Malvika Bhatnagar in Singapore | PTI | September 08, 2008 |
To sustain the rapid business growth in India and the entire Asia, a proactive and strategic focus on leadership development for organisations has become imperative, a latest survey says.
According to a study by global consultancy The Gallup Organisation commissioned by Singapore Ministry of Manpower, the absence of strategic focus on leadership development would make it even more difficult for the next generation of leaders in the region to assume leadership roles.
"Organisational leaders may spend 90 per cent of their time running their organisations and 10 per cent of their time identifying and grooming the next leader. But often it is the latter 10 per cent of the effort that will help solve 90 per cent of out future problems," Singapore Workforce Development Agency Chief Executive Ong Ye Kung said.
"There are different models for developing leaders and it will be interesting to hear the experiences of leaders across different Asian countries and cultures at the Singapore Human Capital Summit," Kung added.
The study, conducted jointly with University of Nebraska, evaluated leadership profiles in two Indian cities -- Mumbai and Bangalore -- and four other Asian cities: Beijing, Hong Kong, Shanghai and Singapore.
As per the study, which would be released next month during the Singapore Human Capital Summit, CEOs in Asia expressed a willingness to develop the next generation of leaders in their respective organisations, but very few of them are proactive and strategic in doing so.
The Singapore Human Capital Summit would be organised by the Singapore Ministry of Manpower and Workforce Development Agency in October.
Monday, October 20, 2008
Wednesday, January 2, 2008
IPOs set the Indian market sizzling in 2007
Malvika Bhatnagar & Barun Jha
New Delhi, December 29, 2007
As early as 1553, a British explorer asked the public to fund his voyage to the East, including India, in the world's first 'IPO'- 454 years later the word has turned hottest in the great Indian stock bazaar.
The IPO of "The Mysterie and Compagnie of the Merchant Adventurers for the Discoverie of Regions, Dominions, Islands and Places Unknown" the company formed by London-based Sir Richard Willoughby was fully subscribed within days and so were over hundred public issues launched on Indian bourses in 2007.
However, the name of the companies coming out with IPOs are no more that intriguing and the year 2007 was dominated by names like DLF, Idea, Mundra, PFC and PGCIL.
While the names have gone shorter in size, it is not the case with the size of capital raised through IPOs. Realty giant DLF came out with the India's biggest ever IPO and raised over Rs 9,000 crore (more than $2 billion), while all together the proceeds from 101 public issues during the year stood at over Rs 34,000 crore.
And the trend is set to get even stronger in the new year. There are some 170-175 public issues lined up for the new year estimated to raise about Rs 60,000 crore ($15 billion) and as the year progresses more firms might join in the rally to raise funds from the market.
The soaring interest in IPOs is justified given their impressive returns, just like the case was with the voyage IPO of 1553. The shares were then offered to a small group of merchants, who lapped up the issue and reaped huge returns after the explorer returned from his journey with riches collected from the Eastern part of the world.
New Delhi, December 29, 2007
As early as 1553, a British explorer asked the public to fund his voyage to the East, including India, in the world's first 'IPO'- 454 years later the word has turned hottest in the great Indian stock bazaar.
The IPO of "The Mysterie and Compagnie of the Merchant Adventurers for the Discoverie of Regions, Dominions, Islands and Places Unknown" the company formed by London-based Sir Richard Willoughby was fully subscribed within days and so were over hundred public issues launched on Indian bourses in 2007.
However, the name of the companies coming out with IPOs are no more that intriguing and the year 2007 was dominated by names like DLF, Idea, Mundra, PFC and PGCIL.
While the names have gone shorter in size, it is not the case with the size of capital raised through IPOs. Realty giant DLF came out with the India's biggest ever IPO and raised over Rs 9,000 crore (more than $2 billion), while all together the proceeds from 101 public issues during the year stood at over Rs 34,000 crore.
And the trend is set to get even stronger in the new year. There are some 170-175 public issues lined up for the new year estimated to raise about Rs 60,000 crore ($15 billion) and as the year progresses more firms might join in the rally to raise funds from the market.
The soaring interest in IPOs is justified given their impressive returns, just like the case was with the voyage IPO of 1553. The shares were then offered to a small group of merchants, who lapped up the issue and reaped huge returns after the explorer returned from his journey with riches collected from the Eastern part of the world.
Tuesday, October 30, 2007
IT geeks stagger ahead of bankers on booze alley !
New Delhi, Sep 11 (PTI) IT and financial services professionals are as different as apple and orange when it comes to their eating and drinking habits, with a majority of financial sector employees staying away from alcohol while a significant percentage of IT professionals are tipplers, says a comparative study.
Large cross sections of the financial sector employees are more conservative compared to the IT sector employees, says a new survey by the global consultancy CLSA Asia Pacific.
"This is true of not only about their preferred cuisines while eating out but also of their drinking habits, with 60 per cent of financial sector employees do not taking alcoholic beverages," the survey said.
In contrast, 58 per cent IT employees take alcoholic beverages with nearly half of the them preferring wine or beer, the study said.
Even the choice of their drink varies widely. While nearly half of the 58 per cent IT employees who drink prefer wine or beer, among financial sector employees who consume alcohol, an overwhelming 54 per cent hard liquor -- whisky, rum or vodka.
Overall, the pattern of alcohol consumption is different with 55 per cent of men and 81 per cent of women in financial services sector not consuming alcohol at all.
In IT sector, 36 per cent and 67 per cent men and women respectively do not prefer boozing.
"We believe relatively more traditional behavioural pattern among financial sector employees is a function of location with less concentration in metros and lower income profile of the financial sector employees," CLSA analyst Anirudha Dutta said in the report. We also believe that these mores are likely to rapidly change, he added.
Interestingly, the survey also gives details about the preference of various alcoholic beverages by the two sectors.
Among IT employees 22 per cent prefer to consume beer, 20 per cent hard liquor, 10 per cent wine and six per cent cocktails. In financial sector, 22 per cent go for hard liquor, 13 per cent for beer, three per cent for cocktails and just two per cent prefer wine.
The survey also throws light on the eating preferences of the IT and the financial sector employees. While about 42 per cent of financial sector employees eat out once a week, only over 40 per cent IT professionals prefer to dine out at least once in a week.
"We believe that there is a just like that (JLT) generation out there. About 82 per cent of respondents eat out either for no particular reason or to spend time with family and friends," the survey said.
New generation workforce have convenience and leisure increasingly in their priority list even as they work hard.However, while 55 per cent of the metro-centric IT sector employees prefer to eat international cuisine or fast food on special occasions, nearly 80 per cent of financial sector employees prefer Indian fast food or traditional Indian cuisine when eating out.
Reliance Money goes rural; eyes 10k outlets
Malvika Bhatnagar in Pune
PTI August 13, 2007 16:41 IST
Reliance Money, the financial products distribution company of Anil Dhirubhai Ambani Group, launched on Monday services in rural markets with an initial target of tapping 1,000 talukas across five states in the country.
The broking and distribution arm of Reliance Capital also announced its tie-up with Rural Relations, a rural consumer relations organisation, for identifying partners and locations for rolling 10,000 outlets in over 5,165 talukas across India by the end of this fiscal. A taluka consists of about 1,000 villages on an average.
Rural customers will have to pay an annual premium of as low as Rs 25 for insurance policies, while systematic investment plan of as low as Rs 50 and Rs 100 per month was available for mutual funds."This is our effort to take financial instruments to rural masses and give them an opportunity to invest in various financial products like mutual funds, stocks and gold coins and secure their lives and other valuables by taking adequate insurance covers," Reliance Money CEO and Director Sudip Bandyopadhyay told reporters in Pune.
Reliance Money is looking to open over 20,000 outlets and 10,000 kiosks across the country by the end of this year. Out of the total outlets, 10,000 would be for rural markets while the remaining half would be in urban areas.The company already has presence in 727 cities and towns across India.
The new initiative would entail Rural Relations scanning over 100,000 people in 5,000 towns and identifying 10,000 franchisees for Reliance Money over the next one year.
PAN sole identification number
PAN to replace MIN for mutual fund transactions
PTI
Malvika Bhatnagar
NEW DELHI: Your Permanent Account Number will from Friday replace the Mutual Fund Identification Number, which was earlier this year made mandatory for mutual fund investments worth over Rs 50,000.
"MIN will be withdrawn from tomorrow and PAN will replace it as the sole identification number for mutual fund transactions from March 2," Association of Mutual Funds of India Chairman AP Kurien said over phone from Mumbai.
Finance Minister P Chidambaram had in his Budget speech proposed making PAN the sole identification number for all participants in securities market.
"Investors need to have PAN number and other documents under the KYC (know your client) norms of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act," he said.
About 2,00,000 mutual fund investors are estimated to have already been allotted MIN, which was introduced in January as an enhanced KYC measure to comply with regulatory norms.
Central Depository Services Ltd, the country's second largest depository, had established a separate company for allotting MIN to investors.
Those investors, who have been allotted MIN, need not provide their PAN details afresh.
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