COVER FEATURE

Our goal is to exceed the expectations of every client by offering outstanding customer service, increased flexibility, and greater value

-- Maheskantha A Balasubramaniam

StatWorks was formed to specifically address the growing market for solution based on numerical analytics technology. StatWorks, a leading Next Generation Numerical Solution company has expanded rapidly to include a wide range of high quality numerical analytics software, handheld technology and business intelligence solution for various business and academia industries.

©2008 IUP . All Rights Reserved

BUSINESS OPPORTUNITIES

Destination Malaysia

-- Koushik Rudra and Kushal Shah

This article highlights the plethora of business opportunities existing in the Southeast Asian country, Malaysia, and discusses the major business sectors of the country. The focus is on the rationale for investments in Malaysia. The global management consultant PricewaterhouseCoopers comments that global investors should look for opportunities beyond the BRIC block and Malaysia promises to be one such attractive destination.

©2008 IUP . All Rights Reserved

RISK MANAGEMENT

Risk Management at Wipro : An Indian Perspective

-- Kaushik Mukerjee

Risk management has assumed great importance in today's world of global turmoil, unpredictable corporate performance and upheavals in social and political situations. Companies have been adopting various strategies to deal with risk in a better manner. This article focuses on Wipro's strategies for risk management. It explains how Wipro goes about identifying the top 10 risks through a risk assessment process and thereafter focuses on its framework to manage them.

©2008 IUP . All Rights Reserved

RISK MANAGEMENT

Radical Innovation : Risk Mitigation Techniques

-- Gary W Oster

In the volatile global marketplace, every company-from a multinational conglomerate to a one-person street vendor-battles for survival. Increased competition, strategic plan entropy and technological change require innovation to be top-of-mind for every corporate leader. Only radical, game-changing innovation can significantly alter the competitive landscape in favor of the innovator. By implementing counter-intuitive measures related to the acquisition of innovative ideas, realignment of customer relationships, recruitment of a richly diverse staff and redesign of metrics related to corporate success, risk can be mitigated as corporations engage in the radical innovation so essential to their long-term viability.

© 2008 IUP . All Rights Reserved

HR

Challenges in Retaining Women Employees

-- Bholanath Dutta

High attrition rate of women employees at the peak of their career in a situation of acute shortage of talent is really a matter of concern for companies. CEOs no longer can treat women as `men in skirts' and a common HR policy will not help fix the problem. Issues related to women need to be addressed separately. Transformation of work culture seems to be a prerequisite to retain women employees and achieve success on the work-life front. This article discusses the difficulties that women employees face in their professional life and various possible HR initiatives to tackle those problems. It further focuses on why retaining women employees is so challenging and how it benefits the companies.

© 2008 IUP . All Rights Reserved

COMMUNICATION

Crisis Communication : Whose Responsibility Is It?

-- Vineet Tandon

Communication or lack of it can make a significant difference in the way an organization faces crises and comes out of them. It is a highly specialized function considering that a lot is at stake for the organization facing the situation and any lacunae whatsoever can irreparably damage its image. Crisis communication therefore is everyone's responsibility, but a dedicated team with a buy-in from senior management would definitely help in achieving its mandate.

©2008 IUP . All Rights Reserved

CSR

Is CSR A Myth?

-- Subhasis Ray

This article highlights the reasons why Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) initiatives of corporates may not work in the true sense. The corporation is self-serving by nature and the manager needs to maximize shareholder return. This creates pressure to improve profits in the short term, which obstructs any planned implementation of sustainability programs. CSR remains a PR tool only.

© 2008 IUP . All Rights Reserved

MANAGEMENT

Lean Transformation

-- S Jayakrishna

Lean management, a five-decade-old philosophy, is now being applied beyond the shop floors. It is gaining traction in other sectors too, instead of just being confined to manufacturing houses. During the last two decades, many greenfield manufacturers have successfully demonstrated the value of converting to lean. But the question `how to transform into lean', yet remains unanswered. This article attempts to provide an answer.

©2008 IUP . All Rights Reserved

CASE STUDY

Thomson Corp. Acquires Reuters : Is It In The Consolidation Phase?

-- Doris Rajakumari John and Anita M

Market data plays an indispensable role in successful business activities and the market data industry enjoys a global presence. Catering mainly to the needs of institutional and retail brokers, the industry is dominated by a few major players - Bloomberg LP, Reuters Group Plc and Thomson Corporation. The new entrants into the industry are stock exchanges - a major source of direct data. Since the 1980s, the market data industry has been experiencing a wave of mergers and acquisitions. The major breakthrough is the acquisition of Reuters Group Plc by Thomson Corporation worth $17.2 bn, on May 15, 2007. The deal is expected to displace the market leader, Bloomberg L.P. The case, while enabling an understanding of the market data industry, facilitates discussion on how the acquisition would impact the business dynamics of this industry.

© 2008 IBS Case Development Center. All Rights Reserved.

BOOK REVIEW

Power at Work : The Art of Making Things Happen

-- Author: Jo Owen Prof. M L Gopichander

Every manager, senior manager and CEO seeks power. Power skills are something which every manager must have. Here power means more than the formal authority. It is the art of building alliances and networks within the organization, thereby influencing and controlling the organizational and personal goals. Power at Work - The Art of Making Things Happen will enable a manager to achieve his goals. The book is free of theory and jargon, largely focusing on practical skills which a manager can learn and use to his advantage.

© 2008 IUP . All Rights Reserved