COVER STORY

Perot Systems' Business Process Solutions - India

- - Vardhman Jain

"To create true impact to the customer's business, you need to go with not just a labor arbitrage-based savings model but an integrated solutions approach to deliver transformational value."

© 2006 IUP . All Rights Reserved

BRAND MANAGEMENT

Building Maverick brands : A focus on adventurous CEOs

- - Rajnandan Patnaik

American ranchers branded their cattle for ease of identification. A brand retains the same use, when it is used for the purpose of recognition or recall as compared to other similar products or offering. Although brand building follows a set of initiatives and actions, some brands are built on the `non-conformist, rebellious' attitude. Brand experience and brand image contribute primarily to brand building, and maverick brands find a radically differentiated way to do this. Maverick brands usually become strong brands with a cult-like following, and make it almost impossible for the competitors to emulate their brand success. Perhaps, a look at some of the maverick brands such as Virgin, Red Bull and Kingfisher, and their adventurous CEOs will provide some insights into the approach and benefits of building a maverick brand.

© 2006 IUP . All Rights Reserved

MERGERS & ACQUISITIONS

Tata Tea - Energy brands : Hot water!

- - Amit Singh Sisodiya

The acquisition of the US-based Energy Brands Inc., by Tata Tea, the world's second largest tea company marks its maiden foray into the fast growing `enhanced water' market.

© 2006 IUP . All Rights Reserved

ALTERNATIVE ENERGY

Biodiesel : A global perspective

- - A Srikant and Sameer Charania

Biofuels, as an alternative fuel resources, have a strong potential to provide immediate solutions for the problems of environmental degradation, energy security and rising import bills. The biofuels, which at present can be blended with transportation fuels, comprise of ethanol and biodiesel. Though the production practices in producing biodiesel are uniform in most of the countries (transesterification), the source of raw material varies depending on agroclimatic conditions. Many countries in the world use edible oil as source of raw material for the production of biodiesel. Compared to ethanol blending, the biodiesel industry is still at a very nascent stage. This article aims to show the recent progress and the potential of biodiesel industry at the global level.

© 2006 IUP . All Rights Reserved

CORPORATE STRATEGY

Ford Motor Company : On the reverse gear

- - Krishna Kishore

Ford, the US' second-largest carmaker, is closing its plants and laying off its workers. It is also embracing shrink-to-survive strategy to regain its image in hope of rebounding billions of dollars of losses.

© 2006 IUP . All Rights Reserved

BUSINESS STRATEGY

Going global : Entry strategies

- - R Puratchimani

Companies have to go global to sustain their competitive advantage and profitability. They have to constantly look out for new markets and customers and cater to their needs in order to sustain their profitability. While entering the new markets, companies should have a strategic plan, which will help them achieve their goals. The article discusses various entry strategies in detail.

© 2006 IUP . All Rights Reserved

KNOWLEDGE MANAGEMENT

Knowledge workers : Insights from Peter Drucker

- - N Janardhan Rao

The legendary thoughts of Peter Drucker transformed corporate management in the 20th century to the hilt. He will be remembered for many things, especially for his concept of `Knowledge Worker' which brought revolutionary changes in the way the workforce is treated in the corporate world today.

© 2006 IUP . All Rights Reserved

OUTSOURCING

China as an outsourcing option : Complexities and rewards

- - Nirmala Rao Khadpekar

Outsourcing manufacturing to China, though an attractive proposition is not a simple decision. Many issues like IPR, complex supply chains and inflexible manufacturing schedules can skew project manufacturing overheads. With low wages and strong internal markets harnessed to advanced technology, even local Chinese companies can easily enter global competitive markets. The hidden costs of outsourcing may not yield the promised savingsespecially for products that require customization, proprietary technology, or quicker reaction to market trends which cause irrecoverable losses in time to market areas. Despite these issues, low labor costs and modern technology make China a manufacturing powerhouse with an increasing number of satisfied customers. In fact, low manufacturing costs coupled with technology adaptation in China is forcing many companies now to look at China more as a partner than just an outsourcing option.

© 2006 IUP . All Rights Reserved

OUTSOURCING

XPO

- - Dr. PR Kulkarni and Mohammad Tanweer Alam

India with a huge intellectual talent pool has a clear advantage over the other countries as a global outsourcing destination. The two entrants, after Business Process Outsourcing (BPO), are Knowledge Process Outsourcing (KPO) and Legal Process Outsourcing (LPO). Though KPO and LPO have been under the BPO shadow for a long time, they have now become more specialized and even stronger than BPO in terms of growth rate and career prospects. The article discusses the current scenario, government's initiatives and the challenges facing the industry.

© 2006 IUP . All Rights Reserved

INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY

Bridging the strategy gap in today's web-speed economy

- - S Jaya Krishna

The inability to execute strategic plans, as formulated by the management, into everyday actions throughout the organization across business units, divisions and geographical regionshave led many profitable enterprises and organizations worldwide to a situation where their sustenance itself is at stake. It is against this backdrop of execution failure, an innovative approach to the implementation of enterprise strategies referred as Enterprise Performance Management (EPM) has come into practice. This article discusses the emergence of EPM strategy and solution to overcome the limitations of the existing systems. Further, it discusses how corporate-wide performance management solutions have emerged to help decide and implement suitable strategies that work better for the organization, and face the challenges of the dynamic business environment characterized by shorter time frames, stiffer competition and strategic alliances through continuous assessment and evolution of corporate strategies.

© 2006 IUP . All Rights Reserved

CASE STUDY

Daimler-Chrysler to DaimlerChrysler : Dieter Zetsche's (the new CEO) restructuring strategies

- - Kalyani Terala, Sumit Kumar

Daimler-Benz and Chrysler Corporation merged to form DaimlerChrysler in May 1998. The merger was considered an historical merger of mass with class. However, soon after the merger, the Chrysler division of the company began to incur losses and this in turn had an adverse effect on the Mercedes division, which meanwhile had begun to witness quality problems. DaimlerChrysler's other initiatives of acquiring a stake in Japanese automaker Mitsubishi and the two car units Smart and Maybach, failed to deliver profits. This led to increasing discontentment towards the leadership of Jurgen Schrempp, the former CEO and the prime architect of the merger. On January 1, 2006, Dieter Zetsche, former CEO of the Chrysler Division, who had successfully turned Chrysler's American operation around, replaced Schrempp as the new CEO of the company. Zetsche announced a restructuring plan on January 24, 2006 that mainly focuses on integrating the Mercedes and Chrysler divisions to increase the profitability of DaimlerChrysler.

© 2006 IBS Case Development Center. All Rights Reserved.

BOOK REVIEW

The next global stage: Challenges and opportunities in our borderless world

- - Kenichi Ohmae

This book is meant to help us develop a feel for the new global economy. As the author, Kenichi Ohmae puts it, it is about, "the coming shape of the geographical maps of the future, the key levers corporations can pull and the dynamic business domains we can tap." © 2005 Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved. IUP holds the copyright for the review.

© 2005 Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved. IUP holds the copyright for the review.