Shailesh J. Mehta School of Management, IIT Bombay AUGUST 2006 Human Resource Financial Management Information Systems Financial Engineering Portfolio Management Branding Mergers an Acquisitions Financial Engineering Derivatives and Risk Management Supply Chain Management Customer Relationship Managemen Sales and Services Corporate Strategy Technology Management Econometrics Structural Equation Modeling Decision Contro Systems Human Resource Financial Management Information Systems Financial Engineering Portfolio Management Branding Merger and Acquisitions Financial Engineering Derivatives and Risk Management Supply Chain Management Customer Relationshi Management Sales and Services Corporate Strategy Technology Management Econometrics Structural Equation Modeling Decisio Control Systems Human Resource Financial Management Information Systems Financial Engineering Portfolio Management Brandin Mergers and Acquisitions Financial Engineering Derivatives and Risk Management Supply Chain Management Customer Relationshi Management Sales and Services Corporate Strategy Technology Management Econometrics Structural Equation Modeling Decisio Control Systems Human Resource Financial Management Information Systems Financial Engineering Portfolio Management Brandin Mergers and Acquisitions Financial Engineering Derivatives and Risk Management Supply Chain Management Customer Relationshi Management Sales and Services Corporate Strategy Technology Management Econometrics Structural Equation Modeling Decisio Control Systems Human Resource Financial Management Information Systems Financial Engineering Portfolio Management Brandin Mergers and Acquisitions Financial Engineering Derivatives and Risk Management Supply Chain Management Customer Relationshi Management Sales and Services Corporate Strategy Technology Management Economatrice Structural Equation Modeling Decisio http://www.som.iitb.ac.in
Transcript
Shailesh J. Mehta School of Management, IIT Bombay
AUGUST 2006
Human Resource Financial Management Information Systems Financial Engineering Portfolio Management Branding Mergers anAcquisitions Financial Engineering Derivatives and Risk Management Supply Chain Management Customer Relationship ManagemenSales and Services Corporate Strategy Technology Management Econometrics Structural Equation Modeling Decision ControSystems Human Resource Financial Management Information Systems Financial Engineering Portfolio Management Branding Mergerand Acquisitions Financial Engineering Derivatives and Risk Management Supply Chain Management Customer RelationshiManagement Sales and Services Corporate Strategy Technology Management Econometrics Structural Equation Modeling DecisioControl Systems Human Resource Financial Management Information Systems Financial Engineering Portfolio Management BrandinMergers and Acquisitions Financial Engineering Derivatives and Risk Management Supply Chain Management Customer RelationshiManagement Sales and Services Corporate Strategy Technology Management Econometrics Structural Equation Modeling DecisioControl Systems Human Resource Financial Management Information Systems Financial Engineering Portfolio Management BrandinMergers and Acquisitions Financial Engineering Derivatives and Risk Management Supply Chain Management Customer RelationshiManagement Sales and Services Corporate Strategy Technology Management Econometrics Structural Equation Modeling DecisioControl Systems Human Resource Financial Management Information Systems Financial Engineering Portfolio Management BrandinMergers and Acquisitions Financial Engineering Derivatives and Risk Management Supply Chain Management Customer RelationshiManagement Sales and Services Corporate Strategy Technology Management Economatrice Structural Equation Modeling Decisio
http://www.som.iitb.ac.in
At the very outset, a Happy Independence Day to all of you. India could not have had better news on the eve of
her 59th Independence Day than that of Indra Nooyi occupying the top slot at PepsiCo. She becomes the first
Indian woman to lead a global MNC. It is at the backdrop of such historic moments that we are launching the
August issue of L! VE, continuing in its new avatar.
We are bidding farewell to our outgoing HOD, Professor Mangesh G. Korgaonker, who has been an integral part
of the school since its inception. We also take this opportunity to welcome the new batch SOM 08, to the
Shailesh J. Mehta School of Management. This magazine could not have been possible without the active
participation of both the batches of SJMSOM. The new batch has brought with it new facets of talent which has
resulted in addition a new section - namely, SOMersault.
The articles in this issue range from Product Traceability in Supply Chain to Commodity Trading among others.
The issue also features a rich pot-pourri of general features like cartoons, poems and ghazals. These are in
addition of regular features like Faculty Speak, Quiz, Alumni Speak, Corporate Interview and Sundae-Fundae.
We hope you would enjoy reading it as much as we enjoyed editing it. Happy Reading!
News which hogged the Headlines recently Compiled from www.hinduonnet.com, internet edition of The Hindu
July 7.Nathu La Pass reopened after 44 years The improving relations between the two Asian giants received a major boost when China and India opened the Nathu La pass for trade. The pass, a part of Ancient Silk Route, has been closed for 44 years since the Sino- Indian War. July 10 : Italy regains World Cup The largest sports event of the year FIFA World Cup came to an end with Italy beating France 5-3 in a penalty shoot out in the finals. The two teams were locked at 1-1 after the extra time. Hosts Germany finished 3rd beating Portugal 3-1. July 12: Terror strikes Mumbai, over 200 killed Over 200 lives were lost and more than 700 people were injured as eight powerful blasts ripped apart first class compartments of Mumbai’s suburban trains. The explosive used was a mixture of RDX, ammonium nitrate and fuel oil. July 17:India develops bird flu vaccine Union Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar announced that India had successfully developed bird flu vaccine. This vaccine was developed from a H5N1 strain. July 20 : Fighting in Middle East
Fighting erupted after Lebanon based Hezbollah militants captured two Israeli soldiers. Fighting continued for over three weeks ceasefire was called on August 14.
Aug 4: Natwar Singh misused positions for oil contracts
Justice RS Pathak inquiry committee indicted former Foreign Minister Natwar Sigh of
using his influence to secure oil for his son’s friend Andaleeb Sehgal under UN oil-for-food programme. Aug 10: Karnataka clamps down on 12 brands of soft drinks Karnataka government banned sales of 12 major brands of soft drinks in hospitals and educational institutions after CSE (Centre for Science and Research) found pesticides levels in the soft drinks above the prescribed levels. Meanwhile Kerala banned the production and sale of Pepsi and Coca Cola.
Aug 11: U.K. foils plot to blow up U.S.-bound planes
British Police arrested 21 people and foiled a terrorist plan to blow up US bound planes. The plot was to blow up the aircrafts mid air with a liquid explosive.
Aug 12: Flood-battered Surat limps back to normality as rain relents Monsoon rains wrecked havoc in various states across the country. One of the worst affected was Surat city in Gujarat. The situation was further worsened as nearby Ukai dam released water. Losses suffered by diamond industry are estimated to be no less than 1000 crores.
Aug 15: Indra Nooyi named global CEO of PepsiCo Indra Nooyi was named as the next CEO of global soft drink maker PepsiCo. She is an alumnus of MCC, Chennai, IIMC & Yale, USA.
“I believe that this emphasis on technology apart from management makes our school even more broad-based.”
In August 2006, we bid farewell to Professor M G Korgaonker, Head of
Department, SJMSOM. He has been one of the founding members of the school,
and played a key role in its march to glory. Here he shares his experiences and his
vision regarding SJMSOM and its students.
In conversat ion with PH Karthik (SOM-07), Nik i ta Lunawat (SOM-07) & Shipra Jain (SOM-08)
Q. Sir, you’ve been associated with SJMSOM since its inception. How was your
experience of leading it for the past ten years? How has this journey been?
A. I carry from here are only pleasant memories. No doubt it was a big challenge to setup a management
school in an Institute acclaimed world-wide for its technical excellence, but all the alumni of IIT and the
learned faculty here had a vision regarding this school. And I got associated with it after my experience of 19
years with IIMA.
In our country I see a tremendous need to professionalize and improve manufacturing processes. These are
the areas which are under-managed and over-privileged, which were not being taken up by students. So in
SJMSOM I found an opportunity which, apart from imparting management education, would also address
technical issues. Here we had a mission to explore the linkage between technology- which can actually
transform an organization and its processes, and its management. We had a vision of SJMSOM being a pioneer
in management education with its quest to explore the usefulness of technology in the improvement of
processes in manufacturing and other areas.
Many National Organizations identified with our vision and offered to work with us. Some of them are Deptt.
Of Technology, Deptt. Of Science and Industry and the Deptt. of Environment. When the school started, even
ICICI and HLL got associated because they could relate to our quest for this exploration.
But it would be naïve to say that we are a niche school. Even schools like MIT Sloan School have pioneered in
technological excellence, but they are not niche schools. I believe that this emphasis on technology apart
from management makes our school even more broad-based.
Q. Sir, on what aspects do you find SJMSOM to be strong and in which ones do we still need to improve?
A. Regarding the strengths, SJMSOM was setup in 1996, and in 2000 itself, when we used to do meaningful
participation in rankings, we were ranked amongst the top 20 in Asia-Pacific region, 3rd in India. And till the
time we participated, we were among the top 10 schools in India. Another aspect is our unique Ph. D.
programs. We started it with the school itself, and it has grown into a much respected program world- wide.
Another area in which we take pride is Executive Training and Development, which has provided the
manufacturing sector with leaders who are doing extremely well. This program is well recognized in the
manufacturing sector.
Another area that we specialize in is consulting in the area of manufacturing sector related issues.
On the other hand, we also started with a Working Professional Program, for which the classes were held in
the evening. But after about five years, we had to discontinue it because the modest faculty size we have
was finding it difficult to give time to both Full Time Management students and Professional Program
students. But for the time it was there, it produced quality graduates and the feedback was tremendous. In
fact it was ranked 2nd best in the country. But this is one thing I feel we should look into.
Q. What challenges do you think a business graduate will have to face in future?
A. I would classify these factors broadly as internal and external.
Amongst the internal factors the biggest challenge that I foresee is the ability to integrate across the
organization you work with. Today a manager receives a lot of information from all directions, but is not able
to fully utilize it in terms of business integration either because of lack of time or lack of ability. Ability to
integrate across various departments, to integrate technology with market, operations with strategy, HR with
finance is what would matter in the knowledge era. And in this regard our school provides an edge as to
building a foundation for the ability to integrate your business.
And let me add that however brilliant you’ve been in your academics, however much you’ve achieved, as a
manager you would have to deal with people, and how well you do it will matter the most for the success of
the organization you work with, and consequently yours.
For the external factors, our country is going through major transitions. We are trying to globalize, liberalize
and socialize. We hope to become an economic superpower in the near future. There are a lot of social
complexities in the environment in which managers of today have to operate. To analyze and understand this
environment and its implications, and leading your organization in this environment would need a lot of
insight and a strong conceptual base.
Q. Where do you see SJMSOM heading towards in future?
A. We are a great B-school with acclaimed programs, but for a school to drive forward, we have to learn
from the experience of great people. We have to improve competence to address diverse set of needs of the
present environment. I want to see SJMSOM grow to that level of competence. For that we would need to
add on to our faculty, our resources, our infrastructure, and people who align with our vision. Today no
doubt we are a good B-school, I want to see it as a leading school across the world. And we have that
environment, that competency, that seriousness that we can definitely achieve it.
Q. What is your message for your students?
A. I would only tell you people to stay committed to your values, you will go very far. Determine them
yourselves, and stick to them. You’ve got everything else- knowledge, ability, confidence. But there comes a
point where you ask yourselves, “What am I? Am I losing my way, my goal?” Such would be the confusions,
where only your values provide the answers, and show you the way. You don’t need to consult astrologers,
just consult your values.
Q. Sir L!VE magazine is an initiative that has been taken by SOM07. How do you perceive it to be in
present and future?
A. It has been a good initiative indeed. And I see it growing into a regular newsletter with a larger
infrastructure base and a larger reach, a newsletter which would go to our alumni. It should be a regular
feature with them. And it should also go to leading corporate as a newsletter of value.
Interlinkages between Call Money Market and Foreign Exchange Market Prof. S.V.D.N. Rao, Core Faculty, SJM SOM
“The call money and forex markets turned volatile yesterday as players arbitraged between the two,
pushing up the premia on spot dollar over cash dollar to a high of 65 per cent as the call rates touched 75
per cent.”
We read these reports very often in the financial press and business
pages of newspapers without understanding much of the same. Why does
volatility in call money market lead to volatility in foreign exchange
market? What are the interlinkages between call money market and
foreign exchange market? Does interest rate parity hold in India? In other
words, is the forward premium determined by interest rate differential?
This note attempts to answer these questions, though in brief.
Call money market or inter-bank call money market is a segment of the
money market where scheduled commercial banks lend and borrow on
call (i.e. overnight) or at short notice (i.e. for periods up to 14 days) to
manage the day to day surpluses and deficits in their cash flows. These day-to-day surpluses and deficits
arise due to the very nature of their operations and the peculiar portfolio of their assets and liabilities.
Call money rates were regulated in the past by RBI or by a voluntary agreement between the participants
through the intermediation of the Indian Banks Association (IBA). There was a ceiling of 10% on the rate at
which banks and others could lend and borrow short-term funds. The interest rates have been deregulated
and left to the market forces of demand for and supply of short-term money as a part of financial sector
reforms.
We had a fixed exchange rate regime in the foreign exchange market with several restrictions on foreign
currency transactions. The rupee was pegged to US dollar, and the central bank (RBI) used to intervene in
the foreign exchange market by selling or buying foreign currencies to maintain the fixed exchange rate. The
rupee was made convertible on the current account with gradual reduction in restrictions on foreign currency
transactions since 1992.
Banks could not lend at more than 10% when the demand for short-term funds was significantly more than
the supply. Similarly, they (banks) couldn’t sell foreign exchange at higher rates when the demand for
foreign currency exceeded the supply due to the fixed exchange regime prevalent then. Thus, call money
market, and foreign exchange market in India were segmented until 1992. There were no opportunities for
arbitrage between the two markets.
There were reports of banks taking positions in the forex market to exploit the opportunities for arbitrage
between the two markets after 1992. When call rates were low and rupee was continuously depreciating,
banks started buying dollars by borrowing (rupees) on call. These dollars were sold a day or two later thus
earning the spread.
Similarly, when call rates were high and rupee was relatively stable, banks sold dollars to lend in the call
money market. They could earn the spread between call money rate and the premium of spot dollar over
cash dollar and buy back the dollars after a couple of days or buying them forward.
“The call money and forex markets turned volatile yesterday as players arbitraged between the two, pushing
up the premia on spot dollar over cash dollar to a high of 65 per cent as the call rates touched 75 per cent.
..... When the call rates shoot up, players sell dollars (cash) and buy rupees to lend in the call money
market and take advantage of the high interest rates. They also buy back the dollars in the spot market
(generally two days after cash), due to which the differential of spot over cash increases substantially."
RBI intervenes in the foreign exchange market by selling
US dollars to stabilize the rupee-dollar exchange rate.
This intervention by the Central Bank results in an
outflow of hundreds of crores of rupees from the system
thus aggravating the situation in the call money market
further. But RBI cannot intervene in the call money
market simultaneously as it will have brought its efforts
to stabilize the forex to naught. So, the Central Bank has
to wait for the foreign exchange market to stabilize before it can inject the much needed liquidity into the
call money market by conducting repos through its two subsidiaries viz. STCI, and DFHI.
Repo or ready forward deal is a sale of RBI approved securities (or repo securities) by a bank to another bank
or STCI or DFHI with a commitment to repurchase the same at an agreed future date. For example, bank ‘A’
which is short of cash can sell its repo securities to bank ‘B’ or STCI or DFHI at Rs. 96.25 with a commitment
to repurchase them at Rs. 96.75 after 14 days. The difference between the sale price and the repurchase
price or the spread represents the interest rate on the borrowed money.
Thus, the forward premia in India are determined by the corresponding call money rates. The opportunities
for arbitrage between the call money market, and foreign exchange market will be exploited by banks, which
are participants in both the markets unlike other players. This scope for arbitrage by banks ensures that the
call money rates and forward premia are aligned.
The forward premia will correspond to the interest rate differential due to opportunities for interest
arbitrage in the absence of restrictions on capital transactions. Interest parity does not hold in India due to
restrictions on capital transactions, as Indian residents are not free to switch from rupee denominated assets
to foreign currency denominated assets. Indian companies require permission from RBI to invest abroad.
Indians cannot convert rupees into foreign currency, and invest the same in foreign currency denominated
securities and other assets.
Thus, forward premia will be determined by the demand for and supply of forward foreign currency (dollars).
Exporters and others supply forward dollars while importers and others demand the same. Supply of and
demand for forward dollars will be influenced by the changes in foreign exchange policy implemented by the
RBI.
“There will not be a recession in India”
The corporate leader in focus this time is Mr. Murthy R Nuni, Founding
Partner of Marshal Funds. Mr. Murthy, who is based out of Singapore,
is a B. Tech in Mechanical Engineering from IIT Madras, an MBA from IIM
Ahmedabad and CFA (chartered financial analyst) from AIMR USA. He is
a founding shareholder of Springboard Harper Technology Fund, a $ 70
M Singapore based VC fund backed by Singapore Government's TIF
Ventures. He has been investing in Asia since 1989 initially for funds in
Abu Dhabi and Bahrain and for private mandates since 1996 He has also been managing two private
mandates since 1996 with exceptional returns.
In conversat ion with Mohit Agarwal, SOM-07 & Abhishek Garg, SOM-08
Mohit: Regarding the very successful career path that you had can you please take us through the whole
journey?
Murthy: After passing out from IIT Chennai I worked for a year with Shaw Wallace to gain some experience. I
joined IIM Ahmedabad in 1986 for a two year management program. In 1988 the investment banking had not
evolved. The major recruiters in the college were Marketing firms and commercial banks. At that time only
three banks which have investment banking profile- SBI, ICICI and Canara Bank. SBI came to the college for
recruitment and after a nice chat with the SBI senior management I decided to join their Investment banking
segment. After working for few years with SBI I moved to international investing in Dubai and Abu Dhabi. I
returned back to India in 1996. At that time my friends from IIT and IIMs were doing well in the software
sector. We put together a fund and invested in second rung software companies. At that time the software
sector was only performing. From 1996 when the software sector was approx 3 billion dollars it grew to
approx 100 billion dollars in 2000. We cashed out our investment when the sector was 30-40 billion dollars
and got seven times on our investment. After that we started the Global Technology Investment fund to
invest in Asian Market such as China, Korea, Hong Kong, etc. Most recent effort was an Indian fund whose
scope included India and other Asian Markets.
Abhishek: How do you see the investment scenario, both globally and in India, in the coming future?
Murthy: In India the technology sector has come back strong after the crash. Indian software companies have
recovered most of the value that they lost in 2000. In comparison NASDAQ is still 40% of its peak value in
2000. The NASDAQ at 2090 is still not cheap to invest in. The Indian Software industry has cash flow business
which is very robust. It is not based on product but on cheap services that they provide. Hence the 30-40%
annual growth is likely to be sustained in future. The American technology companies are product based and
increasing revenues in such market is difficult. Thus they have a sluggish growth.
Mohit: Sir, we had a recent crash in May. Due you think that the whole mindset of easy money making will
now disappear. What are the lessons we have learned from it?
Murthy: One thing that this crash has done is got all the speculators out of the market. We had millions of
retail investors who were bringing volatility in the market. When they exited their investments were bought
by FIIs and funds. The markets are recovering but the trading volume is still less as compared to earlier. This
shows that the retail investors have still not come back. The market is now in fewer hands and it will bring
some stability in the market.
Abhishek: Post May crash, how do you see the future investments in the emerging markets?
Murthy: Foreign Institutional Investors have started coming back. India is getting increasingly higher share of
the pie. Earlier when there was 5-10 billion dollar investment a month about 1 billion dollar came to India.
Now when this investment has dropped to 1 billion dollar a month India attracts 300 to 400 million dollars.
This trend will continue for some time.
Mohit: How do you see the career opportunities in the in finance domain in the coming years?
Murthy: Banking sector will be very robust in the next few years. Lots of Transactions are happening and
they will increasingly grow. It’s a good career to be part off. Many big deals are happening and they will
continue to happen. Overall investment will expand.
Mohit: What if a recession happens?
Murthy: There will not be a recession in India. India is growing at 8% and planning is to increase the growth
rate to 10%. It will sustain to keep this growth rate. Many jobs are being created and it has a multiplying
effect. For each software job that is created 3 additional jobs are created to vendor to this software job. It
is increasing the purchasing power of the people which will drive the Indian economy. India is not an export
oriented country like Japan and Korea. Even if the USA economy slows down the impact will not be as great
as other Asian Countries. A slow in USA economy will negatively impact the Sensex and will have an impact
on growth. But we cannot predict when this slowdown will happen. The USA economy is under savvy people
and even if a recession happens it will not last for long.
Abhishek: What are your future plans?
Murthy: We will continue our focus on transaction business. We have an Asia Management fund for this. We
are also planning for an India-China fund. My colleagues are focusing on China and they see a lot of
complimentary business opportunities for India and China. We want to be the catalyst to strengthen this
partnership.
Mohit: Thank you Sir for your time….It was nice interacting with you….
Murthy: My Pleasure…
"Growth happens everywhere because the opportunities in DHL are huge."
Saurabh Kumar is an alumnus from the 2002 batch. After completing his Mechanical Engineering from
Faculty of Engineering, Dayalbagh, Agra he worked with Hindustan Lever Limited for a year before joining
SJMSOM for his Master of Management. Saurabh did his specialization in Operations. From SJMSOM, he was
recruited by DHL and has been working with the company since then.
He speaks about the various profiles offered by DHL to MBA graduates. Saurabh also shares some of his
experiences in the industry so far.
In conversat ion with Vid isha Suman (SOM-07), Mohit Agarwal (SOM-07), & Divya John (SOM-08)
Q. How has been your experience with DHL?
A. It’s been almost 4 years now and in terms of growth I think I was quite lucky to get into this industry and
this company when it was in a growing phase. DHL was earlier in a joint collaboration with an Indian
company when it set foot in India as the government policy then, did not allow 100% FDI in this sector. Later
in 2002, DHL bought back the stake of the Indian partner to make it a 100% DHL venture. The parent
company, DPWN is a 40b Euro German group, basically into two major businesses: Logistics and Banking. It
was quite an exciting time when I joined and in terms of career opportunities, in my fourth year I am already
in my third role in the company.
Q. How did you start off?
A. I started off as a management trainee for the first 4 months and later worked for almost 18-24 months
with the group that looks after logistics projects at DHL. Later I moved out of that team and became a
performance manager for India. The major responsibility was to look at all operational performances like
ground performance, productivity, cost etc for the country. I worked as the performance manager for almost
16 months. In the last two months I have moved into a new role where I am currently looking after the
Quality Centre here. It’s more like a role enlargement because I also look at operational performance. There
are two teams, one for performance and the other for quality. The difference is that one plays a proactive
role and the other plays a reactive role. We are coming up with something very new in the industry by
offering real time monitoring of all freights. It is done by capturing scans. We are in the phase of
implementing it and almost 60 to 70% is done. So overall it has been a good four years for me. One major
reason why I am still with the company is because I have had different things to do in the past four years.
Q. Does everyone achieve a growth trajectory like yours?
A. Yes a lot of people do get it; because we are a growing company and we increase our man power strength
by almost 100 every year. While we have so much of intake, the structure in the organization is spreading out
too. So, we don’t just add people at the bottom layer, the structure grows parallelly at the top layer also.
New roles come up, a lot of movement keeps happening and that’s how people get a chance to move across
functional areas and observe different roles.
Q. Were you always keen on specializing in operations or you had an intention of changing over to a
different functional domain after MBA?
A. My first job was in a manufacturing unit, I was looking at production in one of the Lever’s plants. But that
was not a deterrent for me to move out of the shop floor and get into an office job. I was still interested in
logistics and supply chain and I had a lot of subjects in my course focused on this. But it all boils down to the
day of the placement. You must have multiple plans so that if plan A fails, you go for plan B. You cannot get
emotional and just stick to one thing. You have to move on.
Q. What is the kind of work you do and what are your major responsibilities?
A. As I told you, in the initial 4 months as a management trainee, we were given different projects. I was
given a project to reduce the number of operational errors on the field. Later I joined the team which was
looking after projects for big global companies, like Adidas, which uses DHL world wide and have an India
specific requirement.
A simple example of a client requirement can be: the client wants the entire finished product to reach their
stores in India from the warehouse in Singapore, in 48 hours. So they come to DHL and we propose a model.
We see how quickly we can move stuffs form one place to another. You don’t need an infrastructure setup in
India; you only need a system wherein you can air express products from Singapore to India.
But sometimes these requirements get a bit complicated. The customer might want to replenish their stores
in India from London in 24 hours. Now that becomes difficult. So we ask them where in India you want this
replenishment to happen. After some model analysis we propose where in India, warehouses should be set
up. The decision is made based on such criteria as where is the land cheap, where is labor cheap, the cost of
inventory. A model is then suggested to identify locations where goods are to be stocked, the time involved
in movement, the cost of moving, the inventory cost, and the cost of replenishment. In a nutshell, it is a 3PL
kind of environment where you would manage the entire activity for your client.
Q. What is the organization structure at DHL?
A. Over a period of time DHL has taken over a lot of companies. They recently took over Blue Dart in India.
That's typically how DHL has grown. Currently there are 4 major divisions in DHL. At the moment I am with
DHL Express, which looks at air express consignments, where the requirement is fast movement; weight not
being a limitation; it could be from 1 gram to 20 ton or 100 ton. The requirement is air express, door to door
and speed. The second division called DHL Global Forwarding looks at sea freight and air freight. DHL
Solutions looks after warehousing and the fourth division provides customer service to top 200 customers
worldwide; typically customers who would use DHL everywhere. They also look after a product called Global
Mail, used for mass deliveries.
So within DHL, there are 4 clear verticals, and everybody handles a different kind of business. Initially, when
I was with the logistics team, DHL Solution and DHL Express were not different. We used to do everything.
But now, Express does not do Solutions at all. But we are still under the same family. We share the same
offices, same infrastructure. I might use their solutions or their route capacity on an airline. So there is no
clearly defined boundary between the divisions.
Q. What are the profiles that DHL offers apart from operations? Do they take laterals as well?
A. I haven’t heard of laterals being taken in this industry; because we are not into manufacturing or retail
where you find people with relevant experience to pick from. But DHL does visit campuses. This year we
picked about 20 to 25 training from campuses for various profiles including Marketing, HR, and Finance.
Q. Generally when you join a company, you are advised to go into there core profile. What is your take
on that; if someone joins in a finance profile in DHL does he have a disadvantage in terms of growth
opportunities?
A. I have seen many people in my group, who joined other functions at DHL, growing as rapidly as others. So I
don’t think that joining a non core function makes you stand to lose. At least in DHL, growth happens
everywhere because the opportunities in this company are huge. DPWN is currently the 2nd biggest employer
worldwide with about 5,00,000 employees and so movement into other verticals happens. DHL recently took
over Exel, a UK based warehousing firm. The environment is quite dynamic and as I told you, right now, we
are in a growing phase. India, China, Australia and Japan are currently considered as the biggest markets for
logistics. So the present and the coming two years will witness a lot of opportunities.
Thank You Saurabh, for taking out time for us; we wish you the best for the years ahead!
Disclaimer: The views expressed in the text above are solely personal opinions of the person. They do not in
any way reflect or imply to be that of Business organizations the person represents.
Product Traceability in Indian FMCG Companies Manish Gulati, SOM-07, [email protected]
The field of supply chain is the backbone of any distribution system. Surviving in a competitive world
requires a company to possess an efficient supply chain. Supply chain can be broadly divided into two
categories: - raw materials, and finished goods. Since the last five years, Indian companies have started
realizing the importance of supply chain management. Companies have started realizing that they need to
work in this direction also and mass scale production alone can’t help them.
Now when we talk about the supply chain system on finished goods side then it becomes very critical for
FMCG companies. This is because their product size is very small and in some cases these small products
carry a huge value, which any company can’t afford to lose. The examples of huge value items are high value
shampoo bottles, lipsticks, hair oil etc. The main supply chain on finished goods side includes factory (i.e.
the manufacturing point), zone warehouses (throughout the country), state warehouses, distributors,
retailers and finally customers. In some cases companies either add or delete one of the steps as per their
business requirement in a particular zone.
There is one main reason why most of the companies are forced to open warehouses in almost every state in
India. The reason is that if any company shows a sale from one state warehouse to other state distributors
they have to pay 4% more tax as compared to if these companies show the stock transfer from one state
warehouse to other state warehouse and then a sale from that state’s warehouse to its distributors.
The main problems that come on finished goods side are wrong dispatches, inability to maintain FIFO (First In
First Out) on inventories, loss of inventory count, and absence of product traceability among others. Product
traceability means that people in the company should always know at any point of time the exact location of
the product. By “product” I mean the type, manufacturing date, batch number, the expiry date of product
(if needed) and any other particular information, which the company feels important. This keeps the people
informed as to which product is lying at which warehouse, and as to how much inventory of that product has
been maintained at each point in the supply chain.
There are many techniques available for helping to trace movement of products. One of them is using
barcodes and other is RFID (radio frequency identification) tags. However, RFID is a costly proposition for
Indian FMCG companies, thus leaving barcodes as a viable option.
Problems faced in Product Traceability
In spite of availability of barcodes system, there are some other problems with regard to product
tractability:
• Most of FMCG products get packed in boxes or cartons of a particular lot size. Information about the
product is imprinted on the carton face . Till the time every distributor orders items in the multiples
of carton size there is no problem with the current system. But if a particular distributor orders some
odd number of items then that requirement has to be fulfilled by opening another carton and giving
some loose items. For these loose items the traceability will be lost as the information about product
is only on carton and not on each item. Now the question arises as to whether we should imprint the
product information on each item. The answer is very simple that in this case it will take a huge
amount of time to read each and every item with scanning machine and dispatch it. Suppose you are
told to read each and every soap case with barcode scanner and then put it for dispatch then you can
very well imagine that how much time it will take.
• Now suppose we have made a system with barcodes and all the dispatches are going to pre-assigned
places and company is also able to monitor the inventory level. We have finally made an IT system
with the help of barcodes and scanners which will not allow us to pick up wrong item carton and will
also maintain FIFO. Now the problem comes when we have to dispatch them. The problem is that
when order comes for a particular product, the warehouse supervisor has to go with the scanner and
search for the location of the item in the warehouse. Searching for an item is a very difficult task
and it reduces warehouse efficiency.
Probable Solution
The above mentioned problems can be dealt in the following ways: -
• If we take the data then we can easily come to know that how many times during a full year a
particular number of items have been ordered by a particular distributor. Suppose the order placed is
for 36 soaps, then we can easily come to know that how many times the order of size 36 has been
placed by all the distributors. Try to see which batch size had maximum orders from distributors.
This figure will give you the order size in which the cartons should be made so as to cover as many
orders as possible. Then we can easily put barcode on that carton size and we will not have to open
any carton to fulfill loose bottle demands as maximum number of order sizes will be covered by that
size. And to rest of 10 to 15% distributors which are coming as outliers, company can easily instruct
them to order in that size. In this way we will not loose traceability of items and there will be no
scope of loose items till it reaches the distributor.
• The second problem can be solved by following the dynamic location management inside warehouses
according to which each and every product will be kept at a particular location and that location will
be given some number or nomenclature. The scanning machine will record the location of the
particular item. Now when the supervisor goes to take a particular item out for dispatch then he can
know from the system the exact location of that item. This will help in saving a lot of time while
dispatching and also unloading the goods.
Now finally I would like to add that what other FMCG companies are doing in this regard. For location
management in the warehouses some companies are following the naming of locations and putting that
location number in SAP. Some companies are following the “bin card” system in which they make a paper
card for each and every batch of item and they keep a manual note of all the dispatches which they are
making from that lot. But still human intervention causes some errors as it is not the full proof system.
The system suggested above requires the investment of infrastructure (like barcode stickers and scanning
machines) and allocating large space for the warehouses so that every pallet containing the cartons can be
put at a location. As per the data the warehouses needs to be expanded to 1.5 times the current size and
warehouses are required to follow racking system instead of keeping all the items on floor as racking gives
more space for the same area on floor.
Still there is a long way to go in Indian FMCG industries before this concept takes its roots but some
companies have already started following this system and are in the experiment stage of this project. Next
road ahead in product traceability can be the GPRS system in transportation system which will help in
locating stocks in transit.
The author did his summer training with a leading cosmetics firm in the area of product traceability in
supply chain. The article is based on his experiences and observations.
Commodity Trading – An Insight Pranjal Srivastava, SOM-08, [email protected]
What?
Commodity trading is the act of trading raw or primary commodity in well regulated commodity markets.
These commodities are traded using standardized buy and sell contracts.
History
Commodity trading has existed since the ancient times when agricultural products were traded on a wide
scale in the Indus valley and Sumerian times. These crude forms of trading later gave rise to the modern
commodity markets where everything from oil to dal is traded. However today’s markets are far more
regulated ensuring delivery of the commodity according to the contractual terms and advanced payment
mechanisms through banks and clearing firms.
Commodity Exchange
The commodity exchange is the facilitator for various commodities. It enables the sale of commodities
through various forward and derivative products. Most commodity markets trade in agricultural products and
provide forwards, futures and options contracts. Advanced derivatives like weather forwards, swaps are also
offered on some exchanges. Some of the popular commodity exchanges in the world are Chicago Board of
Trade, Chicago Mercantile exchange, Intercontinental exchange etc. India has the Multi Commodity Exchange
(MCX) and the National Commodity Exchange (NCDEX).
Commodity Trading in India
India saw the birth of regulated commodity exchanges with the launch of the MCX on 10th November 2003.
This exchange is being promoted by corporate majors like SBI, NSE, and Fidelity among others. Close on the
heels of MCX, the NCDEX was launched on 15th December 2003 and it is being backed by majors like Goldman
Sachs, ICICI Bank, LIC etc. The commodity markets in India are regulated by the Forwards Market Commission
(FMC) which is the nodal agency for regulation. At present, all goods and products of agricultural (including
plantation), mineral and fossil origin are allowed for futures trading under the auspices of the commodity
exchanges recognized under the FCRA. The national commodity exchanges have been recognized by the
Central Government for organizing trading in all permissible commodities which include precious (gold &
silver) and non-ferrous metals; cereals and pulses; ginned and unginned cotton; oilseeds, oils and oilcakes;
raw jute and jute goods; sugar and gur; potatoes and onions; coffee and tea; rubber and spices, etc.
Recently the trading of forward contracts on basic commodities has come under criticism from various
political circles in India. Forward contracts are being blamed for the recent price rises of the basic
commodities like wheat. However experts contend that Forward commodities enable development of
markets, improvement in infrastructure and ensuring the right price for farmers and traders through the
means of price discovery.
Contracts
The commodity market can be broadly classified into two types: Physical market and futures markets. The
physical markets for commodities deal in either cash or spot contract for ready delivery. These contracts are
essentially party to party contracts, and are fulfilled by the seller giving delivery of goods of a specified
variety of a commodity as agreed to between the parties. The contracts may then be settled mutually.
Unlike the physical markets, futures markets trade in futures contracts which are primarily used for risk
management (hedging) on commodity stocks or forward (physical market) purchases and sales. Futures
contracts are mostly offset before their maturity and, therefore, scarcely end in deliveries. Speculators also
use these futures contracts to benefit from changes in prices and are hardly interested in either taking or
receiving deliveries of goods.
Risk Management
Price risk management is by far the most important, and is the raison d'etre of a commodity futures market.
The need for price risk management, through what is commonly called "hedging", arises from price risks in
most commodities. The larger, the more frequent and the more unforeseen is the price variability in a
commodity, the greater is the price risk in it.
Hedging allows someone to offset the risk of fluctuating prices when he buys or sells physical supplies of a
commodity. For example, a copper mining company might sell a futures contract to lock in its sales price and
protect its source of revenue should the market value of copper fall. (If copper prices rise instead, then the
increased value of the physical metal offsets its loss on the futures contract). At the same time, a wire
manufacturer who buys copper to use as a raw material in the production of wire might buy a copper futures
contract to lock in his raw materials cost. (If the price of copper falls, the cost advantage gained by buying
the actual copper at a lower price offsets his loss in the futures market.)
The Future
People envision that in the future anything and everything can be traded. Human free time can also become
a commodity in which people can trade and gain or lose money.
But only the future can tell us what the future holds. There is no telling what will lubricate the wheels of
commerce — cat pelts were once a hot item in St. Louis, USA and, today, dried cocoons are a major
exchange-traded commodity in Japan.
Reference and Sources:
1. Nymex.com
2. Wikipedia.com
3. MCXIndia.com
4. NCDEX.com
View-Counterview of India’s SEZ Policy Shekar Mallik, SOM-08, [email protected]
View
Delhi’s Udyog Bhawan housing the Commerce & Industry ministry is working overtime to approve the Special
Economic Zones (SEZs). Proposals are piling up with the Board of Approvals (BOA) each day with the last
count being 388 of which 106 have received clearance. India hopes to live the Shanghai Dreams with these
new engines of growth.
Once the SEZs are operational, a significant part of India’s exports could be routed through them which
would push up the share of SEZs in total exports. Compare this with Chinese SEZs which account for around
12% of that country’s economy. Shenzen, China’s largest SEZ accounts for nearly 1/7th of Chinese exports,
estimated at $760 billion in 2005. Note the difference & thus the magnitude of the huge opportunity for us in
the days to come.
Setting up a township in an SEZ makes sense since all the raw materials, from cement & steel to lifts & light
fittings, can be imported duty-free bringing down the construction costs. Then there are exemptions from
sales tax, excise, minimum alternate tax & customs duty and grant for 100% foreign investment in
manufacturing activities. States like Gujarat & Maharashtra are planning flexible labour laws in SEZs to
attract investments. Six states have approached the labour ministry with similar proposals.
These SEZs can serve as economic hubs around which new towns can emerge. The employment generation in
these townships will pull the workforce out of the agriculture sector which employs nearly 2/3rd of our
population while hardly contributing 25% to the GDP and in the process prevent large-scale migration of such
people into the overcrowded metros.. With the big names like Mukesh Ambani controlled Reliance group (2
zones in Mumbai, one each in Haryana & Jamnagar), Bharat Forge, Essar, Adani, Wipro, TCS, Satyam, Infosys,
Biocon and Nokia in the fray, clearly India Inc. is betting big on the SEZs to power it ahead on the lines of
China.
Counterview
Real estate rates have leapfrogged in the past 2 years and this has led the Reserve Bank of India to start
worrying about a real estate bubble. Therefore it raised the interest rates twice recently to cool the
property market.
However, the biggest real estate bubble of all may arise with the Special Economic Zones (SEZs) coming up
all over the country. A mad rush has begun to set up SEZs which looks more like a real estate capture rather
than a fillip to exports.
By allowing up to 75% of the area of SEZs to be used for non-export purposes such as housing, schools,
entertainment, banks & hospitals, exports have been pushed into a corner. Note that the original proposal
was to earmark only 20% of the area for such non-export activities. The real estate developers are happy to
get their hand on large parcels of cheap land while the aim here was supposedly to promote exports. There is
no guarantee that enough export units will flock to these new SEZs, especially in those states which are far
away from good ports viz. those in Haryana, which incidentally has the second highest number of applications
for the SEZs.
Risky Proposition: The SEZs require deep pockets. There is an element of cross-subsidisation built into the
cost. Land may be available cheap but the facilities could be expensive. There is a view that maybe only 30%
of the projects will actually come up.
SEZ developers will be spending huge sums on infrastructure & if they are unable to attract enough export
units they will quickly run into financial crisis arising from over-investment. The SEZ bubble will burst and
the consequences would be disastrous for all stakeholders. Small shareholders are exposing themselves to
high risk by buying into the currently exciting shares of SEZ-focused companies. The unprecedented rally of
scrips like Adani Exports, Unitech, Lok Housing echoes the new excitement.
SEZ promoters will seek to raise bonds & bank loans that are several times larger than their equity. Banks
need to be cautious about lending & mutual funds need to be cautious about investing into these bonds.
With Rs. 70,000 crore at stake (including the export units) over the next 10 years, we need to be cautious.
Better safe than sorry.
Reference for figures:
1. Economic Times
2. Times of India
Surely you’re joking Mr. Feynman - by Richard P. Feynman, Ralph Leighton, Edward Hutchings Vijay Goel, SOM-07, v i jay.goel@i i tb.ac. in
"It is possible to laugh out loud and scratch your head at the same time." - New York Book
Review. This may have happened to you before, but, I bet, definitely not with this
concentration.
This book is the story of a curious man who has been experimenting things right from his
childhood. This story is a live example of what science can give you; what an attitude of
questioning the obvious, and proving things henceforth, can do to you. If you think that it
can make you a researcher, congratulations! You’ve probably got hold of the tail of an elephant and assumed
it to a rope! This attitude has inbuilt adventures coming up every now and then. You can use it to take peers
by surprise when you want to! It can make you an official lock-picker, teach you samba drums, guide you into
selling drawings, establish relationships between science & society, revolutionize education of countries and
help you enjoy topless bars like never before!
Oh yes! I forgot that incidental Nobel-prize that you might get.
A habit of experimentation and inventiveness made Feynman intolerant of stupidity, especially when it was
cocooned in high intellectualism. It gave him a total disrespect for fancy ideas that has no grounding in real
world. He has explained what authentic knowledge is and supplemented it with insights on how to get it. This
book is a collection of stories from his life where he has demonstrated it all, and much more, quite vividly.
He pretty much pens down the lessons along with humorous anecdotes. e.g. after being hypnotized, he learns
and quotes, "All the time you're saying to yourself, 'I could do that, but I won't'--which is just another way of
saying that you can't."
He has spilled insights, ideas and questions all over the book.
''Scientists . . . are used to dealing with doubt and uncertainty,'' he says, "an experience, the value of which
'extends beyond the sciences. I believe that to solve any problem that has never been solved before, you
have to leave the door to the unknown ajar. You have to permit the possibility that you do not have it
exactly right.''
''I don't think of the problem as between socialism and capitalism but rather it’s between suppression of ideas
and free ideas.''
"I've very often made mistakes in my physics by thinking that theory isn't as good as it really is, thinking that
there are lots of complications that are going to spoil it --an attitude that anything can happen, in spite of
what you're pretty sure should happen."
"Since then I never pay any attention to anything by 'experts.' I calculate everything myself."
He closes the book, saying, "I have just one wish for you--the good luck to be somewhere where you are free
to maintain the kind of integrity I have described, and where you do not feel heed by a need to maintain
your position in the organization, or financial support, or so on, to lose your integrity. May you have that
freedom."
There is so much to follow up on ideas from this book that one can spend all his life doing it!! If one had to
pick that ‘one’ word from the book, it would definitely be EXPERIMENTATION.
Brain Teasers Compiled by Vijay Goel (SOM07), Pavan Kumar Tatha (SOM08) & Ananth A (SOM08)
1. This Company has been given the responsibility of advertising Gillette brands in India. 2. HPCL had tied up with which companies for operating Eateries and restaurants at HPCL’s retail outlets across the country? 3. Expand BRPSE? 4. The Tata Group has merged two of its consultancy subsidiaries recently. Name them? 5. What is the old name of Future Group? 6. Apollo Tyres recently said it would invest around Rs. 500 crore in the next 5 years in setting up a greenfield radial tyre manufacturing unit in which state? 7. Which company owns the Gillette brand? 8. Which company recently announced to set up a 300million $ facility to make small cars in Maharashtra? 9. Carlsberg one of the leading global beer brands belong to which country? 10. Which company will assume ownership of all Foster's assets in India including the Foster's brand in the territory. 11. The secret recipe for which popular food product is kept in a safe in Louisville in United States? 12. Which Indian brand name setup by Tatas gets its name from an identity in Leon Delibes opera? 13. Identify the company that has used the following punch lines: It Satisfies; Stop at the Red Sign; Feel the Difference 14. Identify the company that has used the following punch lines: “Gotta Have It; Taste That Beats the Others Cold; More Bounce to the Ounce 15. Which was the first Asian country where P&G started business?
Answers
1. BBDO (Batten, Barton, Durstine & Osborn), the advertising agency which is part of Omnicom group of
companies.
2. McDonald’s and the Kamat group of Hotels.
3. Board for Reconstruction of Public Sector Enterprises.
