Editors note

From the editor
Infotech companies have usually been at the forefront of innovative practices in human resource management besides offering their employees both - great career opportunities and good compensation.

2007-11-18

Old Canvas, fresh colours

At a time when promoters are either diversifying feverishly into sunrise areas or gobbling up assets internationally, Asian Paints is doing neither. Now, the company prefers to focus on what it knows best—paints and the domestic market.

Leadership Spotlight

Coming into his own

Deal Watch

Cognizant signs pacts with US-based MarketRx

Every month, we bring you a listing of the biggest deals struck by Indian companies in India and abroad.

Noted

Noted: Satyam Computer acquires UK's Nitor Global

Events that rocked the world of economy. Satyam Computer Services acquires UK-based Nitor Global Solutions; the volume on the Indian foreign exchange market surges to $34 billion...

Trends

Instan tip

The fortnight’s burning question: will SEBI’s action on P-notes drive away foreign investors?

"India Among Our Top 5 Markets"

Joanne K. Bradford, Corporate Vice President and Chief Media Officer, MSN, speaks on India’s place in Microsoft’s global strategy for MSN.

It'll soon be raining cars

In the next six-to-nine months, several new cars are going to be launched. We take a look at some of them.

Gold glitters brighter than ever

Indian imports of the yellow metal are forecast to touch a record high of 950 tonnes this year. Yet, its price continues to soar. At Rs 9,000-10,000 per 10 gram, the retail price of gold is at an all-time high.

Reliance livens up the market

Reliance Money’s entry into the gold coin market has lent a buzz to the lucrative but otherwise dull market. It is offering silver coins of equal weight for every gold coin it sells.

India Inc. most worried about corruption

Indian companies are in expansion mode and are mobilising money hand over fist to fund their ambitions.

Star gazing goes mobile

Mobile telecom companies like Vodafone, Bharti Airtel, Reliance and Idea are cashing in on the Indian obsession with astrology.

IT, auto, pharma stocks miss out this time

The stock market has scaled unprecedented heights this year; the bellwether BSE Sensex has shot up from 14,000 to 19,000 in 10 months.

Integrative design next big thing in power

Amory B. Lovins, author of Winning the Oil Endgame, physicist and Co-founder, Chairman, and Chief Scientist of Rocky Mountain Institute, expresses his views on nuclear power in India.

Banks grab salary accounts

Corporate “zero balance salary accounts” is the latest battleground for banks. HDFC Bank, ICICI Bank, SBI, Kotak Mahindra Bank and Union Bank of India have rushed in to replicate the Suvidha accounts of first-comer Citibank with some freebies thrown in.

"Another IIM to open soon"

RATHINDRA NATH DUTTA, former Chairman of PwC India, who has just been appointed as Chairman of the Rajiv Gandhi Indian Institute of Management, Shillong, discusses his plans for the youngest IIM.

Xbox Live launched in India

All you wanted to know about Xbox Live.

All about mechanism design theory

What is mechanism design?  What are its salient points?  How does it work?...

Economy Watch

The record inflows have come on the back of high domestic growth and an impressive performance by India Inc. On the flip side, it has strengthened the rupee against the greenback (it is currently trading at Rs 39.55 per dollar).

Newsmaker: Francisco D'Souza

Francisco D’Souza, 39, is being credited with heralding a change in the outlook of Cognizant Technologies. The company recently paid $135 million (Rs 540 crore) in cash for KPO company MarketRx.

Numbers of note

$400 million (Rs 1,600 crore): Private Equity (PE) investments in the domestic healthcare and pharma industry during the first nine months of this calendar year

To be precise

What industry's big-wigs said in different publications.

Smooth sailing

India Inc. has beaten the slowdown blues, and can look forward to more of the same.

Policy Watch

P-watch

A bird’s eye view of what’s hot and what’s not on the government’s policy radar.

'Save' the market

The why, what and how-to of policy making.

In This Issue

Bollywood goes retail

They aren’t just competing at the box office. Marketers of Om Shanti Om and Saawariya, two Bollywood films slated for release on November 9, are pouring big bucks as they seek to create a din in the market place.

These ads also sell products

They are hardly supposed to be the moral guardians of the nation. But ads for the Idea GSM network and Tata Tea are actually becoming torch-bearers of a trend that’s worthy of emulation.

Science grads make the cut

A recent survey by US firm PayScale says Masters degree holders in pure science streams, engineers and even Science and Commerce graduates are fast closing the gap and, in some cases, even earning more than management grads.

Letters

The correct course

This market not only has legs but also a seasoned mind and it will definitely fulfil the overall growth expectations.

Editorial

The unhappy worker

The Indian employee wants to be paid more. And this is not a phenomenon specific to the super-profitable IT companies, but manufacturing companies are reporting this as well.

Current

Fresh lease of life

Participatory notes are alive — just about — and the markets are kicking.

Top-deck shuffle

Four years before retirement, former GE head honcho Jack Welch had a shortlist of three high performers from which to choose his potential successor — Robert Nardelli, James McNerney and Jeffery Immelt.

Round two

 The warring brothers of one of India’s bestknown business families, Rahul and Shishir Bajaj, resumed their fight for separation. Representatives of both sides appeared before the company law board (CLB), each slapping allegations on the other other.

TCS makes the big deal

Just when most analysts were speculating about the end of the IT industry’s honeymoon with the stock markets, India’s largest IT services company came out with good numbers for the Septemberended quarter.

(Re)defusing a problem

The situation is hardly new, but trust 38-year-old Mahesh ‘Mash’ Chauhan, President, Rediffusion DYR to actually spin it differently.

3D marketing

For chief marketing officers like Jessie Paul of Wipro Technologies, the global IT arm of soaps-to-software conglomerate Wipro, the biggest challenge may lie in convincing a customer in faraway locations to send work to its swish development centres.

NELP VII: Not so gushing

After a 10-month delay, the government is finally kicking off the seventh round offerings of oil and gas exploration blocks. On November 5, the government will embark on a ‘roadshow’ to solicit participation in an auction process, to be held a few months from now, to award the blocks.

Batting for India

Last fortnight, even as foreign institutional investors were nervously waffling at the door, wondering whether to enter or not, there were two reaffirmations of the India growth story, if ever that was needed.

Bye CDMA, hello GSM

It’s a long battle that the two have been fighting globally, but at least in India, one seems to be pulling farther ahead of the other. That is, GSM—or global system for mobile communications—could be beginning to decisively win the mobile race.

Feeding off India's growth

For business consulting firm, Bain & Company, India is an important place to know as it is one of the top geographical priorities at present. No surprise then that Bain recently held its Asia-Pacific partner/manager meet in New Delhi.

Ultra-mega problem

Last week of October, when power ministry closed bids for the 4,000-MW, imported coalbased Krishnapatnam power project, it must have been disappointed to find just three bidders.

ING eyes Indian realty

Traditionally, winters have foreign tourists flocking to India. But in the last few years added to that winter rush are business people who come to India seeking investment opportunities.

Microsoft's fun guy

Robbie Bach, President, and Devices Division, Microsoft has an interesting job. While the rest of the company makes money selling software, Bach’s job is to transform Microsoft into a consumer electronics company as well. And he’s had some luck.

Xerox 'Burns' a new path

The first thing that Ursula Burns wants you to know is that Xerox is not just a copier company. “We are the document company that helps people manage complex contents and documents,” says the 49-year-old Burns.

Double-digit dreams

Last fortnight, global investment banking giant, Lehman Brothers, put out a report on India which, unsurprisingly, waxed eloquent about the economy’s long-term growth prospects, titled India: Everything to Play For.

Need for speed

It’s not just flamboyant liquor baron Vijay Mallya who has a thing for motorsport (he recently bought Formula One team Spyker, now renamed Team Force India). The Spice Group’s A1GP Team India, too, is going places.

Back in the saddle

John Swainson, President & CEO, CA Inc (formerly known as Computer Associates), had a loud and clear message to convey across the world when he launched an India technology centre in Hyderabad last fortnight.

Yatra's heady journey

It’s been a heady journey for 14-month old Yatra.com. The travel and hospitality solutions portal, in which Silicon Valley venture capitalist Pramod Haque has invested, hopes to cross the $120-million mark by the end of 2007.

Exceeding troubles

Bajaj auto has been hitting the headlines for all the wrong reasons in the past fortnight. For starters, the company has been battling reports that its latest 125 cc offering, the DTS-Si XCD 125, has ‘faulty components’ and that it has offered to replace these defective parts.

Going places

Is the Indian real estate market overheated? Yes, says Ali Lokhandwala, Director, Lokhandwala Infrastructure. “The market is definitely inflated and there will be a softening of prices, though I don’t foresee a crash because there is a lot of liquidity,” he asserts.

Back to school

Online education seems to be the flavour of the season with both domestic and international investment companies in a frenzy to line up investments for the sector in the last couple of months.

60 minutes

'India will be our global digital hub'

Euro RSCG Worldwide Executive Co-Chairman Stephane Fouks speaks to Anusha Subramanian on his plans for the future and about the globalisation of the advertising business.

Money

The search for value

The market's valuation has soared to an all-time high. Now is the time to look for undervalued gems in the unfolding growth themes.

As steady as debt

With interest rates heading south, it's time to fine tune your debt strategy. Here's what to do now.

The rule-based fund manager

A new fund uses pre-determined quantitative analysis to pick stocks. Is it for you?

The gold coin rush

It's raining gold coins, should you be buying now?

A simple cover

The new ULIP plan from Birla Sun Life offers a chance to invest in mid-caps.

For a few rupees less

As the festive season kicks off, it’s time to go discount shopping.

Reporters Diary

A view to a kill

Most of the bird-hits happen at the Mumbai airport. But with slums encircling it, making the airport safer or modern is a big challenge.

Columns

Young and restless

India Inc’s workforce is getting younger, and has vastly different aspirations. Employers that recognise and respond to these aspirations will emerge as the best companies to work for.

Back of the Book

Groovy ventures inc

Take some chutzpah, add a high wackiness quotient and what you have is ‘creative’ business ideas from the new age entrepreneurs.

Book

The panic of 1907

Why Would You Want To Read a book about a financial crisis that struck in the US a hundred years ago? Simply because what was true then is true now.

The future of management - Rule breakers

A strategy don on management innovation.

Jobs

Wanted: Money mentors

With a booming economy minting millionaires, the demand for wealth managers has jumped. Result: Managing wealth was never so rewarding.

Help Tarun!

Since you have only four years of work experience and have a diploma in Electronics, I would strongly recommend that you strengthen your resume with a full-time MBA from a good management institute.

Special

The best companies to work for in India

Six months of survey and analysis, 94 final participants, and hundreds of days of reporting is what it took to bring you stories of India's best employers. Best companies in pictures

How we did it

This year, we fine-tuned the Survey to better capture nuances.

Treadmill