Chaudhuri (Renowned Management Guru and Economist).

For More IIPM Info, Visit below mentioned IIPM articles.

Zee Business Best B-School Survey 2012
Prof. Arindam Chaudhuri’s Session at IMA Indore
IIPM IN FINANCIAL TIMES, UK. FEATURE OF THE WEEK
IIPM strong hold on Placement : 10000 Students Placed in last 5 year
IIPM’s Management Consulting Arm-Planman Consulting
Professor Arindam Chaudhuri - A Man For The Society….
IIPM: Indian Institute of Planning and Management
IIPM makes business education truly global
Management Guru Arindam Chaudhuri
Rajita Chaudhuri-The New Age Woman
IIPM B-School Facebook Page
IIPM Global Exposure
IIPM Best B School India
IIPM B-School Detail
IIPM Links IIPM : The B-School with a Human Face
Posted by at
Labels: , , , , , , , , , , , , ,
Subscribe to: Posts (Atom)