Indian Hotels becomes a Harvard case study

Indian Hotels becomes a Harvard case study is a bit dated but nevertheless, seemed interesting enough to be mentioned.  Indian Hotels Human Resource strategy is part of the Strategic Management Course and a part of the core MBA program. 

 An ICMR case study (written by our very own Mohan Chnadran) gives some more detail on the Taj HR initiatives. 

Good to see that things are changing at Taj to control the massive attrition it saw during the transition period from Kerker to Krishan. 

 

technorati tags: TAJ, TATA, IHCL, Taj_Group

Fareed Zakaria – The idea guy

Fareed Zakaria in one of the few that make sense in these confusing times… “I look up to people who really make you think seriously about the big issues that are going on, that confront the world, either historically or today,” said Mr. Zakaria. “What I like are ‘idea’ books and ‘idea’ people.” Read his ‘Why they hate us’

A P J Kalam puts forth a new political theory for India

Kalam: “In politics there are two dimensions, the first one is political politics and the other is developmental politics…” Reminds me of that dialogue by Amitabh Bachhan in the movie Hum (duniya mein doe terah kei kidey hota hai …) or Rumsfeld maybe…. All things considered – India needs an overhaul off all the four branches of power (executive, legislative, judicial and Media) and the need for a dummy presidential figure should be debated.

Politics – plain and simple

Some simple definitions of Political Philosophy:

FEUDALISM: You have two cows. Your lord takes some of the milk.

PURE SOCIALISM: You have two cows. The government takes them and puts them in a barn with everyone else’s cows. You have to take care of all of the cows. The government gives you as much milk as you need.

BUREAUCRATIC SOCIALISM: You have two cows. The government takes them and put them in a barn with everyone else’s cows. They are cared for by ex-chicken farmers. You have to take care of the chickens the government took from the chicken farmers. The government gives you as much milk and eggs as the regulations say you need.

FASCISM: You have two cows. The government takes both, hires you to take care of them and sells you the milk.

PURE COMMUNISM: You have two cows. Your neighbors help you take care of them, and you all share the milk.

RUSSIAN COMMUNISM: You have two cows. You have to take care of them, but the government takes all the milk.

CAMBODIAN COMMUNISM: You have two cows. The government takes both of them and shoots you.

DICTATORSHIP: You have two cows. The government takes both and drafts you.

PURE DEMOCRACY: You have two cows. Your neighbors decide who gets the milk.

REPRESENTATIVE DEMOCRACY: You have two cows. Your neighbors pick someone to tell you who gets the milk.

BUREAUCRACY: You have two cows. At first the government regulates what you can feed them and when you can milk them. Then it pays you not to milk them. Then it takes both, shoots one, milks the other and pours the milk down the drain. Then it requires you to fill out forms accounting for the missing cows.

PURE ANARCHY: You have two cows. Either you sell the milk at a fair price or your neighbors try to take the cows and kill you.

LIBERTARIAN/ANARCHO-CAPITALISM: You have two cows. You sell one and buy a bull.

SURREALISM: You have two giraffes. The government requires you to take harmonica lessons.

The Kite Runner

Recently I read The Kite Runner
I was amazed the way it pulled me in. I picked it up at the airport on my way to India. The book was in addition to my 3 magazines and the iPod that were meant to keep me occupied during the roundtrip from Boston to Delhi. I didn’t touch either the mags or the iPod.

It’s a moving story of coming to terms with the past. Its about the rare chance when an opportunity comes to redeem one’s self of fast sins. Amir, the son of an influential Afghani and Hassen, the son of the house servant have a lot in common, including a love for flying Kites. They have more in common than meets the eye and yet Amir is the social elite while Hassen is from a minority – good only to serve the higher classes.

The Taliban throttle Afganistan and Amir and his father escape to America. Land of opportunity finds Amir his love and a marriage. It’s a good life and then the chance manifests it self to redeem his dark days.

It’s a sad, melancholic and anti climactic story but lifts and fills one with hope at the same time. It feels very real – as if it may have been a biography.

‘Full on’ in Mumbai, Goa and Kochi

Pepe Escobar of Asia Times in Full power on theArabian Sea has an interesting and entertaining take on thecurrent Indian socio-political.

He uses Mumbai, Goa and Kochi as’representative’ of India.The article skims through a lot of issues and offers little in terms of a new perspectivebut it is full of fascinating historical and anthropological tit bits on thesecoastal cities. Things like:

That more people live in Mumbai that the whole of Australia.
That the name Bombaycomes from Bom Bahia (‘good bay’ in Portuguese) and I though it was an anglicizedpronunciation of Mumba, the goddess worshipped by the fishing villages of thatarea.
The Tata family were former opium concessionaires.
Chinese Admiral Zheng was trading with India- long before Vasco da Gamma ‘discovered’ Indiawith the help of a ‘Moor from Gujarat’.
That 34% of the 21.7 billion dollars sent back by migrant Indians comes fromMalayaleese of Kerala.

Ways to keep bloggers in check || Forbes Article

Boing Boing has an analysis of Forbes article on ways to keep bloggers in check

Is it me or does it read just like the strategy followed by IIPM in its recent attacks against bloggers. Its prudent that bloggers read the article and be aware of legal pitfalls involved. EFF should take note and lobby for measures to protect free speach on the web.

Democracy and the individual – some thoughts

Recently I have tried to reason why the world is the way it is today.  My thoughts have been more towards the geo-political situation and the games governments play adn how it relates to society in general. 

Cause of most of the troubles today is ignorance.
A society should be driven by an efficient disbursement of knowledge. This will eliminate ignorance and makes individuals more receptive to new ideas.

A democratic form of government is the only governance model, which will promote such an evolution. A democracy inculcates a slow but steady expansion of the social belief system and ensures filtering of the best ideals. However, being weighted heavily by common good, a new idea requires formidable momentum and consensus to even get tabled. In the end the best meme survives (more on that some other time).
Individuals role
An individual is restricted by his/her area of influence and should endeavor to make it his proving ground. If each individual attains his full potential in his area of influence, the whole superorganism will be better equipped to move up the pecking order (e.g. of nations). This will expand the area of influence of the superorganism as a whole, which in turn would bring it closer toward its ultimate vision.

An individuals moral standing and character not only depends on him but also on the society he belongs to. A free and just society can only be established by moral people. It is the responsibility of those with good moral character to teach and encourage others to be morally responsible.

Persuite of life, liberty and justice does not fall under an individuals realm but is an off shoot of his social environment. A person will not gain moral character by being forced to behave morally. He must choose to be moral in order to benefit himself and society. Freedom is not an ends in itself; it is a means to achieving a happy life, which is an end in itself.

Freedom and Justice are opposite in nature. A society destined for greatness finds a way to balance these opposites. When balance is reached, Freedom can create better Justice, and Justice will create more Freedom.

Man’s mission in life is to constantly improve himself intellectually and morally. In his endeavor to improve the quality of life, an individual must take risks. To sacrifice freedom for security is foolishness. You cannot sacrifice happiness for security either. Although life is full of risk, the quality of one’s life is a function of one’s moral character and the freedom and justice enjoyed in society.