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Branding
India: A Myth or a Reality?
--
Swayam
Mishra and Harsh Bhargava
Our
universe is addicted to brands. Brands are spheres of influence; with which after
association, people feel empowered and fulfilled. People are judged by the brand
they use. By the same token, the concept of brand can be applied to the nations
as well. Each nation may develop and nurture core competence in one area and gets
branded for its competency. In this paper, an attempt is made to explore the possibility
of branding India. ©
2006 IUP . All Rights Reserved.
Competition
in the Indian Furniture Industry: An Analysis of Trends
--
V
S Pai and M S Balaji
The
Indian furniture industry seems to have received scant attention by researchers.
This study is an attempt to analyze the competition in the organized segment of
the industry, with particular focus on office furniture. Data pertaining to sales,
net profits, market shares and return on sales for four companiesdomestic as well
as foreignover a 10-year period are analyzed. The results reveal that the market
leader is loosing its market share to new entrants. Analysis of variance (ANOVA)
showed that while return on sales is similar for the companies, the net profits
earned by them are significantly different. The paired comparison test further
reinforced the inference that net profit performance of some companies was superior.
©
2006 IUP . All Rights Reserved.
Health Insurance Distribution for the Poor in West Bengal:
Existing Challenges and Possible Solutions
--
Srabanti
Chakravarti
Traditionally,
tied agents have been the primary channel for insurance distribution in the Indian
market, supported by call centers to a certain extent. As agents of the government,
public insurance companies could have played a major role in insurance for the
poor. But unfortunately, this did not happen. At present, only 0.02 percent of
the total insurable population could, somehow, be brought under this umbrella
of health insurance. Amongst this, the quantum of health insurance in the rural
market is a matter of opinion. Even the highly subsidized government sponsored
Universal Health Insurance Policy has resulted in a serious market failure. In
this context, this study is an effort to determine a unique solution to this problem
and find out the nature of healthcare financing of the poorest cluster in rural
West Bengal and indicate whether community-based health insurance could be a better
option over the traditional agency network for introducing health insurance among
the poorest cluster in rural West Bengal. ©
2006 IUP . All Rights Reserved.
Changing
Face of Indian Retail Industry and its Implications on Consumer Behavior: An In-depth
Study
--
Sharif
Memon
The
Indian retail industry has now become very vibrant. This is the age when many
new players are set to get a good hold in the Indian market. The national as well
as international players are introducing new concepts and cultures, thus making
retailinga magnum opus. Thus, there are only a few components, which can differentiate
a new player from the existing ones. Over and above, all the organized players
put in their efforts against the antediluvian unorganized players where most of
the Indian shoppers are habituated to buy. But of course, times have changed,
and people prefer to be a part of the organized chain to have an exclusive shopping
experience. This paper is focused on the buying behavior of Indian shoppers in
the organized market, leaving not even the kirana stores against it. However,
the days are not too far when the merchandised will have to be considered, and
value chain and value delivery be revised. ©
2006 IUP . All Rights Reserved.
A
Peep into Corporate Governance
--
Malla
Praveen Bhasa
Ever
since the corporate firm with limited liability emerged, the problems of corporate
governance made their way into the corporations. This paper tries to briefly peep
into the emergence of corporate governance, and the arguments associated with
it. It is understood that until the seminal publication of Berle and Means' (1932),
corporate governance gained impetus in academic research. However, the research
that followed, was generally based on the assumption of separation of ownership
and control, in other words, widely-dispersed firms. Contrary to the assumption
of widely-dispersed firms, earlier studies have shown that these firms are a rare
phenomenon, even in the most advanced nations. Corporate governance, as a concept,
is slowly seeping into the Indian business psychewhatever may be the compulsions
of acceptance. The pace at which corporate governance practices are being adopted
by the industry, does however, cast a doubt on the intentions of both the regulators
and the industry. Since the Indian industry is conventionally not strongly market-oriented,
the practical difficulties of adopting transparent mechanisms which would remove
the veil of accounting practices that firms have so far adopted, has led to the
slow acceptance of the corporate governance practices. ©
2006 IUP . All Rights Reserved.
Expatriates
Cultural Shock-Its Reduction and Adjustments in Central Asia:
The Kazakhstan Case Study
--
Patrick
Low Kim Cheng
Culture
shock is a phenomenon, that affects people in different ways and upto varying
degrees. In this paper, through literature review and interviews, the culture
shocks of expatriates in an institution in Kazakhstan and the various adjustment
and coping strategies are examined. Once the shock is understood, it can be changed
from a frustrating experience, to an enlightening or learning experience. ©
2006 IUP . All Rights Reserved. | 
