Saturday, February 09, 2013

The most recent BP Oil spill holocaust

John Hocevar, Oceans Campaign Director, Greenpeace USA, talks to B&E’s steven philip warner about the damage done and the consequences thereof of the most recent BP Oil spill holocaust

 B&E: There has been a lot of talk, especially with Obama promising a lot with green technologies. But nothing has happened that can be called a sweeping influence to the fuel consuming masses. Are we there yet?
JH: President Obama has said that we need to end our addiction to oil, and to develop renewable energy sources like wind and solar. While this is a laudable goal, it is meaningless without action to back it up. Decisions are being made now which will have lasting impacts. But there are matters much more serious and threatening to consider using the thinking cap. For example, plans are still moving ahead to allow drilling in the Arctic in 2011. If we cannot even handle a spill in the Gulf of Mexico, where we are probably better prepared than anywhere else on earth, how can we deal with a spill in the remote, pristine waters of the Arctic, where the Coast Guard acknowledges they have no capacity to respond? Policies only make sense on ground. And if they are kept limited to just the coffee table, there is little that can help avert a second BP-like crisis or crises.

B&E: So what immediate step do you recommend to save the ecology?
JH: We need an immediate ban on offshore drilling, and we must improve the safety of and ultimately begin phasing out existing wells.

B&E: But do you think this will go well with the oil companies?
JH: Which right policy does? There will surely be objections.

B&E: You are quite known as a lover of ocean life. You must be keeping track of what the recent BP disaster has caused. How about an experience that you’d want to share?
JH : I was at Grand Isle, Louisiana, one of the growing number of places unlucky enough to win a “heavily oiled” classification on the government maps tracking the disaster in the Gulf of Mexico. Despite BP’s efforts to keep it under wraps, we’re went there to document the impacts of the spill. Walking through Grand Isle State Park, we came across a tidal flat that was littered with tens of thousands of dead hermit crabs. It was a depressing scene, and took me all the way back to my first visit to the beach, over 35 years ago, when discovering hermit crabs at Rocky Neck State Park in Connecticut helped inspire a life-long love of the ocean. Now, I realise it can seem a little odd to wax poetically about hermit crabs when we’re talking about the biggest environmental disaster in North American history. Today, entire communities along the Gulf Coast are reeling, and many species – sea birds, turtles, and even a population of sperm whales – are being pushed to the brink of extinction. The problem is that it’s all connected. Hermit crabs are a bellwether for the health of the Gulf of Mexico. When the sediment fills up with oil, so do the shells of the hermit crabs, and they suffocate. So if all the hermit crabs on a beach die, it’s pretty safe to say that the entire top layer of sand is full of oil – and no longer able to sustain life other than bacteria. The true cost of oil really doesn’t end at the gaspump! We have to realise that.


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.

 
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Friday, February 08, 2013

The legitimacy of the UNSC

West’s shifting of the goalpost on Iran and its disregard for the Turkey-Brazil brokered Nuclear Swap deal has jeopardised the legitimacy of the UNSC, says Saurabh Kumar Shahi

“Two confident and growing economic powers, from what the world once referred to as the ‘Third World’, have now asserted critical political sway on a prestigious global security question. Turkey and Brazil, thus, have signalled that Washington can no more unilaterally characterise conditions for managing such matters,” says Flynt Leverett, noted Washington based Iran analyst, while talking to B&E.

Therefore, the unfolding excitement of the deal and the knee-jerk reaction of the Obama regime to quickly move a draft sanctions resolution in the United Nations Security Council will have long-term consequences on the texture of international relations. For those who still question the viability or the possibility of the post-American world, the deal is a wake-up call. Also, by countering Brazil and Turkey’s astonishing diplomatic coup by an egotistical show of the Big-5’s power, the Obama regime has taken an itinerary that could not only inflict serious damage on America’s reputation but also on the legitimacy of the Security Council itself.

And as coming weeks will unfold, getting the P-5 to see a common ground on a considerably diluted and deficient draft resolution in UNSC is far easier than managing the mandatory nine assenting votes to pass it. In all probability, even though Washington is able to hammer in new rounds of sanctions through an extremely fractured and divided Security Council, the initiative will profoundly damage its credibility. By now, Turkish Prime Minister Erdogan has already started questioning the UNSC’s “credibility” to resolve Iranian impasse. And if the US torpedoes the TRR deal before giving it a chance, as it will do in all probability, expect Turkey and Brazil to dent UNSC’s legitimacy with a generous help from “non-aligned” nations. As it happens, NAM is not dead as of yet.

So, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton’s announcement of the text of new draft of sanctions before even officially going through the nitty-gritty of the TRR deal reflects extensive disrespect, to say the least, for Brazilian and Turkish diplomatic pains. But what has the US achieved? Merely a watered down text.

To bring the Russians and the Chinese on the table, the US had to drop any idea of a prohibition on fresh ventures or other ideas that could have hampered Iran’s capability to generate and export hydrocarbons.


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.

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Wednesday, February 06, 2013

Expecting too much?

Appointing an expat CEO, for traditional Indian companies, has always been a high stakes game, especially as their being ‘culture unfriendly’ is a huge disadvantage! Then why do Indian companies still take expat CEOs? Any valuable lessons yet?

As the troubled General Motors was busy finalising its restructuring process and doing some heavy duty pondering over hard decisions of retaining and shedding various brands under its vast portfolio post the bankruptcy filing under Chapter 11, home-grown Tata Motors was keeping a close eye on the developments. Around the same period, Carl-Peter Forster, President of GM’s European operations, had a decision to make of his own; one, a bigger job at General Motors – perhaps even the global head – and, two, becoming Group CEO of Tata Motors. Having worked at companies like GM, BMW and McKinsey, the Tatas knew that if Forster could be convinced, he would bring a lot of valuable experience on the table. For the London-born Forster (raised in Bonn and Athens, worked across the globe), India could promise to be an enlightening experience. But Forster also knew that if he were to join the Tatas, however hard he tries, he would – by rote nomenclature – be known as an ‘Expat CEO’ (short for expatriate CEO). Along with the bouquets that accompany this garnishing, Forster would have had the benefit of being brandished with the standard ignominious accusations reserved with honour for expat CEOs. But really, why do typically Indian companies take expat CEOs in the first place? Are there any lessons?

To be fair, this is not the first case of an Indian company headhunting for an expat CEO; and it definitely won’t be the last. In fact, the Tata group itself has believed heavily in global talent for top positions; which is logical since a huge 65% of the group’s revenues come from overseas markets. Raymond Bickson, MD, Indian Hotels (of the Tata Group), contributed heavily to the company’s global expansion through innovative acquisitions and tie ups with luxury hotel chains and cruise lines. But taking in Daryl Green as MD of Tata Teleservices wasn’t as rewarding as Green quit in two years, citing personal reasons and amid rumours attributing his resignation to his inability to mingle with the culture of the Tata Group.


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.
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Tuesday, February 05, 2013

A grand, glitzy but shallow show

A 34% rise in India Inc.’s Q3 profit may bring smiles to many, but it’s nothing more than a statistical jugglery of an ultra-low base founded in the third quarter of FY2009. Though things have started looking better, India Inc. still has miles to before they can really celebrate by Deepak Ranjan Patra

“This has been a good quarter for Dabur with all-round improvement. We sustained good growth momentum across key consumer categories and geographies... Revenue from key categories is scaling up along expectations and costs are being better managed… The business outlook for our company continues to be robust.” These very words said by a visibly confident Sunil Duggal, CEO, Dabur India indicate how the last quarter has boosted the company’s confidence. But the question remains: does it represent India Inc.’s sentiment as a whole? Well, by and large, yes! After all, gauged on a year-on-year basis the last quarter was the best for corporate India since the day when Lehman Brothers collapsed. But Dalal Street is still apprehensive, raising some food for thought.

Validating the talks about the green shoots of recovery, 467 companies of the BSE 500 constituents (results declared till February 12, 2010) posted a cumulative net profit of Rs.661 billion, up by a sound 34% from profit after tax of Rs.493 billion recorded by the same companies in the year-ago period. Top line of these companies also swelled to Rs.6.78 trillion as compared to Rs.6.02 trillion in the corresponding year of the previous fiscal. While the rise in profit is more than what experts at the market place expected, growth of 12.5% in revenues is more in line with the market estimations. With India Inc. flaunting its superb result card after a relatively longer period, it certainly should have been a party time for many. But surprisingly the one which matters- Dalal Street, has shown little interest in these results.

Since the day the results season kick started in January, the Bombay Stock Exchange benchmark index, Sensex dipped over 8% from a closing of 17,526 on January 11 to 16,038 at the closing of the market on February 15. The advocates of the green shoots theory would certainly blame it to the global cues. But is not a fact that India Inc.’s performance also gets affected by those so called ‘global cues’ (read: US unemployment rate, burgeoning US fiscal deficit, debt crisis in Greece, weak housing sector, sluggish growth in consumer spending in the US…)? Nevertheless, while we are flooded with concepts all around, it’s no surprise that the markets care less about hedging, inventory costs and interest cycle... and so on! They simply weigh the companies on one parameter – real performance, not just results dressed to look good.


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.
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Monday, February 04, 2013

3 days is all it took...

...to sell-off a fortune to a rookie named Apple!

“How about earning $1 million worth of my company’s equity for 3 days in your garden (that’s where you basically do your research!)... Deal?” What if your competitor proposes this to you? Great deal, isn’t it? Well, not really... Cut to 1979, officials at Xerox Corp., learnt this lesson the hard way. Xerox, under David Kearnes then, had allowed engineers from Apple Inc. to learn the Graphical User Interface technology (GUI) during a 3-day learning session at Xerox’s Palo Alto Research Center, for a consideration of $1 million in Apple’s pre-IPO stocks. What followed shocked Xerox. Apple’s engineers soon launched a GUI-clad personal computer named ‘Apple Lisa’, arguably the first hit product from Apple! Jobs’ foresightedness for the technology and Xerox’s myopia, gave Apple the much needed lead in this regard. “When a company is new and small, it doesn’t seem like a giant competitive threat, so doing deals with it is not important enough for anyone to pay attention to. These companies become large competitors and the deals that were done years ago, which made sense back then, don’t make sense anymore,” supports Jeff Kagan, a Tech analyst. Well, the GUI technology today forms a part & parcel of every major OS in the world.


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.
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