The Indian MNCs

I have been to Sri Lanka recently which is at a crucial juncture of its history now. First time presidential elections happened there after the ceasefire was declared on the civil war in 2001. the media is full of reports about claims and promises of the newly elected candidates who are again playing on the hopes of lankans.

On the business front, India is written large on everyone’s minds. The FM radio is full of ads of Indian products; (by the way, Santosh Gnanakan or Saggy-the ex-RJ of Bangalore now works for an FM radio in Colombo!) Roads are full of bajajs, TVSs, autos, marutis fighting it out with Toyotas, Mitsubishis and Nissans. Even the food is heavily influenced by Indian cuisine. When I was there in Colombo, CII was hosting a Made-in-India trade show to display some innovative products from here.

Throughout the early days of liberalization, our beloved communists were screaming that the western MNCs would take over Indian market. If you see the Sri Lankan market, it seems like Indian products are competing very well with a western product. For a Nissan Sunny, there is Tata Indigo, for an Isuzu truck, there is an Ashok Leyland, for a Caltex, there is IOC, for a KFC, there is Bombay Sweets!

So lets stop this MNC scare atleast now and start thinking about how to compete with them. Rarely we have seen a good quality product killed by an onslaught of a bad MNC product. Do you remember tasting Campa Cola two decades ago…

Coffee connection

Everyone in retail is quite curious about Starbucks’ interest in India. For dummies, Starbucks is the world’s largest coffee café chain, which has now entered Asian markets. So when are they planning to enter India… Infact I have some insider info that it will take a long time for them. Reason… real estate prices, of course.

The two coffee chains, Baristas and Café Coffee Day found it difficult to get good location at affordable prices. This was a few years ago when the Indian market had not yet become over heated. Then in a decent metro residential locality the cost was Rs.40 lakh, while it was Rs.50 lakh in commercial places! (2002-03) But one thing would be cheap for them in India, that is sourcing coffee!

Meanwhile as per The Global Competitiveness Report 2005-2006, released last week by the World Economic Forum, Finland remains the most competitive economy in the world. It tops the rankings for the third consecutive year, while the United States is in second position, followed by Sweden, Denmark, Taiwan and Singapore, respectively. Thankfully India has improved its ranking to 50 from 55.

An interesting point is, the Nordic countries continue to hold prominent positions in the rankings, with Finland (1), Sweden (3), Denmark (4), Iceland (7) and Norway (9). Isn’t it strange that these are the countries with the highest per capita coffee consumption, internet connection and mobile usage… so is the world moving towards doing business in a nearby café culture…

The Hidden Side of Everything!

Can’t believe I am saying this, “words can enlighten lives!” As a print journalist, I had become quite sceptical about power of the written word and its ability to change the mindset of the masses. I have been developing an aversion to reading books, magazines and anything which is not essential for my next day’s story. This scepticism was further fuelled by the flood of opinions I see everyday in newspapers and magazines; if every idiot in town has an opinion, why then I read anyone’s thoughts when they are not reading mine!

But it seems like just when the world is becoming hysterical about expressing its opinion on paper, on the airwaves and on the internet, I am suddenly a believer again. I read Freakonomics!

Is it stupid to say a simple book can change a life… Since just a few days ago, I had such scepticism about it, I have mustering all my courage to swallow my own words and say that, “words do have the power to influence people!” Provided those words come from a powerful voice with an authority in its subject. So the book Freakonomics did have a mesmerising effect on me, who until moments ago had no value of the dismal science of economics.

So today I solemnly take the oath to find the truth, behind numbers, data, statistics or whatever fact that is posed to me as the actual truth! I will not take things in their face value and try to see what hides behind them. But I wouldn’t venture into reading between lines, the way our beloved journalists do!
I should thank the book reading club in Bangalore which forced to read a book and present the thoughts. Shital Burman and Sandeep Moonka have taken pain to bring together all of us to discuss various books every fortnight. That's where i was told about this strange book on economics and i was hooked onto it.
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