CHRONOS IIT Delhi Management Webzine

NOVEMBER2009 Vol.IIssueI

To Our Readers,

We perceive time in terms of eventuality.

At the very beginning, eventuality was considered synonymous with ‘Fate’ and a definite inevitability was associated with the flow and direction of time. No wonder then that one of our first conceptualization of it was that of a God. The early Greek culture, for instance, represented time as a primordial divinity called Chronos. Irreproachable and Implacable, he like all other Gods was part of the supposed perfection that governed us.

There were some individuals though who refused to accept that the status quo is sacred. These individuals defied notion of any inevitability that was not created by their own selves. History books are full of them, because as the curious habit of history goes, it remembers only those who completely changed it.

If we try again, if we try to take all this human enterprise, dreams and daring and put it in one vision of what our times look like to us then what would this new human Chronos look like? That’s the question that we pursue through the pages of this web magazine.

In this first issue we thus interact with people who are playing significant part in shaping our times such as - Tarun Tejpal, CEO of Tehelka, a company that was persecuted for trying to improve the way our system worked. Followed by that is a chat with Mr. R. Sadasivan, director of Wall Street Journal India, detailing WSJ’s foray in India and the unique challenges that it continues to face. All that and then various other articles and features to have some other phenomena explored, some more problems attacked and some intrigue extended to you.

Wishing you an engaging read.

The Editorial Board: Chaos.

What’s Inside…

Rise of Icaraus

TarunTejpaldiscussesEntrepreneurship,Politics,Historyandofcourse,hiscompanyTehelka.

By,DeepuNarayan.

Weknowthatmanisasocialanimal.Questionis,howsocial?By,HarshPradhan.

WekickoffthisnewsectionwithanecologicalsolutioncasestudyofNokiawonbyDMSstudents.

SynopsisbyAkshatShukla

WSJ in India

We, the social networkers.

The Chalk Board- Case study section

The Quiz. Funtime.UseGooglefreelyinthispicturebasedquiz.Afterwards,discussitonouronlinecommunity

Mr.RamakrishnanShivadasanshareswithChaosteam,thevisionofWSJanditsstrategytofacetheuniquechallengesthattheIndianmarketposes.

Macro-scope Interviews and articles

“Journalismcanneverbesilent:thatisitsgreatestvirtueanditsgreatestfault.Itmustspeak,andspeakimmediately,whiletheechoesofwonder,theclaimsoftriumphandthesignsofhorrorarestillintheair.”

PerhapsnootherquotewouldhavebestbefittedthepurposeofwhatMr.TarunTejpal,theCEOofTehelkaandhisorganizationexistsfor.AsMr.TejpalwalkedtoawardsthepodiumasthekeynotespeakerofentrepreneurshipsummitorganisedbyEDCofIIT,everyoneawaitedtolistentothewordsofahardcoreentrepreneurjournalistwhorebuilthisempireinoneofthemostadverseenvironmentsinthecountryandonecanhappilyrecallhedeliveredmoreandyetmore.

Beginningwiththecompany'spurpose,hestatedthatTehelkaexistsfortheperfectionofIndiansystem.HedwelledonthevariousfacetsoftheIndia’sevolutionasacountry.Lookingatwherewearetodayandwherewestartedfromerasagowhenwewereacollectionof550disorientedprincelystatesthatwerebroughttogetherbysomeofthegreatestmindstheworldhadever

seen.Atthattimewecraftedoutanequalitarianpoliticalsystemforournationwhenamuch‐developedcountryliketheUnitedStatespracticedsegregationofAfrican‐Americanpeople.

Mr.TejpalsaidthattodayIndiaistaintedbyadualproblem.:Inequalityandcommunaltrouble.Indiaisanevolvingheterogeneousorganisminwhichnumerousmicrocommunitiesexistamongmorethanabillionhindus.Corruption,hesaid,isasymptomofInequalitywhichinfectsthesystem,stealsitsresourcesanddrivespeopletowardscommunalviolence.

TheRiseofIcarus.By,DeepuNarayan

“Corruption is a symptom of Inequality that infects the system, steals its resources and drives people towards communal violence”

Tehelkahasreemphasizeditsexistenceagainstcorruptioninallpossibleways.Beitthroughoperationwestendin2001thatrevealedthedecadencyinarmsprocurementorbeittheexposureofmatchfixinginprofessionalcricketbyTehelka.Hesaidthatjudicialsystemisaplinthofeverysociety,butIndiahasoneoftheslowestofalljudicialsystem.Theconsequentcorruptionthuscannotbemuchofasurprise.

RecollectingthetoughtimesthatTehelkawitnessedafteroperationWestEnd,Mr.TejpalcompareditwiththeLandscapeoftheFallofIcarus.TheimageryisofIcarusfallingintotheoceaninanattempttoescapefromCrete,whileashipsailsby,farmerploughs,andashepherdlookson.Anunparalleledtragedyandanapatheticbackground.Itjustputsforththefactthatsometerriblethingscanhappenunderwhatweconsidertobenormalcircumstances.

AfteroperationWestEnd,Tehelkawasreducedfroma124memberstrongworkforcetoamere4memberteam.TheIndianpoliticalsystemhadturnedagainstTehelka.AfterTehelkawasconsideredtobesuccessfullydestroyed,hestartedrebuildingtheorganisationfromasingleroomapartmentinSouthExtension,NewDelhi.Theyweredifficulttimes,hesaid.Hecontactedentrepreneurs,friends,businessmenwholovedtehelka,everybodywhocouldhavehelped,buttheydidnotwanttohaveanylegalbindingwiththeorganisation,fearingthewrathoftheState.

Tehelkaeventuallyrestartedwithoutasinglemajorinitialinvestmentbutwithonlythecapitalfromits200initialsubscribers.Ruminatingonhisexperienceswithpeopleduringthedifficulttimeshesaidthathealwaysupheldhisadmirationfor“peoplewhoactedbeautifully”.

Hesaidthatduetosuchchallengesandothers,thesinglemostimportantqualityforeveryentrepreneurisperseverance.

Perseverance‐thatisperhapsexactlywhatthemancalledTarunTejpalpersonifies.Asheleftthepodiumleavingbehindacoldblanketofsilentadmiration,iftheauthormaytakethefreedomtoinditethethoughtsineveryIITiansmindinthatroomthenitwouldbealotsimilartothesefivelines……

Iwanttoknowifyoucanlivewithfailure

yoursandmine

andstillstandattheedgeofthelake

andshouttothesilverofthefullmoon,

“Yes.”

Theselineshavebeenadoptedfromtheopeningpassageofthebook“TheInvitation”byOriah.

“After operation West End, Tehelka was reduced from a 124 member strong workforce to a mere 4- member team.”

The advent of media giant Wall Street Journal into the Indian Market has opened up a plethora of opportunities and possibilities. Recently Mr. Ramakrishnan Sadasivan, Director (India) Dow Jones was at DMS to inaugurate a seminar on Cloud Computing. Excerpts from the interview:

Chaos Team: First of all we would like to welcome Mr. Ramakrishnan Sadasivan, Director (India) Dow Jones, which owns the premier business publication Wall Street Journal, to DMS.

Ramakrishnan: It’s a pleasure being here.

Chaos Team: First of all we would like to know what are Wall Street Journal’s plans for India and what is it looking at?

Ramakrishnan: As a global publication we already have good readership from India. The plan has to be India specific so we need to figure out our goal that is to use devices and platforms that are more common in India and package the content better.

Chaos Team: WSJ had an Asian edition way back in 1976. You have a Chinese language WSJ. So why the late entry into India considering the fact that the press is very free in India?

Ramakrishnan: I think that is again a very strategic decision. We did enter India but not alone. We partnered MINT and that was one way of entering the market. As we enter a new market we need people on the ground and investments. This was our way of doing so. Now that we see that the growth story is sustainable we are here.

Chaos Team: NewsCorp has maintained that it won’t be investing in India until the FDI cap is raised from 26 percent to 49 percent. Hence it has not committed to a print edition. What are your views on this?

Ramakrishnan: Well the views have come from the highest level and Mr. Murdoch has conveyed it many times. What views do I have are in complete line with the views of the company. If we come here we want a bigger share in the game.

“If we come here, then we want a bigger share in the game.”

WSJ in India A conversation with Mr. Ramakrishnan Sivadasan

Compiled by Navdeep Jain.

India has a policy whereby foreign newspapers are not allowed to publish here, thankfully such restrictions are not on the internet platform. So right now that’s the area we are concentrating upon.

Chaos Team: A usual problem with Indian sites is that the volume does not necessarily gets translated into revenues since the average revenue per user is pretty low. How do you see WSJ taking money out of here?

Ramakrishnan: Well I wouldn’t put it as taking money out. As you must have read my blog everybody knows that the digital penetration in India is very low. Everyone has been commenting on it. So I feel it’s the right time to be in the market knowing that at some point more users will join and there will be greater digital

media penetration. And secondly, with the market size of 40 to 80 million India offers a decent market opportunity.

The current revenue model of WSJ.com is partly subscription partly advertisement. Globally it gets around 25 million visitors daily with around 1 million subscribers.

Chaos Team: With Wall Street Journal offering paid content in a price factored market like India do you think WSJ will be able to make an impact?

Ramakrishnan: I think people in India too are value conscious and not just price conscious. We see brands like you use Lenovo laptops and people who go for quality. We have just started our journey to find out if it works and what needs to be done to make our model work.

Chaos Team: How does WSJ seek to differentiate itself from the established players ?

Ramakrishnan: Since India is a market with lot of potential, the biggest differentiation comes from our content which has helped us in other markets and will help in India as well. People in India are smart. They can distinguish between good content and not so good one. That will be the biggest differentiator. Secondly how we package our content and how easy we make it for our consumer to use and consume that content will be the second differentiator.

Chaos Team: India has been associated with the mobile telephony revolution and WSJ has been providing mobile based services in foreign countries. So how are you looking at the Indian market in this regard?

Ramakrishnan: The mobile space in India has lots of potential that is around 400 million mobile subscribers. However the number of GPRS users is less than 10 percent. Though there is a big market but it is mostly for communication. Hence there is a need to do a good job to adapt. Like U.S. people here also use smart phones and hence are a market for us. But there is a need to provide simple solutions that reach a wider audience. So in India it will be more of a diversified strategy.

“People in India are value conscious and not just price conscious.”

Chaos Team: There is a growing population in India on social networking. Bloggers who form a part of social media may not necessarily subscribe to WSJ content only for the reason that its content is paid. So how is WSJ seeking to address this issue?

Ramakrishnan: A great question since we at WSJ had to answer this question, a few years ago, on bloggers becoming more and more mainstream. However I would like to tell that only close to 50 percent of the content is paid. But for the content that is paid we have a couple of people working proactively to monitor the flow of content online.

Chaos Team: Sir, being in niche industry what is your message to MBA graduates joining the industry?

Ramakrishnan: I think this is the best time to be in India. It’s being challenged and at the same time exciting. With digital media access is not an issue. This was a problem with cable and newspapers too i.e. distribution. However with the reach that WSJ has of 25 million visitors access is not an issue. However the flip side is that people have lower

attention spans and they are less loyal to one brand. Hence it’s a challenging and interesting time to be here in India especially with advertising downturn a lot of media companies are looking at alternate sources of revenue. So that is a business problem or case study the world is closely looking at. So if MBA students are looking for something challenging digital media is the place to be.

Chaos Team: Thank you sir. It was great talking to you.

Ramakrishnan: It was my pleasure too.

Mr. Ramakrishnan Sadasivan is responsible for developing and managing The Wall Street Journal Digital consumer business in India. Check out http://india.wsj.com. Also for insight into several thought provoking issues you can visit his personal blog at http://www.adospados.com/ .

“But there is a need to provide simple solutions that reach a wider audience. So in India we will have more of a diversified strategy.

Manisasocialanimal.Hecanbealonerforalongtime.HisneedofbeingsocialisidentifiedandutilizedbythewebsiteslikeOrkut,FacebookandLinkedinetc.Thesewebsitesprovidemanaplatformthroughwhichhecancreatedesiredreflectionofhimself.Onecanhavemultiplereflectionsaccordingtotherolesthatheplays.ProfessionalroleisnourishedintheenvironmentprovidedbyLinkedIn,Philosophicalaspectsofone'spersonaareexploredthroughblogsitessuchaswordpress,PlayfulrolesofourweactoutonthewallsofFacebook.Thevirtualworldmakesiteasiertosearchforlike‐mindedpeople,recordconversations,conveyopinions.Everybodygetsthechancetospeak,asthehesitationlevelsarelow.Manypeoplecanspeakatthesametimeandallareaudible.

Letusseetheeffectsofthesemultiplereflections.Therearemoredialoguesanddiscussionamongstpeople.Mindsbecomeporoustothethoughtsofothers.Moreandmoreopinionsareexpressedthroughthestatusmessages,forumset

al.Wehaveinternationalfriendsroundtheclock.

Ourvariousreflectionsconversingwithsomanyreflectionsdevoidoflimitationsposedbytimeandspace.Peopleareeagertoreply,toupdatetweets,scribbleontheirFacebookwallandexchangetheirOrkutscraps.Thevirtualworldiseasytoenter,tomodify,connectwithandthentoexit.Allthesefactorsareincreasingthepopulationofthevirtualsocialworld.Thegrowthisapparentifwelookatjustfewofrandomlychosenfactsregardingthesecommunities‐Twitterisgrowingatarateof1382%peryear.13hoursworthofvideoisuploadedonYoutubeeverysingleminute.InIndiaalone,40millionusersareonlineatanytime.Netisnowfivetimemoreaccessiblethanlargestsellingdaily.

“Everybody gets the chance to speak. All can speak at the same time and all are audible.”

WE, SOCIAL NETWORKERS.

By, Harsh Pradhan

THE

Apartfromtheexponentialgrowth,thereisconsiderablechangeinuserbehavior.78%ofpeopletrustrecommendationofotherslikethem.Onecangetfeedbackfromlargenumberofpeople,somethingthathasobviouslyhadconsiderableimpactoncloutoftraditionaladvertisement.Accordingtothestudy,only14%ofpeopletrustadscomparedtothe78%forrecommendations,asmentionedearlier.Clearlyrecommendationwinsoveradvertisement.Companiesareidentifyingviralmarketing'srolewhichhasbeenshowingexponentialgrowthasavitalfactoraffectingcustomerresponse.ThecompaniesnowalsorealizetheneedtotracktheirBrandImageusingonlineforums.ForexampleCadbury'sDairyMilk2007GorillaadvertisingcampaignwasheavilypopularisedonYouTubeandFacebook.Astheadgotviral,thecompanywasforcedtolookintothemediumwhichwastillthenignored.

ChangesbroughtbyWeb2.0havebeenmany.Therevenuemodelshavechanged,theproductandapplicationshavechanged.OnlinegameslikeFarmVille,MafiaWarshavebeenbothfunandlucrative.Corporations(Marketingdivisionaside)haveidentifiedOrkut,Facebookasaworkplaceevilandhaveblockedaccesstothesewebsitesinoffices.Despitealltheseefforts,socialnetworkingischangingthe"cultureoffthejob",whicheventuallywillbecomethe"cultureofthejob".

Socialnetworksareheretostay.Theearlyadaptersmayhavebeenjustthetechnologygeeksandthecarefreeyouth.Yetsocialnetworksarenowsoonacquiringanimportancethatiscomparabletoourreallifesocialrelations.Onewayorother,companieshavetolookforwaystoharnessthisphenomenaratherthanignoringit.Forindividualsitsmuchmoresimplethough.Addictiveanduseful.Onecouldn'taskforabettermix.

Soletthesocializationplayon.Letmoreandmorereflectionsjumpinwithdifferentmoods,thoughtsandbackgrounds.Possibilitiesandconsequencesareunimaginable!

Foot Note Metcalfe ’s Law:

Getting invitation of too many social networks? Search for what Metcalfe’s Law is. It defines why we choose to join some networks and not others. Here’s the link: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Metcalfe%27s_law

The

Chalk – Board Case study section

DMSiteswereuptotheirusualbestwhentheyfinishedfirstaheadof250teamsfromtopnotchB­schools.This time it was SunnyKapoorandUmang Jain 2nd yearMBA (Telecom) studentswho did DMSproud.Wesharewithyouthecasestudyandthesolutionprovided.

PleasenotethatthesolutiongiveniscopyrightmaterialoftheMr.SunnyKapoorandMr.UmangJainandisbeingimplementedbyNokiaaspartoftheirgreeninitiative.

Synopsiscompiledby:AkshatShukla.

The Case:Nokia’s vision is a world where everyone being connected can contribute tosustainabledevelopment.Wewanttoshapeourindustryanddrivebestpractices.

Traditionally,Nokia’senvironmentalworkhasbeenbasedonlifecyclethinking.Thismeansthat we aim to minimize the environmental impact of our products throughout ouroperations, beginning with the extraction of raw materials and ending with recycling,treatmentofwaste,andrecoveryofusedmaterials.Weachievethisthroughbetterproductdesign,closecontroloftheproductionprocesses,andgreatermaterialreuseandrecycling.

Nokia’s vision is a world where everyone being connected can contribute to sustainabledevelopment.Wewanttoshapeourindustryanddrivebestpractices.

Traditionally,Nokia’senvironmentalworkhasbeenbasedonlifecyclethinking.Thismeansthat we aim to minimize the environmental impact of our products throughout ouroperations, beginning with the extraction of raw materials and ending with recycling,treatmentofwaste,andrecoveryofusedmaterials.Weachievethisthroughbetterproductdesign,closecontroloftheproductionprocesses,andgreatermaterialreuseandrecycling.A life cycleapproachhighlights themainareasofenvironmental impact,whichmayhavepreviously been hidden upstream in the supply chain or downstream at product use ordisposal.

Forexample,arangeofenvironmentalinformationisnowavailablethroughEcoCatalogueintheDownload!ServiceofNokiadevicestoraiseawarenessaboutsustainability.ItincludeslinkstoenvironmentalandconservationinformationfromWWF,accesstorecyclinginfo–wheretobringyourphonebackforrecyclingandalsoincludestheWe:offsetservice.We:offsetistheworld'sfirstCO2emissionoffsettingtoolforamobile

phones. It enables people to off‐set carbon emissions from their flights againstenvironmental projects. The offset payment goes to support projects from our partnerClimate Care, which save or absorb the same amount of CO2 as was emitted Mobiletechnology, can offer many practical ways to help people to reduce their environmentalfootprintandliveasustainablelifestyle.

Question: How can the eco‐behavior of customers be made more environment friendlyusingmobilesolutions,specificallyinIndia?

TheSolution

Drive to create awareness: Primary areas of focuswill be citieswith tele‐density greaterthan50%.Ralliesand intracityraces/marathonscanbeonemedium. Informationaboutthese will be dissipated through e‐mails, promotion at happening spots and Nokia’sdistributioncenters.

Thefocalissueisthatdespitepresenceofawarenesshowtomotivateandstimulatepeopleto start acting for green drives. Someways can be:Monetary incentives, Fringe benefits,Psychological,SocialStatusandinnovative“GreenPoints”

RoleofNokiaformobiletechbasedenvironmentalsolutions:

Mobile phones have an outreach to 400million users growing at a staggering 10millionpeople/month.Outof thisNokiahasamassivemarket shareof almost50%. Thecriticalaspect here is that Nokia mobile sales peak in the sub‐5000 segment. However due tomonetary constraints this segment cannot really be expected to contribute to greeninitiatives.

ProposedMobilesolutions:1‐Softwarebased,“optiLumeno”:

A lightdetectionsystemwhichdetects ifmore than theneeded light is there in theroomandintimatestheusertoturnthemoff.Itisconfiguredwiththelightsensorspresentinmobilephones.

2‐Hardwarebased,“CarCheck”:

Softwaretochecktheoilconsumptionandco2emittedbyyour car. Can be hardware based or simplecalculation based on distance andmileage. Also reminds youwhen to change yourcar’s filter and engineoil so that efficiencyimproves.

3‐OtherEcosystem/Systemicchangesneeded:

Leverage projects and other initiatives by institutionssuchastheGovernmentofIndiaortheWorldBank,TERI,IPCCetc:AdditionallythegovernmentshouldboostR&Dingreentech, raise awareness and provide incentives such asubsidiesongreenhandsets..

Reminder:Thisarticleisonlyapartialsynopsisofthesolution.

Q I ZU

1. Connectthefollowingpicturestoarecenteventinvolvingacelebritysportsperson,Identifythecelebrity

2. Seldomwillyouseeanadlikethisnowadays.IdentifytheIconicBrand

3. Identifythisinnovativeproductthatwasinnewsacoupleofmonthsback.

4. ThislogomayceasetoexistafterOctober2010.Identify

5. Sitter.Connectthefollowing.

6. Identifythecommonelement.

7. Identifythisnewlynamedcompany

8. Arideforthelady…..ride?Connect

Foranswers,visitCHAOScommunityon

Facebook:http://www.facebook.com/home.php‐/group.php?gid=176814304368

andOrkut:http://www.orkut.co.in/Main‐Community?cmm=94944488

Team 2010 from left to right,

Harsh Pradhan,

Saiba Kataruka (Co-ordinator)

Deepu Narayan

Team Chaos Email: chaos@dmsiitd.org

Akshat Shukla Navdeep Jain Parvinder Singh

Team 2011, in alphabetical order