Are Indians, Asians?

If you are an Indian (the one they were looking for not the one those idiots found), you may had been in this conundrum at some point in your life especially if you are living in the Americas. If you have been lucky enough to avoid it so far, the time may not last. This is a question that had confused me so much that I never knew what to answer. Mostly ended up having either “Do not wish to provide” as a choice. Other times when I did answer, I am sure I answered it differently every time.

In short, yes they are Asians as far as the geography is concerned. However the intent of the question is not to determine the geography an individual belonged to but to address racial discrimination. Hence the question is related to the race of the person.

Referring to the race, the question is much more complex to answer.

So are Indians, Asians?

Be a kid?

What does a kid prefer which organizations don’t?

Simplicity – Kids say what they feel, enjoy all little emotions, laugh when they are happy, scream when they are angry, cry when they are in pain, sleep when they are tired and run around till they drop to the ground. They will also pester you for the last chocolate chip till you give in.

They just un-complicate (if that is a real word, if not then a real word has just been coined) issues and handle them in the simplest possible way. Organizations on the other hand, like to complicate things.

Why too much Data may be killing the talent?

Peter Drucker once said, “What gets measured, gets managed”. 

When a top management guru says something like the above the world definitely stands up and takes notice. Everyone realizes the fundamental truth and pull up their socks to make sure that they measure things they want to manage. Do exactly that, see the results and exclaim.. Oh! the old man was right. They pass on the gyan (/dʒəˈnɑːnə/,Sanskrit) to their friends, organizations, juniors, superiors and even strangers. Suddenly everyone in the world knows it and believes (based on empirical evidence and highly decorated anecdotes of success of course) – one must measure things one want to be managed. If it is not measured, it cannot be managed.

Why Indian Auto Industry will never rule the world?

Facts as of Jan 2013:

• Indian Automotive Industry has been one of the larger markets
• Been fastest growing globally with now a more flat growth
• India is the sixth largest passenger vehicle manufacturing industry in the world beating the likes of Belgium, UK, Canada & Russia.
• Third largest exporter from Asia behind only Japan and South Korea.
• Indian auto manufacturing industry largely based out of three clusters – Chennai in the south, Mumbai – Pune hub in the west and Gurgaon-Manesar in the north. Immense potential of growth in Gujarat in the West, Kolkata in the east and other NCR regions in the North
• Follows indigenous Bharat Stage IV (and III) emission norms no less than other internationally known emission norms
• Exports expected to cross $12 Billion by 2014
• Exports to countries like US, UK, Germany, UAE, Spain, France, South Africa and many more
• Houses global car giants like Aston Martin, Audi, Bentley, BMW, Bugatti, Chevrolet, Ferrari, Honda, Hyundai, Toyota, Lamborghini, Mercedes, Porsche, Rolls Royce and what not.
• Acura, Infiniti, McLaren, Cadillac, Lexus, Jeep, Mazda and many others in various stages of official introduction to Indian market.

And yet?

Technology & Evolution

Our world is run by technology and there is no denying the fact. It has changed almost every facet of our lives. It changed the way we learn, the way we communicate, the way we live and in some cases even changed the way we die. At a less dramatic level, it also changed what we wear and what we eat.

The evolution of civil society (civilization is so old school now) has morphed into an entirely different society than what other early civilizations may have imagined for. From early civilizations like the stone or metal ages (origins traced to Africa & Asia) to antiquity or axial ages (Asia and parts of Europe) to medieval (discovery age, Latin America) to Industrial or Modern age (Europe and Americas), there has been a constant growth, and evolution of the human society. Almost all pre-modern ages focused, on culture and arts, thereby developing human faculties.

Industrial and now Digital age or the computer age, is yet another step towards evolution. However the question that always comes to my mind is – Is technology really helping us evolve?

The Nature of Software Sales

The latest accounting “mishap” at Autonomy which results in almost a $9 billion write-down by HP is not novel. However this comes after a $10 billion acquisition making the acquisition worth $20 billion approx and not to mention the bad brand splash that HP got. It may even result in board shuffle adding to the weak market sentiments and costs, eventually leading lesser value to the shareholder.

Now when I say, this is not a novel case, it is because there had been previous similar accounting scandals almost a decade ago. Examples are Computer Associates, Lernout & Hauspie & Microstrategy.

Where there's a will there's NOT a way!

My most recent observations on how organizations recruit set me into some fact finding. I spoke to several of my candid “acquaintances” who were looking for a change. Also some who were not!

Then I spoke to few others who by the grace of God, landed up in HR roles or other positions and have been known to get involved in recruitment from time to time. The below is my biased and highly maligned view of it. may be its time to look at things from a different angle.

Indian politics: Caste system to eradicate Caste system– Part 1

The Origin

Caste system in India is probably a sold as the Indian culture itself. A lot many people attribute “untouchability” to the caste system in India. As Wikipedia explains, it is a malicious “social practice of ostracizing a minority group by segregating them from the mainstream by social custom or legal mandate”. A problem not just in India but also several other countries like Japan and Nigeria.  In nature very similar to apartheid and can also be compared to a racial behavior of another kind which is considered alive underground in many countries like UK, Germany, USA and even Australia.

Assessing Incremental Risk of Online Fraud – A case study

Business Scenario / Pain point:

Online Applications for consumer Banking (example, deposit accounts like checking account or IRA account, and credit lines like credit card, student or home loans etc.) are usually long and customer is required to have several data points before being able to completely fill out the application. At the same time he/she also needs to make certain decisions as part of the process. If the customer is not able to finish the application is one attempt, then there are several issues as listed below originate as business problems.

Ethics & Financial Acumen

Financial companies don’t need acumen to run, they need ethics

After all had been said and done about speculation, need for better risk management frameworks, improved control measures, too big to fail ideas, more conservative banking style, tightened regulatory measures, it had proved just one thing: Financial institution do not just require laws, regulation or financial acumen to run their businesses. They need ethics.

Why do I say so?

A Price is a Price

Recently I was at a Thai restaurant in San Francisco downtown. Just a couple of friends, in need of something to munch and we raked up a check of $49.00 We did left a tip of approx 10% (little less than 10 to be precise) and decided to walk about for others to enjoy and savor the delicious Thai recipes. Pretty famous place it was and then the next event was not quite as pleasant as the dishes.

Guideline Decisioning

I am as close to the army as Arnold (in real life) is close to being the terminator. Even then, it always fascinated me, so much so that I decided to even watch Tom Cruise starrer Born on 4th of July. I even lost the lack of respect; I so much had previously for American foreign policy.

Anyways, this post is not to talk about the foreign policies but another one of my weird observations and insights gained from watching war based films. May be there is something for businesses to learn about. I am sure a lot many entrepreneurs already do what I am about to propose, else their adaptability to changing and volatile business environment would be in question.

So my post is not proposing a “paradigm” shift in decision making. It is just including some common sense, something humble decision making, about which I read in my B-School, (Disclaimer: No, I am not from Harvard.) tried to do long ago.

Mac: All powerful - Not anymore

Apple’s one of the strongest suites other than of course all the things that only apple does was its ability to boast its virus/malware proof OS.

Apple website boasted of “it doesn't get PC viruses” and “Safeguard your data. By doing nothing” are now “upgraded” to “It's built to be safe." and "Safety. Built in”. Apparently Microsoft is proud, because for once they can claim Apple took over their style of marketing. (See before and after changes right here)

Reason for this meek marketing rather than the usual boastful one: Its first immune system failure or rather a new virus that blew out Apple’s claims.

Fuel Price Hike Jailbreak

Recently Indian government hiked the petrol prices (yet again) by 7.50 ($.13) and was met with outrage (read more…) by both opposition, who didn't really care and common public, which was actually affected.

Government was quick to hint (read more...) a reduction of 2.00 ($.03) the announcement of which didn't come as expected (read more…). It was anticipated that falling prices of the crude oil may be able to bring much respite to the average commuter.