The 30 years of Draconian

communism from 1948 to

1978 instilled docility in

the nation’s citizenry

which has played an im-

portant role. This would

have been of no use if the

government was corrupt

or unintelligent. But the

Chinese government was

none of these. To comple-

ment its government’s

work, market mechanism

backs its government’s

policies. Markets and in-

centives play a critical

role for development to

occur, and as long as the

government has the intel-

ligence to weave these

into policy fabric, the

stage is set for economic

take-off. Further the Chi-

nese government has in-

tervened in macroeco-

nomic markets by keeping

tight controls on capital

and has kept its exchange

rate deliberately underval-

ued in order to break into

global markets with its

exports. But the kind of

social engineering that

contemporary China at-

tempt is quite is unthink-

To understand develop-

ment and why some so-

cieties take off and others

do not and why, from a

host of nations caught in

a poverty trap, one sud-

denly breaks rank we

must be prepared to look

at the differences in each

society , to search in the

nooks and crannies of a

nation’s economic, social

and institutional structure.

In crafting effective poli-

cies for development, we

must not be prepared to

simple rules of what a

nation should do.

Despite major moves to

liberalize the economy

since 1978, China re-

mains one of the most

state-owned economies of

the world. Its political

and institutional setting is

much more socialistic

than India’s. If with that

setting intact, its econ-

omy had failed, it would

not be unreasonable to

expect that economists

would uphold Chin’s ex-

perience as a textbook

demonstration of what

that kind of polity does to

the economy. Hence the

fact that China’s economy

has succeeded poses a ma-

jor intellectual challenge to

mainstream economies.

Core factors behind

China’s economic growth

Under the leadership of

Deng Xioping , China

adopted the market reforms

in 1978 and its growth rate

showed a marked improve-

ment. The pro-market lib-

eralization set China off on

its searing growth path but

what is usually not recog-

nized is the three decades

of Maoist communism pre-

ceding Deng’s liberaliza-

tion played. China’s labor

force is one of the most

disciplined and also acqui-

escent, and its civil society

lines behind the govern-

ment in ways that is true of

few other societies, devel-

oped or developing. Its

labor force is relatively

easy to manage and con-

trol, and stands in sharp

contrast to India’s chaotic

and demanding labor and

this can also be attributed

to China’s government.

T I G E R C H A S I N G D R A G O N

V O L U M E 3 , I S S U E 4

MI’BYTES BUSINESS LETTER

P A G E 1

A U G U S T 2 0 1 4

MASTER OF INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS

CENTRE FOR MANAGEMENT STUDIES

JAMIA MILLIA ISLAMIA

I N S I D E T H I S

I S S U E :

Tiger chasing dragon 1

Corporate speak 2

Quick bytes 3

Quote for the Month 4

The Godrej Group is an

Indian conglomerate

headquartered in Mum-

bai, Maharashtra, India,

managed and largely

owned by the Godrej

family. It was founded by

Ardeshir Godrej and Pi-

rojsha Godrej in 1897,

and operates in sectors

as diverse as real estate,

consumer products, in-

dustrial engineering, ap-

pliances, furniture, secu-

rity and agricultural

products. Subsidiaries

and affiliated companies

include Godrej Industries

and its subsidiaries

Godrej Consumer Prod-

ucts, Godrej Agrovet, and

Godrej Properties, as

well as the private hold-

ing company Godrej &

Boyce .

P a g e 2

Ques 1: How is technology changing the retail landscape, as the distinction between physical and online retail is vanishing? Ans1: The distinction between Physical and online retail is vanishing for some category especially in those where people are fully aware of the de-tails. There are cases however where 'the touch and feel' of the real world is necessary. For example furniture, no matter what you see online in the end you have to touch and feel the wood to know is it really as it looks. So, people can than do their first cut off study online to understand what are the options, what are they looking at and then physically go and see it. I think in some categories like books for example, there is nothing to physically go and see, if you know what are the contents of the book, who the author is etc, there is nothing to see before placing an order. So, I think its vanishing in some it's not vanishing in others. Technology is coming into play by providing knowledge you want about the product, which you can than scan and get additional information. Now an individ-ual has an opportunity to gain more information. Another area where technology is helping is in decision making. Ques 2: What are the most important operational changes needed in the retail industry? Ans2) This again depends on the nature of the retail. Retail is a place where one gets to touch and feel things that are the part of your final de-cision. Now people are looking for more experiential way off exploring. For example, when they see our furniture they just don’t want to see dif-ferent chairs, they want to see a combination of chairs and sofas pre-sented in a way as if it was a living room. So that they can imagine what it looks like in real space. I think part of the operational retail is how you aid the ability for the customer to visualize what they are buying. One part is experiential and the second part involves questions, not just about the prices or what color options are available rather detail questions as to what kind of material does it require, any specific kind of maintenance etc. The third is in the area of logistics, because in the end any kind of lo-gistics involves costs. So, those are some of the areas in which operation-ally retail needs to get stronger. Ques 3: From your experience, can you give us some examples of how busi-nesses can become more sustainable? Do you admire any companies in par-ticular for their approach towards sustainability? Ans3) I think there are many dimensions to sustainability. Sustainability can be in terms of environment in which you are utilizing precious re-sources in a very responsible manner i.e. you are not over consuming any resources whether it is water, energy, plant etc and that there is a mecha-nism by which you can replenish them. There are many businesses for example that consume water as part of their operations but they have taken no responsibility for harvesting rainwater or replenishing water or treatment of water so that water can be utilized. People should be much more self-reliant in every way possible. And lastly, whatever products and services you create should be created with materials that do not harm the environment. There are a variety of ways in which organiza-tions can be sustainable. Godrej is enabling people to

A B O U T G O D R E J

V O L U M E 3 , I S S U E 4

CORPORATE SPEAK Mr. Shireesh Joshi COO, Strategic Marketing Group Godrej

Cont...on page 3

“Retail is a place where one gets to

touch and feel things that are the part of your final

decision”

“It all starts with the customer

needs”

V O L U M E 3 , I S S U E 4 P A G E 3

be beautician, technician or imparting knowledge to them in a way whereby they can gain employment. We

also teach people if they have their own little entrepreneurship business the essentials of accounting, book keeping, inventory management, so that they are able to manage their business more efficiently. So, Godrej as a Group has taken specific efforts in all these 3 areas, in greener products, in creating employment and in creating a much greener India to do that. I think our own organization across divisions is actually doing a fair amount of admirable work. Ques 4: Godrej is a diversified group, what do you see before entering into a particular field in terms of Innovation, customers need, market structure, conditions of the economy etc? Ans 4: It all starts with the customer needs. You have to understand what the customer requires at that point of time and the requirement do change for the same customers also at different point of time and they can be dif-ferent for different customer also at the same point of time. So in the end its look at what breadth of customer needs it and then determining which of those are feasible. It’s not possible for any one organisation to try and solve everything. So it begins with customer needs than identify which one we will solve and then we bring together the required resources. Ques 5: Where does growth come from for a company and what do you think we will see in the years to come for Godrej? Ans 5: Growth always comes from pretty much the same place as in previ-ous answer i.e. customer needs. In years as customer needs evolve and change that’s where growth really comes from. For example, household item that will be needed for an individual when you are bachelor will be different from what is needed when you are married. So as your needs evolve so do your requirements for things that will make your life easier and better. Godrej is on very sound footing. The group has declared a goal of growing ten times in ten years and that requires a very strong double digit growth and so far the group is on track. Ques 6: What will be your message/advice to IB students at JMI? Ans 6: First of all, one should have a broad spectrum. Look at what are the

needs of the industry are and help the policy maker understand those re-

quirements and try and influence the future policy that is much more

growth effective and the other is taking the knowledge of existing policy

and working with the organisation and helping them in delivering efficient

and effective results. Secondly, self discipline and ability to work under

work process is also essential. I think these are the two parts in which you

have to orient yourself.

Q U I C K B Y T E S

1. Samsung accounts for 20% of Korea's Gross Domestic Product (GDP). 2.Candy crush brings in a reported $6,33,000 a day in revenue.. 3.The Rubik's cube is the best selling product of all time. The I phone is second .

4.In 1997, yahoo re-jected an offer to acquire Google for $ 1 million, today Google is worth $250 billion. 5.Amazon.com employ-ees spend two days every two years working at the customer service desk — even the CEO — in order to help all workers understand the customer service proc-ess .

Cont...from page 2

P A G E 4

MASTER OF INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS

CENTRE FOR MANAGEMENT STUDIES

JAMIA MILLIA ISLAMIA

QUOTE FOR THE MONTH “There is only one boss: The customer. And he can fire everybody from chairman on down, simply by spending his money somewhere else ”

—Sam Walton

E-mail: suban.ajam@gmail.com,

9650430820 TIGER CHASING DRAGON Cont...from page 1

able in most nations. The

government launched initia-

tives like “queuing day”,

which required that on the

11th of every month, gov-

ernment officials would go

out all over the city to tell

citizens “it is civilized to

queue, glorious to be po-

lite”. Then, there was the

“seat giving day” once a

month when the young and

fit were encouraged to give

up their seats in buses and

trains to the old and less

able. Here, also have to dis-

cuss China’s population

policy which has yielded

huge long term benefits.

One sees evidence of cen-

tralized control and submis-

sion of the citizenry in

China’s population policy.

By the 1970’s China fertil-

ity was extremely high. But

by the late 1970’s the gov-

ernment changed its mind

on population and initiated

measures to control the

population. By the 1990’s

the one-child policy had

become the norm.

Recommendations:

Labor laws need to be

amended allowing for eas-

ier hiring and firing of

workers. This will help the

workers by causing wages

to rise and increasing their

bargaining power. Instead

EDITOR-IN-CHIEF:

Ms. Sunayana Kumar

STUDENT EDITORS:

Suban Khalique Ajam

Faisal Anis

Mayank Tuli

INTERVIEW BY:

Suban Khalique Ajam

of creating room for dif-

ferent kinds of contracts

between workers and

employers, the effort is

to us the law to impose

certain terms exoge-

nously.

India needs to invest in

better infrastructure. The

bureaucracy needs to be

cut down severely and

trade and investment

need to be liberalized

further.

While the size of govern-

ment is not India’s prob-

lem, the nature of its en-

gagement especially in

the industrial and ser-

vices sector has turned

out to be restrictive.

Moreover, where it is

most needed-in enforcing

contracts between agents

-it has been either non-

existent or has encour-

aged the reneging. There

is a strong need for the

government to increase

its expenditure in the

social welfare sector.

Poverty is still very high

with around 250 million

people below poverty

line.

If the Indian banking

system is to attain inter-

national excellence, it

will require action on

several fronts: introduc-

tion of greater competi-

tion, the convergence

of activities and super-

vision of financial con-

glomerates, the induc-

tion of new technology,

improvement in credit

risk appraisal, the en-

couragement of finan-

cial innovations, im-

provement in internal

controls and the estab-

lishment of an legal

framework for bank-

ruptcy procedures.

According to IMF, fis-

cal deficit is expected

to increase to 8.5% of

the GDP this financial

year. Gradual fiscal

consolidation is needed

to reduce fiscal vulner-

abilities arising from

high debt levels and to

free fiscal space for

social spending.

Clearly, renewed ef-

forts at fiscal consoli-

dation and effective

forward movement on

long-pending reforms

in agriculture, infra-

structure, labor laws,

banking, education,

energy and retail trade

could compensate par-

tially for the unavoid-

able downdraft from

the international econ-

omy.

By-Dhruv Saxena

MIB 2nd Year

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