SANTA CLAUS- The Super MANager

Vaishali Sethi

Ever wondered how our dear old Santa Claus manages to give gifts to so many children across the world, without any delay and without any mistake? … Yes he MANAGES it. What makes Santa one of the best known managers of the world?

Just sit back and recall the little rhymes and X’mas songs learnt at school, after all its Christmas time.

1. Rudolph the red nose reindeer …. Santa knows how to get work done through people. He, like a prudent employer, keenly observes all his employees and understands whom to contact and deploy and for what work. This is absolutely necessary in the corporate world where competitiveness is the buzzword and one has to have the right persons at the right work. Santa knew that Rudolph with his bright and shiny nose would be best fit for the foggy night, so he chose him.

2. Rudolph with your nose so bright, won’t you drive my sleigh tonight… Choosing Rudolph was a decision with not just one but many reasons! It is known that his red shiny nose had made him a kind of social outcast and it was Santa who brought him back to the mainstream. He knows how to keep his workforce happy and contented. A manager has to understand that he cannot achieve the business aims all alone; he has to assign work to his sub-ordinates. An ideal manager makes his people feel important and wanted. …You would go down in history… He knows that his success lies in success of his employees and he ensures that his team members are recognized and are successful.

3. Ever heard of Santa missing deadlines, reaching children even one day late? Ever heard of any child ever meeting Santa just because he was late and the child was already up by then? The obvious answer is NO. Punctuality is Santa’s priority and it is this punctuality that he is a favourite among kids. The Santa charm ceases to fade away. If all managers meet their target deadlines and complete their tasks with extreme precaution, well, a lot of management theories will find their place in the trash!

4. He’s making a list and checking it twice… If someone makes a to-do list, checks it twice and adds point 3 to it, well, I suppose, it just does all the work. There has to be extreme accuracy when we do our work. Planning is the first and the most important step in management. The manager must have his goal well within sight and he must have a strategy, he must know the appropriate tasks that he has to undertake to achieve the set goals. This management skill can also teach us a lot about compiling and reviewing data, removing redundancies and duplicities. ‘Checking it twice’ part can help eliminate most of the unwanted mistakes that might have crept in.

5. He wants to know who’s naughty or nice… Well, an able manager must know the good, the bad and the ugly truth of their customers and suppliers. So does Santa. He has to treat the naughty and the nice ones differently. Serving both on the same platter may end up being unfair to the nice ones. Basic management seeks to differentiate between the good and the bad. Good or the Theory Y subordinate/ workers/ employees must be given better treatment because they deserve it and keeping them in good humour will only benefit the organization in the long run. Non-performers or reluctant workers or simply put, the Theory X employees must be dealt very differently.


6. You better watch out, you better not shout, you better not cry, I'm telling you why…


Santa Claus is coming to town!! .. Dependability. Extreme dependability. The simple surety that Santa will come, come on time and that once he comes, all would be good makes Santa the most dependable and by far the best loved person in the world. Imagine parents luring the kids to sleep and then understanding that there is no Santa around. Horrifying! Wouldn’t it be? Meeting deadlines keeps customers confident in our ability to service them, and keeps their customer experience a positive one. Santa might give big business houses with their flamboyant 6 Sigma or 9 Sigma approaches a run for their money.


7. The concept of Sante di Gaddi… Go to Punjab and you might find a SANTA SINGH with a turban instead of the conventional Santa cap. A Santa from Tamil Nadu may be seen wearing a dhoti in place of the red pant! Even in places like India with predominantly non-Christian population and extreme regional variations, Santa Clause has found his way into every child’s lexicon. The key word here is adaptability. Think global. Act local. Our good old Santa has the ability to adapt himself to all the cultures and specifications that are desired of him. Have you ever imagined Santa speak Spanish or Hebrew with a little child from rural interiors of India? Do you think he will speak Marathi with people of Argentina? What if businesses make such mistakes? Will they survive?


8 The big kind smile… Honestly, I do not know anyone who associates gloom with Santa. He is the cheerful old father figure, always there as a symbol of benevolence. His is a perfect tale of service with a smile. He has been up on his work since times immemorial and still handles it with perfect ease and dexterity. A happy boss will lead to a happy workforce, and thus a happy organization. The customers will be happy and so will the results, earnings and profits be.


9 He knows all the customers and their needs – Santa knows where the kids have hung their socks. He knows what they want. Have you ever seen Santa gift a pink pair of bellies to a teenage boy? Ever seen Santa give Khushwant Singh books to a new born baby? Well that’s why we all love Santa. He is not like the organizations which produce products and then force the customers to adapt to the new products. Anticipating and fulfilling customers need is very imp for success of a business enterprise, especially in today’s scenario when the consumers prefer individuality. It is an era of customization. A happy customer is the biggest asset that any organization can ever have.


10 No complaints… only good work.. Santa never complains, falters in duty or gets tired of it. The good work speaks for itself. The work is worship. And thus Santa is revered. Best of managers not only supervise, they are hardworking people themselves. Work when done with a positive attitude ceases to be mere work, but becomes a source of joy, happiness and fulfillment.


With these little tips laced with delight and seasoned with warmth, I wish you all a very Merry Christmas.



May the lord bless us all with management skills like our very own Santa Claus…!!

CHIT FUNDS explained...

-Vaishali Sethi

A Chit fund is a kind of savings scheme practiced in India. They are savings plans conducted by a group of people who contribute to the fund and thereby benefit from it. So, simply put, chit funds are just like the ‘kitty parties’ that women organize at their homes. They collect some amount of money every month and the entire amount goes to one person each month. This continues till each person has got an opportunity to keep (and use) the amount atleast once.

The Chit Funds Act, 1982 governs the functioning of Chit funds in India. According to Section 2(b) of the Chit Fund Act, 1982, "Chit means a transaction whether called chit, chit fund, chitty, kuri or by any other name by or under which a person enters into an agreement with a specified of persons that every one of them shall subscribe a certain sum of money (or a certain quantity of grain instead) by way of periodical installments over a definite period and that each such subscriber shall, in his turn, as determined by lot or by auction or by tender or in such other manner as may be specified in the chit agreement, be entitled to the prize amount".

People who contribute to the chit funds are called subscribers.  The person or company who organizes and manages the fund is called the Foreman. Foreman has to be a subscriber also. He/She/The company  just receives a small fees for the services that they have provided.

The chit funds system basically works in this way. A small group of people get together for mutual savings and loan requirements. All the members pool in their money. (Usually the maximum amount to be contributed is fixed). Then there can be a draw of lots every month regarding who shall be pocketing the money during the month. Later on this member is expected to keep taking part in the savings process, but he/she will not get the money again. Normally, the duration of the chit funds scheme is the number of months as the number of members.

For those with no credit background, those with an unstable collateral base, it is a simple and self-help way to organize funds during crises or as and when need arises and also, as a saving scheme during normal and stable times. So, chit funds are just another, but if implemented properly, then excellent microfinance instruments. It has the capability of pulling people out of years of debt and drudgery.

But hardly anything in this world comes without a disclaimer. For so many successful chit funds that go unsung and unpraised, there are some people who con others by talking them into fake chit funds and thus robbing them of their hard earned money. So, never miss the word of caution!

MANAGEMENT LESSONS FROM MY MOM’S KITCHEN

- Vaishali Sethi

Being an Indian make me a part of the culture where the kitchen is the most happening place in the house. It is one place where some work is usually happening at almost all times during the day. 

Kitchen work generally forms the most important engagement of the home makers and provides employment as well, be it to the lady who comes to clean the dishes or be it the cook or others in similar professions. 

Here are a few very striking pointers I came across while my hanging around outside the kitchen at home:

Ü One must have the right knowledge of the task undertaken. 

      Imagine a cook who has no knowledge of what is to be cooked and how. All we can expect from such a person is to come up with either a brilliant new invention (rarely so) or just some disastrous, inedible attempted replication of some existing recipe. Remember the age old joke of people having discovered sugar in place of salt and vice versa in the dishes they were eating? Imperfect knowledge can only, most likely, lead to a catastrophe and be extremely bad and harmful for life in general.

Ü Right ingredients in the right quantity and at the right time. 

     All of us are well aware of what might happen if the ingredients of a dish were not added in the right quantity and proportion. We might just end up having a turmeric and pepper laced ‘halwa’ too sugary or chapatti smeared with peanut butter. Yuck! In real life also, it is of significant importance that we add the right components in perfect or near perfect proportions to get the desired results.

Ü It is all about group work. 

      We must assess our abilities well in advance and work accordingly. Just as a single grain of rice or a single gram seed cannot make an entire meal, it is possible that we are a part of a task that we cannot humanly bring about alone. Here comes the importance of team work. A bowl full of rice grains can definitely make a decent meal. A lot many of the tasks which cannot be accomplished alone can be, by a group.

Ü Ghee-Makhan Laga ke. 

     Have you ever seen how nasty it smells when the butter at home is boiled to make Ghee? Butter is tasty, but Ghee has its own place of pride. It is one thing that is used in the pious rituals like hawans, is a symbol of prosperity and affluence, and, no doubt, makes the food super tasty. Is this not due to the tough transformation it has to go through. Rephrasing the age old proverb, ‘Test of heat makes fine ghee’!

Ü Difficulties mustn’t enslave us. 

      It is the difficult time that makes a man what he is. Tasting is fine, but can we actually eat the raw batter of a cake? Not even 1 spoonful, I can bet on it. When the eggs are beaten, and added to a number of other things and the whole thing is made to shift bowls and finally made to endure the hardship of 180^o C of the oven, what come out is the sweet smelling cake. The rising of the batter is a sign of triumph over all the difficulties that all the ingredients have had to face in their run to be the cake. None of the ingredients has its original entity intact now, but the awesome unified mass is what makes all of them the equal kings.

Ü Flexibility is the key. 

     Rigidity is the aspect that can sure bring upon the downfall of even the mightiest. Those who wish to survive in the long run must inculcate flexibility. Just as a whole big bottle gourd or a big round pumpkin cannot be cooked and eaten as a whole and have to be cut into smaller pieces, it is of paramount importance, that at times we must be willing to let go of our pride and rigidity to accomplish great goals of life.

(The article was published in a local newspaper, THE MAYUR INFOMAIL, MAY 1-15, 2013)

WELCOME

Welcome to a brand new world!!!

This is a special occasion. Our first blog post for the academic session 2012-13, and today we are celebrating Janmashtami, the birthday of the beloved Hindu God, Sri Krishna. Definitely an auspicious day!

This new beginning opens before us a whole new gateway to ambit-less opportunities, a world of new hopes and aspirations. At this point, we are compelled to look back at the well-lived yesterday and manage our today for a bright and beautiful tomorrow. Our actions and decisions of today shall decide the course our lives take tomorrow. 

"One can become whatever one wants to be, if one constantly contemplates on the object of desire with faith." So, said Sri Krishna, the wisest of all. As we strive to achieve the new heights for our aims - as individuals, as students and as members of humanity, we mustn't let doubts cloud our vision, nor must we allow ourselves to forget our learnings from the glorious past. 

On this momentous occasion, when we are at the threshold of re-defining ourselves, our actions, our academic pasts and our achievements as TEAM - Management Interaction Cell (MIC), we thank all those who have ever had a role in making us what we are and what MIC as a society is and has been.

At the close, instead of the customary good-byes, it is indeed time once again for a 'welcome', for it is just the beginning!!

RURAL BANKING

Vaishali Sethi

We are all aware that the occupations in the rural backdrop are highly seasonal in nature. With these seasonal occupations, a major concern is that the income also becomes largely seasonal. For meeting the monetary requirements and for all the essential undertakings in life, like food, clothing, education of children, and functions like marriages, deaths and so on, the rural folks need easy and frequent access to credit facilities and loans. Traditionally, this credit requirement has been fulfilled by borrowings from moneylenders and extended family members. Since the supply of formal credit to the countryside has been chiefly inadequate, the informal sector including these moneylenders and all have played a major role and are also infamous for large scale exploitation of the borrowers by way of exorbitantly high interest rates and the applicable terms and conditions in case of inability in paying back the amount.

Thus one of the main focuses of the government post-independence was, in the words of former Governor of Reserve Bank of India, “to ensure that sufficient and timely credit, at reasonable rates of interest, is made available to as large a segment of the rural population as possible”. Therefor the highlight of the required strategy was the expansion of the formal sector to an extent that it benefits the target segment, so that cheap or subsidized credit is directly available to the poor and the needy

With this issue ailing the rural India, concerning a very big proportion of the Indian population, the Government came up with two major reforms.


1. Nationalization of banks in 1969 

  This was the phase of early ‘green revolution’ and as many as 14 banks were nationalized, basically with the aim to provide banking services to previously unbanked or under-banked areas, provide substantial credit at reasonable rates to agricultural and cottage industries and to provide easy credit to the specific destitute groups. This way the main role of the commercial banks took a slight turn. As per the directives of the apex bank, the Reserve Bank of India, these banks had to necessarily advance about 40% of their total lending amount to the so called ‘priority sector’ consisting of these rural seasonal occupations. This approach was not without success but these banks still remained highly commercial in nature.

   2. Formation of Regional Rural Banks

   In 1975, the Narasimhan committee proposed the formation of Regional Rural Banks (RRBs) saying that they were much better suited as a credit establishment in the rural backdrop than the commercial banks and other co-operative agencies. The fundamental objectives of these RRBs were to bridge the credit gap prevailing in the countryside, to keep the outflow of rural deposits to urban areas and to keep a tab on the inter-region disparities. These RRBs were supposed to focus on the area they functioned in and also take the onus of the development of the region by providing exceedingly easy loans and advances to the small farmers, artisans, small time entrepreneurs, traders, other co-operative societies and so on. Some of these RRBs established included the National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (NABARD), United Bank of India (UBI) etc.

These changes in the growth process of rural banking led to the foundation of important concepts like microfinance and microcredit which could benefit the poor in a way even these large establishments like the banks couldn’t. Though the problem of rural credit still persists due to widespread ignorance and illiteracy, these steps have definitely impacted a comfortable number of people and gone a long way in changing their lives.

CONFLUENCE'12

         Confluence'12

Prizes worth 50,000 to be won!!

@ VALLABHBHAI PATEL (VP) CHEST INSTITUTE AUDITORIUM,

NORTH CAMPUS, UNIVERSITY OF DELHI

22nd FEBRUARY, 2012

9:00 AM onwards

Confluence the annual flagship event of Management Interaction Cell, SSCBS is back. This time larger, better and with loads of promises. So gear up.. ‘coz this time it will test your general knowledge, management abilities and of course your luck!!

Events planned for the day:

Ø      MANAGEMENT GAMES:

·    BRANDITS

And they said it is past its prime. But is it? What if YOU were supposed to re-market the things long forgotten? Maybe the brand is still a king, just that something, somewhere went wrong? BRANDITS, a case study that is sure to make your brain somersault

·    SPIN SIN

Spinning the wheel was never so easy. Spinning the wheel was never so hard. Discover the confluence of luck and managerial skills in your life. Spin the wheel of your destiny at SPIN SIN

·    BID 2 WIN

Ever sat through an auction and fantasized yourself participating in it? Ever had the IPL auction make your imagination fly wild? Well, here’s your chance to take part in a real bidding game! Who knows, you might just get lucky!! BID 2 WIN… the name says it all!!

 ·    BUZZOLADD

With time fade memories, some but not all. Sometimes even the epic comes alive again. And so does BUZZOLADD.  It’s back. Bigger. Better. Harder.

Ø      GUEST LECTURE:

In keeping with the tradition of MIC, we also have a guest lecture scheduled for the event. Eminent personalities from the industry will share their valuable experiences that will help you become better professoinal …..

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