THOUGHT LEADERS

On the Shoulders of Giants : March on Samples of One or Fewer

-- Timothy L Wilson

In this series, we turn to another of the contributors to our basic understanding of management, James G March, and his ideas on how organizations learn from `samples of one or fewer'. Clearly, the topic is of interest and importance because executives continually find themselves committing resources in matters, in which the organization has little background. Essentially, two cases are treated - one is where there is some history, the other where there is none and so some is created. Both are operational as observations suggest and so can be put to use by global CEOs.

© 2010 Timothy L Wilson. All Rights Reserved.

COVER FEATURE

"Our strategy is targeted towards creating a more contemporary, youthful and tech savvy image."

-- Renu Challu
Managing Director,
State Bank of Hyderabad

After completing a Masters degree in Economics, Renu Challu, MD of SBH, joined State Bank of India (SBI) as a Probationary Officer in 1973. She brings a wealth of experience from her assignments as MD and CEO of SBIDFHI, India's largest primary dealer; President & COO, SBI Capital Markets Limited; Chief General Manager of SBI, Bhopal Circle, (Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh), and DGM Personal Banking, Corporate Center, where she spearheaded SBI's aggressive entry into the retail sector (housing loans/car loans, debit cards, etc.) and set up a network of retail intensive branches.

© 2010 IUP. All Rights Reserved.

SUCCESSION PLANNING

Leadership Succession

-- Prof. N Sudheer Kumar

Today, many organizations are using the concept of succession planning to a greater extent as a way to identify and develop employees with leadership qualities to assume greater responsibilities in future. Organizations which develop effective succession management systems, gain in productivity and stability but CEOs must keep themselves involved over the long haul to achieve positive and sustainable results. Succession planning progression itself must reflect the quality of leadership that an organization is striving to develop its future leaders. There is a greater demand for a culture of openness.

© 2010 IUP. All Rights Reserved.

TRAINING AND DEVELOPMENT

Corporate Training : Gaining Importance, Losing Effectiveness

-- Abhijit Bhattacharya

In recent times, training has gained in popularity because of the need for employee motivation and retention, increased productivity and long-term sustenance of organizations. Sometimes, training has failed to deliver because of non-serious approach of top management and commercialization of training function by trainers. The stakeholders have to bring in a professional approach to make training more effective. Training should be integrated as one of the core functions of management. However, the major responsibility lies with the trainer to identify need, customize the content to participants requirements and choose a methodology, which will transfer the learning to the workplace.

© 2010 IUP. All Rights Reserved.

RETAILING

How to Beat the Global Meltdown? : Alternative Strategy for the Indian Retail Sector

-- M Bashyakar and Mohandas J Menon

The retail industry, at least in India, appears to be a good alternative to drive the economic growth, at a time when most other industries have shown sizable decline during the global economic meltdown. Exploiting the huge untapped domestic rural consumer market is suggested to drive the economy in these difficult times. `Integrate rural India with the Globe' and `Think big and think small at the same time' could be the new mantras. This article discusses how Indian CEOs can pursue India-specific strategies to drive the Indian economic growth in the current scenario.

© 2010 IUP. All Rights Reserved.

KNOWLEDGE MANAGEMENT

Next Generation Knowledge Management

-- Dr. Suresh Subramoniam

It is imperative to enumerate the ways in which Knowledge Management Systems (KMS) can be crafted to bring in radical change, as against incremental change, in terms of organizational performance and to make better use of intelligent systems in an initiative to set the stage ready for reengineering in this direction. This article presents the ways in which KMS can be reengineered through the use of information technology, which is a key enabler.

© 2010 IUP. All Rights Reserved.

CASE STUDY

Indian Retail Models : Reliance Retail vs ITC Retail vs Future Group Retail

-- Saradhi Kumar Gonela & MV Vivek

This case study helps to create an in-depth understanding of the distinct models of the retail giants in India - ITC, Future Group and Reliance. The retail sector, which was on a boom, was hit hard by the global financial crisis during 2008. Many of the retailers have resorted to reducing costs by consolidating formats and models. However, at a time when the existing retailers are tackling their blues, Reliance Industries Limited (RIL) has made a grand entry into the retail sector through Reliance Retail Limited (RRL), its retail arm. Though it is the biggest conglomerate in the country, RRL is facing tough competition from two powerful and ambitious retailers - Future Group and ITC. The three famous corporate houses, emerging from three different backgrounds have different operational models. While wading through the crisis, the three retailers are trying to script a right combination to succeed in the Indian organized retailing sector.

© 2009 IBSCDC. All Rights Reserved.

SHORT BOOK REVIEW

Case Studies on Management Strategies - Vol I & IBM Growth Strategy

-- Editors : Sanghamitra Bhattacharya
and Menaka Rao, Kalai Selvan N