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captainserval · 8 years ago

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Night of the Backfires

have been having another recurring dream lately , hopefully not another premonition.

place - night at jodhpur. i am having dinner with family in some restaurant atop the fort and looking down at the pleasing lights of the town below. off in the distance are the lights of the IAF base, the largest in the western front with the occasional low whine of heavy transporters moving in and out. the sky is clear with the stars over the desert. suddenly the disturbing wail of air raid sirens stirs alarm and people walk over to the terrace side to check .... WaaaaWaaaaWaaaa ... rising and falling notes I look up slowly and see white blobs of lights falling as if in slow motion from high high up in the sky .... others look up mystified ... but i know what it is is...incoming ballistic missiles !! I count 9 blobs inbound before my attention is diverted to a warbling metallic whine by unseen low flying objects speeding out from the desert, over the fringes of town and toward the base ...... I briefly spot the shape of one as it flies close to the fort making a sharp and final way point turn....the unmistakable shape of cruise missiles ..... unable to say or do anything I am merely an observer in the kinetic and worrying chain of events. we all stand on the edge of the terrace and watch events unfold. two of the cruise missiles score a direct hit on a underground fuel storage sending up a huge orange plume of flame .... the noise reaches us a second later .... from the dark areas of the edge of the airbase, one by one five streaks of light show SAM launches as they climb fast into the intercept vectors guided by some unseen radar ....Akash, I think or barak8.... a few seconds later, four smaller streaks of light take off vertically and execute steep 90 turns to bear into more cruise missiles now on their final approach .... two resouding hits ensure at low level shattering the peace of the town as burning residue and fuel rain down over the impact point setting fire to some houses and storage godowns.... streaks of tracers from radar guided guns follow up the SRSAMs and score another hit just over the field perimeter .... the last one pushes through and hits some unknown target with a loud flash but no secondary explosion .... I look up again as the SAMs near their intercept points and note the flashes of 5 closely spaced muffled explosions in the cirrus clouds ... 4 blobs keep on coming, seeming to gain in speed ... again a salvo of 4 SRSAM lance out, followed by 2 more of the larger SAMs this time with barely minimum arming distance left ... 2 more blobs get taken out and crash into the town..again setting off large fires where they fall on populated areas....the rest SAMs miss and the final 2 blobs smash down with huge explosions, one of them igniting some flammable material on the tarmac perhaps a fuel truck or munitions on trolleys waiting to be loaded. it is all quiet now but the siren keeps on wailing, now interleaved with the wail of ambulances and fire brigade trucks speeding around the town .... lights have been cut without my noticing.... a few minutes later I hear the rumble of large engines and then one by one, six modernized backfire bombers , which represent 30% of our holding emerge from their unscathed hard shelters and take to the sky with long streaming cones of afterburner flame. to keep the field of fire clear for SAMs and AA, they fly at low level 300 feet skimming over the town and past my position, I can see the pilots facemasks in the blue light of the cockpit, tense and their minds focussed on waypoints far ahead as they move out to safer bases in the interior .... people clap and cheer as they clear the fort and start climbing up ... unseen thousands talk and discuss in the colonies below... minutes later, I note 8 tejas fighters and 2 flankers take off in tight pairs and execute the same low level departure , followed by a lone midas tanker and then a small business type jet probably a elint mission bird....anything that is flyable is clearing out tonight but they will be back to seek vengeance once they rearm and repair in a few hours...I can imagine the SAM reload vehicle crews feverishly working on their machines and the unseen sweeps of the radars trying to see as far as possible .... the phone must be ringing all over vayu bhavan and PMO by now... The war has began I hurriedly grab my wards and make my way down the stairs to see about buying a bus ticket or renting a taxi back to delhi since I assume civilian flights will cease now

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weditchthemap · 8 years ago

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RTW Budget: Detailed Expense Breakdown for 492 Days Abroad

August 18, 2015 - December 24, 2016

492 Days Abroad

Trip Overview

Sylvie and I traveled through 221 cities in 39 countries over 5 continents. We called hundreds of places our home and slept in more places than most will ever get to in a lifetime. We slept in hammocks, in trains, in buses, in cars, on boats, in farmhouses, in teahouses, in hostels, in bed and breakfasts, in tents, on cots in the open dessert, in cheap guest-homes, in 5-star hotels, on couches, on a tile floor, on-top a chicken coop, on the ground next to a friendly German girl's bed in Mainz, in attics, in a rented room from an anti-Semitic in Belgium, et cetera, et cetera...

We each took 7 overnight sleeper trains, 26 overnight buses, and 31 flights. I read 30 books and had 4 haircuts--although only 1 haircut was from a professional. The other 3 were from my darling Sylvie. We ate 144 fast-food ice-cream cones, though most were consumed in our first 4 months while in South America. We bought dozens of new pieces of clothing and threw away/lost/mailed home a little less than that. We taught English in Vietnam, helped to rebuild an orphanage in rural Nepal, and worked on a vineyard in Mendoza, Argentina. We hiked quite a few mountain ranges--the largest being the Andes and the Himalayas.

Our Trip Route Divided into 4 Distinct Legs:

Leg 1: South America

Leg 2: Europe

Leg 3: Indian Subcontinent

Leg 4: Southeast Asia

View Full Size Travel Map at Travellerspoint

Mishaps

We tried to keep records of all our 'mishaps' but I know we forgot most of them. At last count I had written down 20 of them. Here are some of them:

ATM card was eaten by machine in small town of Piura, Peru

Had food and supplies stolen from us by a clever monkey in the Bolivian Amazon

A group of children tried to pickpocket Sylvie in La Paz Market - she picked up and they left empty-handed

Nearly stranded at the Bolivian border

Had a collections (inaccurate) on my account and had to deal with that while traveling

My Barclay Master Card was hacked in RIO and had a new one overnighted to me in Lisbon

Got items confiscated at UAE airport and were 'reported' to authorities

Left Kindle behind in Delhi hostel - was later mailed to me in Jaipur, India

Sylvie and I both broke our phones

Electrical surge broke Macbook Air while in Borneo, had computer repaired by sending to Bangkok

Lost credit card/ID in Serbia

Lost Passport while en route to airport in Krabi - had mailed to me in Chiang Rai following week

Sylvie left Kindle behind in Pyin Oo Lwin, Myanmar - RIP Kindle

Ailments

With the exception of being extremely dehydrated for a day in Delhi I never 'really' got food poisoning or sick. There were times I felt a bit off and am not sure how sick I would have actually gotten but I just popped a very high dose of azithromycin and was fine in a few hours. I've been to India twice, every country (less the Philippines) in SE Asia, spent a month in Africa and have never had food poisoning. I eat uncooked street-food every opportunity I get. I even ate a raw, still-beating, snake heart while in Vietnam without getting even the slightest form of indigestion. There were 24 instances of being sick while on the trip (the vast majority of them revolving around dear Sylvie). Here is a tally:

Sylvie:

TD - 11 times

Fleas - 2 times (possibly more, she loved petting stray animals)

Common Cold - 1 time

Bed Bugs - 1 time

Blister Rash - 1 time

Chest Rash - 1 time

Altitude Sickness - 2 times (1 time was very bad in Cuzco, but at EBC coca tea helped treat)

Scott:

Dehydrated - 1 time

Bed Bugs - 1 time

Common Cold - 1 time

TD - 2 times (took high dose azithromycin both times and warded off all symptoms in 4 hours)

RTW Budget

Notes/Comments

Budget includes 2 people for the first 461 days and 1 person for the last 31 days.

When there was any uncertainty/fluctuation in exchange rates or prices I rounded up to give a higher than actual estimate to keep the budget extremely conservative.

Every expense was tracked in this budget, even those that are not related to travel. These expenses--such as the cost of website hosting, VPNs, etc.--were all captured under "Pre-Trip Expense".

The only expenses I had during my time abroad that are not included in this budget are my student loan payments

Though by American standards our type of travel is considered 'budget' we don't truly fit into that category by ex-USA standards. We met many travelers spending a fraction of what we did. We ate out most meals, stayed in hotels with a/c fridges and color TVs, and traveled around much more than most backpackers. Many budget travelers stayed in hostels and cooked their own food (think pasta and sauce). However we did take buses, trains, and ate at mostly budget-friendly restaurants or street-side carts. For budget travelers I would say that you can cut our food, lodging, and transportation costs in half.

Sylvie ate meals more regularly than I did. I was happy snacking on fruit and buying little things from cheaper street-side stalls throughout the day. We always ate a nice meal for dinner though.

We are not big drinkers so most RTW travelers can expect to pay more on alcoholic beverages than we did.

We took many 'relatively' expensive trips during our RTW (Everest Base Camp, the 'W Trek', 3-day live-aboard SCUBA diving off Similan Islands, Bolivian Jungle trek, 21-day organized Colombian tour, Home-stays in Sapa, Trekking in Hsipaw, Northern Thai Yoga Retreat, excursion to Borneo w/ associated national park fees and flights, etc).

We also enjoyed splurges many budget travelers couldn't afford to take (We rented a houseboat for 3 days, Stayed at 5-star hotels, took some high class buses/trains, Rented a car for several days, rented a motorcycle for a couple months, got massages frequently, had clothing made, bought extremely rare beer, took cooking classes, went adventure caving, hired private drivers, had food delivery to our hotel room, went to cinemas, saw theatrical productions, indulged in many cafe cultures, etc.) These are just some of the things that many budget travelers would not consider worth their money.

We spent 3-4 weeks living with free lodging during our three separate workaways--Many budget travelers do less moving around and more workaways.

I've met single travelers living on less than $1,000 a month during their 12 month RTW trip.

I collected over several thousand dollars in sponsored products. I had most of the gear already but received newer/better products, thus I would not have needed to purchase any of these items. For this reason I have decided not to include these items in this budget.

Budget Breakdown:

I decided to break the budget into 4 sections.

Pre-Trip Costs - this includes gear, vaccines, insurance, memberships, transportation to/from US airports

During Trip Costs (Souvenirs) - this includes gifts/souvenirs, non-trip related purchases (non-essential clothing, cosmetics, etc.)

International Travel Costs - this includes travel between countries (mostly airfare but some busing)

Country Specific Costs - this includes all expenses relating to traveling/living within the specified country

1 - Pre-Trip Costs: The majority of Pre-Trip costs are not specific to this RTW trip. Vaccines, gear, and electronic equipment can/will be used beyond the scope of the trip. Vaccines and meds can be obtained while traveling and at a fraction of the cost here in the US. Likewise, gear can be found on Craigslist or during your trip much cheaper than buying new here in the US. Additionally, we paid nearly $1,500 for the Japanese Encephalitis vaccine, which I would recommend against. For these reasons I am discounting this portion of the budget by 50% to get a better representation (we will be using all the gear for our next trip). Therefore I will be using $2,648 for this portion of the budget

2 - During Trip Costs: These purchases are non-essential and not related to travel and will be ignored when calculating the overall cost of our RTW.

3 - International Travel Costs: This portion of the budget shows how affordably one can travel around the world. Flights, trains, and buses starting and ending within the same country were excluded in this section. They can be found in the next section. We traveled through 39 countries, which is many more than most travelers. This portion of the budget can likely be reduced by traveling through fewer countries.

4 - Country Specific Costs: Once we arrived in a country any/all expenses we faced were placed in this section under the respective country. Flights and other modes of transportation starting and ending within the same country are found here. Phone/internet charges, travel-related medicines, visa fees, tours, etc. can be found in this section. This section is further divided into 8 categories:

Lodging

Food

Transportation

Activity

Alcohol

Visa

Tours/Tips

Supplies/Misc.

So How Much Did It All Cost?

Putting it All Together

Pre-Trip Costs - $2,648

During Trip Costs (Souvenirs) - $0

International Travel Costs - $4,745

Country Specific Costs - $36,414

Total RTW Trip Cost = $43,807 ($89/day)

for less than $45/person/day we traveled very luxuriously around the world

Budget Deep Dive: An In-depth Analysis

Would you expect anything less than an in-depth analysis from a consultant (who is also an engineer)? Here we go!!

Costs by Country

Below is a table of all the countries we visited, the duration spent in each location, and the total spent. For simplicity we lumped countries in Western Europe together, as well as countries in Eastern Europe. A few notes on a per country basis:

Colombia - We were on an organized tour for the entire time while here.

Ecuador - We were on an organized tour for some of the time while here. We mountain-biked volcano, took 12 hours (each) of private Spanish lessons, and took a private tour to Isla del Plata.

Peru - We spent 8 days on organized hiking tours to Machu Picchu & Colca Canyon.

Bolivia - We spent 7 days in the Pampas & Rain Forest & 3 days taking a tour of the Salt Flats.

Chile - Much of our time here was hiking through Patagonia

Argentina - We took expensive long-distance bus rides (38 hours), several internal flights, and several organized trips to various glaciers. Saved money during our 10-day stay working on Mendoza vineyard.

Brazil - Was not here long enough to offset high costs of visas (~$290)

Casablanca, Portugal, and Spain - Spent 14 of the 17 days with parents. They paid majority of expenses.

Western Europe - Ate out majority of meals & moved around often. Spent an average of $45/day on food & transportation. While lodging cost us an average of $27/day. We spent the most here, vs any other country, on alcohol ~ $4.50/day on mostly German and Belgium beer.

Eastern Europe - Used Airbnb more often. Spent an average of $22/day on lodging, $20/day on food, and $17.50/day on transportation.

UAE - Stayed at filthy dorms in both Dubai and Abu Dhabi that still cost us $25/day (and that's after $80 in Airbnb credit and refunds). Everything was expensive. Tried to eat cheap but still spent $25.50/day on food.

Nepal - Did not move around much. Spent 5 days rebuilding orphanage (paid $10/day). We trekking to Everest Base Camp (rented gear, paid for airfare, hired porter, etc.). Click here to see trip notes, budget, and planning for Everest Base Camp trek. Transportation, food, and supplies are higher than typical because of EBC.

India - Most of our activities involved visiting mosques, temples, and forts. Taj Mahal was relatively expensive. We hired a houseboat and a crew of 3 for 3 days in Kerala. We ate out a lot and not always at budget places. The food was amazing and we wanted to explore as much as we could.

Indonesia - I received my SCUBA certification here. We took a private excursion to Goa Jomblang Caves, which was pricey. We also took expensive cooking lessons & surfing lessons.

Singapore - Very expensive. spend $28/day on food. Saved money by spending 2 of our 4 nights couchsurfing.

Malaysia - Spent 1 week in Sabah, Borneo and 8 days in Sarawak, Borneo which required a handful of flights. Food was amazing in this country so we ate a lot. Adventure Caving and park fees increased our costs more than what you would expect for Malaysia.

Thailand - Spent a lot on SCBUA diving (see liveaboard trip) and ~$840 on a 4-day yoga retreat. Parents spent 2 weeks with us, which helped offset cost in this country. I spent my last 31 days renting only 2 places, which also reduced transportation costs in this country.

Cambodia - Angkor Wat and the Elephant Nature Park in Mondulkiri were our largest expenses.

Vietnam - We slept for free during our workaway. I wanted to try Dog and Cat meat (as well as eat an entire snake in Snake Village outside of Hanoi), which were relatively expensive. We traveled to the far north, which required extensive transportation.

Myanmar - We spent more money that usual on activities. We had a private boat for a tour around Inle Lake. We hired a private driver while in Mandalay. There was a hefty fee to enter Bagan. We also paid to enter the oldest Buddhist temple in the world as well as hired a private guide to trek through the small villages near Hsipaw.

Monthly Costs

The first 4 months of travel consisted of many organized and expensive tours/excursions (+ remote travel and gear rental for Patagonia, see below). From January through March we were in Western and then Eastern Europe. During April we visited Everest Base Camp, which cost us ~$1,400 for just under 2 weeks. For the remainder of the trip, which we spent in India and SE Asia, we averaged $1,800/month. The month of August was relatively expensive due to our trip to Borneo, which required 4 flights each plus park/activity fees. During my last month, which I spent alone, I did not move around much, and took very few excursions, which is why I spent so little.

Patagonia Budget

During November and December of 2015 we spend 24 days in Patagonia. We spend a total of $2,645, which is an average of $110/day. This includes all tours, supplies, and transportation (many long-distance buses and 3 flights each). For this calculation I took Santiago, Chile as our starting point and Buenos Aires, Argentina as our ending point.

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Cumulative Total Spend

Below I re-posted the 4 sections I described above, this time including every dollar spent (even the non-trip related expenses)

Pre-Trip Costs $5,295 | During Trip Costs (Souvenirs) $4,708 | International Travel Costs $4,745 | Country Specific Costs $36,414

The country specific charges were the only expenses that were routine, normal, and able to be extrapolated. For this reason I held the other 3 segments flat and charted the cumulative amount for country-specific costs (see chart below). This allowed me to trend out/predict--using the slope--the rate of our spending throughout our travels.

You'll notice that the first portion of the chart shows a steep slope, which is due to our 21-day organized tour through Colombia. The last month flattens out as I slowed down my pace of travel.

Total Daily Spend and Cumulative Running Daily Average

Below is a chart with quite a bunch going on--though I'll walk you through it. The solid green line represents the money that we spent each day. The peaks show expensive activities/tours, visa fees, and other various splurges whereas the valleys are representative of days we spent very little. The dashed green line is a 4-week running daily average, which shows the average of the preceding 28 days. This line is helpful as it averages out the expensive and in-expensive days to yield a more stable line. Both of these green lines use the axis on the left.

The next two lines use the axis on the right of the chart. The solid red line represents the average daily cost of travel. Unlike the dashed green line the red line is a running cumulative average, which means all prior days are included. Our cumulative daily average starts relatively high and decreases with time due to our initial 3-week organized tour in Colombia as well as many of our SA excursions, which were all quite expensive. However you see that our cumulative running average steadily decreases with time as you would expect since we were spending ~$60 once we left Western Europe.

The Dashed orange line shows the average daily cost of travel by month.

Comparing Daily Costs of Select Countries with Overall Average

The budget I built allowed me to select, from a drop-down menu, the average daily expenses by category of 3 countries that I wished to compare. I also graphed the overall daily average using info from all countries. In the example provided below I selected Western Europe, Vietnam, and Myanmar. Along the left-hand side of the chart is a color-coded key indicating various categories.

In this example you can see that Lodging was our biggest expense in Western Europe while food was our largest expense in both Vietnam and Myanmar. Food and lodging alone cost us almost $50/day in Western Europe. Unlike Europe, Vietnam and Myanmar both required visas.

Budget Summary Page

Here is a the summary page for the budget I built. Please help yourself and download the budget tracker--I only ask for a small donation.

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#Finances #Budget #Planning #RTW #Expenses #Budget Travel #RTW Travel #RTW Budget #Gap Year Budget #Gap Year #Packing Items #Things to bring around the world #around the world budget

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prasanththampi · 6 years ago

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BUSINESS ADMINISTRATION ISMS ONGOING EXAM ANSWER SHEETS PROVIDED WHATSAPP 91 9924764558

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Business Administration

Note :-

(i) Attempt any four Cases (ii) All Cases carry equal marks.

Case 1 :-

“ Left or Right?”

Rajinder Kumar was a production worker at Competent Motors Limited (CML), which made components and accessories for the automotive industry. He had worked at CML for almost seven years as a welder, along with fifteen other men in the plant. All had received training in welding, both on the job and through company-sponsored external programmes. They had friendly relations and got along very well with one another. They played volleyball in the playground regularly before retiring to the quarters allotted by the company. They ate together in the company canteen, cutting jokes on each other and making fun of anyone who dared to peep into their privacy during lunch hour. Most of the fellows had been there for quite some time, except for two men who had joined the ranks only two months back.

Rajinder was generally considered to be the leader of the group, so it was no surprise that when the foreman of the department was transferred and his vacancy was announced, Rajinder applied for the job and got it.

There were only four other applicants for the job, two from mechanical section and two from outside. When there was a formal announcement of the appointment on a Friday afternoon, everyone in the group congratulated Rajinder. They literally carried him snacks and celebrated the event enthusiastically.

On Monday morning, Rajinder joined duty as Foreman. It was company practice for all foremen to wear blue jacket and a white shirt. Each man’s coat had his name badge sewn onto the left side pocket. The company had given two pairs to Raijnder. He was proud to wear the coat to work on Monday.

People who saw him from a distance went upto him and admired the new blue coat. There was a lot of kidding around calling Rajinder as ‘Hero’, ‘Raja Babu’ and ‘Officer’ etc. One of the guys went back to his locker and returned with a long brush and acted as though he were removing dust particles on the new coat. After about five minutes of horseplay, all of the men went back to work.

Rajinder went back to his office to get more familiar with his new job and environment there.

At noon, all the men broke for lunch and went to the canteen to eat and enjoy fun as usual. Rajinder was busy when they left but followed after them a few minutes, later. He bought the food coupon, took the snacks and tea and turned to face the open canteen. Back in the left side corner of the room was his old work group; on the right hand side of the canteen sat all the other foremen in the plant all observed in their blue coats.

At that point of time, silence descended on the canteen. Suddenly both groups looked at Rajinder anxiously, waiting to see which group he would eat with.

QUESTIONS:

Whom do you think Rajinder will eat with? Why?

If you were one of the other foremen, what could you do to make Rajinder’s transition easier?

What would you have done if you were in Rajinder’s shoes? Why?

Case 2 :-

“Naughty Rule”

Dr. Reddy Instruments is a medium-sized the Industrial Estate on the outskirts of Hyderabad. The company is basically involved with manufacturing surgical instruments and supplies for medical professionals and hospitals.

About a year ago, Madhuri, aged 23, niece of the firm’s founder, Dr. Raja Reddy, was hired to replace Ranga Rao quality control inspector, who had reached the age of retirement. Madhuri had recently graduated from the Delhi College of Engineering where she had majored in Industrial Engineering.

Balraj Gupta, aged 52, is the production manager of the prosthesis dept., where artificial devices designed to replace missing parts of the human body are manufactured. Gupta has worked for Dr. Reddy Instruments for 20 years, having previously been a production line supervisor and, prior to that, a worker on the production line. Gupta, being the eldest in his family, has taken up the job quite early in life and completed his education mostly through correspondence courses.

From their first meeting, it looked as though Gupta and Madhuri could not get along together. There seemed to be an underlying animosity between them, but it was never too clear what the problem was.

Venkat Kumar, age 44, is the plant manager of Dr. Reddy instruments. He has occasionally observed disagreements between Madhuri and Gupta on the production line, Absenteeism has risen in Gupta’s department since Madhuri was hired as quality control inspector. Venkat secretly decided to issue a circular calling for a meeting of all supervisory personnel in the production and twelve quality control departments. The circular was worked thus:

Attention: All Supervisors Production Quality Control Departments

A meeting is schedule on Monday, Feb 20, at 10 a.m. in room 18. The purpose is to sort out misunderstanding and differences that seem to exist between production and QC personnel.

Sd. Venkat Kumar

Plant Manager

Venkat starred the meeting by explaining why he had called it and then asked Gupta for his opinion of the problem. The conversation took the following shape:

Gupta: That Delhi girl you recruited is a ‘fault finding machine’ in our dept. Until she was hired, we hardly even stopped production. And when we did, it was only because of a mechanical defect. But Madhuri has been stopping everything even if ‘one’ defective part comes down the line.

Madhuri: That’s not true. You have fabricated the story well.

Gupta: Venkat, our quality has not undergone any change in recent times. It’s still the same, consistently good quality it was before she came but all she wants to do is to trouble us.

Madhuri: May I clarify my position at this stage? Mr. Gupta, you have never relished my presence in the company. I still remember some of the derisive remarks you used to make behind my back. I did take note of them quite clearly!

Suresh (another quality control supervisor): I agree with Madhuri Venkat. I think that everyone knows that the rules permit quality control to stop production if rejections exceed three an hour. This is all Madhuri has been doing.

Gupta: Now listen to me. Madhuri starts counting the hour from the moment she gets the first reject. Ranga Rao never really worried about absolute reject rule when he was here. She wants to paint my department in black. Is not that true Riaz Ahmed?

Ahmed (another production supervisor): It sure is Gupta. Every time Maduri stops production, she is virtually putting the company on fire. The production losses would affect our bonuses as well. How long can we allow this ‘nuisance’ to continue?

Thirty minutes later Madhuri and Gupta were still lashing out at each other. Venkat decided that ending the meeting might be appropriate under the circumstances. He promised to clarify the issue, after discussion with management, sometime next weel.

QUESTIONS:

Should Venkat have called a meeting to sort out this problem? Why or Why not?

What do you say about the rule calling for production to halt if there are more than three rejects in an hour? Should it have been enforced? Explain.

What do you feel is the major problem in this case? The solution?

Case 3 :-

ABC LIMITED

M/s. ABC Ltd. is a medium – sized engineering company production a large-range of product lines according to customer requirements. It has earned a good reputation as a quick and reliable supplier to its customers because off which its volume of business kept on increasing. However, over the past one year, the managing director of the company has been receiving customer complaints due to delays in dispatch of products and at times, the company has to pay substantial penalty for not meeting the schedule in time.

The managing director convened an urgent meeting of various functional managers to discuss the issue. The Marketing Manager questioned the arbitrary manner of giving priority to products in manufacturing line, causing delays in products that are in great demand and over-stocking of products which are not required immediately. Production control manager complained that he does not have adequate staff to plan and control the production function; and whatever little planning he does, is generally overlooked by shop floor manager. Shop floor manager complained of unrealistic planning, excessive machine breakdowns, power failure, shortage of materials for schedule. Maintenance manager, say that he does not get important spares required for equipment maintenance because of which he cannot repair machines at a faster rate. Inventory control manager says that on the one hand the company often access him of carrying too much stock and on the other hand people are grumbling over shortages.

Fed up by mutual mud-slinging, the managing director decided to appoint you, a bright management consultant with training in business management to suggest way and means to put his “house in order”.

QUESTIONS:

How would you examine if there is any merit in the remarks of various functional managers?

What, in your opinion, could be the reasons for different managerial thoughts in this case?

How would you design a system of getting correct information about job status to identify delays quickly?

List some scientific decision aids that you may prescribe to improve the situation.

Case 4 :-

In Search of Greener Pastures

Rohit joined ABC Ltd., a heavy engineering unit, having a turnover of about Rs. 20 crores, in the junior management cadre as a direct recruit. During his tenure with the company, Rohit proved to be a dedicated and sincere worker which earned him quick promotions in the organization. He had made a mark in whichever department he had worked and his departmental heads were happy with his work. After serving the company for a period of ten years, Rohit felt that there was no scope for further improvement in his position and started applying for better jobs commensurate with his experience. He finally succeeded in getting a job but his new employer wanted him to join within one month. To this, Rohit pleaded inability, as he was required to give three month’s notice to his present employer, as per company rules. However, he said he would discuss the matter with the personnel manager and try to reduce the period to one month by paying two month’s salary in lieu of the required notice. Rohit accordingly, submitted his resignation to the present employer and requested the departmental head to recommend his case to the personnel manager for relieving him after one month. The departmental head, said that he would discuss the matter with the personnel manager and try his best to help him. However, the latter turned down Rohit’s request stating that the rules require him to give three month’s notice and that the alternative suggested by Rohit was not acceptable.

When Rohit learnt about the personnel manager’s response, he approached his prospective employer to explain his difficulty, which was beyond his control, and requested them to extend his joining period to three months. This was acceptable by them, as a special case.

The departmental head took up Rohit’s case with the management and suggested that in future, the officers who resigned may be permitted to give one month’s notice and two month’s salary in lieu of a further two month’s notice, if required, so as to ensure against any unnecessary delay in the work of the department. But, the management refused to accept this proposal, stating clearly that the company’s policy cannot be changed.

QUESTIONS:

Did the management take a correct decision in Rohit’s case under the circumstances?

What steps should the departmental head take to do not adopt an indifferent attitude towards their work during the three month’s notice period?

If you were in the position of the management, how would you have handled the situation?

Case 5 :-

Ramesh Publishing Company

Mr. Ramesh was the founder of a publishing company specializing in accounting books. Within a short span of time, the company prospered and grew very fast. Its sales rose from Rs 60,000 the first year to Rs 6lakhs three years later. The editing, production and sales staff grew almost as fast.

But the company was having problems, and of late uncertainly and confused grew in the company. New people were making decisions to the best of their ability but many of them did not fit together. One of Mr. Ramesh’s key associates suggested that the company ought to have better planning and certainly needed clear policies to guide decisions making, but Mr. Ramesh was unimpressed. His response was that if he took time off to plan and develop policies today, he might not have a company tomorrow, and that he had no choice but to spend his time meeting today’s problems as they came up.

QUESTIONS:

If you were one of the newer managers in the company and had taken a course in the basics of management, what would you say to Mr. Ramesh?

Outline exactly how would you show him that planning and policy making are important to the company if it has to grow effectively.

Case 6 :-

THE Marquee Garment Retailer

I knew we were right, Neil Simon thought himself as the steward brought him a glass of Cardhu single malt. The Whisky felt good after week when he was allowed to drink nothing but champagne by his hosts in India. Ah, but then they had reason to celebrate. Simon signaled to the steward that he’d like a refill - he planned to take his time over the second one – and thought about the week that had been.

Simon, the director-in-charge of international franchise operations at Smith & Robin, a $8-billion marquee garment retailer, had arrived in India exactly seven days back, with mixed feelings. He’d been at S&R Less the eight months-he had been hired when the company decided to abandon its twenty-year old strategy of expanding geographically through owned outlets as against franchised ones-but he knew the India trip was one of those things that could make or break his career.

This wasn’t his first visit to India. He’d visited it as a backpacker in his second year at collage, then as a middle-level executive of a cola company, and then again, soon after he joined S&R. It was during the last visit that he noticed the kind of brand equity the company enjoyed in India. S&R was a know name and there was huge demand for its offerings. The grey market did a thriving business in both real S&R products, smuggled into the country, and ersatz ones. So, he had gone back and made case for India.

“Let us go in now and seed the market and leverage our equity there “He’d told the board. Convincing the board hadn’t made his job any easier. Then, there were tales of poor infrastructure, horror stories about how foreign investors were treated, and wholly inappropriate real estate options. Worse, some members of the board weren’t fully convinced about the ‘franchise strategy’, S&R had moved to. “I see that we are shutting three of our profitable shops in London, “one of the board members Barbara Rutherford had shifted. Fortunately for Simon, the chairperson lucy Walters had to come to his rescue. “we decide that franchising was the best way to grow last year Barbara; this meeting isn’t about that.

Finally, a compromise had been reached. S&R would enter the country through one or two pilot outlets’. To Simon went the task of finding a suitable franchise. That had been easy. The Kathuria family that ran S&R Malaysia franchise had business interests in India, and it hadn’t taken Simon much to convince them to take on the India franchise.

The two Kathuria-owned franchise store had opened in upmarket malls, Delhi and Mumbai, the previous week and Simon had winged it down to be there at the opening. The Mumbai outlet 7,000 square feet large; the Delhi one, 3,000 square feet. And both sold a range of garments for men and women, lingeries, and toiletries-all imported , and all under the S&R brand name, in keeping with the company’s policy of only selling the best quality products sourced at the least possible cost at all its outlets.

The tariff regime in India made some prices look Ludicrous-a women’s shirt cost over Rs2, 500; men’s jeans, Rs3,200-and made S&R, which was perceived to be a high-end value-for-money brand into a premium one with aspirational trimmings. Indeed, the only other stores that stocked merchandise of compatable prices were boutiques devoted to designer wear.

S&R’S Long–term Prospects

Best-case Scenario Worst-case Scenario

· Indian customers continue treating S&R as

an aspirational brand.

· The company is able to sustain its premium pricing in India.

· S&R repeats the Delhi-and Mumbai-model in other metros.

· The scalability across centers makes S&R’s local franchise profitable.

· The novelty factors surrounding S&R’s launch wears off.

· Customers start asking questions about the super-premium positioning.

· Sales plateau in the Delhi and Mumbai stores.

· The franchise shows no interest in expanding a loss-making operation.

The India –strategy’s detractors at HQ had raised objections over the size of the Delhi outlet (“S&R isn’t associated with cramped buying spaces”) and the price-tags (“Indians aren’t dumb, you know). But Simon managed to steer clear of the flak. The fact that leading consulting firms estimated India’s organized retail business to zoom from Rs 5,500 crore in 2000, to Rs 35,000 crore in 2005, helped his cause.

Then, he had landed in India; the Kathurias had welcomed him like he was royality; he had been allowed to drink nothing but champagne (“Here’s to the stop reopening”; “ Here’s to our first sale”, “Here’s to our first individual sale over Rs 100,000”….); and things had gone like a dream.

The launches had coincided with India’s equivalent of the Christmas season-the festival of lights, they called it, Diwali. The two stores’ initial stock had been sold out in three days flat. And the fact that some of the products still carried their dollar prices-an oversight by the stores and a full 40 per cent lower than their prices in Indian rupees, thanks to the duties- hadn’t deterred shoppers. True, there appeared to be more demand for lingerie and cosmetics, but the other products had takers too.

Simon was surprised by the reaction. He knew that he would have to wait a few months to understand the real demand for S&R products in India. Only once the initial novelty had worn off, would the company have better idea of what Indian customers bought, and what they did not. He was also aware that while the mere fact S&R products were available in the country could have encouraged customers to overlook the 40 percent mark-up (thanks to import duties), they’d soon move to the ‘value’ buying behaviour Indians were famous for.

Simon had raised these issues at his last meeting with the Kathurias, but they were still celebrating the phenomenal success of their opening gambit and their only response had been to ply Simon with, what else, more champagne. Still, he had to admit, it had been a good beginning.

Simon signaled the steward for another refill. What the heck.. he’d earned it.

QUESTION:

Has Smith & Robin (S&R) chosen the right entry strategy for the Indian market?

“S&R has taken a risk in entering a market that is large, but offers little flexibility in terms of price and business environment” Discuss.

What kind of advance planning and strategic thinking should go into S&R’s corporate planning efforts so that the Indian consumer gets ‘value for money’?

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