Making decisions - No piece of cake

I always thought it was a piece of cake until I made those. Business related decisions bring some situations when everyone thinks about these factors

1. The revenue – Cash flow was and is always a big factor while making any decision.

2. Future business – Will it make a great impact on brining new business?

3. Relationship – How the decision will impact the existing relationship between multiple stakeholders?

And other several factors. I remember in my Organizational behaviour class, I came across an interesting article – making managerial decisions is information based or intuition based? This debate has been going on for so long that no one wants to discuss it any more. However it is the basic of many business related activities. Why should I believe in information when it is just the old data? But at the same time how can I believe in intuition which is nothing but just an irrational choice in the world of rationalization. Well I know there is always a balance working behind the scene, it will become more and more difficult to make decisions with the time. Information is so transparent now that no one can hide it but we are also removing human factors from decision making process (Do I need to mention the Lehman Brothers and BP cases). There is no 100 percent solution for decision making processes and even if it is there, no one will believe in it. So better to make decisions based upon the situation. They taught me the best phrase ever in my B-School – it depends.

Dilbert will add more to it

ICCC event in Toronto

It was great attending the ICCC speaker series with Peter Hall, Chief Economist, Export Development Canada. The event was at Royal York Hotel on June 15th. I was excited because not only it was my first event at ICCC but also I was hoping to meet with new people. I entered the hotel and it was not so difficult to figure out the event venue. Event started with a small pre-event networking session. I walked in and smelled nice Indian snacks. The nice combination of Indian samosas with mayonnaise reminded me that it was an Indo-Canadian meet. I helped myself with food and started talking with people around me. Attendees were managers from Canadian and Indian banks, independent consultants, entrepreneurs and students. It was interesting to talk to people from various backgrounds and to understand what they are doing currently.
Sooner we were escorted to the meeting hall. Event started by EDC India representative Vijyendra’s speech. It was great to know that he is also a Schulich alum. He talked about various initiatives taken by EDC to boost the relationship between Indian and Canadian companies. And I was feeling good when he told us that he will be flying next week to India for his new assignment. I felt nostalgic as I have not been to home for past 1.5 years.
The atmosphere was warmed up by ICCC’s director Pankaj Mehra’s sense of humour. He welcomed Peter Hall and Peter did not take much time to start his amazing speech. He set up the context by telling the potential, growth factors and problems of Indian economy. I chuckled – A Canadian economist is analyzing Indian economy so deeply and we Indians are analyzing Canadian economy. True globalization in a small room. Peter also explained how Canadian companies can increase their business with India as Indian government is directing huge funds towards infrastructure.
Well the event ended on a good thanks note by Pankaj. I was more than satisfied with the event. The event was like a Bollywood movie where I witnessed emotion, drama and action (but off course no music and dance around trees).

Coke - deserves to be no. 1 brand

I and my housemate Harish went for grocery today afternoon. It was very hot outside but No-Frills stores are almost empty on a weekday which was a huge relief for both of us. After few minutes of shopping Harish called me, “Look Ashish, Coke has put these 237 ml glass bottles on shelves.” I went near and saw the bottles carefully. It was so surprising to see those bottles as I dont remember watching these bottles anywhere in Toronto. Two ideas struck to us on the spot – first one was that Coke was trying to remind its consumer that it is the same coke they have been drinking for years. Second idea was to force the competitors specifically the private level brands to eat dust as these private levels just keep imitating the packaging of big brands. Whatever be the reason was, I was feeling nostalgic because the packaging was reminding me of India where you will find such glass bottles frequently.

Second surprise was just around the corner. I was looking for some noodles and suddenly saw football shaped plastic bottles in a basket. Curiously I picked one of those and it was coke again. This was a 400 ml plastic bottle specially made for FIFA world cup 2010. I smiled to myself and put the bottle in my cart even when I was thinking of not to buy any carbonated drink. What should I say – Hats off to Coke marketing?

M for Marketing , M for Metros

I was going through some videos which were talking about consumer behavior and marketing patterns. It was interesting to notice that most of the speakers related marketing buzz and product advertisements to day to day life of consumers. But when I tried to understand the situation deeply, it reflects a very bizarre concept. Most of the marketing campaigns are designed based upon the consumer behavior studied in big metro cities. Be it New York in US, Toronto in Canada or Mumbai in India. Marketers study the consumer behavior in these metro cities and launch the products and campaigns based upon the findings. Interestingly people in other places in each country follow the trends adapted in those big cities. This pattern becomes even stronger when it comes to technology, fashion and entertainment. Considering the fact that only 16% of US population is in NY, 16% of Canada population is in Toronto and .09% of India population lives in Mumbai, it raises a big question why people want to follow the trends set up in these big cities.
I thought of only two big reasons behind the trend setter image of these big metro cities. First reason is that these cities are metropolitan in true senses. People across the nation/nations visit these cities for several reasons which may be for business, employment or travel. These cities are the best places for marketers to conduct market research on people from all kind of backgrounds. Also the same set of people carries back the marketing message to their places. All in all these cities work as a communication channel for the marketers.
Second reason is the already existing brand images of these cities which play a big role in providing emotional satisfaction to the people following a particular trend. Any given day a person will wear a t-shirt saying I love NY rather than wearing a t-shirt saying I love Jacksonville or even I love Las Vegas. This brand image helps marketers to focus on just one city and once any product is successful in these big cities, it is easier to replicate the success in other places.
However changing marketing strategies and delivery channels may force marketers to think for new strategies specifically when internet is changing the consumer behavior. Will it pose a threat to brand image of big cities? The answer is still not known but question is already knocking at the marketers’ office door.

Why do we shop??

I was in my Consumer Behaviour class and we had a discussion over why do consumer spend or save money. There were some interesting themes going around explaining the intricate consuming behaviour of customers. The biggest question was why consumers spend money. Interestingly some of the points why consumer spends were

1.Basic needs

The best example could be going to grocery store. Everyone has to spend money for buying basic stuff that can help them in running the regular life.

2.To escape from the reality

It was majorly true when consumer have enough money to spend on something which can take away them from real world and its problems. This could be true when someone goes to Disney Land to touch the childhood feelings or when someone buys an expansive watch after a breakup. What about the going to theatre watching movies, buying a new jacket or eating an ice-cream? It falls in this category although the line between emotional and functional benefits is very thin.

3.To maintain the social status

Well that could be true for everyone. I bought one pair of good shoes just to wear in parties. Was it impulse shopping? No, it was planned but for my social status because I don’t want to feel ashamed walking inside a club wearing rugged shoes. Same is true for someone who buys expansive beer just to be a part of his friends circle even when he likes some other brand.

4. Future Saving

Hmm...this was interesting. I never thought of spending money to save money in future. Well the promotional offers are targeted to those customers who shop just to save money in future. For an example consumers save money whole year to spend on boxing day. So saving money is also spending money in some or the other way. It is just a matter of balancing act.

5.Forced Shopping

I could not find a better title for this option but present shopping behaviour is also influenced by the marketers’ strategies. Marketers launch a product in the market and try to fit the product in the mind of consumer saying there is a need for this product in your life. For example, room freshener is not all a necessity but people have started to believe that it is one of the necessary product in day to day life.

Please add in comments if you have more ideas as I wrote what I could remember from my class. Well this was just about spending money. We talked a lot about saving money and what are the coping mechanism for saving money. I will talk about coping mechanism in next blog. Happy Reading.

New ventures and Smart Phones

In my last class of Entrepreneurship, there were seven different groups presenting their ideas for new firms. All the teams were given four weeks of time to come up with an idea that can be successful in the present economic environment. It was interesting to notice that out of seven presentations five were based on technology. Moreover four out of five technology based ideas were either for smart phones or had a potential to be used as smart phone application. All the teams recognized the growing power of smart phones while doing the brainstorming over the new firm creation ideas. No doubts smart phones are gaining popularity increasingly and playing a huge role in accessing information and providing entertainment. There is a prediction that smart phone downloads from all app stores will reach 6.7 billion per year in 2014. The most sellable point of this kind of business is the low cost to entry. One needs only two-three software professionals, servers and a little space to start the business. Non-capital intensive businesses were center of attraction during dot com period and same is happening now. All these facts can work like a magnet for any entrepreneur to try this new space. However I have some doubts over the long term sustainability of these ideas because technology changes are happening not within few years but few months. Some of the brilliant ideas may sustain the business in long term but majority of ideas will either burn out while matching the pace with rapidly changing technology or will be bought out by bigger players. Entrepreneurs entering this sector with short term goal of selling out their idea to bigger firms within five years will be in better situation because of vulnerable nature of the business. Those who are targeting to remain in this sector for a long term have to strategize their business in such a way that people keep using their applications without getting bored. This will be an interesting phenomenon to watch in next five years.

Hollywood-Bollywood

I just came back after watching Bollywood movie “My Name is Khan” which has broken some box office records by any Bollywood movie in North America. It is interesting to notice how Bollywood movies are moving closer to Hollywood movies in terms of story line up, editing, background score and most amazingly music. In MNIK, all the songs were in background which is not usual in Karan Johar’s (movie director) typical movies. This trend has been followed by many movies in recent past and it seems that Indian audiences are also accepting this format. Even Hollywood movies have accepted Indian actors and you can see many movies either having Indian background story or Indian actors in lead roles. This confluence was strengthened by the major success of “Slumdog Millionaire” last year. This movie was not only popular but also won Oscar awards for best movie and background score. This relation has been strengthened since then and even common people in North America are accepting the power of Bollywood movies. It is interesting to listen to students’ as well as professors’ point of views about this huge industry in my MBA classes. However Bollywood has still to cover a long path to match the technical quality and tight story line of Hollywood movies. I don’t see a day very far when people from both industries will work together to make great movies.
PS – Still MS word is showing red underline for Bollywood word. Strange.